The Chronicles of Kulgar Hakonson

THE MAP THE TEMPLE OF DEATH BETRAYAL IN CHENDL CHAPTER 1: JOURNEY TO THE TOWER OF THE WORLD THE JOURNEY WESTWARD THE MESTORNORY BRIDGEWAY THE TOWER OF THE WORLD Kulgar Loki Circh

The Map [First Session: circa Friday 21 August 1981] [p1]

09 May 01 (CY 576): Littleberg: Kulgar [1st level fighter] buys a pair of well made matching longsword and dagger which he will carry with his dwarven made two-handed sword [given to him by master Tradgon].  He soon meets an elven archer named Loki [1st level fighter], who sells fruit in the town.

Kul and Loki buy a map from a woman in a tavern. The map shows the location of the ruined Temple of Death in relation to the towns of Crockport and Chendl.  It also depicts the location of an unfamiliar place called Trosh (possibly an ancient ruined city).  An inscription on the lower left corner of map reads:

75 MILES NORTH OF CROCKPORT
120 MILES WEST
LIES THE RUINED TEMPLE
OF DEATH -- BEWARE THE
GUARDIAN

10 May 01: Travel. During their journey, Kul and Loki come across a small, wooden house. They soon find that it is inhabited by three ogres. After a tough fight the ogres are finally defeated. However, upon entering, they are attacked by a female ogre. Kulgar kills the horrible creature. The two adventurers spend the night in the house. Loki sits the dead ogres against the outside of the house.

Night: Four bugbears attack the dead ogres! Kul and Loki soon finish the battle! Loki props the dead bugbears against the wall also.

11 May 01: Travel north.

12 May 01: Travel. Arrive at Chendl. Spend the night at a local inn.

13-14 May 01: Travel north.

15 May 01: Travel. Arrive at Crockport. In a tavern, Kulgar finds that his pouch of coins has been stolen by a playful woman named Circh [2nd level thief]. She returns his pouch and they talk. Kul tells her where he is traveling to. She seems quite interested, so he invites her along (though he is still a little suspicious of her).

16 May 01: Kul, Loki and Circh leave town on horseback and follow the directions given on the map.

17-18 May 01: Travel west across plains and into a forest.

19 May 01: Morning: An owlbear wanders into camp. A mean fight, but the group kills it. Travel.

The Temple of Death [p1-2]

Arrive at the Temple of Death, dismount, and tie the horses to trees. Upon investigation they find that there are two orcish guards just inside the entrance (a huge rock which is fashioned in the shape of a skull). Circh sprains her ankle in an unsuccessful attempt to climb over the skull rock. Kul and Loki sneak around either side of the rock and attack the two guards. The guards are killed and the three adventurers enter and descend into the depths of the temple.

The passages within are lit by torches. The threesome follows a downsloping passage and then climbs a flight of stairs. After exploring a few passages and rooms (including a huge room with pillars) they are surprised by three orcs. Circh is seriously injured, while Kul and Loki finish the battle. Loki finds a secret door and they investigate (Kul carries an unconscious Circh over his shoulder). Behind the secret door they find an altar room. Kulgar finds an invisible box behind the altar that sounds as though it is full of coins. He takes the box and they leave the altar room. Kul and Loki fight more orcs and find stairs leading up. They explore a maze of corridors, becoming lost in the labyrinth, and then decide to rest a while.

[20 May 01]: Kul and Loki continue exploring (with Kul still carrying an unconscious Circh) and eventually find a room full of orcs and a large iron door beyond. Loki throws a few flasks of oil into the room and Kul tosses in a lit torch. A large fire ignites, trapping the orcs! A few manage to escape the flames, but Kul and Loki are waiting, and easily dispatch them. After the fire has died Kul and Loki investigate the room. Loki finds a secret door which is activated by pushing a stone in the wall, but suddenly, at that moment, a troop of about thirty orcs comes charging through the iron door. Loki falls back and fires arrows at the oncoming orcs while Kul attacks with his longsword. Realizing the severity of the situation, Kul quickly grabs Circh and dives through the secret door. He finds a lever on the wall and quickly pulls it. The secret door closes, but not before one orc ducks through! Kul charges and swiftly kills it. Meanwhile, Loki begins throwing burning bottles of wine [Molotov cocktails] in front of the oncoming orcs and soon the whole corridor is full of smoke and flames. Many of the orcs die in the flames (though some are able to retreat). Loki soon rejoins Kul and they discover stairs leading down into darkness. However, as Kul steps on the first step they are overcome by a strange gas. They sleep for a long while.

