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*** - The Last Sons of Goldharbour Campaign - ***

The Story So Far




Mornras, 27-3 8.13
10:00 LR

The halfing rogue "Shanky" McGee, the dwarven fighter Elrik Ragefire, the dragonborn paladin Balasar, and the tiefling wizard Bruce Blasdenuv had all in their various ways converged on the frontier town of Goldharbour, the furthest foothold to the east that the Kingdom of Thorantul possessed in the third year of the 27th cycle of the moons. In seeking their fates and fortunes at Goldharbour, the End of the West, these 4 men had all found one another. They had each individually seen too many adventurers run off alone to be swallowed by the wilds, even in their short months in town, and decided to look for able partners with similar goals. After each rejected a few undesirables in their quest for companionship, their group formed a cohesive core with the four of them, and they met one Mornras night at the Spouter Inn, where Shanky was staying, to discuss where they would begin.

Elrik was an adventurer of the first degree, wanting nothing more than to explore and find the physical and emotional rewards that exploring brings. The love for the road was instilled in him by his mentor, and he wanted to do right by Adrik's memory, carving a name for himself as an explorer and well-traveled dwarf.

Bruce desired to further his knowledge of the arcane, but also to seek out artifacts and powerful relics of the distant past. Being a tiefling, his interest in the history of Goldharbour and its environs also had a racial bent. He felt that the group had a strong back and would reliably protect him as he lent them his talents in exchange.

Shanky, much like Elrik, was an adventurer at heart. He wanted to see and experience new things, get his hands on new treasure, and perhaps even add to his dagger collection along the way. An adventuring party of reliable companions seemed the logical solution, and the other 3 seemed interesting. He particularly liked calling Bruce after coining a nickname for him: "Blastenhoff".

Balasar's way had taken him to Goldharbour because of corruption. His only goal was to stamp out evil wherever he could, and the generally good-natured Elrik seemed a worthy and trustworthy companion. The motivations of Blasdenuv and McGee were perhaps questionable, but Balasar had learned many lessons in his youth about being too quick to judge. He felt sure about himself and Elrik at least, and all 3 of his companions seemed eager enough to battle evil or help with generally just causes if it would further their own interests.

Drinks were ordered, a tab was opened, and it was decided (much to Shanky's displeasure) that Balasar would be the one to control the party funds. A company name was discussed, but the group found themselves less than creative in this process, spending more time staring blankly at their drinks and each other than making suggestions. Elrik quickly grew bored, asking Shanky, who had no desire to drink, to go bother the innkeeper about what work there was to be done in the area. Shanky agreed that it was time for action. A good name would surely come to them during a future adventure.

The innkeeper informed Shanky that while there was always work around Goldharbour, the town's biggest problem was an outbreak of undead. One Red Druscal was commanding a community fund to rid the outskirts of the creatures, or at least find out where they were coming from. The mayor, and subsequently the duke, had already failed on both counts. Druscal, the innkeeper said, could generally be found drinking at the Shorebird, a local tavern.

The party quickly made their way to the Shorebird to find Druscal, inquiring with the barkeep as to his whereabouts. He seemed agreeable enough once they met, despite Shanky's tactless greeting of "Hey Fatty", and the group soon learned that the undead problem had been going on for some months. Druscal said the fund he controlled was a small one, but 200 gold would be awarded to the party if they could clear some of the undead by force, and hopefully learn something of substance about them in the process. He suggested starting with a ruin to the east of town where some farmers had reported sightings. He had no map, but said you couldn't miss it if you headed due east from the Applestead Farm south of town.

The party headed back to the Spouter Inn where they stayed the night and woke rested, heading out to the ruin early the following morning.


Teldras, 27-3 8.14
3:00 TR

The walk took the greater part of 4 hours from the doorstep of their lodgings to the doorstep of their destination. There was little to see that far out, the farms having been long passed and only endless grassy plains to see, dotted about with hills and the occasional pile of rocks. Eventually, they came upon the ruin that they sought, and Shanky stepped quietly and swiftly within to see if there were any signs of life (or unlife).

