The Disappearance of Yasmin's Hammer

Scribe Notes

Summary

AdventureThe Disappearance of Yasmin's Hammer
GM Jono
Season Autumn 822 WK
Night Playing Monday night starting in March 2023 in Glendene (Jono's place) at 7:00pm.
Area Alusia
Level Low

• Loot PDF Doc
  
• Exp chit PDF Doc
  

Party

Character name	College / Skills	Race	Player
Ruby	Fire	Human	Kelsie
Sonny Holliday	Celestial	Hobbit	Michael M
Johann	Wicca	Human	Michael H
Thornie	Earth	Dwarf	Michael P
Marcus	Namer	Human	Michael Y
Dae	Mind	Elf	Gus

Employer

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Mission

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Pay

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Scribe notes

Night 1 (01/04/822-30/04/823)

Autumn 822 WK (a year ago).
Ruby, Johann, Dae and Thornie are very young, practically still children. We all live in Gugnir's Hope.
We are all connected to the smithy in Gugnir's Hope. Ruby's mother is works for the Blacksmith Guild, admin over the three guilded smithys at "The Forge", a dwarven artifact in the centre of a block of 6 smithys. There is a fire mage, maybe part elemental, who tends the forge and seems to live in there. Ruby is going to be a blacksmith, Johann is trying to avoid being a blacksmith, Thornie's family provide coke and coal, and Dae's family are specialist swordsmiths.
We are sent to collect a portcullis from the dwarf quarter, which is surprisingly easy as they want it out of the way. We borrow a wagon to transport it, but surprisingly get paid some coppers for unloading the ale that was taking up space in it. We pay that to the wagon owner, who is surprisingly unconcerned about us "moving" his wagon, to take the item to the smithy.
On the way we meet a dwarf who says that the portcullis is his, so we pay him 30SP for it and get a receipt. Who knows whether he had any claim, but then again, neither did we.
We are also attacked by some of the drovers who are in town, who regularly try to bully us. They throw some fruit and veges. We throw some rocks. Dae gets one of them smack in the middle of his forehead - yay - but I (Ruby) get mine in the eyes of the wagon oxen, which bolts (at oxen bolt speed), tipping some of our group out, but we get back to the smithy in record time.

Then we are sent to the bathhouse to price up fixing the boiler. Strangely it looks like a bite has been taken out of it.
We find a large 5 sided scale and assume that a water monster has done it. After redirecting the water and putting out the fire so that it is under control we investigate.
Poking into the boiler with a wooden stick, there doesn't seem to be a bottom, but when the stick comes back out it is floppy, so maybe there was a bottom. Dunno. We get some stuff from Thornies alchemist sister that when put into water will show up invisible water creatures. When we put that in the boiler, the water turns orange and swirls away like going down a drain. Looks like it does go somewhere else? Why was it orange?

Back to the smithy to report. Someone turns up with a weird shield that they have found. We pay them off with our last copper and they leave it with us. It is covered in blue scales and is leaking water. They found it behind the bathhouse. Ahah! one of it's scales is missing and when Dae puts the scale in place it sticks and it stops leaking. I get a length of pipe for defensive purpose.

Back at the bathhouse we investigate the alleyway behind, and something has climbed up or down the back wall and the roof tiles appear out of alignment. From the inside we can tell that the something went up to the attic and busted out through the roof. then into the alley. We follow the wet footprints to a sewer entrance where a metal grate has been forcibly removed. Ahah again! Our portcullis. We can sell that back to the town. It is also evident that both that and the remaining grate have been floppified, the present one having solidified in an stretched open form.

We go back to the smithy to collect equipment to go and hunt it down. Well, that was my plan, some of the crew turns out don't like "small" 5 foot holes. Anyway, the grownups set us all to work preparing for some bigwigs coming to town so we can't get away, but I stash various useful items for a quick getaway.
No luck. They are keeping a good eye on us. Turns out the bigwigs have come for the apprenticeship fair and we are all four snatched up to train as mages. Woohoo! Fire magic will take out that water creature when I can get back to it.

Night 2 (01/04/823)

After a year of learning magic, weapons and other stuff Ruby, Dae, Thornie an Johann, along with a halfling, Sonny, are hanging out at the forge. Dae is expecting an Adventurer from The Guild of Seagate to turn up to pick up a weapon that his family have mended. Just after he arrives we are instructed, for the price of a scone each, to move the drovers along, because they are outside sending customers around the corner to the dodgy end of the building. We take advantage of the presence of An Adventurer by accompanying him to confront them, and they are sent on their way, but they look like they'll be back with more trouble.

A tough boss drover tells them to cut it out or else. His name is Oorsk and he tells us where to find him, if there is any more trouble.

Thornies sister wander's by and says she will give us strange powders to make the bullys' lives difficult.

I am wondering about the magic shield we had last year and it turns out that it has been through the town's lost property system and returned to us as nobody claimed it. It is smaller than I remember and looks thirsty so I put it in a bath. The adventurer divinates it. It is made from a Drowning Deep Turtle, and gets smaller when it takes damage, but can be fixed by warm water. It is protective against fire. Johann is going to use it cause he can fight and it won't like me.

The bathhouse lady says that the magic shield was probably dropped by a shadow man. They make them and trade in them. We think the shadow men are not undead. Maybe they drowned in the deep. She has been to the Drowning Deep, rumour has it. Maybe being able to ignore pain makes you able to go there. She gives us some chewable healing potions.

