Ididerac's Citadel Cont'd. (Session 13) - Emmanir 24, 888 F.S.

Ididerac’s citadel
Sophia and Tiamut show up out of nowhere, fresh as a daisy. While we discuss our options at this point, four goblins come running down the stairs toward us. Sophia skewers one of them. Ididerac and the ogre are behind them, also coming down the stairs. One of the goblins opens a door in the bailey; two seconds later, a large white snake slithers into the bailey with us (nice). More combat ensues. Estenel hangs onto consciousness by a thread, due in no small part to Sophia’s valiant efforts of throwing herself in harm’s way. A series of critical successes by the party and critical failures by the bad guys swings the combat in our favor. Ididerac is killed; the goblins are slain. The man who, earlier in the combat, ran off to inform Ididerac and his thugs of our presence, is now also dead.

Now that all foes (except for the mage, which is still missing) are dead or unconscious, the party begins to search the citadel for the mage. Yukon draws some pretty pictures in the dirt and Sophia is now able to see invisible objects. Estenel, being completely spent, retires to the kitchen and starts rummaging for ale.

We ransack the citadel. Noteworthy items that were found:

• Written military orders that command Lord Higgins to head south.


• Paperwork that describes how to activate the ice/snow stones. (One of these stones was used by Degarn to create the blizzard in the area around his keep. It was the stone that was in the statue next to the shocky sword.)


• A message from Lady Deepweather Cardia: the final shipment of stones from the ice palace are en route to Ididerac’s citadel. “The forge” is now up and running and pumping out more of them. Meet with Frosttouch Jorval if they need more stones. (There are also 12 of these ice stones in the package.)


• 4000 silver pieces


• Several Odoru (reindeer). We now have transportation.

After a bit, the ogre wakes up and wants to know if he is free to go. He’s basically a hired thug, commanding a detachment of wolfen, and is/was in the employ of Ididerac. He informs us that the mage that took flight is Frosttouch Jorval. We now have an idea that Lady Deepweather is most likely a cardinal within the Ice Queen’s clerical hierarchy.

Estenel mind-searches the unconscious female mage. He finds out that:

• Her name is Romfinia; she is from Zoohoodu Island. The port on Hronn that she uses to get to and from Zoohoodu is Fopasado.


• She is in the employ of the Ice Queen; her superior is Frosttouch Garrin (formerly Stormbrother Garrin).


• She has come here to deliver a seal to Ididerac. The seal holds a demon which was destroyed (the seal, that is; not the demon) in the basement of this citadel. Sophia and Flick head into the basement and confirm this, observing broken pottery that contains runes. Several of the pieces of this seal are gathered up and taken with us.


• The demon that will be released by the breaking of these seals is named Costuhshee (this jives with the name that we gleaned from the blue bald guy back when we were trying to find the temple that ended up having demon dogs in it).


• The demon is not here yet, but will be after all seals are broken. There are 13 seals in total; four of them have been broken so far; the other nine have not been located yet.


• Two minions of the Ice Queen (Frosttouch Jorval and Frosttouch Garrin) are researching the location of the remaining seals.


• Jorval is the mage that we encountered in Ididerac’s citadel, fried Sir Dapifir, then tucked tail and skeedaddled before we finished the fight with Ididerac.


• Garrin is on Zoohoodu Island. That is the home of Jorval as well.


• The more seals that are broken, the stronger the demon gets.


• There is no time limit from when the first seal is broken to when the last seal is broken with regards to allowing or denying the demon access to this plane.


• If and when the demon is released, he will appear on this world at a location named Careethay.


• Romfinia does not know where the other seals are, and does not know if anyone else knows for sure yet where they are.


• The Ice Queen is locating and delivering the seals to the Ice Coven (read: “snowflakes”) in exchange for “pleasantries”.


• Breaking of the seals requires a ritual. The snowflakes know this ritual; it does not require anything special... just do the ritual. Anybody who knows this ritual can properly break the seals.


• The seals are 1-foot diameter disks with runes inscribed on them. All seals are made of the same material.


