Fidget

Nevimbra 23   We tracked our missing outriders to a village of hyenamen. We were approaching the village when we were beset by a hyenaman and a big hyena-ish dog. Gan called the hyenaman a kroshtuka. It didn't take us very long to kill him. He had a necklace of ears and had some finger food in his pocket -- as in fingers that he would eat.   I snuck up and shot a flaming arrow at one of the huts. I was spotted as I ran back to the group. A kroshtuka and a lucrata chased me. The lucrata had a hypnotic ability, but we didn't fall for it.   Then we went to the huts where we thought they were holding our companions. We were attacked by someone who claimed to be a follower (cleric) of Nothis -- the god of decay. She knocked me out, but Ham and Nat revived me, and we prevailed against our foe. We found where they were holding our companions. One had died, and the rest were in really bad shape, but we got away with the rest. We also found a map of the desert.

Chac 28th - We found a 2nd oasis. Some shadows flew overhead -- giant wasps attacked us. We killed them fairly easily. We found some Tracker's Goggles in the oasis.   Hal had a conversation with us over the campfire. He mentioned that he had had a vision about the desert. He mentioned flying over the desert and saw it shifting around. He mentioned a focal point of the shifting.   This oasis is too far away from the last oasis, so we decided that we needed to backtrack and find an oasis between these two. We spent several days wandering around the desert.   About a week later, something like a sandstorm happened, and we could see shapes moving in the sand. Ham said the sandstorm was being generated by a creature called a sand golem. There were 3 of them. He warned not to use fire attacks. He also warned us that they have a breath attack and explode when they die. One of them blew sand in my face and blinded me for a bit. The also exploded when they died.   We weren't finding any oases in the northern area where we were, so we decided to head back south and have the outriders follow a parallel path. We intended to meet back up 10 days later, but they didn't arrive. So, we decided to go try to find them.   Nemvimbra 23rd: As we were looking for them, we found the scarabs but not the riders. We found signs of a scuffle and tracks leading away. We followed the tracks to a village of huts. We saw some gnolls and hyenas and some other kind of hyena-ish creatures. We also saw that they were holding our outriders prisoner. It looks like there are between 5 and 10 combatants as well as a bunch of non-combatants.   We're going to need to rescue them.

We continued our way through the mountains.   Overnight on Chac 11, we were ambushed by a group of bad guys--one sneaky guy with a shortsword and two more guys with a falchion. They were just here to kill Ham. They managed to knock Ham out, but we defeated them. The next morning, we found their horses (two of them).   Chac 14th: We found an oasis! (16,7)   Chac 15th: We encountered some large beetles -- like the size of a horse. They were not violent, and Nathaniel tried to tame them, but it didn't work.   Chac 16th: We found more of those beetles. This time, Nathaniel succeeded in taming them.   Chac 19th: We were attacked by a pair of eight-legged reptiles as we traveled. They're basilisks. They were trying to petrify us, and that made the fight tougher. But we prevailed.   We haven't found another oasis close enough to the last one, so we doubled back to check other areas and also sent our tracker group to explore as well.   Chac 28th: We finally found another oasis. (14,4)  

We departed on our journey on the morning of 2 Chac. Ham gave an inspiring speech.   We traveled along the river to Trinity. It took 3 days. Then we continued up the river.   While we were traveling, we encountered some large creatures with gray skin that threw boulders at us. They had a mountain lion helping them. We eventually figured out that they were trolls.   We crested the mountain the next day on 9 Chac and started descending toward the desert. A creature ambushed us and killed one of our horses - it was scaly and blended into the terrain. The spikes allowed the creature to store up energy that it could release in a burst. Gan decided to call it a hodag. It very nearly killed me.

It's the night of the party at the Rebullian Estates. We go with Oswald Taney. We all bought fancy duds, so we fit in pretty well. Rowan is there and starts introducing us to people.   We were introduced to a young noble named Harold Costigan. He wants to be an adventurer, and he was a fencer. He challenged me to a fencing match, and I whooped his butt. Everyone was really impressed by me. He offers to join our crew for free!   We meet the famous retired adventurer Silvius Bereld. He's the special guest here to tell the tale of his adventures trying to cross the desert. He mentioned giant alligators and bugs the size of houses. He said that they used horses and made it across to jungles on the other side. But when they tried to return, the oases were missing, as if the sand had shifted them away. He said that some of his scouts mentioned a ruined temple. Some men simply disappeared. The caravan broke up. They left a flag in the jungle to lay claim. That was four years ago. He postulates that there's a reason that the oases shift.   Ham told the stories of our adventures and wowed the crowd as well.   The next day, we held interviews for the caravan's travelers.

