Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 23

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults  ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...


8 March's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter/cleric)
with Gram and Thaddeus (normal men) and Boar One and Boar Two (boar hounds)
Ham (cleric)
Blackleaf (Elf)
with Clara (normal woman) and three mules led by Karl Hoffson (teamster)
Koko (woman-ape)
Aethelwulf (paladin)
Little Bob (traveling man)
with Rolf Rolfson (normal man) and four dogs including Panzer and Marlo


I should have written this earlier, but alas, I did not. And so I don't recall anything done in town ... Other than that Morholt, local lord and usurper, is rumored to finally have gotten his hands on a love potion--possibly from the Elves with whom he has recently come into contact through Amrohir the Elf--and so Morholt intends to use said potion to force Sonora, widow of the late legitimate lord, to marry him and thus to legitimize his rule. This wedding is planned for the following week (i.e. session 24), it's the talk of the town, and it will occur unless the characters do something to stop it.

But hearing this and that they have a week yet to think on it, the characters preferred to return to the dungeon first, thinking that the singing and the coming of the Stars seems a rather more pressing issue. Looking back to the last session, Aethelwulf, Kord, and Little Bob regaled the others with their experience with the star pool on the second dungeon level beneath the Howling Tower, and with the strange Cthulu-ish monster that seemed to dwell within the pool.

The characters had earlier heard from Jaer the Windlord that the singing of the Stars has to do with something that the Goblin King and Lord of Werewolves are up to, and that the Stars are seeking someone or something; and remembering that, the characters wondered if the thing in the star pool might be a child of the Stars and the thing that they're looking for. So naturally they decided that they needed to pull it out of the pool--to kill it and/or free it?--and that to do so they would need a team of mules and hundreds of feet of rope. This was all duly purchased, and a teamster (Karl Hoffson) was hired, and the party set out seeking the Howling Tower.

On the way out to the tower, a vicious summer storm blew up, and over the course of night two and day three, the party lost through attrition a multitude of daggers, two weeks of rations, a javelin, a spear, and a shield.

Then, as the storm continued above, the party arrived before the Howling Tower, which stands like a dark spike from the center of the ridge just above the treeline. Kord suggested that perhaps the party should go through the tunnels through which he has crawled out from and down to the first dungeon level before, but the party looked at their mules and decided against that course.

Entering the tower, they made for the stairs, meaning going immediately north through what was once Begor's room--and in that room, they ran into a number of wolves. My notes have "asleep" over a column of hit points, so I assume that Blackleaf cast sleep over the three boxed wolf-hp-totals. Meanwhile, six other wolves engaged the party in a melee ... the wolves managed to injure Aethelwulf fairly significantly, but otherwise all but one were slain. Some were indeed werewolves--they were not injured by normal weapons, but had to be killed with magical weapons.

One of the wolves did escape, however! Probably off to warn its compatriots--and so the party gave chase through the winding corridors beyond, and were then quickly met by a unit of mixed wolves and goblins coming up through the corridor against them. Another melee ensued. My notes are spotty, but I remember that the goblins were pressed forward as "cannon fodder" by the wolves--and some of them were clearly werewolves, standing on hindlegs and having paw-like hands. But after several goblins were dispatched, their morale broke and they pressed back through the wolves, and several were cut down by wolves snapping at them as they ran! Then the wolves pressed in and the melee continued ... but the wolves and werewolves were just not up to the party's mettle.

Before long, the regular wolves were all cut down, and the werewolves fled. They moved faster than the party, but the party was able to track them to the end of the corridor and discover that they had fled through a secret door previously undiscovered by the door to the room with the down-stair. This secret door opened onto a ten by ten chamber without any other exit--and without any werewolves or goblins--the only contents of which was a soot outline of an arch on one of the walls. The party wondered over this for a while, but ultimately had to press on to the stairs down ...

The stair was unguarded, the goblins already having fled. As the party dithered in the corridor uncertain what exactly they wanted to do, Kord declared that he was going to go mess with the shadows in the secret shrine to try to get a piece of a shadow for Axxl the Mask, a sage who has offered thousands of gold for anyone who can bring him such a thing.

So despite that being not their goal, the party followed Kord to the secret shrine with the shadows that appear when light is brought over the threshold. They passed through some narrow corridors to the secret door, and then Kord threw open the door. A number of shadows appeared, thrown by the light of the torch, and they proceeded to attack the party. The characters had a number of magic weapons, which seemed to be the only means to affect the incorporeal things, but they were unable to prevail; after a few rounds of combat, having killed only one shadow and it dissipating entirely without leaving any kind of piece to be gathered up, the party doused their light, hoping thus to extinguish the shadows.

Alas! The shadows continued to exist, and now were effectively invisible in the darkness. Their attacks were more potent, and they managed to kill Gram and to bring down Aethelwulf; but Kord healed the paladin of his hurts, and the party managed to backtrack through the secret door, and the shadows did not follow across the threshold ...

At this point, the party didn't feel that they had enough time to deal with the star-thing, and so they turned instead to exploring tombs in the far west of the first dungeon level. The first few tombs they investigated contained mere bones, then animated bones (easily destroyed), and a pittance of treasure.

But then they opened a door onto a room with a basin that seemed to be filled with water (with gems at the bottom), and which also contained a number of funerary cremation urns that seemed worth something. The party did not exactly fall for the fact that the pool was a grey ooze, but the ooze did manage to reach out and attack Aethelwulf. This was almost the paladin's end! He was knocked unconscious by its acidic attacks as it clung to him, but the party managed to kill the ooze while Kord dropped another healing spell on him--otherwise he would have been a dead-dead paladin.

