Tantris - Session 9 (Final)

Game Date 10/10/09
Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue

Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter

Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor
Lia Moon (Misty) - Elf Wizard

Nara's Journal:

I have been given the opportunity to serve Pelor in many new ways. Soon I will leave Tantris, bound for other lands, representing my temple on a variety of missions of mercy. It's funny, just a few months ago I was satisfied with my life in the temple, doing minor tasks for the honor of serving my god. But now that I've seen the world, I find the temple stifling.

I appreciate the simple life I was given. I have nothing but the highest love for the priests who took me in as a poor orphan, and turned me into the loyal servant of Pelor I am today. But I have outgrown those temple walls, and I must find grander ways to serve my god. I can no longer be contained; I must see what else is out there. I wish to spread the Light to other places - darker places where I am needed more.

I will miss my companions. Lia, my newest friend... still learning of your potential, I regret I won't be around to discover it with you. There is no question that you are destined for something special, and I can't wait to learn what Mystra has in store for you.

Rolan... your tongue is ever-deceptive, but I believe your heart is pure. You have been called both thief and hero, but whichever side of the law you happen to be on at the time, you will always be my friend. If you ever overcome the darkness in your soul, I know you will do great things.

And I'll miss you most of all, Rhogar! You are truly the bravest of us, always willing to stand between us and danger, without a thought to your own safety. Truly, your courage has saved our lives many times.

May the light of Pelor... and the blessings of Mystra... continue to shine on all of us.

- Nara Cavell

OOC:

We had originally intended our final session to be a one-shot high-level slugfest using new characters. But with a shortened schedule, we also had the option of running one last session with our regular characters instead. We took a vote, and decided to go with the latter.

Recap - Last time, Rolan finally severed his ties with the Dark Fang Guild, and we ran full speed back to Tantris, in fear of retribution.

We rode the horses hard all the way back to town, unfortunately running a couple of them to death. Upon arriving in town, we went our separate ways - Nara checked in with High Priest Josel, Lia looked into the local Wizard resources, and R&R went back to the seedy side of town to hunt for rumors. We asked around to find out if we were being pursued by the Dark Fang Guild, but didn't hear anything.

However, we did hear rumors about a kidnapping. Apparently a noblewoman had been captured by gypsies. Further details were difficult to find, as noble Lords tend to suppress the spread of such information.

In our last session, Lia encountered an avatar of Mystra, who hinted that something special was in store for her. Now, in the wealthy part of town, Lia searched for information. She asked anyone she could find, and scoured the libraries, learning whatever she could about her master Thordius, and "Silverfire" (a rare blessing of Mystra).

Through a bit of misunderstanding (or divine manipulation), Lia accidentally attended a meeting of the "Righteous Conspiracy", a group planning to radically change the political face of Tantris using any means necessary. After leaving (or rather escaping) the meeting, she went to rejoin our party. Soon after leaving the gates to the inner city, there was an explosion behind her. The official story involved a clumsy alchemist, but we suspected that to be false.

We reported to High Priest Josel, who believed the explosion to have been the will of Mystra. Later that night, Lia was studying in the library when she saw a shadow. It turned out to be an assassin, who threw a dagger at her before stepping through a portal. Lia and Nara went straight to Josel's quarters, which had been ransacked. They then went to find Aeron Cloudmore, the head Paladin. They found him with troubles of his own, in combat with an assassin. They quickly defeated the evil killer.

During the aftermath, Nara ran into Lord De Winter, an old friend of ours from a previous quest. It was his wife who had been kidnapped, and Nara offered to help. Nara and Lia needed to stay at the temple to help sort things out, so Lia sent a message to Rolan and Rhogar requesting they help De Winter.

R&R accompanied De Winter out of town to find the gypsy caravan. The three obliterated the gypsies and rescued the Lady De Winter. The Lord De Winter requested the presence of Rolan and Rhogar at his home, where they were given a generous reward.

Lia and Nara were sent to the temple of Mystra for more information. Afterwards, they encountered an enemy named Darkspell, but Lia's Silverfire manifested itself, allowing Lia to absorb Darkspell's attacks and redirect them in the form of a powerful blast of energy, disintegrating him.

Wrap-up:
Lia has learned some evil rumors about her master Thordius. She returns to his tutelage, but she plans to remove herself from his influence soon. She knows she has a rare gift from Mystra, and wishes to learn more about it.

Nara has been chosen to represent the Temple of Pelor on many future missions, which will give her the opportunity to visit other towns and perform good deeds in the name of Pelor.

Rhogar has learned of more pit fighting opportunities in Tantris. It remains to be seen whether he still finds this a fulfilling activity, or now desires more from life. And will Rolan continue to act as a pretty boy con artist, or did he prefer the title of hero? Only time will tell.

But for now, all of us go our separate ways. Perhaps one day the fates will conspire to bring us back together, but that's a tale for another time.

Note: This was the final Tantris session, as Matt2 is preparing to move out of state. From here on I will stop with the Matt1/Matt2 thing, unless another Matt joins our group.

XP Rewards:

Rhogar - 650 XP (100+250+300) - Total XP now 2849 (Level 3)

Rolan - 620 XP (100+220+300) - Total XP now 2938 (Level 3)

Nara - 600 XP (100+200+300) - Total XP now 2828 (Level 3)
Lia - 650 XP (100+250+300) - Total XP now 1120 (Level 2)

Tantris - Session 8

Game Date 9/12/09
Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue

Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter

Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor
Lia Moon (Misty) - Elf Wizard

Nara's Journal:

There is no time to write, as we're on the run. But in case we don't make it, I just wanted to take a moment to thank Pelor. I believe I can finally trust Rolan again.

- Nara

OOC:

Recap - Nara is on a mission to locate a fortress in the mountains near Miner's Forge. Rolan has been accepted into the Dark Fang Guild, who would prefer Nara not find the fortress. Rolan has been leading Nara on wild goose chases ever since.

