Avatars

Characters

• Geffin Hempsmith
• Gyanne
• Ceraph
• Feng

What Happened

A Chance Meeting?

After a hungry angry giantess chases a small dragon-kin past a hiding halfling into a bandit ambush, as a young confused half-elf is guided to aid someone in peril by a strange shape-changing yellow-skinned man who recently whisked the crossbreed from his razed hometown, the party meets as they nurse their wounds. Feng then guides the party back to Cormire where Gyanne the ice princess pays the city entry tax, as the halfling has a chance encounter with an apparently wealthy blind old man who needed assistance picking up a spilled purse. Once within the city walls, Geffin notices the elaborate market with many curiosities, but follows Feng to a small hut.

As they approached the small round hut that seemed to rise up from the earth seamlessly and has a strangely green grass thatched roof. Grass that somehow yet seemed alive. They noticed the hut being surrounded by lush green grass in a ring of various trees each seemingly older than the city they reside in. A couple of the party members noticed a large raven atop the hut, keenly eyeing the group approaching. Within the ring of trees smelled musky and earthy like a well watered garden. Inside the hut seemed larger than possible from the outside appearance. The interior of the hut smelled strongly of teas and spices, but not unpleasantly so.

In the center of the floor of the hut sat an ancient woman, the color of the earth with flighty white hair and eyes the color of the ocean which seemed to fluctuate between the green of the pirated Salton seas of the south and the dark brooding blue of the untamed freezing depths of the far northwest. She emanated magical power in an aura previously unseen by the mages of the party. Feng, having previously met the woman knows her as Eingana, but knows little else.

Upon the parties arrival she spoke. "Welcome, all of you. I'll not mince words and weave tales as my time is soon to pass. I've gathered you here in hope that I could sway you. I hope to sway you to the greater good so you can hopefully reach your potential, as I have."

As she says this she moves one of her hands from her lap, to her chest and Geffin noticed countless strands apparently running from her fingers down into the ground where they apparently vanish into the worn dirt floor. They seemed to shimmer for moments then fade as if never there. Geffin, somehow you maintain vision of one of the strands as he was staring in wide-eyed amazement, he noticed two additional things. One, was that it seemed the strand he could still see hanging from her hand dipped only slightly to the ground before arching upwards directly at him and connecting to hi chest. The second thing he noticed as you look to his left and right to see if the others in the room had similar ties is that the pleasant aroma had changed slightly to smell more earthy and planty, similar to the smell outside.

Eingana continued, drawing the party's attention, like an irresistible force of nature. "It is possible I will soon be replaced. It is possible we are on the brink of another cataclysm. You each have a role to play, and a very important role it can be."

She shuddered violently and more of the party could momentarily see the strands shimmering and as the shudder passed each person in the room felt a coolness deep within them, not simply a physical chill, but something more, something powerful and afflicting what feels like the very core of his/her being. Along with this shudder some felt a sadness, "My end is coming, as is your beginning. Some of you have already begun as others have ended. I drew you here from afar (pointing to Feng) with the hope that you can help them define themselves and choose their correct paths. There will be others who choose separate paths. There will be others who choose opposing paths."

Again she shuddered and again they felt the cold weakening sadness deep within. Some faltered and dropped to their knees.

"I had hoped there would be more of you. I had hoped for more time. I've drawn this out too long. I suspected it unfair to challenge the fates, but it is what we (she points around the room and glares shrewdly at each visitor) must do, lest we act only as pawns in their games."

Some in the party felt her great sorrow and great pain.

"Ceraph, you seek your father and adventure. You seek your past and your future. Sadly, you must choose. I can tell you only that he went in your place to another meeting such as this.

Gyanna, your journey will be like no other your race has ever experienced. Through trial and error you will learn to find what you seek, and what others seek."

Eingana shuddered again, so violently that she sagged down to support herself on her hands. "Geffin, you must follow that which guides you. Do not second guess yourself as the consequences could be veery undesirable."

Again Eingana shuddered immensely, the suffering she felt apparent on her face and almost palpable, even to the ice princess. As the final shudder subsided, she opened her ancient leathery eye-lids to reveal her eyes, now the darkest blue of the distant horizon on a moonless night, which then faded to a cloudy cataract gray as her final words were

"I'm sorry my children. Never lose hope."

