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[Oghma]

Dear Diary (Waterday, Planting 26)
Ho hum. I’m not even having fun annoying Gimil. I’m learning what I can on the lute, but I think I’m getting on Bole’s nerves.

Ord and Gimil had a practice bout to keep their hand in. Gimil won, but Ord didn’t use any magic. All I know is that I wouldn’t want to face either in hand to hand combat. They are both strong, and can fight forever. We camped near a copse of woods. We’re on the valley floor now, and tomorrow we’ll probably be heading up towards Longspear. Only six more days until a nice hot bath!

Dear Diary (Earthday, Planting 27)

Went through some hills today. Ord talked today about what happened when he left his delve.

It seems he was a little bit too interested in battle for the first mercenary group he joined. They accused him of putting them in situations where they had to fight too often. During practice bouts, he practice with a ferocity and focus which scared them a little bit.


We were having lunch by the side of the road when Gimil heard a noise off in the direction we had been heading. We all dropped our food and Gimil ran down the road to see what it was. Ord got his bow and trotted down to follow Gimil, and Rattlin found some cover in the trees and moved along the tree line to meet it. Ratt sent Millyeneum up to scout.

Already crossing the road and heading toward us was an ogre and four or five hobgoblins.

Gimil was in the lead, and drew his sword anticipating the charge of the ogre. Gimil bellowed a challenge in Giantish, I think, but I didn’t understand it. A few of the hobgoblins threw javelins at Gimil, and one hit him a glancing blow on the shoulder.


I ran up and sent some missiles into the ogre. Rattlin readied his bow and took a shot at one of the hobgoblins.

I turned to look at Ord and saw the most astonishing sight of my life. I saw Ord, a dwarf, running away from the battle and hiding behind a tree like an elf, taking a shot with a his bow.

“When did Ord turn into an elf?” I thought. There he was, peeking behind the tree and re-stringing an arrow.

“Ord!” I shouted, “Get over there and help Gimil!”

Meanwhile, the ogre had reached Gimil and had taken a powerful swing at him and missed. I sent two more missiles into the ogre and began to back away, since the hobgoblins were getting close.

Then I stopped, because I realized that Gimil was going to be overwhelmed by the hobgoblins too! I ran forward to stand with him and help out. “Look at me! I’m a dwarf warrior,” I yelled and swung my staff at a hobgoblin, missing.

The priests came running up to help take one of the hobgoblins. Rattlin pierced one of hobgoblins with an arrow and Ord, running up from the tree, finished it off with another well-placed arrow as he dropped his bow and ran to help Gimil.

Hobgoblins are huge! Really big. One in front of me took a swing at me and I almost dropped flat on the ground to avoid it. Gimil got whacked hard be the ogre’s club, and a second hobgoblin took a swing at me with his axe and hit my arm!

Ouch. I’m not supposed to be up here fighting, I realized. I’m not sure what got into me, but there I was, toe-to-toe with two hobgoblins and an Ogre. Luckily, the ogre just took a sword swing in the side from Gimil, and we fighting for his life. Ord came up and hit the hobgoblin on my right so hard that the hobgoblin dropped like Bonnie Thimbleprick’s ‘s face after she realized that Gobby Sticklight wasn’t going to ask her to the Treedimple Starnight dance, and was going to ask ME. Hah!

I backed away and let the melee combat be done by the experts. I sent a couple more missiles into the ogre.

The priests and Rattlin had the last hobgoblin surrounded, and Ord and Gimil were fighting the remaining hobgoblin and the ogre. Within a few seconds it was all over.


Dear Diary, (Freeday, Planting 28)

Another dull day. It drizzled a bit, but we just kept going, since it really didn’t get to an actual rain. We spent a good part of the day trying not to give Ord a hard time, but it was hard. Ember kept sniffing up ahead, and then running to hide behind a tree. Everyone noticed except Ord. Ember’s a smart dog!

Dear Diary, (Starday, Flocktime 1) (Beory’s Day)

Spent most of the day traveling, and wound up at the tail end of the Beory day celebrations in a village outside Longspear. We were so tired that we just went into the inn and went to bed.

Dear Diary, (Sunday, Flocktime 2)

At last! We made it to Longspear late this morning. We said goodbye to the priests and found an inn to rest in. I went around with Ord and our wagon and sold all the stuff we’d gotten as loot on the trip (except the really good stuff). Ord and I got back around dinnertime, where everyone had a huge dinner and about ten pitchers of ale.

But that’s not the interesting part.

We were into about our fourth pitcher when a dark-robed old man walked over to Rattlin and said: “Rattlin Shadowlurk, do you remember me?”

Rattlin looked up and said, disbelievingly, “Wizard Cradomar? Is that you?”

“One and the same, Rattlin! It has been quite a few years!” the old man said. “But I’m not here with good news. Your father contacted me to see if I could find you. He’s dying.”

Rattlin’s face described a steady, slow fall. He had been joyous in his celebration of our adventures, and pleased, though confused, to see Cradomar. With the news of his father his face just got more and more sad.

