The Exploits of Heroes Guild

This is an account of some of the quests and campaigns involving a dedicated group of Realm of Strife play testers known collectively as Heroes Guild (as documented by Guild Archivist Creedon Roth)

Some quests/adventures may be missing or lacking details
Most recent quests listed at top of page

The War for the Tindermoot

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Summary

The War for the Tindermoot was a period of intense violence and upheaval in the otherwise peaceful and idyllic farmlands of the Tindermoot. During this conflict the Black Dragonflight and their Ogremage servants invaded in force from their lair in the nearby Belsath Canyon. One by one they subjugated Halfling communities and rounded up prisoners. While at first their motives were unclear, it was eventually discovered that under the orders of the Black Dragon Lord Zenastracon, the dragon flight and its allies were using the raw fear of the Halflings they subjugated throughout their campaign to open a gateway into the Void. In doing so they were able to transport large quantities of troops from Belsath canyon into the conflict, ever expanding their presence in the Tindermoot. However, in so they very nearly brought about the doom of all Norlanin. For the Void gate drew the attention of a powerful and malevolent being known only as the Maw of the Void, who sought to devour their entire world.

Having had previous skirmishes with the Black Dragons and their minions,it did n take long for Heroes Guild to join the fight. Throughout the war they fought tirelessly against the Black Dragonflight, defending settlements throughout the Tindermoot and turning a tidy profit at the same time. At times it cost them heavily, even claiming the lives of several Guild members. Both sides wielded powerful magicks which eventually drew the Royal Order of Archons into the fray as well, committing significant forces into a renewed Crusade to purge the evils of unrestrained magic from Norlanin.

The conflict evolved into a three faction war, all fought within the Tindermoot. In the end both Heroes Guild and the Archons forces were required to achieve victory. With the arrival of the Herald of the Void, a halfling said to have once been a hero of this world but now in servitude to the Void, it became clear that their was a greater evil work than even the Black Dragonflight itself. The Void Gates had to be destroyed to forestall the end of the their world. But even facing this dire threat, Heroes Guild and the Archons could not put aside their rivalry. The two factions instead devised independent plans to simultaneously attack both terminals of the Void Gate, each attempting to collapse theates before they could cause irreparable damage to the world.

Heroes Guild fought their way into the Black Dragon’s lair in Belsath canyon, defeating the Den Mother of the Black Dragon’s and destroying her clutch of eggs. Their final goal was to place an enchanted device at the foot of the Belsath Void Gate that would cause a massive explosion of Light energy, destroying the gate and nullifying its powers. While within the lair of the dragons they came to blows with a force of Archons whom had similar intent but refused to work alongside Heroes Guild, believing their careless use of magic to be part of what drew the Void to this world. Heroes Guild prevailed and was able to place the device. In a daring move, they chased Lord Zenastracon through the gate, transporting themselves through the Void to arrive ont eh other end of the gateway in the subjugated Halfling town of Pearl. There they witnessed the final moments of a large force of Archons, defeated at the hands of Lord Zenastracon. Though they defeated the Lord of the Black Dragonflight, the victory was hollow for the Herald of the Void arrived and called its master through the gateway.

Word reached their ears that the Archons had rallied their remaining forces and were making a final push towards the Void Gate with a powerful Holy Relic called the Casket of Reformation, which they believed could absorb the energies of the Void Gate and cause it to implode. Despite their differences Heroes Guild ordered its own forces, now all located in Pearl, to clear a path for the Archons. In the end, on that final battlefield, it was Heroes Guild that held the Void at bay while the Archons unleashed the power of the Casket of Reformation to destroy the void gate and send the Maw of the Void and it’s Herald back to their own realm.

In the wake of the Void Gate collapsing in Pearl, the power of Black Dragonflight was broken. With their leaders slain and their allies abandoning them, what remained of their forces scattered in all directions. While some managed to evade capture and slink away into the dark depths of the underworld, most were cut down by local forces as the Halfling Tinderwatch was finally able to release its limited supply of soldiers from their defense of their capital. A tentative peace was declared between Heroes Guild and the Royal Order of Archons, for their forces were to weakened to continue the conflict. Boarding there ships they returned home to Leonen to rebuild. Meanwhile Heroes Guild returned to their own home in the Northeast of the Tindermoot, only to discover a refugee city had sprung up around their camp. But with no homes to return to the refugees asked to remain, and before long a new City-State was formed; Eleutheria, the City of Guilds.

Epilogue

Final Showdown

GM: Robert Gray (Main Event), Jaydon Kutryk (North Flank), Hannes Thiessen (South Flank), Chester Gueib (Vanguard)
Date Played: December 6th, 2015
Main Event: Brodash, Basmoric, Creedon, Pippy, Avner
Vanguard: Lolinder, Theomir, Githroy, Kyiden
North Flank: Hebro, Haieruf, Abolish, Wapakalypse
South Flank: Falathrin, Turgon, Dander, Gilliad

• Commander Brodash and his allies set the Light Bomb at the base of the Belsath Void Gate, however they cannot set the detonator until the receive word from PEarl that the other VOid Gate is soon to be destroyed. So they can do little else but wait. Eventually Pippy’s communication device receives a message from Hebro, saying that the Archons fought their way to the square where the Void Gate stands and that they had deployed the Casket of Reformation. However before they could open it the Void Gate came alive and a large force of Drakonids and Drakes came through. The Archons fought to defend the Casket and almost turned the tide of battle. That is until one final figure came thorugh the Void Gate, a strange looking Elf, who called himself Lord Zenastracon. His shadow magic tore through the Archons lines like paper. The Archons held their ground to the last man. Though he did what he could to aid them, Hebro made the decision to abandon the Archons in order to relay the failure of their mission to Heroes Guild in the hopes that they could somehow salvage the situation. He reports that the Archons have gathered what remains of their beleaguered forces and are attempting to mount another assault. However the path to the town square where the Void Gate is located is over run by Black Dragon Flight forces, and it is believed that Lord Zenastracon remains in the square, torturing the defeated Archons for his pleasure. Heroes Guild forces are holed up in an abandoned warehouse, awaiting orders. While the Archons still refuse to join forces, perhaps Heroes Guild can clear a path for them.
• Brodash orders his forces to split up into three groups. The Vanguard, under the command of Lolinder, is tasked with punching a hole through the Black Dragon Flights forces, thereby clearing a path for the Archons to reach the square. Gilliad is given command of second group which will protect the South Flank of the Archons advance, while Haieruf will command a thirdgroupto protect the North Flank of the Archons. The ultimate goal is to assist the Archons in reaching the square as quickly as possible, without directly interacting with them and risking further unnecessary and costly conflicts between Heroes Guild and the Royal Order of Archons. The final order issued by Commander Bordash before the communication device goes silent, is for Avner to fly to the town square and wait for Brodash, Pippy, Creedon, and Basmoric to travel to Pearl through the Void Gate to deal with Lord Zenastracon.
• Unsure of what will happen if they attempt to travel through the Void gate, they must risk it all. For even if the rest of Heroes Guild’s forces can clear a path for the Archons, the Lord of the Black Dragon Flight would make quick work of them. Pippy sets the detonator on the Light Bomb for a short delay, and then they step into the Void Gate. The journey to Pearl is almost instantaneous, however while traversing the Void, the Heroes catch glimpses of unfathomable horrors. Each of their bodies is flushed with VOid energy, and though most of them are able to resist its effects Basmoric emerges from the otherside touched by the Void.
• There is little time to comprehend what they have just witnessed, for when Brodash and company arrive through the Void Gate, Lord Zenastracon is still in the square, in elven form, torturing the battered body of a High Templar. As soon as they arrive however he kills the Templar and turns to face his new “play things”. Powerful though he may be, Lord Zenastracon proves to be vastly overconfident, fading into Shadows and choosing to enslave Pippy to do his bidding rather than attack directly. It is a grave error on his part, for with the arrival of Avner, he now faces the combined might of some of Heroes Guild heaviest hitters. Thinking himself safe from their attacks, Zenastracon is surprised to discover that Pippy’s tiny companion, a sprite of no consequence, is able to dispel the shadows he has hidden himself in, this overlooked threat shatters the Black Dragons battle strategy and he pays dearly for it. The Heroes are able to destroy Zenastracon before he can even transform back into his true form. Thinking the battle is won, the Heroes move to secure the square for the arrival of the Archons. But before they can do so, an unnatural darkness veils the sun, and without warning the Herald of the Void materializes at the foot of the Void Gate.
• He regretfully informs the Heroes, that while he did what he could to intervene and prevent the Void from casting its gaze upon this world, he is ultimately a servant of Void, bound to its will. Now that the Belsath gate has been destroyed, there is an open conduit directly connected into the void. So long as the Pearl Void Gate gate remains intact, the Void is now free to unleash unimaginable horrors upon this world. The fear and despair that these denizens of the void will cause will be but the beginning of the end, an end more terrible that you are even capable of comprehending. This has ever been the mission of the Heralds of the Void. Though he knows it will be the doom of a world he once fought to save, he cannot allow this void gate to be destroyed. His void tattoos flare to life and he blinks out of existence only to reappear directly behind Brodash, plunging his void blades into Brodash’s back. Before Brodash can even react the Herald blinks out of existence once again, this time appearing behind Basmoric. As Brodash lunges forward to intercept the Herald and prevent him from striking the unsuspecting Basmoric, the ground around Bordash erupts with Shadow energy which sears his flesh even as he lets loose a volley arrows from his bow. While the razor sharp arrows hit their mark, the Herald of the Void seems unperturbed, his tattoos seeming to deflect the arrows as sure as the thickest plate armor.
• As the Heroes struggle to adapt to the Herald’s unpredictable assault and discover some weakness they can exploit, the Void Gate begins to blast bolts of dark energy at random. Where each bolt strikes the ground there is an explosion and in its wake creatures of the Void appear. Turning their attention from their futile attacks against the Herald of the Void, they instead attack the creatures spilling out of the Void Gate. While they seem to be able to dispatch them quickly enough, the rate at which they come pouring out seems to quicken. Soon the battlefield is swarming with Shadow Beasts, Void Spiders, Seven-headed Shadow Hydras, and Void Terrors.
• While the officers of Heros Guild fight this desperate battle against what seems to be an unending wave of Void creatures, the rest of Heroes Guild wages their own war against the Black Dragonflight and their Ogre-mage allies, who have completely over-run the entire town. The Vanguard of Heroes Guild meets incredible resistance as they attempt to clear the road ahead of the Archon advance. Despite Lolinder’s clever ploy to incite the Drakonids against the Ogres, the street is soon thick with foes, and Githroy finds himself near death after engaging what he though to be a group of Drakonid Dark Spawn, but what turned out to be their duplicitous explosive shadows. To their credit, the Vanguard slays ten times their number before some of the enemy slips past them to assault the Archons directly.
• Even then, those forces which evaded the Vanguard were greatly weakened and likely would not have delayed the Archons at all had not the South Flank faltered at precisely the same moment. Though they fought fiercely, with the aid of numerous beasts called to the battlefield by the enigmatic monk Turgon, they could not destroy a group of Drakonid Enslavers before they rushed past and joined the assault on the Archon advance with their allies. Though the Archons were able to best the wounded enemies that slipped past Heroes Guild, it was enough to delay them. Not once, but twice. For the South Flank also proved ill equipped to deal with a trio of Triclops earlier in the battle. The Triclops’ rushed passed the Heroes Guild battle lines along the South Flank, a blur of whirling tridents and rage, as if somehow guided to the true prize of the vulnerable Archon force. Though their forces were small in number, the Archons unwavering faith sustained them, and they eventually brought down the bestial Ogre aberrations.
• Of the three forces arranged by Heroes Guild, only the North Flank held true. There, under the courageous leadership of Haieruf, the Ronin Samurai, not a single foe escape their grip. Throughout their desperate push towards the town square, the Archons were never once harried by foes from the North. Much credit for this had to given to the tireless efforts of the Wapakalypse the Battlemage, whose frost hydras were said to rain icy death down from every roof top along the Northern flank of the Archons advance.
• The truth of the matter was simple. Without the efforts of Heroes guild pressing forward as the Vanguard, and defending both flanks, the Archons would have never reached the square alive. None the less, the two delays to their advance were costly.For though the rest of Heroes Guild could not have known, during those precious moments of lost time their officers were fighting a losing a battle to hold back the unending swarm of void creatures spilling through the gate. By the time the Vanguard broke though to the town square, the Archon advance was right on their heels. So to did Heroes Guild’s forces from the North and South flank arrive at nearly the same moment. The scene that greeted them in the town square was one of utter hopelessness.
• On the far side of the square the Void Gate crackled with unstable energies, sending wild bolts of Void Lightning shooting out in all directions. All around the very ground seemed to crawl with shadows. Packs of shadow beasts rampaged about in a frenzy, while Shadow hydras filled the sky with bolts of dark magic, skittering about every corner of the square were Void Spiders with thick shadowy ichor dripping from their mandibles, and most terrify of them all the Void Horrors towered above all else in a mass of writhing tentacles and unspeakable terror. And there, surrounded by eternal darkness on all sides were four brave heroes.
• Unaware of the arrival of their allies and believing there to be no hope for victory, still the four Heroes fought on. See the transcript of the final moments of the battle
• Transcript of the Final Moments of the Battle

Concluding Missions

• With Heroes Guild now in position to execute their plan for the near simultaneous destruction of both the Pearl and Belsath Void Gates, everything hinges on the success of Lolinders diplomatic mission to Redtree. When word arrives from him by letter, delivered on the wings of the Great Eagles, it becomes apparent that the Royal Order of Archons still sees Heroes guild as a threat. However they also seem to recognize that the Void Gates pose the larger threat for the time being. They have informed Lolinder that they will indeed move on Pearl, with or without assistance from the High Elves, landing their ships in the harbour and fighting their way to the Void gate with a Casket of Reformation. They believe as Heroes Guild does, that the Casket should be able to drain enough power from the Void Gate to cause it to implode. They have other plans for the Belsath Gate, however they are not willing to share any information. They strongly suggest to Lolinder that Heroes Guild should stay out of their way.
• Heroes Guild must divide their forces to address several missions of critical importance:

Into the Dragon’s Lair

GM: Robert Gray
Date Range Played: November 21st to 29th, 2015
Characters Present: Brodash, Basmoric, Creedon, Pippy

