Game Session: 9/23/2012

Pictures from the 9-23-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.

“You, savage,” Beldet rumbled to Geddren, “give it one of those goblin heads.”

“No, these are for The Morrigan.” She placed her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

“We still have some goblin and orc in the cloth,” Sasha said as she pulled it from her pocket. Before anyone was able to protest, Sasha pulled a carcass out. The red and slimy being slithered over to the corpse and began to devour it. As it did, flesh began to appear over the glistening muscle and blood.

“More!” it croaked as it finished off the goblin, bones and all.

They complied with the sickening creature and tossed it an orc.

Game Session: 9/23/2012

Pictures from the 9-23-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.

“What happened out there?” Geddren asked Kyrs.

“I made it out to the stone, and the words just came to me,” Kyrs panted, “then the ground opened up and this demon emerged with thousands of giant insects. They are destroying the goblin army now.”

“So were trapped down here now,” grumbled Beldet.

Aiden replied, “Well, we just asked The Oracle if she could rid the army for us. I suppose she did.”

The party returned to the pool. Kyrs, remembering the page from the book, tossed in twenty-nine more pieces of silver. From behind, he heard a sickening thick and slimy sound. He quickly turned and watched in horror as an arm, red and pulsating, without skin reached out from a pool of dark blood. It grasped the edge and pulled itself out, a disgusting humanoid being, it’s muscles and tendons rippling in the torchlight, it’s eyes staring at Kyrs as it emerged.

“Who? What are you?” Kyrs stammered.

A rasped whispered voice answered, “Help, me.”

“What is it that you want?”

With a chilled voice, it answered, “Blood.”

The party stood in horror as they realized they were trapped in the foreboding dungeon with a skinless monstrosity as the battle between demons and goblins raged overhead.

Game Session: 9/23/2012

Pictures from the 9-23-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.
Very Windy, snowing.

Kyrs got as close as he could to the closed hatch, pressing his ear against listening carefully. Satisfied that no Goblins, Orcs or Hobgoblins were nearby, he slowly opened it. A blast of freezing cold immediately ran down Kyr’s face and fell into the dark dungeon. Within the room of the ruined keep, Kyrs spied three goblins that spoke to each other in a high pitched and harsh tongue. Distracted by their boasting of each other, Kyrs slipped out from the hatch on his stomach and carefully closed it behind him without practically a sound.

As he stood, one of the grotesque goblins backed up, nearly into Kyrs. He sidestepped it carefully and then peered around the corner to view the keep’s courtyard.

The keep teemed with hundreds of snarling orcs, chittering hobgoblins and goblins. All were armed with cruel curved blackened swords, but some also held round wooden shields and others long crooked spears. Dotting the white and red skied landscape were several varieties of siege warfare. Kyrs spotted a scorpion – a large crossbow type of weapon that would hurl a long spear hundreds of feet, capable of going straight through a man. There also was another strange contraption – a wheeled machine with a pump and a long black tubular nose. Ignoring the fascinating machinery, Kyrs began to slowly move quietly through the mass of horrible monsters towards the tall black standing stone.

The weather was harsh and frigid, the wind howling through the night. As Kyrs weaved through the creatures, an orc noticed footprints in the snow. He bellowed loudly and unsheathed his darkened steel. Kyrs looked back and watched as the orc sniffed the air and began to track the prints. Kyrs quickly walked in a circle and lept away in an attempt to confuse the brute. The orc shook his head and took a swig from his wineskin before releasing a mighty belch.

Kyrs made it before the stone and as prophesized by the Oracle, strange words flooded into his mind. He spoke aloud towards the heavens.

“Oboedient voci meae virtutis daemonum infernalium. Ego invocabo dominum muscarum et temerator puritatis, potestatem Abaddon. Ut ego te invitem animam tuam et egredimini ad imperium mundi.”

As the words poured out of his mouth, the skies began to redden and the sounds of swarming locusts screamed from above. When the last words were spoke the ground broke open and a fiery plume erupted out onto the ruins. Wreathed within the flames was a terrible being that stood nearly twenty feet tall and reeked of decay towered a hideous insectoid monstrosity. Hundreds of terrible insectoid monsters poured out of the ground, they were the size of ponies and winged like a fly. Huge pinchers snapped in the air as they hissed from their distorted man-like faces. A long scorpion’s tail hunched over their backs that dripped with dribletts of thick venom, ready to strike.

The goblins, orcs and hobgoblins began to scatter and fight as the insects attacked from above. Landing in crowds of them, snapping goblins in halves with their claws, stabbing them with their tails obliterating the humanoids.

Kyrs ran back towards the room with the ladder in it to escape back to the dungeon. One of the huge insects dropped from the sky right in front of the door and raised it’s tail in a striking position. Kyrs stopped in full run and slipped in the snow, falling right before the creature. He scrambled inches away from a deadly strike of the tail, then stood and drew his sword.

