Game 13: The Ruined City I

3:22
The Lords are en route to Béray, travelling with an entourage of 150 lizardmen, as well as Perrin the Watch. Joranth has continued to have his strange fits, sometimes making almost lucid statements while he convulses. Joranth has also started to glow with an eerie light and plants grow in his footsteps. At some point during the group's travels, a raven has begun to trail them, circling the procession every day.

Thoylin contacts Damalanthas from Rotan with three bits of news:

• Burr has attempted to kill Wanwier with a crossbow. The King's Fool leapt into the way and took the shot, but his body is now missing. Under Rotan law, attempting to murder a priest of Artafor is punishable by death and the priesthood of Artafor in Rotan is insisting that the law be applied. Sepyt could pardon the halfling, but is still missing.
• Tekuna has had the lizardmen scriptures translated and Thoylin relays the words to Damalanthas.
• Scribe Tunwhistle has found a translation of the word "Metroffen". It means "sacrifice".

About an hour before midnight, the howls of a wolf pack are heard from all around the lizardman encampment. Strangely, an investigation reveals that there are no actual wolves.

3:23
As the group begins to catch up with the main lizardmen army, Owen flies ahead to scout around the lizardman camp and the desert city of Béray. He estimates that the lizardman army could only have reached Béray the night before, since the desert city does not yet seem to have mustered its defensive forces. Amongst the strange creature Owen sees in the Béray camps are elephants, camels, pundaks and a caged giant.

The Lords and the accompanying lizardmen reach the 4000-strong lizardmen army, camped just a dozen miles south of Béray. Damalanthas and Joranth meet with ZzerisS, the highdreamer of the lizardmen. She tells them that Prince Fen-Reshk has already left for the Je-Lorak -- the Ruined City -- with the Sceptre of Mundiree. ZzerisS also has a red pet lizard perched on her shoulder.

The meeting with ZzerisS is interupted by the arrival of Marques de Merrin, diplomatic envoy of Queen Allys. He wishes to negotiate a peace treaty with the lizardmen. All three parties agree that no-one will initiate an attack until the Lords return from Je-Lorak. ZzerisS intructs Ssislua to accompany the Lords, and Perrin the Watch is also persuaded to travel with them.

3:24
Hastened by Joranth's magic, and with the peculiar Raven still following them, the Lords journey towards Je-Lorak. En route, Damalanthas speaks again with Thoylin. Shipments of food have arrived in Rotan from Miris and are to be shipped north to aid Feroll. Thoylin also raises the matter of the life crystal shipments, which are supposed to commence in the next two weeks. Damalanthas instructs Thoylin to make sure that the crystals end up at the bottom of a lake.

3:25
The Lords reach the remains of the Ruined City and Owen discovers the tracks of a three-toed biped leading into the city. The Lords attempt to follow the tracks of Prince Fen-Reshk, but lose them. They also encounter some strange shiny discs, which Joranth determines radiate illusionary magic. After hearing some strange noises, the groups shelters in a building.

From inside the building, they see several armed trolls patrolling the streets of the city. The trolls are responsible for distributing the discs and were causing the unusual noises. One troll, seeing Joranth's plant foot-prints, pursues the group into the building. Owen changes into bird form and distracts the troll, and the Lords flee.

The strange raven seems to want the Lords to follow it. They do so, and are led to a collapsed building. Burrowing under the rumble, they discover a cellar, and hidden in a crack in the wall of the cellar, they find a strange harp. Joranth attempts to sense if the harp is magical, and the harp responds with a single thudding sound.

Game 14: The Ruined City II

3:25
Damalanthas determines that the harp is the Throbbing Harp – a gift to the people of Je-Lorak from Wiobra, god of Death.

Pursuing Owen, the trolls use a strange device to collapse a building.

The heroes returned to the entrance of the city, to try and follow the Lizard Prince’s trail once again. At the entrance to the city, they encounter a mysterious pack of wolves.

An immense battle ensues between the trolls and the heroes. Joranth is mortally wounded and the Lords fight hard to draw the trolls away from his body. They retreat to the temple in the middle of the city.

Souriin, scouting the city, sees the avatar of Mundiree, goddess of the halflings, carrying Prince Fen-Reshk’s body. He takes the body from the halfling and carries it to Cha-im’s central temple.

