The Warlock's Update and the Fate of Saltmarsh

Greetings once again, supplicants and knowledge-seekers. Your friendly neighborhood Warlock is back, and once again deciding to record his exploits.

Unfortunately, events in the so-called real-life have taken their toll and, due to some stress on my part, I have not been able to record all of the information from the Saltmarsh Tribulations. However, come this fast-arriving summer, my time will be more than free for gaming, and prospects are already drawn up. I'll keep you posted on what will be occuring, as time grows nearer.

As for now, though, let's take a brief look at what happened in Saltmarsh with our heroes:

After aiding Jasker and several other prominent citizens, the heroes were recommended by Mylor Orvid to the head watchman to investigate the mysterious murder of "Crazy Nettie," who was less mad and more a guardian of a major artifact. In the group's investigations, they managed to ostracize (through blackmail) the local druids of Oak Island and were forced to look elsewhere for clues--particularly, the nearby Silverhame Mountain.

However, while gone, a gnomish follower of Obox-Ob, demon lord of vermin, managed to steal the artifact guarded by Nettie and release it into the city's park. The characters arrived just in time to stave off the creature killing off much of the town.

Their failed investigations, though, did little to endear the adventurers to the city's nobility, though their actions in saving the park made them somewhat of cult heroes. This earned them a special feast at the Dancing Dryad and an audience with the headmistress of the tavern. However, Ayadi (the headmistress) was more than she seemed--the Dancing Dryad was little more than a front for the local theives' guild...which wanted the adventurers to pursue a massive treasure. Unfortunately for them, the treasure stood beneathe one of the standing stones of none other than Oak Island.

The adventurers reluctantly agreed to the job, but their attempts at stealth failed, as the Hierophant druid of Oak Island caught them red-handed. Their slaying of her proved to be most dire as time would tell.

Luckily, the adventurers had been gaining allies. Concerned about the devilish and demonic incursions into Saltmarsh, the players sought out aid from the Temple of Pelor. This was granted in the person of Ashlyn, a Lightbringer Paladin. Ashlyn and Daishar began a romance early on which lasted the duration of their partnership.

Ashlyn accompanied the players on another delve, using a map found within the treasures of Oak Island. This map--displaying a dwarven catacomb--held much treasure, but was guarded by several warring factions including illithid-created abominations, Glasyan devils, and mysterious suits of dwarven armor. It was here that the adventurers ran afoul of the powerful harvester devil Acanthus, but came upon a powerful magic--the Cerulean Sign. The Sign was a massive runestone capable of permanently sealing planar rifts, disallowing all planar travel around it.

Keeping the entrance amulet to the runestone's chamber, the players returned to Saltmarsh to spend their newfound wealth. However, their victory was a short-lived one. Saltmarsh was in flames--it had been invaded by illithid seeking sustanance. The players, along with over half of Saltmarsh, were captured and enthralled.

Trapped within the walls of an illithid slave pen, the adventurers were starved, beaten, and forced into servitude by Xil'ti'Carn, the illithid who enthralled them. Xil'ti'Carn also sent the group twice to the surface, forcing them to kill off a Scarlet Brotherhood monestary (including a former friend of Daishar's) as well as a Paladin/Topaz Guardian who had uncovered the illithid city. Ashlyn and Jathalain suffered direly during their abscences, as the illithid subjected them to psychic tortures beyond imagination.

It was on this second event that Daishar came upon Acanthus once again. The devil, noting the fact that the monk had resisted the illithid enthrallment, offered a deal--an even trade. The devil would provide the Annullus--an artifact capable of destroying psionic creatures en masse--if Daishar would steal the amulet of the Cerulean Sign from Brighid, thereby allowing Acanthus access to the runestone. Daishar, after much soul-searching agreed.

As Daishar activated the Annullus, destroying the illithid compound, Acanthus led his devilish expedition back into the dwarven catacombs and pulled forth the runestone, teleporting it back to Maelbolge.

In a harrowing journey back through the ruins of Saltmarsh and the Hool Marshes, the adventurers led the remaining refugees of the city past the Silverhame mountain and to the gates of Cauldron, a city ruled by the Hextorian Guard of Slade Starblade. Starblade reluctantly agreed to allow the refugees to become citizens of Cauldron, but only after Harvinion used much of his newfound wealth to purchase enough land within the city limits to force Starblade's hand. Harvinion became a noble of Cauldron in an ostentatious ceremony, and swore fealty to Starblade's cause, much to the party's chagrin.

However, a contact within Starblade's cabinet tipped the party off as to their next destination--the city of Sigil. Tracking down Acanthus was their highest priority, and anything or anyone could be found within the City of Doors. The party moved quickly through Sigil, enountering several harrowing groups, including the morose Dustmen and the entropy-obsessed Doomguard, including the cambion Factol Ely Cromlich. However, they also began to learn a horrible truth--not only was there a planar gate on Oak Island, as they had suspected, but a gate between Obox-Ob's layer of the Abyss and Maelbolge was about to destabilize the Blood War.

Hiring a Styxian charter, the players made their way into the Nine Hells, but were ambushed in Maelbolge by two Styx-swimmers. The creatures slew Azumi, Harvinion, and Amadis in an epic battle, and Jathalain, Ashlyn, Brighid, and Daishar were forced to retreat back to Greyhawk with a Plane Shift spell. The trio was resurrected, but not without several side effects...and an oath to return the runestone to the Cathedral of Pelor.

Using another Plane Shift, the party arrived in the midst of a massive Blood War battle, just in time to see Acanthus begin the incantation to seal the breach in Maelbolge. The party stopped him, but not without cost--Ashlyn fell beneath the hellspear of a powerful orthon. Devastated, Daishar demanded that they pursue her spirit, which was being held within the Bastille of Souls, several layers above them.

Traveling in harrowing methods, as their unity began to split, the party crawled through the Worm of Minauros and up the chains of Jangling Hiter, arriving within the silent City of Dis and to the doorstep of the Bastille of Souls. There, they reclaimed Ashlyn's spirit and returned to Cauldron. There, they found out some dire news--several members of the council of Cauldron were pushing Starblade towards war. The target: Greyhawk.

However, one major task remained. Under divinations, it was revealed that Xil'ti'Carn had in fact survived the blast of the Annullus, mainly because he had already prepared his body for lichdom before being slain. Now, he was attempting to return to Oak Island to precipitate the final breach between Oerth and the Far Realm.

The adventurers joined together one last time to defeat their old slaver. Traveling through the creature's living phylactery--a dungeon pulsing with unholy, aberrant power--they arrived just in time to confront Xil'ti'Carn, who raised two Neolithid worms to defend him. In the end, the circle of Zerthimon was too strong to be broken, and Daishar's mighty fists crushed the illithid threat once and for all.

Casualties, however, abounded. Baron Harvinion had died, as did Azumi. Ostracized in Greyhawk for the death of the Topaz Guardian and wanted in Cauldron for helping Ashlyn and Jathalain to escape inprisonment earlier on, the group had nowhere to go. As such, they disbanded, their fates scattered to the four winds. Without the influence of Harvinion on Starblade's council, Cauldron declared war on Greyhawk, destroying it with a weapon forged by Ely Cromlich of the Doomguard--one of the massive Ships of Chaos.

It is said that Amadis went mad from his travels, releasing an Abyssal Nightmare onto the world, stolen from the gem-prisons of the Bastille of Spirits. He fought valiantly, but died in the end, his soul consigned back to the Nine Hells to fight forever in the Blood War.

It is believed that Daishar returned to Sigil, in an attempt to find the original Circles of Zerthimon amongst the races of Gith there. His success is unknown. Reports are also conflicted as to his status with the paladin, Ashlyn. Some say that his time in the Hells corrupted him, driving her away, while others claim that, in enduring, he grew stronger...and she, with him.

Jathalain and Brighid are believed to still remain on Oerth, though their whereabouts are unknown. Rumors abound of two rebels who fight against the ever-expanding Empire of Cauldron, though these are quickly quieted by the Hextorian Guard. It is unknown whether these rumors are related to the pair, or if they still live.

Tales of Saltmarsh Towne: Chapter 2--A Mysterious Threat and The Missing Mithril

Standing over the destroyed goblin corpses and mysterious enchanted cauldron of the Io-Rach tribe, the group begins to decide upon their next plans. While Brighid and Amadis are quick to push for flooding the entire cavern complex, the rest of the group shoots this idea down, as they think that it would taint the surrounding water. They decide instead to block off the cavern entrance with the wagons, light them afire, then collapse the cavern entrance.

As the group proceeds to leave, they come upon something they had no found before—three small statuettes, each of which depict a nude, demonic female in a seductive pose. Despite the group’s knowledge and skills, they do not seem to know who the figure is. The statuettes are packed up with their other newly-gained gear, and the group sets out from the cavern. Using a block and tackle that Amadis carried on his mule, the group moves the wagons into position, then light them afire.

With the cavern collapsed behind them, the quintet begins walking down the road to Saltmarsh. It is a swift journey back to the Hool Watch Tower, and the group quickly arrives in Commander Iborian’s office again. While not eating this time, the ranger’s breakfast appears to be newly finished, as it is scattered over his desk, most messily. Brighid quickly sums up the events from the caverns, making particular note of the distorted goblins, the wolf-creature, and the mystic cauldron. Iborian seems to have no knowledge of the creature, but tells the party that he will send a runner to investigate their story. Should their tale be true, they can expect payment from the bursar on the morrow.

While the majority of the group seems to be excited over their newfound wealth, all that Artorius can mutter is his desire for a warm bed, a hot bath, and a good meal. The party drops off Artorius at the Blue Frog, then heads to the Temple of Boccob, a massive pyramid-like structure rumored to deal in ensorcelled weaponry. Brighid, however, heads off to the Merchant’s Guildhall, seeking a new bow. Harvinion, Azumi, and Amadis make their way into the Boccobian Temple, and ask an apprentice to see the temple-master. Shortly thereafter, High Acolyte Mylor Orvid steps forward and inquires as to the party’s business.

Harvinion quickly shows the priest the three statuettes and inquires as to what they might symbolize. Orvid states that he can research the statuettes, but doing so might take some time, as well as a cash donation to the temple. Harvinion forks over the 50 gp.

