Kuthona 19th 04 - Cor eck! Penfolds a Halfling!

The group rest uneventfully apart from the rustling of a certain mole.

In the morning both Vaneer and Natalia prepare numerous dispel magic spells with the aim of hopefully breaking the spell affecting Miro “Penfold” the Mole.

Natalia’s first attempt was the only one required as it successfully broke the spell on Miro returning him from Mole back into Halfling and with that the battle of the fellnight realm was finally over and the group begin to make their way back to Wyvernshore.

Once back at Wyvernshore it is soon agreed that a memorial would be constructed to honour those that gave their life in the battle of Wyvenshore.

Kuthona 15th 04 - Kuthona 18th 04 - The Two Towers

The group count their blessings as they wake after an uneventful rest.

The group head back through the room with the assassins vine ledge and into the room with the pool that they washed up in with a plan to attempt to throw a rope and grappling hook up the shaft in the ceiling.

After many attempts Kyrander eventually manages succeeds at getting the grappling hook to latch on to something in the shaft, after making sure that the rope wouldn’t come loose Kyrander slowly started to climb up the rope finding a trap door at the top of the shaft.

Carefully Kyrander opens the trap door and peeks through the crack to find himself peering into a corridor of thorns. After the rest of the group had made their way up the rope and through the trapdoor the notice that the thorny passageway leads to either a courtyard or into the fellnight queen’s palace.

They peered into the courtyard from the doorway in the corridor and could make out the top of what must be a lavish water fountain in the shape of an elven lady, as the group prepared to step through into the courtyard Natalia noticed what she thought were living plants, rethinking the idea the group decided to leave the courtyard alone and further investigate further into the palace instead.

The door from the corridor leading into the palace opened into what appeared to be the kennels were there was 8 worg’s currently in the pens, the group tried to persuade the beasts to aid them in return for being set free but the diplomacy failed which lead to the group easily dispatching the creatures.

There was one door leading out of the kennels which lead into the Barracks where there were a number of sleeping sprigans which was a surprise considering the noise they had made in the previous room. Miro and Kyrander snuck into the room and quietly dispatched of the slumbering creatures.

As they pushed further into the palace they eventually find themselves in a large circular room with a number of doors exiting the room around the walls, in the centre of this room stood a grand staircase which lead up to the next level of the palace, after some deliberation the group reckoned that it made sense to fully investigate the doors first before heading up the stairs.

Door after door left the group disheartened as each opened into a small room no larger than a broom cupboard with nothing of interest or note, with everywhere (minus the courtyard) explored on this ground level the group decide to head up the stairs.

The stairs begin to spiral upwards and once our adventurers reached the next level they had to decide on whether they should investigate this floor or continue further up the stairs to whatever awaited above, opting for the safer approach of making sure nothing could follow them upwards they decide to tackle the 1^st floor on the palace.

As they came off the stairs they instantly found themselves standing in a rather long door-less passageway and off in the distance the faint sounds of music could be heard, as they made their way along the passageway they soon discovered that the passage split to the left and the right. As they stood at the split the music was clearly louder and indicated to what they thought was most likely a ballroom.

Miro and Kyrander decided to take a passageway each and carefully snuck down them till they both came across a curtained doorway, peering through the curtains both adventurers see a large ballroom filled with dancers and a string orchestra but as they examined the crowd they could not see anyone that could be identified as the “Queen” and made their way back to the rest of the group.

Not wasting their time with the frolickers the group continue up to the 2^nd floor, again the floor wasn’t massive, a couple of doors were dotted along the only passageway here and all but one proved empty which started to confuse the group.

The final door had an interesting smell emanating from it, as they opened the door they were looking at the palace kitchen where 2 Satyrs were busy rustling up a feast which was obvious from the mountain of food on the table. Just before Miro’s eager twitch turned into him drawing his sword 

Vaneer stepped into the room bored of trail rations eagerly said “Any food going spare?”, the Satyr’s looked at the cleric and then each other before saying in common “Yeah, help yourselves” as one nodded to the table piled high with delicious and weird looking foods.

Once Vaneer had confirmed that none of the food on the table was poisoned the group spent an hour tucking into some delightful food and once finished gave their compliments to the cooks before heading up to the 3^rd floor of the palace.

About halfway between the 2^nd and 3^rd floors gently floating about 2cms off a step was a disk of energy, after much wonder and discussion the idea came to the group that this disk was most likely a way of accessing one of the palaces guard towers.

