Session: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Thistle’s
Journal
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Session 1 In which… Aramil Sanciere, a
wealthy merchant and member of the Waterdeep nobility, is taken from The party, at the
behest of Madame Sanciere, pursue the kidnappers into the tunnels beneath
Waterdeep with the “aid” of an eccentric vagabond named Snick. Snick guides them into the sewers, but as
soon as the party becomes separated Snick transforms into a wererat, attacks
and seriously wounds Jeena. The creature also wounds Arizair before being
killed. |
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Session 2 In which… Palarnus and Arizair
scout ahead and discover an opening into some natural caverns, perhaps the lair
of the kidnappers? With their party weakened they decide to return to the
surface for healing. Fearing that they may
have contracted lycanthropy, Jeena and Arizair visit the House of The Moon to
request treatment with belladonna, commonly known as wolfsbane. Unfortunately
Arizair is almost killed by the highly toxic poison and the priests of Selune
resort to expensive spells of restoration
in order to save his life. Arizair is now indebted to the Healing acquired, the
party visit with Julianne Sanciere to report their progress and request some
advance payment to assist with their costs.
With an advance of 500 gold dragons Madame Sanciere demands that they
return with haste to the tunnels under the city to rescue her husband. The party enter the
natural caverns beneath the sewers to find two caves in which the kidnappers
made their hideout. They discover the
kidnappers dead and no sign of Aramil Sanciere, only a tunnel into the
darkness beyond. Coming to a further
cavern the party encounter goblins, they have stumbled upon a small goblin
lair. The first encounter does not go
well for the party and they are almost defeated, but they manage to vanquish
the goblins and continue on into the darkness. Passing through a
fourth cavern and then a fifth they encounter more goblins, but this time
they manage to dispatch the goblin combatants with relative ease. |
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Session 3 In which… Moving further into the
goblin lair the party leave the natural tunnels to enter some rooms of
intelligent and ancient design. They
progress quickly to the room of the goblins’ leader and with surprise and the
initiative on their side they swiftly destroy the goblin leader and his 3
lieutenants. The party find a beaten,
tortured and unconscious Aramil Sanciere in a nearby room, his goblin guards
having abandoned him to flee into the underdark with the rest of the
inhabitants of the lair. Beyond two sets of
heavy stone doors the party discover a large circular crypt with five funeral
biers around its northern wall and a huge statue of a seated elven lord in
the centre of the room. Immediately
five skeletal occupants animate and attack the party. The skeletons are soon turned by Eryn’s
holy presence and cower, unable to attack the party. Discovering their weapons near-useless
against the skeletons the party resort to using the bludgeoning morning stars
taken from the defeated goblins. With the skeletons
destroyed the party discover that there is something under the statue. It takes all six of them several attempts
to move the statue to reveal a stone slab underneath, with what appears to be
a huge keyhole inset. Ancient writing on the slab is largely indecipherable,
but the party manage to discern some reference to The Key of Giluvar. They also learn that the rooms in which they stand are
remnants of the city of The party return to the
surface with Aramil Sanciere, who rewards them handsomely for their efforts. Eager to research their
discovery, the following day the party acquire a book, A History of That night while
resting in the tap-room of the Black Well Inn, their recreation is disturbed
as a halfling comes crashing in through the window, thrown through by a
brutish half-orc who climbs in through the window after his quarry. As the half-orc proceeds to beat the
halfling, the half-orc’s companions, a human man and human woman enter the
inn with weapons drawn. Caldiir, quickly
recognises the halfling as Kiro, an old friend. Tandrik, stands to address the half-orc and
his companions, “unhand him!” |
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Session 4 In which… A fight breaks out between
the party and the three newcomers, bounty hunters charged with Kiro’s
arrest. It soon becomes apparent that
the party are more than outmatched and an uneasy truce is called as the party
and Zalania, the leader of the bounty hunters, try to avoid unnecessary
bloodshed. Meanwhile Kiro has escaped. It emerges that the
impetuous Kiro has stolen a diamond worth 10,000 gold dragons from Lord
Belabranta and the bounty hunters have been charge with bringing Kiro before
Lord Belabranta. The bounty hunters
leave to continue their hunt and shortly after Kiro returns after being
apprehended by Arizair. Kiro informs the party
of his predicament, he did indeed steal the gem, but when he realised its
value he got spooked and sold it to wizard named Emilgar the Arcane for a
mere fraction of its value. If the gem
is not recovered then Belabranta will have Kiro’s head. Kiro persuades
Caldiir and his grudging friends to try to recover the diamond for him and
save his life. Visiting the harsh Lord
Belabranta, the party earn Kiro ten days grace in which they should find the
diamond or too become subject to his wrath. From the Watchful Order
the party learn that Emilgar the Arcane recently left with his adventuring
companions, The Company of the Bold, for the Sword Mountains in search of
adventure in the ruined Fortress of Gorstag Trollsbane. The party have no choice but to pursue. Two days travel out of
Waterdeep and the party arrive at the fortress, largely collapsed and
partially sunk into the mountain.
