From Ornholm:

Some information about Ornholm, for the PCs who have spent a week there staying at the Gallon Jug:

• Ornholm is smaller than Gren, about 1,500 people, permanent population.
• The patron deity is Geos and a young cleric, named Holt, runs the temple there.
• The mayor is Yura, a Half-Orc who has an unpleasant character but is generally liked since she has the respect of the guard and keeps the town relatively safe given its location.
• In the mountains to the north of Ornholm and Nettin, within not more than 15 miles, are two hamlets of Gnomes, a Clan of Berserkers, and an Undermountain Hold of Dwarves that can be found.
• Tribes of Orcs, Gnolls, and Goblins all lair in the surrounding fields and mountains. The area is beset by Werewolves and Vampires, and a Groaning Spirit haunts the fields northeast of Nettin. Travel at night is unheard of.
• Even heavily-guarded merchants from the grasses have been avoiding Ornholm and Nettin lately and the rumor is that the brigands to the south have formed an accord with the Werewolves which has made trade from that region prohibitive.

Old Notes about the Haunted Ruins:

• Maervahr found out that Rudolph Rinn does not believe the spirit he saw in the ruins is a true ghost, since he did not age when he laid eyes upon it nor suffered any ill effects otherwise. Its visage was distorted and seemed nearly to be a trick of the light, or to play tricks with the light. It spoke to him plainly. He had never seen anything like it and doesn't know what it was to this day. He never returned to the ruins after that first venture.

• Meanwhile…In hearing about the desire for a reward, Blake showed Maervahr a fire opal of impressive quality. It has a value of 1,400 gp and she has kept it for a long time. To the adventurers who free Rudolph from his deal, she will bestow this opal. Furthermore, Rudolph will give ownership of a stone cottage in Gren, consisting of two floors, an attic, and a fortified stone cellar which has its own key (value depends, but is around 650 GP).

The last time Ithimyr reached out to Exar, he learned:

• Exar has been unable to find a cleric for Ciril. No one can be convinced to risk their own death for performing a resurrection of a 4th level Ranger. If Ciril had been rescued a few days prior, he might have been saved. Exar has buried him along the river north of Gren and returned with Welrick to a new camp just within the northern forest. Magic-Users and Clerics of the order have agreed that there is no sure way of obtaining the wishes from the stones without paying a price. He plans to use his stealth and Welrick's magic to avoid the Koalinths and destroy the standing stones immediately.

• Given Ithimyr's achievements, not the least of which being the slaying of the Planar Worm, Exar and Welrick will both vouch for Ithimyr if he desires to join the Order as an adventuring member. The requirements are those mentioned previously; basically that Ithimyr remains Good and shares knowledge of arcane anomalies, strange ruins, and the like with other members of the Order. If all that sounds good, Exar will induct Ithimyr after he and Welrick handle the stones.

• Sira at the temple of Riswa feels the Order is in following with some of Riswa's greatest tenants, and views Ithimyr's prospective membership favorably.

• Rudolph owes his soul to some sort of entity in the ruins across the west lake, and will need to pay up on in-game date 09-01-494. Blake Kor has offered a gem as a reward and Rudolph himself has offered a house in town as well.

The group Maervhar is with is on 07-12 today, but the Worm was killed by Ithimyr's party on 07-14. So if Maervhar's party were to leave Ornholm immediately and travel south to the Boarmen, they could potentially arrive around the time the Worm is killed.

For this session, the following characters were played:

• MAERVAHR - AC 10
• MORRIC - AC 1/3 (Plate Mail +2)
• ISKANDAR - AC 10
• DAN - AC 9/10 (Lawful Neutral, Keen Eared)
• FANDILLAS - AC 4/5
• INGERD - AC 2/3

We are headed back to Gren which is about 40 miles east of ORNHOLM. We can travel 25 miles per day with a cart and we have riding horses. The Mercenaries are coming back with us which includes 2 Medium Horseman and 4 Archers.

We can keep them employed if we wish, the Mercs are still for hire. The group sets up camp in the grasslands, Maervahr searches around the camp location and finds no signs of any danger.

On the 2nd watch, Maervahr picks up the sound of an encampment to the southwest. It appears to be a band of Merchants that are also encamped but the rest of the night passes uneventfully. We gather up our things and head toward the Merchants.

