Aftermath

And so winter has come and the murderhobos are waiting it out in Mamucium for spring and more importantly, when all us players have time again for a weekly game. For those who have been wondering where all the action took place. Mamucium is where Manchester is now, Deva is Chester and most of the wilderness action took place in what is now the nearby Peaks District. Ashrak resided at the Dark Peak and the stone giant at White Peak respectively.

Using real world locations and a loose interpretation of historical events gives players in-built knowledge from the get go without having to peruse what are often not very exciting screeds of lore for the game. The lore is there, the players knew where the towns were, what the Wall was, what people sort of dressed like and part of one of the underlying problems. The dwarves are abandoning Brittania and leaving the area ripe for chaotic incursions. Orcs, elves, aboleths, mind flayers and finally, humans. In other words, an ideal adventuring environment.

It seems we will be resuming in February. The cast may be a little different and so I present today the playable species. Note that no species except Tieflings have darkvision.

Dwarves: Abbathor’s children, the dwarves have established an empire analogous to that of Rome. Dwarves are Romans. Of course, the dwarven empire is in decline and beset by strife. The mountain dwarves are the military caste with hill dwarves being the commoners.

Elves: Correlon’s children. Literally for high elves. Each High elf is a special creation of Correlon with Wood elves being their subsequent descendants. High Elves are thus rare and often seldom leave Hibernia. They are the aristocracy of the elven courts, the most powerful and ancient being the fey lords themselves.

Low Elves (Half elves): It was said that elf and dwarf are incompatible and such unions cannot produce offspring. However in some forgotten time this somehow happened and their descendants muddied the waters further by being compatible with both elf and dwarf. Low elves typically retain mainly elven features but can be quite varied as the dwarven traits come to the fore here and there. Low elves are the most common people of Britannia, formerly a subject race, the decline of dwarven influence may mean a time where they can forge their own destiny.

Halflings. Yondalla's children and the first of the smaller sentient races.. Halflings have been shunted aside, displaced or enslaved by the larger peoples. It is their skill with agriculture and growing food that makes them tolerated at all, if only as slaves and serfs. Halflings are thus good at hiding and one may often find a halfling community tucked away in some forgotten, hard to reach area.

Orcs. The wild children of Gruumsh. They exist mainly to bring pain to the Elves although they will make war on others as they also delight in battle. Orcish by-blows abound in lands afflicted by them and orc blood can resurface at any time. Half orcs are everywhere.

Gnomes: Natives of Hibernia. Some say they were originally halflings that have changed from dwelling in the fey realms. Gnomes are strange, weird, little monsters. Many have not seen a gnome and will mistake them for a strange halfling.

Dragonborn and Tieflings: Somewhere in your family tree was either a fiend or a dragon and you are the strange monstrous result. People will fear and hate you. Or maybe worship you, thinking favour with you equates to favour with dark and draconic powers. Only dragonborn and tieflings have darkvision of all the races.

Hobgoblin: The exotic and martial peoples of the east. Hobgoblin society is Persian in nature. While the Dwarven and Hobgoblin empires are at war there is also trade and adventurers venture into each other’s lands. A Hobgoblin in Britannia is uncommon but not as remarkable as a Dragonborn, Tiefling or even a gnome.

Hobgoblin Characters
Languages: A hobgoblin adventurer will know Hobgoblin, Dwarven and one other language.

A hobgoblin is from a very militant society. Hobgoblins tend to Lawfulness and disdain Chaos.

Attributes: +1 to Str, Dex and Con. One of these is +2.

Martial training. Choose three weapons. You may be proficient in these weapons.

Armour training: Improve your armour proficiency by one step. All hobgoblins are proficient in shields.

Martial advantage: If an ally is using the same weapon as you, you are both proficient in the weapon and you are fighting the same opponent then you may claim advantage to the arttack roll.

Suspicious of magic: All hobgoblins fear the power of Mystra. Any known mage has advantage to intimidate them. Likewise they are at disadvantage to intimidate back.

Lizardmen: In many of the swamps and fens of Brittania dwell tribes of lizardmen. Whether they are the degenerate offspring of dragonborn or some strange species of a forgotten god is unknown. Lizardmen are unfamiliar with the trappings of civilisation but do excel in surviving where others do not.

Lizardmen Characters

Lizardmen are wild, swamp dwellers and primitive by the standards of the other species. 
Attributes: +2 Str, +1 Wis.
Heavy scales. A lizardman's natural AC is 12. If wearing armour then use the AC of the armour worn.
Survivors. Lizardmen have the Survival proficiency.
Bite Attack: Lizardmen may bite when in melee either as the main attack or as a second weapon. A lizard bite counts as a finesse weapon and does 1d6 piercing damage.
Languages: Lizardmen adventurers will know Draconic and Dwarven.

Ghouls: Dwelling beneath Deva is a society of Ghouls. They are dangerous, feral creatures but lucid and capable of reason and they may not eat everyone they meet. It goes without saying that all right thinking sentient beings will slay a ghoul on sight. Even a single ghoul is a potential extinction event. 

Ghoul Characters

Attributes: -2 Wis. -1 to one other characteristic.
Undead: A ghoul cannot be slept, frightened or poisoned. Being already dead they are resistant to necrotic damage but vulnerable to radiant damage. A ghoul need not breathe. A ghoul is also resistant to healing magic and the divinity providing the healing spell may flat out refuse to heal the ghoul.
Ghoulish touch. A ghoul may strike with it's claws or bite. Claws/Bite do d6 damage and may paralyse the victim as per the monster manual.
Ghoulish feeding. A ghoul may eat carrion. A good feeding equivalent to a human forelimb is sufficient to allow a ghoul to expend it's hit dice for healing. This is the only way for aghoul to recover hp using Hit Dice.
Already dead. A ghoul does not die when reduced to 0 hp unless felled by radiant or fire damage. It will instead fall unconscious.
Create ghoul. A victim slain by a ghoul's natural weapons may rise as a ghoul the next night. If not blessed the character makes a final Wis saving throw DC 13. If failed they rise as a ghoul.
Feared by all. Ghouls are at disadvantage to any social checks except intimidation.


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Episode 10 - The Children of Bane

In which our band reveals how new adventurers are made.

Eventually the band relented to Myrdynus' desire to visit Ashrak the necromancer. However, on their way there they saw a comet falling to the earth. Since they figured it landed not far to the south they imediately changed plans and went to investigate.

Two days later near Viroconium they spied a band of strange warriors. They were heavily armed and armoured, were as tall as elves, yet built like orcs. They had strange flat faces, round ears and a coppery colour to their skin. They spoke among themselves in a strange booming tongue no-one had heard before. Upon their shields they bore the device of Bane, the self styled Lord of All and god of Tyranny. Not wishing to provoke such a dangerous the band hid and let them pass.

They soon came upon a small hamlet. Five more of the alien warriors were present. The band found a lone villager, a young low elven woman. Myrdynus charmed her with magics to make her more her agreeable so they could find out what was going on. Her name was Ana, she had been sent off by her family gathering herbs so that the alien men wouldn't bother her. She said they had appeared on the night of the great light in the sky and had announced they were the new lords and masters. Because they were well armed and the hamlet not the low elves had agreed. The creatures called themselves Hummins, or something like that. About a quarter century had appeared. Most had marched off but five had remained.