A group of orcs rushed up from the flank to meet the creature with attack. Kyrs, still being invisible, slipped to the side of the battle and slid back into the room. He then opened the hatch and descended back into the dungeon as the bizarre insect snipped the arms and heads off of the orcs. As he climbed down, Kyrs took one last look at the carnage outside and witnessed thousands and thousands of small locusts crawling over the bodies, stripping the flesh from the fresh corpses in a clouded ravenous red frenzy.

Game Session: 9/23/2012

Pictures from the 9-23-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.

Sasha approached the pool and drank from it. She asked, “What can you tell us about the goblin and orc army above?”

The pool glowed blue as the disembodied voice gently replied, “In order to know of them, I need something from them.”

“We have some goblin and orc blades,” Kyrs reminded the party, “and Geddren has those goblin heads on her belt.”

“Those heads are for The Morrigan,” Geddren said sharply.

The party agreed to place several items they had collected into the pool. They placed a wicked Orc blade into the pool. It sat in there for several seconds before the pool darkened into a black water, when it cleared the blade was gone. They then placed the head of a hobgoblin into the pool. The rock walls began to glow a strange reddish hue as the water in the pool bubbled around the hideous head. As the party watched in horror, the skin and hair of the creature began to peel off revealing the skull. It was not long before the skull was melted away within the frothing waters.

The calming voice of the Oracle then spoke again, “There are hundreds of orcs, goblins and hobgoblins above now, searching for you.”

An echoing laugh from the darkness was heard by several in the party.

Geddren asks what else the Oracle can tell them of the army above, in which the Oracle responds that she needs more of them. Sasha began to pull an orc body from out of the magical cloth.

The sound of stone sliding on stone reverberates within the cavern. Geddren then felt a tug on her arm, no one was behind her. “Something isn’t right here,” she said quietly, “I just felt something pull my arm.”

Elora Nightshade whispered, “That sounded like the door opening.” and Keldon agreed.

Aiden drank from the pool and asked the Oracle, “Are we alone here?”

“No.”

Geddren drank, “What is here with us?”

“Something dark, evil — some say demon, others say devil. A dark entity,” the Oracle replied.

The party continues to drink from the pool and ask questions. Everytime they do, they began to grow irrational fears. Geddren notices that the fingernails of the others are slimy and grotesque, dirty and loathsome. She wants no one to touch her or be too close with their disgusting fingernails. She also catches glimpses of leeches and worms, but there are none there. She rubs her arms and shivers, imagining the horror of parasitic creatures crawling over her skin.

Kyrs suddenly finds himself disgusted by the sight of hair…. Nasty and stringy, full of tangles, filth and probably bugs. He wants to get nowhere near anyone and considers the cleanliness of his own as he begins to scratch it.

Beldet imagines in his mind a large wedding, the sound of flutes and piccolos meandering through the cheers and smiles of the crowd. Beldet grimaces at the thought in his mind and separates himself from it as much as he is able.

The party leaves the pool, Keldon and Sasha behind to investigate the sound of the door. They find it wide open, and hear another deep sinister laugh clearly. Madmorsight takes some of the pots and pans he found from the ruined keep and fastens them to the doors, hoping they will provide an alarm if the Goblins and Orcs should breach the dungeon. Elora studies the glyphs and wards carved within the walls. She took at some charcoal and parchment and began to rub the carvings onto the paper. Kyrs and Geddren helped.

Meanwhile, Sasha pushes the body of the orc into the pool and asked more questions.

The party returned to the room with the pool to find Sasha on the other side of the room, cowering away from the shallow water.

“Whats the matter with her?” Beldet growls.

“Don’t know,” Keldon answered, “She pushed in the orc and drank from the pool. Then she went hysterical. Crying about how the waters were scary, drowning and other nonsense.”

Sasha mumbled, “Just keep me away from the waters.”

“Well, I guess the Oracle knows more about the orcs now,” Kyrs states as he pitched a silver coin into the pool, “Let’s she what she knows.”

The pool glowed and the Oracle spoke, “Outside there is a large standing stone, if you can go out there and speak words, I can provide the destruction of the army above.”

“But there’s too many of them up there, how are we supposed to get past them to the stone?” Geddren questioned.

Kyrs lighted up with brilliance and pulled out the pouch given to him by the faerie lord. “With this! The invisibility powder.”

Keldon nodded in agreement, “Yes, but what of their sense of smell?”

“I’ll rub the bodies on me, that should help,” Kyrs said.

The party left the caverns and gathered beneath the hatch that led back to the ruined keep. Sasha was left behind with a single torch, as she refused to cross the water. They asked to use her magical cloth and she agreed.

