Abandoned Camp: After Schnuffella’s wise decision to talk to Bindi Oakvale alone and in
doing so getting new information about the missing daughter, we made our way to the
Hunter’s Camp. Following the description of Mrs. Oakvale, we found the Camp in a state of
destruction. There had been a fight and one of the participants was left dead and cold in the
dirt. Before we could identify the body or look for further clues, we got ambushed by four
Goblins, which as I presume were left here either as rear-guard (unlikely) or to loot the camp
of everything shiny. Even though we were surprised, we managed to deal with the goblins
quickly and let none of the attackers escape.
After this short skirmish, we tended to our wounds and looked for further clues as to who the
dead person was and what had happened here. The body did not fit the description of Veto,
the hunter we were looking for and there were signs, that at least one person got taken away
by the assailants. We also found a crudely fashioned map pointing us toward a nearby cave.
In a stroke of bad luck, Onyxus got summoned to the Church of the New Sun in Andrial to
assess newfound information that could be connected to the cult, so he had to leave us
immediately. One companion down we decided to keep going, for the hunter might still be
alive and could be saved.
Hobbs the Businessman: Not sure as to what we would find in the said cave we
approached with caution and in another stroke of brilliance Schnuffella used her nature-given
magical abilities to transform into an inconspicuous insect and scouted ahead. She would tell
us later, that the cave was occupied by more goblins which we presumed were in league with
our earlier encountered assailants. Lyrazi and Schnuffella managed to sneak up on the first
guards of the camp and took them out with one coordinated strike. Even though they met
only a few days prior, it looked like they had worked together for years. We snuck up on the
guards directly in front of the cave entrance and after a little magical distraction, we managed
to take them out silently.
Not sure how to proceed since we were clearly outnumbered by the Goblins in the cave and a
stealthy approach would be unlikely to succeed, we decided to send Schnuffella into the cave
to talk to the goblin’s leader, a Hobgoblin by the name of Hobbs. Lyrazi and I would wait
outside, prepared to rush to Schnuffella’s aid if needed. It turns out that Hobbs and his little
band of goblins were driven out of their old home by the goblin Grisnuk and his fellow thugs.
It was also Grisnuk that had attacked and kidnapped the Hunter. Hobbs admitted to robbing
the caravan of Trader Darion but claimed they only took the wares out of necessity to be able
to survive on their own.
I was very skeptical about this whole story, but Schnuffella seemed to believe Hobbs and after
a short discussion, we decided to help him and his band by getting rid of Grisnuk. In return,
we would get the stolen wares and Hobbs promised to not attack anyone from Andrial
anymore. Hobbs claimed to be more of a businessman anyway and said he wants to make a
deal with the village to live in coexistence once Grisnuk was dealt with. We also managed to
convince Hobbs, that the guards outside were killed by a bear. Apparently, he did not think
too highly of the dead since he believed us rather willingly.
Home sweet home: Hobbs led us to his old home, which was filled with goblins, luckily most
of these goblins still respected Hobbs and let us pass without any trouble. I was still not sure if
we could trust Hobbs but by now it was too late anyway, and I hoped we had made the right
decision. We entered a small canyon that included a section in which some holding cells had
been built. In one of those cells, we found our missing hunter Veto, pretty beat up but alive.
We freed him and he told us about Meryll and how she had come to him a few days ago. She
had received a message from a druidic circle near Racencrest in which she was offered a
place in this circle. She, willing to accept this offer, traveled north, only taking her dog and a
few belongings. (And without telling her mother…) Thankful for this information, we sent him
back to Andrial and made our way deeper into the canyon and the actual cave that served as
the goblins’ home. Inside we met the first resistance, while Hobbs was able to talk us through
so far, the goblins in the cave are loyal to Grisnuk and would not be persuaded so easily.
We snuck up on the first few goblins on our way and with a bit of illusory magic and Lyrazi’s
natural cunning, we dispatched them quickly and without much hassle. (except for a little
burned hair on Lyrazi’s tail, sorry again…) Hobbs also showed that he was a surprisingly good
fighter for just being a simple “businessman”. He also cut off the heads of the goblins and
threw them at the feet of the next guards to intimidate them and make sure we meant
business. They valued their own lives more than their loyalty to Grisnuk and ran as fast as
they could without looking back. Now we stood in front of Grisnuk’s chambers and Hobbs
informed us, that Grisnuk wasn’t alone. There was also some kind of shaman who led the
goblins spiritually and was a loyal follower of Grisnuk. If the shaman would be able to use his
magic freely, we would probably not leave this place unharmed, so we decided to let
Schnuffella and Hobbs distract Grisnuk while Lyrazi and I would take care of the shaman.
We stormed into the chambers and without a big exchange of words a heavy fight ensued.
Grisnuk was a formidable foe and Schnuffella and Hobbs just barely managed to keep him in
check. I managed to cast a spell over the shaman and put him to sleep while Lyrazi used this
opportunity to attack him freely. Unfortunately, he was tougher than he looked and survived
our first attacks. My inept use of the rapier did not help in that, and the shaman sent out a
wave of flame that nearly overwhelmed us. Once again showing her skill in wielding her
daggers Lyrazi used the shaman’s concentration on his spell to move in and finish him off by
slitting his throat.