The session started by introducing Misty's new character, an Elven Wizard named Lia Moon. She is the apprentice to a Wizard named Thordius. We opened with her waiting on her master while he took care of some mysterious business in another wizard's tower. When he returned to Lia, the two of them teleported to Miner's Forge.

Meanwhile, in Miner's Forge, Nara was still stumped on what to do next. All her efforts at finding the fortress had been fruitless, at least as far as she knew. Finally she decided that they would stay for two more days, hiring more guides for more trails, then head back to Tantris to report.

While Nara posted the "Guide Wanted" notice on a bulletin board, Rolan met Thordius, who agreed to help him with the problem. When the party reunited, Rolan introduced Thordius as the new guide. Thordius teleported us to the top of a mountain, and we made our way down, taking as much advantage of the view as possible. No luck. We did find some gnolls, but it wasn't a difficult battle.

At one point during the trek, Thordius and Lia noticed a strange symbol on the side of the mountain, but they didn't mention it to the rest of the party. Nara saw them studying the spot, but couldn't tell what they'd seen.

And later, Thordius encountered an enemy of his, another mage who collects apprentices. The two fought, and Thordius won. Thordius later led us through a shortcut off the mountain, a tunnel which exited into a field.

Soon we met a travelling merchant named Won Lorn. We asked him about any strange nearby structures, and he did know of one, and offered to show us the way (much to the annoyance of Thordius). He scheduled a time to meet us in Miner's Forge, and our party returned to town.

Rolan tried to think of ways to sabotage our meeting with the merchant. He started sneaking around town, making his way towards the town entrance, but he was followed by Lia. When he finally noticed Lia, he returned to town. He invited Lia to join our party in the tavern. Earlier there had been a running gag about Lia being a heavy drinker, so Rhogar challenged Lia to a drinking contest.

While they were drinking, Rolan snuck out again, and went to speak to the town guards. Rolan tried to warn them about the merchant who would soon be traveling into town, claiming that the merchant wasn't up to any good. The guards just laughed at him.

Once Lia was good and tipsy, Nara tried to ask her a few questions - can we trust Thordius, what did they see on the mountain, etc. But Nara didn't learn anything useful. Lia eventually passed out, and Rhogar won the contest. We didn't know what to do with Lia, so we took her back to Nara's room and let her sleep on the floor.

Rolan got his minimum four hours of sleep, and got up in the middle of the night. Wanting to stop the merchant at all costs, he got on his horse and left town. A few miles outside of Miner's Forge, he found a merchant wagon, with a horse tied up nearby. Eliciting an OOC groan from the other players at the table, Rolan decided to steal the merchant's horse. He didn't get far before he was hit by some crossbow bolts. It was a dwarf - NOT the merchant he was looking for. The dwarf agreed to let Rolan go if he would pay the dwarf all his money. Rolan decided to fight instead ("What kind of thief would I be if I let him rob me?"). The dwarf easily defeated Rolan.

When Lia finally slept off her liquor, it was still the middle of the night. She walked around town, and asked the town guards if they'd seen any unusual activities. They told her about Rolan leaving the town.

Lia woke up Nara, and asked if she knew where Rolan was. Nara and Lia checked Rolan's room, briefly waking Rhogar but finding no sign of the elf. Then they left the inn and found Rolan's horse missing. They rode out until they found the dwarf. He was holding Rolan captive, still alive but very injured, planning on turning him in. Nara asked if she could take over custody of Rolan. The dwarf needed more incentive, just to be sure Rolan was brought to justice. Nara offered to pay him 20 gold pieces if she could take Rolan, and the dwarf agreed. Rolan later discovered that all his money was gone.

Nara and Lia took Rolan back to the inn, but they kept him tied up. They questioned Rolan, but he was still tight-lipped. Nara got a few more hours of sleep, while Lia kept an eye on him. In the morning, Rhogar met up with the merchant Won Lorn. Rhogar mentioned the disharmony within our party, and took Lorn up to Nara's room. Lorn offered to take us to the fortress, but we still kept Rolan tied up along the way.

Lorn took us to some ruins, filled with wild magic. As we watched, a badger wandered into the ruins, and promptly exploded. Lorn rode off, leaving us there to investigate. Lia saw the same symbol she'd seen on the mountain earlier, and tried to investigate, but became magically paralyzed. Rolan finally told the rest of us the truth - that he'd been leading us away from these ruins for our own good. That it was the location of the Dark Fang guild, of which he was a member, and our presence here endangered all our lives. Upon revealing the truth, the guild symbol in Rolan's pocket was enchanted to explode, killing him and possibly the rest of us. However, because we were in the zone of wild magic, the symbol turned into a bouquet of flowers instead.

But we weren't out of trouble yet. Several guild members appeared, and we suddenly found a large number of crossbows trained on us. A representative of the guild attempted to kill Rolan, but was caught in an explosion of wild magic. Then the battle began. We were greatly outnumbered, and our spells kept working in odd ways - often in our favor. More than once what would have been a minor spell manifested itself as chain lightning, killing several of our opponents at once. Nevertheless, it was a difficult battle, but we managed to finish them off.

After the battle, a mysterious person appeared and helped Lia figure out how to overcome the magical paralysis. Then we rushed back to town as fast as we could, got our horses, and left town again. We finally made camp a few hours south of Miner's Forge, and as soon as we get some much-needed rest, we'll head straight to Tantris at full speed. Hopefully we gleaned enough information to make Nara's church happy, but even if not, we're still on the run from the Dark Fang Guild.

