Nokelume 5th, 989 IaC
- The Cursebusters were jumped by Erigor, attacking Cora as he jumped from the Bag of Holding
- Erigor attempted to drive Cora mad with a Crown of Madness, but she fought the influence off
- Thinking quickly, Steve bound Erigor with a Hold Person
- The party thrashed Erigor's paralyzed body, with Cora cutting off his head
- Lambchop decided to take the cannibal's head and encase between 2 blocks of cheese
- As the chrysalis was building up around the headless body, Ilryn attempted to have the trees enclose it, but couldn't quite get through to them with her magic
- With Erigor's head in the Bag of Holding, the group continued onwards
- Later in the day, the party encountered a giant boar down the forest path with a glowing green handprint on its forehead
- Cora's attempt to open the Instant Ladder sent the boar running, so she gave chase, followed by Steve and Ilryn
- Lambchop stayed behind to cast Speak with Animals, rolling in the mud as Kel watched over him
- The boar stopped running around a point in the path surrounded by dull red berry bushes
- The group waited for Lambchop to catch up, and with his ritual still active, he spoke to the boar as it repeated the words "people", "chase", "run", and "stop bushes"
- In an attempt to avoid the boar, the party headed down a less obvious path, coming face to face with another giant boar that was lying in wait, also with a green hand
- The party engaged the boars in self-defense, managing to not get caught off guard by an ambush
- The group easily beat down the second boar, making short work of its attempts to charge at and gore them
- The first boar waited until a troll with a green hand symbol painted on his chest emerged from a nearby cave, complaining that the ambush failed
- Steve attempted to light up the troll with fire, earning the beast's ire
- As the group attacked the troll and remaining boar, a third boar appeared in the distance
- The troll caught up to Steve and tore into him with some visceral attacks, breaking his ribs
- Steve fled up into the trees as Lambchop burned the troll with his Spicy Hammer
- The group descended on the troll and smashed it to bits, soon dispatching another boar
- The third boar, outnumbered, quickly fled from the scene
- The party began investigating the scene of the ambush as Steve attempted to recover from his wounds
- The party noted how the troll did not bear the searing mark of the Green Hand, but seemed to have painted on the emblem himself
- Bearing the stench of the troll's cave den, Cora made it a few steps in before bailing after losing her breakfast
- Lambchop entered the cave while grasping some berries for good luck, finding little more than rough bedding, a poop corner, and a large number of bones with crude, runic carvings upon them
- Taking two nice looking skulls, Lambchop exited, handing one of the skulls over to Steve
- Kel harvested some boar tusks
- The party got to carving up one of the boars, taking about 50 pounds of boar meat after making a fine, but gamey, stew
- The party continued on their way to Reedenford afterwards, taking a direct route with Lambchop leading the way
Nokelume 6th - 9th, 989 IaC
- The party continued to make their way back to Cloverhall
- Steve took some time to investigate the strange carvings in the skull Lambchop brought him from the troll's den
- He identified it as a sort of signal rune, capable of "pinging" a particular individual or object that the rune's power was directed at
- While Steve could not divine the target of the rune, it was evident that the troll was not magically inclined, so the rune was likely taught to it by someone else to use in this scenario
- The group crossed the Owlknot River using the Instant Ladder with no real problems
Nokelume 10th, 989 IaC
- The party arrived in Reedenford around midday, noticing the remnants of what appeared to be a festival around town
- Noting that there were more traders that usual in town, the party decided to browse
- Ilryn bought a large conch at a seashell stand
- Cora, Ilryn, and Lambchop bought some large and interesting feathers for various purposes
- Ilryn would later return to buy a quill for Adamine
- The group entered Cloverhall, turning in their bounty to Adamine Longshallow and collecting their prize, 630 gold, or 126 gold each
- Adamine informed the group they had missed the Firesong celebrations in town
- Adamine also handed the party a letter from Eliza, thanking them for their work, apologizing for Ayla's behavior, asking the party to go easy on her, and assuring the group that the artifact they retrieved would go to good use
- Adamine also provided some gossip about the Grey Wings, who had recently come into town and had been seen patrolling the streets
- Lambchop dropped by Rulan's store, picking up his new eye-theme outfit
- Curious about the Grey Wings, the group sought them out, finding a few standing around on a side street
- When questioned about their motives, the Grey Wings simply replied that they were simply out keeping the peace at the courtesy of the Lady Anise
- They mentioned that they would soon be leaving the area to head south
- While amicable, the party got the feeling that something was being hidden, especially as the Grey Wings tended not to venture as far out as Reedenford
- The group, seeking to relax for a bit, headed out to the Serpent's End at Ilryn's suggestion
- Finding Raldon Tarrod at the counter of the seedy bar, some of the party had some tasty poisoned beer while they chatted the barkeep up
