Session 4: Temple of the Elk

After their encounter with the Trapdoor Spider, the characters investigated the ruins near the patch of moon radish for clues to the location of the temple of Erastil, of which Jhod Kavken had spoken, but after several hours of search they were unable to find the temple.

They then started exploring the forest west of their location and found two strange nests at the top of a giant fir tree. One of the nests resembled a little puppet house, and Kii mentioned he was sure they must be the dwellings of the mischievous fey that had been playing pranks on the characters. Am started climbing up the tree to check the houses, only to fall victim to one more prank from the invisible fairies. The characters then decided to leave some gifts at the bottom of the fir tree and went back to Oleg's.

At Oleg they talked with Jhod and tried to convince him to join them in the search of the temple. Jhod was wary of the characters and turned down their request, but offered them information on how to find the temple from the ruins of the forest which, from the description of the characters, he said must be a shrine to Erastil. With this information, the characters went further than ever before into the forest and found the abandoned temple of Erastil. As they approached the temple, an angry grizzly bear came out of the entrance and roared menacingly at them... The bear seemed to have some kind of uncanny sense to detect the characters as they entered the temple grounds, but did not pursue them when they moved outside the column circle that marked the temple's extension.

The characters withdrew to their camp to discuss on how to proceed and what options they had concerning the bear. The woods around them were dense and mysterious, and they got many a glimpse of several majestic elks roaming the forest.

XP:
- 100 (exploring forest hex with fairy nest)
- 100 (exploring plains-forest hex west of Oleg's)
- 600 (random encounter with several boars)
Total this session: 800XP
Total campaign: 4745XP

Loot:
- 40gp spent on gifts to try to befriend the hidden forest fey.

Time Passed:
- Around 3 days.
The time now is 19th Pharast (March), late evening, as the characters prepare their night camp.

Session 3: Spider Hunt

The characters decide to be careful and bait the spider out of its lair using some food from Oleg's Trading Post and the bear traps captured to the bandits. While waiting for the traps to have effect, they explore the area north of the spider's lair and met Bokken, a local eccentric and potion maker, who lives in the area, quite happy to be away from civilization...

In the ensuing conversation, Kii tries to have Bokken teach him some alchemy tricks, but the hermit is not convinced because of his weird looks and turns down the offer, although not entirely. Also, Bokken mentions a younger brother who beat him and his mother and fled to the wilderness, and requests the help of the characters to find some fangberries, an important ingredient for his potions; Bokken promises them a discount for his potions if they bring the fangberries, and exchanges one potion for a recipe to brew beer in Cayden Cailean style.

Back near the spider's lair, the critter has not taken the bait, so the characters decide to use live chickens and wait nearby and when the spider is caught in one of the bear traps, deftly hidden by the Ranger Gam'el'Gar, they rush to the attack; the spider almost manages to escape back to its lair, but Cardot arrives just in time to show it the "wonders" of beer tankards... pity she'll get quite a hangover...

The session ends with Kii exploring the Spider tunnels and finding in its larder (a big cavern the size of a small room) the corpse of a bandit wearing one of the Stag Lord's silver amulets; in his left foot, Kii finds also what looks like an old treasure map...

XP:
- 100 (exploring Bokken's Hut hex)
- 100 (getting to know Bokken)
- 400 (defeating the Trapdoor Spider)
Total this session: 600XP
Total campaign: 3945XP

Loot:
- One potion of Cure Moderate Wounds from Bokken.
- 10 gp, and a silver Stag Lord amulet from corpse in Trapdoor Spider's tunnels.
- a treasure map: a scrap of paper that bears a simple drawing of a claw-shaped dead tree atop an otherwise barren hill, with an “X” in blood scrawled by the tree's roots.
- Giant Spider's corpse and 4 giant spider eggs.

Time Passed:
- Around 2 days.
The time now is 16th Pharast (March), at noon.

