• GALARIUS PERTINAX - Half Orc Fighter 1 AC 3/3 large shield, 9“, 4 in 6, 1-3 hear noise
• ADAERIL CHAENT - Elven Fighter 1 / Magic User 1 AC 1/3 1-2 doors, 1-3 hear noise
• ISKANDAR - Magic User 4
• RANDIMIR - Half Elf Cleric 1 / Magic User 1
• DAVLAN - Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 4 buckler
• BRINDLE BRONZEHAND - Dwarf Fighter 1 AC 3/3 medium shield, 9”

There are four new arrivals in Gren and on one of them, Galarius, he bears a map. He traveled from the south towards Gren and received the map from a man from the Veldt. It leads to an old hideout and safe house of an old band of Assassins and Horseman. This band would prowl the hills near Mombafra and are known as the…

They are known to assassinate political figures and would even be willing to kill a baby in the cradle for some coin. They are also skilled Horsemen that controlled a vast swath of the hills around Mombafra.

This particular safe house should be hidden below an old tower that once served a different purpose but was converted to a hideaway. Some of us may have heard of it but no one has ever located the safehouse yet.

It is said that the Crimson Galleon, had a great Scorpion that also prowled the hills. This Scorpion would be set on people and would be used to hunt them.

They believe that the safehouse yet remains unlooted but is still dangerous. We know that Great Scorpions can live for a long time. Although the Crimson Galleon operated decades ago, perhaps as recently as 20 years ago, but their leader was assissinated.

The new arrivals raveled north toward Gren because they have heard that so many adventurers have been successful up here. We discuss how the new characters introduced to the group would want to compete with old characters. Iskandar and Davlan are looking for a new challenge.

Galarius speaks to Davlan and Iskandar about the map. Iskandar has heard of this group before and has heard of a mantle item. The Assassin Prince wore the mantle to hear the whispers of the future. He could plunder all of the riches of the hills due to this magic mantle.

While Iskandar's tale is being regaled, Randimir says that he has heard of this group as well. The leader of the Crimson Galleon assassinated Sideki, a person who gained many items through duplicitous actions.

Based on the map, our location is one day travel east from Mombafra. We must travel across the hills to the location on the map.

The new arrivals have had to travel 108 miles by road to get here meanwhile Davlan was just hanging out in Mombafra, sampling the local tobacco.

Davlan and Iskandar owe upkeep and disease/parasite rolls. The 400 gp upkeep is paid by Davlan and Iskandar has also paid off their upkeep.

The party gathers on the east road to head for Mombafra from Gren and over the course of 4 days, stopping at cities along the way, we find some patrols on the road. There is a force of over 100 figures on the horizon but they never approach or come toward the road we travel upon. They are marching closely and appear to be human sized. About 10% of them are on mounts but they fly no banners. We can tell that they are wearing armor and are moving over the plains rather than by road.

We traveled to Criss Antha and past Qarn. Then we travel past Farius until we are 12 miles from the hills. To the north, we can see the hills off in the distance. There is a group that we encounter not far from Farius but we are sticking to the hills and have not changed our direction once we see them. We carry on as does the other group and they pay us no mind.

We make it into the hills successfully and then to the village of Riknettle, which is wehere we settle in for the night…

The next day we head out for Mombafra. Just as the sun is setting we arrive in the city. This is the biggest city we have seen! The buildings are made of sandy colored stone and there are statues surrounded by gardens. The architecture is angular, all made of sandstone.

The Lord's Keep lies upon the tallest hills surrounding the city. There is tons of economic activity here with the sale of incense, flowers, reeds, wines, etc. As we enter, the Sun is beginning to set.

It is almost spring time and today is rather chilly. The snows are far gone by now yet it is still late winter. After a few days of travel, we get some beds for the evening.

We seek to hire a Porter and a Linkboy then check for some Men-at-arms. We find the following Mercenaries:

• 6 Light Horsemen
• 2 Longbow Archers
• 3 Slingers

Davlan pays for a slinger. One of the cavalry is a Half-Elf.

We take out loans for a Riding Horse (35 gp each).

Iskandar has the following spells: 2 magic missiles, ray of enfeeblement, shield, web.

Randimir has: 3 cure light wounds.

• Randimir was a sailor but his boat capsized and is now a Cleric of Tralf. After his boat capsized, he followed an Albatross to shore and believes the bird was actually Tralf guiding him home.

• Brindle was just a basic gruff Dwarf. He starts conversations by asking “if are you him” because he dislikes people unlike him and has a disdain for the people he hangs around. Brindle has an affinity for animals including a Donkey named Marvin, who he talks to. Generally he is just passive aggresive.

• Davlan is a 2'11“ Halfling that looks like Seth Green.

Our group needs to travel north / north east across the hills. The farther out we go, the more dangerous it gets.

