1165

January

training at Wizard's Island.

February

1-10 - training at Wizard's Island.

11 - meet with Bahamut temple. The party was teleported by Eliste to the Bahamut temple in Aertael, to an inner room that is magically shielded. They will be met by several people:

Katlan, a female human. Her skin is covered by a fine silverish sheen; closer examination reveals she is covered with tiny platinum scales.

Saphira, a female elf. She is also covered in scales, though possibly not as much as Katlan.

Haku, a male human. He has almost as many scales as Saphira.

There are several lower level priests about, but they do not speak, and leave before the party moves on to the next room. From there, they will move to an inner room, with a complicated pattern on the floor in tiles of some sort. Katlan has everyone stand on the tiles, and then concentrates for a second, and everyone teleports to another place. They arrive in a cavern, where the walls all seem to be glittering with ore and gems. The entire cavern radiates strong magic. Katlan explains this is a safe place, where they cannot be tracked by the Tiamat priests. There is a long table, with numerous sturdy chairs, writing supplies, jugs of assorted drinks, drinking steins, and so on.

Katlan explains that the group’s absence from Aertael has not gone unnoticed. Spies from the Tiamat temple were seen hanging about Connor’s inn and Kibbles’ home, among other of the group’s regular haunts. One was ‘mugged’, his mind read, and he was left near dead in an alley. Apparently, the Tiamat temple knows that the group went to Wizard’s Island (which you suspected already, from the devil attack while you were flying Paraswarm’s boat there), and they are suspicious of your reason for the trip.

Katlan thinks it would be good if their attention could be diverted, especially if you could do something useful at the same time. On the eastern continent, there is a portal to the abyss, which was closed off centuries ago by the Bahamut temple. Demons have been attacking it ever since, and are close to breaking through. Bahamut has decided to destroy it instead of take the time to seal it again, and has provided her with a talisman that will do that, if placed against the portal. The problem is that the defenses that were built to block it have been broken in part over the years, and demons infest the layers that were built up. The block takes the form of a series of pocket planes, which were designed to trap and destroy the demons that broke in, but their power has weakened and the demons are no longer slain. After you are done there, you should ensure word gets out of what you did, which should divert the attention of the Tiamat temple from you – they don’t care if demons are killed, as they view them as just another foe.

12 - attack demon portal in east continent, kill many demons, close portal, rescue Xathanon

13 - home

14 - meet with Bahamut temple

15-21 train. On

21 - Angmar murdered by Kandrelion, a psionic illusionist warrior gnome, who is vampirically draining power from Magni

22-24 - no encounter

25 - go to Abyss, kill Kandrelion's minions. At same time, other group stops attack on Wizard's Council in Aertael

26 - fight Kandrelion in Aertael, on the steps of the Temple of Balder, victory! Loot includes the sword Coinspinner.

27 - rewarded by government. Some move into the Temple of Balder. Rest and train for a month.

March

1-27 - resting and training

28 - travel to Amrath, hang out at inn, meet low level adventuring group, who call themselves The Lower Reaches, and another higher level group that calls themselve The Malachite Fist.

April

1 - enter Silver Eagle dungeon, accompany a low-level group (5th to 7th levels) to level 6, proceed to level 11.

2 - 15 - Training for those who advanced.

16 - Group returns to dungeon, goes to level 11 again. They find a demi-lich with a tooth with the soul of Allena Windrunner, destroy the demi lich. Trel shows up, says that Colonel Banning has an urgent need to meet with them. They return home. Banning tells them that some sort of hill-sized earth monster has been discovered in the mountains southeast of Aertael, and seems to be heading towards the city. A mounted patrol, with two level ten mages, was unable to harm it. Two members of the patrol were grabbed by stony tentacles and dragged into the monster.

17 - The group travels out to the path of the monster, attacks it, but does little damage, which is instantly healed. Group retreats to plan.

