Spring 2004 Ravenloft Campaign

Vampires. Werewolves. Stiched-together monstrosities. These are things that were spoken of, when we were children, which brought true fear鈥攖hat shaking, lonely feeling of the boogeyman鈥檚 claw around your ankle as you lay in bed. In our world, those creatures are figments of the imagination, not to be feared by any means. In the Gothic-styled world of Ravenloft, these 鈥渇igments鈥� are not only real...they are also quite deadly. In Ravenloft, all your childhood nightmares are manifest. The fear is real and only a brave few could hope to survive it.

The darkness of the Realm of Dread is pierced only by the most valiant and noble of heroes. Are your characters up to the task? The Dark Powers of Ravenloft beckon...

GM's Introduction, House Rules, and Sanity Rules

GM's Introduction

Allow me to introduce myself. I do realize that several of you know me, but I act for the benefit of the newer Guild members, whom I have yet to meet. My name is Andy Klosky鈥擨 was last year鈥檚 Guild President and was a founding member of the organization. I鈥檝e had over 10 years of experience playing and DMing both 2nd and 3rd Edition 鈥淒ungeons and Dragons鈥�, Palladium鈥檚鈥淗eroes Unlimited鈥� game, as well as several other notable RPGs. For the past few months, I鈥檝e been preparing what I view as my crowning achievement in gaming鈥攖his upcoming Dungeons and Dragons Ravenloft campaign.

This coming spring, I am currently planning to run one or two weekly groups of this game, each of 4 to 7 players. However, in addition to the normal changes found in Ravenloft (corruptive forces, altered magic and more), we will be using a mechanic of my own interpretation, based off of the Chaosium 鈥楽anity鈥� system from the 鈥淐all of Cthulhu鈥� game. This campaign will begin at level 1 and stretch, through the semester, to approximately levels 10 or 11. Climactic encounters, tension-laden subterfuge and horrors beyond comprehension are sure to be had. Newbies are welcome鈥擨 will not outright turn anyone away鈥攖hough I will warn you: large portions of this campaign will deal with investigation and political maneuvers. As such, those gamers seeking a weekly hack-and-slash dungeon crawl will be disappointed.

To submit for entry to this game, please follow these two easy steps:

Review the "House Rules" and "Sanity Rules: for more information on how the game will be run. Please confer with me if you are unable to open these files or have a problem with one of the rules.
Send an e-mail to me with the following information:
- a brief introduction to who YOU are (particularly if I don鈥檛 know you)
- an introduction to the character you鈥檇 like to play (see the House Rules for info)
- a list of evenings that you will be available to play

Follow these steps, and you鈥檒l soon receive an e-mail back, letting you know what鈥檚 going on. Hope to see you in the Realm of Dread!

fondest regards,
---A. P. Klosky
(s05.aklosky)

House Rules for Spring 2004 Ravenloft Campaign

叠辞辞办蝉鈥�
All players are recommended to have the 3.5 edition Player鈥檚 Handbook. If this is impossible, the 3.0 Player鈥檚 Handbook will do, as we can reference the updated version. Ravenloft books are not required on the part of the players, though some players may feel the desire to buy their own. This is certainly not discouraged by the DM.

Character Creation鈥�
all characters will be created by one of two methods, chosen before rolling begins. All dice rolls must be made in the presence of the DM.

Method 1) roll 4d6 for each stat, drop the lowest die. One re-roll is allowed
Method 2) roll 5d6 for each stat, drop the lowest two dice. No re-rolls are allowed

All stats may be arranged to taste and are subject to DM adjustment. Any character with a total stat modifier of -1 or less may re-roll their character.

搁补肠别蝉鈥�
the following races are allowed:

Human
Elf
Dwarf
Gnome
Halfling
Caliban (a deformed brute, similar to the Half-Orc)
Half-Vistani (half-breed kin between humans and the Mist-dwelling gypsy Vistani)

No Half-Vistani characters may choose the Canjar or Zarovan tasques, upon creation. Furthermore, no Half-Vistani wizard, sorcerer or bard may be male. Since Ravenloft is a very humanocentric world, all human characters begin with 1 extra ability point, which can be placed in any stat upon character creation. Ravenloft is also quite xenophobic, so each race will be given an Outcast Rating. Your DM will alert you to your Outcast Rating as your character is being created.

颁濒补蝉蝉别蝉鈥�

All classes are subject to DM alteration. As of now, only changes found in RL3e are in effect. Wizards gain two spells per level for their spellbooks鈥攐ne chosen by the player and one chosen by the DM. The DM will base his choice on the player鈥檚 choice, so pick carefully. All prestige classes are subject to DM approval. Currently, all prestige classes in 鈥淰an Richten鈥檚 Arsenal鈥� and 鈥淗eroes of Light鈥� are considered to be pre-approved, except for the 鈥楾rue Innocent鈥�. Changes will be made to these classes, however, to more smoothly integrate the Sanity rules.

叠补肠办驳谤辞耻苍诲鈥�
All characters must have a full name (first and last names). Furthermore, all characters must have a sufficient background and personality to work with throughout the campaign. Any player that goes 鈥渁bove and beyond鈥� in creating a background by incorporating usable plot points, including poignant NPCs and staying in a Gothic Ravenloft mindset, will be awarded 2 free feats that may be taken from any of the following books: RL3e, Van Richten鈥檚 Arsenal, Heroes of Light, Champions of Darkness, Ravenloft PH, Ravenloft DMG. Feats may be altered for implementation with the Sanity rules. Also, each character must also choose, upon creation, whether they will be a Ravenloft native or an outlander (from another world). There are advantages to each, but play will be different, based on which you choose. All Calibans and Half-Vistani must be Ravenloft natives.

Religion and Languages鈥�
As part of the aforementioned difference between 鈥榥atives鈥� and 鈥榦utlanders鈥�, there are some changes to the way religions and languages work in Ravenloft. If you are playing as an 鈥榦utlander鈥�, you may choose any god in the PH to worship without penalties. You may also only choose languages from the PH鈥攏one from Ravenloft. If you are playing as a Ravenloft native, you will choose languages from the RL3e only and you may only choose from the following religions:

The Cult of the Morninglord鈥攁 sun-worshipping religion (typically Chaotic Good)
The Church of Ezra鈥攁 religion very close to Christianity in nature (typically any lawful)
The Covens of Hala鈥攕imilar to Wicca in many respects (typically Neutral or NG)
The Eternal Order鈥攁 Darkonian death cult, now in decline (typically Neutral or NE)
The Faith of the Lawgiver鈥攁 harsh faith emphasizing obedience (often LN or LE)
Atheism鈥攖he vast majority of Ravenloft natives are atheists or agnostics and do not believe in the existence of higher powers. This option is also available to you.

颁辞尘产补迟鈥�
Combat strategies emphasizing in-character actions and thought process will be rewarded, while out-of-character thinking and metagaming will be frowned upon. Hack and slash combat, as a rule, will not be the best solution. Finding out a creature鈥檚 weaknesses and exploiting them through careful thought and investigation (provided that your character is intelligent enough to do so) will almost always be more successful than kicking in the door and beating them with an axe.In particular, there will be combats where the solution will not be to fight through it, but to run. In short, in-character investigation will be rewarded, while simple combat will not. Think before you act.Furthermore, (for my older groups) as per the DMG, drinking a potion is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, not a free action.

厂辫别濒濒蝉鈥�
All spells are subject to alteration, as per the RL3e guide, and some are subject to 鈥減owers checks鈥�....the DM will have more on that, if it arises. Furthermore, casters may also research their own spells and magic items. See the DM for more on this option.

Weaponry and Equipment鈥�
with all characters starting at 1st level, all starting equipment must be purchased 鈥渁 la carte鈥� using each class鈥檚 starting funds. All weapons in the PH, as well as the various Ravenloft books will be generally available to players. However, one major change should be noted. Firearms鈥攑istols, muskets and incendiary devices鈥攚ill now have the following damage statistics; ranges and other statistics are unchanged:

Pistol:	2d10 x3
Musket:	2d12 x3
Parthian Rapier:	1d6/2d10 19-20 x2/x3
Bomb:	4d6 grenadelike
Petard:	6d6/5d6
Doorbreaker Petard:	6d6/5d6/4d6

For more information on in-game firearms (and the feats necessary to use them), see your DM.

尝别惫别濒蝉鈥�
All characters will begin at level 1. No exceptions. For those of you in my prior campaigns, expect to level more slowly than earlier. Focus will be more oriented on good role-playing and investigative skills, not combat. As such, experience rewards will be oriented in that fashion.

Version Info鈥�

I鈥檒l be using the 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons, though many of my Ravenloft books are for 3.0. As such, I鈥檓 sure that there will be a few discrepancies between the two. These will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

General Role-playing Info鈥�

This game, I think, will be a great deal of fun to those who get 鈥渋nto it鈥�. When I say that, I mean that those who are content to sit back and simply roll the dice may be bored easily. Meanwhile, those players who enjoy acting out their character鈥檚 deeds and dialogues, who enjoy the mental challenge of personifying someone else, will enjoy this quite thoroughly. I do hope that, should you join my game, you鈥檒l put forth your contribution to the role-playing experience as a whole. When the story comes to life, it can be quite a thing to experience.

And, finally...when you e-mail me, please include the following about the character that you鈥檇 like to play:

Name
Race and nationality (Outsider or Native)
Class
Party role
(note that this can be different from your class. There are many variations that each class can take. I encourage you to explore these...there can be some interesting results!)
Typical Skills Taken
Plans for character
(do you want to take a Prestige Class? Is there a feat you鈥檙e aspiring for? Think for a bit onthis one. All good characters take good planning.)
Suggested Background. (Get creative with this! The more plot hooks you guys give me, the more fun the game will be鈥擨 guarantee it!)

Sanity Rules for Spring 2004 Ravenloft Campaign

(updated: 2003-11-10)

(note鈥攖hose of you who have played the 鈥淐all of Cthulhu鈥� roleplaying game will be familiar with the majority of these mechanics. However, they have been altered for use with the Ravenloft campaign setting. Please ask your DM for further information, if you have any questions.)

Each character in this world begins with a Sanity score equal to five times their Wisdom score (5xWis). This score will fluctuate as the game goes on, gaining and losing Sanity points, particularly if the Wisdom score is changed.

The absolute maximum sanity that a character can have is 99. Even the most stalwart characters have a slight chance of just 鈥渓osing it鈥�.

All characters will also be granted a 鈥淪anity Buffer鈥� equal to their Wisdom modifier. This represents a character鈥檚 resilience towards mind-shattering threats. The Sanity buffer will apply to such events like seeing horrific creatures and witnessing a gruesome ritual, however it will not apply to Sanity losses incurred by spells, magic items or Ravenloft tomes (to be described shortly).

Sanity is tested differently than most other abilities in D&D. Rather than using a d20, you must roll percentage dice. A roll EQUAL TO OR LESS than your current Sanity score incurs either no loss or a lesser loss, depending on the situation. A roll HIGHER than your current Sanity incurs the higher loss.

Example: Gareth the Barbarian sees a Mind Flayer eat someone's brain. Gareth's current Sanity is 74, and he has a Wisdom score of 14 (+2 modifier). Bob the DM looks up the Sanity loss in this event, and sees that it is 2/1d8. Gareth rolls percentile dice, getting a result of 84 (a failure). At this point Gareth would lose between 1 and 8 points of Sanity, reduced by 2 because of his Sanity buffer (from his high Wisdom). Had Gareth rolled a lower number, 33 perhaps, he would incur no loss because his Sanity buffer (2) is the same amount as the loss.

The skill "Knowledge: Ravenloft" will be replaced by 鈥淩avenloft Mythos鈥�. No character may choose ranks in this skill, but instead may gain them by experiencing features and theories on the Mists. However, each rank of Ravenoft Mythos reduces a character鈥檚 maximum sanity by 1. Similar to a Sanity check (detailed above), Ravenloft Mythos is tested by a percentage roll. A character must roll AT or BELOW their current ranks in Ravenloft Mythos to succeed on a check. All Clerics and Paladins of the Goddess Ezra automatically gain 5 free ranks in Ravenloft Mythos. Their maximum Sanity scores are reduced by 5, accordingly.

The skill 鈥淗eal鈥� will also have applications for psychological healing and therapy. DCs for short and long-term care will be set by the DM, as will amounts of recovered Sanity points. Any character with 5 ranks in 鈥淜nowledge: Psychology鈥� or 鈥淗ypnotism鈥� will gain a +2 synergy modifier to any Heal checks involving psychiatric care. Sanity can also be regained through treatment in clinics...

Certain books and tomes scattered throughout the Land of the Mists hold dire secrets and spells which can be used by any character. However, these powers do not come without great risks to one鈥檚 sanity. Following the rules from the 鈥淐all of Cthulhu鈥� game, these tomes incur Sanity loss upon both initial contact and upon completion. Typical powers from these tomes include (but are not limited to): ranks in Ravenloft Mythos, a new special ability, arcane spells, spell-like abilities and ability points.

Arcane spellcasters (Bards, Wizards and Sorcerers), due to the nature of their incantations, are at great risk for losing Sanity. In one twenty-four hour period, a caster may only cast three plus their caster level in spells (3+caster level/24hours) without risk of Sanity loss. Every spell beyond that limit incurs a Sanity check of 0/1 (That is, 0 points lost on a successful roll and 1 point lost on a failure). The Sanity buffer does not apply to this loss.If a spellcaster would receive a temporary or indefinite insanity from casting a spell, the caster must make a Concentration check (DC 25) and a Spellcraft check (DC 10+spell level) to successfully cast the spell.

Every character, upon gaining a new level, receives 1d6 Sanity points. No re-rolls will be granted.

Temporary insanities set in if a character loses 7 Sanity points in a 48 hour period. These are usually easily cured and will likely just 鈥済o away鈥� in a few minutes. Indefinite insanity sets in if a character loses 录 of their starting sanity. These are not easily cured, and will require some distinct role-playing on your part to portray.In both cases, your DM will take you aside and alert you as to what has happened.

Wednesday Group

Ravenloft Character Introductions for the Wednesday group:

A quick note about Game Master (GM) notes for campaigns. These notes are the GMs has made about running his campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

GM's Note: This is the first full Ravenloft campaign that I鈥檝e been able to put together in a long time. While it鈥檚 good to put my books to good use in the setting that I love, I鈥檝e been somewhat stringent on my players to attempt to stay in the Gothic mindset simply by enforcing the rules of the setting. Languages are limited (making more intelligent characters serve as translators) and so far there鈥檚 been little technology available. However, I鈥檓 somewhat stymied by the fact that none of my players have played in Ravenloft before...at any rate, they鈥檙e an eager group and this should be fun.

And now, our cast:

Tallorn Whetfield
Player: Lionel Worman
Race/Class: Human Ranger
Introduced: A Misty Meeting
Current Status: Alive!
A slightly older human male ranger, who set out from Tepest after a less-than-desirable altercation with a rival farmer. Tallorn is somewhat grizzled and bears two keen blades at his sides but, for some odd reason, keeps his head completely shaved at all times.

Dera Cahro
Player: Karl Schmitt
Race/Class: Half-Vistani Diviner
Introduced: A Misty Meeting
Current Status: Died in The Terrible Tome
A slender female with dark hair, Dera often is seen wearing a thick cloak, obscuring almost all of her features. Suspicious, yet nevertheless heroic, she speaks only an obscure form of Balok that hasn鈥檛 been spoken in centuries.

Azar de Telos
Player: Karl Schmitt
Race/Class: Human Paladin
Introduced: The Howling Hunt
Current Status: Died in The Witch in the Water
A former companion of the infamous George Weathermay, Azer claims to be a holy warrior of the god Belenus, from a far off island of Nidala. However, such holy warriors often fall from their lofty perches of grace, and a certain quest may tempt Azar into corruption.

Ishtari Pistani
Player: Karl Schmitt
Race/Class: Human
Introduced: The Witch in the Water
Current Status: Died in The Witch in the Water

To be determined
Player: Karl Schmitt
Race/Class: to be determined
Introduced: The adventure after The Witch in the Water
Current Status: Unknown, but hopefully will be changed to alive for more than one session

Daimonion Thassalou
Player: Rachel Meier
Race/Class: Human Swashbuckler
Introduced: A Misty Meeting
Current Status: Alive!
An almost 鈥榗at-like鈥� human male with a quick wit and a quicker blade. However, growing up in the streets of Richemulot has given him a fanatic obsession with the power of secrets and information. Privacy is of the utmost to Damonion, despite his gregarious nature, but for reasons unrevealed.

Rimo Gossamer
Player: Brian Metzger
Race/Class: Human Ranger
Introduced: A Misty Meeting
Current Status: Alive, but close to insanity.
The oldest member of the group, yet the least experienced, the Darkonian warrior Rimo is eager to prove himself in battle against the evils of the world. A skilled archer, Rimo never travels without a certain keepsake that he keeps well hidden, though few know what this item is or why Rimo keeps it.

Sik
Player: Silas Burdick
Race/Class: Human Outsider [Faerun] Rogue
Introduced: A Misty Meeting
Current Status: Unknown, fled from party in A Terrible Tome
A young, trim female with a disturbing glare in her eye, this outsider seems disturbingly paranoid. While almost amazingly fit, she seems to have an air of violence and mistrust about her, leaving the other characters wondering whose side Sik seems to be on.

Otas
Player: Silas Burdick
Race/Class: Dwarf Muskateer
Introduced: A Witch in the Water
Current Status: Alive

Dario DeLuna
Player: TJ Falzone
Race/Class: Half-Vistani Rogue
Introduced: A Misty Meeting
Current Status: Alive!
A suave swordsman and trickster, Dario grew up in Mordent where he met up with the wandering Daimonion. Not much is known about his past, though rumors tell of a strange tattoo marking Dario鈥檚 back, and the rogue has an almost unnatural hatred for the hazy geists of the spirit world. Dario is currently in search of the famed Dr. Rudolph van Richten, whom he believes may be able to assist him in some venture...but Dario has yet to divulge what exactly that venture is.

GM's Notes:

As you can probably see, no member of our group goes without carrying some form of secret with them. Strangely enough, that was their doing, and I鈥檓 just enjoying their creativity as it plays out.

Something odd for you鈥攖hree of the six characters in this game are 鈥榗ross-dressing鈥�. Daimonion is played by a female, and both Dera and Sik are males in real life. Odd, no? Daimonion was originally intended to be a Bard, but after some deliberation with his player, Rachel, the Swashbuckler class from the 鈥淐omplete Warrior鈥� book seemed to be a better fit. I thought it worked nicely with the renaissance domains.

Dera chose Diviner as her specialty for a very good reason, as we鈥檒l find out sometime later. Beyond this, I鈥檝e allowed her to take an extra opposed school to gain access to the 鈥淐onjuration: Healing鈥� spells such as Cure Light Wounds. I wanted her spell list to be somewhat different than an average wizard鈥檚, in addition to the dire need of curative magic that the party needs.

Also, keep in mind that this party is not 鈥渂alanced鈥� in the traditional sense. There is no cleric. There is no 鈥渢ank鈥�. While this may prove to be difficult for them, I would rather have them enjoy the game than be forced into a character that they don鈥檛 like. That said, many forms of encounters would prove to be somewhat more difficult than usual for them. With luck and a bit of ingenuity, though, our heroes will bring light to this darkened world in the end.

Ravenloft Expanded Character Background: Tallor Whetfield

This is a character background for one of the characters in the Ravenloft campaign. The other characters in that campaign, do not know any of this unless they have been told about it during the campaign.

Tallorn Whetfields is from a small village in Tepest on the western spur of the Crying River, called Cryingdale. He grew up there with a two other siblings; Eldest sister Fallorn, and older brother Gallorn Junior. His parents, mother Fallia and father Gallorn, were farmers in the village. After a ravaging attack by fey creatures when Tallorn was 7, the Tepest clerics came to Cryingdale and recruited people to fight back the fey creatures. Fallorn joined the ranks of the clerics, and Tallorn鈥檚 father and brother were pressed into the militia. Fallia was left to care for the farm and take care of the too young Tallorn. Fallorn was never heard from again, but word came back that both Gallorns had died in a fight against the fey. Tallorn tried to practice to become a fighter, but his chores at the farm took over more and more of his time. Eventually his mother passed away when he was 16 and he took over the farm work all by himself, with occasional help from his childhood friend Darrow Butcher, the son of the local butcher. He only occasionally picked up weapons for practice, and those times were to protect his farm from the occasional beast from taking away the few animals on his farm.

Tallorn鈥檚 farm was called the Whetfields because it lied along the Crying River where it made irrigation of the few fields easy and convenient. The farm land covered about four acres, three of which were along the river bank. The fourth was used as a field for the four cows that the farm owned, as well as the barn/house. The fields were surrounded by a four foot high heavy wooden barricade, except along the river bank. The barn/house was a sturdy barn with the first floor being a barn where the cows, seed and tools were kept at night, behind heavy wooden doors. The second floor was the residence of the Whetfields. On the other side of the village, from the Crying River, was the farm of the Thickwoods. The Thickwoods have a farm consisting of nine acres, several of which were for farm animals. Because it lies between the forest and the village, tends to be the ravaged more so than any other part of the village by fey creatures, despite a heavy stone and wood barricade around the fields. The ground is also poor for growing and requires constant irrigation to grow anything, and getting water from the river across the village to the fields there is not easy. This leaves some of the fields growing very little. Overall the Thickwoods farm grows not much more than the Whetfields do, but it has more farm animals.

Because of the money than farm animals bring in the Thickwoods have always been richer than the Whetfields. Despite that they have been desirous of the Whetfields farm because of its good soil and irrigation, and have been waiting for Tallorn to give up or die so they can move in and take over the Whetfields鈥� farm. Because of Tallorn鈥檚 hardship in having to run a farm by himself, the village folk are sympathetic towards Tallorn, but the village people are also easily swayed by the richer and more charismatic Thickwoods. Abarast Thickwood, the only son of the current head of the Thickwoods, Karatal, has a particular dislike for Tallorn. Abarast is very charismatic, and was sent to Briggadarrow to be educated by the Tepest Clerics, and came back as a very persuasive person. Unknown to Tallorn, Abarast was promised the Whetfields by Karatal, if the Thickwoods ever came to own them. Thus Abarast began to start leading a subtle campaign against Tallorn in the village.

Just after going to bed, Tallorn was awoken by the sound of heavy banging at the heavy door of the barn, and shouts of come out. Tallorn quickly ran to the window and looked out to see a group of heavily armed men with a group of clerics behind him. Seeing him at the window, Abarast pointed up to him and shouted 鈥淭here is the man, the one who made a pact with the Fey!鈥� An elder Tepest Cleric then shouted, 鈥淏reak this door down, this place must be swept clean of the fey and those who make pacts with them.鈥� Tallorn quickly got dressed and fled to the back and grabbed the block and tackle and leapt from the back window to the ground while grasping the rope. Once he hit the ground he made his way to the River diving in and swimming upstream to where the northern wooden fence met with the river. As he climbed out of the river he was spotted by the armed group. As the group charged after him he charged into the forest to the north where he hoped to lose the group.

As he rushed through the dark forest, he stopped briefly to look back and see his barn house in a burning in a big blaze, which started to catch the fields on fire as well. This also showed that there were people coming his way through the forest. After a few minutes of running, Tallorn tripped on a branch and fell into a clearing. As he got up a man stepped into the clearing with a crossbow pointing at him. He was told to stand-up and prepared to be cleansed of any fey influences. Just as Tallorn was ready to get shot, there was a soft clunk and the man fell to the ground. Behind the fallen man stood a cleric wielding a small mace. The cleric stepped forward and picked hugged Tallorn, removed her hood and explained that she had missed him.

It was Fallorn, she had joined this group of clerics from Tepest because she had heard that there was a farmer in the village that had made a pact with the Fey in order to keep his farm from becoming ruined by them. When she heard it was Abarast who had informed the Tepest clerics that it was Tallorn, she had to come and help. She joined the group under the auspices she knew the village well, she didn鈥檛 mention that she knew who Tallorn was. As she stripped the armed man of his gear, and giving it to Tallorn, she explained what was going on. Abarast had told the Tepest clerics that Tallorn had made a pact with the Fey to not attack the Whetlands, and to attack the Thickwoods鈥� farm instead. Then Abarast told them that to seal the pact you had sacrificied Darrow to the Fey. Darrow鈥檚 body was found skewered to a tree just outside the Thickwoods鈥� farm, completely having bled to death.

As Tallorn put on the gear, Fallorn told him to head north to the border of Keening. The Tepest clerics will not pursue him farther, figuring that he had fled into Keening to hide with the fey. Once he was on the border he was to flee Tepest anyway he could. That was a year ago, since then Tallorn has been wandering around Ravenloft.

NOTE: Tallorn was a redhead, but after fleeing Cryingdale he is now bald.

Ravenloft Expanded Character Background: Dera Cahro

Race/Ethnicity: Half-Vistani, Native
Class: Druidic Seer
Role in Party: Spiritual/Mystic guide, source of wisdom and "aged" temperament, will have acquired/interested in healing perhaps as much psychological as physical. Also a monitor/director of the group in attempts to get them to fulfill/changed bad prophesies of his.
Languages: Balok
Typical Skills: Some astrology, some healing skills, many interaction skills (from court), certainly mythos, animal skills (druidic training and early childhood), wilderness lore (little...) certain other forms of knowledge?...

Plans for character:
Deryine will take non-flashy spells, seeking the simplest and quietest methods of accomplishing goals, little to no combat specialization will take place, if I am forced into physical combat I would seek incapacitation or perhaps avoidance/dodging. More than likely the transformative abilities will be used highly discreetly, perhaps without other characters knowledge (if possible)...

Personal note:
Combat possibilities, use summon creatures, and summon things I can morph into, get behind visible combat and morph into one and act as if part of attack group, return to woods and unmorph....perhaps make knowledge of a familiar that I can become ...so that I could 'interchange' with familiar in party and not be visible...

Background:
My life began as a saga of difficulty. My father, Harteri was a Vistani displaced from his original tasque of the Canjar for his disdain of their traditions and his affinity to animals. This led him naturally though to a life in the Corvara tasque. The clan had been roaming an isolated kingdom for quite some time and my father found a human who was apparently worthy of his love and devotion for he became married to a full- blood human. Before our exodus this was frowned upon but acceptable. My mother soon gave birth to a beautifully health young girl. Then came the purge of our clan from the kingdom in which we'd been for years. The clan fled into the mists seeking a haven, which they sought to control the mists to lead them to. However, only those able to manipulate the mists could come and thus my mother was unable to accompany us. My father's love for her must have been immense for he chose to stay, and seek hiding. However, he knew that I must be raised in the Vistani tradition for he felt that I would have gifts beyond imagine, though this was unconfided in any of his adopted family. The family agreed to take me, and raise me as their own. Little did they know what those mists would do to me. Scarcely out of my mother's womb they took me through the mists into a new land. My young years were hardly exceptional. I was a fostered child, raised well and excelling at all that I was supposed to. Animals and humans all took great affinity to me, but I drew away. As I approached my 12th year I could feel something strange beginning to take hold of my mind. Foremost of this was the immense need to find my parents since my foster family could tell me little about my father, or mother's history and it seemed to me that there lay the key. The night of my 12th birthday I reached the decision that I would find them myself. Trusting my fate to those fickle gods of the sky I walked into the mists......

