This portion of the Journal chronicles our adventurers quest to find a Dwarven relic. The party has been hired to find the Rondolim, an axe of legendary might. Leaders of a Dwarven army feel that the Rondolim is their best weapon in an upcoming battle against a horde of Orcs and Goblins. Will the party recover the weapon in time to make a difference, or will the Dwarven army be slaughtered by the overwhelming horde?

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Real-world date: 24 Jan 2004
Game-world date: 23 Marcav - 1 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
Duracell and Emrikol-Oz have been raised from the dead. The party made its way back to Whillip, and received their reward from X. Now it's time split up the loot, train, resupply, and start looking for another adventure.

Emrikol told us that he was joining the Wizards' Guild, and when he did, he could get us a discount on getting things identified, so we decided to take him along with us and act like he's part of our group.  When we got there, he started harassing the kid that mans the front door.  I wonder why Emrikol is always so confrontational with everybody all the time?  Maybe he's just cranky 'cause he woke up dead this morning.  Anyway, he and the kid disappeared for a while, and then they came back and led me, Thalidimar, and Lumiarti to some kind of theatre.  There was an older guy there next to a table.  He opened a case on the table, and started identifying the magic stuff we found.  He called my gloves "Barbed Devil Gloves."  He said they were made from the hands (or at least the skin from the hands) of a Barbed Devil.  He said that they are highly heat resistant.  He said that someone wearing them could reach into fires or even molten metal or lava and not burn their hands.  He also said that they protect the whole body of the person wearing them from fire to a lesser extent.

We had a bunch of other stuff identified, too.  The chainmail we took from Abramo turned out to have enchantments on it.  One enchantment makes the suit protect better than a regular suit of chainmail would.  Another enchantment makes it so that the person wearing the suit can hardly even tell that it's there.

After everything was identified, we went back to X's to divvy up all the stuff we found.  I got the Barbed Devil gloves.  Kragus didn't want the chainmail, so I took it, too.  I get the feeling he still thinks we should give it to the Church of Tymora in case Abramo regains his senses.  He still seems bent out of shape a bit over it.  I also got a dagger scabbard that can hold a bladed weapon of any size, but the scabbard stays the same size.  I took one of the magical snake-handled daggers.  Duracell took one of two rings that help protect their wearers, and Emrikol-Oz took the other one.  Emrikol and Lumiarti both wanted this fancy scroll tube that has a magic trap on it, and a scroll that was in it.  I think Emrikol got the tube and Lumiarti got the scroll.  Lumiarti also took the shield-shaped clasp he's been wearing since we found it in the Troglodyte lair under Orlane's temple.  Thalidimar took Abramo's shield and the mace we found under the floor of Abramo's bedroom in the swamp.  Kragus took the big magical axe we got after killing those three big Orcs when they attacked us at the Winterwood South Camp.  There was a really nice "Ring of Free Action" that helps its wearer avoid things like the spider webs we came across, but it was so valuable that if anyone took it, they'd get double their share of the treasure, so we've decided to sell it along with some magical stuff that had curses on them.

It feels so good to be back in Willip.  I think I'll go into town and get really drunk tonight.

25 Marcav 1001
Freeday

I spent all day yesterday recovering from Onward night.  Since nothing's open today, I spent it copying my notes from my trip to Orlane into my journal book.  I'll contact Arach-Nid Nid tomorrow to see about training.  Hopefully he can fit me in starting the beginning of next week.  I also have to replace a bunch of stuff I had to leave behind in the Naga's cave.

Thalidimar found out yesterday at his church that the funny electrum pieces we found with the snakes on them are all cursed.  The curse is triggered on anyone that either spends them or gives them away.  The curse can't be removed unless all of the cursed coins are gathered together and the curse is removed from all of them at the same time.  Since we have no way to know how many there really are or if we have them all or not, Thalidimar decided to just bury the ones we have here on the grounds so nobody accidentally gets cursed.

People have been trading rooms in the manor since we got back.  Duracell moved into my room.  Thalidimar moved out from next door and across the courtyard.  Nibori moved into Thalidimar's old room.  Emrikol and Solindria have their own rooms.  I wonder where the rest of the Clean-up Crew stays?  Kragus still wakes the dead out in the courtyard at night.  (Note to self:  Stop using the phrase "wake the dead."  I've seen it actually happen, and it's not pretty.)

26 Marcav 1001
Hafn'mor

I went back to the massage parlor today.  A bath and massage felt so good after mucking around the swamp for a week.  I spent the afternoon in the meditation garden.  I asked one of the geishas for advice on my problem not being able to talk to really hot chicks.  The first thing she told me was to lose the "hot chicks" description.  She said the real trick is to get them to do most of the talking and then all I really have to do is listen.  She suggested I try to get them to talk about themselves by asking them things like where they're from, what they like, etc.  She gave me some more advice, but it's all pretty much common sense stuff I should have already known like that.  I'll try asking Duracell about where she grew up later tonight.

10 Apros 1001
Godsday

Well, my first week of training is over, and I must say that it is extremely annoying.  What the heck am I supposed to learn from being randomly pelted with rocks or hit while I'm in the middle of doing something else?  Plus, I have to train at night, so I don't get to see anybody else since they're gone all day with their own training.  I am learning a lot anyway, though, and . . .

1 Junta 1001
Newday

Everybody except Lumiarti and Emrikol-Oz have finished their training, so we all got together for an "official" group meeting.  Lumiarti has decided he won't be accompanying us anymore (gee what a surprise, the snooty Elf), so we've asked Emrikol to join our group.  Dokren also said that he's leaving.  He wants to keep looking for a range of his own.  I have a strong feeling he's heading back to the woods or swamp near Orlane.  Nibori will be filling his spot.  Kragus won't be joining us either.  I get the feeling he still thinks me and Thalidimar stole Abramo's stuff.  Solindria volunteered to go on our next venture instead of Kragus.

10 Junta 1001
Godsday

I managed to run across a group of Hoar's priests today.  Hanging out with Thalidimar has shown me that it takes more than just prayers for help to get a deity's favor.  You need to do stuff in their service.  And with as much as Tymora seemed to help us out, it definitely pays to have a deity on your side.  Since I want Hoar's help getting back at Grindel and his whole gang, I figured I better start learning more about his church.  I know Hoar is the God of Retribution, but that's about it.

