To be Continued…

After looting the troll den the crew made their way back to the trail and continued the journey North toward Dragonspear Castle which was still several days travel away. Late the next afternoon we came across a set of wagon tracks obvioulsy made only a few hours earlier, if the crew could catch up to the wagon there might be a free ride to be had.

A little over an hour later the crew caught up to the wagon, but all was not well. The wagon was badly damaged and there was no sign of any passengers. Shra scouted about and quickly found several sets of tracks heading off into the forest. After a quick check of the surroundings the crew ventured slowly into the forest, with no real idea of what had happened to the wagon crew we were on edge, the forest was dark and misty restricting visibility so we moved slowly. A few hundred feet later we came across the passengers of the wagon, they were scattered around a small clearing and had faired badly in some kind of ambush, they were all dead. As we approached the corpses rose akwardly from the ground, oh no undead.

There Be Trolls

After defeating the Medusa the crew moved quickly past the Trollclaws hoping to avoid any encounters with said Trolls. Turinn and Karn continued to take delight in comparing their respective Fire Ball Spells, randomly hurling balls of fire and setting alight areas of brush and generally creating a racket at every opportunity. I wasn’t too worried as generally, Trolls avoid fire at all costs.

The weather had also improved with the sun shining and not a drop of rain to dampen spirits, things were looking grand when Shra our trusty Ranger and ‘finder of the path’ came to a halt and pointed ahead to a strange glowing blue orb that was floating off to the side of the road. It immediately reminded me of the reason we began this journey, the search for just such an orb. “What do you reckon, I think we should follow it” I said, Shra seemed a little doubtful but he cautiously headed off toward it.

As he approached the orb floated slowly away, keeping just out of reach. By now the rest of the crew had spotted it, it was fairly obviously heading for a small patch of forest about half a mile off the road but no matter how fast we pursued it remained just out of reach.

We entered the forest in pursuit of the orb, which deftly weaved its way among the trees. We had only gotten a short way when everyone heard a laugh and then in a guttural language someone said “See I told you it always works, everyone follows the orb, Time for Dinner” I recognised the language straight away. “TROLLS” I shouted just as three of the brutes burst forth directly in front of us.

Two were typical trolls, tall, green, violent and smelling really bad, but the middle one was noticeably larger and he was wearing an oversized pointed hat and holding what looked like some kind of staff. A wizard Troll ? I know many songs about trolls and I have read more than a few books that mention them but I have never heard of a Troll using magic of any sort.

Turinn and Karn each tried to outdo the other with the speed they got their Fire Balls off and with a Mighty Roar and a flash of fire, combat was joined. Phoenix dropped his helm and Charged Foward. As he neared the Trolls he let out a mighty battle cry and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings sprouted from his back as a wave of dark energy that I could clearly see burst out from him. Very impressive if somewhat unsettling. It struck the Trolls with an audible crump, one of the brutes was visibly shaken, even from a distance I could see the look of confusion on its face. The other didn’t really seem to understand the danger it was in and kept blundering forward. The Wizard Troll if that’s what it was seemed to be trying to cast a spell but its concentration was interrupted when Shra hit it with two arrows in quick succession. I glanced over at Shades who seemed to be just as stunned as the Trolls by Phoenix’s sudden transformation.

Two more fireballs struck in quick succession and then Shades shaking off the shock of seeing Phoenix engaged the other Troll with his mace, while <Aidan> snuck around its flank and got in some telling blows with his short sword. The Wizard Troll still hadn’t managed to actually cast a spell when Gondillin hit it with some kind of magic effect that caused it to physically stumble backwards momentarily stunned. My Lute was singing out a steady rhythm to bolster the courage of the crew but it hardly seemed necessary. The Trolls were totally outmatched. With another loud battle cry Phoenix made a mighty swing and decapitated his foe just as its companion succumbed to a series of blows from Shades mace and <Aidans> swords.

Weeping Angels

After a night of disturbed sleep we awoke to yet another grey rainy day. Everyone was keen to leave the Boaresky Bridge behind us and move on as quickly as possible, but ahead lay the Troll Claws a dangerous area of rolling hills known for its Troll Inhabitants who have a nasty habit of eating wayward passers-by.