Meanwhile, Grisnuk fought like he was possessed, and Hobbs could barely hold him at bay.
Even though Schnuffella and Hobbs landed one good strike after another Grisnuk would not
go down. I did my best to support my allies with my magic but could not find my mark since
Grisnuk darted around in a frenzy. Lyrazi, already weakened by the shaman’s fire, had run
over to assist our allies. Grisnuk took advantage of her condition and with a faint toward
Hobbs landed a heavy strike with his terrible axe against Lyrazi who went down and did not
move anymore. We panicked and tried to get to her, but Grisnuk stood in our way. Schnuffella
drew his attention by landing a bone-shattering strike against his left arm. The crazed goblin
swung his axe at her and would have hit her right in the chest if Hobbs hadn’t used this
opening to make a wide swing with his longsword and decapitated Grisnuk.
After Grisnuk had fallen we rushed to Lyrazi’s aid and managed to stop her bleeding and
stabilize her. We took a few minutes to rest and explored the chamber, it was rather odd since
some pipes stuck out of the wall and there were also some dwarven ruins and statues which
looked at least a few centuries old if not older. (Wasn’t Ridelia uninhabited before the King
came here?) We did not expect any trouble from the other goblins since Grisnuk was taken
care of now and so we took this opportunity and rested for the night. On the next day, we
discussed our plans with Hopps. We were to take Grisnuk’s head to Captain Boran to collect
the bounty and to tell him about Hobbs’ wish to make a deal with the village. Hobbs would
use this time to bring his band back to their old home and prepare the stolen wares for
transport.
New Leadership: Schnuffella decides to look around for the flowers we still needed to find
and Lyrazi and I went back to the village. We made our way back to Andrial where we also
met back up with Onyxus who had interesting news. He had found out about a ritual that once
was used to summon demons to this plane. When the King first landed on Ridelia he managed
to close these portals but not much is known about that time. Here is a rhyme regarding the
closing of the portals written by Barend Swifthand.
Our king Aldrich Ridelia from a faraway land
Who brought righteousness with his own hand?
When Demons from portals coming in streaming
Killing, pillaging; houses burning and villagers screaming
The king and his armies with their weapons divine
Sending them back to the hells of nine
Bound in eternity by the magical seal
Giving the people and land time to heal
We decide to research more about this once we reach the church and the University of
Ravencrest.
After meeting Onyxus we went to Captain Boran and presented Grisnuk’s head as proof of his
demise. We are awarded the bounty and even though we had to persuade the Captain to not
bring Hobbs to him in chains, he was even willing to talk to Hobbs about this deal between the
village and the goblins.
On our way back to Hobbs Lyrazi curious as ever made an observation. In front of a house in
the village stood a tough-looking man guarding the door. Nonchalantly Lyrazi walked up to
him and with her usual charm wanted to know what he was doing there. This almost led to a
fight, but we managed to calm this mountain of a man down who introduced himself as Brakk.
The conversation dragged on and nothing of importance was said but somehow this seemed
to have more meaning to Brakk and Lyrazi than to the rest of us. After leaving the village and
meeting back up with Hobbs and Schnuffella, he gave us the stolen wares in a Bag of Holding
(which we had to buy, probably a worthwhile investment though). Hobbs also wanted us to
talk to the people that operate the black market in the village and convince them to start
trading with him instead of the cult. As fate wills it, he names Brakk as the person we should
talk to (what a coincidence). We bring the Hobbs into the village and leave him with the
Captain to discuss their deal. We also bring the stolen wares back to Trader Darion and
receive the reward.
Drinks and Shady Deals: After all this, we decide to partake in the drinking contest of the
tavern, mostly because we needed some stress relief but also because we could win a free
stay in the tavern. We swallowed the vile-tasting dianthus weed provided by Schnufella, which
besides the wish to instantly throw up has the effect of negating the effects of alcohol on the
body. We won the drinking contest easily and received a voucher for a free stay in any tavern
in Ridelia (apparently, it’s a franchise or something like that).
Later Lyrazi informs us, that she had arranged to meet up with Brakk and talk about the black
market and their dealings. (I still don’t know when she managed to arrange this!) She took
Schnuffella as backup in case something bad would happen and met Brakk in the house he
guarded during the day. Onyxus and I waited on the market square and talked about our
plans and presumptions regarding the mysterious ritual and the cult. After a few minutes,
Lyrazi and Schnuffella meet up with us and recount to us what was said during the meeting
with Brakk. The let’s call them Thieves Guild is trading with the cult, which is rather lucrative
for them, we’ll probably have to take out or weaken the cult to stop this trade deal and help
out Hobbs. Lyrazi also saw a suspicious-looking man coming out of the back of the house, he
may have been a member of the cult. We discussed our plans and options on what you should
do next. We would probably head north toward Ravencrest to find new information about the
cultists and their rituals, we also wanted to look for Meryll Oakvale who went in the same
direction. Unforeseen events would put a stop to our plans though. We got woken up late at
night, just before dawn. Out of the taproom, we heard a loud and panicked voice of a young
girl who was talking to Kor. As we entered the room one by one the girl turned to us and said
she was looking for us, the guard had sent her to us in the hope we could help her.
