Author: Jesse Baartz

Duskskipper

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Duskskipper

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Nabe

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A young Grippli, named for his stealth and love of dance, Duskskipper has left his home swamp with his best friend and companion, Nabe, in search of adventure. Foregoing the traditional Grippli weapon, Duskskipper deftly uses a scimitar and dances around his opponents to team-up with Nabe.

Session 16

Helbrede, Healing Lady 14th

Anton will craft silver weapons
Marcellus will talk with Fulgash
he's currently staying at an inn
Marcellus easily convinces him to enlist in the army
It's a half-day trip to get to Uwem's bridge post
it looks a little better than last time
we confront her about the lycanthropes,
she confirms that they were once of the tribe, but have been exiled
she does not believe our prisoner would be of any use; too crazy
she believes the fort is in better condition
Grix has developed traps that will be deadly
he's also rigged the bridge for destruction, just in case
we spend the rest of the night working on battle plans
Tomorrow we will visit Getlur
they need an evacuation plan should the bridge be taken

Adel, Healing Lady 15th

Arrive in Getlur
about the size of Sevitry, not walled
We meet with the mayor and devise an evacuation plan
Marcellus entertains the town that night with bardery

Bedrageri, Healing Lady 16th

Head back to South Kort
We'll check with Kestra about the metal man
she hasn't learned much about it
We visit the old city again
now that the doors have been left open to air out, the king's body has begun to decompose
we spend time to be very thorough in searching the area
find nothing new
Go back up and to bed

Linjal, Healing Lady 17th

Kestra is waiting for us with Fulgash at the Inn lobby
Fulgash gives us more information about the metal man
says he acquired it from some people who originally found it in the western most hills that are south of Kort. It was walking around, allegedly.
We will investigate this area
Kestra will accompany

Drommer, Healing Lady 19th

Arrive are the hills
Coletrane notices the area feels a little different
almost as if everything is new
Run afoul a strange beast while it is consuming what's left of a hobgoblin, it attacks
once we kill it we notice a strange brand, similar to what we've seen in the old city and the metal man
Marley flays the portion of the dog with the runes on it, to read later
We will attempt to track it back to whence it came
Fabian leads us to a recently exposed cave, due to a partial landslide
we enter
Within we find more human murals
this one of a regal looking woman
they also looked as if they have not aged at all
while the Percival ruins showed a more noble depiction, these are all very subservient to this woman
In a deep room we find a room with 6 alcoves, containing 5 metal men
in the same room are 2 pedestal, one is empty, the other is a statue of the monster we fought
behind each pedestal is a clear tube, the one pedestal with a statue has a tube filled with some kind of purple liquid
we collect some left-over purple goo
The last door is sealed with molten gold this time, Percival's was sealed with copper
we still bust this door open
we feel a similar sensation to when we opened Percival's tomb
but also a feeling a dread
and then the goo begins to brew

Session 15

Galskap, Healing Lady 10th (continued)

Several hours later the tracks lead to a small cabin nestled in the hills
lots of wolf tracks and the smell of blood
booted tracks too. Much activity
We enter
the cabin is an utter, bloody mess
no signs of forced entry or anything
one room, a bedroom, is fairly neat
no one has been here for a few days
looks like the smaller wolves have been inside
no signs of the big one
We decide to camp in the cabin
Coletrane cooks
At night, in the cold distance, a wolf does growl
several canines are approaching, the wind begins to howl
Several wolves and 2 hybrid wolf-men attack us
and that one really big one shows up too, also a hybrid
Marcellus identifies these as lycanthropes (18), werewolves in particular
he recalls a story that Nulgrim told him, "The two brothers"
in the story it tells how wolfsbane and silver are lethal to lycanthropes
The big wolf turns back into an orc when fallen
looks like a Svartness
we decide to take him back to the Svartness
but, since he is a natural lycanthrope, and those are only produced via breeding
than that must mean that the Svartness already have lycanthropes
But first we will stop at Yerkuner to get a cart