The party then pressed on, through a further door, and discovered a huge sarcophagus labeled with the name Ulfior and legendry of the knight Ulfior attempting to woo the Elf-princess Feanora. In the south of the room stood a number of silver canopic jars and another door. The characters wisely avoided the the tomb, but as they investigated the jars ("How much are these worth?") the sarcophagus was thrown open and an embalmed, animated corpse emerged, while a strange mist arose out of one of the jars.

A sarcophagus like this one, 14th C. tomb of Sir Richard Stapledon in Exeter Cathedral

The characters rolled saves against fear and Blackleaf, Koko, Ham, and Little Bob were all paralyzed with fear at the sight of the horrible undead thing. But fortunately for them, Kord raised his holy symbol and uttered a prayer to his god, Kord, and rolled a 12 on his turning check (on 2d6, the best that could be rolled), and so managed to hold back the horror. But I ruled that he had to continue to utter a litany of prayers against it to keep it turned, and so he was otherwise out of the fight.

Meanwhile, the other characters who were not afeared focused on the mist. Aethelwulf called on his own god, Adonai, and with a strong prayer managed to turn it as well--and with the bonus to hit entailed by its "cowering" (how does a mist cower? whatever), they quickly dispatched the mist with their magical weapons. They then all turned their attention on the embalmed undead and beat it down with superior numbers and good luck that I rolled poorly on my attacks.

It was time for us to wrap up, but I gave the DM cue that there was a hoard of treasure nearby--"Are you sure you want to leave immediately?" They checked behind the door, and behold! there was a great hoard of treasure with a handful of magic items, thousands of coin, and probably a dozen pieces of jewelry. One of the best hauls yet borne forth from the dungeon!

But our time really was ending. The party loaded their mules down with this treasure and headed back to town, and Kord caroused and spilled the beans on all this in his drunkenness.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:
Gram, Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

And for those Enchanted away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 22

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
and the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...

while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...

26 February's roster:

Aethelwulf (paladin 3)

Lead (cleric 4)

Baby Face (thief 5)

Valor Justice (Elf 1, first return since first session, played as Baby Face's retaine)

Blackleaf (Elf 3)

Koko (woman-ape 2)

Kord (half-orc fighter 3/cleric 3)

Ham (cleric 4)

Little Bob (traveling-man)

and all their army of hirelings and dogs ...

First things first, town stuff:

Axxl the Mask, one of two local sages, identified the black-bladed magic sword won from the wyvern hoard last session--it's name is Drinker, and it was made in imitation of the Black Swords, but is not actually such a weapon (those weapons were forged of old with demons bound inside; Drinker just looks like them). Drinker is a sword of life draining, and so will be able to drain life energy levels when Aethelwulf wishes ... as a paladin he feels slightly uneasy with the sword, but is not barred from wielding it.

Meanwhile, Morholt's son, Morrow, returns injured from a hunting trip, having been mauled by an animal in the woods. He was brought into Oakridge Castle badly savaged; Morholt, the local usurper of lordly power, sought around town for help and both Aethelfwulf and Kord were willing to offer magical healing for Morrow. Aethelwulf received a silver ring from Morholt as a token of his appreciation.

Furthermore, Morholt asked Aethelwulf to gather the party for an audience in the castle. When everyone was gathered, Morholt declared that though the adventurers' presence and meddling in town an in the dungeon was generally aggravating to him, "Perhaps now we can come to some sort of agreement of mutual benefit." He then called in and introduced another character--one Amrohir, an Elf of the Dwimmerholt. Indeed, the Elf that the party had run into last time on their way out to the Greyhame mountain, and who had sneered at them!

This Elf Amrohir now launched into a tale: he told the group that he was in search of the Elf-princess Amaltheia, who some while ago had been ensorceled and seduced by the Goblin King and left with child, and who had thence fled from the Courts of the Dwimmerholt fearing that her mother and the other Elves would have her half-goblin child exposed to die. Other Elves are out seeking her throughout the land, but Amrohir believes that she has fled into the Glimmervaults, and he thought he would enlist the aid of adventurers in discovering her. "And of course her fears are ridiculous--you must find her and bring her back, and assure her that all will be well."

Well, the party didn't trust Amrohir at all; once they had left the audience, Baby-Face used his sending bone to attempt to send a message to Amaltheia that they were on her side and wanted to help. Alas, the spirit-sending was not able to find her, and returned without delivering its message.

The party, however, had goals other than seeking and saving Amaltheia. They were rather more disturbed by the news received from Jaer the Windlord that the stars are singing because star-things are coming, looking for something or someone, summoned because the Goblin King and Lord of Werewolves are meddling in deep magic. The arrival of the star-things will be very bad, and so our protagonists hoped to find and stop whatever evil the goblins and werewolves are up to.

So to the Howling Tower they went. Arriving at the top of the ridge where the tower rises like a spike above the treeline, they observed the pyres out in front of the tower; and, approaching the doors, they observed three wolves who observed them back and then ran to the door, stood up, opened it with hands, and then disappeared into the tower.

Somewhat worried, the party pressed on nonetheless. And worried for good reason as they soon learned--passing through the rooms on the first level of the tower, the party came up against a large party of wolves (about 14 altogether--and as they ultimately learned, not all were mere wolves ...).

Blackleaf put three of the normal wolves to sleep, and then battle was enjoined. The party was poorly organized, though, and several of the wolves who seemed to have extra cunning in their yellow eyes set about waking their sleeping comrades while the party struck other wolves at random. All the wolves were ultimately slain, even a half a dozen who received multiple wounds from normal arrows and weapons without taking any hurt, but which were ultimately killed with silver-tipped arrows and swords; the party, meanwhile, lost the hireling Dorcas, and no others. Aethelwulf managed to skin five of the wolves, and then the party continued deeper into the dungeon.

