They came in search of Paradise (A Story of Erth) - Updated 23rd April

Welcome to my first Story Hour.

This 3.5 game evolved out of an AD&D1 game I had run for about 15 years and which drew to a close a couple of months ago.

Hope you like it.

Rob

The World As It Was

Tens of thousands of years ago the world was blighted during “The Tragic Millennium”.
A tide of evil swept across the planet destroying, devouring and altering as it went. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished leaving a world denuded of population and technology and home to many new and strange creatures.

Over the next few centuries countries fragmented and reformed, the people banding together and building new towns and cities, many named for those that were destroyed by the nameless evil, fighting to protect their fledgling realms from the ravages of the beasts left behind.

It was at this point that the first Elves and Dwarves appeared, fierce in their conflicts with the emerging Greenskin threat. Where they came from no one knew, but the Humans were glad to have such powerful allies against the Orc Hordes.

The wheel turned and the realms of Men grew to be powerful in their own rights and the Elves and Dwarves returned to their forests and mountains, where they stayed. Other civilised races flourished alongside their Human friends: Halflings and Elf-kin became a familiar sight throughout Europa and even Uruks, brutish but more tolerable than their degenerate Orc cousins, were seen with increasing frequency.

Four centuries ago, as if the threat posed by the Orcs and their ilk was not enough, out of the wastelands to the east came hordes of Beastmen, and worse. Misshapen and savage, they surged across the eastern lands in the service of dark and terrible Chaos Gods until almost nothing was left east of the Dneipr River save for the City-State of Moskva. Moskva, where the Overlords ruled their people fairly, but with an iron will, determined to stand fast against the wave of destruction.
And so they stood until a besieging army of Chaos threatened Moskva, only to be driven away with the help of a party of powerful adventurers, who stayed to aid the expansion of the Overlord’s rule into the Wastes.

The wheel turned and a mountain-sized ball of rock fell from the sky, destroying the lands at the east of the Teraine Sea and throwing vast clouds of dust into the atmosphere. The year-long winter it caused was hard and only the efforts of the most powerful clergy and mages managed to slow the tide of disease and famine that swept the globe.
If the adventurers had not discovered technology that enabled them to clear the skies, the world would have returned to its post-Tragic Millennium state. Their fee was reasonable, compared to the alternative, and they were able to build a new island from the debris – the Thracian Principality of Tsarfaran, ruled by the newly invested Prince Steel – and salvaged a sizeable amount of meteorite metal from the crater.

For the Germanian Fuhrer this catastrophe was too good an opportunity to waste. His armies swiftly conquered Polanski and Latvia, moving into Salia and Mozyrstan soon afterwards. These lands were emptied of nearly all healthy inhabitants, many conscripted into the Army, more to the work camps set up to exploit the newly available mineral deposits, some to secret research establishments.
For a while, during the attacks into Salia, fearsome Man-Beasts known as Joinings were seen. These strange hybrid creatures acted as shock troops and were instrumental in the swift pacification of the country. Since peace came to the lands they have not been seen again.
Fennoscandia and The Danemark agreed to give aid to the Germanian forces, in return for not being conquered.

For many years the great cathedral at the heart of Parye, intimidating despite its advanced deterioration, had been known as a site of dark power. This was found to be true when the adventurers first came there and decided they were not powerful enough to investigate further.
In fact, the cathedral enclosed a portal to the demi-plane of Shadow, from which the Arch-Elemental Nocturnus planned to assault the world of men and make it his.
Fifteen years later, after escaping from the dark future to which they had been sent by a Daemon Prince, the adventurers decided to return to Parye, pass through the portal and face the minions of Shadow. After risking, and in some cases experiencing, death they were successful in thwarting Nocturnus’ plans and slaying his consort, Obscura. They closed the portal and the great city of Parye became a more pleasant place to live.
The Ranger Sparrow, who had become a High Priest of Ukko, persuaded the Duke de Parye to sell him the cathedral, which was remodelled by the Bard Homer Jones and his Lyre of Building into a magnificent edifice of white marble, dedicated to the chief of the Fennoscandian pantheon.

