Epic Adventures

Session 23: Finding the Place of the Unicorn

After gathering and securing the three wagons with all the supplies from the ogre's camp, the group decided to bring the supplies to Leilon.

916 Ikinampu 13

We left the Decantri estate and returned to our rooms.

Early that morning we were visited in our room by a dwarven warrior named Contron Nurkol. He told us that he had been sent by the Unbrian military to join us. We told him we would meet him in about an hour where he was staying, at The Last Pigeons Inn.

We went to see John, who told us that Contron had been stationed at Fort Guardian and was a possible member of the Watchman. He said that we probably shouldn’t worry about him too much. He also told us that he thought war between Pensar and Umbria was imminent, and that he might be fleeing the area in no less than a month’s time.

We picked up Contron and went to the Umbrian military offices. Once there, Lia and I were ushered in to see the king, Maximus the 12th. He told us that they knew we were spies for Pensar, but because of the great deeds we had accomplished, he wanted us to work for them. We agreed that we would do everything we could to try to prevent a war, and to seek the demise of the Haybill Corporation, which we found out has gone by many names. The King suggested we seek out the Karakana Knights.

With that we sent for our horses and departed at once.

That evening we came across a trail that led to an ancient abandoned theater. I large tree grew in the center. I found a door leading to a tunnel under the bleachers and at the end we found a set of adamantine chain mail, which we gave to Bretentious.

We set camp nearby for the night.

916 Ikinampu 14

In the evening, we reached the small town of Marlet, and stayed at Marlet Center. While there I put on a performance, demonstrating my drumming skills. I was satisfied with the performance overall, though the floor was too slippery for me to really incorporate my acrobatics.

916 Ikinampu 15

Off the the side of the road we found a 50 foot tall obelisk. Around the surface, which started at 4 feet wide and tapered to 2 feet wide at the top, were diagrams displaying the story of Brunbar Dirkin, the hero of Umbria. It appears that he defeated many monsters, made allies with many nations, but was eventually destroyed by the figurative serpent.

I climbed to the top of the obelisk to view the entire story, and discovered that the tip wa hollow. Inside I found a wand of magic missiles, which I gave to the party to use.

916 Ikinampu 16

We were attacked by more Shou assassins. I thought the previous group would be the last. One of them hit me with a lightning bolt. Fortunately Charlie was able to revive me. I personally killed both of the wizards among them.

916 Ikinampu 17

We reached Mount Cabanus. Carlos, a Karakana Knight was guarding the entry. It appeared that he had been expecting us. Inside we found a sword case on pedestal. The case appeared attached to the pedestal. On the pedestal, surrounding the case, were three slots in the stone, aligning in position with the three pathways leading further into Mount Cabanus. We determined that we would probably need to retrieve something from each of the passageways to free the sword case. We went off to the left passage and met the ghost of Lucius, a Karakana Knight who had died trying to retrieve the sword. He told us that he had died fighting gargoyles in the centermost passage.

We decide to head there first. Heading down the center passage, we found it ended in doors to the left, right, and center. Peering into the center door, we saw a large chamber with two sets of three statues lining the left and right walls. We decided to examine the doors on the sides of the passage.

Bretentious looked into the door on the left side and found a heavy mechanical monster charging at him. He closed the door, but the machine smashed right through the door. Then another came out of the opposite door. It was a hard battle. I was able to sweep one of them prone, but not for long, and not without injuring my leg in the process on it’s metallic shell. With everyone’s help, especially Maric’s spells, we were able to defeat them.

Then we went back to the gargole room. Maric cast scatter on each of them, and we discovered that only one of the statues on each side were actually gargoyles. They rushed at us and we retreated. Already badly damaged from spells, Charlie and I were able to finish them with our bows.

But something must have happened to Maric during the battle, as his magic seemed to get out of his control, and bizarre effects began appearing around him. We all fled the wild magic and watched from the other room, as lights and explosions, and magical beasts appeared and disappeared around him. In the end Maric appeared, miraculously unscathed, except for his skin had turned blue.