Entering the ruins they soon encounter a hideous tentacled creature
that lashes out at Caldiir catching him by surprise and almost choking him to
death. They efficiently slay the
choker and make ready to continue… |
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Session 5 In which… In the lair of the
choker the party find the corpse of a cleric of Lathander, recently dead and
assumed to be part of the Company of the Bold. The party continue their exploration of the
ruined fortress finding evidence of adventuring parties that came before,
albeit unsuccessfully. Soon the party
encounter a large, crawling caterpillar-like creature with eight writhing
tentacles and a gaping, carnivorous maw.
Quick to react the party manage to destroy the attacking creature
before harm can befall them. Venturing forth into
what was once a large hall of the fortress, they find it exposed to the
elements and overgrown with plants and vines.
The party explore the room, perhaps without due caution, until
suddenly vines snake out from a large plant and begin to attack them. The vine takes the offensive and seems to
catch the party on the back-foot and Caldiir is soon seriously wounded and
out of the fight. Arizair and Palarnus break free from the vine and
demonstrate their fighting prowess enough to take down the strange
carnivorous plant, but not before Caldiir’s wounds prove fatal. Caldiir is
dead. Next the group discover
a small shrine to the god Torm.
Further into the ruins they explore several empty areas until they
come to a room with an adjoining stairwell.
In the room is the dead body of Emilgar the Arcane, clawed and beaten
to death and stripped of his belongings.
No sooner do the party enter the room when a strange and captivating
song is heard from the stairwell. The
party feel the enchantment of the song attempt to take them, but fortunately
all find the will to resist but for one, Palarnus. The fighter is drawn into the stairwell
where he is attacked by a strange, winged creature with the body of a crone
and reptilian legs and claws. Unable
to defend himself, Palarnus’ armour serves to protect him from the creature’s
attacks. Jeena the Bard begins a song
to counter the effects of the harpy’s enchantment, helping Palarnus to break
free and destroy the creature. Within the nest of the
harpy the party find most of the wizard’s belongings, including that which
they seek, the diamond. The size of a
child’s fist, the diamond is unusual in that it is of a cloudy black hue,
unlike any other diamond. The group debate the
wisdom of returning the diamond to Belabranta, fearing that it may be
something more than meets the eye.
Eventually, understanding that their lives probably depend on it, the
party decides to return the diamond to Waterdeep and Lord Belabranta.
Belabranta agrees to cease his hunt for Kiro and dismisses the group from his
property. Resting at the
Safehaven Inn the group are approached by a boy, a messenger, who gives them
a letter. |
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Session 6 In which… The party follow up on
Zalania’s letter and go to Snake alley to meet her; but not before they are
joined by a new comrade, Rhade, a tracker and trapper from near the
Neverwinter Woods. In the Alley they find Zalania dead, sitting in a pool of
blood, she has been run through with a sword and in her mouth has been thrust
a Harper pin. Examining the scene the
party find that she has scratched the words “Dripping Dagger” into the earth. Visiting the Dripping
Dagger Inn the party persuades the keeper to allow them into Zalania’s room –
it has been ransacked, but underneath a loose floorboard they find Zalania’s
Journal. Meanwhile research
involving the book, A History of
Illefarn Kingdom of Elves, reveals some crucial information. The party decide to
hire a ship to take them to The Isle of the Sea Witch in search of the Key of
Giluvar. They hire the pinnacle Emerald Princess, captained by a hardy veteran sea-captain named Kaligar Grimm. Three days later they
put to sea heading for The Whalebones.