Group Summary

Characters level4th

Total Money:
2860 gp

Group objects (assigned):

• Gam´el´gar

- Studded Leather +1 with Light Fortification- amulet of natural armor +1 (2000 gp)
- masterwork handaxe (306 gp)
- masterwork cold iron sword
- masterwork longbow (375 gp)
- silver masterwork dagger (322 gp)
- 1 +1 animal bane arrows
- book of footprints (50 gp)
- compass (+ 2 circumstance bonus on survival not to get lost)
- map maker kit (+2 circumstance bonus on survival not to get lost )
- 1 sunrod
- 1 potions of Cure Light Wounds
- 1 oil magic weapon (+1 enhancement on attk and dmg for 1 min)
- 1 potions of Cure Moderate Wounds

----------------------------------------------

• Am

- +1 composite longbow ( +2 strength) (2600 gp)
- 1 sunrod
- 3 +1 animal bane arrows
- 5 arrows of Monstruous Humanoids Bane (PHB469; +2 bonus; +2d6 extra damage)
- 5 arrows of Seeking
- 1 potions of Cure Light Wounds
- climber kit (+2 climbing, 250 gp)
- boots of elvenkind
- ioun torch
- 2 potion mage amor
- 1 potions of Cure Moderate Wounds
- 1 potions of Cure LightWounds
---------------------------------------------------------

• Kii

- Hat of Disguise (1,800gp)
- Pearl of Power, 1st level- 2 wrist sheath, spring loaded (MW)
- wand (burning hand, 2 lv, 1 charges)
- wand of Magic Missile; 20 charges
- wand of true strike- spellbook (with 26 pages) with identify, mage armor, reduce person, silent image and unseen servant ( +- 60 gp )
- thieves tools (MW)
- 1 scroll of silent image (25 gp)
- 1 scroll burning hands (25 gp, Kii)
- 1 scroll of chill touch (25 gp)- 1 scroll of frostbite (25 gp)
- 1 scroll of corrosive touch (25 gp)
- 1 sunrod
- 1 antitoxin
- 1 flask of acid (10 gp)
- 2 alchemical fire (2 x 20 gp)
- 1 alchemical grease (5 gp,)
- 1 oil flasks (2 x10 gp)
- 2 gnomish sleeping gas (2 x 30)
- 1 alchemical solvent (20)
- 1 alcali salt (30)
- 1 antiplague (50)
- 1 Blue whinnis (120 gp)
- 2 Drow poison (75 gp)
- 1 Oil of taggit (90 gp)

- 1 smokestick (20 gp)
- stealth suit (+ 2 circumstance bonus on stealth, 50 gp)
- 2 potions cure light wounds
- 1 potions of Cure Moderate Wounds
---------------------------------------------------------

• Cardot

- Sacred Tankard of Saint Nesteruk
- 1 antitoxin
- tunic/vestment diplomacy +2 circumstances bonus (75 gp)
- ioun torch
---------------------------------------------------------

Quest objects:

- silver locket with a tress of silky green hair (from a fey, by the Stag Lord)

- alabaster statuette of a nymph (found in the basement by nuragh):
Inscription in the base: "Florint, keep this as token of our secret love..."
In Davik's ledger, you spend another 30 minutes to find there are two merchants of Restov mentioned who have Florint as first name: Florint Kinkeldey and Florint Stetvener.

- pewter belt buckle depicting a pair of entwined succubi (from the Stag Lord casttle loot)
inscription in the buckle: "Q.T."

- turquoise earrings
nothing of note, they are very beautiful... was in the possession of Dovan (from the beatiful lady ?)

Group objects (unassigned):

- jewelry in backpack of dead explorer (a pewter drinking stein, a silver ring, a jade carving
of a nude female elf; StolenLands28).
- a watertight scroll tube with a map inside. The map describes the northwestern border of the Narlmarches (halves the time required to explore those hexes).
- stag's helm (special magical item)
- several gemstones and pieces of jewelry (a polished azurite crystal, a carnelian, a piece of hematite, a shard of obsidian, a red garnet, a pewter belt buckle depicting a pair of entwined succubi and a silver charm bracelet; StolenLands51)
- turquoise earrings (StolenLands50)
- bag with several pieces of jewelry (various silver candle supports, silver and golden rings, an alabaster statuette of a nymph, a silver necklace with shiny green stones, several Stag Lord's silver amulets,...) (Stolen Lands 53)
- trade goods, miscellaneous adventuring gear and tools worth approximately 8,000 gp (2 Building Points)
- knight and dragon toys of very good craftsmanship
- 6 + several silver Stag Lord amulet

