12th Session 4 December 2019

Valldel Amakiir - 2nd Level Male Elven Rogue

Akadum Ironbeard - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Fighter

Dolin Stoneflare - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Light Cleric

Kethry - 2nd Level Female Human Wizard

1 June 981, Wednesday continued

nice, a few clouds, warm

They explore the last alcove and then examine the barred door at the end.  They note that it is barred from this side and wonder how the Fungal Goblins can get out.  They suspect a trap noting seams in the ceiling.  They begin building a lever to raise the bar from beyond the funny things in the ceiling under Valldel's direction.  This works and when they raise the bar they can hear clicking and are not in the path of the large stone hammer that swings down smashing into the door.

Within is what looks like a tomb with three coffins painted with snakemen.  Dolin opens one of the coffins and three humanoid skeletons pile out and attack.  Dolin uses the Medallion of Light, which glows brightly as he smashes a skeleton.  They dispatch the undead horrors, curious as to why the skeletons were not snakemen.

Akadum explores the side room with a hideous snakeman statue.  Water seeping in has eroded some stone covering a tunnel that leads below.  They tie a rope around the statue and lower Akadum below.  He sees a long corridor filled with menacing, but motionless figures.  The others join him and they see a long corridor lined with snakemen statues made of a shiny black stone.  Kethry casts an illusion of a man walking down the corridor and uses her familar, Dr. Hoot to explore ahead.  He sees an octagonal room with a pool of black liquid in the middle and more snakemen statues surrounding it.  As they cautiously make their way down the corridor they note a side passage.  Exploring this they only find bits of rotting furniture and the heads of two ceremonial pole arms, decorated in a snake motif.  Akadum gathers them.

Dolin approaches the pool and two rotting, mummified hands leap out to attack him.  They dispatch these horrible things, and Kethry manages to take control of one of them reviving it to undeath.  Dolin tries to purify the liquid, but has no success.  Valldel probes around in the pool but finds nothing.  Kethry sees something glowing magically and uses Mage Hand to pick up a silver ring decorated with eye icons.  Valldel tires it on his cursed hand, but notices nothing.  Kethry tires it and notes one of her eyes feeling funny.  It is hard like a marble and she can pop it out of her head and still see out of it.  It does not move on its own.  They dub this the Ring of Eyes.  There are doors in the sides of the octagon.  One is an open passage and Akadum explores it finding it leading to a small room filled with clay statutes of snakemen carrying weapons that are long decayed. He smashes these statues and beneath one in the corner is a hatch leading below.

He heads below finding a short corridor that ends in a wooden door.  He hears some heavy breathing behind the door.  The others also come below, crowding into the corridor.  Akadum announces his presence, smashes through the door, and finds himself transfixed by the red glowing eyes of a large lizard.  They recognize the beast as a Basilisk and pile around the motionless Akadum to attack the horror.  The beast charges forward smashing into the wall next to Akadum.  Akadum desperately manages to shake off his paralysis and hacks at the beast, while the other surround it and manage to bring it down before it can act again.  Kethry, under the disapproving eye of Dolin, tries to raise it up, but fails.  They note the beast is chained to the ceiling of the large room they have entered and begin to speculate on the value of parts of the dead horror.

Eleventh Session 26 Nov 2019

Valldel Amakiir - 2nd Level Male Elven Rogue

Akadum Ironbeard - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Fighter

Dolin Stoneflare - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Light Cleric

Kethry - 2nd Level Female Human Wizard

31 May 981, Tuesday, Continued

Terrible weather, cold, heavy rain

The party manages to spy some small figures hiding among rocks and brush by either side of the road along the road to Drigbolton.  The party either climbs up to the top of the coach or goes to the ground along side.  Valldel takes out one with his bow and the others begin fleeing.  Tony the Weasel chases after them hurling curses.  One throws something that lands near Dolin, explodes in a cloud which he manages to dodge out of, but he breathes in a lungful.  He is disorientated and briefly unable to act.  The others begin to pick off the fleeing things finishing them off.  Zelda and Kethry examine one of the dead and note that it not like an actual creature, but an undifferentiated inside with a skin.  They dub them Potato Goblins and Zelda gathers a sample for study later.  The Potato Goblins are unarmored and carrying poor weapons such as pieces of wood with a nail in the end or rusty long knives.  They do manage to gather one of the mushrooms.  There is nothing else of value on the Potato Goblins.  They guess that these are what the locals call Clooneys and are from the Clooney Caves.  Zelda says that exploration of the Clooney Caves is clearly the first order of business.

The party worries that the Potato Goblins were animated by the green sphere they left behind at the Shrine of Demeter.  They plan to investigate as soon as possible, with Akadum and Dolin trying to explain matters to Zelda.

They head to the King Deer.  It is dark by the time they get there, but they are met enthusiastically by the King's.  The King's are very excited to meet their new Miss, and tell  her they will prepare a banquet.  Game hunting has been good since the talking animals have been helpful in hunting the non-talking in return for getting to eat part of the fields and the occasional goat.  Thus they have better fair to offer than goat stew.  Freya King is a local and her family has run the Inn for as long as any one can remember.  Her husband Limber is an outsider.  He is notably laconic speaking in monosylables to all except his wife.  Junior told them the villagers thought Limber was an escaped convict who had committed some horrible crime or he had an affair with some Midland Laird's wife or daughter.  He was thus hiding out here in the last place anyone would think to look.

