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Roll4It Dungeons and Dragons Chapter 1 Summary (complete)
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Roll4It: Dungeons and Dragons Story Summary

Written and recorded by Scribe BlackSun388 and assisted by scribe VeteranHelldiver17

The Vagrant Island, a world traveling around the blue oceans seemingly without reason or direction. A new world that only recently appeared. A wild and strange country that is touched only recently by the outside and where brave souls and hungry conquerors will stake their claims. These adventurers came to the new world on an interceptor ship. Some for adventure and glory, some for a new beginning, some to claim riches for themselves. Now we join four of them embarked on a ship. What adventures and dangers await them?

The Sovereign, a ship in the many of the flurry pursuing the Vagrant Island. After a month long journey fighting to reach it only two ships have have remained in the running. A race to the new world against a Hellenian Outrigger ship named Leviathan. Now the journey is almost at its end and the port is within sight once again. But can our heroes reach it from the growing opportunistic storm tossing the ship about?

Missed a stream? Want to catch up on the action so far? Read up on the story summary written by me, Blacksun388, at tiny.cc/R4IStoryDnD

Oldest stream at bottom, newest at the top.

Stream XXII: Battle of Woodley

The lights flicker on from the walls illuminating the palace from within. The pillars are faded stone but appears to be metal. The floor is smooth and polished and the air is stale and motionless. It is a hauntingly beautiful sight. The ceiling is ornate and some of it seems to have collapsed. In the middle of a room is some green amorphous blob that is shifting and Adavi sees it is magical with a form near the edges but he isn’t sure what it is. It appears to be very advanced magic. Grey walks in looking around for somebody in the room and the group sees doors on the left and right of the area. They walk up and suddenly the palace seems to come to life.

A voice greets them and the green mass becomes egg shaped. Grey speaks with the voice and it confirms that it is indeed the resident guardian of the area. The liquid forms the shape of one of the creatures Mormund spoke of in his dreams and Grey speaks to Adavi of whether it is truly alive or some sort of ancient magic. Dax scrutinizes the form and notes the voice is coming from the altar instead of the form. The form introduces himself as “Cetrol” and Dax introduces himself as James Bard. They question Cetrol about the age of the palace and he responds that it has been active for over 23,000 years. It tells them that they are Vin’aat Mittari and that they are a species that is ancient before the time of modern races.

Cetrol also says that it’s people were destroyed by the island and that its presence is a curse on the world. His people were a culture of magic users who had used their talents to find new places to  live after their own home was drained from their magic. It goes on to say the Khizrathi are a blight on the land and they didn’t know that they were already here. At first they thought they were simply a primitive race but they were eventually overwhelmed. The Khizrathi have a mastery over the Vagrant Isles unlike any race ever could have. The Vin’att Mattari constructed the pillars as a last ditch effort to stop the Khizrathi but ultimately the magic faded and the pillars themselves were destroyed by Khizrathi or faded out. Cetrol was placed here to guard the facility and so much time passed that parts of the facility became inaccessible. It seemingly cannot tell why sections are destroyed but he can guess. They appear to be after Cetrol itself.  

He goes on to say that the Khizrathi consume people and take on their traits. The last of the Vin’att Mittari leaders were consumed which made Karrak. Destroying the Khizrathi is an impossible task as is destroying the island but they might be able to do it. It seems the Khizrathi have unlocked the island from the pillars bonds to move to another world. Grey suggests that they simply wait for the Khizrathi to leave but they also realize it's possible they left behind spawn behind that will infect the mainland. However they seemed to be repelled from the mainland by some force but at the same time it has imprisoned them here on the island along with everyone else already on the island. Grey is okay to try and end them while they are trapped here.

Cetrol also mentions that if the Khizrathi were to get their hands on him that another Demi-God like Karrack would be created. To prevent that he requests that they kill him and collapse the pillars of the facility to destroy it. He could then use the last of his magic to send them to the surface. Dax tries to get him to try and escape but Cetrol seems to be set on its own death. He offers to give them proof of Redfern’s betrayal. They must contact Mother Magatha, a deity of the isle, an “anomaly”, and Atlas who lies in a tower made by the Vin’att MIttari. Time is running short and they need to make a decision. He lays out the defenses of the facility and the remaining power left to use them. They can decide to power up themselves, they can activate the Vanguard warriors, or they can activate the heavy turret defenses. They can also retrieve the memory proving Redfern’s corruption for an additional cell of power.  Grey is adamant about retrieving the proof.

They huddle together and decide to be powered magically and take the evidence. An explosion rocks overhead and the group readies to receive the magic at the altar. A wall explodes above and a long spider like thing makes its way inside and the facility whirs up. Cetrol pulls the magic into him and injects it into the hero making them grow in strength and power and healing their wounds and exhaustion. The giant spider Khizrathi hybrid Abomination Monarch roars and the party enters initiative.

Ollie races on to attach charges to the pillars. Dax blesses the party and goes to hide in the rubble. Mormund runs alongside Grey and casts firebolt bolt it swings wide. Adavi summons a wave of fear upon it but the abomination shakes it off and Adavi steps back. Grey rushes up and hexes the spider then strikes with his blade at its legs sheering off the armor. The Abomination Monarch strikes at Grey and multiple times and strikes him but Grey shrugs it off. Ollie continues to work on the charges on the pillars. Mormund charges the Monarch with Brine Blade and slashes at it again and again. Grey commands Mormund to stand behind him and he obliges. Dax tries to deafen the creature to throw off its echolocation and hides. Adavi casts a Chromatic Orb of Fire and misses hitting the pillar behind. Grey surmises that it will attack Grey himself and sees through the Monarch’s feint. He casts Blade Ward and readies his defenses.

The Monarch shrieks violently and a rune glows violently red as lightning arcs out and hits Grey and Mormund. Adavi and Ollie continue working on the charges. Dax pulls out one of his crossbows, moves up, and fires at the Monarch striking it in the face. Cetrol notifies the defenses are being overwhelmed and they need to hurry. Dax inspires Mormund with a song of Bardic lore and Mormund lashes out at the Monarch with his blade. He strikes and slashes  mighty blows then he surges forward to seize the initiative and jumps on its back to deliver more powerful blows. Adavi fixes up the explosives and finishes with the set up. Grey slashes at the leg and sees it is made of metal as it falls off. The Monarch fires a large fireball into the air and the entire group gets hurt as they are caught in a wall of flame and Mormund is knocked out cold. Ollie dashes to a new pillar and the door smashes open allowing the Khizrathi to charge in.

Dax rushes over to Mormund and casts cure wounds to heal him up. He then mocks the spider to try and get its attention by dancing around. Mormund stands up and strikes at the Monarch once, chops into its leg, and then drags the blade across its midsection killing it.

A massive orb drops from its midsection and the group run away from it as it begins to gather energy. Adavi says to throw it at the door and runs behind a pile of rubble then casts chromatic orbs at the Khizrathi at the gate. The two orbs strike the archers and obliterate the Khizrathi Archers. Grey rushes to pick up the orb that fell from the spider and tosses it at the coming Khizrathi and it shatters….

The orb explodes violently and a flash of green fire rushes out causing the dynamite on the side and bringing half the area down with it. Several of the Khizrathi are incinerated as the fire envelops them. Some Khizrathi squeeze through as they run in through the rubble blocked door. Another pillar is rigged and Dax ignites the second dynamite pillar. Several other Khizrathi die from the blast and Grey blasts away a survivor. Ollie sets the final charge and Cetrol says the teleportation is ready. They decide to be teleported to the city and Grey offers a prayer to Cetrol and they light the dynamite. As they begin to go and the facility powers down Cetrol offers the group one parting gift, the truth of Redfern’s betrayal. The detonate the dynamite and the facility violently shake as they teleport out.

They appear in front of the city and look around the area. Dax hears shouting and cheering and what vaguely sounds like Redfern. The entrance to Woodley seems to be unguarded and the fog seems to have completely waved away.  Turning around they see a Turabi man, an elf, a blonde woman, a knight with heavy plate, someone wearing robes similar to Nos’on. They talk to the others and Grey challenges them to identify themselves. The party says that they were contracted to guard an area named The Maw but admits that they have been fooled and their employer is dead. They try to show them the vision in the crystal and the elf steps forward to help activate it. The introducer themselves as Liamar, Rashaad, Tilde, Elam, Kai, The Company of Teeth. Dax suggests that they jump into the crowd before they show it and show that Redfern is corrupted. They agree and the group agree to mix around Dax to shield his approach.

Dax walks behind a bush and changes into the dress and turns into a poor peasant girl. Grey decides to briefly befriend the warrior of the group and ask his opinion of the spider leg. As they go into the city they see Redfern addressing the crowd from the palisades. He seems to blame the other people who they scared away or killed for the problems cursing Woodley. Redfern points out Dax in the crowd and paints him as a thief. Dax goes next to him on the stage and pulls out the crystal unleashing the vision from the crystal. The crystal thrums with power and it shows Karrack negotiating with Redfern and his murder of the young girl in the village. Redfern offers the girl as a sacrifice and Karrack kills dog she was with. This causes the black hound to be formed. Karrack takes the girl into the forest. After that it goes to Redfern in his office demanding Karrack lift the curse on his village. When he shakes the seeing jar suddenly his chest is run through by the blade of a Turabi. The Turabi leans down and taunts Redfern and makes a summoning ritual that Makes something take the form of Redfern. Finally the vision closes.

Dax places his hand on Redfern’s back and tells him he will pay for the lives he’s taken. He tries to hit a guiding bolt but before he can a great howl reaches through the village and makes the villagers recoil in fear. Black eyes in the distance burn with anger and the Black Hound charges forward and stops at the entrance. Mormund hears it speak into his mind and it demands Redfern’s life. Adavi binds him with a spell and the townspeople turn hostile to Redfern. The Black Hound waits as Dax tries to calm their blood lust and put him on trial. He seems to have won their trust and Grey, being the highest ranking member of the church in the area, Grey agrees to arbitrate the proceedings. The Black Hound is eager to receive justice and Grey begins the proceedings and Liamar comes forward to speak to the authenticity of the person and they try to bring him to Grey to speak he breaks from the binding and teleports himself to a nearby villager. Mormund tells the hound he is free to attack. Dax tries to tell Redfern to drop the knife and he appears to submit to his suggestion. The hound tackles Redfern and the civilian and eventually gets Redfern. The hound wrenches the civilian away and falls upon Redfern to maul him to death.

Grey, after the hound retreats from a mutilated Redfern, Grey challenges him on what will happen after he leaves. The hound claims he will go peaceably and, even though Grey is unsure about his connection to the Khizrathi, it appears it does. The dog fades away but not before promising to come to Mormund if he calls and needs aid. The Black Hound fades away.

As the group begins to disperse the ground outside the city rumbles and bubbles. As the earth erupts upward the fist of Ermok appears and Khizrathi pour out from the breach. Off to the side sounds two horns and so appears Karrack to join them. Overhead an eagle cries and draws their attention to the hills. A gleaming blade and banner of an army led by Ibn Turab and  Atborough. The Company of the Teeth begin directing people to evacuate Woodley as the armies begin forming at the other’s lines. Ibn suggests evacuating the city and holding off the Khizrathi to buy the evacuating village time. Dax gives him tips to the enemies and Turab rides off to fight. Atborough tells them to assemble everyone in the village that can fight and rallies the traitor guards who were swayed back to their side and tells them to hold the gate with their lives. The Company of the Teeth join the gate guard and Dax tells Mormund to burn Atborough’s office and destroy or capture the warchest. It seems Atborough already took care of his own office. Dax then calls Grey to check if anything can be retrieved from the temple. He determines they need to retrieve the banners and the older tomes but nothing more.

Outside Woodley the two arms clash together with arrows and javelins being fired at each other while the main lines slowly advance.  Ermok begins to rip up chunks of earth and throw them. Overhead Karrack taunts Turab and Grey sees that he has Turab’s wife Asha and his daughter. They are injured and scared. Turab responds and Karrack continues to try and force him to back down. They decide to allow Turab to fight Karrack and turn to their duties. Dax and Grey rushes to try and save the relics of the temple while Mormund goes to ransack Redfern’s office. Adavi goes to help on the barrier.

Karrack and Turab face each other and Karrack brings a blade down on Asha killing them both. Turab appears in front of him and catches Karrack’s blade with his own. In flashes faster than the eye could track they start battling blade to blade across the field. A horn sounds and Cavalry charges through the Khizrathi lines. Grey goes to the temple and finds people looting and panicked but Grey manages to belt out to people to leave their possessions. As they do they see Khizrathi come around the area. Grey fires scorching rays which miss but hit a building that sends the Khizrathi reeling. Mormund helps a family by lifting their cart out of deep mud then roasts a charging Khizrathi with a Firebolt. Khizrathi charge the gate and Adavi casts fear upon them. His will roars out and many of the smaller Khizrathi turn around and flee in terror allowing Liamar to shoot out magic missiles and disintegrate them one by one.

Turab disengages and sees enemies around him and swirls around knocking them away in to the air. He then turns toward the Ermok as the throng separates them. Elam joins Dax and Grey to offer his help. Dax runs into the temple and Grey and Elam charges at the incoming Khizrathi. Grey and Elam crush the charging Khizrathi trying to break into the temple together.

At the gate they see the lines break into each other and start clashing. At the gate shields press against each other anda davi takes advantage of the Khizrathi proximity to chain lightning spells to break their ranks. Liamar later launches a fireball so they could be  repelled back. Ibn Turab meets Ermok dodges a blow from his giant fist. He then runs up Ermok’s arm and to his face wrenching open the titan’s eye. He dives into it and starts tear the giant Khizrathi up from the inside.  Ermok staggers back and tries to dig Ibn out. It hurts Ibn’s leg as the hand crushes his leg into his hand. He crawls down and several knights take advantage to attack Ermok’s legs.

Dax at the temple finds some wands and other sundries that he collects such as holy texts and Mary Shelby’s notes. Grey and Elam keep fighting outside and Grey sees a Khizrathi aiming an arrow at some civilians fleeing. He summons his focus and launches a scorching ray at it blasting a hole in its torso and utterly burning it to a crisp. At the front gate the defenders reform and the enemies fire arrows at the defenders. They hide behind crenulations and shields and Adavi suggests getting fertilizer to send into the enemy. A Khizrathi pops up and tries to draw an arrow on Atborough but Adavi strikes it with a chromatic orb that sends it flying off the palisades.

Dax calls out to the fleeing people to drop their possessions and run and they appear to follow his words. Dax launches a bolt that goes wide. Mormund arrives at Redfern’s home to see it is on fire and he rushes in to search for anything of importance. He finds a bag of gold, an edict from the scions of the north, a grouping of scrolls, and the bottle of water used for scrying. At the front gate the human army starts to fall back and Turab fights against Ermok. Suddenly bears and other animals comes out of the Croftwood charging the Khizrathi flanks. An eagle takes Turab and drops him next to Karrack but has he attack Karrack intercepts him and grasps him by the throat lifting him into the air. Karrack sends a black energy into the soldiers and squeezes Turab’s neck. However Turab grins and squeezes his own neck making white energy surge from him and dissolve Khizrathi. Karracks hand suddenly starts peeling his flesh back. Energy and light and wind cover the battlefield.

The group is enveloped in white void and Ibn Turab appears in front of him. He admits the Khizrathi were the victors and that they must go to the capital and speak to the Council of Seven to ask about summoning Atlas. He goes on to say the Grey Lady is losing his grip on the Wandering Isles and they need to go to the Council to find Atlas. Magatha is a chaotic spirit and promises that she will show if the group is strong enough. The Grey Lady herself is the final key of the puzzle to ending the Khizrathi. Grey offers Turab a wish of well being in the afterlife. Turab returns the thanks and leaves.

As they leave the void and color returns to the world they see a massive crater in the battlefield. The Khizrathi are retreating and Karrack stands at their emergence hole smoldering and with his flesh peeled back but still alive. The humans seem well and look around in shock at the sight. Grey takes his leave of the party and Atborrough comes to speak with them. They have witnessed the death of the Scion and he notes that's a rare thing. They join up with the remainder of the army and meet up with Nos’on again. He greets the others and the army moves north and Lysandre and his men join them from behind and fall in line.

Over the next few days the army walks north to the capital and Dax has Liamar look at the things he collected from the temple. One of the tomes amplifies spellcasting and the wand is lightning magic. He hands it to Adavi and keeps the wand. Mormund suddenly sees the Black Hound around him. Grey seems to be happy about his encroaching death but doesn’t seem to tell anybody about it. Haalsgard joins them in a few days and repairs the broken armors and reunites Dax with his faithful steed Oscar. He repairs the armor with Dwarvish runes offering better protection and a warhammer that deals fire damage to non-human enemies. Haalsgard gives Mormund a strong work of armor engraved with runes and pictures of his fight against the Spider Monarch. Grey also gets a sword crafted from the spider leg that inspires him with bravery and keeps him from fear. Adavi sees his draconic heritage is overtaking more of his body. He speaks to Nos’on and he appears worried about the implications of being found out. He suggests finding Lythia in the forest as they travel. Looking at the things from Redfern’s office they find a transmutation ritual and the letter from the council.

The group continue on to the capital….

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Stream XXI: Enemies at the Gate

The group find themselves walking down an empty corridor with small spiders leading them. Ollie says that they will be at the armory soon. With confidence in their stride they finally reach the armory only to find it is locked. They could look for the key or try to force the door open. Grey suggests frosting the door and making the lock brittle before they push it in. Dax tries instead to fiddle with the bit of metal he used last time but to no avail. Trying the bars they rattle the bars for weaknesses and find it is slightly weakened. After Adavi weakens it further with frost Grey attacks the bars with his maul. He takes some time beating on the bars and shatters them back. They walk into the Armory and set upon the bounty inside. Ollie goes over to a specific area in the wall and fiddles with the explosives storage only to find there isn't a lot of it left.  

The group look around to see if anyone or anything might have gotten into the storage room. They find a menagerie of iron, tools, and other substances in the room and take their fill as Ollie gathers up the remaining explosives and also notes oil dripping on the floor. Grey finds a two handed warmaul in 3 pieces and 35 gold pieces. The hammer has the Highguard family name on it. Ollie seems to be distraught over the story behind the hammer and mentions the hammer has magic in it. As Adavi tries to repair it with magic he gets backlash and sees with his detect magic that the magic in in the handle. There is also a suit of dwarvish armor that was pierced by some spike. As they look around at the items Dax goes to a table and drinks some water out of it. After Dax drinks it Mormund tells him to stop it and he tosses it over his shoulder and Mormund catches it and places it on the table.

Ollie picks up the bowl and muses about it somewhat. Adavi notes somebody has been in the area and the group wonders how they got in if it was locked. Mormund goes on to look at the leaking barrels and finds them. The one in the center had a seal broken and the oil dripped out over time. It doesnt seem to be tampered with which does not indicate an attack. Grey looks around and plays with the dirt with his boot. He sees the ground is depressed in a spot and sees there is a possible location of a burrowing creature. Ollie comes over to investigate with him and sees it is indeed the Khizrathi burrowing in the area. Dax does a thorough inspection of the area and finds no more explosives. Dax however looks up and encounters a Jelly. It oozes down and tries to engulf him. Enter Initiative.

Dax runs off and picks up an iron ingot. He casts light on it and hides. The slime gloops forward and swipes at Adavi nearly missing him. Dax runs up to the jelly and throws the ingot at it. Adavi sees the glowing ingot stuck on the jelly and uses Shocking Grasp. The slime is split in half and cooked. The slimes slither at Adavi and one strikes him. Adavi gets some acid on his face and pulls some flesh off his face. Ollie hears Adavi cry out and rushes to him slamming his hammer into the slime. Grey swings around and strikes with his greatsword cleaving the slimes in half. Mormund swings over to the other slime and slashes it. It flips off from the main body and makes yet another jelly.

Dax sees the ingot has sunk into the jelly and uses Heat Metal to increase the temp of the metal. The Jelly spits out the ingot onto the puddle of oil and continues. Adavi runs away and reflects on the battle with the Jelly. Maybe fire is the answer? The slimes attack Grey, Mormund, and Ollie. Gray is greatly injured by the acid of the creature and Mormund takes some as well. Dax tells the group to run away implying he’ll ignite the oil and Ollie runs away. Grey readies a Scorching Ray and one slime begins to boil. But then Grey loses control of the spell and ignites the oil. They start to retreat from the room as the fire begins to spread.

The fire burns and fills the area causing people to lose their direction. Dax gets under the smoke and tries to make noise for Adavi to follow. He grabs ahold of Ollie and prepares him to run. Adavi stumbles through the room and is suddenly flanked in the flames. Two of the slimes flee and slither into the cracks of the room. The others stay and chase their prey. They miss. Dax readies to run with Ollie and runs out of the area. Mormund and Grey make their escape from the room and only Adavi is left in the room with the fire spreading quickly. Adavi appears to be in rough shape.

Dax pours water on himself with the bowl and dives back into the flames to help Adavi. He casts healing word and finds Adavi in the fire. As Dax pulls him Adavi disengages and the slimes slap at Dax. One wraps around Dax’s leg and burns it with acid. As they try to move Ollie orders everyone down and a massive explosion shakes the mine. Dax and Adavi jump through and Adavi sets to work sealing the entrance with ice and water. Soon thereafter the ice cracks and some slime starts slithering through it. The group ready their ranged weapons and, as it coagulates, the group batter the area and obliterate the last slime. Exit Initiative.

As they sit down in the room through the ice barrier Grey sits down and apologises for the incident. Dax offers up his skin of liquor and they all breathe a sigh of relief being rid of the Jelly….

The group sit outside the area and check their equipment and decide what to do. Dax looks over Adavi in detail and notice the calcium deposits on Adavi’s skin are still there. Ollie goes to the door to check it. Adavi walks up to it and smashes a the door down and the group look into it. There are various potions on the table inside and Adavi takes them and passes them around. They also see a flask of dwarven fire which Dax quickly swipes and begins strapping a stick of dynamite on the flask. The group are visibly worried about the mixture of fire and explosives and Mormund tries to take it away from him. After a bit of banter Dax relinquishes it.

They walk down the stairwell into the bottom of the mines and speaks to the group mentioning they might not survive. Dax thanks Mormund one last time for his kindness taking him in during their time in Graustein. Grey however sees death as a release from torment of his life. Dax works past the group to scout ahead and casts dancing lights on Mormund’s beard. The group move on and reach the bottom of the stairwell and Dax starts leaving marks on the ground. They start moving through with Ollie and Dax comes to a large cavern. Dax starts playing his harmonica and echoes through the chamber. They reach a bluff where the group climbs down and meet a giant door. Nobody has ever seen a door like this except for Mormund. It looks exactly like the door in his vision with a slot that fits the key he holds. Dax also sees the bodies of the Khizrathi at the foot of the door.

Mormund brings out a sketchpad and tells the others that this is the door to the city. Ollie explains that they discovered the door some time ago and left it be. He isn’t sure how the bodies got there but Adavi doesn’t want to find out. Trying to figure out what it is Dax leans against a pillar and activates something. They look around the room and find runes that Mormund remembers from his dreams. Grey tries to speak to Lady Grey for guidance and casts Comprehend Languages. He finds they are only runes and might contain some other secret. Upon further investigation they manage to figure out the sequence. They agree to open the door and Grey volunteers to be the one to do it. Dax however argues they should do the ritual to kill the hound. While they argue something clinks in the distance. They see the Rune slide into position.

The group ready to begin the ritual and Grey starts praying to try and evoke the Lady. They construct the ritual to try and seal away the hound. As the final step Mormund must immerse his face in the bowl and the others begin chanting to complete the ritual. He sees Redfern and the Khizrathi are speaking plainly and it seems Redfern is striking a deal with the elder Khizrathi to leave Woodley alone. The Khizrathi, named Kark, hands Redfern a crossbow and a promise to leave Woodley alone. He then sees Redfern walk up to a girl playing in the clearing and shot at her. A small puppy jumps into the way and the vision ends.

Mormund tells the others what his vision is and Grey is shocked beyond belief. He calls it heresy and demands Redfern face the hound in retribution. Ollie is also shocked but notes that the ritual is meant to kill the hound but nothing appears to have happened. They agree to confront Redfern and the Hound when they reach the surface.

Mormund decides to try and touch the door and see what happens. Not much does happen but feels something gently vibrating from the other side. They don’t seem interested but Grey suggests they do the sequence now. In fact he demands they do it. Before they do Dax hides the dwarven fire bomb and suggests if they are attacked and overwhelmed They can use it to delay pursuers. They push the runes and the sound of sliding stones fill the room. Grey and Dax go to the door to insert the keystone. Soon they hear the humming stop. From behind they hear something and all but Grey turn around to see a tall creature and Mormund recognizes it as a creature from his vision.

The creature appears to be a hologram or illusion of some sort. The illusion asks their purpose and they are trying to get in. The illusion says that the city is sealed for a long time. Grey tries to command the creature, not knowing it is an illusion, to no avail. Dax tries his own silver tongue and tries to get the illusion to tell them about what is sealed inside. He agrees to do that if they can repel the Khizrathi swarming and ready to charge. The group agrees to hold off the Khizrathi and ready to face the Khizrathi. The gate clinks and clanks together as it reinforces itself in preparation. Enter Initiative.

Dax readies a blast to detonate the dwarf fire bomb. Dax inspires Grey with a song. Adavi fires a Scorching Ray but misses everything. A Khizrathi lights a dynamite and throws it off towards the group. Khizrathi Archers fire at Ollie and Mormund. Ollie is lightly wounded. Grey moves up with the group. Mormund uses Mages Hands to grab the dynamite and moves it to the middle of a group of Khizrathi. The dynamite explodes and eviscerates one Khizrathi. Dax inspires Adavi and Adavi readies his Scorching Ray. He unleashes three rays and one Khizrathi is obliterated. The Melee Khizrathi rush forwards. Dax keeps holding his spell. The Khizrathi Archers fire at Grey runs to the bomb and throws it into the air shouting Dax’s name. Dax calls Grey back and casts heat metal. The bomb violently explodes and alchemic fire rains down over the Khizrathi that aren’t instantly eviscerated catching many of them on fire and setting the cave ceiling ablaze. The group fall down and avoid the blast.

Mormund comes up again and runs over to the nearest Khizrathi summoning his Brineblade. Mormund cleaves into the shoulder of the Khizrathi making it spill blood. Adavi readies his Orbs and dissolves the legs of the Khizrathi spilling blood all over. Dax jumps out from his hiding and stabs at a Khizrathi with his rapier. He then activates the flaming function to torch another Khizrathi. Dax summons the Fury of the Small and stabs repeatedly at the Khizrathi. Ollie swings at a Khizrathi but misses. More Khizrathi from the back move forward. Grey is slashed by a soldier. Grey casts a spell to armor himself and runs to engage another Khizrathi. Mormund throws his axe at a Khizrathi but misses. Mormund summons his Acid Magic Orbs again and sends it down on top of the Khizrathi’s head. They hear a thudding behind and the illusion appears again stating he has drained the last of the power before the runes activate sending lasers that cut the Khizrathi down by the swathes. The Illusion tells them to get inside and Dax kills one more Khizrathi. The group rush to the gate which is slowly opening. Grey hears “Armok”. Grey tries to run away and gets hit by a Khizrathi which suddenly gets engulfed in magical ice. Arrows rush around them as they run and Grey quickly helps Dax retrieve the keystone. Grey is peppered by arrows in his back and Dax turns to mock the archers. Dax falls off Grey’s shoulders and Grey grabs him to throw him into the door before rushing in himself.

The gate crashes closed and the searing beams cut through the last of the Khizrathi. The group look around them as the beams fall silent and darkness engulfs them. They find themselves in the ruins of a forgotten city….

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Stream XX: Minecart Ride

Grey yells at Dax the correct symbol for dynamite and he manages to dig out the correct box. Mormund charges the worm but only grazes the flesh. Grey swings at the worm and rams his blade into it tearing a large chunk from it. The worm writhes in pain and throws the Khizrathi rider off. The Khizarathi swings at Grey and misses after being distracted by Dax. The second worm strikes with tentacles at and misses Ollie but the rider leans down and slashes him. Dax tests the box of dynamite and tries to lug it over to obstruction. Dax puts it down and casts a guiding bolt at the worm make it writhe in pain. Adavi casts a Ray of Sickness at the Khizrathi riders and both are struck. Ollie strikes at the Rider and misses.

The group hears a call roaring through the deep but can’t see what makes it. Mormund brings his sword up to the worm and cleaves it in half completely. After seeing it cleaved in half he crawls over the worm and attacks the Khizrathi but misses. Grey strikes at the Khizrathi and slams his blade into the side of the Khizrathi wounding it gravely. Khizrathi start crawling out of the crags and fire arrows striking Dax and Grey. The worm and rider strike Ollie with tentacles and blade and wound him heavily. Dax unleashes all of his magic missiles into the fray and strikes the archer Khizrathi launching him off the cliff and to its death. Dax then jumps into cover and hides behind it. Adavi casts Shocking Grasp on the Khizrathi rider but misses and hits the mysterious machine beside him. Ollie wrenches free of the worm and summons his energy to strike the worm with his warhammer and smacks it around. Mormund strikes out with his sword and decapitates the Khizrathi. More clambering on the walls of the abyss as more Khizrathi crawl up from the depths. Mormund runs through to help Grey and the others. Grey races over to the crate to help. Three archers fire wildly on Grey and bristle his chest with arrows. Two other Khizrathi run for Mormund and Adavi and strike but misses the hit. The worm continues attacking Ollie and strikes with tentacles. Ollie appears to be in grave danger and poisoned.

