Excerpt from the writings of Ranath

Nymie Valley, 1618, Sea season, Fireday in Fertility Week

I had been on the road with those barbarians for two days and every heartbeat they became harder to endure. Ignorant they were, of the ilk that would light their campfire with a tome written by Dilfar the Deepsighted himself without a second thought. Oh, if it was merely ignorance, one of them showed the sure signs of a kleptomaniac, time and time again demonstrating pathetic attempts to pilfer some of the goods of a Lunar high dignitary, right under the man's nose! Obviously oblivious to the fact that all of Sartar would be answerable for any missing goods as they were tribute to the Empire. Needless to say I was unable to seize this great opportunity to learn more from the Pelorian, but he did give me a small model of a temple in Peloria, obviously thinking it worthless, but I have already started copying the layouts of the architecture to my books. Perhaps I will be able to piece something together when I return to the library at Jonstown … but I digress. We were resting by a small well when one of the barbarians jumped up shouting “shadowcat!”. Delighted at the foresight to be able to study one of these graceful creatures I ran to the small stream in the direction he was pointing. The barbarian rushed into the water like a madman, losing his footing, momentarily distracted by his strange behavior I almost failed to notice the nightmarish storm of teeth and claws that flew at me. This was not a shadowcat! In a haze I noticed the dagger-like fangs of a fullgrown sabretooth tiger. I was just able to evade its powerful claws, but was unable to withstand the full impact of its mighty body. Before I could regain my breath I was being mauled by the ferocious animal. I can't recollect much of what went on after that, but apparently my crude companions were able to drive off the wild monster. To my surprise they were decent enough to stop the bleeding of my grievous wounds and carry me to the village where they left me in the good hands of the local priest. Unfortunately they seemed to have succeeded in losing my purse containing twelve hundred silver coins! I was saving these to fund my expedition to Pavis later this year … now I had lost both my money and had to pay back the temple with three weeks of teaching village children the difference between the rune for law and the rune for beast! … Well, I guess it could have ended worse. At least I was able to do some research in the small collection of the temple. And the barbarians will soon leave again as well, I feel Lankhor Mhy has called me to follow them, I sense there's much to learn where their path will take them, it may even be worth enduring their stench and foul manners.

The road to Greydog Village

1618. Sea Season.Fertility. Fireday

Characters partaking:
Brian Boru, a drifter without tribe, played by David
Xaldin from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Anthonius
Ragnar from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Maximus
Kemal from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dominique
Ranath, a Lhankor Mhy student, played by Ben

Grey Dog Village

his rather improbable group of companions met in Clearwine and they decided to travel north to Old Man Village and beyond, each for their own reasons.  The one thing most of them have in common is their desire to live a life of adventures, to get rich and powerful or die trying.  The exception to this is Ranath, a wanderer from the Sages, always looking out for more knowledge, a commodity more valuable than gold when offered to the right person.  They prepare to leave Clearwine under a spring sun, after several days of trying to find a job that pays well there.  The plan is to travel to Old Man Village first, and try their luck there.  Maybe a trader is looking for an escort, those types always have good coin.  Maybe they can trick an old acquaintance into some Orlanth hospitality.  Or maybe Eurmal the trickster will look unto them favourably and let some riches come their way.  The future is unknown, but violence is always an option, and life is short, so, on Fireday, the party head for Old Man Village, following the road alongside the Nymie river.  Past the Black Spear clan grounds and the Colymar Wilds, where ancient spirits roam and elves reign supreme, and no man who has not made a pact with Tarndisi may enter the Wilds on punishment of death.

fter only a few hours of travel, the party run into a Lunar 4 horse cart guarded by Lunar Guards and a Lunar dignitary, which is under attack from a gang of Trollkin lead by a Cave Troll.  The Lunars are getting a beating, and things are looking grim.  Already some of the nasty Trollkin are picking up loot from the cart and running of with it, but the party decides to side up with the Lunars and they manage to attack the Trollkin gang by surprise.  The ferocious attack leaves two Trollkin dead, the others scared and ready to run, so the Cave Troll has to make a statement.  Instead of using his sling, he grabs his huge mace and charges forward.  The young Orlmarth called Ragnar facing him stands his ground, and at first manages to parry the furious Uz warrior.  The damage dealt by the Troll is way beyond what the unarmed adventurers can expect to withstand, but before things get out of hand, Ragnar manages to masterfully dismember the huge Troll with a sublime blow.  This totally discourages the remaining trollkin, and they attempt to scatter off.  The party finishes off a few more trollkin, and Brian the homeless takes one of the trollkin into captivity, intending to use him as a slave.  A thing bound to not go down well with the Uz, should they ever find out: only Uz are allowed to have trollkin slaves.  The dead cave troll is carrying a valuable bronze set of armor, a great prize indeed, and the party decides to take it along in order to sell or exchange it in Old Man village.  Some of the companions recognize one of the Lunar guards, standing behind the cart and out of harms way: it is the Lunar Tax Collector detached to the court of King Kangharl of the Colymar.  

