May 6th, 2023

Forte, Frigus 15th, 1193 (Continued)

We gather for our meeting with Nadal and Tharivol and go over our exploits thus far. We learn that Glorfindel was a red dragon who was eventually redeemed by a gold dragon and that the fortress may have been a temple of Glorfindel’s followers. The Order of Thought may know more about the entombed dragonpriest. Durgeddin the Black, mentioned in our scrap of dwarven notes, was a famous smith who was fleeing with his clan from a marauding force from the west; they were probably only staying here briefly while searching for a better place. Tharivol doesn’t think that it’s related to the Grimstone/Kovar temple that we found. Korvar is a demigod of crafting, cursed by El, and worshiped by duergar. Grimstone was a weak king that was taken over by duergar Kovar worshipers. Tharivol tells us more about halcyon druids– they act like a bridge between the spirit world and the natural world, and it could have been that proximity to other worlds that lead Tolm astray.

The druidic book may have been Tolm’s notes and his staff is made of Frosting Iron, which was a favored material of a god that is no longer around. Tharivol suggests consulting Reverend Mikail, from the Parish of Everlasting Knowledge. He is a nosferatu, which is a kind of vampire that is more interested in knowledge than tyranny, and is well versed in the Architects, as he was “alive” when they were active.

Bellum, Frigus 16th, 1193

We head back to the Inevitable Order to try and ID Tolm’s staff, in which Nadal is successful. It has, what they call, Otherworldly Mind, that protects it; which means either the Architects made it, or Tolm found it. Under certain circumstances, it may cause slow effects on those it strikes. Reverend Mikail is available tonight for a meeting.

While we wait for our meeting, Sigmund will use magic to read Tolm’s journal. It contains lots of notes about his gardening, specifics about that fancy dirt and its effects, and twig blight creation.

We go back to the Inevitable Order for our late night meeting, where Reverend Mikail, a halfling, joins us. The lack of astrological equipment means that either Tolm was doing the carvings from memory or visions, or that it was there from before he arrived. Mikail can ID one of the akata that we encounted as being mana wasted and another as nightmare. He’s concerned that something from the Underdark could find the akata eggs and that if Sharwin is still unaccounted for, that could be bad. Regarding the Architects, he is confident that they are no longer around and that there is another group, the Celestial Attendants, that are doing something similar. This group is not known to Nadal or Tharivol. The Celestial Attendants, while not as focused, are still dangerous. It seems to be that they found something powerful and are messing around with it.

We confirm that part of the Architect’s protection was that their language would only be visible in their presence, which is a working theory about Ty’s book and why the passages aren’t always be seen. Mikail’s theory is that the dagger first marked Graynor and that the dagger’s purpose is to summon a god, so our purple haze effect may still be part of that god’s summoning.

Tharivol has news for Sigmund about Delanshire; the official report stats that agents of Neith tried to corrupt their well, but Tharivol believes it was actually followers of Zandru who were responsible. Zandru’s tenants often involve impersonating other religions to cause problems. Avarra, who tends to the well, has now sent armed guards for protection.

Sigmund stays behind a little bit to talk with Reverend Mikail about his oracle gifts.

Iustitia, Frigus 17th, 1193

Our supplies are provided by the temple and we set out again; it will take about 4.5 days of travel.

Terra, Frigus 21st, 1193

We arrive in Westermoor and speak with Laurel and find out that they were able to trace the black scour to a section of crops, in which she does not suspect foul play. We stay the night at the inn.

Forte, Frigus 22nd, 1193

We arrive back at the fortress and find that there are many more kobolds here that have red scale insignia. The kobolds also have a passage to the Underdark that they’re guarding.

We check on the akata pods and find that there are 18 unmolested. We force open five of them and kill two normal, a nightmare (need good [regeneration] or silver), a psychoplasmic (need magic), and an unknown variety. If we find more mana wasted akata we will need cold iron to bypass it’s DR. These pods are too heavy to move without great effort– how did they get here?