XP Rewards:

Rhogar - 470 XP (100+70+300) - Total XP now 2199

Rolan - 480 XP (100+80+300) - Total XP now 2318

Nara - 475 XP (100+75+300) - Total XP now 2228
Lia - 470 XP (100+70+300) - Total XP now 470

Tantris - Session 7

Game Date 8/22/09
Characters:

Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue

Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter

Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor

Nara's Journal:

I don't know what to do next. We've tried a few mountain trails, and we thought we saw a temple in the distance. But when we later took another trail for a closer look, that temple turned out to be ruins. Was my church mistaken? Were those ruins the source of the rumors that sent us here? We've asked many local miners and explorers about the region, and no one has seen a temple. I don't know how much longer I can keep searching random mountain trails. It is unfair to keep Rolan and Rhogar in my service, when they would probably be happier pursuing more profitable opportunities. Rolan has already complained that we're on a wild goose chase, insisting that he "just knows" that the temple doesn't exist.

But of course, Rolan has been exhibiting all sorts of suspicious behavior. One night, when we were camping on the mountain trail, Rolan went out to hunt. When he returned from hunting, he immediately left to wash his prey's blood stains from his backpack. He didn't come back until the following morning, with an outrageous story about being attacked. I didn't press the issue; I have enough problems. If he is hiding something, I can only hope it's not something too sinister.

We encountered an Army from Everesk, and Rolan's ability to lie most likely saved our lives. And shortly after the battalion passed us, they were slaughtered by an unknown force. I don't know what to make of that. And more recently we encountered a party of Orcs, who we defeated thanks to Rhogar's battle prowess. But I seriously doubt it was Orcs that defeated the Everesk troops.

I think we're running out of options. Every path has been a dead end, and I currently have no leads. I hate to return to Tantris empty-handed, but I don't see that I have much choice.

As always, I pray to Pelor for guidance and insight. For yours is the one light, the true light, and the brightest light. Honor to your name.

- Nara Cavell

OOC:

We had an audience! Matt2's and Bryan's significant others decided to sit in on this session, to see what it was all about. Oh, and Bryan's dogs were present as well, but they didn't get as much out of it.

When Rolan disappeared overnight, it was to meet with the Dark Fang Guild, of which he became a member in the previous session. The guildhouse had a very dangerous method of entry, a path worthy of the Umbrella Corporation. Rolan is still not allowed to tell Nara or Rhogar of his membership in the guild, and all three of us will be in danger if he lets it slip. Nor is he allowed to let us find that temple. After asking another guild member for guidance, Rolan was given the tip of guiding us up the path which gave us a view of the ruins.

XP Rewards:

Rhogar - 165 XP (100+65) - Total XP now 1729

Rolan - 170 XP (100+70) - Total XP now 1838

Nara - 165 XP (100+65) - Total XP now 1753

Tantris - Session 6

Game Date 7/25/09

Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue
Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter
Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor

Nara's Journal:

I'm facing what I hope is only a minor crisis. Nothing so deadly as Orcs or demons or crazed religious zealots this time. This is more a matter of lost trust, and suspicion between friends. I consider myself an excellent judge of character, and I've always found Rolan to be a paragon of morality. But... and I feel bad even thinking this, so writing it down is absolutely painful... I think he's hiding something.

It started when we found out there was a war brewing. Being a loyal servent of Pelor, I quickly returned to my temple and asked what I could do to help. I was given the task of locating a temple in the northern mountains, and finding out whatever I could about it. I was allowed to take Rolan and Rhogar along for help, so we quickly set off in that direction.

We arrived at a mining community called "Miner's Forge", which is just south of the mountain range. We asked around town for information, but either the townsfolk are tight-lipped, or we're way off-course. We decided to check out the mountains themselves. Maybe if we could get high enough, we could actually see the temple on another peak somewhere. But we didn't even get close to a mountain trail before we were stopped by a guard. The miners are quite jumpy about claim-jumpers, so a trio like ours was met with immediate distrust. I was allowed to ask a few questions, however.

We soon learned that our best lead was to look for Elves. It seems that Elves are often hired for scout work, to find new areas to mine. We hoped to find and Elf who had seen the temple during his explorations. We returned to town, and waited at a tavern until nightfall, when miners began to return to town. We saw a group of Elves enter the tavern, but they proceeded to a private back room before we could talk to any of them. Being an Elf, Rolan thought it best if he checked it out alone.

He returned with an appointment to meet them at midnight. I got us a room at a local inn, and Rhogar and I stayed in when Rolan left for his errand.

A bit later, Rhogar and I heard a crash from the room next door, so we went to investigate. No one answered our knock, but the door was unlocked. We could see that the window had been broken, but it was too dark to see anything else. I returned to our room to get a lantern, and Rhogar stayed behind. As I got to my room, there was a man there, going through my backpack. Before I could react, he drew his crossbow and threatened me. I asked him what he wanted, trying to speak loud enough for Rhogar to hear. The man said he already had what he came for, and jumped out the window.

I couldn't follow, because I heard more noises next door, and I was afraid Rhogar might be in trouble. He wasn't. There had been an intruder in that room as well, but he was no match for my Dragonborn friend. In fact, by the time I got there, the trespasser was far to injured for me to revive him.

The only thing missing from my backpack was my book of scriptures. I haven't the slightest idea why someone would take that; it holds nothing of value to any who aren't faithful to Pelor, and there is nothing in there that I wouldn't gladly preach to any who asked. In fact, High Priest Josel has even considered making extra copies of the book to place in the dresser drawers of inns, so that travelers can discover Pelor's light.

So, in order to keep Rolan informed, we went straight to him and showed him the intruder's body. He had been puzzling over a logic problem he had been given, and we helped him solve the riddle. We ditched the body and returned to our room, while Rolan turned in the puzzle solution.

A bit later, the three of us were at the inn, when we heard what sounded like pebbles being thrown against the window. The three of us went down to investigate, which turned out to be a mistake... we really should have left someone in the room. Rolan was the first to return to the room. When I entered, he was holding my scripture book, but my backpack was gone.

Rolan told me that the book was just lying there, where my pack had been. I want to believe him, and the story makes sense... the pebbles were thrown against the window to draw us out of the room, so that someone could break in and steal my pack. But why would they return the book? What kind of burgler returns things? And Rolan's explanation itself seemed suspicious. Not the content, but the delivery - something about his eyes told me there was more to the story, something he decided to hold back.

