Summary

Date: 06/12/02 PF

Answering Zoraviel's call, a party gathered and set out with hopes of driving out the bandit presence east of the city. After passing through Helleron, a group of farmers on horseback approached the party. They had heard tell that the Stray Dogs were mustering a raid on their farmstead and sought aid from the party and any other adventurers they could find in fighting off the bandits. The party agreed to help the farmers in their plight and while they succeeded in protecting the farm, the patriarch of the farmers, Matani, was attacked by his own son who had joined up with the Stray Dogs and both father and son fell during the conflict.

As the odds turned against them, the last few bandits turned to flee but were pursued and captured by the party. The bandits revealed little more than a general direction to the monastery they called home during questioning, but in a moment of religious camaraderie they were spared and set free by Morrigan. Acting on what little intel was available, the party left the now bloodstained farmstead for the monastery.

Having fashioned disguises from the fallen bandit's clothing, the party snuck into the monastery, eventually reaching a cathedral at its heart. Within, the party were confronted by three figures, a white-haired disciple of Laianath, an elven mage, and a warrior by the name of Belgrad. Zoraviel treated with the priest, who returned the mark that had been placed upon the Stray Dogs before offering to give the party the relics desired by the Cult of the Eternal Sun. The warrior Belgrad bristled at this offering, but the priest made good on it and handed over three gilded scrolls. Leaving the party with the message that it was Belgrad's time, the priest and mage teleported away and the cathedral erupted in combat.

In a brief but harrowing encounter, the party discovered that Belgrad bore the curse of lycanthropy. A curse which he threatened to pass on to all those he bit, including Morrigan and Terra. Ultimately, the party prevailed over the enraged warrior before making a quick retreat from the cathedral, having acquired the relics they needed. On the return to Ariminium, the party debated at length what to do with the scrolls, but ultimately they chose to give them over to the cult, though perhaps not with any enthusiasm.

Results

• Found the monastery controlled by the Stray Dogs
• Recovered the relics needed by the cult to restore the Cathedral of Eternity
• Defeated the were-cursed Belgrad

Rumors

• a man trapped in an obsidian cell within the old dungeons of Helleron seeks aid in slaying a demon
• tales of witchcraft and mudmen dragging unfortunate travelers into the swamps to the east
• at the base of a mountain to the north rests a creepy graveyard, supposedly frequented by local children
• bounty posting for a blood feaster in the plains north of Ariminium

Loot

Experience: 360xp/player

Gold: 35gp

Permanent Items

Total Value: 165gp (27gp 5sp/player)

Summary

Date: 06/05/02 PF

Following the directions provided on a previous visit to Metellinum, a party returned prepared to entreat with the vampiric lord of the city in exchange for the inks and other materials needed to restore the archives of Ariminium. After a brief, violent reception, the party was greeted by Lord Edward Carrell who offered them the opportunity to partake in three trials in exchange for the materials they sought, as well as other boons the lord offered. The party quickly completed the first trial, solving a puzzle to earn the requested materials. The second trial was another puzzle which proved more challenging but was ultimately bested and the party was rewarded with a substantial amount of loot from the Lord's vast wealth. The third trial promised combat with the Lord's son and his retinue in exchange for even greater wealth and unique "gifts" only an undead lord can provide. Though tempted, the party ultimately decided to quite while ahead and returned to Ariminium, leaving the third trial to be completed by another group of adventurers seeking wealth, glory, and necrotic power.

Results

• Treated with Lord Edward Carrell, earning his favor
• Completed the Lord's first trial, obtaining the materials required to restore the Archives of Ariminium
• Completed the Lord's second trial, earning experience and loot
• Opened the Lord's third trial to be completed in the future

Loot

Experience: 400xp/player

Gold: 81gp

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 293gp (55gp 6sp/player)

Summary

Date: 04/24/02 PF

At the behest of Captain Seneral, the party gathered in Helleron to aid the legion in laying siege to Castle Helleron in hopes of finally driving the Sanctarum tribe from the city. Taking advantage of the chaos created by the Legion’s charge, the party made their way into the castle and secured the great hall. Within, they recruited the assistance of a Hakzin named Horse and Gardens who agreed to break the magical seals protecting the ritual chamber so the party could enter and free the tribe from their current leader, Savage Locust. Before she could break the seal, however, the party had to scavenge materials from across the castle, dealing with both a vengeful spirit and several more Hakzin in their search.

