34th and Final Fire (8/31/18) - No Brother. No Woman. No Bug.

Hathun, Third-Week, Third-Day, The Now-Year

The PCs continue to press the battle against the Scunj installation, though the outlook isn't so good once the enemy shock troopers begin concentrating fire to disintegrate the Long Hunters. The battle along the battlements progresses while the enemy's Cyraptors and Cybertooths continue to engage the main body of the melee. SlakeThirst thrashes around within the enemy base in brontosaurus form while a fearsome Scunj Captain attempts to deal with him straight on. Wyrmshade and Flearikz lay out one of the vest of many things' items, a ladder that they place on one side of the installation wall so the less athletic Hunters can gain access. Before the Scunj can get their energy cannons charged, Borracho uses animate object on five of the six, turning them into metallic brutes that fight for the Long Hunt! 

Gundo, Slyva and Kestrel are all slain by shock troopers or Cyraptors, and soon there's a disturbance up top of the hill in which the installation is located. A whooshing sound is heard and then something large and unseen is displaced. Rekker 'Ogre-Knees' shouts at Vraal to put together his team and try and head inside the installation while the rest of the Long Hunt deals with the warriors and their pets outside, fearing that whoever is behind this atrocity might escape! The PCs make their way over the front gate or up the newly created ladder as quickly as possible, while making tactical attacks along the way to help some of those outside for the rest of their battle. Mamma Boe begins to raise the fallen corpses of her fellow Hunters and enemies to join the fray, while the animated energy turrets distract a bunch of the shock troopers on the wall.

Eventually, an 11-person team manages to get inside the installation, taking a wide shelf of stairs behind the Scunj trooper barracks and cyber-pens: Borracho, Flearikz, Greech, High Hood Lavener, Kymyl, Taias 'Bloodbath', Un-Krug, Vraal, Wyrmshade, Yukkbutt, and Za'ku. As they proceed down into the depths of the mysterious hill, they find a massive cavern loaded with unrefined, non-native ore. Somehow, the Scunj had managed to extract ore from the Plateau, transforming it into the alien alloy they use for their weapons, defenses and machinery! But the ore isn't the only thing they run across, a Cyteratops and Cyrex, both equipped like the raptors and sabertooth tigers outside, stir to meet them and mar their progress. Another vicious battle ensues, as these two creatures seem to have all manner of special tricks to use on their opponents' turns, but the PCs manage to stay on top of things until they have heavily wounded the Cyrex, after which a loud, blaring sound is heard. Once the creature is slain, it explodes with a larger form of the energy grenades used by the shock troopers outside, slaying both Un'Krug and Greech! The PCs wise up when they fell the cyteratops, and Vraal lays on some death wards, but they still take some heavy damage in its death throes as it too, bursts with one of the implanted bombs.




After the fight, Yukkbutt grieves at his brother's ashen remains, what few there are, and then turns...and walks away from the Ore Pits, from the Scunj facility, and the Long Hunt...forever.

At the rear of the ore pit cavern, the PCs find a box-like device which High Hood Lavener discovers is some sort of life that goes down further into the hill. Before proceeding, Vraal and Borracho use the rest of the healing magic at their disposal to mend the wounds of their companions wounded by the cyber-dinos. Flearikz and Wyrmshade use their vest of many things once more to put a window in the bottom of the lift, and then Wyrmshade throws a dancing lights down to illuminate the bottom of the passage. They finally take the lift down to a chamber jam-packed with devices that use the same sort of alien technology they've discovered throughout the campaign. A gridded web of light is in the center of the area, and a sole Scunj, this one female and familiar to several of the PCs who saw a likeness on one of the great slabs in the City of the Carvers. She begins to monologue in Common, but not to herself, claiming that 'the Plateau Node has become too volatile for experimentation, her Research teams have been evacuated, and that she will personally deal with the problem so that it doesn't spread to any other Node.'

Thus, the last battle commences, with the Senior Researcher displaying a dazzling array of alien weaponry, including an energy net weapon that slices through those it lands upon, and a heavily enhanced, transforming, exoskeletal suit of the impact armor that her shock troopers and officers wear. With her Scunj immunity to magic, and being incredibly difficult to land physical damage upon, she proves a fearsome opponent. Borracho uses stone shape to drop her into a shallow pit, but she responds by firing off projectiles outside. She has soon taken the lives of Wyrmshade, Taias 'Bloodbath' and Vraal, and still offers strong resistance once she is surrounded by Za'ku, Kymyl, Flearikz, Borrach and Lavener. Eventually, despite her ability to reduce damage, a mighty advantage attack from the High Hood manages to finish her off. With her slain, the PCs investigate the area more closely. They can't make heads of tails of most of the machinery in the area, but the web of light appears to be a map of several landmasses, with 19 glowing red markers in alien symbols that seem to denote specific locations.

