• Kek - FTR6
• Smedley “Jek” Brinlock - THF6
• Bartoff - CLR1
• Jacob - FTR4
• Fandilas - MAG5/FTR5
• Thorgard - FTR5
• Elias - ASN4

• Monthly upkeep for HIPPOGRIFFS is now being tracked.

• Kek's Training Quest: In the forest of West Hollow, located near Taughanock Falls, a tower breaches the treetops. Kek's trainer is a Fighter that wants to build his domain and this location falls within the area. The Tower has stood for hundreds of years in the forest. Our goal is to escort an architect / engineer to examine the Tower for one day. The purpose for this is that he wants to see if there are any magical fortifications or materials used. The previous owner of the tower was a Magic-User. If we locate a library within the tower, there may be some books on Martial Styles that would be of value to him. We are to map and study the Forest Tower for a full day. The latest rumor is that a large war band of hundreds of Kobolds have taken up residence at the Tower. They are warring with one or more Orc clans from the area. The last time any info made it to the west about the Tower, it was said that Kobolds were spotted on the top. It is said that the Orcs and Kobolds have been at war with each other in recent months. This Tower is also located near Boldbrow Castle which is held by a clan of Berserkers.

We travel to Criss Antha in anticipation of setting out for the West Reach of Hollow and to the Forest Tower Crown.

They will only fight outdoors for a DL 6 quest.

• 18 Pikemen including a Lieutenant, 3 gp each/day, 54 gp per day total. Lieutenant is 2nd level, 200 gp/day.
• 15 Heavy Footmen and a Lieutenant, 2nd level - 200 gp/day.
• 4 Light Footmen.

Jacob challenges the Pikeman Lieutenant to a duel. He's got a Pike.

Jacob does 8 damage and easily defeated him. The Pikeman will now get a loyalty check to allow Jacob to become their Commander instead of their Lieutenant, easy trick to get troops from their commanders.

Jacob has won their alliance and the Lieutenant is defeated and unconscious. They agree to join us.

The forest terrain is rugged but we can move 10 miles a day with the Pikemen Mercenaries which will take approzimately 3 days and 3 nights to reach the Tower.

We get moving. Everyone buys rations before we set out and Thorgard buys rations for the Pikemen.

It is midday. Fandillas brings his Hawk out. Despite the beauty of some blossoms in the forest, the trees block out the sun.

As we pass through the thick trees, we stumble upon an encampment.

It is the middle of the day and the people of the camp hail us cheerfully. This is a band of 70 merry souls who steal from the whoever crosses them.

We invite them to join our group to escort us to the tower. We ask them about the tower and what they know. Their leader says, “I've spoken with the Elves and they warned us away from that place. There could be treasure inside.”

The bandits have a number of skilled warriors among them but they would want treasure, a man for man. We may be able to convince some of the younger ones to join us.

There are a number of Bandits equal to a max of 30. Of this number, 20 Bandits say they will go with us for the Mercenary price and they want half of any treasure gained along the way.

• 20 Light Footmen, carrying short swords, shields, leather armor, AC 7.
• 18 Pikemen, carrying pikes, chainmail, AC 5.

We head out with our large group.

The first day passes without incident.

Thorgard is keeping watch along with 2 Pikemen and 3 Light Footmen.

We see bestial eyes glowing in the shadows. There are 10 pairs of eyes, bestial. From the undergrowth emerges 10 Wargs! As everyone begins waking up, the Wargs move to engage our party.

Thorgard shoots and must hit AC 6. The Wargs are large.

The Bandits and Fandillas all charge in. Jek hits one for 2 damage with his sling and he gets a +2 to his Reaction roll for Initiative.

The group of Bandits hit for a total of 30 damage, which kills 2 Wargs! There are now 8 Wargs left after their charge.

All the Wargs are attacking Mercenaries and specifically, all their attacks are against the Bandits. 5 of the Wargs hit for 8, 2, 3, 6, and 5 damage. 3 of the Bandits are dead. There are 17 Bandits left.

Jek climbs up the tree which is 24' high. The Pikemen hit for 25 damage in total. Meanwhile, one of the Wargs attacks Jacob and hits for 7 damage. There is one hit on a Bandit for 3 damage.

Another round of strikes for 3, 4, 4, 4, and 8 damage against the group of Pikemen and 3 Pikemen are now dead!

The Wargs then take 31 total damage from the Bandits and 33 damage by the Pikemen. Another warg has been slain and only 3 remain!

With their loss in numbers, the Wargs will make a Morale Check. The Wargs break and the 3 try to flee! We get +4 to hit in melee.

Jek hits for 3 damage and we kill all the Wargs.

The rest of the night passes without issue.

The third day passes without any encounters as does the third night.

