Quillax's Journal
Character Update:
- Jarrick spent his break securing a 99 year lease for the Tower for 1gp, thus forming a contract with the Mayor/City in the name of his religion. He plans to renovate it (contractors already secured and paid) and turn the bottom level into a soup kitchen and the upper levels into personal quarters.
- Sepheria spent her break studying at the university, and preparing a draft to publish her knowledge on Sorshen. The break was not enough time to complete a paper, so instead she published her research notes and is well on her way to being renown for her knowledge of the Lust RuneLord/Lady.
- Quillax spent her break working and training with Clank, helping him adjust to his processor upgrade and practicing his new skills.
- ? Elwin went off to study with a high level cleric from his Temple.
- ? Neril was working with his students at his dojo.
Additional Notes:
- It's been about 1 month since anyone last heard from Fort Rannick (or the Black Arrow Rangers). Magnimar has loose control in the area, mostly since the people there don't want Korvosa as their rulers. The area around Fort Rannick is controlled by Magnimar, further East is controlled by Korvosa, and further West and North are under Shoaunti and other tribal rule.
- Ferry travels about 20-25 miles per day upstream. The distances are as follows: 182miles to Wardol, 113 miles from Wardol to Whistledown, 64 miles from Whistledown to Isle Cyrian, and then 82 miles from there to Turtleback Ferry. Approximate travel time, 20 days.
- Turtleback Ferry on the edge of Claybottom Lake
- Pendakka - tiny village across the lake from Turtleback Ferry.
- Paradise barge anchors about 2.5 miles away from Turtleback Ferry.
- Fort Rannick is reachable by travelling up Skull River
Quillax's Journal
We secured transport on the Ferry, watching people get on and off at each Ferry port, until we eventually reached our destination of Turtleback Ferry. The Ferry master told us that the "Turtle's Parlour" was the place where the Black Arrow Rangers would stay. Beside the Parlour is another Inn, the "Bottom's Up", owned and run by a pair of halflings, where hunters, farmers, and fishermen tended to stay. The Ferry master also mentioned a barge stationed in the middle of the lake, the "Paradise", which from what we gathered was a little like a brothel, though we were not able to spot the Paradise as we docked.
We decided to split the party and increase our chances of finding further information by staying at both Inns. Neril and I secured lodgings at the Bottom's Up while Sepheria and Jarrick secured lodgings at the Turtle's Parlour.
The Bottom's Up was very lively, with drinking and dice games. Neril spotted a hunter with an odd tattoo - a Sehedron - on his wrist, partly hidden by his sleeve and brought it to my attention.
Upon speaking to the Landlord, Yads Kesker, who knew of me through my association with the Andusanna Elven Ranger, Shallalu, who had been lost at Sandpoint, betrayed by Orrick. Her adopted father - human - was a Ranger at Fort Rannick and no one had heard from him or any of the Rangers for the last month. Aside from that, we found out that the little frontier town had seen some troubles of late, including the inexplicable sinking of the Paradise, where all hands - about 20 people - perished. This had happened about 1 week after the loss of communication from the Fort. From all reports, the weather was calm, so it was suspected that a Giant Gar sank it. He gave us some general directions to get to Fort Rannick, also.
We met up with the others at the Parlour and shared our findings.
Sepheria and Jarrick reported that their Landlord was less friendly to start but spoke with Sepheria about the troubles in the town also. They were also introduced to Maelin Shreed, the town's Priest and Mayor, who managed both the church and the small hospital hosted inside it. He told them of the nasty things out in the woods, "Grauls", which were said to be ogre-kin. They hunted on the far side of the river (in Kreegwood) but had yet to cross it. As long as people remained on the Ashwood side of Skull River, the ogre-kin did not hunt them. Although, despite the disappearance of the Rangers, there appeared to be no more ogre activity than before, though several hunters had disappeared going to investigate the lack of communication from the Fort. The last ones disappeared about 1 week previous to our arrival.
The Landlord had also pointed out a person with a Sehedron medallion to them. Additionally, he spoke of a Lucreita, who ran the Paradise barge; she was a red-headed woman that stood out and seemed very peculiar, apparently she seemed a touch inhuman.
We decided to go check out the Paradise's wreck to see what clues were left behind. We noticed that all the locals locked their doors at night, uncommon, but it indicated they were afraid. Additionally, we had been informed that it had rained almost continuously for many days previously, though it had mostly stopped now.
To prevent drawing suspicion or notice from our enemies, we decided to slip out of town to investigate the wreck. We employed a variety of spells and rituals and Water Walked out to the general location of where the barge was said to have anchored, using the cover of the church to hide our exit.
