Clearing the way

3/2/26

Day 1

• Teleport to RemNaf
• See the city for the first time
• Travel on sleds - moving 3 hexes, quick
• Find this space: is warm, I smell the faewild, smells like dawns grove but stronger
• Dawn speaks to the trees - they’re treants- she makes friends
• See a storm in distance, snow cyclone downriver- use pinecone charm on spell bangle, gives clear weather
• Arcana ch 26 - magic, other planar, elemental
• We go have a look - encounter two ice elementals
• Fireball wmr save - dc 7
• Failed wmr - wms 70 - i cast silence oops
• DC 1
• Used wand of flares to cast scorching ray whilst silenced - 2/3 charges used
• We defeat the guys!
• Soul says I can have my point of str back
• Ember covered me on the silence thing 
• Dawn cooks us an amazing stew
• I have watch with Ember and we have a nice chat
• We have “laid the elementals to rest”

Day 2

• The drangolin came with us but underground 
• Talking about imperial drakes with riders
• I think anything draconic is extinct
• We stay at dwarf forge 
• Forge being lit is warming entire street, every street in entire town
• Town hall is heated - we stay inside and dry out, get comfy
• My night watch w Ember is easy, we feel much better 

Day 3

• Travel uneventful
• See tower in distance (not mine)
• Quiet night
• Night sky - one moon eclipsing the other tonight - kazakan is eclipsing myros 
• I make a drawing of it

Day 4

• We go to look at the tower

• orc thrown out of top floor?!

• Goblins fighting something?!

• No orcs on bottom floor

• Lots of guys - chaos

• “Tower of the mad mage”

• Experiments done on people and beasts 

• Creatures drawn there to fight

• Travel through forest - big redwoods 

• Ember finds old hunter’s blind - has been turned into giant spider nest

• No spider there - Imperium likely came through and killed them

• Watch fine

• Izzi shown to a chest - one of Izirion’s

• Hex has been empowered due to Great Stag’s crossing (4,-17)

Day 5 + 6

• I wake up and smell all the stags

• Talk to Izzi - Great Stag came through, he looked “mountainous”

• Giant footprint, traces of spring, flowers

• Make path 

• The end

• Meet Wyatt - of the Siasou - given years by Izzi

• Gives me a tour :) “Asian fusion” food

• See RS library - I see like 15 of one guy - Mr William

• He’s not simulacrum - fine, detailed spell in human form

• Caelia has this spell technology but this is more refined - mage hand in physical form, as person

• More recent development is in the citadel -are we behind? Convergent or divergent technology?

27/1/26

Day 1

Teleporting to red shields

Cain is red now? He claims he’s never been blue. He seems stronger today

RS making good progress on restoration of Dwarven architecture 

Happening under dwarven supervision

Insight check: left Exeter at home comment, not menacing, my friend has made the right kind of enemies, been left too long

“An expedition has been moved up”

-> Exeter left the apology for too long

Tracking hellhounds: tracks everywhere

Hellhounds are after someone who stole something from lord of 9 hells

Impeded travel from deep snow 

Mot is TINY and in my pocket and gives me TINY mushrooms

13 on night watch

Uneventful

-9, 4

Day 2

Lots of thick snow

-10,3, -11,3

Lack of shelter on plains

I prestidigitate everyone’s clothes dry! No one goes to bed wet, no exhaustion. Hooray!

Watch roll 19 - something there..?

Day 3

Accosted in night, rations stolen

Black cat climbed out of tree in woods, crossed our path, I walk through and cross its path, everyone follows lol

I don’t like where this is going

Find good spot to camp

Little frosty berries, taste like blue raspberry, minty finish, Mot likes them, there’s a lot from where he’s from

My watch: stranger in black appears, vibe check, he’s tired and cold, heavy pack

He’s on his way to a keep, to trade

5 or 6 days travel

Lots of dogs around, following people

From city, mostly ruined, to far north by lake, underneath mountains

He spends the night with us, dries off, goes to sleep

Long hair, unkempt beard, travel worn, handsome under scruff, bright blue eyes

I am then STABBED and POISONED by this guy because he’s a werewolf hunter

Used turn tides and still failed con save

I SEE LUZON AGAIN and wake up 

Cain has been knocked out and stabbed in same spot

I wake up Lyf

He healing word’s Cain

His face changes, 3 faces flicker past - he’s an incubus

Day 4

I come out as a werewolf lmfao

We survey

-13, 2

Hellhounds patrols regularly enter -15, 3

Walking around a perimeter of some kind? well travelled path

We move south one hex 

Night watch with Torrek, uneventful

He only knew one of us was a werewolf, figured me out bc he met me

Going north towards werewolf attacks

Encounter hellhounds at night 

WMS on shield spell

Strength permanently reduced by 1

Wtffff

Misty step - 5 on wmr - DC is 2

Direstone wand - Algiz cast, Ssythra has fire damage resistance - 4 charges left

Mot:27 hit points

16 ac

19 dmg 

Mot noooooo!

