Some party members go shopping, while others gather in the tavern. Cailynn overhears that Bugbears in the caves to the immediate south are afraid of Dwarves. Thomas is told that small dragon men abound. Miasma hears that there's a deserted cave filled with magical armor and is told that "Bree'yark" means "I surrender" in Goblin. When they meet up for the night and compare notes, Cailynn is skeptical about the cave of armor, wondering why the people who discovered it didn't take the armor. She also discovers that Miasma didn't ask where the alleged cave was. Thomas seems to doubt what she was told the Goblin words mean. The group spends the night at the inn and gets up early the next morning to strike out into the wilderness.
Day & Night 2
Day & Night 3
Day 4
Night 4
Day & Night 5
Day and Night 6
Day and Night 7
The group travels uphill with the wWhispering Woods to their north. They decide to stop at the base of a wooded hill and camp for the night, then climb the hill the next day. The night passes quietly.
Day and Night 8 (Map will be passable)
Day 9 (Map will be very precise)
Thomas remembers stories of Zelligar, a wizard, and Rogahn, a Barbarian fighter who, it is rumored, had numerous Orcish slaves and left behind a cache of jewels worth hundreds of thousands of gold, supposedly cursed. As the group tries to head north the statues converge, blocking their way. The group makes a run around them and mostly succeed, though Miasma and Thomas are hit. Beyond the statues they see five bodies, three appearing to be adventurers and two Barbarians, the two groups fighting one another. All of them have been looted, though one is stuck to the wall impaled on a sword inscribed with the word, "Quasquetan." There is a wooden panel on the wall bearing the same word, but it apears not to be hiding anything. Thunk smells rotten food to the north, so they head that way. Thomas remembers further rumor that putting some of the rock in your mouth will grant you a wish, but no one tries it.
They reach a dining room, beautifully carved but dusty, moldy, and deserted. Badger discovers a wooden door that opens into some sort of sitting room. A full-sized statue of a naked woman beckons alluringly, and there is a keg against the wall. Cailynn finds a secret door behind the keg [1]. There are no traps or locks and they head down the corridor revealed when the door is opened. They come to another door and, as Cailynn is opening it, it is being opened from the other side. The five Kobalds attack but don't last long.
The room is huge, with pillars made from marble and the dais from blocks of red granite. There are ten bedrolls, Kobold-sized, in front of dais. Two sets of stairs lead onto the dais and up to thrones. Behind them is a fresh burlap sack containing a chest, and in the chest are coins and a small red gemstone. There's a sconce on the north wall that opens a secret door [2]. The room it leads into has planks of fir on the walls tastefully appointed with tapestries.
Cailynn finds two secret doors; one on the west wall [3] and one on the south wall [4] to the east of the door that led them in. Door #4 leads to a blank wall, wherein Cailynn finds another secret door [5] that leads to a beautifully decorated room. There is a bed with rich bedclothes and a nightstand with drawers. In the nightstand there are toiletries, random other items, two half-used vials of perfume, and a gold coin resting on a small pillow in a shallow bowl. There is a small tapestry on the east wall, but the centerpiece of the room is a gorgeously-wrought mirrow bearing the inscription, "The fairest of all in my eye." There is also a portrait of a beautiful maiden being carried away in rescue from a Barbarian attack. It also has a message: "To Melissa, most precious of all my treasures." The room seems to have been undisturbed for upwards of half a century.
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The picture is inscribed, "To wise Maredak, worthy administrator and counselor. From a grateful Roghan and Zelligar." Miasma puts on the ring and determines that it is a ring of protection, so she keeps it. Then rock turns out to a be a moonstone of nice quality, but with no apparent magical properties. The papers detail the proposed construction of the a second level of Quasquetan, though does not reveal whether it was ever built. They also contain a crude map which leads to the ancient portal that Thomas heard rumor of and has been trying to find.
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They leave and find an empty room with a floor of smooth black stone and plain walls, which includes a hidden door that is trapped. Cailynn finds and disarms the trap, then picks the lock. In the room is a crude bed, table, keg, and an iron-banded chest. Thomas remembers that Erig was Roghan's lieutenant. Cailynn examines the chest and finds and disarms a trap before picking the lock. Inside is a leather patch that reads, "To Erig, Great Second and Warrior By My Side, Captain of the Guard." The keg is inscribed with the Dwarves letters "KK." Miasma taps herself a mug and decides it is quite good. After not finding any secret compartments in the chest or hidden doors the group leaves.