The party plus Zelda make the short trip to the shrine of Demeter.  There they find lush vegetation surrounding the shrine and the sphere, but not out of control like they observed in the forest when they first found the sphere.  It seems unlikely the Potato Goblins were made here.  They show Zelda what the sphere can do by touching a flower to it, and she is amazed as the flower sprouts into a bouquet.  They think to touch a piece of Potato Goblin to the sphere and it sprouts into a brace of mushrooms.  Thus Zelda dubs the creatures Fungal Goblins.  These mushrooms are not the Confusion Cloud sort the Goblins were armed with.  Akadum touches his beard to the sphere and it sprouts into something spectacular.  As they leave Dolin offers a prayer of thanks to the Goddess Demeter and they notice Zelda dutifully takes part.

Akadum tells them the sphere occupied a glassed in room in the Dwarf Space Battleship.  Plants for food and to keep the air fresh were grown there.  They continue to tease him about being a janitor on the ship while he insists he was a gunner.

They decide at some point the sphere should go to The Wreak/Karnak where Dolin's superior Master Morvran would be highly interested.  That sounds like a good idea to all, but priority does have to go the Clooney Caves and the Fungal Goblins.

They return to the King Deer.  As they arrive they meet Edward Killingsworth a representative of the Blacksmiths Guild from Tealford.  The blacksmith here, Breag, sent some samples of the Star Metal to the guild and they are very excited.  It is harder and stronger than anything they have ever seen including the best stuff one can get from the Dwarves at Karnak/The Wreak.  The only thing better is magical stuff.  Breag tells him that they gathered some larger chunks, and he would like to make a bargain with them.  He would like their chunks for study and in return the Guild will fashion useful items out of the remainder for them.  Dolin thinks the stuff should go to the Dwarves of The Wreak/Karnak.  Killingsworth tells them the Guild in Tealford works closely with the Dwarves and they would get some samples too.  Dolin and Akadum who had gathered some chunks are willing to take this bargain in return for a helm and a great sword.  Zelda invites Killingsworth to join them in the King Deer.

Within a good chunk of the village has gathered to meet their new Miss.  Foremost is Griya with her apprentice Ponsafine and her daughter by the Laird, Edith.  Edith presents as a teenager, and she embraces her sister swearing her loyalty to Zelda as the new Miss.  They note obvious tension between Zelda and Griya.

During the banquet, which is quite a bit better than the food they had during their earlier stay at the Inn, they learn a number of things.  Godfred tells them he has been up to the Lairds Manor and has cleaned up and repaired things.  There is no evidence of the unfortunate fate of the Laird.  It is ready for the new Miss.  Kethry talks with Griya.   Kethry notes that Griya is clearly a highly skilled magician, but her approach and language is quite different from how she and Zelda do things.  It is as if they are talking about the same thing, but in different languages.  They trade Spectral Stiletto and Chameleon spells.

Not much has happened here in Drigbolton since the party left six days ago.  They have developed a working relationship with the talking animals, but not much else has gone on.  They have seen creatures around the fringes of the village at night, and the animals have said they are coming from the mountains just to the north, i.e. the Clooney Caves.

They turn in for the night, planning to head to the manor first thing in the morning and explore the Clooney Caves after.

1 June 981, Wednesday

Weather, nice, a few clouds, warm

Akadum comes down sporting an amazing beard.  They head up to the Manor escorting Zelda, Iux, Percy, and Godfred who will unpack and settle into the manor.  All seems well there, and the party heads out to the Clooney Caves following the map they found earlier.  It is late afternoon by the time they get there.

They enter a worked entrance into the side of the mountain which is clearly old.  The floor is covered in gravel and the ceiling is crumbling with roots from above.  Along a long corridor which ends in barred stone doors are side rooms.  The first two have rough wooden coffins.  Within are clay statues of a snakemen.  Valdell breaks open the first one, filling the room with gas, which leaves him coughing.  There is a gold amulet with an image of a snakeman on one side and unrecognized writing on the other.  Also a snake skeleton which is old and dessicated.  The other room is similar, but Valdell smashes the clay figure with a thrown hand axe avoiding the gas.  

The third is a bit different with the statue having a cloak and wearing a silver ring.  Valdell smashes it and sees a similar amulet and skeleton. As Valdell picks through the broken clay pieces, picks up the ring, and he is compelled to put it on.  His finger lengthens, splits into two, and ends in sharp claws that are dripping with some dark liquid.  He freaks out and wants to cut off his hand.  The others stop him.  Dolin tells him he has a curse, which a powerful priest or magic user can remove.  Kethry admonishes Valdell to be more careful.  Things should be checked for being magical before being messed with.  She can see the ring glittering with magic power.

10th Session 30 Oct 2019

Valldel Amakiir - 2nd Level Male Elven Rogue

Akadum Ironbeard - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Fighter

Dolin Stoneflare - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Light Cleric

Kethry - 2nd Level Female Human Wizard

29 May 981, Sunday Continued

Partly cloudy warm

Kethry notes that there are no spell books in Zelda's library but she does peruse Vingenti's Guide to the Power of Death - Making the Dead Work for You, The Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Shadows by Aristide Torchia, and Mysteries of the Worm by Ludwig Prinn.

