Category: Defenders

Party Roster:
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Kodo, 3rd level woodsman, 36 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 4th level thief, 15 hp, played by Vic
Nakumanu, 2nd level fighter, 14 hp, henchman of Felix
Kain, 1st level cleric, 6 hp, played by Jeff
Our party had just trashed a trio of bad guys, an elven fighter/mage or thief/mage, a human cleric of the Queen of Grottos, and a human warrior.
We became un_Slowed_ and did some exploring. We still had an hour and a half of buffer time for the orc forces to swing around the mountain and cut us off. We intended to leave within a half hour or so to be completely safe (since neither the orcs nor the Defenders were crazy enough to wander around the Trail of the Dead at night).
The rooms coming off the weird lit room were quarters for the trio. In one was an insulting and highly intelligent, and bloodthirsty crow. It appeared to be the pet of the mage. Talking to it revealed that all three had been charmed by the fat guy (Piggy). He was apparently a powerful wizard of some sort. The fact that the elf had been charmed was rather disturbing, given elven resistance to charm effects.
The cleric’s room was glyphed, which Felix set off, and was paralyzed. He recovered a few minutes later.

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Party Roster:
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Kodo, 3rd level woodsman, 36 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 4th level thief, 15 hp, played by Vic
Kain, 1st level cleric, 6 hp, played by Jeff
Special Thanks to Chester, Quentin’s bobcat, and Lenore and Morris, Quentin’s crows
When we last left the Defender saga, the party was planning to take out some orcs. A shaman and 8 of his servants were in a room through which we intended to go. First, we decided to finish exploring, and we moved through the dark room with the pits—in one was 3 Kara-kara, but they were blue instead of green, and were cowering, starving in the corner. In the other were some bones.
Ignoring them, we noted two exits. One, we suspected led back into the shaman room. The other led somewhere close to the ceremony. To confirm, we opened up the first door a crack. Unfortunately, the perceptive shaman noticed the movement, and motioned for us, who he thought were servants (the door wasn’t fully opened yet), to come in.
Oh well. Donald began a Sleep spell, while Balinor, Kain, and Quentin rushed around to block their escape from the other side. Morgan continued to slowly open the door.

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Party Roster:
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Kodo, 3rd level woodsman, 36 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 4th level thief, 15 hp, played by Vic
Kain, 1st level cleric, 6 hp, played by Jeff
Welcome to the Island of the Kara-kara! See… tangled jungles filled with Morgan loving bugs! See… lightning give Morgan a special greeting! See… an orcish party! See…
The Defenders do the island!
When we last left, the Defenders were plotting an ambush against an unexpected obstacle—actual guards. Donald threw a nasty sleep spell, catching all but one of the 6 orcs, and everyone fired their missile weapons while Felix ran madly at them. Of course, all six were grunts and the one we all shot fell over from damage. We quickly dispatched the rest, dropped the bodies in the swamp for decomposition purposes, and moved on.
We reached the village at about noon, and discovered that we had a big problem. The drums were quite loud and being played by large numbers of orcs at the temple near the other edge of the town. The temple was in a cave dug into the volcano, supposedly dormant for hundreds of years. However, there were still about a hundred guards ringing the village, making it impossible for us to sneak inside without the aid of invisibility effects, which we don’t have. So we decided instead that, being adventurers, why not walk down the Forbidden Path, also known as the Trail of the Dead, presumably where the shadows had come from? This seemed perfectly logical, and we walked down the path, cheerfully ignoring the many statues with upraised hands in a “Halt!” position.

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Party Roster:
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Kodo, 3rd level woodsman, 36 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 4th level thief, 15 hp, played by Vic
Kain, 1st level cleric, 6 hp, played by Jeff
After much discussion and reconsideration, it was finally decided that it would be best to wait a year to kill the “green slime bag.” Research by the sage in Teft indicated that the creature is only there during the rainy season, and would likely reform the next year if killed. Furthermore, in order to reach it in time we would not be able to train Kodo or Alduin beforehand. In addition, a lot more information could be gleaned if we spoke with the sage in Koralgesh. All of this convinced us to put the mission off until next year, though it has not been abandoned.
Instead, Alduin drilled for his next level, and trained to 4th level, gaining 2 hp to stand at 15. Our thieves are incapable of rolling good hp, including Perry, who managed to get 17 hp at 6th level. (And Alduin has a con bonus!)
Kodo picked up the boating proficiency, and it was definitely relevant for the next step. We decided to take up the orc island mission, since we had managed to go broke while wandering around, having failed to find a single piece of treasure.
We met with Rollo Bergman, the head of a local shipping company. He and the at least partially elven captain, Malmir, related this story:

