JOURNAL ENTRY FROM DJAREL RE: SESSION 12

Sixteenth of the Hummingbird

The Dawnbringer looks upon me in Avalon this morning. Through the
strength of my ancestor's Hammer, Kumiss, we have laid flat a mighty
foe. I have tasted the blood of the monstrous 8 eye [there appears a
dark brownish/green stain in the journal after this sentence which one
could logically assume is spider blood]. The 8 eye leaked magic
words after its death and the smokey elf seemed to understand them.
There was great treasure in the lair of the 8 eye. More sun colored
metal than I have ever seen. The party has decided to keep the
treasure here and create a home for ourselves. If this be so then the
hollow tree will need an altar to the Dawnbringer. When I return I
will plant the tulips and flowers about the entrance and prepare the
remains of the 8 eye and the flying needles as burnt offerings to
please the Dawnbringer. It has been so long since I have prepared a
holy altar for the Dawnbringer. Tulips, skulls, and oh, how I love smell
of burning evil in the morning.

Taking control of the hollow tree was no easy task. Through the
greatness of my companions we over came many perilous encounters.
Early in the hollow tree the weight of my spirit caused me to fall
through an old set of stairs and if not for the wild wizard's quick
thinking, I would have been overwhelmed by alligators. The wild
wizard's control over the minds of alligators and dogmen has been a
great boon. Later, when I was blessed to find a fine set of plate
armor within the hollow tree, Telal the Cold spotted a trip wire
within the room before I walked into disaster.

For although I was looking forward to a great battle against the
owlbear, the wild wizard and the smokey elf were wise to steer us
towards leaving the beast as a guardian. The smokey elf has also
gained my favor. He has shown his strength by absorbing the wrecking
ball trap, both the Dawnbringer and I are pleased with the smokey elf.
It is also good that we found the armored female within the hollow
tree. She seems to get along with the group well enough. Let her
mend the wounds of our companions, so that I can spend my energy
making wounds in our enemies.

Last evening, while the wild wizard got into his books,  I showed
Telal the orcish custom of taking the poison sacs from the great 8
eyes. He slid his dagger up the hollow fangs and into the creatures head
with as much ice in his veins as any of my orcish brothers. By
wrapping the poison sacs inside the mucus filled stomach of the spider
and then in a scrap of fresh skin from the stirges the poison should
hold until he can find a proper container. Even our more powerful
enemies can be brought low by 8 eye venom. I hope Telal will be
pleased with this gift.

As we set off this morning, away from our troubles in Talbot, we came
across a horse drawn peddler who sold me some smokables that I will
gift to the Dawnbringer. The wild wizard purchased a particularly
potent form of the herb after considerable debate on the price among
the companions.

I have but one order of business in Avalon: to find an armorer to fit
the plate mail for me. Afterwards, I pray that we can get back to the
business of Crackenmore and search for more clues. I am grateful to
the Dawnbringer for our success this far, but everyday I feel my
ancestor's spirit dwindling like sand in my fist until his remains
rest inside the Barrow of the Rising Sun.

I have so many questions left unanswered... How did my grandfather, a
great cleric, become a slave in Crackenmore? Who was the man in the
red vest with the orcs in my dream?

I will dig deep this day and call upon the Dawnbringer to guide me
through the spell of Tongues.

Djarel

MALCHOR'S DARK HOUSE - SESSION 3

After searching the Orcs, Arnor shouldered open the door the Orcs had come out of and the party moved into a large 30x30 room with many dogs, all identical basset hounds (79). Twenty or so are feeding in the south side of the room, at a wall-long trough, otherwise, around twenty or so are lounging upon old pillows about the rooms. They all notice the party, but pay them little mind. The dogs all resemble the dog that they had seen on the trophies in the other room, as well as the large version in the middle of the room. All small, white, with long droopy black ears, and a red tuft of hair atop their heads.

Gill spoke to one of them: "Toby?" The dog stood up on its hind legs, and said, "Hello, kind sir, if you're looking for Toby you can find him here. A lot of him. Everyone of us." After a brief discussion, Gill influenced three Tobys into joining the party. They all left the room. Bogwater took a liking to the three Tobys and along with occasionally riding upon Arnor's shoulders, he also started riding one of the Tobys occasionally.

Passing back through the Trophy Room (78), they grabbed three trophies at random, put them with their possessions, and then traversed back up into the hallway and north, where after wrapping around a bit, they came to a staircase leading up.

Moving up the stairs, they came into a wavering hallway traveling SE, which after about 60 feet, took them into a 30x50 room that appeared to have at some point been a meeting room, or perhaps a mess hall. A number of tables were upturned and sideways. Wood chairs about, as well. A room in disarray. Norman the Acolyte of the Great Church of Furthermoor* suddenly felt dreadful, as they entered the room. Down in the NE corner of the room, he could sense a presence with a power outside of his experience. As the party paused, to acknowledge this, they could see the troubled eyes of a Wight in the darkness on the far side of the room. Norman suggested their moving through the room in the quickest way available, therefore Arnor busted through a door ten feet away leading south.

Wight by John Howe. Technically, a Barrow-Wight, in the Tolkien vein.

The party moved into an antechamber type room, that had numerous tables with maps upon them. Maps of known Furthermoor, as well as showing the Wall of the Endless Edge, and the rumored--but not believed to be real by all--land of Kush to its west; similar to the map in the room they saw below with the Seven Kushy Moons revolving around the table. FYI.

Click for larger image. I plan to have a "complete" map at some point, but for purposes now this is the best I have. The party is currently in Nevergreen Depot which is in the middle of the map, north of a lake at the bottom.

Looking over the maps, Gill picked up one of the Tobys, showed it the map, and asked, "Where is Malchor on this map, compared to where we are now?" Toby said, "Oh Malchor is here, down below. Us Tobys end up meeting him sooner or later." Gill tried to get more info on exactly where, etc., but Toby didn't know. While he had seen Malchor before, he didn't know exactly how to get to Malchor, as he had been transported there in a blind cage by Orcs, but it was a number of levels down.

The party decides to backtrack. They successfully slip back through the room with the Wight, enter the wavering corridor, then go down the staircase. Once back down they wind back around the hallway and decide to take a hallway east they have yet to explore. This ends up wrapping them back west and to a another and different staircase leading back up.