From there, Azumi draws the dwarven waraxe, asking as to what it might be. Wittily, and with self-satisfaction, Orvid proudly proclaims that it is “An axe. In fact, a dwarven-made one, at that.” Frustrated, Azumi asks what might make it sharper. “A Whetstone, perhaps? Or a grinding wheel with some oil…perhaps you may want to ask your question a bit more…well, bluntly.” From there, Orvid tells her that a spell of magic detection and analysis would cost 75 gp. Azumi pays for this service for the waraxe, and Amadis does the same for the javelin.

Orvid points them to a mediation hall so they can wait out the research time. In the meanwhile, though, Amadis asks if they have anything to sell. It turns out the temple does craft items on site, and also deal in arcane goods for the locals. Azumi asks what they might have in stock. With a wave of his hand, Orvid opens a mystically locked cabinet to reveal the following:
- A ring that bolsters affinity and communication (Ring of Charisma +2)
- A wand that channels necromantic energy (Wand of Ghoul’s Touch)
- A wand that conjures a sticky web (Wand of Web)
- Several weapons that were salvaged from the Ironroot Mountains, including:
- A dwarven urgrosh
- A drow hand crossbow
- A longsword
- A whip.

Harvinion asks, as this last bit, how one might actually ensorcell a whip, to which Orvid replies “With magics of the most dire import…”

Amadis inquires as to the possibility of commissioning a bastard sword, but the cost and time constraint seem to be out of his league, at least for the time being. As they speak, up runs apprentice Bob, calling out, “Master Mylar, we finished with the axe and javelin!” Both weapons seem to only hold minor enchantments (+1), but are worth a fair amount to the right buyer.

The party conferences quickly, to decide what to do with the items. Amadis offers the suggestion that the weapons could be traded for a commissioned bastard sword, but the offer is quickly shot down by a calm, quieting voice from the far side of the meditation chamber. “If you split the wealth amongst your group, you may all be able to benefit, rather than simply one.”

A lithe man rises from where he was, rather irritatedly, attempting to meditate. He further suggests that such a discussion might be better placed over a meal at a nearby tavern. Mylor smiles at the monk, and tells the party, “"It is rare that I do such a thing, but if you were to sell both items as a set, I could give you a slightly greater amount for the items sold. Perhaps…3,000 sovereigns?”

The party accepts the offer and sells the items. Harvinion hands the monk, named Daishar, a gp for his helpful idea. Daishar quickly drops the piece in the Boccobian offertory box, and Mylor speaks to him quickly thereafter: “Daishar, it is of my belief that you may be able to offer some great wisdom to this group. Accompanying them may aid the final steps of your training. Why don’t you go with them?”

Daishar agrees, and Amadis immediately begins telling the young monk about the great battles the group will soon embark upon. While describing the group's recent exploits, Amadis describes the cauldron used by the goblins to morph one another into abominations. At this, Mylor perks up, asking if the cauldron included the symbol of a copper scourge. The group affirms this, and he scurries off to begin his research. It appears that there may be some connection.

The group then splits up, with Brighid heading towards the Merchants' Guildhall, while Amadis, Harvinion, Daishar and Amadis head towards Saltmarsh's renowned School of Blades, a two story brick building with a substantial courtyard out front.

Within the courtyard, two pairs of warriors square off--a human facing a half-elf, each with a rapier, and a rapier-wielding human facing a gnome wielding a gnomish quickblade. Watching the pairs and snapping commands at the fencers is a lanky man wearing a well-tooled sword-belt and an impressive doublet. The instructor turns to the party and introduces himself as Daryn Larsken, master of the School of Blades.

Amadis chats with the man for a moment, but Daryn seems skeptical of Amadis' adventures, particularly due to the state of Amadis' sword. Daryn even goes so far as to dismiss Amadis' skill as a swordsman, which does little to endear him to the knight-errant.

Daryn dismisses two of the students, but tells the other two to keep working. He then invites the party in to browse his collection. Amadis continues to brag, however, and Daryn begins to question aloud whether he should truly sell this man a sharpened blade. Regardless, Amadis admires a well-oiled blade handed to him by Daryn, but then swiftly draws the sword and leaps out of the nearby window, shrieking "Danger is afoot!"

Stunned, Larsken and the rest of the party run swiftly down the stairs and after Amadis, who seems to be chasing down a local farmer, who is attempting to buy fruit. Daryn screams after Amadis, "By all the Nine Hells, man, what are you doing? That sword is mine!" Amadis claims that the man, Jerimiah by name, is in danger, though Jerimiah seems to be more confused by Amadis' actions than anything else. He walks swiftly away, and fades into the crowd.

Exasperated, Daryn asks for payment for the blade, but Amadis seeks to bargain down the 400 gold crown price, by throwing in his old blade. Daryn tosses down the blade in disgust, saying that it is "not much more than a can opener." Sputtering, Amadis retorts that the blade has "at least opened the cans of half a dozen goblins" and that the master has "dishonored my sword."

Daryn looks the man straight in the eye and says, "Do you know to whom you speak? I am the fencing champion of the Free City of Greyhawk twice over!" Amadis attempts to retort, but Harvinion cuts him off by offering to pay for the master's broken window. Amadis cools down, pays Daryn the requested fee, and the group leaves.


In the meanwhile, Brighid scours the area for a bowyer. She finds a stall near the Merchant's Guildhouse with a fine sign drawn up in Elvish, labeled Jathalain's Bowyery. Inside, a long-eared, soft-spoken elf asks the young warrior if he can offer some help. Brighid shows Jathalian her bow, which he promptly examines, telling her that she needs a new bowstring--hers has frayed. He quickly reaches to his leather bracers, plucks off a newer string, then re-strings her bow.

Jathalain then pulls down a fine recurve bow, made of red maplewood with a fine bronze inlay. He then aids Brighid in demonstrating the pull. Brighid makes mention of the fact that she is not a seasoned archer yet, though Jathalian seems more than willing to give some lessons.

In the end, things come down to the price, which is none for the faint of heart: 350 gold pieces. Brighid also asks about the possibility of purchasing exotic arrows, including those made with Mithril or Cold Iron arrowheads. Jathalian educates the young warrior on the qualities of these metals and offers to throw in a "sample quiver" of each, should she choose to buy the bow. Brighid accepts, and leaves shortly thereafter.

At this point, Azumi and Harvinion pass by and continue on, into a nearly barren area filled with smoke. Towards the end of the space, a smithery churned smoke into the air. A gnome and a human pumped a massive bellows while a filthy dwarf hammered away on a piece of metal on the anvil. Azumi interrupts their work, and the dwarf waddles over. The warrior-woman asks the dwarf for something "bigger" than her halberd, to which he wittily replies, "Well, there's a big rock out back you could use! Wham!"

Frustrated, she then asks for something a bit sharper than a rock. Again, the dwarf smiles and shows her a piece of jagged iron, used for scrap. Frustrated, she falls silent to think. Harvinion, however, perks up, asking about the dwarf's ability to work with mithril. The dwarf, finally introducing himself as Jasker, tells the pair that he actually has a shipment of mithril on order, which is almost a week late. If the pair could find it for him, he might be able to offer a deal on mithril armor or weaponry. He further suggests to start with Saltmarsh Sendings, the company that he used to have the metal delivered.

After hearing all this, Azumi finally realizes how to ask her question. She asks Jasker if she could potentially requisition a new halberd. Jasker agrees, stating that he has received some Zhenish steel that he could use for the blade. She puts in the order, which will be ready in two days for 350 gp.

With a busy day behind them, the party heads back to the Lizard's Boat. Kailee, the ranger-turned-inkeep, stands ready at the bar when Amadis speaks to the patrons in a booming voice, "We have fought valiantly and conquered, so a round for everyone!" Kailee is skeptical at first, but is quick to shovel Amadis' 5 gold pieces into her skirt, when he plinks the coin onto the bar.

The next day, the party heads first to HoolWatch tower. Harvinion, eager to get after the mithril, arrives nearly half an hour ahead of the group. At the tower, Iborian confirms the PCs' statements. A pyre was created for the dead, and the bursar held their payment. The players collect it, and make a few short stops before heading out. Brighid stops at the Alchemist's Guild, picking up a few potions. Harvinion, Daishar, and Amadis head to a curio shop, where the first pair buy an armoire, and the latter merely enjoys a lemon scone.

From there, the group heads to the western gate, where two noble guards stand vigilant. The warriors ask one, with a large moustache, of banditry on the road, particularly of the Saltmarsh Sendings messengers. He claims to know nothing of the sort, and that, given their information, they may wish to start their search at the Saltmarsh Sendings office. Further, they learn that this guard, named Bob, is brother to the apprentice Bob from the Temple of Boccob. Furthermore, he is also brother to two other 'Bobs,' one of whom works as an alchemist, the other which may be in league with Ned Shakeshaft, the leader of the infamous Saltmarsh Assassin's Guild.

With a complaining Harvinion in tow, the group makes its way back across town to Saltmarsh Sendings, where Brighid inquires as to Jasker's ore. The clerk tells them that a halfling, Joshua Longstrider, was in charge of the shipment between Cauldron and Saltmarsh. Apparently Longstrider had not checked in, but the clerk marks Longstrider's potential route on the group's map and sends them on their way.

Heading out of the western gate, the group says their goodbyes to Bob, and moves on their way.

About 4 hours down the western road, Harvinion catches sight of some movement. He pulls out the lizardfolk's letter of safe passage. Amadis draws his sword and shouts out for any foes to show themselves. While Azumi hears the noise of some creatures moving, Daishar is the first to spot 4 man-sized, degenerate, scaled creatures clawing their way up the left side of the road.

The creatures strike first, as one spits a viscous glob of bile at Amadis, sizzling his flesh beneath his armor. The battle is swiftly joined, and things look dire for the warriors. Harvinion is harmed direly, and is forced to retreat and use his crossbow, rather than his typical longsword. Azumi, too, is direly injured and her grip on her halberd begins to loosen somewhat.

The fists of Daishar, though, prove to be as strong as any steel. Caught one-on-one with one of the creatures, the monster quickly fell beneath the discipline-wrought blows of Daishar's martial power. He then joined the battle against the other creatures, aiding his new fellows with powerful strikes.

As the party's injuries seem to mount Brighid shifts her roles from warrior-woman to healer, bringing powerful healing energies to bear upon her comrades. At this moment, though, Azumi slams her halberd shaft into her foe's face, forcing it backwards into a tree and breaking its snout. As it reels, she wheels about, slicing the halberd blade into both of its legs, severing both and felling the beast.

