A particularly bad omen

1618. Sea Season. Movement. Clayday

Characters partaking:
Brian Boru, a drifter without tribe, played by David
Ragnar from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Maximus
Kemal from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dominique
Hund, a Colymar Humakti, played by Ben

Tusk Riders on a raid!

ith Ranath paying back his debts to the Sage of the Grey Dog temple, our adventurers undertake their adventure without spiritual guidance.  This turns out rather poorly.  The party first decides to return to Old Man Village to recuperate the sets of armor that are being made for them.  Kemal already made the trip with a trader the week before, and was able to lay his hands on the first set made.  The party returns taking the wilderness route, in order to avoid Lunar patrols, even more so because they have learned during their dinner at the inn the night before that the Lunars take captive any stranger without ties to the Colymar, or, to a lesser extent, to the Lismelder.  Soon after leaving Grey Dog Village, they notice they are being followed.  They wait for the group on their tail and learn it is a small band of Lismelder, with the obvious intention to not abide by the King's rule that Lismelder and Colymar should keep the peace.  Some quick maneuvring by our adventurers causes the already nervous Lismelder to attack, and a fight ensues.  The four attackers are no match for the party though, and they are dispatched relatively easy.

 discussion ensues, will the party leave the attackers to die, or will they make an effort to save their lives and show the Lismelder their good intention?  In the end, after much mudslinging, they decide to escort the Lismelder back to Grey Dog Village, and their mercy is well received by the villagers.  After having lost a day, the party leaves for Old Man Village once again.  This time their voyage is rather uneventful. Upon arrival in Old Man Village, Brian insists he should get the armor that is finished, and his fellow party members back down.  When after this Brian shows up with a brand new and expensive Kite shield, although he had been claiming to have no money, and has been unable to repay debts owed to his fellow party members, dissatisfaction starts to spread.  After collecting the armor the party returns to Grey Dog Village, and from there they decide to head north to the Humakti Stead in order to allow Hund to recuperate his divine spells.  They spend a day on the Stead, and on the way back they run into a pair of Dragonsnails, those vile chaos creatures that emanate out of Chaos spawns all across the lands of Sartar and way beyond.  Against expectation, they dispatch the ferocious beast without casualties, but after the fight Brian insists that Hund should have his Bison carry one of the dead horrors' shell on its back.  Hund refuses to have his beasts of burden sullied by anything chaosspawned, and Brian challenges Hund to a duel.

umakti never refuse a duel, and a short fight follows, in which Hund puts down Brian easily.  After the fight, Hund uses his divine healing to save Brian from bleeding to death, and requests the new kite shield as compensation.   This rekindles the enmity, and the two barbarians start to fight again.  This time Hund decapitates Brian by chopping of his hand at the wrist.  They have to return to Old Man Village once again, and the clan members request a ridiculous price for regrowing the clan-less Brian's arm.  He insists no further, and asks the local smith to manufacture a contraption that he can fasten to his stump, in order to have some way of doing combat.  The party members decide they need to find more money, and fast, and come up with a daring plan, to travel to Snake Pipe Hollow, the imprint of chaos on Dragon Pass, in order to get some of the riches accumulated there.  They travel north to Runegate, than follow the road to Jonstown, avoiding Lunar patrols as good as possible, and bribing them if everything else fails.  After spending the night in Jonstown, they leave the tribal ring grounds, and spend the night in Dangerford, the last beacon of civilization before the long and dangerous road that leads to Alda Chur.
They travel north for most of the day, until the light fades, and then make camp in a clearing near the road.  Brian is not paying attention when a small gang of the violent tusk riders charge without warning, and the fight turns ugly quickly.


Will the party be able to overcome this enemy?  Will Xaldin be able to follow the trail and find his party members?

