Date: 06/30/10

XP Awarded: 650 (Elvisa, Gob, Tongtokl), 785 (Kiria)

Start: Turtleback Ferry, mid winter.

The party spend the next five rainy days in Turtleback Ferry. Gob spends most of his time holed up in the party's room in the Turtle's Parlor, studying his spellbook. Kiria and a couple of the woodsmen from Turtleback Ferry spend time in the Kreegwood and the Ashwood, driving away some of the wild animals that have established territory near the village in the Black Arrow's absence. Tongtokl returns to the northern reaches of the Sanos forest with Copper Dragon, and Elvisa spends her hours honing a new set of fist-blows by shattering thick blocks of wood. During this period, the Black Arrows rescued from the Graul farmstead slowly recover from their horrifying captivity.

The leader, Jakardros Sovark, lost his eye to a close call with an ogre hook a decade ago. For many years a second in command of Fort Rannick under Captain Bayden, Jakardros saw his commander carried off by the ogres just as his patrol arrived at Fort Rannick — too late to aid in its defense. He lost a third of his men in an attempt to retake the fort, and when they were forced to flee south into Kreegwood, the remaining men were easy targets for the Grauls. Jakardros carries the loss of Fort Rannick heavily and feels it was his fault that the ogres were able to take it. Had he been a bit more prompt on his patrol, he would have been back in time to help defend the place. But he wasn’t, and now a 45-year tradition is dead. Jakardros heavy sense of responsibility seems to be lightened somewhat by the presence of Shalelu - the two clearly have a shared past of some kind. They spend most of their free time together, chatting and reminiscing.

Vale Temros is a dark-skinned man with piercing gray eyes. At a towering height of 6–1/2 feet, his build and musculature consigned him to the warrior’s path at an early age. Despite his stature, Vale is a quiet and withdrawn man. Vale was born into the Order of the Black Arrow; both his parents were members, as were his two younger brothers. All of them are now dead, slain either years ago (in the case of his parents) or weeks ago (in the case of his brothers) by various Kreeg ogres. Vale’s oath of vengeance against the Kreegs has become the only thing holding him together over the past several days of torture and mind-numbing horror at the Grauls’ hands. Discussions about normally dry and boring topics like engineering and buildings are among the few times that Vale breaks out of his taciturn shell to become excited and animated.

Kaven Windstrike, a handsome young man with dark hair and emerald eyes, was a wayward youth born to harried parents in Turtleback Ferry. Always a handful of trouble while growing up, Kaven’s antics finally got him in over his head one day. Infuriated, his father was ready to have the boy taken south by the law to serve time in a jail in Ilsurian, but his mother managed to temper that reaction. Kaven was was given a choice: be disowned and spend time in prison, or seek membership among the Black Arrows. Kaven chose the Black Arrows. The disciplined lifestyle did Kaven good, and he reformed into a respected and effective member of the order.

Back in Turtleback Ferry, Vale and Kaven are withdrawn and troubled, and seem to have difficulty overcoming the horrors they witnessed while imprisoned. When the party discovers Vale's interest in architecture, they are able to engage him in discussions about Fort Rannick. The Black Arrow draws accurate sketches of the layout of the Fort for the party and is able to give some advice on ways to approachs the fortress undetected. Kaven, however, seems despondent and depressed and the party doesn't seem to be able to cheer him up at all.

One morning during a break in the rain, Tongtokl changes form into an eagle and flies several miles up the Skull River to Fort Rannick. Normally a journey that would take a full day of travel, he is able to reach the fortress within just a few hours. Fort Rannick is located in the northern end of a wide valley that runs along the southern edge of the mountains. This rugged and forlorn landscape stretches on for miles along the border between the mountains and the shadowed reaches of the Kreegwood. When Tongtokl arrives at the fort, he finds a scene of devastation.

The slovenly ogres have turned this battle-worn but well-run fort into a charnel house of slaughter and drunken debauchery. Dozens of skulls and mangled corpses hang from trees near the fort, gigantic rusty hooks spitting them like meat awaiting a butcher’s block. The stench of sweat, urine, blood, and ogre-musk befouls the air for hundreds of yards around the fort. Hulking deformed brutes roam the walls of Rannick and lurk within, dancing their macabre skull-jigs. From the air, Tongtokl can see the slaughtered corpses of many giant eagles, horses, ogres, and men. Most are missing at least a few body parts, and gruesome displays decorating the walls and interior buildings hint at their fate. Tongtokl counts eight ogres with fearsome ogre hooks and stacks of long, wickedly barbed javelins. Winging his way back to Turtleback Ferry, he tells the other adventurers what he has seen.