• The seals are believed to be Sidhe artifacts.


• Ididerac sent his troops south to engage Lord Futanmoth’s garrison.

Lake of Orb
We allow the ogre to go free. We then leave Ididerac’s citadel, taking the Odoru with us as well as a small non-descript item from the unconscious female mage so that we can track her later. The party heads to the Lake of Orb to discuss recent events with the water sprite, Gidnia. The information we give her confirms her suspicions. She gives Estenel a grand gift: Elidil. This is a sword which, when drawn, continually drips holy water along its blade.

Gidnia introduces us to a friend of hers, Jolin, who accompanies the party as we head back to Schnorking.

Ididerac's Citadel (Session 12) - Emmanir 20, 888 F.S.

Heading north to Ididerac’s citadel
It’s a three-day travel to the citadel. On the second day, it begins to snow. Estenel contacts Gidnia to confirm that Emirin’s message is legitimate (it is). She instructs us to stop by her lake after we’re done at the citadel. About a half-day’s travel from the citadel, it is snowing so hard that visibility is cut to 20 feet.


Ididerac’s citadel
We make our way to the door of the keep. There are two guards flanking the door to the keep. Eminir sneaks up and waylays one of the guards. Flick arrows the other guard. One of the guards knocks on the door. Moments later, both guards are unconscious or dead. A few seconds later, the door opens. Flick skewers the man opening the door, who then screams, but no sound is made as Estenel silences the area.

We make our way into the outer baily. There are three men inside, including Ididerac. Melee begins. We engage two men-at-arms and Ididerac. A couple rounds into the fight, a curtain opens on the second floor overlooking the bailey and two crossbowmen take shots at us. A few rounds after that, two minotaurs jump down from the upper floor, knocking Ecran and Taverius to the floor. More combat. A few seconds later, a woman appears, and commands Taverius to drop his weapon. We then notice that there is a man pulling ropes to open up the curtain above us, and that the man is the messenger from Laendersberg that was travelling with us and Lady Laenders back to Laendersberg when we got ambushed. He was the one who ran off during that ambush. Cheeky bastard.

More combat. Dapifir chops down one minotaur. The balcony overlooking the bailey now has six men standing upon it; three in the front row who are throwing spears and three in the second row who are handing more spears to the front row. Taverius knocks out Ididerac. Yukon keeps one of the minotaurs incapacitated by chain-stunning him. Estenel gets into a pinch in melee. Emirin attempts to intervene and inadvertently impales himself on the foe's spear. Taverius guts the woman who had commanded him earlier, knocking her out.

Flick makes his way up the stairs to where the goblins retreated and finds the “real” Ididerac upstairs (the one we thought we knocked out was an imposter). He is upstairs with a mage, an ogre, and three goblins.

We muck around in the bailey, determining what to do next and awakening Ecran and Taverius, when the mage in the upper floor comes out to the balcony and throws a lightning bolt at Dapifer, who dies on the spot. At that point, we hear feet running down the stairs.

Goblin Fever (Session 7) - Sehnir 18, 888 F.S.

Heading Back to Degarn’s Keep
We tie up three of the wolfen and head back to Degarn’s Keep. It’s a four-day trek back to the keep. We rest for the night and set up a rotating watch. Not much to report. The next day, as the party continues its journey back to the keep, a body lying in the road is spotted. Sophia flies ahead to inspect the body. It is human; blond hair. Sophia espies tracks heading west (the way we’re going) that consist of booted feet and heavy wagon tracks. The person on the ground is a woman. She is unconscious, but alive. She has no shoes on, and not much for heavy clothing. Sophia holds on to her as they ride the mule. Four hours later, she wakes up, starts to thrash around due to confusion, and she and Sophia fall from the mule. The woman gets hit on the head when falling, knocks herself out, and is unconscious for the rest of the day. We camp for the night.

During the night, she wakes up. Estenel gets her settled down. Her name is Gidnia. She says that she is from the village of Orb and says that men wearing blue and black kidnapped her. She says that they said something to the effect of “I thought they only wanted elves.” to which another thug replied, “Well, she’s close enough, don’t you think?”