The road to Grey Dog Village

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

fter overcoming the gang of robbers eager to steal their goods, our adventurers empty their agressors' pockets and split the earnings. Then the party resumes their travel towards Grey Dog village.  Aelwin insists on driving the cart, but when he fires up the horses, Ulic, walking in front of the cart, stumbles and falls, and is ran over by the cart.  The wound is major, but not fatal.  Apart from that the trip is quite uneventful, and after a few hours they pass the Humakt stead, where they have a short chat with Aelbric Svenson, the retired Humakt Rune Lord, whose sole frustration in life is not to have died on the battlefield.  He feels he still has one good fight in him though.  Odd takes the opportunity to sneak around the stead in order to check whether the man is to be trusted, but sees nothing alarming.  Ulic uses intuition to determine Aelbric's true attitude, and sees the Humakti is up-front.

hey take to the road again, and fail to notice how a gang of duck is leading them, then changes direction to meet them head on.  The duck pretend to be friendly and invite the party over to share dinner, and our gullible friends gladly accept.  They follow the duck off the road towards what they call their Stead.  This turns out to be a cave.  In the entrance room two barbarians are roasting a boar, and the duck invite the adventurers in.  Now the adventurers start to have a bad feeling about the invitation, and Ulic casts his intuition spell and reads that the Ducks are definitely having ulterior motives.  He feels that the Duck have a plan, and they are annoyed because things are not happening as they planned it.  That's the instant the shit hits the fan.  Ulic raises the alarm and casts fireblade on his sword, and in reaction to this the ducks standing outisde charge forward.  Within seconds the scene turns into a battlefield, with Hjotra and Aelwin holding off the ducks outside of the cave, and Odd using his stealth skills to quickly recon the cave complex.  He runs into more ducks, charging into the fight, and casts darkwall into the corridor.  a short fight in the dark ensues, and the ducks retreat.

eanwhile around the campfire in the entrance room heavy fighting takes place as well.  One of the robbers in bashed into the campfire and is unable to regain his footing, he dies in the flames, screaming in agony.  The brave adventurers charge into the fight, and when two humans charge out of one of the corridors, they are met promptly.  Odd has retreated to the main room as well, and enters another corridor, only to run into the same ducks.  He tries the same tactic, casting darkwall, but this time the ducks cancel the magic, and he is under attack. Before things turn ugly though, the remaining ducks realize they have been beaten, and they retreat into the caves.  The party keeps the pressure on, and the retreat becomes a rout.  The Duck commander manages to flee, as does his human second in command, but they do not have time to take along their stack of cash and potions.  The gang healer who retreated into the hidden cave is brutally decapitated by Hjotra.  After the fight, the adventurers find Gunnar who managed to keep wurming through a narrow passage in the rock and is unable to retreat.  Just when his companions consider whether they should leave him there for a few days so he loses some weight, someone manages to pull him out using troll ear wax as lubricant.  As the feathers come to rest on the cave floor, the extent of the slaughter becomes visible: heads and limbs are strewn all over the place, thick red blood follows the striae in the rocky floor, and bodies are in every cave.  The lone survivor is quickly and brutally dispatched.

ut in the open in front of the cave entrance, Aelwin is waiting near the cart when someone takes a shot at him with his bow.  He is unable to see where the shooter is firing from, but Ulic, who climbed up the ladder inside the caves appears on top of the mound and sees a human firing his bow.  Within seconds, the archer is overcome with palsy, and runs for his life. The leader is nowhere to be seen.  After a lucrative day, the party loads the bags and crates of stolen goods and all the weapons they managed to retrieve on the cart and head for Grey Dog village, where they arrive late at night.  They check into the hotel where they are supposed to meet their contact, and hit the hay.
 

Visit Amazing Quackford!

