Party: Exandra, Ioelena, Hilniflit, Fledermaus
Day 0: No taxes to settle for Mission 07 loot. Visited Yanos to discuss ork skull and a new development with the green buds on the white branches: The buds have turned black and now new buds are growing. Yanos not sure what any of this means. Exandra, by the way, opts to buy herself a halberd which turns out to be an excessively wise decision…
Guild Kitty after buying supplies: 625 gp – 200 gp (Cure light wounds potions for party) – 425 gp
Day 01: Leave Westmarch, uneventful day and night.
Day 02: The party comes across a small, lake in what looks like a small crater. In the middle of the lake is an island with a weeping willow. The lake seems about 30' deep and the party doesn't seem up for a swim, so Ioelena summons an eagle to scout the island for us. When it returns, it tells Hil (#SpeakWithAnimals) that there's a dark hole on the island under the tree. The party notes the location of the island on the map and decides to return on a later mission. Camp that night is uneventful.
Day 03: It's a warm day and the party gets a little lost and find themselves in soft, boggy terrain. They hear a commotion in the distance. Hil sneaks up to the commotion and finds a family of boars fighting a (relatively) small green dragon about 12' in length. Hil sends a wizard's message back to Exandra, telling her there's a dragon, the rest of the party approaches and Fledermaus steps on a stick. The dragon is immediately alerted to the party's presence, still in the thick of the forest. Ioelena and Hil blast it from cover with magic missiles and a scorching ray. The dragon launches into the air and casts an entanglement spell that slows the party and ensnares Exandra.
To the members that speak draconic, they can hear the dragon complaining about annoying adventurers. The fight lasts another round, dealing some savage blows to the dragon, but it's clear that the dragon's acidic breath weapon might be more dangerous than expected (Hil barely escaped the main blast and suffered significant acid damage). Hil tells the dragon that it can surrender. The dragon lands a cautious distance from the party and tells them it is a young dragon fleeing its parents, looking for hunting grounds of its own. The party suggests it should move to the East in search of grounds not directly under the party's protection. The dragon grudgingly moves along after grabbing its boar snack. The party camps nearby that night and passes uneventfully.
Day 04: The party comes across a temple covered in yellowing ivy. Searching inside, they discover a book covered in a pile of rat skins that seem to have been drained of their innards by some dark art. The book's cover bears the image of a large fly and is filled with necromancer rituals. From the ceiling hang long threads with small silver pieces tied in shimmering chains. Hil taps Fledermaus and Exandra with the wand of Bull's Strength so they can climb the walls and grab the silver (40sp). The party keeps the book for later scrutiny and Hil incinerates the temple interior in disgust as they leave.
The party arrives in Dulwich. Hil and Ioelena travel to the Irori Temple to heal Hil. Exandra and Fleder head to the Dancing Bear Tavern to hopefully find a cleric to join us on the Shadowed Keep raid. The head priestess of the Irori Temple, Vuokko, tells Hil and Ioelena that Valio was hired as a contractor to turn the Bugbear Stronghold into an Irori safe haven free of Weido's Dulwich politics. Hil and Ioelena meet up with Exandra and Fledermaus at the tavern and find them plying a table of exhausted and traumatized adventurers with drinks. The bartender mentions that the adventurers are veterans of famous area dungeons – The Smoking Mountain, The Maze of the Blue Medusa, Eastmarch. They have been introduced to a female dwarf cleric named Thurv that's willing to help the party on the raid for a 20% cut of the loot, 15gp up front and her choice of any magical weapons that might be found. The party agrees and suggest they meet at dawn the next morning. The night at the inn was uneventful.
Day 05: On the way to the Shadowed Keep, the party runs into a Bloodmoon Goblin named Saar, holding his arms out to his side and clearly looking to parlay. He begs the party to help he and his supporters to oust an Ogre that has taken control of the Shadowed Keep tunnels. The Ogre, Ruknar, has been a menace to the goblins and Saar and his followers are tired of dealing with him, the bandits and the party's constant raids and slaughter. They are willing to help us get access to the Ogre's chambers if the party will then leave the Bloodmoon in peace… and leave them some of their treasure.
Saar seems to recall a map in the Ogre's chambers and this seals it for the party. The chance of pacifying the goblins, satisfying the bandits and finally finding the map in one stroke is too much to resist. Saar agrees to make sure the guard room is lightly guarded and tells the party any goblin wearing a yellow armband will be trustworthy. Saar also sketches out the route to the ogre's chamber for the party.
When the party reaches the Keep, they are stopped by a clearly frustrated and harried Firean and a couple bandits. They have grown tired from the constant and increasing assaults by the Ogre and his goblins. They have even lost two of their party, taken prisoner by the goblins. She has lost all patience with the party and is planning to leave Shadowed Keep entirely if they can just figure out what to do about their two captive members. The party offers to rescue them as they have a deal with a faction of the Bloodmoon. Firean is skeptical, but is happy for any help.
The party heads below the donjon and dispatches the guards at the bottom of the stairs swiftly. They head straight for the ogre's chambers. Hoping for the element of surprise, Hil throws open the door and casts flaming sphere, Fledermaus tosses a stun grenade and the rest of the party surges in, firing off magic missiles and swinging halberds. Ruknar and his harem of swift and nimble female goblin assassins are caught off guard. The quarters are cramped by a fire pit and a table surrounded by piles of moldy furs. This is not helped by the fact that the ogre himself is massive and nearly fills the room with his bulk.