The priests were in Willip on a "mission of retribution."  I didn't feel I should ask for details, but I did donate 2,000gp to their cause, and they agreed to begin instructing me in the "Doombringer's" teachings.

1 Jularva 1001
Newday

Emrikol finished his training yesterday, so we'll start looking for our next job tomorrow.

DM's note: The party has returned to Willip, split up their loot and rearranged their membership. Gone are Kragus, Dokren and Lumiarti. Joining the group are Solindria, Emrikol-Oz and Nibori. The party is well balanced, trained, and resupllied. All that remains is a mission. Where will the party go next? Stay tuned to find out.

Real-world date: 7 Feb 2004
Game-world date: 1-7 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
The party has returned to Willip, split up their loot and rearranged their membership. Gone are Kragus, Dokren and Lumiarti. Joining the group are Solindria, Emrikol-Oz and Nibori. The party is well balanced, trained, and resupllied. All that remains is a mission. Where will the party go next?

DM's note: Will the party be enough? Will they be strong enough, smart enough, fast enough? Will they be enough to find the Rondolim. Lacking a Dwarf, will they be able to identify the Rondolim? How is it that their enemies already know that they are looking for the Rondolim? The path ahead conceals many dangers, what does the path within conceal?.

Real-world date: 21 Feb 2004
Game-world date: 7-12 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
The party has embarked on a new Mission. A quest to recover the Rondolim, a Dwarven war-axe of legendary power. The party learned what they could about the Rondolim, and has left Whillip on their way to Sharisthek, the ruined keep of Tunadholm, a deceased Dwarven general of great renown. With their enemies already alerted, what other obstacles will the party need to overcome?

Since this is the last major town before we head up into the mountains, Thalidimar decided to stock up on our supplies.  He also suggested that we find a Dwarf warrior that knows the Thunder Peaks that we could hire to guide us to Sharisthek.  That way, when we find some rusty old axe, we could put it in his hands to see if it's the Rondolim.

We found some Dwarf "freelance miners" (claim jumpers) in one bar.  They told us that if we were heading up into the mountains, we should watch out for something they called a "Succubus."  They explained that a Succubus is a Demon that looks like a very beautiful woman.  They said that it has big, bat-like wings that it uses to fly.  It can transport itself like when we used X's sheepskin thingy, but it doesn't need something like the sheepskin to do it.  It can "suck" your life from you, and it can read your mind.  It can make itself look like anybody, and since it can read your mind, it can look like anybody you know.  Sounds like a nasty, sneaky creature to have to deal with.  They also said that there's a plague going around up in the mountains and several of the Dwarf villages have quarantined themselves.

The miners were heading in the opposite direction that we were, so they couldn't take us to Sharisthek.  Eventually, we found a Dwarf ranger named Kagnythus that agreed to guide us for 100gp per day or 1,000gp, whichever turns out to be less.  He could be Dokren's twin brother.  He even has a magic kukri just like Dokren's.

9 Jularva 1001
Endsnear

Shortly after we broke camp this morning, we had to stop when we came to a pile of boulders blocking the road.  I figured it was probably an ambush, but I was wrong.  We were going to move the rocks out of the way, but when we approached, one of the boulders stood up!  It told us that they were napping and wanted to be left alone.  I asked if we could get the caravan through, and it told us to go around.  There was just enough room to the side of the road to get the wagons through, so we went around the rock creatures and did our best to leave them alone.

We reached the Eastern Base Camp, a permanent military base that marks the beginning of the journey up through the Thunder Pass (or the end, if you are traveling east).  We were approached by a soldier that demanded everyone's name and checked them against a list he was carrying.  I guess they're supposed to be on the lookout for certain individuals.  How would he know if someone just made up a name to avoid being detected?

Since the caravan is continuing west and our journey takes us north from here, it was time to get paid and part company.  Kagnythus said our horses would probably be more of a hindrance than a help in the mountains, so we arranged to have them stabled at the camp where they would be safe.  They wanted to charge 10sp a day for each horse, but then they cut the price in half when we told them we brought food for our horses.  Of course, if we're not back before our twenty days of feed runs out, the price goes back up after that.

We all decided to take baths since we had no idea when we'd be able to again.  It's a good thing, too, 'cause Kagnythus had drank so much before we hired him back in Highmoon that you could still smell him from upwind whenever he was sweating.  We heard rumors that there are "Wyverns" up in the mountains.  They're supposed to be huge, nasty flying lizards with bat-like wings.  (I think I'm starting to pick up another theme here.  Everything in the Rushmoor Swamp was bigger than it was supposed to be.  It's beginning to appear that everything in these mountains has big, bat-like wings.)

Since it's a four-and-a-half day journey to Sharisthek from the Eastern Base Camp, we decided to get the half-day knocked off today.  Kagnythus and Nibori kept bickering about stupid stuff, so we eventually convinced Nibori to follow behind the rest of us and "make sure nothing stalked us" while Kagnythus led us to Sharisthek.

10 Jularva 1001
Godsday

A Dwarf mining party had joined our camp sometime last night.  They were on their way back down to the Eastern Base Camp to pick up more supplies so they could go back up to some mine they're working.  They warned us to watch out for snakes, 'cause there's a lot of them around this time of year.  They were right, too.  Kagnythus had to move several of them out of our way.  It would have been nice to kill a couple of them to add to dinner, but he wouldn't let us.

11 Jularva 1001
Newday

We found out what a Wyvern is.  We were just crossing over the top of a ridge when three of them came flying at us.  Emrikol cast a spell that convinced one of them to leave us alone right away, but the other two had killed one of his dogs and wounded Thalidimar, Nibori, and Kagnythus pretty bad before they decided we weren't worth the trouble to try to eat after all.  Thalidimar is suffering from some kind of poison one of them stuck in him with its stinger tail, but he says he'll be fine.

Today was my 18^th birthday.  I really miss those mincemeat pastries mom used to make for me every year.  I wonder if she's still alive?

