Arkania: Cult of the Nameless God

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The third map piece wasn't going to be as easy to get. It's owner, Elaine Widenbek agreed to hand over the piece only after eliminating the Cult to the Nameless God on a nearby small island. Finding a boat to take them there was harder than finding the pretty obvious "hidden" base, but unlike the brigands before - these cultists attacked in large groups and had pretty severe traps lying around the place.

At one point, Sister C had to use an Evil Eye spell to convert an enemy temporarily to swing a combat to the team's favor. While it succeeded, her target snapped out of the trance just a few minutes later and fatally stabbed her in the gut. Things were looking worse on the second floor down as the team were all injured and had begun to run out of arrows, torches and water.

Finding a strange lever, Shintar also had to be separated from the team to hold it down while the rest of the party entered the secret, final chamber that it opened - containing not just two priests but an unholy altar in the center as well. Out of arrows, Augratin is forced into melee and has a critical miss where she hits herself (somehow), resulting in her own death!

I guess the Nameless God sleeps?

Despite that, the battle was won and while fiddling with the altar to try collect loot, Iron Dagger is shot in the eye with a poisoned dart - killing him instantly. Zubon and Vayshen ultimately just destroy the foul thing, taking a fragment as proof to show Elaine. No one challenged their escape from the temple or the sail back, and soon they had their very hard won third map piece in hand.

Three down, lots more to go!

Arkania: Easy Going

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Satisfied with their performance in the keep, the team decided it was time to find that magic sword - traveling North for a few days outside the city where Augratin's hunting skills kept the party well supplied with food and water. Sister C also took any spare camp time to collect rare flora. Eventually they reached Felsteyn where they met Isleif Olgardson.

Takes around a week on foot.

Isleif was a descendant of the great chief, Hyggelik - the last person known to wield Grimring. He was more than happy to talk about it, and handed over a piece of a treasure map which supposedly led to Hyggelik's final resting place. Apparently more descendants were scattered across the land, and most of them also had map pieces... one of whom was in a town they had passed on the way here!

Back tracking, they found that fellow too - and with a few choice words, managed to collect his map piece as well before returning to Thorwal to rest up and then book passage on a small fishing ship to Varnhome where they hoped to find the third map piece. All up this was pretty easy going!

Arkania: Code of Thieves

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Iron Dagger voiced his concern that his new found allies were out of practice, having been out at sea for the past few months, and Shintar agreed - suggesting the team test their skill at a more local problem first - the supposedly haunted keep. The custodian, Master Dramosch, was more than happy to have someone looking into his problems of disappearing supplies from the very dark lower levels.

Sister C noted this was odd behavior for ghosts or ghouls and she was right. What they found instead were ... brigands!

Eat your heart out X-Com. :P

Fortunately only encountered in pairs they didn't pose much of a threat and their locked doors were child's play compared to Iron Dagger's burglary skills. They also find a makeshift altar to the thief god Phex here and of course Iron Dagger robbed all the 20 ducats from it. In no time at all the floor was cleared and they were back in town selling the spoils of battle, assuring Master Dramosch his "ghost" problem had been dealt with.

It was slightly annoying after all that hard work when Augratin's purse got snatched by a random cut purse. The one eyed lady was far too nimble for the party to give chase and escaped with ease.

Arkania: A New Quest

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

On the last episode: The team was deciding if they should attack or flee from the King of Denmark.

Sister C's argument won out in the end, as she - Vayshen Panda, Zubon Ratkiller and Augratin Nerdly (site no longer active) managed to find passage onto a ship to take them to the distant land of Arkania and hopefully finally out of reach of the King of Denmark. Eventually they found themselves at the port city of Thorwal where, while relaxing at a local tavern, they met the local warrioress Shintar Winter and Iron Dagger the scraggly rogue.

Tales of a ghost ship and a haunted keep in town rekindled their adventuring spirit, but what truly called to all of them into action was a crier sent by the local Hetman (the lord of these lands) on a most dangerous quest.

Ah, ye olde tavern quest hook.

Scouts report that the orcs from the wild lands were amassing their largest force in history and all signs pointed to invasion. It was up to the adventurers to find a lost magical sword, Grimring, which would somehow eliminate this threat. With only a breadcrumb worth of information in their possession, the party decided to come up with a plan - back the same tavern where their minds could be refreshed with ale.

Darklands: King of the North

This is part of The Darklands story.

When Zubon and Augratin returned to Flensburg to report to the King of Denmark he merely laughed in their faces and had his guards throw them out to the street (specifically into a puddle). This, along with suddenly being accosted by random guards made the pair hold weight to the recently deceased Liore's fear that the King himself was allied with evil - or at the very least just wanted to be rid of them. Zubon openly wondered if the reason for this was that their unit, while killing rats in the castle, accidentally slew the king's pet mouse while Augratin suggested it may have been because of Rakuno's decoration suggestions.

With the tide they took passage on the next ship across the expansive river to Naskakov to lessen the ire of Denmark's monarch but even then, they were accosted by pirates most likely hired by the same king, who were only fought off with the help of the travelling hermit/bard "Vayshen Panda" and a mysterious nun who only introduced herself as "Sister C". Even there the soldiers of Denmark and the wiccan Wild Hunt chased them in the (small) lands across the waves. With no luck finding shelter they took another ship back to the mainland, jumping off near the shore to avoid unwanted attention. Sister C suggested they could try to outrun the long reach of the King's influence while Zubon voiced that they should try to put an end to the evil king in a near suicidal attempt on the city.

There must be some way to trick the King of the North...

Either way, their decision would have to wait for the light of day (since I'm taking a break from Darklands here) so they camp out in the woods and hole up for the night.

Darklands: Seige of Castle Schauffelin

This is part of The Darklands story.

After telling her tale to the King, the Church and anyone else who would listen, Liore was tasked with simple clerical duties while authorities looked into the matter. Days passed but she heard no word about her allies left behind in the monastery. Her persistent questioning began to draw the ire of the castle officials often leading to her expulsion from the premises.

It struck her as odd then that one day the King of Denmark summoned her to accompany the soldiers "Zubon Ratkiller", "Rakuno Shardim" and "Augratin Nerdly" to hunt the robber knight Felix Schauffelin. He said her previous experiences made her ideal for this task, but something felt very off. She shared her doubts and her recent past to her new company, whom she learned were also all out of favor with the court for various reasons.

Still, Rakuno was a man of honor and led the party to their goal defeating a few of Felix's thugs on the way. At the robber knight's castle for the first time the party was denied entry, so Zubon suggested laying seige to starve him out. After setting up camp out of bow shot a large group of scum came out of the castle trying to break the defensive line. They mostly failed, but Rakuno was cut down in the skirmish.

Two groups of bandits then tried to resupply the castle and only once both were denied did Felix himself and his last man-at-arms come forth. Liore's fear of having been sent here to be "erased" proved true as the robber knight decapitated her before Augratin shoved her spear through his face.

Spear to the face would count as mortally wounded right?