An update from Terulia and Ian
Oh shit, we had to spend the night [in the Shadow World]. Hope Hamish has enough beer to last him. Well, we have cleared out one of the towers. (I think.) We were "attacked" by a giant moth [8' long with a 16' wingspan] that Terulia tried to kill, but you can't do much with a sword from 40' away. (I was enraged.) Then as we formed a phalanx with two tables, and we crossed the battlements, peppered by arrows that couldn't get past the tables. Halfway across, we were noticed by a large draconic figure circling above. It then decided that Boodan looked like a tasty morsel and decided to have a snack. As it swept down and grabbed Boodan in its mouth, it also stung Edmund with its tail. As it flew past, Ian struck it with his battle axe, and Terulia hit it with an arrow. It dropped Boodan to the lower level, with 5 skeletons manning a catapult. Edmund turned the ten archer skeletons above us, and then the five skeletons below us, and Tarquin climbed down and retrieved Boodan's beaten and broken body. Luckily, we were able to save him. However, he now has scars in the shape of a wyvern's mouth.
Oh, I almost forgot the "Governor". It came through the world-rift from somewhere else. I thought its master was Selm (Navroc's God), but Glenn corrected me. Meklerrex serves something named Gorgon or Geryon and was looking for the spear as well. We were able to "kill" it, but it'll be back in a hundred years or so. It was nasty. The other thing about this "Governor" was that it looked as if he wore every kind of torture implements you could imagine. When he attacked with them, they flew at their target and if they hit, they kept doing damage to you!! Some of the more memorable ones: a corkscrew embedded in Bisar's chest, filet knives trying to remove Ian's arm, a whip wrapped around Glenn's throat, razor blades attempting to shave Tarquin (luckily for him he hasn't hit puberty yet), etc. Glenn's sister, Flora, made a brief appearance saying that we should hurry because there is someone else coming...
I know there a MAJOR significance to this Torture Devil thing, but I do not know enough about that religious sect to guess at what it means... Ian asked Glenn to go over the warnings from Flora and the ravings on the clearly insane Torture man, using his Religion skill, and is able to tell you the following...
1) Flora mentioned something about Geryon...what Ian tells you, is that Geryon is the name of one of the Dukes of Hell!! I believe there was something mentioned about the DUKE wanting the spear!!
2) The "Governor's" name is Meklerrex...he works for Geryon, not Selm and he stated that Geryon thought it was a good idea to follow the pawns of Selm's little boy...I guess this means that maybe Geryon and Selm are rivals of some sort...It could also mean that we are in deep doo-doo with some tough guy in HELL...
3) Meklerrex appeared to be almost insane...I am not sure exactly what realm Geryon would be responsible for, Insanity maybe? But realms of Insanity usually tend toward Chaos, just like Demons...Meklerrex was not specially affected by Ian's axe (specifically designed to hurt Demons), so where does that leave us??
August 5th, 603 Common Year.
When [Morag's] giants finally arrived, they walked into a series of lightning bolts, each called down by the druids. One of the stone giants perished on the spot while another was badly wounded. Alas, however, for Morag did not seem to be among them.
As the fighters came up from behind the giants, they encountered a few surprises. The first was that, despite the range, the giants were able to cause a decent amount of havoc with their boulders. Margus Jamiah and Arafael each nearly perished after a lucky hit. Meanwhile, Morag showed himself, having outflanked the Highlanders by hugging the hill tops. He stunned Rowan with his Evil Eye and moved into squash her. Only Fate saved her from literally falling under his heels...
Gunny and Ian formed the fighting framework for the heroes. Spring into action to augment them were Ashtabular and Fang, animal growthed to deadly proportions -- no giant survived a round with them. The heroes concentrated their attacks on the giants, with the intent of depriving Morag of his army. Margus had pinned two giants in a huge hedge of thorns early in the fight. Gamoth joined them in the hedge, suckering two others to follow him. Calling down lightning upon himself, four of the giants died instantly while two others nearby were badly hurt. Gunny, meanwhile, crossed the fray in time to save Arafael from certain death. Colleen healed the hobbit afterward, although he remains BADLY concussed.
