September 13, Year 3509 (1901 Dwarven): Our recent travels through this wood have brought us upon the camp of these cursed filthy kobolds, but apparently not in time to save some poor traveler preceding us. Judging by his remains (and by that I mean his possessions and documents, not the gruesome kitchen scraps of the vermin), I believe these to be the demise of poor merchant Yonsun. He carried a guild ring and several letters, which I fortunately had the arcane skill to cleanse before touching. Several were quite plain documents promising payment for certain trade goods and other things of a rather base nature, however one document contained a rather simple coded message which read “Lord B paid too much for something of value here. Find out what, and if it can be used against us. -A”. Had I written such an easily deciphered message, I’d be whipped out of the diplomatic towers of Sebayhil, were I not laughed out, first! It is plain that “Lord B” refers to Lord Bergen, and confirms my earlier suspicion that there is far more of worth here than would first meet the eye. The signature of “A” is rather more difficult; I suspect it may refer to Athran of the nearby Ramoth Heathlands, but I have little to back up that speculation at the moment.

Over the next several nights, as we approached the lake near the center of this land, my supporters complained of loud sounds during the night keeping them awake. At first I passed it off as some bad mushrooms they may have eaten, but in time I experienced the same unnatural fog and disturbing sounds as they. It seems quite obviously a mean illusion to me, but even the simplest of spells wielded effectively can keep a person from sleep. Fortunately, a recital of my dissertation on Adastrican import tax laws seemed to put everyone at ease, although I must admit it was not my initial intention.

Despite a comically harrowing challenge involving mobile grasses and an incident wherein the attendant cleric followed a mysterious, disembodied light into a sucking mire, we eventually reached the lake. Through the mists, I can see some sort of tower or manor, and once the sun has set some sort of lights or other activity can be seen amongst the ruin. There is certainly some sort of creature or inhabitant of this area which does not appreciate my interest! Which, of course, makes me all the more interested… The disturbing sounds at night have become louder and more insistent, and we have taken to sleeping later into the morning to get some worthwhile sleep. As we approach the tower, I am feeling myself much more healthy and prepared, the nagging wounds from the foul insects several nights earlier having finally healed; for the honor and glory of Alfaen, I am ready to face whatever foulness protects the secrets here!

After repelling the Kobold ambush on the afternoon of the 9th, Zarunal and Liath stumble upon the remains of the Kobold encampment, and witness a disturbing sight as the last members of that band slaughter each other over the remaining scraps of food left behind. Within the camp, the party discovers more evidence of the missing guildmaster, and it becomes apparent that the man, one Frederich Jonsun by name, met his end at the hands of the Kobolds. The man’s cloak is recovered, as well as the hilt of his broken rapier, some coins, and a number of miscellaneous documents including a cryptic letter from someone with the initial A

A damp and fog-bound night closes in, and our heroes do their best to get some rest, however their repose is broken by strange sounds in the forest, though the source of those sounds cannot be located.

The morning of the 10th, the crew tries once more to find the track which leads to the west, and ends up once more following the creek where they were ambushed. After trekking some miles, the sound of a person crying out in distress leads them off the track and into the forest. Liath attempts to try to locate the source of the sound, but in the process the party is led into the clutches of an assassin vine – a carniverous plant which attempts to entangle members fo the party. The ponies bolt and once more Zarunal is thrown to the ground, wounding his back and his dignity. Beyond the initial surprise, the vine proves a small threat which is quickly dealt with.

The party returns to the creek, but after some time realizes that they have gone the wrong way and ended up once more at the site of the Kobold ambush of the previous day. They camp once more, and the night noises return, more violently this time. The ponies are nearly spooked once more.

On the 11th, the party once more follows the path along the creek, and enter a foggy, marshy area. A torchlight is seen in the mist, and Savren magically detects a chaotic presense behind it. He attempts to lead the party in tracking it down, but following this shadow causes him to blunder into a mire, and he is very nearly sucked down to his doom. Abandonning the chase, the party continues west and comes to a lake where they make camp.

Camp that night is uneasy – the party have grown suspicious of these night noises, and are determined not to react to them, despite an increase in the ruckus. Thus they are somewhat surprised when a wild boar, mad with fright, charges into their camp and gores Karnack, almost fatally. Iolar, on his watch, sees a hint of light on the opposite shore of the lake.

In the morning, Iolar spots the source of the faint lights the previous night – a ruin of some kind, possibly a tower. So the party spends the 12th moving northwards around the lake, eventually stopping to camp at another creek.

The night of the 12th is the worst yet: the cries of a frightened child lead Karnack and Liath into an ambush by giant spiders. Dancing lights, disembodied screams, and other loud noises in the night terrify the horses. The party’s rest is interrupted multiple times, and they spend half the next day recuperating.