Dax runs to the crate and tries to pry it open but fails. Adavi activates his Robe of Mirrors to make magic clones. Ollie struggles hard against the worm and regains a heroic vigor and strikes the worm with his hammer and adding some extra force behind his hammer manages to crack part of its body. Mormund disengages and runs towards the others. Grey casts a hex on one Khizrathi and but misses the swing. One Khizrathi drops his bow and attacks Grey with a dagger but it glaces off his armor. A second Khizrathi fires an arrow and pierces his ankle impeding his mobility. Another Khizrathi slashes at Mormund but doesn’t hit and Mormund retaliates for light damage. Ollie gets entangled by the tentacles again. Dax continues to pry the top of the crate open and looks inside. Inside is a bundle of dynamite which he unbands, sticks into the rubble pile, lights the fuse, and runs. Adavi and his clones use Shocking Grasp on the Khizrathi shocking it in the head. Ollie breaks out of the worm’s grasp. Mormund calls on his master weapon training but the Khizrathi dances away. Grey goes to shove a Khizrathi Archer off the cliff and slams into it sending it over the edge and hurtling into the abyss.

A massive boom rocks the caverns and a bright light floods the area destroying the obstruction on the tracks. The rider and worm attacks Ollie with only the Khizrathi slashing. Another Khizrathi swipes at Adavi’s clones but fails to hit. The Khizrathi attacking Mormund digs his knife into Mormunds armor but gets it wedged in wrong and it is ripped from its hands. The Khizrathi fighting Grey slashes with its dagger but misses. They hear more voices from the deep. Dax takes a rope and ties some dynamite to it ready to throw it over the side. Adavi readies another shocking grasp but barely hits. Ollie recovers and strikes against the worm and the rider with a sweeping attack. He then runs to Dax and pushes him off to recover the thunderstone. Grey casts Hex once more and grabs the Khizrathi chopping its arm off and watching it tumble over the side to its death. The worm strikes with tentacles and the rider slashes at Ollie and the blade hits his throat. A rider Khizrathi catches Adavi for slight damage. Grey gets slashed by Khizrathi and another fires his bow but snaps it. The Khizrathi jumps over drawing his knife but hits the ledge and tries to climb up. The last Khizrathi swipes at Dax and misses. Dax throws the dynamite over the ledge at the climbing Khizrathi. Adavi tries to strike a Khizrathi but misses. The dynamite explodes and causes the Khizrathi that jumped over to lose his grip and fall into the mines below. Mormund scrambles through the pile of supplies as more shrieks from below come up.

Grey swipes at a Khizrathi but misses it and embeds his sword into the nearby stone. The worm and rider move to Adavi and strikes out at a mirror image. A Khizrathi swings at Grey but stumbles and Grey takes the opportunity to shove him to the edge. A Khizrathi strikes Dax with his dagger and hits for moderate damage. Dax draws his own sword and strikes back at the Khizrathi and runs him through. Adavi casts Chromatic Orb of Acid at the worm and rider but the first orb splashes Adavi as it explodes. He refocuses and fires at the rider smashing him and and dissolving him down. More Khizrathi climb up from below. Mormund tries to pry open the crate but cannot. Grey moves his hex and charges the Khizrathi at the edge and sends him over spiraling to the bottom. The worm strikes at Adavi and hits a mirror. Another Khizrathi strikes at Adavi and slashes him. A Khizrathi attacks grey but it harmlessly bounces off his armor. Another Khizrathi jumps across the chasm but hits the edge. The other runs for Mormund. Dax walks to the other side of the worm and runs over. He viciously mocks the worm and tries to hit the worm on its side but hits the poison sack getting poison all over him and becoming paralyzed.

Adavi disengages from his enemy and runs behind the rocks. Mormund hears the group of Khizrathi disengage and they seem to try summoning something named “Ermok”. Mormund fails to open the crate and drags it over to the cart. Grey slashes a Khizrathi for light damage as it retreats to join the ritual. Grey goes to drag over the crate with Mormund as the chanting continues to grow louder….

End initiative. The worm breaks from its rider and entangles a Khizrathi in its tentacles. Adavi strikes launches himself over the cart and finds a health potion in Ollie’s pockets. Ollie revives and he charges the worm and readies his hammer. Dax swipes at the Khizrathi but fails. Grey pries the crate open and takes a thunderstone back to the cart. A thud sounds in the deep. Adavi uses a poison spray on the remaining worm causing it to bubble up and dissolve. Ollie thanks him for the help and picks up a thunderstorm next to the barrel and places it into the container. Mormund picks up another scoop and follows suite. Grey picks up Dax with and thunderstone and then goes to retrieve his sword. Adavi pulls the cord and starts up the cart again. Grey passes off Dax and goes to retrieve his sword.

Over the side a massive fist comes up over the edge. Grey draws his sword out from the stone as a massive Khizrathi titan emerges from the mines. The carts start to move as the thunderstone is ground up. Grey tries to distract the titan and Dax tells ollie to move the cart forward. The Titan closes the gap to Grey as the cart comes over and Dax tries to convince it to fight for them to no avail. Grey is pulled into the cart by Mormund but the Titan swings a massive boulder at Grey and pins him to the bottom of it. The cart zooms away and the comes up to a hard turn. They try to lean into it and Ollie notes a coupling is coming loose. Ollie leans over the side to fix a it with a spanner and they hit a second turn. Ermok throws a stone at the cart and it sails just over their heads and into the sheer cliff in front of them. A third turn makes Ollie takes a short brake on the cart and notes one of the wheels is coming loose. As he moves to fix the wheel Adavi slips inbetween the gap. Ollie instructs Dax unsuccessfully to operate the lever. The cart squeezes Adavi but manages to pull himself up. He mends the wheel back on and the next turn. Grey sees the cart track is out of alignment and calls it out to which Ollie tells Dax to full brake. Dax slams down on the brake and the group jumps out to try and reallign the track to allow them to proceed. They have trouble at first and the Khizrathi start climbing towards them as Ermok picks up another boulder. Mormund summons up his strength and wrenches the tracks up.  

They rev up the carts and start moving again. The Khizrathi on a side wallf ire arrows onto the carts and hits Grey. The cart hits another curb and Ollie pulls himself in. More arrows batter the carts and hits Mormund and Ollie. Grey and Adavi try to switch but fail. Another curb comes up and then a split. They decide to try and brake but fail and plummet into a pit. They fall for a while and start to notice something slowing their fall. They hit bedrock below after something like vines breaks their fall. They are now sitting in pitch darkness. Dax casts his lights and finds Ollie. Grey tries to stabilize Ollie and Dax looks around the caverns. He finds thick webbing on the walls and surmises they may be in a spider's lair. They hope they found the scrabblies but others aren’t so sure. Ollie is in rough shape and the group wants to rest here. They try to fortify an alcove nearby to hide them from enemies.

The next 8 hours the group rests up as best as people who are high on adrenaline can and Dax checks Ollie over medically. Dax sees that he has an internal injury and when Ollie wakes Dax appraises him of his grim situation. They take Ollie to see the area they landed at and he surveys the area. Ollie recognizes the area and motions them to an area where three large spiders are digging. Ollie identifies them as Scrabblies and tries to walk towards them but Dax notes that they had killed some of the Scrabblies before. He takes a belt with stones on it and clanks them together calling to the Scrabblies and they agree to take them to the queen.

They walk for near an hour after the Scrabblies and finally they reach a pinch in the cavern. Ollie holds up the rope and they are lead to an area that houses a gigantic spider like entity. They see stones in varying shades and shapes in front of her. Ollie begins speaking the Scrabblies leaders and the party bows to her. They offer the meet and Ollie rearranges the stones to communicate with them. Dax offers the gemstones he has but Ollie waves him away. After several hours they conclude the meet. They are said to bow and crawl out of the room. Gray seems quite reluctant to crawl but he agrees to. They gain a guide through the caverns in the form of a young scrabbly. They can roam around the scrabblies territory on one condition: They must kill the Scrabbly king that has been corrupted by the Khizrathi. The young one will lead them the rest of the way and Ollie has convinced them to evacuate the caverns already to avoid them from being killed when they collapse the mines. Ollie also wants to find keepsakes of the mining crew but Dax tries to convince him to go straight for the main objective.

They dive through the dark and claustrophobic caverns for nearly an hour and come to a fork. They hear a conversation in broken dwarvish and it seems two dwarves made it out alive. Grey warns that they might be using an illusion to draw them in but they elect to investigate.  Adavi investigates with his magic detection and sees that it might simply be a magical echo of the past. Grey continues to be skeptical but Ollie tries to persist but they compromise Mormund to go check on the shining glint in the rubble. Mormund looks at the rubble and finds a fallen dwarf. The whispy form of ghosts materializes and reenact their final moments. Ollie, seeing that the dwarves are trapped in this world, falls to his knees and weeps. To dwarves this is an abomination and to Grey he feels the same as its against his own faith in the Grey Lady. Dax offers to cleanse the spirits to free them and Ollie gives them his permission to try.

They begin to set up the ritual and start to sing the Dwarven Funeral Song as Dax speaks a prayer to the Gray Lady. The spirits move on and Ollie gives Mormund the equipment they held. They aren’t sure what caused the spirits to be captured but Grey and Ollie notes the natural order of the island are violently off. They resolve to move on and Mormund gains a blessed bracelet that he slips on. They gather their courage and move further into the caverns.  

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Stream XIX: Terrors in the Deep

As the mines settle Adavi casts dancing lights in front and Deepbrow tells the group about the task ahead. They will have to speak to the denizens of the dark to progress with their task and that they will have to speak to the “Scrabblies”. The carts start to move forward but quickly run into a problem. The struts on the cart are weakened and Deepbrow goes to fix it. They are slowly starting to pick up speed as Deepbrow comes back up having fixed it. They move along and see the structure of the mine reinforced as a dwarven make.

Adavi takes the time to ask about the Scrabblies. Deepbrow says that they are sentient creatures they found while mining that they had made several agreements with. Deepbrow isn't sure if those agreements are still in place but he banks on their goodwill to to be in his favor. They seem to be spiderlike with scythe arms and six legs and about as tall as a human. They hunt wild animals named “Underbeasts”, considered a delicacy to the Scrabblies, and Deepbrow thinks this could be a way to curry favor with their leader for information. After about 30 minutes they stop the cart and search for the underbeasts. They come to the garbage chutes of the mine and past reaching the stairwell. The area at the bottom of the stairwell is where the Khizrathi first attacked and they retreated in the stairwell to bar them off. The group are cautious about moving around but Deepbrow tries to reassure the group that the echo of the chambers would broadcast an enemy position for a long ways away.

Deepbrow continues that at first they thought they had simply met another subterranean species but soon the Khizrathi had devastated their numbers and forced them to probe in the dark to survive until they got to the surface. Deepbrow continues to talk about how they tried to destroy the columns and how they were stopped from destroying them and forced into retreat. Then they were all stuck in the base camp until the party found them.

They eventually reach a door where they were originally going to dig but gave up after finding no indicator minerals in the soil. The Underbeasts prefer to stay in this area because of the fungus and other growths on the cave walls. They see the areas where the beasts scamper on the wall as a good sign and Dax scouts out ahead. He sees more areas, a variable, thicket of earth, develop around him and the rest of the party move forward after him. Mormund remarks about the remarkable ecosystem that developed in the underground. Grey sees a strange square shaped creature flap away and Deepbrow remarks on some of the cave’s finer features about its wildlife and plant life. As dax looks too closely at a mushroom it shakes and covers him in spores which causes his throat to itch and skin to be irritated. As they walk on Dax’s throat closes off and he hacks and coughs. Grey goes to check on him Dax makes a bad pun. Suddenly they hear the underbeast in the distance and the group takes up defensive positions.

In the dark the group hear and, in the case of Dax, sees the Underbeasts moving towards them. Deepbrow draws his pistol and barely misses. Adavi tries to douse the creatures with his staff and fires a ray of frost but misses. Dax hears the creatures to the left and readies a guiding bolt. Mormund casts firebolt down the corridor and catches a look at one. Grey then follows the dust trails on the ceiling and locks eyes with them. Enter Initiative.

Grey retreats to the party and challenges the enemies to draw the Underbeasts ire. Adavi activates his cloak of mirrors and makes mirror clones of himself. The underbeast is a large ape like creature with white fur but stained with earth and small plants. The creatures advance on the party and Dax fires a guiding bolt at it with a fury that staggers the creature. The Underbeast continues the charge and swipes at the mirror image destroying it. It tries again and offs another mirror image of Adavi. A second Underbeast charges Deepbrow and drags a claw across his face. The third attacks Grey and hits but doesn’t do damage. Deepbrow strikes at the creature but doesnt hit. Mormund strikes out with the Brine Blade slicing the creature deep in the chest. Grey slashes at the Underbeast overhand and digs his blade into the creature. Adavi rolls an orb of poison to the Underbeast and strikes him melting it down.

Dax runs away from Mormund and to the others but an Underbeast drops from the ceiling next to him. The creature tries to pounce on Dax but can’t seem to strike. The creature against Gray pounces on him and claws furiously to a weak point in his armor. The other beast pounces on Deepbrow but is quickly thrown off. Dax unleashes Fairy Fire on the creatures and envelops two in violet flame. Deepbrow is overwhelmed with the enemy and slips on some mud falling prone. Mormund rushes to engage the beast attacking Dax and slams his blade into it running it through. Grey lashes out with his blade in an arc and strikes one across the chest. Adavi, seeing the purple fire, casts a scorching ray on the three beasts and slams into them. Dax tries to dissonant whispers on one but fails. He then disengages and retreats. The creatures around grey dogpile on him and claw and bite wounding him. Deepbrow tries to rush forward but gets jumped on himself. Deepbrow readies his hammer and strikes a hard blow to a beast. Grey shakes beast off and smashes it with the pommel of his sword sending it to deaths door. Mormund slashes at his beast and it seems almost dead. Adavi fires another scorching ray and hits two beasts killing one. Dax hops over to Grey and heals him up then hops back.

The beasts attacking Grey lunge at him enraged and shrieking giving him a complete mauling. Deepbrow seems tired and injured but carries on with a heroic second wind. He raises his hammer and smashes the creature into the floor killing the Underbeast pouncing on Grey. Mormund charges forward with his blade and runs the Underbeast against him through and kicks him off his sword. Grey recovers from his mauling staggered but still running on anger and adrenaline. He fires a scorching ray and point blanks a ray onto the creature. Adavi readies his quarterstaff and smacks the beast in the knee. Dax draws his rapier and stabs the creature through the chest and then coup de grace’s it with a headbut that caves its nose into its skull. The last Underbeast, scared of seeing its packmates dead, flees for its life. Dax draws his crossbow bolt and runs forward to shoot it after putting a glow on the arrow to tag it for the others. Mormund flings a firebolt at it lighting it on fire. Adavi then casts a last ray of frost and Grey sends a bolt of his own to finally down the creature….

Exit Initiative. The party tries to skin the creatures and prepare the meat to offer to the Scrabblies. Dax and Grey inspires Mormund and Ollie as they work on trying to butcher the corpse of the Underbeasts and do well. Dax starts trying to communicate with the creature above as they hungrily circle. Dax uses his Bolo Leaf to mask the smell and calm the creatures above. Grey asks where he got it and Dax offers him a drag of it. He breathes out and prays to the Grey Lady and Dax tries to mess with him some more but he resists. Dax brings a shaft of light from the ceiling and makes Mormund and Deepbrow believe a cave-in is happening. They shout and dive for cover drawing more beasts to them. The group quickly pick up the meat and start sprinting down the hallway to avoid the beasts. Mormund and Dax fll behind for a while but soon join back up. Grey stumbles over his feet and slams into a stalagmite which makes a section of the ceiling collapse and completely blocked the passage behind them. Some of the rubble collapses onto Dax and damages his legs. The group stop to see what happened and go over to help Dax. Grey tries to send them away to help Dax but Mormund seems suspicious. Grey confesses that he wishes to speak to Dax about matters of faith and him trying to illusion the Grey Lady in front of him.

Grey asks him why he wished to impersonate the Grey Lady on him and how it is heretical. He is clearly hurt that Dax would lie to him about a holy vision. Mormund takes a slow pace away from the two. Grey asks why he has issues with trust and reveals under his armor a stab from an obsidian spear from a goblin. He tells Dax that he has been straight with him and that to be betrayed by questioning his faith in the Grey Lady by tricking him. He forces Dax’s sincere apology and lifts up the rocks off from him. With 20 minutes about before the creatures break through the collapsed rocks Dax walks off and makes a path of glowing stones. He then prepares some sort of ritual and takes out a crumpled old piece of paper. The paper contains writings from a scholar that stops abruptly and continues from Dax’s hand. His script in common tongue starts out basic and slowly gets better as, seemingly, Dax’s knowledge grows in his faith and his education continues. Grey understands the story behind the object and finds new respect for Dax as a brother in the faith. Dax then shows a mark on his arm that Grey sees is a shackle as a northern Goblin slave to the Orcs. He sees tattoos on his arm noting a passage from The Tome of the Broken Helm that speaks to him. Grey apologizes for the remarks towards goblin with a newly found respect to him. The two make amends with each other and decide to leave.

Dax however tells him to wait and Grey seems eager to leave. However Dax tells him to stay and trust in the lady. Suddenly, as the Underbeasts begin to break through Dax casts melt metal and detonates the gunpowder bomb he got previously. The bomb explodes and kills all the Underbeasts in the rubble. Grey is aghast of the power of the gunpowder explosives and Dax has to prod him a while to go forward.

The group reconvene and decide to go back to the minecarts with their new found hunting trophies and go up the large stairwell. Dax hums the song of rest and invigorate the group. About an hour and a half later the group finally hit the top of the stairs. Deepbrow suggests they keep moving on but he appears to be tired and his leg is swelled. Dax suggests resting but Deepbrow wants to move either to the other side of the chasm or push until they reach the Scrabblies. They reach the carts and continue downwards.

The carts move on at a solid pace and they move on to the chasm. Dax casts a light on Mormund’s beard but puts it out as they exit the tunnel. The carts reach the chasm and speed up. Looking ahead Dax sees rubble on the tracks that could cause a painful crash. Dax fires at the rubble with a arrow with light on it and, after some debate with Deepbrow, the brakes are applied and the carts come to a screeching halt just short of the rubble. The group hop out and ready themselves. Dax leans over the edge and throws a lighted stone down it and the light bounces around the craggy lower caves before disappearing. Deepbrow mentions that this type of cave in is common and they need to blast it. Also this is about the spot where they want to blast pillars to collapse the mines. Another problem occurs and Deepbrow mentions he needs to get thunderstone to the carts to kickstart it again. As they talk they hear the clicking of the Khizrathi in the dark. The group look around and Mormund spots a Khizrathi wrangling a giant worm. Another appears from the dark riding a worm. The group must destroy the rubble, repair the cart, and power the cart with thunderstone to recharge the carts. Enter Initiative.

Mormund charges at the worm rider Khizrathi and draws his sword to strike. He cleaves off part of the worm’s scaley skin and makes it bleed. Grey, upon Dax’s suggestion, dashes up to it and taunts it to draw its ire. The worm slithers forward and strikes at Deepbrow and tries to grab the others with tentacles from his mouth. Deepbrow then lashes out with a knife and cuts off the tentacles. The wormrider strikes out at Deepbrow and strikes him hard. The second worm strikes at Grey and tries to entangle him. Dax cuts through with a vicious word and makes the worm miss. The wormrider strikes at Grey and hits his shoulder with a blade. Dax looks through the crates only to see they are labeled in Dwarvish. He starts checking through the boxes to look for the supplies they need. Dax nails it down to two possible crates and tries to drag both crates behind him. Adavi vaults away from the worm to get away from it. Deepbrow strikes at the worm and misses. Mormund tries to explain the dwarven rune for explosives (two crossed axes with circles on the left and right) but Dax can’t seem to understand him in the heat of the battle. The worms slither over and the riders click angrily as Mormund readies his blade for another strike….

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Stream XVIII: Welcome to Deepbrow Mine

An archer draws on Mormund and strikes him hard sending him reeling back. Mormund draws his Brine Blade and slashes the Khizrathi behind him. The Kizrathi seems weak but still alive. As he draws the sword back blood spurts out and the Khizrathi falls sideways onto Dax. Adavi readies a Scorching Ray and blasts one soldier and an archer. He hits the archer for a decent amount. The archer draws on Grey and drops his arrow. The second archer hits Gray with an arrow in the shoulder. A soldier strike one of Adavi’s mirror clones and destroys it. Gray readies himself and tries to slash the infantry Khizrathi but just can’t make a connection. Dax disengages from combat and throws a guiding bolt at a Khizrathi engaged with Adavi but he misses the shot and kills a squirrel in the process. An archer fires on Gray but Gray manages to deflect the arrow with his shield. Mormund circles a Khizrathi fighting Gray and thrusts through his guts. As Mormund rips his blade out of the Khizrathi he disembowled it and it falls to the ground. Mormund reverses the sword and pierces its chest to end it.

A soldier lashes out with a bite but it barely makes a mark. Khizrathi spearman thrusts at Adavi but slips across mud and falls down. Adavi throws a ray of sickness on the downed Khizrathi and his head rots away under the dark green waves. Grey attacks the Khizrathi who bites Dax and slashes across his back and opens it up. Dax insults the Khizrathi and scrambles onto a boulder to cheer for Grey. The Khizrathi archer fires at Dax who made himself a wonderfully target. The arrow strikes Dax in the arm and his tone switches to an angry diatribe. Mormund lashes out at the Khizrathi from behind and thrusts through his neck. The Khizrathi archer begins to flee and Adavi casts a Ray of Frost on him to slow his feet. Gray casts a Scorching Ray across his legs that it flash boils them and makes him fall. Dax seizes upon the opportunity and viciously mocks him to where he surrenders his hold on life. Exit initiative.

Gray looks upon the form of them and asks Mormund what they are. Mormund explains more about these creatures and their previous encounters with them. Gray is quite disturbed to to learn of the intelligence of the creatures and how well organized they are. Mormund suggests killing the necromancers might at least send their forces into chaos but the others dissuade the idea. Gray then asks about the weapons themselves and tests out one of the Khizrathi’s blades. The blackened steel sword seems to repress his will and makes him incredibly uncomfortable as he tests it. Dax then asks him to throw the sword up and strikes it with holy energy. The blade explodes violently and it makes Gray even more worried about the implications. He tests out the glaive wood handle and the shield and finds the same negative feeling. He quickly throws off the shield and kneels down in pain as it tortures his memories. After that the group pick up their stuff and hops into the cart to travel on.

The cart moves forward and move westward making good progress without being hassled by anything. After two days they stop and make camp. Pushing further into the forest the group finds tracks that seems to fade away. Dax finds a small group of Khizrathi roaming the forest.

Dax kneels and draws his rapier then casts Distant whispers. Dax barely dodges a knife blow and casts Silence on the area. The Khizrathi swipes and misses. Dax hits with his knife and has silenced the area to prevent the others from being alerted. Dax follows the tracks of the other creatures for some time until he comes to the stone outcropping. He tries to determine where the creatures went but loses the trail. He climbs up to the outcropping and casts a stone over the side to try and attract the Khizrathi. As he waits he slips off the outcropping and falls violently to the floor. He tries to cast cure wounds and on the second casting an arrow zooms at him and lands at his feet. Trying to rush into a bush he gets hit in the calf by an arrow and pinpoints where the Khizrathi is. Suddenly the air is filled with music as the rest of the group starts singing dwarven songs.

Dax runs up on the group and warns them about the Khizrathi in the forest. Adavi seems undisturbed but Grey draws his sword and readies himself. As they ready up Mormund hears something peculiar. Sharp quick small explosions that sounds like gunpowder explosions and sudden snapping. They decide to investigate the source of the explosions and try to stop them before heading to the mines.

As they head towards the area they come to a clearing with trees felled and stumps. It is clear that it was dwarven axes that caused it. As they arrive they find more and more sporadic explosives. Grey then raises a point of the Khizrathi taking on Dwarven traits and Dax consults his book from Colvo and Dax explains about it. Grey explains to Mormund that it might be the Khizrathi that are using the powder.

As they approach the area the explosions stop but a large smog fills the area. The group find a large crater and find something glint on the edges. The find a piece of metal and some wiring wrapped around it. Mormund recognizes it as a boobytrapped explosive from miners in the area used to collapse a mine or blow up intruders. The group look around and search the area for more explosive traps. In the distance they hear someone shouting out in Dwarvish. Dax shouts out in Common back trying to explain their situation. Grey, still weary, readies himself when he realizes they can speak english. They are told to not move by the other party and they wait in terror as shapes approach from the smoke. Grey readies to attack what he thinks is a Khizrathi but he rethinks and waits patiently. The shape takes form and it appears to be a dwarven miner who then calls to Mormund. He seems to be heavily clothed and shielded from the smoke. He tells them to follow his path back to the makeshift walls designed to hold off the Khizrathi. They come to the palisade walls that were hastily constructed and allows the group into the shantytown. This seems to have been constructed in the midst of a struggle and somewhat offending Mormund’s sensibilities.

As they walk up to a makeshift house the door opens to reveal Hallsgaard caked with dirt, mud, and soot. He welcomes the group to the Deepbrow Mine…

Hallsgaard talks to the group of their situation and that they are under siege from the Khizrathi and deployed the mines after repelling the initial assault. The Khizrathi assaulted again and hit the perimeter explosives sending them to a bunch of shallow graves. Deepbrow, the other dwarf, and Hallsgaard seem to be in two minds about where to go. They want to try and go to the Croftwood circle, which the group dissuades him, or to Ballards Cross and risk breaking the quarantine. THe makeshift house seems to have been in disrepair but still is enough to be somewhat comfortable and livable. Mining quarters with beds and tools against the walls and furniture. Grey offers Adavi to take watch with him, being uncomfortable with the height of the building made for dwarves, and tries out a pickaxe as an improvised weapon but quickly abandons it.

Hallsgaard sits down with the group and talks to the group about their options.The forest is crawling with Khizrathi and they need to find the Croftwood to be safe (for certain values of “safety”). The group explain that they need to get into the mine and Hallsgaard notes that they sealed the mines with explosives when they found more down there. Ollie Deepbrow comes in and greets the others properly. Dax asks for dwarven blasting powder to try and blow the nest away. The two dwarves note that the mines are very dangerous now that the Khizrathi own them. Dwarves usually stand and fight for their homes but they failed.

At first they found small strange things that happened and the first being the Alabaster vein. They tried to move slowly and carefully but more concerning and strange things happened as they move closer to the motherload of Alabaster. Then they got attacked by the Khizrathi and tried to stand their ground but were driven from their mine. The Khizrathi struck at them one by one until there was only 10 left. That was the point at which they decided to seal the mines. They would take the explosives and collapse 5 supporting columns to collapse the mine. They found an Alabaster gate while they worked and Dax mentioned they sould need to get through it. They then mention they were driven back before reaching the last column. Some of the pathways are blocked but they still need to collapse the last. Describing the gate Mormund remembers the vision of the ones who came before with a gleaming gate. Mormund tells the two that got a vision touching part of the pillars of an unidentified race or civilization.

Returning to the task at hand they ask about destroying the Khizrathi spawning pit and they go about seeing if the work is possible. They see that the mine they originally found the Khizrathi wasn’t Dwarven and that somehow the work seems older than the island is estimated to be. They decide to take some of the good blasting powder from a sealed room and blowing the gate then collapsing a tunnel to bury the Khizrathi in dirt. Hallsgaard then mentions a second passage to the mines and it’s a back-shaft that they can ride mine carts to the deep then take the pulley system back when they are done. The problem with this approach is that they will have to defend the surface while the team is working to destroy the pillar and the gate. Hallsgaard agrees to keep the Khizrathi at bay topside and Deepbrow offers to go with the group and craft the charges to destroy the gate and the support columns.  

Adavi and Grey come in and Adavi is very distraught about the plan. They agree to consider it over dinner and the dwarves start drinking and singing. Dax asks Mormund about crafting a shaped charge on a pole but the idea seems to be a bad one that Grey and Adavi seem to not like. Grey then asks about how Dax came into the priesthood of The Gray Lady. Grey says that he lost much on the field as a soldier and The Gray Lady came to him and spoke to him. Dax is not as forthcoming as Grey. Mormund mentions as he drinks that a mining opportunity can be had with the city under the croftwood and they can stake their claim early to monopolize the profit. Dax joins the others and drinks up trying to spill the beans about the Black Hound. They don’t believe him and then the conversation shifts to dwarven burial rights on a very strange tangent.

Getting to the problem of the Dog they note that the ritual is too overcomplicated and they need a good enchanted axe. Conversation carries on until morning.

The dwarves go out to reset the traps in the field to ready to hold against the Khizrathi. Mormund learn step by step how to arm and disarm them as well as how to handle the dwarven long rifles and pistols. It is of a rare craftsmanship and one is given to Mormund out of respect. Dax eyes the guns and pistols and tries to casually secret one away but then dax drunkly trips over the barricades and falls into the ditch. He tries to play it off as trying to pick up a stick but then the rifle roars in his hands and launches Dax backwards. They recover him and send him to bed to sleep off his inebriation. They decide to wait for the morning to go and Dax makes a half hearted suggestion spell to try and get Mormund to get him a flintlock but he breaks the suggestion. Mormund then kicks Dax in the mid-section that winds him and knocks him into the room. Dax tries to charm Adavi next but also fails and Grey chastises Dax for his behavior. The group then sleeps the rest of the day.

Dax awakens and finds Hallsgaard on watch in the morning and asks him about the explosive on the stick. Hallsgaard advises against that particular course of action and overcomes Dax’s pleading. Modifying the design Dax asks for a metal cylinder and starts shaping a crude charge. The others rise and meet Hallsgaard out in the have some food over a lively conversation about dwarven metamorphoses into metal and stone. They all seem very serious and stoic about their task. They walk out from the Palisade wall and bid Hallsgaard farewell with Mormund telling him to retreat to the mines if they overrun him. They load into the mine carts and ready to descend into the mines...

