• DAN
• JACOB
• JOSALYN
• THORGARD
• TATRIN
• PERRIN
• GALERIAN
• FANDILLAS
• LAZATHU
• IONA - Stoneskin, Invisibility
  • XARNOS (The Giant Goat) - Stoneskin, Invisibility

In Criss Antha, Jacob and some of the others are looking for Men-at-arms for the expedition north to the Tower of the Forgotten Master.

In Criss Antha:

• 27 Crossbowmen including a Captain and 3 Sergeants.
• 1 Light Footman.
• 3 Longbow Archers - Hired by Jacob.

Meanwhile in Gren:

• 10 Pikemen and a Lieutenant (Level 2 Fighter).
• 3 Light Crossbowmen, 6 gp/day - Hired by Iona.
• 16 Light Horsemen and a Lieutenant.

Iona hires the 3 Light Crossbowmen for 42 gp in total.

In Ornholm:

• 6 Slingers.
• 2 Light Horsemen.

On the way north, there is an encounter…

Jacob spots 25 Wild Horses in the tall grass. Using a Giant Eagle form, Galerian contemplates flying off with one of the Horses. Instead, he flies off with a baby Foal. Eventually, he flies back down to eat the foal after dropping it on the ground.

We are taking the road north to Starling and will ask in Mombafra and Starling for anyone that wants to see the Brigands dead…

In Qarn:

• 12 Light Footmen and a Lieutenant.
• A Sergeant.
• 4 Light Horsemen.

In Farius and Riknettle:

• 6 Shortbow Archers - Hired by Fandillas.

In Mombafra:

• 5 Light Crossbowmen.
• 3 Light Crossbowmen - Hired by Iona, she pays 6 gp/day.
• 1 Heavy Horsemen.

Iona pays another 42 gp in total for the Light Crossbowmen. She now has 6 Crossbowmen in total under her employ.

In Mombafra, word has come down from Starling. Lord Thompson has an interest in the Forgotten Master and his long life. He wants to know how he has been unsuccessful in this for himself. Some knowledge has come down about this within the last year, the Forgotten Master has basically brought into his employ the Brigands at Dead Man's Stone. His guards in the tower had all been killed by attackers in the last year, so the Forgotten Master formed a Brigand defensive arrangement. They defend the tower in exchange for coin.

Lord Thompson has an interest in ending the Brigands from being in this area but is not inclined to kill the Brigands. Lord Thompson is only interested in the secret of long life held by the Forgotten Master. Due to this, he has raised the reward to 1,250 gp per person to discover the secret.

Nobody else has an interest in Dead Man's Stone at this time.

We manage to get to Starling without incident.

This is a village so there is only one roll when it comes to Mercenaries.

• 2 Light Horsemen.

We have been traveling for 13.5 days total. For the Crossbowmen, only 6 days remain for the amount that was paid. Iona and Thorgard ask around Starling about the Brigands. However, nobody seems to know much of them besides what we already know.

Galerian, the Eternal, flies over to the Tower of the Forgotten Master to ask animals about the Brigands and the Magic-User of the Tower.

This is for Galerian.

He flies north over the Tower. When he gets close to the tower, there is an enormous bird-like Dinosaur. It is quite large but it has its back to Galerian.

Galerian escapes and flies out over the scrubland. Looking northward, he sees that water flows over the Valley peaks and runs down into an elevated lake that is about 10 to 12 miles across. From the Volcano, the scrubland turns into a forest which is two hexes north and east of the Tower of the Forgotten Master. To the east are some plains and some mountains lie to the northwest.

Amongst the low lying scrublands is some kind of small structure. A single room building with a dome ceiling which is 4 miles to the north of Galerian's location. He flies further to the north west, flying high where he can move 2.5 hexes an hour.

He spots a Stronghold is in the Valley of the Red Sun close to where he believes is the end of the valley. Galerian sees a gorge to the north of the mountains and then he flies south of the mountain where he turns and then heads to the east of the Tower.

He has flown over 16 hexes and turned up some information on the terrain. There is a thorpe and some scrubland along with a great fissure in the center of the plain. Galerian flies into the the Thorpe.

This is the eastern part of the valley and Galerian can see for about 12 miles. Two hexes north is a great shell keep in a scrublands beyond the hills. A shell keep is a type of fort built on top of a mound with a circular wall and an internal court wall. The circular fortress is about 3 hexes away and is made of stone. He goes out to the fortress and then will fly beneath the thorpe to get some sleep.

He sees that there are four Onagers and two Light Catapults pointed toward the entrance. There is a 100' long wall structure with a ramp going up to the gates of the structure.