With blows like these, the party swiftly prevails over their foes and begin to investigate the environs. A short search by Harvinion reveals the creatures' nest, within which lies the corpse of a halfling traveler and the missing mithril. Furthermore, the party finds some special rewards for their efforts:

-400 gps
-an unidentifible ring
-a divine scroll of Flaming Sphere
-a wand
-a finely made composite longbow, which is taken by Brighid
-a heavy steel shield, taken by Amadis.

With their quest completed, the party sets out back towards Saltmarsh with the mithril in hand, ready to give to Jasker.

Tales of Saltmarsh Towne--Prologue

Cast of Characters:

Azumi Matsukata--Jules--Warblade. A refugee from a far-off land, Azumi flees from a force that works from the shadows. Azumi is a new citizen of Saltmarsh and has only recently come upon the others.

Amadis de la Chamna--Adam--Knight. His head full of stories and tales of classical knights and powerful warriors, Amadis seeks a return of such old ways. However, many think Amadis mad, as he believes that evil sorcerers follow him, changing reality at their whims.

Brighid--Sarah--Favored Soul. A refugee of the Flanaess, from Vecna's ascension to godhood, Brighid holds great vengeance against the Ebon Triad, a cult that seeks the unification of Vecna with two other vile deities.

Harvinion--Lionel--Scout. One of the defenders of the woodlands surrounding Saltmarsh, Harvinion has done much to aid the incoming refugees to the town. However, his greated challenges lie ahead of him...

Artorius--Nick--Dread Necromancer--The most recent arrival to Saltmarsh, Artorius claims not to know his past. However, certain events seem to line up between his memory, and several tales from nearly 1,000 years in the past. The repercussions of this may echo through the rest of his life...

Daishar--Chris--Monk--An acolyte of Boccob, lord of knowledge and Sovereign of the Unseeing Eye, Daishar stumbled across the party as they were speaking to High Acolyte Mylor within Saltmarsh's temple. However, Daishar's allies may feel great resentment towards some of the members of his new friends, and he may soon be faced with a difficult choice.

Tales of Saltmarsh Towne: Chapter 1--The Goblin Pits of Io-Rach

I found these journals while going through the last remains of a scout, supposedly from the wooded regions surrounding the burgeoning city of Saltmarsh. Considering that there are no woods around the greater Saltmarsh area....these tales are difficult, at best, to verify.

The party begins with a meeting with Ranger Iborion of the Hool Watch at 3pm, but decide to hang around The Lizard's Boat inn and tavern to eat some lunch and to get some information on the local peoples.

Amadis asks for the best calamari but instead opts for the cheaper third best. The rest order a simple dish of cheese and bread.

After finishing lunch, the group heads to the lizardfolk embassy, with the intent to find out more information about the Hool Marshes, home to several lizardfolk triebes..
Brighid, Artiorius, Azumi and Amadis decide to stop next to the embassy to purchase some swamp boots, but Harvinion mocks them for their weakness in traversing such a swamp.

At the Embassy they are directed to the Stenographer by the lizard embassy guards to get a pass of safe passage through the Hool marches.

Lizard Stenographer Silark - "This will give you safe passage through the Hool marshes. Be sure not to bring harm to my brothers and sisters in the swamp."
Amadis - "On my honor, my blade will not harm your brothern."
Silark - "Ha, Manlings have not much honor."
Amadis - Turns and walks out the door.

The party gets to the Hool Watch tower and ask about the need for a Tower for the Hool Marshes, only to find out that there is enmity between the people of Salt Marsh and the Hool
Marshes. It seems that some parties within Saltmarsh desire to see the lizardfolk eradicated...

The party is led to the 3rd floor where they are given a plate of sweetswith no chart of what is
what. Brighid bites into a coconut sweet and tosses it onto the floor, and then hides it in the corner.

10 minutes later, Ranger Iborian comes in with his cold lunch, and proceeds to chow
down on it sloppily, then lights up a big pipe. After smoking for a moment, he proceeds to explain that the High Councilmen need help with a problem of refugees being jumped by bandits of some sort. The bandits are goblins with a bleeding eye symbol on the bottom of their shields. The party is to investigate and eliminate the problem.
Amadis knows of the goblins somewhat--the goblins are those of the Io-Rach tribe, which roughly means "Bloody eye lying smashed on the ground" in Goblin.

Iborian tells us that the goblins are not typical gobbos. He then gives the party a map showing
where the raids are happening, which happens to be along a familiar road to Brighid, Artorius and Azumi. In fact, this was the very road upon which they arrived in Saltmarsh.

In return for completion of the task, Iborian says that the group would get to keep any salvage found and gives each member a pouch with 25 gps, as a down payment, with another 250 gps for after the task is accomplished.

Amadis's eyes immediately light up with thoughts of more sturdy armor, and Brighids's thoughts go to a composite bow.

After a short exchange about the cannibalistic tendencies of the native lizardfolk, during which Iborian mentions that the lizard folk like elf meat, the party heads out the door and onto the road.

The party heads down the road, led by Harvinion then Azumi, Brighid, Antonius and Amadis leading his "steed," a pack mule.

Along the way Harvinion spots something moving in the trees, has Amadis give him
the letter of safe passeage, and holds it out bravely. The rest of the party sheathes their
weapons.

A lizard barbarian swings out in front of the Harvinion and, after looking over the letter of safe
passage, tells the party about a slaughter up ahead in the road. He then walks back into the marsh and the party continues on the road to the spot of the slaughter.

During the march Antonius is chatted up by Brigid about his past. Harvinion, meanwhile, spots a tree that looks like a naughty bit, but the others do not want to stop and take a look.


A few short miles later, the party comes across the scene of the slaughter which is made up of over 3 overturned wagons and lots of blood all over. The place has obvious signs of being scavenged but surprisingly enough there are only 3 bodies. Not even the bodies of the horses can be found.
Brighid notices that the bodies have been gnawed on, but only after being stabbed to death. She also notices that one of the bodies is plague ridden. A quick check reveals that the other
two bodies are plague ridden, as well, but with a disease that can't be recognized.

Harvinion looks for where the bodies have been dragged and but instead finds an arrow ridden double-sized bloated gobbo looking corpse lying in the swamp. The corpse has large tumorous growths and is holding a blood stained cleaver.

However, a sudden cry interrupts the investigation. "Rititah Cratch!" is suddenly heard by Amadis, who becomes aware of 5 gobbos rummaging about in one of the wagons.
The rest of the party is alerted to the gobbos when Amadis charges at them. The gobbos toss a few javelins at Amadis but miss him. Amadis then shouts a knights challenege to one of the
gobbos, then deftly slices into it, causing it to stagger back and then collapse.

Two goblins chuck spears at Artorius and Amadis but miss them.
Artorius chants the words to an arcane ritual, and his hand glows in crimson.

Brighid, Harvinion and Azumi join the fray, and make short work of the goblins. However, one of the creatures wounds Harvinion sorely and he requires a healing spell from Brighid.

Luckily, one of the goblins was only knocked into unconsciousness, and Brighid immediately takes to interrogating the creatures. It awakens and then spits on Brighid, who kicks it in the head knocking it out again. Brighid heals it to awaken and then spits on it, and then speaks to it
Abyssal asking it where its warren is.

The goblin is, at first, uncooperative, but soon succumbs first to Brighid's interrogation, then to sweet oblivion. The party has their goal--a small cave nearby in the depths of the swamp.


While the group discusses their next move, they search the goblins and the caravan wagons. Artorius finds a well-made dagger in amongst the the wagons, while Brighid examines the goblins for disease, finding nothing.

Harvinion slogs over to the cave enterance and sees nothing of worry, waving the party over. The others slog over as Harv enters inside a bit, as Brighid touches Amadis's belt causing it
to glow.

The rest follow Amadis in, but he promptly screams "I shall fight you in honorable combat!" As he heads in, he continues to rant challenges, and suddenly trips over a hidden trip wire that sounds a bell.
At a fork in the path, the group waits for goblins to appear in the light of a guttering
torch in a wall sconch.
At the end of the right fork, Harvinion and Artorius spot things moving around but not
coming closer.

B translates Amadis's rants and challenges into Abyssal, and Harvinion wings a rock down the right fork but nothing happens.

At least, that is until a small ball rolls into the area which lets off a loud crack, and
Harvinion, Azumi and Artorius become deafened. Amadis rants about "underhanded tricks instead of honorable combat" and heads down the right fork after the goblins.

However, that is when the goblins' ruse truly struck. From the left-hand passage, three normal sized goblins emerged, but behind them were two of the massive, bloated brutes, dripping pus and filth from their corpulent frames with each step.

The goblins open with a salvo of javelins, and one of the larger creatures steps in to focus on Azumi. Catching the warblade off-balance, the creature nearly cleaves Azumi in twain. The second attempts the same with Brighid, but its blow deflects off of her heavy armor.

The battle looks poor for the heroes immediately, with the mighty Azumi already felled and the group surrounded, but the tide swiftly begins to turn. Summoning eldritch sorceries, Artorious injures one of the goblins assailing him, and Amadis quickly steps to defend the unconscious Azumi.

Harvinion flitted from foe to foe, stabbing frantically with his dagger, but was injured direly by a thrown javelin. Brighid stepped in immediately to fell his foe, then to heal the scout.

Between the efforts of Amadis's swordplay, Brighid's archery, and Artorius's magics, the party slew all but one of the goblins, the last of which retreated down the left passage, wounded direly in the thigh.

Injured severely and, in the case of Azumi, near death, the party discusses where they will hole up for the evening, while Harv just keeps his eye down the right passage. The party heads out and arranges the 3 battered wagons into a "quasi" fort to protect themselves for the
night.

Azumi takes first watch, Amadis takes second, while Harvinion takes third with the others sleeping through the night.

On Amadis's watch he hears some 'voices' in the trees that are a bit familiar...an almost chanting noise. He awakens Azumi to tell her of the chanting, but she doesn't hear a thing.

Amadis quickly claims "Wait here I'll go and investigate!" then he sloshes off into the
marsh. He does not hear the chanting over the sloshing noise he is making, and he heads back to the"quasi-fort."

Amadis then wakes up Harvinion, who also does not hear the chant, and the young scout hands Amadis the safe passage letter to put it onto the fort. The rest of the night passes without event.

As the next day dawned, the party prepared themselves for another venture into the goblin warrens. Brighid cast a light spell on Amadis's sword giving him a "glowing sword of righteousness!!!"

