Morrow's Savage Tide Adventure Path

[Morrow]

Here There Be Monsters 3 (Garnham)

From the Journals of K. Garnham Seeker as translated from the Vallossan

A closer examination of the ruins has shown that they are not Ohlman in origin as I had originally thought.

The zombie proved to be fairly talkative. Under Maggie's questioning he revealed that his name in life was Golnora and that he had been slain (and animated) by the lord of Fogmire to act as a warning for us.

Whether this was a warning for anyone who entered Fogmire or for us in particular was left open for interpretation.

Maggie and Dexter had words over what to do with Golnora. Maggie untied him and tried to teach him the ways of Aster. Dexter was prone to take a more violent route.

After resting and searching the place we decided it best to camp elsewhere that night. Maggie wanted Golnora to come with us; an idea that had some merit even if it wasn't the one Maggie had. In the end we left Golnora behind.

He seemed to think that we would see him very soon.

Elyosha took us through the fog. Keen eyes and finely honed tracking skills should have brought us to a point several hundred yards from the ruins, but Fogmire is warped and we arrived at our starting point.

With little option, we bedded down in the ruins.

During the night we were ambushed by demons.

Barlagura to be exact. Demonic scouts with the semblance of apes.
They came upon us invisibly. The largest one darted from opponent to opponent not focusing on any one of us for too long.

Others went after the smallest of us. One grabbed Urol and teleported away.

The others killed Tavey.

Unable to do anything for Urol that night we returned to our sleep.
I almost wish that I hadn't. Something about the place or the creature's we had just fought seeped into my dreams. I found myself lost in a demon infested jungle surronded by a sea of damned souls. A piece of my sanity has vanished.

The next morning our spellcasters began their work.

Maggie decided to animate Tavey's skeleton. I'm not keen on the idea of travelling with undead, but it was inevitable given Maggie's faith and profession. Besides, if she didn't do it the lord of Fogmire probably would have. On the whole, I think Tavey would have choosen this way.

Elyosha, meanwhile, was scrying on Urol. Her magics revealed that he was held somewhere inside and near large Barlagura statues.

Somewhere, during the spellcasting, Dexter beheaded Golnora without Maggie seeing him.

Maggie used her magics to get a read on where Urol was (more precisely where his hat was) and we were off.

We came to a hill with the heads of two gigantic apes carved into its side. The mouths of the apes lined up with cave mouths. We proceeded in after leaving the non-Beetles in as safe a place as we could find.

Eventually we came to a room with a, to my knowledge, unique magical trap.

It consisted of two mirrors, two thrones and two black tallow candles.

First a candle is lit; one of the thrones fills with blood. Then the throne is sat in; one of the mirrors goes swirly. The mirror is touched and either the magical gate is opened, or the person touching the mirror gets replaced by an evil copy of themselves while they are stuck behind the mirror.

Elyosha was trapped and we had to fight her feral doppleganger.

Then Elyosha and Maggie went about activating the gateway.

We travelled through to a large cavern with a stone bridge over a pool of (presumably) blood.

More Barlagura attacked and were dispatched. A swarm of baboons joined them in their attacks on us and their makeshift funerals.

We climbed upwards to where the apes had advanced from. After some searching we found two chests. Among the coins and magic arms was a true treasure-- a tome of worldly memory.

A truly fascinating work.

We continued on. We encounterd what appeared to be an undead naga and destroyed it.

At that point we were in no condition to continue so we returned to the others to rest and regroup.

As a side note Maggie mentioned something that got me thinking.

Apparently she has this plan to make love to a very diverse group of people to express an aspect of her faith. Only she hasn't started yet.

When we met Elyosha she said she was too young to even start to date.
The only flirting I've ever seen Dexter doing is with Maggie.

I think we're all virgins.

Odd theories start coming to mind at this point. The Barlagura didn't attack Avner (who was hiding behing his horse anyway), Rowyn or Captain Venkalie. Avner and Rowyn are looser than a slipknot and the Captain was married. Not a virgin among those three.

Tavey was too young to know the pleasures of the flesh and Urol isn't much of a ladies man.

Disturbing line of thought. I'm going to consult the tome.

 

[Morrow]

Here There Be Monsters 4 (Margaret)

Dear Diary,

After a much-needed rest, we continued our quest to rescure Urol.
The door to the very next chamber we entered after our rest was trapped, and so we began the day injured. We knew there would be a battle, but we were not discouraged. The chamber contained a double monkey statue, and it was obvious, even to me, that the monkey paws we had found were the key to gain entry to the next.

We proceeded with caution, Dexter and I engaging the monkey paws as we were the least injured among the party. Thankfully, Aliosha was cautious too, and discovered that the statues in the following chamber were rigged to sound an alarm, and Garnham was able to disable them.

I have to pause here to point out that I have nothing against monkeys. Generally, they are delightful and entertaining with their chittering, dancing and poo-flinging. I also have nothing against demons, as long as they’re not bothering me and my friends by constantly trying to murder and abduct us. Murderous, demonic monkeys, on the other hand, are a different story. They have sharp teeth, and they can bite. Never underestimate the power of an angry monkey, and never, ever underestimate the power of an angry, demonic monkey that wants to turn you into an undead servant, because demons can be mean, and slavery is wrong.

