A New Found Friend

11:45 A.M - Day 115, Rova  15, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 4, 26 days remaining

Off the beaten path we realized it was time to have a real heart to heart.  We started to see that Grumblejack has been a follower, a lackey, a minion. He was here with us because we didn't tell him to leave.

Three miles away from Aldencross.

Kallista and Maldrake started to converse about the subject and Maldrake said we should kill him off. He has almost jeopardized our efforts.  We were lucky enough to be able to baby sit him with his circlet of disguise but the point of failure we encountered is not really teaching him how it works. Afraid of tipping off Grumblejack to such an awful turn of events they started to speak in Abyssal. Maldrake continued on with is his protests that the Ogre would ruin the mission but Kallista insisted that his muscle could come in handy.

Maldrake suggested that they take him in shackles straight to Balentyne and infiltrate the fort that way. Kallista scoffed at such an idea. She made remarks that while that idea has worked a few times in their travels she mentions that the drunkards down at the inn talk as if there are hundreds of soldiers and that Maldrake isn't being realistic.

This bickering went back and forth for a few minutes and Grumblejack interrupted them both, "Grumblejack would not have made it half as far as this without his friends. If not for you, Grumblejack might have died in filthy prison cell with great deeds undone! Now, together, we do great and terrible deeds! Grumblejack grateful that you friends share in his adventures!”

They looked at him with dumbfounded admiration and tried to explain what happened with him at the tavern. "These circlets can make you look like something else. You only need to think about it and concentrate but it only lasts ten minutes. Can you tell time?" Maldrake asked.

"I can tell time whatever Grumblejack is supposed to tell him. Who be time, he a friend?" Maldrake shakes his head.

Grumblejack mid change.

"Just try to think about looking like a human." Maldrake suggested.

"You want Grumblejack to look like 'ittl uns?" Grumblejack asked.

"You can look like that tasty dwarf on the ship." Maldrake replied.

Grumblejack smiled and closed his eyes and soon enough we were looking at Kargeld again. We all nodded in approval and began to walk back to Aldencross. Ten minutes later Grumblejack's form
changed back. We shook our heads.

"Grumblejack you need to watch your hands. If they look like they are changing, you need to think again about being that dwarf." Kallista mentioned.

Grumblejack turned back into the dwarf again and began to walk with one hand out in front of him. We sighed and tried to be patient with the beast. It seemed to work for him for now. We all agreed though that he could very well become a liability if we don't have a better way to keep him in check. There may be places he can roam free as himself but here it is far to dangerous. 

1:00 P.M - Day 115, Rova  15, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Along the way back he would lose his form a few times but he was slowly gaining it back again. We did finally make it back to the Inn and we got Grumblejack up to his room which had a door that had been barely repaired and clearly had been knocked off the hinges with ease.  We decide to bring the ogre drinks and food instead of letting him stay down with us while we listened to more rumors for the night. 

Loose Ogre in The Dalliance

10:30 A.M. - Day 115, Rova  15, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 4, 26 days remaining

We made our way back tediously as we did on the way to the cottage. After thirty minutes and getting back to the south eastern part of Aldencross we saw two soldiers charging from the south and getting ready to pass us. We were hidden enough to not be seen but Urgoen quickly disguised himself as one of the soldiers and jumped out to meet them.  

Urgoen changes quickly to get into the fray and investigate. 

"What is going on here, what is the ruckus about?!" Urgeon blurted out.

"There is no time for twenty questions solider, there is an Orge on the loose in The Lord's Dalliance." one of the men informed Urgoen.

"Well lets go, what are we waiting for?" , demanded Urgoen. 

Maldrake quickly ordered his familiar, "Little one, I need you to fly as fast as you can and get to Grumblejacks room and get that iron circlet right away!" The beast screeched, went invisible and off it went.

And so they went. Drae went slowly to the inn, while Maldrake disguised himself as Sir Balin, while Kallista, and Stryder adorned themselves as Knights of Alerion. Quickly Kallista and Maldrake go the rear of the Inn and find two guards blocking the door. 

"We are covered here, you cannot go in right now, there is a beast in there!" The scared soldiers warned. 

Kallista could feel her blackblade surging with a need to murder this worthless guard and she had to hold her composure. Thinking of it later we could not believe she was able to do it. Maldrake ordered the spineless men, "I Sir Balin, Captain of the Knights of Alerion command you to stand aside. This is the ogre that we have been following for months since he had escaped from Branderscar prison!"

Confused and worried the guards still stood their ground and said "I'm sorry Sir Balin, but our orders are from Balentyne, if we move it's our hides!"

Kallista had enough. She intimidated the worried men. "Get out of our way and that is an order! You have no idea what you are dealing with here and if your superiors knew of your incompetence and your impeding of catching a known dangerous monster like this you might find yourself in Branderscar with the beast!" The men move aside as Styder, Maldrake, and Kallista burst in. 