Still crying the girl introduced herself as Selena and told us about the dreadful events that
forced her to come here. Her family which lives far outside the village got attacked by a group
of men and took her older sister Emma prisoner. After some effort to calm her and a few more
questions asked we assumed the attackers are part of the cult operating out of the cave,
Hobbs told us about. With haste, we made our way to the cave which lay several hours east of
the village. The only notable thing on the way there was Lyrazi complaining about not having
eaten breakfast yet.
Grim Rituals: As we came close to the cave entrance we decided to move on as quietly as
possible and send Schnuffella ahead to scout out the cave in the form of a spider. Besides an
old Ogre skeleton and the sought-after glowflowers, she also saw 3 cultists guarding the
entrance. We laid an ambush and lured the cultist out of the cave where we overwhelmed and
killed them. Further in the cave we saw 4 cultists around a little fire and prepared another
ambush, I used my magic to turn Lyrazi invisible so she could sneak up on them, then I put
two of them to sleep. Lyrazi used her advantage perfectly and killed the third cultist in the
blink of an eye and before he knew what was going on the last cultist fell to Schnuffella and
Onyxus. Using some rope, we tied up the two sleeping cultists so we could question them
later. Further back in the room was a chest which Lyrazi tried to open, only to find out it was
trapped and empty. After another turn right the cave ended, and we could not find another
way that we could follow. Schnuffella used her druidic magic and talked to one of the cavedwelling rats who told her of a secret passage but could not tell us how to open it. The rat also
told us about people that got taken into the cave by cultists and never returned. While
Schnuffella searched for the secret door Onyxus and I woke up the cultists to question them
about their plans and how to open the secret door. We did not have much time and could not
get anything useful out of them except for some cryptic threats about some master who was
going to sacrifice us and that the ritual is already finished. Not wanting to risk anything we
decided we had no other choice than to kill them as well. In the meantime, Lyrazi had taken
an interest in the rat and started poking it which provoked the rat into biting her finger (as a
rat I would probably be afraid of a large bipedal cat too). Lyrazi, not having the best impulse
control decided to step on the rat, killing it. Schnuffella saw this in shock and accused Lyrazi
of being heartless and egotistical. While the two argued Onyxus looked around for a hint on
how to open the secret entrance. Lucky for us, he succeeded and found a hidden leaver.
Which once pulled opened up the entire back wall of the cave.
The now-revealed archway led down a hallway that was blocked off by rubble from a cave-in,
on each side hung torches from the walls, and near the end were large double doors on both
sides. We did not have much time to how or when this was built since we suddenly stood face
to face with the two guards of this hallway. The two cultists jumped at us as soon as they
noticed we were no allies but were outmatched and outnumbered. After a short fight in which
Schnuffella turned into an elk and skewered the first cultist and Onyxus made short work of
the second one with his mace, we investigated the hallway. Listening to the left set of double
doors we heard some snoring and decided to barricade it with a shield which we wedged
under the handles. Behind the right door, we heard someone monolog about how the
prisoners were to be sacrificed very moment now, we took this as a sign for us to not waste
any more time and barged into the room. The surprised jailor had no time to react to the
charging elk, got hurled against one of the prison cells, and stopped moving, his head at a
weird angle to his neck. The room was small but led to another set of double doors further
back. In the cells directly in front of us cowered a young human girl and a goblin, Emma and
Radgar, Hobbs’ friend he asked us to look for (which I had almost forgotten about). We
ensured they were okay, sent both to the cave entrance and told them to wait for us there.
We had decided to try and take care of the last cultist, hoping to end all this madness right
now. As we got close to the closed doors, we heard chanting as well as some talk about
sacrifices to some lord and two cultists opened the doors to get the prisoners. The second
time today I got to see the surprised and confused look of a cultist being charged by an elk
and they flew back into the chamber.
The chamber had a circular form and at the far end stood an old stone altar, in the middle of
the room sat 6 cultists in a circle around some glowing glyphs they had etched into the
ground. Their leader at the altar bellowed a command and without any hesitation, the cultist
slit their throats and spilled their blood on the glyphs. In a moment of shock, we could only
watch as a red portal opened, and a bunch of Imps and Hell Hounds burst out of it. Not
wanting to waste any more time we charged forward to get to Zlato but got cut off by the
endless stream of demons. Zlato only laughed and stepped into to portal, vanishing gods
know where. Our situation was dire, we had no means to close the portal and could barely
hold our own against these fiends. Seeing no other option Onyxus sounded the retreat and we
fell back, closing and blocking the doors that led to the hallway so we could escape. As we ran
out of the cave, we grabbed Emma and Radgar and ran for our dear lives.
Back in Andrial: We traveled back to Andrial without stopping, neither Radgar nor Emma
complained about the brisk tempo but the two of them looked close to collapsing after their
imprisonment by the cult. As the village came into sight, we breathed a sigh of relief, there
had not been any signs of the cult or other demon-related things on our way back and Andrial
looked as peaceful as we left it. Not wanting to lose any time we went straight to the
guardhouse and demanded to speak to Captain Boran to report about the newly opened
portal and the possible threat it will pose. Given that we helped around the village before and
Emma and Radgar told the same story the Captain did not hesitate to act upon our warning.