The party discuss the repercussions of this revelation for a while, then agree that Magnimar must be informed. Gob writes a report to be given to one of the riverboat captains to carry to the mayor's office in Magnimar, and the group calls in Father Shreed Maelin to inform him. The elderly priest looks very troubled by the news and asks the party their intentions. Kiria says that first the party will return to the Graul farmstead to finish exploring the place then destroying it, and after that the party will return to Fort Rannick to investigate in person - which seems to please the mayor.

The next morning the party leaves Shalelu and the Black Arrows behind and sets out down the ruined road to the Graul farmstead. Arriving at the edge of the clearing holding the farm, the first thing they notice is that the small hole they had chopped into the side of the barn is gone. In its place, the entire back portion of the barn's wall has expoded outwards, pieces of wood littering the fields of diseased vegetables. The deep prints of enormous spider legs have been sunk into the soggy ground, leading off into the tangles of the Kreegwood.

The rest of the farmyard is as the party last saw it. Several dead ogrekin lie on the ground in front of the farmhouse, their bodies looking as if they have been torn at by wild animals. The front door to the farmhouse stands open, gently swaying in the cold wind. Entering the farmhouse, the party methodically explores the rest of the ground floor moving room to room. Upon entering a dining room in the center of the house, Elvisa is almost hit by a set of scythes that swing down from the ceiling. In the kitchen behind it, Gob is sickened by a horde of cockroaches swarming on the walls and floor while a trio of fat rats gnaw on a basket of hacked-off hands and feet. Nearby the party finds what appears to be a locked playroom, with two oversized, deformed ogrekin children that appear to have been attacking each other. Though in a weakened state, they rush to assault the party but are quickly cut down.

In the upstairs, the party finds a bedroom with many oversized, filthy beds and a locked chest. Gob opens the chest only to be sliced open by a rusty razor coated in a gooey green poison. The tough dwarf resists the effects of the poison and Tongtokl's healing magic quickly has him restored to health. Inside the chest are a few coins and some grisly mostly-skeletal fingers that look like they belonged to other ogrekin. In another room nearby, the group finds what appears to be a trap-building workshop and is able to scrounge together a few vials of acid as well as several toolkits of dirty but finely crafted instruments.

Descending to the damp and moldy basement, the party finds another set of doors at the bottom of the stairs. Proceeding through a large room absolutely filled with junk, they come to another room that seems to be the source of the powerful odor of decay. Mostly empty except for the layer of rotting vegetation and mud that cover the floor, there are a couple of narrow barred windows at the top of the walls, and a single door on the far side of the room. However, as soon as the group has taken in this sight, a shudder ripples through the vegetation on the floor and it begins to pull itself together into the form of a shambling heap with a wide gash lined with sharpened bone-like protrusions.

Before Elvisa can shout a warning, the creature lunges forward and the mouth-like orifice snaps shut on the Shoanti. Two very long vines powerfully slam into Copper Dragon and Kiria at the same time. Gob casts a spell to magically speed up the party, then retreats from the creature's eerily long vines. Elvisa struggles in the creature's grip, but the slick vines constrict her too tightly to wriggle free. Instead she pummels the creature, which cannot avoid her blows while she is in its mouth. Kiria, magically hastened by Gob's magic, fires a volley of miniature lightning bolts from his bow that tear into the creature's body. Kiria recognizes the creature from tales, and shouts out to the party that it is something called a Tendriculos. It is renowned for its ability to heal damage extremely quickly, except for wounds inflicted by bludgeoning weapons or acid, and also for its lethal ability to swallow opponents whole, who are then quickly destroyed inside its highly acidic stomach.

Tongtokl commands Copper Dragon to attack the plant creature, but the faithful hound cannot deal any real damage to the monster. Tongtokl himself backs away out of the creature's reach and begins an elemental summoning spell. Gob casts another spell and fiery rays shoot from his finger, but only one hits. There is a hiss as the muddy vines wither under the ray's heat, but already the party can see that the damage they have inflicted upon it is quickly healing. With a toss and a shake of its body, Elvisa's body disappears down the creature's gullet, and its tentacles strike out at Copper Dragon and Kiria again. Kiria fires off another volley of arrows- though this time they aren't as effective as before, they seem to be dealing damage to the creature faster than it can heal.

