PC: Terath Smoke

Terath Smoke - Razorclaw Shifter Rogue 9

History:
Unlike many of his race, Terath Smoke wasn't born in the forests of the Eldeen Reaches. Instead, he was born amidst the lower class homes and businesses of Middle Tavick's Landing in Sharn. His mother did his best to raise him and his half-dozen brothers and sisters, while his father was off fighting in the war for Breland and sending money back to the family.

From the time that he could walk, he was a natural climber and jumper, and it wasn't long before he was joining in on children's games of Hrazhak, a full-combat sport not unlike rugby played by shifters in Sharn. The children who played and watched these games also engaged in a petty theft, begging and other activities for money and thrills, and before long, Terath was the de facto leader of his own small gang. He quickly realized that it wasn't in his best interests to rob the merchants that his mother bought food from, and so he and his friends started sneaking up to rob the residences and shops in Upper Tavick's Landing. Terath was probably headed for jail or maybe an unceremonious drop off a high tower at the hands of the Watch if he hadn't met Vosh.

Vosh was a half-orc, a former Brelish scout who had been crippled in the war and sent home. He had opened a weapons shop in Tavick's Landing, where he could put his vast experience with a variety of weapons to use. He had served alongside Terath's father and promised to look after Terath's children when he got back, and for Terath, that took the form of taking his undisciplined brawling style and teaching him to fight. Vosh helped Terath develop his own fighting style that took advantage of his natural athleticism and acrobatic talent, moving around and using his momentum to fight, and he gave him a gift, a magical Dhakaani blade that Vosh had used in the war. He also cautioned Terath to stay out of Upper Tavick's and to get out of the thievery, lest he draw the attention of one of the powerful guilds of Sharn.

Terath learned some of the lessons, but what he learned was that he and his friends needed to expand out of Upper Tavick's Landing. They became a group of freelance thieves, working throughout Sharn. They also drew the attention of the Daask and the Boromar Clan, interfering with several of their smaller operations, and many, if not most, of Terath's friends have been killed by those guilds, which has only made him more determined to stay independent. Although he is thinking that it might be time to get out of Sharn for a while. Maybe go looking for his father, who disappeared in the closing days of the war, and whom Terath has only met once or twice in his entire life.

Personality:
Terath was raised by a gods-fearing mother and sisters, a former soldier who believed in the tenets of the Gatekeeper druids and any number of older friends on the streets of Sharn. As a result, he's developed a personality that is part military dedication, part good-hearted servant of the gods and many many parts roguish street dweller.

Perhaps most notable about Terath is that he's cocky, fully confident in his physical abilities. He's got more than a little bit of "jock" about him, he still loves and plays the sport of Hrazhak and not a day goes by that he doesn't spend some time exercising and some time climbing and running among the towers of Sharn. He has little respect for those who can't handle themselves physically, although his mother, sisters and Vosh did drill into him that only a bully uses his physical superiority to take advantage of the weak. His run-ins with the bullies in the Daask has reinforced this lesson, and he's fairly likely to take the side of the underdog in any given fight.

Terath is an exuberant fighter, given to mockery of his foes and boasts to his friends as he flips and jumps and runs about the battlefield, but Vosh taught him to always be thinking tactically, and so while he might seem little more than a chaotic, uncontrolled force in battle, he's always mindful of what he's doing, and he has learned, while working alongside his gang, to watch out for his friends and take advantage of their help even as he helps them when he can.

Terath worships the Sovereign Host, although he's especially partial to the teachings of Dol Dorn (the god of courage and physical prowess), Baldrei (goddess of hearth and home) and Olladra (goddess of luck and plenty). He believes in helping and protecting your community, maintaining and testing his physical prowess and living a bold life. He has less devotion to the other gods, but he will offer small prayers to them in situations where he thinks they could be of help.

Game Schedule August - October

August 7th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
August 14th - Traveller (Randy, Chris, Jason, Ben)
August 21st - D&D Circle of Love (Randy, Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
August 28th - Gaming Off

September 4th - Eberron: The Fury's Tinderbox Part Two (Randy, Chris, Jason, Ben, Paul)
September 11th - Beatles Rock Band at Randy's place (Everybody is invited)
September 18th - D&D Circle of Love (Randy, Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
September 25th - Eberron: The Fury's Tinderbox Part Three (Randy, Chris, Jason, Ben, Paul)

October 2nd - D&D Circle of Love (Randy, Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
October 9th - Eberron: The Fury's Tinderbox Part Four (Randy, Chris, Jason, Ben, Nate, Paul)
October 16th - Eberron: Pursuit of the All-Seeing Eye Part One (Randy, Chris, Jason, Ben, Nate, Paul)
October 23rd - D&D Circle of Love (Randy, Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
October 30th - Eberron: Pursuit of the All-Seeing Eye Part Two (Randy, Chris, Jason, Ben, Nate, Paul)

Here's the schedule for the next few months. As always, the current month is pretty firmed up, the others less so. I know that Jamie (and Dan?) will be back in school in September, so that may cause some schedule disruption.

So everybody let me know what your September - October looks like at the moment, and we'll modify as needed.

Comments feed for this site

If you're like me, you miss a lot of the comments on this site because you use an RSS feed reader to read it, and there isn't an obvious comment feed link.

I found it.

How I Roll

Thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing what I'm doing on my laptop during game play. I created this Numbers* file to track William's status during play. It provides a very concise, one-page view of his status, powers, and modifiers. Click on the image to view a PDF file version of the first page of the spreadsheet. Other pages have my feats, skills, and the notes I take during the game.

I use the same spreadsheet template for Fargrim, my dwarven invoker in the Circle of Love game.

* Numbers is Apple's spreadsheet app, part of iLife '09.

interesting post

about someonline gaming tools

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/06/paperless-dungeons-and-dragons-dungeon-mastering-tools/

Wolves: The New Era

Being the travel journal of William d’Deneith, wielder of Terminus, during his time with the adventuring company The Wandering Wolves.

First entry, Barrakas 24, 999—

My new comrades, who also claim to be my old comrades, filled me in on some things that happened during my dreaming. An adventuring company of four changelings called The Shifting Blades impersonated us and attempted the assassination of the King of Breland, leading to a prolonged and continuing hunt for us.

According to some fancy spy named “Kalibar” or something, whom the other Wolves seem to trust and I would prefer to skewer, the Shifting Blades are operating in Zilargo. He says that a journalist named Gerand Moor was doing an exposé on the Shifting Blades, but disappeared a few days ago. He thinks the Blades won't kill Gerand because he is an operative of the Zilargo secret police, called the Trust. He sent us to Trolanport aboard his stormship Galifar’s Fury or something to try to find this hack.

After an uneventful 8-day trip notable mainly for its lack of female company, we landed at Trolanport and began investigating. The head of Witchfire House, a tavern, told us to check the ships coming in; might want to walk around docks, talk to sailors and navigators; everyone nervous about Droaam war. A gnome says he saw Gerund Moore, asking around about a tavern called The Kraken’s Eye.

Some half-orcs I beat up said that some changelings operate out of The Kraken’s Eye. A later contact of Lysander’s said that those changelings aren’t the Shifting Blades. Ly and Pel impersonated Brelish investigators and gather information from Zilargo law enforcement with a glib limerick:

A beast in Zilargo is clawing
Folks’ throats and their blood he is drawing
We’re both here from Sharn
There’s no cause for alarm
But the state of your files is appalling!

+300 XP result of skill challenge

Pel, Lysander, and Brand went to search the apartment of Gerand Moor after tracking that down, discovering that while there are five shifting blades, the are six of the other gang, led by a succubus named “Melissandra.” Sounded hot.

Ly cast an illusion on us, making us appear to be half-orc pirates, and we entered The Kraken's Eye. Immediately espying the most likely candidate for a succubus, I walked over and inserted myself rudely between some asshole and the only lady patron in the joint and told the fop to piss off. Ly tried to intervene to prevent a brawl, bizarrely, but when the lady kissed me and asked my protection, a fight began as the the other Wolves belatedly recognized her as the succubus.

I stood toe-to-toe with the fop in the cape, who transformed into a big-ass werewolf, while Melis flew around and kept ensorcelling my allies. I was bitten by the werewolf and contracted Greater Moon Fever, but in the end Terminus put him down. Melis escaped, another success for William, her hero.

+720 XP result of combat

Treasure: 4 daggers (Ly), magical unfettered thieves’ tools [AV178] (Pel), 8 gems @ 100gp each (party)

We kept one of the changelings for interrogation. He told us that they had hired House Tharashk to guard Gerand Moor, which they are doing on a boat in the ocean. Foes are said to include two gargoyles, harpies, minotaurs. At the conclusion of the interrogation, Luggoth decided unilaterally to slay the prisoner. After a short break for food and drink, we proceeded quickly to the docks. Pel disguised himself as the werewolf fop, and the rest of us returned to our natural forms.

Happily, one of the guards saw through Pel’s disguise and we launched immediately into combat, against two minotaurs, two gargoyles, a harpy and a flail-wielding ogre.

The harpy opened with a Song of Fire, which caused constant burning and blistering of our skin, and without even the courtesy of a little romp in the hay that you'd get from even the dirtiest of the ladies of the Crimson District. Unwisely, however, she then flew into melee range, hovering just off the quay. I spitted her with Terminus, and my allies promptly tore her apart. Unfortunately, the distraction let the ogre advance upon us before we were fully prepared, and Brand took a wrecking ball in the gut.

Soon, however, we had the ogre surrounded, and despite receiving nigh-mortal wounds, I managed to land the killing crushing blow. Then all that remained were the gargoyles. They attempted to flee, but Luggoth slayed one and I stopped the other, which promptly turned to stone. I wrapped an anchor and chain around it and threw it into the sea.

