The Boundary Lands: On the Edge of Civilization (Updated 5/9/11)

[hayek]

Chapter 5 - A New Home (s. 10)

5.1 Fond Farewells

As the party searches for a suitable ambush spot, Fargrim begins an incessant stream of grumbling. He eventually brings the party to a halt and declares that he was a fool to ever agree to head south and that he must pursue the ancient dwarven relic, the Hammer of Tharmak, and try to reunite the dwarven clans of Arnathon. In fact, he can’t waste another minute traipsing through these mountains playing hide-and-seek with orcs and goblins. He must strike out to the northeast immediately to seek out the Hammer. The party is slightly taken aback at Fargrim’s announcement, but they must admit they aren’t too surprised. The loss of their home and everything they knew hit the party hard, and affected them each in their own way. The gruff dwarven warlord has decided to find himself a new home amongst the dwarves by forging a legacy of his own with the clans of Arnathon.

Charm, who always had a strong connection with Fargrim that they both tried to deny, speakes up to say she will go with the dwarf, but she must help the party defeat the tribe of goblinoids hunting her friends from Verind’s Edge first. Fargrim insists that goblins and orcs fight like babies and that the party will have no trouble handling them without him. Times-a-wastin’ and he must get busy reuniting the dwarven clans of Arnathon. He utters a gruff goodbye and a “thanks for the killin’”, then hikes off to the northeast. Charm promises to catch up to him and Fargrim shrugs without turning around. Charm chuckles, confident she’ll be able to catch up to the dwarf in no time with his stubby legs.

Out With the Old, In With the New

The party is only a few minutes into continuing their search for a suitable ambush spot when they are surprised to find a well-armed elf standing in their path. The stranger sports a penetrating gaze, a bristling quiver of arrows, and an enormous long bow nearly as tall as a man. He hails the party and introduces himself as Perin.

He explains that he is a ranger, recently roaming the wilds of the Boundary Lands, who volunteered to help defend Verind’s Edge against the goblinoid army and the attack of the Arinfax Colossus. He had been doing some scout work in the Torin Plains, stationed along a stretch of wall north of the city. When Verind’s Edge fell, the elf began making his way east and just recently spotted the band of survivors the party intercepted, as well as the pack of goblinoids that were tracking them. He volunteers to help the party in their ambush, and the party is happy for an extra sword, or bow, in the battle.

Bowling Over the Opposition

The party eventually picks out what they feel is a very suitable spot for an ambush. They find a narrow canyon with steep walls rising on either side. The Zaza, with some help from Perin, recognizes that the goblinoids should pass through the canyon, as circumventing it would likely delay the creatures’ chase by a few hours. In a narrow portion of the canyon, the party finds a short raised plateau with a gentle slope on the northern end rising to a steep twenty foot cliff on the other end, facing the goblinoids as they enter. To pass by the raised plateau, the goblinoids will have to file through a narrow passage along the canyon wall, bunching the group up nicely for an ambush.

Even better, the party finds a nicely rounded large boulder on the raised plateau which they carefully position to tumble into the goblinoids as they pass. The party debates for some time how best to set the trap, whether to roll the boulder straight out at the goblinoids as they enter the canyon, or to let them come alongside the raised plateau before rolling the boulder into them. The boulder is quite heavy, and the party will need to rely on The Zaza’s strength to push the boulder off the ledge. However, in her squealing plate armor, the paladin may not be the best candidate for surprising the enemy.

They decide to improve the boulder trap in a couple of ways – to create a distraction in the direction opposite from the boulder (along the canyon wall) and to task Erik with devising a launching mechanism to make it easier to send the boulder on its way. The party brainstorms a variety of distractions, including having Invicto use Ghost Sound to throw his intimidating, high-pitched gnome voice onto the canyon wall and to shout various phrases at the goblinoids. The party considers a variety of distracting phrases such as “Look over here!”, “Help me! Help me!”, “Hey want some gold!”, and “Aaaaaahhhhhh!”. “Help me! Help me!” gets the worst review, as the party doubts orcs and goblins have much desire to help innocent gnomes… The party also considers making the sound of a wolf howling, and eerily, just as they mention it, they hear wolves howling in the distance. After all the debate, the party just decides to have Perin throw a backpack filled with pots and pans down the canyon wall.

The party settles on letting the goblinoids come alongside the raised plateau before jumping them, so Erik rigs some rope, a wooden wedge, and some other small rocks to prepare the boulder for the ambush. Perin treks through the canyon and comes up onto the top of the steep canyon walls, on the side opposite from the raised plateau the rest of the party hides on. Perin is a good fifty feet up from the action in his perch on top of the canyon walls, but still well within range with his massive longbow. Perin loads up a pack with a variety of pots, pans, and other clanging metal objects, ties it to the end of about forty feet of rope and waits for the goblinoids to arrive.

The Zaza waits behind the boulder trap, ready to launch the rock into the midst of the goblinoids. On the raised plateau with the dragonborn, Erik lies flat on his belly, peaking over the edge, while Invicto and Charm wait further back, hidden behind a large pile of rocks and brush.

Orcs, Ogres, and Goblins Oh My!


The creatures soon file into the canyon. Roughly five orc warriors amble along with five goblin sharpshooters. The party doesn’t make them out to be much of a threat. The real threat is the three huge ogres stomping along in the middle of the pack of creatures. They also note a goblin near the back of the group with the clear trappings of a tribe shaman or hexer. The ogres are clearly the most dangerous opponents. They tower at least 12 feet tall, and their huge, muscled arms carry massive great clubs as thick as a man’s torso. The party realizes this will be no easy fight, but they are confident their ambush will help them grab the advantage.

Unfortunately, the goblinoids are somewhat spread out as they file through the canyon – not ideal for the party’s boulder trap. Perin waits until two of the ogres come alongside the raised plateau then kicks the pack over the edge of the canyon. It reaches the end of the rope with a loud clanging as the pots and pans slam into the canyon wall about ten feet above the canyon floor. The distraction works flawlessly. The entire pack of goblinoids turns toward the canyon wall as The Zaza shoves the boulder off of the raised plateau. It tumbles on to the canyon floor, headed straight for two of the ogres. Unfortunately, the beasts turn at the last second and manage to partially dodge out of the way of the boulder. It clips both of them, but only delivers minor injuries before crashing into the canyon wall.

In all the commotion, Charm quickly skitters down the steep cliff of the raised plateau and darts across the canyon floor. The tiefling draws on all of her rogue training to stay hidden as she moves behind a small pile of rocks, about even with the back line of the goblinoid forces. Erik conjures up a Flaming Sphere in the middle of the enemy’s ranks and immediately begins dropping some of the weak goblin sharpshooters and orc warriors as they collapse in flames.