They go down several corridors before realizing they've just completed a large circle. They try another corridor and Cailynn finds an unlocked secret door. Once it's opened they hear a familiar dialogue; they are the statues they ran by in the very beginning. Miasma attacks, and the group manages to pulverise both statues.
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There are no further secret doors that she can find, so they head back to the eastern secret door, that's not quite so secret -- it is, in fact, ajar. They enter into a room with several tables, one overturned. The centerpiece table is dusty smooth black stone with nothing on it, and a ladder with a short humanoid in a green robe. He turns around and steps down, watching the group. Thomas greets him and asks what brought him here. He replies that it's come to his attention that Zeligar is no longer with us, and that he wants to see what's here. Miasma asks him if he can teach her to swear in his language. He continues that he's found mostly powders and such, no ooks yet. They tell him about the temple and he's unsurprised, and even less so to hear that it might be evil, noting that Roghan and Zelligar weren't exactly upstanding folk. Introductions around, and the group discovers that he's a Gnome named Hothgar, and rather far from home, especially for a homebody. He is clearly impatient to get on with his exploration and heads out though a doorless doorframe to the north.
The group rifles though the cabinets and find some spell components as well as a large jar with the body of a black cat floating in a colorless liquid. The jar is corked, and Miasma uncorks it. The liquid evaporates upon air contact, and the cat jumps out and runs toward the doorpost that Hothgar just exited through. They follow the cat and find themselves in a room with a large Human skeleton hanging from the wall and a black firepit in the center. They ask Hothgar if he saw the cat and he admonishes them not to just open wizard stuff. He hasn't seen the cat. They try calling to it, but get no response. Badger goes back to the other room and follows its tracks, but they disappear once they reach the doorpost. Miasma asks if Hothgar knows what might have happened, and he shrugs and says that it might have taken astral form or something, then leaves.
The group explores the room more closely, and find two pots, one empty and one with brown residue, the latter of which is hanging over the firepit. There is a corked smokey glass bottle that the group leaves alone. There are logs under the skeleton, which has a cracked skull but no broken bones. In another part of the room is a torture device. On one wall is a large piece of stretched leather with writing on it. There are some large vats, two barrels, and a coffin. One of the group wonders aloud if he's keeping something in the coffin, and another says they aren't touching it to find out. Badger checks the coffin and discovers that it is made of mostly rotted wood. He probes the lid with his sword and it pops off as four giant centipedes leap out. After killing them the group finds some nesting material in the coffin, but nothing else, including no false bottoms. They decide to take the leather with them and decipher it later, but it disintigrates as they remove it from the wall. Cailynn finds another hidden door with no traps that leads to another empty alcove, this one without any secret doors.
The group starts taking east doors/branches until they reach a room with vibrant purple crystals. Cailynn realizes that it's a glamour, and they opt not to explore it. They continue east and Cailynn discovers a poison trap. She disarms it, unlocks the door, and Thunk goes in, to discover five Kobolds and a giant weasel. The fight is a little too close for comfort, and Thomas needs to cast spare the dying twice, exhausting his spellcasting ability. With the aid of potions the group finally wins. The room contains a keg of mead, six flagons, a chair, and a dozen bedding pelts.
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Cailynn and Miasma approach the mysterious stranger and greetings are exchanged. He notes that he will probably be hanging around. He tells them that further north he's disarmed a portcullis trap to a storeroom, and is particularly interested to hear of the evil shrine. Miasma suggests they work together and Cailynn makes introductions. He identifies himself as Nimroth, a Paladin of Kelendryl. When they mention Hothgar he notes that the Gnomes (plural) are with him, as are some others. He blesses the group's weapons and heads off toward the workroom. Cailynn is still on about the black cat and he notes that he's not seen it, but that he has a 7' long black cat mount. When they get to the workroom Thomas is instructed to help and the other to stay out of the way. The skeleton disappears from the wall and the stone tables form a cairn over it. After it is cleansed, they make their way back to the throne room. Once there, Nimroth tells them to prepare themselves because battle is about to be entered. He sings an ancient Elven song and charges into a bunch of skeletons. He says, "In the name of Kelendryl, die," and they turn to dust.