We were short on time, but ultimately the party discovered the stairs down to the second dungeon level in the northern section of the first dungeon level; pushing down they explored in a few directions, gathered several broken pieces of marble sculpture that they thought they could resell, and then found themselves in a strange room with a pool in its center. From the pool the singing of the stars came through very clearly; but moreover, the pool seemed to open out to the stars, and didn't seem to have any bottom.

A magically lighted stone thrown into the pool passed through the water and then seemed to sink away into infinity. Then Lead jumped in, caution thrown completely out, and dragged Baby-Face into the pool with him. They splashed briefly and then began to sink, and it didn't quite seem that they were sinking through water. Fortunately the party had rope, and using it was able to drag out the hapless Baby-Face and Lead.

And then something turned within and approached. Something impossible to describe, something Lovecraftian and squamous and tentacled, and it looked at and into Lead, reached out and through the pool in an attempt to grasp at Lead. Fortunately, it rolled poorly.

Faced with such an empyrean horror, the party had no desire to look upon it any more and they fled.

They fled all the way out of the dungeon and back to town. With so little treasure, their shares of experience were pitiful. Finally, nobody wanted to carouse except Kord, who made his save.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:

Dorcas, Frida, and Johann Haybaler (normal hirelings), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

and for those Enchanted Away:

Dol (fyrdman hireling)

(I don't know what's going on with the format of this post)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 21

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
and the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...

19 February's roster:

Baby Face (thief 5)

with Frida and Alaina (normal women), Cadmus, Tyr, and Thorn (normal men), and Wallaby and Whesker (weasels)

Blackleaf (Elf 3)

with Johann Haybaler (normal man)

Koko (woman-ape 2)

Aethelwulf (paladin 3)

Our characters had several things to do in town before setting out on any adventure. First, Baby-Face tried again to smuggle for the local thieves' guild, but failed and only barely rolled above the threshold of getting caught--which is to say, he was nearly caught with the goods outside of town by Morholt's men and had to abandon the goods Han Solo style to get away. Nevertheless, the guild credited away a fraction of the debt he still owes them for throwing the wildest carousing party in Brakeridge's history.

Meanwhile, local blacksmith Aldir, Blackleaf's sometime squeeze, has almost completely lost interest in his affair with the Elf-woman. She hasn't been faithful in maintaining her side of the relationship, while he has become interested in converting to the Good cult of Adonai, Aethelwulf's god of justice.

Other than continuing his mentorship of Aldir (which really doesn't consist of much theology given Aethelwulf's less-than-mediocre mental scores ...), Aethelwulf also acquired some oddities for sale: a bottle of the mead of poetry, and a dagger fashioned from the stinger of a giant killer bee.

Finally, Baby Face hired a bunch of the mercenaries available for hire in town this week (Cadmus, Tyr, Thorn, and Alaina), and then everyone was ready to set out.

The party agreed to seek out Jaer the Windlord up on the Greyhame Mountain where the eagles have their eyries. There, they would offer the fifty orc heads they have gathered over the past few expeditions, which proof Jaer desired to see that the orcs in the Glimmervaults were diminished, and promised thence to grant the party a wish. After that, they hoped to find again a wyvern-lair that they discovered on their only other expedition to the eyries of the eagles.

To this end, Aethelwulf saddled up on his warhorse, while Baby-Face got ready his wagon and draft-horses, and with this equippage, the party moved out to the northeast toward the Greyhame Mountain's heights.

Now, at the end of this session nobody caroused, so none of the characters get blacked-out drunk and share the tales of their derring-do in excessive detail.

Nevertheless, there is no hiding the fact that the party rolled back into town bloodied but much richer, their wagon piled with the remains of two slain wyverns, a pile of treasure, and the bodies of the hirelings of Johann Haybaler and Frida.

Word gets around that the party ran into wolves on the way out--probably werewolves, according to rumors that they had to be slain with silver weapons--and Aethelwulf's possession of four wolf pelts (I think he intends to sell them) confirms an encounter with wolves at least. Johann is said to have died during this battle.

As to Jaer and the eagles, the party proudly proclaims that they found Jaer, that he accepted their offering of orc heads, and that their wish was for themselves and their friends to be haler and heartier. It's difficult to judge if that's the case; and truthfully, the woman-ape Koko looks rather haggard when she returns to town, and her wolf-bites seem sorely infected.

But, moreover, the party claims that Jaer has told them that the singing of the stars comes from star-things coming from across the sky, searching for something or someone. The Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have dabbled with something best not dabbled with, if Jaer is to be taken truthfully.

Finally--obviously--the party came across a pair of wyverns, probably in their lair if the lucre they've returned with is any indication of wyvern-hoards. Aethelwulf claims to have killed one by stabbing it with his bee-dagger, while Koko claims to have wrestled the other to death by finally breaking its neck in her hands. Frida died during this encounter--a black and swollen puncture wound on her neck/shoulder is gruesomely suggestive of the efficacy of the venom in the wyvern's tail-sting.

Out of the loot, Aethelwulf claimed a black sword, which he was clearly seen coveting in the bar before taking it out of town to seek the aid of the sage, Axxl the Mask, in identifying just what kind of magic dweomers are imbued in its dark blade ...

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:

Frida and Johann Haybaler (normal mercenaries), Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghosthound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

and for those Enchanted Away:

Dol (fyrdman hireling)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 20

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
and the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...


