From the Diary of Vin IceMark

Dearest Lavinia,

On our long journey to, and in my time here at Farshore, I have seen a great many things never I have seen before. As a follower of the Traveling God, I thirst truly, for these new things and I have enjoyed the many wonders and blessings this journey has shown us.

However, as is the way with any journey, many sad and troubling things are also laid out before us. Fharlanghn teaches us that in travel toward the horizon, all things will be revealed to us, and so my faith has spoken to me. I am inspired, nay, compelled to act.

It is the plight of the indigenous peoples of these lands which beckons me to act in some way. After the attack on Farshore and the destruction of the Crimson Fleet, I began searching for a way to put the resources deposited here by evil to use for good. I have pondered and searched for some benefit that I, a lowly Paladin, might be, but should have known that Fharlanghn would provide. Thus, I have proceeded down a path laid out to me in a dream and I believe it will be most helpful in the long term prosperity of the Olman peoples, the Sasserine colonies, and even the native tribes such as the Phanatons. I present this plan and the actions taken according to it as a gift to you, my Lavinia.

My dream laid it out thus. In the harbor, two remaining pirate ships lay wrecked. Discussions amongst our party members, left me with the firmest understanding that the party did not feel it appropriate to waste precious resources on the wrecks nor should the party tie itself to any mercantile activities in any way. This was seen as a distraction to our primary mission. I take this as a comfort that the party seems so single minded to continue in service of House Vanderboren. The eagerness and enthusiasm so strongly expressed by some of the more boisterous party members would give pause to any enemy of Farshore.

With it determined that the wrecks were not considered party property, I set about establishing the team with which the plan would be enacted. Gwendelyn and Z happily agreed to help. Z and the Olman wizard Miahuaxochitl have been training a small number of apprentices and of that small group, two were selected for our team. One for each ship, these apprentices have undergone training from Z in specific repair spells and shipboard combat magics. With these repair spells, and repair damage wands provided by Miahuaxochitl and Z, each of the ships have been refloated and returned to seaworthy condition. Gwendelyn, using the resources of Jeran Emrikad and Farshore records, has recreated a fine set of charts, logbooks and manifests for each ship.

Now with the ships in pristine condition, I turned to the Olman for the next part of the plan. Once I explained the ships purpose, the Olman were most enthusiastic about the venture. From the Olman comes crew, pilots and marine guard for each vessel. Admittedly, much of this crew lacks large ship experience, however arrangements for additional crew and permanent masters were made on our last trip to Sasserine.

The ships will be registered as property of the Order of the Islands Charity and will be based in one of the larger Olman ports. The ships have been painted in neutral colors, but will carry letters of mark and fly flags of House Vanderboren and Clan IceMark. They each will also carry letters of protection from the Gnomish House Andantino, and the Temple of Fharlanghn. In addition, each also carry open contracts from the Bards' guild as couriers.

The purpose of all this is simply to aid the Olman. This will give the Olman a market for their goods, mostly raw materials, and will provide needed income to boost the conditions of the villages contributing the resources. The Olman will organize the cargo's and distribute the returning resources as they see fit. Gwendelyn and Z will visit occasionally to verify cargo and goods are moving as we hope. All funds will be used to advance the indigenous Olman peoples of this region.

The ships bear new names too, my Lavinia. Long may the Paladins Faith and Lavinia's Grace ply the seas. May their crews sail them confidently, defend them vigorously and may Fharlanghn guide them to the horizon and back safely to the comfort of their families.

Your humble and devoted servant
Vin IceMark
Paladin in Fharlanghns service

XP Standings

Nesta, Rudolpho, Vin, and Z have advanced.

12th level: Nesta, Rudolpho, Vin, Z

11th level: Gwendlyn, Hjalmgedr, Daria, Ortho

10th level: Chiri, Medea, Druugen, Spanky, Newt

The first two e-mails congratulating me on finishing chatching up OGGoO get 500 XP, for being such loyal readers.

Current PC sheets, neat and updated, in either electronic or paper format, delivered by Friday 12:00am (that's midnight, Thursday night) are worth 1000 XP.

Updated diaries, party inventory, stories, buildings, character sketches are worth the usual bounty, 50 XP times level.

Pop Goes the Ortho

Exploring the pool where Ulioth emerged, the party discovers a hidden underground cavern. Strange black, oily pools emit a foul stench into the caves atmosphere. Dark pearl-like spheres float atop the inky liquid, tended by a bizarre creature. A singled-eyed squid head atop a long enormous centipede body.

The Bilewretch of Holashner opens spewing forth a black acidic liquid that bursts into flame as it travels through the air. Rudy and Vin get a full dose of burning goo. The bilewretch moves quickly and the party has a hard time finding its ground against the subterranean menace. On the ceiling a few of the party members finally defeat the monster, and it falls into a pool of the black liquid.

