SotF Session 004: Sigfrido de'Zolezzi

Threesday, 4th Hand of Reaping

Something astonishing happened, originally i left the inn to go back to the lair to collect the ears of the goblins we slew, along with the gnoll’s head to claim the reward for their defeat, and on my way back to where I was planning to set up camp, I heard loud neighing of a horse nearby, only to find a Pegasus caught in a hunter’s trap! It was reacting in fear of me when it saw me, but I did manage to calm it down, calling out to it that I mean no harm to it. The Pegasus then calmed down and spoke, introducing herself as Adria. I managed to free her from the trap, one that must have been old or something, because the spring broke when i pried it open to set her free. She offered some wisdom, something I really should consider since it came from such a divine creature…

Foursday, 4th Hand of Reaping

I awoke to return to the group, seeing that we now had two more members joining us, with Vissia already departed to the next village on our route. No surprise there, she showed little patience in being in the presence of a priest of Syjan… While the group was eating, I went to the village elder’s place to inform him that the deed was done for the goblin’s removal, and in turn he rewarded me for the task. I split the funds evenly, withholding Vissia’s share when we meet up with her. It was a half-day’s journey to Porti Golari, with a supernatural, yet natural phenomenon that created a strong shockwave when it detonated. The brothers fell off of their horses, and a stampede was on its way towards us. With quick wit, and reactions, we were able to avoid the center of the stampede, and even though I attempted to calm any tamed animals, all of them reacted as they would as wild animals. With the stampede behind us, we continued to Porti Golari, with our first visit to the inn, where we encountered Vissia again, who was looking to form a group to investigate a mission involving spider elimination. While i could see her disdain with me still accompanying the brothers, it was made clear why she hated me, but showed ‘some’ understanding when I explained to her why I act in such a manner though what happened to my original Faith Mate… We all agreed to join her, for just this last time, as i’m sure Vissia will part from us after it. For now though, we will rest today, and start early tomorrow.

Fivesday, 4th Hand of Reaping

We departed for the cave, and feeling like I should let a fellow member of the cloth of the Gods, I told Vissia about the Pegasus, which really took to a conversation with her, in fact the longest talk we’ve had i’m sure, though our conversation is halted when we arrive at the cave, which only shows it to be a purposefully crafted hovel of a home, built into the ground with two massive doors, slightly ajar. Calisto and Giovanni had the idea of using the grease spell to allow the doors to open easier, and by Tomes, the sister of our new party members knew spells of her own. I’ll have to ask her about her teachings sometime. We entered the hovel, and after a bit of exploring, we saw no spiders… But a slight skitter above me revealed the creatures, and after a quick, and painful encounter, the spiders were dispatched. We then decided to investigate the hovel, finding many books, and ingredients for spellwork, indicating that this hovel belonged to a magi, but what kind…? It was soon after I started questioning this, that i heard a explosion in the next room. I rushed into the room, only to have my heart and soul racked with grief. Vissia is dead, her body burned severely, with Calisto badly injured. I carried Vissia’s corpse out of the hovel, and the brother, Onofrio offered his tent to act as a cover for her corpse so we can find a proper place to bury her. I wanted to find a place to put her to rest, but Onofrio convinced me to finish this investigation, which revealed that this hovel was a home of a worshipper, or follower of The Tyrant, and the room the corpse, whom I assume is the corpse of the heathen, was trying to get to was a den of bones of various humanoids and monsters, but with the sets of bone missing pieces of them. An ABOMINATION was made here, and it too must be dealt with, but priorities come first, we will head to Kingsbridge to lay Vissia to rest, with what little time of rest we have….

