The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 005

Gameplay Date 02-25-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

Taneus arrived first though as he was following the shadowy figures.  They just happened to steal the horses and head out in the direction opposite where he had been watching them from.  He helped me knock out the goblin we had caught and then dispelled his magic to return our skin to their normal coloring.  A big booming voice wants to know what is going on, as Vorus, the captain of the city guard arrives.  He issues orders to the guards to double the gate guards, then looking at the loose horses running about, he says Vorrick isn't gonna like this.  (Vorrick must be the other stable keeper)  In addition to the the tied up Goblin, Vorus decides to take Taneus & myself into custody as well, until he can figure out what happened.  They take us back to the City Garrison and promptly put the goblin into a cell.  Then Vorus leads Taneus & myself into the main room and starts asking questions.  So we filled him in on the events of the night.  He seems convinced and is willing to let us go.  I ask if the goblin is still unconscious, and when they say he is, I request to be put in the same cell with him until morning.  Vorus seems a bit perplexed, but says if that's what you want.  Vorus had his guards take me up to the cell level and lock me in for the rest of the night.  Once alone, I use an empty sack as a hood to cover the Goblin's head and cut up my blanket it strips t bind & gag him.  Then once he woke up, I started poking & prodding him with items from my toolkit, in hopes of getting some information out of him.  I spoke in Goblin the whole time and kept bluffing to sound like his pissed off superior, telling him they failed miserably and I was going to find out why.  About the only useful information I was able to get out of him was something about a Goblin village and that maybe the Wargs were gonna take over.  Through all of my questioning attempts, I start to sweat a little.  I knocked the goblin out again after I was done questioning him, and took the sack off of his head, but left him tied up and gagged for the rest of the night.

When morning came and the guards brought me back downstairs, they give me a bowl of oats & milk to eat, but I'm just not feeling right.  Taneus & Vorus are waiting on me, as Vorus says the "tracker" is about to arrive.  As we went outside, we found Merrick with the Uegan from the tavern, and Corny and Meggit walking in our direction.  Merrick tells us that the  Uegan is now under contract to get the stolen horses back.  We plan on going with the Uegan, since Gilliam is paying us to bring back his horses too.  So we head over to Wrend's Shack again to load up on supplies for a tracking expedition, and then to the Cauldron for some real food for breakfast.  As we're sitting there eating, I'm really not feeling well as I've got the sweats, shakes, nausea and I keep dropping my utensils.  So before long I find myself back at Meg's place.  She confirms that I'm sick...  probably some disease spread by the large rats under the town.  She said the Cedric, Tundle & Merrick's war dogs were all suffering from it.  And she said it would take time to brew up some more medicine for it.

Can't fix it now, so we get ready to head out of town with the Uegan, with Cornelius tagging along too.  We find out his name is Beor.  He's got a tattooed forehead & cheeks, and a bald head except for a topknot hanging down by his left ear.  For starters, he heads outside the hedge wall to the point where the goblins had breached it.  Tracks are pretty obvious...  horses, goblins & wargs.  They head east, parallel to the main road.  We follow them on foot until we reach Hellgar Road, at which point the tracks start to head south.  As we are following the south, the horse tracks continue on, but we lose the warg tracks.  Off to our west, we can see a small herd of about 6 bison out in the grasses.  Beor tells us that his clan is currently on the western edge of Luxor Forest.  As he continues to tell us a bit more about his people, a floaty mass of Sturges is coming at us.  And sure enough, one of those overgrown mosquitoes latches onto me and bites me.  I didn't realize that I tasted so good!!  Taneus swats most of them down with his flaming finger trick.  They're pretty darn quick while they're flying around, but they're a lot easier to squash as they're trying to suck you dry.  We decide to camp for nearly a day to give everyone that got bitten by them, time to heal up.  Once we're up and going again, we continue walking southward until about midday at which point Beor starts heading southeast off the road and toward Luxor Forest.  As we make our way through the grasslands, Taneus is hunting rabbits and picking tubers, while the rest of us gather up some kindling for a cooking fire.  As it nears sunset, we start to make camp and set a watch.

