Characters: Drostan, Jerimiah, Silance, Ssudah, Teremia
XP: 450

The Drunken Pirate

• Sought out the Drunken Pirate based on Vance’s admission that the elven girl Rhyssa had a room there.
• Found the place in a dark, seedy corner of town.
  • Tavern occupied by four men playing cards, a man and a woman sitting at other tables, and the barkeep, Darl.
• Silance and Teremia tried to engage Darl peacefully, but things turned sour and a fight broke out.
• Defeated Darl and his cronies and coerced him into revealing the truth about the elven girl.
  • He rented a basement storage room to Rhyssa, but she disappeared and he was covering it up.
• Investigated the room and found a grate giving off a damp, dank smell.
• Ssudah stayed upstairs for a short time.
  • Offered Marion, the female patron of the bar who did not engage in the fight, a job cleaning the ship for 2 gp.
  • Made an arrangement with Darl regarding a stolen cask of Dwarven Double-Barrel.

Sewers

• Climbed down into sewer grate from Rhyssa’s room, with a warning to Darl not to block it up because there are other ways out.
• Spent a good deal of time combing the city sewers for Rhyssa.
• Stumbled into a group of large humanoid lizard creatures.
• Defeated most of the lizardfolk and intimidated the last one into taking the party to Rhyssa.
• Find the elf in a secluded room and convince her to come with the party and share information about her kin.

Characters: Drostan, Jeremiah, Silance, Ssudah, Teremia
XP: 296

Ziguraz’s Lair

• Brought a cart back from the farmhouse and used that with the table and barricades to create a barrier around door and lured some of the goblins outside.
• Dispatched those goblins and moved into the lair.
• Barricaded into the vestibule.
• Drostan used a scorching burst to explode some alchemical vapor visible in the next room.
• Ziguraz stepped forward with a large, alchemically mutated insect and started firing magic into the room before filling it with nauseating smoke.
• Insect flew into the room to attack, but was killed by the party.
• Ssudah and Jaden left the room to take stock of the area.
• Party remaining in the room was attacked by an alchemically bloated bat.
• Ssudah moved into the next room and was blinded by a goblin attack.
• Jaden tried to move forward and fell victim to the nauseating smell emanating from a large cauldron.
• The others defeated the bat as Teremia called them together to heal the group.
• Drostan was unable to get there because he was attacked by a mutant rooster.
• The party finally regrouped somewhat and advanced to Ziguraz’s inner sanctum, a dais with a large altar in the middle.
• Ziguraz taunted Drostan, calling him “istaugh,” telling him he has unrealized potential and power, and asking him to join with him.
• Teremia was also dazed by the cauldron’s overpowering odor, which did not seem to affect the goblins or their creatures.
  • She finally managed to approach it and move it off the fire.
  • Moments later a near-dead goblin dodged a javelin from Silance and an opportunity attack from Jaden to knock the contents of the cauldron onto Teremia.
• Ziguraz used his smoke cloud to great effect, maneuvering it around to keep the party from finding and focusing on him.
• He was eventually hurt badly, and in his maniacal stupor, was stunned when Teremia confronted him vocally and showed him Dalex’s scepter.
• Finished off the goblins, subdued Ziguraz.

Characters: Drostan, Jeremiah, Silance, Ssudah, Teremia
XP: 454

Common Rooms

• Find a group of prisoners tied up, mostly farmers, but among them is an elven ranger who agrees to join the party in clearing out the lair.
• The first room investigated turns out to be the one Grax warned about.
  • It contains two large bats and a sentient blob of alchemical ooze with goblin parts floating around in it.
  • Ssudah is able to distract the ooze momentarily by throwing a dead goblin corpse at it, allowing the party to gain an early upper hand.
• After dealing with the ooze, a group of goblins attacks from another room.
  • Two goblin warriors, two guard drakes, and a big, bloated goo-throwing goblin.
• The fight is joined by three more warriors, a spellcaster, and his enchanted wolf guardian just as the first ones are nearly defeated.

