Chapter Nine - Portal-Travelling in the Footsteps of a Ancient Cult

Session was held 29th of January 2011 at the Altar of Games

It had been slightly over a week ago when Melkor the Wise got his hands on the Cultes Netherenes, eccentric tome that together with ponderous research in the libaryvaults of Oghma's Temple revealed much to the wizard. With a bombastic display of prestidigitation he shared his mad scheme to the rest of the fellowship, and the acceptance was mixed. Scepticism was quaranteed as he announced that they would travel to a volcano via ancient portal in order to obtain the Cube of Tybor, an mysterious aertifact which significance was unknown. After supressing all the laughter of disbelief they gathered their ranks and rallied to the Twilight Hall, a Temple of Deneir in Berdusk that also hold the unspoken headquarters of Those Who Harp, the Harpers.

Later on, they arrived to the Twilight Hall where cleric Danius Lumbertide received them and listened to their request. Mister Lumbertides stance was indifferent to their cause, but then Melkor saw his old friend among the people of the temple. General Almatheus Ochrefield served in the army of Darnon twenty years ago until he was exiled as the wave of terror engulfed the kingdom, and he knew Melkor well and promoted their cause to Lumbertide. And when they revealed that Arius had the right for the crown of Darnon, the cleric rushed the party to a rendezvous with High Lady Cylyria Dragonbreast, the leader of the Twilight Hall branch. High Lady Dragonbreast promised their support in the quest for the Cube of Tybor in order to liberate Darnon, and they gave Melkor the missing pieces of the puzzle.

And so, the mad scheme goes like this: First of all, after equipping themselves with rations and new magic items received via late adventure's loot they would ride the western bank of river Reaming to the north, where they would cross the river Reaching and stop to Scornubel. This would take five days. After well slept night in the already familiar city, they would ride to north, passing the Trielta Hills from west until they would reach the treeborder of the Forest of Wyrms. From there they would continue on foot, until the Ossuary of Wyrmwood, old site of Cult of the Dragon, now possibly forlorned. From there they would found the portal to the Smoking Mountains in the Empire of Unther far far away in east, where they would seek the extinct volcano known as the Cauldron of the Wyrm. And inside that Hell on Earth they should find Harafalg the Giant in whose possession the Cube of Tybor is. As simple as that.

Nice plans, and now the practice
After receiving futher guidance in form of cartography, our heroes returned to Dancing Tulip to prepare for the upcoming journey. Two days later, 11th of July 1372DR they launched the expedition according to the plans. From their newly acquired friends Hashim and Lot followed them on their journey, as Cidela Pepperpath stayed in Berdusk due her own whims. On the third day of journey, in halfway to Scornubel, severe rainfall hindered their movement into fraction. As they pushed through the grey curtain, three malicius trolls surrounded and jumped on them. A horrendous fight occured against these tough skinned humpbacks, as they regenerated even the most ghastliest cuts. Eventually, after building a pyre over every trollish carcass our heroes managed to take a breather. They even came across with small trollnest which provided them with minor loot.

Soon they were on their way again, all away to the river Reaching where they were suppose to take a ferry across. But the ferryman apologized and instructed them to meet Baron Von Schuberg, a nobleman willing to charge the ferryservices personally. Infuriated they rode to Barons vineyard estate, where they were received on a sunny patio. The opulent baron, Konarld Von Schuberg boasted to our humble heroes how gruelling his work in eminent position in the United Merchants was, and how he needed a time off from it with his family and riches at this summer-estate. Eventually Arius got pissed of and gave the baron the finger, plunging the afternoon into gore-filled slaughter. After liquidating practically everyone except the servants, our vigilantes let the poor peasants working in the vineyard to plunder the estate, while the ferryman took them to the opposite bank.

The magnificent band soon reached Scornubel where they found themselves from the Jumping Jugs tavern, once again. They relaxed for a while until a familiar face crept in. It was Mordiggian, main usurer of the United Merchants/Murderers. He questioned the PCs from the murder of Baron Von Schuberg who held a high title in the ranks of United Merchants and demanded them to solve the murder and also to eliminate the resistance once and for all, or they would face the deadly charges from the bloody assault. The merrymakers promised to bring forth the killers but after well rested night in the tavern they slipped out of the city, and doing so they burned their bridges to Scornubel for awhile.

The Ossuary of Wyrmwood

The adventure continued and they spurred their steeds towards the Trielta Hills. After three long days of thunderous gallop they reached the treeborder of the Forest of Wyrms. Lot the squire promised to take the steeds to the town of Triel, where he would caress them meanwhile the heroes would plunder some volcanos. And so they diverged and our fellowship seasoned with the swordmanship of Hashim penetrated the ancient forest. Carefully following the maps given by Harpers they managed to avoid any encounters with the terrible dragons nesting in those woods. Eventually they discovered the site which was the entrance to the Ossuary, or once were as now it resembled more like a hole in the ground. Anyhow, they descended down to the abandoned upper levels, and advanced carefully, witnessing signs of battle and decay everywhere. Eventually they found a pristine door, which served as a entrance to lower levels that Harpers never managed to cleanse. Well crafted iron door featured a prominent dragonhead made of gold, and the dragonhead spoke to the party. It riddled our heroes and as they solved the magical gatekeepers silly rhymes they managed to pass it.

Once again they walked through countless of corridors and chambers, abandoned yet untouched by gruesome battle. Once again, a door featuring a dragonhead idol blocked their way. This time it didn't show any signs of opening and Douglas the trapexpert managed to find a trap from it, yet he didn't have the skills to discharge it. And so came Jared, the servant of the Morninglord and with quick words he conjured a hole in the wall besides the door, revealing the corridor behind the trapped door. Unluckily for him, he also eradicated the containers holding the acid that was supposed to splash out from the dragons mouth if the trap would have been triggered. Jared was able to withstand the corrosive backlash.