+680 XP result of combat

Treasure: 1000gp gem, 600 g

Aboard the vessel, we found and freed Gerund Moore. He told us that the Blades are investigating Droaam, the Queen of Stone, and an Ogre Mage, and that they had booked passage from Droaam back to Trolanport. He gave Lysander a Choker of Eloquence [AV150]. He suspects that the Blades plan to return to Trolanport with 4 captives, since they booked passage for 8.

Leaving Gerund, we had a conference with Kalibar The Prick again, who told us in confidence that peace talks have been underway with Droaam despite the King’s misgivings. Sounds like he's a traitor, too, then. So it sounds like the Blades are trying to interfere with that treaty. Weird that they'd end up doing what the King they tried to assassinate would probably prefer. The Queen of Stone and Tzaryan Rrac (the ogre mage) are coming here to meet with emissaries from Droaam in Trolanport.

By this time Kalibutthole had contradicted himself so many times even he couldn’t keep track of the lies, so I made him repeat it all again. He believes the Shifting Blades are going to go to kidnap the ambassador and her retinue, come here, and meet with the Breland emissary. He wants us to go and kidnap her first, which just sounds like a terrible idea. Apparently after actually committing a kidnapping against the Ambassador of Droaam, he’ll clear our names of not actually committing an assassination attempt against the King of Breland. Oh, no, never mind; we get to do the clearing ourselves. Class act, this Kalibar.

To the Korranberg Chronicle, Chief Chronicler

Lharvion 15, 999

Whereabouts Unknown

To the Masters of the Chronicle and the People of the Five Kingdoms.

I am Lysander Wolfsong, voice of the Wandering Wolves. We are the unhomed, the unloved, the undone. Accused of the despicable depravity of an attempt on the life of our Exalted and Excellent Majesty, the King of Breland, we are fugitives and vagabonds in lands that once called us friends and invited our company and help.

I know not why this accusation has been laid at our feet as our whereabouts during this heinous act is verifiable and the cause we were about, laudable. I know not who has designed to injure us thus. But time will give its secrets to the One Story and we then well know our place and actions; our retribution and restoration.

I also do not understand how this act was so easily placed at our doorsteps. Why, good folk, why would we attempt to kill our good Sovereign? We who have done him good service in the past; we who revel in the freedom of Sharn and Breland, why would we do this thing? Money? Nay, we have plenty, or had before this damnable frame was placed around our visages. Power? We were moving in ever widening circles, riding the very pulse of the Prophecy itself. Glory? By the Dragon, why would honest men attempt to gain by foul regicide that which they had earned by deeds? Nay, tis a plot of vile vengeance by some powerful political enemy.

And so, good people of Galifar that was, I bring our case to you who have loved us first and best as our part of the Story flows from tavern to campfire to crib.

We commend ourselves to you, You who know us by our remembered names: Saint Manyface the Holy, Wolfchild the Fated, The Thriceborn Wolf, Wayfinder the Swift, and I, Lysander, humble voice of this tragic company. Let the Howling commence.

Lysander Llywellyn d’Phiarlan

Eberron Interlude: Two Months Pass

Or: How the Wolves spent their summer vacation

Nymm 6 - Barrakas 14

William - Vague, hazy memories of his time as a vampire. He knows that he broke with the Emerald Claw leadership after their higher-ups declared The Wolves off-limits. He knows that he visited his mother, who was horrified to learn of what had happened to him. He knows that he spent at least some time in the Mournland. Beyond that, he doesn't have any strong memories, although he has occasional flashes

Brand - Traega is coming back to Khorvaire to reclaim his role in House Orien, or at least to depose his cousin Aeromus. He's leaving the rest of his band in Xen'drik, because most of them would stick out or be in outright danger on the mainland. For the time being, he intends to live alone in the Eldeen Reaches and slowly acclimate himself back into civilization. He doesn't intend to visit Brand's mother, since she has a new lover.

Lysander - That vision he had of Arenydee on the run was true, in some respects. Arenydee had come to Stormreach to relate information from her work with Ceranda and had run into Cavoletta. Cavoletta, sensing Arenydee's distrust and seeing an opportunity, shifted into her werewolf form and attempted to kill her. Arenydee fled, and managed to escape, but when she gathered some allies and went looking for Cavoletta, the werewolf had vanished from Stormreach.

Luggoth - Cavoletta turned out to be an agent of the Lords of Dust, and a werewolf rather than a shifter. She took Savannah and her son Borgoth and fled back to Khorvaire, and Luggoth has been looking for clues as to their whereabouts, but there's nothing he can do until he gets some sort of lead. Arenydee, on behalf of House Phiarlan and Luggoth, is doing some digging on the behalf of Luggoth, and has promised to send information to Brand's mother in the Eldeen Reaches and Yanesh Hite, The Native's contact in Stormreach, whenever she gets anything. Despite the minor security risk, Luggoth keeps both of them appraised of his latest movements so they can contact him reasonably quickly.

Pel - Pel has found a fairly significant congregation interested in worshiping the Traveler in the anything goes city of Stormreach, although even here the Traveler's cult remains hidden and secret. He has built up a local network of spies/devotees, which has put him at odds with other followers of the Traveler (who see him as stealing their worshipers) and the The Bilge Rats (who don't appreciate the criminal competition). Many of Pel's congregation are members of the forgery/con artist guild of The Hollow Shards, and a few are members of the Black Market known as The Night Tide. Pel has also found an uneasy friendship of sorts with Gorleius, the priest of The Keeper who resurrected him on his first journey to Xen'drik. Gorleius often sits in on Pel's ceremonies, and frequently comes to debate theology with him afterward. These talks are always more than a little on the disturbing side, even for one as morally flexible as Pel, and there's always the question hanging over the discussions of just when Gorleius might call in the favor requested for Pel's second chance at life.

1) What Have You Learned About the War
Arenydee and Ceranda Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan (Lysander's mother) were going to work in Aundair to find out what caused them to ally with Breland. Early in the month of Lharvion, Arenydee came to Stormreach to tell the Wolves what they had learned.

It turns out that the alliance has a lot to do with Thaliost, the city in Thrane that was once Aundair's. This is also the city where Ttemmal the Rakshasa was impersonating Archbishop Solgar Dariznu until the Wolves unmasked him. Part of the The Sigilstar Accords, which sealed a mutual aggression pact between Aundair, Breland and Thrane, was that when the war was concluded, Thaliost would once again fall under the dominion of Aundair. In exchange, Thrane would recieve a larger part of Droaam, which is to be divided amongst the three nations once the Hags' Kingdom falls.

Thrane, for its part, seemed to agree to the Sigilstar Accords because they believe that having two monster kingdoms (Droaam and Darguun) is against the will of the Flame. Part of their condition for signing includes the building of a new Silver Flame Cathedral in Sharn and a joint Aundarian/Thrane military/ntelligence/priesthood mission to recover the "haunted" cathedral of the Silver Flame in Aundair and restore it to its past glory.

Ceranda is almost certain that the Rakshasa Ttemmal (a.k.a. Bishop Solgar) has assumed a new identity in the Silver Flame hierarchy and helped influence the Sigilstar Accords. This, she believes, is indicative that the Lords of Dust wanted the current war with Droaam.

2) What You Have Learned About the Assassination Plot
Meanwhile, in Breland, your friend with Brelish Intelligence, Kalibar Jenks, tracked down a bit more information about the conspiracy against The Wolves. What he discovered did not make any of you happy, least of all Pel. He came to you after Arenydee did, in the later part of the summer month of Lharvion, to tell you what he had learned.

The agents who impersonated the Wolves were The Shifting Blades, a crew that was part of The Tyrants. They had been the personal agents of the previous head of the council, Ek (often called "Tyrant One"), and Kalibar suggested it was possible that Ek had not been killed in the coup by Vadis (Pel's father) but had gone underground, and this was revenge against Vadis by way of revenge on Pel. The only problem with this theory was that Pel was left out of the assassination plot, and then clearly replaced by another Tyrant. Pel put feelers out to those in the Tyrants who worshiped the Traveler, but none of them had useful information about Ek or the Shifting Blades, and Pel was unsuccessful in trying to reach out to his father Vadis, or to his previous contact Xain, and it was clear that getting to them directly, in Sharn, was untenable until the Wolves had cleared their name and found The Shifting Blades.

3) Recent Developments
Reports from the Korranberg Chronicle indicate that the war between the Sigilstar Alliance and the Nation of Droaam is not going particularly well for anyone. Diplomatic channels have been shut down, trade roads going into Droaam are closed and everyone is losing money. And though the Droaamish forces aren't numerous enough to create a push-back into the Sigilstar nations, they are powerful enough that Alliance soldiers are dying by the hundreds, and not making very significant gains. There is strong public pressure in some quarters of Aundair and Breland to end the war, but most believe that as long as the Hags are in charge, King Boranel will not end the conflict. The citizens of Thrane remain mostly behind the war, which they see as a new and righteous crusade against evil monsters.

With all of this in mind, Kalibar did some more research and found that The Shifting Blades have been operating most recently in Zilargo, and he got the name of a Korranberg Chronicle reporter named Gerand Moor who had been doing an expose on them before disappearing a few days ago. Kalibar believes that the Blades have him, but they won't kill him, because Gerand is an operative of The Trust, the Zilargo intelligence organization, and the last thing the Tyrants want is a war with gnomish intelligence. More than likely they've got him stashed somewhere in Trolanport until their latest scheme goes down.