While she was still ensorcelled the band had Ana find some poisonous mushrooms to add to the hummin's food for the night. They then waited. After their meal one of the hummins fell sick and the rest gathered up the hamlet. At this point Perrin sounded a horn, other drawing the warriors off into an ambush where they were slaughtered. The band then dragged the bodies off into the nearby woods and then Scawl, using a desembling guise to appear as a hummin went to question the remaining sick warrior. The hummin revealed that they were indeed creations of Bane. Bane was now a creator god and the Humans his mighty creation to rule this world. The sick warrior wondered who would get his wives since he had clearly failed and also informed Scawl that the others were travelling north to meet a devotee of Bane. The band wondered about the wives bit briefly, since all the humans they had seen so far were male. They then decided that the others meeting Antonius would be a bad thing and set off after them. They took Ana with them, since she knew too much and paid her father ten gold for her.

Moving quickly the band caught up with the humans. At night after having Ana gather and prepare more poisonous herbs Myrdanus made Scawl invisible. Scawl then infiltrated the camp, poisoned the food and then as warriors began dropping cut ropes to tents, set things alight and causing chaos. The rest of the band attacked and over the course of that night and the next day slaughtered the invaders. Since Ana managed to acquit herself well in the resulting mayhem and wasn't a twitching puddle or dead at the end they decided she would be a useful addition to the band. Some were unconvinced but when she evidenced interest in exactly how much wealth they had acquired over the last month or so they realised she was indeed a kindred spirit.

The band then went on to Mamucium. There they found that Antonius had been busy building a temple to Bane and he and his followers were expecting some sort of sign real soon. The band said nothing to them and inquired after their pub, the Illmaten cultists and finally the Beshaban priestesses. The devotees of the Lady of Misfortune secretly thanked the band for bringing suffering so soon to Bane's children and agreed to take Ana under their wing. They soon discovered Ana had an aptitude worthy of becoming a Doomistress, a holy champion of their goddess. The band exchanged worried looks and wondered what sort of monster they had created.

Since winter was coming the band decided to settle in for the cold in Mamucium. They made contact again with Ashrak. The dead necromancer was very interested in their exploits and made many helpful suggestions to Myrdanus. He also requested that they bring him samples of the new creatures, these humans, so that he might study them...

Episode 9 - Chivalry and Sorcery

In which our heroes observe the children of Corellon and Annan.

A week later the band was on their way to Deva. Having established a pub at Mamucium, Navio and Aquae Arnemetiae they felt Deva was the next step. Besides they found Antonius scary and didn't want to be around while Caius and Galbotorix negotiated. While on the road to Deva they heard the report of a horn. Perrin immediately recognised it as an Elven war horn. Some elves were out a hunting. Not wishing to become the hunted the band sought cover and hid.

Soon an elven hunting party cam into view. First came the gnomish beaters, armed with spear and shield. Behind them came four more of the large owl beasts hooting and chirping. Then came three elves on horseback. They were dressed gaily, as if for a festival. That is if you discounted the wicked looking weapons they carried. Beside them prowled two strange creatures, great cats with black-purple fur and two tentacles from their backs. Most disturbing was the way these creatures shimmered and flickered as if not wholly of this world. They never appeared to be in the same place twice and when you blinked they would be somewhere else entirely. The party passed, one of the elves sounding the horn occasionally. Intrigued, the band followed.

Soon there was an answering horn. The elven party formed up and began moving towards it. As it was moving past a cliff face, part of the cliff detached itself and smote one of the gnomes dead with a massive club. A giant! It was then the five other giants charged out of the rocks and trees and attacked.

The first giant had the appearance of being animate white chalk. The others were deformed and hideous. Boils, warts and blemishes covered their bodies which were misshapen and not at all symmetrical. One had three arms while another two heads. The giants tore into the gnomes and owl beasts while the elves hung back and provided covering fire. The feline monsters darted here and there flickering and shimmering as they raked the giants with their claws and lashed out with their tentacles. Gnomes screamed and died as the monsters fought. The deformed giants bodies were soon covered in many small wounds and bled a number of foul colours.

With a flash and a crack one of the elves let loose a bolt of lightning which struck one of the giants, killing it. In reply the chalk giant picked up a boulder and threw it at the offending elf, felling him. The other elves picked up their companion and fled, their creatures breaking as well. The deformed giants howled in victory and chased after them. The chalk giant gave a tectonic shrug and strode off on business of it's own. The band, having watched all this decided now was the time to loot the bodies.

The dead giant was even fouler in death, releasing strange, noxious gases. Persevering, Myrdynus looted the giants bag, in which were six large runestones. He also emasculated the creature and took the parts as a trophy. Cheet and Sendin tried to calm and tame the wounded beasts but had little success. Scawl and Perrin tried tracking the giants to see where they had come from.

They discovered a fissure in the ground that looked as if it recently had been torn open by massive claws. Going inside they discovered that instead of a cave there was a large tunnel of dressed and worked stone. While foul and noxious the workmanship was excellent. They lit a torch and ventured inside. They soon found a side passage, but before they could get to it a voice cried out in passable Dwarven greeting them. It asked if they had anything to eat. Scawl asked if it liked fresh gnome and the voice said yes, it did. There was a pause as Scawl and Perrin went and procured some gnome and brought it back. They threw the bodies into the intersection and a long leathery tentacle snaked out, gathered them up and dragged them away. There was then a hideous sound of crunching and feasting. The thing then inquired if they had any elf. It had not eaten elf in a long time. It offered them a book of magic should they bring it one. Perrin fled, not wishing to become a meal while Scawl tried to negotiate down to owl beast. The thing stuck to its demands, elf or nothing. The negotiations also roused another creature who called out, it was a disgusting yet female voice which the first voice informed Scawl was 'She who breeds monsters'. Scawl ran.

Up in the open the band gathered up and wondered what to do. The first voice seemed to be friendly and so they decided to go down and talk with it again. They dragged along the body of an owl beast as an offering. The voice was disappointed that there was no elf but appeared mollified. It came out to gather the much larger meal. It was a massive monstrous form, much larger than a bear with three stumpy legs and  three large, horned tentacles. One of the tentacles sported eyes and the body was bisected by a massive, toothy maw. Most of the band were frightened but stood there ground, greed overcoming fear until 'She who breeds monsters' called out again informing everyone that if no-one brought her elf she would gobble them back up. At this, the band fled.

The band then set to tracking the giants although track is probably too strong a word for following the trail of destruction their passage left. Eventually they heard the giants coming back the other way. Each of the monsters was covered in arrows and bleeding but still active. Scawl approached them and informed them of She who breeds monsters demands. The giants set to arguing among themselves about what to do. Despite Scawl's promptings they found the elves painful and did not want to go back. Eventually they decided to set out on their own. They asked where they could find some halflings and Scawl told them. The giants then dug the halflings out of their holes and then devoured them. In return they told Scawl where the chalk giant lived. White Peak. The band quickly set off, not wanting to become the next meal.

The trip to White Peak took two days and another half a day to the summit to speak with the giant. It maintained a lonely vigil over the surrounding countryside and smushed intruders. It was worried about the Watchers and suggested that Wall, a giant that had cooperated with the dwarves to form the Wall keeping the Orcs at bay may know more. It also suggested conferring with the remaining giant priests. They lived far to the south at the White Mountains, the resting place of Annan.

Episode 8 - Mining for slaves.

In which our heroes deal with an alien slaver.

The band set about consolidating their gains. While they thought Caius should bear the burden of having kingship thrust upon him they figured what they really needed was a good place to sleep wherever they went in the new kingdom. Some want fame, some want riches, others want hot and cold running courtesans. What they band desired most was a chain of pubs.