Helbrede, Healing Lady 14th

Get to South Kort
We will take our captive to The Council (not that one)
We check with Rakak to see if Fulgash has reported
Fulgash has kept his promise and enlisted
he recommends talking to Kestra about the metal man
Talk to Sesha about our trip
she is surprised to hear about werewolves and Svartness
she will keep him detained in prison
Kestra takes a look at the metal man we found
she will need time with this
Anton will make some silver weapons for us, just in case
We will need to discuss the lycanthrope situation with Uwem

Session 14

Adel, Healing Lady 4th (continued)

Heading towards the Yerlichy lake region

Linjal, Healing Lady 6th

We are ambushed
we kill all but one
Fulgash shows us the bounty notice on us
now includes Coletrane
a priest of Selleren was among them
we tell Fulgash to go to South Kort and report to Rakak.
we take his magical axe to ensure he follows through on this
There is also a metallic humanoid looking statue with them
it is not functioning, and not magical
Marley carries it with him
We continue our travels
At the way station we examine the metal person
has some glyphs on it
very compex

Vaer, Healing Lady 7th

Marcellus cast Comprehend languages on the glyphys
they read Katraith Percivall, bound in honor to the Perivall line
same name as the royal human tomb we in South Kort
We decide to keep carrying this thing with us until we go back to South Kort

Bestille, Healing Lady 9th

Arrive at Yurkener
A guide will take us to the nearest attack scene
the most recent attack was 9 days ago
We take a look at the house that was broken into
no signs of weapon use on the broken door
something really big busted in
we perform a thorough search
very large wolf tracks present
With Fabian's assistance Anton is able to follow the tracks
they lead north

Galskap, Healing Lady 10th

Continue tracking

Session 13

Drommer, Penance 8th (continued)

Meet with Sesha
Discuss military plans
we will not be officially involved, and instead act as consultants
it is important that this coalition be created by others, to remain autonomous
Svartness, Kurtle, Kort and Getler are already assisting
Sevitry, Naedrik and Yerkuner will need to be convinced
Marcellus will train representatives to negotiate alliances
We will have Jurgen deliver a message to Gal Mega for us
we want to find out if the fey will assist in this matter
We also want to look into the recent settlement attacks that Rakak mentioned
Our first priority will be to train the city guard officers
who will then train others

Drommer, Penance 30th

On the last day of training Marley gets the urge to leave town and travel NW
with our training concluded we'll head that direction tomorrow
The diplomatic missions to Sevitry and Naedrik failed
Yerkuner has agreed to join the alliance

Bestille, Penance 31st

Arrive at a forest and Marley feels the urge leave him
same forest we fought the dryad, not same location though
A creature of bark and bone emerges from the ground
Karana tells Coletrane that she believes this is an ally
It identifies itself as Tar'so, sent by Gal Mega
Tar'so is not very interested in helping, he is of winter
mentions this is not their home.
The dryad only protected it because she was exiled
Tar'so all about survival of the fittest,
He motions to the scar left on Marley's face by Gal Mega
says he is marked; a favor for Gal Mega, his fury is like winter
Marley asks about a voice he heard during the shipwreck
a female voice and a golden glint
Tar'so is startled at the mention of that golden glint
He says it was Oireanna, and that he must be marked
Tar'so then asks Marley what is his wish
Marley wants to learn more about Oireanna
Tar'so says that is a very valuable request
Marley then tells about a vision he had when Gal Mega "cured"
Tar'so explains that means he owes Gal Mega a favor: to take charge
she is an exiled royal fey (shee)
Marley eventually agrees to "take charge"
sounds like that means becoming a leader of these people, "prey"
In return for agreeing to Gal Mega's favor, Tar'so tells us about Oireanna
she is a high ranking member of the winter shee
was once a dryad, she doesn't speak of this often
high in the Queen's trust.
also known as Sehtaye, she who has seen
she always has golden eyes in her many forms
Tar'so will cause a disturbance at the Trifinian bridge fortification
We then head back to South Kort
Shoororn pays us a visit at the Inn
she did some investigating to find who put the hit on us
Malus Vir is who wants us dead. The king of Trifinian
the bounty has also gone up to 400 gp each
Marcellus offers her 1000 gp to continue doing this
and to train some guerrilla fighters
she wants to recruit some Svartness for this
During our down time
Anton will create new, better weapons
Marley and Marcellus, will introduce Shoororn to Uwem
Coletrane will establish a logistical system for keeping the military organized and efficient with Sesha