Arnor ran up to the top with lantern and saw that the concrete shifted to a dirt floor, and rock walls, but also, in about 20 feet, he could see a tile floor, and what appeared to be the resumption of the house. The rest of party ended up coming up and they all walked through the primitive area into a 30x30ish octagonal room with a tile floor. They quickly noticed that there was a symbol in the tile, a symbol they have seen a few times now, most specifically on the back of the robes they grabbed the previous day. This being a chapel room.

Dawnbringer symbol (for now)

Leif sensed something interesting about the west wall, and after Gill got involved, they located a secret door which took them through a closet-like section of ten feet to another secret door, and into another octagonal room, about 30x30, and the most glaring thing about this room--where robes hang about with the Dawnbringer symbol, pink on red--is the busted out north side, into the grass north of the house.

They can hear a buzzing outside, as well, and Gilleegan surmises it's Striges, and therefore prepares them for a battle. When they roll out, they find three Stirges hovering in place, watching them, undecided. After the party places themselves, battle starts.

One of the Stirges started in but Gill plucked it with his bow, it just missed one of the gnomes, and made a thud into the wall. Then Bogwater, riding atop one of the Tobys charged, and with his mace battered one in a surprising blow, it dropped from the sky like a fly. The other Stirge attacked and briefly latched onto Arnor, but was shaken, not getting fully attached, doing just 1 damage.... Then Arnor swung his sword, and knocked it dead.

Striges from original AD&D Monster Manual, drawn by David C. Sutherland III.

After the brief battle, the party collect themselves in the grass outside the north of the house, and talk of walking over to the Depot.

It's the 25th day of the month of the Hummingbird, 8:30 AM.

"Then Bogwater, riding atop one of the Tobys charged, and with his mace battered one in a surprising blow, it dropped from the sky like a fly." Drawing by Bogwater aka Ram.

[Everyone gets 250 experience points. Please add to your character sheets, etc., to whatever is already there. Y'all also need to decide how you want to split up the loot, and add that to respective sheets, as well. From my notes, loot is as follows (let me know if there's anything I'm missing?):

1029 gp
300 sp
Gold bracelet
Brass ring w/ curvy glass design
Two white robes, w/ Dawnbringer symbol in black on back
Two maps showing different possible locations of the landing of the Dawnbringer
Letter in Orcish
Fish w/ green eye, wrapped
Map of Furthermoor, also showing Kush, and Wall of the Endless Edge.
Three dog trophies]


* For now, Norman will be considered a cleric of the Great Church of Furthermoor, unless something else happens.

SESSIONS 13, 14, 15 & 16 - HALLOWED BE THY GAME

[all illustrations & captions provided by Leif, Elf Ranger]

Djarel, cleric of Dawnbringer, had to be carried out of the Smoking Leprechaun after drinking half of a green-tinted beer - on their way back to the Spooky, Old Tree the party noticed some strange dirt mounds & investigating, found 4 dead groundhogmen who had some items on them - back @ the tree the party pulled together for a work party & tidied the place up & Djarel started on an altar to Dawnbringer in the spider lair - the heart of the session surrounded the party's experiment w/ the words issued from the expired spider's wounds, about knocking in the hall w/ statues - they made their way to the hall w/ the crawfishmen armor, & sure enough, after tapping one of the statues in the proper fashion, were met by an owl oracle of sorts - a Q&A transpired & the party learned much about what Eric Talbot was up to as well as other various info about the tree & surrounding area - some hallowed hash was smoked by the party back @ Djarel's altar to Dawnbringer - then they capped the night off outside the tree as Amadi did what his book told him to do (do snow angels in grass staring at the moon) - he suddenly felt rather wise, he told others to do it, & they became wiser as well - soon after, the silhouette of zombies was seen on the horizon, headed toward the wise & jolly party...

 "I am not a teacher. I am a teller," said the owl.

In response to the approaching zombies, the party, though mechanically slowed by the effects of the hallowed hash, decided to move to the winding staircase @ the back of the Old, Spooky Tree to gain elevation; w/ the two gnolls in back, the party made it a ways up the stair before engaging w/ the undead. The hallowed hash aided in their fight against the zombies, & some impressive fighting (Amadi w/ some choice knife throws were of note) was seen; however, the gnolls were ultimately destroyed by the nine zombies - finally doing away w/ the last, the party took some time out to bury the gnolls. It was then decided that the party would bed down for the night & in the morning leave for Talbot, & ultimately back into Crackenmore.

 RIP Gnollan & Mellon, 17th of the Hummingbird

So the next morning, 18th day of the Hummingbird, the party, w/ Magus this time, traveled west & south back down to Talbot. One their way, they came across an old, capsized wagon w/ weeds grown all up & around. A good search reveals a large barrel of some liquid, a beer of some sort, still in fine condition if not in better for the aging. The party decides to transport the barrels back to the tree. This takes most of the morning. Heading back, they make it to Talbot in the afternoon & gathering supplies at the General Outfitter, come into a bit of an altercation w/ one, Bronze Cooter, & his sidekick, Nasty Dog. They are told they need to leave town. The party manages to leave Bronze & nasty w/o any fighting. They make their way to the Talbot Curosity shop where they meet Stetling Conian, a quiet type. They buy numerous things, & looking more Hallowed Hash, find none, though they do score a nice stash of Nugs of Nobility. They do however manage to trade one smoke of Amadi's Flying Cloud for what Stetling says is a magic shield. Stetling seems amazed to see anyone w/ the Flying Cloud & tells them that it is an item sought out by many & he will have no trouble selling it, though he doesnt exactly know its benefits/effects. Asking about magic-users in town, Stetling tells the party they may wish to consult w/ Miss Crumbleberry, the fortuneteller, who is just next door. Information from Miss Crumbleberry seems to be a bit slight, though they do learn that a powerful magic-user named Halius lives in the Moorhouse SW of Talbot. Likewise Leif or Djarel's fortune is read (I cant remember which) where Miss C sees them inside a room of a cave where there is a cave entrance far up above them & wearing magic shoes of some sort they jump up to the entrance. Lastly, the party visits the scholar in town, Gondo Kelp, who they find is working on a book, commissioned by Furthermoor City in regard to the Cult of the Black Dog, & the Black Dog phenom in general. Gondo about falls on his face when Djarel presents him w/ the Cult of the Black Dog book found in Crackenmore. Of course Gondo had heard of the volume, though has never been able to find a copy. Djarel allows him to borrow the book for a trade. The party pick up a few books surrounding Illusion, Goblin Religion & one about a God of Healing.