One of these markers is slowly blinking, and soon fades, as the curtains are drawn.

Long Hunt Casualties: Bandana Jakk (slain), Gatespur (slain), Greech (slain), Gundo Shattermouth (slain), Huntress Byle (slain), Huntress Slyva (slain), Kerrin (slain), Kestrel (slain), Mamma Boe (slain), Skitti (slain), Taias 'Bloodbath' (slain), Un-Krug (slain), Vraal (slain), Wralasar (slain), Wyrmshade (Slain)

Long Hunt Survivors: Borracho, Flearikz, Grumdi the Bright, High Hood Lavener, Maun the Bastard, Rekker, Sdudder, SlakeThirst, Yukkbutt, Za'ku

PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Greech, Kymyl, Vraal, Yukkbut, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: 10,000
Inspiration: Yukkbutt
Renown: Ten-Tribes (maxed out)

33rd fire (8/10/18) - Quality Cyber

Hathun, Third-Week, Third-Day, The Now-Year

The PCs assist the remaining Flaxwall villagers in putting out whatever flames remain from the encounter with the invisible skycraft, and then Kneebro leaves the Hunt to help others escape to a safe place with some cover. Soon, Mamma Boe, Skitti and Un'krug arrive from Briar's Edge to rejoin the rest of the group. The Hunt debates whether to follow the fleeting vehicle or to press on and extinguish the fourth of the Scunj altars at the Ayrie of the Ancients. It is decided to do the latter, so the group marches southward towards the mountain, eventually crossing into the one area of the Plateau where the sky still seems...'natural'. As they arrive at the Ayrie, Mamma Boe and High Hood Lavener decide to fly up on her ladle of flying and get a head start dismantling the southern altar, while the rest slowly ascend the mountainside.

When they arrive at the Lair of 'Saurvax' and the old monastery, they find it abandoned. They enter the cavern and take some precautions, Boe animating skeletons from the prison cavern and then setting them to watch the back ledge near the Scunj research corridor. High Hood eventually gets the job done, getting faster at disarming the light patterns on the altar since he's already done it three prior times. The last chunk of 'natural' sky blinks over to the strange, alien star patterns that now blanket the rest of the Plateau. Out on the ascent, Gatespur of Cleftown notices a strange, spiraling pattern of lights in the sky near the south of the Whipwater Plain. Once Boe and High Hood have flown back to the main Hunt safely, they decide to head towards the source of the spiraling light. They march half way to their destination before going on watch. Flearikz scales a tree in the Verdant, and notices a dim, burning light coming from far to the West, which Slakethirst confirms must be the Place-of-Scales under attack from one of the mysterious airships. Bandana Jakk notices another burst of spiraling light from the North.

Hathun, Third-Week, Fourth-Day, The Now-Year

With news that yet another village is burning, the PCs decide they will break for the Court-of-Crows and mount some sort of last stand should it be assaulted from the air. However, the location where the strange lights were active is en route, and they will check that out first. After several more hours of traveling through the now-endless-twilight, through which bats and animals scurry about in utter confusion, they cross over from the Verdant, and are halted when they find a hallowed out hill that none had ever seen before...right where the origin of the lights was presumed. Part of the hill has been converted into some sort of fortress, with large energy projection weapons set up for defense, and 'manned' by what appear to be a number of Scunj soldiers. Before the Hunt can get its bearings, they are spotted, and thus attempt to siege the structure!

Soon, the Scunj have unleashed to packs of creatures, raptors and sabertooth tigers, which appear to have some sort of alien machinery embedded into them that affects their behavior. Beyond that, a small warband of Scunj shock troops and officers move to defend the once-hidden fortress, several mounting and firing off the large energy cannons set along the wall on platforms. Several of the PCs grab warriors and dimension door up onto the ramparts, while the main body stays out on the clearing south of the fort, dealing with the waves of altered creatures and Scunj soldiers that rush out to meet them. Mamma Boe casts a fog cloud to make it harder for the cannon manners, and a deadly melee breaks out on part of the fort's terraces. Yukkbutt realizes with dismay that the shock troops are wearing thicker suits of the 'plastic' armor which can absorb impact from bludgeoning weapons, while Slakethirst transforms into a brontosaurus, just inside the gate, with the intent to wreak havoc behind the wall!

