Aeric's Journal #11

Aeric’s Journal for Session 11

It has been a busy year for us. Building up our fledgling domain Anna, we have decided will be our ruler, her code of conduct should help keep us to stick to our plan and beliefs for our future kingdom. Maladan as the high priest is a bit disturbing, especially when he keeps wanting to open a brewery to help ‘preach to the masses’. We don’t see much of Blaidd, he and his wolf are almost always out of Stag Falls, mapping and tracking the wild things. Jonah and Auchs have spent considerable time in the basement of the castle, I would be concerned, except that Jonah seems to enjoy his time down there, and when he is down there it is less time that he is disturbing the citizens.

For myself, I have made a trip into Restov to gather some supplies and information. Specifically I’m looking to acquire some new formulas to help with my duties as spymaster for the kingdom. However, events have shown that I still have a lot to learn about my new trade. I successfully managed to get most of my purchases done, and found a small store, which may have the specialty items, that I’m looking for. It is only open at night, so I prepare carefully. I do not wish to cause a scene in Restov, after all I may wish to return here at some point. Unfortunately, I have found the proprietor to be somewhat difficult to deal with, he thinks that I’m some rank amateur and attempts to pawn off cantrips and the like on me. This delay has allowed others to enter the establishment, one of whom I recognize as General Swan… this concerns me greatly since when I met Maladan and Tomaz almost a year and a half ago in New Stetven, Maladan showed considerable concern about Swan, something about the war. The man’s arrogance fills the room with the anticipation of violence. Swan is not a man I particularly wish to tangle with, especially by myself. Swan demands the old proprietor to produce the item immediately. I try not to get in the way when a pair of guards also enter the store. The store seems awfully busy for this time at night. The guards mention something about the city being under curfew due to some warehouses burning down by rebels. This is news to me, unfortunately when questioned about who I am and what I’m doing, I make the rankest of mistakes, I tell them the truth! As soon as my name hits the air, General Swan orders me arrested! I quickly drink an extract I had prepared in case things went south, and I quickly flee into the back room after the old man.

He is fiddling with a book and when he sees me running at him he drops his book and vanishes from sight! I grab the book, it seems rather unique but I don’t have much time to study it as the guards show up at the top of the stairs. I was hoping there was another way out, but apparently the old man doesn’t have a back door to his place. Then General Swan floats down out of a hole he made in the ceiling, his eyes spot the book and rage comes to his face, apparently this is the item he is looking for! I run back towards the guards at the top of the stairs and drop a smoke pellet, obscuring us. In the smoke the guards seem to attack each other. I don’t see what Swan is doing, but I hear a loud smash and I suspect he came running after me. I manage to squeeze around the one guard, feeling me on his back he attempts to stab me, but I slither out of the way at the last moment and he stabs himself instead. The air fills with the smell of blood, and an odour I recognize, Adder’s Tongue, there is poison on the blade. Outside, I quickly flee the store, I must get away from Swan, he is bloody dangerous. I notice something is stuck to my cloak, it seems like some sort of tracking device. I palm it off on a caravan heading to New Stetven, I feel somewhat guilty about this as the caravan will surely face Swan’s wrath, but I need the head start to get back to Stag Falls. Unfortunately, due to my loose lips, Swan knows that I’m somewhere down in the Stolen Lands. I warn Maladan about this encounter… rarely have I ever seen a man shit himself who wasn’t sick, but Maladan turns white and smells like a privy when I tell him about Swan. One of these days he will tell me what is going on. In the meantime, I start a file on Swan, hopefully I’ll get some information about what he is after and what he is capable of. I also start to make inquiries about why my name would trigger such a violent reaction, I’ve been gone for over a year, what has changed since I’ve been gone?

Returning to Stag Falls, I study the book to find out why Swan was after it.

Deciding that we have spent too much time inside, Anna gathers us together and we go out exploring, moving to the west. We encounter a bunch of gnomes on the river bank trying to save a wagon caught in the current of the Skunk River. I’m surprised they managed to get the wagon that far across the river in the first place. We can’t seem to move the wagon, so Anna and myself and Blaidd start to unload some of the equipment. Unfortunately we unload just a bit too much and the current grabs the wagon and it floats off downstream. Jubilost and his band of gnomes turn out to be explorers. We trade them information about the region. He passes on to us information about a witch to the south, an abandoned tower (he indicates it is in the lake?), an abandoned castle which gave his group a bad feeling, a tribe of lizard folk, an abandoned ferry station and a burial mound. We point him in the direction of Stag Falls if he wishes to resupply. He also mentions that there is a rumor about a dwarven stronghold somewhere in the Stolen Lands.

We wave the gnomes goodbye as we continue our trek west, following the Skunk River. We encounter an angry group of loggers who have just felled a number of large trees which has made the local fey (a nixie) quite irritable. She charmed a couple of them, and the loggers have decided that they will recover their men no matter what. After a lot of confusion and hostility, the loggers back off, only to realize their leader has been taken by the nixie. We have agreed to try and replace the trees (doh!) and the nixie suggests talking with a dryad who inhabits the woods on what magic might be used to help do this. The loggers have given us 3 days to get their leader back before they start ‘burning the fey’ out of the woods.

Jonah, asks Fredderick for help, but to do so, he requires a magic item. Anna gives up the magical bow that we took from the Stag Lord. Apparently the dryad is somewhere further west. We camp for the night and are attacked by taztlworms! (sp). They kill one of our horses and cause a number of injuries. I barely manage to escape their clutches, but my wounds are severe. Good thing I have an extract for that! Drinking it most of my wounds heal, the Aqua Vitae is very useful I find. We salvage the best head from the lot to take back to Oleg who was looking for one.

The Penitent's Tale - Part 3

Turning, the gentleman addresses the others in the hall. “You are all witnesses! This man has disgraced the honor my house and has been challenged according to the law!”

