The Search for Ling

Scribe Notes

Summary

GM: Anne
Season: Autumn 825 WK
Night: Wednesday
Location: Birdlands
Level: Low

Party

1. Winter – Played by Amy-Rose
2. Moist – Played by Ian
3. Spigot– Played by Sam
4. Storm – Played by Kita
5. Echelon – Played by Zarne
6. Basil – Played by Chloe (dropped session 3 due to uni demands)

Employer

Darween

Mission

To aid and assist in the search and discovery of a creature known as a Ling

Pay

10,000sp each and promised loot

Scribe Notes

Session 1

The Search For Ling:
Night One: A Whole Ling?

I see some of my friends walking into a guild room so I assume that’s where I’m meant to go (I wasn’t listening because I had just had an interesting conversation with a pigeon outside). We introduce ourselves although I’m fairly certain I’ve met them all except the one who is missing which turned out to be a new little friend called Spigot.

The party:
Me (Winter)(Air Mage elf)
Echelon (Celestial human)
Basil (Mind Mage halfling)
Moist (Water Mage halfling)
Storm (Air Mage halfling)
Spigot (Air Mage halfling)

Party Roles:
Cook - Spigot
Party Leader - Rocko represented by Basil
Scribe - Winter

Guild security walk in with a funny little balding man with crazy hair around his shiny bald patch. He’s holding a fascinating looking book with singed edges. He says his name is Darween. He wants us to accompany us to find a creature called a ‘Ling’ (Not a bird so immediately I am disappointed). He says that like a half elf being half human and half elf, it ‘makes sense’ that if there’s a halfling then there should be a full ‘Ling’

“There are Ducklings… What Ling fucked the duck?” - Basil

He says he wants to find it because of ‘scientific curiosity’. We’ll be starting in the Sea of Grass, Geldapria. Darween has a contact that knows about some caves near the original halfling settlements. I see that Storm wants to borrow-without-permission Darween’s notes so I try to help by distracting Darween with questions (See, I know all about scientific curiosity). It doesn’t work… Darween’s eyes never left storm and the book. He does let us peruse them though. The handwriting is somehow neat and messy at the same time and there are diagrams. Neither I or Storm can read it but I can identify it as a very old elvish called Eldaran Darween says he also studies a being called Zurgo that he has never seen and talks to him in his head. I, also have conversations in my head so I understand… Though he insists its a real being. Zurgo only ever talks to him when he’s in his lab so he will not be coming which is very sad, I’d love to meet him.

Mission:
Find the ‘Ling’
Payment:
-Cost of greaters in four areas at rank 10. -10,000sp each -And much loot (At Zurgo’s request)

Echelon DAs Darween: Success
Aura Strength: Long Live Sentient
Question: Power Associated?
Answer: No answer

He says we will get to the Sea Of Grass by the Sweet Water River by a barge that Darween will hire for us. We go to the market and get lessers and provisions.

We decide on Watches:
Watch 1 - Echelon and Spigot
Watch 2 - Winter and Storm
Watch 3 - Moist and Basil

We meet Darween the next day and board (Dinner the mule included). We set off.

Session 2

Night Two: Pirate Goblin Bay

An unknown little one joins us at the docks (Must be Spigot). We catch him up and I do some science by measuring if he’s even smaller than my other little friends… They didn’t like that. We board the barge, it seems to be run by orcs… I love orcs, their faces make me giggle. Moist offers to help the boat along since he’s friends with the water, which will make our trip only just under a week. On board, Darween shows us a very detailed map which I think is impressive but everyone seems surprised he has it… I’m not, Darween is very smart, of course he has one. The friend we’re meeting is called Jillian. He says she has sent him a letter so we’re thinking she is real. After a while I see some cord in the water. Basil uses her brains and says that she ‘sees’ that nothing will happen if we cross it but that she senses 15 minds (excluding ours) and that most of them are ‘waiting’. Spigot sees the bushes on shore move. We move a little closer. Spigot throws an axe at the cord, as they touch we see a net and then 3 grappling hooks shoot out and latch onto the side of the boat and go taught. Despite Moist’s efforts, we are being pulled to the shore.

