Old Soul, New Shell

Feydor had been grievously wounded, and Frumious was, at the moment, an inadequate conduit for the restorative powers of Omnos. There were prayers that could help, but he had not unlocked their secrets, and that meant his comrade in faith, his friend, was divorced from his vessel, which - being as it was the only part of him they could carry - the Knights of Mist Valley had strapped to his steed as they rode swiftly back to Loston.

Assumptions had been made that Frumious was in conflict with Mother Hazel, but these assumptions misunderstood basic Omnian theology. That the witch was powerful despite her worship of a different god did nothing to dispel the notion of Omnos' divinity and role as creator of all that was known and unknown. Frumious had no difficulty conceiving of an Omnos who created lesser divine beings, even those who could be wardens over the domains of mortal life and death. Such beings could be servants, willing or not, to Omnos, and there could be a variety of reasons why these servants would not reveal their true nature to the penitents who served them. Yet his companions were either loquacious or stubborn, and Frumious' explanation seemed unlikely to result in a satisfying conclusion for anyone, so the cleric was content to play his role, and cede agency to the friends who could eagerly and quickly interact with the woman.

And Mother Hazel was generous towards the Knights, offering them their choice of a solution to their Feydor problem. In fact, the witch, in her capacity as Omnos' unwitting servant, revealed to Frumious that the piccolo given to the young gnome by his father might have significance yet undiscovered. From this, Frumious decided to take a more active role in understanding this object, which he hoped would provide further insight into the glory of Omnos.

Calling upon her magic, the witch bound Feydor to a new body, this one stronger than the last. There was a bit of confusion for a moment while the less theologically burdened among the Knights determined what to do with Feydor's former vessel, but a quick explanation from the cleric made it clear that everything that made Feydor truly what he is was now contained in new flesh, and the corpse before them represented only the potential for a future nemesis if it was not properly dealt with. And so it was, and so the Knights of Mist Valley were whole once more.

Session 39

Date: 7/5/2015

Attending: Jake, Chris, Joey, Aaron, Dave, Daniel as The Will

Absent: Justin – in Ohio

Start Time: 7:30 p.m.

End Time: 10:30 p.m.

XP awarded: 2400

Game time elapsed:  3 days

Enemies Defeated:  

Notes:

Waking up in the Hilltop Inn of Loston, the knights took their deceased comrade (Feydor) to Mother Hazel. She said She had the ability to bring Feydor back in one of three ways – she could reincarnate him into a new body for 6,000 gp, she could tie his spirit to his deceased body (making him an intelligent undead) for free, or she could bring him back alive in his original body for 10,000 gp and her choice of any 3 magic items the party owned.  After much discussion, the party opted for reincarnation. Mother Hazel cast the spell and a new body was created – that of an orc.

The Knights went back to Loston and purchased some spell books in town. While in the shop they hired a brutal looking character known only as “The Will of Omnos”, shortened to “The Will” (his sword is named “The Fury of Omnos, because Daniel), as extra muscle and left for the Xiannian Tombs shortly after lunch. They traveled for the rest of the day, camped, traveled the following day and camped again.

On the second night, during “The Will’s” watch, they were attacked by 15 mercenary guards out of the Illmarian Excavation.  The knights were victorious, but spent the first part of the day recuperating from the fight before traveling on to the Tombs.

Upon arriving at the Xiannian Tombs escavation they noticed that most of the camp had been broken down and almost all of the tomb entrances collapsed. Only the large tomb by the main tent (which was still standing) was untouched. Ten guards and the two giant constructs stood outside the tent. The party attacked. During the fight the tent fell revealing 12 more guards, 6 elite guards, 4 casters, and Lorith. Fingali was not present.  It was a hard brutal fight, which ended with Lorith fled into the large tomb, Fyn leading one construct around camp, and the other construct and all other opposing combatants dead. The party then decides to pursue Lorith into the tomb. End Session

Session 38

Date: 6/28/2015

Attending: Jake, Justin, Joey, Aaron, Dave

Absent: Chris - Ill

Start Time: 7:55 p.m.

