The+Captain+and+Big+Boy

**__Hunting Down the Captain and Bigboy__**
2/28/15 780 xp

The baby copper dragons gave us a location where BigBoy had been seen about two days ago. Since he came here 5 days ago, we assumed that was his camp. We headed towards the area, then veered off to camp nearby, since we were all but out of spells. During the night we saw a bonfire sitting where BigBoy was last sighted.

In the morning we went there and heard voices. Dogs barked as we were coming close, so the front few walked into camp and talked with the tracker/bounty hunter that was with BigBoy. He thought we were naive adventuring idiots and let us know BigBoy and the Captain were at a standstill, each had allies and each wanted the other to come to him. After a bit of a debate, we figured we'd go after the captain first, since he had the Heart of the Mountain, our primary goal. We circled around BigBoy and took a path up the side of the mountain to a fort-like ruins up there. As we were searching the ruins, we were attacked by 4 gargoyles. It was nasty, as it took magic to hit, and we had few magic weapons. More damage was done by the mages with magic missiles than by the fighters, but eventually we dropped 3 of the 4 and the last flew away. Just as the first was dropping, the Captain came running up a corridor. While all cloaked up, his peg-leg identified him. He fired a ray at the Hunter and missed. Zephyr held him on his first try. Just then the Hunter dropped her gargoyle and two others rushed past her to take down the helpless Captain. He was carrying the Heart. He also had vampire fang marks on his neck. The bat fed off of the Captain. We spent an hour searching/backtracking to get all the loot, when Ace mentioned that if BigBoy had the bat (a guess we got from the Bounty Hunter) and if the bat was now weakened from losing his familiar/bonded food/symbiont, it is possible that BigBoy now knew the Captain was dead. With that possibility open, we rushed to the front and looked down the long road up here. Sure enough, BigBoy was leading his small army of kobolds up the front road. Seeing the ruins were indefensible, we quickly decided to rush down to a narrows in the road up here where we could make a Stand at Thermopylae. Mojo couldn't get there soon enough, so we took up a lesser location. The kobolds all had slings and a lot of them, so we cast a Wind Wall, and are temporarily stalemated about 100 feet apart.

Loot: +1 Short Spear - Suibhne +1 Bracers of Armor - Hayden +1 Javelin - Hayden Potion of Timelessness - Group booty (Zephyr) Scroll of Detect Undead Scroll of Shadow Evocation - Ogrel Quaal's Feather Token: Fan +1 Dagger - Return from Siv..The Hunter would like but hasn't claimed it. Wand of Cure Light Wounds - 0 charges (nice roll by Dave!) 2300 sp 1 gem

The Fight with Big Boy
3/14 743 xp

The group decided that melee was our best hope. They had the advantage at distance with a couple dozen crossbows so we moved up to the wind wall in order to charge. As we moved up they pulled back and the wall dropped but a glitterdust spell blinded nearly all of the kobolds preventing them from shooting followed by a mind blast that dazed them. Unfortunately BB wasn't effected by either and he took off running down the hill. All of the fighters took off after him including an enlarged Mojo at cruise missile speed. He caught up with BB and played cat and mouse slowing him down for the others to catch up. The non-fighters delayed to dispatch the stunned kobolds then came chasing after. The group got strung out during the chase and in the middle of it the misty vision of the Gremlin appeared imploring us to not kill BB. Most of the party missed this though and continued the chase. BB was desperate to reach the end of the sunken path so Mojo moved far ahead to cut him off. He was close to the exit but couldn't get there. Once trapped BB put his back to the wall and enraged for battle and bellowed for his reinforcements to move up. Everyone who could jumped on BB as another group of kobolds came up the path. These were holding blow guns but a well placed grease spell slowed them down and another glitterdust prevented them from shooting (undoubtedly poisoned) darts at us.

