The Story of LGG5 - The Isle of Alba

[Dmitri]

This is the reserve thread for the ongoing plot summary of LGG5.

[Dmitri]

A brief synopsis...

*****

5 travelers, all from different walks of life within Alba, travelled with a merchant (Kelmar) to Aqaue Sulis. They functioned as guards and traveling companions, eventually arriving at the city gates. After the local guards checked their caravan, they were peacebonded and given papers to enter the city, albeit with restricted access to some areas. They traveled to the Blushing Whore Inn, a tavern and inn in one of the poorer areas of town. They settled in for dinner and drinks, and obtained rooms from the barmistress.

Paden, the cleric of Llew, was approached by a young girl (Helen Dale), who asked if she could speak with him the next day, somewhere private. He agreed, as he planned to travel to the Temple district the next day anyway, so that he could visit Llew's temple and take his acolytes with him. Lint Dryer, the rogue, also took a fancy to a red-haired girl at the inn.

The next day the group visited the temple district, on the way being stopped by a guard to have their papers checked. They also talked to the girl and got more details on her and her predicament. As it turns out, they discovered (also that night when they hired her) that she was an abductee from a moderately wealthy burgher family, along with several other girls. They were being forced into prostitution by the brothel. She recommended that the party talk to Capt Gauss of the City Guard or Lance, her families personal security man for assistence. She indicated that some of the Guards and the Boars (a freelance private security force) might be on the take.

The group visited the temple district then, where they all scattered to explore a bit. Paden went to Llew's temple, an open air affair (can't worship a sun god indoors, now can we?), and Brand, the fighter, went to a temple of Cerunnos, where he was told to return at Samhain if he wished to become initiated into the faith in a more formal way. Paden was given a sealed missive to take to Ynys Witrin, since that is where he was headed with his acolytes.

On the way back, the ran into a mob of children attacking several men, one of whom they managed to save without killing the kids. This man explained that they were paying the kids for work they did in the warehouses and docks, and the kids attacked because they said some of their friends didn't come back from work. But the man said that they didn't know anything about that, they just paid the tab for the employers, mostly shippers, warehousers, and a few mages.

When they returned to the tavern, they met Balla Fasick, a traveler who was searching for a source of evil in Aquae Sulis. She came from the North.

They returned to the to the tavern and got the info above during the nite, since they hired Helen, and the next day went out to talk to Gauss. He asked that they watch the tavern, and he and his men would do the sting operation the next night. Unfortunately, that night the party saw guards leaving with a girl, and they intervened. They killed two of the guards, but a third is believed by the party to have shapeshifted into the form of a girl and fled. The ENTIRE party tried to grapple her on the way out, but, as the old ong says, CANT TOUCH THIS (baggy pants not included).

A few moments later, the barmistress and brothel matron came upstairs and asked where the girl was. The party informed her that she was safely with one of Paden's acolytes, and she went to check on her. A few moments later a crash sounded. The Acolyte was found dead in his room with his throat slashed, and the body of the girl was found thrown through the broken window, dead on the street below. Of the matron, nothing was seen in the room. Lint, who was on the roof for some obscure reason, saw a flash of light and a figure emerge, likely female. Just before this he saw a group of armed men rush across the street from the shadows of a side alley.

These men turned out to be the guards who were keeping an eye on the place and had heard the fighting on the second floor and seen the body cruise out of the shattered window. Gauss and his men examined the 3rd floor (girl's and guard's rooms) and the 4th (a sort of study or office looking area with nice art and tapestries and a few interesting weapons and armors).

The party went to a new inn, a nicer one in a nicer part of town, on the purse of Guass and the Guard. Gauss recruited them the next day for a special mission. They became a part of the noble house of Daggerfell, and as such gained greater movement around the city. They were also paid for there work. They were then given the assignment to deal with a rash of grisly murders on the edge of the poorest district and the warehouse district, near the road leading to the docks outside the city.

They got some details, and began exploring a little of the Undercity, a combination sewer/ruin that exists beneath portions of Aquae Sulis. The Guards had pointed out the entrances, and they followed the one nearest the docks. Upon entering they traveled along the wet passage and dealt with a handful of grey skinned blind creatures (grimlocks). They got a little loot from these creatures, which none of them had ever seen before, and then began to move down the hallways further. They stumbled upon a Hold Person trap with a contigency Alarm spell, and ended up in combat with a group of 2 kobold, 2 orc, and 2 hobgoblin warriors, and 1 kobold sorcerer. Initially the enemies set up a defensive posture, but when the party began making ranged attacks on them they took to offense. The party subdued several of them and killed the rest. They then decided to camp there for the a rest after securing the prisoners.

*****

Thus ended the first 3 sessions.