When she faded, the mysterious spiderwebish sinews from her fingers fell to glittering dust which fell only slightly before whisking off out one of the windows.

Leaving Cormire?

After leaving the hut of Eingana, the party went to the Cormire market. Geffin tried to dance and critically failed and fell off of the cabbage stand. Gyanne having her pride hurt by such a botched display, took to the makeshift stage and danced and sang to the market goers merriment while Geffin worked the crowd, pan-handling, while Tomwise lap-slapped and a nearby lute salesman closed up shop to play along.

After realizing the people were focusing primarily on her, Gyanne hurried out of the market to a dark alley slum-bar to get away and have some alone time as well as to get an ale and some meat in to her gullet. The rest of the party was convening at the Gray Dog Inn, when Feng was approached by two of Cormires red-garbed guards. The guards were ordered to escort Feng out of the city walls. Feng talked the guards into letting him discuss the matter with one Matthew Alebroad, self-proclaimed adviser and overseer of the city’s militia. While Ceraph and the hobbits took the long way to the inn, Feng negotiated with Alebroad and Gyanne killed some barflys after they refused to give her information for free. She did so with a small knife and a bestial pounce. Eventually, the giantess, half-elf and hobbits met up outside the Gray Dog in and followed Feng to ‘the place where they met’, dubbed Bandit Rock by the party. Feng had negotiated with Alebroad to take up the bandit’s post in their place in order to investigate the possibility of a greater criminal conspiracy in or around Cormire. Part of the negotiation was that Alebroad would send some faux travelers past the rock to supply Feng and his group while playing up the ruse that they were actually bandits. After a near-combat situation with a small family passing the rock, it turned out that the ‘contact’ sent was one Balkar The Golden, whom Gyanne was seeking for information regarding a great white cat which she pursues. He shared some stomach stew with the party before departing off to the west to investigate rumors of a large dragon-kin harassing the locals due to the recent perishing of a younger kin…that killed by Gyanne in the first session.

Other notes:

- Feng began to tattoo a great cat on Gyanne.

- Guards were Lucas and Thug #2 under the command of Captain Dixmak

Preliminary Notes from Night 3

As Balkar The Golden traveled west from Bandit's Rock, the group grew weary; the exhaust of their most recent interactions, the overwhelming feeling of something larger than the individual... should they follow him? This hunter? Tom Wise began to doubt the need to continue on and instead, suggested to Geffin to head back to their homelands. Feng, listening to the concerns of Mr. Wise spoke up. "Mr. Wise, when someone makes a choice, they must stick to that choice," he explained. "Besides, the dragon may indeed end up at the shire!" At this news, Tom Wise became very distraught. Almost suddenly his position changed, and he was again prepared to see the party to their ultimate glory, a chance to save the Shire.

The group decided to trudge along, heading west in the full moonlight. Feng was familiar with the area and gave the party a target, a town called Serenton. As they marched towards the River Serenflow, they felt a drop down in elevation.

"To the north are the Silver Range, and we'll be arriving to Serenton in several days, perhaps. We should look for houses or villages to ask about our hunter," Feng encouraged the group along.

Geffin hesitated, "But, Master Feng, we'll alarm them!" It was no secret that the group looked peculiar: a talking canine, two halflings, a mysterious knight, and a woman with proportions unusual for human. Geffin's concern resonated through the group as the reality of their current position came to light.

Tom, overcome by his new sense of duty, jumped his thoughts to his future task. "If we're going to slay a dragon, shouldn't I have a sword?"

"Gyanne, didn't you get a new knife along your journey?" Feng asked.

Gyanne, puzzled, remembered the knife that had pierced her back in the bar fight earlier that day, a knife she was intent on using in the future. "I'll give you my knife if you'll swear your allegiance to me," she bargained.

"Um, I'll have to think about that..." Discouraged, Tom Wise wasn't sure what to do. Ceraph, noticing the forlorn hobbit offered one of his knives for Tom Wise to use as a sword. Tom was overjoyed.

"That may have been a bad idea..." remarked Ceraph.

[keep marching, not following a path, just through wheat fields, Gyanne finds horse/mule tracks for a few hours. The soil was lumpy and still new from tilling, with small crops just now beginning to sprout. A road/horse would be nice, and we're tired.