The party gets Zelda's map to the sub-basement of the Inn of Two Goblins.  It is accessed via a hatch that that is locked from above in the basement which leads to a spiral stair case down.  Most interesting is the inscription on the wall:

Beware All Who Enter

These Benighted Halls of Stone.

Within Lies No Solace

Nor Any Comforts of Home.

Toiling For Our Crimes

We Must Dig Where We Dwell,

With No Freedom or Mercy

In Our Vast Stony Hell.

and a drawing Zelda made of fanged entrance ways.  They express some interest in exploring this evening, but Zelda is not in favor as she wants to get to Drigbolton as soon as possible.  They decide to not explore.

As dinner begins, they notice that all the goblins are missing.  Most of the guests have boarded coaches and returned to Stattleford in the afternoon and those that remain are being plied with free food and entertainment clearly designed to keep them in the Inn.  When they ask Zelda about this, she leads them to a balcony over looking the field of metal pillars.  As the sun sets into the Moon Peaks far to the west a pool of reddish light falls at a certain spot in the field, and the goblins, there are hundreds, are gathered forming an orderly pattern in rows and columns.  They begin chanting and beating drums:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ92Lz5KQfw.  The party is disturbed and think that perhaps this should be stopped.  Zelda tells them normally the goblins here are content to work and follow orders, but they get violent and will resist unto death if they forcibly removed from the Inn or if they are not allowed to do this, which they do on Sunday at sunset.  She agrees that something is likely asleep, hibernating is probably a better word, beneath the Inn.  May it perhaps start waking up now that the "veil has been broken" they ask?  Zelda does not know, but her duty now lies in Drigbolton.  At some point the dungeon beneath Two Goblins is worth exploring.

At dinner Shiso tells them that he is going to vist his uncle, Professor at the White College in Leechfield.  He too is interested in things falling from the sky and Shiso was sent to investigate, like many of them.  He wishes them good fortune and takes his leave.

Zelda tells them she will be taking her goods with them, clothes, furniture, library, lab equipment in a big cart and they will ride in a coach.  Besides her will be two body guards, Felix and Percy, and her maid, a goblin called Iux.  They ask how this goblin can travel away from the Inn.  Zelda does not really know, but Iux has served her since she was small and accompanied her to the White College and they have visited her father's home in Drigbolton.  Some of the goblins seem to be "explorers" and are able to travel away from the Inn.

This night Kethry recalls her familar Ex Libris and transforms him from a Rook to a Hawk.

30 May 981, Monday

Rainy

They load up the coach and cart and leave early planning to make Tealford before night fall.  Kethry sends her hawk familar to fly over head and keep watch.  As they approach the hamlet of Weston Netherly the hawk spies a large crater south of the River Pegridge.  It is not new, covered in vegetation, but there is some green, glowing slime at the bottom.  Kethry directs Ex Libris to try to gather some on the end of stick and return to her.  This is successful and upon closer inspection, the green glowing stuff is magical but its nature, sometimes apparent by its magical color, is constantly changing.  Kethry, Valldel, and Zelda recognize the stuff as Gloomium, a chaotic magical substance which is often very attractive to underground dwelling creatures.  It can be quite valuable, but its effects can be unpredictable. Kethry gathers a glass jar, and is able to save a dose of the stuff.

At lunch time they arrive at the Weston Coach Inn.  Dolin speaks with the Inn keeper James Mortigan.  He says there have been no apparitions since the party defeated the Charred Hag and all seems quiet here.  Xander's band of adventurers are still here.  Xander is mostly done healing and they are planning to go back out adventuring again soon.   They have lunch and move on.

Just after leaving Weston Netherly Ex Libris spies a strange stone structure in the fields west of Weston Netherly and north of the Midlands Ring Road.  It is a round, tiered plinth amid the fields.  They again decide not to investigate.

One of the horses comes up lame.  Felix and Percy tell them that they can continue, but just much slower and they would not arrive at Tealford until well after dark.  Dolin uses one of his Heal spells on the horse.  That works, and they are able to continue arriving as the sun is setting.  They check into the West Coach Inn.

They ask after the Crag Works and look in the newspapers.  That mine is still closed, but all the other mines seem to be working with the occasional report of fell creature incursions.  They go to the Temple of Hephaestus to look for Junior.  She is there and says she has been working as a mine guard.  She tells them tales that are obviously exagerated of derring do in the mines which seem to be constantly under attack, collapsing, or flooding.  She does not know anything about the Crag Works.

Kethry finds a very relaxed halfling called Jon Fairbrain to be their torch bearer.  She gives him 1 GP as a signing bonus and promises to pay 1 SP/day plus a 1/4 share of party treasure. He has no real skills but comes with a short sword and leather armor.

They head to the Miners Guild Office and find that the Crag Works have been declared unsafe for work and thus are closed.

They head back to the Inn and find a very unhappy Zelda.  She has been unable to find a place to live here.  After some discussion they decide to spend tomorrow morning here for Zelda to continue her search.

Jon Fairbrain hooks Valldel up with some excellent Pipeweed called Brignorth Bigly.

