Part 5 - Hook Mountain and Trip Back to Sandpoint

PART 5 – Hook Mountain and Trip Back to Sandpoint

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27th Neth

• Party started trek towards Hook Mountain.
• Camped at base of mountain.

28th Neth

• Camped in forest.

29th Neth

• Party climbed mount, a very hard and steep climb which made some of the party very tired.
• Party arrived at cave guarded by ogres and moved to enter to get out of the harsh elements.
• In the early evening they killed some guards in a close-fought battle and threw their bodies over the cliff ledge.
• Bone spurs like the ribs of a behemoth lined the entryway to the caves. A huge stone statue stood at the entryway, armed with a glaive, wearing a large chain and stone medallion bearing 7 pointed star which, upon closer inspection, seemed a larger version of the medallions the party had found previously.
• Clanging sounds could be heard from the entry, and smoke drifted from the cave.
• Bryak inspected the statue, determining that it was ancient and was not carved, but appeared to be a petrified giant of some sort.
• The party entered cave.
• Two ogres saw the light of the party and came down stairs to investigate. Combat ensued, and after a few blows another ogre joined the battle from beyond. The third ogre ran off, as party killed the other two.
• The ogre that ran off came back with another ogre called Bloodback.
• More ogres arrived, these ones looking emaciated and barely able to carry the hammers with which they were armed.
• Bryak fireballed a large group of the enslaved and shackled ogres setting many of fire and destroying their leather shackles.
• Party won leaving only two of the enslaved ogres alive, Bryak started talking to them. They were from the Sandcrib tribe before they were captured by the stone giants. Convinced that they posed no threat to the party or to Fort Rannick, the party showed some mercy and told them to leave and never come back.
• Female voices taunted the party from another cavern (Briselda, Grelthaga, Larastine), and as the party entered they saw three horrible looking hags.
• Bryak started throwing up due to their appearance, while due to their magics Kathra fell asleep. Arkin however, resisted their spells and attacked. Combat ensued.
• Fighting alongside the three hags was the former commander of Fort Rannick, raised as some sort of undead spectre. Sensing his danger, Arkin summoned the power of Torag to turn undead.
• Hargev summoned a fire spirit to conjure forth a wall of fire between the hags and the party. This wasn't the great success he was hoping for though, as all three of the hags were still able to cast spells at the heroes. Hargev dropped the wall of flames and the melee continued.
• Party won with no loss of life (well the party's life).
Briselda Grelthaga Larastine
• Party headed to the forge to try and rest a little in the warmth.
• Party was discovered by a pair of stone giants.
• Combat ensued. Bryak was hit by the huge cauldron thrown at him by one of the giants, almost killing him outright. The rest of the party, already exhausted and nursing wounds from their previous battles, opted to flee. Arkin confronted the giants in order to buy the others some time, before casting a spell to sink into the rocky floor out of harms way, while Hargev tried to bluff the giants saying that the spirits have abandoned them and if this is true he will change into a bear, which he did. Not deterred by a bear, the giants continued to advance and the party was forced to flee, considering the giant leader was too powerful in their weakened condition.
• Party rested in the old mine tunnel. After waiting long enough to be sure the giants were clear and it was safe to move through the forge again, Arkin exited his hiding place to rejoin the others.
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30th Neth

• Party descended back towards Fort Rannick, camping at the same site as their previous journey up the mountain.

1st Kuthona

• Party arrived back at the Fort mid afternoon.

• … Over the next two weeks, time spent at the Fort making repairs, reading, training, etc

15th Kuthona

• The small river around Fort flooded for a few days.

1st Abadius (New Year)

• Orik discovered a Crypt that no-one had seen before. Saw a ghost in there that was quickly banished.

1-30th Calistril

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• The party stayed at the Fort making further repairs, etc.
• People started arriving at the Fort to work & train under the party. (Blair has list of who these people are, includes a personal henchwoman for Kathra).

1-10th Pharast

• Still at the Fort fixing stuff etc.

11th Pharast

• First merchants arrived in Turtleback Ferry, and the party were able to send out messages looking for more guards.
• Abbas arrived with these first merchants looking for the party, so that he could join them to help them fight.
• Arkin attempted to communicate with the Mayor of Magnimar to let him know the situation at Fort Rannick and ask for help. He was told that Magnimar had their own problems to deal with and couldn't spare anyone. He received essentially the same reply from Sandpoint also.