Geffin sees a farmhouse off in the distance after an hour of Tom Wise's complaining.

Geffin: "I bet they'll have cookies and a nightcap for us!" Feng suggests that geffin to up to the house and ask on our behalf, suggesting a financial payment would be a good idea.

TW: "I wonder what cookies they have? O, my mouth does so water for molasses....."

Reach the House, not in great condition, there's an overhang with farm stuff. No smoke in CHiminey, and 1 dim light inside somewhere. Signs of life.

[Knock] grumble grumble from inside... G: was that a bear?? | puts his ear to the door and hears lumbered breathing. The door then swings open from the light pressure.

TW: Geffin, what are you doing?! G: HELLOOO!

[grumble]

G sees a candle near a bed with a very heavyset human-shape

G: Hi, we're travellers on an epic quest. and we're hear to ask you for help!

TW: Should we go touch him? G: yes yes.

the remaining group is watching from afar. The house smells strongly of Berry Brandy.

TW: oh my, that smells quite nice, I think it's coming from over here....

TW finds money too, Geffin warns him not to touch anything. Pile of money.. srooge mcDuck.

[loud clatter] TW knocks something off.... G sees it is a tomahawk. TW freezes!

Sleeping man grumbles and raises head

G: Good evening sir!

HUH?! man in stained overalls, big, hairy man sits up from his slumber, too much drinking, food all over, potent smelling. G: so sorry to disturb you... man: CHidren! IN MY HOUSE

man's belly inches from G's face.

Group's perceptopn Feng and Gyanne ready F: Gyanne, ready your crossbow!

man grabs hatchet.... G: we're on an epic quest for a dragon! man: you! OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!! he points to the door

Halflings pushed outside, door slams, bar chings down. TW: he's terribly rude! G: maybe I should try again? TW: he seems quite upset!! with a hatchet! G: he thought we were CHILDREN!

F: young masters, come back! [one single bark]

Feng waves them over

G: couldn't wake him by knocking on the door.... he was... TW: he's got much money! much more than a farmer's had before....

GYanne, and thw two halflings arrive to the house, G gathers the halflings and knocks on the door, attempting with best efforts to be pleasant.

He answers, she asks if he has lodging for her and her two children. He says no, or whatever, and slams the door.

Gyanne raps on the door a little more seriously, man swings open door wearing breastplate, helmet with face shield, shield and tomahawk. He warns them and tells them to leave. TW runs away. Gyanne readies her spear. At the threat, the farmer attacks.

FIGHT

he attacks, Ceraph sweeps Tomwise up from his panicked flee and sets him down, runs up towards door Feng runs towards door to prepare to cast Sleep on the man.

Man attacks GYanne and cuts her in the arm, right as Feng casts Sleep on the man. The man resists. Ceraph attacks the man and severely maims his foot, causing him to collapse. Gyanne stabs him in the face part, but does not kill him. Feng runs in, grapples the man and tries to grab his arm. Ceraph dives over and grabs the man's arm but misses and smacks his hands on the floors, causing 2 pts of damage.

Meanwhile, Geffin shouts: She's a fiercesome warrior, please! mr. Farmer, please surrender!

feng again tries to grapple,but he dodges.  Ceraph jumps to grappel as well.

Gyanne shouts: ENOUGH!!! and successfully impales his bicep, trapping his tomahawk arm against the floor. the Man drops his tomahawk and all frenzy comes to a halt. Feng looks towards Ceraph to begin to assess his wounds; he reached over to feel ceraph's corps and noticed something very very different

Ceraph collapses, aghast and barely conscious.

Feng sits next to Ceraph, and begins to assess what's happenieng. Tom Wise is still outside,

Feng: Cyanne! Address that man's wounds! G: Are you serious? Absolutely not. I'm going to kill him. She begins to lean down to deliver him a final blow.

Geffin: Please Mistress Gyanne, he can do no more harm!! Geffin latches onto her arm.

She stands up and pulls the spear out of his arm, begrudgingly, as if to symbolize capitulation. She then sits on his breastplate to watch what is happening to Ceraph. He's unconscious and bleeding profusely.

Feng lights his hat via a spell. We hardly understand what has happened to Ceraph. Gyanne leans over and whispers in his ear: I'll keep you alive now, only so that I may kiill you later!" She dresses the torso wound and stops the bleeding. Feng heals him the rest of the way, then goes back to Ceraph.