We rescue Thornie's sister from being dwarf tossed by some drovers. The town guard lets us throw rocks at them and they are fined. Some of it goes into the reward fund, and we get some (lots)

We, including the adventurer (oh his name is Marcus), are deputised to go after the water monster that I have been trying to get all year. There have been people going missing and pets. Isn't that always?

Johann still doesn't want to go down the sewer but luckily they also seem to have an entrance in the basement of Sonny's family bakery, or anyway there has been scratching and moaning down there and the forge were hired to put in a strong cover over the entrance.

So some of us go to talk to our mentors.

Ruby runs into the master firemage, who is part elemental maybe. He heats up a bronze staff to scorching and lends me an apron and gloves so that it doesn't burn me, and also gives me 3 coals to burn up shadow men (who usually come in sets of three) when they are down. Sonny's mentor in Celestial magic is 3 sisters, one named Yasmin. They will be in town for two more days and offer some buffs, but the metaphor goes over his head and we don't realise that until later. He has been told to cut the shadows away from their hosts with a silver dagger, and that they are valuable, more valuable alive (as if!)

The elves and Johann's witches are not in town.

Johann takes a lot of oil.

We go to the bakery and are fed. They also make sure that Sonny and I are not in some sort of icky relationship. Then we are let down into the basement with a secret knock to let us out. First Sonny makes light. The first thing we notice is some sort of sweet roselike smell. The first thing we see is a body on the stairs. I go to check it out but it gets up. So I whack it with my hot stick. But it is terrifying. Then someones notices that my shadow is weird. One of the shadow men has stuck to me. Sonny cuts it off me with the dagger. Yay! Marcus calms me down. Yay!. Too much screaming hurts the throat. I stick the shadow with my stick and it makes a hole in it, but I don't remember to coal it.

We can see three shuffling somethings across the room. Every entity including us is casting extra strong shadows.

The trick with the dagger works but only Sonny has silver. It is difficult manoeuvring on the stair because nobody can stand next to Ruby. Johann is setting things on fire which they don't like including everyone but me.

We are underprepared and I decide that it is time to slam the hatch shut and retreat for silvered weapons, and fire protection.

Night 3 (01/04/823-02/04/823)

We exit the basement and are met by Sonny's dad. Sonny asks his dad for a reward (for his friends, not for himself of course). Mister Holliday offers more sandwiches and hands over 25g in a small pouch

I describe the body. He doesn't know who it is.

We get a list of people who have gone missing:

• A Rat catcher
• 2 adventurers
• 3 dwarf explorers (came in at a lower level.)
• A necro was thrown down the well 2-3 months ago. (Maybe he is responsible for the shambling creatures we saw down there)
• 6 bandits were chased in there but might have come out again.

Is there a map? We could ask the dwarfs.

We discuss buying silvered weapons and make a shopping list but they will take too long to make, so we will try to borrow something from the elves.

They are 2 hours out of town near Bladesmith. We trek out there and Dae's dad offers us a glaive, 2 sabers, 2 war hammers and 3 daggers. Of these only Dae and Thornie can use a dagger; all the rest are useless.

He also has some arrows for Dae in the form of a bunch of flowers. When we mention shadow men he gives Dae a vambrace which will make him tougher. His mother comes out and it turns out his dad was being difficult. She gives us two battle axes, a berserking hand and a half. There are also 2 silvered cestus and toe caps, for Sonny to return to his brother (eventually).

In 5 years she will speak to me again about my intentions towards her son. What is with these people? She gives us a token to cast into the forge; it will enchant 3 weapons for about a season.

They do an astrology read and say - In town there will be a greasy animal naked through the streets. To catch it in 2 days at dusk will be good. We stay the night. In the morning they are restringing Dae's bow with 6 strings. We walk back to town.

We DA and divinate our new stuff. See loot list. Now we have weapons. It is time to get the buffs.

On the way we came across some Fortune-tellers in the square. I am keen to hear and everyone goes in eventually.

The tents are very magical, mostly much bigger on the inside, and we all see someone different. We learn (consolidating some things):

• There are "water hobbits" that look like large red dolls in armour. One is in the tent and leaves. His name is Leithwick and is the one I should speak to when confronted by the mushroom man in the hills.
• Romance turned aside left and right for Ruby. Striking down of a bride frees me from such obligations as I didn't know that I have.
• Some thing of great worth to the town (the Baron's seal) has been stolen by the Necromancer and sold to the shadow men who have taken it to the west to the hill and the green ponds of the green goblins.
• This is a problem because the Baron is a prick to everyone when he is annoyed.
• Slayed almost all of them, luring for revenge. (not sure about this)
• Sonny will be fascinated by a woman who has entered his life recently. Watch out for a charm spell.
• Sonny's brother will be blamed for the crime
• Sonny is given something to make him "bite proof" until he returns from the hills.
• Three are pursuing one to stop entering the hills.

We go get the buffs. See buff list below.

So now we're ready to go back down to the basement. We start with light again to keep things in. This time it is really cold down here. Maybe that it to make fire not work so well? ESP lets us know that there are 3 cold frightened minds below and one that is excited hungry and anticipating.