We entered the beaver dam.   The first room we encountered had a pool of water. Nathaniel said it's how the beavers go in and out of the dam. Ham warned us that there were a couple man-sized leeches lurking in the water. He tried to hurl a log at the leeches, but he made a chunk of the ceiling fall on Gan. The leeches grabbed Ham and me. Mr. Green made short work of them, but not before they hurt me pretty bad.   Nathaniel patched me up, but then some beavers came up as we were finishing. The beavers slapped with their tails to knock us prone, and they were tough. They managed to knock Ham out before we took them out.   Nathaniel patched Ham up, and we continued forward. We found a living space/nest. Nathaniel said we wouldn't be attacked if we smelled like beavers and that we'd smell like beavers if we rolled in the beaver stuff.   In the next room we encountered, we found an even bigger beaver (the size of a horse) as well as a human-sized beaver. They took down Mr. Green/Nathaniel quickly, but Ham got him back in the fight. The druid joined the fight, but we took him out too. After that, the beavers were no longer aggressive and shrank down to their normal size.   We figured that we no longer needed to worry about beavers attacking us anymore... though perhaps there were other dangers. We found a ladder, and it led to a hoarder's nest where the druid was living. We found some healer's gloves with symbols of Chaco on it.   We also found a ...journal? Well, some writings. The druid was trying to cause as much flooding as possible to honor the god of water (Chaco).   We found another room with some food, a preserving rune, an ever-burning torch, and some money.   We tried burning the dam. After a bit, it collapsed (which put out the fire), and the water began draining.   Then we paddled our little boats back to Trinity.   We talked to the guys at the Primrose branch in Trinity and reported what had happened. He was surprised that "the smelly elf" was the one causing problems (not sure why), but he wrote a letter to report that we had accomplished the mission we had been sent to do.     We returned to New Aurelia on the 27th of Roggi. The party is tomorrow.   Our first stop is the Primrose Expeditions corporate headquarters and talked to Gurt. He paid us the 100gp for the escort job. We told him about the beaver dam and showed the letter, and we got an extra 100gp.   We encountered Oswald. He's really excited about the upcoming expedition to establish new trade routes. He's been recruiting other people for the expedition. He wants to introduce us after the party. There have been plenty of applicants. We're going to have final say in who is in the crew.   The purpose of the expedition is to prove that a large expedition can make it across the desert and back. Small groups have managed to cross the desert and come back (or so they say), and they say that there are tons of resources on the other side: lush forests, abundant gemstones, etc. These claims have not yet been corroborated. The small groups also claim that the desert is different during the return trip. Our goal is to find periodic (like 5 days apart) oases so that a caravan can refill their water supplies.   There are also supposedly cannibals in the desert.       (And we leveled up!)

We rowed out in the morning. We followed the river up towards the mountains. After a while, we see that the flooding seems to be getting less severe. We realized one of the tributaries was super-flooded, so we turned back and followed that path.   Suddenly, a huge creature that looked like a really fat, hairless cow dumped one of our boats, tossing Hammond, Gan, and me into the water. Then it bit me hard... I don't think I could take another bite like that. Gan says it's a hippopotamus and that it's larger than it should be. They don't usually eat people. They don't move particularly quickly, but they can sneak up on boats and flip them. They also have a trample ability. We made it to shore, but it trampled us. It knocked Hammond out for a moment, but Nathaniel brought him back into the fight. Hammond made the hippo... laugh? I guess that's what it was doing. It was a tough fight, but we prevailed. Apparently hippos aren't even supposed to be in this area of the world... and it was magically big.   We patched ourselves up and then continued up the tributary.   We found a MASSIVE pile of timber. It's the biggest beaver dam we've ever heard of. The dam is blocking off one of the branches of the stream, so all of the water is flowing down the tributary we just came up and causing all of the flooding.   It was nearly nightfall, so we decided to rest for the evening and investigate the beaver dam in the morning.   The morning of the 23rd... We looked around the dam. There's a big lake on this side of the dam now. We noticed some human-sized beavers. They're hauling logs to enhance and fortify the dam. On the west side of the dam, we found an entrance to the dam on the ground. Normally, beaver dam entrances are underwater (that's what Nathaniel said). So it must be for other creatures than the beavers. We peeked in... the entrance opened up into a hallway. This pile is so big, there could be a whole dungeon in there!

