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ROLEPLAYING DIARY
Net of the fourteenth year
Net the first through third
Resting up in Nimruz, Vasaan's birthplace and home, our heroes learn some new skills, and partake in the luxuries of the elven lifestyle.
Net the fourth
Sabah, played by Cameron, joined at this point. A fire-wizard from the magical city of Baku, he has fled his home after some scandal that he does not discuss, and lost himself in the Borderlands.
However, all good things must come to an end, and so the companions, Colin, Khaild and Vasaan, decide to set out toward the human trading town of Gereshk. They add another to their group, a wizard named Sabah, to their group. He has been staying in Nimruz for a few months. They get the impression he has traveled far from his home. They have a pleasant start to their journey, meandering through the elven forest. The decide to head directly through the forest, taking the ranger and elf trails, rather than the standard track through the trading posts. Possibly Colin's indiscretion in Deh Snu have something to do with this, as well as Khalid's desire to try out his new path-finding abilities.
Net the fifth
They continue through the forest despite some rain. Through the murkiness Khalid catches a brief glimpse of an Echidna, a friendly guardian spirit of the forest, and the groups spirits are buoyed.
Net the sixth
While scouting about doing some foraging and hunting, Khalid stumbles, and falls down, into a pit. He is sorely bruised in both flesh and mind.
Net the seventh
In strong winds they encounter some sylphs, who are flitting about in the strong currents and eddies. They fly and dance around the party, singing limerick-like songs and teasing the groups smell and appearance. The group give them three silver coins to placate them, and as they are in a good mood, the sylphs accept the meager offering and fly off elsewhere.
Net the eighth
Late in the day, as the setting is obscured from view and they near the edge of the forest, they are ambushed by a large troll. The fight is tough, and the troll's regenerative powers prolongs the battle. Eventually, Sabah stuns the creature with a spell, and while it is dazed the others get in some telling blows. Once it is down they use fire to make sure of things. They identify the shield the creature was using as minor magic, and also find a goblet and a silver ring.
The creature had a lair, with lots more stuff. However, despite Sabah suggesting they look, the others decided wandering about in the dark was not worth the risk. Maybe they were right.
They set up a campsite at the edge of the forest, and study the items they have found. Sabah attunes to the goblet, and determines it will purify any liquid placed within it, rendering poisons harmless. Colin sleeps the night while the others share the watch, after taking a couple of mighty swipes from the troll.
Net the ninth
Following an old ranger's path that Khalid has found they see, and avoid, a small bear.
Net the tenth
Most of the day passes uneventfully. In the early evening they meet up with two elves, Nuova and Bouyon, who have been hunting game. They share a meal of fresh quail and hare with our heroes, and camp with them the night before leaving the next morning.
Net the eleventh
A rainy but uneventful day. They get a few miles into the Helmand forest, and encounter nothing more frightening than some field-mice, of which Meep hunts and eats one.
Net the twelfth
They travel through parts of the Helmand forest, and get close to the river.
Net the thirteenth
They encounter some local fishermen, who are impressed by, and slightly covetous of, the magic net. They have a nice meal at a farmhouse. The only other encounter is some more mice, so Meep, Vasaan's fairie dragon familiar, eats well.
Net the fourteenth
Dave was finally back from his holiday break, so Shylock rejoined the party. He was immediately called upon to negotiate some deals in the marketplace.
They arrive at Gereshk and meet back up with Shylock, who is just finishing up his long training. They stay in The Bishop's Gambit; a comfortable, if somewhat expensive inn. Colin and Khalid go shopping in the town centre. Colin buys a helmet and a well-made battleaxe. Khalid buys a rigid leather breastplate and some leather archer's greaves.
Net the fifteenth
Market day in Gereshk, so Shylock takes them around the various stalls and shoppes. They meet Veano, a gem trader, and they sell some gems for four gold pieces, even though they suspect they are losing out on the deal. They come across a rare tome written in the dragon tongue, about Dragons, but it costs more than a good horse, so they decide against buying it.
