GM: SludgerParty: Yashir, Tova, Surx, Lief and me
This... was a strange experience. I wish I could say I wasn't entirely distracted, but I was. There was a lot of baggage in this party composition, and that's entirely my fault. We fought skeletons - so... so many skeletons and undead.
Tova and I had a pretty good hoard stragtegy called a Pain Sandwich, where her spellfire worked from above and my thorns worked from below. That was helpful. But I'm still not great at crowd control.
The best thing that came out of it was that when I thought all was lost...and certainly felt like I needed her... Briar came back. Inexplicably... she returned to me. And I feel like a part of my soul has returned. I'm so grateful for her.
We ended up fighting the headless knight we had come for, and his plans for Conyberry were ruined. I'm curious if there is more to this... but for now I'm glad for my girl.
Afterward, some things happened and the party removed my eye, but not until after it was all done. That wasn't part of the mission proper and shouldn't affect other jobs too much...
This isn't a very good account I'm afraid, but my memory's a little fuzzy in the aftermath.
- Solia
GM: SludgerParty: Yashir, Surx, Vincel, Arlis and Me
SEER of the Lords' Alliance sent word that we were to clear out Durlag's Tower. Apparently, a band of Zhentarim had taken up residence there, and someone decided it was our problem to deal with. I can't say I knew much about the place beforehand, beyond its reputation. Perhaps I should have asked more questions.
We arrived expecting trouble. We found considerably more than we'd bargained for. The Zhentarim had numbers on their side, and they made good use of darkness to keep us at a distance. A rather cowardly tactic, if you ask me, though I suppose I can't fault them for trying. It didn't save them in the end. We fought our way through and cleared the lot of them out.
Or so we thought.
While searching the area, we were ambushed by the twins. I can't say I appreciated the surprise, but they proved no match for us. We dealt with them and continued on our way.
Getting inside the tower proved a little more complicated. There was some manner of puzzle barring our progress, though thankfully the others were able to make sense of it. I'll admit, I was content to let them handle that particular challenge. Not every problem needs a sword put through it.
Beyond that, we encountered a collection of rather unpleasant creatures. Demons, devils, or something of that ilk. I confess I wasn't particularly interested in determining the distinction while they were trying to kill us. Whatever they were, they died just as readily as anything else.
With the tower cleared and our work finished, we returned to the Seer to collect our reward. A productive outing, all things considered. Though next time the Lords' Alliance sends us somewhere, I should very much like to know whether clearing out a few Zhentarim means a handful of thugs or an entire bloody army.
- Solia Faolanri
State of the Syndicate — 5 Eleint, 1502 DR
I don't even know where to start.
The state of the Syndicate is hardly the state of myself. But, since this is about the Syndicate proper and my place within it, I'll keep it impersonal.
It's been hard to go to the grounds or the hall. They were a place of peace once, but I still think on the violence that's happened there and members quickly rising in rank that I don't have the strength to - well... I can't let that be true, can I? If it comes to standing shoulder to shoulder with my fellow members, it can't matter who they are. But suffice to say I'm insulated from many of the comings and goings day to day while I stay in Stillwood and concentrate on my projects.
I haven't had much work in the past month outside of commissions and making art to sell, along with trying to get the word out about Stillwood to the locals. I remain Guardian of the Forest. I try my best to make sure I wear that mantle honorably, at least to those outside my immediate circle that see the weakness in me and my unworthiness to the title.
Other members are investigating the Weaver and the threat it may be - I may become - to the Syndicate itself. I've found an unlikely kinship with Shev, who I think in a weird way is the only one who really understands what's going on inside me. He's at least found detachment and maybe peace in accepting his fate and isolating himself... people seem fine with it and I don't think his Patron is really a threat to the Syndicate right now. He's more comic relief than anything. So, while months past may have brought fights and sieges, I don't think anything like that is in our immediate future.
Harvest time is coming, perhaps there is some joy to be found in that.
- Solia Faolanri, Guardian of the Forest
GM: Torgnarly19 Flamerule 1502 D.R.
Solia Faolanri
I can't believe it has escalated to this. One mistake - one godsbedamned choice that opened up a pathway to this nightmare that doesn't seem to ever want to end. It was nothing to follow the trail of attack and retreat back to the mountain keep where Orlak launched his assault from. What we found was a force so large and well armed that they could perpetuate two more attacks of equal severity against the Syndicate at any time. More siege engines, more troops, more everything.
They say this isn't my fault, and I know I only controlled a moment of this timeline but what I know of stories tells me that at some point the path we chose opened up to all of this and the lives lost along the way can't be reclaimed. I don't hold hope that we'll find the unaccounted-for halfling child. All I can do is look forward with clear eyes at my quarry and continue pursuit until he's dead.
Our idea to find another entrance to the dwarven tunnels they were couched in proved to be a good one. We made our way through old, forgotten spaces and dispatched a few more bearded devils. After exploring doorways and passages, we ended up coming across some sort of powerful fiend while the party took heavy hits from spellcraft. Finally, we found the Beholder we knew was somewhere within and tried to negotiate with them. They told us that Orlak isn't really the focus of all of this - he's merely got the Red Wizard's artifacts. They don't hold much loyalty to him other than the power he provides and their plan is to raze the whole of the Delimbyr and all the settlments along the way. We can't trade one evil for another... so we killed it.
For now, we regroup... and the next step lies ahead of us.
GM: Torgnarly17 Flamerule 1502 D.R.
...the second wave arrived. I found an imp, or rather it found me. I spent part of the time on the floor of the Syndicate until Surx could arrive to get me back up. All I was able to effectively do was shoot from afar, and even then not very well.
I was in my own head... unfocused. Yashir was hurt, Arlis was hurt, Bri was hurt... everyone... everyone was hurt. And no one could rally a defense that made any kind of sense. The orders came to fall back, and eventually the strongest among us were able to drive off the second advance. I'm disgusted with my own performance and inability to control anything. Of course I trust my friends and companions, but the sight of them hurting that badly over a domino I tipped is more than I can handle.
I want that goblin's head. I want him to bleed for what he's done to me, to these people that I love and to the innocents he used to get where he is. I don't care what it takes. I'm not resting until this task is done.
GM: Torgnarly17 Flamerule 1502 D.R.
Yashir and I had gone to the Syndicate that day to check up on Shev and that infernal Beholder that is taking over his mind. It would have been a better day, if we'd been able to feed that thing cookies and teach it how to People, but no. Instead, the drums of war rumbled through the hills and before we even had time to set foot in the building, an army of Orlak's making set upon the Syndicate and all inside of it.
It's hard to recount all that happened other than what I witnessed on the Western side. We were overwhelmed. Yashir and Snap as well as Fenris and Surx, and I may be forgetting more in the aftermath, held them while the Eastern front was cleaned up and reinforcements could arrive to support us. Imps started to infiltrate the Syndicate proper, and leadership was scattered and communciation poor. We all did our best, and many almost fell, myself included.
I ended up inside to find the imps when the second wave arrived...