Still, as the 13th wears on, they push ahead to the lake’s opposite short and have the ruined tower in sight as night falls. They are still some hours away from their destination, but decide to press on into the night in order to get there. Just as the light gives out, Liath spots what looks like the tracks of booted feet – someone else has come this way.

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September 9, Year 3509 (1901 Dwarven): Having finally left this hamlet of Adricsdorf, it is refreshing to again smell the fresh air. I don’t know why I waited so long to do so; how people live in these cramped, dull towns of dead earth and wood I fear I shall never comprehend. Then again, perhaps it is better not to understand such things.

I digress; we traveled several days to the confluence of the Kohnnash river and Smokey creek where we found a farm tended by some simple human farmers, truly “salt of the earth” as the humans like to say. They seemed friendly enough to begin with, but became more and more restrained in their hospitality. They were far more helpful after wildly overpaying for their modest hospitality. This sort of behavior isn’t at all surprising, as I’ve become accustomed to such things from humans. They did offer some information regarding the missing merchant Jonson, who apparently passed this way some week earlier. Bidding them a farewell, we sought out the remains of the ancient road as mentioned earlier, having found it, I could identify it as well over a century in age, but it was really quite difficult to say beyond that.

We attempted to follow the road into the forest; our ranger discovered a pit, dug into the center of the road! Fortunately, no injuries, although there’s no evidence of who or why such a crude trap was built. I theorize some local savages such as kobolds may have created this for hunting. It occurred to us some time later that we had lost the trace of the old road. After some searching, we again found what looked like remains of the road. A short time later, we found a second , similar trap, then decided it was time to make camp for the evening.

During the night, we were beset upon by gargantuan insects, one of which took a liking to the taste of my own flesh! Huin be cursed, these foul beasts would have to be venomous as well!

While I sustained grievous injuries, those wounds I shall heal swift enough with Cuishi’s blessings, but I fear it may take many days before I feel recovered from the toxins.

This morning, we were attacked by a pack of kobolds, who we easily beat back. Slightly later in the day we ran into a large group of the savage beasts. By way of my magical abilities, I handily duped these stupid souls into beleiving I had summoned a pack of ghostly owlbears (!!) and we swiftly defeated these as well. Amongst the remains of these foul creatures we found an expected array of disgusting items, but also a guild ring from the Lyssasport trading guild and a crudely made mithril dagger. Could these simple kobolds have found a local source of mithril???? This mayturn out to be a more promising venture than I anticipated!

On September 5, the party leaves Adricsdorf by the west road. Lord Enfield has given Iolar a copy of Lord Birgen’s land grant so that he knows exactly which area to survey. Zarunal decides to bring his wagon for the first part of the journey after all, and in addition they have with them the pack pony provided by Lord Birgen, loaded with food, rope and some other sundries. At the end of the first day they have reached Lord Gruun’s mills at Oak Falls, where the main road crosses the Kohnnash and goes north towards Oakhaven. The Party spends the night in a farmhouse and then leaves the main road, heading south and west on a country track.

At the end of September 7th, they arrive at the last farmhouse before the wilderness. The inhabitants are aware that Lord Birgen will be coming soon, and they also inform the party that another traveller, a Guildmaster named Jonson passed through the previous week, and left his horse in their care before disappearing. He had wanted to see Lord BIrgen’s new lands himself, apparently.

On the morning of the 8th, the party sets off into the woods beyond Smoky Creek, with their two ponies in tow. They intend to follow the remains of what may once have been an old road, but Liath loses the track and they end up wandering down a game-trail. Litah also fails to notice a pit trap placed on the trail, which he and Savren blunder into. Zarunal’s quick thinking saves Savren, but Liath suffers a cracked rib.

The band leaves the trail and bears to the north until they find what they think might be their original track. Karnack is on point now, and he also blunders into a crude trap which launches an arrow into his shoulder. Savren tends to Liath’s and Karnack’s wounds, and the crew makes camp for the night. During the first watch, however, Iolar fails to notice a small pack of giant centipedes which invades the camp. His inattention costs him as one of the vermin severely injures him with fang and poison. The camp is roused and the danger dispatched quickly, but Iolar will be suffering the affects of the venom for days to come.

The remainder of the night is uneventful, but on the morning of the 9th it becomes clear that the party’s blundering progress has attracted some attention. They are ambushed by a small band of kobolds, but fight them off. Two of the enemy are killed and the rest retreat. They party continues for a few more hours along the track until it joins a creek, and shortly thereafter the Kobolds ambush them once more, with a much larger force. Karnack is caught in a snare and temporarily held down, while the others attack the party and try to make off with one of the ponies. Quick thinking and general combat prowess results in victory for the party, with the Kobold leader killed and the rest dead or fled.