The 3 undead approach us carrying huge urns, so I hiff my hammer at one while we're at range. Out comes a skeleton that animates, so that clears that up. We use fire and hitting to start destroying the zombies and skellies and everyone keeps it together this time. The necromancer comes forward at some point so our "Water Mage" Dae controls him. Johann drags a zombie into a burning hex etc and we destroy them all.

We retrieve a belt of skulls, a bone breastplate and a monkey hand amulet. We find the room where the necromancer has clearly been living. There is a cooking pot with human remains and a "side of human" hanging up. Very bad. But we gottim. Hah!

We also retrieve some magical bedding and some piles of bone dust from previous skeletons; maybe it's useful for alchemy.

There is a hole busted through here in to the further tunnels. We decide to go check them out while we have these buffs.

Night 4 (02/04/823)

Suddenly we Johann hears wet slapping noises from the hole to the tunnels. Smoke drifting into the tunnel also appears to be going around something we can't see. Also there is a trip wire along the bottom edge of the hole (which is about 5' high and 3' wide).

Suddenly tentacles and teeth come out of the hole. It is a multiplying plant thing that is vulnerable to fire. We kill it/them. The nearly kill me.

There a drag marks in the tunnel. We go down the tunnel, slowly because most of us are hunched over. At the end of a tunnel, Sonny scouting sees that there are four beings in an 8' high room. They are goblins wearing oversized clothes. One casts a spell and grows one of them to look like a drover and fill its clothes. We make noise and they scarper but we are not sure which way they went.

The room has two exits, one to a door behind which is a dock with a boat part filled with water but looks functional and a water exit via a portcullis. We must have come down a slope to get to river level. There are wet footprints goblin and human sized, so it looks like they came this way maybe but they're not here now.

There is a secret panel behind a picture frame to an 18" wide tunnel. One direction goes to a spy slot looking at the dock. There is a skeleton in here. We don't check out the other direction.

The other way is a corridor. It goes around a bend and there is a well, water below and looks like a cover above.

Past the well is a room with some goblins and we attack each other. One of the goblins is a shaman. Skeletons, including a big one, attack us from the room behind us. They have magical bombs of darkness with snakes roiling in it, but it doesn't get any of us because Dae kicks it back to them before it goes off. The sheriff who hired us comes into the room and attacks me. The shaman explodes his magic stick before he dies. Ruby and Johann are nearly killed but we win.

We get loot see below and report back with the fake sheriff. We get paid another 2 bags of 800sp and our mentors give us 1000sp credit each towards new spells.

Night 5 (03/04/823-04/05/823)

We party at the festival a bit (I nearly caught the lucky pig, but it was unnaturally tricky. I suspect a fix of some kind.

We train for 4 weeks. I have learned a new spell, but it takes so long that I don't have time to practice before we are called out for another mission as upstanding citizens of the town. Told to pack our bags for two weeks out of town.

There have been goblin raids in the nearby area to the west and we are helping out with the town militia to check it out. We set out at 3am, given horses and ponies to right depending on our (physical) stature, and grain and water etc are loaded on Thornies cart for the journey.

We trek for 3 hours to Bladesmith and are told that the village beyond has been burnt out a couple of days ago. Earth mages have built fortifications and are protecting the locals.

Sonny's mentor, Mistress Castle, offers to take a group (us) out on a scouting mission/flanking maneuver, also two ranger elves and someone else's mentor (can't remember which, because somehow in the end it is just us and 1 ranger).

We get buffs cast using a magical font that the bathmistress has (but looks like a front to cover some other trick) which casts on multiple people for one cast and at long durations.

Buffs are rk 19 shadowform (40/20), rk 6 witchsight, weapon of flames +9SC +5dam +9dam on undead, rk 2 fireproofing, fire armour 28pts, strength of stone 13 EN, rune shield on shield for 1 spec grev, rune armour 2en/ft. Dae is given a mind speech bomb with a 2 hour duration.

We set off following the ranger to the hills. There are tracks of goblins and pigs. We come to a valley with 9ft high grass which is maize and spot some rustling in it. THe ranger thinks it is goblins about 50. We hide, blended or unseen, where we will be able to see them pass.

We see a forward scout deformed elf on a pig, (he has blending on and adventurer quality equipment). 40 or so orc and goblins pass, orcs seem to be in charge and they take about an hour to pass. At the rear of the train, quite a way behind we see a coffle of slaves, 3hobbits, 3 humans and a tall human?, carrying sacks, with a 4 goblin escort. We want to rescue them so Jo, scuttles back to ask the ranger if we can. He says yes, but make it look like not us, and give him some spears for us to fake that they fought each other.

Marcus makes the perfect plan and we ambush them well taking down 3 of the 4 instantly and controlling one. Marcus notices that there is also another goblin that we can't see. I try to tell the prisoners that everything is ok but THEY"RE ZOMBIES! Run! But Marcus calms me down again.

Someone takes out the unseeable one and the zombies all crumple. He was the necro! But now they get up uncontrolled. So we put them down. They are carrying sacks of copper leaves, goblins hands (mostly right) from the cliff of time, tines nuts, and magical bacon from various species and the necro has armour made of animal skulls.

But we completely failed to use subtlety and used our weapons of flames instead. We chop off the cooked bits, have the controlled goblin over walk our tracks, do some spear stabby, and take another dead goblin so that it might look like 2 goblins took out the other two and the necro and looted everything. We get back to the ranger and set the controlled goblin free, pointing out that he will be blamed if they catch him.

