Author: kyle | The World of Telvar

Dwarves: Strange Bedfellows

We were then told that there were two likely missions for us. In one of the waterway caves, there was a report from an animal scout that something giant-like had taken up residence in the exit cave for the waterway. Alternatively, there was a report of an ambush location that might jeopardize caravans leaving Ostohar.

We trained all the non-straight classed fighters and replaced Pick with a new fighter Titus Truestrike. we corrected the Dwarven pantheon’s drift, so Feldspar is now neutral and follows Dimecheon (DIE may Che on)

Pick Rockbeard – Thief trainer Level 6
Stannic Sternshield – Fighter 5
Opal Fireheart – Fighter 5
Noob Niceshot – Fighter 5
Don’t Call Me Trevor – Fighter 4/Clanggedin Cleric 4
Clint Firebeard – Dumatheon Cleric 5
Feldspar Fleetfoot – Thief 5 /Dimecheon Cleric 4
Titus Truestrike – Fighter 1

Dearly departed Urist Brokecloak – Thief 1 /Dimecheon Cleric 1 (retconned as well)

The straight classed fighters did a little patrolling while the others trained (300 XP). We were then told that there were two likely missions for us. In one of the waterway caves, there was a report from an animal scout that something giant-like had taken up residence in the exit cave for the waterway. Alternatively, there was a report of an ambush location that might jeopardize caravans leaving Ostohar.

We decided that we might be able to deal with the giant and then come back to the bandit issue. We decided to go outside to investigate so that the encrusted secret door might be left undisturbed for another 40 years. When we checked for tracks near a lake close to the cave, we found small feet – Hobgoblin sized, bear tracks and larger booted feet. This didn’t sound like a hill giant, so we were concerned. Two noblink came out to hunt/fish, so Feldspar went to have a chat. This went well and it turns out that the noblink had escaped from gnolls and frost giants that had held them captive. They were friends with Forex and his bears.

We found a great hidey hole in case we needed to flee from the giant but watched to see who came out of the cave. Next day a smallish suit of frost giant armor came out of the cave with someone inside it. It had to be a teenaged frost giant or an ok sized hill giant?? Opal speaks both, so she volunteered to go have a second chat with the residents that had to be evicted from the cave.

She tried frost first, then could see that the giant wasn’t blue, so it was a hill giant. The three of them had been beast tenders for the army that has been kidnapping noblink. They made their escape one day when the bosses were out. They wanted to their freedom and didn’t really want us to mess with them. [short form] We managed to convince them that we had a good home for the with other noblink that had suffered some losses but were our friends. Forex sold us information about a soldier in the area that was likely going to ambush a caravan out of Ostohar. We hired Forex and the bears to help us with the bandits. The noblink stayed in the cave in safety.

It was a quick fight, would have been BAD if we hadn’t had Forex or the squad had been awake. As it was, one of them had been an assassin and when we went to try to save the lives of as many as we could, he sprang back to life (negative function), nearly assassinated Feldspar (?), but somehow detonated his head nearly taking Opal out who had taken several shots in the fight. Stannic (?) also was caught in the blast but hadn’t gotten pounded as much in the fight.

The caravan had been reinforced by some of the army, so when the last caravan of the year reached us, we were able to have help escorting the prisoners and loot back home.

I think Forex will wind up with a total of 4.5kgp in cash. We brought back 750 gp jewelry; (10) 100 gp gems; 365 gp & 72 pp, mostly Realmish; (2) tents about 200 gp value each and 300 gp of camouflage netting; plus about 800 gp of miscellany.

There were two crazies in the party – the assassin who was kicked out for being too dangerous and too good – the cleric who worshipped the darkness (his is the helm below)

Several were “Eldrin’s Loyalists,” remnants of a Dundorian army that became mercenaries when some kind of Chaos happened, like 36 years ago or somesuch. There was a Captain? and two privates from that army. One claimed to be a cook and one claimed to be a guide – something about their stories didn’t ring true with the authorities in Ostohar, but they weren’t actually lying (Detect Lie).

