Events of the Outpost:
1: Arrived in outpost territory. Jack split from the party shortly before to celebrate his birth day somewhere.
2: Rumors about the orc sightings appear to be true. The black scar orcs appear to have been kidnapping and butchering everything they could find.
3: Something about the butchered victims doesn’t seem to add up. They appear clean, precise, and surgical in nature. The limbs are severed far too cleanly. I don’t think all the killings are orcs.
4: Well, I had my apprehensions about visiting the outpost around this time of the year, and it appears as to the reasons I eluded to earlier have been popping up in discussion. Around these parts, locals tend to know that the veil becomes abnormally thin around this time of the year. Fairies, spirits, and all manner of wicked beings are said to stir. This is true anywhere in the kingdom, but as a friend of mine once explained to me, there are certain areas in this world where the boundaries between realms are a little more worn than others. And the ridges and valleys around outpost 2319 just tend to be a little more so. Keep that in mind, for the events I write about might hold more superstition than fact. I have a history here after all.
5: While hanging around outside and conversing with an adventurer who appeared to be a little too green for the profession, a strange girl approached Edmond and gave him a box. She said “Nice Try” and ran off. I have a bad feeling about this. This is the sort of thing bandits tend to do when they are trying to present a warning.
6: I was right. Bandits. There was a bloody garment inside the box. Apparently they have Tret’s wife captive. We rounded up the adventurers present and marched on them.
7: They’re taken care of. I don’t know what bandit group this was though, and its kinda bothering me.
8: There is a goblin eating with me… They all flooded into the tavern, goblins, orcs, kobolds, and similar monsters, and none of the locals appear to be alarmed. Things have sure changed since I left the region.
9: Okay, so apparently under Knight-Captain Venedas, three years ago, the kingdom managed to form a loose peace and trade treaty with the various tribes in the region. The kingdom now treats these creatures as though they were like citizens and allies. There is some sort of psychic link between the captain and the other tribe chieftains, but I don’t really understand it, so why write about it?
10: Flesh Golems have been severing limbs from adventurers. They apparently use these limbs to craft more fowl abominations. I hate this time of the year.
11: Given their actions, I think the bandits appear to have an agenda. Again though, I’m having trouble separating what groups are what. It’s making it really hard to track down Jack’s Crown.
12: It’s the next day. A group of abnormally sized goblins has strolled into town looking for what someone claims are allegedly mana gems. It sounds like they’ve been eating them. These goblins however don’t appear to be from the tribe that the kingdom has affiliations with. So, guess we’ll keep an eye on them.
13: Whelp. They attacked. We brought them down, only to discover a journal on one of them.
14: Notes from the journal are as followed. It is written from several creation deities points of views. In the order mentioned;
“Koba” Created the goblins.
“Gabroth” a mage who claims he created the elves.
“Dageo” claims to have created the dwarves.
Aelish” settled down with critters.
And the last thing written in the notebook is “Haha, me found, me take book”
An adventurer named Sargon, the Wind of the North, a death touched that appears to be a 10 year old boy, thinks the figure is reincarnating, and appears to loose intelligence every time he creates a race. Xile the chronomancer senses great time magic emanating from the journal. I just don’t know what to think of the journal. It appears expensive, so it’s too expensive to be a prank, but I don’t think it’s rooted in fact whatsoever. Then again, theology was never really of much interest to me.
15: We got a message from the Black Scar Orcs. They claim they have our “Great Warrior, Malakai”, and are demanding an absurd amount of ransom for him. Several of the more experienced adventurers set out in other directions leaving Sorrow and the rest of us to assemble and try to confront them.
16: Oof, that battle didn’t go so well. They tore into our formations, capturing several more people. Others have been routed into the woods and surrounding fields. Think I’m going to try to stay and get as many people out as possible.
17: Managed to cut one free, then saw Audin getting chased in the woods by three more. I ran in to split them up and give him a chance to escape, then lost the orcs and met back up with him. While I’m not quite even with Runvar having saved me in the past, least I could help the Vulcan Tribe Chief. It goes a little way to repaying the debt I owe them from Marshfield.
