| Current Turn? | Yes |  | Subject: | Saltmarsh to Verbobonc |
| Campaign: | Greyhawk | | Turn Start Date: | 9/18/597 |
| Adventure: | Cult of the Black Earth | | Turn End Date: | 11/5/597 |
| Adventure Number: | AAL | | Characters: | Barthon Brightwave, Darkthorn, Dyson Teague, Kalin, Lorcan Smythe, Orielne, Wiley Finch |
| Turn Number: | 1.0 | | Send To: | fivewands@championsoftheempire.com; dntimm@gmail.com; mghaught@gmail.com |
| Greyhawk Campaign? | Yes | | Combat Turn? | No |
| Name | Lethal | NL | Current | END | PROT | LOW | DEF | ROF | Flash | Heal | Luck Pts | Fate Pts | |
| Darkthorn | 0 | 0 | 109/109 | /0 | 11 | 3 | 78 | 10 | 0/0 | 4/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Dyson Teague | 0 | 0 | 95/95 | 2/2 | 12 | 4 | 100 | 14 | 0/0 | 1/day | 2/3 | 2/2 | |
| Kalin | 0 | 0 | 74/74 | /0 | 10 | 3 | 73 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Lorcan Smythe | 0 | 0 | 64/64 | 8/8 | 10 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Wiley Finch | 0 | 0 | 90/90 | /0 | 11 | 4 | 76 | 20 | 0/0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Barthon Brightwave | 0 | 0 | 84/84 | 14/14 | 11 | 4 | 90 | 22 | 0/0 | 1/day | 4/4 | 2/3 | |
| Aeryl Razorfin | 0 | 0 | 78/78 | 4/8 | 7 | 4 | 56 | 10 | 0/0 | 2/day | 3/3 | 1/1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mage/Psioncist Name | Psionic Pts | Spell Pts | Spell Pool | Miscellaneous Information |
| Lorcan Smythe | 6/6 | 18/19 | 19/19 | |
| Wiley Finch | / | 25/25 | 11/11 | |
| Kalin | 14/14 | / | / | |
| Darkthorn | 9/9 | / | / | |
| | | | |
| Name | Notes |
| Darkthorn | Ranger Pool (27/27), 25% Damage Reduction (all damage types), Lesser Enchantment |
| Dyson Teague | Lesser Enchantment |
| Kalin | Cleric Pool (29/29), Lesser Enchantment |
| Lorcan Smythe | Lesser Enchantment, Detect Magic |
| Wiley Finch | 25% DR Elemental, Familiar-Cristo, Lesser Enchantment |
| Barthon | Magic Points (19/19), Lesser Enchantment |
| Aeryl | Lesser Enchantment |
| Grick | Lesser Enchantment |
|
11/16/2023 (GM-Jason)
Captain Garie comes to visit from the trade ship Familiar that just pulled into Saltmarsh. He recognized our ship and heard of our group. He just came from the city of Greyhawk. There was talk in town of a city called Verbobonc looking for adventurers to help them with a problem in the area.
Verbobonc is to the west of Greyhawk about a week's travel. They have been looking for several months with no luck.
About a century ago, there was a war there between the forces of good and evil. An evil religious cult had set up in the area. After several decades, they had become a powerful force in the area. They set up keeps in ever growing rings around their temple. Several kingdoms banded together and fought a war. They won but have great cost.
The problems may be a resurgence of this evil. The problem was with demons. The area is well patrolled. It is a prosperous region. Bandits have been successfully attacking.
It is about 1500 miles by sea from Saltmarsh to Safeton. It is then about 350 miles to Verbobonc. It takes us 10 days to reach Safeton where we part company with the Sea Ghost and leave it in the capable hands of Captain Merrick and our followers.
We stop in some towns along the way, including the Village of Hommelet, where there was an evil cult based there about a century ago (Village of Hommelet adventure). We also encounter travelers along the road.
We reach the village of Hommelet and check into the Inn of the Welcome Wench. But the inn is full so they suggest a nearby merchant's house. Owner is Mitch.
We eat at the inn. Villagers are all well-dressed in quality clothing.
Bandit raids started about a year ago. Pretty infrequent to start with. In the last 2 months there have been 5 raids. Mostly between Hommelet and nearby towns. Leaders of the town are Rufus and Bern. Rufus is the warrior while Bern is the wise man. We decide to try to talk to Bern in the morning.
