Kay's Journal, 11/27, Reaper Errant #015

 Kay’s Journal, 11/27

• 272  + 150 GP
• 150 GP worth of gems
• Pouch of diamond dust (300gp, useable in a Resurrection spell)
• 1533 XP

After our night of zombie ‘goodness’, the ferry showed up the next morning, bright and early. The ferry can only take one wagon at a time, so there was some shuffling back and forth, but eventually everybody ended up on the far side of the lake.

Fathom checked the dagger a couple times, and it pointed to widely varying locations. First it seemed to point to the north shore of the lake we’re on, then farther south, more toward the center of the lake. Seems like something that can move pretty quickly over (or in?) the water has our target. Yay.

Abran and Gooseneck overhear some people talking about ‘the big freeze’ coming soon. Apparently, these lakes can freeze over, and very quickly, too. Mercury verifies that during the winter, the lakes can freeze over solidly enough to walk across. So, it sounds like we have to find something that can move real fast in the water, and that we have a pretty tight deadline to do it, to boot.

We’re going to need a boat.

Pujol, Abran, and Corncob go into the inn that’s right by the dock. Pujol wants to sell his cask of ‘medicinal’ mead. He talks to Marius, the innkeep. Marius tries the stuff, but wants to sleep on it. But, the three of them get free dinner out of it, at least. 

Gooseneck, Fathom, and I stay outside and ask after Lyndon the boatman, who was recommended to us back in the last village. Lyndon is apparently at home sleeping off the previous night’s festival, but he’s expected to show up at the after party before too long. We make our way over to the square where some of the townsfolk are having a smaller celebration – they’ve got a fire where they are roasting a pig. Apparently, Lyndon will be showing up soon with ‘something good’. 

Gooseneck asks about Canville, the local druid who made the prediction on when the ‘big freeze’ is coming. He lives nearby, but not in the village, unsurprisingly.

Corncob, Abran, and Pujol join us after securing a room at the inn. Lyndon shows up, and ‘something good’ turns out to be a cask of mead. His mead is much sweeter than the stuff Pujol bought. Turns out that mixing the two of them together makes a very tasty blend, and Pujol starts trying to sell the remainder of his cask to Lyndon.

Fathom asks Lyndon about any mythical creatures in the lake, and he says there aren’t any. There’s some dangerous wildlife around, sure, but nothing in the lake. Corncob asks him about Orcs, and Lyndon says the orcs don’t usually raid on this side of the lake, but occasionally they do. Apparently, he has heard of a single leader who has managed to gain devotion across tribes. This leader is less of a headman or political leader, and more like a religious figure.

Lyndon asks why we want to go out on the lake. Fathom tells him we’re looking for a family heirloom. Lyndon says we need a permit if we want to go pulling artifacts out of the lake. Pujol negotiates with Lyndon to get him to handle the paperwork, if we pay him a little extra and cover the cost of the permit. He’ll meet us in the morning.

We touch base with Mercury and Wils. They’ve finished selling off the goods from the wagons. Our cut is 272 GP – better than expected!

The party is winding down, so we head back to the inn. Fathom communes with her patron, and learns that the thing we’re looking for is a smooth, clear orb of glass or crystal with a reflection of an eye in it. It’s about the size of a cantaloupe.

The night passes quietly. Lyndon shows up early in the morning and tells us something is wrong at the mayor’s house. He says there’s an armed guard outside the house, keeping watch. That by itself is unusual. He didn’t get close enough to see much more, but he didn’t recognize the guards. 

We head over to the mayor’s place. It’s on stilts in the water. It’s a pretty big, too – now we know what happens to all the permit fees. There’s a dwarven male on the roof with a bow, and a human and a half-orc talking on the docks on the back side of the house. None of them have seen us yet.

Before we approach, we find out from Lyndon that the mayor, his wife, and their two kids should be in the house. 

Abran and I sneak to the other side of the house, while the rest of our group continue along the path to the house, in plain sight. The archer on the roof challenged them. Corncob spoke to him in Dwarven. The archer answered, but whatever the conversation was about, it doesn’t seem to have gone well as the group gave the signal to attack.

The half-orc ran out to the path and shot at Corncob, but missed. The one on the roof shot at Gooseneck, but also missed. Corncob cast a spell back at her.

Abran ran out of hiding and swung his sword at the half-orc. Pujol runs over to the fence to get cover. I shoot at the half-orc and hit him, while Gooseneck runs up to attack him. Fathom takes cover behind a tree and fires off a spell at the archer on the roof.

There’s some shouting, and the human comes around the corner of the house and shoots at Corncob, hits him. The archer on the roof fires at Gooseneck. It’s a good shot, and hits him solidly. The half orc swings back at Abran. It’s another good shot.

Corncob casts another spell at the archer on the roof, hits her again. Abran and the half-orc trade more blows, but not much comes of it. Pujol casts a spell…I’m not sure what it does, but the next time the arched on the roof fires, the line she was relying on to hold her up there…doesn’t. She falls into the lake, and we do not see her again.

Note to self: if picking a fight with Pujol, do it on the ground.

There’s some more back and forth, nicks and cuts on both sides. The human that was behind the house shouts inside to reinforcements. 

Gooseneck kills the half-orc we’d been fighting. Then he runs up the ramp to the house. A woman comes out of the doorway and pleads with him to protect her. He buys it! But it doesn’t last. Corncob and Abran run up right after him. Corncob casts a spell at her and Abran shoots an arrow at her. As she falls, Gooseneck recovers from the spell she cast on him.

We go in and see a couple more brigands, including the human that had been outside, with the mayor, his wife, and their son tied up in front of them. They don’t seem inclined to fight further, though. They surrender. We free the mayor’s family, tie up the brigands, and take their stuff – some gold, and some gems.

The mayor is so thankful to us, he’s going to give us the permit, no fees and no questions asked. He's also going to allow us to use his house while we're here.

Pujol questions the brigands, but doesn’t get anywhere. Doesn’t matter, the town can deal with them however they usually deal with outlaws. 

We search the dead brigands and find a few copper and a pouch filled with diamond dust that seems to be meant to be used as a spell component. Fathom and Corncob look at it, and it seems to be clerical in nature.

Well, now we've got our permit, so maybe we can find this magic lake orb before we get iced in.

