Session Date: 21 September 2011
[Game Date: Thu 15 September 4711]
[Note: The game picked up immediately following the events of the previous session.]
After defeating the goblins in the Thistletop throne room, including the goblin shaman and Ripnugget the chieftain, the Sandpoint Heroes began to systematically examine the bodies of the fallen goblins, and to check the room for treasure and any clues about Nualia. A detect magic spell cast my Ted revealed that the chieftain and shaman had a few magic items, including the chieftain's halberd (or "horsechopper" as it's called in Goblin) and breastplate, and several potions. Ted found Ripnuget's ring of keys. McGregor also noticed that a few of the goblins were still breathing, and he used a dagger to put a stop to that. Larissa assumed that the goblin who'd ran out the back door was going for help, and spiked the door shut.
Without warning, two side doors burst open and six more goblins ran in, brandishing dogslicers! The unexpected attack caught the entire party off-guard, and several of the goblins managed to slash party members. Following the goblins were a bugbear wielding a two-handed heavy flail, and an armored human(!) with a hand-and-a-half sword and shield. The bugbear charged Larissa and smashed her squarely with its flail, knocking her aside. She staggered back behind Halfred for support, who used his ranseur to keep the bugbear at bay. Meanwhile, the goblins swarmed Charrone and Declan, who held them back with their swords. Charrone managed to take down a goblin, but he managed to cut her again before he fell. The wizards were down to using their cantrips, but, between McGregor's ray of frost and Ted's acid splah, managed to take out another goblin.
The bugbear evaded Halfred's ranseur and smashed him on the shoulder with its flail. The human mainly seemed to defend himself, but drew some fire from Larissa, who managed to drop back and get out her bow. Halfred thrust his polearm at the bugbear again, and connected, but at the same moment, felt a stabbing pain in his back. Wheeling, he saw a female half-orc dressed all in black with a black face veil pulling back a dagger dripping with both his own blood and a foul-looking green oil. He felt a chill course through his veins, but managed to shake it off.
"Fall back!" shouted Ted, and the wizards and Larissa backed into the corridor from which they had entered the room, and Larissa hid in the shadows, trying to make herself inconspicuous. Charrone and Halfred held the enemies at bay, and Larissa, firing from the shadows, targeted the veiled half-orc woman, and let fly an arrow. The arrow caught the green-skinned woman in the neck, spraying crimson blood across the room, and she collapsed to the floor gurgling. At that, Halfred, Charrone and Declan fell back through the doors, and Ted used magic to pull the doors shut behind them. Larissa quickly jammed the lock, and the group ran back for the main entrance. Seeing no pursuit, the party ran back across the rope bridge and into the tunnels through the thicket. Exiting the thicket, Charrone found her warhorse safely grazing next to the tree she'd tied it to earlier. Declan summoned the healing power of the Dawnflower for the last time of the day, and the Sandpoint Heroes quickly retreated from Nettlewood. They then followed the Lost Coast Road back to Sandpoint, making it back by late afternoon without further incident.
The party returned to the Rusty Dragon for drinks and a hot meal. After their early dinner, the group did a bit of shopping to replenish their supplies. They then retired for the night, planning to return to Thistletop again tomorrow morning to finish the job.
An old-school tabletop RPG campaign blog: Rise of the Runelords / Castle Ravenloft mash-up using Pathfinder RPG rules!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Session 13: Thistletop: First Incursion
Session Date: 14 September 2011
[Game Date: Thursday 15 September 4711 A.R.]
[The session picked up immediately after the events of the previous session.]
The party stood before the main doors of Thistletop. They could see that the wooden fortress was made mostly of wood scrounged from shipwrecks. Indeed, the nameplates of a few ships could be read from where they stood. Halfred glanced down at the surf 80 feet below, to try to get an idea of where his earthbreaker may have fallen. He noticed the bodies of two goblins and a goblin dog floating on the surf, and that there was a lot of blood in the water. He then saw something pull one of the goblin bodies below the surface, and thought he caught a glimpse of a dorsal fin breaking the surface, but the shape looked more like that of a seal.
Larissa successfully disabled the lock (by sawing through the wooden bar that held the door shut), and Halfred opened the doors. Six goblin dogs immediately attacked from the room beyond the door, and two goblin archers let loose arrows from behind an overturned wooden table. Halfred and Charrone engaged the dogs, and MacGreggor and Ted cast spells at the goblin dogs and archers. Halfred seemed to take out one dog every round, but the rat-like creatures seemed to be more interested in attacking Charrone for some reason, and chewed her up pretty badly. Larissa managed to shoot one of the goblin archers with an arrow through the eye, and the other turned and ran out of the room screaming. After three rounds, the goblin dogs were all dead, and the party entered the room.
The room appeared to be some kind of grisly trophy hall. The badly-preserved heads of over two dozen dogs and five horses adorned the walls. Affixed to a wall by several daggers were a pair of large bat-like wings. Horse, dog, and firepelt skins were scattered over the packed dirt floor. MacGreggor noticed that most of the daggers were human-sized, but old and rusty. One of them had a silver and mother-of-pearl handle and might be valuable, so he pulled it out of the wall.