Jenks has gotten the Wolves onboard the Brelish Stormship Galifar's Pride, which will take about 8 days to reach Trolanport. He has a few things to wrap up in Stormreach, but then he'll return to the mainland via House Orien teleport circle, and meet you in Trolanport to find out what you've learned.

Wandering Wolves: Lure of Ancient Spells (2)

Dravago 17 - Nymm 5

With the Library of Korranberg team in possession of the journal, the Wolves had only a few pages and their secrecy on their side. They headed out into the jungle and raided a fallen Giant laboratory that had a few surprises left in store, namely alchemy beetles and a couple golems, as well as a black dragon that had taken up residence. The Wolves defeated all their adversaries, driving the dragon off into the jungle, before cracking open the vault below. They found the translation wheel they needed to translate the maps they would find at the Idol of Dal Onam, and they found that it was guarded by a half-mad giant ghost. They fled from the ghost with the wheel.

Outside, they had a run-in with Lucan and his sister Grilsha, who were working with the King's Task Force. They managed to trick him and escape the task force for a time.

Dal Onam turned out to be a gigantic stone statue with a temple below. It had been taken over by Yuan-Ti, who had already captured a team of Cyran mercenaries also seeking the Labyrinth of Ancient Spells. They rescued the mercenary and defeated the Yuan-Ti, using the translation wheel to examine the remnants of the Cul'Sir Empire map room below and determine the location of Yaoteca Venta, the Labyrinth of Ancient Spells, in the southern part of Xen'drik.

Lysander received a message spell from Gorenof, the bard who was heading up the Korranberg Expedition, who revealed that they had been betrayed. He wasn't sure who was responsible, but their academics had been murdered and their airship hijacked, and the forces responsible were now trying to crack the codes and figure out the way to Yaoteca Venta. Using Lysander's scrying and Brand's dragonmark, the Wolves were able to teleport aboard.

They discovered that the betrayers worked for The Twelve, and included a number of dragonmarked as well as Halas Martain and a particularly nasty mercenary troll. After an extended fight in which several people were thrown off the airship and a few members of the Twelve strike force escaped, the Wolves managed to regain control and joined forces with what remained of the Korranberg Expedition to head for Yaoteca Venta.

The travel aboard the airship was relatively easy, considering that they are flying over the untamed lands of Xen'drik. They flew for two weeks, flying over jungle, volcanic fields, vast desert wastelands and a series of mountains called "The Scimitar Spires." The map guided them, but the Traveler's Curse affected them, and the mood had grown somewhat dour, as some wondered if they would ever be able to find the lost city, even though they had a map to its location.

Then, on the thirteenth day of travel, as the sun faded below the horizon, the mountains broke, the air turned bitter cold and below them were snow fields and glaciers. Everyone felt in a celebratory mood, surely the expedition was getting close. But just after night fell, when most were in their quarters trying to stay warm or get some rest, the airship jerked violently, as if hit by a massive fist. The Wolves rushed to the deck to find strange, arcane-tinged snow and ice pelting the ship with such ferocity that it killed some of the crew and tore into the ship. The captain ordered them to turn back, but a massive elemental of ice and wind formed on the deck and smashed him through to the bottom of the ship. One of the quick-thinking crew members summoned the fire elemental from the ship to battle the frost elemental, but it was a primordial thing, shrugging off attacks from all quarters (even the Wolves) and the battle between the fire and frost began to tear the ship apart, sending it plummeting toward the ground.

Brand used his teleportation to save the Wolves and a few of the expedition members, but some kind of magical effect interfered with it. The next thing the Wolves remembered was blackness, and hazy dreams. Pel remembered talking with a faceless, shifting man/woman who told him "You have come seeking one quest, you will find that your role here is one completely different. I have guided you in your travels to help an unlikely savior into this world." Lysander dreamed of Arenydee, on the run in Stormreach from something that was clearly terrifying to her. She looked hurt and scared, but when he reached out to comfort her, he awoke. Brand dreamed of his father, standing beside his drow priestess looking pensive as she attempted to read omens, but she only shook her head sadly. Xydryk dreamed of nothing, although he was the first to awake.

And Luggoth? Nobody knows what Luggoth dreamt of, because he was gone. When the Wolves awake, it took them hours to find one another. They met up in time to find a cave to hide out from the vicious winter storm still raging through the area.

In the morning, the snow was four feet deep, the wind and snowfall had abated and all that was left was a vast chill and a general sense that if they were to reach Yaoteca Venta, they needed to move south.

After hiking for a while through the freezing snow, the group was attacked by a frost giant atop a mammoth, along with his winter wolf and another frost giant. After a harrowing battle, they managed to talk with the giants, and learned that the mounted giant was named Matay, and he was the leader of a group of giants who had escaped from the Everice with their pregnant princess in tow. The princess's child was prophesied to overthrow the corrupt leader of the tribe, and so the leader had intended to murder the princess before she could give birth. A loyal shaman and believer in the prophecy gathered the princess and her few loyal supporters and sailed for Xen'drik, for a place where legends said their people had once lived. The shaman died in the journey, making the princess's birth look even more dangerous, but they did reach their destination.

That place, it turned out, was Yaoteca Venta. Matay took the Wolves to the city, where they found that the princess, very pregnant and due very soon, was resting in the top of the gigantic tower at the center of the frozen city. Pel was certain that this was the quest his god had told him about, that he was supposed to come here and make sure this frost giant prince was born safely. The Wolves helped the princess and made sure the baby was born safely.

Shortly after, a copper dragon appeared and attacked. The Wolves defended the newborn prince and his mother, and defeated the dragon, who explained to them the true nature of the Labyrinth of Ancient Spells. It had been created by the dragons as a prison to contain a Rakshasa Rajah during the Age of Demons. The giants built their city up around it and began researching this ancient prison, and in casting one of the spells, had accidentally frozen the southern part of Xen'drik. The dragon explained that if any of the spells were cast, it could release the Rajah back upon the world. He also explained that Sithov Nagel from the auction house was an agent of the Lords of Dust, and he was on his way with an army of undead and demons to attack the city and unleash the Rajah.

The Wolves teamed up with the giants and the dragon to defend the city, and after a pitched battle, managed to defeat the forces arrayed against them. However, in the course of the attack, two things happened: First, William d'Deneith, leading a force of Emerald Claw expatriates-turned-vampires, rushed into the city to attack the Wolves, and two, Sithov Nagel did manage to get into the city and begin casting one of the spells. As a security measure, only one spell could be cast by any individual being, but Nagel had managed to cast a spell that would begin a chain unraveling several of the other spells, and quite possibly freeing the Rajah.

While the remaining giants and Brand battled William, the dragon, along with Pel, Lysander and Xydryk, began working to try and re-weave the spells so that they could prevent the Rajah's release. Eventually, the battle between Brand and William and their allies spilled down into the spell area. The heroes were successful, but not entirely. They had to use the dragon's knowledge of Prophecy, their arcane abilities, Pel's connection to his god and the Prophecy imbued within their dragonmarks to essentially re-weave reality.

In the end, reality was saved and the Rajah remained imprisoned, but using ancient dragon magic to interfere with the Prophecy resulted in changes in the world, both large and small. One of the most important, at least for the Wolves, was that William was no longer a vampire, but had been restored back to his original form and personality, albeit with a dead dragonmark. The Wolves had undergone other changes in abilities, possessions and perhaps even slight personality and history changes, but they didn't recall these changes. Indeed, there are probably few in the world who remember it as it was, as opposed to how it is. Some of those few are dragons, some of them are Lords of Dust, most of them are probably not entirely happy with it, and thus the Wolves have gained a few new enemies, although they won't ever really know why.

Eberron Rumblings

Doing a little work on the Eberron game, and here are a few tidbits:

These guys did a fansite where they created the Korranberg Chronicle, the newspaper of Khorvaire, by way of everyone writing articles. It's even got weather! The font choice is a bit rough, and of course none of this is canon for the Wolves campaign, but go over and take a look at one of the "fancy" versions... they're pretty cool.

The campaign will pick back up in the month of Barrakas, or late summer, and you guys will have had about two months since the end of "Lure of the Ancient Spells" and the beginning of the campaign.

One of those "Two Months Have Passed" write-ups is in the works. I hope to have it done by this weekend.

An abbreviated (since I seem to have lost a lot of my notes) recap of the remainder of "Lure of the Ancient Spells" is also in the works.

First adventure's title is "The Fury's Tinderbox" and I've got the first two encounters ready to go.

Game Schedule June - August

June 26th - Traveller (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate) - Ben's place

July 3rd - Gaming Off - Wife Birthdays instead
July 10th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe)
July 17th - Eberron: The Fury's Tinderbox Part One (Chris, Jason, Ben, Nate, Paul)
July 24th - Gaming Off - San Diego Comicon (or gaming without Randy)
July 31st - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

August 7th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
August 14th - Traveller (Chris, Jason, Ben)
August 21st - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
August 28th - Eberron: The Fury's Tinderbox Part Two (Chris, Jason, Ben, Nate, Paul)

July seems pretty firmed up, August may change as we get closer to it. Right now, it looks like we've got four sessions of Pyramid of Shadows before I start having to run two games... my guess is that we can finish Pyramid in 5-6 sessions, but I think I can handle running two games for a few weeks, especially since I'm doing all my Wolves and Pyramid prep now.

So figure on probably end of September to switch over to Ben running the Circle of Love group. I'm trying to figure out what character I want to make for the group, and looking forward to getting to play 4E.

Oh, slightly related scheduling note. Friday, September 11th will not be a gaming day, it will be Beatles Rock Band day at the Lander house.

So everybody let me know what your July-August looks like at the moment, and we'll modify as needed.

Fargrim son of Thorgrim of etc etc.