Reaching Moon temple

The dignitary is not grateful for the rescue at all, and refuses to pay a good compensation, as Orlanth customs prescribe.  To add insult to injury, the party members understood they were hired as protectors, but the Lunar laughs them off.  Instead of a reward he gifts the party a trinket, a woodcut depicting a Temple of the Reaching Moon.  Only Ranarth is mildly interested by the object, and starts drawing the outlines of the temple into his drawing book.  The others are disgusted by the Lunar's avarice and decide to separate ways and take the ferry to Old Man village, in the hope that old feuds there might have been forgotten or at least that hospitality takes precedence.  But no such luck.  They manage to make a good deal with the local armorer and leatherworker, who agree to make them 4 sets of lammelar bronze on cuirboilli armor, one set per week.  After that it's back to everyday life, only a few coins left in pocket, only odd jobs that pay next to nothing, it seems the only option is to accompany the young Lhankor Mhy, he has good coin, he is generous enough, and everyone knows these Sages have a way with money.  Ranarth intends to travel to Grey Dog Village, where a small temple led by several Sages will allow him to make an informed decision on what way to travel next.  His fellow party members agree, and they start travelling west towards the Starfire Ridges.  Their trip is uneventful, until they reach the source of the creek they were following.  They disturb a deer drinking, and soon find out there was a predator looking to make that deer his lunch.  The party can see the hunter's shape moving swiftly through the high grass across the creek, but are unable to make out exactly what they are up against, until the sabertooth cat bounces onto the bank and leaps across towards the non-suspecting Lhankor Mhy cultist.  Xaldin attempts to shield the sage but looses his footing when jumping into the shallow creek, and Ranath gets some first hand experience on Sabertooth hunting methodology.  It takes tremendous trouble to drive the powerful beast away, and it is Kemal's trained lynx that finishes the predator off.  Ranath is in a bad state, bleeding to death, and so far healing magic to staunch the bleeding has proven ineffective.  Only just before he passes away into the Realm of Ty Kora Tek, does Brian succeed in stopping the bleeding.

The party have little choice but to make a stretcher and carry Ranath, on the brink of death, all the way to Grey Dog village to the Lhankor Mhy temple there.  The attending priest performs some powerful healing magic on Ranath, and after a long night he wakes up in the morning, feeling much better.  He discovers the loss of all his money, a considerable amount of silver, but finds the temple priests very cooperative.  He and his companions spend almost two weeks training and practicing, mostly paid for by money leant to them by Kemal of the Hiording.

Clearwine Fort

1618. Sea Season. Stasis. Freezeday

Characters partaking:
Aylwin from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Philip
Blanka from the Ernaldori - Colymar Tribe, played by Bram
Gunnar 'the devoted' Gunnarson from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Gunther
Hjotra from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dominique
Ulic Qel-Droma, a Bagnot resident from Tarsh, played by Alexander

The Starfire Ridges: the Upper Ridges

he adventurers enter stage in Clearwine Fort, Nymie Valley.  The lowlands of the Nymie Vale have good farmlands but much of the better farm land is claimed by the Ernaldor clan. Ancient standing stones can be found throughout the valley, many are associated with the goddess Orane who found shelter in this valley. Sacrifices to Ernalda are made by the clan priestess at Orane’s Loom. The flanks of the valley are very fertile, the soil is clay and limestone, which makes for exceptional wine.  The Nymie Vale was once an important settlement of the Empire of Wyrms Friends and the remnants of the draconic empire can be seen throughout the Vale. Chief Colymar defeated the draconic guardians of Clearwine Fort and shattered their power over the Vale when he settled the valley with his Black Spear Clan, but many ruins are still avoided by the locals.  The village of Clearwine is filled with farmers, crafters and petty traders. The streets are mostly mud, only the road up to the sacred hill was paved in stone; another road was paved with wooden planks. Pigs, sheep and even cows wander through the village, accompanied by their herders.

lanka's aunt and uncle used to be important people in the Ernaldori clan, but have lost most of their influence since Kangharl Kadragusson became king instead of Leika Ballista.  This Colymar king is a thane who allied with the Lunars to seize the tribal kingship. Although few support his Lunar associations, he is still respected as a warrior and warleader. Kangharl is also increasingly feared by his enemies, who call him “Blackmoor” (an ancient slur against those kings who serve foreign overlords). The son of Kagradus Korlmhysson of the Taraling clan, Kangharl served his uncle King Kallai Rockbuster as thane and warleader. He was exiled following Starbrow’s Rebellion in 1613, but returned in 1615 to seize the tribal kingship from his kinswoman Leika Ballista.

