Zeva Journal (Session 7)

After stopping the theft at the iron works, we let Argyle and Breken know about it. We saw that the townsfolk were able to get the fires under control. We went back to the keep and stayed the night.

Argyle came through with his promise. He outfitted us with these wonderfully crafted armor and weapons. I received an amazing chain shirt, a well crafted rapier and a new short sword. I practiced using the two swords at the same time. I think this fighting style can be quite effective.

After some discussion we decided that we needed to make our assault on the underground layer. Lord Cerwin agreed with us and gave use two men-at-arms, Red and Shirt.

Several days travel gave us time to plan. We repelled down the hole on ropes to as to not tumble down the hole. Of course it was just our luck that the kobolds were ready for us. We started our approach, arrows flew out of the magic curtain. I was hit with a bag full of sticky goo. It really messed with my ability to attack. Then the spiders came. They had no problem with the slope.

One spider got me good, I felt this burning and was drained. Everything went black.

I woke up to Max's healing hands but was weakened quite a bit by the poison.

I made my way into the cave. There was an elaborate underground cavern. We made our way into the cave deeper and deeper. We went up these rickety stairs, through this old secret door. We ambushed a few of the little bugs. They're everywhere.

We explored a little more and found an old prison. There was this very strange creature chained up in there. He said he was a Maug. He seemed like a living statue. He told us that he was brought to here by ancient wizards.

We were able to free on of his arms. We gave him the flail and he was able to free himself of the chains. Glox seems like a good ally.

We have held ourselves up in jail it was quite a defensive position. It gave us time to rest and mourn the lost of that crazy half-orc. I can only imagine how complicated this labyrinth will be and what other strangeness the ancient wizards have in store for us.

Zeva Journal (Session 6)

The only course of action was to invade the keep. We needed to see if Lord Cerwyn was alive or not. Pargo and his cronies had taken over. I hoped that he was not stupid enough to waste Lord Cerwyn just for the fun of it. Still I had no idea what Kennet and Mox were doing siding with Pargo. Strange events indeed.

After some of our typical debate about tactics. We decided to send Goldar in as a spy. He would tell Pargo he was looking for work and get us into the keep without Pargo and his crew knowing about it.

From what we could tell, everything was going according to plan. Goldar arrived at the northeast tower and threw a rope down. We climbed up and got around to the front doors of the great hall. When Goldar opened the door we were all surprised to see that Pargo, Kennet, Mox, some henchmen and a stranger were all prepared for us.

I was able to act pretty quickly. Having worked with Enron these past months, I knew it was important to get Mox incapacitated before he started putting the non-elves to sleep or worse. I ran in and got a shot off with my short bow. The arrow flew directly at him but it stopped midair. He must have some warding magic against ranged attacks.

We all got into the great hall. Enron as able to put a couple of Pargo's cronies to sleep. Mox set off a spell that created these spider webs from floor to ceiling. Enron got totally tangled in it. I was able to miss being trapped by it but it was very difficult to get out of. With Enron out of the picture it would have to be a melee fight. Iuz was hitting a bit with his bow slowly picking off guys. Goldar and Pargo were totally ready to go at it. Goldar got a good hit on Pargo but Pargo wasn't down for long. He took a huge swing at Goldar's axe and knocked the blade clean off the handle. Goldar was stunned and only had a dagger for back up. I got into fray and tried to skewer Pargo. All I remember was looking down at my chest as a long sword was driven into my back and straight through the front of my armor. The point of the sword was covered in my blood. I could feel nothing. I heard my heart beats slowly dwindle. The room went black.

I came very close to death but something pulled me back. I woke up to find Kennet and Max hovering over me laying on hands. I looked over and saw Iuz bolt through one of doors to the basement. I figured the real fight had moved down there. I followed as quickly as I could.
I got down to the jail to find five people tied up and what must have been Mox's raven familiar. Two of those nasty cat creatures had shredded it and one of Kennet's apprentices. Goldar was attacking the mystery man that turned out to be one of those metal men. I did my best to attack the nasty metal cat but it was too quick for me. I finally got it chopped to bits.

We rescued Lord Cerwyn, his wife, his steward Brekan and the other of Kennet's apprentices. Lord Cerwyn was quite grateful but exhausted. He gave us rooms in the keep and said he would reward us in the morning. We locked up and looted Pargo and his henchmen. Goldar tried to interrogate them but got nothing.

