2017 08 30 Game Notes

Back to Previous Session - August 23, 2017

## August 30, 2017 Game Notes

### A Dream of Hobgoblins

After getting debriefed on the Dawnfoge and Heaven’s Compass and their likely locations, the team was discussing how strange it was to keep running into demons and hobgoblins. Paul saw fit to mention that he had been communing with the demigoddess, Kela, and had a dream about hobgoblins infiltrating Kotime, including the town their airship was originally supposed to land in, Lehtivihreä.

The group quickly decided to head back to Lehtivihreä and make sure that Paul’s dream wasn’t reality. They set out with on horseback with four elven outriders.

### Hobgoblin Guests

The elf scouts spotted the hobgoblins hiding out at a farmhouse on the hilly outskirts of the village. The party investigated, staying carefully out of site, and found that the overconfident hobgoblins had not posted much of a guard, but also that the hobgoblins and the farm elves would pass within just a few feet of one another, apparently without noticing. Strange magic was at work! The farm family was going about their business as if the hobgoblins didn’t exist. The leader of the hobgoblins and his two chiefs were actually living in the house with the farm elves, and the elves paid them no attention.

Not quite sure what to make of that, the group moved to see if there were any other anomalies in the town. As the evening wore on, they came to the small tower that served as the village’s Shrine of Laufi. After some careful observation by Domingo and Zach, they determined that the mage of the shrine was clearly under the sway of some sort of enchantment, while his apprentice seemed very much on edge.

### The Wizard's Lover

After a while, a woman came to the mage’s tower. She went upstairs, spoke with them, and the apprentice was clearly terrified of her. Later, she and the mage, Kandori, headed to the top floor of the tower shrine. The group of adventurers learned from the mage’s apprentice that she was a demon, and moved to attack while she and the mage slept.

The humans and their allies unleashed a holy barrage of magic and pain on the demon, forcing her to reveal her true form - a succubus - just before her corporeal form exploded in a shower of abyssal goo. The mage was somewhat traumatized, but the apprentice was very thankful to be rid of her demonic influence.

### Cleaning Up the Farm

Fairly certain of what was going on, the adventurers headed back to the hobgoblin farm house and wiped out the infiltrators, with the exception of their leader. Sergeant Helmut Grosskreutz of the Zyklon Protektorat army was brought back to Jumala for interrogation. He joined petty officer Reinhard Hartbrod in the dungeon of Jumala’s Hall of Blades.

### The More You Know

Other things the adventurers learned this week:

The group has learned the likely location of two of the artifacts they seek - the Dawnforge is on an island currently being used by a Hobgoblin empire (the ZP) as a naval base, and the Compass of Heaven was lost in a barbarian raid (orcs & allies) on the southern, and most inland colony on Waritu, Sydämen Muisti.

#### A Lost Colony

Sydämen Muisti was the most ambitious of the Elven colony cities, and survived for almost six hundred years before its sudden destruction, 900 years ago. At its peak, it was a city of almost 25,000, about half the size of Jumala in those days. The village lay on the backbone of an ancient range of hills, about 200 miles northwest of the Seas of Salt in the far Southeast of Waritu.

The colony traded with the multitude of locals, and was situated near a wealth of silver mines, ruby mines, and a rare lode of mithril. With some irrigation, the arid hills south of the colony were converted to miles and miles of vineyards, and Sydämen Muisti became famous for its unique white wines and dessert wines.

There was a small college and an observatory on the highest hill of the city. Historians believe that Taivaat Mittari - Heaven’s Compass - was kept here, though it was lost when the city was destroyed.

Giant insects common to central Waritu were tamed through druidic magic, and the land north of the field became home to giant honey bee and spider ranches that led to the development of innovative spider-silk-based fabric and potent honey mead.

Sydämen Muisti was destroyed in a sudden, overwhelming assault by a horde of mountain orcs and their allies. Though the defenders of the city killed over 30,000 almost 30% of the city’s inhabitants were slain or captured after the defenses finally buckled. The survivors fled east to the coastal colonies or returned to Kotime. To the great distress of the Elves, no bodies of the fallen elves were ever recovered. They are known to priests of the Tuon as *saastuneita marttyyreja* - the defiled martyrs.

#### Basically Mount Doom

The scouts have found evidence that an orc cult devoted to Mountain has taken the artifact known as Heaven’s Compass to a mountain that every orc seemed scared of. They call it Moemoea te Reinga - the Dream of Hell. Elven records know the mountain as Mt. Verikokeessa.

Continue to notes from the game on September 20, 2017