During their first night aboard the Emerald Princess the ship is
boarded by a group of Sahuagin raiders. Gaining the initiative, the party
slay the intruders in a matter of moments. |
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Session 7 In which… After a four day sea
voyage the party arrive at the Isle of the Sea Witch. They put to shore in a rowing boat and
conceal the boat for safety. The party decide to
bear west heading for the hills suspecting that there may lie the location of
the sea hag’s lair. Shortly into the
journey they are attacked by three ape-like creatures with leathery, bat-like
wings protruding from their backs. The
creatures prove tough opponents, but are soon beaten. As the group reach the
foot of the hills they discover the long-dead body of a paladin of Tyr,
rotted and decayed with strange centipede-like creatures crawling from the
skull. Spying two cave entrances in
the hills above the party decide to head towards them. As the party reach a
steep, scree -covered incline on the hill, they are again attacked by the
strange winged apes. This time there
are four, and the fight proves to be more of a challenge, so much so that
Jeena almost looses her life, save for the magical healing of her comrades. |
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Session 8 In which… As night falls the party
fall back into the forest to take an uneasy rest for the night. At dawn the
group venture into the lower of the two caves where they encounter more
winged apes, but having learned from their previous combats the party manage
to destroy the creatures with relative ease. The party then enter
the cave above which leads into a cavern complex that rises three levels.
They encounter little combat in the caves which show signs of being the lair
of the sea hag. They find a rancid
pool, in which writhing zombie-like creatures are suspended from rusting iron
chains. Eryn attempts to use here
powers to destroy the creatures and although they are clearly repulsed by her
holy presence, her power is not enough to defeat them. Choosing not to venture near the pool, the
party leave the restrained creatures where they are. Rhade easily manages to
pick up the hag’s tracks in the sand-covered caverns and the group track her
to her habitation cave on the 3rd level. The party blunder into the cave with little
thought for tactics; horrified by the hideous appearance of the hag Eryn
feels her strength begin to drain away, the rest of the party uneasily shake
off the supernatural effect. Arizair immediately
advances to attack the creature, but in retaliation she fixes him with her
evil-eye. Unable to summon the will or the stamina to resist her attack,
Arizair dies a horrible and agonizing death.
Palarnus too manages to wound the creature, but then also finds
himself under the gaze of the monster’s evil-eye; Palarnus survives the
attack, but is rendered dazed and inactive.
A magical arrow of acid fired from the fingertips of the wizard
Tandrik finally kills the creature. In her lair, they find
that which they seek; the Key of Giluvar in an ornate wooden chest buried
beneath the sand. Exploring the 3rd
level of the caves further they find an exit that seems to lead outside on to
a beach, the sound and smell of the ocean pervading. But the outside is different; the sky is
kissed with a purple hue, an indigo sun casting a mysterious purple haze all
around. Disturbed by the purple haze
in their eyes, not knowing whether it is day or night, tomorrow or the end of
time, the party choose not to venture out into the strange world. Tandrik suggests that
before them is the opening into another plane of existence, but he is unable
to determine where. |
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Session 9 In which… The party return to the
entrance to the caves where they encounter a half-drow who claims to have
been sent to them by Eilistraee. The
half-drow informs them that the Emerald Princess has been destroyed by a ship
called The Red Scourge, chartered by Lord Bellabranta from Skullport. A large landing party has also put to shore
in search of our adventurers. After deliberation, the
party decide to escape the caves and skirt around the northern perimeter of
the island in search of a rumoured portal leading to Faerun. With Palarnus unable to fight the party are
forced to hide from a close call with The Red Scourge’s landing party and
manage to evade them. Later the group
discover a hidden hall covered by the mountainside with an enclosed area of
worked stone exposed. After a while
Rhade manages to dislodge a stone from the wall, breaking into the room
within. The following morning
the group complete their excavation of the wall and enter the secret
hall. There they are confronted with a
long sealed chapel with an alter before a large bronze idol of a dragon, four
large braziers of gold stand on pedestals in the hall. The party is attacked
by the statue which animates when Eryn lifts one of the braziers from its
pedestal. The animated statue is
clumsy an the party manage to evade its attacks for the most part, but
Palarnus is wounded twice and relies upon the healing powers of Eryn to keep
him in the fight. On the other hand
the bronze statue proves difficult to damage, but eventually Palarnus, wielding
his mighty greatsword, prevails. Continuing their
journey around the perimeter of the island they come to rest at the end on
the day. During the night they are
attacked by six pirates - members of The Red Scourge’s landing party. While the pirates are no match for the
party and are easily neutralised, it seems that the six are merely an advance
party as more of the enemy approach. |
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Session 10 In which… It soon emerges that
the advance group of six pirates was a distraction to allow Trunko and Gorr,
Lord Belabranta’s henchmen, to lead more pirates upon the party. Gorr, the rogue, manages to position
himself behind the party, and in a surprise attack he flanks Tandrik and
brings the defenceless wizard down with a mortal wound. This time the battle is long and
challenging, the pirates harrying the adventurers while Trunko and Gorr
provide a real and tangible threat.