Kay's Journal, 10/30, Reaper Errant #014 - Special Halloween Episode!

We made it most of the way out of the mountains with minimal further issues. Heading down the trail, we get a view of the lakes and the town ahead. It looks like we’re going to get to the lake just about sunset, maybe a bit before. Mercury says we need to get there before sunset to make the ferry trip across the lake, so we do our best to step it up a little, pushing the horses to go faster.

We made good time, but even so by the time we get there the ferry has already left. Looking across the lake, we can see small lights shifting and dancing across the water. It looks like there’s some kind of festival happening in the town across the lake.

There’s a small house here where we can stay for the night, which is good because it has started raining. The house is empty – there used to be a town on this side of the lake, but it was long since abandoned. Mercury says the ferryman sometimes uses the house when he has to stay over, but otherwise it’s empty. Fathom, Mercury and Pujol go check the house to make sure it’s clear and ready to use. Gooseneck, Corncob, and Abran go check out the pumpkin patch that’s behind the house. Gooseneck insists they are looking for a ‘great pumpkin’…must be a lizard folk religious thing, I dunno. I help get the wagons tied down.

Looking around the house, Fathom finds a big fat racoon living in the attic. We won’t mess with you if you don’t mess with us, little buddy. Mercury gathers some firewood, and Pujol and I finish tying down the wagons.

The Pumpkin Patch boys keep exploring and find an abandoned but mostly intact boat house, and the remains of a burned-out house. Inside the boat house they find some small boats, old supplies, and a few very small boats, maybe a foot long, with lanterns on their decks. Gooseneck thinks they’re probably used in whatever festival is happening across the lake. Abran grabs one to take back to ask Mercury about. Corncob checks out the rowboats, and finds them still in decent repair.

They check out the burnt house. Corncob thinks it has burned a couple times, and has been abandoned for a good 20-30 years.

Back in the house, Pujol goes up into the attic to make friends with the raccoon. He communicates with it, telling it we’re going to spend the night, but have no intention to hurt it or take its stuff. He also gives it a biscuit. The raccoon seems OK with us staying…or at least the biscuit.

Wils, the other wagon driver, answers questions about the mini boats. He recognizes them as part of the festival. The residents light the lanterns and set the boats out on the water. They believe that it invites their dead family to return for the festival, and asks them for protection through the rest of the year.

Mercury seems upset by this talk and goes out to check the horses. Wils tells us Mercury’s father died recently, and that’s probably why he’s upset. Corncob, Gooseneck, and Abran all go to check on Mercury. Corncob talks to him, and learns that Mercury’s father was part of the caravan that never made it back to town. No body was recovered. No wonder Mercury wants to go after the orcs.

Abran walks about the area as a mist rolls in across the lake. Lightning flashes, and he sees something in the water. Maybe a reflection? It didn’t last long. He heads back to the house, whistling a bit as he goes.

We settle in for the night. Abran and I take first watch, which is peaceful. Gooseneck and Fathom take second watch and decide to patrol around the area. They find the door to the boathouse open. Gooseneck bursts in through the doorway while Fathom tries to go in the window. Fathom’s entrance does not go smoothly – she falls on some of the piled up supplies. Again, lightning flashes. Gooseneck sees someone behind the rowboat for a second, but then it’s gone. Fathom looks out across the lake and sees a few little boats line up. Gooseneck doesn’t see them. There’s another flash of lightning, and Fathom doesn’t see them anymore either. Gooseneck and Fathom come back to the house through the pumpkin patch.

As they return, Fathom and Gooseneck see someone rummaging around in the back of the wagon. Fathom shouts loudly, and Gooseneck charges. When they get there, it looks like the tarp was disturbed, but no one is there. They don’t see any footsteps, either.

They head back to the house, and see more lanterns out on the lake. Then they see a head rise up out of the water.

Fathom’s shout woke me. I looked out the window for them. They definitely looked agitated, so I woke the rest of the group.

Gooseneck ran forward toward the water to attack the things rising out of the lake. Corncob and Abran take positions in the doorway and get ready to attack. Gooseneck swings at one of the zombies with his axe, shooting lighting at it. Corncob moves outside, using his faith to drive a number of the creatures away.

A couple of the remaining zombies moved forward and attacked Abran. Fathom got back into the house through the window and cast a blast at one of the zombies. Pujol shot at one, and I swung at one in the doorway. Gooseneck used his axe/lightning combo again.

Corncob cast a spell that caused spikes to rise up out of the ground some of the creatures were shambling across. The zombies in the doorway pushed forward. One attacked me, and its poison paralyzed me. Abran attacked them again and took one out.

Gooseneck and Corncob come in through the window. Abran shuts the door, now that we’re all inside and they are all outside. Whew!

It’s clear there are too many of them for us to fight off, or even hold off until morning. We decide we need to follow the local tradition – use the boat Abran brought back to invoke ancestors to protect us. Small problem – none of us have dead ancestors likely to be anywhere near here. But…Mercury does. His father passed very recently, and he was even originally from the town across the lake where this festival happens.

Mercury writes a letter to his father, as is the tradition. Gooseneck carries him over to the lake edge as quickly as he can, with Abran going along to help defend them. I go up on the roof with my bow to provide cover. Mercury lights the lantern and sets the boat afloat, and the creatures collapse into dust.

Whew.

Next time, I’m so going on ahead to get the ferry to wait.

Kay's Journal, 10/16, Reaper Errant #013

 Kay’s Journal, 10/16

Treasure & Stuff:

• 30GP
• 100SP
• Magic Dwarven Great Axe ‘Stonebreaker’ - Gooseneck

The next morning the wagons were packed and we’d gathered the supplies we needed for the journey. Pujol got a cask of ‘special’ mead – he thinks the mead might make for valuable trade goods, especially considering that the bees that make the honey that goes into the mead get pollen from the medicinal herbs that grow in the area. It gives the mead a slightly bitter flavor. The bee keeper is Samantha, who lives on the outskirts of town.

There are two wagons, each with a driver. One of the drivers is a human man, and the other one is Mercury, a young halfling. He’s the hot head we’d been warned about.

Rothfern gives us a map and describes our possible paths. The old road is longer but safer. The river road is faster, but said to be swarming with orcs – at least 100 or so. Sounds like it’s the old road!

