The Impossible Campaign Game 1

Game Master: Andrew
Game Edition: 2nd Ed. AD&D
Players: Jeff, Dave, Elijah, Wesley
Starting Level: 4-10

 Quote of the Evening:
"We got past those dumb thieves!" -Mir the Thief

"What do you mean dumb! you paid them what they asked for!" -Andrew the DM

"Wait we didn't have to pay!?" -Lord Alex

Introduction.

The Impossible Campaign takes place in the world of Rin, a cold and frigid place besieged by the fear and the reality that the dead will rise from their graves. 

In this "JADE original" module, one player takes the role Lord(Lady) Alex: the recently appointed liege of Pinehall Keep and the surrounding townships; pushing into the forests before the Black Mountains. One of his fiefs; the remote village of Woods Deep, has not responded to official dispatches in four weeks, and their tax revenue is missing from Lord Alex's Coffers. 

Lord Alex from Dark Sward Miniatures, Lady Alex from Reaper Miniatures.

A fortnight ago Lord Alex's most trusted friend and captain of his guard, Sir Roland, went to investigate Woods Deep, and has not been heard from since. It is up to Lord Alex and who ever he can find to help him solve this mystery!

Other players may create characters at will, but they must be part of the church, a friend of Lord Alex, or trapped in Pinehall Keep's Dungeon.

If players belong to the church, they are part of the chivalric order called the Knights of Istar. They serve the Church of Istar, which has commanding power throughout the lands.  They are usually viewed as  a force of good, since they saved the world almost 2000 year ago from the Dark Sorcerer Kal and his hordes of undead, but they have since grown bloated and bureaucratic as the centuries rolled on.

For JADE's first attempt, Dave assumed the role of Lord Alex. Jeff played an Elf Mage named Toodles: who was sent by the elves to watch over Lord Alex from birth and ensure he grew up into a powerful man. The others will be introduced as our story unfolds.  

Toodles is an grumpy old elf.

Lord Alex and Toodles stood in the Great Hall of Pinehall Keep, admiring the place when a moaning from the dungeons disturbed them.

And so their adventure began.

Scene 1 Welcome to Pinehall Keep.

Lord Alex gave his first command of the game, and sent his guardian Toodles to the dungeons to investigate the cause of the commotion. Toodles, bowed and pulled the keys from his pocket. Normally he would have brought a few guards with him, but Lord Alex recently had to answer a call to arms from his king and most of his men-at-arms were away at battle. As Toodles hurried down the stairs, Lord Alex, in his second command decision, decreed that there would always be a goblet of wine by his throne. And so it was done.

A servant brought him a goblet, and Lord Alex sat in his throne drinking his wine and admired the banners of the nobleman who had held Pinehall Keep before him. There were dozens of banners, but his own was the largest, a gold griffin on a red standard.

It made him proud.

Scene 2 Toodles and the Thief.

Toodles went down into the dungeon and found two occupants: Mir (Wesley) a Thief who they had arrested for pick pocketing just that 3 days prior, and a crazed old man who was yelling at the tops of his lungs. They had caught the old man a week ago when he stole a sheep and he had barely stopped yelling since.

Mir begged Toodles to let him out, saying the madman was driving him insane and he was sorry for picking the townfolk's pockets. Toodles looked him up and down, and asked how he could help Lord Alex? 

What could this guy have to offer? Aside from the radical goatee.

Mir explained that he had been employed as a spy before, mainly passing messages secretly, and would be glad to offer himself into Lord Alex's service. 

Toodles agreed that sitting in the constant yelling of a madman for 3 days was punishment enough and that Mir may be useful to him, so he let him out and together they went to plead their case to Lord Alex.

Scene 3 The Mad Man in the Dungeons.

Toodles brought Mir before Lord Alex and said that the man had suffered enough, and the mad man's screaming was likely to inflict a similar affliction in any man who experienced it long enough. Mir could be of use to them, and needed justice to be done. Mir then respectfully apologized for his thieving and swore to serve Lord Alex in atonement. Lord Alex accepted his oath, and as command, as his first task, that Mir accompany Toodles back to the dungeon and either get the crazy man to talk about what disturbed him so, or bring him the Church of Istar and let them deal with his madness. Mir, who was still wearing his prisoner's rags, asked if he may have his leather armour and equipment back from the armoury before they proceeded. Toodles agreed and also retrieved his staff from the armoury as well: there was always the chance that the mad man would put up a fight.