Arriving at the temple at the same time as the trolls and Cha-im’s wolf pack, Mundiree explains that far to the north the trolls have finally overcome and enslaved the ogre race. Within a year, the trolls will arrive on this continent and a Great War will ensue. The only hope for the survival of the people of these lands is to stand united against the trollish forces.

Cha-im wants Joranth to slay the Lizard Prince, so that a fierce and bloody war will begin immediately. Mundiree warns that this course of events will lead to the extinction of the lizardmen and eventually, many of the other races.

With the exception of the wily bard, the heroes find themselves frozen in place as Joranth has to choose whether or not to slay Prince Fen-Reshk.

Joranth chooses to spare the Lizard Prince’s life and is struck down by vengeful Cha-im. Earthquakes wrack the Ruined City and the trolls attack the Lords. Once more, the Lords fight for their lives as they attempt to drive off the trolls. During the battle, Euvgeni slays the lizard priestess Ssislua and the lords take the Lizard Prince captive.

They are eventually successful, and in the aftermath of the battle, Damalanthas extracts a promise from Mundiree that wherever halflings are welcome, crops will be bountiful.

The Lords leave the city of Je-Lorak, and behind them, new flowers spring up in the crumbled ruins – a final sign of Mundiree’s touch.

Game 15: More Plans

3:26
Damalanthas finds Joranth’s Last Will and Testament, tucked into his saddlebags.

Souriin and Euvgeni teleport back to Waterloaf with Joranth’s body. They initiate a mass migration of halflings north towards Rotan with Joranth’s body on a bier at the head of the massive procession. This is part of the drive to resettle halflings throughout the northern lands.

Attempting to dominate Prince Fen-Reshk’s mind, Damalanthas gets a splitting headache and is forced to rest for several hours.

3:27
Owen, Damalanthas and Perrin the Watch begin an overland journey back to Béray. Thanks to a warning from Prince Fen-Reshk, the group is able to evade an attack by a troupe of Vegepygmies.

Thoylin reports that scouts to New Ivrea claim that the blight there has suddenly vanished.

3:29
Owen, Damalanthas, Perrin and Prince Fen-Reshk meet the lizardmen army travelling in the opposite direction. They learn that ZzerisS has declared a holy war on Outreach in retaliation of the slaying of Sslisua, who had been chosen to be the next High Dreamer. After some terse discussions with Prince Fen-Reshk and ZzerisS, they part ways with the lizardmen and continue towards Béray.

3:30
Euvgeni and Souriin travel to Outreach to prepare the Council there for the lizardmen invasion.

 Jandar Ter'Faan's father loses his leg in a battle near Feroll.

4:2
The Lords regroup in Béray.

Damalanthas has a surprise meeting with Queen Allys. He learns that she wishes Béray’s autonomy to be recognised by Rotan. Damus also discovers that the Bandit Queen is a Tel.

Owen’s Crystals are stolen by a pickpocket, but later recovered.

Damalanthas discovers the King’s Fool, locked in a cage.

Euvgeni puts the word out that he is hiring, and begins to drum up a significant mercenary force. He also purchases fifteen elephants (for 7500 gp).

Souriin’s buys six potions from a trader. The potions were allegedly found in the desert.

Souriin and Owen translocate to Rotan. Souriin collects a few things for Damalathas and sends the potions to the University for identification. Souriin returns to Béray, but leaves Owen in Rotan.

During a formal meeting with Queen Allys, Souriin, Euvgeni and Damalanthas discover that the Tel have been slaves of the illithids for many generations. The illithid use the Tel people as breeding stock. Queen Allys also alludes to the mining of a “deep rock” which may be the source of the life crystals.

They also discover that the Queen is not personally behind the trade in magic items. She suspects that Baron Vuntar is responsible.

Once she is given an assurance that Rotan will recognise Béray’s statehood, Queen Allys agrees to attend a Council of War.

During the course of the night, Damalanthas steals the ring of mental fortitude back from Souriin, replacing it with the less-powerful ring of mind shielding. When he wakes up, Souriin is livid at this theft.