- 4 riding horses ( 75 gp each)
- 1 riding pony (30)
- wagon (35 gp)
- longbow (75 gp, at oleg's)
- 4 wrist sheath, spring loaded (5 gp each)
- 4 wrist sheath, normal (1 gp each)

- grappling arrow (1 gp)
- grappling bolt (1 gp)

- 6 bear traps
- 6 trespasser's boot (trap, 8 sp each)

- colored objects, glass perls, little mirrors.
Also honey cookies, candied fruit, marzipan, sirup, some cidre ...
- silver ring
- a pair of silver earrings (value ?)

Consumables (not potions):
- 1 sunrods (10 gp)
- 3 bottles of potent greenish herbal liquor (value ?)

- 2 x ioun torch (2 x 75 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: local knowledge (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: geography (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: nobility (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: nature (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: religion (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: planes (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: arcana (50 gp)
Book, Pathfinder chronicles: history (50 gp)

Potions:
- 5 potion of endure elements
- 4 potions cure light wounds
- 1 potion of hide from animals
- 1 potion of jump (+10 on acrobatics for jumping for 1 min)
- 1 oil flasks (2 x10 gp)
- 2 potion of Lesser Restoration
- 4 cure light wounds (4 x 50)
- 2 protection from evil (2 x 50)
- 3 shield of faith (3 x 50)
- 1 potion of bless (1 x50)
- 1 potion of tap inner beauty (50 gp)
- 1 remove sickness (50 gp)

- magnifying glass 100
- lock, superior     150
- powder x 5 1 gp
- large treasure chest, 15 gp
- manacles MW 50 gp



Trophies:
- kobold statuette (fine work of art depicting a crouching horned devil).
- Centipede parts useful for alchemical ingredients.
- Tartuk's personal journal (given to Kesten)
- 3 silver amulets of the Stag Lord (spider nest, bandits)
- Tazelwyrm heads



Tasks pending:

Main tasks:- peace with kobolds (800 gp) (DONE)- recover statue for the Kobolds from the mites (DONE)
- find fangberries for the heremit (55 miles SW of oleg's, 25% discuont for 1 month on potions)(DONE)
- find Svetlana's ring (bandits said it was robbed by the mites that lair under the old sycamore tree, 1000 gp credit by oleg) (DONE)
- capture Falgrim Sneeg at the Stag Lord hideout (2 masterwork weapon, 4 if alive) (DONE)
- defeat the Stag Lord (5000 gp) (DONE)
- head of Tatzlwyrm (600 gp) (DONE)
-get 5 wolf pelts (350 gp)

Side quests
find heremits brother
find Rufus Seadwell (DONE)
eliminate the Mites (DONE)
investigate the big tree with the little hut and the big nest (DONE)
find coin for the leprechaun (DONE)
continue reading the "black book of tavellers" by Davic Nettles
gold mine
investigate about the mud-men
investigate about the owl-bear
bring the body of the stag lord to Davic's ghost (DONE)

check about the temple's gost with bokken (his brother ?)
check about Timitus Bandy and his nephew, and ask about when he had found the medallion (explorer and trapper, friends of oleg)
ask about the fight between Devik and Breeg Orlivanch
ask about Costance Devine (interested for the bridge)

List of people:

Oleg and Svetlana
Jhod Kavken (Erastil's cleric)
Bokken (alchemist)
Jonah Renton (merchant attacked by the trolls, discussed with him different possibilities to develop the Greenbelt and obtained much information from him)
Grigg & butterfly-dragon
Kobolds - (Mikmek)
Breeg Orlivanch (grunchy hunter)
Kesten Garess (officer of the Restov Guard)
Rufus Seadwell (merchant freed from the kobolds, arrogant a.l.)Timitius Bandy (trapper who found the ancient medallion)
Ollix Kaddar (pathfinder who got the medallion)
Roomalaiskatollinen Pappi (Kii's cousin)
Reaver Pete (agent of the stag lord)Rime Marner (fake merchante, escaped bandit)
Akiros Ismort (ex-paladin of Erastil)

Lord Chesswick            ambassador of Mivon

Ragnar Strongarm      expert miner

Lord parsall, ruler of Liberthane
 
Notes:

Poison from the spider: 150 x 1/2 gp per poison dose.
-> http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/afflictions#TOC-Medium-Spider-Venom

About me ....

