Into the Mournland

Jobob, Val, Gideon and Thyrinn went into the Mournland by themselves after Gideon heard Cernan singing in the distance, followed by shouts.  The party commandeers the remaining elemental cart and enters the Mournland.  The party quickly became disoriented and Val seemed to despair much worse than the others. 

After wandering aimlessly through the Mournland, they began to hear noises in the distance so they proceeded in that direction.  Before long, the mist cleared and they saw before them a large pavilion.  They approached the pavilion only to discover what appears to be the meeting place for a slave exchange - exclusively young women.  The exchange is run by a group of Hobgoblin slavers lead by Earl.  The slavers allowed the party to approach - they seemed amicable enough, except for, you know, the slave part.

The slavers, and their customers, far out number the party.

The party does not find Cernan, nor his "two hot scouts", at the slave pavilion.  They do, however, find two very familiar twin males negotiating with Earl for some of the slaves.  These men bear a haunting resemblance to Cernan's scouts. 

Before the party becomes too suspicious, the party does see Cernan capering off in the distance.  He is being pursued by the two scouts, not that he seems to care.

Before the scouts could close on Cernan, he simply disappears, mid skip.  The scouts try to disappear into the scrub, but the party is able to track their movements.  They appear to be searching for Cernan still.

While at the pavilion (open bar!), Jobob see's a slave he recognizes as Lina exit a tent on the outer perimeter of the pavilion area, looking very much the worse for wear.  She, too, has an iron collar about her neck.  She is cleaned up by the camp mage and put into the general pleasure slave population. 

Thyrinn takes pity on the slave Lina and purchases her from Earl, the hobgoblin slaver, for 115GP.  This does not include her silks, nor her iron collar.

For those of you who may not remember, Lina, is the young woman whom the party "rescued" from the Ruka Downs - leader of the Wroat gang, The Downers.  Lina was married to Ruka.  Ruka suspected rival gangs of Lina’s abduction.

This sparked off a gang war within Wroat, ultimately leading to a large part of the "Downs" and Docks area of Wroat being destroyed.  Martial law had to be declared by the King to contain the violence and restore order.

Near the end of the rioting, the party witnessed the execution of Ruka Downs by a rival gang leader, along with most of the leaders of his crew. 

Lina had not been seen since and was rumored to have been shipped upriver just before the rioting caused by the gang war.

Jobob, Val, Gideon, Thyrinn and Lina climb back into the elemental cart and head deeper into the Mournland.  Presumably in search of Cernan. 

They find that there are dangers in the Mournland.

*****

Petyr, Niben, and "Big A" (sorry, don't remember V's character right now) carried word of the ambush on House Cannieth, at the edge of the Mournland back to town.  When they returned, they found the party was gone, presumably into the Mournland.  They, too, enter the Mournland attempting to locate the rest of the party.

Petyr, Niben and “Big A” become lost and disoriented quickly in the eternal twilight of the Mournland.  As despair reaches its height, the party clears the mists, only to find what appears to be a small dwarf sitting on a rock outcropping, smoking a cigar.

The dwarf introduces himself as Pox, “your looking for your friends.  You wanna find them, you talk to me.”

And Then There Were Five

Sharn Inquisitive, Aryth 5th, 998

When the lightning rail left Sharn, three members of the “Bastards of Breland” were alive and well.  However, by the time the train had pulled into the Wroat station on the morning of Ayrth 5th, there was one less member of the “Bastards” that will stand trial in the coming weeks. 

The unlucky soldier was known as Private Wall.  Pvt. Wall was found dead in his cell aboard the train.

House Deneith had several of the infamous Sentinels aboard the train and are not saying what, if anything, they might know.

Bastards of Breland Trial Moved to Wroat

Sharn Inquisitive, Aryth 4th, 998

The trial of the Brelish soldiers, nicknamed the “Bastards of Breland”, but otherwise known as a squadron of the Breland 2nd Infantry, is being moved from Sharn to Wroat, capitol of Breland, after several mysterious deaths of the ‘Bastards’.  This move is out of concern for the safety of the defendants.

The defendants are on trial for war crimes committed during the last years of The Last War.  Charges of killing of non-combatants, torture, rape, and grand theft have all held up during the initial grand jury investigation and have now been brought before the high court of Breland. 

Representatives of each country who have brought forth these claims are present at the trial.  This includes Aundair, Breland, New Cyre, and Karrnanth.  Also present are representatives of the twelve houses.