In the mists was my first experience. A vision came to me there (it is recorded in my book of prophecies) that marked a turning point in my life. When I exited the mists I was in the land of the Tergs. Or so I soon found out. When I first reached a town I was not shy about sharing my quest. Nor did I remain silent about what I had seen in the mists, knowing within my heart that it would be true someday. This quickly brought me to the attention of the local druids since all who heard me could tell the sincerity of my words and the conviction in my voice. Archdruid Jriecan immediately recognized my power, potential...and young age. Taking me under his protection I became like a daughter to him for he had none. Jriecan taught me of the high faith, a belief in gods of Light and Dark. It became a part of me as only a faith with is true can do. I began to see the Sun and Moon as the emblems of the divine, and the balance that must be walked and maintained as one goal which I must strive for. We adhered to that inherent quality of the balance, chaos, for only that characteristic could keep anything from becoming to high or low, just as the sun and moon vie with each other daily so do dark and light, forcing change constantly, and bringing us again to chaos. The king of the realm became entangled in a secret war and made a call to his nation for seers of power. Eventually Jriecan couldn't resist this call and took me to the king's court, dressing me as befitted a princess, and introduced me to the other Vistani in both his and his majesty's employ. There I began learning what I truly had, the Sight. As I began to see things for the King my sights were soon verified and began to be recorded. As my sight grew more precise and revealing the king demanded my presence in his entourage, and took me from my circle. As a nation we entered into war with the Zarovichs, and it became brutal. Those unable to help the king were quickly pushed to the wayside. My visions however became essential to the war effort, the king knew when to attack and when to flee. In time the king place me in charge of all his seers that I might direct them better. Finally my opportunity had arisen. Though we were in the midst of war, I held power to search the land more fully than the baron could ever have done for me. And it was done, but my parents were unfound. But I had grown up in the years since I left the tasque and knew that I was serving a more important purpose, that I may have found where my mind and changes were leading me. So I continued to serve the king, helping him, advising him, giving him and the land hope for the future, but it was all in vain, we were still losing. One night I had a fateful vision, one that I didn't share with the other gypsies and was my habit, instead I took it directly to the king for it very clearly dealt with him. (The details I have found out are now recorded in my book of prophesies) It was of his fall, and not because of inferiority but from his depth of involvement in the war, for it had ground his once reasonable and kind heart into a machine for winning. This cruel heart and mind was soon turned on me and planned my removal. Yet I had become powerful enough in the court to have informers of my own, and the Baron still cared for me, so I made my escape into the night wishing my pseudo-father a goodbye and once again entering the mists in search of the real......

(Note this was potential and not actually used to roleplay the character as we picked up her life immediately after leaving the mists)

As I left the mists for the second time in my conscious memory the world seemed quite changed. Even the night sky was totally different. Upon leaving the mists I searched out a town to find out where in the realms I was. When I introduced myself at an inn while asking for information the innkeeper began laughing. He asked me if I knew how many "Deryine, Sight of the Void"'s he'd been introduced to just this year. Boggled, I asked him why it was so common to have people introduce themselves as, well, me. He told me of some of my old prophesies, ones that I'd hoped to publish one day, saying that these were basically common knowledge. It was then that I decided to take a new name, and find a new manner of life. Remembering tales of arcanic magic users who lived with animals, I asked him if there were any Druids around. I was in luck, for I had appeared in one of the few areas with a circle. Traveling to the circle I convinced the druids to take me as a new acolyte from my old training in the tasque. There I learned what is now my way of life, that of a druidic seer. Occasionally I still receive visions though my second trip through the mists seems to have lessened them several but now, I rely on my druid training and seek to bring my prophecies, and the chaotic balance into being. All that brings me to the present. Close to it anyway, there is still a bit of a story to tell in this time as well.

Book of Prophecies

A Misty Meeting, An Adventure's Log

The two Rangers, Tallorn and Rimo, made their way down the wooded road of Invidia. Tallorn was in studded leather armor and the lack of helmet was displaying his bald head, and red eyebrows. Rimo ... Tallorn was the older one and as a result took the role of the leader of the two, but it tended to end up with Tallorn following Rimo鈥檚 heroic lead.

They both were heading west towards the border with Sithicus to a gathering of Rangers. Dusk was beginning to settle and they were trying to figure out about how far it would be to the next town to rest at, and had stopped at an fork in the road looking for a sign post or something.

Looking down the southern branch they spotted two figures walking up towards them. Rimo readied his bow just in case, while Tallorn put his hands on the long and short swords at his side. The two wanderers consisted of Dario a person that looked almost Vistani, but this was only a quick look since once Dario had seen the two Rangers, he ducked into the woods. This left Daimonion, a dark catlike man with a big black broad rim hat, and rapier at his side.

Daimonion with great bravado approached the two rangers and began to talk to them. Fortunately enough Rimo was able to speak a common tongue with Daimonion, while Tallorn had to settle for Rimo as an interpreter. Tallorn tried to convince Daimonion that they were going on the northern branch, instead of heading to the border of Sithicus. The discussion, while short, was enough to last into the fall of darkness, and the three decided that it was best to travel together in the dark, with Dario as well, who appeared during the conversation from the woods.

The group of four then began to walk along the northern branch, to Port-a-Lucine, Daimonion鈥檚 destination. Night began to fall even darker, and it was apparent that they were not going to make it to any town or something. The start of rain, damped they walking spirit and it was decided to stop and make a fire and camp where they were. Surprisingly enough where Rimo and Tallorn could not make a fire, Dario was able to without much trouble at all.

As Dario鈥檚 fire started to really burn, the mists started to envelope the party. Tallorn quickly stood up with his swords at the ready, Rimo and Daimonion follow suit. The mist quickly engulfed the party almost to the point of making the fire become lost in it. Slowly the mist furled away and showed the party that they were not on a road in Invidia any more. In fact they were in a clearing next to a thick forest.

From the mist a slender lady approached the camp site. Almost beside the lady a figure in a dark concealing cloak started to approach from with in the mist. Rimo ready an arrow, just in case they were not as friendly as the first meeting. The slender lady suddenly ducked into the woods and disappeared from sight, but the dark figure continues to approach.

Daimonion strikes up a conversation with the figure, and Dario and Rimo join in, while Tallorn can only sit back and listen trying to make sense of the dialog. The conversation stops when the howling of wolves is heard in the distance. With the conversation over the group quickly decides to get into the woods, instead of staying out in the open. Tallorn quickly tells the group that it is a good idea to get into the trees if these are truly wolves. Once again Dario surprises the group, by being the only one able to climb up the wet and slippery trees.

As the group readies, Rimo notices that there are humanoid figures are moving amongst the trees. With this bit of news the group puts their backs to the tree in which Dario is sitting in. From the woods came a song, Tallorn was able to recognize it as a Tepesti children鈥檚 song. dera, the dark figure, suddenly lights up the forest when glowing armor appears on him. The sound of the song, and the crunching of undergrowth and wolven noises, caused dera to suddenly run away. dera was quickly followed by the rest of the group, for the same reasons that dera initially ran.

Daimonion slows down to run along side dera, while Rimo, Tallorn and Dario continue to sprint at full speed into the woods away from the humanoids. Ahead of the group a clearing appears, within which several chanting humanoids, which cannot be made out completely. As the group tries to run around the clearing, the creatures dart out of the clearing to meet the members of the group.

Tallorn charges the creature that stepped in font of him with his swords, but misses completely. The farthest creature with great speed moves to engage Dario but Dario avoids being hit. Dario quickly tries to slink back into the woods to avoid the rotted flesh creatures.

Despite not appearing to be only made of rotted flesh and bones, the creature was able to hit Tallorn with great force, knocking Tallorn to the ground. As Tallorn hits the ground he falls unconscious, and starts to bleed profusely.

Tallorn awakes groggily to the sounds of battle. The sounds of bone crushing, both healthy bones and brittle bones ring in Tallorn鈥檚 ears. Amongst the sounds though is still the chanting sound of the children鈥檚 song that Tallorn heard before.

After a bit of effort Tallorn is able to get back on his feet and clear the blood from his eyes to see the battle going on around him. Daimonion is lying on the ground bleeding into an already big pool of his own blood. Two of the creatures are huddled around a tree not to far from where a third is taking swipes at Rimo. Dario is dashing towards Daimonion. Also dashing is dera, but dera dashes towards the creatures huddled around the tree, and quickly fells one with an arrow.

Quickly Tallorn run over to Daimonion鈥檚 side, and with a quick lying on of hands, begins to help him to his feet. In the mean time dera fells another creature with an arrow. Daimonion, standing up quickly charges forth at one of the creatures and slays it with great ease.

Rimo suddenly yells run, as the sound of stomping comes from deeper in the forest. The stomping is coming from a group of creatures that have been sort of in the back while watching the battle in the clearing. Not wanting to take on more than they could handle the party, now including the slender woman who had disappeared earlier, runs through the clearing and out of the thick forest towards the crest of a hill.

As the group runs to the crest of the hill, fatigue starts to set in, but the stomping and chanting prod them on to make it to the crest without getting caught. On the other side of the crest is a small town. The small town, had only a few houses, and a town hall, but even more interesting was the fact that all the lights were on in the buildings.

The group undeterred by the eerie lights, bolted into the town, and dera throws open the doors of the town hall, and walks in while the rest of the group takes cover in the alleys between buildings. Since nothing appeared to happen, the rest of the group slowly wanders into the town hall. Tallorn as he enters starts to close the door, and windows. Meanwhile the rest of the group, starts looking around the town hall.

Dario finds a note on a desk where a dead guy is sitting, in a weird language, and reads it off. It takes a bit of time since it has to be translated into several languages for the entire group to understand it. Despite the translations it is still confusing and a bit unnerving. Despite that the slender lady wanders up the steps to the second floor. Rimo and Tallorn continue to keep watch of the outside, while guarding the door.

dera tries to leave the building but Daimonion, Rimo and Tallorn stop him. The two rangers decide to barricade the door with the desk the dead man is sitting at, but the slender lady has already moved it to barricade the way to the steps. As Rimo reaches for the desk the slender lady pulls out a crossbow on him. While Rimo and Tallorn are trying not to get shot, dera sneaks out the door. With the squeaking of the opening door, Tallorn quickly turns and rushes to shut the door.

With dera on the outside, Rimo and Tallorn continue watch at the unbarricaded door. Daimonion and Dario sneak up the steps where the slender lady appears to be encamped. Rimo then sneaks over to get the desk to put it in front of the door, but as the two rangers are moving the desk into place a loud scream comes from outside.

Rimo looks out the window and sees dera lying on the ground with blood splattered all about. Rimo makes a dash out the door, but Tallorn tries to stop him and convince him that it鈥檚 a bad idea. Tallorn unable to stop Rimo from dashing to dera鈥檚 aide stands guard at the open door waiting to get back inside if needed.

As Rimo reaches dera鈥檚 body and begins to drag it back towards the town house, a huge lumbering rotting hulk steps out of the house and steps towards him. Rimo quickly drops dera鈥檚 body on the ground and with both his hands gripped tightly around his sword takes a swipe at the hulk. The hulk though slams Rimo with a hammer, knocking Rimo for a stumble. Tallorn from the entrance of the Town Hall nicks the hulk with a crossbow bolt.

Despite the hit, Rimo takes another two-handed swing at the hulk and slices right through it causing it to fall to shambles on the ground. Quickly Tallorn runs out to help Rimo drag dera鈥檚 body back into the Town Hall, and help bring him back to consciousness.

The night passes uneventfully, except for the widening grins on several of the party鈥檚 faces. Apparently those that were hit were affected by some kind of disease that seems to be causing them to turn into the creatures. Rimo, Tallorn and others figure out a salve for to stop and reverse the effects. But it takes the next two days to completely cure those afflicted. During those two days the party stays inside the Town Hall and rests and heals up.

A Misty Meeting GM Notes

These notes are the ones the GMs has made about running his campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

Our story begins on the roads of Invidia, where a storm began blowing in. Two weary travelers, Dario and Daimonion, came to a crossroads as they traveled north towards Port-a-Lucine, the jeweled city of culture in Dementlieu. Approaching from the west, just as they arrived were two grizzled warriors, both heavily armed and dressed as woodsmen. The rain drizzled down on the quartet, as introductions were made all around. Named Rimo and Tallorn, the pair of rangers told Dario and Daimonion they were heading towards Darkon and agreed to accompany the two wanderers in making their way north.(1)

Rain began blowing in heavily and wind whipped across the adventurers鈥� backs like the lash of a slavedriver. Trying to gain shelter amongst the overhanging trees, the quartet huddled beneath their cloaks as Dario attempted to light a fire. After several tries, the wily rogue managed somehow to get the wet wood to burst into flame.(2) Unfortunately for them, the soaked kindling put forth a thick smoke, which billowed around the group and left them gasping for air.

When, finally, the smoke cleared, the quartet quickly found that they were in unfamiliar surroundings. The road leading north was all but gone. Dense forest pressed around them, like a solid wall of living hardwood. Immediately, all four began questioning as to what, exactly, had happened.

However, the smoke that had just so recently swept around them slid slowly through the woods, and dissipated, leaving two odd figures in its wake. The first, a robed individual, stepped forward boldly and, after some odd smatterings of attempted conversation, introduced herself as Dera in an ancient form of Balok.(3) The second person, small and lithe, quickly disappeared into the shadows and scrambled up a tree for safety.

Just then, the howling began. Tallorn鈥檚 ears perked up and interpreted the sound鈥攚olves, howling as if they were of one voice, though many.(4) With a worried expression, the ranger was quick to let his comrades know of the unnatural feel to the sounds. Looking out through the shadows of the trees, wary of the wolves, the adventurers swiftly realized that there were bigger problems to deal with first. At least 75, if not more, humanoid figures were slowly forming an ever-tightening noose around the warriors鈥� positions. Begging the newcomer to join them in fleeing this menace, the five dashed madly through the forest, attempting to get away from the mass of bodies. Listening carefully as he ran, Tallorn recognized the sounds of a chorus of voices over the winds. In a dissonant, off-key tone, the forest echoed with the sounds of a morbid Tepestani children鈥檚 song. The look on the warrior鈥檚 face, as he recognized the tune, harrowed the very souls of his comrades.

Fate was not on the warriors鈥� sides that night. Dodging both the howling winds and the mocking cries of the mysterious figures, the group ran through the night and to the edge of a small clearing in the woods. Edging nervously around the expanse, they noticed a line of seven figures, linked hand in hand, in the center of the clearing. Drawing blades, the group approached...only to hear the hideous song pour forth in one voice from their collective throats. As lightning flashed across the heavens, at last the mysterious figures were revealed鈥攆lesh rotted and fell from hollow bones, and each of their mouths was twisted in a hideous grin as they sang.(5)

Battle was joined. Acting swiftly, Tallorn charged one of the beasts, with two swords drawn. However, he direly underestimated the unholy strength of the creatures. With a powerful blow from its meaty fist, Tallorn fell with a gaping head wound, bleeding on the rain-soaked earth. His allies gasped in revulsion, but held their ground to stave off the undead menace.(6)

The conflict boded direly for the adventurers. While scoring several hits, Daimonion鈥檚 was soon surrounded by three of the creatures. The hands of a girl, no more than 12 years old, soon clenched around her throat, and the brave swordsman fell. Dera, realizing the horrible fate she would endure at the creatures鈥� hands, summoned an arcane mount to bear her and Dario away from the combat, but as she tried to grab the young rogue鈥檚 hand, she slipped from her saddle and the mount vanished. Fearing for her life, the lithe figure fought her way past one of the walking corpses and scrambled up a tree, where she rained down crossbow bolts.

Were it not for the heroics of young Rimo, though, the group may have met a grisly fate. Eschewing his favored bow, he waded into the fray with a longsword and cut down several of the creatures where they stood. Quickly binding Tallorn鈥檚 wounds, he defended Daimonion until Dera and Dario regained their bearings to form a more organized retreat. As the creatures slowly fell, the staggered Tallorn managed to speak some unknown incantation, reviving Daimonion and allowing all 6 warriors to continue their flight.(7)

After an exhausting run, the group finally arrived at a small settlement. Strangely, though, lights still burned in the four buildings despite the fact that it was well into the night. Desperately seeking refuge, the sextet shambled into the largest of the buildings, apparently once a town hall. Deserted, the hall stood silent. No life moved in the hall, save the adventurers themselves. However, a silent figure sat face-down at a table in a darkened corner of the room. Fearfully examining the body, the warriors came upon a sheet of parchment on the desk, in a strange script:

Such are the final words of Hyskosa, seer of time...
A town shall be razed, then rebuilt in a day
The One Who is Many shall raise them from clay.
The circle of slayer and prey will be sundered.
Yet death brings no rest for the world-weary hunter.
The four pillars of alabaster will fall,
But a demon鈥檚 sheer will shall use three as his thrall.
Five that once stood shall splinter and quake,
As the hordes of the Pike-Lord leave death in their wake.
A house built on pain will tumble and fade
And a realm will still scream though the Black Knight has paid.
Truth be shown through eyes, though the Black Mists will rise.
Eth radk amn liwl noos igna shi izrep.(8)

While little could be discerned from this mysterious message, Daimonion kept the parchment for future reference. After an hour of quiet rest, Tallorn and Rimo barred the doors, while the mysterious woman slowly explored the house alone. Coming upon what appeared to be a master bedroom, she slyly pocketed a bag of coins, each labeled 鈥淥ne Mournepiece鈥� which she kept to herself.

Dera, however, was not content to merely stand by. Desiring to search the remainder of the town, she lifted the bars on the door and slipped outside, while Rimo and Tallorn protested.(9) Dera did not get so far as the first house, when disaster struck. Not noticing the stench of undeath around her, she opened the door to what appeared to be a crude smithy, when a huge bald corpse smashed her skull with a massive hammer. Watching hesitantly from the door, Rimo and Tallorn leapt into action. Rimo took a rib-cracking blow to the chest, but with a powerful two-handed stroke, felled the beast and then tended to the fallen mage. Examining the hammer, the pair found it to be well made, and kept it.(10)

While those three fought outside, Dario, apparently an expert of metalwork, came upon a vital clue.(11) The fireplace poker in the town hall indicated a form of metalsmithing found only in the remote forest land of Verbrek. However, how the group came to be so waylaid was beyond them all.

After re-barring the doors, the group fitfully rested. Dawn broke peacefully, and no trace of the undead scourge could be found. Mystified and still aching from their injuries, the sextet set out again.(12)

Footnotes:

Rimo and Tallorn were never heading towards Darkon. They were actually planning to head towards the border of Valachan and Sithicus to meet with some ranger comrades. However, they told Daimonion and Dario otherwise, for reasons known only to them...seriously.
Dario was using his Half-Vistani talent to light a fire in any conditions. (p. 36 RLCS)
There is a very important reason why Dera speaks an archaic version of this tongue, which will be revealed as time goes on. I鈥檓 unsure if any of the players have picked up on the clues, though.
The group was never meant to find the wolves, but I needed to get them moving. They were getting just a tad too comfortable. It worked pretty well... ;)
If you hadn鈥檛 guessed already, this is Toben the Many, one of my all-time favorite NPCs (VRGttWD p. 108). While I was wary of using him so early on, his 鈥淏org meets Night of the Living Dead鈥� feel worked perfectly as an introduction. Rachel, Daimonion鈥檚 player, was exceedingly freaked out; something I had worried about since we were playing in a conference room. The idea of a children鈥檚 song came from Stephen King鈥檚鈥淪torm of the Century鈥� on ABC. I鈥檒l never look at 鈥淚鈥檓 a Little Teapot鈥� the same way again.
Sanity Check, using my new rules! Unfortunately, everyone passed. No fun for me...
Tallorn has the 鈥淩edhead鈥� feat, as Cure Light Wounds. (p. 48 RLCS)
Hyskosa鈥檚 final Hexad, written in Patterna. I typed this up in a nice font, then promptly forgot to bring the handout. I had to work from memory and give them a hand-written version that was slightly inaccurate. I鈥檒l fix that soon. The final line is an anagram; see if you can figure it out!
In reality, Karl, Dera鈥檚 player, was just being a bit greedy after Silas, the mysterious woman鈥檚 player, found the Mordentish gold. As such, she wanted to find something in the town. She sure did. Tallorn and Rimo, however, acted out of heroism. I awarded XP according to their motives.
They don鈥檛 know it, but the hammer is a masterwork adamantine warhammer. That will definitely come in handy, if they hang onto it.
Another Half-Vistani ability, as Dario is of the Kamii tribe. TJ, Dario鈥檚 player, was rolling surprisingly well after the combat.
Figuring that he鈥檇 be bored with toying with the PCs, I had Toben just leave. The majority of his bodies were only used to keep the players on edge and their characters running. Now, lost in an unfamiliar land, they鈥檙e about to meet someone who they鈥檒l deal with for the rest of their adventuring careers.

The Frightful Forest, An Adventure's Log

A quick note about these notes. These are just notes and have not been spruced up in anyway into a coherent telling.

Daimonion gets the name of the slender lady, which happens to be Sik. Rimo diplomatically tries and chat up Sik, but doesn't get very far.

We all leave the Town Hall and it is nice out and birds are chirping. The odd thing is the body of the blacksmith is missing from the front of the forge. As we discuss the missing body, Dera opens the door of the other house, and we all tag along to find nothing.

So we all head out of town the opposite way we came into to avoid the forest.

After a while Rimo finds an old deer path, which we follow for, a bit. Rimo suddenly shouts out "Where are you," in an attempt to locate Sik. This causes Sik to walk into a tree. As the thud quiets down in its place comes a low buzzing sound from our left. Rimo thinks its some kind of insect, and not wanting anymore troubles, we try to pick up the pace. But it's not fast enough as out of the forest comes flying seven ugly bat- mosquito creatures.

Dario suddenly freaks out and runs screaming into the woods. One of the bat- mosquito creatures takes off after him. It's able to catch up to him and lands on his back and sticks him with its proboscis.

Another of the bat-mosquito flies around the woods a bit, while a third tries to land upon Dario but Dario is able to dodge out of the way in time, causing it to land on the ground instead. The fourth manages to find Sik who was trying to hide in the woods, and lands on her, but isn't able to get its proboscis into her.

One of the bat-mosquitoes lands upon Rimo, but isn't able to stick him with its proboscis. Instead Rimo grabs the bat-mosquito and throws him off. Tallorn makes an attempt to hit the tossed bat-mosquito, but misses with both swords, and actually drops his short sword.

Dera tries to help the fleeing Dario, by casting a frost ray at the attached bat- mosquito. The aim is a bit off, and instead gives Dario a cold chill up his backside instead. The botched shot could be blamed on the fact that Dera was set upon by one of the bat-mosquitoes. Fortunately she is able to shrug the creature off before it can stick her. Daimonion swings with his rapier at the bat-mosquito but misses. The last bat- mosquito though, does manage to land upon Dera, and this one can't be shaken off. Not even with Sik's help in trying to beat it off.

Dario continues to run around in the woods screaming. The bat-mosquito though isn't screaming because its too busy sucking out some of Dario's blood.

Sik gets some blood drawn from her by the bat-mosquito stuck on her, while another tries to set upon her, and fails to do so. Rimo has the one he just tossed off, land back on him, but he is able to push it off on to the ground, where he smashes it with the hammer. Tallorn on the other hand drops the long sword out of his hand while trying to pick up his short sword with his other hand.

Dera meanwhile tries to figure out a spell but doesn't get it off, looking confused as to why. The wounded bat-mosquito attacks Tallorn but misses and lands on the ground instead. Daimonion tries to strike with his rapier again, but misses instead. Meanwhile the last bat-mosquito manages to land upon Dera and starts sucking some of her blood.

Sik fails to hit the bat-mosquito on her, while the screams of Dario start to fade in the distance. One of the bat-mosquito manages to get a hold of Rimo, but isn't able to stick him. Rimo tries to fire a crossbow bolt at the only bat-mosquito still flying in the air, but because of the bat-mosquito stuck on him, misses it. Instead he grabs the bat- mosquito that is stuck on him and slams it into a near by tree, splattering it.

Tallorn swings with his short sword, and manages to keep his sword, but he was too busy concentrating on keeping his sword in his hand, he misses the bat-mosquito. Dera stabs the bat-mosquito on her, and injuries it enough to cause it to fall to the ground. Daimonion once again is unable to strike a bat-mosquito with his rapier. While another bat-mosquito manages to land on Dera and suck some more blood.

Sik is able to land a punch on the bat-mosquito lying on the ground, causing it some injuries. Dario's screams seem to stop fading into the distance, and appear to be getting a little louder. Rimo manages to bring his hammer down upon the bat-mosquito lying on the ground, causing it to splatter. Tallorn forsakes his swords and grabs the bat- mosquito off Sik's back, and tries to squish it in his hands, but its struggles prevent him from getting a good grip.

Dera stabs at the bat-mosquito stuck on her, killing it. Daimonion still isn't able to connect his rapier with any of the bat-mosquitoes.

Sik punches one of the bat-mosquitoes. Dario's screams sound as though they are getting a bit closer. The bat-mosquito in Tallorn's hand manages to squirm around and plant its proboscis into him and starts sucking some blood. Rimo fires his long bow at the bat-mosquito flying around Daimonion and hits it square on, killing it. Tallorn still isn't able to get a good enough grip on the bat-mosquito to squish it. Daimonion manages to get his rapier to slice through one of the bat-mosquitoes.

Sik suddenly flees into the woods, to join Dario who is still lost in the woods. The bat-mosquito in Tallorn's hands manages to get a better angle with its proboscis and draw more blood from him. Rimo tries to hit it with a longbow shot, but doesn't hit, which leaves Daimonion to step in a slice it in two with his rapier.

Sik manages to catch up to Dario, as he has happened to run almost in a circle around the party, and gets a punch on the bat-mosquito. Rimo spots Dario and fires an arrow at the bat-mosquito on Dario's back, killing it.

After the battle, we try to find the deer trail again, to follow it through the forest. Failing to find the deer trail again, we decide to follow the setting sun and head west for a while. Not finding a way out of the forest as nightfalls we all stop and make camp where we are. This is more important since Dera, Dario, Sik and Tallorn are severely distressed from the hike and massive blood loss from the battle. Rimo gathers some herbs and other small shrubberies to make a meal over the fire that Dario starts up. Tallorn falls fast asleep while Rimo and Daimonion setup watches.

On Daimonion's watch he hears something in the brush and rustles Rimo awake to get ready for anything that might be coming. But in the commotion of waking Rimo up, the sound disappears. Believing that what ever it was was scared away by Rimo waking up. Daimonion and Rimo finish the shift watching for whatever it was, but since nothing happens they fall asleep letting Dera wake up to take her watch.

Dera's watch isn't as quiet. In the woods Dera spots some humanoid figures moving about in the forest. With her eyes to busy watching the figures in the woods, she steps on a twig causing a loud snap to echo in the woods, as she tries to wake up Rimo. The sound of the snap wakes everyone up, except Tallorn, whom Rimo wakes up. The sound of the everyone rousing out of slumber quiets down to let the sound of shuffling figures, come in from the forest.

Rimo takes a quick count and tallies up about 20 of the humanoids shuffling towards the group. Sik and Dario suddenly start to flee into the woods, while Dera suddenly summons a horse. Tallorn with some help manages to get up the horse, but as Dera tries to mount the horse she falls backwards, and bumps her head, losing concentration on the spell. The horse suddenly disappears, causing Tallorn to fall to the ground. Suddenly Sik and Dario come running back into the camp, yelling that the creatures have surrounded the group, and try unsuccessfully to climb up a tree.

