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Session 1: Pirates! Pirates Everywhere! Shipwrecked Cape, the city of Tantamar: Qayin (Wyatt), Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Cybalar "Cy" His'Vana (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Rusty Shackleford (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore) After spending a fair amount of time onboard a merchant ship, The Bermuda Hex experienced the all-encompassing plot hook of a shipwreck, brought on by a band of pirates who took over the ship. The six, along with a wizard named Gordon, woke after the wreck on a deserted beach. A quick investigation of the nearby cave produced a small lockbox containing an amulet, along with the skeletal remains of a long-dead man, which a tattered note instructed to be delivered to a woman named “Lancaster”. Taking refuge for the night, the party awoke (after an early morning monkey attack) to hear a rustling in the bushes nearby. A band of scavenger pirates, complete with a captain and first mate, attempted to shake our shipwrecked heroes down for their stray valuables, but with fighting words, Qayin initiated a fight to remember. With an challenging 8 vs 6 (½ if you count Gordon) Qayin held his ground, as well as his grip on this mortal plane, no less than three times. Luckily, the party came outfitted with four partial healers ready to respond to the call. Cassandra tanked hefty blows like a pro, throwing off half of her damage per hit at some pretty clutch saves. With a streamlined wind attack and subsequent arrow display (very reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy), Qayin managed to off the captain himself, while the first mate stubbornly held onto his remaining health. That is, until our friendly neighborhood bardlock inflicted a well-timed bout of Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, rendering the enemy helpless in fits of giggles. Gordon came with a promising cast of his own, with a Fog Cloud coming in to apply disadvantage to three of the six remaining pirates (affectionately called Poblins). In melee range and ready to strike, Cicero struck a twinned Booming Blade on the last two of three, killing the first and daring the second to move with a final Shocking Grasp. The battle was complete as one last pirate ran for the hills and beyond the party’s reach. After a much-needed long rest, the Bermuda Hex headed out once more toward the city of Tantamar, but not before coming upon a group of heavily armed knights with a carriage. Qayin attempted deception, trying to explain the party’s destination while concealing the colors stolen from the now-dead pirates, but it was Cicero who managed to persuade the guard of their innocence for long enough until Rusty could cast an expertly-timed Charm Person, giving the party enough time to be on their merry way. As the seven were walking on, however, Cicero experienced a flash of a vision, all centered around the dark presence emanating from the prison-bound carriage– a vision of the prison destroyed and the figure standing free once more. Finally, the Bermuda Hex arrived in Tantamar, where the choice was made to temporarily part ways to emulate a division of interest. Peri, Rusty, and Cy elected to head toward Bree’s Tavern, where they were welcomed with open arms by the inkeeper, Bree herself. Peri made a rather fantastic impression, if the kiss on the cheek was any indication, and the three ate well that night. Cicero, Cassandra, and Qayin, on the other hand, made their way toward The Shipwreck, where Cassandra took on The King, a dwarven brawler with something to prove. Cicero and Qayin placed bets, while our resident Barbarian fought recklessly and a little dirtily to deftly win her new title of The Queen. –Cicero Fijor, Resident Loremaster

Session 2: Just a "''"simple'''" jaunt around town The city of Tantamar: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Cybalar "Cy" His'Vana (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Rusty Shackleford (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore) The day after their arrival in Tantamar found the two halves of the group (split the party!!) on opposite ends of the city. Acting on advice from the friendly tavernkeeper Bree, Peri, Cy, and Rusty set off along the southern edge of town to seek out the rest of the group in their own kind of suspicious lodgings on the eastern end of town. However, on the way over, there was an incident: a smelly young wannabe street tough, from the so-called 'Tunnel Drake Gang', put his nasty smelly hands on Peri's head and made threatening and generally uncool remarks. Having been warned about such characters and not being in the mood to tolerate such behavior, Peri responded by immediately slashing the punk with her sickle. Unfortunately, the altercation was seen by a member of the city guard, who took both Peri and the thug in for questioning--while Cy and Rusty made themselves scarce and unremarkable, respectively. On reaching the guard house Peri took a moment alone to quietly threaten the thug before being brought before the guard captain--Commander Janzyn--for questioning. It took some quick talking, a slightly creative interpretation of the truth, and more than a few tears, but the good-hearted Commander came to see the halfling's side of the story, and moreover appointed himself her personal protector. He escorted her to her original destination of the city's graveyard, where they were met by Cy (who then went to fetch the missing half of the party) and Rusty. A few more carefully chosen explanations and Janzyn left, reassured that he was leaving the damsel in distress in the hands of friends--although he made a point of assuring Peri that he was available if they needed help, and let them all know that if they wanted to avoid trouble, taking a gondola from one island to another was safer than walking through the city. On going to the Shipwreck Tavern, Cy found more than a few bodies--many unconscious and drunk, with one dwarven form quite clearly dead. The other members of his party were safe upstairs however, if a bit the worse for wine, and Cassandra, Cicero, and a hungover and strangely silent Qayin came along. Rejoining the others at the graveyard, the majority of the party found themselves a bit unsure of why they were there, while Peri (in her element!) found a friendly-looking gravesite and planted a seed from the finest Party Tree in the world. There was at least one other visitor to the graveyard: a young black-haired human man, apparently from a low-class background. All of the party noticed that the young man seemed a little odd. Rusty alone saw that he was definitely performing magic, and from the necromantic school, at that. Their next stop was the northeastern quadrant of the city, where House Theranni could be found--and consequently, the end point of a personal quest of Cassandra's. While the rest of the party were given the 'grand tour' or the area by Gordon, Cassandra delivered a key to Lady Theranni and was rewarded. The Lady then let Cassandra know that the House had some jobs that could use the attentions of a party of talented individuals: Cassandra volunteered to gather up her previous companions and bring them in to hear about the job. She did so, leaving Gordon behind promising that his dear friends would have his introduction and recommendation at any guild hall they needed to study magic in, and Lady Theranni made her case. Apparently, a cave outside the city is home to a necromancer and his skeletal minions--and House Theranni would like this nuisance gone and the cave cleared for their own use. After many questions, the party agreed that they would leave to discuss the job offer among themselves and return with an answer in the morning. After leaving House Theranni, the party made a stop at the estate of the Lancaster family. Producing the note found in the cave after their shipwreck, they were granted entrance and gave the note and amulet to the young Lady Eva Lancaster. The young lady was overwhelmed with gratitude at the return of a long-lost heirloom, and told a little of her family's history before very generously rewarding the party. She then invited questions from the group, sharing much useful information--such as that House Theranni was one of the dragon-marked houses, weilders of magical powers with the 'mark of the shadow'. The House is an offshoot of a very bad old legacy--House Phiarlan, den of thieves and assassins--but according to Lady Lancaster the local bardic branch of the family is a fine upstanding section of the community. She then offered to show them around and take them to a match at the Colosseum, which they accepted. There they watched a match between the reigning champion--Orion--and a challenger. Orion was victorious, although some of the party noticed him stealthily using illegal magic to block a blow he otherwise might not have met. Cy wanted to try his own hand in the arena, and Eva showed him where to register to fight before disappearing. His opponent was a warrior in full plate, closely observed by Orion himself in the stands, and after a close-fought battle the opponent was the victor--although not before Cy got in a few good hits and realized that the 'metal man' was in fact a woman. When he rejoined the party he shared his observations, and when Eva rejoined them a moment later everyone prodded at her until she confessed that she was in fact the metal-clad warrior...and also was in a relationship with her trainer, Orion himself. Peri incautiously let slip that Orion had been using magic in the arena, and Eva was let down both that he would cheat and that he would not trust her: the party, however, managed to cheer her up and she left in fairly good spirits. Dividing the gold for the return of the amulet among themselves, the party headed for Bree's Tavern, where they ate well and settled in for a good night's sleep, for tomorrow--well! Tomorrow might prove to be very exciting indeed.

