Friday, August 16 - The party wakens after a somewhat eventful night. During a few of the watches, strange lights were seen very far off to the north/northwest. The lights were similar to the flashes of a summer thunderstorm, but were of a rainbow of colors. Low rumbles like distant thunder could be heard. The party has heard of the Wyrd Storms that wrack the Onorian plains, and presumably this was evidence of those storms.
Best estimate was that the group was within a day or so of their destination, and were confident that they were heading in the correct direction, as they were following the overgrown remnants of an old road heading northeast.
After a morning's march, a brief lunch, and another couple hours' march, the party found themselves on a rise looking down into a valley below. The overgrown ruins of a sizable town were easy to see. On a small hill on the far side of the ruined town stood an intact tower...
As they made their way to the Tower, sounds of a fight became audible. In an open area on the hill near the tower, a hill giant and a handful of orcs and hobgoblins were fighting a small band of humans. There were several casualties on both sides, but the humans seemed to be in desperate straits.
 |
| Fight at Zinasa |
Our heroes leapt into the fray, surprising the giant and his allies, and quickly turned the tide in their favor. Magical energy arced through the air, blades flashed, and soon the bad guys were killed or running. The hill giant fell to the combined attacks of much of the party.
 |
| Malachy and Thalmyr fight a hill giant |
The other humans were in need of assistance and healing, which the party was able to supply. Their leader, Raclar Bearnson, told a fascinating tale...
 |
| Barbarians beset |
Raclar's Tale - Raclar was a sub-chief of the White Elk clan of the Vornar barbarians from far to the northeast. This was a neighboring clan of Malachy's from his homeland. Raclar said that he had fallen out of favor with his chief (he didn't say why...) and had been sent abroad on a mission that was likely intended to be the death of him - he was to be delivered with a small group of his kin to the mouth of the Trillayan River (far north of the Kingdom of Alsberg). From here, he was to map the territory in that region, so as to expand the knowledge of his people as to what the land was like far to their west. Raclar's group of ten was dropped off and abandoned. They made their way west up the river into the land that was once the Elder realm of Nanerith (although Raclar would have no way of knowing this). They saw mountains to the west (the Iron Spires and the Craghorn Peaks), and decided that they should turn back and head to the coast. However, they were cut off by hordes of undead following along behind them, and were forced further and further west. Eventually they crossed the mountains via an old road through a pass (the Ironhorn Gap), skirted a large lake (Icemelt Lake), and had wandered south, finding themselves in these ruins. Of the eight that had made it this far, two were killed, leaving Raclar and five others.
The party gave them such supplies as they could spare and directions to Linden, from which they could take the Road back east to Rimini, Alsberg and the coast. Vornar longships occasionally made port along the coast, and they might be able to find their way home from there.
Malachy was able to ask Raclar whether he knew anything of his own clan, and his family. Raclar did. Mal's father, a contender for the rule of his clan, had been killed. One of his two sisters had been enslaved, the other had fled and was in hiding. His younger brother had also fled and his whereabouts were unknown.
After a short rest, the party approached the Tower, which appeared to be a simple four-story round structure approximately 30 feet in diameter. They could not reach the door due to a shimmering magical force field that protected the Tower, but Duncan recited the incantation Zamra had taught him and the force field allowed them to pass, and the door swung open...
Next - The Tower...
GM Commentary - This was another fun session with lots of roleplaying and one big fight (kinda like the prior session). The players learned more about the world, and Malachy's player was given the freedom to tell us about his family and their fate. Sometimes it is more rewarding (and certainly less predictable) to ask a player to fill in details about the world, rather than having everything fall on the GM. The little bit of roleplaying about news from Mal's homeland is fodder for potential adventures down the road.
The 5 characters present earned 800 XP each. This was for a hill giant, a bunch of hobgoblins, a bunch of orcs, aiding the barbarians (and subsequent information gathered in the ensuing conversations), and discovery of the Tower and successful entry. As has been the case for quite a while now, I am bending the rules to award XP for things other than killing monsters. By the book, the only way to get XP is to kill/overcome things. To make sure that the characters/players keep getting XP, I would need to keep throwing monster encounter after monster encounter at the party. Sometimes I'd rather not have to do that...
Interacting with the World (what the characters learned...or were reminded of) - The Wyrd Storms on the horizon at night reminded the characters of the strange wild magic that pervades the Onorian plains, beyond the Shadow Wall to the northwest. They learned from the barbarians that something evil is stirring in old Nanerith (another fallen Elder realm), across the mountains beyond Spirehorn Gap to the northeast. We all learned that Malachy has two sisters and a brother, and learned something about the fate of his father and siblings. They also learned that perhaps the orcs and hobgoblins of the Shadow Wall have giant allies.