Below, on the Plain, Mamma Boe and the Hunt's archers unleash pain about the raptors and sabertooths, but the Scunj troopers start concentrating the fire of their blast lances, which proves deadly to the elf warrior Sharps. As the battle goes into full froth, the PCs are surprised when one of the stealthed skyships appears and attempts to vaporize a group of the Hunt, eliminating K'gug the Tall! Can they prevail against such overwhelming odds, even with the enhanced might of the Long Hunt? The fight for the Cleft Plateau rages on towards its conclusion...

Long Hunt Casualties: K'Gug the Tall (slain), Sharps (slain), Kneebro (exits Hunt)

PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Greech, Mamma Boe, Slakethirst, Vraal, Yukkbutt, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: 5000
Inspiration: --
Renown: --

32nd Fire (6/15/18)

Hathun, Third-Week, First-Day, The Now-Year

Borracho, having the most experience with horns, is chosen to call the Long Hunt using the horn available at the Grand Mask Enclave. SlakeThirst fires a fireball at the sky as a sort of flare, while Vraal uses divination to ask Ydum, his god, how soon it will be until the enigmatic Scunj respond to the PCs shutting down their strange sky altars. Through a wilting daisy, Ydum responds that it could be half a day. Vraal goes out to wander the Court, waiting for any Long Hunt representatives to show up from their respective villages. Greech goes out for a drink at Pilaf's Tavern, and overhears a couple of thugs same that 'Nimmi gave them permission'. The Long Hunters begin to drift in over the next 36 hours, with a good number of familiar faces among them, and some potential rivals. Including the PCs, the roster for the Hunt will be:

Briar's Edge: Un-Krug, Yukkbutt
Cleftown: Borracho, Gatespur, Rekker 'Ogre Knees'
Court-of-Crows: Bandana Jakk, Gundo Shattermouth, Kerrin & Kestrel, Maun the Bastard, Taias 'Bloodbath', Vraal, Za'ku
Dregroot: Huntress Byle, Huntress Slyva
Flaxwall: Kneebro, Skitti
Isle-of-Idylls: Flearikz, Greech 
Misthome: High Hood Lavener, Mamma Boe, Sharps, Sdudder
Place-of-Scales: Slakethirst, Wralasar
Slipstones: Grumdi the Bright
The Nest: K'gug the Tall

PCs were then asked to select among most of the NPC Long Hunters, a 'second' that they can use in addition to their own PC, or exclusively in the case of their PC's potential death.

Hathun, Third-Week, Second-Day, The Now-Year

Several Hunters are happier to be there than others. Wyrmshade is not pleased with the presence of Flearikz. Byle is not ecstatic about the spurious advances of Yukkbutt. Skitti's grasshopper mount Spoog, on the other hand, enjoys the half-orcs affections. Taias is less than thrilled that Maun and Gundo are along, but doesn't see much other choice for fighting men of the Court. Vraal calls a war council and speaks to the assembled company about exactly what they know up to this point, and is met with varying states of disbelief, and questions. When questioned about the validity of the Scunj's strange magical resistance, the PCs provide proof by slashing up their captive and then using magic to heal him. Skitti doesn't seem to agree with the general treatment of the captive.

Soon after, the company notices flashing off in the distant sky to the Southeast of the Court, from around near where Isle-of-Idylls might be located. Then there is a faint orange glow on that horizon, and the PCs believe the elven island village and the surrounding Verdant might have been set alight! Vraal uses tongues to inquire with the captive what is saying, and it seems to laugh at them, and sarcastically responds "Penitence." This enrages the civil cleric so much that he begins bashing in the creature's skull while Yukkbutt holds it tight. Gundo is all to happy to join in, kicking the thing full in the face and then clubbing it to death. In the ensuing panic, the PCs Skitti, Un-Krug and Mamma Boe off to contact Eagle Klah at the nearby Briar's Edge, who can send messages of warning through magic to the other Tribes. The majority of the company decides to make haste towards Flaxwall and find the third altar that High Hood Lavener had encountered some while ago.