April 30th, 2023

Bellum, Frigus 9th, 1193 (Continued)

We move farther into the natural cavern and fight a lot of the plant creatures. There are remnants of many broken buildings here and it eventually leads to another large area. Carvings can be seen on the ceiling, but they are difficult to make out. We find strange cocoon-like pods scattered about that are a little larger than Ty. Down another tunnel we find several ruptured pods with Akata nearby– Akata are alien creatures that can spread a disease called Void Death. During our fight, they exhibit appearances and abilities that Akata are not known to possess.

We get a closer look at the largest broken building and find what looks to be Sir Morvant tending to some of these pods. He does, indeed, claim he used to be Morvant and turns aggressive. He is joined by Tolm, a spellcaster with long tentacles protruding from his back, wearing a wooden mask and wielding a staff with a strange metallic glint. During the fight, Graynor breaks free of his captivity and joins our side; it was a tough battle, but we emerge victorious.

Graynor also has a purple mark very similar to ours and confirms that he got it when the Mind Stone dagger was activated. He also tells us that the dagger is a tool for summoning a god and that the serpentine person that activated it looked a bit like Tolm’s mutations. He says that his group found celestial navigation tools that belonged to the Architects, and also mentions about going through some portal to a “Void Realm”.

According to Sigmund, Tolm’s mask is a symbol of a Halcyon druid and we may be able to use it as evidence to find out where he came from. Halcyon druids use masks as a bonded object and cast a mixture of divine and arcane magic, similar to Theobald’s description. Graynor identifies the plant creatures as twig blights and thinks that Tolm may have created them. Graynor also overheard him talking about Outer Gods. Sigmund takes a closer look at the carvings on the walls and ceiling and they look to be very detailed diagrams of our moon and other celestial bodies; perhaps Tolm was tracking something with this.

Behind a secret door, we find the rest of Graynor’s party– cocooned and stuck against the wall, all dead. We tell Graynor about the dragonpriest tomb and he expresses his concern about how we made it easier gain access to now that the traps are disarmed, so we lock the dragon door that leads to it. We spend the rest of the day moving our gear topside.

Later that evening, Ty gets a sending from Nadal regarding her appointment, “Prophet Tharivol will be available on the 15th”. We then camp for the night.

Iustitia, Frigus 10th, 1193

We begin our journey back to Ironwald Downs. On the way, Ralzer attempts to identify the rest of our magic items; the staff reacts to this and harms him. The Nightcaller whistle was created by ancient dwarves as a way to create undead– we may be able to sell it based on historical significance. We spend the next several days traveling.

Forte, Frigus 15th, 1193

We arrive in Ironwald Downs. Graynor visits his temple for guidance regarding the tomb of the dragonpriest, in which they advise him to visit the Inevitable Order about that. He also asks about Nightcaller and finds out that the transparent iron is called nephelium, which is a very rare iron ore that has been infused with magic. They say that the whistle should be destroyed or to at least have the magic removed from it, to which Graynor agrees.

Ty goes to her meeting with Tharivol, who has come all the way from Vallyn. He finds more passages and believes that the passages are being revealed because they are being activated by some sort of magic coming from Ty. The Architects somehow protected their language and anyone trying to magically decipher it would get hurt; perhaps this is like Tolm’s staff? He wants to meet with the rest of the group.

April 22nd, 2023

Terra, Frigus 7th, 1193 (Continued)

Other than the pit full of vines, we can’t find a way down to the basement, so we climb down it. The area below is also illuminated by the violet fungus and we find two skeletons shoveling dirt and two of those plant creatures. The don’t seem to mind us being there and we take a southern hall that leads to a fissure, which looks to be the result of an earthquake. Ralzer identifies a lot of thoqqua holes.