There was some argument as what to do with Aquae Arnemetiae. Cheet wanted to tear down the baths, form an alliance between the dog-people, local fey and the giant multi-headed serpent towards druidism and the old ways. The others wanted some stones still standing upon another. They were really set on the public house which was fairly large for a small community since it used to serve the tourist trade. Cheet eventually relented agreeing that bringing in tourists and pilgrims would aid in supplanting the worship of Abbathor.

The next morning brought a small snag in the entire chain of pubs plan. The local dog-man who was an actual brewer had been abducted! A thing had crept into the village, come in through a window and abducted him. The band set off in pursuit, only slightly worried by the fact that while they could follow the drag marks of the brewer the abductor seemed to have no feet. Myrdynus informed everyone it was probably a flying, lightning powered brain / tentacle beast he had seen in a book. Undeterred they pressed on.

The trail led to a section of forest that was dying. Fungi, molds and other noisome things had taken over the once lush forest. Moving through the dank mass they reached an old mine complex. Inside they discovered a large mushroom, taller than a dwarf but just as round. As they approached a mass of hyphae opened and squirmed followed by a second mass close by. The thing had eyes!

The band responded prudently and with fire and cold magics to the monstrosity and it was soon ablaze. They ventured further in and discovered a vertical shaft. Sending Scawl down he discoved the shaft was soon blocked by a mass of flesh. Further progress was possible through some sort of sphincter to which Scawl thought 'No fucking way!' The band retreated from the mine and started looking for another way in.

Outside in the fungus forest Cheet attempted to find the local fey. A blackened almost dead dryad responded, painfully crawling out of a mass of growths. She informed them that the attack had started last season and was centered on the mine. Fortunately she did know of a another way in. A stream from a broached aquifer had made an opening. The band ventured inside, crawling and squirming through the narrow gaps in the rock. It eventually opened out to a large cavern filled with tailings and covered in fungi. There were four large animate fungi around a fire. Nearby were six humanoids which had been transformed by fungi and could be described as fungus men. As the band watched another creature emerged from another tunnel.

The newcomer was a horrific fusion of cephalapod and humanoid. It had a massive ovoid head and two bulging, unblinking eyes. It's purple skin was oily and four snakelike tentacles writhed and squirmed around a lipless, quivering mouth. It wore a semblance of clothes, mainly belts and pouches to hold it's bizarre and eldritch possessions. The creature made no sound, but the fungus men lined up behind it and began to follow the creature. It was at this point that the band attacked.

The battle was quick and brutal. The monster had a mental scream that would reduce any regular mortal to an insensate heap but they prevailed against that and the thing's surprisingly strong tentacles. Soon, it was captured and after a quick charm from Sendin surprisingly talkative, if mental telepathy is talking. It was not a Watcher, but knew of them and regarded them as distant cousins or honoured ancestors, possibly both. It was an inter-dimensional traveler and miner. What it was mining was the head of a dead god floating in the space between worlds. It had come to the world to aquire miners and had allied with the fungus creatures to transform the inhabitants into slaves more able to withstand the horrors of no-space in general and the dead head in particular. It made all sorts of promises and offers, but in reality was biding it's time. Once it had enough strength it vanished, moving from one level of reality to another.

The band then ransacked the creatures local base of operations, found the brewer and left, setting the entire thing to the flame. Once outside they also made arrangements to repair the damage done by the fungus and restore the forest.

Episode 7: Earth and Water

(Last session saw Heskin depart to search in the north for Torm's axe. He was replaced by Myrdynus, a low elven wizard with an unhealthy fascination for the darker arts.)

On reaching Navio, Senden scouted ahead keeping to the tree line for cover. As he approached the fort he noticed several creatures also observing the fort. They had the appearance of wolves but walked like men and carried spears and great war bows, bigger than he had ever seen.They conversed in the language of wolves but Sendin knew a charm to translate their barks, growls and yips. The creatures were intent on the fort as well though they quickly became distracted by the scent of halfling. Thinking they had discovered him Sendin returned to the war-band.

Conferring with the rest of the band they decided to see if there were more of the beast-men. Going as a group they discovered a large band of the creatures just lounging about. With them were three large misshapen dwarves. Ogres! Transformed by some foul sorcery they were little more than brutes, dangerous in battle but not the best conversationalists. The monsters had made no attempt at a camp but were merely resting while they stopped. Having learned of this new threat the band retreated and discussed strategy. Scawl recommended the well heeled orcish tactic of waiting for the others to attack first and then doing for them in the rear. It went a long way towards explaining how the orcs seldom made any progress in their chronic warfare against elf and dwarf.

The monsters made their move at dusk. The band were briefly surprised by a second group of monsters approaching the fort as well. They were even more surprised when a lone figure walked ahead of the second  band and caused the gates to explode in a ball of fire. At this point the monsters attacked, the Ogres rushing to batter down the gates and the beast-men following. Caius then attacked with his men, coming to the relief of the fort they had planned to attack. While his force was more disciplined the savagery and raw power of the monsters was easily a match. The band decided killing the enemy magic user and his guard the best course of action.

Moving round the battle under cover of Cheet's magics the band managed to get in position. The wizard was guarded by several beast-men and an ogre as he cackled and tormented foes with sorcerous fire. As the band closed the wizard uttered a dreadful curse that bewitched and confused Scawl and Myrdynus, Fortunately the spell must of caught the beast-men as well as they attacked each other as much as their enemies.  Still, it would of gone poorly for the band had Sendin not charmed the Ogre and the wizard. With them out of the picture it was an easy matter for Cheet and Perrin to kill the beast-men.

Upon interrogating the charmed wizard they learned he was a renegade druid who had sold his soul to Asmoday, a fiend of the Hells, in exchange for power to slay every last dwarf. The beast-men were his fellow countrymen, transformed by sorcery and the Ogres the wretched remains of their former lords and masters. The band were sufficiantly horrified by his crimes and killed him on the spot. They then took his things. Of particular note was a dagger made of some unearthly metal and what appeared to be a spellbook.

Meanwhile the battle proper was almost over. With the wizard dead any semblance of order in the monsters collapsed and they routed. While the fort had been overrun clearing it of monsters was merely a formality and the band brought managed to acquire the forts pay chest in the looting. Still, there was plenty of booty for everyone.

While the war-band secured the area and rallied the defenders the band wondered what to do next. The wizard had come from Aquae Arnemetiae, a village and baths built on sacred springs with many healing powers. It was the corruption of the pools that had led to the transformation of the villagers.
The band and Caius set off to relieve the village and hopefully remove the curse.

A day later saw them on the outskirts of the village. The remaining villagers were in varying states of transformation into beast-men. The villagers were also acting like beasts. From the pools and the baths came a pulsating greenish light. While the band wondered what to do about the hundred or so beast men in the village Cheet went and contacted a nature spirit. The spirit informed Cheet that an accursed stone had been placed in one of the underground springs. A serpent guarded it and it's multiple heads ensured that it was always wakeful. She gave Cheet a dagger that would grant gills to anyone cut by it.

So the band ventured into the cavern of the spring. Sendin and Myrdynus charmed and lulled the two watchful heads so Scawl could steal the stone. Once removed they destroyed it. While the waters reverted back to their blessed state the people remained changed as beast-men though their senses returned. While thankful they were still in shock over their changed natures.

Episode 6 - The Past and Future Kings

In which our our band meet people and consider who shall rule the island.

Having secured Deva from the undead menace the band organised that the governor hold a feast for the survivors. The governor agreed on the basis that not being lynched was a good thing but did twitch at the sight of people eating him out of house and home. Leaving the town in good spirits the band took off with some of the finest and headed to the armed camp outside.