Hathun, Third-Week, Third-Day, The Now-Year

After nearly avoiding a nervous stampede of triceratops, thrown out of balance by the altered day/night cycle, the PCs arrive at the Whipwater and an obstacle. Greech shapeshifts into a hippo to cross the river, and then, after studying the druid's technique, Slakethirst polymorphs into a second hippo, not wanting to nearly drown in the river again as he did once before! The two of them manage to ferry the Long Hunt across the water, but it does take some time, and then they proceed into one of the survival daylight zones on the Plateau, and then Flaxwall. Za'ku climbs a tree to check out the place, and it seems unharmed, though several families have gotten the message from Eagle Klah and are fleeing across the fields. Kneebro and Lavener locate the burrow where the gnome had found the altar, and a group of PCs play bodyguard while the High Hood begins to deactivate it. While this is happening, the village is attacked by an invisible airborne assailant flashing rays at the ground that leave fires behind them and half-disintegrate those unfortunate enough to be caught in them.

Slakethirst and Za'ku begin firing at the hidden object, and it is revealed to be a disc-shaped, highly reflective construct or vehicle that stealths itself by mirroring the sky around it. However, once it fires it is very briefly visible until it moves. Vraal follows along as he can, using his Robe of Eyes to spot where it is going, although it moves too quickly to accurately pursue. The strange light distortion it makes is very similar to what Kymyl encountered beyond the Mouth of Saurvax. Flearikz and Za'ky attempt to evacuate as many of the remaining villagers as they can. Meanwhile, the High Hood has upped his game, disarming the altar quicker than before. Once this portion of the Plateau is cast into the strange night sky, the flying object seems to react by leaving the area. The PCs are left with a few smoking buildings, a few hundred confused locals, and a lot of rage.

PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Greech, Kymyl, Mamma Boe, Slakethirst, Vraal, Yukkbutt, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: 4500
Inspiration: Greech, Vraal
Renown: --

NPCs

Gatespur (human male): A lean, muscular man of middle age, with arms heavily inked in tattoos of various beasts found across the Plateau. His hair is shaven on the sides, long on top and braided down his back, where it ends in jeweled beads; he also wears a stylish, long moustache which droops inches below his chin. He wears a bone-link cuirass of mail on his chest, a studded leather kilt, and leans upon a stone-tipped, dangerous looking spear which endlessly flickers in a ghostly blue flame.

Grumdi the Bright (dwarf male): An ashen skinned dwarf with unusual features, he’s clad in a midnight leather armor suit fixed with small, glittering jewels. His bald maul of a head features a thick brow and square jaw, and he carries a stone pick with a serrated edge. His teeth, when grinning, also seem to have been half replaced with gemstones from where the originals were knocked out of his mouth.

Huntress Slyva (human female): A gaunt, crouched woman with ratty, dirty blonde hair, she has paint smeared across her face from which her green eyes pierce. She is wrapped in hides covered in pockets, and several bone knives’ hilts can be seem protruding from them. A shortbow is hung on her back with a quiver, and she wears bone-spiked sandals on her filthy feet.

Kneebro (halfling male): A humble looking, chubby cheeked halfling with pockmarks and fat sideburns, he’s chewing on a barley root and whistling as he goes. He’s wrapped in a cloak at least one size too large, but tries to keep it under control with a leather sash and a waterskin slung over his shoulder. A broad bone kukri rests comfortably in the sash, and he swings an unlit lantern in his left hand.

Rekker ‘Ogre Knees’ (dwarf male): Stunted looking even for his kind, this elderly dwarf is nonetheless a mass of knotted muscles in motion, his arms and chest so ripped that it looks like a natural form of armor. Patches of gray hair bristle all over his body, and his spiky hair and beard are greased up by the fat of melted prey. He wears bone hoops through his ears, nose and brow, and his beady brown eyes are set deep back in his skull. He uses a broad, two-headed axe to help him walk along, and its crowned by the skull of a young drake.

Sdudder (dwarf male): This young dwarf has a sharp nose over the beginnings of a beard, and his hair is close cropped beneath a helm carved from the skull of some great bird. His black tunic bears the symbol of the Blue Lanterns, and he bears a black lacquered wooden shield, bone longsword and an additional shortsword.