We continued down the river. The river has been getting wider and wider. The river seems to be flooded, which matches the reports that had come in. Gan says it seems like natural flooding. The timing is odd.   As we were heading up the river, four super-giant frogs appeared. They tried to eat us. We killed them, cooked them, and ate them for dinner. Hammond says that the frogs had been enlarged magically, but that doesn't make a lot of sense since the normal enlarging magic doesn't last very long. They also stayed big after they died and did not have magic auras.   We got to Trinity that afternoon. The docks are completely underwater because of all of the flooding. The city itself is pretty flooded as well.   Trinity is a small city. The primary industries are farming and logging. Our barge polers took us to the Primrose warehouse (it wasn't very big) and started unloading the boat. We went in to check-in with the bosses. We found a half-elf working with books and ledgers. He was also instructing the workers bringing goods into the warehouse.   He asked how the trip was, and we (Hammond) said it was fraught with danger. The half-elf guessed giant animals. Apparently the flooding started a week or so ago, and the giant animals appeared about then. Flooding is normal in the springtime, but this is really weird. Farmers in the area are having a hard time with the flooding and giant animals. He decides to hire us to deal with the flooding. All of the flooding is interfering with profits. His "payment" will be to write a letter to tell Gurt to pay us. He suggests that we ask around to try to find some more information. There's an elf that's been in town a few times... but he doesn't give us any more information. Hammond asks, and the half-elf says we can sleep upstairs in the warehouse. Before we go, we ask the half-elf's name, and he tells us to call him Clovis Luanne. Clovis says we can use the rowboats to head upriver, but we have to row ourselves -- he won't send them with us.   So, we went to gather information around town. We headed to an inn named The Tipsy Turnip. Throughout the town, there's flooding about an inch deep everywhere, including the warehouse and the inn. We heard about an elf that comes to town occasionally. He's a stinky hermit, and he complains about Choco (god of the water). He comes to town in a boat pulled by a pack of (regular-sized) beavers. He lives up-river. He appears from upriver and returns upriver. His name is Marcel. He hasn't been seen since the flooding began. Choco is a god of the water. No one appreciates how important water is and how great Choco is. He says that the waterways need to be protected and that the farmers and industry are harming the waterways.   We decide to head out in the morning, so we headed back to the warehouse to sleep.

We went shopping. No one will sell me a striking rune, but everyone else got stuff they wanted.   On our way back, we saw a big crowd. We went to see what they were looking at, and there's a dead body. It looks like he was thrown out of a window on the third story of a building. Detective Coffee is there searching the body. I asked around who it was, but all I could glean was that it was some thug. I'm thinking it's some Raylon. Nathaniel asked Mr. Green if it smelled like Raylon's room, but Mr. Green couldn't tell.   Grass found me later around Primrose. He's changed his hair, and he's got a new job with Renee--he's done with the life of crime. I asked him about the dead guy, and Grass indicated it was Raylon.   We reported to Gurt for the barge job. He's paying half now, and half when the job is complete. We're taking supplies down to a new settlement called Trinity. Our job is to guard the goods. There have been reports of unusually large animals that eat anything they can get to. And there are bandits everywhere.   We set off on the trip. They had us in littler boats off of the main boat. There were also two smaller rowboats that most of us were riding in.   The first day is uneventful.   The 19th is also uneventful.   In the morning of the 20th, something happened. As we were heading up the river, we were beset by brigands. There was a caster and two archers. They wanted us to land the barge and hand over the goods. We refused. We landed the rowboats on shore and brought the fight to them. Gan was nearly downed. Ham did go unconscious. We took out the caster and one of the archers, and the last one fled.   The rest of the day passed peacefully.

