PHDungeons Nentir Vale homebrew

[PHDungeon]

Here's a couple of journals from the one character we have not yet heard from, Torfinn- Invoker of Thor.

This one is from the first game session.

Torfinn’s Quiet Reflections (Part One)

*First day of travel*
There is nothing more beautiful than watching the dull grey haze of storm clouds consume the horizon. Today will be a day for Thor it seems. I will travel by sea with my comrade Bjorn, I can’t say I’ve been terribly good company for the brawny priest, but we are still bound by threads of fate. Bjorn found me in the storm and gave me shelter, he asks no questions and expects no answers, for that I shall be eternally grateful.


*Two days from Fall-crest*
This Halfling vessel is well made, it almost glides across the sea. I suspect we’re ahead of schedule and it wont be too long before we reach Fallcrest. Isn’t that a troubling thought. While I find vale-folk to be “interesting”, It’s still hard for me….to communicate.

Darren Androsax is the opposite, he has spoken to me often over the last few days and while I don’t respond other than the occasional nod, he can’t seem to stop. The company isn’t terrible and…he is knowledgeable on various subjects, but I see fire in his eyes that will likely consume him and his hopes for reviving his family name. I suppose men like Darren were born to find Valhalla.

His sister Deryl is…..intriguing. She can’t look me in the eye for long without glancing to her feet, perhaps she dislikes me. Their companion, Bella seems to be a private person, other than exchanging names we haven’t spoken. Bjorn has informed me he intends to tease Bella to liven up the voyage, my comrade can be rather…simple at times.


*Inside the Blue-Moon tavern*
Isn’t it curious how humans behave under the effects of ale? Bjorn forced some upon me when we first met, but I believe it didn’t have the desired effect. In fact, that was the one and only time I sensed a hint of….disappointment from him. Perhaps he was hoping for a drinking partner.

Still, the company of Deryl has proved to be…stimulating, she somehow managed to fall asleep amidst all the loud banter and drunken songs. I question why Darren has brought such a young woman so far from home, but I suppose everyone has their own circumstances.

*The morning of the Orc camp ambush*
Sleep didn’t come easy last night, was it a vision? Or a simple nightmare? While the horrific images were vague shadows dancing through my mind’s eye…I was able to make out…a beautiful woman in tears and a hideous silhouette screaming in agony.

These fleeting scenes cause my heart nothing but…pain. It would seem I’m still naïve to have such worthless thoughts. The Orcs should prove fitting targets for me to unleash my frustrations. May all the brave souls lost today find peace wherever they may.

*At camp after successfully defeating the Orcs.*
We lost few and the Orcs lost everything. A fair trade. My new-found allies proved themselves to be powerful, brave and cunning during the skirmish, but for some reason I cannot be part of the excitement evident at camp.

I overheard Darren telling Bjorn of his heroic leap, I saw Bran and his brother happily tallying Orc ears and I even think Bella was smiling at that strange contraption that serves her so well (her clockwork crossbow).

But, there is nothing for me in victory. No pride and no glory…all I feel is empty. It is in this moment more than ever that I truly feel like an outcast.


Here's his journal from the second session.

Torfinn’s Quiet Reflections (Part Two)

*Standing guard at Winterhaven’s south watch-tower.*

I haven’t had much for reflection these past few days, Darren and Bran set a fast pace. We travelled by foot only breaking long enough for a simple meal and rest during the evening. The tedium has been…enjoyable, I found the time spent walking through the scenic wilderness peaceful…and refreshing. Is it selfish of me to feel refreshed while in hot pursuit of a murderer?

I believe there is more to this ‘Flagg’ than Darren and Bella have revealed. However, it’s none of my business, Flagg has killed innocent folk and that’s enough cause for me.

Flagg’s trail led us to close to Ragnar’s Hall, Bran and Darren thought it best we seek answers from the war chief. Bjorn seemed rather… excited at this prospect. How can I put this politely; Ragnar’s tribe was….interesting. The mixed aroma of animals, men and…feces was a little over-powering for my sensitive nose, sufficed to say I took many trips outside.

Although…I did notice something curious during our stay at Ragnar’s Hall. Vale-men seem almost bewitched by breasts. Bella had every eye on her as soon as we entered the stuffy room, I myself had to take a brief glimpse in a futile attempt to understand the fascination. Perhaps it’s beyond my mental capacity to grasps the simple joys of Vale-folk.

We continued on the path to Winterhaven until we came upon a besieged settlement not far from our destination. It was plain to see Orcs were about…for a moment I felt…nostalgic. Why is it that scenes of destructions cause such a stir of emotions? My allies suffered no casualties and only a few wounds, the Orcs fared much worse.

Unfortunately we were far too late to save the folk that were left behind.

I found the mood in Winterhaven to be rather sullen…although I got a few pats on the back from various Vale-men. They were preparing to defend their village; men and child scrambled about wearing rusty armour and dulled blades. I had no doubt Bjorn would stay to defend the small-folk.