31 May 981, Tuesday

Terrible weather, cold, heavy rain

Kethry changes her familar hawk Ex Libris into an Owl called Dr Hoot.

They head to the Crag Works and find it shuddered and locked up.  Valldel picks locks and they sack the office and find nothing out of the ordinary.  Frustrated they break into the mine.  It smells of smoke and they into the deep part of the mine where they fought the ghouls and started a fire.  That big cavern has mostly collapsed and it would take a large effort in digging to get to the tunnel below that they glimpsed before.

Back at the Inn, they found that Zelda has been successful in finding some place to live here.  Felix will stay behind with the heavy cart of goods to unload and set up her house, while the others will head with the light coach to Drigbolton.  They should get there this evening.

They have an uneventful journey up into the hills with the Moon Peaks looming to the north.  They arrive as the sun is setting.  The manor looks fine, but Zelda decides it is too late to go to her new Drigbolton summer home and to head to the King Deer Inn in the hamlet.  As they head south towards Drigbolton...

Ninth Session 16 October 2019

Valldel Amakiir - 2nd Level Male Elven Rogue

Akadum Ironbeard - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Fighter

Dolin Stoneflare - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Light Cleric

Shiso Shinjitsu - 2nd Level Male Human Fighter

Kethry - 2nd Level Female Human Wizard

27 May 981, Friday Continued

Miserable, cold and heavy rain

Akadum is peppered with many questions.  What does he know about the strife in space?  Not much.  He was just a gunner on a Dwarf Space Battleship.  The Dwarven Space Navy sortied from Mercury to the Moon and was ambushed by a bunch of dragons.  What destroyed his ship was a dragon made of pure fire.  The wreckage fell on Drigbolton.  He has no clue what happened to his crew mates.  As far as he knows he is the only survivor.  The Dragon Empire enforces a ban on travel to the surface of this world, Kylindo.

Is Mercury the Dwarven homeworld?  Yes as far as Akadum knows.  It is harsh, close to the sun, with one side always facing the sun, and the other away.  On the hot side the Dwarves mine Fire Stone, which is always very hot, on the cold side Infinte Ice, which is perpetually frozen.  Bringing the two together makes steam which powers Dwarven technology such as the pistol Akadum has.  There are metals under the surface of Mercury an that is mined and forged in solar powered forges.

Dolin says that Akadum must visit his Master Morvran at the Wreck and tell the Dwarves about Mercury.  Akadum says that he is anxious to get deep underground as there are Dwarf legends that say all the worlds are connected deep under their surfaces and it is the only way he can think of to get back to his home.

Kethry also says that her Master, Pye, aka the Mad Mage, will be fascinated to hear this story.  He has a great interest in the heavens.  Dolin and Zelda seem a bit surprised at this revelation.

Dinner ends with Dunston Hurley beginning another long speaech,  and the clearly exasperated Zelda invites them down to the Show Room.  Valldel tells Tony to stay behind and keep tabs on Gunston.  They are led to a stage side table and a risque show featuring scantily clad dancing girls is going on.  Zelda tells them she will take the weekend to pack and they will head to Drigbolton on Monday morning.

Zelda tells them Dunston's extreme views on the Morans are quite short sighted.  His business empire here depends on the Midlands Ring Road and the dredged out river channels that facilitate the export of the food stuff made at the food processing factory in back of the Inn.  All these and the clearing out of bandits and river pirates was done by the Morans.

On the other hand many are distressed by Emperor Devit's invasion of the north.  After the fall of the old Moran Empire there were many city states none of which threatened the surviving core of the Empire.  She does not know why the Empire struck north, and notes she is upset that as a Professor at the University of Mora she would be training many mages who would join the Imperial Army.  Upon reflection she is quite pleased to have the excuse of becoming the Miss of Drigbolton, and not have to support the senseless war to make Mora great again.

She fears for Drigbolton.  Many forces swirl about it.  The Bog Witches, the followers of the Old Ways who maintain strongholds in the wilderness to the north, and the Morans.  Dolin makes a rude gesture at the mention of the Bog Witches and their opposition to the Olympians.  Zelda agrees, noting the power of the Olympians is clearly real.  After all she was trained at the White College which is closely associated with the goddess Athena.

She is candid about the Tablets of Chaos.  She really has no idea what they are, but is certain they are in the Barrowmaze.  These will also attract unwanted attention on Drigbolton.  Plus she is concerned that the Barrowmaze will be much more dangerous.

She mentions the first order of business in Drigbolton will be to deal with the Clooney Caves.  They ask about Xiximanter, the ancient serpant man.  She knows nothing more than what her father has said.  The goblins there seem to be different than the goblins here.  They ask about the goblins here, and she says they seem to be devoted to this ancient temple to some goblin god.  Dunston was able to harness their labor and build the Two Goblins enterprise.  They work without pay, and would do anything rather than leave the Inn.