18: Well, this whole hostage situation is turning into quite the mess, huh? Think I’m going to sneak in. Keep a hidden weapon on me in case I get captured. This is probably the dumbest thing I can do, but hell. Someone’s gotta do it. I’m no rogue, but stealth something I know a thing or two about.
19: At the side of the building. I’m only a few feet away from getting Daland out of there. Damn it, I just need a distraction to keep them from looking this way. If only someone could launch a quick attack… Screw it, I’m going in there. They could come around the corner at any moment.
20: Okay, now that I have my journal back, and I am alive, it’s time to break down what happened, so that I don’t do anything stupid like that again. So I got halfway to Daland when several of them casually cast passing glances in my direction all at once. The orcs immediately set on me. I managed to cut the armor clad adventurer free, but the orcs didn’t give him a chance to stand. Spears and arrows immediately were hurled in our direction, and the captive was not in any condition to endure the hits. They chased me around the corner. I almost got away, but I was flanked from the front between two spear wielders. When I awakened, I found that even my hidden short-sword had been taken. I was tied and bound, with Malakai, Sargon, and Daland. The orcs conversed about what to do since it appeared that we were abandoned by our comrades. They started conversing about killing us. Heck, they even cut off one adventure’s hands and threw him out into the wilds. Just as it appeared to be our end, we heard chanting from the direction of the outpost. Sorrow soon teleported behind me as the rest of the orcs left to meet them. He did something to take control of one of the guards and had it attack the other… Shit, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him do this, I know what he did. In any case, once the prisoners were cut free, and the orcs dispatched, we ventured deeper into the cave to get our things, along with various other treasures that were looted by the orcs. The Blackscar Orcs have only been in these parts for about a year, and they sure as hell have been making a lot of waves.
21: Tried to dig into the bandit activity again, once things cooled off. The more I learn about them, the less convinced I am that they are bandits. Don’t get me wrong, Clinkenbeard, you know the stock I came from, and you know that there are bandits out there who commit unspeakable atrocities. But those types generally don’t last very long, even out in remote areas like here. Added to that, bandits of such destructive nature generally have an identity strongly tied to them and their actions. They want people to know who they are, and that they’re a name to be feared. These bandits though? I don’t see any names associated to them. They appear to be bandits on the surface, doing what bandits traditionally do. Loot, pillage, and kill when needed, but there’s just something very… Off about the way they do it. I don’t see any Vandersnitches or Galloway Boys. No Caerwhich gang or Crimson Arrow Mercs. None of the groups that used to be in the area. Just… Bandits. Nameless cells that appear in large quantities, but appear to have no history, or understanding. They don’t negotiate or use their numbers to threaten you into submission, they just attack first, throwing their bodies at armed men, and loot later if they’re lucky enough to survive. No bandit group I’ve ever encountered has ever lasted very long when doing the things they are, because it draws too much attention. The trick to a successful operation is to fly under the kingdom’s watch, shake up the areas surrounding the area (So as not to reap where you sew) just long enough, and leave as quietly as you came. Even in areas where authority are as weak as this. It’s like… Well, it’s almost like we’re dealing with death cultists or some other group that doesn’t mind letting people think they’re just common bandits. Anyways, I might be overthinking this here…
22: So I teamed up with Malakai’s party to investigate a ghost in the area. When we arrived to a burnt down church, we witnessed three spirits. Two chasing one who appeared to be distressed. Well, the undead hunters made very short work of the two assailing spirits, and we managed to calm the distressed spirit. Allegedly its name was Casper. And as thanks for us saving it, Casper will now be haunting the outpost and offer healing to any adventurers who need it.
23: So there have been sightings of troggs in the area that are greater than normal troggs. I write this because a group of adventurers claim they have just found a cave where these troggs are allegedly being made. Maybe I should have a look later.
24: Well, no time for that. The Kobolds are being attacked by the Black Scar orcs, and we’re being called upon to help defend the kingdom’s allies.