To be continued...

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 004

Gameplay Date 02-11-07 or 02-18-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

Looking through the dwindling flames, we can see 4 rats chomping at the bit to get in here at us.  I went over to the closest of the coffins, apologized to the occupant, and started pushing it over to block the entryway.  The oil was all used up and the fire went out, but I managed to get the coffin in place just in time, catching one rat between the coffin and tunnel wall as it tried to squeeze through.  I had to stay there though, pushing against the coffin to keep it pinned, so the elf steps up and dispatches it.  Two of the rats outside keep trying to push their way past the coffin, while the third rat attempts to start burrowing a new hole to get in at us.  But before it can get very far, the elf says a couple of strange words, points his hand through the gap between the top of the coffin and the ceiling of the tunnel and shoots flame from his fingertips, roasting all 3 of the rats to a crisp.  Wow!  I guess the elf... err... I mean...  Taneus isn't quite as useless as I thought.  Wonder what else he can do?

Instead of heading back through all of those rat infested tunnels, we opted to take a shortcut to the outside.  Realizing that there wasn't that much dirt between us and the surface, we propped the coffins vertically up against the wall, but took their lids off.  Using my tools again, we then cut some crude hand/foot holes into the lids and propped the lids on top of the coffins like a ladder extension, allowing us to reach the ceiling and dig a hole upward to the surface.  Finally above ground again, we headed back to Meg's place so I could get my rat bites seen to.  They patch me up and I'm felling fine again, so once again I hand Luvana some gold to pay for it, but this time I also paid for a future treatment too...  cause I seem to be spending a lot of time there.  Cornelius is here too.  Looks like his hangover is gone.  When Meg & Luvana are out of earshot, the kid confesses that he's stolen horses from Gilliam's before, but that the Uegan would then steal them from him.  As it's a nice day out and we're gonna be up tonight watching for horse thieves, I decide to take a nap, right there at Meg's, close to Gilliam's if need be.  So I find a nice cozy corner of the garden, lean back against the house and doze off.

About 6 hours later, Corny comes out from the house and wakes me up.  He tells me that he had taken a nap too...  under Luvana's bed in an attempt to hide from the city guard (OK...  what the heck did he do now?).  He says that Taneus is already at Gilliam's and that he's heading over there now.  I tell him I'll be along in about 5 minutes.  I decide to take an alternate route to Gilliam's, maybe to come upon any would-be-thieves as they themselves are watching the place.  From Meg's, I headed south to the hedge wall, then proceeded to follow it around until I was near the east gate of the city.  From there I made my way quietly to Gilliam's Stable, coming up behind Gilliam's house in the process.  The kid's back there too, but he's occupied looking toward the front and the stables, so I sneak up behind him and he nearly jumps a foot in the air as I surprise him.  Once he settles back down, he tells me that Taneus is already up in the hay loft overtop of the stables and that he's gonna climb up onto Gilliam's roof to hide.  There aren't too many other places to hide, so with a glance around to see if anyone is watching, I make my way as quickly & quietly as I can up into the loft to join Taneus.