18th Pharast

• Five guards arrived seeking employment.
• A letter arrived from Shalelu, “Trouble in lowlands, giants are raiding. Have sighted some on the move towards several communities, Sandpoint seems to be in their path. Seem to be scouting not attacking.”
• The party decided it was time to leave Fort Rannick and head back to the lowlands, but argued over who to appoint as the new commander of the Fort. Arkin decided to stay to look after the Fort himself, even though he hated leaving the people of Sandpoint and Magnimar without his services to defend them.

19th Pharast

• Party journeyed to Turtleback Ferry. Uneventful.

20th Pharast

• Arrived in Pendarka.

21st Pharast

• Left Pendarka by keel boats.

24th Pharast

• Arrived in Ilsurian. Met Capt Starling that night.

25th Pharast

• Party left, agreeing again to serve as guards for Capt Starling's boat and cargo in exchange for travel.

28th Pharast

• Entered the Yondabakari River.

29th Pharast

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• Eighteen miles up the Yondabakari river, mid afternoon - @ Chaala – People of village asked for help of party after waving them to stop from the edge of the river.
• Master Vant asked to speak with party. The great idol (statue of Erastil) had been taken. They believed the boggards had taken it, as some were seen in the area. One of the rangers spotted a blue light at the temple and another saw the same light near the edge of the river. Locals had been ruled out by magic, and several groups had left to find the idol, none of whom had returned.
• Party agreed to help and took a few of the town’s rafts to cross the river. They went to the blue-green moss grove, where they saw tracks going several directions. The party followed the left set of tracks, with Hargev in lead tracking.
• Party followed tracks, coming across group of boggards inspecting something. They fled, dropping it as the party approached. Turned out it was a boot with blood drops on it. They continued following left path, coming across trap with a donkey rat just getting killed.
• Party returned to Chaala as night fell and the path they were on led back to blue moss grove.
• Party stayed at Chaala overnight after small recon across river.

30th Pharast

• In the morning, they travelled back into blue moss grove and followed back to where found boot, taking a different path. This time they came across a trapper’s camp site.
• After backtracking along a few different paths through the swamplands, they eventually heard some croaking sounds, which appeared to be communication, and they discovered more boggards ahead dancing and jumping around.
• These boggards dropped something and jumped into the water. On inspection they found a snared donkey-rat, trapped with fine rope, not typical of a swamp constructed trap.
• They then backtracked along more paths before finally coming across clearing with several plant creatures. The creatures animated a nearby tree and they all attacked the party.

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• Hargev cast blight on the animated tree and turned it into a stump as he called on his ancestors to feast upon it. Fight continued.
• Party destroyed all the creatures/blights and removed the taint from the wandering willows.
• Stuffed in a nearby tree hollow they found some other adventurers and their gear, their bodies desiccated, dry husks.

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• Went into the swap in a south-west direction from the wandering willows grove, coming across some ruins in the middle of a bog after searching and back tracking often.
• As they went to have a look, a puddle of gray slime rose up to attack the party, its acidic touch eating into steel weapons and hissing on metal.
• On the floor of the ruins was a large mosaic crystal-like snake with a pair of raised ruby eyes.
• Bryak convinced Orik to try and extract the rubies in exchange for one of them, he was able to pry one out easily, feeling an ominous feeling of dread which he shook off, then tried to dislodge the second and “failed”, lying to Bryak who believes him.
• In the ruins there was an altar with a snake bodied skeleton hanging over it. As Bryak picked a bone off the tail a ghost reached out to attack him.

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• The unearthly wail of the creature aged Abbas (20 years), Novak (20 years) & Orik (40 years) prematurely, Hargev called her an affront to the spirits of the world, using his magic to summon a pale moonbeam that hit her, dissipating her soul to the ether-realms.
• Kathra picked out the second ruby and became cursed.
• Bryak found that the altar in the ruins is on a set of tracks, which the party moved aside. Beneath, in it a pool of stagnant water the located a serpent headed staff, a jewelled scimitar & ceremonial dagger.
• Camped at ruins site.
• Two adventurers call out to the party saying they were lost having been sent to also retrieve the idol by the village. The party offered to let them join for the night, but they refused, wanting to get out of the swamp. Bryak drew them a map. Members of the party noticed it was unusual that during the day they were still carrying a lantern, and as they left Capt Starling saw them moving easily through the water and nodding a lot less nervously as they left. They turned the lantern off as they entered back into the forest. The party thought it suspicious that the adventures said the boggards have the idol across the Leal River, but decided to keep looking deeper into the swamp before they looked at the boggard village.