They arrived and talked with the camps leader, Caius. The low elf renegade had assembled several warbands with the express purpose of liberating Deva from the undead menace and the added attraction of looting the temple of Abbathor. He was relieved to hear that the threat had been dealt with and was only mildly worried about explaining going home empty handed to the chiefs who had joined him. Caius was also a follower of Torm the Just (and a bit stupid) having learned of the god and being impressed by the need for fairness, justice and an obligation to protect the weak and not merely exploit them. The band thought this also good and plotted to increase Caius' reputation and standing. Their thinking was that orderly rule was a deterrence to the Watchers. If the land was under unified rule, just not that of the grasping dwarves then they could be kept at bay. Some gold was found to keep the other chiefs along and the band decided the first target would be the silver mines to the east and the fort that guarded them. To aid Caius, Heskin chose to stay with him as champion or possibly to take the role of ruler himself. The rest of the band was mildly horrified at the idea of the uncompromising attitude of their companion being thrust upon the land and suggested Caius as a better candidate.

Returning to Deva  they then planed to visit the undead court beneath Deva. They managed to gain an audience with King Brettanus an ancient ruler of that part of Brittania. Some strange transformation had occurred when he died, leaving him undead. Over the millennia he had fashioned a small underground kingdom and had acquired undead followers until his court numbered some four score individuals. While the furnishings had clearly seen better centuries it was recognisable as a king's court.The band offered news of the world of the living which was eagerly accepted. One thing the dead lacked was new stories and tales. They also traded various knowledge as the ghouls had bards, druids and wizards of their own and were happy to share their necromantic arts. Scawl went acquired some new clothes for the king and his concubines which further helped cement relations.

Also of great interest was that the ghouls could hear the Watcher's tunneling and that they did not disturb their underground realm. Seldin guessed this was because Brettanus had created a zone of order which was repulsive to the watchers. The band considered aiding Bretannus in extending his dark realm but Scawl, the conscience of them all said 'no, that would be bad' and they mostly agreed.

Since creating a dark kingdom was off the menu the band returned a few days later with a deeper appreciation of Necromancy and set off to aid Caius and his troops. A few days more travel saw them to the fort they planned to take...

Interlude 2 - These are the people in your neighbourhood.

First off a word from one of the players.

Fabio here and my character is Cheet the Hobgoblin druid.

D&D is like my 1st love. It was the system that hoked me into RPG. I remember scouring through shops back in Italy in search of the "Red Box" then the "Blue Box", until I collected all four. My brother still has those back at home.

I then spend 20 years of my life dedicated to my carrier in hospitality, and stopped playing.
Once I finally got a 9-5 job in education I started searching for RPG players and discover The Dragon Quest group in Auckland. I have been playing with them for the last 2 years.

I always wanted to get back and play D&D and when William suggested to run a game with the 5th edition I jumped at the chance.
Picking it up was like riding a bike. You just need to remember some of the basics and then you are away.
The character generation was quick and easy to pick up. I rolled dice for the stats, however for the druid I follow the quick creations ideas, as well as rolling for the background. I thought it may be more interesting/challenging and fun to play something that I left to chance.

Some of the mechanics of the game are pretty much the same, however I do not remember if the 1st edition had the rolling for initiative wick I like a lot. I also like the advantage/disadvantage mechanics, however the choosing of the spells for my druid can be a little daunting. Having spell card or a good spell apps on the phone definitely helps.

Over all I enjoyed the original system and I do enjoy this new system. I personally found that some of the rules may be a bit scattered in the book but definitely easy to pick up.

High Fives all around for me on this one.

And now all those divinities you've been reading about and have been bedeviling the PCs.

The major gods of the Brittania campaign. The entire pantheon is a revised and trimmed down version of the Faerun (Forgotten Realms) mob. Why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to? But they are trimmed down. Often settings can have too many divinities which typically overwhelms players. The other reason is that the purgation of the 'good' divinities makes for a darker universe.
With the exception of Torm, Ilmater and Yondalla the other powers are neutral at best and most are, well they are the bad boys and girls of the Faerun pantheon.

Creator Gods

All these gods have created and shaped a people, a species in their image.

Abbathor: The God of the dwarves. King of Heaven. Abbathor is a god of civilisation and all that implies. He is a god of industry, order, laws, cities and commerce. However he is also concerned with tyranny, conquest, ambition and slavery. All dwarven settlements and cities will have an opulent temple dedicated to this deity. Abbathor is a dictatorial ruler of the heavens and all other gods must bring him tribute. Prefered sacrifice, gold and precious gems given to a high priest.

Maglubiyet: The God of the Goblins. Chief enemy of Abbathor, Magubliet is creator of the High Goblins (hobgoblins). He is the god of steel, the secret of which was wrested from him by the Dwarven heroine Mayani. Nevertheless hobgoblin steel is the best in the world. Magubliet also embodies tactics, order and security. The mighty ones temples are rare in Britannia but the debased goblin race erect idols to him in caves. To best secure his favour sacrifice a shaved dwarf.

Corellon: The God of the Elves. Lord of Forests, the wild and the hunt. Corellon makes each High Elf personally. Each High Elf is a special unique creation and may be male, female, neuter or hermaphrodite as pleases this lord of the fey. His place of power is Hibernia and it is where he resides and has dominion over. Sacrifice: A mighty kill with the bow. He is also patron of the gnomes.

Gruumsh: The God of the Orcs. God of savagery, of battle, rage and spoils. Gruumsh is Corellon’s brother and created the Orcs to oppose and slaughter his brother’s children. It is said in the early ages that these two deities fought. That is where Gruumsh lost his eye and the remains of his sanity to his brother. Sacrifice, a high elf.

Yondalla: The Goddess of the Halflings. Goddess of agriculture, the hearth and protection. Yondalla is an older goddess and her people have been largely supplanted by the larger more vigorous races. She is the conquered and enslaved concubine of Abbathor. Her worship is tolerated and allowed in the lands of the dwarves. Dwarves never forget to remind halflings of this divine oppression. The first portion of the harvest is her preferred sacrifice.

Annan: The god of the giants, the first peoples. God of Order: Annan’s peoples are the giants, created along with the world to play out the conflict with his rival Tiamat. Although Tiamat was caged by Annan in the Abyss her master of assassins later poisoned Annan and he now lies buried beneath the earth as near to death as a primal force of creation may be. His stirrings are responsible for earthquakes and volcanoes. Without their god, the giant civilisation collapsed and they are but a degenerate shadow of their former selves.

Tiamat: Goddess of Chaos: Her peoples are the dragons. Created like the giants, to play out the cosmic conflict between order and chaos. Eventually, Annan and the giants were victorious, slaying most of the dragons and chaining Tiamat at the very bottom of what is now known as the Abyss. It is her screams and cries that gave form to the demons. Her blood, when it fell on the earth gave rise to many of the monsters and it is said that these first monsters are immortal.

Lesser Deities

These divinities often represent an aspect or set of aspects. An A, G or E indicates their allegiance to Abbathor, Magubliet or Corellon respectively. Such deities typically appear as a member of that species. The unaligned may choose as needed.

Auril (A): The Frostmaiden. Goddess of ice, snow and winter. She acts as Abbathor’s enforcer. The further north you go the more temples to her will you find. Burn things, valuable things to get through winter.

Azuth (A): God of wizardry and arcane knowledge. The toady god. He serves as Abbathor’s wizard, advisor and grand vizier. If you wish success in scholarly pursuits or desire lost knowledge then pray to Azuth.