Miasma asks if evil things are attracted to him, and Nimroth agrees that it's something like that. Something here or not here "likes" him and keeps sending friends. Thomas notes that the group would be happy to help, and Nimroth assures him that he intends to use the whole group. At that point they reach the temple and Nimroth instructs them not to allow Ares into their bodies. He heals everyone to full and further instructs them to tap into their psyches and enter the room if possible, but notes that they might end up fighting wehere they are. He calls Thomas up to the front with him and says, "In the name of Kelendryl I abjure thee, Ares." A battle begins and Thomas and Cailynn can see a red pulsing light versus Nimroth's white light, and everyone realizes the white light is coursing through them. Six humanoid figures, three on each side, show up, and are revealed to be Demons. As the group fights off the Demons Nimroth gets the advantage of the light war and the altar absorbs the white light into itself, becoming shining white marble. Once the group has mopped up the last of the Demons they notice Nimroth talking to a white owl... or perhaps not an owl. There is a distinctive smell of healing in the air, and Thomas notes to the others that Athena's symbol is a white owl. As he says that the Owl and Nimroth nod to each other, and the Owl flies over to Thomas and touches his mace and armor, both of which turn white. Nimroth notes that Athena thanks them all, and everyone discovers their armor and main weapon are magical.
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Thunk enters through the trap door and discovers more Goblins, one of which Badger kills. There are at least eight more, five of which are dispatched by the group, who have been filing up into the room. One of the remaining two runs down the ladder yelling, in Goblin, the words "Rat Master!" One runs up some stairs the group hadn't noticed in the scuffle and bangs on a trap door before Thunk charges up the ladder and kills it. Badger kills the last one on the floor and the group hears skittering and squeaking from below. Badger throws down a flask of oil and Belnak lights it with a fire bolt. Thunk shatters the trap door and is met with another filebolt, then kills the Goblin mage. Two more Goblins, females, hurl some flaming oil and set the bed in the room on fire. Thomas kills one of them, and Cailynn orders the other to surrender. The last Goblin does not, and Cailynn kills her. More Goblins jump down from a hole in the ceiling, while from far below the group hears frightened chittering. At that point the group realizes the current batch of Goblins have wings. The group kills four and hear a screeching from above. A winged creature wearing a red dragon mask breathes a cone of fire, which neatly kills the remaining Goblins as it singes the group.
The group makes short work of the harpy. Belnak claims the red scale vest & dragon mask and dons them after Badger, who has discovered his inner Paladin, senses no evil from them. Thomas asks him to fly up and see if there are any further unpleasant surprises, and Badger finds no further monsters. He does discover a large brass bell that has been removed from its stand and set against a hole in the wall. Badger also discovers a silver tiara, a golden flask, and an ash-covered raven statue, all of which he keeps. They discover much treasure and Cailynn finds a loose stone behind which is an unlocked and, in fact, empty chest with no false bottoms that she can detect. The group heads down, down, down, collecting more loot along the way, until they come to a pile of burnt rats on the bottom floor. They pile the loot and Badger casts detect magic, revealing a silver potion flask, the raven statue, amd the dragon armor claimed by Belnak as magical.
Cailynn gives another history lesson: dragons before the beginning of time imbued the Dragon Elves with the ability to become dragons. The dragon hierarchy is, in order of power, a three-way tie between chromatic, gem, and metallic for apex. Next come Lindowrms (wingless) and Wyverns (only four limbs). Dragonborn are next, and Kobolds are at the bottom, serving the greater dragons. The red dragon mask is stylized, not from a real dragon, but the vest is composed of red dragon scales somewhat smaller than the black scale Cailynn has.