Anyway, the final chamber was ablaze with fire, coming from a huge pit in the center of the room. There were five huge monkey statues, and Urol hung above the flames like a boar at a flesh-eater’s back-yard summer festival.
Aliosha quickly put the fire out with nature’s magic. Then, the master of Fogmeyer came out of nowhere and began to attack us. He said his name was Ulengru, but it was no matter. His name did not change his evil ways. I flew up and tended to Urol while the others took care of Ulengru.

Upon his fall, Aliosha began to examine the area near the big, two-headed monkey statue at the end of the chamber, but the statue came to life and killed her. Actually, it didn’t really come to life. I had cast death watch earlier, so I could tell that it was neither alive nor dead, but like living stone. Aliosha knew something of the beast, but I have seen nothing like it. It’s certainly not on my list.

Dexter grabbed Aliosha’s body and carried it to relative safety and then returned, seemingly to fight the monster. I summoned a celestial lion, and Garnham a giant beetle to fend off the monster while we escaped, and then Dexter told me to run away, so I did. The others were not far behind, and we escaped to safety where we were able to rest and plan our next attack.
Alisoha had a scroll of Reincarnate in her pack, so Urol was able to bring her back, but as a dwarf. Aliosha is having trouble adjusting to her new form, but she’s handling it much better than Dexter did. I don’t know why this is so difficult for them. I would be happy with any form Aster chose for me.

Anyway, we went back in with extra protections and killed the stone monster quickly. After it was dead, the fog lifted, and we were able to leave the area. I still don’t know what happened to Golnura. I hope that he was freed when we defeated his master.
We proceeded South and eventually came to some huge Ulmec gates. They let us through, and we went down to Mora where Ulmec guides escorted us to Farshore by canoe.

Farshore was under siege when we arrived. Pirates without style or grace were attacking the locals and burning their buildings. Again, Aliosha put out the flames, and we killed the pirates. I hated killing pirates, but they were really bad at it, so I got over it. Their leader was a very poor fighter. I think his name was Stinky Pete.

After we saved Farshore, Livinia and the Jade Ravens emerged. It was really very sweet to see Granham and Livinia reunited. It awakened the desire inside me to mate. I think that one day, I would like to find one mate to live with, but for now, I just need to mate. Hopefully, there will be time, but there is much work to be done.

We gathered in the chapel (which is non-denominational – I’ll have to change that) with the town council. They brought in a prisoner named Lefty who told us that the pirates were working for the Crimson Fleet, and we only have two months to prepare for their arrival.

As I said, there is much to be done…

 

[Morrow]

Here There Be Monsters 4 (Garnham)

From the journal of K. Garnham, Seeker as translated from the Vallossan
After spending the night recovering from our encounter with the faux-undead naga we returned to the Barlagura lair.

We passed through a series of doors each magically trapped or guarded. I missed an obvious glyph on the first and set off an ice storm.

We finally made it into a large chamber dominated by a large statue of Demogorgon. Perhaps twenty feet in front of this statue was a bonfire pit, fully ablaze. Above the blaze hung Urol on a chain suspension. He was being slowly lowered to his death.

We were attacked by the large Barlagura that we had encountered before. He identified himself as Ilangru, lord of Fogmire and claimed that Demogorgon would have our souls.

He died.

Maggie rescued Urol and we began our search of the chamber.
Elyosha came close to the statue which animated and attacked her. The wounds were grievous in and of themselves, but the touch of the statue withered flesh also.

Elyosha died.

Dexter grabbed her corpse and we beat a hasty retreat.

The statue, a Lemorian Golem, gave chase for a while, but we eventually lost it.

Urol used a scroll of reincarnate to bring Elyosha back the next day. She reincarnated as a dwarf. She is trying to be stoic about this, but much of her identity is tied in with her people, her blood and that blood is now dwarven.

We spent some time healing and made another attempt to leave Fogmire. We encountered the same space warping effect that we encountered before. It was decided that whatever was causing this effect was in the Barlagura lair, probably the demon-golem. We decided to take a day of healing and return, in strength, to destroy it.

We were successful. Summoned creatures and spell-enhanced adventurers proved too much and the four eyes that had been on us since we first arrived on this damned island were shut forever.

Further search of the lair showed no signs of any other spell or magical effect that would be responsible for space folding in upon itself in Fogmire. We left and attempted to leave Fogmire for a third time.

This time we were successful.

We found a trail and traveled until we came to the massive wall that blocks the wilds of the Isle of Dread from the Ohlman villages and Farshore.

We identified ourselves at the wall and, after a translator had been called for, we were allowed to enter the Ohlman village of Tanora.

The Tanorans are charged with the defense of the wall. It was obviously more martially oriented then the other Ohlman village we passed through on our way to Farshore.

After a night of rest and trading we made our way to the village of Mora. From there we made our way to Farshore via canoe. Avner's horse was left behind.

We crossed the channel only to see smoke in the distance. The settlement was under attack by pirates.

As soon as we made landfall we rushed to do what we could. Elyosha used her magics to extinguish fires and strike down pirates with lightning bolts. Dexter and Maggie attacked the pirate leader Slipknot Pete and a band of his goons. I stopped an attempted rape of a weaver named Ruby.

We were just finishing up with the last of the pirates when the force that was fighting in the inner part of the city broke through to us.