After planning our route on the Map Karl had provided us. We made good time and managed to skirt wide of the Troll Claws, a little too wide as it turned out. Lead slightly astray by the driving rain and low misty clouds and we found ourselves in a narrow valley that was not familiar to any of us. Then we came across two travellers standing by a couple of strange statues. They seemed harmless enough so we approached to find out what was going on.

This was when we met Shades a Half-Elven Nature Cleric and his travelling companion Turinn a Dragonborn Warlock, and they were in a bit of a Pickle. Before us were two statues, a pair of Peasant Women one appeared to be wearing a Blindfold. According to Shades no matter which way they waked they ended up back at the statues, some kind of magic was afoot and they had been stuck here for a long afternoon.

A closer inspection of the Statues gave some clues. Both were standing with hands outstretched as if waiting to receive something, the first statue had a ribbon tied around a finger, the other seemed to just be wearing a blindfold. Further examination turned up an inscription… “I waste not yet want not, I take what I need not more not less” on the first statue and “Paint me in the colour of your life to know what is dead”. on the second. Turinn removed the blindfold from the second statue and written on the inside was “an eye for an eye” Seems we had stumbled into some sort of magic toll booth. Just to be sure we split up and headed off in different directions, and sure enough just as Shades had predicted we always ended up back at the Statues. OK, we would have to solve the puzzles and then hopefully we would be on our way.

Turinn cast detect magic and sure enough, both statues radiated magical auras, even I could faintly see them, unusual to pick up an aura from someone else casting. Theodore examined the bow tied around the one statues finger and the finger promptly fell off. Which got him thinking, “maybe we need to replace its broken finger” he murmured. “Well, that’s a bit of an issue because we don’t have any spare fingers! ” I replied. “Here is one,” said Shar the finger he held up was reptilian and bleeding.. “Wait you didn’t just cut your finger off did you Shar?” “Yeah it’s no problem it will grow back” he replied. “Well put it in her hands then,” said Theodore.

Shar placed the finger in the statues outstretched hands and the statue animated, its hands reached up and covered its eyes. Sure enough, Shar’s finger promptly grew back. “So it seems for the other one we are going to need an eye” said Theodore. “Here let me try” he said as he strode up to the statue and plucking out his eye placed it in the statutes outstretched hands… Sure enough the Statue animated and its hands rose up to cover its eyes, as it did so we could all sense some kind of a barrier being lifted, definitely time to get out of here.

Shades was staring at Theodore with a look of horror on his face… “You just plucked out your own eye!, and that guy cut off his own finger!” He exclaimed. Oh it’s no problem we have a great cleric with us who can heal all kinds of things said Theodore gesturing toward Gondillin. “I’m not sure I can actually replace lost fingers or eyes Theodore” replied Gondillin. Never mind you two pipped up Phoenix let’s get out of here.

“Can we come with you?” asked Turinn. “Sure you can” replied Theodore but let’s get moving I don’t like it here at all.

The rain continued to pelt down giving us lousy visibility but we were able to move along the road away from the statues then it started to get really dark, too dark.

“Um I just saw a flying snake” said Shar. “A what?” said Gondillin. Suddenly Phoenix shouted a warning “Weeping Angels, DO NOT TURN AROUND!” “What the hell is a Weeping Angel ?” asked Shades, “You may know them as Medusa” replied Phoenix. “Do not look at them no matter what you do.” I knew of Medusa through songs and old stories and I knew that to look at one was to risk being turned into stone, so I was very keen to not look at them as we made our escape. But it wasn’t to be. Shar was right there were strange winged serpents barring the way and at least one possibly more Medusa behind us. “The Statues.” exclaimed Phoenix “I bet we activated them when we put the eye back in, remember they lifted up their hands to cover their eyes !”

It is extremely difficult to fight something you can’t look at, but The Motley Crew had no choice. Phoenix dropped his helm into place and charged forward, and even though he couldn’t see a thing, using his innate ability to detect movement close to him he closed on one of the Angels and slashed at it with his sword but as no one was able to look we had no idea if he was doing any damage at all. Suddenly a burst of flame lit the darkness as someone cast a fireball. I glanced to my right to see Karn with one hand over his eyes preparing to cast another fireball as Turinn stepped up beside him and added a third, well that’s gotta hurt, at least provided they had hurled them in the right area.