We roll a Surprise die.

We travel for most of the day. The surrounding hills are lower somewhat and turn greener as we go until we descend into a valley. There are small ponds and streams adjoining them that rise out of the valley. The hills turn a tan color again. We are ready to camp.

Randimir is keeping watch along with a Slinger. He hears movement in the hills to the west, from the direction that we came from. There are shapes moving about that are about 140 yards distant and there are 20 of them. They are coming straight toward us…

We discuss putting on our armor but it takes 5 minutes to don banded mail.

There are now 21 shapes approaching us in the night. 21 Orcs come into view of our campfire and formed a half circle around us. They are trying to sneak up on us.

Iskandar unleashes a Magic Missile which knocks down an Orc. They are not wielding any ranged weapons. These Orcs are a ragtag group and there is no Chief among them.

The orcs raise their falchions and unleash a charge cheer. They are now at 3” range. They have AC 7/6 due to their charge. There are 2 more Magic Missiles for 3 and 4 each.

A Slinger hits and a javelin misses. Randimir hits twice for 3 and 5 damage, killing another one.

Dwarves have +1 vs Orcs and they take 4 damage from Brindle, killing it. There are now only 18 Orcs left.

Galarius is cut down on the charge. Brindle has AC 9 and takes 4 damage and is dropped also.

We attempt to parley with the Orcs and proclaim that “We have taken out two of you for each one of us. Why have you started attacking?” After a brief conversation, we learn that their lair is 2 miles from here.

The Orcs explain, “We seek not to fight in these hills, we came to collect a toll. We will part amicably if we part with our coin.”

Randimir casts Charm Person. There is a save versus spells and an Orc rolls a 6 to save, HE FAILS! One Orc is now Charmed and befriends Randimir.

The Charmed Orc looks at the group, “Its kind of late fellas, we got what we came for.” The other Orcs look at him in confusion. The Orcs throw the coin pouch back at Randimir. He says that we will tell everybody at the cave not to cause any trouble. The Orc's name is Dorpin. We ask him to tell his friends back at the lair, not to harass us in these hills.

Adaeril tries to bandage the fallen companions and we go back to Mombafra. After some overland travel, we are retconning the scene.

Back in Mombafra…

We travel on our mounts across the hills and head to a place where the hills descend. We can see the remnants of a tower. It is 30' wide but all that is left of it is a square foundation. The 2nd floor is still there. The tallest remaining wall is 100' beyond the ruined tower. We can see that there is a hill face that rises straight up and at the base of the hill is a door.

Hanging off of the 2nd floor of the tower ruins is a Huge Scorpion though it is still small enough to fit on the 2nd floor. We can tell that the tower is mostly just foundation and it looks chilling. It looks like 4-6' wide. We check around for any cover between us and the tower. There are some boulders but there are no trees and no vegetation.

We sneak up closer. Our Slinger is nervous. We can see that the Scorpion creature is so big. It is on the top of the hill and is bathing in the sun.

After a certain distance, we must roll for surprise.

It is about 1/2 mile away so it will be too far for us to attack it at range. There are numerous boulders that we could climb on. We decide to sneak up to the closest hill and are 100' behind it where we can see a cliff face with a door in it. It is possible to potentially go around the cliff face if we want a wide berth.

The encounter distance is 17“ from the Giant Scorpion but the creature is not moving at all. We sneak around to the door behind it.

If the Sleep spell is cast and we will get triple rate of fire due to the creature being under its effect. However, it has an AC 3.

The mighty Scorpion remains and we take it on, head on! We get into fire range and unleash a massive double volley into the tower ruin. The creature shudders and dark blood drips down from ruined second floor of the tower.

It looks dead to us so we advance. We can see that 100' back behind it, the cliff face rises up as we get closer. There is an opening about 2.5' tall, 20' high, into the side of the cave. We see that the base of tower is gone and there is a basement below. Inside the basement and rubble are the bodies of 2 Goblins and a man with his horse. The Horse has saddlebags completely packed full but the man's skin is completely blackened from the neck down, as if by some unimaginable poison. Inside the basement is a door.

We check the saddlebags. Each of the saddlebags are laden with gold and a comparatively smaller amount of equipment. There is gold everywhere!

• 1,000 gp.
• Leather case
• Belt Pouch.
• Potion vial about the size of our hand. It is clear with a faint sparkle.
• Armor and weaponry: Ring mail, shield and longsword. There is a large hole in the chest piece of the armor.

There are 2 doors and an opening from this area.

Some of us are listening at door. Although there is lots of gravel around, there are only the signs of dragging from a horse sized creature. Galarius does not hear anything so we open the door.

A set of stairs descend 20' to a corner to the left. These are 10' wide stairs.