Lord Alex immediately liked Mir. Funny how that all worked out.

Toodles attempted to speak with the madman, but was met with only mad gibberish about the end of the world and how they have to get out! Deciding to subdue him and bring him to the church, Mir tried to sneak around him and silently knock him out, but the prisoner saw him and his raging continued with a renewed vigor. 

Tired of this nonsense Toodles started to prepare a sleep spell, and Mir moved in and grabbed the man, managing to hold him against the bars just as Toodles' spell went off.  The crazed man slumped to the floor in a deep sleep, snoring lightly. They quickly chained him in shackles and called the servants to help carry the man out. As they brought him upstairs into the Great Hall, the crazed man awoke from the spell and began his screaming again. The servants were have trouble holding him, even in his chains, and Toodles went over a slapped him... Critical hit. The man went quiet and stopped moving. 

Believing they had knocked him unconscious, Toodles, Mir and the servants brought the mad man out of the castle and towards the Church of Istar in the small town of Wrenshire, where Lord Alex's keep lay.

Scene 4 A Trip to the Monastery.

As the group headed into towards the church, they passed through the town square where a robed man, shouting yet another prophecy of doom, interrupted their train of thought. Toodles decided there was more to the Doom Crier, and went to speak with him. Though the man hid his face under a tattered hood, Toodles saw that his skin was scarred and strange. Toodles assumed he was a leper, and was about to leave when the man when he stopped him and told Toodles:

  “From the Mountains of Darkness he rises to eat the souls of the living!” The world is warming, the dead will walk again!”

Before Toodles was able to ask more, the man broke down into sobs, and ran off. Mir, being a some what superstitions man, thought it a bad omen, but Toodles' curiosity was peaked. He began to asked everyone he came across if they knew anything; but each time was met either a resounding no, or whisperings of strange things happening in the woods. Rumours, nothing meaningful.

The two and their servants continued on their way to the church, arriving to find the doors guarded by paladins; not an unusual sight. It was more of symbolic gesture, harking back to the time when the Knights of Istar protected the world from the undead hordes by valiantly guarding their church's entrances, while the survivors hid inside. 

They asked the Paladins if they could deal with this man who was clearly a raving lunatic and the paladins, sworn to help those in need, agreed. However, when they took the man they discovered that he was dead! 

They weren't impressed.

The Paladins were not interested in questioning the servants of the lord about the man's death, and the paladins agreed to deal with the body and see to its burial by the church. Mir and Toodles thanked the paladins, and entered the church to see if they could gather any more information about the "end of the world". 

As they entered the church, they happened upon young priest giving his first sermon. They paid it no mind and started looking for someone to speak to. After learning the head of the church was the High Priestess, they attempted to gain an audience with her by badgering one of the priests. 

On the other side of the church a seasoned paladin stood, watching the two ask everyone they could about the seeing the High priestess. When they started harassing the priest, he had had enough. 

Sir Aaron Cormac. Dashing as ever.

Sir Aaron Cormac stepped forward and interrupted the party saying, they required a request from from Pinehall keep to see her, for she would only speak to those who were sanctioned Servants of the Lord. Lacking any proof of their service, Mir decided to run back to the castle and get some proof, while Toodles sat a listened to the sermon. It went as follows:

“Eons ago, The Evil Sorcerer Kal built the cursed city of Kalloc, an engine aligned with the realms of dark pagan gods long forgotten. With this power, he raised the bodies of the dead, and they did walk the earth. Deathless, the hordes could not be stopped and Kal brought the world into a shadow of suffering and wickedness. He robbed the world of many artifacts, studying them and storing them in a great vault, increasing his grip on the world with each passing day. Mighty Istar, blessed be, was traveling the heavens and saw the plight of the world. Istar was saddened by the suffering of mortals, and though it pained him so, he knew of only one way to stop the armies of the undead. Istar caused the World Shift. The continents spun in the oceans and reshaped themselves far to the North. Thousands died from cold and starvation, but the armies of the undead froze in their tracks. The City of Kalloc, lay trapped thousands of miles beyond the impassable Dark Mountains. Istar then warmed the earth just enough that man may survive and plant what menial crops we may, but cold enough that the undead stay frozen. A great effort was taken to rebury the armies of Kalloc, and so the land was cured. Praise be to Istar, Saviour of Mortals. May the cold never rest, and the dead rest in peace.”

