==Roll Call==
Childe Raymond, Githyanki Paladin (Doty)
Bell, Kenku Cleric (CJ)
Blynce, Human-hybrid Fighter (Eric)
Vaal, Eladrin Rogue (Tim)
Bumi, Goblin Sorcerer (Matt)
Morgid, Hobgoblin Guide (NPC)
To the Sanctuary of Albahith, Jigow Township
Greetings to the Masters of the Pilgrims, and hail to The Luxon:
Mission Report from Childe Raymonde (Part 5)
We had rested on the back of the Mossback Steward (a giant tortoise, big enough to build a small town on), and prepared for the coming battle.
We asked the tortoise to divine a secret entrance to the outpost. The answer was vague but pretty negative-sounding.
We took a short trek back to the scene of the battle against the Imperial guards, thinking to take enough of their uniforms and equipments to create a disguise or two.
Sneaking back to the outpost, we saw nobody? No guards in the towers, no guards in the gate, which stood open. The storm -- the atmospheric disturbance we saw over the place before -- was gone. What had happened? Were we too late to save Bolbarra?
Vaal, figuring "well, they left the door open" walked right in, the rest of us behind him. We found eight guards … dead. Blync confirmed their dead-ness by shooting one with his bow.
We saw four iron-barred cages, one of which had an occupant. Bumi investigated, while Blync looked inside a large tent. We found two more dead Imperial guards.
Inside the cage: a bruised, semi-catatonic Human, muttering to himself. I healed him and he became lucid. He was startled and suspicious, and I tried to allay his fears, telling him that we were friendly and our intent was to release him from captivity. Bell realized from his gray skin and pale eyes that this man was a "Hollow One" -- a necromantically-resurrected corpse, quasi-undead. Bell took a step back, startled, and told us what he was. Vaal took the news in stride and advocated a tolerant attitude. I did not know what to think!
The "Hollow One" again questioned who we were, and I again proclaimed our good intentions, advising him to take the opportunity to exit his cage. Vaal asked him, "What happened here?" "They're all dead," he replied. A goblin spell-caster killed them all, making them fight one another. They had tortured her for days (as they did himself). At the end of the third day, screams were heard again, but they were not her voice. The goblin lady emerged from the keep, where the torture chamber was, and the slaughter began. All the guards fought each other, and the goblin lady joined in the killing. When all were dead, she simply walked out the gate. (He also mentioned that the lead torturer's name was "Pelanos.") This all happened last night.
Bumi found a black-bladed scimitar -- the "Hollow One" claimed it was his, with sincerity in his voice. Bumi after much delay and poor attitude gave it to him.
Investigating some more, a guard was found that appears to have died of a heart attack or something similar. We also found the quartermaster's supply room and an armory. We found in one tent something looking like a commander's office, complete with a map of the surrounding territories. There was a locked chest here, which had a poison needle trap that hurt Vaal, our rogue, but not seriously. The chest contained silver, a magnifying glass, a potion of mind reading, an ornate dagger, and a strange book about mutants.
We entered the main keep: in a small side chamber we found more bodies -- apparently officers, in what appeared to be a sanctuary or chapel. We expected to find a torture chamber from what the Hollow One said, but from the chains upon the altar, this room may have served that purpose. Vaal noted that the manacles were broken -- evidence of the escape of Bollbarra.
We began to track Bollbarra. A couple miles in the swamp, we ran across the Mossback Steward again. He questioned us about Bollbarra. He was quite distrait when we described the slaughter she presumably performed. The tortoise advised us to subdue her -- perhaps the "patron" would be convinced to let her go. Her further supposed that the "patron" would have been forced to serve her, and, having control of her, would seek revenge on the swamp town. He told us to go quickly!
We chased Bollbarra and ran across another Imperial patrol -- they were all dead, the same as the guards in the outpost. Bumi tried to understand the arcane power used for this -- it was an enchantment, some sort of confusion. It seemed unlikely we would be able to protect ourselves from the power.
We found a goblin female trudging through the swamp. Presumably, this was Bollbarra. Fortunately, we were able to catch up to her, since she was slowed by the deep sludge. We closed in on her. Her normally red goblin eyes were pure black -- she had an air of pure evil, and she looked upon us with what appeared to be a hungry glee? This did not bode well.
She gestured, and disappeared from sight! We attempted to track her by the splashes of her foot-falls. With my paladin senses, I could pinpoint her location, but I kept that information to myself, so as not to alert her that she had been discovered.
Blync did figure out where she was independently, by spotting the splashing of her feet, and fired his bow ineffectively. Vaal closed on her location and attacked to subdue. She became visible and attempted an enchantment. I shrugged it off. The fight continued, and her next enchantment did befuddle me for a short while. Bumi knocked her cold; Vaal made sure she didn't drown in the mire.
We heard in our minds a primal scream of rage -- pure fury. We get the feeling we made an enemy today. We could barely detect something like a black mist rising away from her. Her eyes regained their normal appearance. Regaining consciousness, she expressed contrition at her deeds. She confirmed that it was her "patron" that was controlling her. She asked us to return her to the swamp village.
We took her back to Buffall the 2nd, mayor of the town, who was overjoyed. We were paid 250gp each!
For our next task, we were asked to go to Jigow, escorting Morgid, who is delivering intelligence to the Aurora Watch. Again, 250gp each was to be our payment. We should be there in time for the Festival of Merit!
[We advance to 3rd level!]