[21 May 01]: Kul and Loki awaken. They finally decide to leave the dungeons and take Circh back to a town (she needs healing, and besides, she hasn't eaten in two days either!). However, as they open the secret door to backtrack they are attacked by the surviving orcs. They manage to kill all of the orcs in a mean battle (and then rest again?).

22 May 01: Leave dungeon [Loki has achieved 2nd level] and begin the ride eastward, towards Crockport.

23-24 May 01: Travel.

25 May 01: Travel and arrive at Crockport. Loki pays for Circh's healing and Kul puts her into a room at the inn. Kulgar brings the invisible box to a wizard who is able to open it for him. They find gold and platinum coins within. Kul decides to keep the box.

26 May 01: Circh finally wakes up and eats a lot. Rest. Loki starts running everyday to keep in shape.

27-28 May 01: Leave town and travel back to the temple.

29 May 01: Arrive at the Temple of Death. There are no orcs in sight. The three adventurers descend and explore [3rd dungeon level]. They fight giant rats, cross a pit by rope and battle ghouls (Kul is temporarily paralyzed), gaining treasure. The party finds a room with a stone coffin. The entrance to the room is barred, though. The three use their combined strength to bend the bars and gain entry. Upon entering, however, a strange gas is released, draining Kulgar and Circh's strength. Loki manages to avoid the gas and its effect.

Later: Kul and Circh have regained their strength and the party opens the coffin, prepared for whatever may lie within. Inside is an old rotted skeleton and absolutely nothing of value. Loki searches the room and finds another secret door, this one reveals stairs leading downward [to the 4th dungeon level].

[30 May 01]: The trio descend the stairs, but about halfway down another trap is tripped and more gas is released. This time it is fear gas and Circh quickly bolts up the stairs in terror. Kul runs after her, unaffected by the gas, but concerned for her safety. Loki continues downward and enters a room at the foot of the stairs. A large column with many, small holes all over it is in the center of the room. Investigating further, Loki finds yet another secret door. As he begins to pull the strange door downward arrows shoot out of every hole of the column, wounding him.

Meanwhile, the effect of the fear gas finally wears off, so Circh and Kulgar rejoin Loki. They find a passage beyond the secret door and follow it to a huge room. Another column, even larger than the previous one dominates this room. This column is covered with large holes. Four smaller columns surround the larger one. The smaller columns are bare with no holes in them. Loki finds a very obvious "hidden" door. He pushes it part way open as Kul and Circh duck behind two of the smaller columns for protection. Many spears shoot out from the central column. After wasting much time trying to open the door further, Kul comes to the conclusion that it is a false door meant as a trap. Loki does, however, find a real secret door back in the passageway. After opening it they follow a [northward] passage that turns [east] and leads to two rooms. The second room contains another large stone coffin. Once again the trio must bend bars to gain entry to the chamber. Once inside Kul opens the coffin revealing an old rotting skeleton within. Loki takes the skeleton's leather armor and Kul takes an enchanted [+1] dagger.

On the way back through the passage Loki discovers yet another secret door. They open it, but are suddenly attacked by odd reptilian creatures [sandrints]. The trio soon discover that the sandrints can only be harmed by enchanted weapons. Loki fires magic arrows while Kul and Circh use their enchanted daggers. They manage to kill the sandrints (though Circh is knocked unconscious) and afterward find some treasure and coins. Loki takes a ring [+1 ring of protection]and a map [A] depicting strange and unknown places called the Mestornory Bridgeway and the Tower of the World. The party leaves the temple and heads back towards Crockport again.

---

Betrayal in Chendl [p2-5]

31 May-01 June 01: Travel.

02 Jun 01: Arrive at Crockport. Circh is healed and the treasures are appraised and exchanged. Loki's ring from the temple turns out to be a [+1] ring of protection. He gives it to Circh.

03-08 Jun 01: Rest.

09 Jun 01: Kulgar convinces Loki and Circh to travel north to investigate the ruined city of Trosh as shown on their map of the Temple of Death. The party leaves town headed northward.