I said, “How is he? Will it be long? Can we get there somehow?”

Cradomar looked over to me.

“Oh! Hello, I’m Posy Feytickle, a friend of Rattlin’s.” I held up a hand for him to shake, and he bowed and kissed it! Such excellent manners for a human!

“Enchanted, my dear. Rattlin has excellent taste in companions.”

What a smoothie! I hope he doesn’t think Rattlin and I are a couple or something! “Would you like to join us at our table? We’ve been celebrating, a bit, but I think you should meet Rattlin’s other companions.”

I performed the introductions while we found a chair for Cradomar.

Cradomar explained, “Rattlin’s father and I converse frequently through magical means. He was a companion of my adventuring days. He’s asked me to keep an eye out for you, Rattlin since he knew you were in the area. When we last spoke, he was not doing well, and he’s asked me to transport you over to him. You can bring your friends if you wish.”

Rattlin nodded, still a bit stunned.

“How will we travel?” I asked, wondering what ‘transport’ meant.

Cradomar looked at us. ‘At first I thought I’d just teleport him straight there, but with this group I think I’ll have to make a portal to a hillside spot near Verbobonc. It would probably be easiest.”

Teleport! Portal! Cradomar must be very, very powerful! Old Felster couldn’t even teleport, Glittergold bless his crotchety self. He also seems to have a sense of humor, an excellent quality, rare in dwarves, but occasionally present in the best humans.

Cradomar then did what I thought was a very nice thing. He told us of his adventures with Rattlin’s father. He told us about fighting a dragon(!) though he was quick to point out that this was not an old or large one. Rattlin’s father sounded very heroic in many of the stories, and I think it was very kind of Cradomar to let Rattlin hear good things of his father. Rattlin has mentioned before that his dad wasn’t around much, and that he didn’t get to see him very often. It must have been nice to find out your father was a brave adventurer, after all, even though you didn’t get to know him well. I wonder if Rattlin got his happy-go-lucky wanderlust from his father.

Cradomar’s tales were well told, and funny, and occasionally he’d do illusions (which were very well crafted). We listened raptly until almost dawn, when the old wizard finally called an end to it. Cradomar said that he was going to head home and rest for the portal spell, and that we were to meet him outside the town in the late afternoon on top of a hill to the north.

I’ve come up from the common room to fill you in, Dear Diary, but now I’m tired, and am going to sleep. Tomorrow, Verbobonc! I've heard there are a LOT of gnomes there.

 

[Oghma]

Dear Diary (Moonday, Flocktime 3)

Verbobonc! I’m sitting in a cozy hobbit home, the air rich with the smell of their hobbit weed, full of good food and good wine. Rattlin’s mother sure knows how to feed her guests!

We got up (well, *I* got up) early today, since I knew I had to sell all of our stuff we had gotten from the trip to Longspear. I made the rounds of the money-changers, armorers and weapon-smiths, getting prices, haggling and selling or trading everything. Our take per person, what with the gems and platinum we had gotten, plus equipment, is a staggering five hundred and thirteen gold pieces! I had to go wake up gimil to come with me for the money-changers. He was grumpy when he got up, but once I explained how much I was going to be carrying around, he perked up. (As much as a dwarf could perk up, I suppose. He just had a pause in his grumbling.)

He and I went to re-stock the wagon with supplies, and I bought a lute! It’s very nice, with mother of pearl inlays. The luthier said he copied the design from an elvish-made lute, and while it’s not elvish quality, Bole said it was very good. I have a little case for it, too and some extra strings.

Oh, I forgot to mention! This morning, during my spell practices, I discovered a new channel that was not open to me yesterday! I can make things invisible! People too! If I cast it on myself and Ember is nearby, I can turn her invisible at the same time! Rattlin got very excited when he found that out. I think it will be really useful!

We had a big lunch, then we drove the wagon out to the hill Cradomar had told us was the meeting point.

When we got there, Cradomar had made a circle of glittering golden powder he said was amber dust. He didn’t make a ring, he filled the circle in with the dust. It must have cost a fortune, because the ring was ten feet in diameter. Cradomar must be the most powerful person I have ever met. Someday, I might be like him!

He cast the spell (which took a good while) and then told us to get into the wagon and drive it into the circle. He got into the wagon next to me and gave a grin.

“This is the fun part about magic!” he said and with a blink, we were in Verbobonc! Just like that!

We came out in a small clearing on a hill overlooking the Velverdyva River plain and the city of Verbobonc. It was a sunny day, and there was no one around. Cradomar explained that he had marked this clearing years ago as a good place to enter Verbobonc undetected, and that it had served him well. I think I’m going to start marking spots like that in case my gifts allow me to move from spot to spot like Cradomar.

We drove down the hill onto the road called the Low Road and travelled into the city.

Verbobonc is an amazing place! There is a lot of gnomish architectural influence, and I know only a little of the city’s history, but I hthink it was founded by gnomes. Cradomar says that there is a sizable amount of gnomes in Verbobonc and that Rattlin’s family lives in that area. I never knew that!