End Time: 10:20 p.m.

XP awarded: 2750

Game time elapsed:  3 days

Enemies Defeated:  12 mounted guards; fought but were forced to retreat from: 2 huge constructs, 4 casters, 16 guardsmen, Lorith, Fingali

Notes:

When Grigor suddenly comes down with an illness, the Knights decide to postpone their shopping trip in favor of exploring the Xiannian Tombs. The next morning they head out, and ride all day southeast into the plains of Goldmeadow. In the evening they see the lights of Loston behind them, but also see lights ahead, that makes it seem that they are heading towards a town. After an uneventful night they continue their journey, but encounter riders around midday. These riders, 12 in number, approach and tell the Knights to head north or due east, but not to continue the way they are headed. The knights declare their intent to continue where they are headed and announce themselves as the Knights of Mist Valley. The riders confer and seem to ride off, but actually circle around and attack the party.

The knights make short work of the riders; one yields rather than be cut down. They interrogate him, Fyn punching him repeatedly in the dick, and find out that the Illmarian University has been excavating the Xiannian Tombs for months, and has a sizable encampment there. The leader of the excavation is named Lorith, and the reason why the patrol attacked is that the University has placed a bounty on the heads of the Knights of mist Valley - 5,000 gp per confirmed kill. The party ties two sets of half plate armor to the guy, binds his hands, uses rope to limit his stride length, and tells him to walk to the Excavation. Then they ride on.

They reach the excavation shortly before dusk. A large quarry/ravine is set in the ground, and 18 or so Tombs are revealed as set in the walls of the canyon. There are numerous tents and workers hurrying around. Fyn sneaks down the winding road into the canyon, past several guard posts, but is spotted by two massive 14 foot tall metal construct sentinels who can obviously see him (and look like giant versions of Ratchets). He runs around camp, setting fire to tents, and uses the magic of his cloak to summon dire bats. As the constructs chase him they sound a horn noise.

On top of the ravine, the rest of the Knights hear the horn and go rushing down the road to the canyon floor. They charge through the pandemonium of the camp only to pull up short outside of the main tent, where the Illmarian forces have rallied (and have pikes set for a charge). Sixteen mercenary guards and four casters are gathered around Lorith and -surprise surprise- the dwarf Fingali. A brutal fight ensues. Fyn continues to lead the constructs around keeping them out of the fight. Frumious throws mighty magics around, and Bajol and Feydor ride into the thick of battle. Luck is not with our heroes however, and Feydor had difficulty landing blows. Twice Bajol's attempts to trample his foes were rebuffed, once by Lorith himself.Bajol summoned Zephyr to assit the fight, but then Lorith slew Bajol's mount Bear. Finally Fingali dealt a mighty blow (crit) that brutally killed Feydor in the saddle.

By this time one of the constructs had left the chase and come to join the fight, and Fyn was trying to maneuver into position to help. With Feydor dead, Frumious squaring off against Fingali alone, Bajol holding off multiple guards and their leader Lorith, the Knights made the reluctant decision to fall back and return another day. Bajol mounted Zephyr and rode off, Brutus grabbed Feydor's body and fled, Frumious summoned a celestial griffon and was carried to safety, and Fyn grabbed the nearest horse to his position and hightailed it out of there. The remaining guards mounted up and gave chase. The two groups rode through the night, but once they were a day outside of Loston the mercenaries pulled away, obviously unwilling to go any further. The Knights continued slowly into Loston, arriving late at night and reacquiring rooms at the Hilltop Inn. End Session

Session 37

Date: 6/23/2015

Attending: Jake, Chris, Joey, Aaron, Dave

Absent: Justin - Girlfriend time

Start Time: 7:20 p.m.

End Time: 10:10 p.m.

XP awarded: 2000

Game time elapsed:  3 days

Enemies Defeated:  Demonic Skeleton

Notes:

Continuing the exploration of the tomb complex, the party finds a book called Slight of Hand Tactics, along with several magic items and potions in the unexplored burial chambers, saving the large double door at the end for last.