After Horse and Gardens broke the seal, the party entered the ritual chamber within the castle’s chapel and fought Savage Locust and her loyal thralls. Throughout the fight, Savage Locust called upon hellish forces to empower her minions and even bring them back from death, seemingly drawing her powers from a trio of floating obsidian stones. Upon her death, her minions vanished in swirls of red and an obelisk made of the same obsidian material and etched with Cthonic text burst from her chest. Making contact with the object in an attempt to take a rubbing of the carvings, Ianthésmyne disappeared in a swirl of red energy. Despite their injuries, the rest of the party leapt after Myne, finding themselves in a chapel similar to the one they left but bathed in red light filtering through the windows. Within the chapel was a goat-like demon who briefly entertained a conversation with Eleanor before combat broke out. Not fully recovered from the fight with Savage Locust, the party struggled against the demon, doing their best to hold out for a chance to escape. Mercifully, the doors to chapel began glowing with golden light after a short time and the party could hear the voice of Horse and Gardens calling them to flee while she holds open the way back. Though the party managed to escape the demon, the black obelisk remains in the heart of Castle Helleron, perhaps awaiting a more prepared group of heroes to purge it once and for all.

Returning to Captain Seneral, the party reported their success and the Legion began preparations for the next steps of restoring the city. In the wake of Savage Locust’s death, Horse and Gardens took command of the Sanctarum tribe and promised to return them to their traditional ways of life out on the plains.

Results

• Defeated Savage Locust, breaking her demonic hold on the Sanctarum tribe
• Installed Horse and Gardens as the new leader of the Sanctarum
• Freed Helleron from Sanctarum control

Rumors

On the return to Ariminium, the party heard rumors from local farmers:

• Vampires in the plains to the north of the city
• After visiting a graveyard, a farmer was reunited with his wife who he hadn’t seen for several years

Loot

Experience: 380xp/player

Gold: 47gp

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 141gp (35gp 2sp 5cp/player)

Summary

Launch Date: 04/07/02 PF

Return Date: 04/17/02 PF

The party ventured out along the old cobbled road to the north in search of the city of Mettelinum and its archives. After two full days of travel, the party encountered Gatius, an orc who served Isael during the reckoning, camping in the shadow of a solitary tree in the expansive planes. After The Wall agreed to and won a duel against the veteran, the party was granted access to his camp for the night.

The next day, the party stumbled across a trail branching off the main road leading to a heavily fortified farmstead. Avoiding the numerous pit traps along the trail, the party approached the farmstead and were greeted by the husband and wife who live there. While the couple was reluctant to grant entry to strangers, they shared rumors of goings on in the north and promised to open their gates to travelers should the party deal with a pair of Tatzlwyrms who had been terrorizing the area. The party agreed to these terms before returning to the main road and continuing on their way. After another day of travel, the party found the Tatzlwyrms’ lair and defeated them, fulfilling their end of the deal.

Early in the fifth day of the journey, the skies ahead filled with thick, dark clouds appearing like a wall on the horizon. Travel onwards lead into raging blizzards and snow-covered wastes. Knowing Mettelinum was near, the party pushed on despite the cold, their tenacity quickly rewarded by the sight of walls and ruined buildings in the distance. Making their way into the ruined city, rent asunder by a vast mountain range carving through its center, the party was ambushed by an undead butler who preferred to speak on behalf of the Lord of the city. The butler, easily identified as a vampire, told the party to return to the city prepared to offer themselves to the Lord of Mettelinum and in exchange they may find he is amicable enough to part with some of the contents of his sanctum (the archives the party initially set out to find). He then ushered the party out of the city, revealing that his presence was holding dozens of other much hungrier undead at bay.