They are located in the nearby field and we find a contingent of 300 men with tents scattered everywhere. The armed Guards outnumber the actual Merchants. They are preparing breakfast. We can see that the grasses stamped down for a wide distance. The guards approach us we enter the camp and we greet them and then meet with the Merchants and start looking at the wares, They are traders in luxury goods from the Cradle Lands. They have come from the west and they went farther south due to the troubles around Ornholm. They wanted to avoid the Werewolves in the area.

We ask about special wares and they say that they carry with them a magic item. It is imbued with Elven magic and their asking price is 12,000 gp. They also have gems and spices to trade. The Merchants want to reach Gren to trade with the Silk Caravan and then head to the Barbarian Tribes in the hills.

They have many different gems for sale, a silvered longsword and silver arrows for sale. The silver sword sells for 450 gp and they say we will not find this from a regular blacksmith. They agree to sells us the silver sword and some people start buying gems, including Dan.

The Cloak of Elven magic worth 12,000 gp looks plain and gray. It is indistinguishable from other types of cloaks but when the hood is thrown up, the Elven magic takes over the wearer. They can become nearly invisible. It is considered a very rare item. They say they will keep us in mind in case they pass by next Winter.

We ride back to Gren with hundreds of guards and the merchants, safety in numbers. After the large band of men leaves in the morning, we encounter another large party of mystical Nomads on a pilgrimage. These are Dervsishes from the Veldht or Cradlelands to the south. They are dressed in warmer style clothing and have a high repute to only follow the tenets of their religion. The passing Merchants try to sell them some wares.

In the Sea of Grass, there are approximately 600 people. A huge band of Nomads comes out and delays our travel for a couple hours and some people start drinking. The Dervishes are more common in the south than they are in this area. They say that they are headed to the south on a holy pilgrimage and that they are followers of Rook. The Nomads tell us of a great fortress to the north and that they are headed down to the Veldht to meet with other bands.

They are riding light and medium warhorses and have swords, lances, composite bows, wear leather and chain, and also have crossbows. They favor the lance and sword.

After a couple of meetings, we make it back to Gren by nightfall. The Nomads say that they appreciate our company and that the Merchant band is now headed north and then to the northeast toward a valley in the northern hills. The Berserker Tribes are known to live there.

It is no longer Summer,

A discussion on strategy:

For this session, we are headed south toward the Boarmen encampment. They numbered originally over 100 but then we encountered a band of Berserkers and we sent them to the Boarmen at the Marble Keep. A fight broke out but the Berserkers won, though they did take heavy losses.

The Berserkers are reduced in number greatly and the original Berserker we talked to was killed and some were blasted out of the sky by the Boarmen's Shaman. Their numbers are now reduced to only 40. Now the Boarmen have an encampment about 10 miles south and west of Marble Keep and we don't know about their numbers exactly. The Shaman could blow us away but we believe that Shortbow Archers could counter their caster. Dan can try and help with that.

The Mercs will still have the same rate of 20 gp up front and 2 gp a day. Maervahr has a loyalty of +5% and rolls, they have a loyalty of 100 toward him.

Dan is looking for more mercs, some ground warriors if possible. There are 4 Sergeants available (1st level Fighters - leaders) looking for troops to command. They are 10x the total normal cost (as 1st level Fighters) and they lead 60 Heavy Footmen. The Heavy Footmen only cost 2 per month. Each Sergeant can command up to 10 troops. They also have a Lieutenant (Fighter 2 - can command 20 troops) and a Captain (Fighter 6 - costs 600 gp per month).

Dan looks to hire 4 Heavy Footmen and a Sergeant (Fighter 1). It is the same rate as our other troops but they are loyal to DAN. They are Neutral Good and the loyalty base is 170 for the two groups.

It is time to murder…

Nobody in Gren has been to the location of the Boarmen, though they have been in the hills in general. The hills are low but they are not a treacherous stretch. They lie a bit south of the Marble Keep, more soutwest…

The Boarmen are fearsome fighters and will continue fighting after mortally wounded.

We are travelling to Copper Hollow.

