Skip to main content
Voyagers: Vianova
Adventure Recaps
Voyagers: Vianova
Dungeons & Dragons 5e
© 2026 WestMarches.games
Amara Pomraw
•
The guild received a missive from a small village toward the south east from Springreach. They had parties going missing and they contacted us for some assistance on the matter. So we decided to take the train to see what was going on.
We spent a long time walking through the forest trying to find the village. When we had bedded down for the night we were attacked by some large oak ogres! They somehow got the drop on us! By the time we noticed them we were not in a optimal position to defend ourselves. but we mounted a defense! I was able to mark one with the glitter having it glow and sparkle in the darkness I know at least one of us couldn't see in the dark so it helped. These things could put up some sort of leafy shadow defense they seemed to negate any and all damage so we had to hit them with fire and they absolutely hated that. They were doing a lot of damage though one blow from them was worth maybe three blows from one of us. I was able to command one of them to grovel and the other died before the magic took effect. Though with all of us attacking the last one it was a short fight from there.
Echo got us lost in a cave but I was able to recognize some Raging Henbane mushrooms; the jet black mushroom has a tough, bark-like skin. Eating it would make your skin a similar texture and helped stave off attacks, but it made one aggressive. it was a good find, btu we decided to leave the cave be and do the job we were assigned to do. So we made it to the town!
It looked devastated in the town and it was quiet as all the silence in the world. We found one very sad man. He said most of the down was dead or gone. That the remaining folks were thinking of abandoning this place by the end of the week. Still they wanted us to see if we could find anything for closure. Food stores were low. So we needed to act fast.
We had to go at night. Whatever was causing issues we were told only did its bidding at night. It was dark and humid. The woods were unnaturally silent. We did find what we were looking for though...the Wendigo. A massive quadraped creature. We took some time to kill it and we gave the townsfolk their closure.
Echo Chambers
•
Keplan is southeast of Hfar in the great forest, south of the Pinecrest Mountains. They have been reporting seasoned hunters not returning. Search parties coming up empty handed.
We took the train to Hfar. Knick rode in a barrel to keep moist. What a gross word.
We arrived at some standing stones in the woods. There was a serpent or dragon on the stones that Gideon said was named Guantánamo. Probably. Melaina said absolutely not. This was some pagan heretical bullshit. Someone clearly comes by here to maintain this place, but we found no reason to linger.
Qualia and Melaina got into it. Melaina said that she was not going to deny someone their choices and their freedom. Nine times out of ten it’s the mainstream religions that are “right.”
The subject turned to Dartan. Always Dartan. There is not enough shoes in the world to shame him enough. They suggested I throw shoes that were heavier, or spiked. I’m trying to hurt his pride, but his pride is dead according to Melaina.
We camped and took watches. Knick was not allowed. They cannot be trusted. I stood on their barrel as I took the first watch. I did not notice as the oak trolls started to close in. They only took fire damage when they were shrouded, which was most of the time. We looked rough when the fight was over.
I got us extremely lost and few found a cave. This is not the town we’re looking for, but how could we resist? There was mushrooms. Amara identified one of them as raging henbane. Knick will paint hers blue and sell it to old people. They like blue caps for when they get Frisky.
We made it to Keplan. I changed into my female form and they nicknamed me Shits and Giggles and threatened to tickle me. Melaina is into some strange things I want no part of.
We spoke to Alexi, a man with two peglegs. Melania told him to avoid beaches. He said there isn’t many of them left. Only five. The last search party didn’t return. They are considering leaving at the end of the week. The search party followed the hunters out the other side of town into the black forest. There are unholy sounds that come from the forest at night. Some sort of accursed creature. Similar to a moose in heat. He thinks that is what has been taking the villagers. Typically a group of 5 would go into the woods for five to six days and come back with a beast. Food stores are getting low.
Melania asked if he could provide anything to assist us in our journey. Alexi offered pie. Everyone perked up. Then he said it was bear pie. What’s the opposite of perking up? Perking down? No, that doesn’t make sense. Regardless, Melaina told him Bear have a lot of parasites and are not good to eat. He said its not too bad with berry compote.
We headed into the woods as it was getting dark. We set up camp and made a big fire to attract the beast. It was a Wendigo. We killed it, but it had effected Melaina’s memory. Knick tried repeatedly to swindle her.
Knick said, “I didn’t know she was Wesley’s grandmother.” It was some sort of brilliant bank scheme. Another bad person. Can a person have more than one nemesis? I will think on this.
Edwyna Faelar
•
We had been hired by the Sun Stags company to investigate an aphid glade in Tibasa. The harvesters there had recently been attacked by strange bugs is what we were told.
When we arrived, we investigated the Sun Stags camp to learn some more information about what was going on. Apparently, this company was using pig-sized aphids to eat the nectar off of the dangerous Festersap Laceleaf, which is very protective. The harvesters would then milk these large bugs of the substance they created, the end product being called Honeydew. This is some sort of stimulant that seems highly addictive-- one of the workers who survived the recent attack was suffering from clear withdrawals of the Honeydew because he no longer received his daily rations from the company while he was injured in the hospital tent. It was only due to Gary's magical staff that we were able to purge the addiction from the poor soul, putting him into a coma but saving his life.
We moved forward onto the glade, finding some bug ranchers there that immediately attacked us, as well as the Laceleaf Mantid Harlequin. The Formicians were fairly quickly dispatched, but the Mantid was able to blend in and mimic the appearance of the Festersap Laceleaf all around us, making it difficult to discern its location. Eventually, I was able to locate the monster and teleport it in front of Bram and Mimic, who put the poor thing out of its misery.
We returned to the camp with most of the Aphids safely recovered, however I realized that we may in fact have been on the wrong side of this fight. In hindsight, we shouldn't have trusted the company that was exploiting workers, not paying their salaries while injured on the job, and giving them addicitive stimulants to be more productive at their job. The Sun Stags went on to fully destabilize the Tibasan ecosystem in the area, which the Mantid was maintaining. They overharvested the Festersap for excess Honeydew, then flooded the market with this drug, causing increased addicition all across Vianova.
New goal: destabilize Sun Stags and destroy the company.
Echo Chambers
•There was a letter aggressively nailed to the door. Written in the tiniest font possible is a note that roughly read “Hello, fellow humans, it is I, Tax Evasion. I have fallen for classic human trap and now need human help.”
Gideon and Dartan think this is a trap set up by a rat. They recently the went on a mission where people were controlled by rats pulling on parts of your hair. There was a rat king amalgamation of rats all smushed together. Fork Lift was the controller of Harrision who originally wrote to the guild. The rats are fine as long as you play along. We need to liberate the people with red hats.
We found out that a drow fella with white coffin tattoo on the back of his hand repeatedly stabbed Gideon one hundred and two years ago. He “woke up” about two years ago.
We are going to the town that is a 3 day walk away. You know the one. It was decided to take a carriage instead and I was peer pressured into paying for one of the days. Gideon taught Piprim how to play cards.
We went to the fancy cheese side of town, so I put on my nice suit. This side of town is run by Archibald and he has something in the basement we need to get to.
We should knock the hats off and attack the rats underneath. There is no need to hurt the people who are likely to attack us. Piprim talked to a woman named Cheesecake Factory and they moved like a marionette. They were very interested in cheese. She asked if we were here for the festivities.