My day was spent shovelling holes and planting wooden stakes around the front entrance. Bella is a….perfectionist. She asked me rather politely to re-dig the pit for her trap three times over. I didn’t complain, it was a pivotal defence for the front gate. If we lose the gate, we lose the town.

Amazing, Deryl has managed to fall asleep with the Orcs causing such a racket not far up-field. I spotted their brute shadows moving around the outer rim of the sentry pyres. Combat will come upon Winterhaven soon, I hope these stout walls can withstand the trail.

 

[PHDungeon]

Bellas has some latent sorceress talents that she plans to develop. Here's her intro:

Bella sits on her bed in her room eating an apple, waiting for everyone to be ready to leave. She was not feeling well since waking, nauseous and lightheaded. Her arms had been tingling from her elbows down. She was clumsy, falling over herself every time she tried to walk.

Finally able to relax and contemplate, it occurs to her what might be causing it. She looks at the apple and with a sudden motion tosses it to the wall then, following it with her eyes she gives it a little mental push. She feels the symptoms flowing out of her body and into the apple. When it strikes the wall it explodes with far greater force then the toss would allow. She stares at the mess on the wall, knowing what it could mean but scarcely believing it after so long.

She breaks her stillness and purposely searches through her bag digging out a small, tattered notebook covered in dwarven runes. Although she understands the meaning of the cryptic symbols reading them would only give her a headache. Try as she might she could not hold the ideas they represented in the confines of her mind. She remembers her old Dwarven instructor on the arcane arts, “Smokingbeard”, telling her what the problem was.

“Ye see lad, magic writings are magic themselves and cannot be read by just anybody, ye have to have the gift or their meaning is as graspable as smoke. A local miner may understand the words on the page but without the magic in him he forgets as soon as he looks away.”

“Now ye have a bit of the spark in ye lad, I can see that but perhaps too little now to be able to read the writings. Perhaps in a few more decades ye will have grown powerful enough, be patient lad, ye ain’t human, you’ll get there soon enough.”

She opens the books with shaking hands and starts to read the familiar page. As usual she feels its knowledge settling into her mind as it always did. This time thought, it doesn’t slip away; it stays. Her heart beating fast and smiling she finishes the book, a sorceress at last.

 

[PHDungeon]

PCs

Darren Androsax- human, male fighter 2
Deryl Androsax- human, female sorcerer 2
Bjorn Thorskirk- human, cleric 2
Torfinn- deva, male invoker
Bella- changeling, female, rogue 2


Here’s my quick summary of the first half of game session #3. Hopefully the upcoming player journals will fill in the details.

The party left the village of Winterhaven in pursuit of Flagg. It was the 1st of April when they set out, and they made their way southwest along the trade road. They had learned from a local Innkeeper named Bern that Flagg had stayed at the Inn in Winterhaven while trying to recruit locals for his expedition. Bern had overheard Flagg mention that they would be heading to a site in the Ogrefist hills. This was the clue the heroes needed and they promptly set out like eager hunting hounds.

After a day and a half of travel, they eventually came to a river, and the river’s source appeared to be somewhere in the Ogrefist hills. Here they found a roadside shrine dedicated to the Skanzi gods. The shrine was a 15’ high rune stone and sitting on it, as though waiting for them, was a solitary raven. Bjorn saw this as a good omen. The raven flew off heading upriver towards the hills. The heroes decided to follow.

The river itself was a curious thing, for it had a terrible stink about it and was contaminated with some sort of oily black toxin.

By nightfall they were approaching the hills. The raven led them to the ruins of a long abandoned settlement. It was little more than foundations, and had probably once been a primitive little village. In the center of the village stood another large standing stone. In some ways it resembled the roadside shrine, but there was something evil about this monolith. A single rune was inscribed near the top- an eye wreathed in flames. Both Bjorn and Darren recalled having seen mention of the symbol, but could say little about it other than it was referred to as the “Elder Elemental Eye”, and that it is a symbol venerated by an ancient cult that is thought to have vanished centuries ago. In front of the stone were two dead ogre corpses. Bjorn and Darren moved up to investigate them while the rest of the heroes stayed back. They could tell that the ogres had been killed by sword and axe wounds. One had also had his throat torn off and the other had burn wounds on its arm. They suspected Flagg and his men were responible. Suddenly the dead ogres stirred. One of them suddenly grabbed out at Darren’s leg, but he managed to agilely hop away. The hulking beasts rose up, as terrible undead and attacked. A nasty little fight took place with Darren and Bjorn being hammered with several deadly slam attacks. The rest of the heroes hung back and fired at the undead from a distance with spell and bow. In the end the undead were finally destroyed, but both Darren and Bjorn were pretty battered from the fight.

With the undead destroyed, they completed their search of the ruins. They discovered the remains of a recent campfire, which helped confirm that Flagg had been in the area. They tried to sleep in the village that night, but this proved impossible. The evil of the monolith haunted their dreams turning them to terrible nightmares. They were forced to make camp elsewhere, but even then their sleep was troubled. They had not yet entered the hills, but they were close enough to hear the distant sounds of cavorting ogre clans, and those sounds were horrific in their own right.