The ogres are clearly angered at the sudden assault and they rush to the back of the canyon to ascend the slope onto the raised plateau. For such large, lumbering creatures, they are surprisingly quick. In an instant, the front two ogres are able to turn the corner onto the plateau’s slope and charge into battle. Unfortunately, the monsters move so fast, they catch Erik still lying flat on the ground next to The Zaza. As they rush up the slope, the party hears the three ogres’ brutish and inarticulate attempt at intimidation as they clearly state their goal for the battle. The first ogre up the ramp shouts, “Tik smash!”, and brings down his massive club onto Erik, lying on the ground. The wizard weakly brings up his hands to deflect the blow, but he takes a strong hit. The next ogre up the ramp shouts, “Tok smash!”, and swings his club at The Zaza. With an Angry Smash, he is able to connect despite The Zaza’s guarded defenses. The Zaza tries to shake off the hit as the third ogre comes charging up the ramp with the dragonborn in its sights.

As the dragonborn prepares to deal with the onslaught of the ogres, she is suddenly hit with a Stinging Hex from the Goblin Hexer on the canyon floor. The Zaza is caught, unable to move without excruciating pain. Even worse, the ogres’ long arms give them significant reach, so they have stayed just out of range of the paladin’s battleaxe. The Zaza takes the opportunity to Bless her weapon, breathes a gout of flame at the ogres, and then is able to shrug off the effects of the Stinging Hex. Invicto and Perin both join the battle with a couple devastating attacks landed on one of the lead ogres. It is quickly bloodied and near death. Charm continues to skulk around the edge of the battlefield, positioning herself for a devastating strike on the Goblin Hexer. The goblin sharpshooters send out a few crossbow bolts that deal some minor injuries to Invicto and Erik, and bounce harmlessly off The Zaza’s platemail. The orc warriors make their way up the ramp behind the ogres to join the melee.

Hanging By a Thread

The party has dealt out a good deal of damage, but The Zaza and Erik are both near collapse and three ogres are still battering away at them. They manage to dodge a few more blows from the massive beasts and then they both catch their second wind, hanging on for a few more precious seconds. Erik stands next to The Zaza with a hulking ogre towering over him, wanting to back away from the creature, but needing to direct his Flaming Sphere around the battlefield. He glances at The Zaza and realizes she might not be able to survive another blow anyways. So, the wizard bravely stands his ground in front of the massive ogre. Erik rolls his Flaming Sphere into a few more goblin sharpshooters, unleashes a blast of arcane fire at the three ogres, and then somehow manages to dodge another of the ogre’s blows. The Zaza considers abandoning the plateau with what little strength she has left, but decides she must hold down the frontline. She takes one last desperate swing at the most injured ogre and is able to bring him down.

Charm finally emerges from hiding to land a devastating blow on the Goblin Hexer. She nearly kills him outright, but the caster manages to stay on his feet. He turns and utters a few arcane words and Charm finds herself suddenly blinded. She is then torn into by a volley of crossbow bolts from the remaining goblin sharpshooters, and the tiefling is quickly bloodied. Fortunately, Perin turns his attention her way and takes down the Hexer with a well-placed arrow. He then starts picking off the remaining goblins as Charm eventually shakes off the effects of the blinding hex. Once the tiefling regains her sight, she heads up the slope to the plateau to join the melee there.

The party has made progress on damaging the two remaining ogres, but The Zaza and Erik are still barely clinging to consciousness. Behind their fading frontline, Invicto continues launching eldritch energy at the ogres. The Zaza makes a desperate attempt to knock one of the ogres over the ledge of the plateau, but her attack misses the mark. Realizing Erik can’t take another hit from an ogre’s great club, she then risks herself by performing an Arc of Vengeance, using divine magic to compel both remaining ogres to attack her. The move pays off, as somehow the dragonborn paladin is able to deflect aside both of the ogres’ attacks.

Erik summons a magma beast on the plateau and it quickly takes out the remaining orc warriors. Though The Zaza and Erik are near death, once Charm arrives and the entire party directs their attacks at the two remaining ogres they are able to make short work of them. Perin continues raining down arrows from above, and Invicto lands a particularly devastating critical blow to one of the ogres. In a few short moments, the party stands alone on the canyon floor with 14 blood-stained corpses strewn around them.

Goodbyes

After the battle, Charm bids the party farewell and heads off into the mountains to the northeast to track down Fargrim and help him recover the Hammer of Tharmak. After the rushed goodbyes, the party is quiet for a time as they hike back into the mountains. Though he had a rough exterior, Fargrim was a good friend and a loyal comrade. The party will miss the gruff dwarf, and, though they only knew her for a brief time, Charm was always an amiable companion. The party is sad to see them go, but wishes them the best.

Perin can tell the party handles themselves well in a fight, and the elf decides they might make for decent travelling companions for a while. He asks where they’re headed and is intrigued at the possibility of seeing the great forests of Quinalyn as well as the sand and sea of the Jeweled Cities. He offers to join the party in their travels and the group, having just lost two talented members, graciously accepts.

Sliced Bread

The party heads back to the cave where Mujeh, Lock, Old Breddy, Lucinda, and Janna are hiding and are disturbed to see corpses strewn about the entrance to the cave. The blood-stained bodies of a couple of goblins as well as a giant dire wolf litter the ground. The party quickly hurries into the cave and thankfully finds their friends still alive. Mujeh has numerous scratches and bruises, but seems to have fared well. Lucinda and Lock are simply cowering in the corner. Old Breddy clearly got the worst of it. He cradles one viciously mangled arm, the corpse of another dire wolf laying a few feet away from him. Curiously, the party does not see Janna, the cleric of Pelor, anywhere.

Mujeh fills the party in on what happened. A couple goblin wolf riders tracked them to the cave and the ragtag group managed to fend them off, though one of the dire wolves latched on to Old Breddy’s arm and did some serious damage to it. Disturbingly, Janna left the group in the middle of the fight, after taking down one of the wolves that was attacking her. More concerning, however, is Mujeh’s description of the magic she used. As a bard, Mujeh has some training in the arcane arts, and he is certain that the magic Janna used was not divine or radiant magic. It was shadow magic. As she walked away from the fight, Mujeh called out for her to help them, but she simply let out a wicked laugh and left the group to fend for themselves. The party recalls how interested Janna seemed in the party’s information about Lord Dread and the Keystone Mortalis and concludes that she was likely a disguised Shadar-kai. Though she now knows the exact location of Lord Dread’s keep, the party isn’t too concerned. If the Shadar-kai get hold of the Raven Queen statue, it seems to just be a trade of one dark, shady owner for another.

Lucinda rushes to The Zaza and hugs her desparately while the dragonborn attempts to console the young girl. In the meantime, Perin, who has some training in the healing arts, offers to examine Old Breddy’s injured arm. The elf takes one look at it and realizes it will have to be amputated just above the elbow. The party builds a fire, gives Old Breddy several shots of gin, and then holds him down while Perin goes to work. The veteran soldier howls in pain and struggles mightily against his bonds, but eventually the job is done and the arm is bandaged. As Old Breddy fades off into sleep, Erik notes that the stump left over is about the size of a loaf of bread.