Leveled up to 8^th, in expectation of the beginning of next session. I swapped out my slighty lame Grasping Shards at-will power in favor of Avenging Light, boosted his Wisdom and Constitution, and picked up the Scouring Wrath feat, which adds vulnerability 2 to the radiant damage that a foe takes if it's unwise enough to attack me.

Two things I forgot about ol' Fargrim in our last session:

• He has the 6^th level utility power Astral Step, which is a daily teleport all allies power. Might have been handy to remember.


• His 1^st level at-will Sun Strike power, which I used a lot, slides its target 1 square on a successful hit. Again, handy.

Download Fargrim's D&D Character Builder file

The MVP Chart

When you win the coveted MVP sash, here's what you get:

Using the MVP bonus: You get three rolls on the table. Once you roll a result, you can either take that for one, two or three of your slots, or keep rolling. In other words, you can get one power three times, one power twice and another once or three different powers.

Energized: Gain one bonus action point

Accurate: +1d6 to attack

Powered Up: +1d6 to damage

Lucky: Reduce the damage of an enemy hit (even a crit) by half, after damage is rolled

Resilient: Turn a failed saving throw into a success

Resourceful: Regain a used encounter power before the encounter is up

Rescuer: Allow a downed ally to roll a 20 on their death save

Quick: Move half your speed, but treat it as a shift, for one round

Stalwart: Negate one push, pull, slide or knocked prone effect

Sturdy: Gain a bonus healing surge, which you can use immediately, even if you have already used your second wind, or save for later as a standard healing surge

Epic Realms Recap: 4/17

A quick(ish) summary of the last three sessions, excerpts from the notes of Aerys, Rusk's pet Harper. (Or is Rusk the Harpers' pet war cleric?)

"...the party then followed the phaerimm through the portal into Sigil, City of Doors. After wandering around a bit, they realized that Kwalu had gone missing. He'd been trailing behind the group and now was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging it off, the party hired a young orc child as a guide and made for the marketplace, where they traded a ton of adamantine for enough cash to buy rather a lot of stuff. Afterwards, they were robbed: an ethereal filcher stole the emerald skull in which Aeric was still trapped, and fled.

On the bright side, Kwalu reappeared and told the party he'd had a vision of impending doom: glowing yellow eyes in the dark, a black river filled with pale, bloated corpses, a great tree rotting from its roots, a mountain wreathed in flame, a huge and ancient iron door. The party didn't press Kwalu on where exactly he'd been, though, and he didn't offer any details. This was kind of too bad for the party, since it wasn't actually Kwalu who returned, but a devil wearing Kwalu's skin. More on this later.

The group went to meet with Tham'zin, leader of the Old Order, and he filled them in on many things, including: the existence in Mulhorand of the ancient blue wyrm Gestaniius; more details on the epic psion Sammaster, founder of the Cult of the Dragon and his erstwhile lich disciple Wulgreth; and the history of the phaerimm race. He asked Silas to stop the escape of the phaerimm from Anauroch, and gave him some tea which apparently will let Silas contact Tham'zin at a later date.

After a nice supper at Quiet's (a mindflayer gourmet), the party used Discern Location magic to find the stolen emerald skull, and learned it was located in the left hand of Bel, Lord of the First (layer of Hell, "Avernus"). So they went to visit Alluvius Ruskin, portal- and secret-vendor of Sigil, and traded her a Talisman of the Sphere for the location and activation method of a portal to Avernus.

The group did a bit more shopping in preparation for their descent into Hell, unfolded a magical boat in a Hive alleyway, and shifted onto the River Styx in Avernus. Devil "Kwalu" took advantage of the distraction of several attacking river devils to grab Aeric and abscond with him, laughing. It's a good thing the devil enjoyed the prank, because it/he would turn out to be short-lived.

During the battle, Soren and Rusk are both thrown into the River Styx, and lose all of their memories. This would prove to play a key role later in the day. Aeric returned, dripping with goo from the late "Kwalu devil", just in time to blot an entire attacking draconic/devil aerial platoon out of the sky. He then told the group about his experience being trapped inside the emerald skull, conversing with a mad intellect calling itself "Sammaster," who among other things told him that Wulgreth could be found "at the place where the Netherese fell."

The party next teleported directly into the middle of the Bronze Citadel, Bel's fortress home. Facing down what appeared to be all of the devils in the world, the group made a deal with Bel: he'd send them back to Faerûn and restore the memories of Soren and Rusk, and they'd get the emerald skull back after tracking down and killing Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunson. The contract duly signed and witnessed, Bel sent the party back into the Western Heartlands. He also conveniently failed to mention that memory loss from immersion in the River Styx is temporary, but hey, what do you expect from the Lord of Hell?

Soren blanched as memory returned to him in a rush and he realized he'd just signed a blood oath to Bel to kill his own master. So he took up his Luckblade and teleported to Blackstaff's side. Back in the Heartlands, the rest of the party (still minus Kwalu) talked over Soren's disappearance until Soren returned with his explanation: Blackstaff does not currently find it convenient to die, thank you. After a good bit of thinking and strategizing, a plan began to emerge: trick Bel into taking a soul that did not belong to him out of the Fugue Plane by disguising it as Blackstaff's, thus getting him (Bel) in trouble with Kelemvor. Other important things realized by the group: whoever their enemy is, s/he/they: (1) like to use others as cat's paws in their own schemes; (2) wield very powerful magic; and (3) knew about the three escaped Phaerimm. Oh, and by the way Rusk your lieutenant chick is a Harper, surprise.

The party plane shifted from there into the Fugue Plane to talk their plan over with Kelemvor Himself. While He explained that Death does not negotiate, He did provide some useful support to his worshipper Aeric: (1) the phaerimm imprisonment is nearing its end, and (2) the Cult of the Dragon is His gravest concern. And since He didn't say that He *wouldn't* participate in the plan to trick Bel, exactly, Aeric took that as tacit approval and the party put the plan into action. First all of them but Soren teleported to Candlekeep, to be sure they followed the letter of the contract they'd signed. Meanwhile Soren travelled back to Blackstaff (who was not, in fact, in Candlekeep at all), and told him to go ahead with his mock death. Finally, they used Word of Recall to meet back at Rusk's desert stronghold in Anauroch.

It's a pretty clever plan that allows you to both trick the Devil into doing your bidding and simultaneously doesn't require you to do any real dirty work. Bel certainly appreciated it; after being caught in the Fugue Plane, he invaded Rusk's stronghold leading a small shock force of pit fiends and ice devils. Unfortunately for the Lord of Darkness, he got his forked tail handed to him, though unfortunately for Rusk, in the process he managed to kill dozens of Rusk's soldiers.

Finally, after Bel's aspect was slain, but before he could return to his domain, Kelemvor appeared and took possession of Bel's soul/animus. Sucks to be Bel. I wonder who the new Lord of Avernus will be during the thousand years that Bel will spend serving Kelemvor in the Fugue Plane."

Game Schedule April - June

April 17th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 24th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

May 1st - Game Off
May 8th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 15th - Traveller? at Ben's? (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 22nd - Epic Forgotten Realms - At Randy's (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 29th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

June 5th - Epic Forgotten Realms - At Randy's (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
June 12th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
June 19th - Epic Forgotten Realms - At Randy's (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
June 26th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

Tentative schedule for April and May, extremely tentative schedule for June, everybody let me know about schedule conflicts in the comments. May is busy for me, Joe and Jamie, so we're only getting one, or possibly two, games in for that group... we can play more than once in the Epic group if Ben runs at his place and I'm not there.

PC: Tengri, Dragonborn Sorcerer

Tengri was born and lived his first several years among the Redcrest clan of dragonborn like any normal child, raised among his clutch by his parents. Strong and curious, he grew quickly, made friends fast, and learned well. He seemed well suited for the life of a warlord someday, until the eighth anniversary of his hatching, when his hidden talents appeared. At a celebration for his clutch, Tengri suddenly exploded into flame, badly burning his family and scaring his clan. Half-memories of ancient times exploded into his mind, fragments of power floating on a river of ghosts, and for days he lay in a coma. When Tengri awoke, he could feel his connection to the power and majesty of the ancient dragons pulsing like a heartbeat, and his scales had changed to a deep green.

Frightened by this new power, and the damage it had caused, the Redcrest clan elders concluded that Tengri was possessed by an ancient dragon spirit. Though it would be taboo to kill him, they directed his family to abandon him in nearby Darkholme Forest, for his presence in the clan would bring great sorrow. Weeping, his parents did as ordered, and Tengri found himself alone and clanless for the first time.

The first few weeks were the roughest, but using his new powers, Tengri was able to survive long enough to find a pack of Longtooth shifters who also made Darkholme forest their home. The shifters were content to let him watch them from afar so long as he did not disturb them, and from these observations he slowly learned how to survive better in his new home- what to eat, how to hunt, how to make armor for protection from the skins of what he caught. In time he made contact with the shifters, becoming friendly with some pack members and trading with them. He never became close enough to be considered a true pack member by the wary pack leaders, but he was known as an ally in the region.

Eventually, Tengri felt it was time to leave the forest and test his power elsewhere, and when he did a barbarian from the shifters left with him. They still travel together, just wandering, looking for anything of interest.

Personality: Tengri is unused to the company of people, so he tends to stay quiet. His draconic power shines strongly from within him, however, giving him an aura of confidence and ancient might that is almost palpable. He firmly believes that he is a throwback to the ancient days of the dragonborn, when they were first created from the blood of a dying dragon god, and thinks of himself more as a dragon than a dragonborn.

