The Troupe have escaped Bone Hill Castle via the tunnels underneath. They have defeated the Wraith and prevented an invasion of Restenford. But it came at the cost of Viconia’s life. Now they must return to Restenford, to the temple, so they can bring Viconia’s soul back to the Material Plane.
13 Flamerule 1368
Now we have escaped the caves we can get Viconia the help she needs. It was morning when we got out; and it takes us the whole day to get back to Restenford’s walls. Before we can get inside we are attacked by a lone skeleton archer.
One of the Wraith’s remaining minions? Perhaps it is following its last order after we destroyed the Wraith. Mur’Neth destroys the skeleton with a bullet and we move on.
We get inside the walls and make our way to the abbey. Almon charges us 800 gold to raise Viconia.
Now that we are all alive, we return to Falco’s Tavern to rest once again.
14 Flamerule 1368
The next morning Viconia heals herself back to full strength, and I take a look at the Tome we found in Bone Hill Castle. After resting, I am able to use the Weave to Identify it.
It’s a fascinating Tome, giving me insight into the nature of intelligence itself. After I finish reading it the words fade from the pages, but they remain clear in my mind.
Now our main character is a mage with 18 Intelligence! Now it’s time to look into increasing our Wisdom as well.
Xan can also use the Weave as I do, so he offers to look at Viconia’s armour. He uncovers its use as the armour of griffin riders.
Before we go to Pelltar, we remember that Zahrdahl wanted any gossip about the town. He’s just south of the Tavern, so we pay him a visit.
Rose: You asked us if we had some gossip.
Zahrdahl: Oh yeah? Well, watcha got?
Rose: When we searched for the gnolls, we found they had been under the control of an Ogre Mage. That explains why they were better organised for their attacks.
When we went out to Bone Hill, we found a wizard leading a band of hobgoblins. He had joined with a wraith and together they had planned to attack Restenford with their combined army.
When we searched for the bandits, we found orcs out on Bald Hill. They had some merchant wagons stashed in a cave.
Zahrdahl: Oh boy, this is great stuff. Thanks.
Rose: I figured you would like that information. I will return when I have more gossip.
Zahrdahl: When you find out more information, please let me know. It would be, uh, good gossip and I can’t always make it up to Falco’s Tavern when my leg flares up.
Rose: Okay, we will let you know.
This was actually three different conversations, one for each thing Rose says. I edited it down to avoid too much repetition.
We decide it’s a good time to re-equip our party. We go to the store to see what they have to offer.
Smyth doesn’t have anything we want right now, but while we are trading I realise I know what some of the gems we have are. The green ones are definitely emeralds. I had suspected they were, but now I could tell by their intense colour and the lack of sparkle.
Others have a more intense sparkle and must be diamonds. These are very valuable gems.
I can’t identify any of the other unknown gems, but at least we know the value of some of them. Since we don’t need any of the weapons Smyth is selling, we go downstairs to see what armour Alton is selling.
I decide to buy a new helmet that should provide me with extra defense against various effects.
I also purchase some boots that should help me against stray arrows that could interrupt my spellcasting.
Once we leave Restenford I’ll be replacing all characters except for Rose, so I don’t want to buy equipment for them right now.
It’s almost time to see Pelltar. But there is still an area left unexplored to the north. When we went to the north toward Bald Hill, we passed by another area known as the Thief’s Den. With a name like that, there must be something around. Given all the troubles we’ve resolved here, why not try and fix one more?
We take our equipment and we travel to the north. After a few hours we find ourselves in a wooded area. Viconia complains that her eyes are hurting again.
We move closer to a river and find a makeshift bridge going across it. An orc archer stands guard here.
Of course, our orc friend is not alone.
Fabio gets the kill. It’s knocked to the mud before Viconia can get close.
Reinforcements come from the other side of the bridge. They must be guarding both sides. One of them turns their bow toward Xan.
We take it out before our Elven Enchanter is hit. We don’t want any more deaths before we get off this island.
That doesn’t prevent the orcs sticking an arrow in me, unfortunately.
We give it a few arrows in return.
Fabio finishes the fight, almost knocking the orc off the bridge.
Before we do anything, I force the arrow through and heal myself.
Mur’Neth says that they have learned a lot from this battle.
They get increased Death and Wand saving throws, +1 to THAC0, an increased backstab multiplier, 8 extra Hit Points, and 3 more Lore. I put their skill points into Find Traps, increasing it by 15 points. With 11 THAC0, they should be pretty good at both backstabbing and disarming traps now.
The orcs have scrolls on them as usual, scrolls of Disintegrate, Banishment, Tenser’s Transformation, and Acid Fog. I pack them into my scroll case while Viconia moves their bows and armour into the Bag of Holding.
We cross the bridge and, sure enough, there are more orcs guarding this side.
Viconia takes an axe to her back. She looks hurt, there’s a good chance she could die again if we don’t finish things quickly.