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Quasqueton
Badger returns and tells the group, and they resume their exploration. Down and to the east they find a stone slab that may have served as a stage. There are ten rats in the room
While there Cailynn finds a secret door she had missed the first time. It leads to a storeroom of what appears to be construction supplies. They find a room filled with charcoal and ash ti the north, and hear a faint, haunting whistling to the south. The room they enter has three firepits and an anvil. Further south they find a room filled with logs and three foot hole in the floor with iron rings above it. Badger looks down and sees bits of statue on a stone floor. After casting invisible he stealths his was down and sees more statues of lizards mauling HUmans. There are four Lizard-like beings there who don't notice the Pixie. Badger flies back up and lets the group know. They decide to leave the lizards alone and head out a door to the south into a room with a half-circle arch and two doors side by side on the north side.
They enter the door they didn't come through and are in a comfortable study-type room with a red granite-tiled floor and blocks of white marble. There are several fleecy and soft divans and smal cages of glowing beetles. At a table is a figure in a green robe with its face buried in a book. Thunk reports that he smells blood, and Badger and Cailynn see blood pooled under the robes figure. They check it out and identify Hothgar, whose throat has been slit from behind. It appears that the murder happened sometime in the last twenty-four hours. They look at the book Hothgar was reading when he died and find that it's about Zeligar, and mentions that something will lead to him.
Badger detects magic and determines that the beetles and a sack on HOthgar's person are magical. Thomas opens the sack and a giant weasel emerges and runs around until Thunk kills it. Badger eggs Thomas on and he pulls out another giant animal, this time a rat. Thunk kills it as well. Thomas no longer wants anything to do with the sack, so Badger grabs it and pulls out an armadillo, which he pockets. The armadillo squirms its way out and Miasma picks it up before Thunk can kill it. Badger looks for tracks and notices some that come from the left, go behind Hothgar, and then leave through the other door. It is hard to get a size on the tracks. Thomas prays over Hothgar's corpse and Thunk smells Goblins. He heads off around a corner and finds at least eight heading toward the lounge. The group kills them.
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Some mysterious healing occurs during this next chunk of time, but the characters may or may not have noticed.
Quasqueton
Belnak detects undead to the southeast, and the group heads out of the room and to the southeast. Cailynn finds a secret door and eventually the lever to open it. Stale air escapes, and they enter a room with rank upon rank of red clay statues -- 16 in total. On the other side is an iron door with a lock needing a five-pronged key to open it. Thunk smalls rotting flesh in the back eight statues, and he and Bager each destroy one. The two broken statues reveal skeletons, and the other six break open to reveal skeletons as well. After the group takes care of the skeletons, Thunk breaks open the first eight statues, but there's nothing inside. They don't find the key in any of the pots or on any of the skeleton corpses.
Cailynn picks the lock and Badger flies down, invisible and stealthed. It's another throne room with tracks leading to a wall decorated with weapons. While Cailynn checks it for hidden doors, Badger and Thunk check out the throne. The floor tilts down and the throne tilts up to reveal a secret entrance. Cailynn opens the door and it slides silently. Inside is a rack with weapons, the pointy ends facing out. Badger checks out the throne and sees a stylized silver dragon with eyes made from red glass or gems. Badger tries to pry the eyes out and succeeds while Cailynn maps the room and the trap. Thunk opens another door and they enter a room with torches a decorative mural, and four pairs of statues. The first four statues animate; combat ensues. Once they're all broken the final four statues step down to reveal gems in the wall behind the mural. One statue holds a great club, another a spear, and another a great axe. The one with the spear attacks Cailynn, who throws its spear.
After the other three are destroyed Cailynn finds a secret door to the east flanked by two statues. THe statues turn around and the group sees a little wear on the statues' arms. Badger and Cailynn pry at the arms and the door pops open. Thunk walks into a room with a wheel flanked by two slabs of stone, all of which smell of oil to Thunk. Faint tracks go to the wheel and each of the slabs. Scribed on the wheel is the legend, "Work smarter, not harder." Badger tries to turn the wheel and fails; Cailynn, Thunk, and Badger try to manipulate handles. Badger gives up and sits, pulls out rations and Elven wine, and share them around. Afterward they turn the wheel clockwise and it reveals a door. Badger oils the wheel and they turn it counterclockwise, and another door opens while the first closes. The group enters a circular room with armor on racks, weapons on walls, three chests on the floor and an Ogre by a campfire. The Ogre attacks and they kill it. The first chest, unlocked and not trapped, has jewelry. The second, locked, contains coins. The third, trapped and locked, appears to be empty but Cailynn finds a false bottom. There are more coins and a chunk of amber.