Just as the battle began to turn in the heroes' favor, Skorn the half-ogre, one of the two Sons of Sora, tore open the ley lines and attacked with a force of strange looking bugbear. He and his minions nearly finished the Highlanders. Only Ian's fancy axe-work drove the powerful warrior away. Skorn used his own minions as cover and fled back through the rift in the ley lines.
As the fight began to wrap up, the fighters realized their strength was failing. Gamoth proved no match for Morag. Rowan tried using the bloodsilver spear against the Son of Balor, but she too was forced to retreat. Glenn's sling caused some minor damage, but this seemed more an annoyance than anything serious and the wounds quickly healed over. Next, Ashtabular, the Ether Tigress, pounced on the giant. Although her claws had literally saved the world by shredding the illithid brain pool on Luna, they didn't do more then make welts on Morag's chest. His club, however, smashed the beast into submission and finally flight. Gunny tried to distract the giant, using his skill with the hammer to deprive the formorian of his weapons. Morag grew frustrated and used Gunny's body to swat at the heroes. Finally, Glenn, augmented by Margus' sash of giant strength and several healing spells from both Margus and Gamoth attacked Morag using the Sidhe-made spear. Brichlur's wounds did not heal and after only two thrusts, the leader of the giants fell VERY dead.
Another roving band of giants was destroying the countryside, heading for Bellport. Determined to stop the slaughter, the Highlanders pursued. Colleen and Gamoth flew ahead in the guise of osprey to warn the villages in the giants' path. In addition, the druid of Ki conjured a storm to slow down the invaders. Instead, the giants turned on their own path and set up an ambush for the remaining Highlanders.
Late in the afternoon, the battle was joined. The giants charged the heroes, led by their own pack of dire wolves Gamoth had summoned. Half of the humans used various forms of invisibility to come around the sides of the giants. Meanwhile, Ashtabular hid herself and Gamoth directly in the giants' path. Ian and Rowan flanked this position with Colleen and Boodan a little behind them.
The giants' response was to slow to a walk and begin pelting the heroes with boulders. Rather than falling back, however, Ian and Rowan charged through the hail of stones and into melee combat. The resulting battle was quite fierce. As Arafael and Glenn struck from the rear, Ian and Rowan were surrounded by hill giants and ogres. Colleen, Gamoth and Ashtabular, having not charged, were too far back to give immediate support. Within seconds, all four fighters were sorely pressed. Arafael and Glenn fell. The wolf pack reached Gamoth, only to be fireballed by a witch-giantess. The fire giant battling Gamoth didn't seem to have any trouble with the spell as he pounded Ashtabular. Meanwhile, Rowan fell facing two giants and an ogre. Ian tried to cut his way free, but kept getting hedged in. Boodan charged forward to give support, fighting side-by-side with Colleen. Ash finished one giant and then the witch, but was bested by another hill giant. Gamoth was forced to retreat in the form of a salamander.
Ian took some of the pressure off of Colleen only to watch her smashed into submission. Gamoth returned to the fray, using a 200 foot long wall of fire to isolate the frost giant, two of the hill giants and an ogre from the rest of the battle. Boodan tried to use herbs on Colleen, saving her life. But the druidess remained in need of magical aid to return to consciousness. Ian battled on, facing and defeating each foe, though sorely wounded. Gamoth asked Ian to buy him time to restore Rowan and Colleen. The axe-wielding highlander held off the fire giant, at the cost of his life. The giant's huge, iron mace shattered Ian's spine. His sacrifice did the trick, however, for while Rowan gathered her sword, Boodan loosed an enchanted arrow which put the giant to sleep. A similar arrow cut down an ogre which would have killed Rowan (as opposed to knocking her out again).
With Boodan, Gamoth and Colleen still on their feet, the two remaining ogres fled with a dozen orcish slaves. Most of the heroes lay sprawled in their own blood surrounded by the corpses of several giants and/or ogres. Using their healing magics, the druids saved their comrades lives...all save Ian.