he party is confronted with a crime: a gang of robbers entered the Longhouse of Blanka's family and stole various valuable heirlooms and a large amount of silver coins.  The gang was described to consist of some goblins, ducks and humans.  Blanka's uncle tried to fight off the robbers, but got wounded gravely doing so.  The Lunar guard seem to be doing very little effort to solve the crime.  Blanka gathers some information, but seems uninspired to help his family members.  Instead, during a visit to the White Grape Inn, they run into a gentleman who offers them a job.  After some haggling they agree to transport a cart full of goods to the village of Grey Dog.  Grey Dog village is the clan center of the Grey Dog clan, belonging to the Malani tribe.  The Malani tribe are not the Colymar's best friends, but this has not overly worried the adventurers.  They meet the next dawn, and leave for Grey Dog Village.  The weather is cloudy but dry, and the party travels expeditiously.

uring a short break, they notice a bear with cubs entering the clearing they are sitting in.  The animal notices them, and it gets nervous quick.  Aylwin decides it is time to go and drives the cart out of the clearing fast, the other party members clinging to the side of the wagon.  The rest of the morning the travelers enjoy the surroundings, and they fail to notice a band of robbers trying to set up ambush until one of them is noticed.  The party opens fire, and soon it becomes apparent that the band of robbers is bigger than initially expected, but it is too late to flee.  Through some very effective magic and ranged fire they manage to subdue the robbers, and win the fight.  Now what to do with them?  Carry them to Black Spear tula?  The facts happened on their lands.  Hand over the robbers to the Lunar authorities?  They would surely end up in one of the Lunar slavefarms.  Maybe they need to find out more...

New campaign featuring the Ernaldor

(c)2000 David Dunham - King of Dragon Pass - www.asharp.com

A new campaign is in the making: we had ourselves a demo game, and there was much rejoicing.  The main players will create a character from the Ernaldor clan, based in Old Man Village or Clearwine.  There will be a few off and on players that have some more liberty making a character, but they'll get out less as a consequence: the events are geared towards young Orlmarth seeking their luck in adventuring instead of sweating in the fields.
The year is 1618.  Temertain has become Prince of Sartar only a few years ago.  The colymar king is a Lunar string puppet.  The Orlanth temples are under Lunar control, and if not for Orlanth Adventurous and the traveling priests, the cult would be in a bad state indeed.  The only free Orlanthi are now in Hendrikei, where Broyan has become king.  What way will fate take our merry band?  North into Tarsh and Lunar?  South to join the free men? East into the wastelands? Or westwards, to discover lands unknown?

Payback time!

The trollkin gang on the move with their spoils.

1605, Earth Season, Movement Week, Clayday

After returning to the Stead, our heroes aid in repairing the damage done by the magical snow storms, before the Karanen Thane gives them a new mission: to locate the whereabouts of the trollkin troupe that is suspected to have killed the lumberjacks in the northern forest.

After taking in supplies, our party heads north into the woods.  After about half an hour of hiking, they are attacked by two giant ticks.  The party stands to fight, and one of the ticks is killed quite easily, but the other one manages to attach itself to Kemal's leg and inject its debilitating poison before it too is dispatched.  Kemal collapses onto the ground babbling nonsense and unable to move any further.  His two clansmen decide to build a primitive stretcher, and return to the stead to ask for the shaman's help.
Once Kemal is good to go again, we set off again into the northern woods.  Upon arriving at the old lumberjack camp, they manage to find some tracks that point in the direction they followed the last time around, and start following them, avoiding some gorps near the creek while heading in eastern direction.  They notice the Hound Knob in the distance.  Suddenly they are under attack from a gang of trollkin.  After some exchange of arrow fire, they prepare for the clash, when they notice the dark troll leading the trollkin.  It is to late to retreat, and our brave Hiording have no choice but to stand and fight.  The trollkin group up and try to press home the attack by superior coordination, but fail to break the adventurers, who slowly retreat while fighting in order to spread the enemy out as much as possible, as strategy that turns out favourable: when the dark troll charges into them, all three of them focus on the ferocious dark creature, and after a bloody fight they manage to put the fiend down.

