Participants Geld, Oskar Dragonlance, Tinkado Mushameri, Young Elder, Damin Saltric
Locations The Iron Front, Continent
Short summary:
A strange dragonic entity has reached Geld's dream, calling him. The party left with the Space Mountain as their destination. Along the way they pillaged a halfling Dwarven tomb, and were stopped at an Unknown camp. There they discovered that the warlord Bogaolg was being corrupted by a Unknown to gain more power, cursing him to go mad over time. Our group was able to defeat the powerful Demon, but were forced to stop the fight against Bogaolg, leaving him alive, but liberating prisoners that had been taken by him.
Followed up on Of the Hills, Our Bones (Part 2).
Full Report
A strange Draconic entity has reached Geld's dream, calling him. After some research, it seems like our destination was a place called Wyrm's Fall, and we decided to try and meet some Unknown residing on the giant Mountain near the Iron Front to get more information about where that location might be.
We decided to start our trip, to the south of the mountain, using a friend of Young Elder to take us to the mountain by following the river by boat. Once we reached it, we decided to follow the mountain East. Along the way, we discovered a giant statue protecting a tomb. After some discussion about what the statue is supposed to represent (obviously a fat Unknown with a big beard that can be easily mistaken for a Unknown), Oskar Dragonlance decided to open the tomb which animated the statue. Once defeated, we were finally able to figure out what treasure was buried in... Adamantine!
Our first true obstacle only appeared a few days later, when our only way forward was through a bridge controlled by the Pact. After talking with the ones guarding it, they let us stay overnight while their leader was on their way to meet us. During the night, we witnessed a strange phenomenon... An Unknown possessed by something they called Faen dreams. The Orc had grown in size and went on a rampage after a while, attacking anyone. This event was not the first, and it seemed to be linked to the bridge they were guarding.
On the next day, we finally met with the leader of the tribe, an Orc by the name of Bogaolg that displayed some strange characteristics: red skin, body covered in horns and barbs and some fur on his back. Negotiation for passage through the pact territory to reach the Mountain was hard, but after some discussion, we were able to secure one, by the condition of being accompanied by two orc scouts, with one of the two being of interest: Gasa, a veteran female Orc scout.
Through her we learned that Bogaolg is a very respected warlord that has achieve numerous victories since they left their previous family behind to follow a strange Witch named Unknown. Most of the Orcs that were in the camp have been following Bogaolg after that event and did not realize some change of character that happened after he followed the witch, but most of them seemed to be afraid of her. Gasa asked us a favour... to murder the witch that was leading Bogaolg toward that strange path.
During our investigation of the witch, we learned that prisoners (from the Republic and the Coalition) were being kept at the camp and Geld was able to figure out that Bogaolg was being transformed into a creature tainted by the Abyss, a Tanarukk. The witch left the camp and we decided to follow her after making Bogaolg convinced that a ritual was needed to purify the grass of his camp, leaving him and his guards chasing after Young Elder's dog. When confronting the witch, she tried to convince us to commit hateful act against members of the tribe which we refused and escalated into full battle. Oskar was then able to recognize her true form during the fight and she revealed it to all of us... she was a Unknown. Thanks to Tinkado's quick swordplay, we were able to bring the Fiend down before she managed to escape.
Seeing the danger of a Demon corrupting a warlord of the Tribe, we decided to go back and confront everyone with the true nature of Liusema. Unfortunately, Bogaolg was very aware of her true nature and ordered his closest guard to attack us for killing his wife in the Abyssal language.
We all fought valiantly, most of the guard burning to Geld's barrage of fireballs, but at the most critical moment a terrible decision needed to be taken. Bogaolg was surrounded, his closest guard defeated and the rest of the tribe, waiting on the outcome of the battle, but he managed to bring Young Elder down and presented an ultimatum. Damin Saltric had to decide if they were going to continue their attack and let Young Elder die at Bogaolg's hand, or to save Young Elder but accepting to leave right now. Faced with that dilemna, Damin saved Young Elder's life, leaving the Orc tribe at the hand of a merciless warlord bound to go crazy because of his tainted blood.
During the confusion that surrounded the end of the battle, the prisoners' liberty was secured and they were able to leave, but Geld's voyage arrived at a dead end, and we were forced to go back to First Landing and figure out another way...