Allergic Reaction has cheese wine. We should speak to him. No one wanted cheese wine. Instead we spoke with Mild Concussion who directed us to Unpaid Parking Ticket to get some shredded cheese to lift our spirits.
Bikaji said something unpleasant followed by, “All my thoughts are thoughts are outside thoughts.”
Piprim make an error in judgement and mentioned the name Roof Tile. There was no rat by that name. They asked is he had meant Moldy Spores.
Divorce papers is selling cheese hats. The rats play sports like any of the normal humans do. Full contact football with a tongue of a cow. Shirts and skins. When you get hit with the tongue it makes a slap sound and everyone in the crowd go “OOOOOOO I bet that hurt.”
Gideon called out that he was going to do a card trick. The crowd was concerned about Satanism, but Gideon brushed that off by saying he was an illusionist. Not a magician. Bikaji used the opportunity to case a spell that killed13 rats at once. The people beneath were knocked unconscious.
I asked why Dartan acts the way he does when he got plenty of hugs as a child. He said, “My mother was an embodiment, she didn’t have a physical form.” I trust Melaina more than my nemesis, but we had bigger problems to solve than arguing about it.
We went to Archibald’s house and talked our way in with me posing as Egg the rat. He spilled the beans and told us that familiars get blamed for the cost of being conjured back after being sacrificed. Archibald was very upset when he realized he’d be bamboozled. He’d had names all picked out for the party: Cigarette Wizard, Gravy Knife, Meat Lantern, Bonesaw, and Rust Bucket.
Archibald elaborated that the rat king takes care of them regularly and provided him with all the rats. His true name is Marshall. He doesn’t have a moral compass. He’s a rat. It was fabled that he is the collective of what happens to all familiar rats when they die over and over. An amalgamation. His manifestation has turned him into the rat king. The rats are caring for him, rebuilding him, and got him a gun. I punched the rat off his head. Dead.
In the basement another rat suggested I drill a hole through my eye socket and stick the tail inside to direct wire into the brain. I found lots of coffins and bodies in different states of decay that have been discarded.
Gideon warned us Marshall has a breath weapon. I bravely repositioned to get out of the breath. I heard Piprim say, “First you beat kids, then you beat meat. Come on!” I’m glad I left the room.
Gideon took Marshall down with a card. From its corpse one single tiny magical rat. It was a plushy that Gideon put on his shoulder.
Echo Chambers
•Wesley told us that we need to go to a village near Mount Vidal. Strange “children” are running around and harrassing people. Things are getting set on fire. There is lava popping up. They are said to stand like they are trying to poop their pants. Real children yearn for the mines. These are not children. They are offering each of us 200 gold pieces to resolve the issue.
Wesley gave us keys to the boat. Knick isn’t allowed to drive due to a grand theft auto incident where they crashed one boat. Or several. This was unclear. However, it was clarified that no one should put wheels on a boat and then run people over. Knick thought it sounded like a good idea after 4 rums. Gideon told her she drinks wrong. Whiskey all the way. She says it’s too bitter.
The scam started immediately after arriving. Knick wanted to know about pay for the travel that was promised. Nonsense. Gideon told me not to snitch. The woman that she was trying to extort let us know that Zebidiah from the philosophy club at community college joined the military and was overseas, but he’s back in town.
I went to speak with Zebidiah and he was a wealth of information. So much so that we decided to ignore the rest of the village.
He told us that the creatures come in the morning. Arrows and greatswords phase through them. They have the weird stance that toddlers make when they are pooping. They can definitely set stuff on fire. They are medium-sized. For sure. They wear suspenders and diapers. Only have three toes. This is on each foot, not total. When they come, they set things on fire, take food, and leave. He thinks they are coming from just right down the road. There is a cave with a lot of lava in it. The lava is new since they showed up.
He also filled us in that Matilda is distraught because one of them took her barrel of pomegrante wine. She had to import them! She did not want mead and refused to add honey per Zebidiah’s suggestion.
We should head north past the second sign that says This Way. Ignore the first sign that says This Way. It leads the wrong way. In their village everyone works and gets the benefit, but no one wants to work.
Zebidiah business is rebuilding vintage chariots. Every once in a while people in their later years in life stop on in. Generally they are wearing leather jackets. He advertises his services on the little blue pills from the pharmacy. His last name is Johnson, and the pharmacist he bribes is also named Johnson. What a side hustle!
Knick tried to scheme with me acting as Wesley. Absolutely not.
Incontinent clown came out of the lava and went back in. I threw a rock in the lava and 8 mephits came out. I dug deep and pulled out a nightmare shroud of pure fear. 6 of them dropped on the spot.
We went deeper in to the cave and found 4 diaper babies and three tar dinosaur elementals. I very quickly ran around unleashing fear on all of them.
The bad person still has a fixation of harming children. He swung his metal weapons at the diaper babies repeatedly after being told it wouldn’t work. Even after seeing it with his own two eyes he continued to try. He eventually wised up and punched one to death. Then continued to punch it. What a monster.
Knick looked very crusty. Qualia turned her into a misty cloud, and invited her into her water skin.
We found fireweaver gloves on one of the diaper babies. I kept them.
Qualia had party invitations and candles that didn’t match. She may in fact be a child.
Calliope
•We needed to go and pick up some kind of item for someone. This was one of those things I got asked to do a lot. People needed items and I was a good meat shield and even provided magical assistance. So I decided what the hell. It couldn't have been that bad right? Garry was weird but he wasn't harmful. He greeted us warmly. Although he looked pretty bad and was wearing a tin foil hat. He rambled about "Moon whispers". We needed to go to a temple and raid it. Well he said "raid it" but as we protested he turned it into "talking".
At one of the temples we ran into a very nice man. Garry yaped and yaped. Then we went to some other place and there was more yapping. I was here only as a favor to garry and this deep religion just wasn't for me. I loved the primordials not the gods.
At some point we ran into a weird water creature, Yuuna, who said this place would not be safe for Selunes followes tonight. She then said if we could make it safe she would help us.
We decided to help!
The yard was raided by a slew of beasts that grew in size and danger as their formers fell. We must have killed over a dozen monstrosities.
We got him his moon sickle
Echo Chambers
•Gary was pacing around the Salty Siren. “Thank you for coming to my pack meeting.” He was wearing a tinfoil hat and was all twitchy. He wanted us to raid a temple. That was a hard no from everyone. “The hat keeps whispering violence.” Penny and Kobal helped to find a temple where a moon sickle was located. Pack contribution reward system was offered.
We get to the twin moon temples that only appear at night. We need to get there before the eclipse that happens tonight. Not too far from Springreach. Need to get both temples to agree that Gary can have the moon sickle. They are at odds with each other.
Blathnat told me that she dog walked Dartan his first day at the guild. Slapped kid had to pull doubles because he was four hours late for his shift.
There are two temples. One honors Solalara the watcher. The other honors Theros the veiled one. We went to the smaller temple first. Theros.
The Theros temple had been there for centuries. It was still standing, although in a state of disrepair. We met a man outside. He told Gary, who was in wolf form, that he was a good boy. Gary for some reason continued to act like a dog. Brother Clarance said that Gary can consider him the pack leader for now... Gary told him that he came for the moon sickle. “You seek Yuna’s artifact. Why do you seek this out?” He kept muttering about how this was auspicious. Gary said because he was an alpha leader and he needs to protect his pack. He can’t lose anyone else. “What’s the application process?” Gary said with a puppy dog look. We were told, “When you get to Solara tell them that brother Clarance has given you his blessing.”