A set of double doors led north, and the group decided to head that way. The doors led to a short hallway, which ended in another set of double doors. The next set of doors were locked, but didn't slow Larissa down very much. She stepped aside, and Charrone threw open the doors. Beyond was a large throne room-- filled with goblins! Several goblin arrows rained down on the party, but the goblins were terrible shots, and they all missed. Led by Halfred and Charrone, the adventurers fought their way into the room. The goblins scrambled to defend themselves, bounding to and fro. One produced a flask of alchemist's fire, and hurled it at Larissa, who managed to dodge it. Then, everyone noticed that several of the goblins were singing a terrible (but disturbingly catchy) song, led by a female goblin. Declan called the power of Sarenrae to silence the evildoers, and a field of silence filled the back half of the room. The silence made it impossible for the enemy shaman or warchanter to cast magic, and the shaman fell to Halfred's ranseur quickly.
But the most dangerous figure in the room was a burly goblin with an impossibly big head who rode a giant gecko lizard. This goblin was apparently the chieftain, as he wore a dented golden crown on his head. He charged Charrone, and managed to slash her with his goblin-sized halberd. Halfred waded through the goblins to assist, and between the two of them, they killed the chief. Now riderless, the lizard ran up the wall and retreated to the ceiling!
Without their leader, the remaining goblins fought even more desperately, one dropping his weapons to fight with his teeth-- he got a boot to the face for his trouble. The chanting goblin then pulled out a wand, pointed it at the ceiling, and a huge purple curtain suddenly dropped. It turned out to be an illusion, but in the moment of confusion, she slipped out a back door. At that time, though, no one paid her much mind, as the fight was still on, but it was over in two more rounds.
The group took about a minute to search the throne room and gathered up the treasure on the fallen goblins.
[To Be Continued...]
[Game Date: Thursday 15 September 4711 A.R.]
[The session picked up immediately after the events of the previous session.]
The party stood before the main doors of Thistletop. They could see that the wooden fortress was made mostly of wood scrounged from shipwrecks. Indeed, the nameplates of a few ships could be read from where they stood. Halfred glanced down at the surf 80 feet below, to try to get an idea of where his earthbreaker may have fallen. He noticed the bodies of two goblins and a goblin dog floating on the surf, and that there was a lot of blood in the water. He then saw something pull one of the goblin bodies below the surface, and thought he caught a glimpse of a dorsal fin breaking the surface, but the shape looked more like that of a seal.
Larissa successfully disabled the lock (by sawing through the wooden bar that held the door shut), and Halfred opened the doors. Six goblin dogs immediately attacked from the room beyond the door, and two goblin archers let loose arrows from behind an overturned wooden table. Halfred and Charrone engaged the dogs, and MacGreggor and Ted cast spells at the goblin dogs and archers. Halfred seemed to take out one dog every round, but the rat-like creatures seemed to be more interested in attacking Charrone for some reason, and chewed her up pretty badly. Larissa managed to shoot one of the goblin archers with an arrow through the eye, and the other turned and ran out of the room screaming. After three rounds, the goblin dogs were all dead, and the party entered the room.
The room appeared to be some kind of grisly trophy hall. The badly-preserved heads of over two dozen dogs and five horses adorned the walls. Affixed to a wall by several daggers were a pair of large bat-like wings. Horse, dog, and firepelt skins were scattered over the packed dirt floor. MacGreggor noticed that most of the daggers were human-sized, but old and rusty. One of them had a silver and mother-of-pearl handle and might be valuable, so he pulled it out of the wall.
A set of double doors led north, and the group decided to head that way. The doors led to a short hallway, which ended in another set of double doors. The next set of doors were locked, but didn't slow Larissa down very much. She stepped aside, and Charrone threw open the doors. Beyond was a large throne room-- filled with goblins! Several goblin arrows rained down on the party, but the goblins were terrible shots, and they all missed. Led by Halfred and Charrone, the adventurers fought their way into the room. The goblins scrambled to defend themselves, bounding to and fro. One produced a flask of alchemist's fire, and hurled it at Larissa, who managed to dodge it. Then, everyone noticed that several of the goblins were singing a terrible (but disturbingly catchy) song, led by a female goblin. Declan called the power of Sarenrae to silence the evildoers, and a field of silence filled the back half of the room. The silence made it impossible for the enemy shaman or warchanter to cast magic, and the shaman fell to Halfred's ranseur quickly.
But the most dangerous figure in the room was a burly goblin with an impossibly big head who rode a giant gecko lizard. This goblin was apparently the chieftain, as he wore a dented golden crown on his head. He charged Charrone, and managed to slash her with his goblin-sized halberd. Halfred waded through the goblins to assist, and between the two of them, they killed the chief. Now riderless, the lizard ran up the wall and retreated to the ceiling!
Without their leader, the remaining goblins fought even more desperately, one dropping his weapons to fight with his teeth-- he got a boot to the face for his trouble. The chanting goblin then pulled out a wand, pointed it at the ceiling, and a huge purple curtain suddenly dropped. It turned out to be an illusion, but in the moment of confusion, she slipped out a back door. At that time, though, no one paid her much mind, as the fight was still on, but it was over in two more rounds.
The group took about a minute to search the throne room and gathered up the treasure on the fallen goblins.
[To Be Continued...]
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Session 12: Attack on Thistletop
Session Date: 7 Sep 2011
[Game Date: Thu 15 Sep 4711 A.R.]