Sharps (elf female): A beautiful, lithe elven female, her long, flat weave of hair is tied tightly to her head by its own braids. She wears a chalk-white tunic and breeches over red-dyed leather, with the Blue Lantern emblem painted onto her tunic. Two slender swords are crossed on sheathes at her back, while a selection of bone daggers, kukris and a short sword are arranged in her belt so she can grab them as needed.

Skitti (halfling female): She rides in on the largest looking grasshopper you’ve ever seen, which is strapped with a saddle. A pair of short spears is slung behind her fur cloak, and she’s draped in fine leather. Her hair is curly, with her left ear lopped off, and her lips are slip down the right side as if she’s been cut there. None of this detracts from her radiant smile and glittering amber eyes, which look curious and hungry.

31st Fire (6/1/18)

Hathun, Second-Week, Tenth-Day, The Now-Year

Un'krug comes down with a severe case of swimmer's itch and decides to rest along the banks of the Moonmirror while the rest of the PCs head off to investigate the mysterious grotto they've learned about. They arrive hours later, in the late afternoon, at a place where a muddy trail has been beaten towards a hollowed out hillock set just off the northeast side of the lake. Kymyl, Slakethirst and Za'ku decide to scout out around the hill and see if there are any dangers or back entrances. The rest of the PC is then surprised by a trio of giant-kin that must have seen them coming, and camouflaged them selves in the lakeside vegetation and mud. Mamma Boe hears one snarl "you don't get our pretties" in the Giant tongue. Two of these things ooze poisonous ichor from every pore and limb, while the third has a strange aura of dangerous, withering energy. The fight is brutal, with several of our heroes being knocked down several times, especially the High Hood Lavener who is trying to flank one of the monstrous assailants; and poison being sprayed everywhere when some of the creatures are attacked.



Eventually, once the scouts return to the group, the battle begins to turn against the brutes, and through a combination of Borracho's fire-based magic spells and massive physical damage, the creatures are brought low. The PCs then send in an invisible Kymyl and Slakethirst to scout out the cavern itself, and they find some riches that the beasts must have accumulated from local (elven) victims, as well as one of the glowing, smooth-metal altars they have come across before at the fields north of Court-of-Crows and in 'Saurvax's' Lair up in the ayrie. High Hood Lavener, now recovered from his poison injuries in the fight, decides to decrypt the glowing patterns emanating from the altar, and once he has studied them for an hour, figures out how he can try to shut them off. The remainder of the party decides to rest and heal their wounds.

Hathun, Third-Week, First-Day, The Now-Year

After getting the blessings from the rest of the PCs, Lavener taps a pattern on the altar, and the lights on the altar die. Nothing seems to have happened until Slakethirst steps outside the cave and notices that a large, pie-wedge shaped slice of the morning sky has disappeared, after a brief series of flashes where it fizzles out. It creates a strange effect, since off in the distance the group can clearly still see the sun shining down on neighboring regions. After sweeping over to pick up Un'krug by the lake, they decide to head off to the nearest pre-discovered altar, near Court-of-Crows, and see if they can replicate this effect. En route, they pass through the Roarwater and Riverbane Orc tribelands without being spied, and then notice at the edge of the night sky the birds and other wildlife are confused about the nocturnal/diurnal chaos created by the altar. They encounter several farmers in the fields south of the Court who are likewise unsure what is happening.

Once they arrive at the 'Demon of the Ditch' lair, where they once cleared out the dangerous ankheg for the farmer Cret Ayshus, they repeat the process with the altar there. Another wedge of sky has disappeared off the Plateau...leaving its northern regions in perpetual night! They now decide to interrogate their strange humanoid captive one more time, via a tongues spell cast my Vraal. It warns them to reverse what they have done, or they will incur the wrath of its people. Perhaps because it is desperate for the PCs not to proceed, it spills out a little more information than it might have given before, telling them that the peoples of the Plateau are part of a long-term experiment. It claims it is from a race called the 'Scunj', which has come from a very distant place, to consume and study the energies known as 'magic', both religious and arcane, which permeate this land, and can cure and empower them, since they have a natural immunity to its ill effects. But it's people can somehow not wield this power, and thus have used their advanced technology to set up experiments and figure out how it can be manifest.