At the end of the hall we find a room that no one has entered in a very long time. Within is a rusted pedestal in the shape of a dragon with a stone tray set in its mouth. There is no magic in the room and we find nothing remarkable and leave. We explore a few more rooms and return to the dragon pedestal room to camp for the night.

Forte, Frigus 8th, 1193

We find an area that looks like a series of workshops, one of which has some goblins repairing armor. Another workshop contains a dire rat, tied to a bench spread eagle, and covered in tumors. Sigmund puts the rat out of its misery. In the corner is a crystal phial and Ralzer notices that the liquid inside looks similar to the diseased water in Short Rock Pass. The goblins seem to be distilling alcohol in one of the other rooms.

A natural cavern to the north has its floor stained with blood. A big goblinoid creature and two well trained dire rats lie in wait– we manage to kill them. While exploring we find an underground courtyard type area with a lot more violet fungus and draconic murals. On a gardener we find some really top tier compost, which Sigmund believes he can replicate with the right materials.

The next room has another draconic statue and we are attacked by a shadow while investigating, The statue is inscribed with “Let the sorcerous power illuminate my mind” in draconic. When spoken aloud, Ralzer feels more charismatic. We search a few more rooms and kill more gardeners.

Bellum, Frigus 9th, 1193

We find an office that has a lot of violet fungus and dirt, which looks like it has been placed here. Within are two books, one in draconic, which is magical, titled “Treasures of the Fire Lords”, and the other in a language that Sigmund believes might be druidic. The next room has more goblin gardeners and leads to a large natural cavern.

April 15th, 2023

Vita, Frigus 5th, 1193 (Continued)

Ty shares her opinion on the dragonpriest–we don’t know what the other group was looking for and decided to save investigating this for last and continue to explore the goblin area.

A wyrmling black dragon lies in wait in a room with poorly taxidermied trophies; it looks to have been imprisoned here and attacks us. Sigmund robs the dragon of an honorable death and wants to give it to the kobolds. We find a scroll case with ruined parchment inside that reads “[…] the remaining few. By order of Durgeddin the Black, we have created a secret dwarven redoubt. None shall find us; however, […]”, with the remainder being illegible.

Our guide is happy to see the black dragon, Thauglorauthamiir, whom was stolen from them. He takes us back to Queen Mozdrog, who is glad to have him returned and tells us her plans to raise it into a mighty dragon of unfathomable evil, so that they can kill goblins.

We continue our exploration of the goblin area and find a circular room with hobgoblins, goblins, and some kind of wooden plant-like creature. One of the hobgoblins is sitting on a makeshift throne with his feet on a chest. It’s a rough fight, but we end up victorious. We then head back to the kobolds to rest and celebrate.

Mare, Frigus 6th, 1193

We need more rest and take the day off.

Terra, Frigus 7th, 1193

We continue exploring and find another fountain room; this fountain has “Let there be death” inscribed on it in draconic. When spoken aloud, gas begins to pour out of the fountain, but we don’t feel any ill effects. Next to that is a room full of refuse, dead bodies, and a really fat dire rat, which we kill. We search the bodies for the other group, but it’s not them.

Goblins have prepared a couple of ambushes for us in the fortified halls. We follow them back to their “village”, which appears to have once been a cathedral, but to whom? It’s lit with the same violet light we’ve previously encountered and the source is some fungus. We rout their remaining forces and convince the rest to leave.

April 8th, 2023

Vita, Frigus 5th, 1193

Sigmund meets a guy named Oly during breakfast. Oly is also looking for the people that previously spoke to Dodd and is familiar with our exploits in Westermoor. He mentions another strange thing happening in this area–disappearing trees. Sigmund returns from his morning constitutional with a tiger named Luna; a cub that he rescued from a circus that passed through Delanshire that somehow followed him here. Oly meets the rest of the party and will join us as we search for the other group.

