Mysteries of the Moonsea - campaign log

• August 15 - November 26, 2006 (The Devil's Fire debacle; Vorbyx's Hammer)
• December 3, 2006 - April 1, 2007 (The brands, Theoderus, and Jonah Strake; Vorbyx's Hammer returns)

April 15

• We emerged on the far side of the portal, with no apparent way to return, onto a small coastal rise about a quarter mile from a large city on a rocky bluff: assuming we were still on the Moonsea, Hillsfar seemed the only possibility.
• With no idea what else to do, we started down the road toward the docks... only to find Ranjar, of all people, coming the other way!
• It turned out that Ublyn had received word that the pirate ship carrying the blue-branded slaves had been headed for Hillsfar, although the buyer wasn't named. He sent Ranjar off to investigate.
• After sharing our stories we split into groups to wander around the place, at which point Ranjar and Theondrin found themselves accosted by a guard of the Red Plumes...
  
• Following some mild unpleasantness (very mild, by our standards: nobody died), they were charged ten gold per weapon to bond them so they couldn't be quickly drawn, given a scrip proving that they had paid, and told not to loiter.
• Meanwhile, Isek, Nunyu, and Myriam browsed the stalls at a market, purchasing some fruit to snack on. An unusually small woman bought bottles of exotic oil from a stall Myriam was browsing; we took note of her size and because at one point Myriam saw her double-take at Nunyu. (Non-humans are not welcome in Hillsfar, but Nunyu was in human form.)
  
• Nunyu and Myriam bought kebabs from another stall, where Nunyu enquired where one might go to buy slaves. She was told that, except for 'the ones what no-one else wanted', that sort of merchandise was sold in the city proper. We would need to get our weapons peace-bonded before entering; the Merchants' Quarter or the Enclave were areas of such trading, left at the first major square within the city. 'Diamond in the Dung' inn was one of the few that liked to deal with 'people of your persuasion'. (We weren't sure what he meant by that.)

April 22

• Nunyu, Myriam, and Isek stopped for a meal, having been unable to spot Theondrin and Ranjar. We overheard parts of a few rumours.
  • Sailors suspected that the priesthood of Umberlee had brought sea monsters into the nearby waters on purpose, to justify increased protection fees.
  • A couple of foreign merchants discussed a local sight, apparently a so-called 'garden' and an unnatural Thayan experiment that would likely run amok some day. People were fed to 'it'... one of the merchants is annoyed that captured elves will be used for this experiment instead of being put in the arena for entertainment. We later heard confirmation of these carniverous plants and mention that Tonorok kept prisoners for food under the arena.
  • One customer scoffed at the claim that the city is human-pure and suggested it is riddled with shapechangers and suchlike, up to the highest levels of society.
  • Strangers riding flying beasts had been seen visiting Mordak's tower. These couldn't be Zhents because although Mordak wanted an alliance, Maalthiir would never allow it. The speaker didn't know who they were. His friend thought they might be something to do with the Thayans, the head of whose enclave Maalthiir was courting. He had also apparently overheard one of the Plumes mentioning a new offensive being launched. [We didn't know why this was connected.]
  • The rogues apparently had many hideouts all over the city, including right under the Vault of Swords; with only some of those hideouts known to the Plumes.
  • Maalthiir was apparently a demon in disguise, while Mordak was undead - undead of some nature also infested the sewers. Perhaps these were the things mentioned as 'down there' in a separate conversation, which squealed and squeaked 'too loud to be normal ones' and were causing trouble for the rogues' guild.
  • Girella Scatterstar had taken over from her 'sister' the old guildmaster; though they looked alike, the speaker was unconvinced both of the family relationship and that she had taken over at the sister's request.
  • A strange figure had been seen creeping around the memorial on the western road.
  • 'Something fell' had moved into the old tower to the east where a planar breach happened long ago; that whole area was now dangerous as a result.
• The other two joined us midway through the meal, so we were able to set off together. We got our weapons bonded at the watchpost (for a price much lower than Ranjar and Theondrin had paid) and headed up to the city proper.
• We were reminded of the city's authoritarian laws:
  • Only humans allowed in city.
  • No interfering with legitimate trade.
  • Must carry pass at all times.
  • Weapons must be peace-bonded at all times.
  • No use of magic on another person without permission; all magic may be baned of Maalthiir feels like it.
  • The Red Plumes can search anyone or anything on demand.
  • Red Plumes must not be disobeyed in any way.
• Myriam enquired about temples in the city. There were:
  • A small temple to Lliira (joy, dance, festivals, liberty)
  • A small temple to Chauntea (agriculture, summer)
  • A larger temple to Tempus (war)
  • Many shrines to Waukeen (trade, money, wealth)
  • Some shrines for Malar (hunting, predatory nature)
  • Some shrines for Umberlee (sea, sea-monsters)
  • Some shrines for Torm (duty, loyalty, obedience)
• We acquired rooms at the Diamond in the Dung; while expensive, it did seem a good inn, and claimed to be the only place that would have adventurers.
• It was late in the afternoon but we decided to see whether anything was going on in the Thayan enclave, one of the places where slaves might be sold. We headed toward it, in the southwestern section of the city.