Net the sixteenth
A wild storm lashes the town, so they stay inside at the inn and talk to the other guests. They boost of their achievements and abilities, which cause them to be sought out the next day by two potential employers.
Net the seventeenth
They are approached by a man who is traveling to his wedding from a nearby village. He is seeking some armed companions to escort him on the roads, which have become more dangerous and wild of late. Even though he has only journeyed a couple of days on the roads so far he has been waylaid by bandits twice, and all of value taken from him and his brother. They cannot pay much, being but poor villagers, but manage to appeal to the sense of nobility and justice, and yes even romance, that some of our heroes have. The party agree to the escorting duties, but are also approached by some farmers who need someone to investigate stolen goods from local farms. As this sounds more urgent (the wedding being some time away) they ask the grrom and his brother to wait for them, promising they will return in time to escort them. They set off toward the farms, just to the north-west of Gereshk. They encounter a polite Storm Giant on the road.
Net the eighteenth
This adventure was closely modeled on an adventure called ‘Bandits’ by Bert Van de Merckt, in the RPG archive. Various monsters and details were changed.
Auron and Vars, the two farmers, take them to Funder's farm, which has been recently robbed. They question Funder, but get nothing useful. They travel on to Pilu's farm, and then continue to a meeting of locals being held at Leven's farm. They learn about the area, and recent events. Some shadowy faces, ugly and vicious looking, have been spotted at night in recent weeks lurking about in the bushes. There is an abandoned tower in the area, known as The Tower of the Dead Mage, and our heroes quickly suspect that it now houses something responsible for the attacks on the farms. They go to the tower to investigate.
The upper parts of the tower have crumbled, but the below ground area has survived. There is no obvious way down, so they lower Colin on a rope. He is hit by a spear, and barely missed by two more as he flails around on the rope, finally dropped to the stone floor below. He sees three goblins who immediately run away, further into the underground tunnels. The other party members climb down without incident, and they go forward cautiously.
Soon they find themselves fighting goblins in close quarters, but they easily push them back, taking only a few scratches. They discover the goblins are being spurred on by a handful of orcs, who are threatening their lesser brethren. They charge through the goblins, who really have no stomach for fighting, and deal to the orc leaders. After a brief but fierce fight, in which Sabah tosses a fireball at the orcs, the remaining goblins surrender. Using almost all their rope our heroes tie them up, and wonder what to do with them.
For some unknown reason I made the goblins talk in a bad Mexican accent. This had the unexpected result in making some of the group feel pity for them, while making others just want to kill them all the more to shut them up. Many a lengthy argument ensued regarding just what to do with the goblins. As my wife pointed out to me, most of the arguments were between Shaba and Vasaan, respectively the Spock and McCoy of the party. Logically they should have killed them. But how could they kill them in cold blood. Oh, for a Captain Kirk in the party to adjudicate. Eventually they actually let them go ... ?
They question the goblins about the farm raids, but the goblins swear they have not attacked the pink ones, at least not yet. It seems the orcs were planning some attacks later on, but they had only arrived in the area this month, and were still scouting the terrain. They discover that the tunnels go on, but that the orcs and goblins had been too afraid of the creatures stirring in the depths to venture beyond a rusted iron gate. Having found no evidence of the missing crops, our heroes decide to continue on into the dungeon, and force the iron gate from its rusted hinges.
They see ahead of them an enclosed area, barred at both ends by metal bars secured in the ground. They guess it was formerly a guard station. Moving about inside is a large metallic skinned centipede. They get Sabah to fire a few spells at it, with no apparent success, but they do succeed in driving it into an area of the room they cannot see.
After a delay where they contemplate going back, they force open the gate and carefully approach the area with the metal centipede. A vicious fight ensues, in which Vasaan is badly wounded and Shylock bruised. Shaba casts a big fire spell, and kills the creature. They rest.