The battle was fast and furious. We were doing some moderate damage but BB was hitting hard. Two good hits took down The Hunter. Mojo raged into werewolf mode and scored solid hits. Mojo went down as Saffron came down the hill screaming to not kill BB. Basel backed off asking why but BB ignored him and kept the attack going. Hayden went down. The melee, arrows, and magic missiles had taken their toll though and Basel was able to step up and drop BB with a solid strike. The last of the kobolds were shot and we started picking though the wreckage. A few spells on Mojo got him back to being stable but we had to tie him up to keep him from raging on us. Hunter was saved but Hayden was deaddead. We put enough healing into BB to keep him from dying and mummified him with ropes while we cleaned up the carnage. Once conscious enough BB told us his sob story about the Captain failing them and how all he really wanted was to get back home in order to wage war on the Black Tower. Those of us from Loki's Belt were familiar with the story of the Black Tower and would also like to see it destroyed. BB had been one of the ogres genetically engineered to be a praetorian guard for evil Black Tower but he was engineered too well. He was too smart and too independently thinking for them so they planned to have him killed. He learned of the plot and escaped but wound up falling into the black ship and was enslaved for Predellan. The Captain was part of his class and they have been together until the Capt. screwed up and lost the ship and dashed BB's plans for returning to Loki's Belt to take revenge on the Tower. He offered a deal. We let him leave with only his 2-handed mace and we could have the 3rd sword and all the loot in his house. He would leave Predellan for Loki's belt by the fastest means possible. The group gave consent that a deal could be reached but we have work to finish yet before cutting him lose.

We took the captive Orge to the kobold hive and demanded they bring out everything they owned and all BB's stuff for display. Seeing the beaten and tied ogre they readily complied. We picked through the stuff for anything of value but the items included a caged large bat. The bat had formed a symbiotic relationship with the Capt. Neither were really master/slave although the bat referred to the Capt as master and requested that we bury them together. We retrieved the Capt's body and burned both of them together. Time to rest and recover.

[The 3 swords - together provide some type of map enabling the possessors to locate Klayshift's Castle] [The Black Tower - One source of evil control in the Loki's Belt area of the world.]

+1 long sword - Loricifera +1 long sword - Mojo (halbert to Siubhne) Mighty +4 composite longbow (Lori) 12 MW arrows (Lori) +1 large steel shield with arrow deflection (Basel) Necklace of Prayer beads - bless (Obadiah) Scroll of heat Metal (Zephyr) Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds Potion of Neutralize Poison Potion of Vision (Ogrel) cash and gems - total (including sp and gem from Capt and 2x black 500gp gems (MW)) - 6930gp nonmagical ogre chainmail fancy skull helm Book: The Treasure of the Kitchen
 * __Loot:__**

Sanctuary
3/28 500xp

We spent the night at BigBoy's, and before leaving we noticed that one of the rooms was somewhat personalized and femininized. We asked Big Boy about it and found he has a friend who visits occasionally. He wrote her a letter and we promised to deliver it or at least mail it out. Rose, it turned out, is from Ipswich, the town just west of here where we killed the pedophile Red. As BigBoy headed east to the coast, we went west, leaving the home alone and telling Gwen to let the Resistance know the furniture etc is free to take and distribute. As we passed by the inn we noticed a travelling minstrel with a bright (but old) gypsy wagon who was apparently secretly going back and forth from the inn to the wagon. Ogrel and Suibhne scouted it out and found a young retarded girl hiding inside. They are running from the blues, looking for "Sanctuary". We learned from an unwilling Gwen that the island we met the undead Watcher at was just a waystation (which we knew) but that the final destination was "Sanctuary", a magical pool of healing created by a goddess who saw ancient Predallen and cried over the horrific conditions here. Her tears still exist, but most consider it another legend, perhaps real somewhere.... Gwen thought she knew where it was, not that far away, actually. The Hunter immediately went and spoke openly to the father that we would help them and to follow us. A natural 20 became an 18, still good enough for him to join us despite his fear of anyone learning he was fleeing the Azure Order. We had no problems getting to Ipswich, and Ogrel delivered the letter under an illusion of being a child. Rose, the recipient, is elderly and quite rich and well connected. She is an intellectual, knowing a lot, writing essays and discussing things with others around Predallen, and generally doing nothing. I hereby name her group the Illuminati, since that's all they did until they were all arrested and killed for pissing off the authorities. Anyway, she was a spellcaster, identified Ogrel under his illusion, and asked to meet the group that beat BigBoy. Half of us didn't want to meet her, the other half did, and they talked about threats to Predallen, like the Black Tower. She's very interested in outside threats (as if internal enemies weren't important) and wanted to hear about all our home areas and any dark societies we all had, etc. In exchange she told us all she knew about one topic of our choice. We chose "the Heart of the Mountain", and learned the following. All Spirit creatures, like Tatemae and Honne originally were, gain their life from the terrain around them, great mountain ranges, forests, deserts, etc. At the same time the essence of that terrain, and the life force of the spirit creature, coalesces into a gem or such item. If a spirit creature is killed, it quicky is reborn, because it's essence remains. Also, the spirit creature can't leave the terrain area which formed it. If the essence is destroyed, it would take perhaps a century for the essence to reform (since the terrain feature remains) and then the spirit creature is reborn. Destroying her Heart would have killed Tatemae in her original form. Since Odin came and made Tatemae more than just a spirit creature, Rose didn't know what effect it might have. Despite us being interested in all this, Rose has no clue that this isn't just an intellectual question purely for debate. As far as she knows, Tatemae's "Heart" is still buried somewhere deep in her volcano, while Honne's would be deep in hers. Clearly Tatemae won't die if she voluntarily gave it to another being, but it must be very important to her. Perhaps the fire elemental's presence would even further refine it, adding to Tatemae's fire power. It could have been a symbiotic relationship.

