Session 15
General Summary
Snarl was nervous. The chief of the Broken Tooth bugbear clan had given him four warriors to
take and speak to the giants in the ruins south of their home. The chief was worried about the
green dragon that had recently taken up residence near their home and wanted to move the Broken
Tooth clan south, away from the green dragon. Snarl�s job was to speak to the giants about
making an alliance and about the Broken Tooth moving into the ruins with the giants. Upon
arriving at the ruins Snarl had discovered two missing giants and a group of adventurers camping
in the giants� lair. This was not part of his plan. Not sure of what to do next Snarl had split his
forces, two of them being sent into the tunnels under the ruins whilst Snarl and the other two
warriors snuck up to the entrance to the lair. A smelly dwarf was on guard, his nose too full of the
smell of stale ale in his beard to smell the approaching bugbears and his breathing too loud to hear
them. His eyes didn�t function well in the night which was the bugbears� time. So it was easy to
ambush the adventurers. So far so good. The bugbears rushed into the old giant lair and attempted
to mash the adventurers into the ground before they knew what had hit them. Amazingly though
these adventurers reacted with supernatural speed. Eyes opening from sleep just as their morning
stars smashed down the adventurers rolled aside at the last second, or brought swords up to parry
when a head was just about to be caved in. Before Snarl knew what was happening the four
adventurers were on their feet, the night sky was lit with magical holy fire and the cries of dwarf,
human and halfling as Snarl�s small band was decimated. Snarl knew he was in trouble and tried
to fight for the exit but the human swordsman was suddenly behind him and he felt the sword slip
into his ribs as the dwarf�s axe swung in a big arch towards his neck. Snarl knew no more.
Ulgo, the most recent leader of the remainders of the hobgoblin Scarlet Feather clan considered
his options. The clan had been routed from the fortress they had taken over by men in the employ
of the local human chief. They had fled into the forest and regrouped, finding a nice cave where
Ulgo and Chan fought for control of the remaining hobgoblins. Ulgo had won, impaling Chan on
his longspear. Ulgo had great plans for his clan but then the green dragon had arrived at their cave,
demanding tribute. It called itself Lerentiss. The hobgoblins had known the dragon was in the
forest but didn�t expect to meet it when they fled there after leaving the keep. Ulgo had paid
Lerentiss most of his remaining coins and promised more. Lerentiss said he would return. There
was no way Ulgo was going to stay there in the forest so he led his clan south aiming to travel into
the Gaspar Hills and make a new life there. He had heard there was a tribe of orcs, the White Fist
clan, somewhere in those hills. Maybe he could strike an alliance with them? Maybe he could lead
his clan to their ultimate revenge on the men who had driven his clan from the valley twenty years
ago when Ulgo was a babe? Anyway, the hobgoblins had reached the edge of the forest as the sun
was setting. There, between them and the river, was a well prepared campsite. Four menfolk were
camped around a fire, eating man food and laughing. His warriors were itching for a fight and
Ulgo decided that four menfolk would make a good morale boost for the clan. These men looked
armed and armoured but his warriors outnumbered them four to one and they had the advantage of
surprise. He ordered the attack.
