17th Desnus 18 – Part 3 – The Irovetti Encounter

The group make their way through the streets towards the palace where they soon encounter a group of five soldiers blocking their way.

Vaneer asks them to stand aside and allow the group to pass so they can continue their way to dispose of the King.

One of the wardens asks them if they intend to follow through with their promise and upon hearing the confirmation the soldiers step to one side and allow the group to pass wishing them luck.

As the group approach the palace eight gargoyles drop from the heavens and attacks them.

Vaneer casts a mass serious inflict wounds,

Gargoyles move closer,

Otto Fireballs and destroys all the gargoyles causing the flaming shattered stones to rain down over the area.

A flock of nearby peacocks become upset with the group for some unknown reason and chases them into the palace through the large open double door entrance.

As they get through the doors a messenger was awaiting them and though confused at the peacock situation informed them that King Irovetti was expecting them in the great hall along with General Jerg and Valamor Koth.

The group quickly find their way into the great hall, it was grand indeed! Large gold statues of the King and golden thrones, gold everywhere though what was also obvious was that they weren’t alone in the room.

Along with the King, Jerg and Valamor they were accompanied with four armoured trolls on the ground plus an additional six wardens and six heralds watching over them from the balcony running around the room above them.

King Irovetti gleamed at their arrival and his mouth began to open as he prepared to say something but seemed output when Vaneer put up his finger as a motion to wait.

Irovetti seemed even more annoyed that what Vaneer next said was not to him but his subjects.

Vaneer looked up to the balcony and said, “We are only interested in your King and your King only, if you leave now we promise that you will not be punished in anyway later but if you stay then we’re afraid we can’t promise your safety.”

There were moments of shuffling feet and whispers from the balcony but seconds later the balcony was empty, and a very red-faced King was now aggressively clutching at his throne.

Irovetti then stood up from his throne chuckling to himself,

“Good, Good, yes yes! Don’t worry I won’t ‘harm’ them much after I’ve dealt with you just like I haven’t harmed your children”.

Otto casts a quickened Haste on the group followed by a finger of death at Irovetti which fails,

Boss shoots at Irovetti but the arrows just literally bounce off him,

Irovetti casts a spell and a duplicate image of himself appears which begins to sing,

Natalia casts a spell,

Bob charges in and attacks one of the armoured Trolls and hits,

General Jerg casts haste over the enemy,

Hugo moves and attacks another of the armoured trolls and hits,

Miro moves to flank Hugo’s target and hits it,

Valamor Koth charges at Miro and lands a well-placed blow on the halfling,

Otto casts Acid fog followed by a quickened Fireball centred on the Trolls which kills one,

Boss attacks Koth and lands a hit,

Irovetti cast another spell that fills the hall with a golden light,

Armoured Troll attacks Vaneer and misses,

Armoured Troll attacks Boss and hits,

Armoured Troll attacks Miro and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing blast followed by a quickened searing light,

Bob attacks an armoured troll and hits,

Natalia summons an Earth elemental,

Elemental attacks Koth and hits,

Natalia casts flamestrike on General Jerg and hits,

General Jerg attacks Miro and hits,

Hugo attacks another troll but misses,

Miro tumbles behind Hugo for a reprieve from combat,

Koth attacks the Elemental and destroys it,

Otto casts a quickened Fireball on the trolls followed by a chain lightening,

Boss rolls away from the combat,

Irovetti points his halbard at Vaneer which shoots something at the Cleric and hits,

Armoured Troll attacks Vaneer and hits,

Armoured Troll attacks Hugo and hits hard,

Armoured Troll attacks Miro and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing burst followed by a quickened cure serious,

Natalia casts a greater dispel on Irovetti,

Bob attacks a Troll and hits,

General Jerg casts a cone of cold which knocks out Boss,

Hugo attacks a Troll and kills it,

Koth attacks Miro but misses,

Otto casts Fireball over the enemy killing Koth,

Irovetti moves closer to the fray and casts a spell causing Vaneer, Hugo and Bob to start bowing to him,

Armoured Troll attacks Miro but misses,

Vaneer manages to break the spell that has him bowing to Irovetti,

General Jerg throws a swing at Miro but misses,

Hugo and Bob continue to bow to Irovetti,

Miro uses his ring to turn himself invisible,

Boss drinks a potion of Cure moderate,

Otto casts another chain lightening which drops the final armoured troll,

Irovetti moves to attack Vaneer and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing burst,

Natalia cast a wall of fire,

General Jerg moves through the wall and attacks Otto,

Miro attacks Irovetti and just as the rogues blade pierces the Kings flesh a look of realisation appears on Irovetti’s face followed by “Ah! That is a surprisingly annoyance” as he then vanishes into thin air.

Vaneer with his knowledge of spells instantly realises that Irovetti had obviously set up a contingency that if he was too injured then he would instantly be dimensional doored to safety,

Boss shoots at General Jerg and hits him,

Otto casts three scorching rays at Jerg but only one seemed to hit,

Vaneer casts a healing burst,

Bob continues to bow to an empty space,

Natalia casts a flamestrike down on General Jerg,

General Jerg follows suit of his ruler and dimensional doors himself away from the combat.

