The Ghost Tower of Inverness (C2)

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 51, “A trip back to the Slaver’s temple”, July 8th, 1006:

Ilma, the warrior maiden of Ukko, appears before the party. She informs them that the group which they have defeated included all of the Slave Lords, and that the slaving operation has now been destroyed. She tells them that this will be a serious problem for the Church of Loviatar, as the operation was not only their primary funding operation but also the mechanism that the church used to rid itself of any people in their communities who caused them difficulties. She also hints that she has some prophetic visions of the future, and that great things are in store for the Silver Moon Adventurers. She then departs.

The party search and strip the slavers. Party members without armor and weapons acquire what they can. Most of the magic and other possessions taken from the party members who had been captured are found, but some items are still missing. The freed slaves have no desire to return to Clearwater, so are given provisions, two caravan wagons, and mounts, and they proceed westward towards the Kaloon Lordholding coast. The party head back east towards Clearwater, stopping to rest for the night at sunset.

July 9th, 1006:

The group returns to the town of Clearwater, and is informed by the crew of the ship that the Magistrates of the town are looking for them. Several party members are now ready for apprenticeships, and they decide to make this the first order of business. Boz, Jamie, Kharole, Lysdashi, Melina, Phuddipeduzh and Tolbyrne all find people in the town to apprentice them. Narg takes on Mojo as his apprentice. Several members of the party receive a summons to appear in court the following day.

July 10th, 1006:

A day of great tension follows, with the party having to testify in court about what has transpired. It is discovered that the church leader Alexander had secretly been the one who had initiated the party’s arrival in town to deal with the slavers, and he is formally stripped of his rank and sentenced to leave town. With him taking responsibility for most of the party’s actions, the only major fine is levied against Serita, for destroying two buildings in town during the distraction attack. She is fined 1,000 gold pieces.

Charges against the rest of the party are reduced to the charge of “littering”, to be tried in a lesser court the following day, as they had left a large number of slaver bodies behind in the street after the town battle. The Magistrate also banishes them from the town, ordering them to depart following the other trial. The wizard Racoba, who had begun to apprentice both Kharole and Tolbyrne, then countermands this order. He declares that the party will remain for another week, until he has completed the training of his students. It appears obvious that the Magistrate fears this man, who agrees to the week delay. The towns Bishop and Abbot are in attendance, and also reluctantly agree to this. Feeling a false sense of security, Natasha then fires off accusations about the Bishop and Abbot being involved with the slaving operations. The church leaders and Magistrate just ignore her.

July 11th, 1006:

The party appears in the Abbot’s court regarding the littering charge, and those who were seen during town battle are ordered to pay a fine of 100 gold pieces each.

July 12th, 1006:

Apprenticeships continue. There is some type of holiday in town, which the party decides it is best to avoid, so those not apprenticing remain on the ship for the day.

July 13th, 1006:

Most apprenticeship end. With the majority of the key party members now back with the group, they decide that it is time to reenter the Slaver’s Temple to look for their lost possessions. A group comprised of Blake, Klaaze, Melina, Mojo, Narg, Natasha, Phuddipeduzh, Serita and Vincenzo head over to the temple. They bring with them a slaver captured during the initial battle, who had been kept on the ship as a prisoner.

Shortly after entering the building their prisoner guide attempts to escape, and is immediately killed by Klaaze. A trio of undead, a Wight and two ghouls, are then encountered and successfully turned by Vincenzo. The party decides that the temple is unoccupied, and split into smaller groups to look for their things more quickly.

They eventually find a walled in area. Klaaze lifts up Narg to look over the wall, with Narg seeing the party’s possessions thrown about near piles of rubble and rocks. Klaaze is impatient to get his items back, and has Narg hoist him up and over the wall. Klaaze begins to grab the things, and tosses them back over the wall to Narg. Klaaze them get bitten by a creature in the back of his leg. He lets off a yell “OWW, something just bit me.” As Klaaze draws his sword and pivots around Narg climbs over the wall to assist him.

It turns out that the creature is a basilisk, and lives in this area with its mate. Narg gets turned to stone by the creature, prompting Klaaze to decide to go get the others. He turns his head away from the creatures and drinks a Potion of Flying. He has never used this type of potion before, with comical results trying to fly in the confined spaces of the building. He does manage to get away from the basilisks and soon finds the other members of the party. He leads them back to the walled in area, and they manage to kill both of the basilisks.