Prison Cells

• Down the stairs on the second level is a hallway with prison cells on either side.
  • Most contain captured farm folk, but one holds a strange, lanky creature with long arms and claws.
• This area is defended by three goblin sharpshooters and their boss.
• As the tide of the fight turns against them, the goblins release the strange creature, which attacks the wizard.
• The party eventually defeats all of the goblins.
• Find a doorway at the end of the hall which presumably leads to Ziguraz’s lair.
• Decide to rest and return the next day to finish off the goblins.
• Brace the door shut before leaving.

Loot: I do not have a detailed loot list for this session, but all of it is accounted for on Kali’s party loot list and charaters’ personal items.

Characters: Drostan, Silance, Ssudah, Teremia
XP: 325

Captive Audience

• Escape the goblin onslaught by smartly maneuvering through the woods and simply outrunning them.
• Return to town with the captured goblin and find Jaden once again trying to raise a posse.
• Party shouts him down and shows him the goblin.
  • Unfortunately, no one speaks goblin!
• Silance finds a halfling named Annabelle at the Beer & Broadsword who can translate.
• Teremia casts Comprehend Languages to listen in and make sure everything is honest.
• Information gleaned from the captive:
  • Goblins’ approximate numbers.
  • The Bile Spiders abandoned their old tribe because they were “too weak.”
  • The captured goblin is not allowed downstairs in the lair.
  • Some sort of strange creature is locked in a room upstairs.
  • 5-10 goblins and bugbears go out with each raiding party.
  • He is not aware of any other entrances, traps, or escape routes.
• Jaden wants to kill the prisoner, but Ssudah talks him out of it.
• Make a case for townsfolk to build better defenses.

Black Spider Encampment

• Annabelle agrees to find the party transportation to the Black Spider camp and says to meet her at the docks in an hour.
• Silance and Drostan try some of her infamous “fish balls” and have a hard time with them.
• Drostan bests Ssudah in a fishing competition, catching a rainbow fish that Annabelle says is used to make their “special sauce.”
• Ssudah eats the fish raw and the world gets fuzzy and colorful for a while.
• Arrive at the goblin camp and take the prisoner before their chieftess, Dalex.
• Dalex greets Grex, the prisoner, and they have a sharp debate over peace versus aggression.
• Dalex asks for news of her son and is told “he will be taken care of.”
• She pleads for the party to bring him back alive if even a shred of his sanity remains and offers what reward they can muster for his return.
• Teremia asks for a token to show him, Dalex gives her scepter, the symbol of her authority.

Assault on the Bile Spiders

• The party, with Jaden still in tow, sets out toward the Bile Spider camp again and camps overnight at a farm.
  • The farmer is enamored with Jaden and insists that he sleep in the house.
  • The rest of the party is set up in the barn.
• The farm is attacked by a goblin raiding party during the night.
• Jaden deals with a few in front of the house while the party mops up those in back.
• The next morning the party sets out for the waterfall and arrives around midday.
• Ssudah sneaks up onto the hill and tries to push one guard off the cliff but fails.
• Nonetheless, the party successfully defeats the guards and moves inside the lair.
• The inside of the lair is guarded by about a dozen goblins and two large dire rats.
• Several party members are bitten by the rats during the fight, but all manage to shake off any ill effects of the disease they carry.

