A Journey to the Sea (Greyhawk) UPDATED 7 February 2008

Back in 2002, our gaming group began a Greyhawk campaign that was intended to be a 'filler' for when our other games were not available due to scheduling conflicts.

Five years later, we're still playing.

Since I've been chronicling our other D&D games here in Story Hour, I decided to add our Greyhawk campaign as well. I intend to post daily until I get the story current.

Cast of Characters:

Our magnanimous GM: patv
PCs:
Erasyne: female half-elf rogue/Dervish (Player: Jubilee)
Lothiriel Aldarin: female elf druid/ranger (Player: sniffles)
Ninad: male human monk/sorcerer/Sensate (Player: Hedrin)
Rose Weisselpuff: female halfling cleric/Luckstealer (Player: Zora - temporary character)
Shishir: male human monk/sorcerer/Tattooed Monk (Player: Zora)
Thyrothorus "Thor" Ludovicianus: male gnome druid/Bird Lord (Player: Devo)
Varian: male human knight/ranger (Player: DH)
Xolo: male human rogue (Player: DH)

and Beaker, Thor's axebeak animal companion (because Devo will complain if I don't include him )

Regular NPCs:
Illtud: male human fighter/rogue (Formerly a PC, now a retired NPC)
Liselle: female human NPC, wife of Shishir
Pari: female human NPC, child of Shishir

Letter number 1

All of my write-ups of this campaign have been done in the form of letters from my character to her never-seen brother.

Dearest brother;

I have a great deal to tell you. I have apparently become part of an adventuring party. I did wish to explore beyond the Vesve, but this wasn’t my plan for doing so. Still, it’s good to have companions for travel, and they are such interesting companions. Let me tell you about them.

It was during Growfest that I first met the twins Ninad and Shishir. They came from an isolated monastery among the Copper Mountains. They are also spellcasters of a sort, but they are not wizards. They are simply out to see the world. I was impressed by their friendly and inquisitive manner and agreed to escort them around Highfolk when I met them outside the Lake Tree. Our first activity together was to seek a moderately-priced establishment in which to have a midday meal.

As we made our way across the city to the Green Inn, we observed a group of snow barbarians from distant lands making an unexpected visit to Highfolk. We also heard of several opportunities for adventurous travelers. A sage sought for adventurers to hunt for a lost continent. A reward was offered for the long-missing magic sword of a former king. And a trophy hunt was being prepared to pursue a rare albino oktobear.

This last I found most interesting, for the hunt was to take place within the Vesve Forest. I was concerned that the large prize offered for the capture of the oktobear would draw unsavory or foolhardy folk into the forest.

When we arrived at the Green Inn, we encountered a man who was transporting a large group of small animals, which were evidently intended to become wizards’ familiars. The man somehow managed to drop all the cages and most of his animals escaped. The twin monks and I helped him to recover them all.

After this brief adventure, while we walked through the inn, Shishir observed a man dressed all in bright green garments who appeared to walk into a tree and vanish! Shishir reported that the green-clad man had held a cranberry out to the tree before he disappeared. The young monk became so curious about this incident that he purchased a cranberry muffin and approached the tree with it. His twin followed suit, and feeling somewhat responsible for the two young humans, I did the same.

The tree turned out to be a magical portal that transported us deep into the Vesve Forest. Upon our arrival in the forest we were greeted by a being known as the Lord of the Green, who is reputed to be an important figure among the forest’s fey folk.

Though the fey are capricious, the Lord of the Green met us with goodwill. The twin monks naively offered him their service, and I felt compelled to do so as well. He seemed pleased by this offer.

He told us that he was concerned by the numbers of orcs appearing in the southern part of the forest. My hatred of orcs made me eager to find out why the orcs are coming so far south.

Not far from where we met the Lord of the Green, we stumbled upon a band of orcs and fell upon them. Both Shishir and I were badly wounded, but the three of us succeeded in slaying all the foul orcs. We found that they had attacked a lone human and had left him near death. The Lord of the Green helped us to carry the man back to the Green Inn through the tree portal. Once we arrived, the innkeeper’s wife sent for a healer. She also asked us to keep the fey portal our secret.

I'll write more later.