Appearance: Tengri's scales are a deep green and are wide and thick. He is large and heavily muscled. He wears hide armor, as he learned to do in the forest, and uses a dagger as an implement because it reminds him of a dragon's claw.

PC: Mmirg, half-orc warden

Mmirg was born, his father is fond of saying, to the wild.

Less than two decades ago, Mmirg Lightstep entered the world and the village of Threeflower as the first and only son of a human woodsman and a half-orc barbarian woman. Years earlier, Capen Lightstep was discovered pinned beneath a log after an amateurishly created deadfall he was trying to dismantle fell apart around him. His rescuer was Annat k'Brek, an orc barbarian who had left her homelands to wander in search of adventure. Annat left Threeflower shortly after saving Capen, but came back often over the years, eventually taking the quiet woodsman as her husband.

Threeflower is a trading village on the Western slope of the Shrouded Vale, and dwarves, halflings and even the occasional tiefling are not uncommon sights; the birth of a half-orc was unusual, but barely worth comment among the locals. This would change, however, as Mmirg grew from a rambunctious child to a thrill-seeking and often brash young man.

Gossip of Mmirg's latest exploits — throwing himself from the Council House roof, gleefully fighting a gang of trappers single-handedly, shamelessly attempting to bed any and all women in the village — became common currency in the community. Combined with his tendency to loudly proclaim himself, "Mmirg the Mighty," "Mmirg the Magnificent," or any of a dozen other honorifics, the villagers came to view Mmirg with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

With Annat often joining an adventuring party for months, sometimes years, at a time, Capen took it upon himself early to try and balance his son's fiery disposition. In youth Mmirg would join his father in the forests and glens of Shrouded Vale, learning lore and surprising himself by finding a measure of peace in the wilderness. He also surprised himself — and everyone who knew him — when he somehow tapped into the primal force of nature.

Some said it was because Mmirg was a force of nature himself, but his father knew nature unrestrained was heavy with the potential for disaster. He sent his son to a Warden's Hall, where he could learn to expand and use his gifts in service to the wild.

Now after years of training Mmirg is as confident as ever, fiercely protective of the natural world he feels has chosen him as a favored son, and following his own path to adventure and what he is sure will be a celebrated destiny.

PC: Taiha Lakar

(Updated 20090416)

Taiha, spear, is not just a weapon to my people, not just a tool. It is our way of life. Taiha is everything, life, death, happiness, survival. It is how we say Hello and Goodbye, and is our beginning and end.

I am Taiha Lakar. Taiha is my clan. Lakar is me. Bear is me. I follow the spirit of Bear. Bear teaches us Caution, Healing and Leadership. Many men honor me by calling me Taiha. I understand now that your ways are different.

I am Skywatcher, teacher of my people. Like the bear, I led the young Skywatcher cub to grow strong. Proud I felt to see him stand tall like bear. Now I am free to wander as goliath do, as the spirits guide, to find what is beyond the next mountain.

The spirits and travels are my taiha. I learn about those not of my tribe and their strange ways. I teach of the spirits, the bear and the old ways.

My armor is the prize from first battle without my clan. Like the bear, I rose above my enemy. It is not what I expected from metal (Eladrin Chain +2). It does not slow me down. The spirits are pleased.

Ti was our neighbor clan in the tribe. They also follow bear. Ti Aukan, Skywatcher of Ti gave his banner as a gift of brothers. The banner summons spirits of healing and makes me part of Ti.

I do not like to fight animals. They fight by instinct, not hate; fear, not vengance. This is not always true of magic beasts.

I met viper at the taiha of the great mountain. A great battle of bear spirit and snake spirit. Viper was slain. I apologize to the spirits. I thank the spirits. Now his skin protects me from poison. I am one with the spirit of snake.


Goliath Bear Shaman
Str 13
Con 16
Dex 12
Int 13
Wis 16
Cha 12
Feats: Protector Spirit Adept, Combat Medic, Chainmail, Imp Init
Skills: Nature, Heal, Perception, Insight

Equipment:
Hungry Spirit Totem +2
Eladrin Chain +2
Amulet of Protection +2
Spear
Javelin (2)
Adventure kit (with mods)
Climbers kit
Battle Standard of Healing
Viper Belt

Being on his own, he has had to develop certain "social" skills (4th level ability increases: Str & Cha).

Backgrounds: Skywatcher (+2 Religion), Mountain birth, Scholar (as goliaths go)

Fargrim son of Thorgrim of Black Mountain (updated)

Fargrim is my character for the upcoming Open Grave one-shot. Ashanti Sunborne, who appears in Fargrim's story, will be my character for the ongoing game.

Fargrim was born 35 years ago to his parents Helja and Thorgrim, leaders of a small but prosperous dwarven mining clan in the mountains above a pleasant, fertile river valley. The Grimfell clan traded precious metals and finely wrought metal goods with the larger human town of Rivervale down along the riverbanks, and with the human merchant caravans that occasionally made their way through that town, by road and by river.

Even as a young child, Fargrim displayed an interest in clan politics and relations with the humans. He would often sit at his father's knee during negotiation sessions with local merchants and human leaders. It was during one of these, discussing prices and trade markets for goods produced from a newly-discovered vein of mithral deep in the roots of Black Mountain, that young Fargrim's life changed forever. The clan miners, eager to find the extent of this new vein, broke through into an ancient crypt hidden in the depths of the mountain. Their surprise quickly changed to alarm as first dozens, then hundreds of undead lizard-like creatures swarmed through the opening towards them.

Shouts and screams echoed up through the tunnels and chambers of the clan's home to the audience chamber. The King Thorgrim thrust his young son Fargrim, then only 4 years old, into the arms of his human guest, bade him depart, and then took up arms and led a counterattack of the remaining dwarven warriors into the depths.

The human merchant party fled the mountain, taking young Fargrim down into the human town with them. A militia was quickly called out to assist the dwarves, but by the time they arrived it was too late. All of Clan Grimfell had been slain, and the undead creatures lay in wait.

Fargrim was taken in by a traveling priest of Pelor, Ashanti Sunborne. Ashanti had been traveling with the merchant caravan, and when the trade delegation returned with their grim news, he saw something in young Fargrim. A spark of divine power lay dormant in the boy. Undead monsters had ravaged his home and taken his parents, but Ashanti believed Pelor had given a destiny to the child. The pair traveled together for many years, living on the road during Ashanti's missionary work, and as the boy matured into a young adult, his power grew by leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile, with the loss of Black Mountain and its trade, the human town of Rivervale withered. The trade caravans no longer visit the town, and no river barge captain dares sail upstream so close to the undead-infested mountain. Darkness fell upon the once-shining river valley.

Now, at age 35, Fargrim son of Thorgrim has entered into the final covenant of the invoker. Like Ashanti, Fargrim also believes that Pelor invested him with divine power in order that he might avenge his clan and take back his ancestral homeland from the unliving enemy. He bade farewell to his foster father and mentor, and has set out on his own mission, righteous fury burning in his stout heart.

Gzipped D&Di Character Builder file

And here's Ashanti's CB file (updated 8:48 PM Sunday April 5)

Recap: "Pointy Eyes? That's Fucked Up."

After killing the warlock and finding proof of the mage's treachery, we headed back to the Seven Pillared Hall to return Longtusk to his rightful owner, get our reward, and question the mage there. Of course, he wanted us to go kill the traitor for him, but he offered some decent pay, so we agreed. He also warned us about bronze minotaur golems that the traitor may have. We followed the silver key to a hidden door in the Labyrinth that opened into a chamber empty except for a teleport circle, and when we entered it, a spectral image of the God Vecna appeared.

Vecna, apparently, wanted our secrets but had no interest in the key to the Court of Bones. We all spent some time telling the bored ghost stories except for Brynn, who just sucked up to it and told it it had nice protoplasm or something, and eventually it said it would let us through if we each gave it a little life force. Everyone agreed except Alaric, who as a paladin of the Goddess of Death said there was no way he was giving a God of the Undead any such thing, and offered it his magical shield instead, which it accepted, and teleported the group.

We found ourselves in an area filled with pillars carved with faces, some with gags and some with blindfolds, and as soon as we moved to investigate it were attacked by a group of 5 norkers. These bitey little bastards were fairly tough, and as we fought them lightning that slowed us and mental attacks that stole our powers came from the pillars. Soon, a second group of norkers joined the fray, and after beating both groups we found that around the corner there were two fleshslicers using some device to create the pillar attacks. These two freakjobs tore off their own faces after we bloodied them, which was a fine how do you do, but we took care of them quickly and moved on to another teleporter.

On the second level a quick look around saw a hallway, with a bronze minotaur patrolling at the very end, and a door. Finjaq quickly looked in the room, saw a giant glass container with a bronze minotaur head floating in it, several tables with alchemical crap on them, a fleshslicer, and a norker, and decided that if we could all get inside before the minotaur saw us we could avoid fighting it. This worked well until, with Finjaq, Brynn, and Quij in the room, it noticed Bakun and Alaric and charged.

It still seemed better to try to slow it down, so Bakun and Alaric moved into the room, Quij cast a web outside the doorway and shut the door, and Alaric and Quij barricaded the door. This allowed the rest of the party to focus on the two idiots who had been in the room originally, and they were quickly taken down. When the minotaur knocked the door down, Alaric moved a table in the way, and when it went around to another door, Brynn moved a table in the way there too. As the minotaur chopped at the second door, Brynn and Quij damaged it at range, another fleshslicer and norker attacked and died, and Alaric and Bakun, bored, decided to trash the glass case.