Session 3: Now, What did we Learn Today? The city of Tantamar, The Necromancer's Cave: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Cybalar "Cy" His'Vana (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Rusty Shackleford (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore) Qayin (Wyatt) After a round of breakfast for the Bermuda Hex, along with an absolutely stunning display of skill from Qayin, the party makes their way over to House Theranni to accept the job of taking on a nearby necromancer. With their first lead taking them toward a previously-traversed graveyard, Peri succeeded in talking with Silas, a young magic-user and lover grieving the loss of his late fiance, Sara. Peri’s amicable nature was able to help the “folkromancer” open up about his feelings and actions as of late, and he reveals that he is not, in fact, the necromancer the party was asked to hunt down. Instead, he is protecting his fiance’s grave from the menacing necromancer, and the party sets out to a nearby cave to dispatch of the necromancer and his minion armies. Qayin, in his own agenda, made plans to purchase a large amount of flowers and chocolate for the Lady Theranni, along with a thong of infertility for himself. Clearly, this mystic has a quite a night planned ahead of him. After being surreptitiously dropped off by their bard escorts, the Bermuda Hex explored the opening rooms of the cavern, swiping zombies and dexterously avoiding traps left and right. While Cassandra seemed to be rather frightened by the undead enemies, the party performed rather well as a whole, and after shattering a few persistent skeletons, our heroes elected to take a short rest. Everyone, that is, except for Cicero and Qayin, the latter of whom decided to wander off alone and investigate two large, unlocked iron chests in a small alcove. Though he took necessary precautions, Qayin was nonetheless bludgeoned by a heavy rock fall, a trap set by the pompous and self-titled “King of Tantamar”. As a result, Qayin learned a valuable lesson about communication among the group. The Bermuda Hex sets out now to continue their crawl through the necromancer’s cave. Who knows what lies in store next!

Session 4: The Price of Living is Death, my friend, and Peri Hates Zombies The city of Tantamar, The Necromancer's Cave:  Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Cybalar "Cy" His'Vana (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Rusty Shackleford (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore) Qayin (Wyatt) It's time to hit the ground running for the Bermuda Hex as the team, various lights in hand, made their way through the winding corridors of the Necromancer's Cave. The six were greeted by the voice of Oreioth, the alleged "Lord of Tantamar". Qayin, with some quick thinking and a bit of dumb luck, managed to convince the Necromancer that he and his five companions were a group of traveling bards, seeking to sing the Lord of Tantamar's praises to the world. As the alleged manager of the group, Oreioth requested Qayin to follow him alone, only to inflict the Mystic with Crown of Madness, turning him on the rest of the party. With this instigation, combat began with a bang. Three zombies, one giant zombie Orc, and far too many skeleton archers separated the Bermuda Hex from Oreioth, but the party hacked and slashed and healed their way through, despite one of the zombies managing no less than three successful constitution saving throws. Cassandra traded her longsword for dual-wielding knives, making for a rage-filled but unconventional approach to the Barbarian look. Qayin snapped out of his maddened trance, switching places in order to take on the massive orc at melee range. Cicero, on the other hand, ran ahead, avoiding arrows and levitating up to stand on the ceiling in order to reach Oreioth and stop the undead minions. With the zombies splattered, the orc felled, and the skeletons shattered to pieces, our heroes were looking worse for wear, with nearly all spell slots expended by the time they managed to reach Oreioth's inner sanctum. Cicero clung to the ceiling after a potent Ray of Sickness left him poisoned, while Qayin, Cy, Rusty, Peri, and Cassandra dashed to meet the menace head-on. While victory was in sight, Oreioth had one last trick up his sleeve for the party. A deadly bout of Fireball caught over half the Bermuda Hex in its cone, and while Cicero and Rusty managed to cling to life, Cy and Qayin were charred alive as tongues of flame tore the life from the two. Cassandra laid the final blow on the Necromancer, but the remaining group knew that their triumph had come at a deadly cost.  But who is this mysterious woman that our heroes have found, bound by ropes by Oreioth? And who will Wyatt and Ty bring to the table next? Find out next week!

Session 5: Guilds, Newcomers, and Faces to Punch The city of Tantamar, The Necromancer's Cave: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Rusty Shackleford (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Bara (Wyatt), Evey Desrosiers (Erica) The session began with a heavy heart for our remaining party members, Peri, Rusty, Cassandra, and Cicero, as the group traveled to Ancestor Island to lay their fallen comrades to rest among the sleeping dead. Bree had, at Rusty and Evey's request, already asked ahead to prepare a place for the fallen Qayin and Cy, and the Bermuda Hex paid their final respects before returning to Bree's Tavern for a somber night's sleep. In the morning, however, our heroes met with an interesting new sight; a Half-Orc, in the midst of devouring his breakfast a la Bree, who seemed to be an old and experienced soldier. The hulking man introduced himself to the party as Bara, a Death Cleric with a care for helping the living move on passed their loved one's deaths and a good-natured outlook on life. Peri thought immediately of the party's previous interaction with Silas, the budding necromancer seeking to speak to his deceased wife again. Bara agreed to help, and the Bermuda Hex made their way once more to Ancestor Island, finding Silas at his wife's grave once more.  It was at this point, however, that Peri opened a new can of worms. The halfling had removed not only the Necromancer Oreioth's spellbook from his possession, but his head as well, which she had on her person to proudly show Silas. The man lacked her enthusiasm, and it took the work of nearly the whole party to convince her that showing people severed heads wasn't a very good idea. Bara assisted in calming the young man down, and the two took their path together in order to visit a temple. The party promised to meet with Bara again later. Heading on to House Thuranni to affirm their bounty, the remaining members of the Bermuda Hex met with a new colorful character, a massive human warrior by the name of Khord. The mercenary offered his services to the party by means of support for their future efforts, and while they initially refused, it became clear that Cassandra was in no way obligated to take every hit herself. She too needed support. Cicero urged Khord to remain outside until the rest of the party returned from Lady Thuranni's audience, and the five entered to meet with the Lady. The meeting itself was irksome from the start, and was in no way assisted by Peri's habit of toting the severed head of Oreioth for emphasis. Lady Thuranni nevertheless gave the party their reward for dispatching the necromancer, expressing her condolences for their fallen companions. At this point, she also offered the party a badge to allow them access to all House Thuranni facilities. She greeted Evey as well as a new member of the Bermuda Hex, and the five went on their way, eager to leave the presence of the condescending woman. By a wonder of wonders, our heroes met once again with their Wizard friend, Gordon, who had come to the gates of House Thuranni to entreat them to join one of the many guilds around Tantamar. The group expressed interest, and after meeting once again with Khord and Bara, the party... SPLIT!  The more martially inclined members of the party (Cassandra, Bara, and Khord) made their way to the Colosseum, while the spellcasters (Cicero, Evey, Peri, and Rusty) traveled to the Magus guild. Split action time! Once arriving at the entrance to the Magus guild, Evey, Peri, Rusty, and Cicero were escorted to meet with Profesor Ernan, an elderly but jovial wizard in blue robes. The professor bid fond welcome to each of the initiates in turn, showing particular interest in Cicero's race as an Air Genasi and Evey's spellcasting focus of Tarot cards and readings. Rusty, on the other hand, showed no interest in joining the Magus guild, and he instead had come along to find a magic shop that would equip him with the tools necessary to write his own spell scroll. Evey gave the Professor a Tarot of his own, piquing the man's curiosity all the more to test the initiates' abilities with two short tests. The first consisted of a book filled with words that seemed to squirm and move of their own accord. After a few minutes of studying it, Peri and Cicero were able to read a verse each from the book, though their pronunciation could have used some work. Evey was unable to read from the book, though Ernan assured her that a magic-user requires quite a bit of unnatural skill to read the book perfectly at first glance. The group moved next to a courtyard  and were each given a spell scroll beyond their current level of expertise. Peri successfully cast her spell, inadvertently Melding with Stone all around her. Cicero channeled his ability to cast forth a Wall of Water, though the sight alone brought painful memories of his life aboard the Sky Ships of Halruaa, and he dismissed the spell after only a moment of sustaining it. Evey, unfortunately, was unable to complete her spell scroll to Commune with Nature, and she was not granted acceptance into the Magus Guild. Peri and Cicero were accepted with praise from Professor Ernan, and the four made their way back to Bree's Tavern. Meanwhile, Cassandra, Bara, and Khord made their way to the Colosseum in order to gain entrance to the Fighter's Guild there. The test? As put with brevity by the entrance-keeper to the guild, each of the three initiates were tasked to take on one member of the guild of their choice and bloody them. Doing so would grant them admittance. Cassandra selected Ronaldo, a Half-Elf Swashbuckler with a serious god-complex and an attitude to match. Though this blowhard incited Cassandra's Rage, facing him one-on-one did result in a loss for our resident Barbarian, but she did manage to give him a few nasty cuts to the face. Bree later took the time to remark that many had faced Ronaldo, but no one had been able to land a hit at all on him. Doing so did take quite a bit of skill. Cassandra desired to ruin his face entirely, and may still proceed to do so in the coming sessions.   Khord, on the other hand, selected and took on a hulking Half-Orc, managing to bloody his opponent in a stunning display before being promptly knocked unconscious. Nonetheless, the Dragoon gained entrance to the guild to the roaring applause of the audience looking on. For the final fight, Bara selected Otis, another old soldier like himself. The two engaged in an incredibly evenly-matched fight, lasting for quite a bit of time, but Bara, enjoying every moment, managed to bloody and nearly topple the other entirely. He himself was knocked out only at the very end, and he was presented to the audience with another round of applause.  Our heroes met back at Bree’s Tavern for food and rest, where they exchanged stories of triumph and defeat from the day. Guild members in place, where will our heroes, the Bermuda Hex, travel to next? Find out next week!