In the sword case room, we discovered that a card had appeared in one of the slots. We went to the right passage, which Lucius indicated was the puzzle section. Like the other passages, this one ended in three doors.

The door to the left opened into a chamber with a giant game of Sudoku carved on the floor in sand. We gradually figured it out by writing in the sand.

The door to the right opened into a chamber with a giant game of Mine Sweeper carved on the floor in sand. We identified all the possible mines, but eventually had to choose randomly. Contron did the honors and set off one of the glyphs of warding.

The last door opened into a large chamber with a living set of chess. Six of the chess pieces were missing, and we figured that we would have to take the place of those pieces. Working together we were able to checkmate our opponent, but not without losing Bretentious, who fell into a pit when we was taken by an opponent. Contron used his axe to break through the tiles of the chess board floor, and we retrieved Bretentious from 100 feet below, but he was already dead.

We brought Bretentious’ body back to the main room and discovered that a second card had appeared in the slot aligning to the puzzle section passage.

We went down the left passage again and found that the ghost of Lucius was gone. The door across was empty except for a note, which read “there is no need, the sword”.

The last door opened into a larger chamber with a small stream running through it.

Back in the sword case room, we were all suddenly inflicted with pain and sleep. In my dreams I saw Bretentious floating away, and someone else took his place. A Holy Avenger.

When we woke, Bretentious’ body had transformed into someone else, presumably this Holy Avenger.

Session 22: The Ogre's Camp

The group arrived at the ogre's camp by the old mine site in the late evening.

After the battle, there were some funerals, but mostly celebrations at the remarkable lack of Phandalin deaths.

Dawn was breaking as the group approached Phandalin from the south. They saw the glow of the torches of the two guards at the opening in the old stone wall. Thoughts of a warm room at the inn and how nice it would be to sleep were quickly displaced by the awareness that there was no gate to close off the entrance, not to mention the many openings in the wall.

The group carried the makeshift stretchers holding Turenim and Tharden down the trail from Wave Echo Cavern towards Phandalin and argued about what to do about the army of orcs.

Back in Evermist, the newly formed band of outcasts enjoyed the gratitude and hospitality of the hamlet's residents.

Cave entrance into ancient elven shrine (Sacrifice of Innocence)

In The Minor Book Pub, in Neverwinter, Valeria sat with her brother Olaern, discussing her plans to start an adventuring party.

Human male Light cleric of Lady Luck

Born an urchin in the streets of the City of Splendors, Vernim grew up from humble beginnings: he had no name, no identity, and no direction of life. It is unknown how he spent his first few years, but by eight years old he was fending for himself in the trade center of Waterdeep. The locals called him Waldo — a strange boy, never speaking, only hunting for his next meal. An aristocratic family took pity on him and adopted the boy as their own. They called him Vernim from there — to them, Vernim Areugla was a heroic cleric of the Ardeep Forest. Vernim Areugla never appeared to leave his cottage, but in the night he would act as a guardian — he would heal those that were attacked in the night and served as the forest's guardian — healing and protecting the people. The aristocratic family hoped that the urchin would follow Vernim Areugla's footsteps and would serve as a protector; a guardian.

Dead PC: Baricus Karium

Human male fighter

His father told him that his mother was killed by a drunk mugger and he was raised by a group of pirates which his father was part of. When he was 13 he decided to run away while the ship was in port and has been an introvert drifter since.

PC: Yanliz Hayat

Human male ranger

He was a farm hand. Simple as that. He worked for an elf named Berrian Amastacia, who was a kind, 459 year old wheat farmer. The hands that worked at Berrian, or Berri for short, were treated well and paid enough to live a humble, but comfortable life. Yanliz was adopted by Berri, as many of the other farm hands were, when he was found wandering the nearby fields as a child. Yanliz’s job was one of great importance, keeping the other hands protected. Since the farm was inside a clearing of a much larger forest for reasons unknown to anyone but Berri, the periodic wolf pack would stray into the farmland in desperate search of food. Yanliz became proficient with his longbow over the years through the instruction of Berri himself, and with his bow he would fend off the invading wolves time after time. This relatively simple life would not last.