The party decides to send the wolfen to Degarn’s Keep with the footmen. The rest of the party heads with Gidnia back to her home village of Orb. Estenel sets up a telepathy schedule with Ecran so that the two parties can keep in communication with each other.

Estenel’s ping to Ecran the next day: Ecran says that Tevarius and Gilman are not feeling very good and that they are stopping their travel for a bit to rest.

On the Road to Orb
Gidnia’s health worsens. She remains unconscious for the next day and her breathing is beginning to get shallow. We arrive at a small lake. It is at the location that Gidnia pointed to on the map as being where Orb is located. At this point, we are unsure to what “Orb” refers. We had assumed it is the name of a town. But, it might be the name of (in this case) a lake. Flick pours some water on her and feeds her some water. Both appear to help her condition a bit. She wakes up briefly and utters: “Put me in.” Figuring that this means “put me in the lake”, Estenel lowers Gidnia into the lake. She sinks. Sophia enters the lake and holds Gidnia up in the water. The frigid water doesn’t seem to bother Sophia. Flick finds some firewood and builds a fire.

At the Lake of Orb
Sophia continues to hold Gidnia in the water for twelve hours. Gidnia then wakes up. She thanks us for saving her life. She says that she was absconded from her laboratory. She leads us to her lab. She swims along the edge of the lake. She takes us to a path that leads to a grove of trees where there are smashed benches and containers. Gidnia is a alchemist. She has a few potions and elixirs still intact that she gives to us in payment for saving her life. Gidnia, as it turns out, is a water sprite.

Pinging Ecran, he describes the symptoms of some of the men-at-arms that have shown signs of not feeling well. They have chills and are experiencing a loss of memory. Estenel relays that information to Gidnia, who says that the men need to get magical healing right away. The symptoms are that of Goblin Fever, which is lethal to humans. The party tries to devise a way to get magical healing to the men-at-arms as quickly as possible. The plan is for Yukon to fly back to Degarn’s Keep and try to provide healing to the men-at-arms.

Gidnia tells us that there is a fort about half a day’s hike to the north of Orb: Fort Bex. She says that there is a changeling by the name of Captain xxxxx runs the fort. We talk to Gidnia about the sudden blast of wintry conditions that we experienced at Degarn’s Keep. She says that she’s heard of occurrences like that in the area recently.

Gidnia tells the party that there were other prisoners on the cart on which she was held captive. She says that she overheard the men saying that they were heading to Falkasado, which is four days’ travel to the east of Orb.

Sophia and Estenel stay with Gidnia for a day. Estenel beds Gidnia.

Flying to the Rescue
Yukon has Hawk Flight cast on him and he begins flying back toward the men-at-arms who are suffering from Goblin Fever. His plan is to fly until the spell wears off, then teleport the rest of the way. Yukon reaches the men-at-arms. He then attempts to heal them via rune magic. Yukon is able to heal all men-at-arms except for Flick’s sidekick.

Back to Degarn’s Keep
Flick heads back to Degarn’s Keep. Within a half-day away from the keep, the ground is covered with a foot of snow. In the keep, everyone is dead and body’s are hanging from the walls. Apparently, the Goblin Fever infected everyone within the keep, they went mad, and started killing everyone.

Reuniting the Party
Yukon, Flick, and the henchmen leave Degarn’s Keep and head back on the road to meet up with Estenel and Sophia. On the way, a small army of 50 wolfen led by a big bald red-moustached human head (Ididerac) are heading on the road toward Degarn’s Keep. Estenel has his weekly ping with Lord Futenmoth and fills him in with the recent happenings. The resolution is to burn Degarn’s Keep to the ground. The party rejoins on the road midway between Orb and Degarn’s Keep.

Back to Degarn’s Keep (again)
We head back to Degarn’s Keep. Ididerac and his wolfen are NOT there; the keep is empty. We burn it to the ground. The statue with the gem in its hand, however, is still standing. The snow around the keep melted due to the heat.