• Brodash, Basmoric, Creedon, and Pippy make preparations to enter the Dragon’s Lair, believing that a small but powerful task force will have the highest chance of success. Upon completion of the Light Bomb they will begin their final quest.
• Once inside, the Dragon’s Lair proves to be sparsely guarded though the Heroes do dispatch of patrol of Black Wyrms with ease. The fiercest opposition they encounter turns out to not be agents of the Black Dragon Flight, but rather the Royal Order of Archons. As it turns out the group of Archons that passed close by Heroes Camp during Week12 of the campaign were alse in search of the Black Dragon’s Lair. They have found their own way into the Dragon’s Lair, sending a small but extremely powerful task force to escort a being known as The Subjugator (an advanced form of Archon Abolisher) who they believe could absorb the power of the Belsath Void gate in a similar fashion to the Casket of Reformation. When the two groups cross path, High Templar Andus the Blessed demands that Heroes Guild leaves immediately so that the Archons can fulfill their mission. Commander Brodash refuses, but offers to stay out of their way. This is unacceptable to the High Templar, who instead orders his Crusaders to attack and unleashes the power of the Subjugator upon Heroes Guild. The heroes are victorious, though upon slaying the Subjugator there is a massive explosion of the vast quantities of spirit energy that it absorbed during the battle, claiming the life of one of Lolinder’s trained raptors (one of the only things that could damage the Subjugator).
• Heroes Guild was forced to retreat back to their camp after the battle in order to rest and recuperate. The next day they reentered the Dragon’s Lair only to discover that the bodies of the slain Archons had been dragged off. They followed the trail deeper into the lair, eventually reaching a junction in the tunnel, with three possible routes to follow. Pippy uses her Focusing Crystals to detect that the largest concentration of Void energy seems to be coming from the tunnel straight ahead. They decided to leave this tunnel for last, and instead take the tunnel where the drag marks from the Archons bodies seemed to lead. In this tunnel they ran into a large group of Brood Slaves, all chained together, and seeming to be going about the business of serving their masters. Pippy’s Arcane Torrents made quick work of them, and beyond they discover a large chamber full of Black Dragon Eggs. The Archons bodies are piled here, likely intended to be the first meal for the hungry whelps upon hatching. Heroes Guild wastes no time, not wishing to have to deal with any whelps, Pippy once again unleashes her arcane torrents and destroys the eggs before they can hatch.
• Moving on, Heroes Guild takes a the second tunnel and before long find themselves in another chamber filled with eggs. However this one also appears to be the living quarters of Yaelostracon, Matriarch of the Black Dragon flight, consort of Lord Zenastracon. She can smell the destruction of her eggs from the other chamber upon the Heroes and becomes enraged, attacking with a combination of Dark magic and dragon breath. Soon the eggs within this chamber begin to hatch and the heroes are quickly overwhelmed by whelps. Pippy and Brodash are forced to turn the efforts upon the whelps, allowing Yaelostracon to rain shadowy death down upon them. But eventually the Heroes overcome the whelps and turn their attention back upon the Dragon, slaying her and and any smashing any remaining eggs before they can hatch. In one violent and bloody day, the Black Dragon Flight is dealt a death blow for generations of Black Dragons to come. After harvesting as many Dragon scales as possible and claiming a powerful Onyx amulet she wore around her neck, Heroes Guild moves on to the final tunnel.
• This tunnel leads to a massive steel vault door, guarded by two Drakonid Destroyers. Thought hey fight fiercely to defend the vault, they are no match for the mightiest among the ranks of Heroes Guild. Casting aside their ruined forms, Heroes Guild discovers the vault is locked. The lock, seems to be built to allow only a full grown Dragon holding the Onyx amulet to open it. This does not deter the heroes, they simply return to the corpse of the fallen Black Dragon Matrirach, hacking off her hand and using it and the amulet to open the door.
• Inside the vault they at last discover the Belsath Void Gate. As they rush into the room they see several Black Drake tails disappear into the swirling energy at the mouth of the portal. It would seem that the last of the Black Dragon Flights forces have gone through the Void Gate. The only one remaining in the room, is a sinister looking elf with draconic features, who stops at the last moment before stepping into the Void Gate. He addresses the Heroes, expressing anger at the fact that they have slain his consort and his children, but claiming that his revenge can wait, as he has a country to overrun. He knows they have come to destroy the gate, but cares not, claiming that with the death of his mate and the destruction of their eggs the lair has been emptied and the full might of his armies are now assembled in Pearl, awaiting his arrival. As his parting remark as he steps into the Void Gate, he taunts the Heroes telling them to follow him through the gate if they dare.

Charge of the Stoneguard

GM: Dan King
Date Played: November 29th, 2015
Characters Present: Falathrin, Wapakalypse, Turgin, Abolish, Theomir, Githroy

• Theomir’s diplomatic mission was successful. The High Elves of Solastaris have begun mobilizing for war, and their navy has moved into position to attack Pearl and establish a beachhead for the Archon forces to land their Casket of Reformation. However Theomir arrives back in Evengrass, exhausted from his travels, relaying a disheartening message. The Black Dragon Flight seems to have been expecting the High Elves to intervene at some point and as soon as they saw the ships taking up battle formations they began shifting the significant portions of their army westwards to fortify the docks, even going so far as to preemptively attack the elven ships from the air. Already several ships lie in ruins. If something isn’t done to draw at least some of their attention back towards the east the Elven navy may be decimated before the Archons even arrive. With the Guilds resources stretched thin it falls to the Stoneguard to take action.
• The valiant charge of the Stoneguard has the desired effect, drawing a group of high profile black drakes away from the docks to deal them. The battle very nearly costs the lives of several members of Stoneguard, but at the last moment they are able to run clear of an engorged Drake before it explodes with void energy.
• In the aftermath of the battle Sir Falathrin sends his loyal squire back to Heroes Camp with the wagon train and Stoneguard presses in towards Pearl. Using the temporary hole in the Black Dragon Flights lines they are able to steal into the town to rendezvous with their allies in the hopes of further assisting in the destruction of the Void Gate.

A Hand Off in Granville

GM: Chester Guieb (Granville) and Jaydon Kutryk (Escorting Hebro)
Date Range Played: November 29th to December 1st, 2015
Characters Present: Haieruf, Gilliad, Dander, Hebro, Kyiden, Lolinder, Avner

• With Brodash, Basmoric, Creedon, and Pippy set to take the Light Bomb into the Dragon’s Liar upon its completion, it falls to Avner to transport Pippy’s magical communication device to Granville, where it will be given to the Holy Monk Hebro. With the less than cooperative response from the Royal Order of Archons, it is imperative that Hebro finds his way to Redtree with the device hidden on his person. Once in the midst of the Archons, the Holy Monk is likely the only member of Heroes Guild who can convince the Archons to accept him into their fold so that he can travel with them and use the communication device at the precise moment that the Archons unleash the Casket of Reformation upon the Pearl Void Gate. It is a sizeable gamble on many fronts, yet it remains the best hope for Heroes Guild.
• Avner is able to transport the device without any interference, and upon arriving safely in Granville he tests the device to ensure that it will function of long distances. He manages to contact Pippy, however she informs him to instruct Hebro to minimize its use. It device is only a prototype and it would be best not over use it. Just as the conversation is concluding, Lolinder arrives unexpectedly in Granville. He warns that a Black Dragon Flight raiding party is on its way to Granville, a group of Void Touched Wyrms and Whelps led by a Drake and rider. They must ensure that the Black Dragon Flight remains ignorant of any of Heroes Guilds plans. Hebro is ordered to depart immediately, but who will accompany him to ensure his safe arrival in Archon controlled territory?
• It is decided that Hebro, Gilliad and Dander will escort Hebro to the Archon’s base of power in Redtree while Lolinder, Avner, and Kyiden remain behind to deal with the incoming Black Dragon raiders. They make quick work of their foe, slaying them all before they can discover Hebro’s secret mission.
• Meanwhile, Hebro and his escort push deep into Archon territory but are eventually halted by a group of Archon scouts, clearly not friendly despite the current circumstances. With little warning they attack. Hebro seizes the opportunity to gain the Archons trust by turning on his friends at a key moment in battle, using his considerabel Holy powers to save one of the Archons from a certain death. Unaware of the plan forming in Hebro’s mind, Haieruf retaliates with full force against the dishonorable traitor, realizing the truth of Hebros plan only after only after the battle very nearly turns deadly. Finally realizing that Hebro is using this battle to trick the Archosn into trusting him so taht he can smuggle the magical communication device into their midst, the rest of Heroes guild stages a tactical retreat, falling back to Granville to rejoin Lolinder, Avner, and Kyiden and awaiting further news.
• Upon his arrival in Redtree, Hebro offers his services as a healer to the Archons as they mobilize their forces. They load their vessels with their remaining troops, as well as a Casket of Reformation, and set sail to rendezvous with the High Elven navy who are fighting fiercely to establish a beach head for the Archon invasion force.
• A great eagles scout brings word to Granville that the Archons have set sail, with Hebro in their company. Avner and Lolinder gather their forces and sneak into Pearl undercover of darkness, where they meet up with the Stoneguard in an abandoned warehouse. There they await further orders, sending Lolinder and Kyiden to scout the area for intel on troop movements.

Week 12: Final Offensive

GMs: Robert Gray, Chester Guieb
Date Range Played: October 21th – November 10th, 2015

• With the dire warning of the Herald of the Void at the forefront of the Guild Officers minds, talk has begun of planning a final offensive. However it is no small feat. Kellin’s recent report, which he very nearly carried to the grave, claims that the Black Dragon and Ogres forces in Pearl are now the size of a large army, and that they are preparing to unleash a full scale invasion to conquer and enslave the Tindermoot once and for all. The Black Dragons are likely expecting an attack on Pearl and breaking through their army to reach the gate will be a costly effort, requiring as many guild resources as can possibly be spared.
• As the Guild officers debate the issue they are taken off guard by the reappearance of the Herald of the Void, whose mysterious powers seem to have allowed him to enter the pocket dimension where the Guilds inner head quarters are located, very much uninvited. He claims his time is brief, and even as he begins speaking the Void tattoos on his body flare to life as if trying to stop him, wracking his body with agonizing pain. Despite this be tells the officers that he believes Void Gate can be destroyed by either hitting it with a massive amount of opposing power, causing it to explode, or draining it of all its power at once, causing it to implode. However, he warns that even if they can break through the enemy lines and destroy the Void Gate in Pearl, there is an identical Void Gate paired to it, located somewhere in Belsath Canyon. Destroying only one of the gates will establish a lose conduit into the Void realm, releasing untold horrors upon the world until the other end can be closed. To prevent this, both gates must be destroyed within a short time span. Before they can ask him any further questions, he is pulled away again by his Void tattoos.
• Meanwhile, reports come in from the Great Eagle scouts. In addition to continued prisoner convoys being sent to Pearl from all their holdings, the Black Dragons have launched a counter attack against Evengrass, sending an occupation force to attempt to retake the town and secure more prisoners. At the same time, they send a raiding party to harass Heroes Guild in their newly acquired settlement of Granville. Another occupation force also seems poised to over take the Archon foragers that dislodged the Black Dragon Flight from Panelda.
• To make matters worse, reports also arrive from some friends in the Tinderwatch, that an Archon Garrison was seen passing through Newhearth City, heading along the road towards Heroes Guild’s unprotected settlements in the east. Other reports on Archon troop movements claim that a Garrison has been sent against Ardum. Whether intentional or not, this is a boon to Heroes Guild as it is likely the reason the Black Dragon Flight could not commit more forces to their attack on Granville.