The party gathers up their things, and hosing the Narg statue, make their way back to the ship. Phuddipeduzh is now experienced enough for his next level, and heads off to begin an apprenticeship with the paladin Sir Marmaduke.

July 14th, 1006:

Melina and Mojo haul the Narg statue over to the home of the Wizard Racoba to see if he can be of assistance. The wizard gets very angry at their interrupting the training of his students, but does agree to help, provided that there are no further interruptions. Melina and Mojo leave.

July 15th, 1006:

Kharole and Tolbyrne complete their apprenticeships, after which Racoba transforms Narg back to flesh. The gnome priest Jared visits the party, suggesting that they depart before the 20th, which is when the Emperor (who rules this region) is scheduled to visit the town of Clearwater. They say that won’t be a problem, as Phuddi’s apprenticeship will end on the 18th, so they can depart at dawn on the 19th.

[DM’s Note #63: After returning from his honeymoon Natasha’s player was dismayed to find that Mojo’s player had joined the group, as the two of them had personalities that were not compatible. Natasha’s player then began a behind-the-scenes campaign to get the new player ousted from the group. His plan backfired, with him soon discovering that most of the group really liked the new player, and several did not like the shenanigans this player was initiating. So, in a classic case of “If I can’t have my way I’ll take my ball and go home” the player changed the game night for his other gaming group to the same night as ours. Thus, he, his wife, and his best friend (who played Lysdashi) all abruptly departed. He gave me all of his notes for the module he had been working on regarding the old enemies of the party seeking revenge, which I decided deal with the following week in order to wrap up that subplot.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 52, “Showdown”, July 16th, 1006:

A messenger arrives, having been hired by the Magician Gredstein. The wizard has sent a note to the Silver Moon Adventurers, requesting that no more than three of them meet him and two associates in a neutral setting to discuss a resolution to their conflict. The party sends back a note agreeing to this, and naming a restaurant in town for the meeting.

The group of Kharole, Narg and Serita arrive at the restaurant. Kharole recognizes the Wizard from their assault on King Kohlorahdooh’s castle in Gelorynth a year ago. “I though we killed him?” Narg states. Seated alongside him are a pair of fighters, one male one female. The man they recognize as a Naval Commander of Kohlorahdooh’s. The woman is recognized as being an assassin who was one two women who had escaped in their final combat on the world of Thibaultia (Module #6). Serita says to her, “I though we left you on another planet?” The woman replies, “My companion and I saw how you used that fountain, and followed. We are now trapped on this world.”

Gredstein introduces his companions as Captain Keynock and Lyla. He say, “My assocaites and I seek vengeance upon your group for the problems you have caused us.” “What exactly are you suggesting?” Narg. Gredstein replies, “A fair fight. I propose that we meet in two days for a combat. My group of seven against seven top members of your party.” Serita does not trust him, but the other two convince her to take him at his word, that if he breaks it and brings reinforcements they have more than enough reinforements of their own to pull in as well. A location is chosen for the fight, an clearning alongside a forested grove about an hour west of the town.

Later that day Klaaze is approached by a man named Elroy. Klaaze recognzies the man as one of the leaders of the bandit camp near Gelorynth where he had once been a prisoner. Elroy is one of Gredstein’s companions, but is apprehensive about the upcoming battle, and attempts to convince Klaaze to leave town before the fight, even offering to pay them. Narg arrives on the scene and interrupts the conversation, telling Elroy “Let me discuss it with my team. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

July 17th, 1006:

The party discuss what course of action to take. Several members of the party see this as a needless fight, and suggest that they just leave. Others disagree, saying that “We will probably have to fight these guys eventually. Best to do it now and get it over with, rather than having them take us by surprise at some point.” The consensus is to go along with the fight. Elroy is contacted and his offer is declined.

July 18th, 1006:

The group comprised of Kharole, Klaaze, Mark, Mojo, Narg, Serita and Vincenzo head off to the battle site. The seven foes arrive simultaneously. In addition to Gredstein, Keynock, Lyla and Elroy, the enemy team includes Lyla’s fighter companion Jenny, a female assassin named Ruth who had kidnapped several party members when they were in Curigull, and the humanoid spider cleric Byacluse, who they had fought at the Chagmat lair. Mojo is briefly filled in on who each of these foes is, and their abilities.