Results

• Discovered a route to the northwestern half of Mettelinum
  • Learned of the Lord of Mettelinum
• Defeated the Tatzlwyrms, opening up Brutus’ Farm as a safe location

Loot

Experience: 260xp/player

Gold: 17gp

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 58gp

Summary

Launch Date: 03/??/02 PF

Return Date: 04/04/02 PF

Responding to a request for aid from Captain Senarel, acting commander of the Legion presence in Helleron and leader of the efforts to reclaim the city, the party arrived in Helleron on 04/01/02 PF. The party met up with Sergeant Pallia in the southeastern quarter of the city where they were instructed to infiltrate an armory and foundry held by the Sanctarum Hakzin tribe in an attempt to reclaim the Everburning Flame within.

The party successfully broke through the Sanctarum’s defenses and fought their way through several Hakzin guards to reach the foundry’s heart. The Hakzin fought with a violent fervor, the result of regular consumption of demonic blood that had turned them into loyal thralls with no sense of self-preservation. At the foundry’s heart, the party encountered Irnonak, right hand of the demon lord of Helleron and the priest maintaining the Everburning Flame within the armory. After defeating Irnonak, the party was able to claim the Everburning Flame and narrowly escape the armory as it collapsed around them.

Results

• Defeated Irnonak, removing the armory from Sanctarum control
• Claimed the Everburning Flame

Loot

Experience: 480xp/player

Gold: 85gp

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 265gp (44gp 1sp 6cp/player + 4cp)

Summary

Launch Date: 03/18/02 PF

Return Date: 03/24/02 PF

Party traveled east following the southern bank of the river for about 12 miles before veering south to continue their travels on a road running parallel to the river. On the road, the party encountered a group of four bandits belonging to the group known as the Stray Dogs, avoiding violence by surrendering some food and a handful of trinkets.

After another day of travel, following the road as it turned southeast, the party found the outskirts of the ruined town of Helleron, the western quarter of which appeared occupied by the Ariminium military. Taking shelter in a ruined building, the party was attacked in the night by a Kholo scouting party bearing an insignia depicting a hand with 3 rings pierced through the palm. The next day, the party spotted a warband flying banners with a simliar insignia occupying the central portion of the town.

Leaving the town following the road further east, the party eventually stumbled across an agent of the Nocte Pallia who warned that continuing on would lead to swamps and offered to procure a ferry across the river. The man also shared that farmland, windmills, and poachers could be found north of the river, the Stray Dogs operated out of a base somewhere further south, and the military presence in Helleron was being led by an up-and-coming captain looking to prove himself by holding back the Kholo warband (seemingly successfully thus far).

Following the man's advice, the party turned back and began working south in search of the bandit's camp. Before traveling too far, however, they encountered a man traveling by cart along the road, having been displaced from his home by the bandits. He shared rumors that the Stray Dogs were holed up in a former Yamman monastery somewhere southeast of his home, which was itself about a days travel south by southeast from Helleron. Taking stock of remaining supplies, the party decided to accompany the man and protect him from the dangers of the road on the way back to Ariminium.

Discoveries

• Helleron - approx 18mi E + 6mi SE along the river (8 hexes/2 days)
  • Western quarter occupied by Arminium military
  • Central quarter occupied by Kholo warband
• The Ferryman - approx 27mi E + 9mi SE along the road (12 hexes/3 days)
  • Nocte Pallia agent found under an oak tree, offered a ferry across the river for 1gp per person

Leads

• The Stray Dogs - bandits holed-up in a Yamman monastery somewhere to the southeast
  • rough info places them in the area of 45 mi ESE (15 hexes/3.75 days)
• Poachers - poachers somewhere north of the river

Loot

Experience: 270xp/player

Coin: 15gp

Consumables

Materials

Total Value: 28gp (5gp 6sp/player)