Lavinia was with them.

Ilsa and Sabine apparently have joined the Jade Ravens, replacing the members who had died in the wreck of the Bronze Dragon.

Also present was a tall man in mithral chainmail, Manthalay Meravanchi, uncle to Avner.

Avner immeadiately came to his uncle and began his fawning ways. I was able to take my eyes off Lavinia long enough to notice that Manthalay didn't seem too happy to see Avner although the elder Meravanchi didn't do, or say, anything overtly rude to his nephew.

We then went into the town's meeting house to figure out what was going on.

Damage reports came in steady stream. There were relatively few casualties; the population now stands at 240 (241 when Jasmine Jennis has her baby, but she's not due for another month.)

Lavinia introduced us to the town council. She heaped lavish praise upon us. I noticed that the Ravens seemed somewhat put out by this effusion.
We then received a report from the militia members who had searched the pirate's ship. On board the Hellfish they came across papers indicating that this was a scouting mission for the Crimson Fleet.

The room erupted into anarchy. I don't blame them; the Crimson Fleet eats places like this for breakfast.

There was one pirate who had been captured alive. A malnourished, feverish man named Lefty. Manthalay was all for torturing him before executing him. Lavinia protested. While the two sides fought over which protocols to use we Beetles got information from Lefty.

According to him, Slipknot Pete was contacted magically by the Crimson Fleet. They wanted information on Farshore in preparation for an assault that is now two months away.

Manthalay was all for executing Lefty on the spot. I managed to convince enough people that he'd be of better service to us fighting the Fleet with the rest of us.

The Beetles were then escorted to Vanderboren Manor. We bathed and had fresh clothing brought to us. Lavinia met with us later and went over plans to improve our defenses.

There is a lot to do and little time to do it in. There are engineering improvements, diplomatic missions to at least two, possibly three, different groups, efficiency improvements, repairs on the Dragon and a host of other things too numerous to mention.

Maggie made an excellent point during this meeting. Why does the Crimson Fleet want Farshore destroyed?

No one had an answer at the time. Sitting here now, writing this out, flipping through the pages of this journal I think I might have something.
The first question is how they know about us in the first place.

Farshore's existence isn't exactly a secret, but it's hardly common knowledge either. Lavinia approached members of the aristocracy in Sasserine for funds to mount the expedition that got us here. They, presumably, would know. I don't believe that the exact location or name of the colony were disclosed to potential colonists until after they were en route. The Seekers know about the colony from the journals of Lavinia's parents.

The nobility of Sasserine who turned down Lavinia believed that Farshore was doomed anyway. I don't see any motivation to end Farshore from them. Of course it is the nobility; their motives aren't always clear or reasonable.

The Seekers aren't involved. There's a Seeker lodge here and the opportunity to explore the island itself and it's many ruins.

Others may have found out about this place, but there is no visible motive for destroying it by force. The chances of Farshore surviving without open assault are still low. It would be better to just wait a year or two and let it fail on it's own. Unless we were getting in the way of something that the Fleet deemed important. But if the Fleet had interests in this area why wouldn't they destroy Farshore in it's infancy? Why would they need to rely on the half-assed scouting of the cream of Rat's End?

There is someone who (probably) knows about the location of Farshore, has had contact with the Crimson Fleet and has enough of a grudge against Lavinia to want to see her works destroyed.

I'm loathe to mention it to Lavinia. If I'm wrong then I've opened old wounds for no reason. If I'm right the wounds are still open and I don't know if there is any benefit.

I'll ask Elyosha if she can scrye on him tomorrow. I still have the key and the locket I found in his room. That should help.

 

[Morrow]

Here There Be Monsters 4 (Elyosha)

Kaskus tells me that it needs that I write in Dwarven. I want to learn this language, and this is the fashion to do it. I do like not Dwarven. I am an Elf.

But I am an Elf in a body Dwarven. A statue army tentacled tentacled statue attacked me. My mother told me all the days that a druid must to rest outside of melee. She told me, “Use your spells, not your hands!” Truly, I was throwing spells, but the battle appeared finished. I got a finger from the altar. Then the statue enlivened. Then it killed me with its touches.

Urol searched again my scroll of Reincarnate. He reincarnated me. His skill with spells is getting bigger, and I appreciated him. But I am now a Dwarf. My people will understand, because the druids know Reincarnate. Again, I prefer to be an Elf.

We fought and killed the demonic statue. We walked to Farshore, where pirates were burning the buildings and chasing the innocents. I became a Pteradon (better than a Dwarf) and have quenched the fires. For the first, I threw a spell, and for the second, I called an element of water. Maggie and Garnham saved the innocents chased, and Dexter fought the pirates. Dexter is a good Dwarf, even that he was a good Half-Orc.

The pirate us told that the Fleet Crimson is coming. Now we help Lavinia become of the mayor, and we prepare for battle. I will find again parts of spells and send the animals to speak to the Olmans and the Araneas.

Kaskus, please to correct my Dwarven. I fear I have done many wrongs with this new language of yours.

 

[Morrow]

Tides of Dread 0 (Garnham)

From the journal of K. Garnham Seeker as translated from the Vallosan

It has been two weeks since my last entry. Tomorrow we depart to seek out martial assistance from the Ohlman and the Phanaton, to free access to tarpits and to repair the Bronze Dragon.