10 Jun 01: Travel. Encounter three ogres. Circh and Loki are seriously injured. Kul goes into a berserk rage, but is soon overcome. (Two paladins later find the unconscious adventurers and bring them back to Crockport.)

11 Jun 01: Unconscious.

12 Jun 01: Kul and Circh awaken in a temple of Athena in Crockport. They speak with one of their rescuers and discover that Loki has died. They both sell their enchanted daggers and have Loki raised from the dead [Loki has achieved 3rd level].

13 Jun 01: Kul and Circh wander around town and see a haughty noble man walking with his guards. They decide to play  a trick on the noble [Sir Farchard]. They enter a nearby stable and obtain a rope and bucket of watered manure. Circh then climbs up to a rooftop and hauls up the bucket with the rope. She dumps the bucket of manure down upon the noble's head! His guards immediately draw their swords and chase Kulgar down an alleyway. Kul and Circh defeat the guards, but are then chased through the town and finally caught by the city guards. Loki eventually finds them in prison where Kul has become very sick and weak. Loki proceeds to work on a plan to break them free. In a tavern he meets a mercenary named Tharb [1st level NPC fighter]. Tharb agrees to help Loki, but first they need money.

14 Jun 01: Loki leaves town in search of some treasure. He battles a hill giant and is almost killed before he finally defeats it and gains it's treasure. Meanwhile, in prison, Kulgar has become sick, perhaps from a disease.

15 Jun 01: Kulgar is now very sick with a burning fever. He and Circh are brought to trial where they learn that the noble's name is Sir Farchard. They are soon found guilty of the following crimes: disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, trespassing, destruction of property, holding people hostage, terrorism, and murder. They are sentenced to be locked up in a dungeon between Crockport and Chendl.

16 Jun 01: Morning: Kul and Circh are taken from prison and locked into a wagon. The wagon rolls out of town with an escort of guards around it. Kulgar's health is getting worse. Meanwhile, Loki and Tharb visit many alchemists and come away with four gaseous form potions. Loki's plan is beginning to shape up. They leave town intending to catch up to the prisoner wagon.

Night: Loki and Tharb see a campfire off of the road. Loki sneaks up to investigate, thinking that it is probably the camp of the prisoner escort, but instead finds a large group of hobgoblins. He and Tharb quickly leave the area without being noticed.

17 Jun 01: Dawn: Loki and Tharb catch up to the wagon and pass it widely, so as not to be seen. After stopping, Loki drinks a gaseous form potion and floats back to the wagon undetected. Inside the wagon, he finds Kulgar and Circh chained up and two guards. Loki floats past the guards and rematerializes near Circh. Intending to create a distraction, he knocks over a lantern which starts a fire. He then quickly feeds Circh a gaseous form potion, but one of the guards suddenly attacks him. Loki evades the attack by turning gaseous and floats over to Kul's location. He materializes there and gives a potion to Kul. They all turn gaseous and escape from the wagon, but as Loki leaves he feeds the growing fire with a couple of vials of oil. Kul and Circh follow Loki back to Tharb's location where they all mount up (Loki also brought extra horses!) and ride off south towards Chendl. Kul is still very weak. He and Circh have, of course, lost all of their possessions, including Kul's matching longsword and dagger, and the invisible box. Fortunately, Loki was carrying the map of the bridgeway and tower [map A], or it would have been lost as well.

18 Jun 01: Arrive at Chendl. A cleric cures disease on Kulgar (the disease was the result of a bite from a giant rat in the Temple of Death).

19-24 Jun 01: The party rests. Tharb bids his farewell and goes his own way. Circh supplies herself and Kulgar with spending money by thieving. She also obtains a snuff box worth about 8,000 gp and a jar of Keoghtom's ointment.

25 Jun 01: Loki brings the map of the bridgeway and tower [map A] to a sage to learn more about it. The party decides to travel to the elfin city of Highfolk while the sage is researching the map.

26-29 June 01: The party travels across the plains, through the southern end of the Vesve Forest and then across more plains.

30 Jun 01: Cross the Velverdyva River and arrive at Highfolk. Kulgar immediately finds a tavern and orders a beer. That night, the tavern is alive with dancing, singing elves. The songs are all strange to Kulgar and he is not amused by the dancing. He retires to his room to drink alone. Loki, however is having loads of fun.

