Session 15

Date Played: February 17, 2001




Moldain, 25th of Vatermont, 1,000 A.C.

Hamlin was invited to join the party. He is very willing but would like an equal share of whatever treasure they find. He realized he would not be sharing in the orc treasure, but he did ask to be outfitted as he no longer had any possessions of his own. The party agreed to purchase him a dagger, sling, and beltpouch of river stones so that he could be useful to them. He promised to pay them back from his first share of treasure. In order to travel at a normal pace, a small cart was purchased and hitched to the mule. The halflings would ride in the back while the others walked.

Nytdain, 26th of Vatermont, 1,000 A.C.

Early in the morning the party set off from Radlebb Keep eastward along the Westron Road. They traveled all day without incident or encounter.

Loshdain, 27th of Vatermont, 1,000 A.C.

Very early in the morning, at the end of Eric’s watch, he spotted a group of four men dressed in peasant’s clothes walking along the road to the west. They were armed with short swords and two of them carried large bundles in sacks. The contents of the sacks appeared to be very heavy. The men did not notice the party camping in the woods, but Eric still woke the others just in case. The men headed down the road in the direction from which the party came, then turned north along a forest trail. Although the party was curious, they did not investigate.

The party arrived in Specularum by late afternoon. Eric sought stabling for the mule at North Gate Ostlery (paying 1 gp for stable and storage of the cart for 1 week). The others headed into the city before the main gates closed, heading for the Lion’s Den Inn to meet with Portio. However, Portio was not to be found here. Eric and Markus set off to find him at the Crown of Halav Inn. Sure enough, Portio was celebrating there with friends of his, prior to the Festival of Lucor. They dragged him home to the Lion’s Den to get their room key back. However, Portio was in no shape to speak with them much. They decided to bring him upstairs and let him sleep it off. After dinner, the rest of the party also went up to sleep. Since Portio already had a room, Chow-Lin insisted that the men sleep in there and the women sleep in the party’s room. The inn was full so they really had no choice. Portio snored all night, much to the dismay of Hamlin, but Portio paid for it in the end.

Soladain, 28th of Vatermont 1,000 A.C.

After a rough night of sleep, the party headed down to eat breakfast. Portio was in pain for most of the morning hours, until Eric cast a spell of curing on him. The party then paid for a week’s additional lodging at the Lion’s Den for both rooms. Margo decided that now was the time to leave the party so she left quietly and without a goodbye. Gimble remained in the room, trying to get more sleep now that the room was empty. The rest of the party grabbed their potions and headed off to the alchemist’s shop. They paid to have all 9 of their potions identified (360 gp) and told it would take some time for this to be completed. Once they were done there, Chow-Lin headed off to the Magicians’ Guild to obtain training. Markus and Hamlin went to the local armory and purchased a small wooden shield and ordered a suit of leather armor which would take 2 days to make for Hamlin. The Halfling was also outfitted with a hand axe. Eric left Specularum and traveled north along the Duke’s Road until arriving home. There he discussed plans of training with his parents. His father warned him, however, that this would be the one and only time they would contribute to his training costs. In essence, Eric got to train for free to become an Initiate of the 1st Circle.

Chow-Lin met with the cantankerous old Guildmaster, Teldon, and arranged to learn a spell under his tutelage. She chose to learn identify. It cost her 1,500 gp in training costs and took one week of time. Eric only had to train for a week as well, but, as part of his payment, he had to attend to the daily duties of the Grove for a total time of one month before his training would be considered complete. Markus headed off into the city in search of training, but instead found the hooded men he ran from the first night in Specularum beating a poor man to death in an alley. He followed them and then decided to speak with them. He was led back to their headquarters (with a hood on his head to conceal its location) and there he was inducted into a group called the Veiled Society. He was given a hood and clothing to mark him as a member and told that he would be contacted with Guild business at their leisure. He was told to seek out Vittorio at the Blue Water Mead Hall for training in stealth and told that he was not permitted to work freelance in the city. They basically threatened Markus’s life if he decided to do anything against the wishes of the Society. He had to pay them 3,000 gp for his training, but got Thief Training this level.

Lunadain, 1st of Thaumont, 1,000 A.C.