Anyway, Gwen's Resistance connections failed to find a boat we could rent or borrow, but Rose had the connections, so eventually she met all of us as we boarded her friend's luxury yacht and sailed around the lake, two days of fine wine, food, and rest. We got off about where Gwen thought the Sanctuary was, a tiny fishing village. The rich townies thought we were crazy getting off there, and the local townies assumed we were richly connected and didn't know what to do with us. We spent the night in the little inn there and the next day, when we asked to go to sanctuary. A guide told us to follow, and ran us in circles a bit but eventually led us to a small lake with an impressive marble backing along the far side. It was vine covered and all very old, but still impressive. From our side, we simply walked out and waded into the pool carrying our dead. Hayden was raised (resurrection actually) and though he lost a level, anyone with him who carried him out and also failed a save, gave him 300 xp. Hayden gained enough to re-ding. The little girl seemed to gain some intelligence and her condition was less-obvious. Those who failed their saves saw a brief flash of three goddesses, Sif, Freya, and Frigga, crying over Predallen to form this pool.

Hayden's Vision

Honne and the Black Order and Trip to the White Temple
4/25 300-500xp depending on scenario

Well, after Hayden's vision we had to stay and check it out. We started searching around the shrine and found it had served as a hospital on the ground floor with offices above. It was all very functional, yet nicely made. On the top, between the spires, was a map of Predallen carved into the stone. There were a number of flat spots, like little markers could be moved around on it. A strategic battle map. A bit later, as we were exploring, a wave of magic hit us. All spellcasters had to save or be mentally washed back 800 years. Waves hit every 15-30 minutes, and we mentally went back and forth until we saw all we needed to see. The entire place is bustling then, with injured moving in and out like a MASH unit, healers and administrators everywhere, and Honne and Tatemae sitting up top, peering over the battle map and talking. This moment was captured for eternity because of its significance. As the two looked over the map, still mostly with black markers and talking about their losses from the last campaign, they lament their lack of manpower. Tatemae mentions again the only solution she knows: shanghai-ing people from distant lands using the Black Order (Brotherhood) and pressing them into service. at the end of the cycle Honne, distraught over her no-win situation, said, Let it be done. After that we decided to sleep the night and head out in the morning. During the night some wild men talked to us. They had come to move the Sanctuary people on to the next location. We were told that we were doing it wrong. If we wanted Sanctuary, we were in the wrong place. If we didn't, we were sure to be found, as the Orders keep this place under constant surveillance. We packed up and headed out immediately. A ghostly patrol, also from 800 years ago, allowed us to pass. We pressed on all night and all day, and finally spent a night in an abandoned hut. While there, we saw a drill sergeant running his elite recruits around at night in platemail. Surely we were near a major military base. By noon, the copper dragons came back to deliver a terse message. 1. The Fire Elemental has gone rogue and is looking for you. 2. The druids want the Heart of the Mountain and are looking for you. 3. The Reds are looking for you. You should: 1. Get to the White Temple as fast as possible. 2. Seek asylum among the druids 3. Claim Sanctuary.

We hightailed it to the temple, avoiding encounters, and miraculously arrived without having any.

(continued under At the White Temple).

END OF SUMMARY