 "you are in a dark place. you see an entryway. high above the ground there is a small passage in the wall near the ceiling. you are wearing air jordans."

Finally, the party retires to the Green Lantern Inn where they rent a room to store their belongings (most importantly the armor Djarel found that he wants to have resized - so far unable to locate an armorer) & the rest of the party stays in the common room.

Upon waking the next day, the 19th of the Hummingbird, the party finally makes their way toward Crackenmore, through the cemetery. After a brief skirmish w/ some strange Wolf Bats, the party rigs the statue & enters down into Crackenmore. This time, Leif notices a secret door in the second pair of alcoves. This corresponds w/ the gnoll's map. Passing through the secret door, the party finds a new section of Crackenmore; however, they also find that the gnoll map still just brings them confusion. When they wrap down around a long hallway they come upon a pack of 6 Kobolds trying to enter a door on a north wall. Surprising the Kobolds, the party has little trouble in dispensing of them, a few running down the corridor further east & disappearing through a door further down the corridor. The party decides to focus on mapping these corridors, leaving smash marks in the obsidian walls w/ a hammer. They decide not to enter any doors. Backtracking, they come upon a solo Kobold who gets a fierce stab into Telal, before the K is killed. Moving on, the party maps a number of hallways wrapping around, finding many doors, a secret door included. Things are going well w/ mapping, until something strange happens. Out front, Leif & Telal turning a passage, toward a door, soon find the floor below them turn into a short slide & they fall 40' below into a cold, cavernous pool. The trap snaps back above them.

"tellel and amadi had just hit the ground. i knew what was coming next. she appeared as a small dot in the distance. suddenly she was upon me. now she lies still."

Soon, they can see the trap open back up, & easing down, on a rope in Magus the Dwarf. As Magus slowly descends, suddenly, those left above smell a horrible stench & then see two large lizard-like creatures turning toward them from back down the corridor - a split decision is made & the rest of the party jumps onto the trap, falling through it, & all into a pile into the cold water. Telal is lucky to make it to the shore w/ his life intact after it had flashed suddenly before his eyes; the fate of Rown, cleric of the Great Church, is still not known, however. At death's door, she needs magical healing. The party regroups on the shore of the pool, now down in a cavern, shivering, wandering what further adventures this return to Crackenmore will bring...

1:20 PM, 19th of the Hummingbird, Crackenmore, Furthermoor

Note to players: feel free to leave comments regarding add'l/more detailed info you learned in game etc. May be a handy place to leave that stuff for future reference if you find yrself ever referring back to these posts

DJAREL'S JOURNAL + LEIF'S DRAWING RE: SESSION 13

Djarel's Journal - 17th of the Hummingbird

I don't remember much of my time spent in Avalon. Amadi tells me that I drank some green beer and fell asleep... Before I passed out,  I vaguely remember the smokey elf insulting an mustachioed woman. The offer of the cosmetics book yielded no useful information about the town. Amadi than spoke with the old tavern keep who spoke of the haunted house in Avalon. The old man said that he had heard noises coming from the haunted place and had seen people come and go from there only on seldom occasion. Of those who visited the old house fewer still emerged but of those who did seemed to be burdened with heavy coin-purses which was a boon for the Smoking Leprechaun.

I woke up around 11 AM between the shoulders of the Wild Wizard and the Smokey Elf. They let me know that Avalon does not have a blacksmith and gave me the details of the Haunted House as I have described above. After a short while I regained my footing and I was happy to know that we where heading back towards Crackenmore after we regrouped at the Hollow Tree. Just before arriving at our new refuge the Telal and the Smokey Elf noticed some bodies on the ground up ahead. Upon closer inspection they appeared to be the groundhog men that we had read about in Talbot's journal. Telal helped himself to a small coin purse and a hempen necklace adorned with little sharp teeth. With nothing left to do for the groundhogmen and not wanting to wait for there companions to find us near their bodies we made haste for the Hollow Tree.

Amadi and the Smoking Elf had time to interpret the words which came from the dying eight eye and lead us to the statue chamber with a purpose. Leif wrapped the small statue on ground and then we stood in silence for a moment. Shortly after the Wild wizard Amadi rapped his staff hard upon one of the statues and suddenly an owl spirit appeared in a small alcove near by. After shouting at the owl Leif was eventually able to get it to speak. The spirit knew of Eric Talbot as it had been watching this portion of Hollow Tree since its beginning. Talbot resided here with five companions, and from here they waged their war as crayfishmen against the groundhogmen until one day they all did not return, and curiously enough Talbot himself left without his armor. Soon the spirit became weary and was unable to provide useful answers to our inquires.

 "I am not a teacher. I am a teller," said the owl.

After ending our conversation with the owl spirit, we took on the mindset of turning Hollow Tree into a home and set to work putting the interior in order. I headed to the 8 eye lair and began preparing a holy place for the Dawnbringer while the Smoking Elf repaired the stairway and Telal reset the wrecking ball trap as well as the statue room trap. The altar was made from three large stones that I found within the Hollow tree to form a sort of small bench where upon I burned the body of the 8 eye and the winged needles and Dawnbringer was pleased and blessed my faith with magical knowledge. When there is time I shall add wildflowers, tulips, and skulls to the altar. Later on in the evening, the Wild wizard called us around the fire and there he shared with us a wonderful tome which made us all feel much wiser and now we sit in wonderment and are sharing some of his smoke.

Praise be to the Dawnbringer for this blessed day.