Stream XVII: Prison Break

As the guard walks through the cells and looks at the window Dax left open. He threatens the prisoners and looks around at the hay piles. He shakes his head, not seeing anything, and walks on. With that the guards return to their posts and the danger has passed for now. Dax takes a look around the cells after emerging from the soiled hay to get a lay of the jail. He tries to look around for the keys only for a prisoner to tell him that the guards keep the keys on him. Dax then moves to the window and whispers to him that they should knock out the guards and fetch the keys. Dax also suggests using some metal wire to pick the cell doors. Adavi takes out a copper wire from his spell kit and Dax gets ready to unlock them.

With the plan in place Dax goes over to the hay and creates a small ghillie suit out of it. He then squats by the door and awaits Adavi for a signal to pick locks and let the prisoners out.

As Mormund moves through the town a guard stops him briefly and asks about Hallsgaard. Mormund walks off from the encounter relatively unmolested.

Adavi sneaks around and notes that a guard appears to be sick and goes to lie down for a while. Adavi messages Dax about it and asks if they should start the prison break early. Dax seems to be getting slightly sick himself and decides to start the jailbreak. Dax starts picking the lock and, even for as shoddily constructed as the prison is, the lock snaps open and the cell door unlocks. As the men file out Dax goes to the door and tries to lead them out. Some 8-9 of Adborough’s men and Adborough himself are out of their cells. Adavi goes and casts Hold Person and paralyzes the guard. When Adavi messages Dax the men rush out and swarm one guard. Another prison goes and takes a dagger from the guard and disables the bell clapper. Dax then takes their keys and unlocks the cell to get the others out. As one man is moved he yelps in pain and Dax tries to silence him. Two of the men drag the unconscious guard and throw him into the cell.

Mormund arrives at the temple from his recent theft. Seeing the lock on the front door he tries to figure out how he can get in. He runs to a nearby window and looks in and sees the place dark and silent except for Grey in prayer. He slowly and silently rises as Mormund taps on the window to call him. Mormund informs him that Adborough is meant to be executed in the morning. Grey asks about how many guards are in the town and then berates Mormund for not doing due diligence about it. Mormund counters that their hand was forced when Adborough was going to be arrested. They see Adavi and Dax outside the prison and Dax tries to rally the men to stay together and attack during the night. The people in the distance look on and one runs away. Dax then pulls a crossbow out and fires at him missing.

They discuss the attack after and decide one of two things can happen. They could attack where the mercenaries are staying or they could attack Redfern directly and try to force the mercenaries into submission. The problem is the men have no weapons and no way to escape. As they talk the town bells begin to ring and the alarm calls the mercenaries to action. Mormund then takes the weapons they have distributes them to the men. They consider using Oscar to ram the gates to Redfern’s estate and try to seize him but Grey and Adborough seem to want to err on the side of caution and leave. They then consider leaving the town through the front gate.

As they come to consensus they ready and set the jail on fire to serve as a distraction. Arrows now zip past and the group pull him out and charge the gate. Mormund sees the people firing from the rear at them and Grey fires back along with the others trying to cover their retreat. Grey fires off a scorching ray and manages to catch several buildings on fire. Adavi and Mormund fire off spells at the bowmen igniting him with an acid chromatic orb and fire bolt. Dax illusions a goblin to try and intimidate the guards and Adavi fires off a lightning orb. The bowmen disperse and drag off the wounded. The guards at the gate try to block them off but the sight of a charging mass of angry men makes them flee in terror. As the men pass through the gate unhindered Adborough touches the foot of Mary Shelby and Dax helps him cut her down. Adborough drops Dax and catches her body then carries it out cradling it gently. Grey, one of Adboroughs men and Mormund tries to shut the gates and does so with Adavi’s help. Adavi finally covers the area around the gate with ice to slow their pursuers.

With the danger passed for now Dax informs Adborough of the problems with the Croftwood Circle. They decide it maybe best if the group disperses for now and hide their numbers until they can reach the Druids for help. Adborough commands his men to gather their families and run from the town to find the Croftwood Circle for shelter. Adborough and the rest agree to run to Ibn Turab’s home. Turning around they notice fires in the town which might be why they werent followed yet. Grey offers to let Mary Shelby’s corpse rest in the cart but Adborough refuses to. They make a good pace to Ibn Turab’s home with Oscar mustering his strength. While they travel Grey turns to them and asks the group why they used magic. He berates them for doing so.

Two hours pass and the group walk up to Ibn Turab’s home and a woman opens the door. Adavi asks her for safety and she asks to see Adborough to be sure they are safe. After Adborough explains the situation she allows them in. Adborough asks for tools to bury Mary Shelby and Grey gives him a motion to say he’ll get the shovels and assist him with the burial and rites. Turab’s wife introduces herself as Asha and offers them a place to keep Oscar for a while. With Dax’s assistance they move Oscar and the cart into the nearby barn along with their captive guard.

Mormund walks off and assists Grey and Adborough with burying Mary Shelby. Asha leads them to a small grove and the three men bury her in the soft mound. Adborough speaks a bit while they work reminiscing about better times and his regrets about not being more than friends. As they finish filling in the earth Adborough thanks them and puts the final shovel full over her body.

In the barn Adavi paces the captive guard and tries to detect magic on him. The guard is fairly mundane and Adavi then strips him down and relieves him of his weaponry and items. Dax goes to check on him and suddenly the guard starts going into convulsions (or so Dax and Adavi think) and they call Mormund to help. They find the sign of the Lantern gang and inform Grey of their past dealings. They drag the captive off the cart and into the clearing. They then wake him and Dax casts suggestion on him after reminding him of their deal. After he falls under DAX’s sway he rattles off a list of questions. The man responds that there are 35 men all together and they all have a nice painless interrogation. They get a large trove of information and Adavi asks about the strange nuts. The guard tells them that it was Khizrathi who told them to plant it and they were brought from under the earth. Dax asks about the teeth and the guard reveals it was a separate scouting position that doesnt talk to them. Dax asks about Hallsgaard and it is revealed he fled the city some time ago and his death was meant to cause chaos in Woodley. As for Redfern they aren't sure why he called for mercenaries but it was a good opportunity to make money.

He seems to be antsy and he can’t go back to lantern gang. He then says he should return to Ballard’s Cross but Dax bluffs that his leadership is now zombified and asks him to repent to which he seems to agree. Adavi asks about Zhao Fang and the guard says he is a bounty hunter and one with a fearsome reputation. He seems to be on a personal hunt. They then ask about Ibn Turab and they learn he was once part of the Island’s ruling council, The Seven Scions, and that he is well respected in the community. They stay at it a while and when they finally extract what they need Grey readies three scorching rays and kills the guard.

As they walk away Dax just goes off, clearly expecting this, and walks off to wash himself and go to sleep. Grey then scatters his ashes and all go to sleep….

Waking up in the morning they smell something delicious in the air. Asha has prepared a large spread for her guests. Grey blesses the meal and then Asha asks where Adborough is. Morund goes to find him and it seems he fell asleep watching over Mary Shelby’s grave. He walks in after waking and washes up joining them. They then dig into the spread and have a wonderful meal with Asha. Asha speaks up and notes the extra grave in the grove. She asks Adborough about the mission he sent Ibn on. Adborough reveals he was sent to ask the capital for soldiers to fight the Khizrathi and that they need to coordinate their efforts to recapture Woodley from Redfern as well. Gray notes the fire that the group left behind would be a good cover to strike at Redfern and overthrow him. Adborough isn’t so sure about attacking Redfern because he overpowered Mary Shelby. It maybe that they replaced Redfern with an imposter or some sort of construct or doppelganger.

They put that aside and seem to be at a standstill on what to do. Mormund wants to wait for the reinforcements from the capital and Grey seems to want to attack now while the enemy is reeling. Suddenly Grey remembers the things he took from the temple. He looks at Dax and they open the paper to reveal a verse in the Tome of the Broken Helm. Mormund remembers that is a reference to a text of illusions written by a man named Leben. The look it up from Mormund’s notes and Dax tries to figure it out (he doesn’t know about it). They pick up on the idea that the ritual from before might be what Mary Shelby might have been searching for.

They bring the book to Adavi and he deciphers the steps of the ritual out of the writings. Grey and Dax wonder aloud if they could cause a religious condemnation of Redfern and the temple for murdering Mary Shelby but shelf it for now. They then ask Asha about an alabaster vessel and Adborough mentions that Hallsgaard had hit an alabaster vein and they could have Mormund craft a vessel for the ritual. They decide to hit the mines and find Hallsgaard for help getting the men armed. Then they could kill the Black Hound and then help fight Redfern and the Khizrathi. Adborough elects to stay behind and try to smooth relations with the Druids and appraise the army from the capital of the situation.

Dax tries to convince the group to fake Adborough’s death and the others decide the plan is wrong. Adborough instead thinks it will be enough that he leaves. He goes off to deliver his message to the Druids and the rest of the group ready for travel. As they ready Grey asks Mormund of Dax. Grey seems untrusting about Dax and Mormund generally trusts him. Grey still remains concerned and maybe even somewhat hostile to him. Adavi speaks with Asha as they clean and hands her 10 Gold. He informs her there are families that might need assistance who fled Woodley and they should be helped if needed.

The group press on to the Deepbrow Mine and take a good while getting there. Grey seems to hug his side in pain and winces. They head over some rough terrain and Adavi suddenly hears something in the distant brush. They slowly approach and an arrow whizzes past them. Enter initiative.

The Khizrathi suddenly emerged from the forest. Dax casts a hot pink Faerie Fire on the Khizrathi and runs into the bushes and hide. An archer fires at Adavi and catches another arrow. A second archer fires at Mormund and misses. Mormund rushes forward and launches his throwing axe into the chest of the Khizrathi. The warrior Khizrathi approach and attack. One Khizrathi rushes Grey. Adavi gets stabbed as a second warrior approaches and thrusts his spear. One warrior swings at Mormund and misses with the warhammer. A warrior attacks Dax and misses allowing Dax to knock the hammer out of his hand. A warrior attacks Grey and misses. Another Khizrathi tries to bite Grey and misses. Adavi activates his mirror cloak and produces several copies of himself to confuse the Khizrathi. Grey readies his sword and swings at the Khizrathi behind him and misses. Dax readies and tries to run from his place and the Khizrathi swipes at him wildly. The Khizrathi swipes wildly Adavi and Dax take a chance to stab him and stagger him back. Dax then tries to inspire the team and the archers focus on Dax. He tries to insult them and causes the archers to miss. Mormund swings at the warrior with his sword and misses. He surges forth with vigor and slams a blow into the Khizrathi cutting across its chest.

The Khizrathi advance and a warrior attacks Dax and misses. The warhammer warrior swings at Mormund and he barely misses. The gloves work their magic and parries the blow deftly. The warrior swings a halberd at Grey and hits but his toughness and armor takes the damage. Another warrior hits Grey and still finds no purchase. Adavi readies a Scorching Ray and targets a Khizrathi causing his lower half to burn and sends him reeling into a tree lighting the rest of him up. Another Khizrathi is streaked off and burned it. Grey turns to the one with the halberd and slashes onto the Khizrathi’s arm. Dax casts Dissonant Whispers on a warrior and convinces the Khizrathi its eye is a parasite that it rips out and Dax and Mormund run him through. He then orders Oscar forward and tries to inspire Mormund. The group ready themselves for another blow as the archers draw another arrow...

Stream XVI: A Stranger in Grey (with special guest Daelric as Grey the Warmage)

Dax unhitched Oscar from the cart and asks Mormund if they should visit master Hallsgaard and he agrees to do it while the town is distracted. Dax brings Oscar with a lead and the group slowly walks down the street towards Hallsgaard’s home and while they do they see someone walking around dressed similar to Nos’on and Nos’on bristles a bit. He urges the group to keep walking and the man ducks into a side passage. As they go to Hallsgaard’s home they notice the house looks abandoned and a window is broken. They decide to quickly look around his home and look around for clues to what might have happened to Hallsgaard. Handing Oscar to Mormund, Dax quickly creeps through the house and checks through for clues of distress or invasion. The rug is coiled up and flipped possibly signaling a struggle and some of the furniture overturned. Something may have happened to Hallsgaard and the group suggest he was likely abducted and his possessions looted. Dax goes to the top floor and smokes some of his drug and peers into the distance to the crowd gathered in the town square. He sees a makeshift scaffolding in the distance but can’t make out much more.

The group look around and determine more about Haalsgaard’s possessions while Grey stays outside and walks up to the residence of Hallsgaard. He sees Oscar standing in front of the place and tries to swat him away. Oscar gets annoyed and stomps on Grey’s foot. He then uses chilling touch making Oscar run off. Grey then confronts the group inside the house and after a tense greeting the group goes over what happened to the town. At first Grey thinks they are robbing the house and speaks to them. It seems the town found the Book of Necromancy that Mormund gave to Mary Shelby and hanged her for necromancy. Redfern seems to be at the center of the town’s degradation and overthrowing the guard of Adborrough.  Hallsgaard, Adborrough, and Shelby had been arrested and Shelby has been hanged. Redfern seems to have led the men into taking the weapons from Hallsgaard and arresting him.

Dax meanwhile creeps closer to the angry crowd with a man speaking at it’s head on the scaffoldings. They seem to believe Mary Shelby was the cause of the Weeping Rot and indeed it seems the disease has receded. The crowd seems to respect Redfern’s rule and him arresting Shelby and Adborrough for collusion. Dax gently leads Oscar when he comes and finds an old man sitting in silent protest against the crowd. He speaks to the events that Redfern had hired thugs and lowlifes to overthrow Adborough and sees danger in the town’s new state of disorder. Defying the scions of the Grey Lady and executing one of their members would make Woodley the enemy of the Scions and it doesn’t bode well that they acted so rash and without thinking of the possibilities. The man introduces himself as Cristopher and offers his home to Dax and Dax accepts and goes to gather the others.  

Grey tells the group he is an advance scout from Ballard’s Cross and was sent to assess the situation in Woodley. Dax returns to the house after a long conversation and Dax tries to get Oscar to stay while he peaks in. Nos’on pulls Adavi back in when he peeks out and tells him the man in the cloak they say was an acquaintance (read: Threat) from an old life and the man, Zhao Fang, threatens all of the group while he is here. He wants to go away from the group and try to keep Fang away from the group. Dax fails to stealth in and Grey readies his hammer. Adavi talks about Grey not killing him. Grey puts his hammer away and hands a letter to him from Mary Shelby. Looking through the letter he sees a passage from the holy text of the Grey Lady, The Book of the Broken Helm. Grey opens the book and finds the passage and hands it too him. Dax interprets it to mean that Grey is okay with the Scions. Dax informs the group that they have a place to stay and that they will eat cabbage for dinner. Adavi wants to go to the Dancing Cat to pick up his belongings and asks if the same fate befalling Shelby happened to Adborough and his men to which Dax and Grey confirm they are alive. Grey considers that they could leave and let the Weeping Rot wipe out the town. Dax reveals to him the Rot has receded and Grey is actually suprised. They might have stopped the Weeping Rot when Shelby was killed and solidified his position in Woodley as a hero. Grey suggests they then prey to the Grey Lady for a blessing and the group decide to check out the area they have to stay.

The group inform Grey what happened in their previous adventures and says he is ready to assist them in fighting whatever is causing the disease and the town’s problems. The group cautiously decides to take on the new acquaintance and Nos’on takes leave of the group to shake Zhao Fang.

The fog seems to have burned off and the sun glows orange against the buildings in the first time in a long time. Dax leads the group over to Christopher and the group meet and greet under the guise of James Bard and his merry band of mercenaries. They all settle in and prepare for dinner with the cabbage and the man allows them to settle in. Mormund set the fire and Dax readies up the cabbage while Grey stands watch for any trouble. Dax later on sends Grey for water but, upon second thought, decides to summon water which Grey tries to figure what it is. He can’t for some reason. The group gather around the fire as the cabbage soup slowly begins to come together…

The group are handed clay bowls and Grey pulls out a tome and places it on the table. He then proceeds to speak a prayer to the Grey Lady to purify the food and drink. Dax instantly recognizes what he is doing and Dax suggests waiting until the prayer is complete to which Adavi is powerless to resist. The group waits until Grey finishes the group prayer (Adavi unwillingly so) and then happily enjoy their soup. While they eat Grey takes out some paper and starts writing down words in Turabi. Dax takes leave and ritual casts to understand languages to which Grey was finished and put his notes away. Christopher later wakes up and the group asks what happened in the city. It seems Father Grigor was the one who outed Shelby for having the book. He didn’t seem the sort to be a heretic hunter but he anything could be changing at this point. He then notes a statue of the Lady that was broken in the area she was captured that they shattered and Grey suggests looking into it. Dax thanks Christopher for the meal and hospitality and Greg says he will seek lodgings elsewhere. Grey talks to Dax outside to mention he will investigate the Temple of the Grey Lady and tells Dax that he is a scout sent by an army assembled to invade Woodley or take it over and that he must correspond with them and doing so puts him in danger. He wants to mitigate the damage and threat to them and can’t accomplish that while near them. They part ways with an exchanged prayer and Dax sings a hymn to inspire him from the Tome of the Broken Helm.

Grey walks to the temple and finds a lock on the door that he opens with a key from the order. He opens the door silently and sees the inside of a temple pristine and untouched. He sees that the area is empty and Father Grigor is not in. He makes his way over to the shattered statue of the Grey Lady. Solemnly whispering his prayer he looks over it and hears a slight grinding noise. A brass plate is on the base of the statue and upon the bricks finds a loose brick and mortar. He grabs the brick and takes it out dropping a piece of paper and book within. He replaces the brick and thanks the Lady as he searches for his place to sleep. As he does he is surprised by Father Grigor behind him and speaks to him about his business. Grey is guarded about it and asks the Father about blessing his cloak. Something that Grigor says, that he took charge of the temple again, catches his attention. Grigor then invites him to the next mass and Grey agrees to join him. He then goes to sleep on the spot Grigor indicates.

Back at Christopher’s home they speak at length about Redfern’s apparent change in his attitude and mannerisms. Dax thinks he might be swayed by something, possibly a spell or draught, that could explain his change in attitude. He then considers that Shelby was framed and executed because she was a threat to their operations. It doesn’t explain why they didn’t kill Adborrough though. They decide to find some way to vindicate Shelby and determine if Grigor was simply someone who was overzealous and killed Shelby out of misunderstanding or if he is implicated. Suddenly they hear a scratching and see a hawk at the window. Dax speaks to it as it tries to drop off a small package to the group. The hawk quickly says it is a delivery from the Croftwood and the group open the package after the hawk leaves and they find it is downleaf Shelby needs for the ritual. Now they only need the alabaster container and a powerful caster to dispel the hound. It seems they need to make decisions on trusting Grigor and breaking Adborrough out of prison. Dax agrees to scout out the prison and retrieve Adavi’s equipment from the Waltzing Cat. Mormund offers to follow along if they can find a suitable disguise and they work up Adavi and Mormund into a disguise. As Adavi disrobes he reveals his draconic heritage armor plating and the others brush it off for now.

They make a plan to hit the Dancing Cat first and Dax and Mormund will go into his room and throw Adavi’s stuff out the window to the wagon. He walks in like he has a purpose and goes to the door. Trying to unlock it he notices a trap and dodges a dart trap. Dax grabs the dart and checks it against the ones from before. He then wraps up the dart and talks to Adavi about it. They quickly throw out Adavi’s belongings and the operation goes smoothly. As Adavi secures his stuff they look for the papers in the cupboards and they are gone. Dax then remembers he had a Haupac and they might have something to do with the papers. Dax suggests trying to reset the trap and has a time trying to get it. Unable to figure out the trap he tries to make it look like the trap misfired. They decide to leave the room as is and Dax climbs down. Suddenly Dax falls from the window to the ground ripping part of the window shutter off. They try to repair the shutter with Adavi climbing up and mending the shutter.

Off a ways from the prison they lose the cart and stealth in to the area to try and get to the area. Dax and Adavi sneak into the area of the makeshift finding a good vantage point to plot their entry. There are two guards on the area and weak security. They debate whether they want to break only Adborrough out or try to go for more of his men. They decide not to break people out for now and scout the area out to find Adborrough. Dax casts an illusion of breaking glass which calls the guards attention. They pass the guards and peer through the window. They try sliding the window open and are blasted with the smell of human waste. They look around the prison cells and see a bunch of faces from the guards and Adborrough. The cot he’s lying on is bloodstained and suggests Adborrough is wounded. Adavi pushes Dax through and Dax casts cure wounds on him. He starts to heal up and Adavi tries to message him and Adborrough stirs.

After curing Adborrough he sees more members of the former guard and they give him the rundown of the meal schedule and that Redfern has a key they could use to break out. They agree to hold out hope for rescue and Dax goes to speak with Adborrough. Adborrough wakes up after Dax prods him and asks Adavi where Redfern is. He is intent on trying to kill Redfern even if he is under control of another. He reveals that he is to be executed at morning and the group has to act fast. They decide to get the bell disabled and kill the guards to retrieve Adborroughs cell key. They plan and get Grey and Mormund to break them out. Adavi agrees to go out and gather the others. They relay the plan to Mormund and Dax hides in the muck and hay to ready themselves for the breakout….

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Stream XV: Return to Woodley

The group awakens to the sounds and smells of a city recently in chaos and quickly recognize and process the happenings of yesterday. Entering the central wall they see a heavy guard around the area. Nos’on checks up on Adavi and asks him what his opinion is on recent events. Adavi responds that they should investigate the pillars more and not go to Woodley. Nos’on is split on his decision and Adavi notes they actually might be better off going to Woodley in order to investigate further with the apothecary and the Dwarven Blacksmith Hallsgaard. Mormund looks for a healer to try and correct his face from the scarring and burns. He sees a young elf man that is kneeling over Francis and Mormund walks over to him. After speaking with Frog and telling him Dax has his ring the healer walks over to him. The elf cannot heal the cosmetic damage but does heal up his wounds and cleans them up. Frog gets up and walks with Mormund to survey the city. Frog and Mormund are both concerned that there was so much committed to the battle only for them to suddenly retreat. It worries Frog enough to where he might think of running away while Mormund feels like fighting is the best idea. They seems to be at odds but they’ll decide later.

Meeting Adavi they decide to look for food at Adavi’s behest and discuss their next move. Mormund decides to rest and check out the blade he got recently and is able to tell much about the build, the arcane designs, and the various facets of the blade and hilt. He seems pleased with the quality. Frog also notes the blade belonging to the Bauerstone Boys and that he should be careful carrying it around Ballard’s Cross. He then goes on about Mary Shelby and Atborough back in the old days back on the mainland. He seems to be puzzled why Atborough might be out on the Isles and he only met Shelby once but seems to respect them. He seems less enthusiastic about Redfern. Mormund wonders if maybe their enemies have attacked any of the major players in Woodley. Frog decides he has no business in Woodley and that he should return to Ballard’s Cross for his bounty. Frog then asks about the Giant Creatures and Mormund notes they were different from the Khizrathi regulars. Frog remembers a bounty he captured and how he explained necromancy. If the Khizrathi could summon an undead giant or construct then they have power to be respected.

Dax meanwhile goes to pray and assist around the medical area while Adavi and Nos’on rest and eat. The Croftwood is split on where to go and some will flee to another settlement for safety while others elect to stay. The fleeing group wishes to go to the west further into the woods for safety. As Dax goes to his resting place Frog appears and asks to have his ring back to which Dax complies. Dax and Frog start to talk about their race and their position in society in a low role. Frog shows a tattoo on his arm with a Human “A” which might hint to him that a human owned him in the east. Dax admits he was enslaved in the north. He suggests that that they keep their profiles up and keeping their goblin pride. He then mentions a rumor of an Orc ship that was on the seas and how bad it would be if they landed.

Mormund finds Oscar to check up on him and finds him laying down and he seems to be doing worse from the eyes and nose, his hooves are splitting, and other small problems are forming. He finds Dax and later goes on to find a healer for Oscar. The healer says that magic seems to make Oscar’s condition worse. He tries to find Dax before he can cast a spell and Dax looks over Oscar. He informs Dax that maybe Oscar is dead now but Dax is determined to save Oscar by any means. He decides to talk to Lysandre and brings the others with him. Before then Dax insists that he not be called “little” and Adavi challenges him on it. Dax kicks him in the shin as reprisal. The group then settle and go to Lysandre’s home. After a short time they find Lysandre and he readily agrees to help Oscar if he can. They also decide to have another healer try to heal up Mormund’s burnt face. Lysandre notices the bite marks on Oscar and Dax tells them about the Zombies and the nuts used to turn them. Lysandre mentions the nut didn’t come from the isle and Adavi mentions they found them in the caves with the salt crate. Lysandre tries to determine the qualities of the nut and crushes it in a mortar and pestle. It appears to be slightly magical when it comes in contact with the air. It forms a sugary crust and congeals up as it is crushed and exposed to the air. It seems to be a magical base and needs to be activated with reagents, a solution, or some other ritual or spell to be effective.

Turning to Oscar, Lysandre readies a chant and ritual trying to heal Oscar. He is initially successful in trying to chain the magic between him and Oscar but it seems to weaken as the ritual carries on. Nos’on notices Lysandre struggling or even seems fearful and edges Adavi away. The link breaks and Lysandre recoils away from it. Lysandre’s index finger pops and rolls backwards. The finger starts curling up and he reacts efficiently and draws a knife cutting off his own finger. The finger curls up and is eviscerated. Lysandre notes that there was something that was inside Oscar that jumped to him and tried to kill him. It seems there is a protective magic on the disease and it seems to be intentional. It seems restorative magic can trigger it and they shouldn’t use it anymore. The group goes over their option and Nos’on suggests limiting the information. They postulate over the disease and how it connects to the zombie outbreaks. Perhaps different reagents were used? Maybe the people of Woodley are in the first phase of infection? Adavi notices that there was a magical discharge at the Bauerstone Headquarters.  Dax suggests that the spell might cause anyone affected with the rot to turn into zombies. If so, Woodley is in serious danger. Lysandre stays to try and fight and lead his refugees west. Before they leave Mormund points out several areas of interest to Lysandre to lead his people safely.

Lysandre decides to try and enter Wooldey and find answers. He also mentions if people conspire against him then he would have no problem putting Woodley to the sword. Hoping they wouldn’t come to that the group readies to go off to Woodley. Dax goes off to find Frog and tells Mormund to meet Elias for healing. Dax looks at Frog and tries to check him for the Weeping Rot. He doesn’t appear to be hurt but Dax tells him of the supposed link between the Rot and being a zombie. Dax mentions that they are going to Woodley and that he should get out of town. With that Frog and Dax say their farewells and Frog then notes something about Nos’on. He mentions that Nos’on is odd in that he’s good at killing people. While monks often fight well this one seems especially skilled in death dealing. He produces a handbill for a bounty on someone named “Tazumin” who looks like Nos’on but with hair on his head. The bounty is open in Turab, Graustein, and Mumbar and lists a major group of crimes he is wanted for. Frog mentions that Nos’on has changed but its best he keep an eye on Nos’on for his own safety. With that he walks off.

Finding Lysandre, Dax offers him the plum wine. Lysandre brings him to an area of Plum Trees and finds humor in the odd situation. Dax tries to pick a plumb when he thinks Lysandre is gone only to be stopped by a screeching bird. Deciding against taking the plum he returns to the group and tells them about the wine vineyard. The group take off to go to Woodley…

They quickly look around for Sluvi and Frog mentions that he went to Woodley ahead of the party. They then go off to Woodley. Resting in the cart a while they have a strange group dream about frozen dairy and chocolate talking fish and all sort of assorted lunacy. They decide to be off to Woodley so they can meet again with Hallsgaard and scout the mines. Dax dreams in the back of the cart and Adavi tries to herd Oscar along. Mormund tries to bind his new sword to him and unbinds the other with the help of Dax playing the Ballad of the famous goblin charmer “Warm” Cocoa.  As they move through the forest they notice that the fog has thinned out. Dax notes that the fog maybe pulling out and possibly already served its purpose as a reagent for the seed. The group considers that Woodley maybe already gone and the forest is dead quiet adding to the mystery. Nos’on checks if there are animals around and there are but they seem to be afraid of something. Nos’on notes a low buzzing and something about it puts him on edge. He returns to the party with his disturbing findings. The forest seems to be telling them to stay away from Woodley. Nos’on can only guess what might be happening but is on edge about what might be happening. The group postulate there might be Khizrathi headed to Woodley.

Dax goes to Oscar to see if there is movement below and he confirms it. Oscar confirms there is movement of a “herd” underground and the group is disturbed. They are unsure how to proceed at this time and Nos’on is scared to continue. If the town is overrun and the group encounters them then they might not have a chance. Adavi, in an out of character moment, suggests leaving the town to their fates would be unnecessarily cruel. Dax agrees and Nos‘on capitulates but warns that they are all in extreme danger if the Khizrathi are on the move. They leave Oscar to guide the cart and they all take shifts guiding him to Woodley. Adavi takes a shorter route that leads back to Woodley quicker and finds it intact. As they reach the entrance to Woodley Dax detects good and evil and Adavi detects magic. They notice the guards at the gate have different color clothes on and someone is hanging from the post above from the neck. They decide to approach carefully and bring Oscar back. Dax tries to disguise himself as a woman and asks a local farmer to sell him the stuff he needs for a disguise. Mormund and adavi look  on in total shock as No’son tries to find the place where dresses might be kept (wherever that is). The owner steps out with Dax to look at the harvest goods. Dax offers him 5 gold for the cabinet as Nos’on picks out a young womans dress and garments. Nos’on, with stolen goods, tries to make his escape.

