February 21 – March 2, Third Age 1331

Quintos downed by a lucky assassin!

Ouch! A nat ‘1’ on a death saving throw!

“I’m dead!!”  Or so Quintos thought.  In truth, he was.  But only for a few fleeting seconds before Marcus was able to bring him back.  The assassin who did the dirty dead had already been dealt with.  Robbing Quintos of any immediate revenge.  The party set out to find the assassin’s camp hoping to find information on who had sent her.  They found the camp along with a fairly accurate sketch of Quintos and a very nice black horse, which Qiuntos claimed.  Unfortunately, there was nothing that pointed to the employer of the assassin.

Quintos Revived!

And thus ended day 4, which proved to be the most exciting part of their journey to Stonehelm.

On the 5th day, they found a pit filled with old elven bones.  Ultimately, it was nothing but a sad sight the party was happy to move on from.

They made it to Bisigath on day 8, which was Feb. 24 1331.  Being populated mostly by dwarves and filled with a choking fog or cloud, Bisigath had little, if anything, to offer the human members of the group.  So they departed early the next day with plans to pass through Vymeir on their way to Stonehelm.  They were able to purchase a diamond worth 300 GP and continue their journey.  Quintos once again talked to the leader of Bizigath about establishing trade routes.

With the exception of a chance meeting with Highgar Silvertongue, a merchant from Tengate on his way to Nimroth, the rest of the journey to Stonehelm was as mundane as it could be.  Quintos was unexpectedly eager to get to Stonehelm.  Apparently dying, if even for only a few seconds, is enough to make a man regret giving up drinking and Stonehelm promised to provide plenty opportunity for it.

Loot

• Frosti
  • 140 GP
• Ghost Dancer
  • 140 GP
• Lundie
  • 140 GP
• Marcus
  • 140 GP
  • Diamond worth 300 GP
• Quintos
  • 140 GP
  • Large Black Stallion

February 10 – February 17, Third Age 1331

Part I: Back to Nimroth

After defeating the vampire in the castle to the south of Nimroth our band of adventurers decide to rest in and around Nimrtoh for a few days.  Ghost dancer loads the large painting they found inside the castle and decides to take it to the Minotaur Inn to make sure it is the same lady in the picture.  No one seems to have much interested in the picture.  Although they do confirm that it is the lady that used to own the manor home to the south.

Marcus goes around town gathering supplies and laborers; he spent the journey back to Nimroth scribbling away.  He spends a week making improvements to the old manor house, occasionally asking his companions for various gold pieces to buy this or that.

Part II: Research does pay off…

While out of town Sophia had a chance to look through some of the books that Quintos left with her.  She found that there does appear to have been a singular great Orc leader before the Orcs were able to steal the Urthjarl Stones at Stormgate.  And it appears that there were other leaders under his rule.  Yet once the stones go missing, shortly after he seems to disappear from influence and reference.

Meanwhile, while researching and selling the picture found in the castle, Ghost Dancer finds that there was once an old citadel named Tul-Mac.  This citadel belonged to the Bat God, named Zott. Ghost Dancer makes note and feels that his fellow band of adventurers must seek out this mystery as well.

Lundie spends his days and evenings working at the smithy shop of Thoradin.  Lundie promises Thoradin a place on the lands they have lied claim to around the manor to the south of town.  Lundie prepares for the trip ahead by purchasing large amounts of rations and loading them on the wagon every evening.

Part III: On the Road … Again

It’s cold this time of year in the lands of Threa.  Our travelers bundle up for the long journey and begin the slow trek south.  Hours turn to days and the trails are hard on the souls and bones of our adventures.  Travelling Threa wears on the spirits of all who take long journeys.  Fourteen days will be a long time to make it to Stone Helm.

On February 20, Ghost Dancer finds a curious plant along the route.  He remembers it to be “Soldier’s Bell”.  Ghost Dancer remembers that this plant can ground up and inhaled to give a boost to the person taking it.