A plan was soon hatched but required that the group to find the other disk for the other guard tower, Otto suggested that as the staircase did split just before the 1^st floor it was most likely in the same position but on the right set of stairs. The group than found the 2^nd disk after a relatively short period of time, before splitting into 2 groups Otto gave the group a casting of his Haste spell and both groups attacked their respective guard towers.

Group 1 consisted of Kyrander, Otto and Vaneer to take the east tower

Group 2 consisted of Natalia, Miro and Bob to take the west tower

At the top of each of the towers were 4 sprigans whom were not expecting their surprise visitors.

Otto starts the fray buy casting off a scoring ray, hitting one target.

Miro jumps into the fight and gets a sneak attack in on one sprigan almost killing it.

Vaneer Throws a flask of Alchemist fire at another sprigan.

Kyrander shoots of 3 flaming arrows, 1 sprigan dies whilst a further 2 are injured.

Spot bites a sprigan but misses, the sprigan steps back and laughs at the cheetah before realising that he had mistakenly stepped over the tower boundary just as he began to fall to the ground.

Sprigan attacks Natalia and manages to poison her,

Sprigan attacks Miro but misses,

One of the sprigans fighting group 2 enlarges itself,

Sprigan attacks Spot and manages to poison the cat,

Another sprigan attacks spot and hits the cat,

Natalia uses flaming sphere to attack a sprigan but misses,

Otto casts scorching ray at one sprigan killing it,

Miro attempts to faint another sprigan but not only fails to bluff the creature but also fumbles his weapon and drops its.

Vaneer smacks a sprigan in the face with his mace,

Kyrander attacks a crippled sprigan and kills it,

The enlarged sprigan hits Miro,

Another sprigan misses Miro,

Two sprigans misses Natalia,

Natalia's flaming sphere misses another sprigan,

Natalia begins to cast another spell,

Bob attacks a sprigan and hits,

Miro grabs his weapon from the floor but in the rush fails to score a successful hit against his enlarged opponent,

The enlarged sprigan in return misses Miro,

Natalia successfully summons an eagle to aid her as it kills a sprigan,

Natalia’s flaming sphere again misses its target,

Natalia then uses a flaming blade spell and injures another sprigan,

Bob attacks the large sprigan and misses,

Miro finally lands the killing blow on the large sprigan which thankfully shrinks back to its normal size as it collapses to the ground,

The two remaining sprigans now nervous at their fates fumble their next attacks,

Natalia’s eagle injures one of the sprigans,

Natalia using both her flaming sphere and flaming blade manages to dispatch the two remaining sprigans.

The group return to the staircase and re-group on one side before proceeding to the next floor.

At the top of the stairs the group found a corridor with 3 doors and a set of double doors at the end, the first door lead into a corridor heading east which hosted a further 3 doors all of which proved a disappointment.

Back to the main corridor for the 3^rd floor the head to the next door up the corridor which opened onto a balcony where 4 sprigan’s were guarding the area, a very short fight ensued and the guards were quickly dispatched.

The next door lead the group into the palace armoury where the group found no items of interest.

This now only left the double doors, the group braced themselves and pushed open the doors open. Beyond the doors was a large chamber with a vaulted ceiling, dotted around the ceiling were hanging cages, each caged contain a singing bird whom were chirping away in song. Near the sides of the room where a small number of trees dotted along the room but no soil which was noted as odd,

As the groups eyes looked upwards they could see that the top of the vaulted ceiling was open and through the gap a perfect nights sky could be seen with stars twinkling as if it were the middle of night outside but clearly it wasn’t.

In the centre of the room stood a large polished mirror next to a ebony throne, sitting on the throne and looking a little displeased at her uninvited guests was the queen.

A quick verbal exchange took place between the Queen and the group, the queen informs them that she needs the land of Dragonmere and she will take it for it has energy that she must have. Though she admitted she isn’t completely cold, in return for the group letting her have Dragonmere and obviously Wyvernshore she would aid them in conquering the lands of Brevoy as compensation.

The group looked confused and unsure about the offer till Vaneer stepped forward pointing his mace towards the queen “No Deal! Queenie!!!! Prepare for a royal spanking!” a number of sighs and groans emanated from behind the cleric as his fellow adventurers took no delight in his embarrassing retort.

