[Cerek]

Greetings All. My solo Skald's game has been revived after a loooong hiatus and I've decided to start recording his adventures again. So without further ado, here are the continuing adventures of Gabriel Stone, solo Skald.

Trademeet

I arrived at this former hub of Athkala trading to find several animals attacking the town guards. I lent them my aid and the beasts were slain quickly enough - although one guard also died from the wounds he received. The remaining guard told me this had been happening with alarming frequency and suggested I go see the High Merchant if I wanted more information or to offer my aid. I went to the High Merchant's house straight-away. The Guildmistress was there as well and they informed me that - in addition to the animal attacks - a group of djinn had moved in and cut off ALL trade to the town. They were looking for a fugitive from their land and believed that person was hiding (or being hid) in Trademeet. The High Merchant also informed me that the townspeople were convinced the animal troubles were the result of the local druids and they were starting to call for blood. A druid had entered town the day before and been attacked by the mob. He had to put the fellow in jail for his own safety. Despite the urging of the crowd, the High Merchant wasn't convinced the druids were responsible and asked if I would help the druid in the jail sneak out of town under cover of darkness. I told him I would be happy to help, but wanted to speak to the djinn first. I visited their tent and they told me of the fugitive they sought - a shapechanging creature known as a raksasha. They told me the fugitive could take on any number of appearances. Well, that certainly narrows down the number of suspects. I promised to help search for the fugitive and to bring back any information I found.

I returned to the High Merchant's house and went to the basement to meet the druid there. He was a rugged fellow, with muscles honed from a life spent living outdoors. He introduced himself as Cernd and said that he had been sent to investigate the strange occurances by the Druid Council. We left quickly and made our way out of town without being seen. Cernd led me to the Druid Grove that seemed to be the center of all the activity and we decided to split up and search the area separately.

I met a large group of spiders shortly after leaving Cernd, but a Cloudkill followed by a couple of Fireballs took care of them. There were also a few trolls running about, but nothing too dangerous. Then I came to a large structure in the west end of the grove. I used my Ring of Invisibility to sneak in undetected and found a HUGE group of trolls. I crept around as quietly as I could and discovered the trolls were in two large groups. Unfortunately, my stealth skills weren't as good as I hoped and some of the trolls apparantly heard me walking around. I suddenly found myself being chased by the group from the back of the hut. Thinking quickly, I ran towards the group in front. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I literally had to come up with a plan on the run. The group followed me faithfully and I managed to get ALL of the trolls together in one location - then I unleashed another Cloudkill spell. I had to center the spell near my own location to make sure I got all the trolls. The fumes were horrific, but I managed to escape the cloud before succombing to their effect. Once I was clear of the cloud, I blasted the assembled group with Fireballs, killing most of them right away. A few managed to survive both attacks and escape the cloud, but I was able to cut them down with my sword. After killing all the trolls, I decided to "camp" inside their hut. I needed to rest and recover my spells.

Early the next morning, I set out to explore the rest of the Grove. I had a few minor encounters, but nothing serious - until I met a group of druids and their pet animals. I tried to talk with the leader, but they were in no mood to negotiate and began to attack. I resorted to my standard Cloudkill attack, only to discover that the animals seemed immune to it's effects! This was NOT good. I ran from the animals as fast as I could and used Ring of Invisibility again. This helped slow down the pursuit, but they could still track my scent. So I ran back towards the area where their masters were. Another hastily improvised plan had come to mind. Fortunately, the druids themselves had suffered some of the effects of the cloud and were just recovering as I ran unseen past them. I stopped just short of the bridge on the other side of the clearing and waited for their pets to catch up. Once they did, I began my first spell. This cancelled my Invisibility and the druids charged to attack with their animals close behind. I tried a new spell called Skull Trap and it worked wonderfully. The animals took a great deal of damage from the exploding skull and the druids also got hit with the flying shards. My Stoneskin provided some measure of protection for me, but I still took a fair amount of damage myself. Still, I couldn't fight all the druids and their animals so I had to just take the damage and keep casting. Three Skull Traps finally managed to kill the last of the animal familiars and left most of the druids seriously injured also. Of course, I was cut pretty badly too, since the 2nd spell had cancelled my Stoneskin, leaving me vulnerable to the full effects of the last trap. I drank a potion of Extra Healing, then glanced quickly at the druids. Choosing the one that appeared to be the least injured, I cast my favorite spell in times of need - Dire Charm. Dare I say, it worked like a "charm", and I now had an ally to help fight the remaining druids. After killing two of his former comrades, I backed away from the melee' and just let the druids fight each other. My "ally" managed to kill his former buddies, but he was barely able to stand after the beating he took from them. Once my spell wore off, I finished him with a single stroke from my sword.

