Date: May 4th, 2023
Players: Varg the Magician, Lorne the Guide
The blue man had appeared by some magic, providing a portal into a sandy desert abyss. He invited Varg and Lorne to follow him so that they could talk. The players followed the blue man through the desert, they both became hungry and thirsty while navigating the dunes and arid wasteland. After some time, they arrived at a cliff-face which had been carved into a temple entrance. They followed him into this temple, and immediately the heat of the day seemed to diminish. A natural spring seemed to fill a carved fountain, the players drank and filled their waterskins.
The blue man talked with Varg and Lorne, saying that they owed him a favor in exchange for drinking his water. The blue man asked the players to return to the castle and kill a gnoll who had once served the blue man, but had neglected to keep his vows of service. Specifically, they were to take the enchanted tongue from the gnoll, and return it to the blue man. Additionally, Varg traded the spell-book of Magister Blanc to the blue man, in exchange the blue man empowered Varg’s bell to cast the spell “swarm.”
Upon leaving the temple, the players found themselves magically returned to Castle Erohring in the bog. Immediately, they heard a patrol of gnolls in the hallway. They attempted to hide, but Varg failed. Lorne snuck through the hallways behind the gnolls, as they marched captive Varg to meet their leader. In a courtyard below, the gnolls called their leader out of the ruined remains of the castle’s temple. Varg told the gnoll that the blue man had sent him. The gnoll asked Varg if the blue man was his master, and three times Varg affirmed it. Then Varg found himself magically recovered from his prior injury. Varg spoke the keyword of the bell, hoping to kill the gnolls with his magic.
Lorne got the idea, lighting the two black tallow candles from his pack and invoking the blue man to come to their aid. Soon, the candles issued forth a thick smoke that made it impossible for anyone to provide help in combat – being unable to see clearly where a friend or foe stood.
In a heated combat, all five gnolls fell to the predations of Lorne’s jambiya dagger and Varg’s magic. Unfortunately, Varg and Lorne were so injured by the fight that they died besides the beastial men.
Shoalmont Games 