25: I uh… Just had a front row seat to something… Out of the ordinary. So while rushing to the Kobold Team Leader’s aid as he battled an onslaught of enemy orcs, the Team Leader suddenly erupted into flame, and engulfed the area a pillar of what I’m told was Phoenix fire. Luckily someone ran up behind my charred carcass to restore what little life was still lingering in it, or I’d be greeting the reaper. The Team Leader began attacking orcs, kobolds, tree ents, and us indiscriminately, before settling out of the rage. Looking confused and bewildered, he took off into the forests. The Kobolds elected a makeshift team leader. Man, I need a drink. And I gotta rethink my occupational choices for a bit.
26: Foogin trogs are attackin.. Bastard round back made eye contact… Need to beat him up and restore confidence and honor or whatever. -the stains of a drink have appeared to make their way smudging the rest-
27: Teamed up with a group of freelance adventurers for a bit to do some questing. We encountered a scream in the woods that appeared to be a woman getting attacked by more of these “bandits”. They had severed one of her arms, and taken a piece of jewelry from her. I’m just glad we had someone present who could regrow limbs.
28: I noticed something out in the woods that seemed a little off. So I split from the group from a brief moment to investigate. And wouldn’t you know it? The entire ground began to sink beneath me and fill with water! Good thing I’m not too heavily armored, and able to swim. Anyways, those of us with less cumbersome equipment managed to investigate the sink hole, and found a tunnel that led deeper into an enclosed area. What we found appeared to be a hideaway of some sort, which meant there had to be some treasure laying about. As we turned the corner, we found a chest. Figuring it had to be traps, we opted to bring it back to the surface. And upon investigation, and careful opening, no traps had sprung. Though peering into the chest, we did confirm that there was indeed a trap. Carefully, as daylight began to die overhead, the coins and gems were meticulously removed. We left the chest there, opened with the trap still stringed, then ventured away to get to an area with more ambient light so that we may divide the loot. Nice to know that somethings never change in this lawless land. It’s nostalgic.
29: Uh… Yeah. The party found a glowing Jack-o’-lantern in the woods. And despite our better judgements, we decided to interact with it. Remember what I said wrote earlier about the thinning of the veils? Yeah, well… We ended up somewhere unholy and unnatural. And before we could get a chance to examine our surroundings, a group of skeletons shambled in our direction, baring weapons, and hatred for the living that had trespassed in their realm. Keeping a strong formation, we managed to fight them off of us, and snag a victory, before once again, things shifted around us. Now we stood outside of a dwelling of some sort with a note telling us to knock. A man wearing a mask came out and gave us… Sweets. We found ourselves back home afterwards… I really hate this time of the year.
30: We discovered a tunnel with loud drumming. It got too loud for me to even bare, but those who continued on claimed that the drumming was actually a Kobold mining operation, where in they were trying to get iron to mass produce weapons to fight the growing Black Scar Orc threat.
31: Just as things started to unwind for the night, something attacked us. A being that people have been calling “The Butcher” descended upon us with an army of flesh golems. Well, we fought them back, but the Butcher, unperturbed, bid farewell, and vanished. Promising to return once the veils had thinned again or something like that. I really, really hate this time of the year.
Anyways, I think I will take a break from the adventuring for a season. Just contact me in April. I think I’ll be around the area of Baronswell by then.
Adventure Quest Log:
1: Personal | Incomplete- Investigate the slave trade for clues or information that would be helpful to Sir Francis’ band or the Vulcan Barbarian tribe.
2: Personal: Incomplete- Investigate the bandit scene and find Jack’s crown.
3: Mod | Complete- Investigate the ghost
4: Mod | Complete- Save Malakai
5: Personal | Complete- Escape from Orcish captivity
6: Personal | Complete- Get my stuff from the cave.
7: Mod | Complete- Investigate the scream.
8: Mod | Complete- The ground beneath me caved in.
9: Mod | Complete- Investigate the pumpkin.
10: Mod | Failed- Investigate the drums.
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