“It’s true!”, cries the woman. “He is a beast and needs to be punished!” Behind the gentleman’s back, a knowing look finds Akiros.

A pleading look: “Rosilla! What is this nonsense!? I thought...”

“Don’t try to talk your way out of this one, knave! Dawn! Swords! Bring a testament!”

“Sir, I assure you. Your wife...”

“Do not speak about my wife!”, the gentleman roars, veins straining in his neck. “You have done enough damage already! I will hear nothing more but your death rattle on the morn!” He sneers. “And this from a so-called paladin of Erastil.” He looks about the room at the bystanders. “You should all be ashamed.”

Nodding, the woman straightens up and release a gob of spittle into the face of Akiros that would make a dock worker proud.

A heartbeat, then a red haze descends over Akiros’ eyes and he has a rod from the crib in his hand. There’s a woman’s scream and the red haze darkens. A grapple, a cry, and the red haze darkens yet again.

Horrified, Akiros gapes at the red haze seeping through the Sunday dress of the woman he once loved.

The bystanders stand stunned. Only one thing remains to do.

Run.

The Penitent's Tale - Part 2

A man in a coat and hat is dragging a reluctant woman in a Sunday dress down the length of the hall. The woodcarver stands up and removes his leather apron, revealing a shirt of chain links and an intricately carved wooden pendant in the shape of a bow and arrow. His smile at the sight of the woman turns to a frown at the gentleman at her side. Others look up from their work at similar tables to watch the well-dressed couple breeze past them

“You!”, roars the gentleman. “You did this to my Rosilla!”

The woman is pulled up short by her arm - the disarray of her raven hair and flush of her full cheeks seeming only to enhance her beauty. Her big blue eyes land on the woodcarver with a mischievous look.

Rosilla: “No! Don’t let him near me! He threatens everything!”

Woodcarver: “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Gentleman: “Have no fear, my dear. I won’t let him anywhere near you.” Turning to the woodcarver, the gentleman pulls off a leather glove, one finger at a time - then flings it directly in his face.

“Akiros Ismort - you have violated the virtue of my wife and I demand justice!”, he bellows.

The woodcarver’s jaw drops.

The Penitent's Tale - Part 1

An eagle descends out of a sunrise. In the morning light, the shadow of the Black Cliffs stretches long over the Mighty Porthmos. Below pass the majestic villas and once-golden spires of Oppara - the Gilded City.

The eagle sails beyond the bustle and din of the city and travels out, out over a pastoral countryside. The streets of the city are replaced with cultivated fields, livestock, and hedgerows. A village catches the bird’s eye - covered in cobbled roads, fresh paint, and people in well-mended clothes. A churchbell rings and the smell of the morning baking is on the air. Dipping to avoid the lazy stroke of a windmill, the eagle lands on a branch outside a long hall and peers inside.

A sturdy man sits at a worktable with a simple knife in hand. His brow furrowed over piercing gray eyes in concentration, he shapes a wooden rod.

One stroke, two stroke - turn. One stroke, two stroke - turn. One stroke, two stroke - turn.

His hands stop. He nods in approval and blows sawdust from the rod. Bending down he affixes it to the side of a cradle and reaches for another piece of wood. A hanging woodblock carving of a man in hunting garb watches over him as he toils.

There is a bang and a gust of wind as the door at the end of the hall flies open. Startled, the man draws blood with the knife and utters a low curse.

Aeric's Journal #7

Aeric Lebeda – Journal Entry 7

28th of Erastus

The past few days have been rather eventful. We have met an interesting individual named Blaidd (pronounced Blaith) of House Medvyed. He seems like a rugged sort if a tad too emotional about a dead wolf. He is very intent and persistent from what we have seen so far. It took considerable effort to convince him that we needed to head back and get his wounds tended by a healer, his idea of breaking arrows off while very dramatic, is also very impractical as it left the arrow head in the body. I’m quite sure that if I’m hurt I don’t want him treating me!

We head to the Temple of the Elk looking for Father Jhod and we have received word that Jonah will also be there. Apparently he as awoken from his coma, praise Erastil! We arrive at the temple to find that Father Jhod seems much overjoyed with the work ahead of him. He treats Blaidd and we prepare to head back out to follow the trail of the poacher/bandits.

Blaidd seems too intent, perhaps his wolf Kasmir meant more to him than I understand. However I feel obliged not to rush into things out here, or to put the horses at risk. Blaidd seems almost uncaring about the horses well being which is very peculiar for one who seems to practice druidic magic. Blaidd continues to follow the tracks well past last light, and Jonah follows him. Some sort of creature, which disguised itself as a rock, ambushes them. The creature almost kills poor Jonah, but fortunately Blaidd manages to kill the beast and heal Jonah.

In the distance we start to see a structure, which the poacher/bandits seem to have been heading towards. The structure is on a hillside and has a good view of the surrounding countryside. It will be difficult to sneak up on it. Blaidd convinces the rest of us to move in closer during the night so we can observe during the day. This is a considerable risk as it effectively puts us in harms way with no easy method of escape. If the bandits prove tougher than we anticipate we could be at a serious disadvantage.

The Swan

With the beating of wings and a frightful display,
The majestic bird warns her foes away,
Those who fail to heed the sign,
Shall have their loves ones pine,
For upon their bones shall it make its nest!
~ House Lebeda

Journal Entry 6

Aeric Lebeda – Journal Entry 6

Sadly, I’ve lost track of what day it currently is. The past couple of weeks have been rather busy. Anna and myself headed back to Oleg’s to get Father Jhod and take him to the Temple of the Elk. On our way thru the ford at the river we encountered a troll. For some reason Anna decided to engage it briefly before following me fleeing from it. From all the stories I’ve heard, trolls are rather dangerous, if we were going to fight one, I would really rather with had more people with us.

