Call of the Vigilant

Mission Report - Scholarly Safeguard

18 Rakhas 1508 – 19 Teayu 1508

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

Given that time was critical we were authorized to grab an airship from Marrek and dropped off west of Throal. We arrived in Throal and began gathering information. There appeared to be a shortage of adventuring grouping due to a sizable bounty currently active to the southeast. There was another group in town that could have been a potential candidate.

Using previous contacts we established word that we were in town and available to work. Needless to say we were hired for the task.

Lenore, Kira, Wynarr, and myself embarked as bodyguards for Tamir Forrin, Janec Edrin, and Tela Ponell. We headed down the Coil River toward lake ban, then made our way down to the Mist swamps on a K’tenshin ship.

At one point our transport was attacked by the Henghyoke, with assistance of another boat we managed to mount a successful counter-attack. They started to flee and Kira noticed one of them acting suspicious and so followed them below deck and thwarted their attempt to cause the engine to explode.

In the mist swamps our employers met with Sevastos. Lenore utilized some nethermancy spells to eavesdrop on what was discussed. We left to the southeast through the badlands.

As we approached our destination we learned more about what they were looking for. The journal of Marius the Even Handed and his last known whereabouts was a trading outpost off of the river of bones which is a branch from the Iontos River.

Along the way we encountered the following:

  • Another group of adventurers, they appeared to be kaer hunting.
  • A pack of Gnashers, we funneled them into a cave to eradicate them; the cave potentially has merit for exploring.
  • Basilisk, they are weak to ranged attacks and are tasty
  • Chimera, tough critter

We managed to locate the trading outpost, it was in ruins. There was a storeroom with some interesting merchandise. Note there is a container of True water, it was too fragile from age/decay to transport. Nearby was the entrance to the Kaer they tried to use to survive the Scourge. We noted what appeared to be a construction project outside the entrance that… lacked creativity.

We eventually discovered that the Kaer was under the control of The Muse, a Wormskull that apparently made its way into the Kaer before it closed. The entire population had been turned into whom had retained much of their former selves and were compelled to create works of art. The art was of course horrible and corrupt.

While attempting to scout via night fliers we determined that The Muse was also a nethermancer, and had a spirit form of Marius the Even Handed.

The Muse being a Wormskull , everything was incredibly dessicated. We sent Wynarr into the Kaer with the task of starting a small fire. Needless to say this turned into a large fire and succeeded in raging every Cadaver men inside the Kaer; thus clearing out the population. The Muse without any more subjects left during the night and headed north.

Upon investigation we found the journal they were looking for and managed to copy the last 80% of it during the restoration process. There was also notable quantities of valuables discovered. One piece of art that was created were Orichalcum pillars (either solid or a coating, we could not discern) that was made from all the Orichalcum from the kaers warding glyphs.

We headed back to Trosk, the trip as uneventful as most of the major predators had been previously dealt with. During our Journey Kira would borrow the journal during the night so that Lenore could finish making the copy. Upon reaching Trosk she created a bone circle to inform New Marrek of the location of the Kaer and what riches were ripe for taking with the proper crew.

Our journey along the river was mostly uneventful, While staying in K’Tenshin was saw the windling female that fled during Mission Report – Airship Appropriation. We also had an attempted robbery by a known Thief.

We learned that what they were looking for was information about a Groma that Marius the Even Handed had interacted with before entering the Kaer. After reaching Ardanyan we received an armed escort to Throal and the mission was considered a good success.

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30
MAR/2015
Mission Report - Airship Appropriation

{Date range here} – 28 Gahmil 1508

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

TODO: Template placeholder.

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25
JAN/2015
Mission Report - Parlainth Pickup

{Date range here}

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

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23
NOV/2014
Mission Report - Vivane Vacation

{Date range here}

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

Route of Travel Marreck – > Throal → Ishkarat → Jerris → Vivane

Found slaver encampment, dealt with them and saved many people.

Jerris city was on lockdown, suspected of horror infiltration. Corrupted spirit.

South of Jerris, Corrupted liferock

Vivane gather information about military strength. Collect uniform samples. Collect Regulations.

