Note: I’m beginning after the Slaver adventure ended – I likely won’t go back and log previous campaign material.
Session Date: 1/20/2007
After rescuing Gaebril Beltran, the merchant Thaddeus and the lady Arianhrod de Turis from the Slavers in Highport, the party was able to rest for approximately a month, and take care of any personal interests, research and crafting of items.
After a month at Count Beltran’s manor in Safeton, Gideon received a message by bird from his father in the Shield Lands. He’d received a request from an old friend – Lord Clavados Blake, that they needed a bit of outside assistance in his homeland – The Ffenargh – a county of mostly swampland to the south east of Greyhawk.
The characters traveled to The Ffenargh and discovered that indeed – it was a dank and rather dismal place. It was always cloudy and misty, and is colder than the surrounding country. There were virtually no travelers on the roads, and the first village the party came to in The Ffenargh was abandoned. In this village, the characters were lured toward a clearing outside of the village by an Owl that seemed to posses unnatural intelligence and communicative abilities. The PC’s discovered the bodies of several common folk there, but were attacked by an undead spirit. After dispatching this spirit, the session ended.
XP awarded – held over until the following session.
Session Date: 2/9/2007
The PC’s continued on their way to Eylea – the seat of The Ffenargh. After traveling another couple of days they arrived in the village of Cartleagh. The village Bailiff Juthe offered the PC’s barge passage to Eylea the following day, and not much else. It was clear that the common folk of The Ffenargh lead a hard life, and many look aged before their time. Juthe’s initial reaction to the PC’s, who she viewed as just another set of pompous, indifferent nobles was less than favorable, but improved after Kol’Dar provided aid and healing for several villagers.
The following day, she arranged for some of the villagers of Cartleagh to pole a barge along the River Chlag to Eylea, arriving late the following day. They were greeted by High Bailiff Clavados, and his squire Aubrey Stronhaus, and witnessed why the common folk of The Ffenargh have no great love for nobility. Still – while not particularly kind to the commoners, neither were they cruel, and the PC’s were provided pleasant accommodations in the castle.
Over dinner, Clavados and Rupert De Ganson, Captain of the Guard, explained how Geoffrey D’Arcy had been murdered. And how, when Speak with Dead had been cast on Geoffrey’s body, he had implicated his son in his murder and in the theft of one of Eylea’s holy relics, from Eylea’s treasury.
Clavados further explained that priests sent to investigate the treasury to determine the truth of this missing relic had also gone missing. Since Eylea has few folk capable of dealing with such a problem, Clavados had sent to Gideon’s father for aid.
Clavados asked the PC’s to investigate the missing relic. Without confirmation of this, there was only the Speak with Dead evidence to be brought against Miles D’Arcy for his trial the following morning, and Eylea law expressly prohibits evidence obtained solely through the use of magic.
The PC’s investigated and discovered that indeed, one of the relics was missing - The Robe of Ulm, which according to legend, has the power to ressurect even those long dead. The PC's also discovered that the relics are protected by magically contained daemons – which are released when one of the relics is disturbed. One daemon still remained – presumably from the original theft, which the PC’s (joined by the exuberant Aubrey) were able to dispatch without difficulty.
At the trial, the following morning, when the evidence was presented against Miles D’Arcy, he invoked his right to a Jury of Inquisition – a jury of secular peers, charged with investigating the affair and delivering their own verdict, rather than be subjected to the verdict of the Lords Spiritual. The PCs were railroaded….er…..conscripted into service as the Jury of Inquisition. They had 30 days to investigate and deliver a verdict.
Clavados suggested 2 locations to investigate: The Sphagbog outside of the village of Tollburn, where Geoffrey D’Arcy’s body was found, and the hold of Myrkfast, the manor of the D’Arcy family.
The PC’s divined which location would yield more direct evidence, and Myrkfast was the answer. As such, the PC’s traveled 6 days by punt boat and travel on foot to Myrkfast Hold.
The reception was less than hospitable, as the party was attacked by some advanced sort of Zombies, a pack of Shadow Mastiffs and an Elf Mage / Warrior. We ended the session mid-combat as it was quite late. All the party was alive, except Mialee, who failed her saving throw against the Elf Mage’s fireball.
XP awarded – I have this figured, but will award upon completion of the battle.
