(c) Jack Wood. Reproduced with permission.
An Elf, a Priest, and Some Blue-Blood
Freeday, 7 Coldeven, 576
Progress through the Dreadwood is slow. Too slow. Tried traveling with just Silver, but not a good idea. We’d be picked off by a single monster.
Stayed at the Pickled Wyvern. They actually have one, apparently, in a huge jar. Didn’t order it. Silver made friends with some kind of half-elf musician. Decent skill- actually earned it, looks like, instead of his blood just making it happen. Probably too much of a liability, but seems pleasant enough.
Magic Man at the bar. Enjoying the company of some chick, sounds like both blue-bloods. Really slumming around here.
Also some kind of Bakluni priest. Apparently looking for elves. I hope he finds them.
Starday, 8 Coldeven, 576
Linked up with Hound and his dog. On a quest to recover holy relics, stolen by tall elves on winged beasts. He’s a bit of a puppy, but his heart is in the right place and I have my own reasons for joining a hunt against fae. Maybe I’ll be putting him in danger by coming along, so I’ll have to have a talk with him, but until then we can help each other. Maybe this stolen relic will shed some light of Celene’s endgame, and thus my own fate.
Magic Man is coming along, and at least for now his friend Goldie going to travel with us, at least out of the Dreadwood. Not sure what he can do specifically, but magic has tricks and he’s human. At the very least they can back up Hound if Celene pulls something. Especially since Silver insists on bringing Music Man along.
Also- desperately need more training. Got ambushed outside the tavern and went down to a couple kobolds. Hound got me back up, but I just couldn’t nail the buggers. This cannot stand. Music man earned his place though. I guess talent with a bow really is an elvish thing. He took down three of the kobolds himself, one shot each. Seems decent enough, all I can do is pray he won’t be turned against us.
Potential Job
Sunday, Coldeven 9, 576
Potential job lined up. Goldie has a ‘friend’ who worked for her dad, long time ago. Still knows him, he wanted to talk to her. Works for a blue blood in Anglar.
We were planning to set out in the morning, but a caravan came through, serious folks. Armored wagons, the whole deal. Silver talked us onto the wagons, so we had a pretty luxurious ride out of the Dreadwood. Silver stayed up too late talking with the driver of the wagon.
While registering at the gate of Anglar we learned the friend is dead, one Lionel Drager. Shop burned down, 3 fatalities. Supposedly a demon infestation, but I don’t see no flaming pentagrams. Goldie said her friend apparently didn’t like how his boss was running things, so maybe some bad deals were cut.
Nosed around a bit, found an innkeep that was friends with servant boyfriend. The guard is keeping one of these ‘demons’ in the square on a scaffold, and I’m growing less confident in this story. I’m all for public humiliation, but these mooks didn’t seem to type to be able to hold onto a demon. Squarely in the ‘I learned which end to hold of the sword’ territory. Temple of Pholtus on the square, but the priests didn’t seem all that interested.
Innkeep says that servant boyfriend had exposed his boss’ secret. Dolaman Drake, the boss man, is a local hero for creating a cure to some plague, the ‘summer fever.’ Calls it Emerald Oil, and it’s cheaper than healing potions. According to servant boyfriend the oil is actually made by monsters Drake keeps locked up, with promises that if they make enough he’ll introduce them to the town so they can be friends. Very ‘Blue Oni, Red Oni’ vibes. Anyway, servant boyfriend knows that Drake is lying, and so Drake kills him and plans to whip up a mob of soldiers to go down into the basement and kill these creatures.
We’ll investigate, but this looks like a pretty big payday, and if I get to be the one to gut this liar, I’ll count myself pretty well satisfied. We’ve spent our life savings on emerald oil to get the locals high and happy, so we’ll need that payout.
Met the Huzrael. Just call them Huz, it’s easier. They’re monsters, but from what I can see in body only. Glad we went in on this, they’d be doomed without us, locked in the sewers as they are. The blue bloods and Silver are exploring for other avenues of escape, but I don’t expect much.