From the front Urgeon and Stixx also looking like normal guards burst in through the front to see Maldrake, Stryder, and Kallista come in from the back. There was Grumblejack, going absolutely crazy pounding his fist and scaring the barkeep as he sat cowering in a puddle of his own piss and it smelled like he may have shit himself as well.  A couple unlucky patrons remained in fear in the corner and two guards were already in the Inn trying to net the beast and failing. 

Dwarven solider attempts to tackle the ogre.

As soon as Urgeon entered he looked out the window to summon his eidolon to crash through it. "The beast has summoned a spawn of hell!" a commoner out side yelled. The eidolon ran to the basement as he commanded with a quick yelp in infernal. With all the commotion and yelling no one noticed. With this distraction Urgeon quickly moved to the basement to hide in the secret tunnel. Stixx came with him.  There they stayed. 

I have it master Maldrake. I have the circlet, what should I do?


Bring it down stairs we will need it for the ogre very quickly we think. 

Maldrake and Kallista pull off the guards, "Back off, we know how to handle his, we've dealt with him before." Maldrake ordered as Sir Balin. The guards backed off.  Grumblejack leaned over the counter panting. Kallista brought the guards to the other side of the room pretending to be concerned. 

Little one, tell this creature I am Maldrake and Grumblejack need not be afraid. 

Grumblejack this is Maldrake please calm down. The man you see next to you is not one of those it'l uns. It is me Maldrake. Your friend. Just calm down and walk with us we will get you out of this. 

Maldrake, Stryder, Kallista and the other guards walk the ogre out of town and towards Balentyne. After about 30 minutes of walking, we got far enough outside of town so incase we needed to kill some guards no one would hear them. Drae was stalking in the near by shrubs and trees staying out of sight.  

"You all should go back and protect the town, we can handle this mongrel." Maldrake suggested,

"With all due respect sir, we should get him to Balentyne." one of guards replied.

"There is still a beast loose in the inn, didn't you see it crash through the window? Townsfolk could be in danger!" Kallista balked.

Looking scared and shocked the guards nodded and started to double time it back to Aldencross. We all went to the side into some trees to lose our disguises for a bit to ease Grumblejack's mind and figure out what to do next. 

The Secret Laboratory

8:00 A.M. - Day 115, Rova  15, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 4, 26 days remaining

We checked on Grumblejack and of course he was passed out but still alive. We decided to leave him and move forward to the south east edge of town. We went together into the forest only about thirty yards so we could be unseen. Kallista attempted to go deeper into the forest while Maldrake and Stryder formulated a plan.  We didn't see her again for almost an hour. Maldrake commanded his familiar to fly above the tree line and see what he could see. The tree line at the highest was only about fifty feet. The familiar quickly reported that there was a clearing but it was around two-hundred yards away or so. 

Stryder advised us that he would climb to the top and so he did. It was child's play due to his catfolk heritage. At the top he said that he could see Balentyne across the bay. He could see no clearing. He attempted to jump to the next tree and succeeded easily. He tried again and failed and fell fifty feet below and almost broke both his legs if not for landing and rolling just right.  We shook our heads and told the cat man that at his rate it would take hours. Maldrake sent his familiar up with a long silk rope and with each others guidance they navigated their way through the forest. It took a couple tries to get off because we started to move to fast and the rope would get tangled and yanked out of his familiars mouth.  

Fiftieth time is a charm?

We proceeded slowly and carefully through the forest and just over twenty-five minutes later we arrives at a clearing in the woods. We saw a wooded cottage with only a single wooden door. We could see the start of a path back out of clearing and we were only about twenty yards off the path. Before we went in, Malrake ordered his familiar to find Kallista in town and help her guide her way here as well and so it was done. After nearly an hour total spent on getting everyone to this place it was time to investigate. 

9:00 A.M. - Day 115, Rova  15, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Strange place for a cottage.

We approached the cottage and Stryder could see that this path is heavily used and therefore we should proceed carefully. Stixx and Maldrake check out the door and while it was locked it is not trapped. Stixx picked the lock easily. Urgeon magically opened the door to be sure and it opened with ease. Maldrake looked in and all he saw was a twenty by thirty foot room with no furnishings and a slightly dusty floor and no windows. We could see quickly that this was actually a stone cottage with wooden exterior.  No matter though we all entered and to the left there was another door. It too was not trapped and it was not locked. Inside was a mess. Broken furniture, splintered planks of wood, and general dirt and mold were scattered all over. 

After about ten minutes eyeing over the place Kallista was getting very impatient. She rushed out the door only to fall flat on her rear and as she did, a small plume of dust arose from the opposite side of the front door she was about to exit and she notices pattering foot prints scurrying up more dust. She quickly alerted the party but before they could get any real track on what was going on she said it was gone. 

