Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

April 14th, 2018

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Oathday, 28 Pharast

While the water elementals may have thwarted our idea of traipsing across the water without using the drawbridge, the image of Munasukaru was actually accomplishing its purpose.  We entered with the image, who imperiously started ordering hobgoblins around like a child might command a pet.

“Which of you idiots are in charge?” asked the image.  The hobgoblins shuffled and looked at each other nervously.  “Get inside and line up for inspection!” it croaked.

The hobgoblins hustled to do so, and Qatana (to their surprise and discomfort) performed the inspection, taking each morningstar and frowning as they were found subpar and handed to an assistant. She looked at the image and shook her head.  The image then yelled, “Get your idiot commander!” and one hobgoblin (happily?) ran off to do just that.

By this time all 8 of the MW morningstars [550] were lying in a pile on the floor.

Zos and Dasi started checking out other doors in the room.  One led to a foul smelling (and looking) room that had all the ambience you might expect from a latrine.  The door that the errand hobgoblin had left through led to some stairs.  Another one led to a largish storeroom with food and other mundane stores in it. (Hobgoblin food, it should be noted.)

The image ordered all the hobgoblins into the storeroom.  They seemed a bit more surly and suspicious by now, but there was little they could do about it, having given up their melee weapons.

It has been over 20 minutes since the messenger hobgoblin had departed, but now it seemed he had returned, because from outside the north door we heard a commanding voice say in hobgoblin “To arms!  Intruders!”  The commander, looking every bit the samurai, had returned, with the messenger and four others. The battle wasn’t too challenging, having disarmed two thirds of the combatants already.  Well, that wasn’t entirely true – they did have bows yet, and several decided to take shots at us with those.  But those in the other room were somewhat limited in what they could do, trying to hit us through the open door.  The samurai was also a magic user of some sort (we discovered as he shot a cone of cold at most of us and even some of his own). Meanwhile, Kali summoned a dinosaur to deal with the new arrivals.

That seemed like overkill, but it turns out to have been a great idea, because there was an inactive clay golem out near the stairs which sprang to action when the dinosaur started its work.  Although the dinosaur gave as good as it got, the golem laid it down surprisingly quickly – not a good sign.  Radella, Qatana, and I were working through the hobgoblins pretty hard, but they were proving a little more difficult to put down than we’d hoped.

Ivan had done his usual volley of arrows, but I think all of us were surprised when a circle of fire appeared around the samurai. At almost the same time, Qatana brought down a flame strike on the same target, and while the circle of fire hid the samurai from view, we could certainly hear his distress.  A distribution of holy smite by Ivan took the fight out of most of the enemy.  Zos’s giant reanimated constructs were, one by one, de-stressing the hobgoblins in the storage room.

It was about this time, with most hobgoblins down, that we realized the clay golem was still an issue.  When I’d hit it, I’d get the sense that I was not delivering full damage.  The clay seemed to absorb some of the blow, or something, which kind of makes sense if you think about it. And when it hit ME … that was not pleasant.  Then, with a single arrow that must have been dipped in golem poison or something – I mean, after all, I’m beating on it with Suishen which is no slouch (don’t get a big hilt over that Suishen) – and with a single arrow there’s an explosion of clay and the figure topples.

We discovered that wounds from golem resisted magic healing, unfortunately.   But between what was on the hobgoblins and the offerings surrounding the golem, we had

[551] MW Katana
[552] MW silver wakashazi
[553] MW composite long bow [+7 ST]
[554] MW tatami-do armor (large)
]555] lacquer box set with pearls (contains two doses opium)
[556] 12 potions of CMW
[557] 5 alchemical fire
[558] 12 flasks of oil
[559] potion of invisibility
[560] magical feather (forms a flapping fan to increase or decrease wind at sea)
[561] brooch of shielding [13pts]
[562] scroll of spike growth
[563] MW artisan tools
[564] pair of good locks, w/keys
[565] gold plated merchant scale
[566] 11 obsidians
97+91 gp
203 sp

We headed up the stairs, only to find four more hobgoblins manning some arrow slits.  They aren’t, anymore.

From there we went through a doorway and down a corridor only to find .. what appeared to be hobgoblin lepers.  Disgusting.  Zos’s hill giant constructs are immune to leprosy, so several of us flew over them while the giants struck them down.  Eventually a Kali-issued fireball helped secure (and sterilize) the area, with the giants mopping up details.