Palarnus fights valiantly to hold back Trunko and in spite of his
opponent’s greater skill Palarnus succeeds in preventing him from attacking
the rest of the company. Meanwhile the rest of
the group concentrate on defeating the pirates and Gorr, eventually Gorr is
defeated and Tandrik is restored to action as Eryn once again calls upon her
divine power to cure him. Tandrik’s
redeployment proves fortunate as the wizard combines his magic with Palarnus’
martial prowess to destroy Trunko. The company wander the
island for two further days until in the midst of the forest they discover a
mysterious fountain spring with a golden chalice resting upon its wall. Immediately as Rhade descends the steps
into the spring a group of skeletal guardians materialises within the pool
and begin to attack. Eryn, cleric of Selune
makes easy work of the undead as she brandishes forth her holy symbol and
calls upon Selunes favour to destroy them. The party suppose that
the spring is likely the portal they seek, and as one-by-one they drink from
the chalice, they vanish from the island; the golden come each time returning
to its place. They stand within a
circle of stones, set upon a soft mossy island floating upon a marsh. The immediate patch of land appears to be
safe, but beyond, as far as the eye can see is the dark, foggy, perilous
marsh of the Mere of Dead Men. Before
the party stands what appears to be an ancient stone structure, a long hall,
three open archways are its entrance. |
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Session 11 In which… With night falling the
weary party seek shelter inside the ancient hall. Their rest is disturbed as they
are attacked twice by groups of lizardfolk from deeper within the
complex. The lizardfolk are soon
defeated, but shortly after, the deep sound of a drum rumbles in steady
rhythm below. Unable to rest the
party explore further into the structure, following a deep stairway they come
to a stone door. Rhade searches the
door but fails to locate the trap within.
As the false door is opened, a metal rack springs forward firing arrows
in all directions. Many of the party are struck and injured by the missiles,
and magical healing is used. Rhade finds two secret
doors in the left and right sides of the passage, from the left side the
drumming seems louder and so they venture through. The come into a large
habitation room occupied by 10 lizardfolk, including the drummer. The party proceed to attack the lizardfolk
and showing no mercy, soon the lizardfolk are dead. |
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Session 12 In which… Having slain all the
inhabitants of the temple the party explore further. They find an altar room seemingly dedicated
to some kind of Yuan-ti deity – here they discover a secret compartment which
drops snakes upon them from above. Leaving the temple the
party discover a corridor with a chest placed at its end, suspecting traps Rhade
checks the corridor out. Not carefully enough though as the rogue soon meets
his demise, slain by the traps. Eventually the group
find their way out of the Mere of Dead Men and follow the road back to
Waterdeep. Their journey is somewhat
uneventful save for the observation of movement of Orc tribes in the |
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Sessions 13 & 14 In which… Our heroes return to
the Aelinthaldaar crypt beneath Waterdeep joined by two new companions,
Thistle Tic-Towen, the halfling rogue and Vardoc Naramis, a fighter. Zyr has
left the group, called by his deity to embark upon a mysterious odyssey into
the Underdark. Placing the key of
Giluvar into the keyhole in the crypt causes a portal of sorts to transport
the party to an ancient ruined tower set deep in mysterious woods. Exploring the surroundings of the tower
they find a brimming pool kept full by some unrecognisable enchantment. While investigating the pool they are attacked
by an elemental water grue, which the party soon neutralise. Following a pathway
deep into the forest the group begin to feel the enchantment that seems to
permeate the woods, a feeling that puts them ill at ease. With little notion of
time the party continue until they find themselves within an ancient grove
concealing a henge of timeless standing stones. Immediately, enchantment befalls them and
their will-power is tested to the limit as magical drowsiness and confusion,
bestowed by strange living-plant forest warders takes hold. Soon, the mistress of
the grove, the dryad Emmanuaine, reveals herself to the party in their
subdued state and demands explanation for their intrusion into such sacred
places. Eventually convinced of their
cause, Emmanuaine opens the forest to reveal a hidden garden beyond an iron
gate. Within the garden, the
figure of an ancient elf tends the hedges and flowers. As the group approach his true nature is
revealed. He is a baelnorn, an elven
lich. The creature, Aedriann is benign
and shows the party friendship. Within
the garden the party follow a cryptic instruction to choose five precious
jewels from the garden – they pick beautiful flowers whereupon Aedriann reveals
to them an archway that leads from the garden. Through the archway the
party find stone steps seemingly hewn from a cliff face. Descending the steps they emerge upon a
shingle cove on the edge of a lake sunk within a crater in the forest. Across the misty lake an island can be
vaguely seen, at the shore of the lake a hooded ferryman waits upon a skiff
to ferry the party across. Upon the island the
party discover a strange, squat, quadrangle tower with four daylight emitting
orbs and its vertices. The stone door to the tower is marked with an
inscription: “Here sleeps eternal,
Giluvar Aerindair; brother, father, champion of the Coronal of Arvandor and
protector of Faerun.” Examining the door for
traps or marks, Thistle finds none (DM
nerf-job number 1). Palarnus and Vardoc heave open the stone door to
reveal the tomb of Giluvar within.