They leave the room and turn the wheel so that the north door closes and the south door opens, but before they can head into the south room Thunk tries to force the wheel to turn further. They hear the sound of something snapping and the south door shuts leaving them in the wheel room with both doors closed.
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Table of Contents
Introduction and mission assignment. Barely survive when they fight four Orcs, three of which they kill.
New member and more exploration. Kill five Kobalds.
More exploration. Kill a water monster and six Kobolds.
Even more exploration. Kill two statues.
Meet Gnome Wizard Hothgar. Kill four giant centipedes, kill five kobalds and giant weasel.
Meet Dragon Elf Paladin Nimroth. Cleanse evil workroom, then evil temple. Meet Owl of Athena.
November 27th, 2020
Day & Night 1
Town of Grand Fork in the Melbon Duchy
Belnak, Cailynn, Ed, Miasma, Thomas, and Thunk answer the call for explorers of the frontier south of Grand Fork and all arrive about the same time. After introducing themselves to the guards they're allowed in and pointed to the Castellen's office. He briefs them about the mission and tells them they will be supplied with two pack dinosaurs, rations for several days, and 15 health potions, plus possibly more as they explore further. In return, they will take copious notes and possibly make a detailed map for the Empire, and will get to keep anything they find by way of payment. Cailynn asks if the explored land will be used to expand duchies, and the Castellen notes the question is premature at the moment.
There is a sort of road at first, though "road" is perhaps overstating it. It's more of a rarely-travelled overgrown path. To the west is the Goblin Water River, and to the east the Whispering Woods. There are some fens beyond the river. The group decides to head southward, sticking closer to the woods. The trees are deciduous and the land hilly, trending upward. They stop for the night and water the dinosaurs, also filling up kegs with water to last the dinos for the next week or so. The night passes quietly, save for the first watch, during which Thomas teaches Miasma swear words in Orcish.
The party decides to head for a lone hill to the south. The road veers east and the woods creep closer to the path. They decide to go camp for the night and tackle the hill the next day. The first watch is more lessons in Orcish. On the second watch Thunk notices a small campfire and alerts Cailynn when she takes over for the third watch. Though she watches it, her watch also passes quietly.
The group decides to skirt the hill via the west side, and they meet up with a patrol of Elves wearing the same livery as the guards in Great Fork. The Elves have travelled south for a couple of weeks and are now headed back to town. It was mostly quiet, with a few skirmishes with small bands of Goblins and Kobalds. The campfire that Thunk and Cailynn observed probably was that of the patrol. After exchanging pleasantries they head back to town and the group presses on. They continue circling the large hill on the west side, though they stick closer to the hill than to the river. Thunk notices a nest of large spiders and points them out to the rest of the group, who decide to skirt the spiders, and the spiders ignore them.
That evening Miasma and Thunk take the first watch and Thunk begins teaching Miasma to curse in Badger. Then Thunk notices some movement and hushes Miasma. There are four large creatures wielding proprotionately large axes sneaking up from the direction of the hillside. Miasma tries to reason with them in common while Thunk awakens the rest of the group. By way of reply to Miasma the creatures attack, and Miasma thinks their grunts sound distinctly Orcish. Thunk thinks they need to be taught a lesson and attacks the closest. Both he and Miasma are hit by the Orcs, and Cailynn kills the one that attacked Thunk. One of the Orcs decides he wants nothing more to do with this and runs off. Meanwhile, Thomas heals Miasma, who gets hit again. Thunk finishes off the remaining two Orcs.
December 11th, 2020
Night 4 (continued)
The rest of the night passes quietly.
The group gathers their stuff and Cailynn makes a note on the map that the hill has hostiles. They loot the dead Orcs and then head east and south, before switching southwest to avoid the woods. The day passes and they find themselves near another hill. Thomas and Thunk notice a small fluttering object and point it out to the others. Cailynn and Miasma head over to check it out while the rest set up camp. Cailynn's bow is surrounded by dancing lights, and the two realize the fluttering thing is some sort of Fae creature. The two greet the Pixie, who identifies himself as "Badger" and invite him to join them at the camp. He asks if they've seen any foes and someone notes there is smoke at the top of the hill. They decide to save it for tomorrow. The night passes quietly.