We ride on west for two more days. It is quite snowy which is not nice and seems a bit early maybe.

Short story. Up to a ridge, below is a cliff edged with willow trees and looks like an air elemental. We meet a willow dryad who looks like a short elf covered in bark and copper leaves. They drove off the goblins who came up here to collect leaves and come from the large rock near the mines. From the top of the cliff I draw what I can see to make a map and she points some things out to us. People from Amber (and a bear lives there) mine. Stay the night there with warm spring baths.

In the morning there is a different woman who speaks common.

• They think that the goblins are from far away. The goblins know shortcuts.
• We can get down the cliff using a shortcut, 3 times round the rock and end up at the bottom, reverse to return.
• She/they have a truce with the green water goblins who are friendly traders.
• A large water elemental protects them
• There are foul goblins between who have come 5 times. She points them out from the cliff.

We decide not to use the shortcut which goes straight to the foul goblins. There is a wood full of spiders going the other way so she trades us 8 anti-spider vemon chew-sticks for half our tine nuts.

We ride for a day down cliff. The spider forest is unnaturally quiet. I poke a spider trapdoor hole (I don't want to go past and leave them at our back) and get grabbed so quickly that the others don't see which hole I went down. Fire gets us free and other spiders retreat; it seems from ESP like they were called off to regroup. Lets go another way!

We meet a hobbit (near some statues) who takes us to his village at the top of another cliff.

• There is a blacksmith tower where they make godly horseshoes
• The hobbits have too many lambs
• The ogre with a broken elvish sword in his head brought the goblins from the south
• Cult of Gilgamesh
• They have a prophecy about a dwarf stealing plates/dishes/food
• They have liquid magical silver to stop tracking if put in shoes, makes arrows piercing and for nails for witches
• The goblins have trained air snakes. Small and attack on mass, poison > unconscious
• The amulets made with the hands allow more than one person to hide behind something to narrow to hide behind. They require, as well as what we have, water from the Tiana falls collected in a pure wicca/wicker basket by a pacifistic earth mage, hot embers form the blacksmith tower
• resistance vs undead (don't know what this note refers to)
• Tine nuts added to herbalist concoction they last indefinitely in high mana and months otherwise.
• The give sonny clay pigeons x3 to put in his families oven to contact these hobbits.

We stay the night

Night 6 (05/05/823)

More info over breakfast

• There is a coven of witches based around the tower with the flying things. It is sometimes a wiccan place of power

There is a ghost in one of the hobbit warrens that tells fortunes. He tells Sonny:

• A large horned orc is following you.
• He will stab your elven companion in the back with a poisoned weapon. (the tall one, so probably the ranger and not Dae)
• You should cut off one hand and one foot but not both. And throw them off the cliff to be rewarded.
• One of your brothers (name is Gilbert) will hang for the crime of stealing the seal. Gilbert has found "True Love" with a beautiful card sharp, a mentalist. They have gone to the witch (next item)
• A white witch has discovered a new strain of tobacco.
• There are necros south in the dead forest.

We set off picking up the pace since we are being followed and get near to the green gobbos' fortess in about 4 hours. There are orcs blocking the main pathway in, so we set off across the fields (which are floating on top of the lake) All the green gobs are working the field near in.

Some green gobs are patrolling riding large tigers. The are gaudy with long fingers. The ranger parlays and we get let in.

• They are besieged by orcs, goblins and a couple of ogres. 3 camps. Northern has 3 ogres, 6 orcs, east has 1 ogres and west has no ogres.
• They have sent a message and taxed to Amber for the sheriff to come
• They have probably seen Gilbert
• They can trade us paste to grow back our hands (feet too? definitely not whole arms) for if we throw them off the cliff
• We don't have stuff to trade so we offer to get rid of the seige

The Big Wigs of the town come down to see us, trying to make there best impression. There are also some monk types in the background.

• They offer us some nuts to temporarily turn our horse to clay (?)
• They will give us some amulets to attract arrows and thus protect us from their friendly fire. I experiment and ascertain that, yes, if you are facing the wrong way the arrows will go straight through. Then I lie down for a while.
• Want our minds protected from the ogre magi, so the monks take out most of our blood, process it and then we drink it. (We use DA to get a list of the ingredients) It gives us:
  • an effective greater of 35% which goes down by 5 per stressful use (pulse in combat),
  • 5 pt natural armour which goes down 1pt per effective blow landing,
  • a second resistance vs control for EN days,
  • can hold our breath like a turtle.

We sleep near the gate and plan to attack during the day when the enemy are at their lowest, after sneaking up underwater (with a guide). We will go round behind them and the green gobbos will attack from their own side. We will attack the toughest camp from surprise.

Water elemental: The green goblins deny all knowledge of a water elemental.

Night 7 (05/05/823)

Slight change of plan: the green gobbos will go round behind them and we will attack from the water side. We will attack the toughest camp from surprise. Attacked the ogre/orc/goblin siege camp.
We won. 2 ogres down!

Went pretty well, except that Marcus, the mil sci who had the horn to start the arrow attack didn't. Eventually I took it from him and blew it, so the small fry were cleared and we could deal with the big stuff, the couple of ogres and an earth elemental. The fire was also alive, but spent it's time burning the goblin in the watch tower. Maybe it was controlled by one of the guys we took out in our surprise round.