- Steve nestled himself in the corner of the bar with his book
- The party spoke to Raldon about their experience out in Eldag Hollow, piquing his interest
- Raldon invited the group into the back room, where he spoke with them at greater length
- As the party offered details about their missions, especially their dealings with the Lonely Fingers and the Thin Man, Raldon provided information about Lady Anise
- Raldon explained that Lady Anise sought to secede from the Kalhastian Empire, and was securing any power she could get
- Anise had bolstered the ranks of her Grey Wings to make a personal army using mercenaries
- Raldon believed that Anise had sought to exhume the artifact the Unknown, as it was capable of opening (and destroying) any lock, according to legend
- He explained that her sights were likely set on the Tower of Startha, an expansive deathtrap built by a crazed wizard, as at its base was supposedly a powerful relic that could mend anything broken
- When questioned about why Anise would want the relic, Raldon refused to answer unless the group promised themselves to his cause with a blood bond
- Not ready to commit to taking such an extreme stance, the group backed off
- The group also asked about Erigor, and what could be done to stop him, with Lambchop releasing the rotting head from its cheese prison
- Raldon knew of the man, and after exacting a fee of 100 gold, explained that years ago, Erigor had hunted in the area before, and another man had become the target of his killing obsession
- Raldon explained that the only way to banish Erigor for good was to utter his full name as he was killed
- Raldon had directed the hunted man towards the Dancing Peaks where a knowledgeable hermit lived known as the Watcher
- He told the party that the man was largely disagreeable, but he was a particular gourmet and might soften up if brought something good to eat
- As thanks for the exchange of information, Raldon supplied the group with some doses of Sickly Sam, warning them that they might want to get a good amount of food before taking it
- Out in the bar, Steve, who had remained behind, was intently reading his book
- A large patron approached Steve looking for a fight, irritated with the wizard's nonchalance
- Steve began deftly dodging the attacks of his assailant, angering him as the bar began to cheer for the old man
- Eventually, the man landed a hit on Steve, prompting another patron to shank the large man
- Another patron came up to kill the second man, turning the tavern into a warzone until the chaos was broken by Raldon, who kicked the troublemakers out
- Raldon got the party's assistance in moving the corpses to his cellar, and bid them a good day, offering Steve some Heaven Climber for his trouble
- Back in Cloverhall, the group thought about their next course of action, finally electing to head to Bucktuck City to run some errands and fulfill a guild contract about a thief
- In the library, Lambchop and Ilryn attempted to find some information about Bucktuck, with Lambchop discovering a 30 year old pamphlet about good places to eat in town and Ilryn failing to find a map
Nokelume 11th, 989 IaC
- The party headed out in the morning to Bucktuck
- Lambchop decided to rent out a wagon to help speed up their travel
- The group made it to Quagley Ferry, deciding to spend the night in the small settlement
Nokelume 12th, 989 IaC
- During travel, the horses suddenly came to a stop and refused to move forwards
- Cora and Ilryn attempted to search for a reason as Lambchop cast his Speak with Animals ritual, eventually learning the horses were scard
- Cora and Ilryn's search ended up fruitless, and Lambchop convinced the horses to move forwards
- And the horses slowly began to move, they were killed in an ambush of gnolls
- The party engaged the gnolls, who continued to pop up around the area and out of a nearby creek
- While initially caught off guard, the party began to turn the tables on the gnolls before two ogres joined the ambush
- One of the ogres smashed the tiny Cora into the ground, knocking her unconscious with a single swing
- Steve launched two Fireballs into the ogres and gnolls, thinning their numbers and severely hurting the ogres
- Lambchop waged a personal war against a gnoll in a bush for a while
- Kel threw teeth and kept Cora alive and Ilryn continued to flub her attacks
- Pissed off, Ilryn shed her bardic powers and let loose, placing hexes on one of the ogres, wreathing her rapier in an eerie green flame, and attacking with Eldritch Blast
- As the gnolls thinned out they blew a horn for backup, the party starting the get worn thin from the constant barrage
- Lambchop took point and soaked up damage as Cora cautiously attacked, wary of her current health
- As he was targeted by the gnolls, Steve hid behind the cart and lobbed firebolts
- Kel continued to throw teeth and used her Spiritual Weapon, also launching a Guiding Bolt at a gnoll who attempted to run away
- Ilryn casted Darkness on her rapier and ran into the horde surrounding Lambchop, confusing them as she hacked away at them in the dark with her piercing purple eyes
- The party won the battle of attrition, mopping up the last of the gnolls with half the party beginning to feel the hurt
- Lambchop inspected the bodies of the gnolls, but found little other than some trinkets and copper
- The party continued on until night, making camp off road near a tree and a pond
Inspiration awarded for Steve's bar brawl.
You have 60 pounds of cheese and 45 pounds of drying boar meat in your bag.