• Following the brief appearance of the Herald of the Void, the officers were locked in debate within their hidden meeting hall, leaving the defense of their newly acquired settlements to lower ranking members of the Guild. Many ideas were passed around but every one of them seemed to have a fatal flaw. Despite the Guilds vast experience in combat, stealth, diplomacy, and even magic, they still lacked the knowledge of the inner workings of the Black Dragon Flights Void Gates. That is until the ever-cheerful Gnome mage Pippy staggered into the room, exhausted from having just completed her Mastermage test via the guilds mysterious communication stone. While the test took place in her mind her body too showed signs of the ordeal, grievous wounds soaking her robes in blood. Creedon was quick to rise to her assistance, doing what he could to stop the bleeding, but quickly realizing that the wounds were self-inflicted. The newly titled Mastermage had driven two large crystals into her own body, which she explained were from her supply of focusing crystals, a key element in her research for the Volanthian Colleges of Magic. Her masters at the College, realizing the great peril that the Black Dragon Flight had unleashed upon all of Norlanin, knew that they must act quickly to assist Heroes Guild in any way possible. However, even their great powers have limits and being so far from the theater of war they could not act directly to aid the Guild. Instead they granted the wisdom of two of their own Mastermages, one from the Light College and one from the Dark College. Both were familiar with Pippy’s research into the focusing Crystals and their unusually ability to extend the consciousness and reach of practitioners of the Spiritual arts, and combined with the power of the Communication Stone they were able to temporarily channel their minds through the crystals. However they needed a body to speak through, and so Pippy took it upon herself to drive the crystals into her own flesh. With three brilliant minds in one body, each a master of one of the three facets of Arcane powers, they were able to provide a solution to the key shortcomings of the Guilds plans.
• The Guild officers distilled the issue down to four key obstacles that must be overcome:
  1. How do they destroy the gates? With the aid of the mages they determined that a magical Light Bomb would likely hit a Void Gate with enough opposing power to cause it to explode. However, a Light Bomb of this magnitude would require significant prep time and would be highly destructive, meaning only one could be made and in order to prevent the co lateral damage of wiping out most of Pearl in the blast, this solution would only be suitable for the Void Gate hidden in Belsath Canyon. The Light Bomb would need to be placed at the foot of the gate, no small feat given that they don’t know the exact location of the Belsath Void Gate and the bomb is not exactly portable enough to be wandering around the canyon with. Therefore the Guild decides that they will first find the Black Dragon Flight’s lair (the most likely hiding place for the Void Gate), establish a camp close by where they can construct the bomb, then store it in a Matchless Containing enchant so that a single guild member could place the bomb if necessary. This only covers one of the gates, and the Herald of the Void insisted that both must be destroyed to prevent a loose conduit into the Void from unleashing unspeakable horrors upon the land. To that end, Basmoric and Avner both relay their experiences with what the Royal Order of Archons refer to as a Casket of Reformation, a powerful relic with the ability to drain the Spirit from people and objects. They hypothesize that one of these Caskets could drain or nullify the power from the Void Gate in Pearl, causing it to implode, destroying the gate without putting all of Pearl at risk. However the Guild does not have access to a Casket of Reformation, and even if they could “acquire” one from the Archons, they would have no idea how to operate it. Despite their past animosity towards one another, the Officers quickly realize that they may have to find a way to enlist the aid of the Royal Order of Archons. This is a tall order, and one entrusted to the Guilds diplomat, the Elven Swashbuckler Lolinder. Setting aside any of his equipment that bears the “taint of magic” he sets out to the Archons base of Operations in the Tindermoot, the port-town of Red Tree. There he must convince the Archons to move on the Pearl Void gate, if not working together, then at least staying out of each other’s way long enough to see the gate destroyed. Having done their best to tackle this first obstacle they move on to the second.
  2. How do they ensure that the gates are destroyed within a short time of one another? While some at first suggest that someone could carry the Light Bomb into the Void conduit and detonate it somewhere in between the two Gates, the idea is quickly dismissed as both too dangerous and also far too uncertain of success. No one, not even the Dark Mastermage speaking through one of the Crystals embedded in Pippy’s body, can speak to what the conditions would be like inside the Void Conduit or if it would even be possible to detonate the bomb, to say nothing of any adverse effects of passing through the Void. However, the simple fact that the mages are able to speak to the Guild over such large distances through the magical properties of the crystals gives Brodash an idea. Perhaps Pippy can engineer a magical device that pairs together a set of focusing crystals to allow communication from Void Gates at the same time. She admits that in theory it might be possible and that given enough time she could figure out a way to make it work, but time is short and any device that she creates will be a prototype at best. Compared to the inherit risk and uncertain of their previous idea, the officers decide they have little choice but to hedge their bets on Pippy’s Gnomish ingenuity. Of course that means that one of the highly magical crystal devices will have to find its way to Pearl in order to time the destruction of the gates. The Archons would surely not allow such a device in their midst, meaning one or agents of Heroes Guild will have to smuggle it into Pearl without the Archons knowing about it. This brings them to the next obstacle.
  3. How do they get past the Black Dragon Flight army that is guarding Pearl? Even if Lolinder can convince the Archons to bring a Casket of Reformation to the Void Gate in Pearl, and even if someone can sneak a magical device under the noses of a Paladin Order with an innate sense of detecting the “spirit-taint”, there is a large army protecting Pearl. An army that, according to the latest intel, includes numerous fully grown Black Dragons and several high ranking Drakonid officers. It is apparent that if the Archons, and whatever Guild forces that will be included in the assault, are to have any hope of breaking through to the Void gate, they must find a way to deal with adult Black Dragons and Drakonid officers stationed in Pearl. Coupled with their earlier plans hinging upon finding the Dragons Lair the Guild realizes that splitting their forces leaves them too weak on both sides. The Officers decide that the best course of action would be to send the bulk of their forces not to Pearl, but rather to Belsath Canyon. The hope is that a build of enemy forces on their doorstep, led by the Heroes Guild Officers themselves, will force the Black Dragon Flight to pull some of their own champions back through the Void Gate to defend their lair. This would in turn leave the army stationed at Pearl without the necessarily officers and champions to lead it effectively. Even if this plan is successful however, breaking through the army in a frontal assault is likely hopeless, for if the Archons truly had the forces to defeat the Black Dragons head on, they would likely have already done so. Some among the Guild remember that when they were forces to evacuate Pearl earlier on in the campaign, it was the Solastaris Navy that came to their aid an allowed their escape from the docks. The High Elves claimed their Shogun had given strict orders that they were not to become entangled in someone else’s war, only acting to defend themselves if the Black Dragons pushed further west towards High Elven lands. However those very lands were a gift from the Halflings of the Tindermoot to the High Elves when they arrived decades earlier as refugees from an unknown foreign land. Surely the friendship they pledged to the Halflings could be leverage din these dire times. If the High Elves truly knew the atrocities that the Black Dragons were committing against their friends in the Tindermoot, and the dire threat proclaimed by the Herald of the Void, surely they could be convinced to assist in establishing a beach head from which the smaller Archon forces could land their ships and off load a Casket of Reformation. Once again Heroes Guild would have to play the role of diplomat, sending their own High Elven Runeweaver Theomir on a dangerous mission, crossing through Black Dragon Flight controlled territory to make contact with the Solastaris Navy. Meanwhile the Guilds forces in Belsath canyon would play a dual role, both weakening the Black Dragon Flight army in pearl, but also addressing the fourth and final obstacle.
  4. How do they locate the Void Gate in Belsath Canyon? While it is assumed that the Black Dragons would have the Void Gate stationed somewhere near their primary source of reinforcements, likely being the very lair of the breeding pair leading the dragon flight, even if this were true it would only be the first step in locating the Void Gate. Once the Dragons Lair is discovered it could still be a challenge to find their way through the maze of winding tunnels that worm their way through the walls of Belsath Canyon. The Guild believe that with assistance from their Ogre allies from the Bloodyfist Tribe who know the Canyon better than anyone, as well as the keen eyesight and aerial surveying capabilities of their Great Eagle allies, that the lair can be located. Those same allies, would then assist the Guild officers in a frontal assault on whatever forces guard the entrance to the Dragons Lair, thus providing the desired diversion for those preparing to attack Pearl. After that it would fall to either Avner or Pippy to accompany a small elite Heroes Guild force into the Dragons Lair, using a focusing crystal to extend the range of their magical senses to detect what could only be the enormous spiritual signature of the Void Gate.
• While each of the Officers was quick to admit that their plan was an audacious one, a gamble of epic proportions, these are dire times and it falls to Heroes Guild to risk it all to forestall the Void from devouring their world. With their course of action laid out, the officers are quick to act. Lolinder departs immediately on his mission to convince the Archons that they must attack Pearl and assuring them that when the time comes the Black Dragon Flights army will be in disarray and the Elven Navy will be standing ready to assist them. The brave diplomat also sends word to Theomir of his mission, before turning his Great Eagle southwards towards what is sure to be a hostile reception in Red Tree. Meanwhile Commander Brodash, leads Basmoric, Avner, and Pippy on to Belsath Canyon to rendezvous with the Great Eagles and begin scouring the Canyon for evidence of the Black Dragons Lair. As an Honorary member of the Bloodyfist Ogre tribe, it falls to Creedon to lead Overlord Bloody Fist and his ogre tribe on foot to Belsath Canyon, to begin their own search.
• The two groups eventually converge on a well-fortified Ogre camp belonging to the Bonemelter Tribe. The Bloodyfist Ogres recognize the banner of one of their rival tribes, but claim that the banners have all been dyed jet black. Surely these Ogres are servants of the Black Dragon Flight. Their camp has been arrayed in concentric rings of defense, with only one narrow pathway right down the middle of the camp, leading to a massive cave opening. The Ogres have clearly been tasked with defending the cave from any threat, and the Guild prepares to attack what can only be the entrance to the Black Dragons Lair. The plan is simple. Though vastly out number, the Bloodyfist Ogres will charge the fortifications of their foes. Under normal circumstances it would be a death sentence for the Bloodyfist Ogres, but unlike any Ogre tribe before them, these Ogres will be assisted by Great Eagle allies. The Great Eagles will fall upon the Bone Melters Ogremages and Besiegers, allowing the Bloodyfist Ogres to rush into close combat where they excel, with minimal casualties. Meanwhile Brodash, Basmoric, Avner, Pippy, and Creedon, the most powerful members of Heroes Guild all in one place at the same time, will rush Overlord Dentogg Bonemelter and the shield wall he has arrayed across the opening of cave. Even with two besiegers by his side (one of which is felled by a diminutive Brownie with smallsword before being crushed beneath its massive corpse) and his wall of steel clad Ogre Soldiers, Dentogg is no match for the best and the brightest of Heroes Guild. They fall quickly to the torrents of arcane magic, relentless bolts of lightning, and precision strikes from thrown against them. Once the officers wipe the blood from their blades (or drink it in Creedon’s case), they turn to see if they should assist their Ogre and Great Eagle allies. However it seems unnecessary, the battle is soon to me won, that is until a deep voices rumbles from within the cave, “You dare assault the Lair of the Black Dragon Flight! You so called Heroes will die upon my blade, just as you did when we chased you out of Pearl like the insects you are.”
• This challenge is accompanied by the beating of wings, as the infamous Captain Draksis charges out of the cave (the Drakonid Destroyer/Officer who killed Falathrin during the evacuation of Pearl weeks earlier). He is now Void Touched, as are the Enslavers and Saboteurs that arrive with him. Clearly they have all come through the Void Gate. Perhaps even more threatening however, is the pair of full grown Black Dragons that shake the ground as they rocket out of the cave entrance and land on the flanks of the Black Dragon attack wing. Knowing they face odds beyond anything they have never faced before, Heroes Guild refuses to back down and attacks in full force. The Dragons seem confident in their victory, but years of fighting together as a team have made these heroes into a lethal force, even for the mighty Dragons. Brodash and Basmoric charge headlong into combat with one if the Black Dragons, while their allies work together to confound the weaker elements with the enemy line. The two hardened fighters rain a series of punishing blows down upon the Dragon, enough to slay any lesser creature, the dragon fights on seemingly unconcerned about the open wounds crisscrossing its scaled hide. The battlefield erupts in withering Black Dragon breath, and all but Pippy beneath her anti-magic shield feel its effects. But Creedon, tasked with healing the wounds of his allies is driven wild by the sight of so much Dragon blood. He shirks his responsibilities as a healer and instead unleashes the full might of his Hemomancy. The Dragons wounds erupt, sending geysers of blood in all directions as they hemorrhage uncontrollably (scoring a record breaking hit of 280 damage with a single attack, and a whole lot of stars aligning leading up to it). Within seconds the Black Dragon collapses in lake of its own blood, never to move again. What seemed at first to be a battle of impossible odds suddenly tips in the favor of heroes Guild. Emboldened by the slain Dragon the heroes are relentless. As the second Dragon charges in to silence the threat of Creedon with tooth and claw, the Guild rallies to his defense, and this time it is Pippy and Avner who teach the Black Dragon Flight to fear Heroes Guild. Before long the second Dragon is slain, and now the self-assured Captain Draksis finds himself out gunned and out matched, as his allies fall one after the next. Once Draksis himself falls, the battle is over.
• Heroes Guild stands victorious and the Black Dragon Flights Lair stands open before them, an immense cavern that fades into the deepest and darkest hues of black. The adrenaline of their harrowing victory courses through the heroes’ veins, and everything in them screams to charge into the blackness and make the Dragons pay for all the suffering they have caused. But cooler heads prevail, and instead the Guild sets up a forward base camp from which they will stage the next phases of their assault. It is hear they will construct the Light Bomb, and then wade into the darkness to end this conflict once and for all.
• Elsewhere, the defense of Evengrass is left in the capable hands of the Stoneguard. They do not disappoint, defeating an occupation force sent to retake the settlement that has become a strategic holding for both sides in this long and violent war. In Granville, lower ranking members of Heroes Guild uphold the proud tradition of victory and destroy a raiding party that had hoped to catch the settlement undefended.
• With all of their forces otherwise occupied, the Archon Garrison was left head further along the east road out of Newhearth City towards the unprotected settlements in the east. However, any fear that the Archons would forage for supplies from this defenseless settlements was unfounded, and the latest reports now say the Archons moved with great haste, skirting around Heroes Camp and were last seen heading towards Belsath Canyon.
• WEEK12 PROTECTION INCOME – 504.9GP: Income from Week12 is based on settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of Week11 and/or maintained through Week12. Heroes Guild successfully defended all of their threatened settlements this week, namely Granville and Evengrass. Longmeadow, South Arll, Thickfoot, Crestwatch, Smallhaven, Mudmoot and Blueshore were uncontested this week. All resources were either successfully caravanned back to Heroes Camp or were transported there personally by Guild Forces, including a shipment of Iron Ore from Thickfoot, Lumber from East Arll and South Arll, and Coal from Mudmoot. No stone was quarried from Belsath Canyon as the entirely of the Bloodyfist tribe was occupied attacking the Bonemelter tribe.

Week 11: Herald of the Void

GMs: Robert Gray, Chester Guieb, Jaydon Kutryk, Dan King
Date Range Played: September 29th – October 20th, 2015

• No further information was made available this week regarding the mysterious Obsidian ring in Pearl, as Black Dragon Flight patrols prevented any scouting missions. However reports are coming in throughout the Tindermoot that the resurgence of Black Dragon Flight forces seem to include many of their traditional units (Dragonkind and Ogres alike) but with strange Dark energy swarming around their bodies. They are quickly becoming nicknamed as “the Void Touched” and one theory claims that the Obsidian ring is some kind of void portal that is allowing the Black Dragon Flight to summon reinforcements.
• With two new settlements under their control the Black Dragon Flight is sending more captive Halflings to Pearl than ever before, seemingly undeterred by the efforts of Heroes Guild to rescue some of the captives. They have also sent two scout forces to harass Longmeadow and South Arll, likely in an attempt to disrupt Heroes Guild from sending more rescue missions.
• With Granville undefended, the Black Dragon Flight was swift to espond, sending two adult male Dragons towards the vulnerable Halfling town.
• The Archons were also quick to respond to losing control of Granville, and scouts report that the moment word reached Redtree (the Archons de-facto base of operations) one of the Archon High Templars (High Ranking Paladins who lead the Crusade in the Tindermoot) has launched his Vanguard (601+ XP) out of Redtree towards to Granville, to safe guard the undefended town from the inbound Black Dragons. The Vanguards flank is protected by two foraging parties that move to attack Panelda and Ardum in an attempt to draw away any Black Dragon reinforcements headed to Granville. With the delay in reports reaching Heroes Guild it is likely that both enemy forces will be almost on top of Granville before Heroes Guild can mount a counter offensive.
• Elsewhere, with resources stretched thin the Archons seem to have finally decided that direct conflict with Heroes Guild is too costly as no forces have been directed at Heroes Guild controlled settlements. With the bulk of their forces concentrated in the West, this leaves Polden, a settlement long used to launch attacks against Heroes Guild in the East, defended by only a small foraging party.

Results:

• Heroes Guild defended its settlements against Black Dragon Flight Scouts with ease, as well as wrested control of Evengrass from a Black Dragon Flight occupation force under the command of the Storm Wizard Avner. The liberated village was grateful to be out from under the fist of the Black Dragons, who were routinely sending captives to Pearl to be tortured and tormented in order to power the dragons Void Gate. They offered Heroes Guild a large sum of gold as reward and asked for further protection against Black Dragon Flight aggression, which Avner gladly offered.
• Shortly before liberating Evengrass, a large group of captive was sent out to pearl, in four long columns, all chained together. Members of the Guild Shadows, on orders from Basmoric, intercepted the two Drakes that were escorting the prisoner convoy. Of the four sent by Basmoric, only one returned alive, the Assassin Kyiden. Even he very nearly lost his life in the brutal battle the ensued, falling unconscious shortly after his three companions fell only to later regain consciousness to find that the remaining drake had succumbed to the poisoned arrows of Luch and Kazzak. Kellen also perished, after drawing the drakes ire with a well placed arrow in a soft spot behind its ear. The half-elf had gone on ahead to Evengrass in his usual cover as a penniless beggar and allowed himself to be capture alongside the subjugated Halfings in the hope of gain information about the Black Dragon Flights plans. That information was important to the guild, and so when the great eagles brought the withered bodies of the three deceased Guidl Shadows back to Heroes camp, it was decided that the Abbottess of the Sisters of the Healing hands would attempt to resurrect Kellin first, before moving on to the others. Sadly, even her remarkable powers had their limits, and after resurrecting Kellin she was unable to save the Luch or Kazzak. Though they fought in the shadows, without recognition of their deeds, their names will be forever remember by Heroes Guild. As for Kellin, he bears lasting injuries from his ordeal, his throat forever withered by the Drakes foul magics. HE can no longer speak and paired with the partially healed punctured lung suffered earlier a the hands of an Archon Seeker, it is a struggle to even breath. For now he recovers his strength at Heroes Camp, granted a reprieve from his duties. He had been able to confirm the Black Dragons plans, as witnessed the Drakes taunting their captives on the journey towards Pearl. Their fear is being harnessed to power the Void Gate and teleport a near endless supply of Void Touched Black Dragon and Ogre forces from Belsath Canyon. If the Void Gate cannot be destroyed soon,the Black Dragon Flight will soon be able to unleash an entire army upon the Tindermoot, in numbers far to great for even the combined might of Heroes Guild and the Royal Order of Archons to hold back.
• Most important of all Heroes Guild encounters in Week 11, was the Battle of Granville. Heroes Guild sent its officers in force to attempt to head of both two adult male Black Dragons, as well as an Archon Vanguard lead by a High Templar of their Order. They arrive to find that the Vanguard had already engaged and defeated the Black Dragons, at great cost to their own forces. The High Templar addressed Brodash, claiming first that Heroes Guilds presence was not required here, and second that they were free to leave so long as they handed over the their mage, Pippendula into Archon custody. Brodash refused and so the High Templar offered them all an honorable death. Battle ensued, and as it reached peak, something extraordinary happens:
• A Warning from the Herald of the Void.docx
• While the warning is dire, the High Templar nonetheless orders his forces to continue attacking, beleiving this new development to simply be more foul sorcery from irresponsible magic users. Some however decide that they will heed the warning and so throw down their weapons and leave the battlefield. Those that remain, including the high Templar himself, are slain to the last man by Heroes Guild. They only hope that those Archons who saw reason will bring news of the warning from the Herald of the Void to their superiors, as it is now clear to heroes Guild that there is much more at stake.
• WEEK11 PROTECTION INCOME – 384.5GP: Income from Week11 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of Week10 and/or maintained through Week11. Heroes Guild successfully defended all of their threatened settlements this week, namely South Arll and Longmeadow. Thickfoot, Crestwatch, Smallhaven, Mudmoot and Blueshore were uncontested this week. Granville and Evengrass were offered protection this week, but must be held untill the end of next week to begin gaining weekly protection money. All resources were either successfully caravaned back to Heroes Camp or were transported there personally by Guild Forces, including a shipment of Iron Ore from Thickfoot, Lumber from East Arll and South Arll, Coal from Mudmoot and stone from Belsath Canyon.