Recruitment

The party heads out the next day and begins travelling south through the Boundary Lands towards Quinalyn. As night falls they spot a campfire and investigate to discover a small group of soldiers, apparently survivors from Verind’s Edge. The group looks battered and worn down and they are on edge as the party approaches, but some of the soldiers recognize the party members and give them a warm greeting.

The group seems to have slowly grown in size as the soldiers managed to find each other as they fled the battle. Some of the soldiers were stationed in the city itself, one on the wall south of the city, and a few others north. All in all, there’s nine soldiers.

They relate what they know of the aftermath of the battle. They are certain the Emperor and Court Wizard Davos were killed, as some of the men saw them collapse into the pile of rubble from the Arinfax Colossus’s assault. Some of them claim the Empire may live on because they saw Queen Larindra escape with the newborn heir to the empire (of course none of the soldiers know the boy’s father is actually Erik). Others insist they saw the Queen overtaken and killed as she tried to flee. One soldier swears he saw the Queen ride out of the city with Sir Thalus guarding her and that they were ahead of the goblinoid forces, while another says he heard rumors she escaped on a flying griffon. The party doubts they can put much stock in these varied stories, and figures it is most likely the case that the Queen and her son were killed. Still Erik can’t help but think there is a small chance his son may be alive.

The soldier stationed on the wall south of the city relates an eerie tale. He and a group of soldiers headed towards the city when they saw the wall breached, but didn’t arrive until night fall the next day. By then, the battle for the city had been finished for some time. The ground around and inside the city was littered with thousands of corpses, both humanoid and goblinoid. The soldier says in addition to the corpses there were hundreds of undead creatures moving throughout the battlefield, ‘finishing off’ any survivors and loading corpses into wagons. The group of soldiers he was with moved in close to the city and were attacked by a band of skeletons. He was the only survivor, and he assures the party that Verind’s Edge is now no place for the living. The party is certain these undead were the packs they saw heading out from Lord Dread’s keep, and they shudder at what dark plans the necromancer may have for this massive collection of bodies.

At one point during the night, one of the soldiers mentions how thankful he is that Davos was able to destroy the Arinfax Colossus as the wizard was brought down. The party speaks up to say that they actually destroyed the Colossus from an outpost up in the mountains. A few of the soldiers concur, mentioning that they heard the party was sent on a quest to destroy the Colossus. Others insist that they saw Davos complete some kind of magical spell just before he was crushed by the elemental titan.

One particularly grizzled soldier gets angered with the party. “You disappear for 9 months, then come back right before the battle and take off before the army arrives! If you had the power to destroy the thing, why did you wait until it breached the city walls! I bet Sir Uthrin bought your honor with gold…” A couple other soldiers mutter their agreement as he continues. “Uthrin wanted the thing destroyed since it would come his way next, but he wanted to make sure it took out Verind’s Edge first.” The party scoffs at this suggestion. The Zaza speaks up firmly to defend the party’s honor. Insisting that they trekked three days through the mountains and arrived at the outpost just as the Colossus arrived at Verind’s Edge, and that they did everything they could to destroy the massive construct sooner, but time just wasn’t on their side. Her eloquent speech convinces several of the soldiers, but three of them, including the one who initially accused the party of colluding with Uthrin, still don’t trust the party.

Perin suggests that the party could use some new recruits and since these men are clearly out of work and homeless now, he thinks it might be a good idea to put them on the party’s payroll. He discusses it with the rest of the group, and they agree. The party would guess that the average pay for a common soldier is one gold piece per month, so The Zaza steps forth and offers double that to all the men to join them in heading south. Most of the soldiers are honored at the offer and impressed by The Zaza’s commanding presence. Those who have heard of the party’s exploits, and believed the party’s story about destroying the Arinfax Colossus, are humbled at the chance to serve them and insist that they do not need pay to follow them.

The three soldiers who still suspect the party of betraying Verind’s Edge to Uthrin are disgusted at the offer to take the party’s dirty money. They refuse to follow them and storm out of the camp. Perin offers to pay them the two gold pieces as a gesture of goodwill to send them on their way, and they still turn their back on the party’s generosity. One soldier in the camp, though, speaks up to take that offer, and he takes his two gold and scurries off into the night. The party is left with five soldiers ready and willing to follow them.

The next morning, the party continues their journey south. They eventually make their way through the rocky dwarven ruins of Arnathon, into the forests of Quinalyn, and finally after roughly two weeks of travel, they reach Erik’s home town of Trannyth. As the party travels, they get to know their new recruits a little better, and one of them clearly stands out above the rest. Aramil, an eladrin warlord, proves to be very knowledgable when it comes to battle. He is clearly a brilliant strategist and an experienced tactician. With Fargrim’s battle leadership gone, the party welcomes Aramil into their inner circle to fill the void the dwarf left behind. Though Charm and Fargrim were reliable comrades, the party is confident Perin and Aramil will fill their spots quite capably.

 

[hayek]

By the way, if anyone's interested in putting some visualization to the world where the story is taking place, here's a couple of links to some maps -

Map of the Boundary Lands

Map of the known world

(You can see the Boundary Lands way up in the upper left-hand corner of the world map.)

 

[Noctos]

very detailed so i wonder. do you use some sort of writing program that use speach or do you hand type all this.

 

[hayek]

very detailed so i wonder. do you use some sort of writing program that use speach or do you hand type all this.

Hey Noctos, thanks for stopping by! I don't use any speech program, though I see how that could be useful. I'm a pretty fast typer, which helps, but mostly the detail is thanks to sinking a loooot of time into each write-up. I'd say on average I spend about 8 hours typing, editing, and proofreading each post. It's a ludicrous amount of time, but it's a labor of love so I enjoy it...

Lemme know if you have any other questions!

 

[hayek]

I've finally noticed that most of my posts are ridiculously long, so I'll start breaking the write-ups into smaller chunks with the next update

 

[hayek]

Chapter 5 - A New Home (s. 11)

5.2 A Family Reunion (Part 1)

The party arrives in Erik’s home town of Trannyth so the lone human in the party can pay a visit to his adoptive elven father, Varna. Aramil asks about Erik’s relationship with his parents, and Erik attempts to explain his strained connection to his adoptive parents, and relates the story of what he knows of his birth parents, with his adoptive father having an affair with his birth mother and then taking Erik into his family thinking he was his own bastard son, but then realizing he wasn’t, and how Erik later slept with the Queen of the Empire of Nerath to discover that his birth mother is now married to the vile Sir Uthrin, whose kingdom was somewhat warring with Verind’s Edge and the Empire of Nerath before it was destroyed… Aramil tries to listen attentively, only letting his eyes glaze over a little, and eventually nods with a “So, it’s complicated…”

A Chilling Reception

Walking through the town, Perin recognizes some old acquaintances, as he spent some time hunting in the forests of Quinalyn. Invicto and The Zaza, the only two party members who haven’t spent significant time in Quinalyn are quite taken with the raised homes built into and on the trees of the town. The party’s entourage of Verind’s Edge survivors heads into the center of town to find a tavern at which to pass the time. Erik remembers the streets of Trannyth well, and figures he should get straight to what he came for. The party soon turns onto a quaint wooded lane, and Erik is flooded with memories of his childhood. His parents’ home stands in the shadow of several massive trees. A richly adorned house, it is one of several homes in Trannyth that was constructed to stand on its own, rather than built into a tree. Erik strides up and knocks on the front door.

