AI - Chapter Three - Swords and Fire

The letter was addressed to the "Captain of the Elder Break, Lothari Duskend" and bore the same terrible insignia of a dragon's skull with fire burning behind it.  The message was written in Draconic, a language in which Alera was fluent, and broken into two parts.

The first part was a mission to take the townsfolk of Illiad as slaves.  A mission that was now thwarted, save for the large group that was directed off into the forest.  The other half of the message was a direction to hold the town as long as it took while the band's best pirates, and Ranger were to head off into the forest in search of something, and the pirates were not to return until they had it, whatever it was.  

The group also found a strange map that had an island drawn on that wasn't on any other map they had ever seen, and if ever there was a sign that pointed to this Dread Lord Oman, this was surely it.  However, there was still the problem of the pirates in the jungle, and the object of Oman's mission.  

It was at this point, they heard the sound of a creature swimming towards the ship.  It was their Dwarven ally Durgan, who had come to join them in their battles with Oman's forces!  After taking some time to regroup, the party returned to the main land, and set up a defensive position in the town, waiting for the ruse they pulled on their foes to be realized.

Eventually two smaller figures emerged from the jungle, a goblin and a kobold.  After killing the goblin quickly, they took the kobold prisoner, and attempted to coerce information about Oman out of him.  Whenever he was openly asked about Oman, he would give the same reply: 

"Dread Lord Oman, Commander of the Gantrithor,

the Ship Eater. 

He will boil the seas, sink civilizations and 

devour nations!"

Every question was met with that answer, and when the group was tired of hearing it they threatened the creature with it's life. Upon realizing he was going to die if he didn't co-operate, the kobold appeared as if he was going to give them an answer, which triggered something truly horrifying.  

The creature's tongue fell out, the creature panicked, and the group decided to promptly put the creature put out of its misery.  

Our heroes then set off in search of the remaining pirates.  After a brief 20 minute march, they heard voices.  When they realized they had found the remaining pirates, our heroes rushed in to meet them!  A brief battle ensued, and our heroes emerged victorious.  

Among the various things they looted, one was a map with an X on it.  Some of the larger pirates had been looking over it when they first came upon them, and the group decided that if the pirates thought it important, they should probably investigate it.

After following the map, they came to the entrance of a darkened cave, whose surrounding area was full of charred trees, scorched bushes and grass.  Durgan went ahead into the cave, but his footsteps alerted what was waiting within.  A giant wave of fire came spewing out from an opening in the cave's side, and from the darkness, out stepped a Wyrmling Red Dragon.  

The group hardened themselves in preparation for the fight.  Despite the dragon's size and young age, the group knew that Dragons were not to be taken lightly.  Luckily they had a numbers advantage, and after a hectic fight, the dragon was defeated.

Much treasure was found in it's den, as Red Dragons are especially known for their greed and desire for wealth.  Among the gold however, lied the body of Oman's elite ranger, and a lone Red Dragon egg, sitting amongst a clutch of broken ones.

Was this what Oman was looking for?

To Be Continued...

AI - Chapter Two - Illiad and the Argo

The day after Argo's death, a funeral service is held, and most of the city is in attendance.  At the service, Therrah accepts responsibility for having let things go too far at the duel, and he calls upon the town to embody the newly anointed name, Nevermore, to help prevent a tragedy like this from occurring again.  He also asks the town to forgive itself for how it acted after the duel.

With the service complete, Therrah approaches Baba Zephyr, Finn, Alera, and Direli and tells them about the pirate hook that was given to them by their friend Durgan, an odd dwarven warrior that has been a friend of the group since they were just kids.  He found it while investigating a pirate camp north of the city.  The hook itself bears an insignia of a dragon skull facing forward with what appears to be flames behind it.  The equipment found on the pirates that attacked Nevermore have the same symbol, and Durgan also reported seeing the same symbol on flags and banners of a ship that was sailing north toward a fishing village on the northern coast of Feyfoot Isle.  