Captain Reynold Mur, recently of House Deneith, was responsible for the squadron of men known as the ‘Bastards of Breland’, as well as many hundreds of other men and women in service.

Lt. Osama Burns, also of House Deneith, was the field commander of the squadron during the war and is under particular scrutiny.

The members of the ‘Bastards’ in custody are:

• Sgt. Meeks.  Meeks is a landowner on the outskirts of Sharn.
• Pvt. Sneak.   Sneak is rumored to be connected to an unnamed syndicate in Sharn as an enforcer.
• Pvt. Wall. Wall is known to be employed by the businessman, Boss Hugo.

The members of the ‘Bastards’ who have been recently killed are:

• Sgt. Pike, Deceased. Sgt. Pike was pushed off the High Court Bridge during the early morning of Sypheros 24th.  When his body was later recovered it was found tangled in the suspension of a lower bridge with a noose around its neck.
• Pvt. Shield, Deceased.  Shield was found dead in his cell in the early morning of Sypheros 25th.  Shield was known to be employed by the businessman, Boss Hugo.
• Pvt. Dog, Deceased.  Dog was killed sometime during the transit on the Sharn-Wroat connection of the lightning rail on Arhth 1st.  Dog was the owner of the Lifted Leg bar located in the Sharn lower Cogs.

Their is one remaining member of the ‘Bastards’ that needs to be brought to trial.

• Pvt. Ghost.  Ghost is living up to his namesake as he has never been found to answer for his crimes.  A reward of $1000 gold for the capture, or information leading to the capture, of Pvt. Ghost still stands.

Is the End Neigh?

Sharn Inquisitive, Aryth 1st, 998

Its the end of the world, or so many residents of Sharn were thinking to themselves as they were caught up in a Dark Week like none other before it. 

Traditionally, for this week long holiday of the Sovereign Host, participants will dress up in sometimes horrific costumes, most notably are renditions of the Dark Six. These participants in the celebration use this week to let off steam and are known to cause minor mischief throughout the city for the 6 days leading up to the last day of Sepheros.  The morning of the last day is when participants dressed up as a god from the Sovereign Host, ‘drive’ out the remaining members of the Dark Six still found on the streets.  At least that's the way its supposed to happen.

There were 6 confirmed attacks by the organization known as the Emerald Claw, at residences and establishments around the city.  It seems the members of the Claw used glamours, slightly better than the street variety, to appear as members of the Dark Six to work their way into each establishment.   Once there, they began to attack the occupants.  One of the most notable attacks occurred at the Jade Lounge, owned by Luscious Cole, where members of the ‘Jade Blades’ were actually able to drive out the Dark Six themselves.  Other establishments were not so lucky.  One such establishment burned completely to the ground.

All told, some 138 people lost their lives during this years Dark Week celebration, 136 being accredited to acts of the Emerald Claw.

The Sharn guard has an active investigation into the acts of the Emerald Claw and as further information becomes available we will publish it here.

Thunderspire Cast of Characters

Player Characters

Order of the Tankard - "We like beer"

Bulid - Male Dragonborn Warlord

Kob - Male Dwarven Warlock

Ember - Female Human Wizard

Domhnallaidh ("Dom") - Male Human Fighter; loves to sing "Dancing Queen" with a Scottish accent.

Kerrick - Male Human Fighter

Non-Player Characters
Elo - Male Goblin Hexer; beaten by the players and forced to join their party. Surprisingly charming for a goblin.

Brugg - Male Ogre Fighter; appointed by the Mages of Sarun to uphold the law in the 7 Pillard Hall. Somewhat brutal, but relatively honest.

Zeb's Dead

Zeb's Dead, man. Zeb's Dead. Lying at the bottom of a cold, dark well, once again I feel the cold waters close over my head...

Anger Management

Ever been in a situation where you wish you could have thought of something clever to say only to come up with the right answer hours later? Zeb was there. After the big scary looking undead guy, who just popped up out of a stone sarcophagus at the end of a really wigged out alter room, points his really big sword at him and asks “Are you prepared to lay down your life to protect the rift?” which he was going to do any way, he should have cleverly said “yes”. But all Zeb could think to say was “Look, you big rotting bone pile, you're just slowing us down, why don't you pipe down and get out of our way?!?” Zeb found out what it's like to have two and a half feet of steel sticking out of his chest. All because he couldn't think of something clever to say.