Part IV: Loot

• Frosti
  • 37 GP
  • 5 SP
• Ghost Dancer
  • 37 GP
  • 5 SP
  • Soldier’s Bell Plant (Advantage on STR, DEX, & CON for 1 hour)
• Lundie
  • 37 GP
  • 5 SP
• Quintos
  • 37 GP
  • 5 SP

Bought these 1 inch hair bands in various colors off of Amazon for about seven dollars. They wrap around the base or you can drape them on top of the miniature.

February 6, Third Age 1331

Adventuring Party Present

• Ghost Dancer—a man, with war chants and self proclaimed Indian
• Ivamel—a man with a stranger past…
• Lundie—the pious dwarf, devout and strong
• Quintos—from a noble family and a roman veneficus, a warlock of the IX legion
• Frosti—Dwarf rogue and barbarian

Marcus at the Lots

During his down time, Marcus visited the Temple of the Lots—and nearly got converted from Mars to Catholicism. He also discovered a wealth of information about destroying the Grissharl (the shamanistic bugbear summoning horn) and about the history of the Urthjarl Stones.

About Grissharl:

• Destroying the horn will summon demon Bugbears
• Some of the Bugbears will be under our control and some will be hostile
• It was first used by a Bugbear in 530 of the 3^rd age
• Grissharl’s summoning was foiled by Caldyndia and Mykor, elf god and goddess of war

About Urthjarl history:

• The rise of an orc lord united the orcs, ogres, kobolds, bugbears, gnolls, and giants
• This army of darkness somehow managed to steal the Urthjarl stones, breach Stormgate, and invade the civilized lands
• Nobody knows why the invasion slowed and stopped, but it is believed that today 3 Urthjarl stones reside in orc tombs, and 1 each in the tombs of the other evil races

February 7, Third Age 1331

Mirror, Mirror in the Cave

The heroes reunite with Marcus at The Minotaur and The Emperor Inn. There they meet Frosti the Red-Nosed Dwarf. He agrees to join the party on an expedition to Bone Hill to destroy Grissharl. Sober Quintos invites tipsy Frosti to the next Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

Lyndette helps the group hustle a diamond from grotesquely obese and hideously unreasonable merchant, Winston. Quintos gives her 300 gp and tells her that she can keep the difference. Then, he utters the words that still echo through Nimroth: “You can keep all your sex money.”

Frosti joins Ghost Dancer for evening performances at the Inn. It’s an interesting show. While Ghost hops around in his loincloth, Frosti cranks on the hurdy gurdy. The mellow crowd smokes some righteous lucrative.

At Bone Hill, Lundie strokes his beard and suggests destroying the horn in the cave with the mirror that transports people to another plane. The party stands by the mirror as Lundie smashes the Grissharl with his war hammer.

Sixteen bugbear demons—including Hashar (or, Hell-shar)—appear before the group. Many get sucked into another dimension through the mirror. Many more perish at the deft use of sword and sorcery by Marcus, Ghost, Quintos, Lundie, and Frosti. It’s an epic battle that sees Marcus call upon his spiritual guardians. We’re all just a little sad that it seems Marcus has outgrown his habit of falling unconscious in every battle. [sniff-sniff] Our little Marcus is growing up.

Finally, Hashar charges Marcus, screaming for revenge. But the heroes send him back to hell, even as the mirror explodes, trapping all the bugbear who were flushed in.

February 7–8, Third Age 1331

Die, Vampire, Die!

The heroes get sidetracked on their journey south, finding wargs, ettin, and a giant. They dispatch them all, and discover a manor. Frosti shows the group how one can go through a door without destroying it. The party remains baffled by this new technology.

Once in the manor, they discover a crypt room, and a hot vampire chick emerges to kill them. Frosti rages, charging the sarcophagus. Lundie joins him. Dwarves—what you gonna do?