I dug around town and took a look at the gates, but the inn looks like the only place to hide these things. Ran into a gnome who’s plugged into the underground, but he was understandably afraid of sheltering demons, and we couldn’t afford his price tag right now even if he was down. Gave him some info, so hopefully we’ll have some of the underground spreading the word on who Drake is. We’ll need all the allies we can get.
The others got a plan together while I was looking around. Gonna try to hide the Huz in the Headless Horse, while Music man runs interference. Then Magic man figures he can get the one in the square free if Silver and Music man keep running interference. Never seen Silver work a crowd that size, but Music man is pretty good. I guess I’ll just stand by and be ready if it comes to blood.
Thus To All Traitors
Sunday, Coldeven 9, 576
No question, Magic Man came in clutch. As much as I’d like to take credit for the beaten animal hanging on the gallows it was really everyone else’s work.
The extraction went off without a hitch. Even the guards were smitten with Music Man, and Magic Man went up, wiggled his fingers, and caught the Huz as he fell from the shackles. I felt just about unnecessary. The Huz with a short fuse that had been watching dropped on Magic Man like a vulture right as we were about to hit the inn from the back alley, but after a moment it (she?) realized that Magic Man had just saved a life, and I got them all in and hidden before Magic Man bled out too much. Hound got him back on his feet, and- credit where it’s due- Magic Man got up like a trooper. Guess not every magic slinger is a coward or a perv.
Anyway, things got pretty loud while we figured out our next move. We grabbed the Huz just in time for Blackheart himself to come riding down the street, and see that someone had snatched his prize right from under his nose. The square cleaned out pretty well, so I floated the idea of getting the Huz sanctuary in the temple, or at least testing the waters. The consensus was that he and I would go, test the waters, and if we got a green light we’d bring a Huz over.
Music Man and Silver kept an eye on the square while Goldie and Hound headed into town to investigate if servant boyfriend had any other allies or evidence. Sounds like they mostly affirmed everything we had heard already, and everyone was pretty smitten with Blackheart, on account of curing the Summer Fever and whatnot.
Temple was accommodating, but we were stuck on the point of how to prove a Huz was a demon or not. I guess the Blinding Light doesn’t blind everything, because it hit me like a rock- Holy Water. That stuff is supposed to be like a flaming cocktail to a demon, and if anyone had some it would be the temple. I did my best Silver impression and managed to get some water for the last of my coin, and took it back to test. As expected, no reaction from the Huz.
Magic Man made one of the cloaks big and we grabbed the short fuse Huz as our example. A couple vials of holy water later, and the temple was convinced. They got the Huz over from the inn all secretively, and we set up outside the temple to wait for Goldie and Hound to get back.
Blackheart Jr. caught on to us hanging around the temple, and recruited me to ‘help with the demons.’ In retrospect I guess he was just trying to spread us out, because he tried a similar trick on Magic Man and Silver.
After that, they sent Music Man to get me back to the temple, to wait for Blackheart’s next move.
I should have seen it coming. I really should have.
Honorless, motherless, scum-sucking animals like him would toss a torch at a church just on principle.
I found some wax in the stall later, so I think they set a candle in there, a genius timer to give their man plenty of time to get away. With the church’s stable ablaze, he had the mob in a frenzy, ready to storm the church for the ‘demons’ inside. I’m honestly not sure what I would have done if they did. The Huz weren’t demons, but their lives in exchange for townspeople? Monsters for men? I can’t really say. I might have tried it, just for the chance to rip it out of Blackheart’s still beating chest. Maybe feed it to him on his way down to the hells.
It didn’t come to that. I heard shouting and didn’t see how it went down exactly, but apparently Music Man and the priestess managed to get the crowd’s attention and break their momentum, and then Silver gave the debate of a lifetime. I finally came out of the temple right when Silver yelled “Lynch him!” and the crowd was on it. I don’t know what those two said, but after today I’d stake my life of Music Man and Silver working any crowd, any day.