We depart for the ravine with the cart and about half a day later arrive at what looks like an old campsite. Oly figures that it’s been about a year since it was last used, but it has a lot of ash built up. We climb down into the ravine and at the bottom find some worked stone stairs that lead into a courtyard. Oly finds small, clawed footprints down here which look to be from kobolds. Ralzer notices that the debris down here is unstable and we need to be careful. We encounter a pit trap with a goblin corpse in it that doesn’t seem to be very long dead. After some time the trap resets itself. We find a room with several dead goblins and “Glorfindel” written on the wall in draconic–we are not sure what that means.

There are several locked doors down here that have strange dragon motifs and an ornate, draconic themed, dry fountain with an inscription in draconic reading “Let there be fire”. Once said aloud, the fountain begins to flow with a warm red water. Ralzer drinks it and says it has a strange taste, but is otherwise okay. Ty fillers her waterskin with it to save for later.

We find a prison room with three kobolds and a gnome. The gnome, Theobald, pleads for release and state’s he’s been here for over a year. He hasn’t heard of who we are looking for, but does mention other people; a knight, Sir Morvant and a woman, Sharwin. He says that the goblins are working for someone in the Twilight Grove, which is some kind of garden down below. We lead the gnome to the exit and the kobolds will introduce us to their leader.

We meet with the kobold Queen Mozdrog. She knows of the other group and said she loaned them a guide, but they got caught. We negotiate free passage through the kobold quarters and gain a guide of our own. She has a cool looking dragon key which we buy for 200gp, much to Oly’s chagrin.

The dragon key unlocks a room with several orbs; three of them are broken and one is still whole. The unbroken one emits a strange humming that makes Ty, Oly, and Luna leave. It gets louder and then none of us can stay near it. Ralzer notices it’s on a one minute timer, so he carries it to the rest of us and Sigmund smashes it. In the next room is a marble statue of a dragon that asks us a riddle; Ty answers it and a new door opens. Within that room are six alcoves with five elven marble statues. At the end is a 20 ft. pit blocking access to a room with a violet hue and a stone sarcophagus with a dragon motif. The sarcophagus has metal straps bolted to it keeping it shut.

Ty jumps the pit and a quasit attacks her–we kill it. In a hidden crawl space Ty finds a missive in draconic, “A dragonpriest entombed alive for transgressions of the Law still retains the honor of his position.”

April 1st, 2023

Bellum, Frigus 2nd, 1193

We arrive at the dwarven ruins; most of the masonry outside is in bad shape, except for one statue of a dwarf. We search the tower and find that a giant spider has made it’s home here–we kill it. Inside another room we find a mummified dwarf holding shards of a broken vial and parchment. The parchment reads, in Dwarven: “Forgive me, dark father of the forge, my toils shall never be enough”. He also has a silver light hammer with a symbol of a forge wreathed in flames.

Ty sneaks into a room with a trap, which she disarms, and then another room with someone small sleeping next to a bunch of bird bones. She sees some sacks on the ground and takes them and leaves. Inside the sacks are a magic ruby and masterwork stonemasonry tools. In a room with a lot of stagnant water we find one book that hasn’t been ruined; an illuminated book of El hymns, worth 100gp.

In a room with darkwood pews there is an altar, a large ceremonial anvil, which is defaced and has 5 small depressions; the ruby that we found fits perfectly in one of them. Once we place the ruby, we hear a chorus of dwarves singing hymns and it makes us feel really good. Then, the room gets really dark and 2 darkmantles appear and attack.

In another room we find a worg guarding the mushrooms and it asks us to kill the darkmantles, the spider, and some bats. When we return with the evidence, he turns on us and attacks–we kill him and gather the prized mushrooms. We find a dwarven prayer book of Kovar (a god we do not know of); within is a note: “El is no longer worthy of our devotion. Only Kovar can deliver us from the failings of King Grimstone”.

Ty finds a secret door that leads to a prison room with 3 dwarven skeletons that attack us. There is another skeleton that didn’t animate; it has a Ring of El. Ralzer recognizes the ring, they used to be gifts from Captains of the House of Waters Deep (top ranking priests of El).