The call to battle is sounded, and each adventurer matches up with a foe. Klaaze takes on Elroy. Kharole and Gredstein engage in a wizard’s battle. Vincenzo and Byacluse engage in a cleric’s battle. Mark takes on Ruth. Serita takes on the assassin Lyla. Narg takes on Captain Keynock. Mojo takes on Jenny.

The enemies draw first blood, with their initial attacks being more powerful than the party had expected. The party however, has remarkable luck, as everyone hit by a poisoned blade sucessfully saves against the poison. The first enemy to fall is Elroy, being slain by Klaaze. Kharole is also successful against Gredstein, catching him in a web anchored by a nearby tree, and then pelting him with Magic Missiles.

With two enemies down, the party then begins to double-team the remaining foes. Klaaze and Mark dispatch Ruth, while Kharole assists Narg against Keynock. Serita had lured Lyla closer to the woods, to catch her in an Entangle, but the assassin managed to escape it and waited in ambush for the druid to get closer. Vincenzo and Byacluse are close to a stalemate. The spider uses his faster speed and multiple appendages to fight, but Vincenzo is able to keep these at bay with strategic moves using his shoes of levitation. Meanwhile, Mojo is faring poorly against the fighter Jenny, who is much higher in level, and he soon finds himself at single digit hit points.

Phuddipeduzh had been unable to join the group due to his apprenticeship, but on this particular day his paladin training was on subjects other than swordsmanship, so he had loaned his Vorpal Blade to Mojo for this battle. Up until this point his swings had been relatively unlucky, but attack this round into his now overconfident opponent rings true, decapitating his foe.

Seeing that Mojo is now okay, Mark and Klaaze turn to assist Narg and Kharole, with Keynock soon falling under the combined might of the four of them. Serita has decided to wait for some of her allies to join her before proceeding deeper into the woods in search of the assassin.

Byacluse sees that he is alone in the field, and casts a sanctuary spell on himself. He makes his way into the woods. He detects the presence of Lyla, and informs her that their allies have all been slain. The two of them decide to abandon the battle, and escape. The party bury the bodies of the five dead foes.

July 19th, 1006:

Phuddipeduzh’s appenticeship ends and the ship Silver Moon departs from the community of Clearwater, for an uneventful sail back to the city of Halla.

July 23rd, 1006:

The ship arrives in Halla. The party decides that the past four months of non-stop adventuring have been tyring, and it is time for a break. Those with homes elsewhere on the continent head back to them, with the others remaining in Halla and residing on the ship. The party agrees to get back together the following Spring.

[DM’s Note #64: This game night ended with another surprise announcement, as Klaaze’s player informed the group that he would be leaving. He stated his reason as the change in dynamics because of the other recent departures. While this still left us with a core group of nine, it was a radical change from the group of fifteen that we had had a few weeks earlier. Narg’s player was scheduled to DM next, and he suggested to the others that they should feel free to bring guests to the games.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 53, “The Third Year Begins”, April 17th, 1007:

It is now spring of the following year, and during the hiatus the Silver Moon’s Ship Captain Tim G. Quirk has retired, with the First Mate Jacob has now been promoted to Captain, with crewmembers Fritz and Hans each moving up in rank to First and Second Mate. He hires an artillery expert named Lloyd who is appointed as the new Third Mate. A druid named Curtix is also hired to watch after the party’s mounts and other animals while they are onboard ship.

The adventurers have begun to make their way back to the City of Halla. Klaaze surprises everyone with his return from the Kaloon Lordholding, as he had said that he would not be coming back. Natasha and Phraakeese returned, with her being very pregnant, and on this particular day she gives birth to a healthy baby boy who they named Terrence George. The party also receives a note from Phuddipeduzh stating that he would not be returning, as he discovered that the rabbitmen had lied about killing his daughter Janet, and that he was now living with the young girl in Curigull. Jamie shows everyone a tapestry that she has begun to make, depicting the group’s history.

[Chronicler’s Note #65: Kharole’s player had managed to convince Klaaze’s player to continue with the group. He attended only the first game of the module and we never saw him again after that. The two character child care situations had been derived by Natasha and Phuddi’s players to still keep their characters around but out of action, in the event that they might decide to later rejoin the group.]

May 4th, 1007:

A messenger arrives from the Isle of Clease, located approximately 150 miles to the south. The messenger introduces himself as Mr. Thompkins Gazelle, and says that he has a mission for them. The ship sets sail.