Blackheart is still alive, for now, but his lies are out. Goldie got ahold of a master of the Alchemist’s Guild. He talked with the oldest Huz, and he’s completely on our side. The crowd really went at it, I would have been shoving just to get a turn at Blackheart and Blackheart Jr., so I just sat back and enjoyed the screams. Part of me hopes he’s confess to everything in hopes of saving his hide, but I’m fine with him taking those stories to his grave. The three bodies in the temple were killed by blade, so I suppose hanging will suffice. If he had burned them alive…
Today was a great victory. I’m confident that these are people I can trust, and Magic Man was tremendously focused on justice for the dead. He’ll be a good leader. Silver says I should relax and get a few drinks. I think I will…
Dark Places, Strange Noises
Moonday, 24 Coldeven 576
Around noon we arrived in this village, a place called Saltmarsh. We’re pretty strapped for cash, Silver had to talk us in with a little bit of emerald oil to avoid the toll.
At the very least, we’ve got a good lead on a point of interest. There’s a huge manor outside of town, abandoned for some 20 years or something. Talked to the locals, and there’s some stories about this place. It belonged to an alchemist, way back when, but he disappeared some 20 years ago or so. Apparently there have been treasure hunters through the years that have tried to search it, but no one knows if they found anything. If they did, they didn’t spend it in town.
An old drunk in the Wicker Goat is the last known person to go inside, Old Dan. I’m calling him Mugs. Anyway, Mugs went in one night, either trying to duck the law or just seeing if there was any loot, and he heard a scream like a woman made of fingernails and hatred. He didn’t stick around, but that adds up for me. Treasure hunters that come, find nothing, and leave is one thing, but a drunk getting screamed at with ABSENT treasure hunters fit together.
Music man and Silver made some coin for our rooms tonight, and in the morning we’ll check this place out. I’m hoping for more than just bugs and ghost stories, but I guess this is just the job: keep rolling ‘till you get lucky.
Wrong Side of the Tracks
Coldeven 25
Gold and glory are a nice combo.
We investigated the wine cellar in the abandoned mansion, and found one of the dead adventurers we had heard about. The place clearly is used for something, as we stepped down the stairs there was a terrific shriek like fingernails and hatred, but when I got to the bottom of the stairs there was nothing there except the dead body and an empty cellar.
Goldie guessed about 3 days since he died, and I’d agree. Skin’s in pretty good condition all things considered, but most of the bodies I’ve seen were outside and the elements speed things up. While I was checking the body I saw something moving inside, and called for fire. Turns out we didn’t need it, Magic Man has a spell that can kill little pests of almost any kind, from centipedes to flesh devouring worms. There were probably a dozen of them, and instead of dangerous use of fire Magic Man made them trivial.
We stripped the body, and his armor is exquisite. Plate mail, but when it’s on it feels like it weighs nothing. Still weird, I’m not sure if it suits me. It’s still a little bulky.
We looked around, trying to find what was hidden down here. The worms and scream show there’s something worth finding down here. After a while Music Man and Silver pointed to a wall to the south, and slide it open into a brightly lit room that looked like a bunk-room.
There was a man dressed in black sitting at a long table with his back to us, so I put a sword to his throat and brought him out of the room for some questions. Turns out there are smugglers using this place for a hidey-hole. Guy had a letter that indicates he was trying to raise money to buy out a family debt. Desperation breeds bad choices, as always. I guess we can hope he’ll be shown pity and won’t hang.
Got some answers out of him, and then Magic Man made the call not to kill him. Tied him up and left him in the cellar to collect later.
Dug around the bunk room. Big door marked “danger” and what looks like the boss’ quarters. Took a little bit, but we managed to find another secret door that led to the sea cave the smuggler told us about.
I guess we were quiet enough, even with this armor jingling like a blacksmith. We got the drop on them – eight men with two gnolls. I dealt with the gnolls while Hound and Raksh dealt with the boss and his assistant. The gnolls put up a bit of a fight, but the rest were just sailors – no training in the blade, and no practice with teamwork. Even so, this armor is clearly magical, there were several blows that bounced off instead of bruising.