April 29

• We visited the Thayan enclave, leaving our weapons behind in the inn; the enclave was walled and gated, with a brief search as we entered. It closed at sundown, so we did a brief survey of the available facilities.
  • Three gates (north, east, and south) led into the enclave but all but the south were sealed.
  • An open-air, tented restaurant offered local or Thayan cuisine.
  • Several shops in a block known as the 'Emporium' sold mundane goods; 'Koren's Curios', a distillery, a bookbinder, a jeweller, a leatherworker, a spice shop, and a perfumer. Most items were Thayan imports.
  • North of that lay warehouses, some converted into shops: a pawn shop, cartographer, and a private restaurant restricted to enclave members.
  • Wooded areas held shrines to gods favoured by Thayans: Bane, Loviatar, and Shar, with a final combinmed shrine for Gargauth, Kelemvor, Malar, Tolan, and Umberlee.
  • A full-fledged temple to Kossuth the firelord, busy with smoke and flickering lights, stood at the north end of the enclave.
  • The Stronghouse held an apothecary, alchemist, potion and scroll shop and 'The Arcane Gallery' - which only displayed a small selection of magical wares, though we had the impression that more would be on offer if we enquired.
  • In the northwest corner stood the embassy, the fanciest building of the compound.
  • The 'White Fire Academy', attached to a Thayan barracks, appeared to be some type of fighting school. Theondrin had heard of this institution, which taught the Thayan tyle of combat including some advanced techniques.
  • Other miscellaneous buildings: a bath house, residences, and a small inn.
• We overheard a few comments.
  • Apparently the consequences of getting caught trying to heist the Stronghouse were 'nightmarish'.
  • "I wonder which of them will come out ahead in their little dance. The Khazark [who appears to be the leader of the Thayan enclave] or Maalthiir [who appears to be the city boss]?"
• We returned to the inn and agreed that on the next morning, Theondrin would head to the Academy to see if he could train there, while the others headed to the market district, still looking for slave traders.

May 13

• Theondrin visited the White Fire Academy, learning that its name comes from the owner's magical flaming longsword as well as the disciplines taught. Varra Uuth, the proprietor, lacked the tattoos common in her homeland and had short hair rather than the typical shaved head.
  • Varra hadn't seen any blue tattooes, but suggested asking at the Stronghouse; then wondered if they had anything to do with the 'arboretum', which she didn't approve of because of the image problems it caused.
  • Discussing Theondrin's homeland, she also mentioned that Mulhorand had started a new push into Unther, which would leave Chessenta next.
• The rest of us found a slave auction but did not see any blue-tattooed slaves, nor found anyone willing to admit knowing them. A few people suggested that the Enclave would be the most likely place to find slaves with special tattooes, and one thought he remembered seeing slaves with the brands ('small and hard to notice, right?') a couple of weeks ago; apparently they had been sold to a Zhent who wasn't known in the area and hadn't been seen since.
• We asked around about the Arboretum, finding out that it wasn't a secret, merely a parcel of land outside the city walls owned by the Thayans. Though private it was only lightly patrolled, probably because its rumoured contents were deadly enough in any case.
• As we discussed matters in the inn, a messenger-boy delivered a letter to Nunyu.

• We jumped to the conclusion (from the last word and the comment about laws) that this was something to do with Nunyu's shapechanger status. Perhaps rashly, Nunyu decided to go; the others of us of course intended to come along to help in case of any trap.
• In the meantime, we returned to the Thayan enclave and investigated the Stronghouse. Slaves weren't openly sold, there being only the four establishments we'd noted earlier. We briefly checked them; three (all but the apothecary) had stairs down as well as back exits linking together into some out-of-sight common area between the shops. While looking in the potion and scroll shop, we did discover that it also offers magical tattoos, which can cast a spell on the recipient when activated. Not exactly like the blue brands, as these were one-shot or of a limited duration, but it did seem a similar art.
• Ranjar enquired about the possibility of buying a slave. We were told to visit the enclave's eastern warehouse, and given a note to allow admittance.