Kyrs then rubbed as many bodies on him as he could, then pulled out the pouch that contained the invisibility powder. It dripped with flickering specks of light that pushed the darkness away for brief moments. He opened the pouch to find a brilliant light. Inside with the powder was a small mirror and a tube. Madmorsight took down his pots and pans from the hatch, Beldet helped by putting them into the magical cloth.

With a loud sniff, Kyrs snorted the magical powder of invisibility and began to fade away before the party’s eyes. All of his clothing and possessions also disappeared. He quietly climbed the ladder.

Game Session: 7/29/2012

Pictures from the 7-29-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.

Keldon stepped away from the pool, unsure if the words that he had read were true. Sheathing his sword, Madmorsight walked to the edge of the pool, knelt and cupped his hands into the cool still water. It shimmered before him with a myriad of strange colors, the way oil looks on top of water. He brought the water to his lips and drank deeply.

The water illuminated deep blue and lit the room in sparkling hues, a disembodied soft female voice rang out and echoed within the cavern, surrounding them with her soothing sounds. “Ask bodly, but not overbold, lest answers make your blood run cold.”

Madmorsight stood up, “How can I be rid of this demon, Anitawa?”

The pool rippled lightly and the voice rang out again, “If you have the sword, I can rid you of it. Perhaps.” The waters then grew dark and still.

Geddren approached the pool next and dipped her hands to the waters and drank.

Again, the pool lit up in a beautiful display and the voice radiated, “Ask bodly, but not overbold, lest answers make your blood run cold.”

Geddren wiped her mouth with her sleeve, “How do we get out of here?”

“The only way out, is the way that you came in.” Dark and still the waters returned.

“Are my birth parents alive?” Kyrs asked aloud after drinking from the waters.

“They are not, but you may bring them back…” the Oracle hinted. The bright blue faded again.

Elora leaned down and drank from the waters, lighting them again. The Oracle repeated her warning, “Ask bodly, but not overbold, lest answers make your blood run cold.”

She asked The Oracle, “What is the purpose of the black mirror we found here?”

“The black mirror is a scrying mirror. It will show what was, what is, and what has not yet come.”

Beldet drank then held up the key he found from around the skeleton’s neck, “What is this key to?”

“That key is to the chest.”

Keldon then knelt at the pool and drank from the Oracle. When asked, he responded, “Is there anything that we can do for you?”

“Somewhere, there is a vase. It is red and covered with runes of gold. Bring it here to me.”

Game Session: 7/29/2012

Pictures from the 7-29-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.

Beldet and Madmorsight walked slowly into the hallway, the walls stone blocks and the floor the same riverstone as the rest of the dungeon. The hallway angled downwards, and was slippery with algae from water that ran gently down to the darkness. Kyrs was the last person to enter the secret hall, he searched, and found a handhole that would open the door from that side. He closed the door carefully, making sure that it closed and locked.

They continued down, and found that the hall ended at a natural cavern with a high ceiling of about fifteen feet. It dripped with thin straw-like pipes of stalactites and water. The walls glittered in the orange torchlight from the water and chips of mica. A stream entered the cavern from the north, moving placidly in a series of tiers and boulders. The floor was fairly uneven, rocky and muddy. Most notable, all along the walls were human skulls and bones, stacked in carved recesses of the cavern walls. There must have been hundreds of them.

After a brief exploration resulting in little, the party continued southwards to find a chasm, the stream splashed into a dark pool at the bottom which was shrouded by darkness. The remains of a rope bridge were here, but the wooden mooring posts were rotted and bits of rope still attached were even worse. The party fixed a rope to a nearby boulder, and used it to climb down one by one. They found themselves in a cold pool about knee high with a very rocky floor. The pool ended at another wall. Kyrs scaled it easily and threw another rope over to pull the party up to the other side. As Elora waded through the pool, she slipped into a small crevice. A long black tentacle shot out of the water and grabbed her by the arm, the pulled her to the shallows. Beldet concentrated on the creature using his ring to try to gain control of it, but it did no good as the creature continued to viciously attack, pulling Elora towards it’s hidden mouth filled with teeth. Beldet struck the creature with his sword and it immediately let go. Elora gasped for air as she emerged from the water, bleeding from the tentacled creatures mouth. She quickly climbed up the rope as Beldet looked for the beast to no avail. It seemed to have disappeared into the rocks. He continued to poke and prod the waters and stones, trying to flush it out, but eventually gave up and climbed the rope to try another tactic.

Once on top of the chasm edge, Beldet took the rope and began tossing it into the pool, hoping to lure the creature. Eventually, with some careful tactics he was able to pull the creature in. It was an oily black slimy creature looking somewhat like a squid with pulsing red veins and having only three tentacles. It’s strange otherworldly eyes glowed with a pale lavender light. They put the creature into the magical cloth.