SESSION 4 - CRACKENMORE

So the party acquaints themselves w/ their new party member, the charmed gnoll & Amadi christens him, Gnolan.  They spread out & search the room, but find nothing of interest except for the other features of the room: a dais on the north wall, & lots of tables, the ones in the south of the room mainly turned over, where the battle against the gnolls took place.  The party decides to rest in the north section of the room, far from the door, w/ discussion of staying the night so that in the morning, both Amadi & Djinnger can refresh their spell abilities.  Also, there is concern for Magus' & Leif's wounds.  Discussion brews regarding the murky potion vial they found on one of the dead gnolls & Leif decides to smell it.  It smells of roses.  Magus asks to see it & takes a small sip from the vial.  He feels invigorated for a moment, but it quickly wears off.  Next thing they know, he turns the vial up & drains it.  Magically, his wounds heal up & he feels full HP once more.  Leif seems a bit irritated that he downed the entire thing, but talk turns back to whether to stay the night or not.  Djinnger in the meantime has secluded himself to the NW corner to meditate on the the Great Tulip, Dawnbringer.  Amadi on the other hand is bothering Leif to teach him some gnollish so he can start ordering Gnolan around, but Leif on the other hand is busy studying the map they found on one of the gnolls.  Leif ignores Amadi & asks Gnolan what he can tell him about the map.  Gnolan, quite simply, tells Leif that they actually just found the map in this room.  Magus & Leif then brew over the map a bit, until it is decided they will stay the night here in Crackenmore & take their chances w/ whatever lurks in the night.  They spread out & nibble @ their rations in the north part of the room & then plan a nightwatch...  But they hear something @ the door, @ the SE corner of the room, & watch as an Orc busts through, carrying a shield & a morning star.  Immediately, Djinnger, in orcish, asks, "Who goes there?"  The orc stops mid-room, grunts & then says, "What are you doing here?"  Djinnger begins threatening the orc.  Finally taking in the entire party sitting around, the orc seems confused.  Djinnger continues his threats, telling the orc if he doesnt leave now, he is in for it.  The orc backs up a bit & darts for the door.  In an impressive chain of events, Leif suddenly has his bow @ hand & almost flicks off two arrows @ the orc.  The first misses, but the second is quite a blunder, his hand slipping & the arrow not even making it off the string.  The orc gets away unscathed.  Djinnger moves to the south part of the room & spends some time barricading the door w/ a few of the overturned tables.  The party goes into sleep mode & rotate watch.  First it's Magus, then Gnolan, then Amadi, then Djinnger, & lastly, Leif, who wakes the party @ 6 AM.  For the next hour, after slight rations, Djinnger prays to Dawnbringer for Cure Light Wounds while Amadi studies his spell book for Charm Person once more.  The party collects their belongings & moves back through the SE door & into the corridor.  It is around 7:30 AM.  As they are doing this, Djinnger informs the party that he will no longer go by the name Djinnger, a nickname he never liked.  He will now go by his real name, Djarel.

The next FOUR & ONE HALF hours prove to be quite frustrating for the party.  As they exit the room, go south, & then west, coming to a south door, Leif begins using the gnoll map, but what they are seeing doesnt seem to jive w/ what is on it.  They keep on west until they spiral a bit & come upon a door, they open the door, spike it & pass through to the west, & for the next few hours, find themselves passing this spiked door, either from the east or west side, passing back through it, until @ one point they come upon a dead end...  Amazingly, they encounter no wandering monsters during this entire time, or during the remainder of their current delve...  After the dead end, they try to back track but keep getting confused by the door & @ this point arent sure which map is correct: theirs or the gnoll map, or possibly both are wrong?  The party begins to question Amadi's judgement @ this point, as he had been the keeper of their own map.  They then decide to shift the duties to Djarel, who also frustrated ["I feel like I'm playing Zork.  I have no fuckin' idea what's goin on!"], decides to pass the door versus going through it.

This eventually finds them @ another closed door on the south wall.  Leif busts it open, they spike it, & then move west until it turns north & they find themselves traveling north for quite a bit, whether it's NW, NE, a curvature, etc, they keep north wrapping around to the NE & down until they come to more doors.  Amadi busts one open they pass through, to more corridor, so they pass back through the spiked door to a pair of ornately carved oaken doors on the north wall of the corridor.  Again, Amadi busts the door open & Djarel spikes the door.  They walk into a room.  The floor is covered w/ dust, but as they tread up some of the dust they can see that the floor is of shiny substance, polished red granite.  The stone is inlaid in large blocks & extends uniformly to within a foot of each of the walls.  In the very center of the room within the floor surface are blocks of white granite within the red stone, & these form the letters K & Z w/ an ampersand between...  There is a strange reddish glow to north wall of the room when the party enter, what Amadi finds to come from some fire beetles moving around within cases that are inset in the wall.  He cannot figure out how to open them.  From the rest of the items in the room: relaxing chairs, tables, books, etc. they can deduce that this was a Library.  The party searches the room, going through the books, & also through a rack of deteriorating scrolls on the east wall.  Leif comes away w/ a book about Cosmetics.  Amadi a book on Mathematics, as well as a scroll w/ magical writing from the rack.  Magus locates a book on Weapons & Tactics, written in his native language, dwarvish, & lastly, after some deep digging, Djarel locates a curious volume titled, the Cult of the Black Dog.

Next, the party moves back south through the doors & then to the west, through an already spiked door, further west & to the north.  Here, they enter a door after Magus busts it open.  It's a room about 20' x 30'.  They file inside & Amadi's lantern sparkles off of something in the NE corner of the room.  Inspecting it, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock.  They touch it, but nothing happens that they notice off hand.  Amadi then pulls out his scroll & holds it up to the sparkle, but nothing happens.  The party then files back out of the door, but when they come out, they are confused by what they see.  Instead of what they are expecting, they are now in corridor headed N w/ a short 10' bit to the east into a dead end.  Also, as they reorient themselves, it seems the door they just left is actually to their west.  They decide to head north & then to the west & south, wrapping around more to the south until they come to a door on the north wall.  Amadi kicks the door in & they enter.  As he gets into the room & his lantern illuminates it, & the rest of party files in, they notice a sparkling in the NE corner that seems eerily familiar, like deja vu, & sure enough, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock, just like the previous room, or is this the same room?