Nothing happens until about 3 o'clock in the morning when we manage to spot 2 small, shadowy figures in cloaks approaching the paddock gate.  They're speaking Goblin...  don't know if the elf or the kid can understand them...  but from what I can hear, they don't want the 2 sickly horses and decide to leave Gilliam's to go to the other city stable.  But first they made their way over to the hedge wall and seemed to be whispering to someone on the other side.  Unfortunately, they're too far away from us to hear what they said.  After they left, we all came out from our hiding spots.  I filled them in on what I heard in case they don't speak Goblin.  Taneus uses his magic to make all of our skin black as pitch so we don't stand out in the dark (Boy...  this elf has got some nice tricks up his sleeve).  Taneus tells us that he's going to pretend to be a wandering drunk in order to get close to the other stable without raising too much attention, and he takes off in the same direction the thieves did.  Corny decides he's gonna exit the city and see if he can find whoever or whatever was on the opposite side of the hedge.  I made my way to the hedge wall north of the east gate, then follow the hedge until I am north of the other stable.  I come to a stop when I hear some noises on the other side of hedge.  As I put an ear to the hedge, I can hear something growling on the other side.  There's also 2 beings speaking Goblin, chatting about the theft and saying to pull those things back so they don't spook the horses.  All of a sudden, the ends of 2 poles are shoved through the hedge, followed right behind by 2 goblins.  As each of those goblins grabs an end of a pole and starts pulling away from each other, a gap in the hedge wall is made, as there are 2 more goblins still outside the hedge doing the same thing on the other end of each pole.  At the same time, the two shadowy figures are coming toward us as they are spooking and herding some newly stolen horses into jumping through the gap that had been created.  As a couple of horses make the jump and I finally realize the extent of what they are doing, I jump out and start waving and yelling in order to spook the horses into turning away.  It worked!  The horses were loose but still inside the town.  The goblins on the poles dove back through the hedge, followed close behind by the 2 shadowy figures.  However, I managed to grab one of them as he was pushing through the hedge and pulled him back inside the wall.  By now though, the city guard has raised an alarm and soldiers are gonna be on their way.

To be continued...

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 003

Gameplay Date 02-03-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

Minor updates...  Corny is actually 14 years old, not 12 as previously stated.  His friend Meggit looks to be about 12 or 13 years old.

After having lost our "shadows," we make our way over to Gilliam's Stable, which is close to Meg's place and the eastern gate of the city.  Upon speaking with Gilliam, we found out that he has lost 6 horses so far, usually after sunset.  He's got two in the paddock at the moment being tended by a stable boy, but they're kinda sickly looking.  Gilliam's blaming it on the Uegan as he says they eat them, but he's willing to pay us 50gp per horse if we can get them back before he goes completely out of business.  We agree to help him and tell him we'll be back before dark.  In the mean time, the elf & I decided to head back down in Corny's lair and see if we can discover some clue as to what Cedric & Tundle were looking for, or perhaps something we had missed the last time down there.  Before going down, we picked up some more supplies, including some salves & ointments of medicinal purpose, a small wooden shield, some nails and some spears.  Using the hammer from my "toolkit," I pounded several nails through the backside of the shield so they made rudimentary spikes on the front.  As soon as we got back to the room where we had encountered the centipedes, we were attacked by 2 very big rats.  They managed to bite me a couple of times before we killed them.  However, we found that there was a 3rd rat corpse in the room that hadn't been there before, at upon closer inspection, it was killed by a weapon.  This may have been what injured Cedric & Tundle.  The centipede burrow is now considerably bigger as the rats had burrowed out from it too.  Putting some salve onto my new injuries, we lit a torch to peer up the rat hole.  It was going to be kinda tight for us.  We'd have to crawl on hands & knees to make our way.

So I took the lead with shield on one arm and spear in the other hand.  The elf followed close behind with a torch so he could see in the dark.  After about 30' of crawling in a generally northeast direction, our tunnel joined with another one heading east/west.  To the west, it just seemed to go on for quite a long ways, and to the east, after about 30', it appeared to dead end but also had what looked like a hole in the floor just before ending.  We went over to check it out.  The hole was the continuation of the tunnel...  just from here it slanted down at a pretty steep angle.  We estimated that it went down about 80' or so, and we could hear lots more squeaking emanating from down below.  Probably the rats nest, so we turned around and started heading west down the long tunnel.  Taneus took the lead this time and we passed the tunnel that branched back to Corny's lair.  It was a good thing too, because once we were a little ways past it, a couple of more rats came up from out of the hole and charged at us.  I managed to get the shield up and braced it for their charge, killing one of the two rats upon the shield spikes as it impaled itself.  Not sure if I got in the killing blow on the other one, or if the elf did, as it was all claws, nose, teeth and whiskers trying to get around the edges of my shield, and we just kept stabbing at it with our spears.  Once that one was dead, we resumed crawling westward until finally we came to a fork.  The tunnel continued straight west in front of us, but now there was another tunnel that branched off in a northwest direction.  Looking down at the ground, we spotted some tracks.  Going in they looked clean, but coming back out they were bloody.  We opted to check them out and followed the NW tunnel.  After a little ways, another tunnel branches off heading northeast, but the tracks follow the tunnel we're currently in.  And about 20' more in front of us, it looks like it opens up into a bigger space, which is good because we can hear more squeaking and pattering echoing from the tunnel behind us.  Crawling as quick as we can to cover that last bit of distance, we find ourselves in a rough 20' x 30' space with high enough ceiling to stand up, unfortunately it's a dead end...  literally.  There are 3 coffins in here, 2 are fairly intact while the third has busted open and partially spilled it's occupant out...  yet all 3 look as if they were dropped in here.  Looking up, we weren't too far off.  With all of their burrowing, the creatures had actually dug the ground out from under the coffins, as we can see a corner of a fourth coffin in the ceiling above us, and gravity took over, dropping them down here.  Pouring out some oil just inside the tunnel entrance, we lit the oil with a torch once we saw them coming up the tunnel at us, creating a fire to block them off and giving us a little time.