1st Gozran

• Thunder and heavy rain in the morning.
• Party travelled south west of the ruins and crossed a grassland where they were attacked by goblin dogs.
• Hargev used his Staff of the Adder for the first time. In the rain Capt Starling thought he was being attacked by a snake and attacked his staff, forcing Hargev to drop it. Capt Starling kept attacking the snake staff and ended up destroying it.
• Party built a raft to go to the island in the Leal River and camped there overnight.

2nd Gozran

• Party travelled through swamp and came across the boggard village. The boggards didn't attack and there was a standoff while communication lines were be opened.
• They were escorted to the boggard chief and parleyed, as the boggards did indeed have the idol.

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• It seemed that a new younger shaman (who just arrived) had been trying to start a fight between humans and boggards. He left and was followed by Abbas, who saw him talking to two other boggards. As they were speaking, Abbas saw them warp into bigger muscular creatures and, seeing them as imposters, he immediately attacked.
• These are shape changing creatures of some kind, which is revealed when Abbas cut the hand off one, with the hand that dropped to the ground clearly not that of a boggard.
• One of these creatures fled by jumping into the river, before the party killed the second. The third then also fled into the water.
• A group of boggards watched this all happen and after the situation was explained to the boggard chief, he agreed to allow the party to take idol in exchange for a few bows and Captain Starlings's suit of boggard crocodile armor.

3rd Gozran

• The exchange was made and party took the idol back to Chaala.

  • Upon the return of their idol there was much celebration and a party held in the honor of the heroes. Abbas danced a lot, Kathra drank a lot and a young man gave Captain Starling a ring made from delicate vines.

4th Gozran

  • Novak received a reward from a widower of one of the killed villagers in the form of a sword-axe and a long sword.
  • Left Chaala with the intent of returning to Magnimar.
  • Barge anchored on the edge of the river at nightfall.

5th Gozran

  • Well into the night, some mud-men climbed onto the boat speaking an unknown language, Capt Starling cast a tongues spell and determined that it was just gibberish and they were just trying to delay any attacks until they got into position.
  • During the fight party found out that the mud-men were in fact more Zern who had followed them seeking revenge.
  • Zern were defeated and Novak found an Amulet of Water Breathing on one of them.

6th Gozran

  • Uneventful day.
  • will'o'wisp attacked and nearly killed majordomo Dorrak before being driven off. Hargev cast a cure wounds to heal the near dead dwarf.
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7th Gozran

  • Group of marsh giants were seen on far shore and avoided.
  • Arrived at Wartle but continued on without stopping.
Wartle

8th Gozran

  • To supplement the nightly meal of potato's Novak cast a chromatic orb (cold) on a giant gecko in a tree near the river shore and the party dinned on its tail meat.

9th Gozran

  • Uneventful except for the sighting of a night belly boa as it swam near the barge.

10th Gozran

  • Arrived at Harker's Hollow but passed it and anchored just before the mudflats part of the river.

11th Gozran

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  • Heavy rain throughout the day. Bryak showed himself to be a man of the people, casting a Leomund's Tiny Hut spell and sitting out at the front of the barge to help keep the others dry while they were assisting with the piloting of the barge.
  • Travelled through the mud flats, finally stopping at Harker's Jetty.
  • There they met Sgt Athanaskis, who was on his way to meet the party in Fort Rannick with additional Magnimarian guardsmen and craftsmen. He gave party their reward from the Mayor which was divided among the party. He kept Arkin's share as he was still headed to Fort Rannick.
  • The Sgt also told of the rumours of giants attacking around Ember Lake and that the infamous hellknights from the Order of the Nail had even been dispatched to help.

12th Gozran

  • Attacked by three harpies who charmed the retainers of Bryak.
  • Fallon tackled the cook to prevent him jumping overboard before Bryak cast a deafness spell so the harpies song no longer effected them.
  • Bryak then cast a fireball which decimated the harpies, which along with other attacks from the party killed one and drove off the other two.

13th Gozran

  • Passed a marsh giant bonfire, where several of them were feasting on a giant boar.
  • Novak and Hargev caught a big catfish for the party to eat.

14th Gozran

  • Uneventful.

15th Gozran

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  • The barge docked at Northbend.
  • Abbas convinced the party that, due to Northbend's proximity to Graymere and the road to Sandpoint, it would be faster to travel on land from here.
  • Capt Starling continued to Magnimar.
  • They stayed at the Stone Shoe Inn where they found out that Bentham had been attacked by ogres from a fill-in tavern worker Terlish (who is normally a mason and was impressed that they party knew Arkin).
  • Ate potato and sugar-beet mash with bat stew which turned out to be delicious.