Bane: The Lord of All. A very presumptuous title for a relatively young deity. It is said this god of war, conquest and tyranny has been hard at work on some secret project which nears completion. Worship of Bane is confined to warlords and petty kings. It is banned in the civilised lands of Dwarf, Low Elf and Hobgoblin.

Beshaba: Lady of Fortune: A fickle and capricious goddess, she is more the goddess of misfortune, calamity and also revenge. If you have been scorned seek her out. Beshaba graces/bedevils all three divine courts. She has been mistress to many to their subsequent misfortune. Her servants are those beautiful, wonderful and terrific beings, the succubi.

Bhaal (M): God of blood, death and murder. Revered by assassins and executioners Bhaal is the god to go to when you want someone dead. He is overlord of all assassins and their organisations. His shadow cultists are both reviled and sought out in equal measure.

Cyric (M): God of Lies. Advisor to Maglubiyet and god of cunning, trickery, intrigue and deception. This god says he has no temples or organised priesthood as he needs none. Every lie and deception is considered a prayer to him.

Gond (A). God of Craftsmen: The god of industry, smithing, mining and hard work. All who work with great skill should honour this diety. His temples are common and many workplaces will have a small statue or shrine so that the master craftsman may supervise the work. To earn his favour one should sacrifice something of great value that you have made yourself. Worship of Gond is popular among city folk.

Ilmater: The broken god. God of mercy, endurance and the ending of suffering. Also known as the foolish god, Ilmater is looked down upon by most other deities and his worship scorned by right thinking peoples. Ilmater cults are however tenacious and popular among those who suffer at the hands of the mighty. Ilmater works to bring about a better world where suffering is eased for all. This is a thankless and impossible task. His only ally is the equally scorned Torm.

Loviatar (A): Goddess of pain. misery and hope. Abbathor’s torturer. Loviatar is tasked with punishing those who strayed from the path. The unworthy are corrected in her halls of pain as are rebels, malcontents and other enemies. It goes without saying that Ilmater and Lovitar are most mortal enemies.

Malar (E) : God of the Wild Hunt. Corellon’s huntsman and leader of the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a great elven frenzy of riding out to hunt, pursue and run down all they may find. His province is also that of all predatory monsters. A small sacrifice to Malar and you may be granted success in capturing, taming or allying yourself with some terrible beast.

Mask: God of thieves. Like her brother Bhaal, Mask is the capo de capo of all thieves, brigands, pirates and robbers. Your gang, your crew, your guild may have a mortal leader but she is the over-boss and due her rightful ten percent.

Myrkyl: God of Death and the Undead. All worship Myrkyl in the end. Die and you find yourself in his cold halls. If not claimed then Myrkyl will take you and use you to build his Wall of the Faithless where your eternal screams will please him. Myrkyl is also Lord of Undeath. All Undead are said to be his servants and act to hasten your journey to his halls.

Mystra (M): Goddess of Magic. This goddess is magic, she is in the ebb and weave and flow of magic about the world. She cares little how it is used only that it is. She patronises Maglubiyet since Abbathor’s mortal followers would constrain, dominate and control her. She hates wizards especially. Any sorcerer seeking additional power would do well to sacrifice a wizard to her.

Savras (M) Should a Hobgoblin have need of knowledge, be it mundane or mystical he would do well to attend to The Mighty One’s chief seer. With the right sacrifice Savras can see and reveal all. He does well in Magubliet’s court and his mortal followers are respected and honoured in Hobgoblin society. The servant of Mystra.

Sune (A) Goddess of love and beauty. Goddess also of the moon Sune is revered by all who wish to be well regarded and loved for their magnificence. She cares little but for the adoration both mortals and divines shower upon her. She is also the patron of poets, inspiration and artists.

Talos (A): The storm god. A god of storms, battle and unbridled chaos. Talos has temples so that weather is kept fair and good. He is particuarly revered at ports and one should always sacrifice to Talos before setting sail. His gift to his mortal followers is thunderbolt iron, metal from the skies that may be fashioned into weapons even mightier than Magubliet’s.

Tempus: The berserker god. Talos’s crazier and wilder brother. He is on good terms with Gruumsh and many orcs pray to him before battle. Tempus has fought with all gods on all sides for he cares not who or why he fights only that there is fighting. Tempus and Talos often compete for Bershaba’s favours. No succubi will slay a follower of either god although they may well be enslaved.

Torm: The good god. The idiot’s god. Torm exemplifies righteous and just rule. He is thus scorned and his worship outlawed. An ally of Ilmater, both gods would desire the current regime in the divine and mortal realms changed for the better. If Torm has one failing, it is that he is besotted by Sune. And that goddess likes things as they are. Often she has foiled Torm’s plans with promises of earning her favour.

Umberlee; Goddess of the ocean and the depths. A strange and fey goddess. Rumoured to be an ascended dragon, Umberlee commands all of monsters of the deep. Venture into or across her realm at your peril, for she commands many strange things that lie beneath the waves.

This is not a nice, nor happy set of gods. They exhibit ‘every madness and vice’. This is intentional. All too often in fantasy it is hard to see why anyone would be bad. Good is too powerful. Being good is demonstrably rewarded and obviously the better choice. Here the powers of good are rare, outlawed or enslaved by the dominant evil powers. And those dark powers reward those who enforce the status quo. Being good may be a challenge, but no one said a hero’s life was easy.

Episode 5 - This is the (undead) apocalypse.

(In which our self serving murderhobos save the entire town)

Looking down from the water tower the band surveyed Deva. It was mostly deserted with small bands of shuffling shambling figures here and there. The quiet was punctuated by the occasional scream as the ghouls found a survivor and relieved them of that status. They noticed that most activity centered around the arena and main temple of Abbathor which still had it's main doors open. Scawl reminded them that their main priority was to recover Sala the alchemist and set off to reconnoiter her dwelling.

Inside the alchemist's house and store he found the place had been cleared and the occupant departed. It was clear she had not been forcibly dragged off like so many of the other citizens. As he was sneaking back the rest of the band saw four ghouls carrying off three paralysed dwarves to an uncertain fate. Heskin and Cheet promptly descended and charged while Senden and Perren provided covering fire.

There was a brief moment of total confusion as Cheet turned into a large tentacled horror. While ungainly it was fearsome as it quickly wrestled two of the ghouls into submission and then ate the head of one. Heskin dispatched the other two with help from the others. Senden wisely masked the sounds with his magic. While it kept other ghouls from hearing it made the battle just that more surreal. Scawl returned near the end but put the entire sight down to accidentally inhaling something at the alchemist's.

The band rescued the victims and another holdout in a nearby house and wondered what to do. They decided to check out the temple. The victims mentioned they had seen some strangers in black robes come for Sala and take her and her alchemical apparatus away. They identified them as followers of Myrkul, god of death and the undead. They had hid when they had come because  the cultists of the death god are not to be trifled with unless you have an army (or two).

The band crept along the wall to where they could look into the temple. Inside they could see a large pile of bodies. Senden saw one of the bodies twitch and realised the victims were alive and paralysed by the fearsome touch of the ghouls. They saw several ghouls and black robed figures moving within. While deciding on a course of action two of the cultists left and started for the arena across town. Seeing their chance the band followed and waylaid them, killing one and taking the other prisoner.

Senden used his magics to charm their captive, Caleyn. The magic made him very cooperative and he saw the band as potential recruits to the cult of Myrkul and his person plan to kill Vargas, the leader of the cult and to then take his place. They learned that Vargas was planning a mass sacrifice in three nights time and that the cultists of Ilmater would be crown piece of the pyramid of bodies. Caleyn and the other cultist had been sent to gather the cultists from their holding cells in the arena. While the Cult of Myrkul had not been responsible for the unleashing of the ghouls they had taken it as an unholy sign and were taking full advantage of the death and misery about them.