This is the Festival of Lucor, a religious holiday celebrating the voyages of the cleric Lucor who sailed from Specularum decades ago. It also heralds the trading season. The Gnome Caravan departed on this day heading south towards Specularum along the Duke’s Road. The party began its training period.

Tserdain, 3rd of Thaumont, 1,000 A.C.

The alchemist had identified the first potion as a potion of mammal and avian control.

Nytdain, 5th of Thaumont, 1,000 A.C.

The alchemist had identified the second potion as a potion of sweet water.

Soladain, 7th of Thaumont, 1,000 A.C.

The party was trained at their new levels. Markus was now a Waghalter, Eric was an Initiate of the 1st Circle, and Chow-Lin was an Evoker. They were held to their payments and were accountable to their trainers until payment was made.

Lunadain, 8th of Thaumont, 1,000 A.C.

The alchemist had identified the third potion as a potion of zombie control, a rare brew which he is willing to pay 2,000 gp to obtain. Eric now began his 3 week period as a member of Druid Woodrue Hengemaster’s entourage, assisting in ceremonies and helping to tend to the Grove. The henge of the Druid was located about 12 miles south of the elven town of Rifllian in the eastern Radlebb woods.

Cast of Non-Player Characters

Margo, Gimble – halfling refugees
Hamlin Hoefurrow – halfling warrior of the Shires who has recently joined the party
Portio Vorloi – contact in Specularum and relation of Lord Vorloi, the party's patron
Teldon – Headmaster Wizard of the Magicians’ Guild in Specularum (trained Chow-Lin)
Vittorio – Assassin in the employ of the Veiled Society (trained Markus)
Veiled Society – mafia-like organization of thieves and assassins operating in Specularum
Druid Woodrue Hengemaster – Druid of the Grove near Rifllian in Radlebb woods (trained Eric)

Hamlin Hoefurrow of Mallowfern

History: Hamlin was born and raised in the halfling village of Mallowfern in Eastshire. His father taught him the way of the warrior and also taught him to train and raise ponies. However, Hamlin came under "the wanderlust" and decided to leave Mallowfern to see the world. Heading east into the hills of Karameikos, he made it to the town of Luln, selling a few of his own ponies to gain enough gold to purchase provisions, arms, and armor. However, in his first foray alone into the wilderness he was ambushed by a band of orcs and enslaved. Forced into chains and marched deep into the forest, Hamlin came to work in their caves, enlarging the tunnels to make new orc dwellings. He had been a captive for almost 5 months before being rescued.

Personality: Hamlin is a curious halfling who believes in honesty and courtesy. He treats anyone he speaks to as a friend until given reason to think otherwise. He is wise enough to know when to be quiet, and he is a fairly good fighter in a pinch, although admittedly not as good as his father.

Appearance: Hamlin stands 3’1”, weighing 63 pounds. He has brown curly hair that is rather thick, even for a halfling. His hair dominates his head, leaving only enough of his face clear to see his chin nose and eyes. His eyes are deep blue with long dark eyelashes. He usually can be seen smiling and likes to whistle to himself when happy.

Combat Notes: 1st level Fighter; AC 5 (leather armor, wooden shield, -2 Dex), hp 9, Mv 9”, #At 1, Dmg by hand axe (1-6), dagger (1-4) or sling stone (1-4), Str: 14, Int: 11, Wis: 14, Dex: 16, Con: 12, Chr: 6. As a halfling he gains +3 to hit with sling and short bow.

DUNGEON MASTER NOTES: Since not knowing what unlabeled potions do makes my paranoid players unwilling to even sip or test them, I decided that the local alchemist would be able to identify potions found (most of the time) for a flat fee of 40 gp, taking 1-3 days per potion to identify it. There is a small chance (5%) of the potion causing an explosion when tested (since I treat the alchemical process of potion breakdown basically the same as a miscibility mishap). This rarely happens to an experienced alchemist (I reduce chances by 1-4%). The side benefit is that the alchemist sometimes offers to buy potions he identifies from the party, resulting in more cash (and XP) for them. The downside is that the alchemist is only able to identify one potion at a time, and there is a 10-40% chance on any given day that he is otherwise involved in important business for someone else in town with a duration of 1-8 days.