Vaneer casts a shield of faith spell on himself,

Miro shoots at the queen but misses as he tries to hide from her sight at the same time,

Kyrander shoots 3 arrows with only 1 hitting the queen,

Spot races in and bites the queen,

Natalia begins to cast a spell,

The Fellnight queen casts a fireball almost getting the entire group minus Miro somehow,

Suddenly 3 dark patches of darkness appear in the ceiling as 3 air elementals appear and attack Miro, Spot and Miro but they miss all 3 targets,

Otto casts haste on the party,

Vaneer fails to cast a Holy smite on the queen and ends up injuring Spot, Bob and an Air elemental,

Miro tumbles into the combat and misses the Queen,

Kyrander sets off another 3 arrows with one finding its target again against the queen,

Spot attacks one of the air elementals and hits,

Natalia finishes her spell and summons 3 stirges to assist in the fight as 2 of them manage to injure the queen straight away,

Natalia then casts a flaming sphere at the queen to only singe her clothing,

Bob attacks and hits the queen,

The queen casts a spell and spot falls asleep,

Otto shouts to the group that the earlier fireball was only an illusion,

Otto then cast a magic missile at the queen which had no impact, he then shouted out that the queen herself was also an illusion and that she was actually over there, pointing in direction of a tree on the other side of the room,

Vaneer casts a prayer spell,

Miro tumbles towards the real queen and smashes a flask of alchemists fire on the suspected tree,

Kyrander shoots at the same tree and hits twice,

Natalia moves her flaming sphere onto the tree,

Natalia also casts faerie fire at the tree which highlighted the outline of the obviously now invisible queen,

The stirges let go of the illusionary queen and attacked the real one,

The queen attempts to attack back but misses her targets just as an area of darkness begins to cover the trees,

Otto casts fireball into the darkness hoping to hit,

Vaneer dispels the area darkness,

Miro attacks but misses,

Kyrander again shoots thrice but only hits twice,

Natalia starts casting another spell again as she rolls her flaming sphere into hitting the queen,

Stirges attack the queen,

Bob kills one of the air elementals,

The queen casts a stinking cloud spell catching both Vaneer and Natalia,

Air elemental misses Kyrander,

Otto casts glitter dust at the queen,

Vaneer attempts to crawl out from the stinking cloud and manages to get to a window for some fresh air,

Air elemental misses Vaneer,

Miro attacks the queen and hits her with one of his three swipes,

Kyrander shoots and hits the queen,

Natalia attempts to get out of the stinking cloud,

The queen casts fireball and manages to get everyone apart Otto and Vaneer,

Otto casts magic missile at the queen,

Miro manages to land another blow on the queen,

Kyrander shoots and hits,

The queens evil cold eyes suddenly set upon Miro as she cast another spell but the cheeky rogue managed to shake off the spells effects,

The stink cloud moves to encompass Miro and Kyrander,

Bob attacks another air elemental,

Vaneer tends to some healing on Kyrander,

Kyrander shoots again and hits,

The queen suddenly stares at Miro again,

Miro turns into a Mole!

Natalia attempts to turn Miro back from a Mole but her efforts fail as if the universe didn’t want it to happen,

Otto casts magic missile at the queen dealing the final blow to the royal fey, as she screams in death the queen picks up Miro the Mole and throws the little critter towards a window only for the mole to smack into the wall nearby and slowly slide down to the floor.

Before resting Vaneer sets to work healing the party as best he can as the rest of the group set off exploring the queen’s chamber.

Hidden in the room was another set of stairs heading upwards which the group soon found and decided to investigate to find the queens bed chamber filled with even more song birds.

Another floating disk was in the centre of the queen’s bed chamber but it was rose in colour. As the others debated about what waited in the other tower where the disk obviously lead both Natalia and Vaneer went to business of setting all of the birds free.

As the disk finishes raising the group find themselves as expected in the final tower but what they hadn’t expected was the sight of hundreds of crystals set into the floor.

Vaneer, Otto and Natalia put their magical knowledge together and between them come to the assumption that these crystals are what controls the barrier strength between their two worlds depending on how they are arranged.

After more thinking the trio believed that they now knew what layout was required to seal the portals again and as a precaution they planned on taking a piece back with them to prevent anyone from messing with the barriers again, the drawback….they’d have to shift bottoms quick before all the portals closed, the perk! It should pull of the fellnight citizens back through the portal.

In order to enact the re-strengthening Vaneer needed to perform a 10 minute ritual along with the sacrifice of some magical items they happened to have going spare, once the ritual was completed a mist begins to roll over the fey lands just as the marauding sprigans start to re-appear in the land. Seeing this the group race back as fast as they could muster reaching the woodland in portal in time before it closed.

Standing back in the woods of Dragonsmere, the group breathe a sigh of relief as in the distance a cheer of victory could be heard from the home forces that had been fighting the invading force. It is then soon agreed that for at least the next few years a small number of guardsman should be stationed in the woods to keep an eye open should the portals be opened again.

The group and Miro the mole settle down in the woods to rest before starting the trip back to Wyvernshore.