The dimension door spell had a limited range, so the group knew that their two escapees had to be somewhere in the palace and with all the other combatants now disposed of they made haste to search the palace.

After a couple of hours of searching the group eventually find a concealed door in the most unlikely and tucked away location which lead under the palace into an underground royal bedroom of immensely plushly richly over exaggerated decoration.

As the statues obviously gave it away this was Irovetti’s room the group immediately begin to investigate and behind a set of curtains they find the King awaiting round two of their fight fully healed and re-buffed.

To Be Continued……… 

17th Desnus 18 – Part 2 – New Kids on the Adventuring Block

A commotion could be heard from somewhere else in Pitax as the future heroes made their way into the city and it’s assumed that the “Old Ones” aka as the parents have already encountered some sort of resistance on their approach to the castle of Pitax.

It didn’t take long for them to encounter resistance themselves as a group of five soldiers were soon blocking their path further into the city.

With a smug look Varn stepped forward with a finger thrust towards the soldiers,

“Our quarrel isn’t with you! Be gone and we won’t have to beat you silly!”

The soldiers snort in amusement and defiance.

Mina charges into one of the wardens,

A herald starts to sing,

Warden(1) attacks Mina and hits,

Warden(2) attacks Mina and hits,

Wardens 3 & 4 Shoot at Varn but misses,

Katia begins to sing a dirge of doom,

Ichabod attacks warden(1) and hits,

Beaky flies through the herald and hits,

Varn attacks warden(3) and misses,

Mina attacks warden(1) and kills it,

Warden(2) attacks Mina and hits,

Warden(3) attacks Varn and misses,

Warden(4) attacks Varn and misses,

Herald casts a glitterdust on Katia blinding her,

Blinded, Katia casts haste on the group,

Ichabod attacks and hits warden(2),

Beaky Kills the herald with another fly by attack,

Varn attacks and kills warden(3) whilst injuring warden(4),

Mina moves to flank warden(2) and kills him,

Varn finishes of warden(4) as he attempts to run past Varn towards Mina.

They now press on further into the city.

As they start to create a nuisance of themselves outside of the palace, both Varn and Mina fail to notice two creatures attempting to sneak up on them.

Two creatures appear to jump off the palace roof whilst another two were attempting to sneak up on the young heroes through the park, giants made of stained glass.

Using his Paladin abilities Varn imbues his longsword and approaches the first of the glass giants(1),

Mina moves towards glass giant(1),

Glass giant(1) wallops Varn,

Glass giant(2) wallops Mina,

Ichabod casts bull strength on beaker,

Beaker attacks glass giant(2)  and scores a critical,

Katia casts shatter on glass giant(1),

Varn attacks glass giant(1) and shatters it,

Mina attacks glass giant(2) and hits,

Glass giant(2) attacks Mina and hits,

Glass giant(4) attacks Varn and hits,

Glass giant(3) attacks Katia and hits,

Ichabod casts a healing burst,

Beaker attacks glass giant(2) but misses,

Katia inspires courage,

Varn wallops glass creature(4),

Mina attacks creature(1) and destroys it,

Glass giant(3) attacks Mina,

Glass giant(4) attacks Varn and hits,

Glass giant(3) attacks Mina and Katia but only lands a blow on Mina,

Ichabod casts another healing burst,

Beaker attacks glass giant(4) and shatters it,

Katia casts a shatter spell on glass giant(3),

Varn moves to and attacks glass giant(3) but misses,

Mina attacks glass giant(3) and hits,

Glass giant(3) attacks Katia and Mina but misses both,

Beaker attacks glass giant(3) and shatters the giant.

Before the younglings could catch their breaths, a massive roar could be heard from inside the palace as the main doors open where four trolls (2 with heavy armour) charged towards them.

Katia sings a song of Dirge doom whilst throwing a bead of fireball at the trolls,

Varn uses his aura of justice,

Ichabold casts a blade barrier round the approaching trolls,

Beaker attacks a random troll but misses,

Armoured Troll(1) attacks Varn and Ichabod hitting them both,

Troll(1) attacks Katia and Mina but misses both,

Mina attacks Troll(1) and Kills it,

Katia attacks Troll(2) and hits,

Varn attacks Armoured Troll(1) and Hits,

Beaker attacks Troll(2) and kills it,

Ichabod flamestrikes the armoured trolls but fails,

Armoured Troll(1) attacks Varn thrice,

Armoured Troll(2) attacks Ichabod and hits him once,

Mina flanks Armoured Troll(1) and hits it,

Katia casts firestorm over the two remaining trolls,

Varn takes out Armoured Troll(1),

Ichabold casts searing light on armoured troll(2),

Beaker attacks armoured troll(2),

Armoured Troll(2) Ichabod twice,

Mina attacks armoured troll(2) and kills it,

Katia pours acid over the troll corpses.

Mina takes the opportunity to harass some nearby peacocks and ends up chasing them around to try and obtain a feather or two.

As they begin to enter the castle a strange golden glow begins to appear and surround them.

17th Desnus 18 – The Counter Ambush

With their children leading the distraction force outside of Pitax, we find the group and Ilora trudging through the sewers of Pitax.

