Olarin 1425

25th Olarin 1425

Jarek Mace, Kaldir Ratharin and Marinus B Willard meet in the Lucky Lady Inn, in the city of Ventelas. Jarek is accosted by some other bar patrons, who are slightly the worse for wear. They believe Jarek has been involved in a "minor indiscretion" with their ring-leader's wife. A short scuffle breaks out, and Jarek swiftly knocks the leader unconscious before drawing his weapon on the remaining assailants, who immediately flee the inn.

Marinus and Kaldir, who were already acquainted, were watching all of this, and even placed a small wager on the outcome. The three men get chatting and make their introductions. They are joined shortly by another man, Berrigon. After the usual pleasantries, he outlines a mission that he believes they may be interested in. He wants them to deliver some supplies to bandits in the Inglewood, a few hours to the north-east along the main road. The party accepts, but Berrigon has an additional mission which he will only discuss with Kaldir and Marinus. Jarek takes the opportunity to visit the local Mercenaries' Guild.

Berrigon confirms he is a member of the Black Tendril, an organisation which Kaldir and Marinus are also loosely associated with. Berrigon asks the pair to hunt down and gather information concerning a field agent of one of his rivals. The agent has known aliases of Varic Sellash and Drakus Brayden. Berrigon insists that Jarek is not made aware of this, as he is not yet known to the Black Tendril.

At the Mercenaries' Guild, Jarek speaks to the head of recruitment, Enris, with whom he is already well acquainted due to his previous mercenary work. Jarek is able to convince Enris that he is now part of an adventuring company, which, on the spur of the moment, he names as the Wyvern's Talon. Jarek picks up a number of jobs on the party's behalf:

• An Elven man by the name of Elodor Dy'nesh offers a substantial reward for information leading to the safe return of his missing daughter, Ariala Dy'nesh, last seen heading south out of Arabor Forest, potentially towards Riddlebeck.

• The League of Enlightenment require the removal of a "potential trouble source" on the outskirts of Riddlebeck. A sealed letter provides details of a cult of necromancers and demon worshippers operating from an abandoned tomb on the outskirts of Riddlebeck.

• A merchant woman by the name of Antonia Sedgewick requires an escort to Little Dingle, a small hamlet a day's travel through the Inglewood towards Riddlebeck.

The Party turns down an opportunity to work for Duke Irasmus Parvellian, to clear out the bandits in the Inglewood, as it is felt this would clash with their mission for Berrigon. The party agree to meet Antonia early the next morning and to collect the supply wagon from Berrigon.

26th Olarin 1425

The party get an early start and pickup both the merchant and the supply wagon before heading off along the main road towards the Inglewood.

On the way, in lightly forested terrain, the party are ambushed by a group of four Orcs. The Orcs easily get the drop on the party as they trundle along the main road in their horse drawn wagon. Unfortunately, due to the positioning of the attack and the fact that Antonia is sat up front (so as not to see the contents of the wagon), she is hit and killed outright by the Orcs' initial volley of javelins. Their first escort mission comes to a tragic end. Marinus is also harmed but heals himself with Cure Light Wounds. Kaldir quickly takes a concealed position behind the wagon and incants a well-positioned Sleep spell upon 3 of the Orcs, sending each of them into a deep, magical slumber. The remaining Orc, who was out of range of the spell, decides to flee into the forest and escapes. The party kills two of the incapacitated Orcs and attempts to interrogate the other, after binding it tightly. Unfortunately, none of them are able to speak Orcish so they decide to just kill it instead.

The party then heads on to the rendezvous point and delivers the supplies to the bandit camp, as directed by Berrigon. They then continue to Little Dingle, where they deliver the body of Antonia to her fiancee, the local Lord, Lord Margorus. Naturally, he is not best pleased with the outcome and demonstrates his feelings using clear, concise language. The party spend the evening in The Wayfarer's Rest, and stable the horses and wagon.

27th Olarin 1425

The party leave Little Dingle and reach the outskirts of the village of Riddlebeck by dusk. They approach the tomb that the League of Enlightenment have tasked them with investigating, passing through an abandoned cemetery. Here, they are attacked by four Skeletons and two Ghouls. During the combat, Jarek is paralysed and Kaldir is knocked unconscious, and bleeding. A couple of the undead are killed outright and the rest are turned by Marinus. He heals Kaldir and after Jarek's paralysis has worn off, the party beat a hasty retreat to The Riddlebeck Arms to lick their wounds and formulate a new approach.