18 - Group returns, unloads on the monster, and destroys it. They discover a company of ogres with human captives in the path of the monster, wipe out the ogres, and return the humans to their homes nearby. One is a Ratperson named Pular Singe; she attaches herself to Silentstep. They also find the sarcophogus of Eleanor Trask, and take it to the home of Baron Trask. They uncover an old murder plot, a haunted painting, and a mystery involving the king and his grandchildren.

19 - The group returns home. Paraswarm does some powerful magical divinations on the portrait of Eleanor, and gets these results:

"The Portrait of Eleanor Stantnor

The portrait is a magical object; apparently, Dellwood had some sort of ability to capture a person’s essence in his art – to the point where it reflected the mood and thoughts of the living person. In this case, he created a link between the painting and the soul of the subject. In Eleanor’s case, this persisted after death, actually forming a bond that not only kept her from ascending to an outer plan, but also split it in half – which has apparently kept the soul from being able to communicate with the living.

The painting not only created a connection to the soul, it actually contains a portion of the soul. For this reason, it would be terribly bad to destroy this painting – probably dooming Eleanor’s soul, what remained of it, to drifting about in some sort of almost undead state. By placing it in the library, with its strong magical fields, you have captured the wandering part of the spirit; by keeping them close together, you have made it more communicative.

While gazing upon the portrait, you see that Eleanor seems to be fleeing from some dark shape in the background. However, with the extended viewing, you not only see this (which has been seen before) but you see another human shape, even fainter, that seems to be behind the one pursuing Eleanor – with the suggestion of some sort of thread or connection between them. The third figure seems to have some shadowy aspects that aren’t human – you see something that might be horns on the head, and possibly wings behind it?

The surface thoughts you get – and they are very faint – are that Eleanor is not acting entirely on her will, when she is haunting her husband. There is some sort of compulsion, which she cannot resist. However, you also get the feeling that she is trying to warn him of something, and that she is both angry at, and concerned for, Baron Trask. The thoughts of warnings are not for her, or for him, but for someone else – probably several others.

During this time, you seem to see a change in the expression on Eleanor’s face – she seems to have a trace of a hopeful smile now."

The group decided they needed to speak to Royal Councilor Astar Trask about the situation with his family, and has Kibbles send a note via Vilya to set up an appointment. Vilya rides out, crossing paths with a military messenger. Paraswarm receives a note from Colonel Eddard Banning, asking if the group could investigate and head off an attack by a group of frost giants, trolls, ogres and orcs, apparently heading for Risa Liswin's castle, down in southeast Attellaria. He says they got a lead from an interesting source, but it checked out. Paraswarm agrees, and tells the group about the incoming attack. The group decides to wait on a response from Trask before heading out, but Shadow volunteers to go scout out the attacking group. A response comes from Trask very quickly, and four of the group - Paraswarm, Kilbbles, Fertini and Arasiriel go to visit. He invites them into his office, a large but cluttered workroom. The room is obviously magically protected, as is Trask; when the door shuts, mental contacts with those outside are lost. The group gives Trask a short rundown of the events at the house, and his advice is to wait a bit, and see what else he can learn through his contacts. When the group leaves, Kibbles gets a mental contact from Shadow, saying the giants and their allies are on the move, and they need to be ready to go in two and a half hours, so they can ambush the giants in a clear area, just outside the forest.

The group teleports out to the clear area and sets up, with most hiding behind light brush or boulders. The giants and company come out, and do not spot them. Several of the group teleport in, or charge, or fire missile weapons, and the carnage begins. Hazor strikes a powerful blow by casting an Insect Plague from his sword, instantly setting the orcs and ogres to rout, and probably saving a lot of damage from volleys of arrows. Various explosions and such blast through the giants and trolls, and within a minute, the mopup begins, and two giants are taken captive (stunned), and five trolls surrender. The ogres and orcs are all slaughtered by Conner's minions, and Hazor begins animating them. They survivors are interrogated, and it is learned that the black cloaked man has paid them - in Calendriahn gold, no less - to attack Risa's castle. The know little else of value. Paraswarm contacts Banning, who asks to be able to interrogate them himself, and Shadow teleports them to a military camp, north of Aertael. The group loots the bodies, and finds that each giant had been carrying a captured human farmer, four of which were killed by the attacks from the players! Paraswarm raises them all back to life, and Toroq pays each of them a handsome sum of gold and sets them on their way; the farmers decide to walk to Luingroth, the 'big city', and find their fortune. The group begins burning the trolls that were beaten down, and a patrol from Risa's castle shows up. When they hear what happened, they are shocked and grateful, and ask if the group would come talk to Risa, which they agree to. Toroq also explains about the farmers, and two of the guards are sent to ensure their safety. The group rides to Risa's castle, and meet her; she is glad to see them, and talks old times with Paraswarm a bit. They then teleport home, for a planned meeting with Banning and a person of interest he said they needed to meet.

