Ormazd's Campaign Log

To Gallo's Fend and Beyond

On the road north, the heroes deal with the unnaturally long and cold winter, which is nothing compared to the force of Bresk soldiers that catches up with them, complete with a blizzard dragon. After a long battle, the heroes emerge victorious and meet up with Commander Hertiage and his troop of Gallo soldiers. They escort the party to Gallo's Fend, where they eventually meet Duke Gallo himself.

Gallo appreciates all the heroes have done so far, particularly their rescue of Jinis, his proxy, and offers them rest in a local manor that is housing political guests. There, they encounter Rantle, who happens to be taking a short break from the ongoing siege of Gate Pass to seek military assistance from Gallo. Reogar banters with Rantle for a bit, but not much is solidified.

Early the next morning, Gallo asks for the party's help. He explains that King Steppengard is marching an army upon Gallo's land, claiming that he (Gallo) is a traitor and responsible for his (Steppengard's) family's assassination. Gallo thinks he can withstand a siege within the fortress of Gallo's Fend, but he fears that the army of Steppengard will distract him from defending the Alydi Gap, the pass that leads to Ragesia, which will allow the Ragesians access to Dassen as soon as the snows melt. Gallo is worried about the Ragesian force and fears they may have already taken steps to hide their advance into the Gap, as he has lost contact with his farthest guard post at the far end of the Alydi Gap. He asks the heroes to travel north through the snow and check on the soldiers stationed in the guard post. If the Ragesians have attacked his men, he asks that the party bring back evidence of the Ragesian treachery in order to convince the other Dukes and Duchesses of the Council of Nine to take up weapons against Steppengard and then the Ragesians as necessary.

The party agrees and heads north through the snow, using magical oats to keep their horses going steady for the whole day. Shortly after sundown, the party arrives at the final guard post and discovers wyvern riders camped on the tower's roof: a sure sign of Ragesian soldiers! Attempting stealth, the party approaches the tower and strikes, defeating the Ragesian soldiers and their wyverns. The unmistakeable sounds of soldiers emanate from within the guard tower, though. What now?

This brings us up to date as of the summer. We will pick up again in September with some new players and characters (Reogar's player moved to CA and we picked up a bard and new rogue).

I've been busy and haven't had much time to comment, but I'm quite enjoying these. I hope the party didn't mind the torture too much.

Heroic Mysteries

We're back! The school year is back in full swing which means I'm running again. So, without further ado ... back to the story of the Heroes of Gate Pass:

The Ragesian garrison in the Alydi gap was no match for the heroes' swords and spells, and the party seized the final outpost in no time. The Inquisitor who led them had the ability to neutralize magic effects and called upon Leska herself--not some higher divinity--for her powers. More unsettling, perhaps, was the order of command the party found among their spoils:

(paraphrased) Supplies will come every other day. Wait until word of the success or failure of Madness' task, when we will melt the winter snows and march through the gap en force.

This letter was the evidence they had come here to find for Gallo, and so they planned to set out immediately in the morning. Reogar, however, announced he would be heading toward Gate Pass instead, to lend his skills to the resistance there.

More surprising, however, was the sudden disappearance of Merrick. The party awoke, he had apparently vanished into thin air. Tuned to the arcane energies which still pervaded the area, Van reckoned he had entered some sort of lightning-related portal and could be anywhere, alive or dead. "Might as well hope for the best..."

They climbed on their horses and bid farewell to Reogar, striking out through the drifts for the first guard post along the gap. Before they reached it, however, sounds of beasts and conflict reached their ears and they spurred their horses onward.

What a sight! Two weary travellers, a spry halfling and an armored warrior--somewhat familiar, thought Fern and Alain--were beset by a huge owlbear of the feywild and two sinister winter nymphs, which had emerged from who-knows-where accompanied by a thick misty vapor that spread across the valley. As they approached to assist the unfortunate duo, two ice gargoyles burst forth from the rocks above and swooped down to attack.

It was a brutal battle. The nymphs commanded icy winds that froze the adventurers to the ground in thick coatings of ice, and the owlbear's mighty claws were infused with chilling frost as well. Alain created a zone of fire that greatly hampered the gargoyles, and the monsters tested all of the heroes' abilities. Haggard from their earlier adventures, Fiona and Jack were battered down, but rescue hadn't come too late; the monsters were defeated, the last remaining nymph driven off.