We went back to rest before heading to the White Fig Inn. It's now 17 Roggi.   The White Fig Inn is very popular at the moment. It serves a dwarven/elven fusion cuisine. We took a table and ordered some food. Then we just hung out and waited to see if any "unsavory types" showed up. Nathaniel had Mr. Green wait outside to signal if he saw anything. Hammond chatted up the head chef (Renee) to ask whether he's noticed any trouble / unsavory types. He sweet talks his way into the chef's confidence. Apparently, he took a loan from a loan shark, and now is having trouble with the extra conditions that were attached. They're using the restaurant as a front for some nefarious activities. Renee hints that we want to check out the wine cellar, so we do.   There are a bunch of wine barrels. Some of them are concealing a door in the floor. We decided to go see what was down there. It looks like the Dark Hand has built a hideout down here. There are a couple guys playing cards. They recognized me (even though I didn't recognize them) and attacked us. We took quick care of them. I'm getting very tired of people who keep trying to kill me. I took down two of them myself. There's a pretty substantial complex down here. We started wandering around. We found a bookkeeping room, and another guy attacked us. Then three more showed up. They had us surrounded and trapped. One of them was Grass! He yelled out "Where's Fidget?" and shot Gan. We exchanged a few words, and he believed me that I didn't rat out the Pickers. He said that he had told people not to hurt me, but they didn't listen. Then he revealed that the big boss was in the room behind him. But the big boss color sprayed Grass and blinded him. Grass seems to think I want to defeat the big boss even though I just want them to stop trying to kill me. We had to finish off the thugs in our faces before we could do anything else.   The boss escaped into the sewers while we were finishing off the thugs. I asked Grass whether he thought the guy would leave me alone. Grass asked "Which guy?" I replied "The big boss you said was in the room." Grass said, "Raylon Davis?" I said, "I don't know who that is. They didn't tell me secrets like that." Grass said that Raylon has run out of friends and won't be a problem anymore.   We poke around and find a hat of disguise, mesmerizing opal, and a lesser comprehension elixir in Raylon's room. We found some money in the accounting area 110gp 55sp 23cp. We also found a storeroom. Grass said we wouldn't want any of that stuff. He offered me a key when I asked why. All the crates are labeled with the various expeditious companies. Nathaniel found a pair of doubling rings in the sleeping quarters.   We took the Primrose boxes back to Primrose. He gave us a bit of a reward (5gp each). He wants us to recover the Bellweather stuff, too. He thinks that the Bellweather company is behind the gang. He seems a little paranoid about it.   We went back to tell Chef Renee that we had taken care of the "rat problem" in his "wine cellar." He was quite grateful. He's going to tell the police about the hideout. We get free food whenever we want!   Grass is going to try to find the rest of the Pickers. I guess he's going to start his own little gang.   We go back to rest. We leveled up!