Galskap, Penance 32nd

Anton keeps smithing
Coletran works with Sesha
Marcellus looks for a drummer
to create a signal system
Marley is doing combat and medicine training

Helbrede, Healing Lady 3rd

News of some kind of ruckus at the bridge outpost reaches us
rumors of strange behavior

Adel, Healing Lady 4th

Hear of new attacks on settlements near Yerkuner
Anton begins to notice that Sesha seems to act on edge a little bit whenever Marley is around
We will travel to the Yerlichy lake region and investigate the attacks

Session 12

Styrke, Changes 22nd (continued)

We reach the edge of the swamp by end of day

Adel, Changes 26th

Lizardfolk attack at night, at least 5 in total
One of them is a spell caster
2 escape

Bestille, Changes 31st

Marley is better

Vaer, Penance 7th

We spot some Trifinian fortifications that were not present last time we were in the area
mostly around the large bridge
fortifications on the other side of the bridge are a coalition of many territories
we see South Kort, Getlur, Kort and Kurtle
Uwem is there, in some kind of officer role
Coletrane gives her some advice for handling the situation
Grix stays behind, his training will be of use here

Drommer, Penance 8th

Back in South Kort
While walking the streets we are ambushed
2 gnolls, 1 goblin, 1 bugbear, 3 orc, 1 hobgoblin
they do no initially attack Coletrane stating, "we are not here for you dark one, we've come for the folrein"
One orc, a female on a roof with a bow, just watches
a gnoll gets angry with her and shoots her, she retaliates
One gnoll runs away, the orc woman stays behind to talk
She says she's a bounty hunter, someone in Trifinian put a bounty on us
her name is Shoororn from Naedrik
she doesn't know who put the bounty on us, it's through a broker. 250 gp per
looks like word has spread that the folrein are not super powerful
We offer her the opportunity to take all of the dead guys gear for help in the future
she agrees
We then head to the Council
Rakak mentions that remote farms are still suffering some attacks
he believes that Trifinian will attack after spring

Session 11

Drommer, Endings 30th

Meet with Sesha
the wood witch we fought was a dryad
she doesn't know anything else about whatever happened to Marley
Meet with Grix
plan our trip to the swamp
Sesha gives Marcellus an item that allows messaging once a week

Bestille, Endings 31st

Marley has more bad dreams and more tree symptoms
Head out
it will take 20-ish days to get there

Veksle, Changes 1st

New year, 103
Marley completes his transformation into a tree
Travel is pretty uneventful
See some lizardfolk for the first time

Adel, Changes 15th

Marcellus gets a message
Trifinian has taken 4 other cities
Furnsk, Kotask, Lodrath, Ofanr

Vaer, Changes 18th

Arrive at the entrance
according to Grix this is where we wait for the witch
There are other camps out here too
they give us plenty of stares
Grix tells us that since this swamp is the home to many unique plants and animals it is very popular
and Gal Mega seems to enjoy the importance this gives her
it's not uncommon to wait several days before getting an audience

Bestille, Changes 20th

We are selected to meet Gal Mega
she has seen this before
dyrad's are not usually powerful enough to do something like that
she asks if we destroyed her tree.
The lumberjacks probably did, she believes that may have been the catalyst
We follow Gal Mega into the swamp
2 really large snakes follow us as well
We camp for the night, we will reach her home the next day
She also knows of our actual races
but refers to Coletrane as a duergar instead of dwarf
she does not know of the previous human kingdom