Before we leave, we give the place a good search. We wake up the sleeping person, who turns out to be a kobold named Gurtlekep, and Sigmund strikes up a conversation. That wandering zombie shaman was from the same tribe and they were left here. According to Gurtlekep, the shaman drank poison, died, became a zombie, and Gurtlekep put the sign on him. Sigmund gives him back the gem, which is no longer magical. Now that it’s safer, we decide to camp here for the night. We make some repairs for Gurtlekep and chat with him; he is from the western edge of the Gannett Mountains and his tribe abandoned him here.

Iustitia, Frigus 3rd, 1193

We bid our goodbyes to Gurtlekep and make our way to Koldun’ya’s cottage; he gives Sigmund a throwing knife as a gift. While on our way a wyvern passes pretty low to the ground overhead–it must be hunting something.

After a few hours we find a cottage and it is not an inviting scene. No one seems to be home, so we let ourselves in. There is a large wicker chair with a similarly sized corpse wrapped in linen on it. Upon closer inspection, it’s just a bundle of branches made to look like a body. While searching, her cauldron starts attacking us. It takes a long time, but we manage to break it. Sigmund finds what we need in the “kitchen” and a shrunken head that can be used to deliver a message. He leaves a short blurb about how we’re sorry we had to take this and how to reach him at Westermoor. We quickly leave.

On the way back, a really big mosquito sticks Ralzer and then gets killed.

Mors, Frigus 4th, 1193

We arrive at Westermoor and Laurel is ready to get to work. Her and Sigmund craft enough poultices for the rest of the town, which is noticeably less populated. According to Laurel about 30 people have died. Ty shows Laurel the flaming hawk signet right and she recognizes it as belonging to Caleb Thorne, a hunter who moved to town and went missing. She isn’t sure where he’s originally from. We talk to her for a while about our adventure and then head to the inn to sleep.

March 25th, 2023

Bellum, Dolorem 25th, 1193

A messenger arrives at Ralzer’s; the Inevitable Order can see Ty about her follow-up meeting later today– Expounder Victoria will be her contact. Ty meets with Victoria, while Ralzer and Sigmund will meet with Nadal about going to Westermoor. Nadal gives us a Citrine Sending Stone to stay in contact and will provide basic provisions for travel such as rations and a cart and mule.

During Ty’s meeting, Victoria finds a few passages in the language of the Architects– an obscure language that has existed for a long time, but has never been translated. The Architects worshiped celestial beings called the Outer Gods. The Outer Gods have yet to be proven to exist and are said to be beyond good and evil; they have been deemed too foreign to ascertain their motives.

The Architects attempted to contact these beings over 1200 years ago, which is the last that Victoria has heard of them. It was at this time that a group of adventurers fought the Architects in some kind of ice cave in northern Ironwald Downs. She is uncertain if the cave, or the inner structure, still exists, but she pointed out it’s location on a map. The adventurers were of great power and renown: Rocalder, a powerful spellcasting archer, Lament, a serpentfolk bard with a commanding tongue, Volcasious, a lizardfolk bastion of defense, Maelthorne, a dwarven cleric of a god that no longer exists. The Architects were attempting to use the Scepter of Ages, a powerful artifact that deals with time travel, to summon the Outer Gods to our world.

Victoria asks about who wrote this book; Ty is uncertain, but the founder of the Hallowed Cliff monastery is Hoarse Blackstone. Victoria recognizes that name as General Hoarse Blackstone, a famous adventurer of days past. She can find someone to attempt to translate the passages, but it may take a few weeks for them to arrive in the city.

We will leave for Westermoor on the morrow.

Iustitia, Dolorem 26th, 1193

We start our journey to Westermoor, which will take four and a half days.

