Session 5 (16/3/2020)

This session, the party took on Ragnar Goldtooth's bandit camp, executing a clever ambush plan using their wagon (RIP to a real one) and wiping out the bandits inside. Ragnar holed up at the tower and the party stormed it, leading to Aldor being knocked out by Ragnar and Oorok eventually killing Ragnar. The mayor arranged for the loot to be picked up and promised payment, then headed back to the village.

Teldaris date: Monday the 11th of June, 643IR

## Aldor Stargazer

Dear Diary,

We planned a plan so planningfull that you could almost call it a real honest to Polaris plan. It worked too… mostly. I didn’t even really hear the plan though hehe. I was fiddling with my silence spells. That thing is CRAZY! I couldn’t even talk! They couldn’t even hear me calling them dumb butts HAHAHA! Honestly, it was awesome! I was talking and yelling and no sound came out. So fucken weird. This means big things!! I could pla^&&^%%&^&^^\*^\*&\*&\*&\*^^\*8 (Multiple scribbles mar the page overlapping each other into obscurity)  so many things like that!

Back to the plan though. I got to nap on the wagon. Awesome. Then everyone jumped out and scared the fuck out of me. NOT AWESOME! I tumbled out like a badass. Smacked a bandito with some knowledge. The knowledge being how fucking awesome I am and how the stars protect my movements. Things got real weird after that. Kel killed a bunch of dudes with his ice magic and did that whole scared hiding stuff. I yelled at him. He is going to get himself killed if he continues to be afraid of himself. Like magic is scary, I can agree to that. But I have reserved myself to using it. He needs to figure out if he wants to keep that gauntlet in the same way. I’ll help him as much as I can no matter what I guess. We are friends after all.

Oorok took a sharp and pointy to the noggin so the stars sent me to protect him. They have been weird lately but they still haven’t steered me wrong. I protected him for long enough so that he could heal up. Then I made my move on the boss. He was sitting pretty in his tower throwing the sharp and pointies at Oorok from above so I knew I had to get him to focus on my fine star-spangled ass. I rushed up the tower and took a few hits to the noggin but that didn’t stop me. I pushed on up and engaged him in a 1v1. I knew that if I kept him focused on me then my friends the “Smackey and Whackey Brothers” (Bjorn and Oorok) would be able to help me. I was wrong apparently.

I don’t really get what happened next. It's all still kinda hazy. But instead of using the chance I had opened up to knock out Ragnarock the twatful. Bjorn almost launched the prick off the edge of the tower directly at where Lyra was standing below. Then they started trying to scare him into surrendering… Dude was just sizing up Lyra instead. Cornered animals never surrender, they always attack in some way. I COULDN’T LET HIM HURT ANYMORE OF MY FRIENDS!

Now here is where it really sucks. I’m battered, bleeding and all-around hurt. This here bandit is fucking strong. Lyra is awesome but if he can hit me this hard through my heavy armour and all the power that my lady gave me. I was literally covered in her stars for most of the fight. Then he is too dangerous to allow near her. So… I used Polaris’ special spell. I compelled him to focus back on me. Dumb idea? Yes. But, it worked. He climbed back up and focused on me again. Walked right into the position I wanted him too. Perfect place for my friends the “Smackers” to beat him up for me. He got me real fucken good too. Knocked me out cold. But it was okay, I succeeded. Lyra was safe and my friends had the drop on him. They’d take care of me and say “good job little buddy. That was really brave.”

Next thing I know. Lyra is yelling about “Why didn’t you help him?” and “Just leaving him to die!”. I’ve never heard her that angry. Or looking like that. So kinda figured she wasn’t talking about bandit mc dick bag. I opened my eyes to Bjorn and Oorok arguing with her and Lyra storming off…

~~My friends.~~ Oorok and Bjorn just kinda look at me and started gathering the bandit corpses and walked off. I don’t really get it but I think they left me bleeding out and Lyra came to save me. I think... I think they left me to die. Which cant be true. That silly. We are friends.

So I pulled myself up and walked off. I think Lyra noticed me walk off but I don’t care. I needed time to (the page is ripped up and you cant read the rest)

Kel needs to deal with his gauntlet. At least make a decision about it. One he is confident in.

Bjorn came over to explain things to me. Apparently I made a “surrendering” man fight me and that is evil. And it feels like I was just getting the “ You deserved what happened to you” talk. Good to know that when it all came down to it. I trusted those two, but they didn’t trust me.

Ahhhhhhh!!!! Stupid complicated crap! Where is Auros? I want to annoy that little twat.

- Aldor.