Roggi 16, predawn - We're on our way back to Primrose with the last cart from the ship when 4 people jumped out of the shadows at us. They announced that they were looking for me and said that Grass wants to see me. My new friends treated them as threats to our cargo and in defense of me. I replied that I hadn't seen Grass in over a year, and he could have come to visit me in jail if he wanted to talk to me -- he can come talk to me himself if he wants to talk to me instead of sending a bunch of thugs while we're working. We made very short work of them, but we left one alive but unconscious. I left a note telling Grass that he could come talk to me himself if he wants to talk to me, and I warned him that the Primrose Company reacts quickly when its assets are threatened by obvious thugs. ... and then we returned to Primrose.   We slept. This is the day we're to go appear at the Rebullian Assembly. It's held in a big stone building in High Crown. Ivan greets us as we approach and tells us what to expect. We entered, and some guards escorted us to the main hall. A man named Rowan introduced himself as the leader of the group. Also present are Julius Green from Hamlin (male human), Keeley Brewer (female human) from Trinity, Ian Shaw (male human) from Fawnton, Yorgos Angelos (male human) from the High Dock Ward (owner of Bellwhether Acquisitions). They're all humans. They're the committee on new settlements.   Cowick is still not a recognized city/town/settlement, so he calls Ivan "acting mayor". The debate went on for a long time about whether there was profit to be made and whether the profit was worth the effort since there are still plenty of other places to explore establishing mines. The goblins were a topic as were the demons and the cultist. Yorgos is against the idea of securing the Cowick area, but his company didn't have any stakes in the area. Most of the other people seem in favor of the idea. There's an argument about who should pay for it -- the government or the companies. Apparently the companies dealt with the hazards around Hamlin.   Then suddenly Yorgos is in favor of sending Bellweather crews to secure the area... we think it's so they can claim stuff.   The final vote is Julius & Yorgos against, and everyone else in favor. The proposal passed 3/2, and Ivan is really happy about it.   Rowan talked to Hammond afterward for a moment and then invited all of us up to his office to talk. Rowan Horn is the great grandson of the owner of the original expedition company to arrive on this continent. He's a charismatic young man. He talks about how he's trying to make Rebullia a better place to live. He now has a positive opinion of the Primrose because of the fact that they sent us to check on Cowick. He recognized the Taney name as being a big deal in the old country. He invites us and Oswald to a get-together at his estate in a couple weeks. His parties are legendary.   We went back to Primrose and talked to Oswald. He's really happy with us scoring this party invite for him. He also mentions the next job that is to protect a barge down to Hamlin. We should be back in time for the party, and it'll pay 200gp for the group. He mentions that Gurt wants to see us.   We went to talk to Gurt. He says there's a problem and that we can't go on the expedition to Hamlin. He said that the stevedores mentioned that we had been attacked by a gang during the job. He's concerned the gang will keep attacking the company if I skip town. He kicks a dead rat that has a note that says "Watch your back" tied to it. We can't go on the expedition unless we solve this problem.   I figured the best place to start looking was the Skirt. But we couldn't find any information there. We went to the market. No one wants to talk to me, but Hammond got a tip about unsavory types hanging around the White Fig Inn near Midtown. So we headed toward Midtown. On the way, we were stopped by some more thugs. Again they want to take me. Hammond says that we'll go peacefully if we all go, but they only want to take me. So, we beat them up. We kept one woman alive. She wouldn't bring all of us to the hideout. I told her to tell Grass to meet us in 2 hours at the Naughty Nymph. We headed there right away to case the joint and make sure we have an escape plan.   While we were waiting, Hammond and Nathaniel noticed a couple city guards standing around outside and occasionally glancing in. They entered and came to talk to us. One introduced himself as Jonas Coffee. He's investigating a report of a fight in an alley and asks us about it. Hammond asks whether they know about the Pickers and says that they've attacked us a couple times now. The guard says he doesn't know about that... he works homicide. He takes our names and recognizes mine. Word has been going around that I've been causing trouble. He tells us to find him at the station in Upper Midtown if we want to talk to him. The silent guard looks angry, but doesn't say anything. They leave. Grass never showed up.   We're planning to head back toward the White Fig Inn. It's a dwarven/elven fusion restaurant that has become very popular lately.

Roggi 13 - After returning to New Aurelia We decided to sign the contract.   We went to the market and sold some stuff and bought some stuff.   Roggi 14 - We headed over to The Laughing Duck to meet Ivan and company for lunch. On the way, a few of us got the feeling that we're being watched/followed, but we make it to the tavern uneventfully. We find Ivan and the other villagers at a table and join them. Ivan is buying. He thanked us for what we've done so far, but he has a request for us. He acknowledges that the area around Cowick is very dangerous. He asked us to join him at the Rebullian Assembly on Nama (Roggi 16) to help convince the assembly to send a troop of guards to defend the town. It'll be tough to convince them because there have been several settlements started in areas where it wasn't going to be profitable. The register of claims was lost in the fire that burned Cowick.   We agreed to appear and testify.   We decided to go check out where the job tomorrow will be. There wasn't much to learn there. We decided to just hang around town and listen to rumors. * It's only a matter of time till the elves and the dwarves fight again. We'll be right in the middle of it. * There are undead attacking the farms to the north at night. The farmers have to barricade themselves in at night. * There's a reason there's not a gnomish embassy in New Aurellia. They're going to side with the elves.   Roggi 15 - We spent most of the day just hanging around at Primrose. Nothing very interesting happened.   That night, we headed to the docks for the job. We spread out as workers started unloading the cargo. Then there was a scream from below deck, and three ... maybe they used to be people ... Two had glowing eyes and ghastly green skin that seemed covered in barnacles. The other one was similar but seemed to be glowing a bit more. They were some kind of undead. Ham said that the two were draugr - strong vs fire, weak vs positive energy, you get cursed if you kill one (which ends if you give the draugr a burial in the sea), they smell sickeningly bad. Ham didn't know what the other was, but it seemed more powerful. Gan said it was a wight, which can create more wights when they kill things.   The draugr killed several of the dockworkers before we could get between them. We succeeded in slaying the undead. I got cursed by one of the draugr, which made me sick, but it went away when Ham performed a little funeral for them. We searched the ship... the draugr & wight apparently busted through a window.   The rest of the workers finished unloading the ship, and nothing else happened.   On our way back to Primrose, we got attacked!