SKILL: Ceraph is SANDMAN

F: let us rest tonight. Leave this man's belongings alone, Gyanne!

Everyone is exhausted, geffin can't find his backpack, the money is also gone, Geffin can't find anything.

F: Mr. Geffin, we'll ask the man fo ryour backpack in the morning. In the meantime, you can use one of Gyanne's winter garments to keep yourself warm.

Feng wakes up every hour to heal the Man and Cereph

MORNING

Everyone wakes up. They untie him Geffin asks where his bag is The man wants to be untied. He calls Gyanne an ogre. She punches him in the arm wound. He turns pale FENg: GYANNE! stop at once. he heals the wound and the man is pretty well healed He tells Geffin where the bag is. THey find his money and a potion, which he finally reveals to Feng that it's a flight potion.

Geffin goes to look for chickens. He finds a large horse in the back, an unfriendly but not unfriendly horse. there is a saddle nearby.

OUthouse beyond the house, there is a chicken coup where there are chickens around. Geffin approaches them, enters the coup and pulls a few eggs off the nests. Some have been ther a while, and some eggs have quasi-fetii. Geffin notices the eggs haven't been picked in a while.

G: oh, he's going to have some chicks soon!

G goes back inside, hits the outhouse. He sees something light colored down the hole... G: Hm, that is curious.... what would be white, in the bottom of an outhouse. looks fleshy.

G: Hello! what ar eyou doing down there? oh.. what could that be... oh, a knee... why might that be there..... Geffin recoils G: TW let's bring these eggs in

the party cinches up there stuff. Ceraph replaced the plank of wood and went to collect the gear.

Geffin handed him the eggs and asked TW to get the stove started. Geffin leads Ceraph to the Outhouse, that stinks really bad. Ceraph peers down and sees only a dark hole.

G: Can you maybe get rid of these boards and maybe you we can see better?

C grabs the rake and opens a hold

C: hm... what is this? it looks like someone threw something down there. G: I'm afraid it looks like the knee.. even the hindquarters of a man.

C: ugh, ok.... [dig dig dig down in the outhouse] UGH! oh god,

Geffin climbs to the top of the outhouse and pries the roofing boards back

Feng is prepared to leave, sees the stuff just sitting out front, and things something strange

C fishes around with the rake in there, pulls on the "knee" and a foot with a boot pops up C: Geffin, I think you might be right, buddy. We got a boot.

G: is there a foot in the boot?

C: oh my. yes. I think this is the farmer!

G: the farmer?

Gyanne and Feng are approaching, mumbling about where Ceraph and Geffin could have gone. Gyanne smells Ceraph and Geffin and SHIT from behind the house. Received ADV: Discriminatory Smell

Feng arrives, looks down with his light hat: F: oh my... C: there's a foot F: let's get out.

Man stumbles around the corner, Geffin talks to the man, the man grabs his shoulder and tries to grapple them. Geffin dodges, the man throws his bag at hims then runs for his horse.

At htis same moment, Gyanne smells the man, Ceraph and Feng see him. Ceraph breaks out in a dead run towards the horse as Feng says: we should not let the man have his horse!

Gyanne began to ready her crossbow. Feng began to run towards the Man, yelling: we should not kill him! We have questions.

The party runs toward him, Feng saw a potion in his hand, the flight potion he knew about, and jumped up, and grappled the man unsuccessfully.

Gyanne stepped and aimed her crossbow, she lobbed a shot that whirled past his ear, without even a splinter to her enemy.

Feng jumped on the man, held him and attempted to throw his body against the wall.

THe man begins to levitate, two yards above the ground, awkward and legs akimbo. Gyanne ran and jumped on the man, smashing him into the side of the hut, both bodies huddled into the ground.

THe man is badly injured, and Gyanne is more than pleased with the affects of her new skill. In a rush, Feng implores Gyanne and the rest of the group to spare this man's life so that we may ask him crucial questions. Gyanne is less than willing to listen to Feng, although she understands his meanings.

Feng meditates to see what can be done about this. Meanwhile, Ceraph and Geffin spend some time to look for more bodies in the latrine. making some kind of pulley/lever thing with Ceraph's body, they find only a farmer, with a hatchet wound in the chest.