Having failed with the horse, Dera casts mystic armor on herself preparing for battle to start. As the group huddles all around a tree, Rimo suddenly tells the group not attack, and not to provoke them. He doesn't get a chance to explain why because he is startled when he notices that the humanoids are stitched together.

The humanoids close in on the group, and then start to push the group away from the tree and into the woods. As the group is being pushed along, they notice that the mouths of the creatures are stapled shut with big iron staples. The group is lead through the forest for a while, until they come across a clearing with a log cabin in the middle. The humanoids part their ranks enough to let the group walk through them to the front door of the log cabin.

With the humanoids pointing at the log cabin, they party begins to go up to the log cabin's door. Seeing that Tallorn is very weak, Rimo helps Tallorn to the door, where he knocks on the door. The door opens and tall gaunt, but definitely alive, man steps in to the open doorway.

The guy invites us in and once the party is inside, he locks the door behind him. Once inside Rimo sets Tallorn down on a couch by the fireplace, at which point Tallorn passes out unconscious.

The rest of the part then sits down at a long banquet table, and after a little bout of musical chairs they all decide upon a place to sit, except for Dera who chooses to stand instead. The guy wasn't very pleased with the musical chairs, and didn't seem to take to kindly to Dera standing, so he orders her to sit down.

With the party sitting at the table, except Tallorn sleeping on the couch, he tells the party that they are in Verbrek, and he is interested in why the part is wandering about in the woods as they are. For some reason his talking spooks Sik, and Daimonion calms her down a bit.

Rimo explains that they group was brought together and to these woods by the mists, which Daimonion collaborates. The two explain how they were originally trying to get to Port-a-Lucine.

Dario then asks if the man knows anything about Van Ricthen to which the guy mentions that he had studied with him. Sik not knowing what is going on suddenly asks "who is van Richtenand what is the Core that you are all talking about?" The guy takes notice of this and mentions that Sik isn't from the area, and asks her where she is from, Sik replies that she is from Faerun. The guy then nods knowingly and proceeds to explain to Sik what the Core is, and who Van Ricthen is.

After the explanation the guy stands up and walks into a room, and quickly returns with a tall metal humanoid carrying a large platter. The tall metal humanoid is followed by two smaller clockwork ones, carrying smaller platters. The three of the metal figures proceed to set the platters on the table, with the noticeable sound of grinding gears. The meal that they are serving strikes Daimonion as a typical Lamordiandish.

Rimo wakes Tallorn so he can join in the dinner, which the two heartily dig in. Some of the others are a bit more cautious, while Daimonion is not so much as cautious about eating as good mannered in how he eats. As they are eating the guy mentions that alchemy in the kitchen is a good thing. This only causes a few eyebrows to rise, but doesn't hamper the eating for more than a second or two.

As the food is eaten Rimo hands the guy a nice dagger, asking if he knows anything about the dagger. The guy plays with it a bit in his hand, and mentions that he can't say much about the dagger except that it is un-naturally balanced. Instead of handing it back to Rimo he tosses it back to Rimo, who manages to catch it easily.

Dario tells the guy about his desire to kill someone, to which the guy replies that Dario's target is only a wives tale.

Dera babbles to the guy about some stuff, and hands him the letter found at the town hall earlier. The guy only scoffs about and rolls his eyes, and hands back the letter without any more word about it.

Daimonion finally asks the guy his name, which is Dr. Gregorian DelShonar.

Dr. DelShonar then asks our what our plans are. We mention that we would like to get out of the forest and continue to make our way to Port-a-Lucine. With that he produces a map and gives it to us to look over. He recommends that we head north to Port-a-Museauin Richemulot then on to Port-a-Lucine. As we look over the map we decide to head east to the river there and take the river north where it flows past Porta- Museau. At this point Dr. DelShonar pipes in and mentions that he knows of a riverboat captain that might be helpful, who goes by the name of Nathan Timmy.

Once we have decided on our course for traveling, and as we hand the map back to him thanking him for his hospitality, he asks us what is our motivation. As we try to explain what our motivation is, Dario notices him looking at a picture of a lady hanging on the wall. Dario, asks Dr. DelShonar about the painting, and is told that it is of a girl who died a while ago. Dera also notices, Dr. DelShonar looking at the painting and asks what is his reason for staying alone. The Dr. gets up from the table and wanders over the fireplace, and mentions that its to do things in order to determine if what one is doing is right. With that he picks up a book from the mantel of the fireplace and hands it to Dario.

Dario looks the book over and leans over to Daimonion to discuss the book. But before Dario can discuss the book with anyone else, Dr. DelShonar makes an announcement. He tells us that we all must leave if we do not have anything further to discuss. Rimo pipes up asking if Dr. DelShonar would like to mention anything of his past, but Dr. DelShonar only replies that it was interesting. He then proceeds to motion us to the door. Rimo and Tallorn thank him for his hospitality again, and step out the door. Sik pulls out her crossbow and aims it at Dr. DelShonar, but the air around Dr. DelShonar suddenly ripples with magic, and Sik withdraws out the door. The rest of the group is herded out the door, and before Dr. DelShonar closes the door behind us he smiles and tells us with all have 5 minutes to run.

With that the party begins to run as fast as possible through the forest. After a short bit, Dera decides to slow down and find a place to defend from, as opposed to continue to run. This quickly leaves her behind the rest of the party. Rimo quickly notices that Dera is no longer with the party and turns back and shouts for her.

Before Rimo can finish shouting back the sound of crashing branches is heard and a skeleton drops from the trees and lands hard on Rimo injuring him. Daimonion quickly turns around and tries to slice it with his rapier but misses. Before Tallorn can attack the help Rimo a skeleton falls from the trees in front of him. Sik quickly steps up and lands a punch on it breaking one of its ribs. Rimo rounds on the Skeleton that landed on him and smacks it hard smashing it into splitters with his hammer. Another that leaps down in front of Dario quickly replaces the fallen skeleton. Tallorn tries to kick the skeleton that fell in front of him, but misses, while Dario misses the one in front of him.

A fourth skeleton then leaps out of the trees and lands in front of Sik. Daimonion manages to get his rapier to connect with a skeleton, but only enough to cause his rapier to skip along the skeleton's rib cage. The skeleton in front of Tallorn punches him really hard causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. Sik retaliates by punching the skeleton breaking a few of its ribs. Rimo smashes the skeleton in front of Daimonion with his hammer, shattering that one as well. Dera at this point finally catches up to the group and tries to grab a skeleton. Dario tries to, but fails, to kick the skeleton in front of him.

Resorting to punching, Daimonion punches a skeleton causing a few of its ribs to break. Sik breaks a few more ribs in the one she was attacking, with a few more punches. Rimo runs over the skeleton that is standing over Tallorn's body, but in the hustle loses his grip on his hammer dropping it. The skeleton standing over Tallorn turns and hits Dario, but not enough to cause serious bleeding. Dera dodges past the skeleton and grabs a hold of Tallorn, causing Tallorn to jolt back into consciousness. Dario retaliates for the skeleton's attack, and manages to kick the skeleton in the head crushing its skull. Daimonion swings his rapier and misses at the remaining skeleton, which turns on Dera and strikes and hits her square in the back knocking her out. Rimo manages to get his hammer back and uses it to crush the skeleton.

Tallorn grabs a hold of Dera and helps her to her feet as she comes back around. Dera then returns the favor by healing him a bit more.

The group spends a minute gathering themselves, before they decide it maybe best to continue to run towards the river and get out of the forest. After a short run they come across a raging river rushing through a gorge. Dario notices a rope bridge downstream, and points it out to the rest. Rimo mentions that the river is too dangerous to cross so we should all head to Dario's bridge. Without much hesitation we all head to the bridge.

As we get to the rope bridge Dera notices that there are creatures in the woods coming towards the group. Rimo and Dera stand guard at the end of the bridge while Daimonion quickly dashes across to the other side. Tallorn stumbles a bit on the way, but makes it to the other side, followed quickly by Sik. Dario though stumbles and trips up on the bridge causing the rope bridge to twist and flip. Now hanging from the upside down rope-bridge, Dario tries to make it to the other side hand over hand, but his grip is slipping. Quickly he pulls out his rope and grappling hook and tosses it to Daimonion on the other side. Daimonion unfortunately fails to catch the hook, so Dario tosses it over the handrail of the bridge and uses it to slide down the bridge to the other side. Once Dario is on the other side the bridge releases its tension and flips back into right order.

Dera then proceeds to make her way across the rope-bridge, but slips and fails to catch the railing in time and falls down the gorge into the river below. Rimo seeing this quickly dives in to the river, swims over and is able to catch Dera before she can be swept farther downstream. Seeing as how the group is now no longer needing to use the rope-bridge Tallorn quickly cuts it to prevent anything from crossing it.

Dario using tosses his grappling hook into the river, and Rimo grabs it allowing the group to pull him and Dera out of the river. Despite the groups best efforts there doesn't seem much we could do to bring Dera back to life, but just as we start to give up on the idea, she begins to breathe again on her own.

With no need to bury anyone we decide to use the time to make camp, and rest up before traveling any farther.

The Frightful Forest GM Notes

These are the GM's notes they have made about running their campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

Rested and at least somewhat relaxed after their near-fatal encounter, our heroes left the ruins of the village in their wake, as they puzzled over the strange manuscript they found in the town hall. For lack of a better choice, the sextet began orienting themselves towards the north, in the hopes that Port-a-Lucine might be just around the corner.

The two rangers, using their expertise in the wilderness, took charge. Rimo, scouting ahead with his longbow in hand, took the lead, while Tallorn, with his hands on the pommels of his paired swords, stayed towards the back and watched for signs of trouble.

At long last, cornered by her comrades, the strange female was finally asked for her name.(1) Dera and the others were told to call her Sik, but no last name was revealed. Not questioning this event, they forged through the woodlands, wary of trouble. The woods of Verbrek were no place for wandering humans, and the adventurers soon learned this lesson quite harshly.

Daimonion, listening carefully, began to hear a low buzz around the group, emanating from the very forest itself. At his warning, Tallorn and Dario soon heard the same and drew steel. The buzzing grew louder and louder, as if thousands of insects were swarming through the trees.

At last, the group saw what caused this strange sound. Vicious insects with bat wings, several claw-like legs and a long, needle-shaped nose flew down around the group.(2) The majority of the group held their ground and prepared to fight off the creatures, but Dario felt his nerve splinter. As one of the creatures landed on his chest, piercing through his armor, Dario let out a harrowing cry and ran off, screaming, through the woods.(3) Aside from the sound of the rogue鈥檚 cries, the remaining five soon lost track of their friend.

Battle was joined. The creatures swooped down several times, hoping to land onto the warriors and drain away their succulent blood, while the adventurers hoped only to crush the vile insects before they were too injured to fight back. Daimonion, using a skilled riposte, fended off his assailant and skewered it on his rapier. Tallorn and Dera were not so lucky. Within the first few exchanges, both the ranger and the mage were slowly being drained of their vital fluids. Rimo, acting quickly, loosed his arrows and felled some of the creatures even as they fluttered, hungry for life. Seeing his good friend in danger, Rimo grappled with the creature stuck to Tallorn鈥檚 chest, ripping it free and attempting to crush it.(4) As he struggled, Tallorn gasped for air and tried to assist Dera and Sik, as they struggled beneath the claws of their assailants. With a mighty heave, Rimo flung the creature against a tree, where it flapped its wings once, then fell to the ground.

Finally, the creatures were beaten back. Dario鈥檚 screams still echoed through the forest, as his friends chased him down. Finally, in a small copse of underbrush, the five found their friend as he rolled on the ground, screaming as he flailed in horror. Aiming carefully, Rimo nocked another arrow to his bow.(5) The bolt sliced through the air and buried itself deeply into the creature鈥檚 back. As it stopped struggling, Dario flung it off and laid down to weep in horror.

At long last, his comrades were able to calm the frantic rogue down and get him under control. The sun slowly began to set. For lack of a better place, the group decided to make a camp and rest for the evening. Watches were set and the majority of the group settled down for a well-earned rest.

Daimonion sat awake with Rimo, sharpening his blade, as night drew on. The sound of whetstone and oil on cold steel softly provided rhythm to the night, as the group rested. His sharp ears perked up, as the sound was disrupted. Footfalls softly padded through the forest floor. They were not alone. However, the sound quickly passed and their watch was up.(6) Waking up Dera, they drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep. However, Dera soon heard the same noise. Working quickly, she roused the rest of the group.

It was then that the footfalls came into sight-range. Shambling humanoids had ringed themselves around the group, slowly tightening a fleshy noose around them. Armed and frightened, the four positioned themselves around a tree in a strategic maneuver, anticipating a dire fight that may cost them their lives.(7)

Finally, the creatures came into the firelight and the all-too-familiar scent of undeath filled the warriors鈥� nostrils. Limbs were attached to torsos with long surgical staples. Heads lolled on necks, not supporting their hideous weight. Yet, most disturbing of all, each of the creatures鈥� lips were stapled shut with long metal pins.(8)

Steeling themselves against the horrible sight, the adventurers readied their weapons. However, rather than tearing their victims limb from limb, the undead merely began to push the sextet north. Hesitant, at first, then agreeing to move with their vile captors, the adventurers began moving with the undead and marched through the night, without any idea where these creatures could be taking them, or for what purpose.

After a long and weary hour-and-a-half trudge through the woods, a clearing came into sight. At the far side, a statuesque log cabin stood vigil with bright lamps glowing in the windows. Forcing the six to the door, one of the creatures stood at the fore and gestured crudely towards the door. After a moment鈥檚 hesitation, the adventurers slowly opened the door.

Before them stood, as still as a marble pillar, a powerful figure. A man, perhaps in his mid 50s, with receding brown hair and a dire gaze in his grey eyes, invited them in.(9) Fatigued and ready for rest, the six nodded reluctantly and stepped into a lavishly furnished sitting room. Immediately, the figure bade the six to introduce themselves. After their introductions, he gestured to himself, introducing himself as one Dr. Gregorian DelShonar, and then begged them to sit in the dining room, so that they might be refreshed.

Seated at the long oak table, the group anxiously wondered what this strange man could want from them. DelShonar took his own seat at the head of the table, then smiled as the door to his rear opened. From the kitchen came four massive automatons, each shaped in ghastly mockery of the human form. Bearing heavy platters, they placed them silently on the table, then slid back into the kitchen, leaving only the echoes of their crunching gears ringing in the ears of the party.(10)

Gregorian smiled. Announcing the repast to be ready, he lifted the cover on the main platter and began carving a roasted peppered lamb in a red wine sauce. As the group ate, the enigmatic man appraised them and asked what business they had in Verbrek. Answers were provided reluctantly, though Gregorian鈥檚 face remained as stoic as marble.

As the rest of the group discussed their situation and where to go from this strange place, Dario quietly asked the doctor if he knew another noted figure, Dr. Rudolph Van Richten.(11) Thinking wistfully, DelShonar told the young dilettante that, yes, he did in fact know the peerless monster hunter. In fact, DelShonar had studied medicine and alchemy under the doctor for two years, in their shared hometown of Corvia, Darkon. When Dario pressed him for more information, DelShonar told him that, frankly, Van Richten had all but disappeared, though rumors spoke of his commitment to a mental institution on an island off the coast of Mordent.(12)

Dario continued to speak with DelShonar, while the others bickered. At last, DelShonar interrupted their arguments, suggesting that they follow the nearby river to the east, which would lead them north through the barony of Richemulot into Port-a-Lucine. DelShonar even gave them the name of a steamboat operator, one Nathan Timothy, who might offer to ferry them into Richemulot. This, in turn, got the others questioning the doctor. He indicated that he had gotten his doctorate in Pont-a-Museau, and had begun research on his book there. Curious, the group asked if he had a copy of his book. Rising slowly, yet quite pleased at their curiosity, DelShonar set a thick leather-bound tome onto the table.(13)

After the group flipped through DelShonar鈥檚 book, the doctor eyed them carefully, telling them abruptly that it was time for them to leave. Begging for rest, the group pleaded with DelShonar for one more night, but the doctor had other plans. Rather than let them rest, he told the four that they would be used as field test subjects for a group of his latest constructs. They had five minutes to run, before the undead scourge would begin following them.

Running like madmen through the wooded night, the adventurers sprinted to the east. Soon after, the sounds of undead footfalls began to dully crunch through the underbrush around them. Harrowed, the group ran on, but as they dodged the trees, four skeletal forms leaped down on top of them!

Immediately, the warriors started to beat them back. Using the hammer found in the town only a day earlier, Rimo smashed two of the creatures into oblivion. However, the victory was not without its price. For a second time, Tallorn鈥檚 defenses failed and only Dera鈥檚 sorcery managed to save him. However, even then, a dying blow from one of the creatures managed to slash her throat, leaving her bleeding on the forest floor. Calling on the spirits of nature, the newly-healed Tallorn staved off the bleeding and helped the young mage to her feet.(14) Their flight resumed.

At long last, the six arrived at the river鈥檚 gorge. A dire thirty foot drop led into a rough, rapid-filled gorge, which all six gaped at. A single, rickety rope bridge crossed the abyss. With trepidation and fear, they began to cross.(15)

Deftly, Daimonion made his way across first, successfully. Tallorn came next, but had some difficulties getting across. Eventually, after some minor slips, he emerged on the far side. Sik made her way next, and gracefully ran across the bridge with no problems whatsoever. However, when Dario stepped onto the bridge, his balance failed him. The bridge twisted beneath his weight, flinging him off. Only by swiftly grabbing the thin handrail was the young rogue saved. Thinking quickly and holding on for dear life, Dario pulled his rope and grappling hook from his pack. Swinging it across, he failed to make contact and nearly lost his grip, which would have left him plummeting into the raging river below. Breathing deeply to keep his cool, an idea struck Dario. Using his grappling hook as a sliding device, he slid down the handrail over to the far side, where Daimonion and Tallorn quickly hauled him onto land.(16)

This left only Rimo and Dera. Rimo was firing shots from his bow at the slowly approaching horde, while Dera mounted the bridge. However, halfway across, the young mage slipped from the bridge and plummeted into the river below. Rimo, in a valiant act of heroism, dove in after the mage, desperately trying to keep her head above water. With a massive feat of skill, Rimo grabbed up the drowned mage as well as a rope tossed down by Dario. Eventually, the four pulled up Rimo and Dera, and Tallorn began to resuscitate the quickly drowning mage.(17)

As Tallorn worked and Dera began breathing again, Rimo and Dario slashed the ropes on the bridge, leaving the bewildered undead without a way to follow them. Now, all that remained is to rest and search for the enigmatic steamboat captain, Nathan Timothy, in the hopes that they could make their way north.(18) Port-a-Lucine seemed to be only a hopeful dream, at this point.

Footnotes:

So much for clich茅 introductions, eh? I鈥檝e found that my groups rarely, if ever, have the type of introductions that begin 鈥渟o, you鈥檙e all sitting in a bar...鈥� This time, as it has before, we鈥檝e gone an entire session without everyone knowing everyone else鈥檚 name.
Ah, stirges. Honestly, these things are nasty little buggers. They use a melee touch attack at a nice +7 bonus, which does 1d4 Constitution damage. Their challenge rating? 陆. They鈥檙e almost ridiculous in how difficult they can be. Keep in mind that this combat left four of the characters鈥擳allorn, Sik, Dera and Dario鈥攚ith severe Con damage. That鈥檒l be hurting them for a while.
Whoo...this was a mess. Dario rolled a natural 1 on his Fear check, which prompted a Sanity check, which he also failed. To say the least, he was out of combat for a while. There will be repercussions for this for quite a while in the future. Fear of insects, anyone? Or maybe blood? Only time will tell.
Technically, Rimo shouldn鈥檛 have been able to do this, but it was just damned cool. The idea of a warrior risking his life to rip off a creature from his friend and try to grapple it himself just seemed so cinematic and heroic that I let him do it. Plus, the natural 20 he rolled on his pin check sealed the deal for me. A very cool job on Brian鈥檚 part, as he played this to the hilt.
What can I say? Rimo is one lucky ranger. Even after the penalties for shooting into melee, he still managed a solid hit, which probably saved Dario鈥檚 life.
Nothing like failed Listen and Spot checks, eh? I tell you, if this group were any less observant, they鈥檇 be dead by now. At least Dera鈥檚 Wisdom modifier bailed them out in this case.
I described this to be at least 30-35 zombies surrounding them. Considering their recent circumstances with Toben the Many, they were very wary of taking on such a massive force. A good maneuver on their part. The zombies were meant to be a plot device and nothing more鈥攖hey weren鈥檛 meant to be fought.
Technically, I shouldn鈥檛 be calling them 鈥榸ombies鈥�, though. The undead are ones of my own making, called Screaming Men, which DelShonar made himself. Alack, though, I didn鈥檛 write up full stats for them. If you have the 鈥淰an Richten鈥檚 Guide to the Walking Dead鈥�, you can make them yourself, I鈥檓 sure. Take the 鈥楧ead Travel Fast鈥� ability and give them a sonic-based cone attack (Fort save for 陆). They work quite nicely, at any level. I also enforced a Sanity check for seeing them鈥攖hey鈥檙e pretty nasty.
The main villain, though they don鈥檛 know it yet. DelShonar and his Theory will factor into their lives in more ways that any of the group can anticipate right now.
Another low-grade Sanity check, as none of the characters would have ever faced anything like these before. Plus, the sound of their grating gears was quite hideous. It didn鈥檛 really matter much, though, as everyone passed.
Dario seeks Van Richten鈥檚 advice to take revenge on Lord Wilfred Godefroy, who killed one of his friends. With Van Richten鈥檚 disappearance and dealings with Godefroy unlikely, Dario鈥檚 goals may be out of reach. However, the group will be spending some time in Mordent, and one never knows what may happen.
Dr. Heinfroth鈥檚 asylum. I鈥檇 love to run this with the PCs, but I have to make someone go crazy first. We鈥檒l see about that...
The prologue, which was given as a handout, is available on another link, or by request.
Again, Tallorn鈥檚鈥楻edhead鈥� feat comes in handy.
This entire scene ran like 鈥淩aiders of the Lost Ark,鈥� which was exactly the feel I was going for. With a mass of undead chasing them, the priority was obviously to get across as fast as possible, despite the poor conditions. I ran this using a series of Balance checks and Reflex saves, done very loosely, so that no character died simply by a bad roll of the dice. I may have been too nice, though, but the fear of falling off the bridge was still quite well instilled.
Dario was quite inventive here. I appreciate inventiveness, so I let him cross safely.
Again, Rimo saves the day. Within his party, he鈥檚 beginning to make a name for himself. Quite impressive.
I鈥檓 unsure of what to do with Nathan Timothy yet, but I鈥檓 sure it will be something else. It鈥檚 an opportunity I can鈥檛 turn down. At any rate, a good deal of time remains before they reach Port-a-Lucine, and a murder mystery awaits them in the towns of Richemulot.

Steamboat, Secrets and Stew, An Adventure's Log

A quick note about these notes. These are just notes and have not been spruced up in anyway into a coherent telling.

After breaking camp we then proceeded to head North along the river gorge. As night begins to fall, Rimo hears a mechanical whistle in the distance, which he points out the rest of the party. As the whistle sound gets closer a paddle wheeled riverboat comes around the bend in the river behind the party. Rimo waves at the approaching riverboat and the whistle toots as it starts to slow down. The closer it gets the easier it becomes to read the big letters along the side of the riverboat. Daimonion shouts at the riverboat asking if they can provide some help. The whistle responds, as does a crewman on the deck.

The riverboat then comes to a stop, and the crewman who shouted back ducks in a doorway. Rimo and Dera then begin to tie a rope to a nearby tree to help the party climb down the gorge and on to the riverboat. From inside the riverboat a crewman dressed as an officer shouts back up to the party, and discusses the terms of payment for passage on the riverboat. At first the party asks if they could work for passage but the officer says he already has enough workers for the riverboat. Sik then tosses a gold-coin down to the officer, who then asks for 50 more. Sik agrees to 50 gold-coins, and then mentions to the party that they owe her 7 gold-coins each. With that the party then climbs down the rope to the riverboat.

The captain then comes out to greet us, and introduces himself as Nathan Timothy, and after that he has his first officer show us to our quarters. The quarters consist of two rooms with three bunk beds in each. The rooms are across a short hallway from each other on the second deck of the riverboat, so we had to go down some steps to get to them.

A short little debate breaks out as to who gets to sleep in which room with whom. Tallorn with Rimo's help takes one of the bunks and promptly falls asleep; Sik and Daimonion also manage to scrounge up bunk space to get some sleep. Rimo and Dario decide to take watch at the doors just in case. Rimo's watch goes by uneventfully and wakes Daimonion to take his turn at watch.

Morning comes around after an uneventful night, and Rimo and Daimonion go up topside to look for some food to eat. When they get to the deck they notice that they are no longer sailing in a gorge, but sailing along the river through some plains. During the time Tallorn is left alone, Dario searches him for anything of value, but comes up with nothing.

Finding nothing topside to eat, Rimo and Daimonion head downstairs to the third deck, and pick up Sik and Dario on the way. Once at the kitchen Rimo gets a bowl of stew for himself and another for Tallorn. Dario, Daimonion and Sik also get a bowl of stew and chow down on it. Dera on the other hand decides to stay in her room and eat some of her own rations.

The rest of the day passes uneventfully and so Sik, Tallorn and Daimonion go to bed. In the middle of the night Sik gets up and heads down to the kitchen. Meanwhile both Tallorn and Daimonion have a sinister nightmare.

Both dream that they are sitting at the head of a long banquet table, with a big feast going on. Non-descript people are all around pulling food off the table and eating with great fervor and noise. As they look closer at the food on the table they notice that there is something wrong with the main course. Upon closer inspection they see that the main course is actually a living human being.

This same dream is what had caused Sik to awaken in the middle of the night.

Rimo and Dario, who were on watch, spend the time discussing things about themselves and the goings on. During the discussion Rimo shows Dario his dagger, which Dario asks to take a closer look at. Dario looks over the dagger closely and can only say that it has to be a very expensive dagger. After handing the dagger back to Rimo, he decides to head off to bed. In the night Dario has the feast dream as well.

In the morning Daimonion and Sik realize they both had the same dream, and chat about it for a bit. Dario wakes up in the middle of this conversation and mentions he had the same dream as well. Sik then decides that the cook might know what is going on, and heads down to the kitchen.

Rimo heads topside and asks a crewman about how long until they reach their destination. The crewman just briefly looks at Rimo, and then says nothing and carries on with what his was doing. Rimo then goes back down to the rooms, where Dera asks Rimo for some first aid. Rimo attempts to help Dera, but isn't able to help much with her, nor is he able to aid Dario much either.

Rimo decides its time to get some sleep, and Tallorn says he will keep an eye out for trouble. As Tallorn watches, Rimo suddenly awakens in fright from his slumber. It turns out Rimo had the same feast dream. After some discussion the two cannot figure out what the dream means. Daimonion who walks by happens to catch part of the discussion and joins in saying he had the same dream. The three discuss the dream as night begins to fall.