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Party Roster:
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Kodo, 2nd level woodsman, 30 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 3rd level thief, 13 hp, played by Vic (Alex this game)
Kain, 1st level cleric of Silban, 6 hp, played by Jeff
The party was last left having trashed a goblin fortress and scooping up treasure. We claimed the scimitar +1 and a healing potion along with 5000 gp as our cut, and sailed on our old friend, the Eagle 13, to Restenford. After some arguing, it was decided that the X in Petethal had the most votes and we would head there. Since the winter was fast closing, it seemed like a good idea to get to the mainland quickly and have Quentin write his intended Cure Serious Wounds scroll in Depwood. Having realized that, we decided that Drew could come along and visit his family as well, and travel safely with us.
It should be noted that the Mouse of Cats is a really handy item, now that Quentin has a bobcat, named Chester! Anyone can talk to it at any time!
Phoenix decided to return to the church of Silban in Teft, and we accompanied him there. As repayment for his help, we offered to pay for his training, which would come within a few months, since he had narrowly missed 2nd level. In addition, it should be noted that XP for the goblin fortress ranged from 1200 for Kodo and Alduin to 2500 for Donald and Quentin. No one leveled, though Kodo and Alduin were both within 250 XP of the next level.
Balinor’s plate mail was so badly damaged (from being hit by at least a half-dozen ballista bolts) that we took it to the fine armorer in Barnacus (who had sneered at our pathetic Teft suits of chain mail when we were 1st level) and he repaired it, barely in time to make a fast passenger galley out to Teft. We arrived in Teft on November 28, 2176.
Kain joined the party in Petethal, after we had seen off Phoenix. Kain is another half-elven Silban cleric—apparently the church hasn’t given up on us yet! We hoped that Kain, the 6th cleric of the Defenders, would do better than his predecessors.

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Departing Members:
Cassian, 5th level Phaulkonian cleric, 31 hp, played by Katherine Plante
Narahn, 2nd level fighter, 11 hp, played by Dave
Party Roster:
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Kodo, 2nd level woodsman, 30 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 3rd level thief, 13 hp, played by Vic
Phoenix, 1st level Silban cleric, 7 hp, played by Jeff
We last left the Restenford Defenders recovering in Restenford after a harrowing experience with a grey philosopher in ancient Khargish ruins. The party healed up, and Cassian and Narahn retired.
Narahn leaves with his quality short bow, and Cassian takes with her the Ring of Featherfalling, Chain Mail+2, and Small Shield+2. The scrolls of Cure Serious Wounds, and Neutralize/Slow Poison were handed over to the care of our newest member Phoenix. Phoenix, the 5th cleric to join the Defenders, is a cleric of Silban, Mother Earth, whose followers share many of the druidic beliefs, but without the hostility toward sentient life. The first cleric of the Defenders was a cleric of Silban as well, which means we have now come full circle: Silban, Phaulkon, Nevron, Phaulkon, Silban.
The party finances at the end of the last game were generally low in cash, but very rich in permanent magic items. To make ends meet without selling the party needed a mission to provide treasure.

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Stumbling vaguely away….
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex (Aaron this game)
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 5th level cleric, 31 hp, played by Katherine
Kodo, 2nd level woodsman, 30 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, played by Edwin (NPC)
Alduin, 3rd level thief, 13 hp, played by Vic
Narahn, 2nd level fighter, 11 hp, played by Dave
A quick taking of stock:
1) An abysmal swamp with a thick evil fog, and nice wafting evil breeze.
2) Ravenous stork people who are abominations to Phaulkon.
3) A fleet of ghost ships in the harbor.
4) A ruined city with undead everywhere, and “loosely aligned.”
5) Godzilla assassin lizards. (Not to be confused with teenage mutant ninja turtles)
6) Three words: Consecrated. Evil. Ground.
“I’ll take Hideous Undead Monsters for $400, Alex.”
“The answer: This undead monster sulks in gloomy buildings in evil cities, pondering its final decision in life.”
“What is… a barrow wight?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, that’s not correct.”
“What is… a grey philosopher?”
“Yes!”