Raksh got excited and killed one, but the others managed to bandage the other smugglers to keep them from bleeding out. We did some grilling, and they’re scared of someone higher up the chain. The boss certainly would die before talking, not worthy breaking any fingers on that man. Besides the general principle, of course.
Silver got one to talk while we were waiting for the constable. There’s a ship called the Sea Ghost that’s higher up the chain, and the boss would signal the ship with a lantern from the upper floor of the mansion. Found what looks like a signal code, needs to be decoded. Might be clues on the upper floor as well.
We opened the door that said “danger,” good thing we did. Full of skeletons, took quite a bit of effort to clear them out.
Music Man found a secret door, and we hit the jackpot. Shelves full of gold, and the withered body of the old alchemist, still clutching a glowing stone. Magic Man thinks it’s called a Philosopher’s Stone, and is pretty nervous about it. I’ll leave the magic to him. Found some magic books from the alchemist and the boss too, Goldie is looking at the books with him.
Magic Man thinks the gold might be fake, but can’t figure out how you would change it back. I’m kinda with Silver on this one, if you can’t change it back who cares?
At least we’ll eat well tonight, and we can put our minds to this smuggler ring more fully. We can hope for more gold and glory on the smugglers’ ship.
The Price of Power
Growfest 3, 576
I don’t know how to describe the past week. Perhaps start at the beginning and just let the words flow.
After turning over the prisoners and spending some time with the magic books, Music Man and I started exploring the rest of the mansion. We found some interesting books, a few coins, and some other odds and ends.
Found the window that the boss would signal from, but no clues about interpreting the signal. Found a dead body, eaten and looted by goblins. They got away, unfortunately. RIP stranger.
The place is pretty infested with spiders, and Silver and Magic Man got bit while looking up a chimney. Silver got panicked about poison apparently and downed a vial of the emerald oil stuff. Passed out like he was drunk, so we packed up and headed back to town.
That’s where things got… complicated. Well, not quite yet. The Reeve gave us a lot of gold, and we settled in to review and get ready for the next day.
Guidance had been damaged with all the fighting, so I headed to the blacksmith the next morning to get it fixed. The results were… mixed. I’m sure the fellow did the best he could, but clearly whatever technique was used to hone Guidance is not a local thing. Then, as we were about to part… Sensei appeared.
Like always, he didn’t arrive. He was simply there. He had always been there. Apparently word of our work in Anglar has gotten around, and he’s made some connections for us to train. He told me not to worry about Guidance – it’s from a distant land whose honing technique is a mystery to all. They’ll kill themselves rather than be captured and let the secret out. That just makes me feel worse about not properly respecting such a blade, but that’s what growth is for.
Sensei brought a whole crew, and there was someone for everyone. Silver has been trying his hand at magic, and apparently the fellow in motley was able to help him out, because one morning as we were coming downstairs at the inn Silver tried to show us his new trick and the next think I remember Hound and I were on the floor, trying to stop the room from spinning. He’s got a weird trick that make a bright flash of colors, clearly magic, but Magic Man and Goldie don’t seem to like it.
All of this was fine the first couple days, but then Growfest started and things blew out of control.
Of course, festivals are always a little loud and over-the top, but Celene comes in full with them, and the festival atmosphere makes her all the more… persuasive. Growfest is the worst though, by far. I think because it’s my birthday. My arms felt tight and clunky, and Sensei was absolutely ruthless. In those three days I felt like I had lost almost a year of progress, like I was some commoner waving a sharp stick around. And every night the dance would come on me, and I had to find some dark alley to get it out of my system.
My birthday has always been the worst day. Some years back in Two-Horse I had to disappear for the whole day, because the urges just wouldn’t stop. Thankfully the others were training, and so nobody asked too many questions. So, naturally, right after midnight on the 3rd of Growfest Sensei dragged me out of bed and out up the stream.