Dario decides he is going to wander about the riverboat for lack of anything better to do. Dario heads down to the lower deck where the kitchen is and starts to open the doors to the other rooms there. Behind one of the doors he finds a cold room, with meat hanging from the ceiling. Looking closer he suddenly notices that they are human corpses hanging from the meat hooks. Slowly he walks backwards out of the room and shuts the door. In another room he finds a chest that has a nice and pretty scarab amulet that he keeps, for himself.

Rimo and Tallorn decide to go topside to take care of the call of nature. As the two walk towards the stairs Sik, decides to follow closely behind. But as the two get to the top of the steps they suddenly stop, which causes Sik to almost walk right into the two of them. The three see a silhouetted figure against the night sky, that looks almost like a human, but almost like a wolf at the same time. As quietly as possible Rimo and Tallorn creep down the steps. Sik stays there and hides in the shadows to prevent being seen. As they quietly walk to their room they happen across Dario, and whisper that they saw something topside. The group wakes up Daimonion and tell her that the ship has a werewolf onboard. Since Dera and Sik are not in the room with them, they decide to let Dario go out quietly and gather the two of them and bring them into the room where they can all protect each other.

When Dario gets to the other room he only finds Dera, whom he convinces to join the rest of the group in the other room. Despite not finding Sik the group decides to block the door to prevent anything from entering. Rimo grimaces a bit at the barricading of the door because he still hasn't relieved himself, and it is starting to bother him.

With the one group barricaded in the room, Sik wanders back downstairs, and heads into the other room where she falls asleep. As the group discusses what to do, and what is going, Dario mentions he didn't find anything downstairs in his wanderings. Not even more stew, which he was searching for in the first place. With that the group spends the night barricaded in the room.

The following day Sik and Dario decide to go down below for food. Dario manages to finds a potato, which he tries to cook over a fire. Sik quickly stops Dario from actually lighting the fire. As Sik puts out the fire she tells Dario that they are poisonous. After a brief debate about whether potatoes are poisonous or not, the two decide to go ask the cook. The cook doesn't help much and only mentions that he cooks stew, and the potatoes are in the stew. When the cook tries to offer the two some stew, they back out and decide to eat the potato raw.

Tallorn and Rimo go topside to take care of nature's call. Quickly the two take care of their business, and go back to their room, to tend to their wounds.

After their dinner of raw potato, Sik and Dario head back to the rooms, and discuss the previous night. Upon returning to the room, Dario tells the rest of the group that the stew is the best thing to eat around, because raw potatoes taste really bad.

Sik then wanders up to the deck and tries to talk with the captain. She doesn't manage to get a crewman to show her to the captain. Failing that, Sik decides to find the captain's cabin and talk to him there. With Dario's help Sik begins knocking on doors in the hopes of finding the captain. After nothing comes of that the two decide to go back to the room and get some sleep.

Dera, Rimo and Tallorn decide to get something to eat and head down to the kitchen and get some stew. Daimonion declines to join the group for stew. After the stew, Rimo decides to supplement his meal with some fish, and manages to get a net from one of the crewmen. Rimo then heads to the front of the boat and casts the net in, despite Tallorn telling him it is not a good idea. Rimo spends the rest of the day trying unsuccessfully to catch anything while Tallorn makes sure Rimo, isn't dragged over the front of the boat.

As night falls Sik gets up and tries again to talk to the captain. Again she doesn't manage to get anywhere. Tallorn and Rimo head back to them room and crash on the bunks, while Dera also decides to call it a night. Daimonion stays up to guard the door. As Dera, Rimo and Tallorn they all have a more vivid version of the previous nights dream.

Late into the night Dario shows up after wandering around, and takes the watch from Daimonion, letting him get some sleep. Sik failing to get to talk to the captain wanders back to her room and goes to sleep. Rimo wakes up, and takes Dario's spot at the door. Dario mentions he will be shortly after he steps out to use the bathroom.

While Dario makes his way up the hallway to the steps, he spots a dark figure walking behind him heading to the stairs also. Dario presses himself up against the wall and hides in the shadows. As the figure walks past Dario, it transforms from a human into a big wolf. Dario stays in the shadows long enough for the creature to walk up the steps and catch his breath.

Before he can move on, Sik stumbles across him. Since Sik hasn't been able to get a hold of the captain, she convinces Dario to help her search for him and his room. The two begin to search through the rooms. After searching a few rooms and finding nothing, Dario opens a door to a room and gets knocked out by some gas. Sik drags Dario's body from the room after the gas dissipates. After pulling Dario from the room, Sik wanders back into the room and finding nothing, goes back out and tends to Dario.

In the morning Dario wakes up to find Sik tending to him. The rest of the group also wake up and go over to Sik and Dario's room to see how they are. Dario explains how the gas knocked him out. The group tries to figure out what to do, and as they talk things over they find a note on the door of the room they came out of. The note states that they need to get their gear together, as the journey is over. The group goes topside to find the riverboat pulling along a small set of docks.

As the group waits for the boat to make dock, Tallorn rubs the red stubble on his head and mumbles about having to shave. Rimo pulls out his dagger and twirls it around a bit. Dera notices the dagger and tries to discern what it is. All that Dera has is able to learn is that it is made of silver. Rimo quickly hides the dagger, when Dera tells him about it being made of silver.

The captain comes topside and gives his goodbyes. Sik talks to the captain, who mentions that the two of them should be stealthier in their nighttime wanderings. He then wraps his arms around Dario and mentions how lucky the group is. Only a few catch a quick glimpse of the sudden change in the captain's hand from human to wolf and back. Dario manages to catch the sight, and gets spooked by it.

The captain then waves to the group and the group waves back as they disembark the riverboat. We then all head in land to the town of Mortigny.

Steamboat, Secrets and Stew, GM Notes

These are the GM's notes they have made about running their campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

After a harrowing flight from Gregorian DelShonar's undead, the six adventurers began following the river north, in the hopes that Port-a-Lucine would come more quickly than the last few days had gone. They began walking, keeping an eye on the gorge in the hopes that the mysterious Nathan Timothy, the steamboat captain that DelShonar had mentioned, may come along and offer them aid.(1)

After a few hours of weary trudging through the forest, a low whistle began to fill the group's ears. Turning back to the river, Daimonion spotted a white ship with a bright red paddle-wheel flowing slowly down the river. Cheering in joy, the swashbuckler directed Dario and the others to the sight, as the ship's steam whistle blew a resounding response. Looking closely, Dario noted a placard on the ship's side: The Crescent Moon.(2) Truly, this was the ship of which DelShonar had spoken.

A well-dressed man in a towering captain's hat came to the prow of the Crescent Moon and hailed the group with a flourishing bow, then asked them who they were and where they were heading. Daimonion quickly gave introductions, then told the man that they were traveling to Port-a-Lucine. The captain smiled and introduced himself as Nathan Timothy, then told the group that, while he was not heading as far up-river as Dementlieu, he could take them as far as the Richemuloise port town of Mortigny. He also informed the group that such passage would cost them a substantial amount of gold鈥攎ore than they could afford, for the most part. Most of the group tried to negotiate the price down, but Timothy would have none of it.

However, the gold that Sik found in the destroyed town hall of Verbrek proved to be a windfall. The 200 mournepieces she found in the master bedroom covered the costs, but placed the rest of the group in her debt.(3) One of the mates tossed a rope to the waiting, tired adventurers, and the group boarded without difficulty.

The first day aboard the Crescent Moon proved to be a fairly dull experience. The ship's crew, aside from the gregarious Timothy, proved to be tight-lipped.(4) Daimonion spent most of his time on the foredeck, watching the river, while Tallorn, Dera and Dario all slept for most of the first night, attempting to recoup the massive blood loss that they had suffered against the mosquito-creatures they had fought, prior to meeting Gregorian DelShonar.

After several hours of travel, the group grew hungry. Having no food, after their flight from DelShonar, the corps asked the first mate where they could attain something to eat. Speaking only sparingly, he indicated the mess-hall, below deck. Shuffling back down below, all but Dera, who had some trail rations to spare, headed to the mess-hall, where a greasy, bald man with flaking skin stood stirring a massive cauldron.(5) Inside, a thick brown stew simmered, and he ladled out servings for the five.

Following the brief dinner, the majority of the group simply went back to their much-needed rest. However, their sleep was not as restful as most had hoped. All but Dera experienced horrific dreams. Before them set a massive feast of meat and red liquid in clear goblets, which they gorged themselves on lustily. However, as each eater looked up the table, they saw it filled with human body parts, all roasted and cooked, which they themselves fed upon.(6) At various times, each of them woke up, covered in a sheen of slick, wet sweat.

The next day brought nothing short of paranoia. After comparing their dreams, the group was shocked to find that all were so similar, yet they could only wonder why this had occurred. The day passed, similar to the first, but Dario, Sik, Rimo and Tallorn began to keep more watchful eyes on the all-but-silent crew, as well as watching their own actions. After another dinner, Rimo and Tallorn spent some time in private discussing what they could do about the dreams. Both agreed that some investigation was needed, and a time was set for the coming night.

Unbeknownst to them, both Sik and Dario each had their own plans for the evening. Well after midnight, Rimo and Tallorn found Sik outside their door. Quietly, they asked the lithe rogue what she was doing. Sik replied that she was attempting to speak with Captain Timothy, whom the crew told her only truly likes to navigate at night. Seeing this as a worthy plan, Rimo and Tallorn slowly made their way into the shadows with Sik, and climbed the stairs to the main deck.

Before them lay a sight that none could have anticipated. As the trio peeked over the rail, looking across the deck, a massive form of a half-wolf, half-human stood with two paws on the wheel, steering the ship upriver, into the light of a brilliant crescent moon.(7) Upon this creature's head sat the tall cap of a ship's captain鈥攚ithout a doubt, this horrible creature was that of their captain, Nathan Timothy. Wordlessly, they swiftly made their way back downstairs, so that they could grasp what this hideous sight portended.

Meanwhile, Dario had made some investigations of his own. While Daimonion and Dera slept, he crept quietly down to the lower hold, to see what lay down below. Passing the kitchen, the young rogue slid down the hall to the end room, where a slight cool breeze swept around the door jambs. Deftly picking the lock, he swung open the door, only to be witness to his own horrific vision. Dozens of human corpses, all hanging from hooks, dressed and sliced like cattle, as if for some inhuman feast. Gasping in fear, he quickly closed the door and returned to his bunk, just as Rimo, Tallorn and Sik returned from their venture.

Swiftly, Dera and Daimonion were awakened. Information was shared amongst the group, which chilled all to the very marrow of their bones. None knew what could come of these discoveries. However, as time went on, all agreed that nothing could be done that night, and the group drifted into another sleep of vile, cannibalistic dreams.

The next morning, few out of the group were enamored of another round of the stew, especially after knowing from where it came. Sik even described a dream in which she pulled the entirety of an eye from a human face, and then proceeded to peel it in order to suck out the gelatin within.(8) Such disgusting visions revolted the group, only further disillusioning them from Timothy and his crew. Trying to avoid the stew, Sik and Dario asked the surly cook if he had something other than stew to eat. Eventually, they persuaded him to give up two raw potatoes, but Sik was unable to remember whether raw potato was poisonous or not, leaving both wondering.(9) After a few minutes of deliberation, the pair decided to risk it and began to eat. Rimo, meanwhile, asked the first mate's permission to fish from the side of boat. He was granted the luxury, but was unable to come up with any food of use.

However, during the day of rest, Dera and Tallorn had gained quite a bit of new- found strength. Their regenerative properties began working, and their blood was nearly all replaced. Captain Timothy, however, asked to see all six on the main deck during the day. After some discussion, the group decided to take Timothy up on his offer, despite their fears. However, Timothy only wished to tell them that the Crescent Moon had made good time, and that they would reach the outskirts of Mortigny by the following afternoon.(10)

If any chance were to be made to escape, it would seriously be placed into question now. With only a day left, few knew what to do. Dario, however, had a plan already in mind. Taking Sik with him, late after midnight, the pair began searching the larger of the bunks, hoping to find some token of Timothy's to prove their story. Sik had little luck picking the locks on the doors, while Dario managed to make his way into one. Slowly padding across the room, he began rifling through a desk. However, as he pulled open the center drawer, a cloud of cloying, green gas began to fill the room.(11) With a single breath of the gas, Dario fell unconscious to the ground. Sik, hearing her comrade fall inert, covered her mouth, closed the door and pulled Dario back into their bunk. After Rimo and Tallorn's ministrations, Dario regained consciousness, yet remained stiff and pained for several days thereafter.

The final day arrived, and none too soon. The Crescent Moon slowly drifted into a small dock, about 5 leagues distant from Mortigny. As the crew prepared to tie the ship in, Timothy addressed the adventurers. With a knowing smile, he wished them a good journey. Dario, Rimo and Sik all addressed him as the vile creature he was, but the captain merely laughed and posed them with their few options. Grinning openly, he wrapped his arm around Rimo's shoulders, then winced as his arm quickly tore into its wolf-form, then flashed back just as quickly.(12) Harrowed and confused by the whole ordeal, the adventurers swiftly made their way off the boat and back onto dry land.

Still gaining their bearings from their voyage with Timothy, the group was surprised to find a young man along the path they were traveling, dressed in the garb of a huntsman. They hailed the fellow, who introduced himself as Stuart Joshi, a constable- in-training of Mortigny. Upon their asking, he told them of a possible job that might be found within his hometown鈥攐ne which required the utmost secrecy. If they were interested, the adventurers were to specifically go to the home of one Sir Balric Traven, the mayor of Mortigny, and speak to no one on the way. As they agreed to this, Joshi left the adventurers on the road, as they headed towards the city.(13)

Sik, however, had other ideas. She quickly made her way to one of the local drinking houses, while the others dealt with Traven. After a brief stay in the mayor's study, while he took supper, they met with Traven, a hawkish, tall man, who had much to tell them.

Apparently, the town of Mortigny was beset by murders of a most mysterious sort. Four people had died鈥�3 in outlying regions, 1 in the city itself鈥攐f wounds that could only be described as animalistic. Normally, such things could be taken care of鈥� adventurers were hired, and the killings seemed to abate for a while. However, nothing had changed. The groups of mercenaries, one headed by a Barovian knight named Robert Radanavic and another headed by a Darkonian nobleman named Reginald Jordan III, had both had no luck with the killings; not even leads. However, because of the group's fees, the Mortigny town budget was running slim, and results must be attained posthaste. The group's job, should they accept, would be to continue the investigations, as well as attempt to understand why the two other groups had been having so little success in their investigations.

When asked about the bodies, Traven referred to one Dr. Jonathan Garnet, who served as a physician and coroner for the town, who was holding the latest victim's body for examination. Also, Traven referred them to one Warden Cartwright, an anchorite of the goddess Ezra, who may be able to assist them if the source of the killings turned out to be something supernatural. Finally, the mayor offered them free room and board at a local tavern, the Green Griffon, where both mercenary groups were staying.

Wishing the adventurers good luck, he escorted them to the door. From there, they met up with Sik and arrived at the door to the Green Griffon. Upon the opening of that door, their lives would change forever.(14)

Footnotes:

I really wasn't sure about using Nathan Timothy in any shape or form. Strangely enough, I'm not very fond of lycanthropes in my games, and having a former darklord mixing it up with the PCs so early on really worried me. I only ran this adventure with the Wednesday group, thinking that if it went badly, I wouldn't have to worry about it on Thursday, but it turned out a lot better than I thought...but you can read that for yourself.
I honestly could not remember what the name of Nathan Timothy's ship was. As such, I chose one that made perfect sense for the lycanthrope.
Being in debt to a character like Sik is never a good sign. Her true nature will come out more fully in the next session.
Sometimes silence is the creepiest thing in the world. Anytime anyone in the group would ask one of Timothy's crew a question, I would sit there, stonefaced. Pretty soon, they were just becoming more and more disturbed by the people around them. It was pretty fantastic...
I wanted this guy to foreshadow the horrors of what they'd be dealing with, simply by his look. If you've ever seen Disney's version of "The Three Musketeers" (with Tim Curry and Rebecca De Mornay!), the executioner/prison guard fellow was the exact type I was thinking of, when making this chef. Very disgusting, and very suited to his meal.
I got this idea from the Tcho-Tchos, from the Call of Cthulhu game. If you're not familiar with them, they're a tribal people from around Cambodia, who believe that they gain great strength by eating people. They make a special serum, which they put in food, that is made from human ganglia paste. This serum gives the eater hideous dreams and can drive them insane...as such, everyone got a Sanity check from eating the stew.
I must say, this scene worked perfectly. The three timid adventurers peering over the rail, the crescent moon hanging low in the sky, and the dire form of Timothy piloting the ship...absolutely fantastic. The look on Sik's player's face was nothing short of a full jaw-drop. Great stuff.
For some reason, Sik kept eating the stew. Needless to say, she failed this Sanity check.
This would be a Natural 1 on a Survival check. Mind-boggling, it is.
I decided to shorten the voyage, as the night was growing rather long. You see, we play on Wednesday nights, starting at 9:30. I have a Biology class at 8 am, the next day. As such, having the late nights just kills me, in terms of sleep. I really wanted to wrap this up as quickly as possible, despite the success of the game.
Oooh, this was nasty for Dario, who was already hurting in terms or Constitution damage. Here, he failed both Fortitude saves, getting knocked unconscious first, then taking 2d6 Dex damage. I rolled fairly high on the Dex damage, which really put a hurting on his skills, being a rogue. Not fun for him.
Just a nice little parting shot. This kept the party in line, and scared the bloody hell out of them. Very amusing.
Let it be known that, in all of my years of DMing, I have one major issue that I cannot overcome. This issue: that of names. I never seem to be able to come up with good names on the spot and my names always seem to be ill-suited to the people at hand. The names here, I've ripped off of various sources. Joshi was taken from the Call of Cthulhu book, as S.T. Joshi was Lovecraft's biographer. Balric Traven, on the other hand, is taken from the Ravenloft DMG鈥攈owever, this Traven is not a vampiric necromancer, like his DMG compatriot. He's just a mayor who's a little frazzled and looking for some help.
Overall, I thought this session went surprisingly well. I was highly pleased by it, and much looking forward to the next. The party's dealings with Radanavic and Jordan really would define them as characters, as well as bring them together as an investigative group. However, as I said, the next session would change them forever...but that's a story for next time.

The Mortigny Murders, An Adventure's Log

A quick note about these notes. These are just notes and have not been spruced up in anyway into a coherent telling.

But before the group gets to the town a man jumps out from the trees on the side of the road. Rimo steps forward and greets the grizzled man, who introduces himself as Stewart Joshi. Stewart proceeds to tell us that the town of Mortigny is a closed town, due to a troubling outbreak of trouble.

Apparently there are some strange deaths happening in the city with strange circumstances. Already two groups of adventures have been brought in to help figure out the problem. So far though, both groups have not been able to figure out the cause of the strange deaths. Seeing us as a stout band, he inquires if we might be willing to help in stopping the cities problems.

When we agree to help, he tells us to head straight into town and go straight to the mayor's house and talk to him, whose name is Balrick Traven. With that in mind we head into the town and start heading for the mayor's house. Along the way Sik disappears down an alleyway, and dresses up as a young man. Daimonion tries to cover his face and avoid being seen by the townsfolk.

At the Mayor's house the butler, who shows us into a lavish study, meets us. As we wait the butler brings out some food, which Rimo and Tallorn scarf down because it isn't stew. As the butler begins to take the plates away the mayor steps into the study and greets us.

Before any discussion about the town's problem can begin, the first question asked if there are any healers around to help bring the party back up to health. Fortunately there is a Dr. Jonathan Garret in town that can help the party out once they leave his house. With that out of the way he begins to tell us that he is at a loss as what to do about the town's problem.

The murders are quite frustrating; as there doesn't appear to be a thing he can do about it. The murders happen mostly at night, and in various areas of the town. The attacks appear to be by some wild beasts. The problem with that is the bodies are not dragged away or completely mauled to pieces like beasts normally would. So it is feared that it is something supernatural causing the attacks. This causes people to worry about whether the town is cursed, and that is why the town has been closed off from the outside world.

Traven mentions that he has already hired two other groups of adventures to help figure out and stop the murders from happening, but so far they haven't done much. Well they have managed to put a drain on the town's coffers, which are strained already due to the closing. While hiring a third group would put more of a strain on the coffers, something needs to be done before the town dies financial and or mortally.

The first group that was hired is a group of five lead by a Robert Rodanovic. When that party didn't seem to be getting anywhere in solving the problem, another group was hired. This time a group of five, led by a nobleman named Reginald Jordan the third. He and his group were brought in because he has credentials as a monster hunter. So far neither group has done anything much to help in solving the problem. So he is bringing us in as a last ditch effort to get things resolved.

With that he begins to let us know of the attacks. The last attack happened four nights ago. Since the bodies were not taken away, this body is now at Dr. Garret's offices in his morgue if we wish to examine it. This murder happened in an alleyway inside the town, and was a baker's apprentice. There were three other murders, all outside town. The first was a water maiden then a hunter and an old man. Traven provides a map and location of where the murders took place.

With that he asks us to pass ourselves off as caravan guards looking for work, in order to throw off any suspicion of our task. We are to figure out what the two other groups are up to, and maybe if we are really good figure out what is causing the murders.

Since he cannot afford to pay us much, he might be able to give us something once things have been settled. For now he offers us free room and board at the Green Griffin, which is the inn where the other two groups are staying. With that he bids us good-bye and good luck.

Once we leave the mayor's house Dera, Dario and Daimonion head to the local temple of Ezra. Tallorn and Rimo take a look around the town.

Sik is still incognito around the town. At a local bar she tries to pass herself as a small boy, but the bartender doesn't fall for it and asks her to leave his bar. From there she goes to another bar and fails to convince the bar tender there as well. The bar tender then directs her to the Green Griffin.

Some how the whole group manages to all meet up at the Green Griffin at the same time. The party then enters the Green Griffin and takes up a table in the inn. Once at the table we all look around to see if we can check out the other parties.

At one table there sits a man with long dark brown hair playing on a drum. Beside him sits a short lithe human woman with shoulder length hair and green eyes. A Hulking burly fellow with a great sword is drinking heavily at the table, while finally a half-elf wearing a necklace of a star and teardrop watches.

At another table there sits a jovial looking fellow with pronounced muscles who is talking with a lanky person of oriental descent. A simply dressed elf and a dwarf in armor marked by a bronze spear are drinking together. Beside them is a tall lanky fellow wearing a big brimmed hat, which is flirting with a big-breasted strawberry blond woman who seems to be from the wilds.

Dera finds a corner to sit in while Rimo makes eye contact with the strawberry blonde woman, and then goes to the bar to get some ale. Dario meanwhile sneaks next to the first group and overhears a conversation about Gug, who is not with them, which is upsetting the big guy. He tries to sneak over to the other table but doesn't manage to get close enough to hear anything.

Daimonion wanders over to talk to the drummer, who turns out to be Robert Rodonavich. Robert introduces the rest of his party to Daimonion; the girl is Luca Sergial his consort, Gareth Rukan is the big man with the sword, and Pinochet Starborn is his half-elf compatriot.

Sik goes and asks for the names of the other party from the barkeep. The barkeep tells her that Reginald Jordon III is the man jovial muscular man. Ran Bockchan is the monkish oriental person. Roderick Greganthor is the elf, Kragar Stormspire is the dwarf, Nathial Delacarte is the flashy looking one, and finally Selena Varbeerk is the lady.

Dario walks over to the half-elf Pinochet, and introduces himself and asks if Pinochet might be able to help with his injuries. Pinochet asks how he received the injuries, to which Dario tells him of the creatures with the stapled mouths. At this point Rukan mumbles something into Robert's ear, Robert nods and turns around to join in the conversation between Dario and Pinochet. He then asks Dario to explain a bit more about the creatures. As Dario begins to explain Rimo sits down at the table. As Dario finishes his recounting of the encounter in the forest, Robert and the rest of his party are visibly shaken.

Robert then explains to Dario a bit about DelShonar's past. Following the biography, Dario asks about anyone else in the party. Robert replies that their friend Gug isn't with them, because he is in the local jail. Gug, wasn't a normal birth, and so tends to cause fear in people. Thus the townsfolk to ally their fears about him locked up Gug. Dario manages to convince Pinochet to offer him some help with his wounds.

Dera meanwhile wanders over to the barkeep and asks some questions about Vistani. Tallorn follows behind, and motions with his hands for something to eat, which takes a bit of time.

After conversing with the barkeep, Dera grabs Tallorn and walks over to Reginald's table. At first Dera causes Reginald a bit of insult by not saying his full name and title during the introductions. Tallorn meanwhile just smiles, but notices that the elf leaves the table and wanders over to talk to Sik. While Dera tries to talk to Reginald, Tallorn watches as the elf talks to Sik and eyes her up some. Dera meanwhile asks about what Reginald is doing in town. Tallorn not understanding anything whistles for Rimo to come over and join the conversation.

"Hey Rimo, come over here and help me with understanding what these people are jabbering about. This is a good reason for you to chat up the big-boobied girl."

Rimo tries to dash over without looking like he is dashing over. As soon as Rimo gets to the table he starts to talk to Serena and the two of them flirt. Sik after talking with the elf joins in the conversation between Dera and Reginald. Unfortunately Sik joins the conversation just in time to her Dera let it slip that the mayor employed us also. Rimo also hears the slip and tries to cover, but thrusting ale into Dera's hand and shouting over her. But this doesn't deter Dera from talking about it.

Reginald's voice starts to rise as he asks Dera what is going on. Rimo tries to calm Reginald down and the others by ordering them a round of ale, but it doesn't seem to work. Sik tries to calm the elf down by sitting in his lap, after which the two of them get up and head to the bar. Reginald and the rest only calm down when Tallorn walks Dera away from the table. This leaves Rimo alone to talk with the remaining party at the table.

At the bar Sik introduces Roderick the elf to Dario. While Sik preoccupies the elf, Dario tries to pick his pockets, and comes up with some miscellaneous items used in casting spells.

Rimo decides that Reginald has told all he is willing to, and it might be wise to leave his presence before he gets more upset. But as Rimo gets up to go join his friends at the bar, Selena stops him. Selena whispers something in his ear, and the two find a table by themselves and start to drink. Rimo talks about his past, and flashes his dagger at her. While the two continue to talk the rest of the part decide to call it a night, leaving Rimo to stay and fend for himself against Selena. The two eventually decide to go out and wander around the town and check out the other bars.

After a few hours of drinking, Rimo and Selena return to he Green Griffin, where she manages to convince Rimo to allow her to spend the night with him. Due to some strange manner of luck Rimo's room happens to be above Sik's room. Thus Sik endures the night listening to the sound of Rimo and Selena, with a pillow over her ears.

In the morning the party all gathers down in the common room and partake of breakfast. As they are eating Rimo wanders down the steps looking quiet disheveled, and appears to be aching in certain joints.

Dario and Daimonion both decide to go and visit Dr. Garret's office and examine the corpse of the most recent victim, after breakfast. Dera, Rimo and Tallorn decide to make a visit to the Temple of Ezra instead. Sik on her own goes and wanders about town.

Dr. Garret meets both Dario and Daimonion and takes them to his basement morgue where he shows them the body. The body is in tact and has scars that look as though made by claws. Upon closer inspection though, as Dr. Garret points out, the wounds are not jagged like they would be from an animal, instead they appear to be made by a very sharp metal blade. Dario looks over the wounds and doesn't find any metal fragments in the wounds. The two then ask Dr. Garret if they know of anyone in town who might be able to produce such weapons. Dr. Garret mentions that the local weapon smithy is a Godfrey Adamar, and gives them directions to the smithy.

