MIDNIGHT

Every seems to stop, Orcs, skeletons, villagers and us. Wulfgar, however, continues to fight.

Fourth Round (continued).
Wulfgar attacks the nearest Orc twice, hitting for 14 damage and then 18 damage dropping the Orc. (KIA 2)
Arnora casts Flame Strike on him for 25 fire damage.

Fifth Round.
Wulfgar tries to push between the Orcs around him to get to Arnora, shouting

The Orcs get ready to attack him and she responds

She then casts another Flame Strike on him, killing him. She says

and Ethelred replies

Ferdinath turns wordlessly (he's been silent the entire battle) and points toward the lake. Arnora turns and begins to walk toward the water, mumbling a spell. As the Orcs around Dayraven and I part, I move forward and then charged toward Ferdinath. As Arnora moved past him I shift my charge to target her.

Fifth Round (continued)
I attack Arnora drawing my quarterstaff again, catching her flat-footed and swinging twice, 13+5=18 hit for 4+3+3+2+2=14 damage and 5+5=10 miss. She casts a spell and I'm Held.

The Orcs begin to drag our unconscious friends toward the Tree (Dayraven and Ielfeta). The town "flickers" and the illusion of green disappears, revealing that we're in an enormous cavern. The Tree is replaced by a huge Mushroom, as are all the other trees. The houses in the village seem to be hollowed out mushrooms. Arnora turns back to the lake and mutters

And the waters of the lake part to form a tunnel descending. There are many fewer bones on the lakebed now. She walks over and picks up Leandrus' body and carries it toward the tunnel into the lake. All except about 20 skeletons and 25 Orcs follow behind her.

Ethelred moves over to stem his father's bleeding and Dayraven stabilizes. Then he crawls over and places one hand on the Mushroom pointing the other toward the tunnel and says

The Orcs near us begin to laugh.

Tollen brushes his hand over Ielfeta's hair and heals all her damage. I pull Wulfgar's body over toward the Mushroom. Ragnil and I heal Dayraven (for 9 and 14 hit points). We discuss in quiet voices what to do next, Dayraven asking each of us in turn. He's inclined to try to escape, as is Ethelred. Ielfeta goes along with Tollen who insists he must go help the Green Maiden. He looks at me and I say

So we decide to follow Arnora down the tunnel and help the Green Maiden. I pick up Wulfgar's sword and the one of the Orcs notices. He motions to others toward me and they move to disarm us. Dayraven places his hand on the Mushroom and casts more Fireball spells, scattering the Orcs and skeletons. I fire an arrow into them and charge down the tunnel with the others following me. Ragnil indicates that he will cover our advance and turns to face the remaining Orcs as they move to follow us. Other surviving villagers move to replace him and he rejoins us as we exit the tunnel into a familiar large cavern with apples on the floor.

Across a stream which spans the cavern we see a young woman with startling green hair. Arnora steps up to the edge of the water and says

The green haired woman responds

Arnora takes another step forward, hunches her shoulders and mumbles another spell. Her image suddenly shifts from my eight year old daughter to a young woman with black hair.

Her Orcs and skeletons move up to the edge of the water, straining at the bit to attack. The way toward Luciead and Ferdinath becomes clear as she says

To which the green haired woman hunches her shoulders and begins to change. When it's complete an Ancient Green Dragon sits laughing. Luciead orders her minions to attack and Dayraven casts another Fireball centered on the Legate.

Initiative 15+8+2=25

Sixth Round.
I begin to charge Luciead when Ielfeta screams at me to take down Ferdinath. I shift my attack and swing at him, however he isn't flat-footed so I don't get my extra attack or my sneak attack bonus. I hit 16+5=21 for 3 damage.
Ragnil attacks Luciead, hitting for 12 damage. He takes 7 cold damage from one of her shield spells.
Ferdinath punches me twice, hitting for 19 subdual damage. I drop unconscious.
Dayraven casts Shield on himself. Ethelred casts Silence on himself and uses his Wildshape to transform into a wolf.
Orcs begin to throw javelins which transform into lightning bolts at the Dragon.
The Dragon responds by breathing a great cloud of acid, killing scores of Orcs.
Luciead casts a spell and hovers up 20 feet into the air.
Ielfeta moves up and attacks Ferdinath, missing once and hitting once for 6 damage.
Skeletons move forward to melee with the Dragon.
More Orcs throw more lightning javelins.

Seventh Round.
I'm down.
Ragnil casts Mage Armor on himself.
Ferdinath punches Ielfeta, hitting for 34 subdual damage.
Dayraven casts Shillelagh.
Ethelred and the animals (You and Hoober) attack Ferdinath.
Luciead casts Silence toward Dayraven but he saves.
Orcs begin shooting arrows which burst into flames at the Dragon.
The Dragon opens its wings and casts a spell. Orcs on the left fly upwards toward the ceiling and Luciead crashes to the floor.
Ielfeta attacks and misses three times.
Orcs continue to shoot flaming arrows.
Villagers from above arrive and move to engage the Orcs.
The Dragon breaths a cloud of gas.

Eighth Round.
I'm down.
Ragnil attacks Luciead hitting once for 14 damage and missing once.
Ferdinath attacks Ielfeta, missing several times but still inflicting 17 subdual damage.
Dayraven attacks Ferdinath, hitting for 12 damage.
Ethelred attacks Luciead but misses while the animals attack Ferdinath and hit.
Luciead casts Curse even though she's silenced. Ethelred and Ragnil fail their saves but everyone else makes it. Those who saved only take 10 damage but those who didn't take 20. Ethelred goes down. She reaches toward him and casts Death Knell but he saves.
Ielfeta attacks three times but misses.
The Orcs continue to attack the Dragon but all the skeletons are gone now.

Ninth Round.
I'm down.
Ragnil attacks Luciead, hitting for 10 damage and missing.
Ferdinath attacks Ielfeta and hits for 26 subdual damage.
Dayraven attacks Ferdinath and hits, killing him. (KIA 44+2)
Ethelred is down.
Luciead begins to cast but Ragnil and Ielfeta get attacks of opportunity. She hits for 14 damage and he hits for 19, killing her. (KIA 0.5 each)
Ielfeta sees Tollen go down and screams "Noooooo!!!!!!" (our one and only *Slow Motion No*)
The Orcs continue meleeing the Dragon.

Tenth Round.
I'm down.
Ragnil attacks one of the Orcs attacking the Dragon and then casts Fog Cloud.
Dayraven stablizes Ethelred and then casts a Fireball at a group of Orcs. The fog cloud is burned off as a result.
Ethelred is down but the animals move to attack the Orcs.
Ielfeta attacks an Orc and kills it. (KIA 1.5)
An Orc stabs a spear into the Dragon's side and it goes down on one wing, feebly clawing with its other.

Eleventh Round.
I'm down.
Ragnil runs toward the Dragon and casts a Cure Moderate Wounds on her but one Orc gets an attack of opportunity, hitting him for 13 damage and he goes down.
Dayraven attacks an Oruk but misses.
Ethelred is down but the animals attack, all missing.
Ielfeta wades into the remaining Orcs attacking, killing, cleaving and killing again. She killed two Orcs. (KIA 3.5)

Twelvth Round.
I'm down.
Ragnil is down.
An Orc drives a vardatch into the Dragons eye and it stops moving. He turns, raises his arms and screams his victory. Dayraven charges it, hitting for 7 damage and killing him. (KIA 45+2)

Ielfeta, Dayraven and the animals finish off the remainder of the Orcs. Ielfeta stablizes Tollen while Dayraven stablizes Ragnil. We find out the Dragon's name was Verlathis and she was mentioned in his lorebook as one of the few dragons who didn't go over to Izrador's side during the Dragon Wars. All the Orcs and skeletons are dead and only Tollen and two of the villagers survived. We cremate the Dragon and all agree that the legend of the Green Maiden must live on in order to inspire others to fight the Shadow.

We collect everything we need and Tollen leads us out of the caves. We are intent on finding what remains of the family. Tollen and the villagers will travel with us for a time. Ielfeta decides to remain with him while the rest of us search for Dayraven's wife and those who survived the sacking of Ailsfont. It takes two months but we find them in the foothills of the Kaladrim Mountains.

[24 May 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Disciple of the Green Maiden,
4th week of Sennach,
Grover's Hallow, Westlands.

It has been ten arcs, four weeks since Grindstone was sacked.

We left off just after the Ceremony where we pledged ourselves to the Green Maiden and she healed Arnora. We retire for the evening back to the barn and go to sleep. I have to watch her a bit before I can even think about sleeping. Later, Ethelred smells smoke and awakens Dayraven, who wakes the rest of us. They go outside to investigate and we discover that something is burning out in the orchard. Ielfeta isn't there but I think I know where she might be. At this point there are four or five trees aflame and Dayraven sends Ethelred toward the village to raise the alarm. He meets a young man with an axe as he nears the village and goes to form a line to haul water. After a quick search of the barn I have Wulfgar lift up a filled trough and we head toward the fire. Seeing the young man with the axe, Wulfgar drops the trough and confiscates the axe. He heads toward the burning trees as I drag the trough behind us, seeing him head into the flames. He drops the axe and begins to push over the trees while I splash water on his back to keep him from catching. After the first I stop and pick up the axe to help him create a fire break. Dayraven and Ethelred manage to get a fire brigade going and water begins to arrive.

Leandrus and three others kneel next to The Tree and begin chanting. Shortly we hear thunder and rain clouds gather. It begins raining and we get the flames put out, however but the smoke doesn't seem to lessen. Several of us go down to the tree that seems to be the center of the fire to investigate its cause. Dayraven things it was a Flame Strike spell given the circle of disintegrated grass (rather than burned grass) around the tree. Meanwhile the smoke continues to move around in patterns which don't seem natural to us. We follow it to the bluff and Ethelred casts Spider Climb on me so I may climb the bluff face to get above the smoke and see if I can discern a pattern. After several minutes of climbing I emerge from the smoke looking down at Dayraven. I seem to have gotten turned around. We try again and the same thing happens, so he ties a rope about my waist. We discover that at about 35 feet from the ground the rope goes slack and I apparently turn around. He tries to Detect Magic but it works no better this time than it seemed to the first time. After a few more abortive tries to determine what is going on with the smoke we give up and head back to sleep.

[next day]
The wedding preparations continue. I spend the morning making charms (DC 15, 15+10=25, 8+10=18) having better luck than my first try. I get two made and give one to Wulfgar and one to Ielfeta.

[effects]
+2 luck bonus to any single skill check, attack roll or saving throw made within one minute of activation.
They're small leather fobs with two small "straps" that allow you to tie it to something.

Leandrus spends the morning talking with Dayraven, describing the effects and powers of The Tree. He finds out it is what's called a "Power Nexus" used by spell casters to make casting their spells easier. It seems the Tree's specialty is Illusionary magic. Ragnil comes to talk with Wulfgar about some visions he had. They ask Spek to show them Swiftwater where they see four large boats docked. It seems a second Warband has arrived. The first was the Feral Mother tribe and this one seems to be the Dark Mothers tribe. [Garrok was of the Mother of Blood tribe and Ragnil was in the Forgotten Mothers]

Wulfgar brings his concerns to me and after they convince me we go to find Leandrus and Dayraven. Leandrus tells us that he had hoped the first warband would leave when it didn't find us but that doesn't seem to have happened. He continues to tell us that he thinks the only way that they will leave is if they get what they are searching for. Dayraven tells Leandrus that while he's thankful for all the help we've been given, he doesn't intend to sacrifice himself or his family for the village. With a knowing grin, Leandrus leads us down to the Millhouse. Inside he has Wulfgar move a barrel under a spout and throws a lever to fill it with water. Casting some sort of spell he freezes the water and asks Wulfgar to remove the wood. Turning to Dayraven, Leandrus asks him if he can carve it into a semblance of Ragnil. A fine potter, Dayraven isn't quite up to the task and his finished product seems to bear little resemblance. Leandrus then attempts to improve the figure and they get something he declares "will work."

Meanwhile Ferdinath has approached me for help with the wedding feast. He takes me down a small trail between the bluff and the forest behind the orchard until we get to a tunnel where the trail turns into the bluff. Down this corridor we find a large metal gate with many complicated gears and four Dwarven guards. They let us out, back into Ganelon's house where we go to begin to hunt. We discuss daughters, weddings and fathers and all manner of things and eventually return with two elk like creatures.