The group is met at the temple of Balder by Ceionia Demetrias, a slim, short woman who wears full–body leather armor. She is known to be the personal bodyguard of the king. She radiates no magic or alignment. She says she has been sent by the king to discuss a situation with them, to offer them a chance to help the kingdom and be well-rewarded. Her armor prevents magic or mental detection; it is apparently some sort of object or entity that actually shifts her body to another plane, making her very difficult to detect or harm. She meets with them in the library, and tells them she has a long story of treachery and intrigue to relate, much of which has just recently come to light - some of which came from the dark-robed man who has been setting the group of ogres and such on the country! Apparently, he has been in the employ of the Tiamat temple, but put himself into the hands of the Odin temple in order to strike a deal - if the country can acquire an item for him that one of the group took off the body of Cirle, he will leave and never return, and will do whatever is within his power to keep Calendriahn out of Attellaria's business. He is Yyrkoon, the cousin of Cirle, the former king of Calendriahn, and one of the claimants to the throne. A civil war has been being fought in the city-state of Calendriahn for the past five years, and he thinks he can win it if he gets the item. He wants the Ring of Kings, currently owned by Paraswarm; it is part of the royal regalia of Calendriahn, and he cannot be recognized as the rightful king without it. The king of Attellaria wants this deal to happen, so he has authorized a payment of half a million gold in magic and money to the owner of the ring... as a starting offer.

The story that Ceionia tells is as follows.

1052 – King Eadric discovered the existence of an item called the Chromatic Dragon Stone

1058 – King Edric discovered how to destroy this stone, along with the knowledge that doing so would greatly harm the power of the chromatic dragon.

1060 – A spy his Edirc’s court reported the above to the Tiamat temple, hidden in Aertael.

1067 – the king is assassinated, his body taken, by an assassin of Tiamat, originally thought by one of her children, later revealed to be a mage named Stafarin, one of the builders of Silver Eagle castle. This is the same time that the castle was badly damaged, and both Stafarin and Lindar disappeared.

1085 – Tiamat temples in Tharn and Tharia are wiped out by forces from those countries, with the help of Attellarian forces.

1089- hidden Tiamat temple in Aertael found empty.

1092 – Bahamut temple formally allies with the kingdom.

1094 – king Leofwine assassinated, again by Stafarin, body taken.

1095 – Eliste joins the anti-Tiamat alliance.

1096 – Kax Tiamat temple destroyed by force of Attellarians, Bahamut warriors, and Eliste’s minions.

1101 - Koth Tiamat temple destroyed by force of Attellarians, Bahamut warriors, and Eliste’s minions.

1103 – Eleanor discovers the history and location of the Chromatic Dragon Stone. How she got this information is unknown; she was neither mage nor sage, not a priest.

1106 – Eleanor is murdered, apparently by her husband, Baron Trask. Recently the king has been shown evidence that makes it clear she was actually killed by Stafarin, and that the memories of Trask and Dellwood were altered. (Neither of them know this yet.)

1120 – king Aelfgar assassinated by Stafarin, body taken.

1161 – king Nimlaure learns most of the plot, and decides not to abdicate until it is resolved.

1163 – Jennalynne, then 19, is kidnaped by the Tiamat temple. Since then, she has been able to communicate with her father once a month, proving she still lives. He was instructed to put no enchants of any kind on the grandchildren, or she will be killed.