May 7th, 1007:

The winds and currents are in the party’s favor, and they make excellent time in reaching the Isle. They dock at the town of Palin, which has a large circular harbor along the eastern coast of the island. They are summoned before the town’s Duke, who says that he wishes for them to seek out a find a lost “soul gem”, said to be near an abandoned Castle at a northern section of the Island known as Inverness.

May 8th, 1007:

A group comprised of Isaiah, Klaaze, Mark and Mojo are sent off to the north towards Inverness, led by a guide named Cleophus. They travel all day, finding a place to sleep in the forests. During Klaaze’s watch he gets tired, and tells his pet Buzz to keep an eye on things instead. The large blue fuzzy does not comprehend, and fails to wake the party when a group of orcs and hobgoblins come upon them. The party wake up and fight the monsters. Most of the monsters are slain, but an orc and a hobgoblin are held and then taken captive by Isaiah.

Meanwhile, back in the town of Palin, Crystal does some magical research around town, discovering that this Soul Gem is far more dangerous than the Duke had let on. She also finds out that the Sage of the Sea, who lives in the Jawlt Lordholding town of Georgetown, has more knowledge of the gem. A group comprised of Serita, Silas and Vincenzo decide to go find the others to give them this new information, while Tao chooses to remain behind in Palin. The rest of the party departs on the ship Silver Moon, sailing northeast to Georgetown.

May 9th, 1007:

The first group heading towards Inverness attempt to cross the Gillum River. A knight is black armor blocks their path. Klaaze fights the man, cutting off his limbs. The quadriplegic knight declares the battle a draw, and the party moves on. The arrive at the town of Chapman by nightfall, and seek lodgings.

May 10th, 1007:

The group seeks out the town’s Mayor, a man named Graham. They are surprised to find that Silas, Serita and Vincenzo are at the office, having been teleported there from Palin by a wizard known as Tim the Enchanter, who works for Graham. They get directions to the fabled Ghost Tower of Inverness, said to be about a days travel away.

Meanwhile, the ship Silver Moon sails into the harbor of Georgetown, the only community on a small island off the Jawlt Lordholding’s southern coast. Crystal, Jamie, Melina and Timothy head out to check out the town. They get directions to the Sage’s Castle, a fortified building situated atop a hill behind the town. They are informed by the Sage’s valet that the older man has already gone to bed and to return the following day.

Shortly before midnight a group of around a dozen hobgoblins sneak onto the dock with the Silver Moon and climb up onto the ship. The two crewmembers on duty, Brian and Terry, are taken by surprise and slain. The noise of the hobgoblins running across the top deck wakes those below, and Blake, Crystal, Jamie, Melina and Ron Luther X5-0135 charge up to fight them. The monsters are all defeated, and Melina picks up a magical sword from one of the foes. The sword turns out to be intelligent, yelling a string of insults and profanities at her, so she throws it overboard and into the harbor.

May 11th, 1007:

The party leaves the ship at dawn, asking around town about the hobgoblins. They are told that a large group of hobgoblins live on the opposite side of the Island, but that the creatures generally avoid getting near the town. The townsfolk have no idea why they attacked the ship, and suggest to the party that they ask the sage.

They meet with the sage who tells them that the hobgoblins are led by a shaman, and they would not have come to town unless ordered to do so. Kharole says something insulting to the sage, and he has her thrown out of his home. He also gives them his knowledge of the soul gem, explaining how it gets its name by stripping the souls of those who attempt to get near it, randomly reaching out in different directions. The group spend the remainder of the day in town, getting supplies and finding out more information. Kharole does not come back to the ship, and several party members decide to spend the night in town looking for her.

That night the ship is attacked again, this time by aquatic hobgoblins. As the party fight off the monsters Jacob has the ship set sail to make it harder for the monsters to get aboard. Ron Luther uses his get pack to fly out from the town to the ship to see why they are leaving. He helps use his laser rifle to shoot the last of the monsters. Jacob tells him to fly back to town, and let the others know that the ship will return in the morning to pick them up.

[Chronicler/DM’s Note #66: As many readers have already surmised, the DM of this main module was a big fan of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The side module at the town of Georgetown was one that I hastily put together as a simultaneous filler to cover two game nights that the primary DM unexpectedly could not attend.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 54, “Entering the Ghost Tower of Inverness”, May 11th, 1007:

The group travels all day towards the Inverness section of the Island. It is getting towards evening, and Klaaze, Serita and Silas (whose players are coincidentally absent from the game) vote to exercise caution and wait to approach the structure. Isaiah, Mark, Mojo and Vincenzo disagree, and the four set up camp a camp in the woods closer to the structure and watch it during the night.