The band then hatched a cunning plan. They would disguise Scawl as a follower of Myrkul, retrieve the cultists of Ilmater and disguise the rest of themselves as them. They would then walk into the temple and ambush Vargas and his minions. It was a sound plan compounded only by the fact that no-one really knew anything about Ilmater and his followers. Would they be cooperative?

It turned out that the cultists followed a goodly deity of endurance and healing. The band absorbed this oddity with aplomb and asked if they could help. Their leader, a halfling named Korras said he could bring great pain upon those who had caused it. The band thought this a useful ability. They then enacted their plan and ambushed and slew the followers of Myrkul and released Sala and the other captives. They also looted the temple, tricked the still charmed Cleyn into gathering the ghouls into a large building and burning them all, and organised a reward from the governor.

During all this the band had spied a large dust cloud in the west. Sala prepared a potion that allowed one's spirit to venture forth from your body for a time and Senden drank it and went to investigate. The cloud was caused by a warband of about three centuries of warriors marching on the town. Investigating the leader proudly wore the same symbol as Heskin, that of Torm, the god of truth, justice and idiots. The warriors were planning a raid on Deva but since the spirit could only see, not hear Senden could not discern their purpose beyond a forcible withdrawal fro the temple of Abbathor.

Heading back he also investigated beneath the arena and discovered an underground complex and colony of ghouls, complete with chief and mistresses. A little wierded out, he returned and informed his comrades.

Episode 4 - Tomb Raider redux

(In which our heroes engage in a little tomb robbing.)

The band continued towards Deva. The next day saw a massive pall of smoke over the city. It seemed a large section was on fire. They therefore decided to skirt the city and proceed directly to the location of the barrow. Another day's trek up the peninsula saw them to their destination. The barrow was a large artificial hill overlooking the Hibernian sea. It was quite a pleasant, if chilly place so long as you ignored the propect of undead terrors within. The band camped for the night and tried to recall any details about wights besides 'undead' and 'nasty'.

Opening the tomb door revealed a steeply descending dressed stone tunnel. Upon the walls was a bas relief of the exploits of three heroic warriors and their less heroic minions battling be-tentacled horrors that were shown emerging from the earth. The warriors fought with sword and axe and spear, the spear wielder being the most heroic. The band recognised some of the horrors depicted having seen them at the village that was abducted.

A short way in there was a small antechamber to one side with six skeletons in patchwork armour and ancient weapons standing within small alcoves in a macabre parody of a parade rest. Examination revealed them to be simply dead and no danger. They proceeded down carefully to the first burial chamber.

The chamber was a largish opening with 12 simple graves. More disturbing were the four bodies of the squamous humanoids known to be followers of the Watchers. They appeared totally grey, as if the colour had been entirely leached from them. Heskin cut off their heads 'just in case' which released the contents, maggots and rotting stench within. The creatures had been armed with clubs and had also brought shovels and other digging tools. They had been in the process of digging up one of the graves when they had been attacked. After the rest of the band complained about the smell Heskin dragged the creatures bodies into the dug up grave.

That disturbed something. The temperature abruptly dropped and a blue glow could be seen down the tunnel leading further into the barrow. Soon they could hear a shuffling and a clink of armour. The sound briefly stopped then restarted and the band was confronted by a skeletal warrior. It still wore an ancient but intact suit of mail and carried a equally well maintained blade. It's eyes were the source of the light.

Heskin presented the holy symbol of Torm and drove the thing back. They briefly chased it but were checked by a large hole almost twenty feet across going a very long way down. It seemed that they were not the only tomb robbers. The undead was not stopped by the pit and they could hear sounds of movement of something climbing up. Scawl dropped a flaming torch down the pit. Soon all that could be seen was the torches glow. But they were rewarded by a yelp of surprise, a scream and a splat.

Heskin advised they should hurry as the monster would soon return. Seeing no safe way over they made for the exit. However it was blocked. Something had animated the skeletal guards and they advanced on the band with a thicket of spears. Trapped between the undead monster and it's minions they charged. Much fighting ensued. Heskin was felled by the creatures icy blade at which point Cheet transformed into a large bear. While it is probably best not to speak of his fighting skills as a humanoid his prowess as an animal was unmatched. With Scawl's help the undead monsters were soon piles of bones.

The band decided to wisely retreat after reviving Heskin. Outside they considered their options. They hit upon cutting down a large tall tree to bridge the gap. Thus prepared they ventured back into the tomb. Crossed the gap and made their way to the next burial chamber.

This chamber housed two sarcophagi with representations of those who were within. One was open while the other remained closed. Gathering some courage they pulled at the lid ready for an attack but nothing came of it. Either the magic had faded or the corpse's spirit had better things to do than to guard it's remains. There was some relieved looting and they would of left had Cheet not pointed out that the murals depicted three warriors, not two. They searched and found access to the final chamber. Inside were the treasures of these pre dwarven lords and the tomb's guardian. It assailed them with horrific creams and it's spear but the band quickly prevailed. They then set about looting the treasures within.

That night as they camped the band noticed a large bonfire outside Deva. In the morning it was revealed to be a ramshackle camp made by survivors of an outbreak of ghouls. The Arena of Deva had an attraction of two insect monsters set to devour some Ilmater cultists. The insects instead burrowed into the arenas floor and escaped. Beneath the arena was a nest of ghouls which the monster's burrows gave access to the surface. Seven days later the city was overrun by undead.

The band inquired at the still secure port of the fates of Syriax and Sala. Syriax had made it to the port with the use of the weapons he had crafted and was understandably reluctant to part with them. No one knew of what had happened to Sala the alchemist. The band also learned that the Governor's palace still held and by offering to rescue those within gained  their new weapons and the cooperation of the port. With some help they infiltrated Deva's water tower by way of the aqueduct and surveyed the desolation within...

Interlude 1

(In which the GM reflects on the game so far since he's on holiday.)

So far so good. Five is an an easy system. Well, it's easy compared to SPI's Dragonquest which is what we lunatics have played for the last few decades. For those unfamiliar with it, Dragonquest is Runequest's crazier, LOTR obsessed cousin. It's an old school charts and tables, resource management game with a definite Tolkien vibe but not the rights which went to Iron Crown Enterprises. So maybe Dragonquest is Rolemaster's slightly saner cousin who only read LOTR but not the Silmarillion. In any event, D&D 5 is a much simpler game by comparison.

The players dove into the character generation and unanimously chose 'let's roll dice', Stats were quickly assigned and juggled a bit as classes / races were chosen. Backgrounds caused some confusion coming after classes. Perhaps it should run stats, race, background, class. Bonds. ideals and flaws were for the most part rolled. Old school gamers have few problems with shaking the box and playing with whatever gets taken out.

Character generation from start to finish took one hour. Three of those players were completely new to Five. New game, new character sheet and ten minutes to find enough d6s for everyone. That's fast.
D&D was faster. As was Paranoia. 'Here are your character sheets', 'Hey, why are all our names Hydrodynamic Processor Part B?', 'Hmm, questioning the system, put a '2' at the end of your character's name'. But most games take longer, typically an entire session. The band got on with encountering a zombie, a lich, several lizardmen and then several more.

That's not a typo. First level characters met Ashrak the lich. An 18-20 level wizard specialising in necromancy. He's far to busy in his research to be bothered doing, well anything and if the band could see their way to recovering bits of lore he wants to examine he'll reward them. A lich is an excellent patron, they're totally amoral and if they're left alone with their books and tomes they make fairly good neighbours. Ashrak is going to be asking for all sorts of crazy things until he crosses some imagined line and then it will be on. But for the moment he's too much a massive source of lore, exposition and rewards for the band to even think of attacking.