Some of us shoot at the bushes with no outcome and others try and cut the ropes with the hooks on but they are very tough. The orcs help and we break 2/3. Six goblins with ill-fitting leather armour and beat up short swords appear. I shoot from the boat but one way or another most of my comrades (barring Basil) end up on the shore with the goblins.

*vigorous battling ensues*

The goblins seems to have magical shortswords but finally I kill the final conscious one. Storm puts her now unconscious assailant face down in the water and uses her bolla to strangle it… she seems very mad… she’s fun to watch when she’s mad. Spigot notices the prints of a beast of burden heading away seemingly pulling rope. By this time all the ropes tied to our boats had been cut by the orcs and a hole In the net had been cut. He takes the eyepatches that the goblins were wearing and tries them on (all on one eye.. he’s a funny little guy). He says he feels some magic and can see right through the patches.

Echelon DA’s Eyepatches: Success
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question: Impact on me if worn?
Answer: Stun resistance and enhanced vision.

We can’t figure out how vision is enhanced by the patches aside from seeing through them.

Echelon DA’s Shortsword (2nd try): Success
Aura Strength: Magic
Question: Nature of magic?
Answer: Enchantment.

Echelon Da’s Spigot Wearing Eyepatch: Fails

Echelon DA’s Himself Wearing Eyepatch: Success
Aura Strength: Short live sentient
Question: Last magic to impact (excluding stun resistance and enhanced vision)?
Answer: Dragon Curse

Echelon DA’s Goblin’s Leather Armour: Success.
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question: Nature of magic?
Answer: Protection

Echelon puts an eyepatch on Rock to go with his bowtie and a wooden bowler hat that Spigot whittled earlier.

Nomination For Stupidest:
Spigot and Echelon (Mostly Echelon) for willingly trying on items knowing they could be cursed (eyepatches)

Session 3

Night Three: The Shoot Down

We head upstream and halfway through the week, we arrive at a fishing village. We follow Darween to a tavern called The Devil’s Bargain. Darween says we’re looking for his ‘very real friend’ Jillian Leafstride. Moist asks at the bar and it turns out she’s the barman. We explain why we’re here and ask what she knows about the mine. The mine: - Called Scavenger’s Deep
- It’s a days walk out of town.
- Its old and its resources dried up about a month ago.
- There’s a lift and you need keys for the doors, miners might have them
- There’s rumours of demonic monsters as people sometimes go missing.

We are going to leave tomorrow.
Storm does some borrowing (yay!) but then a fight breaks out in the corner. An orc is beating up a young human boy because he thinks the human stole his wallet (when actually, Storm just borrowed it… without permission).
The orc leaves the boy with fascinating colours and lots of blood, crumpled on the floor. I think I can heal him, at least a little bit, Storm wants me to help so I set up a little healer’s room in the corner of the tavern. The customers help thought they look at me funny when I sing to him.

Later Storm tells me they found the orc and Spigot threatened him but the orc’s friend said they will help the boy to make amends.

They others check out the loot (I wish I could too).
Notable Loot:
- A non Allucian copper coin with a duck on one side and a swan on the other.
- A key ring with 3 keys on it. One key seems to turn into any key you think of provided you’ve seen that key before.
- A monocle with a nose bridge piece which seems to help you comprehend things you read even if you don’t understand it yourself.

Echelon:
DA’s Copper Coin: Success
Aura Strength: Magic
Question: Nature Of Magic?
Answer: Luck

DA’s Keys 1 & 2:
NO AURA
DA’s Key 3: Fails

DA’s Key Ring: Success
Aura Strength: Magic
Question: Nature Of Magic?
Answer: Condensement

DA’s Monocle: Success
Aura Strength: Magic
Question: Nature Of Magic?
Answer: Comprehension.

Storm uses the monocle to try and understand Darween’s complex notes. She said that its all nonsense but I just think the monocle didn’t work for her.

By the morning I feel I’ve done pretty good work considering my training: his ribs and eye socket are fixed and his nose is… fine.
Before we leave Ted (the healed boy) wants to repay me but has no money. I say he can just give me whatever and he says that we could ‘have dinner’ but we have things to do so I say no thank you. Jillian and Storm tell me that’s not what he meant and he was ‘asking me out’… I don’t know, something about mating. I’m confused but I’ve got science to do.