At last, the adventurers decided it was time to face their greatest enemy, the Daemon Prince Rha’a’zagul. This Daemon had conspired to have the party transported 500 years into the future, to the dark and troubled world that resulted from their absence. They escaped, thanks to an ancient Elf mage who specialised in temporal magic, but lost 13 years to the Daemon.
They prepared well. The Monk-Mage Prince Steel researched a spell to alleviate some of the magic nullifying properties of Rha’a’zagul’s realm and they journeyed into the heart of the Chaos Wastes to face their nemesis.
They finally confronted Rha’a’zagul in his null-magic chamber, before the swirling silvery-grey portal to the Eye of Terror.
Before entering the chamber, Steel bent reality through a potent spell (Wish) and forced a bubble of magic potentiality through into the chamber. From within this bubble, the party was able to slay Rha’a’zagul, prompting his Lord to step through the portal in person. “YOU HAVE BESTED MY CHAMPION, MORTALS. THIS WORLD IS YOURS FOR THE TIMEBEING.” With that, he and the other daemons left through the portal. The Chaos Wastes became quiet soon afterward.

The World As It Is

It is 30 years since the Daemon Prince Rha’a’zagul was defeated, and things have stabilised across Europa.

The renowned Half-Elf Bard Homer Jones is still putting himself about, being generally lewd and unsavoury, though fantastically generous in his entertaining. His network of inns containing magical message boxes has proved invaluable to those seeking adventure. Also, he never tires of showing off his personal artefact to unsuspecting females.

Sparrow, famed Ranger and High Priest of Ukko is enjoying his retirement with his wife Menifir. His apartments in the imposing marble palace that is the Temple of Ukko in Parye are thus far proving comfortable enough for him and his family.

The Demigod Steel watches over his family, friends and the thriving Principality of Tsarfaran from his position in the lower circles of the Celestial Court of Shang-Ti.

The Holy Blade of Osiris, Kirin el-Tangia, can still be found vanquishing the forces of evil with her faithful companion Achmed by her side, but is now well into her sixties and feeling her age.

Helminthes, Troll Mage* and one of the three most powerful Magic Users on the planet, works as he has for the past 40 years on a variety of arcane projects, many testing the limits of his functionally immortal body. He quickly enlisted the aid of the Troll Wizard Karyn*, and the two have made great strides in arcane research. The fantastic flying ship he built for Steel rests in its hangar beneath their villa outside Byzantium waiting to be needed again.

The Germanian Protectorate, as the conquered lands are known, prospers with many conscripts being released from the Army and allowed home to till the fields. The relationship between Germania, Fennoscandia and The Danemark has moved from one of Tyrant/Vassals to one of peaceful, if not harmonious, coexistence since the death of the Fuhrer and the rise to power of Lord Protector Albrecht. The rumours that spread for a while of Man-Beasts under Germanian ‘control’ ranging across the land eating anyone who crossed their path have become just stories. No one really believes them, but they are still useful to stop children running off into the woods.

The Aragon Pact, drawn up between the southern Europan states to counter the threat from Germania has become a vehicle for trade and diplomacy, with Ambassadors sent from all member countries to the Congress Chambers in Reme.

The City-State of Moskva had been expanding steadily for 28 years, after the Chaos incursions ceased abruptly. In the last year, however, there have been sporadic reports of Beastmen harrying outlying farms and waylaying messengers and wagon trains.

Two years ago, the Granbretanian God-Emperor Huon decreed that a Grand Expeditionary Fleet be constructed and sent across the Atlantean Ocean in an attempt to reach and explore the “New World” as well as to discover what happened to the first fleet sent three decades before. It is expected to be ready to sail in another three years. Granbretanian scholars have done much research and have determined that the unknown continent across the water is named “Amarehk” and was the seat of a great and powerful evil far in the past, possibly the cause of the Tragic Millennium that blighted the world.