Kuthona 14th 04 - A Drunken Scottish Tree and the Queens Basement

The group find themselves deep within a forest with a small trail leading away from the rift entrance.
Natalia shifts her form into that of a bird and takes to the air whilst the rest of the group start to make their way along the path out of the forest whilst keeping an eye out as much as possible for anymore enemy troops.

Whilst in the air Natalia is able to see off in the distance a large structure which could pass for a palace, the trail that the rest of the group appear to be walking on leads to road which would ironically lead them towards the palace.

Whilst in the air her eagle like eyes are able to pick up along the road that there was an unusual number of Bees flying around which appeared to be following her flight pattern. A little unnerved by this she decides to swoop back down and join the others on the road.

Eventually they approach a low wall of stone that lays either side of the road that they were travelling which seemed to be covered in some sort of haze, as they got closer that haze soon became apparent as a large swarm of Bees. Not sure on how the handle the situation as the group wanted to be as well prepared for the fight with the queen as possible.

The group stop a little way off from the wall to discuss what they should do when Vaneer comes up with an idea and casts create water over the swarm wetting their wings so they were too heavy to lift the buzzers as they group then ran through the opening in the wall and carried along the path.

As they get past the swarm Kyranders half elven eyes spot an blue creature riding on the back of a ginormous Bee heading to them from above as 2 pixies suddenly jump out of a nearby bush in an ambush attack.

Obviously they now knew they wouldn’t reach the queen without a fight!
Vaneer started proceedings by casting a Sound Burst at the Bee riding Mite,
The mite casts flame strike on Natalia, Otto, Kyrander and Miro,
Natalia casts flaming sphere on the mite which fails to burn him,
Kyrander shoots at the Mite with multiple arrows,
Otto casts Magic Missile at the Mite,
Pixie(1) Shoots at Miro whilst Pixie(2) shoots and misses Otto,

Vaneer casts healing healing burst,
The Giant Bee stings Vaneer,
Natalia casts Dispel at the Mite which apparently supresses a spell or maybe two,
Bob charges at Pixie(1) and kills it,
Kyrander attempts to summon a number of Stirges to aid the fight,
Spot charges at Pixie(2) and hits it,
Pixie(2) flys past Spot and attempts to shot spot but misses,
Miro flanks the giant Bee and scores a critical against the stinger,

Vaneer hits the Bee,
As the mite starts to cast a spell Otto hits her with a magic missile causing the mites spell to fail,
Giant Bee attempts to sting Miro and hits the Halfling causing the Bee to lose his stinger,
Natalia moves her flaming sphere on the mite and misses,
Bob charges at the giant Bee and hits it,
Natalia uses her sling on Pixie(2) and hits,
Kyrander’s striges finally appear and attack the mite with all 3 successfully hitting,

Kyrander first shoots at Pixie(2) and kills it, his second arrow is aimed at the giant Bee but misses,
Miro attacks the Bee and critically hits the creature again dealing it the stinging blow,
Vaneer casts another healing blast on the party,
Otto casts magic missile at mite which finishes off the blue skinned creature.

The group take a moment to rest before continuing along the road, after a while of walking along this lovely picturesque scenery the road eventually splits into two. The left seems to lead off to a grove that they all (minus Otto) remembers and the right headed off towards the palace.

The group head towards the grove and find a different Treant sitting in the grove surrounded by barrels and gords, when the ancient tree notices the little people he motions them to sit and share his drink whilst introducing himself as Vinroot.

As they sit Vaneer accepts the living trees offer for alcohol before even Natalia could warn him of the suspected potency of the brew, after much coughing and much redness in his face Vaneer finally hands the gord back.

It soon became apparent to the group that the Treant believed the group of adventurers to be part of his drunken imagination. The group decides to use this opportunity to their advantage and begin to ask questions about the queen and the fey land.

Through the questioning the group soon discover that the queen uses fire and shadow based magic to attack, there is also a secret entrance under the palace which can be found if you follow the stream near the palace.

The group eventually make their way back to the road and continue towards the palace.
As the palace comes into view the group can see that it is covered in a mass of thorns and brambles stretching 3 stories high along with 3 high towers.

The group head to towards the left as they approach the palace where they discover the stream that Vinroot had mentioned, they follow the stream until only their heads are above the water level.

The stream then seems to flow under the palace which eventually flows into a cavern with a passageway leading out of the cavern to the right, they soon notice that there was also a shaft above in the cavern ceiling.

Once they had hauled themselves out of the water and a little time to dry off the group then decides to take the nearest passage to the right which lead into a smaller cavern with a ledge. Miro notices that up on the ledge where a small pile of bones and the glint of something shiny in the torch light.