Beyond this room was an odd looking room.  The “floor” was a series of pipes or narrow supports in a regular pattern, but they were several feet apart and beneath them was a pit with noxious gas and the occasional sound of grunting or bellowing.  Something was alive down there.  Somebody suggested a morgan, or a gorgon, or something.  I’d rather not find out for sure.  We took this opportunity to renew our dark vision and fly, for those who need them, but then 3 figures emerged from a north aperture and decided to taunt us, not knowing most of us could fly or air walk.  They were highly acrobatic and demonstrative, but swords, arrows, some magical chain of Qatana’s, and a little grease on the ground proved their undoing. One fell into the mists below, but from the others, we retrieved from their lifeless bodies:

[567] MW nunchaku
[568] potion of blur
[569] amulet of natural armor +1
[570] bracers of armor +2
[571] jeweled studs in their ears

Their skin seemed heavily tattooed.

We’ve paused to catch our breath and assess our next move. There are sounds of  .. pleasure? … coming from the south aperture which probably will be our first point of business.

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Pharast 28, 4713

Oathday, Pharast 28, 4713 mid day
Beneath the House of Withered Blossoms

Zos’ pair of giant golem-like things finally caught up with us just as the drawbridge to the castle clunked down before us. I say “castle”, but really it was pagoda like in shape — like a tottering shamble of an imitation of the House of Withered Blossoms above.

The giants shambled after us as we crossed the drawbridge and entered the fortress. Kali’s illusion of Munasukaru led the way into a large guard room where a troop of armed hobgoblins had assembled.

One of them stammered out in fear (and bewilderment), “We weren’t expecting you to arrive from this direction.”

“Shut up!” non-Munasukaru snarled, “Which of you idiots is in charge here?”

The hob-gobs looked sheepishly at one another, but nobody volunteered for the coveted position of flunky in command.

Non-Munasukaru growled, “Line up for inspection!”

They complied, and I walked over to the first guard as they lined up and pointed at his weapon. Pookie then demanded that he hand over his morningstar for inspection. Pookie doesn’t speak hobgoblin, but then neither do I, and so her command came out as an angry, “Squeak!”

He just stared at us.

“Insubordination!” Star angrily squeaked, as I grabbed the morningstar and moved to the next soldier. “Squeak!” This one had already caught on and immediately handed me his weapon. And so it went on down the line until I had the complete set.

Pookie was especially pleased with herself, but Huffy only shook his head and wondered, “Why do they submit so easily?”

This was a good question. No doubt these hobgoblins were just as evil as any we had seen, and would sell their own mothers if their was profit in it. But these guards were so terrified that they were effectively slaves. I doubt they cared two goblin turds about Munasukaru and her desires, and they’ve obviously had plenty of chances to escape — hell they are sent out on foraging trips. And still here they are, shivering in their boots and pissing themselves any time Kali had her image so much as look in their direction.

550 12 morning stars

I peaked out the open doorway behind our line of cowed hob-gobs onto a large open area that smelled truly awful. It was the refuse pit and latrine for the fortress.

Dasi and Zos discovered a store room behind a door, and non-Munasukaru ordered all of the guards save one into the room to await further orders. She sent the special chosen one out to bring back his superior.

While he was away we decided to bring out the hobgoblins one at a time and quickly dispatch each to whatever afterlife awaited them. But after the first victim came out we heard the sound of feet running our way from a chamber to the east, and a voice called out, “To arms! Intruders!”

The hobgoblin before me looked at me in surprise, and I looked at him, and after giving a final “Squeak!” I clobbered him with my flail. He did not survive for much longer.

At about that time a blast of frigid air engulfed many of us, alerting us to the presence of an enemy spell caster. Several hobgoblins swarmed in from the east, and looking through the doorway I spotted someone dressed like a samurai, but acting very much like a mage.

Soon combat was fully engaged, and those hob-gobs Zos’ giants did not pulverize were quickly slain by the rest of us. But the samurai met his end much sooner than his hapless followers. Ivan quickly placed a ring of fire around him just before I called a Flamestrike down upon him.

Kali summoned an awesome dinosaur to run around thrashing foes in the chamber next to us, but as it appeared a large statue sprang to life and beat it to death. Let me repeat that: it beat a large dinosaur to death in mere moments.