The Eternal Empire of Xingua took advantage of the absence of Chaos and pushed its frontier far into the wasteland. The Emperor, from his Peacock Throne in the Holy City of Beiji, has sent thousands of workers into the Wastes to build a great wall as a defence against the Chaos hordes, should they return.

The Greenskins are no longer a real threat to civilisation. The Orcs move in nomadic family/clan groups, and spend much of their time fighting other clans. They are much like stereotypical “Travellers” (ask a Brit if you don’t understand the reference) – they set up camp wherever they want then disappear, leaving extensive dung/spoil heaps behind, when they are “asked” to move on sufficiently strongly.


* Steel, prior to his ascension, cast Reincarnate a total of 3 times. Each time, the recipient came back as Troll.

Rule amendments and other stuff

If you don't want to know the things I have changed, look away now.
I will attempt to attach some files to this post.

Map of Western Europa:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15736&stc=1

Map of Eastern Europa:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15742&stc=1

Non-Human Races:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15744&stc=1

Character Class Changes:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15745&stc=1

General Rule Changes + Extended Feat List:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15740&stc=1

My perhaps way overly complicated language rules to follow.

Languages

Here is an Excel sheet showing who speaks which language.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15746&stc=1

The blank spaces are for languages as yet undiscovered.

Language Relationships:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15747&stc=1


And now, let the Story begin.....

And so it begins...

Dramatis Personae:
Gaelle (Female Human Ranger from the forests on the Thrace/Slavia border)
Seigfried Schtauffen (Male Paladin of Forseti from Germania)
Audac Kron (Male Uruk Barbarian from Atlas)
Cord Seration (Male Human Fighter from Thrace)
Gracientus (Male Human Cleric of Set from Byzantium - NPC)

======


“Aaahhhhhhhh!”
Seigfried jerked awake, banging his head on the low ceiling of the only room he could afford to rent in Byzantium.
Dripping with sweat and with aching arms, as if he had been wrestling all night, this is how he has felt every morning since taking the vows at the temple of Forseti in Behrlin. His mouth is filled with the sickly metallic taste of blood – his own. He has bitten his tongue again. Sometimes the dreams are worse than others and last night’s was the worst so far.
His dreams, when he can remember them are filled with blood. Images of his father looking disappointed and blood. Lots of blood.

He had grown up listening to his father’s stories from the war. Nothing was any good nowadays. Not like when the magnificent armies of the Reich were grinding lesser peoples under their collective heel. How his father’s eyes had glowed when he regaled Seigfried with his tales of heroism and conquest. How bitter he had sounded when he talked about the Peace. He made the word sound like a curse.
Seigfried decided he would prove himself and then return to Germania, to show his father that there is glory and honour to be had in peacetime. That was why he had taken Holy Orders from the Temple of Justice.

Head throbbing he gathered his meagre belongings, little more than armour and a Fullblade, and left the boarding house near the docks, heading for the Hunter’s Guild and the prospect of a job bringing lawbreakers to trial. He smiled. Seigfried liked the law. He lived for it.

======

Stepping out of the forest for the first time is many weeks, Gaelle looked around her with distaste. The forest was safe. She could move unseen and “tax” the travellers who ventured into her domain. People are always travelling, and few take even the most rudimentary precautions.
Gaelle’s domain stretches from here, just inside Thrace, all the way to central Bohemia. Close to a thousand miles of beautiful forest that she has been exploring since she was old enough to escape from her parents.
The trouble as Gaelle sees it is that, despite the forest’s size, there simply isn’t enough bounty to be had to satisfy her. She won’t become known as the greatest bow-woman in Europa by skulking around the forest, waylaying unsuspecting passers-by. Taking from the rich and giving to, well, actually not giving to anyone. The poor deserve what they get – nothing.
With a heavy sigh, Gaelle set off for the “great city” of Byzantium, teeming with scum who wouldn’t last a day in “her” world, but where her quest for glory would begin.