Moncey went ahead and dove around looking for the sunken ship but could not find it. We decided to cancel Water Walk and made use of the Water Breathing to look around. Clank sank immediately and we held on to him, getting pulled down to the bottom of the lake without expending any effort. After a few hours, we managed to find the wreck. A large tail fin flicked into the wreck, and I judged it to be a 25-30' long Gar.
We kept our distance as we examined the remains of the Paradise. The barge itself was about 60' long and had many gaping holes in the sides of the ship. From the shapes of the destroyed areas we were quite certain that the ship was attacked from the inside, possibly explosives but certainly not a fish, even a huge one.
A side note: Gar have a very good sense of smell but are aggressive only when hungry or threatened. Considering it did not come to attack us, it was unlikely to be hungry and would very likely just hide. We decided to leave it alone and swam up to the deck to start from there.
The doors were barred, another indication of a pre-planned attack and not a fish, but once we got the doors open, we were able to see a number of bodies, all of them missing most of their flesh leaving white skeletons scattered around. Wary of them getting up and attacking like some underwater ghoul, we watched them carefully as I spoke with the little fish that had scattered at our entrance into the dark corners.
They weren't able to tell us much more than the skeletons had never moved around them, they were tasty meals, and there was the big scary fish nearby. Getting nothing more, I went to talk to the large Gar. It bubbled that it was uncomfortable with me. I backed up and tried to speak to it again, but it felt threatened enough to attack.
I switched to a shark form and bit at it, hoping to chase it away. Instead, it lunged at me, though I dodged. The rest of the party, who had stayed up on deck, jumped off the side of the ship and swam down towards the fight. Sepheria cast magic missile, which fizzled through the water striking the Gar. Clank moved to my side immediately and had to wait for the fish to move into his reach. Neril teleported on top of the fish and struck it with his spear, also stunning it. I managed to bite it once more as Jarrick swam closer. He aimed his crossbow but the thrashing in the water blew his arrow off course. Neril caught it and tucked it away to return later.
Sepheria attacked, followed by Clank and Neril - all doing damage. I landed the killing blow.
While Clank dragged the fish back into the boat to prevent it from rising to the surface and revealing we had disturbed the barge, we looked around. The bodies were dressed for a night out in a manner of dress consistent with the style of the townspeople.
All we could find were bodies and a couple of small denomination coins, which indicated the boat had been cleaned out before it was sunk and everyone killed. This was not a random robbery or accident, but rather the work of a plan, done by someone professional. Very professional. There was not a single scrap of paper or out of place object. More proof of attack was the ballast in the hold was made up of many more rocks than reasonable.
We checked the corpses but found no red-heads, so despite what the townspeople thought, Lucreita did not go down with her ship.
Jarrick looked around for any belongings which we could use to identify people. All he could find was a single ring with "Tomen" carved inside. He later gave it to the Mayor to give to the family.
Just to be sure, we gutted the large Gar to ensure there was nothing accidentally swallowed, then swam a couple of widening circles in case something had landed nearby.
I informed the small fish that they were safe and where they could find a fresh meal. Their reaction dance caused Sepheria some hard to identify emotion, possibly bewilderment, but honestly, dancing fish are far from the weirdest thing that happens around druids.
We swam back and the air seems ten times colder than when we walked out as our clothes were soaked. While most of us are better suited for dealing with harsh climates, Sepheria did not fair well and quickly fell ill from the cold. We hurried back to the Parlour and I took a furry form to act as a hot blanket. She recovered successfully in a few days.
While Sepheria recovered, the others asked around the town. We found someone, a hunter, who had seen the Paradise sink, although from a distance. He said he thought he heard screams but admitted it could have only been his imagination. He saw the lights wink out one by one. He did not mention the sound of an explosion.
We also found a man called Clayton, who bore the Sehedron tattoo. According to him, it was the equivalent of a club membership, allowing the bearers to enter the Paradise without paying the usual entry fee; the tattoo had been provided completely free. He had managed to win rather often at the Paradise, being 12gp up. The night it sank, there had been some special offer, which lured all the regulars there. He had been sick and unable to go. The dead included the servant wenches, most hired from outside of Turtleback. Only one woman known to be from the town.
Further discussion with the Mayor revealed that there was a large dam situated up the Skull River. Sepheria expressed a worry that someone would destroy it and wipe out the rest of the town. We headed immediately towards the dam, via the bridge.
As we walked, we could hear the yowl of pain from a large cat off to the South West then the chorus of hunting hounds. Neril reported that he could also hear a guttural voice singing about eating kittens. We headed towards the sounds.