Once they reach the streets of Pitax the group make a hasted approach towards the palace when there was a crackling of thunder rolling over ahead, but the sound of the thunder just seemed a little weird.

Before they had a chance to question the sounds of thunder a blade barrier suddenly appeared in the middle of the street causing the group to split into two either side of the barrier.

Standing in the middle of the barrier completely unaffected by its blades stood the “First Blade” as he announced himself to be the Herald of Gorrum whom was here to exact revenge upon them for the destruction of the sword of Armeg.

Natalia casts a spell,

Vaneer attempts to cast Dismissal on the Herald but fails,

Hugo moves to attack the Herald but misses,

Miro moves to flank the Herald where he lands a hit but deals no damage,

Herald moves towards Miro and hits him,

Otto casts quickened haste followed by a ray of enfeeblement to which the Herald was immune,

Boss shoots three times but hits once,

Natalia summons an elemental,

Elemental attacks the Herald and hits,

Bob attacks but hits once doing no damage,

Vaneer drops his adamantine arrows for Boss to pick up before he casts a quickened barkskin and a summon spell,

Miro activates his ring of invisibility and attempts to tumble away whilst throwing his voice, hoping it will distract the Herald,

Hugo runs around to the other side of the blade barrier,

Herald moves towards Natalia and thumps her hard (51),

Otto casts acid fog on the Herald,

Boss shoots 3 adamantine arrows at the Herald with one hitting,

Natalia moves away from the Herald,

Elemental attacks the Herald and hits twice,

Bob moves away from the Herald,

Vaneer summons a Tyrannosaurus Rex,

T-Rex attacks the Herald but misses,

Vaneer casts Prayer,

Miro tumbles back into the fight opposite the T-Rex,

Hugo attacks but misses,

Miro attacks the Herald and misses,

Herald attacks and hits the T-Rex, Miro, Hugo and Elemental,

Otto teleports himself, Vaneer and Boss to the other side of the blade barrier to join the others,

Boss shoots another 2 adamantine arrows at the Herald and hits twice dealing some fair damage,

Elemental attacks and hits once,

Bob runs off to fetch those stray adamantine arrows,

Natalia casts a spell,

T-Rex attacks and hits the Herald but fails to grapple with its tiny hands,

Vaneer casts a healing burst,

Hugo attacks and hits twice,

Miro attacks and hits twice and again deals the killing blow causing the Herald to splinter and explode into thousands of tiny metallic bits.

To be continued….

15th Desnus 18 - Battle Planning

Now rested and healed from yesterdays fight the group and the council finally sit down and turn their sights towards dealing with the Pitax issue.

It is decided that a large force would approach Pitax to act as a distraction whilst a smaller group lead by the defector sneaks into Pitax.

14th Desnus 18 - The Battle of the Bones

Soon after dawn they seem a familiar large figure on the horizon and before long the group are reunited with Hill Stomper.

As they approach the graveyard Vaneer asks the group to wait a minute as he turns to Hill Stomper.

Vaneer then healed and regenerated the mammoths damaged eye to which Hill Stomper was over the moon about.

Just as they then entered the graveyard a pile of bones nearby erupted into the sky as a wingless dragon like creature (Linnorm) emerged roaring in the direction of the trespassers.

Creature releases a breath weapon and then attacks Vaneer,

Miro attacks the creature and hits,

Hugo attacks the creature and hits,

Creature attacks Hugo and hits,

Otto casts a quickened Haste followed by a ray of enfeeblement at the creature which hits,

Boss shoots at the creature and hits it four times,

Vaneer casts a quickened shield of faith and then flamestrikes the creature which hits,

Natalia casts firestorm and hits the creature,

Bob attacks the creature and hits,

Hill Stomper gores the creature,

Creature attacks Hill Stomper and hits,

Creature attacks Vaneer and misses,

Creature attacks Hugo and hits,

Creature uses it breath weapon and deals strength damage to Vaneer, Miro, Otto, Bob and Hugo,

Miro attacks and hits for little damage,

Hugo attacks and hits for little damage,

Otto has passed out from trying to support his own body weight,

Boss uses his Cold Iron arrows and hits the creature twice,

Vaneer backs out of the fight and tends to Otto after casting a quickened prayer,

Natalia starts casting,

Bob attacks the creature but does little damage,

Hill Stomper attacks and hits the creature twice,

Creature attacks Miro and misses,

Creature attacks Bob and misses,

Creature attacks Hugo and misses,

Miro attacks four times but only manages to hit once for little damage,

Hugo also attacks four times but only manages to hit once for little damage,

Boss shoots five arrows at the creature but only two find their target,

Otto gets back up and tries to use finger of death on the creature, but the creature resists the spells affects only to be the victim of a quickened fireball,

Vaneer uses restoration on Hugo and then a quickened cure serious,

Creature attacks Vaneer and hits,

Natalia summons a fire giant which attacks and hits the creature,

Bob attacks the creature and hits twice,

Natalia casts call lightening,

Hill Stomper attacks the creature and hits three times,

Creature uses its breath weapon where only Bob, Otto and Hill Stomper aren’t damaged by its affects,

Hugo attacks and hits,

Miro attacks the creature twice and deals the killing blow,

Miro dies for the creature’s death curse!