A servant he doesn’t recognize answers the door. The servant is quite taken aback with the motley crew that appears armed to the teeth. He asks them to state their business, and Erik says he would speak with Varna. The servant asks if he has an appointment and Erik replies that he does not, but just to tell Varna that Erik has arrived to see him. The servant informs the party that the master of the house is currently not in, but that he will ask the lady of the house if she will see them. Erik nods begrudgingly and lets out a sigh once the servant closes the door. Erik’s relationship with his adoptive mother, Brenys, was abrasive to say the least. She never really accepted the human as her son, and was glad to see Erik go when he finally struck out on his own.

The door opens and Brenys stands in the entryway with a vitriolic gaze. She is well-dressed and adorned with a variety of gaudy jewelry. Erik offers, “Hello, mother.”

Brenys replies, “Erik, I’m so disappointed to see you again.”

Erik ignores the remark. “I’ve just arrived from the Boundary Lands. We were serving in Verind’s Edge when war broke out with the orcs and goblins of the Torin Plains and the city was destroyed.”

Brenys seems incredibly uninterested in hearing Erik speak. She cuts him off, “I still don’t understand why Varna didn’t just toss you in the river when you were a babe. Get out of my sight and take your human stink with you.” She promptly shuts the door in Erik’s face.

The party is silent for a moment, and Erik says, “Well, let’s go get hammered!” The party heartily agrees and heads back to the center of town to find the nicest pub Trannyth can offer. Erik briefly recalls meeting a former servant of his father, Gregor, in Verind’s Edge some time ago, and wonders if he could track him down, but he has no idea if Gregor made it out of the city before the attack, or even if he would head back to Trannyth after Verind’s Edge was destroyed. He puts it out of his mind, and the party heads into the pub and commences the drowning of sorrows. They are only about thirty minutes in when an older elf walks into the pub that Erik recognizes. The man is Elkas, a servant of Erik’s adoptive father. He scans the room, spots Erik, and heads straight to him.

“Erik, I’m so sorry about Brenys. Your father would have given you a much warmer welcome. These past few years, he has spoken often of how much he regretted how you were treated, and how he wanted to make amends for sending you away. He even spoke to me about making some changes to his will to include you. Unfortunately, he went to visit your brother, Luwin, about two months ago and hasn’t returned. Luwin sent word that your father fell ill, and that he has been caring for him there in his town. If you haven’t heard, Luwin bought up the lands and title of a debt-ridden noble deep in the forests of Quinalyn – a small village named Osteros.” Elkas glances down at the bar and lowers his voice. “I’m worried about Varna.”

“You think he’s in danger?” Erik asks.

Elkas purses his lips. “I shouldn’t say any more. I just wanted to let you know how your father felt. I should get back to the house before Brenys notices my absence.” He nods to Erik and takes his leave.

Asking around the pub, the party discovers that the small village of Osteros is somewhat on the way to Arastur. They decide to pay a visit to Luwin and to check in on Varna. They promptly take their leave of Trannyth and travel southwest for a few days. Osteros is somewhat off the well-travelled roads of Quinalyn, in some of the deeper, more dangerous woods, so the party decides to leave their entourage of Verind’s Edge survivors in a larger city near Osteros while they pay Luwin a visit. They travel for a couple days on their own through thickening forests and wild underbrush and arrive in the small village of Osteros as a noonday sun peaks through the tree canopy.

Meeting the Locals

As the party approaches the city, Aramil decides it might be smart to separate himself from the party. Assuming Luwin’s intentions are sinister, the eladrin thinks the party might benefit from having an ally in town that Luwin doesn’t know is connected to them. So, he decides to hang back for a few hours, letting the rest of the party go into the town on their own first. He’ll then follow them into town near sunset, posing as an independent traveler.

As the party enters the small town, they can see a large keep standing on a raised hill in the distance, towering over the village. It actually includes stone construction, though vines cover its walls and towers. The party decides to look around the town before calling on Luwin in the castle. Unfortunately, the village is so small there are really no public areas to be found. They do make their way to the center of the village where there’s a small marketplace with some activity. As the party walks into the market they draw inquisitive looks from the villagers there, some looking concerned and disapproving. The party notices that all of the villagers are elves and eladrin.

A huge, hulking elf emerges from the crowd and approaches the party. Most elves are slender and graceful in their physique, but this elf is thick and brutish, the biggest elf the party has ever seen. His teeth are filed into points and he approaches with a gruesome smile. He addresses Perin in elvish. “What is an elf doing with this trash?”, he asks derisively and indicates the party with his hand.

Perin attempts to play along and responds in elvish, “Sometimes the hunter must walk with the prey.”

This draws a sharp laugh from the villager. The rest of the party isn’t sure what transpired. Erik recalls a little elven from his childhood, and gathers that the villager called them trash and then Perin made some joke about hunting. The hulking elf turns to the rest of the party and speaks in broken common, “You not welcome!”

Erik speaks up and says, “Are you the person in charge here?”

The elf laughs and says, “Yes, Brakkus in charge!” This draws chuckles from the villagers, who have now all stopped to watch the exchange.

Perin interjects to say that Brakkus should stop squabbling with these lesser creatures. He tells Brakkus he looks like he would be an impressive hunter and asks him about the largest kills he’s taken down. Brakkus is flattered and says that maybe he’ll hunt with Perin later, but the elf then turns his attention back to the rest of the party. “You not welcome! You go!”

The party looks at each other, not sure where this will lead. Suddenly a short, thin elf emerges from the crowd, calling out, “Welcome to our fair city, visitors! I apologize for the townsfolk, they aren’t used to visitors. Brakkus, back to work!” The gathered crowd begins to dissipate. The new elf introduces himself as Calwyn and invites the party to follow him up to the keep, explaining that the town doesn’t have an inn, and visitors are welcome to stay in the castle. The party agrees to follow him and heads out of the marketplace.

As they leave, Brakkus calls out, “Enjoy your stay at the castle!” and the comment draws laughs from the villagers. The party notices one young eladrin woman in the marketplace that doesn’t join in the laughs, however. Standing by a vegetable cart with a half-filled woven basket, she instead has a look of concern, and perhaps pity, as she gazes at the party.

 

[hayek]

Chapter 5 - A New Home (s. 11)

5.2 A Family Reunion (Part 2)

More Suspicious Behavior

As the party heads out of the village and up to the castle Calwyn asks the party what they are visiting Osteros for. Erik says that they wish to visit Varna. Calwyn seems a little surprised at the request and thinks for a moment. “Yes, I believe he has fallen ill. I’ll have to check with Master Luwin as to whether you can see him. He might not be in a condition for visitors.”

