The World of Telvar

Earlier in January, a government patrol had passed a group of hobgoblins and 3 heavily
loaded wagons headed southwest toward the high plateau region of Upper Volkrad.
They claimed to be transporting their gold to L'trel. Since wagonloads of dwarven gold
aren't too unusual for the region, the patrol didn't stop and question the bandits. We left
immediately in pursuit, hoping to reach the wagons before they were able to reach L'trel,
a city large enough to fence or launder the gold. [Unlikely, given the bandits' 17 day
lead.]

Travelling with us was Drak, a dwarven guard commander who had survived. Drak was
a veteran guard, with decades of service. He was particularly fond of Buck, and they
became drinking buddies at the first possible chance. Drak was extremely eager to
remove Krek's head from his shoulders.

We traveled with only one incident � a group of figures were hiding in Baylor Wood
along the road to L'trel. They were camouflaged and ran when approached. Believing
them to be involved with Krek, Warwick shot one of them. They were actually tribesmen
� Warwick was immediately captured, stuck with a spear, and glared at. After profuse
apology, a gift of reparation, and a flash of Cromwellian insignia, Warwick was released.

January 23, we heroes arrived in the port of L'trel, and began to inquire about ships or
caravans that may have taken on a large cargo. We were misdirected by the fact that
some Slow-Killer hobgoblins were having several wagons of iron shipped out in a couple
of days. Inquiries with a local fence yielded nothing but 1000gp lost in bribe money. The
fence claimed to have no idea where the gold was, and he also revealed that he'd been
paid previously for the same information -- by a short, blonde bounty hunter. [We're
fairly sure that the fence had been previously bribed to lie to us. We believe the blonde
guy was Phillipe, Krek's henchman cleric.]

Finally, we resorted to brute-force methods. Combing the streets of L'trel, we find a very
nervous-looking Krek. We corner him in a restaurant, and quickly learn that Krek had
duped a mercenary to "play Krek" for 150 gold pieces. Thaddeus, the pathetic
mercenary, looked somewhat like Krek � short red/gray beard, receding hairline � but
was definitely NOT the tough customer that Krek would have been. [Thaddeus cowered
under a restaurant table when he was confronted.] Once again, we had wasted time on a
wild chase. Deciding to play along with the ruse, we took Thaddeus/Krek into custody.
Pretty soon, local dwarves were demanding an execution�

Next, we searched warehouses that could hold the wagons of gold. We find that 10
Slow-Killer hobgoblins have been staying in a warehouse with two wagons and cages of
carrier pigeons. Since the hobgoblins were out having a drunken dinner, we decided that
we would trade one of their pigeons for one that we had "requisitioned" from a pet shop.
Tristan spoke with the pigeons, and confirmed that its home was the town of Nalv, a
day's travel downriver.

At this point, we struggled with the eternal dilemma � "if we split up the party, we can
cover several different possibilities�" [COMMENTARY � Never split the party.]
Meanwhile, Warwick convinced himself that the suspicious tribesmen up north were part
of the overall conspiracy, so the party goes in the opposite direction of Nalv, in pursuit of
the tribesman.

After a day's travel, we decided that the tribesmen would never make reliable
conspirators, and we turned back around. [COMMENTARY � chaotic savages never
work with hobgoblins.] So, having lost 2 days on Krek and Phillipe, we headed toward
Nalv.

Arriving in Nalv on January 30, we released the pigeon. Its home was an inn run by a
consortium of merchants. A consortium manager told us that Phillipe had hired a
7-wagon caravan to carry goods from L'trel to Nalv. Also, Phillipe had arrived in Nalv a
week earlier, to pick up his messages. A check at the dock revealed that a ship had just
arrived from L'trel, with 10 hobgoblins and a load of iron. We checked the cargo and
compared the iron with a standard, just to be sure that gold wasn't hidden inside. The
hobgoblin-iron ruse continued to slow us down�

Drovers told us that Phillipe's caravan had unloaded quickly near a stream, and that he
had returned all 7 of his wagons to the drover's guild. There were no records of a barge
or wagons that could have taken the ingots, however. A thorough tracking effort
indicated that mules had traveled upstream from that point, apparently towing a barge. A
short distance upstream, it appeared that the barge contents had been pulled ashore and
loaded directly onto the mules. At this point, a month had passed since the dwarven
massacre, and the trail was steadily getting colder�

We followed the mule tracks into the Mage Wood, a forest that got creepier as we
traveled deeper into it. On the first night, we were attacked by a giant wolverine,
Warwick's favorite creature of the forest. Drak hacked it to bits, with some help from
Warwick & Co. During the next day, the forest seemed normal. On the next night,
however, we realized that it was anything but normal. An evil treant attacked a sleeping
Warwick in the middle of the night, and only the vigilance of Tristan's lion friends alerted
the party. By the time the party was roused, Warwick was mostly dead in the clutches of
the tree's roots. Drak's axe was a mighty weapon � he nearly single-handedly hacked
the tree to splinters.