Vaneer uses resurrection to return Miro’s soul to his body before healing up the party as best he can with the little spells he has left.

Hill Stomper thanks the group for their assistance and bids them farewell as Otto teleports the group back to Wyvernshore.

13th Desnus 18 - Return to Stompy

The group make their way to meet up with Hill Stomper as agreed.

12th Desnus 18 - Hill Stomper

After resting the group make their way south west towards the mountains in search of the Wyvern lair.

As the group enter the general area where they believed the lair should be Natalia decides to cast ‘commune with nature’ to try and obtain a more precise location of the Wyverns.

After some time, Natalia picks up there are a possible 4 or 5 Wyverns plus a large powerful but natural creature near them.

They discuss the results and agree to investigate the presence of the natural creature.

It doesn’t take them long to find some tracks and with Natalia’s tracking ability they soon come across a giant woolly mammoth.

The mammoth appeared to be stomping around looking for food and seemed completely unaware of the group as they approached so in order not to shock the creature they make themselves known to the creature.

Natalia casts ‘speak with animals’ upon herself and then shouts “Greetings!”.

The mammoth responds surprisingly in common “Hello there, little ones”.

The group explain to the mammoth that they are in the area looking for some Wyverns before asking the mammoth if he knows of them or seen them.

He’s name was Hill Stomper and use to be a druid’s companion along with a talking horse (Wind Chaser) after the druid passed he became the guardian and protector of the mammoth graveyard until a violent wingless dragon attacked the graveyard and forced Hill Stomper to flee for his life with one damaged eye.

Listening to the mammoths story the group decide that they would help him retake the graveyard once they’ve finished dealing with their current objective and so would meet him in a couple of days near the graveyard.

After bidding farewell to Hill Stomper, the group head towards the area that Natalia had pointed out earlier as the most likely place to find the Wyverns.

As they made their way into one of the mountains ravines they soon spotted some 100ft above them a large cave entrance more than big enough for a Wyvern or two maybe even five.

Otto uses teleport to get the group up to the entrance, as they enter the cave they are soon met with the Wyvern Matriarch and some of her brood.

<Insert Magical Awesome Rainbow Farting Unicorn Battle Scene>

With the Matriarch now dead the group claim her head and find a comfy spot in the cave to rest.

11th Desnus 18 - Was that the WMMD? and who ordered the GNOME!

Otto teleports the group back to the Ilora’s camp near the river and using invisibility sphere and stealth they make their way towards the fabled WMMD site.

Night starts to set in and under the cover of darkness the group approach the hill where atop it stands the ruins of what use to appear to be an abbey though lights could be seen along the walls and oddly appearing and disappearing around the undergrowth of the hill.

Some time is spent discussing how to approach the ruins without being spotted when Otto slaps himself on his forehead.

Moments later under still under an invisibility sphere Otto teleports the group directly inside the walls and next to a building of the old abbey.

They take a minute or two to take in the surroundings and figure out what is where when they notice that on top of the abbey tower were two look outs and down in the graveyard most likely a will-o-wisp or two.

The group slowly attempt to climb the tower where Miro manages to sneak up on one guard with so much stealth and surprise he manages to kill the guard in one blow with no noise, everyone one else pounded on the remaining guard as quietly as they could killing the poor man.

Whilst atop the tower both Vaneer and Natalia notice that amongst the shrubs of the hill a shambling mound was roaming around the place.

Once they were all back on the ground Otto cast another invisibility sphere over them and they made their way into the old abbey building.

As they push open the door to the abbey they find themselves in a small chamber that has a spiral staircase heading down, two further doors one left and one right of them and in the main chamber ahead is busy with tables, alchemical equipment, six alchemists, a stone stair case heading up and a genie roaring at the wandering alchemists.

They think the rumours might be true but to make sure that nothing can sneak up on them the group decide to head down the spiral stairs first.

The stairs ended in what appeared to be a kitchen that has seen recent use but was now currently unoccupied, a corridor could be seen leading out of the kitchen into darkness.

Exploration of the lower level revealed nothing much other than sleeping quarters where Miro soon disposed of any sleeping figures and a wine cellar stacked with crates of wine which again Miro cases for later retrieval.

With nothing of any further interest the group return to the spiral staircase and head back up to the abbey entrance without their invisibility.

As they return to the main chamber it is obvious that they had been spotted as the genie roars at them and the guards hiding round the corner ready their weapons to attack.

Vaneer casts Invisibility purge which reveals a female spectacled caster in the far corner of the main chamber near some barrels,

A wererat hiding up in the beams of the ceiling shoots at Vaneer and hits,

Otto casts cone of cold over the chamber which kills two of the alchemists,

Boss shoots at the wererat and hits,

Miro moves to attack one of the guards but trips over one of the wooden benches and tumbles to the ground,

Hugo attacks one of the guards and hits,

Natalia casts quench on the genie and hits,

Bob attacks one of the alchemists and hits,

Vaneer summons an insect plague and sends it to distract the spectacled caster,

The wererat shoots Natalia and hits her hard,

A thumping whooshing whomping noise is heard from the floor above,

Otto casts another cone of cold which kills the remaining alchemists and the genie,

Boss shoots at the wererat and the spectacled caster, injuring the rat but kills the caster,

Miro manages to attack one of the guards and hits,

Natalia casts flamestike at the wererat but the critter avoids the spells damage,

Bob attacks one of the guards and this,

One of the guards attacks Hugo and hits,

Vaneer moves his insect swarm to distract the wererat before casting a healing burst on the group,

Wererat shoots at Natalia three times and hits with each,

Suddenly a sickly looking yellow vapour begins to sink down through gaps in the ceiling,

Otto casts a hold monster spell on the wererat then tries to use finger of death which fails to kill the blighter of cheese,

Boss shoots at the wererat multiple times which finally kills the critter,

Hugo shouts at the remaining guards to surrender and leave the abbey to which they agree as they and the group leave the abbey with the descending vapour.