Vaneer gives Miro a helping hand up on to the ledge and as Miro starts shifting through the bone fragments he notices that some of the vines behind him were beginning to twitch causing the Halfling to jump down from the ledge.

Natalie shouts that she believes the vine to be a assassins vine and the group should use only ranged weapons against it, Otto begins the combat by shooting at the vine … fast forward through a very slow ranged combat with a plant.

With the vine now deceased the group continue out the only passageway leading out of the small cavern, the passageway soon splits with a set of double doors on the right and a cavern could be seen to the left. After some debate the group decide to take on the double doors, Miro gives the doors a quick glance over from traps and confirms that the doors are not trapped.

Vaneer give the doors a push and they opened into what appeared to be a dungeon with a smoking pit of hot coals in the centre, at total of 15 cells were also dotted around the dungeon with another set of double doors in the north eastern wall.

Not seeing much of interest in the room the group head over to the other set of double doors which opened into a torture chamber where 2 sprigans were happily torturing a rabbit but after seeing the group enter the chamber they both screeched with joy at the their new play things.

Otto lets off a fireball at the creatures and injures them seriously,
Miro attacks one of the Sprigans and kills it,
Vanner smacks the other sprigen in the face with his Morningstar but doesn’t kill it,
Bob starts to charge the remaining sprigan but becomes distracted by the now cooked rabbit laying on the floor,
Natalia casts a flame blade spell killing the remaining sprigan.

A passageway to the north east leads to a single door which lead to another single door that suddenly burst open with 2 more sprigans and a satyr rushing through as they charged the group.

A magical effect appeared to befall the group but luckily Bob, Kyranders and Vaneer did not fall to the charm effect.
Vaneer casts searing light at the Satyr,
Bob charges the Satyr,
Kyrander shoots at the Satyr twice with both arrows hitting and killing the creature,
With the Satyr dead the charm effect seemed to wear off the rest of the group.
Otto casts a spell at Sprigen(1),

The sprigans throw thorns at Otto and Kyrander only to hit Otto,
Miro attacks Sprigen(1) and hits it,
Bob attacks Sprigen(1) hitting and killing the creature,
Natalia hits the remaining sprigen with a flaming blade,
Vaneer smacks the sprigen,
Kyrander shoots at the sprigen with the arrow flying true and punctures through the creatures’ skull killing it instantly.

The group investigate the room at which the creatures attacked from to find it is some sort of interrogation room with no other exit making it an ideal location to set up a camp to get some rest before venturing further.

Kuthona 9th 04 - The Invasion has began!

Winter solstice a year later, and in a familiar forest multiple rifts suddenly start to appear and the scouts posted to keep a look out soon seen at least 8 units of fellnight sprigans and riding worgs come through, upon seeing the enemy force the scouts have hastily headed back to Wyvernshore to inform the council that the invasion has started.

As soon as the group hear the news they quickly make their way to the rifts trying best as possible to avoid the invading forces. They manage to sneak past the forces and through one of the rifts into behind enemy lines.

Kuthona 8th 03 - Kuthona 10th 03 - Otto Discovers a dirty secret about his past perversions

The group arrive back at the castle, upon arrival Otto brings them up to date with the detail of events and his promise to Emissary. Miro offers his assistance to interrogate the kidnappers to Otto who agrees and sits in with the Halfling to understand their reasons for attempting to kidnap his son.

After some delicate persuasion Miro and Otto soon discover that the kidnappers are from the village of Ravenmoor, the nurses are non-other than Anya and Saul Lapescu who blame Otto for the death of their daughter Shel Lupescu and the kidnapping of their grandson who would be about 1 and half years old (see Sarenith 21^st 01 – Squeel! Little Pi…gg.y? And Sarenith 22^nd 01 – Children of the Corn).

Asking why they believe he is responsible for both events they screamed at him “Wht wouldn’t it be you!” he’s your son after all you probably did it to keep it all a secret from your new wife! Otto now feeling a little guilty and obviously partly to blame for setting events in motion for the kidnapping asks for forgiveness and insists that he knew nothing of a son nor of Shel’s fate, the two spit in the direction of the lord and say they should have done a better job at trying to kill in back in Ravenmoor instantly losing any chance of leniency from Otto as he orders their execution and requests that the midwife is brought in next.

The midwife didn’t really need interrogating as she seemed happy to divulge as much as she could, the women was a cleric of Gyronna, an evil cult that has set its eyes on Wyvernshore and its demise and when they had heard the sad story of the Lapescu family the cult of Gyronna had to help seek retribution.