Gooseneck talks to Mercury, who really wants to take the river road and have an excuse to kill orcs. Mercury thinks Rothfern is exaggerating how many orcs there are along the river road.

Pujol suggests we go out on the old road, and if Mercury wants, he can come back along the river road (when we won’t be with them). Mercury seems to think that our group might be able to drive off the orcs. He thinks there are only 50-60 orcs, and that they are in small groups of maybe 10 or so each. Gooseneck asks Mercury about possible ambush points on both of the roads, and Mercury says there are many on both roads. Oh, goody. Mercury also tells us that the old road is an old dwarven road, and while we’d only encounter one orc tribe, the road itself is harder to navigate.

We decide to take the old road. Mercury says it should take at most a week to get to get where we’re going on the old road.

We set off. Abran scouts ahead, while CornCob and I ride in the front wagon, and Pujol, Gooseneck, and Fathom ride in the second wagon.

Towards the end of the first day, I see tracks across the road ahead of us. Abran and CornCob take a closer look. The tracks belong to some larger humanoids and seem to be following a trail toward the river. They look like they’re about a day old, and CornCob says it looks like there were about 10-12 individuals taking the path. 

We see an indication of some old dwarven ruins on the map, and consider going to investigate. They’re off the trail a ways though, so we’d have to make a detour to get there. We decide to skip it.

We continue on. Up ahead, the trail narrows and cliffs close in on either side of it. Abran thinks it looks like a great spot for an ambush, and suggests we scout ahead. Pujol says he has a spell he can use to disguise himself as an orc and go scouting.  He doesn’t speak orcish, so that might be a challenge, but he seems pretty amped about the idea even so.

Pujol heads off, disguised. He goes to the river side of the trail and climbs up the cliffs there, trying to be stealthy about it. Once up there, he sees three orcs in wait at the top. They turn toward him, and he casts a spell on a couple of them to make them friendly. It seems to work on one of them. He tries to mime that he can’t speak, and then gestures for them to follow him down the road. They don’t seem to be buying it.

Another orc steps out of hiding in some bushes. Pujol starts playing music and dancing around to try to charm the rest of them. It doesn’t seem to work, as one of them pulls a weapon. The orcs notice our wagons; one of them points at the wagons, and then blows a horn.

On the trail below, we seem some other orcs come out of cover on the top of the cliff on the other side of the path. Gooseneck starts running toward the cliff that Pujol climbed. CornCob keeps an eye on the orcs on the other side, and readies a spell for when they show themselves. Abran and I shoot at the orcs on the other side of the path; he hits one and I miss. Up on top of the cliffs, Pujol creates an illusion of an elf in the trees and tries to get the orcs to pay attention to that. It seems to work, as they go running toward it.

The orcs on the other side start shooting back at us, and one hits Abran. 

Abran and Corncob move toward the base of the cliff on the other side of the path, while I take cover behind a tree. Pujol makes his elf illusion vanish, like it went invisible, and then points in another direction, like he wants to say the elf went off that way. One of the orcs falls for it, chases after the illusion, and runs off the cliff. The other orcs aren’t buying it, though, and head back to the trail and start climbing down.

Gooseneck approached the cliff and started climbing up. I shot at one of Pujol’s orcs and took it down.

We see they have boulders up on top of the cliffs that are meant for pushing down on to wagons. The orcs up with Pujol start pushing one over to where Gooseneck is climbing, meaning to push one down on him instead. Pujol once again tries to charm them, and has more luck this time. He gets one of them to follow him away from the cliff. One of the others is still climbing down, though, and attacks Gooseneck.

Gooseneck tries to bite the orcs throat, succeeds, and then jumps off the cliff, taking the orc with him. He lands on top of the orc, who (amazingly!) survives the fall. Even so, I yell to the remaining orcs that their leader is dead, and they should flee now if they do not want to share his fate. They are not impressed.

We’re basically mopping up at this point. CornCob, Fathom, and Abran have been concentrating on the orcs on the other side of the path, and steadily whittle down their numbers. Pujol somehow convinces another one to jump off the cliff. He’s little, but vicious!

Once all the orcs are dead, we search them. Gooseneck finds the axe the orc he fought was using, and CornCob says it’s of dwarven make, is called ‘Stonebreaker’, and is enchanted. Gooseneck hangs on to the axe, which everybody agrees is a good idea and his due.

Kay's Journal, 10/2, Reaper Errant #012

 Kay’s Journal, 10/2

• 200 XP
• 14 GP

We’ve made it the rest of the way through the mountain pass to a small village. There’s one good-sized building, and everything else is small homes and such. Based on the number of goats around, we’re guessing that sheparding is a big part of the local economy. 

As we get into town, we find the blacksmith and the tavern. We started with the blacksmith, a fellow named Rothfern. We told him about the goblins we ran across on the pass. He said they occasionally had problems with the goblins, sure, but they have bigger problems. He didn’t want to get into the details right then, but agreed to meet us in the tavern that evening. 

He also agreed to exchange all that copper to gold for us, and did that right then.

We headed toward the tavern, and on the way there passed a woman carrying a water bucket. Pujol cast his Unseen Servant to help her carry the bucket. We went on in to the tavern. It’s small, but the bartender is happy to have customers, and asks us if we’ve come from the lakes. We tell him no, we’re from Woefield. He’s super impressed that we’ve travelled all that way.  He also tells us they’re having trouble with orc raiders in the mountains. They don’t know where the orcs are coming from. 

We got meals and rooms for the night, and continued chatting. We learn that there are some wood carvers in the village. They also gather herbs with medicinal properties. They trade these products with the towns by the lakes. They usually send a couple wagons in the fall, but have been putting it off this year because of the orc attacks. There was an attack on the outskirts of the village 2 nights ago at a homestead belonging to Margaret and Sam; some goats and other supplies were stolen. We this that a good tracker would be able to follow the 2-day old tracks.

We agree to escort the caravan down to the lakes. It’ll be 1 or 2 wagons and drivers. They’ll pay us 5-10% of their take on the trade, which he expects will be about 200gp.

Pujol asks about bounties on the orcs, and is told that Jeremy would be the guy to talk to about that. So, we get directions to Jeremy’s house and go to talk about him. Jeremy is an elf, and it turns out he’s about to do his rounds around the village to look for intruders. Abran, Fathom, and I go with him. 