To be continued...

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 002

Gameplay Date 01-27-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

It was about noon by the time we came back up out of the well.  Corny said he'd take us to Meg's place to get our injuries looked at.  As we left the well behind, we caught sight of 2 guys up on top of Goblin's Knob cemetery hill.  They must have seen us climbing out of the well as they were watching us rather intently, and I'm not sure, but I think I remember seeing them last night while we were at the Ever Inn.  Not too worried by them, we continued to follow Corny as he led us to a small 20' x 30', 2 room, 1 level house with front & back doors.  It was almost completely surrounded by hedges.  Corny yells out to Meg and the door swings open to reveal a small, round, human woman in her mid-50's.  She promptly grabs the kid by the ear and drags him inside.  With a slight chuckle, the elf & I follow them inside, where we also find another young woman in her mid-teens as she is sorting herbs.  We also catch a glimpse of the symbol of Obad-Hai on a necklace around her neck.  Meg introduces herself and the young woman, Luvana, to us before taking a look at our injuries.  We told her of the centipedes and Meg thinks we've probably been poisoned by them.  Meg & Luvana go off to prepare some herbs & medicines to treat our wounds, and soon we're feeling much better.  However, before we can thank them, we spotted the 2 men from Goblin's Knob coming toward Meg's place...  also injured.  As they approach, we can hear them muttering about a key being lost and that Valen's not gonna like it.  As they knock at Meg's front door, the elf and the kid and I quietly head out the back door.  Staying close by a window, I can still hear them as they are talking with Meg.  They tell her that Merrick will pay her for her healing services.

Once they get healed up and take off, we come back in through the back door to ask Meg a few questions.  Who where those two?  Cedric & Tundle.  Who's Valen?  No idea.  Who's Merrick?  He's the town Magistrate, lives in the manse near the bottom of Goblin's Knob, kinda paranoid according to Meg as he's got 2 war dogs guarding his residence.  We ask her if there is a library or something in town and she directs us to Paginus, an elderly man that runs the library.  I drop a handful of gold pieces in Luvana's hands as we thank them and start to head out.  We follow Meg's directions to arrive at the library, which is near to Wrend's Shack where we were this morning, only to find that the library has been tossed as if someone was looking for something in a big hurry.  Paginus is busy trying to reshelve everything and apologizes that he won't be able to help us until he gets the mess sorted out again.