May 27

• We headed to the arena to make Nunyu's rendezvous. After quoting the name, she was separated from us at the entrance. The entertainments in the pit, meanwhile, were about as depraved as we had expected.
• It took quite some time for us to spot her again, but eventually we did. Isek and Myriam made their way to an area nearer Nunyu; not close enough to hear, but close enough to spot serious trouble. She sat next to a lean, wiry man (Boros?) with slicked-back hair who was dressed as an artisan or tradesman. His weatherbeaten skin, however, suggested that he worked outdoors.
• After half an hour the man left. Nunyu sat there for another ten minutes before getting up to leave, at which point everyone else left too. We met back up at the inn.
• It turned out that this Boros figure was actually a wererat, part of a group of such rats who are currently fighting the Rogue's Guild in an effort to take control. And, in return for information about the brands - plus probably, although it wasn't explicitly mentioned, keeping quiet about Nunyu's identity - they want us to assist in their gang war.
• While several of the party were unhappy with this proposition, because there were no other obvious leads and because of the potential threat to Nunyu, we nevertheless agreed to go ahead with it - just as long as we didn't end up being asked to kill innocents or act as assassins to kill people in their sleep. Nunyu would see what we were actually asked to do when she met with Boros tomorrow at the same time.
• Before that meeting, tomorrow morning, we planned to head out and take a look at the Thayan 'arboretum' at first light - hoping to coincide with a shift change in the guard arrangements.

June 3

• We found the Arboretum, outside the city and marked by warning signs some way distant. Two pairs of guards patrolled the border and another pair watched the only entrance, a ten-foot wide gap (more of a tunnel) leading into tangled foliage which bore the appearance of a hedge maze. It was about 150 by 100 feet; each corner was supported by the living trunk of a branch-less tree, and the thick growth covered not just all four walls of the place, but also formed a roof above it. Most of the leaves looked like those of an ordinary hedge but a few were of unusual colour or shape.
• We sent Myriam's magical owl to fly over the Arboretum, but spotted no other side entries and only a few gaps on the top. The ground it glimpsed inside was mostly dirt, but contained a few white pebbles, which seemed unusual in the context. And some dim light - perhaps more guards with torches - was visible in the central area.
• Not wanting to lead the bird to its death, we didn't ask it to fly inside. We decided we hadn't got enough information to mount an attack on the Arboretum, so instead - largely killing time - headed northwest along the road to find the memorial around which a mysterious figure had supposedly been sighted.
• The memorial turned out to be a collection of cairns holding the remains of those who fought in one of the battles between Hillsfar and Zhentil Keep, the 'Battle of Falling Wasps'. There was a small open-air shrine of Tyr nearby where a patrol of two dozen Red Plumes had stopped off, paying their respects to their fallen comrades.
• Talking to the Plumes, we got roped into leaving offerings (daggers, mostly) at the largest cairn. We hinted at the 'figure' but only learned that they suspected it to be a Zhent, who had appearently been known to despoil grave sites before. Because it seemed this subject triggered hard feelings, we didn't refer to it directly again.
• Overhearing their conversation we learnt only the current situation between Hillsfar and Zhentil Keep (tenuous peace, rumours of a new offensive). Giving it up as a bad job, we started back to town - then shouts rang out behind us, as a dozen skeletons climbed from the cairns in the middle of the field.

June 10

• Isek led the charge toward them, as the Red Plumes engaged in a hurried tactical retreat... but that charge faltered as the skeletons seemed to somehow combine with each other, forming into one gigantic skeletal creature.
• The group fumbled to remove the peace-bonds from their weapons as Myriam fireballed the creature, which seemed to recover partly from the damage by picking up a few extra skeletons. Theondrin soon tired of the 'run away while trying to undo our weapons' strategy, deciding to engage in a crazed charge instead. After that the whole group stopped to untie or cut their weapons free (using some of the daggers left as offerings on the shrine) and engage in battle.
• As we fought the beast, Nunyu spotted a group of figures slinking away to the northeast. Isek's second vicious attack finished the skeletal giant, and we changed our concentration to this new group, charging after them. Two lightly-armoured men drew bows as Isek (fastest on his feet) approached; the other, wearing heavy armour, bore a Banite holy symbol.
• Myriam used her wand to Hold one of the two grunts; a few blows from Isek's staff smashed the neck of the other, though not before he had taken a few wounds from their poisoned swords. The presumed priest, meanwhile, had taken a potion or somesuch and gone invisible.