But then, there wasn't really any solid reason to doubt him, so I let it slide. Rolan once again had to leave for an information hunt, and once again Rhogar and I stayed behind, sleeping in shifts. A few hours later, Rolan returned. He had found my pack, but he was covered in wounds, and collapsed as soon as he entered. Of course my first instinct was to help him, how could I not? It's what I do. As I write this, his wounds are bandaged, the healing power of Pelor is coursing over his body, and he is sleeping off what must have been a very interesting night.

It looks like he fought his way through the Nine Hells to get me that backpack. If I'd known it was going to be such a trial, I would have told him to let it go. I've never been materialistic, and possessions are much cheaper than blood. I respect Rolan, and I appreciate whatever he had to go through tonight. But he still has a lot of explaining to do when he wakes up.

- Nara Cavell


OOC:
Rolan has been recruited into an organization called the Dark Fang Guild. The logic problem (a D&D variation of the Einstein Quiz) was part of their initiation test. They were the ones who stole the book of scriptures, and gave Rolan the task of returning it to Nara's pack without her knowing about it. And then they went on to steal the pack, for use in their next test.

When Rolan returned to the Guild after the pack was stolen, they put him through one final test. They had him traverse a guildmaze full of dangerous traps. The first room was full of pendulum traps, and Rolan only survived by having a high reflex stat. The second room took the longest, and had Rolan finding his way through a maze of invisible walls, illusory monsters, and enchanted mirrors. The third room had a puzzle involving an hourglass, spinning blades, moving walls, and Nara's pack on a pedestal.

Rolan managed to survive all the tests (though I think the DM gave him a few free passes). He is now an official member of the guild. However, he is not allowed to tell anyone - presumably including Nara and Rhogar - about the guild. It will be very interesting to see what sort of story he tells them when he wakes up.

XP Rewards:
Rhogar - 550 XP (200+300+50) - Total XP now 1564
Rolan - 650 XP (200+300+150) - Total XP now 1668
Nara - 550 XP (200+300+50) - Total XP now 1588

Tantris - Session 5

Game Date 6/13/09

Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue
Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter
Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor

Nara's Journal:

Glorious day! The sun shines once again, and I can feel the love of Pelor in the air.

Unfortunatlely this will have to be a quick journal entry, as I am gearing up for war. Nevertheless I must record our success, in case I am killed in the upcoming battle.

Where to begin... I was walking by a house, and felt a strange compulsion to enter. It's not like me to enter random houses, but I felt that I had to. I was greeted by a man named Cyon. He had a... "presence" that I can not describe, only to say that I trusted him much more quickly than I should ever trust a stranger. Cyon requested a favor. He gave me a black coin which I was to deliver to the high priest of Coyn. He told me that the priest would know what it meant. The message would not be well received, but I would come to no harm. I could not have told you why at the time, but I accepted the task.

After the delivery, I found out what it meant - it was a combat challenge. I was to face Coyn's high priest at dawn. Rolan, Rhogar, and I returned to Rolan's dwelling to get some rest, where we once again encountered Cyon. Cyon - whom I believe to be an avatar of Coyn Himself - explained that the high priest was not in Coyn's favor, and that we would have Coyn's blessing in battle. He had already blessed Rolan with an enchanted bastard sword, and he had given Rhogar three magic coins... well, "given" in that Rhogar won them in an arm wrestling contest against someone who didn't even remember the event later... well, we didn't figure any of this out until it was over...

But I digress. The following morning we faced the high priest in battle. Per Cyon's advice, I taunted him until he allowed all three of us to face him. The priest's magic was surprisingly weak, and our attacks seemed enhanced by divine favor. In the end it was Rhogar who delivered the killing blow, cleaving the priest in twain.

As a reward, we were allowed to make one decree that the Temple of Coyn had to follow. And we were required to name the new High Priest of Coyn. We had until the end of the day to make our decision. After much deliberation, and seeking advice from the acting high priest Dupree, we chose Morok (who had announced us at the duel) as the new High Priest. For our decree, we had my temple's High Priest Astor Josel and one of our paladins released from Coyn's prison.

We have dealt a great blow to the corruption in the Temple of Coyn. I hope their new leadership remains virtuous.

I checked in with my own temple, and my companions walked the streets listening for rumors. They discovered that Lord De Rais was looking for us. He wasn't even subtle about it; he had posted reward offers all over the city. After checking in with my temple one more time, we decided to confront De Rais ourselves, in his own home.

De Rais was... repentant? No, I think it's better to say he was just "done". He had finished setting his evil plans in motion, and now he just wanted things to be over. He showed us a goblet made out of a child, which made me quite nauseous. He admitted his crimes, and gave us a signed confession for us to deliver to authorities. He explained some of his motivations, telling us a story of love lost or some such... but nothing in his past could excuse his actions of late. Nevertheless, we didn't attack him even when he drew his rapier.

...until he thrust the rapier into Rhogar. Then we fought back with a vengeance. It was a tough battle, and Rhogar especially took a lot of punishment. When we finally had him defeated, I finished him off with Sacred Flame.

Afterwards, the sun came out again, and all felt right with the world. Rolan's mysterious sword vanished, leaving only a coin in its place.

We took the evidence back to High Priest Josel, and he had me deliver it to the Temple of Coyn. They were very appreciative, and gave us a free round at their gaming tables. None of us won anything. I would have donated my winnings to Pelor anyway.

We decided to celebrate our victory, and I followed my companions to their favorite pub. But we found that the bars were empty. We soon found out that war has been declared, and all citizens are required to report for duty placement.

In other news, my language studies have been coming along nicely. I am now close to fluent in the Giant, Goblin, and Abyssal languages.

OOC:
Climax! And Level! The game had a late start, so we didn't get to play as long as usual. But that didn't matter, because we managed to cram in some important events, and wrap up a lot of the current storyline. The "war" hook for next session is going to be interesting.