12 February's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter /cleric )
with Gram and Thaddeus (normal men)
and Saint One and Saint Two (St. Bernards)
Ham (cleric )
Aethelwulf (paladin 3)
with Hauka (snake-killing weasel)
Little Bob (traveling-man )
with Rolf Rolfson (normal man)
and Marlo and Panzer (dogs)

and later,
Blackleaf (Elf 2)
with Johann Haybaler (normal man)
Koko (woman-ape 2)


Before getting to the adventure proper, the townsfolk of Brakeridge threw a big celebration for the heroes that saved their children from the horrors of the goblin-dungeons beneath the Howling Tower. Everyone was allowed to "carouse" for experience without ill effects, the villagers slaughtered swine and oxen and roasted them in a great barbecue and shared out mead and beer in abundance; and even Morholt, usurper though he is, had to admit the heroism of the adventurers and sent gifts for them. Kord, Ham, and Aethelwulf each received a shield painted with heroic deeds to hang at their shrines; Little Bob, Koko, and Blackleaf each received a silver torc; and even Baby-Face received a letter of pardon forgiving him for the insult to Morrow Morholtson way back on the first adventure.

In town, Kord paid 1500 gold to build a granary on the second plot of land he purchased beside his new church to his god Kord (Chaotic Good god of strength). The church, meanwhile, is finished though rather spare in furniture.

Kord bought the two St. Bernards available in town and then took Aethelwulf under his wing and led him off to the Howling Tower, promising wealth but otherwise being rather cryptic about everything.

Attrition on the way out included a broken shield, axe, and javelin, lost during a brief skirmish with orcs. Then they arrived at the Tower and observed three baboons hanging out on the steps that lead up to the door into the tower, chattering and picking lice off of each other. Rather than go through them, Kord led Aethelwulf around to the north slope of the ridge and showed him a hole in the ground and said, "I hope you're not claustrophobic, 'cause we're going in there!"

They sent the weasel Hauka in first and then everyone else followed, Aethelwulf carrying his lit lantern ahead of him as he squirmed after his weasel through the narrow earthen tunnel.

After bending back and forth for a ways, the tunnels opened into a wider chamber--but it was little relief, because an insectoid horror surged up out of the darkness and attacked Hauka the weasel with writhing tentacles. The tentacles struck and Hauka's muscles seized and locked up, and then the insect-thing began to drag the paralyzed weasel away into the darkness.

Aethelwulf and Kord's dogs attempted to kill the horror before it could escape with Hauka, but they weren't quick enough in the confined space, and the horror disappeared down a side-tunnel, weasel in tow. Kord directed the party to the main tunnel and with a little more caution, they continued downwards.

Eventually, the tunnel opened into an area of worked stone with burial niches along the wall--Little-Bob (who was totally along with the party the whole time and definitely didn't just show up out of the blue) recognized the area on his map, and Kord showed the other two a secret door that they had missed on earlier expeditions. But he cautioned them not to bring any light into the corridor beyond, because the shadows created would animate and attack.

Everyone entered the short corridor beyond in total darkness; then Kord went ahead, and the others could hear him picking things up, moving them around, and he started to hand back sacks filled with treasure. Ultimately, they gathered three sacks filled with coin and a variety of other treasures including an incense box and incense, silver armbands, a painted canopic jar, etc. These they hauled back up through the earthen tunnel they had entered to begin with, all without dealing with any other monsters, and made their way back to town with only another brief skirmish against orcs.

Back in town, they divided their loot (not a small haul) and Aethelwulf paid a thousand gold for a fine liturgy of the Good cult in order to restore himself to Paladinhood.

The party, now joined by Blackleaf and Koko, then decided to venture to the Glimmervaults to collect the last nine orc heads required in their quest for a wish from Jaer the Windlord.

The journey to the Glimmervaults was uneventful. Faced with the choice between the western entrance through the natural grotto or the eastern entrance of worked stone fronted with heads and limbs on pikes, the party opted for the latter--reasoning that they were more likely to find orcs that way.

And lo! they immediately ran into a group of six orcs guarding the entrance just inside. These put up a brief fight, just long enough that one of their number could escape down the eastern corridor to warn his fellows. Meanwhile, the party took their time cutting off heads before they gave chase, and by the time they pursued the last guard, he had delivered his message about invaders and called on a number of other orcs and large lumbering creatures the party quickly identified as ogres.

Retreating down the corridor a bit, the party filled a 10'x10' square with oil and then lit the pool on fire when the orcs and company charged them. Both ogres and about half the orcs made it through, the other half were driven back, but most took damage from the flames. A general melee ensued; Blackleaf slept one ogre, making it easy prey, and then the other ogre and orcs quickly fell to the party's massed attacks.

They gathered the heads of the dead orcs into a bloody sack and then made their way back to town, triumphant and ready to seek out Jaer to deliver the orc heads to him for some magic.

Kord and Ham both caroused on their return, and held their liquor well. Everyone else, meanwhile, is a little gunshy about carousing after some of the mishaps they've seen.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:
Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghost hound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

and for those Enchanted Away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 18

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults;
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower;
and the secret treasury of the ancient Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself;
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...


29 January's roster:
Aethelwulf (paladin 3)
with Hauka (snake-killing weasel)
Baby-Face (thief 5)
with Frida and Hubert the Peacock (normal mercenaries)
and Whesker and Wilmerand (weasels) and St. Bb (a st. bernard)
Lead (cleric 4)
with Astia (normal woman) and Sparkly the Mule
Blackleaf (Elf 2)
with Johann Haybaler (normal man)
Koko (woman-ape 1)


Lead the cleric was eager to get back to the Glimmervaults to kill orcs and take more heads for Jaer the Windlord, a powerful creature of air who dwells with the eagles at the summit of Greyhame Mountain. In the past, Jaer has promised a powerful wish for a group who would rid the mountain of the orcs that are always hunting and torturing his friends, the eagles, and Saul-style, set the price for this wish at fifty orc heads brought to him on his mountain. (On an earlier expedition, the party gathered a mere 31)

Before setting out, they had several items to attend to.