The party healed (somewhat) and we moved across the river to get away from the scum
beetles that emerged from the dead, rotting tree. Later that night, two gnoll zombies
attacked us, and we made short work of them. During the nights, skeletal bats kept flying
reconnaissance over our heads � very comforting. [We later learned that evil dwarves
use skeletal bats for gathering information.]

The next day, we reached a stone obelisk. Drak informed us that the obelisk marked the
territory of the "accursed ones" � blue demon-worshipping dwarves who had long ago
turned to evil. Of course, we were excited to see that the mule tracks led directly into the
canyon of the accursed. Fortunately, we found another set of mule tracks that exited the
canyon and traveled north along the edge of the Mage Wood. The tracks into the canyon
were 3 days old � the exiting tracks were 1 day old.

[Later, we learned from Krek's mules that Krek had met with blue men in a cavern.
There, he had probably traded the dwarven ingots for more portable jewelry and gems.
Apparently, he had some unholy alliance with the accursed dwarves, which may also help
to explain the senseless slaughter that occurred at the mining camp.]

Although Buck was particularly fond of the undead forest, and Tristan the druid really
wanted to go into some dark, demonic caves, we finally decided to follow the fresh mule
tracks. At this point, Drak was truly ready to decapitate some folks�� [Drak's only
real moment of vengeance occurred in L'trel, where he shot an annoying Slow Killer who
insulted him.] The tracks led back to L'trel, and we found that the mules had been sold
"by two Nevronian monks � yeah, one of them was shorter, with blonde hair". Tristan
spoke to the mules. We later found Nevronian robes hidden, smelling of skunk spray.

The next day (February 5), we learned that Phillipe had boarded the Apple Ship with a
hobgoblin bodyguard the day before! By then, they were probably in Nalv. We inquired
at the local mage's guild about a fast way to send a message downstream, before Phillipe
could reach the lake beyond. A better alternative arose � Leggett, a mage who owned a
water-elemental-powered boat, offered to take us downstream (for a small fortune!) We
sped down the Isig river at 40 mph, and soon we were in Nalv. Phillipe's chartered boat
had left downstream hours before, so we planned to overtake them on the river at night.

We traveled with no lights until we saw a boat far ahead. Leggett shrouded us in magical
darkness, and we passed the Apple Ship on the cascades of the Isig. We pulled ahead
and waited for the Apple Ship to clear the rapids. Fortunately, Leggett's boat was
significantly faster, and we had a couple hours to plan our ambush:

When the ship cleared the rapids, Leggett would put the crew to sleep. Warwick would
fly invisible, carrying an invisible Lanoi (Phaulkonian cleric henchman). Warwick would
take out the hobgoblin bodyguard, while Lanoi commanded Phillipe to die. Tristan would
also charm Phillipe. Invisible, Buck would hover and drop onto the ship to disable
Phillipe. Leggett would provide spell support to stop Phillipe. Drak and Jean-Luc would
shot Phillipe to ruin his spells. Game over, bad-dudes�..

Ah, the joy of planning � the "hobgoblin" guard turned out to be Krek in Flesh-Render
magical field plate, wielding a magical dwarven shield, and brandishing an amazingly fast
magical bastard sword of speed. Warwick inflicted maximum damage on his point-blank
targeted shot (with a +3 magik-ed arrow!) However, Krek shrugged it off and began to
fly after Warwick. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, the crew was put to sleep, but Lanoi was also hit by the spell. So much for
Lanoi. Lacking a crew, the boat slowed to a halt. Dive-bombing Buck missed the boat,
so to speak, and had to clamber over the side after Phillipe, just in time to get entangled
by a web spell from Leggett (Phillipe was unaffected). Lanoi was still asleep, and
Tristan's charm had no effect. Phillipe began casting spells, but Leggett, Drak, and
Jean-Luc ruined at least half a dozen of his spells via crossbow, sling, and spells. When
Buck broke free of the web, he finished off Phillipe by breaking his neck.