Terra, Dolorem 30th, 1193

We arrive in the afternoon at Westermoor, a lumber town. On the approach, Sigmund notices darkwood trees which are quite expensive. We establish lodging at the Old Boar Inn. We hear from Lucas, the proprietor, that the town is having an issue with it’s food supply for the last three days. When we ask further about this, we are directed to Lady Cirthana at the Courts of Justice (church of Angelique) or Laurel, the local herbalist at Roots and Remedies. When we ask about the other group that we are trailing, Lucas remembers them and that they spoke to the town drunk, Dodd. Dodd frequents this inn in the evenings and we should be able to meet with him then.

At Roots and Remedies there are a couple dozen sick people waiting outside. Laurel believes the source to be a fungus called Black Scour, which is not native to this area. Laurel and Sigmund discuss possible remedies, and she consults a book left to her by her grandmother. Within there is a recipe for a cure, but it includes three items Laurel doesn’t have; a pickled root called rats tail, elderwood moss, and ironbloom mushrooms. She says that elderwood moss grows on very old trees and there are likely some old enough in the Southwood Pines, the forest around the town. The mushrooms. which grow in darkness near iron, are not known to be around the town, but there used to be a monastery of dwarven crafters at the edge of a nearby crag that could be a likely spot for them to grow. Laurel remembers a hag named Koldun’ya, whom her grandmother had dealings with, that lives somewhere in the forest and may know about the rat tails.

We next go to meet with Cirthana, who complains that the lumbermill consortium has a very strong hold on this town; the townsfolk seem okay with working to death for them and they pay well. The consortium is headquartered not far out of town, Jarlben Trookshavits is the foreman. Milon Rhoddam is a lumberjack, and what they call a wanderer, who may know more about the hag.

We head back to the Old Boar and meet with Dodd. He babbles about talking to stars while camping deep in the woods. He says the stars literally came down from the sky to talk to him; they spoke into his mind with images. After which, he drew a lot of maps and gave one to Tinley. He has since gotten better. He gives us directions to where he thought the last group of investigators went.

Forte, Frigus 1st, 1193 Winter Solstice

We look for Milon in the morning at the consortium and have a brief meeting with Jarlben, who directs us to Milon. Milon is very helpful and his nephew is afflicted with the taint; he gives us directions to the old trees and the hag’s shack. It’s a long journey, since we need to go around the river, and we immediately set out.

Near the lake we find a fox in a trap and, while freeing it, are ambushed by a hobgoblin. About an hour later we encounter a large camouflaged pit trap, but avoid getting hurt. We set up camp not far from the pit, in case something comes to check on it. During third watch a kobold zombie wanders into camp from the southeast and stares at our fire. It’s wearing a sign with “shaman” poorly written  on it in Draconic.

Bellum, Frigus 2nd, 1193

We find a really big darkwood tree with several bodies hanging in it’s branches. A really large snake with arms and a draconic mouth attacks us; we kill it. Sigmund climbs the tree and releases the three bodies. Amongst their gear is a signet ring with a flaming hawk on it. We recover the elderwood moss and continue on towards the monastery.

While on our way to the monastery, two wolves ambush us.

March 18th, 2023

Bellum, Dolorem 11th, 1193 (Continued)

The weather is cold and misty, so we bundle up. Sigmund has agreed to stay in town for a week to create water while the diseased water runs it’s course. We check on the body pit and it’s still burning–Sigmund believes the disease to be the Burning Plague. Ty will take advantage of the cold weather and do some outdoors training. Meanwhile, Ralzer is making a new gun. We are also a little sick from the disease, so we spend time recovering.

Iustitia, Dolorem 12th, 1193

Ralzer is looking pretty sick and he needs to rest while Ty continues to train outside. Ralzer will be crafting while resting.

Mors, Dolorem 13th, 1193

Ralzer is looking better!

Vita, Dolorem 14th, 1193

Ralzer looking less good.

