Session 25: Fly
South, you fools!
(by Kevin S.)
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Cast of Characters:
Celceor The Wise; Elf Mage (Dave M.)
Nick; Human Rogue (Dave P.)
Fafnir; Human Barbarian (Jon C.)
Werkle of Dinnsmere; Dwarf Fighter (Al)
Ereyn Bane; Half-Elf Rogue (Mike D / NPC)
Eggo of the Holy Brotherhood; Human Cleric (Stephan / NPC)
Beck, Human Fighter (NPC)
And welcoming back: Bent, Dwarf Bard/Wizard (Brook)
April 28th
Magistrate Noreeno, the local leader of Crossway, recently tricked the party into freeing some sort of lich. Noreeno worshiped this creature as a god. The party strongly rode south towards Crossway on horseback. Celecor did some research on the orb they found. (Please see the PDF of all the research cards Celecor achieved) Arriving at Crossway, evidence of battle was seen. The Queen's elite guards were nowhere to be found. The party felt that Noreeno's forces were trying to take over the city. Noreeno mentioned that his loyalties didn't lie with the North or the South. The party wanted to ascertain if they could help the resistance in Crossway and rode into town. (There was some party debate there). About 40 feet away from the southern gate, two groups of soldiers came from either side and demanded the party lay down their arms. Some terse words were said, prompting Bent to get off his horse and try to do some parlor tricks for the leader. The rest of the group watched in horror as Bent proceeded to act in a manner that was….not in the party's best interest. (That interest being delaying their flight since Mordan was a coming by getting into a fight) The party was attacked after not laying down arms, Bent was knocked silly. Celecor place a fireball on the group by Bent and took off to the Southern Gate. The rest of the party followed suit, with Eggo riding around towards Bent, and using his Viking strength, picked the dwarf up and rode off.
April 29th
The party checked the map they found and elected to ride hard to Dockhouse. Celecor and Eggo felt a great presence of evil approaching and prodded the party to move. The guard at Dockhouse checked the parties traveling passes five hours later and another debate was started within the party. Some wanted to continue to press on south while others felt that resting the night would be best. A compromise was reached to sleep the night and spend the day here in Dockhouse while moving at night. This would allow Celceor time to research. Fafnir and Werkle posted watch while everyone else rested. Celceor managed to do quite a bit of research on the orb. The party started out towards Hillstead, a two day journey. Now a debate really commenced. Everyone was trying to decide what to do. The only available port off this island was in the south. No one really cared about this island and the new problem in Mordan. Fafnir was really adamant about solely finding the prince. Not much was decided other than to let Celceor finish his research and try to find the imposter Captain Purof in hopes that this would lead to the Prince.
May 1st
The party had their papers inspected and preceded to the
Seems that the Captain made it shore that storming night, felt he was the only survivor and made his way inland. He came across an Alidian patrol that was mistreating this child and decided to do something about it. He freed the child and made off on a horse he stole from the Alidian patrol. They made their Crossway and were discovered. The Prince told the Captain his story (get to that in a second) and wanted to leave the island, so they were trying to get to the southern port. Back in Crossway, Purof delayed the guards so the Prince could leave and was captured. He doesn't remember anything after that. Purof told the party what he knew of the Prince. He was transported over to the island and escaped when the ship he was on was attacked by Low-Men ships. He made his way north, but was captured, when he ran into Purof. He originally was trying to get to his father, but discovered he was killed in the war. The Prince wishes to leave the island and get back to Cauldron.
May 2nd
Night fell and the party was making sure everything was packed and others were catching some cat naps when a lot of commotion was heard outside. Fafnir heard sounds of battle and made a call to arms. The party rushed outside to see some undead creatures that moved quickly, made of black stretched skin, and had two red eyes. They were fighting the guards and it looked like the guards were almost overpowered. The party joined in and killed the creatures. K'dar arrived on the scene to assess what was happening to his town and felt that the party was putting his people at risk. He sympathized for their plight but felt it would be best if they moved on. The party went south along the road towards the heart of the Alidian empire.
We ended the session there.
Pages of the book Celceor found that were translated (If I missed any let me know. If I gave you one too many, bonus to you):
Part V: The
The following is a much reduced version of the history of Mar Tesoro between
the rule of King Lorman and the rise of the second Dwarven King.
- Chronicler Norvus
King Lorman ruled and mined Khelberg for twenty years, when he was assassinated
by one of his own lieutenants, a human foreman named Ingol. Ingol was a brutal
leader but did not have the insight and cunning of his former master. His chief
enforcers were more Orcs than Humans, and he ruled by fear and cruelty.
The Dwarves heard of
the fall of Lorman and saw that Ingol was a weak leader. They attempted once
again to reclaim Khelberg. Their forces landed on the southern shores of Mar
Tesoro and pushed north. Few who worked in the mines were willing to fight to
defend their cruel master, and Ingol was defeated before the end of the fifth
year of his reign. As the war ended, many humans fled north and settled in
those lands.