Journey back encountered storm hounds, ignored

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28
SEP/2014
Mission Report - Alchemist Attendant

{Date range here}

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

Escort alchemist to city south of Ishkarat

Obsidiman ritual to try and purify corruption with vines/plantlife that tries to grow over the city. Fought back by Cadavermen
Encountered trap repairing horrors

Found the Mcguffin

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4
MAY/2014
Mission Report - Missing persons

14 Raquas 1507 – Unknown

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

Head to Servalen and discover why a mole has missed regular report schedules.

Taken captive by K’Tenshin

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9
MAR/2014
Mission Report - Resolve domestic dispute

16 Gahmil 1507 – 30 Gahmil 1507

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

Our task was to head to Marrek and meet with Ork Cavalryman Snarltooth to settle a clan dispute between the the Yahn and Carls, two prominent farming clans. The Yahn stand accused by the Carls of sabotaging their crops and destroying land.

Team Hound went out to the Carls’ place to investigate and found that their fields and stonewalls had been destroyed. Looking deeper into the problem we discovered that the saboteurs attacked from underground. We tracked these attacker back to a stand of trees some miles away and discovered that a pod of Earth Q’Wril were responsible for the damage. We put down most of them, returned with the evidence, and suggested a beastmaster or elementalist be hired to create a permanent solution.

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15
FEB/2014
Mission Report - Pilgrimage

21 Mawag 1507 – 11 Gahmil 1507

Mission Report
Action Team Hound – Dederick

The pilgrimage was a success and our requested question was answered as follows: {Insert response here}

On the 24th we began making our way North along the pilgrimage route, taking necessary preparation for the 15 day journey. We were not the only ones on the pilgrimage at this time. There were also some humans, a few T’skrang, one Obsidimen, and a rather large group of Dwarves

Aside from the bodyguards, one of the dwarves was of the House Avalus and his unidentified friend whom later was discovered to be King Varulus III of Throal.
As a direct result of this we encountered several assassins whom were dealt with as follows:

Dwarven beastmaster : Used turf cutter beetles in an ambush along trail, attacked indiscriminately. Status: killed
Human elementalist : Attempted to sneak in during the night at the inn and made an attack specifically at the target then fled. Status: Captured, interrogated, let go.
Ork elementalist : Ambush along trail using puddle deep and blizzard sphere, attacked indiscriminately. Status: killed
Troll : Ambush in the Canyon of a Thousand Voices. Status: Leader and one accomplice killed, 2 escaped
Windling : Ambushed the dwarven party as they crossed the Aildar pilgrim’s bridge by 2 archers and 1 unseen, the dwarf was heavily wounded. A second attempt was potentially thwarted by the city guards on high alert. Status: escaped

On the 9th of Gahmil we reached the city of Syrtis we found out that the ‘friend’ was in fact the king of throal in disguise. He met us and personally thanked us with a token of his esteem.
He also asked us to consider keeping a journal of our adventures so that they can be added to the great library of Throal. This journal will be of our adventuring group alter-ego Lynx.
Additionally during our travels I asked if they would be of interest in knowing who had arranged these assassination attempts, to which I used my opportunity at the oracle to discern. The response was as follows: {insert response here}
I am hoping this information will be useful in improving relations.

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9
FEB/2014
Pilgrimage Part III (Mawag 29 - Gahmil 2)

We learned from the captured assassin that there were at least 3 other assassins that were hired to kill the members of House Avalus: a Windling, an Elf and an Ork. We also learned that the only description that was given of their quarry was “a dwarf traveling with a lot of bodyguards”. A description that could also apply to me. My companions decided that we should go ahead of the other dwarf group, which would most likely make me the first target of the assassins. To say that I was a bit leery of this arrangement would be an understatement (one shot by a highly trained archer and I’m toast). I wanted to travel with the other group; after all there is safety in numbers. But my life was overruled by greed, mainly the 70gp found on each assassin (it is so nice to know that I’m appreciated). I, however, went along with this because it could mean that an influential member of house Avalus would be indebted to us. This is not something to be taken lightly.

We continued along the pilgrimage road keeping an eye out for anything unusual. We noticed that the 2 T’skrang pilgrims had stopped to talk to someone, who then left the pilgrimage road heading towards the dwarven trade route that runs parallel to the pilgrimage road at this point. The 2 T’skrang then moved on. When we reached the point that the other had left the road, Andros and Wynarr decided to see if they could follow the tracks of the stranger. Unfortunately it started pouring rain and the Windlings lost the trail, although from the tracks it looked like a human or elf.