The giants moved over to the storage room doorway and took turns turning the hobgoblins that came out into pate’.

Soon everything was dead except the statue thing, which someone said was a flesh golem. And it was nasty. Wounds it created would not heal right, and it took a lot of concentration and effort to keep the fighters engaging with it from dropping.

Eventually the battle was over over. I tried to heal the giants with Make Whole as you would mend any golem-like construct. But it turned out they were more like creatures than things, and regular energy channels healed them just as it did the rest of us. Hmm, interesting.

We looted through the bodies for items of interest.

551 master work katana
552 master work silver wakizashi (short sword)
553 master work composite longbow [+9 STR] (and 20 arrows)
554 master work tatami-do armor (large: given to one of the giants)
555 lacquer box set with pearls
556 12 potions of Cure Moderate Wounds
557 5 alchemist fire
558 12 flasks of oil
559 potion of invisibility
560 fan feather token: forms a huge flapping fan to increase or decrease wind at sea
561 broach of shielding [13 hp]
562 scroll of Spike Growth
563 master work tools for crafting armor
564 good quality locks with keys
565 gold plated merchant’s scales
566 11 obsidians
188 gp (97 + 91)
203 sp

A set of stairs led up from the ante-chamber to a large room manned by four hobgoblins stationed near arrow slits looking out. We charged them and they died soon after.

The walls in this room were painted with scenes depicting people being tortured.

Seriously, with reminders like this I find it impossible to feel sorry for the way we’ve been slaughtering the inhabitants down here.

We used six charges from the wand of Cure Light Wounds to put everybody back into the peak of health before the giants opened the large double doors leading further into the fortress.

The room was filled with… hobgoblin lepers. They moaned and made menacing gestures at us as they slowly crawled in our direction. We simply flew over them and Kali put them out of their misery with a Fireball.

We next encountered a long wide hallway with a towering arched ceiling overhead, and open archways along the walls. A pair of closed doors was at the far end and massive pit in the floor blocked the way. Thick bars criss-crossed across the lip of the pit, widely spaced as if whatever the bars were holding in was monstrous in size. From below we could hear something large and menacing moving about and making deep throaty sounds.

While we were looking at the pit a trio of hobgoblins came out from the archway to the north, and they gracefully danced across the bars and made threatening gestures at us.

“How depressingly stupid,” said Timber.

We flew up and out of their reach. I used a Chain of Perdition to knock one of them from the bars, while arrows peppered another. The third tried to flee through the doors on the far side, but I sent the chain his way tripping him, and arrows finished him off.

Voices came out from the southern archway but they sounded distracted and unconcerned with what was going on in the hall.

We’ve taken a moment to plan our next course of action. Dealing with the voices to south seems like a priority, as well as investigating what lies to the north. After that the doors beckon.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Pharast 28, 4713

Pharast 28, 4713 (mid morning, beneath the House of Withered Blossoms)

I think I overplayed my hand. In fact, I am pretty sure I did and now I’m concerned that I’ve done the exact thing we were trying to avoid: spread the alarm ahead of us as we go. My intent was to avoid the long slog through this cavern—having to fight our way through ambush after ambush on their terms—to reach the end by having the end come to us, instead. That part certainly worked, but the commander of the garrison here knew something was up when he came. And the whole thing just took too long, so we more or less knew that he knew. But how did he know? That’s the question that has me worried.

Maybe Munasukaru never actually comes up here. That’s certainly possible. No matter how good my illusion, no matter how clear my memories of her, none of it would matter if it was just all wrong on that basic level. It goes back to what Ameiko and Sandru have tried to teach me about bluffing and disguise: the details matter, yes, but you have to get the broad strokes right first. My game with the hobgoblins was fun, and they were certainly too terrified to think too much about what was going on, but their commander may have known better because it just doesn’t happen. Or at least, not in that way, or without his knowledge.

That’s the more benign theory, and to be honest, I don’t give it much weight. The more problematic one—the one that I think is more likely—is that they sent a messenger further…in? down?…wherever, in order to find out if she was really here. Or maybe they sent to her or someone close to her using magic, and learned that, no, she’s exactly where she should be and who is crazy and/or foolish enough to try and imitate her? (A rhetorical question when I ask it, though maybe more of a head-scratcher for them.) In which case, now several people are aware that something is going on, even if they don’t know precisely what that is.