Toodles complained that he had heard that one so many times before!

Meanwhile, Mir returned to the castle and found that this whole time, Lord Alex how been bedding maids and gorging himself on wine and spirits. With Lord Alex occupied with other things, Mir went to find the Steward of the Castle: Thomas Pintriarch, who's office, he learned, was at the back of the main hall. 

After a quick search, Mir found Thomas balancing accounts, and scribbling hurriedly with a quill on a long scroll. A stack of 20 gold coins stood beside him and for a moment Mir thought of how he could steal it, but decided against it and asked Thomas for some help.

It was more wealth then Mir had ever scene.

The steward was very busy and rather then listening to him, simply gave him a form of employment in Lord Alex's castle, which guaranteed him food, lodging and 15 silver pieces a month. Thomas then gave him a request to see the High Priestess form with Lord Alex's seal on it. Mir, excited with his new found fortune, ran off to his task as quickly as he could.

Mir arrived at the church, found Toodles and presented the form to Sir Aaron Cormac. The paladin was displeased, but escorted them to the High Priestess' chambers. upon entering, the holy woman bid that the paladin stay with them.

Toodles, did not think before he spoke, and treated the High Priestess with great disrespect; calling the High Priestess Elizabeth Adler, "Lizzie." Sir Aaron would not have any of this, and too teach the mage a lesson, he slapped him. 

Shocked, Toodles addressed the High Priestess again, without apologizing, and complained about the actions of the knight and Sir Aaron slapped him again.  The two started arguing, and the High Priestess commanded both of them to stop. 

What did the five fingers say to the face?

In atonement for his wrathful actions She command that Sir Aaron serve Toodles for the period of one week. Toodles then apologized for his tone and asked the priestess about the rumours of undead and doom he had heard. She told him that they were just the superstitious ramblings of peasants and not to worry. Toodles also asked if she knew anything about the town of Woods Deep, explaining that they had not heard from it in months. The High Priestess did not know anything, and hadn't even heard of Woods Deep. She then bid that they leave, and Sir Aaron followed grumbling in their wake.

Toodles and Mir decided to go back to the castle, but there was an incident on the way. Toodles began ordering Sir Aaron around like a slave, and the two start arguing with one another in the street.

Scene 5 A Disagreement in Town.

Mir, Toodles and Sir Aaron were just a hundred meters from the monastery when the conflict became heated. Sir Aaron stated that he would serve Toodles needs, but only if he is treated as an equal and Toodles insisted that he must do everything he said. They argued some more, and then Toodles threatened to Blind him, Mir, Sir Aaron and four peasants that overheard him were shocked... which requires an explanation....

-Now before I explain, I would like to say as DM I made mistake. In D&D 3.5 Blindness is necromancy spell, and is permanent. In 2nd Edition, Blind is an Illusion spell and can be lifted. However in the context of the events that preceded, Blind was treated as a Necromancy Spell and the events that followed used that thinking. Necromancy is not permitted in the Rin, as it almost destroyed the world 2000 years ago. I did not forbid Jeff's character from using it but I warned him to keep it quiet.-

Back in game, Sir Aaron accused Toodles of Necromancy, and they descend into another argument. The two drifted in and out of character  as they started to argue semantics. Seeing they were causing a scene, Mir ran off to get Lord Alex to help smooth things over, and found him in his chambers, exhausted from his activities. 

Mir explained what happened to Lord Alex, and the tired liege readied himself to go and deal with the situation. He got dressed, sheathed his sword, filled his cup of wine and then leisurely made his way to the scene of the argument.

By the time Lord Alex arrived a crowd had appeared around the two and everyone was cheering for the Knight of Istar to kill the heretic Toodles! Toodles tried to rally some support but had forgotten he challenged one the heroes of the land, a Knight of Istar: The people were not likely to side with him.

While the crowd looked on at the Mage and Paladin, Mir used the opportunity to pick some pockets, and made a few silver pieces. It was a risky move, but he made sure to always do it when Lord Alex's back was turned, and the nobleman never saw him do it. Once a thief always a thief.

The "incident" was a great embarrassment for both Lord Alex and the Church of Istar.