SotF Session 004: Giovanni se'Accardi

Fivesday 4th Hand of Reaping, AN 263 (continued)

Afterwards, Vissia passed out, and we laid her down. The gnoll continued to stare at the roof of the cave, completely devoid of any signs of life save for his rhythmic breathing. Alwin, the Earl's fighter who accompanied us and Siegfried left to pursue the “king of the goblins”. Siegfried made me promise not to open the mysterious door in the ruins without him present, but my brother persuaded me to let him attempt to open it. Together we deciphered some ancient Trantoran script which was the key to open the door. After it was unlocked, I opened it, which revealed what appeared to be the tomb of a mage. We found out later it was the tomb of one of the founder's of the Arcanyx. Grave robbing his tomb didn't sit right with me, but Callisto and I agreed to come back to it some day. Thankfully the magic seal upon the door remained intact after we used it. We decided to tell Siegfried that there was no need to continue investigating the ruins, which there wasn't, and to simply not mention the door. As long as we told the truth and avoiding telling any lies without revealing what we had done, we didn't have to worry about any lashback from Siegfried.

Before we opened the door however, Siegfried and Alwin came back and told us they were going to the village to try and procure some hunting dogs to find the goblin, And after we were done with the door, Vissia awakened. She killed the gnoll and told us she would be heading north, and that she was done with our party. It was fair, seeing as how Siegfried's methods were, dubious. I never really understood the stigma against Adjudicators until now. I did agree that Siegfried made it hard to have an opinion of my own, I seemed to be just along for the ride with him. I needed to stand up for myself more!

Callisto and I decided to head into town since we had not heard anything from Siegfriend and Alwin and found them drinking it up in town. Joining them we let them know our next destination. Settling on heading north, we enjoyed our meal until some soldiers from the nearby fort came into the inn and started making a ruckus, which ended with one of them killing a slave girl because he was unhappy with the quality of his food. It was ridiculous, a waste of good coin. It was like watching someone use a perfectly good horse for target practice. Plus, even if she was a slave, it was unsettling. Reminded me why I never went to the slave auctions in the city or the slave tents. Callisto decided to recruit some more people for our merry band and found a fighter named Onofrio and his sister Salinia.

Onofrio and Callisto decided to duel to test each others mettle, but Callisto accidentally stabbed him in the gut right as the duel started, leaving a very bad, lasting wound. This ruined his chances with Onofrio's sister. The idiot must have been thinking of how to bed her instead of paying attention to the fight. Sometimes he thinks with his codpiece instead of his head, its disappointing, really. So we decided to keep Onofrio and Salinia on until Onofrio could heal. Our meal ruined with the dead slave, and the duel incident, we turned in for the night. The next day we planned to bid Alwin goodbye, but he decided to stay with us for a bit longer, as the capital was in the same direction we were going.

Onesday, 5th Hand of Reaping, AN263

That morning we headed out, and it was a mostly pleasant ride to the next town, except that we witnessed something both horrifying and fascinating on the way there. It was a real bone-fide wild magic surge! It sundered the forest for miles behind us as we pushed our horses as much as possible to get away from it. It was truly a sight to behold, as well as the stampede of animals trying to get away as badly as we were. I hope the fires go out in the thick forest and we don't have a large forest fire on our hands. That could be bad for everyone. Callisto had picked up a couple of leads on possible things to do in Portigliari once we reached the town. The most interesting was an ad to deal with some spiders, but once we reached the town, we found none other then Vissia looking to recruit some people to do the same job. It seems we would be staying together, for one last adventure.

I tried to get some information such as the terrain of where we were heading and the kind of spiders we would be fighting so I knew what kind of spells to prepare, but Vissia wouldn't talk of the details, not wanting to have the job taken out from under her. Understanding, I decided to just head to our room for the night, which Alwin had graciously paid for on the Earl's dime. At this point I learned that Onofrio's sister, Salinia was also a mage! She was also Arcanyx trained even! It was fascinating! 

I couldn't decipher the way she was casting spells however. She told me she was a Conjuration caster though, So I figured it must simply be that Conjuration users performed their spells differently. Something at the back of my mind was nagging me, it still is even, but still, another caster in the party is wonderful! Maybe at some point we can share philosophies! Perhaps she'll even have some opinions on Zysohr's doctrine. Not many in the Arcanyx liked to talk philosophy with me for some reason, but maybe she would! I didn't want to come on too strong however, I'm sure since Callisto injured her brother her attitude to me will be very cold anyway. I'll have to be careful about it. I set some spells for the morning and turned in early. But before I turned in I learned from Callisto that the wardkeeper had summoned us to show up to the sky tower to the west of Vellara in the Sassenenvento Mountains in two hands.