As we crossed the bridge, a cougar burst out of the woods, running on three legs. It had obviously had his paw caught in a trap but had managed to get out. I called out to it in Animal Speak and moved to examine it. I found a broken leg and bad lacerations. I managed to cast a Cure Wounds on the cougar before five dogs leapt out of the woods and bear form was more suitable.
Sepheria dropped a fireball on the dogs and two died immediately. The others should have run if they were normal but they appeared to be insane. They lunged at Sepheria but she twisted out of the way of their jaws and Neril darted in and struck one down.
We could hear the hunter approaching and Jarrick moved up and looked around for it. The Cougar ran a bit further away, obviously still afraid. Clank killed a dog and I finished off the last dog.
Sepheria spotted the hideous humanoid first, which was a horrid, unnatural creature. From its words, we knew it to be the dogs' huntmaster. It moved far more quickly than expected through the rough terrain and attacked Jarrick. Neril moved to help Jarrick, landing 3 solid blows to the huntmaster, giving Jarrick time to regroup and ready his shield. He bashed the huntmaster, knocked it down, then struck it in a weak spot with his dagger. I finished it off.
I returned to sort out the cougar's injuries while the others investigated the body. On the ragged blanket acting as a cloak, there were 5 Black Arrow patches amongst other patches, including a WheatSheaf that seems familiar but none of us could place, although the patches were obviously trophies.
The cougar was named Kibb, companion animal of the Ranger Jakadros. His friend/master was most probably a Fort Rannick based Ranger, who was captured by the ogre-kin. Kibb was able to explain that they had been out on patrol and were returning to the Fort when they were ambushed. Some Rangers died in the fight but the survivors had been captured. Some of those survivors were eaten. Kibb had managed to escape and had been running from the ogre-kin while trying to rescue his human for the last three weeks, until he caught his foot in a trap and eventually stumbled into us.
He asked us to assist him in helping rescue his companion. He knew there were many ogre-kin but could not give us an accurate count. We agreed and followed Kibb back to the where the people were being held. The area was decorated with creepy little fetishes designed to ward off people, though for us it meant we were headed in the correct direction.
We could see a barn to the right and a house to the left, both in bad repair; the surrounding land was diseased. We settled a distance away and Sepheria called up her arcane eye while we guarded her.
She described the barn - split into two sections, with a double door in the partition. There were catwalks along each side of the barn and kennels. Three ogre-kin were squatting in guard, playing some sort of game using bones as pieces. All three, she reported, were grotesquely mutated, though each unique in their mutation.
Neril pointed out an ogre-kin that tried to sneak up behind us and all of us were quick to spot it, save Sepheria who was otherwise distracted. It had a rather pumpkin shaped head, though this was no construct. It smelled far too horrible.
I tried Hold Person to keep it from making noise, but the spell did not take. The Ogre-kin attacked Neril with a hook-like weapon, landed a blow but Neril managed to slip out from the hook before he could be pulled forward. The ogre-kin was fast and managed to hit Neril with the hook again, and pulled him off his feet and struck him with the butt of his weapon which knocked him unconscious.
Jarrick was swift to give Neril a Hand and provided much needed healing. Kibb leapt forward and struck three times, anger in his growls. Neril teleported out but immediately turned to attack again. Clank joined the fight as did I.
The ogre-kin ignored us and continued to target Neril. It struck Neril hard enough to knock him out once more. Kibb attacked while Jarrick used the last of his power to bring Neril back to his feet. Neril attacked then darted to a safe distance.
Sepheria summoned her magicks and destroyed the ogre-kin. Assured it was now dead, she turned back to her arcane eye while we checked over the body and tended injuries.
She muttered to us that the ogres inside the barn had changed positions so that they were hidden in the shadows by the entrance, ready to trap any who entered. It was obvious that they had heard the sounds of fighting.
She continued forward with her eye and found three badly injured prisoners. We could not determine if any were Kibb's human Ranger, but they were likely from the same party. They looked in a bad way, she informed us, so they would be our priority.
She continued to guide her spell over to the house, her face twisted into a moue of disgust and gagging occasionally at what she saw. She tried to investigate as much of the area as possible, despite her discomfort. She mentioned "toys" or at least carved figurines of a Leviathan type monster the maid in town had mentioned: Black Maga. It was considered a folktale, but many stories have origin in truth.
There were 8 chairs in the dining room. We knew of two dead, three in the barn, two in the toyroom, and one in the bedroom, so perhaps all were accounted for. Unfortunately, that last one was a mage and sensed Sepheria's eye and dismissed it. She would be the most dangerous, despite her reported size being so large that movement would be difficult if not assisted by magicks.
With her eye dismissed, Sepheria sketched out a map of what she had seen in the house.
[2178 xp each, including explorer bonus]
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