Bern sees us in the morning. He appears to be in his late 40's or early 50's, but we have heard that he is much, much older. He tells us more but is not sure where to start except possibly the old moat house. He suggests we check with Verbobonc since they were the ones asking for help.
It takes us 3 days to reach Verbobonc. A message board tells us to report to Castle Grayfist if interested in pursuing the troubles. We meet with Viscount Wilfric, brother of the Lord of Verbobonc. We ask for information, including reward. There was another attack 2 days ago on a merchant caravan between Etterboek and Penwick. There were several survivors. The caravan surrendered but the attackers were still ruthless, though not as much so as previous attacks. Six of the caravaners were taken prisoner but all of the guards were killed, even those who surrendered. Prisoners were 4 merchants, a woman and a teenage boy (early teens).
Darkthorn asks for map with exact location of attack and previous attacks as well.
--REWARD-- for success is several items from treasury. Kalin and the viscount negotiate for a bit. Kalin works out a good deal (200 gp each reward plus a choice of 4 items from the treasury). He will also donate 6 potions to help us out with no potion greater than 750 sp value.
We spend the night in Verbobonc with the plan to head out in the morning. We hear rumours that the attacks are being directed by a group of doppelgangers. We don't think it is true.
We spend the night in Etterbock and plan to head towards Penwick in the morning to find the site of the last ambush site. We hear that there is a survivor in town but when we go to the house, the owner tells us to piss off. Darkthorn and Dyson sneak back and Darkthorn listens at the window. We hear them whispering and they are apparently part of the Cult of the Black Earth. They were attackers not victims. They are making plans to leave but we don't think the injured person is ready to leave tonight.
Kalin has heard of the Cult of the Black Earth but knows very little about them. Ancient religion that he thought was dead for hundreds of years.
GM: Jason awarded 3000 EXP, which has already been added to the COTE server.
Since next Thursday is Thanksgiving, the plan is to play on Wednesday the 22nd instead.
11/16/2023 (GM-Jason)
Dyson returns and tells Darkthorn that the rest of the group is a bit further back.
When Wiley sees a light come on in the house, he casts a wizard eye and sends it into the house. He sees the man we talked to at the door murder an injured man lying in a bed. A short time later, the man dumps the body into a wheelbarrel and heads south out of town. Darkthorn lets the rest of the group know that he and Dyson are going to follow and the group should move as well, keeping him further back.
Once out of town, Darkthorn and Dyson accost the man. He tries to tells us lies but, when the rest of the group arrives, Darkthorn examines the body and finds the recent murder wound. Darkthorn pulls out a rope and hands it to Lorcan to create a noose. Darkthorn then puts the noose around the man's neck and throws the other end over a tree branch. We pretend to lynch him but he continues to spew what Kalin knows are lies.
We discuss using a Speak With Dead spell. Darkthorn uses a charge from his bow to invoke a Speak With Dead spell and asks four questions:
Were you a member of the Cult of the Black Earth? Yes
Were you part of the ambush of the caravan between Etterbock and Penwick two days ago? Yes
Where is the Cult of the Black Earth headquartered? The Dysarin Hills. (to the east of here)
Who is the leader of the Cult of the Black Earth? Prophet Marlos Urnrale
The guy starts talking after that. He is paid to be a safe house in Etterbock. He has seen 12 members of the cult in the last year. He was first contacted about a year ago. They use a passcode "follow the eternal flame".
We let the guy go. He proceeds on to dump the body. The group heads back to town but Dyson and Darkthorn follow the man and confirm that all he does is dump the body and then head back to Etterbock.
The night passes uneventfully. In the morning we head towards the ambush site to look it over. We get there a bit afternoon.
Darkthorn examines the ambush site. Determines about a dozen to 15 ambushers. Looks like they came from the southeast. He also finds the tracks of eight horses. We follow the tracks to the southeast. By evening, we see where they set up camp. Darkthorn finds a scrap of cloth from a child's dress.
As we set up camp, Wiley casts Levitate on Darkthorn and he rises up to see what he can see. He doesn't see anything of interest.
During the second watch, Barthon sees someone watching the camp. When the person disappears, Barthon shouts to awaken everyone and takes off running after the man he saw. He catches him and forces him to surrender. Barthon brings him back to camp to question. He starts out lying. He says that he followed us from the ambush site. He was paid to follow anyone taking an interest in the ambush site. Was supposed to meet a man named Coil in Penwick and tell him if anyone took an interest in the ambush site. We get a description of Coil.