Twosday, 5th Hand of Reaping, AN263

In the morning we had a good meal on the Earl's dime and Alwin left us. Then, Vissia led us into the woods. We rode for quite awhile before we came upon a strange metal door in the side of a hill. It didn't seem like there was space for spiders to be inside, but we decided to check it out anyway. Callisto opened the door after Salinia greased them up with the grease spell and snuck inside. He told us he found a room which just seemed like a normal room, so we all entered it and started to explore. Moving into the next room, we found a body, it looked like it had been there awhile. Then, before we knew it, spiders descended from the ceiling onto us! We forgot to look up like idiots! A rough battle ensured where we took out five of these spiders. Afterwards, I took the bodies outside to take back for payment, when I heard a large “boom” noise inside. Running back inside, I found my brother near death looking like a charred mess and Visia, who was well and truly a fried corpse. It was agonizing. Siegfried managed to save Callisto, and he explained he had found a book and set off a warding spell.

The discussion started to devolve as Siegfriend vehemently wanted to get Visia to a priest of Axsyn to have a proper burial and the like. Callisto even went so far as to tell Onofrio and Salinia they were free to go and giving them a silver as compensation for his wound. He was extremely distraught over the situation. Onofrio then offered his services to Siegfried who agreed, so they stayed with the party. We decided in the end to finish what we started for Visia. In the back room we found many corpses, it was a sickening sight really. We also found missing parts. It seems that perhaps the person we found dead was a necromancer, and that his creation was still loose. We decided to stay the night and hope we would run into the monster, and allow me the time to prepare the proper spells to hopefully deal with magical book that killed Visia and almost killed Callisto.

SotF Session 003: Giovanni se'Accardi

Foursday, 4th Hand of Reaping, AN263

The battle was short, but brutal, after throwing a single sling bullet, I was immediately pelted with an arrow, which sheared through my left side and left a gaping hole. Using my robes to slow the bleeding, I laid low for the rest of the combat, not wanting to exhaust precious spells. Before long the rest of the group had mopped up the rest of the goblins, and Vissia took care of my wounds. Then, before we could proceed further, we heard footsteps, so we took positions to deal with the next wave. I saw a huge gnoll, the fattest, stinkiest, goblin ever, along with another, I let loose a color spray hoping to knock them out, only the spell only blinded the fat one, looks like I had a long way to go to master the spell's strength.

Right after that the strangest thing happened, Vissia planted herself in front of the gnoll screaming “If you wish to harm the Earl, you will have to go through me first!” and then the gnoll clocked her on the head sending her to the ground like a rag doll. It was not a pretty sight. Not too much longer then earl (insert name) showed himself, and put a stop to our battle. After healing Vissia and putting forth the truce, eventually the Earl's subordinate came out to talk to us, and then eventually the earl himself. Explaining he was negotiating with the goblins, he invited us back to his camp, where we explained to him what had happened recently with the kingdom, extremely distraught by all the news, he bade us kill the goblins as they had not acted in good faith, and that he had to immediately return to the capital.

Fivesday, 4th Hand of Reaping, AN263

The next day, with a new task set before us, I couldn't help shake the feeling something was wrong about this whole encounter. We still couldn't explain what had made Visia defend the earl like a zealot, and she even let the Earl bed her that night, even I had this immense feeling that the Earl should have been the next king, but I've never thought like that before. It all just didn't make much sense, but we had no choice but to accept it.

After accepting the Earl's subordinate to help us, we headed back for the Goblins camp, Callisto was lagging behind so I moved further behind to figure out what he was up to only to find out he had a communication device with the Wardkeeper. We explained what we had found out, and the Wardkeeper told us to be wary as we dispatched the goblins.

We decided an ambush was our best bet, so we entered the goblins hovel pretending we were going to be paying them, and then right when they were close together, we sprung our trap! Using my color spray I subdued several goblins, and the fight with the gnoll was on. He nearly cleaved Vissia apart, but after a couple of my magic missiles, and several other attacks from the others, he went down. Everyone else rushed to defeat the rest of the goblins, but Visia walked up to the unconscious Gnoll, and healed him! It was unbelievable! I called out to the others, and Siegfried rushed back in, knocking Vissia into the water of the goblins den, she then proceeded to touch him and Siegfried visibly shriveled up and fell in a heap. She then started making a weird face and stroking the gnolls snout as it woke up.