1165, three days ago – the man in black walks into the Odin temple and allows himself to be taken captive, saying he needs to speak to the king. Utmost security measures are taken, and they have a conversation. He reveals the name of the royal assassin, and of Eleanor’s killer, is actually Stafarin, a Tiamat worshiper, who served on the king’s council for Eadric. He says he knows where Jennalynne is, and that he can recover her and turn her over to the king, for something he wants that is in the country.

The man in black is named Yyrkoon, and he is one of the claimants for the throne of Calendriahn. For several years, since Cirle died, the country has been in a civil war. The nobles of the country cannot settle on any of the claimants, mostly because the right to rule has always been tied to possessing a piece of royal regalia known as the Ring of Kings. If he is given this item, he will rescue Jennalynne, and break off his alliance with Ogremoch, who paid him to bring in the ogre group and the giant group, and has offered him a great deal of money and magic in consideration of future efforts in the same vein.

If asked for a description, it will be noted that he carries an ornate black sword, which seems to hum and vibrate in its scabbard. He radiates lawful/evil, and massive amounts of magic. Ceionia says this sword is Stormbringer, or possibly its twin, Mournblade, and that Yyrkoon is an incredibly powerful magic-user/fighter without it; with it, he is one of the most dangerous beings on the planet.

Parswarm says he is considering the deal.

Ceionia takes her leave, and says an answer is needed within 48 hours. She says that their telling them all of this is a pretty clear indicator that the king is ready to make several moves - the rescue of Jennalynne, the acquisition of the Chromatic Dragon Stone (and its destruction), and quite likely an attack on Stafarin. Some in the group are convinced they will be asked to perform one of these tasks.

20 - talk to the portrait of Eleanor, visit with Astar Trask, teleport to Rosewall to kill giants, ogres, trolls and orcs.

21 - Demetrias asks Paraswarm to trade his Ring of Kings to give to Yyrkoon so he will leave the country. Hazor begins training.

22 - Demetrias visits Paraswarm to trade for the Ring, group begins training.

May

1-7 - Training

8 - Banning visits, outlines a plan to the group - others will attack 3 Tiamat temples in various countries, Demetrias and Yyrkoon will rescue Jennalynn from Stafarin, and the player group will go to the bottom of the Gonnsral dungeon to destroy the Chromatic Dragon Stone, which will hurt Tiamat, and drive her from this plane.

9 - group discusses strategy.

10 - group consisting of Paraswarm, Hazor, Kibbles and Shadow, Conner and Fertini, Tana, Toroq, Angmar, Browyn, Jazdan and Dresden teleports to Gonnsral to destroy the Chromatic Dragon Stone. A huge battle ensues, with three enormous dragons, ten huge dragon men and a couple of dozen dragon men. Conner uses his jewelcrafting skills to cut a pattern into the stone while the battle whirls. Several party members are knocked down or badly wounded, but none die, and in the end the dragons are defeated. The stone is destroyed, and much loot is taken.

11 - the group is sent back in time one day to attack Tiamat's stronghold of Queenslair before her minions can escape. A party consisting of Paraswarm, Conner, Fertini, Angmar, Kibbles, Shadow, Hazor, Toroq, (Don), Jazdan, Dresden, Denibar and Browyn is accompanied by a platoon of rangers and fighters from the army. A portal is opened to send them to the target, and the group charges through. The dragon queen's paramour, an enormous dragon, closes the portal before the platoon and many summoned minions can pass through. In a hectic and scary battle, the soldiers of the dragon are slain quickly, but the dragon's personal bodyguard proves to be almost impossible to harm - until several deity-powered items are consumed in an all-out attack that slays it. In fear for its life, the paramour disappears. An enormous pile of loot is left behind.

12-28 - Training time. On the 17th, Dellwood finishes unpainting the picture of Eleanor, and she is raised from the dead by Siobhan, with assistance from Paraswarm and Venetia. She moves to Trask Manor to begin her recuperation.