The group moved further south into the cave. They found a remarkable and large chamber, it’s ceiling so high it ended in shadow. It was a wonder of natural rock formations and columns. Everything glistened with mica, water droplets and gypsum crystals. Roughly in the center of the grotto was a natural pool with what appeared to be natural, pure water. Along the edge of the pool were large smooth stones placed in a circle around it. On the first stone, nearest to the entrance carved on the stone were runes. Keldon approached the stone and read outloud, “It says, Behold the Oracle of the Grotto. Drink and be answered.”

Game Session: 7/29/2012

Pictures from the 7-29-12 Session

Ruined Keep of The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.

Kyrs lit a torch and descended the iron ladder carefully into the dark unknown. The air was thick with moisture, and the smell of mold was heavy in the air. The walls were carved stone blocks, the floor damp riverstones. It was dusty and filled with cobwebs. To the south, steps lead further down into the shadows. Kyrs waited as the members of the party climbed down the ladder one by one. Beldet was last, he did his best to try and cover the trapdoor with soil and rubble before closing it. Elora lit a torch herself as they waited.

They begin to walk slowly down the steps, every movement they made echoed off of the walls making them louder than they were. Along the walls were hundreds of strange sigils marked with by a white chalk.

Elora’s eyes suddenly widened and she grasped her torch tightly till her knuckles turned white, “There’s something very bad down here. We need to leave. We need to leave now!”

Kyrs looked at her, realizing that something was wrong with her, “What? What is it?”

“I suddenly felt a cold chill, and a breeze from nowhere.” Elora clutched onto her amulet with her other hand, “You know I don’t get cold, something is wrong.”

Beldet, still being in front of the ladder said, “We’re not going back up there.”

“We’ll be fine,” said Geddren as she put her hand on Elora’s shoulder.

Kyrs continued on downstairs, past the wall of sigils. At the foot of the stairs was an archway that lead to a chamber. It was a room thirty feet by thirty with a vaulted ceiling to the height of about twelve feet. In the center of each of the four walls were another arched doorway, the south and north doorways held large wooden doors. The room smelled of damp stone, and the northern wall was stained by rust and water that collected in a stagnant puddle on the floor. As they walked in, they noticed there was broken black glass about the floor. On the wall was a dark wood frame with shards of broken dark glass still held within.

Sasha, Elora and Keldon stayed in the large chamber with the broken mirror, while the rest investigated the room to the south. The door leading into the room was stuck, but with the massive combined strengths of Beldet and Morsight, they were able to muscle it open.

Beyond the door was a room approximately thirty by sixty feet in size. The ceiling was vaulted to nearly ten fight. The room smelt badly of rot, and was filled with various crates, bags and barrels – all of which were rotting, damaged or sprouting tiny pale violet mushrooms, yellowish mold and the like. The walls in this room were all damp to the touch, and there were puddles all along the riverstone floor. The party began to search and scavenge, searching for anything useful. A small metal shield was found, it had little rust on it and was still quite usable. Geeddren claimed it as her prize. Kyrs began prying open some of the wooden crates and discovered a cache of copper plates, engraved with beautiful scrollwork. He began to pile and appraise the worth of them, putting them into the magical cloth. A sack of coins was also found. While searching through the refuse, Madmorsight ended up touching some type of strange mold, sending out a cloud of spores into the room. Everyone coughed and struggled to get out of the room, afterwards, some of them felt very lightheaded and weak.

Still feeling fine, Beldet and Morsight opened the door in the north wall, this one stout with a window with iron bars. Beldet opened the door, it creaked loudly as it opened. There was a room, nearly twenty feet square. A light patch on the floor near the north wall was on the floor, indicating that something was once there, above the patch on the wall were iron pegs. Empty sconces near the door once held torches, but were now long empty. To the east was another door, with a large sliding bolt on their side. They removed the bolt and opened the door with a loud creak that echoed throughout the underground halls.

Carefully, Beldet walked into the room with sword in hand. Madmorsight was behind, holding The Sword of Anitawa and a torch to light their way. The light clawed and fought away the dark to reveal a long and low hallway with iron-barred doors hanging open on both sides. Darkness shrouded the end of the hallway. Morsight and Beldet bravely continued forward into the hall that reeked of rot and corruption. As they walked by each cell they saw decomposed human skeletons and remains, some still wearing their rotten and tattered clothes. They made their way to the end of the hallway to find the last skeleton, collapsed against the wall, garbed in a suit of mail that was more powdered rust than metal and held a short sword. As they inspected the skeleton closer, the sound of a creaking iron door opening was heard from behind them.

To their horror, out of the cell climbed a shambling skeleton. It’s thin wicked fingers wrapped around the cell door, eye sockets dark and empty. Another cell door flew open and more of the rotting figures emerged out into the hall and began shuffling towards the two brave fighters. Morsight unleashed his fury first, cleaving bone and decomposing flesh. Beldet followed suit and hacked off the femur bone of one the horrors. Then, from behind they were attacked by the skeleton wearing the mail and brandishing a sword. They quickly realized that they were trapped in the hallway as the decomposing prisoners swarmed them.