[Dmitri]

The party chose to interrogate the captured kobolds, who informed them (after a bit of diplomacy) that the kobolds were protecting tehir camp from the intrusion of humans from the surface. The party returned their weapons and such, and sent them on their way with apologies for the misunderstanding.

After resting, the brave party ventured forth into the rest of the complex, taking the left branch, since the kobolds camp was down the right branch.

(To Be Continued... gotta run and go to class)

[Dmitri]

OK - readers digest condensed version...

The party explored the Undercity complex, eventually meeting up with Ayvlen and her partner Lance who were being attacked by incredibly powerful creatures that radiated cold. In the chamber that they found these creatures using as a nest, the party found a carved design on the floor, broken and marred by the claws of the creatures.

The party went back up to town, and became involved with Captain Gauss further. They witnessed an execution in the central square, of someone who called herself the Bainfaith of Albion the Mighty. While being burned at the stake, a pillar of blue flame descended from the sky and consumed everyone in the first few rows of onlookers, even singing the party a little. It also consumed her as well. They then descended into the sewers again.

After meeting the kobold camp and their leader, the party learned of another area of infestation in the sewers which they explored. Eventually an earthquake rattled the complex, and the party left the sewers through a newly opened passage. When they arrived at the surface, they saw that the city of Aquae Sulis was aflame. They went to Gauss, who was helping fight the fire, and organizing bucket brigades. He seemed to think it was unnatural in origin, based on the blue fire that was raging in the warehouse district of town. Everyone went there, and fought there way through the creatures running amok and the flames.

On arrival, after examining a warehouse with a strange sigil similar to the one in the sewer drawn on the floor, the party was engulfed by the blue flame, similar to that which had descended to incinerate the Bainfaith.

They found themselves on standing on a sword-bridge, with its razor edge cutting into their feet. Eventually even the most agile of them fell, though Ayvlan held out the longest, before dropping into the darkness between like everyone else. Everyone lost consciousness. When everyone awoke, all but Ayvlan found themselves naked on a green hill, surrounded by nine trees.

Upon examination, the hill on which they found themselves proved to be hollow, and likely manmade. It contained very little except for some old bones and equipment, which they did not take due to its burial status. Eventually they realized that they were being approached by mounted men, most of whom were armed with spears and swords, wooden shields, and lightly armored if armored at all. They were dressed rustically by the urbane standards of Aquae Sulis, but in a way that traditional peoples from the Three Lands would recognize. They rode up and ringed the party in spears, before Paladyr and Tegid Tathal, the seeming leaders, told the armed party to stand down. They eventually helped the party to get clothed again, and a little bit of gear, and decided to take them to the caer in which they lived.

No one spoke the language, other than the bard Balla, who could at least make some limited conversation with Tegid in his druidic language. Eventually, though, everyone started to understand the language, and be able to make themselves understood.

Interestingly enough, Paden, the cleric of Llew, met someone named Llew in this world. It also came out that many of the other deities of Alba had a living counterpart in this otherworld, Albion.959

[Dmitri]

As the party traveled with the warband, they discovered many interesting things about Albion. Besides the names of several of the people being the same as some of the traditional gods of Alba, they also discovered that the geography was similar, though larger in scale. Teh technological aspects of life in Alba were non-existent here, and life seems to be much like legend tells of Alba being in the years before the Unification, and even further back in the Ages of Myth. Even some of the stories are similar, as related by Tegid and Balla. The party also took part in a battle for their companions, discovering that most battles in Albion are highly ritualized affairs, and few people actually die - they fight for honor rather than blood. Not that bloody battles never take place, but these ritual combats and tests of personal skill generally take the place of pitched warfare between human tribes. Interestingly enough, humans and the other races are so mixed and coexistent that no one differetiates between them - dwarves, halflings, elves, gnomes - they all exist, but are classified with humans as "men" or "women". Gender is also different in Albion - women and men are completely equal, with the greatest of Albion's warriors being a woman. Finally, kingship is different - it is not generally handed down father to son, but is bestowed by the Chief Bard/Druid (they make no differentiation between them) on the most worthy man or woman, regardless of birth or station. Currency is also unknown, with value being decided by barter and trade.

When they arrived at Caer Mawr (the Mawr means Golden in Cymric, what they call their language) they met the king, Meldryn Mawr. He questioned them for a bit, and gave them gifts of broaches, torcs, and armbands in honor of their achievements in the battle with his enemies, the Cruithne. He also gave them his gift of choice - they were welcome to stay in the caer and become part of the tribe, or they were welcome to continue on their travels with the blessings of Meldryn the Golden and his assistance as far as it could extend, or they could join the tribe and attend the warrior's school under the tutelage of Scatha, the greatest warrior in all of Albion, and a woman. Lint Dryer, Brand's cousin and the party rogue, opted to stay in the tribe, and apprenticed himself to several craftsmen. The rest of the party said their farewells, and opted to go to Scatha's school. They also got the promise of assistance in returning home from Ollathir, the Chief Druid of Prydain, and head of the Learned Brotherhood, the druidic/bardic assemblage of Albion. He intended to consult his Brothers at the Winter Solstice, and pose them the problem. They would report back on their findings at the next Solstice.