The rest of the group arrived as Vissia told us she had entranced it, and we began questioning the gnoll. We learned a few things, the most interesting that the Earl's daughter had set up the attack on our caravan, and that there was plans for the Earl to take the throne, not the rightful heir. Soon after, we learned the goblins leader had escaped. It was a lot to take in, and now, we had to try to put the pieces together.

SotF Session 003: Sigfrido de'Zolezzi

Twosday, 4th Hand of Reaping

We had received orders from the Wardkeeper, to find the cause of the monster horde movements, seeing as they are moving in a semi-coordinated fashion. Our hints pointed us to two villages that are within their hunting path, and our first stop held word of goblins raiding farming fields. The village elder pointed out a hideout for them, and when we arrived to the burrow, not only did it seem like it was actually a mine, not a burrow, there were two horses tethered to trees off to the sides of the cave. We waited, and watched two pairs of goblins open the door of the ‘den’, for lack of a better word, though the entrance seems to be that of a mine. Following the goblins, i see a gnoll, larger than any i’ve seen before, alongside a slime…? No, it’s just a very fat goblin, yet even uglier than a normal one. What really caught my attention, was that two men, human men, were exiting with them. Fearing that they were being held against their will, i rushed the goblins at the front, striking them down swiftly, and i can finally see that one of the men was Earl Kuruli. THE MONSTERS MUST BE PURGED! However, once the goblins were dealt with, Vissia steps between me and the gnoll, saying how if I wanted to go after the Earl, I must go through her! The gnoll wasted no time or effort, and struck her down, i moved to defend her, but the gnoll struck at me as well, the entire time the Earl was telling the beast to stand down, his escort translating gnollish to it. Finally though, the monster stood at attention, but not battle ready. I knew the blow i suffered would keep me from fighting too much for the time being, but as Calisto brought me to the horses, i managed to work up the divine will to heal myself, even as excruciating as it was to do so. Returning to the den, I see that Vissia is now back up, and is still saying the same thing, even to the Earl’s surprise, but it seems his order to calm down seems to work as she slowly returns to normal, though still seemingly under some influence. After exchanging information, why the Earl was here to begin with, to the orders i received from Wardkeeper Tien, we humans set out to the Earl’s campsite to rest, and give further information to each other. 

Threesday, 4th Hand of Reaping

We have our orders from the Earl. Slay the fat goblin named Splig, and the Gnoll Varlair for their lies against the Earl in their negotiations. We devised a plan to take them by surprise, since Alwyn was coming with us, and his relationships with the gnoll, we would strike from within. Easily accepted inside of the den, and even to the core of their lair, the fight was short and swiftly carried out. The gnoll and the guards it had were dispatched, and even Splig was halted from running away. The cry out of “Vissia has healed the gnoll!”, however stole my attention, and I fled back to them forgetting to properly deal with the abomination of a goblin. I rushed to Vissia’s side, trying to state that she shouldn’t waste her divine powers on a monstrosity, but before i could continue, she grabs my arm, and everything goes black. What was an instant for me, but seems to be a minute later, I reawaken with a surge of life again. Pick one dammit, kill me, or heal me, I know I’ve the animosity of the Noyjan church, but you’d think there’s a limit. Vissia had the gnoll under some kind of influence, gently coercing answers from the gnoll. I swear she’d be the ‘nicest’ adjudicator if she can pull powers like that. We got some answers, the Earl’s daughter was the one to organize the raid on the caravan I was escorting, not the Earl, Varlair, or Splig. In addition to what the real business was between the monsters and the Earl. A door, in the mine was locked and would not open, and the Earl was urgently after what was inside. Alwyn and I returned to try to question Splig, but in the chaos of the moment, it had escaped, and after tracking where it went, it’s tracks suddenly disappeared. Curious…. Exhausted, Vissia passed out after her spell wore off, and with Splig missing, I decided to return to the village to see if I could requisition some hunting hounds to track Splig, leaving Giovanni and Calisto at the lair. We were, however, disappointed to find out that there was nothing in the village for us to use, and with no way to track it, we called for lunch. We were joined later by the brothers, who said they couldn’t make out what to do with the locked doorway, but that the door was actually a tomb,  one for a long-dead magi, which ultimately we decided to leave alone, and that we’d set out for the next village tomorrow. We were interrupted in our planning when a Envoy called out to a slave, over a meal that he didn’t order. He proceeded to attack the slave until she died at his hands… I should have just stepped in and arrested him for disturbing the peace of a public domain and out of spite for his Order, but since it was involving a slave, I chose to leave it be.