The next morning the raven was waiting for them on a nearby rock, and it led them into the desolate hills. They kept themselves alert for ogres; luckily the beasts hated the daylight and did not trouble them. Eventually, they came upon a crude stone hut. It was built on the top of a barren rocky hill. It appeared to be sized for man sized folk, which caught their interest. The base of the hill was surrounded by thorny briar, but they found a gateway through the briar and a trail leading up the hill to the hut.

The adventurers trudged up the hill. The tail led them around its backside and there they found another hut, this one was much larger and sized for a creature of ogre size or larger. They could hear pained moans coming from the larger hut, which piqued Deryl’s curiosity. Darren decided to hail the smaller hut at the top of the hill, and he caught the attention of someone in the building. A figure peaked its head out. It was an ugly bastard, clearly not a man, but about the size of a very large one. A conversation ensued and the heroes managed to deduce that Flagg had paid a visit and caused some trouble, but whoever the nasty people were that lived there wanted nothing to do with any strangers. The party decided to be on their way when they realized that Deryl was missing.

The girl had snuck off into the larger hut. There she discovered a wailing two-headed giant- an ettin. It was immediately clear why the ettin was in such torment. One of its heads was dead. It had been scorched by fire and the damage looked recent. Its surviving head suddenly noticed Deryl and screamed at her to get out of its home. She began to slowly back away, but not quick enough; it lurched forward with staggering speed and grabbed hold of her in a massive hand. It then tossed her as though she weighed nothing. She went flying out of the hut and nearly rolled down the steep hillside. Darren rushed to her aid and tossed her on her horse. The heroes started to retreat, as the giant lurched to the entrance of the hut and began to scream at them. It probably would have been content to let them run, had it not been for Darren. He stupidly shouted out, “Two heads are better than one.” This provoked the beast, and it charged after the foolish fighter, slamming the young man in the back and sending him sprawling across the ground. The heroes fled firing a few arrows and spells at it as they fled. They caused it enough pain to make it decide that they weren’t worth pursuing, and they escaped with their lives.

 

[PHDungeon]

This is Bella's journal for Session #3

Session 3 – A Poor Foundation Leads to a Fallen House

Victor,

These Androsax children are going to get me killed.

We continue on the trail of Flagg who has left a path of destruction. We reached a small settlement, and by settlement I mean a couple of huts on the top of barren tor in the ogrefist hills. It was surrounded by ghoulish trophies of skulls and a fence that had bones built into it. In retrospect this was probably meant to keep people away, but it was important to gather information and make certain that we were still on the trail of our quarry, so we ignored them.

Screams of pain echoed from one of the houses and low guttural voices could be heard arguing from the other. After I had found a position that gave me line of sight to both entryways Derren started calling out.

The ‘man’ that greeted us was hideous, but did not prove to be hostile. He answered our questions but asked us to leave. We offered medical assistance to the wounded, for he claimed his mother was dying from wounds that had presumably been inflicted by Flagg and his band, but he would not take it, repeating his request that we leave them alone. Derren continued to interrogate him but with each question he was getting more agitated. I started whispering fiercely that it was time to go.

It was then that I noticed that Deryl was gone.

Scanning the area quickly I saw her horse outside of the larger hut where the pained screams were coming from. Suddenly they stopped. What followed was a cry of rage and the scream of a little girl. Deryl’s limp body was tossed out of the house, bouncing across the ground and stopping just short of the steep hillside. The girl was still, but I could see from my vantage point that she was still breathing. Knowing my business I held my position and kept ToD (touch of death) pointed at both entrances to the huts. I had to be ready in case either of these freaks wanted to try anything.

Derren rushed over and scooped up his sister just as a giant with two heads crested the doorway and stopped. I could see that one of his two heads was dead and that he was enraged, but he came no further. I waited for my best shot, but the beast at the doorway, screaming for us to leave him in his misery. Derren placed his wounded sister upon her horse and sent the mare running. I was surprised that Bjorn did not run to help the girl, but my job is in killing not in healing so I do not question his judgment.

It was obvious that the giant monstrosity would be content to see us go. Finally it seemed that Derren had gotten the point. We could have walked out of there right then and no harm would have come to us. We even started to.

Then Derren opened his mouth.

“Two heads are better than one.”

In my shock I confess that I missed my shot when the now enraged giant lumbered out of the doorway to crush the foolish noble. We ran and thankfully we escaped with our lives, only the Androsax siblings sustaining any injuries. Bjorn, the cleric called them lessons. Let us hope that they begin to learn before one of these lessons does more than bruise them.