We reached Oleg’s after 4 days and found that Oleg’s cousin Piotr had arrived. Piotr is the engineer we had requested. Also our waterproof ponchos arrived along with a replacement pony for Jonah. When we mentioned the lost temple to Father Jhod, he was already to get up and travel even though it was nighttime. We convinced him to wait until morning. We also discovered that while Jonah’s fever has broken, the lad has not yet woken up. Svetlana agrees to keep watch over him. We lent Piotr our duplicate map of the area (the one we are preparing for the mayor of Restov) so he can travel around and see some of the lay of the land. We put him on retainer so that he would hopefully still be around when we return with the rest of the group. We also offloaded a large amount of bandit gear, including Kressle’s head to Oleg and thus receiving the reward for suppressing bandits. I also picked up a number of potions of cure light wounds from Oleg’s since we had exhausted a number of ours during the past adventures. The return trip to the Temple of the Elk was uneventful and allowed me time to prepare a few more potions of cure light wounds.

We arrived with Father Jhod at the Temple, and he was overjoyed to see it. It did look much better than previously and I suspect that Maladan had done most of the work as Tomaz doesn’t like to do boring stuff. I passed out the potions of healing to Maladan and Tomaz (since I had already given Anna hers). Maladan dumped his out and filled it with water from pool. I was quite indignant about this, does the man have no idea how much those things cost? However I did come to realize that he wasn’t doing it from malice, he had just been left alone with Tomaz for 8 days… by himself, it would make anyone a bit loopy. Plus Maladan had filled his waterskin, his helmet, all the available cooking pots and some other crudely made bowls with the water. I suspect that Maladan will be soon back to his gruff self when we get him back out fighting bandits. Although I do see the attraction of staying at the Temple, it is very restful and peaceful here.

Leaving the Temple was quite difficult for Maladan and we scouted to the north. We found a lumber camp and what appears to be the lumberjack crushed under a number of logs. The cuts on the bindings indicate that it might have been the small fey creatures we had previously encountered. We buried the poor soul. We also found the start of a river! Obviously feed by an underground spring it was a good discovery so that we have another way around the river other than the ford. Heading to the southwest towards the hot springs that the fey creatures had mentioned we found it, it was very warm and foggy. Stripping down we clambered into the hot springs to soak. It was very relaxing, and somewhat distracting as we watched Anna, she is a very attractive woman. Our relaxation wasn’t to last though. We were attacked by giant frogs! They lashed out and both Anna and myself, I managed to break free and dash for shore as did Maladan. Tomaz cast magic to try and scare the frogs away. Anna was saved from being dragged into the reeds as Maladan’s aim with Erastil’s guidance pierced thru the fog and struck the frog truly. Anna made it to shore safely, but her appearance caused me to miss the actions of the remaining frog. Maladan sent a flaming arrow out to try and expand our limited visibility, however it seems he struck a pocket of explosive gas, which caused the whole area to start filling up with gas. After dispatching the last frog we fled into the prevailing winds and set up a new camp.

In the morning as we continued our exploration we realized that the hot springs are the start of another river, albeit a slow muddy river. Traveling south along the river, we found some abandoned stone buildings; at least we thought they were abandoned until we discovered that there was a boggard (frog-man) and his pet (a saber-toothed frog). With his broken common we decided that communication with it would be difficult at best. I did manage to whip up an extract that allowed me to understand the creature, who sounds much more intelligent in his native language. We may have to come back here when we are better able to speak with it.

Traveling to the east we encounter what seems like a small cave, until a nasty looking boar comes charging out of it. Tuskgutter! Maladan receives a devastating blow, in fact we fear for his life (if only he hadn’t dumped out those potions of healing!). After some considerable and dangerous fighting (I managed to light myself on fire) we managed to kill Tuskgutter and decapitate him.

Pushing further east we encounter the same river that the bandits have a ford on. This part of the river has a small bridge, which we decide not to cross at this time. Heading south we find Fangberries in between too large hills. However the Fangberries are not alone. They have small spiders (Chew Spiders) living in amongst the bushes. We collect some berries before small swarms of spiders come out and attack both Tomaz and Anna. For once they are both happy to be lit on fire as my bombs drive back the spiders. With some assistance Maladan collects the remaining berries we need without disturbing any more spiders. I take a couple of samples of these spiders. They could prove useful for my research.

Aeric's Journal #5

Aeric Lebeda’s Journal Entry 5, for the 11th (Toilday) of Erastus of the year 4708.

We have returned to Oleg’s after our sweep of the north and west. We are preparing for a possible bandit attack (since the bandits have arrived on the 1st of the month) along with preparing for the holy day of Erastil (on the 3rd of Erastus).

Of note, Jonah seems to have fallen ill. I’m not sure if it is coincidence or not that it occurred very closely timed to when I was found on the floor unconscious. My last memories where that I was preparing to examine Frederick (Jonah’s dead rat) with an alchemic extract that assists in determining magic. Upon waking up, I had a splitting headache and was lying on the floor. One of Captain Garess’ men brought Jonah in saying that he had suddenly collapsed. Father Jhod looked at him but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Strangely enough Jonah shook more when Frederick was brought near him. Very curious.

The preparations for the bandit arrival were less than heartening. While several suggestions were presented to help catch the bandits in a crossfire or other trap were shot down by Tomaz as being reckless. I will admit that he has a point, the reason to have a fortification is to use it for cover… but it means then that we have giving up the initiative and are only reactive to what the bandits want to do.

The first was a long day, however both myself and Maladan caught sight of something moving thru the grass. At the end of the day I ventured out to see if I could track what ever had moved thru the grass. I found a small toy soldier and what was obviously the place where the scout was examining the outpost.

On the 2nd of Erastus, we ventured out tracking the trail of the bandit scout to the southwest. Tomaz and Anna were also intent on catching a boar. As the day grew longer myself and Maladan returned to the camp to finish preparations for the holy day of Erastil. Tomaz and Anna decided to stay out longer. When they returned the next day, they indicated that they had run into someone out in the bush but didn’t manage to capture him.