Scotch introduces himself and notices the window above was opened. They try to think of a way out and soon find he knows he has been robbed. Dax tries to go along with the charade and pretends the broken control wand from the underwaterboat is an ancient artifact. He agrees to give to him in compensation. The man seems suspicious of the group. He doesn't want to start a fight but the man suggests they leave immediately under threat of the guards. Dax is slowly falling apart and the farmer shows his anger and Dax then gives him a suggestion that he is satisfied with the money and they he wait 8 hours before trying to talk to the guards. The farmer reacts and strikes at Dax with his club. Dax launches into him and the group engages him. Mormund tries to tackle him and Dax tries to grapple getting kicked off. Nos’on readies a strike as Mormund is flung off. Mormund tries to go and stop Nos’on. The farmer whistles out loudly and Adavi tries to hold him with a spell. They take Scotch inside the house and tie him up.

Dax later peaks outside the door to check if any guards are coming although it might not be to the house specifically. They try to hide in the cart and try to pass themselves off as a cabbage merchant. They go to the gate and upon further investigation they see the form of Mary Shelby hanging from a noose with a sign scrawled “NECROMANCER” on it. They go past the town temple and they see a familiar priest as they move on. They talk to him a bit and move on to Hallsgaard’s residence. They stop out back and start to get out and see some faces outside the tavern and the guards that aren't the same of psions from before. They hear a shouting crowd in the distance and it seems relatively mobbish and cheery/bloodthirsty. They all decide to ignore the crowd and head for Hallsgaard….

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Stream XIV: Battle for the Croftwood

As they conclude the fight the crew looks around for a way to move Frog as Lythia goes to the sky stating the contract is fulfilled. They locate a cart that they hook up to Oscar and put Frog in the back so he can rest. They agree to travel out the Croftwood and get him help there. They take a casual pace and take turns sleeping and taking care of Frog until they come to a patch of mud. They push forward after some difficulty and come to the edge of the Croftwood where they see the sky suddenly turn orange and flickering and smell burning. Nos’on scouts ahead and comes across a horrific sight. The Khizrathi are attacking the Croftwood and the group venture forward while Sluvi stays to tend to Frog. The battle is chaotic and has the Croftwood mages, their animals, and spirits fighting the Khizrathi horde. They circle around the area and ready to engage. Enter Initiative.

Nos’on circles around into trees and readies himself for a strike. Mormund readies himself in the embankment and charges down firing a magic missile at an enemy mage behind a rock. He hits the mage and he falls down behind where Mormund can’t see him. The Druids strike with one bowmen breaking his bow, one druid casts Ice Knife and shoots at the large creature attacking, another archer fires at the Large Creature, a second Druid uses Ice Knife on the Large Creature, the Druid’s Wolves attack the large creature, Dax steers Oscar into a hostile archer and he slams into him. Dax then draws his rapier and swipes his rapier across him and kills the archer. The Khizrathi handlers lash the giant Khizrathi and the Giants strike at the Druid bears. One of them misses and the other clubs one of the bears. Khizrathi mage fires a magic missile at a druid and hits as one archer hits the mage. Two archers advance. A warrior and the two giants advance and the warrior stabs a druid bear forcing him back into his elf form. Archers fire at the wolves and one warrior strikes a wolf. Adavi moves left and casts Hold Person on both of the Giants using twin spell. One breaks free of the spell but the other is paralyzed by the spell. Nos’on surveys the battlefield and tries to sort out who is commanding the Khizrathi. He sees that the two beast master Khizrathi are in control of the fight and forms the center of their formation.

Mormund charges and strikes an archer with his new sword. He cleaves its legs off and it screams in pain as it dies. The Druid rushes forward and casts a lightning spell killing one Khizrathi.  The archers reposition and fire but misses. Another druid summons a club of magic light into his hands. The wolves continue fighting and one wolf dies in combat with the Khizrathi. One Khizrathi archer tries to draw and fails. A Khizrathi mage fires magic missile at Mormund and it slams on his shield. Dax commands Oscar to charge the paralyzed giant and Oscar slams into the creature’s leg. Dax draws his rapier and stabs with pressing the button on his rapier. The rapier throws a wave of fire forwards the giant and burns it. One druid swings at a Khizrathi and takes his head off. An eagle descends and strikes a Khizrathi. The giant swings and knocks the other druid out. One more wolf dies to the Khizrathi. A warrior strikes out against Oscar and does minor damage. Another warrior strikes at Dax and misses. The giant summons his strength and struggles against the binding. Adavi recasts the spell and binds both giants.

Nos’on moves around and readies his spear against the mage and stabs at the Khizrathi mage. He impales the mage killing it and strikes against the archer missing it. Mormund strikes at the beastmaster and rips a chunk of his shoulder out. He surges forward and misses a second strike. The eagle drops its animal form and suddenly Lysandre appears to cast a massive lightning blast at the giant and jumps to three other Khizrathi targets. The giant is struck by massive lightining bolt and is scored by damage. The Khizrathi Beastmaster is eviscerated, the second Giant is completely destroyed, and a warrior is completely destroyed. Dax rushes forward and tries to intercept a mage as the Khizrathi begin to falter and retreat. Dax tries to catch him with a command but fails and kills him. Mormund runs after several combatants and searches the area for more. He sees Khizrathi further away and warns the group that they are building something odd. Adavi casts a shocking grasp on the other beastmaster and damages him. Nos’on rushes forward and joins Mormund. Lysandre joins them and tells them to attack the construction. He will go to reinforce the northern front and confirms that the croftwood is under attack from multiple fronts.

The Khizrathi are constructing some metal edifice and are carrying a large stone. They turn to the advancing heroes surprised thinking their flank was protected. Several break off to engage and Dax draws a crossbow to fire at the ones carrying the stone. Mormund throws fire at one of the carriers and kills it. One Khizrathi breaks off and carries the stone to the edifice. A Khizrathi draws his hammer and strikes. Adavi fires more at the group. Dax and Mormund engage the Khizrathi at the edifice while the Khizrathi strike at Mormund and Oscar. Nos’on rushes up to join combat. Adavi fires a shocking grasp at one Khizrathi hammering in the rivets of the edifice and hit. Dax jumps off Oscar and Mormund stabs at a Khizrathi at the construction and impales him through the chest ripping him in twain. Nos’on strikes a Khizrathi who hit Oscar and stabs through the Khizrathi’s neck. One Khizrathi kills another and spills its blood onto the armature, causing it to activate. Dax fires at the hammer into the Khizrathi’s hand making it explode and barely hits Mormund. The Khizrathi start running away and Dax tries to load people onto Oscar and readies to retreat. Adavi runs away and Nos’on runs away. Dax jumps onto Mormund and tells Oscar to run. Mormund readies a shield spell and Dax tries to cover both of them as he can. The armature starts emitting a beam of green light and fires at the ancient tree as it topples over. The ancient tree explodes and part of the croftwood is set ablaze. The core of the armature explodes and the force of the blast hits them and breaks Dax’s arm. Mormund is rocketed back with the whole blast and puts him into critical damage. Dax rushes over to Mormund and uses the ring to heal him. His face is burned quite heavily and scared over.

Mormund falls unconscious but is brought into consciousness again by Dax and is in serious pain. Adavi and Nos’on get up after taking cover from the explosion. Dax asks them to stay back and allow them to rest a bit. Mormund summons his strength and manages to push through pain to get up. Adavi then sees Sluvi approach with the cart. Sluvi appears wounded from two arrows in his shoulder.

Mormund looks at the construction ruined and approaches the orb but Dax turns around and smites it with holy fire. The group goes into the croftwood and sees the croftwood civillians rushing around with water trying to fight the flames. Adavi shoves his staff into the ground and pulls up ground water to fight the fire. Nos’on tries to help and Mormund looks around for Khizrathi to fight or civillians to help. Mormund hears a child crying and he and Dax goes to try and help them. Sluvi looks around at the destruction and scans the canopy. He then takes up the cart and brings it to the area the water is. Mormund and Dax look around and sees a small child trapped behind the flaming brambles. Mormund hacks away at the brambles and Dax tries to calm the person on the other side. Mormund chops through the brambles and both of them try to rescue a young elven girl. He struggles against the flames and Dax tells him to pull back. Dax then goes in through the Brambles and convinces the girl to stick with him. Mormund struggles and clears the brambles with his blade to find Dax with the girl latched onto him. He pulls the two through and they all leave the building.

Nos’on finds the reservoir and fills a bucket to help fight the flames. Adavi looks to try and assess the situation. Another person sees an area where people maybe trapped and a door leading to it. Adavi fires the stream of water against the door. Nos’on scales the tree and pulls himself into the tree to meet smoke and heat hitting his face. Nos’on covers himself in water and covers his face. He listens intently and hears coughing from below. He shouts out to the coughing and tries to call him over. Adavi rushes to the door and tries to open the door. Nos’on tries to move forward to the voice but is kept back by the smoke. Nos’on goes back to an open window and tells Adavi of the situation and Adavi fires a scorching ray to open the door by burning the vines off of it. Nos’on pushes forward and tries to reach a man and two children. He pulls off his robe and covers the children with it. He ushers the them out and Nos’on escapes.

They look up and see the eagle druids putting out the flames on the great tree and the fires are slowly starting to die. There doesn't appear to be anymore combat and a group of druids have set up an area for triage of wounded people. Nos’on sends the three over and looks at Adavi noting there appear to be no combat in the area. Adavi sends a message to an eagle and he informs him that Lysandre is okay and the Khizrathi are falling back. Their rangers will hunt the stragglers and keep the pressure on the retreating forces but the battle is slowly dying out. He tells Adavi to try and cut through the doors and help people trapped in their homes.

Over the next hours the group search homes and help get people to safety. Druids gather back into the city and Lysandre returns. He angrily strides over and addresses the group. The Croftwood is damaged and will need time to rebuild. He angrily asserts that the delegate from Woodley has abandoned the Croftwood and that it’s uncharacteristic of Atborough. Nos’on notes it is likely Woodley is also under threat now and the messenger wasn’t legitimate. Lysandre seems defeated for now and decides to bring his people to the nearest town for protection. Dax tries to convince Lysandre to go to Woodley and assist them directly. Dax mentions they tried to drive a wedge between Woodley and the Croftwood and that they must work together to try and save the land. Lysandre asks his guards to scout out a place for non-combatants and asks his warriors to stay and hold the line against the Khizrathi. Some of the people begin to leave but others stay and offer to fight. He rallies everyone to begin rebuilding and start erecting defenses.

Lysandre invites them into his home and offers them prizes to help on their journey. Lysandre returns with a rockwood cask. He gives Mormund scale gloves that react to threats. He gives Adavi a large heavy cloak made of fur and it reacts to an attack by hardening quills that can damage an attacker. To Nos’on he gives an amulet that increases the strength of his strikes. He offers Dax the war horn that allows him to inspire others to action. They are given the assurance of help from the Croftwood, the lodgings of the circle, and he tells them to hurry back to Woodley. Adavi asks Lysandre about the emissaries sent to the circle and he admits that he has focused on his own people more in the recent days. He will send a scout to see the town and allow more information. Adavi apologizes they couldnt help more but Lysandre assures him that they will hold the line and they will not leave their home for now. With that the party rests up.

As Nos’on rests he hears a voice in his mind asking him to speak about the future….

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Stream XIII: Gifts of the Dead

Resume combat. Nos’on drops his spear and readies his bow firing at the zombie and hitting. Frog is fighting the zombies against him and slashes across with both blades dealing moderate damage. Dax disengages and retreats and unleashes a burst of flame on the armored enemy. Mormund readies a strike on the zombie in front of him but hits the armor for no armor. Adavi readies a ray of sickness and hits but it does not do any damage. Horses run across the field and clip a pole knocking a lamp over and causing the immediate area to be set ablaze. A hound jumps onto Dax and grapples with him clamping down on his clothes and breaking his concentration on the spell. Oscar is unknown. A zombie falls down as they move forward and grasp at Mormund stumbling over him. Frog cries out for some reason. The enemy against Oscar misses and then a clanging of hooves versus metal and Oscar roars triumphantly. Nos’on tries to vault off of Dax to attack a zombie but misses the strike. Focusing his Ki, Nos’on spins around and swings the spear at the dog killing it and snapping its spine. Frog disengages and follows Nos’on around the corner. Dax stealths and peaks around the corner to assess the situation with Frog and Oscar. He fires guiding bolt at level 2 but misses the shot.

Mormund flees the area and tells the others something big is following. Rain, almost a light mist, starts falling from the sky and a low rumble comes over the area. Adavi readies his Shocking Grasp and converts it to a ranged spell striking one enemy and arcing it across to another 2 zombies and splattering one across the field. Dax orders Oscar back and he gruffly agrees to come over to him quickly lashing out at the dog and driving it back to allow him to disengage. Adavi sees a figure running to the back of the house covered in gore and on fire and it attacks Frog clamping onto his neck and bringing him down to the ground. The zombies round the corner and come into view of the heroes. Nos’on returns to is bow and Dax readies to fight the horde. He heals Oscar and Oscar readies next to Dax. Mormund pulls out the snake statue and calls Lythia. A bolt of energy hits the statue as he holds it up and large red wyvern descends from the sky knocking several people down. Adavi tries again with his shocking grasp and fails to strike. Lythia swings her tail and impales one zombie and slams into another. She picks up another in her jaws and flings it around but the zombie escapes her jaws. A zombie horse moves forward to attack Lythia but it falls over in the mud and topples over. A dog leaps over frog and Oscar misses a strike. The large enemy closes with Oscar and misses a strike making his greatsword slip from his hand spearing the dog to the wall and killing it.

Another zombies advances on Nos’on swipes missing him. A large explosion and flash of red occurs over the area. Nos’on tells Dax to retreat and runs behind Lythia. Dax refuses and casts Healing Word on Frog and then mounts OScar drawing his rapier and stabbing at the large enemy but misses. Oscar tries to gore the zombie in front but misses. Frog attacks a zombie and rips its arms off with his blades. He then coughs up blood and staggers over to close the gap. Lythia strikes out with her stinger at the zombie horse and rips its side. She rears up and strikes out with her bite and rips its back leg out. Mormund attacks the zombie on the ground in front of him and rams his sword into the shoulder ripping it open and mortally wounding it. Mormund then goes to the sword pinning the dog to the wall and rips out from the wall a very ornate sword. Adavi readies his Shocking Grasp again and strikes out against a zombie burning it extra crispy and arcs it around the corner to the horse. Adavi asks Lythia what the explosion was and she gives a rather cryptic answer. The horses surround Lythia try to kick and stomp Lythia and damages her tail. The zombies also begin chewing on Lythia. The big zombie attacks Dax and misses him.

The last zombies attack Adavi and Mormund and misses. One zombie strikes Frog bringing him down. Nos’on runs to the building and climb the wall to the roof of the house. He then surveys the area around him. Dax casts Whispers at an enemy and makes the zombie fall back and shudder making the magical energies leave its bodies killing it. Oscar gores one zombie and shatters its back...

Lythia crushes the horses and engulfs them in flame. She then goes into the air stating the contract is fulfilled and leaves. Nos’on is busy digging through the wreckage of the house and finds Sluvi while Dax tends to Frog whose condition is worsening. Adavi looks around the house and notices a cloak that catches his eye and he picks it up. He feels the magic slipping away and looks at the ground seeing the trail leading to it. Using detect magic Adavi sees a cloudy purple-black energy of a necromancy spell and sees a halo around two figures shaking hands and discharging energy. He tries to determine the timeframe of the events. The building explosion was caused by the lamp igniting oil. The drink sources on the table maybe magical and reads the age of the food, taking some of the fresher stuff. Nos’on looks at the scene of Sluvi killing his friend and decapitates the corpse. He looks over Sluvi while removing his bonds and he looks okay and not infected with a zombie bite. Sluvi tells the tale of looking for his other party member in the croftwood and found himself set upon by a swarm of insects and found himself here. Dax finds Mormund trying to slam it open and he dislocates his shoulder which Dax pops back in and Dax takes his turn hitting it open barely missing Nos’on. Nos’on and Sluvi go on to try and help Frog and hurts him putting pressure on him. Sluvi sees Frog’s condition and sees internal bleeding. Using the healing kit Sluvi deftly sews together Frog’s wounds and administers him medicine. He should be stabilized at least but should need a good doctor soon.

The Dax joins Mormund and Nos’on goes to Adav at a locked door. Mormund looks inside another building and looks inside being assailed by a horrible combination of stenches seeing dead dogs inside. Looking around inside they see a mess of the dogs forcing themselves out of the cages and some dogs turned into zombies. Dax looks around and pockets an engraved tiki from a dog’s corpse. Mormund looks at the basin finding a walnut smell coming from it. Looking further he seems a black shimmering powder at the bottom of the basin and investigating further reaches into the hole pulling out a leg bone carved into a cylinder with intricate runes on the side. It appears magical but Dax is not sure what it is. He tries to channel some magic with it and not much happens. Nos’on hands his lockpicks to Adavi after he asks, jokingly, and then sets to work appraising the door and lock himself. The door looks reinforced and secure and has a strong lock on it which might take a while to force their way in. It doesn’t appear trapped and he goes about trying to pick it open focusing his mental efforts. The lock is quite complicated and he determines he may need a key. Mormund wanders in as Adavi looks over the glasses and drinks. Adavi looks at the water and notices something off about the water.

Mormund looks at the drink Adavi has and notes the same smell on it as the water from the kennel. Adavi then chows down on the fruit and Nos’on chastises him for eating it. Dax walks in and Nos’on asks if anyone has seen a key he could use to unlock the padlock. Dax starts trying to use a length of rope tied to Oscar to pull the lock off but Nos’on tells him not to try. Mormund checks the large zombie over to find the key… Melted to a stump. Nos’on tries to examine the key for clues on how to unlock the padlock and determines that the key might not be useful but Adavi could fix it. Adavi looks down into the well and begins to fall in. Nos’on dives to try and save him and the others help pull him to safety. Looking into the bucket they see the same nut they turned into the alchemist earlier. They also find a strange powder that Adavi thoughtlessly tastes. Dax, panicked, commands Adavi to stick his fingers down his throat and vomit up the powder. Dax kicks some of the well into it trying to block it up to prevent others from drinking it.

They decide to take a sample of the water from the kennel to try and figure out what happened to the well and Adavi mentions he found the same nut given to the alchemist. They think the nut was responsible and remember that the nut was associated with the necromancers. The Khizrathi used black iron and aren't related. They remember them being in crates which means they are likely imported. Nos’on postulates if the person he killed earlier was working with the necromancer they might have been imported from him. Looking back on the crates Adavi remembers no mark on the crates showing an ownership of the goods suggesting they are probably smuggled. Looking back to the key Adavi uses mend to fix the key back to its original state. Nos’on, flabberghasted at the fact that Adavi can fix things that he had to fix himself easily, snatches the key away from him and unlocks the door. Sluvi talks to Nos’on with Frog in tow and asks privately how he is. Frog is in rough shape but he should be stable for now and is resting. He’ll either need to be carried or rest for several days before he could walk. Nos’on appraises Sluvi of the situation and mentions they will have to be on guard. He asks that Frog be taken away from the area with Sluvi’s help and will check with his companions if it's agreeable.

Dax talks over the situation with Oscar and convinces him to join them with his vengeance complete. He then talks to Adavi about checking the bodies and something else. Adavi checks out the boxes and finds salt, fertilizer, and some of the small nuts. Mormund looks over the leg bone and sees it is a dwarf legbone while Dax waves it in front of him seemingly irreverently. He can’t figure out what the runes on it means and Dax decides to let Mormund have it for burial or disposal. Dax looks over the breastplate on a zombie corpse and rifles the bodies for valuables. They find a ring and Mormund puts it on and whispers an incantation activating the enchantment, feeling a sense of refreshment come over him. Dax looks through the wares on the table and finds a gold ornate fork which suddenly stabs his tongue. They see Dax in distress and come over to see him bleeding from the mouth. They determine the fork is a gag gift and then Adavi informs them he found more nuts in the crates.

Nos’on informs them they need to move Frog. Nos’on appoints Dax and Mormund to check out the steps into the basement. They look down into the basement and find beds and pilfered goods. Looking over it they find plum wine, healing potions, empty flasks, some items marked with the broken helm symbol, and various other items. Dax notes that the flasks are exactly like the ones used by the alchemist in town. Among the other items is a map with troop deployments for the Bauerstones, one area to the east marked “Maw Guards”, one area marked out, and another area Westward marked “supply meet”. Dax finds items marked with Amaleth, the Shattered Helm, and the Gray Lady. He finds a silvered blade that may have been a holy weapon with little glasslike flecks along the blade and finds a notch his hand falls into. He takes the blade and slips it into his sheath. He presses a slot on the hilt and notes the blade almost glistens as he pushes it. They open two chests and find a bag of gold and a bag of gemstones and Dax offers some to Adavi. They look over the beds and one is larger than the others.  

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Stream XII: Visions of the Past

Adavi goes to investigate the corpse of Solomon and finds a sling, his ripped up clothes, an ornate staff, and a chain shirt. Mormund meanwhile is scolding Nos’on and Dax goes into the forest to find the body of the necromancer. Nos’on responds that he was as good as dead anyways if he spoke and figured it was best to just kill him to which Mormund corrects him that he said he’s dead if he was returned to the coven. They look over the ritual site trying to find clues as to what the ritual was about and Mormund impresses they could have learned more if Nos’on didn’t kill him. He takes a look at the ritual stone and notes it is a strange stone he is unfamiliar with which is odd because of his experience. Adavi then searches the ground around him for black veiny substance similar to what was on the cave walls. Dax looks for Ezerai and sees movement in the distance. He hides in the nearby brush and waits to see what it is. Coming to Ezerai’s corpse he looks through the robes and finds three hand crossbows and a teardrop amulet that says “Hold Fast”. As he drags the crossbow across Ezerai’s chest that the bolts of the crossbows are tipped with necrotic toxins. He’s not able to determine the necklace ability and what type of poison it is. Adavi notes that Lysandre should be informed of the recent happenings while Nos’on cleans his weapons and wonders if the young pups maybe what that meant. He decides to take the bodies back to the croftwood circle and treat them respectfully.

While the rest of the party rolls up the bodies of the slain pups Mormund stands with the pillars and examining them. Turning to Adavi he asks if there is any way to determine the type of magic the stones emit. Adavi sees the entire area light up when he casts detect magic and slowly sees it dimming. The star on the ground has a purple grunge to it that is also dimming. The area is magically active and checking his arcana he sees the magic is dispersing. He tells Mormund the result of his findings which isn’t a lot. It seems the area was forced to disperse and that the blood might have been used as a sacrifice to knock out powerful enchantments. Adavi suggests going back to the circle. Mormund then chisels off a piece of the pillar and takes it. Mormund then faints for some reason and Dax tries to run to his aid. Mormund hallucinates that he is a wolf chasing a young girl in a red dress and almost attacks her before his sight changes. Then he sees the pillars that seem new and sees people in throngs speaking strange words, as if in a ritual. The crowd after they finish chanting look at one another and cheer after something happens. He feels something like its the “salvation of his people”, but he doesn’t know what that means.

Mormund wakes up and explains that he had another vision. He explains that he was the black hound chasing someone named Talia. The other vision was, he believes, the creation of the pillars and that he was standing in a tall city with people. They had ashen skin and long hair. It seems as if the pillars were made for some reason. He tries to repeat some of the words and Dax gets the sense that the pillars were meant to delay some horrible thing. Dax volunteers to try and experience the vision himself but is unable to see it. Frog digs at the dirt at the base of the pillar and sees that the pillar is contiguous and is widening as it goes into the ground. He tries to remember more details and looking back he remembers he was on some deus or spire someone was speaking from. He guesses there maybe an entire city buried on top of the area. Adavi tries to convince them to dig but Nos’on tries to hurry them along. Adavi suggests trying to find Hallsgaard’s mine to try and find them. Nos’on suggests maybe they are Khizrathi but Mormund sees that, though they share some similarities, the Khizrathi are far too primitive and physically distinct to be the same.  They postulate a bit more and agree to make their way to the croftwood.

Lysandre comes from the forest with two grizzly bears and several wolves. He notices the children and seems crestfallen. Dax goes over the letter found in Ezerai’s coat mentioning the summoning fog and the death of their comrades. On the other side of the note was that Ezerai was Valmar’s “greatest creation”. Examining Ezerai’s body the group see the black corrupted skin and Adavi sees it on himself. Lysandre seems heartbroken over the pups deaths. Mormund notes that Solomon thought he was doing the right thing. Lysandre mentions that Solomon made a deal that could put him in power. Whatever the deal was it was worth killing the children for Solomon. Lysandre was privy to the deal but only thought they meant as political prisoners to ensure that Woodley would continue getting food. He rejected the deal and their crops started to fail. Lysandre can’t think of what possibly they could use the druid blood for and Dax thinks they are for sealing away an ancient evil. They wonder what the possible meaning of the stone pillars could be and Mormund determines that the stone pillars are perhaps 10’s to 100’s of thousands of years old. Lysandre is given the armor and he offers it back to them as a gift.

Unsure what to do next Dax suggests reaching out to Woodley for assistance. He also mentions the Ash Giant and Blaine’s family. The group tell Lysandre of Blaine’s fate and he seems disheartened by the news. Sluvi is looking for a member of an earlier party named Kokoa. He was searching for the two parties himself. He welcomes the group to the circle and will send an emissary to Atborough to smooth over relations. The group declines and decides to keep their promise to Francis to hunt down the Bauerstone Boys. Lysandre decides to take the the children and go but Mormund stops him quickly to ask about the “Talia” girl in his vision. Lysandre recognizes her as a daughter of a farmer and fear she might be long dead. With that they part ways and the wolves keep digging to the roots of the pillar. The group decide to rest the day away in the shadows of the stone pillars…

Adavi tries to trick Mormund into getting hit by the strange amulet but instead gets hit by a magic missile for some damage. Mormund sees a little spark of purple fire but only just, he ignores it while Nos’on gives Adavi a lecture on his impulsiveness and foolish nature. With that the group waits for morning.

They wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to go to the Bauerstone headquarters to kill any of the mercenaries not killed by the traps laid out by Frog. Adavi uses the staff in front of them and hits it with ray of frost. Frog tells Adavi to knock it off to which he protests. Adavi refills his staff which is frozen to the ground. Nos’on is scouting forward with Dax and Oscar. Dax turns back to Frog and asks how the Bauerstones identify each other and if they could be infiltrated. Frog shoots down the idea and tells Dax that it would be difficult to infiltrate a small band of mercenaries. They come across one of Frog’s traps and see a Khizrathi caught in one trap. Frog decides to leave it lie and continue on. Dax considers trying to pretend to be a Khizrathi and maybe find someone allied with them and assembles a costume to disguise himself. Frog looks disappointed as he checks more traps and doesn’t find more bodies caught in them. Coming up to a wall of the Bauerstone HQ they note the area is strangely silent. Dax sees a large figure lying face down and they can’t see exactly what it is. Nos’on offers to stalk closer to body to check it and they decide they could navigate around to the front gate and Dax guides him over. The others stay alert and try to sneak around to the front gate when dax suddenly knocks off a section of loose wall which crashes down. Nos’on hears something in the distance that sounds like door hinges and glass shatters later. Something is here… Enter initiative.

Nos’on listens intently and notices whatever is attacking might have hostages which he tells Dax. There is a crash of glass and Frog dashes off drawing his swords. Dax tries to inspire Nos’on with a song written by his own hand inspired by the great human bard woman Miley Cyrus. Mormund and Adavi try to follow him down the hill. They try to jump over the fence surrounding it and Mormund stumbles into it. A wolf dtrikes at Nos’on drawn to the noise of the crumbling wall and Dax reacts with a cutting word of causing it to flinch and misses. Another corrupted wolf attacks Nos’on and bites him. As it recoils he draws back and thrusts his spear at the wolf. He misses and focuses his ki to ready his defenses. As the others arrive Adavi sees several bodies crawl out of the ground. Frog quickdraws his bow and fires but hits short of his target. Dax fires a guiding bolt at the undead wolf which incinerates the wolf instantly. Mormund rights himself and catches up. He casts firebolt at one of the undead and hits it scorching it for minor damage. Adavi readies a scorching ray and fires it off slamming into the creature and burning it. Nos’on assaults a zombie and stumbles around as he is surrounded. Dax cuts in to disorient the dog but it fails to help. The large undead with a sword walks forward and barely misses a strike at Nos’on. The door at the front of the house bursts open and out crawl more creatures. Dax sees tents in the distance and hears undead horses rapidly approaching and very agitated.

Nos’on instructs Dax to retreat and then focuses his Ki to deftly weave through the enemy and retreat. Frog swings at a creature and misses with the initial strike. The second strike hits the undead’s spine beheading it. Dax uses the amulet and launches magic missiles hitting an undead wolf and the undead with the large sword doing apparently nothing. Dax casts Heat Metal on the large undead’s armor superheating it and setting him on fire. He then runs to hide in bushes. Oscar charges towards Dax. Mormund tries to set the building on fire and sets the nearby brush alight, which works just as well, and summons his hand axe. Adavi advances and casts Scorching Ray which launches to great effect to the lead undead coming from the building. The undead shamble their way forth and the undead hound attacks and misses Nos’on. Zombies crawl towards Dax’s bush while the horses bash against the gates of the corral. Nos’on jumps over the stone wall and looks over the Bauerstone HQ. Nos’on tries to scale the building and shouts to the others to help Dax. Frog charges forward to the zombies while dax runs back and continues heating the armor of the large undead starting to slag its armor and continuing to turn it into a shambling torch.