One band of giants remains: a large encampment holding the ruins of Irongate. There is no sign of Navroc MacCorval. Nothing stirs in Mhoried. Only Cainna NihFalen's storms are keeping Queen Fanggrabber and her goblin horde from causing mass chaos. There is no sign of the gold dragon. Only with the blessings of Mannon MacLir does Angus MacLeod keeps the Great Kingdom navy at bay. The Great Kingdom army have been renewed and their new commander, Lord Athos, has demanded General Rowan MacLeod to surrender after some particularly bloody battles.
Faced with military annihilation, the coming winter and Samhain, Rowan looks at her options.
During the solstice, none of the druids aiding rebels will be available. The Highland army has few supplies left. There are no wizards available. Edmund, Tarquin, Terulia and Lara are still lost in the Shadow World. The previous round of cease-fires and treaties ended with eight days of massacres, on both sides.
But there is also hope...
The forces under Arafael Rosefoot's able command were able to retake the western edge of the North Province. Once again the Highlands have a land route to a potential ally.
A small ship, barely larger than a yacht, smashed a large hole in the Great Kingdom blockade. Flying the flag of Furyondy and bearing letters of marquee, the Seawolf has put in at Bellport. Her captain, Raitan Drake, offers his aid, his ship and his crew...
The ley-storms have quieted. No new tempests have ripped across the land, adding or removing creatures and villages.
And yet...
Rowan, Glenn, Arafael and Ian stand before Lord Athos and his advisors in a face-to-face meeting. The rebels have offered to buy back their territories. Lord Athos' price is steep: 750,000gp. He demands a lasting resolution before noon. The alternative: the end of the cease-fire and an immediate battle. Boodan, Gunny, Colleen, Raitan and Rachael await the results outside...
As of Thursday the 2nd of October, Common Year 603 (603/10/2), the War in the Highlands ended.
At 4:00pm Rowan MacLeod (of the North Province) and Lord Phoebeus Athos (of the Great Kingdom) signed a peace treaty just outside the small, lowland village of Pagan’s Walk, south-east of Eastfair, near the border of the two nations. By 6:25pm, the Highland forces delivered 105,000gp, thereby completing the first territory-purchase outlined in the treaty. The Great Kingdom now has until sunset on the 5th of October to completely withdrawal all troops from within 30 miles of the current border.
As darkness settled across the land, the druids, Margus, Gamoth, Cainna, Angus and Colleen returned from the Samhain Moot.
While Rowan prepared the political battlefield, her allies marched north. Margus transported the Highland Commander to her friends' side as the Highlanders attacked the last group of Morag's minions, a village of hill giants and ogres camped just outside the ruins of Irongate. After a long and powerful battle, all the foes lay dead, save a single ogre child and a handful of unconscious orcs. The melee was long and close, save Boodan, Raitan and Margus, everyone present fell before their foes. Using healing magics, all were revived, save Glenn Torbrean.
Mysteriously, Margus returned with Glenn, alive and well. Soon, however, the price of the quiet Highlander's life was revealed; Ourobos of Greyhawk, priest of Diancecht, restored him in exchange for his and Margus' efforts to dismantle the Treaty of Pagan's Walk!
The morning of 603/10/15 Rowan purchased another tract of Highland lands back from the Great Kingdom. All went well, but the Scottish coffers are quickly running low on gold...
Just when things looked glum, Navroc returns, bearing a strange staff with unholy runes. The Thane of Irongate all but incited Athos to battle in their meeting. Navroc threatened Athos and challenged him to a personal duel. The Great Kingdom lord declined. Insisting on better treatment for his nation and people, Navroc left, eyeing the southerners evilly. "Make sure ya honor yer side o' the treaty..."
The next morning, all Great Kingdom troops in violation of the treaty died mysteriously....
Knowing that Navroc, Ourobos, Margus and Glenn all were pushing for a non-peaceful resolution to the next treaty-meeting, Rowan called back her friends. Inexplicably, Glenn remained behind to scout out the giant steading at Bannok.