If we’re lucky, they’ll blame the trickery on Akinosa. Though I am not feeling particularly lucky.

But, hey, at least we avoided the slog. Or, part of it, anyway. And, as a bonus, we ended up springing a trap without having to be there for it. So there is that. But, I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve compromised our long-term success for short-term gains.

It was a pretty nasty trap, though. Or would have been, had it come as the surprise that was intended. We learned a little about constructs back at the academy and I’ve picked up some here and there in my own studies, but this was the first time we’ve come face to face with one. They are largely resistant to magic and even physical blows which is probably why they are so coveted as guardians. These clay ones, though, are particularly nasty because the injuries they inflict simply do not heal, resisting even magical intervention (something we learned through personal experience). Imagine having to fight our way through waves of hobgoblins after tangling with that.

(late morning)

While the others searched the store room I took the time to memorize a couple of spells. That seemed more productive than digging through rusty tools, junk-drawer supplies, moldy vegetables and racks of cured mystery meats. Gods, this place is disgusting. It’s like an estate sale for someone who died while I was still living at home.

I remember when I first came here. It was a long time ago. Long before I was born. It wasn’t the hobgoblins but the aranea. There were so many of them back then, more than we normally see around the forest, and they wanted to know why (I don’t remember who “they” were. Give me a break; it’s been half a century.) I stumbled onto the House, only I didn’t know it had a name back then. It was just this improbable pagoda rising out of a depression in the forest.

It looked a lot different. The aranea hadn’t gutted it, and of course we hadn’t burned what was left. Now it’s just a chimney, but when I first saw it? It was beautiful. The pit was there, though. It looked different, too. This was before the front lines of this stupid war were really drawn. I made my way down because I was curious.

Because Yuka was curious, and because it didn’t make any sense. She made her way down and she was captured by the hobgoblins, and eventually brought before Munasukaru.

I don’t remember how long I was down here. How long she was down here. But I She remembers being tortured and killed, personally, by Munasukaru. And no one should have to remember that. I shouldn’t have to remember that. It wasn’t even me, but she remembers, and so I remember.

(later still)

This part of the … whatever this is … is as an even bigger joke than the cavern above. One of the lines of defenses was, of all things, a leper colony. Really? That’s one of your tactics? You’re going to defend this place with a bunch of sickly hobgoblins by transmitting a disease with a one month incubation period? Exactly how does that work? We start the battle, then come back in three to four weeks?

Also, news headline for you: we can fly.

It was so easy that I almost felt guilty. Almost.

Next up was this ridiculous open pit, criss-crossed with bars with mist or fog rising up from below. We were trying to figure out what it was when three hobgoblins stepped out onto the bars and started threatening and taunting us. Something about this scene triggered Yuka’s memories, and I realized I was looking at a sort of bizarre dojo.

Here’s what I’ve learned about taunting your opponent: don’t. Just don’t. Not before the battle’s over, anyway. It may feel good at the time, but it doesn’t really accomplish anything and it’s always possible that they know something you don’t. And then you look stupid. And then you die, looking stupid.

Here’s the thing: We. Can. Fly. Do not taunt your opponents while balancing on metal bars above a steaming pit if they can fly and you can’t. Why do I even need to explain this?

And even if we couldn’t fly, we are quite deadly even from a distance. We knocked two of them to their deaths without breaking a sweat. We never even got close to them. We didn’t have to!

I have to wonder what went through their minds as they fell into the pit. Was it regret, maybe? That feeling you’ve wasted your life training for exactly the wrong moment? Or maybe it was just the sinking sensation in your stomach, when the realization dawns that you were fighting the wrong battle?

Or maybe it was just abject terror. The sounds from below…the noxious, billowing mist…we think it may be a gorgon down there. I wouldn’t want to fall on one of those, either.

(even later still)

We can hear sounds of … well … an intimate moment through one of the arches off the pit. I picked up just enough to make out the words, “I thought I heard something on the lattice,” but another voice said to ignore it, and then they, um, resumed their thing.

Or at least, that’s what it sounds like. It’s a lot louder than…never mind. I guess this explains why they didn’t hear us earlier.