12 Jularva 1001
Nexsta'

We reached the valley that Sharisthek is in this morning.  We followed the trail down into some woods and we were getting close to where it crossed a road, but then Kagnythus stopped us.  He said that the trail is patrolled regularly, and then he and Nibori found some traps in the woods around us.  We went back up the trail to the tree line, and we were thinking about leaving the trail entirely and traveling to Sharisthek cross-country when Emrikol had an idea.  He could send his raven ahead of us, and it would warn him if anything was coming up the road toward us.  We decided that we could go back to the trail and the road that way.

It was in the middle of the afternoon when Emrikol told us that there was a patrol coming toward us.  He said it was about a dozen small creatures.  We climbed trees and ducked behind bushes so they wouldn't see us; at least not right away.  The patrol was a group of Kobolds with a couple of big, armored dogs.  The dogs stopped and started sniffing around, and then one of the Kobolds pointed up at Nibori in a tree and started shouting something.  I tried to shoot at it, but my damned bow came unstrung.  Then I tripped over a branch backing up from a dog that was all over me.  We managed to kill both the dogs and some of the Kobolds, but most of them ran away either into the woods or back down the road the way they had come from.  They were tougher than most Kobolds are.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... They sounded some warning horns. So much for the element of surprise!

DM's note: The party has found a guide. A stout Dwarven warrior to assist them in their quest. I'm sure he'll come in handy when they try to identify the Rondolim. Well, the party is in the Oversember Vale, and Sharisthek can't be far away, but it appears that there are occupants in the vale. Why are these kobolds so tough? Typical kobolds are on par with your common Dales farmer. The bug-eyed nasties seemed to use tactics reserved for trained militia, warriors even. They were well organized, fought as a group, and came prepared. What or who is leading them? Who did they warn with their horns?

Real-world date: 20 Mar 2004
Game-world date: 12 Jularva - 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
A stout Dwarven warrior (Kagnythus) has joined the party in their quest. I'm sure he'll come in handy when they try to identify the Rondolim. The party is in the Oversember Vale, and Sharisthek can't be far away. A first encounter with a kobold patrol has set a dangerous tone.Why are these kobolds so tough? Typical kobolds are on par with your common Dales farmer. The bug-eyed nasties seemed to use tactics reserved for trained militia, warriors even. They were well organized, fought as a group, and came prepared. What or who is leading them? Who did they warn with their horns?

12 Jularva 1001
Nexsta'

They actually seemed somewhat organized, too.  They were well armed and armored, and they all wore the same symbol.  With its color, the symbol looked more like a rusty hinge than anything else.  It's almost like they're part of some kind of Kobold army, instead of the just the usual tribe.

Emrikol sent his raven Crebin down the road ahead of us again, and we continued down the road to Sharisthek.  It told Emrikol that there was some kind of flying lizard thing about the size of a man flying around in patterns.

After a while, Emrikol said there was a bridge up ahead, and there were Kobolds waiting to ambush us on either side.  A few minutes later, he said that a "big" Kobold had come and spoken to the Kobolds at the bridge, and then they all left.  Sure enough, when we got there, there was nobody at the bridge.

Later, Emrikol said that his raven was checking out the keep itself.  He said that there was a Dwarf nailed upside down to a frame that was mounted in the middle of an area that was cleared around the keep.  He said that the Dwarf was still alive, and that he was missing his eyes.  Of course, Solindria decided right then and there that we had to rescue the Dwarf at all costs.  The raven talked to the Dwarf and found out his name is Takaél Gathar. Nibori thought that Takaél sounded more like a Gnome's name than a Dwarf's.  When we got there, we stopped in the woods before the killing zone around the keep.  It's pretty obvious that the keep hasn't been kept up.  There are big gaps in the outer wall, and the river now flows through one corner.  The walls at that corner are collapsed, although the tower there still stands.  That's where the flying lizard-things have a nest.  There are two of them.  They are man sized, they have four legs as well as large bat-like wings (of course), a very long tail, and eyes like a giant insect.

Nibori scouted the keep with her spyglass.  She said that there were only a couple of archers along the wall nearest us.  She also said that there was a man-sized Kobold on the nearest tower that was wearing some kind of special breastplate.  It had a white skull painted on it, and when she saw it, she damned-near pissed her pants from fear.  And yes, the Dwarf nailed to the X-shaped frame was in fact a Gnome.  We had a lengthy discussion about how to get him down and back to the woods.  I suggested we build some kind of small wall, like an oversized tower shield that a couple of people could hold up between themselves, and the keep would block any arrows that came their way while they retrieved the Gnome.  We're in a forest and we've got two woodsmen with us, so it should be pretty simple, right?  I had to give up the idea when the Dwarf ranger asked me how to chop down a tree (while holding his axe in one hand, mind you)!

Eventually, it was decided that I would wear Emrikol's large cloak and drink a potion of invisibility.  After I got the Gnome down, I could wrap him in the cloak and nobody would be able to see us while I carried him to the woods.  The plan worked pretty well until I started trying to pry the first nail out of his foot.  As soon as I started putting pressure on the crowbar, he let out an agonized shriek.  I should have gagged him first.  There was a whizzing noise as a huge crossbow bolt came landed behind me.  So now we know they have a ballista or something up there.  Solindria ran out of the woods shouting and waving her arms to draw their fire away.  At least she's willing to pull her share when she makes us take these stupid risks.  She even took one of the bolts in her leg before we got back into the woods.  (Those bolts are weird.  Right after they hit, they just disappeared.)  When we got there, she healed up the Gnome some, and we started questioning him.  Turns out he's a slimy little jerk the Kobolds hired to make a bunch of traps for them in the passages below the keep.  He giggled just thinking about us running into them.  I would have liked to get some specific information about the traps, but I wouldn't trust anything he told us as far as I could throw him.  Besides being a little weasel, being tortured by the Kobolds and then left out in the sun seems to have left him a bit unbalanced, even for a Gnome.  He did tell us that the Kobold leader's name is Zhabovekh.  Kagnythus said he'd heard that name mentioned back at the Eastern Base Camp, but he hadn't heard anything of the conversation.