Cast fear - concentration up to 1 minute 

Wmr 2 - just saves 

DC 3

4

5

6

Ssythra calls off the hellhounds

Note from Vordekov when i get back.

He’s mad at Exeter

“Tell your friend they have one month.”

Day 1

Sled carriage and dogs

Somber tones

Sully elsewhere

Imperial postman handing out mail

Sully’s attendant? waving to Ember

Cirrus and Ssythra on navigation

I take 2nd night watch

Uneventful 

Day 2

New ruins - huge dias, stone circles, portals

Runes written in celestial, some kind of gate - how old? Pre godblind 

Many other languages - elven runes in middle ring - Luzon’s work

Added last, most recent

Arcana check - writing is names of locations, proper nouns, some kind of teleportation device, junction

I make a drawing of it - passable

Exeter casts locate object on Arcanite - mine is nearby 

That night I have the watch with Exeter and have a monologue

Awkward atmosphere.

Mot comforts me :)

Dwarven family w little Halfling child, only survivor from town, saved by myconids - this is Mot

Day 3 

Morning, a kenku spotted trying to break into our carriages.

Arrive at temple around lunchtime.

Mot gives me healing mushrooms - need to “baby bird them”

At temple - very warm, water is knee deep (difficult terrain)

Harpies appear, communicating with Corvus

I succeed an athletics check to jump across bridge gap

Told everyone to be aware of anti-magic technology 

Harpies got sucked here through a portal - creation myth

Statue is repaired. Leftmost door is opened.

Arcana check - crit - statues are pulling magic in, this is a place of power, the power is fae in nature. Many different magics all working together in this world?

“Ruby station reactivated. Awaiting orders.”

“OPEN VAULT” Ember

A CANOLOTH appears and a bunch of gargoyle creatures

Tough guy +5 con

IT HAS NULLITE ARMOUR - resistance to magical, bludgeoning, piercing, slashing damage

Slowed, speed halved

All are fiends, devils - intelligent, obey orders from higher order fiend

Has advantage against spell effect saves - saved on

Big guy blocks teleports like thunder step 

Archie: tries to gain control by the authority of the “dual emperors” - angered something

I take inspiration

Me: By authority of the Orzalon crown - no negative reaction

of Luzon Tenebrae - on gold throne, hollow and gaunt, head turns to look at me, I take psychic damage

WM DC: 4

BY AUTHORITY OF THE STC

Attack ends

We get inside

Interior vault: ornate, fine, gnomish built, fae motifs

Cabinets of jars, gems, scrolls, prepping for doomsday type scenario

Food preserved, then room preserved

Whole place very strong in magic

Infernal circle for canoloth

Bulette eggs in stasis, hatch and need to be trained to pull transport system

Shelf of books about Crown

Glass display shelf of items

Open the drawers, filled with gems, take bag of 5-6 diamonds 

Next drawer full of daggers of different styles

Take Jar of diamond dust

Drawer of charm bracelets and little charms

Large drawer with flask, set of ornate thieves tools

Boots - elven, very expensive - take

Ornate rod - enchanted, not super notable - immovable rod

Shield with a face on the front

Two wands - one dwarven, other one is bright

Satchel - normal? Put the boots, rod, wands, diamonds and dust inside

Exeter and Archie let a bad guy out of a crystal

13/01/26

Testing a Theory

Sarco, Mot, Voyce, Ember, Terd, Ssythra, Bascinett, Almorn

Day 1

• Very cold morning, heaps of snow

• Prime here with all the simuls, Drow guy is here, talking to Sullivan in a language I haven’t heard before, S seems genuinely good friends w him

• Talks broken Caelian, not from Empire? Wary of me, hates nobles?, twinky, young, well dressed, calloused hands, hard handshake

• Called “Kyle” - friend of Shep

• Carriage sized sleds pulled by giant dogs, each w driver (Eladrin) to teach us, need to hunt to provide dog food

• Quick day of travel, days shorter

• HUGE MOOSE, strange that it’s so close to town, stag’s blessing gives us advantage on the hunt

• I take first watch with Ember

• Dogs (Zaren) are native to Aoraki! Very uncouth for me to touch one unbidden, bond with rider for life, fiercely protective, dog will come to you if it wants to bond

Day 2

• Met stag of winter! Fed him mushrooms! Blessing: this group will travel extra hex during winter, individuals will not encounter bad weather

Third night

• help fortify the camp against hounds
• False life 1st lvl cast: rolled a 1, WMS 27 area around me is chilled 
• SURGE DC RESET TO 1 

Beefy

Went unconscious after Ruinant attack

Rolled 39 d100

Saved by an ancestor!