Just after dawn, the Sandpoint Heroes marched from the North Gate of Sandpoint along the Lost Coast Road. The plan was to follow the road northeast until the road crossed the Thistle River over a stone bridge. They would then leave the road and follow the river north through Nettlewood to the coast east of Thistletop, then follow the coastline west until they found it. Charrone rode her warhorse, but the rest of the group walked. They made it to the river without incident after an hour, and followed the river as it made its way through the moors. After about a quarter-mile, the moors gave way to a scrubby forest that got denser as they approached the coastline. There was no trail along the river, but they did find a game path that led in the right direction. The terrain also got rockier, with large boulders and deep ravines that cut through the hillsides, making it difficult to follow the river, and after an hour they lost their bearings. Halfred also noted that the plant life included a lot of irritating plants, including poison ivy and stinging nettles. The trees got shorted and the underbrush got thicker as they got closer to the shore. The party tried to put rumors of strangle vines out of their minds.
At about an hour before noon, they made it to a rocky overlook on a sea cliff, and spied Skull Rock about a half mile to the west. It was indeed a gigantic round boulder, about 80 feet in height, and perhaps 100 feet of the shore. The top of the boulder was more-or-less at the same height as the opposite sea cliff, and a large wooden fort had been built on its top. There was some kind of bridge that connected the rock to the mainland. It was too distant to see any activity.
The party found a goblin path that led to a dense thicket of thorny bushes that grew on the edge of the cliff opposite the bridge. Halfred noticed tracks that seemed to go in and out of the thicket, and discovered a woven mat of branches and leaves that had been placed over an opening in the thicket. Moving it aside, Halfred got the distinct odor of goblin from the chamber within.
The passage into the dense thicket was barely five feet tall and only two feet wide, and Charrone decided that getting her horse into that passage would not be a smart decision, so she tied the horse in the woods, giving it plenty of slack to defend itself. Halfred stooped over and entered. Almost immediately upon entering, Halfred stepped onto a covered pit and fell in. Fortunately, it was only five feet wide, so climbing out wasn't difficult. Larissa scouted ahead for a few moments, and reported that the tunnels opened up into larger chambers, and that she saw a few of the rat-like goblin dogs ahead. The group moved through the tunnels into the first large chamber. The branches of a tree held up the canopy of thorns, but the major feature of this chamber was the open hole in the middle. Sounds of surf could be heard coming from the hole. MacGreggor looked in, and saw nothing but darkenss, so he cast dancing lights and sent a globe of light down into the hole. It went pretty much straight down for 70 feet, ending in a chamber. The ceiling of the chamber seemed to be about 10 feet above the surface of the water, which was churning. MacGreggor brought back the light.
The party then moved to attack the goblin dogs in the next thistle-walled chamber. The eight rat-like creatures fought ferociously. While fighting the goblin dogs, a goblin appeared to step out of the thistles as if they had been a silk curtain. He wore hide armor, and had numerous amulets, medallions, talismans, and fetishes adorning his body. He then cast a spell, and a small globe of flame launched from his hand toward Charrone, singeing her slightly. Halfred ran forth and smashed the goblin in the gut with his earthbreaker, and the goblin stepped back into the hedge of nettles as if it wasn't there. The party turned its attention back to the goblin dogs.
Just as the last of the goblin dogs fell, goblins began to stream into the room. These goblins seemed to be using gear that was ragged even by goblin standards: their dogslicers seemed to be ever rustier and flimsier than usual, and their leather armor was in a very bad state of repair. The goblins themselves appeared to be thinner than typical. Nevertheless, they fought with typical goblin ferocity. During the fight, the goblin spellcaster stepped out of the hedge again, and this time cast a spell at Halfred. Halfred felt his armor get warmer for a brief moment, but then it returned to its normal temperature. Larissa, hiding in the underbrush, managed to hit the goblin shaman in the back with an arrow, and again he stepped into the brush.
MacGreggor cast a spell that caused several of the goblins to fall asleep, and Ted cast a spell that caused Halfred to grow to 10 feet tall again. The goblins were little match to a giant-sized Halfred, and the Sandpoint Heroes prevailed with minimal damage. However, just as they started to lower their guard, a man-sized wildcat pounced on Halfred! The cat was a locally common orange-and-black striped creature called a firepelt, and it managed to maul Halfred somewhat seriously before he and Charrone killed it.
Exploring the rest of the tunnels through the thicket of brambles, the party found what was apparently the shaman's chamber, and while the hand-made totems hung from the ceiling seemed genuinely creepy, they didn't find much of value. Later, they found a chamber that until recently housed about 10 goblins, although their supplies seemed to be in a very sorry state. While that part remained a mystery, none of the party members seemed to think it was worth trying to solve with all of those goblins dead.
While searching that room, in the distance, they heard the sound of a conch horn being blown in three short bursts, followed by another three short bursts. Ted suggested that someone had tipped off the fortress that they were under attack, so they pressed forward quickly. They found a tunnel that led to an opening in the thicket right on the edge of the sea cliff. Thistletop stood directly ahead, but to reach it, everyone would have to cross a rickety rope-and-plank bridge that was supported by two stout wooden posts on either side of the chasm. Goblin sentries on two 30-foot watchtowers could be seen, as could a patrol of goblins mounted on goblin dogs.
Without debate, Halfred charged across the bridge, screaming, and brandishing his earthbreaker. Still 10 feet tall by Ted's spell, Halfred was a very imposing figure. Unfortunately for Halfred, the bridge was trapped: As soon as he made it to the middle, the right rope supporting the bridge came loose, and one side of the bridge went slack. Dropping his earthbreaker hammer, Halfred managed to grab hold of the rope before he plunged 80 feet into the water and jagged rocks below! Unfortunately, he now became an excellent target for the six goblin archers, three on each tower. Luckily for Halfred, the goblins seemed to be poor shots, and he made his way hand-over-hand to the Thistletop side. With a mighty cry, Halfred swung himself onto the ledge of Skull Rock, and managed to knock two goblins off the ledge in the process! Once on his feet, he drew his greataxe and started chopping up goblins.