The bridge leading to the rest of the Grove was covered with Myconids - mushroom-looking creatures. Cloudkill proved to be deadly effective against them and I crossed the bridge unchallenged. After a few more random encounters, I found Cernd again. He told me the entrance to the heart of the Grove was just ahead. I cast Improved Invisibility and crept forwards slowly. Some bears were ahead and I killed them with Fireballs - then I saw yet another group of druids and pet familiars. Luckily, there were only 3 druids this time instead of 5. Using the same tactics as before, I managed to kill this group without too much of a challenge...then I entered the inner sanctum of the Grove.

I met the new ruler of the Grove, a certifiably crazy wench named Faldorn. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't remember where I knew her from....then I realized I had actually met her before during my travels along the Sword Coast. She had struck me as rather "militant" even then for a druid, but she had transformed into someone even more crazed since that time. No wonder I didn't recognize her at first. Our conversation convinced me that she had become a raving lunatic and that there was no way to redeem her. She challenged me to battle, but I knew better than to accept her offer. We were in the very heart of her Grove, where her connection to Nature was the strongest. I had no delusions that my minor magical skills would present any form of "challenge" to her in that setting. So I left and told Cernd what I had discovered. He said he would face her challenge and we returned to set things right in the Heart of the Grove. But Faldorn's power was greater than we suspected and she somehow transported ME into her Battle Arena instead of Cernd. I thought my adventures had come to an end, and they surely would have, but a huge bolt of light suddenly flashed straight down from the sky - striking Faldorn dead where she stood. I was too stunned to realize what had happened. The next thing I knew, Cernd was telling me that I was now the new ruler of the Grove?!?! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I have nothing against Nature, but I realize my limitations too. We discussed the issue and he chose another druid that had been serving as an apprentice to serve in my stead. WHEW! THAT was close.

I left the Grove in their capable hands and set out to return to Trademeet. On my way back through the grove, I decided to investigate the buildings I had passed earlier. Little did I realize that I would end up resolving the other quest I had undertaken. I entered an innocent looking shop and was talking to a nice little old lady, when she suddenly began snarling about me having the "stench of the djinn" on me and her "form" shifted to reveal her true identity. I had found the fugitive sought by the djinn without even meaning to. I managed to kill her with my club (which I had grabbed in desperation when facing Faldorn), but she had two friends with her. I ran outside to give myself time to try and cast a couple of buffing spells. I waited for a moment, but her pals didn't follow me. Not being one to overlook good fortune, I found a secluded spot that could be safely guarded and took some time to rest again. My spells were almost depleted and I didn't like the idea of fighting two more of these "tiger creatures" relying just on the strength of my arm. After a proper rest, I cast Stoneskin and Fireshield on myself and entered the building once again. The two raksasha were still there and I began firing my spells at them - only to learn that they have a very high resistance to magic. That was not what I had expected and I was left with no choice but to attack them with my weapons. To my surprise, they proved to be far easier to kill than I had expected possible. I took the head of the fugitive as evidence for the djinn and returned to Trademeet.

They were pleased to have the fugitive taken care of. They gave me a nice scimitar for my efforts, then packed their tents and left. The mayor welcomed me back with a huge reception and labeled me the "Hero of Trademeet". I was a bit embarassed by all the attention, especially after the town built a statue in my honor, but the tales and dreams of bards center around such events, so I was flattered as well by the attention.

During the ceremony, I was approached by two nobles. Each requested that I retrieve an artifact for them from a local tomb - and each claimed that they alone had an exclusive right to this artifact. I made my way to the local graveyard and found the tomb in question. It was inhabited by several undead with some serious anti-social tendencies. I killed some of the lesser beings, but had to retreat from the attack of one of the skeleton warriors. He followed me outside and our battle continued, attracting the attention and aid of one of the town guards. His help was appreciated, but it wasn't enough and the skeleton warrior killed him (which put a bit of a tarnish on my newly gained reputation as the "Hero" of the town). I finally managed to kill the foul beast and returned to Lady Lurraxols' home (since she had approached me first). I offered the artifact to her, only to have Lord Alibakkor show up with some of his hired help. He was upset about not getting the artifact and attacked me. I expected that, but I did NOT expect Lady Lurraxols to join in the attack with her guards!!! That's gratitude for you. In the end, I slew both nobles AND their hired hands - which earned me a rather harsh scolding from the High Merchant. But Lord Alibakkor had been wearing a suit of elven chain mail - a wonderful piece of armor that can be worn by spellcasters without hindering their spellcasting abilities...so I accepted the chastisement and then went on my merry way.

I visited some of the local merchants before returning home and found some wonderful items that I'm sure will help me in my future adventures. But for now, it was time to return to the city and see what was happening there.


I have a question for those reading this thread; is this "first person" style better than writing the encounters from my perspective as a player? I know it makes the posts quite a bit longer to read, so I was wondering if it would be better to just summarize what I had the character do for the major enounters instead of going into so much detail? Either way is fine with me, it just seemed more appropriate to post the encounters in this "first-person journal style" since the PC is a bard. Thanks for your input.

[ 11-29-2004, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: Cerek ]