A delegation from Urgari presents King Anwell with a petition demanding that Rotan hand over Fengar the Grey to King Kanharn of the dwarves. Despite the concerns of Veros Paithen (the elven ambassador) that it may lead to war with the dwarves, King Anwell expels the delegation from Rotan City.

4:3
Whilst travelling towards New Ivrea to survey the area, Owen finds close to a thousand human refugees, apparently from the villages to the south of the Naivan mountains. Their leader, a woman named Hennilee, claims that they were released by the dark elves and gives Owen a verbal message for King Anwell. The message is that the release of the humans is a peace offering to Rotan from Prince Ortea. The dark elven prince also claims that his people are responsible for the removal of the blight from New Ivrea.

Damalanthas meets with Governor Du Rant of Lerantu. The Governor agrees to attend the Council of War, and in return, Damalanthas promises to support his efforts for re-election in Lerantu.

Preparations for War

4:4
The Lords begin preparing for both the Council of War and the invasion of Outreach.

Euvgeni and Souriin teleport back to Outreach to make further plans with Euvgeni's commanders.

Souriin returns to Béray with Commanders Pedorin and Yashimov, who are placed in charge of the mercenary forces there. Euvgeni remains in Outreach with Commander Panagiotis.

Souriin then travels to Lemonaris to track down the Wizard’s Circle. He meets Kiara Latharis, the elderly librarian in charge of the Great Library. He gives her copies of Souriin’s spacial transferral and Souriin’s truthtell. In return, she allows him to choose two new spells from the library’s collection. He picks improved slow and elemental form.

Instructions reach the Operation Hydra forces to reconfigure into 20 small groups of 50-100 warriors. These groups are to be stationed in four lines around the lizardmen forces.

Owen meets up with Kaaven just outside of New Ivrea. Although Owen and Kaaven do not risk a close up inspection, they are able to confirm that the Blight has been removed from New Ivrea.

Damalanthas and Jess Farstrider plan a campaign strategy for Lerantu that will ensure that Governor Du Rant is re-elected.

Damalanthas speaks to Roleen in Feroll and asks her to invite Mito the Cleric and King Loren of Tillon to attend the Council of War.

Damalanthas attempts to contact Athalar in the Empire, but his magic mirror remains hazy and unclear.

Damalanthas travels to the University and begins to transcribe hallucinatory terrain into his spellbooks.

4:5
Pedorin and Yashimov free the giant in Béray, by buying him from his captors. The giant (Dranbur) decides to join the mercenary forces for a while.

The flanking lines of Operation Hydra begin a series of skirmish attacks on the lizardmen army, as it moves towards Outreach. The front and back-up lines begin to burn the forest ahead of the lizardmen, to reduce the food available to the army.

4:6
The Rotan palace issues a formal agreement recognising Béray’s independence.

Urgari expels all Rotan traders and cuts off diplomatic contact with Rotan.

The lizardmen army slows down slightly, in response to the skirmish attacks.

4:7
Sifting through the library records, Souriin learns more about the Wizard’s Circle. It is an informal group of those wizards who have passed “Trada’s tests”, and seems to include at least:

• the Wizard of the Red Orb
• the Wizard of the Moon
• Beloni, White Witch of the North
• Camanthalar

The forces hired by Euvgeni in Béray have built up to 800 mercenaries with about a quarter riding Pundaks, plus the 15 elephants purchased earlier. These forces begin to travel towards Outreach in pursuit of the lizardman army.

4:8
Continuing his research, Souriin determines that the Wizard of the Moon is currently living on the Bird Islands. He decides to visit the larger island to the east of the Bird Islands.

Arriving on the island, Souriin encounters several groups of strange elephant-like creatures. The island appears very different from the one Souriin remembers from his previous visit.

4:9
A messenger arrives in Rotan from Feroll with a message stating that King Loren will be attending the Council of War, but that Mito the Cleric is currently missing.

Owen leads a group of warriors into the Blight at the Goblin caves. They suffer heavy casualties, but Owen is able to establish that the entire blight area has some level of sentience. The Blight seems to be deadly because the strange trees, shrubs and creatures co-operate with each other to deal with intruders.