After these revelations, the PCs decide to hold on to their captive just awhile longer. They travel into Court-of-Crows where everyone is in a panic over the sudden appearance of night. They make a brief visit to Ull the sage to have some items identified. After this, they use the authority invested in them by saving the populace of Place-of-Scales, and from the Grand Mask's Enclave they call the Long Hunt, using the great horn to sound off what manpower they will require from the Ten-Tribes.

PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Kymyl, Mamma Boe, Slakethirst, Vraal, Yukkbutt, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: 3500
Inspiration: ---
Renown: ---

30th Fire (4/27/18) - Knittin' but Trouble

Hathun, Second-Week, Seventh-Day, The Now-Year

The PCs descend from the Ayrie of the Ancients with their strange prisoner, and arrive at the fog shrouded village of Misthome, built upon another Carver rune. The construction here is far more modern and sturdy than most of the Ten-Tribes, and they note the populace is heavily balanced between dwarves, humans, gnomes and others. A dwarf mountaineer named Murv is serving as a sentinel when they arrive, and gives them some pointers on where to go to seek their information. After meeting back up with Mamma Boe, the PCs split up to visit the Ayrieside Reliquary and Wyrmshade's Wonders. At the Reliquary they receive some information from Old Dwolv about the Carver civilizations, and he tips them off that they should visit the Blue Lantern Society with their captive charge. Meanwhile, Wyrmshade identifies several of the magical items they've accrued, and makes a trade with them to do more in the future. Flearikz offends him by asking that he evaluate a pair of dragonskin boots, and then when the dragonborn refuses, tries to bargain with him by putting on a play about his life...which the wood elf knows nothing about!

The two groups of PCs converge upon the Blue Lantern Society where they meet with High Hood Lavener, the leader of the organization. He is shocked by their discovery of the strange captive, and tells them that he himself has found the corpse of a similar being, along with one of the weird, illuminated metallic altars. He also knows that there has been a comparable sighting near the Isle-of-Idylls, off the banks of the Moonmirror. They decide its safest to keep the captive at the Society while they get more information around the town. Mamma Boe enlists her posse of Flearikz, Greech and Za'ku to scope out the Sisters of the Mist for the cooking guild from which she was expelled due to her peculiar habits. They find a group of six elderly local women knitting at one of the twin taverns, and then Boe confronts them, casting a grease spell which ruins the newly-dubbed knitting guilds projects for the day. A 'melee' ensues, a rather sad one, before it is broken up by Mother Henn, the Elder of Misthome, who settles both parties down. Despite the deadly brawl, one of the old spinners is infatuated by Flearikz the elf after he orates from the top of the bar.



Later that evening, Flearikz holds his mock-tribute to Wyrmshade, who is not impressed, and almost gets into a battle with the elf. The old woman infatuated with Flearikz does, however, invite him back to her domicile for the night...

Hathun, Second-Week, Eighth-Day, The Now-Year

Once the characters have finished their dealings with Wyrmshade and gathered up other supplies, they decide to leave Chief Wralasar behind for the time being, and take Lavener with them to get to the bottom of the mysteries by speaking with Farstriker Ferrikan at the Isle-of-Idylls. Travel there is relatively uneventful, and they arrive that night, using mirrors and flame to summon up a lake guard, thanks to Kymyl and Flearikz' knowledge. The guard arrives, and despite Yukkbutt trying to destroy the parley by cannonballing the guard's canoe, he agrees to send a party with Ferrikan out to meet them in the morning.

Hathun, Second-Week, Ninth-Day, The Now-Year
The PCs meet the elderly, wizened Farstrider by the morning light, accompanied by a sizable retinue of her elven guards. They speak to her of the ogre menace, which she already knows about, and then about the strange altars and their captive. She tells them of her distant past, but when questioned, says she was far too young to know what had caused the great cataclysms that caused the people of neighboring lands to migrate to the Cleft Plateau. She does know there were rays from the sky that destroyed her village, but does not seem familiar with the captive creature. However, she draws a map of the region, connecting the sightings the PCs have come across, with Lavener's finding, and the rumored grotto near the Moonmirror, and discovers they form a square or diamond shape...the PCs decide to investigate further, taking Lavener along to this grotto.

PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Greech, Kymyl, Mamma Boe, Slakethirst, Vraal, Yukkbutt, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: 2800
Inspiration: ---
Renown: ---

NPCs

High Hood Lavener (gnome male): Adorned in a cloak and gem-studded leather armor, all died in a rich blue, Lavener strikes a fashionable figure by any measure on the Cleft Plateau. Atop his oiled, salt & pepper hair he wears a tricorn hat upon which a blue lantern clasp rests, and his kind eyes seem to contain an unshakeable curiosity at whomever and whatever they cross. He leans upon a sheathed sword as tall as he is, and over his shoulder is strung a fancy bone crossbow and a fine polished wooden bolt-case.