The party then heads forth back into the cave with Amadis leading the way, ranting again, and this time cutting the trip wire with his glowing blade.
Amadis and Harvinion choose the right passageway this time, followed by Brighid, Artorius and Azumi, in that order.

The passage forks again, and the party takes the left passageway which heads down instead of the right way which is level which ends in a room that tapers into a steep downward passage. The party decides to go back and take the right passage instead of trying to go down the steep way.
The right passage ends in a cold and smelly room, with refugee bodies hanging from the ceiling, with the sound of rushing water in the room.
Artorius and Amadis cut down the bodies which Brighid then examines for diseases but
doesn't find anything of note. She still cautions them from touching the bodies.

Harvinion finds a mallet and the party grabs it and some of the rope and cobbles together them in an attempt to booby-trap the deep slope. The attempt fails miserably and is quickly abandoned.

The group then heads back to take the first left passage way, which splits again, and they go right. This ends in a large living cavern with goblins beds and the like.

After finding nothing they go back to the other passage. There they find a cooking room with empty pots. Harvinion makes "Knudgeon Dowledge" check to find a small cabinet that doesn't look right. Harvinion opens it up and finds a passage in the west wall after about 20 minutes of fiddling with it. Air rushes into the kitchen that is dank and gross.

Within the passage, a slope leads down. Amadis heads first down the slope until the water at the bottom reaches up to the top of his hipwaders. After raising his sword high up he spots dry land on the other side of the water.

Artorius starts to swim half way across to the other side and comes back when he can't see much more.
Brighid lights up Artorius's backpack and he swims across to the dry land. There, Artorius finds a trove which seems to have been kept by the chief goblin.

The hidy hole contains:
- 480 Gold in a small coffer
- dwarven war-axe (which glows with faint transmutation magic)
- 3 small statues of a nude succubus in various poses
- An ever burning torch


The party quickly splits the gold up amongst each other and then head back to the downward slope they passed earlier. They quickly puts some ropes together and head down the slick slope.

As the group makes their way down the slope, a few in the party notice that towards the bottom, the walls are undulating a bit. Amadis chips away at the wall with his dagger, and a
green puss leaks out of the small hole.

As the group reaches the very bottom, they encounter a stiff wooden door. With no one available to pick the lock on the door, Azumi steps forward, asking for the dwarven waraxe. With a mighty swing, she crushes the door beneath her might.

Inside, four goblins lay prostrate, praying to some sight outside a rough-hewn window. The party quickly leaps into action, slaying them without hesitation.

Outside the window, though, in a larger cavern connected by a curving stairwell, lay a hideous sight. Down within the cavern's depths, the party watches a goblin being lowered into cauldron of "liquid" flesh by two bloated goblins, while a half-wolf/goblin monster watches. The goblin
is dropped into the cauldron, and when the cauldron is tipped over, the goblin emerges, transforming into a bloated goblin.

Brighid and Harvinion sneak down the stairs in order to fire an few arrows at the wolf monster
while the rest of the party readies their attacks against the abominations. With the first shots fired, the fray is joined.

With the battle joined, moments were tense for the party. The wolf-like creature immediately chanted some obscure words, and appeared in the prayer room in the midst of the party's rear guard.

The party faces difficulties at first, as the wolf-creature proves resistant to the party's blows. However, the dwarven war-axe, found within the chamber earlier seems to penetrate the creature's thick hide with ease, and Azumi's blows strike true. However, the bloated creatures' blows prove just as strong, felling Artorius and gravely wounding Amadis. Harvinion landed several solid blows, but was taken out of the fight partway through, as a fell incantation crushed his will to fight.

It seemed, though, that the savagery of the goblins' bloated kin was their undoing. One of the bloated creatures, consumed by rage and trapped behind his compatriots, destroyed two of his injured comrades in his blind haste to enter combat. With these combatants removed, the party prevailed.

Following their victory, the party chose to investigate the lower chamber further. It seemed that the cauldron, made of black wrought iron and writhing with filth and waste, was inlaid carefully with a stylized copper scourge several times around its brim. With this in mind, the group searched the bodies, and exited the foul area, ready to research this strange symbol.

In addition to the party's earlier loot, the goblins provided:

- 600 gold pieces
- 180 Platinum
- A nice looking steel Javelin
- Half-Plate for Amadis
- Masterwork longsword taken by Harvinion

Using one of the ruined wagons as a barricade and pyre, the party barred the entrance to the Io-Rach cavern, and collapsed the way in, sealing it forever.

Seasons Greetings from the Warlock

Merry Merry, cats and kittens.

For what it's worth, there hasn't been a lot of gaming going on since the conclusion of the Monday night Eberron Game.

That said, a new record of four brave superheroes has emerged, circa 1985. The alien John Doe, the winged-warrior Avoral, the robotic Rambo II, and the gun-nut CheapShot have taken it upon themselves to investigate a mysterious break-in at the newly unionized American subsidiary of the Polish company TMP Cybernetics.

Their path leads them from their headquarters near Langley, to the midnight streets of Krakow, to the depths of Siberia, in search of the (now-crippled) Rage Lord, the mysterious Iron Skull, and a man in green who may prove to be their greatest adversary yet....

In the meanwhile, have yourselves a good holiday. Whether you're religious or not, the holiday season has at least one message that we can all get on board for--peace on Earth and goodwill towards all men. Happy Holidays, all!

Musings of the Warlock--How Complete Arcane Changed Third Edition

I was in the tub a few days ago--I, like most people, do a lot of good thinking in the bathroom--and came upon a bit of a revelation.

I've been gaming for just about 15 years now. While I started in the midst of Dungeons and Dragons' second edition, I was quite familiar with the first edition rules, as well as that of Palladium's various systems.

The very foundation of the Dungeons and Dragons concept of magic revolves around a bastardized version of the magic system used by author Jack Vance, in his Dying Earth series. Within gaming circles, this knowledge is not uncommon. Vance was one of the first popular fantasy writers to come up with the idea of magic as a 'fire and forget' system. Your first level wizard would prepare/memorize/ready his magic missile, but when that spell was cast, it was gone for at least 8 hours.

This concept of 'fire and forget' magic translated easily into D&D, splitting evenly along the lines of divine and arcane magics. It was simple for a player to tell how many spells he had left, what level of spells were available, and what he could do at any given time. That said, many gamers felt frustrated with their inability to replicate the iconic spellcasters of fantasy and folklore.

And, seriously...who can blame them? Tolkien didn't exactly sit around worrying how many 8th level spells Gandalf can pump out in a day, or whether Saruman memorized that Telekinesis spell with a metamagic effect on it. Robert E. Howard didn't spend time figuring out whether Thulsa-Doom should use Polymorph Self or Shapechange. Tennyson and Malory didn't exactly worry so much about whether Merlin had cantrips or not.

This debate went on into third edition and its 'successor', 3.5e. While revolutionary, particularly in terms of the System Reference Document and the Open Gaming license, the Vancian-based magic system continued in terms of both wizard and sorcerer, both druid and cleric, and even the lowly bard. Always, we seemed pinned into 'fire and forget'.

This is not to say that other systems have not gone in other directions. Countless systems have. Even D&D has, to lesser degrees, through its psionics system, even in second edition. The problem there, though, is the fact that psionics is a marginalized segment, even within the more open scope of third edition. Within second, the system was stigmatized for balance issues, making playability and popularity minimal.

However, after the advent of 3.5e, Complete Arcane was released. And with CArc came a novel concept--the Warlock. For the first time in the history of Dungeons and Dragons, players were given a spellcaster who was not limited by spell slots or memorization. Instead, it was merely a matter of knowing or not knowing an invocation.

The uproar, at least on the Wizards of the Coast message boards, was immense. Many players simply did not comprehend how to play the class. Where a wizard or sorcerer would simply run out of spells, the warlock could run all day, non-stop, yet still remain balanced with its Vancian counterparts.

From there, the warlock's popularity led to further innovation within the D&D magic system. Tome of Magic, featuring the TrueNamer and the Binder, both featured functional magic systems that were comparable to those of the wizard and sorcerer, yet provided unique alternatives. The binder had access to any of its abilities, once per five rounds. The truenamer could use its highest abilities over and over again, provided he could make his ever-escalating true-name check.

Magic of Incarnum pushed the envelope farther, impinging on the realms of New Age mysticism and Far Eastern metaphysics through chakra binds and soul melds. Again, these did not require spell slots or memorization--just pick what you like. The higher you get in level, the more earth-shaking things you can do.

So different, so innovative were these concepts within D&D that they have spread out of the realm of magic and into the realm of melee combat, through Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords. Again, rather than readying maneuvers based on a Vancian system of x per day, we find abilities that can be refreshed in mid-combat, and are automatically regained following a battle.

Now, what does this mean for the discerning player? Well, by and large, it means more fun. Players enjoy seeing their characters at their best. When we're low on hit points, low on spells, low on resources, it becomes difficult to succeed at any major task. The priority for the player and for the character becomes resting, not adventuring. We, as players, play the game to fictitiously adventure, not to fictiously rest. These new systems accentuate this style of play, moving on the action faster and more furiously, pleasing both players and DMs.

What does this mean for the industry? This, above all else, shows the gilded age of D&D that has been upon us. For 25 years, authors have felt constrained to comply with the Vancian system, simply for verisimilitude. For the first time, we have authors, on a large scale, stretching their wings within the D&D engine. New systems, new concepts, mean more innovation across the board.

Needless to say, this sort of change is hard to fathom, coming from only one base class in a splatbook. But, the Warlock, for the first time, provided a divergent point of view--showing us that D&D can still be D&D without spell slots...and sometimes can even be more fun for it. The Warlock and its ilk will never replace with typical Vancian wizards and sorcerers of D&D--there's too much heritage there to fully overcome that massive mountain--but, the point remains that D&D has changed...particularly, changed for the better.

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Finale)

This page is the final entry in Harrigan's journal, and appears to be a message to his comrades about his final decision regarding the Professor, Dhalia, and his own fate. To this day, the fate of Harrigan Grimgem is unknown, but it is presumed that his body still lies in stasis within the depths of DreadHold.

To Khin, Lillis, Jacquin, Johnathan, and Sparkles--

This be the end o' the road for me, ladies and gents. It's been quite the trip, and it's been happy, for the most part, but I canna simply continue my galavant 'round the world and shirk the weight o' the world that's been sittin' on all our shoulders.

I'd save ye from this, so I do now what needs ta be done.