We got into town and the guards treated Cradomar with a certain amount of deference. He was pleasant to them, but you could tell the respect they have for him in the way they answered his questions and anticipated his needs. We had our way quielty cleared for us to Rattlin’s house by a couple of guards moving through traffic.

Rattlin’s house is charming! It’s as close as an above-ground home can be to a hole in a hill. There are a lot of round windows and doors, and it sort of burrows it’s way into the city block, though it’s not muchmore than about eight or ten rooms. Rattlin’s mother, Elora, welcomed us in right away and sent a boy to take care of stabling our mules and wagon. We sat in the parlor while Rattlin and Cradomar went right back to see his father.

It was a little bit awkward at first, but Elora came back right away with two pitchers of ale and some bread and cheese. She must be used to dwarves! Ord and Gimil took out these mugs they had had made in Longspear to drink from, and we spent a peaceful time exchanging pleasantries with Elora. Well, I exchanged pleasantries, the dwarves drank ale and grunted.

I could tell that Elora was sad, though. She was very well mannered, and chattered away, but I saw she was covering up strong emotion. I asked her if she had a garden, and she smiled and offered to show it to me ( I know hobbits like fresh vegetables, and I had a hunch that Elora wasn’t going to unburden herself in front of Gimil and Ord.) Ord is not the kind of priest you can depend n to console you, though he’s first rate when it comes to stirring and motivation pre-battle harangues.

Elora ushered me out into a charming garden, well tended but cozy. She had a lot of flowering bushes which attracted butterflies, so the garden was full of life and light. I was delighted with it, and told her so.

Then I looked at her seriously and said, “How bad is it?”

With an effort, she said, “He’s dying, and soon. It’s a poison from an old wound that no cleric can heal, something from the dark places he’s been to.” Her face was creased with sadness, and I had the sense of a heavy burden carried far too long.

“Has he been weakened for along time?”

“No, it comes and goes, and each time it comes it’s worse. At first, it was a little fatigue at the end of the day. He’s always been very active, as you can probably tell from Rattlin.

“Well, if Rattlin is any comparison, your husband must have been bouncing off the walls in his youth,” I said with a smile.

Elora smiled back with a certain sadness, “Yes, he had a lot of energy. But now, the fatigue crushes him. Some days he can leave the house and go run errands and visit friends, but when he gets home he’s exhausted. Most days, though, he has to use all his will to get from the bedroom to the kitchen. He’ll sit in the kitchen all morning to ‘keep me company’, but I know it’s because he doesn’t have the energy to leave his chair.”

Her gentle, pleasant face crumpled and she went on, her voice catching, “It’s just so hard to see him like this, and see him trying to be brave about it. He jokes and teases like before, but sometimes he can’t hide his frustration and he’s very hard to be around!”

I opened my arms and she stepped into them, putting her head on my shoulder. I held her there for a while as she softly, yet still genteelly cried. Rattlin's mother was a woman of steel, but she had carried so much so long. For a long time there was nothing to say.

I said, “You would be very proud of your son, I think. He has proven to be a solid companion, and talented, too. I am very glad he’s part of our group.”

That seemed to change the subject the right way, and she recovered herself enogh to chat about Rattlin’s adventures since she’d last seen him. I didn’t know this, but she said that she and Rattlin’s father had kept an eye on Rattlin through Cradomar, so they knew a bit about what he had been up to, and how he got all the way down to the Yeomanry. I swore not to tell him, as I think he’d be upset.

We went back inside, and Rattlin and Cradomar had re-filled the pitchers and were sitting with Gimil and Ord at the kitchen table. Rattlin and his mother went off to talk a bit, and I spent a pleasant time talking with Cradomar about magic, and he gave me some tips about ways to use some of my spells. I didn’t know that the armor spell helped defend against the touch of spectres and wraiths!

Elora served us dinner, and took a tray into the bedroom for Rattlin’s dad. I went in with her to carry to ale pitcher, and he flirted with me like all old men do, but in a nice way. He looked very drawn out, though, and I left after a few minutes.

I’m tired myself, now. I’ve traveled halfway across the Flanaess, only to wind up scrubbing dishes at the end of a large hobbit meal.

Dear Diary, (Godsay, Flocktime 4)

Today was a day of comfort, for myself at least. I got up early with Elora and helped her prepare food for the day. We talked about home-y things, like my mother’s cooking, how we stored oils, what our favorite dishes were, and such things. If you ever get a chance to talk with a halfling mother about food, take advantage of it! They know more than any other race about the home comforts of food.

After breakfast I helped around the house with things that Elora hadn’t had the time to do. Only a few days ago I was battling hobgoblins anddodging swings of an ogre’s club, and now I’m grubbing around the garden, battling weeds and dodging flies. I only cheated a little bit with magic, but it was very satisfying to help and at the same time do something to make a home more pleasant. Elora loved how I was able to use magic to make things spotless, though. If I every learn to craft magical items, I’ll send her a magic broom which cleans the house! As it was, I did give her the recipe for my mother’s special scrub-all cleanser, a gnomish family recipe.