Dera, Rimo and Tallorn make it to the temple of Ezra where Warden Cartwright meets them. Tallorn mentions that he is a follower of Ezra and is wondering if he could find healing at the temple. Cartwright mentions that such healing that Tallorn requires is not easy to dispense with out something in return. Tallorn offers his short-sword in exchange for the help;

"Master Cartwright, I offer my short-sword with which I endeavor to protect my fellow comrades in arms, and myself. My it be used by the temple to better protect those who needs its help."

Cartwright is impressed by Tallorn's offering, and instead lets him keeps his short-sword, and heals Tallorn of all his wounds.

From the temple Dera, Rimo and Tallorn head over to Dr. Garret's office where they run into Daimonion and Dario walking out. Daimonion and Dario mention that they didn't find anything out about the body and wander off, while Dera, Rimo and Tallorn decide to see if they can find anything else about the body, and go inside. Dr. Garret seems a little puzzled at the fact that another group has just arrived to look at the body, but none-the-less lets the three examine the body. Rimo almost instantly notices that the slash marks were not done by an animal, and upon looking closer determines it must have been a set of metal blades.

Daimonion and Dario meanwhile make it across town to visit with the weapon smithy, and find out that his has no information regarding such a weapon. When asked if knows of anyone who might know of such a thing, he mentions that there was an elf that was stuck in town when it was closed. He then gives the two directions to the elf's current residence. Before the two take off Dario takes a look around the shop for anything of interest and finding none, the two take off.

Dera, Rimo and Tallorn get to the Weapon smithy a bit after Daimonion and Dario left the place, so they do not know that they were already there. Rimo then sells a long sword he had for some money. After the sale the three ask about any type of weapon that could cause such a wound. The smithy, looks a little surprised, and answer that an elf in town might be able to help, and gives the three directions. The three then head off to visit the elf.

At the Elf's residence Daimonion and Dera knock on the door. The elf opens the door and out flows a strong odor from inside. The elf appears to be a bit more than just intoxicated when he starts to talk. He tries to convince the two of them to step inside and chat, but Daimonion is hesitant because he recognizes the smell as those of an intoxicating herbal drug. Despite the best efforts, the two enter the elf's residence, feeling that is the only way to get the elf to talk. Once inside Daimonion confirms his suspicions of the drug, by noticing a glassware piece used in the smoking of the herb lying in the corner of the room. When asked about a weapon that can cause the damage they saw on the body, the elf scrounges through a few books before pulling one out of the stacks lying about the room. Quickly he flips through the pages, and stops on one page and hands the book to Dario, pointing at the picture on the page.

The weapon on the page is called a Bok-nok, which is native to Sri Raji. The elf then mentions that there is a monk for Sri Raji that might be able to tell them more about the weapon. With that he takes the book back and says that he isn't sure but the monk's name might be Yan or Yen something, but he is definitely staying at the Green Griffin. The elf then starts to shuffle the two out the door. Daimonion and Dera than walk out the door and decide to check around town for a bit before heading back to the inn.

Dera, Rimo and Tallorn get to the Elf's residence, but only after Daimonion and Dario have left a few minutes earlier. Tallorn and Rimo both notice and recognize the smell when the elf answers the door. Rimo tries to convince the elf to let them in so they can talk, but the elf says he doesn't want any more visitors today, and closes the door.

The three then head back to the Green Griffin, only to get there just as Daimonion and Dario are sitting down at a table. Rimo quickly notices that Selena is there and heads over to her table and sits down to talk with her. Dario proceeds to tell Dera, and Tallorn via the common language of Darkonian (common for Dario and Tallorn), about the bok- nok, but fails to mention the fact it is from Sri Raji and that Yan is a monk from Sri Raji.

As Dario tells the group this Sik wanders into the inn and heads straight for the elf, Roderick. When Dario finishes his explanation he walks over to Sik and Roderick and interrupts their conversation. The two give Dario dirty looks that cause Dario to step back a bit and then walk away from the two of them, much to Daimonion's laughter.

The whole group then gets together at a table in the corner to talk about things over lunch. Over lunch the group discuss a plan to split up and watch the other two parties as they come and go from the inn. Rimo pipes up saying he will be glad to keep a close eye on Selena. After further debate the group decides to go investigate the scene of the last murder instead. Rimo though thinks it is still a good idea to watch the other groups as the leave and enter the inn, and opts to stay behind.

At the scene the group finds a silver broach, but nothing else that strikes the group as helpful in investigating the murder. So the group heads back to the inn.

Rimo, who stayed at the inn, notices that some of the people from the other groups are not to be seen. Luca, and Pinochet from Robert's group, and from Reginald's only Yan, Kragar and Delacarte are not present. Rimo decides to check upstairs for the others and not finding anyone walks back down to the common room. On the way down the stairs he meets Selena walking back up, and decides to escort her back to her room.

When the rest of the party return to the inn, they all take a break and sit down at a table. Dario pulls out the Parchment the group found at the abandoned town hall and looks it over. Dera and Tallorn try to talk via hand gestures, but don't get very far into a deep conversation before a constable rushes in and yells about a murder.

All the parties suddenly gather up and head out the door following behind the constable. As the various groups head towards the scene, Kragar, Pinochet and Delacarte join them.

At the scene lies in a bloody puddle the body of a female peasant with similar claw-like marks on her body. Tallorn looks in the blood for footprints and doesn't find any, while Dario asks the constable about the victim's family. The constable tells Dario a bit about the family and points them out, and Dario goes over and talks to them. Dario though isn't much comfort and only manages to make them cry even more about the murder. Dera, Sik and Tallorn notice that Yan is not amongst the people at the crime scene.

Daimonion pulls Dario back from talking with the family, seeing as how he is only causing more grief, and the two decide to head back to the Green Griffin. As they head back they too notice that Yan is not present. As Daimonion and Dario start the head back Dera, Sik and Tallorn join them.

Back at the Green Griffin the group notice that Rimo is not downstairs, and so must still be upstairs with Selena. Dario wanders upstairs to listen at the doors of the rooms to see if he can find out who is where. Sik meanwhile talks to Roderick some more, and tries to get more information about Yan and Kragar. Dario doesn't get very far in listening at doors before he tries to break into one, but only manages to break his tools.

After a short while the Daimonion, Sik and Dario decide to go get some sleep. Dera and Tallorn stay downstairs in the common room to keep an eye on things in the tavern just in case. As Daimonion heads to his room he runs across Yan, but doesn't get anything out of Yan about where he has been.

In the middle of the night Dario is awoken by a noise at his door. Dario instantly recognizes the sound as that of his lock being picked. Dario starts to moan and groan trying to sound as if he is having a nightmare to scare of the person on the other side of the door. When he quiets down from his noise making, he doesn't hear the lock being picked any more, and then tries to get back to sleep.

Daimonion is awakes like a bolt by the sound of someone tampering with his door. Before he can do anything but kick his covers off the door swings open with a loud slam. In the door way stands the silhouette of a person with a pistol aimed directly at him. As Daimonion tries to make a move the pistol goes off and the bullet slams into him creating a gaping wound in his upper chest.

Daimonion isn't knocked out by the gunshot, but manages to slide out of his bed, and grope for his rapier. But before he can bring his rapier up to attack the figure, it quickly rushes across the room and jumps through the window.

In the other room, Rimo gets smacked upside the head, and knocked out by Selena. Sik unfortunately, who went upstairs to bed with Roderick, gets paralyzed by the elf.

Dera and Tallorn decide to go over and talk to Robert Radanvich, but before they can get to his table they hear the gun shot from upstairs. Robert also hearing the gun shot stands up at his table, startled. The sound of breaking glass causes Dera and Tallorn to run outside to see if they can spot the intruder, while Radanvich runs for the stairs. Not seeing anyone outside Dera and Tallorn rush back inside and up the stairs.

Sik, Rimo, Luca and Delacarte are not present when Dera and Tallorn get to the hallway outside Daimonion's room. The two quickly rush into his room, and help Daimonion back up onto his bed. Dera turns to Radanvich and asks where Luca is, but he only shrugs saying he doesn't know. He does say that her weapon of choice is a pistol though. Dera steps back into Daimonion's room and tends to his gunshot wound healing it some.

Dera than goes up to Reginald and demands to know where Delacarte is. Reginald tells her that he went out drinking with Rimo and Sik, and they are probably still out drinking. Tallorn, noticing that Selena is amongst the group while Rimo is not, has Dera ask Selena where Rimo is. Selena, trying to sound convincing, says that Rimo went out drinking with Delacarte. Radanvich points out that this cannot be true because Dera, Tallorn and him would have seen the three of them leaving the inn, because they were downstairs in the common room.

As a Constable arrives to check out the scene, Delacarte comes up the steps. Before being asked Delacarte tells the assembled people that Rimo and Sik are still out drinking.

Daimonion decides to go to Selena's room to check to see if Rimo is not there, while Dera and Tallorn decide to go check Rimo's room. But before they can leave the hallway, Delacarte pulls out a pistol, grabs Pinochet and points his pistol at Pinochet's head. Reginald steps next to Delacarte and with a little chuckle say that his group has had its fun, but it is growing a bit old. Reginald continues saying that he and his group will be leaving now, and he turns to walk away from the party.

Suddenly behind Kragar and Roderick, who moved beside Reginald, the sound of several loud gunshots goes off. Kragar and Roderick turn around to see nothing, and in the confusion Delacarte's head suddenly explodes. Pinochet quickly dashes to find cover behind Radanvich. Before Delacarte's body can hit the ground a shimmering light hits Reginald's party stopping them all from moving. Leaving Delacarte's headless body to hang in mid air.

Those that can still move, slowly turn to see Luca standing with a smoking pistol, and a strange guy standing at the end of the hall. Once the shock wears off, Dera, Daimonion and Tallorn quickly go and find Sik, and help her gain her ability to walk. Once Sik is able to walk again, the three head off to get Rimo, and Sik walks down the hall to where Reginald's party is frozen. Sik then pulls out her crossbow, and fires a bolt point blank into Roderick's head causing the bolt to eerily slam into his head, and slow down to a stop as it barely begins to point out the other side.

As the rest of the party return to the hallway, with Rimo, they see Luca walk off with the strange guy. Radanvich obviously not happy with this gathers his group and heads down to the common room. Dario tries to take Delacarte's pistol but the constable tells him to leave it as evidence of Reginald's crimes. The party then decides to head down stairs.

Radanvich's group doesn't seem keen on talking about things, so the party talks amongst themselves. They figure that Reginald's group had Yan sneak upon the town and using his bok-nok attack and kill a peasant, in a manner that looks gruesome. Using that strange death of the peasent and the town's lack of knowledge about the bok-nok, they figured they could get money as monster hunters to track down the "beast." Reginald and company figure they could keep killing every so often to make it look as though they were needed in order to track down the beast. The mayor's hiring of Radanvich's group put a hamper on their plans, so they figured they should step up the killings so as to quicken their "stopping" of the murders. But alas they were found out before they could get away with it.

With that figured out the all decide to head to sleep, and as they head upstairs the constable tells them to come by the Mayor's tomorrow.

The next day downstairs in the common room, over breakfast Daimonion and Dera argue over who is going to talk with Radanvich. Dera wins out and walks over to Radanvich and sits down. From the brief conversation, Dera learns that the strange guy from the night before is Polis, and he suspected that Luca was going to leave him for Polis eventually. Before Dera can ask more questions, Radanvich gets up and says he and his group will be heading back to Barovia, and the Temple of the Radiant Beacon.

As Dera returns to the rest of the party, a well-dressed man all in red wanders up to the party. He introduces himself as Andre Linos, and he is happy to have met us after learning of our exploits in the town. He offers to buy everyone a drink, and then sits beside Rimo, where he talks to him in a lowered voice. As he talks to Rimo, Rimo appears to be a bit agitated by the conversation. Andre then gets up and says he has to leave, but before he goes he would like us to all attend a party in a few months time in Port-a-Lucine, and hands Sik an invitation. The invitation is to a masquerade ball to be held in two months time.

The group finishes its drinks and then heads off the Mayor's. When they get there they explain what was going on and the Mayor congratulates them on stopping the heinous murders. He then gives each person $500, and since Reginald's group is imprison he figures as a further reward we can take something of theirs. Dario takes a cloak, Sik a pair of Kragar's goggles, Rimo a long sword, Daimonion a rapier, Dera a ring, and Tallorn a pair of boots. With that taken care of the party is thanked once again by the Mayor and told they are free to leave the town, now that it is open once again.

The group then decide to take the time to purchase a few things before leaving town. Dario pruchases a new set of thieves tools to replace the ones he broke earlier, while Tallorn returns to the temple of Ezra and donates $250, for their helping him earlier. The whole group then meet up and visit farmer Bawb's ranch on the outskirts of town, and they purchase horses to help speed their journey along. After a day of shopping they return to the Green Griffin to get some rest before leaving in the morning for Port-A-Lucine.

One of the interesting problems in this campaign is that Tallorn is not very literate in many languages. In fact he only knows, Darkonian, Tepesti and Vaashi. This causes some problems because our of the rest of the group only Rimo knows Darkonian, and later we find out that so does Dario, but the rest of the party tend to only speak Mordentish or other langauges Tallorn has no understanding in. As a result Tallorn is reduced to hand gestures or drawing on peices of parchment when Rimo is not around to translate for him. Here are the scribblings Tallorn has used through out this adventure to "talk" to other members of the party.

This one is Tallorn trying to convey to Dera that we should go to the local temple and for some medical help.

This one is Tallorn talking with Dera about the fact that certain members of the other parties are missing. Yan, Delacarte, and Kragar, as well as Luca and Roderick

Tallorn was trying to explain that the claw weapon had to be used by someone with good hand to hand skills, like Yan as opposed to a swordsman like Delacarte. Unfortunatly things happened that interrupted the explination

Here Tallorn is trying to explain that he doesn't see any footprints at the crime scene

This is actually Dera's attempt to tell Tallorn they should go explore the possible exits from the scene. It took a while to figure this one out, in fact in the end Tallorn decided they should just go back to the Inn and get some drink and food.

This one Tallorn is "talking" with Daimonion about the fact he sees Yan and Delcarte but not Luca. Daimonion kept thinking he was talking about Selena who had big breasts, so Tallorn had to draw the big breasted lady and cross her out to show he wasn't talking about her.

This is Tallorn saying that the should go over and talk to the people at the table.

Here Tallorn is "talking" to Dera about how the should keep an eye on the door to the inn, as well as Radanvich.

Here Daimonion is explaining to Tallorn that he is going to go ask Radanvich about where Luca went.

The Mortigny Murders, GM Notes

These are the GM's notes they have made about running their campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

The Green Griffon of Mortigny was not normally a very busy inn.(1) Travelers and merchants used it as a waystop, to be sure, but aside from those occasional wanderers, the inn was only home to a small crowd of regular patrons. However, as our adventurers arrived, the tables of the Green Griffon were bustling with relative newcomers.

At a long table, six people sat drinking and conversing. A tall, stout man with a sharpened longsword by his side sat at the head of the table, with an oriental man wearing sashes sitting close by. Near them were a gaunt elf man and a plate-clad dwarf, who bore an ostentatious symbol of a bronze spear bound in iron around his neck.(2) At the far end of the table, a bubbly strawberry blonde in leather flirted with a charming young man, who had a rapier by his side and a massive plume in his cavalier-style cap.

In a somewhat darker corner, even more newcomers sat. A pale man with a long black ponytail and goatee sat, facing the room, idly playing a hand drum. (3) Beside him, looking worried, a petite young woman sipped nonchalantly from a glass of wine. On the other side of their circular table, a massive man with a two-handed blade strapped to his back drank deep of a stein of ale, while a white-clad elf sat next to him, trying to make conversation.

Such was the sight that greeted Dera, Daimonion, Rimo, Dario and Tallorn as they entered. Sik, somewhere along the way, had disappeared, but none really seemed to notice her absence. (4) After ordering drinks and rooms, the group split off, in the hopes to find more information on these newcomers.

Daimonion and Dario immediately made their way over to the circular table, where the mysterious drummer and his comrades relaxed. After greeting the four, Daimonion asked them their names. The drummer set down his drum and set about introducing himself鈥攈e was Robert Radanavic, a Knight of the Radient Beacon from Barovia. (5) The slight girl with him was Lucca Sergial, his consort and an alchemist. Accompanying them were their longtime friends, Gareth Ruhkheim, a warrior from Lamordia, and Pinochet Starborn, a Sithican elf who was raised in the monastery where Radanavic was trained. Sadly, Radanavic told the pair that they had a fifth member to their ensemble, one of those unfortunate souls known to the populace as 'calibans', but Gug was imprisoned when they entered Mortigny, as the people feared the hulking brute. (6)

Daimonion immediately took a shine to the saddened Radanavic, and talked at length with him about their travels. Dario, too, enjoyed the company, particularly that of Pinochet, after finding out that the young elf was a priest of The Nameless One, which was, apparently, a popular faith in Barovia. (7)) After a short while, the name of Gregorian DelShonar came up and Radanavic's eyes rose in alarm. He had faced the doctor in combat before, and knew that his actions towards the group were most malicious. He told Daimonion that word would be sent, as soon as possible, to his Knighthood, so that some rectification might be made.

Meanwhile, as Tallorn drank at the bar, Dera and Rimo made their way over to the other table. The pair approached the stout man and made their introductions. Smiling broadly and raising his ale tankard, he hailed their greeting and introduced himself as Reginald Jordan III, a Darkonian native who was lately a wanderer. He then introduced his compatriots: the lithe oriental man was Yan-Bok-Chan, the elf was Roderick Graganthor, the dwarf was Kragar Stormspire, the blonde was Selena Van Bierk, and the man with the plumed hat was Nathaniel de la Cartier. With a lustful eye, Rimo turned to Selena, who gave up flirting with Nathaniel to check out the newcomer. Immediately, they hit it off, conversing at length. However, Dera was not so lucky in her questioning. Despite Mayor Traven's warnings, she immediately misspoke and dropped her cover as a caravan guard looking for work. Jordan picked up on this catch, growing angry. He questioned her violently, leaving Dera barely attempting to cover her tracks. Rimo jumped up from where he was flirting with Selena, and attempted to draw Jordan's ire away by offering a drink. Eventually, the stout man was calmed, but only at great length and even greater suspicion. (8)

At this point, after Jordan was, at least temporarily, placated, Sik arrived in the Green Griffon. (9) Immediately noticing Roderick's elven heritage, she sidled up to him and began conversing at length as to his homeland and where he was from. Smiling subtly, she plied him for information, which鈥攖hanks to her attentions鈥攈e was more than happy to provide. Dario, somewhat jealously, stood up in indignation and casually dropped by the pair to insinuate romance between himself and the attractive Sik. While Roderick was somewhat startled by this, Sik quickly allayed his fears. Rimo, on the other hand, spent much of his time chatting up Selena, whom he had taken quite the shine to. After some coercing, Selena convinced Rimo to head out to one of the local ale-houses with her, where they talked at length about his past. Intoxicated and more-than-a-little aroused, Rimo escorted Selena back to her room, where they spent the evening in revelry. (10)

The next day came swiftly, and Dario and Daimonion were quick to begin their investigations. Before the others had risen, they made their way down to the home of one Dr. Jonathan Garnet, Mortigny's household doctor and coroner. Dr. Garnet seemed to be quite helpful, inviting the pair into his home and taking them downstairs to where he had been holding the fourth victim for observation before her funeral. Immediately, Daimonion began examining the body. After several minutes of inspecting the claw-like slashes across the body, the young swashbuckler realized several key facts: not only were there no parts of the body missing, which an animal might eat, but the marks left in the body were quite refined, having none of the tell-tale jagged edges which an animal's claw would usually provide. As such, the killer was not an animal. (11)

Quizzically, Dario asked Dr. Garnet if he knew what form of weapon might make these sorts of marks. Somewhat confused, Garnet referred Dario to Godfrey Adhemar, Mortigny's resident weaponsmith extraordinaire. (12) Figuring that such a man would have the best leads to go on, Dario and Daimonion set back out the door. However, their progress was somewhat interrupted by the arrival of Dera, Tallorn and Rimo at Garnet's door. There, the trio chatted about their recent endeavors.

Tallorn, still aching from his travels, had begged his companions to escort him to the local temple of Ezra, so that he might be healed of his wounds. As Mayor Traven had told them, Warden Cartwright was ready to help him, but required a donation for the taxing spell of "restoration". Sighing, the pained ranger turned to the door. His compatriots began following, but then Tallorn turned back, drawing his short sword. Extending his pock-marked blade in both hands, he proclaimed to the Warden that in his fight against evil, his blade had served him well. While he had no money, he wished to continue his fight and would gladly give up one of his only possessions to do so. Touched by Tallorn's brave words, Warden Cartwright smiled and closed his eyes. He bade Tallorn sit down and relax, as healing energy washed from the warden's hands and into the ranger's body. (13) Thanking Warden Cartwright profusely, Tallorn and his compatriots left, meeting up with Dario and Daimonion on Garnet's doorstep.

From there, Dario and Daimonion took their leave, bound for Adhemar's shop on the other side of town. Amidst the clattering sounds of the working forge, a small bell rang as the pair entered. A burly man with a handlebar mustache and a thick leather apron came to the counter, shaking their hands profusely and introducing himself. Daimonion then explained to Adhemar about the wounds suffered by the fourth victim, asking if there was such a weapon that could inflict wounds of that type. Confused somewhat, the burly blacksmith began rifling through his stock in search of such a tri- fold blade. Shaking his head, he rose again empty-handed. The pair were about to leave when Adhemar recalled a lead that may help them. It appeared that an elven sage from Darkon was staying in town for a few days, since the roads had been closed off by the killings. This sage, Amastasia Quillathe by name, was an expert in exotic weaponry from the far-off island of Sri Raji. (14) While it was a long shot, perhaps this Quillathe might know something that might be of use. Thanking Adhemar again, Dario and Daimonion set out for Amastasia Quillathe's apartment.

The elven sage's apartment was filled with books, which splayed out of boxes all across the room. A strange scent filled the air, one of burning herbs or incense, as Dario and Daimonion entered his home. Quillathe's red-rimmed eyes stared blankly at the pair, as they made their inquiries. (15) As Daimonion finished his diatribe, the elf closed his eyes and lolled his head back onto his shoulders. Dario and Daimonion looked quizzically at each other, before Quillathe jumped up and began pulling books off of his shelf. Eventually, he found the one he was searching for and pulled it down, flipping through pages. At last, he came to the page he wanted and held it up for the pair to see. A curved form of a half-gauntlet, with three bladed spikes protruding from the back of the hand over the fingers sat in full illustration on the page. Explaining, Quillathe referred this weapon as a 'bagh nakh', better known as a 'catspaw' to those not of Sri Raji. Quite simply, the weapon was one used only rarely by assassins, when they wanted to make their killings look like an animal had performed the murder. At last enlightened, Dario and Daimonion thanked the bleary-eyed sage and hurried back to the Green Griffon to share the news with their companions.

The evening passed quickly as our heroes exchanged their information and began thinking of suspects. By 10 in the evening, much was on their minds, but some of the group members under investigation were not to be seen. Both Yan-Bok-Chan and Lucca Sergial were gone, their whereabouts unknown. Shrugging off this simple point, the group settled down for the evening. Romance was blossoming between Selena and Rimo, as well as between Roderick and Sik, which left them quite satisfied.

However, as they enjoyed their evening, a peasant burst through the door screaming. Another victim had been found, just outside of the town boundaries. While Rimo and Selena were already in bed, just as with Sik and Roderick, the others immediately leaped to their feet and made their way to the scene of the crime. Grim- faced, Radanavic expressed his concern over Lucca, as she still had not returned. Jordan, however, seemed almost nonchalant as he observed the killing, believing that the animal behind it was just waiting to be caught.

After inspecting the corpse, the group returned to the Green Griffon. Yan was already there, though, while Lucca remained missing. The majority of the group headed to sleep, while Tallorn and Dera stayed awake with Radanavic, as he asked them to wait for Lucca with him.

Dario slept fitfully, at best. It may have been for the best that way, though, as his sharp hearing picked up soft footfalls in the hallway outside. Nervous, he made sounds as if he was still awake, and the footfalls soon faded away. Daimonion, however, immersed himself in a deep slumber. Quietly, a dark-clad figure picked the lock on her door and swung it open. However, the figure had not counted on the creaky hinges of the room door. As it opened the door, with a loaded pistol drawn, Daimonion leaped awake and drew his rapier. Alarmed, the figure fired a single shot into Daimonion's shoulder, then leapt through the shuttered window to the street below. The swashbuckler cried out in pain, bleeding profusely, and watched the mysterious figure disappear into the night. (16)

Hearing the gunshot, Tallorn, Dera and Radanavic leapt to their feet. Radanavic drew forth a massive halberd which he held in both hands as they ran upstairs. Jordan and his friends joined them, along with Pinochet and Gareth. The group did their best to calm and heal Daimonion, but much was unsettled. Counting heads, they found that while Selena and Roderick were with Jordan, Nathaniel was not. Lucca, too, had still not reappeared. What was worse, both Rimo and Sik were missing. Immediately, questions began flying. As constables appeared on the scene, Nathaniel rose up the stairs with them. Daimonion and Tallorn immediately questioned him as to where Rimo and Sik might be, but Nathaniel merely said that they had decided to go drinking at a local alehouse and had stayed out later than he. Suspicious, Daimonion looked long at the cavalier, seeing if he had any weapons. Aside from his standard rapier, though, Daimonion noticed nothing out of the ordinary. (17)

Sliding past the group, Nathaniel positioned himself between Jordan and Pinochet. As the group argued, he slowly reached into his back-holster. With a swift motion, he grasped Pinochet by the throat, holding his reloaded pistol at the half-elf's throat. Smiling slyly, he told Radanavic and the heroes to put their weapons down as he and his friends gathered their things. All was obvious now鈥擩ordan and his comrades were behind it all.

At a loss of what to do, Dera slipped into a low incantation. Immediately, the sound of several gunshots echoed down the hall. While the constables and Jordan reacted with alarm, de la Cartier steeled his grip on Pinochet, pushing his pistol barrel into the cleric's temple. Radanavic slowly lowered his halberd, as two shadows rose from the stairs.

A single shot rang out as Nathaniel de la Cartier's skull burst forth in a shower of gore. At the end of the hallway, Lucca Sergial held a smoking pistol with a determined look, while Pinochet scrambled back, breathing heavily. (18) A tall man behind her with a shorn head stepped in front of her, his eyes glowing with power. Immediately, Jordan and all his allies stood frozen in place by some unseen power. From there, the constables quickly manacled Jordan, Yan, Kragar, Selena and Roderick.