XP Rewards:
200 each for general gameplay, and 50-ish each for our individual contributions. We each reached level 2.
Rhogar - 255 XP (200+55) - Total XP now 1014
Rolan - 250 XP (200+50) - Total XP now 1018
Nara - 255 XP (200+55) - Total XP now 1038

Tantris - Session 4

Game Date 5/30/09

Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue
Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter
Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor

Nara's Journal:

It is literally a dark day for the Church of Pelor and all the goodly races.

When I last wrote, we were working for Lord De Rais, escorting a caravan. The mission could have gone better, but eventually we fulfilled our obligations. I am now working on an assignment to locate a missing child of the De Sillis family. Or I was, but we recently learned that the child has been killed. I have been working with Rolan and Rhogar again, who have been very helpful despite their unorthodox methods. I have reservations about putting this in writing, but we suspect that Lord De Rais is responsible for for the death of the De Sillis child, as well as several other troubling events of late.

I won't commit to paper how we discovered this information, but we now believe that De Rais may have hired Orcs to kill the De Sillis child. And when the Orcs failed their task, De Rais manufactured evidence that Gruumsh-followers were responsible for the child's death. We followed an Orc from the De Rais compound, in an effort to interrogate him. But of course the Orc wasn't in the mood to talk, and we had to kill him in self-defense.

Shortly afterwards, the Orc's house was burned down by riders from the De Rais compound. As soon as we confirmed the riders' origin, we returned to Tantris and informed High Priest Josel.

Afterwards, I wanted to continue to investigate this mystery, but we didn't know where to look. However, we did know of one possible ally, an Elf who had recently helped Rolan out of a crisis. We knew approximately where this Elf roamed, and we set out for that area. We set up camp, in the hopes we would be contacted.

Instead, we were found by an Imp. It was a tough fight, but we managed to defeat the foul creature. No longer wanting to stay in the area, we travelled to the De Winter estate. The De Winters are devout worshippers of Pelor, and I previously found their household to be very hospitable. Our mysterious Elf ally also has connections to that area, so it seemed like a safe destination. How wrong we were.

When we arrived, we found the De Winter house to be under seige by demonic attackers, led by what looked like De Rais himself... or at least an unholy, twisted version of the man. We were attacked by some sort of devil (an Evistro, I believe), and we were lucky to survive his onslaught. Rhogar in particular fought valiantly, ready to sacrifice everything to protect us from the damned monster. Once the abomination was defeated, a large number of Elves - who we believe to be of the same group as Rolan's rescuer - appeared and put out the fire using magical arrows and elemental summons.

After the fire, we saw a large symbol on the ground in front of the ruins. It was the symbol of Asmodeus, Ruler of the Nine Hells. We made haste to Tantris, where I once again informed High Priest Josel of the most recent developments.

While the De Winter home may have been destroyed, we learned that the De Winters themselves were staying in their other home within the city. We attempted to visit them, but were not allowed in. I left a message, requesting audience with them at their earliest convenience. But I found out later that they were very ill, and unable to see visitors. This was not an isolated incident; rumors of a spreading plague had many citizens afraid.

We had very few leads, so we decided to pay a visit to the De Sillis compound. Rolan showed considerable skill climbing over the wall, and once inside he witnessed something blood-chilling. Another demon - possibly a Glabrezu by his description - created a planar gate and disappeared through it. It left a symbol of Pelor behind. Rhogar and I discovered that the front gate was open and unguarded, so we entered and reunited with Rolan. We explored the house, and found many dead bodies. It appeared that a battle had been fought, between the De Sillis clan and followers of Pelor. We found no bodies of children, though we knew children had lived there. We eventually found the bodies of Lord and Lady De Sillis themselves, impaled upon the blades of their enemies, frozen in battle in a scene that told the whole story.

...Maybe. I still don't know if this was an actual attack by other followers of my deity, or if there is another layer to this puzzle.

Before we could ponder it for too long, however, we heard others coming into the building. We hid. From Rolan's view under the bed, he saw another Imp run by the door, and he swears it saw him. Shortly thereafter, some people entered the room, but they only stayed long enough to confirm the fate of the De Sillis family. As soon as they left, we decided to leave ourselves. I most definitely did not consider burning down the building, in order to destroy evidence that might put Pelor in a bad light. Such a thought would never occur to me.

Hoping for some answers, we once again returned to Tantris. We arrived in the morning, and I immediately sought out Josel despite my weariness. He confirmed that that this attack was not authorized by our church. So either another church of Pelor assaulted De Sillis estate, or someone else is trying to make it look that way. The types of demons we'd witnessed were not easily controlled, so either the summoner is very powerful, or very careless. When I mentioned the missing children, Josel reminded me that child sacrifices are sometimes needed to summon the kinds of horrors we had seen.

I tried once again to see the De Winters. I was informed that only authorized Clerics of Pelor were allowed to see them, and those were trying desperately to cure their illness. Looks like I found a way in. We went straight to my temple to get permission to join the healers. When we arrived at the church, I noticed an elegant carriage parked outside. I noted that it had the symbol of Coyn on it, but I was too preoccupied for that to sink in at the time.

As I entered the church, I found that High Priest Josel was being escorted out of the building by representatives of Coyn. I tried get Josel's attention, but another of Coyn's followers informed me that I was not allowed to speak to him. Naturally I found this to be a troubling development, but I wasn't about to be diverted from my plan. I knew someone had to be in charge, so I went to the acting High Priest and asked for his permission to assist the healers at the De Winter home. I think having someone else in charge may have actually improved my chances; Josel might have seen through my necessary deception. In any event, I soon found myself with permission to visit the De Winters.

Not that it helped. The De Winters were too feverish to remain conscious, and even if they'd been awake, I wouldn't have been able to speak to them freely with the other Clerics there. So I asked the other Clerics if there was any way I could help them, and they told me they could use some Mandrake root. This rare root is found in the Sleeping Wood. I decided I would use the temple library to learn how to find the root, and we would leave in the morning for the Sleeping Wood.