Zelda seems to have had enough of the serious talk, and orders whiskey.  Dolin and Kethry excuse themselves to go to their rooms to write letter to their masters telling them what they have learned.  Akadum goes up to the Observing Tower.  He sees little at night and in bad weather, but can see the large farm, food processing plant, and river docks to the east of the Inn.  He is sad thinking about his lost brothers in arms. Valdell visits the spa which features luxurious steam baths and massages by beautiful staff.  He is unable to resist the offer of a happy ending from his pretty human masseuse who calls herself Lina.  When he returns to his room, he finds Tony who tells him that Dunston is a boor.  He continued to drone on, and was rude to the other dinner guests after Zelda left.  Eventually two pretty young women showed up and he went off with them.   Tony was not excited to see what would happen next.

28 May 981, Saturday

Nice, warm and sunny

Kethry and Dolin go off and find a staff goblin.  They find that the goblin clearly has a mystical view of this place.  It is as if he thinks of it as the entire world and can conceive of no other place as being part of the universe.  It is clearly some sort of worship, but they are not sure of what.  They also note the halfling calling himself Groulb and expounding the worship of the Great Goblin is only attracting humans and halflings.  The goblins of the Inn are not paying him any attention.

Valldel is down in the Low Restaurant and sees a half elven bard called Hesling.  He tells fairy tales and mainly appeals to children; a bunch are gathered about him.  He tells the tale of the great wizard Orik who defeated the 12 dragons and banished them to the sky and now lives on the Moon in a great tower protecting us from the return of the dragons.

Akadum tours the basement.  There is a great steam engine fed with coal that comes from the Teal Hills, but there is no smoke.  The steam is used in the rooms of the Inn, there is hot tap water in the rooms, the spa, and in the food processing plant where many things are preserved by canning. Akadum goes to see Zelda as he notes the steam engine looks like the power plant for a Space Dwarf space ship.  Zelda, who seems to be busy packing, tells him that she found the steam engine when she was exploring the basement of the Inn.  She was able to bind some fire elementals and they are fed a steady diet of coal.  Dunston then conceived of using the steam for preserving food.  While Dunston is many things, Zelda says, he is a brilliant business man.  The Two Goblins enterprise is fabulously profitable with a very lucrative  contract to supply the Imperial Army with preserved food. Akadum asks what lies further below, and Zelda says there is clearly something awful down there, fortunately it seems dormant, and they have simply sealed off the lower levels.  She gives him a sketch of what little she knows about the dungeon beneath the Two Goblins Inn.  Dolin who also toured the basement, concurs.  He sensed something,but had the impression it was asleep.  Akadum wants to explore, but Zelda says it is likely very dangerous and she wants to get to Drigbolton sooner rather than later.

They gather again for dinner with Dunston.  He again talks about the Tablets of Chaos.  He tells them that he sent expeditions to retrieve them.  Most simply disappeared.  One returned with magical stone tablets.  They proved to be fakes.  He keeps them in his office to remind him of his failures.  He does say he had those who swindled him, hunted down and killed.  They ask to see the tablets, and he is happy to oblige them.  His office is garish and in glass cases are two stone tablets.  Kethry can see the remnants of "magical glitter" on them.  There are etched symbols on them that look like some sort of script, but in no language any one recognizes.  Kethry can see repeated patterns suggesting words.  Akadum begins laughing and points out more patterns and notes how they repeat randomly.  He recalls this from his military training as a way to make something look complex yet deliberate, but actually has no meaning.  Dunston tells them this is exactly what his experts observed.  Neverthelss, Kethry takes a rubbing of the "Tablets of Chaos".

Akadum again goes up to the Observing Tower.  With the nice weather he can see the lights from the large town of Stattleford to the north and gazes at the stars whistfully noting the dissapating cloud near the Moon.

Valldel goes to the casino to gamble.  He encounters Philbert the duck who lives in a pond in the middle of casino.  The duck gets out and waddles up to a card player who is found to have cards up his sleeve.  He is hustled off by security.  The duck returns to the pond and all returns to normal.  Valldel looses all the chips Tony has found for him and turns in.

Kethry checks out the Library.  It is Zelda's own and not very big.  Some goblins are carefully packing it up.

Dolin goes to find a place of worship and is distresed to find a quicky wedding chapel.  Theo Flykiatus is priest of Hera running the place and he is marrying a couple who seem to have had far too much to drink.  Dolin disrupts things by turning over some tables and throwing some chairs around. Theo seems nonplussed and invites Dolin back for Sunday services tomorrow, but Dolin is disgusted and leaves.

29 May 981, Sunday

Normal spring weather, partly cloudy warm

Akadum and Dolin tour the food processing plant and farm behind the Inn.  They see goblins, halflings, and humans working the fields that fill the long spit of land between the old temple and the two rivers that meet a couple of miles further on.  The processing plant is fed by steam from the steam engine and boiling water is used to preserve and can all manner of things.  These are then packaged up and loaded onto barges which head down river eventually to the coast.  All on the tour are gifted with a jar of Two Goblins

Beets.  They see Kris Hablin from Weston Netherly working in the fields.  Dolin gives him some coins and wishes him peace.

Kethry goes out to the front of the Inn and examines the columns.  One that is no longer magical is rusting and leaning off vertical.  The ones that are feintly magical clearly have some sort of preservation spell on them. She carefully climbs to the top of one and can see notches for beams between adjacent columns.  She sees a few small pieces of much weathered wood, and she gathers a piece.