Belladonna

 

[PHDungeon]

Darren Androsax's 3rd journal

Dear Corvin,

We are in over our heads. Somehow, inexplicably, after fighting Orcs, travelling across the vale and seeing wonders great and small – Deryl and I are bringing shame to the Androsax name. After our victory against the orc raiders, we travelled with Bella, Bjorn and Torfinn deeper west, past plains and hills until we met a merchant from the far off town of Westmore.
He seemed sullen and circumspect on account of some powers behind the throne. Powers, as it will no doubt dawn on you, of shadow, of ancient lineage and deep rivals to the Androsaxes – none other than House Tremaine! It took all of my resolve to stay with our friends and pursue that devil’s pawn Flagg, but brother, I assure you, my proud sword and I will one day rattle through the streets of Westmore.

After heading south, an omen of the old gods met us on the road – a raven. Bjorn found this to be a special symbol of the gods, circling as it did in the direction we presumed Flagg had taken. The waters of the land grew more corrupt as we entered the Ogrefist Hills. And let me tell you Corvin, they do not name places for fancy in the Vale. There were Ogres- corpses, foul spawn of Ogres and men, and even a hulking variety sporting two heads. And that, I’m afraid is where our trouble began.
We had dispatched a pair of animate corpses, done in by Flagg and his retinue, and brought to cursed sentience by the hulking, disturbing stellae of the flaming eye. Could you research this, by the way? I suspect it was a cult of orcdom, given the crude manufacture.

Beyond this, the hills growing ever more watchful, and ever following that ‘lucky’ bird – we came across a homestead surrounded by thorns and adorned with skulls. It seemed pleasant enough. I called out, and my friends seemed annoyed. I figured the skulls were mostly of Orcs, you know? As we approached closer – great wails and moans could be heard from an oversized hut. You remember how kind Deryl was whenever one of our servants was injured? Well, bless her fiery and unpredictable heart, she dashed into the hut to see what was the matter. Bella, ever the diplomat, trained her crossbow on our potential hosts, further up the hill. Remind me to leave Bella out of future negotiations, by the way.

Deryl came out – well, more flew out – of the hut and just as I was able to set her on Fairfax, out came a slobbering, wailing giant of a creature, one head in agony, the second lolling in a stage of horrid decomposition. Taking pity on the creature, I said what I thought was sympathetic ... “Well, at least two-heads are better than one.” Clearly, the smarter noggin had died, because the remaining one got quite enraged. We had to retreat – a personal first. And now the others won’t stop lecturing us.
I told Deryl not to let it bother her. We just have to be TWICE as brave the next time.

We approach an old temple with the same flaming eye pillars. Flagg is close. Wish us well – vengeance for poor old Crumm is at hand.

 

[PHDungeon]

This is the final half of my GM account of session #3.

That night they were forced to make camp in the hills themselves. There was no fire made that night, and they did their best to stay well hidden, as the last thing they wanted was to be set upon by a clan of inbred ogres. The gods and the fates were kind to them that night, and though they could sense that the beasts were skulking about, the creatures did not find their concealed campsite.

The following morning the raven was again waiting for them. Once again it led them up river. By mid day they had reached the river’s head waters. Its source was a boggy valley. The valley was a stinking mire of mud, rock and pools of tainted water all feeding into the stream. On the far side of the valley was a rocky outcropping that stuck out into the bog. Crouched on top of it sat the remains of what appeared to be a primitive temple. The evil in the valley was nearly palpable, and it seemed clear that it was the source of the taint that had infected the entire region. The poisoned river itself ran right up to the base of the stone outcrop and disappeared into a dark tunnel.

The companions opted to hike around the valley to the temple. They approached with caution. There were several ruined outbuildings and one larger primary building. More stone monoliths stood watch over the ruin. These were each carved with the same fire wreathed eye that they had seen etched on the monolith in the ruined village two days earlier, and much like that ruin, this temple seemed very, very old and crudely constructed. Yet, these ruins were not entirely deserted.

Nearly a dozen skeletal guardians lurked in the ruins, and as soon as the heroes entered the skeletons converged on them. Luckily for the heroes, the ancient skeletons were armed with spears and swords, and they had to close some distance to get to the party. This gave Bran and Bella a chance to hammer them with arrows, while Deryl and Torfinn hit them with spells. Several of the skeletons were damaged or destroyed before they got near the heroes, including one that had been wreathed in flame and looked to be the most dangerous one of all. Enough survived this bombardment that they managed to close on the heroes, and Darren and Bjorn stepped up and brought the fight to them. Bjorn shattered their old bones with his mighty warhammer, while Darren darted among them, cutting them down with his short swords. The men took a number of wounds, but soon the undead were defeated, leaving the companions free to explore the ruin.

The site was so ancient that there was little left to scavenge. However, they did find a secret door beneath the altar stone with a tight spiral staircase leading down. Bran also made it clear that he could find no signs that Flagg had come this way. Bjorn suspected that perhaps Flagg had followed the river into the tunnel below the temple and that the stairs might provide an alternate route down to wherever he had gone. The rest of the heroes agreed that this made sense, and they decided to venture down the stairs.