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Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex (Joel, and later Aaron during this game)
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 5th level cleric, 31 hp, played by Katherine
Kodo, 2nd level woodsman, 30 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 3rd level thief, 13 hp, played by Vic
Narahn, 2nd level fighter, 11 hp, played by Dave
Haladir, 1st level thief, 5 hp, played by Aaron
Our intrepid adventurers had last been planning an expedition to the Khargish ruins located in the swamp, from which no one had ever successfully returned. There were rumors that the crown of the Khargish nation lay somewhere in those ruins, presumably along with vast treasure. However, there were reports of lightning fast stabbings and entrails being left on the ground suddenly. Despite this, the bold Defenders set off north along the Restin River to reach our goal.
On the first night, we spotted a glowing thing about 600 feet away, coming somewhat toward us. We woke everyone up and took cover in the bushes, and could hear voices and metallic clanks. At one point a light flashed right above us, like a searchlight, and then suddenly the light turned and ran in the opposite direction. We decided not to deal with it.
On the next day, Quentin helped us avoid some skunks.
On the third night out, two volts jumped Morgan. This was quite bad, considering that the sword Thunderstruck is a lightning rod. Suddenly two tentacle things leeched out and starting zapping Morgan, who was on watch with Quentin and Kodo. A yell alerted some party members, and Cassian was woken up by Alduin. Kodo hacked at one of them, and Quentin whipped up a Flame Blade and helped to kill one of them. Unfortunately, Morgan went down right after, and then Kodo finished off the other one.
Morgan was saved by a timely Death’s Door, and recovered nicely. We continued on, until accidentally bumping into an outpost of Rog, the town in the mountains. Explaining that we had gone too far, we backtracked and forded the river to the west. As soon as we crossed the bank, Kodo thought he saw something scramble away. Cassian’s hawk reported that there were large humanoids roaming around.

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Subtitled: Where the *@#! did they find this stuff?
Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Alex (Jeremy this time)
Balinor, 5th level fighter, 50 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 5th level cleric, 31 hp, played by Katherine
Kodo, 2nd level woodsman, 30 hp, played by Rob
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 4th level mage, 21 hp, NPC
Alduin, 3rd level thief, 13 hp, played by Vic
Narahn, 2nd level fighter, 11 hp, played by Dave
Haladir, 1st level thief, 5 hp, played by Aaron
This was another transition adventure, since it turned out early on that things were cooler than we had imagined.
We had arrived on Lendore Isle, and trained Kodo, Narahn, and Balinor. At the beginning of 2176, we picked up the new Gazetteer, with its nice color maps!
Incidentally, I would like to give the old Gaz to the Seapoint Lightning if we come back form this adventure.
In March, Donald and Alduin went to the mainland to train. Donald trained to 4th level and gained 5 hp to stand at 21, while Alduin trained to 2nd and 3rd level and gained 7 hp to stand at 13.
While they were gone, Relkin the steward of Restenford came by the house. He dropped a box on the table and said that we would know what it was. Apparently the Baron had opened the “genie bottle” after determining stuff about it, and it released a creature that was guarding some stuff and was grateful to be out. Since we had recovered it, the Baron gave us 25% of it.

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Felix, 5th level fighter, 53 hp, played by Aaron
Balinor, 4th level fighter, 43 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 5th level cleric, 31 hp, played by Katherine
Morgan, 5th level fighter, 27 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 6th level druid, 25 hp, played by Jeremy
Kodo, 1st level woodsman, 24 hp, played by Rob
Donald, 3rd level mage, 16 hp, played by Donald
Narahn, 1st level fighter, 7 hp, played by Dave
Alduin, 1st level thief, 6 hp, played by Vic
The party was last left standing in front of a weird door with symbols on it. Some numerology and other things were attempted, and in the end Morgan, then Quentin, and finally Cassian put the pieces together and discovered that the indented symbols represented negative numbers, and the protruding symbols were positive, and the moon was zero. Summing this to the top symbol (2), this solved the problem of having an 8 digit code instead of 7 since 2 was the starting position, and took the 3-dimensionality into account. In any case, it worked, and instead of being blasted, Felix was shocked to discover that the two symbols on the top, a moon and a sun, were glowing.
Felix touched the sun. That’s when the wraith thing came out of the door.
Felix fell over immediately, shivering with cold and convulsing. Balinor swung Maiden Basher at it, and hit, but THE WEAPON WENT THROUGH IT.
Cassian’s turning attempt had no effect. Then it hit Cassian, and she crumpled as well.

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