Oscar sees the face of Epstien, the one who killed his owner, and proceeds to recklessly rush Epstien and tries to gore him but misses. Mormund rushes up and tosses the axe toward a zombie striking its shoulder and reapperating it to his hand. Adavi splits his spells and casts a scorching ray into a zombie splattering it into the wall. A zombie dog rushes towards Dax and the other attacks Oscar but to no effect. The standing undead flops over trying to reach their targets. The large undead rams his sword at Oscar and hurts him. The crawling zombie grabs for Mormund but he quickly dances away. A zombie tears into frog and critically wounds him. The zombie horses break the wall down with a crash….

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Stream XI: Battle for the Ritual Stone

Adavi, Nos’on, and Francis go off to the mines and Adavi finds the others skipping the bounty offer strange. Nos’on finds Mormund skipping out on it is odd but not Dax. He then talks more with Francis about life in the monastery and how they did well without coin. Adavi takes the chance to talk more about the area and the forests surrounding them. Francis has been around on the isle for about 6-7 years and doesn’t go into the forest often unless to hunt bounties. He hails from Havis in Graustien and has different voice, appearance, and mannerisms from Dax. His body is a patchwork of violence keeping in line with his work. They go on to talk about traps in the forest, spiders, and Nos’on gives him the necklace he took from a spider’s body and mentions it is similar to the one at the Deepbrow mines. They also mention the dwarf smith and people around the town, Ibn Turab in particular, where he’s been, how he fights, and the 7 Towers church of Langinfeld. In the east Adavi mentions his encounter with the lizard woman Lythia. Turning to the pillar of light Adavi and Francis seems to be glad they didn’t go and Nos’on is weary of what they might encounter. Francis notices that Adavi is injured and offers him a potion which he promptly pours down his chest making Nos’on groan in frustration.

Turning back to the mission at hand Adavi and Francis talk about the current fight between the Scions, the Lanterns, and the Powell gang, a third organization that tries to use diplomacy and influence to work against the Lanterns and the bounty on the Lanterns. In the afternoon they arrive back at Blaine's farm and Francis goes to Frost’s corpse do collect the ear for a bounty. He then mentions Frost's death and heals Adavi’s wounds and casts Heal Light Wounds on him with an enchanted ring. With the bounty collected they turn to join the rest of the group. As they walk back they talk about the strange occurrences in Woodley. It seems that the fog and the Weeping Rot seems to be focused in Woodley and the Croftwood in particular and outside is barely even noticeable.

Dax, Oscar, and Mormund walk to the glowing pillar and chat about what they expect to see. Mormund laments that the group split up in the face of danger. He also is concerned about Oscar and whether he would be cooperative or not. Oscar eventually picks up his pace and after a while stops suddenly and knocks both off of him. Dax volunteers to scout ahead with stealth and creeps forward seeing light and hearing chanting. A collection of Khizrathi are in a formation resembling a pentagram, two of them tied up and having something drained from them, a few slaughtered dogs lay behind them, a main man in a cloak is leading the chant, and others follow in the chant. Dax listens to what the people are chanting and it appears that the man is trying to stop the beacon from activating though he is unsure what the spell is or does. A Khizrathi walks toward Dax and seems to notice him while Dax casts a minor illusion making the sound of clinking chainmail behind him to distract it. He tries to sneak away and barely gets away but snaps a branch alerting enemies. Dax tries to hide in the short time he has and manages to put distance between himself and them enough to slip away.

Dax makes his way to Mormund and tries to surprise him making him jump up in surprise. Dax explains what he saw and they agree to not approach the pillar while the Khizrathi are there. They also decide to try and find a secure place to rest for the night. He finds a hollow dry gulch to hide and the two rest with Oscar.

As they rest Francis and the others reach the forest clearing that they parted ways at and start walking their way to Dax and Mormund. Nos’on makes a path out that they would likely have taken and they move on try and eventually find where they ended up. Dax tries to sneak up on the group and Francis notices him. Dax quickly tells the group about the Khizrathi and Adavi is keen on dealing with them now but Dax is hesitant to fight them. They then decide to go back to their camp to decide what to do next. They rest up and wake in the morning.

The group wake up and suddenly are acutely aware of the humming dim out before a sudden crack fills the air and Francis notes the light from the beacon fades out meaning the Khizrathi and their masters did something at the pillar. The group make time getting to the pillar and note people talking in common. “The lock has been released”, one says and after some gurgling another mentions something about a bargain. They continue hiding and await the figures to approach them. The Khizrathi chained to the pillar have their throats slit and others have filtered out leaving a few behind. Ezerai mentions that the Bauerstones are taken care of and that the Solomon should stop fertilizing the fields as the croftwood circle is weakened. As they talk Dax and Adavi ready spells to cast and fire at Ezerai and Solomon. Enter initiative.

Dax fires a guiding bolt as Ezerai hitting him hard and staggering him backwards. Ezerai casts a magic missile at Dax and misses. Adavi falls back and uses Scorching Ray and splitting it. The spell narrowly misses two Khizrathi but hits a third square in the chest burning its flesh. Dax attacks a Khizrathi with his rapier and hits it for a moderate amount of damage. He then sings a battle ballad of the legendary Warrior of the East, Hua Mulan, and inspires Adavi. Francis charges the large Khizrathi and slashes at it and missing the second strike. Solomon advances on the party and casts Ice Knife at Oscar wounding him and hitting Mormund with the explosion and barely missing the Khizrathi soldier. Nos’on drops his bow and grabs his spear to attack jamming it into the Khizrathi soldier charging him and then headbutting it. Mormund swings at a Khizrathi and misses. Ezerai appears wounded and he retreats into the forest. The large Khizrathi strikes at Francis and hits once. Adavi moves away slightly and casts ray of sickness on Khizrathi but it doesn't bother them much.  The Khizrathi attack Dax and critically wound him and make him fall off the saddle in a pool of blood. The final Khizrathi slashes at Adavi and misses. Dax bleeds out. Oscar is enraged and misses his attack. Francis strikes at the large Khizrathi and pierces its armor and hard.  

Ezerai retreats and Solomon stands there stunned at his comrades cowardice before turning back and casts entangle on Mormund to try and prevent the group from pursuing. The group break out of the entangling vines except for Adavi and two Khizrathi. Nos’on strikes against a Khizrathi and rips out its guts killing it. He then tells Mormund to end the battle as soon as possible. Mormund dismounts from Oscar and misses a strike from a Khizrathi and grabs a potion from Dax’s neck and feeds it to him. Dax regains his consciousness and the potion does a wonderful job healing him. Ezerai continues fleeing into the forest. The large Khizrathi attacks Nos’on and wounds him lightly. One Khizrathis misses an attack, the second breaks the vines and lightly wounds Oscar, and the final can’t break the vines. Dax uses healing word on himself and gets up on Oscar riding him to catch up to Ezerai and a Khizrathi strikes Oscar and bleeds him. Dax casts Guiding Bolt and Ezerai is struck with divine fire and is burned to death. Francis attacks the large Khizrathi with fury and he is bleeding heavily. Solomon casts Ice Knife on Oscar and hits causing no splash damage. He then retreats back. Nos’on focuses his Ki and runs towards Solomon. Mormund pops a hand axe into his hand and slashes a Khizrathi entangled in the vines on the collarbone. The large Khizrathi strikes at Francis and wounds him lightly. Adavi casts a poison fog at the enemies and fails. The Khizrathi struggle against the vines and one breaks out.

Dax directs Oscar to ram into the Khizrathi singing the song of the Bard Ludakris and rams it down. Francis strikes out at the large Khizrathi and decapitates it. Nos’on is entangled in vines by Solomon and he retreats. Mormund pops his handaxe into his hand and strikes at the Khizrathi and misses. Adavi casts another poison cloud and hits a Khizrathi. The Khizrathi slashes at Adavi and both hit him knocking him down and wounding him. Oscar slams down on the Khizrathi and stomps it into goop. He then moves to fight Solomon. Solomon, out of spells, pulls out a sling and attacks Nos’on for minor damage. Nos’on remains paralyzed. Mormund steps toward Solomon and demands he surrender. Mormund tries to cast a firebolt but fails casting the spell. ‘Adavi tries to hit the Khizrathi with poison spray and misses. The Khizrathi swipes back at him and nearly takes his arm off sending him in bleed out. Dax directs Oscar to ram into Solomon and pins him in place against the rocks. Solomon casts animal friendship and charms Oscar. Mormund draws his bow to attack and misses. Adavi casts yet another poison cloud into the Khizrathi and melts his face off. Adavi then picks his axe and plants it into the Khizrathi’s own face. Dax surrounds Solomon and convinces him to surrender. He claims that if he is brought back to the circle he is dead anyways. Exit combat

Nos’on strikes out with his blade and Mormund and Dax tries to intervene. Mormund tries to tackle Nos’on and fails. Nos’on successfully stabs Solomon to death and walks away...

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Stream X: Making Friends

The feather hat man struggles against his restraints and Dax knocks him out with the pommel of his blade. The group talk together about what the big pink beam of light might be. They note that the beam might be emanating from the pillar and that they might have to investigate it sooner than they thought. The man appears be suddenly be coughing up black liquid and Nos’on takes a few stabs at them. They seem to think that he might be infected with the disease and take steps to keep him and the others restrained. Adavi picks up the man's sword and it truly is an ornate piece. He offers it to Mormund for an appraisal and finds it is well crafted and balanced.

Deciding what to do next they think they might take a rest near the grain silo despite how rancid it might smell and they search over the bodies of the others for goods. Mormund gets hit with the black phlegm while Dax notices all the men have tattoos on their body as sort of group mentality. It seems to be some sort of lamp or light source and the group wonder if they are part of a group. Looking for more Adavi finds scraps of paper that he tries to reconfigure to make sense of it. They decide to try and have Dax interrogate the dog to find more information. They banter a bit and, after Dax takes the hat of their captive and Nos’on takes it and throws it into the fire, they decide to put out the fire and Adavi uses Ray of Frost to extinguish the dying fire.

Dax tries to go to sleep and Nos’on asks him to heal Adavi after that Dax puts himself down to rest and Nos’on suggests Mormund does the thing. Mormund suggests an alarm spell but Nos’on says not to both. In the morning after rest they will go to investigate the pink beam. As Nos’on and Mormund settle into their watch they discuss what is in the letters taken from the leader Frost. It seems that the group is a gang of professional thieves hired by two people from Woodley, Ezerai and Tormaline. They also mention Ibn Turab is in the city and that they should avoid him. They seem scared of the plague and want to leave Woodley as soon as possible. Finally they might double cross Ezerai to take the rest of their employer’s coin.

Seeing their captive stir they wake up Dax and ready to interrogate him. Nos’on gives the man one of his random potions and it seems to heal him. The others wake up and start talking to the man. The man tries to bargain and then notes that he’ll be tortured worse if he talks. Dax tries to kick him a few times and the man gives him the name of the lantern cartels. He mentions that he was after Francis and didn’t expect help. He believes that because they are not with Francis that because of it they are well and truly dead. Frost later mentions that they were in the area knocking over caravans and and farmlands. The group show him the letters and Frost mentions that he is screwed and needs to flee the Isles or something horrible will happen to him. He seems sincere that he is well and truly dead if he stays there. He agrees to spill the beans that he was hired in cooperation with the Bauerstone Boys to cause chaos and eventually they were hired to start abducting people. They later were told to stop and didn’t question it. He also mentions a map in his back pocket that shows an “exclusion zone” they aren’t allowed to go to. They also mention a goblin that has been harassing them and a farmhouse to the north they have been holed up in. Adavi then asks what will happen to him and Frost paints a gruesome picture of what happens if Ziggurat catches him confessing. He then mentions Ziggurat’s location and that Ezerai was acting weird that concerned him making them want to cut bait and run. They press him on the details of the hide out and debate whether or not to let him go.

Looking at Adavi he asks whether they should let him go or not. Adavi brings the crossbow to bear and Dax tackles him aside to make it miss. Adavi readies a second bolt and Dax cuts the rope holding Frost. Dax tries to interfere and Adavi hits Frost with one bolt. Adavi tries to fire again and misses. Adavi readies a Ray of Frost and strikes him hard killing him. Dax stomps off to the silo in a huff. Adavi goes through the remains of the house and goes to the cellar stairway. Going into the cellar they have been using the space as a garbage dump. Looking over the trash Adavi sees a sack with legs protruding from the open side. Unwrapping the sack he sees a male farmer and then sees other bodies in sacks down here. All four bodies appear to have slit throats and one child has the beginning signs of the weeping rot.

The sun rises and pink pillar is still in the sky. The group wake rested and Mormund notes that its well past the hour Frost said someone was coming to check on him. Nos’on uses the tree to search around and Mormund looks around for the man they held captive. Adavi mentions that he tried to run away and they killed him. Dax disapproves and Adavi ignores him. Adavi appraises the others of the situation of the farm to the north and the groups dealings with the necromancers. They could either try to go after them directly with the town guard or maybe put on some of the soldiers disguises and try to lure them into a trap. Nos’on is opposed to disguises and suggests using another method. They then decide to try and interrogate the dog but Dax doesn’t make much headway into gaining its trust.

Adavi mentions Mormund might want to look at the cellar and he sees the four covered bodies and a familiar purse from before sticking out from a dresser. Dax and Nos’on try to gain its trust and soon calm it enough to talk to it. Dax tries to talk to it and the dog wants to be free from the rock it is tied to. The dog mentions Epstien, his master, is to the north and they decide to go after him. Dax tries to convince the dog to come along and although the dog is loathe to accept he mentions he might be able to bring them to Francis. The group are now at a decision. They can go check the pillar or go to investigate the farmhouse to the north. They decide to try and go investigate the pillar and also bury the corpses of the family while they are there. Meanwhile Dax gives a sermon to the dog and the dog mentions a “treasure” hidden by a “Tiki” that he convinces dax to look for at the house to the north. The dog wants to see Francis first and after more talking to the dog he goes off to the northeast. He tries to jerk the collar rope out of Dax’s hands and the dog takes off. Adavi attacks it with Ray of Frost and Dax tries to intervene. Adavi kills the dog and Dax viciously mocks Adavi. Adavi is hurt by the sound of his mother’s voice and Nos’on confronts him about Adavi killing the dog. He killed the dog to try and prevent it from running back to the camp to warn them. Nos’on asks about the captive and Adavi mentions the threats he made to them. Dax goes off to bury the dog and Adavi offers Nos’on food from his robes.

The group finally decide to go after the goblin hunter Francis. They see that the cows are being rowdy and Dax talks with it to find out that the bull wants to avenge his master and Dax agrees to bring him along. The group ready to leave and Dax keeps a loaded bolt ready to shoot Adavi if he tries to cast a spell. Dax also drapes the armor plates overit  to offer additional protection. They go on and Nos’on scouts ahead finding the footprints of Frost and his men moving on the trajectory they are following. Mormund quickly grabs the coinpurse from the cellar and puts it away. Dax briefly scolds Mormund for stealing from the dead and catch up with the group.

Nos’on confronts Adavi about his recent hostility with Dax and tries to tell him to reconcile with Dax at least until the danger has passed and he isn’t interested in watching both Adavi and Dax while they are in danger. They move across and make good time to Francis. Nos’on hears a voice in the distance and notices the foliage growing lower. He tells the group to be quiet and he sees a small figure lashing out at something. Wolves come out from the underbrush and an alpha wearing bone plating. Enter Initiative.

Nos’on mentions the goblin in the brush being attacked and readies an attack. The younger wolves advance on the party. One wolf attacks the bull, the other attacks Dax, and bites the bull hard. The other wolf launches into Dax and he is knocked off the bull. A wolf attack Mormund and latches onto his arm and Mormund shakes him off. A wolf attacks Adavi and misses. The wolves attacking Francis attacks and he fends them off. Mormund draws his sword and swings at the wolf slashing into its side and killing it. Dax gets up and onto Oscar and heals him. He inspires Oscar to fight. Oscar stomps the wolf to the right viciously and kills it. Adavi grabs a wolf and uses a poisonous blast to kill it. The Bone Wolf rushes Nos’on and Nos’on stabs at it with his readied attack. The wolf lunges forward at Nos’on and starts biting and clawing at him causing damage but he stays on his feet. Francis struggles with the wolves and draws two blades. He strikes at one wolf and kills it. He then turns to engage a second wolf and stabs out to the wolf wounding its leg.

Nos’on strikes at the wolf and the wolf rips it from his grasp. He focuses his Ki and readies to dodge. More wolves join the fray. Francis is attacked by a wolf and is hurt bad when it bites his neck. A wolf attacks Nos’on but gets caught under Oscar’s hooves and gets trampled to death. Mormund advances and fires a magic missile at the wolves attacking Francis killing the smaller wolf and scorching the flesh of the older wolf. Dax rides to the spear and gives it to Nos’on. He then flanks the Bone Wolf and Oscar rams into him causing massive damage goring it with his horns. He then chooses to inspire Mormund with a rather… racist sounding song, despite this he is inspired. Adavi readies a ray of sickness and fires it at the Bone Wolf against Francis but it doesn’t take. The older wolf lunges at Francis but Francis dodges out of the way. A wounded wolf attacks Oscar and pulls on Oscar’s leg. A wolf rushes Adavi and Adavi shakes it off. Francis attacks the bone wolf slashing it across the face and then in its side. Nos’on grabs his spear again and spins it around to attack the large wolf against him, slashing the wolf down the spine and killing it. Nos’on advances and focuses his Ki to ready his defences.

The wolves advance on the party. One wolf attacks Adavi and bites his shoulder but Adavi shrugs it off. A wolf jumps on Mormund and staggers him with a mighty blow. Two wolves attack Nos’on and misses both. A wolf tries to tackle Dax off Oscar and fails. Mormund slashes at the wolf in front and misses flat blading a stone behind it. Mormund surges forward with adrenaline and inspiration after recovering and beheads the wolf. He then uses his second wind to recover his stamina back. Dax moves to engage a wolf with his rapier and slices into its braincase to kill it. Oscar tries to kick a wolf behind him but slips on mud and dismounts Dax. Adavi readies a blast of poison but it doesnt manage to land. Francis attacks the older wolf against him and kills it. He then moves to join the party.

Nos’on slings his spear at the wolf and slashes the muzzle into the face killing it and misses the other wolf with a kick. The wolf returns a strike at Nos’on and bites Nos’on’s leg pulling it out from under him. The wolves attack Adavi and miss. Mormund maneuvers around the small wolf and slides the blade across its side slicing it and bleeding it out. The wolves try to run away and the group takes the chance to finish them off. Exit Initiative.

The meet up with the goblin fighter and see a well worn and battle tested goblin. They greet Francis Gosche and talk about the Bauerstone Boys. Francis believes that he could take their heads to several of the areas with bounties on them and make money. They take Nos’on up off the ground and Dax heals up the party. They see Francis is going after the Lantern gang and doesn’t seem interested in the goings on at Woodley. He trapped the northern farmhouse to try and kill more of the gang and that he was trailing the lanterns for some time and saw them meet black cloaked men. They ask more about the men and Francis mentions Ezerai. Adavi offers that there are more bodies of the lanterns at the other farmhouse and mentions Langenfeld has a good bounty for the Lanterns. He also mentions the path to the pillar is booby trapped as well as the farm to the north. Epstein apparently never leaves the place so he’s likely still there. Switching topic to Ezerai he mentions that the man has some type of affliction on his involving black veins and that they should be very careful around him. They also try to convince him to fight for Woodley but he doesn’t seem interested without money involved. Adavi, Nos’on, and Francis go back to the farm to try and collect on the Lantern bounties and Mormund and Dax take Oscar to go follow the pillar of light in the distance...

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Stream IX: Fertiliser and Flames

The group sits in Lysandre’s waiting room and sizes up the elf. Mormund explains that Woodley sent them as an emissary to speak for woodley about the soured relations and the trade agreement had broken down with the failing of the crops.  Mormund suggests the same problem that befalls woodley may finally be affecting the druids as well. Nos’on wonders if may the fog and its effects are hurting the elves and Lysandre considers that it maybe a possibility for their centralized food source but not the caves and other fields. Nos’on suggests the fertilizer maybe to blame. Nos’on mentions that the letters may hold a clue, that they could have been compromised, and it may affect when the fertilizer started destroying the crops. Lysandre offers to show the group the crops and brings three wolves up which shift into elves that guard Whawho.

Lysandre opens the way to the fungal farm and brings them down into the caves where they find  the mushrooms and Nos’on and Mormund look intently. Looking around the ropes used to farm the mushroom Nos’on smells something about the rope is off. Mormund takes the rope and inspects it, dries it out, and tastes that there is something off about it, something that isn’t supposed to be there. It seems that there maybe sea salt or some other type of ocean based chemical that could be ruining the crops. Lysandre looks over but finds no salt grains, which is curious. Lysandre thinks Woodley might have sabotaged them but the group protest and Dax tries to conjure up the letter in a very dramatic voice mentioning the necromancers are conspiring to destroy Woodley and the Coven.

They walk a while and relay their adventures so far and that this seems to be a scheme from the necromancers to divide and conquer the Croftwood and Woodley. They also mention that the envoys were sent and Lysandre notes he never received a second messenger. Sluvi is taken away from the others to be fed. Lysandre admits that the necromancers maybe moving now against the druids as well as Woodley. He then mentions Ezrai, an envoy from the magistrate, that arrived with Blaine’s men and he thought that he was merely a bureaucrat but as time moved on Ezrai seemed to demand more and more of them. At a certain point Ezrai started making unreasonable demands of exchanging children from Woodley and the Circle as insurance that neither side would back down. Regardless of that Lysandre also mentions several children from the circle are missing. An elf named Solomon went out to search for them and hasn’t returned.

Dax suggests finding Blaine and asking him for answers that might help them uncover the mystery and Lysandre obliges them. Before they go away Mormund brings up the marble pillars in the woods and Lysandre mentions that the pillars are unlike anything they have seen before. Only one pillar seems to be intact in the Croftwood and it's likely that some energy still remains but overall they are likely non-functioning. Nos’on mentions the seeds that he found in the caves and the crates of salt that could be related to the problems they face. It seems like the salt might be the same but the seeds are still a mystery. Things are looking grim as there were only one living prisoner they rescued. Dax shows the contents of the letters and Lysandre looks over them. Dax notes that it wouldn’t be the most efficient and cheap way to destroy the crops but that it would be effective. They then decide to turn in for the day.

The group disperse and Dax decides to stay a while. The others go off to their rooms. Dax looks at the wrists of Lysandre and remarks that Lysandre was probably a slave and that not only elves were slaves before. He says that others have suffered slavery to try and find common ground with him. They talk about the racism both elves and goblins have endured from others and that goblins also know what it is like to be in chains. Dax soon leaves him and rejoins the group and most of them sleep. Before they do Adavi sends a message to ask about how if Lysandre knows of the goings on of his forest how the children went missing and he admits there might have been a blindspot either that he missed or someone created. He also asks to be taught how to keep the fog at bay.

In the morning they go to find Blaine and meet an elven guide named Brandt that will lead them to him. They ask if the pillar is on the way and he offers to take them back. The trip might be two days if they hurry and a few more if they don’t and Dax suggests riding the druids as animals, which shocks Brandt who readily refuses. Brandt turns into a fox and leads them to Brandt through paths that might not exactly be the best. Mormund and Nos’on isn’t having trouble and Adavi and Dax is intentionally messing with them for their transgressions. The second day goes quickly and better. At this point Brandt suggests that they go quickly and risk the noise to reach Blaine and the group agree. The group make excellent time traveling there and reaching Blaine’s house they find an eerily silent house that the group investigates and Adavi knocks on the door. It seems to have been abandoned for some time and the house looks well lived in. The cows seem to have little food in the trough and the fireplace is still warm suggesting they have left in a hurry. They suggest resting a while to wait for Blaine to return and maybe find answers.

Brandt offers to keep watch over them while they rest and they agree. Nos’on notes however that it is strange for an entire family to suddenly go missing and that if he had a sick child he’s expect Blaine wouldn’t take her on a long journey. Meanwhile Dax goes out to the storage shed and finds some fertilizer that he asks Mormund to test. Mormund finds the exact same type of taste from the fertilizer in the caves. It seems this is where the tainted fertilizer is coming from and they look around for any tracks from wagons that might be bringing the salt over to the farm. Looking for more information Dax asks the cows and they seem to not see anything out of the ordinary. The cows do note Ziggurat was here before and Dax gives them food for their cooperation.

At night a howl breaks out and later they wake up to the house on fire. The group awaken and Nos’on tries to smash the window above to vent it out. They quickly make an exit. Nos’on opens the door and Mormund joins him while Adavi dives out the window. Dax casts inspiration on everyone singing the hit classic bard song “Disco Inferno” by the all goblin song group Trammps and sticks next to Nos’on. They prepare to face who or whatever is out there.

Adavi sees some 3 people, one well dressed, the other two big burly henchmen, stand across the way that addresses Adavi. He asks about someone named “Francis” and Adavi denies knowledge. After Adavi mentions he got the croftwood involved the bad guys attack. Enter Initiative.

Mormund moves to the corner and peeks around the corners. An enemy whistles and a clang rings out behind Mormund approaching fast. One enemy readies a bow. Adavi casts a hold person spell on the two enemies flanking the feather adorned enemy but it fails. From the opposite side of the house come hounds that engage some of the group. The hound finds him and grabs his leg twisting it out from under him and knocking him prone. Mormund is attacked by the hounds on him is slammed into for minor damage. The hound on Adavi rips part of his robes. Nos’on kicks the dog off him and readies his spear stabbing it deeply as it jumps up for an attack. He winds up for a kick and smashes the dog down underfoot crushing its skull. Dax readies his rapier and strikes the dog across the face with the pommel knocking it to the floor unconscious. Mormund drops his bow and the sword magics into his hand slashing the down into the dog’s back killing it.

Mormund then moves around to the corner. The two thugs fires crossbows at Dax and two arrows hit him but don’t hurt him. More arrows come from the darkness and strikes Mormund for minor damage and Dax deflects others with his shield. The feathered enemy draws a throwing dagger and throws it at Dax hitting him for some moderate damage. The dogs from the other side move into combat and jumps onto Nos’on but he pushes it off. The dog against adavi misses the pounce and hits a tree but the one against Mormund slams into him and knocks him down giving him a vicious mauling. Adavi tries to cast another hold spell on the two thugs and one is bound by it. Nos’on swings his spear around and misses the strike wedging it into the floor and corpse of another dog. He tries to lash out at the other and misses. He then uses his Ki to focus and prepare his defenses. Seeing Mormund wounded Dax casts a cure wounds and completely heals up Mormund. He then disengages the dog and runs for cover. Mormund recovers and stands up striking the dog with the sword and stabbing through the skull of the dog. The thug rallies and breaks the magical binding. The other thug throws a knife and misses.

The house is rapidly burning down and kills another dog. An unseen assailant fires at Adavi doing some minor damage. A dog leaps at Nos’on and misses. A dog strikes at Dax and misses as well. Adavi fires a Ray of Sickness at the feather hat and hits the bush next to him. Nos’on pulls the spear out and retreats from the house. Dax taunts a dog which lies down and dies (somehow) then he hides away. Mormund grabs his hand axe and throws it at the enemy who threw the knife then bounding it back to his hand to throw it again. The second throw strikes true. A thug walks up to Adavi and produces a club and swinging it, it hits Adavi’s arm and bounces off him making Dax question. The thugs strikes again and the club bounces off again. The Feather enemy draws a knife and swings making it stuck in the wall. He draws a sword and stabs Mormund in the stomach.

The thug hits Nos’on with two arrows causing major damage. A dog starts moving towards Mormund and strikes his legs for minor damage. Adavi attacks the thug and blasts a spell directly into his face rotting it and killing him. Nos’on, heavily injured from the arrows, runs up to the enemy archer and strikes with his spear  slicing his gut open and yanking out intestines killing him. Dax spins around and casts cure wounds on Nos’on healing him up nicely and then moves away. Mormund steadies himself and recovers with second wind. He swings at the feathered enemy and misses. The thug smashes Mormund on the head with a club. Striking again Mormund has a magic shield he summons that deflects the club.  Feather hat spins around on Adavi and swipes at Adavi, then stabs him through. Another archer fires at Dax hitting his shield the first time and getting hit in the throat the second time. The dog attacks Mormund but is intercepted by his shield. Adavi fires rays of sickness at the two thugs. The man with the sword against Mormund is disintegrated in sickly acidic goo. The second enemy is smashed with the ray and burns his flesh severely.

Nos’on charges forward at the archer and whiffs it with his spear but smashes his face with a headbutt.  Dax repositions and holds Healing Word in case someone is downed. Mormund swings at the man with the feathered hat causing a large gash on his face and Mormund recalls the axe. The big thug strikes Adavi and misses twice. The archer fires at Nos’on and hits the tree. The hound strikes at Mormund and bites his leg slightly but he shakes it off. Adavi grabs the other guard and barely misses his poison spell. Nos’on jumps up furiously and go to stab the last archer with the spear and skewers him, the spear drinking up the blood, and Nos’on drunk with bloodlust. The house collapses. Dax punches the feather head in the junk with the pommel of the rapier leaving him dazed and in pain but alive. The three surrounding the feather hat man jump on him and wrestle him to the ground. As the rest of the house collapses the cellar becomes apparent to the group, the ground trembles, the sky slightly changes color, and a small beam of light rises in the distance and a gust of wind slams into the party.