They expect the trip to the crest of the hill to take half a day and begin the trudge. When they get to the base of the hill they meet more blue-clad soldiers and exchange pleasantries. The campfire at the top belonged to the soldiers. The soldiers have been exploring southward for the past two days and fought some Orcs. The group lets the soldiers know about the Orcs on the hill they were at two nights ago, and the soldiers are not surprised. They part ways and the group heads east, then south, roughly following the road. Come evening they set up camp. Miasma invites Badger to join the group and he fills them in on some rumors of his own; the one that stands out most is that there is supposedly a second set of mountains beyond this one, and dragon or lizard men dwell in the valley between the two ranges. Thomas also remembers that there may be a permanent teleportation circle somewhere in the area. The night passes quietly.
As the group breaks camp they notice a wagon train with Human guards. They exchange peasantries and discover that the merchant caravan is in search of an alleged Elven outpost to the north. They started out a few days ago from the Keep of Baron Johneth, whose name Cailynn does not recognize. The guards note that the road is dangerous -- they started out with twice as many guards as there are now, and the others were killed in fights en route. Asked about the dragon/lizard people, the guards say they want nothing to do with dragons of any type. They part ways on friendly terms.
They head up the steep hill and it appears that there may be a clearing up ahead, but it would take the rest of the day to get there. Thomas wants to head east where the rumored caves of magic items are, but Miasma decides to drift up above the treeline and sees some sort of habitation, perhaps, at the edge of a cliff. Upon discovering that the group decides to head for the cliff and spend the rest of the day doing so. As evening approaches the woods thin out and they spy what may be a dwelling about a half day's travel away. They set up camp and the night passes quietly.
After the half-day's travel they arrive at a cave-like opening with black rock behind vines. A path pointedly runs leading away from the rock. After passing through the vines, they discover a wooden door that has been chipped at and shows sgns of being forced open. They go in and find a series of caves lined with cut stone obivously quarried from elsewhere. The rooms they pass through have been pretty much picked clean -- if anything was ever there. They find no traps or hidden passages, but eventually come to a corridor with two stone statues. As they aproach, the first says, "Who goes there?" The second one answers, "Only a group of doomed adventurers who will die if they continue on." The first replies, "If they do, they will face the wrath of Zelligar and Rogahn." Both statues laugh and then fall silent.
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December 18th, 2020
Day 9 (continued)
Quasquetan, Melissa's Room (continued)
The group goes over Melissa's room fairly thoroughly, finds no more secret doors, drawers, or other hidden things. Badger recommends they backtrack and close the doors behind themselves, and they do so. They return to Meliss'a room and take the north corridor. They are in a huge room with alternating mosaic tiles. There are 14 indentations on the floor, most filled with some liquid or other. After all is said and done, there are twelve pools that appear to be full, one empty, and one mostly empty.
Miasma drinks from the first pool and glows white for one minute. She bottles some of it in one of the empty potion bottles. Cailynn tosses a rock into pool #13 and it rears up and attacks. Badger pries loose and drops some dry ice on the monster while the monster enwraps Thunk with a tendril. Ed brings forth an energy knife while Cailynn shoots it with an arrow and Miasma uses thunderclap, which ends up knocking Thunk unconscious. Thomas stabilizes Thunk, then heals him partially. More dry ice, arrows, psychic damage, and a few eldritch blasts finally defeats it. Coins and jewels are all gone. Thomas gives Thunk a potion to heal him to full. The group decides to go for a long rest. Watch order:
During second watch Badger hears whispering at the door and awakens the group. The door crashes open and six Kobolds attack. After the group dispatches the Kobolds they finish their rest and Cailynn finds a hidden door. It leads to a sparse room with a continuatio of the floor tiles and a simple, albeint a nice, bed. There are chairs, a desk, and a potriat of a warrior and an aged wizard. The desk is locked and Cailynn is unable to pick it, so Thunk tries hitting the desk. Repeatedly. Cailynn tries the lock again and discovers that she had missed a trap. A choking cloud covers the room, and the group flees. After about ten minutes they check, and the cloud has dissipated only slightly, if at all. Miasma holds her breath and goes back into the room. She brings out a ring, a beautifully gloweing gray and white stone, the painting, and some papers.