Once outside the group as the guards about the vapour but before they could answer they’re sent to the ground as bolts of fire from above hail down on them.

Atop the abbey roof stood a humanoid wearing a leather cowl and clutching a knobbly staff, the stranger thing though was it appeared his body was made up with a mass of red wriggling worms!

The group try to engage him in conversation but the most they could get from him was that he was here for some sort of ‘project’ and whilst working with Pitax to create the WMMD was intending to betray them and use it shortly afterwards.

Vaneer chimed in after hearing that with “Well then it seems you're no longer needed so why don’t you just kindly bugger off!”

The worm/humanoid responds with “Ok” as he opens a portal and then walks through.

The group would have stood there for longer looking gob-smacked but the spellcaster's sickly yellow cloud was now rolling out of the abbeys front doors towards them.

They work round what has now been identified as a mega massive cloudkill as it works its way out of the abbey and downhill, whilst Natalia takes to the air to investigate where the cloud originally came from only to find the upper floor of the abbey ablaze.

With the cloudkill rolling away from the abbey the group return to the building and make their way up the stone stairs whilst Natalia quenches the blaze.

What they find is disappointing as it appears the weapon has been destroyed completely by the worm based spellcaster and is of no use to anyone.

They slowly return to the abbey grounds and soon find a tunnel going underground into the hill so with Vaneer leading they head into the tunnel. Exploration of the tunnels is long and pretty much uneventful until after the 6^th tunnel when something attacks Hugo causing him to turn a shade of white.

Then something attacks Bob causing the badger to look unwell,

Something attacks Hugo again and causing him to look even whiter,

Again something attacks Bob making the badger woozy,

Then the group can’t sight of their assailant…a Shadow!

Otto casts off a magic missile followed by a quicken haste on the group,

Boss shoots at the shadow four time and manages to disperse it only to find out there were two of them.

Miro attacks the remaining shadow and hits,

Natalia casts a spell and hits,

Bob manages to attack the shadow and also lands a hit,

Vaneer casts Daylight which obliterates the shadow,

Vaneer then sets to work restoring Bob and Hugo’s strength before they continue down the tunnel.

The tunnel eventually ends and opens into a massive underground chamber with a large crescent shaped pool of glowing blue water and a small island in the middle of it joined to the cavern only by a really old rickety bridge.

Natalia changes herself into an air elemental and moves towards the old bridge as a water form of a naked elf appears on the island begging the druid to “Turn Back! Don’t come any further!” before disappearing as soon as she had appeared.

Otto casts water walking whilst Vaneer cast water breathing as they both head onto and under the water to investigate the area.

As soon as Otto and Natalia are about to touch the island a blue mist begins to rise from the well that sits on the island and starts to take the form of a short humanoid creature with a troll like hairstyle (Ghostly Gnome) whilst four will-o-wisps descend from the cavern ceiling.

Miro rushes across the bridge to join Natalia and Otto whilst managing to score a cheeky hit on wisp(1),

Hugo follows Miro’s example and also rushes into fight wisp(1),

Otto casts an acid cloud getting the ghost gnome as well as wisps 1 & 2,

Otto then casts a quickened magic missile at the ghost gnome,

Boss shoots at the ghost gnome and hits once,

Ghost Gnome taunts the group as he casts quickened haste on himself the wisps and the water elemental that erupts from the lake,

Ghost Gnome then uses his horrific appearance on the group only to affect Hugo who starts running,

The elemental slams and beats the submerged Vaneer hard,

Wisp(1) attacks Miro and hits,

Wisp(2) attacks the fleeing Hugo and hits,

Wisp(3) attacks Otto and hits,

Wisp(4) attacks Natalia and hits,

Natalia casts a wall of fire around the ghost gnome and wisp(4),

Bob charges at Wisp(1) and hits,

Vaneer attempts to use dismissal against the elemental but misses,

Miro attacks Wisp(1) and kills it,

Otto casts resist electricity on himself and backs away from Wisp(3),

Boss shoots at Wisp(2) and hits twice,

Wisp(4) attacks Natalia and hits,

Wisp(2) turns itself invisible,

The elemental attacks Vaneer again but misses,

Ghost Gnome attacks and hits Natalia really hard,

Natalia casts fairy fire and highlights the invisible wisp(2),

Bobb attacks wisp(3) but misses,

Vaneer attempts another dismissal which succeeds allowing the cleric to pull himself out of the water,