Upon the destruction of the case, the head rolled free, and the acidic liquid inside it splashed all over the two vandals, but most importantly it pissed the traitor mage Paldomar off enough that he teleported down into the room. He started to yell at us, but quickly got an arrow in the chest, and then we all joined in the curbstomping. At one point, he tried to run for both of the two teleporters, but Brynn stood on one and Finjaq the other, slowing him down long enough for us to finish him off. Alaric, meanwhile, kept the minotaur occupied until the party returned, and it didn't last much longer. A quick rest later, and we decided to go up to the third level and see what loot he may have.

MVPC: Alaric, for starting the breaking of the case.

Recap: "Show Me Balls In The Hallway!"

This one is a bit late.

With all four summoning items in hand, we were ready to perform the ritual. That required four of us each taking an item and heading to the four different ritual areas, where the items had to be put down at the same time. Alaric went to the door that it should open, to grab the attention of whatever emerged. Upon dropping the four items, the door very slowly started to open, but more importantly a trap activated in each of the four ritual areas, a green dragon flew up out of the pit in the center of the complex, and a giant spiked ball began quickly rolling around in a track that circled the pit area.

To get everyone out of the traps and back together, we gathered in the central pit area, just inside the deadly rolling ball.The dragon used its maneuverability to the fullest, avoiding the death ball and flying around to the backside of the room using the ball track. It also spit poison and lashed with its tail. Its most effective attack, though, was hypnotism, which it used to make Alaric jump in front of the death ball and Bakun jump into the hundred-foot pit, something that would have killed him if Brynn and Finjaq hadn't jumped down with a rope to save him. Eventually, though, the dragon was killed, and we got the party up out of the pit.

By then the door had opened, leading to a passage filled with mist. We headed through and found a demonic gnoll warlock with wings performing some sort of ritual on two humans in a magic circle, as well as a Bar-Lgura, a skeletal minotaur, and three carnage demons. There were also several giant cauldrons bubbling over with some crap that hid the enemy and were dangerous if we got too close. The fight got pretty nasty, with the carnage demons able to trap Brynn and Quij in a corner and Finjaq going down at one point, but we were able to knock a human out of the circle to stop whatever the hell the warlock was doing, and eventually take him and his crew down. On him we found a silver key that magically told Alaric where the door it fit was, and a letter from one of the mages of the Seven-Pillared Hall tying him to what was going on.

MVPC: Brynn, for saving Bakun in the pit.

Game Schedule - March - May

March 20th - D&D Thunderspire Labyrinth (Dave F., Dan, Max, Joe & Jamie)
March 27th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)

April 3rd - D&D Thunderspire Labyrinth (Dave F., Dan, Max, Joe & Jamie)
April 10th - D&D Open Grave One-Shot (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
April 17th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 24th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)

May 1st - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 8th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 15th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 22nd - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 29th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

Tentative schedule for March - May, everybody let me know about schedule conflicts in the comments. April 17th is my birthday, but at this point, I don't have any particularly big plans, so I'd just as soon game on my birthday.

Once we finish Thunderspire, I thought I might run a one-off adventure from the undead sourcebook, Open Grave, and you guys could make characters using classes and races from the new PHB2. They'd be the same level as your regular characters, so you could sub them in if you wanted a change or use them as backup characters if one of your characters was to, say, die. ;)

Epic Realms Recap: 2/13

After resting for several hours in the makeshift magical laboratory under the deserted tomb of Akonhorus I, our heroes prepared for their trip through the portal. Soren took the emerald skull inside which Aeric was entrapped, and each hero took one of the Sigil key coins. Drawing upon the power of Tempus, Rusk performed a godly feat of strength for a rather mundane purpose, and picked up the four 500-lb. pure adamantine hammers left behind by the Tomb Tappers. Gritting their teeth, they all walked into the wall...

...and emerged into a smoke-choked alleyway in a filthy, noisy city. Despite the crowdedness of the nearby streets no one appeared to have noticed their entrance. A bout of vertigo set in as the party noticed how warped the ground was: it seemed to slope upwards in every direction, steeper and steeper, until it actually turned upside-down above them and met, far above their heads. Stranger, buildings covered every inch of the visible surface, yet somehow failed to fall from the vertical or inverted walls; and creatures could be seen far above, like tiny ants, moving about on the ceiling.

And what creatures! Rusk, growling out a warning, grabbed his axe haft and started towards the exit of the alleyway, where he had spotted under a flickering gaslight a pair of mind flayers and a beholder! Fortunately (though the party hadn't yet realized how fortunate), Soren stopped him in a flash of insight, and approached the creatures himself. Pushing aside his fears, he interrupted their conversation by introducing himself by name. After a heart-stopping moment when the beholder turned its central eye on him and all of his various magic items stopped working at once, one of the mind flayers "spoke" with him quite calmly. Beads of sweat beginning to drip down his forehead, Soren returned to the group and reported that his suspicion had been correct: the monsters weren't combative at all.

A bizarre menagerie of creatures were passing by on the street, including many that the party didn't recognize at all. Walking, slithering, floating... the crowd was more than a little disconcerting. Finally the party spotted something recognizable: a pair of elven adventurers passed by, and our heroes caught a snippet of dialogue from the dark-skinned, halfling-like creature who led them carrying a lantern swinging atop a tall pole: "...yes, my Lord, and if you'll just come this way, you'll see the Great Chamber, where the Sigil magistrates..."

Deciding the best course of action was to find another of these diminutive guides, Soren climbed up the nearest lamppost and took a better look around. Spotting a large, well-lit structure a bit further up the "wall", the party set out to what for the sake of convenience I shall call the west.

In front of the huge black marble building, lined with an arched promenade and bearing the inscription "gymnasium" in its facade (which Rusk had to spell out to Soren, not having the word in his vocabulary), our heroes suddenly realized that Kwalu had gone missing. Before they could decide what (if anything) they could do about this, they were accosted by a young orc child, Jax, who had overheard them talking about how they could find a magic shop, and offered to guide them to the market for the mere pittance of 100 gold. Startled by the youngster's brashness, the party offered instead to buy him dinner, which the urchin greedily accepted. After warning them to keep their weapons sheathed or suffer the wrath of the mysterious Lady of Pain, and procuring for them the services of a wagon to carry their adamantium hammers, Jax led them to the Grand Bazaar, a large open space in which hundreds of colorful stalls and storefronts competed for attention, merchants crying out their wares into the throngs of creatures that circulated in and around them.

Jax led the party to a large workshop on the edge of the bazaar, run by a warforged artificer named Maker and his cohort kobold sorceror Meepo. Maker explained that he didn't keep anything in stock, but that he would be happy to take commissions for any sort of armor or weapon. Hearing Rusk's description of his ideal armor, Maker did a bit of computation and announced he'd take the job for "forty." After a bit of confusion the party learned that the medium of trade in Sigil is the astral diamond, one of which could be purchased at Shemesko's moneychanging shop for about 10,000 Faerûnian gold coins. Imagine Rusk's dismay when Soren computed what this would mean to their pocketbooks.

Fortunately, Rusk shrewdly offered the party's 2,000 pounds of adamantium to Maker. This was a windfall beyond imagining; it turned out that raw materials are extremely valuable on Sigil, which has no natural resources of its own and is only reachable by portal, and Maker traded them 500 astral diamonds for the rare metal.

There followed a wild shopping spree beyond description, with Silas bounding back to the party exclaiming his triumph in managing to spend one million gold pieces. Rusk and Soren were not far behind him.

Session ends, 11:45 PM.

Paul and Nate: let me know your status for session six on Feb. 27th. You each have 100 astral diamonds sitting in the party treasury to spend (assuming you manage to rejoin the party before your souls are devoured by insane ancient spirits or living nightmares, respectively). Between now and then we'll do some roleplaying by email to resolve your subplots, if necessary.

Recap: "Do you think this is a load-bearing pile of bodies?"

We took our newly-gained demonic knowledge and moved farther into the Well of Demons, where we next encountered a trio of spirits. They claimed to be adventurers of song and legend, testing us to see if we were worthy to destroy the champion of Baphomet, but they were actually a group of annoying fuckbags, who wanted us to flex a bunch and tell them stories about how we help old ladies cross the street. Alaric gave them the spiritual finger, but not before they told us a bit about the area in exchange for all our posing and rhythmic gymnastics. There were four items we needed to find, one of which we already had, and when all four were simultaneously placed on four runed circles, the champion would appear.

Setting out in search of the items, we discovered a room which ended in a curtain. On the other side of the curtain was a long hallway filled with mirrored pillars that complled people to look at them, as Alaric discovered when he stepped through, looked in a mirror and was teleported to a small room with no exits containing an angry gnoll who wasn't long for this world. He was joined there soon by Brynn, then Bakun, and finally Finjaq. Meanwhile, the party had been doing some experimenting, finding another curtained area around the corner via another teleporting mirror. In this new area was an altar with a palmprint recessed in it, as well as the item we needed. As angry skeletons attacked him, Quij desperately slammed his hand into the palmprint, bringing everyone back to the first curtained area again. In Alaric's haste to save Quij, he teleported to him and stupidly tore down the second curtain, setting off a chain reaction of teleports that just made getting out an enormous pain in the ass. Eventually, though, the party made it out with the item, a mask.

We then tried to rest, which didn't go so well as a Bar-Lgura appeared from space in our camp. We killed it, and our second rest attempt went better. The next room was filled with a lake of blood, and had two enormous statues holding chains on either side of it. We could see the two pieces of the item we needed, a dagger, on the other side, but were pretty sure that the statues would turn into whirling death machines if we just tried to take them, so Alaric knocked the door down to use as a raft and Finjaq jumped over to a statue to disarm it. It was at this point that all hell broke loose, as the statues did what we expected, except they knocked Finjaq into the blood (which turned out to be poisonous), and three carnage demons came out, all gory and gross. We beat the closest statue to rubble so we'd have a place to stand and so it would stop knocking us into the damn blood, then fought the demons, which were a pain in the ass. Finjaq almost died after being dragged underneath the blood, despite two weak attempts by Alaric to pull him up, but Bakun was able to heal him. Finally, we killed the demons, destroyed the other statue from range, boated over to the dagger on the door, used magic to pick them up, and got the fuck out of there.