Therrah believes this is a cause for concern, as it signifies that pirates are beginning to organize.  Which can only mean that someone sinister, and crazy enough is trying to lead them.  The group believes this is a matter important enough to investigate, and that if a ship was sailing north towards the village Illiad they should hurry to investigate it.  The group agrees this is a matter worth looking into, and they begin making preparations for their trip.  

Under Therrah's advisement, they recruit a cleric named Devlin Abershin from the Order of the Pulling Tide to accompany them on their journey aboard their newly given ship, aptly named the "Argo".  Once everyone is ready to go they head off.

While sailing north, the ship is attacked by creatures known as Sahuagin.  An opportunistic race of aquatic reptiles looking to raid their ship.  Unfortunately for the beasts, the group is more than capable of repelling their boarding attempts.

After dispatching the creatures, the group continues their journey until they reach a bay on the other side of Illiad, where they can safely leave their ship for the night.  When they wake up the next morning they make their way inland towards the village using some scouting information Devlin was able to acquire the night before.

The city is under hostile occupation from the pirates, and manoeuvring around the town is no simple task.  The group manages to clear the town, hut by hut, even luring a large number of the pirates off into the jungle with some clever magic, rescuing any civilians they found along the way, and directing them towards the Argo.

After clearing the town of any pirates that didn't run off into the jungle, they disguised themselves as pirates and took a row boat out to the pirate ship anchored in the bay.  The captain, an elf, stood at the helm flanked by larger, more menacing bodyguards.  Their disguises gave them a surprise attack on the captain, and after a tense fight, the captain and his crew were slain.

They weren't out of danger yet though.  There was still a band of pirates they sent off into the jungle, and they had found an ominous message written by a mysterious Dread Lord Oman...

To be continued...

The Auroch Islands - Chapter 1 - The Nominis Festival

Our story begins in the village of Haven.  It is a town of over 300 families located on Feyfoot Isle, inside the Bay of Gazing.  We find our new heroes sitting at a large banquet table as honoured guests.  They are Direli Wolfswift, a female human fighter with a burdened past, Baba Zephyr, a male human druid with ambitions of being the village's medicine man with an affinity for snakes and poisons, Finley Clearwater, a courageous halfling warrior, a legend amongst his family, and Alera Goldwing, a human wizard, daughter of a merchant family.  All four have been friends in the town since childhood.

They were chosen, along with a dozen other villagers, by the town leaders Therrah Gerrywill, an old white haired man, and Jennu Kehlash, a very old Silver Dragon, to compete in a competition to see who would earn the right to rename the town, a tradition that happens every half a century.

After the feast, all four teams were to sleep in the same long house on the docks.  When Direli went for a jog before resting, she heard the sounds of paddling off in the distance.  When she alerted a nearby guard to the noise, they soon realized that they were about to be attacked by pirates.  The guard ran to gather reinforcements while Direli woke the other competitors to help defend the harbour.  

The new foursome was put to the test, along with several other groups who had never seen true combat before.  They all fought bravely though, and were able to repel the attackers with ease.  Jennu flew above and out into the bay to deal with the main ship. His roar, and the cries of the terrified pirates rang through the giant canyon.  No one from the town died that night, or suffered any grievous injury.  

The following morning, despite the events of the previous night, the village thought it best to help raise the spirits of the town after the attack.  They would continue with the competition.  

The four competitors were led to their areas.  The events were an Arcane Alteration challenge, a wildlife taming challenge, a marksmanship challenge, as well as a one-on-one duel.

The four heroes all prevailed in their respective competitions, and overall placements were announced. the top two teams were to take part in a 4 on 4 battle to decide who would gain a large advantage in the conclusion of the festival.

The two teams met in the arena the following day.  The arena had Clerics surrounding it to act as first aid should any of the competitors suffer great wounds, but even those precautions wouldn't be enough.

It was an incredibly tense fight, but things took a terrible turn when Direli, empowered by one of Alera's spells, dealt a fantastically powerful blow to the other side's strongest warrior.  Argo, the half-orc barbarian was killed immediately, and the clerics on the side were helpless to save him. With the remainder of the group staggered, Jennu flew down and grabbed the body of the barbarian in his claws, as well as one of his other severely wounded allies and took them away. 