Human male draconic sorcerer

I was born into a fairly wealthy family, wealthy enough to have a symbol and signet ring. We owned a large estate outside of Bildoobaris, the capital city of Narfell in northeast Faerun. At a young age my parents raised me to continue their ancient bloodline of draconic sorcerers. For training they would capture unknowing beasts and monsters for me to practice on. I was young and did not want to harm these innocent creatures. When I refused to continue training they threw me out. At the young age of 17 I was alone, without guidance. So I traveled to Bildoobaris looking for work and adventure. I completed a few odd jobs and decided it was time to move to a bigger city. I had heard tales of the glory days of Neverwinter and the sword coast.

Half-orc male paladin

Being born a bastard in a small orc tribe was bad enough for young Prynhawn Haddaway, but he was a Rooksden. The Rooksden tribe of orcs wasn’t normal, they didn’t pillage and kill and make half orcs as they pleased. They were nomads who ate from the land and had a strong, strict familial code, which a half orc was sacrilege. He was raised as a bastard, taught that he would just have to live with being a worse version of everyone else. This lasted around fifteen years, until the tribe was attacked. Another hunter party, made purely of humans came into the same territory as the Rooksden. When they found each other in the woods, a bloody battle ensued. Prynhawn ran away and hid in the woods, waiting until the end of the battle when the human hunters had slain his entire clan.

Halfling male monk

Philip, son of Henry Ladless, was born seventy-four fifty-three halfer years on the south side of Velen. Mostly Philip enjoyed his childhood, loving the beauty of the land, but from a young age, work on the farm was quite demanding, and Phil, the youngest of 9, spent large amounts of time alone. While his older siblings embraced the solitude of manual labor, Phil came to dislike it, clinging to any company he could get.

When Phil turned 22, the year of independence in his community, he left for a monastery, at the recommendation of his father. Even by halfling standards, Phil had an exceptionally strong appreciation for some of the materialistic aspects of life, such as food, drink, and music. His father decided that the diligent work ethic of the monks would lead to good future for Phil.

Human female bard

I grew up in Southern Amphail, in a family of eight. I was the youngest of my parent’s five kids. My mother and father were the leaders of one of the houses of Amphail, the Ilzimmer’s. They were a blood mix between the wizards of the house Eltorchul and swordsmen of house Bladesemmer. As we were a rather wealthy family, me and my siblings were given many privileges that other children and even adults were not.

Although most of my siblings were oblivious to the shortcomings of the politics of our city, but I spent the most time outdoors in the bustling city. This had benefits, like being able to see the city through the eyes of it’s people, not only from atop the cushioned seat of a carriage during a procession. But, it also had its downsides, like the fact that I became lost several times and was only able to find my way back to my family’s manor because of luck and the kindness of people who knew their way around.

With the The Black Spider dead, the group confronted the new threat from their previous party member, and now nemesis, Ivor, as Albrecht worried about the safety of his fiance who had Ivor's sword at her throat.

916 Ikinampu 12

With our newfound wealth, Lia helped me purchase a longbow. Then we left the others and doubled back to stake out the area around our rooms. We didn’t observe anyone staking out our rooms, but fortuitously, we witnessed someone trying to leave a message for us. I confronted him and verified that he was sent by the Karakana Knights. He was delivering a letter telling us that they found the location of the sword. While I was at our rooming house, the proprietor gave us two more letters: one from John, giving us a mission to investigate a man on the other end of town who has been amassing quite bit of wealth, and another letter from the Umbrian military sending us on a mission.

We were attacked by eight Shou assassins, led by Captain Zhang Ming himself. Before he died he indicated that the emperor would not send any more assassins. Hopefully that is true. I took his katana as my own.

We scouted out the mansion at the other end of town. The old cook told us it belonged to an evil man, named Fredrickson Decantri. He quickly drew up a map of the mansion for us.