The journey to Skye was fairly long, going over untracked wilderness, and over sea, where the adventurers saw their first afancs, a type of sea monster. They did not have to fight any however. Also of note, before they got to the ship to Skye, the saw a Fossgrim, a spirit of the waterfall as Tegid described it. It raged at them as defilers of the streams and waters, which was likely because they found artifacts of iron and machinery in the pool. They chose not to investigate, though, and made for Skye with all speed.

The party trained at Skye, and eventually attained an honored rank in the student body, though they were far older than the average student. They were assigned a simple mission to deal with a group of aggressive fey. They found most of the fey dead and dying, with a group of 2 of them dying at the hands of the party, who the creatures attacked while fleeing their cairn home.

When the party got to the cairn, they found dead fey piled, and more of the creatures that they had faced in the sewer of their world. They wiped out the small ones (henceforth referred to as Broodlings), though the big ones (henceforth referred to as the Brood) gave some problems. In the end, the creatures retreated into the cairn, and were chased through a series of rooms before they were forced into a room with the Mor Cyclic engraved on the floor, like the one in the warehouse and the sewers, though this one glowed blue, and seemed to harm the creatures. They were finally killed, though they nearly defeated the party.

On their return they trained further, and reported their experience to Scatha. Scatha had them continue their training, and they became endowed with greater powers after much work and practice. They were given gifts, and sent to undergo a right of passage in a nearby cairn. Each party member received a unique item from Scatha, that matched what she had trained them in. They gathered their important belongings, since these were a part of them that needed to be transformed, and the party members were laid to rest on their benches. They eventually fell asleep, so quickly as to seem nearly magical. When they woke up and exited the cairn, they discovered that they were no longer on the Isle of Skye, where they had entered the cairn.

[Dmitri]

When they examined the cairn they awoke in, the party discovered that they were in a valley, with a large lake at one end and a wooded area at the other. In between was a meadow area, leading to a swampier area along the edge of the lake. The cairn was in a clearing surrounded by 9 trees, with a standing white stone atop the mound, carved with the Mor Cyclic and other runes, similar but not quite exactly like the ones from Skye and Caer Mawr. They are more similar to the ones from Alba, where the party originated - but not quite the same. After a bit, the party decided to explore the valley.

When they got near the lake, they were attacked by a large, spiny worm-like creature, which was relatively easily killed with strong tactics and restraint on the part of the melee fighters - well placed spells so weakened the worm that by the time the warriors waded in, the creature was in a state where it could be defeated. The party then explored the lake itself, with the dwarven dragon shaman using his water breathing to explore the bottom of the lake, where he found several chests, as well as the remains of crannogs (houses and buildings built on platforms, which are in turn built on supports anchored to the lake bottom). Inspection along the shore also found evidence of both recent settlements destroyed, and also a much more ancient civilization destroyed.

The group gathered up the chests, and found currency with Vortigern's head on it, but more finely machined coinage than any they had ever seen. They gathered what they could, and headed back toward the cairn. They eventually decided to leave the valley, and followed a flight of ravens (they believed it to be a reference to the prophecy of the Bainfaith) to the crest of the valley, where they met a fleeing group of hobgoblins and orcs. They were being chased by a group of living constructs, and several true constructs. The party chose to side with the other humanoids, and they destroyed the constructs after a long and frustrating battle against superior numbers and intelligent and effective strategy (though Freas's coldball was very effective against the mooks). The party then left with the surviving hobgoblin to see his leader at their temporary camp, in hopes that he could clear up some of their mystery.

[Dmitri]

The party, through conversation with their hobgoblin and orc hosts discovered that they were not in Albion any longer - but in Alba, though not an Alba quite like they remembered. The present was different, but the past was also different. Much of the history was the same, but in this Alba, Vortigern had developed living constructs to aid him in his wars - the race that was known as the Warforged. Likewise, all things technological were more extreme, including a system of transportation that used magic and technology both, elementally powered airships, and various servitors. Much of the elven kingdom was destroyed, as was a lot of the dwarven kingdom as well. At the end of the war with Celyddon, it is believed that Vortigern unleashed some kind of magic that "scorched the sky", laying waste to the Forest and making all of Alba significantly colder. Incidentally it also wiped out a large portion of his military might, as well, since many of his troops were in the Forest when this happened. That area is now called the Mournland.

The party was given a few options by the hobgoblins, like joining up with them, or directions to several cities, etc. for their trouble in helping them, and the party chose to head to Alclydd to the west, near the Isle of Skye. What they hope to do there, the DM is not sure - I forget that part. But they are traveling there, through mountains and tunnels, a journey of a number of days.