The hobgoblins swarmed out of the trees towards the camp. A human in armour with a sword
stepped to the front. Probably one of those stupid knights the humans were so proud of. Ulgo
marked him for personal attention and charged in. The swordsman was skilled but no match for
the hobgoblin leader and soon, with the help of a few warriors he was put down. More of his
fighters swarmed the camp where a dwarf, human and halfling fought as a team. At this stage
Ulgo realised these were the same menfolk who had routed them from the keep. It was time for
sweet revenge! The human woman muttered some curse and the swordsman at Ulgo�s feet
stirred and stood up. Ulgo marked her as a witch and ordered his warriors to take her down. He
returned his attention to the swordsman once more. The swordsman went on the defensive which
meant Ulgo had more time to study the battle as it unfolded before him. The halfling was tumbling
about the place, felling his warriors left and right with his short, sharp sword. The dwarf was being
swarmed by three or four hobgoblins on the right flank. The rest of his men were about to
overwhelm the human witch. Then one of the hated elves stepped from inside a tent. The
moonlight shone on his golden hair and Ulgo supressed the urge to puke. He hated elves. This one
stepped cockily into the moonlight and within seconds had felled two warriors with swift and true
arrows. Ulgo noted the dwarf decapitate two of the hobgoblins he was fighting. The witch blasted
the two warriors fighting either side of Ulgo and the halfling stabbed another in the belly. This
fight was turning against him he realised and called the retreat. Disciplined, his hobgoblins
disengaged as one and ghosted back to the trees. One or two were hacked down by the merciless
menfolk as they retreated, but Ulgo himself got away. He stopped for a breather a few minutes
away and waited for his warriors to find him. Thirty minutes later only two had returned. The
Scarlet Feather clan was reduced to three. Ulgo cursed the menfolk who had destroyed his clan
and his dreams.
The creature was hungry. Very hungry. It had not eaten in days, most of the prey it usually fed on
seemed to have moved from this area since the big flying lizard had arrived. It realised that if it
did not eat soon it would perish, and in fact its hunger had made it desperate. Ahead through the
trees the creature�s exceptional hearing had picked up the sounds of men squawking at each
other. Hunger overwhelming any sense of caution the creature crashed through the trees in the
direction of the nests the men had built. They were ready for it and as it emerged from the trees it
faltered slightly. It had never been out of the forest before and the open space gave it pause. Then
the stinging bites of arrow, quarrel and bullet stung it into the present again. It screamed loudly
and rushed ahead. Sword, axe and holy fire joined with arrow and the creature was staggered with
pain as the men ripped big holes in its flesh. It wanted to flee back to the safety of the forest but it
was too late. It raised its head and screamed one last pitiful scream and then the dark night sky
closed over it and all went dark.
Zo was clever and Zo was in a hurry. The forest troll had decided that the wood was no longer
safe. Since the dragon Lerentiss had arrived in the forest things where changing. The forest had
always been a good source of food and plunder. When necessary Zo would leave the forest edge
and raid farms for chickens, sheep and even the occasional farmer. But most of the time he was
happy keeping inside the forest itself, eating boar, deer and the odd logger. Now everything was
moving south away from the dragon. Sure the wildlife were not fleeing � they were too stupid to
realise that the dragon was a serious threat. But Zo was a forest troll and prided himself on his
brains. South he was heading and quickly. Reaching the edge of the woods he spotted a camp of
humans. He was a little hungry and bored so decided he would go and rip some arms off. Rushing
across the open space to their camp he was struck by missile fire from the group, but much as they
stung he knew they were a temporary inconvenience. His wounds would heal faster than these
adventurers could hurt him, he was sure. For he was Zo, and he was clever. Reaching the camp he
was faced by a dwarf and a human armed and armoured. An annoying elf was dancing in a tree �
until Zo pulled him down out of it, laughing as he did so. Stupid elf to be dancing in a tree. Clearly
not very clever at all. The dwarf and human swung their swords and axes and a human female
used magic on him. A tiny halfling rolled beneath Zo�s feet and hacked at his legs from behind.
But Zo was not worried. He would heal these wounds he knew for he was clever. The wounds
were tiring him now though. He could not grab the annoying elf who danced on the floor now.
Blood was in his eyes. He couldn�t see right. He wiped it clean to see the elf with burning stick
in hand. The elf plunged the fire into Zo�s belly and the troll felt his skin burst into flame.
Perhaps the elf was not so stupid after all.