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Stream VIII: Spiders and Bees (With Special Guest Mathas as Whawho Sluvi the Ranger)

At the foot of the Croftwood the group prepare themselves. Mormund seems a bit worse for wear after his sea water drinking experience. Mormund throws up on the side of the road and Dax, after deciding to mock him, notices a figure in the distance. The figure calls out to them and mentions he is looking for Elanni and she mentions it is a thug of her brother. The man is a sea giant who is heavily armored. The man tells Elanni to go back to the village and he meets her. The man introduces himself as Whaho Sluvi and mentions Elanni’s brother Rogar had sent him out to go retrieve her and take her place. They introduce themselves and mentions that they need another to go into the croftwood. They agree to keep Mormund around and guard him and Whawho joins the party. Dax helps Mormund get back to the path and they get on their way. Nos’on asks Wawho about his relationship to the other Hellenians and Adavi quickly interjects with his joke. Nos’on notes that Asher had been weak during his fight and Dax also makes a quip. More party banter ensues with Wawho and everyone gets digs in. They learn that Whawho is a ranger and that they really didn’t need to get the plum wine at all. At this Adavi swipes it out of Dax’s hands and glugs half of it.

Dax moves to the back of the party as they walk and tries to slip some plum wine into the water skin. Looking at Nos’on, Whawho thinks he’s seen Mos’on before and tries to get a better look at him but Nos’on doesn’t allow him to do it. Dax lies to keep Nos’on’s identity quiet. As they move forward the forest narrows with more dense foliage. Dax does something with the skin and the others up their guard as they move. Whawho mentions that the Hellenians are hunting a large wolf and the group believe they mean the Black Hound. They look out and see motion in the forest underbrush ahead. Whawho suddenly draws his bow and the others ready their weapons. They wait a while as a howl in the distance comes and fades. They are at a decision to either hunt the beast or continue on to the druids coven. They look over the area and find a set of wolf tracks that end up as bare feet. Whawho sees ribbon markers that druids leave in the forest to mark paths and game trails. Adavi and Dax debate for a while about pointless banter and Whawho calls Nos’on over to speak about it. Nos’on is worried that they might be hunted and suggests that they allow Mormund to wash up so he doesn't attract animals or other things. They try to get Mormund to a stream and Dax and Adavi are left to argue.

Dax pushes Adavi to the group and they come to the clearing that seems to not be as foggy and overcast as other places. They rest for a while as Mormund cleans himself and afterward they hear a voice of a young female mention that they used the lagoon and that they should do a favor for her. They spin around to see some red lizard like person. It says that the group owes her for using the lagoon and appears that they should appease her upon a threat. She tells them to fetch her some wild honey. The others except for Nos’on seem intimidated and Dax negotiates with her to try and get something out of the deal. Lythia promises to be a good friend to them and directs them to a beehive that should be producing honey. Sluvi feels that there is some deception in her words and notes that she wishes them to steal the honey from the Druids. She admits that it doesn’t belong to the druids but the spiders that are massive. Dax tries to pour some wine into her pond to which she protests. The group decide to go find Adavi who wandered off and try to convince him to fight the spiders.

Nos’on catches up to Adavi as he hurriedly walks off and they try to get him moving in the right direction. Walking along they see the red ribbon with a large honeycomb hanging nearby. They get ready and take cover to watch for spiders. Whawho readies an arrow and Nos’on sneaks forward. He stops and looks down thinking that the earth beneath his feet is loose and he slowly backs away. Whawho notices Nos’on and motions him to back off carefully. Nos’on quickly and nimbly backs out and the ground beneath collapses. At the mention of spiders Adavi runs away and the group hears a spider clicking and opening the trapdoors in the ground. Dax casts fairy fire and initiates combat.

Dax casts a fairy fire and damages some of the spiders, inspires Whawho, and viciously mocks the largest spider which seems offended as much as a giant spider could be. Nos’on draws his spear and moves behind a tree to melt into the underbrush. The young spiders advance toward the group and climb around the walls. Whawho draws his bow and fires at a young spider missing. Mormund steps back from the earthen ramp and casts out magic missile hitting two small spiders and one large spider injurring them. The large spider crawls over the edge of their nest and probes around the foliage for Nos’on missing. Dax retreats behind Whawho and fires off a guiding bolt with significant force disintegrating the spider away. With that Dax tries to inspire Whawho and backs away. Nos’on moves back and stays stealthed. The small spiders move up to attack Mormund and Whawho.

Small spiders moves to bite and claw Mormund and Whawho and all miss. Whawho steps back with the spiders swiping at him catching him a bit on the calf. He gets poisoned and his hands shake and burn. Whawho fires an arrow hitting just behind the head. Mormund takes his sword and slices down on a spider hard and cleaves it in half. He surges forward with adrenaline and slashes across to the other spider slashing it and wounding it severely. Dax casts whispers to distract the large spider and makes it flee allowing Nos’on an attack of opportunity and it swipes at the spider slashing across its thorax. Dax than hides away retreating into the brush. Nos’on moves to shield Whawho from harm and wards them off with his spear. In doing so Nos’on stabs a spear into the spider as it rears up and kills it then kicking the other one back. A small spider bites Mormund and digs into his leg with neurotoxins.

The other spider moves to fight Nos’on and they are warded away. Mormund regains his senses and thrusts his sword into the spider killing it. The large spider advances towards the party and fires a web at Nos’on missing it. Adavi returns to the combat from running away to retrieve his lyre. Dax fires a guiding bolt at the large spider and fires the bolt down its gullet liquidating it from the inside. Whawho fires an arrow and misses almost hitting Nos’on. Dax sings to inspire Nos’on and encourages Adavi to enter combat. Nos’on strikes the small spider then summons his Ki to strike the second spider with an elbow and the rams his fist into the eyes of the small spider. The remaining small spider strikes with a bite at Nos’on and misses. Whawho draws an arrow and lets fly an arrow sending it straight into the mandibles and through the head killing it. End combat.

Adavi picks up his lyre and Dax minor illusions a spider on it making him smash it into the ground and damaging the lyre. The group look over their work and make sure the spiders are all dead. Whawho is hurt but the worst of the poison is over. Nos’on looks at the necklace around one of the large spider and it seems a bunch of colored stones tied with rope around the spider. Nos’on asks what Adavi makes of it and he is already busy trying to get the honey. He shimmies up the tree and quickly looks over the strange rope. Adavi gets stuck in the tree and Nos’on tries to climb up after him. He reaches Adavi and fastens the rope around the tree so Adavi can get down. Adavi insists that he allow him to continue and Dax tries to illusion a spider to try and scare Adavi out of the tree and both don’t buy the illusion. Nos’on continues climbing and Dax tries to distract the bees talking to them. Adavi tries to climb the tree further and falls off with Bees passing by him by. Nos’on waits until most all the bees evacuate and Dax seems to be communicating with the bees and tries to craft… something. Nos’on tells him to walk away and Dax tries to walk backwards towards the pool of Lythia. Nos’on carefully shimmies on the branch and asks Whawho how to extract the honey. Whawho tells him to chunk off some of the honeycomb and Nos’on carves off a large piece to drop to them below and Nos’on makes his way off the tree. Adavi finally climbs back down and Nos’on takes the rope back.

Looking for Dax, Whawho follows him out and Dax convinces the bees to disperse slowly and the all go back to the hive without incident. Whawho is pretty drained and Nos’on offers a potion to him which helps heal some of the damage on him. They search for Dax and Adavi meanwhile tries to regenerate his lyre. Whawho hears his ukelele in the distance and they set out to find him.

After bantering a while after finding Dax they find their way back to the lagoon of Lythia. Nos’on sits and takes his spear and cleans it. Mormund tells Whawho to give him the honey and Whawho flings it into the water. The lizard seems satisfied with this and suddenly a shadow flicks across Lythia revealing that the creature is a massive wyvern. Nos’on, startled, cuts his hand on his spear and gets a nasty gash on his arm. Nos’on tries to fix his hand with a medical kit and Adavi wades into the pool to retrieve a rock Lythia dropped into it. He grabs something that is light and smooth. He sees it is a marble figure of a dragon with Emerald eyes. Adavi is told that if they need assistance they need to speak her name. She shows the way to the druids with a magical spell and Nos’on heals up his wounds. Adavi elects to keep the statue but Nos’on tells him to surrender it. Examining it Mormund considers the gift to them. Nos’on suggests that they move on and after several hours Nos’on turns to Dax and tells him about Lythia’s true nature. A pinkish red giant serpent that Whawho identifies as a Wyvern and has noted that this particular one was significantly more intelligent than usual.

As the druids draw closer they note that the ribbons become more and more frequent and the group sees the trees are becoming crafted into  an entrance. Adavi walks through and is greeted by bats screeching. The group see a huge bear come into view and Adavi challenges it. The bear then morphs into a male elf with fancy armor and a long spear and carrying himself confidently. He identifies himself as Lysandre and greets them. He mentions that they have already received a delegation but accepts to hear them out and motions them into the coven. The fog seems to dissipate around them as they move into Lysandre’s domain and sees people around the tree trunks as other druids seem to push the fog outward. They start to see other druids in the covens emerge and it seems the trees have been magicked into shape to form their homes which has Adavi fascinated. The other aspects of the coven has also been manipulated by magic. Dax mention Frithwood and manages to offend him slightly seeing that Lysandre treats everyone else with the same respect of others.  Whawho asks about other sea giants and he notes that no others have been seen. He also derides Lythia and thanks them for destroying the spiders. Whawho tosses an offering of rabbit ears to Lysandre and he seems pleased that Whawho has an eye for customs. Whawho presses for an answer and says he is looking for Kakoa and he gives what details about Kakoa’s whereabouts he can.

Dax goes into the trees to look around and finds magical craftwork and the rest of the group go in to speak with Lysandre.

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Stream VII: Drink Up

Dax sees a person in the jar draw a knife seemingly ready to attack Redfern and then turns around and look at the jar, seemingly swiping it away and breaking the scry. Dax hurriedly shouts out to Mary Shelby that Redfern is in danger and he asks where he lives. Dax is off to Redfern’s as Mary Shelby goes to rouse the others. Dax runs past to Redfern’s house and shouts out to any passing guards that Redfern is in danger that one or two guards start following him. Outside of the house are two guards that stand sentry next to the door. Dax goes up to the guards and tells them about the assassin but the guards in cowls seems unconvinced. DAX mentions he’s working with Adborough and if he is right they are all screwed. Redfern then opens the door and mentions he expected the two “coinlord” guards. He seems to be alright and ranges to meet Dax at the tavern later. Dax then darts into a nearby alleyway and uses Speaks With Animals to speak to the seagulls. He speaks to the newly dubbed Bob the Seagull to make him look at the window and see if there was anything in the room. He negotiates with the gull to eat the fish and off he goes.

The evening is going on as Adavi eats his soups and Mormund and Nos’on enjoy a drink at the bar when suddenly Mary Shelby bursts in worried and the group finds her. She explains the situation and drags the group over to Redfern’s with Dax suddenly trying to draw them aside. Dax calls them over from the front of the house. The group notice the strange seagull and they ask Dax to explain what he saw exactly. He calls over Bob and decides to get what he sees. Bob tries to negotiate more fish but Dax presses him. Bob mentions nobody was in the study and that it seems strange that he wouldn’t take meetings in his study. As Bob protests for fish Adavi goes to step on him and Dax tries to defend Bob by diving in front of it. Nos’on seems dubious of Dax but they separate and Dax goes to the port to get Bob some fish. The others go back to the tavern. Adavi asks around about Turabi merchants with the guard and he goes back to the markets looking for Turabi merchants.  He doesn’t find a lot of useful information talking to a grain merchant.

Adavi and Mormund speak to each other about what to do about Dax’s story and checking the condition of Redfern. Nos’on suggests possibly continuing and staying out of the way of Redfern but admits there maybe some truth to Dax’s claims of an assassin threatening Redfern. Adborough seems to be on the level for now and hasn’t given a reason to doubt them. They don’t want to push Mary Shelby too hard for information and decide to return to the tavern and reconvene to decide how to proceed.

They meet over dinner and Dax brings up the fact that the scrying jar doesn't work and the events leading up to going to going to Redfern’s home. Dax gives Adavi the jar to try and make the jar activate and achieves nothing. Dax asks if they should warn Adborough that Redfern is in danger. However they don’t know what they might tell him based purely on what Dax saw. Nos’on is doubtful of Dax’s story and Dax takes the jar from Adavi and, after taking a swig from the jar, notes that the jar water is salty and possibly tied to the necromancers. Adavi suddenly notes that the magic in the jar is fading and that they are possibly alerted to them. Dax and Adavi try to troll Mormund into drinking the salty water to no avail. Nos’on then knocks over the jar and Dax and Adavi try to save it. The group continue to push him and Dax tries to command Mormund into drinking it and Nos’on tries to stop him.  Mormund drinks it up and suddenly comes to his senses with a stomach full of salty water. Mormund throws the jar at Dax and hits him square in the back of the head. Dax throws it back and shatters it on the table. Adavi throws a beer stein at Dax and Nos’on sneaks away as Dax tries to instigate a bar fight with his vocal illusion. A few of the patrons start brawling and the bartender goes to stop them. Poor Mormund is vomiting up salt water and Adavi picks him up and goes to the rooms.

Over the days before going to the forest Dax tries to help research the book for Mary Shelby and Mormund with learning his magic. Adavi practices with his fire magic and Nos’on stays in his room and rests. Dax manages to decipher some of the writings and finds its Kolvo’s notes on the Khizrathi and their development. Kolvo writings feel scared and frantic sometimes almost as if he was discovered at some point and was going to be confronted about his experiments. The veiny fleshy parts he refers to as “The Grasp” and refers to a central room of biological muscle and organs that he sees as beautiful and yet dangerous. He doesn’t fully know the mechanics but they seem to use the blood to prime the earth so the Khizrathi can seed themselves and he seems cautious about going into those unknown areas. They then grow as nutrients and blood go into the pit to feed them and evolve into adult Khizrathi developing their brains and muscles.

With this Dax sends a message to Adborough to warn him of the Khizrathi’s involvement and Adborough mentions he has dispatched messengers to the capital to warn them and ask for reinforcements. Dax and Mormund work together on the disassembled trap and transfer the dart’s poison to his dagger. Advi finishes his necklace and decides to check on the merchants for Turabi. He finds a spice merchant and a knick knacks merchant. Going back to his room he sees his clothes have been organized and things slightly tidied up by his tiny house maids, the Houpac. He tries to go through the notes and makes some progress into the notes but later on progress eludes him. Mormund goes through his introductory spellbooks with Dax’s help quite well and he feels confident in his abilities in magic. Nos’on recieves a message from a blacksmith telling him to meet him. Dax tries to make Mormund eat the book but fails.

At the evening Nos’on goes to meet the blacksmith…

Nos’on walks into the blacksmith shop of Hallsgaard and speaks to him about the spear. Hallsgaard is interested in the spear as it belonged to his wife and Nos’on speaks about how it was corrupted and forged by the dark iron. Nos’on notes that either the iron was cursed when mined or when it was forged and infused with blood and that it caused unease. He seems resigned that his wife is surely dead. Nos’on seems cautiously hopeful there's a chance she is alive but warns that there are place where they shouldn’t go. Hallsgaard offers Nos’on the spear and invites him to come to the Deepbrow camp if he wishes. Nos’on also mentions the dwarven tools they had with them and he seems interested in it as they might be the tools he lost long ago. Nos’on offers Hallsgaard to examine the tools they brought up from the mines. The tools were forged by his elven friend from Ickio and that it was a wedding gift. A bit later Hallsgaard tries to ask for the spear and Nos’on gives it to him. He is reluctant to part with the spear and takes it back quickly which seems to raise Hallsgaard’s suspicions but he quickly dismisses it. With that the two part and Nos’on goes back to the tavern.

Nos’on goes to Mormund’s room and looks over the tools seeing if the tools indeed belong to Hallsgaard. He mentions that the tools were a wedding gift to him and that the smith wants the tools back. They agree to meet up with Hallsgaard and head off. Returning to the smithing shop they meet up with him again and seems to be happy to meet Mormund. Coming inside and seeing the tools Hallsgaard’s face lights up with delight and notes that the tools have not been damaged. Haalsgaard mentions that this was a gift from nobility long ago and Mormund finds a newfound respect for the tools and for him. Hallsgaard is almost joyous and revitalized having his family’s tools back and offers payment for the services rendered from one dwarf family to another. Mormund notes their weapons and armor are damaged and he agrees to forge them something. He also offers his knowledge of a guide into Deepbrow’s mine and to forge some arms for Dax. Nos’on finally mentions that the town guardsmen can also use better arms to defend the town against the Khizrathi and he agrees to speak with the magistrate and guard captain to help.

As the group walks away from the forge Dax hears some angry shouting from a certain direction and it sounds like someone is fighting. Dax decides to investigate the shouting and a circle of people seem to be surrounding someone. Someone mentions a “stab-eared prick” and something about a thief the townspeople seem to be attacking and Dax skillfully maneuvers through the crowd seeing and elf on the ground who is injured by stones. The crowd is angrily accusing him of stealing something. Dax listens intently and the elf seems to be genuine but maybe just pleading for his life at this point. Dax decides to be a hero and draw his rapier and confronts the crowd. He asks the crowd to tell him why they are attacking him and old attitudes prevail about elves and their thieving nature. Dax intimidates the group and clears out the crowd except for a large man. Enter combat.

He challenges Dax and the man swings at him missing him completely. Dax casts Speak with Animals and promises the seagulls around him fish if they defecate on him. Mistranslating a bit a few seagulls get offended and start pecking on Dax. The man takes another swing and still misses. Dax commands the man to piss himself and fails. The man attempts to kick him and misses. The elf suddenly whispers and Dax commands him to dance. He doesn’t work but several magical shots soar over him and hit him. Exit combat.

The elf introduces himself as Frythwood and gets up after finishing casting his spell. Dax checks the spells impact on the man and he is definitely hurt. Dax casts a healing on the man and pours his canteen over the man's crotch to embarrass him. Dax smacks him with the pommel knocking him out and wakes him up again. Dax scolds him for using racist language and the man goes away with the birds in hot, poopy, pursuit. Going back to the tavern the group speak to each other about looking for the Turabi merchants. Finding nothing of interest Adavi goes back to his room to see if the Houpac fixed his letters. Seeing that they haven’t been fixed he tries to mend up the letters as best that he can. The group decide to discuss their trek into the forest and decide to get a guide and possibly detour to the Deep Brow Mine if needed during their time visiting the druids. They decide to talk to the druids first and then look into the black hound monument if the druids could bring them to it. Finally they will visit the mine to investigate further into any threat the Khizrathi may pose. With that they decide to set off to Adborough to ensure the message got through making stops in the markets.

At Adborough’s place they run into a large Hellenian woman. Dax speaks to her about her purpose and she wants to go into the croftwood to try and find more of her partner hunters. The woman is an interpreter for the party and speaks several languages. They ask if they could join her in the forest and the group decide to probably bring her with them. Nos’on apologizes for the group pushing her language knowledge and she dismisses it. She wishes to gain more knowledge of the surrounding area and see if they could have permission to hunt on their lands. Elanni doesn’t follow the group in and they mention they will ask for her passage into the croftwood.

Speaking the Adborough he says the druids are angry with the misfortunes they are experiencing the group is allowed passage into the croftwood. Adborough also mentions the Helenian woman outside and Adborough mentions he won't let them leave because of the need to keep them around in case the Khizrathi attack. Nos’on tries to convince Adborough to allow them to take Elanni with them and he agrees. Adborough points out an apothecary shop that they might buy potions from and Nos’on notes that Hallsgaard is back in his craft and Adborough is glad to have him reforging his men's arms and armor. With that the group goes off to the Apothecary to meet a young man at his craft. They purchase potions and healing kits to ready up the party and the Apothecary asks if they could pick up any strange ingredients that they find and Nos’on shows him seeds picked up earlier. The Apothecary takes the seeds to examine them and offers a small health potion as thanks for the seeds. With the sun overhead in the sky and a new companion at their backs they walk up to the foot of the Croftwood.

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Stream VI: Beaches and Battlefields

Mormund and Nos’on head down the way and light a torch up down a single tunnel that seems to be winding up to the surface. As they continue the tunnel becomes much smaller and Asher is growing uncomfortable. They come to a split and decide with Mormund’s guidance that they should stay on the safer more worn path. Mormund believes that footsteps are coming down the path. Nos’on takes a final look at the fork in the path and seems to not be sure. Mormund then takes a look and the group agree to follow the worn path. The three move through the caves and following the trail. It seems to wind on forever. They hear then the sounds of clanging and shouting and later the rustling of leaves. It appears someone is struggling and fighting and is sounds almost like Atborough and the group move forward to meet it cautiously. Mormund draws his sword and takes point as the two others plod behind him. Fearing confrontation Nos’on stays silent as he moves and hands off the torch to Asher. He hangs back in the shadows.

As they move forward they see the mouth of the cave with moonlight shining down. The group are relieved to see the sky again and exit to the mouth of the cave. They hear shouting and the clanging of steel in the distance. Peaking over the ridge Nos’on sees a battlefield of the creatures engaging the city guard and Ibn Turab holding his ground against a horde of monsters. The fight is going either way at this point and it seems that the guards and Turab have made a dent in the monsters. Mormund draws his sword and charges into battle and Nos’on draws a short bow to try and strike out from the ridge to hit opportune targets. Enter Combat.

Nos’on draws his bow strikes at multiple targets. Asher summons his strength and starts striking at creatures. Mormund can't seem to get his footing and stumbles down the embankment and gets hurt by the enemy. The enemy retreats and regroups to form their defense. Nos’on from the cave takes more shots and striking hard against the monsters. Mormund regains his stability and starts wildly slashing through the horde. Ibn Turab smashes through the monsters around him. The guards push back the monsters on both sides and they retreat. The lines shift and Nos’on can’t take a good line on a monster. Mormund and Asher are tired and can’t make progress. Atborough’s men rally around and force the enemy back striing them down left and right. Turab is destroying the monsters around him quickly. Nos’on, Asher, Turab, Mormund, and Atboroughs men make a final push and slash through the rest and collapse the flanks surrounding the monsters and slay them to the man. End combat.

Mormund goes to greet Atborough and Nos’on emerges from the cave mouth and over to Ibn Turab. Several of the guards are dead but overall there are more monsters than allies. Upon investigating further Nos’on sees these are younger creatures not fully developed for combat. Mormund looks over at Atbourough and sees his hand is shaking but otherwise he appears fine. Atborough tells Mormund to help his men end the creatures. The slaughter is finished and the others pick through the remains. Suddenly the earth shakes and Mormund concludes that it is a cave in of some sort. Nos’on looks over Ibn Turab and sees he is standing there muttering a prayer and is standing there caked in blood. He has slain a large number of the beasts and Nos’on waits for him to finish meditating. Nos’on speaks to Turab about his thoughts on the creatures and their experiences. Ibn offers his limited abilities to the group to help and Asher seems to need it most. He walks to Asher and the guards go back to help the others up. Mormund talks to Atborough and he seems a bit shell shocked. Atborough asks to round up the able bodied men to attack the cavern to destroy the creatures. Nos’on tells them they cannot possibly fight back. He then tells Atborough to collapse the tunnels and trap them in there if not to give them time. Atborough notes that something already collapsed the tunnel and it should hold them for now. Mormund notes there are other ways out of the caves and they need to collapse those as well. Ibn decides he wishes to continue helping. Nos’on agrees to talk about what he knows and when rested and the group take off to Woodley.

Dax and Adavi make landfall onto the coast and they try to pull the Underwaterboat on shore with them. They decide to lie down quiet for a while and Dax fishes out the book and it is in pretty bad shape. Adavi mends the book as best that he could and the two try to dismantle the Underwater boat for some firewood. Dax snaps the oar and snaps his wrist doing so. Adavi then snaps bits off of it and puts it in a pile to burn. They turn the boat into a makeshift shelter and put the book out to dry as best they can. They take turns sleeping and watching into the morning. They hear someone out in the distance call to them. Dax sees several armed men in high grade gear approach and Dax asks if they are from the watch. He confirms they are and that they were sent to search for them. Dax shows them the book and the guards try to persuade him they need the book for evidence. Dax tries to lie to get the guards to give them time to sleep. The guards agree to it and the watch leader Jason tells one of the guards to report back to Woodley. Dax goes to sleep as the other guards take watch.

Walking back to Woodley Nos’on and Mormund fill Atborough in about the happenings and get to the healer. Waking up they hear the guards speaking to each other and eventually they wake and introduce themselves properly. Adavi asks about how they found them and the guards found them on the shore after their friends told them to look. Adavi asks what is for breakfast and the guards show the pile of their rations consumed. The group break camp and make their way back to town. The book is still in rough shape but might be salvageable. Along the way David and Jason appear to be in good spirits and Dax offers a piece of gold to them as a gesture of goodwill. Adavi offers to Jason and David to escort them through the woods. The guards suggests talking with Atborough to find their friends. The guards leave and Dax and Adavi go through the town eating up from the market and spending gold. They then go to Atborough’s to meet up with their friends.

Nos’on and Mormund look over the two and the two groups swap stories of what happened between them. As Nos’on gets to describing the creatures Dax lifts the book. Atborough listens intently and Mormund and Nos’on explain how they escaped. They also note Ibn Turab helped them fight. Adavi asks what happened to allow the creatures to breach the surface. They note that Asher was captured in a different part of the area and noted there maybe another entrance including “teeth”. Also they find the letter mentioning Atborough directly. Atborough scans through the letters and the group can’t seem to make sense of some of it. It appears to be that these creatures are not some random occurrence but the effort of some foul presence. They also mention the breeding pits of the monsters and mentions he sent to the capital for aid and reinforcements.

Atborough gives them a reward for investigating and plum wine as an offering. Atborough then says that the Croftwood Circle is upset about the shipments of fertilizer killing their crops and he needs emissaries to smooth over relations. Atborough doesn’t seem to know how best to approach the Croftwood Circle but asks that they calm them down. Nos’on notes that the creatures may have something to do with failing crops. They also noted the necromancer that fled away from them and that they killed Colvo in the cave. They also mention the lady with the pearls and Atborough is remaining guarded. Atborough then asks about the medallion pulled from the earth that his men pulled from the crypt. Dax appears to want to destroy it. Nos’on explains the fact that it makes corpses bleed long after they die and that they use it to make iron and grow other Khizrathi. Nos’on tells Atborough to destroy the weapons and bodies and discard them in a place where they are not going to use the land. They agree to take the medallion to Mary Shelby and then destroy it. They then talk over the bodies in the crypt and can’t seem to figure how one patron, Aubrey, got down there. They decide to allow Atborough to investigate Aubrey and the others will talk to Mary Shelby. Nos’on decides to take time to rest and the group agree. They then note the Khizrathi burst out of the earth and they need to be careful where they step. It doesn't bode well to Woodley that the enemy could pop up where they please and that the veins and tentacles can burrow efficiently through the earth. They decide to then leave and keep Atborough aware of any further developments.

Dax offers gold to Adavi to eat and divides the gold among the group. They walk off to talk to Mary Shelby at the temple.

Adavi finds a bunch of sweetrolls and taunts children with it before handing them some gold coins and telling them to buy stuff themselves. Nos’on then walks up to him and admonishes him for his poor behavior. Adavi exchanges some of his gold with Nos’on because Nos’on doesn’t trust him with it. A local merchant offers him a wide array of potions and wares and appears to want to offload his stocks. Nos’on seems to be weary of the potions as the seller doesn’t explain their function but it seems like a firm deal. He draws the merchant in and threatens him but the merchant seems unphased by it. Nos’on agrees to the potion deal for 7 gold and walks out with three new potions. They continue walking through the market and Nos’on goes to a general merchant looking for stuff for his spear. He doesn’t find anything out about the merchant who sold him the suspicious potions and is directed to the blacksmith in the north of town. The house appears dilapidated and it appears nobody is there. The smithery appears to be owned by “Hallsgaard”. He wakes up someone in the house and asks he be allowed in. He sees an older dwarf and gets some equipment for his weapon. As he turns and the dwarf sees the blade the dwarf asks where Nos’on got it. He seems to want to ask and decides against it. Nos’on tries to ask what he meant but the dwarf closes the door and goes away. Nos’on tries to get him to open up and the dwarf argues with him for a while. Nos’on gives up and goes back to town.

Going back to town he learns Hallsgaard has lost his mine and quit blacksmithing soon after from a local merchant. Adavi gets a diamond ring from Dax and goes to find Ursula Fenwick. Adavi takes the diamond over to her to get it appraised. She pretties up the diamond and he asks for an opal to which she offers him back tomorrow. Dax and Mormund go to Mary Shelby’s and takes a short detour through town and runs into Adavi. Dax then takes out the jewels they found in the workshop of the necromancer and she offers 70 gold for the three. Dax tries to push his price on the gem for more and successfully barters up the price. They decide to go talk to Mary Shelby where they will meet with Nos’on. With his shopping complete Dax goes to find a person ill with the plague on the street and he offers his services as a medic. Dax casts detect disease and learns more about the disease from people around. He offers his apologies that he could not help and offers a healing word to the man to revitalize him and ease his pain. His sores ease and spew some of the sickness easing the mans pain. He then places a silver next to him and gets on his way.

At the temple they find Mary Shelby in her office. She sounds hurried for some reason and disheveled and they offer the jewelry for her to examine. As she does the medallion in Nos’on’s robes shatters and heats up. He dumps it out onto her desk and Mary Shelby tries to piece it together. She suggests something evil was in the medallion and that being in a holy place might have dispelled whatever was in it. Adavi asks what she knows about Necromancy to which she knows about the practice. She admits people might use it evil but it is not evil itself. They then ask if she knows necromancers and she doesn’t. Dax then explains what they know about the necromancer. Dax then brings out the book of necromancy and Mary Shelby looks over it. It appears to be tracking the growth of the Khizrathi and Valmar’s speaking about their progress of evolving. Dax inspires Shelby as she goes over the book of spirifiry and hemomancy and tells them to not speak to others about the book. Adavi lights up as she mentions the fog and suggests that the people in the cave maybe making both the fog and the weeping rot. The look back at the texts for anything more and Mormund asks Adavi about the extra book they picked up.