Rattlin’s dad, whose name is Raddo, (Raddo and Rattlin? Hmmm…) was able to get up and come into the kitchen today, and did he have a lot of stories! He talked most of the morning about his adventures, and about Elora, and asked me about Rattlin. I gave him a full report (as he termed it), and he was really proud. Rattlin was in and out, hooking up with friends and runing errands for his mother. Ord and Gimil went out with him, but went searching for some “real dwarf metal”, possibly to trade with that magic dwarven waraxe we found.
One of Raddo’s buddies came visiting in the afternoon, a human warrior who had gone a bit to seed. You could tell that he must have been mighty at some point, but I’m sure he hasn’t seen his feet in years. He was fun, and had brought this greenish elven wine which was Raddo’s favorite. The two of them had a good tim ein the kitchen, trading stories and yelling affectionately at each other’s foibles.

Elora opened up the large dining room to have a sort of party for Rattlin’s return. Some other women came to help in the afternoon and we were cooking and cleaning and washing all day long after that. Luckily, I was able to do a lot of work with spells for cleaning and cooling things. Elora has a knock for getting people together, I could tell.

The evening was a lot of fun, with Raddo’s adventuring buddies, family, and some local friends. Everyone got pleasantly drunk, argued just enough to make it fun, and we put Raddo to bed as Luna’s full radiance climbed to the top of the night sky. The party wound down after that, with goodbyes being called and promises to Elora to help clean up tomorrow. I think I’ll do what I can tonight to make work easier, but I’ll have to use up all my more powerful spells. I’m going to bed myself after that, so I’ll see you tomorrow, Dear Diary.

I like Raddo, and can see a lot of him in Rattlin.

Dear Diary (Waterday, Flocktime 5)

Raddo died in the night. I feel awful. I barely got to know him.

I’ve taken over the clean up from last night, as Elora is just sitting out in the garden and crying. Friends from last night have come and gone, offering their sympathies and help. I rounded up a couple to put last night’s things away, but they left a while ago.

I’ve whipped up some things so that people can nibble on food if they wish, but it’s a somber household. Even Gimil and Ord look sad.

Is this what it will be like when I finish my career? Will I be able to die with friends and family, or will I wind up a smudge on a giant’s club, my purple robe used for a rag to wash ogre dishes? Raddo was an adventurer for most of his life-time. Will I tire sooner than he?

One thing is for sure: I’m going to make sure that the people around me are good people. I don’t want anyone who will make me unhappy I’m with them. I want friends, people I can trust, that I know will take the same risks for me that I take for them.

I think I’m very lucky to have Ord, Gimil, and Rattlin as companions. They are keepers, even though I can’t stand the dwarvish sense of humor at times, and that Rattlin is annoying. I’m sure they put up with my own little things, (though I can’t imagine what they might be!) and I know they would do everything they could to help me.

Elora has come in to talk, so I’ll put you down for a while.

What a woman. She’s cooking for the funeral tomorrow. I’m helping. I’ve even got Gimil, Rattlin, and Ord to help, and I’ve got my hands full! Write more later.

 

[Oghma]

Dear Diary, (Earthday, Flocktime 6)

Well, hobbit funerals are very sad. Everyone got up and told stories about Raddo and what a great hobbit and all-around excellent fellow he was. Cradomar had a long speech that had many of the hobbits in tears, and he mentioned Rattlin in such glowing terms that I thought Rattlin’s ears were more red than the beets in Old Filber’s Garden – which win prizes in every fair in Treedimple and all the surrounding areas.

We were able to get some adventuring plans at the funeral, which was odd, but there was a lot of talks of bandits along the Low Road that went to a village named Hommlet. It goes into the Kron Hills and then east, away from the gnome valley inside the hills and towards the Gnarley Forest. The people at the funeral said that the humans were pretty upset by it, because the Low Road was being re-opened for trade. We got some details from the hobbits about the whereabouts of the bandits, but we tried to be discreet about it. It was, after all, a funeral.

The party afterwards was a very cheery affair, with everyone having fun and celebrating Raddo’s life and life in general. I went to bed early because I ached from all the preparations, but I know that Rattlin, Ord, and Gimil were drinking it up most of the night.

After I got up, I started looking over our supplies to check what we had and what we needed. We were low on ale (again!) and needed more oil for our lanterns. Our mules looked well fed and taken care of, and I bought some more feed for them. I went over to the market for fresh food and some smoked meat and fish, and arranged to have them delivered to Rattlin’s house.

When I got back the guys were up, and we had a snack (second breakfast!) and talked about what we were going to do. Gimil and Ord wanted to go shop for a magic greatsword for Gimil and maybe some nice armor. Rattlin wanted to tag along with them (I guess he’s tired of all the sorrow. Rattlin is too cheerful to stay sad long.) I wanted to go shopping for some magic. I got a little bit of a bonus because Ord and Gimil paid me back what they owed me from our other loot. Gimil and Ord took the magical waraxe with them for a possible trade and we all split up to shop.