Erik is a little suspicious of this response, but tells Calwyn to inform Luwin that Erik is here to see Varna. Calwyn leads the party through the massive wooden doors of the castle into a large, open courtyard. Servants bustle about underneath a single massive oak tree in the center of the courtyard. The tree is an impressive sight and its branches extend up above the castle’s walls. Calwyn leads the party to the right through the courtyard, through a side door into a set of wooden buildings constructed along the stone walls of the castle. He shows the party up to a large room on the second floor overlooking the courtyard. It is not finely adorned by any means, really just an open room with six cots arranged throughout and one small wash basin in one corner of the room. Calwyn informs the party that he will speak to Luwin about them and be back shortly.

As soon as Calwyn leaves Perin heads out to go back and speak to the villagers further. He specifically seeks out Brakkus, whom he seemed to actually have a good rapport with, even though the hulking elf was trying to kick his friends out of the village. The ranger finds Brakkus on a street just off the marketplace. He is apparently the town blacksmith as Perin finds him hammering away on an anvil. Perin approaches and strikes up a conversation.

The quiet ranger has little training in the social arts and has never been known as someone with a silver tongue, but for some reason he develops quite a connection with Brakkus and soon has the blacksmith opening up to him. He quickly picks up on the fact that Brakkus is highly intolerant of any races other than elves and eladrin and gets the impression that most of the village feels the same way. He manages to get Brakkus talking about how he feels about his new ruler, Luwin. Brakkus clearly likes Luwin and is excited that he came to power in Osteros. At one point Brakkus mentions that, “Luwin knows how to take care of those who don’t respect nature…” Perin tries to get him to elaborate, but Brakkus clams up after making the lone suspicious comment.

The ranger keeps his eyes peeled as he talks with Brakkus, trying to spot the young eladrin woman from the marketplace who offered the party a concerned look while the rest of the villagers chuckled at Brakkus’s comment about the castle. Perin’s eyes are incredibly sharp, but unfortunately the woman never comes by. After whiling away the afternoon speaking to Brakkus, Perin heads over to a small tavern in the village market to grab a drink.

In the meantime, Calwyn returns to the party’s room and informs Invicto, The Zaza, and Erik that Luwin has brought in a healer from Arastur who is currently performing a lengthy healing ritual on Varna. Unfortunately, the healer cannot be disturbed, so the party will not be able to visit Varna tonight, but Calwyn assures the party they will be able to see him tomorrow morning when the ritual is complete. Calwyn also says that Luwin is honored that his brother has come to visit him and that the party is all invited to attend a dinner with Luwin tonight.

After Calwyn leaves, the group decides to explore the castle a little and see if they can actually find this room where the healing ritual is being performed. They assume Varna would be in the large keep on the north end of the courtyard but they are turned away by guards when they try to enter the keep itself. So, they return to their room and wait for dinner.

Dinner Time

As the sun begins to set, Aramil heads into town and finds his way to the central marketplace. He gets some inquisitive looks from the villagers, being an outsider, but as an eladrin he is not accosted at all. He finds the small tavern in the market and heads inside, where he sees Perin and a couple other villagers sitting at the bar. He pretends to not know Perin, and sits down and orders a drink of wine.

He makes some small talk with the bartender, an elf named Gryll. Aramil claims that he has been collecting various rare herbs from the forests in the area. Perin and Aramil both order a plate of food, and as the sun goes down Gryll tells Aramil that this small building offers no room and board. He’ll need to head up to the castle to look for a place to stay for the night. They take in most visitors. He also tells Perin that he’ll probably want to head up there himself. Master Luwin doesn’t take kindly to strangers wandering the village streets after dark.

So, Perin and Aramil head up to the castle. Perin joins the rest of the party in their room just as they’re about to head down for dinner. Aramil speaks to the guards about lodging and Calwyn eventually comes out to greet him and sets up the eladrin with a guest room right next to the party. He also extends Aramil an invite to join the Master of the village for dinner, so the entire party heads to the keep to eat with Luwin.

Luwin actually greets Erik somewhat cordially, though Erik doesn’t believe for a second that Luwin is happy to see him at all. The elf echoes Calwyn’s earlier story about bringing in a healer from Arastur for Varna, and that the party will be able to see him in the morning. Aramil, posing as someone not associated with the party, manages to make a good impression on Luwin. After mostly strained and awkward conversation, the gathering ends, and the party is escorted back to their rooms by guards.

The Real Dinner

When the party gets back to their rooms they find a note awaiting them on one of their cots.

You are in grave danger here. If you want to live, leave Osteros immediately and never return.
​

The party is now officially done waiting for something to happen and they decide to seek out Varna and get out of this town. Perin plans to climb out a window and use his stealth training to try to slip into the keep and find Varna. The Zaza on the other hand, decides to head out into the castle to try to talk up some of the guards and get some inside information. As Perin opens the window he notices the courtyard is eerily quiet and empty.

Aramil, in the room next door, also notices the courtyard is totally empty, after bustling with activity just an hour or so ago. Disturbingly, he would also swear that the huge oak tree in the middle of the courtyard is closer to the window. Perin notices the closeness of the tree as well, just as The Zaza attempts to leave the room and finds the door is locked from the outside. Perin decides it’s definitely time to get out of the room and climbs out of the window down into the courtyard as The Zaza slams into the door trying to bust it open.

As Perin hits the ground of the courtyard he turns to find the huge oak tree beginning to move and sway. Its branches begin writhing and suddenly a hollow face appears in the trunk of the massive tree. Perin immediately realizes he is dealing with a Treant and readies his bow. The living plant approaches him with a hungry gaze, and the elf attempts to call out to it before battle is joined.

Taking a shot in the dark, Perin asks “Wait, don’t you want to be set free?”

A deep, rumbling laugh rolls out from the trunk of the tree. “I am no prisoner here. My master keeps me well fed.”

“Your master would let you eat a fey creature such as me?”

“My master usually does not let me eat elves, but he has made an exception for you.” The treant’s face breaks into a twisted, hollow smile.

“Well, you should beware of the magical fire the wizards above can wield,” Perin offers.

“I am not concerned with your piddling threats, little elf. Enough talk!” The treant advances but Perin manages to slide away to the south end of the courtyard before it reaches him.

The Killing Tree

The treant has caught the eye of the rest of the party and they prepare for battle. The Zaza manages to awkwardly climb out of the window and down into the courtyard, despite her weighty plate mail. Aramil simply fey steps from his window into the courtyard next to the tree and distracts the tree to give The Zaza a solid shot at it with her axe. Perin skitters up a set of stairs on the south end of the courtyard to get a good vantage point with his bow.