I was just grabbing for my Lute hoping to inspire the crew with a tune of Heroism when Theodore called out, “OK it’s safe to look now” I cautiously looked up, The Angel Theodore had been fighting was a stone statue, and the area where the other one had been was a flaming smouldering patch of scrub. “I think it saw its own reflection in my sword, but whatever it’s no danger now.” said Theodore as he swatted the statue with his open palm. “I got the snakes” said Shra from behind me, I spun around and one of the flying snakes was now very much dead and pinned to a tree by 2 arrows. The other was nowhere to be seen. It had all happened so quickly I never had a chance to actually do anything.

“Lets get out of here.” said Theodore as he headed off down the road at some pace, the rest of the crew quickly followed.

The Clockwork Golem

By the time we got across the bridge, the weather had really closed in and the rain was hammering down. I had heard a lot of strange stories about the abandoned homestead on the other side of the bridge, everything from it was haunted, to it was a portal to the abyss but given the relentless rain we really needed a place to hole up for the night. The party was in need of some rest and recuperation after the skirmish with the bandits, so after cautiously checking the building out from the outside we ventured inside.

It was pretty much as I expected, stuff was strewn everywhere, obviously it had been used as shelter regularly by passing travellers. The fireplace was still intact so we went about getting a fire started and drying out our rain-soaked gear. There were a couple of beds in the bedroom but they had long since fallen apart, no way anyone was sleeping in them so we spread out as best we could in what must have once been the dining room. A single large painting on one wall seemed to depict the bridge with a crowd of villagers on it, but the details were indistinct, covered in grime and cobwebs. Shar volunteered to take the first watch, I tried to liven the mood with a tune or two on my lute but everybody was pretty worn out after all the travelling and one by one they drifted off to sleep. I made myself as comfortable as possible in the corner and although I tried to stay awake to support Shar, sleep overcame me too.

I woke from a weird dream about a golem dancing only to find myself looking at a strange figure standing opposite me in the room. It was motionless. Just standing watching, a figure of a woman dressed in simple peasant garb silent and motionless. Startled, I tried to stand up only to find myself standing on the bridge, watching as a group of villagers harranged some poor woman and attempted to hurl her off the bridge into the swirling waters below. I was confused, stunned even. Then I realised the rest of the crew was standing with me watching the spectacle. Theodore moved forward gesturing wildly toward the woman and said something but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. An old man addressed the crowd, seeming to plead for the woman. I strained to hear what he was saying but his words just melted away in the wind.  Suddenly the woman lets out a howling cry, an extremely powerful magic shockwave is released, knocking everyone but her and her father to their feet. Theodore struggled to his feet and lunged toward the woman, as he does so as she claws at her chest, only repeating I’m sorry over and over as she rips out her heart which glows a faint purple and gives it to him before she is plunged into the river as a guard slashes the rope holding her up. With a sudden jolt, I was back in the cottage.

32 Orianna

Except it wasn’t abandoned, it was in good repair. It was daytime and the sun streamed through the window. The painting on the wall was now clear and it depicted the scene we had just witnessed, the villagers, the woman her father and a group of spectral figures that looked surprisingly like The Motley Crew. I turned toward where the figure had been standing earlier but before I could see anything the room disappeared and with a sickening lurch we moved yet again.

I spun around, a voice said, “What sorcery is this? Am I dreaming?” “No, I don’t think it’s a dream,” replied Phoenix. I didn’t even realise it was me who had spoken… “How do I know if you are real ?” I asked, and Phoenix took a step forward and slapped me across the face, “Did you feel that? ” he asked. “Damn right I did !” I replied. “Then it’s real and we are here” Phoenix replied. The rest of the crew were standing in the room with me, looking just as bemused and confused as I felt. “What the hell is going on?” said Phoenix, “Who is that woman, she radiates unbelievable levels of arcane power.” “You felt it too?” I asked him, “Damn right!” he replied. I looked around the room, one wall was lined with bookcases filled with all manner of books. The opposite wall was a giant mirror stretching from floor to ceiling. The Strange Woman stood silently in the corner watching us with an expression of deep sadness on her face. I strode straight over to ask her what was going on only to find it wasn’t a woman, but some sort of statue made of intricate clockwork, almost like a golem but with the refined features of an actual human woman created from hundreds of tiny fine gears, a Clockwork Golem. She stood there silent and motionless but with a gaping hole where the heart would be.