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s Journal for April ( Pharast 28)

I’m not normally a big fan of summon monster but in this case it triggered the Clay golem. This was not Kali’s intended use for this monster but it did find the trap. It’s the kind of thing I had wanted to do with skeletons but Qatana’s lectures on how she was taught that the animation processes effects the souls of the dead made me realize that normal people just aren’t going to be understanding of someone who creates skeletons. I should probably stop bringing up the subject with her but time to time seeing that determination in her eyes on something not Groetus is refreshing. Activating the golem with the summoned monster may or may not have been a good item, in this case it worked out I guess.

The gods must agree with my thoughts on summon monster as they have never seen fit to grant me any level of summon monster. It’s kind of a flashy spell that does not last very long and is a little boring, except maybe the fire elements.

The illusion of the Munatsukaru worked better than I expected, I guess you can’t under estimate fear. Qatana and Olmas unarming the hobgoblins was quick thinking that made the battle easier. I really enjoyed the look of panic on their faces as Qatana pulled the morningstars out of their hands. We were lucky that sending a hobgoblin to get there leader did not back fire. Things might has been different if we actually been hit with the full might of those between us and Munatsukaru. I don’t like the Oni and I am glad to see that my longbow also does not like Oni.  My aim was true and I seemed to have gotten to get the attention of the Oni as he seemed to do that challenge that Olmas does. In the heat of the moment surrounding him with fire seemed like a good idea. It was quickly apparent that this was a mistake and it put us at a disadvantage. In my haste I had blocked off the others from getting to him and we couldn’t even tell if he was still inside the wall of fire.  This forced me to dispel the wall to provide access for Olmas and Radella, luckily he was dead but I have to remember not to do this in the future unless there are not any other good choices. We are much better when everyone can use their abilities to defeat our opponents.

The hits from clay golems don’t heal correctly. Qatana found it very difficult using healing magic and so I had to try. My healing worked just fine on Radella but not on Olmas. Dasi or was it Kali that said that the damage from clay golems resists magical healing. I may have just been lucky that the spell even worked on one of them. Oh well it was worth using these low level spells on trying to get Olmas and Radella back to full health. It’s also really a good thing they didn’t take even more damage from the clay golem.

Kali requested another one of her breaks to memorize spells. I still can’t figure out how she can cast spells by just reading a book, it just seems so foreign to me. I know she must have spent months or even years learning how to do it but it almost seems impossible. I can’t imagine how long it took to cast even the simplest of spells.  I can only imagine that the same is true for Zosimus as well. There is absolutely no way I could ever be a wizard or alchemist, I think that would be way too hard for me.  She spends a lot of time with that book, it seems like a big commitment her having to write down each spell. I have to wonder who first figured out how to be a wizard. Someone must have figured how to use a spellbook and then taught it to others or maybe it was the gods who taught people how to be wizards.

That reminds me. I have been having the strangest dreams lately or was it just one dream across many nights?  Maybe I am only remembering parts of the dream each night. In all of the dreams or versions of the dream we were fight the Oni down here but it seems like the order is all mixed up. I have been trying to put them in order or understand them but nothing makes since. Maybe they are just separate dreams. In most of the dreams the Oni enhances herself to make it very difficult to hit her with weapons or magic. The Oni seems to be able to move at odd times such as moving at the same time Kali was casting a spell.  In at least one version she gets help fighting the group from Olmas and Zosimus, It was almost like they didn’t know who we were. Other versions had different people helping her. In one of the versions I think I was helping her but to me I was fighting the Oni, I remember Redella knocking me silly. It was only when Redella did not kill me that I was able to see the truth. I remember that in a couple of the versions Redella and I were trapped in one of Kali’s tentacle spell and in the dream I did something to allow her to move freely. Again Redella punched me and threw me from the tentacles before heading to knock Kali silly. I am not sure that I want a spell that compels Radella to punch me, that kind of spell just doesn’t sound very useful. Maybe the gods are trying to warn me that Radella is looking for an excuse to punch me. No that can’t be it, I choose to believe that Redella would just hit me if she thought I deserved it.

Fear and complacency have been our greatest ally thus far today. Hobgoblins staying at their post and assuming that they were protected was their last mistake. Redella was first to kill her hobgoblin but to be fair she started and got help from Kali who looked as if she wanted to kill on her own. When it comes down to it Olmas had to run across the room and didn’t have help. I think Olmas’s kill was the most impressive of the three, but they were just hobgoblins. This structure looks as if it has been here for many years. I am also surprised that we are going back up. For some reason I had thought that we would be going down into a big pit.