When Lord Alex finally arrived at the scene, he found the High Priestess  had also come from the church to see what the matter was. He met with her, and between them they agreed that Sir Aaron was freed from his servitude to Toodles since he had abused it, and that the two of them had to stay together and cooperate for 3 weeks. Toodles and Sir Aaron, not wanting to anger their masters, reluctantly agreed and slunk back to Pinehall Keep with Lord Alex and Mir.

Scene 6 The Justice of Lord Alex.

Lord Alex and the party returned to the great hall, and Lord Alex sat in his thrown, prepared to dispense his own justice on both Sir Aaron and Toodles. he had them approach, and slapped both of them.

He was mad.

Both of the men tried to avoid the slap and pulled away, but Lord Alex hit Sir Aaron while Toodles dodged though blow. Lord Alex became furious with Toodles for disrespecting him so, and banished him from the castle. Toodles considered attacking the lord, but thought better of it and turned and left. Lord Alex called out for him to take his paladin with him, and Sir Aaron ran after the disgraced wizard. 

The two stood grumbling for a time outside the keep's gate about the injustice of it all, but at least it was over for now.

Scene 7 Mir looks for Mercenaries. A Resolution.

After banishing Toodles and Sir Aaron, Lord Alex decided that he needed more men if he was going to investigate what happened to Sir Roland. he couldn't take his guards with him, with the rumours of evil in the woods the town could very well riot if he removed what few men he had left in Wrenshire. Having only one loyal servant that wasn't an NPC, Lord Alex turned to the recently released thief Mir, and asked him to go find some mercenaries. 

Mir agreed and ran off in search of help. On his way he passed Toodles and Sir Aaron, who were still arguing out front of the keep. Mir told them to "smarten up cause Lord Alex was pissed", and and then continued to the village on his task.

In town, Mir spoke to the tavern owner, who commented on the crazy robed man yelling about "The end of the world" in the town square. he felt that Lord Alex should lock his kind up and throw away the key. Mir uncomfortably laughed it off, and gave the man the Thieves Cant Whistle hoping he was a potential contract. The Bartender didn't recognize it.

He was a simple man.

Seeing the place was empty, Mir asked the barkeeper if he knew of any mercenaries in the area. The Barkeeper didn't know anyone personally, but commented that the blacksmith might. Mir thanked him and then sought the village blacksmith.  

He found the funny man who ran the village blacksmith, but he normally repaired mundane items and made horse shoes, he didn't know of any fighters other then the guards at Lord Alex's Castle. Having found another dead end, Mir returned to the Castle and told Lord Alex the bad news. Lord Alex was disappointed but understood; most mercenaries would be out at the war between South and North Fray, just like most of his castle guard. 

Mir also told him that Toodles and Sir Aaron were still arguing out front. Sighing, Lord Alex bid Mir accompany him, and he went out to talk with them. After some time, Sir Aaron and Toodles were able to work out an agreement between them, and each apologized to the other. They would put past differences aside and move on. However Lord Alex wanted one final act of retribution. He commanded Mir to slap both of them. Sir Aaron took the blow, and Toodles foolishly risked dodging the blow, but in an act, made it look like he was struck. With that the party resolved to go to bed for the evening and continue with their quest the next day.

Scene 8 Night and Day in Pinehall Keep.

Since it was his first night, Mir was assigned a bed chamber and shown the way to it by Toodles. As Mir entered the room, he was awed: a bed, a dresser a small desk and chair and dressing screen with a wash basin. Never before had he seen such finery. He dove into bed and slept better then he had in his whole life.  Things were really looking up! 

From a prison to a room in a keep. Not bad for a day's work.

Lord Alex returned to his chamber and slept alone that night. But Toodles on the other hand did not get as much peace. With the intention of following his orders properly, Sir Aaron decided that he was going to sleep in the same room as Toodles...Toodles would not have that. During the night he sneaked out and slept in a smaller chamber by himself, earning a moments peace while the paladin snored.

Scene 9 The Morning. Preparations for Travel.

The following morning, Mir woke up and followed his nose to the second floor. A great breakfast had been laid out and he began to fill his pockets and devour the food before him. 

It had been a while since Mir had a proper meal.

While Mir ate, Sir Aaron had gotten up and was standing watch at the stairs on the fifth floor where He and Toodles slept. He could not find Toodles when he woke up and was hoping that he would return. 