Verbobonc is a fun place for a gnome, because so much of it feels like home. Of course, there is always the gnome section of town (Verboektown), which is like the marketplace in Treedimple, only *all the time*. Lots of close packed houses, the smell of gnome cooking, the occasional acrid whiff of someone’s backyard alchemy lab, the look and feel of gnomish architecture, and the happy chattering of gnomish children helped make me feel at home.

I wanted to relax in that atmosphere, so I went to a little tavern called the Brass Rail and sat outside and watched gnomes being gnomes. In a city, it’s a little different – you can’t play just anywhere and there is a lot less green, but city gnomes seem to have as many pets as gnomes in the hills. I saw a lot of little gnome boys and girls wit their birth pets, and I saw some boys practicing Dizzyboff with their friends. They had a practice table that some of them were spinning, and two of them took turns with the padded Dizzyboff sticks. One was pretty good, and kept his balance and was able to even land a few blows and block a few while spinning on the table.

After that, I went searching for a few things. I was directed to the Silver Consortium (the mages guild) to buy a wand of magic missiles. I wanted to have something around in case I ran out of spells. After a lot of haggling, I got a medium power wand that shot two missiles at the same time for a little over two thousand gold. I think the wizard knew I was from out of town, but thought he might offend some in-town relatives of mine if he padded his price any more. It is fully charged.

Two thousand gold is a lot of money, but I had it, and then some. I went to a gemcutters to buy some amethysts (You know how I like purple!) and he had a next round-cut set of ten that I bought with my remaining gold and platinum. I assured him of some more business from Gimil, Ord, and Rattlin, so we both left happy.

I shopped for clothes the rest of the afternoon, and had a great time. In the first shop I went to, called Clotho’s, I hit it off really well with one of the girls who turned out to be Clotho’s daughter! I offered to pay her to come around with me to the shops because she had such great taste in clothes, and we had a good old time going from shop to shop and having a glass of wine while the shop-keepers fell over themselves getting nice clothes out for me. I bought six outfits at one for Maribelle (Clotho’s daughter) because it looked really cute on her, then went back home where all the things I had ordered were piling up in the entryway.

It was a nice change from the funeral and sadness, Dear Diary, and Ember had a great time getting petted by all the gnome children. She got so many treats I’ll have to roll her onto the wagon!

When I got back, Gimil, Ord and Rattlin were showing off their new weapons and stuff, and it made me itch to get back in action. We’re leaving tomorrow at first light, and maybe Gimil will get a chance to use his magic greatsword, and hopefully Ord won’t have to use his new wand of healing.

Dear Diary (Freeday, Flocktime 7)

We are on the eve of Harnekiah, the dwarven “cleansing of the mountains”, when dwarves all get their gear up and go hunting humanoids. Ord says that it is a good omen that we are starting out on our next adventure at this time. I hope so! So far it’s been a lot of fun.

We set out in our fully stocked wagon, waving good-bye to the hobbits we had met. It was nice to get a chance to meet Raddo before he died. I hope we’ll see Elora again sometime. She is someone my mother would really like.

We headed up the valley along the part of the Low Road which borders the river called Nigb’s Run south towards the Kron hills. It’s nice to be outside the city again. We got about halfway to the next town, a village named Merboek (it must have a lot of gnomes, with a name like that!)

Dear Diary (Starday, Flocktime 8, First Day of Harnekiah)

I didn’t know Harnekiah lasts a *week*. Can you imagine, the mountains ringing with the battle cries of crazed dwarves, their stubby legs thundering up and down the slopes? I would plan to be away from any mountains during this time, whether or not I’m a humanoid. Eep.

Ord did this ritual he called the “Battle Cry of Clangeddin” he says is done during every Harnekiah. It involved blessing all our weapons (even my staff!) and intoning certain ritual words in Dwarvish. “We shaaaall scour the hiiiills” “Orcs shaaaaall taste our steeeeel” and other such dwarfisms were uttered by Ord, Gimil, Rattlin, and yes, myself. Ember was rolling around laughing behind the wagon, but I was able to be serious. For a while. Then I said, “Why is an elf leading this ritual?”

Ord can be pretty quick when he needs to be! My butt still stings! I guess that was disrespectful, but Ord needs to be taken down a peg or two. When he catches Rattlin, I wonder if he’ll get swatted on the butt or on his little hobbit head, because Rattlin laughed out loud when I said that.

Gimil was pretty angry with me, too. He probably hasn’t celebrated a Harnekiah since before his village was slaughtered, and this was important for him. I felt bad after I realized that, and joined in the later chanting with a most un-gnomish gusto. “My Blaaaaaade shall be quenched in their bloooood!”

We then ambled through the hills, sometimes seeing the river and river traffic, sometimes seeing other merchant groups heading towards Verbobonc moving quickly. We asked them if they had any news, and they told tales of noises in the night and stealthy footfalls. One of the caravan guards in a merchant group was a dwarf, and he warned Ord under his breath that there may be goblinoids about. He said he smelled them.

We passed through Merboek at about four in the afternoon, and pressed on.