The morning of 603/10/23 rocked the world! Representing the Highlanders were Rowan, Colleen, Margus and Navroc. When Navroc's "ludicrous" demands for a complete withdrawal and surrender were not met, another plot emerged. Using his "hellstaff" the Thane of Irongate projected an image on the roof of the pavilion; an image of Lady Penelope Athos in chains, surrounded by leering and lusty barbed devils.
"I want to have my way with this human trollop!" said the first.
"Navroc would have all our black hearts!" exclaimed the second.
"Remember," interjected the third, "if the master does not return by sunset, he gave us leave to torture and rape this lovely lady as sadistically as we possibly could! Perhaps we WILL have a treat this night!"
Enraged, Athos nearly attacked Navroc on the spot. The warlock reminded the Great Kingdomer of his wife's plight and further asked him "what of your darling daughter, Amphrite, and your young heir, Proteus? What would happen to THEM if I did not reach home this night...?"
To twisted the knife one last time, Navroc added, "You are no match for our forces, Athos. Your troops are flesh and blood; men born as mortal babes. How would you face a legion of horned devils? A horde of your of unliving troops? Do you have any idea the price I can fetch for the soul of a virgin girl? Hmmm?"
After much wrangling, Athos could do nothing but agree to Navroc's terms. All of the eastern seaboard is again in Highland hands. The cost of purchasing a hex of land is but 5,000gp and the next meeting of the two nations in not until after winter. Not the exact conditions the puppet masters sought, but...
Once the political situation in Eastfair was resolved again, Rowan and the other Highlanders joined Glenn near Bannok. The stoic lore-keeper had been watching the hill giants and their allies. The monsters had begun raiding nearby villages. Their numbers were too great for a head-on assault, so Rowan decided to pick off the next raiding party.
603/12/7 was a bright and sunny day. Six inches of snow covered the ground, but the daystar shone brightly. A marauding party of nine hill giants, three stone giants and three ogres went forth to hunt humans. The Highlanders moved to stop them.
Glenn and Arafael tried to slow the band of monsters, hoping the other heroes would then be able to catch up. Glenn slew a hill giant and several ogres, but a stone giant shattered Arafael's spine. Colleen flew in to save him, but it was too late. Only a bit of Sidhe trickery allowed with the ranger or druid to escape.
The other Highlanders attacked the giant warband in a swarm. Quarter was neither asked for nor given. Rowan, Glenn, Ian and Raitan waded their way into the giants, cloaked initially by invisibility. It appeared the humans would easily take the day. Three boulders rained down on Colleen, wounding her severely and knocking her unconscious. Unfortunately, Boodan and Rachel were now trapped in the bag of holding. Although the staff of giant slaying allowed Glenn to quickly dispatch his foes, too many came upon him too quickly. The mysterious Highlander fell mortally wounded. A devastating blow to Ian nearly killed him. Distracted, Rowan dropped her guard for a moment; her hill giant foe pounced on her, killing her instantly.
All seemed bleak. Raitan was the only fighter left on the battlefield. Somehow he managed to evade the giants and free those trapped in the bag. Then the sailor administered healing potions to each of the wounded, enough to keep them alive for a moment. Rachael and Boodan brought Colleen back to her feet, but all three were sorely pressed and failing fast. They were no match for the remaining four hill giants.
Raitan took the pressure off of Rachael by suddenly appearing out of nowhere and killing one giant, wounding another. The druidess used her magics to restore Glenn to health. Boodan, meanwhile, was shielding Colleen from certain death at the hands of another giant. The giants charged. Raitan fell. Boodan was nearly dead. Colleen's healing restore the life to Ian, but not the power to fight. Glenn too was in no shape for battle.
One giant remained. Boodan scored a lucky hit, but the behemoth loomed over him, to crush the Highlander. Before the final blow landed, a single sling bullet tore out a chunk of the giant's skull. Glenn stumbled back, exhausted.
With Rowan and Arafael dead, the giants of Bannok still relatively unchecked and Queen Fanggrabber unaccounted for, things looked bleak. Colleen took the bodies and traveled east to Elrom the Red. Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes returned to Eastfair.