I’m not sure if I spoke or just thought it but I wished I had my Lute in my hand and with a sparkle, it was there, what the ?? I played a few chords, the tune that lets me tune into Arcane Magic and sure enough, the aura of arcane magic appeared before me. A single floorboard glowed with the aura of illusion, something was being hidden from us. Just about then Theodore muttered something about the reflection being wrong. “Say that again” I said “Well look he exclaimed, the reflection of the books in the mirror is perfect everywhere except right there, that purple book isn’t in the reflection.” He was right and now that I was looking directly at it there was a very faint aura of illusion magic around the book. I pointed it out to Theodore, as he picked it up it flopped open, he began reading. A few moments later things started to make sense.

This section of the book was all about a witch trial that happened many many years back. Gangs of ‘Mage Hunters’ were roaming the Sword Coast exposing Mages and Sorceresses and calling them witches. Anyone with Arcane Magic Powers was suspect. This was before Magic was commonplace and people born with Magic abilities were thought to be Demon Touched or Tainted with Evil. Local villagers were convinced that a young woman named Orianna was a demon touched witch, they had called on a Mage Hunter and hauled her onto the bridge in some sort of trial where a fellow identified simply as ‘The Mage Hunter’ had successfully convinced the villagers of her guilt. Her father was trying to defend her against the baseless claims when a group of spectral figures lurched out of nowhere and lunged at the woman. The description of the spectral figures included a Tiefling Bard, an Aasimar Paladin, a Water Gensai Cleric and others… they sounded a lot like the Motley Crew ?? Despite the pleading of the woman’s father, the villagers spurred on by the Mage Hunter and the appearance of the spectral figures took fright and cast her into the river where she presumably drowned.

Karn the changeling who had been strangely quiet up until this point walked up to the Golem and poked his finger into the cavity in her chest, which got me thinking

“Gondillin, isn’t that hole where her heart should be? ” “Yes, maybe we need to find it ?” he replied. OK where could it be…” we began examining the leftmost bookcase but no obvious heart shapes to be seen. One book of the many was lying on its side Gondillin picked it up to check on the title, nothing just a blank cover, he put it back on the bookcase and it promptly fell over on its side again. He stood it up and it fell right back down. OK, something strange was going on with that book.

Theodore retrieved the book from the floor and flicked it open, except there were no pages, he was holding a small trinket box not a book A box disguised as a book in a bookcase illusion magic at work. As he has a knack for that kind of thing Theodore investigated the box. It had an obvious lid and a tiny latch holding it closed but no matter what Theodore tried it simply wouldn’t open. Gondillin came over and using some kind of tool I had never seen before he managed to work the mechanism and the lid popped up.

Inside was a tiny figure with a kind of key attached. A music Box. Gondillin turned the key and the figure began to dance as soft notes began playing. Over in the corner, the Golem became activated and began to dance in time with the tiny figure as it spun around. The faster Gondillin turned the key the louder the music got and the faster both figures danced.

I tensed, expecting some sort of attack, but she beamed a smile and addressed us all. “Thank you, Thank you all. It has been such a long long wait trapped in that golem, but you have released me and now I can go join my father. I expect you would all like an explanation ?” “Yes, yes we most certainly we would,” replied Phoenix.

She told us a tale of how when she knew the Mage Hunters were coming she feared that if she put up a fight they would just kill her father so she set in motion a very very long term plan. Using her powers she looked far into the future and saw many visitors arriving over the years at her cabin by the bridge. Most had no magic abilities so couldn’t help, but those groups that did she set up a puzzle for. She fashioned a simulacrum of her heart and stored it inside a book, and then she transferred most of her life force into a music box, the music box would reanimate her body but without the addition of her heart, the body would just die again. Then she placed both items in a room on the Plane of Sleep, accessible only by those with magical powers who were asleep on the Prime Material Plane. That way she hoped the Mage Hunters who had no actual powers would never find her room. Each group went through the same sequence as we had been through but none had solved both parts of the puzzle. Reanimating her with the music box, and then bringing her back to life with her beating heart. She had all but given up hope of ever meeting her father again when we came along and solved the puzzle, chalk up a win for The Motley Crew! Now she was free to join her father on the Celestial Plane of Green Fields. With a final thank you and in a flash of bright light she was gone and we were all back in the derelict cabin.