We camped without mishap. G’night, Diary!

Dear Diary (Sunday, Flocktime 9, Second day of Harnekiah)

“We shaaaalll hunt them in their hoooooooles!” Happy Harnekiah to you, too, Dear Diary.

Besides the exciting morning ritual, it was a pretty dull day. Ember ran around sniffing at things all day, and she said the she smelled many different scents, including humans, gnomes, elves(!) and goblinoids. She didn’t have a really good sense of the goblinoids or I’d have brought it up to the group, because Gimil and Ord are all ready for action.

Gnight, Diary.

Dear Diary (Moonday, Flocktime 10, Third (yes, THIRD) day of Harnekiah)

Ow. I’m hurt. It’s been an exciting day, though, and I’ve used almost all my spells. Ord has used all his spells too. We’ve camped for the night in a forested area of the hills after a long chase and a few battles.

After our Harnekiah noise, we started down the road with Gimil in front. After about an hour, as the road went into a forested area, Gimil came back to the group barely able to contain his excitement. I know this because I’ve been around him a lot, but anyone else wouldn’t have noticed. For him, joyous excitement is a tiny, tiny widening of his eyes, and a tone of voice just a little bit higher than his usual rumble. I’ve been noticing this stuff more since I got Ember.

He’d seen five bugbears camped in a circle around the road about 50 yards after it entered the forest. He’d spotted the backside of the first one as he crept up the road, and waited until he’s spotted all of them. He sketched out how there were two on once side of the road, and three on the other.

We planned that we would sneak up on them, myself hanging back, and when Ord, Gimil, and Rattlin took their first arrow shots on one of the three, I would try to sleep the two on the other side of the road.

We hid the wagon and mules and left Ember to guard them. I cast mage armor on myself and Gimil, made Rattlin, Ord and Gimil invisible and we sneaked through the forest.

Gimil, Ord and Rattlin, all went ahead once we’d spotted all of them. The guys aimed at the nearest bugbear, and shot it dead just as I began my spell. Fwoosh! I slept the two on the far side with one spell!

The other two charged Gimil and Ord. The dwarves shot another round of arrows, damaging the next one, then dropped their bows and readied their weapons. The second dropped from a tremendous hit from Ord, and sword, axe, and arrow quickly dispatched the third one.

Gimil went across the road and slew the other two sleeping ones, and dragged their bodies over to the first three. We looted them, finding a magical amulet on one, a potion, and some gold.

Ord did some ritual stuff, and Harnekiah had officially began.

Gimil looked around for tracks, and found they led of deeper into the forest. We fetched the wagon and found that shortly after the tracks left the group, they went to a trail that it looked like the bugbears had made which we were able to follow in the wagon.

Gimil and Rattlin went ahead to stealthily follow the tracks that Gimil had found.

Shortly afterwards, they came back to say that there were two walking in our direction! We didn’t have time to hide the wagon, but as soon as we could see them, I slept one while Gimil and Rattling attacked them from the bushes and quickly dispatched those two.

Gimil and Ord both figured that those two were runners reporting to the ambush group, or coming to relieve them, so we took a rest.

We thought that seven bugbears were a lot to have encountered!

In the good old Harnekian spirit, we continued down the trail, following the tracks with Gimil and Rattlin in front with Ord and I behind in the wagon, hunting more bugbears. We were barely wounded, and had cast very few spells.

Then the luck of Clangeddin, Glittergold, and Harnekiah left us as we were ambushed by six bugbears.

It was a huge and bloody fight. Javelins came hissing out of the underbrush and Gimil and Rattlin were struck. My mage armor deflected one and Rattlin and Ord were missed by another each. There were three on each side of us, and Gimil and Rattlin were about 30 feet ahead of the wagon.

Gimil charged the two on his right as Rattlin shot an arrow and retreated towards the wagon. Ord cast a bless spell and charged off the wagon as I tried to get two with a sleep spell and got only one.

We were in trouble. Gimil was out ahead of the group, flanked by two, while the rest of the group had three howling bugbears swinging their morningstars and charging us.

Rattlin took another shot at the charging bugbear and drew his new sword. The bugbear took a big swing at him and Rattlin got knocked backwards by the force of the blow.

Gimil hewed at one with a mighty swing and nearly killed it, while Ord began fighting the one in front of him. I saw that two were headed toward Ord, and cast another sleep spell at it. It’s eyes rolled up in its head and it fell to the ground. Meanwhile the other one charged at me and took a big swing and missed!

The two fighting Gimil swung their morningstars, one hitting, the other missing. Ord’s shield shook with the blow from his opponent.

Gimil roared a battle cry and cut the wounded one in half! His sword continued through and hit the one behind him, wounding it slightly.

Rattlin poked at the giant bugbear with his sword and made a small cut. His bugbear hit him again and Rattlin fell to the ground. The bugbear roared and charged towards Ord.

Gimil missed a swing at his, and was hit a crushing blow with a morningstar. Ord’s shield rang with another blow, but he took a fierce axe cut and deeply wounded the bugbear in front of him.