916 Ikinampu 13

We recovered in our room and revisited the mansion after dark. We encountered a blind man in the kitchen, and quickly made our way to the slave pens. There we freed the three slaves we found in the cells, and placed the one guard we encountered in one of the cells. We found Fredrickson Decantri sleeping in his bed. We questioned him, but he would not give us any information. Searching the mansion we found papers indicating that this may be the center for the Haybill corporation.

Session 15: The Black Spider Attacks

After defeating the spell forge’s guardians, the group decided the rest and recover in the forge room.

After finishing off ten more ghouls in the great cavern, the group dismembered the undead bodies and argued about what to do next.

After inspecting the cracked skull and ensuring the immediate threat was over, the group took inventory of their singed belongings and considered their next steps.

The group slept uneasily in the cavern as the rhythmic thunder of pounding waves echoed all around them, loud enough to make the stone underfoot shiver. But their sleep would not last long.

After overcoming the hobgoblin ambush at the edge of Neverwinter Woods, the group went back to deal with the trail of bodies.

hobgoblin ambush outside Neverwinter Wood

With Gundren revived, the group was wrapping things up at the castle and planning their next move.

Dead human male druid.

As a young boy, I was raised by poor traders in a small town. Sometimes they traveled to make ends meet. Occasionally they would bring me with them, but often I was left to fend for myself. I never really got along with people and felt more at home among the animals in the woods. As I grew older I spent more time in the woods until I decided never to return to civilization. Eventually I was approached by the keepers of the woods, the druids of The Emerald Enclave. They took me in as one of their own, but also they left me to my own business, enjoying the solace of nature.

916 Ikinampu 10

We decided to investigate the slavers and we brought Suffereact with us. We scouted the house and rescued Bellerophon from a slave purchaser. Then we returned to the slaver house and rescued two more slaves: Sufferact’s friend Wolfgang and a human named Charlie Hawthorne. We went back to the slave purchaser who we had tied in the woods. His name was Olin, and he said he need the slaves to run his farm, or the Haybill corporation would burn it down. We returned to his farm with jima and freed ten more slaves, who were eager to flee the area.

916 Ikinampu 11

We stayed the night with Olin and his family. We advised him to do his best on the farm for the next 5 months, and if we didn’t return, he should take what he can and flee the area. Hopefully we’ll be able to return in 5 months, before the Haybill corporation returns.

Sufferact and Wolfgang went on their way, but Charlie Hawthorne decided to join us. We all went into town together. We updated Isaac about the slavers and we purchased chainmail armor and a mace for Charlie. We used the swords we retrieved from the slavers to offset the costs.

John told us that new orders came in, and we headed back to Fort Guardian.

916 Ikinampu 12

We headed out to Umbria in the morning, and arrived midday. When we got to our room, it had been vandalized with a Shou message inscribed in the walls. It said “You cannot live this way. We are coming to get you.” It looks like they’re after me again. But this time I’ll be ready for them.

Session 9: Saving Gundren

With King Grol and all his minions defeated, the group began to prepare their next steps.

Half-elf male bard/warlock.

As a young boy, I was raised by a very powerful gentry family in the large city of Neverwinter. My mother was an elf, and my father was a human, and despite the relationship between elves and humans, my mom and dad got along fine. The story I’ve been told is that a godlike figure brought them together and said that this was a destined meeting. They got married two weeks later and began preparing to have a child. The life that was provided to me as being the only child of a noble family was one of time and freedom. I was able to pursue whatever skills I desired. I quickly picked up on the art of social manipulation and economic theory, which lead to my outstanding abilities as a merchant, and conman. One day, however, our manor was raided by bandits and chaos was sewn throughout the lands we owned.

A few minutes after Ivor entered the castle, the group decided to enter after him. Unfortunately, from the edge of the surrounding wood, no one heard the ringing of the alarm bells being sounded from within.