The morning of the 10th of Roggi, we talked to the townsfolk of Cowick. They were really happy to be rescued. Ivan was especially happy not to have been eaten. There's a debate going on about what to do. They're figuring the other mining companies have either died or fled. They're trying to decide whether to abandon the town and go back or to just send a report or send a delegation. They decided to send a delegation to New Aurelia to plead their case to the assembly--that Cowick is worth the investment and needs help. The delegation will travel back with us. Ivan is part of the delegation. They're also bringing back some of their more injured townspeople.   Roggi 10 - Nothing interesting happened on the road.   Roggi 11 - Before we broke camp in the morning, there was a tremor in the ground. The settlers said that that happens sometimes and isn't anything to worry about. Nothing interesting happened on the road.   Fidget revealed a big part of his past to the group. They said they'd help.   Roggi 12 - Nothing interesting happened on the road.   We returned to town on Roggi 13.   Ivan bade us farewell. He invited us to meet up tomorrow at The Laughing Duck for a meal.   We headed back toward Primrose. Nathaniel and Kal Elf noticed a bunch of kids--my old friends, but they scattered when they noticed that we noticed them. We arrived at Primrose. Oswald Taney is beyond delighted about the silver and gems we recovered. He's also happy that we recovered one of the miners. He told us to talk to Gurt, who has something to tell us and some paperwork.   He thanks us for returning the equipment and materials. He says he now has the contract ready and hands us a stack of paper. He also pays us (the group) the 100gp. There was also a recovery bonus for the silver and gems we recovered. That was 200gp, but we had to share with the surviving miner. He also says there was some mail. He hands me a piece of paper with my name on it. It says "The Dark Hand knows where you work. TRAITOR"   He wants us to sign the contract but says that there's not currently a job for us. He thinks one will come up in a few days. The job is to protect a shipment that is arriving the night of Roggi 15. It'll pay 100gp for making sure that the shipment gets from the dock to the warehouse. A week later will be another protection job on a barge heading to Hamlin.

(It's still 9 Roggi. It's just after we lured some goblin guards into an ambush.)   We stormed the goblin camp. There were 2 goblins, a hobgoblin, and a wolf. It was a bit of a rough fight, but we succeeded. We freed the villagers, and they told us that Ivan (the leader--a dwarf with an eyepatch) had been removed from the group by a man in a cloak and taken up a path toward the mountain.   Nathaniel patched me up while the others looked around the village for anything valuable. They found some alchemist fires.   We followed the trail and came upon a pair of figures performing some kind of sacrificial ritual using Ivan as the sacrifice. One of them transformed into a fiendish creature--kind of like a goblin werewolf--when they saw us approaching. Gan said the creature was a barghest. He said the creature had been empowered by feeding on a corpse. It was strong against physical attacks (need to use magic to hurt it effectively). Ham was knocked out. I couldn't trick the barghest, and then it knocked me out, too. The barghest eventually fled the fight. Nathaniel treated the Nathaniel's and my wounds.   Ivan was unconscious and tied down but not dying. We treated his wounds as well. There was also a pendant with a symbol that looked like half circle with lines coming off of it. Ham wondered whether it's a rising sun or a setting sun. We figured it's the symbol of some cult since the cultist had the symbol tattooed on her chest, but we don't know what cult it's for.   We took Ivan back to the goblin village. The villagers were poking around but mostly just collecting the stuff that had been theirs. Then we all went back to Cowick. At that point, it was getting late so we rested.   (And we discovered new power within ourselves. Level up!)

9 Roggi   We left early in the morning to find the villagers. The tracks lead to the north, which also matches the direction Ivan told us. The trail was very easy to follow. It took most of the day to get to the goblin camp. We were able to survey it from the top of a hill.   The ramshackle camp has been cobbled together from pieces of other buildings. There's a wooden wall around the camp. There's a gateway with a couple (3) goblins guarding it. Up a hill, there's a crudely constructed cage/pen, which has around 30 villagers. There's another trio of goblins patrolling around it.   We devised a plan for Ham to lure the front gate goblins away so we could deal with them separately. Ham would pretend to be a child from the village so the goblins would come to try capture him. He'd lead them to where we were waiting to ambush them.   The plan worked well. We handled them easily.