Pargo and his cronies were executed for their treason. Lord Cerwyn gave us each 50 gold pieces and told us to get some new equipment from Argyle. I was quite content. Getting top quality arms and armor would sure help me fight better.

As all thing are the way they are in Branton our "rest" would soon some to an end. During the middle of the night, strange fires sprung up on the west side of town. We got out to find the arsonists. We quickly discovered some kobolds were to blame. We dispatched of them and tried to get some information from the last one alive. But of course the little barkers told us nothing. Something however about this was funny. The kobolds had never been so brazen as to attack the town. Iuz had a hunch that the fires were just a distraction. He could not have been more right!

We got over the smithy near the river to find some kobolds, some metal men and some rotting animated corpses coming out of the building. The metal men dropped the sacks they were carrying. Iuz got the kobolds pretty quickly and Goldar using Pargo heavy flail were able to destroy the metal men and corpses.

The bags they dropped contained the smithy tools. We found a couple of bodies by the forge. We were lucky they were not able to get away with stealing the tools.

Why do the kobolds and metal men want to shut down the forge so badly? They tried to just steal the ore but now they're attacking directly. I can only see that our next course of action is a decisive strike on the abandoned towers to put a stop to the metal men once and for all.

Zeva Journal (Session 5)

After nearly getting slaughtered in the woods we decided that rather then being sitting ducks waiting for them to come, we would attack the kobolds head on. Max healed Goldar and we set on our way. I was still quite weak from the blood drain.

We approached the southern-most tower ruins. We were prepared to see our little scalies, but we didn't expect was a giant centipede to emerge from the ground. It was the biggest thing I've ever seen. I tried to get some shots with my bow but again I was clumsy and kept missing. Goldar ran straight at it and got it some. Iuz using his new technique fired several arrows at it at one time. With my arrows dwindling and by bow ineffective any way. I dropped it and ran at the beast while drawing my rapier. When I got close, something inside took over, and I was able to flip out of the way preventing the giant from possibly hitting me. I was able to finally connect with sword but didn't do too much damage. Iuz unfortunately got too close and the beast chomped on him something good. Iuz backed off and surprisingly Max took down the giant bug with hit tiny stone. He'll probably turn the incident into some sort of religious teaching in the future.

Enron (not having much else to do during the battle with the centipede) noticed that in one of the bigger towers there were some kobold guards on the remains of a second story. We formed a plan to lay siege to them. After the last couple of days these creatures were certainly on my last nerve. Enron cast a sleep spell on them and got one. Goldar ran under the platform drawing their fire. He leapt up and unknowingly chopped a sleeping one in half with his axe. The fired on us but didn't get any one. Enron got off another sleep spell and I ran up to the edge and began to climb up.

When I got up there all the creatures were dead except the one closest to me. My mind went black with rage. I could hear nothing. I only saw the hate for that kobold and all the hurt they put me through. I ran my rapier straight through its little head and scrambled its brains. I came out of my bloodlust to hear Enron and Max screaming at me not to kill it. It was too late. I regret wasting the little creature. I probably shouldn't have been so unthinking. However, Max has this crazy notion that the kobolds are just sweet innocent forest creatures like duckling, bunnies or fauns. He needs to come to realize that they are evil little vermin in league with the dark magicians who are creating the metal abominations and attacking Lord Cerwyn's town. Talk about being blinded.

After defeating the four guards we happen to spot two more coming back from fishing. Wrong place wrong time for those two. They tried to make a run for it. Iuz wasted one with his arrows. We decided to be nice and let one live. We regrouped on the platform after I kicked down the knotted rope used to climb up what was left of the outer wall. We tied the little bug up. I scared the crap out of him. Enron spoke to the thing in its language. It barked some things back at him. We were able to use him to keep the guard shift from discovering us. We were able to rest a big and plan for next move.

Speaking of planning Enron and Goldar are always getting into it. The little know-it-all is always trying to tell us what to do. Which is what you expect from a Halfling wizard, but the barbarian seems to be quite uncharacteristically the strategist. Well, if you think running straight into combat a viable strategy.