Loot is on the Items page in Dwarves, but here is a copy:

4/12/2026

Armor

Turned in/Taxish Banded +1 Human sized

Chain – weightless resizing – 12″ move max

Bracers 5/5

Bracers 7/10

Destroy Chaotic evil helm – of I ain’t identifying that thing – looks like Doctor Doom

Rings

Ring of Protection +1

Liquids

(2) Vials of Snake Poison – 6HP each minute

Potion of Healing

Potion of Levitation

Potion of Flying

Potion of Extra Healing

Potion of Invisibility

Weapons

Turned in/Taxish Quarter Staff +1

New recruit? Bastard Sword +1/+2 versus Large

Dagger +2

Dagger +1

Turned in/Taxish (2) Long Bow +1/+0 quality

Turned in/Taxish (55) Long arrows of +20′ quality

Turned in/Taxish (15) Long arrows +2 FF

Turned in/Taxish (1) Long arrow of Many Targets

(2) Light Over-under crossbows

(36) Light +1 FF

(3) Light +3 FF

(2) Light Pinning bolts

(4) Short arrows +1 FF

Jay

Superstar! and the Horse-Hater’s Haven, Part I

Star sensed a mind ahead, but it seemed very confused. Just then, a lightning bolt tore through the front of the party, doing 27 damage, doubled for the bounce off the back wall. Wanda was killed, and Chiaro and Magic Lad both dropped to negative HP.

We rode into Barleyton on February 7, 2194 to look for the Thieves’ Guild with Thorwin’s treasure. We were able to locate the secret door that we learned of from interrogating Thorwin’s body. The door is ~1500 ft. east of the city and shielded from direct sight of it.
Rangorn did some tracking around the door and determined that some very heavy things were moved in and out of it (maybe a couple years old).
Star attempted to open the door by summoning up a psychic impression, but unfortunately his attempt failed.

Continue reading “Superstar! and the Horse-Hater’s Haven, Part I”

Superstar! and the Kingpin’s Payout

Unfortunately, the aid was needed a little closer to home. While Pheraguat was waiting for the party to meet him in Medegia, the party got ambushed on the road halfway there, rendering his actions and most of this engaging backstory largely moot.

The action below took place between April 9th and June 1st, 2193.
Theft-focused raids have been a longstanding problem in the Medegia region of Western Cromwell, but recently a group has abruptly started killing people, which has led Cromwell to feel it was worth of bringing them to the attention of outside bounty-hunters. “Sneak in and steal food” has turned into “sneak in and murder a whole farming family and their workers in their sleep, vanish with all their stuff”. They have been deftly avoiding engagement with actual security forces, and have been harder to spot and track. They are thought to flee into to the mountains to the southwest. Superstar! was hired by the government of Cromwell to look into these attacks and deal with the threat. With decent horses and carts, we expected the journey out to take just over a month.
Pheraguat decided to fly out to Medegia on his hippogriff for some advance scouting, actually doing this while Magic Lad was identifying items from the party’s prior encounter. He ran into someone he knew at the nearby Cromwellian military outpost (Saer Hills Depot), a “special forces” woman named “Spider”. It was noted that Jennifer Hookhill, a human fighter and Regent’s courtier, and Site Bowlength, an elven fighter/magic-user and Regent’s courtier, were about a week north of here fighting drug dealers**, and could be available for aid if needed.
[** = see also, the Ninth Telvar Open, taking place in Towlemere in the Salt Sea region of Western Cromwell, in which both of these figures appeared.]
Unfortunately, the aid was needed a little closer to home. While Pheraguat was waiting for the party to meet him in Medegia, the party got ambushed on the road halfway there, rendering his actions and most of this engaging backstory largely moot.

Continue reading “Superstar! and the Kingpin’s Payout”

Superstar! and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Horse

Our plan was to head out to the area where the attacks were happening as secretly as possible (cover of invisibility, night), wait for an attack to occur, and then leap into action to investigate and pursue!