Loot in loot section

Night 8 (06/05/823-16/05/823)

The goblins were pleased with us so were willing to trade for all the limb regrowing goop we needed on the basis of destroying just one camp. We traded them the item of eating rotten brains and the trident.

We slept a dat and a night and left the next morning for the cliffs of hand dropping. There is a specific place to do it if we want to do feet as well, a rock near a waterfall the looks like fire at dawn.

The goop will 100% reattach a limb or 75% grow it back. We have 24 doses.

We hunt down a mundane goat to use as a distraction for the chimera at the bottom of the cliff while we look for our limbs, but we never use it because the cliff is too tall (2000ft), so we eat ourselves.

Fire falls

It takes a while to travel along the cliff top. We sleep one night and some cat people drop something off. We leave early to catch the dawn fire effect, and arrive at the right place.

We chop off (not me or I would have to kill him with the Borrowed Bagic Sword of Berserking) Sonny's left hand and foot (because the ghost said he should only do one) and he gets ambidextrous, +2AG and +2MD. Unfortunately we then remember that the paste only works at night so he has to suffer all day. Oops. Then I wait for sunset and do left hand right foot and get +1AG, +1MD, so add right hand for ambi and +2MD. We apply the paste and wait. 8 tiny shadowy creatures turn up and regrow the limbs all our limbs successfully. They are under a goblin charm of healing.

The next day 8 minotaurs with 4 wolves turn up so we make ourselves scarce. They spend an hour throwing a minotaurs corpse off. That night we do Dae and Johann all 4 limbs and get ambi and +2AG, +2MD. We do my other foot and I don't get a second point of AG, but I do get +1TMR at night. One of Jo's hand doesn't grow back properly. We also do one of Thronie's feet because he is squeamish about the hands and as a dwarf he wants to get the +1TMR

Night 3 we do Marcus's feet (he doesn't need the hands) and redo Johann failed hand. We have 5 doses left.

Next day we go down the cliff to find the limbs. At some point we see ravens in a tree in a cloud. That night and the following night Sonny discretely hunts for our hands but only finds a couple of ancient hands so we give up on that.

Meanwhile we spot some minotaurs taking a wagon into a quarry in the cliff. Johann and I also get lured into the forest by and sad elf or elf ghost, but Dae retrieves us.

Now we need to check out the goblin source tunnel where the river comes out. We travel for a day and observe for a day. There is a magical portal inside. We calculate that there are 500 gobs, 200 orcs and 20 ogres in the area. We go quickly back to the green gobbos to do over the other camps.

Back at the Green gobbos we find that some minotaurs took out the north camp while we were away so there is just the east camp left. We make a plan to attack it, while Sonny plays with goblin girls.

Night 9 (17/05/823-26/05/823)

The ranger elf realises that he has been letting us do dangerous things that we were not supposed to be doing Because We Are Not Adventurers. So we don't attack the camp. Must force march back to Gugnir's Hope over 2 days.

We arrive back and are dragged to a town meeting of the "Doers" in the town. They want us to leave first thing and go to Seagate. My mother slaps Johan and blames him for leading me astray. We have a stand up shouting match. (Nobody leads me astray, I'm the alpha here).

We are to go to court and report to the Duke. I require clothes which they say will be waiting when we get there. One of Sonny's mistresses will fly ahead and one will accompany us. We are to meet at the flaming feather. We will have horse changes and 3 nights on the road. We stay at Bardview, Highgrain (there are injured here, an attacked by black goblins wit hgreen teeth and extreme range archery, 4 days ago) and Saxton.

We meet at the Flaming Feather and have baths and Dae and I have fittings and colour assessments. Word comes that there has been a reading about an attack so in case it is us, we get shadowforms and dark weapon spells put on.

Lo, in the night we are attack by shadow men with giant shadow spiders. So much for dark weapon spells. I destroy the 2 shadow men with the special coals, but we don't see another. Then Mrs Innkeeper cleansing flames us and the room. Divination show that Dae and I were hunted by them, me since around the time one got me in the basement but the coals have removed that.

We each get some spells we can cast baked into bread pills x3.

We are interrogated for 2 days at the castle. They don't let us keep the clothes.

We go to the Seagate Adventurers Guild and sign up and also spend the next day there.

Sonny has a shadow attachment. This gets removed by the guild, but there is still one out there.

We do a full split up of the loot because Marcus has somewhere else to be.

Night 10 (27/05/823-01/06/823)

Next morning before dawn the Lord of Bats cast wings on us. We are going to fly home! It will take a couple of hours instead of days.

Home about lunchtime. We are immediately dragged into another meeting, people keep harassing us with things that need to be done! We are only kids!

• Investigate a suspicious death on the edge of town
• Investigate cattle rustling
• Go to Fastness and get tiger cubs
• Coded message from Bluegrass about a mage of dubious background charming and swindling.
• Update on goblins: 3 streams of gobs into lowlands {Crystal Springs, Venture and north of Moncks Corner, scouts and spies, super well equipped and supplied, necro bone and rune magic, ogres turn bones to jelly, be far away or close to avoid.
• Tonight is the fortnightly young folk blowout night.
• My little brothers birthday party tonight with extended family are in town for it.
• In 4 days is the annual boat race around town, 5 laps
• Casvapour (in the forge) wants to talk to me
• Dae's family are looking after the bathhouse lady mindmage (Alice), having driven off... see next point. His mother is a great hero.
• And they buried the lead - my eldest brother Lake opened up a portal by accident in the bathhouse 2 nights ago and was kidnapped by an elemental that came through and dragged out of town through the south gate. And then my sister Glory stole the divining bowl from the bath house and some of Lake's possessions and went after him.