From within the center room, as he was counting coins, Kyrs heard the battle shouts of his friends and the sound of sword splintering bone. He dropped the gold and rushed towards the cacophony as he pulled his own blade. As he rounded the corner and came to the door of the cellroom, he was met face to rotting face of several horrid skeletons reaching their bony fingers towards his throat. Kyrs swung his knife as he backed away from the repulsive sight. As the skeletons crossed the threshold of the cellroom, they collapsed into a pile of bone, dust and powder. The three left the hall together shaken, and returned to the fellowship.

Elora stood in the room, her arms raised to the air, drawing energy to herself while speaking strange words. The broken mirror began to glow while the shards and bits of black glass scattered on the floor rattled. A small flash erupted and suddenly, the mirror on the wall was once again whole. Before the mirror stood Elora, with Beldet just behind her, captured within the reflection. They both looked to the mirror and saw a forest of ice, like silver sculptures glittering in an ethereal mist. Elora was within a block of bluish ice, clear and perfect. Beldet stood behind her, frosted and decaying, trying to break her out of her frigid prison. A frosted face looked from above with burning blue eyes, laughing. The reflection of the mirror then faded away to a black nothing.

Elora put the mirror into the magical cloth, not mentioning the visions she saw within and unknowing what meaning it held. With only one doorway left to explore, the party carefully entered.

The chamber was nearly twenty feet wide, fifty feet long and vaulted to about twelve feet. Dominating the room, along the western wall, was a great relief – several knights with intricate scrollwork carved into the stone. Empty sconces, fashioned in the likeness of human skulls were bracketed on either side of the great relief giving the chamber a sinister likeness. The wall seemed to be damp, water seeped through the ceiling and across the relief to puddle on the floor. Otherwise, the room was empty.

The party searched for anything in the room that was out of the ordinary. They ran their fingers into the cracks and crevices, hoping to find a trigger or key to an unknown door. Finally, after searching for over a half hour, Kyrs pulled on one of the skull sconces, and it moved downwards as a lever. Stone scraping on stone grumbled as the the relief opened slightly, revealing a secret passageway into the dark. From the darkness, the plink-plunk of dripping water and the murmur of a stream could easily be heard.

Game Session: 7/29/2012

Pictures from the 7-29-12 Session

The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.
Cold, Cloudy, Light Winds

The party began to scavenge the fallen goblins, orcs and hobgoblins. They found strange blades of blackened steel, arrows shafted by unusual wood topped with hard black-glass arrowheads, strange small skulls, feathers and pouches of powder and sands.

Kyrs closed his eyes and put his hand on his ring. “What was that lady’s name again?” he blurted out.

Beldet asked, “which lady?”

“The lady from the store, the one who sold us this ring.”

Elora knew Kyrs was referring to Obscura. “Evan,” she answered.

“That’s her.” Kyrs concentrated on Evan and thought within his mind, do you have any need for any goblin or orc weapons? Or even a body?

A minute went by before there was a response, but Kyrs could clearly hear her nasally voice respond, yes, yes that is something we would be interested in buying.

Kyrs asked Sasha if she would allow him to place some of the objects within the magical cloth. She agreed and unfolded it. To the disbelief of Aiden and Geddren, Kyrs began putting in an assortment of blades, arrows, pouches and several bodies into a cloth.

The weather was growing deadly cold. Morsight began collecting dried branches and brambles together and placed them in the corner of the keep in order to build a fire. Elora helped. Geddren found her strange circular weapon and returned it to her possession. Finding the fallen goblins that she had slain herself, she took her sword and beheaded them. Several of which, she hung from her side. Her crow, standing on a wall nearby cawed loudly in the cold air.

Beldet walked towards Geddren, looked at her heads with disgust and asked, “what are you doing?”

“I’m taking these heads for the Morrigan,” she said as she cut through the neck of a goblin.

“What is the Morrigan?” Beldet said, never hearing of such tales of anything known as the Morrigan.

“She is my patroness.”

“So she’s like the Virgin Mary?” Beldet smiled.

Geddren looked at Beldet and said firmly, “no, she’s nothing like that.”

“You’re a savage. Look at you with your dirty furs, beheading things and hanging them from your belt. You talk to this beat up, nasty bird that smells like rot.”

“Don’t talk about Babd.” Geddren threatened.

Kyrs interrupted, “It will be dark soon, we should search the keep and see if we can find better shelter.” He walked towards the south tower, with his blade in hand – remembering of archers that were up there before. Keldon was not far behind him. Beldet scoffed, and motioned with his head for Aiden and Sasha to join him as he walked north.