Session one saw the first planned encounter, 'bandits'. Well actually they met the bandits in the first session as a source of potential employment but were far more intrigued by the necromancer. They also encountered some devotees of Bethshaba and yes, I'm probably spelling that different each time. Well they hid from them, but that's an encounter all the same. But the weekly theme was bandits.

It's also very easy to set up an encounter. I've seen a few criticisms of Five that monsters are mostly just bags of hp and damage. I see that as a good thing. People talk of 'stat blocks' but all you need for Five is the 'stat line'. Name, AC, to hit, damage dice and the rest of the line is for hp. All the other blather is in the Monster Manual. I'm loving that aspect. The players also enjoy it. Armour values and damage mitigation may be 'more realistic' or 'gritty' but the hit point system has a simple brutality all of it's own. Especially when HP in Five are equivalent to half that number in AD&D. The players enjoyed the brutal battle and it's even more brutal aftermath. Then they went back to their home town to meet the local warlord and his Darth Vader expy sidekick. Galbatorix is all about safeguarding civilisation, even if it is with an iron fist.

And it's gone on in that vein. The band meets hideous monsters and often tries talking since combat is so brutal. They've learned that monsters will connect easily and hit hard. But so can they. They've learned of the underlying cosmic crisis and some steps they can take to remedy that. They've met some interesting and colourful NPCs and time will tell if they ever fight either Ashrak, Caius or Galbatorix. Those immortal watchers sound nasty. Mabye they'll need these lesser evils...

Episode 3  Building better communities through bloodshed.

The band took their cart south to the port city of Deva Victrix. Crossing the Mersum they spied two low elves taking shelter beneath the bridge. Heskin spoke with them and learned they were deserters since they believed the city would fall to the western tribes. Heskin bade them to stay and that they may have work for them on the way back.

The next day they spotted a ruined cart with some dead dwarves and a mauled horse. Cheet transformed into a giant wolf. In that form he could smell goblin, a smaller and more foolish race similar to hobgoblins. He also smelled another beast, some ravening beast that had foot long quills as weapons.

The band tracked the creatures to a nearby cave. Outside they ambushed a goblin relieving itself and then proceeded in. They met the goblins coming out and attacked. Their onslaught left only two survivors who roused Dhent, a massive giant. The band continued the assault and drove the giant into the main chamber. Waiting within was a terrible manticore. Negotiations quickly broke down and battle was joined. Eventually the band emerged beaten and bloody, yet triumphant. They took the head and bones of the giant and body of the manticore as well as an oddly preserved knife the giant had. Everything was loaded into the cart and they continued towards the city.

They were well received at Deva Victrix. Carrying in a dead monster attracts a lot of attention. They spent the next two days visiting various people in the city trading in the manticore parts, finding someone to shape weapons out of the giant bones and changing their loot into more usable coin. The governor asked them to deal with a renegade soldier named Caius who was raising up the western tribes and threatening the city. The arena master gave them a list of bounties for any monsters they could bring in alive. Sala, the alchemist told them of a barrow containing undead, the bones of which could be ground down for a potion that would protect them against death magic. Syriax, a crafter of bone weapons advised them that blood of a priest of Abbathor could be used to place runes on weapons to make them deadly to the Watchers and their minions. For some odd reason the local priest did not want to give his blood to some wild eyed lunatics though. They lastly bought a wagon and many barrels of wine. Loaded up they headed back to Mammucium.

Three days later they reached the town and unloaded the wine. Galbatorix had returned from his expedition down the hole. He had a tale of hideous creatures which they barely defeated. Antonius had announced that cleaving to Bane and following his ways would keep the Watchers at bay and had started construction of a new temple to the Lord of All. Galbatorix also asked that Heskin help capture Navio to the south-east and more importantly the nearby silver mines. The others asked Heskin why they were apparently helping the warlord.

The band then headed to the 'dwarven infestation on the northern side of the lizardfolk's swamp. The hill forty was ruined and deserted so they planted the staff and ran for it as the ground rapidly turned to bog and marsh. On the way back they investigated a new structure in the swamp. It was a structure of gleaming bone. Within they found Ashrak constructing it with his necromantic powers. He happily informed the band of his plans to staff it with unquiet spirits to teach the lizardmen and how it would be so much easier if they cast off the shackles of life. The band decided to direct Ashrak to other avenues of thought lest he decide to gift them with unlife. Ashrak was quite knowledgeable about the Watchers and their squamous, betentecled servants. His interest seemed to derive from the immortality of the Watchers. Slay the body of a Watcher and it would reform several days later. He suggested they travel back to his tower and he might be able to find a reference to a means to defeat them.

A chilly night spent by the tower waiting for Ashrak to check his books bore fruit. He had found references to the Watchers being driven off by books of laws and ordinaces and opined that the original manuscript of one of the great sets of laws may render the creature unable to reform. He also mentioned the Axe of Torm may be of use. Alas, According to the Lays of Sune, the goddess had tricked Torm out of his weapon and lent it to Tempus. Tempus had subsequently lost the axe fighting Gruumsh in his lands to the north. After wondering why his god was such an idiot Heskin thanked Ashrak for the information.

The band then returned to Deva Victrix, intent on visiting the nearby barrow mounds in search of undead bones and any other cool stuff they might have. On the way back to the city they came across a score of dwarves shambling their way north. They decided to hide, thinking they may be undead, which they were. While they were well hidden from prying eyes they had not counted on the undead's unnatural ability to seek out the living. Five dwarves caught their scent and split off to eat the band. A brief pursuit and nearly fatal fight later the band staggered back onto the road. The rest of the undead had continued north.

Session 2 - Legacy of the Watchers

(In which our heroes learn of the hideous evil lying beneath their feet)

The band rested for the night at Valentinian's Inn which was the former barracks building. Valentinian, his extended family and a good turnout for the night occupied a small fraction of the building which could comfortably hold several companies of troops and uncomfortably several more. Heskin asked the Valentinian about the arrangements and whether they could opt in. Valentinian said he'ld consider it if Heskin and his band could sort out the late wine shipment from Deva Victrix. Heskin said he'd get right to it and the rest of the band wondered just how many things they were doing.

It was about then that Galbatorix's band returned and our heroes got their first look at Mamucium's new leader. He was a well built and handsome warrior of low elf heritage like most of the island folk. At his side rode Antonius, a fearsome warrior in black armour and a devotee of the god Bane. Also with him was the skald Kelgan, a most beautiful low elf and fine warrior. Kelgan announced that Galbatorix had brought back much game and that there would be a feast for everyone.Excited by the prospect of a large meal including meat the townsfolk set about preparations.

During the feast Galbatorix and Heskin met and got the measure of one another. There was a tense moment when Alexi, Galbatorix's wizard spied Cheet and panicked. He suspected that Cheet would sacrifice him to Mystra, as is the custom of hobgoblins. Cheet assured everyone that he was quite the outcast from his own people and would not be offering anyone to the Lady of Mysteries.

In the morning the band decided to perform their little errand for Beshaba first and then see about the wine. They travelled along the road leading north west to the nearby settlement of Coccium. Upon arriving they found a disturbing vista. Strange marauders walking like men but with bare clawed feet had carried off the inhabitants and taken them down a large fresh tunnel on the north side of the village. They had a beast that left many marks like stilts in fresh mud. Doors had been ripped off their hinges, a struggle fought but all the people, nearly fifty in all were gone. The band investigated the tunnel and saw that it curved down deep into the earth. Since it was late they decided to move off and camp by the nearby woods. Perren and Cheet recognised it as a fey wood and ventured inside with Senden to see what they could learn. They quickly fell prey to the woods enchantments and were lost.