As we travel around the outskirts of the village, I spot a humanoid behind a rocky outcropping. I told the others, and Jeremy signaled for us to split up and flank them. It would have been a great plan, if they hadn’t already seen us. They threw javelins, and one hit Fathom right in the chest. There are four orcs to contend with.

Abran and Jeremy ran up to the rocks and took cover. Fathom and I went to the side, intending to get up on the rocks above them. 

Two orcs jumped over the rocks to attack Jeremy and Abran, but both missed. They traded blows while Fathom and I climbed up on the rocks. I shot at the orcs and Fathom cast a spell at them, but we both missed. OK, fine…I shouted down at the two orcs to surrender if they wanted to live. It was a decent distraction, if nothing else.

Abran and Jeremy killed the two orcs that had attacked them pretty quickly. Fathom and I shot at one of the other orcs again, and killed it. The last one went running, but Abran shot his ensnaring vine thing at him. He fell, but died before we could get to him to question him. We took a handful of coins off the bodies and went back to town. On the way, Jeremy told us that these orcs were from the Bone Chewer tribe.

While we’d been out fighting orcs, Pujol, Gooseneck, and Corncob had stayed in the tavern. While Pujol played for the crowds, Gooseneck and Corncob learned that there were two tribes of orcs that had been harassing the village. The orcs prefer hitting soft targets. There had been a handful of orc raids in years past, but this year there had been quite a few more than usual.

Abran, Fathom and I returned to the tavern as the sound of Pujol’s music was winding down. Gooseneck and Corncob learned that we could expect it to take at least a week for the caravan to get to the village. Wagons go slow. The smith is also concerned that one of the drivers going with us might be hotheaded and foolish enough to lead us on a shorter, but more dangerous, path in hopes of encountering more orcs and having a chance at vengeance.

It was pretty late by then, and things were winding down. The locals went home, and we retired for the night.

Kay's Journal, 9/18 - Reaper Errant #011

 Treasure: 

• 4 art objects, religious idols, etc. @25 GP each
• Potion of Healing
• 2700 copper (54 lbs)
• 1100 silver (22 lbs)
• 80 gold (1.6 lbs)

We were back in the mushroom cavern. A devil had been teleported back with us, right over by CornCob and Fathom. We drew weapons and went at it right away, while the mushroom queen watched. You’d think she might have been at least somewhat interested in getting the devil out of her territory, but she must have been more interested in testing us. Or just the spectacle, who knows?

In any case, we seemed to be doing pretty good against the devil, and then it…disappeared. Lovely. The mushroom queen said that it was loose in the world now. However, she’s happy with the results of our trip. Oh goody! She gestured for Fathom to give her the dagger, which Fathom did.

Here it comes. The mushroom queen said we had done so well on our trip to hell, she feels indebted to us now, and that while she understood we want to do good in the world, there might be more she could do. There’s an item out there that she needs taken from one town to another, and while we’re there, maybe we can help resolve some kind of conflict that’s happening in the area.

Awesome. So, she thinks she owes us, and to pay off the debt, she wants us to do another job for her, and maybe while we’re there we can do some other stuff for ourselves. She gave us directions to through the Twylen Pass, roughly north of where we are in the cave, to a lake community around the three sisters. From there go through Pinebrook to the north to a port town.

She gave Fathom back the dagger to use to track her item, which she thinks is probably at the bottom of one of the lakes in the Three Sisters region. Lovely. She also gave us 2 mountaineering packs, some coin, and some rope, and sent us on our way.

This seems like a pretty bad deal to me, and Gooseneck also has doubts. Seems to me we could just head up north and go deal with the problems going on without doing Mushroom Lady’s task. We discussed, and decided to do the job.

We headed on through the mountains to the pass, following a couple of elk. CornCob and Pujol managed to get it to give them a ride. Nice. 

Towards the end of the day, I saw a small humanoid riding a large dog/wolf thing. Then I saw more of them. It looked like an ambush, so I called ahead to the elk riders to hold up. The elk didn’t seem to get it, though, and trucked right on in to the ambush spot.

So, then we were fighting goblins and their pet wolves. It was a rough fight, but after a while we defeated them…but not without most of us getting hurt. CornCob cast a spell that healed us all. We searched the goblins and the area around them, and found a surprising amount of coin. We’ll be in good shape when we get to town…if we can carry it all.

Kay's Journal, 9/4/2020 - Reaper Errant #010

Kay’s Journal, 9/4

We’re in Hell. Or a hell, at least. The mushroom queen’s incubus henchman came along with us as a guide? Minder? I dunno. He went back to his bugbear shape for the trip. We walked past the lava field that was on the other side of the doorway and ended up on a flat plain with mountains in the distance.

CornCob told us this plane is a place of torture, and Gooseneck added that the Demon Lord of this plane is the daughter of Asmodeus. I happen to know that this is considered a prison layer of hell, and Asmodeus sent his daughter here after she got a little ambitious. He requires her to do the hard work of collecting souls by talking mortals into signing contracts. For the torture, the mountains come in to play…they tend to fall on people.

Do not ask me why I know so much about this hell.

So we think our target probably tried selling his soul twice – first to the mushroom queen, and then here. That would have made the second contract void, as at that point the soul was no longer his to bargain with. Demons are fussy about those kinds of rules.

Don’t ask me how I know that, either.

The bugbear/incubus teleported us to what looked like a military camp, populated by various guards and spirits. There were glowing crystals around the camp that seemed to have some kind of magical effect. We weren’t real sure what it was for until a rock slide came down the side of the mountain above us….and the rocks bounced off the invisible shield that surrounded the camp. CornCob picked up a few small shards of the crystal.

Our guide told us that in a few hours, we’d have a window when the fewest number of guards would be around our target. Based on that, we decided to rest, and set out in the morning. The dagger pointed us toward some of the mountains.

We still kept watches. I mean, yes, we were in a ‘friendly’ camp, and there was the protection of the shield, but….Hell.

Abran and Pujol took the first watch. A wagon without any animals pulling it went past, and more rocks fell from the mountain above us. Pujol noticed a distinctive sound before each rock fall.

Fathom and Gooseneck took second watch. There were more rock slides. Gooseneck watched the guards, and thinks they’re terrible – disorganized and undisciplined.