I jumped backward off the wagon on the side opposite the bugbear that had just hit me, and tried another sleep spell. He resisted, and ran around the wagon and crushed my shoulder with a powerful swing. OW! Ony one spell left!

Gimil raised his sword high and cut his bugbear to the waist! He roared
“Clangeddin lives in me!” and charged down to help Ord.

Rattlin just lay there, bleeding. We were all too busy to help. My shoulder was a bloody mess, almost pulped by the bugbear’s blow.

Ord swung at his and dropped it, just as the other came rushing to hit him. His shield arm was numbed, and hung limply at his side.

I backed up and tried my last spell. SLEEP! I commanded, power flowing from me and ensorcelling his mind. Down he went!

Ord and Gimil had one flanked between them. I ran to get to Rattlin.

Gimil nicked the remaining bugbear, and Ord swung and his axe drew sparks from the bugbear’s shield against the bugbear’s shield.

I drew a healing potion from my pack and poured it down Rattlin’s throat. He choked and gasped, and looked around wildly.

Behind me I heard the final blows as Gimil and Ord ended the life of the last bugbear.

“Are we safe?” Rattlin asked.

“Not yet!” I said, “There are still two sleeping!”

I pointed Gimil to the two sleeping bugbears. “Kill them!” I shouted, and he and Ord brought their blades down on their throats.

We had survived, but barely. We were all badly wounded, Rattlin was barely alive, I, bleeding from my shoulder, Gimil with several cuts and bruises, and Ord badly hurt also.

Ord went around and did what healing magic he could, but we were all still wounded.

We’ve decided to camp here and rest. We’ll leave the bodies where they lie, Gimil is taking the first watch. It’s already dark, and I have no spells left. Ord has none either and we are both resting to regain our spells.

 

[Oghma]

Dear Diary (Godsday, Flocktime 11 Fourth day of Harnekiah, Early morning)

I didn’t think it could get worse, but it did. We should have healed ourselves with Ord’s new wand. I don’t know why did didn’t think of it, but we barely escaped with our lives. I almost died. Rattlin almost died. Ord almost died. Gimil would have died.

I went to sleep under the wagon, on the opposite side from Rattlin, who also slept underneath. Ord bedded down near the wagon wheels, but udner the trees. Gimil was on watch.

He swears he didn’t hear or see a thing. “One minute I was looking around, then next minute the night was filled with the howls of bugbears. I could barely shout to wake you."

There were eight of them. We still had no spells. It was lucky I had bought the wand, and that Ord had bought one too.

When I awoke, it was already chaos. Gimil had two javelins stuck in him, Ord had one, and Rattlin and I rolled out from under the wagon on either side.

Ord was at the back end of the wagon, his back to it. Gimil was in the front corner of the wagon, Rattlin was near him on the side of the wagon. I was on the other side, near Ord.

There were already three bugbears on Gimil, and he was a raging whirl of steel, dodging, slashing, screaming in fury.

Rattlin went behind another approaching Gimil, and sank his sword deep into it’s back. It whirled, enraged, to attack him.

I whipped out my wand and shot two missiles at the bugbear on Ord’s right, nearest me. I ran around behind the bugbears and prepared to shot some more.

Two bugbears kept Ord flanked - one that I had wounded, and another that was near the right rear wheel of the cart. Ord hacked desperately at the one I had just hit, trying to drop him. The third, that had backed Ord into the wagon, whirled to fight me.

Two that had flanked him hit Gimil. The third missed. Gimil’s sword bit deeply into the side of one of the flanking ones.

Rattlin tumbled away from the bugbear and readied his bow. The bugbear charged him and hit him hard! Rattlin’s knees buckled, but he backed away and shot an arrow right into the bugbear.

The bugbear attacking me swung his morningstar and hit me. Already wounded, I wavered, almost falling down.

Gimil was hit again by one of the bugbears surrounding him. He thrust his sword into the side of the one he’d already wounded.

Ord was wounded and flanked, Gimil was flanked and had an extra on him, and Rattlin had been hit hard. I had already been hit, and was woozy from the blow.

Rattlin stepped back and fired another arrow, but the bugbear stepped in and felled Rattlin with a sickening crunch.

I shot two missiles into the one in front of me.

Ord needed help, and need it fast. I saw that if I got on the other side of the one he and I had injured, we would flank it and make it easier to hit. I knew that the bugbear next to me would get a swing at me, possible killing me, but I had to help Ord. I ran to flank the one to his right.

Whack! The bugbear whirled, giving Ord the opening he needed. Down went the first bugbear kill of this fight.

The bugbear I’d wounded twice charged and me and hit me. I saw nothing but blackness.

Diary, I thought I was dead. I thought we all were. Rattlin was weakened, Gimil was about to have a fourth bugbear attacking and flanking him if Ratlin fell, and Ord had two on him, one wounded by my missiles and one untouched.

Rattlin stepped back and fired another arrow, but the bugbear stepped in and felled Rattlin with a sickening crunch.

Gimil once again swung his sword but this time, missed.