Elorm reincarnated Arafael as a black bear. Rowan, however, needed her own body if she was to lead the Highlands. Only one celtic priest had those kind of powers, Ourobos. Elorm transported Rowan's corpse to Greyhawk, where Ourobos communed with her spirit.
"How will you serve the forces of goodness and law if you are returned to life?" asked the priest of Diancecht.
"I will change my ways to goodness and devote the rest of my life to aiding the lives of my people," was the Highlander's answer.
"Return for her in three days. She will be ready to lead you then," Ourobos told Elorm and Colleen.
With the Highlanders reassembled after 603's Yule, they've given battle to the giants of Bannok three times.
The first encounter was nothing more than a sizing up and running scuffle. Rocks were thrown back and forth, but no one was slain. Curiously, the giants' cloud giant leader took the brunt of the punishment, sucking up several of Raitan's boulders.
The second battle with the giants was much more intense and decisive. A dozen hill giants, a few ogres and a stone giant war party were returning to Bannok. Ambushing these monsters, the Highlanders presented their foes with a tremendous fight. With a bit of luck, and several potions, the humans won the day in under two minutes.
The third fight happened only minutes later. The previous battle had been within sight of the giants' lair. As a host of nearly two dozen foes closed, the heroes quickly healed themselves and prepared an excellent plan of reception...
Before the giant host could slam into their position, the druids put their spells into action. Colleen summoned the giants' wolves to her side while Margus enshrouded the party with a hallucinatory forest. Boulders rained down, but the illusion gave the heroes enough cover to avoid the deadly missiles. As the giants charged in, the human warriors met their advance! And supporting the heroes were the giant's own dire wolves, now doubled in size and power with orders to rip apart the nine ogres!
A salvo of four boulders dropped Boodan. But before the scout could be crushed, a surprise attack by Raitan left two giants dead and another mortally wounded. With the Arabian as cover, Rachelle moved in to heal the fallen Highlander.
The hill giant chieftan and his pet (baby) tyrannosaurus charged Glenn. The staff stopped the huge thurse in his tracks. The huge reptile moved against Glenn, but was distracted by a strange figure's arrows. Rowan finished the great beast while Glenn worked on the giants' leader.
As the wolves tore through the ogres, Gunny, Ian and Rowan battled for their lives against more than a half dozen giants. Just when the heroes seemed overwhelmed, Margus' wall of fire blazed through the giants' ranks, turning the tide!
Using this brief respite, the Highlanders regrouped and demolished their remaining foes!
Well, March 21st of the Common Year 604 will go down in history.
Before dawn, the major Great Kingdom coastal ports of Atirr, Winetha and Oundsey were suddenly socked in by dense cloud cover and a light, chilling wind. Not out of place in late winter, no one grew concerned, until shortly after dawn when a freak hurricane began -- accompanied by massive columns of lightning, fire elementals, earth elementals and aeriel servants pounding the wharfs. Then the rock face of the wharf disolved into the sea. Before anyone could act, the entire seafront of each city was flooded -- three to five feet beyond the highest tide! As the locals fled, the tides and storm intensified to monsterous proportions. Almost on cue, as the last of the non-military left the area, the region was flooded under more than fifteen feet of water while an icy, chilling, storm demolished every ship in port and all the buildings along the water's edge. It was as if the gods themselves were striking down the Great Kingdom ports...!
In Atirr, the storms came just before a rebel assault on the city. Just before dawn, the entire eastern wall of the city turned to mud. A few instances later, huge thunderheads struck all about the city's now-undefendable gates. First one, then a second column of holy fire blazed down from the heavens, incinerating all the soldiers in its path.
Led by the Highland general, Glenn Torbrean, an army of Scots crossed the oddly-low Trask River and attacked the defenseless city. With remarkable accuracy, the stoic leader maneuvered his troops to cause the maximum damage possible. Helping to spearhead this devestating attack were a metal-armed minotaur of incredible power, a kick-boxing lowlander bearing strange magical weapons and a highland priest of Angellus to say nothing of the giant-sized tigress, brown bear and black bear!