1618. Sea Season.Stasis. Clayday

Characters partaking:
Drayin from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dani 
Kemal from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dominique
Indra Karanendottir, a Hiording noble from the Karanen Bloodline, played by Florence

fter his trip to Clearwine, Old Man Village and Grey Dog Village, Hiording Cottar Kemal has an uneventful trip back to Swan Town, where he meets with fellow clan members Drayin and Indra.  He tells them about the encounter with the cave troll, and the bronze plate armor they exchanged for four sets of bronze on cuirbuilli lamellar.  The clansmen agree to travel to Old Man Village again, in order to collect the first set of armor.  The armorer agreed to make one set of armor every week, inbetween his other duties.  In order to avoid having to spend the night in the wilds, the party agress to leave at first light, and the next day the journey commences at the break of dawn of what looks like it's going to be a sunny day.  The first hours of the trip are uneventful, not counting a Lunar patrol that quickly leaves the party alone once they realise there's a noble traveling with them.  They reach the edge of the Colymar wilds before noon.

s the companions walk alongside the Starfire Ridge, just after entering the Wilds, they are under attack from a gang of undead skeletons.  The mindless beings are easily dispatched, and the party advances unscathed.  Within the hour, they pass the Asborn Stead, and start following the edge of the Colymar Wilds, all the way to the source of the Nymie River.  They arrive at the spring lake in the early evening, and follow the course od the Nymie River in the direction of Old Man Village.  The last leg of the trip takes them almost 4 hours, and they arrive at the fork in the River at dusk.  In the dark, as they get ready to cross the creek that leads into the Ridges, they find themselves under attack from a gang of robbers.  Rather than trying to fight them off, they decide to make a run for it and get across safely.  They arrive late at night, but are luacky enough to get some rooms at the Inn.  

he next morning, the companions head to the local shoppe annex armorer and sell the old weaponry taken of the skeletons the previous day.  Kemal gets his lamellar armor.  The party then decides to head for Boldhome.  They agree to travel to Quackford, the duck town lying near the Royal Road. They leave the 32nd in the morning, and arrive in Quackford around noon.  Instead of immediately taking the Road though, they enter the local Pub and spend several hours gambling and drinking, much to the frustration of Indra, who realises her status of Noble becomes less and less valuable as they leave the tribal grounds, and with it her authority over the cottars fades.  During the afternoon they start talking with a fellow in the pub, and when he learns of their intention to travel to Boldhome, he convinces them to take the boat instead.  Without much thinking, both cottars pay the entire fare in advance.  Indra decides to return to familiar territory.  The still have to find room for the night though.  They only accomodation they can find, is a communal sleeping dorm in the poor part of town, much to Indra's disgust.  Our heroes make the best of it, and what with the drinking, they quickly lie fast asleep, when the other patrons, intrigued by the impression of relative wealth, decide to try and steal some stuff of the rich barbarian princess.  Drayin awakes and calls the alarm, and a fight ensues.  Half a dozen duck try to subdue the party, but they fail miserably, and once again the Hiording band prevails.  They decide to call the guard, rather than finish off the thievish Ducks, and although the thieves deny any wrongdoing, they turn out to carry some of Indra's valuables on them.  The guard has no choice but to believe the party, and escort the culprits to jail.

n the 33rd, the weather has turned completely.  It's a downpour.  The trio awakens with a headache.  The Ducks refuse to leave in the rain, claiming that their boat will sink in this kind of weather, and the two cottar have little choice but wait.  It's not until noon that the weather improves and the Ducks agree to depart.  Ironically enough, the first stop turns out to be Clearwine, and since the Ducks refuse to let them pass the night on the boat, they have to fork out for lodging in Clearwine.  During dinner, they start a conversation with an older fellow, carrying expensive-looking black armor.  The man has a request: he is looking for some brave warriors to run an errand for him.  A scroll has been stolen from his master, and for reasons to do with the people in charge, they need someone from outside town to try and recover said scroll.  Our heroes agree, and they let their Alynxes try and track the thieves, with success.  The trail leads to a house in the gutter part of town, but before they can try and enter, they notice they are being followed by three hirsute henchmen.  The situtation turns into a fight quickly.  Two attackers charge, the third performing protective magic, and things look very bad, when a sudden stroke of luck changes the scene: now it is two against two, and although the robbers are good fighters, they are no match for the barbarians.  Upon looting the robbers, it turns out one of them carries quite some valuable items, including a power storage crystal and various gems...

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?