Everyone started into a discussion about what to do with Takaél.  At one point, Solindria tied him to a tree so he couldn't go anywhere and said that we would cart him back with us to see if he's wanted for any crimes.  I got tired of the discussion and went off into the woods to scout around near the edge of the kill-zone.  I found more traps; mostly snares and spiked pits that weren't even hidden very well.  I also found a couple of ambush blinds.  Lucky for me they weren't occupied.

As I was heading back to join everybody else, I came across them heading through the woods in my direction.  They said Emrikol had sent Crebin to check out a trash-pit we had seen earlier in the kill-zone.  Evidently it's not just a hole.  It leads down to some kind of chamber with passages leading off it.  I wanted to ask how we were supposed to get to the hole without getting shot by the ballista, but they all started running toward it right then like they had been waiting for some kind of signal.  I followed as fast as I could.  Nibori tied a rope to a stump next to the depression the hole is in, and we started going down one at a time.  I was the last to climb down.  There was a huge pile of garbage and crap in the middle of the chamber.  Nibori had lost her grip on the rope and fallen into it.  When she had waded out, she looked around and said that there was some kind of creature living down here.  She called it an "Awtee ug."  She said that it walks on three legs, has two really long tentacles that have barbs on them, and that it likes to eat garbage.  Sounded pretty weird to me.

We picked a tunnel that looked like it might head in the direction of the keep.  The tunnel went for just a little bit and then connected to another curving tunnel.  We went down the curving tunnel a little ways to where another tunnel led off it, and then went down the other tunnel.  Sure enough, we ended up back in the garbage chamber.  We picked a third tunnel and went down it.  We met the Awtee ug where the tunnel met the curving one.   Kagnythus and Solindria took care of it pretty quickly.  It was covered in garbage and crap.  It was pretty gross.

We went back to exploring.  The curved tunnel went all the way around, and all of the passages connected to it, kind of like a wagon wheel with some really messed up bent spokes.  There was also this little lair where we found some stuff we might be able to sell to some merchant when we get back to Willip.  We figured we could rest up down here for several days and have Crebin watch the keep so we can get an idea of watch schedules, numbers, etc.  When we don't come back up out of the hole, the Kobolds will probably think that the Awtee ug got us.  It smells down here, but it's safer than going back up the hole, which would let the Kobolds know we're still alive, and then trying to set up camp somewhere in the woods where they'd be looking for us.

13 Jularva 1001
Onward

Today went pretty much according to the plan.  Crebin scouted the keep for us and got us some pretty good information about watch schedules, etc.  It also let us know that there are two of those flying lizard things.  They are working with the Kobolds.  They go out flying on a patrol pattern, and they always fly in places where the Kobold patrol isn't at.

We can't stay here after tonight, though.  A couple of Kobolds came out and dumped some trash down the hole.  Then they started shouting the hole, like they were calling to the Aw teeug.  They seemed to call it Sam.  It's like the Aw teeug was a pet or something.  They didn't seem too suspicious when they left, but it won't take them long to figure out what's going on when Sam doesn't respond day after day.  We're going to leave tonight when it's dark and try to make it across the river to set up camp and make a plan.  Luckily the Kobolds didn't cut our rope or take it with them.

14 Jularva 1001
Forens

Duracell used her belt to carry us up out of the trash hole last night.  When we got out, we found that the moon was at its darkest phase.  Even creatures like Kobolds, that can see in the dark, can only see so far, and we were farther away from the keep than that.  We figured that tonight would be the best time to make our approach to the keep.  From where we were, we could make it to the river's edge.  There's an abandoned tower and section of outer wall that blocks the view from the keep, so we could follow the river's edge all the way up to the keep without being seen.  Emrikol had cast a spell on himself that let him see in the dark, and he had also cast his broken flying spell on himself.  Duracell carried Solindria and towed Emrikol while Emrikol guided her where to go.  Kagnythus led the rest of us on foot.  After a couple of stubbed toes and stepped-on feet, Thalidimar took out his coin that makes everything near it silent.  Duracell and them were supposed to wait for us at the base of the wall next to the abandoned tower, but they didn't.  They went straight over the wall and landed in the courtyard.

DM's note: Into the frying pan? Part of the party has landed in the keep's pitch black inner courtyard. By themselves, this small advance group may be brave, but are they wise? We'll find out at the next meeting.

Real-world date: 03 Apr 2004
Game-world date: 14 Jularva - 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
The party had just put themselves in the frying pan. With only 1% moonlight, and all but two players able to see at all, things were about to get much worse. The party was split into two groups, and they were just about to perform a straight on assault against the keeps defenders.

Here's where we practice a bit of revisionist history. As the DM it's my prerogative. It was midnight when we stopped playing, and I think the players and I were all a bit sleepy when this hasty decision was made. Since I never revealed the results of their decision, I decided to let them rewind a bit. Below you'll see the revised 14 Jularva entry.

With a fresh start, clearer minds, and a little more discussion, the party came up with a much better plan of action. Isn't time travel fun!?

14 Jularva 1001
Forens

Since the moon was at its darkest last night, we decided that it was the best time to try to make it into Sharisthek.  Even creatures that can see in the dark (like Kobolds) can only see so far, and we're farther away from the keep than that.  From the trash hole, we could make our way over to the riverbank.  There's a tower and section of the wall that the Kobolds don't keep watch from.  They also block the view from the center tower and most of the rest of the keep to the riverbank.  We should be able to follow the river right up to the base of the wall without being seen.

From there, the discussion turned to what the best way would be to take care of all the Kobolds outside along the wall, in the towers, in the courtyard, etc.  All kinds of strategies were discussed: Putting Nibori up on the abandoned wall or tower for archer support, multiple points of entry, attacking at dawn so we would be able to see, etc.  Obviously, the idea of stealth is not a concept that readily comes to mind with these people.  Then again, the couple times we've tried it, we've ended up pretty beat up.  I pointed out that our eventual goal was to make it into the central building in the middle of the keep.  Since Crebin had punched a huge hole in the roof of the tower that was part of the central building with some of Duracell's magic gravel-to-boulders (that's the distraction that had signaled our run from the forest to the trash hole), Duracell could use her belt to fly us from the base of the abandoned wall and into the tower.  The Kobolds are watching the other direction for someone approaching the keep on the ground, and shouldn't even see us.  Even if one does happen to glance up, it's really dark, so it probably wouldn't see Duracell overhead anyway.  Why fight more Kobolds than we have to?  Everyone seemed to like my plan.  Emrikol said he'd cast a spell on Duracell that would let her see in the dark like a Dwarf does so she could see where she was going.  He said he could also cast his "levitate" spell (like giving it a fancy name will make us not notice his flying spell doesn't work right) on a couple of people.  He said he'd use another spell on himself to change into something with wings so he could fly by himself.  With Duracell carrying one person and towing the "levitating" people, she could get everyone except one person into the tower in just one trip.  It was decided that I would be the one person left behind.  Emrikol would stay with me at the base of the wall just in case something happened so he could go alert the others.