Warwick had bad luck. Krek lassoed him, and dragged him through the air. After being
reeled in helpless, Warwick is killed after two vicious strokes with a bastard sword (was
Krek also an assassin or thief?!) Krek proceeded to tow a lifeless Warwick back toward
Leggett and friends. At about the same time Phillipe was eliminated, Krek arrived to
destroy the rest of the party.

Leggett hit with magic missiles and a lightning bolt, but Krek didn't relent. First, he killed
Drak, the only party member who had any real melee success against him. Next, he
punished Tristan and left him near-dead on the ground. Leggett had a successful
Shocking Grasp, and then got wacked. He retreated to the edge of his boat and became
invisible. An invisible Jean-Luc failed to backstab Krek when he landed on the boat,
searching for an Invisible Leggett. Jean-Luc paid for his failure, and he dropped bleeding.
Meanwhile, Tristan bound his own wound and poured half of a Healing potion into Drak.
Drak stood to fight again, but was quickly dropped by Krek.

Leggett, levitating above, sent another lightning bolt into Krek, and then dove into the
water. Krek followed, and was attacked by the Water Elemental that Leggett released
from the boat. Tristan struggled to bind Jean-Luc's wounds. Krek, nearly drowned, was
thrown into the boat by the elemental. Leggett struggled to remove his helmet and kill
him, but Krek recovered too soon. He punched Leggett into unconsciousness.

Buck watched all of this from the Apple Ship, about 40 yards away� appalled, he
levitated and pushed toward Leggett's boat, hoping to save his comrades from certain
doom. [Before dying, Drak had yelled "hey Buck, you're on the WRONG BOAT!!"
Buck had finally gotten the message�..] Krek met Buck in mid-air and proceeded to
beat him up. By this point, however, Krek had sustained quite a bit of damage. A hit by
Buck brought Krek to the brink of death, but Krek killed Buck with a final death-strike.
Krek fell into the lake, and Buck died in mid-air, still levitated by a confused Ring.

Leggett regained consciousness, and again released the water elemental to retrieve Krek.
[COMMENTARY � releasing the elemental is apparently a VERY SERIOUS deal for
Leggett.] Tristan and Jean-Luc were alive but incapacitated. Leggett swam to the Apple
Ship, where he woke Lanoi and the sleeping crew. Then, they gathered the dead and
headed slowly toward Wysos, looking for some Raise Dead help. [To Leggett's credit,
he really saved our butts � and he was really just being nice by "giving us a boat ride".]

We eventually reached Highport, and purchased a Raise Dead for Warwick. Success!!
We proceeded toward a government fortress, for additional Raise Dead. The warship
Montclaire escorted us, and we Raised Buck. However, Drak failed to rejoin us on the
side of the void � his Raise Dead attempt failed. Tristan and Jean-Luc were sent back to
the Academy to recover, while the remaining party members returned the trunk and some
stolen dwarven weapons to L'trel.

In L'trel, we were given an army escort, and we traveled north to the Shabrund border.
In an exchange ceremony, we presented the dwarves with the trunk of jewelry and the
dwarven artifacts. Buck was given Drak's magic axe, since Drak had described Buck as
a close comrade in his letters home. We promised Leggett that we'd visit sometime when
we're not looking for trouble. Beaten up, tired, and mournful, we returned to the
Academy. Amazingly, Gring the dwarf had no scathing commentary for Warwick�..

The Take:

(5) dwarven weapons/ armor (returned to Shabrund)
52,000 gp of gems/ jewelry (laundered from the 60K of ingots originally stolen �we were
given 10%)
hobgoblin field plate +2
ring of flying (given to Leggett, along with 6000 gp, for damages to his boat and loss of
personal property)
potion of levitation
potion of neutralize poison
LE bastard sword of speed (destroyed by Cromwellian government � 2000 gp reward)
6,500 gp of gems � Krek's personal stash
8,000 gp reward for killing Krek

Considering the potions and magic arrows used, this was very nearly a net zero
financially. We got a cool suit of armor, which none of us would really use. Most
importantly, we further improved relations with the dwarves � they even sent an official
letter of thanks for our attempt to Raise Drak.

--Warwick/Mark