"There is something invisible out there." she said as she pointed in a non direct location. Stixx stayed indoors while Urgoen helped move some of the broken pieces to get a better look at the floors and walls.  While outside trying to figure out what we just encountered a voice broke the confusion.

"I am Drae. I followed you here. I over heard while you just entering the forest that you were looking for this place and though I am a bit of a local around these parts I've never seen any of you and I have to wonder what a group like this would be out in the middle of the day."

We did not know what to make of this strange dark skinned elf. He said that he knows that we followed Bellam into the tunnel and after he heard a couple rumors himself a week ago, he too said this would be a perfect opportunity for him to seek his revenge on Balentyne. It is the keepers of that place that eradicated his family years ago. We didn't question his motives and Maldrake's familiar detected no good on this elf and Kallista's Blackblade was remaining docile. Drae said that he heard the rumors about Bellam needing a stash of fine wine and a tunnel that may have been sealed years ago that lead to Balentyne.  So we agreed to move along with him and figure out if he was legitimate later. 

9:30 A.M. - Day 115, Rova  15, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Drae and Stixx went searching and found a small trap door in the corner. It was locked but only in the most basic form. Maldrake leaned over and didn't seem to concerned with the possibility of traps and slide the tiny bolt lock to the side and the door dropped open. There was a faint light coming from the right side of the room, mostly likely that of a candelabra as it was not a very bright light. Maldrake went down first and saw nothing of any danger. 

What in the hell is lab doing here?

"There is a huge dead body of some sort on a slab here, I think it's a golem. My little pet tells me it is active but don't worry it has straps around its legs and arms." Maldrake said up the ladder to the first floor.  He added, "Looks like wine cellar turned alchemist lab down here."

We all came down one by one and all agreed that we had nothing to fear from the golem and even Stixx chimed in with a comment about the quality, "Dat be the shittiest creation I could see."

Stryder seemed nervous. He stayed behind all of us and beads of sweat seemed to pour from his eye brows and dripping down over his fur. We thought nothing of it, as he is always quite and nervous most of the time. Kallista moved in to check out this creation and with out warning a giant fist swung and stuck her right in the face and she reeled back in pain. We all quickly looked at Stryder who in a faint voice murmured, "I don't think it's bindings are in tact."

The flesh golem rises.

So the fight with the nasty flesh golem began and was over almost as fast as it started. We closed in on it with fearsome disregard. Stryder watched his arrows bounce off its outer skin, while Urgeon cast a magic fang spell on his creation. Stixx quickly closed in and dropped one hell of a bomb on the beast and lit it a flame. Maldrake ordered Kiliketz to strike it with a cone of cold only to watch it's efforts be nullified with in an instant. Kallista struck the abomination with her blackblade and saw her shocking grasp similar dissipate into the beast.  Drae moved in to get closer and healed Kallista with a wand and she thanked him quickly. 

Maldrake closed in to strike the golem and missed, but Kallista, Drae, and Stixx most certainly didn't miss and the creature howled in anger. When it could respond again, it stood up and those close enough got a few cheap shots in. It however was not enough for the beast to protect whatever its master intended for and died in a burning pile of melted flesh, rivets, and bolts. 

There wasn't much to take from that place except some ointments and bindings. Stixx found a masterwork alchemist lab. Maldrake tore down all the surrounding permanent alchemist labs and could not find any secret doors or further traps. While this was concerning we had no idea what was in store for us later in the day.  We gathered our composure and head back the way we came, leaving no care for the way we left this strange building. Maybe our owner would get the hint that we weren't impressed.

Grumblejack and Mead

8:00 P.M - Day 114, Rova  14, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 4, 26 days remaining

So we decided to stick around the inn for a most of the day. We processed what this tunnel could mean for us and of course ate and drank ourselves into a tizzy. Not nearly as bad a Grumblejack however. Grumblejack approached Maldrake.

Another busy night in The Lord's Dalliance! 

"Grumblejack want coin. Grumblejack want big mutton and drink like them." He pointed to other drunkards in the Inn. "Grumblejack want coin." Maldrake, not in the least bit concerned gives him a gold piece and Grumblejack in his human form clumsily moves to the bar and tells the barkeep "Grumblejack want that." and points to another patron as he hands over his gold piece. 

"So you want a cup of Dwarven stout?" He takes the coins and gives Grumblejack change. Grumblejack in an angry tone replies back to the bar keep.

"Grumblejack no want to buy more coins, Grumblejack want Dwarven Snout!"

"Stout. Alright pal, take it is easy. It will be a moment this is a lot of stout."