“Rise, son of Luzon”

Restored to 1hp

Health potion: Action to have full heal, Bonus action to roll die

TURNED TIDES to save against ruinant downing me again: dc 11 save, rolled a 9 and then a 17 to avoid permadeath CRIeS

Surge: for the next hour I am disadvantage on str checks, withered

DC 2

Kiona knows my family?! Where do our shadow powers come from? “Look outward.” She calls me cute and sends me home lmao

Something about the forest we’re in

Tomorrow is the 9th! 3 days until full moon

Mushroom Moving Mission

Prep:

• Need reparations for Red Shields: scrolls of tiny hut and fireball given by Exeter, may also need to offer services, bring something from armoury? - moontouched double bladed scimitar
• Expected to teleport but still can’t use circle - take rubbing, bring paper and charcoal

Day 1

• Foggy morning, hobgoblins on patrol but we have a truce
• Clicks and Aegis doing nav checks
• See big mystical stag, glowing - “great spirits” spirit of the four seasons - Stag of Summer
• Fed - Blessing of stag of summer - fortuitous travel through grasslands :)
• Mot comes with
• Blueberries at camp
• Tiefling woman seen passing us at night - dark clothes, dark blue skin, rams horns
• Uneventful 

Day 2

• Small animals moving through area
• Uneventful, until find 3 dwarven Imperial soldiers torn up by wolves - on foot, rangers or scouts
• Carrying maps, found village settlement nearby from outside our map - 2 days south of ruins
• Strange temple - 3 doors, 1 open - “show this to the wizard Sky”
• Found rings on their bodies - ring of the scout, ring of the sailor (con save for attunement)
• Mastiffs protecting us from wolves at night!

Day 3

• Tree with three corpses hanging from nooses :| - human, elf, dwarf
• Rune inscription on tree in Abyssal - “the gallows tree” - sentient tree, carnivorous, bodies are illusions - really lucky as Ssythra can read the rune - destroying rune will destroy tree?
• We leave perimeter of warning signs, inscribed rocks
• I take 2nd watch - calm night, rustling noise
• WEREWOLVES - I was chomped/slashed on neck-shoulder area, now I have lycanthropy
• Clicks and Torrek also infected with the curse!

Day 4

• Manage a short rest to recoup after attack, arrive at ruins before dinner
• Werewolves wake up - all male, tiefling, elf, dwarf
• Tiefling talks to Ssythra in Infernal - apparently attacked by regular wolves
• Local to area, from settlement nearby - we take them with us
• Castle is being repaired by orcs - unusual for normally nomadic people
• Horses left in stable
• Werewolves dressed up, fed, we’re given hospitality 
• Ground Commander Vordokov - highly disciplined mercs, military style - clan of orcs, even half-orcs
• Historically important site
• Restoration of arcane historical importance is the Red Shield’s deal
• North is mnts above chalmers - wizards tower with amulet - return amulet to Vordokov, have Exeter come and personally apologise
• Tower is occupied, lone standing in mountains above a lake
• Amulet - “great magical importance”, involved in orc wizard’s research 
• history refers to tower occupied by wizard or dragon 
• Can take a man from red shields 
• Given correct teleport sigil by Vordokov
• Recognises Ssythra, or her brand specifically (“of the Nine”) 
• Has retainer - Tiefling with Asmodeus mark - Cain (disguise self’d as orc)
• SINCC war implication - helps charters worlds for Imperium - merc company, highest bidder wins for allegiance
• Deepest layer of mines leads to Deep (not yet explored by Shields) - layer after layer of dwarven mines, cavernous, well-crafted. We go pretty deep - two levels away from bottom.
• Murals of ancient Dwarven civilisation- crystal dwarves - good place for dwarves to live
• Clap on lights!
• Myconids released into cavern - are reverent towards surrounding
• Object in mines - Sovereign was trapped inside it, not dwarven creation - was speaking to someone, then trapped - Verity - released by Imperial mining

——

Lycanthropy: (option: kill source of curse to remove it) seek out clan of werepeople, find clerics/druids local to lands - speak to ppl we took home with us about their settlement near the ruins (find location on existing map) - learn how to dispel or control the curse

• Cleric in Port is called Wyrran.