I swear to everything he hasn’t tanned my hide like that – well, ever. I felt pathetic, it was like I couldn’t remember parry 9 or 5, he’d hold still as I stumbled and flailed like a drunk. It didn’t help that we were in the water, so to swing at him I had to fight the current the whole time. He spoke little, but I could feel his disappointment. Somehow I was worse than when he picked me up in Two-Horse, between Celene’s meddling and something I don’t even know what. I’ll remember his words for the rest of my life:
“So, have you decided to give up the way of sword? Because you treat your blades like clubs, not treasured partners.”
Finally, he showed me what was missing. A step I hadn’t even considered.
Power costs. The question is how much you’re willing to spend. But of course Sensei offered another path: why fear when you can conquer? If the flow fights you, then make it yours rather than fighting back.
Like taming a monster.
I am grateful to all the gods no one else was there to hear me yell ‘Tempest Wind,’ but it worked. Sensei said that if I wanted to take control of my instincts I needed to know what they did first, so I followed those instincts, and power was mine for the taking. Celene was high in the sky, but for the first time in my entire life she was helping, not hindering. My limbs moved faster, my movements were sharper. So much faster, in fact, that I slipped up when I first ‘used the technique.’ I wasn’t expecting the stiffness in my muscles to simply vanish. The second time I was ready, and it’s the first time I’ve ever landed a blow on Sensei.
The implications are dire, but Sensei was very clear. He has given me the tools to conquer the world, and it is up to me how far I will use them. If I want power, it’s mine for the taking. Even if it involves…stupid technique names…
I just hope Silver hasn’t done anything stupid about my birthday. That’s the last thing I need tonight.
Conspiracy
With the mansion safely cleared, we have spoken with the reeve. Based on the information we obtained from the prisoners, we know that the Sea Ghost will be coming at some point, but we don’t know when. The town has placed men on watch, but they would like us to perform the boarding action and secure the ship for the constables.
None of us have experience with water travel, but Magic Man and Music Man pointed out we don’t need to, we just need to secure the ship and cargo, and let the officers deal with bringing it in. Hound reminded us that there is a great deal of food and drink at the mansion, and so we can actually wait there, in luxury with good eating, and just wait for the watchmen to report that the ship has arrived.
I’ve been keeping at my drills, but frankly there hasn’t been that much to do. Alec has made friends with Raksh, and the two dogs allow us to relax more on our night watches. There aren’t much better ways to wait for adventure than in a nice well kept sea cave with lots of free food.
The Dark of Luna
On the dark of Luna the watchmen came for us. The ship had arrived, and it was time to go. Alec and Raksh had to stay on land, they wouldn’t have been much help, but the rest of us set out in darkness.
Boarding the ship was trivial. The watchmen brought us to the anchor, which I was able to climb, and the others had cloth-wrapped grappling hooks to climb aboard. The entire crew were staring out towards the land, and didn’t know a thing until we fell on them. It was fierce fighting, and I was only able to keep one of the officers alive in the fight, but the others were able to secure another, and after a few minutes of fierce fighting the ship was ours.
We learned several interesting things on board.
First, they have definately been smuggles lots of silk and brandy. There was probably thousands of pounds of the stuff in the hold. However, they’ve been doing much worse. We found lizardfolk aboard, who claimed they were just booking passage, no alliance. Magic Man said to let them go, but while questioning the prisoners we learned a great deal more. The smugglers have been doing a lot of business with the lizardmen, selling them large amounts of arms and armor- we even found the map leading to the exchange point.
Apparently they’ve also been in contact with some sort of ‘sea elves,’ whatever that is, one of whom was prisoner on the ship. Sea elves just spells trouble in my book, but he certainly wasn’t on their side, so for now he isn’t our enemy. Water boy is sticking around to give his statement to the law, and maybe the town will try to trade with the sea elves, who knows.