The party traveled into the foothills, and found the first passage, as described by the hobgoblin druid leader, and entered. They branched away from his rudimentary map to explore a little, and soon found trouble in the form of trolls. They also found a bear that took a liking to Balla, and is now following the group. They also found evidence of an older giant civilization in the mines as well as halfling slaves, but it seems long since gone. Eventually they left the tunnels, after heading upward, into the mountains themselves.

The party then traveled down a narrow path, into a misty valley beyond. When they finally crossed the valley fully, they found a doorway into the last set of tunnels, with the city of Alclydd waiting beyond. They also saw a little bit of smoke in the distance, where they believe the city ought to be.

They entered the caverns, and found a long stair down, abouit 60 feet across and nearly a mile in length. On taking the stairs, they were quickly attacked by archers from within hidden passages on either side. The party eventually dispatched of the attacking ogres, though it was a tough battle on the rough surface. They explored the side passages, and found a bit of loot, and rested for the night. In the night, on the first watch, they were discovered by something, though in the dim light they could not see what it was. It let them be, and after resting they headed down the passage and came out onto a landing that was at the base of the stair. It was about 20 long, and 60 wide. It had a crenelated wall, broken in the middle by a 10 ft wide stair leading into a large chamber below. As the party started descending the stair, they were assailed by a group of medium sized creatures that looked like little ogres, wielding bows. When they flew down the steps, the leader (an ogre with 4 levels in scout from ComWar) sprang his trap and used his Spring Attack feat to deal serious damage to the party frontliners. Freas quickly Iceballed the mini-ogres to death, while Paden, Brand, and Ayvlan surrounded the larger ogre. Eventually it was Balla's timely use of Mass Snake's Swiftness that felled the beast, with all three warriors landing the extra blows.

[Dmitri]

This post will bring us current through August of 2009. Look for conversation stuff with the Elder in the other thread, though. This is just a quick plot summary.

* * * * * * *

The party began to explore their surroundings, discovering that they were in a large hall, with 8 ways out - 1 behind them (the stairs they had come down), 3 spaced on the left side, 3 on the right side, and one at the far end from them.

[Counting clockwise with your back to the stairs you came down, I am labeling them 1 through 8, with 1 being immediately to your left and 8 being the stairs you descended to get here.]

The party explored several, but not all, or the passages, and found:

1) A mine shaft that extended several miles into the mountains, descending slightly. Some ore and ingots were found.

2) Unexplored

3) A passage that was shielded by a force effect, that the party deduced allowed entrance based on alignment (neutral component required). Inside was a short hall, about 30 ft long, terminating in a wall with the Endless Knot (Mor Cyclic) design, and a depression in the center of the knotwork. They played with it all for a few moments, and eventually left.

4) Blocked by a landslide of some sort - the party noticed a glyph marking this area as containing danger.

5) A mine shaft much like #1. Similar loot.

6) Unexplored

7) This passage led on a ways, before coming to a stuck door. The party forced it, and entered a room which contained supplies and two otyughs which Freas killed. The room had an illusory chasm, which the party eventually figured out and crossed. Next came 2 slave pens, one containing elves and one containing halflings. The elves where kept in a chamber that seemed to impede an nullify magic, while the halflings were in a chamber that seemed to create a wild magic effect. The slaves told the party of a ring of rooms ahead that housed much of the ogre/ogrillon civilization, and a possible way out of the mountains.

The party continued down passage 7 and entered the first chamber which had several tents, fires, and what looked like reptilian versions of cattle. A fight ensued, and several of the ogrillon women and children tending the fires were killed, while more escaped down a passage to the right and one ogre escaped down a passage to the left. Valel laid caltrops in the left hallway, but new enemies appeared in the right hall. Freas helped eliminate these with a coldball, but more waves kept coming. Eventually a group appeared with casters along, and these proved more irksome. Paden tried to parlay with them in an old-ways kind of challenge to the spear game, but Freas (deafened and ignorant of the parlay) blasted the soldiers in the midst of the discussion, effectively enraging them and ending the talks. Paden allowed himself to be captured and led away, while the party dealt with the remaining ogrillons, and was surprised by a group of 3 powerful warrior ogres from behind who had come out of a secret passage in the large chamber they had just left.

The Skullcrushers fought hard, and nearly exhausted the resources of the remaining party members before the party eliminated them. Beaten, bloody, and broken, the party retreated to the antimagic room to rest and regain HP and spells. Ayvlan, concerned for Paden and unwilling to wait, left to scout ahead.

She traversed the entire ring of rooms, finding a guard outpost, an industrial area, a farming area, and an armory/staging area/barracks. She also discovered some unusual stonework, which she reported to Brand (who was standing guard) and went back to examine more. When the party finished resting 7 hours later, she had still not returned.