The crowd, shocked at what they had just witnessed, cheered.  The four heroes  left the arena, rather disgusted at their town's reaction to such violence.  It was a tragic accident.  Therrah would assume responsibility for not taking all the precautions needed to protect his townsfolk from harm, and would need to find a way to begin the healing process after Argo's death.

The four heroes named the city Nevermore, so that the town would never again allow something like this to happen.  The town was to become a beacon of peace, and protection.

The town was then left to contemplate the events of the day, while one of the group's friends came bearing information on the pirate's attack from the night before...

To Be Continued...

Chapter Fifteen - Blink Dogs

The group spends the afternoon gathering information on what's been happening in terms of these strange dogs.  They don't learn too much, just that they are able to move in and out of reality at seemingly random intervals.  No one has really seen much of them, save  for one elf, who heard barking and when he peered out the window he witnessed a dog that was popping in and out of his sight, then after grabbing a bag of food the hound quickly disappeared.

As the group marches towards the woods they hear barking, and turn around to see a dog standing before them.  It is behaving exactly the way the elves described.  Radamyr attempts use his knowledge of Spellcraft to discern what kind of magic it is, but he is unsuccessful.  The dog turns to run into the forest and after starting off to a run, he disappears right before their very eyes.

The group takes off in that direction, and after a few hours walking they come upon a small camp.  Arradel climbs a tree to get a better vantage point of the site, and the others march ahead. 

When seemingly out of nowhere, there are three dogs surrounding them.  The group is caught off guard by this.  When the see the way the dogs are snarling, it is clear they intend to defend this territory.  

As the group moves to defend themselves, they realize they are in for a harder fight.  Bogor and Liaathvain's attacks seem to just whiz right through the beasts half of the time.  The dogs' are randomly flashing in and out of existence, and the fight is proving to be rather frustrating.  

When suddenly, from out of the far side of the camp an arrow comes whizzing by and strikes Arradel's armor.  From the far side of the camp, a hooded elf walks out with his bow drawn. When the group calls out to him, he simply laughs, and readies another arrow.

Radamyr discovers that the Wand of Magic Missle that he picked up long ago in the goblin cave seems to hit the dogs regardless of whether or not they are in reality.  It is the nature of the spell that it cannot miss, this proves useful in the fight, and the group manages to fell one of the dogs.  With the pressure off of them, Liaathvain breaks away from the fight and runs over to the ranger, and engages the elf in close combat.

It doesn't take long for her to finish him off, and Bogor and Radamyr are able to finish off the dogs with Arradel providing ranged support.  

They loot the bodies of the ranger, and come across a vast assortment of gems, as well as another strange wand.

Arradel and Liaathvain make the journey back to Chartram, while Radamyr and Bogor stay and investigate the site.  Upon returning to the village, they meet with the Lord-Mayor of the town, and fill him in on what they have found.  He directs them to meet with the elf Baleer. The elf is able to magically teleport them back to the camp.

Radamyr is busy trying to use the wand, but nothing is really happening, when suddenly a trio of elves appear in the field behind them.  Baleer identifies the items for the group, and they learn the wand is a Wand of Delay Poison, used to greatly slow down the effects of any poison.  He informs them the slain ranger is named B'rathan, and he was exiled from the town around 25 years ago, for causing too many problems in Chartram.

He then teleports them all back to the village, where they spend the night celebrating their victory.

Chartram has welcomed them with open arms, and the group decides to call this village home.

Chapter Fourteen - Chartram

Our heroes wake up the following morning, with Arradel curious about the magic compass.  As a rogue she has the ability to attempt to Use Magical Device, and bypass any magical protections or safeguards the compass may have in order to use it.  The group watches as she tries to find a way to manipulate the object into working.

Her attempt is successful, and she closes her eyes, and after a brief moment the group watches as part of the compass begins to glow, and points them south!  Everyone is thrilled, and they decide that they are going to follow the compass' bearings.  After travelling for some time, they decide to check to see if the compass has anything new to tell them, and Arradel once again retrieves the item from her belongings and tries to use it, only this time it doesn't go as planned, and she is knocked unconscious. After the group wakes her up they decide that until they know more about this object they should refrain from using the device.