While Halfred faced three goblin dogs and their riders, four additional goblin guards, and six entrenched archers, the rest of the party fired missile weapons at the goblins from the sea cliff. Ted, MacGreggor, and Declan used their magical abilities to attack at range, Larissa fired volleys of arrows, and Charrone used her sling to let loose lead bullets at the goblins. Ulfen luck saved Halfred, who was only scratched a few times before he dropped the goblin riders and slew their mounts. The rest of the party managed to take down four of the foot soldiers with missile-fire before the remaining two retreated into the fortress. Halfred took that opportunity to re-tie the bridge, making it possible for the rest of the party to cross over
They then began to break down the front door.
[To Be Continued...]
[Game Date: Thu 15 Sep 4711 A.R.]
Just after dawn, the Sandpoint Heroes marched from the North Gate of Sandpoint along the Lost Coast Road. The plan was to follow the road northeast until the road crossed the Thistle River over a stone bridge. They would then leave the road and follow the river north through Nettlewood to the coast east of Thistletop, then follow the coastline west until they found it. Charrone rode her warhorse, but the rest of the group walked. They made it to the river without incident after an hour, and followed the river as it made its way through the moors. After about a quarter-mile, the moors gave way to a scrubby forest that got denser as they approached the coastline. There was no trail along the river, but they did find a game path that led in the right direction. The terrain also got rockier, with large boulders and deep ravines that cut through the hillsides, making it difficult to follow the river, and after an hour they lost their bearings. Halfred also noted that the plant life included a lot of irritating plants, including poison ivy and stinging nettles. The trees got shorted and the underbrush got thicker as they got closer to the shore. The party tried to put rumors of strangle vines out of their minds.
At about an hour before noon, they made it to a rocky overlook on a sea cliff, and spied Skull Rock about a half mile to the west. It was indeed a gigantic round boulder, about 80 feet in height, and perhaps 100 feet of the shore. The top of the boulder was more-or-less at the same height as the opposite sea cliff, and a large wooden fort had been built on its top. There was some kind of bridge that connected the rock to the mainland. It was too distant to see any activity.
The party found a goblin path that led to a dense thicket of thorny bushes that grew on the edge of the cliff opposite the bridge. Halfred noticed tracks that seemed to go in and out of the thicket, and discovered a woven mat of branches and leaves that had been placed over an opening in the thicket. Moving it aside, Halfred got the distinct odor of goblin from the chamber within.
The passage into the dense thicket was barely five feet tall and only two feet wide, and Charrone decided that getting her horse into that passage would not be a smart decision, so she tied the horse in the woods, giving it plenty of slack to defend itself. Halfred stooped over and entered. Almost immediately upon entering, Halfred stepped onto a covered pit and fell in. Fortunately, it was only five feet wide, so climbing out wasn't difficult. Larissa scouted ahead for a few moments, and reported that the tunnels opened up into larger chambers, and that she saw a few of the rat-like goblin dogs ahead. The group moved through the tunnels into the first large chamber. The branches of a tree held up the canopy of thorns, but the major feature of this chamber was the open hole in the middle. Sounds of surf could be heard coming from the hole. MacGreggor looked in, and saw nothing but darkenss, so he cast dancing lights and sent a globe of light down into the hole. It went pretty much straight down for 70 feet, ending in a chamber. The ceiling of the chamber seemed to be about 10 feet above the surface of the water, which was churning. MacGreggor brought back the light.
The party then moved to attack the goblin dogs in the next thistle-walled chamber. The eight rat-like creatures fought ferociously. While fighting the goblin dogs, a goblin appeared to step out of the thistles as if they had been a silk curtain. He wore hide armor, and had numerous amulets, medallions, talismans, and fetishes adorning his body. He then cast a spell, and a small globe of flame launched from his hand toward Charrone, singeing her slightly. Halfred ran forth and smashed the goblin in the gut with his earthbreaker, and the goblin stepped back into the hedge of nettles as if it wasn't there. The party turned its attention back to the goblin dogs.
Just as the last of the goblin dogs fell, goblins began to stream into the room. These goblins seemed to be using gear that was ragged even by goblin standards: their dogslicers seemed to be ever rustier and flimsier than usual, and their leather armor was in a very bad state of repair. The goblins themselves appeared to be thinner than typical. Nevertheless, they fought with typical goblin ferocity. During the fight, the goblin spellcaster stepped out of the hedge again, and this time cast a spell at Halfred. Halfred felt his armor get warmer for a brief moment, but then it returned to its normal temperature. Larissa, hiding in the underbrush, managed to hit the goblin shaman in the back with an arrow, and again he stepped into the brush.
MacGreggor cast a spell that caused several of the goblins to fall asleep, and Ted cast a spell that caused Halfred to grow to 10 feet tall again. The goblins were little match to a giant-sized Halfred, and the Sandpoint Heroes prevailed with minimal damage. However, just as they started to lower their guard, a man-sized wildcat pounced on Halfred! The cat was a locally common orange-and-black striped creature called a firepelt, and it managed to maul Halfred somewhat seriously before he and Charrone killed it.