After the Circle of Ayrless adventure, wherein Superstar defeated the Final Cut (rather brutally at that), the party returned to Depwood in June 2192 and met with its Druidic and Ranger colleagues. Treasure was divided, cash and some minor magic items were handed over to the Druids as payment for the use of some of their items in the fight against the bad guys, arrangements were made for henchmen training, and finally the topic turned to a reward for our help with the small matter of the Circle.
The Druids offered some choices:
1. The Amulet of Spiritual Strength, which gives +1 to Turning and provides 1 hp/level of the cleric. (Cleric only)
2. A folding boat (a small handheld boat which can fold out into a small row boat or a ~dozen capacity small sailing boat)
3. A Robe of Stars, which has some save effects and protection on the astral plane, as well as giving a unique weapon when the stars sewn onto the fabric can be grabbed and thrown as moderately powerful and fast missile weapons.
4. They also had a number of woodland cloaks and boots, which give ~50% bonuses to hide in shadows/move silently abilities when in woodlands or similar environs.
We also discussed the previously offered “weird familiar-like” choices (sprites, etc.) but there were essentially two options: a Wise Old Bird friend for Star (which he could not actually receive until he was 9th level) or they could offer us a chance to be introduced to a Pseudodragon. The chance of success was decent, but by no means guaranteed. If we chose the Pseudodragon the druids would consider throwing in a pair of boots and a cloak or similar.

Continue reading “Superstar! and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Horse”

The cleansing of Hotton

Adventure synopsis: The Stompers were returning from their latest adventure of destroying an Orcus-worshipping band of ogres when they stumbled across a running man “Tom” who had escaped indoctrination into the cult. He told them about the smiling cult in Hotton and was thoroughly scared of it and the town guards chasing him. The Stompers believed him and let him go after hearing his story. The Stompers tried to avoid interaction with the town, though Tove was seen during his excursion to explore, which netted valuable information. The Stompers explored the geyser vent just outside town because “Tom” had mentioned heat in the vile ritual, and Sabine the dwarf found in the geyser channel a secret door leading to a secret old pirate lair.

Backstory: In Ages past, some empires were mentally run by Kopru, which are chaotic-evil hot-water creatures chosen of Demogorgon, demon lord of madness. In the last century, there were stories that the pirates who inhabitated the area now known as the town of Hotton were lead by a cleric of Demogorgon. In current times, followers of Farnaz, demon lord of cooperation between demons, arranged for a devious [ironic word] scheme by which three kopru were brought to the small town of Hotton in the Northlands as the launching point of a wider control of land. A message was sent to a ship of the Hand of Hendus to entice them to pick up some interesting cargo, but the cargo was actually three kopru, who took mental control of the captain and crew. With three prepared Wilbar’s Fish & Critters’ hot-boxes, the ship transported the three kopru to to the town of Hotton, where this new little cult quickly took over the town, nine people each night. This scheme was all timed while the local high priestess of Thim was away from Hotton. Only two people were known to have escaped: one is an aquatic elf who was first mate on the ship; and the other being a seeming human “Tom” who was a separate member of the Hand of Hendus with a mental defense spell that protected him from the indoctrination magic ritual.
(Warning: Backstory admittedly includes some little assumptions.)

Continue reading “The cleansing of Hotton”

Ruins Aquatic, the adventures and discoveries of an as of yet unnamed party of daring sea elves, aquatic hobgoblins and a merman

“The eel (perhaps 20’ long and 2 ft’ around!) swam out to attack! Esteban struck it solidly with a thrown spear, while Ike netted its mouth. Garshpah’s net went wide. PakTok held it at bay with a powerful spear thrust, and then Rah-Takh swam forward and delivered a Cause Wounds empowered claw to the eel’s face. Unfortunately, the eel tore through the net and bit down hard on the hobgolin, dropping him unconscious in a single bite! Enraged at this assault on his fellow, PakTok struck again with another heavy blow!”

In the first session of Ruins Aquatic, an as of yet unnamed party of daring sea elves, aquatic hobgoblins and a merman, begin an underwater adventure!
———

Ruins Aquatic, or a brief history and log of the adventures and discoveries of an as of yet unnamed party of daring sea elves, aquatic hobgoblins and a merman

Alexander Hubbard
July 23, 2017

Continue reading “Ruins Aquatic, the adventures and discoveries of an as of yet unnamed party of daring sea elves, aquatic hobgoblins and a merman”

The 11th Telvar Open: Hot Turtle!