They pull out the book they rescued earlier and Nos’on looks at Adavi disapprovingly mentioning they will speak of secrets later. Mary Shelby is concerned about the book and what it could mean for fighting the Khizrathi. She wants to use the book to find a weakness in them. Dax asks what the Gray Lady would think of it and the implications of faith in the using of this book. Mormund and Nos’on seems to want to use the book while Dax and Adavi is firmly against it. Mary Shelby seems to want to use it to understand the creatures better and have a better chance to fight. Dax relents and decides to help up to the point where they defeat the Khizrathi and then demands solidly they destroy it. They ask how soon she could find something of value and she suggests short of a week. Nos’on requests that Dax be present when they destroy the book and the group agree. They speak briefly of the business with the Croftwood Circle and Mary Shelby appears to not know anything about the fertilizers and the group suggests that the necromancers have tainted it in some way.  Mormund turns around as the others leave and asks Mary Shelby to teach him any magic she could. She offers to teach him some lessons while she and Dax goes through the books. Dax goes through the market to sell off his extra items and the jewelry and asks about Colvo’s notes and the magic wand off the underseaboat. It is a wind wand that is used to manipulate the wind and that the wand is burned out. He pockets it and asks about the blue jar potion. The potion inside the jar appears to have thinned and become clearer. The potion is a portal for communication through a rune and it can be used to hear, see, and communicate through. This appears to be a one way visual communication rune.

As Dax walks out he notices Redfern walk into Mary Shelby’s office and someone else stepping out from behind a curtain with a knife...  

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Stream V: Colvo and the Underwaterboat

At the office the group has gone through the letters and Adavi had found a strange cipher in the side of the paper. Small geometric shapes cut out and notches that form a kind of code or pattern. Adavi eyes the big door in the room with suspicion and Nos’on suggests against it. Mormund suggests that they have already been discovered and need to move on. The group sit and discuss their next move. They still haven't found the necromancer since they arrived and the room seems relatively undisturbed. Adavi postulates the letters may not be important. Nos’on goes to the locked drawer with his tools and clicks it open with relative ease. He then goes to work on the chest. Dax and the rest then look over the corridors and see the thick fog from before. Down the hall they hear some slight muttering sounds and Asher and Adavi speculate about it a bit. Nos’on then snaps the chest lock as he works and hears a small *tink* as a dart trap fails to go off. Dax opens a drawer and yanks it out. Out of the drawer comes a jar of bluish liquid and he offers it to Mormund for a look. Mormund looks through it and stares at it seeing a type of desk or room inside the curious jar. Nos’on finds some clothing and a bag of coins. The clothing seems quite well kept and is of high fashion, not of the common folk. Dax takes the jar from Mormund and Nos’on pours out the contents of the bag to find about 100 gold. Asher offers his split to the others and then Nos’on takes the gold into his coin purse. Dax tastes the liquid in the jar and finds it to be coarse and slaty. Looking ahead they believe there is something ahead. Nos’on tries to move forward but trips over a tentacle. MAtching runes run down the way and appear to absorb his noises. Nos’on postulates the other hall goes to a similar area as the last. He asks Adavi and he suggests something is feeding down in these tunnels. Going further into the room the group see a large room with a pit in the center. Adavi looks over the edge and it seems to go deeper than the eye could see. The acrid smell is overwhelming and there is a ramp down into the pit with more creatures seem to be gestating. Nos’on drops a torch and it illuminates bodies all the way down the pit. Nos’on is scared to see the pit with so many creatures. Asher is very scared and walks off and Nos’on urges they need to leave from this place.

Mormund is looking at a bunch of books and Dex checks the desk for traps and treasures. There appears to be a crystalline residue running down the dart from the chest and Dax tries to pocket the dart. Dax tries to reset the trap and breaks it. He decides to take it for later. Mormund looks at a large book and opens it. He sees the book is open to the blood and its connection to the soul. The book doesn’t have anything on the creatures but it appears the tome is about hemomancy. The other one is a solid black book and touches more on necromancy. Going through it he notes the pages are leather flesh and the details are with necromancy and necromantic spirits. The group reconvene and Adavi and Nos’on return with the grim news that there are significantly more creatures in the next room. Mormund looks around and the stone and determines that the corridors are older than the island has been known of and the office was a recent addition. They all agree they must leave immediately and that they have to get to their employer targeted in the letters. They need a way to escape and it seems the ladder leading to the sea smell might be their only option. Examining the book while deciding its fate he they find a hastily scrawled note from Valmar to his student Kolvo mentioning a password stored “Where your best ideas are kept” and Adavi takes the books and letters for himself. They need to find fresh air to lead them out to the sea and Asher goes out to the nearby door.

Asher seems to want to go into the door to rescue his cellmates but Dax isn’t so sure it's good to try and find out what lies beyond. Readying to try and open the door after some talk decide to check if the runes absorb magic. The light and magic seem to be gently pulled into the runes. Listening to the corridor there appears to be talking inside. It appears they are found out and advance on the door. Dax blesses the party while Asher kicks in the door. There is a man in a robe with a beard standing in a room full of human corpses and blood splattered around. A number of the creatures on some beds. Also a man standing in obsidian and iron armor, a seeming human like figure with only one eye on his face. The sound is still being pulled off to the right. Dax asks them men their names and after an odd introduction Adavi fires off a ray of frost. Enter combat.

Adavi fires Ray of Frost and impacts some type of surface shattering it against some sort of magical field. The necromancer lord tells his lackey to kill Adavi first and retreats further into his lair. Nos’on moves through the room and strikes hard against one of the apprentices and strikes a rain of blows down upon him downing him from the spear and shifts his focus to the summoned skeleton splattering it across the room. Dax casts Fairy Fire on three of the creatures lying on the floor. Mormund attacks on of the creatures and impales it on his sword tossing it aside. Asher charges toward a side door where the other necromancer fled. The monster swipes at Asher and misses. Mormund is stuck by a spear by one of the monsters. Adavi is swarmed by the other enemies and one strikes his leg witha club. The skeleton slashes at Nos’on with a blade and misses. The necromancer disengages Mormund and retreats into the chamber. Dax and Adavi hear the jingling and clanking of heavy armor coming down the way. He throws dancing lights at the corridor and calls down to them to save them and holds his action. The sound is coming from the left where the pit is. From the left appears a heavily armored creature and one incredibly tall and muscular. Adavi fires a ray of frost but misses wildly. Nos’on moves to disengage and retreats to his allies and spins around off the nearby table for a strike with the spear for a killing blow on one creature. Dax fires Sacred Flame onto the skeleton but to no avail. He then retreats to the side of the chamber and warns the other of the approaching enemies. Mormund finds a glowing enemy and slashes at him with his sword slashing it in half. Asher appears down the hallway and slashes at one of the large creatures and misses. The bowman creature fires an arrow and clatters past him. Adavi retreats from the doorway and slips across the blood falling down.

Two giant creatures attack Asher and one stabs him hard in the neck while the other misses. The other two giant creatures move into the room. One stabs a spear at Nos’on and misses while the other doesn’t act. Nos’on dodges up and down and bludgeons the big creature with it. Dax moves to the flanks of the creature and uses the magic missile spell scroll on one of the giant creatures. He fires two on one giant creature and three on the bowman creature. The bowman’s head explodes and he falls down while the giant creature is pelted through the chest and killed. Finally he approaches the enemy engaging Nos’on and taunts him. Mormund strikes at the skeleton and misses his mark. Asher strikes at the creature with his spear and cuts some of the lower jaw of the creature off. Adavi rises from falling and fires a Ray of Frost at the monster against Nos’on and Dax but misses the mark. The two creatures against Asher strikes and one hits him in the ribs. He appears weak. A creature strikes and Nos’on dances out of the way. Nos’on parries with his own spear and strikes upwards towards the giant creature. He thrusts the spear into the mosters chest and strikes him with a fist. Dax runs across the room to the door but slips over the blood.  He gets back up and rushes into the other room. Mormund strikes at the skeleton and misses. Asher strikes with the spear but his hands slip and he drops the spear. Adavi catches a giant enemy with a Ray of Frost and gives him minor damage. The one facing Nos’on takes his spear andstrikes at him dangerously close to his crotch. The two facing Asher swing and miss. Nos’on pulls his spear back and strikes but misses. Dax runs off and goes to help Asher. Mormund strikes out with his blade and misses the skeleton again. The skeleton swipes twice at Mormund and misses. Adavi casts another Ray of Frost and strikes again. The creature strikes Nos’on and bloodies him. The giant creatures miss Asher as he dives for the spear. Nos’on strikes out with his spear to the creature and ends the creature finally. Nos’on now falls over on the floor exhausted. Dax readies healing if Asher falls. Mormund, frustrated, finally strikes and the skeleton explodes and clatters all over the room. Asher retrieves his spear and strikes a creature. Adavi moves across the blood and casts Ray of Sickness towards the creatures down the corridor and misses slightly. The Giant Creature attacks Adavi in anger and Asher misses the attack and drops his opportunity. The monsters miss Adavi and Asher. Nos’on gets back up and Dax casts sacred flame on the creature fighting Asher. The fire misses the creature and melts the stone wall behind. Mormund draws a hand axe and throws it to no avail. Asher picks himself and weakly thrusts at the spearman doing nothing. Adavi disengages and falls back. As the creature goes to attack Adavi Nos’on tries to strike him and drops his spear. The creature misses. Nos’on digs his spear out of the ground. Dax slips past Asher and stabs the creature in the knee then disengages. Mormund strikes at the creature and slashes pierces it’s thigh pinning it to the ground. Asher thrusts his spear and misses. Adavi reaches out with his hand and point blanks a Ray of Sickness filling his head with acid, melting skin, and liquefying his eye. The creature against Asher retreats and Asher misees his slash as it does. Exit combat.

Dax runs around the corner and fires a command to the creature to come back but misses it.  The group reconvene and run back to the room. They quickly search the bodies and move toward the ladder. The group quickly look over the altar and try to determine its origins. The statue and stonework seem to be ancient. As they move Asher goes to the bodies overhead and sees his cellmates. Dax sees the bodies have amulets that makes them bleed and Dax destroys them and the tubs of blood in the room. Adavi goes down the ladder and feels damp soil and water rushing through. He sees a tunnel of water and a dingy. It appears the water only goes so far before stopping. There maybe no exit there. Climbing up he sees a seed or nut of some type that he takes. Adavi offers Nos’on the nut and he can’t seem to figure it out either. Adavi points at one of the boxes they wrench it open to find a store of salt. Dax goes into the hole and sees the dingy can actually go underwater. After christening the boat “The Underwater Boat”, they try to plan how this might help them. Nos’on takes some of the salt and Dax tries to find a way to get them all out. Asher suggests a place where his captors might have brought captives in. Nos’on suggests splitting the party and trying to get out either way. Adavi and Dax might use the underwater boat to leave and Nos’on, Asher, and Mormund will try the other route. They try to control the boat and fail somewhat but then get the boat under control and breaks the surface.

Adavi and Dax are launched from the boat and try to make their way to the boat. Dax puts the magic control stick beneath him and makes a chasm of water beneath them. The water then rushes beneath them and the boat is pulled to them. The boat is dead when they flip it over and they go back to the shore rowing back slowly. Mormund, Nos’on, and Asher are now still in the caves stepping over the mutilated corpses and blood.  

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Stream IV: Khizrathi

The door is cracked open and a creature lies dead before them. Dax moves up and peers around the corner then hides away. As he makes contact he is flashed with images of unworldly animals interacting with strange devices. He manages to stay focused on his blessing but curses the flesh walls around him. Adavi informs the others of the situation and prepares ray of frost.  Nos’on takes a look inside and finds two clicking creatures. One seems to have a bow aimed at the door. Bodies of several humanoids lie on the floor and tables. A wide array of items on the table. Nos’on takes a further look at the creature on the floor and is quite disturbed by what he sees. He moves the torch into the door and it gets hit by an arrow. Mormund creeps forward alongside Nos’on and draws his sword. He readies a strike. The cave shudders and a silhouette falls over the door quickly and two creatures burst through the door. Adavi fires his ray of frost and misfires hitting the wall. The creature to the right attacks and Mormund strikes with his blade. It gets caught by the creatures shield and he stabs over the top of it striking Mormund. On the left another creature attacks Nos’on and catches him lightly on the side. Dax inspires Mormund with a war song from the Goblin Drowning Pool Tribe. Adavi strafes the beam across the creature and strikes true. Nos’on examines the combat area and attacks the monster Adavi hit with the ray of frost. Nos’on clips over Mormund’s head and slices across the clavicle and throat and turns to strike the second creature. The second creature moves back and dodges the blow. Mormund strikes at the creature left and strikes hard. Mormund strikes through the creature and bisects him. Another creature fires an arrow and misses wildly. The creature then fires another arrow at Mormund and strikes hard in his chest.  Dax then drops some paper down the hole and hides for the time being. Adavi intimidates the remaining creature and fires a Poison Spray on it. He fires wildly and misses. Nos’on drops his sunwheel and knocks an arrow taking aim and splits what might be the head of the creature straight down the center. Exit Combat.

Dax goes and watches the paper flutter down as Nos’on looks around for a potential exits to the area. Mormund takes a long look around and finds some interesting fixtures as well as Runes etched into the walls as if by primitive tools. The tables covered in tools, stones, scraps, and coins. Nos’on gives the creatures a look over and notes that the creatures skin contracts and deflates as they die and bleed. Peeling back the face skin it appears there is an eye but not one functional for the amount of physiology of the creature. Nos’on is fascinated by the creature but also frightened of its implications. Mormund appears to recognize some rune as “Hallsgaard”. Adavi looks over the gruesome bodies left by the creature and apparently one guard and some farmers were their latest victims. The guard has a bronze emblem on it that says “Coursind”. Mormund recognizes Hallsgaard as a minor dwarven family renowned for their smithing. The tools appear to not have any signs of wear on them. Dax finds several pieces of gold, amber, a blue glass bead with a spider encased inside, a small glass bead, a wedge, and 2 more coins. Dax splits the gold up evenly and Nos’on looks over the fleshy corruption over the walls. It seems that the place was constructed like a mine and perhaps was constructed by the flesh. The group decide to try and experiment with the flesh on the wall. They also look at the strange gemstones he found and debate their worth. Adavi meanwhile twists the tap on one of the barrels and a thick red liquid squirts out. They do not know what this liquid is and decide to not drink it.

The group look around and try to decide their next move. The cave-in will certainly limit their options for escape. Dax touches the wall and once again the wall floods his head with memories and then sees his own but seen through the wall’s memory, almost as if a transference occurred. The others look through the papers and Adavi identifies several magic scrolls. A magic missile and a dispel magic. He hands it over to Dax and he stuffs it inside his harmonica case. They go to the creatures and look over their limited equipment. Nos’on looks over the bow the creature had and it's armor. The bow is strung with human hair and forged in shoddy iron and the armor made out of some type of off brand leather. Picking up the bow Nos’on gets a wash of unease and drops it again. He dissuades the others from taking it and the group goes to the strange door. The door appears to have bodies dragged into it. They try to check anything beyond the door. Nos’on thinks he hears a scream from another door and wanders off to it. Beyond Dax’s door is nothing but the crackling of torches. He loudly creaks it open and sees not much else. Nos’on calls them over and creaks the door open to hear a male voice speaking Hellenian. He calls Dax over and they identify it as Hellenian. Nos’on suggests that they move forward and Dax offers to take point. However Nos’on thinks it's better to let them be known.

As they move forward they see a man in a jail cell who calls out to them. A large man is in a jail cell and he appears Hellenian. He warns the group that they must leave and is quite clearly frightened by something. Nos’on tells the others to watch the doors and speaks further to the man who appears to have been talking to his captives. He seems defeated and was harmed by one of the creatures and put here. Nos’on takes out lockpicks and quickly pops the lock open with ease. The door unlocks and they try to open it. Touching the door Nos’on feels the same dread he felt touching the bow. He sees why Asher, the Hellenian, didn’t try to touch it. Asher tells the group they should leave and that the other prisoners didn’t protest that they were dragged away. Nos’on asks at least that he try to identify any of the bodies. As he goes away Dax informs the group about the wardrobe he saw in the other hall. Nos’on listens for anything of note and insists they stay together. They follow the Hellenian and see two more creatures which Asher dispatches with ease. The group sees more flesh on the wall and see the shoddy craftsmanship. Not entirely manmade or natural. Mormund looks upon the wall and examines the flesh on it. He finds a strange oily consistency on the tentacle muscles and takes a sample of it to study. Nos’on looks at the oil as he drops it and as the heat of his torch hits it it seems to semi-solidify. The group is weirded out by the strangeness of what is transpiring. Catching up to Asher the group find him in a stockroom rifling through a bunch of crates. The others run through the crates and finds a pouch of seven wedges of gold. Nos’on finds some white silk in the crates and a long well crafted dagger. Beyond this there is nothing of interest. Strangely Mormund has now vanished into the wall.

After Mormund unexpectedly reappears the group think about where to go next. Asher seems to be content hunting the creatures to extinction. The group find a door that seems familiar to them and go back into the main chamber. The monsters appear to have vanished and Nos’on experiments more with the fleshy walls. Looking at the wall in detail it seems the tentacles have forced their way through the rock and then catches up with the group. Adavi sends his lights down the hallway that Dax explored and don’t see anything out of the ordinary. They go to the wardrobe he saw earlier and Adavi agrees to open it. It’s an outhouse with something fastened inside. As Dax tries to look inside he starts sliding into the hole. Adavi tries to save him but he slips through. Dax quickly tries to grab his rapier to stop him and falls into the outhouse hole head first. Adavi then reaches in to try and pull him out. Grabbing the item it seems to be a small empty bag that he opens and it whispers a name. Dax goes into the main room under a barrel and slashes the spigot off. He washes off and leaves the others. Adavi is fascinated by the bag but can’t seem to determine its function for whatever reason. Mormund seems a bit confused and horrified at Dax’s predicament. Dax casts light on his shield and rapier and explores a bit more. Dax angrily kicks down the door next to the outhouse and calls the necromancer out to challenge him. They open the door and pass through. The walls are conspicuously absent of the veins and flesh. It even has some speck of silver which Nos’on inspects. It appears to be an ear anchored and fastened into the wall. Dax marches onward down the hall and comes to another room where the flesh continues to overtake the room and the creatures appear to be growing in the wall. He then notices a clanging sound and Dax writes a message to the group that there are more monsters in the room. The group go into the room and Dax goes to the clanging noise. He sees a large creature forging something in front of him. Dax insults the monster and the group enters initiative.

The monster turns around the creature seems much more developed with a nose peering through and an eye in the center of the face. The monster bares his teeth and readies for a fight. Adavi fires a poison ray into his face and the creature stumbles back. Dax draws his rapier and charges forward swiping hard with the fury of the small and bloodies the creature. He then disengages. The creatures attacks with the hammer in its hand and lightly hits Dax. He then misses with the sharp iron in his hands. Nos’on looks around at the other creatures. He decides to go right up to the creatures in the wall to decapitate them. Mormund attacks and slashes through the creature. Asher thrusts his spear at the creature and misses. He thrusts again and hits the armor. Adavi shouts out a spell and blasts the enemy with a foul miasma. Dax moves forward and drops his shield on the floor and casts Disparate Whispers. The spell staggers him back opening him up to more attacks of opportunity. Dax strikes again and again and rips the monsters apart. Exit combat.

Dax loots the body and Adavi looks in the room beyond. Mormund asks if they should leave one alive to learn anything they can. Adavi looks at the forge beyond the room and sees metal and corrupted ore being forged into weapons. Mormund joins him and sees much the same. They are still missing the necromancer and need to find a way out. Mormund taps one of the weapons and is filled with the feeling of foulness. Nos’on and Asher go about slaying the nesting creatures and Nos’on hears a voice in his head coming from the forge. It says it was waiting for someone like him. Nos’on continues approaching the forge as it continues talking to him. Dax seems to notice something is off about Nos’on and tries to get his attention. He removes the armor from the enemy and throws it and the amulet he was wearing into the fire. Dax tries once again to get Nos’on’s attention and Nos’on tries to knock him away to make progress toward the spear but misses Dax entirely. Nos’on breaks out of his trance and Dax walks off to finish his looting remarking on Nos’on’s strange behavior.

They then regroup and go over what they find. It seems they have found where the dark iron is being forged and Dax shows the group the amulet which Mormund remembers. Dax tries to hit the medallion with holy fire but the medallion reacts violently and explodes. Thinking quickly the group ducks down and the shrapnel misses them all. Nos’on moves on instinct and knocks over the weapon rack and Nos’on steps aside and catches it with his free hand. Nos’on feels at ease with his choice to take the spear for some reason. Dax notices magic blessed by the Gray Lady reacts violently to the dark iron and that the evil blood substance might be used to forge it. Mormund looks over at the spear and Nos’on tightens his grip on it as if not wanting to surrender it. Looking over the weapons racks there appears to be about 20 creatures unaccounted for as their weapons are missing from the racks. But what could a necromancer need with the weapons. Perhaps an army that is meant to destroy the nearby towns. Dax takes a chance to mock the tentacles covering the wall but it ignores him. Nos’on investigates the raw iron ore with intense focus but doesn’t find anything.

Dax leaves to retrieve the tools from the other rooms. He finds the silver ear he missed earlier and he takes the opportunity to mock it. The ear reacts negatively and Dax notes it’s a reaction to the words he's said and with the right word it might do something positive. He can’t for the life of him remember what it was. Asher looks at the ear and the others go to investigate. Dax demonstrates how to activate the trap. They then decide to try and try and use the one passphrase they heard and successfully opens the door. They look around the room and Mormund and Dax take the desk as Nos’on and the others look around the room at a skeleton and a locked chest. Dax looks over the desk thoroughly and finds several letters from someone named Colvo to Valmar. Looking over other research documents on the desk it appears the two are intimately involved in planting and cultivating these creatures. A few of the townspeople are mentioned in the letters and some threatening of Valmar if he continues to screw up as he seems to be recently doing. Tormaline and Azbeth are the sender and recipient of one letter. Ziggurat and Valmar’s letters determine that Adborough and the Croftwood Circle are enemies of the necromancers. In the letter between Halvar and Valmar notes that the awakening of the “Khizrathi” as the mages call them is almost complete. The group find the nautical farewells of the necromancers in the letters disturbing and continue looking around. Mormund points out an interesting little rift in the wall with a sigil allowing remote viewing. Dax decides to smear over the runes and destroys the spell. Looking further on the runes Dax sees some type of code being used in the letters as a cipher and after a good amount of studying and work he makes some progress on it but can’t seem to nail it down completely. With other looks by Nos’on and Adavi they make some more progress on the mysterious message.

Stream III: Necromancy

Adavi woke up with a perfect semi circle of ash around his door and all his stuff cleaned/washed Nos’on wakes up shortly after Adavi and showers. Adavi wakes Dax and goes into his room to check if his room has the ashen circles around his bed. After recruiting Dax to come to his room Dax looks over it with his knowledge of the arcane and determines it is either some sort of magic ritual or prank. The innkeepers wife comes along and notices the ash on the floor noting that Adavi has a Houpac living with him. She explains how the Houpac works and that he should leave a small offering to it to keep it satisfied. They talk for a moment with Maraih the innkeeper’s wife while they wait for the others and go downstairs. Calder the innkeeper gives them a message from the temple from Mary Shelby asking them to come over to share what she had found. On the way over Dax talks to the others about the conversation last night and the location of the black pearls they need to combat the black wolf.

Adavi looks along the rows of merchants trying to start the day to find materials to make an Inki. Nos’on himself finds a tanner to try and sell off his old leather armor. Nos’on and the tanner look over the armor and agree to 4 gold pieces in exchange. Dax looks over parchment, quills, and other pieces for a forgery kit and decides to wait.

Seeing the group come up the steps Mary Shelby seems very relieved to see them. She looks very tired and weary of something. She walks the group into a side street next to the alleyway wall and begins talking about some concerning passages about it. She needs to find ingredients for a location spell. In addition to the black pearls she will need down leaf and an alabaster vessel. She also notes that after that she will need items associated with spirifiry and necromancy in order to re-anchor the black hound to the mortal realm in order to hurt it. She cannot be seen, as a member of the church, asking around for dark magic. Adavi seems much more knowledgeable about the subject of death magics and figures Shelby wants to move the spirit into some easily destructible item and destroy it. Indeed this appears to be her plan. The item maybe difficult to destroy if they cannot control the vessel and the beast will attack anyone who threatens its vessel. Mormund then makes the connection that maybe the spirit is bound to the marble pillars dotted around the island. Shelby doesn’t doubt it but suggests they go onto the location spell to be sure.

The group asks where they could find downleaf and determine there are several options. They could use the fertilizer from the lacking crops to grow their own, they could find some on their own in the wild, or ask a coven of druids for help. Nos’on asks about the plum wine grown around here and Shelby suggests he take some before going into the croftwood. Getting it would be difficult however as most of the farms producing it have gone silent. She mentions that the druids were the reason the village hasn’t starved yet. She also suggests keeping the “less accepted” items concealed from Atboruogh for fear he wouldn’t understand their purpose.

Shelby separates from the group and goes back to the temple. The others group walks back to the tavern for breakfast. They see Ibn Turab there looking at a book of some kind. The group gets some food and receives a rather lacking meal from the inn. They ask for information of the croftwood and he mentions strange lizards that demands payments from travellers and a coven of Druids. Dax suddenly remembers that he already bargained with a merchant for plum wine. Nos’on believes Dax is telling the truth. Ibn cuts into the conversation and mentions he is friends with a merchant who sold her string to Palamine Greywald. Ibn says that Greywald has been dead for some time as a victim of the weeping rot and his last gift to his wife was the pearls. Ibn tells them that he knows where his wife, Ana Goodwife, is. She was last seen going into the crypt to mourn. Nos’on suggests that they make a formal request to visit instead of directly coming to her to ask to give up the pearls. Dax mentions he will get on the writing as soon as he executes a “cunning plan”. Adavi asks Ibn Turab for anyone else who might have the black pearls and that they might look for an alternative way to get them if they could.

They talk a while to Turab as Dax goes to Lieutenant Atborough to approve the purchase of the plum wine with him and explain the purpose of the expedition into the croftwoods. He agrees to send off a message to the guards on the quarantine zone. Dax pushes for more to speed their venture into the croftwood but Atborough refuses to and wants to see about getting the wine sent to avoid them from being attacked. Dax also reveals the nature of the hound to Atborough and he gives them a small bonus for the information. Finally Dax asks Atborough for a letter of record that they were in his employ for the purposes of getting his signature but Atborough decides to think about it. Outside is a notice board with a letter from Mary Shelby and a bounty notice on the Bauerstone Boys, a group of brigands attacking caravans, for 75 gold with additional money for any recovered items of interest.

Dax goes through back to the Tavern and meets up with the others and reveals the things he has discovered so far. He also mentions writing a letter from Atborough to gain her trust. Nos’on judge’s Ibn Turab’s reactions to them and doesn’t find much in the way of any emotion. Turab asks if the group wants to go to the Goodwife home. With nothing more to do for the moment they agree to go out. After Dax asks what they might say to get the pearls and Ibn suggests being honest might be the best approach. After discussing the pearls a bit Ibn leads them to the house and Adavi asks if he could offer help when they pass his farm. He agrees to it and walks away. Mormund suggests trying to convince Ana Goodwife her pearls are cursed sighting an old tale about cursed undead sailors and a goofy duo and a woman who outwitted them. The others think this is not a good idea. The group knock and after a few moments peer into the windows. Mormund gets a good look inside and appears as if it has been abandoned for some time. They find from a neighbor that she stays more often in the crypt to mourn and they head over to it.

The crypt is well taken care of and has lighting in the main catacomb. The area has a marble archway over the entrance but lacks the bisected star seen in the vision of Mormund. As they move through they hear footsteps and follow them. The group sees a door into the inner sanctum and they hear grinding stones through it. They go through the doors and see a man in a cowl over a dead body. He curses out loud and summons some bodies up from the grave. He walks up into a wall and disappears.

Enter initiative. Nos’on moves forward and engages with his Chakram to the skeleton rabble and slams into the skull knocking chunks off. Adavi runs to cover and casts Ray of Sickness on the bowman skeleton. The spell strikes the skeleton hard but fails to harm it because poison doesn’t work well on skeletons. The skeletons advance and one strikes at Nos’on with a club and whiffing it. The Bowman skeleton fires at Adavi and hits low. The warrior skeleton attacks Mormund with his two handed axe and strikes hard. Mormund manages to dodge out of the way making it a glancing blow to his armor. Dax moves into cover and casts Guiding bolt at the warrior skeleton.  When the spell impacts it explodes and eviscerates the skeleton into dust. Dax then bellows out inspiration to Nos’on. Mormund rushes forward to assist Mormund. Nos’on attacks with the sun wheel chakram and attacks the two skeletons obliterating the first Rabble’s head and slashing another. Using the momentum he smashes the other in the throat to shatter the vertebrae decapitating it. Adavi calms himself and casts Ray of Frost at the skeleton with minor force and fills the skeleton’s ribcage with frost. The bowman drops his bow and draws a blade to stab Mormund and misses. Dax moves towards the bowman and casts Sacred Flame but misses his mark. He then hides away. Mormund runs up on the skeleton to try and slash at it but misses. Nos’on wheels around the bowman and rakes the sun wheel down the skeleton staggering him back and takes his fist to slam it into his spine, ripping it  apart and sending shattered bits at Mormund who dodges away.