A terrible stench was wafting up from below along with strange moaning sounds that reminded them of wounded animals. The stair spiraled down for a great distance until finally they opened into a small room with hallways branching off of it. The chambers they had discovered down here were also clearly very old, and there was no light to help them see, so they were forced to pull out sun rods. They made their way out into the hall and looking to their right they could see that the hall led down to another room. There, in the room, were several goblins hunched around a flat stone altar. Splayed out on the altar was the body of a dead skanzi warrior. It was a scene of horror, his stomach had been sliced open and his innards hauled out to drape the altar. Furthermore, the goblins could barely be recognized as goblins. They had clearly undergone some sort of horrible mutation. They had huge oozing tumors and sores, and the hands of some had reshaped into nasty claws. Most were completely naked and had no weapons other than their clawed hands. Some of these goblins could barely walk, and it was clear that they lived in perpetually agony. A few larger ones had nasty clubs, and there was one among them who wore dirty robes and was adorned with fetishes. The creatures immediately took note of the heroes and turned hostile.

Battle ensued. As usual, Darren and Bjorn moved up into battle, while Deryl, Bella, Torfinn, and Bran hung back and attacked from a distance. Bella focused her marksmanship on the shaman and quickly dispatched it before it could cause any trouble with its hexes and spells. Bjorn and Darren fought well and the battle was swaying in the heroes favor until Bella was ambushed from behind. Another pair of goblins had snuck up on her. These strange mutants had the ability to crawl along the ceiling, and were very stealthy. They jumped down, out of the shadows and tore into her back with deadly claws. Bjorn was too far away to give her healing, and Deryl had to come to her aid with her magic, while Bran targeted them with his bow. The creatures were in close and the girl channeled her spells through her dagger, and used the weapon to blast them with frost and chaos energy. Bella back peddled away and hammered them with crossbow bolts, and soon they were bloodied enough that they scampered back into the darkness. Meanwhile, Bjorn, Darren and Torfinn had finished the rest of the goblins, and it seemed that the fight was over.

They set about exploring the area and found the remains of several more goblins that had all met violent deaths- another sign that Flagg had passed this way. There were a few more of the mutants about, but these ones offered little resistance and the heroes ended their misery quickly.

Near the altar they made an interesting discovery. Above the altar stone, carved into the wall was another symbol of the elemental eye. However, this one was a little different. The actual eye was a huge piece of amber about the size and shape of a goblin’s head, and it was lodged in the wall. It looked quite valuable, so the heroes pried it free. As they were inspecting it, they noticed something strange. Trapped inside the amber, was a thing that looked vaguely like a massive tadpole, but much more alien. None of them knew exactly what it was. However, they decided that they would take it, possibly for further study.

They also discovered a large room with a pool of vile, oily black liquid. A stream of the stuff led down a tunnel, which emerged into the outside world. This pool was likely the source of the contamination that had poisoned the river, and they felt that they should do something about it, though they could not decide what.

Finally, they found another flight of stairs that led to even deeper catacombs, and it is their plan to being exploring these chambers in the next session.

 

[PHDungeon]

On Sunday we ran the 4th session of our campaign. It proved quite revealing.

PCs

Bella- changeling, rogue 2
Darren Androsax- human, male, fighter 2
Derly Androsax- human, female, wild magic sorcerer 2
Bjorn Thorskirk- human, male, cleric of Thor 2
Torfinn- deva, male, invoker 2

This is Bella's forth journal.

Starke,

We have finally tracked Flagg to his destination- an ancient temple. Unfortunately, he had already moved on days ago. It was covered with the symbol of the fiery, Elemental Eye that we had been seeing in our travels.

Exploring the ruins we found hordes of undead but nothing we couldn’t handle. There was a pool of toxic, black ichors that was draining into the local water supply. Diluted it had caused a burning sensation to skin; we never found out what the concentrated solution did; although some wanted to. There was no way for us to block the seepage so we had no choice but to leave it.

There was not much to the primitive temple structure. Beyond the pool there were catacombs and beyond that was a large, circular, domed room featuring a large well. The exterior of well was peppered with holes, all of them empty.

Deep down the well’s shaft there was an…entity. It was in the shape of a roiling black cloud that emanated malicious intent, and we could sense that it was divine in origin. Beyond that, it was a mystery and not one that we were going to be able to solve. After a thorough search we left, discouraged that Flagg’s trail had gone cold.

After spending the night far from the temple we found that we had another difficulty, or rather I had a problem. While fighting in the temple, I had allowed some of our enemies to close in on me. One of them had caught my back with its claws and now I could feel the wound burning like fire. I felt weak and dizzy, and if not for the … eager … administrations of Bjorn’s healing, I believe I would have died before getting help. I suppose I could forgive his less than chaste healing hands.

We decided to head back to Fallcrest. Unfortunately, on our way back, we came across a pair of poorly armed villagers who were seeking out a person who had attacked their kin in their village and kidnapped a local girl. The girl was in fact the grand daughter of the older of the two. Their description sounded similar to Flagg’s method of attack. We decided to risk investigating it since Bjorn seemed to be able to keep my disease at bay, and I was well enough to press on.