The holy day of Erastil passed uneventfully, it was good though to see how well Maladan and Father Jhod were getting along. I suspect quite strongly that when we set out to explore again that we will be pushing to the cave with the bear in the hopes that it is the lost Temple of Erastil.

On the 4th Of Erastus, we had a lively discussion about where to head. Eventually we tried to head directly to the location where we thought the lost temple was, only to encounter a river. We traveled south along the river and encountered bandits at a ford. Battle ensued! The high notes were that Maladan was almost slain by the bandit Kressel. She was very tough and only thru perseverance did Anna prevail. However Anna was discouraged as apparently she recognized one of the bandits. He fled from us. I was also somewhat disturbed by Tomaz’s actions. He deliberately killed a fallen foe. After we had mentioned that we needed information. I will have to keep an eye on my cousin. Another bandit surrendered to me, and when my attention was turned towards the rest of the battle he fled. Anna did manage to save one of the bandits from their wounds.

From the bandit camp we found a considerable amount of loot. Most of which we believe were looted from Oleg’s. We moved those goods to another location and then proceeded back to Oleg’s with the prisoner. We managed to get some information from the prisoner, and Maladan gave his word that we would allow the bandit his life. Tomaz wanted to leave the prisoner at Oleg’s. However there is no place at Oleg’s to hold a prisoner, and I suspect strongly that both Oleg and Captain Garess would arrange an accident for the prisoner as soon as we left again. I felt I had no choice but to let the bandit go, as taking him back would have been breaking the spirit of the agreement we had made with him.

Tomaz railed on me about that, calling me soft and weak in the head. Tomaz I think is missing the bigger picture. This bandit will now return back to his camp and will grudgingly inform them that he was let go. This should hopefully give us some added reputation for them to surrender and change their ways than trying to fight us to the last. But time will tell.

Knowing time is of the essence, we quickly make towards the location of the cave. We find a huge outcropping of rock surrounded by brambles. We manage to make our way in and find what looks like a elk’s head carved out of the rock face. It is quite impressive. A large misshaped bear came out of the back of the temple and charged Maladan. After a brief battle we managed to win over the creature who turned into old man and then crumbled to dust. I wonder if he was the caretaker of the temple? The feeling of the shrine increased considerably now that the bear was gone. Maladan pretty much couldn’t be moved from the place and would only tell the rest of us to fetch Father Jhod as quickly as possible.

Aeric's Journal #4

Aeric Lebeda’s Journal Entry 4, for the 25th (Sunday) of Sarenith of the year 4708.

We have returned back to Oleg’s after continuing our exploration. We decided to ensure we had maps of the areas to the east and west of Oleg’s.

Since our departure on the 11th, there have been few items of note. We received a package at Oleg’s, it looks like it was the equipment and head of the kobold shaman Tartuk. I believe this was the kobold chief acknowledging our assistance in overthrowing Tartuk. There was a journal of some sort, Jonah decided to translate it for us.

We encountered a small hut out in the plains during a rainstorm. It seems to belong to a twitchy fellow named Bokken. Bokken seems to be a potion maker of some sort, I didn’t really get much time to talk with him as he pushed us out and told us to come back if we had some Fangberries.

The storm got much worse so we decided to stop exploring and hunker down for a bit. A small band of kobolds discovered our camp. When I tried to communicate with them I mangled my draconic and accidentally prompted them to attack us. So I had to explode most of them, one kobold ran off screaming about demons in the woods.

We finished our eastern loop and stopped in briefly at Oleg’s before trying to acquire some radishes for Svetlana. We decided to try and barter with the kobolds of the radish patch by trading some spears for the radishes. The bartering was going kind of poorly when I received a message that I presumed came from Jonah, but he did sound kind of funny. Jonah had used the bartering as a distraction and snuck in and liberated some radishes. Since we had what we came for we decided to leave peacefully, and we left the spears as trade.

We explored slightly north of Oleg’s along the road where we encountered a wine merchant named Pavel, who strangely enough didn’t have any wine. Tomaz started talking quite excitedly with the fellow and wound up spinning an impressive tale and some illusions to show what he was thinking of for the future of the Stolen Lands. I was quite impressed myself, Tomaz definitely has a gift with talking with people. Tomaz decided we needed a fair or festival to start bringing the folks around together and celebrate to help boost his dream of a civilized area.

As we continued west we found one morning that our sentry had fallen asleep and that all our weapons were tied up in a tree with our own rope. Jonah seemed quite sure what had caused it, I was less positive but I presumed it was the work of some mischievous fey creatures. After a long day, Jonah finally managed to talk to the little fey creatures. One of which seemed to enjoy Tomaz’s bottles of wine. Once they were reasonably friendly with us they provided us with some information about the surrounding areas, a clearing full of dangerous traps, a hot spring, a big bear in a cave and a bridge with some bad big-uns nearby. Tomaz also invited them to the festival…

As we continued our exploration now heading back towards Oleg’s we entered the clearing where the fey creatures had mentioned the dangerous traps. And they were right! The clearing was full of bear traps. Both Jonah, Tomaz and Jonah’s pony got hit with the traps. While we managed to get both Jonah and Tomaz free with considerable difficulty, we had to put the pony down. Jonah was quite upset about the whole affair and blamed his dead rat Frederick for not helping him. Jonah went so far as to throw Frederick into the bush! Anna went to look for Frederick but didn’t find him. That night I discovered Frederick in my saddlebags!

While I felt somewhat foolish, I had a one sided chat with the dead rat. And I decided to return him to Jonah when we were back at Oleg’s. Preferably while Jonah was not watching.