Your sister, Lothiriel

Letter #2

Dearest brother;

Our adventures continued after we returned to Highfolk. I made my way back to the Lake Tree while the twins remained at the Green Inn to look after the injured man. The following morning I returned to the inn to see how the man fared.

On the way I encountered Thyrothorus Ludovicianus. You'll remember him, I think - the gnome with the interest in birds. He's been looking after birds for a local merchant. In his typical chatterbox way, he drew out of me the story of my recent adventures. He was so interested in the twins and the orc trouble in the Vesve that he accompanied me to the Green Inn.

When we arrived at the inn we found that the injured man had regained consciousness. He introduced himself as Corian. He'd been traveling to the village of Fairhill when he was attacked by the orcs. I grew worried that the orcs would next attack Fairhill.

Thor agreed with this concern and wanted to go at once to see to the safety of the villagers. The twins offered to go along. Corian had intended to investigate an old fortress outside the village, so we planned to make our way to Fairhill as soon as Corian was recovered enough to travel.

While we waited for Corian to heal, Thor and I took the twins on a tour of Highfolk. During our travels about the city we encountered a fairy, who told us that the Lord of the Green wished to speak with us, but she couldn't tell us when or where he wanted to meet with us. We went to the Green Inn to dine and saw once more the man in green Shishir had observed on the previous day. We now suspected this to be a disguise used by the Lord of the Green.

Thor chatted with some of the hunters who were preparing to seek the oktobear, attempting to persuade them to give up the hunt. I think he just confused them. Later the man in green approached our table. We discussed our plan to visit Fairhill with him, all the while pretending to be strangers. He made remarks that indicated to us that we were welcome to use the fey portal to shorten our journey. He also presented us with some fey tokens.

By the next day Corian had recovered enough to travel, so we made our exit from the city through the tree portal and emerged in the forest. We re-examined the area where we had slain the orcs, finding that their corpses had vanished. We assumed that the fey had disposed of them.

While we were in that area we were set upon by stirges. Corian and I were slightly wounded, but the creatures didn't pose a serious threat to us and we continued our journey to Fairhill.

Along the way we came upon an abandoned house. As we approached we heard sounds resembling those of a small child in distress. We decided to investigate cautiously. Peering inside, I saw a catlike creature. Though at first I couldn't recall what the creature was, I remembered that it was dangerous, though this one appeared to be only a cub.

Despite my warning the twins rashly went straight into the house, and the cat-thing clawed Shishir. A larger cat-creature appeared, undoubtedly the mother of the cub, and we directed our concern at it. I at last recalled that the creature was a leucrotta. We could do little to harm the leucrotta, but once wounded she fled with her cub. We found no sign that orcs had been near, and so continued toward Fairhill.

When we arrived, we found the village in a state of disarray. As I'd feared orcs had attacked and had stolen a sacred crucible from the temple of Freya. I found this unlikely behavior for orcs. I suspected that the orcs might be in the service of some other being.

We were introduced to the local magistrate, Arlen, and to Shandril, priestess of Freya, and offered them our aid in combating the orcs. Now we need to determine a course of action.

I'll write again and let you know how we fare.

Your sister, Lothiriel

Letter #3

Dearest brother;

After our arrival in Fairhill, we joined Shandril in traveling to an outlying farm to check on the residents. As we returned to the village we heard an alarm bell and saw smoke coming from the temple. The temple was somehow burning from beneath. I saw ashrats crawling out from beneath the temple structure.

While Shandril cast a spell to douse the fire, the rest of us battled the ashrats. They were wreathed in smoke, which made them difficult to strike, but we were able to destroy them all and they disintegrated into piles of ash.

Once the temple had been saved, my companions and I decided to pursue the orcs that had stolen the crucible. We sought the aid of a local guide, an elf woman called Lauriel.

Corian then told us why he had intended to visit the ruined fort beyond the village. It seemed that the wizard who built the fortress, a man by the name of Eralion, had reputedly been trying to become a lich. A friend of Eralion’s, Feriblan the librarian, had told Corian that Eralion was not powerful enough to achieve lich-dom. Corian had come to investigate the truth behind the story.

I grew concerned that perhaps Eralion had succeeded in his desire and that he might be responsible for the actions of the orcs. My friends agreed with me.