Mother Henn (dwarf female): As broad and square shouldered as any of her male kin, Henn is a gracefully aging dwarven matron who views you with a coyle, wide smile beneath deepset brown eyes. Her chestnut and silver hair is tied off into two thick braids which flank her jaw, and she wears robes of a deep green, her fingers bejeweled by bone and jewels, and she shuffles about on a walking frame of dark, lacquered wood with leather embroidery.

Murv Ruckspike (dwarf male): Black, shaggy hair awkwardly hangs over a furrowed, friendly face. Darting brown eyes, set wickedly within their sockets, watch enthusiastically over the village they've grown affectionate toward for so long. An old tattoo of a small eagle is subtly placed on the left side of his neck, and he wears heavily padded clothing, a coil of rope, and a pair of leather satchels which burst with tools.

Old Dwolv (human male): A crooked, elderly man with greasy gray hair, Dwolv’s neck is constantly hanging to the left, while a stump of some sort lies atop his shoulder on the right side. His face contorts into a painful looking grimace as he speaks. He wears a thick leather apron and gloves to cover his twisted wrists, while a stone short sword is never far from his person.

Wyrmshade (dragonborn male): This olive-scaled, lithe dragonborn male wears a bone vest of fashioned links which is lined with hide pockets, fine tools and picks of stone, wood, and bone. He has a narrow face with several teeth broken from the left side of his mouth. He has a glass lens framed in wood above his right eye, and seems to constantly twitch and lap at drool running from the sides of his mouth.

29th Fire (3/16/18)

Hathun, Second-Week, Fifth-Day, The Now-Year

The PCs search the cloudy, acidic cavern high and low. Slakethirst, Mammae Boe and Un'krug head to the mouth of the lair to question their dragonborn prisoner about what it was that they just dealt with. Greech, meanwhile, has returned after guiding the dragonborn to the lower plateau and the waterfall they can climb to escape back down the Ayrie. He transforms into a baboon, trying to scale the cliff, and falling half to his death. Mamma Boe then spies him and helps him out. After probing around the acid-filled cavern, Vraal and Un'Krug wander off into a neighboring corridor, while Yukkbutt begins to goad and defile the sleeping, ancient dragon they see on one side of the cavern. The cleric and barbarian find Chief Wralasar in the neighboring chamber, minus a leg and an arm that were removed from him, the wounds cauterized. More PCs drift into this chamber, and they all search the area and find some curiosities strewn about the refuse that has piled up there. Flearikz jumps from cage to cage near the ceiling, but finds no more surviving prisoners. Borracho notices something a little strange, one of the sleeping ancient's eyes opening, but doesn't pay it much heed.

The PCs decide to go rest their wounds in the monastery ruins below the cavern, but SlakeThirst, Yukkbutt and Greech remain behind. The dragonborn transforms into a tyrannosaurus rex to start chewing out his slain father's heart, while Yukkbutt watches on with glee. In the midst of the carnage, both the polymorphed SlakeThirst and Greech notice both of the sleeping ancient's eyes opened, and Greech notices a reflection that is not his own before the eyes shut again, possibly some automatic sleep response. The druid also hears a mechanical grinding. The trio then heads down to the ruins below to inform the others of what they have seen. Mamma Boe flies off to nearby Misthome, and tells them she'll be at her home there if they need a place to gather their thoughts. Vraal reminds the group that they have a potential war with the ogres on their hands, and need to get back on the brutes' tracks across the Plateau. The group then rests the nights, the only disturbance being a massive avian that glides over the ruins but does not appear to be another dragon.

Hathun, Second-Week, Sixth-Day, The Now-Year

After waking, Borrach and Kymyl decide to dimension door back up to the lair briefly to check on the sleeping dragon once more, and investigate the odd occurrence with its eyes. Sure enough, after a brief wait, they notice the strange reflections as the eyes flitter open once more. Kymyl begins to hear some strange clicking and squealing noises from inside the cave, and examines it to find a hatch on one of the dragon's jaws...it turns out that this is not in fact Saurvax, but some sort of false, detailed proxy for the legendary creature. Once he and Borracho get through the hatch, they are stunned to find a strange corridor filled with odd, shining structures and devices similar to others the PCs have come across in the past couple months. They also find four of the weird 'reflections', one of which attacks them with a ray weapon while the others retreat to a ledge on the back of the mountain. The pair are able to drive them off, knocking the shooter unconscious. Greech, meanwhile, thinks they've been gone too long and climbs back up to the cave in a spider form.