My short name is Kiire Jalka Varjoisa Maanalainen, but my friends call me Kii or Maani .
I was born in Dwimovel, in the Darklands.

My father Zarzuket is an alchemist, so I grew up in a house filled up with magical extracts, potions and oils. Probably because of this I always felt a special affinity with magic (trait Magical knack, class Magus).

My mother's mother, Trig, is a surface gnome, so I am 3/4 Svirfneblin and 1/4 surfaceling.
From my 'surface' blood I got my blunt hairs and the skin color and few other characteristics.

Since my childhood my mother Majet always told me stories about the blue sky, the green forests, the blowing wind, the big open sees, a world full of colors, and when I've got grown up enough, I convinced my parents to send me to the surface, to the big metropolis of Absalon, the nearest exit to the surface from Dwimovel, to stay with my grandmother and my aunt's family.

Wandering around for Absalon I learned many things, and I've got an insane passion for traveling. When I discovered the monumental Pathfinder Lodge and its scope, I started hanging around in the area, trying to get as many information about the Lodge as I could. I managed to meet a member, a trader from Qadira, named Abd al malik, who take me under his protection and started tutoring me and teaching me things about the wonders of Golarion, about Qadira and about their traditions (trait Desert Shadow). I also started training with the scimitar which got my preferred weapon and I got captivated by the Dervish Dance which I started exercising all the time I could.
After some time I discovered that his only goal in tutoring me was to get my trust and to use me to discover the secret path to Dwimovel, maybe for using it for a new trade route or for something worse ....

He didn't take well my 'quick look' to his secret documentation and my getting few souvenirs (between others my training scimitar and some maps) from his home,
so I decided that was time for me to change air, leave Absalom and to start exploring the world, but where to start ?

Nivi Rhombodazzle and Cayden Cailean came to my help:

a cousin of my mother, Roomalaiskatollinen Pappi, cleric of Cayden Cailean, wrote to my parents asking for advise.
Near his home town, Jovvox, located in the area of the River Kingdoms, recently have seen an increased presence of feys and some other Darklands denizens. It could be a new exit way from the Darklands, and therefore the feys coming from the Court of Ether, or maybe the fey are coming directly from the First World.
A strong activity of the dark feys from the Court of Ether would mean big troubles !
Knowing that the observation of the Court of Ether is one of the main concern of the Svirfneblin, he decided to ask for help writing to my parents.

My father, knowing my love and my wish of exploring the surface world, and trusting me as agent of the Svirfneblin, gave me as a mission to go to my mother cousin in Jevvox, to speak with him, collect all possible information and investigate the situation, reporting monthly back to him using the usual ways.

I also need to keep the eyes open concerning gnomes in danger of getting bleached and I have to report any issue about this both to my father, through my grandma, and to my cousin. They take very seriously the assignment of fighting the bleaching in any possible way.

After discussing with my cousin Room, he suggested to go to Pitax and search a friend of him, also cleric of Cayden Cailean. He probably could help me in finding contacts to get ready for my mission in the Stolen Lands.

Session 1: Bandit Troubles

After receiving the charter, the characters proceeded to Oleg's Trading Post. There they met Oleg Leveton and his wife Svetlana. Oleg was grumpy and seem worried and secretive; Svetlana was a bit more talkative and she explained the characters that the trading post had been raided by bandits several times in the past months, and that Restov had not sent any aid, though they had requested some guards.

The characters decided to help the couple and ambush the bandits as they came to the post. The ambush was successful and they even managed to capture some bandits alive. One of them told the characters that the local leader of the bandits, a woman by the name of Kresle, had her camp in the nearby Thorn River.