The road winds around the west lake. We can see across the lake where there are STONE RUINS. There are 15 to 20 ruins in the area that are rumored to be haunted. This is where Rudolph Rinn sold his soul to something several years ago. We keep our eyes closely on the ruins as we pass by. We can also see the Keep on the hills to the left.

We arrive in Copper Hollow. Copper Hollow is a small mining hamlet as they are known to have copper mines. There are a few different mines nearby. The entire hamlet work for the mine and the copper ore goes to Criss Antha for processing. There is no road that leads beyond this hamlet.

We locate an Inn within Copper Hollow. We ask the proprietor some questions:

What kind of encounters have they had? He says that the hills are ravaged by Orcs and Gnolls. People have a sentiment to not upset the Orc and Gnoll activity so they don't bother trying to make trouble. This is also due to MACETOR, which has a large army to patrol the area. Macetor pushes the Orcs and Gnolls toward this area, away from that city.

What of the Boarmen? They are all familiar with the Boarmen. They are very relentless, always warring with the Orcs and Gnolls. They generally keep horrible relations with anything and everyone but they are the ultimate Fighters to go to battle with, even to the detriment of others.

Who else lives in the hills? There are about 70 Berserkers and over a hundred Boarmen. They believe there are only 40 Boarmen.

Anyone seen any encampment? They have not seen any and have gone about 10 miles into the hills. One person has seen some constructed towers before. They were wooden watchtowers at the tops of hills. These towers were built high and had smoke rising from the top.

The people remember regular storms over the Marble Keep some time ago but nobody has seen the storms ever since the Boarmen fled.

We discuss strategy. Should we attack the tower directly? Burn the tower? Then we could ambush those coming to investigate the fire. We will definitely make our way to one of the towers.

The Berserkers fight as 1st level Fighters and can choose to make 2 attacks per round or 1 attack with a bonus. The Boarmen are more fierce than a Gnoll but not as fierce as an Ogre. As for the terrain which we shall be going to, the hills are bare with no forest. We believe we are 10 miles to the northwest of the encampment. One of the miners in town, a man of the hills with a long black and gray beard, will offer to take us through the hills as a guide until we are just out of range of the encampment. He says he knows the lowest ways through the hills to stay out of sight. He will take us for 50 gp and will not take anything less. Maervahr hires him and pays him 10 gp up front.

It is an average Autumn day with decent weather. Our guide shows up bound in too many clothes and a walking stick, he stands almost 2' taller with all his stuff.

Maervahr is taking his horse into the hills but there are only Riding Horses available in Copper Hollow. The going pace is slower than we like but we are paying close attention to the terrain. Our guide moves confidently through the hills, across low passes, even in directions where the terrain was rough but then the path cleared up quickly. Judging by the sun and sky, we are making good time in the direction we go in.

After a couple of hours, the mountain man guide jumps off his horse and brings himself low and points up. We can see a wooden watchtower in the distance. Maervahr uses Clairaudience to listen and can hear the creaking of the wooden tower and occasionally the sound of a single bipedal creature. He does not hear anything other than the one creature. This key location in the hills and the position of the shadows is good to conceal our presence. We don't spend too much time getting around.

We start to make plans. The party can communicate with bird sounds and what not to maintain stealth. Maervahr can turn invisible psionically to the person in the tower.

We can see that there is another hill over yonder, with some more creatures. They are looking around but only rarely and acting lax as far as guards go. They appear to be wielding guisarme-voulges. There is also a lower hill over yonder too and we can see another hill, which is a big one. It has another tower about 22“ away from other tower.

We can see a river or a stream to the east that has a rudimentary bridge that crosses a part of the river. Each tower lies on the edge, partially overlooking the river. It is not as strong of a flow as the river that runs through Gren and it is too big to be considered a stream. There is only a rudimentary bridge and some crude hovels built into the sides of some hills. It looks like they are dug out of the hills and are no more nice than a mud hut. There are also a few actual mud huts along with a big tent that has smoke rising from it. We can see a large campfire and two smaller open canopy tents.

There is much movement in the center of the camp. We count about 18 Boarmen, all carrying weapons such as battle axes, spears and morning stars on their side. In the center of the encampment is a Boarman carrying a battle axe but is also draped with a necklace that has gold bars. He looks bulkier than the others and has a commanding presence.