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December 25th, 2020
Day 9 (continued)
Quasquetan
The group heads back to Melissa's room and go through the door they had not tried before. They find a room with woodworking tools, sawdust, etc. In another room they find a museum and trophy room, including a 500-600 year-old wooden door with black bands formerly of a temple to Ares, still radiating the god's malign power. Also a humanoid inset into one of the walls, and the remains of a bronze dragon, all four feet removed and made into decorative objects. The group decides to leave the dragon for now and to inform the Empire so it can send people to do a proper burial.
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January 8th, 2021
The group has lost track of time
Quasquetan
Since this is where they started, the group opts to check out the right-side passage this time. Caitlynn finds two hidden doors and they enter the one to the west. It is obviously a supply room, which casks, barrels, and other various and sundry items. The barrels contain food including apples, barley, lard, peas, raisins, rye, salt, salt pork, and wheat.
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January 22nd, 2021
Quasquetan
The group searches the deceased Kobolds, and finds that the magic-user was clutching a large black scale from a basilisk, dragon, or similar creature. Cailynn takes the scale as the others loot the remaining Kobolds, and hears fighting in the distance. Thomas heads toward the sounds to the north, with Thunk smelling Kobold blood fresher than that the group just spilled. Ed notices streaks of radiant magic to the west, and as they head that way Thunk sees something glowing with a trail of Kobolds leading to it. Everyone realizes that it's singing. Thunk charges and the rest follow, and they finally see the source of the song -- a Dragon Elf in living crystal armor singing a battle song, wielding a glaive with one hand, and casting with the other. The group starts killing the Kobolds in the back and some turn to face them. In not too long at all, all the Kobolds are dead.
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February 5th, 2021
Quasqueton
A white and gold cat walks in and heads toward Nimroth. Nimroth and it leave, and as they do so it grows and unfolds its wings. Cailynn remembers from her history lessons that the first five Paldins to Kelendryl, frepresenting two of the founding families of the Empire, had celestial spirit cats as mounts. Three of those five have been listed as fallen or missing, not dead. Paladins of Kelendryl since then have ride drakes or large cats, when they have mounts. She relays the history lesson to the group, who have varying levels of interest. Afterward the group decides to head back to the beginning and to explore the road not travelled by the first time. They head west and find several doors, all unlocked, heading to more doors. Eventually that realize that they've gone in a circle, at which point seven Goblins attack. They determine that the Goblins came from an unfinished room smalling of animals and with seven straw pallets. They notice a rickety iron staircase heading up, and Badger flies up to take a peak. He finds himself in a square room with a 5' ceiling and a ladder up to a trap door. There are some small rats and the trap door is shut. Badger secures a rope and drops it down to assist the others in climbing the iron stairs, and it's a good thing he did, since Belnak breaks one of the stairs. Miasma does the air Genasi thing and avoids the stairs altogether, while Cailynn opens the trap door, and makes way for Thunk.
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Badger flies up and gets alay of the land outside. The forest is three to four miles away to the south and east. Ten to fifteen feet east is a stone arch on a pedestal and a dip in the forest. Around Quasqueton itself are hedgerows of brambles. Due west are hills and the river for twenty or more miles. At least thirty miles separate Quasqueton from the Human keep.
performing the Nutcracker Suite that attack and die. Somehow the group emerges unscathed. They head north and find a room with a carpet of tufted mold in clashing rainbow coors, and opt to skip it. They return to Erog's room for a long rest.
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After a long rest the group heads downstairs. They see Goblin tracks as well as those of something taller wearing boots. They arrive in a dusted-over room with mining tools. They head south and find a room with purple lichen on the walls and ceiling, but a smooth, clean floor. There's a door to the east in the room, so Cailynn tries to open it and her hand gets stuck. She and Thunk try to push the door and eventually it falls, hitting Thunk, but Cailynn is no longer stuck. They enter a smoothly-carved room with a museum-like air. In it they find a parchment including a letter of thank/praise, skeleton of the chief of the Ice Bear Clan, and a curved blade, which Belnak claims.
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