Wizards tower

• imperial soldiers marching north again, followed the river and ended up climbing through mountains and hills, found a lake
• Springhill has maps: go back to

10/12/25

River Run

Day 1

• Small cottage in -1,0, sign with Shepherd’s handwriting
• Debris is river, myconids in mine chucking building materials and stuff in there
• Strange artefact is STILL IN MINE
• Sparkles in right river branch - magic ore from mine, gives wild magic effects to potions made with water
• Left river branch - minerals giving opposite effect
• I take first night’s watch, Mot shows up! Mot can cast detect thoughts - he’s my companion now!
• One hound shows up and fights the guards

Day 2

• Found owlbear lair! If I get the pelt, can bring it to Golden Thread sisters to get a very nice cloak :) The sisters have swanky shops in Caelia

• Hadari goes into the cave - is attacked by 2 owlbears - NARROW ESCAPE thanks to Hadari’s animal handling and Exeter tweaking fate (making me succeed a luck check) so that Mot communicates with the owlbears and saves us!

• Mot grows alcoholic mushrooms for us and we celebrate :)

• Explore up left river fork - very cold, crisp biting wind - lots of game, less Imperial presence

• Lots of fish in river, unusual for winter, salmony, unnatural inky blackness to scales from silt?

• Arcana ch on vial of water and silt - Exeter channels a little magic into it w prestidigitation - pulls magic from her, absorbs magic and dissipates it harmlessly - reminds me of my innate family power?!?!

• Mine upriver where this is coming from

• Yin Yang effect - one ore great for enchanting, the other for anti-magic

• Night uneventful- it snows!

Day 3

• Snow has settled. Come across v old (100s yrs) ruined settlement, large village/small town - Halfling(-5, -5) (Named Springhill)
• Dwarven carved door on floor of workshop - Springhill Hold - Knocked (spell), bricks shuffle open revealing a carved dwarven face - needs us to speak a name deemed worthy - opens up for Exeter! (ie. the worthy needs to be a Halfling)
• Dwarven make, gnomish objects (torches)
• Stairs lead to massive underground library/workshop!! Very magical, loads of stuff inside, Gnomish magic
• Banner: Till death we serve, but never beyond
• Vampire hunter’s hold!
• Map: Mine along river - Null River Mines
• Books in library, oldest dwarvish, gnomish, giant (Very old), more recent books written in Halfling
• Everything labelled fastidiously, except for giant stuff (weapons and armour etc) - one spot where a weapon is missing (Staff of the Matron) - wielded by Shepherd?
• Layers and layers of history, loads of maps - all maps showing north of mountains have been destroyed 
• Upright metal chest, two opening sections - it’s a fucking FRIDGE!! “Staff room”
• Offices, bedrooms, etc etc…
• Loads of spellcasting supplies
• Find little metal dragon construct, 1 of 7, only one still working - can be fixed up by tinkerer
• Made of Arcanite - (the greedful iron)
• The opposite metal: “Null ore” absorbs magic, but take a lot of energy to do so
• Dwarves that built the mine also built this place, is passage from the hold
• Frozen river can be traversed by sled dog team
• Armoury section: small room, one half stuff made of Arcanite, other of Null items (few, need fixing)
• Null shield - once per long rest, bearer hit by spell, use charge to dissipate magic - historical relic, protected
• Arcanite natural, local but mined heavily during last Empire reign - crystal dwarves can help
• Null ore is not - was created, not occurring, accidental, mines were closed 
• Teleport circle at old temple near mine - these temples specifically will hold teleport circles, need crystals to work - built by ancestors of the Hold - also can work as vaults that can store treasure, creatures, etc., be careful when opening 
• Hadari takes a null ore ingot
• We can rest here without setting a watch, we can long rest
• Kiona the Dreadlord - demon, undead - BLUE LADY who most likely killed Shepherd, she follows the Matron of Ravens, archeologist of the citadel
• The matron of ravens: likes the dead to stay dead, so dislikes undead, dislikes abyss and demons
• Hold originally founded by person who would become emperor, fought vampire scourge removed from realm, crown fell, darkness and shadowy scourge came back etc. etc. if pursuing this topic, be careful
• Can bring knowledge to dragon, build shop up top to divert suspicions if we travel here often

Day 1

• Bringing coffin, chest of preserving, 1 healing pot
• Shepherd not in camp this morning
• People, farmers, villagers walking into town - local priest of Dawnfather out healing simple wounds, lifting spirits - cuts and scrapes
• Strange thing happening to crops - attacking people?
• Priest knew my dad, served in his court, didn’t like the guy - name Callum
• Mot doesn’t need to sleep. Is wearing umbrella hat. He is a spores druid 
• Quiet at night, despite hound attacks. Fight expected by guards but doesn’t come.