Xan sets the orc priest on fire with one of his Arrows of Flame.
I Silence the priest so it can’t call upon it’s god for help any more.
Then I finish the job with my sling.
Viconia heals herself before she draws on the orc warrior.
Cat takes care of the orc as Viconia finishes her spell.
Their supporting archer is the last to fall.
Among their equipment we find a zircon gem and a couple of valuable rings. The priest was wearing something that looks like a mage robe.
The archer was using Arrows of Ice, and carries both an iol gem and a moonstone gem. The moonstone’s unearthly glow is said to cure lycanthropy.
Fabio says that fighting with us has given him more stories to impress the ladies.
His Spells saving throw is improved by 1, he gets 4 additional level 2 mage spells, 9 more Hit Points, and 4 extra Lore.
He also remembers some stories that helps him identify a lot of our equipment. The bullets we carry bring the power of the sun on anything they hit.
The amulet Viconia carries protects her by creating an invisible shield.
Some of the bolts that we carry are laced with poison.
While others hold the power of lightning.
He remembers that some of the arrows we have a coating of acid.
We search the area beyond the bridge but can’t find what the orcs were protecting. Perhaps the bridge was an important route for the bandits on Bald Hill.
Going back across the bridge we continue our search for a short while. As we move through the sparse woods we see a large wyvern charging toward us.
Viconia and Cat move in to keep it busy, and I launch a barrage of Magic Missiles.
The wyvern bites down on Viconia and stings her with its spiny tail. She utters a prayer to Shar as she stumbles back bloody and barely breathing.
She’s able to pull herself together with a Potion of Extra Healing, but it doesn’t give Xan any more confidence.
Xan starts uses his Wand of Magic Missiles to throw barrages of damage at the wyvern.
I attempt to bring Corellon’s Curse upon the wyvern, as Viconia is nearly killed once again. She retreats from the wyvern before it can hit her again.
The Curse takes hold and Viconia manages to heal herself again. The wyvern is covered in burns, bruises, and blood. It is near death.
Fabio’s bullet strikes true, and the wyvern collapses on Cat. He crawls out from under a wing and shakes himself off.
We just killed a wyvern. This is deserving of a trophy, so we remove its head before we carry on in our exploration.
It isn’t long before we come across a reason the wyvern was aggressive. Its children were nearby.
We don’t want to take any chances. Viconia summons the might of Shar. I prepare to launch Melf’s Fiery Missiles. Xan uses his Wand of Fire to conjure a Fireball.
Mur’Neth uses its Ring of Energy and a column of flames rips through the baby wyverns.
Xan’s Fireball explodes right in-between the wyverns.
Fabio proves his strength once again by breaking one of the wyvern’s neck.
The wyverns get closer…
One of them dies of too many arrows and bolts in its body.
Cat leaps on the final baby wyvern and proves how deadly small cats can be.
These wyverns are too young for trophies so we leave the corpses for nature to take care of. Soon Rose spots a human bandit and is quick on the draw.
The bandit wasn’t alone. They seem to have been camping with the orc bandits. Are they working together?
Rose finishes the orc off. We search their bolt-ridden bodies, but find nothing but basic arms and armour.
They aren’t the only bandits here. Mur’Neth is the one to quick draw this time.
It’s not long before we find more wyverns. Luckily these are young as well.
We’re more confident fighting them now so we just assault them head on.
It’s not long before all three of the wyverns perish.
There are more orc bandits hiding in these woods.
We do our thing, and I attempt to scare them.
Two of the orcs are Horrified enough to run from the fight.
We tear the two remaining orcs to pieces. The others were right to be scared.
A third orc is unable to run away fast enough. Once again Fabio’s skills with the sling end the fight.
The archer was using enchanted arrows. Xan is quick to grab hold of them.
As well as a few Arrows of Ice. One of the orcs has a Scroll of Shocking Grasp. I attempt to copy it to my spellbook and fail.
I guess 18 Intelligence still isn’t high enough…
We go hunting for the orc that got away. Rose spots it.
Mur’Neth kills it.
It has more enchanted arrows and Arrows of Ice, as well as another Scroll of Shocking Grasp. I still fail to write this one to my spell book.
We find another bridge across the river. On the other side we encounter more young wyverns. Xan opens with his Wand of Fire.
I use the Weave’s Battering Ram to knock one of the wyverns unconscious.
It goes flying back and Viconia engages in close with the other two. Xan starts with his Wand of Magic Missiles once again.
I summon a Chromatic Orb…
…but Mur’Neth kills the wyvern before the Orb hits.
The unconscious wyvern wakes up and rejoins the fight.
If it was still alive it would have regretted that decision.
We focus on the remaining wyvern. Viconia is hurt and I rush in to heal her.
Mur’Neth’s lightning bolt kills the beast.
We search the area for some time after this. We don’t find any more bandits or wyverns nearby. We may not have killed them all, but this area is a lot safer. It’s time to return to Restenford. Again.