SotF Session 002: Giovanni se'Accardi

Twosday, 4th Hand of Reaping, AN263

Seems things are more complicated then I had originally anticipated. After the battle with the goblins, we came to the camp of the Ducean faith, with what was left of the caravan in tow. Of course, since we never even learned our employers name, there was no way for us to get paid. Settling into this fact, we decided to look into possibly buying some meager supplies to get us through until we figured out what to do next. Only, on the way there, we were summoned by some lady, still wondering what was going on, we headed over to a rather large tent in the compound.

What we learned was a rather shocking revelation, The mythical Wardkeeper, a secret position from Trant that maintains the wards that only allow one of royal blood to sit upon the throne, Who called herself Tianna di'Arashay, the Twinborn witch to the one who employed us back home, explained to us the young man we had protected, Tyrus, was actually an heir to the throne, and the only surviving member. Special magic had been cast upon him to conceal his legitimacy, until now. To top this off, the Siyja'an Adjudicator who had been traveling with us learned his half sister was the offspring of the last king of Trant. The Wardkeeper had a plan to keep them safe while we gathered information about who was trying to kill them, we were now integral pieces to protecting Trant's future. It was, overwhelming to say the least. Not to mention it seems that the Wardkeeper was keenly aware of the Archmage of the Arcanyx's wrongdoings and what I had found out, it was like someone was peering into my mind, it was as horrifying as it was fascinating. There was no time to discuss academics with Lady Tianna however. She paid and us and gave us a requisition order and instructed us to look into the goblins to the north and south. We spent a long time after that preparing for our journey.

The next day, we woke up early in our tent to the sound of panic. Callisto went to investigate early, I still had to do my early morning memorization, the life of a wizard is fraught with the simple pleasures of reading magic notation, Zysohr be praised for that. Shortly thereafter we found out that our charges were missing, while this was supposed to be the safest place for them in all of Trant at the moment. Instead of adding another couple bodies to an endeavor we hoped would be solved shortly, we set off on our journey, to find information on who could know, and want the heir's to the throne dead. Vissia, Callisto, the Adjudicator, I think he mentioned his name was Siegfrido and I all came for this expedition. After only a day of travel made it to a town, they said it was Ravesoria, but no sooner did we arrive then my brother made a fool of himself by trying to slyly dismount to impress a local lady, only to fall on his ass. Then, trying to make up for it, he swept the girl off her feet trying to show her some fancy dance moves, only to knock her on her ass. This is reason we can't have nice things. Thoroughly humiliated, he profusely apologized and asked about goblins, the lady still bewildered told us to speak to the village chief, not too much later, we spoke to him and he directed us to where some goblins could of possibly been.

So we set out to find these goblins, and maybe hopefully learn something. Only to Four goblins and two horses were in front of what looked to be an old mine. We wondered if the goblins had taken prisoners, and the horses were merely food, but it was strange that the horses would still even be alive then. We decided to take the fight to the goblins once Callisto was found trying to get a better look.

SotF Session 002: Sigfrido de'Lezzio

Onesday, 4th Hand of Reaping

We finally made it, and with the season in favor of Duceus, the village was crowded with tents and pavilions colored in His fashion, with some colored to the other God's scattered around the perimeter of the majority red and orange. The discussion with Varo, Highlord of Battles was very short, and very brief, a fitting style for a man of his monstrous size. After saying farewells, and quips of jest made to each other, I followed the guidance of the coin, which for Varo told him that I must go to the sole tent of Tomes, and found a non-leashed Witch inside. Tempted to uphold the law, and subjugate, or slay the witch was on the forefront of my mind, but she used her vile magic to stop me. Weirdly enough, she gave the four of us a requisition order, five Silver Pieces worth of equipment for our travels, and my new 'orders'...