Week 10: Resurgence

GMs: Robert Gray, Hannes Thiessen
Date Range Played: July 24 – September 28, 2015

• Heroes Guild has made significant headway in recovering from their earlier losses and as a result Great Eagle scouting patrols are once again flying, albeit in much smaller numbers. However their reports are disconcerting.
• Multiple reports have come in that the Black Dragon Flight has completed construction of a mysterious structure in the center the Halfling port-town of Pearl. The structure, a large upright ring made of polished obsidian, appears to be channeling arcane energy. The scouts can’t get close enough to provide more information as there are significant Black Dragon Flight forces patrolling the area, including several sightings of full grow Black Dragons, believed to be the offspring of the Lord and Lady currently commanding this Dragon Flight.
• There are also reports that the Black Dragon Flight is rounding up captive Halflings and sending them to Pearl under escort. While the true purpose of this is unknown, those present at the evacuation of Pearl know all to well how the Black Dragon Flight seemed to feed off the fear of besieged Halfling populace.
• Though any connection would be pure speculation, scouts also report a strong resurgence of Black Dragon Flight activity, bolstered by a massive amount of reinforcements, none of which have come by air. Like a dark shadow cast across the land, they are pushing outwards, sending forces to the settlements of Panelda, Ardum, Granville and Longmeadow. Their forces directed at Longmeadow then split, with a smaller raiding party circling around towards East Arll while their occupation force seems intent upon conquering Longmeadow.
• Having suffered significant losses after spreading their forces too thin, the Royal Order of Archons seems to be largely on the defense for now, though they have sent Scouts to investigate South Arll after the “negotiations” for a prisoner transfer with Heroes Guild ended in the slaughter of their Garrison. They also seem intent upon retaking Mudmoot, sending a garrison to attack.

Results:

• A group of Guild Shadows led a daring rescue mission to free a group of captive Halflings from Greenfield, being escorted by a contingent of Void Touched Ogres. They ambushed the enemy forces and freed the Halflings, directing them back to Heroes Camp to join the other refugees of the war.
• The occupation force send against Longmeadow was defeated by forces from Heroes Guild, under the command of the Storm Wizard, Avner, who himself was very seriously wounded by a rampaging Draconid Destroyer, while the wound will eventually heal, Avner will forever remember the encounter from the loss of a testicle. Further to this, he suffered a permanent injury to his left hand, withered by the foul Shadow Magic of a Black Drake. Meanwhile in East Arll, the raiding party that broke of from the force headed to Longmeadow was soundly defeated by members of the Heroes Guild allies known as Stoneguard, undermanned after the lines of communication were crossed in the chaos of the war, sending the Runeweaver Theomir instead to Mudmoot.
• In Mudmoot The Arcane Mage, Pippy, led a Heroes Guild to victory over a Archon Garrison that attempted to take control of the small coal mining settlement. Elsewhere, an Archon scouting party was sent to discover what fate befell the Garrison stationed at South Arll, after a prisoner transfer with heroes Guild went sour. They were met by Commander Brodash himself, who cut them down and sent the survivors fleeing for their lives with a clear message for the Royal Order of Archons, “Heroes Guild is more than capable of defending the Tindermoot!”
• The Guild officer Lolinder has grown tired of killing Archons and choose this week to retreat into the wild to Hunt and regain his sense of humanity. To the delight of Heroes Guild’s newest member the brave Halfling Dander, Lolinder returned with a family of three Striders in tow, including a breeding pair. All three have been brought back to Heroes Camp, and received basic training for being ridden into combat.
• Battles raged this week between the Black Dragon Flight and the Royal Order of Archons, however the void touched reinforcements proved too much for the Archons. Both Panelda and Ardum fell to the Black Dragon Flight while in Granville, the clashing forces slew each other almost to the man, the lone surviving Archon Spellbreaker succumbed to his wounds shortly after the battle ended. Leaving Granville and its Halfling citizens completely undefended.
• WEEK10 PROTECTION INCOME – 401.7GP: Income from Week10 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of Week9 and/or maintained through Week10. Heroes Guild successfully defended all of their threatened settlements this week, namely East Arll, South Arll, Longmeadow and Mudmoot. Thickfoot, Crestwatch, Smallhaven and Blueshore were uncontested this week. All resources were either successfully caravaned back to Heroes Camp or were transported there personally by Guild Forces, including a shipment of Iron Ore from Thickfoot, Lumber from East Arll and South Arll, Coal from Mudmoot and stone from Belsath Canyon. The only exception was the protection money from Crestwatch. While the Halflings hired to transport the chest of gold claim it was full when they embarked, it was empty when it arrived at Heroes Camp.

Week 9: Flying Blind

GMs: Robert Gray, Jaydon Kutryk
Date Range Played: May 15 – June 26, 2015

• In the wake of heavy losses, Heroes Guild must strike back decisively or risk losing the war all together. However just when reliable information would be most helpful, their network of scouts has failed. The decimated remnants of the Tinderwatch have been recalled to Newhearth City to defend the Capital. At the same time, the Guild’s Great Eagle allies have also suffered heavy losses, covering the retreat of Guild forces from Pearl and ensuring that the Black Dragons were prevented from following the vulnerable ships full of Halfling refugees out into the bay. As a result few troops movements can be confirmed, with only a hand full of reports coming in. Heroes Guild is indeed flying blind this week.
• One of the few reports to arrive does suggest that a Archon Garrison force has mobilized in Granville and was last seen embarking on the Northeast road leading out of the village, perhaps intending to capitalize on their victory in Longmeadow last week.
• Also, the remaining forces from the three pronged Archon forging efforts last week have recombined and are now heading south, though they seem to be keeping their distance from Thickfoot. It is suspected that they intend to re-take Mudmoot.
• Information from the Black Dragon Flight front is scarce however the Black Dragons seem to be holding position for the time being. No new reinforcements have been spotted arriving by air from Belsath canyon.
• Skirmishes continue to break out along the Archon and Black Dragon Flight Border in the West, but no significant troop movements were reported by the Tinderwatch or Great Eagles as they puled out of the area.
• Also of importance this week, the Guild must decide what to do about two of its members being held prisoner in South Arll as well as how to deal with the Archon Crusader and three Spellbreakers being held as prisoners in Thickfoot by Lolinder.
• With the various retreats required by last weeks losses, the bulk of Heroes Guild forces are now located in Blueshore.

Results:

• The Archon force which disembarked from Granville was intercepted and defeated in Longmeadow by Heroes Guild forces under the command of the Wizard Avner. This further cements the Archon’s false assumption that he is the “Evil Wizard” who rules over the misguided “Heroes” of Heroes Guild. In the Wake of their victory Longmeadow has once again been offered guild protection.
• Mudmoot, and its nearby coal mines, have been under the protection of the Archons almost since the beginning of their Crusade in the Tindermoot. However after committing their forces to foray deep behind Heroes Guild’s lines, the remnant of their forces returned to find that the true Commander of Heroes Guild, the Orc Guardian Brodash (also known by his foes as the Iron Turret), was waiting for them in Mudmoot. Alongside him the Gnome Mage Pippy and the Centaur Healer Githroy defeated the Archons, and took one of their Spellbreakers captive, as well as a Light Ballistae and the Holy Lance (both of which were sent back to Heroes Camp, where the Light Ballistae was mounted on the recently constructed gate house). For the first time ever, since the beginning of the war, Mudmoot has been offered Guild Protection. They have reluctantly excepted, though they seem to have been quite comfortable under the care of the Royal Order of Archons.
• Having recently lost control of East Arll and Smallhaven to parties of foraging Archons, Heroes Guild sent some of its more junior members in force to re-affirm their pledge to defend these settlements. They met mild resistance from Archon scouts but where victorious. In East Arll, two Archon Acolytes were taken prisoner.
• The final offensive action taken by Heroes Guild was an elaborate ruse staged in South Arll, a small lumber camp that has been a base of Archon power since the beginning of their Crusade. It was here that Abolish and Kellin were being held prisoner.
  • Lolinder, the Guilds unofficial diplomat and also the only officer to boast he has never been defeated or forced to retreat by Archon forces, led a group of captive Archons to South Arll for a proposed prisoner exchange. The Holy monk Hebro went along in the hopes that their attempt at negotiation would be legitimized by the presence of a fellow believer in the one God.
  • However, unbeknownst to Hebro Basmoric had already infiltrated the town hall that the Archons were using as a base of operations, and the cellar which was acting as a makeshift prison for Kellin and Abolish. While at first the Basmoric attempted to avoid any loss of life (incapacitating and hiding the bodies of the guards posted outside the cellar door), once inside the cellar he was discovered and forced to attack several guards and their commanding officer so that they would not raise the alarm and spoil the negotiations taking place outside. In the ensuing series of battles Basmoric, with the help of Kellin (who he had been sprung out of his cell after most of the guards had been eliminated) killed every Archon soldier found down in the cellar, to a man.
  • More alarming however was the piece of overheard conversation, “…you recruits, go secure the Casket of Reformation, the Abolisher will be emerging soon and we CANNOT allow the process to be interrupted”. After dispatching the last guards who had left their post guarding the Casket of Reformation upon hearing the clash of battle, Basmoric and Kellin were about to go investigate when a loud crash was heard. Abolish was so enraged that his captors were slain without a chance for him to get revenge, that he final was able to smash down the door to his cell (meant for containing drunk Halfings not enraged Orcs).
  • Knowing that the oft-irrational would likely charge off into battle the moment he was freed, Basmoric had pre-arranged this as a signal for Lolinder that the prisoners were free and that further negotiations were not necessary. As Abolish went rusing by, his weapons recovered and at the ready, Basmoric knew that combat would erupt in the streets within moments. However, Basmoric felt it was important to investigate the predicted emergence of a Archon Abolisher, one of the Archons deadliest assets ever brought to bear against Heroes Guild. Therefore he sent Kellin to follow Abolish and assist in ambushing the unsuspecting Archons as they negotiated with Lolinder and Hebro.
  • The moment Abolish smashed down the doors of the town hall and erupted onto the scene, battle was joined. Though Hebro was surprised he quickly reacted, ignoring the Archon’s final offer to spare him if he “came to his senses” and joined them. Instead he stayed faithful to heroes Guild, and as battle raged gave his live, using his powers to take a killing blow aimed at Basmoric’s Great Eagle onto himself. (He was later resurrected by the Abbottess of the Sisters of the Healing Hands, currently being kept as a “guest” at Heroes Camp. The ordeal left Hebro with a permanent head injury.)
  • Heroes Guild won the battle, but were somewhat surprised by the response of the locals. Since the out break of the war South Arll has never once been victim of Black Dragon Flight occupation, or even raids, having been protected against such occupation by the Royal Order of Archons since their arrival while Heroes Guild largely ignored the settlement. As such the locals were visibly upset that Heroes Guild had driven out the Archons. They did accept Guild protect but with a great deal of reluctance.
  • By the time Basmoric joined his companions again the battle was over. He had found the Casket of Reformation, an ornate metal casket with no hinge or latch, pulsating with ever increasing amounts of divine energy. Any attempt he made to open it was futile and so, unsure what would happen he settled into a dark corner of the room and waited while overhead his companions did battle. Without warming the Casket gave one last pulse of energy and then opened. Out of it stepped a naked human male, his body devoid of any hair whatsoever, with sheets of steam billowing off his body. His eyes glowed with divine light. Even though Basmoric was hidden in the corner, the Abolisher seemed to be able to see him immediately, in a ragged voice the Abolisher announced that it must eliminate the taint of magic and quite suddenly charged directly at Basmoric with its hands outstretched as if it meant to choke the life out of him. Basmoric scarcely had time to react, bringing an axe up in front of him. The Abolisher collided with such force that it buried the axe blade into its bare chest, cleaving its heart in two. In its last few moments of life, the Abolisher looked at Basmoric, the divine glow fading from its eyes to reveal the eyes of an ordinary man.With its final breath it whispered one word… “freedom…”
• WEEK9 PROTECTION INCOME – 184.5GP: Income from Week9 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of Week8 and/or maintained through Week9. While Heroes Guild did win over five settlements this week, they must maintain that protection into Week10 before they collect any reward from it. As such, income is only generated by existing settlements where protection was maintain without issue. This applies only to Thickfoot, Crestwatch, and Blueshore. All resources were either successfully caravaned back to Heroes Camp or will be transported there personally by Guild Forces, including a shipment of Iron Ore from Thickfoot and stone from Belsath Canyon.