Characters: Silance, Ssudah, Teremia
XP: 400

First Day in Town

• Arrive in Riverside, a medium-sized trade town on the outskirts of civilization.
• Silance and Teremia take rooms at Ballard’s Beer & Broadsword.
• Ssudah was already in town and staying at The Dancing Bard.
• Teremia stood in the marketplace for some time with a sign reading “Have you heard of Adiroth?”
• Ssudah speaks with her because he has heard the word and knows it is somehow associated with the Zaranth Empire.
• Silance visits the Beer & Broadword’s common room and is introduced to a drink called Dragonbiter Dark. She gets very tipsy and passes out after a mug and a half.
• In her drunken stupor, she hears other patrons at talking about a misshapen, mutant lizard monster attacking a lumber camp and some hunters southwest of town…or was that just the beer talking?
• Back in the marketplace, Ssudah uses his smooth tongue to talk a merchant named Drayton Mange into selling his copy of a small, tattered history book for 10 gp.
  • The book describes the reign of Emperor Lorzak at the height of the Zaranth empire.
• He also hears rumors that some outlying farms were recently attacked by goblins and a number of country folk were abducted.
• Ssudah pays a visit to the local temple and meets a priestess of Avandra named Shay who promises to contact him at the Dancing Bard if she finds any information (ed. note – about what?).
• Later at the Dancing Bard, Ssudah meets a halfling named Anabelle and a group of her friends eating balls of fish meat served with a tangy “special” sauce.
• Anabelle tells him more about the farm raids and how much of the food and grain was taken, while some other things, including valuables and an expensive sword, were curiously left behind. Ssudah is suitably outraged at this slight to food.
• Ssudah also learns from the halflings that Jaden Krym, a former soldier and small-time local celebrity is pushing to attack the goblins.
• It is said that Jaden can usually be found in the town square or marketplace championing the “cause of the day,” but it seems he is currently in the neighboring town of Nenlast on business.
• Sleep for the night at respective inns and agrees to meet up the next morning.

Lizards and Lumberjacks

• The party meets up the next morning, and after some heated debate, decides to visit the lumber camp first.
• The camp is found on the outskirts of the Ravenwood southwest of town.
• Greeted by a surly old dwarf with a thick white beard named Efram and his brother Tarly.
• Trouble winning dwarves’ trust, as they are somewhat shaken after the recent attack.
• Tarly finally pipes up and says “Well Efram, they ain’t no dwarves, but mebbe they can drink like dwarves!”
• Silance and Teremia accept the challenge, Tarly brings out a keg of Dragonbiter Dark.
• Teremia is overwhelmed by the near-toxicity of the brew and passes out after one drink, but Silance is able to finish a second.
• The dwarves are impressed and soften up a bit, sharing some information with the party, as well as a tip about some “tasty” mushrooms to be found in the forest for Ssudah.
  • There was a rune word inscribed on the lizard that was used by alchemists of the Zaranth empire.
  • The lizard came from the northeast and ran off to the south.
  • It also attacked a pair of rangers that live deeper in the woods and often sell game to the lumber camp for food.
  • Because Silance was able to hold her liquor, Efram draws a fairly detailed map to the hunters’ camp.
• The lizard’s tracks follow the map for a time, and then diverge from the path.
• The party elects to follow the tracks and comes across a gooey, reeking bear carcass that they note does not have flies crawling on it as might be expected.
• Later find signs of a scuffle which also has traces of gooey liquid and smells terrible.
• Eventually arrive at the rangers’ camp and meet Evan and Timmet. Evan has been bitten by the beast, and Teremia heals his wound.
• Evan points out to Ssudah that the mushrooms Efram always recommends are somewhat poisonous and anyone but a dwarf should probably avoid them.
• The rangers say that they slew the beast but disposed of the corpse because it smelled terrible
• They tried to follow the tracks back to their source, but lost the trail a short distance north of the lumber camp.
• In response to news of the goblin attacks, the rangers express surprise and say that the Black Spider tribe, whom they know and have dealt with, has always been peaceful to the best of their knowledge.

