Handwavium

The party spends the next day in Freyjaborg resting, assembling a cart, and loading up the valuable statues to return to Tara. On day eight from when they returned to town last, they begin their one day journey back to town. We'll begin again on day nine.

While the party was gone, a strange event occurred in town. Townsfolk report an unusual, black clad man appearing in the town square, coming into existence with a loud popping noise. The man was dressed in blood stained chain armor, an ancient sort worn by the Northmen of old. He proceeded to walk across the town square, entering The Tavern of the Squatting Wolfhound. The black clad man ordered everyone out, speaking with a very thick Northman accent. He informed the barkeep his name was Bloody Erik and he wished to parlay with the heroes of Tara.

The tavern cleared out quickly and the guard was called. Three guardsmen attempted to evict the intruder, but were slain, their bodies reduced to a pile of bones, without the black clad man raising a hand. Upon further investigation, a cleric reported an intense aura of evil emanating from the tavern, and it was concluded that the heroes of Tara may be the best recourse.

Journey South, Part 2

As the party prepared to spend the night in Finrose's tree house, Finrose talked to them about the problems in the Fey Woods. The elven town of Elgar was being harassed by the satyrs of the woods. The satyrs were reported to be under the command of an elephant headed creature named Trikuta. Finrose suggested their best coarse of action would be to contact the elves to try to help. With an introduction from Finrose, this should be fairly easy, once the party figures out the best way to get to Elgar.

In the morning, the party packed up and headed south, in hopes of finding the ruined lighthouse. While following the game trails that followed the geography of the coastal plane, they came upon an abandoned sandstone quarry, the same rock from which Finrose's statues were carved. While investigating, a spectral creature arose from the water with a glowing, rune encrusted sword, intent on destroying the party for trespassing.

The creature turned out to be a cairn wraith, the ancient quarry master who was once responsible for the sight. In death he swore to protect the special rock of the quarry, which it turns out is especially suitable for carving of religious iconography. Once defeated, the old quarry masters sword was found to be magic, and given the name Adalstienn, meaning "noble stone" in Northman. The cold iron longsword (+1) could cast the spell "hairline factures" three times per day, an ability that would prove useful to the party soon.

Continuing south, the party came upon the abandoned town of Freyjaborg. The town was last known as a Northman city of artists, especially stone masons who carved religious statues and objects of worshop from the red limestone of the hills, from which the Redstone island received its name. Statues were scattered throughout the city, some exquisitely carved, while others were abandoned mid-creation. While most were of the Northman gods, such as Freyja, the towns namesake, others were of the Yan-ki deities and some of even stranger, unknown powers. In the center of the town were five ancient standing stones, clearly from the time of the Early Men.

Hoping to gain a better view, Anarod attempted to climb one of the large statues, only to find his first hand hold to be the body of a living creature! Three columns in all sprung to life and brutally attacked the party. The battle was fierce and it was uncertain the party would prevail. Throughout the battle, Tristan's sword was able to reduce the creatures defenses with the hairline factures spell. As they gained the upper hand, the priest Donal called upon Lugh for assistance. A nearby statue of Lugh glowed brightly and concentrated his prayer, giving the party the final push they needed to defeat the creatures.

With the creatures, caryatid columns defeated, the party moved on to the standing stones. Donal discovered that the stones were dedicated to crafting and performance. He was able to activate them by singing a beautiful religious song. Once activated, Donal discovered their purpose. Not only would the activated stones increase the towns craft and perform abilities, but the stones would allow deportation between these stones and other standing stones controlled by the same person.

As the party does not control other standing stones, for now this will be something to make note for future use. Besides teleportation, the stones can also be chained together to amplify the power of any set of standing stones.

Journey South, Part 1

The party headed south from Tara along a game trail. The sky was overcast as they passed through Smuggler's Cove where just a month before they liberated a sailing ship and along the coastal plane between the steep ocean cliffs and foothills. 

While traversing the trail, they heard the cry of a great birds from the sky. Calderone the wizard (some say Calderone the Crazy) was able to discern to large birds of prey fighting above the cloud cover. A light mist began raining down on them, a mist of blood.

Suddenly, as the party looked upward, something fell from the sky, almost crushing Donal, the cleric. It was a huge shark, still heaving after being plucked from the sea. The cries from the creatures continued, with shrieks of pain and great concussive noises. The party waited for the victor to come down to collect its spoils.

Sure enough, a large griffon, badly injured cautiously landed on the opposite side of the shark to collect the prize. The griffon angrily cried at the party hiding in the trees, seemingly looking straight at them. It grabbed its prize and began to fly away, when Calderone unleashed a web spell on the hapless creature. Entangled in the webs, the griffon tumbled to the ground, the enormous shark nearly crushing it in its flailing. Tristan rushed forward with his bastard sword and dispatched the poor animal in a single blow, severing its head. 

The party harvested the animal for its magical bits and took a huge chunk of shark meet for dinner. While they were doing this a grizzly bear approached them quietly in hopes of ambushing them. Tristan was the only one who noticed, and with his bear repellant, created through great hardship, he sent the bear running back to its lair in confusion.

Moving on, the party came across a strange hedge along the game trail. The huge, semicircular hedge was not magical, but certainly didn't occur in nature by itself. Within the hedge were warriors, apparently turned to stone. Using a mirror, as the party had been warned of basilisks, they looked within the hedge to discover a sign! The crudely written sign read "Beware Basilisks," with some of the letters malformed or backwards.

Anarod the rogue climbed the hedge to get a better look, and what he saw was a sea of these stone warriors, and within the center of the hedge, three trees. The trees had an ornate tree house build atop it, with bridges between them, a spiral staircase leading upwards, and even a slide for easy exit. Standing on its hind legs at the base of the stairs was a curious bear.

The party called out for Finrose the druid, who they were told lived in this region, and after a time, the old elf appeared. His young human wife, Marisil  (daughter of Mad Luducus), and their two half-elven children, Lawren and Moira appeared at the windows to see the commotion.

Finrose brought the party into his home and made them welcome, explaining the threats to the region. As it turns out, the statues were of Northmen gods that the Tarans had discarded outside of town. Finrose was using them to scare off intruders, his children having made the basilisk sign.

Updated Map

The Second Month

Tara looks much the same as it did just a month ago, but the attitude is different. The people, once closed in on themselves and fearful of the unknown, now look outwards, to the future. A statue of Daghda, the All Father, looks down on them from on high, offering his protection and wishes for their prosperity. Evil ghosts and spirits no longer haunt their every move. Idle hands now have work to do, both in the crafting of metal items and extra workers for the fields. The shadow over Tara cast by the evil priestess of death has been lifted and the heroes of the land have been woken from their slumber. Yet, there is much to do, as Samhain approaches and the annual threat of fire and destruction looms. But that is still months away, and there is much to do in the towns defenses and the exploration of the region.