Session 6: The Festival of Dick Pics, Armored Chickens, and Aircorn-corn-corn! The city of Tantamar: Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red) The name speaks for itself, quite honestly. The party awoke the morning after their guild escapades to discover that the city of Tantamar had clad itself in light and festivities for the aptly named Festival of Lights, celebrating with contests and games galore! Complete with swimming, strength, potions, parrot-seeking, and cooking events, the Bermuda Hex was kept busy for the better portion of their afternoon. Not only that, but their party quantity increased once more as newcoming Artificer, Egon Atoms, cemented himself among our heroes' ranks by securing the victory in the potions contest. Cicero took first in the swimming contest due to his Air Genasi racial features, though his prize of a large, heavily padlocked chest resulted in his unwilling ownership of a medieval and unsolicited dick pic, which the party will no-doubt be passing on to Master Ernan before long. Cassandra put her skill to good use by securing victory in the strength contest, and the whole party gathered together for a lighthearted game of hide-and-seek with the parrot denizens of Parrot Island to find the new city mascot. Khord managed to find the most beautiful chicken companion of his own, though the bird did not qualify for the rankings of the event, unfortunately. Cassandra managed to spot an excellent toucan with an astonishingly golden beak, but gifted her quarry to Cicero, as his previous win had only resulted in a dick pic. Cicero won the prize, a golden egg the size of a chicken's, and Egon's sharp and attuned eye deduced that there might perhaps be a living bird still inside the gold-covered egg. The two carefully chipped away the gold at the top of the egg, and Cicero proceeded to warm the tiny thing using Prestidigitation, incubating it until it (hopefully) hatches.  The festival, though packed with fun, was only half-over! What could await our heroes next?

Session 7: Something's Rotten in the State of Tantamar (And His Name is Rusty) The city of Tantamar: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Teekon (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Bara (Wyatt), Egon Atoms (Red) Amidst the excitement of the ongoing Festival of Lights, the Bermuda Hex stopped by Bree's Tavern once more, and in doing so, met the newest member of their party, Teekon the Kobold! While small in stature, Teekon seemed more than content to pickpocket while the rest of the party, minus the ever-nurturing Bara, embarked in the next contest of the day, the drinking contest! Everyone drank valiantly as the rounds produced elven wine, orcish grog, halfling spirits, and more exotic wares, but Cicero won the golden tankard of the day, along with a novelty flask that brought to mind the late Qayin and the legacy the barefooted drinker left for the group. Thoroughly intoxicated, the entire group moved on to the singing contest at the opera house after recovering a while with Bara, who provided bread and water to steady the more agitated stomachs. The party met Gordon along the way, who was clearly experiencing stage fright of his own and was increasingly nervous to sing in the contest at all, but all of our heroes gave him the encouragement he needed to make his way to the stage. Everyone, including the new addition of Teekon, sang drunkenly but in good spirits. Cicero provided a rendition of an old Halruaan tune, but disqualified himself so that Gordon’s beautiful music could take the prize of an exquisite lute. Bara presented his own song as an exhibitions, delighting the audience and the heroes alike. On to the main event of the Festival, watching the fireworks! Gordon asked Cassandra to watch them with him, and she graciously accepted. The two watched on the beautiful beach, the lights reflecting off of the water in a picturesque manner. All was well. The rest of the party, minus Teekon, headed to House Theranni to watch the fireworks on the roof, as the large building offered a temptingly tall view of most of the city. It wasn't to be, however, as a serious conversation interlude came about instead. The currently-missing Rusty had attempted to murder Lady Theranni that very day while the rest of the gang took part in the excellent Battle Royale! What a turn of events! And who on earth could forget that amazing battle royale, complete with Ronaldo-smashing, Father Don's victory, and Cassandra being accepted into the Fighter's Guild? Certainly not a stupid, sleep-deprived, and late Loremaster, that would be ridiculous!  Rusty, as Lady Theranni relayed to the party, was taken into custody at Regalport, awaiting trial with an end result of either death or the prison of Dreadholt. With this new information, the Lady was understandably wary of the Bermuda Hex and their dealings in the future. The party assured Lady Theranni of their allegiance and left her presence soon after, heading for the roof to watch fireworks. Though the sights were quite something to behold, it began to storm and rain near the end of the spectacle, and the party ran to Bree’s tavern and met up with Cassandra. It was at this point that Cicero's vision came to his mind once more, and he remembered a portion of the foresight being of the prison Dreadholt being broken apart and a man on a huge ship, all during a storm. This very same storm, in fact. Cannons fired in the distance, far off the coast of Tantamar, setting some buildings on fire and smashing others to pieces. The silence of the night was broken, and Cicero's vision came to pass. At the massive gates ofTantamar, a flagship headed the attack, a man with two crossbows firing with deadly accuracy. The huge ship was entering through the city arch, but the party, moving quickly to action, was told that it must not reach the Keep, or else, the ship and its fleet would take Tantamar itself. A race against the clock began, and the party...SPLIT! Half wanted to help the city evacuate, half wanted to fight the threat and keep the ship at bay. A division of interest, but will it be a division in the party? Our heroes are now about to enter into combat: The Battle for Tantamar begins!