Exploring the rest of the tunnels through the thicket of brambles, the party found what was apparently the shaman's chamber, and while the hand-made totems hung from the ceiling seemed genuinely creepy, they didn't find much of value. Later, they found a chamber that until recently housed about 10 goblins, although their supplies seemed to be in a very sorry state. While that part remained a mystery, none of the party members seemed to think it was worth trying to solve with all of those goblins dead.
While searching that room, in the distance, they heard the sound of a conch horn being blown in three short bursts, followed by another three short bursts. Ted suggested that someone had tipped off the fortress that they were under attack, so they pressed forward quickly. They found a tunnel that led to an opening in the thicket right on the edge of the sea cliff. Thistletop stood directly ahead, but to reach it, everyone would have to cross a rickety rope-and-plank bridge that was supported by two stout wooden posts on either side of the chasm. Goblin sentries on two 30-foot watchtowers could be seen, as could a patrol of goblins mounted on goblin dogs.
Without debate, Halfred charged across the bridge, screaming, and brandishing his earthbreaker. Still 10 feet tall by Ted's spell, Halfred was a very imposing figure. Unfortunately for Halfred, the bridge was trapped: As soon as he made it to the middle, the right rope supporting the bridge came loose, and one side of the bridge went slack. Dropping his earthbreaker hammer, Halfred managed to grab hold of the rope before he plunged 80 feet into the water and jagged rocks below! Unfortunately, he now became an excellent target for the six goblin archers, three on each tower. Luckily for Halfred, the goblins seemed to be poor shots, and he made his way hand-over-hand to the Thistletop side. With a mighty cry, Halfred swung himself onto the ledge of Skull Rock, and managed to knock two goblins off the ledge in the process! Once on his feet, he drew his greataxe and started chopping up goblins.
While Halfred faced three goblin dogs and their riders, four additional goblin guards, and six entrenched archers, the rest of the party fired missile weapons at the goblins from the sea cliff. Ted, MacGreggor, and Declan used their magical abilities to attack at range, Larissa fired volleys of arrows, and Charrone used her sling to let loose lead bullets at the goblins. Ulfen luck saved Halfred, who was only scratched a few times before he dropped the goblin riders and slew their mounts. The rest of the party managed to take down four of the foot soldiers with missile-fire before the remaining two retreated into the fortress. Halfred took that opportunity to re-tie the bridge, making it possible for the rest of the party to cross over
They then began to break down the front door.
[To Be Continued...]
Monday, September 5, 2011
Session 11: Hemlock's Return & Next Steps
Session Date: 31 August 2011
Game Date: Monday, 12 Sept 4711
[The session picked up immediately following the previous session.]
After their exploration of the Thassilonian catacombs, the group decided to finish following the smuggling tunnel that originated in the Glassworks basement. About 30 yards northeast of the side-passage that led to the catacombs was another side-passage to the east. Painted on the rock wall in white paint was the phrase "Dead End" in Varisian. That passage ran for about 400 feet, and ended in an impassible cave-in. Returning to the main passage, the tunnel ran straight northeast for about another third of a mile. It ended in a small rectangular chamber. Larissa checked for secret doors, and found a sliding stone panel that opened into a short passage. That passage led to another stone door that opened into a large natural cave with a sandy floor. Sunlight streamed into the natural cave opening, and they all heard the sound of surf. The cave opened out to a secluded beach on the Gulf of Varisia, about a half-mile northwest of Sandpoint. It was now late afternoon. Inside the cave were remains of a goblin camp. Outside, Larissa found a switchback trail that led up the 40-foot cliff face to a goblin trail that went into the woods. The group returned to the tunnels and went back to the Glassworks.
Exiting the Glassworks cellar, the guards on duty (now Ileana and Mirian) mentioned that Sheriff Hemlock had returned from Magnimar, and had asked the Heroes to meet him at the Garrison "whenever you can make it over."
The Sandpoint Heroes went straight to Hemlock's office and filled him in on what they had discovered in the Glassworks and below, especially Tsuto's journal which detailed a possible goblin invasion. Hemlock sighed deeply. "Damn. This is even worse than I'd feared. His Corpulence the Lord-Mayor brushed me off entirely for three days, then gave me a ten-minute audience. In the end, he loaned me just six members of the City Watch, the least prestigious, and least trained, of the various military and police forces in Magnimar. I know local farmhands that are better soldiers than these guys! And I can only have them for a month! Why do we even bother paying taxes to those guys?" He sighed deeply again.
"So, I wanted to ask Tsuto a few questions, but it seems that he hanged himself in his cell last night. No, I have no reason to think that anybody did it but himself-- none of my people would murder a prisoner. Hell, three of those goblins you captured are still alive and waiting trial!
"From what it looks like, he was working with Nualia to do some very bad things in Sandpoint. Nualia? Before I thought she'd died, I'd always liked her, and actually pitied her a bit. Why? Well, she was a real fish out of water. Twenty three years ago, an elderly villager brought her as a six-week-old baby to Brother Tobyn, the old village priest. The villager said that she'd found the infant in a basket on her doorstep. Tobyn took the child in and raised her as his own. It didn't take long to realize that Nualia had celestial ancestry: she was strikingly and unearthly beautiful, with perfect skin, violet eyes, and ash-blonde hair that sparkled in bright light as if it were made of spun silver. She was much taller than any of the other children her age, and the other kids were either jealous of her beauty or extremely shy with her, and teased her mercilessly. Tobyn was also pretty strict with her: he felt that since she was a gift from the Heavens, that it was his duty to keep her "pure" so that she could become a priestess of Desna and maybe become one of the Rectors of Windsong Abbey some day. The adults in town weren't much better: old ladies were always asking her to touch their warts or to give them clippings of her hair to "bless" them. I kept telling them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't stop! Tobyn told her that they meant well, and to indulge them, which I think she really did not like at all.