June 17

• Theondrin thwacked the second guard, intending to incapacitate him, but in the end hitting the poor guy so hard his neck snapped... (He wasn't quite dead, as we discovered later.) Meanwhile, Myriam cast a spell that enabled her to spot the invisible priest. The party ran toward him, Isek and Myriam in the lead.
• The priest made his move as they approached, charging at Isek with an attack bolstered by a vicious spell; the monk's training enabled him to shake off that dark energy and the battle became a purely physical contest. After a time, Theondrin arrived and put a firm end to the situation, in the form of a huge sword through the cleric's chest.
• The Banite wasn't quite dead so we ransacked his stuff (only some coins and gems of use to us, with magical armour and weapons we could sell later), then took both survivors to the Red Plumes unit that we found coming from the city and gave them over for questioning and a probable nasty end.
• We then waited until evening, when we all went to meet Nunyu's contact at the arena, and he told us our mission.

June 24

The Rogue's Redoubt

The notes contained directions for reaching the shop that serves as a front, and the following map.

1 - The statues block view of murder holes. There are always four people on guard with crossbows. Ordinary members who have pulled duty - shouldn't be too tough, but might have poisoned bolts. C is a trapdoor from the shop.

2 - Kitchen and living area. Off-duty members stay here. So do hiding members. Sewer entrance is kept blocked up. Good supplies.

3 - Old temple to dark gods. The place was built as one, then abandoned. Don't mess with the altar or statues. Might be able to break their power with divine magic. Northwest has a collapse, braced up by the rogues.

4 - Rogue chaplain lives here. Has good intelligence dossier, make sure to preserve it. Follows Mask, typical abilities.

5 - Hidden area. Map of this part is tentative. Some beast is kept contained here, but I don't know what. The rogues don't want to let it out by even opening the doors.

6 - Trapped room. Avoid the Ts.

7 - Armory. Emergency arms and other supplies. Worthwhile looting.

8 - Storage area, not used much. Created by the cultists. They planned to dig to the sewers but never finished. Fallback area for the rogues if they're being overrun elsewhere.

• We planned to deal with whatever was in the shop, then make our way to the basement and use magical sleep to silence the first guards if possible, before marauding through the rest of the complex.
• We began the assault on the following day, after purchasing and drinking anti-venom preparations and loosening the bonds on our weapons. The shop contained the proprietor and two guards; we dealt with them very quickly, put up the 'Closed' sign, and proceeded.

July 1

• We quickly found the trapdoor, leading down into silent darkness beneath, and descended the ladder to find ourselves in a walled area lined with painted statues, just as the map had promised. After a little searching, we had failed to locate the secret door out of the central area, when the guards launched a volley of crossbow bolts (Isek was hit); the secret door's location then became academic as Nunyu smashed through the wooden wall. We rapidly dealt with all four guards.
• The rest of the base had not yet been alerted. Taking advantage of that, we opened the southern secret door quietly and Myriam threw a fireball into the main room. Only one rogue survived the blast, and a sharp blow from Isek's staff dealt with that one. Next up, the temple.

• We descended into the temple area, wary of a potentially greater threat from the priest quartered nextdoor. Indeed, we saw her shadow approaching although she quickly used magic to make herself invisible for a brief time and (when that faded after an attack) wreathed herself in shadow. For a while we had difficulty in piercing this veil, until Theondrin's mighty attack cleaved her in twain.
• The rest of the complex was empty of people and, sadly, loot. We did find some documents in the priestess's room.

• Not finding anything else of worth, and thinking it wiser not to disturb the 'planar beast', we returned to the room by the sewer and gave the signal. Minutes later, the were-rats broke through from the other side.

July 29

• The wererats emerged, asked us how many we'd killed (nine, Isek thought), then took over; we left to rest for a few days. Nunyu met with them again later, finding that they might be able to get us into the cell area of the arena, which had been mentioned in connection with the blue brands in the reports we just discovered.
• The wererats also knew, however, that the Thayans fed slaves to some of the plants in their arboretum, grinding up the bones to use as mulch - white spottiness noted by the owl on our earlier investigation. With this in mind (and not, at all, the desire for a powerful magic item) we decided to mount an assault on that first.
• We headed out there and, lurking around the rear, charged the first pair of guards. These were quickly dispatched.