======

The way of the Uruks of Atlas was to leave their young children on a remote hillside with only a loincloth and a knife to see if they were tough enough to survive a day and a night.
When it was Kron’s turn, however, a passing human goatherdess found him and, being wholly ignorant of Uruk custom, thought him abandoned and took him home with her. Though she was still in her teens, she brought Kron up as her own son. Not easy as the inhuman mountain that was Kron as he grew up did not fit well into human society. Pretty soon all the other children stayed well away from Kron, knowing that he could break their limbs if there was a fight.
When his foster mother “abandoned” him (as Kron saw it) by marrying another human and having his child, 10-year old Kron didn’t feel he had any option but to show his displeasure.
Wiping their blood off his knife he left the cottage and struck out on his own.
In the distance he spotted an Orc tribe travelling across the scrubland. Thanks to his obvious bestial nature and after he had broken a couple of noses, the tribe reservedly welcomed Kron as one of their own.
His time with the Bloody Hand tribe was wonderful. Kron immersed himself in Orcish society and took their ways as his.
He even took an Orc name – now he can’t remember what he was called before finding the Orcs. Probably some poncy human name. Pah!
After five years living as an Orc, Kron decided that they could not teach him anything more so he set off on his own again. The small amount of contact with humans he had had gave him the desire to seek the ”riddle of steel” and the woodsy ways of the rangers.

======

Cord is something of an enigma.

======

A Motley Crew

April 28th, 1699. Byzantium.

Gaelle and Seigfried met in the Hunter's Guild, perusing the same poster as it is pinned to the board by an old man with a gammy leg.

Kron was following Gaelle who he recognised as someone skilled at “ranging” and wants to learn whatever she can teach him. "I want a battle axe and a great axe. I've got this (Kron brandishes his Orc Double Axe at them), but I want a battle axe and a great axe. If I see someone wiv an axe I'll have it off 'em."

Gaelle just shook her head and turned her attention back to the poster.

"Wanted: Dead or Alive (preferably Dead), Criminal known as The Hark. Last known whereabouts in the vicinity of Starros. Believed to be consorting with lycanthropes (Wererats) and other individuals of dubious honour. 1000GP bounty. For more information see Herkin at the front desk."

"Woss dat say?" asked Kron, who could make no sense of the symbols. Gaelle read the poster to the Uruk, barely able to conceal her instant distrust of the "stupid barbarian".

Without hesitation, Kron tore the poster off the board and followed Gaelle and Seigfried towards the desk where the limping man had just settled himself.

"I'm interested in this bounty".

Herkin looked up at the young woman, taking in the upright blonde warrior and the hulking Uruk behind them, and leaned back in his chair.

"What can I tell you? Starros is 10 days up the coast on foot, and the bounty is yours if you think you can handle it."


Gracientus appeared at their side and introduced himself as a potential companion. "I am a novice at the Temple of Set and Maxis says that I should get out into the world and prove myself worthy of further training. I think you'll find me useful."


Gaelle and Seigfried discussed their ability to deal with wererats, or lack thereof, and Kron discussed with himself finding a stable and getting some horses. He didn't intend to pay for them, though.

Seigfried looks bemused as the Uruk mumbles to himself, not understanding a word he is saying.
"Perhaps it was a mistake not learning any Graecae before travelling to Thrace.” Seigfried thought to himself. "Then again, had the war gone better, they would all be speaking Germanic now!”


Cord wandered over as they discussed the bounty. "Lycanthropes need special weapons", he announced, turning to Herkin.
"What real jobs have you got?".
"Lycanfropes can't breave underwater so we'll just hold him in he river until he's dead", said Kron with conviction. "Dere's more than one way to skin a rat".