We live in world o' great magic--a place where the impossible happens each day, and any cutter worth the eyes in their head doesn't even blink. Ye know how easily life and death are moved across, what with spells of resurrection and raised life. Trust me, ye don't live in Karrnath all 'o yer life without pickin' up something about bringin' back that what was once dead.

That said, there be too many ways to get back at the old proffy's brain. Too many ways to bring him back or raise him as some undead and make him spill his secrets.

Ye also know, then, the stares I be gettin' whene'er we're in town. The eyes on me staff--the one we took from Xen'drik. Even if not for killin' Dhalia, the Inspired'll soon be after me...and ye with me.

And so, this be why I'm leavin' ye. Here, in the depths of DreadHold's Stone Ward, I'll lie at one with the rock and stone till all this be past. I've left specific instructions with the High Warden to not raise me for 500 years, or unless four of the five of ye decide that ye be needin' me services again.

I'll be takin' only the Destiny Arms and the proffy's body in me bag o' holding. There, they'll be trapped in the stone with me, in the most secure prison in all o' Eberron. If the Inspired get at it there, it'll have meant that the whole damned world belongs to them already.

Everythin' else I have goes straight to ye. Consider it my worldly thanks for bein' good friends, good travelin' companions and...well, damn, ye already know all this. No point in me sayin' more.

If'n ye want more help against the Inspired, I know a man. Drop me name in Rekkenmark and look for Alain Fannin, sometimes called "the man in black." He'll help ye, if the bastard knows what's good for 'im.

Johnny--What ye preach is true and holy. Spread yer word to whomever'll listen, and ye'll shake the land itself in time. I hope ye find yer way home again someday.

Jackie--yer a good man, regardless o' what they say. There's more to nobility than a title, though, and methinks ye learned that sometime along the way. Take care o' the young'ens for me.

Khin--The lands o' Karrnath have been good to us both. I hope yer collection'll be lookin' fine someday. Ye've been true to yer land and yer bones. I salute ye, soldier.

Lil--The world be a rough, harsh place at times, but there be great good within it. Ye stand as testament to that goodness, and someday it might come out in all us. Keep an eye to the gnome. He'll be needin yer help some days, methinks.

Sparkles--Aye, ye addle-coved berk. Yer home awaits, and with it, the sights of yer family. My hope is that ye find them and live out yer days in peace yet. Dinna overdo it on the Temples, wee one!

Aye, well that be quite long enough for any berk to be rattlin' his brain box. Take care o' yerselves, hearties. May the ground e'er rise to meet yer feet.

--Harrigan "The Horrible" Grimgem, 2nd Rank Bone Sergeant, Prospector, Miner, War-Wizard, Martyr.

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 7)

Arriving in the Shadow Marches, Harrigan and his accomplices set out to find the final necessary dragonshards to power the professor's plane-traveling device. Harrigan expresses his doubts as the group travels through the Crawling Swamp, and begins to face a difficult decision.

Aye, so I finally had a chat with Jackie, Johnny, and the gnome. I've decided what action I'm goin' ta take, and all three are on board so far. We're plannin' on talkin' to Lil and Khin sometime soon, to see if they'll join us. I couldn't tell ye what they're goin' to say, but that's life.

We finally arrived in the Shadow Marches, where we did some sellin'. It's amazin' what you pick up as ye travel along like this. There's all kinds 'a stuff that we've collected. Needless to say, though, to the right buyer, we have what they want. That means jink in me pockets and ale in me tankard.

While there, I picked up a prospectin' license from the damned Thrashk half-orcs and talked to some of the Kundarak house about dealin' with our future problem. It shouldn't be a difficulty.

Lil celebrated her 17th birthday, while we were there. Aye...poor girl. She's out here in the middle o' nowhere with strangers, enterin' somethin' that she doesn't even know the half of. We'll see how this all goes.

I'll be honest with ye. I spent most o' my time broodin' and on a boat. Aye, another boat. I hate boats. A fella hired us to find some addle-coves who had given him the slip earlier on in the month. They headed up river with their pay for a job they never finished. Our job--find the buggers, and bring 'em back dead or alive.

Things were relatively quiet on the way. We fought a swarm o' hellwasps, which went down in flames from the Magma Staff and torchfire from the others. We also ran into some claimjumpers, but we dealt with them right quick.

Long story short--the pair (a burn-scarred orc and a midget human) were killed by some undead thing in the swamp. We killed it off right quick and started lootin'. The bodies around there had some fine loot, as well as the Eberron shards we've been lookin' for.

We headed back and will soon be headed for Adar. I dinna plan on makin' this an extended stay.


I have to apologize to ye, if ye be readin' this. To say the least, I've been a touch distracted by things. Evil times have a tendency of bringin' things out in one that ye wouldn't normally want to come out. At the same time, it makes good men do things that they normally wouldn'a do. Aye, I wish I knew what I could do in this situation that that'd be best, but right now, methinks I've chosen the best path I can.

Now, to deal with the consequences.

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 6)

After catching a wind galley from the port city of Stormreach, Harrigan and his allies set out for the Shadow Marches on the continent of Khorvaire. Along the way, they encounter two wonderous creatures that have them most distinctly on the menu...

Aye, I'm not much o' one for boats, meself, but any boat's better than a damned airship. I was still sick, but nowhere near's as bad as Jackie, Johnny, and the gnome. Those three were nothin' short of green as rock-mold.

Problem with that was the fact that we were about ta run inta some damned fine turbulence. Some giant turtle-thing, underneath the ship, started flippin' it on it's edge, sendin' almost everyting (yours truly, included) overboard!

Khin, Lil, and I managed to fight it off somehow, but not before it took one hell of a chunk outta me. Lil tried out one of her new spells, and Khin charged after it with both weapons a'swingin', and my new spell--Giant's Wrath--helped send the damned thing back to the bottom of the sea.

Only problem was that the ship itself was damaged when the thing tried to claw its way up onto the deck. The ship wasn't leakin' too heavily, but it sure as hell wasn't goin' anywhere. It was up to us to head to a nearby island and gather some wood for repairs. I headed below deck to grab me an axe and we headed ashore.

It wasn't long after we made landfall that Khin noticed a clutch of eggs in the sand. There weren't any blood there, so we figured that the thing we faught earlier hadn't been here. I whipped out my prospectin' tools and we started diggin' away.

We didn't find much in the way of loot down there, but we did find some things o' value. As in 13 of 'em. Dragon turtle eggs. Turns out, according to Khin anyway, that the eggs were wanted heavily by the Sharn Aquarium, so we packed 'em up in his bag of holding. I kept two out for omelettes, but it turns out that the damned things were fertilized. Fer laughin', I smacked Lil with one of the undeveloped buggers... She wasn't too happy about that one.

From there, we started about cuttin' down some trees. Only thing was that Lil--who I swear, has a shorter attention span than the gnome--noticed the volcano at the center of the island.

Now, if ye be readin' this journal, ye can probably imagine my thoughts on volcanoes at this point. Lava, heat...not me first choice of interest. But, the two damned fools played on me dwarven weakness for gems, and we headed in.

If it weren't for some luck at that point, we'd a been nothin' but bird food. Turns out that the volcano--extinct, though it was--was bein' used by a roc. Yeah, the fuckin' roc.

Luckily, we were able to get jump on the damned thing. I cast some spells on meself, as well as on Khin, which gave us the upper hand. Basically, I kept him on the ground with Mountain Stance, so he could lay into it with sword and mace. Between Khin and Lil's hacking, and my spells, we finished it off in no time.

We managed to pull out some nice loot from the roc's nest, then made it back to the ship with the wood needed for the repairs. All in all, not a bad day's work, but I'm eager to get to the Shadow Marches already. I have some sellin' to do...

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 5)

As Harrigan and his companions return from the tomb of Sharataz, the undead fire giant sorcerer, they come upon a strange sight--a massive ivory tower standing in the midst of the jungle. The lone inhabitant of this tower may well change their lives forever...

Aye, so we finally got ourselves out of the damned cavern of Sharataz--not the least bit fast enough for my taste. Ye know, I'm about as hands-on as ye get. I get in, get me hands dirty and get after whatever there be to get afterin'. However, this was one time where I'd have rather'a been back in Fairhaaven, readin' up on giants, rather than findin' them.

My legs were still sore from the lava last time, and I'll freely admit, I's a bit testy. But, when Jackie came back from scoutin' the path ahead, I didn't have so much patience with the fop.

He came out o' the clearin' up ahead sayin' something about a spiralin' white tower in the middle of the jungle. Well, the damned fool went back and checked, then started claimin' somethin' about warforged guarding it. Warforged. In the middle of the damned jungle. Even the damned gnome didn't believe him after that.

But, go figure--the fop was actually tellin' the truth for once. Given that, I didn't even want ta mess with the situation. I used me new staff and summoned up an earth elemental, then sent him after the damned 'forged.

I'll save ye the details o' the combat and get to the point--no force on or under earth can stand against pure elemental earth in bodily form. The elemental lit'rally crushed the damned creatures beneath its fists with no effort whatsoever. Yeah, yeah....the gnome and the others contributed with those damned drow boomerangs, and I even got to try out me new spell--a conjured, razor-sharp stalagmite--but the elemental did the heavy lifting.

As soon as we arrived outside and finished off the warforged, all of us could hear a weird combo o' sounds--something like a mechanical whirring, with murmuring underneath it. Immediately, Lil, Jackie and Khin started climbin' on into the tower, but I held back to look around with the gnome and Johnny.

I can't say what they saw inside, at least a' the beginnin'. But, outside, there was a huge crack in the earth. I could practically feel the ground screamin' beneath me. The gnome dropped one of his crazy devices in and lights flared down in the gorge--the bottom was covered in warforged components on an assembly line. Some damned fool was startin' to build new 'forged.

I couldn't stand fer that. I can't stand the House Cannith bastards, but the idea of makin' new warforged just smacks me the wrong way. I closed off the crevasse, crushing all of the components fer good.

It was that point that Lil dropped me a Message. Somethin' about a giant imprisoned in in some damned device inside. Grabbin' up Johnny and the gnome, I hurried on in.

The tower led up quite a piece, with only one door, which led back down into the depths of an unlit factory floor. We clambered down to see a hideous sight--a giant trapped in suspended animation, behind some crazy Cannith contraption.