The time has passed too quickly. There is still so much to do; even if we succeed at every preparation there is no gurantee that we will survive the coming of the Crimson Fleet.

Dexter and I have moved to the Last Coconut. Originally this was to improve morale among the Ravens, but I hardly spend any time there except to sleep and break fast and Dexter spends his evenings trying to woo Rowyn.

It has worked out for the best however. My relationship with Lavinia has entered the gossip mill and it's probably best for our reputations that we sleep under separate roofs.

Dexter has had an opportunity to return to his first love-carpentry. Sellis' Woodworks and Smithy had been in need of some serious reorganization. He soon set things right.

It was from Gunnloda Sellis that we purchased an intricately carved chest upon which Maggie has cast a sonic glyph of warding. We have secured the chest in one of the warehouses, hoping that our mysterious thief gets curious and sets off the trap. As of this writing there has been no sign of tampering.

Dexter has also spent some time with Urol in the greenhouse. Dex tells me that Urol is a different person after his encounter with the servants of Demogorgon. There are moments when he seems his old self, talking animatedly about the impending hatching of the terror bird egg that he still has, flitting from topic to topic in his usual manner, but those times are few and far between and he spends hours in sullen silence.

Maggie has been working in the local chapel. I spent an hour listening to her sermonizing. She's better than she was the last time I heard her. If she keeps improving at this rate, I may find myself worshiping Aster. She's certainly worked wonders on the public spirit.

I've offered employment to Sabine. We're short on arcane spellcasting and she's more than competent. She joined the Ravens on one last mission to clear out the troglodytes. Apparently things didn't go that well for her. Kaskus and Ilsa have told the story over and over again frequently mentioning Zann and Sabine getting sick at the stench of the creatures. Sabine has remained quiet on the subject and I have respected that.

I have made overtures for her to join the Seekers, but she is dedicated to the Witchwardens and Seeker membership would hurt her standings with them. I plan on respecting her wishes, but selfish reasons made me hope that she would say yes. I'm rising in the Seeker hierarchy and will soon be assigned a chronicler. I had hoped to have Sabine act in that capacity instead of some stranger.

I'm sure I'll be happy with whomever the Seekers send.

It is through Sabine that I was properly introdued to Hevrik Aldwattle. He is the head of the local Witchwarden chapter. We discussed some spells that would prove useful in defending Farshore.

The Library here is fairly well stocked for such a remote Seeker outpost. Jeran Emrikad and I have spent some evenings going through texts trying to gain some advantage against the Fleet. We have learned that the leader of the Crimson Fleet, Cold Captain Wyther, is reputed to have made deals with the Abyss to extend the power of his organization. I had hoped to glean some idea as to the tactics of the Fleet, but we've found no evidence to suggest that anyone has survived an assault to record the details.

Needless to say, we have kept mum about this with the general population.

Jeran has expressed curiosity about our adventures. He's gone over my journals and has asked for more details. He has spent much of his spare time trying to piece together legends of an eighth Ohlman village that was on Temute, the isle where Farshore now resides.

He has inferred that finding this lost village would be quiet the feather in my cap.

Rowyn is proving to be an enigma.

She has taken up rooms at the Last Coconut and is supporting herself somehow.

I attempted to hire her to spy on Avner's attempts to campaign for his uncle. She laughed in my face before offering to do it "as a gesture of goodwill, offered in the hope that we can stay out of each other's business in the future."

She reports that the only success that Avner has had is in seducing Ruby the Weaver. In fact he's probably driven more voters away from Manthalay. She offered the advice that we can't rest on our laurels though. Manthalay is too good a politician to ignore.

Rowyn seems to be warming to Dex as well, giving him campaign advice and letting him buy her drinks.

My first thought is that she is working for Manthalay and trying to throw us off track. But if she was working for him she would have taken our money. And her advice seems sound.

Captain Venkalie has gone over the Hellfish with a work crew. She's at least confident that we won't sink on calm waters.

My time has been spent overseeing engineering improvements to the harbor and palisade, talking to people and making inroads with the local black market.

In this case the local black market is Lannae, a human woman in her early 50s and Gertie her young apprentice.

Elyosha has spent her time working with Aldwattle's laboratory, recruiting for the militia and sending messages to the Tanaroa and the Aranea.

She has released Medvedya and taken a dinosaur as an animal companion.
She has cast the scrying on Vanthus. It revealed him and another man in a cabin pouring over a map of the Isle of Dread. It would appear that the rumors of the Fleet having dealingd with the Abyss are true; Vanthus is now horned and scaled, bat winged and tailed.

I'm off now to have one last dinner with Lavinia before leaving in the morning. I'm going to tell her about her brother. I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[Morrow]

Tides of Dread 1 (Margaret)

Dear Diary,

After spending a couple weeks at the chapel in Farshore and finally getting started on my list (thank Aster for a little down time in between saving the world), we headed up to Tanaroa to enlist the help of the Ullman natives for our upcoming battle with the Crimson Fleet.