Leaders and Lynch Mobs

• Back in Riverside, Jaden Krym – a stocky, vociferous old soldier – is trying to raise a posse to go deal some vigilante justice to the goblins.
• Intercede and convince Jaden that the Black Spider goblins he wants to attack may not be the guilty party after all.
• Tell him the goblins which attacked the party bore red spider emblems, and convince him that symbols are an important enough part of goblin culture that there may be a second group.
• Jaden grudgingly agrees not to take action until later in the day.
• Take a halfling trade barge down the river (~30 minutes) to the Black Spider encampment.
• During the journey, the halflings say, with some surprise, that the goblins have always been peaceful and honest in their trade dealings.
• They also speak of the goblin leader Dalex and her disfigurement – the side of her face looks as if it was melted, with the skin hanging loosely off of her cheeks and chin.
• Disembark near the goblin camp, approach, and ask the first goblins seen for a meeting with Dalex to “protect the tribe from injustice.”
• Make a convincing argument and are taken to see Dalex in the center tent, guarded by two bugbears.
• Dalex, who is disfigured as the halfing said, says that her son, Ziguraz, is responsible for the attacks on the farms.
• Ziguraz was a smart young goblin who began dabbling in alchemy and believed it could lead to great power.
• Dalex wanted to stop fighting and pillaging and find a place they could live in peace.
• The two fought, and a large number of the tribe left with Ziguraz before Dalex moved the Black Spiders next to the Brightwater.
• Last she knew of them, they made their home in the forest northeast of Riverside behind a waterfall.
• Warn Dalex of the anti-goblin sentiment in town and suggest she move them to the south side of the river temporarily.
• During return to Riverside by boat, ask the halflings to spread word not to help carry troops downriver until the matter can be resolved and they agree.
• Back in Riverside, a mob has started to gather to support Jaden.
• With a bit of careful speaking and intimidation, they are convinced that they would be no match for fierce goblin warriors, and most of them disperse before Jaden arrives.
• Upon his arrival, Jaden is finally made to believe that there probably is a second goblin tribe.
• He still wants to attack the Black Spiders because “they’re goblins, and will be a problem sooner or later.”
• Some negotiation takes place, and Jaden finally gives his word “as a Knight of the Realm” not to attack either tribe for three full days.
• Buy horses and ride for the place the party was attacked to investigate further.
• Follow tracks back from camp to the waterfall and encounter a goblin patrol.
• Defeat the patrol and capture one goblin just as a large number of them spill forth from behind the water to attack.

Characters: Drostan, Silance, Teremia
XP: 200

Spiders in the Woods

• Woke in the woods after a strange shared dream to the sound of creatures grunting and speaking in a guttural language and crashing through the nearby woods.
• Spotted a party of goblins as they worked their way along a stream hacking through the underbrush.
• Attacked the goblins.
  • Teremia pushed one goblin into the river, then fell in after him.
  • Drostan was jumped by a large spider during the fight.
• Defeated goblins and spider.
• Upon inspection, one dead goblin was bloated and oozing some kind of strange fluid.
• Goblin shields and arms bear a dark red spider insignia.

Loot: Potion of healing, 130 gp

A Rough Day for Wizards

• As the party travels down the Trade Road, they are attacked by two brown-cloaked humanoids.
• One attacker wields a large axe, the other is hurling spells.
• Both relentlessly attack Drostan, ignoring the other party members despite Silance’s divine challenge.
• Drostan is knocked unconscious several times, but the party keeps him alive, kills the axe-wielding attacker, and routes the caster.
• The second brown-cloaked figure escapes into the woods.
• The dead assassin is found to be hairless, and the body bears no identifiable marks, possessions, or traits.

Loot: None.

Characters: Drostan, Silance, Ssudah, Teremia, and an elven ranger
XP: 375

The Trade Road

• Created characters, passed around introduction sheet, chose character backgrounds.
• Began campaign on a road near the town of Riverside.
• Party was set upon by a trio of dark-skinned elves (not drow) and their hunting cats.
• The elven ranger understood them to be shouting praises to Gruumsh as they attacked.
• Later Religion checks revealed that Gruumsh is not a god normally venerated by elves, and in fact, Gruumsh hates elves because Correlon put out his eye.
• Noise of combat stirred up a young black dragon in the nearby pond.
• Dragon waited for an opportune moment to strike and attacked, but was eventually brought down.

Loot: 170 gp, 1 potion of healing, +1 dwarven plate mail, 2 panther skins