Sword Coast from Phandalin to Cragmaw Castle

With all of the hobgoblins down, and one spared, the group considered their next steps before continuing to Cragmaw Castle.

Having just defeated Glasstaff and his minions in the Redbrand Hideout the group quickly descended into an argument about what to do next.

916 Ikinampu 8

Later that day we arrived back at Fort Guardian. I took John to the general and we reported our success. They healed John at the infirmary. Tomorrow we will receive another mission.

916 Ikinampu 9

Ursula, the paladin, gave us our next mission: to investigate goblinoid disturbances in the town Renabow in Pensar, about three hours away.

Upon entering the town, Maric was attacked by Crazy Mike, a merchant outside town. Maric killed him with a catapult of gold pieces.

Isaac, the town master mentioned multiple issues:
• Freedom Fighting force
• Brawling over town
• Goblins
• Strange house to the east

Isaac was glad to be rid of Crazy Mike.

We followed the Sinwin River north for about 10 minutes to find the gobins. We encountered eight of them and a warg. We had a tough battle and Dragart and Maric almost fell. Among the goblins was Sufferact, a wolf mage. He was a fan of Lia and helped us defeat the last of the goblins. He told us of slavers in the town of Renabow. His friend Wolfgang is enslaved.

Sufferact led us to ruins told to have healing powers. Once there Maric regained consciousness. In the ruins we found a scroll with scroll with a poem about a golden sword. Isaac found us in the ruins and suggested we investigate Crazy Mike’s hut.

We went back to Crazy Mike’s hut and found a pouch of 20 GPs and a letter about the rise and fall of the Bretentius’ house. We also found a hidden hatch in the floor leading down to a tunnel.

We investigated Crazy Mike’s cart and we found a potion inside. Brententius identified it as a potion of healing. We followed the trail of Crazy Mike’s blood back to town and into a weaponsmith shop. Inside we found Isaac and the weaponsmith. Apparently they cremated Crazy Mike there. While there we purchased two long swords for Lia.

We decided to head back to Sufferact’s camp for the night.

916 Ikinampu 10

We rested for the night at Sufferact’s camp. In the middle of the night Lia woke me up, alerting me to voices outside our camp. We woke Brententius and investigated. They said they were the owners of the land, specifically a nearby farm. We told them we didn’t want any trouble and that we would leave in the morning. They were concerned about Sufferact. We assured them there wouldn’t be any more trouble. They left and we went back to sleep.

In the morning we went back to Crazy Mike’s Hut with Sufferact. Sufferact stayed in the hut while we went down to investigate. We found tunnels leading to hideouts built into the trees. The hideouts contained storage areas and barracks. We stumbled across some Freedom Fighters and they attacked us. We were forced to kill many of them before we were confronted by their leader, General Ibragim. She refused to surrender, committing seppuku instead. The remaining Freedom Fighters, terrified of Maric’s magic, surrendered. They told us there were only a few Freedom Fighters left roaming around. Inside the hideout we found a letter to General Ibragim from Scout Omega Delta, and it was about us! They must have been the group we encountered in the woods. Apparently the wolf we killed was not their pet, and when they asked us if “we wanna tussle” it was code words. We also found a magic longsword, which we agreed Brentious should carry.

Letter to Ma 2

916 Ikinampu 8

John told us we were assigned a mission to take out Karakana Knights. Of course we don’t know anything about them. John led us to the knight's hideout. As we were approaching, John slipped in some brush and sprained his leg, so we had to bring him back to the horses. The hideout was more like a cave. Inside the cave we found two rooms, each guarded by a glyph. Maric disabled the glyph, using his head, literally. Fortunately his impulsiveness did not get him or anyone else killed. In the first room we found a study with a lift, like the one in the jade temple, but not as fancy. We found the following interesting items:
• A letter from High Knight Jason de Ga to Knight Bellerophon
• A letter from Antallia to Bellerophon, maybe a love letter
• A journal entry, presumably from Bellerophon

While we were investigating we were attacked by a guard drake. I managed to put it down without anyone getting harmed.