Meanwhile, in his chamber, Toodles awoke, and managed to open his door with Sir Aaron seeing him. Wanting to avoid the knight, he cast an Invisibility Spell on himself and slipped by Sir Aaron without him noticing. Feeling hungry, Toodles then headed to the Second floor to get breakfast. He passed Mir on his way down who was bringing a plate of food up for Lord Alex, hoping to curry favour.

In the dinning room,  Toodles ate a meager breakfast and decided he need to go and speak to the High Priestess again and clear things up... Perhaps after a good night's sleep the old man's conscious got the better of him and he felt the need to apologize. Or perhaps it was a political move. Either way, With that he left the Keep and headed into town.

Lord Alex Arose and went down to the second floor to eat his breakfast, meeting Mir along the way. He thanked him for the plate of food he was bringing him, and asked if he would summon Toodles to the dining room.  Mir took the opportunity to poke around the castle and explore his new home, wandering corridors and looking in every unlocked room. He found Sir Aaron waiting patiently on the fifth floor, and arranged to have some food sent up to him. Mir then looked in each of the chambers, and found Toodles' staff. He considered keeping it, but thought better and gave it to Sir Aaron for safe keeping.

Deciding to explore further, Mir made his way to the top of the keep, where a previous and eccentric Lord had built a fabulous library almost 200 years ago. Mir had never seen a book and was overwhelmed with the shear value of the place. He grabbed a book from the shelf and found it in a language he couldn't read. He pulled another book off the shelf, this time grabbing a collection of children stories that he recognized from his own childhood. He pocketed the book and returned to find Lord Alex, hoping to have a chance to read it later.

All the Books.

While Lord Alex ate, Sir Aaron waited and Mir wandered, Toodles had made his way to the church and waited for a full two hours to speak with the High Priestess. When he was summoned before her, he was humble and gracious and apologized profusely for his conduct. He also asked some measure of privacy from Sir Aaron. The High Priestess smiled and accepts his apology, giving him a written order to the Paladin letting them sleep in separate chambers. She also mentioned that she looked into Woods Deep and had granted Lord Alex and his party papers to travel to Greengate and then to Woods Deep.  She explained that it would stop any Knights of Istar from harassing their armed party.

Toodles thanked the High Priestess and returned to find Lord Alex well into his morning combat exercises. Toodles watched his liege for a while, and realized that his heart wasn't in it. The grounds were empty and his he missed his friend Sir Roland who he spared with almost every morning. 

Toodles presented notes from the High Priestess, and Lord Alex's mood immediately improved. Toodles smiled as his liege excitedly called to ready for an expedition! He summon Mir and Sir Aaron, meeting both of them in the armoury and planned out what supplies they required. 

Sir Aaron returned to the church to gather his supplies, and Toodles, who did not need to prepare his armour, retrieved his staff and decided to head into town again, seeking anything that may be of use. Mir, wanted to go go into town as well, and after slipping on his armour asked if there was anything he could do. Lord Alex thought about it for a moment and asked Mir to find a Bard: he desired music for his journey. Thankful for the adventure, Mir set out to find such a preformer.

Scene 10 Exploring Wrenshire.

A quaint village with a wonky perspective.

Sir Aaron arrived at the church and headed to the armourer to receive his equipment. He was given a backpack, A blanket, rations for 6 days travel and and 10 silver coins. However the bureaucratic nature of the Knights of Istar meant that Sir Aaron would be tied up in paper work for the next few hours, giving the rest of the party time to scheme.

On the other side of town, Toodles had gone to the chemists shop looking for anything he considered "interesting". On his way, he bumped into a minotaur who was just leaving the shop. Minotaurs are not uncommon in Rin, but knowing that he was the only Minotaur in town, Toodles asked where he was going. The Minotaur he explained he just came from the chemists shop and sold him all of his Minotaurian Pipe Weed. He was pleased with himself and preparing to take the long journey home to the Minotaur Isles. Toodles then asked him about the rumours of the undead and the Minotaur laughed! He was looking forward to battle, but doubted the rumours were true.

Luckily most Minotaurs in Rin are friendly.

Toodles thanked the man, and entered the chemists shop. The powerful smell of the Pipe Weed filled there air and he quickly bought a pouch for 2gp. With that he began to look through the merchandise in the shop.