We decided to try to sabotage whatever was creating the smoke from the kobolds hideout. After discovering a total of six vents we plugged them up. Iuz and I wanted to go back to Branton after but Goldar and Enron wanted to stay and fight what ever came out of the hole. We stayed. The group positioned itself outside the entrance. Enron told us that they were using powerful magic to protect their lair. (Maybe even thick headed Max could see how "innocent" these creatures truly are.) Stupidly we brought our new "slave" to the entrance. Trying to use him to lure out some beasts. He must have barked something that warned them instead of luring them. He got free of his bindings and scurried into the wall of "death smoke".

From the curtain of haze came four human sized cloaked figures. The were slow moving and having difficulty climbing out of the hole. Smartly we stayed up on the high ground. Climbing down and fighting would not have been easy. We were able to get some shots off slowing their climb and knocking on down. One of the four tumbled back and broke into pieces. These were those "metal men". They had no flesh at all! As the metal men made their way slowly out of the opening, six kobolds came out behind them and opened fire.

I was hit. I took out one with my bow but my arrows were dwindling fast. Three, two, one, my arrows flew out and missed their intended targets. My bow as now useless. Iuz was able to pick the rest of the creatures who didn't flee off. Goldar and Max smashed their way through the last two automatons.

Finally the group decided to travel back to Branton and report out finding to Lord Cerwyn. It took a few day travel to get there and I was able to recover from all my weakness and battle wounds. I thought a lot about my current melee techniques. I fight pretty well with my rapier. I don't use a shield because it will off balance me and impact my combat moves. Wouldn't it be better technique to fight with two small swords instead of my one rapier. They're just as light and the stabbing technique is the same. I'll have to work on my off-hand strikes to make it work.

Arriving at Branton we were received with an even colder shoulder then usual. Was it the new half-orc barbarian? We went to the smithy and Argyle let us in on the current happening. Due to Lord Cerwyn spreading his militia too thin and us being away for too long. Pargo, Goldar's traveling buddy, was able to break into the keep and lock it down. Mox, Enron's "beloved" mentor, has moved into the keep as well along with Pargo's cronies. No one knows of Lord Cerwyn's condition.

I was able to replenish my arrow supple from Argyle and we decided to search Mox's place. Iuz went off to see the herb lady. I really want to know what his fascination is with that hag. We arrived at Mox's to discover that it had already been ransacked and that his familiar may not have faired too well.

Iuz joined us and now we have to plan our next move.

Zeva Journal (Session 4)

Of course the Elves are involved! We’re always up to something.

We decided to make another trip down river with some iron. This time we would be ready for an ambush. The little scalies wouldn’t know what hit them. Arriving at Tekem, we met up with this beast of a half-orc barbarian (is there any other kind?) shoveling shit for some pay. Goldar became quite interested in our little adventure.

After some drinking and some planning we decided to speed up our shipment by a day or so to throw the kobolds off guard. To do this we faked the shipment by padding it with rocks. Partially down the way we would feign an issue with the raft and camp out.

Just as we predicted the little scabs fell for it. During our first watch they pounced. We were ready. Iuz and Goldar took out most of them. My blading skills were certainly off. They did, however, get me in the deepest part of my meditation cycle.

We decided to rest for the night and track the slimy bugs in the morning. Jarak took the raft down river to Branton. I hope getting a quarter of a load is better then no load at all. We followed Iuz deep in to the forest for several days. Having a couple of great hunters on the team kept the food supply going. Apparently there was much kobold activity and even a trail of sorts which made following them pretty easy.

We stopped along this trial where Iuz signaled that something was up a head. Goldar ran up to find a halfling hurt by some kobolds. Moronically, he ran to help the halfling who turned out to be a kobold sorcerer in a magical disguise. The slimy spellcaster created an area of grease which made Goldar fall flat on his ass. Then came the arrows down from the trees. We were ambushed!! I definitely should have seen it coming. Enron was able to put a couple of the maggots asleep. I picked two off with my bow. Goldar wasn’t having that great of a time getting hit a second time by the sorcerer’s grease spell. He tried to make up for it by hurtling through the air to hack one of those bugs in half. The leap was jaw dropping but he missed. Lucky for us the kobolds weren’t used to fighting in the trees and kept dropping their bows. When they tired to climb down some of them fell and broke their little necks.