August 19

• We ambushed and quickly defeated a second pair before moving on to the entrance. As expected, the third pair stood in wait there; Myriam tried to put them to sleep without success, leaving us to charge in as usual. While we also had little problem dealing with these two (despite a little initial incompetence from Isek and Nunyu), they had time to shout warnings to their compatriots inside the garden.
• After the battle, we searched the bodies to find that all guards seemed to have a strange chemical scent; it seemed they had rubbed their bodies with it. Perhaps this protected them from the plants. However, we weren't able to find any supplies of such an oil.
• We entered the garden from the east. Paths led north and south, the southern one extending for a good distance while the north one quickly turned west. After some indecision we took the northern path, which led into a small open space with two exits: north to a small open area, with an ominous fleshy heap barely visible around the corner, and west to a north/south junction. An ordinary-looking apple tree formed part of the northwest hedge to this area.
• Trying to root out the remaining guards, we progressed west and looked along the passage. A larger open space, with a couple more apple trees (one bearing a sign in Thayan) lay north. South, the path continued for some distance with branches west and east. Both these turned out to open into larger areas, with the western one having north and south exits. We continued past them to the south, where the path opened out again.
• Emerging into that open area, we were finally ambushed by the remaining guards. One curiosity caught our eye even as the battle began; a metal-and-wood sled in the southwestern corner of this area, bearing a rune-covered spherical ball of wood.

September 2

• We managed to defeat the guards without much trouble; also, during the battle, Isek stepped beneath one of those fearsome apple trees without ill effects. The guards had little in the way of valuables, but we looted their equipment anyway.
• According to Myriam, the magical power of the wooden sphere radiated for quite some distance. We debated how to take it without being found immediately, with little resolution.
• We moved off to rapidly explore the rest of the garden. In the north-west, two paths that we'd previously seen joined together in another open space with two more apple trees (one signed) and a huge dead trunk that made up the garden's north-west corner. Approaching this trunk, Isek had to jump back as tendrils suddenly emerged from it, seeking the monk's blood!
• Leaving that well alone, we proceeded to examine the corpse we'd spotted earlier in the north-east. It looked to be a Hillsfar native, stripped naked and left in the garden to be drained of all blood. Tiny pinpricks covered the body, which didn't bear any blue brands. And the tendrils responsible for those pinpricks then promptly reached out for us, from bulbs growing to the east! These were quickly defeated.
• We then took the long southern passage on the east side, passing by the entrance to check in with Theondrin (who hadn't seen any trouble). Its western branch led to yet another apple orchard, with another Thayan sign hanging on one of the trees. But to the south, another open area contained two more hogtied bodies lying in the middle.
• Isek thought he spotted movement from one of them, and a blue brand on the other; neither had the blood-drained pallor of the previous corpse. We hurried forward to free them, bearing in mind the likely attack from more plants.

September 9

• We quickly dealt with the expected plant attack before examining the bodies. One bore the blue tattoo, and the look of a Mulman. He was dead. The other, a Hillsfaran, was alive but unconscious.
• We rapidly checked the rest of the garden, finding an area covered in dangerous-looking vines (which we initally left alone), but no more victims. The last mystery of the place was an area in the southwest corner which we hadn't been able to find any route into. Isek risked the vines to search for any hidden entrance; the vines didn't react, and we couldn't find one.
• Carrying our rescued prisoner, we made our escape, heading eastward along the coast, away from Hillsfar. We travelled along the rocks of the shoreline to avoid leaving a trail, and indeed - when we finally camped, and slept until noon the next day - nobody found us.
• After that rest, the seriously-injured man finally woke and was able to tell us his story. He was a merchant arrested for complaining too much about paying bribes to the Red Plumes. Thrown into the arena dungeons, he was later sold to the Thayans along with the two other prisoners we'd also found in the garden.
• He didn't know anything about the tattoo, except that another tattooed prisoner remained in the dungeon, and that he'd seen them acting strangely (like those in Melvaunt) a few times. The Thayans, and Red Plumes too, didn't take any particular notice of the tattoo.
• We hid the sphere, burying it well away from the track, and returned to Hillsfar, where we managed to enter the city without incident. Since it wasn't safe for the ex-merchant to enter, he stayed behind.

September 23

• The potions we had looted turned out to be healing potions (which we kept) and six Bull's Strength potions, which we sold on. The profit from these wasn't quite enough for us to afford the magical haversack which Myriam recommended as possibly able to hide the wooden sphere's easily-detectable magic field - unless we purchased it at the Thayan enclave. While the others seemed unconcerned at that possibility, Isek wondered if it might raise suspicion. One option which would definitely raise suspicion was selling the other looted equipment; this bore the stamp of the Thayan embassy, meaning we couldn't really sell it in Hillsfar.
• During our evening meal the next day, we received an unexpected letter - from the Thayan enclave. It claimed to be from Tola Vrass, the head of the enclave, who apparently wanted to hire us for an expedition to retrieve certain items. The pay was five thousand gold and we could visit her to find out more.
• Deciding our priority lay with the prisoner - how much longer could he last, Nunyu wondered? - we met with our wererat contact at the arena.