The intrepid adventurers set off again, and used the info that Ayvlan had provided to search out some hidden passages, which they deduced connected all of the rooms in this ring. Weezy, the familiar of Freas, scented and tracked Paden to a wall which proved to be a secret door, and they found some bandages and other healing supplies on the other side. They followed this passage for a bit, and found what seemed to be tons of blood and fur at a + intersection, and after a bit of worrying, they continued forward after the trail. They were quickly met by a group of 4 ogrillon and ogres, who moved to parlay. The party found out that the ogrillons had a man and woman in their custody, and that the Elder wished to speak with the rest of the party. After alittle discussion, the party decided to go along with them, and they eventually entered the ogrillon/ogre city after crossing a small river underground and meeting more ogres and the like.

You were walked through the city, and noticed here that there was probably room for at least a 1000+ ogres and ogrillons in this city, with all of the males generally going about armed to at least some extent. You also noticed that there were elves and halflings going about in some numbers, doing labor and all kinds of work. Though some of them seemed to be in similar condition to the slaves that were found earlier, most of them seem to be in reasonably good shape, fed and clothed, etc. The party was led to a very large building, obviously important but not very ornate.

Once inside, the party saw Ayvlan and Paden standing along a wall, with two ogrillons, one with two handaxes and a worg, the other with a spear and shield, longsword strapped to his hip. Both Paden and Ayvlan are armed, though Paden is not wearing his armor or carrying his pack. The party is motioned to remain silent, but Ayvlan and Paden gesture to them in greeting. Their guide gestures them into the main audience hall, where they see a large room, open to the sky. At the far end is a large dias, raised about 5 feet off of the ground on a series of tiers. A chair dominates the top tier, not a throne, per se, but just a large and comfortable looking chair. In the chair sits a man - a human.

He speaks to the party for a time, answering most things cryptically, though he claims this is not his intent, but merely his nature, or the nature of his circumstances and conditions. He mentions an oath that he is bound by, and indicates that though he is "the Elder" to those who live here he is not their ruler or in charge. He advises them here, and most generally listen out of respect. When Freas questioned him about slavery, he indicates his sadness about that, but reiterates that he does not rule and cannot force anyone to do anything. Even this meeting was the request of the ogrillons and ogres who respect his wisdom. Eventually the Elder called in Paden and Ayvlan, who joined the conversation.

After a bit of talking about a few subjects, the Elder was interrupted by some commotion from outside. One large, zombie white dragon swooped into the chamber from the sky, while another swept in from the main entrance. The party engaged them, and fought hard. They seemed to be prevailing, though taking damage, when the Elder stepped off his dais and swept into the air himself, suddenly in the form of an silver great wyrm. Both dragons were quickly defeated after this, and no more were immediately forthcoming. When the party looked back at the silver dragon, they discovered only the Elder in his humanoid form, looking frail, fragile, and greatly weakened.

[Dmitri]

Oops, didn't realize I had fallen this far behind in my monthly updates.

Will get this up by weekend.

[Dmitri]

The zombie dragon put up a decent fight, especially after it was joined by a partner, but the party took them down with a little help from the Elder, who morphed into a draconic form himself. When the commotion was winding down, a group of ogres and ogrillons rushed in, and the Elder informed them that the party had helped to fend off the dragons – the ogres had killed the other monsters that had invaded the city. After a bit more questioning, and the establishment of friendship between the two peoples (at least most of them – Freas was still unimpressed), the party was given the option of how to continue. They decided to go investigate the room which had previously been inaccessible to some of them because of the force screen, hoping that now they could gain entrance.

(For details on the conversation between the Elder and the party, see the “Elder’s Mysterious Musings” thread.)

When the party got to the room, they discovered that they were able to enter now, and they used the “key” that the Elder had given to Paden to open the back of the passage. It opened into a long hallway, which narrowed as it went further along. As they traveled, they heard what sounded like the tell-tale beating of some massive heart, growing gradually louder and more intense. When they reached the end of the hall, they discovered an aperture, which they eventually discovered could be passed through by leaning into it, and then surrendering to it. They were then pulled through into another , larger chamber. In the chamber, they discovered a large glowing diagram on the floor, identical though larger than the Endless Knot that they had seen before. They remembered it as the Mor Cyclic, though now it glowed a bright white and was inscribed on the floor in some kind of mysterious energy.