Upon arrival, the Ullman were attacked by a scary bat god called Zotzilla who turned into a gang of fire bat things. Alyosha just turned on the rain, and they were gone. Then we met JaKal, the chieftess of Tanaroa. She told us that Zotzilla was angry because of a missing idol. We offered to find the idol and return it, but when she described it, it sounded like something we already had. Garnham took it out and showed it to JaKal, and we explained that we had found it and had not stolen it from Zotzilla’s temple. She didn’t seem very pleased, but she told us how to get to the temple so we could return it and said that if we did so, they would trade with Farshore and help us fight the Fleet.

We took a detour to ask the Phanaeton for help. I don’t know why, but every time we go somewhere to ask somebody for help, they’re being attacked by something big and scary. The Phanaeton were being attacked by a big lizard, and not a friendly big lizard like Alyosha’s new friend Bolsha, but a real mean one that tried to eat Dexter and Garnham. It could have eaten the cuddly, little Phanaeton for breakfast and still had room for seconds, but we got rid of it pretty quickly, and the Phanaeton were grateful.

I must pause here to tell you of my grandmother’s adventures with the Phanaeton. She once defended them from a forest of evil trees all by herself, and they were so grateful that they showered her with gifts. That tribe probably reveres her as a god, although she’s far too humble to formally accept such a title. She’s such a kind and generous woman. I wish more pirates were just like her, stealing from the rich to give to the poor and always more than happy to help the little guys, like the Phanaeton.

Anyway, they were going to take us to their leader right away, but we were committed to return the idol without further delay, so a couple of them stayed with us as guides while we trekked to the tooth of Zotzilla, which is pretty much a creepy bat cave. It was pretty hot in there, but we magicked our way past that, and went in to return the idol. Zotzilla was there, and not only did he allow us to return the idol peacefully, but he rewarded us with great treasures!

Garnham got a ring of invisibility. Alyosha got a luck stone. Dexter got some fancy armor. Sabine got a pearl of power. I got a fabulous belt. It was really nice of an evil god to give us that stuff. Never judge and evil god by its huge, furry bat wings, that’s what I always say, but Dexter took his gift reluctantly. I was pretty annoyed by that. I’ve been praying for Celestial armor for weeks, and had it been delivered by some other god, that wouldn’t threaten my devotion to Aster. Dexter’s really changed a lot lately, and I don’t like it. The way he talks, I feel like he thinks that his dedication to his god is better and more important than anybody else’s. What a big, stinky jerk! There was a time when I felt genuine affection for him, maybe more than friendship, but he’s become so hard-headed and self-righteous lately. I could never feel that way about him now, and he’s made it clear that he doesn’t feel that way either. That’s fine with me if he’s going to imply that he’s somehow better than me.

Anyway, we got back to the Phanaeton Village, and Alyosha and Garnham went to negotiate with their leader while I took advantage of the festivities to check one of the less common races off my list.

The next morning, we traveled north to the Ricosta temple to find their cache of weapons. There was a big, scary snake in there, but it left us alone. Garnham noticed a big illusion in the middle of the room, and there was a big pit under it, but there was also a ladder down to a ledge, so we followed it down, and then there was this chamber with a big ranbow snake thingy. It was named Tanatea, and somebody said the creature was called a cloaca or something. We told it why we were there, and it just gave us the weapons and disappeared.

We teleported to the Bronze dragon with the weapons for our rendezvous with the Blue Nixie and got attacked by a corpru, another big nasty lizard and a big shark. Alyosha turned into an octopus, so the fight went pretty quick.

And then we had pie and ice cream. Yummy!

Hugs and Kisses,

Maggie

 

[Morrow]

Tides of Dread 1 (Garnham)

From the journal of K. Garnham, Seeker as translated from the Valossan

We set out from Farshore aboard the Hellfish. Joining us was Sabine whom I had persuaded to work for me and Elyosha's new animal companion Bolsha, a well armored dinosaur.

It took us less than a day to make the journey to the village of Tanaroa. We made the final approach overland and came into the village while they were in the midst of some sort of ritual directed at a large bat totem. The locals danced around a large bonfire, chanting.

As we drew closer something strange occured. The effigy of the bat-god (Zotzilla) came to life, rose from the flames and called out "return what has been stolen or burn!" The only thing was it was speaking Olman. I understood what it said though. There was a strong tremor and several smaller fire-bat creatures rose up and began to attack the villagers.

The Beetles intervened and Elyosha had quickly doused the beasties in magical waters.

The leader of the tribe, an elder woman named J'Kal, welcomed us and invited us to her tent to parlay.

We were naturally curious about what had just happened. She and a local arcane caster named M'Vembi (probably undead, but not certain) told us that an idol of Zotzilla had been stolen some months ago angering the god.

The description of the idol and my ability to understand Zotzilla made me think that the idol we discovered on Urol's quest might be one and the same.

M'Vembi confirmed my suspicions.

J'Kal offered Farshore military assistance against the Crimson Fleet if we returned the idol. We readily agreed.

We returned to the Hellfish and travelled to the cliffs leading to the tar pits that lay between us and the Fangs of Zotzilla, a pair of (now) active volcanoes where we were to return the idol.

Elyosha's magic got us over the cliffs and we made our way overland to the tar pits.

We arrived at the pits after a short hike. All seemed quiet at first and then we heard sounds of a combat in the distance. We rushed to see what it was and came across another thunder lizard. This one was slightly larger than the first one we fought and was engaged in combat with a party of phanathons.