Herkin told them that roughly halfway to Starros, 4 days up the coast and a day and a half inland there is a mining town called Darak. They have a silver mine there but production has come to a halt after several miners went missing. Also they seem to be having a problem with kobolds and some sort of malady to boot. There is a bounty on kobold heads but they can get more information from the Mayor of Darak.

They agree to take the bounty on the Hark but they decide to travel to Darak first in order to get the money needed to purchase the silver weapons they will require.

On the Road

It rained steadily for the journey north but they managed to find some shelter for the night, in the lee of a dry stone wall.

Luckily Gaelle was able to shoot a rabbit and there was a cabbage field nearby, so at least they had something to cook.
Kron's hunting was not so successful. He thought that he could hunt rabbits with a throwing axe but, when he tried it he not only missed the rabbit by 20' but it took him 20 minutes to find his axe, buried halfway up the shaft in the rain-softened earth.
This display of ranged prowess did nothing to assuage Gaelle's doubts about the Uruk - she doesn't see him lasting long. She was none too happy with Seigfried either. The paladin cannot talk to most of the group which leads her to wonder how these people succeed in the world.

Initially, they had seen many people, farmers mainly, travelling in both directions, but the traffic thinned out as the day progressed.

------

April 29th.

As dusk approached on the second night, they spied a farmhouse and decided to see about sleeping in a barn. Anything would be better than another night out in the open as it still had not stopped raining.

As they got close to the farm a couple of dogs began barking. Gaelle tried to calm them, unsuccessfully, and the alerted farmer came out to see what the fuss was about. Seeing they meant no harm (Sense Motive roll = 1) he allowed them to sleep in one of his barns, emptied of hay after the winter and now home to a cart with only one wheel. Gaelle, a skilled bow maker, offered to fix the cart for him in exchange for a meal.

The farmer agreed and returned with a wheel. Seigfried and Kron held up the cart while Gaelle deftly used her specialist (but designed for much more delicate pieces of wood) tools on the unfamiliar task.

Successfully repairing the cart, to their inexpert eyes at least, they ate their vegetable stew with genuine gratitude and settled down for a good night's sleep.

------

April 30th

On the third night, sick and tired of being cold and wet (unseasonably cold and wet for late spring at the eastern end of the Teraine Sea) they decided to stop at a derelict farmhouse near the cliff edge. There was no glass in the windows, the doors hung askew and half the roof was missing, but they thought it had promise.

Looking for somewhere out of the wind and rain they searched for a cellar, finding a door in the floor of the kitchen. It took several good tugs before the door opened with a crack of breaking wood. It seemed to have been barred from within the cellar.


Seigfried looked down the steps and concentrated, sensing the presence of Evil in the cellar, away to the right.

Interest piqued, Kron moved down the steps and spotted a door in the far right corner.

After twice trying to open it, Kron went to go back upstairs to find something he could use as a battering ram. His first thought was to use the cellar door.

While he was gone, Cord shoulder-charged the door, easily breaking the bar inside, and came to a halt between two ready zombies (one of whom slapped him), with another two standing on the far side of the room.

A short fight ensued and the 4 zombies were easily dispatched. They party closed the cellar door and were rewarded with a quiet, warm and dry night.

------

May 1st

On the fourth day, they turned away from the coast and along an estuary, coming to a cart bridge just short of sunset. They asked the bridge guard if there was an inn nearby and were pointed west towards the Fisherman's Rest Inn. Here they spent their first night in a proper bed since leaving Byzantium.

------

May 2nd

Next night, having decided not to cross another bridge to an inn a mile away on the other side of the river, they camped in a copse of trees. Kron had a look round and noticed light webbing in the trees but judged them too small to be a threat.

During the night, Cord was awoken by things crawling into every orifice. Vomiting uncontrollably he found he was covered by a carpet of small spiders, all biting him. His noises of discomfort quickly awoke the rest of the party.