By now, we were feeling pretty hungry so Corny suggests we head to the Cauldron.  He says that lotsa sailors tend to go there, so it may get a little rough.  As we are about to head into the Cauldron, we spot a pale horse with strange markings tied up outside and Corny says "Uegan."  We recognize the name to mean the horsemen of the plains, a nomadic group with no permanent settlement known.  Once inside, we can see 4 tables are occupied...  Wrend & Kristond (as Corny fills us in), 4 sailors from a ship called the Gargoyle drinking together, Unger & another dwarf in conversation, and a cloaked figure (the Uegan?) eating by himself.  Divina is the Innkeeper in here and she promptly takes our food & drink orders, as Corny chimes in that he'd like an ale too.  We talk amongst ourselves a bit more.  I order a 2nd plate of that delicious rabbit stew.  The elf doesn't seem to be much of a drinker, but the kid's holding his own so far.  But it doesn't last.  Before too long, the kid is passed out and slumped over the table, but at least he told us beforehand that Meg had practically raised him since he was really little.  So the elf & I carried his drunk body back to Meg's in the hopes that she'll let him sleep it off at her place.  As we are leaving, we can hear Divina shout out as the 4 sailors have started a fight in her tavern.

Afterward, the elf asks me if he can borrow some gold to purchase a bow & some arrows.  Though why he doesn't already have them is beyond me...  I thought every elf was born into this world with a bow already in hand.  But he's got a point...  if this Cedric or Tundle or Valen is looking for what we found underground and they decide to cause us trouble, well then I rather have the elf shooting arrows at them then just waving his hands & arms in the air.  We find what he's looking for, then decide to go check out the Magistrate's place to see if we can learn anything.  It's a large, one-story building with a 4' tall hedge surrounding it's grounds.  Only one entry point allows passage through the hedge wall, and it's is on the southern side.  We manage to spot 2 Mastif type dogs untethered in the yard outside the front door.  Nearby to the Magistrate's house is the cemetery on Goblin's Knob, and as we are glancing that way...  some stinky creature that is all salivating maw & slashing claws (a ghoul?) attacks me and I get paralyzed.  The elf decides to use me as cover while he tries to fight this thing as he keeps maneuvering to keep me between the two of them.  There is a strange whizzing sound and suddenly a tombstone shatters as a sling rock collides with it.  Apparently, the still drunk Cornelius had woken up, gotten back to his feet and staggered out to find us again, or maybe he was heading for his lair (which isn't all that far off).  All I remember is that sling rocks were flying everywhere as the kid tried to help out.  Then things went quiet for a long time and the next thing I know, a city guard is tipping my still paralyzed body over and I'm being hauled off.  Corny is insisting that they take us back to Meg's place.  Wait...  I missed something...  and why is my head throbbing...  did...  did that kid bean me with one of his sling stones???

The next morning I wake up at Meg's.  Corny is suffering from a hangover...  good, serves him right!  Luvana seems to be making a tea for him.  I make sure to give Meg & Luvana some more gold for their services.  The elf is waiting for us and he's got a bird (a raven) with him now.  Thanking them again, we head out with Cornelius in tow.  Not sure why...  I realize he kinda means to help...  but his wanton thievery is gonna get him into trouble one of these days, so I try to give him some advice to hopefully help straighten him out.  We head back to the Cauldron for some breakfast, to find that the 4 sailors are still in there, 3 of whom are conscious.  Sounds like they'll be shipping out for Straag with passengers and that it is a one month trip.  We also overhear that they had left Buckler Island in a hurry too...  left half of their crew behind.  They're just waiting on 2 guys...  Serlick & Turnip?  Maybe they mean Cedric & Tundle.  2 tired militiamen show up and then leave and the place gets quiet for a bit.  When we leave though, we find 4 militiamen waiting outside for us.  We've been summoned by the Magistrate and get taken to the town's Garrison.  When we are allowed to leave again, we find that we're being followed.  Not sure where, but the elf managed to come up with a blade...  if it can be called that.  First we had to visit a blacksmith to get it sharpened, and then a visit to the local weaponsmith (Burren) to get the handle wrapped.  In idle conversation, we hear that the stable in the southeast corner of town has been losing horses.  As we head out again, we manage to lose our "shadows" by ducking through a rug merchant's shop.

To be continued...