I knew who it was immediately. I'd read about him back in Fairhaaven, then again in Sharataz's tomb. This giant was one that fought against the Quori, over 13,000 years prior, using one of the four Destiny Arms. Particularly, he used a glaive that channeled elemental earth and negative energy, severing the ability to for the Quori to possess their foes. Immediately, I had 'em start lookin' for a way to get the feller out.

That was my mistake. Jack-o and the gnome found a console of buttons, and immediately started pissin' around with 'em. With the lights blinkin' around us, and the factory half-comin' to life, I couldn't take it anymore. I shattered the damned console, and the entire factory went black.

Luckily, dwarven blood be hardier than that of piss-poor humans. The giant was freed, and we had ourselves a nice little conversation. It took a while to get him up to speed, but eventually he caught on.

If all that wasn't enough, apparently the Quori were usin' this damned facility for creatin' old-style warforged to continue their siege on Adar. Somehow, I didn't feel so bad anymore for destroyin' the whole place. The Quori had, as well, their own damned gateway outside, according to the giant.

Well, I figured that we damned well had better put a stop to that, as well. A casting of Stone-Shape later, and what once looked like a runic circle now looks like nothin' more than ground. Good riddance to the damned bastards.

Luckily, we also found the giant's glaive. Some damned fool, not knowin' what he had, dropped it in the well outside. Easily gotten, we gave that one back.

It was there that the giant and meself got into a bit of a tiff. As I said, me temper was not of the best that day. He wanted to take me staff, claimin' that the Quori'd after us to get it back--apparently, the giants used the four Destiny Arms to banish them in the first place and, if they were re-united, they could undo the magics. I told him, plain and simple, that the staff was mine, and it'd make more sense anyway to keep the Arms separated.

Right in the midst of the argument, we got a rude awakening. Some fella, with an iron dog-like thing and a chick, came up claimin' that the tower was his. Now, I'm no archmage, but I can see the writin' on the stone wall. If this fella thinks that the tower is his, and that he dows the work here....even if he's from Cannith, then he's also allied with the Quori and knew that the giant was prisoner. I didn't put up with that--I lit an Earthbolt into he and his buddies and was done with them.

I pried the info I wanted straight out of his brain. He was possessed by a Quori--a servant of our old friend Dhalia.

At any rate, I dinna think that he was too pleased by that logic, but he chose not to pry the staff from me dwarven fingers, so I think he's not too perturbed. He claimed to be headin' off to find a friend of his, to see if they were still alive and if they had their own Arm with them.

Right now, we're on our way via wind galley towards the Shadow Marches. They're the last place we need to head in order to get the Professor's shards.

Right now, I'm not sure what the hell I'm goin' to do. If we give the prof the shards, he could well mess up the whole damned Multiverse, pullin' planes out of alignment and movin' 'em around. Even if the Quori don't get a hold of it, all it takes is one mistake to bring down everything the SoulForger's e'er put down here.

I think I need to talk to Johnny. He seems to have a good hand on this.

One thing I do know is that Dhalia'll be gettin' what's comin' to her. If I have to cross the whole damned continent again, I'll see that she gets hers.

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 4)

Having arrived in the city of Stormreach, Harrigan and his companions head deep into the jungles of Xen'drik in search of Khyber dragonshards. Their search leads them to the ruins of a giantish citadel, where Harrigan has a brush with death...

Aye, I knew it wasn't goin' to be a good day. It'd been one o' those weeks.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'd enjoyed my time in Stormreach. The gnome, Johnny and I had lived it up like nobody's business. Even got meself a new tattoo--a series o' Giantish runes that run across me chest. It'd been a great week. However, once we had to get down to business, life was the sort that'd curl yer beard.

We started out headin' towards an outpost in the midst o' the jungle called Last Chance--great place to call it, thinks me--when we were jumped by more of the damned dinos that we fought earlier. Only problems were that these ones were big--real big. We're talkin' big enough to crack your mine's walls big. That, and the fact that I was busy tryin' to teach the damned gnome some more o' the Common tongue. That's rough enough by itself, but havin' to leap into battle in the midst of it....ugh.

We leapt into the midst o' things, with Jackie already in after 'em and Lil singin' to her heart's content. Damned fool girl. She'll get us all killed if she keeps enterin' combat with a song, rather than a sharp blade or a good spell. I pulled off a Tremor spell which knocked the dinos on their asses, but all she did was sing.

Now, honestly. Ye tell me, what do ye do with someone like that? She sings. Sings! We're fightin' for our lives and what does she do? Sings. Damned addlecoved berks. The gnome was nearly bitten in half, Khin was fallin' all over himself with panic, and Johnny was overheatin' in his armor, and she's singin'. Go figure.

The little shifter did manage to pump off a spell herself--one that managed to actually do some mage to the damned things. She'll be worth her luster someday, no doubt--it's just that for now, she's a pain in the ass.

At any rate, we managed to make it to Last Chance somewhat intact, and I started the next day with a fine Dwarven Breakfast. There's nothin' on or under good earth like startin' out knowin' that five animals had to die to feed ye in the morning.

However, good breakfast or now, I knew the day wasn't goin' well. For one, we started out trackin' the shards by havin' the gnome read the map. Yeah, the gnome.

Yes, the gnome can't read. Aye, we must be as barmy as a power near the Spire. We somehow arrived at some old ruins of a statue sayin' "Beware of Sharataz, fire giant sorcerer. Continue and face my wrath."

Aye, I know more than my share about giants. I know how powerful they were, back in the day when they fought the Demons, the Quori and the damned drow without half the time needed for a good ale. I also know that a fair piece of their power--their items and the like--can be found in their ruins. That said, roamin' around fire giant tombs isn't my idea of a day of work. However, that's where the shards were, so we headed towards the entrance.

We also had one minor problem--the aforementioned damned drow. A party of four of 'em were headin' down the mountain straight for us. That's when Jackie came up with a bright idea. The mountain was barely a pile o' loose rock, so he asked me about settin' up another Tremor right near 'em. So, I made with the earthshakin' and ran like a scared cave boar.

The ensuin' avalance buried the drow, gettin' 'em out of our hair once and for all. Three of 'em were dead when we arrived, and the last was barely clingin' to life. I fixed that with my new spell--somethin' I picked up in Adar called Crystalline Memories.

Basic premise is this--I reach into someone's mind and basically start turnin' their brain to crystal. If I manage to pull it off, I can pull it out o' their skull and into my hand, then use it to see what they've been thinkin'. Needless to say, it's a nasty little spell.

Basically, we got a bit of info from him about where the shards were--in the midst of a field right past ol' Sharataz' tomb. We headed into the cave and went from there.

Only problem was--by the Hells, I say that a lot in this thing--we weren't alone. Damned little spidery things, like bugs or such, were infestin' the place. I wanted to hang onto my spells for a tick, knowing the Sharataz's tomb probably wasn't unguarded, so I settled on a Fist o' Stone and drew that crystal sword that I picked up in Aundair.

Now, I can hold my own in a fight--there are damned louts in Karrnath that'll tell ye the same--but that gnome? That's a fair fellhammer right there. He ripped the little buggers up like flint under a mithril hammer.

It was the next bit that really fired me beard...lit'rally. In order to get to Sharataz's tomb, we had to cross the ruins of this old bridge across a volcanic outlet. I've crossed so many bridges in my life like that, that you'd figure it'd just be walkin'.

No. No such luck.

I fell in. The lava. I fell in the damned lava. I don't know why or how--I guess I just slipped--but I fell in the damned lava and damned near sank.

I don't know who pulled me out--I've never felt pain like that in me life, so I wasn't focusin' on who's hand I grabbed up. All I could do was howl.

Johnny jumped up and chanted some words. I couldn't even make 'em out, but once he did, his hand started radiatin' somethin' powerful and all the pain was suddenly gone. Th' burnt flesh, the charring....all gone. He cured me.

I couldn't even breathe by that point. I had no idea of what to do or say. He just nodded at me and we moved on.

After a little bit of argument, we decided upon gettin' the shards first, before seein' what old Sharataz had left behind for us. We headed around the back, towards the shard-field. Khin and Johnny started out trying to lasso the things, with only a little bit of luck. Frustrated already, I wasn't about to wait around for them to mess around with it. A few castings of Mage Hand did the trick, and we had an armload of Khyber shards to show for it.

From there, we headed on in. Sharataz's tomb was strangely deserted, which made me all the more nervous. Right in the middle, though, there was something crazy going on. A massive staff, made of hardened black and red lava, sat up on a pedastal right in front of a massive gravesite.

Jackie checked the thing for traps, but even he wasn't confident in his work. He pulled out a retractable pole, ready to knock the staff down, but I had a better idea and less patience than to put up with his crap. I pulled out an Earthen Grasp and had it toss me the staff. Immediately, two wacky things happened: the ground around the tomb started rumblin', and the staff got smaller in my hands--small enough for me to wield and use.

Well, wouldn't ya know it, ol' Sharataz wasn't quite dead yet. Seemed to have some fight in him yet, because he rose on out of the grave and went on the assault.

I'll spare ye the details, but suffice to say that puttin' down ol' Sharataz wasn't pretty. Jackie, Khin, and the gnome charged on in, takin' more than their share of pain. Johnny hung back and let loose with a Searing Light spell. Again, the damned bard sung. We were lucky to survive that one....my last Earthbolt killed the damned thing. I can thank the fine fellas of House Kundarak for that one--it was the Empowering Rod I bought from them that let me take out Sharataz.

To say the least, I kept the staff. There was a fair amount of loot to go around, within Sharataz's grave, which was fine for the rest. Right now, I'm still tryin' to figure out all the things that it can do. Thusfar, it can light itself on fire, can cast Fireball, Wall of Fire, can change rock to mud, and can summon elementals. Not too bad--not typically my cup of tea, but it's been all right so far.

Supposedly--at least accordin' to the inscriptions on that pedastal--there are three other weapons that the giants had out at the same time. I, for one, don't care too much. We've already got a job to take care of, and I'd rather focus on that....in the meanwhile, though, I'm goin' to just get myself a drink. It's been far too long of a journey as it is.

From Harrigan Grimgem's Scrollcase...

While I was perusing through Harrigan "The Horrible" Grimgem's journal, I came across a few folded sheets tucked into the binding. Lo, and behold! They were spells of Harrigan's own devising, which this world had ne'er seen before. I was quick to scribe copies of them, myself, and add them to my apprentices' spellbook.

I publish their details here, so that other spellcasters may benefit from Harrigan's own brand of....ingenuity? That's definitely not the right word for this maniac, but a fine spellcaster he appears to be. Now, it's time for me to finish that staff...