Session 8: Shot to the Heart, and We're to Blame The city of Tantamar: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Teekon (Ty), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Bara (Wyatt), Egon Atoms (Red) The battle for Tantamar Begins! Our heroes, minus Bara, Khord, and the elusive Teekon, moved quickly to the east side of the city, searching for friends and allies who could aid them in the battle to come. Master Ernid of the Magus guild agreed to help, along with everyone's favorite wizard, Gordon! It was at this moment that Khord approached the rest of the group with blood on his lance, though not at all disheveled as this loremaster previously believed. The Dragoon had been hard at work dispatching Tunnel Drake members and assisting civilians in escaping the destruction and carnage that the fleet of pirates were raining on the city. The party then made the executive decision to move their asses to the keep, but not before convincing Lady Therrani, who Ernid noted was a powerful sorceress, to fight alongside them. With all of these lovely NPC allies in tow, the Bermuda Hex moved to the docks, but they no gondola in sight. What will they do? Back in time a little, Bara was busy attempting to convince the guards to help in the battle at hand, but his words weren't totally successful, as many of the guards only joined up to make their easy paycheck. Some convincing help came for Bara in the form of Orion and Father Don, who pledged to assist in the fray as well! Hooray! Bara sent Father Don to deliver a gondola to the rest of the party on the east side using his water abilities, and after making an entrance (to Cicero's delight), the party and NPC allies combined into the Tantamar Defense Crew, ready to take on some ill-mannered pirates. Well, not quite immediately. Bara and the gang took some well-deserved time to strategize a few separate contingency plans, making the executive decision to flee the scene if the battle starts to turn against them. The Keep itself was outfitted with an escape tunnel, though only a few people would be able to leave at a time for fear of it collapsing. Amidst the talking, Cassandra and Bara noticed a smell, perfume specifically, and saw Ronaldo attempting to sneak out like the coward he had established himself to be. The whole party, NPCs included, told Ronaldo that he was a dipshit for trying to escape, and even Gordon joined in on the tongue-lashing. Ronaldo left feeling undoubtedly like roadkill underfoot.  Lady Eva and Otis arrived on-scene as our heroes talked strategy, and as a whole, the party decided to defend the keep instead of attacking on the beach, wanting to avoid exposing themselves completely to the danger soon to come. Peri took the opportunity to commune with her “Friend” during a lull in the action, which left just about everyone else worried for her sanity and wellbeing. Who is this "friend" of Peri's, and what do they want? The guards gathered at this time into their color-coordinated regiments, but it seemed that there weren't many in the Bermuda Hex's number to defend the keep at all. The adventurers would just have to fight their hearts out in the battle to come! THE BATTLE COMMENCED! The first and second waves began almost as soon as our heroes took their places, and while everyone kept an adequate barrage of firepower and spellcasting, it was Ernid, much to Lady Theranni's irking, who was able to supply a lot of damage to the heroes' foes. Each enemy regiment came with its own hat-man and axe-boy in the back of the section, making them high-priority targets to say the least. Excellent movements and formwork were made against two waves of enemies, but distant cannon-fire grew closer as the party fought, and a section of the Keep's wall was all but destroyed in the barrage. Boats of enemies were reported to be approaching, but the real danger came silently from the north. Just as Peri healed Ernid from a nasty hit, the skilled magic-user keeled over, shot by a direct crossbow bolt to the head with deadly aim. Alone on the bridge, the fabled John Crossbarrows stepped forward, two crossbows in hand. The end of the session for the Bermuda Hex, but the Battle for Tantamar is only just beginning!

Session 9: Live and Let Die The city of Tantamar: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red) We enter our session on a heavy note. Ernid, the accomplished spellcaster, is dead at the hand of John Crossbarrows. Bara holds the line, close to death but holding on, the party is beginning to call for a retreat. With his first new action, John Crossbarrows turned his sights on Bara, the point of the line holding him back from the keep, but…RONALDO MADE AN ENTRANCE! Emerging from the bridge, our hated rival made one final act of bravery in his combat abilities, causing JC to sustain quite a bit of damage. The very next round, however, Ronaldo met his end by all 7 of JC’s crossbow shots. He died as he lived, being thoroughly penetrated, and the Bermuda Hex can't fault him for it. The tides of Fate that ** Static sounds at the mention of the DM's name**  conducted like a maestro work their dark magic, and Father Don is JC’s next victim. He fell to the bolts, unconscious, without a last word or mercy, and Cicero was mildly perturbed by this development. Mildly, like the Taco Bell sauce. The gate closed at the dismay of Bara losing ground, trapping Father Don and Orion outside of the walls, alone with JC. Orion died in front of the gate, stabbed to death by a berserker, while Father Don lay unconscious, with everyone calling for a retreat. These two faced their deaths with pride and valor, having more courage than any on that day. The Bermuda Hex will remember them. Gordon cast fog cloud with grat timing, and Lady Eva stood in front to defend him for as long as she could, though knowing her position, JC stood with a clear and direct shot to her. There was nothing our heroes could have done. Making their escape, Cicero and Peri headed for the stairs to reach the ground, but Egon goes down to JC's bolts, though only unconscious. Cicero moved to assist in any way he can, and Peri ran on ahead as Cassandra escorted Lady Theranni to the exit tunnels. MVP of the evening. -Khord moved with great dexterity to the east wall, dealing impressive damage on the seemingly endless barbarians and captains there alongside the old soldier, Otis. The two had impressive synergy, and it hurt all the more when the tides began to turn. Otis urged Khord to leave, stating himself to be an old man who had lived a full life. Khord refused, but was bolstered to leave by ranks of guards rushing to assist. Otis went down, and Khord recovered his sword and shield before finally making his escape, torn by the sacrifice made for him. MVP of the evening. JC's next bolts turned toward Lady Eva, who fell protecting our precious Gordon from harm. Gordo, being a goddamn hero, faced the next bolts with courage, and he too fell after sustaining the deadly shots. Egon awakened once more thanks to Cicero's potion, and with an ingenious idea, he put himself into his own bag of holding and insisted that Cicero carry him in it to save time in running for the tunnels. Cicero agreed, and the two ran for their lives to the escape tunnels. In the final moments of the Battle for Tantamar, this loremaster wanted to remember the three guards who died on Cicero and Egon's behalf. Oliver, Gregory, and a third who never had the chance to say it, Cicero will remember you. It was because of their sacrifice that Cicero and Egon's escape was possible at all.  Everyone is dead. That’s it. Everyone our heroes knew is dead now, save for Lady Theranni, and there’s no going back. The gang sails for a week to a port city that this loremaster can’t remember the name of, and from there, on to Regalport. The Bermuda Hex seems to burn bridges wherever they go, perhaps next time will be different. Perhaps next time, we'll win.