They also found what looked like an alter, with a pile of stones lying on it. They split up, with some of them exploring the area around the Knot, and some examining the alter. Underneath the stones they discovered a man, very old, with a dagger in his side, inscribed with the symbol of Vortigern. He was dead, and appeared to have been crushed, with the dagger stabbed in post mortem. When they touched the stones, they heard a crushingly beautiful song, reverberating inside of them. It was so powerful it overwhelmed them, literally knocking them out for a moment or two. Eventually they adapted to the melody, and were able to hold the stones without being shocked.
The other explorers found statues that had been destroyed on the far side of the diagram, and they deduced eventually that the statues had been broken to supply the stone that smothered the old man. They eventually all decided to walk the Knot, and when they arrived in the center they realized that they seemed to occupy all points in the world simultaneously. They recognized the nature of the world, as Albion being real and all of the other worlds that they had been to only shadows of the prime Albion. Understanding this new revelation, they realized that from this central point, the center of the Knot, they could go anywhere they wished. After a bit of experimentation, they decided to transport to Scatha’s Isle.

When they arrived there, it was very cold – and there was snow on the ground. They hiked towards the caer, but there was no one around, no smoke, no light. They snuck into the caer through a secret tunnel that they had been shown, and found it deserted. After searching and taking some basic gear that they might need, they set out to find Scatha. The journal’s of Scatha and her daughters indicated that the party had been gone for years, likely 15 to 20 from when they entered the cairn and wound up in the altered version of their original world. It seemed that Scatha and her students had marched about a month to 6 weeks ago to deal with some situation away south – some kind of war between the tribes of Prydain and Llogres. The party set off to follow them, and found a town where the old jetty had been. They stayed the night at the town, and confirmed much of what they had discovered about Scatha. It seemed that Albion, too, was growing and developing. They noticed a slight change in boat technology, and even some more advanced weaponry like greater numbers of bows. They were also told that Sollen (winter) had been going on for longer than usual, and that by now they should be getting into early spring.

After the party fought off some hungry wooves, and one winter woof, the villagers agreed to help them across the channel to the main land. While on the boat, the party was assailed by an afanc, a sea creature of fearsome legend. They barely fought the beast off, and miraculously Brand, who had been swallowed whole by the monster, survived. They landed eventually, and made their way on foot to the nearest village through the harsh snow and cold. When they arrived, they found more confirmation on Scatha, and that she had passed through here. The party resupplied, and headed out south, towards Prydain and Logres.

[Dmitri]

The party headed a little ways south, and chose to follow the eastern path towards the mountains. This path was supposed to be quicker, and eventually meet up with Scatha's anticipated route, possibly cutting her off to rejoin her group and on the way collect some new information that she might have missed when she traveled this way. The journey to the mountains was expected to take about 7 days, with a thorpe about half way there and another one at the base of the mountain pass.

As they traveled they kept watch at night and once heard some rustling in the bushes away from them, but it was not reported to the rest of the group and since it was not threatening it was forgotten. The party walked past the thorpe, since they were not in need of supplies at this point. They traveled till just before sunset, where they were met on the road by a man, armed, who hailed them and demanded "goods" in exchange for safe passage along the rode. After a brief negotiation, the bandit whistled the signal for the attack, after Brand insulted him by tossing a single gold stick to the ground.

Promptly the group was attacked from both sides of the road by archers, and the leader as well drew his bow and fired, the target being Brand for the most part. Because of the spread out nature of the enemies, it was difficult for Freas to blast them as he usually did, but he uncorked a coldball on two of the rogues all the same. Valel and Paden fought against the men on opposite sides of the road, and kept him from being a major factor. Brand charged forward, only to be surprised by the cunning pit that was dug shallowly in the road, lined with small spikes. He crawled out and viciously hacked at the leader, who nearly died from the strike. When Brand chose to stand, however, the bandit leader took the opportunity to part his head from his shoulders with a mighty two handed swipe of his sword.

After this blow, the battle ended quickly, as the party fought bravely and fiercely to avenge their fallen comrade. When the battle had concluded, and all were dead except for two rogues who fled the scene wounded and unlikely to survive in the brutal weather and wild, the party members gathered Brand's broken corpse and began to make a funeral pyre. They also looted the corpses of the dead bandits, but did not bury their bodies - they chose to let them be an offering to the Morrigan's messengers.

As the pyre burned, Freas rested so that he would regain his spells while Paden, Valel, and the rest of the party stood vigil. They were interrupted a few hours into the vigil by several people approaching from the direction of the thorpe which they had passed by.n These men spoke to them for a bit, and several joined the vigil while the rest went back to the thorpe to tell the inhabitants the good news. The men informed the party that they had been plagued by these raiders for some time - even though the raiders had once been members of the combined warband of the three closest villages.

At the end of the vigil, as the sun crested the horizon during the time-between-times, an enormous aurochs charged out of the nearby forest, chased by a huge wolf-like creature. They raced around the hill three times, while the vigilkeepers stared in shock and awe. Paden clearly believed this to be a sign of something religious - though what was unclear. The Valel waited for them on the third pass, so that he could step between them and hopefully save the aurochs. But it never came around - both creatures seem to have disappeared as they completed their 3rd circuit. It was then that Paden and Freas recalled the story that Balla had told them when they first entered Aqaue Sulis and she stopped to gather information. She had heard tell of an aurochs of huge proportion, a creature thought extinct, and a huge woof, that seemed to just pop out of thin air in the midst of a garrison of soldiers that were scouting north of the Wall. The mystery was not solved however - niether Paden nor Valel nor anyone else could piece together what this might mean.