I took third watch with CornCob. The spirits seemed restless or something, as I kept hearing some weird, discordant music that made me think of ghosts with unfinished business.

We took off in the morning. I assume it was actually morning, at least. Our guide advised us to ‘be quick’, and told us he was going to stay behind at the camp to keep the shield going. He had no advice for us on getting back to the camp. Super helpful.

Pujol has some chalk, so he decided to try to make our path with chalk marks along the way. I had my doubts, but it was worth a try.

Some of the demons performed some sort of ritual, directing its magic at the mountain. A portal opened up in the mountain side leading to a trail, and a large ziggurat in the distance. The dagger, of course, was pointing us in that direction.

So on we went, heading down the trail with Pujol making his chalk marks periodically. Abran found what he thought was an animal trail, but as he was investigating, a large rock fell from the mountain and we all had to scramble to get out of the way. A few of us took some rock shrapnel, but nothing too bad. The largest boulder in the rock fall fell into a chasm in front of us. We’re going to have to cross the chasm to get to the ziggurat.

Also, spooky sounds were coming up out of the chasm.

Worst vacation ever.

We tied a rope to a rock on our side, and Abran threw the rope across to the other side. Pujol cast a spell that summoned some kind of invisible something that tied the rope off to a rock on the other side of the chasm. We tied a second rope to Abran and sent him across. He checked the knot, and then Pujol went across.

Pujol fell, but the rope we had tied to him saved him. He climbed out of the chasm and went across OK, no problem that time. Fathom went next. I went after Fathom, but ran into some problems about half way across when ghostly shapes rose out of the chasm, making a keening sound. I fell, swinging back to the staring side of the chasm and smacking against the rock wall. I climbed up out of the chasm as quickly as I could.

Six tortured souls rose out of the chasm, three heading to one side, and three to the other. On our side, CornCob brandished the power of his god, driving them away. On the other side, Fathom, Abran, and Pujol managed to fight them off, with CornCob casting a spell from our side of the chasm that dissipated the last spirit.

We finished crossing the chasm, leaving one of the ropes behind for our return. On the other side of the chasm, we ended up in another lava field. Whatever blessing the mushroom queen gave us for the heat was still working, as it didn’t bother us at all.

We finally got close enough to get a look at the ziggurat. There were two cages, one to the left of the entrance and one to the right. There were a few demons acting as guards, some with dogs, and some larger ones up on top of the ziggurat. Some of those had bows. The dagger was pointing us to the left cage.

We debated what to do – it looked like it’d be an ugly fight. Our first thought was to try to sneak over to the cage, find the target, and hope to be sneaky enough about it to avoid a fight. We also thought about setting up a distraction on the right, maybe freeing the people in the right cage or something, to try to draw the guards over there and then sneak left and find our target. Last, we thought about just going up to the guards and talking our way out of it. After all, they were holding that soul here illegally per their own rules. If we told them that, perhaps we could get what we needed without having to fight.

We discussed briefly, and decided to try the negotiation approach. Fathom, CornCob, Gooseneck, and I went forward to talk to the guards, while Pujol and Abran snuck around to the left cage to be ready as a distraction, backup, or whatever else was going to be needed.

Fathom spoke to the guards in a language I didn’t understand. There was some back and forth, and the guard waved one of his fellows over. That guy brought dogs. Yay. Fathom showed the dagger and how it was pointing to a cage, then she tried petting one of the dogs. That seemed to go OK, and buy her some bit of respect from the guards. Dog Boy asked to be shown which soul was ours…or at least, which one we were there to collect. We went over to the cage and had the dagger point it out. The demon went to talk to his manager.

When the guard returned, he agreed to give us the prisoner. He took his dogs and left, and the guard that had been by the cage door unlocked it. The people in the cage – all but the one we were there for – looked ready to rush the door. When the door opened, we just stepped aside and let them make a run for it.

Pujol cast a spell on the target that made him trust Pujol, and kept him from running like the rest. The target, a guy in a dark robe, did exit the cage, but went back to Pujol instead of running away. Fathom lead the rest of us back to where Pujol and Abran waited with the target. She walked right up behind him and stabbed him with the dagger. It was either a really good strike or else he was particularly vulnerable to that dagger, as it was clear the one hit was enough to take him out. CornCob asked what he’s made his bargain for, and as he died he told us he’d used the demon power to raid a fishing village.

OK, so the mushroom lady was right. Not a good guy at all.

Once he died, we were pulled back into the mushroom cavern. Apparently at least one of the demons was too close to use, and got pulled through with us.

Hey, we don’t have to worry about finding our way back across that chasm!

Kay's Journal, 8/21/2020 - Reaper Errant Episode #009

Kay’s Journal, 8/21

We’re still in the cave, still following the ‘somewhat’ infernal dagger.

Carrying torches in the darkness, we went deeper into the cave. Before long the cave opened up into a larger area with mushrooms on the far wall. Corncob went to check it out, and then told us the fungus might release spores. Lovely. Trying to avoid disturbing the fungus, we followed the wall of this larger room around to the right.

There was more fungus on the walls and ceilings. Pujol noticed something odd – the floor wasn’t rock, but it seemed thick and spongy. It appeared to be a thick layer of the very spores we were trying to avoid having the mushrooms release.

Trying to get away from the spores, we moved back to the center of the cavern, where it looked like there was a solid rock ‘island’ with a central rock pillar we could climb to get up above all the fungus.

Once we got there, we took a moment to look around and decide what to do next. As we paused, there was movement on the other side of the rock island, like a flutter of leaves. A large flower…like, feet across…opened up and a cloud of spores shot out at us…

…OH MY GOD THAT’S THE BEST FLOWER I’VE EVER SEEN! It’s so gorgeous. The most vibrant pink petals, the lovely scent. I just had to get closer. It looked like Fathom saw it too, as she started moving that way with me. I don’t get why nobody else did. Couldn’t they see it?

Then, out of nowhere, that gorgeous flower caught on fire! I have no idea what could cause it. I mean, we didn’t have torches anywhere near it. I went faster toward the flower to put it out as soon as I could. It was a minor miracle that the flower didn’t seem to be burning…a testament to its greatness! But how long could that last, really?