Session 10: The Most Regal of Ports, and We all take Baths Together The sea, and the city of Regalport: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red) Our heroes begin their session on their way to Farwatch! 7 days of travel have passed, allowing for plenty of awkward silence, contemplation, and of course, amazing Peri-driven conversations. On this particular occasion, Peri chose to chat up the crew members of our small vessel, bringing up the topic of the mysterious island, Trebaz Sinara. The sailors described the island as an incredibly secret place with many deadly obstacles barring the way to the shore. It would be assumed that there are a thousand ways to die in an adventure to Trebaz Sinara without even setting foot on the shore at all. Untold treasure sits waiting in the forest of Trebaz Sinara, however, sparking the interest of adventurers from near and far to attempt the perilous journey. The captain reported that only the crown prince of Regalport had returned from its shores alive, a feat unheard of by most. With the mention of the Crown Prince, our Captain began to explain more about Regalport and the manner in which it operates. To the north side, commoners and travelers mill about and mind their business, though several districts can prove dangerous to those not watching their coin purses. The south side, on the other hand, hosts the nobles and esteemed magic-users of the city. House Theranni also sits on the south side, a welcome piece of good news to the Bermuda Hex. The divide in class structure was unnerving for several members of our party, though the system seemed to be rather set in stone. Our heroes took some time to reflect on the Battle for Tantamar itself and the panic that swept through the city. The party had no idea how many people actually made it out of Tantamar, though the summoning circles in the Magic district seemed to be of excellent use. Our heroes can only hope that their actions and sacrifices were enough to save most of the people. The tension turned to the port island of Farwatch, a city seated precariously close to the recently destroyed prison of Dreadhold. The captain and the Bermuda Hex alike had no idea if Farwatch would still be standing at all when they arrived, as it functions as the first line of defense against potential escapees from Dreadhold. Upon disembarking and giving the report of Tantamar, however, the residents of Farwatch seemed largely unaffected by any sort of damage, a very strange piece of information for the Bermuda Hex to come upon. The watching ship from Farwatch making its patrol route to Dreadhold had not made any contact with Farwatch itself, and it seemed, as the information was relayed, that John Crossbarrows had his sights set on Tantamar alone, and Farwatch itself was left untouched. Our heroes then heaved ho off to Regalport! Three more short days of journeying, though along the first leg, each of our party members caught sight of Dreadhold itself as they passed. The side was broken completely open, exactly the same as Cicero’s vision, save for the currently sunny day. The trip being fairly uneventful after, the party arrived in Regalport Harbor! They were met by guards who were expecting their arrival, who gave them a tour of the city on the way to the prince's palace, including such insights as "Don't enter the coinflow district unless you want to be robbed blind" and "All the brothels are in Targen's district". On reaching the palace, the party were ushered to the hot springs below to bathe and dress in borrowed finery. Once presentable, they were led through the lush palace to meet the prince, a handsome man in his 30s or 40s who greeted the party with great courtesy. Over dinner, introductions were given--Peri introducing herself and her fellow party members in her own unique way and Prince Rygar formally introducing himself as well--before everyone directed their attention to the luxurious meal. Each party member told a little bit of their personal backstory over dinner, and the Prince showed particular interest when Peri talked about trees, both in general and in specific her home village's famous Party Tree. Afterwords, everyone moved to the 'negotiation room' where Bermuda Hex's story was told: both the stories of how the party came to be and that of the attack on Tantamar. One aspect of the tale seemed to particularly disturb the prince, namely the heavy presense of berserkers at the attack: the Prince of the island of Craig, Mika Rockface, rules over a rowdy bunch largely trained as berserkers who bear an unfortunate resemblance to the ones who raided Tantamar. The berserkers love their prince and would die for her, and Prince Rygar is concerned. As reward for their heroic actions in the battle of Tantamar, the prince offered 2 reward options. The first was ownership of a vacant house in the Farwater district of Regalport, rent to be paid by doing various missions for the prince. The second option was a contract to join the prince's military. The party asked to have some time to consider the options, and were granted it. The Prince gave them a dragon signet ring that they could show guards to be allowed to see the prince again once they had decided. The party then visited the house, and found it very to their liking. They spent the night at House Theranni, and talked among themselves before unanimously deciding on Option 1, as no one particularly wanted to join the military. In the morning, at breakfast, the party encountered Lady Theranni and she and Cicero had an intense and awkward confrontation/heart-to-heart. Next came a visit to the Prince to give their decision, upon which everyone recieved a pin to mark their status as members of Regalport's South Side. Afterwards, as part of the party left 3 members stayed behind to speak further with the prince: Cicero, Khord, and Peri. Peri's only real wish was to give the prince a freshly druidcrafted flower, as the one she had given him previously was a little wilted. When it is his own turn to speak privately, Khord tells Rygar the truth: unbeknownst to the rest of the party, he is actually a member of one of the dragonmarked houses. Rygar turns serious as he warns Khord against drawing any attention to himself while in Regalport. Dragonmarked houses are specifically forbidden from interfering with the business of another house, and as Khord is protecting and fighting with an adventuring party that is aligned with House Theranni, another dragonmarked house, he could be in real huge trouble. He must tread very carefully, though Khord will not leave the party, and Rygar will not out Khord. Rygar is definitely a keeper. Cicero asks Rygar more about the Golden Oak dist., and Rygar suggests that the two go together to see the massive trees for themselves. As the day grows toward dusk, the two make their way along, talking about the tree and the nature of its leaves. Cicero asks about the “party trees” that Rygar and Peri spoke of earlier, and their conversation moves toward Trebaz Sinara. Rygar reveals that he survived coming back from Trebaz Sinara, but only just and he didn’t return with treasure. He knows of the rumors about him, though Cicero assures him that he holds no stock in them Rygar gives the Bermuda Hex as a whole a goal to shoot for: once the party has completed a number of jobs for him and they have proved themselves trustworthy, Rygar will give Cicero the one and only map of the interior of Trebaz Sinara, which he crafted himself. Rygar is no navigator, and he can’t accompany Cicero when the party will go, but he has the best that he can offer with this trade. In a smooth move which Cicero will remember blushingly for a long time, Rygar puts one in of the Golden Oak’s leaves in his hair, saying that the leaves themselves are said to be lucky charms of their own. The two return, and while Peri was wholly outraged at evidence that a trip to see trees was undertaken without her, Cicero was on cloud 9 with no evidence of coming down any time soon.