Worried about the fates of their comrades, Tallorn, Dario and the others ran to Selena's and Roderick's room. There, bound and gagged, their friends lay. As they were released, Sik grabbed up her crossbow and ran downstairs. As Roderick stood held by the unseen power of the mysterious man, Sik smiled sultrily and aimed her crossbow at the base of Roderick's skull. Helpless, the mage fell, to the horror of the constables, who were waiting to carry him away. Dark power washed through Sik and she reveled in its touch. (19)

The innkeep assembled the remaining heroes downstairs, hoping to alleviate their fears. Radanavic's eyes were narrowed as he slowly trod down the stairs with Tallorn and Dario. Lucca came last, with her mysterious friend, and addressed her consort. With sadness in her eyes, she told the knight that, simply, their romance was over. With a final forlorn gaze, Robert watched the pair silently walk into the night. (20)

At the constabulary, a full confession was elicited from Reginald Jordan and his so-called adventurers. Quite simply, they would kill a few peasants in a similar manner, using the bagh nakh, and then appear on the scene as investigators, ready to solve their own killings. After milking a town for as much cash as possible, they'd come up with a bloody animal pelt, claim their rewards and move on. Our heroes, too close to the truth, became an obstacle, which needed to be removed.

With the uneasy night behind them, dawn rose on a now-peaceful Mortigny. Drained from their investigations and the confrontation, the six adventurers made their way to bed again, hoping that rest might finally be found.

Footnotes:

Again, I can't name things. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. If someone could send me a big list of names, I'd really appreciate it.
Ah, yes鈥攖he faith of the Lawgiver. Since Sik is actually from Faerun, I played this up that he actually was Bane. Needless to say, Sik was disturbed.
One of my favorite illegal characters of all time鈥攖he Paladin-Bard Robert Radanavic. Originally, his faith was going to (unknowingly) be that of Hastur, but I thought that it might be a bit much. I play conga myself, so I'd love to be able to play my Perform checks. I even had song lyrics written up...
Sik went to a few of the local ale-houses to try to milk the patrons for info. It didn't work so well, as they thought she was a 12 year old boy (Sik is extremely petite). As such, she 'disappeared' for a while.
Again, a faith I made up based on a disguised cult of Hastur. He and Lucca will both figure prominently in my novel....that is, if I ever get it written. While I love borrowing from other sources, this time, I borrowed from myself!
Another character I'd love to play, just for style. Gug, the half-orc sorcerer. They way I figure it, he'd have an immensely low Intelligence, with a disturbingly high Charisma. Essentially, he'd be casting fireballs into melee, then wondering why people got mad at him for it. "Gug's Boom work! You got in way this time. You not get in way next time!"
Hastur, Hastur, Hastur! Boy, I need a conga line for this... ;)
A few sessions after this one, I had a nice long talk with Dera's player about subtlety and how important it can be. Needless to say, this was not one of his most tactful moments. Also, this raised Jordan's suspicions quite highly, which led to the events later on.
More on Sik's background. She's CE and was raised by drow, so she's looking to make her way back to Faerun and enslave some males along the way. As such, she gravitated right to Roderick to manipulate him, which makes the later events much funnier...well, sort of.
Think 'boot-scene' from Star Trek. Rimo's player learned a harsh lesson on reasons not to sleep with people in my games.
Jinkies, gang! It's a groovy mystery! Never mind...I just always wanted to say that.
Again, I can't name things. These are two names from the First Crusade, which I've been studying for a long while (about 3 years now). I figured, what the hell.
Wow, I was really impressed with Tallorn's player with this kind of roleplaying. He got his healing, some extra XP and a GM's commendation for this one. Very touching and very sweet.
Sigh...are you noticing a pattern with my poor naming yet? These are names from the Player's Handbook. I really need a name list.
Yes, he was stoned. I was bored, so I gave the Rajian sage some character.
This was a big sticking point for me. Obviously, Jordan wasn't going to sit by and get captured, so taking a pre-emptive action came naturally. However, it raised a very odd question in my mind. Role-playing, as a game system, depends on a symbiosis between GM and player, in which each trusts the other. However, in assassinating a PC, I would essentially be denying them any chance of survival just for the sake of my story (keep in mind that sleeping characters essentially "take 0" on all checks, which means that de la Cartier would be able to sneak up on them with no trouble at all, coup de gracing them). As such, I ended up bending the rules for their favor鈥攁llowing them several, heavily-penalized Listen checks鈥攋ust so that Daimonion would survive. Looking back, I'm not sure it was the best way to do it, but I still can't think of a better way. The question thus remains, "Is it right to kill off a player on purpose, and if so, how?" After 11 years of GMing, I still don't have an answer.
Three words: Failed Spot Check. Had she made it, there would have been a much more violent end, I'm sure.
I've rolled a lot of instant kills in this campaign. This one was three consecutive Natural Twenties. Nathaniel de la Cartier never stood a chance.
Act of Ultimate Darkness on Sik's part...she wasn't happy that Roderick knocked her out and tied her up. As the first part of her curse, I gave her an extra d6 of sneak attack damage with her crossbow, but had her eyes flare red anytime she grew angry.
The bald man was Paulus of Ironwood Vale, the main character in my novel. He's been almost impossible to define in game-terms, but he's sort of a Rogue/Psion (savant) with some pretty impressive staff combat abilities. Maybe a Ranger/Psion, then? I have no idea. At any rate, he and Lucca were long in love, despite her attachment to Robert. As such, they ride off into the night, leaving Robert to gather his thoughts alone.

The Terrible Tome, An Adventure's Log

After a day of shopping around Mortigny, and getting horses, the group decides its best to wait until morning the next day before starting out for Port-A-Lucine. As the party makes it was up the stairs of the Green Griffin the doors of the place are suddenly thrown open and a man stumbles in bleeding and rambling and muttering to himself. As he stumbles across the inn a bit the people in the tavern quickly get out of his way. Sik continues on to bed, while the rest of the party go up to the guy at the bar where the bartender has given him a glass of water.

When the members of the party ask what is going on the guy, starts to mutter about dogs. The Dogs are out there and they are close to getting him. Tallorn and Rimo both walk over to the windows to take a look outside for dogs, but neither sees anything. Daimonion, Dera and Dario continue to talk to the guy, but he still mutters more about the dogs, and only gets more agitated. Tallorn meanwhile wonders why the bar keep only gave the guy a glass of water as opposed to something stiffer.

Dario decides to go outside and see what is going on for himself, while the rest of the party stays inside. At first Dario doesn't see anything out of the unusual in the evening peering from behind the door. Its not until Dario actually walks outside that he sees a wavy almost transparent form of a greyhound on the outskirts of town. Before Dario can blink the dog suddenly disappears. Dario quickly looks around and sees the dog reappear a few steps ahead of where it was and it disappears once again. Dario decides to run back inside and let the rest know about this.

Rimo quickly runs upstairs and gets Sik, while the man laughs a bit and says he told us about them, but no one would believe him. He needs to get to the enclave fast in order to stop the dogs from getting him. Once at the enclave the dogs will stop their pursuit of him, and all will be safe from the dogs. With Dario telling us the dog isn't that far from the inn, we all decide to mount up our horses and make a dash for the enclave.

After a really short discussion about why we should flee instead of staying in the Inn ends with the fact that the dogs could probably go right through the walls, the party dashes out in to the evening air and mounts their horses and rides off out of town. The guy rides with Daimonion, and points us in the direction of his enclave, and insists we must keep going at the fastest possible speed so that the dogs do not catch up. Sik meanwhile keeps complaining about how much she hates to ride a horse, and seems to almost want to fall off her horse during the rapid journey.

Three hours later, we let the horses slow down to a trot, in order not to wear them out from too hard of a riding. The guy insists that the party continue on at best speed, but the horses can only manage a slow trot. Not wanting to stop and make camp in the middle of the night, we figure it would be best to remain on horseback until daybreak. That way if the dogs catch up to us in the night we can try to spur the horses into making a dash.

As we ride slowly along, Daimonion asks the guy what the guy is running from. The guy mumbles a bit and then tells the party that he took something that the dogs want returned. He has been running from the dogs for a long time now, but that is all he says before he begins to tell the party that they need to be making better time. The party mindful of the horses just keeps going at a slow trot.

At daybreak, the party stops and while Rimo wanders off into the woods to hunt up some food, the rest make camp. Rimo returns with a deer and Dera makes a stew of it, which the party at first is a little weary of eating, considering the last time they had stew. While eating stew the party asks the guy some more questions.

The guy's name is Edgar Tindalos, and he has been running from the dogs for quite sometime. Reluctant at first, Edgar pulls out the object he took, at Dario's constant insistence. The object happens to be a book made of some kind of leather, which a few of the party gasp at as they recognize it as human flesh. Edgar says the book contains knowledge that is forbidden because it is very powerful knowledge. He then offers the party a chance to read it, but Daimonion and Tallorn decide to refuse while the others gather around the small fire and start reading the book.

While the group reads the book, Daimonion and Tallorn notice that they twitch in odd manners, except for Edgar who seems to be calm during the whole reading. Rimo seems to be the most affected by the contents of the book though. By mid-day the group has made it about a third of the way through the book, but before they continue any farther, Edgar suddenly stands up screaming and pointing down the road.

Where the road meets the horizon, two wavy greyhounds are standing. Before the party can react one of the two disappears and reappears next to Edgar and with its nearly transparent tongue lashes out at Edgar, and pierces him. The dog retracts its tongue from Edgar's body leaving a hole that doesn't bleed, nor does it fill in with parts, it just clear through Edgar. Seeing this Rimo screams, and almost bolts.

The quickness of the dog catches Tallorn off-guard causing him to drop his long- sword, but he still manages to get the dog with his short sword. Daimonion also caught off guard also manages to hit the dog with his rapier. Sik puts on the pair of goggles she picked up earlier, and then tries to stare down one of the dogs, but nothing happens. Dera meanwhile casts a spell that streaks off down the road hitting the dog there.

Edgar though, screams some more and stumbles back from the dog that struck him. Suddenly a black wavy ray reaches out from his hand and strikes the dog near him, causing it to bleed and shrivel up. The second dog disappears and reappears next to Dera striking her with its claw, and then sticking its tongue into her as well. This leaves a hole similar to the one on Edgar, which is bloodless and clear through. Rimo calms down enough to fire from his longbow two arrows into the side of the dog that hit Dera. The arrows manage to pierce the side of the dog, but suddenly fizzle and fall to the ground. Dario meanwhile tries to get a strike in but manages only to miss the dog. Tallorn, on the other hand, quickly picks up his long-sword and turns and slices into the dog.

The first dogs wounds seem to heal a bit, as it turns and claws Daimonion, but isn't able to get its tongue on him. Daimonion is a little shaken by the hit, and misses the dog with his rapier. Sik though still wearing her goggles just seems to watch the battle indifferently.

Suddenly the dog that was attacking Dera, gives a little yelp as it falls to the ground and dissolves into a slime that seeps into the earth. Seeing as how the dog on her is no longer there Dera turns and fires a spell off at the remaining dog that manages to hit it. Edgar screams some more, which distracts Rimo enough to make his shots go wild and miss the party. Dario though manages to puncture the side of the dog with his short sword. But before the group can do any more to hurt the dog, it steps back and disappears.

Dario walks over to Edgar, and as he tries to calm Edgar down attempts to pick his pockets. Edgar though suddenly calms down enough to catch Dario, and gives Dario a mean look. Dario though manages to talk his way out of any trouble though, and Edgar tells us that we should get some sleep, as the dogs will probably not return for a while after we defeated them. As the party settles down to get some sleep Tallorn pats Daimonion on the back for a job well done, and Daimonion does feel better after that.

Tallorn decides to take the watch while the party rests up. The rest of the day goes by without incident and as night falls Tallorn wakes the party up and prepares the horses for the ride. Edgar insists we must make good time tonight, and if we do we should be to the enclave by nightfall the next day.

As the party rides on at a slight gallop, in order to not wear the horses out too much, Edgar gives up some more information about his flight from the dogs. While poking the hole in his chest, he mentions that the enclave we are heading to is a place where a sect held sacred rights. The sect held the scared rights at this particular enclave, because it was the resting place of the Liber Dibon. The Liber Dibon is the book of forbidden knowledge he currently possesses. He stole it from the enclave to learn of the powerful knowledge contained in it. The sect had of course protected the book by guarding it with phase dogs, which are the dogs currently chasing him and the ones we've done battle with. Thus he must return the book to stop the phase dogs from chasing him.

Suddenly for some reason Dera's horse bolts and charges ahead of the party. The whole party gets a little chuckle out of this, not because of Dera's face when the horse bolted but because there is a shrill whistling sound too. The whistling sound came from the small hole in Dera's shoulder that was made when the phase dog stuck its tongue into her. Dera not too pleased with the laughter turns and fires a spell off at Rimo, who gets a frosty chill, which quickly shuts him up.

After a night of riding the morning dawns and the party stops the horses and makes camp. Tallorn takes the first watch while the party sleeps. Daimonion is awoken by Tallorn to take the next watch, and both notice that Edgar actually has not gone to sleep, and that Dera is sleeping away from the rest of the group. Not thinking much of this Tallorn goes to sleep letting Daimonion take the watch.

A short while later, Edgar starts to become a bit agitated, and Daimonion noticing this decides that it can't be good news, starts to wake the rest of the party. As Daimonion starts to head over to Dera to wake her up, three phase dogs suddenly appear just outside the camp. So close in fact that one of them takes a swipe at Edgar, but misses with its claws, but manages to stab him with its tongue, leaving another bloodless hole in him.

The second phase dog leaps at Daimonion and only manages to sink its tongue into him, leaving him with a hole in his shoulder. Sik puts on her goggles again and tries to start down the first phase dog, but only causes it to quiver a bit. Rimo still a bit groggy from waking up quickly fires an arrow from his long bow that goes astray, but he manages to hit the second phase dog with his other shot. Once again the arrow fizzles and falls to the ground. Tallorn, also groggy from the sudden awakening swings with his two swords at the second phase dog, but doesn't connect. Dario though sneaks around the first phase dog, and with a strong swing of his short sword slices a serious wound into its side. Daimonion still startled from the strike by the second phase dogs tongue, only manages to swing his rapier and miss.

Edgar steps back from the first phase dog, and suddenly the dog gags for a second and then chokes up a lot of water. The phase dog then slumps on to its side and it dissipates into the ground. The third phase dog leaps at Rimo, but only manages to get one claw on him, before it realizes it has leapt too much and crashes into the woods behind him.

The second phase dog still not done with Daimonion, slashes him with both its claws, and slobbers what appears to be acid over him as well. Sik once again stares through her goggles at the second phase dog, only causing it to shake a little bit. Rimo turns around and lets loose two arrows from his long bow, at the phase dog that crashed into the trees behind him, and hits with both. Tallorn also manages to hit twice with both his swords on the second phase dog. While Dario gets around behind the second phase dog and strikes it as well with his short sword. Daimonion reeling from taking more damage can only swing his rapier around and miss.

Edgar faces the phase dog in the woods, and in the middle of the air with his finger, draws a red sign of some sort. The phase dog, noticing the red sign, suddenly whimpers and runs off down the road. The second phase dog, noticing the other flee suddenly disappears from the middle of the battle.

With the battle over the party sits back down around the fire to rest and heal up their wounds. Dera and Rimo decide to take the last watch before nightfall, but nothing comes forth. Just as night begins to fall Rimo hunts down another deer for dinner, and the party prepares for another night of riding. After a quick meal the party mounts up and begins heading off towards the enclave, with directions from Edgar.

As they ride along Dera, Dario and Rimo talk about the book a bit. Sik still seems to be trying to fall of her horse, but manages to stay on anyway. Sik fortunately or unfortunately doesn't need much of reason to stay on her horse after a short while, as four phase dogs appear on the road ahead of the party.

As the part quickly dismounts for battle, Rimo lets loose with two arrows, only managing to hit the third phase dog with his second shot. The lead phase dog leaps at Dario, but as it misses Dario and leaps past him, landing behind the party. Dera quickly mutters some words and becomes festooned in magical armor. Then the second phase dog claws at Rimo, but missing with its claws, stick him with its tongue instead, leaving a nice bloodless hole in him. Daimonion manages to slice into the third phase dog with his rapier, leaving a nice wound on its side. While Sik with her goggles, tries to start down the wounded phase dog. The fourth, and last phase dog, charges at Edgar, but Edgar steps back and fires three magic missiles at it. Meanwhile Dario tries to sneak around behind the third phase dog.

Tallorn with his sword actually manages to hit the second phase dog three times leaving it with some deep bleeding wounds. Dario then sneaks around behind the phase dog and stabs it, causing it to slump to the ground and dissipate into the earth.

Rimo pulls out his special dagger and charges at the third phase dog, burying the dagger into it. The phase dog then turns on Rimo and staggered by the dagger hit, can only swipe blindly at him, and misses.

Dera fires a crossbow bolt at the first phase dog hitting it for a bit of damage. Daimonion then slices in it with his rapier leaving it with some wounds. The phase dog suddenly disappears and then reappears beside Dario, where it claws him and then sticks him with its tongue, leaving Dario with a bloodless hole.

Sik meanwhile continues to stare through her goggles at the phase dogs, but beyond that does not do anything.

The last phase dog still continues its attack on Edgar. Edgar screams as the phase dog sticks its tongue into him leaving another bloodless hole. Edgar is able, through his screams, to cast another magic missile at the phase dog, seriously wounding it.

Tallorn a bit distracted by Edgar's scream only manages to bring his long-sword down on the third phase dog, doing it some minor damage. Dario also distracted by the scream misses the phase dog all together. Rimo stabs at the phase dog with his dagger and misses, but notices that some of its wounds have healed a bit.

Dera tries to fire another crossbow bolt at the first phase dog, but in the heat of the battle snaps the string on her weapon. In the instant Dera takes to look at how badly broken her crossbow is, the first phase dog is upon her. It then strikes at her with its claws, slicing right through her neck, lopping her head off completely.

Not seeing Dera's head being knocked off her body, Daimonion manages to stab his rapier into the side of the fourth phase dog. Sik on the other hand, seemingly motivated by the death of Dera, sneaks up to the first phase dog, and stabs it to death.

Edgar screams out loud, and the fourth phase dog disappears. As soon as the phase dog disappears Edgar runs screaming and tries to climb onto one of the horses.

Tallorn quickly turns his attention to the last remaining phase dog, and brings just his long-sword down upon it, causing it to fall to the ground in pain. Dario then comes up to it and slams his short sword into the side of the phase dog killing it.

With the battle over Daimonion rushes over to Edgar and manages to catch him before he rides off. Tallorn and Daimonion try to calm Edgar down, while Dario and Rimo bury Dera's body. While helping Rimo bury the body Dario searches her remains for anything useful, which prompts Rimo to help him with the search.

Once Edgar is calmed down, and Dera's body has been laid to rest, the party quickly mounts up and rides on, since Edgar tells the party that they are close to the mountains where the enclave is. The sooner the party gets to the enclave the sooner the phase dogs will stop attacking.

The mountains cause a bit of a problem for the horse, which slows the party down, but towards midnight they come across the enclave that Edgar was talking about. Before entering the enclave, Edgar offers the group a chance to finish reading the Liber Dibon, which Sik, Dario and Rimo eagerly accept. While the group settles down to read Daimonion and Tallorn keep a watch out for any more phase dogs.

About two hours later the group finishes reading the book, and all three of the party members seem to be more confident and healthier looking than before. With renewed vigor the group decides to head into the enclave in order to return the book to its rightful place with in it. Daimonion and Tallorn decide to spend the time keeping an eye out for any trouble, and stay outside the enclave.

After a while, and a few "discussions" about leaving if the party does not return by daybreak, Daimonion and Tallorn hear some noises coming from inside the enclave. Before they can consider the idea of entering the enclave, the noises stop. From the enclave steps forth Sik who is very anxious to leave the enclave, followed by Rimo and Dario. Rimo grins widely and proudly pulls up his tunic to show off the runes he has cut into his flesh. The rest of the group declines his offer of getting similar items drawn on their bodies.

Not wanting to know what has gone on inside the enclave, and seeing as how the book is no longer with the party, Daimonion and Tallorn suggest mounting up on their horses and making their way out of the mountains. As the group makes it way down the mountain range, Rimo sings a really wretched song that causes the party to wince and moan about how bad it is.

Once at the bottom of the mountain range, the group decides to stop and get some sleep. As Rimo falls asleep, Sik and Dario tie him up and gag him to prevent him from singing anymore, and then they go to sleep. But in the middle of the night a wolf sneaks into camp and chews Rimo's bonds freeing him, and then rests its head on Rimo's sleeping body and falls asleep as well.

This was Tallorn telling Daimonion about how the group is interested in the book and the fact that Rimo seems to be losing his mind. The character at the bottom left is Daimonion's doing, but not sure what it is meant to be.

Left: The first bit on the left, is Tallorn pointing out that Edgar, the one with the book, is not sleeping.
Right: The middle one is Daimonion talking about how frigthened Edgar is of the dogs (yes that is a dog not a cat).

This Tallorn saying that at sun up we should take the horses and head off for Port-A-Lucine. (This is while Tallorn and Daimonion were waiting for the group to return from the Enclave.)

This Daimonion asking what about the party members in the enclave, and maybe we Should give them more time before we just leave them.

Tallorn replies that if they are not back by sun up they are prolly dead and it would be best to leave.

Top Daimonion then asks about sleep.
Bottom Tallorn says that we can sleep once we get out of the mountains, away from the enclave.

Left: This is Tallorn telling Daimonion that Rimo's singing is hurting his ears, and maybe we should gag him.
Right: Here Daimonion is offering up some rope he has to help gag Rimo

The Howling Hunt, An Adventure's Log

In the morning the party awakens to find Rimo has a new friend a wolf. The wolf seems to have disappointed Dario and Sik, because it seems to have untied Rimo from his ropes. None-the-less the party finishes the dear that was captured the previous meal time, for breakfast.

With the meal finished the party cannot seem to decide on where they should go from here. The group sits around the camp and discusses the journey and they decide to travel on to Port-a-Lucine via Port-a-Museau, to which Diamonion reluctantly agrees. Having made the decision on which path to take, the next problem is finding a means of actually getting to Port-a-Museau, since the party is lost in the middle of the woods with no road, path or even deer trail out of the woods.

After searching around for an hour Rimo manages to lead the party out of the woods and on to a road that happens to lead to Port-a-Museau. Despite the well worn road, Sik seems to have trouble riding her horse, and almost falls off at one point. Rimo makes a quick remark about jiggling and bouncing that causes Sik to look at him with a cold stare. Rimo doesn鈥檛 help the situation when at noon he manages to cook a stew so foul that no-one can barely eat it.

The horrible stew is left behind and the group rides onwards for a while. A few miles later Diamonion hears a woman鈥檚 scream, and quickly charges off toward it, leaving the rest of the party to only follow and hear him say that someone is in trouble. As the rest of the party charges forth, Sik and Dario seem to jockey for the right to bring up the rear, and start to slow their horses down to a gallop.

Off the road the party comes upon a clearing where a ring of three dire wolves surround a sumptuous lady with short dark brown hair. Sik manages to get to the clearing and spotting the lady quickly dismounts and fires a crossbow bolt into one of the dire wolves. The rest of the party, still on horse back, charges at the wolves, with weapons drawn.

Tallorn is the first of the mounted party to reach the wolves and with his long- sword slashes into the dire wolf that Sik hit with her crossbow earlier. The dire wolf quickly turns on Tallorn and bites into his mounts flanks. Another dire wolf nips at the lady, while the third spies Sik and bounds off after her, and fails to bite into Sik鈥檚 throat. Diamonion seeing the lady is being bitten, charges upon the attacking wolf, and with his rapier leaves a deep wound across its side. Rimo tries to follow Diamonion鈥檚 lead but only manages to barely keep his war hammer in his hands. Dario seeing Sik in danger turns and charges the wolf and leaves a deep cut in its flanks.

Sik drops to the ground and tries to play dead, but her bad acting only convinces the wolf that she has fallen to the ground. Tallorn continues to use his long-sword to carve into the dire wolf in front of him, and the wolf in great pain tries to run away. Before the wolf can turn and run, Tallorn brings his long-sword down and slices straight through the wolf鈥檚 side nearly chopping it in half, killing it. The other wolf in the fray turns way from the lady and gets a bite in on Rimo鈥檚 leg; in return Diamonion pierces the wolf in its hind quarters. Rimo chants something mystical, but the sharp bite from the wolf interrupts him, and he only manages to let out a loud scream instead. Dario meanwhile trying to help Sik, with his short sword leaves another bleeding cut in the side of the wolf.

Seeing as how her playing dead didn鈥檛 fool anyone, Sik quickly gets up and runs for cover behind Diamonion, and manages to fire a crossbow bolt into her assailant. Tallorn turns his attention to the other wolf and leaves a small slice in its side, but the wolf quickly strikes back with its claws nearly felling Tallorn off his horse. With Sik behind Diamonion, the other wolf attacks Diamonion instead, and as it lands a claw on him, Diamonion slices it through with his rapier killing it. Rimo meanwhile continues to scream madly and even starts to sing a bit. Dario seeing as how the last wolf is distracted with mauling Tallorn, sneaks up behind it and lands a heavy strike upon it, but not enough to kill it. At this point though the lady manages to swing with her dagger and lands it on the wolf killing it.

Tallorn and Diamonion quickly tend to Rimo and calm him down. Dario quickly walks over to the lady and helps her up, and asks her who she is. She introduces herself as Natalia and she is heading to Port-a-Museau. As she explains how thankful she is that we came along, she smiles politely to the members of the party, but skips smiling at Diamonion.

Bringing her gaze back to Dario, and as her reward for saving her, she hands him a fancy necklace of amber with a golden chain. As she puts both arms around Dario to put the necklace on him, Sik interrupts by putting her arm around Dario. Dario deftly slides out from under Sik鈥檚 arm, and gives Natalia a reassuring 鈥渉ug鈥� during which he pats her down for anything she might have, but doesn鈥檛 find anything. Rimo lets out a small umph sound, as Dario 鈥渉ugs鈥� Natalia. Natalia asks him what is wrong and his mentions that he was punched, and it hurt a bit. She replies saying that being punched doesn鈥檛 mean he should frown, but he should smile as it can be fun at times. Rimo smiles at this notion.

Dario and Rimo both offer to let her tag along with the party for safety, to which she agrees to immediately. Natalia quickly walks over and hops on Dario鈥檚 horse. Dario with a big smile walks over to his horse and offers to tend to Natalia鈥檚 wounds before they take off on the journey. Rimo and Sik though both look on the two of them with a grimace.

The party rides on towards Port-a-Museau until nightfall, when they stop to make camp. Rimo decides to let Howly help out and points in to the woods and tells him to go fetch some dinner. After the fire has been made and the party is settling down to cook, Howly returns badly bruised up, almost looking like he had fallen off the edge of a small cliff, or was attacked by a bigger creature. The party not having anything fresh, manages to eat what rations they have, or what little bit of vegetation they could scrounge up near the camp, without having to go too far into the woods.

Diamonion takes first watch, while the rest of the party decides to get to sleep. During his watch he sees Rimo suddenly crawl out from under his blankets and stand up. With a blank expression on his face, Rimo pulls out his dagger and walks over to a tree. As Diamonion watches, Rimo then begins to start carving into the bark. Diamonion walks over to Rimo and tries to talk to him, but Rimo does not respond, even to Diamonion鈥檚 poking him in the side. Since talking and poking aren鈥檛 doing anything, Diamonion shakes Rimo, causing him to fall to the ground and quickly wake up.

Rimo wakes up and is startled. He asks Diamonion what happened, but doesn鈥檛 know what to make of Diamonion鈥檚 statements about his carving into the bark. Rimo decides to not go back to sleep but instead pace around the fire, and as he does so he hums to himself.