Back at the Millhouse, they finish four sculptures of Ragnil, Dayraven, Wulfgar and me. They then move them from the Millhouse up next to The Tree. Leandrus puts one hand on the figure and one on the tree and begins to chant. A few moments later a mist rises from the ice and then the figure stands up. These seems to be something called "simulacra", a complicated magical construct. He finishes with the last, then takes an ordinary looking apple from his pocket. Giving it to faux Dayraven (Fdayraven - pronounced "Fey Raven") he tells it to go to Swiftwater, surrender, speak only with their leader and to give him the apple. Wordlessly the four constructs turn and walk toward the gate. Shortly after all of us open Spek and ask him to show us them. We watch them go into Ganelon's house and pull a canoe from high in it's branches. They launch it and row downstream.

Dayraven then asks Leandrus if he will go with them to the cave we used to arrive at the village. He consents and they go out from Ganelon's house to the stream and follow it to the cave. My brother leads them into the cavern with the apples and it appears much as it was when they were there, except the apples are all in a neat pile by the water. He describes to Leandrus what happened and then picks up an apple and starts to eat it. However nothing seems to occur this time. Leandrus comments that something must live in the cavern and warns that as long as they are all outside they are in jeopardy. They head back but one of them notices a glint of silver as they leave the cave. Leandrus tells them it is a ward but won't elaborate or reveal if the ward is to keep something out or something in. As they approach Ganelon's house they locate You, who accompanies them back toward the gate. Each of them steps across but as the grasscat pads up it suddenly hisses, raising it's hackles and backs away. Just as suddenly it calms down and walks into the tunnel. Leandrus tells them that it seems the cat was possessed by an Asterix and points out a similar line of silver running around the gate.

After they return, Wulfgar goes back to watching the constructs. Shortly they arrive in the Orc filled town and surrender. They're taken to a building up against the bluff where there is some sort of meeting happening. The leader of this group seems to be a huge Oruk. Fayraven bows his head and offers his surrender to the Oruk. It then pulls out the apple, comments that he thought "you'd be bigger" and takes a bite. The Oruk rises to his feet in anger and approaches Fayraven, drawing his knife. He holds the knife at it's throat and takes the apple. He looks at it and then tosses it over his shoulder. We notice his eyes become unfocused, as if he was looking at something behind Fayraven. Terror grows in his eyes as he steps backward, stumbles and then falls. Sounds from around them begin as pandemonium ensues. We can't be sure what exactly happens but much running and screaming follow. Dayraven asks about the apple and Leandrus tells him it was a powerful spell called "The Wierding" which made their worst nightmare come true. Ethelred speculates that perhaps it was Izrador made flesh come to visit his minions.

That night there is a "rehearsal dinner" and then we retire for the evening, setting watches; Ethelred, Ielfeta, Wulfgar and then Ragnil. Some time during the night Arnora wakes Wulfgar and tells him that Ielfeta is gone. He tells her to go back to sleep and then returns to sleep himself.

[next day]
In the morning Ragnil asks Wulfgar why he didn't wake him for his watch and Wulfgar realizes what Arnora meant. He blames it on Ielfeta, who is now back. She reluctantly admits that she was with Tollen. Over breakfast I point out (when they tell me about You) that now the Asterix knows where the gate is and we ask Leandrus if that's dangerous. He remains confident that the gate is still well protected by the confusion spell(s).

Dayraven and I head to Ferdinath's house after Leandrus tells us they need help. I get enlisted to help with the wedding dress. Initially I don't think I'll be much help since I'm a leather crafter rather than a seamstress, however I discover that Dwarven wedding gowns are made of leather. I fall to work with gusto akin to the Dwarven enthusiasm around us. Dayraven goes to find the father of the bride to see what help he can be. He ends up taking most of the day following false leads without success.

Wulfgar spends his morning tormenting his cousin about her new beau until Tollen gets frustrated and leaves. Ielfeta storms off not much later. Then he goes to find Ragnil and to search out things to watch with Spek. Ethelred apparently helps prepare the wedding feast. Late in the afternoon, Dayraven finally finds Ferdinath, who seems a bit edgy but when my brother asks about it he's assured it must be wedding jitters.

Toward dusk Wulfgar again comes running to find me after seeing something disturbing in Spek. It seems that the "blanket" which shrouded this place and prevented both Spek and Ragnil from seeing us has intermittently lifted and they can get glimpses of us. We immediately go to Leandrus' house to warn him. He's dressed in his wedding finery and apparently going to conduct the ceremony (it turns out to be an Elvish one). We tell him what we've found and he dispatches us with four more Dwarven guards, who are grumbling at missing the wedding.

People begin to gather by the Tree for the ceremony and things start.

As we follow the trail we find, when it turns into the tunnel through the bluff, a large number of very large (larger than human) footprints in the dirt leading from the tunnel into the forest. It's apparent something is happening so the Dwarves head back to the wedding to defend their families. Dayraven asks me if we should check the gate out. It was a hard decision since enemies seem to already be on their way toward the village and our family. We head to the gate to see if we can close it to prevent reinforcements. I suggest he send Grunon back to warn the others.

At the wedding, Ferdinath seems to have a detached look and his daughter has to nudge him when Leandrus asks who gives the bride away.

Dayraven and I find the gate asunder, bashed in with no way to try to close it. All the Dwarven guards are gone. He decides to try to block the tunnel and uses his Shatter spell to bring the ceiling in.

A scream shatters the ceremony and rank after rank of skeletons begin to rise from the lake and march toward the village. Arrows (or perhaps bolts) begin to fly from the edge of the orchard and the village itself. Arnora runs over toward Leandrus, touches his hand and says

"Your mind is mine!".

He collapses.

[17 May 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
4th week of Sennach,
Grover's Hollow, Westlands.

It has been ten arcs, four weeks since Grindstone was sacked.

We find ourselves in a place called Grover's Hollow but where exactly it is remains a mystery. We've found Leandrus and he seems to be an elder of sorts here. A dwarf named Ferdinath is what they call the constable and that's the only other official of the village we've met.

The crowd outside Leandrus' house begins to dissipate and we are all asked to help with various chores around the village. I don't mind but I'm sure Ielfeta recalls snapping beans in Swiftwater to earn our lodging. She never was one to volunteer for more work of types she didn't consider "heroic" or "glorious".

Wulfgar goes with a gnomish fisherman named Hugh Scarsguard to catch some fish for the wedding feast. The head down to the dock and get into a boat. A gnome sized boat, which is quite an accomplishment for the boy, given he's nine feet tall. He realizes that there seems to be two streams which feed into the lake but no obvious outlet. They row out to the middle of the lake and Hugh prepares his nets. Wulfgar watches intently as he does this and Hugh holds up a pair of gnome sized chainmail gauntlets. He realizes that they aren't going to fit Wulfgar and instead gives him a small club. Casting the net they wait a bit and then Hugh tells him to pull it in. A small silver fish is caught in the net but it seems to be more teeth than anything else. Hugh quickly grabs it and holds it out, telling Wulfgar "now, hit it now!". Wulfgar swings mightily and the store their first catch. Wulfgar then prepares the net [he gains one rank in Profession (fishing)], throws it in and then jumps in the water after it. As he sinks to the bottom he notices bones on the lakebed along with assorted debris, coins and a dagger, which he collects. He brings back up what appears to be an Orc skull and a Sarcosian coin.

I spend the morning helping the village leatherworker tan some hides. Shortly after lunch Leandrus joins us and asks me if we can talk. We walk by the lake as he asks me if I would like him to try to cure Arnora. I agree (of course) but he warns me that it will take much from me and perhaps from my family. At this point we are standing by the lake and he motions my reflection. "You are the one who set out to find her. You are the one who did find her. You are the one who posses the power to heal her." Strangely he then tells me that we will need to entreat the Green Maiden. Then after I agree, he holds out his hands toward me, asking me which hand can heal her. Recalling what he just said, I extend my hand and tell him "this one." [awarded one gold chip]

Ethelred accompanies a Halfling woman named Nereena. She asks him if he ever collects herbs and they go off to the woods to find something she needs to help someone in the village. Ethelred finds something called wintermint as well as a fungus (I didn't catch the name of it). They mix up a poultice which seems to prevent injury. After she mixes it she smears it on his arm, which begins to numb. Then she pulls up a switch and suddenly smacks him as hard as she can on that arm. He barely feels it and she smears her own arm. Thrusting it toward him she demands he hit her. They spend the remainder of the afternoon drinking, smoking and mixing all sorts of strange concoctions in her hut. [he gains two ranks in Profession (herbalist)]

Ielfeta is asked to help a strapping young man named Tollen to make lanterns for the wedding. He takes her out to collect reeds and then shows her how to weave them into spheres. She catches on quickly and after lunch they go out to a cave in the bluff under a waterfall at the far end of town. They gather and smash a number of rubies. He shows her how to make the dust glow and infuse it into the spheres. [she gains one rank in Craft (weaving)]

That evening we all gather back at the barn, where we're sleeping since there are no free houses in the village. Ragnil joins us accompanied by an Elvish woman named Kalandra. They bring huge trays of food for us and we all gorge ourselves. Ragnil asks Spek if he can see us and we determine that wherever we are, we're still within that strange area he can't see. We look at the tavern Shortcomings in Swiftwater to see if Rimona has returned. We see 15 or 20 Orcs seated in it, the place looking very much ransacked and several gnomes rushing around to serve them. However when Ielfeta asks to see Rimona we see only a shimmering in the same scene.

Dayraven spent the day learning new spells.

In the late afternoon I use my Detect Evil spell to help reassure everyone that all of this isn't a façade over some Shadow trick. I can detect nothing within the limits of the spell (60'). Wulfgar pulls out the dagger he's found and stabs himself through the palm in an attempt to prove that we are all awake. Pretty drastic but also pretty convincing proof. I heal his hand for him. Ethelred tries to get Ielfeta to try the damage salve that the Halfling woman had shown him.

That evening we set watches just in case. During his, Ethelred, who is outside the barn, sees a figure rise from the mist which has risen over the lake. He watches it walk slowly around the lake toward the barn where we all are sleeping. He rushes around the other side but doesn't see it and then yells to everyone inside. We all awaken, I climb up through the window onto the barn roof while everyone else seems to climb down. I see motion which seems to indicate the figure walked back out onto the lake and sunk into it. Then the mist dissipates.

Ielfeta and I go around the barn to find Leandrus and see if he can tell us what's going on. On the way we encounter Ferdinath and he convinces us that it's probably best to let everyone sleep so we return to the barn. It takes awhile to fall back asleep.

[next day]
Leandrus shows up first thing the next morning as we're breaking fast with the trays of food from last evening. Ethelred tells him what he saw at Ielfeta's prompting. I spend the morning attempting to craft some charms (DC 15, 2+9=11 and 9+9=18) but only manage to make one, which I give to Ethelred, promising Wulfgar one as soon as I can make it. Wulfgar takes Ethelred with him to fish since Eth had promised a bird he spoke with a treat. They head down to the dock on the lake and tell Hugh to take a break today. They row out to the middle and cast the net, getting nothing on their first try but two on their second. Then Wulfgar casts the net again and jumps back into the water again. When he gets to the bottom he begins to pile skulls into the net. Fish (the ones with the big mouth of teeth) begin to nip at him and soon the water is red with his blood, attracting even more nasty fish. He relents and swims back up, then they row back to shore. He drags the net full of skulls into the barn and declares "Uncles! I want to go home!".

Ielfeta disappears as soon as breakfast is over, running to Tollen's house. He takes her to the large, old tree next to the lake which was so forbidding and scary looking the night before. He tells her that the tree reflects the emotions of the viewer back at them and since she was apprehensive that's why it looked so frightening. He shows her a spell and then they go to the orchard to practice spells and fencing. [she learns the Lesser Evocation school and gets a 1st or 2nd level spell] Over the course of the day she asks him why everyone seems to use magic so freely and he tells her that the Tree reflects the Shadow back to itself so the village remains hidden.

Ferdinath comes into the barn shortly after Wulfgar returned and questions what he's done. He explains that the bones which carpet the lakebed are how people in the village deal with their dead so they don't rise again. And we learn that the village is a sort of training camp for rebels against the Shadow. They go on raids and the casualties they take and inflict are brought back and sunk into the lake, which is why there were so many races represented by the skulls. Wulfgar and Ethelred agree to return the skulls to their resting place. Eth places them back in the water with reverence but Wulfgar just throws them in, expressing, it seems, his discontent with Ferdinath's answer.

Ethelred returns to Nereena's house to practice more herbalism and experiment further.