June

1-3 - Training

4 - Atalanta, Denibar, Jazdan, Lyra, Quarex, Dresden, Hazor, Fisyr, Roscoe, and Toroq head south down the road from Aertael towards Andeil, intending to explore the cold southern regions around the City of Ice, much of which is unmapped.

5 - No encounter.

6 - See a covered wagon, guarded by four men. Chat with them. Toroq is convinced that he needs to see inside the wagon, but is dissuaded from this by others.

7 - Find a number of dead quicklings, being devoured by giant bluebottle flies. The flies are quickly dispatched, and some treasure is found. Toroq speaks with a dead quickling, who tells him they were killed by a naga (probably the Guardian type) that was in a wagon and had four guards, and also to burn their bodies. The rest of the group dislikes this idea, and the bodies are left to rot.

8 - No encounter.

9 - Ride into Andeil. See a patrol, and talk to them about the wagon. Toroq tries to persuade the group to go after the naga. He then goes to visit the farmer he gave money to after the battle at Risa Liswin's castle, and buys a number of cats, boxes to put them in, a wagon to carry them home in, and hires a field hand to drive it home. Others in the party do some shopping in the town.

10 - kill 180 Svarts, survivors taken as captives.

11 - see 6 kzin, who do not offer combat, and claim to have been sent north by a giant talking tree.

12, 13 - no encounter

14 - into Priaddae, begin walling in the village

15 - In Priaddae

16 - wall in half of Priaddae

17 - finish walling Priaddae

18 - to Odra, encounter patrol

19 - south, to hills

20 - begin constructing mining town

21 - to Priaddae

22 - into mountains

23, 24 - no encounter

25 - find Fladrif the ent. He has Farslayer imbedded in his heartwood. Group convinces him to trust them, by allowing many of them to have their minds read. A writeup from Paraswarm's perspective:

" With the recent discovery of Fladrif and Farslayer, our low-key trip to the Duchy of Ice was at an abrupt end. The tale of the gigantic, ancient treant and the never-ending wound caused by Farslayer dominated my thoughts. I once again leaned heavily up the knowledge possessed by Siobhan, and Venetia. Fortified with a bit of history, we returned to the rocky crag southeast of Ice where Fladrif had taken root.

First, we brought Venetia to Fladrif, to see if Woundhealer could provide him with some relief from his wound. Just in case there was a problem, such as Farslayer flying out of the treant, and enemies showing up to claim it, we prepared as if for battle. Connor loaned me the artifact Sword of Dawn to use, and and loaned the matching Sword of Dusk to Angmar. As I grasped the sword, I was suddenly filled with an urge to hack Angmar up! We stared each other down, both of us working to avoid giving in to the anger! After Venetia's healing, I gave that sword back to Connor. Clearly, the pair was meant to work together, and did not appreciate being separated! Besides which, I'm really not much of a swordsman.

Venetia swung Woundhealer, and Fladrif's injury healed briefly, then opened right back up. Farslayer was still at work, trying to kill the Ent! I began to place Mind Blank spells on everyone there. If we were serious about trying to obtain Farslayer, we'd need to be protected from psychic detection from afar.

For a time, I had little to say to Fladrif, and made way for others to talk to the treant, as I was deep in thought. While I was brooding, others in the group tried in earnest to win the trust of the giant being. Soon, one group member after another was stepping into a giant hand, and being raised up to eye level with Fladrif, and telepathic communion would ensue.

I was very reticent to allow this, as what I know could conceivably betray a number of confidences. Most of the party was trying to convince Fladrif to allow us to remove the sword Farslayer. I felt like I had the logistics of that in hand (Was I EVER wrong on that!), and had moved on to thoughts of Fladrif's wife Brethil. Fladrif's first request to us had been to help him find Brethil. It seemed to me that if we could accomplish this, we'd have the trust issued solved.

While Fladrif wandered the minds of others, I lay down on the frozen tundra, and said a prayer to the All-Father. “Odin most high, how do we reunite Fladrif and Brethil?” I had a vision, and it was horrifying. In a castle courtyard, I saw Brethil, a silver birch, looking very human-like, and maybe fifty feet tall.