Five of the six potions bought in Béray are identified as:

• a potion of digging
• a potion of forwarning
• a potion of frost resistance
• a potion of magic resistance [editor’s note: type II]
• oil of beauty

Souriin polymorphs into an albatross and begins flying westward towards the Bird Islands.

The back-up line of Operation Hydra reaches Treetops, the westernmost of the historical Twelve Villages of Outreach. The residents of the town are evacuated.

Damalanthas finishes transcribing hallucinatory terrain, but something goes wrong when he tries to memorise it and he forgets stoneskin instead. After this streak of bad luck, the bard decides to travel to Rotan to take care of some business there.

Damus borrows Thoylin’s translocation tapestry.

Damalanthas meets personally with King Anwell and resigns his Lordship of Rotan and all of his official duties. The King is extremely upset.

After some discussion with Ambassador Pathos, Damalanthas speaks to Destrith (who is in Miris) and requests that the elves sent a representative to the Council of War.

King Anwell sends an emissary to Prince Elryk of Meldora inviting him the Council of War.

Thalakos and Damalanthas agree that Nirvon Drever should represent Pirs at the Council of War. The merchant agrees to do so.

Damalanthas asks Ghazal Nikrig to find a good gnomish or dwarven loremaster to help draft formal agreements at the Council of War. The Loremaster is also going to petition Burr’s case in Rotan.

After several sleepless nights persuading himself that it is the right thing to do, Damalanthas signs his entire investment in the RMA over to Thoylin, in order to pay for renovations and preparations at New Ivrea. Thoylin and Thalakos are placed in charge of the security and renovations of New Ivrea.

4:10
There are more anti-elf riots in Nedgari. Renegade members of the Dwarven Freedom Front (DFF) ambush some of the wagons transporting grain from Miris to Rotan.

After a brief visit to Governer Bolyan Risp of the Bird Islands, Souriin meets the Wizard of the Moon and has a confusing conversation with him. Souriin thinks he may have learned a few useful bits of information, but he isn’t quite sure.

Damalanthas teleports to Outreach to begin training with the forces there, in preparation for the battle with the lizardmen.

4:11
Forty of the warriors participating in Operation Hydra are killed by a huge green dragon. It is not know if the dragon is working with/for the lizardmen, but the information that trickles back to Outreach seems to indicate that the attack was carefully planned. There were two attacks on separate base camps, both during the night, which doesn’t fit the profile of a random dragon attack. The flanking forces involved in Operation Hydra are sent into disarray.

Souriin teleports back to the eastern island and talks to the creatures there (called “baku”). He learns of a conspiracy between the baku, the Empire and the illithids to “subvert” the humans living on the mainland. He also discovers that when the Lords of Rotan last visited the island, the baku placed some sort of mental block on them, providing them with exceptional resistance to psionic attacks.

His discussions with the baku also lead him to believe that the life crystals work in three stages. The first stage is addiction and the second is the manifestation of mind powers. He doesn’t discover what the third stage is.

After his disturbing discussions with the baku, Souriin returns to Outreach.

Game 16: Outreach I

4:12
News of the dragon attack reaches Euvgeni. He is furious and orders 200 men to travel into the Deep Forest and butcher any remaining lizardmen. Souriin calms him down and convinces him not to divide his forces. Instead, Euvgeni decides to send a member of the Outreach Council to parley with the lizardmen. Maruk Durakov draws the short stick and is sent out on his own to negotiate.

During the night, Damalanthas weaves a complex set of spells and sends an air elemental into the heart of the lizardmen encampment. Approximately 200 lizardmen are killed by the elemental’s ferocious attack.

4:13
Owen visits “The Mark” – the site of Camanthalar’s attempt to remove the Blight. He is not able to determine much from his visit, but does find a few shards of what was probably the massive Blight Crystal at the centre of the infected area.

Loremaster Indo the Quill petitions Lurik Mien, high priest of Artafor, regarding the fate of the halfling Burr. After much complex wrangling, Lurik agrees to allow Burr to stand trial under the King’s Law. The King is to hear the case on 2705:4:18

Euvgeni orders the remaining forces making up Operation Hydra to fall back and defend the city.

During the evening, the green dragon attacks Outreach City. Euvgeni and Damalanthas – as well as most of Outreach – fall prey to the effects of dragonfear and head for the forests at speeds that would impress Tekuna. Souriin cautiously tries to detect the invisible dragon, but after a brief encounter with the beast decides not to confront it directly.