Leandrus takes me to the orchard and we find the sourest apples we can. Then we go back to his house where he has some sort of contraption which he uses to press the apples. It produces the marvelous apple cider that we tasted in Swiftwater. He asks me if I'm committed to helping Arnora. I tell him I am but I'm unsure of the seriousness of any commitment the children may have. I agree to talk to them. [I trade my gold chip in for knowledge of the Lesser Conjuration school and a 1st or 2nd level spell]

After the skull incident, Wulfgar goes to see the Elvish woman Kalandra and she teaches him how to make friends (using a charm spell apparently). [He learns the Enchantment school and gets a 1st or 2nd level spell]

At dinner I discuss Arnora's healing with the family and discover that I was wrong. It seems the children are all as committed as I am to help her. So when Leandrus comes to the barn the next morning we tell him we're ready to help her.

[next day]
He tells us to meet him at the Tree at dusk. We spend the day as we have the last two, learning magic and assorted skills. That evening he takes us to the Tree and the village seems to be waiting for us. On the way he tells me that he believes that her condition is magical rather than natural and it's evil magic. Once we arrive he places us in a circle holding hands with Arnora in the center. He places her into a trance and lays her down. We all pledge ourselves to the Green Maiden and the mist rises on the lake again. A familiar figure rises from the water and walks toward us. We see a naked woman with long green hair, however we can't tell her race. She seems vaguely Elven yet also human. She walks up to our circle and then in to kneel next to Arnora. She places her hand on my daughters brow. We feel fear and then we feel something telling us to resist the temptation. The panic recedes and we all feel ... it's difficult to describe and probably best left to ourselves. Suddenly Arnora sits up and cries out. The Green Maiden steps back away and we don't notice her returning to the lake as we all crowd around my daughter, who is talking now. I coax her to me and all seems much better with the world. [We all get 1 level of channeler]

[10 May 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
3rd week of Sennach,
A cave west of the Eren River,
West of Swiftwater, Westlands.

It has been ten arcs, three week and two days since I stopped living.

Well, since the sacking of Grindstone, since I've come to the conclusion that I really should continue to live. Arnora needs me at the least, especially since she's not quite the same as she had been before.

Ragnil and I got across the Eren without a problem and Rimona had given us some rudimentary directions to find Leandrus, along with a warning that if we weren't as we seemed we'd meet our doom. We head upriver to try to find the stream which lead to the apple orchard where Ganelon's house was. After a bit we reenter that strange zone where everyone seemed to lose track of which direction they were going. I try an assortment of different ideas to travel in a straight line including my sending Grunon (Dayraven's familiar) to fly out to an object in view and then walking to it. We always get to where he is without a problem but we still end up away from the river out in the sea of grass. Fortunately Ragnil could smell the river so we managed to get back to it's shore. I give up on the idea of using the raven so I send him back to Dayraven with a message to meet us at Ganelon's house. It flies off directly toward the river and is quickly lost from sight.

Trying to figure out what to do, Ragnil mentions that he can smell horse. However he doesn't smell Orc so I reason that the horse couldn't belong to a Legate since they wouldn't travel without a bodyguard of some type. So we head toward that. Eventually we come close enough that I can smell horse as well. Unfortunately Ragnil can't smell apples so I leave him in the grass and go to investigate. Over a small rise in a copse of trees I spy a saddled horse with barding on and his reins tossed on the sadddlehorn.

Meanwhile Dayraven comes ashore on the eastern bank and then begins to circle Swiftwater to get back to where we left the rest. They continue whatever they were doing to pass the time, Ielfeta and Ethelred playing a game and Wulfgar pushing over trees. Evening comes and they set up camp again, setting watches, Ielfeta, Wulfgar and then Ethelred. Little happens during the night except Wulfgar doesn't wake Ethelred for his watch, having come to the conclusion that he doesn't trust him after the comments he made the previous day during the debate over whether to rescue Rimona (something about Wulfgar not really being part of the family - I wonder what he things of me?).

After watching the horse for a period of time (perhaps an hour), I try to return to where I left Ragnil. It becomes apparent soon that I've lost my way and after some three hours I end up finding the copse with the horse again, only this time I'm all the way on the opposite side of it. Doing my best to keep the horse in view I begin to circle the copse and find a small creek about half way around (1/4 of the circle). I continue to circle and find I cross it again so I decide to take a chance on it and head downstream, thinking if it's the creek we're looking for I can retrace my steps to find Ragnil.

Eventually I find the apple orchard first and decide that I should find Leandrus and then he can help me find Ragnil. I reach the point where we had turned off to go to Ganelon's house and continue straight, following the creek. An escarpment rises on both sides until the creek is in a small canyon. The canyon ends at a large rock with a diagonal crack through which the stream originates. The water smells slightly acidic so I dip the end of my quarterstaff into it to see if it's dangerous. The wood appears unaffected so I dip a finger into it without ill effect.

Turning sideways I make my way into the cave. I follow the tunnel as far as I can. The walls look strange, as if they were etched from the rock. Eventually I come to a place where the stream empties out into a larger pool. Near where the stream enters the pool is a pile of apples. Very strange. I announce in a loud voice that I am looking for Leandrus and kneel down. After waiting about 90 minutes I get back up and begin to explore the area. I can't see or hear the other side but I make my way along the banks to either side and determine that it's about 100 yards wide. I return to the pile of apples and take one, throwing it as far as I can into the pool. I hear it sploosh and then suddenly my stomach feels like it's climbing up into my throat. My arms feel strange and then I see the floor recedes away from me quickly, as if I'm falling upwards. After a long fall during which I can see or hear nothing I land with a jarring impact on solid stone. I get back to my knees and hear strange, slow breathing. Rather quickly I fell asleep.

Meanwhile the rest prepare to find Ragnil and I. They pack up and move southwest in a sweep around Swiftwater. Upon reaching the river, Dayraven reveals a new spell he has learned "Water Walking". Everything is piled upon Wulfgar, Ielfeta and himself and they march across the river. Wulfgar had asked Spek to "show me something cool" and they watched a scene, apparently underwater, of a great, amorphous, tentacled creature who was attacked by Sea Elves.

After their crossing, they fall prey to the confusion surrounding the area and find themselves in the tall grass away from the riverbank. Ethelred and Dayraven insist they go one way while Wulfgar and Ielfeta insist they retrace their steps. Eventually they manage to get back to the river and Wulfgar then asks Spek to show him where they are. Spek has been unable to show them Ragnil or I for the whole day but does manage to view the river where they are. Wulfgar then concentrates on watching Spek and walks inland. Using this technique they manage to find the stream which lead to Ganelon's house. So they arrive at the large tree without further incident.

As the approach the strange door opens and a figure emerges. It turns out to be Lubomir, the legate who destroyed Grindstone.

Initiative (I wasn't part of this battle)

First Round.
Ielfeta charges the legate, swinging but missing both time.
Dayraven casts Shield on himself.
Wulfgar rages and uses a Fearsome Charge to close the distance to the legate and attack twice, hitting for 36 damage.
Lubomir casts which involks Attacks of Opportunity, Wulfgar hits him for 16 damage, then he steps 3' to his left and draws a bastard sword over his shoulder. There is a faint glimmer around him.
Ethelred shoots two sling bullets (really rocks) at him but misses.

Second Round.
Ielfeta swings twice but misses again.
Dayraven is blinded.
Wulfgar attacks twice again, hitting both times for 20 damage.
Lubomir casts Curse on them "The Dark God Curse You". A ripple of cold eminates from him and some of them take damage while most are blinded.
Ethelred calls out "Dad, he's behind you!"

Third Round.
Ielfeta attacks twice, missing once and hitting once for 7 damage.
Dayraven looses contact with Grunon and casts Dispel Magic upon himself.
Grunon bites him for 1 damage and he loses 1 spell point (none left so 1 CON).
Wulfgar attacks twice, hitting once and missing once for 13 damage.
Lubomir casts Silence toward Dayraven but he saves.
Ethelred shouts "Orc!" and shoots, missing.

Fourth Round.
Everyone can see again.
Ielfeta attacks twice, again hitting once and missing once, for 8 damage.
Dayraven casts Burning Hands angling it vertically so as only to hit the legate and does 13 damage.
The bird misses.
Wulfgar attacks twice as he shouts "Green Mother guide my sword!" (+20 to his attack roll) and hits twice for 31 damage.
Lubomir tries to touch Dayraven to cast a spell but misses as he whispers "Your blood's ruined". This involks more Attacks of Opportunity, Dayraven misses, Wulfgar misses but Ielfeta hits for 11 damage. He then tells Wulfgar to "Be Still" and he's held immobile.
The Orc reaches the fight and punches at the legate but misses (this is Ragnil).
Ethelred shoots but misses.

Fifth Round.
Ielfeta attacks twice but misses.
Dayraven casts his Burning Hands spell again, hitting for 7 damage.
The bird pecks Dayraven, hitting for 2 CON damage, which drops him.
Wulfgar is held.
Lubomir casts again saying "Your soul is mine" but Dayraven saves.
Ragnil reaches for Wulfgar and says "Your magic is void", freeing him.
Ethelred shoots and hits with no obvious effect.

Sixth Round.
Ielfeta attacks twice but misses.
Dayraven is out.
The bird misses him.
Wulfgar shouts "You have offended the Green Mother and must be made to PAY" as he attacks twice, hitting for 22 damage and dropping Lubomir.

Ielfeta moves for Grunon and just before she grabs him she sees an image of a hundred rotting mouths trying to bite her. She shakes it off but as she grasps the bird it seems that the Asterix has fled.

Picking Lubomir up by the throat, Wulfgar slaps him awake and demands

"Cure my friend's blindness and I'll kill you quickly!"

Ielfeta notices his hand beginning a spell and she lops it off. Lubomir gasps

"I must touch him"

Wulfgar looks to Ragnil, who says

"I'd rather be blind"

So Wulfgar beheads Lubomir with a twitch of his wrist.

Resting for the night they resume the journey in the morning and hearing the directions from Ragnil, they approach the cave. Wulfgar leads them in with Dayraven, Ielfeta, Arnora, Ragnil and Ethelred following. The make their way through the tunnels and find the cavern with the pool. The group spreads out to examine the area. The apples are spread all over the floor this time rather than piled as when I was there. Wulfgar immediately picks one up and gives it to Ragnil, taking another for himself. They both eat before everyone feels the same stomach-coming-up that indicates the fall. They also fall upward and are knocked unconscious when they land hard on the stone. They also hear the strange breathing and then fall asleep.

Wulfgar finds himself in a large, orate bed with a handsome Dornish woman kissing him. Dayraven wakes to a piercing pain in his head. As Wulfgar wakes (the Dornishwoman leaves the bed) he realizes that Hoober is licking his face and he's occupied for some time with his reunion. Everyone else wakes to find themselves deep in the hay of a barn loft. Ragnil is nowhere to be found nor is Arnora. Dayraven crawls over to look down and sees the stalls of a stable. With Unforth in one, a pack hanging next to him. He climbs down and goes over to the mule, examining the contents of the pack. He finds his lorebook, pottery, food and all the other things he thought he'd lost on the Orc raft days ago.

Wulfgar climbs down and goes charging out of the barn and Ielfeta makes a grab for him, missing. Outside he sees a crystal clear lake in front with an orchard to the left. Across the lake is a village with rows of houses lining a bluff extending away. He runs around the lake toward a large tree. As he nears it he sees a stream leading away from the lake crossed by a small bridge. A small (4') balding old man is coming across the bridge toward the barn. Spying Wulfgar he asks "Where are the rest of you?". They start talking.

Ielfeta finally comes down into the stable and searches it, finding two horses and two boros. However no weapons are anywhere to be had. Nervous about the place, she picks up a pitchfork as the rest of them climb down. Dayraven leaves the barn and follows Wulfgar, doubtless to extract him from whatever trouble he will enthusiastically plunge into.

They discover the village is called "Grover's Hollow" and Ferdinath (the short old man) tells them that Leandrus is waiting for them. The rest come up at that point and they follow him to a round stone house by the lake shore. Inside they find a table groaning with all manner of foodstuffs, behind which they find Ragnil eating heartily. And his blindness is cured (apparently by Leandrus though he insists the Green Maiden did it). They find out that Arnora and I are here and that the village is in central Erenland, though it seems hardly possible. As Ielfeta, Ethelred and Wulfgar go out to find me they see swarms of happy children playing as well as Gnomes, Halflings, Dorns, Sarcosians and Erenlanders. It seems a place where any ethnicity can live in peace.