Galskap, Changes 21st

Continue our travel to Gal Mega's home
Once we arrive Gal Mega starts to change her appearance
9 feet tall, black skin. A kind of hag (22) probably.
She performs something on the Marley tree
then informs us he will be better in one week
She tells us that humans live in the Fey, which is a another plane
only the fey can get to this realm
She asks about our plans for this land
when we inform her that we have no formal plans, she requests we let her know if we change our minds

Styrke, Changes 22nd

While being escorted out of the swamp with Gal Mega, a hydra (17) accosts us
we kill it

Twig Blight

Description

Small plant
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, Perception +4

Defense

AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 5 (1d8+1)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0
DR 5/bludgeoning or slashing; Immune mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning

Offense

Speed 20 ft.
Melee 2 claws +3 (1d3-1 plus poison)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Statistics

Str 8, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 4
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 11
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +10
SQ plant traits

Special Abilities

Poison (Ex)
A twig blight delivers its poison (Fortitude save DC 11) with each successful claw attack. The initial damage is 1 point of Strength damage; there is no secondary damage. The DC is Constitution-based.

Ecology

Environment forest

Session 10

Linjal, Endings 28th

Anton recognizes the goblin trees as twigblights (24)
We are not sure what this wood lady is
she has some kind of axe within her
Coletrane pulls it out and it begins to talk to him
her name is Karana, she said she thinks she was waiting for Coletrane
Before heading back to South Kort we will look around some more to make sure there are no more threats
we don't find anything else of note
We head back to South Kort
speak with Rakak
he'll have Sesha talk with us tomorrow
We rest

Vaer, Endings 29th

Marley had a strange dream about being torn away from Caden
wakes up with tough skin, and less dexterous, little sluggish
might have something to do with the curse the wood lady said as she died
Meet with Sesha
catch her up on the details of the attacked lumberjacks
she doesn't know what is affecting Marley
she will send a guide (Kestra) to show us to the undercity
South Kort was built upon the ruins Jorlon, which was abandoned 75 years ago
South Kort itself is only 10 years old
Kestra gives us a tour
a lot is sealed off due to cave-ins
she does show us to a site that is currently being excavated
the floor here collapses often
we will descend down one of our holes
Below we find some big stone doors
ornately carved and sealed shut with molten copper
large figure in a crown, and some runes we don't understand
Marcellus translates it to "Here lies Elrin, king of Parcivell. May his greatness long be remembered"
Elrin is definitely human.
Dwarves, gnomes, halflings and elves are fighting along side him against orc, hobgoblins, gnolls and other bestial races
We strip the copper and open the door
Inside are some tapestries, that still look new
Marcellus magically translates that Elrin routed an orc kingdom that used to maraud
Thousands of coins are present with Elrin. Dozens of suits of armor, lots of weapons
Lingering magical aura is ever present
Another tapestry mentions that Elrin joined forces with the elves of Nordurin
He also made a trade alliance with the dwarves that dwelt beneath Sur Kratoom
One room depicts the defeat of the dragon Straaturn, Spawn of the Cinder Oath
lots of weapons, armors, coins and gems there
A room speaks of an alliance with someone known as the Magebinder
the only item in this room is a replica of a sword
everyone image in this room is bowing, except for Elrin and a hooded figure
the hooded figure wields a sword like the replica. Very intricate
It's made so that the sword is the focal point, not the wielder
Inside a central room are 3 constructs (13) that attack us
beyond that room is a perfectly preserved human body laying in state
with him is a huge 3D map, made with precious stones and metals
the landscape does not look like area we are familiar with
Marcellus, Anton, Fabian and Marley stay behind while Coletrane goes to get Kestra
Everyone that stayed behind gets sick after some searching, so we head back
after telling Kestra what we found
We also noticed that any spells we cast while in there were more powerful than normal
did not effect the wand