The Chronicles of Mordek Vol. 001

Gameplay Date 01-20-07

Players present:  Mordek, Taneus

Wolfguard is one of the 3 shield islands separating the continents of Straag and Xeptor on the world of Caldor, with Buckler & Tower Islands being the other two.  On Wolfguard Island, there are 4 main settlements.  Nerom is the religious center to the north with Temples to nearly every deity.  Bumfor is a human/dwarven mining town to the east of the Jagged Mountain chain that runs along nearly the entire eastern side of the island .  Salaan is a human/elven agricultural settlement to the south of Luxor Forest on the southern edge of the island.  Daedus Wood is in the northwestern corner of the island and Teryll is the only port city on the western bay as it is the only part of the island that is not edged by sheer cliffs.  3 roads are the main routes of travel between the towns.  One road runs north/south from Salaan to Nerom, another runs east/west from Bumfor to Teryll via a mountain pass, and the last follows the coastline cliffs to connect Nerom to Bumfor.  In the middle of the town of Teryll is the Evertree, which can be seen from miles away.  A Druid, that took offense to the clearcutting of the forests surrounding the town, cast a spell upon it to keep it safe from axe, fire or winter.  Legends say that it will continue to grow until it takes over Teryll.

Our adventure started out as Mordek (played by Nate) is traveling as both guide and protection for a man named Unger.  He is a rather rotund tradesman who crafts statues, lawn ornaments and headstones from extra mining rocks.  He is currently on his way to Teryll to sell his wares and for 50gp, Mordek signed on as his manual labor for the trip.  Upon arrival at the eastern gate of the town, Unger found out that in order to sell goods in Teryll, there is a tax that must be paid at the city building.  Teryll is divided into 4 main sections divided by 2 main streets that run north/south and east/west and bisect the town.  There is a hedge wall that surrounds the town with gates to the north, east and south, with the sea ports to the west.

No sooner had Unger gotten down off the wagon, than his coin purse was pilfered by a 12 year old boy who quickly darts away.  Unger yells at Mordek to catch the kid and get his money back... and seeing as how Mordek had yet to be paid by Unger, he took off in hot pursuit.  As the kid made his way through the crowds of people, he momentarily bumped into an elf but continued on.  The elf, Taneus (played by John), quickly realized that his own coin purse was now missing and he joined in the chase for the little thief.  The kid ducked down an alleyway and lost us for a while.  But as he went to try and rob another person, the elf and dwarf managed to catch sight of him again.  We followed him from a distance and he lead us to a well.  The kid jumps down into it as the elf & dwarf come up to find that it is a dry well with a passage at it's bottom.  After following down the well, we hear 2 voices coming from a torchlit room ahead.  Our arrival though was not unnoticed.  Inside was the kid we had followed and another pudgy kid wielding a wooden sword.  The kid we followed introduces himself as Cornelius the Crafty, the Cunning, etc.  Leader of the 12 Thieves Guild.  His companion/bodyguard is Meggit.  His lair is full of lots of various goods and crates, probably from his constant pilfering.  We got our respective purses back from him, but he shows us around his "Guildhall."  In the back is a caved in area that until now he has yet to explore.  Intrigued, the elf & dwarf offer to help, but in the morning after they've had time to equip for said exploration.

Heading back outside, Unger's coin purse got returned & Mordek got paid.  Then the elf & dwarf headed for the Ever Inn for food, ale & lodging and more formal introductions.  Cornelius was stealing the socks off of a passed out drunk as they turned in for the night.  The next morning, Taneus & Mordek were lead by "Corny" to Wrend's Shack, being the place in town to find what you might need.  While the elf & dwarf are gathering supplies for an underground excursion, Corny helps himself to a dagger via the 5-fingered discount.  Heading back to Corny's lair, rocks and dirt are moved aside from the caved in area to reveal a tunnel that heads in a southeastern direction.  As the tunnel opens up into a wider space, which we estimate to be near or under the Evertree, a couple of large centipedes burrow out of their hole and attack us.  We managed to take them out, but not before Corny & I got bitten by them.  Soon after a door was found, and in the door is an orb that glowed without light.  The door wouldn't budge until we removed the orb from it's holder.  I stowed the orb in my pack and then we continued on.  Little spots of glowing light can be seen ahead of us now.  We had now come upon the roots of the Evertree and they were barring our way...  but cradled among the roots were 4 more orbs (white, red, green & blue).  On the wall nearby was a grouping of 5 more brown orbs with spaces for 4 more orbs to go among them.  We pulled the 4 orbs out of the roots and took a little time to figure out the proper order to place them in with the brown orbs.  Once we finally got it right, the roots of the Evertree retracted up into the roof of the passage.  Beyond the roots, we found a piece of parchment, measuring 4' x 2' in size, full of strangely shaped holes, and covered in a very strange writing.  There were also 2 bags of gold nuggets.  When we laid the parchment out flat, we found that 4 of the gold nuggets fit 4 of the holes on it.