The orcs’ tracks certainly led to Eralion’s keep. The orcs appeared to be celebrating their success in stealing the crucible, so we rested in the forest and awaited an opportunity to make our way into the ruined keep by stealth. Though most of the keep’s walls had fallen, the orcs had constructed wooden palisades and a watchtower.

During the night we were visited by a fairy, who whispered the secrets of our fey tokens in our ears. She was much disturbed when Thor’s new owl friend gave her presence away. Thor learned that the green scarf he had received held a true strike spell. My twig contained a color spray spell. The two brothers had received a cord ring and a walnut shell that contained other spells.

At about the midpoint of the night we arose and made our way stealthily into the ruins. We were able to climb a bit of broken wall using a rope. Only a few orcs were present and they failed to observe us. We slew four of them before approaching one of the keep’s stone towers.

To our chagrin one orc was able to cry out before we disposed of him. We hurried to the tower, which we found locked. The twins attempted to break the door down by brute force but were unsuccessful. We had to seek another entrance. Corian told us that there might be underground rooms hidden below the keep, and he had a talisman that should provide us entry if we could find them.

We were able to find another entrance to the tower, but the floor collapsed beneath Ninad and Shishir and they fell below, where they were set upon by two giant spiders. I sprang down upon one spider with my spear and impaled it. Corian cast spells at the spiders.

Ninad was poisoned by the other spider, but Shishir and Corian were then able to slay it. By this time the noise we made had brought the notice of the orcs and they raised an alarm. We had to determine whether to remain within the tower, which had only one exit, or leave and seek another place to hide.

I'll continue my story in another letter.

Your sister, Lothiriel

Ooh! Ooh! More!

Letter #4

Dearest brother;

The orcs seemed to be avoiding the tower where we'd taken refuge, so Thor crept out to spy on them. Later he told us he'd distracted them with a spell. When Thor didn't return immediately Ninad went out to look for him. By coincidence, he used a spell of his own to distract the orcs further.

Thor had managed to attract the attention of an orc who charged at him. In the meantime Shishir, Corian, Lauriel and I climbed out of the tower onto the battlement overlooking the courtyard. I caught sight of the orc rushing Thor and swiftly fired an arrow into it.

Shishir leaped down to the courtyard to meet a second orc, which I also pierced with an arrow. The rest of my companions descended to the courtyard as well while I remained on the battlement wielding my bow.

We discovered that the orcs had installed a ballista atop the keep's former chapel. Fortunately Solonor Thelandira smiled on us and the orcs had poor aim. The ballista took a long while to reload.

Ninad ran to the chapel entrance but suddenly retreated in fear. I left my perch on the battlement and exchanged my bow for my spear to aid my companions. As I descended I observed a huge orc and an ogre emerging from one of the other remaining towers.

Fortunately Shishir employed his fey token to tangle the huge orc and the ogre in vines. But the vines weren't strong enough to hold the ogre for long. Thor, Lauriel and I found ourselves facing the creature. The ogre struck me a heavy blow, but I returned it in kind and wounded him sorely.

The huge orc kept struggling with the vines, but he couldn't get free and began to pant with weariness. I slew him where he stood. In the meanwhile Thor had clambered up to the chapel roof and slain the orc manning the ballista. Lauriel ran up to aid him but was badly wounded.

The twins and I turned our attention to the chapel, which was occupied by a half-orc wearing holy symbols of some evil deity. It was he who had driven Ninad away in fear moments before. Ninad now flung open the door and his twin hurled an orb of cold energy at the half-orc. I followed with the color spray from my token.

The half-orc was made of sturdy stuff. Our combined attack stunned him for only a moment. He summoned some divine energy that held Ninad immobilized, but not before the young monk dealt him a harsh blow. Ninad's strike caused the half-orc to drop his weapon.

I realized that the half-orc had apparently intended to perform some profane ritual in the chapel, using the stolen crucible and a candle that radiated an evil aura. Suddenly Corian rushed into the chapel and toppled the candle.

The sinister priest tried to hold me with the same spell he'd used against Ninad, but I felt the magic wash over me without effect. The half-orc then took a chance to retrieve his mace, and both Shishir and I were able to attack him while his guard was down. That didn't stop him picking up his weapon and hitting me hard enough to knock me off my feet. But Shishir's attack brought the half-orc low.