We got into the keep exactly the way we planned it.  Emrikol turned himself into some kind of weird looking hairy monkey-thing with bat-like wings.  (I wonder if he's been reading my journal and decided to make fun of me with the wings?)  Next time, though, someone else can be the one left behind.  Waiting at the base of the wall wasn't a big deal, but getting there was.  I was the only one traveling on the ground, and since I couldn't see where I was going, they led me along with a rope.  Kagnythus should have been the one walking.  At least he could have seen the rocks and stuff along the way.  I had to find all of them with my toes and shins.  Luckily Thalidimar had his coin out that makes everything all quiet or the Kobolds would have heard me swearing long before we got to the keep.

When we were in the top room of the tower, we took out the magic torches.  We were in what used to be a bedroom with four beds, but all the furniture and stuff got all smashed up when the roof collapsed.  We started to go down the stairs to the next room down, but then the torches went out.  Since Thalidimar still had his coin out, I couldn't hear or see anything that was going on.  I saw a couple of flashes from down the stairs, but there were too many people in front of me to see what was going on.  Finally, Emrikol got a regular lantern lit and I could see (that he was still that monkey-thing.  I call him "monkey man" now.) that everyone else was down in the room below fighting a Kobold that was as big as a man.  He didn't look too happy that Emrikol had lit a lantern, so I moved between monkey man and the Kobold.  Now that they could see, Solindria and Nibori dropped the kobold pretty quick.  Duracell and Kagnythus had been hurt pretty bad, so Thalidimar healed them back up as much as he could.  I noticed that I was wet, and when I looked up, there was a little cloud right above my head!  I tried to move out of its way, but it kept moving to stay right over me!  It would have just been annoying except little lightnings kept jumping out of it and stinging me.  It's a good thing it didn't last for very long.

While Thalidimar was healing Duracell and Kagnythus, another Kobold came into the room.  We killed it quick so it couldn't let anybody else know we were there.  Emrikol cast a spell on himself so he could see things that are magic.  He said that the big Kobold's belt and ring were magic.  Solindria took the ring, and I put on the belt. He also said that the Kobold's skin itself was magic.  It did look like the scales were actually made of bronze metal.  Emrikol wanted to skin it, but we pointed out there wasn't enough time right now.  Then we went down to the next room.  It was full of crates.  Kagnythus said that the shipping labels on the crates said they were full of weapons that were supposed to go to the Eastern Base Camp.  Emrikol started drooling and trying to figure out how we could get them all back to a city to sell them.  Unfortunately for monkey man, I don't think Solindria will let him.  She'll probably make us head straight back to the Eastern Base Camp after we've found the Rondolim and let them know that their weapons are here.  Maybe we'll at least get some kind of finder's fee or bounty or something.

Solindria said she could feel three evil presences in the room below us, and a couple dozen more in the area where the main part of the building would be.  We were just beginning to try to figure out how to take care of the three below us without them being able to alert the whole place when one of them shouted something up at us.  We went down and killed the three Kobolds as quick as we could, but not before one of them had opened the door into the main building and shouted something.  Nibori quickly closed the door.  Lucky for us it barred from our side.  The central tower must have been an older part of the keep, and the building was added on after or something.  Or Tymora just happened to be in a good mood and was looking in our direction.  At any rate, our cover was blown and the time for stealth was over.  I bet the Kobolds up on the outer walls and towers really feel like dumb-asses now though.  They'll probably have some serious explaining to do about how we managed to get past them and into the center keep before anybody knew we were even there.

DM's note: Into the frying pan (take two). The party got lucky on their initial assault. They managed to slip into the keep unseen. I guess the kobolds hadn't planned on the perforated roof. Our adventurers managed to kill one of the kobold leaders, but now the warning has been raised. I don't think the party can hold out much longer, they're pretty low on spells, and they've got a few injuries to contend with. Will they find safe harbor nearby? Will they flee to return again another day? Will they stay and slug it out?

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Real-world date: 17 Apr 2004
Game-world date: 14 Jularva - 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
With a little help from Tymora and Tempus, the party got lucky on their initial assault. They managed to slip into the keep unseen, they killed one of the kobold leaders, but a warning has been raised. The party has found a temporary shleter. Barricaded inside the central tower of the keep, I don't think the party can hold out much longer, they're pretty low on spells, and they've got a few injuries to contend with. So, will it be run and hide? or descend and die!

Into the fire!

14 Jularva 1001
Forens

We went down a fairly long set of stairs and found ourselves in what looked like a makeshift barracks.  The room beyond that had stairs leading down toward its center from both our end and the far end.  We have no idea how far down the floor is because it was filled most of the way up with what smelled like lamp oil.  Everybody started into a long discussion about how to get across without coming out covered in oil on the other side.  After a while, I got bored, and since the walls were plenty rough, I went ahead and crawled across using cracks in the wall to hold onto.  Nibori followed right behind me.  Eventually, Emrikol used a scroll on Solindria that let her crawl on the walls like some kind of bug, and she carried everybody else across one at a time.  While we were waiting, Nibori and I heard something in the next room that sounded like someone moving around in armor, except the sound went up like it was going up a staircase or something.

After everybody got across, another discussion got started about the best strategy for opening the door to the next room.  A door is a door, and there aren't a whole lot of ways to open it, right?  So I opened the door, and immediately got hit with three bolts from those small crossbows the Kobolds use.  There was a balcony way up the wall on the other side of the room with a metal ladder from the floor.  There were four of the Kobolds peeking over the side of the balcony at me.  Another one of the big Kobolds (this one had bronze colored scales) appeared and threw something that disappeared after taking a chunk out of the stone wall right next to my head.  After we had killed that Kobold, we found magic shurikens that are shaped like playing cards.