I woke with a start, everyone else was awake, Shar was standing in the doorway bow in hand, “Who called out ?” he said, you lot have only been asleep for five minutes and you are all awake again, whats going on ? “Boy have we got a story to tell you Shar, you are not going to beleive what just happened” said Phoenix

The Journey Begins

After our meeting with Karl and Nick, we left the village of Thiel and joined the crowds on ‘The Trade Way‘ heading North toward Boareskyr Bridge. The journey was uneventful and the time slipped by quickly as I got to know my new travelling companions.

Theodore I had of course known for a while as we had met months before, but that is a whole other storey. He introduced me to Phoenix and Shra, an Aasamar Paladin, a Lizardfolk ranger and a Human Artificer sure make for strange companions, but if Theodore vouches for someone that’s OK by me. Apparently, they had been together on an adventure some months previously that had resulted in them needing to ‘lie low for a bit’. Theodore is reluctant to give out any details but I’m sure it will be a ripping good yarn when I finally prise it out of the three of them. Typically for one of the folk Shra’s main concern seems to be what we will be eating for the next meal but there is no disputing his skill with a bow. I have known a few Aasimar over the years but if it werent for his pale white pupil less eyes Phoenix could pass for a human, he practices with Sword and Shield every evening and will certainly be a great addition to the group when the enevitable combat occurs.

Gondillin and <Aidan> had only met each other that evening in the Red Dragon having arrived in Thiel separately earlier in the day. Both were looking for more information on the Blue Orb so it was fortuitous indeed they all ended up in the Red Dragon when they did. Gondillin is a likeable fellow, Gensais always unnerve me a bit and he is no exception, that glistening blue complexion and the never-ending beads of sweat but the stories of his times aboard trade ships off the Coast are great for spicing up the stories of a landlocked Bard. <Aidan> is a bit more standoffish, typical for a Tabaxi I guess and I have caught him preening himself on a couple of occasions when he thought no one was looking. I am sure his rogueish talents will come in very useful as we head further North.

Then there is the Changeling, what a curious fellow he is. Constantly asking questions and amazed at the most simple things, I can’t help that feel he is still very young, but who would know. I still don’t even know what he actually looks like, and it is extremely disconcerting to be greeted by your own reflection! He seems to discover new magical talents on a daily basis and delights in performing his new magical tricks. Given his innate talents, he is going to make a powerful sorcerer when he has a bit more experience.

The days flew by and the crowds thinned out as we neared the Boareskyr, then one evening as we were almost within sight of the Bridge we were accosted by a group of common brigands with a few trained wolves in tow. Needless to say, we didn’t bow down to their demands and before I knew it combat was joined. It was a short affair with the Brigands driven off for no real damage taken by any of the crew. With night approaching we made haste for the Bridge and whatever shelter we might find there.

A Brand New Day

Before heading to bed the crew decided to meet up at the local market early the next morning to see what supplies we could scrounge up, we hoped to find a wagon or at least a cart to carry all the loot that we would surely find.

The day started badly and only got worse, it was a cold grey morning with frequent rain, we spent a couple of hours at the market but alas there were no carts or wagons to be bought. We settled for horses and a good supply of rations, as the journey to the spine of the world would surely take several weeks. But what we mainly got was wet.

One old fellow manning a rather tatty looking stall kept harassing us to buy some of his miserable-looking offerings, we weren’t all that interested but he kept on and on and then we noticed that miraculously it wasn’t raining around his stall… Magic at work !! So we wandered over and looked through his wares, most of it was rubbish but there were a few items that caught our attention. What a mistake that turned out to be.