It is 2:20 PM

SESSIONS 9 & 10 - THESE AREN'T THE GNOLLS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

In which the party untraps zombies from a cell - Djarel gets rushed to the Church of the White Widow - The party tries to convince Goody that thieves killed Shadow - A day of rest is in order - Unrest in & outside Talbot Outfitters - Gnoll Too leads the party into the rolling fields north of Talbot - Inside an old tree Leif senses a secret door & the party investigates...

PARTY CAST:
Leif, elf ranger - LE
Djarel, cleric of Dawnbringer - RM
Telal, thief - JT
Amadi, magic-user - MN
Gnolan, charmed gnoll - NPC
Mellon, freed gnoll - NPC
Magus, dwarf - MIA

ENCOUNTERED NON-PARTY NPCs:
Chill Deeter - holy man @ Church of the White Widow
Goody Threeshoe - barkeep @ the Green Lantern Inn
Dashdalian - traveling bard
Leonard Loonberry - hobbit owner of Talbot Outfitters
Farmer John & 4 of his friends - 2 w/ shovels, 2 w/ spears, FJ w/ sword

Before heading up out of the jail below the Gambling Hall, the party weighs their options & decide to try one more of the remaining jail cell doors... One of the gnolls beats down the door & four zombies move about. Djarel forces entry, brandishing the symbol of Dawnbringer, but the zombies keep on toward the door. They start clawing into the two gnolls who end up crunched over in a corner outside the door, a zombie on top of them & before the party can get the best of the 4 zombies, Djarel takes a serious blow that puts him @ Death's Door. Once the zombies are bested, they lift Djarel, rush out of the Gambling Hall & move west to the Church of the White Widow. It is late at night by this time, & inside the church, where they see a massive, sparkling spider @ back upon a dais, sits a man, quietly. He offers his services for a contribution of 20 gold. Leif is quick to hand over the $. The holy man, Chill Deeter, casts a spell upon Djarel who begins to groan & flounder a bit. Everyone is happy to see he hasnt kicked the bucket. They return him to a bed in the common room @ the Green Lantern & go in & speak w/ Goody who is cleaning up. Though they speak of Shadow dead down in the bottom of the Gambling Hall, killed by thieves, Goody doesnt quite seem to buy it & asks them why exactly he should believe them. They retire for sleep & in doing so, cause a bit of a controversy as a few others there, like a bard named Dashdalian, are not so psyched on their gnoll friends. The next day the party stays the entire day @ the inn, resting. The inn seems oddly quiet all day, which is fine w/ them. On the following morning, they leave the inn & go next door to Talbot Outfitters so that Leif can purchase items to replace those he lost when captured. Like the inn, the town seems rather dead except for a handful of men standing down the strip, in the road, watching the party as they enter the Outfitters. The owner/clerk, Leonard Loonberry, refuses to do business w/ them & after a while agrees to sell the items if the gnolls leave the store. He tells them that word around town is that they killed Shadow & rescued this other gnoll. Leonard tells them this gnoll they rescued robbed his shop @ one time. The party calms him down w/ their purchases & assures him they are trying to do the right thing & are actually trying to get to the bottom of who killed Shadow, saying they are being wrongly accused. Though Leonard doesnt seem to totally buy their story, he gives them enough slack to get what they want & get out of there...

As they exit the shop, they find that the men from down the strip are now just outside the shop, in a semi-circle surrounding the gnolls. The two on the outside have spears, the two closer in have shovels & the guy in the middle has a sword. He's the one that starts taunting the party, waving his sword. Farmer John says they better get the hell outta town & never come back. They are convinced the party killed Shadow & they dont like these gnolls they're runnin' w/. After a bit of a stand-off, the party simply walks through their line, calling their bluff. Farmer John & his lackeys dont do anything, but Farmer John keeps telling them they better not come back to Talbot, or else.

By mid-morning the party is north of Talbot walking through the fields - they are being led by Mellon (gnoll 2), who finally noticing a few dips in the plain, inside a slight valley, brings them to an old, gnarly tree. The tree is extremely massive @ its base, though not that tall; a bit stunted it seems & dying. About five feet up, there is a broken, hollow branch that looks to lead into the tree. Gnoll Too says this is where he hid the bags of silver. The party tells him to go in & get it & Telal lends him his rope. After about 5 or 10 mins in the tree, the gnoll shows his head out the hole & is irritated. He tells the other gnoll & Leif that the bags are gone & says he knows this is the place b/c he specifically disarmed a pit trap the last time. The party decides to enter the tree to check it out. Telal lights up a torch. Sure enough they see the pit trap & spikes & a skeleton down there. But as Leif looks about the hollowed out room, which is about 10 feet high & 10 feet in diameter, he senses something about the north wall. He goes over & lays his hands about, & sure enough, feels the crease of something there. Telal comes over & helps investigate & before long they are opening a secret door which once opened, reveals a stair that suspends up into darkness... They can hear the slow slosh of water somewhere. In order, the party climbs the creaky stair, reaching a dirt landing of sorts, but as Djarel, who was last, gets close to the landing, the stair wobbles & snaps & Djarel falls...  hitting something rubbery he pops off & into the water which is not very deep but next something whips around, what he landed on & an alligator is swinging it's jaws @ him, missing, two other alligators can then be heard splashing from each side, further away... Telal shines his torch down there & then tries pushing Mellon over ledge, but it backfires when Mellon simply grabs his hand & tosses him off, his torch landing beside the water, but not in it... Telal takes 1 damage from the fall...& everyone can hear Amadi chanting something, he's reading from a scroll & then suddenly the alligators are asleep, snoring, hacking up water...It takes a bit but the party heals the rift between Telal & Mellon & Telal & Djarel are hauled back up to the landing using the rope.

Another torch is lit & the party moves forward down a corridor, away from the stairs & the snoring alligators. They come to a 10 x 10 ft. clearing where another stair leads off upwards to their left, a passage also leads straight ahead, they head down the passage & enter into a 15 foot wide, 25 foot long room w/ webs about & as they move in they notice a large, golden key sticking down into the floor. After some talk, they turn the key. When doing so, a section of the north wall spins & opens. They pass through the opening in the north wall & come out into a 30 foot long hallway that smells of mold, about 10 feet wide, armor statues stand to each side, six in all... The armor is a funny cast as it looks to be armor for a crawfish-shaped man, long arms of armor opened for pincers, etc. Telal gets out front & searches for traps, scanning the armor, notices that the 2nd on the left has a pole arm attached to a trip wire. He is able to disarm it. They move in further & Magus slowly examines the armor, telling everyone that the second set on the right seems made of especially fine metals. The party takes time to bag up the suit of armor... They then notice a large collection of gray/black mushrooms growing up from the red rug running down the hall, 12 total, @ the center point of the room, they collect them all... They look down the hall to the other side & the doorway there, about 10 feet in front of them... They get back into a marching order, ready to move on...