Inside the south tower, Keldon and Kyrs found a rusted ladder leading upwards towards a hatch in the ceiling. Kyrs carefully went up the ladder, his dagger in hand, and opened the hatch slowly. Finding nothing to be alarmed of, he went through the hatch. Here he found the arrow loops the archers had shot at them from, but there were no archers. Piles of stone rubble laid all about, the ceiling gone from years of weather. However, he now had an excellent vantage point to look from. Keldon climbed up after him shortly. Kyrs looked to the south, and could see two figure running away. He pulled his spyglass and looked. There, from out of bow range, he saw several goblins running away. He followed their path farther south. A dark mass of hundreds of teeming figures were marching towards the ruined keep. An army of goblins, hobgoblins and maybe orcs, armed with spears and swords. Kyrs couldn’t count them all, but he estimated it to be at least a hundred strong, and would be to them in nearly an hour. Keldon pointed out a ratty and torn banner hung on the wall. It was of a red horned man, holding a pitchfork in one hand, and a skull in the other on top of a yellow field. They both scrambled down the ladder to inform the rest of the party of the army.

As Kyrs and Keldon were searching the south tower, Beldet, Aiden and Sasha went north and found a room full of debris, crumbing stone and rotted wood. It smelt faintly of wet fur and dog, Chelsea wagged her tail as she began sniffing in the corners and crevices. Old gnawed bones littered the floor, but Beldet’s canine ignored them. Beldet walked into the room first, and found a chest beneath the frame of a collapsed wooden cot. He tried to open it, but it was locked and secure. He tried to force it, but it would not budge. Frustrated, he threw it to the hard rubble hoping to open it. The chest smashed against the rocks with the sound of wood splintering and cracking, coupled with the shrill shattering of glass. Smokey liquid ran down into the dirt floor from the broken chest. From the remains, Beldet found a moldy cloth bag, he dug his hands inside and pulled 35 copper coins. The rest of them entered as Beldet counted his find. They found many bones from mostly sheep, cattle and deer. They also found the remains of a human, his flesh gone leaving only bone and a suited of worn and rusted chainmail. Around his neck was a hemp necklace, attached to it a rusted iron key. Beldet took the key and pocketed it.

By then, Geddren had finished claiming her spoils and heads. Kyrs and Keldon emerged from the south tower to tell them, Morsight and Elora of the oncoming goblin horde. They had a small fire already ablaze, in case they were unable to find any shelter – but now were concerned with more than just warmth. A place to make a stand was now of paramount importance. The ruined keep was no longer secure and easily defended. Only two walls still stood, the rest were crumbling piles of blocks the creatures would be given little trouble to breach. They all agreed, with the oncoming cold of the night the wilds were no place to run. They would have to make their stand at the keep. The five of them walked north, towards where Beldet, Sasha and Aiden last were.

They met the three as they walked out of the ruined room. It was then, with the sky growing dark that they noticed that there was a wall of wavy and slowly changing colors. Greens, pinks and purples dominated the sky like ghostly wavering clouds. Another unusual sign of the changing weather. Some of them wondered if it had anything to do with Queen Mab and her plans to pull their world into Tirnanog.

Kyrs ignored the fascinating display. “There’s an army of goblins and orcs headed our way,” Kyrs stated as he pointed to the south, “I don’t know how many there are, or how long it will before they get here – but we need to make haste and find shelter.”

“How many do you think there were?” asked Beldet.

Kyrs stammered, “Not sure – a hundred, maybe two hundred? A lot.”

“A lot. And I bet you’re not sure how long we have either before they get here?” Beldet said as he looked in the sky, estimating when the night would come, “Well we had better hurry, there’s gotta be a dungeon or something in these ruins.”

Madmoresight broke in, “did you find anything in there?” nodding towards the room they had come out of.

“I found a chest. Wouldn’t open. So I smashed it. Bunch of glass broke inside and some liquid poured out.” He jangled the cloth bag in the air, coins clinked inside, “but I found some copper.”

Geddren looked at Beldet and said sternly, “You smashed it? And you call me the barbarian?”

Ignoring her comment, Beldet added, “Oh, and I found this key.”

Geddren turned away and growled, “We better get moving.”

Elora looked to Sasha, “Perhaps you should take point at the south tower, warn us if the army gets close.”

Geddren took off her horn and handed it to Sasha, “Here, use this if they get close.” Sasha took the horn and marched off towards the tower, her bow in hand.