May 12th, 1007:

The quartet nearest the castle approach, and begin descend from a staircase going deep underground near the northeast tower. A group of five gnoll are encountered, fought and defeated. Beyond that is a room with a checkerboard tiled floor with an odd stature. The next room is occupied by a pair of beholders, which are also fought and defeated. By now the quartet is in pretty rough shape, with both clerics nearly out of spells, so they decide to retreat. They exit the castle, and rejoin their other four companions.

Back at Georgetown, Kharole is located and the party opts to no longer investigate the situation with the hobgobins. They pick up the party members in town, and the ship Silver Moon sets sail back towards the Isle of Clease.

May 13th, 1007:

The group decides to reenter the northeast tower, choosing to go up this time. A large room with a globe is soon found. The globe has the names of several creatures written on it, which Mojo begins to read aloud. The first two stated are Ape and Minotaur, upon which real creatures of those types appear and attack the party. The creatures are slain. The party then move on, encountering and defeating a blink dog, a displacer beast, and then umberhulk. The last proves to be too much for the group, and they decide to retreat.

They regroup outside of the tower, where they run into a very peculiar human magic-user by the name of Egap. They have a very confusing conversation with Egap, after which they conclude that he is either mentally unbalanced or just speaks using a lot of jargon that the group cannot comprehend. Klaaze and Serita choose to wait outside while the others investigate the castle.

The party heads back into the castle, now choosing to go up the southwest tower. A manticore is fought and defeated. The monster was guarding a secret door containing treasure, including some type of magical wand. Egap is given the wand to identify, but instead of casting a spell on it he tries to light and smoke it, so the party takes it back.

A room filled with boulders is next found, but the large rocks turn out to be only illusionary. The room has an elaborate door in it, which the party cannot get open. Vincenzo notices that the door has four carved indentations on it, one of which appears to be the exact same size as the rod that they had found. The rod is placed in the door, but nothing happens. The group decides to head back to the room with the manticore to look for the other three rods.

They are unable to find more, and exit the building. They join back up with Serita and Klaaze, who had spent the past several hours investigating around the outside of the building, where they found one of the other rods being sought. The party heads back into the woods to their camp, where Egap engages in some sort of strange ritual involving the consumption of various pills and beverages, after which he begins to converse with a variety of creatures that nobody else can see.

May 14th, 1007:

The group of Egap, Isaiah, Mark, Mojo, Silas and Vincenzo return to the southwest tower, and decide to head up. This leads to another section of the castle, which has many long and winding corridors. A large room occupied by a group of sixteen bugbears is encountered. The bugbears have not noticed them yet, so Silas enters the room while invisible. The monsters are able to smell him, and move in his direction. The remainder of the party charge in to assist him, and soon find that they are overwhelmed by the monsters. Egap throws some Pyrotechnics spells out through a crack in the wall, to signal Klaaze and Serita that they are in trouble.

Meanwhile, the ship Silver Moon has arrived back in the town of Palin. The party discovers that Tao is no longer there, having moved on to the Ghost Tower with several local adventurers who he had recruited. Kharole decides to try catching up with them, getting visual cues to teleport on ahead to the town of Chapman, and setting out for the tower from there.

Just as those in the room are on the verge of falling before the overwhelming number of bugbear foes a group of five allies charge into the room to assist them. Serita is among, the other being Tao and three new adventurers, a male dwarf, a male halfling and a female half-elf. With help from these reinforcements the bugbears are eventually defeated. Tao then makes introduction, the dwarf being a thief named Lannon, the halfling being a thief named Milo Burrows, and the half-elf being a magic-user named Fiona. A quick search of the room reveals a pile of treasure, including the third rod. The party exit the building, and Egap wanders off during the night.

[Chronicler’s Note #67: In the course of two months the group had gone from a record high of fifteen players to a core group of nine, and with summer vacations there had now been several games with only five or six people in attendance. To counter this, the players were now encouraged to bring guests. The first guest was a friend of Silas’s player. The player turned out to be almost as peculiar as the Egap character that he portrayed, and he was only with us for a single game.