Brethil was wrapped in chains, as heavy as a ship's anchor links, which were staked into the ground with giant spikes a foot thick. The chains encircled the Ent's body, actually cutting into the bark. The chains were made of strange metals, each glowing with a dark color of light. There were barrels around her feet, of dark glistening wood.

Two ash giants stood guard nearby, each the size of a titan. The ground around Brethil was lush with plant life, grasses, small shrubs and vines seemed to writhe with life. The ground around the two ash giants was dead and dusty.

A giantess even larger than the guards strode over to Brethal, vegetation turning to ash under her feet. She carefully checked Brethil's bonds, then pulled a metal spike out of a bag on her belt. She rammed the spike into Brethil, causing the Ent to writhe in pain. Sap oozed out of the wound, and the giantess caught it in a cup. When the cup was full, the giantess drank it, shaking and gasping. Then with a smile, she pulled the spike back out of Brethil.

The vision panned backward slowly. I saw the castle, ancient and worn on the frozen plain of Southern Pendria. Hill giants guarded the walls, and ogres patrolled the plain. Far in the distance, to the south, a bright light shone.

I awoke in turmoil from my vision, and could hardly speak of it at first. My heart went out to the poor Ent, and I knew I'd not rest until she and Fladrif were safe. How to achieve that, I wasn't really sure. Distracted by fragments of plans, thoughts, and anguish over this disturbing scene, I did allow Fladrif some access to my mind.

I began to speak of what I had learned, and Fladrif began to flesh things out in the story. Brethil had been imprisoned there for perhaps a thousand years, and had prolonged the giant witch's life far beyond what was normally possible. Fladrif was located where he could watch the castle, to the north.

By this time, Fladrif was ready to trust all of us. He was not sure we had sufficient power to attack the giant castle, something I factored into my planning. To remove the sword Farslayer, I suggested to Browyn that it should be possible to use the druid spell “transport via plants” to actually travel inside the treant. Armed with an X-ray vision spell from me, it would be no problem to travel right to the sword, grasp the hilt, and bring it out of Fladrif immediately. Browyn didn't have that one memorized, so we'd have to try it the next day.

As before, everyone prepared as if for battle, in case there was a problem. The plan was to operate as quickly as possible. Browyn was to go in, grab Farslayer, hurry back out, and we'd immediately teleport to the Itzamna temple, where Venetia could put the thing away out of anyone's reach.

I kept watch with my X-ray vision spell, as Browyn entered the tree. She was able to get to the blade without incident, and grasped the hilt. From there, things became tense. Browyn looked around, tested the weight of the blade, and pulled back with it, as if to throw it. I didn't want to, but I threw a Power-Word Stun spell on her, and started drawing her out of the tree via a Telekinesis spell I had previously prepared. I didn't know for sure what had happened, but we couldn't take chances with Farslayer.

As Browyn emerged from the tree, she recovered from the stunning. A look of rage came over her, she turned to me, and drew back the sword! I furiously sought a solution, but there was none except to stun her again. I did so, barely in the nick of time! I then grabbed the blade, and with some difficulty wrestled it away from her. Despite being stunned, she was holding onto Farslayer with a death-grip.

As I got the blade clear of Browyn, it was my turn. I was suddenly consumed with a white-hot rage, as I though of Stafarin, the kings he had murdered, the pain he had caused the Trask family, and I nearly unleashed that sword into the Hells in his direction! It was all I could do to keep control of myself, and hold onto that sword! I pulled out a large sack, and carefully put Farslayer into it, hands trembling.

Shaking, I handed the bag to Venetia, and she nearly went to her knees! That blade was now working on her mind, even contained inside the bag! I teleported her to the Itzamna Temple, and helped her to the interior. There, she was able to put that sword in its place, where hopefully it will stay forever! We had nearly set that thing loose, bumbling around like novices... It seems clear to me that no mortal would be able to control that sword, and it has turned out to be even more dangerous than we had thought!