Gary seemed more disturbed when he spoke of Kobal. All I got out of the story was that he was dead.
The temple of Solara was a much grander building. Solara is the larger moon and is brighter in the night sky then Theros, so this did make some sense. Gary knocked at the door and there was no answer. He knocked again and we heard, “I’m coming! I’m coming! So many stairs.” A small gnome greeted us. She also said auspicious. Odd. Selune is the goddess of the moon Solara. Despite it not being visible in the sky for a moment it will be illuminated. One of her more recent champions met there end in a dark place. Put aside first impressions. I advised him to stop talking an nod more when the woman looked irritated. If the moon goddess does wish you to be her new champion you might find the answers you seek within the moon grove at the bottom of the ravine. She says Clarance is an idiot. All he talks about is the wrong moon and personal finances. “How do we get our champion champiafied?” Bram asked. She pointed at the very obvious ravine.
Gary once again tried to involve me with his financial advice. I pretended not to hear him comments about investing and 401Ks. That's grooming behavior.
Gary guided us deep within the ravine. Gary called Bram and Omega which confused Bram greatly. Gary said “Something is screaming at me that this is the right location.” He licked a pool of water. A water spirit named Yuna— at least that was her name in life—asked who he was and why he was here. Gary once again said he needed to be stronger to protect his pack. “Many have fallen, and many more surely will, but if you seek the weapon Selune bestowed upon me in life. After the eclipse the grove will not be safe for her worshipers.” If we can make it safe again, since some of the creatures may be irritable. She directed us to a good place to draw the attention of the creatures.
The eclipse happened. It created a crimson horn-like shape. Gary hurried us along to a point where made a very loud noise to draw things in. Wave after wave of horrible creatures attacked.
When we returned to Yuna’s pool we found Gary’s moon sickle waiting for him. Gary is Selune’s new champion. He left tinfoil hat at the edge of the pool.
Echo Chambers
•“We all might die, but that is where a family heirloom of mine is,” was the introduction Bikaji gave us to this mission of hers. Vignetto was our destination.
Plan to get there teleport to Avistan and then get to the border. Crossing the border is a bad idea, but that is a later problem. The land is tainted there and ripe with all sorts of horrid abominations that will stand in the way of our goals. We should ask the church of Pellor for aid as they are enemies.
The crown might be a little bit on the evil side. This doesn’t leave the table. They spoke a lot of a monster named Dartan who harmed children. Gary invited me to join a school about betas, alphas, and financial management. I politely declined.
We teleported to Avistan and were greeted by well armored men. Captain Halsin, a member of the church guard, greeted us. They asked a few questions. Piprim insisted he was a gnome and they were highly offended by the goliath’s dishonesty. Bikaji explained that a feywild heirloom ended up in Vignetto. They stiffened, but listened to her story. They agreed that if we could take any power out Vignetto they supported the cause.
We traveled from Solaria to New Sule via carriage. The border of Oscara had a mist at the edge that did not move. It is said that it’s cursed by the Duke to keep Avistan out. Edwina noticed pockets of land where green bubbling liquid sizzled and bubbled. This seems to be where the bad air was coming from. It was everywhere.
The crown was stolen from the Duke long ago by an agent of Avistan that fell and no one really knows what happened to them. Edwina and Bikaji tried to figure out the path they may have taken. Some of the gas began to drift closer. There were lights inside. A whip of smoke came toward Blathnat. We were surrounded by them. Blathnat, Edwina, and Gary were sucked into one. We destoyed them and moved father into that cursed land.
Fungal slime has grown over the corpses of some knights of Pelor. We threw rocks at them for a while. Unsuccessful. Really a sad showing of strength. Piprim approached and there was a puff of spores they began to stand. We destroyed them and took all their valuables. They had a journal that sent out 75 years ago searching for the burial place of a fallen saint.
We found a gigantic winged skeleton in celestial armor. The crown was in its chest cavity. Bikaji went to retrieve it and a creature arose. It seemed to have an argument with itself. It looked relieved when we killed it.
We returned to Avistan with information and the belongings of the fallen paladins. We were rewarded for our efforts.
Echo Chambers
•I was directed to the Adventurer’s Guild in my search for Be’bop. A red-haired woman named Penny directed me to a meeting room where two adventurer’s were meeting with the head of the guild, Wesley. The two woman were named Qualia and Blathnat and both were accompanied by birds. I was told that Be’bop has opened a business called The Cog. Since I required employment I agreed to accompany these ladies to Rikevist.
We arrived in a town with a marshy, earthy aroma. There was also a smoke in the air. They apparently made bricks there. The man that owned the brickyard, Giani, who requested the guild’s assistance finding missing employees. He was very dirty and appeared to also work amongst his employees. Some have them have been missing a few days, some a few weeks. His business is falling farther and farther behind and losing money. “Some people just want to see the world burn,” was his reason why. Someone at one of the pubs must be trying to lure them off into the swamp according to witnesses. They head north. He has not seen any unusual people in town, but the owner of the pub might. Giani knows most of the townsfolk and employees three quarters of them. Someone may have found clay out in the swamp. It’s not hard to make bricks.
We went to the pub. A dragonborn man was working there. His name was Garm. There is an old ruined monastery three days north. He thinks someone has been luring them there. He refuses to tell us who he thinks it is. He wants to keep his reputation in case he is wrong. He offered us moss sandwiches. I said, “Ugh” under my breath. He misheard and said, “No it’s not Mmmm, but it is nutritious.” The sandwiches had a thick slimey moss you find on trees. The texture was awful. The dark bread full of seeds was also unpleasant. I ate it to be polite but also because I require sustenance to survive. The chickens went missing recently. Maybe it’s goblins. There are a lot of those in the swamp.
Garm directed us to a merchant at the dock yard. I purchased clothes for traveling through the swamp.
We were attacked in the swamp by a corrupting ooze and 3 bagiennik. After defeating them we rested.
In the morning we traveled to the monastery. It was crumbling and returning to nature. There was nothing in the ruined houses but bugs. We were attacked by skeletons. Inside there were more skeletons and a potato wearing an opal bra and pink miniskirt that Blathnat was very interested in. One of them was very large. It was comprised of multiple skeletons. We found nothing of interest except some renovation plans for the monastery. Outside we found a statue of Lathander showing off his nipples.
We returned to Giani with the plans. He said he would like to keep them even though he has no plans of restoring it. There are a lot of bricks there. Blathnat said something about unions, but I had already mentally moved on.
Amara Pomraw
•The Demonological Paradox two the demonic boogalooo
I am not sure who keep naming these quest posts. They certainly are...creative.
I got the spill. Abominations. Skin walkers. Disgusting monsters. Skin people. Everything was bad...I tried to leave and Bram did his damnest to keep me there. He said we could survive if I went...I wasn't too sure. We had gone to go shopping and somehow in all of that we got into a fight with a child and well, allgedly, someone spanked him unconscious. Piprim was getting roasted left and right by kids. I was still worried about our quest though.