Week 8: A War on Two Fronts

GMs: Robert Gray
Date Range Played: April 18 – May 8, 2015

• The altercation at Thickfoot has become a powder keg. Following the death of the Crusader leading the Archon garrison that attempted to relieve Heroes Guild of the responsibility of defending the village, the survivors reported back on the events that transpired. Sources from within the Tinderwatch say that the survivors claim Heroes Guild is being led by a cowardly wizard who wields powerful magic with no regard for the destruction it causes. They have warned their superiors that if left unchecked, war between Heroes Guild and the Black Dragon Flight could devastate the Tindermoot for generations to come. They also report that one of their own soldiers has been captured by Heroes Guild.
• In response, the High Templars leading the Crusade have officially declared war on all of Heroes Guild, decrying anyone who aligns themselves with the guild as puppets of the evil Wizard who is using the war with the Black Dragon Flight as a convenient excuse to subjugate the Tindermoot for his own purposes. They have laid claim to all of Heroes Guild existing resources to fuel their Crusade against the foul magic of both the Black Dragon Flight and Heroes Guild. Wasting no time, they have mobilized their forces to strike.
• To that end a large force was sent past the front lines and has now split into three groups tasked with foraging for supplies. The Archon foragers have set their sights on three Heroes Guild controlled settlements, East Arll, Smallhaven, and Crestwatch. Aware of the strategic value of Longmeadow to the defense of Heroes Guild’s front line, Archon scouts have also been sent to Longmeadow. The largest offensive action however remains centered on the village where the conflict began, with a full Garrison being sent up from Mudmoot to assault Thickfoot. Great eagle scouts report however that this rapid push against Heroes Guild territory has drained some of their resources from the area, leaving Mudmoot vulnerable to counter attack if the Guild can muster the forces.
• This could prove difficult however, as in addition to the five settlements under attack by the Royal Order of Archons, an Occupation force lead by a full grown Black Dragon has been spotted circling high above the outskirts of the Emladrian forest, believed to be preparing to launch an attack on Blueshore.
• In the west, the Guilds lone holding is once again at risk. The Black Dragon Flight has completely surrounded Pearl, on land and in the air, effectively laying siege to the town and making it extremely difficult for Heroes Guild to move into or out of Pearl. For the moment, they seem content to hold position, however a occupation force lays just outside the town seeming to be awaiting orders to attack. Effectively cut off from the rest of the Tindermoot the local Halfling citizens have begun to doubt that Heroes Guild can continue to hold the town against such in surmountable odds.
• Stretched thin by a two front war, the only glimmer of hope comes from reports by the Great Eagles that the almost steady stream of reinforcements and supplies that have traveled by air from the Black Dragon Flight’s base of power in Belsath Canyon has all but dried up. Does this signify that the Black Dragon Flight is finally running out of troops after so many weeks of fighting against Heroes Guild? With the sudden surge in aggression from the Royal Order of Archons, we can only hope this is so…
• Elsewhere in the Tindermoot, Archons and Dragons continue their own war; the former sending a garrison against Ardum for the second week in a row, and the later sending an occupation force to attempt to reclaim Panelda.

Results:

• Pearl has been abandoned, and now under the control of the Black Dragon Flight. The the following events take place leading up to this:

Before he recalls back to Heroes Camp to deal with the Black Dragon headed for Blueshore, Brodash gives Pippy orders to evacuate as many Halflings as possible from Pearl to the Guild controlled town of Longmeadow. The highest priority is to evacuate the Sisters of the Healing Hands from Pearl Abbey. Falathrin, Theomir, Turgon & Githroy are to assist.
Pearl is surrounded on three sides, only the port remains open, however the Dragons have long since destroyed any vessels that were docked there. The Black Dragon Flight seems content to hold position around Pearl, as though they were feeding off the fear of the besieged Halflings.
While discussing the evacuation plan a High Elf sneaks into the room undetected and unannounced. He is wearing only his under garments, which are wet and smell of the sea. He is unarmed except for a knife strapped to his thigh.
He says his name is Aurandis and he claims to be from a High Elven vessel called the Silverwing, which is part of a small patrol fleet that has been holding position in the Emerald bay to act as the first line of defense should the Black Dragons push farther west towards Solastaris. While their official orders are to not to intervene and take defensive actions only, his Captain saw that the Black Dragon Flight was massing its forces and they feared that they may overrun the town. The High Elves pledged friendship to the Tindermoot after the Halfings showed them kindness and gave them land to settle when the High Elves first landed on these shores as refugees.
The Captain of the Silverwing has offered his ships to help evacuate as many innocents from the town as possible, ferrying them out to a larger cargo vessel in the bay that could transport them somewhere safer. However, the High Elves know that if they sail into harbor the Black Dragon Flight will respond, assuming the high Elves are here to attack. While they cannot directly disobey their orders, if Heroes Guild can defend the docks against any Black Dragon Flight attacks the High Elves can evacuate the Halflings without truly becoming part of the conflict.
Heroes guild needs to organize the evacuation and hold off any enemy forces. Decide to not let the halflings know there is an evacuation plan, just that the Black Dragons are about to attack and the plan is to make a last stand at the docks. Goal is to keep them afraid for as long as possible so that the Black Dragons, who are believed to be feeding off of that fear, don’t know something is up. Also, only the Abbottess of the Sisters of the Healing hands is being told of the plan. She refuses to leave the Abbey, but sends her second in command with a large contingent of sisters to be evacuated. The remainder decide they wish to stay at the Abbey.
A second attempt is made to convince her to come, (Githroy and Theomir). Githroy gives a compelling speech that almost convinces her, but she still refuses in the end. Not wanting to waste any more time, Theomir paralyzes her with a pressure point and they carry her down to the docks.
Falathrin is killed again by a critical hit from a Drake, consumed by vengeance after seeing so many of the Whelps in its care slaughtered by Heroes Guild. The Abbottess, though paralyzed intercedes and successfully resurrects the fallen Knight once again (in combat this time though). Falathrin still suffers critical wounds to his shield arm form the Darks claws, he shealths his sword and finishes the battle wielding only a shield in his hand. (The wound is not permanent but the arm is out of commission for 2 months as of Week 8.)
It is a long hard battle, but eventually won, clearing the docks long enough for the High Elves to land and saved many Halfings, though many more still perished once the Black Dragons realized the Halflings were getting away. Once out of harms way the High elves transfer the refugees from the patrol ships into a larger cargo ship and take them to Blueshore on Pippy’s orders.
Theomir happens to run into a fellow High Elf Runeweaver on the voyage and gets a Celestial Root tattoo.

• The assault on Blueshore appears to have been largely a rouse, aimed at drawing away any reinforcements headed for Pearl. It had the desired effect, however the Black Dragon tasked with this duty paid with his life, falling quickly to the combined might of Commander Brodash, Avner and Creedon
• Meanwhile the guild suffers heavy losses to the Royal Order of Archons. In East Arll the Guild shadows were forced to retreat, even with the added support of Gilead the Giant returning to active duty. All three guild defenders were very nearly slain by a powerful woman referred to as an Abolisher by the Archon Paladins that fought with her. In the end they had no choice but to retreat, removing East Arll from Guild protection. The Archon Foragers proceeded to carry off valuable resources to fuel their crusade, leaving the small hamlet undefended.
• In Longmeadow, Guild defenders Abolish and Kellin the Beggar, fared even worse as they attempted to repell the Archon scouts. The Archon Seekers set their war hounds upon the town, specially trained to sniff out the taint of Spirit Powers, even in the much more subtle form of Crafted and Enchanted equipment. Despite killing seven of the Archon war hounds, Abolish and Kellin both fell in battle, pierced numerous times by the Seekers crossbows (-6 and -5 respectively). When they awoke someonecalling himself Seeker Darion had confiscated their weapons and any items carrying the taint of magic. Both members of Heroes guild have been led away in chains to the Archon Garrison at South Arll as prisoners. Kellin has a injured lung (-3 stam for 1 month) and Abolish suffered a permanent injury after taking a bolt to his spine (-3 agility, permanent). The Archon Scout force under Seeker Darion has removed Longmeadow from the list of Guild protected settlements, but did not have the forces to occupy it himself. Therefore Longmeadow is now essentially neutral and undefended.
• Smallhaven was hit by the second group of Archon Foragers, but the Guild could not spare the resources to defend this settlement. Little is known about the composition of the Archon forces. Reports say that without Guild protection the Halflings decided it was in their best interest to give the Archons what they wanted, as such they made off with significant supplies without any bloodshed. There are mixed feelings about the Archons among the population of Smallhaven. Some say perhaps the Archons are better equipped to protect them from the Black Dragon Flight menace. For now, after failing to protect the Guilds interests, the hamlet is unclaimed by any faction.
• Lolinder stands apart as the only Guild Officer with a proven track record of victory against Archons Crusade. Together with Hebro, Haeireuf and Dander he successfully defended Thickfoot against the Archons for the second week in a row. This time he took three addition captives, one of which is a Crusader, a high ranking Archon Paladin. Current intelligence suggests that Crusaders are generally always found commanding Archon Garrison forces. Unfortunately the wagon which this Crusader had rode into battle on managed to escape. When the battle was obviously lost, the Crusader seemed preoccupied with ensuring that what he called “The Reliquary of the Archons” not fall into enemy hands.
• The third prong of the Archons foraging efforts was aimed at Crestwatch, where Basmoric was given the monumental task repelling the Archon forces without any back out except for the loyal bow wielding Halflings holed up in the fortified tower house in the center of the Hamlet. At the 11th hour Heroes Guild further bolstered their defenses by sending Luch to assist. While he narrowly escaped death on several occasions the young Ranger proved key to victory, lending his resourcefulness and mastery of traps, to assist in the hit and run tactics employed by Basmoric. Had Gilead the Giant not been sent to relieve Luch at East Arll, Crestwatch would surely have been lost, and perhaps Basmoric with it. Unlike his fellow Officer, Basmoric took no prisoners, instead the wounded Archon Purifiers, whose Holy Lances had caused Basmoric so much pain, were butchered as they lay bleeding out in the streets of Crestwatch.
• The sole offensive action this week was the daring scouting mission by the Battlemage Wapakalypse. He was sent in secret to confirm rumors that the Archon garrison in Mudmoot had been split up and sent out as the three foraging parties that struck deep into Heroes Guild controlled territory. The rumors are true, Mudmoot is undefended. Upon seeing a Heroes Guild presence in their settlement the Halflings decide that for now they will refuse to pay tribute to the Archons Crusade, feeding their own families instead. Mudmoot is effectively uncontrolled until such a time as a significantly large force takes up residence there.
• Battles between the Archons and Black Dragon Flight were less wide spread this week. Archon forces defended Panelda against a Black Dragon Flight occupation force and also pushed them out of Ardum and established a Garrison there.
• WEEK8 PROTECTION INCOME – 190GP: Income from Week8 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of Week7 and/or maintained through Week8. After this weeks loses and no new gains, this applies only to Thickfoot, Crestwatch, and Blueshore. All resources were either successfully caravaned back to Heroes Camp or will be transported there personally by Guild Forces, including a shipment of Iron Ore from Thickfoot, but no lumber from East Arll now that its lumber mill is no longer under guild control.

Week 7: Factions

GMs: Robert Gray, Lucas Dorozio, Chester Guieb
Date Range Played: March 21-April 17, 2015

• The relative quiet of the past week has dissolved and scouts are now reporting troop movements throughout the Tindermoot. The Royal Order of Archons made the first move, sending Garrisons sized forces to attack Panelda, Ardum, and Granville, in an effort to push their front farther Northward. The Black Dragon Flight is holding position, preparing to defend their claims and has launched a counter offensive against the Archon held settlement of South Arll.
• Heroes Guild has not escaped aggression this time around. A Black Dragon Flight occupation force has set its sights on reclaiming Longmeadow while raiding parties have circled around Longmeadow and are striking a path for East Arll and Thickfoot. The fight for Pearl continues as well, with a sizable attack wing, led by a powerful Drakonid Field Commander, set to attempt once more to wrest control of the town and its valuable Abbey from Heroes Guild control

Results:

• Blood shed and violence have become far too common in Pearl. The beleaguered town has been under Heroes Guild protection for weeks now, but is surrounded on all sides and this week was hit hard by Captain Draksis and his black dragon flight forces. The junior Heroes Guild member group known as Stone Guard fought hard to defend the town and were almost forced to retreat when the arrival of reinforcements (Commander Brodash and Pippy) were delayed crossing into Black Dragon Flight controlled territory. The newly knighted Sir Falathrin Harador bravely gave his life defending Pearl, holding a small bridge leading into the town against Captain Draksis himself as well as a Drakonid Destroyer and Enslaver. The Abbottess of the Sisters of the Healing hands once again showed their gratitude by resurrecting the fallen hero, however he sustained lasting injuries from the dark arcane magic at work, warping bone and fusing the joints in one of his legs, making extremely difficult for the heavily armored knight to move at all. For now the town remains under Heroes Guild control, but it is still surrounded on all sides by enemy forces. While Pearl is clearly a strategic asset to the guild, it remains to be seen if it is worth the consistent blood price paid for keep it.
• Elsewhere , Heroes Guild defended their holdings with fair less casualties. East Arll and Longmeadow held fast against Black Dragon Flight forces, with the defense of Longmeadow being bolstered by the local carpenters guild, who have constructed a wooden barricade around the town.
• In Thickfoot, the defenders were harder pressed when a Royal Order of Archons garrison (lead by a powerful Crusader with penance wagon in tow) arrived to forcibly relieve Heroes Guild of the defense of the village. However Lolinder, the charismatic diplomat of Heroes Guild, refused to relinquish control of the town but instead offered to assist the Archons in defeating the Black Dragon Flight forces. Avner then proceeded to incinerate almost half of the Black Dragon forces with a massive ball of lightning. This flamboyant display of spirit power by the wizard drew the ire of the Crusader who ordered an all out attack on both Heroes Guild and the Black Dragon forces. True to their calling, Heroes Guild first dispatched of the Black Dragon forces, and then turned on the Archon attackers. Lolinder very nearly lost his life, but displayed impressive battlefield command. The crusader and his mounted forces were defeated, forcing the penance wagon and its crew into retreat. This left a single wounded Archon Spellbreaker at the mercy of Heroes Guild. Lolinder spared his life and ordered that he be taken prisoner.
• Fighting was also fierce on the Archon and Black Dragon front in Western Tindermoot. The Archon assault on Panelda and Granville was successful, and the Black Dragons were turned back at South Arll. Only the Ardum held its ground in the face of the Archons onslaught, leaving the Black Dragon Flights territories much diminished since the opening days of the Archons Tindermoot crusade.
• WEEK7 PROTECTION INCOME – 220GP: Income from Week7 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of week6 and maintained through week7. This applies to East Arll, Thickfoot, Crestwatch, Smallhaven, Longmeadow, Pearl and Blueshore; with no new gains but holding all previous income. No attempt has been made to send a caravan from Pearl however, as it has been deemed to high risk, being that all spoils from the last battle there, as well as the 100gp protection money, remain with Commander Brodash in the town. In another unfortunate turn of events, a caravan sent from the relative security of Longmeadow was unexpectedly hit, all goods and gold have been stolen (including looted ogre weapons & armor, enchanting/crafting materials and the 100gp of protection money). Unlike other caravan attacks, the Halflings running the caravan were not slain. They report that the wagon was “appropriated” by Archon foragers to fuel their crusade against the Black Dragon Flight. Other resources included more iron ore and lumber for settlements under guild control, as well as stone from Belsath canyon, all successfully escorted by Guild followers.