Our story begins very long ago, when the high priestess of Moradin, Ygrill, had a vision of one of the nine flawless jewels of Moradin resting in a domed city – a ruin of the Ancient’s. The King of the Wall Kingdom, Gamil the Fourth, put together a recovery party of his greatest warriors, and sent them out on a quest of the greatest importance to recover the gem and bring it back to the Kingdom.

The 11th Telvar Open: Hot Turtle!
An Open in Two Parts, only one part of which is described below.
11/12/11 in China Grove, N.C. Hosted by the Jones Family / D.M. E.B. Anderson, Jr.
Party:
Expeditionary Force:
Grogan Icevein, Expedition Leader, Fighter 11 (Played by Kathryn Snead)
Luether Blackrock, High Priest of Clangeddin, Fighter 8/Cleric 9 (Played by Ashley Merritt)
Morett Ironface, Lieutenant, Fighter 9 (Played by Sean Guarino)
Yeuslin Goldfire, Sargeant, Fighter 6 (Played by Andrew Anderson?)
Slorgin Ironface, Sargeant, Fighter 6
4 Dwarves, Marines, Fighters 4 (Melee Squad)
6 Dwarves, Marines, Fighters 4 (Bowyer Squad) (Played by Sarah Lane?)
Vessel Crew:
Hoine Ironface, First Captain, Captain 8 (Played by David Chappell)
Baryun Icevein, Second Captain, Captain 7 (Played by Keith Nelson?)
Florin Hilltop, First Mate, Captain 6 (Played by David Jones
Uther Hilltop, Second Mate, Captain 5 (Played by Ryan Jones?)
6 Dwarves, Crew, Captains 3
Our story begins very long ago, when the high priestess of Moradin, Ygrill, had a vision of one of the nine flawless jewels of Moradin resting in a domed city – a ruin of the Ancient’s. The King of the Wall Kingdom, Gamil the Fourth, put together a recovery party of his greatest warriors, and sent them out on a quest of the greatest importance to recover the gem and bring it back to the Kingdom.

Continue reading “The 11th Telvar Open: Hot Turtle!”

Felix Summary #10: No Wrath Like a Felix Drained

Edwin: That’s bad, very very bad. You get swarmed by 5 wraiths, with 3 segments of surprise. You are on a scouting mission with only Wrathbane as backup…..

[Stub summary] UPDATED 1/1/11
Alex’s very belated memories of certain events involving genies and undead:
The valiant, infinitely resourceful and in all ways superior party lead by
the magnificent dwarven King Felix headed through the sealed portal in
hopes of clearing the passage to a pool of Earth’s Blood. The region beyond
was known to harbor Earth elementals. After a brief non-violent encounter with an
appalingly uncivilized Crystal Genie, the party prepared and put the brute
out of his misery with due diligence (surprise, brutal backstabs and elegant
violence served to drop the oaf in segments). The remaining crystal (not
earth) elementals were summarily desposed of and the pool of earth’s blood
was secured.
That was when things took a turn for the worse. The outcast dwarves knew of
a subterannean river below, as it was their water source. They believed
that it might connect back to Eralla, but an expedition long ago never returned.
With Flight, Felix and Wrathbane descended to scout, and found a small
set of buildings, a dock and a river. Inside one of the buildings, unfortunately,
was the remains of the expedition and the wraithified beardless dwarf who
had put a premature end to their travels. The dauntless pair proved victorious,
but not before rightful heir to the throne of Lendore was greviously injured,
and his lifeforce drained. Fortunately, his boundless endurance proved stronger
than the vile assaults, and he recovered fully. The party then descended, boarded
a small vessel with an Earth’s blood motor and, accompanied with an Engineer from
the outcast dwarves, I believe a sister or cousin of their current leader, and
also their envoy.
After some minor troubles and travails, the party nearly surprised some Erallan
laundresses. Politics shall ensue.
***
Alex’s original stub summary:
Alex: Felix opens the door.
Edwin: roll a surprise die, I got a 5
Alex: 1
Edwin: That’s bad, very very bad. You get swarmed by 5 wraiths, with 3 segments of surprise. You are on a scouting mission with only Wrathbane as backup…..
Alex: Eeeeps.
(4 level drains later, we kill 2, turn the rest and get Gates down to destroy them)
(A 19, 16, 15 and 8 on the saves later, Felix is lvl 10 again. The 8 made it exactly, w/double Chant. The new saves are a BITCH.)
Other than that, it went smoothly enough. Kagu-Arala and Arala are now known to have an underground river-link. It needs some maintenance, but is otherwise fine. The pool of Earth’s Blood is there, and we have a functional on-board motor.
Loot was boring. Besides the motor, a dagger +1 and a wand of acid arrow w/12 charges.
Hendel landed a nasty double backstab against the Quartz-Genie.
Aral trained to 3, is 3.3k away from 4th.
Wrathbane trained to 7th cleric.
Everyone (except Aral) is about 40k total away from their next level (Wrathbane can forget about Cleric 8). Hendel a little less, but he tends to get less, Donald closer to 50k.