On the Kobold leader’s body, a number of interesting items are found:

- numerous coins sewn into his armor
- some kind of a potion
- a signet ring, evidently belonging to the guildmaster Jonson
- a crudely fashioned metal dagger. Highly unusual in that the metal it is made from is Mithril, which is usually only found in Dwarf and Elf craftsmanship.

After this last combat, the session closes, and experience is awarded. Party total stands at 700xp each. Updates have been made to the party inventory.

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September 05, year 3509 (1901 Dwarven): Finally, I have found a suitable reason to begin exploring the wilds around this tiny hamlet of Adricsdorf. While shopping for a suitable vintage of wine for Lord Enfield's daughter's wedding. Of course, they have nothing here that could even grace the same table as the lowest vintage in Seabayhil, but suitable for the locals' taste. As I negotiated a price, I happened to overhear the conversation of a certain Zarunal Turner, a traveling halfling merchant, and several other locals. He expressed an interest in one of the errands posted by a visiting Lord Bergen to survey his new holdings to the southwest. How these humans reason on “holding” lands they have never seen, much less occupied, is beyond me. In research of this upcoming task, I inquired towards some of the local Kashemite primitives (an interesting people who deserve further study). They reported on a haunted, ruined tower in that area and warned us away from it. It sounds to my ear that an old Adastrican ruin may lie in the area. Apparently, a local blacksmith's apprentice named Horst attempted to visit this ruin and never returned.

Having accepted a token payment of 50 pieces of local gold to each of my escorts as well as a week of ration, torches, rope and a packmule, Lord Birgen supplied a copy of his grant and directions to the area, following one of the crude modern roads towards an older, overgrown road that I find quite promising. Following my attendance of the aforementioned wedding (an unsurprisingly raucous affair, due to the enchanted wine), we are to set off the following day. One last thing to note: A merchant of some note (although for what reason, I cannot even guess), was anticipated at the wedding but never showed. Apparently, he abruptly left town with all his possessions. Curious, but not nearly as curious as exploring this potential Adastrican ruin to the southeast, may its secret s bring fortune to Alfaen.

In-game date: September 1, 1901

Our heroes arrive in Adricsdorf from various directions by various means. They meet at the Wine Merchant’s tavern where Karnack of Jorontown finds an interesting notice requesting the services of a survey team to look over some land to the south and west of town. It is agreed that they look into this job. There are a couple of other notices regarding a recent “incident” at the local graveyard and bandits on the north road to Mannadan, but these are passed over for the moment.

Iolar Tuaysheartah finds some Kashwa fur trappers who are in town selling their goods and asks them if they know anything about the land to be surveyed. The trappers make mention of a plague at some time in the past which caused their people to retreat from the coastal areas, after which the “people from the sea” (the colonists from Adastrica ) moved in. They have heard tell that there is a lake somewhere in those woods, and there are rumors of an old ruined tower. The place has a bad reputation, and they recommend staying clear of it.

The group convenes at the plantation house of Lord Enfield, one of the four local petty nobles. There they meet Lord Birgen, newly arrived from Aquilonia. He’s obtained a local land grant and is eager to establish his own plantation. The survey is for the lands granted to him. He offers the adventurers 50 gold apiece and agrees to outfit them with a pack pony carrying food, some rope, torches, and map-making tools.

The group decides to take the job, some for the money, others for the adventure. Liath Adhmad is interested in exploring the inland wilds of the Western Continent, and Zarunal Turner is eager to earn whatever money he can, for he has been given a year in which to earn enough cash to pay off his indenture. They stay in town two more days so that Iolar can attend the wedding of Enfield’s daughter to the second son of Lord Gruun, another local landowner. The group prepares to set out on September 5.

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I’ve established a few more details about Gaeda – most notably a history timeline. I’ve also added a couple of new sections off the main wiki page. We will be using a modern calendar from 1901 for in-game time.

That’s probably all the world-building I’m going to do before we begin actual play. Anything else I add will be specific to the starting area of the game.

I’ve just purchased a new ZOOM H2 digital recorder, and it’s been successfully tested, so we are all set to podcast. The recorder has 4 built-in mic elements, so it can capture the entire table easily. I’m really looking forward to getting this show on the road.

I have added more details and am slowly building out details for the starting area of the campaign: the town of Adricsdorf. I’ve already gotten a few ideas about local and national politics and what interesting things might be worth investigating in the area.

This wiki format is very good for expanding and cross-referencing details, and to tell the truth it’s a bit addictive. I have to hold myself back to keep from adding way too many unnecessary details. I have to let the players fill in some of the blank space on the map as well!

I’ve begun the wiki process for our Pathfinder Game. If this works as advertised, hopefully we can all work together to consolidate notes and developments here for the game – that way we don’t have to rely exclusively on scribbled notes in an old journal, especially for something like this where I’m making it up as I go.