Even though he was short on guards he set out with some of them to investigate and if
possible, stop the fiends from spreading. He gave us a sendingstone, a letter for the Captain
of the Guard of Ravencrest and asked us to travel up north to Ravencrest to notify the guard
and request reinforcements, should Captain Boran need it. We agreed, we wanted to travel
north anyway so this did not inconvenience us in any way, but first, we had to take a muchneeded rest in the inn.
Stepping through the inn’s doors we were greeted by Selena rushing to Emma, with tears in
her eyes she thanked us a thousand times for bringing her older sister back to her. We told
them both to stay in Andrial until the problem with the portal was taken care of. Hobbs, who
also sat in the taproom, came over to see if Radgar was okay and hear what had happened in
the cave. He did not seem to be too bothered by the fact, that demons flooded onto this
plane, and ever the businessman he had another proposal for us to help him expand his
business. He wanted us to clear out the warehouse of the blackmarked so he could take over
operations there and offer us better deals in the future. After a short discussion, we agreed to
help him on our way out of the village. Pleased he bought us a round of drinks and already
started planning his next business ventures. Schnuffella was a bit distracted and stepped
outside to clear her head and to see if Gulliver had come back with a message from home,
Onyxus accompanied her to make sure she would be safe. Meanwhile, Lyrazi and I were
approached by an older elf who introduced himself as Barend Swifthand, the author of the
poem about the closing of the portals over 30 years ago. We asked him about the closing of
the portals and if he could tell us anything else about them, how the king had closed them, or
anything that would help us to defeat the demons. Unfoundedly Swifthand had no satisfying
answers to our questions since he had not been there himself, he only collected what people
said about the events and put them in his poems. He was rather interested in us as a group
and asked us if we could write down or tell him our adventures so far so he could spread the
word of our deeds in his songs and poems. I gave him a copy of the notes I’d been taking and
started his work right away.
Schnuffella and Onyxus came back with interesting news, Gulliver had brought her something
of her mother, it was a circlet that was in her family for a long time. According to a legend, a
phoenix had given a part of itself in the creation of the circlet, and it is said to be magical, but
no one could find out whether this was true. I tried to identify the magic on the circlet and its
purpose, but after a few hours, I could only find out that it indeed was imbued with ancient
and powerful magic. The source of this magic and its purpose or use eluded me…
Schuffella remembered the flowers we had collected for Kor to give to Diane and called the
bartender over to our table. We gave him a few motivational words and send him over to
Diane, the two talked for a while and it seems as if they were hitting it off very well. Let’s
hope they have a wonderful future together.
We decided to go to bed early so we could hit the warehouse in the night and still get some
sleep before we made our way to Ravencrest. We meet with Brakk in front of the Warehouse,
and it did not take much convincing on our side to bring him to join us, he had been at odds
with some of the other thugs from the black market, so he was looking forward to getting his
revenge. We tried to sneak in and create some sort of a diversion, but Brakk decided to kick
the fighting off by smashing in the head of one of his not-so-well-liked colleagues. After that,
we had no choice but to clear out the entire warehouse without any real option for deception
or sneaking. We took care of the first guards on the ground floor and moved down some stairs
to the rooms where the rest of the thugs had set up shop and were awaiting us. It took a while
and we had to get creative with some shapeshifting on Schuffella’s side as well as Onyxus
making sure we would all come out alive, but we managed to take all out that opposed us.
Some of the men decided to just watch and see how everything would turn out so that at least
we did not have to kill everyone in the house, which is a refreshing change in these lands.
After the warehouse was safe and clear, Hobbs came to check out his new place of commerce
and congratulated us on a job well done. He also gave Schnuffella a gilded acorn for her to
use in some of her druidic spells. When the sun rose, we visited the mapmaker to get a map
of Ravencrest and its surroundings and we went to see Flavius Mercurio the smith to sell
some of the valuables we had… acquired. While being there we also talked to Skippy who
asked us to teach him some more magic. I taught him a little spell called Mage Hand which
can be used as a spectral hand from some distance. Onyxus decided to teach him a cleric
spell called Sacred Flame, at first, we weren’t sure if Skippy could master spells of the divine
school as fast as he does with the arcane spells, but it turned out he had no problem at all
picking it up. Flavius was a bit skeptical about us teaching Skippy a spell that could potentially
set his smithy aflame, and I agreed with him on that, but we told Skippy to not experiment too
much with that and to be careful where and when he uses it. With a bit more gold in our bag
and a little bit of a bad conscious, we left the smithy and headed north.
On our way, we stopped at the church to talk to Sunpriest Aldor about the portal and asked
him if he had any information that could aid us in closing it or fighting the demons. He could
not tell us much but gave us a letter for the Highpriest Venra so they would know we helped
the church in Andrial.