Valldel is in the high restaurant and encounters Matt Colvenhill, a large man noticeably smelling of gralic. He tells Valldel he is a garlic merchant and supplies the Inn.  He is with a young woman named Holda, who seems desperate to be any where else.  While Valldel and Colvenhill talk, she manages to slip away.  Tony appears with 20 GP of chips.

They plan to meet Zelda for dinner to plan their trip back to Drigbolton.

8th Session, 1 Oct 2019

Valldel Amakiir - 2nd Level Male Elven Rogue

Akadum Ironbeard - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Fighter

Dolin Stoneflare - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Light Cleric

Shiso Shinjitsu - 2nd Level Male Human Fighter

Kethry - 2nd Level Female Human Wizard

26 May 981, Thursday, continued

Fine spring weather, few clouds

It is late evening when all dies down.  There is a visit to the hamlet's general store and a few adventuring items are purchased.

Kethry studies the Black Book of Llaregubb and is able to transcribe into her spell book Charm Person.  The other spells she can understand are Read Magic and Shield.  There are three more that she cannot make out.

27 May 981, Friday

Weather Miserable, cold and heavy rain

Despite the terrible weather they make their way to the Two Goblins Inn on the coach.  The coachmen is very excited telling them that he loves to stop there as there is a good restaurant, gambling, and female entertainment.

About noon they approach the Inn from the west they see a wrought iron bridge over a weed choked moat.  The bridge is like a covered bridge and at the top are the metal statues of two goblins looking east and west.  Beyond is covered in black flagstones that are cracked and broken with age.  In a square grid every 50 feet there is a black wrought iron column rising up about 50 feet.  The base of the columns are four clawed feet, the shaft is two bodies twisting around each other, and the capitol is two goblin faces.  Each one is different.  Kethry can see all these glowing fiently with magic.  Those few that are not are rusted, broken, or leaning off vertical.  To the north and south they can see two bridges similar to the one they crossed going over the River Pegridge to the south and the Moonwash River to the north.  These two clearly meet just to the east.

The inn itself is a large five story building including some of the columns in its structure.  It is best described as a cross between a dark, gothic haunted house and a Las Vegas casino.  As the coach pulls up to the Inn there are other coaches arriving from the nearby large town of Stattleford full of folks preparing for a weekend stay at the Inn.  Akadum is a bit surprised to see many of the workers who arrive to tend to the horses and carry away the bags are goblins.  They are wearing clothes sporting a two goblins logo, which they begin to notice everywhere.  On the bottom floor they see what appears to be a large emporium, much like a K-Mart, and a big restaurant much like an Applebys.  Many of the guests are streaming into these.

The party approaches one of the humans who is supervising the goblins, telling him they have a message for Zelda Spinewith.  He is at first skeptical, but upon inspecting their letters, he apologizes and leads them into the Inn and up the stairs.  The second floor is a casino, the third floor is fine restaurant and a room for live shows.  There are offices and a spa on the fourth floor.  At the offices, where the Two Goblins logo is prominent there is a beautiful woman receptionist behind an impressive counter.  She too is skeptical, but when shown the letters she calls a goblin who takes the letters back into the depths of the office.  She

offers them any thing they would like to drink and they note that it all comes in Two Goblins bottles and glasses.

After a short wait the goblin returns, whispers to the receptionist, who then leads them back to meet Zelda.  They find her occupying what appears to be a meeting room with a table with many books some of which are open with an open ledger in which she is clearly filling with notes.  She is small with black hair, dressed showing rather a lot of skin, and speaks in a high squeaky voice.  She has clearly read the letter and looks shocked.  She thanks them for their news and asks them about the circumstances of her father's death.  They tell her he was killed by animated paintings.  Animated paintings she asks?  They then describe the happenings in Drigbolton they witnessed just a few days ago.  She tells them she too is aware something strange has happened, she was distracted during the evening they saw things fall from the sky on Drigbolton, but she can tell that the "Veil has weakened and arcane powers have waxed." She tells them she has just finished her studies at the White College in Leechfeld and was preparing to move to Mora where she was going to take up a position as a Professor of Magic at the University of Mora.  She now has to rethink, as she now has to consider her duties as the new Miss of Dirgbolton.

She writes them a sort of credit voucher and says they are free to do whatever they would like at the Inn free of charge, and invites them to dinner with her and her guardian Dunston Hurley who is the boss of the Two Goblins enterprise.

Akadum and Kethry goes down to the first floor emporium and restaurant.  Akadum has a couple of cups of Two Goblins Ale and begins challenging folks to arm wrestling.  He mostly loses, has a good time, and learns that most of the visitors here are workers from the shoe and machinery factories

of Stattleford taking a weekend break at the Inn.  Kethry notes the staff doting on a very old, obviously wiizard who is propped up in an over stuffed chair with his feet up.  He is Elvamaez and tells Kethry an obviously fantastical tale of the spell he is working on called Subvert Government and Transfer Loyalty.  He claims it requires an organ of a massive sea creature that must be caught and killed during the dark of Moon, and he begins to go into distressing detail on how to cut open the creature and extract the required organ.  The staff asks Kethry to change the topic, and she asks him about recent events in the heavens.  The old man's eyes change from clouded, to clear and bright and he begins to tell the now familiar story of the weakening of the Veil, the growth of arcane power, and the danger of those that dwell below.  But then he talks about another veil.  Apparently not a physical veil but some sort of agreement between those that dwell here and those that dwell in the stars in the sky.  They will now be able to ignore something he calls the "Compact" and will be coming here.  It will be time of trouble and danger, and he feels lucky that he will soon be passing through the "veil below" and will not be around to see the strife.