We fought the beast. It swallowed Dexter and myself. Fortunately we were able to kill it without taking any casualties of our own. Although I think Dexter is developing a fear of being swallowed.

The phanatons were very thankful for our assistance. Through Maggie's translation we were able to talk two of them to travel with us to the Fangs and then show us the way to their village.

Captain Venkalie secured the tar pits and harvested the T-Rex skeleton for future animation.

The trip to the Fangs went smoothly. We needed to have protective magics cast upon ourselves against the high tempuratures we would encounter once inside the temple.

We wound our way through the caverns and eventually came upon a central chamber. There was a niche on the wall that looked to be the right size for the idol. I walked it there under the untrusting eyes of the bat-god.

Once it was in place the bat-god seemed to relax. He opened a secret panel and showed us a deep treasure horde. We were each offered to take something from here.

While we were examing the loot to make our decision the avatar seemed confused about a certain item. He didn't recognize a certain item, a large fang. He told us to get it out of there.

We made our choices and departed.

An impossible treasure map led us to an idol that had recently been stolen and moved hundreds of miles away. Once we return the idol we find something also out of place and are remove it.

Someone is going to an awful lot of trouble to get us this fang. Is it the end of the link or does this lead us to something else?

My head was swimming with theories that I could neither prove nor disprove. The trip to the phanathon village passed in a whirl. I barely noted the rising tension between Dexter and Maggie.

The phanatons were overjoyed to see us. We were welcomed as friends of the tribe and a great party was held in our honor. The chief was more than happy to offer assistance to Farshore. He also gave us a lead as to the location of the Rakasta weapons cache.

We enjoyed the hospitality of the phanathons that evening (Maggie a bit more so than the rest of us) and departed early the next morning for the Rakasta temple.

We found our way to the temple. A gigantic snake was pacified by Elyosha and we found our way inside. The area seemed desserted, but a passage was discovered under a cleverly placed illusion.

We travelled until we came into a central area. A feathered serpent appeared and identified itself as Tanatea a coatyl. He asked us our business. We told him and he seemed more than pleased to hand the cache over to us. He even gave us three of his feathers to summon him in case of future need.

From there we teleported to the Dragon. A kopru druid had taken up occupation there, but he and his dinosaur animal companion were quickly put down.

Maggie teleported Sabine and myself back to Farshore the next day.

Things went very smoothly, on the whole.

 

[Morrow]

The Black Lodge - Garnham's Followers

The Black Lodge

William Gan
Lawful Neutral Human Ranger 1

Str 17 Hide +5 Feats: AC 16
Dex 12 Move Silently+5 Track HP 13
Con 14 Listen +4 Toughness
Int 09 Heal +6 Self Sufficient
Wis 11 Pro: Farmer +4
Cha 08 Survival +6 Wild Empathy


Bill Gan is a huge bear of a man. He spent his early days as an apprentice to Alice the Malice, a well respected member of Zelkarunes Horns. She was both a terror in the arena and an expert hunter.
In his third arena fight Bill came a hair's breadth away from death. Fortunately a cleric was on hand and was able to stabilize him before he passed. When he came to he claimed to have received a vision from his deity telling him to turn away from violence.
This wasn't a popular stance to take among his affiliation. When he was approached to join a new far away colony he jumped at the chance.
Since coming to Farshore he has worked as a farmer.
He agreed to join the Black Lodge as long as it was understood that he would take no hostile action against another sentient being.

T'Zon
Lawful Neutral Human Ranger 1 (used to be higher)

Str 11 Hide +5 Track AC 16
Dex 13 Move Silently+5 Endurance HP 8
Con 10 Heal +6 Diehard
Int 15 Survival +6
Wis 14 K: Geography+6 Favored Enemy Dinosaurs
Cha 12 K: Nature +6 Wild Empathy
Handle Animal+5
Use Rope +5

T'Zon was the pride of Tanoroa. A renowned hunter-warrior she raised a daughter who followed in her footsteps and was training her grandson in the family tradition when tragedy struck.
She led an expedition to the tar pits. Temauhti-Tecuani should have been on the other side of the pits when they arrived. All the signs indicated that he wasn't about.
To this day no one knows why the thunder lizard charged so ferociously across the pits, but he did. The party was set upon by the beast. T'Zon's daughter, who had accompanied her mother, was swallowed. Three other members of the group died that day. More would have if T'zon hadn't severed one of the beast's hands causing it to flee in agony.
Unfortunately the healers in the party were among the victims. By the time the survivors were fit to travel back to the village T'Zon's wounds had become seriously infected.
She was months fighting off the infection. It drained her of strength and at the age of 60 she never recovered. Now her arthritis made wielding two weapons hurt too much to bear, once keen senses had dulled.
Feeling adrift she took her young grandson (Y'Kern) to the Temute. Some strange people had come to this place to form a new village and the old warrior and her young grandchild made a home with them.
When the threat of the Crimson Fleet became known she presented herself to the militia captain and offered her services in the coming battle. He turned her down.
She was downcast until, a few weeks later, a ship came into Farshore carrying the bones of Temauhti-Tecuani. Apparently a band of adventurers had killed the beast that saw the end to her career as a hunter.
When one of them began to recruit for the militia she approached him and offered her services.
It was her determination to help that gave Garnham the inspiration for the Black Lodge.