The next morning, 8 Roggi, we explored the mine so we could recover the other miner and any company resources that we could recover.   They had excavated a tunnel. We followed one of the paths and came to a room with three more zombies. They must be the rest of the group. Unfortunately, they had all succumbed to the zombie fungus infection. We fought. Part way through the fight, a weird, dark blob attacked from the ceiling. Gan said it was a slime mold.   Slime molds can sense our motions even though it's blind. It can inflict slime rot--a disease that can take days to incubate. It's immune to critical hits, precision damage, and mental effects.   The slime mold was the most dangerous opponent. It knocked Ham out.   When we got Ham back on his feet, we looked around the room. They had been mining silver here. We recovered what they had mined so far and went to explore another path of the tunnel.   The tunnel led to a silver vein with a crack. We can see a room through the small hole. There were some pots and casks that had broken open, and there was fungus everywhere. There was also motion in the room. It seems that there were two fungus creatures shambling around.   We attacked the funguses so we could check out what's in there. They can crawl on the ceiling. One of them walloped me and knocked me out, but Ham woke me up pretty quick. Ham identified one as a fungal brute. We never figured out what the other one was, but it exploded a cloud of spores. We figure that that's what inflicted the fungal zombieness on the miners.   Nathaniel spent some time trying to treat our wounds. He nearly killed me with risky surgery.   We checked out the room. We found a bunch of gems in the urns & casks. We also found a wand of purify or putrify food and drink. It can do either one.   That seems to be the extent of the caves/tunnels. We took some data because the mine appears to be a viable source of silver: there are several silver veins. We spent a little time packing up the most valuable stuff (the gems and the silver), and then we headed back to Cowick. We arrived that evening.   There apparently was another attack while we were gone. The buildings are even more damaged, and there are no living people present. We can see the tracks of a bunch people were marched off to the north.   We decided to rest for the evening and head after the villagers in the morning.

Roggi 6 We continue towards Cowick. The terrain is getting tougher. We're getting into the mountains, and the forest is getting thicker.   Cal noticed activities in the treetops. There's a huge (medium size) spider among the branches. It and its spider-babies attacked us. Swarms are hard to fight, but we did pretty well. After the fight, Nathaniel noticed a couple webbed-up bodies off the path. They had a shortsword and a dagger (which the spellcasters said are not magical). There are also a couple horses. There wasn't anything that we could use to identify who they had been.   Late that afternoon, we came to a settlement. We presume that it's the hamlet of Cowick. We see some smoke coming out of the town hall's chimney. We approached from the east through a gate saying Cowick (I guess we were right in our presumption). The buildings are looking rough. Some of the buildings look singed.   An arrow lands near the cart, apparently fired from the town hall. We hear "Halt! State your intentions." Ham talked with them. They apparently called for guards and asked if we're them. The town hall has been fortified. Bandits have been roaming the area. The loud one said that our Primrose company sounded familiar. We confirmed that the company had sent the miners and that we were sent to rescue the miners. The miners haven't been heard from for 2 weeks.   There have been bands of goblins and shapeshifting creatures attacking the town. They didn't seem to be working together. The goblins were looting, and the shapeshifters were kidnapping people. We said that we need to go help the miners first and then we can come back and try to help them.   Then something attacked us. Three tiny spiky imp-like creatures were flying into town. They had evil little poisonous swords. They also could go invisible. And they cast spells. I killed one of them (but it wasn't easy), and the others also got one, and one got away. Ham had a hard time with the poison, but he survived. We all survived.   After the fight, the townsfolk invited us into the fortified town hall. We secured the horses in the stables. They told us that the goblins would arrive in about 10 minutes. They always did after the shapeshifters attacked. The imp-things are the shapeshifters they were talking about. The goblins come usually in groups in 3 or 4.   The guy we have been talking to is called Ivan. There are some women and children huddled in the building. There are also some fighters ready to defend the building. The goblin raids have been getting worse. The goblins come from the north. The imps just appear in the sky, and they can't tell where they're coming from.   Then the goblins arrived. It was apparently a single a hobgoblin. The hobgoblin demands the village to give all their things, and then they'd be free to go. The others noticed three other goblins holding torches surrounding the building. Cal shot at the hobgoblin before the goblins could set fire to the town hall, and we fought.   This fight was difficult--not the smallest reason was that we were still hurt from the imps. I nearly died. Nathaniel nearly killed me to fix the wounds. After the fight, we recovered a longsword, a hide armor, a shorted bow, a mostly-broken wooden shield, and 10 arrows.   Ivan mentioned that they sent two people south to get help. We think they were the ones we found eaten by spiders. He gave a basic map of the area. The miners are probably a day or two away. We offered to take them back to civilization after we find the miners. They didn't want to leave the people who had been kidnapped.   Roggi 7 The next morning, we left in search of the miners. We passed through where some miners should have been, but we didn't see anyone.   After we passed all the close settlements, we came across a very sick man. He had been poisoned, but Nathaniel managed to treat him, and he recovered. He's one of the miners we're looking for: Nathaniel Hawthorne. He said that they had found a silver vein and had started digging at it. Then there was some kind of gas emission that made them all sick. He got out, but he hasn't seen the rest of the group since.   He led us back to their stake. They had dug out an entry area to use as a base. We were attacked by some scorpions and a weird zombie man. He had been infested by some kind of fungus, and now the fungus was controlling him. The fight was tough, but we prevailed.   After patching ourselves up, we decided to rest for the evening.