Drommer, Endings 30th

Marley has another strange dream about being ripped from Caden
skin becomes tougher, and less dexterous
he has a strong transmutation aura on him
Uwem and Jurgen are waiting in the inn lobby
Uwem informs us that the trackers have been unable to find any more seamen
We tell both of them about the curse that has befallen Marcellus
Jurgen knows of an old hobgoblin woman living in a swamp that may be able to do something
she lives in the Labat Gurz marsh, it's very far
her name is Gal Mega, she takes payment in green and black gems
Jurgen and get us in touch with his friend Grix, who goes that direction
We'll check with Sesha for a second opinion before moving

Session 9

Veksle, Endings 23rd (continued)

We decide to head back to the mine site and track the other ghouls
Rakak and the guards join us
Another set leads to a different part of the city
a lumber mill just outside the walls
according to the lumberjacks inside another orc was killed recently during an attack of some sort
the body is being kept in a nearby shed
looks as if it has broken out though
the attack was yesterday
We will bring this information to the council
Sesha wants to see the flower arrangement at the mine
we move a lot of the flowers aside and find some arcane symbols
blood has filled these symbols
necromancy and conjuration
might be part of a ritual spell, over the course of weeks
there is a lingering magical aura
we burn the flowers and deface the symbols
Another stake out tonight to see if we get anymore visitors
no visitors, no new flowers

Vite, Endings 24th

The Church of The Council handles growing flowers for the cematary
maybe the flowers are coming from there
as the temple in charge of burying the dead, they should also know about the undead
Sister Prilek will speak with us
once Marcellus starts talking about the undead problem she tries to run
Marley tackles her and stops her form getting away
she claims she ran just because she thought we were accusing her of this crime
Flowers were stolen recently though, 2 weeks ago
Since we have exhausted all leads we decide to give it a few days off
to see if any flowers will be left
In the mean time we will check out the undercity
we try to give an update to the Council, but some kind of urgent matter came up and they are unavailable
Rakak does send the guard that initially handled the case of the missing pansies
he states witnesses saw several people climb over the walls and to an alms house across town
the theft happened on Endings 5
We'll check out that house today
Marcellus tries diplomacy with the inhabitants.
it goes poorly
Anton and Marley check out the rest of the house
As we leave we are ambushed
1 hobgoblin priest of Sellerene, 2 orcs (also Sellerene casters), 4 skeletons and 2 zombies (18)
Guards eventually arrive with Rakak
we take the hobgoblin in for questioning
on the way Rakak mentions the two villages have been attacked nearby
unknown assailants
Marcellus believes that the hobgoblin is a warpriest
and since he Channeled energy, then he is pretty strong
We wait for the hobgoblin to regain consciousness, Brother Tisfir
then we interrogate, he provides no information
Anton thinks the guard that gave us this lead may have set us up for the ambush
We go back to the inn to rest

Helbrede, Endings 25th

Marley is sick with ghoul fever
A guard is waiting to take us to Rakak
Rakak has discovered where one of those orcs lived in the city
We go to his house
find similar runes to what we saw at the mine, and instructions for performing that spell
a magical Sellerene holy symbol is found
Rakak also mentions that Tisfir's execution has been scheduled
Tisfir had a magical item that Rakak gives it to us
We decide to wait for Marley to get better before heading into the old city

Adel, Endings 26th

While Marley rests, the others will check the mines
no more flowers

Bedrageri, Endings 27th

Marley is better now
We visit the Council Chambers
to see if they want us to look into the matter of the attack towns
there is a new crisis, Lumberjacks are being attacked by "goblin trees"
small annoying trees that are attacking people
Everyone, but Coletrane, relates this to the old woman's ravings
Checking out the attacking trees will become our priority
Rakak will send 2 guards with us
Takes a few hours to get to the woods
the trees begin to take strange, twisted shapes
we also begin to hear voices. Angry woman, and someone getting hurt
can't understand the language, but definitely angry
in a clearing we find an woman made of wood and a dead orc
lots of "goblin trees" too
we kill them all
As Marley delivers the killing blow she says, "My curse on you, human."
The first time any of us have been called by our actual race, peculiar