Day 2

• cleavers haven
• Fire Genasi woman went through cleavers haven, bought supplies, headed toward shrine, towards battleground 
• Skin black as coal, hair always lit, eyes look like roiling balls of flame
• Genasi - tribalish people, uncommon. Another air Genasi in port
• Mine wasn’t started by imperium, was found by them. A few weeks before operation shut down workers (dwarves) troubled sleeping. Few days before shutdown, workers found smth strange - something placed, not natural. Something to hold smth, not like a chest? Workers seemed irritable, annoyed, very un-dwarf-like, injured someone in town.
• Dwarf of the deep around, can help - knowledgeable of lands - in foothills not far from mine
• Quiet night

Day 3

• uneventful day and night - still no hounds
• Winter weather - must have tent !
• Ember and Silver field dress a deer and do a great job of it
• ‘Seekers of Steelbreaker (surname), follow the tide’ - dwarven runes left on riverbank rocks

Day 4

• Found old duegar in hidden cave in riverbank - living in a grand old place- hunting lodge
• His wife - a hill dwarf, red hair, beard: recognised on a dc 25 his check - a wizard of the citadel, Steel, first sword of the citadel. She developed orb in response to colonies destroyed by Imperium. Globe picks up large chunk of people, held in stasis and transported safely.
• Dreken of the Steelbreaker tribe
• Promised not to harm the myconids
• Myconids unearthed from deep underground by imperial blast minings
• ‘Kin to dwarves’ found deep underground- gems for eyebrows
• Myconid colony need to be deeper - Colony starved, sick from sunlight
• Sovereign myconid
• ‘Fragmented’, have human traits/habits still
• Less than 100 myconid in mine - put them in ORB - move them to south abandoned dwarf mine
• I successfully convinced Steel, with Torrek’s help, to give us the orb to save the myconids!
• Promised not to mention them in our report
• Have bardic inspiration 1d6 from Mot’s mushroom

In mines

• Strange ore - saps heat from Ember’s finger - magical, good for enchanted weapons?
• Myconids placid, sweeter scent in air
• Deeper mines filled w mushrooms, getting huge, growing from splashed blood?
• Main cavern - big mush, still pool of water with stalactite 
• Torrek convinced them into orb
• Received lantern of darklight 
• Hooray!

Back at camp: in teleport room - Shepherd dead?!?! Killed by spells, jaw missing, amulet gone

4/11/25 S2 - Mines exploration 

• Busy morning; leaving without Clicks and Aegis
• Dragon(?) spotted by the last party
• Blue lady making blue hobgoblins, hounds made from bodies of fallen comrades? Sounds like weird planar stuff. Neither hounds nor bodies found after supposedly being slain.
• Lots of empire soldiers returning, talking: really homesick, talking about Caelia; fighting elves in NE
• Ate pastry from goblin bakery in north village; can cast chill touch for next 24hrs
• Encountered shambling mounds at night!
• Wild magic roll no 2: my shadow is now blue and has a mind of its own
• Lorelai the hobgoblin has died D: Rudolph took her back to the north village
• Drunken elf? Showed up in forest at night - covered in snakes, bitten and poisoned, deep green colour snakes
• Magical snakes, conjured/summoned
• Full elf but with beard, slept not tranced? Paralysed by venom?
• Guy dead when came back; throat cut by devil that came out of fire when we were out
• In pockets: rod with heavy head, cane-like, banded copper end (peasant’s rod), shittily made wand (casts fireball), 1pl 13gp, set of ivory carved d20s, potion bottle of silvery oil
• Cirrus rolled the dice and fucking got us struck by lightning, nearly obliterating me?!
• We met Mot the psychic mushroom child
• We find the mine: miners have been transformed into myconids somehow, are still working; look wrong, sickly, lacking colour
• Insight check re Mot: Myconids are created from corpses of other beings, used to be a dwarf; Mot is about a foot tall. How old was/is he?

29/10/25 S1 - Forest of Silence

• Magic happening against us in this forest - not targeted, less like spell and more like ambient magic from location.
• Magic affected area, white trees, animals and trees scared - we left a message
• A lot colder around forest
• Area is causing exhaustion condition
• Horrible flesh spider monster appears, me and Clicks teleport back home before seeing it
• Arcane, fused to a spider - the forest acts as this thing’s web, hungry, has tremor sense
• Sleep magic not coming from creature, is byproduct of magic