Otto again orders the Gyronna cleric to join the other kidnappers in the same punishment and a kingdom wide purge of the cult of Gyronna. A public announcement is then soon made about the attempted kidnapping and that the kidnappers had been apprehended and have been sentenced to a public execution.

Otto asks Natalia if she would be able to scry from the missing child. The druid gives it a couple of attempts but each time the scrying fails, either the area where the child is being kept is very well blocked or on another plane, otherwise it could mean a much worse fate has already befallen the child.

With the mention of other planes the rest of the group felt that they should now update Otto on what they had discovered in the fey realms, the impending attack and now it might be possible that this missing child could be on that realm..maybe?

Upon hearing this serious news it was agreed to send out diplomatic messengers to the nearby kingdoms and warn them of the coming invasion of fey creatures and that Wyvernshore was building a force to fight against it and that should any kingdom wish to aid the fight then they should send troops to help bolster the forces.

Engage Army training and defence building montage.

Neth 18th 03 - Kuthona 2nd 03 - There's an Invasion afoot! Again!

Whilst this is happening Otto stuck in the city with expectant child soon due.

Group head into the forest to further investigate the mysterious fey events around the ruined tower of the dancing lady and Patrol the area.

Vaneer discovers a shimmering curtain of light and casts a searing light into the evening sky to draw the attention of the rest of the group exploring the forest.

Whilst waiting two figures emerge from the curtain only 3ft from Vaneer, the creatures have long pointed ears, brown skin and what appeared to be twigs growing from their bodies.

They proclaimed to the cleric that they’re gonna take him hostage for their Queen!

Vaneer casts a spell and blinds one of the creatures.

Blind creature stumbles backwards and falls over

Other creature begins to double in size!!

Vaneer attacks and misses

The blinded creature attempts to flee through the curtain and vaneer takes the opportunity to score a critical strike on the creature as it made its way through the curtain.

Large creature misses Vaneer

Vaneer misses the large creature

Large creature hits Vaneer

Vaneer hits the large creature in retaliation

Large creature misses

Vaneer scores a second hit

As the large creature begins to cast entangle, Vaneer stikes again killing the creature in time before the spell could be completed.

As the now shrinking creature slumps to the group the rest of the group begin to arrive in summons to Vaneers searing light.

As Vaneer points out the shimmering curtain Natalia sets to summoning a small creature to send through to peek at whats on the other side.

The creatue told Natalia that it appeared to be safe.

Kyrander then attempted to sneak through the curtain and soon found himself in a warm grassy area with rolling hills and a few trees in the distance which when compared to the frozen woodland he had just come from was a pleasant surprise.

Looking to the sky the ranger became confused because the land was bathed in light as if it were a midsummers day but the sky was dark as night and filled with stars. The ranger then headed back through the curtain to tell the rest of the group what he had discovered after which the rest of the group followed through the curtain.

Now all gathered in this summer land the group notice the blood from the injured creature in Vaneer’s earlier combat, Kyrander uses his tracking abilities to follow the injured creatures trail to the edge of a forest not too far from where they entered this realm.

The group continue to track the creature into the forest where all apart from Vaneer could make out the sound of something large making its way through the undergrowth towards the groups’ general direction. The group attempt to hide in bushes and behind tress as eventually a rather large walking tree moves into sight of the group.

Vaneer not being the stealthiest was quickly spotted by the giant tree and spoke to the cleric in a tongue Vaneer did not understand but Natalia and Otto did.

The creature had urged pink skin to come out of hiding and that he means no harm and wishes to know why the pink skin is here, at which point Natalia and Otto also appeared next to Vaneer and responded to the tree in its native tongue.

A rather long conversation ensured but the Treant proved very helpful and told the group that they were currently in the Fellnight realm which is ruled by a powerful fey queen. The queen is very unfriendly to anything other than fey and has been forcing open the curtain often and more frequently of late. 

The rumours of the land have it that she plans to invade the pink skin realm in a year’s time.

Learning of this attack, Kyrander suggests that a pre-emptive strike might be an idea and catch the fey queen off guard. The treant on hearing this suggested that such an attack would be a terrible at this stage, the aged tree went on to continue to suggest that they head back to their realm to prepare for now but it would be more opportunistic for them to sneak back through the rift when the attack begins and then attack the queen as she’ll then be at her least guarded.

The group discuss their options for a period of time but the majority felt the wise words of the aged tree were the best considering he offered to aid the group upon their return to this fey realm.

The group begin their travels back to the rift, as they approached the curtain between the two worlds a large chorus of howls could be heard faintly from behind them and so they begin to make haste in hopes of avoiding contact with any possible hostile creatures.