Gaelle jumped up and took nearly half a minute to get the fire going, while Cord rolled around losing his dinner and a raging Kron tried squashing spiders with his shield (with some small success). The swarm converged around the Uruk who was bitten several times and slightly weakened from their poison.

Finally, Gaelle managed to set light to her bedroll and used it to burn the spiders, Gracientus following suit. Seigfried cut down a branch and got it alight just as the last spiders were killed.

May 3rd 1699

The next day they arrived in Darak to be greeted by Corvan, the Mayor. "You don't want to come here, oh no, you don't. If you take my advice you'll leave now". Not quite the greeting for which they had hoped.
They asked about what had been happening and were told of people going missing down the mine, kobolds causing a nuisance and many people going down with a strange sickness. Also, two other adventurers had already gone to the mine although they had not, as yet, returned.

The party seem most interested about the bounty of 5GP per kobold head and travelled to the mine entrance after one of the townsfolk drew them a basic diagram of the mine layout.

Gaelle found kobold tracks from a couple of days earlier and constructed a hide 40' away for them to use while watching the entrance. None of them knew anything about kobolds, but guessed that they are nocturnal.

During the night, Cord thought he saw movement but Kron (the only one who could actually see the entrance) didn’t notice anything.

------

May 4th

In the morning they searched around and found evidence that a pair of kobolds had come out of the entrance and gone to check some snares.

Cord was not impressed with Kron.

They scouted around and found the snares set by the kobolds and decided to spend the day digging a hole and camouflaging it so they could observe the snares and catch the kobolds when they returned. They liberated some spades from a small tool store near the mine entrance for this purpose.

The party watched from the hide until about 10pm when Gaelle, Seigfried and Gracientus headed over to the hidey-hole.

Early in the morning, Cord again thought he saw something but Kron was unable to see anything untoward.

In the light of day it was found that a kobold had come to the edge of the entrance, paused, then went back inside.

Cord was even less impressed with Kron.

The party decided to continue their vigil the next night.

------

May 5th

Sure enough, early the next morning two kobolds emerged from the entrance and headed over to check their snares. Kron and Cord sneaked inside the entrance and hid, waiting for the kobolds to return, not considering that there might be more kobolds in the cave.

Meanwhile, at the hidey-hole, the others shot from cover at the kobolds, one of whom managed to escape with an arrow in his side.

He made it back to the mine entrance where he spotted Cord and Kron and reversed direction, running straight onto Seigfried's oncoming Fullblade.

The decision was made to immediately venture into the mine.

------

They came across a small chamber with two overturned mine carts, spotting a body underneath one of them and chunks of silver ore all over the floor. Looking around from the doorway they could not see any traps so, unable to see more of the corpse than his legs, they ignored it and headed towards what was marked on their map as a Mess room.

Kron rattled the door ineffectually a couple of times before Cord took a run up and nearly broke the door off its hinges.

There were nine kobolds relaxing inside who jumped to the attack. Being stupid they charged in with their halfspears instead of using the tables for cover and firing their crossbows so, a minute later the kobolds were all dead and the party moved to investigate the larder.

------

They opened the door and looked in, seeing shelves with the remains of foodstuffs, a stack of barrels and a number of sacks, some showing evidence of vermin feeding. Kron stepped inside, tripping a low wire and taking a crossbow bolt in the side. He, Cord and Gaelle made a cursory search of the room, finding nothing more, and Kron decided to tear one of the shelves off the wall.

In his haste he not only disturbed the eight rats living in here, and the Dire Weasel hiding in the pile of barrels, but tripped another trap showering everything in the room with flour. All the fine powder in the air made it difficult to see and many attacks swung or nibbled wide of the mark before the rats were successfully dealt with.
The Dire Weasel managed to attach itself to Kron but was beaten off before it could begin to suck his blood.