Create Chasm
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: One 10 ft. diameter pit.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None or Reflex negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: No

As you suddenly separate your clasped hands and chant the final words to the incantation, a deep, jagged chasm appears beneath your chosen foe. Their screams echo deeply…at least until they hit the bottom with a satisfying squish.

At the conclusion of this spell, you create a deep chasm in the earth. This chasm is completely permanent and real in every way. The chasm is a rough circle, 10 feet in diameter, with a depth equal to 10 ft. per caster level (max 150 ft at 15th level). If any space affected by this spell is occupied by a creature that can fit down the chasm (Large or smaller), that creature must make a Reflex save or fall into the chasm. Falling creatures take damage as normal for falling.
You may only cast this spell when on the earth itself, or on the ground floor of a building. If cast on a surface above the earth or on a floor above the ground level, this spell fails to function.



Greater Shatter
Evocation
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./2 levels)
Area or Target: 20-ft.-radius spread; or one solid object or one creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (object); Will negates (object) or Fortitude half; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)

As you grasp the stone within your hand, an inaudible noise erupts from your throat. This sound ripples across your target, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces.

Greater Shatter creates a loud, ringing noise that breaks objects; sunders a single solid object; or damages a crystalline, metallic, or stone creature.
Used as an area attack, greater shatter destroys nonmagical objects of stone, ceramics, metal, or glass. All such objects within a 20-foot radius of the point of origin are smashed into dozens of pieces by the spell. Objects weighing more than 5 pounds per your level are not affected, but all other objects of the appropriate composition are shattered.
Alternatively, you can target greater shatter against a single solid object, regardless of composition, weighing up to 10 pounds per caster level. This can be used to destroy magical items made of metal, ceramic, stone, or glass. If the item fails a Will saving throw, it takes 1d6 points of damage per level of the caster (maximum 10d6).
Targeted against a crystalline, metallic, or stone creature (of any weight), greater shatter deals 1d6 points of sonic damage per caster level (maximum 10d6), with a Fortitude save for half damage.
Arcane Material Component: A shard of rock, chipped away with a hammer.



Conjure Lava Rift
Conjuration [Earth] [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area or Target: 10 ft. diameter miniature volcano
Duration: 1 round / 3 levels
Saving Throw: Reflex (half) or none. See text.
Spell Resistance: none

As you gesture, the ground itself heaves forth in a shower of molten rock shards, spraying your foes with liquid hot magma.

You create a 10 foot diameter cracked rift in the earth which sprays forth hot lava. This area affected by this spell is treated as rough terrain and costs two squares of movement for each square moved. Any creature within the area of the rift or in an adjoining square must make a Reflex save or take 1d6 damage/caster level (maximum 10d6, Reflex half).
If a creature takes damage from the magma, they take half of that damage again on the following round as the magma continues to burn. After the second round of damage, no further damage is accrued.
When the duration of this spell expires, the ground is returned to its normal shape, with no evidence that the lava rift was brought into existence. This spell may only be cast on ground level—whether in a building or on the ground itself—or while underground.



Volcanic Gout
Evocation [Earth] [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft.
Area or Target: 60 ft. cone.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex (half)
Spell Resistance: Yes

With only a few words, you spray forth a superheated blast of stone and lava from your mouth.

You spray a cone full of rock and superheated lava from your mouth. This gout deals 4d6 bludgeoning damage and 8d6 fire damage.
If you cast this spell a second time before the end of your next turn, the damage is increased to 5d6 bludgeoning damage and 10d6 fire damage.

If you learn this spell as a sorcerer, you gain fire resistance 3. This fire resistance stacks with all other fire resistance, whether from a natural ability, a spell, or a magical item.


(This material is designed for use with the Dungeons and Dragons v. 3.5 roleplaying game and complies with the System Reference Document. This material is meant for personal use only, and may be republished only for personal use and not for profit.)

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 3)

After their initial success in finding the Professor, Harrigan and his companions make their way towards Adar via airship, but not without some rather fortunate delays....

Aye, so we finally set out on the thrice-damned airship towards Adar. I hate airships. Can't stand the bloody things. Make me sicker than damned elven wine. I was bent over the side of the ship, pullin' from me flask just to stay alive.

That's when Jackie pointed out somethin' a bit alarmin'. Giant rocks, falling from the sky, straight towards the ship. I whipped out a two spells of Shatter and broke up some, sending shards of rock across the deck. However, I couldn't stop the other three, and one struck the ship. We started makin' for the life-rings, and I grabbed a rope and leapt off, hanging on--just in case.

Turns out that the ship only took cosmetic damage, and we were able to sit down without much trouble. Thing was that the shattered shards on the ship were dragonshards. Honest to damned gods Siberys dragonshards! We got hit right in the middle of a damned storm of 'em!!

We set down right on top of where we thought one landed, and I sight beheld me that I'd never seen before. A dragonshard--a single, bloody dragonshard--the size of a damned wheelbarrow. One. Just one. I damned near pissed myself. As Khin said, "It just falls into your lap...literally!"

Immediately, we set about decidin' what to do. We had to do a bit of re-negotiatin' with the Prof, mainly because of the wealth of this thing. We figured out an arrangement, and started to diggin'. Jackie, Sparkles and I broke out the prospectin' tools, while Lil gave us some moral support. Lazy shifter. Khin and Johnny headed out, though....apparently, Khin saw another shard drop not too far away.

After doin' some figurin', we managed on a way to move the shard itself. Turns out that the little gnome, ADHD and all, could push it, if we managed to get it up on some rollers. Some trees from the local copse fit the bill, and Lil got around to choppin' 'em up.

Only one problem emerged. Well, actually three of 'em. Dinos. Big nasty lizards with bigger nasty teeth. Immediately, we leapt into action. I cut in with an Earthbolt, and Jackie whipped out his sword and dagger. Lil started casting some helpful spells and Johnny drew his mace, ready to charge on out.

I tell ye what--say what ye want about the damned gnome, but the bastard can fight. He took out one of those lizards by himself--no help whatsoever. Another one, which I caught with a second Earthbolt, Johnny finished off with a half mace-slam, half body-tackle.

The problem, though, was not so much the lizards, but rather what they meant. Apparently, the dinos were the mounts of some halflings in the area. Damned cannibal halflings. I hate the buggers. The Prof and his bodyguard, the Kalashtar, held them off from wreckin' the ship, but we knew we needed to get out of there. I started pokin' the gnome till he got nice and pissed off, then Enlarged him, so he could push the rock. Just as we figured, he had no problem rollin' it right into the ship's cargo hold.

We also managed to pull some smaller shards from the second shard-fall, including one the size of a dinner-plate. I pulled out my scrapin' pan and grabbed up some dragonshard dust, as well.

With that, we needed to figure on where to go next. Sharn was quite a ways away, and we didn't want to head to Adar with such a risky thing as this giant shard. So, we decided to head a bit south...to the Mror Holds and House Kundarak.

Now, I'd never been to Mror and the Ironroot Mountains. However, I knew it as my home, because all good dwarves know it as home. We docked, and immediately set out about gettin' an appointment.

The secretary at the Kundarak house was quite the eyeful, and she was more than helpful in settin' up a meetin'. I wouldn't mind meetin' up with her again, if ya know what I mean!
We were set up for 1pm the next day, with a Kundarak official.

Well, in the meanwhile, we grabbed some grub and drink and brought it back to party with the shard. Turns out that Jackie used to be quite the drinker--go figure. It's not surprising that he's as nuts as he is. A man goin' without drink for as long as he had before last night would be that nuts!

Well, once the Kundarak fella arrived the next day, his jaw dropped further'n mine did when I first laid eyes on it. He immediately went to go grab his superior, who had eyes wider'n a deep cave owl.

He tried to offer us an awful deal for the shard--35% of the wealth. We tried bargainin' with him, but he wouldn't have it. So, instead, I offered him somethin' better: the dinner-plate sized shard. He took that, and we split the big one's worth 7 ways---naturally, the Prof got his equal share.

We spent about a week or so in Mror, livin' the high life and waitin' for our profits to roll in. And that they did. We managed a total of 250,000 gil, selling between universities, The Twelve, and some other private buyers. Split 7 ways, that was over 35k a piece! And the fame....oh, the fame. Definitely, our names were probably on someone's list by now....

We made quite a few purchases around Mror before we left. Lil grabbed up a new enchanted lute, Jackie had his rapier enchanted, and the gnome got a pair of boots. I, meself, ended up with some new enchantments on me bracers, as well as a few other trinkets. I even had an ever-wand of Kelgore's Fire Bolt created, so I'd never run out.

With our last night in Mror, we lived it up. I's surprised that none o' the pipsqueaks were hungover the next day, as we traveled over the ocean towards Sarlona.

Well, we arrived pretty easily and only had one major problem as we arrived at the Prof's "sanctuary". Apparently, some Giant-age warforged were still bein' used by the Inspired, to try to hunt down ol' Proffy's friends. Needless to say, this was a bit weird, since the giants were on Xen'drik, not on Sarlona. Go figure.

When we arrived, we already had our task laid out before us. Head to Xen'drik and figure out what the hell was goin' on with the damned ancient warforged. And, as always, do our prospectin' thing. Turns out that the prof needs all three types of shards--Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber--to complete his device.

Y'know, as I mentioned to Johnny, I'm startin' to worry about this here device that Proffy is buildin'. He's talkin' now about transportation by moving places closer to the world and such...that has me just a touch worried. I can't imagine what it'd be like to have the Nine Hells right next door to me. Just seems like some o' that fire and brimstone that Johnny talks about might have some merit to it sometimes--especially if this thing falls into the wrong hands.

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 2.5)

This ballad was found with Harrigan's possessions by my friend in Khorvaire. I'm unsure what to make of it thusfar. To say the least, it speaks volumes on the dwarven lifestyle....

I like axes, sharp and ready.
I like wenches...with frosty brews.
I like drinkin' with lusty ladies.
I like eatin' my stew with ye...

I like diggin' in the granite.
I like breakin'...orcish skulls.
I bleed lava and shite out emeralds,
I drink hard ales in just one pull.

'Cause I'm all....all dwarven!

I mine mithril, and adamantine.
I eat roast pork, potatoes too.
I crush goblins, with my hammer.
I eat Illithid, deep fried in brew.

'Cause I'm all....all dwarven!