The following week Serita’s player returned after a month-long absence while acting in summer stock, and she brought with her three new friends who she had met while doing the theatre productions. These proved to be very good choices, as Milo’s player became a regular member of the group and was with us for the next fifteen years. Lannon’s player remains an active player in the group today, some twenty-two years later. Fiona’s player only stayed with us for about half-a-year, but the character is still actively played, as the player passed it on to her husband (Lannon’s player) when she departed.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 55, “Finding the Soul Gem”, May 15th, 1007:

While Klaaze continues to stay behind to guard the camp the rest of the party move on to the northeast tower. The fourth rod is located in a secret compartment inside of the chest of the statue in the checkerboard room. The group then head back to the southwest tower, and back to the room with the odd door.

The four rods are placed inside of the door, and it opens. The party enters the next room, which has a funnel in the ceiling going up some fifty feet. Tao scales the funnel and drops down a rope. Using this rope and another rope of climbing, the party manage to climb up, finding themselves in a room that appears to be filled with fog. They cautiously proceed onward.

They then hear noises behind them, and prepare for battle. A being enshrouded with magical light moves towards them, with a shadowy companion to either side of it. The party thankfully holds off on attacking this unknown trio, as Kharole emerges from the mist along with two new allies. One is another female elf magic-user named Anjuili, who had cast the magicial light spell around her. The other is a male human barbarian named Andrew. Kharole explains how she met the pair near the town of Chapman, and they knew the way to the Ghost Tower.

The group move on, reaching a staircase. At the top of the stairs is a fire-filled room with a narrow pathway. Next they reach a large room filled with fire, with a spiral staircase up in the center of the room guarded by a large and angry fire giant. Smoke and fire are everywhere, with swift wind currents passing through the room.

The party decide that the staircase must be their destination. Isaiah and Vincenzo take the lead, and draw the giant’s attention. While the giant is occupied Kharole, Mark and Silas approach it under the cover of invisibility. Serita and Andrew attempt to approach from another direction. Andrew steps over an area with strong air currents, and a gust of wind carries him up and through a hole in the ceiling.

The sight of the flying barbarian has the effect of further distracting the giant, allowing the invisible trio to reach him and attack with full force, assisted by spells thrown by the two clerics and the druid. The giant soon falls. The spiral staircase then transforms into a solid stone pillar.

Andrew is still on the level above, and he directs the rest of the party over to the same windy area where he was raised up. The others all float up, some for a rather comical effect. The next large room encountered has inverted gravity, with a ceiling filled with water and island in the center. The party manage to fall upward and down into the water, then swim to the island.

The island proves to be empty, and the party becomes frustrated. Andrew, Anjuili and Kharole dive back into the water, looking below. Mojo and Silas then do the same. A door to a room is found at the bottom of the water. The party all dive below, as Andrew and Mojo pull on the door. The door opens, but the water does not flow down through it.

The five swim through the door, finding themselves in the room containing the soul gem. The gem begins to randomly lash out with power surges at different parts of the room. The party is uncertain about what to do next, except for Mojo who decides to charge towards it. He reaches and grabs the gem, and the power surges stop. They exit the room and swim back to the others with the gem.

Once everyone is gathered together back on the island in the center of the room both Bags of Holding are pulled out, and the party climb inside. Kharole then uses the Helm of Teleportation to bring them back to the town of Palin. The Duke is given the gem, and he rewards them with lots of money. The party prepares to sail back home, only remembering much later that Klaaze was still back waiting for them outside of the tower. Tao comments, “He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.” Kharole disagrees, and insists that they wait another day for her to use the Helm of Teleportation to go back and get him.

May 16th, 1007:

Kharole leads a small group back to the tower to get Klaaze. They have to wait another day for the Helm to recharge to teleport back to the ship.

May 17th, 1007:

The party all reassemble back in Palin, and the ship Silver Moon sets sail for home.

May 19th, 1007:

The Silver Moon arrives back at the city of Halla.

[Chronicler’s Note #68: The two new characters at this week’s game were a married couple that were friends of Vincenzo’s player. They were a rather odd couple. She was very extroverted and seemed to enjoy role playing, although her magic-user seldom if ever cast any spells. Her husband was extremely introverted, and spent most of the games sitting quietly in the corner and eating his supper. They stayed with the group for the next four months, and then abruptly departed, the group not seeing them again until a party and game celebrating our 10th Year Anniversary. By the end of the module the group was back up to fourteen members, although the player of Phraakeese and Tao said he would not be around very often due to an intensive college schedule that semester.]