Ord shouted ‘”Posy! Nooooo!” He stepped up and slew the one that had downed me with a single, mighty blow. Braving the attack of his remaining foe, he ran over to me.

Gimil nicked his foe, it was bleeding heavily but still attacking him. The one that dropped Rattlin ran to attack Gimil. Soon he’d be flanked on all sides.

Ord whipped out his wand and healed me enough to bring me back to consciousness. His foe hit him hard, but Ord stood strong above me, fending off the bugbear’s attacks. I rolled out from under to see Gimil almost surrounded, flanked on four sides.

From across the battlefield I shot two missiles into the one Rattlin had wounded, and they went right into the back of it’s head! Down it went! Gimil whirled and cut his wounded foe, dropping it, and scored a mighty hit on the follow- through!

Suddenly the fight was even. Three of us conscious, three bugbears alive and some wounded.

Ord roared, “For Clangeddin!” and his muscles bulged and he hit the bugbear hard, almost killing it. The bugbear snarled and hit Ord hard on the side of the head, staggering him.

Gimil killed his wounded one with a mighty swing of his sword, and took a piece of fur out of the last one on him.

Ord was badly hurt, Gimil was bleeding from numerous wounds, and Rattlin was bleeding to death. I fired off two more missiles into Ord’s then ran to see if I could save Rattlin.

Ord stepped back and healed himself with the wand, and the bugbear hit him again.

Gimil hit his hard. I got a healing potion out and poured it into Rattlin.

The bugbear fighting Gimil swung and hit him, but Gimil was still enraged and full of fighting fury.

Ord cleaved his bugbear with his axe. Down it went! I fired two missiles into Gimil’s and it fell, also.

We were alive.

“Ord! Quickly, heal Gimil, he’s going to fall over!” I shouted. I knew when his rage passed, Gimil could die of the wounds he received in battle. Ord ran over to heal him.

There were fourteen bugbear bodies all around us from the two fights. We all looked at each other grimly, exhausted, bleeding, yet victorious.

“No elves in this party”, I said. “So you dwarves have this much fun every year?”

Gimil’s lips began to twitch. Ord had a broad grin. Rattlin started laughing and we all joined in.

We were alive.





[Player note: We thought were were going to die. Gimil's player had rolled a one on his spot check, so before we knew it the bugbears were in the middle of our camp. We were all wounded, and had stupidly not used the cure wand to heal ourselves.
In this fight, every two magic missiles from my wand did nine or ten points. Gimil survived almost certain death from the surrounding bugbears, and Ord, bless him risked his life for me as I had risked mine for him. It was incredible, and was easily one of the most exciting fights I'd been in in my adventuring career]

 

[Horacio]

Super! What a fighting scene!
I love your Story Hour. Posy is the cuttest character in this boards, and the diary stile is great, as I have already said you some times...

I give it 5 stars...

 

[Ziggy]

Hi!

I'm glad to see Posy back, and what a fight ! Bugbears can be pretty nasty, especially for a low-level party.

The reason I love Posy so much is the mix of everyday stuff and high-tension combat. I love campaigns that also includes stories and scenes not connected to the main plot, and the death of Raddo was beautifully sad. It makes the characters more three dimentional, with a history, and that is what I love in RPGs.

In my campaign the wedding of one of the characters is the main topic of a session, with everybody scambling to get new clothes, planning the party, and discusing whom should be invited. I just love this stuff

.Ziggy

 

[Kael of the Blackrose]

Posy

It is always a pleasure to follow Posy's adventure. I see you made some editing before posting again on this new board. The tale is even better now...if can be possible.

 

[Oghma]

Yes, I did do some editing on the story before I re-posted. It needed it, mostly due to some recurring typos, but I sometimes need to check my internal consistency with names and things to make sure I don't mess up. I'm beginning to get a sort of Encyclopedia Posica to keep track of the names like Bonnie Thimbleprick, Posy's childhood nemesis and places like Treedimple, Posy's childhood home I used filling out the adventure

At this point in the adventure, the group is at 5th level due to the Day of Twenty-one Bugbears. Our DM (Rattlin's player) was going to run us into Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, but before we could start had to back out of DMing.

We went on a 2 month hiatus from gaming before Ord's player decided to jump in and DM. He's never DM'ed a campaign before, but his first adventure was a good one, and had a good background, some investigation, some NPC's we learned to hate, and some good combats.

I think the next installment contains events that happened about six or seven sessions ago. There is more adventure related interaction with NPC's, and some wild exploits by Rattlin. These events should take Posy's crew from 5th to 7th level.

Once I get Ord's stats *bonk Ord* I'll post up everyone the Rogues Gallery again.

 

[wolff96]

Re: Posy

It's great to see that Posy has made the jump to the new boards.

The poll isn't working for me -- something about our network here at work -- but I think Posy is in the top five of the stories here on the board.

Keep writing!

 

[Krellic]

Cuteness comes to heroic fantasy.

Suddenly I feel very old.

Enjoying the tale, not looking forward to the action figures!

Keep going you fool!!!