Mare, Dolorem 15th, 1193

Ralzer getting worse…

Terra, Dolorem 16th, 1193

Ralzer getting better!

Forte, Dolorem 17th, 1193

Ralzer getting worse…

Bellum, Dolorem 18th, 1193

Ralzer is getting worse in spite of the really good stew that Sigmund has made. We go check on the burning pit of corpses. While Sigmund is rooting through the bodies, Ty makes copies of the runes in the lower room. Sigmund is able to identify the language as orc and the copying goes smoothly. The writing looks to be a plea to Neith for assistance in revenge. It seems that the orc was confident that Short Rock Pass was to blame for the massacre of his tribe about 10 years ago.

We go back up to gather information on what happened 10 years ago. Sarah Ainsworth, the owner of the Running Horse, has some stories to tell. About 10 years ago someone started a militia to take care of an orc stronghold in the mountains. However, only one person from Short Rock went with them. She thinks his surname was Wilxis. The mayor confirms this, but can’t offer much more information.

Iustitia, Dolorem 19th, 1193

Ralzer gets a little better and Sigmund follows up on that Wilxis person. Mayor Sendar believes that Wilxis left town a while ago.

Mors, Dolorem 20th, 1193

Ralzer doesn’t get better and we decide we’re going to have to make the trip to Ironwald Downs, a 4.375 day trip.

Mare, Dolorem 22nd, 1193

Ralzer finally gets over the Burning Plague and travel on the main road is pretty safe. Late in the morning the sky takes a strange deep purple color that starts flowing towards us. It feels really nice, even the grass starts to grow extraordinarily fast–this effect is very wide. We certainly seem to be turning purple, while the snow around us isn’t. Sigmund uses detect magic and is almost knocked out. He says that the effect is stronger than even the Well of Knowledge in Delanshire, which is an artifact. After about 500-600 feet the effect begins to fade and it looks like a huge beam from the clouds. Our skin remains slightly purple, which fades over a few hours, but a small patch stays on our necks. Over the next couple days of travel we meet other people that saw this phenomenon.

Forte, Dolorem 24th, 1193

We arrive at Ironwald Downs in the early morning and Ralzer escorts us to his place. The purple bruises on our necks seem to be becoming  pattern of some kind. Ty and Ralzer don’t know their way around, so Ralzer will be the guide. We first go to the temple of Nissa.

Sigmund looks into his divine connection as an oracle and Ty wants to have an expert look at her book; an Expounder, Nadal, will help us with both. Based on the reading he performs, he believes that Nissa may be Sigmund’s source. He also suggests that the author of Ty’s book may be the cause of it’s value. However, when Ty explains that she believes it’s value is not driven by money, Nadal suggests speaking to another specialist and will schedule a follow-up.

Before we leave, Nadal notices out markings. He tries to hide his concern, but tells us that 4 months ago similar markings appeared on other individuals as a result of an artifact being activated, a dagger, whom are now missing. They are Camael, an aasimar cleric of Madri, Samjogo, a tengu ranger, Greynor, a half-elf paladin of Madri, Poshment, a gnome oracle, and Tinley, a suli monk. The dagger was used in the assassination of a city council member. The assassin died in the custody of the Legion of Bones and rumor says the assailant had serpentine organs.

The church of Nissa had the missing individuals investigate a crazy brigand that began talking gibberish. The church believes this could be the sign of a prophecy, and if true, could be bad. However, if even one sign is proven false, then it’s safe… for now. If we decide to pursue this, Nadal asks that we see him first.

Sigmund wants to visit the city’s famed gardens, which are in a very nice part of town.

March 11th, 2023

Terra, Dolorem 9th, 1193

Short Rock Pass,  is a bustling boom town due that recently discovered silver in the mines. he citizens are glum about their water supply going bad and kobolds taking over the mines. Sigmund and Ralzer meet at the gate, overhearing the town’s dilemma–for which Mayor Sendar may offer a reward. Ty see’s the that the mines are boarded up and guarded, and enters town looking for information. Sigmund investigates the well that has gone bad and the three meet while heading towards the mayor’s residence.