We talk privately and decide to keep Grick with us for now as we travel.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully.
Grick becomes a bit chatty. He latches on to us. Eventually Kalin gives him back is sword.
A couple of days pass. Darkthorn sees tracks of a single individual that seem somewhat fresh. He casts Track Lore but gets a poor image of the maker of the tracks. We follow for a few minutes but then go back to the original path. We see these tracks several mores times as we follow the path. The tracks may be a ranger or trapper or other outdoorsman.
Darkthorn casts Speak With Animals on Shadow and tells him to keep a lookout for humans.
Not long after that, Shadow reports seeing humans ahead. We move up and see a very small, mostly ruined building. We also see a couple of women talking. When they see us, they cry out in alarm and head into a building.
Darkthorn and Dyson circle around the outside of the village while Kalin and Wiley enter the village and try to talk someone. Kalin finally gets an older man to come out and talk. He says that some bad guys came through a few days ago and burned a couple of buildings. The group was probably the ambushers with their prisoners. The man said that he persuaded them to leave with his amazing persuasion abilities. Kalin thinks there is more to the man than meets the eye. The man's name is Terath Olagwin. The town is called Fragment.
The old man says that he killed some of the raiders. One of the villagers can show us where the bodies are. We can question them with Speak With Dead.
GM: No EXP awarded yet.
11/30/2023 (GM-Jason)
Asking dead bodies questions.
Questions
Are you a member of the cult of the black earth
Where were you headed
Why did you take prisoners
What was the plan for the prisoners
Who ordered the attack
Body 1 - Darkthorn
Member of the black cult - Yes
Where going - To our temple
Where is temple located - in Dysarian Hills
Why prisoners - Because we were told to
Body 2 - Kalin
What other cults involved in the attack beside the cult of the black earth - Only black earth
What is plan for prisoner - Bring them to temple
Who ordered you to take prisoners - Zaroth Mitz
Where in the Dysarian Hills is the temple located - West of the Dysarian River, South of Yatar
Body 3 - Darkthorn
About how many cultists are normally at the temple - perhaps 20
What is the rank or title of Zaroth Mitz - Boss
Who is the boss of Zaroth Mitz - Marlos Urnrale, prophet of earth
Are there any demons at your temple - No
All four bodies had the same tattoo on their arms (triangle with line up about a third of the way towards the apex). They are actually brands, not tattoos.
About 100 yards later, the road ends and we are tracking again.
The rest of the day passes uneventfully. 2 more days pass. The tracks continue east on the road. we are on the road between Nulb and Twilight Falls, but closer to Nulb.
The might passes uneventfully. The next day, we see a small road leading off the main road to the south. It goes a few minutes and ends at the monastery of Pelor. We enter and talk to the priests.
The high priest has some information of the cultists. He has heard of the Cult of the Black Earth. He has heard that there are several cults, one based on each element. He does not think they are emanating from the Temple of Elemental Evil. This new threat is coming from the east, around the town of Red Larch - about 5 days east and beyond the abandoned town of Twilight Falls. Red Larch is a trading village. Most of the activity is coming from the Dysarian Hills and Slumber Hills (which are south of Dysarian Hills).
Road between Hommelet and Red Larch is busy but not as busy as north-south road through Red Larch. Red Larch is similar to Hommelet in that it is a bit prosperous.
We spend the rest of the day and the night at the temple and head out the next morning. The day passes uneventfully. The next day we see the ambush site. We find some places where the ground is churned. Maybe something burrowed out of the ground. Or could be some sort of Earth Mage spell, like Hands of Earth.
We continue on. We make good time. There is a caravan ahead of us but we do not catch up with it today.
We arrive in Red Larch 2 days later. The Slumber Hills are beyond Red Larch. The town is a bit smaller than Hommelet. The north south road is more travelled. The inhabitants seem a bit wary of us.
We plan to spend the night in the woods but enter the inn to see what we can learn. Kalin does most of the talking to try to learn information. They seem less wary once Kalin is identified as a cleric of Pelor. The townspeople are uneasy due to happenings in the area, such as attacks on the road.
The evening goes well. The townspeople are now willing to talk to us as they assume we are here to do something about the happenings. Kidnappings, caravans attacked, people burned, drowned, crushed, ripped to pieces, shredded. The attacks are mainly to the east, north and south, moreso than the west.
