Tales of a Bee Keeper

...or, What Ravar Kelt Knows.

The first time the party stayed in the village of Olmsby, they had the opportunity to chat with a local retired adventurer by the name of Ravar Kelt. It was Ravar who told them about their first dungeon, in the ruins of a long-abandoned Onorian town (the town of Kel-Vandiir).

Ravar's Map - Northern section...

After completing that dungeon, defeating the newly resident goblin tribe, and having other subsequent adventures, the party eventually found themselves in Olmsby again.

Ravar's Map - Southern section

Ravar had heard of the party's good deeds in healing local farmer Ned Greenbrier and his son Tad (who happened to be kin of Ravar's late wife), and because of this, was keen to share more of what he knows by way of a "thank you". Ravar spent much of the rest of a comfortable evening at a corner table in the Half Pint Table regaling the party with various tales. Here is some of what he told:

• There is a trail that heads east/northeast from the site of Fulcher's Hold. It follows the course of a stream until it reaches a point where the trail splits. One trail heads due east and the other northeast. Both enter the Shadowveil Forest a short distance before petering out. A few miles from each of these trailheads is an old ruin. The northern site is a few miles further into the forest than the southern one, beyond the point where the woods become quite dense, and is by far the larger of the two sites.
• The site on which Fulcher and his band are building their keep was a very old castle site. It is rumored that there were tunnels and chambers below the ruins, but he does not personally know whether that is true or not.
• The Onorians liked to "dig like dwarves", and many of their sites have more below ground than above.
• There is a ruined tower or castle near the headwaters of the stream that passes by the party's first dungeon.
• In the gap between the Silver Hills and the Shadowveil Forest, a long day's walk north of Fulcher's Hold, is a small lake. The lake is surrounded by hills, woods and marshes. On the north side of the lake, hidden in the tangled marshes, are a series of flat-topped stone pyramid structures. Ten years ago there were signs that the area was inhabited by something.
• Perhaps 25 miles or so north of Castle Langborne, on the plains, is one of the sites of the Ancients. There are the remnants of an old road that lead to it (and past it). The site isn't that far south of where the hills of the Shadow Wall begin.
• The Shadow Wall is a series of cliff-like hills that stretch for almost 50 miles north along the edge of the plains. The cliffs face toward the Shadowveil Forest, and some say that they are not natural, but were raised out of the ground by potent magical forces to form a man-made barrier. It is said that the cliffs are very high, and it can be many miles between spots where they can be climbed.
• The Red Barrows - In the plains, not far southeast of the Ancients site mentioned above, there is an area of several square miles covered with a large number of scattered barrow mounds. Grasses growing on and around the mounds have a reddish tinge. The barrows are said to date from after the times of Onoria, and are said to be haunted by large numbers of powerful and deadly ghosts, wights, wraiths and all sorts of other undead. Ravar stressed over and over that this area should be avoided at all costs by all but the most experienced of adventurers, and that the party should never enter the area or spend the night anywhere near it.

When pressed for more details, Ravar patted his belly, pushed aside his empty mug of ale, asked for a glass of water, and said "that is enough for now"...

Campaign Journal 7 - The Karelith Family Crypts

When last we left our heroes, it was late in the afternoon of Friday April 12 of the year 707 (Northern Reckoning), and the party was standing over the burned corpse of a troll. They had used most of their spells, had taken significant damage, and were seriously in need of a rest...

Friday April 12, NR 707 (continued)
While some of the party began setting up camp, Malachy and Duncan investigated the ruined building. In the roofless shell of the building they found an obvious place where the huge dogs slept, including a gnawed human arm. In the back of the building, against the face of the cliff, was a doorway surrounded by carved symbols and inscriptions. Eustace the sage was called to look at them, and he read the old Onorian word "Karelith" inscribed above the doorway.

Hewn out of the rock of the hill were a couple of chambers, filled with more carvings of a religious nature. Eustace believed these to be the kind of carvings and inscriptions one would find in a tomb or crypt complex. The first chamber had a wooden door in one wall, in front of which was piled a significant amount of debris to block it. A passageway led to the second outer room, which turned out to be the troll's lair. A modest amount of treasure was found in coins and some jewelry, and the rest of the remains of the missing human spellcaster were here. Duncan recovered a back pack with a spellbook containing only three first level spells (Magic Missile, Fog Cloud, and Unseen Servant).