In the other room we found a riddle. It contained three books, three statues, and three murals. One of each were incomplete. It was Lia who figured out what we needed to do. Using the clues from the mural and the format of the other books, I filled in the incomplete book. Then we were able to complete the final mural and statue. Solving this riddle gained us entry into the Knight’s holy coffer. There we found piles of treasure, but we left it untouched. (I think some of the others were reluctant to leave it.)

We went down the lift and soon met with the knights and their leader, Belltrilion. They seem to be an honorable band, more so than any other we have met so far. We agreed that they would hide out and we would report that we had completed our mission. They gave us 100 GP and suggested we take some specific items from the holy coffer to prove our success.

Session 5: Confronting Glasstaff

The group slipped through the secret door to find a bedchamber with scarlet cloth drapes covering the walls. The furnishings included a comfortable-looking bed, a wooden chest at the foot of the bed, and a small writing desk with matching chair. Sitting at the desk was a short, dark-bearded human male in robes, studying a tome. He wore a princely mantle of ermine. Briefly startled, he looked up. "Ah my good gentlemen, please come in and join me," he said as he grabbed the beautiful glass staff that was leaning against his chair, to stand.

Partial Redbrand Hideout under Tresendar Manor

After the Redbrands in the barracks surrendered, the group moved further into their Hideout.

Entering The Redbrand Hideout under Tresendar Manor

After being attacked by the Redbrands outside The Sleeping Giant, exploring their hideout under Tresendar Manor seemed like the next best step.

916 Ikinampu 6

Ma,

I just arrived in the city state of Pensar this morning. This area used to be a part of Akan’s Reach, but that empire fell two years ago. I arrived just in time to watch the “Festival of the Lost” parade down the main street of Pensar. As I was watching I saw an assassin shoot down the emperor right in the middle of the parade. I chased down the assassin and captured him. (It seems like I find trouble everywhere I go.) There were some other assassins as well, and I helped capture them, along with a few others I met. Along with the Pansar guards, we took the assassins to emperor’s building. It seems that the assassins were sent by Empire of Umbria, just to the north. They asked us to undertake a mission. (And you know I can never pass up a mission.) We are to travel to Fort Guardian in Umbria and join their militia in order to learn their intentions.

I doubt I will have much time to practice my drumming, since I’m trying to maintain a low profile. I’m hoping I can make enough money to buy a nice longbow. I really need the practice. I’m writing to you to keep up with my calligraphy. Obviously I won’t be able to show you this until I come back home.

916 Ikinampu 7

Traveling with me are Dragart Bretentious, a human knight, Maric Pulsivius, a half-elven sorcerer, and Lia Xiloscient, an elven ranger. They are on add bunch, but formidable allies. Dragart wavers between pompous and overly apologetic. He’s overly inquisitive and rigid about personal things. Somethings are the same the everywhere. Maric wavers between practically everything. He is quick to act, but not as quick to think. Lia, is probably my favorite. She is quiet, but competent.

We reached Fort Guardian. On the way we only encountered minor trouble. Some rebels in the woods let their pet wolf off the leash and it tried to attack our horses. They were upset that we put it down. Fortunately things did not escalate.

In Fort Guardian we met with our contact, John of Beverley. He led us into the fort and had us settle in.

PC: Ang/Xiang Yang

Shou human monk

From Shou Lung, far to the east, where customs are unfamiliar to the folk of Akan. Longing for home, but as an outcast due to androgyny and inability to conceive, it is better to stay away. Among strangers, where everyone is foreign, it is less uncomfortable.

Session 2: From Cragmaw Hideout to Phandalin

Having just defeated Klarg and all the goblins in the goblin cave, the group began to survey the area.

Having just defeated the goblins at the cave mouth, the group considered their next move.

Dead PC: Ivor the Great

Dead human male knight.

While passing through Phandalin, I was hired by Barthen to travel to Neverwinter to find out what was holding up Sildar Hallwinter and Gundren Rockseeker, who should have arrived days ago.

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