As things wind down for the night, Aerly points out to Kalin a woman heading up the steps of the inn. She seemed to be watching the group rather intently. Wiley casts a Wizard Eye to watch her in her room. She is writing our descriptions in a book. They are detailed descriptions with names. Then she puts the book in a secret hidey in an interior wall. The woman's name is Jenny Anduge.
Darkthorn watches the woman's window all night but no one shows up to get the book (he thought she might drop it out the window to someone during the night but this did not happen).
The group camps to the northwest and then arrives back in town in the morning.
GM: 3200 exp awarded for last 2 sessions.
12/07/2023 (GM-Jason)
Wiley casts a Wizard Eye and determines that the woman is still in the room. They wait for awhile until she leaves and then Wiley casts Invisibility on Dyson and they enter the inn, joining the rest of the group, except Darkthorn, who is still watching the back.
Dyson sneaks up the stairs and picks the lock of the door. Meanwhile, Kalin strikes up a conversation with the woman to distract her. While distracted, Dyson slips into the room and takes the book. And then he comes out the window and joins Darkthorn.
The group heads back to their campsite of the previous night. Darkthorn catches some sleep while others look over the book. There are very good descriptions of our group, including equipment and clothing. There are other people further back in the book described in similar fashion. She also kept track of caravans, including some of the ones that got attacked. The cargos did not seem overly valuable.
Lorcan figures out that the woman meets with a contact about every 12 days and it has been 12 days since last contact.
We would like to find her contact but she may have already discovered that the book is missing. Dyson sneaks back to replace the book while Darkthorn wanders around town looking for the woman (who we know is not in the room due to a Wizard Eye spell).
Darkthorn leaves but stays where he can watch the store. She comes out a few minutes later.
Darkthorn reports what he found to the others and then decides to keep an eye on Larch Road in case a suspicious character who might be the woman's contact enters town. Barthon and Grick will watch the Cairn Road. Grick will end up being a follower of Dyson, probably a scout.
Later Darkthorn sees an elderly man and woman walking into town. He notes their presence but does not make himself known. Later, around dusk, he sees 9 mounted men, probably warriors, riding into town. There are 4 men, then 1 man and then 4 more. They stop in front of caravan place and dismount. 8 go to the tavern and one goes to the inn. Darkthorn follows a short time later. Then he determines that the man in the center was actually a female warrior, who is welcomed by the innkeeper, who addresses her as Raveena. She has a longsword and a short sword and is wearing chainmail.
Lorcan has been studying people with Power Perception and noted more than one with magic armor/weapons, including Raveena.
Darkthorn and Wylie head up to Wylie's room, which is right next to the woman's (Jinni the spy) so he can cast a Wizard Eye and Darkthorn can listen at the connecting wall. He hears symphony music of some sort but Wylie just sees her sitting and reading a book. Presumably she has some magic spell or object that creates the music.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night.
GM: No EXP awarded yet.
03/21/2024 (GM-Jason)
GM: Jason ran an adventure for the Greyhawk Followers for the past few months. Picking this adventure back up again.
Raveena eventually comes over and demands to see Lorcan's and Dyson's arms. They reluctantly show them and she is satisfied. They learn that she is here to stop the trouble happening around here. She does not specifically mention the Cult of the Black Earth But talks about the tattoos that the "troublemakers" have on their arms and says that they are killed if found.
There is also a merchant in town who has his own permanent room at the inn.
The rest of the day goes by uneventfully. We set up camp for the night and will look again the next day.
Another day passes before someone else enters town. A man and 2 seedy looking individuals enter town on horseback shortly after noon.
We warn Wiley and he casts a Wizard Eye to watch Jinni's room in case they meet in there. He takes the room right next to Jinni.
The innkeeper addresses him as Tethryan and gives him room 5.
With Wizard Eye, Wiley sees that Tethryan has a branding, but it is up near his shoulder instead of on his forearm.
He goes to Jinni's room. Wizard Eye follows.
The next few hours pass uneventfully.
Tethryan and Jinni come down. She has the book in hand. They exit the inn. Shadow keeps watch with Darkthorn not far away. Wiley casts Invisibility on himself to follow and eventually use Wizard Eye. They enter building 4, which is the tallest building in town (3 floors) and is a boarding house of some sort. Mother Ulanca's Boarding House. Lots of light and laughter comes from inside.