Pujol accidentally got in my way as I moved toward the flower, and tripped me with his war schawm. Clumsy! Then Fathom tried to grab me, but I ducked out of her grasp easily. What the heck? Did they not see we needed to save this flower?

Luckily, Gooseneck got to the flower to start putting it out…except…it grabbed him and pulled him into the flower, and closer around him. Um…hrm.

Perhaps this flower is not so awesome after all.

As my head cleared, I saw that Abran and CornCob had climbed up the pillar, where they were looking at a second flower. Pujol moved forward to try to cut Gooseneck free, as did I. Fathom blasted it with her magic bolt. That seemed to be the only thing that was really hurting it. While Pujol and I continued to saw away at the tough, leathery plant, it didn’t release Gooseneck until Fathom cast another bolt at it. Gooseneck tumbled out, with his mouth full of plant guts. Apparently he’d started eating it back. Fair enough!

Abran and CornCob shot at the plant that was on the upper level until it also died.

Fathom started climbing up the pillar, but fell and landed on some of the mushrooms. It released another cloud of spores. Pujol, Abran, Gooseneck and I all ended up inhaling some of the spores. We started feeling pretty bad right away. I’m not sure what those spores were doing, but it was not good for us. Even after we got up to the upper level, we felt sluggish and had a cough. Finally, it occurred to me to mask up. I cut some fabric off the bottom of my cloak to cover my face. Gave some to Fathom as well.

We rested up on the second level, but even after resting those of us who’d taken a face full of spores didn’t feel much better. CornCob told us that people who inhaled those mushroom spores often die of disease within 24 hours of exposure. Lovely. Now I’m going to die in this stupid, ‘somewhat’ infernal cave.

After delivering the good news, though, CornCob was able to cast spells on Gooseneck, Abran, and me that cured the disease, but after those three the gods weren’t answering anymore or something…I don’t know how cleric magic works. In any case, Pujol was still sick, and probably wasn’t going to last until the next day, when CornCob though he’d be able to cast the spell again.

As we discussed what to do, Fathom heard a voice telling her to bring Pujol to him. Sure thing, Creepy Cave Voice. But Pujol agreed that the thing to do was move forward, so that’s what we did.

We moved deeper into the cave. Once again, the narrow passageway opened up into a larger cavern, but this time there was a bugbear standing at the entrance. He asked why we were bothering him, and Fathom told him we just wanted to get past…if he let us through, he could get on with his day, and we could get on with ours. It didn’t seem to convince him, as he tried casting a spell of some kind on Abran, but it didn’t work.

Abran tried to intimidate and threaten the bugbear to let us pass, CornCob tried asking nicely, and Fathom told him that the master of the cave called us to him, and does the bugbear really want to risk angering him?

That last bit seemed to do the trick. The bugbear changed shape to some kind of fiend, wings and all (‘somewhat’ infernal…yah). Then he let us through. As we moved forward, Fathom’s dagger started to glow. Ahead of us, we could see a large, more or less humanoid mushroom. We can all feel the magic radiating off her. Animated little mushroom guys are gathered around her feet. Fathom and Pujol moved in closer to her – must have been more Creepy Cave Voice giving them instructions.

Mushroom Queen reached out to Pujol, and drew the poison spores out of his body. So, that’s good, but I’m sure there’s going to be a cost for it…

Well, that didn’t take long. She wants us to go on a small side trip to a place she doesn’t want to go, but she can open the way for us. She pointed to a wall, which becomes a large stone door with a glow behind it. Apparently, we’re to go through to another plane, and then use the dagger to collect a soul from someone who, according to Mushroom Queen, shouldn’t have it. To collect said soul, the current owned must be killed with the dagger. She did tell us that the target is not a good person, but I’m not sure I trust Her Mushroomy Majesty’s judgement in such things. I mean, she has a demon for a door man.

Abran, of course, tried to score some favors in the deal. She refused, thankfully. Who knows what that would have cost?

We all agreed to go, and the door swung open. We could see the glow of the lava and feel its heat, though the heat didn’t seem to be a problem for us.

I guess we’re going to hell.

Kay's Journal, 8/7/2020, Reaper Errant Episode #008

 Reaper Errant Episode #008 can be found here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLj9cdpOPrc&t=368s

We rested in the mountains, and then the next morning headed toward a nearby cave that both appears on a map the group has, and is pointed to by Fathom’s dagger. Before we left camp, Fathom inspected the half-read scroll from the witch’s house and found that it’s now blank. Whatever magic was on it has disappeared.

As we walked along, Abran noticed a trail in the snow like a large animal was being dragged. A little farther along, Pujol found some hair and determined it was an elk. The trail matched the direction we were going, so we just kept following along. We hadn’t gone too much farther when I noticed a female giant ahead of us, standing behind a large rock. She had a boulder in hand and looked ready to throw it at us. I shouted to her (and the group, to let them know she was there). Letting her know she was spotted didn’t diffuse the situation at all, and we all ran for cover behind the trees that were scattered about the area. Next thing, I saw a troll stomping out from behind a tree – lovely, more hostile critters – but then I saw Pujol concentrating, noticed the troll wasn’t making any sound, and realized he’d made an illusion to fool the giant.

Corncob and Abran both shot at the giant and hit her, but she was focused on the troll. She threw her rock at it. It was a great distraction, but sadly, everyone – including the giant – saw the rock pass right through it. Well, it was a great distraction while it lasted. As the giant was turning her attention to other targets, the troll illusion started making rude gestures at her. I assume that was more of Pujol’s work. It seemed to get her riled up again.

Fathom cast a bolt at the giant, and Corn Cob and Abran both shot her again. I snuck forward and shot at her as well, but seemed to get her attention in the process as she started looking for me. While she was distracted looking for me, Gooseneck snuck forward toward her.

The giant spotted me, dropped her rocks, drew her axe, and started running toward me. Good to keep her distracted from Gooseneck I guess, but I did not want to be on the wrong side of that axe. I booked it, trying to keep my distance, and her attention on me while the others attacked, with Fathom and Abran both shooting her again. Gooseneck finally got his chance, but missed. That was bad – she swung at him with her axe, and he immediately fell to the ground.

That seems to happen to him a lot, from what I’ve seen.