• The wererat disappeared to arrange this disturbance and our entry, returning after about half an hour. Our entry would be timed to match the start of a bout, in the hope of avoiding notice.
• We left the arena and found a sewer grate in a nearby alleyway, then followed a winding path beneath the city to another hole above us. Climbing a makeshift rope-and-piton ladder to the grate above, we found it loosened, and climbed up into the monster pens; a very large room with barred cells, a ramp up to the north, and a balcony in one corner, as had been described.
• Some activity was audible in the surrounding cells; we hurried up the ramp to the minotaur's door, hearing sounds behind that might have been snoring, or the beast working itself into a frenzy. Unfortunately when we opened the door it squealed horribly, thus destroying our chances of catching the beast asleep...
• ...but as Isek shoved the door wide, the view beyond made clear that those hopes had been premature at best: the large, frenzied minotaur charged headlong toward us.

September 30

• Our vicious attack made swift work of the poor minotaur. There was nothing of value in its room; we kept going through the only door to the west, another of the poorly-oiled squeaking variety.
• This opened into a north-south hall with four narrow, barred cells along the western wall, opened by levers on the eastern side. We opened these to allow their occupants to escape - a male elf, a fat female human, and a woman who looked almost human except for an appearance of being almost on fire. Myriam seemed to know her species.
• Doors from this hall led into the balcony (presumably) and to stairs down into a lit area, a busier part of the dungeon. We heard somebody moving around there, and hid our lights to avoid detection. Moments later, loud explosions sounded nearby - presumably the distraction we'd been promised.
• Isek crept down and watched until the two guards had disappeared along a northern passage (this turned out to be a mistake). We then emerged safely into a large room; a couple of pillars bore rings, which looked likely to be used for chaining prisoners temporarily, and many doors lined various walls.
• A quick check with the prisoners we'd already freed revealed that the two southern doors led to the cells. One contained the prisoner with blue brands who we'd originally sought. Unfortunately, these cells were also locked; we had no way to open them and the keys had vanished along with the guards Isek had allowed to escape!
• We ummed and ahhed for a bit, checking another door (it led to an armoury of poor-quality weapons used for the arena battles), until finally we ventured along that northern passage and managed to draw the attention of a group of Red Plumes who were arriving down some stairs.
• These came after us, at which point Myriam blasted them with a vicious fireball; in the confined hallway, this fried the lot of them. We were able to retrieve the keyring that the lead guard had carried, and use this to free the prisoners.
• With this somewhat dishevelled band of vagabonds, we made our escape back through the minotaur's room and into the sewers, putting that concealing grate back into place.

October 7

• Deciding to head for a sewer outfall into the Moonsea, we led the group to a grate the wererats had opened and affixed ropes to. This allowed us to descend, through a trail of disgusting sludge, to rocks at the base of the cliff. These were partially submerged; we waded or swam around the edge of the bluff to reach solid ground to the northwest, a little away from the docks.
• Then we walked away from the city until we reached a safe enough distance to build a fire, helping to restore the strength of some of the weaker prisoners who might otherwise freeze to death.
• We were finally able to question the blue-branded prisoner.

• As we'd found from others in the same position, he had been taken from a Mulmaster street; his memories were blank from then until he woke up on the ship, branded. He didn't know anything about the reasons behind the brands and didn't remember anything of what happened during the brand-induced fits.
• However, we did gain some interesting information from one of the elves, who overheard our conversation.

• We agreed to take on this mission. The following morning we ventured back into Hillsfar - or at least the market by the docks - to purchase supplies for our rescuees, who each set out to various destinations.
• The elves were headed for Semberholme, some way south. They did inform us of the tower's wards, as promised:
  • These would repulse drow, block dimensional travel and teleportation, impede the activities of evil creatures, and seal all doors and openings with magical locks. All metal items would become red-hot if an evil creature came within ten feet of them - including such things as door handles and ladders.
  • Though not part of the wards, a plant creature had been placed as a sentinel over the site by a friendly druid many decades past. It did not owe allegiance to the elves, but it might be possible to parley with it.
  • The hedge circling the tower was magical and dangerous if trying to force a path or cut it down, and could regrow rapidly. But it bore an opening at the front where visitors could pass.