Kyrs, Keldon and Geddren searched one room to the south, while Beldet, Aiden and Morsight searched a room to the southeast. Kyrs carefully slipped into the dark chamber, it’s roof still intact, but door rotted from the hinges. Cobwebs dominated the corners and ceiling of the chamber. Laying about on the floor were many moldy and dusty books. Many were rotten and fragile that crumbled upon picking up, some so thick with muck and water that they were completely unreadable. Kyrs began to search through them to see if he could find any that were still legible. As he did, he found a small silver bell, laden with small and unusual glyphs. He finally was able to find one book that had only two pages unscathed from the elements. One page was a sigil – an illustration of a horned humanoid with four arms. One the next page, it read something of thirty silver coins to Judas – paid to betray Jesus. Kyrs could not read much more of it, the writing was old and elaborate. He also found a slip of paper that read, “…lies beneath the north tower in the Crystal Grotto.” Keldon took a look at the book and placed it down, saying that the illustration was not anything that he knew of.

While Kyrs, Aiden and Geddren searched the room of cobwebs and books, Beldet, Aiden and Madmorsight search the chamber to the southeast. It was a large room, a large oak table had fallen in the center of the room. Rusted iron pots and pans, kitchen utensils were scattered on the floor and hanging from thick hooks on the walls. At the end of the eastern wall a large fireplace dominated the wall, it’s blackened stones long since gone cold. Beldet walked into the room with his blade drawn. From a corner, a snake shot out at Beldet. It plinked off if his armor harmlessly, Beldet quickly cleaved it in two. It was thick headed, with zigzag markings of black or dark brown on its back – a poisonous adder. They searched the ruined kitchen but were unable to find anything of real value. Madmorsight proudly walked out with an armful of pots and pans.

The party, except Sasha who remained as lookout, met together in the muddy courtyard. The only place to look was the north tower. Only the walls of the tower still remained, standing some twelve to fifteen feet high. Sockets where the roof beams divided the second floor from the ground level were still visible, but the wooden beams and flooring were long gone. An iron ladder was bolted to the north wall, but it lead to nothing but a rusted end. They searched the room, but not find anything. Remembering the note he had found, Kyrs began searching the floor. He moved the rubble and soil away from where the ladder stood and uncovered a trapdoor. He tried pulling it open, but was unable to. He asked Beldet for the key he had found, with it the door opened.

Game Session: 7/1/2012

Pictures from the 7-1-12 Session

The Blood Marsh, Hampshire, England.
Cold, Cloudy, Light Winds

The travelers made their ways through The Blood Marsh, a bog laden with soft wet mud and barren trees. The cart had a difficult time getting through the wetlands, but the strength of the bear pulled them on. Kyrs was allowed to sleep for nearly six hours before Madmorsight woke him by returning the amulet to his neck. They could see the ruined keep off in the distance, sitting atop a gray hill – the walls crumbled and taken by the overgrowth of shrubs, brambles and thickets.

As Kyrs rubbed his eyes and adjusted to the new surroundings, he caught a strange blur moving through the dead trees behind them in the distance. It was quick, and pale blue and too fast for him to discern what it was. The party continued on towards the keep, Kyrs kept his mouth shut but pulled his bow out as he watched. Another flash of the strange being, lightning fast, directly behind them. Kyrs quickly strung his bow, but whatever it was did not appear again.

Soon, they stood before the ruined keep. A long stone bridge spanned over a stagnant brown moat, leading to the barbican. The sun was not far from setting and the cold began to deepen. Stairs led up towards the gatehouse and the bridge. Beldet unfastened the bear from the cart. A war shriek then sounded from the barbican. There stood a hideous little goblin, it’s pointed ears long and pulled back with fury, his green muscles rippling. He held a spear and shook it at the party, daring them to cross.

Beldet jumped on the back of the bear, drew his sword and charged towards the monstrosity. The great bear’s gallop was awkward, nearly throwing Beldet off, but he held on strong and maintained the charge. From the south tower, which still stood, arrows rained from the loop holes towards Beldet and the great brown bear. Several shafts went into the brave fighter, but Beldet continued to charge and pummeled into the little creature, flinging it against the wall. The bear tore into the goblin, ripping it to shreds. Beldet found the barbican’s ceiling to be caved in, leaving little room to climb over the rubble to gain access to the keep. The ancient portcullis were nearly rusted completely away. He called for the others to cross the bridge and had the bear shove the rubble aside, clearing a path.

Sasha strung her bow and took cover in the interior of the gatehouse, hiding behind the corner of the doorway. She fired several arrows, but they bounced off of the blackened stone walls of the tower harmlessly. Madmorsight sprinted across the bridge with Keldon right behind, trying to keep up with the tall man. More arrows were unleashed from the south tower, many striking the two men as they ran across the bridge.

As Aiden and Geddren crouched down, readying themselves to sprint into a hail of deadly arrows, Elora stopped them. She waved her hands and shouted words in an unknown language and motioned towards the arrow slits.

“Run!” Elora shouted to the party.

