The Plunder of Lustria

The Moons Festival : There are two nights in the year in which both moons are full at the same time. The first is called  Hexensnacht  ("Witching Night") and the other one  Geheimnisnacht  ("Night of Mystery"). To most, these are greatly feared and ill-omened nights of the year, and even the most cynical skeptic will avoid the eerie light cast by the full moons. On the other hand, gatherings and ritual sacrifices are held by the worshipers of Chaos on these nights. While the others had sense to stay inside and participated in drinking challenges (Rufus even bested the dwarves and elves earning a well-deserved pounding hangover and 10gp reward), Tulkir & Ranulf chanced the night outdoors. Both swore in the morning they had seen some ‘Blessed by the Moon’ beastmen wandering the streets! At least all had days to recoup (Endeavors). With Kruger providing a list, Ranulf bartered for ship upgrades. Lemmy purchased a compass to he...

A7-Tomb of Gold or Rufus' Beating...Again It took a month for Rufus’ hip injury to heal. Time to listen to gossip about the area around the Tomb-Of-Gold : most prior groups returned beat up with reports of more Orc or Lizardmen. We provisioned and prepared for the 5-day sail to the same bay to the north and westward inland trek. Per the dry/hot/humid season, we used mud for insect repellent and to stay cool. We didn’t account for “Wanderlust fever”: despite Rufus’ protest “stick to the path”, we strayed per thoughts of avoiding Orc and other threats. Our wandering added 2 days to the trek as we struggled to navigate and forage. Noon on the 7 th day we heard Lizardmen coordinating battle plans for a siege. Lemmy climbed a tree to spot the ziggurat of concern. He saw Saurus lizardmen building defensive walls out of brush. A distant blast alerted Tulkir who noticed long-barreled guns (held by paws) aimed from the temple heights. A siege meant no rush on their part as 30+ lizardme...

The party decided to investigate the confluence of magical winds they saw on the last journey. Sailing out from Skeggi, they noticed that the marsh seemed closer to the town than before. Even stranger: the marsh was advancing from the jungle not from the sea as would be expected. The first 3 days of overland travel were in a constant downpour. The party took care to keep their feet dry not wanting to repeat the foot rot of last journey. Rufus was in the lead and soon found himself mired in quicksand. Dargo was able to pull him out using his boat hook. The next 3 days the sun came out and so did the bugs and humidity. Dargo led and didn’t notice that the game trail was subtly changing direction. He then realized that something was wrong when a savage orc arrow flew past his head. 4 orcs and a shaman and a chief attacked the party. The orcs were engaged, and the party was dealing with them, but the shaman cast Headbutt , and then an orc head materialized in front of Lemmy and ramme...

Kruger’s Converts …or is that Convicts?  Recent shipmate hires: Johan (short & hairy) & Luxus (carries a lute & sings). They were put in charge of the boat anchored in the bay as the group walked inland towards the Stellar Pyramids . Koro found the trail of plants trampled by the passing Orc. The sound of crashing announced a large Razordon spiny lizard: most hid while Ranulf climbed a tree where he used his Animal Affinity to calm the beast that became attracted to the others’ movements. Fortunately, it harmlessly continued on its way.  5 Stellar pyramids rose before us… more like monoliths arranged in a constellation pattern that Lemmy recognized as foci of magical lay-lines. Leaning against one monolith was an emaciated porter suffering from blood-rot per both broken legs. Abandoned by lizardmen who took his wizard master 2-weeks ago. Before Dargo put him out of his misery, he described Orc tracks to the west. We ignored those tracks and headed north foll...

Skeggi : We made certain to raise a Lustrian flag on our boat to discourage pirate attacks (who focused their raids on ships from the old world). While in town, we were hired (100g plus any treasure found) by an elf (eyes black like a shark) named Urial Nightseer to sail him northwest to the Mirror-Pool of Tepok . He hoped to find guidance from the pool guardians as he looks for his artifact ( Armor of the Gods ) stolen during a pirate raid.  We Sail in 2 Days : Without advance pay to buy an anchor, and unwilling to pay dock fees, we hired Conrad Dietrik to watch our boat as we beached it outside of the city. It was a 4-day sail around the peninsula and into the northern bay. It quickly became apparent that Urial looked down on humans as stinky creatures. Fishermen we are not: no one could catch the elusive Daggerfish (flying fish); at least no one fell overboard. On Foot : After beaching the boat and leaving Conrad in charge, we trekked inland until Urial paused at a clearin...