Diamonion wakes up Dario at the start of second watch, and explains to him what had happened with Rimo earlier in the night. Natalia wakes up as well, so she can spend the watch with Dario, but Diamonion doesn鈥檛 tell her what had happened. Diamonion out of a bit of worry decides that he will stay up a bit longer to keep on eye on Rimo.

With Diamonion keeping an eye on Rimo, and Rimo walking in circles around the fire, Dario takes Natalia away from the camp. Dario then asks her some questions about the area that they are in. She answers with what little she knows. Dario then points out the runes carved by Rimo, and asks if she knows what they are, but this time she doesn鈥檛 know anything. When asked if she might know of some place that could help Rimo, she says the only place she knows of is The Asylum.

Dario and Natalia then head back to camp where the two settle down for bed, but as they do so, Natalia tries to take things a bit further. Dario quickly wiggles out from under her, and walks a bit away from the camp. Outside camp he portends that it isn鈥檛 such a good idea to sleep with her. He gets back to the bunk and is able to fend off her advances and settles for just snuggling.

Tallorn takes the next watch and seeing Rimo walking in circles around the fire stops him and convinces him to get some sleep. Diamonion decides to also get some sleep at this point and goes to bed as well. A few minutes later Rimo gets back up with a blank expression on his face. But before Rimo can pull out his dagger Tallorn slaps him hard across the face waking Rimo up. Rimo now awaken again starts to hum a bit more, and a few minutes later Sik suddenly wakes up and yells for Rimo to stop humming. Rimo startled and maybe a bit frightened by Sik鈥檚 yelling stops humming and runs over to a small tree and tries to climb it.

The tree though isn鈥檛 big enough, and only bends over under Rimo鈥檚 weight. As it bends enough to let Rimo stand back on the ground, it suddenly breaks in twain with a loud snap that wakes everyone in the party up, except for Diamonion. As the awakened party tries to figure out what is going on, Rimo walks over to the fire with the broken part of the tree and tosses it onto the fire. Tallorn quickly pulls the broken tree from the fire before it can catch. Rimo then reaches down and picks up a piece of wood and starts to hit himself on the head with it.

Thinking Rimo is distracted by hitting himself with a piece of wood Sik tries to sneak around his back. Rimo though manages to spot her and turns around and stares at her. While Sik and Rimo stare at each other Tallorn swings at the back of Rimo鈥檚 head to knock him out but misses. Rimo spins around and then stares at Tallorn. Sik then makes an attempt to knock Rimo out, but since Rimo is taller then she, she misses and unbalanced falls to the ground instead. Tallorn then stops Rimo and convinces him that he should go back to sleep. Rimo agrees and then quietly walks back to his bed and goes back to sleep.

In the morning the party awakens, and scrounges up some grub to eat. Rimo burns a rabbit that he ends up eating by himself. The party then make there way on to Port-a- Museau which they reach by Noon.

As the party rides on into town Rimo pulls out his dagger and shows it Natalia, but before he can ask her if she knows anything about it she quickly backs away from Rimo. Rimo sheathes the dagger, and the party then asks a local if they know of any place that could help identify mysterious equipment. The local tells them that the hermit Ben- Jin on the outskirts of town would be the best person to ask. The party then turns and heads back out of town to visit with the hermit.

Ben-Jin is able to tell the party a good deal of information about what they have, or at least more than they knew before about the equipment. As the party pays for the appraisals, Rimo begins to hum again, but Sik quickly tells him to stop it, and Rimo stops. With the appraisals out of the way, Dario sells his helmet to Ben for some money, which Ben pays for with a paper-check worth 720 gold pieces. The party then says their good byes and head back into town.

As night falls the party manages to find an inn on the outskirts of town to stay at, this happens to have stables as well for their horses. After a meal Diamonion and Rimo head up to their rooms to get some sleep. Tallorn follows shortly after them, and quietly boards up the door to Rimo鈥檚 room so he can鈥檛 get out, and then stands watch at the door.

Dario and Natalia find a table for just the two of them, and chat over their dinner. Sik from the bar watches on, and convinces the barkeep to send a drink to Dario with a note saying it was from a busty commoner in the room at another table. Sik quickly retreats to her room before the barkeep makes his way over to Dario.

Dario gets the drink and looks around the room for the busty girl, and winks at her when he spots her. Natalia just looks on and continues to chat with him over their meal. Dario learns that she is on her way to Darkon, and she wouldn鈥檛 mind his help getting there. Dario casts portents to decide if he should help, but Natalia notices and gets a little spooked by it. Dario calms her down and then tries to convince her to stay with his party for safety. She agrees to stay the night and the two head upstairs. She takes his hand in hers and walks him to her room where the two crawl into bed together for the night.

About two hours into the night, Dario is suddenly awakened by the sound of the door crashing in. Standing in the doorway is a dark silhouette, with a guy standing in the hallway behind it. As the silhouette steps into the room Dario notices that Natalia is neither in the bed beside him nor, in the room at all. As the silhouette walks over to Dario, Dario sees that he is a big man dressed all in black. The man in black then demands to know where she is, and Dario can only mutter that he has no idea.

The man in black then turns to the other guy in the doorway and motions him to watch the door, and then proceeds to search the room tossing things aside. Dario quickly gets his pants on and climbs out of his bed. The guy turns to Dario and with a quick squinty look over; he tells him that he was lucky that he wasn鈥檛 bitten. The guy then grabs the amber necklace off the night table, and puts it in his pocket.

The rest of the people in the party, except Rimo, quickly run to Dario鈥檚 doorway having been awoken by the crashing of the door and the sounds of furniture being tossed around. As Sik gets to the doorway she pulls out her crossbow and aims it at the guy, but he turns on the assembled group and tells them to put their weapons away.

Dario steps up to the guy and asks for the necklace to be returned, but the guy in black refuses. Dario as he grabs the rest of his outfit asks to know why it was taken in the first place. The guy in black asks Dario if he knew what the symbol in amber meant, and when Dario says he doesn鈥檛 the guy explains that it鈥檚 the symbol of Lycanthrope.

Tallorn rushes to Rimo鈥檚 room and pulls off the boards off the door. As he opens the door he hears some movement, peering into the room he sees Rimo standing on his bed with nothing on but a big grin. Tallorn walks into the room and slaps Rimo hard across the face waking him up. Tallorn tosses Rimo his and notices that the interior of the room is covered in carved symbols. With Rimo now wearing pants and a shirt, Tallorn drags him to meet up with the rest of the party.

Rimo and Tallorn get back to the rest of the party just as the guy in black and his companion start heading down the stairs in a rush. He tells the rest of the party they can join him in the hunt for the beast, but he will not wait for us. He says this is the closest he has gotten to her, and he will not let her get away this time. The rest of the party quickly grabs their gear and grab their horses and catch up to the guy on the outskirts of town.

As the party rides out of town, Rimo jokes with Dario about sleeping with Natalia. Dario laughs in good humor at Rimo鈥檚 remarks, but then asks the guy who he is and what is going on. The guy tells the party that he is George Weathermay and he has been hunting the were-wolf we know as Natalia for a long time. He, much like Dario, was once drawn to her and he was practically in love with her, when he found out what she was. It turns out that she was using him to get at his friend Van Richten, but he found out about that and stopped her attempt. Since Natalia didn鈥檛 get Can Richten, she took what she could and that was his daughter Gennifer Weathermay. Fortunately Gennifer survived Natalia鈥檚 attack and attempt to turn her into a lycanthrope as well. For that he will destroy Natalia.

The other guy with George introduces himself as Azar de Telos, and he has been helping George Weathermay track Natalia for a few months now. As he tells the party this he sits up in his saddle a bit higher, and shows the party the emblazoned symbol of Belenus on his armor.

A few minutes later the party rides into a clearing where four dire wolves are standing there waiting for the party to arrive. Rimo with his war hammer charges at one of the dire wolves, and fails to hit it, the wolf takes advantage of the miss too sink a claw into Rimo鈥檚 horse. Another dire wolf claws at George but he bats the wolf aside with the flat of his sword. Sik tries to attack the wolf going after George but misses. The third wolf doesn鈥檛 miss with its attack on Rimo, getting claw in on his thigh. George retaliates against the wolf attacking him by striking it with his sword four times chopping it up into pieces. Tallorn charges in to help Rimo, by attacking the wolf that clawed him, but misses opening himself up to a swipe from the last wolf. Dario manages to clip one of the wolves, while Diamonion also hits with his rapier one of the wolves. Azar connects on one of the wolves with his flail.

Tallorn misses the wolf nearest him, while Rimo does manage to hit a wolf. The wolf though lunges back at Rimo and knocks him off his horse onto the ground unconscious. Sik manages to launch a crossbow bolt into one of the wolves, causing it to whelp. George charges at another of the wolves, but fails to do more than put a slash into its side. George's charge distracts the wolf enough to let Dario sneak up on it and run it through with his Short Sword, killing it. Diamonion and Azar both miss with their weapons, the wolves attacking them.

As Rimo lie bleeding on the ground, Tallorn misses the wolf that took him down, but the wolf doesn't survive much beyond that as Sik's crossbow bolt finds its mark and lodges firmly in its skull killing it. George manages to land his blade squarely through the side of the last wolf killing it as well.

Despite George's desire to keep riding and exact revenge on Natalia as soon as possible, the party decides it is best to take the time to mend those that need it most. Quickly Rimo is tended to and brought back to consciousness. The others in the party bandage up what they can and mount back up. Rimo is quickly helped back into his saddle, and with that the party rides forth again.

Not much farther onwards the party rides into another clearing in the woods, this time there are only two wolves. This doesn't help the mood of the party because between the two wolves stands Natalia. George seeing Natalia yells at her to prepare for death. As George finishes his statement Natalia starts transform into a huge lumbering werewolf. The party quickly dismounts their horses and rushes in to engage the foes.

George attacks Natalia with a hand ax while Rimo fires two crossbow bolts into her, which she pulls out with out much as a flinch of pain. Diamonion swings at Natalia but fails to hit, and actually gets his rapier stuck into the ground, allowing one of the wolves to claw him. Natalia strikes back at George but failing to get either claw on him, lunges and bites his arm instead.

Suddenly Sik turns her crossbow on Azar and fires a bolt into him. Azar with the bolt in his shoulder turns on Sik and grabs her crossbow and tosses it across the clearing.

Tallorn swings both his long sword and short sword at one of the dire wolves, and lands both of them on it, leaving a deep gash in its side. Dario taking advantage of the wolf being distracted by the strong hit, sneaks behind it and slices a wound into its hide quarters. The wolf wheels around on Dario and slashes across his chest with its claw leaving a few lines of blood dripping from the wound. The other wolf leaps forth at Azar and takes a small slice out of Azar's leg.

George continues his assault on Natalia and lands a few hand-ax hits upon her causing her some heavy damage. Diamonion manages to pull his rapier out of the ground, but isn't able to get a swing in on Natalia, because of the time it took. Natalia again fails to land a claw on George, but still manages to bite into his shoulder.

Dario meanwhile dashes behind the second dire wolf that is attacking Azar and sinks his short sword into its side, causing it to spill a lot of blood on the ground. Azar turns on the bleeding wolf and lands a hit with his flail. Seeing as how Azar is distracted by the wolf, Sik rushes forth to grab her crossbow. Azar spots Sik going after her crossbow and tries to hit her with his flail, but misses. Sik manages to get to her crossbow and turns and fires a bolt into Azar, causing him to bleed heavily. Rimo seeing Sik attacking Azar, brings his crossbow to bear on Sik, but instead of firing the bolt breaks in the crossbow.

Tallorn continues to attack the wolf in front of him, only managing to land one blade upon it. The wolf quickly returns the damage by slicing into Tallorn's side with its claw, causing him to double over and fall to the ground unconcious. The other wolf also manages to land a strike, but this time on Dario, and with such force that it knocks Dario to the ground unconscious.

George swings his hand-ax several times landing with each swing, leaving Natalia looking seriously hurt. Diamonion with his rapier in hand stabs into Natalia running her through, causing the her to continue to squirt blood from the hole left in the werewolf's body. Natalia, now seriously hurt, can only flail her claws at George missing each time.

Rimo, with a non-functional crossbow, pulls out his dagger and stabs Sik in the side with it leaving a good sized dagger hole. Sik tries to punch Azar, but fails to connect due to Rimo's stab wound hurting so much. Sik grabs her side and runs off into the surrounding woods.

Azar seeing as Sik is no longer around to be a threat turns his attention back to the wolves, where he lands his flail on the skull of one smashing it to death. The remaining wolf though leaps at Diamonion and lands on top of him digging its claws into his body. The strength of the hit, and the claws causes Diamonion to fall unconscious under the wolf.

George quickly finishes Natalia off with his hand-ax, and then attacks the wolf that struck Diamonion, but only manages to get a glancing strike on it. Azar having just smashed in the skull of the other wolf, rushes over and smacks the last wolf with his flail on the side of the head, killing it as well. Rimo though, managing to get his crossbow back in working order fires two bolts at the fleeing Sik, only managing to hit with one of them, before Sik hops on to her horse and disappears into the dark of the surrounding woods.

With the battle over Azar stumbles and falls to the ground unconscious. George manages to wake Tallorn and Diamonion up, and then with Tallorn and Diamonion's help brings Dario and Azar back around.

George then uses his powers to heal the party back to health, and with that he says he will never be able to be restored. He has been bitten by Natalia enough times, that he will surely become a lycanthrope. This is a fate he cannot resign himself too, he wants us to do him a favor and take his body to his daughters in Mordentshire. Before anyone can stop him, George falls on his longsword, running himself through

Dario seeing that George is now dead walks over and starts to rummage through his belongings. This causes Azar to pull his weapon out, and tells Dario to stop. Dario doesn't take any head of Azar and continues to search through the stuff. Tallorn walks up behind Dario and smacks him in the back of the head with the flat of his blade, but not hard enough to knock Dario out. Dario quickly tries to take a swing with his short sword at Azar but misses. Azar tries to knock Dario's sword out of his hand but fails, while Rimo stabs Dario in the side with his dagger with such force as to break several of Dario's ribs, and knock him out cold from the pain.

Rimo then proceeds to tie the unconscious Dario to his horse with his silk rope. Azar and Dario then strip Dario down to just his clothes, and Azar holds Dario's possessions for the journey to Mordentshire. George's body is placed on his horse and mounted there so it can be taken to Mordentshire in accordance with his request.

This one here is Tallorn showing his displeasure at the follower of Belenus in the party's midsts.

The Witch in the Water, An Advenure's Log

Just outside Port-a-Museau the party stops to rest up from the long ride. Dario uses the time to argue his reasoning for taking George Weathermay's stuff, since he is dead he doesn't need it anymore, but we could use it. After a bit Dario agrees not to take any of George's stuff, and he is untied from his horse, and Azar gives him all his stuff back.

Being only a two-days journey east of Mordentshire, and a weeks journey south of Port-a-Lucine, and with no need to stop in Port-a-Museau, the party decides its best to head straight to Mordentshire. Diamonion mentions that he knows for sure that there is a road leading north out of Mordentshire that goes straight to Port-a-Lucine. With that the party decides to skip stopping in Port-a-Museau and head straight for Mordentshire.

Along the road the party comes across a small narrow stone bridge over a deep gully. The rundown stone bridge is so narrow that only one horse can cross it at a time. Rimo bravely decides that he will be the first to cross the bridge, with Azar going across next.

As Rimo begins to cross the bridge there is a low rumbling sound, and from under the bridge a huge troll emerges and growling stands at the foot of the bridge where the party is trying to cross. The troll looks at the party and then in a harsh voice demands one skull for passage over his bridge. A few members of the party give a quick look at George's body, but decide that its best not to give up his skull. So they draw the party draws their weapons and attack the troll.

The troll in defense attacks Azar who is the closet to him, and Azar manages to dodge the trolls first claw, but dodges into his second claw getting hurt. Rimo manages to turn his horse around on the narrow bridge, and stab the troll in the side with his dagger leaving a small wound. Dario throws a dagger at the troll but misses, completely while Tallorn dismounts and runs up to it and Diamonion tries to charge it on horseback.

Tallorn manages to rush up close enough to the troll to land tow strikes on it with both his swords. The troll though, manages to get a hold of Azar with both his claws, and lifts him from his saddle, and rips him in twain. Diamonion, quickly yells to the troll that there is his skull for the fee to cross the bridge. The troll looks at the limp lifeless body of Azar he holds in both hands, and dropping one half, rips Azar's head off the other half, and crawls back under the stone bridge.

Dario then loots the remains of Azar. Rimo meanwhile searches George's body for anything of use, but Tallorn tells him to not take anything. When Dario has finished taking things from Azar's body, the group buries the two pieces in a grave along side the road, near the stone bridge, and then rides on towards Mordentshire.

After a days travel the party arrives at Mordentshire. Dario leads the party to the Weathermay's so we can drop the body off with them. At the Weathermay's herbalist shop the party waits outside while Dario goes inside to tell the daughters of their father's fate.

Gennifer is the first to greet Dario inside with a happy hug, and says its been so long see they have seen him. Dario then tells her he has bad news, and her features turn dark. Before he tells her, Dario asks where her sister is, since she should be there to hear the news as well. Gennifer tells him that her sister is at the Taylors, and will be back soon.

Dario decides to show Gennifer George's body, rather than wait for her sister, so he takes her outside. The rest of the party step back as they see Dario exit the store, with Gennifer. As soon as Gennifer sees the body of her fallen father she breaks into tears. Dario leaves her crying over her dad's body, and rushes off to get her sister from the Taylors.

A few minutes later Lori rushes up crying and hugs Gennifer and the two cry together. Rimo offers to take the body to the Temple of Ezra, where it can get proper treatment. Through their sobs the girls agree and then follow alongside of the party as they head to the temple.

At the temple of Ezra Rimo ties up the horse bearing George's body outside, while the rest of the party escort the Weathermay sisters inside. The two girls are quickly greeted by a two dwarfs. An older peppery-bearded dwarf, and a younger dark brown- bearded dwarf with two pistols on his hips. The older dwarf asks the two girls why they are crying, but since they are crying too much, Rimo steps forward and explains the death of their father to him.

The old dwarf is quickly disheartened by the news, but in stride takes charge and asks where the body is. Rimo tells him the body and the rest of George's stuff are on a horse tied up out front. The dwarf then tells the party he will take care of the arrangements for the body and George's stuff, and asks that the party stay and take care of the girls at least until the funeral is over. He also motions to the dwarf beside him and asks that he join the party and help out where he can. The dwarf approaches the party and introduces himself as Otas and he is willing to help where he can.

Over the next two days, as word spreads about George Weathermay's death, and funeral the town of Mordentshire grows in size with people coming to pay their respects. Amongst the many people that arrive, there are such people as a very scarred and sallow elf. A limping human wearing a mask of dark wood and mother of pearl inlays, traveling with a big burley woman. An older man wearing a long coat, with a tri-corner hat carrying a black cane with a pure silver knob on top, and a snowy owl on his shoulder. Many other people come to attend, and the local Inn and pub keepers are full of mixed emotions, because of the sadness of the occasion yet the number of people showing up and taking room and board at their establishments.

Otas meanwhile spends the time helping the girls out at their shop. One day he opens the door and in steps a haggard looking man with a long rifle looking weapon but with two barrels. Also the man's one hand is replaced with a serrated blade. The girls yell out 鈥淎sh鈥� and rush to greet him with hugs and such. He quips back, 鈥済ive me some sugar baby.鈥� After a brief exchange the guy leaves the shop and the girls go back to tending to things for the upcoming funeral.

Dario and Rimo spend the time going through the local shops to sell off some of their extra weapons and such. After a good day of sales Dario hears that Radanavich has come into to town. Dario quickly heads back to the inn where the rest of the party is staying and lets them all know that Radanavich is town. The party quickly gets their stuff together and goes to meet him.

At the inn, the party finds that not only has Radanavich arrived in town but his partners Pinochet and Gareth have made the journey as well. Dario talks to Pinochet about how Radanavich is doing, as is told that the time spent at the Temple of the Radiant Beacon has done him some good in dealing with the loss of Lucca. The rest of the party sit down and talks with Radanavich about how things are going, and the adventures they've had since leaving Mortigny. Before too long though Otas comes into the inn looking for the party and asks them to return with him to the sister's store. The party gets up and says their good-byes to Radanavich, and head off to the sister's shop, except for Rimo who had wandered off with a beautiful girl he met at the inn.

Back at the shop Gennifer and Lori are sitting on the counter top, with George's gear lying on the table in front of them. Lori gets off the counter top as we all gather around the table, and gives us two books, as thanks for helping with things these past two days. The first book is Van Richten's Arsenal, and the second is the Van Richten Guide to the Walking Dead. Diamonion accepts the two books on behalf of the party. Gennifer then tells us that for fighting along side their father and bringing his body back as he requested we can have the gear he left behind, that sits on the table.

Dario looks intently at George Weathermay's Gossamer longsword and so the party lets him pick that up. Dario also picks up the impressive hand-ax of George' as well. Tallorn is allowed to take the masterwork crossbow, while Diamonion gets his leather armor which has a slick feel to it, and doesn't creak at all when he moves in it. With the George Weathermay's gear divided up, the group thanks the two sister's for their generosity.

Otas steps forward and twirls one of his pistols in his hand, then points it at Tallorn and pulls the trigger. The blank goes off with a bank, and smoke, which startles Tallorn a bit. Otas then laughs and says that he is on his way to Port-a-Lucine just like the members of the party. He wants to get there to see the latest line of pistols being made there, and if it would be no trouble, he would like to journey with the party to Port-a- Lucine. The party agrees to let Otas join them.

During the conversation with Otas and the rest of the party, Dario asks the sisters if they have heard anything of Van Richten. The two of them start to weep about the fact that they haven't heard from him in a long time. The last they heard was that he might be at the Asylum of Doctor Cloud Van Heinfroth. The Asylum is on the island of Dominia just off the coast from Port-a-Lucine. With that the party leaves the shop and heads back to their inn.

When the party returns to the inn they notice a guy wearing armor with he symbol of Ezra inlaid in silver on the front of the armor. The man is sitting with a big burley woman. Dario though spots a nobleman sitting alone at the bar, and tries to sneak up behind him. Unfortunately for Dario the owl on the nobleman's shoulder spots him and lets out a screech alerting the nobleman to Dario's presence. The nobleman turns on Dario and Dario introduces himself, and they then share a drink together. After a few drinks the two leave the inn and walk outside.

Diamonion, Otas and Tallorn though wander over to the table with the man in the Ezra armor and the burley lady. The man introduces himself as Torret Yohan Severin, and the lady is Istari Pistani. Istari tells the trio that she was traveling with Severin to Mordentshire in order to gain help from the Priests at the Temple of Ezra. Things in her native Borca are not going so well. The temple of Ezra has been broken into three factions, all the while the nations of Falkovnia and Invidia are making gestures as if they were going to invade Borca. The ruler of Falkovnia is bent on erasing any kind of religion from the Core, while the ruler of Invidia is his grandson and thus following his grandfather's lead. Already mercenaries from both nations have been ravaging towns and destroying temples just inside Borca's borders. So far though her attempts to get help from the Priests of the Mordentshire Temple of Ezra haven't been very fruitful, the business of George Weathermay's funeral seems to be of their primary concern at the moment, and they feel Borca can handle its own until the funeral.

Otas pipes up saying he will try to help get the word through to the Priests in the Temple about what is going on and heads out of the inn. As Dario gets to the door to the inn though, he suddenly hears a loud scream, followed quickly by another scream, just down the road from the inn. Otas runs towards the screams and finds Dario standing over a dead body and silver scattered across the road.

Seeing Otas, Dario quickly tries to convince Otas that he was the victim of an attempted mugging. Otas looks at the scene and tells Dario to run and get the constables, while he makes sure no one touches anything. Dario quickly returns with a constable, and tells his story about he was the victim of an attempted mugging by the dead person.

The constable asks Otas what he knows of the situation, and Otas says that he heard two screams, the first was Robin Stillwater's and the second was Dario's. This is enough to convince the constable that Dario is suspect of murdering Robin, and takes Dario into custody. In custody Dario is stripped down to his clothes, and the rest of his belongings are put on a shelf across the room from his cell, just in sight.

The next day the at sunrise the temple opens up for all the people that have come to pay their respects to George Weathermay. At mid-afternoon the a procession carries the body from the temple to the cemetery where George Weathermay's body is to be interred in the family vault. Along the way Gennifer asks Otas where Dario, is and he tells her about being put in jail on suspicion for the murder of Robin Stillwater. Gennifer is taken aback by this news, saying how Robin was such a nice and gentle person, how could such a thing happen especially on the eve of their father's funeral. The groan of the vault doors opening interrupts their conversation, and the two of them along with the priests enter the vault to inter the body.

That night at the reception, the sister gather the party together to talk to them. The sister's were preparing to go help the nearby village of Birmingshire, before we arrived with their father's body. Apparently some of the local town folk have been disappearing in the night. Unfortunately with all the things going they have forgotten about the small village and its need for help. They would like to go and help the village with their problem, but do not feel like they are up to the task at this time. Seeing as how the party seems to be very kind of helpful, they would like the party to go help the village out.

The party discusses briefly and agrees to make the journey to Birmingshire to help the village out. Just then Dario walks in the door of the shop having been released from jail due to lack of evidence for either story in the death of Robin Stillwater. Gennifer and Lori are very happy both for Dario's return and that we will be taking this duty off their hands so that they can tend to other things With that the party heads back to the inn, to get some sleep before heading to Birmingshire first thing in the morning.

Thursday Group

GM's Character Notes for Thursday Group

These are the GM's notes they have made about running their campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

GM's Note: Pretty much everything goes for this group, as does the Wednesday night group, as the storyline they're following is pretty much identical, with only some small changes based on character background and such. Also you'll notice that this group is somewhat more "properly balanced" for standard D&D. This occurrence is more happenstance than actual planning, simply because every player chose their characters independently of the others. At any rate, they're happy and I'm happy with it as well. At least now, someone can turn undead!