Weary and exhausted, the unlikely duo explained that they had been adventuring in the gap, looking for the Torch of the Burning Sky --and, coincidentally, the Heroes of Seaquen--when their party had been decimated by Ragesians in the company of an elder red dragon wearing a mask. Van thought it sounded like a certain dragon he had heard of named Vorax-Hul ... The two escapees were lucky to be alive. If the dragon was working with the Ragesians--indeed, it may have been the mask of an inquisitor the dragon wore--it was dire news indeed.

They explained that before the icy assault they had seen a mysterious woman on a phasing skeletal horse. Fey history suggested it was Azara Iceborn, the second-in-command to the Prince of Frost in the feywild. Fern then told them she had seen the same woman during the battle, who had pointed out a certain section of the pass wall and whispered in her mind: "Remember."

Upon examination of the mountain pass wall, Fern saw a big door surrounded by runes, which to the others looked like an unassuming expanse of rock. The runes said "The Seed of Winter is protected by the Prince of Frost." After Fern pointed it out, Alain and Fiona could perceive the outline of the door, but only just, until Fern pushed it open and then the glamor faded and everyone saw it.

The party rested and used a ritual to rejuvenate their new allies before venturing inside. Through the doorway was a big, cold room, with strong magic emanating from the rear wall.

Van strode purposefully through the wall and found himself in a wide, bitterly cold chamber. He had emerged on a high, u-shaped balcony; in the center of the room was a column that rose even higher, atop which hovered a small glowing object. Ten mirrors set in alcoves along the walls of the room emitted beams of light which converged on the object. Glittering runes, too far away to examine, glowed on the far side of the room.

Not long after he had entered, a strange force assaulted Van's mind, controlling him like a puppet, forcing him to attack Alain. The other heroes hesitated safely outside the room, unable to see what was going on. The sinister presence led him to the edge of the balcony, below which he could see the remains of other hapless adventurers who had been compelled to leap to their deaths. Luckily Van's will was strong and he shook off the effect, which sublimated into a thick, painful nettle of icy shards as it left him. Van knew he had to act fast and he blasted one of the mirrors with a spell, causing its light to flicker out.

One by one, his allies decided to come to his aid, braving the deadly cold. The malevolent force filled his mind again, and then the mind of Jack Weaver, each time being shaken off before it was too late, as they broke mirrors one by one. When the tenth mirror broke, the compelling entity broke with it, and the party was able to claim the prize they had proven themselves worthy of: A fist-sized acorn, white as the winter snow.

But what was its purpose?

Another viewpoint of the last session, as told by Fern (wilden druid):

Events on the last day have left us uncertain. We thought that our own fey-kind were fickle, but it appears that mortals of this world are equally inconstant. The once robust companionship that aided in our flight from Innenotdar's flames and Kreven's bears, has all but perished.

After our kindred were captured and burned by Kreven:

Van became walking-dead. An unnatural blight.
Quo Varis died. A shame.
Reogar abandoned us. We've never trusted his race.

Merrick remained. Merrick, in whom we did not have much trust, he vanished like the others. We feel alone with these strangers. Alain is a peculiar creature and he smells of sulfur and we do not trust the manner in which he manipulates minds.

Fiona & Jack Weaver have found their way into the companionship, yet we feel that Merrick, who interrogated us severely in the Fire Forest, accusing us of being aligned with the very Inquisitors that slew our kin, Merrick is the only one we still trust. He should decide their acceptance into the companionship. He should interrogate them like he's done all the others. His instincts run deep as the roots of the trees. If we do not find him soon, we do not know if we can continue this companionship.

Ready to risk Kreven and setting out on our own, we were preparing to abandon the companionship. We had saved Innenotdar as was our mission. Why should we tarry? We might have the strength to world-walk back to our homeland without burning up... we hope...

But then we saw her atop the horse of bone and weathered flesh. Who was she? This Seed of Winter has us confused and afraid. Is this another trick? Perhaps we should stay on this world a bit longer...