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 56, “The Sea Battle”, May 20th, 1007:

A large two-masted ship sails into Halla harbor. Three men from the ship come to visit Vincenzo, and he then leaves with them. The boat sails out into the harbor, and then disappears, as it the entire ship suddenly became invisible.

May 21st to June 10th, 1007:

Klaaze returns to his family home in the Kaloon Lordholding. Natasha and Phraakeese depart on a trip with their young son, not knowing when they will be back. Narg returns from more travels with his Pooka. Andrew, Anjuili, Lannon and Milo decide to officially join the group. Fiona opts not to at this point, but says that she will stay in touch.

June 11th, 1007:

The ship that Vinnie had left on returns to Halla. A man from that ship heads directly to the ship Silver Moon, introducing himself as Austin, an envoy from the East Lordholding land of Raylan. He says that he is from the town of Nos Nevets, where Vincenzo originally came from. Vinnie is back there now, having been given the title of Chief Prelate, which puts him in charge of the local army. Vincenzo sent the envoy to get the party, as he needs the group’s assistance in helping to obtain large deposits of oil from a neighboring island. They are given a Raylan flag to hoist once they near its territorial waters.

June 12th, 1007:

The party spends the day gathering supplies and preparing the ship to sail. Two new replacement crewmembers are added, namely the one-eyed fighter Furynick who Isaiah, Tao and Tolbyrne had previously adventured with (Back in Module #5), and a gnome fighter named Ixnoxsis from Freyland’s home village. A 4th level female fighter named Kara also joins the party for this mission.

June 13th to 15th, 1007:

The Silver Moon departs from Halla. The first two days of sailing prove to be rather uneventful. After rounding the southern coast of the continent, and then sailing northeast along the East Lordholding, a heavy fog rolls in and the temperature drops.

June 16th, 1007:

The ship continues on through the heavy fog. The Raylan flag is now flown.

June 17th, 1007:

The fog dissipates and the ship’s navigator Smiddle consults his charts and maps, confirming that they are nearing their destination. Another ship moves up swiftly from behind them. It is also flying a Raylan flag, and the party assumes it to be an escort. As the ship draws close a long tarp on the main deck drops down, revealing three loaded arbalests with crew. The spears within the arbalests are set on fire and launched, striking the masts of the ship Silver Moon. A magician about the other ship also summons up a water elemental. The enemy vessel lowers the Raylan flag, replacing it with a red flag with the emblem of a sharp-toothed fish.

“What the hell has the fat padre gotten us into?” Narg exclaims, as the party and crew all get into positions. As the crewmembers attempt to put out the fires all party archers take up position on the aft and side railings, firing onto the attackers. The spell casters meanwhile concentrate of dispelling or defeating the water elemental. Arrows strike several of the crewmembers down from enemy archers, but the party clerics and druids manage to get to them quickly to avoid deaths.

The spellcasters are successful in reducing the elemental to a ripple, and the fires on the masts are put out while the sails are still usable. Canvas patches are thrown up, which Kharole locks in place with Web spells, and the group’s magical Fan is put on high as Jacob puts the ship into as sharp a U-turn as the large craft can manage.

As they near the enemy ship Kharole then lets loose into the other ship with a full volley of Fireballs, as the party archers then concentrate on the survivors of Kharole’s attacks. The enemy wizard teleports away as the Silver Moon pulls alongside and the crew attach grapples to the now defeated enemy craft. A handful of prisoners are taken captive, some treasure is quickly picked up along with the enemy’s flag, and the now burning craft is left adrift. The Silver Moon resumes its previous course, as they watch the other ship burn and then sink. Temporary repairs are made to the ship.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 57, “Arrival at Nos Nevets, June 18th, 1007:

Shortly after dawn the Silver Moon arrives at Nos Nevets harbor. They are welcomed ashore by a man named Edland, who says that he is the harbormaster. A man named Carmine, who says that he is Vincenzo’s Aide, then greets them. Carmine gives the party a tour of the town. In the process a very peculiar heavy-set older gentleman named Roland who has a stuffed lizard attached to his shoulder greets them. Roland then accompanies the group.