To be continued...

Game 1/24/10 Death of a Friend

Players present:Mordek, Travin, Taneus.
After dispatching the naga, the cache of items is taken topside and the serpent is beheaded as proof that the deed was carried out. After working out some details with Mendel (the shopkeeper) the question of entitlement and payment is answered. The items will be given as payment and they will be magically identified for the mere price of components. At midnight or there abouts as everyone but Queg is sorting through the items the interior of the shop immediately fills with a mist. Dwarven, Aasimar, and Orcen darkvision kicks in but only to the extent of five feet. Everyones ears pick up where their eyes have failed, they hear a wet slick sound followed by a grunt and a great thud. A soft thudding sound follows then soft footfalls on stone are heard from below. The priest moves to investigate and finds Queg prone. He immediately lays his hands on the half orc. Mendel discovers that the mist is stationary and exits the shop in time to see someone exiting the sewer from a street grate, several yards from the shop. Hearing that Queg is down Mordek moves to get his companion out of the mist so he can be assessed. Travin moves to check on Taneus and arrives in time to see the elf transform into a frilled felldrake. The beast exits the shop and gives chase on the person exiting the sewer. Travin exits inches in front of Mordek dragging Queg from the building. Travin heal checks the barbarian to find that the half orc is beyond healing and his soul has departed.

Queg Bor of Bumfor, smithy, survivor of countless encounters, seeker of the magical forges of the forgemaster Durgeddin the Black has died.

As the vultures circle, thieves and other nefarious types, with their eyes on Quegs belongings and his magical hand and a half sword, Mordek and Travin stand vigil over there fallen companion. Travin insists that he should be taken to the temple of Pelor. They send Mendel for a cart.
Giving chase, Taneus rifles through the streets but in his present shape, pedestrians scream and give the felldrake a wide berth. He catches up to the alleged assailant and spies him discussing something with the half elf lackeys that Thalinor witnessed following the group earlier in the evening. Taneus switches targets and begins to follow the two half elves. Too late Taneus realizes his mistake as the pursued turn and smile. The assassin's blade digs deep into the felldrake, as he stealthily approached Taneus from behind. The sorcerer's life blood ebbs from the gaping wound but manages, by sheer will alone, to survive. As the drow assassin's next stroke starts to fall, the felldrake hastily retreats and makes for the only place he knows he can get healing, the temple of Pelor. At the temple he dispells his disguise and drinks a potion then enters the temple.
After some time Mordek and Travin arrive with Queg in tow. Morga, the head cleric, goes over the options, none are easy or cheap. Time is not on the groups side. XP conferred, game ends.

Map!! And posting.

As hopefully all can see the Map has been updated to show a better representation of the world you are in. Also do not be afraid to comment on the things you see here or would like to see. This is kinda of an extension of the DM/Player interaction. It gives me a way to show, answer, explain things outside of our normal 3 or 4 times a month meetings. As always, live to fight another day...stand behind the dwarf!!!

Game 1/17/10

Players present: Mordek,Taneus,Travin and Thalinor.