First the back story for Fiona and Jack, the rogue and warlord who recently joined the party:

The Emperor is allegedly dead.
Teleportation has ceased to work correctly over long distances – detrimental to sending news.
Leska is rounding up wizards.
Weather is unnaturally cold. Random massive storm came and went, summoned by an instructor at Lyceum working for Ragesia.
In Seaquen – post hurricane – people are hopeful, rebuilding, but there is an underlying concern about the Ragesian army. The city is loaded with refugees, mostly inland.
Adventurers wanted at Lyceum! Jack Weaver and Fiona are signed by by Lord Vortberd. Interview with Simeon in the morning. Other members of our party are Tryane, a female wizard, Qidan a half-orc fighter, and an elf named Talberon. Jack, Fiona and Talberon have a drink at Hemingways – Jack and Talberon are pelted with cheerfully incessant questions from the Halfling.
The next morning at Lyceum, where everyone seems extremely busy and focused on their tasks, Kiernan Stekart takes the party to see Simeon. He is assembling specialized groups for important missions. Wants this particular party to go after the Torch of the Burning Sky, which can teleport entire armies anywhere in the world. Rumored to be at last location of Coaltongue – Castle Korstull – which is 3,000 miles from Seaquen. Paying $5,000 now and $25,000 upon the retrieval of the Torch.
Talberon is chronicling his adventures in a book. He plans to bring it back to the elves to encourage them to be less insular.
Shop for equipment – meet next morning at Lyceum.
Tryane uses a scroll from a bundle given to her by Simeon to summon magical horses. Head NW through swamp – the river through Dassan should be thawed but it’s still frozen.
First night Talberon can’t find a good campground. Jack and Fiona hide a tripwire around the camp. It’s very cold. Keep traveling north for several days. Talberon writes in his book, always formally polite and serious. Tryane is bored and wants to “blow stuff up” and Qidan doesn’t talk.
Pass through not-so-burning forest of Innenotdar 3 days later. It’s 30sq miles with a river, no leaves, and a lingering smell of burnt wood. Talberon weeps. Fiona thinks elves can come back and heal the land, maybe inspired by Talberon’s book.
That night we can see one of Ragesia’s 5 armies outside Gate Pass. Head west across plains, battling shard storms and vortexes and a windstriker.
Simeon’s cloaking seems to be working, party passed a few scouts who might otherwise have seen them. Stealth becomes more vital.
Army between party and castle in a long-term camp. Decide to travel at night, skirt around the army. As the sun sets, a red glow on the horizon becomes evident. Move south to get around the army and see dark, roiling clouds, red lightning, fiery rain and burnt land. The castle is within the storm. There is no other way into the valley. The storm ebbs and flows, but is unpredictable. Rain is not just fiery, but also necrotic. Fiona wants to get info by spying on army, but can’t get the party to go along. Tryane sends a message to Simeon, who advises us to go south to Dassen and join up with another group in Bresk. There is another army camped outside Dassen at the head of the Alydi Pass which leads into Dassen.
The party was spotted by Ragesian scouts and attacked by a red dragon wearing a bone mask. The dragon ripped through them, killing Tryane, Qidan and Talberon. Jack and Fiona escaped and Fiona managed to retrieve Talberon’s journal as they fled. Wounded but alive, they continued on to Bresk.

Now, back to the story:

From the journal of Talberon the elf, written by Fi:

Fern grabbed the nut after we broke all the mirrors and when we skedaddled from the cavern, our new friends' friend, Merrick, was waiting outside for us. And he's another halfling like me, although he's MUCH smaller! But being around him is pretty exciting because he thinks Jack's a spy (of course it's obvious that I'm not) and there's always a lot of thunder and lightning shooting around. Fern wouldn't let us stick around without Merrick's permission, but I told him that Jack's okay, so now we're traveling together.