October 14

• Deciding to play it safe, we began by searching the ruined buildings - most were empty and overrun by nature, but one had been cleaned for use as a camp. We spotted a glimmer of movement and chased after what turned out to be a group of momentarily invisible drow.
• Facing assault from their crossbows and magical shadow - which sapped at the strength of Isek, Ranjar, and Nunyu - we nevertheless quickly dealt with the threat - or most of it. Two escaped, one by remaining invisible, and the other by running impossibly fast.
• Having looted the six we killed, we moved to enter the tower. The promised plant creature promptly appeared.
  
• It appreciated us driving away the drow, but still seemed disinclined to let us through because we had no evidence that we came on behalf of the elves. We had a long discussion until finally it suggested that if we'd been sent here by them, then they must have told us about the wards. So we repeated those and were allowed through.

October 21

• We entered the tower, noting that the broken door had been smashed from the outside, apparently long ago. The inner door from the foyer had been broken, too, as had many of the other interior doors. Those that weren't were locked. The rooms that we could immediately access contained nothing of value, presumably having been looted decades since; they suffered the effects of time.
• Endeavouring to break down one of the doors, Ranjar and Nunyu found that it took about twenty minutes. This allowed us access to the pristine kitchen, seemingly protected from decay all this time, its spices still fresh.
• While several ground-floor doors remained unbroken, we decided to take one of the ladders up to the first floor instead. The ladders emerged into an octagonal passage that ran around the edge of the tower, with two doors into the centre on the east side, and two on the west.
• The southernmost of those eastern doors had been broken. Through it, a passage led past a broken-open door (to a study) to a T-junction, where a suit of full plate armour stood motionless, apparently unsupported. Isek walked up to this and greeted it with no effect. However, when we tried to enter the study, it suddenly attacked. Ranjar and Nunyu defeated it in short order.
• The study contained ancient maps, which we noted for later retrieval, and nothing else of interest.
• The T junction marked part of an inner square that surrounded a central room (accessed by an unbroken door to the west) and had double doors opening to other rooms on north and south (both unbroken). Another door in the eastern wall of the ring had been broken, leading to a passage that eventually reached the other door from the outer corridor, and was lined with valuable paintings. Its mirror-image door on the western side remained intact, as did the door that had been to a study on the east.
• We decided to check out the inner room first, and spent time breaking down the appropriate door.

November 4

• The inner room was an armoury, and almost bare; just one sword, shield, and wand left. We took the weapons and Myriam discovered a tiny key hidden in the back of the shield. This turned out to be a valuable item as it opened the other doors.
• The northern room was a large bedroom, guarded by two more suits of armour in alcoves. We quickly defeated these but found little of interest in the room except some fine clothing which had been preserved in good condition by the tower's magic.
• We next investigated the southern room, which looked to be a children's room of some type. Here, wooden statues served the same purpose as the armour we'd found elsewhere. Again, we were able to defeat the pair of them with little fuss.

November 11

• The playroom was disappointingly empty. We completed the search of that level to find only more paintings in a western corridor, and records of the building in a western study. Among the last of these records were accounts of the approaching Army of Darkness against Myth Drannor, and the decision to evacuate the tower.
• Climbing to the final level, we found it girded by a rectangular corridor, with arrowslits piercing the walls. Racks in the southern and western sides held ancient elven arrows which looked like they'd fall to dust if they hit anything. Doors in the centre of the eastern and western walls led to a central corridor that split the level in two, with four more doors in the centre of that which presumably led to rooms arranged in quadrants.
• The north-eastern of these doors had been smashed, and lead to some kind of magical workshop room guarded by one more armour suit (and also containing a mithral chainmail). We stepped inside to deal with it; though Ranjar and Nunyu shattered it within seconds, we hadn't reckoned on the other three suits emerging from the remaining doors!
• Defeating these took some time but we achieved it in the end, with little injury to ourselves. Now all four doors stood open. The southwestern room appeared empty; the southeastern one contained several barrels; and the northwestern room had once been a library, though only a few books and scrolls remained on its shelves.
• The barrels were labelled as holding various dried provisions. Behind one barrel, we found a carved spoon and a clear, glassy, spindle-shaped rock. By contrast, the empty room appeared to be empty, at least as far as Isek could determine. The library held a few magical scrolls, some elven books on magic, and the personal journal of 'Abarat the Alabaster' who apparently constructed an ivory tower.