We made it to some farmland and there they had effigies to something...a bad sign. They were destroyed by the last party; now they were here again. People were here. I had Gar go in and check the place out. It was empty. Someone came in and did the effigies. They ten left and fled into the woods.
This path brought us deep into the forest to more effigies and to a fork in the road. One direction we would find hags. The opposite something else that wasn't what we were hired for. So we went towards the hags. Dartan tried to sneak over and set the house on fire. In his armor he was less than stealthy.
They had come outside threatened us and combat started. They were epically powerful casters. Insect swarms and hold persons. They had these half hourse half human creatures along side them. It was disgusting and the attacks were relentless. The three hags were crafty and their minions were strong. Without Edwyna Piprim would be dead. Without me healing Dartan might have gone the same way.
I managed to back off a good ways, out of the bugs, away from the human centipede, away from the hags. From there I was able to stabilize us. A good farie fire. Some damage, Some healing. My best work happens when I am able to think. I don't do well under pressure. When given time to think I can make miracles happen. Sadly in the battle Dartan got a nasty bleed but we stemmed it.
Amara Pomraw
•So we had gone out to the beach for a celebration. Bláthna, Edwyna, Be'bop and I planned to hit the beach. The entire time Tassi kept making comments about me dying. I kept questioning her on it but she would not elaborate. It was just a normal beach trip. She handed me a potion of healing. It was a kind gesture at least. We got some supplies, but no food. Bláthna's familiar was a bottomless pit that could not resist food.
Once at the beautiful beach we sat down got sorted. Tassi...smoked. Then she stripped and ran into the water along with a naked Bláthna. Edwyna and I were on the beach lounging when a massive chicken rose up and out of the water then yelled and everything went black....when we woke up were in in "Cluckhallah". We had died...I can't be dead I needed to go to work! I began to panic, but we were in limbo! Not quite Cluckhalla yet. That was what our spirit guide had told us. We were told that no one had left before but I didn't care. They have said that about all technology. I would find a way.
At the gate of Cluckhalla we were told we would shape into chickens. Our limbs would blow off and we would turn into eggs. Devin let us know all of this and reminded us that it rains corn on Fridays. Devin was a sea serpent before this life.
We spoke with the Oracle to see if there was a way to leave. It challenged me intellectually..."What could I be doing that was more important than corn on a Friday?" I created a random block and tackle....which was not for fishing but I managed to make it work and bring up a fish from the water we were standing over. That impressed him and he let it go. The oracle let us know at the top of the tree. Very far away and atop a few thousand steps was a potal back home. So we decided to take the trip.
It was so many stairs. As we climbed the steps we were attacked by a bunch of chickens! They were nasty little buggers. They turned Tassi to stone! Things were not going well! We had to leave that girl behind....it was awful. I couldn't help her, but I was able to take pieces of the chicken boss to craft later...if we survived.
We climbed stairs for what felt like ages until we made it to the top of the tree and there we spotted a three headed chicken thing! It was at the top of the tree and there we had to fight. I was able to cast my faerie fire and it made good on its affects. My notes set up Edwyna for what was easily the most devestating attack she had ever seen. A massive force centered on all three heads of the monster and it created a vacuum around the three heads and killed the creature. The cockberus was harvested for parts.
When we passed through the portal the sun was on a new position...I was going to be late for work!
Potassium "Tassi" Sorbate
•We went to the beach. Amara called me beef curtains. What a bitch.
Blathnat and I went skinny dipping. Giant chicken monster showed up and killed us all. Sent us somewhere...
We met Cluckien at the River Strips in Limbo. He is going to take us to Cluckhalla. It’s where you go when you die. Bummer. Blathnat asked, “Why do men over 30 like birds?” Because their relationships have gone stale says this guy... Blathnat thought it’s because little boys like dinosaurs.
He also said that Cluckhalla is wonderful. We’ll be there forever. Most start the day by pecking at the ground for a few hours until lunch and then switch to pecking at grass. On Fridays they eat corn. It was implied that we will turn into chickens when I asked if it was a problem we don’t have beaks. No one’s ever left Cluckhalla before according to Cluckien.
Amara had a panic attack. She was really worried she’d lose her job. I told her she most assuredly had because Be’bop is a bitch.
Steven greeted us. He used to be a sea serpent. He let us know that turning into a chicken is a horribly painful transformation. Wait till your arms and legs to blow off and you turn into an egg. And you get a free Viking hat. It rains corn on Fridays. He played chicken with Blathnat. She won. I called him a bitch. He said, “What do you expect? I’m a chicken.”
We knocked on the door of the oracle’s house and asked if there was a way to leave so that Amara could go back to work. “What is it you do that is more important than eating corn on Fridays?” said the incredulous oracle. Amara created a block and tackle and tried to fish with it. She caught a lobster. There was a lot of talk about corn side dishes.
There is a portal at the very top of the tree that leads up into the clouds. It will take us back, as long as we don’t die here. If we die, we are stuck.
We started climbing the inside of the tree and were swarmed by little chicks and one big bat winged bastard. I got stung and started turning into an egg. I tried to hold on, but...
Potassium "Tassi" Sorbate
•The Demonological Paradox
I didn’t read the letter on the quest board. Sue me. Wesley explained that we received a letter from Faelan. He runs a vineyard in Yeluma. He wants the adventurer’s guild to come quickly.
Introductions happened. Gary the ape alpha, or whatever, said he’s speaking to Ko’bal through his hat. I didn’t hear a thing when I put on his tinfoil hat. He did his normal handing our hair thing. I got comfortable with a little drink and smoke. Bram introduced Mimic and said, “We fight stuff and try to keep it from hitting you.” Gary pointed out he was the omega, what ever that means. Dartan was all like, “All you need to know about me is my name.” I laughed and called him EspressoDepresso. Thanks for that moniker, Blathnat. A doofy looking dude named Quercus and said, “My mom kicked me out, so I had to find a job.”
I wasn’t paying much attention to the scenery on the trip as I was focused on scribing a scroll. First class is like super comfy though.
Caran Gaelack, the owners son, picked us up at the train station. He told us recently their neighbor’s pets are going missing. Also, a couple dudes Gayland, Toby, Bob, and his brother Rob, and their other brother Alan. Also, Chris the stable hand. They were all kind of idiots.
The Yeluma papers have reported people doing magic and just dying. One dude casted chill touch. Dead. One of the guys casted like astral projection and like died. This reached the papers a week ago, but who knows how long it’s been going on?
Caren’s dad was really worried with the guild stayed in Yeluma during the great pirate war which happened an undisclosed number of years ago.
Our host gave us all a bottle of spice wine. He introduced his daughter Elrin and his wife Elris. Their middle child is at Springreach University. It’s Blathnat!
He explained that he thought something quite sinister was going on. He’s heard through the rumor mill that people have been going into the woods and conversing with unsavory creatures out there. When they return, they act very different. Chris went in with a horse and neither came back. He believes the creature are fey. They don’t usually go into the woods unless it’s under the full moon for totally different reasons. They’ve noticed some masked figures around a house in the city. Which isn’t necessarily the weirdest thing as they use masks for all kinds of things, but these ones stood out. In the woods we should go past the standing stones.
We found effigies made of small bones. The largest was likely a dog, but mostly cats. The bone ears clued us in. Dartan knew this was for sure done for an evil deity.
Gary kept calling Dartan and Quercus betas and subjects. Quercus seemed to embrace it.