The ‘Wetland Boots’ that I bought turned out to make an annoying splashing sound everywhere I walked. Gandoillin ended up with a wand that supposedly detects magic, but it seems that as it is magic it just constantly detects itself. Theodore tried on a cloak that seemed harmless enough but turned out to be a Cloak of Tongues that licks everything he walks past, gross. Karn got what was supposed to be a rod of disintegration which true to its name promptly disintegrated the moment it was used. <Aidan> found an old dusty looking book that looked interesting, but whenever it is opened a cat magically appears and sits on it so nothing can be read and Shra ended up with a ring, which seems to alert him with an ungodly screech if any supposed enemy is within his sight. Not an auspicious start! When we returned to the old fools stall he had of course disappeared and now we are stuck with these items as they seem impossible to take off / remove.

We also heard some gossip about a supposed Chronomancer named Karl who lived nearby, apparently, he had had an encounter with the Orb so it seemed a good idea to seek him out and see what info he could give us.

We headed back to the Inn, paid the bills changed into dry clothes and then went off in search of Karl. It was mid-afternoon by the time we reached the forest and the weather had begun to clear at least, maybe our luck would change with the improving weather.

At Karls house we found Nick the Teifling Weapon Smith and got a supply of weapons, Gondillin picked up a few smithing tips which could come in really handy for keeping our equipment in tip-top condition, and improving it with gems of power should we find some. Definitely an improvement over the events of the morning. And we found Karl, he turned out to be a young lad who was a ‘Chronomancer in Training’ and he wasn’t able to tell us much about the orb other than being close to it made him nauseous and panicky which I suppose is understandable. When he tried to approach the Orb he was instantly teleported back to his home many hundreds of miles from the Spine of The World, very powerful magic indeed. He was however able to supply us with a fairly detailed map that can detect magic or time anomalies and glows blue and purple when such an anomaly appears anywhere on the Sword Coast.

It all started in the Red Dragon Tavern

You meet in a Tavern…

I was playing my usual spot in the Red Dragon Tavern in Triel when a couple of patrons got to talking about the ‘Mysterious Blue Orb’ that had been seen around the spine of the world. They were arguing so loudly I could hear them over my Lute so I couldn’t help listening in…

An Asimar, obviously a Paladin from his attire, and a Lizard Folk wearing the clothes of a ranger of the wildlands were loudly arguing over what the Orb might be while downing ales at an alarming rate. They were quickly joined by a Water Gensai, and a Tabaxi who had been sitting at an adjacent table drowning whatever sorrows they had in the local mead. The Gensai was a strange fellow, judging by his attire some kind of Cleric; you don’t see many Gensai of any sort in these parts so my curiosity was certainly piqued.

Triel is known as a meeting place for all the peoples of The Sword Coast but these were a varied lot for sure, and not patrons I’d seen in the Tavern before. The four of them got quite animated in their discussions as to what the significance of the Orb might be and it was then I noticed the quiet fellow watching them from the corner. I’ve known all sorts in my years as a travelling bard, but this fellow I just couldn’t pin down. He was edging slowly closer to the group with a look of great curiosity and bewilderment on his strange face when all of a sudden Theodore Undertaker the Artificer burst into the room.

Theodore made a beeline straight for the Asimar and Lizardfolk and, greeting them with a hearty laugh, joined in the discussions by ordering a round of drinks from Sally the barmaid. The strange fellow watching held back for a bit then began inching closer to the group. That was when I saw it, the brief flicker as his features changed ever so slightly, a Changeling!

I’d only ever met one other changeling and he was a very strange fellow indeed; my interest was now well aroused. About then some decision was made at the table and with a hearty roar of agreement hands were being shaken all around. Motioning to Sally that I was taking a break, I put down my Lute and walked over to Theodore and patted him on the shoulder. He spun around and recognised me instantly.

“Vartis you old salt! A Bard is just what we need for our adventure. How about you join us and we sort out this bloody Orb once and for all?” I’m normally not one for hasty decisions but if Theodore was involved then it was a pretty safe bet there would be fame and fortune to be found, and besides, I’d been playing The Red Dragon every night for a month. It was time to take a break from singing about the exploits of others and make some stories of my own to sing about for a change! “But on one condition, that we include my new friend here,” reaching over, I grabbed the changeling by the shoulder. He let out a squeal of fright and momentarily his features changed three or four times in quick succession. Theodore let out a mighty laugh and grabbing my hand sealed the deal with a Tankard of Mead.


“Agreed! Equal shares for you and your companion: welcome to The Motley Crew!”