A few moments went by and we see the bar keep bring Grumblejack a large bucket with the Dwarven Stout in it. Sure enough Grumblejack starts to down the bucket of stout rather quickly and making a mess of himself and the barroom floor. He soon finishes and lets out a roar of a belch and goes back to see Maldrake and asked again, "Grumblejack want coin. Grumblejack want more snout of dwarves."

It was time for Grumblejack to leave.

Maldrake hands him his share of the gold he has accumulated since escaping and tells him to go buy what he wants. This sum was easily over two-thousand gold pieces. Never the less, Grumblejack doing what he was told walked back to the barkeep and dumped the pouch of gold pieces on the counter and it went sprawling all over. Grumblejack recites as he did before, however the bar keep looks at him and simply put the coins back in the bag and tell him he is too drunk. He takes one coin and gives him another bucket and yells to Maldrake, "You need to get your friend to bed, he's going to drink himself to death and poverty!" 

So we did. We took him up to his room and with in almost a few seconds as if on cue dropped face first onto the floor and his circlet went rolling away. He turned to his normal self and we locked him in the room and went to discuss what we had planned for the next day. After a short discussion we thought it best to try and find out what was hiding at the south east part of town. Maldrake had a plan. 

"Get some sleep, we've got a long day tomorrow." Maldrake advises as we went back to our rooms for the night. 

A Weasel Among Us

12:30 P.M - Day 113, Rova  13, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 2, 28 remaining.

Maldrake awoke suddenly. He nudged Kallista, Stixx, and Ur'goen out of sleep. "I just heard something, someone is sneaking around. Are we all accounted for? " Kallista and Stixx looked about and nodded. We looked down over the small balcony moving as quietly as we could and we saw the innkeeper, Bellam Barhold owner of The Lord's Dalliance tip toeing from his room and down stairs and what appeared to be low lower level of the inn but not quite the basement. From his body movements Stixx nudged Maldrake.

"He be tryin' to hard to not be seen. He be tryin' to hard to not be heard. He be tryin' to hard to be perceived. He may be foolin' da drunks but he doan fool may." Styxx informed all of us. Maldrake nodded and sent his familiar to give chase. All his family could tell him was that he was going to the basement. Maldrake commanded his pet to follow Bellam but only to the basement and tell us what is happening. We lost contact. 

Who builds a secret tunnel?

So Stixx, Kallista, Ur'goen, Maldrake, Stryder and even Kiliketz went down stairs. Luckily our party was so large that we were able to take all available rooms. Went we got to the basement level, only Maldrake and Stixx went in first. No one was in there. Maldrake's familiar telepathically told him that Bellam went through the wall to the east, though we could see nothing. We waited just a few moments in case Bellam was on the other side of this wall and began to search.  Sure enough there was a secret door. 

Kallista was first to volunteer. "Let's go and catch him. He is on to us lets get him."  She said she went into the tunnel and only with the faintest glow she could see the shadowy report of a torch giving off its dim light through her dark vision. She motioned the rest of us to follow and Maldrake, Ur'goen, Stryder, and all of us, even Grumblejack eventually stumbled down to the basement and we began to move a little faster and could see us getting close to the light.  Only Maldrake, Kallista, and Stixx went on though. 

Just as we got close enough to see the silhouette of the man. Then the figure stops and tilts his head as though he is listening intently for something. We've only traveled about two-hundred feet at this point. The figure turned around and looked back at us. Of course it could not see us and only the darkvision capable among us could see him.  We stayed still for nearly ten minutes in complete silence. After this time we could see his foot steps begin again and he slowly moved on.   We were able to keep a steady pace with him for about another three-hundred forty feet before the quite stone tunnel was filled with an abrupt howling.

Dank and dreary we are but leery of this chapel eerie.

"Who goes there?" Bellam yelled out. Goes, goes, goes, there, ther,the is what we heard as the echoes of his terrified presence broke down any semblance of silence.  We all froze in our tracks suddenly. "Come on out now, I won't hurt you and you have nothing to be afraid of." He was terrified and his voice was on edge. Little did the little weasel know what could be waiting for him should he push us further. This time the wait was even more unbearable. He stood looking back at us for nearly twenty-five more minutes.

12:50 P.M - Day 113, Rova  13, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Styxx beckoned Maldrake down to his level and whispered to the tiefling cleric "You all be too loud up in har. You nad to get buck while you inviseeeahhble pet and me go check this out." Maldrake simply nodded and gestured Kallista and Kiliketz to hold back and motion on Styxx and his invisible beast.  

Kallista quickly whispers, "We'll stay with in darkvision distance of you, but you keep on him."  She motions them on.  And on they went.