They keep heading south, and soon they come upon some sort of checkpoint.  Two elves appear to be stationed at a guard post, and as the group approaches they wave them over.  

The laid back and peaceful nature of the elves is in full display as they heartily welcome a group of strangers onto their land.  They tell them that further down the road they will come to the town of Chartram.

Following the directions of the guards, they eventually come upon a humble elven conclave.  They are greeted by many elves as they make their way around town.  It's a breath of fresh air for them, as their experiences in town as of late have not been pleasant.

Locals tell them they can find a group of wizards on the other side of the town that might be able to give them some information on the compass.

After crossing the village, they come to large tree, with a staircase wrapping itself around it that winds all the way up to a large hut.  As they walk the stairs, and get the near the top, they gain sight over much of the forest's canopy and Arradel and Liaathvain are able to distinguish a large shape just over the mountains off in the distance.

It is the boughs of Alda'Orne, from far off in Verraway, homeland of the elves.  It is a massive tree, that is home to the elves' capital city.  They take a moment to admire the view and continue to make their way up into the cottage.

They are greeted by an elven wizard named Choska.  The group tells he and his assistants about their compass, leaving out parts of their journey that might draw suspicion from them.  The elves are fascinated with it, and will tell them they will help them uncover it's secrets, but it will take time.

The group then heads down to the local drinking spot, and while they are there enjoying themselves they learn the town has been having some problems with strange dogs as of late.  When they tell them about the worgs, the elves laugh.  They aren't concerned about a few worgs, they know how to kill them.  These ones have been different, and have been giving the town some problems.  Apparently, they've been able to teleport in and out of the town and run off with supplies.  They aren't sure how they've been able to do it, but it's become frustrating and it's upset the elves daily lives considerably.  

Knowing they are going to be here for awhile while the wizards attempt to discover the secrets of the compass, they decide to help out, and investigate this teleporting dog problem...

To Be Continued...

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Chapter Thirteen - A God's Call

Bogor and Liaathvain make their way around the city walls, looking to free up their horses from the stables.  Upon walking across the main road however, a knight on guard at the gates sees them, and starts making his way towards them.  Upon realizing who they are, he draws his sword and attacks them.

He proves to be a very worthy adversary however, and the fight lasts for longer than they both expected.  Liaathvain, concerned that she is at risk of losing her god's favour has been attempting to subdue him, rather than kill him which makes it a bit more difficult for her.  Bogor on the other hand is trying to use him as fertilizer for the grass, and as the knight succumbs to the blows of his enemies, he mutters his final words "My blood will feed the wolves," and then Bogor ends him.  It appears as if the knight was a member of the wolf cult, for his final words were very ominous.

As the two enter the stable to free the horses, Liaathvain has a change of heart, and believes the glowing light was a gift from a praying Eric, and now that the glowing has ceased, and she has the horses, she is willing to travel back with the group.

Meanwhile, Arradel and Radamyr are waiting for them to return.  They ask the fighter what kind of person Baltham was, and he doesn't tell them much besides the fact that he was a grumpy old man, and that he doesn't have any information on the magical compass.  He then takes his leave, and runs off into the night.

Arradel takes this time to confess to Radamyr that she lied to Liaathvain, and that she could find no sign that the wizard was evil.  This revelation troubles them, and they question the princess' motives.  Why would she claim that he was a man of ill repute?  Surely she would have known more about him.

Liaathvain and Bogor soon ride up, and tell them of their encounter with the evil knight.  Arradel soon suggests that rather than head back to Greyholt, they leave and travel south through the forest, until things blow over.  Liaathvain does not understand why they won't finish their mission and return to the Princess, but since there is no arguing with them she reluctantly goes with them.

Before they leave however, they hear a horrifyingly loud sound come from the Forum.  They listen closely, and they discern it is the sound of wood snapping and cracking.  There are terrible crashing noises coming from the city.  They are too far to see anything, but the fact that the sound is travelling this far suggests something terrible has just happened. The sound lasts for several minutes, and once it has quieted down, they leave.