Wiley commences spying with Wizard Eye. Lots of tiny rooms on the second floor. Come out and send Wizard Eye through front door. Brightly lit with a dozen people or so, dressed nice. Not wealthy but definitely not poor. Dozen tables, most occupied. Jinni and Tethryan are sitting at a table and looking through the book.
The two come out well after midnight, head back to the inn and up to Jinni's room for entertainment.
Another night passes. The man comes out, heads out and rouses his men, mounts up and they head south out of town.
They take 6 days to reach the next town (Amfel). This town is quite a bit smaller than Red Larch - half the size at best. There is an inn and stable.
An hour later, the three mount up and head back north. They turn off at the side road about day's journey north that leads to ruins. We follow at a distance, with Shadow keeping him in sight.
In the morning, they head towards the ruins. Dyson heads back to get the rest of the group while Darkthorn follows the three, with Grick not far behind.
They reach the ruins. Tethryan waits and a very black woman (drow) comes out and the man kneels. She motions him to stand. He walks into the building with her. The door is in ruins.
He comes out by himself an hour later and shouts for his guards. They mount up and head east. Darkthorn does not see a road. They are gone within a few minutes.
Darkthorn finds a hiding place for us so that Wiley can do a Wizard Eye. The first fails but the second is double effect.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night.
GM: 3000 EXP for last 2 sessions.
03/28/2024 (GM-Jason)
Wiley uses his Wizard Eye to scout around. The building is in ruins. There are plenty of broken windows to go through. The main floor seems to be generally sound but the upper floors are mostly collapsed. There is a servant's entrance in the back. There are also outbuildings, including a stable/carriage house.
The front doors are open. One of the double doors is broken and can't be shut. Wiley uses the Wizard Eye to peek into windows and open doors. It looks uninhabited.
Wiley sends the eye through the front entrance. It goes 30 feet and then a set of double doors that are still serviceable. On the other side is a room in decent shape. Temporary living quarters.
The double doors are magical - level 2 out of 10. In the room is another set of double doors, also magical. The magical doors are identical to the first.
Wiley takes the drow books, a total of 86 books.
There is also a desk. Wiley finds a journal. He can spend 3 spell points to use his linguist talent to read it but holds off for now.
Beyond the doors are stairs leading down. The walls have been bricked up. The stairs lead down several hundred feet. Then they continue another several hundred feet. All is rough hewn at this point.
We travel for another half hour before reaching an open area.
Wiley has heard of the Underworld and knows that the underworld tunnels could go on for days and that are are cities and civilizations down here.
Darkthorn does a Track Lore spell and gets a vision of an insectoid creature with 8 legs.
Darkthorn casts a Messenger spell to summon Shadow, gives him a message for the followers, and sends him to Lanita.
Wiley uses 3 spell points to read the journal. It is a journal of meetings held by whoever was in the room. It lists several individuals that she met with over the months. The journal goes back over a year. Meetings are every 2 weeks.
Multiple ref to cult of black earth. Also three other cults:
Cult of the crushing wave
Cult of the eternal flame
Cult of the howling hatred
Comments in book: Spoke about wrath of the elements. Spoke about howling caves. Spoke about the fire witch. Mentioned something about elemental weapons. She then wrote "New?" after the comment about elemental weapons.
Sleeping period goes by uneventfully.
Travel half a day. Fissure getting smaller. We reach a larger hallway that goes left and straight. Tracks go straight. There is a sign in Drow. The way we came from is Rundreth Manor. The arrow pointing right Aztlan Necropolis, half day. We head towards Aztlan Necropolis.
We reach a larger cavern with an apparently inhabited small building and a wall beyond it with a portcullis gate. In the cabin is an extremely pale human sitting on the bed staring into nothingness. (Wiley sees this through a Wizard Eye.).
Kalin and Darkthorn head up to the building and knock on the door. The man answers and speaks to us in Drow. Wiley comes up and uses his magical linguist talent to converse with him. The man's name is Gundie.
We head back towards Rundreth Manor staying in that passage. The following day, we go the other way.
We travel half a day and come to an opening in the passage. There is a wall on the left side with doorway and windows. There is a large opening to the right with a 3 feet tall stone wall with a gate - probably a stable.
Barthon and Aeryl scout (both are sea elves with infravision). The building looks to be a waypoint for travelers.
GM: This is where we stop for the night.
GM: EXP? |
|