November 18

• We checked the remaining downstairs rooms but found nothing of interest - except that, in a guest bedroom, the bed attacked us! We were able to defeat it without too much trouble.
• That left us with the vexing question of how to transport the items. We eventually decided to leave behind all the heavy stuff for now (locking the doors) and make our way to Elventree, the nearest settlement, with what we could carry.
• On our way out we spoke again with the guardian, who mentioned that as well as the drow, a human - invisible, at the time - had attempted to enter the tower but fled on being challenged, leaving behind a satchel. We investigated this and found equipment bearing Thayan mark and a letter written in an unfamiliar variant of elven, possibly drow.
• We arrived at Elventree without incident, and Myriam was able to magically translate the letter.

• Presumably this 'courier' was the one intercepted by the guardian, delivering assistance to the drow. But it seemed that the Thayans were interested in the journal of Abarat. We resolved to have Myriam take a more detailed look at it...
• In the meantime, we hired porters to carry valuables from the tower and spent the next few days recovering everything and packing it away for transport to the south, except the items we would keep as our fee.
• After some time and expenditure, Myriam identified the items we'd found:
  • +2 Keen longsword
  • +2 Mithral Shadow light shield
  • Wand of Web (15 charges)
  • Murlynd's Spoon
  • Clear spindle ioun stone
  • Elixir of Truth (we found this before but hadn't identified it yet)

December 9

• Myriam recalls that Abarat disappeared one day during construction of the tower, and was never heard from again. That tower, if it exists, lies southwest of Hillsfar on the border with Cormanthor. It was five stories tall, with cellars beneath. Five portals required keys to access.
  • The Elven Court - where Hillsfar is now. A bottle of wine with original stopper still in place.
  • Myth Drannor. An elf skull - living or dead.
  • Myth Glaurach - in the Silver Marches, overrun to become Hellgate Keep, now ruined. A moonblade, or any elf-forged weapon which has struck a moonblade.
  • Myth Lharast - once a city in northern Amn, now blasted out of Faerun by divine power and accessible only by magic. An iron box containing three copper nails.
  • Arvandor (one-way) - the home of the elven gods. A gold or silver coin with Corellon's symbol on one side and Sehanine's symbol on the other.
  • A sixth portal, unknown, may not have been finished.
• Still wary of returning to Hillsfar - and unclear exactly how we would be able to investigate the Thayans once they returned - we decided to investigate this tower. The Thayans obviously had an interest; perhaps we could learn something of their plans.

• We found the door magically locked, and set up camp while Myriam prepared the spell that would open it. When we finally entered, we found ourselves in a bare foyer leading into the ground floor. This contained various uninteresting rooms, although an eastern hallway contained a trapdoor which presumably led to the cellars. We left this alone, taking the stairs up instead.
• The first floor consisted of a central square room with doors radiating out into seven bedrooms, one of which contained the abandoned nest of some humanoid or the like (remains of a fire, gnawed animal bones), and one two human skeletons weaing the remains of some quality clothing, one with a bitten-through arm and both with skull fractures.
• Proceeding upward, the second floor had four doors - according to Myriam's strained senses, and the journal, the four main portals were through here, with the portal to Arvandor and the unfinished one on the next level.
• We continued up to the third floor. Here the southeastern corner was completely open to the outside, with some walls partially complete. The roof only covered the northern and western third of the floor - where walls and doors were finished, leading supposedly to those two portals. The stairs stopped at this point, not giving us access to the roof.
• As we were debating whether to climb up and investigate, the giant, well-over-ten-foot tall creature that had been lurking on the roof before it helpfully obliged us by approaching of its own accord.
  

December 16

• The group hesitated, readying to face its approach - which turned out to be our undoing. The creature unleashed a mighty bolt of cold which froze poor Myriam completely and severely damaged everyone else. Then it dropped down among us, our prepared attacks proving completely ineffectual, and alongside its weird chittering unleashed panic in all of us. Ranjar and Nunyu fled by jumping off the tower, suffering further injury; Isek only threw himself down the stairs, vaguely noticing that doors to some of the portal rooms were opening as he fled.
• Eventually the surviving party members managed to regain control of ourselves and find each other again, a little way from the tower. Shocked by the ferocity of the attack and the loss of one party member, we tried to come up with schemes for retrieving Myriam's body (and our weapons).
• Deciding we had no alternative but to wait until the heat died down, we camped for a few days to recover our strength before returning to the tower. Isek then threw up a grappling hook and climbed to the level where we'd fought. There was no sign of the body, or our equipment, or even of the creature that did for us previously. He was about to investigate the roof, when he heard a familiar voice inviting him inside the tower. Caught by the enchantment, he followed that guide... and was never seen again.
• The surviving party members made their way back toward Hillsfar, leaving that deadly tower well alone.