A tower comes off the walls which are 20' high. Every 40' are some Archers that are manned around the perimeter. That is all that he can see from a couple miles away. In the landscape, he spots Black Bears, Wild Boar, Giant Rats, Wolves and there are some Armadillos.

Galerian descends to talk to the Armadillo. It tells him that there are many many men inside the fortress but the Armadillo does not know how to count. Sometimes, there is a single man that comes out that is flying on a piece of wood. He goes away and returns. Some people come from the south but the flying Man has not been seen in a while. The Armadillo says that he saw him leave a few days ago.

Galerian turns into an Armadillo and at this, the other Armadillo flees in fear! Since the conversation is over, Galerian grows wings and departs.

He goes to sleep in the woods to the south and then flies back to Starling where he transforms back into a Centaur. The people here do not react poorly to him.

We learn that the thorpe called Hardin is protected by Dead Man's Stone, who is in league with the Vampire.

It is one day later…

We head out to the Tower of the Forgotten Master. We have 6 Bears and numerous Men-at-arms that are riding with us. The large group heads toward the Tower.

• 6 Crossbowmen
• 6 Bears

As we approach, two winged creatures take off from the tower and start circling over the top of the tower. We get within 15“ of the Tower when we notice 4 Men wearing leather armor standing guard in front the Tower. They have at their side, a creature that is identical to Galerian. It is a Sabertoothed Tiger!

We can spot the two flying Dinosaurs circling the top of it as a figure disappears behind a corner.

Iona is still invisible and she charges into the two guards. They are 15” away. The Crossbowmen will fire as well.

One of the guards disappears into the tower and Dan casts Shield.

The Pteranodon's are diving and they are attacking Tatrin. They will hit on a 9, and one hits! Tatrin takes 5 damage but his Stoneskin absorbs the damage!

Iona hits for 3 damage which kills the guard on a charge. They have an AC 7 for the enemy. The Sabertooth Tiger takes 29 damage in total from the Bears! However, this does not kill it…

Bear Number 4 is being attacked and 2 claws hit for 6 damage. The bite misses. In the next round, the Bears destroy the Tiger.

The Pteranodons have an AC 7. Tatrin hit one for 2 damage and the Crossbowmen did 6 damage total. Iona also shoots at the Pteranodons but misses.

The Pteranodons circle back and loop back around. They are attacking those of us on Horses. Jacob and Thorgard are being attacked but both successfully defend. They can counter attack:

• Jacob hits one for 10 damage.
• Thorgard hits and did 3 damage.

Dan casts Sleep which brings one down and it is killed by the fall! Iona's shot killed one and Fandillas kills one also.

We enter the Tower of the Forgotten Master…

Near the entrance, there is a dinosaur head mounted on the wall and a throne on the level above. The door opens and two men in plate mail come out.

Iona sneaks inside and Jacob rides in on his Hippogriff. Our Crossbowmen are staying outside.

Galerian moves to engage as he goes to attack the Men in plate mail. He hits for 2 damage. The Bears also move into the tower and hit for 3, 4, and 9 damage. Both men are instantly dead.

We follow Galerian into the chamber. We enter a grand entryway with a vaulted ceiling that rises 15' up. There is a Tyranosaurus Rex head with ruby eyes mounted near the stairs and facing outward toward the entrance. Checking out the mounted T-Rex Head, it looks like a regular taxidermied type of head, other than the rubies.

We collect the following from the fallen guards:

• 11 gp
• 13 gp

Jacob hitches up his Hippogriff and the Bears throw open the door. We climb up to the second level. The staircase takes us up two levels.

We go up to the 3rd floor where there were once weird objects that we previously looted. The large blue glowing crystal rises up through the floor and is surrounded by bars.

There are three Men here, one of which looks a little squirrelly.

Iona is going to shoot the squirrelly guy and Thorgard goes to charge them.

They immediately become alarmed and the three of them must make a morale check. They PASS!

Two of them stand to defend the squirrelly guy as Galarian roars! A Sleep spell goes off from Dan and Fandillas' Magic Missile spell goes off.

All three are killed quickly.

We gather the following coins from the bodies:

• 11 gp
• 7 gp

We go into the second left door on this level and find a bunch of cleaning supplies and some wall shelves holding tools. Galerian flips over the table and wine is spilled onto the ground.

We open the right door which reveals a staircase that goes up. This leads to a ledge and a window. Iona ties off a rope to drop down to the ledge outside. There is a double door on the ledge so we all land on the ledge and then burst through a stinking door which reveals an area that is glowing blue.

There are two Pteranodons inside.