3:40 PM, Friday, 15th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Talbot, Furthermoor

SESSION 9 - THE CONFESSIONS OF DJAREL

From the Journal of Djarel...

Foolish of me to stand before both of the abominations at once. The scars will help me remember this lesson. Blessed be the Dawnbringer to let me see the sunrise again and for her I will not let this lesson go unlearned. I still feel my rib floating... I do not wish to be a burden on my companions but I will not be able to swing my hammer with sureness until my injuries are healed. I am grateful to my new found friends for bringing me out of the thieves den. I must trust my companions and err on the side of caution.

I miss the clear skies of  Debthaven. It is always grey and dark here in Talbot which makes me feel that much farther from the Temple of the Dawn-bringer. Kumis... guide me to my grandfather's bones and help me return them to the Rising sun Barrows... Kumis keep my companions safe from that which harrows us.

I will pray to the Dawnbringer for healing...

-D

MALCHOR'S DARK HOUSE - SESSION 2

The party moved around the busted-out floor and into hallway and north, in twenty feet busting open a door on the west wall, and propping it with a spike. They flood into the room, and as the lantern sets within the 30' x 30' room (58) fully, it reflects on a 10-feet-in-diameter sphere on sawhorses in the center of the room. Three sections are on the floor. Gilleegan gets up inside the sphere, which has a crimson felt lining. He wedges himself up in there, as Leif and Arnor pick up the three missing sphere pieces on the floor, and replace them, with Gill still inside.When the last piece snaps in place, the sphere starts to hum, then it rises a bit and the top starts to open, flowering out, rising in the middle, and where Gill is sitting now still among the unseen machine works, pops and drops 300 sp, 1000 gp, a gold bracelet, and a brass ring with a curvy glass design on the outside. After collecting the treasure, the party tries the door to the south, but ultimately can't get it opened, so they go back to the corridor to the east and then move northward.

Places explored so far by party on Level 2 of Malchor's Dark House. This write-up starts at top right (53), and ends in room at bottom right (78). Note that on this map, up is south, down is north.

The party continues north where they can see a room opening up ahead after 20', but then go down a corridor to the west and then further down this corridor north where they come into a room occupied by two Bugbears (69). As if caught in the act of something, the Bugbears seem surprised as the light of the party's lantern hits their faces. They stand, huge, pumpkin-headed. The party looks about the room and sees long, white robes hanging on the walls, some hooks and stands about, chairs, a few cots. The Bugbears stare, their heads flaming.

Bugbear, as drawn in OD&D supplement, Greyhawk. Drawn by Greg Bell.

The party moves toward the door on the north wall, and the Bugbears leave the room to the SE. As the Bugbears are leaving, and before the party totally exits, a number of the white robes are snagged. On the back of the robes is the symbol of the Dawnbringer. Opening the north door, our heroes come into a room that's in a Furthermoor way, a Planetarium (71). There's a long flat table/model at center that holds a topographical map of Furthermoor, and also, in a gravity mobile Calder-style the Seven Kushy Moons are slowly revolving around it, held by a mechanical arm at the middle. Leif takes an interest in the moons, and studying them, notices how one is painted red, while the other six are grey. The most interesting part of the map, other than the moons, is the fact that the map not only shows known Furthermoor, but also has a bit into the land of Kush, west of the Wall of the Endless Edge. Many in Furthermoor have heard of this land's existence, though few believe it actually does.

Next, the party bust their way through the east door and spike it, and as they moved into the room (70) the atmosphere changes, as suddenly they're in a tropical setting, looking north at a beach, sand, waves lapping in... A bit suspect, the party sends Bogwater, on a rope, to enter the water, and after wading in a bit, Bogwater drops down about five feet under the water, and on the floor of the drop is a floor of bones, animal and humanoid. He picks about the bones for about ten minutes or so, but finds nothing of interest.

As others enter the water they do not feel the water, just the drop-off to the bones (except for Leif), so a rope walkway is made to make it to a door on the north wall, that originally looked suspended above the water. Bogwater, the first there, is able to push the north door open, and as the others arrive, and they open it further and light the way, they see into a 30' x 30' room (76) with two tables, both stacked with maps. Most of the party is eager to move on, either through the door at north or east, but Leif holds them up so he can study the maps, and after a good looking over, is able to surmise how each table carries similar maps surrounding a different location: that is, two main theoretical locations of where the Dawnbringer once landed, perhaps bringing Orcs to Furthermoor. The party snag a map from each table, and then bed down in the room, and decide on a watch at 8:40pm. Leif studies his spell book for two hours within this time, as the others fall asleep.

With no intrusions over the night, the party wakes and moves at 5 AM, relighting the lantern, and passing through the door to the north. They spiral about the corridors to the north a bit and Leif exclaims in Elvish, "This place is huge! (for a house)," then moving NW they come into a 30 x 30' room that has shelves lining the walls, all filled with trophies displaying a dog on the top. In the middle of the room (78) is a large version of what is seen atop each trophy, up on a post of about four feet: a gold-painted dog with big ears flopped down. At the base of the post, it reads: Toby.

Next thing the party knows, three Orcs come busting into the room from a door at the NW. Gilleegan attempts to lure them from the room, perhaps to chase him, but the Orcs stay put, perhaps over-confident, but sizing up the party and standing their ground with machetes. Gill then wraps around as if to talk with one, and then surprise slices an Orc, and battle ensues.

The second Orc blunders after swinging at Bogwater, missing, its machete sticking into the dog statue at the middle of the room. He is then promptly slain. After that it was number three that took Leif's "White Knife" to the throat, decapitation style, quick and easy and terrible, blood spewing all about the nearby dog trophies.