The worst was yet to come, however. The last room looked fine- just a room with a bunch of pillars made of stacked, writhing, wailing corpses, no biggie- but when we went in, six carnage demons came out of the pillars and a Bar-Lgura appeared. A serious fight was on, with Alaric drawing the attention of nearly all the demons, while everyone just tried to kill them as quick as possible. Meanwhile, the pillars did weird shit to everyone like grab them, spit acid, throw them around, and more. Bakun made a run for the item, a bell, and the Bar-Lgura went after him, sticking its boot up his ass. When he picked the bell up it shot spikes through his hand, nearly killing him, and he ran for his life back to the rest of us, chased by the big demon. It was at this point, as Alaric was surrounded by demons, barely holding on due to his high AC and HP, that Bakun figured he'd ring the bell and, you know, see what happened.

What happened was everyone went berserk, making them much easier to hit and also do more damage, so suddenly every demon could hit Alaric easily and tear him a new asshole. "I'm bloodied... and I'm pissed!" was the paladin's statement as he dropped from near-max health to 15 in one round. Thankfully, attrition also kicked in around then, as demons started to drop, and some desperate healing and last-minute heroics managed to keep everyone alive long enough to see them all dead. Finally, we have all four items, and it's time to kick some Baphomet ass.

MVPC: Alaric, for his mad tanking skillz.

Finjaq Asks (2/4/09)

(per a suggestion from the randy-minded Randy)

“Tell me ‘bout yer first love. Or hell, if ya even believe in love at all!”

Finjaq's Beastie-ary, Part 2

It's time fer another round o' scallywags an' ne'er-do-wells, straight from me own life experiences...

Hobgoblin – I never been much for the military (too regimented fer this rascal’s taste) but I give ‘em a healthy respect. An' every time I see Hobgoblins in action I remember why. They fight like soldiers, they do. Got better armor than plain ol’ Goblins, fight in formation with shields locked, an’ they don’t get fazed in all that battlefield chaos. They’re big, too, big as a tavern lout. For that alone you’d never mistake ‘em fer Goblins, but they also got skin colored like dried blood. Truth is, they’re like a whole race a’ soldiers - small wonder they’re the boss ‘round their Goblin an’ Bugbear cousins. Best yeh can do against ‘em is break their coordination an’ try ta split ‘em up. One-on-one (or three on one – that’s Finjaq-style!) ya got a chance. Oh, an’ hey, keep a special eye out fer their shamans. “Warcasters” they call ‘em an’ they’ll be the ones in robes. Got several tricks up their sleeves, an’ the worst by far’s a blast wave that hammers an area big as a house. Knocks every man jack on his ass an’ feels like the worst hangover ever.

Ghoul – Vile. Nasty. Rancid. I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout me table manners, friend, I’m talkin’ ‘bout them nasty cousins ta zombies: Ghouls. They got the same stomach-turnin’ desire fer flesh, but no zombie ever moved so lightnin’-fast as a ghoul. What they look like’s a bone-thin man with rottin’ flesh an’ teeth filed ta cut an’ tear. They’re cunning as the taxman, an’ just a touch more like ta outright kill ya. They’ll come at ya quiet-like from the shadows, cut on ya with claws that’ll make yer legs sieze up, and then comes the bite. They’ll near unhinge their damnable jaw for that big chomp, an’ if it hits…if it hits yeh better pray yer friends are nearby ‘cause then yer whole body’s gonna stiffen. I can’t imagine no worse way ta go. Frozen stiff, but still alive when it gets ta chewin’ on yer insides. I figure you wanna let the archers chew ‘em up a’fore ye even think of gettin’ in close, and if yeh got a holy man who lives ta smite undead bastards back ta their graves, for Pelor’s sake let ‘im!

Homunculus – Alright, here’s the thing – little impish flyin’ beasties, look like they’re made’a clay, right? Kind of bad-things-come-in-small-packages critter only some damn fool wizard would cook up, but far from the worst thing lurkin’ in most underground lairs? An’ yet…an’ yet…they got some tricks up their sleeve that’ll make ya want ta pitch the next wizard ya see into a lake. I suggest yeh do it, I really do. Their first line o’ defense is them bitey teeth – a few good chomps an’ yer walkin’ ‘bout as fast as a cripple. Plus they got some magic lets ‘em get in yer head and rattle ya good so’s ya can’t hit ‘em. They’ll even have ya swingin’ at yer own mates instead! Poor ol’ Finjaq near met his end that way, one dark day. See, this half-elven lass he used to trust near turned him into a pin cushion tryin’ ta put an arrow through one’a them little sodders. To this day I’m workin’ through me trauma.

Recap: "Be at peace, Robot Boar, Be at peace"

Heading further in to the old minotaur temple that we would later learn was called the Well of Demons, we quickly found some of the gnolls we were looking for, along with their nasty hyena pets. Those things smelled like ass and apparently ate their own shit, but weren't much of a challenge, so after a short battle we moved on, stumbling into a large room that held Longtusk, the dire boar we were semi-looking for. He was in a pen and staked down, being harassed by more shithound hyenas.

Brynn quickly found that there were also four gnoll archers hidden behind a barricade of haybales when they filled her full of holes, so a new plan was needed. Quij filled their end of the room with poison gas and Brynn lit the hay on fire, forcing them out of their defensive redoubt. For the rest of the fight Quij kept the poison gas on as many as he could, damaging them (and occasionally Alaric, who ignored it). Finjaq moved in to take on the hyenas, supported by Bakun and later Alaric, and Brynn moved on to calming Longtusk, which worked until she used the boar for cover and it took an arrow in the ass. Amazingly, it stopped paying much attention to her then. After the enemies were all dead, though, she and Baku were able to calm and heal Longtusk and she rode him around while joyfully exclaiming "PONY!"

After a long rest to recover our strength, we moved on again, looking for the missing slaves, but finding instead a pair of Tieflings. A short parlay later, when they asked us why we were in the temple, Bakun answered "Charge!", so it was on like Donkey Kong. The Tieflings were caught in a corner, so they somehow vanished and teleported away, but we heard them enter a room at the end of the hall. Quij quickly filled the area outside that room with poison gas, and Alaric and Bakun moved to block of the hallway. Some crazy gnoll priestess bitch burst from the door and into the poison, charging at Bakun, and the Tieflings followed, and it continued to be on.

Attempts to keep the enemies in the poison gas failed, and Finjaq went down momentarily, poisoned, but Alaric got him back on his feet and got rid of the poison before it could hurt him. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong himself burst out of a side door and attacked (or maybe it was a Bar-Lgura demon), causing even more chaos. Despite having enemies among us, we quickly pulled our shit together and ruled the day. As we searched the area, a quasit servant of Demogorgon appeared and offered information for money or bits of soul. Alaric wanted nothing to do with this and left the room, but the rest of the group was cool with dealing with a demon and Finjaq paid it for some info in coin.

MVPC: Quij, for his poison cloud, especially when it accidentally killed the Tiefling who was trying to escape during the big battle.
Note: Max's father-in-law had herpes, so Ben played Bakun this session.

Finjaq Asks (1/21/09)

Okay, here's the first outing of Finjaq Asks for the Circle of Love D&D crew, with new questions to follow maybe every few weeks or so. The idea is to flesh out our characters a bit between sessions, have some roleplay fun, maybe earn some bonus points from our kindly DM ;)

Just answer in the comments section. You can be brief or be a blabbermouth, but if at all possible, I highly recommending answering in-character. Finjaq's first question is...

"Tell me 'bout yer weapons..."

Epic Realms Recap: 1/16

Having found and surpassed the "false tomb," our intrepid heroes descended into the Tomb of Akonhorus I proper, in search of whatever power had set a trap for Silas and Rusk back at the Golden Fleece in Skuld. After descending long, dark ramps of stone deep beneath the surface, they emerged into a huge hall, lined on each side with the mummified remains of the Pharoah's slaves. Detecting no magical auras, the party proceeded into the chamber.

From out of the darkness in front of them came a shambling sound, footsteps mixed with scraping and wet thuds. Twin emerald eyes speared our heroes, but apart from a slight feeling of stiffness in their joints, there was no effect. Shuffling forward into view appeared two horrible mockeries of the once-noble basilisk: reeking of decay and darkness, these bloated, Hell-touched undead creatures attacked the party.

As if that weren't enough, a huge undead humanoid in full armor and with empty black eyesockets (a Deathbringer) charged into battle, commanding the mummies interred on either side of the chamber to surround and destroy the intruders. The Deathbringer captain did his best to bolster his allies with waves of negative energy, but in the end he and his minions were defeated... though not before giving Rusk a few new scars to remember him by.

At the end of the 200-foot long chamber, the party discovered two side chambers, which held goods and treasure for use by the Pharoah and his servants in the afterlife, and looted them.

Passing through the portcullis at the far end of the chamber, the party next came upon a smaller room, in which stood four huge golem-like creatures. Aeric was intrigued by their age and craftsmanship; each of the blank-faced ebon giants bore an air of ancient magic, and he'd not seen their like before. His reverie was cut short, however, when the Tomb Tappers spoke directly into his mind, booming: "Get out, and bother not the King of Kings!" (At least, that's what they would have said if I'd thought about it a little more at the time.) Swinging 100-pound mauls of pure adamantine and gnashing their bizarre belly jaws at our heroes, the Tomb Tappers waded into battle.