We followed their trail to a ruined manor. Outside were the dead bodies of some of some men who had set out from the small village to hunt down the killer. We began carefully exploring the inside of the stone manor house, but we hadn’t gotten far before we were attacked by a trio of frightening creatures. Each wore a golden skull with the fire eye etched in the skull’s forehead. They were covered in sores and possessed incredible strength and agility. One of them matched the description of the girl that had been kidnapped from the village.

My eyes couldn’t focus. My arrows kept missing their marks. I watched as Darren dropped one of our enemies. A black smoke rose from his mouth upon his death as the body dropped to the ground. His body deflated, the flesh almost liquefying as the smoke dissipated. These people were already dead.

Torfinn attacked the girl from the village stunning her with his divine magic. I saw my opportunity and took my shot in spite of Darren calling out for me to stop. Apparently he believed that he could still save the girl. Could he not see how dangerous these monsters were? They were stronger than normal and mad, besides they were already dead. Better to kill them than to attempt to interrogate them. How did he expect to even contain them? Although he may now despise me for it, I stand by my decision. It was simply too great of a risk to keep any of these monsters alive.

After neutralizing these possessed horrors, at least one of whom we believe had been part of Flagg’s group, we found several golden skulls in a large bag in the corner. We suspect that they had gotten them from the alcoves in the well.

We carried the bag of skulls back to Fallcrest. Bjorn took the precaution of burying the bag in the ground at each resting point. This proved to be a life saver, for each time we slept the skulls would call out for us to put them on; had they not been under the earth their siren song would have been irresistible.

I know what you’re thinking Victor, but I was not able to get my hands on any of the skulls, the rest of my companions never let them out of their sight and were eager to destroy them. Considering their nature it would be dangerous and foolish to try and send you one. There is no courier I would risk telling what he carried to, and anyone I didn’t tell would certainly become possessed. We have gotten a new bearing on Flagg, and rather than leaving my companions to personally carry back one of these artifacts to you, I am continuing on his trail. If you wish you can send a courier to Fallcrest, and the next time we return I can place one of these skulls into his hands for you to study. That is the most that I can promise.

Belladonna

 

[PHDungeon]

Dear Corvin,

Outrage! I am still fuming wildly at Bella’s cold calculations. How different we are! But let me not jump ahead. This land grows more strange and more dangerous by the week. We reached a ruined temple under the foul watch of the elemental eye – a crude symbol wreathed in flames. The temple was built by some long ago people – orcs are my best guess – and appeared recently disturbed by Flagg and his men. As we approached, emaciated, skeletal creatures defended the altar. Bjorn and I struck forth, Torfinn protected Deryl – and Bella to her credit dropped a foul, flaming bone pile before it could hurl its foulness in our faces.

We discovered a passage down to the tunnels below – where a sickly straggle of goblins lay scratching at each other in their misery. Bella caught some of the foul taint and Bran had enough by the time we reached their altar – a gore splattered remnant of one of Flagg’s men. We cut our way through a crypt and then made our way to a well. My friends are too cautious – but sometimes they are right. When I looked over the well, I saw something that could see through me. A black, smoking thought, a divine shade of oblivion. I confess that only the image of the sun burning bright could preserve me. Bjorn forgive me – for Thor certainly won’t.

The ruins held a block of amber encasing a fist-sized tadpole above the sacrificial altar. It was easily the most bizarre object of worship I had encountered. The goblins of Grimsburg have much better taste, I can assure you. But if that were the only artefact of evil we’d be lugging halfway across the Vale, we’d be lucky. Flagg had departed, and as we would learn later – had taken some tainted relics from three-score niches carved along the well. Brother – do send word of the flaming eye – and send it soon!

We tracked Flagg back duskwards, out of the haunted hills. A village had been attacked by demonic men the night before, and it sounded enough like Flagg that we pursued. Would you believe it – we came across a Roaringhorn Manor! It was ruined but made me hope that the Androsax Manor would be as easy to identify. Their stupid crest was right above the door. Still, the Roaringhorns are all right. Remember Griselda and Greyatrix? Those girls knew how to blow a horn.

But anyway, it turned out that one of Flagg’s men from Fallcrest had become corrupted by a golden skull – wearing it like a necklace! If he wasn’t stark raving mad and homicidal, he would have looked like some fashionless fop from Grimsburg. He tackled me from the shadows and was soon was joined by two villagers, similarly possessed. Now here’s where I get mad myself. Bella is the best markswoman I have ever seen. She can cut a stream of piss from a Skanzi warrior round the corner, deflecting her bolt from his discarded tankard. Seen her do it at Ragnar’s! But just when I was ready to subdue the girl, yank the necklace off her and get Bjorn to press his healing hammer upon her – thunck, Bella cracks a bolt in the poor thing’s temple. The girl was Deryl’s age, just as fair and beautiful – only more innocent. I understand Bella’s reasons. They were probably beyond saving. But not to try? Does she hate little girls? Does she hate her own lost innocence? Or is this the poison of the temple, infecting her judgment?