Y'Kern
Lawful Neutral Human Ranger 1
Str 12 Climb +5 Track AC 17(18 w/dodge)
Dex 15 Jump +5 Dodge HP 9
Con 13 Swim +5 Mobility
Int 10 Hide +6
Wis 09 Move Silently+6 Favored Enemy Dinosaurs
Cha 12 Survival +4 Wild Empathy

The 15 year old grandson of T'Zon. He was deemed too young by the militia captain. When T'Zon was recruited into the Black Lodge by Garnham he insisted on helping to. With T'Zon's blessing he was accepted.

Gertrude Bessand
Lawful Neutral Human Rogue 1
Str 08 Hide +9 Stealthy AC 18
Dex 17 Move Silently+9 Toughness HP 9
Con 10 Spot +3
Int 14 Listen +3
Wis 09 Search +6
Cha 12 Gather Info +5
Appraise +6 Trapsense
K: Local +6 Sneak Attack +1d6
Open Locks +7
Disable Device+6

Being half of the black market in Farshore would be enough for most 15 year olds. Not so for "Gertie." She has a desire to pursue a life as an adventurer. Her aunt (the other half of the black market) didn't want to see her get killed fighting the Fleet.
When Gertie found out that Garnham was recruiting a stealth paramedics force she was able to convince her aunt that she should join.

Tildenacre Medcap
Lawful Neutral Human Rogue 1
Str 12 Hide +5 Persuasive
Dex 13 Move Silently+5 Skill Focus: bluff
Con 11 Gather Info +8
Int 09 Bluff +13
Wis 11 Sense Motive+8 Trapsense
Cha 18 Intimidate +10 Sneak Attack+1d6
K: local +3

Tilden Medcap has to be one of the great lovers of this age. By the time he had reached the age of twenty he had seduced 137 women and 42 men. Sometimes with lies so patently absurd that it's said that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
Eventually he was forced to leave Sasserine or be run through by the father of a young lady whom he had deflowered. In his haste to leave the city he jumped on board the only ship that was leaving the harbor that day, a ship bound for Farshore.
Tilden has managed to survive on the generosity of his new-found lovers in Farshore. Many of them are taking an active roll in the defense against the Crimson Fleet and expect the dashing Medcap to do the same.
When he heard about a way to serve while minimizing his chances to get hurt he jumped at the chance. Not that he doesn't make it sound more glamorous and dangerous than it actually is.

 

[Morrow]

Tides of Dread 1.5 (Garnham)

From the journals of K. Garnham, Seeker as translated from the Valossan

According to Maggie's divinations we currently have four days before the Crimson Fleet arrives.

Much has happened in the last few weeks.

Lavinia and I are engaged. I will be damned before anything stops us from being together or raising a family. Even the Crimson Fleet.

Maggie returned to the Dragon after returning Sabine and myself to Farshore. Once there Maggie animated the kopru and his dinosaur companion as zombies.

I asked Sabine if she could cobble together something that would help me persuade people. Not a full out charm, just something that would help me get my point across.

I began to actively campaign for Lavinia in the mayoral elections. I've never been much of a people person, but I seem to have a knack for it now. Maybe some of grandpa Nate shining through.

In the middle of my third day of poiticing I was approached by an elderly Ohlman woman named T'Zon who I had seen about town. She asked if I was one of the one's who had killed Temauhti-Tecuani, the T-rex that guarded the tar pits.

I said I was and she asked for the details. I told her what happened and when I had finished she offered her services in defense of Farshore. At one time she was a great hunter and a warrior, but she wouldn't last long in a straight up fight anymore.

I tried to let her down easily, but she was persistent.

For the next three days she followed me. She never repeated her offer, and she made certain that her presence wasn't getting in my way, but she was never more than 20 yards away from me.

You can't ignore that kind of person. They may not fit into the standard army, but no one said we had to build the standard army.

I came up with the idea of the Black Lodge. Right now it's going to be the people who can't fight head-to-head, but can move around the battlefield and help others. Later on it'll be for any defender of Farshore that doesn't have a place in the militia.

I gave it the family name. Just because I don't use it doesn't mean that there isn't worth to it.

When the Fleet is repelled I'm going to buy a piece of land and I'm going to build the Lodge proper. It'll be dark woods at first, but one day it'll be black stone. I have my eye on a piece of land.

I have found the first five members of the Black Lodge. There's T'Zon and her grandson Y'Kern, the pacifist warrior Bill Gan, the young thief Gertie Bessand and Tilden Medcap the accidental colonist.

Each has been given a fine suit of studded leather, a darkwood shield, a healing draught, some magical bandages and a weapon in case they are forced to defend themselves. Gan refused the weapon.

Sabine came to me in a few days with a magical necklace. She was able to cobble it together with bits and pieces we found through channels legal and otherwise.

I gave her some funds for more scrolls and blast discs.

I had planned to see if Sabine could identify the fang through the witchwarden library while I was involved in the political process, but Jeran was willing to due the research if I helped look for the lost Ohlman village.

Another thing to do after the Fleet comes.

Jeran got back to me a few days later with disturbing news. It seems that the fang is the tooth of Ahazu an artifact that is part of something called the Teeth of Dahlver-Nar. The fang forms a connection with Ahazu the Seizer a demon that captured other demons and imprisoned them in the Wells of Darkness. He got his comeuppance and is stuck there himself now. If someone replaces one of their own teeth with the fang it ... will improve their wrestling skill.