We captured the sorcerer. Between Goldar, Iuz and me, we instilled quite a bit of fear in him but it was Max who (being the Holy Roller that he is) got most of the information out of him. He told us about how they were giving the iron ore to the Elves but having very well made hand axes in their possession made me think something else is happening as well. I know our “Master of Serpents” friend is pretty untrustworthy but he’s the friendliest Elf I’ve ever met.

After getting what we could out of him we decided to continue our trailing of the kobolds with him in tow. We followed the tracks all the way out to a cleared section of the forest near a pond and some smoking tower ruins. Our guess was that this was the camp. Iuz investigated and reported back. We needed to camp if we were going to lay waste to their hideout.

Once again like clockwork, I was woken by a little scalie bug pointing a stick at me. I looked off to my left to view Goldar in a bloody heap. Off to my right I saw a scalie riding a gigantic vicious weasel. I knew this wouldn’t be good.

I attacked the one next to me and positioned myself to kill the rider of the weasel. The gods of war were not looking favorable upon me this evening either. My exhaustion was too much causing me to miss most of my swings. After a while I was able to get in a couple of good jabs with my rapier and take down the rider. However the creature attached itself to me and drained my blood. I become very week as my blood poured out of the bite.

We were able to scare the remaining ones off but we were in a really bad state. They obviously know we were coming. Goldar was on death’s door and I’m none to healthy. Max was out of healing and Enron was out of magic as well. I believe this was the toughest night of our lives. We have to defeat these bastards if not for the town’s sake then for Iuz’s ego.

Introduction and Rules

Hi,
This blog is for my D&D game on Sundays. It is a place for me to put any rules or information about the campaign. One of those rules is that I will give experience points for writting log entries. This blog will serve as a place for those entries. I haven't tried this before so this is basically an experiment.

Rule Stuff:
1) Logs: If you write a log entry you will get 100 times your level experience points. Log entries can just be posted to this blog.

2) Character Creation: Characters will use a 22 point buy. This is detailed in the DMG p.169. (For those without the DMG you buy attributes with points. An attribute of 8 costs 0. Every point between 9 and 14 costs 1. Every point between 15-16 costs 2 and those between 17-18 cost 3.) This will give low stats and to make up for this characters will receive an additional attribute point every even level instead of every fourth level.

3) Memorizing Spells: Spells can be prepared at any time. This process takes at least 15 minutes and refills any spell slot not used in the last 8 hours. It can be done mulitple times per day, but if it is done more than once in a 24 hour period the spell caster takes a -2 cumulative constituition penalty that can not be removed until 24 hours pass without preparing spells.

4) Magical Flow: In this campaign magic is not static. It is like wind and spell casters are a little bit like windmills. Sometimes magic will be stronger and empower a spell caster. Sometimes magic will be weak or even stop altogether. Sometimes there might even be storms. As I write rules for this it will start to take effect, but for now magic is flowing at a constant steady pace.

Campaign Information

Branton is a small town of about a thousand people. It is next to a river and there is some fishing, river trade, and a water-powered mill. The town is ruled by Lord Cley Cerwyn. Previously it was ruled by Bulled Kief who was a liege of the Cerwyns. Lord Cerwyn has a small stone keep to the north of town. A wooden palisade covers the north side on town. The rest of the palisade fell into disrepair and was scavenged for lumber. Three major roads lead from Branton. The eastern road heads towards other Cerwyn lands and out into the world. The northwest road leads through a forest and into the mountains to an iron mine. The southwest road leads to a series of farming villages that fall under Cley Cerwyn's domain.

Branton and the surrounding settlements are composed primarily of humans, but their are some dwarves, halflings, and a couple families of gnomes. There is rarely any trouble in the area except for the occasionally kobolds (notorious for stealing chickens and sheep) and problems with wild animals. Recently, however, there has been a problem with Duergar attacking the iron mine.

Experience

Iuz	550	400	786	860	965	1,650	1,425	Total: 6,636
Enron	450	300	686	660	765	1,350	1,125	Total: 5,326
Zeeva	450	300	343	860	965	1,550	1,425	Total: 5,893
Maximilian	-	-	786	760	965	1,550	1,425	Total: 5,486