Session 11: Future Vision and Shopping Adventures! The sea, and the city of Regalport: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red) A repentant Cicero brought Peri, along with Egon, to the Golden Oak district and relayed everything the Prince had told him. The three talked about their plans for a while before Peri expressed an interest in being by herself for a bit; Egon and Cicero then went on their own adventure to the Regalport Magus Guild. There they met Eldar Eyrindor, head of the Guild, who was very kind to them in the name of his old friend and mentor Ernan and even offered a tour of the magic district. In the middle of their tour they were joined by Khord, and then all of them headed to the Keep of Eyes to have their fortunes read by Lady Miri. Khord politely refused a reading, while Cicero and Egon both gladly accepted, and received a spooky, tarot-style reading with elements of the past, present, and future. Cicero was reminded of the risk he took in his past, along with his nature of being too trusting, and was urged to, in present, spend more time with a certain young man or woman--which he thought was probably Peri. For the future, he must remember not to rush into things too quickly, as the best things in life take time. In his own reading, Egon was reminded of a life of wealth in his past, and a possibility of wealth coming again, and was told of an individual he must reconcile with, possibly even forgive. For the future, he must remember to keep moving forward. After parting with Eldar the three companions met up with Peri again and found her to be glowing faintly green--which could have been alarming, except they all suddenly remembered that she often glowed green and it wasn't a surprise at all (???). They headed back to their new house to get the lay of the land and make further plans. Cicero left on a shopping adventure: Egon to his new workroom to tinker, on a project for Peri: and Peri herself to go to the Magis Guild that she had missed before, to offer them the little spell-book of Ernid's that he had given to her as he died. Cicero went on a shopping adventure! One of the very first shops he entered, Familiar Faces, was owned by a Gnome Artificer who had mastered the art of the Find Familiar spell, binding it to various stones so that the user could summon a companion by breaking the stone. Cicero, perhaps a little over-excited with the power of having so much money, promptly bought a stone to summon a Fey Hawk. He then went to the East Gate, searching for a cloak, and met a pair of identical men, with the cloaks of dead people. Cicero declined their goods, including the 'world's hottest pepper', despite their promises of the pepper's great powers of vitality. Cicero also encountered a pickpocket and with a try and unseen spellwork painted “LIAR” on his forehead, but got promptly pickpocketed himself by a bard with strikingly blue eyes and blonde hair. Sad face, but Cicero will continue to look out for this mysterious thief. Khord went pet-shopping! After meeting a ferocious grey-black bear as an option, Khord bonded with a wolf named Bloodtooth as a companion, impressing the former owner who had believed the creature to be untamable. Peri went to the magus guild, where she met Eldar herself and presented him Ernid’s book in a tearful moment: Eldar was Ernid’s apprentice a long time ago, and he is grateful to the Bermuda Hex and Peri for being with him in his last moments. He offered the book back to Peri, stating that it's only real value was sentimental and clearly in that regard it's value to her was enormous. The two really embrace, and the moment seemed to mean a lot to Eldar, who really loved Ernid. In light of this connection Eldar offered a better reading to Peri in the Keep of Eyes--Lady Miri who had done readings for the others was available but he passed her by. Instead, Peri was taken to meet the most potent mystic in the keep, used by the prince on many occasions--a BIG DEAL. In an eccentrically-decorated chamber, brightly lit with beads, Peri went in alone to find an excitable woman Tabaxi sitting at the table. The woman introduced herself as Dream. Rather than a card-reading she gave a palm-reading, clasping Peri's small hand in her own and beginning to sway, humming, as the lights grew dark. She spoke of a past filled with happiness, good family, ideas of adventure, lights are bright yellow. Of a present filled with sadness, friends dying around her, lights are somber blue--for while they were able to escape to Regalport, she was afraid she didn’t do enough, blaming herself some for their deaths. The future part of the reading spoke of a goal. An island of treasures and monsters, her future seeming to lead there as the room went dark purple; she will go to Trebaz Sinara after a lot of trials, taking her friends there. The reading took a turn to a more disturbing place as, tightly holding her hands, the seer's voice grew strange and demonic: “THERE IS DEATH UPON YOUR WAY, FRIENDS, ENEMIES, THEY WILL DIE AS YOU WATCH. YOU WILL BE BETRAYED BY THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU. You will be sitting on a deserted island and those closest to you will lay on the ground before you." Peri didn't get all the details, since as soon as the creepy voice started talking she started yelling at it, denouncing it as a fucking liar and demanding that whatever was speaking leave Dream alone. Back at the house, with everyone reunited, a courier arrived with their first mission, and everyone gathered to hear the message read aloud. Another prince of the Lhizzar Principalities is dead - his son, Verieos Belastorm, has taken control of the Traglorn Isles (an isle of shifters). Apparently people from the Tempest Isles have been coming over, and a powerful magic-user naming herself the 'Sorceress of the silent sea' has murdered the former prince. The Bermuda Hex is therefore needed immediately to try and defeat the sorceress and her cultists, with the mission earning them 2 months rent on their house and any other gold they managed to earn on the way. The group accepted the mission, and started to prepare themselves to leave as soon as it became necessary!

Session 12: A Very Merry Birthday, with Weed and Fish! The city of Regalport and surroundings: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red) Bermuda Hex were informed that they had at least a month before their big mission to assist the new prince needed to kick into gear, so they decided to use their time wisely and find some other jobs to do around town. They first went to the military to see about missions and were told "These missions are for military only, get lost scrubs." Undeterred, the next stop was the city watch center in the northern half of the city. These were open to anyone and help was sorely needed. Included in the job postings were: A manhunt, to find a pirate captain - "Captain Meathook", whom they had previously met at the arena in Tantamar. A request from an old man to deal with the Giant Magical Fish in his harbor. An investigation of a Really Big Something that, while it had not caused any real problems, kept leaving tracks around the farms at night and scaring the farmers A near-impossible task of convincing the southern snobs in the military sector to help protect the northern half of the city. Bermuda Hex, being a group with their priorities straight, went straight to check out the Giant Magical Fish situation. There they met a tall Firlbog man named Soft who was a druid and was very chill. Very, very, very chill. Soft informed the gang that the old man, a friend of his, had unfortunately died just recently--and the team judged him to be sincere. Soft himself was, however, willing to pay for them to find the fish, as it never was fully visible and he wanted to see what kind of super rad and gnarly beast it was. He requested in the strongest of terms that the creature be unharmed, and while Bermuda Hex was not known for their skills in the arena of nonlethal damage they agreed to try as best they could. The team camps out until midday, at which point Cicero summoned his Fey Hawk companion and started to scout out the harbor. With a brief diversion to fish a nearly-naked dwarf out of the lake, who claimed that he had fallen through a portal from hell, they waited at the side of the harbor (Khord) and in a boat. Around midday the creature did indeed make its way into the harbor and was seen to be HUGE, about 200 ft out, with large whiskers. Through some awesome grapple-work, Fish-hickeys, and teamwork, the gang restrained the fish and dragged it to shore: whereupon Peri, trying to knock it out with a blast of magical power, instead blasted its face clean off. While Soft was initially very upset at the death on closer examination it was actually an abomination, twisted magically from its original form into a monster. Most of the party, along with Soft, were reassurred by this knowlege and agreed that it was good that they had killed the creature: Peri, on the other hand, was extremely upset to find that she was apparently very bad at not killing things. At least Egon got some great samples, and the party got 150g each for their troubles. The party then decided to check out the mission of the mysterious huge tracks, although Peri was reluctant and still downcast. There were cart tracks visible as well as the tracks of some kind of creature: the party travelled through the woods following the tracks, and found a half-orc named Grum with a giant bat and a carriage pulled by 4 fine horses. Grum, eating hellhound, told his story of fighting a group of fire elementals, through a complicated series of events. Grum was taking a break from his adventure and looking for a lady to settle down with. He then entreats Egon to tell a story around the fire! Egon’s story was of his father who saw that there was opportunity for gold and travelled far across the sea to Sharn, finding many mildly-attractive women there: Grum was grateful for the story but not too interested, and entreated a story from each person, with the story of the Bermuda Hex from Cicero, the story of Perseus from Khord, and the story of a high raptor attack from Peri. Satisfied by the stories, Grum gifted each member with gold and let them share his camp, departing before they awoke in the morning but leaving a delicious cake behind to share.