Without warning, the invaders suddenly pivoted their attack and fled out of the city. Moving quickly, they reached the former east gate in precisely ten minutes. As the defenders of Atirr surged forward to crush the Scottish dogs, columns of lightning and towers of fire cut through the 'Kingdomer ranks, slaying all in the rear. Much of the Great Kingdom army pursued the fleeing band of highlanders back across the thinly flowing river. But just as the last of the southern forces began to cross the banks, the river suddenly swelled to its normal size. Normally, this would not have been too disasterous, but suddenly the river flooded fifteen feet beyond its highest level. Nearly half of the forces of Atirr drowned within seconds. Those that reached the northern shore were greeted by an entire squadron of Highlanders, led by the Druid, Elorm the Red. Only those who surrendered survived...
These cities will need many months and mountains of gold to become self-sufficient again, much less able to support or stage Great Kingdom troops...
Meanwhile, both the northern and southern fleet patroling the Hold of the Sea Barons mysteriously vanished. Reconnaisance is difficult with the thunderous hurricane striking the region. All attempts to dispel it have met with failure -- obviously a huge, natural phenomena.
What little information that is available comes from a pair of sending spells. It would seem that each fleet encountered similar weather to the cities at nearly the same time. Once the stormier weather appeared, each fleet tried to escape, to no avail.
The northern fleet, patroling between the North Province and the Sea Barons, spied a tiny yacht at the edge of the storm. A small tornado touched down then, completely obscuring the small boat. Lightning bolts demolished the mast and rigging of any ship trying to escape away from the storm. Meanwhile four gray whales, twice the normal size, started smashing the ships with their powerful flukes. And one ship mysterious sprung leaks while another suddenly rammed an escaping craft. Although several dolphins were visible in the water, none tried to save the drowning sailors.
While the northern fleet had 29 warships, the southern convoy had 51. It too disappeared without a trace, although some magical research reveals an entire pod of dolphins swam amongst the ships, with lightning bolts touching down just behind their wakes. When four lead vessels made for a break in the creatures' formation, two dragon appeared from nowhere. The first dragon, gold, raked the ships with cones of flame. The second dragon, brass, swept the ship with fear-inducing fog while the dragon's rider lobbed ball of fire at mast and rigging. Before the dragons could be driven off, the freak storms hit, destroying the fleet. Oddly, there were no survivors at all.
Now what happens? How will this affect the Treaty of Pagan's Walk? And what caused these massive storms to suddenly sweep hundreds of miles of the Great Kingdom's coast?
Only time (and perhaps the DM) will tell...
| Rowan MacLeod | fighter | 8th | Commander-in-Chief of the Highland Rebellion |
| Colleen MacLeod | druid | 9th | Rowan's sensitive-yet-direct little sister |
| Arafael (Rosefoot) | F / Th | 4th/7th | former Hobbit, now fighting black bear |
| Tarquin Drake | traveler | 7th | Lowlander living upto his family's heroic traditions |
| Ian Northbrook | fighter | 7th | Original Highland Freedom Fighter |
| Edmund Fitzgerald | cleric | 7th | Original Highland Freedom Fighter |
| Boodan | scout | 9th | Highland stealth expert |
| Glenn Torbrean | ranger | 6th | Mysterious keeper of Sidhe lore |
| Bisar | fighter | 6th | Minotaur powerhouse from another world |
| Margus Jamiah | druid | 12th | Unobtrusive power-broker and world-guardian |
| Gamoth of Ki | druid | 12th |
Passionate priest of nature, Ash's "master", newest Druid of the Eastern Circle |
| Ashtabular | tigress | 9 HD | the Ether-Tiger and muncher of monsters |
| Gundar "Gunny" Mountainspine | fighter | 7th | Dwarven smith and general team player |
| Captain Raitan Drake | mariner | 8th | Royal Privateer of Furyondy and the strongest man alive |
| Rachelle | druid | 7th | Sea-druidess of Mannon MacLir |