We returned to Oleg’s on the 25th of the month, which would give Tomaz sometime to organize his festival, and allow the rest of us time to prepare a ‘welcome’ for any bandits who might show up on the 1st of the next month.

Aeric's Journal #3

Aeric Lebeda’s Journal Entry 3, for the 10th (Starday) of Sarenith of the year 4708.

Our group has returned back to Oleg’s trading post this day after doing some much needed exploration and mapping of the surrounding area.

We left on the 1st after dealing with the bandits attack. Tomaz declared that he was much too unwell to travel with us, after all, he was run over by a couple of horses. Personally I think it more likely that he decided not to come with us as staying at Oleg’s provided him with easier access to alcohol and Svetlana, Oleg’s wife.

We decided to forge our way southeast, as our intent was to end the threat posed by the kobold tribe the Sootscales. During our travels we encountered the remains of what we believe was a farmer who had fallen victim to a bear trap. He left a journal indicating that his wife was Elena. We buried him and Maladan lead us in a short prayer to Erastil to grant this poor soul peace. We also resolved to do our best to inform Elena of her husband’s passing.

On our journey, we also uncovered a small field of bones, of not just humans but of wild creatures as well. As we investigated a spider leapt out of from a cleverly disguised mound and bit Anna. Maddened by the poison Anna leapt to the attack and would not retreat with us. With some reluctance we engaged the spider, eventually burning it in its hole. Unfortunately one of my bombs went slightly amiss and also burned Anna. Jonah was quite visibly upset by this and accused me of doing it deliberately. It even looked as if Jonah was getting ready to attack me. In the end he spit on me. I was so taken aback by his behaviour that I could not even formulate a defence for myself other than it was an accident. In hindsight this was probably a good thing, as if I had responded it might have been along the lines that ‘if I had wanted to burn Anna then she would be burned and with her goddess’… probably not something that would endear me with Jonah. I’m at a loss about that boy.

We excavated the mound, in part because I was curious if I could use some of the spider’s own venom to create an antidote for Anna. Unfortunately it seems my skills were lacking for the task. However, I did take some detailed sketches of the spider in case we encounter them again. Underneath the spider, we discovered some more human remains. It appears that it was another bandit. This one had what we presume to be a small treasure map. We have decided to keep an eye out for a tree that looks like a clawed hand reaching to the sky. As we decided to bury all the bones of the victims of this spider, Jonah went off hunting. He came back with 3 rabbits and cooked them, he was very insistent that the rabbits were for himself, Anna and Maladan. I’m seriously considering taking this boy over my knee and giving him a good spanking, but I fear that while that might bring understanding to a normal child, Jonah is anything but.

The next day as we continued our journey to the southeast, we found the tree or what we believed to be the tree that was on the treasure map. After some searching we found some recently dug up ground. Working our way down we discovered a set of belongings wrapped in an almost useless cloak. A wand, a shiny dagger and what we assume is a water damaged spellbook. The next day, I was able to determine that the wand was magical. It eventually turned out to be a wand of burning hands. As we continued our journey to the southeast we came across a river, travelling along it we were unable to find any decent crossing sites, although we did find a place called Nettle’s Crossing, but the bridge was in serious disrepair, and the building on the opposite shore was burnt out.

Pushing west as the river blocked further exploration to the south, we found a huge dying tree. Maladan and Jonah decided to go up and investigate. They found all sorts of tiny humanoid footprints. We determined that kobolds and mites made the tracks. Not knowing which lair this was we cautiously entered. Jonah made a bellowing challenge to the mites that he was here to punish them for being allies with the Dark Queen. He was then attacked out of the darkness, and he replied with a fiery vengeance using the wand we had found earlier. It was then all I could do to keep up with him as Jonah moved rapidly after any noises that the mites made. In the next open chamber a number of mites moved to attack Jonah but he was too quick for them and incinerated them with the wand.

We also discovered several kobolds being tortured by the mites. Anna released the only one still alive and healed his wounds. His name was Nicknack or some such. Jonah quickly questioned him if he was allied with the Dark Queen. I quickly interceded by informing Jonah, the if he worked with the Dark Queen then he wouldn’t be getting tortured by her minions. Jonah seemed to accept my logic with the idea of an enemy of my enemy is my friend. It seems that the mites had stolen a sacred statue belonging to the kobolds, and this kobold and his group had come here to try and steal it back. We agreed to help him ‘rescue’ his sacred statue.

However the burning of the other mites seemed to have calmed Jonah’s bloodlust to allow Anna to take the lead. We found a huge chasm, which we figured was quite perilous to cross. And in fact it was, not only were some of the hand holds deliberately tied so that any weight would cause one to fall, but there was one damn big centipede that came up out of the darkness and attacked us! Anna and Maladan managed to defeat it and we pushed on.

We entered another chamber and found a number of mites examining an ivory statue on a table, we assume it was the sacred statue of the kobolds. Jonah quickly leapt into action and again tried to incinerate a number of them. However I fear that the power of the wand was fading as while it burned several, they managed to shrug of the flames and advance on Jonah. In fact we were very lucky that Jonah wasn’t outright killed by these nasty little creatures. One especially fierce one actually called down a giant tick and rode it into battle against us. After much fighting we eventually prevailed and gathered up the sacred statue and several other treasures, which we determined actually belonged to the kobold tribe.

Our little kobold friend lead us to the kobold lair were we could return their sacred statue. As our intent was to eliminate the kobold threat we figured we could try a peaceful resolution first. And if that failed, well at least we would know where the kobold lair was. However it seems that the issue with the kobolds was that the sacred statue was a bone of contention between the tribal chief and the tribal shaman. In turning over the statue to the chief, he broke the statue and then challenged the shaman for authority over the clan. The chief was welcome and invited us to kindly leave. Technically he did invite us to come back, but the intent was quite clear that he would very much prefer if he never hear from us again. We did manage though to calm the kobolds activities and create an alliance of sorts. Can kobolds and humans co-exist? I don’t know, but it seems that we will give it a try.