In Search of a Healer
After leaving the keep, we begin looking for a healer to be able to cure Goblin Fever from those that have contracted the disease. We head to Stahl. Gibbet enters town (since she is free of the disease) and announces that she’s looking for a healer to cure Goblin Fever. The people of Stahl run her out of town under pain of death, telling her to take her Goblin Fever with her.

We then to head to Schnorking and try to find a healer there. Gibbet talks with the leader of Schnorking (Ybilaron), informing him that she is free of Goblin Fever, but is in need of a healer to cure the party. By bribing Ybilaron (sleeping with him), a healer is provided. The healer meets the party with an armed escort of crossbowmen at his side who covers the party until the healer declares us clean. The healer then cures the entire party and then teaches Yukon the spell Cure Disease.

We then notice that the military of Schnorking is mobilizing. Estenel talks with Ybilaron to find out why. He says that Ididerac has sacked Stahl, Gurdikar, and Laendersberg. He says that Blackston and Fort Sakka have been notified, which are banding together with Schnorking to either launch a counter-offensive against Ididerac or mount a blocking maneuver against him.

The Rout of Degarn (Session 6) - Sehnir 14, 888 F.S.

Degarn’s Keep
We go back to Laendersberg and inform the Duke’s men about Degarn’s fortress. They agree that he must be neutralized. So, we head back to Degarn’s fortress with the Duke’s men and lay siege. On the second day of battle, the orcs of Degarn’s fortress surrender and allow the Duke’s men to occupy the castle. Huzzah!

Ragnak, Racker, Gorack, and Degarn all fled before the fortress was taken.

Estenel questions the remaining orcs if they know what caused the drop in temperature earlier. Flick instructs the orcs to take us to Degarn’s room, which they do. They take us past the center of the keep, where a statue of a large giant with a hammer is positioned. There is a large white gem in the side of the head of the hammer. The orcs said that the statue was not there two days ago. The gem in the hammer head is magical.

Scrounging through Degarn’s items: letter between Degarn and Ididerac (snowflake army). It discusses military issues. There is another and a piece of paper that is a letter between Stormbrother Garrin. The latter is an agreement that if they continue to wage war, that the Ice Queen will continue to supply the gems needed to continue the winterization of Hronn. We grab and orc and ask him about Ididerac and Garrin. He says Ididerac has been at the fortress. He’s a big human bald, bushy red moustached guy. The orc believes that Ididerac is an Ascommani. He further says that he’s the one that, five days ago, brought the gem that is in the hammer head of the giant. The orc says that Garrin also arrived with Ididerac five days ago. Garrin wears sky blue robes, and is also human, but probably not Ascommani.

We get a couple orcs to pull the white gem out of the hammer head. The orc reaches to pull out the gem. As soon as he touches it, the orc screams that it’s freezing cold. Ice shoots up his arm and freezes it solid. As the orc pulls back, his arm breaks off at the shoulder and falls to the ground and shatters.

Tracking Degarn north of the Fortress
We track Degarn to the north for 10 miles. The snow at this point has dissipated (i.e., no snow on the ground). We follow the tracks to a road. The tracks follow the road to the east. We follow the road. Ahead of us on the road, about 140 yards distant, we see about a dozen soldiers. The party gets off the road to seek whatever cover we can find. Estenel espies that they are snowflake soldiers. There is a camp near the soldiers with some horses. There is a guardhouse next to the road, where the snowflakes are posted. On the horizon, Sophia sees a keep. The soldiers guarding the road are bipedal dog-like creatures dressed in armor and snowflake heraldry. We advance up the road toward the guardpost with Flick and Yukon hiding off in the grass to the side of the road. The creatures espy us and six of them come out to meet us on horseback. They inform us that we are trespassing on Lord Ididerac’s lands and that we are not his slaves. We disagree with that assessment. They fire upon us and then charge. Combat ensues. In the end, we kill four of them, capture two more, and the other six blow a warning horn and head back to the keep. The guard shack is devoid of anything even remotely useful. We haul the two captured dogmen back to Degarn’s Keep to turn them over to the Duke’s men.