Dayraven asks Leandrus about the path to the village (the cave) but he insists that he doesn't know of any cave, they found all of us sleeping in the orchard and moved us to the barn to rest. There seems to be no free houses so we make arrangements to sleep in the barn. Arnora is happy but seems no closer to normal than when we found her, she still can't speak but does make noises. The kids bring me back to the house as Leandrus, Dayraven and Ragnil exit. A crowd has accumulated and Leandrus asks us if we will stay to the end of the week for the mayor's (Ferdinath) daughter's wedding. I speak for us and tell him we will, which draws a glare (or perhaps a concerned look) from Ielfeta.

[03 May 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer, 3rd week of Sennach,
The inn called "Shortcomings",
Swiftwater, Westlands.

It has been ten arcs, three week since I stopped living.

Perhaps I should stop using that as in this diary, since everything is confused now. Jibril may be dead, Arnora is restored to me but I keep placing her in danger, and Maricosa is held somewhere by the Shadow.

Wulfgar made an impressive speech to intimidate the Gnomes. Playing on his size and his apparent belief that he's a reincarnated Orc War Hero. I couldn't catch all of it but ...

"If my uncle killed your friend then we all owe you a debt ...
I am Ragnar the Bold reincarnated ...
but between the Orcs and I, we will make sure you all die!"

Initiative = 12+8=20

First Round.
An bolt his Wulfgar for 1 damage.
I attack #1 (the gnome who was glaring at me) using quick draw to pull out my sap and flick of the wrist to try to sneak attack. 8+5=12 I hit for 3+2+2+1=8 subdual damage.
Wulfgar rages, steps up to #5 and attacks, hitting for 9 damage.
Ielfeta tumbles behind #5 and attacks, hitting for 13 damage, dropping him.
Dayraven rushes over to him and heals him.
Ethelred steps back, draws his sling and fires two rocks at #1, hitting for 5 damage.
#1 attacks me twice, hitting for 6 damage.

Second Round.
#4 vanishes (apparently invisibility).
#3 moves to flank me, attacks and hits for 7 damage.
I tumble past #1 6+5=11, endure two attacks of opportunity (1 hits) and attack #1, 16+5=21 hitting for 1+2=3 subdual damage.
#5 does nothing.
Wulfgar charges #1 and grapples him. "Call them off or I'll crush your ribs!"
Ielfeta moves on to #2 and attacks, hitting for 9 damage.
Dayraven casts Burning Hands, 9 damage, Reflex save DC 15 (6+9=15) burning some of them and Wulfgar. I avoided the flames.
Ethelred shoots where the invisible gnome was, missing.
#4 casts Color Spray on Dayraven, stunning him.

Third Round.
#3 attacks me, hitting for 8 damage, I go down.
Wulfgar shifts his grip on #1 to use him to batter at #3 however he misses.
Ielfeta attacks #2 and misses.
Dayraven is stunned so does nothing.
Ethelred seems to be stunned as well.
#2 attacks Ielfeta and misses.

Fourth Round.
#4 casts Burning Hands toward us.
#3 attacks Wulfgar and hits for 9 damage.
Wulfgar returns the attack but misses.
Ielfeta attacks #2 twice, dropping him.
Dayraven seems blind now but casts Shield on himself.
Ethelred moves.

Fifth Round.
#3 attacks Wulfgar but misses.
#4 casts Mirror Image and four other copies of him appear.
Wulfgar drops #1 (who is now unconscious) and picks up his daggers, attacking #3 he hits for 13 damage.
Ielfeta attacks but misses.
Dayraven casts Shillelagh and attacks, but misses.
We hear pounding on the door from the taveran and Orc voices.
Ethelred shoots #4, hits once and misses once.

Sixth Round.
#3 attacks Wulfgar but misses.
#4 disappears.
Wulfgar attacks #3, hitting for 14 damage, dropping him.

Wulfgar, hearing the pounding, grabs a barrel next to him and hussles up the stairs, opening the door with his shoulder. Two Orcs stand there demanding "the cider". He offers them the barrel ...

"Would you like a drink, oh Bloody Ones ..." (He rolls a natural 20 on his Bluff check).

"Is that cider?" They ask.

"No, it's wine, they didn't tell me where the cider was." he says as he sets the wine barrel down and returns downstairs. He hears the barrel crash down the stairs behind him as they descend the stairs, following him.

Everyone else was collecting weapons from the fallen gnomes

4 light crossbows
3 daggers
1 short sword
1 warhammer

and moving up the stairs toward the cellar door in the back of the tavern. Ielfeta picks me up and got there first and discovered it was locked, so she cast her Knock special ability. The cellar door explodes outward and they move into the landing facing the back door.

Meanwhile the two orcs see the carnage in the cellar and call up to their compatriots upstairs. The move up closer behind Wulfgar and three other Orcs come down.

Initiative remains the same (12+8=20)

Seventh Round.
Wulfgar attempts to bluff the Orcs again but they're not buying this time.
Ielfeta attempts to bash open the back door without any success.
Dayraven heals me for 20 hit points.
Ethelred is grabbed off the stairs from behind by one of the original 2 Orcs.
#11 tosses Ethelred aside, he hits the floor for 3 damage.
#12 grabs Wulfgar, who allows himself to be grappeled.

Eighth Round.
I quick draw my quarterstaff, rush down the stairs and attack #11, 7+5=12, missing.
Wulfgar says "Well if that's the way you're going to be about it ..." and attempts to sit down on top of the Orc holding him without any success.
#15 attacks me and hits for 6 damage.
Ielfeta casts Shatter on the back door and it bursts outward. She sees an Orc standing there.
Dayraven (realizing if he casts again he'll fall unconscious) moves up and attacks #15, hitting for 8 damage.
#14 moves up and attacks Wulfgar, hitting for 8 damage.
Ethelred picks himself up and shoots two stones again, hitting with one and missing the other.

Ninth Round.
#11 punches me, hitting for 5 subdual damage.
#13 punches Wulfgar, hitting for 12 subdual damage.
I attack #11 again, 18+5=23 hitting for 4+2=6 damage.
Wulfgar hits #12 in the kneecap. He says "War Brothers beware! Garok is here!" attempting to bluff them again. One of them moves off with a confused look.
#15 attacks Dayraven and misses.
Ielfeta sees that the Orc is Ragnil and he tells her "Run! Get to the stables!".
#14 attacks Dayraven and hits for 11 damage.
Ethelred shouts to the Orc who withdrew "You! Help us!" without success. He then shoots twice, missing both.
#14 punches Wulfgar again, hitting for 7 damage.

Tenth Round.
#11 punches me for 6 subdual damage.
I attack him, 10+5=15, missing.
Wulfgar attacks #14, hitting for 11 damage, killing it. He says "Brothers, don't make me kill you all!". Another one fails his morale check and begins to edge away from the fight.
Ielfeta follows Ragnil's directions and runs out the back door of the tavern.
Dayraven attacks.
#11 attacks me but misses.
Ragnil moves up and heals Dayraven for 17 hit points.
Ethelred shoots twice, hitting once and missing once.

Eleventh Round.
#11 punches me again, hitting for 7 subdual damage and knocking me unconscious.
Wulfgar points at the last fighting Orc and says to Ragnil "Ragnil you're here to convince our brother of the error of his ways". He holds his action.
Dayraven runs for the door.
Ethelred shoots again, again hitting once and missing once.
Ragnil points his finger at #11 and says "The Maiden shall not let you move" (casts Hold Person). The last Orc is totally motionless. He says to Wulfgar "We must be going Brother ".

Wulfgar drops the warhammer he was fighting with (which he took from Dayraven's belt during the fight) and picks up two vardatches. Before he leaves, he knocks over the held Orc. This frees him but he scuttles backwards, eyes wide with fear.

We move out of the tavern and manage to make our way through the back streets behind it. We hear Orc voices out toward the center of town. Ethelred and I are relatively stealthy, Ielfeta and Dayraven have already crossed the open area of the street and gotten to the stables. Wulfgar and Ragnil are following us. Wulfgar, as strong as he as, and as audacious, isn't steathly by any stretch of the imagination so the Orcs hear him.

"Over there" we hear.

Just as the last of us approach the stable door we hear another, familiar, Orc voice shout

"They went that way"

and the other Orc voices move off from the stable toward the bridges over the stream. We get inside and find the tunnel. Ethelred and I wait to leave last and I help him erase any signs of our passage. We get to the bluff top without incident and move off, away from town, so that the argument, which has already started, can continue without endangering all of our lives.

An hours walk got us far enough away (5 miles) to argue about what to do next. I tried to tell my tale but the argument soon resumed. I'm sure Dayraven will want to know, when we get a quiet moment, what had happened so many years ago. But the children ... well, we love them anyway. And they are proving to be their father's children, brave, forthright and sometimes reckless.

Having decided that we should rescue Rimona despite her attempt to have us killed, we come up with a feasible plan. I experiment with the illusionary marbles again and manage to transform myself into an image of Ragnil. It seems to last for 24 hours. Dayraven will travel north of Swiftwater and create a magical ruckus to attract the Legate from town. Once he's left, I will use the illusionary marbles to make myself look like him and Ragnil and I will go down into town and bluff our way to where she's being held, rescue her and then escape on the raft. The rest will wait for word on what happens. Initially they were going to hold Spek so they could watch to see if anyone got into trouble but we decide that since Ragnil and I will pick them up but Dayraven will be separated, he should take Spek. He can watch the Legate to see when he leaves (to know when to run) and watch us to rejoin the group. This seems to short circuit any idea they had about rushing to our rescue but I could only see bad things happening then.

The plan doesn't quite go as well as I would have hoped. Dayraven got to a spot about two miles from the town and had Spek watch while he cast his Burning Hands spell to set the grass on fire. After one casting the bird took notice while the Legate was sleeping. The second spell cause the bird to wake the Legate up, who then got dressed and ready to leave. After the third casting the Legate had roused several orcs who went to get his horse. They left town at a run.

At this point I wait until I think the Legate is far enough away to not really hear the marble hide me and I change into him. We go around the bluff and come in to town from across the stream. We get in and get to Rimona without much difficulty but when I tried to get things arranged to get out some of the Orcs got suspicious. When I ordered them to cut her loose and when I ordered them to sink the other two rafts things seemed to start to go sour. However by then we'd gotten onto the largest of the rafts, so we did get away but it wasn't as scot-free as I would have liked.

Between Ragnil and I we managed to convince Rimona that we weren't in league with the Shadow and she gave us directions to find Leandrus. It seems he was further up the stream that we followed to Ganelon's house. So after she left us, diving back into the river, we headed in that direction. Dayraven floated downriver past Swiftwater and presumably will rejoin the rest. And with Spek they should be able to find us without too much trouble.

[26 Apr 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
2nd week of Sennach,
Outside Alisfont, Westlands.

It has been ten arcs, two week and a day since I stopped living.

We remained in the village for another day examining the message that Grandmother left for clues as to what she meant, what happened to her and the others and what she may have left us. We also continue our search. The message seems to leave directions and while Ielfeta puzzles over it, Wulfgar (never one to not jump into anything head first) begins to follow them. He goes to the place by the stream where I found the message and starts by turning left. Then he goes upstream, crossing it when it wends away from the village. He turns right and goes uphill to stand at Ielfeta's hut. There he turns again and soon ends up at Dayraven's house. He goes inside and looks up then out the window to see Grandmother's house. I follow him the whole way, examining everything as we go.

We reenter her house and again see the fine black ash everywhere, as if some great fire started with a flash but ended just as suddenly as it started. He looks over the bed and I noticed that it hadn't been made when it was overturned by the Orcs. Odd since she normally rises early, makes her bed and begins her day. Wulfgar goes out to some of the other houses to see how their beds were before the raid. He turns up nothing conclusive in his bed foray. I go under her house and look up. Spying the small cracks between the floorboards this gives Ielfeta an idea and she looks at the pattern of ash and charred grass under the house. Taken as a whole they seem to spell out the letters

H I L H I

but we can't resolve this into a word in any of the languages we know. Wulfgar asks Ragnil about Orcish. The first letter of North and East in Colonial seems to correspond to some of them but that doesn't lead anywhere either.

In frustration Wulfgar goes over to the corner of the house. Straining greatly he manages to lift it up so we can look under the posts. An amazing feat but it brings us no closer to what we all now believe is her secret message. Ielfeta believes there must be something buried under the house and begins to dig in the pattern of the letters we found earlier. She's quite productive and get a fairly extensive area unearthed over the course of the morning. I was never any good at these sorts of puzzles.

