OSRealms -- Session 72
Ygnas got bored and left to pursue her newfound obsession with the language of the fire creatures. She contacted a friend of hers, a druid named Selaena, to help us out. Selaena was not impressed with any of us. Also, it turns out the bugbears are actually hobgoblins.
Upstairs was more of the same: filthy goblin trash mostly picked clean. Nothing but bits of copper and a few silver. We did run into three more goblins in the process of looting a crude prison facility. They fled, leaving behind a few coins and a set of manacles. Shit treasure. But the prison had an orc in it, still alive, named Throk. After some discussion, we let him go after he agreed to help us explore and kill the hobgoblins to the east, the ones we had already met. We agreed, figureing they had already told us to fuck off and we were weak at the moment. Even a single ally could be useful, and if he lived, he could introduce us to his tribe of orcs for more possible allies. These monsters seem more than willing to turn against each other, which seems likely to be to our benefit.
OSRealms -- Session 71
Session map
Ygnas approached the burning tree portal and tried to speak with the fiery beings surrounding it. She didn’t say what they talked about, but the creatures seemed to respect the holy symbol of Zuul she presented and when we left the area, the fire was spreading to the northwest. The next day brought rain, and Ygnas seemed disappointed.
We arrived at the caves of chaos and investigated the entrance where other members of the Glorious Blades had previously encountered goblins and ogres. The cave system was almost empty; no ogres, their cave clearly abandoned, and only four goblins. Those four were evasive and sneaky, preferring to attack from just outside the torchlight and then flee. We chased them throughout the complex, in the process exploring more of the place, and found a larder to the west. We killed a goblin there, and shortly afterwards met hairy, red-furred creatures who emerged from a secret door. I’m no beastiary sage, but I would guess bugbears. They seemed amenable to peaceful conversation and offered to pay us for exterminating the goblin vermin. It wasn’t much – 6 gold – but it was something we were doing anyway and getting paid more wasn’t bad.
OSRealms -- Session 70
Me and Barbarian Boy whispered together, trying to figure out how to get Feverborne out. Or whether to leave him there. Ultimately, we decided to try to get him out, but we couldn’t see any way to get his gear from by the leader’s tent. Definitely not the sword, which was strapped to the lead centaur. The kid can be sneaky. I wasn’t willing to take off my armor and try to sneak into the camp to get the gear, risking getting attacked without my armor on. And the timing would be tricky. Someone could notice the gear gone before Feverborne was freed, and vice versa.
OSRealms -- Session 69
Session map
We decided to do some nice quiet exploring on the way to the Caves. Famous last words. Somewhere in the first day of travel, the kid “lost” the bloodthirsty spear while hunting. Kinda think he did it on purpose, and I don’t blame him a bit. On one day, we got up and noticed our waterskins were empty. All of them. And Feverborne and Barbarian Boy have a lot of waterskins between them. They were empty one day after we got out of the barrow too. So, whatever was pulling pranks in the barrow followed us out. I’ll burn the bastard alive when I catch it.
OSRealms -- Session 68
We made out way to the wagon, which had of course been pilfered. Finally, we camped. I healed Feverborne. Our supplies in the wagon now gone along with one of the mules, we decided to head south to the closest town for supplies. After more rest and prayers and healing along the way, we were all almost as healthy as we were going to get. We had a disturbing day during the trip huddled in my tent under both tarps, waiting out acid rain. I prayed during the whole thing, because it wasn’t natural, but I had a niggling feeling Zuul was testing me, and I shouldn’t have cowered away from it.
OSRealms -- Session 67
We fought the ghoul, but the fae blade couldn’t touch it, and I couldn’t attack anything else – it was like I was possessed, even though I kept my head for the first minute or two. I’m getting more and more reluctant to draw that damn magic sword, especially since it couldn’t even hit the damn thing I was so focused on. The sword just passed right through despite perfect form. It was the most frustrating fight of my life, as the thing’s summoned minions choked me with their boney fingers. Last time I go with the kid on one of his personal quests, I swear. Ygnas managed to scare off the first three undead minions, which probably saved our lives, but the ghoul struck her down and summoned three more right away. At least they weren’t all attacking us at once.
OSRealms -- Session 66
Session map
As it turned out, I found the trap mecvhanism myself, and got a mouthful of poison gas in the process. The kid was busy having a barbarian staring contest with a spirit wolf. Seems he asked it for a gift when it offered a question answered. Wolf spirits are prickly things. It especially did not appreciate being asked to bless Snausages. After he got that sorted out we demonstrated the trap mechanism, and figured out a way to safely discharge the trap when opening the door. It involved using the dead giant centipede heads. Don’t ask.
OSRealms -- Session 65
Session map
Bern sent a message that he needed me to help u-Heury explore some barbarian tribe burial mound, so I went over to check it out and met up with Ygnas and Landon, who were presently dangling u-Heury down a well from a rope. The rest of us followed, and the kid promptly stuck his spear into the wall and opened a secret door, revealing a small group of drunken goblins. We negotiated and found out they were being oppressed (“Help! Help! I’m being oppressed!”) by a new dark elf arrival named Skazzic, who had convinced their old chief or shaman to be friends. We went and talked to the dark elf, who seemed to hit it off with Landon remarkably well. One might almost say suspiciously well. Landon immediately proposed we go convince Hogarth (the goblin leader) to submit to Skazzic, for… no discernable reason aside from a vague promise of a reward. We returned, negotiated further with Hogarth, poisoned most of his goblins, drank with the rest, cowed Hogarth into submission, then convinced him to pretend to submit to Skazzic so we could double-cross and kill Skazzic. (And it made even less sense than that as it happened).
OSRealms -- Session 64
(Interlude)
So Lyrian and I got to drinking and talking (in that order) and decided to go investigate the strange lack of rumors from Helix, seeing as I grew up there. We signed up with a caravan heading to Ironguard Motte, and managed to get there in just under two weeks. A glorious dinner at The Bloated Halfling led to an attempt at a conversation with the wizard Mazah, but he wasn’t in. The rumor mill suggested that the undead in Helix are seasonal; the winters slow them down, apparently, and then the spring thaws bring them up out of the earth again. Weird.
OSRealms -- Session 28
Session 28 map
So the kid disappeared right after he stepped into the pool. Nobody wanted to try to follow him in. I tried tossing some pebbles where he was, but they passed right through the spot he was standing. No luck with that. I played out some rope and tossed it into the water, basically fishing for a barbarian. No luck with either. Well, hate to say it, kid, but you’ve got a habit of running off and then coming back just fine. We’re gonna give you some time, pack up the mirror, explore the rest of this place. Hopefully we’ll find you in one of the other rooms or you’ll find your way back eventually. If not, we’ll hold a wake. You were a good kid. Brave and strong and wise in the ways of your people. Almost too brave, really.