Gary pretended to be a druid and realized that the alter in the center of the clearing was an ancient druidic site for sacrifices to the first druidic circle.
We continued deeper into the woods and found a series of nightmares. Not the horses, like the bad dream, although there was a horse. Kinda. A few “horses” were just a human whose skin was stretched over the horse itself. There was also a human centipede. I truly wish I didn’t know what that was.
A centipede hag said, “Are cadavers really people still?” She invited us to her home to discuss it. Nah. Well ok, but with misgivings. There were three of them. Damn it.
The hags seemed to know a lot about us. A creepy amount. I asked why and they claimed they know a great deal of a lot of things. They refused to clarify how. They wanted to keep some secrets.
They explained the cadavers came to them because they sought their son. She assumed we came here to make a deal with him. People want power, but don’t like the cost that it takes. Sometimes when they use the power they’ve been given, they can’t handle it and they croak. The bodies are brought back here and... disfigured. Bob Rob and Alan were triplets the same person to begin with. Turning them into a human centipede seems even more twisted now.
The hags blamed their icky skin on the fact that no one brings them Retinal. Vitamin A is wonderful for your skin apparently. I don’t think any cream is going to fix the horror that was their faces. They should have started a skin care routine centuries ago.
One of the hags put on tea. When it was offered to us, she explained the ingredients: 3 lunar moth wing, 4 wings from a dragon fly, the corn in your teeth you can’t get out (and the teeth with it), toe jam, a hint of jasmine, all wrapped in a cocoon of black widow silk. She recommended sweetening it with raw sugar, not refined, to be classy.
Dartan, pointed out that is in fact the hags fault they’re all dead. They said people only received what they asked of their delightful son they birthed and grew so fast. God damn, can you imagine that process? Better yet, don’t.
The son finds wayward souls who are troubled, upset, want to make a change, bring someone back, prove themselves, yada yada. They come into the woods looking for someone to provide that to them. The hags only provide information how to meet their son so they can watch him grow just like any mother would.
He doesn’t have a name. We’d have to find the book of names if we truly wanted to figure that out. “Isn’t son his name then,” someone asked. No, that’s a title. His other title Demegoth. A Demegoth is a type of demon that feeds on pain and sorrow and is able to provide deals with people for what you would equate from a cantrip to a 7th level necro spell for a blood price.
They told us the secret to summoning him: build a bone effigy using a pet you sacrificed near the alter and he’ll come.
I maybe sort of threatened them and they polymorphed Gary and I into chickens. Bram agreed to leave, but not by walking the way she suggested. We all wiggled out in one manner or another.
We went to town to get a chicken, sacrificed it, and then built an effigy. The Demegoth arrived. I started thinking about tamales. I told him that parents don’t allow stupid children to make bad choices and we should defend people from it. EspressoDepresso started talking about making deals. I said he needed a spanking, and not in a sexy way. I went back to thinking about tamales. Bram got bored and punched it. After we whooped its ass for a while it destroyed the effigy and disappeared.
We went to the house of masked people. Asking questions got a door slammed in our face. When we broke in the woman cast fireball incinerating herself. I found a note that said, “Don’t come in pairs. Enter and leave at separate times. Maintain the illusion of farmstead. Bring pets keep them in the cellar.” We returned all of the cellar pets and made 200 gold each. Dartan tried to sell all the branded sheep from the farm that apparently had belonged to Rob, Bob, and Alan. Since that wasn’t successful, he released all of the ewes and kept the ram as his slave. I think it was a sex thing.
We told Blathnat’s parents about everything we discovered, and that we would need to return another day to address the hags. They gave us each 50 gold and a promise to pay the next crew’s train travel.
Gary handed Bram the tinfoil hat. I’m not sure if he was pretending to hear Ko’bal or not, but Bram did say he was being instructed to punch Gary. Hard.
Tamales are really good.
Potassium "Tassi" Sorbate
•We’ve all been mildly inconvenienced lately. Little curses like my lighters not working, Gary’s change in odor, Wesley’s ex-wives reaching out, and Bram bumping his toenail on doors. Some creep was hiding behind Wesley. He said he’d cursed the guild to not accept new members. “You’ll be coming to my dinner party or you’ll be more cursed. I’m bored and want company for a dinner party.
He was serving lemon pound cake and left over Ko’bal. Piprem was served canned soup and seemed to enjoy it. Bram ate knuckle sandwiches.
Our host asked if we were aware of “The Trolley Problem”. It’s a recent thing that’s come up. What happens if there is 5 people on the train tracks vs one person on another track? Who do you choose to die? Gary started talking into his hat and said this was still murder according to the dead. Bram questioned if Ko’bal was actually dead. Gary acted all squirrely.
Our host tested how we interact with trolley car system in real time. We are going to see which people we choose to save from a fireball. One human woman, or 10 goblins? We just couldn’t make any sense of this. Then he threatened if we were to sneeze 7 times we would die. Bram started sneezing. I changed the woman into a giant ape and dragged Bram closer to the lever. Bram made the trolley hit her. Our host seemed disappointed.
On the way to our next challenge Gary started on about Ko’bal again. When is he gonna' just get over it? Bram mentioned that a crab ripped Kobal in two.
Our next challenge was a falling bolder, with a choice of 10 goblins or 20 kobolds. Bram just put all 30 together and stopped the boulder. I made a suggestion and was also uncursed. I immediately lit up and the host asked if I’d seen the no smoking sign. I don’t really care about his asthma.
Gary and Pip tied themselves up for our next challenge. Our host “pretended” to be a vampire and threatened to eat one of them. Bram held him while Mimic saved our co-workers.
He was so impressed with us that he asked us to fight his adult men. How do you defend yourself against little, tiny vampire adult men? With fists and weapons I guess. He also brought out trolleys, and a t-shirt cannon. Then he dropped a boulder on my head and said I was stoned. Truth. Maybe that’s why I thought this chest tat was a good idea.
Flefydwaa "Be'bop" Warmop
•Wesley told us that Miss Bailey Gladwell has urgent need of our services. Her father George has gone missing. To not hear from him for 6 months is concerning. He’s followed his passion of birdwatching in recent years. She suggested old guys all do it. I wonder if that’s what Wesley does while we put our lives on the line.
When Bailey last heard from him, he was couple of days from setting sail. He’d heard of a small cluster of islands out in the Samak Ocean from old men sailors in port Kalli. Flora and Fauna unlike anywhere in the world. She doesn’t know how he made his way there, but she should have heard something by now.
What happened to him? Bad weather? Pirates? She was unsure. She went through study and found no charts or maps. He’s become spontaneous in his retirement.
We are to find something concrete, proof of death or bring him home and we each get a gold bar worth 1,000 gold. This lady was disgustingly well to do. She probably thought a banana cost 1 platinum.
We arrived at Port Kalli and Cillian immediately gravitated toward food. He talked to the chef about cooking techniques. He made us very spicy dragon rolls, a nice sashimi sampling, and slightly stinky soup. Thordak and I had a really rough time. Then, and later... Cillian bought a significant amount of fish which he stored in his magic backpack. Cillain asked the chef if he had seen George Gladwell. Nope.
I looked around the port for obvious captains. A big blue burly orc captain knew Georgie. He was also familiar with the Paradise Islands and gave us directions.