I think I'm done with artifact blades! I need weapons I can trust, not ones I must struggle with. I don't have to worry about my hands and feet betraying me!

While Venetia and I were gone, the Calhandrian noble Yrkoon revealed himself to the group, hovering in the sky a couple hundred yards away. Perhaps he had hoped to secure Farslayer for himself, but I think it more likely that he was trying to send a message of intimidation and fear. Why reveal himself, otherwise? We've not heard the last, from that one.

With Farslayer secured, it was time to plan. Fladrif wasn't sure we could win against the giants, and that had to be taken into account. I sought out our old mentor Alterein, and we ran some ideas by him. Siobhan was also able to add some information and history. Finally, Kibbles actually has an ash giant living at Valdemar, and we learned that such creatures can vomit forth an ash breath weapon equal to the giant's current health.

With the session with Alterein winding down, I thought back to my vision. Our group has no experience at all with siege tactics. I'm sure a frontal assault on the castle would be very costly in lives and magic. We've got little chance of dispelling any permanent defenses placed by a thousand-year-old magic user. Flight isn't possible near the castle, as even birds crash to the ground. Could we sneak in? Possibly, but certainly not the whole group. Frankly, I'd not like the chances of any sneak-thief entering my dwelling place undetected. And I'm certain the giantess has better divination than I do!

The key to the vision was the light. I think most would interpret the southern light as Fladrif, but it's really the answer to the riddle. The giants must allow sunlight to reach Brethil, or else she would wither away and die. Sunlight is the way to her. And I am an acolyte of Frey, the God of sunshine! Inspired, I asked Alterein whether he thought doing Wishes on Brethil from afar would work. Alterein couldn't think of any reason that wouldn't work, and I started planning immediately. I told each of my friends that if they wanted to fight the giants as a titan the next day, they needed to bring a 5000 gold piece ruby, and I'd enable it.

I spent the rest of my afternoon and early evening visiting loved ones and friends, and relishing how blessed I am to have them in my life! Hopefully, we'll prevail over the vile giantess, and it will not have been a day of goodbyes.

Into the night, and much of the next morning we prepared a killing field, and saw to everyone's defense. I renewed everyone's Mind Blank spell, and made sure everyone had Protection from Ash, as well as stoneskins and ironskins. Most of the group, I transformed into titan-sized warriors! Browyn used a Leaf of Ki to determine where and when enemies from the Castle would arrive after I released Brethil. I led an expensive, and massive ritual designed to give Fertini god-like fighting prowess. Eight of us participated in casting the Primal Warrior ritual, myself, Fertini, Connor, Venetia, Hazor, Browyn, Shadow and Kibbles. Fertini was shimmering with power, when we were done!

nd so finally, I bent my will towards Brethil, and mentally contacted her. I introduced myself as Paraswarm, an Elvish Wizard. I told her that in about five minutes, her chains would be magically removed. I said that I was contacting her on behalf of Fladrif, and surely she'd remember the time Fladrif had carried the two princes. I warned her that once the chains were off, she'd be whisked away magically, to us. “Please, please,” I asked, “Do not resist this spell. Let me help you!”

So, for seven minutes, I conjured. Each minute, I sank back in exhaustion, and Venetia would renew me with Woundhealer. At the end of it, Brethil appeared in our midst! The two long-separated Ents embraced, and with our blessing, magically fled the scene. And now, we await an onslaught of giants! Much blood will be spilt today, methinks. "

27 - The group prepares to free Brethil, using a Leaf of Knowledge from the temple of Ki.