Styxx slowly advanced on the trembling man in the dark. Both of our parties had easily exceeded half a mile now and we kept in pursuit. A few times the farthest party made noise that Styxx could hear but he was clearly too far behind the innkeeper for it to mean much of anything. We followed Bellam until we got to a corner and made our way around it only to lose him for just a few seconds. This part of the tunnel got a bit curvy but soon straighten itself again. We have been down here for over an hour now and have walked nearly a mile and then the unlikely happened. Styxx who was getting a bit ahead of his feet kicked a pebble down a small incline in the tunnel and of course Bellam had to hear it and a blood curdling howl was let out.

"HA! I KNEW IT. I KNEW SOME BASTARD WAS FOLLOWING ME, IT'S TOO LATE FOR YOU NOW, HERE I COME." Bellam screamed and gave chase into the darkness. Styxx bolted backwards toward the way he came and when the rest of us saw him we drew our weapons.  Styxx simply waved us back and we all began to run at full speed. Looking back over our shoulder Bellam began to slow, he could not match our constitutions and was easily losing his breath and stumbled and fell down. Once we got of the secret door and back up to our rooms Maldrake formed a plan. 

How long does this go on?

2:30 P.M - Day 113, Rova  13, 3042 AP (After Peace)

"Kiliketz, this is your chance to redeem yourself. You need to go with my little beast, I want you to go back down there tonight, watch for Bellam, and travel the length of that tunnel and report back. It cannot be a long tunnel if he was willing to travel it on foot in the dead of night, return back and let us know. Do this and forever cement yourself in our loyalty to you and you to us."  There was not much to it and mephit and the familar went about their way and the rest of us went to back to sleep. Before we did, Maldrake ordered his familiar to inspect the tunnel to see where it goes and come back with a report. 

7:00 A.M - Day 114, Rova  14, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 3, 27 remaining.

We spent the rest of the next twenty-four hours exploring more of Aldencross learning the area a bit better. Maldrake was getting worried because it had been over twenty four hours before we saw his familiar and Kiliketz again and began to fear the worst. It wasn't until we awoke from the next nights sleep that his familiar returned and Kiliketz drearly reported that the reason it took so long is that the trip was almost one-hundred and ten miles total. In a sad and whiny voice Kiliketz informed, "We ended up in what I believe was a storage area in a very fortified area. I believe that tunnel goes to Balentyne."

Exploring Aldencross

You are close now. Just a few miles from here sits the small market town of Aldencross and less than a mile from there is the watchtower of Balentyne – your goal. Already Sakkarot’s horde gathers and prepares to move. Within two weeks, they will be in a small valley north of the lake awaiting your signal. Fire the rocket into the air at just the right moment and you will take the first step towards claiming vengeance against Talingarde. Destiny has taken you here. Destiny has given you a mission. There is no doubt that the future of this green and pleasant land lies in your hands. You could go to that town right now and warn them of the plots of the sinister Cardinal Thorn. You could give yourself up and face the justice you deserve. You could turn back from the horror and the slaughter that you are going to inflict upon these Mitran sheep. This is that moment. This is the turning point. After this, there is no going back. Any one eager for redemption? I thought not. Come, my friends. We have work to do.


We must burn Balentyne. 

5:00 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Aldencross

Unloading the goods.

Sleep. When will sleep come? As I'm writing this we are trying to find a place to quickly unload the furs, tusks, and ivory. Luckily the general store was just opening, the owner was very happy to see us. When I say us, I mean what we wanted to look like. Those circlets came in handy.  Sure Grumblejack as  a human was awkward but he got around. We still got a few looks from people about Kiliketz.  Maldrake's monstrosity of a familiar thankfully could be kept invisible as to know rile up any would be townsfolks. We made a nice killing on the ivory and tusks. It is too early to tell because we are all too tired but I'd say we made over three or four thousand gold, plus what we raided from sad Kargeld.

Not a bad little shop, after Balentyne  maybe we can loot it.

6:00 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Aldencross begins to bustle.

We spent most of this day exploring and found a few places.  The town center which was a place for a market of some sort but no one was here. 

Stixx reported back his lone adventure. He decided to go check out the local graveyard. We don't know why. We don't know what goes on in that goblins head most of the time. We figured as long as he isn't trying to light something on fire our cover will be fine.  Here's what he told us:

An evil deception?

I went to the graveyard. First thing I saw was two nasty corpse hands coming around of a grave in the back part of the yard. Moments later a series of small children holding hands began weaving in and out of the gravestones. The corpse's head, arms and torso were up out of the ground now. The little children were playing and laughing tapping the hideous creature on the head then they ran off into forest and I gave chase. I looped back to the same graveyard and the corpse was gone but the laughing was still going on. I walked away and heard a little girl crying and when I turned around everything was back to normal. 