Tongtokl's summoning spell is completed and the mud of the basement floor is pushed aside as a humanoid being composed of sharp rocks emerges from the ground. From the other side of the creature, it slams its fists into the vines and much composing its body, badly wounding it. Copper Dragon attacks from the monster's flank, and manages to get a solid bite in that rips away part of its body. Staggering, the creature collapses to the floor and the vines loose tension to spread across the room. A large bulge of vegetation in the center of the room marks where Elvisa's motionless body is still entangled inside the tendriculos. Straining mightily, Gob and Kiria manage to reach into the creature's maw and grab a corner of Elvisa's tunic and pull her to safety out of the acidic stomach. With the summoned elemental pounding the vines to a smelly green paste, the tendriculos' healing ability is overcome and it is destroyed.

Tongtokl heals Elvisa up, then the party opens the door on the other side of the room to reveal another large, unlocked chest. Gob opens the heavy lid to reveal several heavy bags of coins, some valuable-looking jewelry, and a masterfully crafted longbow.

Having searched all of the house by now, the party moves out to the barn where Tongtokl changes form into a very large badger and descends the funnel formed of cable-like spider webs. The tunnel leads deep into the ground before opening into a large chamber reeking of an acidic, sour smell. The floor is covered with sticky bones, but after a quick search it appears that most of the bones are farm animals or forest game, and nothing of value is to be found. Reemerging from the spider's lair, Gob and Tongtokl take great pleasure in using their fire magics to quickly set the sagging farm buildings into a raging inferno before returning to Turtleback Ferry.

Back in the village, the party informs the Black Arrows that they did not find more survivors, being careful to omit details of the gruesome fate the others must have suffered. When Jakardros repeats his assertion that treachery must have been involved in the fall of Fort Rannick, the adventurers press him for details. Though he hasn't got anyone specifically in mind, he says that the timing and execution reveal intimate knowledge of the fort's defenses - no other explanation makes sense. After discussing the allegations privately, the party agrees on a plan for Kiria to approach the other surviving Black Arrows individually to see if they might have more information about such treachery.

That evening, Kiria invites Kaven out for a drink at the Bottoms Up tavern. Over a few beers, the two talk about what life was like in Fort Rannick and how Kaven came to be there. Kaven admits that he was a troublemaker when younger, but seems to take great pride in his membership in the Black Arrows. After more drinks, Kaven talks about the terror of being imprisoned at the Graul farmstead, with an enormous monstrosity lurking just outside his prison. As his closest companions were dragged off by the ogrekin one by one, each time he thought that he would be the next to be pulled away screaming to an awful fate.

Kaven becomes withdrawn again after revealing these thoughts, and Kiria pulls out a flute to try to cheer him up. While singing to entertain Kaven and the rest of the tavern, he casts a couple of spells to entertain the villagers. Surreptitiously, one of the spells he casts is a charm upon Kaven. After the singing dies down, he continues his conversation with the now obviously drunk ranger.

As he is beginning to slur his speech, Kaven mentions that he volunteered for the patrol route that passes along the eastern edge of Claybottom Lake - the patrol that passes nearest to Turtleback Ferry. He talks about how he had forgotten how much fun a night of drinking and gambling could be, especially with a woman's touch to warm the night. Kaven says that a couple of times he snuck down to the Paradise gambling barge that used to float near Turtleback Ferry. He pulls back his tunic to show Kiria a tattoo he got at the gambling barge - a secret sign that he paid for so that he would be exempted from the boarding fee and sometimes receive a few bonus gambling chits or free drinks. With a chill down his spine, Kiria recognizes the tattoo as the seven-pointed Sihedron rune that the party has encountered several times before, most notably bloodily carved into the chests of the ritualistic serial killings that terrorized Magnimar and Sandpoint.

At this point Kaven is slurring his speech so badly that he's not making much sense, so Kiria helps him off to bed and returns to the Bottoms Up tavern to relay this information to the rest of the party. With troubled thoughts on their minds, the adventurers retire to their beds for the upcoming trip to Fort Rannick.