G: ok! I've got a hold of him! Pull us up!

Reeking of shit and decomposition, Geffin smells awful and is wollowing in the bottom of the out house.

G: it seems that was the only thing down there.... perhaps the rest of the family went to a neighboring farm.

Ceraph begins thinking of one-room home with a family... small house... He realized that the house they were in did not likely house a farm family. He finished bobbing the hobbit and brought him up.

Feng approached the scene, shit-covered body and a shit-covered Geffin, limbs sprawled out, dripping with a pudding-like substance.

Feng vomits

Geffin: I should rather like a trip to the lake! TW: me too! [tom is wearing G's hat]

Ceraph and Geffin head to the lake on the horse, while the rest stay here and wait for the team.

As Ceraph was getting the horse saddled, he noticed the saddlebags were full. He grabbed the things out of them.

Lake 60 mil across, 20 mi. long. They arrive there at lunch time.

Gyanne goes hunting, sets up a fire, cooks up some coneys. over a fire

Interlude

Feng had Gyanne help him bind the bearded man to the bed before she was fed up with the shapeshifter's lecturing and stormed off to go hunting. The Hengyoki then worked some healing magics on the man and meditated for a while before waking the man and interrogating him.

Feng using his shape-shifting abilities and the bearded man’s assumption that Feng is a wizard of great power, intimidated the man into revealing that he and the owner of the house had some cross words, when the bearded man asked for a place to stay some two days past. The bearded man had been drinking a lot and stated he sometimes makes rash decisions when in such a state. He didn’t know what to do after accidentally killing the man, so he hid the body. ... Ceraph sat and looked contemplatively at the large indignant beast which carried he and the two halflings to the lake. He was at first wondering what adventures the mighty steed had been in with the large bearded man, whom only hours ago whistled for this horse to carry the assumed outlaw and murderer away into relative freedom and safety once again. Ceraph sifted through bits and pieces of tales of adventure and awe which he’d heard from his father’s side at the smithy. As he recalled the stories of visitors and friends of his lost father, he realized his recent few days smacked quite ringingly of adventure.

He’d heard tales of wizards casting amazing spells. He’d seen the strange little man turn into a wolf and back multiple times and make his funny hat glow as the wick of a lit candle, but with no flame. He’d heard of different races from different kingdoms, dwarves, elves like his mother, and even giants. Now he traveled with what many would call a giant and two tiny men…he assumed them not dwarves at least not as he’s heard of them, as they had none of the rugged qualities attached. Hobbits they have identified themselves.

He shook his head thinking of the wild dream last night of having his chest cleft by the bearded man and falling to the ground heavy and solid. Ceraph thought to himself that the sound as his body collapsed to the floorboards will haunt him eternally. It sounded as though someone had dropped a bag of dried clay and sands from his homeland. The clay and sands they would mix with water to anchor horse posts as though they were set in stone. The dull thump was not of his bones and flesh cracking, but of his body, which seemed to have changed, landing somehow painlessly. The wound was nowhere to be found. The half-elf opened his shirt and checked again, just in case.

Just as he was wondering if the whole thing; duelling with the goblin, the out of place old woman, the amazing group with which he traveled, was all a dream, he turned to watch as one of the wet naked little men ran towards him shouting something about a boat. ...

The naked hobbits were splashing around in the afternoon sun near a wonderful picnic spot on the shore of lake Cormire. It was a wonderful little grassy bowl, one side of which fell into the lake with a nice soft soil beach, while surrounding the perimeter of the bowl were loose trees with tall narrow trunks and wide-arching branches full of bright green leaves.

After Geffin had plodded out to his ribs in the soft mud beneath the water, he removed the filth from the mornings events from his body as Tomwise giggled and splashed like a small child. Geffin realized that somehow he knew that Tomwise felt very much as a small child. Geffin knew that his companion was thoroughly enjoying himself, just as he knew that most of the last few days, Tomwise has been quite frightened or even horrified through their travel.

As Geffin considered whether or not his destiny, great and revealing as it would be would require Tomwise to stay at his side, he dipped under the water for a final rinse of his hair. As he went to stand straight and shake his head like a dog out of a stream, his head came in contact quite unenjoyably with a very solid object.