Twosday, 4th Hand of Reaping

Just yesterday, I find out that my own mother was a Witch, who previously held the position of this Witch as Wardkeeper of the Throne, on top of the news that the boy we escorted being the last remaining son of the recently deceased King. TO TOP IT OFF, I FIND OUT THAT I WAS THE BASTARD SON OF THE KING BEFORE, CAST OUT WITH MY MOTHER BEFORE I WAS EVEN BORN, AND WHAT'S MORE, I EVEN HAVE A HALF SISTER! She gave me a bad feeling, a chill down my spine, but I had dismissed it then, but I have a strong feeling now. The boy, Tyrus, is missing, and the Witch, Tien, is talking Varo down as though he's a dog being whipped, and what's more, my sister is also missing with him! Conspiracies flood my mind, and various problems arise, with Tien mentioning her feeling her twin now passed, suddenly slain from unknown means. This Wardkeeper MUST be kept safe, for if she dies, the throne can be claimed by ANYONE, even the ones who are responsible for this whole mess! I swear to Syjan now, I WILL protect the throne for the proper heir, even if the Order is my own enemy. I will take up the role of Templar, Lawgiver of the God's Laws if I have too! With my Oath of Honesty, I may have problems, which my mouth may get me in trouble, but with these two brothers, they will be the falsity of my voice.

SotF Session 001: Giovanni se'Accardi

Foursday, 3rd Hand of Reaping, AN263

My brother wasn't interested in hearing about my graduation at all, at least he confirmed that he had put the “Large bound report” with my notes at home. He was more interested in the women in the inn. But then, the most troubling news came by, the King was dead! Slain, and all his kin! The revelations made even my own recent trials seem small. It was almost surreal, I could hardly think. I sat there drinking my tea, wondering about the future late into the night. It was just the two of us left in the common room, still reeling, when a strange woman came in, of course my brother seemed interested in her. He even said he saw a flash of red hair, the signs of a witch! A priest came to her and they talked of a boy and some mission. Very strange. We went to bed that night wondering about it.

Fivesday, 3rd Hand of Reaping, AN263

In the morning, she was still there, and Callisto had the audacity to just walk up to her and talk to her about what he heard! We still hadn't figured out what to do with the city being closed, we didn't even know if the family was still alive, and if we were on the list to get rid of or not. I came up and the woman instantly knew who I was, I don't know if Callisto just stupidly told her who we were, or what, she quickly asked me a pointed question about the school of magic I studied, and seemed knowledgeable of my response, which blew me away, as very few even knew the schools of magic, let alone the names of the types of mages. It seems she really was a witch, which was confirmed when I tried to break the illusion which is her red hair, which she showed me somehow, without any kind of incantation. It was baffling, and her beauty was simply unreal. Callisto was going for the throat as usual and trying to charm her. She offered us a job, something about escorting some priests for a pittance, and Callisto agreed instantly. So now I find myself working for a witch, with the king dead. The day just couldn't get any weirder. But it did. The witch said we would meet someone at a farmhouse, and lo and behold, my horse kicked me off of it once we arrived and a priestess of Noyja appeared and healed me. Then, off we went, as if it was meant to be. Zysohr grant me knowledge because I would like to know how the witch knew all this.

How did it end up this way? I'm in the middle of the woods with three horses, with the sounds of worgs all around, barely able to keep the horses steady, while Callisto and Vissia, the priestess of Noyja, left with a boy who we assumed was the boy the witch told us about to help the caravan we were supposed to join against a bunch of goblins. I feel so useless, if only I was strong. I tethered the horses and I'm going to take a look at what's going on, I have an idea, this forest might be the perfect place for my illusions to protect us, oh I pray to Zysohr stupid goblins don't have knowledge of illusions.