Once back into their normal world they find themselves within the same forest as that when they left but Natalia believes that they had been in the fellnight realm for almost 2 weeks.

…….Meanwhile whilst all this adventuring was going on, back in Wyvernshore we find Lord Otto being bossed around by his craving mad, heavily pregnant and laboured wife lady Margot. Otto sighs with acknowledgement that it’s going to be a long wait.

Hours later a small cry of a newly born child could be heard from Margot’s chambers, followed by the sounds of some sort of commotion and screams. Otto bursts through the door in time to see the midwife cradling his child as she and the nurses attempt to flee with success.

Distraught and not sure what to do Otto screams for help, at that moment unexpectedly the fey creature known as Emissary appears out of the blue and offers to aid the lord in return he would ask for a plot of land of his choosing from the kingdom free from Otto’s rule. 

The desperate lord eagerly agrees to Emissary’s request and instantly a confused looking midwife and nurses are standing back in Margot’s chamber.

Emissary quickly whips the child from the midwife’s arms as Otto pounds the kidnappers into submission before having them carted off to the dungeons. Emissary congratulates Otto on the birth of his son and hands the baby boy to the child’s mother who gratefully thanks the fey gentleman.

Research & Divinations (Year 14)

Following on from the previous session, the party returned to the capital city of Wyvernshore, to undertake some research, divinations and shopping, in order to prepare for a gruelling expedition to the summit of Talon Peak and combat the powerful undead centaur who outclassed them in their previous encounter.  The below is a result of a week's worth of divination and research:

Nomen Heights

Prior to the cataclysmic event known as Earthfall, which took place six thousand years ago, an ancient civilisation had colonised the area that is now known as Nomen Heights (wherein Varnhold has been built).  Unfortunately Earthfall wiped out whole civilisations and decimated the beings that dominated the landscape (except in exceptional cases where very powerful individuals found ways to hibernate and survive the mass-scale destruction that befell the world from above), it also destroyed all records pertaining to this time.
Five thousand years ago it was Rashalka centaur who roamed these lands and settled here, calling it home, until 2,00 years ago when the Human Empire of Taldor repeatedly launched expansionist military campaigns into the region in order to increase its territory and wealth.  In trying to gain a foothold in this region, Taldor clashed repeatedly with the Rashalka, resulting in mass casualties on both sides.  In the end a portion of Taldor (who would become House Surtova) had to be content in claiming land that would become known as Issia (northern Brevoy), whilst the centaurs eventually migrated or dwindled in size due to the aggressive nature of expansionist humans, leaving behind an offshoot tribe of centaur: the Nomen tribe.  Though they have lost much of their knowledge and heritage, the Nomen believe that it was Cyclops who once held dominion in this land up until the events of Earthfall.

Ley-Lines of Energy

There are several documented cases of druids and nature clerics researching the strange nature-based energy that run through the lands of Dragonmere and Varnhold.  They all concluded that mortals are unable to tap into this energy, but speculate that the energy is either a result of, or has resulted in, a number of locations where the boundaries between this world and others (in particular ones related to nature, fey and elemental forces) run thin, with effects (and denizens) bleeding through and affecting the environs in strange ways.
Three documented locations include:
·         The elven-built watchpost to the West of Wyvernshore, where the boundaries between the material plane and the fey first world allows powerful fey to manifest once or twice a year for limited periods.
·         The weather of Talon Peak is known to change very quickly due to the thin boundaries between the material and elemental planes, working against those that use magic to try and reach the mountain’s  summit - elementals and other unexpected creatures have been reported to reside in the vicinity of the mountain in years past.
·         To the East of Talon Peak is a small strange monolith that marks a weakness in the boundary between the material and ethereal planes and often plays host to weird beasts with unnatural anatomies and unfathomable agendas.

 

Yetis

Fierce, loyal, stealthy and strong, Yetis are denizens of mountain peaks that occasionally come down from the heights to make raids and take livestock or human prey for food.  They do not display murderous or cruel intent, unless their lairs are situated close to where the boundaries between planes are weakened, in which case they become filled with a cruel madness and seek prey to stalk, torment and toy with.
Yetis are very strong and their attacks can deal cold damage.  Their eyes are known to instil fright into the bravest of mortals. They are very stealthy in snow and at night.  They always have a lair and are very susceptible to fire damage but are naturally immune to all cold damage.