A weird occurence

1605, Earth Season, Stasis Week, Windsday

The week begins under good auspices, when Indra learns she receives a hide of land upon becoming an adult in the Hiording tribe.  She asks her cottar friends Kemal and Drayin to accompany her to the hide, in order to inspect it, but before they have the opportunity to do so, a snowstorm erupts out of nothing, highly unusual for the time of year.
The tribe members gather in the village square in order to discuss this freak occurrence, when one of the wardens arrives and reports that the Karanen cemetary has been disturbed, and several graves have been disturbed.  This is alarming news indeed, and it is to be suspected that evil forces are at work.  The shaman decides to perform a telling and the signs are clear.  Chaos is at work, dark plans are unfolding, danger lurks in the woods.  The Karanen Thane sends out patrols in all directions.  Our heroes are sent south, towards the lumber encampment in the forest.  As they approach the camp, they notice it is abandoned.  Upon close inspection they find there has been fighting.  Two unknown trails head out of the camp, but the snow makes it hard to track.  They find tracks of a troll party, heading east, and other tracks heading south.  Since they have been noticing how the snow got heavier and heavier as they went south, but not when they headed east, they decide the cause of the snow must be magical, and to the south, so they decide to head that way in order to stop the snow, that risks to damage crops just weeks before harvest.


After some difficult searching in the snow, they approach a snow-free area, and notice a pair of Broos in the middle of an incantation.  It is clear one of them is performing powerful weather magic.  The other Broo spots them and attacks by summoning a ghost.  The second Broo stops the incantation and summons a chaos beast, that also attacks the party.  They decide to press on.  Drayin is attacked by the spirit but succeeds in beating it.  The party suffers some wounds, and both Kemal and Indra are infected with the Chills, but succeed in killing the surprised Broos.


Upon returning to the village, the Shaman performs a healing ritual, and our heroes learn that a raiding party was reported in the North, and a big patrol was sent north to investigate.  However, the news of the death of the thee lumberjacks is equally alarming.  The family head sends our three adventurers after the suspected murderers: the Troll party whose tracks led east.  Before doing so, however, they head to Apple Lane in order to trade the stuff they found on the Broos to Gringle.


On the way to Apple Lane, they are ambushed by a Dragon Snail, another indication of the increased Chaos presence.  They dispatch the horror without too much trouble, and are in luck as it does not explode upon perishing.  After getting a good price for their loot, they head back to the lumber jack camp.  The snow has gone, the weather has returned to normal, and following the tracks will now prove a lot easier.



They follow the tracks of the troll party all the way to the river, only to run into a party of Broo that seems to be following the same group of Trolls.  The Broo try to ambush our party, but fail.  Once again, our brave Hiording save the day.

Rites of Passage

1605, Earth Season, Fertility Week, Windsday

It is the week of the Alda Chur Fertility Flame Festival, and traditionally, the Karanen bloodline have the rites of passage for their young warriors during this week.
Kemal and Drayin befriend young Indra, the daughter of the Karanen Head Thane.  This strong willed girl is also performing her rite of passage, and she is put into the same group as our two cottars.  They must head south into the wilds, to Pig Hollow, on the frontier of Black Spear territory.  Their mission is to bring back a decently processed wolf skin each, so our party must find a wolf pack. 
The trio sets out from the Karanen stead.  The Colymar wilds are normally off limit for non-adults, so it is for the first time that our three Hiording venture into the dark forests south of Apple Lane.  The weather is cloudy but dry, and not too cold.  For over an hour they advance, and when they arrive in a clearing amidst several mounds covered with underbrush and shrubs.  They are alarmed by a sound up ahead, but cannot make out any threat.  Once they advance into the small clearing, a group of trollkin tries to ambush them.  Kemal is hit by a rock from a sling.
Indra Karanensdottir is young, but well trained with the bow, and her first shot pierces the head of the apparent leader.  Drayin and Kemal charge towards two other trollkin that appear, while Indra tries to get into position to take out the slinger.  The trollkin turn out to be no match for the party, after the leader is killed.  The party salvages a nice set of brigandine armor and some other goods.
They continue towards Pig Hollow, and around noon they decide to try and hunt some game for lunch, but without success.  They end up eating some wild carrots that Kemal finds.
Once into the Hollow Indra starts tracking wolf trails, and they quickly pick up a pack. All of a sudden they find themselves under attack by a group of 8 wolves, that are closing in fast.  Good ranged fire thins out the pack somewhat, but the party still are faced with 5 hungry wolves.  It takes a determined defense and some serious healing to best the hungry canines, but in the end the party prevails.  It takes a lot of effort, and some help from the gods, but the three manage to produce three decent wolf skins, and they head back home.  It gets dark early in Earth Season, so the group decides to spend the night in the field.  During the night a goblin notices the skins, and manages to steal them without Drayin noticing, so that morning they are in for an unpleasant surprise.  Luckily, the tracks of a goblin draggin about 3 heavy wolf skins are easy to recognise, and the culprit is quickly found and justice is swiftly and brutally dealt.