Miro attacks Wisp(2) but misses,

Boss shoots at Wisp(2) and hits,

Otto magic missiles the Ghost Gnome and hits,

Wisp(2) attacks Hugo and begins to heal up,

Wisp(4) attacks Natalia and hits,

Wisp(3) attacks Otto but does no damage,

The ghost gnome introduces himself as the “The Gardner” before smacking Natalia so hard that she passes out and falls to the ground (-44 hp),

Bob attacks Wisp(3) thrice and hits twice,

Vaneer rushes over to Natalia and casts Heal on her hoping it isn’t too late,

Miro attacks Wisp(3) and hits,

Otto magic missiles Wisp(2) which kills it,

Boss shoots Wisp(3) killing it,

The Gardner attacks Vaneer and hits,

Natalia begins to wake and rolls out of the way,

Wisp(4) attacks Natalia and hits,

Bob bounds through the wall of fire to get closer to Natalia,

Vaneer turns his healing bursts against the Gardner,

Miro leaps through the wall of fire screaming “I fricking hate Gnomes!! DIE!!!!!” as he attacks the Gardner and kills him,

Otto magic missiles Wisp(4) and hits,

Boss shoots Wisp(4) twice which finally kills it.

Miro then runs to the water to put out his smoking clothes whilst Vaneer sets about healing the group especially Natalia.

After some minutes of talking amongst themselves they suddenly notice that they could hear a muffled distorted voice nearby.

Miro soon discovers that the voice appeared to be coming from one of the casks with a false bottom, as he looked further he soon found a glass water clock.

The clock in his hands said to him “Break it! Free me!”

Miro struggles with what to do, he could smash it and free whatever it contained but then a talking water clock would certainly be worth a fair bit of gold.

Otto getting frustrated at Miro’s delay snatches the water clock from the halflings hands and throws the clock to the ground causing water to spill from it.

The water sat on the surface for less than a minute when it started to move by itself and was soon taking on the form a naked elven women, the same that had appeared before the fight.

“Thank you, it appears I have been trapped in there for some great time” the figure said,

She introduces herself as Evindra and is the keeper of this cavern and its magical properties but without her magical shawl she can’t return the pool and the hill above to their former glory.

When asked what had happened to her shawl Evindra told the group that King Irovetti had taken her sword ‘Briar’ and shawl as part of a bargain he had made with the ghastly gardener.

As Evindra was a fey type known as a Neried the group thought to ask about the fey named Emissary and if she had any dealings with him. Her response was that of a 'No' but she knew that he served a fey queen known by many names and was linked to the sword Briar.  Unfortunately she could not give any further details as she was forbidden to do so by the holder of her shawl, King Irovetti!  But with its return she could give them some much needed information.

The group promised Evindra that they would retrieve her items and return them to her as soon as possible as they dragged the drooling Miro and Vaneer away to find a place to rest ready for tomorrow's travels.

10th Desnus 18 - The Girl, The Tiger and The WMMD

They continue heading towards the thousand voices woods.

Encounter a heard of Elk which Natalia hunts one of the aging members down and the group resupply their food stocks.

Hour and half later the continue walking towards the woods and notice some Wyverns flying in the distance and are believed to be flying towards Pitax.

Otto casts invisibility sphere over the group to ensure that the Wyverns don’t spot them as they fly over head towards the south west.

As they continue west the group soon come across a narrow but fast flowing river bordered with vicious looking brambles was blocking their path, they spend some time walking up and down the banks in hopes of finding a location where they can cross.

Natalia eventually finds a place where they could risk crossing though it still required some to swim across.

Whilst Otto was stepping over the river he notices a small camp nestled within some of the brambles where a lone figure was attempting to hide but as she noticed that she had been spotted she began to wave at Otto.  Natalia and Vaneer try to clear a path for the rest of the group as they make their way towards the small bramble camp.

The lone figure introduces herself as to the group as Ilora Nuski and that she was the defector that had contacted the group about leaving Pitax and joining Wyvernshore.  They talk for a while and the try to understand the reasoning for her defection where they learn that Ilora hasn’t been happy for a while with the direction that Pitax had been heading in.  She and her crew had worked to try and undermine King Irovetti's rule with some help from a friend of hers (A bard the PCs had met, known as Annamede).  Looking to the future, Ilora is able to provide a map of King Irovetti's palace (ground floor only - she knows there is an undergroun portion but does not know any more than that) and can get in contact with her ally Annamede to sneak several small groups into Pitax, provided they have cover or a distraction, such as an army assaulting the city from the outside!  Ilora reveals that the King can use spells to enhance his allies and likes to sing and enjoys gaurdy art - hence why religion has been on the decline in Pitax but sicophantic artists, theatres and troupes are on the increase in a city that he tightly controls.  Any who oppose him or refuse his advances tend to disappear.

Ilora also informs them that Pitax is waiting for the forces of Dragonmere to attack, as King Irovetti has developed a ‘Weapon of Magical Mass Destruction’ (WMMD) which will deal a critical blow to the attacking force.  Ilora had delayed the initial creation of the WMMD by attacking supplies, which is why it wasn't deployed against Dragonmere during previous battles, but her team have now been wiped out and it should be nearing completion.