Net the nineteenth
They continue into the tunnels, and encounter some skeletons, which are quickly dispatched with only a few minor scratches for our heroes. They burn the skeletons. Eventually they get to a large pool of water that blocks the way. They decide against swimming into the cave at the end of the pool.
No one has been attacked. One of the farmers has lied in order to gain sympathy.
They leave the dungeon, and decide to follow the 'man-in-plate' that they are told about at the nearest farm. This plate armoured figure has been spotted wandering between the farms the past few days and nights. He has broken into a number of farmhouses, and has attacked one family. The other families say the man-in-plate merely looked them over with glowing red eyes, then turned and walked away without saying a word.
They easily track the heavy lumbering man-in-plate, and catch up with it, in a clearing. However, a group of bandits is also with the man-in-plate. The bandits have attacked, and the man-in-plate is fighting back. The bandits, and faster and more mobile. Many take to the trees, and fire ineffectual arrows at their heavily armoured foe. Others dance in for a swing, and try to leap back out of the way. But a few are badly wounded by the seemingly invulnerable foe.
Our heroes decide to reveal themselves, and offer the bandits assistance. The bandits are not too unfriendly, and are more than willing to someone else take the hits. Close up it becomes obvious that it is no man-in-plate, but merely an empty suit of armour. However, it is a fierce opponent. Slowly our heroes bludgeon it into a pile of scrap metal, taking a few wounds themselves. Khalid breaks a hip.
After the fight the bandits talk with our heroes. The bandits are grateful for the assistance. They claim to be in no way involved with the farm raids. However, there is an obvious cart of fresh produce seems to implicate them somewhat. They claim a mage sold it to them, but then attacked them using the suit of armour, which they correctly guess is a magical construct.
Khalid's mood, exacerbated by his broken hip, means his diplomacy is at an all-time low, and he almost gets them all killed when he insults the bandit leader. Cooler heads, namely those of Shylock, Vasaan and surprisingly Shaba, avoid what would have been an execution by treed archers.
The bandit leader, Tartug, admits that this mage tried to bribe them with the vegetables to be seen in the area of the farms more. The bandits refused, mainly because vegetables are not worth the trouble. However, they did capture the mage, and they produce him for questioning.
They quickly realise that this mage has no magical powers, and the animated armour was not his. When confronted by this he admits he is a simple peasent named Gilhmein. Further pressure forces him to spill the whole scheme. Apparently a farmer named Uzro is behind the farm raids. Ours heroes remember Uzro at the first meeting. He was quick to suggest action against the goblins, and mentioned the brigands. He also said his new farm hands had fled just after the attacks began. They become convinced the brigands are telling the truth, and resolve to take Gilhmeim back to the farmers and accuse Uzro.
Athora is played by Eleanor, Craig's (Khalid) partner.
However, the outburst of Khalid convinces the bandit leader that these rouges should be kept under observation, just in case they do anything rash such as alert the town guard at Gereshk. So an elven thief named Athora is given to the party as a local guide to assist them in their quest. The bandits move off.
Net the twentieth and twenty-first
A persistent rain dampens their spirits as they rest while Khalid's hip magically (herbs) heals.
Net the twenty-second
They take the cart and vegetables, along with Gilhmein and the busted suit of armour, to Rocca's farm. They get Gilhmein to tell the full story. Rocca calls a general meeting. They accuse Uzro, and when Gilhmein is shown to him Uzro breaks down and confesses. He tells them that the robbers are, in fact, his own farm hands, operating under his command. Gildheim was just a simple farm worker Uzro dressed up in some old robes stitched with shiny stars and moons. The farm hands are hiding out in a cave near Uzro's farm.
That night Vassan, Khalid and Colin travel using Nightvision, and set themselves above the cave entrance.