We warned the next tower and moved on to Gallo's Fend. They were pretty busy there, getting ready for war cuz of the army on the way. I heard that Steppengard and some other nobles' armies were here (clearly that wasn't true) or at least headed here, so we went to go see Duke Gallo. Our new friends are working for him, like Jack and I are working for Simeon, so they had to report their progress: the last tower was taken over, but they handled it and it needs to be remanned. They also showed him a letter about Ragesians thawing the pass and Steppengard letting them through. Gallo told us that Megadon, Namin and Iz have joined Steppengard, and he's leading an army of 10,000. That's not good. he gave our friends a new mission, which is to travel to Dashgoban and Timor and show them the letter to convince them that they need to fight with Gallo NOW and they'd better send troops if they don't want to be taken over by the Ragesians. Jack got him to include us with their group so i guess it's really official now. The best part was that Alain summoned EAGLES TO FLY US AROUND!! It was super cold, but definitely worth it! It seems to cost a lot to do it but eh, who cares about that? From the air, we could see the King's army -- foot soldiers coming up the frozen river and siege engines coming up the road and some flying creatures (no dragons this time) zipping around.

Dashgoban turned out to be a dwarf, with a dwarfy castle and we caused a bit of a stir when we landed (uh YEAH, we're riding around on EAGLES). The dwarf didn't want to send his men to war unless he got something out of it (understandable) though Merrick argued heatedly about freedom and fighting to stay out from under the heel of the Ragesians (also understandable). Dashgoban seemed to want a fighting man's opinion though (Merrick is definitely not a blades and brawn kinda guy), and asked Jack what he thought. Good thing Merrick let us stick around, cuz he listened to Jack and agreed to join Gallo. From what we told him, he thinks the King's army will be here in 5 days. He has 3,000 who can leave in the morning, and they'll arrive at Gallo's Fend just ahead of Steppengard. The Army on the road needs to go through the forest. There's a town right by there who has a treaty with the creatures of the Pitchwood (they're called pitchlings, and they're kinda like dryads of trees that produce pitch). We got to fly the eagles some more (which was AWESOME), and talked to a priest of Pelor named Father Albert, as well as their smith and constable. Their entire lot of pitch cost 2,000gp and it turns out that pitchlings like to burn stuff! Fern didn't like the pitch idea cuz then they'd need to harvest more and kill more trees, so we went to talk to the pitchlings about maybe burning up the king’s army themselves. They'd be great against the siege engines and possibly melting the river. Anything to slow them down and give us more time to round up some more troops.

We went to talk to the pitchlings, but they only speak elvish -- Talberon would have been great to have with us (another example where elves could be out here doing stuff to help out, btw! You people can’t hide forever.) -- but luckily Alain and Fern could communicate with them. Although they didn't seem to like what they heard, cuz some of them attacked us. We fought pretty hard, but Fern got poisoned so bad that she got petrified! Stupid pitchlings and their poisons. I don't know what we're going to do now. I'm pretty sure there's a way we could soften her up again, but maybe she'd WANT to be like a real tree? stupid pitchlings.

Did the map change from the default setting? Normally you wouldn't go through Innenotdar to get to Korstull from Seaquen.

RangerWickett said:

Did the map change from the default setting? Normally you wouldn't go through Innenotdar to get to Korstull from Seaquen.

Click to expand...

No, I haven't changed the map, but the two new characters are being run by two new players, and I wanted to give them a chance to experience some of the campaign's past events, as well as some of the future (setting up Korstull and the battle with dragon whose name I can never remember). So I made up something like avoiding Dassen's political issues and dodging between Ragesian armies to force them to take the long way around. The distance numbers might not work out, but it was really just an intro session for those two players with a lot of hand-waving and narrating of story to get them up to speed.

I'm glad you're reading and enjoying our version of your story ... next up: travelling to Lady Timor's lands and the appearance of the newest party member, Kwin, and his secret royal bloodline.

The musings of Fiona, halfling master thief:

After the battle, we decide what to do about Fern who has turned to stone. We determine that she is safe enough where she is, and we'll think of how we can help her. We stay that night at the Flame Eternal Inn in Pitchwood Burg -- all the talk is about the upcoming war.

A man bursts into the inn, head held high in black plate armor with white horns on his helmet and a long sword and shield, and arrogantly announces that he's come from Lyceum to protect Alain. Naturally, we let him do so.

The next morning, as we fly the eagles to Timor, we see 7 harpies rise up to attack us. We battle them in air and on land and are surprised by the fact that some of them wield fire and the others cold. We manage to kill some, and the others run away.