"Anyway, when she was sixteen, I heard rumors that she started courting Delek Szarniasian, a real unsavory guy. A few months later, I heard that he was bad-mouthing her pretty publicly at the Feedbag Tavern, saying that she was a real slut. Tobyn started keeping her at the church all the time, and Delek skipped town. There were rumors that she was pregnant. That was about a month before the Chopper started his bad business, and three months before the Fire. But I guess that the charred body we found in the fire wasn't Nualia after all!
"From what you've uncovered, it seems that we don't have a lot of time before Nualia puts together a real army of goblins and there's going to be real trouble here. It looks like Thistletop is the center of the action. I'm going to get some miners to collapse the smuggling tunnels shortly, and will also start building better fortifications for the town. But that will take time, and I'm not sure how much we have. I don't have any men to spare, and I don't have a way to get in touch with Shalelu to help you out. I can give you a rough map and any supplies you think you'll need."
The group said that they already planned to tackle the Thistletop goblin problem, thanked the sheriff for his support, and left to determine the best way to attack. They spent the rest of the night at the Rusty Dragon.
[Game Date: Tuesday 13 Sept 4711]
The next day, Declan, Halfred, Charrone, Larissa, Brother Zantus, and Brodert Quint (the local scholar) returned to the Catacombs. Declan, Zantus, and Charrone performed a ritual to break the Demon-Mother's unholy connection of the shrine to Lamashtu, which they deemed a success. Quint and Larissa re-examined the Thassilonian runes, particularly those in the underground cathedral. "This is odd," said Quint, "while the shrine was to Lamashtu, the cathedral seems to be dedicated partly to the Runelord Azlantist herself, and partly to the, ahem, 'virtue' of wrath. Y'know, it's interesting that the runes for 'wrath' and 'righteousness' are the same rune, but with the 'negative' and 'positive' aspects respectively. You see, the 'negative' aspect of Thassilonian runes are spikier in form. Hmm... for that mater all of these runes seem rather spiky... Interesting..."
Ted and MacGreggor stayed in their rooms studying their magical tomes and working on magical writings.
[Game date: Wed 14 Sep 4711]
According to the map, Thistletop is located atop a huge boulder island called Skull Rock. Reportedly, the top of Skull Rock is about 80 feet above the surface of the waters of the Gulf of Varisia, and the rock is about 100 feet away from the 80-foot sea cliff. Reports also indicate that the goblins have built a bridge from the top of the cliff on the mainland to Thistletop. MacGreggor suggested that sailors may know a bit about the area from the sea, so he and Halfred decided to head over the Hagfish Tavern, which was most popular with the men and women of the sea.
"Hey-- it's the heroes of Goblin Day!" shouted someone when they entered the Hagfish. Jargit Quinn, the owner, came up to them and shook hands. "You're finally giving us a visit! Welcome!" Halfred ordered two ales and two bowls of fish chowder, the tavern's specialty. MacGreggor noticed a large fishtank sitting on the bar, filled with opaque green water. He thought he saw something move in the water, and asked Quinn about it. "Oh, that's Nora. My pet hagfish. Wanna meet her?" Quinn rolled up his sleeve and stuck is arm in the thick-looking water, swished it about slowly, then said, "Gotcha!" with a wide grin. He pulled from the water an extremely revolting 2-foot-long grayish-brown eyeless eel that wriggled and exuded white milky slime from its skin. "Ain't she a beauty?" he asked as he pushed the thing closer to MacGreggor's face. "Um..." Most of the patrons burst out in laughter, Quinn dropped the eel back into the tank. "You can't call your bar the Hagfish unless you actually have a hagfish, right?"
MacGreggor then noticed that there was a pouch of coins tied to a stake that was hammered into one of the posts holding up the roof next to the fishtank. Looking up, he saw carved into one of the rafters "Nora's Challenge Winners" and a list of about thirty names with dates. "Um, what's Nora's Challenge?" he asked.
"Oh, that's easy! Costs you one silver. Wanna play?" MacGreggor handed over a coin, which Quinn put into the coin pouch. He then pulled a large tankard from below the bar, dunked it in Nora's tank to fill it, and handed the mug to MacGreggor. "If you can drink the whole thing, you get all the money in that purse, plus bragging rights!" MacGreggor looked at the thick, slimy, greenish water that smelled equal parts a salt marsh at low tide and the trash pile behind a fishmonger. He rose the glass to his mouth, and just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Everyone applauded anyway. "That's the smart move!" shouted one voice. Halfred pulled out a silver and said, "OK, my turn." Halfred managed to down the whole thing, and, while thoroughly revolting, managed not to lose his lunch. The crowd erupted in applause. Quinn slapped Halfred on the back, and handed him the purse, which contained about a hundred silver pieces. Halfred then bought everyone in the bar a round, and carved his name on the rafter.
Asking about Skull Rock, a one of of the fishermen said that he'd sailed near there occasionally, but the fishing is notoriously bad there. "I hear the Sandpoint Devil sometimes goes there, and he eats up all the fish!"