Approaching the large double door, Fyn carefully searched it for traps. There were 4: a magical circle of death trap, a magical feeble mind trap, a mechanical pit trap, and a mechanical poisoned dart trap. Fyn had trouble disarming the pit trap, triggering it several times, but was able to finally disable it, the darts, and the circle of death. Unfortunately he set off the feeblemind trap and was reduced to a drooling imbecile.

Heading into the room, they saw a large unopened stone sarcophagus, a pile of bones, and the bodies of 3 adventurers. The bones animated into a large 4 armed skeleton with a tail and a canine shaped skull. They Knights fought valiantly, and were able to win the day despite Bajol being incapacitated (Justin absent) and Fyn feebleminded.

Opening the sarcophagus (which was trapped as well) they found a sack of coins, a first world scroll titled “Prayers of the Omnian Faithful”, a magical breastplate, and Storm’s Fury – an extremely  magical heavy pick. They rested in the room for 16 hours, and then swam back out of the complex – feeding Fyn a potion of water breathing to do so.

They found their companions waiting in a clearing not far from the pool. Grigor consulted with his familiar, and determined that Grandmother Hazel, the Witch of Loston, would be their best bet to have Fyn’s wits restored. It was a day and a half journey to Loston.

Loston proved to be a village built on the tops of mountain foothills. Mother Hazel lives in a cave converted to a cottage; she cures Fyn but does not let anyone inside her home. After curing Fyn, the party heads to the village inn – Hilltop – but Grigor stays behind to talk with Hazel.

Mother Hazel’s conversation with Grigor can be summed up in the following:

*She knew his grandfather Albaer Dragomir

*She is not interested in events outside of her village

*She confirms the existence of other planes – there is a world enchantment that prevents access

*The “demons” that the Tainted Ones worship are extraplanar

*When asked about the various players (Ellicor, Puppet King, etc…) advised the party to find out what is at stake before committing to a side

*Says the Gnome of Gnomewood may have more info, but to be careful in approaching him

*Mentioned that the Endless who lives on the west coast is from another world

*Grigor asked her to try to scry the location of Mario and Ellicor she did

*Mario is on a boat traveling the river

*Ellicor is on a ship sailing west

*To cancel a debt owed to Grigor’s grandfather, offered to magically transport the party to a location of their choice

Grigor met up with the Knights and relayed the info. The knights unloaded the cart into their room at the Hilltop Inn and did a full inventory/upkeep. In the morning they decided to stop and provision up. Wandering into the general store, an obviously magical sword is noticed hanging on the wall. The proprietor nonchalantly mentions it is for sale; it seems that he has quite a few magic items for sale as local adventurers who explore the Xiannian Tombs tend to convert their booty to cash at his shop. The party decides it’s time to drop some serious coin. End Session

Session 36

Date: 6/14/2015

Attending: Jake, Joey, Aaron, Dave, Chris, Justin, Ben as Master Shake

Absent: none

Start Time: 7:40 p.m.

End Time: 10:30 p.m.

XP awarded: 1750

Game time elapsed:  1 day

Enemies Defeated:  1 void beast, 2 dark knights, 4 wraiths, 1 dread wraith

Notes:

In the tomb they find Master Shake, his other adventuring party slain by the denizens of the crypt.  He says that he is in the tomb looking for something specific (treasure), and joins with the party. In one of the burial chambers they find an enormous alligator like beast with tentacles, which appears to be an outsider. They slay it but it takes a lot out of them. They fight two dark knights in another room, and hole up in a 3^rd room to rest and rememorize. It is a fitful night and they are attacked first by 4 wraiths, and then later by a dread wraith before finally getting some rest. They find various magic items and a book titled the Art of Jumping. Finally they find the burial chamber of the cavalier, and Feydor is able to take the scrolls of the order. Master Shake trips a trap and falls down a long chute into god knows where. They knights shed a brief tear and then move on continuing to explore. End Session

Session 35

Date: 6/7/2015

Attending: Jake, Joey, Aaron, Dave, Chris

Absent: Justin – medical tests in morning

Start Time: 7:20 p.m.