I go see Casvapour:

• Sonny has a lone enemy gathering other dark enemies for revenge on him and us within a year and a day.
• The last coal will get hotter, mat need a special box, come see him about that.
• An efreet came to see him.
• The dwarf place of power below the town is of all 5 elements - fire, earth, air ,water ,shadow. Ice was One but it was taken by us fire so we are now in ascendance. Shadow is all degrees of light in a cycle. Alice is pretending to be the water power, she is doing her best, but if there is not a real water protector within a year, probably ten months fire will need to subsume it like we did with ice.
• A red headed lad, Duncan, has a crush on me.
• My mother is pregnant

Talk to Dae's dad at the forge:

• We have brought a new calamity, good things are coming of this.
• He offers to extend our lives to keep Dae company
• Incursions are disturbing and reminiscent of something he can't pla(i)ce. May fish metaphors follow but no sense.
• Alice was almost drowned (he thinks this is odd for a watermage.) She has lost an arm. Aahah! We have paste!
• Dae's mum has gone to see the wicca. We should too.

Go to bathhouse:

• Hole busted out of wall.
• Lake made portal by pouring 3 elixirs into the bath, which were stupidly stored with the fancy bath salts. DA number 1 "amplify the call" Thornie doesn't get the other 2 , and Sonny has gone home for tea, and Marcus has left. Bottles into my pocket!
• The boiler has a huge fungus looking ball covering it.
• Alice hires us to retrieve the bowl
• We plan to take her to the high mana zone to work the paste then continue on to rescue Lake and the Bowl

A ranger elf comes to talk to Dae, Gwin, who knows Dae's mother and was once a suitor to her and is still fond of the family.

• There has been a hideous attack at Bluehill by a creature like a highwayman without a head and immune to arrows.
• High elves are coming to see Dae's parents about a judgement, speak to them and tread carefully.
• He gives Dae an arrow; break it and he will come to help at the next dawn
• "The charges were unjust"

A person called Katherine turns up at the bathhouse, bringing cheese for the party in some weird attempt to woo Jo.

• She has had a reading that she would become a great water mage.

The birthday party happens. The Mistress of Shadows talks to me

• She thinks that my mother is pregnant with the Baron's child, speculating on a divination that high noble blood has been mixed into her line.
• We should see her for buffs tomorrow morning before we leave town
• She has the secret to the next slick pig here. We see a short old man go by with a giant sow.

We get a decent night's sleep and me, Jo, Dae and Thornie meet in the morning for buffs (Shadow Form and Strength of Darkness). We also are given magic acorns to put up the horses butts to stop them dropping a trail.

The guard at the south gate was witness to the water elemental. He says it was 9-10 ft tall, it went towards the crossroad and was leaving a flattened area. So we follow the directions and it's trail is obvious. We pass 2 drowned goblins.

Midday we meet a farmer. His family heard hoarse screaming in the night and saw it. It has been picking up stuff on the way and is muddy with stuff floating in it.

He taps his cows and bull for invigorating blood which takes a couple of hours. Not sure what effect this had, but it felt good.

Talking to Alice:

• She took charge of the water element when her "Sister" (order sister) called.
• The sister was the first to going looking for the water mage and came back damaged. She has been convalescing at the order.

About 10pm we get to the High Mana Zone and stop and make camp to do Alice's arm. While the paste is working Thornie goes to scout around and find a pond and a pile of detritus that looks like what the water elemental has dropped. There is a strange crystalline island in the pond.

Dae and I go to join him while Johann keeps and eye on Alice. When I arrive Glory calls out quietly from cover. She has been watching and the water elemental has been doing a ritual at dawn and looks like it is going to sacrifice Lake. Glory distracted it by firing arrows at it, so that it didn't complete it's ritual yesterday. There are dangerous eels in the pond. Gwok the ranger is out here as well. Also 2 goblin shaman came to pray at the pond.

Mister Samuel Beaver

While we consider how to get to the island we are approached by a bipedal beaver. He casts on Thornie who begins to speak in beaver or water or something, then the rest of us as well. He is Samuel Beaver and wears a fancy suit. He will give us a "green diamond" each to get rid of the elemental that helps the plants grow. He calls his giant turtle steed and we all go back to camp for a meeting.

Alice can use the bowl and the three liquids to make a banishing liquid. We will lure the elemental over the bowl at dawn until it fails to resist. This works.

Now there is a Salt Siren on the island, and Sam Beaver recovers Lake from her. We stay there this day while Lake recovers, then back to town takes 2 days.

Back at town we have missed the pig catching; six people were killed.

The mold in the bath boiler is gone.

We get Alice to use the bowl to divine:

• Re my mother and the baron and a baby - "One of my mother's line will be baron". I hear this as barren but not so.
• Re Katherine the flirt - she will be a great water mage... if she lives...

Night 11 (02/06/823-30/06/823)

Now we are going to go to the green goblins in the fastness and trade for the big cats that Sonny and Johann want. We trade Sonny's amulet of chalcedony at the forge for a bunch of metallic trade goods plus credit. We also take a soft copper pigeon to message the forge.