Finally it occurs to Dayraven, who has been examining the note while all of us are trying various things, that the first letter of each line may be something.

G O D O W N S T R E A M T O D E A D O A K T H E N S O U T H T O P A N N O C K G R O V E

GO DOWNSTREAM TO DEAD OAK THEN SOUTH TO PANNOCK GROVE

We pack our meager belongings and begin the trip. After about two and a half hours we locate the dead oak. By my reckoning we're half way to where Grindstone was. We head south and after a four hour trek we find a strange pannock tree in the middle of a clearing. It seems that five trees share a common trunk. Everyone spreads out to search for the next clue and Ielfeta climbs up into the "saddle". Finding a small pool of murky liquid she touches it. We rush to her after she screamed in surprise and discover eyes and a mouth. He tells us we can't pronounce his name but may call him "Spek". He was a friend of Grandmothers and tells us that she died a few days ago when the village was attacked. He says that only the Legate who lead the raid survived and that he (Spek) will help us.

Apparently he's quite old and has been in this tree for a long time. He'd known Grandmother for a number of years. He confirms that the Fell creature we killed in Ganelon's house was indeed Ganelon. When I ask him about Leandrus, he also tells us that Grandmother contacted him some arcs ago. He replays the conversation for us.

Ethelred asks Spek if he wants to come with us. The question surprises at least me since I presumed he was part of the tree. However such is not the case, he merely lives in the tree right now. While Wulfgar gets into a metaphysical discussion with him, we go off to bring down an animal to make a bag to carry him. Ielfeta gets an elk so we eat well even as Ethelred and I craft the container. She fashions a club from the long leg bones of the elk and Wulfgar copies her, not to be outdone. I harvest it's sinew in hopes of fashioning another bow eventually. We retire for the night late.

[next day]
The next morning Ethelred tells us that most of our family survived. Moldolf, Halvor and Eirik had stayed with Grandmother to fend off the Legate and his troops while the rest fled to Eagle's Mount. And the Halflings have pulled up their village and fled as well. So it's unlikely we'll be able to catch them and if we did it would only bring trouble to them. So we discuss the issue and decide to head toward Swiftwater in an effort to locate this Leandrus and secure his help. We smoke the rest of the elk and prepare to head to Swiftwater the next day.

He also tells us the Legate who destroyed the village was named Lubemeir and had several dogs with him (as well as an Orc bodyguard) and that he had raised all the Orcs that Grandmother killed. His description of the Legate matches the one I saw in my nightmare when this whole ordeal began. Much of what he tells us is confusing. Apparently he asked Spek what happened and was shown the attack. He tells us of her changes to a great eagle, a giant stone man and other incredible things.

[next day]
We depart the ruins of Alisfont bound for Swiftwater. The next five days pass uneventfully.

[5 days later]
As we approach Swiftwater, Ethelred and I go ahead to scout while the rest remain hidden. We go up the bluff and watch the town. There are a number of Orcs around but there seems to be no discernible patrol pattern. Guards are posted across both bridges and on the docks, however. We split the night and watch throughout. At dawn the Orcs become more scarce so I remain to watch while he goes back to the others.

They decide that Ielfeta and he should go into town posing as "random travelers". It's a good thing I'm unaware of the plan since it seems foolhardy to me. I mean in this evil time how many "random travelers" are going to be out wandering? They approach the town from the grain fields again and spy two gnomes out working. One spots them and warns them off with a shake of his head. Ethelred was willing to heed the warning but Ielfeta convinces him they need to get ahold of Rimona. So they enter the town and stop a gnome to ask where the inn is. He directs them toward it and thanks Ethelred for all the rats he caught for them in his last visit.

Inside the tavern there are a few gnomes eating but they don't take much notice. They talk to Harold, the barkeep, who takes them up to a room. They ask to talk with Rimona and she appears a short time later. She wants them to bring the rest of us in to see her after dinner but before dusk (when the Orcs will be out and drinking) and they don't manage to dissuade her from that course. So they make their way back to us with news of a secret tunnel from the bluffs down into the stable.

We wait until nightfall to go and find our way to the tunnel without a problem. We exit the stables and make our way to the cellar door of the inn. She descends the stairs and seeing us all present, calls out to her compatriots. Suddenly we're surrounded by five gnomes with drawn crossbows covering us. She demands to know why we killed Chestin. It seems he was found dead in his home the day after we left and the day following that the Orcs came. Ielfeta tells everyone what she learned from him (which she hadn't told us previously) and about the razorseed. One of the gnomes seems to be staring intently at me. He asks me, by name, to confirm her story. I do since I know of the razorseed and he tells everyone that I'm in with the Shadow, not to be trusted and of my betrayal of Caspara in Sharuun. They loudly proclaim my innocence. I try to convince them to let the rest go and only take their wrath out on me. As I might suspect anything I say falls on deaf ears, if they know of that.

Upstairs is a pounding on the door and Harold tells them that Orcs are at the door asking about the cider. Rimona looks at us "Now how would they know about that? Kill them!"

Grandmother's conversation with Leandrus,
In the clearing with Spek,
South of Alifont, Westlands:

The old woman stands before the swirling, livid pool, her eyes half open as if in a trance. The purple liquid shimmers and resolves into a strangely distorted image of an old man.

Man: By the Maiden, is that you Elinor? How good it is to see you again?

Ellie: Do not mock me, 'Andrus. Your games have cost me dearly.

Man: Forgive me, Ellie, I should have come to you after ... it happened. Maricosa was a devoted student and a faithful daughter.

Ellie: Her faith led her to her doom. You and your silly games brought the Shadow down upon her. I'll never forgive you for that.

Man: She was a grown woman, Ellie. And it wasn't I who forced her out on her own.

Ellie: How dare you blame her fate on me! I had to protect the rest of my family from your lies.

Man: My lies? You're one to talk, Grandma Ellie. I offered her hope; all you offered her was anonymity.

Ellie: No, you offer false hope, Leandrus, smoke and mirrors for your fawning acolytes.

Man: Hope is never false, Elinor. If only you had realized that years ago you might have made a difference. As it stands, you waste your gifts and the Shadow grows stronger. Tell me, what have you ever done to help anyone outside that gulley you live in? What happiness have you brought to others? What solace can you provide from Izrador's wrath other than a rock to hide under. That is no life, my love. It is only a slower form of death.

Ellie: (sighing) I don't want to agrue with you, 'Andrus. I haven't the time anymore. As we speak, there is a legate and his bodyguard en route to my village. They know I am here, and if they find me, they will surely kill those I call my family, or worse, they will take us to that horrid hole where they took Maricosa. I have shared the lost arts with all of them - and now they are in peril for the teaching.

Man: Are you asking for my help or the Green Maiden's?

Ellie: Damn you, 'Andrus! I should have known this would be a waste of time -

Man: Forgive me, my love. I don't mean to torment you. There is more to my question that you can realize. Faith is a mysterious force, Elinor. I don't expect you to understand, or even to believe me, but I give you my word that this legate shall not reach your village.

Ellie: Then I shall wait to judge the value of the hope you offer. But if it is a false hope, I will haunt you in death all the more.

Man: I do miss you, Elinor. Forgive me.

Grandmother's Letter,
Found by the creek under a boulder,
Outside Alifont, Westlands:

Grandchildren,

Ordinarily I would not write you a letter in such a
Dramatic fashion as this, but there are Orcs approaching
Over the fields and there is little time for subtlety.

When you find this message, don't look for me, for I will
Not be here. If I am still alive I will meet you where the
Stars shine the brightest over the Eren River. Do not mourn
The disappearance of your grandmother for she has always
Remembered the value of life and has enjoyed her years
Educating her family and living a simple life.

Always remember that I love you all and that my time here
May not yet be done. If I can find you, I will come for you. In
The mean time, please look after each other and remember to
Open your eyes to the obvious message left that we
Don't want the shadow to see.

Even now as I write this note to you, I have hope that you
All will grow old and live rewarding lives before you
Die in bed, content and untouched by the evil depredations
Of the shadow.

All I have ever tried to do is to keep you safe from what I
Know and what you do not. There is so much I would have
Told you had there been a right time, but some things I
Had to keep to myself to protect you. I wish it were not so but
Even now as I write this letter I cannot tell you the truth
Nor can any clues be left in your hand but the simplest of
Scripts. What you will never know but that I couldn't say
Over all these years is that I regret deeply that I was not
Up to the task of explaining myself to you. I am sorry I never
Taught any of you the Magical Arts for which I am now
Hunted, but at least you will go unnoticed by the shadow's
Troops. If ony because it would not be worth their trouble
Or their time to look for you.

Part of my sorrow in leaving you like this is that it was
Absolutely necessary for you to venture out on your own.
No one can stay in such a small village her whole life and
Not wonder what the larger world holds. Every one wishes
On a star at some point in her life and you should certainly
Count yourself lucky to have able legs and strong arms to
Keep yourselves safe.

Goodness keep you and protect you against the band of
Roaming Orcs who will no doubt hunt you. I hope they will
Overlook your absence and let well enough alone but I'm
Very afraid that I've left you with no directions.

Ellie.

Unknown Journal,
(we presume this belonged to Ganelon),
Found in Ganelon's House (written in Elvish script),
West of Swiftwater across the Eren, Westlands:

4th Soshram

The spring has bloomed with grandeur despite the predations of the Shadow from the North. I am grateful for the wind and wheat and for my apple grove. Leandrus sends word that the Constable's daughter is to be wed. I must fashion a proper gift.

7th Soshram

Rimona sends word of curious travelers seeking enlightenment. I am wary these days but it is the will of the Maiden to shelter those who would seek Her counsel. I send word back to Swiftwater to show the travelers the way to my way station. I pray that it is She who guides them

9th Soshram

The travelers have arrived, they seem frightened but resolved to overcome their fear. They are reticent to tell me much of themselves, but then I know better than most the value of anonymity. The elder one is not the brightest star in the heavens, but he is earnest in his studies. The other has much more potential. She is strong of spirit and already knows much about the Sight despite her youth. It has been some time since I have a pupil who intrigued me this much. She is sad beyond her years, but her occasional smiles are sweat succor for my old heart.

20th Soshram

I am informed that Samirah is missing and presumed lost to the Shadow. Messenger bird came from Baden.s Bluff this morning with the news. She is sometime gone, last seen in early Zamara. Her daughter thought she had gone to High Wall but has since learned that she never arrived. Evidently another of our sisters was taken across the Eren around the same time, though her name I was not known to me. It is strange that there are others like us out there whom I have not met. It gives me hope to know it, but not when I learn of them in the passing. My new pupils are quite engaged

34th Soshram

My young beauty has learned to ensnare game in the sword grass with but a whisper. Her counterpart is stills struggling to learn the rudiments of eldricth light but she is never short or impatient with him. We don't ask questions about each other, but I suspect that these two must be siblings given the care they show one another. Though she is younger, there is no doubt that she rules the roost. Perhaps it will soon by time to take then to meet the master. She asked about him today, with a puzzling name. She called him the Heresiarch. I was taken aback at first, but then I realized that we are a little heresy I suppose. I will have to tell Leandrus of his new title.

6th Sahaad

The boy learned to call flame from his fingers today, quite an achievement. His sister, as I now assume her to be, was quite proud and not a little worried. Perhaps he is brighter than I thought.

17th Sahaad

My pupils returned today from a trip to Swiftwater to deliver some cider from the Heresiarch. They brought back some fine gnomish ale and more parchment to begin preparing their scrolls. Next week I shall taken then upstream.

19th Sahaad

I overheard my pupils arguing last night about something. I think they are planning a surprise for me before we leave for the Hollow tomorrow and can't agree how to present it. I will miss them. I really should return to the Caraheen to see my niece. She must be all grown up by now. At least she knew something of this world before the Shadow's final victory. These poor children have known no other life.

[19 Apr 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
Last week of Shahaad,
On the eastern bank of the Eren,
Location unknown:

It has been ten arcs, one week and two days since I stopped living.

When Dayraven and I (him pulling the unconscious Ethelred and me helping Arnora) struggle to shore we find Wulfgar on his back, unconscious and Ielfeta retching up riverwater. We get everyone awake and begin checking wounds when Wulfgar realizes he doesn't know where Hoober is. Spying motion in the water he leaps up and rushes to the shore. A figure moves out of the water and we recognize it as an Orc. Dayraven blinds him before he shouts "Me not killing you, me your brother."