The next few days we started our journey back north towards Oleg’s. We figured that unless things went amiss we should arrive back on the evening of the tenth. Most of our return journey was uneventful, although we did find some things of interest. One item I will make no mention of it here, in fact we were all in agreement that we would keep it secret, even from Tomaz. The other was that in the forest just southwest of Oleg’s we discovered another tribe of kobolds and what seems to be their radish patch.

I made note of the radish patch, as they seemed to be a very large clearing of them. If we ever manage to get farmers into these areas, this radish patch would be a great initial crop.

Upon arriving back at Oleg’s we noticed several changes. Of note was that the bandit’s bodies were no longer on display, although the heads were. Also there seemed to be guards at the gate and walking the walls. I suspected that these were the reinforcements that Oleg had discussed with us on our first visit. And miracle of miracles, they even had Tomaz walking a post! Ha! I bet he was now sorry he had stayed behind!

We found that in addition to the guards there was also a wandering priest of Erastil present. He had some interesting information for us, one was that he may know who the widow Elena is, and he mentioned that there were rumors of a lost Shrine to Erastil somewhere in the Stolen Lands, guarded by an enormous bear. I heartily concurred with Maladan that finding a Shrine to Erastil was important, however as we didn’t know where it was we would have to continue our explorations of the area and hope we stumble across it.

We also discovered that among the items we exchanged with the kobolds was Svetlana’s wedding ring. Oleg and Svetlana were overjoyed to have it returned. Oleg opened up a line of credit for us in the store and agreed to give us very fair value for any items we would bring back to sell to him.

We were a tad puzzled as how we recovered the ring, because Oleg had mentioned that the bandits had originally stolen it from them. How it became an item passed back and forth between the kobolds and the mites is unknown, but it leads us to the premise that either the mites and/or kobolds are in league with the bandits or that they managed to some how steal it from the bandits. Either will require some more investigation.

~ end entry.

Sleeper

Standing in the courtyard of the trading post, listening to Oleg speak of their problems with the bandits, had stirred something in the boy that the woodling had not seen in a long long time. Granted there was some rage, still to be expected considering the boy’s upbringing but there was also that sense of determination and steely will that the woodling knew ran through the boy’s core. He would need it for the work that was to be done. Killing had a way of wearing on the soul and it still remained to be seen if the boy’s could be salvaged.

In front of his new companions the boy wore the mask of a stoic warrior. The boy so resembled his father at times, the woodling thought to himself. But, at night, alone in the dark the dreams had come and the frightened animal which had nearly consumed the child years before reared it’s cowardly head once more...

No one had noticed Jonah slip away, already the boy was a master of stealth his small stature and years of “training” by his grandfather had taught him to move silently and invisibly. Soon his “other” talents would begin to manifest as well, for better, or far more probably, for worst. Slipping past his companions was an easy feat for the child and the woodling waited at the gate for his young ward to arrive...

“So just like that eh? Leavin’ in the middle of the night? Leavin’ the lady and the others to their fate?” The woodling shook his head in anger, though he felt nothing but sorrow in his heart.

“Frederick!” the boy almost collapsed in fright, his fear turning to dark anger, “you scared me!”

“I scared you!!!” the woodling chastised, “I scared you! I am the one makin’ ya run of like a daft coward am I? Tail tucked between yer legs like a yeller dawg!! If only your father could see ya now!”

“My father left me!” the boy sobbed, nearly breaking the woodling’s heart... “with HIM!!!” He was weeping now, fear and shame racking his frail body. “I can’t do it Frederick...” the boy’s eyes lit up... as he looked at the woodling.... “You can Frederick... like before.... make me sleep...”

The woodling’s heart grew icy... to feel alive again!!! To breathe the sweet air, to fight as a warrior!! To wield the sleeping giant in the boy as it should be wielded!! The woodling calmed himself, he couldn’t do it again. He didn’t know if he would be able to let it all go. “No... my Lord... it is not my place. You must learn... you must fight.”

“Please Frederick!!! I will learn.. I will! I just can’t... not now.. not yet... please this will be the last time I swear!” The boy was nearly frantic awash in panic.

In the end it was the love of the boy which won him over, at least that’s what Frederick tried to tell himself. “Then sleep my young Prince, and once it is all over I shall awaken you.”

Frederick stood there in the night clasping onto the dead form of Rickers, his heart full of relief, before he collapsed onto the ground, convulsing. Foam started to come from his mouth, his hands wailed frantically at his sides clawing at creatures only he could see. Then stillness and quiet until the boy picked himself slowly off the ground. Picking up the rat in his hands, petting it soothingly laughter began to come from the boy... joyful, maniacal laughter... not the laughter of a boy ... but rather reminiscent of a demon.

The creature walked back to where the boy had risen and slipped back into bed, closing its eyes, drinking in the sensations of life, waiting for the morning where it would wash the ground from whence it came with the blood of the living.

It could hardly wait.

Kingmaker session 2 – Wagons, A Trading Outpost and Banditos!

Kingmaker session 2 – Wagons, A Trading Outpost and Banditos!

Aeric’s Journal

We have been making our way south west along the road out of Restov. We are heading towards Oleg’s Trading Post which is the landmark for the territory that we are to explore, map and clear of unfriendly things.

My cousin Tomaz is somewhat unhappy with me, in that when I purchased supplies I didn’t see the point of purchasing any wine. Both Tomaz and Maladan claim that the water isn’t safe to drink. I think they are claiming that as an excuse to drink wine and other alcoholic beverages.

I must say that I’m quite impressed with Jonah’s woodcraft. He seems very much at home in the wild as it were. I do find his talk about Fredrick speaking and telling him things to be somewhat disturbing, but he seems able to function. Plus he is so darn cute that you can’t help but overlook a little bit of strangeness. Unfortunately while Maladan seems to be bonding well with Jonah, I’m thinking that Tomaz is only irritating the poor lad.