When we arrived at the temple, I found that the followers of Coyn had an even greater presence. I was starting to feel uncomfortable about their occupation of the temple. Nevertheless, I had a job to do. Rolan told me that he and Rhogar had something to do, so we parted with the intention of meeting up again in the morning. The acting High Priest was in the library, absorbed in his own studies. I soon found all I needed to know about Mandrake roots. I also overheard a conversation between the High Priest and someone else... I didn't catch all of it, but what I heard was somewhat scandalous. I believe he has been paid off by the church of Coyn. As soon as I could, I returned to my room and started getting ready for bed.

Fortunately I was still dressed when Rhogar and Rolan burst into my room. Rolan told me he'd had an encounter with a hooded figure, who had requested his help. The details are still vague, but Rolan expects to be contacted again soon. We no longer felt safe at the temple, so we decided to climb out my window and spend the night somewhere else. As we were about to leave, we noticed something odd. Rolan now had a new sword strapped to his back. It was a bastard sword, much larger than the type of weapon Rolan usually weilds. Rhogar tried to touch the hilt, but it became too hot for him to touch. Rolan, however, was able to touch it with no problem.

We still left through the window, spent the night at Rolan's place (mental note: show Rolan how a broom works), and left the following morning for the Sleeping Wood. It was a day-and-a-half ride, but we didn't run into any trouble. We explored the woods until we found enough of the mandrake root. While there, Rolan had yet another odd encounter with another Elf.

We rode back to town, and I went straight to the De Winter house to drop off the mandrake root. I hope it helps; I will be sure to check up on their progress. We then returned to Rolan's dwelling, where we are as I write this. We have not settled on our next course of action. We will most likely send Rolan out to listen for rumors.

The effects of the spreading evils have even touched the sky. There is no longer a moon at night, though it should be quite visible this time of the month. The daytime skies have turned an ominous gray, as if the impending doom is preventing Pelor's love from reaching the world. Soon I fear we will no longer be able to distinguish day from night, and the grace of Pelor will be unable to find my heart. I strongly suspect that it is Lord De Rais who has been summoning the devils responsible for the plague and the darkness. But at the moment I have no way to prove it, and no way to stop him.

With all my love and all my spirit, I pray to Pelor for inspiration and guidance. For thine is the light and the way.

- Nara Cavell


OOC:
This was a very exciting session, with a lot of content to absorb. I definitely don't remember everything that happened, but hopefully that was all the most relevant information. At the very least I think I have a few events out of order, but with all that's happened, it's quite possible Nara's memory is as fuzzy as mine. It's funny, in retrospect you notice a lot of foreshadowing that flew right over your head the first time, not to mention the occasional missed plot hook.

Note:
When the trio first encountered the acting high priest, Rolan noticed something gold in his pocket. Later, when Nara visited the temple library to research mandrake root, Rolan broke into the priest's quarters to look around (with Rhogar acting as lookout). He didn't find anything, and he made sure not to mention his break-in to Nara later. He was on the way out of the Priest's quarters when he saw the mysterious hooded character, and followed him. After speaking to him, Rolan returned to Rhogar and they tried to walk out the front doors, but were spooked by Coyn's guards, which is why they sought Nara's room instead.

XP Rewards:
100 each for general gameplay, 50 each for the Imp, 84/83/83 for the Evistro (the XP didn't divide 3 ways, so Rhogar got the extra point for being a badass), and some change (50/55/60) for individual acts of bravery, skill, and/or roleplaying.
Rhogar - 284 XP (100+50+84+50) - Total XP now 759
Rolan - 288 XP (100+50+83+55) - Total XP now 768
Nara - 293 XP (100+50+83+60) - Total XP now 783

Also, an earworm:

Tantris - Session 3

Game Date 5/2/09

Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue
Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter
Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor

Our last session had left us with the MacGuffin in our hands, ready to turn it in for reward.

Fast forward one month, and we've received our rewards. Rhogar and Rolan each received some platinum pieces (Nara's was donated to the church.) The three of us separated and went back to our normal lives. Rhogar and Rolan quickly found that much had changed in their absence. Rolan could no longer receive jobs from his normal contacts. Rhogar's favorite fighting pits had been shut down. Guards patrolled the streets, and it was clear that the city was in a state of near panic.

Meanwhile, Nara was informed of a kidnapping, and she undertook the task to find the missing child. She knew she would need help on this mission, and the church gave her two Platinum Pieces to hire some help (as well as 40 gold for her own use). So of course, she sought out Rolan and Rhogar.

Finding them wasn't difficult. Coming up with a plan was. The name of the victim had not been released, so we didn't actually know who we were searching for. All we knew is that it was a child from one of the three following families: Duwenter,De Sillis, or De Rais. All three families lived north of Tantris, a bit too far away for walking. Also, we knew approximately where the kidnapping took place, which was also north of town. There was also evidence that the kidnappers were followers of Gruumsh.

We needed some horses. We went to a horse dealer, but his prices were too high. We got him to drop his prices a few times, but they were still too high. Finally we ran into a Paladin from Nara's church, and he talked the dealer into giving us the horses for free. We still promised to return the horses when we were done, if possible.

We went to the spot of the kidnapping first. The ground was too trampled to find any useful tracks. We did, however, nearly get shot by a not-too-friendly elf (or elflike being). The elf didn't tell us much, and considered it a human affair. But at least he didn't shoot us. We did find out that the kidnappers were probably not Orcs (something we had previously assumed because they were Gruumsh-worshippers).

We travelled to House Duwenter first. Nara knocked on the door, asked if they'd seen anything, and was given the brush-off. Nara knocked again, this time introducing herself as a representative of the Church of Pelor, and was given the royal treatment. Turns out House Duwenter is devoted to Pelor, and the party was given an exquisite dinner and oppulent rooms for the night.