Paraswarm casts several wishes to cause the chains to fall off Brethil at once and her teleport to the group immediately after, being restored by Woundhealer after each casting. Brethil appears, and Fladrif teleports her away. Shortly after, Cethlenn, rather than charging in, causes hundreds of small portals to open in the sky, raining down small boulders and little elemental animals, destroying defenses, setting off magical traps, and knocking out many stoneskins. After a round of this, her forces appear, and battle begins. Many of her minions die quickly, but those which get an attack throw elemental bombs and kill a number of the party! More minions are killed, Cethlenn shows up and attacks. She kills Shadow, then moves on to Kibbles; Shadow's mount appears, takes the form of an elderly male human and disappears with his body! More minions die; only Fertini is able to hit Cethlenn, but Cethlenn is having trouble hitting some other members of the party, and eventually flees after seeing roots from Fladrif haul her remaining minions into the earth, where they are torn apart. The party's dead are likewise drawn beneath the earth by Brethil's roots, where they are raised from the dead and healed. The Frost Giant's Castle is destroyed, but the party finds some loot buried underneath, as well as on the corpses of the minions.

The group teleports home, and Toroq hosts a celebratory dinner.

28 - Training begins. Brethil arrives in the City of Ice, and begins a process that will turn the entire hex into a richly fertile farmland and forest, which will take a month. Fladrif creates a number of small copies of himself, which talk to anyone who has questions or desires teaching.

July 13 - Training completed.

14 - Into the wilderness from the City of Ice, no encounter.

15 - no encounter.

16 - fight 6 spectres.

17-21 - no encounter

22 - kill 11 hook horrors

23-26 - no encounter

27 - kill giant two-headed troll

28 - see stag beetles. Brethil and Fladrif complete their work in the City of Ice, and disappear, along with Fladrif's clones.

August

1-8 - no encounter

9 - Into Deadwood, no encounter. Teleport to City of Ice. Teleport to Aertael.

10 - Conner, Hazor, Toroq, Angmar, Shadow, Lyra, Paraswarm, Kibbles, Fertini and Thunderhead teleport to Silver Eagle, wander around for a while killing things, rescue a lycanthropic young girl, take her to Venetia to be cured. Afterwards, she moved in with Kibbles and Shadow, who hire medical care to help her. Venetia did some magical research to get details on the girl. Her name is Adana, her parents were traveling merchants who made the dangerous trip from Aertael to Amrath, Cinon, Finarfin, Belegram and back to Aertael, buying and selling various trade goods. Her parents, Merret Frey and Mariya (maiden name Derry) were killed by the werewolves that captured and imprisoned the girl; Venetia learned that the process of shapeshifting that lycanthropes undergo causes them to abort if they are pregnant, so they kidnap children and infect them to grow their pack. Adana was born in March 1154, was taken in late 1157, and remembers almost nothing of her human life. She is quite savage, but has been charmed by Paraswarm and will be calm when he is around, or with those he has made her feel are safe.

September

1-2 - training

3 - gropu visited by Jade Feather, who requests that the group could travel to Shintapoor to perform a service for the Empress. They are told that Shintapoor has invaded and conquered nearby island Nihon, but some sort of powerful monster, named the Umu Dabrutu, remains to be dealt with.

4 - The group travels to the island and meet some priests from Kadingarra.

5 - Fight the beast. They meet some interesting characters from the far west, defeat the monster, and learn a bit about Kibbles' ring. Get loot and reward.

6 - Decide to take three months off.

20 - Toroq's son born.

October - no activity.

November - no activity.

December

2 - Baron Trask dies.

6 - Group ends three month break from adventuring.

7 - Connor throws an anniversary party of his marriage.

9 - State funeral for Baron Trask.

10 - group travels to Silver Eagle, no encounter. Aristeus, Atalanta, Barathorn, Browyn, Connor, Deimos, Hazor, Runequest, Theophilus.

11 - into Amrath, spend night at inn.

12 - into Silver Eagle, level 7. Kill stuff, rescue two people, out.

13 - training begins.

19 - training ends.

20 - rest

21 - to Amrath for auction, buy Beaker of Plentiful potions.

22 - to Koraja, spend night.

23 - into Islin. Attacked by Tiamat spirit.

24 - into Messantia, no encounter.

25 - into Luxur, spend night.

26 - to Messantia, attacked by Tiamat spirit.

27 - into Belveras, no encounter. Hear of Tower of Kilmaris.

28 - into forest.

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