Meanwhile, In the center of town, Mir had made his way back to the tavern in search of a Bard. The place was empty again, but wanting to explore every option Mir asked the bartender if he could sing. The man claimed he could whistle a little bit, and then proceeded to whistle the most amazing tune Mir had ever heard. Mir convinced the bartender to come back to Pinehall Keep, where he presented him to Lord Alex. 

Newly named Henry McJason was a little overwhelmed to say the least.

Ignoring the man's name, Lord Alex insisted on calling him Henry McJason.  It turned out that all Henry McJason could do was whistle a tune, but Lord decided to keep him and gave him arms and armour for the trip, commanding that he join them. Without having much choice, the newly christened Henry McJason agreed and followed Mir to the armoury. 

Mir dressed him in fine clothes and armed him with a long sword so that he looked the part of the Bard, and then had him go whistle for Lord Alex.

Wait a second.. isn't that the old Cyrano De Bergerac from Elementia Games 1-5?

After leaving Henry McJason entertaining Lord Alex, Mir went to find Toodles at the Chemists shop, only to walk in on him buying a laxative. While Sir Aaron was doing paper work (and Elijah was out of the room), Mir and Toodles hatched a plot to prank Sir Aaron by slipping him a laxative. To further this scheme, Mir took some apples he had gathered at breakfast and went to the baker, and paid him to make an apple pie: Fruit is a rarity in this frigid land land a surely Sir Aaron could not resist a tasty slice.

Mir and Toodles then returned to Pinehall Keep, and had the stable boy  ready the horses. Sir Aaron had returned, and the party all shared a slice of Pie, except Sir Aaron. He refused a slice feeling noble for doing so. Good thing they didn't put the laxative in yet.

With provisions, bed rolls, horses, and the party assembled, the group finally set out to discover the fate of Sir Roland and Woods Deep.

Scene 11 The Trip to Greengate.

Deep Woods lay four days away from Wrenshire on foot. After two days  they would pass through the Church of Istar controlled town of Greengate. 

By taking the horses, the players need only travel for 12 hours until they reached Greengate. However they left late in the day: around noon, and six hours into their trip the sun light started to waver. As dusk approached, they encountered three men standing in front of a bridge spanning a wide river. They hailed the party as the approached and explained that it would cost them 2gp to cross: This was their bridge and that was the toll. 

Damn bandits.

Sir Aaron protested but the men said they had 20 others waiting in the woods on the other side of the river waiting to attack if they did not pay. The party talked it over and decided they could afford the 2gp so they paid it and moved on. Mir tried to steal the gold back but failed, and then he began our quote of the evening. Mir commented that, "at least we got past the stupid thieves." 

I (The DM) pointed out that they "gave them what they wanted." so who was really stupid? 

Lord Alex over heared this conversation and exclaimed "wait we didn't have to pay them!?" He had forgotten the land was his to command! And the noble party was robbed by peasants. Classic.

The group traveled an hour further and then decided to camp for the night. Sir Aaron and Henry McJason volunteered to take watch in four hour shifts for the evening while the others rested.

Just before everyone went to bed, Mir offered Sir Aaron another slice of Pie, but this time he had slipped in the laxative while Sir Aaron was tending to the horses. Sir Aaron, totally unaware of his fate, accepted the pie, but then said he would give it to someone in need. Mir acted offended, bluffing the Paladin into keeping the pie, but he resided to eat it for breakfast the following morning. Mir shrugged and went to his bed roll.

True to his word, Sir Aaron awoke and ate the slice of pie the next day. An hour later his stomach was upset, but he pushed on with the group and after a couple more hours of Riding the players saw the walled city of Greengate. 

Greengate: Property of the Knights of Istar.

Although in the middle of Lord Alex's territory, He had no authority in the city, as it was gifted to the Knights of Istar in ages past for their heroic deeds. They would need to be on their best behaviour.  

Upon entering Greengate, they were greeted by a Knight of Istar Porter, who informed them that High Cleric Alan Hiedrich, Abbot of The Guardian's Monastery wanted to see them at 10 o'clock the following morning. Lord Alex sneered and said he would see him, but at a time of his choosing. The porter bowed, and told him he would deliver his message.
 
The group left the gate and started to explore the town, but they all wanted to go different ways. Lord Alex decided that everyone could go off where they chose, and that they would meet in front of the monastery when they were finished. So, Mir, Lord Alex and Henry McJason went to the Market, and Toodles and Sir Aaron went to the Archmage's Tower.