Echelon: I feel bad for Ted
Me: Why? I healed him.
Moist: Then you broke him.

Best Death Nomination (Joke):
Winter shoots down Ted for a date

Session 4

Night 4: Not Even A Bug Sound

New Watch Order:
Watch One - Spigot and Winter
Watch Two - Winter and Storm then Storm and Echelon
Watch Three - Echelon and Moist.

We walk and eventually see a mining village. It seems completely deserted and as we approach it seems that all wildlife is avoiding it making it eerily quiet, not a bird to hear or see. It has 6 buildings: Four houses, a barn and a logistics hut.
We check the barn.
Echelon DAs barn door: success
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question: Nature Of Magical Ward, Alarm, Curse or Trap?
Answer: None
Inside its full of ransacked crates and mess. Storm searches them and finds mostly nothing except:
- Small gems and precious stones worth 5000sp.
We settle down for the night.

Watches:
Watch 1 (Me and Spigot) - I notice eery silence and Spigot feels like there’s almost things moving beneath.
Watch 2 (Me/Storm then Storm/Echelon) - The silence is deafening, not even any sweet bug noises, it’s even too much for Storm. Echelon notices nothing. Storm also feels movement.
Watch 3 (Echelon and Moist) - Moist notices nothing. Echelon hears movement of earth on earth.

In the morning he tells us.
Storm does WindSpeak: Success
The Wind Says:
- The sound is monsters
- They have more legs than us, arms, no eyes and shell things
- They’re the reason the town is abandoned, this is the second time they’ve attacked the town
- They like to eat the ‘shinies’

We go to the logistics hut.
Echelon DA’s the door with same results as the barn. It seems equally ransacked, it has papers on a table, shelves and a chest. The DA on the chest is the same as the last two.
Me and Echelon look through papers and scrolls.
We find:
- Ledgers and letters
- Documents of output from the mine
- A rough map.
Storm unlocks the chest, inside is:
- Paperwork mostly with a persons name and then a value.
- Empty coin bags

After checking the houses we head towards the mine. Suddenly there’s a rumbling under the ground and we hear the earth on earth sound that echelon described. Something is digging its way out. I draw my bow. The creatures are:
- Sleek, almost xeno-morph creatures with armadillo like armour, 4 pointed legs, mandible-like arms and no eyes
- There are about 3 of them and they’re 4 foot tall.
Darween seems to know nothing about these… this is devastating. I am starting to miss the backstabbing ducks.
I prepare Ball Of Lightning

Session 5

Night 5: Echelon's Fault
Intense combat sounds
Storm got hurt… very hurt and I blame Echelon.
We finally kill all five bug monstrosities.

Echelon DAs x3 Dead Belamorphs: Success
Aura Strength: Formerly Living
Question 1: Generic True Name? Belamorphs
Question 2: Power Associated? Belaynn
Question 3: Nature Of Current Magic? No answer.

Spigot is my assistant as I glean the dead monsters, I like them much better this way.
I glean:
- 5 Belamorph carapaces
- 5 underdeveloped poison sacks
Now this, this I could do all day.
I cantrip myself clean.
Storm takes one more potion to help heal herself and around mid morning we decide to head to the mine.

Session 6

Night 6: Darween Disappoints

We arrive at the mine. Its very dark inside but also windy so we can’t see far.
Before we head in, we buff with vapour breathing (from me), lightning strike (from Spigot) and shadow form (+22 DEF from Echelon).
Darween won’t come in with us… I really thought he would change his mind once we got here… disappointing…

Inside I can see that rock has been melted by maybe acid? And something (probably the gross, big buggies) has been eating the left over ores.

We see a cavern like room with storage room offshoots. It has an elevator cage further in but the elevator is down. There’s a wheel to one side of the room. Echelon says the cage has no aura. Spigot finds a skeleton in a storage room that looks like a miner. Its holding something but when Spigot tries to grab it he’s attacked by pack of rat sized bug things!
We finally kill them all and I help to heal Spigot because he helps me glean things…
Speaking of, we’re able to glean:
- 2x tiny carapaces
But unfortunately no tiny poison sacks.