And so they entered to the final chamber of the ossuary. It was a huge vault, holding a small underground lake within. And against this lake rose a steep cliff, starting ascending from the doorway. And on the top of the cliff was a circural structure, roughly ten feet in diameter, acting like a window to strange realms. As they closed in to the portal they saw it displaying reddish mountaintops of the faraway empire of Unther. As Melkor begun to study the apparatus in order to achieve a safe journey, others kept guard, and not in vain, as a unknown force of soldiers showed up in the doorway.

The small regiment begun asceding the cliff, and a leader of these bloodhounds shouted the final warnings to our heroes, Consisting of Kothians, Skoggarrim and Darnonese soldiers, they were in a perfect form for Melkor to cast his fireball on them, and so did the wizard. Struck down by the blaze and offguard, Douglas rushed to the regiment to cleave out these mercenaries with his forbidding sneak attack. Oh how he wished that he wouldn't been so hasty, as from nowhere charged a man clad in black fullplate. This man, a Skull Rider, Knight of the Order of the Black Cliff wielded a bastard sword spewing forth ice and frost. Battle against these bounty hunters was fierce, as they even had a mage behind their ranks. The Skull Rider, the antagonist, fought hard, as his servitude to the Bitter Lord gave him powers unimaginable, but as good guys so often do, our heroes crushed the force ment to be the lash of the king in his hunt for the stray heir. Upon dying, the skull rider cursed our heroes and declared that his father, captain Irongrave would avenge his death.

Fatigued by this grim feuding, our glorious band of adventurers caught a breath as they gazed in to the portal that show'd them volcanic vistas of high black mountains spewing forth thick black collums of smoke.

Somewhere there was the Cauldron of the Wyrm, and a giant, sitting on the Cube of Tybor.

Chapter Three: The Reaching Wood-Run Aways and other Wretches

Session was held 22th of May 2010 at the Altar of Games

As previous chapter ended in saving the damsel in distress, our heroes had an option to escort her to Scornubel, caravan city in west, behind the woods. This would provide them with a breath of freedom, as the city was independent and opposed Darnon's tyranny. Hunters warned them from a legendary trixster called Peter The Scammer, as he often cheated and robbed the careless travellers.

Journey begun, and according to Melkor, Scornubel would be a day ahead, but their pace was hindered by uneven and foresty terrain, as they decided to stay away from the marked path. The road could prove fatal to travel as it's patrolled by Kings men and hostile mercenaries. Choosing the wilderness turned to be a great choice, until they met the creep that the hunters were talking about. Peter The Scammer, disguised as a poor elven traveller, tested their nerves with unending questions and requests, and continued this annoyance so far that our merry band almost ended slaughtering his puny soul. It turned out that the Scammer was an imp or other devilish creature, which in exchange for it's existence told our heroes its True name, Petreskobal, and how to summon it every 13th day to answer for a question or two.

Finally the got out of the forest, only to be paused by a streaming river. A ferryboat was at the crossing, but bad luck followed as they noticed the ferry was just seized by a band of bandits. This evil-doers indentified themself as the Toughest Gang of the Western World. After a quick negotiation with sword and projectiles, there were none left from the band to tell how tough they really were.

After the river one could almost see the low stonewalls of Scornubel. After reporting to the Red Shields, local army and guard, they headed for a tavern, and found a suitable table from one called Jumping Jugs. There Irene thanked our heroes and wished them well, hoping for meeting 'em again in the future. Next morning the fellowship ventrued to a bazaar known as Vineyard where they soon learned that the city was monopolized by faction called U.M, United Merchants. But many corners and posts were covered with pamflets and notes telling to put end on corruption, Red Shields to shape up and the UM for the final judgement. Not long did they shop in the bazaar when man called Mordiggian met them and asked the travellers a favor in the name of the UM.

Blink of an eye later our candid heroes were riding north, couple of hours on horseback away from the city, ready to slay a wicked mephistophelian once known as Algorthon hiding in the old ruins of the Pedestritian Monastery, which once lied at the riverbank. Soon they reached their destination and begun to purge the once holy site from it's demonic inhabitants. Little did they know that they were the ones who almost got purged. In the upper chambers of half-collapsed ruins they met a creature later identified as a runehound. This vile aberration almost delivered death for our merry band, but by wits and dexterity they managed to fend off the beast. Ventruing futher inside, they plundered upon a hatch down to the basement, and finally found the evil warlock from the old coal chamber of the monastery. Algorthon proved to be a skinny old monk called Alvar, who was responsible of all the fliers and posters in the city mocking the UM. Alvar managed to negotiate with our heroes so that the heroes would slew couple of ghouls haunting futher down in the monastery catacombs, and bring one of those as the corpse of Alvar back to Mordiggian, and later return to the monastery and blow it to bits, as the runehound no longer guards the groundfloor chambers.

Our heroes agreed with the crazed monk, and returned to Scornubel, carrying the mangled corpse of a ghoul with them, to meet Mordiggian at the Riverbank of the Desperate. Old crook took the bait and "promised" that they would not be harmed as long as they would stay in Scornubel. Without granting any futher reward, the adventurers were furious but followed Alvars plan, and bought a keg-of-fire magic from man called Mahmut Al-Zabred at the bazaar. Later that day they blew the Pedestritian monastery to crumbles, and Melkor was convinced from the kegs that the calimshite-caravaneer had sold them. Alvar was everpleased and promised to keep fighting against the UM, United Murderers as he told what the shortening really ment. The monk also preached of a reward, but while gazing the smoldering ruins, Melkor had doubts that would they ever gather any decent loot...