Session Date: 3/9/2007
We picked up by resuming the battle at Myrkfast Hold against Leovani, and his Ju-Ju Zombies and Shadow Mastiffs. Kathos was able to get free of Zombies and rush Leovani. A few sword strokes later, Leovani fell dead, while the rest of the group took care of the zombies and hounds.
At that point – XP was awarded – 6,000 per PC, except for poor dead Mialee, who was awarded 3,000.
The PC’s were then able to scout and explore the remainder of the castle, and in the process freed the imprisoned servants and Eloise D’Arcy, the wife of Miles.
She informed the group of Miles’ fascination of Eylea history, which had turned to near obsession about a year earlier. Miles studies became more reclusive, and he spent more time locked in his cellar study. He also spent considerable time with Leovani, away from the estate. In overhearing one of Miles and Leovani’s conversations, she discovered that the destination of their many trips was Lorge Isle – an old abandoned estate to the East which had not been used or occupied in generations.
She also told a story about approximately 300 years prior, the lord of Lorge Hall, Rughlor Adelmar, who was a kind and decent noble, but who was also middle aged, and certainly not one of the wealthier nobles in the Ffenargh, surprised the ranks of the nobility by announcing his engagement to the young, beautiful, and well-connected mistress Nuala Blackthorn.
Even stranger though, was the tale of how, after 12 years of marriage, the servants of Lorge Hall discovered Rughlor and Nuala in the cellar of the estate locked in an embrace of death – both seemingly having murdered each other.
Perhaps Miles D’Arcy had uncovered some secret of Lorge that had turned his mere interest into a compulsive obsession.
Eloise then told the company how a new visitor – a man - had stayed at the estate for a night a few weeks earlier, and then had returned again after a few days. Upon the visitor’s return, Miles was in a state of great excitement. The visitor bore a small bundle, and Miles, Leovani and the visitor quickly vanished to Miles’ study.
Lord Geoffrey went to the cellar in search of Miles, but soon afterward, the sound of screams erupted from the cellar. Miles quickly emerged, and immediately imprisoned Eloise in her chambers.
The following day, tearful servants came and stripped her of all valuable possessions, including most clothing. After that – she didn’t see even the servants again – only Leovani who brought her food. She could hear occasional conversations – and heard the voice of a new visitor – a young woman that Leovani referred to as “The New Mistress.” The new mistress appeared to have left after a few days, and Eloise was able to coax out of Leovani that she had “returned to her place in the mire.”
After that, the group was able to raise Mialee from the dead, and attempted to question Leovani using a Speak with Dead spell, but the magic wasn’t strong enough to force Leovani’s corpse to answer.
They then convinced a hesitant Eloise to return to Eylea and tell her tale to the Lords Spiritual there.
The group began traveling eastward, toward the village of Glubh. The company planned to temporarily depart from Eloise and her servants at that point, so they could investigate Lorge Isle, the former manor of Rughlor and Nuala, and the destination of Miles D’Arcy’s many exploratory trips.
While traveling the path, they heard the sound of horse hooves coming from ahead, coming seemingly from Lorge Hall. A fully armored knight, riding on a skeleton horse emerged from the mists and commanded the party to step aside, preparing to ride the group down, if they did not move.
Despite the fact that Gideon detected no evil, several party members stood their ground and prepared for battle. (I mean – when was the last time you met anyone riding a skeleton horse who was GOOD?)
The defenders received the charge and slew the skeletal horse, but it became quickly apparent that defeating the also undead rider would be a much more difficult task. After seeing their weapons fall harmlessly away from his armor the party fell back, and allowed the Undead warrior to remount his regenerated horse and ride on westward. However, when the party called out, asking who the knight was, he responded before thundering away “I am Rughlor – lord of Lorge Isle.”
Despite the strange event, the party continued as planned, leaving Eloise in the care of her now armed servants in the village of Glubh, while continuing on to investigate the ruins of Lorge Hall. The party’s scouting revealed that 5 wraith like forms wandered the ruins, and would have to be dealt with before the ruins could be fully explored.
The session ended before dealing with these creatures.
XP awarded – All PC’s receive 1,250 additional XP (in addition to the XP awarded earlier this session).
Session Date: 4/27/2007
We picked up the session outside of the ruins of Lorge Hall, the abandoned former keep of Lord Rughlor Adelmar and his wife Nuala, who had apparently murdered each other 300 years prior.