I like axes, ale and wenches...
I break elf-skulls and screw my whores.
I eat rubies with my beef stew,
but I come home and fight with you!

'Cause I'm all....all dwarven!
'Cause I'm all....all dwarven!
(Repeat ad nauseum)

(Sung to the tune of Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. All copyrighted material is the property of their owners and is used only as parody here.)

Chronicles of Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 2)

The dwarf's tale takes a strange turn, as he and his friends board a lightning rail towards Korth, the capital of Karrnath. Needless to say, his allies are a strange lot...

Aye, so we got on board the rail towards Korth. It's typically a 24 hour trip, all in all, but we ran into the usual problem--lightning storms. Right across th' border between Aundair and Karrnath, there's a big pile of storms that just sit there. So, we had to wait for the lightnin' to die down so we could slip through.

While we were there, the stewards broke out the wine, and gave us the first class treatment. Aye, while Lil and Johnny started in on the wine, Khin, Sparkles, and I broke in on the Broken Temples. I can't say much fer their mixin' ability, but a drink's a drink.

One problem, though--some ol' wench passed out while drinkin' the wine, and so did Johnny. Needless to say, after hearin' about the sleeping drug that the Inspired have been slippin' into drinks, I was a bit concerned. Jackie immediately skitter'd off to investigate...or drink more, I wasn't sure.

At any rate, right while Johnny (freshly revived thanks to some anti-toxin I had on me) started talkin' religion with Khin, myself, and Sparkles, Jackie crashed into the winery and shattered most o' the bottles. Damned fine waste of wine, if you ask me. The waiters were pissed off, but that's their problem.

I tried helpin' Jackie up, but he kept brushin' me off. Damned fool.

Lil, who apparently went with the ol' woman when she passed out, came back three sheets to the wind, ravin' about some out-of-body experiences that the woman'd been havin'. I'd have wrote it off, had Johnny not claimed the same thing once she mentioned it.

From there, things got a bit weird. Jackie locked himself in the bathroom with three o' the waiters, doin' gods-know-what to 'em in there. All I know is that "a man" needs to be a little more subtle with his advances.
He called in Johnny at one point, which got me a little confused, but the gnome mighta said it best--"butt sex." What they do is their business, but hey....I'm not interested.

In the meanwhile, Lil and I put on quite the duet of a great dwarven ballad: "Ale, Wenches, and Axes". Great rendition, and I sang like a rock bat. Also, we took some time to teach the gnome some more alphabet. At least he's up to E now.

Eventually, I did decide to investigate, only to see a grisly sight. Jacko'd offed two o' the buggers already, and was pryin' some answers out of the last one. All I could do was take a piss, grab a mop, and start cleanin' up the mess.

Turns out that the Inspired have been all over the lightning rails, handin' out their pretty poisons. However, there were two more still flittin' about, and I wasn't about to leave Jacko to his own devices. That is, as long as he kept his devices in his pants.

After comin' out and explainin' the situation to the rest of the group, Jackie told us about the last two. I joined him, like I said, along with Johnny, while all the gnome could ask was "How was the butt sex?" Damned if I couldn't breathe from laughing for the next 10 minutes. Crazy illiterate bastard. Crazier sex-addled berk.

Johnny, Jackie and myself took care of the last two. One of 'em managed a cheap shot on Jackie, using a shard o' crystal, but I lit it up with good ol' Kelgore's Fire Bolt, and sent it back into his buddy's chest. No more Inspired on that train!

We managed to hide the bodies and our evidence well enough that they weren't a problem for us anymore. The next day, we pulled into Korth, happier and well-rested.

Khin and I immediately headed for the nearest military office, where our contact ended up: some bee-eatin' Sergeant Toric Dunderline. That damned bastard wasn't keepin' the right records on his imported people....at least, that's what I told him. Damned fool believed me, too...he sent us in the right direction of our missin' professor: the Red Steed Inn.

At the Red Steed, Khin and I pulled rank again, claimin' to be arresting the good Professor and his kidnapper. We ended up settin' up an ambush for the buggers, as they weren't there. However, their room was on the second floor, which made some problems for me.

So, while Lil and Khin stood guard, Sparkles and I grabbed me shovels and headed outside with one o' the professor's empty footlockers. We filled 'er up with good loose earth and pulled it back, just inside o' the door.

Eventually, the kidnapper made his way upstairs, leavin' the prof to the tender mercies of Lil and Khin. As soon as that door opened, I pulled an Earthen Grasp out and kept him still while Jackie-o knocked him on the noggin.

Turns out that the professor, while kidnapped at first....sort of, wanted to be kidnapped. The kidnapper was takin' him to some place called Adar, where the prof would be safe to continue his work. Crotchety old bastard was pissed at us for even looking at his plans, but he lived, once we cut him a deal.

Basic thing is this--after headin' to Adar for a tick, we're gonna head to Xendrik, deep in the south. Anythin' we find there is ours--he pays for our travel and all our expenses. Only thing we gotta worry about is findin' him some Dragonshards. Easier said than done, but when ye have a great prospector like myself on yer side, shards are easy ta find! Them Thrashshk half-orc claim jumpers won't know what hit 'em!

The Warlock's New Familiar...

Chronicles from Eberron--The Tale of Harrigan the Horrible (Chapter 1)

This tale arrived from one of my fellow magi from the continent of Khorvaire. While it is difficult to tell whether the strange dwarven sorcerer Harrigan and his company truly existed, but at the very least, the story makes for an interesting tale.

From what I can gather, Harrigan Grimgem was a rare dwarven sorcerer that grew up in the city of Rekkenmark in Karrnath. Harrigan served for 15 years in the Karrnathi army at Fort Bones, where he was granted the rank of Bone Sergeant and War Wizard. From there, he traveled west, arriving at Fairhaaven for reasons known only to him.--PW.


Aye, laddies, this may be the beginnin' of somethin' big. I was sittin' around the Fairhaaven library, like I have been the last 6 months, when I get a message from some chickie-poo named Dhalia. I dinna know many of the professors around this bloody place, so I's unfamiliar with her name. She was offerin' 1k of gil and a free round-trip for a service...and I was short on cash and was itchin' to get out of the damned place.

There, I met up with the frightful crew that'd change me life for the rest of me days. The first was another Karrnathi fella named Khin. He served a bit further east of me, guarding trade routes during the Last War. Also with the chick were a gnome and a shifter teenager. What the two of them had to do together, the Forger only knows. I later found their names as Sparkles and Lillis. Two humans were there, too--some dance professor named Jacquin, and some creepy fella named Johnathan Davis. Davis kept ravin' about some Saviour and Lord, but I didna' pay him much heed. I never had much to do wit' the gods and they never had much to do wit' me.

Dhalia was apparently an assistant or such, but her professor, some Marvin Turning, went missing. Apparently some armored fella and an ugly chick busted through the window of his lab, grabbed the professor, and hightailed it out before she got more than a glimpse.

To be frank, I's a little suspicious of chickie-poo at the start. Things just didn't seem to add up. Jackie found a journal of the professor's, implyin' that Dhalia'd been poisoning him with sleeping toxin for at least two months. But, that'd weren't the crime we were really lookin' into, so I filed it in the back of my mind and let it go.

We did some investigatin' there, but didna' find much else, aside from a big print where, apparently, the armored fella hit the ground. Since he survived, I guessed he was probably a warforged or such. No human in armor woulda survived the fall from the professor's lab, so...we had at least somethin' to go on.

We decided to split up at that point, with Jackie, Lillis and John headin' towards the professor's house and meself, Sparkles, and Khin headin' off towards a seedier part o' town. Seems like everytime a mystery raises its head, the best way to solve is to go have a drink.

There weren't exactly a lot o' warforged in Fairhaaven, so when we stepped into the Half-Full Flagon, we immediately had an idea of a suspect. After a few Broken Temples, and a nice tip for the barkeep, we even had a name--Cog. Cog had a partner named Dox, who was supposedly ugly enough to tip a Kundarak scale, and they had a penchant for doin' "freelance" work.

Khin, who's apparently smarter'n I gave him credit for, came up with a plan. The idea'd be for us to pretend to want to kidnap Dhalia to ransom her to the professor. If the two showed their hand about the professor bein' missing, they'd be revealed and we could take care o' business. A meeting was set up for us in an upper room for 4 hours later, which gave us just enough time to catch the others.

We arrived over at Turning's place as Jackie and comp'ny were finishing up having a look-see. Only problem is that no sooner'd we start wrappin' things up over there, but three punks in black cloaks burst in. Immediately, I cast my Fist o' Stone and got ready behind the gnome. Yeah, I said behind the gnome. The bugger's name might be Sparkles and he might have the attention span of a marshfly, but the bugger carries a sword bigger'n that o' most humans and is built like a screamin' ball of rage.

Jackie got injured real quick out o' the bat, but managed to slice into one of the buggers with his saber right quick. Khin was lookin' around upstairs, but charged townstairs with a sword and mace drawn. John Davis screamed somethin' about heathen-smiting and put his club through one of the cloaked-fella's heads. The third got a flaming chunk o' rock through his chest, courtesy of me.

The one fightin' Jackie and Lillis weren't dead yet, so he tried runnin' off. However, I called up an Earthen Grasp and held him still while we got some info out o' him, thanks to Johnny's 'interrogation' techniques. He wasn't sayin' too much, though, and we offed the bugger.

The only real identifyin' feature about the three guys, aside from the cloaks, was the fact that they was wielding real, true-to-life, Riedran Crysteel longswords. But, we didna' have much time to think about that at the time...we were about to be late to our meetin'.

We arrived back at the Half-Filled Flagon just in time to get some info out of Cog and Dox. The two of 'em, yeah, kidnapped the Professor. Only thing was, they were doin' it to keep him from gettin' assassinated. The three guys we offed with the Crysteel swords were agents o' something called the Dreaming Dark or the Inspired, and were planning on givin' old Marvin a long dirt nap.

Cog and Dox set Professor up with a friend o' theirs and put him on the lightnin' rail headin' east. Protection or no, we needed to get the man back, so we set out after....but not before Khin and I sent a message on ahead. In order to get through Karrnath, the lightnin' rail'd go right past Fort Bones......and they need to be inspected.

So, here I am, on my way through my ol' stompin' grounds. Had to take a bath to get on the lightnin' rail, but I'm sure I'll work up a good bit o' dirt once I get back to prospectin'. Hopefully this whole shenanigan will be over soon, so I can get back to what I like...at least the company's not too bad so far.