Ghul wrote:

Just getting caught up since I last commented on this thread. Great reading as usual, and nice use of the calendar. It's a little confusing IMC right now because we have different groups separated by time, but I'll sync it all up sooner or later. Saturnalia was the theme this past week -- now that was some drunken, lotus-chewing debauchery. ;)

Excellent! I'm looking forward to Apollpnalia's first occurrence in our game.

We did play yesterday. A first-lever berserker dual wielding long swords, it turns out, is capable of dealing out 65 points of damage in a round! The spider only had 6 HP, but still.

Well, my best-laid plans continue tae gang a-gley in terms of the campaign journal. But I sent this to my players because various things were coming to various heads on Saturday and it was clear that they hadn't put any clues together.

In my defense, they really hadn't tried--partly an epiphenomenon of spotty attendance so it wasn't always the same people every week and partly, really, that they just hadn't tried at all and were content to be completely reactive to whatever happened.

Which is OK by me! There are not High Heroic Earth-Fate-Determining plots going on here. Just the party being used by various factions with various consequences. They can let it happen. It will make this section of the Gal Hills rather unpleasant, but in the larger scheme of things ...

Session 1: Ottvar kills Harlan! Two of your (Euthymios and Demostrate at this point) friends from growing up who were going to be part of your adventuring group. When confronted, Ottvar reveals that he's been apprenticing with a powerful necromancer and invites you all to join him in working for the nec. He is politely declined and beheaded. You tell the Hawkford druids about it.

Sessions 2-3: Cult of the Skin Daemon: While you rescue Fiona Nine-Fingers, the druids find and raid the necromancer's place, which is full of traps, undead, and evidence of some pretty nasty daemon summoning. About this time, the flayed bodies of people and animals start appearing all around town. Euthymios's brother is killed in this way. With advice from the druids, you track to an ancient temple of Yoon-Deh that has been taken over by some combo of worshipers of Azathoth and Mordezzan. You end up killing an avatar of the skin daemon and free some infected cultists--including Fiona's boyfriend. The necromancer seems to be the one who summoned the skin daemon and set this in motion.

Session 4: On the way to Strongfort, you're driven by a storm to shelter in a rather conveniently placed house. There, the (daemon) Eft appears and informs you that his master considers you to owe him a debt for your actions. He then attacks you with the raised ghoul corpses of Comhan, the spider that killed him, and some hyaena-men you had chucked into the ravine in the shadow lands by the skin daemon temple. After that, he tells you that his master demands that you find the Moonblade, which had belonged to the holy warrior Laoise, and have it on you when next his master calls on you.

After fighting some daemon Picts on the way to Strongfort and then dealing with the Rats in the Walls problem, the Sheriff in Strongfort asks you to investigate the Constable of Gold Hill. it is widely known that the C was a bandit whom the High King in Gal elevated in order to control the other bandits and make the Gold Hill area safe again. But the Sheriff suspected that the Constable had not really changed his ways and was still conducting banditry and thievery on anyone other than his own people. He also suspected that the Constable might have some sort of involvement in the increased number of daemon Picts harassing the Gal Hills towns since they seemed to come from that area. Promised 500 GP to each survivor for good information. Since your research had revealed that Laoise was from the same area, you decided to head over there and investigate.

Session 5: Pretty much just wandering monsters and mule loss. Though you spoke to a Scorpioid of Xin who gave you a safe-passage token to her for the Xin Plateau should you wish to try to seek for the knowledge of Aurorus there.

Session 6: You find the Moonblade right off the bat and begin gathering info on the Constable. When the Moonblade is drawn from the alter, the sky goes dark, ravens fly, thunder mutters underground, and so on. All the locals you talk to seem to really like the Constable.

Session 7: Before killing the "Hyperborean's" troops, he reveals that there's a tower of daemon-Picts to the northeast. After you kill them, he seems to have flown off that way and possibly joined up with them. Investigations--just asking questions--in Gold Hill results in swift incarceration. Touchy lot! You also find a slaughtered and strangely magic-wine-less old man.

Session 8: Ross is arrested. Cleric/innkeeper reveals Moonblade is powerfully evil. She is unsure whether to take it from you or just confine you or just kick you out, it seems. Then the Constable captures your berserker and the Moonblade during Apollonalia, so all seems moot. Then you rescue her! During the rescue, Iain and Ross hear rumors of a couple of missing guards who have been gone for a couple of days. The Eft appears again and tells you to get out of town with the Moonblade and that the "Hyperborean" has allied with the daemon-Picts and their swine-daemon leader against you and that you will be hunted by them. He tells you to go slay the swine-daemon. You also learn from a Kimmerian imprisoned in the cell with Billi that the Constable and most of his people are members of a Khromarium thieves guild, the Iron Needle--very tough customers indeed. When you went to the dead old man's house to steal clothes, you found that his corpse is no longer there, though the blood is and so is the corpse of his dog. The killer-bee barn seemed mostly innocent. Cool Ross never shows up.

Session 9: After much debate, some patrol dodging, burning down an ancient church to Yoon-Deh (and losing the berserker and shaman to spider poison), some spying on the daemon-Pict tower, gaining some new friends who decide against turning you in for ransom, some harpy avoision, some vine stabbing, and so on, you decide to head for Secret Tomb Horrible Treasure on the map you had from the daemon-Picts. You are joined by three bears who seem to be honoring the departed spirit of Audgisl. You find another cross-shaped building, this with a dais, a tomb, a 20-foot tall statue. You're attacked by three wights, one of whom seems to be Laoise herself. The other two are Constabulary guards.The bears help, and the warlock perfects his wight-lynching (you have to see it written down) techniques. After some losses--and the return and defeat of wight Cool Ross, we froze-fromed.

Actual possibly informative information bolded.