It seemed that a rowboat with a single paddle had somehow snuck up on Geffin during his bath and floated over him as he dunked his head. As he was assessing the situation, Tomwise noticed and exclaimed, “Geffin, how wonderful! You’ve found a boat! I must tell Master Ceraph!”

The naked hobbit then ran on up the grass towards where the half-elf sat on a stone and stared at the large horse. Geffin then began to drag the boat to the shore, thinking of what a dreadful experience it would be to travel on a boat across the water. Bathing is one thing, to simply trust your life to a few boards is completely another.

After Geffin had beached the boat and was approaching his pile of wet clothes laying out in the sun to dry, he heard a terrifying roar, which sounded like nothing he’d ever heard. He froze in his tracks, staring at his damp hat. By the time Geffin had unfrozen and turned around, he saw the horse fallen over and burnt in a smoldering patch of scorched earth, Ceraph nowhere to be seen and naked Tomwise huddled next to the stone slowly rocking back and forth.

Geffin knew Tomwise was not only horrified, but terribly hurt. After having wrapped Tomwise’s charred and gnarled left hand in a wet shirt and calming the poor hobbit down, Geffin gathered the waterskin and some food from the saddlebags and they ate quickly away from the charred and dead horse.

As they ate, Geffin got broken pieces between sobs and bites of what transpired moments before. As he was telling Ceraph of the boat, there was a horrible shrieking noise. Tomwise had barely seen it, a great white beast flying overhead before it rained fire upon them. Tomwise tried to step behind Ceraph but the horse reared and hit Ceraph who seemed to fall into the ground as the burning stinking blaze overwhelmed him. He thinks Ceraph drew a sword, but then was hit by the horse, and was probably burnt horribly as was the horse, before falling into the ground. "Geffin," sobbed Tomwise, "he fell into the ground at my feet. INTO the ground. I...I don't know what happened. Ooooh my hand does so hurt and I can't move the fingers."

Then, picking up one of Ceraph’s finely crafted swords, all which apparently remained of the warrior, the two damp, somewhat distraught halflings made haste to the north.

We resume with the Hobbits trotting back to the farmhouse at dusk as Feng has just crouched opposite the small fire from the giantess as she gnaws the last greasy morsels of meat from the bones of the rabbits she hunted and cooked through the late afternoon.

Disappearances and Dragon Hunting

Feng tried to heal Tomwise's scorched ruins of a hand and left him fainted with a scarred stump. Geffin gathered and went through the bearded man's belongings and the party decided to stay the night in the farmhouse. In the morning, Gyanne killed the Bearded man while Geffin slept, dreaming of the Mercuric order.

Geffin awoke and made breakfast which he offered the dead bearded man as Feng explained to him the man was perished.

Gyanne took the bearded man's bracers and the party buried the corpse before marching south to search for Ceraph.

After searching for Ceraph and Feng surmising the he'd become one with the earth, Geffin climbed a tree to look for sign of the dragon.

After some looking out while discussions about taking Tomwise back to the shire occur, the dragon is spotted over the lake, then burning a boat.

The party marched hard to the east back to Cormire, where they purchased an inn and entertainment for Tomwise and passage back to the Shire and they purchased themselves a cart and a horse to pull it, then continued on out the south gate where they met up with Feng who avoided breaching the city walls. while in the city, Gyanne was approached by a man who introduced himself as Piers Shaden of the Mercuric Order and he mentioned to the giantess that they hoped to study her unique abilities. She couldn't be bothered.

The party then road along the south shore of the lake until encountering a wagoneer escorting three plague victims from Serenton, where he reported that a third of the city was under quarantine. After some debate, Feng dazed the man and attempted to cure disease on the three victims before sending him on his way to Cormire. The man said he was to deliver the plague-bearers to the Mercuric Order to be studied.

The following night as the three intrepid dragon hunters sat around the campfire, Gyanne had a sense that something bad was about to happen. No sooner had they kicked dirt over the flames, thrown Feng's glowing hat beneath a bedroll, and scurried near the trees before a Dragon landed in their campsite.

Dragon you say? No pets allowed.

One day out from Cormire, the party is visited at the tail end of their campfire by a most unsuspected guest. The dragon converses briefly with the party. After smelling out Geffin, whom the beast could not see and trading half-challenges with Geyanne, Feng sends the two off to get firewood while he continues to parlay with the great serpent. He learned that the quarantine in Serenton is threatening the entire city and that the dragon is some sort of sentinel from the coast to the mountains, before it flew off to eat some deer it smelled on the breeze.