------


After having a quick look round the larder, Gaelle has some thoughts:
Roll the barrel of rotten food at the overturned mine carts setting off the trap they suspect is there.
Empty the beer or wine barrel down the corridor which should show up any pits or traps.

Kron thinks they ought to rest up and ambush any kobolds that turn up. Gaelle wanted to get on with it while they have the element of surprise.

They are all covered in blood and flour - Cord reckoned Kron could make some black pudding out of it.

After a perfunctory clean-up, they moved the food barrel up the passage towards the entrance so it will get up some speed before hitting to the mine carts.
They moved back around a kink in the passage after sending the barrel bouncing and rolling down the incline, preparing to pounce on anything that comes to investigate the noise.

The barrel skips into the chamber, hits the cart with the legs sticking out and sets off the Thunderstone trap.

After the dust settled they waited for someone to come and investigate the explosion.
Kron went down to look for any axes that had been left behind - he didn't find anything.
The cart had moved a little, dragging the body across the chamber, leaving a dirty brown smear on the ground.
In the five minutes Kron took looking around nothing made its presence felt.

They then rolled the ale barrel down the passage heading further into the mine. It rolled well until it disappeared over a lip in the floor and, a few seconds later, they heard a "crunch".

They walked down the passage, Kron in front.
"I don't wanna go in front!" he said.
"You're the only one who can see in the dark!" Cord reminded him.
"Oh yeah. OK.".
Kron crept 60' ahead of the party, using the shadows caused by the party's hooded lantern to his advantage.
Straight down a 20' pit trap and into unconsciousness.

The rest of the party moved more carefully down the passage to discover what had happened to Kron.

As Cord was about to step into the hole Seigfried saw it and stopped him. Cord shone the light down the pit, illuminating the limp form of Kron at the bottom. It was the quietest he had been since they met.
After a brief discussion about who was poorer at climbing, Cord held a rope for Gaelle to rappel down.

Gaelle tied the rope around Kron, checking to see how unconscious he was (he was), and Cord and Seigfried pulled him up.
After untying Kron, the rope was let down for Gaelle to climb up.
Gracientus put some salve on the nasty looking bump on Kron's ample forehead (caused by nutting a skull at the bottom of the pit), but could not bring the Uruk round.

Gealle ran back to the larder and got a piece of shelf. Returning to the pit, she marked the edge of the hole with it.
Dragging Kron, and taking the wine barrel they returned to the entrance and the early morning light. Cord counted paces from the pit, just in case the kobolds moved their markers.

EDIT: Next bit of text removed 'cos I wasn't completely happy with it.
I'll re-post it later

As Robberbaron said previously, we had played for 15 year an AD&D1 campaign, whereby we saved the world and had more money and power than sense in the end.

Therefore, it was great to start at 1st level with a new different direction. This time the party was not to be good with Paladins and rangers of the old school. The new rules allowed us to take a different slant with our alignments - which can provide a lot more fun, and problems as will be seen in the future :\

My character is Gaelle.

Gaelle, is a Ranger that wants to become an Assassin. She wants to be highly paid and highly feared for killing people with a bow. She is geared to tracking people down and killing them from a distance. At high level with all the right feats from Many Shot to Weapon Specialisations, coupled with Favoured enemy - Humans, she aims to be a killing machine. This is a difficult course to take as many of you probably have experienced. With a bow as a primary weapon, those 5' step backs are a lifeline. It is proving a right bugger in tight spaces though.

To gain the necessary experience to become the best, she sought a group that could provide her with support. She left the forest and headed to town to seek such people. As you can see the group turned out to be wholey fighters - Barbarian, fighter, ranger and paladin with a monk. The NPC was a cleric. Perfect for a Ranger, who wants to be in the second rank. What firepower, in a way you felt sorry for the DM as the lowest Str was 17, highest 20 and every one using 2 handed weapons for 1.5 times damage.

Bring on the Goblins etc

Character in Rogues gallery - currently 3rd level Ranger

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98697