Since Dayraven and I both speak Orcish we begin to question him to discover that he's a disciple of the Green Mother (she seems to have a number of different names or aspects) and he couldn't see us taken to "The Arteries" or to be killed by "Feykiller". I think I've heard both those names before but I can't recall specific details. He tells us that the other Orcs believe him to be a member of the "Shunned Mother" tribe but he insists that he's forsaken them and now travels alone searching for her (the Green Mother). He also says things which indicate that the Orcish people have been decieved into following Izrador and they originally worshiped her. We don't trust him at first but he points out that he could have let Ielfeta and Wulfgar drown, but instead rescued them. He's called Ragnil Grimsooth.

He pulls from the water a large bag with the magic items we had, the Orc gauntlet, Dayraven's marbles and books, Ielfeta's charms and that strange orb. Ethelred and I get a fire started without difficulty and we begin to talk to Ragnil and discuss our next move. He tells us some alarming things, that we are "a recent development" and that there is a Legate and his Orc warband (a warband is usually a hundred strong but his one may have fewer) searching for Ganelon among others. And now for us. Izrador was searching for the Green Mother and up until last year hadn't been having much luck. Then someone named Simera was captured at Baden's Bluff and taken to the Arteries, where she was coerced into revealing some names. He makes mention of another taken to the Arteries whom he called ... Marcosa. He said other things about what she revealed and what happened to her but I was beyond comprehension by then. I had to leave.

...

After some hours storming through the forest, ostensibly searching for an animal to kill for food, I returned (empty handed, not having anything to kill it with if I had found an animal and probably not up to the task barehanded). Ragnil has healed the others and casts a spell on me (returning 12 hit points). We set our watch and retire for the night.

Some time during the 2nd watch Ethelred awakens Dayraven with word from Ragnil that there are Orcs nearby. We split into pairs and disperse into the grass to hide. There seem to be some close calls and at one point we hear horses, three of them it sounded like to me. After a suitably tense wait I go out to scout out things and it appears that they've left and that there were four Orcs close enough to have made trouble for us. I manage to find all the pairs and send them back to the river where we rendezvous. We return to our camp and try to get back to sleep while Ielfeta takes the last watch.

[next day]
Dawn comes all to quickly but she lets us sleep another hours before rising us. We pack what few things we have and begin to forage weapons. I make a sap, Ethelred tries to make a sling and Dayraven makes quarterstaves for everyone who knows how to use one. I fashion a sap. Feeling a bit safer armed thus, we begin our trip home again. I manage to convince them all to walk in a single file line so we don't leave traces of our numbers, with Ethelred and I as outriders. During the walk Ragnil tells Wulfgar of the strange Orc gauntlet. It seems it's called the "Fist of Garrock" who was a great Orc Chieftain that "died badly". For some period Wulfgar insists that we call him Garrock but soon realizes that he may not recognize that we're talking to him if we do that.

He also tells us of some of the recent Orc activities. When Ielfeta asks him if he's ever seen wounds like those on the Orcs we found before Cobb's visit, he mentions that a raiding party was sent east some two or three arcs ago but went missing. And he can't tell us where they went. Another was sent an arc ago to find the first. This doesn't bode well, we should probably get home to warn Grandmother.

Dayraven examines the marbles, attempting to discern their magic or use. He doesn't have much luck throwing one at Wulfgar, so I try but I have no more success than he did. Perhaps tomorrow.

Ielfeta seems to be pawning over the orb she has, removing it from it's covering, caressing it and staring at it. At one point she describes it to Ragnil, who waves his hands over it (not being able to see, the blindness spell Dayraven used seems to be permanent). Telling her to move away, he tells us it's something called a "razorseed" which is the dormant form of one of Izrador's most foul creations. It's waiting for someone with "razor blood" to touch it whereupon it will take them over and use them as a "host". A very frightening scenario. Shaken, Dayraven brings her back over to us and instructs Wulfgar to dig a big (deep) hole. She doesn't object (as I would have thought) when he tells her to put it in the hole. We bury it and depart again, agitated. He blindfolds her and walks her around to confuse her in an attempt to confuse the beast if it has taken possession of her. While he's doing this the rest of us head straight east (it's east- northeast to Alisfont). After a suitable period he unblindfolds her and they rejoin us.

His raven has returned and we learn that the bird can actually speak. It tells us that there is no one in the village but the houses are still there. However when we ask it how long ago the Orcs were there or how many of them, four seems to be the largest number it can comprehend.

He and Ethelred gather berries as we travel and he uses his "Good Berry" spell to make some of them into sufficient food to satisfy some of us. Food will continue to be a concern for the next few days until we build up a supply of them. As dusk approaches we make camp again and the next night passes uneventfully. I try the marbles again the next morning with as little success.

[next day]
We seem to have gotten slightly off course and I manage to figure out our path. The only event for this day is a discovery by Ethelred of the tracks of the Orc warband. Fortunately they're moving perpendicular to our course. We camp for the night.

[next day]
I try again with the marbles and this morning I made one of them work it seems. Suddenly as I held it in my hand Ielfeta and Dayraven gasp. She takes the Orc's knife to show me my reflection and I appear to be the Fell who was posing as Ganelon. Interesting. I try to concentrate on Grandmother to see if I can control how I appear to be but it seems that the magic is spent. I don't want to try another one at this point since we may need them later.

That afternoon we start to recognize some of the landmarks as we approach the village. It seems that we might reach home if we continue walking past dusk so Wulfgar runs up ahead. Dayraven's bird follows him. They find the village abandoned, as the raven told us, with nearly all the huts and houses fired. Thatched roofs gone with walls scorched. An hour later we get there and everyone disperses to check on their dwellings, their families but no one finds much. There are signs of dried blood but no bodies and no livestock.

Inside Dayraven's house there's blood everywhere and everything is ransacked. Most of the houses are ransacked, as if they were gone when the Orcs arrived and they responded in anger. Except for the blood. And the missing people. Inside the house I share with Grandmother black ash covers everything. Odd, I wonder if it has something to do with her magic. Wulfgar had lit a fire in the central pit and we camped for the night, dreading what we'd find in the morning.

[next day]
We spend this day searching the ruins for signs of what happened. Ielfeta and Dayraven find a spot down by the creek which is soaked in blood with scraps of leather ties attached to the trees. Almost as if people we held and whipped or executed. A chilling thought. Everything everywhere is tramped down or destroyed. Ethelred climbs to his old hill where he watched the boros from. He spies movement in the tall grass and sneaks out to investigate. A short time later he returns with a new friend, a grasscat, which told him the Orcs left to the north about four days ago. I wonder if the creature has the same mathematical abilities as the raven. Possible since when he asked when the village was burned the cat told him four suns ago.

While searching near the creek I spot something shiny which turns out to be a metal spoon. Further digging reveals a white cylinder with a message from Grandmother in it. It seems they knew the Orcs were coming and tried to misdirect them without success. She tells me that they've been taken and she will try to find us, not knowing if we will pursue them.

Dayraven uses one of his spells or tricks to read the two books we had taken from Ganelon's house. The Dornish one seems to be a spell book of some kind but I can only use one or two of the spells in it. I don't think he can use many of them either and he's studied more schools than I. The other seems to be a journal of the real Ganelon. He had taken two new students, a young girl and her brother. I wonder ...

[12 Apr 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
Last week of Shahaad,
Ganelon's House,
West of Swiftwater across the Eren, Westlands:

It has been ten arcs, and six day since I stopped living.

Actually it has been much longer than that but I had lost my journal and had to acquire more materials to reconstruct it. As I tell this tale you'll understand, trust me.

We fought for our lives, me outside with what has become of Jibril and they inside with the creature we thought was Ganelon. After a struggle which saw nearly all of us injured we managed to overcome the fiends and we mended our wounds.

Initiative = 5+4=9

First round.
Ganelon puts his hands under the table and pulls upward, spilling the table toward them.
          Everyone gets a reflex save. All but Wulfgar and Ethelred make it, they get knocked back.
Ielfeta draws her club and dagger and attacks with each, hitting with the dagger.
I quick draw my cedeku and attack the Fell Jibril, 14+6=20 hitting for 3+2=5 damage.
FJibril attacks me, missing.
Wulfgar grabs the table on top of him, hefts it and throws it back at Ganelon. He ducks.
Ethelred attacks with his sickle, missing.
Dayraven casts Shield and Shillelagh.

Second round.
Ganelon casts a spell (Entangle), the roots that comprise the walls writhe around
          everyone's legs but they all get a reflex save. Everyone makes it except Ethelred and Dayraven,
          who are held.
Ielfeta attacks twice and misses both times.
I attack FJibril, 10+6=16 hitting for 1+2=3 damage.
He attacks me, hitting for 4 damage.
Wulfgar stands and casts Resistance on himself.
Ethelred cuts himself free.
Dayraven casts Burning Hands and hits for 11 damage.

Third round.
Ganelon turns away from them toward the stairs and has a long sword and an axe in his hands
          when he turns back. He attacks Ielfeta but misses.
Ielfeta attacks and hits once for 6 damage. His head is knocked to the side and remains canted.
I attack, 14+6=20 hitting for 4+2=6 damage. The Fell creature falls. KIA.
Wulfgar attacks with his axe, missing.
Ethelred cuts himself free (again).
Dayraven tries to break free of the roots but fails.

Fourth round.
Ganelon casts Charm on Ielfeta and says "Protect me". He sees that she resists it
          and attacks, hitting for 2 damage.
Ielfeta attacks but misses and fails her reflex save, becoming entangled.
I run toward the tree, follow the stairs down, step up next to him and attack, 2+6=8, missing.
Wulfgar breaks free of the roots and attacks, missing.
Ethelred throws his sickle, hitting for 1 damage in a spectacular throw.
Dayraven tries to break free of the roots, succeeds and picks up his weapon.

Fifth round.
Ganelon attacks me, hitting twice for 16 damage (total).
Ielfeta attacks but misses.
I move behind him (he turns to face me as I move) and begin to fight defensively (Total Defense).
Wulfgar attacks but misses.
Ethelred is grabbed by the roots again.
Dayraven advances and attacks twice, hitting and knocking his (canted) head off. He falls. KIA.

His body begins to change form after he dies and his appearance changes to that of an Elf. It seems that he was a Fell creature as well but he managed to maintain at least some of his intelligence and mental abilities (spellcasting). Dayraven uses one of his abilities to "know the name" to ascertain if it was Ganelon and finds that it wasn't.

I go back outside and as I knelt next to my son and began the funeral dirge, Wulfgar heard something. He moved to the edge of our camp and drew his bow. After chasing something into the woods he left fly and was rewarded with a cry. Dayraven and his daughter followed him to help subdue the creature. Suddenly I heard her scream so I leapt to my feet and ran toward them. As I found them I saw Wulfgar holding Arnora up, his arrow in her shoulder, Dayraven menacing her with his shillelagh and Ielfeta screaming to put her down. Dayraven steps forward and ... I mean no disrespect brother in my choice of words here ... brutally yanks the arrow free. Fortunately she passed out and Ielfeta and I healed her enough to close her wound.

Brother then cast a spell to calm her and with his daughters help I took her back to camp and saw to her injuries. She spoke not and appeared to be as an animal of the forest. Fearful eyes but calmed by food and low words. I begin to make her some shoes since it seems she's been wandering the woods barefoot. Dayraven and Wulfgar go to explore the house-in-the-tree to see what they can recover. Several books, one in Dornish, one in Elvish, a sword, an octagonal medallion with an image of a tree and a sack of marbles. Ielfeta also had recovered a spherical object which she had presented to not-Ganelon. As Dayraven returned I cast Detect Evil so as to reassure him that this was my daughter and not another abomination as Jibril had become. He and Ielfeta pointed out that there was no indication that the Fell creature was, indeed, Jibril but I continued with my funerary rites since it had been someone's son at some point. I light the pyre and we retire for the evening.

[next day]
My brother heals all my wounds in the morning and we make preparations to return home. I put Arnora on the mule to ride and this pleases her. She still hasn't spoken and I suspect that we may have to teach her again. We begin to retrace our steps but once we arrive at the banks of the Eren things begin to go awry. As we turn south we notice after fifteen minutes that Ethelred is now behind us walking north. He manages to convince us that it is we who have turned around. I believe him after tossing a branch into the river and noting the direction it drifts. Some fell magic seems to be at work here. This incident repeats itself over the next few hours with a different person noting that we've changed direction. I take a length of cord, tie it to a larger branch and toss it into the water to guide us. I must wrestle with it periodically but we eventually make our way back to the stream where we met the river.