First, Baby-Face acquired a sending bone and a bottle of Laurantha's mead from the local procurer of oddments. He used the sending bone to send a message to Jaer, asking whether the wish was for the group entire, or one wish for every individual, and the spirit arose from the bone and whisked away on the wind toward the mountains. On its return, the sending took on an imitation of Jaer's visage: One wish! it declared. But one wish for the company--even my powers are limited.

Meanwhile, Aethelwulf had a couple of things he wanted to do. First, because the party would not be following through with the rescue of children kidnapped by the goblins on this expedition, he sought out the captain of the guard, Cairn, Knight-Captain of "the Citadel" (the watchtower in town), and implored him to guard the town's children better against goblin kidnappers. "If all the children are taken away, Morholt won't have any populace left within his realm," Aethelwulf pointed out.

But Cairn basically just shrugged him off--"We guard the town. It's the fools in the country who can't keep their children safe. And what, a dozen farmers' nits carried away? Good riddance."

After this ineffectual audience, Aethelfwulf went to pray at his small shrine to Adonai, god of justice, in the market square. There, he found Aldir, Blackleaf's blacksmith-squeeze, who has been more aloof with Blackleaf in the past week, while going on about how he wants to be Good and a hero, like Aethefulwulf. So at the shrine of Adonai, Aldir got a little more instruction in the mysteries of Good from Aethelwulf.

Finally, we were ready to adventure. The party gathered rations and supplies and set out from town. The trek to the Glimmervaults proved easy, with but a single broken axe when Baby-Face was cutting firewood.

Looking up a the two entrances into the Glimmervaults--a western grotto that leads into a natural cave system, and a built-stone entrance to the east with spears and impaled heads placed out before it--looking up at these entrances, and then down at the maps drawn by their some-time companion Little Bob, the characters were paralyzed by confusion. This was a moment of great amusement for me, the referee, as the players pored over their actual artefact of play, unable to make sense of the three maps. It was a perfect moment of a kind of 1:1 identification between the characters and the players, of actually poring over a map in confusion as to what it means, where to go?

Finally, they elected to enter the grotto and explore an unexplored side-corridor just to the west inside the entrance. In they went, and were immediately surprised by a roar and with Lead getting swiped by the claws of a huge bear. A short melee followed, short because the bear was overwhelmed by the party's numbers. It put up a good fight--damaged Aethelwulf's hawk-shield and mauled both him and Lead (mauled Lead because the man was still wearing his old green-slime-burned plate armor from the first session!), but ultimately it was put down by two simultaneous critical hits.

Aethelfwulf turned out to be proficient at skinning animals, and so he proceeded to remove the bear's pelt, which was mostly undamaged other than the melee-mangled head. This would prove to be their only real treasure for the session.

When the bear was skinned, the party continued southeast through a series of large irregular caves, deeper into the Glimmervaults, seeking a great chasm on the first of Little Bob's maps. Entering into a chamber with stairs leading up to a flowstone formation, they searched for secret doors and found one--but heard the noise of moving things from the other side. Fearing undead, they cracked the door open and balanced a flask of holy water above, to drop on anything passing beneath--but the noise turned out to be a group of orcs passing by.

Lead insulted them and their mothers, and the orcs shot back with a lame retort and then charged through the door. The holy water didn't do much--but the "army" facing them were too much, and two orcs went down on the first round, and the other two were shot down as they attempted to flee. The party hacked off their heads and then moved on.

They found a chamber with statues, their faces all knocked off by chisel and hammer, and with an iron plaque on the west wall reading in part, The tribe of Galad is destroyed root and branch; let jackals crush the bones of his heirs, let their spirits never rest. This place is accursed.

The party poked through a number of tombs in the vicinity of this room, and in one chamber with three tombs, they disturbed a colony of yellow mold within the tomb. Blackleaf, Hubert the Peacock, Frida, Wilmerand, and Whesker all failed their initial save and began to wheeze as their throats filled up with spores. The rest of the party then frantically tried to help clear their breathing with heimlich maneuvers, forcing them to gag and throw up, or even an dagger-tracheotomy for Frida! Out of all those affected, only Hubert the Peacock ended up dying.

Continuing on, the party ultimately emerged through another secret door to a passage just west of the large chasm they'd seen on the map. They skirted it along its western ledge, noting a broken bridge that would lead to a door on the east wall if still intact; but ignoring that, they headed northwest into another series of chambers, including a set of rooms with scummy wells, and an orc armory. Along the way they encountered a further six orcs, but these were slept by Blackleaf and killed without incident. The party looted the armory of spears, mail, and shields, and then headed back to town (out the way they'd come) because we were running out of time.

Back in town after another easy journey (only one more broken axe for attrition), everybody caroused. Baby-Face caroused especially hard, racking up a tab in excess of 4000 gold and landing him in debt to the thieves' guild by some 3000 gold! Aethelfwulf drunkenly bought a slave-woman, one Hastia, and awoke hung over and no longer a paladin until he frees her and atones for his crime against Goodness. Koko, meanwhile, had a religious experience, and is now of Good alignment herself!

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:
Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal man), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghost hound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

and for those Enchanted Away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 13

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults;
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower;
and the secret treasury of the ancient Bronding Kings is said to lie somewhere behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...

...

and Jaer the Windlord is said to look down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...