Tandrik, first to cross the threshold, triggers an ancient arcane
sigil which summons an unseen creature.
The invisible assailant soon incapacitates the wizard and inflicts
heavy damage upon the party’s fighters, but the skills of Vardoc and Palarnus
win through and soon the creature is vanquished. After many minutes of
moral deliberation, the group reluctantly open the coffin of Giluvar to
reveal that which they seek – the Key Stone of Shar. Their dilemma is resolved when the spirit
of Giluvar visits them and entrusts them to protect and guard the Key Stone,
to prevent it from falling into the hands of those who would do evil and to
deliver it to the Silver Lady. A solemn duty, a responsibility that they must
not fail. The new guardians of
the Key Stone of Shar retrace their route back to the Aelinthaldaar crypt
beneath Waterdeep. There they are
ambushed by Belabranta himself who imprisons them within a magical cage and
demands that they hand the Key Stone over to him. Metagaming intensely (wink) the party determine that Belabranta is far too powerful
for them to defeat at the current time, and the chosen protectors of the Key
Stone of Shar capitulate to his demands (DM
nerf-job number 2). The matter is
worsened as they discover that they have been but pawns in his plan to
possess the Shadow Stones, drawn in by the halfling Kiro – an agent of
Belabranta. Down and dejected the
party surface to Waterdeep and attempt to drown their sorrows in the nearest
tavern. Their brooding,
however, is short-lived as they discover that that very evening lord
Belabranta, and his entourage, have left Waterdeep for Noanoar’s Hold, a
hunting village on the edge of the High Forest patronised by the wealthy
nobility of the sword coast. With
Belabranta already in possession of three of the Shadow Stones it is
explicitly apparent that his journey to Noanoar’s Hold is to secure the
fourth stone, in the possession of Zanvarthangular – a green dragon of The The following morning
the party ride out at a gallop, taking and alternative rout to Noanoar’s
Hold. In two days travel they cross
the |
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Sessions 15 In which… The party finally agree
to help the people of Beliard and the following morning they are led a few
miles north to the Dessarin Hills. Entering a wooded area
they soon encounter a group of hidden kobolds accompanied by a strange,
floating, bulbous creature with many eyestalks – a beholder? Soon the
weakling kobolds are slain; Tandrik hurls a ball of fiery flame at the
beholder-like creature, which is brought down with surprising ease. From within the bulbous case two burning
kobolds emerge, they jump to the ground as the flames consume them. Close examination reveals the beholder to
be a lifeless, hollowed-out husk used by the kobolds, presumably to frighten
intruders. A little way on they
discover a cave entrance. Inside a wide shaft leads directly upwards into
darkness – there is a chain dangling from the top of the shaft. Thistle climbs the shaft at speed, soon
emerging into a cavern about 80 feet above.
The party’s careless noise soon alerts the kobold guards in the
adjoining cavern and Thistle finds himself under attack. Thistle takes down a kobold immediately and
successfully harries the others until Eryn and Vardoc emerge from the
shaft. Together the three soon
slaughter the feeble creatures. With the rest of their
comrades brought up the shaft the party venture deeper into the kobold
caves. Coming to an intersection they
are attacked by a slightly stronger, more experienced group of kobold
fighters. |
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Session notes are
discontinued… … instead see Thistle’s Journal |