Onwards to Ravencrest: So, we made sure we had finished up all our business in Andrial
and began our journey to Ravencrest. I was still a little anxious because we still had not found
any real information about the portal and the doings of the cult, but we were all looking
forward to going north to possibly get some answers and more adventures.
On the way to Ravencrest, we stopped by Sir Garond’s Mansion to help him with his huge
monster problem, as he called it but as we arrived the mansion seemed abandoned. Looking
around the outside did not yield any results and so Onyxus decided to open the front door and
look inside. We heard a little snap and a small pair of wooden bolts shot out from behind the
door which hit Onyxus but could not pierce his armor. This rather crude trap was set up by
some Kobolds who hat set up camp in the middle of the large foyer. They had been expecting
us and were ready to defend their newly found home from any outsiders that would attempt
to throw them out. Fortunately, Kobolds are not the brightest of creatures, and after a bit of
Kobold-diplomatics, which in this case was just a shouting match of the same arguments back
and forth, we could convince them of our status as friends of The Master, as they call
whatever entity they serve. Lyrazi was allowed to go up the stairs to pay The Master respect
by bringing him a gift. (Which if I recall correctly was a fish, she had bought one or two days
prior) After a short audience, the rest of us was also called upstairs and we stood face to face
with a Black Dragon! This specimen was not very old yet, but it was still an imposing sight,
which only got enhanced by the partly still smoldering remains of what the Dragon claimed to
be Sir Garond and his men. The Black Dragon introduced himself as Braxxen and claimed this
Mansion and the surrounding lands as his territory. We decided not to question the validity of
this claim and kept our role as submissive mortals, impressed and frightened by Braxxen’s
appearance and might. We could convince him to let us go and spread the word of the mighty
new lord of these lands and promise to come back and bring him tribute from his other
“subjects”.
Still a bit surprised by what had transpired at the mansion we were discussing what we should
do about this new threat to the region. Not paying too much attention to the road we were
traveling on we came across a curious sight. A young human boy and a large but also young
Goliath stood on the road and seemed to be waiting for travelers like us on their way to
Ravencrest. The boy introduced himself as Gregor and promptly started to promote an
antidote potion that he wanted to sell us. We were not interested and began moving again as
a blowdart from somewhere up in the canopy hit me right in the neck, which made us all
spring into action. Onyxus drew his weapon and took a stand in front of Gregor and his Goliath
friend, Schnuffella and I stood next to him prepared for another attack. Gregor smugly
proclaimed that we would need to buy the antidote now to counteract the poison they had
just injected me via the dart, which I had pulled out pretty quickly, but I could already feel the
effects of said poison taking hold of me. While we had our little stand-off on the road Lyrazi
had spotted the culprit that shot me, up in the tree sat an elf girl with a blowpipe looking
pretty proud of herself and her marksmanship. Lucky for us Lyrazi wasn’t in the mood to play
any games and pounced up on the branch the girl was sitting on, grappling her and holding a
knife to her throat. With this convincing argument on our side, Gregor had no other choice
than to give us the antidote and make a run for it, we let them leave without harming them
since they were just some kids. But we warned them to stop waylaying travelers on the road,
next time they might try to scam someone not as forgiving as we are.
Recovered and now more careful we continued our trip north and reached Ravencrest without
any further delay. The Village was bigger than Andrial, but somehow it was darker than the
village at the sea. It was quiet and the only moving thing we could see from afar was the flock
of ravens which were probably the namesake of this place. We made our way to the Raven’s
Nest, the local inn, to spend the night there and plan our course of action for the next day.
A village in turmoil: Our first encounter with the residents of Ravencrest was to be with the
bouncer of the Raven’s Nest, Thronk. A rather unpleasant individual with not much sense of
humor. It took some effort to convince him not to take my book together with our other
weapons since the Inn had a no-weapons policy.
Inside we went to the bar and requested food, drink, and rooms for a few days. The bartender
introduced himself as Drexus, the bar owner, and he was not at all happy to see we had
obtained a voucher for a free stay in his Inn. Said something about Kor handing them out like
they were pamphlets to a theatre show.
We sat down but got soon interrupted by a strange woman, she was dressed in some weird
robes and asked us if we had seen a dragon or a dragon egg, which made us very suspicious
given our most recent encounter with Braxxen. We decided to tell her about the young dragon
and his little fellowship of kobolds in the mansion. The woman revealed her name to be
Mirana, she lives in a cloister nearby that dedicated itself to the worship and study of dragons.
She also asked us if we could capture Braxxen and bring him to her, after some probing, she
told us that Braxxen’s egg was stolen and the cloister feared someone could plan to use him
for an evil scheme or abuse his powers in any other way. We agreed to her request, and she
told us to best ask around at the university for a good way to sedate a black dragon.
Obviously, Braxxen would not like to come with us voluntarily… We discussed this problem
and our plan for the next few days and went for an early rest.