In the morning, we left for House De Sillis. It turns out the De Sillis's were the ones whose son had been kidnapped. They weren't able to give us much info, though. They had already been putting all their considerable resources to the task, and we really didn't know anything that would help them. And since they were greiving, they weren't in a very friendly mood.

House De Rais and House De Sillis are kin to each other, and we'd learned that De Rais had lent some considerable help to De Sillis to search for the young boy. So we headed for House De Rais next. The guards wouldn't let us in, but they explained that the master wasn't seeing visitors, as he was in mourning for the death of his nephew.

Death? Oops. The guard explained that the child's body had been found by a merchant caravan, near the entrance to the Sleeping Wood. We also saw a mysterious rider enter the De Rais home (guess he wasn't against all vistors), and Rolan noticed that the rider had a peculiar smell.

So, we headed back to Tantris, rested, then went to the Sleeping Wood. There we found some guards (also there due to the same crime.) They gave us a slightly different story about the discovery of the body, and we found that the merchant caravan story was false. In fact, merchants never travel into that Wood. So... why had the De Rais guard lied to us? We decided to find out.

We stayed another night in Tantris, and Rolan bought a climber's kit. While there, a shifty character offered to sell Rolan some high-quality thieves tools. But when Rolan tried to pay, it turned out his platinum pieces (the ones rewarded to him by De Rais) were phony.

The next day we rode out to the De Rais compound and waited for dark. Rolan scaled the wall and hopped down to the other side, snuck around and listened.

He heard an argument between Lord De Rais and an Orc. Something about how De Rais had hired the Orc for a job, he had failed, so De Rais had had to hire someone else. The Orc rode off, De Rais turned around, and spotted Rolan. Rolan attempted to escape using his grappling hook, but the rope got cut by a spell. De Rais was probably about to do something evil to Rolan, when he heard someone screaming from the front gates. De Rais told Rolan to stay right there, and ran off. Then a mysterious elf appeared and helped Rolan escape. (Possibly the same elf we met earlier, but we didn't ask.)

Rolan met up with Rhogar and Nara, and the trio fled the compound. Lacking any other clues, we followed the Orc rider's trail, until we reached a cabin. The Orc's horse was tied up, so we sent Rhogar into the house to look around.

While Rhogar was in the house, Nara and Rolan were attacked by the Orc -and hard. Rhogar heard the scuffle, and burst out of the house, bravely intercepting the Orc's blows. He was a tough opponent, but the three of us managed to defeat him. The orc was missing an eye, and had an eye painted on his forehead, a sign of certain Gruumsh-worshippers.

We decided to camp for the night, but wanted to move away from the house in case any more Orcs came along. As soon as we got some distance away, more riders approached, which we believed to be De Rais's men. They burned down the house.

This is where we stopped. We haven't even decided for sure whether we want to rest for the night, or immediately follow the riders. We need to know why De Rais arranged the killing of his own nephew. We could go encounter De Rais, but that's probably suicide. We could go back to De Sillis and tell him what we've found out, but would he believe us over his own kin? We could also go back to Tantris and tell the high priest, since he's the one who gave Nara the mission in the first place, but that doesn't really accomplish anything. In any event, we have a couple of weeks to think about it.

XP Rewards:
175 each (75 for previous session, 100 for this session)
Rhogar - For bravery (protecting his teammates from the orc): 50 xp
Rolan - For bravery (sneaking into De Rais compound alone): 55 xp
Nara - For roleplay (roleplay as party leader): 65 xp

Tantris - Session 2

Game Date 4/4/09

This is a quick-and-dirty summary of the session's major events. I might mention some details in greater detail in a future entry of Nara's Journal, but the session didn't leave us in a position where she would have time to write anything down. Plus I'm having a busy work week, and just want to get this information posted before I forget any details.

To recap: We failed to protect a caravan from bandits, and Rolan was accused of stealing some gems, but he was released.

We had seen another caravan camped on the way to town, so we decided to see if it was still there. Due to a shortage of drivers, we volunteered to drive the next wagon out of town. While the wagon was being loaded, we went to the local tavern to ask some questions. Nara then went to the sherrif's office to see if there was information to be had there, while Rolan and Rhogar stayed at the bar.

Nara asked the officer-on-duty about the bandit attacks, but learned very little of value. The bandits were about human-sized, definitely not goblins. Back at the bar, Rolan met a mysterious elf. They had a private conversation in Elvish, in which the stranger mentioned his "business of the people."

When the wagon was finally ready to go, we headed for the camped caravan. It was still there. Everyone was dead, and the wagons had been looted. We decided to to set up camp ourselves, in hopes of getting attacked. We didn't want to be too obvious, so we drove a couple of miles down the road first. Our wagon made a funny noise, and it turned out to be an issue with part of the axle. Simple wear-and-tear, or sabotage? We fixed it as best as we could with what materials we could find, failing to notice there was a box of wagon parts in the wagon for just such an occurrence.

So anyway, we wanted to get attacked, so we acted like decoys. Nara took the first watch, pretending to read while the other two pretended to sleep. We were soon attacked by small reptilian humanoids (presumably kobolds), who threw javelins at us from the cover of tall grass. It was a tough fight, but we finally won. However, we were soon exhausted, and we didn't want to stay in such a dangerous area, so we drove a few more miles and camped.

Rolan was on watch duty when he was robbed by a masked bandit. The robber carried a red-bladed sword, which due to previous clues, meant that he was most likely the bandit we'd been seeking. Unfortunately Rolan was in no position to fight back, so the bandit took what he wanted and left. Rolan woke up Nara and Rhogar, and we soon discovered that the wagon's wheels were now partially submerged in the ground. This turned out to be an anti-theft charm - if a certain item was removed from the wagon, the wagon was rendered incapable of moving.