I ran across the room and under the balcony so they couldn't get another shot off at me.  I looked up and saw that there was a metal trap door in the floor of the balcony, so I got out my bow and got ready to shoot at anybody that might open the trap door and try to shoot down at us.  Thalidimar ran across the room and stood under the balcony next to me.  Emrikol stepped into the door and cast some spell, but then the Kobolds shot him with the poisoned crossbow bolts and he collapsed.  Nibori dragged him across the room and under the balcony.  Solindria ran across the room and crawled up the wall and was hanging on the bottom of the balcony when the trap door opened.  I missed the bronze Kobold as it jumped down through the trap door, landed on mine and Thalidimar's head, and then jumped back up on the ladder again.  Solindria jumped down and tried to pull him off the ladder, but it climbed back up the ladder and shut the trap door behind it.  I barely felt like I could still stand at that point, but then Thalidimar pulled out a scroll and read off it, and I felt a bit better again.  While that was going on, Duracell and Kagnythus had joined the rest of us under the balcony.  Just before they did, I saw the oil in the room we came from start burning.

Duracell used her belt to fly up and grab Solindria and carry her up onto the balcony so she could fight the Kobolds directly.  I waited for Nibori or Kagnythus to climb the ladder to join her since they're better at fighting than I am, but they didn't look like they were going to, so I climbed up next.  When I got up there, I saw the big Kobold standing in the opening at the back of the balcony fighting Solindria, and there were more Kobolds in the room behind him.  I threw the last of my magic quicksand at its feet in the hopes that things would be at least a little more difficult for it.  Then I climbed up into the balcony next to Solindria.  I had to be careful because some of the timbers that the balcony hung from the ceiling by were burning.

Soon, most of us that could fight were up on the balcony.  The big Kobold drank a potion and then spat out a lightning bolt that hit both Solindria and Kagnythus.  Kagnythus was still climbing the ladder at the time, and he lost his grip and would have fallen all the way back down to the floor if Duracell and her belt hadn't been there to catch him.  Solindria went back down the ladder 'cause she was looking pretty beat-up and Thalidimar was still down there.  The big bronze Kobold retreated into the other room.  Nibori and me were standing on the balcony to the sides of the entrance to the room so the Kobolds couldn't get a clear shot at us, and we were using our bows to shoot around the corner at the Kobolds, and the Kobolds would try to shoot at us with their crossbows when we did, but they didn't want to step into the quicksand.  Kagnythus climbed back up the ladder, and as soon as his head appeared over the edge of the balcony wall, it go hit with one of the playing card shurikens.  I told him to go back down.  How would we ever find the Rondolim if he got himself killed?

Nothing was really happening, and the fight was grinding down to a stand-off, but then I got an idea.  I knew that Emrikol had taken a couple of empty bottles from the big Kobold we killed upstairs.  I figured that I might be able to stir things up a bit if I filled the bottles with burning oil and threw them into the room the Kobolds were in.  I could just picture the looks on their faces when the burning oil started splashing around.  Supposedly, these Barbed Demon Gloves are supposed to let me stick my hands into fires or even melted metal and not even feel it, so I figured it was time to test them out.  Duracell carried me back down to the floor, and I found the empty bottles in Emrikol's backpack.  Then I went back to the oil room and filled them up.  Sure enough, the gloves worked just like the wizard said they would when he identified them for me.

I went back and threw one of the bottles up over the balcony and into the room beyond.  I saw a satisfying little flash that told me it worked just like I thought it would.  Duracell carried Solindria down from the balcony, and she was looking even worse.  I wonder why she went back up there when she was so hurt?  I threw the second bottle, and then I climbed back up the ladder.  My little plan had worked.  The big Kobold was lying on the balcony floor, and Nibori was in the room fighting the other Kobolds.  It didn't take too much longer for her, me, Duracell and Kagnythus to take out the rest of them.

DM's note: It might sound like the party has managed to defeat the bulk of the kobolds, but there's a whole bunch of little nastiness waiting behind the party. That flaming oil will only burn so long. The party better not dilly dally, and they better find a place to rest. What they need now is a break! With no idea what's ahead, and a horde of kobolds behind them, the party isn't in the clear yet.

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Real-world date: 01 May 2004
Game-world date: 14-15 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
The party had just finished a major battle with a squad of Kobolds and one of their leaders. With no where to go but forward, the party is in a very precarious position. They need healing badly, but they haven't found a place to rest. Their wounds are accumulating at a pace that's difficult to imagine. A horde of Kobolds lays behind them; waiting for the fires to die down, and who knows what lays ahead; just around the next bend in the corridor!

Press on!

14 Jularva 1001
Forens

DM's Note: After any big battle, the party participates in a bit of post melee triage. They assess the wounds of their comrades, make sure that none of the bad guys are about to get up and attack, and then they participate in what can only be described as 'The booty loot'. Searching their dead foes for clues, weapons, magic items, and in this case, healing potions.

The big Kobold had another ring that looked just like the magic ring we took from the first big Kobold we killed upstairs. Duracell took the rest of the magic razor cards he had been throwing at us. Nibori jumped all over the sandals he was wearing. Turns out that they're magic sandals. Now she can really jump high and far, which came in useful in getting Emrikol and Solindria up the ladder while they were unconscious. We had to drag them along with us for the rest of the night.