16th Gozran

  • Left for Bentham, stopping outside of the hamlet of Hogswallow and met several groups, all fleeing the area due to the attacks.

17th Gozran

  • Upon approach to Bentham heard the distressed bellowing of a cow and investigated to find a group of ogres at a nearby homestead. Two ogres were attacking livestock in the yard and party attacked them.
  • Kathra was hit by a whole cow which one ogre used as a club. The party had their first real view of Abbas' showmanship as he run up a crumbling stone wall and attacked one of the ogres while somersaulting over its head.
  • Party killed these ogres, along with more ogres who were found in the chicken coop.
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18th Gozran

  • They found several survivors holed up in the village mill (owned by Titus Skarneti) and fed them after checking the Scanton house. The only sign of the Scantons were blood stained floors. The rumour that ogres had eaten them appeared true.
  • Traveled through the Whisper Wood to the Martenor farm (who were fine).
  • There was no news of ogre attacks on the north side of the woods.
  • Hargev saw tall skinny figures, which he believed were stone giants, disappear over the edge of the Devil's Platter, indicating they were heading north.
  • They arrived in Sandpoint and met with Amekio at the Rusty Dragon. She told them that Shelalu had left with some of the Magnimar guardsmen for the Ember Lake about a week prior.

19th Gozran

  • Left Rusty Dragon and were talking to the Sherriff about town plans when the cathedral bell sounds an alarm and people ran screaming past them yelling, "Stone giants are attacking the north wall".
  • They ran to gate to find that it was under attack.
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  • Hargev turned into hawk and took to the air. Seeing this as an opportunity to test his prowess, Abbas convinced the guards to open the gate so the heroes could take the fight to the giants. The guards agreed let them out of gate and closed it behind them.
  • While Novak and Orik opted to brave the rocks being hurled by the giants, Abbas ran along the edge of the woods, using the trees for cover until he was within range. As the others withstood a barrage of attacks, Abbas was able to hit them from behind, weakening them and setting them up for attacks from the others.
  • Battle against three stone giants resulted in two being killed and one fleeing.
  • During battle Hargev saw a large flying creature heading toward Sandpoint and at the battle's end more conflict could be heard from the towns bridge gateway. The attack on the north wall was a distraction.
  • A red dragon flew over the town and breathed fire into its midst, screams were heard over the town walls as the party contemplated their next move.
  • Sensing the dragon overhead, they all looked up in anticipation, while Abbas quickly crawled under the body of one of the dead stone giants for cover.
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end session

continue session on 25th June 2016

  • Returned to the town via the partially-broken gates and saw the red dragon flying over the town.
  • Abbas & Kathra "called out" the dragon, taunting it with both spells and viscous insults to its dragonhood.
  • Dragon turned back to heroes, hovered before them and seemed about to breath fire over them when Bryak cast web successfully. The dragon dropped to the ground, where it was set upon by the party before it could recover. Party and town guard crossbowmen on the walls, rained blows and spells on the dragon (and with some both great and not so great rolling from Chaddy stepping in to play Kathra and rolling double 20's, double 6's adn double 1's as attack rolls against the dragon). The dragon was convincingly defeated, only breathing on party once. (In a change to the usual end to battle, it was Abbas that dealt the killing blow and not Kathra ;)).
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  • With the dragon down, party continued into the town. Upon passing some wounded townsfolk heading to the cathedral, Hargev, healed some of them as well as the party with the help of the spirits of Sandpoint (from nearby cemetary).
  • Arrived at a barricade set up by the Sheriff. Beyond were 2 stone giants and 2 very large bears causing havoc.
  • Some of the party went for the high ground behind the cathedral. Whilst passing the cathedral several dwarves emerged to speak with Bryak. One of them was a Sky Magistrate from Janderhoff who was there on behalf of Bryak's father. With no time to discuss matters, the magistrate sent his small contingent of dwarven soldiers with Bryak under the command of another dwarf from Janderhoff, Dorlin, (who led the expedition to find Bryak).
  • The pair of stone giants and bears were soon set upon. Dorlin displayed some impressive archery skills. The giants and bears were soon defeated.
  • In the aftermath, it was discovered that other giants had destroyed buildings in the southest of town by lobbing rocks over the river.
  • Others had burnt and destroyed a lot of the Scarnetti mansion
  • Another stone giant had been seen fleeing, carrying a large stone block from the ruins of the Old Light. Party investigated, but was unable to determine the significance of the stone block.

Need to add list of buildings destroyed, NPCs dead, and what the PCs did for rest of day.

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