Sigmund offers to look at the well to try and identify the issue. In conversation, the mayor learns that we are adventurers and offers us a job to clear the mines of the kobolds. Sigmund checks out the well and can tell that it’s contaminated, but can’t identify the exact issue. We stay the night at the Running Horse while Sigmund makes water for the town.

Forte, Dolorem 10th, 1193

We arrive at the mines and the entrance shows signs of an attempted cave-in, of which the guards are unaware of and doesn’t seem to be part of the town’s plan. We encounter 8 kobolds, whom turns to be diseased, and one escapes. Farther in we meet a large group of kobolds, including a leader of some kind, and none of them are in good health. Ralzer manages to parlay with them and we offer to give them clean water. The kobold leader takes us to a storage room where Ty finds a hiding diseased dire weasel.

Sigmund secures safe passage for the kobolds to leave tomorrow and they tell Ralzer that the mine is cursed. We find out that something has been taking the dead bodies of both the townsfolk and kobold alike.

We continue to explore the mine and find a huge pit of dead bodies. Leading up to and culminating in the pit is an unnatural amount of heat, the faint sound of water can also be heard from this area. Lots of zombies crawl out of the pit while we pass through the hot corpse room. We kill them and head back to town to rest.

Bellum, Dolorem 11th, 1193

We venture forth into the mines and Sigmund works on clearing out that pit of bodies. He makes some progress, but the room is too nasty to continue. As we make our war farther down, the sound of moving water becomes more clear. We discover a very large room with a massive stalagmite in the middle of a pool of water. The walls are covered in strange runes and a robed orc is there and not happy to see us.

The orc wants revenge against the humans that killed his tribe. We kill and and find on him a symbol of Neith. Neith is the Chaotic Evil God of murder and revenge. His symbol is a skull-headed scorpion with blood dripping from the stinger. Sigmund has had experience with a priest of Neith corrupting a Well of Knowledge in his hometown of Delanshire. Before we leave, Sigmund sets fire to the body pit and gives some silver ore to the kobolds.

We deliver the update to Mayor Sendar, who says he knows nothing about who may have killed that orc’s tribe; this town is clearly not a warmongering community. As a reward, we can help ourselves to some silver ore in the mine.

March 8th, 2020

Forte, Intinerantur 23rd, 1193

Descend the stairs in the ravine. After descending about 70 feet, we see the top of the old fortress. The walls are now cracked and worn.

A portion of the floor collapses under Camael, who then engages in mortal combat with another dire rat. Goodness and justice prevail, and we move on.

Find two dead goblins, one impaled on a short spear. Then the spear is removed, the body slumps, revealing deep inset runes with a word in draconic: Glorfindel.

Graffiti on some of the walls say, “here there be dragons.” A whimpering kobold is hiding in a bedroll. He claims to be the keeper of a dragon that was stolen by a goblin named Grenl. The dragon is named Thauglorauthamiir and is black. The kobold’s name is Kroga, the keeper of dragons. He is going to take us to Mozdrog, the leader of the kobolds.

Mozdrog reports that the goblins live with a druid who has creatures similar to the twigblights we have encountered previously.

At Mozdrog’s order, Kroga will guide us to the goblin territory.

Find a room with three magical items: a continual flame candle, a potion of resist energy: fire, and a whistle with a faint necromantic aura. Upon picking up the whistle, five skeletons rise from sarcophagi with the images of elves carved on the outside. The carvings appear to be elven nobles due to the ceremonial robes on the outside.

A further area has goblins shooting from cover across a floor strewn with caltrops. A fall back position for the goblins is also cleared of the small sized menaces. There are signs that the creatures cook and eat here. In total, there were six in total.

Six more goblins are found in a makeshift barracks. They are handily defeated.