Net the twenty-third
The other heroes approach the cave with the cart and Gilhmeim, but have no plan worked out. They get the farm hands out of the cave by using Gilhmeim as a lure. A fight ensues, but the farm hands are no match for them. They soon surrender to our heroes.
The armour was an old construct the “Dead Mage” of the Tower had made. It was wakened from its long slumber by proximity of the farm hands, and once activated tried to carry out its last orders – to protect the mage. The only mage it could find was Gilhmein, and as time had dulled the constructs sense it decided he was its master. So it followed Gildheim. This was rather scary for the weak-willed fake mage, and he ran. The construct followed, lost the trail, and so blundered about in search of its master, catching up with Gildheim in the forest while he was trading with the brigands.
They take Gilheim along with them as a new party member, as he was of great help, and truly apologetic about his part in the scheme. They also take Uzro and his farm hands as prisoners, and march them to Gereshk where they give them to the City Watch.
They stay the night at the Bishop's Gambit Inn where they meet some dwarven merchants. From what they know of dwarves, which is not much at this point, they offer to sell them the mithril coins they found in the Tower of the Dead Mage. They dwarves cannot afford to buy the mithril coins themselves, so they suggest the party accompany them to the fables dwarven city of Herat in a few days. They celebtare the deal with some fine dwarven mead.
Net the twenty-fourth
They meet up with Focette and his brother, who need an escort to Focette's wedding in the village of Yakchal. The roads, it seems, are too dangerous to travel. Why only yesterday a caravan was attacked by bandits just a half mile from the walls of Gereshk. The party agrees to do this task, and send a note to the dwarven merchants that they will be out of town for a few days, but would still like to travel with them to Herat. As the wedding day is close, they set off immediately, heading south out of Gereshk. and start taking them to the wedding.
Net the twenty-fifth
By force marching through the night, and all day, without resting, they arrive at Yakchal just after sunset. They mission accomplished our heroes then turn around and start back.
These were War Trolls, a very nasty type of troll bred for battle. This symbol would later become very important to our heroes, but that is some time away.
However, not far out of the village of Yakchal they spot some trolls. They follow them for a short distance, and see the trolls pause and perform a strange rite, then head off toward Yakchal. They follow, and notice the rite was carried out as a black stone engraved with a symbol none of them have seen before. But all sense an evil vibe from it.
They decide to do something, although just what is unclear. Vasaan does her celebrated running ahead thing and warns the village before the trolls arrive. The others follow the trolls. Vasaan's warning, and the quick thinking of the village priest, one Fanano, allow the villagers to be prepared by fleeing or barring themselves in the stone church. They throw rocks from the church roof, and keep the heavy doors barred. The trolls cause havoc and destruction in the abandoned village, but are beaten back when they try to force the church. Then ours other heroes arrive and leap into the fray. The bows of Athora and Shylock, the steel of Khalid and Colin, and especially the spells of Shaba take their toll on the trolls. A lucky rock thrown by the local smith kills a troll. The trolls panic run, and a few get away. But the village is saved without loss of life. Only Colin is badly bruised. The valiant heroes stay in the village to make sure the trolls do not return.
Net the twenty-sixth
They stay in the village and attend the first day of the wedding as honoured guests. Focette's wife is surprisingly attractive.
Net the twenty-seventh
The villagers turn out to see our heroes leave, telling them they will always be welcome in their little village. A light rain does not dampen the spirits of the party as they bask in the glory of saving the peasants.
Net the twenty-eighth
Arrive back at Gereshk in the early-evening. Khalid goes shopping at the King's Armourer and buys a hand-axe for Colin, a shield for himself, and some replacement oil for the flasks he used on the troll bodies. The dwarven merchants, Furth and Kothen, say they are ready to set off the next morning.
Net the twenty-ninth
They set out for Herat under overcast skies.
Net the thirtieth
As they march they catch up to four travelers, including a half-dwarf called Das, who agree to join them on the journey, as there is safety in numbers.