We look for Gwok to ranger us to the green gobbos. He tells us about a creature that has been stalking around outside of town with big toes. About ogre sized.

All the sheriff departments horses are out so we try my extended family, since they must have come in with some. Glory comes with us too. We didn't need a stray elf after all. She wants to put some magic arrows in the door of a farmer who she suspects of rustling chickens and of being a fox. If he is he won't be able to leave.

We leave about 2pm and get to the farm at about 4pm. Arrows happen. Noone comes out. I wouldn't either if someone was shooting at my front door! We move on.

Glory has been to the fastness a bit looking for a salmon of wisdom. She tells us to get sticks from the top of the cliff which can be whittled into things including crosses that can fence against minotaurs.

Spend the next day riding. See a band of orcs and goblins carrying a large throne.

Next day riding. I fall of and get stuck with a poisonous blackthorn that makes necro rot. A bite of turnip fixes it. We burn it (eventually, when warned by the pigs) because it spreads by being carried around, usually stuck in flesh but in a pouch would work too.

That night we meet a troupe of bipedal pigs. At least one of them has a college. They have spears and shields made of small flattened creatures. They talk to us. Their leader is Boss Hog. They know of the Hollidays. Sonny's grandfather wrote knowledge in a book and went to the black tower (aka the blacksmith's tower).

They are hunting. There is grandfather with triplet sons, each of whom has twin sons. They are after one of the pairs. The necros are paying the minotaurs to mine for a creature of earth that turns things to stone. The necros are immune to the creature and had it as a pet, but 15 years ago adventurers buried it. The necros want to turn the salmon to stone. They leave us a clay pigeon to send them a message if we see the necros.

Next day we ride hard, through the blockade to the green goblin island. There are some human monks there who weren't last time we were there. They have strange eyes, no hair and saffron necklaces. They are building a temple to the water god whose agent lives in the lake. DA: a monk's best spell is flash flood, the god is drowned kukalek, the necklace stores magic, magic in the necklace is of the drowning deep.

Three sons and three daughters of the goblin king lead us in.

We trade with the goblins. Three merchants (maybe hobgoblins) are also hereto trade for a cat (discretely, because they are a delicacy to minotaurs).

The cats can change between house cats and tigers. They have whips that act as bridles and buff the mounts. They have magic? hiding blankets. We end up with 21 goblins sized blankets, 3 cats and 3 bridles. We pay Johann's services making some amulets of luck for 15 days and our trade goods and Jo makes two for us for 6 more days. (Amulets of luck made here in the temple are better). We send a message to the forge that we will be late. We are all sexually harassed and only Sonny doesn't mind.

Glory and Gwok go and collect sticks (they steal them from some celestials) ans Sonny wittles them. It seems that celestials have to gather the sticks and hobbits have to do the crafting.

Two days ago the necro dad and twins destroyed the goblins etc coming out of the tunnel. We send a message to the pigs.

I get a patchwork cat, Jo's is gold with black feet, Dae's grey with a blue belly, Thornie's grey with white socks and Sonny's is grey with a white mask. When they are tigers, the can be ridden (even by us big folk, but not til they are grown in about a year) and they have some magical stealth including the rider. Part of Dae's trade is blood for rituals in the lake! He is so reckless!

We spend 3 days riding home. The cats are repelled by Glory's magic arrows and transfixed by her amulet of protection. The cats can learn magic in the fastness.

We are told that if we eat the terrible bacon or maybe sell it, people in the black tower will send phantasms after us, so we will probably have to destroy it.

We arrive at Gugnir's Hope. The sheriff wants to see us (of course!) We tell about the necros. The suspicious death has been solved - something about a rivalry and thievery between some merchants.

He wants us to track the goblins in the countryside since signs of their passage can be seen from the air but they haven't been seen. None of us are rangers!

We organise to get the blankets washed and have to fight things that come out. We get some done but will have to do the rest later.

We go to see the Wicca (Jo's mentors) who are currently nearby to town. There are 12 women and 2 men. The 3 celestials who are training Sonny are there too. We are told:

• Shadow men have been spying on Gugnir's Hope. They are interested in the elemental alignment situation.
• I say, we'd better check on Katherine then... but too late she is already a corpse. She was murdered by a creature in the mind - so a phantasm or maybe nightmare. So we have to take her to the Seagate Guild and get her resurrected.
• They need leeches from Catherine the witch, to protect from the shadow men but they have had a falling out and want us to go. They have a dragon scale as a gift. Thornies is carrying it
• Directions to Catherine: Head to village of Amber. North from there over the main road into the swamp. Follow the 9 ebony trees. She is protected by dryads.
• They lend me an amulet for an extra resistance to charm as they will be interested in a fire mage as an elemental college they haven't met.
• They give us 3 charges of rank 4 blight crops to deal with the dryads if necessary. (40% CC) Jo is carrying it.
• We should ask what leeches are in season, which are good vs goblins and vs shadow men.
• They have 2 amulets of water which they will teach Jo.

So our tasks are:

1. Take Katherine to Seagate
2. Go to the Witch
3. Find goblins

We fly east for an hour, find the guild and land easily.