4:14
Souriin returns to Rotan, and after brief arguments with King Anwell and Inura the Short (curator of the museum), he takes the Green and Brass Dragon Paintings and returns to Outreach. He activates the Brass Painting and speaks to Polish – a brass dragon living to the far south west. Polish gives him some information about the other dragons, but is really too far away to be very useful to the Lords.

Damalanthas “summons” Thalakos to help prepare the city from the lizardmen onslaught.

Souriin uses his magic to cause severe weather conditions in the lizardman encampment, slowing down their approach to Outreach.

Game 17: Outreach II

4:15
Damalanthas returns to Rotan palace, mis-aiming a teleport spell and arriving in the throne room during a heated discussion between King Anwell, Anneline and Ghazal Nikrig. They stop talking when Damus arrives to swap news with the bard.

During ensuing discussion, Damalanthas learns that Marlin Trollarm has accepted an invitation to attend the Council of War (despite not having been invited) and also that there are reports of dwarven troops massing/drilling in Urgari.

Damus goes to the Museum to get more of the dragon paintings, but finds Beloni waiting for him (in her human form). She is angry about the theft of the green and brass paintings and seems upset about something else too. Damalanthas explains what has been going on in the southern lands, and the silver dragon looks sad. She agrees to return with the bard to Outreach to confront the green dragon, but will only leave at dawn. Damalanthas also learns that Beloni has asked Flash to do her some sort of favour.

Beloni leaves Damus on the roof of the clock tower and, changing back into her dragon from, flies into the sky, crying gently. Damalanthas scales the outside of the clock tower and spends the rest of the night conversing with the resident dwarf at the Inn of the New Dawn.

4:16
At dawn, Beloni returns to meet Damus at the clock tower and the two return to Outreach.

Shortly after they arrive, Euvgeni resigns his position as Leader of Outreach, and places the Council in charge. Euvgeni takes on a position as Commander of the Outreach Army.

Maruk Durakov, who had been sent out to attempt to parley with the lizarmen returns with the surprising news that ZerisS wants a truce. The Lords decide to meet with the High Dreamer and a time and place is set for the meeeting.

Damalanthas speaks to Jess Farstrider, and she begs to be allowed to participate in the action. Unable to resist her wilful pleas, Damus agrees to let her join the group.

Just before noon, Damalanthas, Souriin, Euvgeni, Jess and Beloni travel together to the selected meeting place – a huge open meadow. The lizardmen forces are camped on the far end of the field.

Euvgeni, accompanied by Damalanthas, and ZzerisS, accompanied by the lizardman Prince, walk slowly across the field and meet halfway.

Beloni is sure that something is wrong, but does not know what. Euvgeni begins to negotiate a truce with ZzerisS. The high dreamer seems distracted and nervous. She makes allusions to “a problem” that the lizardmen need help with.

The “problem” – Dagaronzie the dragon – appears suddenly in the field, very close to the negotiators. (Dagaronzie had been cloaked!) Acting very fast, ZzerisS displaces the negotiators into some sort of pocket dimension. They agree to repel the dragon together, with a promise of a peaceful treaty between the lizardmen and Outreach if this is successful.

They arrive back on the field and a pitched battle with the green wyrm follows. Despite valiant efforts to fell the beast, Damalanthas falls foul of its corrosive breath and is felled.

Both the lizardmen and the human forces are routed by the dragon. Beloni – who seems to be have driven almost mad by the sight of the green dragon – pursues Dagaronzie.

Hours later, the scattered human and lizardmen forces find the body of the great silver dragon – badly wounded but still conscious. While Souriin watches (hiding), Beloni attempts to summon the Wizard’s Circle. Only two of the circle arrive – the Wizard of the Moon and the Wizard of the Red Orb. Astonishingly, the Wizard of the Red Orb arrives in beholder form.

Beloni, obviously furious about something, curses the circle, spits at the Wizard of the Moon and declares the circle broken. She turns her back on the other wizards, and leaves.

Later that evening, Souriin receives an ominous message from the Moon Wizard: “your half-brother has passed the tests. Contact me when you feel ready.”