Invicto and Erik begin launching magical attacks at the tree from their vantage point up in the room, but the treant has some surprises in store for the party. Several of its long branches stretching above the courtyard begin coming to life and reach down to entwine around the party members. The living branches all sport massive thorns and they tear into several party members, even reaching into the windows of the room to wrap around Invicto and Erik. Perin finds two sets of branches wrapping around his legs and waist. The ranger quickly plants a couple arrows into the branches, point blank, and then shrugs off the dead limbs. He then bolts up the stairs and leaps from one ledge to another across the courtyard. The elf barely makes it across, tumbling onto the other ledge and nimbly leaping to his feet.

Aramil, Invicto, and Erik all take swipes at the branches entwining them and manage to cut, or burn, them off. The Zaza tries to plant her axe into the treant’s trunk but is unable to get through its tough exterior. The treant itself swings a massive wooden fist at The Zaza but misses. It then lashes out with a thorny branch and manages to hit The Zaza and she feels a burning poison seep into the wound. Fortunately, with an encouraging shout from Aramil, The Zaza is able to shrug off the effects of the poison.

With the thorny branches eliminated, the party begins focusing on the treant. Perin takes careful aim, but somehow misses three of his shots in a row, a rarity for the elf. Invicto and Erik manage to pour some arcane fire onto the tree, setting the wooden creature aflame. It howls in pain and rage and extends several more branches into the party’s room to assault Invicto and Erik. As one branch boldly attempts to wriggle behind Erik to get in a better attacking position the wizard sees an obvious opening in the branch’s defenses. Having no melee weapon to speak of, the mage winds up his fist on the end of one long, scrawny arm, and manages to deliver a precise blow to the branch, cracking it down the middle and leaving it lifeless.

The party’s luck doesn’t stop there, as they continue their barrage of attacks on the treant. The creature does manage to at least wrap one thorny branch around The Zaza and drag her out of its way, allowing it to charge up to the edge of the party’s room where Invicto and Erik are hiding. Aramil then positions himself to execute the Myrmidon Formation with The Zaza, making a strong defensive wall against the treant’s attacks. The treant ignores the melee fighters and gets in a few blows on the magic-users in the second floor room, but the damage has been done. Invicto wraps the treant in the Flames of Phlegethos and Erik summons a magma beast to help heap more fiery attacks on to the creature and it is soon defeated.

Perin the Miracle Worker

The treant tips over backward and falls into the courtyard. As it does, the creature’s roots rip up out of the ground as its trunk goes horizontal on the earth. The party is horrified to see numerous bodies in various states of decay held within the treant’s roots. Most of them are skeletons, but a few look almost like mummified remains – bodies that have been drained of their life, leaving only a dry, wrinkled husk. The party spies one body tangled in the roots that looks pale and haggard, but possibly still alive. What’s more, Erik recognizes it as Varna.

The wizard rushes to his adoptive father’s side and disentangles him from the treant’s roots. His breathing is shallow, but with prompting he manages to open his eyes and give a weak cough. He is shocked to see Erik above him, but he is immediately grateful for the chance to see his adopted son one more time before passing. Varna is sure he is not long for this world, but motions Erik near.

The old elf speaks in a cracked whisper, “I’m so glad to see you again, my boy. I never should have sent you away, treated you how I did. I’m sorry.”

“What happened?” Erik asks.

“I discovered Luwin’s secret, this dark tree…”

“What was he planning to do with it?” Erik continues

Varna shakes his head slowly. “I don’t know what his plans were, but when I discovered it he gave me over to it to die.” Varna’s voice fades and he coughs weakly. “I don’t have much time, Erik. There’s something I want you to have. In the bottom drawer of my desk at home. It is for you. Do not tell my wife of it. It’s the least I can do for you…” Varna’s eyes close and he drifts into unconsciousness. Erik looks around desperately as his father slips away.

Perin steps up and offers to examine Varna’s wounds. The elder elf seems surely destined for the afterlife, but Perin is confident in his skills as a healer, and his own extraordinary luck. He quickly mixes a batch of rare herbs together and applies the mixture to the numerous jagged cuts the thorny roots of the treant left on Varna’s body. The rest of the party is anxious to leave as they start to hear activity in the castle. Varna is clearly beyond the help of any healer, and Perin has no hope of stabilizing the aged elf.

Nonetheless, Perin simply stays focused on his work and his patient as he grinds several more rare herbs with a few drops of water to make a foul-smelling, thick liquid that he dribbles on to Varna’s lips. After a few moments, the dying elf suddenly draws in a deep breath of air. Perin can feel his hearbeat stabilize and his breathing become regular. The ranger, along with the rest of the party, is amazed at his work, as it appears he has snatched Varna back from the jaws of certain death.

The party has no time to celebrate as more noise can be heard in the castle. The Zaza throws Varna over her shoulder, and the party breaks into a run for the entrance to the castle on the south side of the courtyard. As they throw the massive doors open they see soldiers start pouring onto the castle walls, calling for the party to halt. With Perin’s sharp eyes leading the way, the party beats a swift retreat straight into the thick, wild forests around the village of Osteros. They can sense soldiers close on their tracks for several hours, but they eventually manage to lose them in the wilds of Quinalyn.

Lands and Titles

The party gives The Zaza a rest and crafts a makeshift stretcher for Varna. They regroup with their entourage of Verind’s Edge survivors and head back to Trannyth. Varna is still weak and sickly throughout the journey, but he is clearly on the mend and slowly regaining his health. Once they reach Trannyth, Varna returns to his home on his own, opting not to put Erik through another confrontation with Brenys. The party rents a room at one of the nicer inns in town and Varna’s servant, Elkas, soon delivers a package for Erik. A note explains that the package is what Varna spoke of giving to Erik as (he thought) he lay dying in the courtyard of Luwin’s castle.

The package includes a unique golden seal on a short leather strap, and a sheaf of very official-looking legal documents. Erik looks over the numerous pieces of parchment and finds a brief summary at the top of the first page.

Will and Testament of Varna Ilstalis Concerning Limited Properties and Ownerships, in the city of Arastur, nation of Quinalyn, Held External to the House of Ilstalis

The bearer of this seal is holder in full of these titles herein concerning the properties and merchant operations residing in the city of Arastur in the nation of Quinalyn, including the property of the residential Redding House on Wystra Lane; the property of the New Moon Merchant House in the Business District; and the business operations, including all assets, inventories, properties, profits, and debts, of the New Moon Merchant Company functioning therein. Presentation of this seal and these papers provides the bearer all rights, responsibilities, and ownership associated with these titles, with an exceptional right to complete and inviolable anonymity as granted by High Chancellor Silvaras on the date 5-12 in the Year 3215.
​

The note from Varna explains that he had originally intended to leave the properties to Erik as part of his will, but in return for saving his life, Varna felt he should bequeath the titles to Erik now. The properties are held outside of Varna’s house (the house of Ilstalis), so that Brenys and Luwin can lay no claim to them. Rather than place the properties in someone else’s name, Varna arranged for a rare method of ownership – whoever holds the golden seal included with the package is considered the owner of the properties. Furthermore, the holder of the seal does not need to produce any papers of identification or heritage, as they are entitled to full anonymity. They simply must produce the seal to prove their ownership.