Anna seems fairly quiet. Perhaps the tragedy of losing her friend and mentor Desmond has inflicted considerable pain that Anna is not yet ready to open herself back up to the rest of the world.

On our journey the road has been getting progressively rougher. As we pass fewer and fewer farms and small settlements, it seems we are entering more wild and untamed lands. I’m not quite sure if we are actually in the Stolen Lands per se or if we are still inside the frontier borders of Brevoy and Rostland.

We did encounter a wagon traveling back to Restov. The lady and her two children are making haste away. Apparently the bandits have made off with her husband and she has had enough of ‘trying to make a go of it’ in the wilderness. As Anna and Maladan were busy talking with her, Tomaz and I realized the Jonah managed to scurry off into the bushes. I’m suspecting that Jonah has a very highly developed sense of personal survival. Which could prove troublesome later on, especially as he is supposed to be our guide. What are we going to do if our guide up and disappears on us in the middle of the wilderness?

We finally make it to Oleg’s Trading Post on the last day of the month. Tomaz is overjoyed, mainly because while my cousin is a big ideas kind of guy, he tends to forget some of the little things… like a bedroll. Tomaz is definitely looking forward to being able to sleep on a bed tonite.

The trading post seems to be of a fairly sturdy construction, although the catapults on the 4 towers have definitely seen better days. Svetlana seems to be quite a pleasant lady, and Oleg seems a bit on the gruff side. Although he does eventually warm up to us. Of course maybe the reason he warms up to us is that we have agreed to take on some bandits that have been plaguing the outpost. They come on the first of the month and take what Oleg has stored up. Which means that they will be here tomorrow at dawn. We look around the compound to figure out where we want to be when the bandits come in. Anna and Tomaz both want to try and convince the bandits to give up their own ways and either redeem themselves or join us. Maladan and myself are more of the ‘pull the weeds from the garden’ attitude, and Jonah comes across as bad men must be punished.

We setup early the next morning and the bandits arrive. 4 bandits with 6 horses. Apparently two of the horses are to be used as pack animals to bring back Oleg’s supplies. Anna and Tomaz greet them as they enter the outpost. Negotiations basically hit a stumbling block in that neither Anna or Tomaz can convince the bandits to lay down their weapons. The bandits claim to be here to do some trading, but Maladan and Jonah both detect that falsehood. Unfortunately it seems that as I was getting ready to make my move that the bandits picked up on it and reacted. They took up defensive positions and spooked the horses into us.

We eventually prevail over the bandits. I do feel somewhat sorry about shooting the badly injured bandit, it is possibly that we might have been able to take him prisoner, unfortunately he was the only one who was mounted and it looked like he was going to escape from the outpost. Failing to convince the bandits to redeem is one thing, but allowing them to leave and warn their friends about us would be an unacceptable tactical failure. Perhaps Erastil will forgive me, because Anna seemed quite put out with me and the others as none of the bandits could be saved or redeemed.

Oleg though was overjoyed with the results. After stripping the bandits of their gear he strung them up on the outside wall facing south as a deterrent to the other bandits. I’m not sure that was the wisest course of action, but this is his place technically he can do what he wants here. We did manage to capture one of the bandits’ horses, but the others fled. That may cause us some difficulty down the road if they manage to return to the bandits camp as it will alert them that something has changed at Oleg’s.

After the battle we notice there is a bulletin board with a number of rewards for slaying various creatures or performing a variety of deeds. With much discussion we finally choose to head south and investigate the rumors of kobolds and either defeat them, or make an alliance with them so that they stop raiding. We have also decided to explore as we go so the trip will take a bit longer than what we would normally anticipate travelling direct.

Frederick

It was a strange sight to be sure, if any but the animals of the forest were there to see it. In the middle of a clearing in the dead hours of the night a small flickering flame was being fed by a child whose small demeanour masked any true guess of age. After he watched the fire for a moment, making sure it still burned, he moved a tree stump closer to it, slowly and methodically. After it had been moved he started to shuffle over another stump. A large thud and a gasping of air startled the child and he slipped in the mud...

“Frederick... I would have moved you.”

“At the way that yer movin lad!!! Not bloody likely... besides I am freezing... “ Jonah looked over to his companion and his heart filled with pain and sorrow at his poor mentor’s condition. Once he had been a proud defender of the Folk, once he had been a warrior, once he and Rickers had passed through the Mists as light through glass but now... the child turned his head to the rat and shivered... Rickers was not well. He was bound in what Frederick had called Undeath, as Frederick was as well, ever since that one horrible day...

The woodling noticed the child’s demeanour right away and cursed his own impatience. Frederick knew his plight weighed heavy on the young reagent’s heart and he knew how tenuous the child’s grip on reality was; “My lord,” Frederick addressed as properly as he could manage, “it truly was a minor inconvenience, your humble servant begs your forgiveness .”

Jonah turned back to the woodling... tears in his eyes and a smile beginning to form on his lips... “I hate it when you call he that Frederick...”

The undead woodling cracked a toothy grin of broken pebbles, “Then quit being a dolt and go find yourself some supper... and get enough for two...”

Jonah’s eyes widened... “You mean...?”

The woodling’s grin faded and he noded his head... “Yes, she is coming.”

Political Instability in Brevoy

Brevoy is a country on the verge of change. Of the seven noble houses, five are in the north and two are in the south. When the ruling House Rogarvia vanished completely, it left a power vacuum. House Surtova managed to push forward their claim to be Regents for the missing House.

Some, but not all of the noble houses have acknowledged this claim. This leads to considerable tesion, along with the fact that the lands of House Rogarvia have effectively become uncontrolled by any House. This is in part due to the fact the the Regency by House Surtova also effectively blocks them from reassigning House Rogarvia's lands and that House Surtova is stretched its resouces to hold the Dragonscale Throne.