He gave Cillian an axebeak curry recipe with a ridiculous quantities of spices. Why is this dude so fixated on food?
The Sister told him, “You look wise beyond your years. This is not a compliment.” He claimed to be twenty, but must have been in his fifties.
I asked if Georgie was friends with any other sailors and was told to look for Captain Stu. He’s a tall, lanky, hairy, bugbear that you can smell before you see him. Last this guy heard Stu was headed toward Teikoku. We found extra tall bugbear that absolutely reeked. Cillian confirmed that this was Captain Stu. He claimed to be a good friend of Georgie. Cillian asked if he knew the specific island George traveled to. Stu had dropped him off. His next trip to the islands he looped around the archipelago twice, but he didn’t see Georgie’s boat. He assumed George left on his own. He offered us some moist paper out of the waistband of his pants. No thanks, my dude. We already have directions.
Stu told us that Georgie had a tent, barrels of water, and food. He’d known he’d be there a few months. Stu’s description of Georgie was, “Sweet man, loves birds, won’t shut the fuck up about them.” No one else had seen Georgie after Stu.
We sailed to the islands and looped around them looking for the island with the most interesting birds. We found an ancient well on the island. The Sister communed with nature. She found out the toucans were the most prominent beast on the island. She also searched for different kinds of creatures and didn’t find anything else. We went down the well. A dragon burst through the wall. He was just a little guy, but Cillian thought there might be a bigger one around. We butchered it and continued into the cave where it had tunneled in. We found pools of corrosive liquid. Thordak ferried us all across after casting jump. Cluck was able to make some of the smaller jumps. Cillian did fall in, and boy did it hurt. The Sister transformed into a giant bat, and Cillian grew dragon wings. They scouted and came across more cave dragons. We fought the adults and two more young. Then we butchered them and weighed our bags down with their carcasses. We found nothing of interest in the caves.
We found George’s body on another island. His journal full of bird notes. He said that he did a terrible job mooring his boat and it drifted away, and he hopes that his family eventually learns of his fate. I shoved chunks of discomposed man into my bag along with his journal.
When we returned to Bailey she was really insistent that I not take the body out in front on her. Squeamish. Whatever, I took him to Moonbow.
I finally have the funds to open my business. Yay dead rich guys, I guess.
The adventurers were betrayed by their guide. Seren tried to feed them to the Mimic Oasis, but she was unsuccessful. The Mimic Oasis was destroyed, Bram's dog Mimic tore out Seren's throat, and Blathnat found 1,000 gold. They returned to Springreach with the sand needed to craft a Bloodwell Vial, +2.
Potassium "Tassi" Sorbate
•Wesley gathered us together to tell us about a cursed village named Willowcreek. It keeps getting destroyed. Why do they keep rebuilding it? They are having some disappearances. Wesley said he would start ignoring them if they didn’t pay so well. He wished us good luck. Shedon thinks they get their money through tax evasion.
Willowcreek was an extremely convenient distance from Springreach. It was right down the road.
Ko’bal says he’s the nesting partner in the polycule of Alphas. He argued with a mustachioed man that was a cigar aficionado that said he did not know what that means. His name's Derek.
Robbie Robert Robinson got here not long ago and found completely abandoned town. They’ve gone from 30 down to 6 since they found this empty town. This happened in 4 days. I asked if they thought they were disappearing the way the previous inhabitants had, and he said this had obviously been the invasion with a Dulahan and a lot of undead. Strange fish in the river that they keep eating that makes their thought swell up. When I asked why they kept eating it he replied, “Clearly you don’t understand the level of laziness that fishing is.” Robbie told us here is a cave, and a nice temple. They have service tonight. They drink communion and have out of body experiences. That sounds fun. Service is in an hour.
The Sister told Gary that SRU is dirt cheap and could address his deficiencies.
The cave is just up there. They put up a sign that said, “Scary” because the sounds of wind coming out of it sound like moans and groans.
Derek—the cigar aficionado—says Robbie is the better of the two priests. His brother—the other priest Bobbie Bobberson—is still here. Robbie he’s know for a little while. Bobbie he’s known for a little bit. Derek and Robbie used to work at a coal processing plant in Springreach. He met Bobbie a few days ago. Not showing up for food is how they notice they are missing. The floors are always covered in wet mucus when they check for them in the morning.
We went into an unlocked house and found opalescent mucus like oil on water all over the floor. I asked The Sister if she would ask Robbie for a fish. She said something about seeing a lot more of me in the near future. What? Was that a death threat? Anyway, Bram and I gossiped about the fact that she may or may have not smiled recently. When she returned I inspected the fish and it had the same properties of the mucus.
Ko’bal and Gary went off on their own. Likely for romance. I tried to give them their privacy. Bram double checked. For sure romance. Gary asked Bram to join in, so for some reason we all decided to watch. We were told Ko’bal ate the fish and drank the water. Now he can only breathe water. They decided this meant that the villagers were jumping in the river and now eating each other.
Gary said he would keep an eye on Ko’bal with his head in the pail since he was already used to holding his hair up. The Sister examined Ko’bal’s (bruised) throat and it looked like he almost grew gills.
We went to the temple and found 7 dead aboleth spawn in the temple. This is what happens when you drink too much aboleth mucus. You turn into these strange creatures. These particular ones were all dried out. They didn’t have any physical wounds.
We hid in the tree line to watch their communion. Bobbie told the people gathered. One within the cave will provide guidance under which we can prosper and Ascend to the divine. He fed them aboleth flesh and blood and said they needed to hurry to the cave before they suffocated.
We got to the cave and they had crucified the aboleth and were feasting off it. Gross. I convinced the woman holding the baby—Robert Aiden—to save herself and her child. So it didn’t trigger anybody. Especially someone that’s a cheater.
Ko’bal turned into a topaz dragon and breathed on everyone else that couldn’t be convinced to come away safely with us. The aboleth’s corpse shed broodlings. One man ran for his life, but the rest were destroyed. Ko’bal is really good at finishing guys in his mouth. Gary doesn’t mind. He kissed him passionately anyway.
Flefydwaa "Be'bop" Warmop
•Noir came into the guild with a mission. He pressed play on a tape recorder and Harold’s voice told us to go up to the mountains through the cursed woods. There is a comet in the sky, but it is actually a dragon, and Noir wants its heart. He’ll give the party a potion now, and gold if we are successful.
We went to the Shambles because Cillian wanted cooking ingredients. There was a chromatic dragonborn that asked what we wanted. He played some mind games, then bitched about not having a tail. I was not in the mood to have my time wasted. Cillian asked for a dragon heart and a liver. He planned to cook when we got there.
We got to the cursed woods and found a turned over wagon. There was a man and 4 horses laying dead. There was a massive oval shaped scale that almost cleaved him in half. I checked the temperature with the back of my hand. Not too hot. It was most assuredly from a jet powered dragon. Cillian knew more specifically a Crimson Glow Valstrax. It doesn’t have a breath weapon. It has exhaust ports on its wings to channel its breath through to attain Mach speeds. This specimen is the best representation of dragonly might. Physical raw power. The damage wouldn’t be elemental.
We set up camp and noticed a really bright shooting star, but it was moving really slowly. As we took watches at night we could see it getting closer. On Thordak’s watch he did a terrible job. After the dragon landed an attacked him he insisted his name was Ko’bal. Who the hell is that? I cured him and went back to bed. It was real fucking hard to sleep with him muttering out by the fire about chickens.