8:00 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

The rest of us found a few fancy manors and Maldrake was desperate to find some magical items. He knew what was being asked of us and we needed some real fire power. The only place open was a scroll shop -- The Illuminated Scroll. The shop owner said when asked about magical items of such caliber only said he might know someone and to come back in three days. We continued on and scouted out a fair bit of the city, but over all pretty boring place. We spend an hour trying to investigate a path in the south east part of the town that looked like it could go somewhere but no matter how hard we tried we would end up somewhere else in the town. 

Stixx was a kid in a candy store at the alchemist.

11:00 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

We passed on the graveyard after Stixx tales and ignore a few abandoned buildings, a warehouse and farmhouse. Timon's Meadery might be a nice place to stop after we are done by we have to stay on task. The cities only watch tower is at the far east side of town and that road will lead to Balentyne. The smithy shop owned by Erasmus VonKraig was pretty average we restocked a bit but nothing of real value for us there.  

3:00 P.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Then there was The Lord's Dalliance Inn, which turned out to be a great place to gather information. While we are here we should probably jot those down and so after a few drunken hours we picked up a bit as soldiers would come from Balentyne and citizens would flood in for late afternoon food and drink:

Rumors everywhere!

• Bellam Barhold is such a lush. He does enjoy his wine. He’s always complaining about how he can’t get any of the good stuff here in the borderlands.
• I hear a raven arrived at the rookery last night! I bet it carried important news though I know not about what.
• Those dwarves are a thieving lot! I heard one of them was caught picking a man’s pocket.
• Soldiers today! A worthless, shiftless lot! Balentyne is in total disarray. Soldiers today are too lazy – not like in my day.

8:00 P.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Day 1, 29 remaining.

 Nothing else to record, we are all on the brink of extreme fatigue and we need a good night sleep.

Dwarfing the Problem

3:30 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Loose Ends

Sleep is still an afterthought. It is cold. It is damp. We meet up with Kargeld and his sole remaining crew member. Kargeld blocked us from getting on the ship at first. He stared us down with ferocious eyes. "You bastards tried to kill me and killed most of my crew. I don't know what you though you could pull but you can find your own ride"

Grumblejack grunted "I tired of red hairs belly aching. Time sleep." With that Grumblejack hopped on the boat from the dock. "You still liv'n, can't be killi'n if you be liv'n." 

Kargeld looked back to see Maldrake holding the clay seal Thorn gave to us. "Let us on this boat and take us to Aldencross or I break this seal and we see just how far you get with Thorn. You aren't the only one with orders. We've been running on practical no sleep since the last guard change so we got rusty. We apologize for your crew." Kargeld grumbled and let the party on the ship only partially believing Maldrake's excuse and letting us on board.  We moved onward through the foggy morning night. About 30 minutes later and far enough away from the bugbear camp that we could no longer tell where we here, there was a massive shunt to the boat. Kargeld yells out “Ice in the water! It’ll rip out our hull!”

Everyone but Kargeld, the crew member, Stryder, Urgoen and Kiliketz who was hanging out top the mast of the ship fell into the water. A surprise to us the water was not frigid in the least bit. It was cold of course but no way could their be ice.  Regardless Kargeld went along with his falsehood “Get them out! They'll freeze in that icy water!” We pulled everyone in rather easy. Kargeld still stood proud of his valiant efforts to save everyone.  When Kargeld walked over to Stixx to look as though he gave a shit, we learned later what he was actually doing was mocking us. Stixx later told us that Kargeld whispered to him "How do like my ship now?" smirked a shit eating grin and walked away. At this point Maldrake through clever telepathy with his familiar communicated to all of us to prepare yourselves because we are going to take Kargeld out before we get to the shore. 

4:00 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

We attacked. There wasn't much more too it, that stupid dwarf was still injured from our brawl and since no one liked the fat prick anyway no one helped him back to full heath. The fight was over in less than 30 seconds. Both of the men were dead and blood was everywhere. Grumblejack got hungry and began to feast on the dwarf and his human crew member. We shrugged and let him do his business. We took a calculated risk with this move. We had no navigator but with a combined effort and aiding Stryder who vastly had the superior survival skills directed us on the right course. 

We looted the ship completely of any valuables, grabbed our trade goods and Kiliketz steadied the rudder  as we turned it around to have it sail out to the middle of the lake.  Prior to this however we took out all goods below deck, anything that was particually dry, we splintered any crates they were in, and soaked them in some lantern oil we found below. We tired together all the rope we had and thankfully there was another one-hundred feet of rope below, it was ratty and on its last leg but good enough to tie around Urgeon to pull him to shore after he summoned a small fire elemental to start the blaze.  The ship went up with ease and sailed a few hundred more feet before going the sails went ablaze and stopped to finally burn to its end.

We liked it fine Kargeld.

Sakkarot and the Tail of Loose Ends

11:30 P.M - Day 111, Rova  11, 3042 AP (After Peace)

We arrived at last. 