Oswald Taney is the leader.   They're trying to find a path across the desert. Whatever. They're going to pay us! Maybe I won't bail on them at the first town.   We can leave today... that's good.   Oswald sent us to talk to Gurt. The job is to find a mining expedition. They left a few weeks ago to start a new mine. The settlement hasn't responded. The company wants to know what happened. Gurt thinks that everyone there is dead.   There are reports of goblins, hobgoblins, bandits, giant spiders. Find the miners, save them if possible, bring them back if we can.   Gurt outfits us with a cart and some other gear. We set out that day.   The 1st day, nothing interesting happened.   Nathaniel Po (human summoner played by Jyh Nern) - was a barber in the old world. He got behind on his protection money, and the local gang burned his place down. That's when Mr. Green showed up -- Nathaniel's eidolon. Ham (halfling bard played by Brian) - Was playing a local pub and is looking for more adventure Cal (elf fighter played by Eric) - Was working as a guard at the embassy. Gan (dwarf wizard played by Joe) - left home because the family wasn't keen on magic.   The next day (day 2), we come to 3 individuals (humans) who have blocked the road. Ham tried to talk them down, but it didn't work; they attacked. We handled them pretty easily.   Day 3... uneventful.   Day 4... the day was uneventful, but we were attacked by wolves in the night. Fortunately, Nathaniel perceived them coming and woke us, so we were prepared for the fight.   Day 5... We expected to arrive in Cowick tonight. We saw a small pathway leading off the road. Unlike the other trails we've seen leave the road, this one is a stone-paved road. We turned and followed it to a clearing where there was a grave with writing in common denoting the grave of "Our noble champion, ..." (the name appeared to be worn away by time). Gan noticed that there's magic within the grave. We left it alone.   That night, Nathaniel woke us again because a skeletal champion on a horse came toward us. The champion gave us a magic sword. We talked to him a bit. He was from Sovelia and came with the First Ones to settle. He called himself Terry Godwin. He said he was slain by goblins. There are many goblins in the mountains. (It was a +1 potency longsword.)  

This is not public knowledge

After returning from rescuing the Princess of Vagduhm, the party returns to New Aurelia. Fidget is not a person of great ambition, and he also doesn't like to stay in one place very long. He spends most of his time doing guard duty on the regular trade routes between New Aurelia and the other settlements nearby.   He gets on well with the people around him, and he's accidentally building a network of contacts throughout the continent--merchants and guards he travels with, various people in other towns, etc. He ends up spending a big chunk of the income to help with little things for the people around him. So, he isn't gathering much wealth, but there's someone basically anywhere he goes that's willing to do a favor for him.   Fidget caught the attentions and affections of the daughter of a merchant on one of these trips when he helped defend the caravan from a bandit group--he stopped them from taking her hostage. He likes her, but he's a little too oblivious to realize the depths of her feelings. She's angling for marriage. She maneuvers to be on his trips whenever possible and tries to spend as much time with him as she can.   Her name: Emilia Glavrick Her father's name: Horatio Glavrick Their primary trade goods: Textiles & furniture   The adventure will pick up just after they've decided to be a couple. Fidget will be a little more worried about coming back alive than he was before... but probably about as incompetent.