We climbed the mountain and Thordak continued to mutter about Ko’bal. We defeated the dragon. Noir gave us 400 gold each and a very special potion that went to Thordak.
Potassium "Tassi" Sorbate
•I told the party that Tariq Zoubeir was once the most celebrated drum maker in all of Jamila. I wanted a Rhythm-Maker's Drum. Badly. Not only to improve my music, but to improve my magic.
The problem was that Tariq had retired 15 years ago and repeatedly refused to make any more drums. He was living at a legendary resort in Zaryah Ma'wahe Oasis of Jamila, and that the staff there probably wouldn’t want to allow us access to him.
We found Vigo the Dhampir wizard that would give us a teleport all the way to Jamila. For a price. 700 gold! I put on the charm, and offered a favor, and he knocked the price down to 500 gold for a favor owed. He mentioned us giving him some blood which The Sister strongly objected to. He laughed and said that we shouldn’t be so eager to give up blood to strangers. There were some bad people out there
The oasis was very humid. You could see both jungles and desert. The breeze appeared to be enchanted. Everything smelled lovely.
A woman named Suli gave us and extensive menu of what the resort had to offer. Yukio dropped 1000 gold specifying it to be used for only her only. I offered 400 gold for accommodations for the rest of us, but The Sister insisted on paying for her own way and two personal attendants. So, in the end I came out of pocket 300 gold for Zylrie, Gary, and myself.
After we’d had some time to relax, The Sister became an owl to scout out Tariq’s villa. She led him to us and he allowed us into the estate. We found out that he wasn’t Tariq at all, but a doppelganger named Cael. 15 years ago, he’d Tariq got obsessed with firemoss. Not to smoke it, but for the resonance it created in drum making. It could be cured into a transmutation field to be worked into an instrument. Lady Emer of Cloudfang Keep was rumored to have the best firemoss in the whole continent. Cael had led Tariq there and waited 3 days. He never came back. It was for selfish reasons he posed as Tariq. Just wanted an easy life of gardening.
Lady Emer’s home is a one-day trip to the mountain and then a climb. On the way up the mountain Cael told us that she works for an order of assassins. One time she did proclaim that she would ascend to godhood. She hired bards to sing to her assentation, that pissed off a lot of people, and that’s why she is cursed.
We had an argument about taco salad. Cael doesn’t share food!
Gary caught the faint sweet, spiced scent on the air. Firemoss. Cael brought us to a risky looking walkway. It led to a keep. It didn’t appear to be in the greatest shape. It looked old. The door was flanked by owlbear statues. There was a 60-foot tower. Gary and The Sister heard the cawing of a griffon. We decided to just walk up to the front door and knock. We were atacked by owlbears.
We went inside and the house appeared completely ruined. I smelled something wonderful in a room with 2 basilisks. Gary cast a fog cloud and we destroyed them. They were wearing 2 golden collars labeled Blinkers and Blunders. In two crates we found foods and firemoss with the order of the Ouroboros's Logistics. I grabbed a brick of firemoss which was enough for 6 doses.
In a salon we found many treasures. Partially disassembled drum seems out of place. A door in that salon led to the central courtyard. We found a woman with some wyverns. I owned up to the fact that we killed her pets because she seemed pretty cool. She put me on my ass. I lost track of how many times I was knocked down.
In the end she was defeated, but at great cost. Yukio had been petrified as well as the drum maker Tariq. We found a vast amount of treasure and a wand of restoration with enough charges left to bring one person back from petrification. Tariq had been stone longer, so we rescued him and got the drum. We’ll come back for Yukio someday. Maybe. Probably not. She seemed to have a death wish the way she stormed that room and refused to take cover. On top of that she hadn’t been very nice to me. You get stoned and miss one mission and she never let it go...
A deposition is a sworn, out‑of‑court interview where a witness answers questions from the lawyers while a court reporter records everything. It happens during discovery, long before trial, and it’s meant to lock in the witness’s story. Both lawyers are present, both get to ask questions, and both receive the full transcript afterward.
Statements made in the depositions were leaked to Wesley:
Brian Newland
Lisa Phillips
Justin Cooley
Michael Estep
Shawn Cooley
Shawn Grooms
Randolph L. Walters Jr.
Shedon
Mama
Rhonda Grooms
Ko’bal
Arguments about what evidence and witnesses are allowed.
Both sides question jurors.
The side with the burden of proof calls witnesses first
Plaintiff The Adam’s County Boys
Then that witness is done.
After the first side finishes all their witnesses, they “rest.”
Then the defense begins its case and calls its own witnesses, following the same pattern.
If the defense raises something new, the plaintiff can call additional witnesses to rebut it.
Judge explains the law.
Calliope
•Wesley approached the party and let us know that Tassi was being sued by some towns guards or something. He had received a leak of a deposition, a statement that witnesses make before a trial, and he let us have a look. We made it to court and as soon as we walked in the plantiffs asked for a recess which really annoyed the judge. It was granted reluctantly. Tassi's lawyer had some issue and he just bailed from the court leaving Bik as her new lawyer and us passing notes to her.
Brian Newland made his statement and we took our turn and we really had something ahead of us. We asked the man who pretended to be so innocent if he was aware that his brother was sending out painting of his genetals to women in Springreach. We asked him about the break in and his small music career.
next was Lisa Phillips we questioned her on the warrantless break in and also the fact that they kidnapped Shedon and tossed him into a bag. A bag they said was to stop him from easing sending but...that wouldn't have stopped that spell. We questioned their need for vigilante justice in the far of proper channels. Are they going to watch someone outside of their jurisdictions on the basis of hearsay and rumor. We asked them if they understood that as public servants being able to make parody and commentary was entirely allowed.
Justin “Baby-Faced, Baldin’, Dipshit” Cooley was next. We aske him is he realized that other people have it worse and despite his receding hairline that he should get over it. He said that it was not up to him how other people dealt with things. He was hurt by the comments. We asked him if he realized that he looked like a "dipshit" and if he was sure that he wasn't one. We asked him if there was drug testing for "The boys" he said no. He was not awarte of any drug tests. He was not an ordained and justified part of the city legal force. They were funded by donations which we interpreted as "protection money" and pointed out that they had no real jurisdiction and they responded with they had "moral" jurisdiction.
Michael Estep
We said that Michael looked like a wrestler and he didn't like that. Not that the wrestler he was compared to was a bad wrestler. It was more that the wrestler was a heel in the company and that was a bad look. We caught him in an easy trap. He let his wife get taken by the guards for her crimes, but when it was a personal matter he made sure to break into my home.
Shawn Cooley
We let him know that he had gone out of his way and broken the law by the standards of Springreach and now that he was being bullied by the city he was upset. He wasn't sure if pound cakes he was getting int he mail were safe to eat. He said that he loved lemon pound cakes (Everyone does) and we said he could learn spells to check poisons and purify foods. In a city like Springreach learning spells is rather easy. We nearly convinced him to leave and go to college to drop the charade alas we didn't manage it due to a poor choice of words. We got on the record that he was not a guard.
Mama Cakes
We asked why they Boys were in her area asking for protection money. She said they were thugs. That she was being extorted for money. She was very excitable she only spoke in shouts actually. She confirmed that what they were doing in criminal.