After days of trying to get this ship though ice river waters to the south we make it to Lake Tarik. With only a few hundred more feet to go, Maldrake reminded all of us through his telepathy friend that we would be attempting to take out Kargeld very soon, possibly prior to delivering the shipment if possible. We pull into the dock and could see an immense number of bugbears gathering around campfires making loud and cheerful noises. However, waiting for us at the docks were four very angry looking bugbears ready to start some trouble.

Confused Bugbear

Drunk Bugbear

We didn't know if this was planned or if they were drunk or just what was going on but we thought it best not to murder the kin of the leader we are trying to deliver weaponry to. That of course didn't stop Kargeld and his crew. "Men! Take these ugly mugs out! They want a fight, we'll give them a fight!"

So as the crew offloaded onto the dock and began to scuff it out, we decided to use this as a chance to take out Kargeld. At first when Stryder nailed one of the crew, he was able to pawn it off as a miss and Kargeld kept on swinging, dropping down the one bugbear with an axe. Grumblejack meanwhile was not sure this was the right move to start attacking the bugbears so he grappled one and threw the hairy mongrel into the river.

Arrogant Bugbear

Pointless Bugbear

From there we could see a pack of six more bugbears starting to advance at the upper most part of the bank leading down to the place on the dock where we were scrapping. The rest of us starting to go ahead and waylay on the crew and Kargeld. Kargeld lost it, and began to rage. He cut down another bugbear. Kargeld took a shot from Stryder as Maldrake, Urgeon, and Kallista dispatched three of the crew with ease. Just as Kargeld was about to cut down Maldrake, a booming voice bellowed from the top of the docks.

“Who sent you?” Sakkarot demanded of us in unaccented common.

Kargeld was extremely quick to respond, "Thorn sent us you fool! Now help me kill these traitors, they are trying to kill my men and take your steel!"

"That is a lie" Maldrake bellowed. "The ship is extremely rocky and you were fighting on the dock. Next time have better tactical awareness!"

For once Kargeld didn't.

Maldrake lies yet again.

Sakkarot pondered on our stories, "You each seem to be telling the truth as far as I can tell. Right now, that is not important to me. “If it is Thorn who sends you, then you are welcome here.” He turned to the somewhat stunned throng of bugbears who were getting ready to storm the boat and eat us for dinner. “These humans are my guests. I will deal with anyone who harms them. They are our allies!”

He then turned to Kargeld and to Maldrake, "And so you are aware what is important to me, it is those weapons. If you disagree I can see what a few hundred of my men decide."

Stixx in a hurried nervous yell, "Grumblejack, you heard the man, help me unload some of these.  Before they could get to it, Sakkarot breaks up the hatch and grabs a crate for himself and opens it “Behold, they bring us steel!”.  

Sakkarot Fire-Axe demands order!

1:30 A.M - Day 112, Rova  12, 3042 AP (After Peace)

A Private Audience

We drank. We ate. We laughed. These hairy mongrels weren't so bad after all. Hell Kargeld wasn't so bad after all when you got a few ales into him. But soon enough Kargeld passed out and it was time to discuss the bugbears future. Now that most of the camp is down and out we could discuss things around the fire. 

Sakkarot spoke up, “You are traitors to your own kind. You must know that. When Balentyne falls and my horde pours through its shattered gates, we will slaughter the Talireans by the thousands. Yet I see no regret in your eyes. Tell me, how can this be?”

No one spoke. We were not expecting to be challenged. Urgeon stands and lifts his sleeve showing his forsaken brand. We ask him what business he has working with Thorn. He tells us that he too is part of the Knot– the Avernian Knot. “I am the only true member of the knot. The rest are only fools.”

We ask, if that is how you feel, why do you betray your kind in your heart? Sakkarot pulled aside his great breast-plate and revealed the holy symbol of Asmodeus burned into his chest. “We all have our scars. Interesting fact, Thorn used to be a Cardinal of Mitra."

We drank and ate a bit more, but it was clear that it was time to go on. Sakkarot has one last thing to say: “Tomorrow you must depart this camp. It will never be truly safe for you here. Over the next week, more tribes will rally to my banner. I will promise them blood and give them steel. Then at last I will be ready to march. A week after that – I will be poised to strike. I will move my horde to the valley just north of Balentyne. There we will wait for your signal. Fire this rocket into the air. Within the hour, we will attack. Make sure that the way is ready."

He paced over to a stew pot and took a spoonful and ripped off leg of a near by roasted boar. He drank the stew emptied the meat and took a large bite out of the boar.  After swallowing, he went on. “After we gather, my horde will be idle and start to grow

anxious. I can hold them together for another two weeks. After that, I expect desertions and squabbling. Get your work done before then. You have one month to infiltrate and destroy Balentyne.” Sakkarot then stared right into our eyes with cold calculation and handed us a carefully wrapped signal rocket. “Can you do this? In one month can you break the Watch Wall?”