Early in the morning, I got woken up by Captain Boran’s voice, it took me a few seconds to
realize he was using the sending stone he had given us earlier. Boran relate the current state
at the cave to me, the guards were holding on but the number of approaching demons was
increasing and they would need reinforcements fast if they wished to hold out for any longer. I
ensured him we’d immediately go to the local guardhouse to convey his request to the
Captain. We scrambled out of our beds and left the Inn without any delay or breakfast, which
was much to the disliking of Lyrazi. On the way to the guardhouse, we saw a bunch of ruffians
yelling at an elf screaming something about him poisoning the water and causing a plague
that had infected the village. We observed for a short while but stepped in before the group
could harm the lone elf. The humans seemed ready for a fight but weren’t bold enough to try
their luck against our group, we told them off and they left still blaming the elf. The elf
thanked us and introduced himself as …., he told us about a sickness that had taken hold of
Ravencrest and that some humans blamed the elves for it. We assured him, we’d talk to the
Guard Captain about this and sent him to the Inn. We talked about the sickness or plague as
the human had called it and contemplated if we could do something about it when we got
interrupted by an unnerving sight. Schnuffella had stopped walking and pointed to a spot in
front of us, where it looked like the ground was moving and shifting and it seemed to get
closer. After a few seconds, we identified this strange moving mass, and it was not a pleasant
discovery. Rats, dozens of rats were moving as one big mass in our direction, and it looked
like they were infected with some kind of sickness that drove them to this unusual behavior.
Unwilling to find out if this raving pile of fur and teeth was interested in cuddling, we attacked
and took out most of the rodents, the few survivors fled to a nearby sewer entrance. There
was going on a lot in this small village and it felt like we were about to get dragged right into
the middle of it.
We walked up the steps to the big guardhouse and expressed our wish to talk to the local
captain, presenting the writ Captain Boran gave us. We were let up to the office of local guard
captain Cain, a burly middle-aged man standing behind a desk that was overflowing with
paper in the form of maps, letters, and scrolls. We introduced ourselves to him and told him
about the desperate situation Captain Boran is in and what this threat could mean for the
whole area. After reading Boran’s letter and listening to our report he agreed to send 30 of his
guards to aid Boran and his men, but he also asked us to aid him and the village with this
plague. The Church of the New Sun blames the followers of the moon goddess for causing this
illness and encouraged the locals to do so too. Cain suspected the origin of the plague
somewhere down in the sewers… which meant we were in for a particularly bad-smelling tour
through the bell of this village. Cain also told us the mayor was missing and so most of the
administrative duties fell onto him, which explained the chaos on his desk, maybe we could
look into the mayor’s disappearance after we had found the source of this plague.
We left the Captain to his business and made our way to the University of Ravencrest. It was a
bustling place full of students and teachers learning and teaching all sorts of things, I was
fascinated and wanted to stay just to see how much knowledge was stored here but we had
more pressing matters to attend to. We asked our way to the headmaster’s office and
knocked on its door. Inside we were greeted by an older man, Halion the headmaster of this
university. We introduced ourselves and asked if he could help us with a few of our questions.
He was rather willing and curious so we started with our question about the best way to
sedate a Dragon, which he could not help us with, and told us to ask around for someone with
more expertise on dragons. Then we told him about the opened portal and the demonic
infestation and for any information he had on that. Halion seemed rather puzzled, he had
heard about these portals and told us everything he knew. The portals were set up to keep
powerful demons in check and stop their corruption from spreading onto our plane. It’s said
that there are 9 portals all over the Island which were sealed by the king with divine power, as
said in the poem. Halion also mused that there should have been some kind of guards to
make sure no one would meddle with the portals, maybe they were attacked and killed or
even turned traitor and are part of the cult now. He also disclosed to us that there is another
portal under the Mages Guild Tower and we decided to check on the portal and the tower
once we had the opportunity. Halion also gave us a letter that should grant us entry into the
tower.
I also asked him if he knew anything about Archivist Duram since he was supposed to come
through here but Halion only knew Duram was investigating some ruins but couldn’t tell us
where exactly… I guess finding him will have to wait. Before leaving we thanked the
Headmaster and got access to the university by paying the fee. I cannot wait to read all these
books they keep here! It’s a great opportunity for all of us to learn and research anything that
could be of help to our cause.
We left the university and discussed what to do next. Since we had already convinced Captain
Cain to send troops to aid Captain Boran and his men the most pressing matter would
probably be the plague that had Ravencrest in its grasp. Finding out what caused it and
maybe even getting rid of it would defuse the tension in the village and give us time to
prepare for our other tasks. So reluctantly we went to the sewer entrance where we saw the
rats vanish and dropped down into the sewers…
Everything for a friend: Down in the sewers we were greeted with a most unpleasant smell
and after giving us some light an even worse sight. But what would one expect from the
sewers of a plague-ridden village? Advancing slowly and carefully Onyxus took point and we
waded through the sewage to look out for anything suspicious or more of these rats. Of
course, we did not need to wait long for the skittering mass of rodents and soon the tunnels
were filled with the noises of hundreds of paws scratching along the walls and floor and the
squeaking of these pests. We braced ourselves and prepared to fend off the furry masses. It
took us a while but after a few minutes of seemingly endless waves, we had bested the rats
and continued our way through the tunnels which were now also littered with blood and dead
rats.