"Whats this?, That fool has sent more lambs to slaughter."
The serpent uncoiled, slightly annoyed at the interruption.
"That was my goal after all, to feast on those he hires to exterminate me, I grow weary of the game after all."
The naga freezes, flicks his forked tongue and tastes the air.
"Four..no five of them but one is an orc, foul tasting orc. If only the elves had as much meat on their bones."
Haliox silently slithers forward listening intently. Going through, in seconds, a myriad of strategies that optimizes his labyrinthine trap laden lair.
"Ha, guards indeed, they insult my intelligence. That was said too loud on purpose."
The ruse sends the reptile's blood cold with anger, he races forward.
"If I'm to catch them between the green slime and myself, I'll have to hurry. Almost there. Ahh!"
The serpent took a moment to marvel at its prowess. That was no short distance.
"I see only three, lets see if they see me, too far for my gaze, how about a...FIREBALL. What?..That's impossible. A spellslinger, funny he doesn't taste like a kobold, he'll have to be dealt with, especially if he intends to counterspell all of my spells. Awww! thunderstones, more annoyances! So, a little fire back, no matter. Yes, closer, who will be first to fall to my gaze, If I can charm the orc, he seems formidable, but the stump of a dwarf is particularly nimble and crafty, he's reaching for something else! The other two, there they are. A priest, little wonder my gaze isn't working, they are obviously under some sort of protection...FIREBALL. Ha ha, that one made it through, though the priest tried to stop it, I fear I didn't harm the elf though, another volley of arrows. Curses the dwarf and orc are too close. OOOOOAAAAHHH! The strength of the orc is impossible and the dwarf is inside my defense, a step back and...that hurt him. Magic missiles, no ducking those, More blasted arrows from that elf. They are everywhere and nowhere. OWW, cursed dwarf. Got to get away from the orc, missiles, arrows, I can't hear them coming, the priest!! Bite the dwarf, bite the dwarf, flee, flee, flee. Nooo, Haliox doesn't die this way, not this way...cursed dwarf.

As we can see the naga fell to the companions it was a hard fought battle and no one was with out casualties. We left off with the party hovering over a cache of items. Raising the question of entitlement vs. payment. Should be interesting! We also got reacquainted with counterspelling and dispelling as a counterspell. This is clearly what is possible when the proper questions are asked and preparations are made. Some worked, some did not! In any event...Well Played!!

Game 1/3/10

Players present: Mordek, Taneus, Thalinor, Travin

Game opens as Mordek and Taneus retreat to the temple of Pelor to retrieve Travin. Travin, after hearing of the task at hand decides that he is ill prepared for such a challenge and enters into immediate prayer.
In the interim, Mordek and Taneus (with Queg) hustle through the crowd swollen streets to reacquire Thalinor. On the way, as one would expect, someone tries to relieve Queg of his hard earned belongings. The keen eyed, fast acting elf spies the would be thief and grabs his arm. Mordek, being Mordek, quickly shuffles to flank the thief and wrenches the other, dagger grasping arm into an arm lock. After a short struggle and a dislocated shoulder the thief is gruffly reminded to keep is hands to himself.
Thalinor, is found at the bar of the Crooked Crutch. He is told of the job and particulars regarding the naga. He comes along anyway. As the foursome prepare to leave the inn, Thalinor suspects some half elves of some malfeasance. Confirming Thalinors suspicions, the half breeds do, in fact, tail the group. Upon entering the temple district, the companions realize that they have either lost their pursuers or they have merely became much better at hiding.
Now that Travin has prepared himself and come to terms with his maker, he is now ready to embark on the task of liberating the magic and alchemy shop.
As the group, now five, approach the boarded and fortified shop. Thalinor spots a magical trap. A quick look from Mordek confirms that Thalinor has indeed found such a trap. The two begin to discuss how best to disarm the trap. Travin begins looking for alternate entry points. Taneus and Queg, leary of the arcane obstacle and Mordek and Thalinor's ability to deal with it, keep their distance. As Travin's search yields nothing of use, Mordek and Thalinor sigh, crack their knuckles and gingerly begin to disarm the trap... The trap springs, an alarm, as someone violently shaking a hand bell, sends hearts bounding and spectators and passerby's fleeing. The door to the upstairs living quarters slams open and the shopkeeper disarms the trap. The gaming session leaves off with the group looking into the open door of the shop and preparing to enter.

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