We solemnly nodded and agreed that we could.  He grunted and nodded “Thorn has faith in you. If you weren’t his best, he wouldn’t have sent you. Do this and your names will be legend. Now go. Hail Asmodeus!”

Balentyne is soon, but first we must deal with Kargeld.

The Frosthamar Part II

8:30 A.M - Day 108, Rova 8, 3042 AP (After Peace)

Seal Isle Continued

We arrived. Kargeld was all ready and willing to make some extra funds. That dwarf was like a madman.  Ordering people around, saying things like "We could take as many as four boats!"  We were not buying in. Sure, we could trust Kargeld. He wasn't stupid. He loved his money too much.  However, he was wasting our time. This ignorant dwarf doesn't know what Thorn is really like. We do.

Oh so cold.

A Bunyip takes a crew member's arm!

"Oh what is the problem now you yellow land bastards? Money is to be
made here! Fine, fine miss out if you want." Urgoen, Strumm, and Grimalkin did at the last minute decide to go with Kargeld to make sure nothing was up. Urgoen reported back that it was a short trip. There was a the boat was almost capsized by two
very aggressive bunyips. Strumm and Grimalkin fell into the frigid waters as did two of Kargeld's men. Sadly Strumm and Grimalkin were unable to last long enough to allow rescue. One of Kargeld's ship mates also perished, but not due to the freezing temperatures stunning you into oblivion no they lose an arm from a Bunyip attack, went into shock and then went under. The water in the area was almost to freezing. Urgoen barely made it out.

After returning we thought of commenting about the loss of three people for what at best will amount to 150 gold pieces, one skin for each body lost right? Urgoen remarked that he felt like the captain didn't try very hard to save anyone and that we should be mindful of his future actions.

7:00 P.M - Day 108, Rova 8, 3042 AP (After Peace)

The Whale Hunters

White Tusk

Half a day later we were spotted by another ship. It was clearly not a military ship like a few days back but never the less we were not looking for trouble. We thought it best see what they wanted. We responded to the hail and banked against their ship gently. The men were not exactly tribal, that would be a gross underestimation but rather they were wild. They were natural. We could easily tell they lived off the wilderness. Kargeld as usual had his axe at the ready.

They were whale hunters. This was apparent with just a small glace to the rest of their boat and the stacks of ivory and narwhal tusks. You should have seen them, eyes tracking our weapons like children following candy. The only had ivory and the narwhal tusks for trade. The leader White Tusk an ambitious young chief in his well spoken voice told us the ivory chunks were worth 20 gold pieces each. We took on as much as we could and as much as we could bare to hear Kargeld complain about. The boat was very close to the water line and we didn't want to sink.  We took on probably three or four thousand gold pieces worth of ivory. 

12:15 A.M - Day 109, Rova 9, 3042 AP (After Peace)

The Laughing Storm

Snow. Snow. It was snowing. Not near a blizzard but flurries thick enough and a wind chill hard enough to make it feel like it. We could hardly see anything. As much as Kargeld gave us grief the smug dwarf could move a ship. It wasn't as bad as it seemed. We were bunch up very close so heat was not in shortage. With out warning, we were attacked. From the left of the ship a blast of cold nailed a quarter of us. 

Four ice elementals spawned on board the ship and started to way lay us and so battle had begun. They were not much of a fight, we all took some scratched but over all we over powered them very easy. They were very small targets and could not take much of a hit, but the entire time we kept hearing taunts and getting hit with more ice blasts. 

"Oh heee heee! You can't see me!" the mystery voice taunted. We would down one elemental and hear another taunt, "Hey that was my brother's cousin!" And so on and so on.

Kiliketz, the great ice mephit?

Finally the voice showed itself and came down to deck level and started to fight us. Unfortunately for the voice, it landed next to Maldrake who at this point had enough. With Stryder and the crew fireing upon the voice, he went down to one knee very quickly and of course just as quickly the begging started.

"Alright, Alright, ALRIGHT, ALIRIGHT, already I get it, you can't take a joke come on now, chill out, why so cold? I can be useful, let me live, I can show you!" the voice said.

Maldrake quickly quashed this, "Why should we, you just tried to kill us?"

"My name is Kiliketz, the great ice mephit of the northern seas! No wonder you tried to kill me, you've never heard of me, how sad." Kiliketz slumped. "No matter, you didn't see me coming, I could be useful, you killed all my friends, so why I don't I start making some new ones. Obviously trying to kill you means they were a bad influence."

Maldrake gave his rebuttal, "You let my pet bite you, and the harmless disease will allow us to track you. You do this, and we can trust you." Kiliketz agreed joyfully. Kargeld grunted with disapproval.