Happs Bydon, deceased Bandit

The characters decided to attack the bandit camp before they got news of their missing comrades. On the way to the Thorn River Camp, the group met some kobolds enjoying the taste of a patch of moon radish... Cardot was able to persuade them to exchange the radishes for a few javelins. When they returned to the Trading Post for buying some javelins from Oleg, they met a group of 3 guards led by Kesten Garess, a well dressed officer of the Restov Guard that had finally arrived at Oleg's to help patrol the area.

The following day, Kii found and explored the bandit camp without being detected and that gave the characters a huge advantage which they used to defeat the bandits before their leader could awaken, thus capturing the dangerous Kresle with hardly a sweat...

XP:
- 605 (bandits at Oleg's)
- 100 (exploration of 1 hex of the Narlmarches with the patch of moon radishes)
- 400 (reaching a peaceful agreement with the kobolds)
- 100 (convincing the guards that the bandit that gave them the information should be punished leniently)
- 100 (meeting a Brush Thylacine and scaring it away)
- 940 (Kresle and bandits in the Thorn River Camp)
- 100 (exploring Thorn River hex)

Total XP: 2345

Loot Oleg's Trading Post ambush:
- 6 riding horses
- 2 potions of alchemist's fire
- composite longbow (+2)
- 65gp (bandits' pocket money)
- longbow
- Oleg offered the PCs half price for any future stay at the trading post
- Oleg also gave PCs 50gp, 2 potions of Cure Light Wounds, and 1 potion of Shield of Faith +2

Loot Thorn River Camp:
- 1 potion of Cure Light Wounds
- 215gp, 321sp
- a pair of silver earrings
- a wooden music box
- several crates of furs and hides (returned to Oleg and Svetlana as they were theirs)
- 8 bottles of potent greenish herbal liquor
- 2 masterwork handaxes

Time Passed:
- 3 days

Session 2: Spooky Narlmarches

Kresle

 The characters interrogated the surviving bandits, but only one of them, a human called Karl was willing to offer any useful information in exchange for a promised more lenient judgment in Restov. He told Cardot that their leader was a monster of a man called the Stag Lord, that he liked drinking too much and mistreated not only any prisoner he captured but also his men; he also said he had seen a strange old man locked up in the basement, a terrifying figure with dangerous looking eyes. He had never seen the Stag Lord without his creepy stag helmet on, and his base of operations was an old fort by the Tuskwater Lake, 30-40 miles to the south of the Thorn River Camp.

The characters were fatigued and decided to leave the camp before any of the missing bandits. On their way out of the Narlmarches forest, they started suffering the pranks and jokes of what they thought could be mischievous fey: Am got hit in the back of his head with an acorn, when Kii came to the camp with the horses, the animals had been painted with moustaches and a "Gnomes Suck!" slogan; they seemed to focus most of their attention on the svirfneblin, pestering him as he cooked or studied his wizard book. Kii attempted to befriend them by offering one of the liquor bottles obtained from the bandits, but without any apparent results.

Jhod Kavken

Back at Oleg's, the characters met Jhod Kavken, a cleric of Erastil that was searching the area for a lost Erastil temple. Jhod offered the characters his help and asked them to keep an eye during their exploration for such a forest... the characters remembered seeing some ruins near the moon radish patch and made a note to explore the area again in a later occasion.

The characters handed the captured bandits to Kesten Garess, and he said he would leave the following day with all the captured bandits and that they would be paid in a week for their achievement. They also gave Svetlana the moon radishes she had requested and that night all inhabitants of the post enjoyed a special dinner.

Finally, they decided to start exploring the area of plains surrounding Oleg's Trading Post to the east and southeast and were ambushed along the way by a Trapdoor Spider... how will they manage?

XP:
- 400 (radish quest)
- 400 (bandits quest)
- 100 (exploring plains hex to the southeast of Oleg)
- 100 (befriending the bandit Karl and offering him a way out by training at a Cayden Cailean temple)
Total this session: 1000XP
Total campaign: 3345XP

Loot:
- Svetlana has promised to give a 50gp discount to each character for the first object they buy through Oleg.

Time Passed:
Around 2 days.

To be a gnome ...