The party then continued onward, towards the base of the mountain pass, and arrived just on schedule. They entered and asked a few questions, and looked at resupplying a little - Freas traded spell for spell, and discovered that the resident mage did not like the idea of using his arcane magic to permanently alter the world, like what a continual flame spell would accomplish. The party decided to meet with Conn, the most accomplished soldier in the area, that night when he had returned from scouting and hunting.

And there, we broke for the evening.

[Dmitri]

A readers digest, condensed version of the past few months...

* * * * * * *

After speaking with people from the tiny town at the base of the mountains, the party moved into the mountains, accompanied by Kerne, a reclusive villager with some skill at arms, magic, and smithcraft. Conn was no where to be found, and it seemed he had been lost in the mountains, along with several other recently disappeared people.

The party eventually met up with several spectral wraiths [DM's note - not necessarily the type from the MM] and escaped death at their hands, but did not destroy them all. They were greeted by a powerful old man in the pass as well, whom at first they mistrusted, but who for whatever reason chose to help them in return for their help. Due to a geas [DM note - not the spell, the Celtic concept], he was unable to deal with these creatures, but he would help the party in their travels to Scatha if they helped him. He became a massive dragon and gave them a lift to the cavern that the foul creatures inhabited, where the party fought and destroyed them and freed a few of the surviving townspeople, though most were mere husks after being drained of their life. It was decided that Kerne was going to fully accompany the party from that point on, and the dragon used his powerful magic to transport the party a goodly way on their journey south.

On the southward journey, the party ran into a nasty pool of darkness in a small cave/indentation in a mountain, while taking shelter from a storm. Of course, it dissolved Paden's clothing and mundane belongings, though Caldefwych survived. Eventually the mindless puddle of evil was destroyed, and the party continued south the following day, marching for a while with little event. As they neared the southern part of the Isle, they eventually came upon a battle between two unknown parties. They were unsure of what part to take in the conflict if any, but when Pasden called out to the combatents in the name of Scatha, he was rewarded with a similar verbal cue from one of the leaders. The party joined the fight, and realized that they were fighting against a mix of humans and automatons. The men against whom they fought were generally unskilled, and the automatons slow, but there numbers were dangerous, though with the party's skill and power they prevailed. The leaders of the opposing force, however, were not so easy to slay, as they had what the party recognized as a more advanced and brutal form of the warforged they had faced in the shadow world... and a spellcaster of power nearly equal to Freas. After some difficulty and danger, they defeated the warforged and the mage, and discovered that they had stumbled on an outparty of Scatha's army, led by Cynan, a former student of Scatha, at the school at the same time as the group. He explained that Scatha was to the south, and he explained the general political situation.

Cynfarch, Cynan's father, and Meldron Mawr had been attacked by Cedric and Onan [DM's Note - thanks to Tomas for correcting the name for me!], and fighting for some time. These warforged popped up every so often, and destructive spellcasting did as well - two things Albion did not know much of. It was also noted that this was not a conflict of champions, but a full and total war. It was decided after a long talk that Cynan's force would continue to head to the southwest, with the party commanding several contingents of soldiers as well. Due to some smart scouting, the newly formed army found a supply train of the enemy to ambush. The ambush went very well, with only a few hiccups when several powerful fireballs were thrown at Freas, and when a few warrior escorts landed a few lucky blows. The day was in part saved by the arrival of another band of "good guys" led by Paldyr, the champion of Meldron Mawr. It was only after the battle that the party met Lynthus, the warrior formerly known as Lint Dryer.

His time in Albion had changed him, and the scars on his body and the woad tattoos attested to the many victories that Lynthus had achieved. He seemed taller, more handsome, and altogether as though he had "gone native". He was a leading member of the Wolf Pack, Meldron Mawr's elite warriors. He seemed less than happy to see the party, and was not very concerned with his cousin's death.

The party also discovered, in the supply train, several firearms and munitions for them, as well as crossbows (a rarity in this world).

The party and newly formed army continued the march, and caught up with a large group of troops heading into the soft underbelly of Prydain. After some wise planning, the army under Cynan and Paladyr and the party was deployed at a river ford, where a tremendous battle was fought. In the aftermath of the battle, it was determined that it was the foolish arrogance of Paladyr and Lynthus, trying to win the battle quickly and with the Wolf Pack alone, that nearly cost them everything. After gathering the wounded and dealing with the dead, which made up the majority of the force given the reality of being outnumbered at least 3 to 1, the remainders headed south, and met up with Cynfarch, Scatha, Tegid, and Meldron Mawr.