Summary

Date: 03/08/02 PF

Party delved into the sewers and waterways beneath the city in the Old Quarter, following directions of contacts from the Nocte Pallia. After evading a dangerous abomination while navigating a maze of tunnels, the party emerged into an old shelter connected to the subterranean canals. Exploring the connected rooms and passages lead to a confrontation with hollows in an abandoned storeroom. After besting the hollows, the party found the body of a Nocte agent carrying an override shaft marked with a flame, though the contacts denied any foreknowledge of their fellow agent's presence. Further explorations uncovered a locked passage to further canals, extensive catacombs behind a vault door unlocked with the override shaft, and the abandoned smugglers' den the party had been tasked with securing. Before returning to the surface, the party investigated the chamber before the catacombs, finding documents indicating a growing sickness among the former inhabitants of the shelter, forcing significant chunks of the population and their dead to be moved to the western burial grounds. Amongst the documents was also a bronze disk marked with a fire symbol akin to the one on the override shaft, as well as the motto of the Ordo Operum Publicorum etched on its reverse.

Results

• Cleared a path to the smugglers' den
• Unlocked door to the Western Burial Grounds
• Found the bronze disk meta item

Loot

Experience: 230xp/player

Gold: 28gp

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 59gp (9gp 7sp 3cp/player + 2cp)

Summary

Launch Date: 02/20/02 PF

Return Date: 02/28/02 PF

Party delved into the Bonechime Cave seeking to rescue the captured merchants of The Copper Finch from the resident goblin tribe. The goblins, later identified as the Ironshriek Tribe, had been press-ganged into service by an orc paladin of Yamma named Okkai who had gone mad since his god's death. After fighting through the cave, the party confronted and ultimately defeated Okkai, freeing the remaining goblins from his rule. The party was also able to rescue the majority of the merchants, though four had unfortunately already been killed and eaten by Okkai in what appeared to be a perverse attempt to restore his god. Informing the remaining goblins of Okkai's death, the party was permitted to leave peacefully and with the stolen cargo in tow, in exchange for a promise that the Ironshriek's would be left alone going forward.

Results

• Cleared the Bonechime Cave
• Recovered the crew and cargo of The Copper Finch
• Defeated Okkai and restored peace to the Ironshriek goblins

Loot

Experience: 495xp/player

Coin: 28gp + 20gp bounty for rescuing merchants

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 232gp (58gp/player)

Summary

Launch Date: 02/11/02 Post-Fall

Return Date: 02/17/02 PF

Party traveled south along the coastline in search of the missing merchant vessel, The Copper Finch. Approximately 12 miles south by southwest, the party stumbled across a seemingly abandoned fishing village. Upon investigating, reanimated corpses of the former villagers attacked the party but were defeated with minimal injuries incurred. Further investigation indicates that the village was attack by a heavily armored servant of Narvox or possibly Marzak, who slaughtered the villagers and desecrated their shrine to Isael. No evidence of necromantic magics were found; the party then performed the appropriate funerary rites for the 14 villagers and re-consecrated the destroyed shrine.

After another day and a half of uneventful travel, the party discovered the wreck of The Copper Finch in a shallow tide pool almost 30 miles south, likely struck by a storm. Though thoroughly destroyed and picked clean of anything worth recovering, the wreckage showed no signs of hostile activity. The ship's manifest confirmed the expected crew and cargo had been on route to Ariminium before the wreck. Two sets of footprints trailed inland from the wreck, one assumed to be the surviving crew, the other appeared goblinoid and was lead by a larger creature, perhaps an orc. Following the tracks, the party discovered a cave leading into a stony ridge formed around the edge of an apparent impact crater. The tracks lead into the cave, identifiable by the bone chimes strung up around the mouth, and all available evidence suggests the crew and cargo of The Copper Finch are being held captive by a goblin tribe at least a dozen strong.

Running low on supplies, the party returned to Ariminium with what intel they could gather in hopes of launching a dedicated expedition into the cave to recover what remains of the Finch.

Discoveries

Desecrated Fishing Village (cleared) - approx 12mi SxSW along coast (4 hexes/1 day)

Wreck of The Copper Finch (cleared) - approx 30mi S along coast (10 hexes/2.5 days)

The Bonechime Cave - approx 39mi S (13 hexes/3.25 days)

Loot

Experience:** 200xp/player

Coin: 22gp

Permanent Items

Consumables

Total Value: 58gp (11gp 6sp/player)