We all shot at her again, but it didn’t seem to be slowing her down in the slightest. She ran to Corn Cob, and once again, her axe took him down in one swing. Things were not looking good at all. She threw her axe at me and hit me with it – ow! I grabbed the axe and ran, trying to both keep her from getting it back, and lead her closer to the rest of the group, in better range for the bows and crossbows. A couple more shots, and she finally fell. Whew!

Pujol and Abran went up to start healing Corn Cob and Gooseneck. Fathom searched the giant’s body and found a pouch with 230 silver. Pujol went through her pile of rocks, and found a bunch of gems. Not bad! Gooseneck took a bone from the body to make a weapon.

Just on the other side of the rock, Abran spotted the cave entrance we’d been looking for. Since we were still pretty beat up and it seemed like more giants might live in the cave, we decided to rest outside it for the day and watch what came and went. The rest of the day and the night that followed were uneventful.

The next morning we approached the cave entrance. Abran and the other wilderness-aware people didn’t see any evidence that the giant lived in there. Yay! That’s a good sign. We moved inside, and everything was very quiet and very cold. Fathom held out her dagger, and it pointed deeper into the cave.

We moved on. The floor managed to somehow be both icy and web-like, like water had crystalized into a web-like structure. Corn Cob said we’re all good, unless it’s giant ice spiders. Then the giant ice spiders fell on us. Sigh.

Corn Cob started hitting the ice spiders, but they managed to get him and Abran webbed. Abran immediately broke free. Ab-tastic!

Fathom brandished her dagger, and that seemed to give the spiders pause. She moved up and hit one of them with the dagger, and it did waaayyy more damage than a dagger should have. There’s definitely something up with that dagger.

Pujol and Corn Cob took out one of the remaining spiders, and Gooseneck got the other one. With the spiders all down, we looked up at the ceiling…and quickly wished we hadn’t. It was full of remains of various woodland critters, presumably previous meals. Yuck.

We moved forward. Past that room, the cave was still cool, but at a more naturally cave-like temperature than it had been in that first room. We started to hear a grinding sound, like something digging through solid rock. Corn Cob, being a dwarf, has some experience with such thing and told us there are various critters who can do that. Yay.

Abran scouted forward and saw a three-legged, three-armed critter dragging a stalagmite. Abran called Corn Cob up to take a look, and Corn Cob said it’s an elemental critter that feeds on gems and precious metals. We snuck past it, with Pujol and Fathom feeding it one of the gems the giant had to get by it.

After we passed the rock critter, Fathom’s dagger swung about on its own and started making a weird noise that seemed to unsettled her. She told us that the dagger had an infernal vibe to it. I’m wondering…maybe it would have been good to mention that before we went into the cave???

Kay's Journal, 7/24/2020, Reaper Errant #007

 Reaper Errant Episode #007 can be found on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBMk6b_s4Io

We were on the second floor of the witch’s weird, bigger-on-the-inside chicken house, still searching for the witch. Pujol had just found a caged area with zombies in the cage, and we had a couple doors yet to look through. After some discussion, Gooseneck and Corn Cob spiked the cage door. Hopefully that would keep the zombies safely contained. While they were doing that, Fathom searched the desk and found a spell book, a potion, and a scroll that apparently had been half read. Weird – that’s not usually a thing that can happen, according to the magic folks.

Abran opened the interior doorway with his foot, ready to attack if necessary. Turn out…it wasn’t. Two oxen were stuffed into the tiny room. Pujol went forward to talk to them and try to make friends (moo!), but it didn’t look like it was going well. He did find out their names are Lox & Nox, and that they ate a book, and the witch left the room in a hurry.

Gooseneck checked out the porch door. Nothing out there, but he did see that we were moving very, very fast up a mountain.

One door left. On the other side of that door was a spiral staircase going up. Pujol liked Abran’s plan – send the oxen up first! We started up the stairs (oxen at the back with Pujol). Probably just as well the oxen stayed toward the back…I have no idea how we’d get them back down the stairs.

At the top of the stairs was a hatch leading in to the top of the tower. Abran went through first. I thought I heard the weird language of a spell being cast, but I wasn’t sure. Corn Cob went next, then Gooseneck. By the time I got up there it looked like she’d taken some damage, but was still in pretty decent shape. It was also getting crowded. I managed to shoot an arrow at her, then Fathom followed me up and cast a spell. We were probably whittling her down. Pujol stuck his instrument up through the hatch and played a merry tune.

We heard a metallic clang as the zombie cage opened on the floor below. So much for the spikes. The oxen were still at the bottom of the stairs, though…the zombies would have a hard time getting through, though the oxen might not come out of it so good.

The witch reached out to Abran and made him…uncomfortable. In return, he swung at her with his sword and hit her quite solidly. The rest of us all attacked again. That seemed to do it. The witch fell to her knees, begging forgiveness from….something. An image appeared, telling the witch she was unworthy, that she had failed. The image said they was going to take their house back. The house started shaking, and the witch fell to the floor, dead.

Well, ding, dong, the witch is dead, but now we have other problems. The house’s movement was becoming very rough and we were all unstable. Pujol almost fell off the stairs, and the zombies slid into the lower room, off balance. He considered cow tipping as a combat strategy – pushing one of the oxen onto the zombies. Instead he came up through the hatch and joined the rest of us.

A window appeared, and the house tried ejecting us through it. We all tried to resist, but most of us were pushed out. Only Gooseneck and Pujol got pushed out. Gooseneck grabbed Pujol and jumped out. Gooseneck landed well, but the rest of us got banged up. The witch’s body was ejected with us.

We searched the witch’s body and found an amulet with a red gem that was warm to the touch. Fathom inspected it, and was fairly sure it was the focus of the transmogrifying curses. Corn Cob smashed it, and the gem shattered. We looked at the biscuit from the witch, and a bracelet that apparently came from the rat-children. The biscuits had turned to worms (yuck!) and the bracelet was cracked, so we were pretty sure the curses had been broken.

We followed the house to look for other survivors, and found the oxen had been turned back to their humanoid form. Good! They were also surrounded by zombies. Bad! We killed the zombies pretty quickly. Now we need to rest and recover, and decide what to do next.