We came to a passage that sloped down really steep. Before we started down it, Kagnythus said that there was a trap at the top. I took a closer look, and noticed that the ceiling of the landing we were in was hinged at the end farthest from the sloped passage. At first I thought that it was just so that when someone went down the passage, the ceiling of the landing would drop and trap them down there. But then I noticed that there was a groove running down the middle of the floor of the sloped passage, so I figured that something would be released from the ceiling that would slide down the passage and try to crush whoever was down there. I went down the sloped passage very slowly, looking for the trigger, but it wasn't there. When I got to the bottom, I was in what looked like a storeroom. Barrels formed a narrow aisle on either side of the groove that continued across the floor of the storeroom from the sloped passage. Whatever was in the barrels smelled really nasty. I told everyone to come down, and we moved the barrels back away from the center of the room and against the far walls. If something did come flying down the sloped passage, I didn't want it breaking the barrels and splashing whatever was in them on us. It's a good thing we did, too. I checked the door out of this room to see if the trigger was on it, but I didn't find anything. When I opened it, though, we could hear a banging sound from up the sloped passage. I moved to the side, and a huge stone wheel came rolling down at us. It smashed through where the door was and hit something on the other side. It stopped so it was almost completely blocking the way through to the room beyond. We had to bribe Crebin with some of the birdseed in Emrikol's backpack so he would crawl through a tiny space that was left between the wheel and the wall and drag a rope around the other side of the wheel so we could pull the wheel back toward us. We shoved the wheel all the way against the sloping passage and wedged some of the shattered wood from the door so the wheel wouldn't roll back where it was blocking again.

Just a little bit further on we found a section of passage that had two doors that I had to unlock. We decided to stop and rest up since I could lock both doors on either side of us. The door locks were just simple lever-piston types, but we'd hear if anyone tried to open them. I also went back to the big stone wheel and tied a rope across it to the barrels so if the Kobolds tried to follow us, we'd hear them coming and they'd have to deal with whatever they put in those barrels to try to hurt us.

I think that it's sometime in the morning of the 14th, but without being able to see the sky to see where the stars or the sun is, I can't tell for sure.

15 Jularva 1001
Freeday

I have no idea how long we rested, and I've pretty much completely lost track of time. I think it's sometime during Freeday now, but just what time of day it is I don't know.

Lucky for us, the Kobolds didn't follow us, so we got plenty of rest. The poison wore off, so Emrikol was awake again, and Thalidimar was able to heal up almost everyone. Then we set off further into Sharisthek. Kagnythus found a couple of secret doors in a room later on. One was just a closet that had a sort of folding bridge that Nibori is carrying around now. There was a really long hall behind the other one. It seemed to go back toward the keep. We eventually came to a door, and Solindria said there were about a dozen or so evil presences on the other side. Everybody started getting ready to go through and fight them, but then Thalidimar pointed out that we were supposed to be looking for the Rondolim and maybe it would be better not to get into a fight if we didn't have to, so we went back down the hall and continued the way we were going before we found it.

Then we came to a really weird room. It was a pretty large room, but there was only a narrow ledge around its edge to get to the other side, and the rest of the room was a deep pit with a bunch of long spikes on its floor. We could see some skeletons where some other people had fallen off the ledge and gotten killed by the spikes. Emrikol wanted to see if they had any money on them (like the greedy guy he always was), so he cast his broken flying spell and moved out to the center of the pit. When he tried to go down in it, though, he stopped at the floor level and couldn't go down in the pit. Something was stopping him. He went up to the ceiling and started pushing himself around it. Near the edge he yelled out and then told us that there were spikes on the ceiling, but I didn't see them. Why would someone put spikes on the ceiling? I decided to crawl out over the pit to see how far across the room I could get. I kept feeling ahead to see if there was a hole in whatever was holding me up, but I made it all the way across the room. After that, everyone else came across too.

Later on, we came to a room that looked like some kind of temple sanctuary or something. It had columns all along it, and at the far end, there were steps that led down to a pool that took up that end of the room. Against the wall on the other side of the pool was an oversized statue of a man holding a golden trident. There were fish skeletons swimming around in the water. Nibori dropped one of her marbles in the pool to see what would happen, and the fish skeletons swarmed all over it like bees on a hive. Thalidimar held out his holy symbol and gave out one of the commands he uses on skeletons that shouldn't be moving, and they fish all fell apart and sank to the bottom. Emrikol wanted to know if the trident was real gold, so Nibori used her new sandals to jump across onto the pedestal the statue was standing on. When she reached out and touched the trident, she yelled out like it was really hot or something. We noticed that the end of the trident was in the water, so whatever hurt Nibori might be in the water too. Emrikol cast a spell on Kagnythus that he thought would protect the Dwarf from whatever was hurting Nibori. Then we tied a rope around Kagnythus so he could explore around in the pool to see if there was some way to drain the water or some kind of passage or something, since we didn't see any way out of the room other than the way we came in. After a while we pulled him back up. He said he had found a secret door, but when he opened it, the water didn't drain, so we'd have to swim to go through it. He also said that he could feel whatever had hurt Nibori in the water, but it wasn't hurting him. I threw the rope to Nibori so she could pull Kagnythus up with her and they managed to lift the trident out of the water and jam it in place so it wouldn't come back down into the water. Then we all swam through the secret door and just a short ways to the corridor that continued on above the water beyond.

We got past our next obstacle pretty easily, thanks to Duracell's flying belt. It was the largest room we had come to yet. We were on a balcony at one end, and a very long rope bridge hung between it and another balcony at the other end of the room. The floor was a huge pool of boiling lamp oil. Halfway across the bridge, a man in dull black armor brandishing a huge axe was waiting for us. Emrikol told us that it wasn't a man, but some kind of "construct". It's like some kind of statue that somebody used magic on to give it the ability to move around. It didn't sound like something we wanted to mess with, so Nibori cut the rope bridge away from our balcony and the man-thing fell into the oil. Then Duracell flew me across to the other balcony and I cut the rope bridge away from it since I didn't know if the man-thing could survive the oil and climb back up or not. The door out of the room beyond the balcony was disguised as a large chest at the top of a ladder. It had the usual wafers-in-a-cylinder lock that's pretty standard for a chest, but the wafers were eccentric instead of just round like most are. I went ahead and used my magic lock picks to get this one open rather than spend the time to completely figure it out.

Further on, we came to a corridor that had a pretty sneaky trap waiting in it. At first, it just looked like there were three small pools of lava with gaps between them that you could just hop over pretty easy. Emrikol had a funny feeling, though, so he had Nibori toss one of her marbles down the hall. It hit something right at the far edge of the first lava pool and the marble fell into the pool. There was some kind of invisible barrier like the one over the big stake pit earlier. A couple more marbles showed that it only went up about halfway to the ceiling, so we could get past it. Still, if we hadn't known it was there, someone probably would have ended up in the lava. I used Nibori's bridge to get over the first lava pool, and then I decided to give my barbed demon gloves a real test. I grabbed some lava from the second pool and threw it down the hall. Didn't feel a thing. It didn't take long to show that all three pools had a barrier at their far side just like the first one. Since her belt was still working, Duracell just carried everyone over the lava pools.