The party searches the three Orcs and finds 29 gp, a letter in orcish, and a fish w/ a green eye wrapped, as if for delivery. 

It's 6:00 AM.

SESSION 12 - ONE STIRGE, ONE CLERIC & ONE PEDDLER

In that the party battles the Stirges - becomes cordial w/ a Lady of the Faith - Mends a bridge & kills a Spider for ancient coin - Reads about Eric Talbot - Wanders north & into an outgoing peddler - Onward into the hamlet of Avalon...

PARTY CAST:
Leif, elf ranger - LE
Djarel, cleric of Dawnbringer - RM
Telal, thief - JT
Amadi, magic-user - MN
Rowan, cleric -JB
Gnolan, charmed gnoll - NPC
Mellon, freed gnoll - NPC
Magus, dwarf - MIA

ENCOUNTERED NON-PARTY NPCs:
Stagger Lee - traveling salesman

So around 7:20 PM, on the 15th of Hummingbird, the party is attacked by 3 STIRGES as they try to re-enter the tree... Battle ensues & though Melon Gnoll takes some stirge sucking, the party offs them fairly easily, locating a number of gems in place of the stirge eyes, 3 gems in all: 2 avg sized yellow diamonds & 1 large, chipped, ruby.

The party funnels back into the tree as darkness totally descends & finds a female cleric bedding down, but amiable. She introduces herself as Rowan, & is apparently following up on leads regarding Eric Talbot, a legend of faith in some parts. The party quickly briefs Rowan on their intentions & before long Leif is locating the secret door to lead them back into the tree, they then head back up the staircase over the water, & after an elaborate plan, are able to cross to the other side, over the 2, now awake alligators. On the other side they move up the unsearched staircase to the NW & Leif takes a mad hit from a wrecking ball swinging down after sprung from the stair.  But Telal notices a HUGER SPIDER as they begin to notice the webs, scrolling up, not used to company lately, it is somewhat surprised, the party goes & goes until it spins around & drops & Djarel races up w/ Kumiss & finishes the spider off. The party finds mad coin spread about the edges of the room, deep through webbing & dust...  1100 cp, 3000 sp, 7000 gp, 2000 ep... The party camps out in the room for the night & Amadi reads Eric Talbot's journal aloud. The beginnings tell of Eric's turn into a were-crawfish, & the struggle & his finally leaving Talbot altogether; it then mentions this stronghold he found & as well an old town just north, near where a battle took place between the Crawfishmen & the Groundhogmen called Avalon. The remainder of the book details different battles & it ends in a cut-off way, vs. any resolution or breather entry.

The next morning the party leaves the tree & heads back to the road, leaving the 2 gnolls w/ Magus, Amadi instructing Gnolan to guard the place, etc. They started heading north toward this place called Avalon until they came across a roving peddler w/ mule & buggy, heading south. Goes by the name, Stagger Lee. After propositioning his adventure wares, he flashed a few strains of weed @ the travelers, some Flying Cloud & some Lizard's Lunch. Amadi was interested in the Flying Cloud, but the price was too high. Amadi was able to haggle Stagger down to 400 gp for 2 smokes. Stagger kept sayin, "You may only see this once in a lifetime." Off to Avalon they went, entering the hamlet around 8:45 AM, a boarded up place to the left, a place w/ a swinging door to the right, some noise coming from it, The Smoking Leprechaun.

9 AM, 16th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Avalon, Furthermoor

MALCHOR'S DARK HOUSE - SESSION 1

Five characters congregated in the SE corner of Tino Rorschach's depot, that is, the namesake of the settlement, Nevergreen Depot. The characters: A human fighter named Arnor, an elvish ranger named Leif, a halfling thief named Gilleegan, a gnome cleric named Norman, and a gnome fighter named Bogwater. Gilleegan purchased a magic dagger from Tino for 50 gp. Otherwise, everyone gathered around the table while Kentley Oaks poured a few rounds of his brew, the Gremlin. Hilary Huckabee, a cabinetmaker who lives at the settlement, was also there. It was 4PM.

Speaking with Rorschach, Oaks, and Huckabee, the party hears stories of dark figures recently traveling through ND and down toward White Widow Abbey and Octopus Lake, also that undead have been recently seen more frequently outside of town to the west closer to the ancient barrows there. Ultimately however, the party becomes most interested in the historical figure of Malchor, a magic-user considered the founder of the settlement, and his now-abandoned house across the path from the depot (which sits next to the old stone tower, known to be the oldest structure here, dating back to the Great War with Fezco). Also, rumors have been going around the settlement that some orcs have been seen entering and exiting Malchor's Dark House.

After their second round, the party indeed decides to move out and explore Malchor's Dark House. As it is still light out, almost 5PM, the party eyes the double door entrance to the house, as well as boarded up windows, etc., and decide to move around the south of the house for a possible alternate entrance. As they are coming around the south wall, one of the gnomes (I believe it was Bogwater?) detects that the south wall here is unusually weak, though this cannot be seen. With this information, Arnor suddenly runs and jumps into the wooden wall with all his might, crunching through it fairly easily as it appears to give way, leaving a perfect hole where he traveled through it horizontally. He takes no damage (*20*).

As the others come through the hole, they see four dwarves in the room, standing there next to an altar, perplexed by Arnor and what just happened. Standing at a distance, the dwarves look on. The party tries to hire the dwarves, but are unsuccessful. The dwarves tell the party they have been here for some time, using this room as a base-of-sorts, and have made it down to the third level of the dungeon below the house. They also point out to the party, a mural on the south wall, now ruined by Arnor's hole. It was a mural of the Dawnbringer--related to an orcish religion--and therefore this room had been an altar room for worshipers.

Drawn by Randall (aka Bogwater)

Leaving the dwarves in peace, the party moves deeper into Malchor's Dark House, lighting Arnor's lantern. Moving into a spacious room with a few tables and some couches on the south wall, they notice some somewhat-recently prepared food rotting on a few plates atop tables, flies zipping about. The thought is that this ties back to the dwarves, and they move on to the east down a corridor. As it opens into another room they come upon 10 orcs, standing about, holding clubs and machetes.