On the fouth day, we can see that the tower rises above the tree tops a couple miles away. We are accompanied by JORMAN, who is the Engineer / Architect that needs to survey the tower.

The top of the tower is 10' to 20' above the trees. We spot a humanoid looking, man-sized creature that looks like a dark monster. The creature is not wearing clothes but is perched on the top of the tower, very still.

Kek flies up with his wings of flying to attack the creature on the Tower.

Kek gets the surprise!

The encounter distance is 10“ and he has 2 full segments of surprise. Kek gets to him before it is un-surprised and grabs the creature. It is a bipedal creature with long arms and a hunched back, about the size of a man. Kek swoops down and picks up the creature and begins flying backwards. He has a movement rate of 32” when flying.

The creature gutturaly ululates loudly and starts struggling. Kek tries to drop it while shouting “I caught an alien.” Meanwhile, the creature attempts to bite Kek but only the claws hit for 4 damage, The creature then falls and takes 7 damage. It lands with incredible dexterity.

The creature attempts to flee.

Using his sling, Jek hits it for 5 damage as it tries to escape, and it does get away.

We approach the tower.

There is an 11“ encounter distance.

We see creatures moving around up ahead and a crude makeshift encampment. Our approach has alerted them from 330' away. We see about 200 creatures moving about in the forest surrounding the tower.

100 Kobolds are charging along with 2 Wild Boars and 2 Giant Weasels. The latter are the blood sucking variety.

Jek fires a bullet from his sling and hits for 3 damage, others engage them in melee and we kill 7 Kobolds this round.

There are 15 Pikemen left with our group. They attack and must hit AC 8 type 7. 5 of the Pikemen hit and Jacob hits also, killing 14 more Kobolds.

The Giant Weasel hits Fandillas and Kek and does 7 damage to Fandillas. At this point it is attached to him and does not release, draining his blood.

The other Weasel does 8 damage to Kek and also does not release its jaws. Thorgard takes 9 damage.

There are up to 4 Kobolds attacking everyone in the melee. One does 5 damage to Fandillas. Bartoff is hit for 2 points of damage while Jek, the Thief, takes 12 damage then 5 damage. There are 11 hits on the Pikemen.

There are more Kobolds incoming!

In the next round, 11 Kobolds are killed by the line of Pikemen. Thorgard kills 4 Kobolds as he sweeps across. Another 22 Kobolds are killed in total!

Fandillas activates his Wand of Fear as the Giant Weasels detach, also succumbing to the fear. 24 Kobolds are now feared and begin to flee!

There are 55 Kobolds down out of 199 Kobolds in total.

11 of our Pikemen are killed.

The other Kobolds failed their Morale Check and flee in panic! The Kobolds' charge breaks as they turn to flee!

Jek does 12 damage to a Kobold and killed one. 32 Kobolds are slain as they try to flee. One of the Giant Weasel's is feared and begins to flee. Meanwhile, one is still attached to Kek who takes 8 damage. Fandillas also takes 8 damage as Jek moves in to attack the Weasel.

Jek does 9 damage to the Weasel as Fandillas activates his Ring of Shocking Grasp against the Weasel currently attached to Kek. At this point, Kek needs to make a save versus electricity since the current of the ring will effect him! He fails his saving throw and his suit of magical chainmail also fails its save and is destroyed!

The Giant Weasel is slain.

10 damage is inflicted to the Boar and some of the Kobolds go into the tower, alerting something inside. Meanwhile we see that some of the tents are falling down and the Kobolds' numbers have been reduced greatly.

Jek shoots at one of the Kobolds, killing it. The Boar is slain…BUT IT KEEPS FIGHTING! Thorgard is hit by the enraged Boar for 8 damage. Jacob sees some silver coins amongst the tents and one tent is knocked into the fire.

We can tell that the Tower is 6 stories high with a 70' base. The 2nd and 4th floor has a blue flickering light but there are no obvious hiding spots.

Jek fires his sling again and does 3 damage, but this does not kill a Kobold. The Boar, although it should be dead, is still not killed…or stopped. Fandilas is struck and takes 10 points of damage.

Jek can shoot at one of the Kobolds again but at -2 due to range. Meanwhile, Kek is hit for 10 damage. Jek's shot kills another Kobold and then finally, the Boar is dead!

• 34 Kobolds dead.
• 2 Giant Weasels dead.
• 2 Boars dead.

• One Giant Pelt is worth 5500 gp
• The other Giant Pelt is worth 1500 gp

Time is paused. Actually, no…

We found a Leather Armor +3 and it goes to Kek.

We retreat back to town.

On our 1st day of travel, it is uneventful.

On the 2nd day we come across some creatures bathing on some boulders in the forest. There is a pride of 5 Lions. 1 male and 4 females. We avoid them easily.

During the night, there are no encounters or incidents.

3rd day there is a HOSTILE ACTION at about Midday…