Cassian/Buck Adventure: Unfinished Business, or, Whatever Happened to Obmi?

“The mountain is a weak spot between the prime, fire, earth, and astral planes. By the wishes of the powers of chaotic neutral, no more information will be revealed without cause.”

Party Roster:
Cassian, 9th level half-elf cleric of Phaulkon, played by Katherine
Sirse, Cassian’s owl friend/familiar/favorite bird
Mel, Fighter level 6
Lilly, Cleric//Fighter level 1/4
Willis, Wizard level 4
Zephyr, Fighter level 3, played by Andy and Kyle
Buck, 6th level human fighter, Warder of Phaulkon, played by Andy and Kyle
Mordrick, 9th/12th level dwarf fighter/thief, NPC (played by Kyle this time)
[Events of June 12-14th, 2009, Charlotte, N.C.]
This adventure picks up after the Phaulkonian party, with assistance from the Dwarves, successfully attacked and defeated a Fire Giant Citadel on September 10, 2195, by use of the Amulet of the Fates. [Summarized in “The Only Good Fire Giant…” and “…Is A Dead Fire Giant.”] One of Mordrick’s least-favorite enemies, the evil dwarf, Prince Obmi, also had a cloning lab at the Citadel, which was destroyed. [Aside: Reynore had, much earlier, driven Obmi out of a Fire Giant citadel in 2159.]
Obmi, known as Kracklethump by the Fire Giants (because that was the noise people made when he came up behind them and snapped their spines), was not best pleased. As a result,
there were consequences to this attack upon the Fire Giant Citadel [“Ambush at Hoch-Och”].
Another Phaulkonian hero, Buck, had pursued other activities following the Fane of the Winds quest [“Alegra’s Final Summary: The Fane of the Winds”]. These are summarized in an appropriately-titled summary, “Adventures of Buck: Tales of Disaster. “ In the final adventure, he was captured by the Ghoul King, a lich, in a city sewer system, and spent five years in servitude to the Ghoul King, killing good adventurers. When freed, the Ambush at Hoch-Och had already occurred, and Buck moved at top speed to join his comrades there, to help them as they planned their revenge…

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The 10th Telvar Open: Video Transcript

“into everyone’s life, some rubble must fall.”

The 10th Telvar Open: Wrap-‐Up Scenes from the Video. Transcripts, Mostly Accurate!
Video Summary:
E: Well, the people who are manipulating The Phantasm have very different plans. So, what happens is, Phantasm leads 3 thieves from the Guild—picked because 1 knows a little bit about magic (), one is particularly good at dealing with old stonework (), and 1 is a cleric of Hindus, the god of thieves who can help heal and keep them alive (). Leads them out… with a Teleport Anchor and leads people out to a location where… I realize there are only 3 people here who are familiar with this substance, called Scatterblock. A vicious substance developed during the First Age by the Tyrants to destroy people who tried to teleport into their palaces or Universities. So what happens is, the Great Wilhelm is traveling. The Phantasm has been given a tip-‐off by these same diabolically-‐scheming forces. So the Teleport Anchor—something that sucks in people traveling by Teleport within about a mile line of sight between the points—Phantasm climbs up on top of the ruin and drops the Anchor into the Scatterblocked ruin, and stands back and waits.

Continue reading “The 10th Telvar Open: Video Transcript”