There is a corridor that opens up to a long room with 2 pillars inside. The pillars are made of polished wood and have square holes running all along their length. They are completely peppered in a grid pattern with these 1” square holes that look to be decorative in nature.

On the far side is a door and the corridor continues to another room with identical pillars. There is a cabinet in the north east, a floor to ceiling cabinet that is made of glass except for the frame. It looks like it is fogged by dirt and age. There is a handle on the side.

Adaeril listens at the door while Davlan checks the cabinet for traps. When he goes to the cabinet, he sees a large shape in the glass cabinet: along snake thing that flickers very fast.

Adaeril hears the sound of small creatures arguing, GOBLINS! They are not trying to be quiet at all. The Goblins sound like they are discussing escape plans like how to get outside now that there is a Giant Scorpion. There is another Goblin that is trying to be heard and there is a strange noise coming from over there. It sounds like there are a total of 5 Goblins that are talking.

Galarius bursts open the door and we find a much larger group of Goblins: 16 Goblins!

We are not surprised.

Adaeril casts Protection from Evil while the two others cast Sleep, Davlan tosses some flaming oil.

We taunt the Goblins and wait for a charge. Tonso attacks with his sling.

We lost the initiative so they ready weapons: shortswords and spears. One of them yells to get more people from other room.

A couple run toward the northern corridor. All of them drop to the ground as we hear some movement to the north.

After casting his spell, Adaeril is charging the Goblins. He breaks off to find two more Goblins. Adaeril has an effective AC -1, and they miss.

Adaeril missed with his attack but Davlan hit. Iskandar and Brindle are killing Goblins. Randimir is killing Goblins in the other room. A Goblin screams.

We end up killing all the Goblins.

There are now 18 Goblin corpses with grubby sacks and pouches.

• 1700 cp
• 209 sp
• 16 shortswords and spears,
• 2 slings and shields.
• 16 bullets.

We go down the staircase and find ourselves in a chamber with leather bound fighting dummies that have been marred by stabby weapons. There are also 2 heavy chests with some shelves over chests. On the shelves are some clay figures depicting two Elves and a Dwarf as well as some Humans. The leather dummies are man sized with holes all along them. The clay figures are 8“ tall.

Davlan checks for traps and Adaeril looks for secret doors.

We hear a pop pop noise from inside the northern wall followed by a long creeeeeeaaaak…then it falls silent. The sound came through the walls.

Now we are investigating the walls for secret doors.

Davlan finds some leather like the kind used on the dummies.

We hear another pop pop, creeeaak, creeaak, pop pop.

Meanwhile, we find no traps. What is this weird contraption we are hearing?

Adaeril checks out the Dwarf figurine while Davlan is looking for a secret compartment and Galarius is watching the stairs. Brindle also starts looking at the Dwarf figurine, which is crude and amateur but it wears a crown. A lot of the crowns on these figures are depicting jewelry or capes and they hold scepters. There is no noise heard from the eastern door. There is just the 2 shelves holding 27 clay figures.

We are opening the eastern door, which opens to a room. This room has spiral stairs in it that go down. The stairs are decorated with carvings of beautiful Erinyes Devils. The staircase goes up to a door in the northern wall.

Suddenly, a small gold cat comes down the stairs and purrs lowly. We now have a Dungeon Cat!

Iskandar thinks the Cat is so wonderful and wants to take it with him. It purrs low and comfortable. Iskandar tries to pet the Cat and it leaps into Iskandar's arms. Galerius holds his blade at the ready while Iskandar has the Cat. He thinks it has wonderful fur and the Guard Dog likes the Cat too.

Iskander finds that its a Boy Cat but the purring is accompanied by a buzzing noise from the south.

We are moving toward the southern stairs when suddenly, some Stirges attack us! They are feathered creatures that fly down the staircase into our lantern light.

The Stirges have a proboscis that is multiple feet long with human like eyes. 2 are killed but 3 make it to our group.

There are 2 on Iskandar and 1 on Adaeril. One of them does 1 damage to Iskandar and it attaches to the Magic-User. Adaeril blocks the attack easily.

Davlan kills one while Galerias tries to remove one but it cannot be pulled off by the hands of mortals, so they say. They have an AC 6.

There is another hp loss to Iskandar as it remains attached but Brindle kills the Stirge before the loss of more hp to Iskandar.

The remaining Stirge turns and tries to fly away.

We kill it.

After 4 rounds of combat. Davlan needs to make 4 saves. He fails twice and he likes the Cat now.

There is another pop pop creeaak from the north west, beyond the wall.

We push open the north door and find a 30' deep room with chairs, wooden tables, supplies, a glint of alchemical supplies that is missing some key pieces. The supplies look like they are used for chemistry. In the east wall is an arm chair that is bronze framed. It looks valuable but heavy.