Upon learning of the weapon the group fall silent before asking for more details.  Ilora was able to provide them with the location of where the weapon was, an old monastary north-east of where they currently stood and was able to detail some of the Pitax personnel working on it; Pitax's chief assassin and poisoner, their head alchemist, a Djinni who was providing Wishes to support the project and a powerful spellcaster she had never met before.

The group huddled together and discuss their options, thankful that they hadn’t yet mobilised Dragonmere’s forces - they agree that they need more information before committing to any attack.

Otto teleports the group and Ilora back to Wyvernshore where they set Ilora up with accommodation and ask her to give all the information she has on Pitax to the council.

They then walk north towards Olegs trading post to meet Alasen, the weretiger that tried to kill Otto.

After a couple of hours they can see Olegs in the distance as Vaneer notices some movement in the trees ahead of them. He quietly informs the rest of the group as they approach prepared for what may happen.

A figure soon drops from the trees and stands in front of them and pulls back their hood to reveal the weretiger they were seeking.

Lsdy Alesen makes the deal clear to the group, she will not divulge any information nor switch sides without a full pardon for attacking Dragonmere forces and a 'gift' worth the right amount.

Vaneer asks what King Irovetti was paying and she proudly said fifteen thousand.

Otto offers her thirty thousand instead and Vaneer quickly adds that the deal is fifteen now and fifteen after the defeat of Pitax to which she agrees as she spits in her hand and extends it to Otto whom reluctantly shakes in acceptance.

With the deal made she tells the group that although King Irovetti hates fey and will have nothing to do with Outsiders or Undead.  But he has no qualms with making deals with the more monstrous beings of the land and as such has an Ogre Mage as his general, whilst an intelligent gargoyle and its friends patrol the skies above Pitax.  The king wears heavy armor, uses a starmetal halberd and has procurred a number of magical items from his kingdom to bolster himself and is holed up in his palace with his bodyguard and general.

She also tells them that several groups of Wyverns patrol the kingdoms skies for King Irovetti in return for an all-you-can-eat offering of villagers of a small town within Pitax borders known appropriately as Littletown (this is a scandelous secret that very few know, but is a deal that King Irovetti's allies made so he could keep his hands clean of it).

When asked about the ‘WMMD’ she confirms that she has also heard the rumours and that it is based at the same location that they had been previously told but again she has never seen it so could not divulge any more information of use, other than confirming that the project had indeed been delayed by the actions taken by Ilora and her crew (hence why it had not been employed in the battles over the last few weeks).

The group then decide to head back towards Wyvernshore with their new ‘temporary’ friend and prepare to attack the site of this so called weapon.

8-9th Desnus 18 - Sneaking through Pitax

The group decide to head West, back towards Pitax to the Thousand Voices woods to find the defector named Ilora.

Just before resting they discover a recently used camp of quite some size and after some tracking and investigation, figure that it must have belonged to the giants that attacked Wyvernshore.

The group rests at the old giant camp.

7th Desnus 18 - Mirror, Mirror, on the wall ...

The council gathers early in the morning as Vaneer prepares to cast his spells.

Commune 1 results;
 

    1)    Is the message from the weretiger a trap?

a.    No

    2)    Would the weretiger betray us?

a.    Yes/No – For the right price

    3)    Is the message from the defector a trap?

a.    No

    4)    Would the defector betray us?

a.    No

    5)    Is the messenger we sent to Pitax dead?

a.    No

    6)    Is the messenger alive and well?

a.    Yes

    7)    Is the fey army gathering against us?     

a.    Unknown

Commune 2 results;

    1)    Is the fey army against us?

a.    Yes

    2)    Is the fey army within our borders?

a.    No

    3)    Is the fey army allied with Pitax?

a.    No

    4)    Is the fey army warring against Pitax?

a.    Unknown

    5)    Can Emissary be trusted to our benefit?

a.    Unknown

    6)    Is Pitax planning to attack Dragonmere in the near future?

a.    Yes

    7)    If we filled in the blank message with terms of surrender would Pitax follow them?

a.    No

    8)    If we filled in the blank message with terms of surrender would the river kings honour the terms?

a.    No

    9)    Does King Irovetti hate the fey?

a.    Yes

    10)  Does King Irovetti hate them for racist reasons?

a.    Unclear

    11)  Does he hate the fey because Dragonmere are friendly with them?

a.    No

    12)  Is the true heir of Brevoy in Dragonmere?

a.    No

    13)  Is the true heir of Brevoy still alive?

                  a. Unknown

6th Desnus 18 - New Allies emerge

The council receives information of a Pitax defector named Ilora that wants to meet and join Dragonmere.

Otto also receives a message of a piece of torn bloody cloth that reads:

“I was impressed by your performance, your skills in battle and your kingdom - I would be interested in switching sides, for the right price.   – Tiger”

A messenger also arrives from Pitax with a sealed blank of parchment in response to the group’s earlier message.

The group question if either defectors could be a trap? And wonder if they could use the signed blank message could be filled in to whatever terms the group wanted, but think better of it [GM: GM mistake or player misinterpretation, either way it was meant to be a churlish message from King Irovetti and in no way a form of surrender nor negotiation].

They agree to wait till tomorrow so Vaneer could use Commune with Erastil and get some answers.

28th Gozran 18 - 2nd Desnus 18 - Time to talk?