Session 13: Very Admirable Adventurers, and A Scuffle at Sea The city of Regalport, and the sea: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red)  There was downtime as Khord spent most of his time training with the fighters' guild, which the members of Bermuda Hex used in different ways. Egon worked hard on both his own projects and on healing potions for the other members of the group; Peri worked in her garden, went around the city getting to know people and the lay of the land, and visited her seer friend Dream; and Cassandra and Cicero stayed busy with their own interests. They did try and fill some of their time by doing a few jobs for the City Watch: they re-encountered their friend Grum and took a job to go to the North Watch Keep and help them gain some discipline. On reaching the keep, they found it staffed almost entirely by 14-16 year old kids, with one adult--Captain Dawnfowl--in charge. The Captain requested that the Hex, as adventurers, attempt to talk to the 'soldiers' and instill in them the importance of discipline. However, it's possible he didn't know exactly what he was requesting. Peri, as usual, took the lead and made a try of it--particularly gaining the attention of the male members of the fort when she opened up her shirt to show her scars--and did manage to gain their attention to a certain degree, as did Cassandra. Egon was more diplomatic and won some of the young watchmen over with his appeal to the benefits of discipline. Things did go slightly off the rails when one of the boys, from the Tantamar Tunnel Drake gang, accused Khord (who seemed to have no memory of the incident) of 'murdering' his fellow gang member Butch, saying that while Butch did threaten Khord with a knife because he wanted revenge for loosing a talent competition, he really was just a good kid who wanted to go home to his momma and Khord murdered him with his lance. Another kid claimed that he had seen Cass murder a dwarf in cold blood in Tantamar, to which Cass protested that it was a fight and when the dwarf brought a weapon in what was supposed to be a fistfight she only did the same, to defend herself. Peri's argument, that it is surprisingly difficult to not kill people, didn't hold much sway, and it was Egon who again calmed down the crowd. In the end, at least some of the kids seemed determined to start taking their jobs seriously--if only to prove themselves better than the members of Bermuda Hex. On returning to their house, the party found a letter waiting from Dream saying that she had had a vision, and they needed to head off on their mission straight away--because the sorceress was planning to attack the prince (sp?)Varius. They set off on a ship chartered by prince Rhygar, taking the several-week journey to the isle of Traglorn without major incident. On reaching their destination, they were met by an aide of the prince who explained the situation to the party. The sorceress apparently called herself 'the sorceress of the silent seas'. Peri decided that this was too much of a tonguetwister and the sorceress was hereby known as 'Sally'. The Hex went on to the Silverlight Manor to meet with the prince and some nobles, where their mission was explained in more detail. The Tempest Isle, where the sorceress had set up camp, had once been inhabited by some of the changelings who now only live on Traglorn before the sorceress took over, and apparently the citadel where she had set up her base had a secret cliff-side entrance built by the original owners, that could be reached by ship. High Prince Rhygar wants the sorceress captured alive and brought to him, which Prince Varius expressed in the strongest possible terms, emphasizing the debt his people owe the High Prince. The Bermuda Hex was doubtful about this aspect of the mission, not having any luck previously with not killing their opponents, but agreed to at least make an attempt to capture Sally, whether by stealth assault, knocking her out in her sleep, or just a nonlethal strike of a melee weapon. The prince also requested that the party find and bring back as many soul gems as possible: Sally uses them to raise the dead, while the changeling folk want them to make rad fashion. The party went to the town's Tavern, trading post, and docks to try and get as much information as possible about Sally; and got a good amount of background on her, her cultists, and the dangerous Tempest Isle. They then set off on the Fast Lily, the prince's swiftest ship, for their destination. On the way they were confronted with a raiding party of merrows, merfolk, and a sea hag. A fierce battle ensued, wherein the most deadly blows were struck by the hag and her lightning bolts; at various points Cass, Khord, and the captain were all blasted into unconsciousness, and both Egon and Peri were also nearly killed in a single blow each. Fortunately with a combination of Peri's Healing Words and Egon's various potions and draughts, everyone was revived either during or after the battle. The enemy were wiped out, the hag herself being blasted apart with a final shot from Peri, and there was momentary quiet on the deck of the Lily. Peri was distraught at her perceived inability to heal as well as she should, especially the fact that at various points she chose to heal the captain over her friends. Egon, sympathetically, offered her some of the Soft's Special Select 'herbs' from his stash, and she smoked them with relief. Maybe it's only the weed, but suddenly the odds against them seemed a little more surmountable.

Session 14: Macho Macho Men (and Women) Tempest Isle: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Cassandra Kislány (Irene), Cicero Fijor, the Chainbreaker (Lore), Egon Atoms (Red) Bermuda Hex was able to rest and recover as their vessel made its way surreptitiously to the cliffside where the secret passage supposedly opened up. While the Fast Lily waited off-shore, they then made their way by row-boat to the tiny strip of beach and cave-mouth that marked the tunnel's beginning. There was signs of previous visitors in the cave--and a few mushroom-creatures that the party had little trouble putting down--and the actual well-disguised entrance to the secret tunnel was uncovered by Khord. On entering, the party found themselves in a long passageway, with a door to their immediate left. On entering the room they found a ghost, who attacked them on the behalf of its 'mistress': Peri damaged it severely on her first attack and, enraged, the ghost possessed her. Her friends of course didn't want to hurt her: Cass first tried to grapple her but was unable to due to the halfling's surprising strength, before Egon used his magic talisman to get it to grovel so they could bind Peri's body. He then convinced it to emerge, and he (along with Cass and Peri) tried to negotiate with the spirit, wondering if it really wanted to serve its 'mistress', who had bound it in order to protect her soul gems. The ghost professed that it wanted to be set free from its magical bindings: Peri deduced that if not freed, it was bound to the room and no threat to them, so managed to deceive the ghost into thinking they were going to free it when they really just left the chamber and shut the door. Down the hall there was another door: this one revealed undead foes in the form of animate skeletons. The party slammed the door on the skeletons, but realized the flimsy barrier wouldn't hold forever and wrenched it back open to all attack at once. They triumphed, in no small part due to Khord's skill with his lance. The newly cleared chamber revealed an old and moldering bunkroom, and a few sea chests with a little loot. Just down the hall were different chambers, these barred with metal and containing prisoners--civilian sacrifices that the cult members called 'the blessed'. After getting all the information the prisoners had, the Hex sent them off to escape back to the Lily, and stayed to plan their next move. They had just about decided to wait and ambush the cultists when they got in a scuffle with still more skeletons in a side passageway. After winning the battle our heroes took a long rest to recover and ambushed the 2 cultists who came in the morning to kill the prisoners. They then teamed up to interrogate the prisoners. The first gave few results, mostly spouting fervent cult-y nonsense; the second, however, on being awakened proceeded to accuse his partner (whom he called 'Ratfucker') of numerous crimes against the sorceress. He agreed to escort our heroes to the sorceress, saying that she was sure to pardon them for letting the prisoners free since they helped capture this traitor. On entering the sorceress' throne room--unnervingly packed full of enemies--a tense stand-off that might have ended in disaster was turned on its head when two unexpected old friends appeared: Gordo and Father Don! To our heroes enormous surprise they had survived their near-deaths at the Battle of Tantamar, and were now here just in time to lend some much-needed assistance. A ferocious battle followed, with the good guys many times near death, mostly due to the sorceress' vicious fireballs: fortunately, Peri's healing words and Egon's healing draughts were powerfully backed up Father Don's cleric healing spells. After many blows exchanged the sorceress was eventually defeated, with a serious blow being struck by Cicero's Lightning Lure before she was carefully knocked nonlethally unconcious, and the few surviving cultists losing their will to fight on seeing their leader killed. Gordo told the Hex the thrilling story of his unlikely survival and how he came to find them in their hour of need (Peri was perticularly touched to find that reports spoke of "Their leader, a short, excitable halfling.") Enemy felled and loot procured, it came to pass that in one day the Hex's members were halved: Peri spilled the secret that she had had to fight to keep before, that Gordo had a huge crush on Cass: Cass, who hadn't realized, was flattered and admitted that she had always liked Gordo as well. The excitable wizard revealed that he was planning to take up the boat business and could use a competend person like Cassandra: she agreed, and left with him. Cicero, similarly, was offered the position of Sorcerer of Tempest Isle: While the fallen sorceress had taken the position by force, it did need to be filled: and he found that he wanted to give it a try. So it was that another mission ended for Bermuda Hex: successful, but somehow...sad.