The party is pleased to find that they are now, quite suddenly, businessmen and property owners in the city of Arastur. They look forward to finally reaching the city and enjoying their newfound wealth, and the party decides to share a celebratory drink in the tavern. Aramil joins in the merriment, but he can’t help but think about the fact that a villain like Luwin is still loose in the woods of Quinalyn. As the wine flows, the eladrin dreams up a number of creative ways to dole out justice to Erik’s wicked adoptive brother.

 

[hayek]

Chapter 5 - A New Home (s. 12-13)

5.3 The Sad, Lonely End of Luwin Istalis (Part 1)

The party debates for a while about what to do next. Aramil insists that Luwin must be ‘taken care of’, as he is a blight on all civilized society. Erik talks with his father about the situation, and Varna has apparently still not given up on his son, even though Luwin attempted to murder him. He insists that Erik leave Luwin be, and that his adoptive brother will somehow come back around one day. Erik is tempted to do as his father wishes, but the rest of the party sides with Aramil, and after further discussion Erik agrees to head back to Osteros to finish off Luwin once and for all.

Perin decides that punishing villainous nobles and constantly risking life and limb is not what he was interested in when he signed up to travel with the party. He is happy to have journeyed with the party back to the forests of Quinalyn, and he decides now would be a good time to take his leave and return to the simple life of a hunter. He bids the party farewell, and The Zaza, Erik, Invicto, and Aramil press on with their task at hand.

A ‘Hag’gard Village

The party leaves their posse of Verind’s Edge survivors behind and returns to Osteros. They find the houses and shops of the village deserted, and see some gruesomely strung up corpses. They eventually discover that everyone remaining in the village is holed up in the castle. The party approaches the gates and starts up a conversation with some guards on the wall. They are able to determine that a hag, Galwyth, has been terrorizing the town, killing villagers. Apparently Galwyth gave the treant as a gift to Luwin to help remove the tainted elements that now populate the forest kingdom of Quinalyn, such as the growing population of human merchants and tradesmen, and is now enraged that Luwin let the creature be killed. She is exacting her vengeance on the village and has promised to kill everyone there before she is done.

Later that night, the party tracks Luwin’s advisor, Calwyn, to a meeting with the hag and tries briefly to talk to her, but when Calwyn tells the hag that the party is actually responsible for killing her treant, a fight ensues. The party kills Galwyth (along with her protective pack of shadow wolves), and captures Calwyn. Picking through the hag’s belongings, Erik finds she was wearing a magical set of Bracers of Mental Might, which the wizard claims for himself.

They proceed to interrogate Calwyn, which involves The Zaza punching him a few times and Invicto calmly stating, “I wanna shove this rod where the sun don’t shine and let off an eldritch blast he’ll never forget.” After this bold threat Calwyn reveals that there is a secret underground tunnel that leads into the castle. The party has Calwyn lead them to the tunnel entrance where they see a light approaching – apparently someone is leaving the castle through the tunnel. The party quickly sets up an ambush around the tunnel entrance and The Zaza swings a blow at the first person to poke their head out of the tunnel.

Unfortunately, this person is an innocent child. The Zaza pulls her swing at the last second and manages to just knock the child unconscious. They discover that the group leaving the tunnel is a pack of orphaned children escaping the castle. They are led by the young eladrin woman who gave the party a pitying look in the marketplace when they first arrived in Osteros, knowing they would only be food for the treant. She offers the party little pity now, since they just beat one of the children into unconsciousness.

She says that she is being chased by an angry villager, the hulking elf Brakkus, and the party can hear him calling down the tunnel that he will slaughter her and the children when he catches them. The party sends her on her away, apologizes for hitting the child, and prepares for a fight with Brakkus. Alone, he is no match for the party, and he is quickly taken down, offering one last twisted smirk with his pointed teeth before his face is permanently bashed in.

Battle Royale

In the commotion, Calwyn escaped, but the party decides they have no more need of him. They make their way through the tunnel and Erik is glad to have just picked up the magical Bracers of Mental Might, as they help the party shove aside a heavy metal grate at the end of the tunnel. They pile into a small laundry closet and make their way through the castle, up to the throne room. They insist to the guards in front of the throne room doors that they are mercenaries hired to dispatch the hag, and they are here for their audience with Luwin. The guards begrudgingly accept their story, and the party enters the main hall of the castle. Luwin awaits and all pretenses are dropped as battle immediately breaks out.

Luwin proves a capable combatant, unleashing a variety of impressive combat maneuvers such as ‘Run and Hide’ and ‘Cower’. He may offer little offense, but Luwin apparently knows how to stay alive in a fight, and his guards, including an eladrin sorceress, bring plenty of offense to the fight. It is a brutal battle, with a couple of elven archers entering the hall to rain death down upon the party from afar. The party barely survives, though Luwin runs out of the throne room before the battle is done.

 

[hayek]

Chapter 5 - A New Home (s. 12-13)

5.3 The Sad, Lonely End of Luwin Istalis (Part 2)

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Chasing after the ignoble elf lord, the party bursts into his chambers to find him standing in a circle of arcane runes inscribed on the floor. Luwin begins reciting some arcane phrases as the circle lights up with magical energy. The Zaza rushes into the circle to swing her axe at Luwin while Erik and Invicto target him with arcane blasts. Luwin manages to shrug off the attacks and continues the magic ritual. Erik quickly realizes that the circle is a teleportation circle, and in a few more seconds Luwin, and now The Zaza as well, will disappear. Erik shouts out to the rest of the party, and with only a split second to decide, everyone piles into the circle and are all teleported away with Luwin.

They appear in a dark cavern surrounded by a large group of shady, armed men. Luwin shouts for the men to protect him as the party attempts to finish Luwin off. The observers step in and separate the party from Luwin, escorting him safely out of the room. A leader steps forward from the armed gang and addresses the party. They discover that this group is the Hirantar thieves’ guild, and that Luwin paid the guild to arrange an escape plan with them. The group owes no allegiance to Luwin, but he’s paid good coin so they can’t let the party kill him.

The party asks to speak with the guild leader, Girresh, further in private. They discover they are still in the nation of Quinalyn. Moreover, after offering a very hefty bribe of 600 gold, they convince the leader to tell them the details of Luwin’s arrangement. Apparently, members of the thieves’ guild are to escort him to Arastur, about a week’s travel away. The party pays an additional sum to have the guild send a message to their friends and recruits, telling them to head on to Arastur and that the party will meet them there. The party then immediately sets out for the city of Arastur, fortunately their original destination anyways.

Two Brothers Enter, One Brother Leave

After a hurried week of travel, they arrive in the city and begin asking around for someone recently arriving in the city matching Luwin’s description. After some expert legwork by Invicto, along with a few more bribes, they track Luwin to an inn in town, where he is apparently staying with some hired bodyguards. Erik uses a magical potion to change his appearance and waits in the common room to keep an eye on Luwin.