After a turn we could see a light somewhere behind a corner of the next tunnel, we also heard
voices but could not make out what was said or who was talking. Preparing for another fight,
this time with more sizeable opponents we snuck closer to surprise whoever decided to take
residence up down here in the sewers. Looking at each other to see if everyone was prepared,
we jumped around the corner and saw someone we did not at all expect down here…
It was Gregor and his friends… They had set up a little camp in what looks like the only clean
room down here and were sitting around a campfire in a heated discussion. Instinctively I was
looking for the elf girl to make sure she did not have her blowpipe at the ready. We stepped
forward to ask them what in the nine hells they were doing down here. Surprised that we
found them they told us that they are living down here because no one else would take them
in and since they had nowhere else to go used this room down here so they did not have to
live outside in the rain. When we asked them about the plague and if they have any idea
where it could come from guilty looks were exchanged and Gregor admitted they might be
the cause of the plague. He led us to a small side room where a young girl was sleeping, she
looked rather pale and weak. He told us her name is Theresa and she had fallen sick with an
unknown illness and without the funds to go to a healer they stole a book on alchemy from
the university and tried to create a cure on their own. Somehow, they managed to create
some sort of mixture that was very close to a cure but when they accidentally spilled it into
the sewage the rats got infected and soon the village above too. We told them how reckless
their behavior had been and to just sit here and try not to fuck up even more. We would look
for a cure for Theresa’s sickness and maybe we’d find the cure for the plague as well. We
demanded they would bring back the book as soon as we were done and apologize to the
university, maybe they could even start attending there as students if we pay their fee for
them. The kids agreed and told us the best way to find a cure was probably to ask an old
Hermit outside the village for advice. Onyxus also tried to heal Theresa but to no avail, she
looked a lot better and not as close to dying as she did earlier, but she still wouldn’t wake up.
Disheartened but with a new goal we left the kids and went back to the university to get some
more advice and bring back the book.
Fresh Blood: Back at the university we went straight to Headmaster Halion’s office in hopes
to find a fast solution to the kid’s situation. In our haste, we ‘forgot’ to knock and just barged
into his office to find him talking to a rugged-looking human in heavy armor. They went quiet
and looked at us with curiosity and in Halion’s case also with a mix of anger and frustration at
our barging in without any notice. I apologized for our… eagerness and tried to remedy the
situation by asking about the new arrival. He introduced himself as Vincent Edward,
Commanding Officer of the Royal Expeditionary Knights of the Kingdom of Gripan, he came to
RIdelia in pursuit of some cult members that had caused some chaos in his kingdom but got
shipwrecked and is as for now the lone survivor of the sunken ship. Halion had just briefed
him on the current situation with the cult here on Ridelia and proposed Vincent could join us
in our efforts against the cult. We had some close calls in the past and were happy about all
the help we could get so we accepted and welcomed Vincent in our little group.
With that taken care of and the mood a little lightened, we handed Halion the book the kids
had stolen and told him what we found out. Skimming through the book he suggested talking
to Professor Zaki von Yipp, who teaches Alchemy at the university. He might be able to tell us
how to find a cure for this plague now that we know where it originated from. We also asked if
we would be willing to take the Kids into the university to give them a chance to get off the
streets and find a way to make an honest living. Halion was hesitant, after all, they had just
stolen from his university and caused a plague that had already claimed some lives. In the
end, we managed to persuade him and thanks to Schnuffella’s idea of them working there to
earn their stay we didn’t even have to pay their fee. With all that taken care of and a new
member in our group, we thanked Headmaster Halion and said our goodbyes but before we
left the room he informed me that Archivist Duram had returned from his trip to the south and
currently resides here in the university. I thanked him again and we took our leave.
Asking our way to Professor von Yipp’s classroom we knocked on the door and were let in.
Inside sat a few students fidgeting with interesting and confusing looking contraptions, at the
head of the room behind a desk stood as we presumed Professor Zaki von Yipp, a dark-haired
human man with curiosity in his eyes. We introduced yourselves and asked to talk to him in
private about a possible cure for the plague. After listening to what we had found out he
assured us he’d look into it and would try to find out what could be done to cure the village. It
would take him some time though so he asked us to return tomorrow. Leaving his classroom
we made our way to the dining hall where we saw a dwarf at a table sitting and eating. I
recognized him as Archivist Duram and made my way over to him to introduce myself and tell
him I was sent to assist him and find out why he hadn’t reported back to the Archive in a long
time. (The latter was obvious to me, given how nothing and no one seems to get off this
island) Duram said he had found some sort of connection between these strange storms
around the island and the magic seals that held the demonic incursions at bay. He had
followed some clues that led him south toward an old graveyard that supposedly housed
another seal. But it was too dangerous for a lone person to stay at the graveyard, something
was going on there and he needed to investigate it to find out what causes these storms. I
offered to help him with his endeavor once we had taken care of the plague (and maybe the
dragon) so the village would be safe while we were gone. While I was talking to the Archivist
Lyrazi and Vincent caused a bit of a raucous by eating and drinking a bit of everything the
dining room had to offer, in typical fashion Lyrazi also pocketed some wine bottles but did not
even attempt to hide it.. Let’s hope the university’s pantry is well stocked and that we would
be given some leeway once we found a way to cure the plague.