## Bjorn Fella

*We planned  to hide most of us in the cart. Darragh and Kel disguised themselves as bandits and bought Lyra with them under the guise of ‘entertainment’. Meanwhile, we used the beer as a prop to throw them off the scent. We backed the cart up to the forts gate, and when Kel gave the sign I burst out from the cart, axe in hand, and bought it down on the unsuspecting gate-keeper, splitting him in half. Our initial push was ferocious and we made short work of the men in the courtyard. The mayor vanished quickly as the skirmish broke out, and reappear moments later covered in blood.*

*I ushered Lyra and the halflings through the gate and attempted to close it behind them, but the bandits outside the fort overpowered me and threw me off balance before funneling through the gate, but with them in the choke point they didn’t last long.*

*Before long it was our party against Ragnar, the captain of the camp. He holed up on the roof of the fort, pelting us with knives from a distance and disappearing behind the cover between volleys. Oorok was unlucky enough to catch a blade with his head, but the tough bastard barely even flinched.*

*We stormed the building and surrounded Ragnar, even going so far as to having him hang from the ramparts. Oorok and I pleaded for his surrender, as I have have made my habit so that we may spare as much blood as possible, and for a second I believe he was about to concede. But Aldor, foolish and eager, compelled him to duel to the death, and swiftly Ragnar swung from the buildings edge and caught him with his scimitar, felling Aldor immediately. I was left stunned by what I saw, shocked Aldor would rather recklessly continue fighting than give this man a chance to surrender. Oorok was not caught off-guard like myself, and swiftly shattered Ragnar’s legs to pieces, disabling him but leaving him alive. Before I could come to my senses, Lyra was upon us, yelling that we were leaving Aldor to bleed out. At a complete loss for words, I helped her stabilize him.*

*I confronted him in the camp later, after the dead were put to rest. He declared that Ragnar would never surrender, and would have instead dropped 20ft and killed Lyra on the spot, as if she were helpless and defenceless. “Cornered animals never surrender!” He protested, as if Ragnar were less than human. He may be a terrible man, but he is a man nevertheless, and should be given the decency of being treated as such. For if we offer only death without surrender, how can we claim to be any better than him?*

*I’m beginning to feel troubled about Aldor. I remember for so long his giddiness was charming, and he was a good friend, a peaceful man. But since we left he seems more and more inclined towards violence. I hope I can help bring him to see things how I see them, and show him how violence only breeds more violence, as it is, I worry his chaos might consume him.*

*On the note of being consumed by chaos, I must speak with Kel. It would seem that this violence has been taking a toll on him, and whatever forces lie within that gauntlet are feeding off it.*
These are dark times, may our gods be with us all.

## Kel'Nazir Shadestone

It seems this bandit situation has come back to bite us in the ass. We do not have time for idle heroics. The longer we take, the closer Malakai gets to his goal. At least we will get paid though, many members of the group could do with some decent equipment. Perhaps an armour upgrade for Aldor is in order, he managed to see his precious stars today when Ragnar knocked his lights out.

The plan was a simple one, one I have used to break in to a noble's compound in the past. Most humans can be blinded by greed. Show them what they want to see and they will drop their defences. Aldor, Bjorn and Oorok would hide in the wagon while Darragh and Lyra assisted me in deceiving the bandits as to gain entry to their compound. Which would have worked perfectly if not for the slight hiccup of the cart not fitting through the gate. I should have accounted for it and as a result I almost got Aldor killed.

I learned a few hard lessons today. I broke my oath to myself that I would not kill a person with magic. Three times to be precise. I will never forget the eerie silence before hearing a mans flesh crack and splinter into fragments. The look of fear in their eyes. And the rush of power. It is exhilarating and yet so alien. It terrifies me more than the damnation of the souls I kill. One could get addicted to this kind of power and I must not succumb to it. I will however, master this magic.

I am starting to wonder how Oorok has managed to survive this long in life. The man spent the entire fight today with a knife stuck in his skull. I managed to pry it out as Lyra cast healing magic however I fear he may get the chills from the amount of blood he was drenched in.

On the subject of magic, I feel that Darragh may either know more about it than he lets on, or he has been studying how I cast spells. He can cast small illusions much like how I can manipulate my appearance or cause small sensory effects. This may perhaps work entirely to our favour once we arrive in Kazholm. With two of us we may be able to get rich fast and outfit ourselves for this pursuit of magical stones.

More interestingly, Lyra had a good idea today to speak with Gaw about who I am bound to. I have for a long time avoided such answers, fearing the truth. The conversation has given me simultaneously hope and despair as to my future. We are bound to an ancient Fey creature that seems to feast on the souls of the dead. While this in itself is concerning, Gaw seems to have little love for our dark friends so perhaps we can work together to renegotiate this pact. Time will tell.