Iona charges in with her spear. There is an AC 7 on the Pteranodons. Each of the Longbowmen fire and do 3 and 3 damage respectively. Fandillas misses.

The Bears charge and do 16 damage to the Pteranodon and it takes 7 damage from Galerian. One of them is now attacking Galerian but it misses and the Bear is missed.

We can tell that the blue glow comes from a portion of the crystal that is in here, on the back wall. It is partially exposed through the wall.

Iona does a fighting withdrawal this time as Jacob hits for 17 damage. This wounds but does not kill one. Galerian hits for 10 damage and Tatrin hits for 4 damage.

Our group of Bears do 18 damage and now both are killed, the Pteranodons.

We rest for 10 minutes after the fight.

There are some columns supporting the upper level of the aviary. The party goes up to the top of the aviary where the crystal is exposed up here. They find themselves in a hallway and after 20', there is a door on the right. 20' after that leads to a larger area.

We can detect a faint sulphur smell and it feels unnaturally cold. The walls have a white marble facade and there are three blue chips on the west wall. A curtain hangs above each of the three chips with a set of double doors on the right.

Iona hangs back as Galerian leads the Gears toward the double door. There is a latch that is holding them closed. The chips appear to be made of the same material as the larger crystal but these are the size of a palm.

Iona examines the north door for traps but finds no traps. She then examines the other door and finds no additional traps.

Next, Iona goes up to one of the crystals and touches it. She must immediately check System Shock!

She is now 25.

The double doors are made of stone so the Druid uses Stone Shape to make our own entrance.

As the spell is cast, the stone of the door warps and twists open, creating a circular portal leading through the doors themselves. A blue glow illuminates the room as the stone door is OBLITERATED. A rush of cold air comes out and the light is painfully bright with the crystal inside. Inside this chamber, the top of the immense crystal is surrounded by workbenches.

We immediately notice that there is a plate mail wearing Warrior, seven of them, and an old man with golden eyes wearing dark blue robes. The Old Man looks at us with a grim humorless expression and Galerian, at the forefront, is being charged by the Warriors.

He must also Save versus Polymorph Other…NO, wrong spell. A Lightning Bolt spell goes off as a forking version of the spell. All of the Bears save except for two of them. They take 36 damage if the saving throw failed and 18 damage if they passed.

All of our Bears are immediately fried and are now dead!

Galerian is considered large in this form and the 6 plated Warriors will hit on 14's. One of them hits and does 7 damage. Galerian will retaliate and he will hit on a 4. He hits for 13 damage.

• Iona is hasted for 10 rounds and she charges the Old Man Magic-User.
• Lazathu uses the Wand of Fear.
• Thorgard moves to engage.
• Fandillas fires arrows.
• Tatrin casts Hold Person on the Warrior with the two-handed sword.
• Dan holds back, taking no action.
• Josalyn casts Hold Person on the biggest Warrior.

Seven Warriors attempt to grab Galerian. Meanwhile, Iona notices a Magic Gate open inside the room, next to the Old Man who we presume to be The Forgotten Master himself! Jacob and Fandillas also touch the crystal outside and get Hasted and they age for 1 year.

Thorgard engages in melee as, through the gate, comes a Djinni! The Magic-User begins to levitate into the air.

Fandillas casts Jump and Iona attacks twice with a crossbow, since she is currently Hasted. Tatrin casts Hold Person and our Longbow Archers attack the Magic-User.

After the spells go off, there are 6 Warriors that are now sleeping and there is only 1 left that is wielding a two-handed sword. The Forgotten Master is struck and loses his spell! Iona hits once with with her crossbow as well.

The Forgotten Master has an AC 7 type 10. Jacob hits twice for 8 damage and the Longbowmen hit for 1, 4 and 6 damage. The Hold Person spell fails to effect the large Warrior or the Forgotten Master. Thorgard is subsequently missed by the Warrior with the two-hander.

The Warrior with the two-hander has an AC 0/3 but Thorgard strikes and does 10 damage!

Iona shoots crossbow bolts again at the Forgotten Master as Perrin moves to heal Galerian. The Monk does 8 damage with 2 crossbow bolts to the Magic-User! Fandillas also hits and does 5 damage with his sword but also does 14 damage from his Ring of Shocking Grasp!

The Forgotten Master is filled with arrows and bolts and the Fighter is now Held magically. Iona runs straight towards the Forgotten Master and runs past the central crystal where she must save versus system shock, she saves!

However, the Djinni does one retaliation attack on Fandillas. He is hit! Fandillas takes 11 damage. Meanwhile, Perrin casts Cure Light Wounds and Galerian is healed for 8 hitpoints.