The group sends a missive to Pitax asking for their surrender, whilst they spend some time in Varnhold reinforcing its weakened defences before they then returned to Wyvernshore.

27th Gozran 18 - The Battle of Varnhold – take 2

Dragonmere Fighters;

•         Wyvernshore Defenders
•         Guild of Murderhobos
•         Wyvernshore Cavalry
•         Natures Teeth
•         Draconic Shock Squad

 Pitax Fighters;

•         Human warband
•         Wyvern squad

What the heck! Fighters;

•         Unknown Fey force

The battle was evenly matched between Pitax and Dragonmere until suddenly out of nowhere a force of fey like creatures came charging out of nowhere and sideswiped through the Pitax army without a blink devastating them before continuing their ‘quick’ march eastward.

As the group stand in awe of the devastating force that just rushed through they fail to notice the tiger like creature that suddenly appears behind Otto and attacks him.

Otto casts Hideous laughter and hold monster at the weretiger but both spells fail,

Hugo attacks the weretiger and hits,

Vaneer heals Otto’s wounds,

Miro flanks the weretiger and hits,

Hugo moves into attack as well but ends up getting hit by something invisible,

Natalia casts polymorph on the weretiger but the creature resists the spells effects,

Bob attacks and manages to land a bite and clawing,

Vaneer and Otto both get hit by something invisible,

Otto casts a quickened haste followed by another hold monster which fails to hold,

Boss shoots at the weretiger and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing burst on the group,

Hugo attacks and hits the weretiger twice,

Miro attacks and lands a critical blow on the weretiger,

Natalia casts fairy fire which highlights an invisible attacker,

Bob attacks the weretiger and misses,

The outlined creature attacks Otto and hits,

Another invisible creature attacks Vaneer and misses,

Weretiger attacks Otto and hits hard,

Otto casts a quickened mirror image and fire shield over himself,

Boss attacks the outlined creature and hits thrice,

Vaneer casts an invisibility purge but it fails,

Hugo attacks the outlined creature and hits it,

Miro flanks the outlined creature and hits,

Bob charges into the weretiger but misses,

Natalia casts fairy fire and highlights the other invisible creature (3),

The out tined creature (2) attacks Otto destroying one of the images,

The newly out lined creature (3) attacks Vaneer and hits,

Otto casts confusion but the spell fails,

Boss attacks out lined creature (2) and kills it,

Vaneer heals himself,

Hugo attacks the out lined creature (3) and misses,

Miro attacks out lined creature (3) and misses,

Bob attacks out lined creature (3) and hits,

Natalia flamestrikes the weretiger and out lined creature (3),

Out lined creature (3) attacks Miro and hits,

Otto casts magic missile and hits out lined creature (3),

Boss attacks the remaining out lined creature and kills it,

The weretiger sensing that her fight is losing turns tail and runs as quickly as she had appeared.

As the group recover from the fight they sever one of the human heads from a deceased Pitax fighter to give to the Boggard looking for the head of his father’s killer before burying the rest of the bodies.

25th Gozran 18 - Quick March!

The group take the remaining forces and march towards Varnhold.

24th Gozran 18 - The Battle for Wyvernshore

Dragonmere fighters;

-     

•      Wyvernshore Cavalry
•        Wyvenshore Academia (Otto leading the city spell casters)
•        Fanged Legion (Group of mercenaries loyal to Wyvernshore)
•        Guild of Murderhobos (Lady Quintesa’s band of mercenaries)

Pitax Fighters;

•         Hill Giants on Mastodons attack force
•         Trolls on Boar cavalry

Again with the aid of spells from the group the battle is short lived with Dragonmere emerging as the victors.

But as the celebrating cheers quitened through the ranks news was soon received about 3 giants having made their way through the masses and were attacking the cathedral, the group personally head there to deal with the situation.

Hugo and Miro move to flank the second giant (2),

Hugo attacks giant (2) and strikes it 3 times,

Miro attacks giant (2) and also strikes 3 times with the 3^rd blow severing the one of the creature’s arteries killing it,

Boss shoots at the third giant (3) and with all 5 arrows lodged into the creatures head kills it instantly,

Otto casts Hold monster on the remaining giant followed by a quickened scorching ray hitting thrice,

Natalia casts flamestrike over the giant,

Bob manages to bite and claw the giant just as Vaneer swung his Morningstar into the giant’s nether regions causing an explosion of blood which kills the giant.

The group now turn their sights back to Varnhold and the reclaiming of its land.

22nd Gozran 18 - The Battle for Drelev

Dragonmere fighters;

•         Drelev Archers
•         Drelev Swords
•         Natures Teeth (Natalia’s force of Natural creatures)
•         Wyvernshore Defenders (lead by Vaneer)
•         Draconic Shock Squad (Wyvern Air Force)

Pitax Fighters;

•         Human warband
•         Hill Giants on Mastodons attack force
•         Half Elf warband
•        Trolls on Boar cavalry

The battle is swift and Dragomere emerges victorious with the aid of the groups spell casters but only as the trolls and Hill Giants didn’t join the fray as they continued their march towards Wyvernshore, the group must now rush back via teleport and prepare the capital in time for the next battle.