Here, they meet a Sorcerer by the name of Korwyn Valamir. Korwyn has previous experience of the cult which has taken over the abandoned tomb. They are known as the Cult of the Goat and Korwyn was recently imprisoned in Ventelas by one of their leaders, Balim, whilst seeking his services as a sage. Korwyn is eager to avenge himself upon Balim and agrees to join the party for their return visit to the abandoned tomb. He also lets slip his true identity as a Prince of Elingor and that it was his interest in a distant ancestor, Karina Valamir, and her death in Milandor centuries ago, which seemed to attract Balim's ire.

Korwyn shares the little that he learnt from Balim concerning Milandor: the Elves, now living in scattered communes, know the truth about what happened there and the conventional wisdom that states they brought the cataclysm upon themselves by meddling with ancient magic is not necessarily true. He also learned that the Elves to this day particularly revile one they call "The King of Brutes - The Betrayer".

Kaldir uses his 'Gather Information' skill to find out about Drakus Brayden / Varic Sellash. He learns that "A small group with a man using that name (Drakus), along with an Elven woman and a couple of "foresty types", were in the village briefly a few weeks ago. The Elven woman was asking about her brother, Andrius Dy'nesh. They left, heading towards Ventelas." Kaldir also hears some rumours concerning the local fort, which has been out of contact for a couple of days now, apparently.

28th Olarin 1425

The party visit the local temple of Pelor, to seek assistance with ridding the tomb of the Necromancers. Veros Bant, the high priest, is at first reluctant and instead offers to put together a small team of Clerics and Paladins of Pelor to investigate, although he admits this could take a couple of days. Jarek manages to convince/bluff Veros that they are working for the Duke and on urgent business, and eventually he relents and assigns Rodan Jard, who is little more than an Acolyte, to assist them.

Before leaving for the tomb, Kaldir visits the manor house and speaks to the steward, offering his party's services in investigating the lack of communication with the local fort. The steward, one Jodan Burh, is not especially receptive to the idea, especially when an upfront payment is suggested by Kaldir. However, it is agreed in principal that a reward may be due should the party discover something is amiss and resolves the situation. Kaldir also learns that the local lord, Lord Treygal, was inspecting the fort recently.

The party visit the tomb afterwards, and successfully clear it of the undead and also Balim and a few other cultists. When they encountered Balim, he was attempting to finish a ritual which would have banished Andrius Dy'nesh's soul to the Abyss. Fortunately, they were able to interrupt this horrible process so that the elven Spellsword could at least rest in peace (he was already dead before this particular part of the ceremony had begun).

The party recover a scroll, written in a language they are not able to decipher, and a spell book marked in Elven as the property of Andrius Dy'nesh. They find a human skull with an emerald in each eye socket, along with five goat-headed amulets - one of which radiates abjuration magic, according to a Detect Magic spell. They also retrieve a sizable haul of 1200 gold pieces, some magical scrolls and a few potions of Cure Light Wounds. Andrius's body is taken to the temple of Pelor in the village, where it is left with Veros Bant to dispose of in a manner suitable to the Elven tradition. Rodan returns to his duties and studies.

29th Olarin 1425

The party composition is now Jarek, Kaldir, Marinus and Korwyn. They spend the day in Riddlebeck, resting and recuperating, and use divination magic on the items acquired from the tomb.

30th Olarin 1425

The party decide to return to Ventelas, so head off back towards Little Dingle on foot. During the journey, they are attacked by two Ogres, which they defeat. They spend the night at The Wayfarer's Rest.

31st Olarin 1425

The wagon and horses are reclaimed from the stable, and the party continue their journey towards Ventelas, through the Inglewood. They encounter the bandits they re-supplied for Berrigon, who have ambushed a merchant caravan. Jarak recognises the two escorts as mercenaries he has worked with in the past - Kail Lorton and Honard Morcray. Unwilling to leave his former allies to die, Jarek leads the party in an attack against the bandits. In the ensuing battle, three of the bandits and their leader are killed, but one is able to flee into the forest.

The group continue their journey and arrive in the city of Ventelas by early evening. They spend the night in the Lucky Lady Inn.

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