A misstep and some rocky gravel amidst these outdoor ruins gave away his position. The pained cry of the halfling and the smack of a fiery ball of energy heralded the party's first true adventure.

Soon after taking an extended rest from another large encounter with several creatures, they were woken as Shanky shouted in alarm when a Gravehound, likely wandering back to more familiar territory after having feasted on some livestock further afield, attacked the slumped forms of the other sleeping party members. Despite this mishap, they were able to discover a door to a cellar of some kind in one of the remaining wall fragments of the ruin, and soon descended into darkness.


Teldras, 27-3 8.14
3:30 LR

The party descended into the bowels of the ruin in late afternoon, fighting through a number of animated corpses and working their way past a trap which was set off by Bruce's magical mage hand. They continued on into the darkness, tossing a few sunrods to light up the area, and discovered a huge wine cellar filled with zombies. After dispatching the undead, Shanky uncovered a couple of wine bottles that seemed intact, and the party noticed a few more that seemed freshly broken.

In another room at the end of the cellar they discovered a half-elf by the name of Tamaros who was engaged in deadly combat with several particularly disgusting and large undead. Several had wings and swooped down upon the party, while several others were hulking and muscular. The last of these spewed dark magicks at them until eventually succumbing, where it uttered something ominous in Abyssal as it died. No one was able to catch what it said.

Remnants of broken boxes, splintered wood, and shattered metal were found in the cellar, as well as several zombies that appeared to be Altenian. Several men (not zombies) were also found dead, and a few of these had red cloth bands around their arms. Elrik took one of them.


Teldras, 27-3 8.14
8:30 LR

The party returned to Goldharbour and reported to Red Druscal again at the Shorebird. He congratulated them on their efforts and asked if they would like to attend a community meeting on Wedsras evening, where they could be paid. They agreed, and also showed him the red band and the wine they had found. The band got no more than a shrug from Druscal, but he told the party to talk to Eshmelon, the elf husband of Chalrice Ferton who ran the tavern, about the wine. This they did, and were paid 50 gold pieces for it by the drunken elf, much to his wife's chagrin.

They returned to the Spouter Inn to rest.


Wedsras, 27-3 8.15
7:00 TR

Getting up early, the party headed out to run errands. Elrik and Shanky went to Hardhead's Adventuring Supply, where they met a short-bearded dwarf named Dogan Stoutrock; Balasar and Tamaros went to pray at the two temples in town; and then the party reassembled and went to visit the mapmaker at a shop called "Wayfind" in a strange, twisted area of town known as the Winding Blind.

Coming into the shop, they found a maze of walls and papers, and a friendly wooden compartment hanging on the wall next to them held a map which directed them to the back of the place. Here they met a dragonborn in leather armor, apparently the owner of the shop. He seemed to be a mute, but used hang gestures to tell them that he would have a fresh, up to date map of Goldharbour ready for them in 3 hours if they would pay him 25 gold. It was a steep price, but the map would be up-to-the-minute fresh, and the dragonborn was apparently an artisan mapmaker and the only cartographer in town.

Leaving the shop to kill time until evening, shouts were suddenly heard in the street. Stopping a fleeing citizen, the party learned that a house was under attack. Rushing there, they discovered two dead children, apparently a boy and girl servant of the house, and several vicious new undead they hadn't encountered before. After defeating one of these foes, the other (blindingly fast) escaped. The owner of the house then approached them from outside. He was a Tiefling male, seeming quite respectable. He gave his name as Ankhal Anansi, and the meeting between he and the party was strained due to the curt attitudes of Shanky and Bruce, and the obvious anger of the grieving man. Before departing the house, Shanky took a little "souvenir" with him.


We have left our party outside Ankhal's house. They have spoken to a guard about the incident, and are about ready to head back to retrieve their map and attend Druscal's community meeting, where they anticipate payment for their earlier services, and interesting discussion amongst the townsfolk regarding the undead problem.