The skeleton had the key to the cage (key has no aura). Storm is the one able to move the wheel (she is very impressive, you know.) Me and Moist help and we eventually move the elevator up.

We feel vibrations and four big bug-guys and one pack of little bug-guys come up out of the ground. Moist locks the wheel.
We kill all of them finally and descend down the elevator.

Session 7

Night 7: Bye Bye Echelon

The descent takes an hour. Me and storm talk with the wind on the way down, she let me ask the wind so many questions. We come to a circular room with a tunnel at the other end. We walk another hour down the tunnel (I push Storm in a cart). We come out into a room with a ravine 15ft in.

Echelon DAs wall torches: Success x2
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question #1: Nature Of Magic? Everburning
Question #2: MA of Caster?Medium.
We notice as Echelon and Spigot fiddle with the torches that the sconces make a clicking sound. Me and Echelon pull them at the same time and a section of wall across the ravine pushes outwards. We jump the ravine.
It’s a sliding door with no aura. It opens to reveal an actual door.

Echelon DAs second door: Success
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question: Nature of Ward, Alarm, Curse or Trap? No answer

The door has no handle. It gives us the riddle:
“I have no door, I have no key but I can open up opportunities. What am I?”

We guess ‘imagination’ and some symbols light up. The symbols are:
Candle, sun dial, rose, moon, bird, human, tree and dragon. With hourglass in the middle.
We put them in order of lifespan and door opens to a black void that seems to eat light and sound.

Echelon DA’s void: Success
Aura Strength: Magic
Question: Nature Of Magic? Plainer transference.

He sticks a finger in and disappears… I think it might be a portal. Fun!

Session 8

Night 8: The Raven With No Name

Spigot follows Echelon in. I want so badly to go (I’m scientific like that) so Storm, Moist and I follow. We find them in a room with a very beautiful elven figure named Riluan. They have a an equally if not more beautiful Raven who they’ve never asked the name of.

Echelon DAs Table: Success
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question: Plane Of Origin? Ranvenstar Spire.

I use Speak to Avian to ask the raven’s name and what Riluan is. Turns out he doesn’t have a name and Riluan is a ‘true elf’. Apparently I’m a descendant.

What we learn from Riluan:
- Their house is a pocket plane
- The portal moves
- They were intrigued by us and our quest
- They say the Ling’s are either from another plane or hiding there.
- We are more likely to find them in the planal weak spots than the mines.
- Belaynn is responsible for the belamorphs.
- Belaynn is an entity that was corrupted at ‘the beginning’. He created gems and his corruption makes him hunger for them.

In exchange for a minor boon, they ask us to steal a magical ocarina that influences the birds from a friend of his… I don’t blame him, I’d want one. The friend lives in an estate on a slightly bigger plane. They’re having a masquerade ball so a perfect time for ‘borrowing’.
To get back, they give me a silver wood bracelet.
To use it:
- Focus on it and expend mana
- It only works for me because I’m a descendant.
- It only takes back with me, the people I consider an ally… So echelon better not hurt Storm again.

We head through a portal to the Grand Ville Estate which has a small village. We bath at the bathhouse and go to the tailors to be styled by a bunny named Carrots for the ball.

Session 9

Night 9: I'm A Sparrow Not An Elk

Guards with elk masks let us in without question. Once inside we decide to go upstairs. It’s a room with a stage and tables. We notice a humanoid with an air of power wearing a lion mask who must be the host. The doors in the room are guarded but some people are going through after talking to the guards. Echelon hears that it’s people asking to urinate. Me and Storm ask to go to the bathroom in one door but the guard inside follows us to the bathroom and waits outside. We only see a corridor. Echelon tries the other one and sees there is another hallway and doors that there is a guard inside blocking.

Moist notices a very skilled, very small ‘borrower’. He approaches and talks to him.
What we learn:
- The only instruments he knows are in this room.
- There’s a vault, a hall of histories and a study to check.
- They’re in the east wing which is the door Echelon tried.