"I saw 'im there once!" interjected a second sailor. The others rolled their eyes. "It looked like a huge seal with shark teeth and fins!" he continued.
"Roger, all you saw that day was the bottom of a whiskey bottle!" said the first. The others laughed.
"Well, he's right that the fishing there is terrible, plus the goblins sometimes shoot at ya." remarked a third.
"Plus, there''s no good place to go ashore-- the currents there are unpredictable. Actually, there's no good reason to go there at all." said a fourth.
"Of course, the rock does look like a big skull." said Roger. At that they all nodded.
Halfred and MacGreggor chatted a bit longer, and returned to the Dragon. After discussion, the party decided to leave the following morning and to approach Thistletop by land: They would take the Lost Coast Road as far as to the Thistle River, then would follow the riverbed to the coast, then would follow the coast back west until they found Thistletop.
[Game Date: Thursday 15 Sept 4711]
The Sheriff, the Mayor, and Brother Zantus were waiting in the Rusty Dragon barroom before the party left, to wish them luck. Zantus also had several small bottles to hand out to each member of the party: one vial of holy water, one potion of cure light wounds, and one potion of cure moderate wounds to each of the six Sandpoint Heroes.
The heroes then left for Thistletop to stop Nualia and her army of goblins.
[To Be Continued...]
Game Date: Monday, 12 Sept 4711
[The session picked up immediately following the previous session.]
After their exploration of the Thassilonian catacombs, the group decided to finish following the smuggling tunnel that originated in the Glassworks basement. About 30 yards northeast of the side-passage that led to the catacombs was another side-passage to the east. Painted on the rock wall in white paint was the phrase "Dead End" in Varisian. That passage ran for about 400 feet, and ended in an impassible cave-in. Returning to the main passage, the tunnel ran straight northeast for about another third of a mile. It ended in a small rectangular chamber. Larissa checked for secret doors, and found a sliding stone panel that opened into a short passage. That passage led to another stone door that opened into a large natural cave with a sandy floor. Sunlight streamed into the natural cave opening, and they all heard the sound of surf. The cave opened out to a secluded beach on the Gulf of Varisia, about a half-mile northwest of Sandpoint. It was now late afternoon. Inside the cave were remains of a goblin camp. Outside, Larissa found a switchback trail that led up the 40-foot cliff face to a goblin trail that went into the woods. The group returned to the tunnels and went back to the Glassworks.
Exiting the Glassworks cellar, the guards on duty (now Ileana and Mirian) mentioned that Sheriff Hemlock had returned from Magnimar, and had asked the Heroes to meet him at the Garrison "whenever you can make it over."
The Sandpoint Heroes went straight to Hemlock's office and filled him in on what they had discovered in the Glassworks and below, especially Tsuto's journal which detailed a possible goblin invasion. Hemlock sighed deeply. "Damn. This is even worse than I'd feared. His Corpulence the Lord-Mayor brushed me off entirely for three days, then gave me a ten-minute audience. In the end, he loaned me just six members of the City Watch, the least prestigious, and least trained, of the various military and police forces in Magnimar. I know local farmhands that are better soldiers than these guys! And I can only have them for a month! Why do we even bother paying taxes to those guys?" He sighed deeply again.
"So, I wanted to ask Tsuto a few questions, but it seems that he hanged himself in his cell last night. No, I have no reason to think that anybody did it but himself-- none of my people would murder a prisoner. Hell, three of those goblins you captured are still alive and waiting trial!
"From what it looks like, he was working with Nualia to do some very bad things in Sandpoint. Nualia? Before I thought she'd died, I'd always liked her, and actually pitied her a bit. Why? Well, she was a real fish out of water. Twenty three years ago, an elderly villager brought her as a six-week-old baby to Brother Tobyn, the old village priest. The villager said that she'd found the infant in a basket on her doorstep. Tobyn took the child in and raised her as his own. It didn't take long to realize that Nualia had celestial ancestry: she was strikingly and unearthly beautiful, with perfect skin, violet eyes, and ash-blonde hair that sparkled in bright light as if it were made of spun silver. She was much taller than any of the other children her age, and the other kids were either jealous of her beauty or extremely shy with her, and teased her mercilessly. Tobyn was also pretty strict with her: he felt that since she was a gift from the Heavens, that it was his duty to keep her "pure" so that she could become a priestess of Desna and maybe become one of the Rectors of Windsong Abbey some day. The adults in town weren't much better: old ladies were always asking her to touch their warts or to give them clippings of her hair to "bless" them. I kept telling them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't stop! Tobyn told her that they meant well, and to indulge them, which I think she really did not like at all.
"Anyway, when she was sixteen, I heard rumors that she started courting Delek Szarniasian, a real unsavory guy. A few months later, I heard that he was bad-mouthing her pretty publicly at the Feedbag Tavern, saying that she was a real slut. Tobyn started keeping her at the church all the time, and Delek skipped town. There were rumors that she was pregnant. That was about a month before the Chopper started his bad business, and three months before the Fire. But I guess that the charred body we found in the fire wasn't Nualia after all!
"From what you've uncovered, it seems that we don't have a lot of time before Nualia puts together a real army of goblins and there's going to be real trouble here. It looks like Thistletop is the center of the action. I'm going to get some miners to collapse the smuggling tunnels shortly, and will also start building better fortifications for the town. But that will take time, and I'm not sure how much we have. I don't have any men to spare, and I don't have a way to get in touch with Shalelu to help you out. I can give you a rough map and any supplies you think you'll need."