The night passed uneventfully, with only some eerie screeching sounds from a distance to the north breaking the monotony of the watches.

Saturday April 13

Karelith Family Crypts

After a good night's rest and some liberal use of healing, the party explored the tomb. The first few rooms were uneventful, and with the sage's expertise, provided a good education on Onorian burial customs (noble sarcophagi, commoner catacombs, and cremations in the later years of the realm - to prevent creation of Undead).

As the party approached the furthest chamber (#11), they heard the rattling of bones, and could see at least a half dozen animated skeletons reaction to their approach. Malachy took up a blocking position at the top of the steps to that chamber, and fought the skeletons sequentially as they tried to get past the bottleneck to attack the rest of the party. Duncan, trying out his "sculpt spells" Evoker ability, cast Burning Hands at the leading skeletons while attempting to weave the area-of-effect magic around his friends. Malachy and Badric failed to avoid the damage and got a little toasted. [Later, Duncan would try this same move again, his friends would fail to avoid damage again, which led to the quote of the night: Malachy, lamenting a failed melee attack, was consoled by Badric - "hey, to be fair, you were on fire..."]

While fighting the skeletons, Melior was attacked from behind by a Shadow, and wounded pretty badly. In the confusion, Badric was attacked by a second Shadow, suffered a critical hit, and was knocked unconscious, with 6 points of strength drained. After a good struggle, the Undead were all dispatched. Unfortunately, there was no treasure to be found for their efforts...

Having fully investigated the Karelith family crypt, the party (with encouragement from Eustace the sage), chose to return to town for training and study in order to gain the full benefits of their new levels (level 3). This would mean meditation, prayer and study for most, and a search for a mentor for Duncan. The characters were unanimous in their decision to retrace their steps back through the Silver Hills rather than seeking a different way home. They looped north around the hills, and then made their way southwest back into the grasslands, camping for the night very near the spot where they had camped on the way in.

Castle Langborne (hills at top) to Shimmermere (in Hexographer)

Sunday April 14
An uneventful dozen or so miles to reach Shadyvale and spend the night.

Monday April 15
A long day covering 18 miles back through Shimmermere to Olmsby, with the mule carrying the armor and other heavy stuff. Upon arriving in Olmsby and heading to the Half Pint Tavern for a good hot meal to end a long day, they encountered Ravar Kelt, the elderly man who pointed them to their first dungeon. Ravar came over to thank them, as it turns out that Ned Greenbrier (whose son Tad they healed a while back) is kin to his late wife. As a way of showing his gratitude, the characters end up spending the remainder of the evening with Ravar regaling them with many tales and bits of lore. He sketches out maps and provides plenty of information on nearby sites.

Shimmermere , Olmsby, Fulcher's Hold and Linden (in Hexographer)

Tuesday April 16
After a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed, the party travels to Fulcher's Hold. Leveling up for most of the characters will be simply a matter of meditation, prayer, rest and practicing new skills. For Duncan, the wizard, it is a little more complicated, as he needs a tutor who can help teach him new spells. Alissara, the mage of Fulcher's Band, is not a student of evocation magic, but says that she has a friend who can help. She asked whether Duncan was willing to take a trip, and when he agreed, she led him into the under-construction castle, down into the basements, down a number of stairs and passages (some of them seeming to be quite old), until they came to what he recognized as a teleportation circle. Alissara chanted a brief incantation and the two mages disappeared in a flash, reappearing many many miles away...

The Sage's Commentary - It had been a month since our last session (with only two players), and it was great to have a full group of all four again. The game is as much about camaraderie as anything, and three players is better than two, but all four players is best of all by far.

It is amusing to me that having played seven sessions now, certain statistical patterns seem to be emerging. Melior's healing spells seem to always roll badly and be of little help. Badric has spent (by far) the most time unconscious (if this dwarf was one of the seven dwarfs, he would be Sleepy...). Malachy seems to end most combats with just a few hit points left. Niam seems to like to roll very high or very low, but rarely in the middle.

As for what comes next...we ended the session as we pretty much always do, with my question "so, what do you think you want to do next time?" The immediate and unanimous response was "we're going back to Castle Langborne."

Sounds good to me. Now, where's my graph paper...