After a week of hiding in an inn outside of town, the group finally put their heads together and compiled a plan. Cecelia Darkspruce (half-elf sorority girl cleric of Sif), needed to check out her family's ancestral manor in the Agenmoor Forest. This traditional land of the high elves was recently blighted and many drow were caught cavorting through the woods. There were rumors on the drow moving on, however, and a chance to see what was left and perhaps establish a base of operations for the group was way tempting.
Our Cast:
Mutumbo - Nubian Warrior
Kalin Sworin - Human Cleric of Akana
Dmitri - Gnome Cleric
Markoos - Wild Elf Cleric
The Drow with No Name - Drow Fighter with "fabulous" social skills.
The Drow with No Name - Drow Fighter with "fabulous" social skills.
and a female rogue with a major infatuation with Mutumbo. Mutumbo got that a lot!
They set off to the east toward Agenmoor. Not even a day passed when a trio of winged female warriors descended from the heavens and encountered the group! Valkyries of Sif had arrive to take their devoted follower Cecelia with them. Mentions of Ragnarok worried some of the other party members, but Cecelia pleaded with them to continue the mission and make sure the family estate was safe. With a wave, the Valkyries picked her up and flew up towards the sun.
(GM Note: While we were known to change the day of the week to accommodate each other, Cecelia's player, Nate, needed to take a night class to graduate college his free days didn't match the rest of the group. Fear not, True Believers of Hack, her story is not quite done, but it is for the sake of this entry.)
Most of Eastern Crosedes was farmland, so the travel was quick and safe, with a good field of vision to detect predators or brigands. Soon, though, as they entered a small valley the mid-summer crops began to look stunted and wilted, even the signs of animal life seemed to disappear.
By late afternoon they had arrived at a small village in this valley. The locals were exited to see them, and pleaded for their help. It seemed that some version of the Drow Blight that affected the Agenmoor had reached this fertile valley called the Downs, and may have ruined all the crops. Only the help of the Golden Druid, in exile along the far Agenmoor border might solve their problem. Since it was only a minor diversion, the group agreed.
The group was a bit pushy with supplies, even though they offered double for what little animal grain the village had left and they moved on. They're strange caravan did have a few tentative moments when a large red dragon appeared to be circling them, but it flew off and they pushed into a small mountain pass.
The pass actually turned into a large tunnel. They attempted, with limited success to maneuver the animals through the mountain cave. Not only did the animals create a great deal of noise, but they also attracted a small tribe of orcs. Every time they encountered a group of orcs, it only took a small show of force to make them retreat back into the side passages, but when they emerged out of the other end, they were ambushed by over 20 of them!
Vastly outnumbered, the group pushed forward, slaying the orcs blocking their immediate path, while taking significant damage from the rest. Mutumbo was nearly struck down as a spear pierced his hip and nearly broke bone. Through pluck and guile, the group distanced them from the ambush, and the orcs broke off pursuit.
A bit further, they encountered a raging river, and a three rope bridge as it's only crossing. Realizing that the animals could not cross, they gave the injured Mutumbo the job of taking the animals downstream to find a safe place to ford across, while the rest whole cross at the bridge. At worst, the main group could reach the druid faster and possibly meet up with Mutumbo as he found a crossing and work back upriver.
The Drow, Dmitri, and the rogue successfully crossed the bridge, only to be ambushed by dire wolves! Kalin who was still on the bridge, fell into the river and Markoos (also on the bridge) dove in after him. Both could not swim in the rapids (and horribly failed their rolls) and disappeared under the water. The remaining trio were pushed back by the wolves and decided to take their chances on the river. All succumbed to the power of the water.
They set off to the east toward Agenmoor. Not even a day passed when a trio of winged female warriors descended from the heavens and encountered the group! Valkyries of Sif had arrive to take their devoted follower Cecelia with them. Mentions of Ragnarok worried some of the other party members, but Cecelia pleaded with them to continue the mission and make sure the family estate was safe. With a wave, the Valkyries picked her up and flew up towards the sun.
(GM Note: While we were known to change the day of the week to accommodate each other, Cecelia's player, Nate, needed to take a night class to graduate college his free days didn't match the rest of the group. Fear not, True Believers of Hack, her story is not quite done, but it is for the sake of this entry.)
Most of Eastern Crosedes was farmland, so the travel was quick and safe, with a good field of vision to detect predators or brigands. Soon, though, as they entered a small valley the mid-summer crops began to look stunted and wilted, even the signs of animal life seemed to disappear.
By late afternoon they had arrived at a small village in this valley. The locals were exited to see them, and pleaded for their help. It seemed that some version of the Drow Blight that affected the Agenmoor had reached this fertile valley called the Downs, and may have ruined all the crops. Only the help of the Golden Druid, in exile along the far Agenmoor border might solve their problem. Since it was only a minor diversion, the group agreed.
The group was a bit pushy with supplies, even though they offered double for what little animal grain the village had left and they moved on. They're strange caravan did have a few tentative moments when a large red dragon appeared to be circling them, but it flew off and they pushed into a small mountain pass.
The pass actually turned into a large tunnel. They attempted, with limited success to maneuver the animals through the mountain cave. Not only did the animals create a great deal of noise, but they also attracted a small tribe of orcs. Every time they encountered a group of orcs, it only took a small show of force to make them retreat back into the side passages, but when they emerged out of the other end, they were ambushed by over 20 of them!
Vastly outnumbered, the group pushed forward, slaying the orcs blocking their immediate path, while taking significant damage from the rest. Mutumbo was nearly struck down as a spear pierced his hip and nearly broke bone. Through pluck and guile, the group distanced them from the ambush, and the orcs broke off pursuit.
A bit further, they encountered a raging river, and a three rope bridge as it's only crossing. Realizing that the animals could not cross, they gave the injured Mutumbo the job of taking the animals downstream to find a safe place to ford across, while the rest whole cross at the bridge. At worst, the main group could reach the druid faster and possibly meet up with Mutumbo as he found a crossing and work back upriver.
The Drow, Dmitri, and the rogue successfully crossed the bridge, only to be ambushed by dire wolves! Kalin who was still on the bridge, fell into the river and Markoos (also on the bridge) dove in after him. Both could not swim in the rapids (and horribly failed their rolls) and disappeared under the water. The remaining trio were pushed back by the wolves and decided to take their chances on the river. All succumbed to the power of the water.
Downriver, Mutumbo noticed the bodies of his fallen comrades floating in the river. Despite the river calming down significantly, he decided to make no attempt to save them (Alignment infraction! Lose a level) The others had the directions to the Golden Druid and the Darkspruce Estate, so it was time for Mutumbo to wander off with his menagerie of animals and find even more adventure....
Despite N2 being a horribly written module, I figured it was the perfect side trek before they arrived at the Darkspruce Family Estate and figured out a new direction for the group. I did not anticipate a near-TPK, although the haste of getting to the Golden Druid and then the estate, blinded the group's logic of just following the river to a fordable area.
Herein ends the Tale of the Journey of Mutumbo, travelling across strange and distant lands to deliver a cursed artifact off the edge of the world. The Nubian would continue his travels, but our focus moves across the continent of Talaishia to the Kingdom of Marakeikos, where although the King holds ultimate power, the Burning Trogs Rule.
To be continued....
Canot wait to see some Burning Trog's lore!
ReplyDelete-Hoyce