We make a plan.
Me and Storm ask to use the bathroom. I lie down on the floor and pretend to be very hurt. Storm goes to ‘get help’. Annoyingly, the guards all alert each other instead of one just coming to help. There are now two guards with us. All three of the others manage to come in pretending to need to urinate. Spigot and Moist knock out the guards from behind. We drop them down the long-drops, Spigot makes us use feather fall to save their lives… Even tho dead people can’t follow you.

Me and Echelon put on the guards true silver armour and elk mask… I have to take off my sparrow mask… very sad. We have their keys so we open the double doors. No ocarina so we loot some tokens of animals from a drawer. We go back and find a door that seems to be leading to the vault.

Echelon DAs Door: Succeeds
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question 1: Nature Of Ward, Alarm, Curse or Trap? Alarm
Question 2: Triggering Conditions? Unauthorised Entry
Question 3: What Authorises Entry? Correct Key And ITN.

Rude of them to make it impossible to break in there. We leave and Spigot sees a mismatched section of wall.
Echelon DAs Section Of Wall and Sconced Lamp: Succeeds
Aura Strength: Magic
Question: Nature Of Magic? Durability.

Echelon pulls the sconce and the wall opens to a hall with a few doors. We look through keyholes and find the study.
Echelon DAs Study Door: Success
Aura Strength: Formerly Living Composite
Question: Nature Of Ward, Alarm, Curse or Trap? Alarm.

We unlock and go in. We see a glass case on a shelf with the ocarina in it. It is easily unlatched.

Echelon DAs Glass Case: Success
Aura Strength: Magic Aura
Question 1: Nature Of Ward, Alarm, Curse or Trap? Silent Alarm.
Question 2: Rank Of Illusion? NA
Question 3: Means Of Disabling Alarm? Key Phrase.

We loot the room and Spigot finds a bedroom and loots that. We debate trying to take the whole case and go loot the vault as well but it proves impossible. We grab the ocarina and I use the bracelet to get us back to Riluan. They grant us our boons and makes the bracelet into something anyone can use and we can set recall points for it. We go back to the guild.

Mil-Sci

Daily pattern

‘’How much time does the party spend sleeping, eating, traveling, doing rituals, etc each day’’

Travel Magics

‘’What travel magic options does the party have, how far per cast/or per day if duration is longer than usual travel time.’’ ‘’Can the party eat/sleep/etc on the mode of transport.’’

Watch Order

Day Watch. ‘’Used when stationary, or on a larger transport such as a ship’’
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Night watch
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Double File	Single File

Buffs

General Buff Notes

Buffs listed in the table don't need to be detailed, other buffs not on the table must be mentioned at the time they are cast.
Y means always on, N/- means never on, 'Sit.' means when the party has time for buffs before a fight.
Weapon Spells which weapon/s it is going on normally should be noted also

Long duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name (??)	##	????	# Day	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name (??)	##	????	# Hours	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name (??)	##	????	? Hours	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Short duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Loot and Expenses

Loot

Night 2:
- 6x Shortswords (Pirate Goblin Battle)
- 6x Leather armour (Pirate Goblin Battle)
- 2x Eyepatches (Pirate Goblin Battle)(Retrieved by Spigot)
- 3x Grappling Hooks (Pirate Goblin Battle)(Retrieved by Basil and Storm)

Night 3:
(All acquired by Storm in the Devil's Bargain Tavern)
- 87sp
- 1x lucky copper coin
- 1x condensement keychain
- 62sp worth of gems
- 1x comprehension monocle

Night 4:
(Acquired by Storm)
- Small, fine gems and precious stones worth 5000sp

Night 5:
(acquired by Winter with help from Spigot)
- 5x Belamorph carapaces
- 5x Underdeveloped poison sacks

Night 6:
(acquired by Winter and Spigot)
- 2x Mini Belamorph carapaces

Night 7
- 2x Everburning torches

Night 8:
- 5x Formalwear - 5x masquerade masks (A mime, an owl, a dragon, an otter and a sparrow)

Night 9:
- 2x True Silver Armours (Acquired by all)
- Four mini token statues: an elk, deer, lion and fox (Acquired by the thieves)
- Various magic items and silver (acquired by mostly Spigot)
- 1x Bracelet Of Recall (Given by Riluan)

Calendar

‘’Insert correct month here’’