We can hear, very clearly, the popping and creaking noises in the wall to west, which is the left side wall. Some of us start searching for concealed doors.

Iskandar searches the chair meanwhile, just out of Brindle's reach are some perfectly concealed stone panels, a total of 10 of them. They are 6-7 feet along wall in a perfect row. It takes a bit for us to notice them. Iskandar notices a wall panel behind the chair as well. It is a 2' x 2' square. Iskandar tries to uncover the panel and moves the brass chair. He takes off the panel and finds that there is a steel safe in a secret compartment. The safe can be opened with 3 numerals on a combination lock.

In total there are 2 stools, 2 chairs, and a brass chair to sit on in here which some of us do while Davlan listens at the tumbler. Through his safe cracking ability, he successfully deduces the combo. Which is 118 for the combo. The tumbler unlocks! What is inside? The opened safe holds:

• 800 pp
• 450 gp
• and a potion vial. The vial is opaque.

We also find a metallic rod that goes into the wall but it has no mechanical effect on the safe. We wonder if the panels in the ceiling are a trap. Davlan checks out the potion which has no smell and is completely full.

We move the chair toward the entrance and then enter the south room. In the back of this room is a small stone door. Suddenly, the door slides open and an 8' tall Golem emerges. It glows bright orange and moves forward, towering over us.

It brings its sword down on Galarius and Galarius lifts up the chair. It brings down the sword on him, which is a thick stone sword but counts as a maul. The stone sword does 12 DAMAGE! Galarius is at -2 hp.

Iskandar casts Ray of Enfeeblement and it fails its save! It is now Enfeebled!

This is considered a large creature. It takes 9 Damage from Davlan who has a magical sword that slices through the Golem. Adaeril blocks the massive stone sword and is almost knocked down. The Golem does not pursue Brindle who withdraws.

Iskandar's Magic Missiles blast into the Golem, as two floating orange dots that leave craters in the creature. Davlan finishes it off as the weakened head snaps off from the neck.

It only had a large stone sword and we search the empty 10' x 10' room.

We discover a panel on the left side of wall that goes all the way up to the ceiling. It is 12' tall and out of reach.

Davlan scales the wall and gets to the panel which is filled with cobwebs. There is also a small box at the bottom of compartment. He checks for traps at 40%. The base of the cubby has a small separation between and a featherweight sensitivity panel.

Meanwhile, there is a bad looking bruise on Galarius but it is not black death. Davlan tests out the base of the cubby and lifts the box out. We also lift up a piece of the Golem then switch the item. There is the sound of a spring going off from a large object inside the box. Davlan checks the box for traps and notices something shiny inside, a glass cylinder is attached to the lid inside the box.

We head back to town with what we have found and make it back to Mombafra unscathed.

Iskandar is taking care of the Cat. The chair we brought back with us is worth 350 gp.

Detect Magic is cast:

• The vial from the safe has a faint magi
• The cylinder is magic
• The pouch vial is magic, specifically the contents of the opaque vial.

Davlan tastes one of the potions and must save vs poison. He Failed! Davlan suddenly collapses to the ground as his breathing slows. We immediately take him to the Temple and just before it stops and with only slow breathing, the Priest begins casting an incantation. Davlan's eyes slowly open and then he promptly throws up.

We are at the House of Shrines with a Priest of Scaepa. The charge for the cure is 300 gp. Davlan will pay the gold for the casting.

The Potions of Poison have no value but Vras will buy the poison.

There is also a clear sparkly potion. Adaeril will taste it…and he does not die, He feels springy, like he could climb any peak. We sell the potion for 500 gp.

We pay 5 gp for a hand drill.

Meanwhile, a Guardsmen walks past us while we have the Cat, he says “That's a mighty fine cat!” and offers us 5 sp for it.

Davlan uses the hand drill and drills through the top of the box, through the polished veneer. He created a gold piece size hole along with a considerably well cut sapphire and a crystal vial. He manages to take out the sapphire and crystal vial, which has a clear liquid and a silver leaf around the stopper. Actually, it is a gold leaf potion and he tastes it. He believes its a Potion of Haste.

The sapphire is worth 1000 gp.

When we haggle for the prices of things, the Merchant appears to be interested in the Cat. He gives it a close inspection and then asks, “You seem to be a man of good repute, what is a fair price?”…

XP from coin: 1272 xp

Treasure Split: 6x 246 platinum, 3 gold, 1 electrum, 5 silver.

1506 xp each.

TOTAL XP:

• Davlan gets 1706 xp.
• Galarius gets 1656 xp.
• Adaeril 753 xp each class.
• Randimir 911 xp Cleric / Magic-User for each class.
• Brindle gets 1657 xp
• Davlan 6382 xp for Fighter and 7022 for the Thief.
• Iskandar gets 16949 xp.

Session End Date.