How strong is their lifeforce? It is as strong as typical Gnolls. They have about 2 HD, give or take, and the smallest one is 7 feet tall. They are considered to be large creatures. Their armor is chainmail.

Maervahr spends 3 turns (a total of 9 Psionic Strength points) to gauge everything using Clairaudience. The bridge looks like it could maybe hold one horse. It is made of rope and planks and is 7-8' wide. Generally, the river itself is a good distance wide. We estimate about 30'. We could fit 4 to 5 men in the tower. We are thinking about bringing Cavalry around the hill to flank the Boarmen and then casting Sleep, Web and Stinking Cloud.

The mountain man guide takes us back a couple of miles away to wait it out. Night falls…

The encounter distance is 15”. The Boarmen only need a 6 to hit Fandillas but MISSES, Maervahr casts Charm Person on the figure in the tower, and it works! However, by this time he has already shouted to alert the others. All the Boarmen attack from the village immediately. Our plan has failed!

Our hired Mercenaries have chainmail, a polearm and a handaxe. The Cavalry have chainmail with shield and lance, as well as a shortsword. The Archers have chainmail.

One of our Cavalry takes 2 damage and there are over 30 Boarmen charging. Ingerd is attacked and is DROPPED!…or not? Disregard! Dan takes 5 points of damage and then 7 points of damage to his horse. He is also dropped! Iskander is hit for 8 points of damage.

At this point in time, all our Mercenary riders are dead and their horses are dead. Morric takes 2 more points of damage. Ingerd manages to hit for 11 points of damage against one Boarmen. One of the Archers hits for 6 points. Maervahr flees and other people do a fighting withdrawal. Another Horse is cut down but Ingerd lands on her feet. Dans body drops to the ground as his horse is killed, though it does not fall on him. Another horse takes 6 damage. Morric takes another 7 damage.

The Heavy Footmen have bardiches but only one hits and does 4 hp of damage. Morric does 14 hp of damage to a Boarman and kills it. Fandillas is now in the tower and tries to grapple one of the Boarmen, the one Maervahr charmed. It weighs about 300 lbs and Fandillas only weighs 100 lbs. The Boarmen falls 50'! There are only 4 Boarmen that can attack Morric each round because they are large and he is smaller as a Dwarf. Fandillas does 6 hp damage and has killed another one. Ingerd does 4 damage to the nearest Boarman.

Maervahr continues to try and flee. Morric also tries to flee but takes some hits for a total of 12 damage. The Boarman Shaman raises his arms and reveals an Armlet that he wears. Suddenly, a stormcloud forms over the battlefield. There is a 72“ cover. A Lightning Bolt goes off…except it does not because we break into Pursuit Rules. Our pursuit chance is 80% likely to occur. Pursuit occurs and the Boarmen Intelligence is low to average.

Maervahr is on his horse. Morric's speed is 90” once he gets on his mount and can get out of the range of the cloud in 1 round, Iskandar can move at 12“ speed to get out of range. We are fleeing as fast as we can. We can see the Shaman channeling the Lightning Bolt and it explodes just FEET behind Morric, sending him flying off his horse and to fall on his face. The smoke and dirt completely conceals the Boarmen and they are unable to catch up to Morric. Ingerd sacrificed herself to save Dan and on of our Footman was tending to Dan.

Dan weighs 150 lbs and the Footman has 14 STR, which gives him +200 lbs weight to his default 350 lbs weight limit (550 lbs). The Footman escapes with Dan's body! During the escape, 4 of the Boarmen are killed by INGERD the Dwarf Fighter but she did not survive. RIP.

317 xp split 17 ways. 19 xp each. (21 xp for Maervahr)

We continue on to Copper Hollow. We make it without being waylaid! News has reached Copper Hollow that the fish are biting again in Gren!

We make it back to GREN.

Referencing DMG page 82.

You've got a buffer of 0 to -3 where you just go unconscious if one attack brought you there and you lose 1 per round unless someone renders aid to you (at no material cost) to stop the reduction. If you reach -6, you've optionally obtained some scarring or loss of digit/member. -9 optionally indicates horrible, exposed scarring. -10 is death.