In those days the
mining had begun to take its toll on the valley. The mountain was now naked of
trees and grass, and the water that flowed down from the hills was dark and
filled with the dust and waste of the mines. The Greenlands turned gray, and
crops failed. The inhabitants were obliged to move away from the foot of the
mountain.
The Dwarves built a
great city southwest of the mountain and called it
Fol Thron. They ruled from this place and sent many workers to live in harsh
camps at the foot of Khelberg.
Although they were
invaded twice, the Dwarves held the mines for fifty years. Even when not facing
full-scale invasion from Humans or Elves, they were regularly harassed by bands
of Orcs from out of the North, who came often to raid shipments of food and
gold.
Part VI: Notes on
Geographical Names
The name "Khelberg" is simply the Dwarven rendering of "The
Mountain" in Common Speech. This seems an odd name for the Dwarves to have
chosen, given their habit of naming mountains after the Dwarf who first
discovered, owned, or mined them. Perhaps Khelberg was so great in their minds
that they did not think any of their names would be worthy, and so left the
mountain "nameless" by calling it Khelberg.
It should also be
noted that Khelberg is not a single mountain, but a small cluster that is
roughly horseshoe-shaped. It was the custom of both Dwarves and Elves in the
Earlier Days to name the hills in groups this way. It is said that the Dwarves
had names for each of the peaks within Khelberg, although I have not found any
record of them. The other races that dwell there now have continued the habit
of referring to the entire group as Khelberg, as if it were a single mountain.
In the center of the
crescent is a wide flat valley. Of old it was simply called
"Greenlands" by the Elves, although that name was dropped once it
ceased being green. As the valley turned gray and filled with gravel and
brackish water, the city was largely abandoned and became little more than
mining camps. At one time the elves (when they had control of Khelberg) gave
the camps the name Della Minera ("The
Other notable names on
the island include Tal Podere, (in Elven, "the Farmlands"), Tal Lengo
(in Elven, "the woods"), Valle Calma (in Elven "
The island itself is
still called by its original name Mar Tesoro, which means (very roughly) "
Another curious fact is
that although Elves and men have captured the city of
- Chronicler Norvus
Part VII: The Middle
Years
This section will highlight the middle years of Mar Tesoro. Again, a full
account would fill many books but the record of conquest is given here in order
to complete the timeline of this book. The reader should be aware that this
list is very brief and leaves out many important figures and events. True
students of history should consult other volumes to learn about these events in
detail.
- Chronicler Norvus
The Dwarves held the mines for fifty years, enduring two sieges and many Orcish
raids from out of the north before finally falling to the Elves.
The Elves appointed a
king, who was assassinated within weeks, and then replaced by King Loemus.
Loemus survived two attempts on his life, one from human assassins and one from
among his own advisers. He was maimed in the second attempt, and as time went
on he became more paranoid. He executed countless people he suspected of
plotting against him. His purge was so vigorous that work stopped in the mines
for some time because he lacked competent leaders.
The
After a decade of
fighting, a Human female named
It was during this
time that the Mage Wars raged in Dunlock. As that war ended, the Guild of Mages
was formed. (See also, The Mage Wars Vol. III and the charter for the Guild of
Mages) Since members of the guild were generally discouraged (but not
prohibited) from making war openly with one another, this had the effect of
strengthening the rule of Mistress Rhone. If anyone sought to oppose or oust her,
they could usually only attract non-guild mages, who were generally weaker or
less disciplined.
Mistress Rhone was, by
all accounts, the most peaceful and patient of all the leaders of Khelberg.
While she put down many rebellions, she had a habit of imprisoning her foes
instead of the usual policy of public execution that had been the norm for
centuries. During her reign she fought two successful wars against foes
attempting to reclaim Khelberg, and finally died of an unknown poison after
ruling for thirty years.
XP:
Combat XP: 250
Story XP: 2000
RP XP: Case by case
Bonus Awards: Case by case
Celceor The Wise; Elf Mage (Dave M.) XP Start: 15,706xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
RP: 200xp
Research Bonus: 150xp - Researching the Orb and Book Translation
XP for Session: 670xp
XP Total: 16,376xp
Nick; Human rogue (Dave P.) XP Start: 12,068xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
RP: 200xp
Bonus: 50xp Tried to translate the book
XP for Session: 570xp
Total: 12,638xp
Fafnir; Human Barbarian (Jon C) XP Start: 10,104xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
RP: 200xp
For Session: 520xp
Total: 10,624xp
Werkle of Dinnsmere; Dwarf Fighter (Al/NPC for part of session) XP Start: 11,615xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
RP: 200xp
For Session: 520xp
Total: 12,135xp
Eggo of the Holy Brotherhood; Human Cleric (Stephan) XP Start: 9,853xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
For Session: 320xp
Total: 10,173xp
Ereyn Bane; Human Rogue (Mike D./NPC) XP Start: 10,137xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
For Session: 320xp
Total: 10,457xp
Bent, Dwarf Wizard/Bard XP Start 6000xp
Combat: 35xp
Story: 285xp
RP: 200xp
For Session: 570
Total: 6,570xp