There were a few wraith like creatures, but the party managed to get past them with a Circle of Protection, and explored the cellars below the ruined manor.
There they found the former cypts of both Rughlor and Nuala, with tracks leading from both of them, as well as many other tracks into and out of the chamber. Apparently, the eternal rest of both beings had been disturbed.
The party checked the chambers beyond, and discovered a lavish, opulent set of rooms. However, the party quickly discovered that this was an illusion and they had been trapped by Nuala. Through some vile magic of Nuala’s, duplicates of the PC’s were created before their eyes, and the life forces of each PC was drawn out and into these new duplicates, leaving the PC’s old and withered beyond their actual years.
Nuala then taunted the PC’s offering the feeble old crones a place to rest (in prison of course) while her new servants (the duplicates) assisted her in her domination of the Ffenargh.
However, the PC’s were able to lure their guards (some not-so-bright slime golems) into the cell and after defeating them were able to escape their prison cell. The PC’s then made their way back to the village of Glubh, only to discover that many of the villagers had fallen under the sway of an evil Spirit Naga. Eloise D’Arcy’s party was not in the village. Whether they managed to escape, or were devoured by the Naga was unknown.
At session’s close, the PC’s were discussing heading back to Eylea, in hopes of tracking down Nuala.
XP awarded: 1,750 for all PC’s.
Session Date: 7/14/2007
The PC’s decided to head back to their boats and punt along the River Chlag back to Eylea, with the insane, venerable (but real) Miles D’Arcy in tow, to notify the Lords Spiritual of the events that had passed. They were not immediately recognized upon their return, and were rudely dismissed by the guard at the river gate, but fortunately were happened upon by Prefect Kilanus, who had been present during the PC’s first trip to Eylea.
Kilanus recognized the PC’s, but was clearly confused at the PC’s elderly appearance and their return after having found Miles D’Arcy innocent of all charges before the Lords Spiritual of Eylea just 2 days ago. As a result of their finding, Lord Clavados now awaits his death sentence in his prison, having lost the case against Miles D’Arcy.
The PC’s were able to explain how Nuala had cursed them, and created duplicates of the party, as well as Miles. These were the individuals present 2 days prior.
The PC’s requested audience with the Lords Spiritual, but Kilanus believed that their story would not be believed by all, and that they might put themselves into danger by doing so. Kilanus instead contacted High Lord Siranush, the most senior of the Lords Spiritual directly, and brought her before the PC’s, where their story was recounted. She was convinced of the truth of their story, and arranged for them to be released, with Lord Clavados, secretly, outside of Eylea.
She also passed along news of the duplicates and Miles D’Arcy. Immediately after the finding of the Jury of Inquisition, the duplicates and Miles, accompanied by a tall, dark haired, beautiful woman (presumably the resurrected Nuala), left Eylea and headed into the swamps in the West – the Vipen Slough. Both Clavados and Siranush believed she was headed toward the homestead of the Witch Vyedma. Nuala seemed to be gathering allies for some future evil intent. Siranush suggested that the PC’s also head toward Vyedma’s homestead in the Vipen Slough.
The PC’s traveled toward the Vipen Slough for 4 days, until encountering a party of Eylea men-at-arms, led by a Dwarven officer. They also seemed to have been persuaded to Nuala’s cause, and would not allow passage, so the PC’s were forced into combat. While victorious, the PC’s noted the unnatural speed and regenerative powers of these soliders. Additionally, while most were captured, one enemy was killed, and simply vanished in a brilliant flash of light. The PC’s concluded that the party must also have been duplicates created by Nuala.
Shortly, thereafter, the party was contacted by the ‘ladies of the lake’ – Sirines of the swamps. They provided shelter for the PC’s and gave them some information regarding Nuala and Vyedma. Indeed – they had seen Nuala defeat a group of men-at-arms bearing the insignia of Eylea led by a Dwarf. She captured them, and created duplicates, which made the “original” party very old.
They also provided directions to Vyedma’s, and some information about her and her followers. Vyedma is a hag – not human, and wields evil magic. She also is tremendously strong, and rides a great evil black horse capable of flying. Her followers include mostly Ogres (about 20) and Verbeeg (about 10). She also has a herd of Stench Kine, which are unlikely to bother the PC’s unless threatened.
The PC’s traveled to the outskirts of Vyedma’s island when we ended the session.
XP = 1,700 for all PCs