Despite his small size, Thor had managed to turn the ballista and fired it at the orcs he'd drawn outside the keep with his spell distraction. When they saw the ballista aiming at them they turned tail and ran.

Shishir saw to my wounds, but while he was occupied with treating me the evil priest simply vanished.

I was in no state to know what was taking place at this point. My companions told me later that Thor had uncovered a chest containing some coins and a potion. It was nearly dawn by then, and my friends decided to depart the keep in case the orcs returned.

They carried Lauriel and I out into the forest and set up camp. Then Zafie, the fairy we'd met on the previous night reappeared. It was her idea for them to search my gear and Lauriel's for healing potions - who would have thought a fairy would be so practical?

Once I'd recovered my senses under the effect of a healing salve and some goodberries, I realized that the potion in the chest was a powerful curative labelled in the Orcish tongue. Unfortunately none of my new friends know Orcish.

Corian then suggested we might return to the keep later to explore it further. We still hadn't found the underground chambers he'd spoken of. But first we wanted to return the stolen crucible to the temple in Fairhill.

On our return we were treated with great respect and gratitude by the villagers. Shandril used Freya's mercies to heal all our wounds. We remained in Fairhill overnight to recover our strength, then made our way back to Eralion's keep.

The keep stood just as we'd left it, unoccupied. In our search of the ruins we uncovered quite a lot of coin and several gems and pieces of jewelry that the orcs had probably stolen. We also found an enchanted dagger, and two keys that looked to fit various doors within the remaining structure of the keep.

I'll tell you what else we found in the keep in my next letter.

Your sister, Lothiriel

Letter #5

Dearest brother;

The only part of the keep we hadn't yet explored was the tower the ogre I killed had emerged from. It turned out to be full of old carpets and a foul odor. On the second floor Shishir found a string of humanoid skulls hanging on a thong. Thor took them outside to bury them and discovered that they contained some gold and silver coins!

While Thor was disposing of the skulls, we uncovered a trapdoor under the rugs. We were unable to open it. Frustrated, we decided to investigate the gatehouse above the rusted and useless portcullis, but it proved to contain nothing of interest.

After we returned to the tower, Corian tried Eralion's amulet on the trapdoor and succeeded in opening it. Thor stuck his head in to see what lay below.

At the bottom of a 40-foot drop, Thor observed a room containing six statues of men in armor, and four tables that appeared to hold some type of alchemical equipment. With this information in mind we descended on ropes into the chamber.

At one side of the chamber I saw an ordinary door, but there was also another trapdoor in the center of the floor. Then Thor yelped when a worm crawled out of one of the statues and he realized that it wasn't a statue at all!

All six 'statues' were zombies. They began to advance on us. We had great trouble combating them. I couldn't seem to strike a solid blow, and Thor didn't have a weapon that would harm them at all, only being armed with a club. He grew so desperate that he picked up a sword when one of the zombies finally fell.

One of the twins was knocked unconscious, but Corian proved to be reasonably useful in combat, which was fortunate as Lauriel hadn't returned to the keep with us.

It was a struggle, but at last we destroyed all of the zombies. It began to seem likely that the story Corian had heard about Eralion was true.

We checked the rest of the chamber carefully, but the alchemical tools held no interest for any of us. Through the door we found what appeared to be a bedchamber, containing some books of magic that Corian expressed interest in. After these had been gathered up, we opened the second trapdoor.

Below us lay another circular room, containing six sarcophagi standing upright. In the center stood a bier holding a desiccated corpse. Shishir detected some magic around the corpse, including something that couldn't be seen by the unaided eye. Nevertheless, he and his brother went down with Thor to examine it further. I remained above holding onto the rope on which they descended.

The corpse proved to have a magic staff and ring, but Shishir couldn't determine the source of the other magical emanation. All three of them reported feeling a strange chill. Shishir also complained of a voice whispering in his ear. Then I heard it too and beckoned them to come back up, fearing some danger.

