The Roots of the Future

Autumnturn 29-30, 1104

Arrived at York, continued on to Ilmara.
Arrived in Ilmara.

Autumnturn 26, 1104

Along the road, the party came upon a sorcerer named Quinn fighting a gnoll warband.
Quinn agreed to join the group as he also had business in Ilmara.

Autumnturn 23-24, 1104

Early afternoon on the 23rd the party arrived at the Woodcross Inn.
Gossip at the inn claimed that a traveling nobleman, a minor knight, had set out with two local toughs to confront the inhabitants of a new shrine that had been built not far from the Inn. He claimed that the temple was not truly dedicated to Baltur as the builders claimed but was a front for some sort of evil.
The PCs trekked to the shrine as this was the place alluded to in Essex Malor's papers. Upon arriving, they were set upon by cultists and tieflings, which they quickly dispatched.
The knight's headless body lay in the shrine along with the remnants of his companions.
A trapdoor in the shrine floor lead to underground chambers. The PCs delved deeper, clashing with more tieflings and frost hounds. Despite the odds and the tieflings attempts to push the PCs into icy tomb-like traps, the party prevailed.
After a rest, the group went back into the shrine and into its subterranean inner sanctum. There, they confronted a small group of chanting cultists, a number of devils, and an imprisoned, terrified young lady, obviously destined for sacrifice.
A battle naturally ensued. In the process, it was discovered that the young lady was not, in fact, innocent but apparently was a succubus. The chanting of the cultists continued unabated until they had completed their ritual - the summoning of a pit fiend. Fortunately for the PCs, the summoned devil vacated the shrine and ignored those present.
Eventually the cultists and devils were slain, but the succubus remained, due in part to her ability to control the minds of the different members of the party. To keep from being killed, Shashank and Miandra fled outside. Terius and Biren were also able to make it out, while the succubus forced Balgrie into service as her guard until she was able to exit the shrine. Then she took wing and flew away.
The party went back into the shrine to see if anything of value was left behind. Some coins and other sundry items were found, along with a mysterious black rod.
The PCs returned to the Woodcross Inn, only to find it a smoldering ruin. Searching the remnants they discovered the innkeeper, the Drumms, and a handful of other folk had successfully hidden while a pit fiend had ravaged the place.
While the rest of the group returned to Ilmara, Balgrie chose to stay behind to help guard and rebuild the inn, and Shashank would later make an investment in the place to help its reconstruction.

Autumnturn 22, 1104

Between Highwood and the Woodcross Inn, the party noticed off the road, near the edge of the trees, two nice horses loosely tethered to a tree near a trail that lead off into the woods. Upon investigating, they heard the sounds of battle coming from farther down the trail.
The trees were fairly dense on either side of the trail. It went about 60' in to a clearing.
Five bodies were on the ground in the clearing: three burnt beyond recognition, the fourth still smoldering and looking like a male human ranger, and the fifth which looked like a gnoll slain by numerous slashes.
In addition there was also a human warrior fighting for his life surrounded by a bloodfire harpy, three gnoll marauders, and two cacklefiend hyenas.
The human was blonde, in his mid-20s, wearing finemail, and wielding an ornate longsword.
The PCs ran in to help and between them the creatures were slain.
The man introduced himself as Etheran, a warrior from the distant Barony of Castamir (about 70 miles east of the Dragonstongue Mountains, about halfway between Amaranth and Stonehelm). He thanked the PCs profusely for their aid though he despaired for his fallen comrade, Tilford of Llandlin (the smoldering ranger). He explained that he and his friend were returning to Castamir after having traveled to Ilmara. As they were heading down this stretch of the road they heard a commotion down the trail and cries for help. They quickly dismounted, secured their horses, and rushed down the path to see a small band of hunters beset by the creatures they'd just fought. They rushed into the fray, but too late to save the hunters - and were soon overcome themselves. Had it not been for the intervention of the PCs, Etheran would surely have perished himself.
The warrior had little to offer in return for the PCs' help, but pledged that they will be rewarded if they ever make it to Castamir. He continued eastward to see the priest in Winterhaven and hopefully have Tilford brought back from the dead.

Autumnturn 20, 1104 - Later that day...

After Cantery's death, the mercenaries left and the guards looked about bewildered.
Miandra arrived shortly after and rejoined the party.
Shashank had a guard bring Keagan, the former chamberlain, to the hall.
The rogue arrogantly discussed the rulership of the village with Keagan.
The former chamberlain assembled the notables of the village (Alvis the tavernkeep, Fergus the smith, and Jarrith the wheelwright) to form a governing council. In return, he promised Shashank favorable status for House Argentus in the village.
Qualic, seeing the anti-elf anger grown in Shashank to be problematic for him, left.
Coincidentally, an Azakhari bloodknight, eager to make a name for himself in battle, arrived in the village and joined the party.
A keep servant sent to Essex's room to search for any valuables returned.
When he went to search the room, he was accosted by a stranger already ransacking the place.
The stranger's face was concealed, but he was dressed in leather armor of black and dark green, was bald, and had a red tattoo of a horned skull on his forehead.
The servant found a chest the stranger had overlooked and gave it to Shashank. In return for almost being killed, he was awarded an incredible 5 gold coins.
Notable items in the chest included:
- A map to a temple near the Woodcross Inn, with a note about "Amaliel's fake temple...one of the pieces...get it before Argentus or Talamyr..."
- A crude sketch of a dwarf Terius recognized as Aldric Goldhearth, scrawled with the note "Essex - Send word to me if you see this dwarf pass through. I believe he has the book, but whether he brought it with him or left it in Irongate, I don't know. We'll see to it that he doesn't make it to Kharazgar. Signed, Svatlek Malor"
- A somewhat explicit love letter to Essex Malor from someone with the initials "EC"
The party left Highwood the next day, destined for the Woodcross Inn and the temple near by...