I have been watching Bella since then. And every now and then, when she is asleep I catch a flicker: her skin turns pale. Her hair whitens. One night, I think I even saw a dwarf sleeping in her pallet. On the other hand, we have all been affected by the elemental eye. Torfinn still won’t tell me what happened to his hand. Deryl, Bella and Torfinn – they are all changing, somehow. The evil of this place is getting into their skin. The only ones unaffected seem Bjorn and I. Probably because we drink so much.
We have returned to Fallcrest – and I will write again soon. Bjorn and Torfinn were able to call upon Thor’s valkyrie to point us towards Flagg – and we may be returning to Grimsburg sooner than you think. But the angel of death was also able to point due north when I asked where the Androsax Manor was!

Your devoted brother,

Derren


***

The Roaringhorn Drinking Song:
“Hey, ho, whats’up! Blow that horn and down your cup!
Drink, up! Drink up! Lift it high and eat your sup!
Roaringhorn, Roaringhorn, don’t call me out, I’m not yet done!
Roaringhorn, Roaringhorn, there still a barrel and an hour of fun! “

***

Fragments from a Hagiography of Rao
... and thus did Saint Aurielus smite the troll, speaking thusly: “Foul troll – though shalt taste the sun for eternity, for I will place you on a spit and let it burn you where the sun doth not normally shine ...”

 

[PHDungeon]

The party has determined that Flagg has headed south out of the Nentir Vale towards the city of Grimsburg, and they will be heading there after him. The following is a brief history of the city:

The site where Grimsburg stands has been a Skanzi settlement for centuries. However it was about the year 420, during the height of the Empire of Nerath that it began the transformation from a skanzi town to a cosmopolitan city. Colonists from Nerath were moving into the region in large numbers. Many were looking for land and opportunity, but many others were fleeing persecution. The Nerathi and Skanzi populations intermingled in Grimsburg, and though at first there was much tension and hostility between the two ethnic groups that hostility gradually faded. The Nerathi built stone manors and a large temple to Rao. They created a university and even built a series of man made islands at the mouth of Nentir river, which became the city’s main harbor and entertainment district. Over the next two hundred years the city more or less flourished

Though Rao’s faith had a strong presence in the city, the Nerathi who had come to Grimsburg were mainly dissidents of the empire. Many of them did not agree with some of the Empire’s policies and they were looking for a place where they could live that would be less stifling. Idealists would say that this resulted in a very cosmopolitan city- a place were new ideas and beliefs were valued and discussed openly without fear of persecution. Some of the brightest minds in the empire moved to Grimsburg, and many of those minds were practitioners of the arcane arts. Cynics would say that for every liberal free thinker to arrive in Grimsburg arrived at least five immoral opportunists who were either fleeing the law of the empire or just looking for a place to engage in their illicit activities unimpeded. By the time year 621 arrived (The beginning of the War of Retribution), Grimsburg had become a haven not only for mages, but also for criminals of all sort. The entertainment district was festering with brothels and gambling halls. Crime was rampant and the city government was thoroughly corrupt.

Grimsburg was hit early in the War of Retribution. The skanzi people rose in vast numbers to move against the Empire. In the Nentir vale they drove the Nerathi lords from their manors, and they either slaughtered them or forced them to join the skanzi horde. In Grimsburg the same thing occurred. Blood ran in the streets as the skanzi rose up against the Nerathi. Priests of Rao received the harshest treatment and were killed in particularly violent ways. For weeks Grimsburg was a place of complete anarchy and chaos. Eventually, the skanzi emerged triumphant and a semblance of order was restored to the beleaguered city. A vast shipyard was constructed, and Grimsburg’s population tripled almost overnight, as skanzi warriors from all over the north poured through its gates eager to join in Odin’s holy war. Grimsburg became the seat of massive skanzi army.

The population boom did not last long, for soon the skanzi long ships were sailing south en mass towards Nerathi mainland. For several decades they pillaged and raided the Nerathi people. In the year 668 the Bloodspear war began. With so many good skanzi warriors away from home, the communities of the vale were left vulnerable, and most of them were razed to the ground by the fearsome orcs. Eventually the men of the vale with the aid of the dwarves of Hammerfast and the elves of the Harkenwood pushed repelled the orc horde from the vale, but it left the Nentir Vale a shattered fragment of what it once was. The horde never made it as far south as Grimsburg, but the effects of the war were still felt, for many of the cities best warriors had ended up traveling north to fight the orcs, and had died. The city had become weak, and it had lost its bravest and finest, leaving it to the city’s criminals and scum.

Finally, in 682 Odin decided that Rao and his mortal followers had been punished enough and the War of Retribution ended. By this time the skanzi people were weary of the bloodshed, and though they had grown rich from the treasure they had looted from the empire, the wealth had come at a cost. Nerath had been strong and had put up great resistance. Many skanzi warriors had been lost in Bloodspear war and the War of Retribution , and the skanzi people needed time to replace their fallen warriors. By this time Grimsburg had fallen far from its glory days. It was a mere shadow of its former self. Its best and brightest were gone, and it was the cowardly and corrupt that still remained.