Session 15: Time for Interns The city of Regalport: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade (Ginny), Khordin Mardal Deneith (Brett), Donny Blackwater (Travis), Egon Atoms (as NPC) On returning to Regalport and reporting to Prince Rhygar, the party received his sympathies on several of their members moving on; however, he still saw the need for a team of adventurers to go out and do the jobs that neither soldiers or scholars were really suited for. To that end, he was putting in motion the foundation of an adventurer's guild and wanted the remaining members' opinions during the recruitment process. In fact, there was already one prospective recruit: the son of Otis, who had fallen at the battle of Tantamar, had been asking after Bermuda Hex. Peri took the time while they were in audience with the prince to put forward the guards' concerns about how overwhelming their jobs where and how it seemed like the soldiers could be helping, and the prince heard her out but argued that he had his reasons for the way things were and wasn't really in a position to improve things. Peri debated with him for a bit before Khord, no doubt feeling Cass and Cicero's loss more than ever, took it upon himself to cover her mouth with his hand and say their goodbyes. Peri also hugged the prince, to the scandalized gasps of the nearby maids. On returning home, Peri, Khord, and Egon found the recruit, a young human with the look of a farmhand who introduced himself as Donny. He didn't make a very good first impression, and neither did our heroes, fresh off a hard mission and too used to death to sugarcoat the facts of his father Otis' death at Tantamar. Khord did try and pick Peri up to carry her off to avoid a scene but she broke free, surprisingly strong. The three members agreed to take Donny, now unwillingly nicknamed 'Scooter', on as a sort of intern, in accordance with Prince Rhygar's wishes. Khord went to visit Bloodtooth, Donny cooked dinner, and Egon Identified the ring that Peri had claimed from Cy's body seemingly forever as a Ring of Mind Shielding--with a soul inside. Disinclined to deal with haunted rings, Peri put it away rather than putting it on. Donny brought a plate out to Peri who continued to be unimpressed, this time due to him mansplaining gardening to her; apparently clueless why he wasn't liked Donny retreated indoors, and Khord avoided the whole mess HARD. After eating, Donny wanted to visit the north side of Regalport, which meant that a member had to accompany him so that they could show their official pin and go to and from the south side. Donny went to the markets for farmers and bought seeds while Khord did his own shopping for necessities. Peri visited her friend Dream, and cried copiously over her missing friends and the stress of being the only one who seemed to make decisions for the team. Dream also revealed that she has foreseen her own death--a death by drowning. Peri swore to try and prevent it if she could, and promised that the two friends would sneak out of Dream's tower some time so the cloistered seer could get a little fresh air. Peri also went to visit the little seedling she had planted by the Spellcliffe edge and found it thriving, rainbow-colored and happy in the magic-rich soil. That evening, things were more awkward than ever, since the original plan of one big room with bunkbeds didn't work so well now that they were no longer a close-knit group. Peri, missing Cicero terribly, slept on the roof--not leaving even in the rain. Donny wasn't able to get her to come inside, but left her his shield, which she slept on to stay out of puddles. Donny slept in the bunkroom, and Khord literally dove out of a window to avoid social interaction. The next morning, Donny made breakfast--which was perfectly edible, if nothing great--which Peri ate despite a mild case of the sniffles. Khord arrived, after being out all night, and was scolded fiercely and put to bed by Peri. Unsurprisingly, due to his affection allergy, he left again: Peri let it be, figuring he needed some time to himself and would come back, but Donny wasn't willing to let it lie and went out to try and find him. Having no idea where to start, he didn't have any luck; he DID learn more about the northern part of Regalport, especially the slums, with which he was extremely unimpressed. Eventually giving up finding Khord he went back to the house, tried unsuccessfully to make nice to Peri, and started toying around with the idea of a soup kitchen. Khord returned in his own time, carrying a secretly-purchased item, and joined them in another mediocre meal prepared by Donny. The household was awkward if not actively hostile that night, and with one more member: Khord's purchase, a tiny but perfect bonsai Party Tree, a gift from the stoic fighter for Peri.

Session 16: a Group but not a Team The city of Regalport and surroundings: Periwinkle 'Peri' Thornglade, Khordin Mardal Deneith, Donny Blackwater, DD, Tik-Tik Per the prince's request, his general took our heroes to meet the prospective members of the adventurer's guild, of which there were surprisingly many. Peri and Khord lined them up and told them to form into pairs, which would then fight 2-on-2 to show their mettle. One contestant, a poncy Air Genasi with an absurd name, seemed to think he was above the proceedings and was clearly superior: being knocked out by a single Eldritch Blast from Peri knocked the wind our of his sails, and he left declaring that he didn't want to be in the stupid club anyway. The remaining people paired up and squared off in the arena. The first face-off was a kender and a thri-keen versus an orcish mage and a swashbuckly human man. The orc was quickly defeated by the thri-keen's swords and the kender's spells, leaving only the swashbuckler versus two opponents--a contest in which he was AMAZING. A long, drawn-out scuffle followed, in which the swashbuckler got in many good blows and handily dodged his opponents' efforts to strike back. The kender druid was felled, leaving only his barbarian partner, who through sheer doggedness eventually managed to win. Khord and Peri met with the winning team, who introduced themselves as DD and Tik-Tik. Peri also made a point of personally congratulating the swashbuckler, Salazar, telling him that all he needed was to work on his team play and he would be welcome to adventure with them any time. The other face-offs didn't reveal any stand-out contestants that they wanted to immediately add to the party, so everyone went back to the house, where Scooter diligently prepared a meal while the others napped (and Peri fell over Khord in gratitude for her wonderful tree gift). Whether his food was mediocre or wonderful our heroes weren't to learn, because Tik-Tik tore in and wrecked the whole thing, leaving Donny PISSED. He tried to make something edible with what was left, and got to know DD a little. Due to Tik-Tik's consistent mess-making the two newest recruits were sent outside--where Tik-Tik promptly started to make a mess in Peri's front garden. She stopped him in his tracks with a Shocking Grasp, leaving him very confused and sad, ad DD tried to explain what he'd done wrong and took him to an untended part of the back yard. A square drawn in the dirt around Tik-Tik seemed to hold mysterious power over his impulses as he obeyed its constraints and didn't wander off to cause more havoc. In the morning, Donny prepared breakfast which was...adequate! Peri was reluctantly impressed. They set off on the prince's mission to see what the orc scouting party was up to (after first erasing Tik-Tik's dirt box so he could come too). On the road, the druid traveled stealthily in panther form while Peri tried to get to know Tik-Tik more by speaking with him using Awakened Mind. They made a plan on finding the orc camp to attempt to drug the raiding party before attacking, and DD turned into a weasel in order to drop a package of very special plants into the orc's campfire. Unfortunately, the orcs spotted him and were hungry enough to go after what they thought was a weasel: and as one hit him, he turned back into his kinder form. The fight between the two groups went on for a while, with the orcs being handily led by a shaman and our party not yet used to each other's abilities, however the Bermuda Hex (and interns) eventually triumphed, as the shaman surrendered and swore to tell all he knew in exchange for eventually getting to go free. According to the shaman, the raiding party came from Prince Mike Rockface's island, sent by her to find relics--remnants of a demonic orc tribe. Accordingly, the orc party's warchief had gone ahead to the ritual site, along with the infant sacrifice required to summon a demon. Fortunately the ritual could only happen after moonrise, giving our heroes plenty of time. A disagreement then arose about whether or not to kill the shaman prisoner, with DD arguing for execution, Peri for letting him go, and the other 3 members not offering much argument for either side. Peri was under the impression that the captive was only interested in getting back home, and figured that he wouldn't be bringing back any information the enemy didn't already know: while DD argued that leaving any potential enemy alive wasn't worth the risk. DD repeated that he was planning to kill the orc no matter what the other party members thought, and Peri told him that he could go along with the group or be fired. Everyone tried to take a short rest under this tense atmosphere...with nothing really decided.