Where No Human Has Gone Before

4/21/2017

   The day began with Kaszuk checking on his patients.  Both seemed to have purged whatever illness they had and had largely recovered over the night.  The shaman then created pure food and water for his allies and began to commune with Clapham.

  He inquired about the item in Atreides' possession and addressed his displeasure with being used and deceived.  Clapham insisted that Kasuzk was not being used, and that the artifact was some kind of key.  He went on to say that the evil on this island mustn't be allowed to escape.  Kaszuk then received a message originating from Clapham and things began to become clearer.  According to Clapham, The Guardians of Grog had met with him and discussed this mission.  Part of the plan involved wiping the memories of the party from the period in which they met with Clapham to their arrival in Eclipse's Shadow.  This lapse in their memory was necessary to hide their intentions.  Zorak theorized that The Key may actual be for unlocking the moon, Clapham could neither confirm or deny this theory.

   After a bit of shopping at Duris' Potion Shop the GoG reconvened to decide on their next action.  They could head for the city under the mountain, which Vath discovered was called Ogon'Ozero, investigate the ruins where citizens are forbidden or too afraid to explore, attempt to travel to wherever Tecticlan takes place or any number of other possible destinations.  With so little actual information no one was overly confident with any decision but, after some discussion, they decided to investigate the ruins.

   After a days travel it was time for a rest.  They were still several hours from their destination.  When the morning came Kaszuk communed with Semuanya; "The ruins, Ogon'Ozero, the chain or the portal?" and received "The Ruins ruin no one, it's goal is nondescript. Ogon'Ozero's path is dangerous yet picked."  Kaszuk interpreted this as; The Ruins are not dangerous, but also not helpful in our goal.   Ogon'Ozero, while a more dangerous choice, will yield more results.  With this new information they decided to move forward, if the ruins were not a threat then perhaps they should investigate anyway.

   A few hours into the day and the GoG had reached the ruins.  Executing several precautionary spells the group cautiosly proceeded.  They could see within the ruins a small fire and a wooden tower with torches lit within.  The tower was a strange sight, they hadn't seen anything made of wood, not even a tree, since they arrived.  Moving forward they saw a small group of orcs, and the orcs saw them.  Wanting information and not a fight, Kaszuk raised his arm revealing the mark of Tecticlan witch the orcs immediately recognized.  With the initial meeting having gone smoothly the GoG were able to question the orcs.

   As they already surmised, Scourge controls the evil creatures under the mountain who worship him and anticipate his dominion of all the planes.  The purpose of Tecticlan was to find the strongest warriors to fight in Scourge's army.  Chaining the moon in place has hidden this island and it's surrounding waters from detection and invasion by other forces.  The eclipse essentially prevents anyone from leaving or finding the island.  How the GoG overcame this, they don't yet know. Once his army has been amassed, Scourge will remove the chain, freeing the moon and will subsequently conquer the prime material plane.  The orcs at this site had a specific job.  They were lookouts who would notify others so that vessels could be captured for Scourge.  It would seem that most people find this island on accident.

   After their questions were answered Vath was prepared to kill the orcs here and possibly destroy the tower.  Kaszuk expressed a desire not to do this.  Vath felt that destroying the guards and their tower may save other vessels from capture by scourge.  While Kasuk agreed that this may be true, he preferred to stay hidden.  As it was, the GoG were seen as allies by everyone they've met on the island and destroying this location may bring unwanted attention.  A vote was cast, only Zorak was in agreeance with Vath, the otherr saw more benifit to staying hidden.  Disapointed, Vath and Zorak aquiesced and after a little looking around they left the ruins.  On their way out they noticed some writing carved into one of the crumbling walls.  No one was able to decipher it so Kaszuk took a rubbing to translate it at a later time.

   Finding very little at the ruins, as Kaszuk had foreseen, the GoG headed for the mountain where they would find Ogon'Ozero.  The trip took less than four days and was uneventful.  Arriving at The Gates of Sekhmet, the entered Mount Khons.  Inside was a cavern large enough to house a city, and it did.  Ogon'Ozero was a home to all manner of creatures.  Orcs, goblins, minotaurs, bugbears and many many others milled about the underground city going about their daily lives.  In the center of town was a massive temple witch featured prominently, a statue of Scourge splitting another creatures skull in half and on the northeast end of town a tavern called "Bob's Human Ale House".  The tavern, of course, is where Vath and Zorak wanted to start.

   The tavern was also filled with a variety of creatures.  Behind the bar was a large, angry looking minotaur.  While Zorak ordered his Algea-Brew and pissed off the bartender by mistaking her for a man, the others began to gather information.  They learned the location of Tecticlan. In the end they hadn't learned much new information and the day was coming to a close.  As a group they decided to leave the town and camp outside.

   The GoG had not yet seen any wild animals since arriving on The Shadow, that would change tonight.  During the middle watch two dire bears, large even for dire bears approached their camp.  The party was able to quickly ready themselves.  The battle was easily won.  One one of the bears was defeated her lesbian life partner retreated into the night.