Thor began slowly ascending the rope, followed by Ninad, but when Shishir tried to climb he felt strangely weak and couldn't hold on to the rope. Thor climbed back down and wound the rope around both himself and Shishir. I had to draw them up on my own, for Ninad also suddenly felt very weak and Corian was none too strong to begin with.

While I was pulling them up they sensed a shadowy shape following them and growing more substantial. As soon as they were back in the room with me, Corian slammed the trapdoor shut. But the shadowy thing passed through the floor like air and assaulted us.

We found that our ordinary weapons were useless against the shadow-thing. I tried casting a curative spell at it, thinking it might be harmed by magic, and found that I was right. Thor tried the magic dagger he'd found earlier and it was also effective. Ninad then used his fey token to enchant his staff. When he struck the shadow it vanished, leaving behind a pair of metal bracers.

We were all very weak after this except for Corian, who was the only one of us to escape the shadow's draining touch. We rested for a short while and then decided to camp in the forest where we felt safer. If the orcs had returned we would have been too weak to fight them.

We camped overnight away from the keep and then made our way back to Fairhill. Once more we were welcomed by the townsfolk, and Shandril extended Freya's care to us. When we told her of Eralion's shade, or whatever the shadow-creature was, she made plans to have the town guard seal the tower entrance.

The folk of Fairhill wanted to give us a substantial reward for returning the crucible, but we offered it to the temple instead. We did accept a reward of two suits of clothing each, and a prize hog named Wilbur.

After recuperating for a few days in Fairhill we decided to return to Highfolk. Growfest was over, and Thor and I were afraid the hunt for the oktobear would begin soon. Corian announced that he would remain in Fairhill, so we said our thanks and farewells to him and headed for the fey portal.

As we neared the magic tree we heard voices. We were greeted by the Lord of the Green and a group of pixies and forest animals. The fey lord summoned up a sumptuous feast and invited us to stay and enjoy. Accepting his invitation gladly, we partook of the bounty of the forest and were entertained by a satyr who played expertly upon a lyre. A female satyr also made an appearance and seemed to hold quite a fascination for the twins, though she never spoke.

That night I had an unusual but very pleasant vision during my meditation, which I will keep to myself. When dawn arrived the Lord of the Green had gone, but it seemed that during the night he had restored our fey tokens to full use.

We also discovered that some of the animals that had been present the day before had remained and attached themselves to our little group. Thor already had an owl and a raven following him, but now a bluejay joined his odd flock.* I had attracted a dog, which I've named Rahon. The twins had both acquired familiars: Ninad now has a squirrel called Nimkin, while his brother is served by a hawk named Balamani. I understand that ordinarily arcane mages must perform a long ritual to acquire a familiar, but it seems that they fey lord's influence bypassed this requirement.

Thor and I still intend to do what we can to stop the hunt, or at least try to mitigate its effect on the Vesve, and it seems likely that the twins will come along with us. I'll write to you again when I have more to tell.

Your sister, Lothiriel

*We were still using 3.0 rules at this point so Thor had multiple animal companions.

Letter #6

Dearest brother;

On returning to Highfolk, we arrived back in the courtyard of the Green Inn. We've become familiar faces to the family who run the inn. The innkeeper, Yargren, has an attractive daughter named Liselle who seems to have taken a liking to Shishir. I suspect that there is some fey blood in her family.

While we were introducing ourselves formally to Yargren, a man came into the inn complaining that he couldn't find a guide to accompany him on a journey. I stepped up and identified myself as someone who could help.

This man introduced himself as Judar Fornoff, a merchant who intended to travel to Flameflower to deliver some goods. My companions seemed interested in working for the merchant, and we agreed to meet him on the following day at the River Gate. This would give us an opportunity to look out for hunters while we traveled.

Judar offered me 25 gold pieces per day for my services, and my companions would receive 10 gold pieces each. He was paying so handsomely because most of the foresters, trackers and hunters were occupied with the oktobear hunt.

The following morning we met Judar and his nephew Streb at the gate, where they waited along with their two pack mules. Our journey began uneventfully with a short visit to Fairhill before turning onto the road to Flameflower. Judar was bitten by poisonous snake at one point, but I was able to treat him for the poison.

Later the twins noticed something odd ahead of us, and when they went forward to investigate they encountered an unusual deer-like creature, which led them into the forest. When they followed it they encountered a fey woman called Ashleigh.