Mudmen

Mudmen are weak elementals composed when the planes of earth and water mingle with magic from the material plane; evidently the strange energies in the Varnhold region and the right conditions within Lake Silverstep were the perfect confluence of conditions that spawned these creatures.  They are unable to leave their muddy habitat and are hostile towards any that  trespass into their ‘mud’.  There are no documented cases of them communicating with humanoids nor do they seem to understand conventional attempts at communication.
Being elemental, Mudmen are immune to mind-affecting effects and certain conventional attacks, but are susceptible to Dispel Magic and Transmute Mud to Rock spells.  They can sling mud over great distances that can immobilise their enemies and are able to engulf nearby foes with the mud that they are made from.

 

Crystal Tree

Somehow a sentient being has used very powerful necromantic energy to tap into the strange nature-based energy that runs through the Varnhold region and has created blooms of necromantic power at key locations.  These blooms resemble trees that are scarlet in colour and look crystal in composition.  Divinations conclude that they are less than a fortnight old and if left unchecked they can give life to the dead and mutate the living, allowing the root cause to gain control over all those that are effected.  Blooms are easily destroyed by cold iron weapons due to the nature energy that the necromancy has tapped into, but because it is formed from necromancy it can also be destroyed by potent positive energy.  The undead centaur knight is known to respond to attacks on these blooms and works for ‘Vordakai’.  Both the centaur and the root cause are shielded from divination.
It would appear that five of these blooms were created, four have been determined to be:
·         within the centuar burial grounds, north-east of Varnhold.
·         based at the linnorm’s grave, hidden within the skull of the long-dead beast, south-east of Varnhold.
·         atop Talon Peak, the tallest mountain for hundreds of miles, west of Varnhold.
·         harboured in the deepest depths of Lake Silverstep, south of Varnhold.

Undead Centaur Knight

The party have encountered a black-armour clad centaur who is linked to the blooms and responds with violence when they are destroyed.  S/He deals fire damage, is immune to both fire and electricity as well as non-magical weapons and can intimidate opponents with ease.  Attempts to discern the location of this being are being shielded against, but they have yielded the name ‘Kerezar’.  However this name does not correlate to any documented texts in Dragonmere.  Presumed to be some sort of undead, the knight could be a:
·         DeathKnight - a 'Paladin' that either serves the gods of death or a powerful necromantic being that  brought it back to unlife - they believe that being dead is the perfect state of existence (no hunger or pain) and that in killing someone they are in fact bringing it the greatest gift of all.  They usually ride an undead mount, can infuse their weapon with necromantic energy and have a corrupting aura that can instil fear into the bravest of souls.
·         GraveKnight - a disgraced hero or nefarious warlord, killed and raised with a strong battle lust - they seek to challenge themselves and others in battle and claim that anyone slain by their hand dies out of the sight of the gods.  They are said to have an affinity to a particular element which is based on the moment that they died.
·         HellKnight - a devil-tainted undead knight that follows its own black-or-white philosophy which varies based on how it lived.  Whilst alive, a Hell Knight sold part of their soul to infernal powers in order to gain more martial power, eventually becoming a dark-armoured knight who values intimidation and might and is able to imbue their weapon with flame, chaos or unholy energy.

Vordakai

One of the few pieces of text that mentions the name Vordakai reads:
And so it was, high upon the Torres and well above the Vale’s Stairs, where rises from the high water a stony isle of dire report.  Known as Vordakai’s Island to those that do live thereabout, some legend of its name doth come down through the locals.  For they speak of a guardian that doth destroy all who would set foot upon its accursed shores.  They did name no fewer than a twelvecount of their hero-knights who had left their bones upon its rocky shores over the years after having tested their mettle against its dread warden, ’til none would any longer go there for fear of its hidden terrors.  And the name of this terror was given unto this Island.
Vordakai could either be a “Nomen Centaur God” or a “Slumbering Warlord of Immense Power” – in either case this being would be over 5,000 years old.  The Nomen centaur do not have any information regarding the nature of this being and whilst divinations pertaining to Vordakai’s location and exact nature are being blocked, as is Scrying (due to a permanent ancient spell akin to Mage's Private Sanctum) spells have revealed that this being has recently awoken due to a trespass and is not yet at full strength due to its atrophied state.

 

Jade Bracelet

On their return to Wyvernshore, the party discovered a parcel awaiting them containing a jade bracelet which was sent by Varnhold’s Willas Gundarson several months ago.  The ‘bracelet’ is in fact a ring for something larger than a human, made from jade and is quite old.  It can be sold quickly for 300gp, but a specialised academy of learning may purchase it for more.

Ring of Friend Shield

Whilst one of these rings was found in Varnhold, the location of it’s other half cannot be determined – it is shielded in the same manner that ‘Vordakai’ is, leading one to speculate that it is in close proximity to this being.