That night Geffin dreamt of the Mercuric order and the next day on the road, Feng fashioned himself a leash. They approached Cormire at dusk with Feng in wolf form riding leashed in the wagon.

Geffin dropped the giantess and wolf at the mighty library of Cormire then he proceeded on to the Prancing Pony or was it the Pretty Parrot Inn where he purchased a stall for the wagon and mare as well as two rooms for the night before sidling up next to one Stephon where he learned of the BloodGhost syndicate among many other tall tales.

After Gyanne got scolded by an assumed hot librarian about having pets in the library, she let Feng scamper back out of the library to settle his conscience while waiting beside a statue of a gryphon. She then proceeded to wander into the library and sit and began sharpening her knife. After noticing she had unintentionally relocated an old man, studying nearby she convinced him to help her do research on a fabled large white cat. She later learned that the old man was named Gregorian Periwinkle and was indeed a scholar in Cormire and was at least a hobbyist of the fantastic and mythical.

After Geffin picked up the giantess and wolf from the library, they went back to the inn where Geffin purchased some meat loaf to give Feng in the upstairs room while he introduced Geyanne to his new friend Stephon. Stephon was at the time meeting two hooded figures, whom Geffin and Geyanne later learned were known as Rathos and Taliki supposedly of the BloodGhost Syndicate.

Five sort of conversed about a job Stephon thought Geffin and his uber warrior giantess may be cut out for. Geffin took it to be the daring rescue of someone wrongly imprisoned against his/her will, but a decision was forthcoming as they had to consult their third party member.

After consulting with Feng, Geffin talked to the bar tender to get some character reference on Stephon, then in the morning the party met with Stephon alone in the inn and perhaps stumbled into accepting the job. Stephon left them with a pouch of 10 gold, a map, and the name Archibald Belvadere. Mr. Belvadere is the prisoner they are to rescue before the following morning when he's to be executed.

The party decided to disguise Feng and return to the library to see if they could identify anything from the map and gather more information. They paid for the inn another day and Geffin went shopping and came back to the inn to tailor Feng the outfit of a dandy before they set off for the great library of Cormire.

Under Their Noses

After some research in the library, Feng gathers that the map from Stephon doesn't appear to be directing them to the Cormire prison which resides near the south gate, but rather northward. He also surmises that the map is of sewer tunnels. He also spends some time finding out what he can about Gyanne's fabled Onza.

The party finds one of the two mapped grates, behind a church and Feng uses his foggy recollection of magic to unlock the inhibiting padlock, much to Geffin's amazement. After a quick look beneath it is decided that Geffin will traverse the sewage alone, paying close attention to being sneaky, while Feng and Gyanne will attempt to target an above-ground locale matching the map.

After a couple of hours in the tunnels, using Feng's glowing hat as a shield of light, peering and listening at every opportunity, Geffin found a grate into what he assumed to be Terg's Saloon, where one lady of the night named Roxy would be plying her trade and where a patron named Brad was being quite rude to the serving girl. Meanwhile, Feng and Gyanne purchased some supplies. Geffin's curiosity getting the best of him has him sneak up into the bathroom of the establishment after slipping and falling into the mire and muck below. He then exited the saloon to serendipitously encounter Feng and Gyanne wandering down a side street

They all then entered the saloon and ate, while Geffin tried to acquire information from the local patrons and workers, including the oblivious cook, Schmeld, and the bartender, Tommy. Feng tries his hand at gambling with some local patrons and also attempts a subtle inquiry about a prisoner at the saloon before Gyanne goes into the bathroom and kicks in a locked door.

Behind the door, the party finds a meeting room, where Feng gathers some documents and Gyanne acquired a mace and mashed a bugbear bouncer, Sergei, over the head. They then continued into the storage cellar of the saloon where they found an iron reinforced door, which Feng again unlocked with his mind before combat ensued between another bugbear and Gyanne. In this room were three beds, a small table, an Archibald Belvidere, and a small dark cloaked man who tried to escape but was enthralled by the shape-changing mage before being broken in two by a giantess-wielded mace.