Week 6: Fortification

GMs: Rob Gray
Date Range Played: March 6-20, 2015

• During Week 6 Heroes Guild was granted a much needed respite from conflict. However while Heroes Guild was left to themselves, the Archons and Black Dragons did work to consolidate their own territories
• The Black Dragons were pushed out of Polden, but at the same time, defeated the Archons in Panelda, basically swapping control of the two hamlets
• All remaining settlements on both sides have now been fortified with Archon Garrisons or Black Dragon Flight Occupation Forces
• Going into Week7 all three factions will be well dug in, and fighting is guaranteed to be tough
• Seeing the Heroes Guild controlled territories as a safe zone of sorts, refugees from throughout the Tindermoot have flocked to the newly constructed fort at heroes camp. While the wooden palisade around Heroes camp is not large enough to contain them all, a growing tent city has sprung up in the shadow of one of the only walled settlements in the Tindermoot. This has lead to new logistical challenges for Heroes guild as they now informally govern an entire refugee village, without the proper infrastructure in place to support it.
• Efforts continue to construct defenses for Heroes camp, including the construction of a dry moat around the wooden palisade (courtesy of the ongoing efforts of the Earth Druid Selios) as well as the completion of a stone tower house inside heroes camp.
• WEEK6 PROTECTION INCOME – 409.3GP: Income from Week6 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of week5 and maintained through week6. This applies to East Arll, Thickfoot, Crestwatch, Pearl and Blueshore. Small haven and Longmeadow were also extended protection at the conclusion of week 5 and were defended without incident in Week 6, therefore adding to the weekly income. Caravans from each of these locations successfully made their way to Heroes Camp, even from Pearl, however that caravan was very costly as it moved under cover of darkness and well off the established road system. Other resources included more iron ore and lumber for settlements under guild control, as well as stone from Belsath canyon, however one of the wagons was attacked and its cargo lost. A shipment of lumber was also harvested from the outskirts of the Emladrian forest. As of yet this has not been answered in any way by the Wild Elves, hwoever the guild has decided to hold off harvesting more now that the palisade is complete.

Week 5: The Crusade has Come

GMs: Rob Gray, Dan King, Lucas Dorozio
Date Range Played: January 9-22, 2015

• Scouts have reported that a fleet of ships from Leonen has arrived in Newhearth City, bearing with it an army from the Royal Order if Archons, answering the Halflings desperate plea for help. The Archons wasted no time and immediately rolled out Garrison forces to any remaining undefended settlements. Word has it that they carry the blessing of the Halfling Prime Minister Heplin Bellypot to relieve any Tinderwatch forces and send them back to the capital to see to its defense.
• The Archons appear to be taking mostly defensive actions, stemming the tide of the Black Dragon Flights advance and protecting vulnerable settlements from what the Archons refer to as the “dangerous and unconstrained use of foul magic”. The common folk are receiving them with open arms, desperate for some semblance of security. One small group of Archon Scouts has broken off and pushed on towards the Guild controlled town of Thickfoot. Their intentions are unclear at this point, especially given the rocky relationship that Heroes Guild has with the Royal Order of Archons. Is it an envoy, a messenger, or a prelude to an attack?
• The Archons are taking a more direct approach however towards the port Town of Redtree. They have sent a Garrison force by ship to the port town, but as of yet have not docked. They appear to be awaiting orders of some kind. This could be related to the uncontested Black Dragon raiding party that has moved up from Tolmy towards Redtree. Are they holding position in the harbor to see if the town requires reinforcement, or simply waiting for the right moment to strike?
• As for the Black Dragon Flight, they appear to be consolidating their positions and largely fortifying their gains from the previous weeks conquests, brutally subjugating the locals and forcing them to feed their armies. A scouting party has been seen lurking near Pearl in the aftermath of the battle there, likely waiting to see if Heroes Guild will leave forces to defend the hard won Abbey. A raiding party also bears down on East Arll with clear intent. Elsewhere, several of the Black Dragons Occupation forces are mobilizing to attack Panelda and Ardum, likely in response to the arrival of Archon forces to those settlements. They also are crossing the river to attack the border town of Elfton, which has until now remained out of the conflict gripping the rest of the Tindermoot.
• Perhaps the most disconcerting news of all comes from the Great Eagles. Up to this point they had been able to easily report on the movement of supplies and reinforcements from the Black Dragons Base of operations in Belsath Canyon. The Great Eagles had even been moderately successful at raiding the supply lines, forcing the dragons to fly higher up where only they could breath, or when transporting their ogre allies, having to take long detours around. However the Great Eagles now report that what had been an almost steady stream of Black Dragon Flight troop and supply movements has completely ceased. Yet since the re-supply and reinforcement flights have ceased the Black Dragons forces seem to still remain well equipped and able to replace their loses, leaving everyone wondering how exactly this is possible?

• This week saw the arrival of the Royal Order of Archons into the conflict. Reports confirm that they have established garrisons, uncontested and in fact invited by the Halfling government in Newhearth City, on the settlements of South Arll, Mudmoot, Rockbeach, and Tolmy. They also sent garrisons to Panelda and Ardum to head off Black Dragon Flight occupation forces on route to both settlements. In Panelda they defeated the Black Dragonflight, sending them in retreat back to Fishrun. However in Ardum they arrived too late, the Archon Garrison walked into a deadly ambushed. They fought to the last man, refusing to retreat even in the face of death, but ultimately the Black Dragons won control of Ardum and its surrounding resources.
• Elsewhere the Black Dragonflight attacked Elfton, brushing aside the local Tinderwatch garrison and occupying the border village. However they also lost considerable forces; with a raiding party defeated by a Heroes Guild in East Arll. Their over confidence proved their downfall, as they presumed to faced off against the sole defender of East Arll, the human Knight Falathrin, but unknowingly walking into a trap set by Kyiden, Kellin, and Hebro who were waiting in the shadows.
• The fiercest fighting took place in Longmeadow, where Commander Brodash, staged a counter attack with Senior members of the Guild; Basmoric, Creedon, and Phinnius. While it at first appeared that Heroes Guild would soundly defeat the lesser Black Dragonflight occupation force, Heroes Guild was soon fighting for their very lives with the arrival of a full grown Black Dragon claiming to be the son of the breeding pair in Belsath Canyon that are rumored to command the Black Dragon Flight. Despite eventually defeating the occupation force, the adult Dragon proved to be too much for even the most senior members of the guild; and Commander Brodash reluctantly gave the order for his forces to fall back, even dismounting and sending his Wyvern away, and staying behind to cover their retreat. Thanks in part to the earlier actions of his comrades, Brodash at first managed to hold his own one-on-one against the Dragon. However the tides quickly turned and when the Dragon cast a powerful shadow spell, overwhelming even Brodash’s considerable defenses and incased him in black chains of powerful arcane magic.
• It was Basmoric who observed the brave last stand of Commander Brodash, watching from the shadows . Grievously injured and helpless to intervene, he watched as the Dragon picked the Orc up and made to fly high up into the sky, intent upon hurling Brodash to his death. The Dragon would have succeeded if not for Phinnius, the Gnomish Marksmans and Inventor, only recently having returned from Wonderkin. Phinnius disobeyed his orders and returned to the scene of the battle just in time to unleash a mighty barrage from his Repeating Arbalest contraption. The Dragon, weakened greatly from the battle, nearly fell from the brave gnome’s attack, the great beasts wings stopped beating and hung lifeless in the air and it began to plummet towards the ground, catching itself only at the last moment, seemingly unsure of whether it was alive or dead. Despite his confusion, the defense magics the Dragon had summoned early, worked on his behalf. A foul black smoke swirled around the dragon, suddenly taking form to pull the gnomes Arbalest bolts from the Dragons broad chest and surging forward towards the unsuspecting Gnome. As the bolts struck his flesh, piercing armor and striking deep, the black smoke simultaneously exploded, blasting Phinnius with withering arcane magic and killing him in an instant. With his adversary defeated, the Black Dragon made to return to his grim task, obviously strained from the gapping wounds left in its chest.
• The altercation with the gnome, so tiny and insignificant in comparison to his own might, proved to be the Black Dragons undoing. The Great Eagles of Belsath Canyon had suffered greatly at the hands of the Black Dragon invaders of their ancestral home, and seeing the gapping wounds in the Black Dragons chest a keen eyed Great Eagle, sworn to the service of Basmoric and earlier dismissed from the battle, saw its chance for vengeance. It appeared out of nowhere, shrieking as it descended from up on high, its ear splitting challenge rolling across the plains of the Tindermoot like the war cry of some ancient and primal god of thunder. The Great Eagle dove hard, landing with its talons extended as the Dragon turned to face it. The razor sharp talons barely managed to find purchase on the Dragons thick Scaled hide, but with lightning speed the Great Eagle slammed its curved beak downwards, burying its head deep in the ragged wound.The Dragons eyes went wide and for a moment both winged creatures were suspended motionless in the air. Then with a powerful down stroke of its wings the Great Eagle pushed away from the Dragon, its great black heart firming held in the birds beak, still pumping the Dragons life fluids into the open air. The Dragons claw opened and Bordash fell some distance to the ground. The force of the impact shattering the black chains that incased his body, but also breaking some of the fall. Barely conscious he rolled out fo the way as the massive form of the Black Dragon crashed down to the ground. When the dust settled, Longmeadow undoubtedly belonged to Heroes Guild, however the price paid to secure it was extremely high.
• When Phinnius’ companions recovered his lifeless body they discovered that his flesh was warped and withered from the dark magics that took his life. They rushed to Pearl, once again requiring the services of the Abbottess of the Sisters of the Healing Hands. However the Abbey was attacked yet again and had it not been for the recently resurrected orc warrior Abolish, who was still at the Abbey recovering from his own ordeal, the Abbey may fallen before Brodash could arrive with Phinnius’ body. Abolish cast off his recovery bed, took up his axes, and with the aid Theomir and Wapoc who had come to visit their friend at the Abbey, struck down the Black Dragon Flight attackers with new found zeal. BY the time Brodash arrived, Abolish was ceremoniously striking the heads of the attackers from their bodies. And the Abbottess was free to do her work. While the favor of the One God shone upon her once again, and she was able to resurrect the fallen Gnome, his recovery would be a much longer road, one that would leave his arm so horribly disfigured and lifeless that it had to be amputated.
• Elsewhere, Heroes Guild spent great efforts in consolidating and fortifying its position. Pippy designed new defences for Heroes Camp, enlisting many of the guilds followers to begin construction of a wooden palisade and gate house. Others were sent to gather more resources, and also to secure Smallhaven. With Archone scouts headed to Thichfoot, Lolinder was dispatche to act as an ambassador, with Kazzak there to support him from the shadows should things become less diplomatic. The altercation witht eh scouts was brief, and they seemed almost surprised that Heroes Guild did not attack them. They left behind a letter bearing the seal of a High Templar of their order, asking that it be sent along to whomever commands the guild. Lolinder decided to break the seal and read the message for himself before passing it on to Brodash. It read: “We are aware of your guilds foolish dabbling in the Spiritual arts, but you are not the threat we have been sent to deal with. Stay out of our way and see that it remains so!”
• WEEK5 PROTECTION INCOME – 210.3GP: Income from Week5 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of week4 and maintained through week5. This applies to East Arll, Thickfoot, Crestwatch, Pearl and Blueshore. Caravans from each of these locations successfully made their way to Heroes Camp, wit the exception of the caravan from Pearl. Being so deep inside Black Dragon Flight Controlled territory the caravan and all its goods were lost.

Week 4: The Blockade of Pearl Abbey

GMs: Rob Gray, Dan King, Lucas Dorozio
Date Range Played: December 13, 2014 – January 8, 2015

• What seemed to be an all out attack last week proves to have only been the beginning of something much worse. Scouts among the Tinderwatch and our Great Eagle allies report that the Black Dragon Flight has moved significant forces into the Tindermoot, more than doubling their presence from last week. They are not even attempting to mask their presence, but rather making it abundantly clear where they are headed; to every single settlement Heroes Guild claims to be defending.
• However they are not content to stop there, they are also sending Occupation forces to unprotected settlements as well, in Greenfeld, Evengrass, Granville, and Longmeadow.
• As they had done in the previous week, their Occupation Force that was not defeated has stayed put and dug in, this time in Polden.
• Even Heroes Guilds own base of operations is not safe, as a Raiding party has set its sights on Heroes Camp itself. Throughout the Tindermoot, the Tinderwatch is pulling its forces back to defend their Capital City. No long confident that Heroes Guild can hold back the darkness, they have sent Envoys to Leonen to ask for help.
• The worst news of all comes from Pearl. In the wake of the costly victory in East Arll and feeling responsible for Abolish’s death, Creedon left the others behind and raced to Pearl with the Orc’s body lashed to his Pegasus. He had hoped that if he could arrive in time that the Abbotess of The Sisters of the Healing hands in Pearl might be able to resurrect the fallen warrior. To Creedon’s dismay he arrived only to find that a Black Dragon Attack Wing, under the command of the ruthless Overseer Gut-rogh and his horrific mount Vaelcon the Iron Terror, had blockaded the Abbey. Clearly their spys had discovered the death of the Orc Warrior and moved to cut off Heroes Guild before the Orc’s body had even grown cold. With every passing day the chances of resurrecting their friend and ally grow dimmer, if Heroes Guild cannot break the blockade. Is this their darkest hour, or only the twilight before an even blacker night?

• Heroes Guild placed a high priority on having their fallen comrade resurrected by the Sisters of the Healing Hand. Commander Brodash arrived along with Pippy and Basmoric to assist Creedon in breaking the blockade. Overseer Gut-rogh and his drake mount, Vaelcon the Iron Terror, proved to quite the challenge, very nearly felling even the mighty Brodash. But Heroes Guild won the day, broke the blockade and brought the broken body of Abolish to the Abbotess who was successful in resurrecting the orc.
• However this played right into the Black Dragon Flight’s plans , as forcing Heroes Guild to commit some of their strongest resources to Pearl, the enemy was able to hit most of Heroes Guild holdings elsewhere in Tindermoot.
• Heroes Guild decided to attempt to consolidate its forces and largely pulled back into Northeast Tindermoot, establishing a defensive front at East Arll, Thickfoot and Crestwatch.
• With so many Black Dragon Flight attacks Heroes Guild was spread thin and it fell to the camp followers to defend Heroes Camp against raiders. Meanwhile several of the Guild’s holdings further afield were lost, with the exception of a last minute defense of Redtree.
• Heroes Guild was also unable to answer the threat of any of the Occupation Forces sent out by the Black Dragons, and as a result, the Black Dragon Flight subjugated five new settlements.

• WEEK4 PROTECTION INCOME – 305GP: Income from Week4 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of week3 and maintained through week4. The Black DragonFlight systematically attacked every setltment under Guild protection as par tof their strategy to thin out the Guilds forces. Only those settlments which the Guild activeily defended remain under their protection. This applies to the Pearl, Blueshore, Redtree, Thickfoot, Crestwatch, and East Arll. There were no newly secured settlements this week, and the following settlements were wrested from Guild control; Tolmy (hit by Raiders setting it to a neutral undefended settlement) and Fishrun (hit by an Occupation Force and therefore putting it under the control of the Black Dragon Flight if held until next week). All caravans carrying weekly protection income made it to Heroes Camp without issue, with the exception of Redtree. The caravan transporting the protection money was intercepted while trying to cross through a large swath of Black Dragon Flight controlled territory through central Tindermoot. All lives and resources are assumed to be lost. In additional to the weekly income, a weekly shipment of lumber came in from East Arll. All weekly protection income and resources goes directly to the guild bank (speak with Commander Brodash if you feel you are entitled to some of it). No additional physical rewards were granted from the remaining settlements, but they do have location specific perks (see table in follow up email coming soon).