The party did forget to tie up their horses, but everybody gets one.

Scene 12 Toodles and the Archmage. Sir Aaron Cormac and the John.

On the way to the Archmage's Tower, Sir Aaron's stomach went haywire and he ran into a tavern across the street to use the toilet, which kept him occupied for 25 minutes. During this time, Toodles went to the Archmage's tower. The Steward of the Tower, Harold Hensworth, noticed Toodles looking around and was about to kick him out, but then he saw Toodle's mage robes, and he changed his demeanor to a helpful one. He agreed to take Toodles to speak with the Archmage, Grython Padarian. 

Up winding stairs they went, passing the different departments in the building. Harold explained that the Archmage ran a school around his tower and these were some of their classrooms and administrative offices. When Toodles and Harold Hensworth arrived in the Archmage's study, Toodles over heared a conversation between the Archmage and one of the High Elf Seers. The two mentioned something about a creature coming from Wrenshire soon, and that the mage's didn't know what was causing the darkness in the woods, but something evil was coming, and the future was uncertain. The pair then noticed Toodles, and excused himself, mentioning that he would be staying in Royal Badger Inn.

Toodles was very impressed with the Archmage.

The Archmage then spoke with Toodles, who about the rumours of undead and darkness. He said there was something there but he didn't know what it was. This was the first confirmation of the coming darkness that Toodles was able to discover. In the midst of denial he finally got a small slice of the truth. The mages knew something was there, but they knew not what.

After speaking to the Archmage, Toodles tried to enroll in his school, knowing it would grant him access to the libraries of spells that Padarian was rumoured to own. He was directed to the enrollment office, but found there was a problem. A spell had gone wrong and was producing endless amounts of paper! Since Toodles didn't know a Dispel Spell, he was unable to help and thus the admittance office would remain closed for 2 weeks. Disappointed, but not wanting to let the usefulness of a school of wizards go to waste, Toodles then tried to find someone to make him some potions. 

After a brief search, he found a student in a chemistry class, and asked if he knew how to make Cure Light Wounds potions. The Student claimed he did and that he sell them to Toodles for 30gp each. Toodles bargained the student down to 15gp and commissioned him to produce five potions. Buying potions from a novice was a risky move, but they needed all the help they could get.

During this time, Sir Aaron had been on the John in the tavern, failing constitution check after constitution check, as the laxative worked through his system. Finally he passed his check, left bathroom and entered the tavern with the intention of thanking the owner. When he entered the main room, he found it thick with smoke. He hadn't noticed when he entered, but he had run into a Minotaur Bar. 

Not where he expected to be.

He coughed on the smoke from the minotaurian pipe weed being smoked at almost every table, and the whole bar laughed at him! To gain their trust Sir Aaron decided to have not one, but two of the tavern's powerful Minotaurian Wines. He passed both constitutions checks, and though very drunk, he remained standing. Feeling he should get going, he ate some dried shrimp (a common Minotaurian snack), and then headed over to the Monastery to wait for the rest of the party.

Scene 13 Lord Alex and Mir's Trip to the Market.

Mir went to the market ahead of Lord Alex to scout the place out. He saw dozens of shops with items he had never seen before, but he also saw the Knights of Istar roaming the streets keeping an eye on things. Stealing anything would be very difficult her. He looked around for anyone of note, and noticed a quiet man leaning against a post holding a tent up. Mir approached him and said "hello." The man greeted him, and whistled Mir a little tune. Mir didn't recognize it a simply said nice song. He missed a the call of the Thieves Cant and the quiet man told him to buzz off.

Lord Alex entered the market and quickly found some Cure Light Wounds Potions, buying 4 for 80gp.  He also bought a small cast of wine (holds 6 bottles) and asked Mir to carry it. The thief bowed and slung into his pack.

Toodles met up with Lord Alex and Mir and they headed towards the monastery.

And that was where they left off.

Conclusion

Everyone is beginning to realise that Sir Roland's and the fate of Woods Deep has something to do with the darkness in the forest. The drak mountains stand menacingly in the distance, and if the dark sorcerer Kal were to rise, Woods Deep, Greengate, and Wrenshire would be the first to fall.

Will Lord Alex and his companions find Sir Roland? Or will they succumb to their differences and infighting?