Letters to my Temple Home

Dear Temple Master Erazimus,

My discovery of the realms beyond the shadow continues, with the group of similar motivated explorers.  After dealing with some rather nasty spiders we returned to the outpost to enjoy some meager trappings of civilization.   There are a few more people in the outpost now and still from time to time some wonderers restock here; unfortunately not all are that social.  I have heard tales of a nasty wild boar and I believe that my companions wish to hunt for it as we once again venture into the wilds. 

The weather is certainly as temperamental as Chiara as the extremes of spring seems to be testing the limits of our comfort.  Perhaps an investment into a tent might be wise, if only they were not so cumbersome to carry.

We have found only minimal signs of the boar but we did encounter a plethora of traps.  Fulosial’s blessing was with me as the traps injured some of my companions but not me.  The traps seem to be set for large prey but again, no sign of the beast.

We have located two deaths in the wild; the first is a unicorn that is believed to be killed by death magic and left not to decay as a warning of some type, the second was the anti-social person from the outpost.  The trapper Breeg was killed while setting up another trap.  It turns out that he had the markings of A Fellow Follower and last rites were correctly provided.  I am sad that I was unable to converse with him but happy that She called him to her.  Please advise me on the correct procedure for the unicorn according to Her teachings.

In searching for this baffling boar, we have discovered the headwaters of the Skunk River (we should rename that).  The waters begin in a seep of hot and warm springs and in discovering them we also found a source of poison in various bushes that some of my colleagues back at the temple would like to investigate.  The potency was impressive as our warrior: Elzeny was asleep in seconds.  Her Blessing was able to allow the fierce warrior to recover just in time to be swallowed by a giant frog.  This proved a poor choice for the annoying amphibian as Elzeny destroyed it from inside.   We were victorious in removing the viscous vermin from the basins and will be enjoying a bit of relaxation.  I think we will be continuing the search for the perplexing pig at the next light.

Acolyte Katerina Killain

Walking through a forest

Nov 26, 2016

• After dealing with spiders from last session, the group returned to Oleg's place, where in the distance they saw Breeg, a trapper, heading out.
• The group learned of the wild boar, Tuskgutter, and how the beast was terrorizing the region. Breeg apparently was focused on catching the bad news bacon.
• Restocked, the party headed west, exploring more of the northern reaches of the Stolen Lands.
• They cleared most of the northern planes, finding a burial site at one point, under a blackberry bush.
• They decided to leave the dead to their rest.
• Exploring the Narlmarches Forest, the gang came across what appeared to be a dead, white horse. On closer inspection it was shown to be a dead unicorn, where someone/something had removed the horn.
• The unicorn was untouched, unblemished, and was not decaying. Aiesha divined that it had most likely been killed by a death effect, and probably by something/someone important. Archfey sometimes 'marked' things they killed, and the decomposers and such of the natural world would then stay away from the kill, so as not to anger the Archfey.
• Leaving the unicorn, the party eventually discovered the headwaters of the Skunk River. The waters bubbled up from natural hot springs, and Elzney was eager to take a cleansing bath.
• The giant frogs and poisonous bushes there had other ideas, but the group was eventually able to slay the beasts and claim relaxing baths. Elzney remained, 'Four seconds from being inappropriate.' 

Kobold friends, mines and minerals, and large spiders

All though it was a terribly close call with against the red caps, with all members of the writ sorely wounded, it turned out to be a profitable one.

After slaying the red caps, we searched their lair under the great tree.  We found two items of particular significance.

The first was a diaroma of the great tree, surrounded by redcaps and a female figure made of twigs and moss, staked with nails.  Adela was able to determine that it was being used to drain the tree of life force and transfer it.... somewhere.  By removing the nails (and Adela decapitating the miniature redcaps) Evangeline informed us were successful in halting the transfer - hopefully the great tree can now recover.

The second was the demon statue the kobolds had been sent to recover.  Adela informed us there was absolutely nothing magical about it.  Mikmek agreed to wait until we had a chance to rest, and then he would lead us to his village.

After a refreshing night's sleep at the Lowdragon farmstead (where we reached a deal allowing us to use it as a rest station) we headed off to the Sootscale kobold village, which was located in a cave by the river.  Once there, we gave the demon statue to the chief, who smashed it and urged his people to slay the shaman (or so we gathered, none of us able to decifer their hissing).  Swept along with the crowd, we helped defeat the shaman, who we discovered (after reading his diary - written in elven) that he was a polymorphed gnome who was using his position to try to get the kobold tribe to get themselves killed - what a jerk!

More interestingly, it appears to be built in an abandoned silver mine, meaning that, once the tribe has recovered, we might be able to get the kobolds to mine it for us.

On the way back, we made a discovery that makes the silver mine somewhat less important - a cave rich with gold veins.  We'll need to keep this information secret until we are in a position to guard and exploit this find.

We also sought out and defeated some large spiders - about the size of hunting dogs.  Turns out Elezny is afraid of spiders - who would have guessed?

Diving Deep

October 29, 2016

• Not much role-playing this session, as it was a dungeon crawl through the lair of the redcaps.
• The party fought through four levels of spriggen, seeking the heart of the Sycamore tree to see if they could clense it of corruption.
• The redcaps had captured a kobold warrior, Mikmek, and had been torturing him. From the brave kobold the party found that this was a holy war between the kobolds and the redcaps, with the redcaps having stolen 'Old Sharptooth', the kobold's holy statue... although Mikmek seemed kind of hesitant about the statue. Still, he was sure Chief Sootscale would know what was best. He asked the party to recover the item.
• After three levels of fighting in constricting terrain, the party burst into the redcap leader's throne room. There was a horrific battle that rendered every member of the party bloodied, but eventually the team managed to defeat the redcap leader. And it was there the session ended.

Seeing the world

Oct 15, 2016

The group found the front page of Zuddiger's Picnic, which a note indicated was a code book for the Stag Lord. Too bad the torando had stolen the rest of the book away from them.

• On the way back to Oleg's the group found the moon radish patch. Too bad the patch had been claimed by kobolds. A vicious fight happened, with the party eventually emerging victorious. 
• The group returned to Oleg's Trading Post, and found that a squad of troops had been assigned to the outpost, under the command of Corporal Kesten Garess.

• Evangelene also was approached by an old soldier, Jhod. He spoke of a vision he had of a temple to the Mother, somewhere in the a place green above and green below, guarded by a great beast. He asked the druid to look for such a place, and help cleanse it. 

• Next day the group when out and met the apothecary Bokkeen, who --while colorful-- sold them potions.
• They then traveled to the Lowdragons, meeting the farming family.   

• At the family farm, they discovered a complete copy of Zuddiger's Picnic.
• They traveled south to the Longcastle's hunting cabin, only to find the place razed and the inhabitants slain. A sign said, "Kneel to the Stag Lord, or die."
• After burying the dead, they continued south to Nettles Crossing. It too had been burned, but the rope boat still intact.
• They discovered that the murdered Nettle had been killed by the Stag Lord, and risen as an undead infused with malevolence and revenge. The group promised to bring him the Stag Lord's head. 
• Continuing on, the group found a number of small battlefields between forces of kobolds and redcaps. Following the tracks, the group came to a hole in the ground beneath a huge but sicken sycamore tree. The team laid plans for entering the underground space between the roots as the session came to an end.