Timor's castle is airy and elegant. We are taken quickly to her and explain situation. She is more easily convinced than Dashgoban was and is ready to send her troops to join Gallo (1000 men, 50 mages). Lady Timor has heard that Merrick and Van were responsible for ending the fires of the Burning Forest -- the fire was protecting a path into her land. Once the Ragesians take Gate Pass, they'll have nothing to deter them from marching right into her land. We promise to address her situation when we have a chance.

We need to rest and decide to spend the night. Van and Alain study the Tome of Shadow. Merrick prays at the temple of Kord. Kwin, Jack, and Fiona go to the tavern and carouse. Kwin is a rowdy drunk, then maudlin at the end of the night. He says he hates his job and his father would turn in his grave if he knew what his son was doing.

In the morning, Alain summons magical steeds that will take us back to Gallo in one day.

On the way, we come across a bridge spanning a chasm with a troop of Steppengard's secret police who try to stop us. They want us to identify ourselves and, when Van announces his identity, they try to arrest us. The commander summons a troll who comes out from under the bridge.

In the course of the battle, we knock the commander out and the remaining soldiers surrender.

The group returned to Gallo's Fend and spent some restless days recuperating and preparing itself for war. Some character-specific backstory, involving the Prince of Frost and his handling of the pitchlings, in response to their destruction of Fern, dominated the free time. Finally, Steppengard's army arrived, looking a bit worse for wear after their travel ...

With Lord Steppengard's forces massed just outside of "siege territory", the party did what they could to hinder his assault before the battle. Thanks to Dashgoban's talented sappers, they were able to swiftly dig a passage underneath Steppengard's camp to where the siege engines/artillery stood relatively unprotected. Under cover of darkness, and thanks to Alain's shadowy magic and their inconspicuous size, Fiona and Merrick sneaked past the guards and disabled the machines without drawing alarm.

Next, Gallo's scouts had reported that Kelkin Thravanvost, Steppengard's Chief war-wizard, had built his camp at a remove from the greater host, and would be an easy target. The dwarves went into motion again, allowing the heroes to assault him directly before the rest of Steppengard's forces were able to come to defend. While there was some talk of possibly bantering with the wizard and seeing if he could be reasoned with (since the fall of Gallo's Fend might result in the Ragesian Scourge coming quickly to Dassen), the encounter quickly escalated and ended up becoming a straightforward assassination.

Again Fiona and Merrick snuck in while the rest of the group attacked from the flank to serve as a distraction. There were a number of guards including three Hippogriffs which were quite capable on their own. Entering the wizard's tent--which really was more of a fortified cottage--the halflings proceded to battle him directly, but the confines hindered Merrick's storm magics, and one of the hippogriffs squeezed in through the door and effectively blocked their escape. In the end the heroes were victorious, but exhausted and battered.

Returning through the tunnel, the party were assured their actions would hinder Steppengard's forces in the upcoming battle, but there was little more to do besides get a few hours of rest and prepare for war. Duke Gallo hoped that by meeting Steppengard in the field, he could break Steppengard's numbers and prevent a siege, and so the battle line was drawn in strategically narrow terrain south of Gallo's Fend.

The party decided they might be best suited along the edge of Dashgoban's forces, to hold the line nearest where (they hoped) Lady Timor's forces would arrive to supplement the defenders.

As Steppengard's forces marched closer and war horns blared, our brave heroes took their place near the base of a small watchtower containing handful of archers. The enemy host charged; the party stood confident, although vastly outnumbered, and did what they could to beat back the tide. A small dragon swooped down and hurled a boulder at Merrick.

A surge led by a nefarious war troll, punctuated by the untimely arrival of a couple of manticores, tested the heroes' mettle and wore them down. Exhausted, but determined to hold the field, they had a chance to catch their breaths and then the next surge came: A fearsome undead-looking warrior leading two horned behemoths, and backed up by rock-tossing giants! Retreat looked inevitable, but they stared death boldly in the face and said "hell no!". After a bloodied battle the second behemoth fell and Kwin charged to meet the giants toe-to-toe, relinquishing their tactical advantage.

The worst was over, but the battle raged on. Lady Timor's forces had joined the fray and the momentum was shifting. After a few more hours Gallo's bannermen announced a great victory. Cheers rose across the battlefield as Steppengard's troops withdrew.