The group said that they already planned to tackle the Thistletop goblin problem, thanked the sheriff for his support, and left to determine the best way to attack. They spent the rest of the night at the Rusty Dragon.
[Game Date: Tuesday 13 Sept 4711]
The next day, Declan, Halfred, Charrone, Larissa, Brother Zantus, and Brodert Quint (the local scholar) returned to the Catacombs. Declan, Zantus, and Charrone performed a ritual to break the Demon-Mother's unholy connection of the shrine to Lamashtu, which they deemed a success. Quint and Larissa re-examined the Thassilonian runes, particularly those in the underground cathedral. "This is odd," said Quint, "while the shrine was to Lamashtu, the cathedral seems to be dedicated partly to the Runelord Azlantist herself, and partly to the, ahem, 'virtue' of wrath. Y'know, it's interesting that the runes for 'wrath' and 'righteousness' are the same rune, but with the 'negative' and 'positive' aspects respectively. You see, the 'negative' aspect of Thassilonian runes are spikier in form. Hmm... for that mater all of these runes seem rather spiky... Interesting..."
Ted and MacGreggor stayed in their rooms studying their magical tomes and working on magical writings.
[Game date: Wed 14 Sep 4711]
According to the map, Thistletop is located atop a huge boulder island called Skull Rock. Reportedly, the top of Skull Rock is about 80 feet above the surface of the waters of the Gulf of Varisia, and the rock is about 100 feet away from the 80-foot sea cliff. Reports also indicate that the goblins have built a bridge from the top of the cliff on the mainland to Thistletop. MacGreggor suggested that sailors may know a bit about the area from the sea, so he and Halfred decided to head over the Hagfish Tavern, which was most popular with the men and women of the sea.
"Hey-- it's the heroes of Goblin Day!" shouted someone when they entered the Hagfish. Jargit Quinn, the owner, came up to them and shook hands. "You're finally giving us a visit! Welcome!" Halfred ordered two ales and two bowls of fish chowder, the tavern's specialty. MacGreggor noticed a large fishtank sitting on the bar, filled with opaque green water. He thought he saw something move in the water, and asked Quinn about it. "Oh, that's Nora. My pet hagfish. Wanna meet her?" Quinn rolled up his sleeve and stuck is arm in the thick-looking water, swished it about slowly, then said, "Gotcha!" with a wide grin. He pulled from the water an extremely revolting 2-foot-long grayish-brown eyeless eel that wriggled and exuded white milky slime from its skin. "Ain't she a beauty?" he asked as he pushed the thing closer to MacGreggor's face. "Um..." Most of the patrons burst out in laughter, Quinn dropped the eel back into the tank. "You can't call your bar the Hagfish unless you actually have a hagfish, right?"
MacGreggor then noticed that there was a pouch of coins tied to a stake that was hammered into one of the posts holding up the roof next to the fishtank. Looking up, he saw carved into one of the rafters "Nora's Challenge Winners" and a list of about thirty names with dates. "Um, what's Nora's Challenge?" he asked.
"Oh, that's easy! Costs you one silver. Wanna play?" MacGreggor handed over a coin, which Quinn put into the coin pouch. He then pulled a large tankard from below the bar, dunked it in Nora's tank to fill it, and handed the mug to MacGreggor. "If you can drink the whole thing, you get all the money in that purse, plus bragging rights!" MacGreggor looked at the thick, slimy, greenish water that smelled equal parts a salt marsh at low tide and the trash pile behind a fishmonger. He rose the glass to his mouth, and just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Everyone applauded anyway. "That's the smart move!" shouted one voice. Halfred pulled out a silver and said, "OK, my turn." Halfred managed to down the whole thing, and, while thoroughly revolting, managed not to lose his lunch. The crowd erupted in applause. Quinn slapped Halfred on the back, and handed him the purse, which contained about a hundred silver pieces. Halfred then bought everyone in the bar a round, and carved his name on the rafter.
Asking about Skull Rock, a one of of the fishermen said that he'd sailed near there occasionally, but the fishing is notoriously bad there. "I hear the Sandpoint Devil sometimes goes there, and he eats up all the fish!"
"I saw 'im there once!" interjected a second sailor. The others rolled their eyes. "It looked like a huge seal with shark teeth and fins!" he continued.
"Roger, all you saw that day was the bottom of a whiskey bottle!" said the first. The others laughed.
"Well, he's right that the fishing there is terrible, plus the goblins sometimes shoot at ya." remarked a third.
"Plus, there''s no good place to go ashore-- the currents there are unpredictable. Actually, there's no good reason to go there at all." said a fourth.
"Of course, the rock does look like a big skull." said Roger. At that they all nodded.
Halfred and MacGreggor chatted a bit longer, and returned to the Dragon. After discussion, the party decided to leave the following morning and to approach Thistletop by land: They would take the Lost Coast Road as far as to the Thistle River, then would follow the riverbed to the coast, then would follow the coast back west until they found Thistletop.
[Game Date: Thursday 15 Sept 4711]
The Sheriff, the Mayor, and Brother Zantus were waiting in the Rusty Dragon barroom before the party left, to wish them luck. Zantus also had several small bottles to hand out to each member of the party: one vial of holy water, one potion of cure light wounds, and one potion of cure moderate wounds to each of the six Sandpoint Heroes.
The heroes then left for Thistletop to stop Nualia and her army of goblins.
[To Be Continued...]
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