Having learned a small bit of caution from his prior experiences with artifacts from elder evils, Ruddy gets a bit of protection from Gerdy and jumps into the pool to pursue any treasure the beast was concealing. But after an exhaustive search, there is nothing found. The head of the beast is severed and the party returns to the top of the ziggurat.

Again the top of the ziggurat is heavily defended. The party, for the first time, passes through the mind control attempts untouched. Invisible nagas, and troglodyte grunts aid the kopru in the defense of their temple. Ruddy wrestles a behemoth kopru again, and is accused of sandbagging in combat. Ortho teters on the edge, and launches a ground-zero lighting ball and takes one for the team. Daria in rare form, is unstoppable, killing and maiming everything in her path. Even a trog suffers a vicious narding as he attempts to pass by Daria.

Combat finally ends when Ruddy stops playing games and finishes off his Behemoth Kopru. A quick looting of the bodies and the party is ready to continue thier exploration of the alien underground city of Golismorga.

==========
Session Characters: Nesta, Rudolpho, Gwendlyn, Vin, Ortho, Daria, Hjalmgerder
Session Loot: 5 coral statues of the demogorgon (50gp each), 3 large studded leather armor +3, 4 potions of flying, 8 black spheres

Can't Stand Losing, You?

Nesta, again under the evil kopru mind control, starts plugging party members with arrows. A powerful kopru, Ulioth attempts to expel the party from his temple. Ulioth summons a behemoth kopru from an upper chamber to flank the party.

The completly flooded chamber hampers the party's movement. And after exchanging a few top level spells, Ulioth is unscathed and Ortho is drooling like a lizard in his manta-ray form swimming in circles. The party struggles through several rounds of combat, finally Hjalmgedr is able to restore Ortho and the battle begins to break in the party's favor. Battling to the end, Ulioth falls and the adventurers make camp in the room above while the water slowly recedes below.

==========
Session Characters: Nesta, Rudolpho, Gwen, Vin, Ortho, Daria, Hjalmgedr
Session Loot: large suit of +3 studded leather armor, coral symbol of the Demogorgon (50 gp), +4 chain shirt, +2 anarchic spear, periapt of +4 wisdom, +3 ring of protection, bracers of + 2 health (as amulet), portable hole, golden holy symbol of the Demogorgon (500gp), ivory tiara of coiling snakes and shrieking monkeys (2400 gp), a ruby ring of wizardry II, necklace of adaptation, decanter of endless water.

Big City Fights

After camping in the "Hall of dreamers", four blackfang rhagodessas attack the party before they fully break camp. The party easily dispatches them, and presses back into the depths.

Returning to the twisted alien city of Goligimora, the party enters the ziggurat, this time prepared for the defenders, the party makes quick work of them and descends down into the temple.

The building is alive... much of the ceiling, floor, and walls pulse and twitch with a flesh like demeanor. Two levels down, the room appears to be some kind of throne room. After a bit of exploration, the room begins to fill with water and Nesta is not looking herself...

==========
Session Characters: Nesta, Rudolpho, Gwendlyn, Vin, Ortho, Daria, Hjalmgedr
Session Loot: 4 large-sized suits of +3 studded leather armor, 4 coral idols of the Demogorgon.

I Found My Trill, On Alien Ziggurat Hill

The party returns with a revived Rudolpho, to resume the exploration of the twisted, distorted underground city. After a brief survey of the city, the party decides to head toward the ziggurat.

The party scuffles with a couple of patrols, the last of which had several of the vile kopru. The party lost a few members to the mental domination of their foes, but as the kopru's fell their hold on their dominated victims ended as well. The party recovers from that skirmish to resume their exploration of the city.

Arriving at the ziggerat temple, the party discovers that the ziggurat is alive. Flesh exposed portions mixed with worked stone twist the design of the structure. After experimenting with various attempts to get it, Daria figures out the right combination.

Temple defenders rush out, the battle ensues and the party must retreat and recuperate.

==========
Session Characters: Nesta, Rudolpho, Gwendlyn, Vin, Ortho, Daria, Hjalmgedr
Session Loot: 4 suits large-sized +3 studded leather, 8 choral idols of the Demogorgon (50 gp each).

Raising Rudolpho

It takes two weeks to finish teleporting the party to Monmerg in the realm of the Sea Princes. There, the third canon Riesaru Bonoro ranking cleric in the church of Flaggran, grants Vin's request for an audience. Riesaru is willing to grand the resurrection spell for a deeply discounted price if the Vin accepts the quest to recover a couple of artifacts from an ancient forgotten temple. Rudy will be geased to pursue the task as well.

Riesaru describes the temple markings as three interlocking triangles, and it should be located in the area that the party is currently exploring. Rudy is brought back and immediatly geased before he comes to his senses. After lamenting greatly about the lost gold coin, he drinks heavily and returns to help the party finish its supply run.