Kay's Journal, 7/10/2020, Reaper Errant Episode #006

Reaper Errant Episode #006 can be found here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLNlHhMT5IM

We pushed on, calculating that we could stay ahead of the snail if we travelled an hour or so longer than usual. We did it, but Fathom, Pujol, and Mark were really wiped out, and we made camp at that point rather than continuing on longer. It also meant we had limited options for choosing a spot to make camp, and we ended up on wetter ground than we would have liked. Some of us went up into trees to rest, a couple stayed on the ground, and Pujol strung a hammock for himself and Mark the Goat.

I ended up on second watch with Gooseneck this time, which was fine with me. Nothing ever happens on second watch. Everything was quiet for a while, but then 5 very large frogs fallumphed into camp. They looked like they might pass right on through, and I was inclined to let them. Gooseneck and I both watched carefully, ready to intervene if they did anything aggressive.

Giant frogs are, apparently, very fast. Two of them approached Pujol in his hammock and nearly ate him before either Gooseneck or I could react. The only thing that saved Pujol was that the two frogs were fighting over which one got to eat him. Two other frogs approached Abrand, who was on the ground doing his elfy meditation thing.

Gooseneck charged one of the frogs on Pujol, and I jumped out of my tree and stabbed the other one. Once his head was free of the frog’s gullet, Pujol cast an illusion of an alligator that distracted the frogs near Abrand. Gooseneck had some kind of lightning effect that was going off and hurting the frogs, even though his traditional attacks were missing. Corncob and Fathom both woke up and cast spells at one of the frogs, doing more damage. Eventually the remaining frogs decided they would do better elsewhere, and fled. Abrand took a parting shot at one of them, even so.

Abrand has been complaining vehemently about the whole thing ever since. Dude is never gonna let it go, I can tell.

We had a quick breakfast of frog, and then moved on. Before too long we finally caught up with the house – it was still roosting! So much the better. Gooseneck and Pujol (riding Mark the Goat) took some rope and wrapped it around the house’s chicken legs. They managed to pull it off! Once the house woke up, they had to work hard to keep the rope around the legs. They held, though, and the house fell over on to its front porch.

I climbed up the porch and in through the front door…where suddenly everything was upright, like the house had not fallen over. It took a second to get oriented. It was also clear that the house was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside, and that the windows that were visible from the outside weren’t actually on the inside. Maybe the magic people can explain how all that works…later. Right now, we have to find the witch.

Corncob, Fathom, and Abrand joined me in the house and we started searching. I found a kitchen, and Abrand moved past the kitchen into a hallway where he found sound tapestries hanging on the walls and a staircase going up. Fathom saw Gooseneck trying to claw his way in to the house, carrying Pujol’s bleeding body with him. Apparently the chicken feet started kicking out, hit Pujol, and cut him badly. He didn’t look at all good. Fathom helped Gooseneck get Pujol into the house, and then Gooseneck climbed in. Abrand healed Pujol with magic, and got him looking conscious and functional, if not entirely hale and healthy.

After that, we started searching the house again. Fathom found a café in the last room on the first floor where we hadn’t looked earlier, and then we all started up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, I found a large landing and a closed door. I moved in through the closed door…no witch, but some cages in the shadows with a sense of restless movement inside them. Well, whatever is in there is caged, and caged it can stay for now.

I went farther in, and found an area that seemed like a small library, a door that looked like it went to the outside, and another interior door that looks like it goes to another room.

As everyone finished making their way into this room, Pujol approached the shadowed cages. A rotting hand swiped at him from within…

…and here we are, still searching for the witch, but with possibly another threat to contend with…

…and the house has started moving again, running off who knows where…

…and leaving Mark the Goat alone in the swamp.

Kay's Journal, 6/26/2020 (Reaper Errant Session 5)

Reaper Errant Session 5 is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rrxcn353Vg

I much prefer not being a door.

Last thing I remember as a human was walking along a trail through the marsh, going past a little house, and pulling a very tasty looking fruit off a tree there.

The door days are fuzzy, but I do recall that the old lady who lives in that house seems to enjoy turning her ‘guests’ into things. Animals. Furniture. Doors.

Next thing, I was back as myself, still in the swamp, with a group of very suspicious people nearby. I don’t know what they did, but I’m really glad to no longer be a door, so I’m not going to complain.

They offered me the opportunity to go with them after the witch. Sounds good to me. I feel like a conversation with her is in order. Or maybe if she like inanimate objects so much, maybe she can have that conversation with my rapier.

We’re following the tracks of the house through the swamp – apparently it has giant bird feet. Maybe it used to be a bird, who knows?

We came across a river deep enough to be a problem for the more height-challenged members of the group, but with some rope we got across with no trouble.

After a day or so of travelling, we got to a spot where the house-bird tracks were deeper than the rest. The wilderness-aware members of the group put forth that the house probably rested (roosted) there the night before. There was also a chest nearby…

…yeah, not a chest. It was rather more toothy and hungry than most chests I’ve seen. It bit Corncob when he approached, and the acid stink of its spit was noticeable even from a distance. That’s gonna leave a mark. Once the rest of the group got engaged, though, it went down pretty quickly. We found a few coins and a jar of healing ointment in the remains.

We camped for the night shortly after that. I took third watch, because nothing ever happens on third watch. Except that night. A board charged in to camp. I shot it once, but it wasn’t until the elf summoned some sort of spiky vine thing that it went down. Bacon, yum!

The next morning we picked up and started following the house-bird tracks again. Around mid-day, we came across an arcane circle carved into the ground. Walking into it didn’t set it off, as nobody noticed it until somebody was already inside the circle. We also noticed that the ground in the area had a sheen on it, like oil on water.

Abran thought it was a summoning circle. We decided to try to move on around it, hopeful that since it hadn’t been triggered on entering the circle we could avoid whatever it was meant to summon. No such luck, as we moved on a large elemental snail surged out of the swampy ground under us.

I ran past it, as did Pujol. Gooseneck approached it, though…and immediately got whalloped by the fail-like appendages on its head. Abran tried using his vine spell on it again, but the spell rebounded and hit him instead. Apparently magic is out. Many of us keep attacking it, and Gooseneck managed to recover and move away from it. Finally Corncob summoned a field of spikes around it to slow it down, and we ran.

It’s definitely chasing us. Now we have decisions to make – do we move on ahead and hope we stay ahead of it? Or do we ambush it and take it out before we catch up to the house?

It was definitely safer being a door.