Week 3: Resource Grab

GMs: Dan King, Rob Gray, Lucas Dorozio
Date Range Played: November 15-December 12, 2014

• Tinderwatch scouts report that the Occupation Force which took Crestwatch seems to be digging in to defend their new foothold. Reinforcements seem to be flooding in, and from Crestwatch three new Occupation forces have been sent out. One force moved swiftly into Thickfoot, brushing aside local defenders and laying claim to the nearby Iron Mines. Of the remaining two occupation forces one is heading Northwest towards the Arll Wood and the other south along the coast. Based on how quickly they secured the Iron Mines of Thickfoot, the Tinderwatch believes that the Black Dragon Flight is attempting to secure key resources to further fuel their invasion. The settlements around the Arll Wood are known for lumber related assets, making any of them likely targets. To the south, Mudmoot was raided once already, with raiders carrying off a shipment of Coal. However Polden is also home to a large Fish Market, which could be of value to feed the Black Dragons considerable forces.
• Farther afield, a Black Dragon Flight scouting party have been seen spotted in the Northwest Corner of the Tindermoot, near Pearl and Greenfeld. A second scouting party is also ranging along the west coast. Their exact targets are unknown

The relative strength of the groups has been identified as follows:

• The third week of The Black Dragon Flights campaign saw a serious push to secure resources, with occupation forces heading to East Arll, Thickfoot and Polden. As they seem to often do, the Black Dragon Flight also sent scouting forces to some of the newly acquired Heroes Guild holdings in the West.
• With Crestwatch established as their only foothold in the Tindermoot the Black Dragons fortified their position, tasking their Ogres with construction of some new defenses and commandeering a local watch tower. However in a bold move Commander Brodash and Officer Basmoric assaulted the Black Dragons position, with assistance from the Stoneguard monk Turgon. Though heavily outnumbered, Heroes Guild turned the tide and won the day, humiliating the over confident Ogres and dismantling the Black Dragon Flights only foothold.
• Under Officers Avner and Lolinder’s command, a large group of junior members of Heroes Guild headed off the Occupation Force aimed at Thickfoot. Among them was the brave Samurai Haieruf, the monk Hebro, Runeweaver Theomir, and the Centaur Cleric Githroy. Arriving unexpectedly onto the scene in his bizarre Gnomish Flying Machine was Finnius Rosencrantz the Fifth, absent for over a year on his mission o drum of financing for his ambitious Airship project. The ingenious, if not slight unbalanced gnome, stormed in laying down a barrage of deadly Arbalest fire that single handed ended the life of a powerful Ettin Witchdoctor. With their combined might the Black Dragon Flights Ogre minions, even with their abhorrent Triclops monstrosities in tow, were no match for Heroes Guild and the Town, along with its valuable Iron Mines was saved. Another victory for Heroes Guild.
• Most costly of all their victories however was East Arll. Unsure of exactly where this occupation force was heading Heroes Guild was forced to delay their response and use their Great Eagle allies as advanced scouts. By the time Heroes Guild arrived in East Arll the Black Dragon Flight was already well established. Under the command of the enigmatic Hemomancer known as Creedon, Heroes Guild knowingly walked into an ambush. Fighting alongside Creedon was Pippy and her new minotaur Battlemage apprentice whom she has taken to calling Wapoc. As well as Kyiden the Assassin, Kellin the Beggar, Falathrin the Knight, and the mighty Orc Warrior they call Abolish. Though the Draconid servants sent by the Black Dragons to occupy East Arll were a smaller force that the others, the ambush proved extremely effective. As the enemy Shadowmancers rained withering darkness down upon their heads a massive Draconid Destroyer burst out hiding from a nearby barn. And barreled headlong into the scattering forces of Heroes Guild. Undaunted Abolish faced the Destroyer one on one, suffering critical wounds again and again the mighty orc fell in battle. As he lay their bleeding out one of the Broodslaves brought along to protect the Shadowmancers and the Destroyer took advantage of the opportunity and ended the Orcs life. The courageous death of their companion steeled their resolve and they fought on through the ambush narrowly achieving victory, with two more of their number knocked unconscious in the battle.
• Victorious in all three settlements, and possessing significant forces, the Halflings gratefully accepted the protection of Heroes Guild.
• In the west, two of the guilds shadow agents were forced to intervene when a scouting force arrived in Fishrun, however with all their forces elsewhere. They had no choice but to leave a second Black Dragon Flight scouting party free reign to attack Greenfeld. While the local Halfings suffered only minor casualties, they were unhappy with Heroes Guild, refusing to give them any further protection money unless they were actually able to protect them. A fourth Occupation force was also ignored by Heroes Guild, eventually setting its sights on the wells stocked Fish Markets of the costal hamlet of Polden. Local Tinderwatch forces but up some resistance but were forced to retreat back to Newhearth City, giving the Black Dragon Flight a new foothold.
• WEEK3 PROTECTION INCOME – 375GP 9SP: Income from Week3 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of week2 and maintained through week3.
  This applies once again to Tolmy, Pearl, and Redtree which saw no interference by the Black Dragon Flight and therefore required no attention from Heroes Guild. Newly secured as protected settlements was Blueshore and Fishrun. Greenfeld would have been included however as mentioned earlier Heroes Guild failed to defend them from a scouting party and as such they are no longer considered under our protection. All caravans carrying weekly protection income made it to Heroes Camp without issue. In additional to the weekly income, a weekly shipment of 7 potions also came in from Fishrun. This income goes directly to the guild bank.

Week 2: Foothold

GMs: Dan King, Rob Gray, Lucas Dorozio
Date Range Played: October 31 – November 14, 2014

• The Tinderwatch will continue to attempt to defend settlements where they are stationed as well as feed information to Heroes guild.
• new groups of Black Dragon Flight raiders, with varying sizes, have been spotted. They are closing in on the follow targets: Greenfeld, Crestwatch, Evengrass, Pearl, Blueshore, and Redtree. A group of Raiders (Raider IV) that was uncontested last week has also moved on after pillaging the Hamlet of Ardum and now seems to have set its sights on Fishrun. The relative strength of the groups has been identified as follows:

• The intention of these forces are unknown at this time.

• The second week of The Black Dragon Flights campaign saw simultaneous scouting, raiding, and occupation attempts throughout the Tindermoot, forcing Heroes guild and its allies to divide their forces considerably to meet as many threats as possible.
• Two towns now under the direct protection of Heroes were scouted by the Black Dragon flight, likely in hopes of discovering that Heroes guild had already moved on and left their holdings unprotected. However the Black Dragons discovered that members of the newly formed guild shadows where waiting for them in both towns. The Orc known as Abolish, one of Heroes Guilds Stoneguard allies, was also sent to bolster defenses in Pearl. Thanks to their brave actions the scouts were narrowly defeated and both towns remain firmly under the protection of Heroes Guild. The officers hope this sends a clear message to the Black Dragon Flight and the Halfings of the Tindermoot, that Heroes Guild defends its own.
• Raiding parties were defeated and/or driven off in Greenfeld, Evengrass, and Fishrun. The White Wizard Avner lead the charge in Fishrun, with members of Stoneguard backing him up. Together, the put down the raider group that had ravaged the small hamlet of Ardum uncontested in the previous week. Avner extended the offer of Heroes Guild protection to Fishrun, whose mayor was more than happy to accept. Greenfeld was likewise brought under the protection of Heroes Guild when Lolinder, Creedon and Theomir defeated raiders that were terrorizing the hamlet. Hwoever several summed demons were seen fleeing the scene. Evengrass saw the most desperate battle, where Basmoric and the Highelf Samurai Haieruf valiantly defended the town against seemingly impossible odds. Basmoric’s rare Black Griffon mount perished in the ensuing battle and Basmoric himself was injured and very nearly killed when the rooftop he had been fighting on collapsed. Buried beneath the rubble, with shadow beasts hunting him, Basmoric would have surely lost his life if Haieruf had not stood his ground, standing alone against a Black Drake and Wyrm. Honor bound to defend his new friends, the Samurai also came close to death before slaying both creatures, saving not only the life of Basmoric but also many of the local Halfings. The Halflings rewarded the heroes but declined any offer of protection, uncertain if Heroes Guild was up to the task to defend their town in the long run, with such a marginal victory at the cost of widespread destruction. It is likely that the Halfings of Evengrass will allow any further Black Dragon forces to occupy their town without resistance in the hopes of reduces casualties.
• Heavily armed Black Dragon flight occupation forces also set their sights on the port town of Blueshore and the seemingly insignificant coastal hamlet of Crestwatch. This posed a difficult choice for Heroes guild, as they did not have the resources to defend both settlements against such a large force. Ultimately, Guild Commander Brodash decided that with such close ties and cooperative relationships over the years, Blueshore must be defended. With the Arcane Undermage Pippy in tow, as well as new recruits Kellin and Githroy hoping to prove their worth to Heroes Guild, Brodash crushed the invaders and secured Blueshore under guild protection. In doing so Brodash also hoped to secure access to the high level Enchanter living there, clearly a sound ally in the weeks ahead. This choice however resulting in the remaining Occupation Force overwhelming the meager Tinderwatch defenders at Crestwatch, subjugating the town, and creating a foothold in the Tinderwatch for further invasions.
• WEEK2 PROTECTION INCOME – 141 GP 4 SP: Income from Week2 is based on Settlements that were offered protection at the conclusion of week1 and maintained through week2. This applies to Tolmy, Pearl, and Redtree. However the caravan carrying the income from Redtree was attacked by bandits and all income was lost. This income goes directly to the guild bank. No additional physical rewards are granted from these particular settlements.

Week 1: The Invasion Begins

GMs: Dan King, Rob Gray, Lucas Dorozio
Date Range Played: October 24-30, 2014

• Reports from the Tinderwatch are coming in that the Black Dragon Flight is on the move throughout the Tindermoot. It would appear the long expected invasion is underway.
• The Black Dragon Flight and their Ogre Mage allies arrived in the Tindermoot without warning, presumed to have been flown in under cover of darkness. While the Tinderwatch is ill equipped to deal with this threat, they are an excellent source of information. Every Friday a new report from the Tinderwatch will be issued stating the latest troops movements. These reports are being send primarily to the four officers of Heroes Guild, but also relayed to others who may be involved.
• Six separate groups of Black Dragon Flight raiders have been spotted, they are closing in on the follow targets: Pearl, Ardum, Granville, Redtree, Tolmy, and Mudmoot. The relative strength of the raider groups has been identified as being between 176 and 300xp. The intention of these forces are unknown at this time.

• The first week of The Black Dragon Flights campaign against the Tindermoot consisted mostly of raiding parties. It is suspected that these forces were just earlier attacks meant to discern the defensive capabilities of the Tinderwatch and to steal supplies. However the majority of the attacks were repulsed by members of heroes guild. Raiders in Mudmoot, Tolmy, Pearl, and Redtree were either chased off or wiped out.
• In all of the settlements except , Mudmoot the locals offered gold and supplies if Heroes Guild will continue to defend them from the Black Dragon Flight. Officers should decide if they wish to agree to this. It doesn’t mean forces have to stay stationed there, however if undefended enemy forces can easily wrest control over to their side. (see table below for rewards for settlements under the control of Heroes Guild).
• In Mudmoot, the Guild Shadows, while successful in chasing off the Black Dragon Flight are not a significantly large and/or powerful enough force to be offered control, however they are awarded with that weeks gold and supplies as a thank you from local residents. (see table below for rewards for that week)
• A large occupational force targeting Granville was also repulsed by new comers on the scene, known as Stone Guard. They met briefly in the aftermath of the battle with Brodash who asked them to head to Heroes Guild, where their Battlemage was ordered by his college to meet up with Pippy and provide her with any support needed. This does however leave Granville undefended.

Thanksgiving

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GM: Lucas
October 11, 2014
Characters present: Brodash, Avner, Lolinder

Prelude…

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GM: Rob Gray
September 28, 2014
Characters present: Creedon, Brodash, Pippy, Avner

• Members of Heroes Guild head of a large advanced force of the Black Dragon Flight and their allies
• They are victorious, uncover a set of hand written orders scrawled in the Draconic tongue. They force one of the wounded Draconids to translate before they put it out of its misery
• The note roughly translates: “Our forces are almost ready. Scout out the weak point and report back. The Invasion is about to begin”.

Guild Shadows

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GM: Lucas Dorozio
May-September 2014
Characters present: Kazzak, Luch, Kyiden

• The new found friends have realized they will not make it very far without joining a guild to support them.
• Approach Basmoric to join and he sends them on a suicide mission to kill 30 enemies of Heroes Guild in Belsath Canyon.
• Killed 5 ogres and three of their pets with the assistance of an adventuring Zealot.
• Killed 2 black wyrms- looked hopeless till they were assisted by Kyiden and Noctus which allowed them to live.
• Basmoric has allowed Kyiden to join the on the quest.