To be a gnome is to experience everything to its fullest extent, to feel more keenly than others. To us, vistas only look right in brilliant sunrise or dazzling sunset— not even the most vibrant autumn hues make the world colorful enough. Drabness, always drabness... and boredom makes us drab as well, if we don’t take care to keep ourselves bright in spirit.

For members of other races, understanding gnomes is a task fraught with aggravation. Alien in mindset and physiology, stemming from a world far beyond mortal ken, gnomes are a mystery even to their closest companions. One minute they’re laughing with childlike glee over the shape of a particular cloud or displaying their vast collection of insect heads, and the next they’re singing a happy tune while wallowing shoulder-deep  in the intestines of a slain enemy. Gnomes have little patience for things they’ve already experienced; in fact,  they have a physiological need for constant change. Touched by their fey ancestry, they are constant  companions and dangerous unknowns—often at the same time. Their ethics and mindsets are inscrutable, and  their senses of humor creative and disturbing. Yet to most other races, gnomes are simply gnomes... and to ask for anything more is to invite disaster.

While gnome behavior confuses many, and their bizarre senses of humor can sometimes lead to inadvisable actions, their general lack of pretension or malice and their open, expressive faces often get them out of scrapes. That’s not to say there aren’t evil gnomes—and when a gnome goes bad, he tends to be even more grotesquely creative than most—but rather that, for those used to dealing with gnomes, unexplained and crazed behavior isn’t seen as inherently sinister, and most people living near gnomes spend a lot of time practicing tolerance and extending the benefit of the doubt.

Often the first things noticed about gnomes beyond their size and physical coloration is their clothing. Unless specifically attempting to camouflage themselves, most gnomes prefer clothing that is brightly colored, and often unique to the point of seeming bizarre. And even in those cases where a gnome is trying to avoid notice, he’s more likely to choose a ghillie suit or similarly over-the-top outfit than simple muted colors. This is not to say that gnomes aren’t capable of blending in, but rather that such considerations don’t come naturally to them. Unless enraptured by a particularly interesting cut or style, gnomes often lean toward utilitarian, loose-fitting clothing where feasible, with a particular penchant for pockets and other handy places to store their many collections and discovered treasures. Regardless of their armor or additional garb, gnomes almost always wear pocketed vests or bandoliers with pockets and pouches if they can get away with it. Finding something fascinating only to be forced to abandon it for lack of storage space is an avoidable tragedy that all gnomes experience at some point in their lives, and they guard themselves against it forever afterward.

Jovvox

This community, which consists primarily of gnomes, stands within an unclaimed section of the River Kingdoms
east of Mivon. Jovvox was originally built around a remote monastery with a great open forge on the ground floor.

After a turnover in local leadership, the monks rebelled and were killed. A flattering gnome merchant, Jov, persuaded the victor to cede her the territory in exchange for making weapons to fuel his rise to power. The bandit king was dead within 9 months, but the gnome weaponsmith lived on.

Today, Jovvox’s small enclave of weaponsmiths makes cheap weapons—fast. When a bandit king or revolutionary from nearby Galt needs a hundred spears to arm a coup attempt, the weapon merchants of Jovvox supply them. The smiths can make high-quality weapons, but most of their business comes from undercutting the competition in price and quality. “A true warrior only needs his sword once” is a popular sales pitch in Jovvox.

Brevic Sayings

(taken from module 31 of Pathfinder, "The Stolen Land")

The people of Brevoy are known for their somewhat pessimistic (they would say “realistic”) view of life,  summed up in the many expressions on the lips of every farmer, trader, traveler, and tavern regular. Common Brevic sayings include:

- “When the wolf shows you his teeth, he’s not smiling.”
- “Riders at night carry no glad tidings.”
- “Winter always follows spring.”
- “As the stars see me” (a common oath asserting the truth) and “The stars see all.”
- “The dragon has two heads” (referring to both the crest of the Conqueror and the duplicity of the nobility).
- “The temple is close, but the night is cold. The tavern is far, but I have a cloak.”
- “Fire is everyone’s ally, but no one’s friend.”
- “Pharasma makes cradles for us all.”
- “No man dies wishing he had worked more.”

I have to find out how to erase my posts now...