While at first the party is fearful, and considers running, they hold their ground, and the orcs do not attack. Gilleegan decides to offer a few of the orcs a puff of his Rat's Meow weed, which ends up lightening the mood a bit, and while not making friends with the orcs, it does suspend any violent reactions, and eventually allows the party to move through the room without having to engage in combat. They move on to a hallway at the SE, which leads them to a staircase down.

Once down the stairs, and coming around a hallway into another room, the party comes upon five hobgoblins. The hobgoblins do not attack, and seem quite amused by the party, a few of them chuckling. Gill offers them a taste of his weed, but they seem to find it disgusting, and are not interested. They laugh, and look at one another as if they are in on a joke that the party is not privy to.

Leaving the hobgoblins, the party travels west down a corridor, where after a bit they come to a closed door. Opening the door, they enter a sizable room with a dusty statue at its center. It is a statue of a magic-user, in pose, and inscribed at its base, in human, reads: Malchor, the Greatest of All Magic-Users. Aside from the dusty statue, there is also a lot of mold in the room.

Noticing another door on the west side of the room, the party moves into another room, a library of sorts, with books broken up into various subjects: History, Alchemy, Geology, and Trees. Bogwater notices a book that interests him, The Dream of the Blue Mountain, pulls it down, and puts it with his things. Gilleegan finds and keeps, Creating Your First Potion. Leif takes Blisterwood Companion.

With doors at the north and west, the party moves west into a new room. There's an open hallway on the west wall, and strangely, there is a sizable bunch of mushrooms growing on the floor at the opening, but inside this room. Gill moves toward them, bends down, and investigates the shrooms, picks and pockets one, but ultimately, they appear to be common growth. Arnor, who has been leading the party, steps upon the shrooms moving toward the corridor, and suddenly the rotted floor gives way and he finds himself falling 10 feet onto a spike that deals 4 damage. Barely alive, the party pulls Arnor back up to the room with a rope, and then Norman casts Healing of Light Wounds on him, bringing Arnor a bit more health.

It's 6:40 PM

SESSION 7 - CRACKENMORE

So the two gnomes seem extremely interested in Gnolan, & Magus begins speaking w/ them, first asking if they know Common. They do not, as they come from an area far from those that speak Common. They go on to explain that they teleported here from their home, not "here" but nearby, to a place they cannot devulge; they explain that they heard of this rock from others that have ventured here & returned w/ great powers & treasures. They have been examining the rock now for 3 days, but have yet to figure it out. The party begins focusing on the glowing rock, & Leif begins rubbing it a bit, slowly, feeling a bit of tension in a small area, he breaks off a chip. The party debates about what to do w/ the chip until they have Gnolan put it in his mouth. Everyone watches as Gnolan just shrugs a bit, but then speaking to Leif, Leif notices that Gnolan's voice is slightly different slower, sloppier... A great debate arises about what to do, whether they should simply leave the rock alone, etc. The gnomes, however, who agree to guide the to an exit they know of, say they will not leave until they figure the rock out. So more chips are chipped & passed around. One by one, they decide whether to put it in their mouth or not, but ultimately all succumb to the temptation & realize how the magical rock affects them: Magus will eventually realize his CHA has lowered by 1, Amadi feels a surge that would heal all his HP, but he is already @ full, so just feels good all around, Leif eventually realizes he is stronger than before, +1 STR, Telal notices no effect whatsoever, & then Djarel is suddenly blind. The gnomes on the other hand, as far what the party can tell visually, one of them shows them a beautiful pearl gem that suddenly appeared in their hand once they put the stone in their mouth. Magus can tell it is of some value, @ least 500 gp. The gnome is extremely excited & seems fulfilled in his mission. The gnomes agree to guide the party out of the dungeon, mentioned that though they did notice some Troglodytes, they should be able to get past them. The party is eager to get back to Talbot. They follow the gnomes & within an hour & a half they are inching out of of a crevice into a field that is directly north of the Talbot Cemetery.

As the party collects themselves, they turn to find the gnomes gone. They talk about returning to town, but Djarel, still blinded, begins speaking of his warhammer left in the statue. The party agrees to guide him there to retrieve it. They move west & then down to the cemetery gates where they enter & move to where the statue of Dagwood Talbot rests. There in his left hand, he is gripping Djarel's warhammer. Someone guides Djarel's hand & when he grips it & pulls, it comes free, & a creaking can be heard from behind the statue where the door to Crackenmore is closing, rock rubbing rock. Subsequently, as the party heads back out of the cemetery, Djarel begins to perceive from his eyes, until he can fully see once back into Talbot proper. The party moves to the Green Lantern. It's 5 AM. Full of excitement, the party doesnt really wish to go right to sleep. Djarel retires to a room to worship for a while, refreshed w/ Detect Magic, he steps out & finds the others already into heavy conversation & cups w/ Goody Threeshoe. Djarel has them pile up all of their booty & casts Detect Magic on the pile. As it turns out, the shield that Djarel found, Kinchen's shield, is a magic shield (+1). Amadi, inspired & excited to study the scroll he found, insists on buying for everyone, round after round... It is quite a scene, the party slowly blitzed around the table now around 7 AM. Leif decides to venture out for a toke on some Hallowed Hash, comes back in, more drinks are had by everyone... But then, heading back out, Leif is accosted by about five men, & in his state, doesnt really catch it all, until he cant really fight back... Next thing he knows, he is in a cell of some kind & he can hear the men down a hall speaking of catching the person that robbed Lyla Dimmings. Apparently she told people it was an elvish type, that carried a bow. Otherwise, back @ the Green Lantern Inn, Djarel has a strange dream: he sees Dawnbringer, the Great Tulip, silver & yellow, wide open in the sun, & from out of it, orcs clad in black leather. He is standing behind a stone, & watching sees that they have a prisoner they are bringing out, a human prisoner, who is not moving, but whose eyes are wide. The prisoner is wearing a red vest & also has something in front of his eyes, on his nose that Djarel has never seen. As the prisoner is finally taken out, Djarel watches as he is set down & a number of orcs circle him. He reaches into a tube & pulls out a scroll of some sort & begins to unroll it... It is @ this moment that Djarel is awaken by Telal, "Djarel, get up, get up, did you hear about Leif?"

3 PM