Kethry asks him to share a spell, and he is only too happy to reach into his volumous robe and pull out a scroll which he hands to Kethry.  The effort seems to have exhausted him, and nods off to sleep.

Akadum and Kethry's attention is drawn to a halfling, who seems to be dressed like a goblin, and is sitting at a table with some buxom females and some large body guards.  He is expounding the worship of the Great Goblin claiming that this place was once the Great Goblin's temple and is a source of great power.  He is hawking a pamphlet for the low, low price of 2GP that will bring enlightenment, cure deseases, improve your love life, etc. if one just embraces the teachings of the Great Goblin as revealed by his humble servant Groulb.  A number of the patrons are staring in rapt attention at Groulb, and Kethry buys one of the pamphlets.  It is filled with a bunch of nonsense, platitudes, and many ads for more pamphlets, Great Goblin religious symbols, and seminars on worship of the Great Goblin led by his chosen one, Groulb.

Valdell goes up to the Two Goblins Show Room.  There he meets a silverware salesman named Paulus Belasarius.  He expounds the quality of his work, drawing Valdell's attention to the silverware they are using which features the two entwined goblins as on the pillars.  He asks Valldel if he is interested in buying silverware or if knows anyone who might be interested.  Valldel grows tired of his constant pitching.

A commotion breaks out.  The famous bard Fitted Fast and her nemesis Dame Demented are getting into a shouting match over a handsome male dancer who looks bemused as the two statusque blondes escalate their encounter to bread throwing and a chase that ends up on stage.  Suddenly the orchestra begins playing and the two begin singing a duet of one of Fitted Fast's recent big hits, "Me".  Dancers appear and a big production number takes over the stage.  Nearby patrons tell Valldel that this performance happens every few hours, and is a big attraction here at the Inn.

Women approach Valdell offering him company for the evening, but he brushes them off as he heads to dinner.

Dinner is a private dinning room with Zelda and her guardian Dunston Hurley.  He is a man of size and dressed in clothes covered in Two Goblins logos, but always looks as if he has just slept in them.  He talks a great deal trying to dominate the conversation.  The banquet is sumptious and there are a horde of servants who see to any desire the diners might have.  There is fine wine, and the meal features fresh fish apparently drawn from the near by rivers.

Zelda tells them that she will take up her birthright as the Miss of Drigbolton and forego her appointment at the UofM.  She and her family beleive in the old ways where the power of blood is paramount, and it would be wrong of her not to take up her responsibility.  She also mentions that many dangers are swirling about Drigbolton and the west of the Midlands.  She fears for the people of Drigbolton and asks the party to escort her back and to stay on to be her strong right arm in protecting her new demense.

Before any one can speak Dunston butts in and begins to speak of the pride he has in his ward and the desire he has to see her and the other followers of the Old Ways throw off the yoke of the Morans.  At this Zelda noticeably cringes.  He goes to say that the key to this is to recover the Tablets of Chaos and he is confident that Zelda can do this.

Zelda manages to speak up and say the literature is not at all clear about the powers of the Tablets of Chaos, but are clear that they are in the Barrowmaze which is in the great Barrowmoor swamp west of Drigbolton.  She notes that this place is well known as extremely dangerous, is likely to be even more dangerous with the weakening of the veil, but she does agree that Tablets should be gathered up.  Things are likely to get much more dangerous in the days ahead.  The signs point to the break down of the Compact that kept the dragons away from here and confined to the Moon and the 12 Dragonstars.  There is strife there and it is only a matter of time before that strife spreads here.  She greatly fears that a dragon will be attracted by the magical power of the Tablets.

At this point Akadum tells everyone he has seen this strife up close.  He is from Mercury and was a crew member on a Dwarven space ship which was destroyed in a battle with the dragons who dwell on the Moon and the Dragonstars.  He managed to survive the crash of his ship, and ended up in Drigbolton.  He mentions Dwarven legends that all the stars

in the sky are connected deep underground, and if one goes deep enough other worlds can be found.

This brings a stunned halt to the conversation.

Seventh Session, 11 Sep 2019

Valldel Amakiir - 2nd Level Male Elven Rogue

Akadum Ironbeard - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Fighter

Dolin Stoneflare - 2nd Level Male Dwarf Light Cleric

Shiso Shinjitsu - 2nd Level Male Human Fighter

Kethry - 2nd Level Female Human Fighter

26 May 981, Thursday, continued

Fine spring weather, few clouds

The grey hooded figure finishes with, "The Charred Hag comes.  Flee this place.  Flee now.  Find the blessed Medallion of Light.  Use it and free us all."