Jeran suggested that if I had no use for it, that it would make an excellent donation to the Seekers. I politely turned him down. Someone went to an awful lot of trouble for us to get this and I want to know for what purpose.

Does someone want Ahazu out? Are we supposed to get the other Teeth of Dahlver-Nar?

I have been spending some time each day familiarizing myself with the sea around Farshore. Both above and below the water. I have some ideas as to where to station the zombie elasmosaurus.

The other two watchtowers are up.

I have been putting a great deal of thought into how to streamline communications during the battle. Of the two options I came up with the first is probably not practical given the time needed to train messenger birds and the second will only work for shorter range communication through a network of arcane spellcasters.

Fortunately Lavinia had an ace up her sleeve. Jeran has a wand of whispering wind will be with her on the chapel bell tower to relay messages.

I had a notion to send the Ravens after the giant snake we encountered by the Rakasta temple. Unfortuately Kaskus believed the beast would have moved on by now.

Urol has agreed to reassemble the T-rex skeletons for animation.

Mora agreed to take in the infirm and the children of Farshore until after the battle. The Hellfish made several trips back and forth ferrying warriors into Farshore and noncombatants out. Thuderstrike has been reunited with Avner.

Lithira, the aranea woman we had met inland, contacted Elyosha via sending. She said that her people wouldn't help us, but offered her aid in return for sanctuary. I don't know how powerful she is, but sending isn't exactly a parlor trick.

She made it to the Dragon.

The rest of the Beetles teleported back to Farshore after repairs had been completed on the Dragon.

Maggie Hallowed the cemetery.

By that point I had been campaigning for three straight weeks. I wasn't certain about the way the election would go, but I was certain about my feelings for Lavinia. I asked her to marry me and gave her the best ring I could legally purchase.

The election was close, but it fell to Lavinia in the end. She announced our engagement at the celebration afterwards.

I think I asked Dexter to be my best man and Maggie and Elyosha to be my groomspeople. I say think, because I got very drunk that night. The only thing I really remember is talking to Dexter about building an exact copy of Farshore on the other side of the island so that the Fleet would attack there instead.

And possibly Maggie going off with Tilden at some point.

I had a meeting with Manthanaly Meravanchi the next day. I got a little full of myself and did some diplomacy that really was Lavinia's place to perform.

At some point Dexter actually learned to read. He used the Tome to help him organize the greenhouse.

Maggie spent her days ministering to the spiritual needs of the people and her nights building an army of undead pirates and dinosaurs. Adwattle provided controlling magic for the larger critters.

Elyosha and I worked on militia recruiting and in the final two weeks managed to add ten strong sword arms to Farshore's defense.

I had a private word with Rowyn and I believe she will actively help in the defense of Farshore.

Dexter has been working on defensive improvements of his own design. It would sure make me think twice before marching in.

The Dragon and Nixie are back in port.

We have discovered who the thieves are that have been getting into the warehouses. A pair of ethereal filchers. They finally got curious and triggered the trap we set for them. They escaped.

And now we have four final days to prepare.

 

[Morrow]

Garnham's Stump Speeches

In a few weeks you are going to be asked to make a decision between Lavinia Vanderboren and Manthalay Meravanchi for the position of mayor of Farshore.

It's not going to come as any shock to you that I support Lady Vanderboren in this.

Now I'm not going to say anything against Lord Meravanchi. He's a good and noble man who has stood by Farshore when she has needed him. He has been a fine steward these last several months, but he is not the person for this job.

Farshore was founded on vision and faith.

Larrisa and Verik Vanderboren had vision. The vision to see this place for more than what it was, but what it could be. A city without slums, where people had a fair chance to fail or succeed on their own merits, not just the part of town where they happended to be born. A place where force of arms didn't justify the actions of those in power. A place where those who are different are not mangled into conformity.

The Vanderborens had faith. They had faith in you, that you would survive the crossing and build the city of their vision. Faith that you could come together with the Olman, not as conquerors, but as allies, forgoing the sword for the olive branch. Faith that the seed they planted here on these shores would grow into a strong and vibrant oak.

Their faith sustained them on the long ocean journey that we have all endured to be here today.

I know they would be proud of what you've done in their absence were they still alive to be here.

Their daughter is a woman of vision, a woman of faith and a woman of strength.

Lavinia Vanderboren had the guts to put almost everything she had and more into coming here. She had faith that the people who her parents had chosen had survived. When next to no one believed that this settlement would still be standing she crossed half the world to find you here. Thriving.
She has held faith with you, I now ask that you hold faith in her.

* * * * *​

The Crimson Fleet is coming.

Those are not easy words to hear. It leaves a cold feeling of terror in your stomach.

Under the threat of this, two sides have emerged.

There is the side that holds true to the principals of Larissa and Verik. That we can cooperate with the people who came to this island in the distant past. That we see them as brothers and sisters; the children of a people who made the same journey that we made.

The other side believes that we should use our strength to bring the native peoples under our control. This side believes that might makes right. A view, I might add, that is shared by some people on ships due to arrive in a little over a month.

I have made my decision. I support the founding vision of Farshore. I support Lavinia Vanderboren.