5 December's roster:
Aethulwulf (paladin 2)
Little Bob (traveling-man 4)
Finbar (half-Elf druid 3)
Baby-Face (thief 4)
Lead (cleric 3)
Aria (Elf 1)
Koko (woman-ape 1)
and a veritable army of dogs and hirelings


With seven players, set-up took a good hour of crosstalk, dog-buying, and hireling-hiring. Baby-Face snapped up a unicorn horn and a Ring of Unseen Servant, as well as buying a couple dogs; his party alone was himself and seven hirelings/dogs. Lead hired the other available hireling, Aethelwulf acquired two of the dogs, and Aria nabbed the lone orc mastiff for sale.

Recalling the offer by Jaer the Windlord of a wish for the party if they could clear the Glimmervaults of the nuisance of orcs, the party naturally elected to head there.

On the way out, my dice indicated an attrition encounter of undead on the second night, and the party was able to drive them off using two flasks of holy water, one week of rations (got burned on the fire while driving the udead off), a use of turn undead by Lead, and Baby-Face took 6 damage, promptly healed by the cleric.

Nothing else accosted them, so as they drew near the northern entrances to the Glimmervaults, the party found a secluded copse in which to secret the wagon and horses they had acquired in town, guarded by one of Finbar's wolf friends and the hireling Freyja.

The entrances to the Glimmervaults are two: to the west, a stone grotto recessed into the slope of the hill at the back of which yawns a cave entrance; and to the east, a higher opening flanked by spears and spikes driven into the ground and onto which the heads of various humanoids--humans, Elves, and a surprising number of orcs--have been impaled. The party briefly considered taking some of the heads to inflate their "kills" in their report to Jaer, until they recalled that Kaaraak the eagle accompanies Aria, and that he might snitch. So instead, Baby-Face took but one moldering head and six functional spears.

They then entered into the eastern entrance and headed immediately east at the first "T", as that way was least explored by previous expeditions. Going east, they stumbled almost immediately into a chamber containing six orc guards only sleepily guarding; nevertheless, the size of the party made enough noise to alert the six, and those awake wakened their companions. They got one round of hurled missiles off at the party's advancing dogs, and then, seeing the number of intruders, took off to the east calling, Intruders! Intruders!

The party sicced their dogs and weasels on these six and also advanced right behind in pursuit. Three of the dogs dragged orcs down by their ankles and then savaged them to death, but the other three managed to get all the way into a large eastern chamber filled with fifteen orcs. The orcs had been in varying degrees of repose, but alerted by the shouting, they were all waking each other up and arming themselves. The party charged directly in, dogs out front, and just started cutting orcs down.

Despite old school combats being much quicker and smoother than Pathfinder or 5E combats, this was still a slog, given that there were seven players, most of them commanding several dogs or hirelings. I believe this is where one (or maybe two?) dog was killed, but I didn't scribble it in my notes, alas.

Altogether, the party overwhelmed the poor orcs (I should note, by the way, just to stave off any "orc baby" nonsense, that these were all adult male orc warriors--this whole outpost is a warparty outpost); after twelve of the eighteen had fallen, the remaining six orcs threw down their weapons and offered surrender, but the players' blood was up, and, ignoring the pleas of Aethulwulf for mercy for the orcs, the six surrendering orcs were cut down. All the orc heads were then gathered for presentation to Jaer, and the party discovered 200 gold scattered throughout the room.

Continuing south-east, the party decided not to investigate the corridor that smelled of shit, but elected to go south, which ultimately turned around to the west. They passed a chamber in which a beheaded orc was impaled on a spear and set up against the wall, and then heard chanting from a chamber further along. Finbar, using speak with animals asked one of the weasels to go check it out sneakily, but alas! the weasel did not do a good job of sneaking and quickly humped its way back to the party before the orcs in the chamber could attack it.

There was some dithering as to whether to oil the hallway and lure the orcs out into an inferno, or just to attack, but ultimately the party just charged on in. In this chamber, they found a great orc-captain leading a ritual sacrifice to Agrol Orc-Father, a great wooden idol crudely carved with a terrible grimace, its feet piled with heaps of skulls and broken weapons.

But with a grimace, draped in snakeskins, and
surrounded by skulls, broken spears and bent swords

There were nine other orcs accompanying this captain, and they were in wait for the party, and hurled missiles at them as the party's army poured into the chamber. A general melee then ensued. Much like the last battle, the dogs made short work of a number of orcs. Koko the woman-ape crushed one orc's face, but then, overeager, forced her way through the melee to the orc chief's side to attack him, and was herself cut down. But the orcs were overwhelmed; and in the chaos of the fight, Aethelwulf the paladin managed to work his way around and thrust his own sword through the orc chief's breast, silencing his battle cries forever.

From the orc chief were looted a large shield decorated with a red hawk and a waterfall sword (both likely magical), as well as three gems appraised by Aria to be worth 200 gold each. The party cut off and collected the orc heads, and then tore down the idol and dragged it bodily out of the dungeon. Having slain everything they encountered on the way in, there were no encounters on the way out, and outside, after hacking off the huge head of the idol with axes, they set the great idol alight in a huge bonfire.

They then returned to the copse, loaded their wagon with sacks of orc heads (thirty-two, plus the wooden idol's head), and made their way back to Brakeridge. On the return trip, a storm blew up on the first night, destroying a spear, ruining a week of rations, and blasting Lead for 8 damage (two dice). Then, slogging through the rain and the mud, poor Freyja was bitten by a viper on the last day, and succumbed to her wound.