The rest of the party comes up with a convoluted scheme involving hiring some ‘ladies of the evening’ to distract Luwin’s hired thugs. Unfortunately, just after the rest of the party leaves, Luwin comes into the common room, escorted by his bodyguards, and heads out of the inn. Not wanting to lose him, Erik leaves the inn to follow. A short time later, The Zaza, Invicto, and Aramil return to the inn with a quartet of prostitutes, and are left to wonder where everyone went.

Luwin proceeds down to the docks where he appears to purchase passage on a ship about to leave the harbor. Before heading on to the deck, Luwin settles up with his hired bodyguards and they turn to leave, walking back towards the city. Erik decides he cannot let Luwin escape, so he quickly purchases passage on the ship as well and heads down to the cabins as the ship shoves off from the pier. Checking room to room he finally finds Luwin, alone in a cramped cabin, with no guards or hired thugs to defend him.

Erik enters the room, shuts the door, and lets his magically changed appearance fade. Luwin offers a look of terror as he recognizes his adoptive brother, then Erik unleashes blast after blast of arcane fire upon the vile elf. With nowhere to run or hide, Luwin is finally trapped and unable to escape and a few seconds later he is nothing more than a charred, smoking corpse. Erik takes a deep breath and stoically walks out of the cabin.

Some sailors come down to investigate the commotion, but before they realize what has happened Erik is back on deck. The boat has already left the docks, but hasn’t made it far, so Erik jumps over the side and swims back to the city of Arastur. He meets up with his friends at the inn and tells them what happened. It’s a bittersweet moment for Erik, but he’s confident he did the right thing, as Luwin was an evil man who would only have brought more suffering into the world if he lived. The party has a celebratory drink, and looks forward to investigating their new merchant holdings in the city tomorrow.

 

[hayek]

Chapter 6 - High Finance… and Pirates! (s. 14-15)

6.1 Missing Shipments (Part 1)

The party wakes up the next day and finds snow falling on the city of Arastur, as winter has fully arrived. They first head to the residential property Erik was given. They find it to be a large, luxurious spread, already equipped with a handsome half-orc butler named Hunrit. Hunrit welcomes the new owners and the party is very pleased, to say the least, with their new home.

Then, they head down to the business district of the city and seek out the New Moon Merchant Company’s offices. They aren’t particularly impressive, but aren’t completely run-down either. The company seems to be a fairly small but successful operation. Entering the establishment they speak to the current manager of the business, an elf named Yinlis. They present the seal and paperwork they received from Varna and Yinlis quickly accepts them as the new owners. He updates them on the merchant house’s current business outlook which is fairly grim.

Bad Investments

The business has been doing alright, but a couple of critical ventures have recently gone south. In the near term, the New Moon company had been generating strong, steady profits every year by dealing in a certain type of deep-woods truffle with the small village of Lindithis a few days travel from Arastur. The large fall crop was supposed to arrive a few weeks ago, but Yinlis has been unable to get in touch with anyone from the village, and a couple of messengers sent to investigate have not returned.

More significantly, Yinlis financed a very large shipment of finely crafted elven furniture that was sent to the Jeweled Cities a couple of months ago. It was to be received by a merchant there, Jal’imry, who would escort it on to the great desert city of Ak’Ahana. There is a huge demand for this furniture there, but it is very expensive, and risky, to escort the goods through the deserts to reach the markets of Ak’Ahana. Yinlis is now involved in a dispute with Jal’imry’s merchant house, House Hajal, who insists the goods have yet to arrive in port in the city of Al’Zarqa, where Jal’imry was to accept the goods. Yinlis has it on very good authority from a reliable contact in the city that the shipment did arrive in port. The elven merchant goes on for a while about the specific contract terms that were laid out and when liability for the shipment would transfer between the two parties, and also begins going into detail about all the assets he had to put up to finance the crafting of the furniture in the first place.


The party’s eyes glaze over a bit and they insist on the summary version which is that:

• First, the New Moon Merchant Company will go completely bankrupt in a few weeks unless the shipments of deep-woods truffles can be secured from the nearby village of Lindithis.
• Second, the New Moon Merchant Company will go completely bankrupt in a few months due to the missing shipment of crafted elven furniture that was sent to the Jeweled Cities.
  • To avoid going bankrupt from this issue, either:
  • The missing furniture must be found,
  • Or the party must prove that Jal’imry received the shipment of furniture and then press their case with a magistrate to make Jal’imry’s merchant house pay for the value of the entire shipment of lost goods.

Evil Undead Spiders are Bad for Business

The party assures Yinlis they will take care of both of these concerns and tells him to just continue managing the day-to-day operations of the business. The first issue proves a relatively easy fix. The party makes a quick trip out to the small village where the deep-woods truffles are supposed to be harvested.

They find its inhabitants have all been slain by a massive undead spider, known as a ‘tomb spider’. The creature’s victims arise as undead spawn, and the party is forced to fight a number of zombies and skeletons along with the spider itself, but they are hardened adventurers and are able to finish off the undead monstrosity fairly easily. In particular, The Zaza’s Axe of Light, an artifact she found in the dwarven tomb in the Watchtower near Verind’s Edge that was crafted to destroy undead, is very effective – granting her the ability to rain down radiant power upon her undead enemies. The Zaza senses a feeling of immense satisfaction from the artifact after the battle.

After the fight, the party searches the village and finds numerous crates of the deep-woods truffles waiting to be brought to market. They slowly haul them back to Arastur and Yinlis is overjoyed to, temporarily, have business booming again. With the infusion of cash the truffles will bring, Yinlis is able to pay a dividend to the new owners and the party accepts a generous payment of 2,000 gold.

Reunion

A few days later, the group of Verind’s Edge survivors arrives in town – Mujeh the goliath bard, Lock the halfling researcher, Lucinda the young village girl, and Old Breddy the (now one-armed) grizzled veteran soldier, along with the four remaining soldiers that the party recruited after the battle of Verind’s Edge. They are excited to see their friends again and share a round of drinks with Old Breddy and Mujeh. Lock is ecstatic to visit the great libraries of the fabled sages of Arastur, and Lucinda is just excited to be reunited with the party.

The party fills the group in on recent developments and Mujeh offers to help with the operations of the New Moon merchant house, having always wanted to try his hand at business. The party also puts their recruited soldiers in the employ of the merchant house, to help Yinlis with any security needs the company may have. When not working for the merchant company, Aramil puts the recruits through some grueling military training, building them into an elite (or at least a slightly more elite) fighting force.

After hearing the party’s story of the vicious tomb spider that could spawn new undead with its bite, Lock does some research in the city’s libraries. He confirms his initial suspicion – the tomb spider is an incredibly rare creature, and is definitely not a ‘natural’ undead creature, spawned by a common necromancer or twisted into existence from a place of dark necrotic energy. It would have to have been specifically created through some kind of powerful magical artifact that could tap straight into the Shadowfell and the awesome power of death over all living things. The party shrugs at Lock’s spooky discovery, not too concerned about the creature’s origins since the tomb spider has been taken care of.