They are eventually taken to Vincenzo’s Office. Vinnie thanks the party for coming, and then gestures to Roland saying, “I see that you’ve already met my father.” Narg gets right to the point and asks, “What seems to be the problem. Our ship was attacked on the way here.” They then show him the flag the other Vincenzo says, “The trouble started when we began to get oil from the Isle of Poisson, about a day’s sail East of here. The Island belongs to the land of Raylan, and our town was authorized to get the oil. Unbeknownst to us, the Island was also the home to a group of pirates, who have been fighting us.” Hearing the term ‘pirates’ causes Narg, Mojo and Milo to break into a chorus of “Arrrgh” and “Eye Matey” comments, while simulating hooked hands and peg legs.

Interrupting her clowning allies, Serita asks Vinnie, “What exactly do you want us to do?” He replies, “Nothing just yet. We sent envoys to Raylan’s capital city of Oddessin to find out more about this pirate group and to get further instructions. We should wait until they return.” “Sounds good. Can we find a good bar to wait in?” Mojo asks.

The party does manage to find a bar to hang out in. The evening is interrupted by an explosion and fire, which the town then works hard to extinguish. It turns out not to have been caused by an enemy attack, being an laboratory accident by the town’s alchemist, a man named Byron.

June 19th, 1007:

Trouble occurs in the General Store, caused by a pair of locals. Vincenzo concludes that these problems in town are a result of tension and fear because of the Pirates, and he has his Aide Carmine teleport to Oddessin to find out what is keeping the envoys. Carmine returns, stating that the envoys never arrived. Carmine was able to find out some information. The enemy turns out to be a known magic-user named Korsikino, who is the self-proclaimed ruler of Poisson and leader of the pirates. The visual description of this man matches the mage who the party had seen on board the enemy ship.

The day is interrupted by the arrival of three small pirate ships in the harbor, which barrage the town with flaming spears propelled by arbalests. Nos Nevets archers under Vincenzo’s direction, assisted by the Silver Moon Adventurers, mount a counterattack and the ships sail off.

A group of soldiers are sent to investigate down the road to the west, which the envoys had travelled on. The soon return, having found the bodies of the envoys not far from town. This sends Vincenzo into a fit of rage, as the leader of the envoys had been his mother. The party offers to do whatever it takes to help bring down these pirates.

June 20th, 1007:

Vincenzo holds a worship and memorial service at his Church of the Twin Gods, which the entire party decides to attend. Vincenzo casts blessings on the party for success in their mission. Shortly after the service the ship Silver Moon is readied for sailing, as the party has decided to go on the offense and sail directly to Poisson. Vincenzo gives Kharole a magical device that simulates a Locate Object spell and has been created to point to a ring that Korsikino is known to wear.

About halfway to their destination another ship is seen in the distance. Rather than fighting, the group decides to try subterfuge. They take down their Raylan and Thenossia Lordholding flags, and raise the flag that they had taken from the other pirate ship. As the ships close on one another the Silver Moon makes no offensive act, and wave to the other ship as friends.

Both ships anchor alongside each other and the captain of the other ship approaches. Anjuili successfully casts a Charm Person on him, and explains that they were hired by Korsikino as a new warship for the pirate fleet. The man not only believes them, but even has some of his own treasure transferred over to the Silver Moon for them to deliver to Korsikino.

While this exchange is taking place Kharole and Silas investigate the other ship while invisible. The other vessel is crewed primarily by hobgoblins. Below deck they accidentally make some noise near the treasure room, which a group of hobgoblins guards hear. The still invisible Silas attempts to tell the superstitious hobgoblins that he is a god. They had heard two people, so Kharole tries to pass herself off as “the gods wife”. The hobgoblins become suspicious, so the two decide that they have overstayed their welcome. Silas gets into the Bag of Holding, taking some of the treasure with him, and Kharole then teleports them back to the ship Silver Moon.

The Silver Moon sails onward and no other ships are encountered along the way. They approach the Isle of Poisson shortly after dusk, carefully sailing along the sheer cliffs on the unoccupied side of the island. They find a rocky inlet to anchor in and send a landing party ashore, the crew then rowing the landing boat back. The landing party consists of Andrew, Anjuili, Freyland, Kara, Kharole, Lannon, Milo, Mojo, Narg, Serita, Silas and Timothy. The ship Silver Moon then heads back out to sea. The party had instructed Jacob to sail to the very edge of visual distance from the cliffs, and that they will use signal mirrors to call it from he cliffs when they are ready to leave.