At last returning to town, the party sold what they could, and agreed to spend the 300 gold Lailith asks of those seeking for a companion to be raised from the dead, and so Koko was returned to life, albeit at -1 intelligence from the lingering effects of the wound. Then Finbar and Baby-Face caroused, spreading the tales of their daring. Baby-Face in his drunken exuberance promised to adopt Hilda, a 10-year-old orphan girl hanging around the Black Dragon's Meed, and now she won't leave his side as he goes through town, she telling everyone how grateful she is to finally have someone to look after her again.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen
Freyja (normal woman), Nameless Dog (1 hp cur), Hot Dog (mastiff), Cross (mastiff), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boar hound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

And for those Enchanted Away
Dol (fyrdman hireling)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 9

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults;
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower;
and the secret treasury of the ancient Bronding Kings is said to lie somewhere behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...

...

and Jaer the Windlord is said to look down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...

tonight's roster (actually played 14 November):

Aria (Elf 1, friend of Kaaraak the Eagle)

Lead (cleric 3, elected "captain" for the session)

Little Bob (traveling man 1)

with Marlowe (a cur) and Panzer (orc mastiff)

Blackleaf (Elf 1)

Aethulfwulf (paladin 1, formerly a fighter 1, but converted to Good this session)

Baby-Face (thief 3)

with Wheskers the Weasel (a snake-killing weasel)

Finbar (half-elf druid 1)

Unga Dunga (halfling 2)

Before the party was quite assembled, Baby-Face attempted to break Rendorsheeg (an Elf) out of jail, but he failed so badly that he managed to get himself imprisoned. The local thieves' guild bribed his way out (but not Rendorsheeg's), but that left Baby-Face 1000 gp in debt to the guild ...

When the party finally assembled, it was quite a number; they elected Lead the cleric as their "captain," and Lead announced that the party would journey to the Eyries of the Eagles, overruling all objections. The party appropriately bought rope and iron spikes/pitons for climbing, as well as extra rations, for the longer journey.

Then, following directions from Kaaraak the Eagle, Aria and Lead led the party north through the woods around to the west slope of Greyhame Mountain. I used actual wilderness checks for this, and ended up just rolling a couple non-monster encounters--first, Finbar was bitten by ticks after blundering through a nest of them (nice going, druid), ultimately to come down with some kind of disease; secondly, Little Bob was bitten by a viper, but managed to make his save against poison by sucking the venom out before it killed him.

The journey up Greyhame Mountain to the Eyries involves a hike up the mountain's slope, followed by an actual mountain-climb requiring rope, pitons, etc. The party sent Baby-Face ahead as the lead climber (given his thief ability to climb), and he set lead ropes  attached to pitons for everyone else, which allowed them to follow. Halfway up the mountain, on a ledge where the party could rest, Baby-Face pointed out a cave nearby to Lead; but Lead discouraged any exploration, and instead urged the party onward and upward. (Partway through this second leg of the climb, Kaaraak mentioned to Blackleaf that wyverns make their nests up here, having a truce with the eagles, but none with the two-legs down below)

Near the mountain's summit, the party finally reached "the Hame", a stretch of naked grey granite that resembles the hame laid across the shoulders of an ox's harness (I think? I hope I have this word right), which is laid around the mountain's shoulders. Here were a great number of eagle's nests, with eggs, chicks, and deer hauled up by the larger eagles for later meals. Kaaraak led the party through these nests to a cave under the summit, through which eldritch winds moaned.

There within, Jaer the Windlord appeared, a creature resembling a handsome man, fair-haired and blue-eyed, his cloak ever billowing in the winds, his tangled hair held down by a silver circlet. He demanded to know who came before him; Lead and his companions, who saved the eagle Kaaraak, was Lead's response.

A Master of Magic hero, and
o! the pixels are terrible here

Indeed, I have heard of the courage of those who have saved Kaaraak, my friend and servant, Jaer answered. And I have heard especially of the ministrations of Aria for my friend; therefore, I grant Aria the Elf a Guardian Wind, to protect her in times of need. This Guardian Wind is an elemental wind that once per day can be called on to create a protection from normal missiles effect, and once ever, can be used to create a fly effect, which ultimately discharges the elemental from further service.

Moreover, Jaer continued, I hope that I find in thee friends such who might destroy the evils of the orcs in the Glimmervaults below--those vile, deep creatures hate my friends, the eagles, and therefore I hate them. Bring me fifty orc heads, and I shall grant you all a Wish. I cannot destroy these creatures myself because things in the higher heavens are ever yet more important to an elemental of the upper airs as am I.

Aria also offered herself as an apprentice to Jaer, to learn wind magic from him; he agreed to teach her great magics of the air, but again, only for recompense of the destruction of the orcs below.

The party was thus incensed for the destruction of the orcs in the Glimmervaults; but they were uncertain whether they should climb back down the way they came (and maybe raid that wyvern-cave?), or whether they should hike down the back of the mountain. For indeed, on the far (eastern) slope of the mountain, they saw a path down to a defile that led ultimately to the back of the Brokenbrand Falls. Ultimately, Lead the Cleric decided that the party should hike down the back way, and from the Brokenbrand Falls into the Glimmervaults to attack the orcs there ...

So down the party marched (spending another day or so), and they got out their maps of the Brokenbrand Falls (two parties with partially separate maps, which they tried to overlap), and they asked where they emerged therein.

And instead, I described a new room, one with water flowing down from the northwest corner to the southeast corner, with an image of a rivergod behind the northwest corner's water, and an image of Brondr the old Bronding King with a broken sword in his lap on the north side of the stream. A corridor led south ... and none of this was on either map.

Heading south, the party entered a room with a long water-basin in the midst of which stood a statue of a naiad, with webs along the ceiling between the columns flanking the pool. As the party entered, they were surprised by three huge spiders, which dropped down and attacked Wheskers the Weasel, Lead, and Aethulwulf. Through a series of rounds, Lead took two hits, saving against poison both times, while Aethulwulf broke a series of shields to protect himself (one given by Blackleaf). But at last, the party slew the spiders, several dogs tearing the arachnids apart leg by leg, with Lead pulverizing the last spider with his warhammer.

