The Temple of the Three Faces Part I

Session 4

PCs

Talos Redwand, 4th level Conjurer

Kieren, 4th level Druid

Tysis, 3rd level Ranger (Justifier)

NPCs

Knobby Greenburrow, Halfling Cartographer

Thurin, man-at-arms

From the Journal of Knobby Greenburrow, Cartographer Extraordinare

Tenthmonth 20^th, 606AT

Bored today, looking for something to do. My pal Fudwick has gone south to Glynfloss to try their famous crabcakes and I’m all alone. Surrounded by farmers and that annoying priest whose name escapes me a the moment.

Four travelers came into the tavern today. I recognized them immediately. Three of them had been here several months before and were responsible for lifting the curse of the eternal winter from this village. Fudwick told me all about them. The fourth seemed to be a new companion – a ranger by the look of it – who had recently joined their band. They were asking questions about the monastery on Gwynned Hill. Apparently there are some magical scrolls in the monastery that they desire. I offered my services as a cartographer and geographical wiz, and they readily accepted me into their band. I can’t help but think things will be less boring for the next little while.

We visited the old priest Father Johann on Oak Hill and he gave us some valuable information about the goddess who the monks in the monastery used to worship. Some kind of goddess of fate by the sound of it. That old bat is a good story teller, even if his tea is a little bitter.

Tenthmonth 21^st, 606AT.

We made landing on the west side of the Vassvult River this morning. A kindly fisherman rowed us over and has agreed to pick us up again when our task is complete. We started our journey in a little clearing with a beautiful waterfall. A trail wound its way into the giant forest which covered the hill.

The going was rough; the trail was narrow and winding, and the hill rather steep. We had to stop several times just for the companions to rest. The wizard, Talos, who I took to calling Wheezy , seemed particularly ill-suited for such an arduous trip and was slowing us down. We were accosted by several ugly brutes with orange skin wielding swords as we rested, but made quick work of them.

After several hours of travel, we came upon a cave complex. I was particularly excited to see what lay within, but it turned out to be a small complex – home to some giant bats – which we easily bested. There was no treasure within the cave, which was a bit of a shame.

As the day wore on, we passed through a couple of clearings. In one we found some bushes with giant berries, which the ranger, who I took to calling Stabby, ate with gusto. Apparently the berries were magical and they served to ease some of our suffering. In another clearing we came across another band of the orange brutes, living in dirty tents and huts. They rushed at us en masse, obviously upset that we entered their territory. Wheezy used his magicks to entangle them in a web however, and they proved to be little more than a nuisance. Stabby took a shiny magical sword from their leader.

Hungry Ghoul

As night descended upon us, we were forced to rest yet again. Unfortunately, a couple of gray monsters with sharp teeth, long claws and pointy tongues surrounded us as we did so. The druid, who I took to calling Batty on account of the fact that his cloak magically transformed him into a bat, informed everyone that these monsters were undead creatures known as ghouls. The battle went sour quickly. Stabby and Shaky (our wide-eyed man-at-arms) were paralyzed within the first moments. Things did not look good for us. But Batty managed to call upon the forest itself to rise up and entangle the monsters and to drag Stabby into the cover of the trees while Wheezy and I helped drag Shaky along too.

Lucky for us we were close to a small clearing. When we entered, we saw a sweet old lady watering some flowers in front of her cottage. The ghouls did not pursue us into the clearing. Having heard a rumour at the tavern that a witch lived on the hill, we were naturally wary of the old woman. She called into the cottage and her younger sister emerged to greet us. They invited us in for tea. We were hesitant, but did not relish the thought of confronting the ghouls again, so we accepted.

The inside of their cottage was immense. Gold and silver trinkets lined the shelves and walls, but none of us dared touched any of them for fear the old ladies would turn us into toads and eat us. They explained to us that they were waiting for their eldest sister who had been tragically cursed. They told us she was dwelling in a place of black trees and stone and that only the purest waters of Danu could heal her of her sickness.

After healing our wounds the old ladies shuffled off into the deeper part of the cottage and we got a much needed rest.

Tenthmonth 22^nd, 606 AT

The old ladies struck us a bargain. They said we were welcome to rest and heal in their cottage whenever we wanted so long as we brought them the head of a nasty ogre chief who lived in the area. They also agreed to heal us of any wounds we suffered so long as they got to pick a magical treasure from the hoard we are no doubt likely to collect when we enter the monastery. We agreed on the stipulation that they only got the second pick of treasure.

After packing our bags and sharpening our weapons, we headed to the ogre’s home which the old ladies directed us towards. I tried picking the lock on the door several times, to no avail; so Stabby simply kicked it in. We found a couple of teenaged ogres beating each other about the head in the first room.

The battle was joined and several blows were traded. Unfortunately, Shaky was hammered into a pulp by one of the ogres and tossed across the room, where he lay dead. RIP Shaky.

Further on into the ogre’s lair we found the chieftan and his mate. They put up a terrible fight. Wheezy hit them with some blinding magic making it harder for them to hit us, but they still manage several vicious blows against our party. With skill and courage however, we prevailed. We found a chest with a bunch of gold and gems, cut off the ogre chieftan’s head and returned to the old ladies’ cottage to prove our deed done. They seemed pleased with our success.

Tomorrow we head off to the monastery which will no doubt test our abilities even more. I must say I’m looking forward to the adventure – it’s been far too long since I’ve had such fun.