They may of wandered until they died of exposure had the Guardian not rescued them. It was a mighty unicorn, charged with keeping people away from the druid mound within. The last Archdruid had interred their most sacred tablets within the mound away from the invading dwarves. Many druids had sacrificed themselves to become undying guardians, vigilant against the day when there would be a new Archdruid able to retrieve them. It also told them that the raiders were minions of the Watchers. The Watchers were the original inhabitants of what the world was built on. They hated and resented the Gods and their creations and sent their minions to torment and enslave them. They asked the unicorn what could fight such ancient evil and it suggested the great earth spirit of the mighty Druidic circle to the south. It also mentioned that the tablets might contain the only record of a way to raise it. The unicorn then lead them out of the woods.

Later that night the band spied forms moving in the village. Hunched misshapen humanoids some seven feet tall and here and there glimpses of something larger that scuttled on many legs. With dawning horror they realised the creatures were repeating the search the band had made earlier. They decided to flee further north with Cheet laying an enchantment to hide their flight.

With day the creatures retreated to the tunnel and the band returned to Mamucium. Senden sought out Kelgan who revealed what little he knew of the Watchers. He had heard tales of some of their servants who walked as men but had bulbous eyes and tentacles where a decent person had a mouth. That these servants spoke mind to mind and control you as easily as you controlled your own arm. Scawl talked to the priestess and informed her of their failure, she shrugged and told them to establish a shrine in the presumably more inhabited Deva Victrix.

Heskin spoke to Galbatorix who was incensed that what he considered 'his' people were being taken from him. The warlord almost forgot to mention that the halfling slaves of the cities fields to the south were refusing to work. Heskin said he would help sort that out. He also advised that the warlord send the scary Antonius to investigate things in the hope that the champion of Bane would be slain or enslaved by the minions of the Watchers. Galbatorix agreed since there was no way he wasn't taking his best assets along.

Our band headed south and quickly met three ferocious monsters. Giant feathered beasts, shaped like massive bears but with the countenance and savage beaks of a bird of prey. The battle was brief and bloody and things may of gone badly until Senden enspelled one and inquired politely of the Watchers. That beast fled madly screeching of the return of those who lurk. Battered and beaten the band gathered up the halflings and along with many strange promises to not beat them, gained their trust.

Cheet scouted out the path the beast had fled and discovered a camp of elves within a set of crop circles. Senden went to speak with them and learned that the Elven Lord present relished the return of the watchers. There would be much hunting and slaying and blood which would be glorious. He was returning to Hibernia since something had happened to his hunting beasts (Senden wisely refrained from mentioning his part in the affair). The other elves were less sanguine than their lord and wondered if the return of the watchers may be cause for the retreat of the dwarves from Brittania. They also told Senden that the lost cities of the giants may hold weapons and lore capable of fighting them.

Senden returned to the band and informed them of all this. While worried by the knowledge that there was a lurking horror beneath them they decided the first step was getting the wine for Valentinian and establishing themselves in the community.

Session 1 - I Kill You!

(In which our heroes right a few wrongs by committing some more.)

Cheet talked some more with the shaman of the lizardfolk and they discussed which animal form would be best for the new druid. The shaman thought the crocodile was a magnificent beast to become and extolled it's stealth, cunning and mighty tail while Cheet felt the bear was more to his sensibilities. The shaman muttered something about mammalian chauvinism.

The shaman also requested that his fellow druid aid him in reclaiming some land from a deserted dwarven infestation. The shaman described it as a place of carved stone, dressed wood and metal tools lying atop a river of stone. There was some confusion among the band about this mysterious river until they realised the shaman meant a road. After a brief cultural exchange in which the shaman learned a new word and Cheet received a mangrove staff to plant in the infestation and begin a transformation into swampland.

Meanwhile Perren had spent most of the night communing with the book which whispered to him of dreadful secrets and terrible powers with which could be his. In the morning Perren was ready to face the world, head full of mysteries no elf has any business knowing and a spring in his step.

The band then left, intendng to intercept the departing priests and relieve them of their most sacred treasures. Along the way they passed again Ashrak's tower and stopped to drop of the grave moss. Ashrak took some prompting to distract him from the tome he was perusing but then thanked them for the delivery. He then asked the band if they could go retrieve some sacred druidic tablets that were hidden in the aftermath of the dwarven invasion. If the band could bring them to him he said he could enchant their armour so that with a drop of blood it would ward one, maybe two blows. The band asked how that worked but Ashrak's explanations quickly went over their heads. The band added this to their list of things to do and left.

A day later they came to the road to Londinium. Heading south to catch the priests they spied a lone figure crawling northwards along the road. It was a young dwarven woman by the name of Kyra. She had been part of a group of priests travelling south when brigands had attacked them. The guards and priests had been beaten and sent fleeing south while the brigands helped themselves to the booty and the women. Kyra had been beaten and abused and then thrown out of the brigands camp and left to die. While Cheet was able to heal her body, her mind was shattered.

While this was happening the band heard the sound of small bells and tambourines playing a lively beat coming from the south. The band prudently hid in some nearby bushes and dragged Kyra with them. Soon the musicians came into view. Four attractive women, dressed lightly despite the weather. Devotees of Beshaba, goddess of misfortune. The band stayed hidden rather than attract any attention from the mistress of calamities.

After the women had passed the band tracked the brigands to their campsite. There was a brief argument about what to do as all they wanted was the holy symbol. However after hearing Kyra's tale of what happened to her and her friend they decided killing them all would suit them fine.

Scawl led them down a gully that brought them almost into the camp and then he and Perren crept off to silence the sentries. That did not go as well as planned as the elf was concentrating more on eldritch mysteries than woodland craft. Alerted, the sentries cried out and much fighting ensued as the others charged the camp. Heskin set a tent alight with a mighty roar and soon a vicious melee was on as some brigands stood and fought while others ran. Outnumbered the band fought on and things were looking grim until Cheet turned into a large bear and Perren appeared cackling and controlling the minds of his enemies. The brigands panicked and ran or surrendered in the hopes that our heroes were not murder crazed lunatics.

That was a fatal error. The two cleanly killed by Heskin's blade got off lightly. The rest were killed by the band and Kyra in inventive and grisly ways. Of note was Perren's victim, who was ritually sacrificed and his soul gifted to the Creature of the Book. The others were understandably disturbed by this show of devotion. After seeing Kyra to safety in a nearby village they resolved to return the book to Ashrak. Along the way they dropped off the idols to the lizardfolk.

Returning the book proved troublesome as Perrin refused to give it up. Eventually Heskin wrested the book from him and smote it with godpower. The book charred and crumbled into ash. Satisfied the band continued on unaware that Perren could still hear the books whispers. Evil is not so easily banished.

The band then returned to Mamucium where there had been a change in management. A local bravo, by the name of Galbatorix had come to stay with his band of warriors. They also learned that it was he who had sent the brigands to waylay the priests. Of a more salubrious nature the devotees of Beshaba had set up shop as well. Not wishing to appear impious (for accidents can happen to those who do not honour Her) Scawl and Cheet paid their respects. After an enlightening ceremony the priestess offered a little 'job' for the newly faithful. Could they take a graven image of the goddess and erect it in the nearby village to the west so that more may pay homage to the Mistress of Misfortune.