The guild charge members 4500sp for a resurrection, but only value the scale at 3600. We find a water mage name Aquilina who is willing to help pay for the magic and also to mentor Katherine. Yay!

Night 12

We were going to go and see Katherine the witch, but it turns out tomorrow is the Guild Meeting, so we are going to go to that.

Sonny's mistress of shadow has asked the duke for some money to fund the antigoblin effort so we're going to get paid crazy money.

We never did hear of a missing hammer.

Onwards: In the Shadow of the Black tower

Loot and Funds

From town:

	Used/Carried by	Writeup
Drowning deep shield	Johann
Chewable healing potions: 3d10	2 each
Fire protective apron & gloves	Ruby
3 coals to burn shadow men	Ruby

Borrowed from the Elves:

	Used/Carried by	Writeup
Vambrace,	Dae
Flower arrows	Dae
Hand and a half: berserking	Ruby
Battle axe: is +2 right, -1 left	Johann
Battle axe: double vs creatures of water	Thornie
Cestuses: consolidating of power	Johann
Toe caps: blessing of second floor man	Sonny
Token for forge to buff 3 weapons dur about a season	Sonny, Johann, Ruby
Six strings on bow: true shot	Dae
Dagger cut through wheat or mistletoe without harming plant	Thornie

Basement loot:

	Used/Carried by	Writeup
Bone breast plate	Ruby
Monkey hand amulet: resist magic	Ruby
Belt of skulls: bonus to cast agony
Piles of bone dust
Magical bedding
2 silver rocks

Basement loot B:

	Used/Carried by	Writeup
2 used bombs
Necklace with 3 gems from large skeleton
Kite shield of faces
Twisted trident
Shaman's broken staff with shrunken skulls
Chain armour with silver collars
Wicca amulet not sure which
2 goblin amulets of luck

Goblin Zombie Ambush

• Copper leaves: repair armour, also very sharp
• goblin hands (mostly right) ~50: residual magic of gift of ambidexterity from the cliffs of time. Can be used to make wicca amulets
• tine nuts: preservative for herbalist things
• magical bacon from various species: at least one enhances agility
• armour made of animal skulls: hinders ability in melee, presumably helps magic

From good NPCs

Sticks to chew vs poison Clay pigeons for Sonny's family

Siege Camp One Attack

• 2 bags of blue ground dust with broken glass
• Whip that wriggles with blades/fins
• Mattock that attacks multiple times
• Sparkly 2 handed sword with gems
• Belt of shrunken elf heads
• Boots that burn on the inside
• 4 identical good quality quivers that turn arrows into snakes/poison arrows
• 2 amulets of luck
• 1 amulet of chalcedony
• 1 shrunken hand amulet
• 14 turnips
• chain armour human sized worn on front of ogres, cleanliness and comfort
• Something kept arrows out of ogres hex
• elf Sword in ogres head
• ogre horns?

Writeups still required

Willow dryad at top of cliff

• Sticks to chew vs poison

Goblin Zombie Ambush

Copper leaves: repair armour, also very sharp goblin hands (mostly right) ~50: residual magic of gift of ambidexterity from the cliffs of time. Can be used to make wicca amulets tine nuts: preservative for herbalist things magical bacon from various species: at least one enhances agility armour made of animal skulls: hinders ability in melee, presumably helps magic

Beaver/Elemental

1 green diamond each

Gwin the ranger who knows Dae's family

He gives Dae an arrow; break it and he will come to help at the next dawn

Green Goblins

• 21 goblins sized blankets
• 3 cats - I get a patchwork cat, Jo's is gold with black feet and Sonny's is grey with a white mask.
• 3 bridles.
• 2 better amulets
• stick whittled by Sonny

Wicca outside of town

• amulet lent to me for an for an extra resistance to charm
• 3 charges of rank 4 blight crops to deal with the dryads if necessary. (40% CC) Jo is carrying it.
• 2 amulets of water which they will teach Jo.

Hand and feet MD&AG

do we have this written up? Does it increase maximum?

Finances

@ end of night 4

• 1000sp worth of magic training
• 800 + 800 when we were deputised
• 25g = 300 from Sonny's dad
• 400 looted in the basement
• 800+800 reward when we came out of the basement
• total= 3900 divided by 6 = 650 each
• Marcus has lent 650 and Johann 200 to Ruby so together with her 1000 + 650 she can get Weapon of Flames for 2500

Spell costs The cost for learning new spells can be found starting on page 11 of the DQ Players Guide 2022.
Here is a link to the PDF - DQ Players Guide 2022.

Buffs from Mentors

Celestial:

• Strength rk8 5pt
• Shadow form or coruscade rk 8 18/9
• some kind of luck for Sonny

Earth:

• Lesser
• Rk 6 SOS on endurance

Fire:

• Rk 10 fire protection
• rk 10 fire armour

Calendar

Autumn 823 WK: Fruit (4)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
	Lugnasad		1	Guild Meeting	2		3		4		5		6
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17		18		19		20
	21		22		23		24		25		26		27
	28		29		30		1		2		3		4
Autumn 823 WK: Harvest (5)
	5		6		7		8		9		10		11
	12		13		14		15	Equinox	16		17		18
	19	Harvest Moon ..	20		21		22		23		24		25
	26		27		28		29		30		1		2
Autumn 823 WK: Vintage (6)
	3		4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17	Blood Moon	18		19		20		21		22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30	Beerfest