Many questions were asked and answered. The party resupplied, and was given honor for there part in the conflict. Meldron was furious with Paladyr and Lynthus, sending them away. In the end, the party was faced with a few choices:

1. Meldron and Cynfarch would like to end the war, and believe that a tactical strike to eliminate the leadership of the enemy would end it all.

2. Freas wishes to get the tools that he is having made blessed for use with ice, for scrying. To do this Tegid will help him by taking him to a sacred grove, where he can perform the necessary magic.

[Dmitri]

Tegid led the party to the sacred grove, which was deep in the heart of an ancient forest a little to the northwest, several days ride from the camp. They began the ritual, but first they destroyed one of the evil necromantic torcs that they had found - though Freas lied about the nature of the other one so that he could retain it. Tegid warned the party that the ritual would be like a beacon in the darkness to the Coranyid, the evil creatures of Lord Nudd, in the area, and that a hard vigil should be anticipated. Be also warned that he would be in a trance, so unable to help defend them - they were on their own.

3 waves of creatures attacked the party members before the end of the session. First, a huge ramorhaz attacked, but was quickly brought down with some strong tactics from the party and firepower from Freas. Second, several invisible stalkers attacked, and were thwarted by the combined defense of Balla, her bear, Ayvlan, and Kerne. Freas quickly turned invisible, so as not to be killed by what he couldn't see, while Paden was guarding the other side of the lake and so was hard put to arrive in time to do much. Finally, a frost giant attacked, and drove straight towards Kerne, only to be enfeebled by Freas, who the giant realized was a more major threat. In the midst of this assault, as the rest of the party came to attack the giant from behind and rescue Freas, a winter wolf attacked with surprise and drew away there attention, nearly killing some members of the party in the process. It was this fatal distraction that killed Freas - with only Kerne (who was tripped and prone, thus very unthreatening) and Freas in his way, the giant felled Freas with a swift series of attacks with his massive greataxe. While this happened, Paden, Ayvlan, and Balla destroyed the woof and turned on the giant, who they quickly dispatched.

[Dmitri]

September's game picked immediately after after the demise of the giant and the woof, and the fall of Freas. The party swiftly gathered Freas' body and moved it to a safer location, while choosing not to interrupt the ritual which Tegid was performing. They returned then to watch, taking up similar positions around the grove. They struggled to keep awake as night passed - which resulted in the dwarf falling asleep and falling off his perch on top of a stone pillar.

Eventually they heard, towards morning, another sound and saw more movement in the forest. Balla shifted into the form of a bird, and when she realized that the creatures approaching were Coranyid, she used Spike Stones to slow them down as they approached. This gave the party the opportunity to position themselves well for the coming battle, and thought the battle took quite a while, they prevailed with minimal damage thanks to some strong tactics and good luck. When the ritual was complete, they prepared the body of Freas, which Tegid blessed, for internment in the cold depths of the lake. This they did, and when they had payed their last respects as their companion's body joined the watery grave, changing to water as it submerged, they set off for the war camp of Meldron Mawr once again. When they arrived they took some time and converted some of their spoils into new armor and weapons for the coming battles. Balla procured barding for her bear companion, and the tattoos were made and prepared. The evening broke as the party planned for the next stage of the battle for Albion.

NOTE - due to the DMs tardiness and unavoidable entanglements the evening was started late and cut a little short.

[Dmitri]

The party, after consulting with all those involved, decided that their best hope was to send out scouts to ascertain the condition of the sacred sites of Albion. That done, the party set out for Caer Rath, hoping to make it before Beltaine, when Cedric was supposed to be in attendance. They disguised themselves to appear as ordinary travelers, but couldn't maintain the disguise the whole way. On the road they witnessed a group of Coranyid attacking a small homestead, and they stopped to intervene.

After a quick but brutal battle, the victorious party discovered that their were survivors, barricaded in the house. The father had been killed, but the mother and children had survived. The father had succeeded in scattering most of the animals on the farm before the creatures killed him, and Balla helped the farmwife by tracking them down and returning them to the corral. The party comforted the widow, and helped her by delivering a message to the next village, where she had friends and such. They were rewarded with a cudgel, finely wrought, which belonged to the woman's husband and a bronze armband.

The party continued on, and was nearly halfway through the final forest before reaching Caer Lyndon, and Caer Rath right on the otherside, when they were stopped by a contingent of soldiers, led by a regal looking man on horseback. He identified himself as Cador, and ordered them to halt in the name of King Cedric. When the party complied he dismounted and began questioning them, as it was unusual to see anyone on these roads due to the war in the West and the monsters on the road. Ayvlan noted that Cador seemed to be sending a rider back the way they came, and warned the rest of the party that Cador seemed suspicious. In the meantime, the party decided to share their food with Cador and his men.