Autumnturn 20, 1104

Early in the day the caravan resumed its westward journey and proceeded to the village of Highwood. Upon their arrival, they were asked to come to the keep of the local lord, a somewhat notorious knight named Sir Evan Cantery.

Their audience with Cantery quickly turned from cordial to hostile. As the party spoke with the knight, he demanded the elven relics they were carrying, shortly after introducing his advisor Essex Malor, of House Malor. At the same time, the group was surrounded by some of Cantery's personal guard and a number of mercenaries. Fortunately, though the situation presented a challenge, the skills of the heroes in oratory disciplines such as diplomacy and bluffing, as well as a bit of history, changed the odds a bit. Stirring up discontent among their foes, the party was able to convince some of the guards and half the mercenaries to stand down and not fight for such a blackguard. In the ensuing battle, all those that fought Qualic, Shashank, Terius, and Biren eventually lay dead on the castle floor.

Though victorious in battle, an arrow shot into Godfrey (who subsequently fled the scene) by Qualic created tension between the elven ranger and the Venoran rogue. Qualic claimed to be trying to instill confusion into the battle, but Shashank - who harbors a resentment of elves - was dubious. How this tension will unfold remains to be seen.

Autumnturn 19, 1104

The group returned to the snake shrine. They fought the cult's high priest and a number of his minions, including a feymire crocodile which swallowed Shashank (he was saved by his companions before being completely digested). The party won the battle, looted the place, and returned to Winterhaven with cultist heads as proof of their deeds.

Lord Pendraig thanked the party for their efforts and released Arvo the Fox into their custody. They took him outside of town and engaged him in some "negotiations" that paladins of Baltur would likely find objectionable, but which were deemed necessary (Biren took particular delight in interrogating Arvo). Eventually, the snivelling Arvo revealed that he'd been hired by Elisa Corzyr to have Shashank, Wylan, and Miandra killed. At that, he was released, with a warning to no longer do Elisa's dirty work.

Shashank then turned to Qualic for assistance in tracking down his wayward companions. Starting with Harlan's description of where they were approached by Baldridge, the ranger easily found the trail to the old keep. The group penetrated its stony walls to discover another batch of orcs, apparently newly joined with the orc chief. The dining hall of the keep revealed the fates of Kalnac, Drakken, Sir Baldridge, and the knight's men - they had been dismembered and were being eaten by the orcs. A quick slaughter later and their deaths were avenged.

The paladin's and warlock's bits were given a proper burial, and the party returned to Winterhaven.

Autumnturn 18, 1104

Shashank, Godfrey, Qualic, and Terius, joined by Biren, set out for the cultists' shrine. They fought numerous cultists and snakes, but retreated before tackling the main shrine chamber to rest and recover.

While resting, a child from a nearby hamlet came upon the group. He explained to Qualic and the minotaur that his settlement needed help. He led the two away while Shashank and Biren lay snoring and snuggled up near to one another.

The headwoman of the hamlet explained to Terius and Qualic that they were being plagued by Undead from a nearby graveyard; residents had been attacked and some even kidnapped. The two adventurers vowed to set things right.

Terius and Qualic arrived at the graveyard and laid many Undead to rest. They were able to save a young woman and her infant child after slaying a pack of ghouls in an old crypt . They also recovered a strange onyx skull from the crypt; Qualic tried to destroy it but to no avail. He decided to hold on to it until a means of its destruction could be found.

Autumnturn 17, 1104

Shashank and Godfrey eventually returned to the caravan's campsite but the wagons had been attacked and looted, save Drumm's personal wagon which was missing. The pair was accompanied by two travelers they had encountered on the way back - a Sylvari ranger named Qualic and Terius, a minotaur barbarian from Irongate.

Assuming that Drumm had fled, the group continued to Winterhaven. Their assumptions were proven correct as they found Harlan and his daughter in the village. Orc raiders had apparently set upon the caravan, which was unprotected after Kalnac and Drakken had left. Cnut was killed protecting the Drumm', who ended up escaping in their blue-topped wagon to the walled village.

Vowing to search for his other companions later, Shashank sought out his quarry, Arvo the Fox. He learned that the man had gotten into an altercation at the local tavern and was currently a guest in the Lord's prison. He spoke with Lord Pendraig about Arvo, who agreed to turn him over to Shashank if his group helped clear out a local "infestation" of cultists of Zaalhir (a serpentine aspect of Shaarizad). The rogue agreed.

Autumnturn 16, 1104

The caravan stopped at a roadside campsite for the evening. It was approached by a trio of men, though not Havelock and the others who they had encountered previously. The leader of the small group was a minor nobleman named Sir Leofric Baldridge, the two others his personal guard. Sir Leofric asked for assistance in clearing a local keep of an orc tribe that had taken residence there. The keep was his inheritance, but it had been abandoned for years. The knight had come to claim it but lacked the arms he needed to wrest it from the orcs. Kalnac and Drakken agreed to aid him and together rode to the keep.

Sir Leofric's future home was a bit ramshackle but overall in good shape. Drakken and Kalnac entered and proceeded to systematically wipe out its orcish tenants. It seemed like the task would be quite easy. Unfortunately, the orc chief proved to be much tougher than his minions, and with little effort slaughtered the paladin and the warlock.

Autumnturn 15, 1104

Shashank suddenly remembered he had forgotten Godfrey in Coreth. He and Miandra grabbed a couple of horses and road back to recover the mercenary.