Shawn Grooms
He had nothing to say and we didn't even call him.
Randolph L. Walters Jr.
We noted how he may have been gay. He cried that he was a happily married man. We asked him he understood Tassi was talking about his dad and not his mom when he said he was a son of a bitch. He said that he was ashamed of the song and how people thought his kid was Tassi's child. We pointed out that Tassi would have been four when his daughter was born. He called one of us a "bitch" and we noted that he said it despite the fact he hated being called a son of a bitch.
He got pissed and got up to fight us! So we decided to fight back!
We killed them all and the judge said we could keep whatever was on their body so long as we removed them from the courtroom.
The Sister
•
We were called not to battle, but to judgment. A strange arena, where words are sharpened and truth is weighed as though it were coin. Tassi stood accused for her voice, for turning lived events into song, and for placing power beneath scrutiny. We spoke where we could, offering structure to her defense, though it became clear that such proceedings are less about truth and more about who may endure long enough to claim it. Even so, the rhythm held. Questions were asked. Doubt was sown. The wheel turned slowly, but it turned.
It was not the court that ended the matter, but the man who sought to control it. Randy Walters abandoned the illusion of order and chose violence, and in doing so revealed the truth beneath the proceedings. What began as accusation ended as conflict, and conflict resolved itself in the only language it truly understands. The officers fell. Tassi was declared innocent. The room returned to stillness, though it was not the same stillness as before. There is a pattern in this: those who grasp too tightly at authority often hasten their own end. I do not celebrate this. I simply observe it. The song she wrote will outlast them. That, perhaps, is its own form of judgment.
I will note, for the sake of completeness, that in his final moments, Randy Walters proved himself… remarkably consistent in character. There are many names one might give such a man. I find myself settling, with uncharacteristic certainty, on one that requires little philosophy to understand:
“A son of a bitch.”
Potassium "Tassi" Sorbate
•The Lost Son of House Vaelithar
Edwina gathered us because there is some assignment in Thiramin to find a lost son of Aldric Vaelithar. She will get Elven chain out of the deal if we are successful. His son Eiran led a party into the Pinecrest Mountains and didn’t come back. The first few weeks was just an assumption that it was a delay in travel. Then Aldric sent out his own scouts who didn’t even find a camp. So we are being commissioned to find the son. Dead or alive. Probably dead. Bummer.
Aldric said, “It’s been a number of months since I lost the boy. My other son useless. He doesn’t take anything seriously. Even when he tries he still fucks it up. I’m sure you can find him at one of the taverns chasing loose women.” Apparently Eiran mentioned in his last letter that he had traveled to Hfar before going into the mountains. He hired a dwarven guide Thorgrim. We should find him or his coworkers to be pointed in the right direction. He’s heard a tale of a set of ruins deep deep in the mountains. He really should have tried something easier that that for a first mission. Like sewer work. The ruins past Titan’s Peek Mountain.
In Hfar we found as big as Mimic, but look larger because they are super fluffy and adorable. I pet them all. The owner pulled them Thorglad. “Took the wee elvan lad most of the way. We won’t go there. It’s cursed. He doesn’t know why, he says we’ll know it when we see the mountain. 50 gold. And dragon firemoss
There was the skeleton of something before the giants. I can’t describe how massive it, or the sword through its chest, was. Thorglad will wait for us 2 days. We’ll find the ruins between these two mountains.
Ko’bal talked about chicken clouds and Thorglad and I were so confused. Then he started talking about his sex pillow pants. So gross.
We began our decent into the mountains and found the ruins. Large smooth stone buildings coming out of the ground. This construction was something ancient but even more than that it should have eroded long ago. The stone is still smooth as if it was carved yesterday. I’ve never seen anything else like this in any of the books I’ve studied. We came to a huge set of double doors 20 feet wide and 80 feet high. They were open just enough fora group of humanoids to squeeze through.
Inside there was no markings on walls. Smooth stone floors. Edwina sent her manifest mind to scout ahead that saw some skulls and a “bird thing with weird hotdogs”. What...? The Sister charged in to attack it. The Sister knew that these were aberrations that have existed longer than the cycle that anything should have lived. She believes this place should be exterminated. We harvested some parts.
We found the skulls of giants outside a room full of bones. Everything was covered in frost, but we did notice some boot prints headed down a tunnel. We follow them to Eiran’s corpse. His body was covered in electrical burns and a look of terror frozen on his face. He had the armor Edwina sought, red cape, and a short sword. Ko’bal wrapped the sword inside the cape for Aldric. We decided to hunt the creature that killed him.
The stonework nearby had the frost damaged as though something hot came blasting down this way. We traveled through the tunnels and found a creature that could blast back to back lightning bolts. Bram ended it with a haymaker.
Thorglad was waiting for us very surprised we were alive. We headed back to Thiramin to return the sword and cape. Aldric gave us 240 platinum for telling him his son died with his sword in hand and that we avenged his death by destroying the monster that killed him.
On the way out of town we partied with the useless son. I now have a hook up for northern firemoss.
Edwyna Faelar
•A momentous occasion. We had gathered the party. Calliope had to tend to a last minute guild emergency, so she sent Ko-Bal and Zylrie in her place. They were excellent amongst the group.
We used the teleportation circles to get us to Thiramen, where we met Lord Aldric at his home. He talked about his son, how proud he was of him. But, we noted that he fully ignored his other son, and there weren’t even any portraits of him anywhere in the home. Aldric informed us that Eiran had contracted out a Sherpa company from northern Hfar to guide him through the mountains. So, we rode the train to Hfar and did the same thing.
Thorglad was our guide, it was his brother, Thorgrimm who had taken Eiran. He took us all the way to the base of Titan’s Peak mountain, but wouldn’t go any further as it was cursed, and told us we’d know why when we saw it. And we did. As tall as the mountain itself was this titanic skeleton, larger than any giant that’s ever existed. Nearby, we found the ruins. Smooth and unyielding to any weather, though we knew they were more ancient than possibly even the mountains surrounding it.
Inside the temple, we first found some weird hotdog-pistachio-bird demons. Very strange, yet more ancient than any living thing should have been. Tassi nearly died, but we eventually dispatched the aberrations. Afterwards, through some exploring of the chambers, we found it. Eiran’s body, scorched and frozen for the rest of eternity into a pitiful fae full of terror. We could have ended it there, taken his sword, cloak, and chain shirt back, but we knew we needed closure for Lord Aldric. So, we carried on through the tunnels.
As we progressed, we eventually came to a long corridor. At the end was this strange creature which seemed to have someone control over time itself, attacking before most of our party could react. Right off the bat, it cast a meteor swarm upon us. I was down. So were Zylrie and Mimic, and Tassi nearly fell as well. It was her magic though that brought us back and we were able to continue the fight and slay the creature.
NOTE: Next time, prepare COUNTERSPELL
As this strange creature was casting lightning bolt on us, we knew that was enough closure and vengeance. We received a pounding as well, so we decided to head back to Thiramen to finish our mission. In those tunnels still lies uncounted and untold horrors.
Lord Aldric thanked us, rewarding each of us with a sizeable sum of platinum pieces, and me with Eiran’s Chain Shirt.
All in all, the mission was a success and I hope that we can return to the temple soon to clear out what monstrosities lie inside.