On the evening of the 17th September 660AR Snow Patrol arrived in Pembrose after an eventful
three day journey from the ruined village. They had fought bugbears, hobgoblins and an owlbear
and troll. It had been a dangerous and tiring journey. They had been unable to rest properly the
whole way. They weren�t sure why it was that there were so many creatures coming out of the
forest but something must have been stirring thing up. Heading straight to the inn the group
flopped down on comfortable chairs and ordered food and drinks. Drax still had dried owlbear
gore in his beard and Elijah was looking immaculate in gentle-hobbit gear with his very smart
waistcoat and ubiquitous monocle in place. The dwarven smiths they had rescued informed them
that they had set up their smithy and had started to craft swords for Fett and Lynott as thanks for
their rescue. They were not going to open the shop until those swords were complete and they felt
they would be done in a couple of weeks. Lynott asked about general rumours and was told that
the Minx brothers had determined that the green dragon was almost certainly lairing somewhere
deep in the Forest of Nin. They were contemplating a reconnaissance mission to try and locate its
lair but knew that was a risky idea. Elwynn the bard had not been seen in Pembrose for a month or
more now, however a merchant just arrived from Bostwick said he was playing in the Beard inn
there a week ago. Lynott managed to find a merchant who was planning on barging to Bostwick
first thing the next day and booked passage on his barge. It would take about 24 hours to get there
and the barge would not stop at all during that time. Elijah spoke to Regis Baum, noting again
Winifred�s beautiful hexagonal diamond pendant dangling from her neck. The two merchants
agreed a deal for Elijah�s business to buy crates of Pembrose Red for transport south through
Fools Pass to Endhome. Regis also mentioned that his contact who took Red to Dun Eamon had
become unreliable recently and if Elijah was interested in that business he was happy to give it to
him. Elijah, always cautious in business, said he would think about it. That night Drax had another
dream of the plate clad human in Dun Eamon, again talking to a dark haired human in leathers,
bristling with daggers.
The next morning the group set out north, downstream on the Wren River, headed for Bostwick.
The journey was peaceful and quiet. When asked, the merchant explained that if they wanted to
carry on to Dun Eamon from Bostwick it was about another three days downstream by barge. It
would take them about two weeks to walk there and about three weeks to barge back upstream
from Dun Eamon to Bostwick. The group discussed their plans. Drax was keen to find out what
had happened to Keli and Deli who were last seen heading for Bostwick on the trail of the legend
of the Birds of Prey. Fett was keen to find the Begley Brothers and for that he needed to locate
Elwynn, the local bard, who he believed would know where the brothers were hiding. Jaina
wanted to visit the Church of the Shining Sun and priestess Jeffar � the only priest of Pelor in the
valley. That night Drax�s dream of the platemail clad human was stronger. Maybe this was
because he was heading towards Dun Eamon and so was nearer the assumed demonologist? It
wasn�t worrying enough for him to suggest that the group stop their current tasks and rush north
to the Grey Citadel however.
The 19th dawned clear and bright and the barge pulled up on the docks beside the Goat�s Beard
Inn. Grabbing their gear the group disembarked and headed into the inn where they could smell
bacon cooking. They ordered breakfast and Prince Lynott�s retinue sorted rooms for the group.
They virtually took over all the guest rooms in the inn. Fett quickly headed off into the village. He
had spotted a fletcher as they sailed into the town and was keen to restock his arrows whilst he
could. At Aaron�s Arrows he met the half-elven owner and was able not only to replenish his
arrows but to purchase a new bow which Aaron claimed to have crafted himself. Aaron also told
Fett that he had some information he might find of interest and would be happy to tell him if the
elf bought him a glass of Pembrose Red in the Beard that evening. Fett agreed.
Drax asked the dwarven innkeeper, Rumbough, for any news of Kei and Deli. Rumbough said that
the two dwarves had some here about three weeks earlier. In fact he distinctly remembered them
heading across the bridge to the graveyard on the 1st September. The graveyard, he told Drax,
held the oldest construction in the valley. It was here long before any other structures and before
Bostwick had been founded. When the village was started the villagers had built a small wooden
fence around it and buried their dead about it. Now it had an evil reputation. People would happily
go there during the day to bury their dead or to visit the graves of loved ones, but after dark no one
crossed the bridge over the Wren to the graveyard. It was believed to be haunted. Whatever
haunted it didn�t cross the bridge into the village and the villagers didn�t cross the bridge to the
graveyard. Even Jeffar would not recommend going there at night he said. Of course this made
Drax want to go there even more.
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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