Ashleigh had been sent by the Lord of the Green to stop the hunters from finding the albino oktobear. The twins summoned Thor and I to join them, and Ashleigh even allowed Judar and his nephew to catch a brief glimpse of her. Though the merchant had no interest in the hunt one way or another, the rest of us agreed to do what we could to help her with her goal. When she departed she left the deer-like beast, an orafaun she called Althil, to accompany us. Althil followed us surreptitiously as we continued toward Flameflower.

Our journey wasn't without further trouble. As we proceeded along the road we heard sounds of battle up ahead. Ninad and I went ahead of our party to investigate. We crept up on a large group of orcs and gnolls engaged in a fight. In their midst a human man and girl had been surrounded.

The orcs and gnolls seemed to be fighting over which of them would have the enjoyment of killing the humans. I took cover and fired my bow at the creatures, while Ninad used his magic against them and then attacked with his staff in hand. His twin had sent Balamani along to watch over us, and when she communicated to Shishir what was occurring he raced up to join the fight, with Thor hurrying after him.

The gnolls turned out to have a spellcaster of their own, who sent a sphere of flames rolling across the ground at Thor. Ninad was badly wounded in the struggle and had to consume a potion. I eliminated several of the orcs and focused my attention on the one who seemed to be their leader, but he was better armored and I had trouble finding a weak point. Some of the orcs and gnolls had already reduced their own numbers but we were still outmatched.

Thanks to the Keen Eye, we managed to overcome them in the end. The two humans were rescued and introduced themselves as a ranger, Gerris, and the young woman was called Feebie. Feebie had been training as a priestess and Gerris was escorting her back to her family home in Flameflower. As we were already headed that way, they joined us for the remainder of the trip. Perhaps you've met Gerris.

I'll close now and tell you of the rest of the trip in another letter.

Your sister, Lothiriel

Letter #7

Dearest brother;

I'm sorry I haven't kept up with my letters. I suppose that won't matter to you as you'll receive them all at once.

As I was telling you in my last letter, we'd met Gerris and Feabie after rescuing them from some orcs and gnolls, and they'd joined us for the remainder of the trip to Flameflower. Our little adventuring party seems to draw trouble the way flowers draw bees. I suppose that's just part of being an adventurer.

I don't recall now what attracted our attention, but we were drawn off the road again by some distraction and discovered that a unicorn had fallen into a pit trip, presumably one built to catch the oktobear.

The unicorn was being looked after by a fey of the sort some people call elflings, though I don't think they are much like our kindred. This elfling took us for hunters and tried to drive us off. It took quite a lot of convincing to persuade him that we wanted to help. Eventually we managed to lift the unicorn out of the pit with ropes, and the elfling and its companion went on their way none the worse for their experience.

But it wasn't long before we met them again. The elfling stumbled on another group of travelers and began threatening them, again assuming they were hunting the oktobear. This time the elfling had summoned a band of hybsils to his side and they were menacing the travelers with their bows.

It was a good deal more difficult to convince the elfling that these people weren't hunters than it had been to assure him of our good intentions. We had at last managed to allay his suspicions when Gerris exclaimed that there were orcs in the area.

A large band of well-armed orcs emerged from among the trees, and I noticed an orog among them. Orcs are bad enough, but those hybrids are an abomination of nature. We had quite a drawn-out fight with them. Ninad was badly wounded, and I suffered more than a few injuries myself. But with some assistance from the hybsils we were victorious.

After that experience, getting into Flameflower was relaxing. After saying our farewells to Gerris and Feabie, we rested for a few days, and received a message from Ashleigh that the fey folk had hidden the oktobear away where it would never be found by the hunters.

But of course there was no way to let the hunters know this, so Thor and I decided we should continue traveling through the forest and notify every hunting party we met that the hunt was over. We began by heading toward Quaalsten. We'd learned that Gerris and Feabie's final destination wasn't actually Flameflower. Feabie's family lived in Quaalsten. We thought that once we arrived we would look in on her again. And of course I hoped to be reunited with you.