Quintos, Marcus, and Ghost keep the pressure on from afar, and the vampire falls to her death as she almost makes her escape as a bat.

After claiming the manor, in addition to Bone Hill, the group’s real estate portfolio is expanding.

Loot Report

120 gp (300 gp in hot vamp chick’s castle and a ruby-crusted tiara thing sold for 300 gp) each for:

• Quintos
• Marcus
• Lundie
• Ghost
• Frosti

February 5, Third Age 1331

Adventuring Party Present

• Ghost Dancer—a man, with war chants and self proclaimed Indian
• Ivamel—a man with a stranger past…
• Lundie—the pious dwarf, devout and strong
• Quintos—from a noble family and a roman veneficus, a warlock of the IX legion

Having cleared Bone Hill of its evil denizens and retrieving their first Urthjarl stone, the party sets off for Nimroth (now know as Restenford).  On they way, a small group of orcs attempted to ambush the heroes.  Unfortunately for the orcs, the heroes, made wiser and stronger from their ordeal in Bone Hill, easily spotted the ambush and quickly dispatched their foolish and under prepared foes.  Fortunately for the heroes, this kept the trip from being entirely…uninteresting.  Interestingly, these orcs were branded with a skull and would appear to belong to a different group than the orcs who attacked Sophia’s caravan about a week ago.

The deceased elf swinging from the newly constructed gallows outside Nimroth’s north gate did little to deter the parties plans.  Still riding the confidence of their week long string of victories, the heroes shun rest in favor of pursuing various leads or time for meditating on their new found powers.

Lundie sought out Thordin, a highly skilled dwarven blacksmith, in the hopes of learning something about the smithing techniques used to make an ancient shield found in Bone Hill.  Lundie’s hopes are to employ the techniques to improve his own shield.  Thordin thinks it can be done with a few days work.

Ivamel heads for Elinae’s Reliquary where he seeks information on a mystical item know as The Deck of Many Things.  He learns that such an item is rumored to be in use within the citystate of Redmark, itself.  Also and rather oddly, Elinae has some probing questions for him about his thoughts on the current political climate of Redmark.

Ghost Dancer, yet again, bee-lines to Sister Sophia.  He claims he is just informing her of the parties progress and to be looking for rumors.  But everyone knows it’s just a cover for his deep affection for… holy places.  During his visit, Sophia tells him that, according to ancient text, another Urthjarl stone is located in the ruins of a place once known as Xikchulmak, which is about 30 miles north west of Ulpar.  Ulpar is at least a months journey south of Nimroth.

Quintos heads for The Minotaur and The Emperor Inn in hopes to have a quiet meal and drink before retiring to begin a 10 hour ritual he’s just learned that will find him a familiar.  This dream is ill-fated, though.  It is soon discovered that Stanford, a mercenary several bricks shy of a load, has been abusing Quintos’ current favorite tavern winch, Lyndette.  Quintos will not abide this and waits for Standford to arrive.  Stanford does not disappoint and shows up with two friends.

A fight breaks out almost immediately and definitely before Quintos finishes his drink or food.  With the clever use of his new spell Hunger of Hadar and a wand of fear, Quintos is able to dispatch his foes and finish his drink and food at the same time.  However, this is not likely the end of this feud but the beginning of something bigger.  Each of these mean apparently belonged to a large and powerful mercenary group who’s symbol is a two-headed eagle.

Having finished their various errands, the party settles down for the night with the familiar, lively, and surprisingly soothing performances of Ghost Dancer being heard in the inns main hall.

Rumors & Insights

• The orc raiders appear to be from different factions. Session 01 had squirrel skulls, Session 10 had skulls branded onto shoulders.
• Deck of Many Things rumored to be in use in Redmark (of interest to Ivamel).

Loot

• 1 ok scimitar
• 3 longswords
• 3 chain mail
• 1 shortsword
• 1 light crossbow
• 1gp
• 2 sp
• 17 cp