Arrows once again poured from the tower, they flew out towards the rest of the party dashing across the bridge, but this time they caught some strange and unnatural force that seemed to make the arrows light as feathers. They drifted and fluttered down harmlessly as the remaining five party members made it across the bridge safely. Sasha grabbed several of the arrows off of the ground, adding them to her quiver once safely beneath the cover of the crumbled barbican. They could hear the war cries of more goblins from within the ruined keep.

Morsight quickly moved past the rubble to find the keep swarming with the disgusting goblins, some firing from the walkways along the curtain walls that still stood, others firing from the ground. Beldet and his bear was being fired upon from all sides. Sasha, Keldon, Kyrs and Geddren slipped past the rubble, leaving Aiden and Elora in the barbican to protect the rear.

Sasha began to return the arrow fire as Morsight joined Beldet in taking down a group of snarling goblins armed with menacing cleavers and twisted swords. Geddren pulled a strange weapon out, a bladed steel circle about a foot in diameter. She threw it at the closest goblin and it cut threw the beast easily, spouting it’s green blood to the ground. Kyrs ran into the melee with sword, hacking at beasts.

A horn blew out, it’s sound shrill and hideous. Then a loud guttural roar from a beast was heard, then several more. From around the corner of the keep, three beastly and strong humanoid monsters emerged. Each was muscular and dark, patched with coarse black hair. Their faces a combination of ape and boar, tusks stained a grotesque yellow. Armed with black swords and cruel maces, covered with crudely fashioned mail and leather. From the stories they had heard from childhood, these were the monsters that were called Orcs.

Keldon gasped beneath his breath, “It can’t be.”

Beneath the bridge, a swarm of creatures climbed up the stone columns from the murky waters where they emerged before Elora and Aiden, muddy and disgusting and howling. But these were not goblins, they were larger, and skinnier, their teeth longer and more numerous. Not as large as orcs, but far smellier. They rushed towards Elora and Aiden with a surge of bladed weapons and hungry yellow eyes.

“Get down!” Elora screamed as she put her thumbs together, fingers spread out in a fan. Aiden dropped to the ground as Elora unleashed a blanket of flame just as the monsters were upon them. The fire spread across the beasts and covered them instantly, burning nine down within a manner of seconds. Some of the fire caught Aiden as well, but he survived the deadly fire. He looked back to see the screeching monsters swallowed by orange and red flame, dropping to black and charred figures. The ones that survived turned and ran, some climbing back down the columns, others leapt to the water. They weren’t sure, but the creatures may have been hobgoblins.

Beldet continued to dodge blows, but lost concentration of keeping the bear within his control. The brown beast ran, and lumbered through a crowd of hobgoblins that appeared near the orcs. It was the last time they seen the bear.

Morsight ran up towards the walkway along the curtain walls to take down the goblin archers. Geddren stayed with Beldet to dispatch the deadly orcs, all the while being shot at from a group of hobgoblin archers. Keldon picked up a goblin blade and opened the door to the south tower. Kyrs heard a scream from the tower and went in to find Keldon being attacked by a gray and hairy spider the size of a dog. Kyrs shot the spider down with bow, but Keldon did not look well – his mouth foaming and his arm swollen and red.

The party continued to slay and kill many goblins, hobgoblins and five orcs before the battle was finished. It was a tough fight, Geddren, Sasha, Aiden and Keldon did not look good.

Game Session: 7/1/2012

Pictures from the 7-1-12 Session

The New Forest, Hampshire, England.
Cold, Cloudy, Light Winds

Returned to the woods, north of the Hatchet Lane the fellowship decided, despite Geddren’s warnings, that they would investigate the ruined keep of the Blood Marsh. Beldet was determined to take Claude’s cart with them, and asked Geddren if she could have her crow seek out some type of animal in the woods…

The bird returned later, and cawed at them to follow. It flapped it’s large black wings and flew towards the heavy woods. It was not long before it lead them before a large brown bear. The bear caught their scent, stood up and roared ferociously. The beast was large with huge fearsome black claws and sharp teeth. To Geddren and Aiden’s surprise, Beldet walked calmly towards the bear.

The bear stopped it’s disturbing bellows and began to coo as a mother bear would do to care for her cubs. Beldet continued to walk to the subdued beast and stroked it’s head lovingly. Aiden said softly, “A BearWalker, he is.”

Not wanting Beldet to be mislabeled, Elora whispered back, “No, he has a ring that allows him to control all animals.”

Aiden looked at Elora with surprise, “then a BeastMaster!” Elora rolled her eyes and walked away. Getting out his rope, Beldet began to fix it about the bear, making a harness for it to attach to the hand drawn cart. He lead it back to the road where the cart was left, and tied the bear off to it. As he did so, Kyrs climbed into the back of the cart and made a makeshift bed, took off his amulet and fell asleep. Satisfied the creature was fastened well, Beldet climbed atop the bear and rode towards the Blood Marsh. Everyone else marched behind.