Wulfgar spots a raft on the far side moving toward us so he and I begin a fire to attract the attention of the gnome we crossed with before. At least that whom we believed it to be. As we got the fire smoking we realized our mistake. Before I could convince them to try to bluff our way past the Orcs, Ielfeta fled. Some of the others followed so we all had no choice but to run. A sure tactic to entice them to pursue us. Useful if you plan to ambush them but perhaps not our best course of action. Wulfgar picks up Arnora and we eventually reach the grain fields.

Whatever magic had been causing us to change direction seems to continue to confound our progress and Ielfeta gets separated from us. We pause to catch our breath and I over hear the Orcs talking. I realize that they're tracking Dayraven's mule Umforth, so I cut his pack harness and set him running. We try to crawl away as the Orcs race after it. My plan doesn't work so well and after we stop to try to hide we hear slight movements around us. Another battle ensues and eventually we're subdued although Wulfgar managed to kill several of them.

Initiative = 4+4=8

First round.
Ielfeta moves toward where she things the Orcs are.
Wulfgar tells Arnora to hide and through faces and motions shows her Orcs are near. She gasps
          audibly.
I put my hand over Arnora's mouth and shush her.
Dayraven jumps up enough to see where they are so he can cast a spell. They see him and begin
          immediately to move toward us. He casts Entangle toward them and it should encompass all but one.
An Orc steps through the grass and backhands Ielfeta, hitting for 8 damage.

Second round.
Ielfeta attacks twice, hitting for 12 damage.
Wulfgar attacks, hitting for 14 damage.
I tumble past the one in front of me (3+5=8 not good enough), he gets an Attack of Opportunity
          and hits me for 4 damage. I attack with my cedeku, 1+6=7, missing.
Dayraven casts Burning Hands again, hitting for 8 damage and setting the grass on fire.
Orc attacks Dayraven, hitting for 5 damage.
Orc attacks Ielfeta, hitting for 5 damage.
Orc attacks me, missing.
Ethelred attacks but misses.

Third round.
Ielfeta attacks and hits for 3 damage. She entered the Entangled area and failed her reflex
          save however and gets held.
Wulfgar attacks, hitting twice and killing the Orc he fights. KIA.
I attack, 2+6=8, missing again.
Dayraven casts Shield.
Orc attacks Dayraven, hitting for 7 damage putting him to 0. Dayraven falls.
Orc attacks Ielfeta and hits for 14 damage.
Orc attacks Wulfgar and misses.
Ethelred ... I don't see what he does.

Fourth round.
Ielfeta attacks and hits for ... some damage.
Wulfgar attacks twice and hits for 11 damage.
I cast Bane and move up behind the Orc facing Ethelred.
Orc attacks Ethelred and misses.
Orc attacks Wulfgar and hits for 14 damage. Wulfgar laughs in his face.
Orc attacks Ielfeta and misses.
Again, no idea what Ethelred does.

Fifth round.
Ielfeta attacks, hitting for 11 damage.
Wulfgar attacks with both weapons (he's using the sword from "Ganelon") and hits for 31 damage.
I attack, 14+6=20, hitting for 13 damage (sneak attack bonus).
Orc attacks Ielfeta, hits and she drops (-3).
Orc attacks Wulfgar, hitting for 5 damage. He laughs again.
Orc attacks me, missing.
Ethelred must miss.

Sixth round.
Wulfgar attacks again, killing his Orc. KIA.
I attack, 4+6+2=12, missing.
Orc attacks me, hitting for 7 damage.
Orc attacks Ethelred, hitting and dropping him (-3).

Seventh round.
Wulfgar attacks twice and hits for 22 damage.
I attack, 18+6=24, hitting for 2+2=4 damage.
Orc attacks me, missing.
Orc attacks Wulfgar, hitting for 9 damage. Wulfgar has stopped laughing by now.

Eighth round.
Wulfgar attacks, hitting for 12 damage.
I attack, 7+6=13, hitting for 3+2=5 damage.
Orc attacks me getting a critical hit for 12 damage and knocking me out (-1).

Wulfgar must have gone down shortly after this since when I awoke (which I never expected having lost the fight to the Orcs) we were all trussed up and on their raft. We (Dayraven is awake I think) hear the Orcs arguing about where to take us. Odd since I would have thought they'd killed and eaten us. After several miserable hours I notice that Dayraven has managed to sit up and is trying to roll over the others to get to the edge of the raft. One of the Orcs also notices and comes over to knock him down.

Then some strange magic starts and the boards of the raft begin to wrap around the Orc's legs. Much screaming and shouting ensue (on everyone's part) and the boat holds the Orcs while we get everyone out into the River. A strange green mist arises and envelops the raft, making hissing noises as if something were dissolving or burning. At one point I see an Orc arm bone float by. Ielfeta and Wulfgar have begun to sink but Dayraven has Ethelred and I have Arnora so we can't help them. As we drag our waterlogged bodies ashore downstream we find them on the bank, her spitting up water and him on his back.

I know not what will become of us with no food, wet clothes, no weapons and little idea where we are but we are, at least, alive.

[05 Apr 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
Last week of Shahaad,
Outside Swiftwater, Westlands:

It has been ten arcs, and two days since I stopped living.

Even though it was only afternoon after fighting the Splinter Steed (I found the name from Dayraven's Book of Lore) we set up camp. He and Ethelred were wounded and Ielfeta seems taken with some sort of wasting disease. He again consults his Book of Lore to see if he can find out anything about what's wrong with her and whether we can do anything about it. He finds a story about a Sarcosian man who gets what they later call the "Slimy Doom". His body turned to water although they go on to mention that this water was used to bless a newborn who went on to become a great leader among his people. A good tale but I don't think she's ready to pass into legend just yet.

Wulfgar gets a fire going and Dayraven makes a salve from some herbs we collect but it seems to do little good. It seems that whatever this is it may take two weeks to run it's course so we have a little time.

[next day]
The next morning her skin was clammy and cold and she told us she felt "sloshy". Dayraven and I both seem to have the same "sloshy" feeling and my skin is a bit clammy. Not good. He also tells me that the pain from his wound seems to have "drifted" down toward his belly.

Ethelred comes back in with four nice rabbits to break our fast but most of us don't feel hungry. I'm sure Wulfgar will fill in for us.

Wulfgar helps me build a travois for him to pull her after we'd decided that it was quicker to continue on to Swiftwater and chance that they had a healer of some type than to trek all the way back home for Revered Grandmother to treat her. Privately I'm glad for this even though I feel bad for my brother's daughter.

After a four hour hike we find the town's barley fields and I move forward alone to scout. Dayraven doesn't want anyone else to get sick if we just tromp into town. I spot a pair of eyes looking up over the grain but they disappear. I move toward them but can't catch him or her before a man runs across one of the bridges into town. Shortly a party of three comes out to greet us. Wulfgar moves up to meet them since he's not sick. He talks with them but I'm too far away to hear what's said. They turn and he lifts one up and walks back toward our group so I follow.

It seems they believe that if we stay in their pony barn we can rest and will either heal or die. Not having much choice with Ielfeta already delirious we follow them into town. They park us in the stable and I immediately begin grooming one of the ponies. Even the smell of the barn brings back memories of my time wandering the plains. A woman named Rimona comes to tend us and brings what seems to be apple cider. Strangely it seems to help.

[next day]
She brings scrambled eggs the next morning to break fast. Dayraven and I manage to eat something but Ielfeta seems worse now. Wulfgar spends the day doing chores for her, fixing one of the bridges, moving large things, while Ethelred spends the day catching some sort of rodents in the barley fields.

We spend the day resting.

[next day]
The following morning I feel much better and Ielfeta seems worlds better but now it seems Dayraven is worse. All except Dayraven go out to do chores today while he continues to rest. I spent some time grooming the ponies again and then work on their tack. Ielfeta apparently got a bushel of beans to snap and the boys were out in the fields. Later Wulfgar brings me the strange Orc gauntlet and asks me to put leather around it. I wrap it with leather straps held with metal rivets but that doesn't seem to be what he wants [craft 4+7=11]. I thought it looked quite menacing.

[Dayraven dreams he's in a seemingly endless apple orchard and hears the voice of Regin when he was a baby, crying. He searches and searches but never finds his son.]

That evening Rimona invites us to come to their tavern, Shortcomings. Most everyone is better now so we all go. We have a fine dinner of lamb and potatoes and Ielfeta circulates in the crowd asking after Ganelon. After we barter for our meal, I look for someone who needs some leatherwork done and take a commission. Wulfgar plays with Hoober much to the amusement of the local children. No one seems to know more than Ganelon is "across the river". Dayraven gets a room but Wulfgar and I head back to the stable for the night.

That night I'm awoken by Wulfgar and Hoober. They seem to think that someone or something is out in the barley fields so I accompany them to investigate. We don't find anything so we retire.

[next day]
The next morning we continue looking for someone who knows where to find Ganelon. I talk with my patron about the commission. Ielfeta returns late in the morning with word that she's gotten directions but she claims she didn't talk to the man she was sent for, someone named Chestin.

After trading one of Wulfgar's axes for the trip across the river we depart Swiftwater. The directions say we should find a stream and follow it until we find an apple tree. Follow a line of them until we find an apple orchard. We find the landmarks as described and after a 3 hour trip come to the edge of the orchard. There we find a pig strung up as if to be cleaned. However it seems to have been left out much too long.

Hoober wants to eat it and Wulfgar has his hands full preventing that. I search the area but don't find any sign of anyone. Dayraven and Ielfeta do find footprints but nothing very helpful. Nearby is a large tree which seems to be much larger up close than it appears to be. We step off it's circumference and hold hands to measure it but all we discover is that it doesn't seem right. Finally Dayraven casts a spell [detect magic] and tells us that it's some sort of illusion. Ielfeta casts one [knock] as well and finds the door. Inside it seems to be a small hut with a table, shelves and a bed.

As dusk approaches we set up camp out by the edge of the orchard. Wulfgar gets a fire going and we begin to settle in. Then a strange man approaches and tells us he's Ganelon. He asks why we've been seeking him but doesn't tell us much of the Green Maiden. He invites us into his house, pointing out that having a fire out after dark can attract unwanted attention. We move inside and I tell him my story (about the sack of our village, the death of my wife and my missing children). He asks me to get an ember from our fire outside so I leave. He continues to talk to the others and his voice seems to mesmerize them.

Outside I hear something from behind a tree and suddenly I spot Jibril in his nightshirt. He comes to me and I hold him as he cries. Suddenly I feel a pain in my shoulder and I notice something. Holding him at arms length I realize that he's rotted and decayed and has been biting me.

Jibril is Fell!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

[22 Mar 2005]
Journal of Fayd ibn Emael,
Gentleman Adventurer,
First week of Shashram,
Alifont, Westlands:

It has been eight arcs, three weeks and four days since I stopped living.

I awoke screaming this morning. It was the nightmare again. A Legate, an Oruk, an Orc and a spirit in a dog are attacking the village. Although a woman managed to inflict some damage on the Orc, the Legate and the Oruk waded through the others as if they were chaff among the cosgran. As the Oruk swung his vardache and cleaved the head of my Beloved I awoke. Revered Grandmother tells me that this is the second time this week I've had this nightmare. For some reason all the others from here are in my village. I don't know what it means or what it portends. I wish I had talked more with Mother's Mother when I was young. They say she had the Vision.

Ielfeta's birthday is tomorrow and everyone is preparing their gifts. Mine won't be done for another few weeks, the boro leather is taking forever to cure right now. Then the stitching and the tooling and the polishing.

Wulfgar and I have the watch tonight. The boy listens intently but sometimes I think talking to Father Moon might have more impact.

[next day]
The party went well. Halvor gave her a new shield with the family crest on it. A fine stout wooden one. Revered Grandmother gave her several charms. Even I could tell there was a touch of magic on them. The bracelet went over particularly well. She looked quite the sight holding it out for everyone to admire while brandishing her new shields and bashing pretend Orc skulls.

[a few weeks later]
The rains are over apparently. Shahaad should arrive any day now.