As the group goes to the area the necromancer disappeared into to find a tunnel. They want to go into the area and chase after him. They come to a split in the road and debate where to go. Adavi brings out his glowing stone and decide to split up. Adavi finds a number of footprints and finds the human footprints going left. Adavi casts message to tell Nos’on at the entrance where they are. Nos’on peers into the sarcophagus with Mormund and finds a woman recently slain. She wears a string of black pearls. Nos’on tries to help her but finds she's already dead. It appears to be lady Goodwife.

Dax goes ahead into the tunnel with his night vision and Adavi follows behind. Back at the body Mormund takes the medallion and black pearls. Taking the medallion causes the woman's profuse bleeding to stop. Scared of this sudden turn of events Nos’on tells Mormund to raise the alarm to cordon off the area with the guards to prevent anything from getting into the town and he’ll go on ahead. Dax and Adavi notice the caves getting uncomfortably warm and comes to another split decision at a T-junction. Using a magical detection spell Adavi sees a slight trail going off to the right. Adavi will wait for Nos’on and Dax will go ahead. Mormund exits and is in the cemetery. He legs it to the temple and up to Mary Shelby. He whispers to Mary Shelby about the Necromaner and tells her to get Atborough to close off the entrance. He then rushes back to the crypt to join the group. Nos’on catches up to Adavi and the group continue downwards. Down it goes into the earth and to many twisting and turning paths. Nos’on notes that they need to mark the path for Mormund and Adavi messages him directions. Adavi and Nos’on notices the wall has a sort of mucous covering it and the smell and heat intensifies as they move. It seems the walls pulsate a little bit. Nos’on reaches out with his sun wheel and drags it down. Mormund notices a cave-in behind him and black blood leaks from the walls. Seeing the wall being all sorts of wrong Nos’on attacks the wall slicing a good chunk out of it and having black blood like substance sprayed onto him. Mormund notices the composition changed drastically.

Mormund notifies Nos’on about the collapse and that they might be trapped here. They need to find Dax and Adavi before something happens. Advancing further Dax and Adavi come to a cross junction and Dax smells fresh air and salt water to the right. He opens the door in front him and finds himself face-to-face with a bunch of strange creatures. Guant, grey, and wielding iron weapons with clicking sounds possibly seeing with echo location. Dax tries to hide and the the creatures let out a screech. Adavi then arrives and the creatures are alerted to his presence. Adavi seems exhausted from the run and doesn’t see the creatures. He grabs Adavi and warns him to be quiet. The door creaks open and the foot steps out from behind it. Dax asks if Adavi is ready for a fight and ready their spells. Adavi tries to hide into the wall. Nos’on arrives and a head peaks around the door as Dax uses a blessing. He then viciously mocks the monster and the creatures are now aware of the group. Adavi fires a Ray of Sickness and boils away on of the creatures necks. More of the creatures can be heard on the other side of the door.

____________________________________________________________________________

Stream II: Black Hound

About mid-evening the group decide to head back to the bar for drinks and merriment but before that Dax wishes to go to the temple for “Goblin reasons”. They decide to join him and take off toward the temple to speak to Mary Shelby. Nos’on gets the feeling of darkness and sickness around the city that is under the depressing thumb of plague. Dax doesn’t know about the Weeping Rot and Nos’on fills him in on the details. Dax looks around at the disease ridden person but doesn’t know the disease proper.

Seeing the area around the temple Nos’on notices the fog is significantly thicker than usual. It puts him on edge and seems unnatural despite Adavi’s insistence that it isn’t anything to worry about. Mos’on figures something about the fog could be something more sinister than just normal fog. At the front of the temple they notice the distinct style of Graustein and find extravagant trappings of the faith it represents. The fog seems to hold sway at the front door and the group walk in. Nos’on looks around and doesn’t see Gregor. Looking beyond the opening area they see people praying, holy men, and a rather unique and garish looking person on a pillow perhaps praying or meditating. It seems odd to Dax that they would worship in this manner and asks to split off from the group.

Dax moves away to an altar and does a short ritual to the Gray Lady before going deep in prayer. Nos’on seems interested that Dax is religious and he and Adavi speak a bit. At the name of ‘Mary Shelby’ a praying woman looks up and then goes back to her prayers. The two go to the praying woman and she agrees to speak with them after she is finished with her prayers. A short time later she stands up and addresses the congregation in the temple for a short time. A guard gives his thanks to the woman. Dax walks up to the woman and speaks to her about a matter of keeping faith and trials of the mortal realm testing one's faith. Dax sees a donation box at the front of the temple and he drops some coin into it. A short time later she leaves the main prayer hall and goes to her office. Nos’on looks around and tries to assess how much is in the donation box and considers helping himself to its contents. The woman goes and unlocks her room to reveal a sort of office with scrolls and writings as well as 2 windows. She beckons them inside it to meet. Adavi explains the reason for their presence and she asks if the group if they have met with “Atty”, Captain Atborough, and explains that she had served with him briefly enough to become familiar. Nos’on tries shifting in his seat and explains the conundrum they were in and that they were recruited by the guards to bolster the ability to keep the quarantine. The woman sees that Nos’on is not from the area and seems to come from a place not common to the people she usually sees. She also remarks Dax being a goblin and Mormund being from Graustein. It seems the woman is well traveled in the world and reveals she was a war mage.

Dax seems to slink away from the woman and Nos’on tries to carry on as to her purpose. They ask about the black hound (Crosses self) that is plaguing the town and she tells that the dog has been spotted in the north. Shelby is worried about the multiple events going around with the disease, fog, and black hound. Dax seems nervous or worried about something and slips out of the door quickly citing the smell of the candles and need for air as a reason. Shelby says that the thick fog is a new addition to the area and that its appearance has her baffled for now. She drops a book on the table named “Spirits and Spirifiry” and mentions the book piqued her interest and offers to try and find more out about the subject while they investigate the area in the north hills and the city walls for the mysterious black hound. She seems excited that she has help trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the strange happenings.

Dax has stepped out to go haggle at a local shop for some special equipment. It seems Dax is trying to set up a forgers kit by cobbling together the components. He also looks for a metal buckler and is directed to the north to a dwarven smith. While the rest of the group walk towards the tavern they hear a voice call them out. A rather large man with dark skin and tattoos stands in front of them. He appears to be a parishioner at the temple and seems pleased that he caught them. He greets Adavi and asks Nos’on about his monastic order from the An’marr. He introduces himself as Ibn Turab in a west monastic order and that he has lived here for many years. He speaks with them about the Turab monastic order and how he came to Woodley as a traveling monk. He says that he and his wife live in the north and they decide to perhaps accompany him up there. Nos’on asks about the black hound plaguing the area and he notes that superstition and reality maybe closer together than people realize. Nos’on notes to Turabi that they are new to the area and Turabi offers his guidance if ever they have need of it.

They part ways and Nos’on notes a chain with a glass orb hanging around his neck. Looking at it in more detail he sees the cord is a thick gauge of gold braiding which is strange for a monk. He sees more detail writing, an intricate detailing of an almost christmas ornament wrapped in a golden hand. Putting the details in the back of his mind for now Nos’on notes the locals are friendlier than he thought. Looking at the area Nos’on notices inki hanging from the homes perhaps as some ward or charm against negative energies or spirits. Looking at the inki in detail Mormund determines a sort of homemade craftsmanship as a sort of totem and an object of superstition. Adavi finds no real magical properties about the totems. While he looks on an old man notices their interest in the inki and notes it “keeps the Houpack busy”. He tells them not to look at them directly but let at their own devices they could be helpful. The inki are meant to be created by hand or else it loses power. The man talks more about the little creatures known as Houpack and then bids them farewell. The group decide to return to the tavern to rest and suspend the investigation until morning.

Dax finds the blacksmith dwarf and asks about the metal buckler. He seems hesitant about it because his shipment of iron stopped coming in. He offers to give the only buckler in his shop for free and doesn’t want any payment for it. When asked about the black hound the smith tells of strange noises going around. Dax walks through the town at night playing his harmonica and singing which he does well, lifting the local spirits of those who hear it, all the way to the tavern.

Meeting up at the tavern Dax sees his comrades drinking and joins them. Nos’on starts to loosen his belt as the leather armor being wet made it very uncomfortable. Nos’on nurses his one tankard of half-beer and the others are drinking as per regular (possibly to excess) and the group notice some farmers walk in. Upon closer inspection Nos’on sees the man is worried and speaking in hushed tones about “seeing it”. Nos’on notes to the others that the farmers are worried about something and the group moves over to investigate. Dax makes his presence known and Adavi jokingly takes the man's shoulder startling him. The man says he just saw the black hound in his field to the northwest and is hesitant to go. He seems adamant that he saw the thing and suggests they could go to check it out and possibly end the beast. The other farmer seems incredulous that his friend has actually seen the beast and that he is only giving in to paranoia. He does mention that the fog is killing the local crops by choking out the sunlight. They decide to go check out the disturbance.

The group get up to start walking to the northwest field and get sidetracked on how dark it might be and how hard it will be to see. Dax suggests that the beast will see them coming and wants to approach differently. They decide to take a short time planning their approach and walk on. Peter and Fenton walk on towards the farm and Dax casts a spell on him commanding him to leave. Peter drops his torch and heads back to the tavern to everyone’s surprise. Dax then decides to pick up some pebbles and casts a light spell on them. He jokingly says it is dark magic to which Fenton seems to take exception to. The group now trudge to the front gate of town and walk into the darkness of the farmlands. Dax tells Fenton if he sees the hound to throw the stone at it and run away. Reaching the darkness of the fields Dax tries to be stealthy… But Adavi, being tanked as a tankard, makes a loud clamoring noise and ruins the stealth. Nos’on tries to silently slip away from the group. Through the road and a small grass field the fig and dew seems to have wetted all around and soaks the group. Growing closer Mormund draws his bow… Only to realize he doesn’t have arrows. As they bumble about they hear a howl of a wolf coming from in front of them. Fenton panics and the others try to silence him and Nos’on draws his bow readying an arrow to attack. The beast is close and the group is ready to attack the animal or spirit that made the noise. Nos’on says he notes the creature about 300 feet off. Dax goes and gives a short pep song to Mormund and blesses the group. Red eyes peer from the distance as the beast growls ferociously.

The creature moves forward slowly as the blessing happens. Dax also casts guiding bolt and tries to hide from the creature. The guiding bolt hits the massive black wolf but it neither cries out nor flinches. Mormund draws his greatsword to engage the beast and stands his ground. The black hound rises to its full height and is almost the size of a horse. Nos’on looses an arrow the arrow strikes hard. However it quickly phases through and does no damage. The creature pounces at Mormund and he swings his sword at it. The sword slices almost straight through effortlessly as the sword phases through. A piercing howl rings out as the beast disappears and Mormund is knocked down unconcious. In his mind he sees a marble pillar with a strange symbol on it and sees a large dog running towards it. Dax runs over to his comrade and Nos’on knocks another arrow aimed straight at him. Mormund has a thick dark smoke over him and he is clearly not breathing. Adavi goes away and is terrified by the creature's power. Dax looks over Mormund’s body and tries to determine what happened to him. Mormund suddenly regains consciousness and surprises Nos’on who looses his arrow accidentally at Dax who barely deflects it with his shield landing on top of Mormund and getting some of the dark spirit on him. Dax desperately tries to get the fur off of himself and Mormund tries to regain his senses. Dax, strangely, decides to try and mock the fur off of him and… Nothing happens. Meanwhile Nos’on looks around for Adavi who is calming down a ways off. Dax wracks his brain trying to find a solution to what this possibly is and sees that physically he is fine. He thinks that he should be brought to a priest to be sure. Off on another hillside they hear the howling of the black hound and see the hound running off.

Dax notices that only the magic attack hurt it. Adavi casts his detect magic spell and sees the energy around the black fur of the creature is being consumed rapidly. Being careful to try and brush as much fur as possible they question Mormund about his experience.  Dax mentions that as much as he hates to admit it is seems to be mary shelby’s area of expertise. Nos’on calls him on why he seemed to know something more about her but he seems to have just slipped on it so Nos’on drops it. They walk around the area and search for the dog. Nos’on considers checking on the farmer’s wife and Dax waits with sacred flame if the hound attacks again. Nos’on knocks on the door and Fenton’s wife comes to the door. She is shaken but okay and wants to make sure her family is okay. Adavi takes a small time to play a tune from his lyre and it comforts the woman. They agree to accompany the woman to town so she can reunite with Fenton and Peter. She asks if the creature is dead and they admit that though the creature is not dead they have wounded it and scared it off. Dax makes an illusion of a wounded dog in the distance to try and reassure the woman. Dex also tries another illusion trying to challenge the beast which scares her and makes her run. Adavi then picks up Dax and shames him a bit. Dax casts light on Adavi’s robes and Adavi responds casting the sleep spell on him. The guards look on in disbelief as both Adavi falls unconscious in the field from his own sleep spell. Mormund looks over at the incredible scene and, while he’s not sure what happened, chastises Dax for his role. Dax grabs some charcoal and kicks Adavi lightly to wake him up. They all walk forward into the Tavern.

Back at the tavern the woman goes and finds her husband and brother. Nos’on impresses on Peter that they not only saw the beast but were attacked by it to which Peter is sorry about not believing Fenton. Fenton goes off on him but Nos’on reassures him the creature was wounded and isn’t a threat for now. At this time the others walk into the room identifying the other parties in this event. Dax offers up his spare room for the couples board while they are displaced from their home. Nos’on asks if Peter wants to go get his wife and Peter hurries off. Dax sends out drinks to the party and Adavi pours the drink onto the goblin. Nos’on suggests they take Mormund to the temple to make sure he isn’t possessed or afflicted. The group leaves the tavern to go into the temple. Nos’on goes before Mary Shelby and the group is ushered into the office to discuss what they find.

Dax finds a small bit of hair from Mormund and lays it on the desk. Shelby asks where they got it and Mormund steps up to explain what happened. The hair, the dream, and his temporary death. Dax mentions holy magic harmed the beast. Shelby casts detect magic and examines it asking more about it. Swords and arrows do nothing to it and only magic hurts it. Shelby determines that this creature is a spirit attracted to intense negative emotional discharges. The question is whether the spirit is taking the form of a wolf to cause fear or if it is a spirit wolf simply attracted. She says to prepare a counter to the beast she needs black pearls and downleaves to make a poultice that could reveal its weakness. She offers her services to help keep Mormund safe and says she understands if they wish to wash their hands of this business. They consider that the spirit maybe trying to communicate something and try to decipher the meaning of the white marble pillar with the star on it. Shelby suggests chatting up the traders and travelers about the pillar to see if they had any insight on it. They will ask Atborough for some form or way to afford the black pearls and if the fur should be kept. They decide to try and find the ingredients and Shelby suggests Ursula Fenwick to look for the pearls.

After the night's events the group goes back to the room and splits off. Dax looks at the nearby merchants with Mormund while Nos’on and Adavi turn in. Dax goes up and asks the traders about the pillars dotting the island. The younger man mentions he has seen them and pulls out the map of the aisle dotting several areas where he saw the pillars, several in fact, nearby the Croftwoods. He says that the pillars existed way before the first settlers and that nobody can seem to find an explanation about the things. One of the pillars can be reached and the trader says that he should have an offering of plum wine to which Dax worries it’s a scam but quickly changes his mind. The merchants want the plum wine for 20 crowns which is a rather steep price. Dax convinces the merchant to give them the wine on credit in exchange for potentially lifting the quarantine. They also ask about the pearls and the female merchant mentions she sold it to Palamine Grainwood for his wife and that they would have to haggle it off him. Dax offers the fur to the merchant who declines the offer. They thank the merchants for their help and go to their rooms to sleep.

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Stream I: A New Land

A swell that came out of nowhere batters the ship and pushes it away from the port and the captain addresses people. A merchant goes to the side of the ship, Nauva, as grasps desperately to the side of the ship as it pitches hard. Adavi secures himself below deck as Nos’on goes up to try and assist the crew. Mormund stands in the bottom holding on against the tides force. Dax ties himself to the main mast and swings around as a pendulum playing his harmonica. At the captain's call to brace Dax is violently swung around and gets tangled into a rigging and Nos’on stumbles a bit but gains his footing. People clamor onto deck along with a mother named Shura and her son, who appears sickly, in anticipation of the coming shore. Shura’s footing is unstable as she walks onto the deck and Nos’on walks over to her telling her to stay down in the deck and they both retreat down. As the ship dips down Nau’va gets tossed over the side. Dax looks around and sees nothing but the cold water and sea spray. Nos’on rushes over to Nauva and tries to pull the extra lining out on the side of the ship to try and pull him out. He throws the rope out to where it lands near him. Nauva grabs the rope and Nos’on tries to reel him in. The force of the waves pull against him and Nos’on calls out for aid. Two of the crew rush over to help Nos’on and Dax tries to shout a warning to others to help Nos’on and it worries the passengers below. At Mormund’s insistence he is scaring the people he changes his announcement.

The crewmen pull hard on the rope and pull Nauva on deck again and Nos’on leads him below deck. The storm grows ever more furious and slowly splinters the mid of the ship. Hearing this the crew and all who heard it turn pale. The captain keeps his cool about him and commands the crew to try and do away with the mast before it crushes the ship. As Nos’on sees Dax swinging he moves to catch Dax as he swings and frees him. Dax is quickly shuffled below deck by Nos’on. Nos’on and Mormund see the outrigger and it is signaling the ship to be lashed together for stability with a blue flag. Nas’on brings it to the captain's attention and the two ships ready to fire across and two soldiers bring a mast rig to stabilize the mast. Nos’on and Dax take cover from the arrows being sent over. Dax runs over and grabs the arrow which pulls him toward the edge. Nos’on moves to help him and Dax casts out the message calling to Mormund. Nos’on hands over the line to a crewman who ties it up. Dax braces another arrow rather well. Another crewmen tries to catch a weight from the smashed rigging and tosses it down to Nos’on who catches it perfectly. Mormund helps pull the ships together with Nos’on and Dax goes below deck to get Adavi and check on the passengers.

As the hour passes the storm begins to lessen up. The crews offer oars and try to offer a bit more control as the ships work their way into port. The port town is a good medium size and with farmland and some light amenties. Nos’on goes to check on Adavi and Nauvi and while he's a bit cold and soggy the man is calmed down.  The ship makes to the side of the dock and the ship and area come alive with shouting and clanging of tools and riggings. The captain walks down and announces that they are at port. Nos’on helps Shura and her son disembark and the others follow suite. Dax follows up to him and asks of the child’s condition. Taking a moment to look the boy over the boy only has a cough and fever but Dax can’t make any more progress than that. As a general work Dax casts a healing spell over him and it seems to at least pick up their spirits. He offers the blessing of the Gray Lady and one gold to allow them to see a physician. The captain walks up to Nos’on to speak to him and the two walk over to a corner. He reveals that the captain knows who he is and offers a rather ominous warning about knowing his identity and offers him a cloak and hood. The captain tells him that he should keep his head down.

On deck the gangplank goes down as people prepare to disembark. Mormund and Adavi move to disembark and Mormund gets pooped on by a seagull. Nos’on goes to Adavi and tells him that they should quickly provision and move on from the port town. The palisade wall covers the city and the farmland is around the country side. It seems foggy for this time of year. The people seems malnourished. The guards at the port turn around and walk into the city. Dax asks the captain about food and is directed to young man in a red robes and is well dressed. The man greets them welcome to Woodley and offers bread to Dax and the others. He introduces himself as Magistrate Redfern and points them to a local inn and to see the port authority. He continues to distribute food to the hungry passengers. Nos’on seems dubious on Redfern’s intent and scrutinizes him further. Redfern seems an upstanding type who just doesn’t want to step on anyone's toes. Nos’on leans into Adavi and asks if they can dodge the port authority whereas Mormund and Dax go to register at it. Nos’on asks Adavi to do whatever is necessary to avoid having him register. Nos’on tries to hide in the crowd of passengers and dodges around to try and avoid the port authority. Dax tries to follow him but loses him and Nos’on blends in well into the throngs of weary passengers from the ship's keeping Adavi in sight.

The port authority starts working through the crowd and Nos’on positions himself to try and rejoin with Adavi. The port authority asks Nauva and soon Adavi for their details. After some chit chat he registers and walks into the town. The Adavi and Nos’on start heading to the Waltzing Cat tavern communicating with a mental message link. Nos’on moves around the wall to find a quiet place and looks for a way over the wall. Dax looks over the wall and doesn’t find much of a way to enter. Mormund walks up and informs the port authority he is a settler to the land. Dax pulls his way to the podium to speak. Adavi finds a way past the wall and tries to dig under it to no avail. Dax then registers with the authority of James Bard and presents himself as a trained lawyer from Graustein. Upon confirming his identity (and almost falling off the podium several times) he convinces the authority of his fake credentials and moves on. Nos’on looks further on for a good crack in the wall to try and get into the city.  

A peasant sees Adavi digging and questions what he’s doing and about his dirty hand which catches No’son’s interest. The man isn’t sure what to make of it. Adavi attests that his hands are dirty and insists on cleaning them. A dirty joke keeps Adavi from having the guards called on him and the peasant leaves. A short time of digging later Nos’on breaks through a hole the two dug in the wall. Dax watches this with interest and Mormund makes his way through the gate to the town. Mormund takes a while to walk around and gets his bearings in the town.  A large temple to the Gray Lady, stables, blacksmith, tents, farmlands, and the muddy roads meet his eyes. Dax illusions up a small bush to try and cover up his work in digging through the wall. Dax then summons up a voice and calls attention elsewhere to make sure Nos’on can get past the wall. The spell soon gets dispelled and the guards are called to the scene. The groups move through and make their way into the town. They try to clean themselves off as they move into town and all converge on the Waltzing Cat. During it Dax decides to take a detour with Mormund and decides to settle his debts. Dax finds Nos’on and Adavi trying to clean themselves and offers to help with cleaning themselves. A small boy peers around the corner and asks what is going wrong. Dax offers to rid them of their dirty clothes but Nos’on refuses and sends him off.

Mormund and Dax convene at the Waltzing Cat, a shabby tavern in the east of town, surrounded by a shanty town cobbled together by malnourished and raggedy people. The city then falls into nicer built houses with people of higher class. Going through the doors they are assailed by good smells and noises of civilization. The Hellenians are taking up their part of the tavern as well as the other people from the ship. Dax barges through and sits down at a table. Dax and Mormund sit down at the bar and Mormund orders a beer. Dax speaks a few fibs about the trip over and orders some food and lodgings. They then go to the table but are stopped by the laughter of Hellenian men. Dax takes offense to this and confronts the sailors. The goblin and the men go back and forth about the happenings on the ship and strikes a bet with them.

During this Adavi and Nos’on take a trip to the local temple to ask for a Nyan’ma monastery. During their trip they learn there is a weeping rot plague affecting people and that Woodley is under quarantine. They wish to speak with Captain Atborough or magistrate Redfern to try and get out of the city. The leader of the temple, Father Gregor, offers them lodgings free of charge and Nos’on makes a donation to the church. Gregor offers a blessing to them and sends them on their way. They are now weary of the illness and will have to be careful about where the go and who they interact with. Going across town they see people in the streets with the disease and finally go to the Waltzing Cat.

The two enter and much like the others find how badly they are deprived of their senses. Dax challenges the Hellenians to a “Rock Off” and the Hellenians accept. Dax then pulls Mormund and Adavi into the challenge and the group get ready. Dax plays a tune to inspire Mormund. Then the challenge begins. Another Hellenian tries to challenge Stoneweaver to an arm-wrestling contest which he aces easily. The Hellenians laugh at this heartily and dare Dax to play their song. Dax goes over to Adavi to recruit him for the band and Nos’on looks around for people with Weeping Rot and finding nothing. Adavi quickly orders a ton of food and downs two beers quickly. Nos’on takes a bit more time on his drink and nudges Adavi to join the competition and he relents. Dax launches into a rousing dancing song with Adavi and Mormund backing him up with a lyre and drum. Mormund seems a bit off with his rhythm but Adavia and Dax are in good harmony. The Helenians are fairly impressed and the crowd enjoys the song. The Helenians start a tribal song and do okay. A couple of them are too drunk to keep up with the rest. The crowd gives a lukewarm reception to the performance and people decide its mainly a draw. They decide to negate the bet and agree to laugh about it. The Hellenians Hod and Rogar then offer Dax to join them on a hunt for a creature and he accepts.

The guards walk into the tavern and start looking around for something. They don’t appear to be looking for a fight but they are here for a purpose. They approach the table and lock eyes with the group (sans Nos’on) asking about Dax’s weapons. They ask to accompany him to Captain Atborrough after he finishes his meal. They appear to be interested in armed people for some reason. Nos’on and Adavi exchange messages about what is bothering him and Nos’on seems to be asking about the captain. Nos’on wants to ask the guards about the captain. Dax sings his praises to the guards about Nos’on and the guards mention the plague, which he sees fit to interject. They relent that the cause is the Weeping Rot and for other reasons. The guards are also interested in the Hellenians. Nos’on speaks to Dax about the disease and what they will do. They need to find some way out of Woodley fast and think that this captain would be the person to speak to. The job might also be suppressing the populace or finding a non-natural cause of the disease. Seeing the guard leave the Hellenians Dax takes the chance to try and find out more about the disease and circumstances about the quarantine and doesn’t find much.

Adavi looks over at the bartender and gets rooms for the night after persuading the man to haggle down the price of their rooms. The keeper hands over the keys and Adavi returns to the group. They decide to pop out to see the guard captain and return later. The group goes back and forth while they wait and Nos’on asks about the strange Goblin and his relation to Mormund. He insists the two are just companions and that they came to this place to explore the land.

The group settle into their rooms a moment and agree to go to the guard captain. They travel a ways through the city and go to Atborrough’s estate seeing his rather lavish house and greet the captain. Dax gets onto a nearby desk to handshake the captain as well. There are chairs taken and Atborrough introduces himself and the circumstances. The adventurers also mention their troubles. The guard captain talks about the “Black Hound” that the town seems to believe in that haunts the town. The Weeping Rot also is a major problem and Atborrough was sent to restore order. He isn’t exactly happy of the posting but is doing his best. The hound hasn’t attacked anyone yet, only menacing them, but it still has a negative effect on morale. They should talk to Mary Shelby at the temple on that subject. The crops have been slowly failing over time and the Rot was a recently problem. He wants to recruit more soldiers to help maintain order around the city and looking into matters. It looks like they are trapped in the city for now and they can be paid for their efforts. The captain is definitely willing to pay for that help and has a large amount of funding to show for it. They agree to the price but Adavi is curious how to get out of the town. He seems sure that nobody is leaving unless they clear the quarantine. He offers instead to send a letter to the monastery about the predicament and Adavi agrees.

The group goes outside to speak privately. They speak about trying to break through the quarantine area past the guard patrols to continue on their way. They also consider that the black hound maybe connected to the plague or not and trying to rid the place of it. Nos’on is not fond of the idea of staying to solve the problem but Dax offers him papers to get out or using the money to bribe the guards. Adavi suggests using the message system to try and intercept letters to copy handwriting of an official to forge letters to release the group from the quarantine. They finally agree to go accept a price of 1000 crowns per head, which he later corrects to coppers. The captain counters with 30 crowns per week where the Dax counters with 40 plus room and board. The captain declines and Nos’on renegotiates to 30 per week plus room and equipment from the temple. They agree and the captain directs them to Mary Shelby, the Revered Mother of the temple, to start and directs them out. Dax, however, stays to ask the captain about Goblins passing through and asks that Goblins have ease of access to the port. He agrees to, though he isn’t sure why this request was made, and sends the goblin on his way.

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GM and Narrator: 

SplattercatGames

Champions of the Realm:

Aavak: Nos'on Silwét the Human Rogue, friend to Adavi and penitent thief of the monastery.

BenthamPlays: Mormund Stoneweaver the Dwarf Brawler, cast out from his home for failing to uphold dwarven tradition.

EnterElysium: Dax Fizzlespark the Goblin Bard, traveling bard and happy worshipper of the Grey Lady.

Shenryyr: Adavi Lyrazial the Human Sorcerer, kept in a monastery for protection at Nyon’mar from the outside world and himself

Fellow Adventurers

MathasGames: Whaho Sluvi the Sea Giant Ranger: a great and respected hunter of beasts

Daelric: Grey the Warmage: Devout follower of the Grey Lady and scout from Ballard’s Cross

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Allies:

Sovereign’s Captain and Hellenian Sailors

Merchant Nauva

Shura and her son

Port Authority Roy Stiles

Father Gregor

Hellenian Sailors

Guard Captain Atborrough

Revered Mother Mary Shelby

Ibn Turab, Asha Turab, and his daughter

Ursula Fenwick

Peter

Lady Goodwife (Formerly Greywald)

Frythwood

Bob the Seagull

Lythia

Lysandre and the Croftwood Circle Druids

Scotch the Farmer

Oscar the Bull

Christopher the old man

Francis “Frog” Goeche the Bounty Hunter

Ollie Deepbrow

The Scrabblies

Palace Guardian Cetrol

The Company of Teeth

The Council of Seven Scions

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Creatures, Demons, and Evil:

Black Hound

Strange Creatures of the land  

Valmar the Necromancer

Colvo The Necromancer Lord

Solomon

Necromancer Apprentices

The Bauerstone Boys

Khizrathi (Soldier, Archer, Elder, Commander, Beastrider, Hatchling, Spawn, Giant)

Magistrate Redfern of Woodley and his Hired Thugs

Zhao Fang the Hunter

Khizrathi Titan Ermok

Karrak the Khizrathi Demi God

Mother Magatha the Demi God

Abomination Scrabbly Monarch Khizrathi