Kwalu decided this would be an appropriate moment to call upon his greatest power, and summoned an Earth Monolith to aid him. This legendary manifestation, far larger than mere Elder Earth Elementals, quickly laid waste to the ancient automatons. Between the Monolith and the rest of the heroes, including a temporarily-empowered Bosco in the form of a Warforged Titan, the Tomb Tappers were quickly demolished; and with that, the final door to the God-King's resting place lay revealed.

Inside, the party found a large sarcophagus on a boat made of petrified wood, shielded by magical traps and wards. In the ship's hold, Silas discovered another treasure horde... and it was likewise looted.

But there's still a problem; no culprit has yet been found. There's a clue, however; the sarcophagus itself appears to be magically trapped, and the 20-foot-wide pedestal on which it sits seems almost to be hinged...

Session ends, 12:30 AM

Finjaq's Beastie-ary, Part 1

Many a monster's had a cool makeover as of the new edition, and what began as me just keeping a list of everything we'd fought is emerging as Finjaq's Beastie-ary. Simple idea: scurvy but loveable rogue, Finjaq, offers up his own bestiary based on personal experience. For me it's a way to make the monsters more "real," less a collection of stats and numbers. Plus I'm working in any notable info we've acquired on bringing these guys down, so there's some practical stuff, too. (SPOILERS for the alt. D&D group, incidentally)

Here's round one, and I'll add a few more each week. If you can imagine it in Finjaq's vaguely piratical growl it'll probably work best...

Bugbear – Goblins are wee little nasties, so when they want somethin’ flattened, they call in their big cousins – Bugbears. They’re about thick as a tree trunk an’a a full head taller than most (‘less yer a big northman like meself). What they mainly seem ta be into is knockin’ in heads with big ol’ morningstars. Worst part is, they’re not quite so dumb as they look – they’ll come at ya from the side, all sly-like, an’ they actually work with their littler cousins in a scrap. That cunning's how ye’ll know they ain’t just small ogres, that an’ their ratty brown fur. I don’t know no special weakness on ‘em, but if yeh stab ‘em again and again and again they do eventually fall over. I guess that’s somethin’.

Kobold – Ta hear some old-timers tell it, ye’d think these little buggers would die of a stiff breeze. Ol’ Finjaq thinks them old-timers need ta cut back on the Elven wine. Not that Kobolds’re much ta look at. Seem like some wee bastard children hatched from a Dragonborn, but Dragonborn got what they call “honor” and Kobolds got what they call “none.” They run in packs, see, and they’ll jump ya like a pack of bandits – shameful tactics! First time up against I thought a big man like meself would scatter ‘em, but the next thing I knew I was on the ground, all poked with holes from them spears an’ javelins they use. They’re too quick, blast their hides! All scurryin’ about and leapin’ a’fore ya can put ‘a blade through ‘em. Seen ‘em use slings too, throwin’ out burnin’ pitch or some glop ta get ya all stuck in place. Oh, they’ll fall easy enough if ye can hit ‘em and sure as hell bolt if they’re losin’ - even the bolder ones what fight with sword ‘n’ shield - but ye can’t be underestimatin’ ‘em. I guess the wretched things must even have religion, ‘cause once or twice I seen a priest with ‘em, gettin’ ‘em all puffed up ta fight harder. Fair sure I seen one spew out fire or lightnin’ once, too, so maybe them rumors that connect ‘em to dragons got some truth.

Cavern Choker – I’d tell yeh to watch for these beasties in high corners of dark dungeons, but what’d be the use? They hide like nobody’s business an’ their skin changes colors like octopi I seen in me sailor days. Blends ‘em in with the caves an’ walls they scurry up an’ down like bugs, not that ye’d want to see one up close anyway. Bit like a man, but pale as a corpse, not a shred of hair on ‘em, an’ worst of all is them overlong legs and arms they flip around like monkeys on. They bend like rubber, but they’re strong as ship’s rope an’ they’ll stretch out unnatural long ta wrap around some poor fool’s throat. Got little toothy spines all along their palms, all set ta lash ya if they ain’t chokin’ ya. I couldn’t tell ya if they got any smarts to ‘em or even know how ta talk, but they’re cunning, that they are.

PC: Quijlardunk "Quij"

Background
Born Andrew to human parents, his adopted father dubbed him Quij at an early age. His natural father was an adventurer, a fighter/mage torn between two professions and master of neither. He died when Quij was only a year old. His mother found comfort in the arms of an elf, Carric, who eventually made her his mate and gave her four more children.

Being the eldest of five, independence came natural to him. As a human living among elves, he has always been an outsider and has adapted. Still, he is more comfortable around elven kind than men and prefers to speak elven whenever possible.

Not fitting in to begin with, he felt little effect of the traditional lines between elves, half-elves, and the Eladrin. Being free to wander among the Fey, he found himself most comfortable with the Eladrin, and many of their traits have rubbed off on him including a love for magic and a bit of arrogance and detachment. While the Eladrin never accepted him as one of their own, they did bestow better treatment than an older human might have recieved, one who had already developed some of the undisciplined, bad habits of men. He relishes every moment with the Eladrin.

Personality/Skills
Perhaps from feeling outcast, or from too much time with the Eladrin, Quij does tend to be a bit elitist and perhaps even arrogant. Being a jack of all trades, he seems convinced that he really does know everything, or at least a little about everything. He enjoys observing others to learn new things, but doesn't take instruction well. He prefers to just watch, and then practice in private. The one notable exception to this is his study of magic, always willing to take instruction from a more experienced wizard.

He is a bookworm. His first stop in a new town is the library; failing that, the magic shop. As a student of mannerisms (Insight T +6), he knows that people perceive him as arrogant, but he doesn't care (Charisma 10, Diplomacy +2). Finally, he does have a penchant for the dramatic, often choosing the most spectacular course of action, if not the most efficient.

He is slow to make friends, but once a comrade proves himself to be a friend, he forms a strong bond.

Quij is a Wand Wizard but carries a staff. He does this for two reasons: both for the element of surprise, hoping his foes will assume he is a staff wizard, and because it just doesn't hurt that much when someone whacks you in the head with a wand...and you never know when you'll need to resort to violence.

20 Questions
- Why adventurer? To learn quickly, lots of exposure to many things, thirst for knowledge, especially magic
- Training? Elven magical "academy"
- Starting equipment? There isn't much really, staff, wand, robe, Adventuring pack. Saved his copper pieces. His spellbook was a surprising, and perhaps uncharacteristic gift from Carric, his adopted father.
- Worst thing that ever happened? Crappy life, mother and him only humans in family, few in tribe, outsider most of his life
- Best thing? Time with the Eladrin
- Family opinion? Father & siblings supportive, perhaps jealous, Mother disagrees after natural father died that way
- Short-term goals: New spells/rituals, magic wand
- Long-term: Find a ritual to become Fey, earn full acceptance of Eladrin

PC: Finjaaqeen "Finjaq"

Human Rogue
Good-natured scoundrel whose massive northlander frame belies a cat burglar's athleticism.

Born in the far north, the son of a fisherman in a barbarian tribe, Finjaaqeen grew up to find his brash, adventurous spirit a sharp contrast to his tribe's stoic traditions. He ran away from his village in his teens to sign onboard a merchantman, spending the next several years climbing rigging, hauling up masts, and wasting his pay on exotic tattoos from distant lands. He made friends easily with the scoundrels and sea dogs he sailed with and quickly found his named shortened to the more wieldy "Finjaq."

Finjaq enjoyed much of his time on the high seas, but found he was having second thoughts those occasions when he sailed alongside full-bore pirates. There was satisfaction in capturing the ship of some wealthy fop, his galleys rife with slaves, but too often their targets were honest merchants likely to end up in ruins for losing only a single ship. Finjaq had enough of his tribe's noble traditions in him to know he was crossing a line. He was also superstitious enough to fear the god Kord would one day drag his ship to the bottom of the sea in retribution for his actions.

In the end he jumped ship and found himself bumming around port towns and even larger cities. His money dwindled and, old habits dying hard, he found himself turning once again to thievery – this time, however, as a cat burglar who targeted only the corrupt and ridiculously opulent. There was just something about a blue blood twisting in the wind that always warmed Finjaq's barbarian heart.

Several more years passed. In that time, Finjaq, usually a free operator, kept on the move to avoid the wrath of local thieves guilds – no easy task when he was a full head taller than most and sported a faceful of tattoos. Money came and went as fast as he could spend it, but more recently, Finjaq's been looking to turn his skills toward bigger rewards. Maybe adventuring. Maybe something away from bigger cities. Maybe give the thieves guilds time to cool off…

At 6'8", 280 lbs., no one's likely to miss that Finjaq's got barbarian blood coursing through his veins. Unlike most of his countrymen, however, Finjaq worked to improve his speed and agility rather than strength alone. Years of clambering up and down rigging and, later, working as a second story man, has given him a catlike grace that belies his size. He wears a long mustache, but no beard, and his shaggy, chestnut hair hangs at shoulder's length. Tribal tattoos from a score of different ports criss-cross his face, arms and chest, and he prefers wearing leather armor cut to show them off. Finjaq's more the grinning scoundrel than barbarian brute, but he has no qualms about playing up his fierce heritage to intimidate.

In battle he swings a shortsword, usually balanced by an exotic dagger in the opposite hand. Lately he's been playing around with thrown blades, particularly a set of finely-designed shurikens "liberated" from the coffers of a corpulent moneylender with a penchant for collecting weapons.