C’thulazon

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GM: Rob Gray
January 2014
Characters Present: Part1 – Finnius, Vor, Lolinder, Haieruf Part2 – Basmoric, Creedon, Lolinder, Haieruf

• An unforeseen malfunction on the maiden voyage of Finnius new flying machine causes him to have to make an emergency landing. While he is attempting to repair it he is attacked by Ogres. Lucky for him a Centaur tribal priest named Vor Granth happens upon him and saves him. Just as the machine is fixed however, more Ogres show up and Finnius must fly the centaur to the safety of the nearby Hangar. Upon arriving back they are greeted by Lolinder, having arrived back from scouting the Canyon with his Great Eagle companions while Finnius was out. He informs Finnius that they have a strike on their hands. The Bloody Fist Ogres have lost more of their already diminished numbers in the caves deeper beyond the hangar, disappearing without a trace. They will do no more work for him unless he can prove that the caves are safe. Unwilling to lose progress Finnius agrees to finally investigate. Lolinder comes to assist with tracking the ogres down and the new Centaur offers his services in order to repay Finnius for saving him.
• Lolinder manages to pick up the trail and they follow it deep underground through many twists and turns in the darkness. Eventually the tunnel they have been following spills out into a larger cavern with a seemingly bottomless chasm running across it. The only way to get to the other side is along a narrow ledge on one side. However the ledge is guarded by a strange High Elf Samurai who seems to be under some kind of spell. He refuses to allow anyone to pass and is supported by unlikely allies, Cave Trolls and Goblin Archers, who also seem to be under a spell.
• They have no choice but to knock the Samurai unconscious and destroy his allies. After the battle is over they revive the Samurai. He explains what little he can remember (from previous memory sequences) and recognizes Finnius. He knows that his true master, the High Elf Shogun, sent him on a mission of grave importance and is honor bound to not return untill that mission is complete, but he cannot remember what the mission is. He is ashamed to have attacked the group and offers his sword to assist them in their task.
• Unsure what to make of this strange encounter, and unsure if they can trust the Samurai they return to the Hangar to regroup and decide what to do.
• Finnius grows impatient and leaves it up to the rest of the group to figure it out. He has preparations to make for his journey North to Wonderkin, where he hopes to raise finances to fund his airship project. Without Finnius there to vouch for the Centaur priest Vor Granth, and without any trusted allies left to return into the caves, Lolinder sends for help. Creedon and Basmoric arrive and join Lolinder and the Samurai (who insists upon coming with them) in returning down into the caves.
• Picking up the trail of the lost Ogres, Lolinder leads them through several more tunnels, heading ever deeper into the earth. The passage slowly begins to level out and grow larger until the group stands in a vast underground cavern. Towards the far end is a large structure, made from rough hewn stone blocks. The crude, though very elaborate front facade seems to indicate that it could be a palace of some kind. However the facade of the building is still partially under construction, being worked on by a group of Ogres, bearing the colours nad markings of the Bloodyfist Clan. Only five seem to be working, while four more seem to be sleeping. However on closer examination, they are in fact dead, with signs of trauma (blood and what appears to be residual brain tissue) to both nostrils and both ears. The remaining Ogres are completely oblivious to the group untill anyone tries to physically interact with them. Then the lay down the stones pick up their sledges and as one attack. They too seem to be under the control of some sinister entity, but the hold it has over them seems to break temporarily if they knock them out. Unfortunately, someofthe Ogres don’t survive the beat down they receive, particularly when Creedon accidentally explodes one of their brains with his fist.
• With the ogres out of the way the group enters the palace. They find themselves in a large entry hall, full of strange creatures. The door slams shut. A voice in their heads greets them: “How excellent, I so seldom have guests to entertain. I hope you enjoy my Menagerie”
• Platforms drop along the sides of the room and they group is attacked by a bizarre assortment of foes including; a Rat Ogre, a Trogg Alpha, a Tunnel Mantis, a Frost Troll, a Hell Hound, and a Warring Angel. All of whom seem to be receiving instructions from a perceived master to destroy the invaders.
• After defeating the Menagerie, they move into the next room and sees what appears to be a throne room. Sitting in a crude throne formed out of stalagmites is a strange looking creature, humanoid in appearance, but with a four-tentacled octopus-like head.The creature is being guarded by 4 humans, with the look of mercenaries. However their eyes are rolled back into their heads and they have 4 small tentacles protruding from their mouths, undulating wildly about.
• In there minds they hear the Creature say “Welcome at last to my court. I am C’thulazon the Old One. It has been many long years since I have had minds such as these to devour. Ogre brains may sustain me, but they are far too small taste foul. I had hoped you would bring be that nice plumb gnomish brain. I could sense they ingenuity and creativity even from throne room. And you were so close to bringing the brain of a fellow Psionic. Yes, the Centaur, I could sense its powers drawing near, however pitiful they may be in comparison to my own. But no matter you four will taste sweet enough, and your brains will be a perfect host for my children. Which of you shall approach C’thulazon and offer your mind to my hunger?”
• The group fought bravely, defeating the thralls, but couldn’t kill C’thulazon. Everyone was knocked unconscious except Lolinder, who offered himself up in exchange, then stabbed himself in the foot to knock himself unconscious…
• When everyone woke up, C’thulazon was gone, including any trace of his malevolent presence
• Haieruf went to -9 (lost 6 intellect permanently) Creedon went to -6 (lost 4 intellect permanently) Basmoric went to -5 (permanently lost 1 dam to his off hand due to nerve damage)

Shipwrecked Orcs

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GM: Rob Gray
December 15, 2013
Characters Present: Creedon (w/ Direwing), Basmoric, Finnius
An unusual breed of orcs has ship wrecked on the coast near Thickfoot. They quickly dispatched an entire company of Tinderwatch Soldiers and Heroes guild was offered 15g per orc head (severed of course) if they were to deal with the situation. The orcs are fighting under a ragged black banner with large white fangs crossed with two lightning bolts, the powerful black skinned Dire Orc clan, known as the Thunder Fang Clan.
See spreadsheet for more details.
Basmoric nearly died, but also discovered a rare black griffon, wounded, in the cargo hold of the wreaked orc vessel.

The Pegasus Hunt

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GM: Rob Gray
November 2, 2013
Characters Present: Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Katolina (w/ Griffon), Lolinder (w/ Great Eagle), Creedon
See spreadsheet for details

Crusaders from the Royal Order of Archons

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GM: Rob Gray
September 22, 2013
Characters Present: Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Basmoric, Avner (w/ Hippogriff), Pippy, Creedon, Finnius
Crusaders are hunting for those responsible for the mass destruction from an old battle field discovered in the Tindermoot. The receive a tip that a wizard that was involved in the battle (Avner) is in Blueshore.
Crusaders attempt to apprehend Avner but Brodash, Phinnius, Basmoric, and Creedon are also in town nearby and come to his aid. The is a stand-off between the two parties and it appears that there will be blood in the streets.
However members of the Tinderwatch and the Mayor of Blueshore arrive on the scene and go to bat for the Hero’s Guild claiming that if not for them, their whole town would now be in ruin
While the Crusaders agree that defeating the black dragonflight and ogremage raiders was a seemingly noble act, magic is still too dangerous a tool, it’s power too corrupting, therefore the spirit users responsible MUST be neutralized.
The Mayor replies, “There will be no neutralizing of any kind in my town Sirs.”
Those that stand between the Royal Order of Archons and practioners of magic are deemed enemies of the crown by all the laws of Leonen
“I know the laws well Crusader, but this not Leonen, you over reach yourself. You know as well as I do that your authority is not absolute outside of your borders. You would do well to remember which side of the Great Bridge you are on”
The Crusader retorts, “And need I remind you Mayor, that the Halfings that the Tindermoot retain their sovereignty only by the good grace of King Rhoman Videaus himself! Now step aside.”
Brodash interjects again and it starts to get very heated and weapons are drawn.
The Mayor steps in one last time, “I will not have my streets become a battlefield, nor will see harm come to the good folk of my town or the homes and shops they have worked hard to build.”
“You will take your quarrel elsewhere or you will find yourself on the wrong side of the Tinder Watch.” To back up his threat the Halfings draw their weapons and fall into formation around the Mayor.
Both parties agree to take the conflict elsewhere, agreeing to face off at the former battleground in question to prevent any further destruction. AS they prepare to leave Basmoric knocks Sir Morad out, causing him to arrive late to the battle.
Despite their impressive regalia and bold words, the Crusaders are not match for Heroes Guild and are easily defeated.
After the battle, all but one of the Crusaders and their mounts are dead. The remaining Crusader is unconscious. Basmoric butchers him, chopping up his head in a frenzy of axe blows. Only Creedon and Finnius see it happen, he half heartedly explains “it had to be done…”

Pippy Takes a Test

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GM: Rob Gray
July 12, 2013
Chracters Present: Pippy
Pippy takes (and passes) her undermage test
See spreadsheet for details

Raiding the Tindermoot

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GM: Rob Gray
June 23, 2013
Characters Present: Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Katolina (w/ Griffon), Basmoric, Avner (w/ Hippogriff), Pippy, Fagio, Creedon, Finnius
A large raiding party lead by a black drake, consisting of Wyrms and Drakonids from the black dragon flight and Ogre’s from the Shadowblight clan, is spotted entering the Tindermoot by scouts from the Tinderwatch (the closest thing the Tindermoot ahs to a standing army). The mayor of Blueshore doesn’t think that the Halflings can muster r a defense in time and collects money from concerned locals in order to pay Heroes Guild to head off and defeat the raiders. Heroes guild musters up its full strength and engages the raiders in combat in the air and on the ground. After a drawn out battle that leaves the surrounding area scarred from the combined magicks of dragons, ogre mages and the guilds own casters, the raiders are defeated. Creedon is grievously wounded after taking a blow to the head from an Ogre during the battle. He almost perishes from the wound, going into a coma for several days, but eventually he comes to only to discover he is completely deaf and his body is forever weakened. The guild is awarded 1000gold for the victory.

The Rock Biter Ogre Clan

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GM: Rob Gray
April 27, 2013
Characters Present: Brodash, Katolina, Pippy, Avner, Basmoric, Creedon (fought outside alongside the ogres)
See letter from Lolinder entitled “Report on the Ogre Clans of Belsath Canyon”
See spreadsheet for details
“Overlord Bloody Fist of the Bloody Fist really like little man who fight with bloody fists”

A Trap Laid in Shadows

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GM: Rob Gray
February 16, 2013
Characters Present: Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Katolina (w/ Griffon), Basmoric, Creedon
Agents of the black dragon flight lay a trap to lure out members of Heroes Guild

A Den of Serpents

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GM: Rob Gray
January 6, 2013
Characters Present: Brodash, Katolina, Avner, Pippy
Hired to rescue a Halfling taken by slavers. Infiltrate and destroy the slaver den hidden beneath a nearby abandoned farm house. Turns out the slavers are in thrall to the Black Dragon Flight. Members of Heroes guild spotted by a male Black Dragon in humanoid form before it flies off.

The Wildbloom Grove

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GM: Rob Gray
Dec 9, 2012
Characters Present: Avner (w/ Hippogriff), Lolinder (w/ Great Eagle), Creedon
Avner has been wandering deeper and deeper into the Emladrian forest search for herbs. He stumbles upon an enchanted grove, and sensing the power magics at work, returns with reinforcements to investigate.
• Avner dispels the dome of pale green energy surrounding the dome, it shatters and they gain entry
• In the center of the grove is a mysterious plant, covered in buds that seem to be about to flower
• Avner picks one, angering the guardians of the grove, 4 Dragonkin Naturalists. The Naturalists are not willing to accept any explanation or apology and attack with Wild Magic as well as by summoning Red Slimes to fight for them.
• During the fight the Naturalists cause some of the buds to bloom (Spirit Bloom), greatly reducing everybody’s resistances. There is a lot of damage over time, and Avner, Creedon, and the Great Eagle all get extremely low, but they defeat the Dragonkin and mop up the remaining slimes
• Avner collects 3 bushels of buds, and some other random loot is collected, before they depart the grove.

Great Eagles vs. Black Wyrms aka “an Alliance with Eagles”

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GM: Rob Gray
Dec 1, 2012
Characters present: Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Lolinder, Basmoric, Phineas
Phineas has been missing for more than a week and the only lead that the guild has is that he was talking non-stop about finding a cave in Belsath Canyon that he could use as a workshop. The guild splits into two groups to search for him, worried that he may have run into trouble with the ogres that have been so prevalent in the canyon as of late.
• After searching for 3 days the heroes run into a party of Ogres; two soldiers, an ogre-mage, and a massive Ogre Beseiger. Phineas emerges from a small nearby cave part way through the battle, scoring a head shot on the besieger. The guild makes quick work of the ogres.
• Brodash wishes to return immediately however Lolinder and Basmoric catch a weasel and wish to train it. Phineas takes the opportunity to do some more spelunking, though he believes he may have already found a suitable cave. Frustrated, Brodash takes to the skies on his Wyvern on a scouting mission. He doesn’t see anything unusual but does manage to attract the attention of a flight of Great Eagles, who follow him back to the ledge where Phineas made his camp. They attack the Wyvern but Lolinder manages to communicate with them and clear up the misunderstanding. The Great Eagles are feeling threatened by the presence of a near relation to Dragonkin, citing that a flight of black dragons has taken up residence in the canyon, threatening their supremacy of the skies over the canyon.
• Heroes Guild proposes and alliance, but the Great Eagles are dubious. Reluctantly they agree to test the heroes resolve and allow them to mount them. They then take them on a training run of sorts, flying through a section of the canyon where Stone Trolls reside. The trolls hurl boulders at them and the heroes manage to impress the Great Eagles. They decide they will deliver a favourable report back to the patriarch of their flight.
• On the way back to drop off the heroes they are set upon by a group of black Wyrms (four) lead by a Black Drake. In the ensuing battle one of the eagles is slain, and the elder great eagle also very nearly looses his life. Part way through the aerial battle Basmoric leaps from the back of the Great Eagle he is riding, attempting to land on the back of a Black Wyrms it fly by. He falls short, but uses his Arcane Blink ability to close the distance. He nearly loses his life when the black Wyrm is defeated and he goes crashing to the canyon floor with alongside the Wyrm. But at the last moment he is rescued by one of the great eagles. Also of note, Lolinders pet eagle saves one of the great eagles from certain death, having been ensnared in black chains by one of the Wyrms. The eagle manages to break the chains, thus saving the much larger Great Eagle and causing the female great eagle to fall hopelessly in love with its much smaller rescuer. The victory all but seals the deal and the Great Eagles are confident that a deal can be struck between their two groups.
• The Great Eagles (Mature) that Lolinder rode throughout the ordeal offers to stay with the heroes to act as an intermediary between the two groups, saying that he and Lolinder make a good part.

A Geological Expedition

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GM: Rob Gray
Nov 16, 2012
Characters present: Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Lolinder, Creedon, Finnius
Heroes guild was hired by a Halfling Geologist from Blueshore named Taemon to protect him on a short expedition to Belsath Canyon, just north of the Great Bridge. There have been many reports of ogres in the area.
• On their first night camped in the canyon they were attacked by five ogre warriors. IN the morning Lolinder took leave of the group to attend to some personal business.
• Were attacked a second time while Taemon was working at his geological site. This time there was 6 ogres, two of which were Ogre-Mages. Both Brodash and Creedon were heavily wounded in the exchange. After the battle Brodash used his essence harvester on the Ogre-Mages but was not satisfied with the results, he was quoted as saying “can I suck really hard on their equipment”

The Crystal Cavern

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GM: Rob Gray
Nov 8, 2012
Characters present: Avner, Brodash, Katolina, Basmoric, Pippy (rescued while in the caverns)
Lured by local folklore regarding a mysterious cave filled with untold wealth and magical artifacts, from which no Halfling has ever returned, Avner gathers some of his guild mates and decides to investigate.
Discover “focusing” crystals, & a gnome named Pippy, who along with Avner is instrumental in figuring out a way to navigate through the constantly changing passageways with the caves.

The Incident With the Gypsies

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GM: Rob Gray
Oct 27, 2012
Chracters present: Creedon, Brodash (w/ Wyvern), Katolina, Lolinder, Basmoric?, Gillead
Creedon interrupts a guild meeting claiming he needs help immediately. He explains that he learned of a group of travelling Gypsies that had come from Tolgatha. Hoping for news of his former home he tried to barter with them for information, however they instead subdued him and attempted to rob him blind. The stress of the situation caused his control over the forces at work in his body to slip. He warned the gypsies to flee but the just laughed. The whole group is now infected with some kind of blood curse or disease that makes them extremely dangerous. Wanting to right his wrongs, and prevent the gypsies from hurting or infecting anyone else. Creedon wants the guild to help him incapacitate each of the gypsies, believing that he can then draw the blood curse out of them.

Mage Dust Mayhem aka “the Face Eaters”

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GM: Rob Gray
Spring 2012???
Characters present: Avner, Brodash, Katolina, Finnius, Creedon, Basmoric, probably others… many characters came and went throughout this quest, as it was done in several parts…
Guild is hired to retrieve the son of a Halfling that has gotten into trouble in Havengard. The son (Edmund Thickfoot) has gotten himself involved with a criminal ring that is peddling the highly illegal and extremely dangerous drug known as Mage Dust, which grants superior strength but has the gruesome side effect of making the user want to eat people faces.