The next room we came to was a huge cylinder. You probably could have stacked about 40 houses on top of each other in it if the floor hadn't been covered in boiling oil. The corridor we were in was about halfway up it. There were two other corridor openings, one halfway between where we were and the oil, and the other an equal distance above us. There was some kind disk floating at our level in the middle of the cylinder. Nibori threw a marble that bounced off it, so we knew it was real. It would probably carry someone up or down if they jumped on it, but that could be tricky, and we didn't trust it anyway. Since Duracell wasn't flying anymore, we decided to lower ourselves to the opening below us with a rope. We tied the rope to Solindria first, and Nibori started lowering her down. Doors opened on the other side of the cylinder opposite each of the corridor openings. Skeletons behind the doors fired arrows at us. Thalidimar stepped up and destroyed the skeleton across from us, but the other two were too far away for him to affect, so he held his big shield in front of Nibori to protect her while she lowered the rest of us down. Duracell had to use her belt to go up and get Nibori.

We had barely started to walk down the lower passage when it fell out from under us. Solindria and Nibori had already walked past the section that fell, but the rest of us found ourselves sliding down the slope the corridor had come to rest at. Since Duracell was still flying, she ended up next to the ceiling, and she grabbed me as I was sliding by. Emrikol ended up on top of Thalidimar at the end of the slope. Duracell carried me back up to level ground where Kagnythus was and then went back for Emrikol and Thalidimar. There must have been spikes at the end of the slide the way Thalidimar looked when Duracell came back up with him. Emrikol checked him over and said he was pretty bad off, but he wasn't in danger of getting any worse. I didn't know Emrikol knew anything about healing, but maybe being able to use magic gives a person more insight into such things. The trigger that made the passage fall was a small "rock" set into the floor. Since I found it, we managed to get past without triggering the trap again.

Kagnythus thought there was something funny about the room at the end of the passage. The inside of the door was metal, and so was the inside of the door on the other side. I noticed that there was a gap between the passage and the room. I was just starting to look for some kind of pressure plate or other trigger for a trap when Emrikol walked into the room and shut the door. The room turned out to be a metal box, and now it was dropping down a shaft. We heard a sickening crash, and then we could hear some mechanical clanking and the box came back up. I opened the door and Crebin flew out. We called out to him, but he just cawed and flew away, which was really strange because he always sticks really close to Emrikol unless Emrikol sends him somewhere. Emrikol was just laying there in the middle of the room. I used a grapple hook to snag his robe and pull him back out of the room. As far as anybody could tell, he was dead. Thalidimar probably could have told for sure if he was conscious. We gathered Emrikol's belongings. Maybe X knows where Emrikol's next-of-kin are so we can send them his stuff (what we don't use up keeping ourselves alive until then) and let them know what happened to him.

With Emrikol dead and Thalidimar unconscious, we had no magic support. I never realized until then how vulnerable that would make me feel. I wish I knew more about magic myself.

DM's note: It's not looking very cheery at the moment. The priest is unconscious, and the Magic User is dead. This party certainly needs a break. Thalidimar was impaled and crushed at the bottom of a pit, and Emrikol's life was snuffed out in a deadly elevator trap. It appears that the party is in the midst of one giant trap. Perhaps these are the traps that the evil Gnome spoke about? It's too bad the party didn't get more information out of him. It's a good thing the party has a rogue and a Dwarf with them. So far they've spotted and circumvented most of the traps. Continuing forward will likely be a difficult and time consuming process.

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Real-world date: 15 May 2004
Game-world date: 15-16 Jularva 1001
Written by: Solindria

Where we left off last session:
Our group of adventurers is not having the best of times with these traps. With the priest unconcious, and the Magic User dead, This party certainly needs a break. Thalidimar was impaled and crushed at the bottom of a pit, and Emrikol's life was snuffed out in a deadly elevator trap. It appears that the party is in the midst of one giant trap. Perhaps these are the traps that the evil Gnome spoke about? It's too bad the party didn't get more information out of him. It's a good thing the party has a rogue and a Dwarf with them. So far they've spotted and circumvented most of the traps. Continuing forward will likely be a difficult and time consuming process.

The journal entry that follows was created by Jason. Jason plays Solindria, the party's Paladin. Mark, who usually writes this journal as Ashedyn, missed our last session. Unfortunately, this journal entry is abreviated. Jason had to depart early, and a continuation of the journal was not possible beyond the point where Jason left off. I appologize for the gap.

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Real-world date: 29 May 2004
Game-world date: 16 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
The party continues it's trudge through the dungeon of 'Pitsontraps'. Hopefully they're nearing the end. But then again, who said the Axe was down here? Umm, I sure hope the axe is down here... Bwah, huh, huh, ha!

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Real-world date: 12 Jun 2004
Game-world date: 16 - 17 Jularva 1001

Where we left off last session:
The party has reached the end of the underground maze, but they haven't found the axe. What will the party do now? They've come to a 'dead end' so to speak. With no axe, and no apparent way out, could this be the final resting place of our intrepid adventurers?
 

Written by: Ashedyn
16 Jularva 1001
Half N' Mor

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Real-world date: 26 Jun 2004
Game-world date: 17 - 18 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

Where we left off last session:
From a dead end to a hopeful reprieve. All the party members are in good health and they've discovered a hidden room. The room is barred by four special locks, and the group has a good lead on where the unlocking mechanisms might be. Could the Dwarves original treasure lie undisturbed behind this secret door? Could the Rondolim be behind that secret door? With the party back near the entrance to this underground killing ground, a difficult battle lies ahead. Will the party have to fight the rest of the Rusty Hinge tribe in order to get past the secret door? So many questions, such large risks, how great the reward?

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Real-world date: 10 Jul 2004
Game-world date: 18-30 Jularva 1001
Written by: Ashedyn

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