We had some excitement today. Ethelred apparently thought he lost one of the boros. He went to get his brother Regin to watch the others so he could go look for it, having sighted movement in the swordgrass a few hills over. When he got there he discovered a strange sight, dead Orcs. Or so he thought. When Revered Grandmother and the rest of us (his father, sister, Wulfgar and I) got there we found a dead human, a dead Orc and a huge Orc (an Oruk) dead. It was those from my nightmare. Very Strange. And their wounds were different from any I'd ever seen. Great swaths of their bodies were gone as though eaten away by magic. Dayraven thought he smelled acid but it couldn't have been flame since there were no scorch marks. And they were all wearing what seemed to be fine plate armor.

Wulfgar stripped what metal armor he could find and began wearing it immediately. Some of it was big even for him. But then the Oruk must have been nine and a half feet tall, taller even than the boy.

Ielfeta found some sort of strange gauntlet on it which she hoped to have Modolf examine or rework. I told Wulfgar he should have Modolf adjust the greaves he had but I don't think the boy heard me. He ran around with Hoober excitedly.

As I examined the area around this clearing, I found the missing boro dead. Its belly opened and its calf taken. Later I found a chunk of meat in the Oruk's hand which must have been the fetus.

The others didn't think much of it but it made me nervous. The villains from my nightmare made real. This can't be a good omen!

[a week later]
Cobb Longankle came to visit and trade. A long walk from Swiftwater alone, but he is a seasoned veteran of the plains so I doubt he had much trouble. He told us that one of his cousins had seen a girl on the plains he thought might be Arnora. My heart was in my throat for what seemed like an arc. As we questioned him he seemed to get that story mixed up with one another cousin had told him about the Green Haired Maiden, my Beloved's favorite of Dayraven's tales. It might have been confusing except that Longankle swore that he wasn't lying about this and he's been a worthy adversary (in our trades) so I trust him. I wanted to depart immediately but Revered Grandmother convinced me to delay until the morrow.

So we left the next day to return to his village, Eagle's Mount. It took two days to make the trip but the evening we camped was uneventful. When we arrived they threw a party but then the Halflings need little excuse to tell stories and drink. I heard what his cousin had to say about Arnora but it wasn't much. The other cousin insisted that this was the Green Maiden rather than Arnora but nothing seemed to have much substance to it. Until a quiet Halfling approached us later with his tale.

He told us that he had been a smuggler down south, that he was caught and was being taken to the camp east of High Wall. The one where they take those with the Gift. While he was at sea he was tied to a mast with a raven pecking his eyes out. Suddenly the crew seemed to fall asleep along with all the Orcs on board. He saw a young woman with green hair sitting on the rail who beckoned to him. She fell backwards off the ship and he followed her, thinking that even drowning was better than what awaited him. He ended up down river with his eye healed convinced that the Green Maiden had rescued him. In parting he told us that an old man named Ganelon near Swiftwater might know more.

I was resolved to go to seek out this man but Dayraven was skeptical. He made me promise that if we didn't find anything out in Swiftwater that we would return to Alifont. We departed the next morning while the Halflings recovered from their drink.

[several days later]
As we approach Swiftwater Ethelred notices horse trail. I insist we shouldn't follow it directly but no one listens. These people will find their deaths but it won't be on my head! Anyway we follow and as it approaches a water hole we spy the horse. It's unmounted so I hope we can capture it. As they approach we get close enough when it turns to see a single horn in its forehead. I have no idea what it is but Dayraven pulls out a tome and rapidly leafs through it.

Initiative = 12

First round.
Wulfgar attacks it and misses.
It impales Ethelred who goes down.
Ielfeta charges it and swings her club and her dagger. She hits once and misses.
I shoot at it and hit for 7 damage.

Second round.
Wulfgar swings and misses.
It snorts and casts some sort of spell on us (Will save, 7 missed, Ielfeta, Dayraven and

Third round.
Wulfgar swings and misses.
Ethelred attacks but misses.
It attacks Ielfeta but misses.
Dayraven casts a spell (despair penalty reduced to -1).
Ielfeta attacks twice and hits once.
I shoot but miss again.

Fourth round.
Wulfgar swings and misses.
Ethelred attacks but misses.
It attacks Wulfgar and immobilizes him.
Dayraven casts a spell again (not sure which one).
Ielfeta attacks but misses.
I charge forward with my cedeku, swing and miss.

Fifth round.
Wulfgar is paralized.
Ethelred attacks but misses.
It attacks Dayraven but misses.
Dayraven casts shield on himself.
Ielfeta hits twice again.
I swing and hit for 10 damage.

Sixth round.
Wulfgar is paralized.
Ethelred attacks but misses.
It stabs Dayraven for 11 damage and he goes down bleeding.
Dayraven down.
Ielfeta hits and severs it's horn, the creature crumples into a heat.

The fight was close in several points. Ethelred went down once but his father healed him. Dayraven dropped at the end of the fight but I managed to stem his bleeding. Ielfeta got the glory she'd been seeking for so long when she lopped off it's horn and vanquished it. As they recovered I located a campsite and got everyone moved to it so we camped for the rest of the day.

Character Backgrounds

Fayd:

Fourteen years ago a Sarcosan man walked out of the wilderness into the village of Ellie's Font. He was a short, wiry man as most Sarcosians are with long flowing black hair he kept tied back. Some of the people greeted him with a wary mien but his open friendly manner disarmed most people and in a few weeks he was accepted for the most part.

Since he could work leather rather well he was soon accepted as a full member of the village. He seemed particularly worldly for a young man (he was 21 when he first arrived) and always seemed to have a story to tell or an anecdote to relate. He quickly became one of the sources for local gossip as well as information about what was going on outside the village. He periodically traveled down toward a Gnome trading stop on the river to trade his leathers for things people needed. He brought back information about what was going on in the wider world as well but Grandma Ellie strictly controlled who heard those stories. He also seemed to love trading and would dicker with anyone for anything or for the simple joy of the deal.

After he'd been in the village for nearly a year he began courting one of Grandma Ellie's granddaughters, Maricosa. After what seemed a whirlwind romance the two were married. Fayd settled down even more and their son was born a year after they were married. Three years later their second child was born, this time a girl. Fayd became something of a fixture in the village and often went out on tasks for Grandma Ellie. He seemed able to sneak up on a cat and would sometimes appear when he was most needed.

Fayd and Marcosia lived happily (well as happily as any couple can in these Evil Times) for several years until they moved to a nearby village. The move was prompted by some disagreement between Grandma Ellie and Maricosa, the details of which Fayd never knew for neither would discuss it with him. It had something to do with occasional visitors who would come to speak to Maricosa. They often brought tales of the Insurgency in Baden's Bluff or elsewhere, and they possessed the Gifts that Ellie taught to all her grandchildren. Still something about these strangers angered the old woman and after a time she forbade her granddaughter from receiving them. But Maricosa had inherited her grandmother's stubbornness along with her other gifts and she refused. The only other option was to leave and so Fayd and Maricosa moved to the nearby village of Grindstone. Since their leatherworker had died without an apprentice, Fayd was a welcome addition there, and Maricosa continued to meet with her wandering guests. Fayd would still periodically visit, especially after he had made a trip to the river to trade with the Gnomes, and always Ellie asked how her granddaughter was doing.

Eight months ago something happened. There had been Orc sightings in the vicinity so everyone in the Ellie's Font was staying close to home. One evening Fayd stumbled into his brother-in-law Dayraven's cottage bloody and disheveled. He wouldn't talk about what happened but did tell that something terrible had happened at Grindstone. When word came a week later that the war patrol had moved on, Grandma Ellie sent Dayraven and Wulfgar to find out what happened. Fayd had collapsed into bed and wasn't to be roused, seeming to sleep endlessly.

Dayraven returned with word that the whole village had been burned to the ground. There were a few dead livestock around but none of the inhabitants. Nothing else was learned and Grandma Ellie decreed that no one was to talk about it. Maricosa's name was to be forgotten. Fayd still ranges the area searching for signs of them now and then but always returned home dejected.

He resumed his leather work in Ellie's Font but seems somewhat less cheerful these days. He stays in Ellie's cottage and does what he can to help the village. Though he has admitted that his wife is dead, he still hopes that his children will find their way back eventually.

Dæ.hræfn (Dayraven):

Dayraven, Elanor's grandson, is the oldest male member of Elanor's family and as of last year he is the oldest surviving grandchild. His younger sister Maricosa had been the very practical one, the one who saw to it that everyone had a job and all the jobs got done. Dayraven is hardly flighty, but he has an appreciation for metaphor and what his sister called "sideways thinking," which is sometimes useful and sometimes gets him into trouble. He is the most practiced (but perhaps not the most skilled) storyteller in the family, and he knows a tale for most occasions (or will cut one to fit). His wife Ulla calls him "old fool," and his children tend to think him a bit mad because he puts store in such things. He knows that such things are really all that matter anymore; only the stories he knows and the stories they all make can bring meaning to a world that has always been damned.

Over the past year or two, Elanor has schooled Dayraven in the arts of the spiritual channeler. His sister Maricosa was much further advanced in these studies and was bringing her daughter Arnora into the mysteries, as well, but Maricosa fell out of grace with Grandma Ellie and moved some miles away to Grindstone. Worse, she was taken by Orcs some months back and both of her children are still missing. Only Maricosa's sarcosan husband Fayd survived the assault.

Dayraven misses his sister who always humored him by listening to his tales and telling him her own. She was particularly fond of miraculous tales about a young maiden with green hair who shepheaded lost souls through the westlands.

Æðelræd (Ethelred):

Æðelræd is Dayraven's youngest son. With two years difference between himself and his older and more tomboyish sister, Ielfeta, he began at an early age to find things that took him away from people where he could be alone with his thoughts. It.s not that he doesn.t love his family, quite the opposite is true. He simply is at his happiest when left to his own devices, something that Grandma Ellie defends against all protestations that he should spend more time at home.

He has always felt a certain kinship with animals, and took over acting as herdsman for the village's small herd of boros at a surprisingly young age. As part of his duties, he has picked up a certain understanding of the way the natural world should work and an appreciation for the simple rules that nature provides, as well as some skill in the animal processing end of farm work.

Quiet and something of a loner, he is often thought of as aloof. In fact he is happier just to observe rather than interact with others. He has a fierce sense of loyalty to his family, and will do about anything to protect them, although (especially when compared to his sister) he worries that he would not be strong enough if a crisis ever did arise. He thinks often of his missing cousins Arnora and Jibril, and of his Aunt Maricosa, and he secretly whispers to the birds to watch for their return.

Wulfgar:

Well...I sometimes stay wit my Unkle Dayraven, but most nights I sleep in a shack I built downstream by the trees. I got me a swimming hole with crayfish, an most days collect wood. I got a big cart when Oscar died, and I use it to haul wood up the stream to the village. Sometimes I give it to Auntie Feeta, and sometimes to Unkle ibny-Fad and sometimes to the blacksmith and sometimes to other people. I know that I'm sorta tall, ya, you betcha. But it makes pulling the cart easier.

Mama and Papa went to Swiftwater three years ago, and never came home. Unkle Dayraven says Orcs got them, but I don't know why Orcs would want ta hurt Mama and Papa. Then, Ielfeta said they Fell, but I don't know how they could fall down if the Orcs already got them. I don't got any brudders or sisters, but I do okey-doke by myself. Sometimes I get lonely, and I kinda wish I hadda girlfriend, but I like the quiet and the animals that come around. I feed lots of squirrels and birds, and there's a badger under my house. I got a dog, his name is Hoober, cause that's what he say. Hoober is a great lap dog for me, but some people think that he's too big.

Ielfeta:

After having six sons, Ulla, wife of Dæghræfn, longed for a daughter, and her wish was finally granted. Much to her surprise, in the eighteenth year of her marriage, Ulla once again found herself expecting, and to her joy, a girl was born. She named the child Ielfeta--swanlike--in the hopes that her daughter would possess all the grace and beauty of the noble birds that swam in the lake behind her house.

However, as Ielfeta grew from infant to toddler to youngster to woman, it became clear that she much more closely resembled the feisty, squabbling jackdaws that nested high in the trees. Having seven brothers, she learned early how to defend herself, and soon she surpassed even her eldest brother in strength and stamina. She pestered all the men to teach her to fight and hunt, begged all the women to excuse her from chores. She learned how to properly use a staff and club, and practiced on the longbow every day. And so, by her twentieth year, she was a formidable warrior indeed--even though she had never been tested in true combat.

But lately, she's been feeling restless, claustrophobic in the little hamlet that has been her home all her life. She longs for the glory of battle--and desperately wants to bash in a few orc heads! She has learned all she can from the people of her village, and now she wants to see what the rest of the world can teach her.