The room also contained a large egg sac, and three cocooned victims; Aethulwulf tossed oil on the egg sac, and Little Bob lit it, and the webs burned away, destroying the young spiders in the sac; then the party cut apart the three cocoons and found three desiccated corpses, and a single Waterfall Sword, a kind of Viking sword with a waterfall mark on the ricasso.

The party then dithered for a long time, but ultimately headed east, whence gleamed open sunlight (considering the chamber opened to north, east, south, and west). Following the sunlight, the party found a wide space with a fairly large lake of clear, cold, mountain streamwater. In that sunlight, the party saw (beside an idol of Astora, Elf goddess of the stars and the night), a huge turtle with 12 gems in its shell holding court over a number of naiads, nakedly lounging on the banks thereby.

Except alive, of course, and perhaps a little
pretentious about its "deep" knowledge

Baby-Face was the first to approach this strange gathering, as he had before had good relations with naiads; these naiads did not recognize him, but they did fancy him, and started to wink at him and blow kisses to him. Meanwhile, the turtle turned and demanded, Who are you to interrupt my lecture of philosophy to these fine young ladies?

Now Aria and Blackleaf approached, Aria to engage the turtle in his philosophizing, Blackleaf to appraise the gems of his shell. The gems seemed to be worth about 1000 gp, and Blackleaf began to mumble about the riches represented (and murderous fantasies to take them all), while Aria became entangled in a nonsensical philosophical debate with the turtle (while also reprimanding Blackleaf for her obsessions with gold, rather than with natural wonders). Given the richness of the stones, Little Bob stepped up with the intent to remove the stones; but the turtle backed into the water, warily, and griped at the party. Why are you cornering me, interrupting my edification of these fine young ladies?

Little Bob and Blackleaf inquired about the gems--O, these were gifts to me from the Bronding kings, the turtle answered, a little garish, perhaps, but scintillating nonetheless--and the turtle further offered a single gem for an answer to a question. He asked for a solution to the epistemological problem of Edmund Gettier, of how to salvage the account of knowledge as "justified true belief" given "Turtle Gettier's" counter-arguments; the response from the players was weak in my estimation, but I rolled a 12 for "reactions" so I gave it to them--they offered something the turtle had not considered, that others might be relevant in any consideration of knowledge, ultimately not inappropriate for a turtle philosopher thinking to himself for some centuries alone ... and the turtle plucked off a gem and offered it to them.

(Meanwhile, Baby-Face continued his flirtations with the naiads. They told him they didn't care about the "lecture", they'd just come to make fun of and tease the turtle, and that they'd rather have Baby-Face come with them into the river. Baby-Face asked where the party was in relation to where he'd been, and found that following the stream southeast would lead back into the areas of the Brokenbrand Falls where he, Lead, and Unga Dunga had been before. But after relating this information to the party, Baby-Face agreed to just go with the naiads, and he disappeared with them under the waters, sharing a smooch for the sake of waterbreathing.)

Baby-Face joining the naiads while the
turtle-philosopher natters on beind

The party then followed Baby-Face's brief directions (while Blackleaf and Aria disputed over the turtle, Blackleaf wanting to take his gems, Aria, being of Natural alignment, wishing to protect the turtle). They ultimately found themselves in the Brokenbrand Falls where a map made sense, and agreed to seek some theoretical treasure nearby before heading back to town. The naiads had once directed Baby-Face and his companions to a nearby tomb for hidden treasures ... the party followed such directions into the tomb of Bragr.

In the tomb, they found a sarcophagus backed by a bas-relief of the World Tree with a serpent gnawing its roots to one side; approaching the tomb, Lead found nothing inside, but Blackleaf (as an Elf) pointed out that the serpent hid a secret door.

There within, behind the secret door, the party looked upon a tomb filled with grave goods--and also containing a colony of aggressive fungus! The party attacked the fungus with missile weapons, fire, and dogs, and because of the colony's slowness, the party tore it apart. Then the party looted the place and found much silver, electrum, and gold coinage; a tortoise-shell lyre and a bone-harp; 6 potions; and a wand; which seemed altogether to be worth a couple thousand gold pieces.

This treasure in hand, the party decided to head back to town; with their map, they made it quickly through the chambers of the Brokenbrand Falls, back to the slippery stairs that lead up to the halls, and all made their checks to avoid falling from the stairs. And at the base of the stair, they found Baby-Face waiting for them, dabbling his feet in the stream, satisfied smile wide on his face (he made his save to escape the naiads' charms ...).

Continuing back to town, the party dealt with a couple encounters of attrition in which they burned several weapons, ammunition, and shields--clearly ineffectual skirmishes against orcs in the night.

Lastly, arriving back in town, the party went on to carouse with their newfound wealth. At some point in the night of drinking, Little Bob wandered off into the village green and is said to have cursed and blasphemed the gods as vengeful assholes (and yet nevertheless he leveled up as a traveling-man through carousing!). As for Blackleaf, she is said to have strung local blacksmith Aldir along, hoping to marry him "for a soul" ... Baby-Face, meanwhile, bought rounds for everyone at the Black Dragon's Meed, and is now well known as the best drunkard in Brakeridge to have as one's drinking-buddy.

Finally, Aethulfwulf, spent a sum of money on a new small shrine to Adonai, Lawful Good god of justice, Pourer of the Horn; and then he also went carousing, but managed to end his night in his own bed, secure in his sense of having not made an ass of himself.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen
Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boar hound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)