After a night’s rest in the Raven’s Nest, we came together to discuss our next steps and to
have some breakfast. Lyrazi and Vincent used this opportunity to start a drinking contest, first
thing in the morning… But to our surprise, Lyrazi backed out of the drinking and gave away all
the beer to other patrons of the inn, it seems we might actually be a good influence on her
decision making. After this little distraction, we decided to talk to Professor von Yipp and see
if he found out how to cure the plague, we also wanted to ask him if he knew a good way to
sedate a dragon so we could take care of Braxxen before he’d turn into a bigger problem.
Von Yipp spent the night going through the book and any other possible related literature he
had found on this subject and it seemed as if he had found a possible cure. But he was
missing an ingredient, Bog Thorn, a plant that grows in… bogs, as the name suggests. Von
Yipp urged us to go see the hermit that lives east of Ravencrest and ask him for the needed
Bog Thorn, he could probably also help us with the sedative for Braxxen. So we hastened due
east and looked for the little hut which this hermit calls his home. After a little march, we
found said homestead and knocked on the door. Promptly someone inside screamed at us,
asking if we were bandits here to rob them. Who would say yes to this question? Even if we
were bandits… Anyway, we managed to convince the owner of the voice that we are no
bandits and he opened the door. In front of us stood a rather frail-looking old man with a look
on his face that suggested he might have ingested a bit too much of whatever it is he
produces here. Hermann was his name, Hermann the Hermit, once he was sure we were not
there to rob him he turned out to be a nice old man. We asked him if he could give us the
needed Bog Thorn or could point us in the right direction to find it and he was willing to help
us, for a favor… He told us that some bandits had taken up residence on a little hill where
Hermann’s wife was buried and he did not want them to “piss all over her grave”. So he asked
us to take care of the bandits, in any way necessary, and then he’d help us and even brew us
a sedative strong enough to knock out a small dragon. Begrudgingly we accepted and made
our way to the grave where we found said bandits sitting, drinking, and vandalizing the
gravesite. We decided to try to make them leave peacefully but also prepared for a fight.
Vincet and Onyxus took point and drew their attention by simply walking up to the little camp,
Lyrazi, and Schnuffella flanked the little hill to use the element of surprise if things turned
ugly. I stood back and watched the conversation from behind a little brush. I could not make
out all of the conversation but it looked like the negotiations would be rather fruitless, I think
at one point I heard Vincent say “He said there are some bandits loitering around his wife’s
grave who stink of piss, and I smell a lot of piss!”. (Maybe we should let someone else do the
talking next time!) As to be expected the bandits did not take kindly to these insults and a
fight broke out. Even though we were outnumbered, we had a clear edge over them, we were
prepared, had the advantage of magic, and were already on their flanks by the time the fight
started. Schnuffella turned a part of the hill into a thorn-overgrown plant-based nightmare and
managed to trap 3 bandits. Onyxus and Vincent charged the leader of the lot and made sure
none of the other bandits would get past them to hurt any of us. Of course, Lyrazi was ready
to pounce on the first bandit that turned his back on her and plunged her daggers into them
without hesitation. I decided to make sure my friends were not harassed by the bandits with
their bows and tried to draw their attention to me, which turned out to be a bad idea because
I promptly took an arrow to the shoulder which made me lose my grip on the diamond I was
holding and the spell I was casting went wide. What was supposed to be a controlled ball of
lightning turned into a wild streak of electric energy which miraculously still hit its intended
target and turned the bandit into little more than ash… In the meantime, Schnufella in the
form of an elk had trampled one and gored another bandit and Lyrazi dispatched another with
two quick slices of her dark blades. There was still a heavy brawl in the center of the hill,
Onyxus and Vincent fought the Bandit leader and some of his henchmen and it was clear the
bandits were outmatched. I had seen Onyxus fight before, not only skilled in melee combat he
also uses his divine power to bring hurt to anyone in his way, he made the bandits pay dearly
for every misstep be it with his Warhammer or his radiant fire! Vincent on the other hand
does not seem to have any magical or divine powers but he sure as hells did not need them.
He held a glaive in his hands, a rather unwieldy and large weapon for such close fighting most
would think, but Vincent made it look like it was the easiest thing in the world. He cut,
stabbed, and slashed at his adversaries, hit them with the blade as well as the hilt, and gave
them little chance to catch their balance. After only a few seconds of fighting the head of the
bandit leader rolled over this now blood-splattered hill and the last of the bandits ran away
into the forest.
We caught our breath for a bit, collected the head and anything that might be of use to us,
and made our way back to Hermann. The hermit was happy to hear his wife’s grave was free
of miscreants and invited us to stay for a while so we could rest and he could brew us the
sedative he had promised. He also gave us some suspicious-looking potion, which he urged us
to drink. I was skeptical but it turned out they were healing potions, a bit unregular in
consistency and color but still potent. He and Schnuffella talked while he was brewing the
potion and the rest of us talked about how we got here and what we wanted to do when we
are done with all this.
After an hour or so Hermann gave us the sedative and pointed us in the direction of the bog,
he also told us which plant we had to look out for and we made our way to get the Bog Thorn.