On our arrival in Quaalsten we found our way to the home of Feabie's father, Meridus, with the help of a caravan guard named Illtud who'd been working for Meridus. Meridus was delighted to meet us and very appreciative of what we'd done for his daughter. Feabie was also happy to see us again. Her family treated us to a fine meal and Meridus awarded us each a Quaal's feather token.

During our meal we learned that Meridus was sending a caravan toward the town of Crossford near the mountain pass to Perenland. He needed guards to accompany the caravan. There were rumors of disease in that area and he was having some difficulty finding anyone to take the trip. Thor, who'd been feeling restless lately, piped up that he'd be willing to go. The twins and I decided we might as well go with him, having nothing pressing to draw us back to Highfolk. Illtud came along too.

Meridus agreed to pay us each 2,000 silver pieces for our efforts. I've never had so much money in my life as I have now. I decided investing some of it in a better suit of armor would be wise if I intended to keep traveling.

I stopped by the ranger's lodge to look for you, but was told that you'd left a week earlier. I also asked after Gerris, but he wasn't available either.

I'm sorry that I wasn't able to see you. I hope you'll find these letter entertaining. I'll write you again soon.

Your sister, Lothiriel
__________________

This is about the point at which I started recording some of the more amusing remarks made by my fellow players.

patv: "What are you going to do to prepare for the next leg of the trip?"
Zora: "I'm leveling up to 12th level!" (The PCs were about 3rd level at this time)

Letter #8

Dearest brother;

By the time we reached Crossford I hardly felt I'd earned Meridus's money. We met only a few other travelers and saw nothing of note on the road. But as we neared the town we were met by a group of gnomes who told us of some trouble there. Children had gone missing and naturally the townsfolk were disturbed.

We parted company with the caravan master and headed for the local inn, where we questioned the innkeeper about the missing children. Much to my surprise, the townsfolk knew precisely where their missing children had gone: a tall stone tower had appeared quite suddenly on the outskirts of the town a few days earlier, and some of the children had been seen entering it!

The innkeeper explained that every night strange music issued from the tower that caused the townsfolk to fall asleep. The children would then sleepwalk to the tower. A few folk had been able to remain awake long enough to observe this, but none could resist the music long enough to prevent the children from entering the tower.

The townspeople had tried to enter the tower to recover their children, but according to the innkeeper they had been fired upon by one-eyed creatures shooting crossbows from the windows.

He also explained that one little girl had been seen entering the tower during the day. She was the daughter of the local witch, and her behavior had caused some hard feelings toward her mother. Some of the local people suspected the witch of being in league with whoever was in the tower, though the innkeeper did not support this view.

Encouraged by the ever-impulsive Thor, we decided to go to the tower at once. Illtud and I provided cover with our bows while Thor and the twins approached. Ninad had a ring in his possession that would allow him to levitate, and he employed this to rise up to the roof of the tower. I saw a few indistinct figures at the tower windows, but they didn't react to our presence.

Ninad found two trapdoors on the roof along with some crates. He used the crates to block the trapdoors, then let down a rope. As his brother began to climb up, Illtud and I hurried from cover to the entrance. An alarm began to sound within the tower. Someone fired a crossbow bolt at me.

Illtud grabbed the rope and began to follow Shishir up, but as he did the door opened and several man-like creatures with only one eye each rushed out to attack Thor and I, armed with heavy clubs. Illtud dropped down to help fight them, but was sorely hurt. Shishir and Ninad descended and joined the fray. But the one-eyes were so strong and hardy that soon we were all wounded. We were forced to retreat.

The caravan we'd accompanied hadn't yet left Crossford, and their remaining men knew some healing magic, to our good fortune. After we'd recovered a but we decided to talk to the witch about her daughter. She was staying with the local constable for her own safety.

The witch, Arizhel by name, gave us some additional healing and told us that she didn't know why her daughter had gone to the tower. As I'd expected, she knew nothing about who was within the tower or how it had come to appear so suddenly.

As the caravan master wouldn't commit any of his men to help us storm the tower, we decided to watch the tower at night and see what happened when the mysterious music played. Thor and I prepared spells to awaken anyone of our party lulled to sleep by the music. Our plan was to follow if a child was lured to the tower and use the child's entrance as our access to the structure.

I must pause now. I'll finish this story in my next letter.

Your sister, Lothiriel