Most importantly we have a new target – heavily armed lizardman camps are never a good thing, and while we’ll wait for the town to give us an offer, I’m ready to test my blades against some proper monsters, none of this turncoat nonsense.
Speaking of blades, we’ve added two more to the team. Ahnri and Marth, a broadsword and a longsword, both magical. I somewhat reluctantly offered them to the rest of the party, but no one else particularly uses blades, and so my own arsenal grows. I’ll do some drills with them while we wait for the reeve, I think Marth might partner better with Discipline than a magic broadsword…
The March to Coldbloods
As expected, it’s time to set out against the lizardfolk. Music Man said that they aren’t normally so violent, so it’s possible we can strike some kind of deal. I’ll leave that to the deal makers.
After spending everything we owned on some more training, we set out along the coast, following the map we captured. Drippy the elf is tagging along for now, saying he wants to complete his mission to learn what the smugglers were up to. I just hope he doesn’t get in the way. ZV the parrot is settling in just fine, and Silver and Music Man like him too. For some reason Magic Man doesn’t seem to like him, but I’m sure he’ll come around. ZV is a very pretty bird.
We’ve settled in for the night after a vicious battle with some frog creatures. We found some sweet loot, including some magic stones. There were a lot of those frogs. A LOT. I’m concerned what we might find deeper in the swamps, if there’s this many threats just to start with. I might need to find some kid to train, because I can only swing a sword so fast, and we need the steel.
Strength in Numbers
We set out the next morning on foot, with the dogs ready to fight. As we drew closer to the mark we located a massive stone promontory, pretty clearly what we were looking for. We crossed the river, and headed up a path towards the top. Once we reached the top there was a concealed door, and inside was clearly a fortress.
A brief discussion determined that we would be trying the diplomatic approach, so Silver and Music Man stepped forward and announced themselves. After a tense stand-off (where it became clear they didn’t speak any common), they demanded that Silver and Music Man submit to have their hands bound. They did so, and the rest of us backed up, and then the two of them were led deeper in.
It was probably almost an hour that we waited as they talked, and finally the two of them came back, unbound, and we were ushered into a sort of shrine. The chieftain, his counsel, some shaman, and his general were all in attendance, and they told us quite the story:
There’s a whole world under the waves, apparently, with their own races and wars. One of these kinds, sea devils, according to Oceanus, attacked the Lizardfolk’s home, and drove them out. The Lizardfolk have been arming up and making alliances with other creatures to fight back, but even with all that they don’t like their odds.
These sea devils supposedly worship devils or demons or something, and if they’re killed the Lizardfolk will go back to their old home, further away from Saltmarsh. Magic Man proposed an alliance between Keoish forces and the Lizardfolk: everyone would get what they want without an unnecessary fight, and killing these monsters we didn’t even know existed sounds like a huge win.
As a gesture of goodwill we went and killed some creatures that were harassing the lizardfolk, a giant crocodile and a weird fire snake thing, and… Well, our new companion did impressively. The creatures’ hides were incredibly thick, but he put his spear to good work and badly wounded both of them. I guess Drippy is out, and I need to find something more appropriate.
We hiked back to town to let them know a diplomatic mission from the lizardfolk was inbound, and started preparing for the coming battle.
I’ve been keeping an eye out, and one local boy caught my eye. He was struck by the monster head we lugged back, and has been training every possible moment. He’s got potential, though only as a normal fighter, not in the Way. Still, I think the party needs an extra blade, and I’ve brought him along as a student. His family seems fine to part with him – enough mouths to feed as it is.
We’ve gained another ally as well: Arcturus. The lizardfolk brought gifts, the remains of the other adventuring party, as a sign of gratitude for the peace we showed them. The town gave the loot to us, and among the gear was a magic sword. This one has a bite to him, though. He’s a rule maker, but has no regard for good. Still, his edge is sharp and he can let me see through walls, so he’ll be along for now. Using the techniques Sensei taught me I have made him submit, and I don’t think we’ll have issues for now.
With all these preparations, I yearn for monster blood.