And now, our cast:

Rosalyn Cervant (Sean)鈥攁 bewitching Half-Vistani with mysterious birth origins, she was raised by a traveling minstrel and learned the inherent power of song. Meeting a caliban in her travels changed Rosalyn's life, as the creature latched itself to her for reasons known to it alone. (Half-Vistani Bard 1)

This One (Andy)鈥擶ith corpse-pallor skin and pure black eyes, the warrior referring to himself as "This One" speaks only the language Rokuma, indicating his native land to be the far-off island of Rokushima Taiyoo. No one knows what dishonor drove the creature from his homeland鈥攏ot even the bard Rosalyn, to whom he has attached his fate. (Caliban Monk 1)

Ash Fenfip (Matt)鈥攁 native Barovian, Ash's love of nature led him directly to the path of the Druidic arts. However, Ash is somewhat tainted by a powerful enmity of his land's infamous lord, Strahd van Zarovich. Few know of this hate, though, and none know what may come of it. (Human Druid 1)

Charles Vandegrift (Darren)鈥攁 well-to-do young man from a land beyond the mists, Charles' quickness has long been his greatest asset. However, after a dire incident with some gypsies, Charles has held a powerful rage against the Vistani matched only by his devotion to the goddess Ezra, after he arrived in the Core. Whether this anger rubs off on Charles' relations with Rosalyn will soon be decided. (Human Rogue 1)

Thutmose (Brian)鈥擜 warrior-priest of Ra from the far-off sands of Har'Akir, Thutmose served as a cleric in the militias there. However, after a particularly violent sandstorm blew in, Thutmose was separated from his division in the desert wastes of his forsaken land. Driving his camel back through the whirling sands, Thutmose emerged in most peculiar place and seeks only to get home. (Human Cleric of Ra 1)

Zai (Meat)鈥擣rom a land beyond those of the swirling Mists, Zai began his training as a powerful warrior who would soon blend the arcane arts with his prowess to add even more strength to his blade. However, the Dark Powers have a ready eye on all those who use the Art, and no one knows how Zai will react to true power when he finds it. (Human Fighter 1)

GM's Notes:
Only one crossdresser this time, as opposed to three in the other group...make what you will of that.
Unfortunately, while The One's backstory is quite poignant, it may never end up being revealed, unless he chooses to do so. I really hadn't planned for any side trips to Rokushima this year.
I've let The One take the Vow of Poverty feat from the Book of Exalted Deeds. The source of a lot of controversy, I realize that this feat is very powerful, but it fits perfectly with his character concept. I have yet to see the results in their fullest, but his actions may make up my opinion on the book as a whole.
Yes, his name is also Andy. Yes, that gets confusing.
Zai is looking to become a wizard, then a Spellsword from the Complete Warrior. Not seeing any real problems with this, as the Eldritch Knight had few restrictions in the RL DMG, I allowed it.
Thutmose did learn Balok through the travelers that arrived in Har'Akir via the Mistway near Barovia. Since most of the players have Balok, this isn't much of a difficulty. However, This One only speaks Rokuma...a significant difficulty.

GM's Notes for First Session

These are the GM's notes they have made about running their campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

(As usual, GM's notes follow the script)(1)

Rain fell with heavy drops upon the weary travelers, Rosalyn and This One. Making their way, on foot, from Invidia to Pont-a-Museau(2) was not usually a difficult task, but with the cold downpour trickling down their backs, the journey was swiftly becoming less and less pleasant. After a few hours of walking through the deluge, the pair simply decided to rest for the evening. While Rosalyn attempted to get some sleep, This One huddled in his cloak and kept a silent vigil. Slowly, a fog bank started to roll in...

This One quickly attempted to wake his comrade. Just as swiftly as it came through their camp, though, the mysterious fog dissipated, leaving the pair in a precarious situation. The road, just recently beneath their feet, was gone. A veritable wall of trees surrounded them, as they struggled to look through the dense copses. Even more disconcerting, a pair of figures stood within the swiftly receding mists鈥攆igures that had not been there moments ago. Worriedly, Rosalyn drew steel.

Acting cautiously, the pair announced a greeting and peaceful remarks. One man, bore a broad-brimmed hat and a thin steel rapier, while the other bore the trappings of an established woodsman and held a scimitar and a dagger in his hands, which glinted silver in the hazy starlight. Somewhat confused, the dashing gentleman introduced himself as Charles, while the woodsman referred to himself as Ash.

Once the introductions were concluded, the quartet quickly began sizing up the situation. None of the four had any idea where they could be, which left the entire group notably disturbed. Suddenly, a peal of howling erupted from the woods around them.(3) Wolves, Ash noted, cried their pain to the world with a single, horrific voice. It did not take long for the warriors to realize the terrible other-worldliness of this event, as they readied their weapons and began to make haste in the opposite direction.

Peering through the trees as they hurried along, Charles began to see shapes, flitting between the trees, half-hidden by the pouring rain. A low chant began developing, and the group sped up. The shapes, now recognizable as a near-legion of humanoids, were singing. Almost immediately, Rosalyn and Charles recognized the song鈥攁n old children's rhyme in Patterna, the enigmatic language of the Vistani. Shouting to their comrades of the horrors of this situation, the group bolted towards a nearby clearing.

The clearing, however, did not hold their freedom. As the quartet arrived, a hideous sight immediately confronted them. Seven young children, all reeking of death and bearing hideous smiles, had linked their hands in the center of the clearing. Without a moment's warning, they charged the four, hungry for violence.(4) Charles moved swiftly, putting his skill with a rapier to good use, while Rosalyn and Ash simply tried to hold their own. The flailing fists and feet of This One, though, proved to be most effective in beating back this undead scourge. Desperately swinging his sword and dagger, Ash felt his ribs begin to give way under the relentless pounding of the undead's hellish claws.

At long last, the valiant warriors began to beat back their opponents and swiftly resumed their flight through the darkened wood. Finally, they found their way into a small hamlet, where lights still burned and smoke still rose from the chimneys. Slowing their breakneck pace, the four gazed upon the stillness of the four buildings and decided upon entering the largest. All was still as Charles led the way into the hall. Light still glinted off of polished hardwood tables, but no human life remained. Quickly, Rosalyn noticed a grizzled old man, beard long with age, sitting facedown at a writing desk. Dead, yet not moving, his hand still clutched a quill poised at the end of a parchment. Examining that paper, the group was mystified by some strange words:

Such are the final words of Hyskosa, seer of time...
A town shall be razed, then rebuilt in a day
The One Who is Many shall raise them from clay.
The circle of slayer and prey will be sundered.
Yet death brings no rest for the world-weary hunter.
The four pillars of alabaster will fall,
But a demon's sheer will shall use three as his thrall.
Five that once stood shall splinter and quake,
As the hordes of the Pike-Lord leave death in their wake.
A house built on pain will tumble and fade
And a realm will still scream though the Black Knight has paid.
Truth be shown through eyes, though the Black Mists will rise.
Eth radk amn liwl noos igna shi izrep.

Sitting down to rest, Rosalyn and Charles began to hypothesize what these strange words could mean. While little made sense to either, Rosalyn was aware that alabaster was one of the symbols of the goddess Ezra, while Charles remembered his background in Borca, where he studied with one of the brothers in the Home Faith of Levkarest.(5) Taking these mysterious words as a warning, the pair began to wonder how soon they could make it to Borca.

Starving and sleep-deprived, the quartet began to search the house for some type of foodstuffs to fill their empty bellies. In a small kitchen upstairs, Rosalyn started gathering some old vegetables, a bit of dried meat and some water, in the hopes of making a stew. However, when she lit a fire, the flames leapt too high, and began singing the walls and ceiling. The others attempted to act quickly, but to no avail. Flames started spreading throughout the hall, and little could be done but beat a hasty retreat.(6)

Weary and desiring only to rest, the quartet left the smoldering ash of the largest building behind and attempted to seek refuge in one of the smaller buildings. Wary, Charles peered into a window, only to have the window-glass burst forth in front of him. Leaping through the window, a lank and lean figure bearing that same hideous grin accosted the rogue. Charles swiftly drew his rapier and squared off, as the door to the building swung open. A massive bald man, with flesh peeling off, stood in the doorway brandishing a hefty metal hammer. This One and Ash quickly flanked the creature, and beneath This One's lightning fists, it fell. Charles, however, had little luck against the loping monstrosity he faced. While neither foe had scored a hit, Charles felt luck slowly turning against him. It may have been so, if not for Ash's quick motions. With swift strikes from his scimitar and dagger, he felled the creature.(7)

Even more exhausted now than previously, the quartet quickly examined the other two buildings and, finding nothing out of the ordinary, settled down for an uneasy rest.(8) Lost in foreign land, injured and alone, all they could do is hope that the whole episode was only a dream.(9)

Footnotes:

As you'll notice from the very beginning, Thutmose and Zai are nowhere to be found. Simply put, this is because both Brian and Meat joined after I had already started the game. You'll see their arrivals in the second session, which I hope to have ready shortly.
One of the biggest problems I knew I'd have (and always do) is trying to get the group to go in a direction that I want them to, without making it seem like I'm railroading them. As such, everyone's usually headed in different directions. Where the Wednesday group was headed to Port-a-Lucine, these two were headed to Pont-a-Museau. Keep in mind that this problem only gets worse.
The wolf trick worked just as well with this group as it did with the Wednesday group, but I'm noticing a distinct amount of difference between how much the people are actually scared. My Wednesday group is usually definitively frightened by the images I'm putting forth, while the Thursday group is more lackadaisical. I think this may have to do with the fact that the Wed. group mainly consists of people who haven't played much D&D before鈥攅verything's new to them. The Thurs. group consists of more veterans, so they might just be a little jaded to the horrors of the Mists.
Something I really didn't understand. I faced both groups against the same number of zombies with the same hit points. On Wednesday, I almost had a Total Party Kill, knocking two of them out and having two more retreat, which left two people to face 5 zombies at one point. On Thursday, only Ash was seriously injured and Toben's bodies were killed without much trouble at all. I honestly have no idea why this was. One would figure that 6 characters would stand a better chance than four. Bizarre.
Rosalyn passed her Bardic Knowledge check here with flying colors, so I let both her and Charles have a bit of info.
Ever wonder what a botched Profession: Cook roll looks like? That's what happened. Some failed Dex checks and Reflex saves later, and the entire house is up in flames.
I decided to use two undead here, rather than the single one I used on Wednesday, since this group wasn't as beaten up as the Wednesday group was. I figured I'd make them expend a little more of their resources before they got to rest. The encounter went pretty much as planned, with no one taking much in the way of damage, but it was painful enough to keep them on edge.
I honestly cannot remember if they kept the blacksmith's hammer or not. If not, they may have just lost a weapon that could save their proverbial asses in the later stages of the game. Besides, both Thutmose and Zai would be able to use such a weapon to its maximum efficacy鈥攁 boon to any good party.
While a trip to Scaena or The Nightmare Lands would be great fun, the scene is quite real (alack for the players!). Overall, I think this session went fairly well, even though I didn't quite garner the horror that I did from the Wednesday night game. Running through the same session twice is quite helpful, but often can get a bit tedious, unless the PCs do things that are very different....but, that'll come more into play next week.

GM's Notes for Second Session

These are the GM's notes they have made about running their campaign, and thus can continue information not known to the in-game characters.

(As usual, GM's notes follow the script)(1)

After a long night of sleep, the quartet slowly rose from where they slept in the blacksmith's hovel.(1) Sore and still fatigued from their nocturnal encounter with the mysterious undead, Rosalyn, Ash, and This One made a quick search through the two remaining huts, as the smoldering remains of the town hall still smoked in the background.

Slowly, they began to gather their meager possessions to head out. Traversing the woodland wilderness was no easy task for the group, but Ash used his natural expertise to guide them as much as he could. After a long walk, a slow buzz began to fill the ears of the travelers. Thought at first to be simply the sound of this long-forsaken forest, the adventurers ignored the noise until it began growing louder and closer to their position.(2)

As the trio made their way into a less-dense grove, a mysterious sight awaited them. A hulking bald man, wearing a bronze breastplate and bearing a shield in the shape of a large scarab, was maneuvering a strange brown beast in and out of the trees, swinging a mace wildly at a group of hideous creatures fluttering in and out of the underbrush. The creatures appeared as a hideous blend of bat and mosquito, with long clawed legs groping for the bald man's chest and throat.

Immediately, the heroes leapt to the attack. This One smashed creatures beneath his Herculean fists; Rosalyn fended off her own assailant with her rapier before finally running it through; Ash, with both scimitar and dagger drawn, became as a whirlwind of blades. However, Ash's daring attacks left his defenses slightly open, as one of the creatures attached itself to him, drawing forth his vital fluids. The druid swiftly felt his blood drain away, becoming light-headed and woozy.(3)

However, without much difficulty, the creatures were routed and the trio asked the mysterious warrior his name. Sheathing his mace, the bald man introduced himself as Thutmose, a warrior-priest of the god Ra. While the majority of the group was not familiar with the worship of Ra, Thutmose was quick to lecture them on Ra's brilliant glory. This One, for the most part, shrugged off Thutmose's ideals, as he was unable to understand the guttural form of Balok that Thutmose understood.(4)

Ash began looking quizzically at the beast Thutmose had been riding. While similar to a horse, this creature had massive feet, a huge mass of flesh protruding from its back, and a dire smell about it.(5) Seeing Ash's befuddlement, Thutmose referred to this creature as a "camel", which apparently were quite common in the land of Har'Akir, from where Thutmose claimed to be from. Again, none of the group had heard of such a land, but the aid of this warrior seemed to prove to be a useful commodity, so they quickly introduced him to their merry band.

The road grew on, as the travelers walked. Thutmose continued to preach the glories of Ra, but few of his new comrades paid much attention the priestly warrior. At long last, the sun began to set and the group decided to rest. A fire was built and watches were set. Thutmose began to tell the group of his history鈥攐nce a cleric in the militias of his homeland, Thutmose became separated from his battalion during a vicious sandstorm. He had not been long in the swirling sands, when he found himself in another land with strange foliage and the vicious insects that he fought. It was only shortly thereafter when the group found him.

Eventually, sleep drifted over the group. Awake, Rosalyn began hearing the sounds of shambling footsteps in the forest. She quickly awoke This One, who heard nothing. Disconcerted, yet unworried, This One returned to his rest. However, the sounds persisted, and Rosalyn again woke up her companions.

At last, This One and Ash cleared their heads and began to see what Rosalyn had been hearing. Distended humanoid forms began encircling their campsite, ringing them closely in a noose of horrid dead flesh. Immediately, Ash slid into the shadows and attempted to out-flank the group. To his dismay, the undead fanned out and surrounded him.

As the ring around them tightened, This One leapt to the offense.(6) His swinging fists pummeled one of the undead in front of him, but the creature stood firm. As it turned to retaliate, This One garnered a full view of the creature's hideous nature. Its limbs were attached to its body with long surgical staples, while a series of sharp pins kept its bluish-gray lips sealed shut. However, as it turned, the pins snapped open with a flash of arcane energy and a horrid scream erupted from its lips. Pelted by this unholy sonic energy, This One fell to the earth unconscious.(7)

The undead began pushing the remaining trio forward. Thutmose, while irate at the very existence of the undead, allowed them to direct his motion. Ash, not as willing as Rosalyn or Thutmose, dropped to the ground as if in a faint, yet the undead merely picked up his arms and dragged him, along with the inert body of This One.(8)

After a harsh hour-long march, the group arrived in a shaded grove, where a two- story cabin stood silhouetted in the light of a crescent moon. Pointing silently towards the entrance, the creatures pushed the heroes towards the door, indicating for them to enter. The door swung open, and the two characters being dragged were deposited unceremoniously on the inside of the doorstep.

Inside, a figure in his mid-50s stood appraising them. He slowly rubbed a hand across his receding brown hair, and then directed his steel-gray eyes to each of them in turn. Gesturing and turning from the group, he told Ash to rise, as he wasn't fooling anyone any longer. Embarrassed, Ash rose to his feet and asked what was going on.

The gentleman introduced himself as one Dr. Gregorian DelShonar. Immediately, Rosalyn's ears picked up.(9) Among the various knowledge that she'd picked up over the years, the story of the mysterious DelShonar was one which most definitely intrigued her. She remembered that this doctor was a respected professor of the arcane sciences at the Great Academie of Pont-a-Museau, after working in medicine and alchemy under a then-medical-doctor Rudolph van Richten. After publishing a theory on robotics which was reviled in the intellectual community, DelShonar all but disappeared from the public eye.

Also at the table sat a young warrior with long hair. After some conversation, the quintet found out that this man, Zai by name, was not associated with DelShonar.(10) Rather, he too was marooned in this forsaken land and taken captive by the mad scholar.

Immediately, Rosalyn asked the doctor if she could have a copy of his renowned book, and DelShonar's eyes lit up. For a long while, the pair discussed the finer points of Gregorian's theory, until the doctor remembered his manners. Gesturing towards the kitchen behind them, a blasphemous sight awaited the adventurers. Huge automatons in the shape of men skittered forth from the kitchen, laden with platters and bowls. The largest of the four automatons set its platter in front of DelShonar, who then began carving a succulent piece of peppered lamb in wine sauce.(11) With a series of hideous rattles and quakes, the creatures returned to their lair.

Thutmose could no longer contain himself. During the meal, he raised issue with DelShonar's lack of faith and his blasphemous activities. Unconcerned, DelShonar argued the young priest down and left Thutmose saying only "We shall see what comes of this..."

At long last, DelShonar proclaimed their dinner to be over. He told the six that they had five minutes to leave, as the doctor would soon set a new group of undead upon them as a twisted form of 'test' for his new batch of creatures. Alarmed, they dashed for the door, mounted up, and began their flight through the forest.

Running headlong through the forest, the silence of the night was shattered by the group's frantic footsteps. Not long after, a hideous beating filled their ears. Looking over his shoulder, Zai noticed four skeletal forms winging their way on bony, batlike wings over the trees, gaining on them. Guiding his mount with his knees, the warrior loosed an arrow, striking one of the creatures. It hissed in pain, but regained his flight.

Thutmose felt his holy symbol of Ra grow warm against his chest, and immediately he knew what to do.(12) Calling an incantation to the Lord of Light, Thutmose began channeling Ra's power into the world. Two of the flying undead burst immediately into flame, as the four rode on, leaving only heaps of fetid ash falling to the ground. Crying again for Ra's aid, Thutmose channeled his god's divine power again. With a tremendous cry of prayer, the other two creatures screamed in pain, then disintegrated and fell to the forest floor.

At long last, the six reached a wide river. Searching frantically for a bridge, they had to settle for a small rope crossing, which barely looked like it could support one man at a time, much less a horse. This One and Rosalyn were the first to cross, doing so with little difficulty. Zai kept watch with his horse on the far side, and nocked an arrow for any of the undead that might come forth from the woods. Ash went next, and made his way across as delicately as possible.

Thutmose took hold of Zai's reins and gestured for the warrior to run. Zai began making his way across, but slipped on one of the rotting planks and plunged into the raging river below. Immediately, Thutmose leaped onto his camel. Following Zai downstream and holding the reins to Zai's horse, the intrepid priest began tossing a rope down to his half-drowned comrade. After nearly a mile's run, the river-gorge tapered off into a ford, where, at long last, Thutmose dragged Zai back to the shore. The undead in the forest began growing closer, though, and time was of the essence.

For lack of options, Zai and Thutmose mounted up and spurred their mounts through the river's ford. Zai burst through onto the far shore in a spray of foaming water, but Thutmose's camel balked at the water, flinging the cleric from his saddle.(13) Undeterred, he re-mounted and forged again through the river. This time, though, the camel quickly made its way through the water, and Thutmose joined his comrades on the other side.

Making their way back to the far side of the bridge, the six quickly noticed the shadowy forms of undead lurking on the former side. Drawing his scimitar with a flash, Ash severed the bridge-ropes, sending the pass to the bottom of the river's bed. Ducking quickly into the woods on the other side, the six were finally able to make camp for the night and attempt to shake off the horrors they had so recently encountered. Who could say what lay ahead of them in the future?

Footnotes:

Charles' player, Darren, was unable to make this session, due to his senior comprehensive exams the next day. I figured that such was a viable excuse, and had Charles fade into the background in this session.
Stirges, again. I love those things...they're a challenge at almost any level, I think.
I really don't get it. Same as before, this group had quite an easier time fighting the stirges, compared to the Wednesday group. Compared to having 4 people with major Con damage on Wednesday, only Ash was truly injured by the stirges.
Brian, Thutmose's player, is Darren's brother. Good men, they are.
Really, now, what would a Barovian druid know about camels?!
Apparently, Andy outright refused to be subject to a plot device. Now, which is the more meta-gaming: creating an obvious plot point as a GM, or breaking the 4th wall and purposely trying to avoid it because you realize it's a plot point?
This is what happens when you try to avoid one of my plot-points in Ravenloft. ;)
Natural 20 on Ash's Bluff check to fake his own death. I was amused by the concept, so I let him do it. At any rate, it didn't matter once they met DelShonar.
Rosalyn's turn to get a Natural 20, this time on her bardic knowledge roll. Wanting them to have some background info on DelShonar and his background, I gave them quite a bit of information that they might have picked up on otherwise. As such, they were somewhat ahead of the game in comparison to the Wednesday group. However, it remains to be seen whether they make use of it or not.
Another new character to join our motley crew. At least now, the group will be getting an effective arcane caster...at least once he starts taking mage levels.
Yes, this dish is as good as it sounds. Mmm...
Thutmose rolled really damned well on his turning checks. With a high Charisma and the greater turning ability from the Sun domain, I figured I'd bend the Ravenloft rules a little bit and let Ra's power destroy these creatures. Besides, they weren't really meant to be a true 'encounter', per se, as much as they were supposed to be a reason to keep running.
This was really rather amusing, as we had a bit of an argument on whether camels could ford water or not. As it turns out, camels are very apt swimmers and probably do better than horses in terms of water. When Brian alerted me to that, after the session, I gave him some extra XP, just for the effort.

Handouts

Handout #1: Mysterious Sheet of Parchment

The text of this has been transcribed into a more common langauge for all to read, hence the lack of any fancy scripting.

Such are the final words of Hyskosa, seer of time鈥�

A town shall be razed, then rebuilt in a day
	The One Who is Many shall raise them from clay.

The circle of slayer and prey will be sundered.
	Yet death brings no rest for the world-weary hunter.

The four pillars of alabaster will fall,
	But a demon鈥檚 sheer will shall use three as his thrall.

Five that once stood shall splinter and quake,
	As the hordes of the Pike-Lord leave death in their wake.

A house built on pain will tumble and fade
	And a realm will still scream though the Black Knight has paid.

Truth be shown through eyes, though the Black Mists will rise.
	Eth radk amn liwl noos igna shi izrep.

Handout #2: Theory on Arcane Robotics

The text of this book has been transcribed into a more common langauge for all to read, hence the lack of any fancy scripting.

A Theory on Arcane Robotics
By Dr. Gregorian DelShonar, A.S.D.

笔谤辞濒辞驳耻别鈥�

Through the dawning of the common era, mankind has only recently come into its own in the everlasting struggle to survive. While our own immense potential for logical thought has dragged us from the ooze from whence we came, it is the application of that intellect鈥攖he creations of new of more efficient methods for assistance鈥攚ith which we will prove our dominance both as species and as race.

However, while the use of machines has elevated mankind to the level of gods among the animals around us, limits have been found in how far a machine can take us. A bow only shoots as far as the archer has skill. A plow only turns up earth if there is a hand to guide it. Even the most sophisticated clockwork automatons work only with constant adjustment and repair from their creators.

It is in this that we also find the inherent flaw of mankind. Even the most brilliant minds, magical or scientific, suffer the frailty of our human form. Where a machine holds immense durability and strength鈥攁nd can always be reforged and tempered鈥攎ankind is frail. Where a machine cannot think on its own, the human mind holds the secrets of life and the universe itself, locked within the sheltered portions of our psyche.

This problem, though it may not seem so, is one of control. How does one control an automaton indefinitely, when the life guiding it is finite? The answer to this is simpler than one may think: if a human mind were somehow linked to or imprinted onto the blank slate of a machine, both could work in union for nigh on an eternity!

Many will see this concept, I'm sure, as a child's dream. However, those who doubt my axioms and theory blatantly disregard one major field of study that could make this "child's dream" a reality鈥攖he arcane sciences. Through various arcane and technological processes detailed later in this study, I intend to prove that a link can not only be established, but maintained permanently, thereby bridging the gap between man and machine. The strength of steel, coupled with immortality itself, is but a hair's breadth away from being completely and totally unified with the power of the human mind.

Handout #3: Prophecies of the Seer Deryine, Sight of the Void

These are not common knowledge to all the characters in the Ravenloft Campaign

I have seen a king shrouded in green and blue, cruelly placed on the chopping block. As his head rolled a great cry arose from the people for he had been kind. The executioner picked up the now bloody crown and placed it on his head. A shout rose from his mouth, "I am now king. Executions of the unworthy begin immediately鈥�"
~This was the last prophesy of the Sight of the Void before his departure from the Teng Dynasty

A blight will come upon parts of the land. For some this will be natural for a drought shall have been across the land for years, but the others鈥here is an evil behind it, for a vile creature began residence in the depths below. It shall be vanquished but not without a grave loss for I saw the leader, bitten and unknowingly given a seed. This seed will keep his body running long after he dies. In time he will return seeking the blood of those who let him live, and the vengeance will be enacted on their descendants.

~Sadly this is thought to have happened in the 22nd year of King (Teng's King's name) in the Realms of the Teng Dynasty, to Captain Lyinda, she has of yet not returned.

In the years ahead a new kingdom will arrive from the mists. But not like those we know now, a kingdom of the water, in the midst of the land. There the people will be as scornful of humans as we are of non.

The kingdom of the sea will one day be ruled by one not of the sea. First at peace, then at war, without, within.

~ We know nothing to confirm or clarify these two prophecies

GM Note: This is intended to be a kingdom of a sea LANDLOCKED鈥ut definitely bordered by other countries not by mists鈥�

I saw the world from above and there much happenings were visible. War in some, industry others, but then my sight was drawn鈥o the outer edge and a border in the middle countries. There the mists were moving violently. It was creeping in slowly, consuming land both ancient and new. My heart cried out as I watched hamlets and homes be consumed. This ended my vision as if we shouldn't care for them at all鈥�

~ The end of the world? Later conversation made it seem that it was not the end but a loss of a few kingdoms and areas.

One morning as I woke I saw scenes of the mightiest hunters and warriors of the realms. Though I knew not all of them, those I did it seemed as one or two from each kingdom was there. The scene I saw was this: Each was hunting and without knowing enveloped in The Mists, where they appeared next was a grove of wondrous trees, and trees of monstrous decent. When each arrived they saw a powerful stag, black or white as their inclination. This each pursued slowly gathering together in hunt of the same color, those hunting the black came together, and those the white together. Late in the day the two groups met and decided to hunt as one. But they had to decide which stag to hunt鈥�

~This can be taken many ways, and over the years many a king has feared this prophecy. Yet what are they doing or did they decide?

GM note: perhaps an alliance across borders of military leaders鈥ither in the pursuit of good or evil鈥ould have started a long time ago and merely a remnant left by "current" time.

I saw the timeless void. There floating among mists was a tabletop with the world upon it. Some person of our world stood a few paces away playing with a dagger. They threw and as the dagger embedded into the world they flew off into the void disappearing. Thinking this was all I was to see I turned away and saw nearly the same scene. Now though they played with an axe. They too attacked, but not into the void did it fly. It split in twain and became totally disconnected.

~A rending of our world? The dissolution of it? Who is this person鈥�

I saw a strange city, deep underground. It was filled with shadows of the living. Then a pulse carried through and all the dead became living and fleshy for a few moments. In that moment each writhed in incredible pain and another pulse issued forth, their bodies dissipated and they returned to shades. As I entered the city gates, I too turned into a shade. Seeking to return I turned back, but all that was before me had become a wall. Journeying towards the pulses I saw an immense contraption then it pulsed again鈥�

~ None know what this place is or could mean. Some have searched for it though. Occasionally a tale is heard of a shade roaming the lands鈥�

I saw in the void all of the land. At first each individual pulsed with a light of their own. Some radiated bright blues, others dark purples and most a light grey of all colors. The a red wave passed over the land, oozing and flowing. The pulses weakened and slowed, though in a few places some morphed into green as a black cloud swept over the land and extinguished the slower pulsing lights. Still a few green lights stayed lit, and began to slowly spread, pushing back the black, but no new lights came for a long, long time鈥�

~Some feel this speaks of an epidemic, others a world encompassing war. Either way, who will survive?

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