After defeating the strange humanoid, Borracho takes it and dimension doors back to the ruins below, where the PCs bind, blindfold and mute it. Kymyl follows the rest to the ledge above, but they seem to have disappeared...for a moment, he notes a strange hum, his hairs standing on end, and then a displacement of the light. A moment later, the sun seems to disappear, replaced by blue sky, only for an instant, and then returns. Greech surprises the monk later, before turning back into half-elf form, and then SlakeThirst and Yukkbutt come up to explore what Borracho has found. Below, Vraal begins to interrogate the strange creature, using tongues. It claims to be a deformed orphan from one of the Ten-Tribes, and would prefer death to captivity. It is also quite snarky and condescending to the PCs, calling them all savages. It claims that it and its friends were just wandering around when they themselves find the strange cavern, and then witnessed the fight outside the false-dragon. Un'Krug recognizes the thing as looking just like the enigmatic bounty hunter Diedeath the Mad which was pursuing Cynjak some weeks ago, only dressed much differently. Vraal also recognizes that it looks like the being on one of the giant engraved panels down in the City of the Carvers.

After searching and looting what weird charts and items they can from the glimmering corridor, the PCs above shatter some of the tubes and cylinders and return to the monastery. They all decide they will go to Misthome and seek answers from some of the scholars there about this strange turn of events.

PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Greech, Kymyl, SlakeThirst, Un'Krug, Vraal, Yukkbutt, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: 2700
Inspiration: --
Renown: All PCs maxed out at 15 with Place-of-Scales.

28th Fire (2/2/18)

Hathun, Second-Week, Fourth-Day, The Now-Year

With the emergence of Greech, Flearikz, Za'ku and Mamma Boe from their cages in the monastery, the tide of the battle swiftly turns, with the last remaining dragonborn cultists and their scaled pets either driven away from the ruins or slain. Borracho clings to life after being healed, and then the group surveys the ruin for any hidden enemies. While several of them are being magically healed, or brought back from unconsciousness, the innocent Place-of-Scales Villagers are set free, and Greech the druid decides to march them down the mountainside to relative safety before setting them back on track to their home village. The PCs learn from a captured guard that Chief Wralasar is probably in the cavern up the wall of the Ayrie from the plateau on which the monastery lies. They recover all their equipment and then set about arming the surviving villagers with bone weaponry that was stolen from their home. Then they decide to rest for a day before risking the cavern, where they suspect Pergeron's handlers are hiding.

Hathun, Second-Week, Fifth-Day, The Now-Year

Using Mamma Boe's magical ladle, the PCs transport themselves up to the cavern and find some torches flickering faintly near the entrance. They decide to leave the guard prisoner hanging by rope form the entrance so he can't go anywhere or alert any of his higher ups. The caverns and corridors beyond are quite large, and after some scouting, Kymyl and Za'ku find out why...the next area is full of glowing green slime and acrid fogs, and also the lair of a huge, misshapen green dragon. As the rest of the party catches up, Slakethirst screams in bloodthirsty recognition of his father...and while there seems to be some faint acknowledgment from the beast, it doesn't seem to be entirely there, so warped and mutated by the glowing green gunk pooled in the center of the room! A battle ensues, with Acidtongue dealing damage with its breath attack, claws and bite, then flying up to safety in the eaves of the cavern when possible; but even though he's able to bring down a good percentage of the party, his disfigurements have neutered his power...he can only take so much alone, and the PCs, through a number of spell attacks, the last of which is delivered by Borracho...destroy the thing.



PCs: Borracho, Flearikz, Kymyl, Mamma Boe, Un'Krug, Vraal, Yukkbutt, Za'ku
XP Rewarded: Experience Totals were Reset in this game due to a broadening level spread and disparities between blog-recorded XP and what was on a lot of the character sheets. These have been recorded on the player roster and then the 3800 XP from this session added.
Inspiration: ---
Renown: ---