With that he bursts into flames, and rising out of the flames and smoke is a tall female figure in black robes, unnaturally white skin, long black hair, and claw-like hands.  Evidently this is the Charred Hag.  The band of adventurers led by the obvious light priest moves to attack the Hag joined by Shiso, Dolin, and Kethry.  The Hag swipes at the light priest and he bursts into flames.  Dolin hits it with holy fire, Kethry protects herself, and Shiso takes a hack at it.  Valldel flees out the front door and sees a changed landscape.  The sky looks as if a thunderstorm is about to hit, and there is no sign of the village.  Akadum gathers up the thug who was telling his sad story at the bar, and follows the bard who is leading them up the stairs.

In the courtyard of the Inn Valdell sees a horrifying scene which seems to be overlaid on reality as if a movie were playing on top of it.  The Inn is burning and a woman drops from one of the second floor windows into the courtyard, calling up to her husband to lower their children down to her.  Just then the burning Inn collapses on the man and the children. The despairing woman goes to the well, shouts out "I curse you all.  May your suffering last for eternity.  As my family has suffered.  As I have suffered.  May you never know peace for all the days of your wretched lives!"  With that she wraps the rope from the well around her neck and jumps in.  Valldel can hear the snap of her neck, and scene starts again.

Inside the adventurers fighting the Hag try to stop the flames on their leader, Dolin gives it a shove, but does not stop her.  Shiso attacks it, and it swipes at him, and he feels as if a jet of flame is passing through him.  Kethry uses Mage Hand to lift a wooden chair and drop it on the Hag.

The bandits have fled down the hallway under the stairs. Valldel climbs up to a window on the second floor, finds the two young boys hiding, and he goes out and finds himself in the living quarters of the family that runs the Inn.

Below the fight continues with Dolin being sent sprawling, Shiso striking hard, and Kethry dropping another chair on the Hag.  The adventurers are carrying their leader, who is obviously very hurt, up the stairs.

Valldel opens the next room and finds the daughters of the family cowering, moves on and sees a living room with stairs leading down.

Below Shiso strikes hard at the Hag and it crumbles to ash.  With the lull they can see and smell they are in a transformed Inn with smoke every where and everything being very warm.

Valldel goes down the stairs, finds himself in the kitchen behind the bar, and heads back towards the main room. Shiso, Dolin and Kethry head up the stairs following Akadum, the bard, and the sad thug.

Valldel passes through a door, and encounters the bandits. They trade insults and one of the bandit leader slugs Valldel.  This leads to pillar of flame erupting next to them, and the Hag reappears amidst the bandits and Valdell.

Above the others get to the family's living quarters.  The leader of the adventurers, Xander is badly burned and laid out on a couch.  The bard, who seems to know the lay out, is leading them to look into a storage room, where she guesses the Medallion of Light might be.

Below Valldel retreats back through the door and holds it shut.  On the other side he can hear screams and smells burning flesh.  He improvises a bar to the door, and heads down a stairway to the basement.

Above they find a room filled with boxes, furniture, and decorations.  When Kethry looks in she sees the glow of something magical in one of the boxes, and an apparition of a jar with three floating eyes in it on top of the box.  She manages to hold back her revulsion and finds what is obviously the Medallion of Light within.  Dolin heals Xander to the thanks of the his companions.  Kethry gives Dolin the Medallion and they head back towards the main room.

Valldel spends some time looking around the basement finding it filled with food stuffs.  In the end he gathers up two bottles of fine wine and heads back upstairs.

The others come back down the stairs the find the Hag chasing one bandit who is fleeing towards the front door.  Dolin wraps the chain of the Medallion about his fist and uses it to strike the Hag calling on the power of Apollo.  She again crumbles to ash, and the Inn returns to normal.

Valldel comes up the stairs to the kitchen, notes the transformation back to ordinary, hears the fleeing bandit, goes out to the courtyard, but is unable to figure out where the fleeing bandit has gone as he has disappeared among the buildings of the village.

They meet in the tavern of the Inn.  The Mortigan family, who had fled to their quarters or were hiding reappear and tell them that the Inn was famous for the apparations that some of them saw.  But they had never seen the Hag or any thing like that.  It is as if the restless spirit that haunted the Inn got stronger or was able to manifest it self more easily.  The events that Valldel saw happened hundreds of years ago.  The story the bard, who is called Helen Cross, is that the Inn was destroyed in a fire caused when a fight broke out among adventurers patronizing the Inn.  All within were killed; most tragically the family that ran the Inn which included young children.  There is a famous folk song about it that she knows.

To put an end to this haunting Valldel is lowered into the well and finds bones of the grieving woman.  She is a distant ancester of the Mortigans.  Dolin oversees a burial of the bones in the family's graveyard which is in back of the Inn.  They also bury three bandits who were killed fighting the Hag.  It is the leader, the halfling, and one of the thugs.  The remaining thug has escaped.  The Mortigans tell them that Medallion of Light was left here many years ago by Alan Harker who was a famous undead hunter.  He said that it would help protect the Inn which sat on a weak spot in the veil between the worlds.   Dolin thinks the Medallion should stay here, but all the others think Dolin should take it as what has haunted the Inn has clearly been defeated and the Medallion will be needed out in the new world that is arising.  Akadum realizes that the ash covered, raving man called himself Alan  Harker, which is creepy as he died many years ago.

The party notes that this is further evidence that what they observed at Drigbolton has clearly triggered some sort of change.  This spirit had been around for hundreds of years, but never had it appeared so strongly.