Add in the considerations that the other Houses have some issues of their own. House Lebeda is also a regency for Lord Lander who is still a minor, they also seem to be looking for a marriage alliance with House Surtova. House Garess has recently lost its heir, and the new heir is an adopted dwarf! House Orlovsky which seems a focus of resentment towards House Surtova has as of yet refused to acknowledge that House Surtova is the de facto King. Mix this altogther and there are the possible components of a civil war.

In an attempt to defuse this state of affairs, House Surtova has announced several expeditions to claim the Stolen Lands. It is believed that by presenting an external issue, the internal issues will lessen.

Time will tell if civil war will be averted or merely delayed.

- Journey to the Stolen Lands, Journal of Aeric Lebeda.

Frailty

It was a crisp cool autumn night in the village of Gettins as the moon crested over the peaks of Mount Vehska onto the lands below. Mist crept down from the mountain through the rolling hills and into the village like a vast ghostly lake overfilling its bounds. Colourful lanterns were hung about the village as if to stem the tide yet their light was nearly engulfed before cutting through. Laughter cut through the fog, the laughter of children, running and playing in the streets, an unusual site in the village of Gettins. But tonight was the night of the Harvest when even the most grizzled herder and stoic woodsman would celebrate the bounties of the gods. Man would sit in each other’s companies and regale each other with outlandish tales of their ancestor’s tales. Children would sometimes gather, but would more often than not run with wild abandonment, for there were few times in a child’s life in Gettins that wasn’t free of work and toil.

For one child in the village there was never a moment that wasn’t full of anguish and terror.

Jonah Evanstree lived as a shadow, remaining as silent and as invisible as the night. He lived with his grandfather, an ill tempered old herder of goats, a rude ignorant old man filled with loathing and spite. At least this is what the villagers thought, but Jonah knew the truth. Doran Evanstree was a monster.

Jonah never knew his father, only to here that he was probably the son of some demon spawn, a foul creature. His mother died during child birth, a “slut witch” who got what she deserved. And Jonah? According to his grandfather was the grand Demon himself and it was his grandfather’s duty to eternally punish him.

As long as he could remember his life was a routine of misery. Brutally hard work with little rest and little food usually followed by hours of beatings and degrading tirades by his grandfather. The hours turned into days, the days into weeks and the weeks into years. For Jonas the only respite was when he slept. For why would one dream when they lived an eternal nightmare?
Eight long years passed as Jonah turned into a pitiful creature of fear and self hatred. Doran became more unhinged as the years passed, his darkness working through him like a venom, the last of his humanity eroded away by the copious spirits he engulfed every night. It was a mixed blessing for Jonas, sometimes his grandfather would forget all about him and collapse in the hearth of his disgusting hovel. But sometimes he would remember, and the last bit of humanity, the last bit of restraint, was forgotten. The beatings that Jonas received at these times would leave him in a ruined heap for a week at a time, sometimes he would pray to the gods to take him. It was during one of these times that his prayers were answered, albeit from the most unlikely of sources...

Jonas was lying under his bed, nursing what he was sure was a broken arm, whimpering begging for deaths. His heart was dark with hatred, not of his grandfather, the fear he felt would not allow it. He hated himself, he hated his existence. In a moment of darkness he called upon the demon powers his grandfather swore he was from to take his life... and from the darkness came an answer...

“Oy! Carful whatcha wish for laddy! Ya never know whose listen!”

Jonas’ head jerked, smacking into the top of his bed his eyes rolled back in pain, when they came into focus again he was staring into the eyes of a rat. He nearly screamed in terror, but lacking the strength it came out as a painful wheeze.
“Easy there laddy! Ricker is a trained battle rat! He’ll chew yer eyes out if he thinks your trouble... “ Jonas’ eyes were drawn up to the curious figure up top of the rat. It was a tiny creature perhaps 2 inches tall made of twigs and mud, it’s eyes were two small dark black pebbles. It wore a tiny black cloak and appeared to carry a miniature rapier at its side. The stick creature patted the side of the rat he rode on. “Easy there Ricker... this here he’s the reason they sent us out of the Mists, though he looks like no prince to me... “ Ricker approached Jonas again, the little creature on its back taking it all in. “Though looks can be deceiving...” the little creature smiled, it’s mouth full of smaller white triangular rocks... “now get out from under there son of Wodak. We have things to discuss.”

Jonas, his strength very slowly returning was stunned... “I... I... I...”

“By the Lady’s Breeches!!!” The stick creature cursed poking Jonas with his rapier, “are ye truly a daft child! Hrmph!” as it kicked it’s tiny foot, replete with miniature leather riding boots, into Jonas’ side. “I don’t believe it! If your father could see ya now... he is not gonna like this one bit!”

“My father... he, he’s a demon...”

“A WHAT!!!” the tree creature squealed “OY... get out from under there boy. We need to discuss your future. There are things coming... horrible things. And beautiful things as well. Yours is the hand of a shaper... “ for a moment the creature’s tone softened and even in his damaged state Jonas could sense its cavernous sorrow, “and your time is short. Now get up.. we have things to discuss...”

But alas that is a conversation for another day.

Preparing for the Trip

Journal Entry 1 - Pre-journey
I have spent most of the morning reading my meager gear for this trip. It was a most unfortunate turn of events at the dice game last night, I was doing quite well that I almost suspect that the dice were rigged. However, caution made me hold my tongue, the ruffians that I was playing with weren't the usual sort I hung around with so I was a tad unsure how they would have reacted. Knowing my luck they would have reacted quite badly to the accusation. So my coin pouch is much lighter than expected. Fortunately I had purchased most of the supplies I truly needed, but a horse would have been very useful.

Now I must hurry and join my companion as we head to the Stolen Lands to explore and hopefully claim a chunck of land.