End Time: 10:30 p.m.

XP awarded: 1000

Game time elapsed:  6 days

Enemies Defeated:  1 dire bear, 2 black bears

Notes:

In the morning the party awakes and continues to explore the ruined tower. Making their way up to the second level of the ruins they find a black altar and evidence of the dark rites of the Tainted Ones. Frumious consecrates the altar, destroying it. Having completely cleared the tower, the party heads back to the camp outside the tower clearing. Grigor examines the surrounding forest and discovers that just underneath the mossy floor is a vast network of ruined buildings. They party sleeps all day and then begins journeying at night.

They pick up the cart and continue through the day, arriving at Woodbounty midafternoon. They stop at a local shop that sells magical goods, the Twinkling Oak, and then head to the local shrine which is tended by an orc named Samac. Samac is not a full priest, but has visions and some divine spellcasting ability. He informs Frumious when asked that his bishop is Rudulac, who dwells in Boarlanding. Samac has a vision of Feydor opening something with a blue triangle on it, which the party interprets as them being on the right track. They take rooms in the Quiet Beech Inn and head out in the morning.

They continue traveling west through the woods when they encounter 2 black bears lead by a dire bear. They put down the beasts after a hard fight, and Grigor sends Kyros out to scout around. Kyros sees and reports a figure Jarl identifies as the Beastlord – an Orc dressed in furs. He is traveling with 4 dire bears, 12 dire wolves, 4 dire boars, and a large cat of some kind. Grigor wants to meet/confront him, but the rest of the Knights, particularly Fyn, advise against it. The group decision is to ride through the night to put as much distance as possible between them and the Beastlord, which they do. At day break they sleep for 7 hours and then ride through the rest of the day and late into the night.

They get up at daybreak the following day and ride west, camping at night to get back on schedule. In the morning they confer with their guides Jarl and Bors, and decide to go straight to the tomb first. They arrive at night; the tomb is submerged in a small forest pool. Jarl and Bors tell them that that is where the weapon known as Storm’s Fury is located.

Swimming down into the pool, they find the submerged entrance, and after avoiding a trap on the door, enter the tomb. End Session.

Session 34

Date: 5/31/2015

Attending: Jake, Joey, Justin, Aaron, Dave, Chris

Absent: None

Start Time: 7:20 p.m.

End Time: 10:30 p.m.

XP awarded: 2200

Game time elapsed:  2 days

Enemies Defeated:  6 owlbears, 2 spectres, and 8 advanced skeletons

Notes:

The Party journeyed on towards Forestend, arriving that evening. They book rooms in the Inn of the Last Candle. The innkeeper’s name was Tully. They sold and bought goods, and met the acquaintance of Jarl, a Bear of Loston, and Bors a Wolf of Loston.  Loston is a removed village to the west, and it has two marital orders, Bears and Wolves, which patrol the forest and protect the village. The party made arrangements to have Jarl and Bors escort them into Mossreach Forest, looking for ruins as they made their way towards Loston. Jarl told them of a Tomb in the area around Loston where a potent magical weapon was said to be stored. He also described the blue triangle insignia used by the Cavaliers of the Blue Mount and said that it was in the tomb somewhere. Jarl also told the party that the Xiannian Tombs, their chosen destination, were not far from Loston to the southeast.

The next morning, led by Jarl and Bors, the party heads to the forest, parking the cart under a large bush in the tree line. They follow a winding trail into Mossreach, and encounter 6 owlbears along the way (which they slay). Arriving at the first ruin at night, an old tower long since collapsed past the second floor, they begin to investigate.

The tower ruins are haunted, and on the first floor they fight and destroy two spectres and 8 advanced skeletons. After the fight they retreat to the camp outside the clearing to rest up before continuing.  End Session