Lord Derai soon showed up, and once again scolded our ineptitude. He gave us an enchanted piece of paper, which displayed a magic arrow that always pointed towards Derai's stolen loot. Per his orders, we immediately set out to follow the arrow. Of course the enemy had a good head start, and we had to stop and rest again before we got too far.

Later we found an old campsite, which we believed to be a decoy. At this point the arrow started acting strange, changing direction at certain places. At first we thought we might be standing over an underground hideout containing the loot, but soon we noticed a person up in the trees high above us.

We argued a little about what to do - Nara's crossbow had the farthest range of the party's weapons, but Nara doesn't like to shoot at people who don't attack her first. We didn't want to call out to him - if there was any chance he hadn't seen us yet, we didn't want to alert him to our presence. Before we settled on a plan, we noticed that he'd disappeared. We heard him land on the ground beside us, but we couldn't see him.

So, Rolan (being the fastest of us) used the piece of paper to chase the invisible enemy. Unfortunately the villain managed to get behind him and stab him in the back, nearly killing him. When the others caught up to Rolan, Nara healed his wounds. While we still couldn't see our enemy, Rhogar managed to hit him with his acid breath.

Nara recognized the bandit's cloak as a Cloak of Elvenkind, but it was too badly damaged by Rhogar's breath to ever be worn again. The bandit was badly injured, and we gave him just enough medical attention to keep him alive. In his possession was the red blade, and a scroll with the stamps of both Derai and Everesk. We decided - for now - not to open the scroll, and let Derai's business be Derai's business. But we do wonder if we're being set up.

We decided to tie the bandit up and carry him back to the wagon with us. We made it back to the wagon safely. It was once again in drivable condition, so we plan to take it back to Lord Derai as soon as possible, to present him with our prisoner and his loot.

This is where we had to end the session, due to the time.

Tantris - Session 1

Game Date 3/7/09

Characters:
Rolan Daan (Bryan) - Elf Rogue
Rhogar Burnscale (Rick) - Dragonborn Fighter
Nara Cavell (Matt) - Human Cleric of Pelor

OOC Intro:
The game began with Rolan picking up his nightly job from his contact at the Bleeting Goat in Tantris. He receives instructions to visit the House of Derai, where he is hired to take care of a bandit problem. He is allowed to hire an additional bit of muscle, and he is given aid by the church.

Meanwhile, Rhogar wins 500 gold in a pit fighting tournament against a Half-Orc named Krusk. Rolan hires Rhogar due to his prowess in the ring. He then visits the Church of Pelor, where Nara is added to the party.


Nara's Journal:

This has been a most trying time to say the least. I have been assigned to aid an unusual pair of fellows, on a mission from the House of Derai to relieve a caravan from a bandit problem. Our band is led by Rolan, an Elf with a charming smile and the stench of ale on his breath. His companion is Rhogar, a seemingly fearless Dragonborn with a scar for every day of his life. I'm not quite sure if I trust either of them, but I am more concerned with the greater good at the moment.

We had to take a small boat to the caravan's origin point, where we were assigned a wagon to protect. We were given the middle of the three wagons, and were ordered not to leave it for any reason. The trip was rather uneventful until the caravan was attacked by goblins. The three of us managed to fight off our attackers, but not before the other wagons were set ablaze, and all the other travelers were killed. During the battle we discovered an odd property our wagon possessed - some sort of force field thwarted the goblins' attempts to enter it.

The goblins seemed terribly excited about something, and I longed to understand their exclamations, but of course none of us could comprehend their language. I am tempted to study it when I have the time. I picked up Draconic relatively easily, and I do enjoy learning new things.

Once the goblins had been driven away, we continued our trek, with Rolan now at the reigns. The rest of the trip was thankfully less exciting. We passed another caravan on the side of the road, apparently camping for the night. We started to greet them - Rolan and I even left the wagon to approach the other caravan - but as we got close we thought better of it. We were afraid that they might think us to be bandits ourselves, and didn't want to rouse them. In retrospect I have second thoughts... we could have warned them about the goblin threat.

A bit farther down the road, we had to stop for the night ourselves. Like any smart band of travelers, we slept in shifts, one of us keeping watch at all times. Which makes me that much more curious about the other caravan... why did no one see us approach? Either they had no one keeping watch, or someone was sleeping on the job. Curious. I hope they weren't needing our help. I trust Pelor to guide me in these decisions, but sometimes the right path is hard to see.

Once we were back on the road, we were nearly attacked by goblins again, but we managed to outrun them. When we reached our destination, we weren't exactly given a hero's welcome. We stayed the night in the local inn, Rolan and Rhogar sharing one room, and I in another. The following morning we were presented with a most atrocious breakfast, and were shortly thereafter arrested. Though we failed to notice our wagon's cargo at the time, apparently we were protecting a cache of precious gems. Gems that were now missing, leaving us as the only suspects. We were detained and searched, and questioned separately. I answered all questions with complete honesty, though I'm afraid I didn't know enough to help their investigation. The gems were found in Rolan's room, though I'm not convinced of his guilt.

I was the first to be released. Apparently my church's name precedes me, as I was given a formal apology by a very well-dressed man, and given the royal treatment for the rest of my stay. I'm not much for luxury, so instead of enjoying my lavish new room, I stayed in the inn lobby and questioned the Dragonborn innkeeper if he'd seen anything suspicious while we slept. Unfortunately he had little information to offer.

Rolan and Rhogar were released shortly thereafter, which surprised all of us. As I write this, we are planning our next step. According to our interrogators, the goblin attackers were not the bandits we had been assigned to locate. If we want to be redeemed in everyone's eyes, we should still locate those bandits and bring them to justice. But beyond that, we have several other questions to answer. Was Rolan framed? If so, why? And why was he let go? Did the goblins know of our cargo? Why were we not attacked by the real bandits? And what of the sleeping caravan?

Whatever our next step is to be, I humbly pray for the light of Pelor to illuminate our path, and dissipate the shadows of evil.

- Nara Cavell, Loyal servant of Pelor

XP Rewards:
250 xp each.