They ride south on their horses, Snowball and Fireball, for a long time, until they reach a safe area of the forest for them to set up camp.  Liaathvain agrees to take watch first, and after an hour or so she once again experiences a vision.  This time it is Eric, and he is kneeling next to what appears to be a very small lake.  She also sees various animals in her vision, and notices a deer in particular.  The vision then fades, and she is left bewildered.  That is until she sees a deer poke it's head out from the forest.  It looks at her with curiosity then turns around and begins to walk away.  

The paladin follows it until she comes across the same body of water from her vision.  There is no sign of Eric however, and as she approaches the water, a small gust of wind blows by her, and she begins to hear a strange sound of wood snapping.  She turns around to see that the exposed trunks of nearby trees are carving expressionless faces out of their wood.  The night air warms around her, and the mouths begin to move, and a powerful voice fills her head.

She receives the message, and realizes that her god has just spoken to her.  As soon as the message is received, she returns to the camp, and is left to question the strange encounter she just had.  She smiles though, knowing her god has not abandoned her.

Chapter Twelve - The Heist Pt.3

Liaathvain sits at the base of the stairs with a look of shock on her face.  Baltham, the wizard they were only supposed to steal from, lies dead at the top of the stairs. She's heard of Paladins losing their connection to their god for committing certain acts, and she's concerned that this might be one of those cases.  

It is at this moment Arradel has come up from the secret trap door in the basement floors, and after seeing what has happened, looks towards Baltham's bodyguard.  He has ceased his hostilities realizing the one who was paying him is now dead.  Arradel tosses him some gold to keep him silent, and he has no problem with that. She then runs upstairs to search for the compass.

When she enters Baltham's room, she sees a small box in a closet, she opens it up to check for the compass, and sure enough it is in there.  However, before leaving she is curious as to why the Princess thought the wizard was of questionable character, so she decides to scan the room for anything that could be evil, or at the very least, able to be considered evil.  She's going to need Liaathvain complicit in order for their escape to go smoothly.  To her dismay, there appears to be nothing of any kind of evil in the room.  Spying a stack of wizarding books, she decides she could at least use those.

As she heads down the stairs and tells everyone that she has the compass, she tells Liaathvain that the room is full of evil things, including books on dark magic.  The lie succeeds, and Liaathvain believes her.  It's at this point that the fighter hears the sounds of guards clamouring outside, and they realize the sounds of battle, as well as a somewhat burnt through staircase have attracted the attention of many knights.  The group decides the best option to stay hidden is to head into the basement, and the fighter accompanies them.

No sooner do they all make their way down into the basement, do the knights come storming into the house.  Upon feeling a very strange chill run up their spine, Liaathvain detects evil, and to the group's shock, she detects evil coming from right above them, though knowing this doesn't help them currently.  They are very much outnumbered, and they now have only one escape route, out through the basement window.

Radamyr casts ghost sound out the window to make it sound as if there are people running away from the house, which lures the guards outside away.  They take this opportunity to squeeze out from the basement and head for the city walls not too far away.

As they go to leave though, Liaathvain suffers a strange kind of vision.  She sees Eric the Cleric, kneeling by the tree over by the town's church, praying.  Then the vision ends.  She tells the group of what just transpired, and she believes it is her god calling to her.  The church is on the other side of town, and there is a good chance the city is on alert due to the commotion they've caused.  Despite the risks Liaathvain tells them that she plans on going over there, believing her god is sending her there.  

The group strongly disagrees with this move, and after a lot of deliberation she agrees to find a safer route by travelling around the city, instead of through it.  The group finds a wide open enough area, and chooses to plant one of their Feather Tokens.  A tree grows from it, and they use the massive tree to climb over the walls.  

They manage to land somewhat safely, after which something strange happens.  Liaathvain's hands begin to glow with Divine magic.  The group doesn't have any idea what this means, but Arradel and Radamyr both having no intention of following Liaathvain on her crazy mission, tell her they'll meet her in the forest afterwards.  Bogor, not wanting her to go alone, travels with her.

The glow emanating from Liaathvain begins to travel through her whole body, and she is fully healed from their previous battle, which is good news for her, for the fight to escape the Forum is not yet over.

To Be Continued...