In the past one hundred years, Grimsburg has begun to rebound from the toll taken by the War of Retribution. Nerathi merchants have started trading in Grimsburg once again, and the city remains a haven for spellcasters. The city continues to be the greatest city in the North, and every year new immigrants from the fallen Empire of Nerath arrive seeking their fortunes. The church of Rao has reestablished itself and an uneasy truce exists between the priests of the sungod and the battle clerics of the Aesir. Crime and corruption remain a huge problem in the city, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Styes. The Styes is a district of decaying man made islands that was once the pride of the city. It is now a virtually autonomous district with its own city council. It is a continual reminder that Grimsburg still has a long way to go to regain its lost glory.

 

[PHDungeon]

This journal's a little late in coming, but it is Bjorn's journal from game session #3. I'm expecting a couple of more from him in the near future. Today we finished session #5. Thus, far I've had no PC fatalities, but I have to admit that I haven't been working too hard at it. There were 7 deaths in the last adventure of our Second Darkness campaign, so i figured they needed a break, and some time to grow sufficiently attached to their new characters before said characters meet horrifying ends. Flagg will put up a good fight, so maybe a casualty or two won't be too far down the road...

Bjorn's Journal 3

Well journal it has been a while since I have had the opportunity to put quill to parchment, but now that we have returned to Fallcrest I will avail myself the pleasure.

After holding off the Orc's in Winterhaven we once again set off in pursuit of Flagg. Heading south and then east. We were fortunate enough to come across a roadside shrine to the Skanzi gods, specifically the All Father Odin, where we also encountered one of his messengers a raven who we divined wanted us to follow. It is good to know the Gods support us in our venture, even as they expect us to look out for ourselves. This was made evident when we were lead to a long abandoned village of crude design with a centre monolith with a crude flaming eye carved into it. The monolith gave us an uneasy feeling but we dismissed it as there were also the bodies of two Ogres. The bodies appeared to be reasonably recent and gave us hope that we were indeed on Flagg's trail. However on approaching the corpses for a closer examination they reanimated and proceeded to attack. After a hard fought battle we prevailed and proceeded to settle in for the night. It was not a peaceful rest however as we were plagued by night terrors and Torrfin underwent a horrifying transformation of his arm into a lizard like appendage that returned to normal as we left the area of the monolith. All of our companions proved their worth in the battle even young Deryl, though I still have concerns, which were borne out later in our travels.

We continued on the following day coming to a tor with a small dwelling on the top. The base of the tor was fenced with the gate adorned with the skulls of various humanoids, several unidentifiable. We continued up the path around the tor and came to what was a larger building built into the tor and unseen from the other side. From the larger building came a a wrenching sobbing and as we approached we saw also the small building atop the tor was larger than it first appeared. Several ogres stepped out of the building, they appeared the worse for wear as if in recent battle and warned us off. We offered assistance seeking knowledge of Flagg. We learned that indeed it appeared that it was Flagg's group that had passed through here. And we were about four days behind them. They refused our help and demanded we leave which we were proceeding to do. However the youngest Androsax took it upon herself to investigate the sobbing, even after being warned away, and the next thing we know her body comes flying out of the building followed by a large Etin. The etin had one deceased head, which was surely the cause of it's grief, and beyond our skill to help. It was enraged by the presence of more of the creatures who had caused its trouble. Deryl, while hurt, was not grieviously so and was helped to the back of our pack animal by her brother who in an attempt to smooth matters made things worse. I begin to see why the Androsax family fell so far. We managed to make our escape with no further conflict but it was close and given the importance that Bella is stressing the pursuit of Flagg be given an unnecessary skirmish should be avoided lest it put us at disadvantage down the road.

We continued on until we came to a marsh filled vale leading to what was an obvious ruin on the other side. I used one of the scrolls obtained earlier which greatly reduced our travel time around the vale striding from one tree to another in the distance. Once across the the vale we entered what appeared to be an abandoned temple with the flaming eye symbol we encountered earlier carved throughout. No sooner had we entered the temple were we set upon by several skeletal undead. We fought well together and overcame them with minimal injury to ourselves. On investigating we found a stairway under the altar leading down, into the catacombs below.

Using the light of a couple of sunrods we headed down the stairs , noting the rough hewn walls. On reaching the bottom we continued on into the halls and we set upon by deformed goblinoid creatures. After a hard fought battle we prevailed once again, though not unscathed. We found the corpse of a skanzi warrior, likely one of the warriors recruited from Ragnar. The corpse appeared to have been sacrificed to some strange deity above the altar was a large piece of amber with a strange and unholy creature trapped inside. Off this room was a drop into another chamber from which appeared to be the souce of a corrosive fluid tainting the local water ways. There were also several more corpses of the deformed goblioids we earlier ran into. We took advantage of the brief rest to marshal our resources before continuing. And as I see my candle has almost burned down I must stop for the evening to continue recording my tale in the morning.