The rain continued for most of the day and everything seemed quiet, until Dederick took a step into a puddle and sank above his head in water. I recognized this as a spell: puddle deep an Elementalist spell. I began to get some rope from my pack and head towards Dederick. Kira also tried to grab hold of him and nearly fell in himself. The Windlings began to scout looking for the Elementalist when another spell came down upon us, this time a blizzard sphere. Kira and Garthik managed to pull Dederick out of the puddle without my rope, while I cast ethereal darkness on myself and headed back down the path hoping to obscure myself from view while getting out of range. A second more powerful blizzard sphere came down on me along with Dederick and Garthik who both tried to stay with me. That one hurt a lot and the only thing I could think to do was to get out of range, although I had no idea where our assassin was at, so I continued to head back down the path. I heard Wynarr cry out that he thought he saw something move on the Eastern side of the path. Both he and Andros began heading in that direction when the Elementalist suddenly appeared next to a large boulder. Wynarr quickly fired at the assassin while Andros swopped in on the charge. I think, although I was a bit far away to see clearly, that Andros flew through the assassin’s midsection. Anyway, the assassin went down, although he was still alive (it was an Ork and they can be pretty tough) but we quickly took care of that. The 70gp that we found on the Ork quickly confirmed that this was another of the assassins.

The next few days went by uneventfully and I quickly healed from the Elementalist’s attack. We peacefully continued along our pilgrimage. I burnt my prayer in the ‘Sacred Flame of Kralipur’, which left a permanent burnt spot on my left hand, and swam the pool of Floranuus to get sand from the bottom of the pool. The ashes of the prayer can be used to help protect you against horrors, while the sand of the pool of Floranuus, if kept under your pillow, will protect you from nightmares. Barsaive is a very dangerous place I am glad to have these talismans.

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25
JAN/2014
Pilgrimage Part II (Mawag 27 - Mawag 28)

The following day we were headed north along the pilgrimage route when Kirra yelled out and manged to pull Dederick aside just as a pair of razor sharp pincers came out of the ground and attempted to rip Dederick’s leg off. The pincers belonged to a giant insect that unburied itself from the ground and attacked. It was soon joined by 4 others. At first several tried to attack me but my insect repellent kept them at bay (I usually travel with this spell up to keep off various biting insects). These insects were tough, their carapaces were hard to punch through with normal weapons, although my spells seemed to be doing OK. They were also very deadly with their pincers. Saiph soon went down, but was revived by Andros. Personally I was really glad I had my spell up.

Winnar identified them as turf cutter beetles, but these were not behaving normally. Several times it looked as if the beetles might run only to be forced back into the fight by some other will. We soon realized that we were most likely dealing with a Beastmaster. Winnar and Andros began looking for the beastmaster. The rest of us could not leave the path or our pilgrimage would fail. Andros’ Zoak found the beastmaster and both Andros and Winnar homed in. He did not last long to say the least. With the beastmaster dead the beetles ran off. It is considered bad luck to ambush pilgrims on the route, so we wondered about the motive for the attack. The beastmaster had 70gp in his pocket so we figured that he might have been paid as an assassin. Most likely the members of House Avalus were his targets, but he got mixed up and targeted me instead.

That night we rested at a house that sort of served as an inn for pilgrims. We told the group of dwarves about the attack and our suspicions. That night both the dwarves and us kept extra watches, just in case of another attempt. It was a good thing we did.

I awoke to the sound of a thunder bolt. Dederick and the dwarven guards were aiming at someone in the rafters of the building, while Saiph was trying to climb up. The assassin was hard to see in the rafters and the dwarven crossbows kept missing their marks. Saiph managed to get into the rafters and the assassin, realizing that he was trapped, turned into a bird and tried to fly through the hole in the thatch he had made coming in. Andros had predicted that the assassin might try and go out the way he came and was waiting for him. The bird went down and we decided to keep him alive and question him.

The assassin told us that he was hired in Barter Town and was only told to look for a dwarf with a lot of body guards. This explained the first assassin’s mistake. I could also be seen as a dwarf with a lot of bodyguards. He also told us that he saw at least 3 others hired at the same time as him. All were paid 70gp with expectation of another 70gp if their target died, no matter who actually killed him. If the target died they all would get paid. He could not tell us much about the person who hired him unfortunately and we let him go, without his equipment, grimoire, or 70gp.

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22
JAN/2014