01 Jul 01: Rest. Loki meets a friendly elven armorer who offers to sell him a suit of elfin chainmail. Loki, however, hasn't enough money. The armorer agrees to hold the chainmail for a while.

02 Jul 01: The party leaves Highfolk and travels eastward back towards Chendl.

03 July 01: Travel across river and plains.

04 Jul 01: Encounter a hill giant in the Vesve Forest. After dismounting, Loki fires arrows at the giant. Kul fires two arrows from his [+1] longbow. After missing, Kulgar draws his longsword and attacks. Circh tries to backstab the giant by jumping from a nearby tree, but she ends up unconscious. Soon the raging giant overcomes Kul and Loki and leaves them all for dead.

Later: Circh awakens and heals the elf and the barbarian with the last of her Keoghtom's ointment. They all rest and then continue onward.

05-06 Jul 01: Travel.

07 Jul 01: Travel. Arrive back at Chendl only to find out from the librarian that the sage has apparently left town and gone to Greyhawk. Double-crossed! The party wastes no time in leaving for Greyhawk.

08-14 Jul 01: The party travels across the Kingdom of Furyondy and through the city of Dyvers.

15 Jul 01: Arrive at Greyhawk. Loki buys a map of the city and the three begin checking libraries, looking for the sage. After checking a number of places they come across an uncooperative librarian who refuses to let them search the back rooms. While Kul and Circh argue with the man, Loki sneaks around to the back of the building. He finds a window and upon peeking through he sees the sage. Kul and Circh are escorted out by two guards and walk away angrily. Meanwhile, Loki overhears the sage and the librarian talking. The sage claims that he needs another day to finish researching his map and that the strangers are trying to steal it from him. Loki quickly locates Kul & Circh and informs them of his discovery. Kul suggests that they first let the sage complete his research, then confront him and force him to reveal his discoveries. They all agree and return to the inn to rest.

16 July 01: Rest.

17 Jul 01: The party returns to the library and sneaks around to the sage's window. Loki, using a polymorph self potion, changes into a small bird and flies up to the roof. Meanwhile, Circh climbs in through the window while Kulgar stands guard outside. Kulgar hears a noise behind him. He turns around and is faced with an exact likeness of himself [a doppleganger]! As the two Kulgars meet in battle, Circh returns. She becomes quite confused and attacks the real Kulgar! Kul is soon overcome by his two opponents and they quickly leave the scene leaving him unconscious.

Meanwhile, on the roof, Loki changes into a spider and crawls down the chimney. Once inside the building he changes back into himself and sneaks into the sage's chamber. The elf quickly puts a knife to the sage's throat and forces him to reveal his research. The sage desperately gives up the stolen map [A] plus two books, one containing another map [B]. Loki then kills the sage [achieving 4th level], but suddenly, he hears voices (city guards) outside of the window. He decides to leave quickly and escapes back through the chimney as a spider again. He then flies back to the inn as a bird. (The guards, meanwhile, have found the unconscious Kulgar and taken him away.) Loki arrives back at the inn and is very surprised to find two Circhs fighting each other. He chooses a target and attacks! The doppleganger is finally killed.

Circh now realizes her mistake and explains it all to Loki. He remembers the guards' voices and goes to the guard house to investigate. He tells the guards that he's looking for his drunken son and they let him look at the prisoners in their cells. He finds Kulgar unconscious in a cell, but then leaves explaining to the guards that his son was not there. Loki then buys a vial of oil of etherealness and a gaseous form potion. Using the oil, he attempts to travel back to Kul's cell through the Ethereal Plane, but a nightmare cuts him off and he is forced to fight it. He defeats the nightmare and then reaches Kul's cell. He materializes and, finding Kul awake, gives the gaseous form potion to him. Loki then leaves ethereally while Kul drinks the potion and floats out of his cell. Kulgar goes to the armory where he reclaims all of his equipment (plus a new enchanted, glowing [+1] longsword). He then returns to the inn. The three adventurers leave the city that night. [Loki is 4th level, Circh is 3rd level and Kulgar has achieved 2nd level on a previously unrecorded date].

18 Jul 01: Travel west towards Dyvers. The party agrees to journey back to Highfolk so Loki can buy the elfin chainmail.

19 Jul 01: A heavy rain storm strikes. Arrive at Dyvers.

20 Jul 01: Still raining. The party leaves Dyvers traveling towards Littleberg.

21-22 Jul 01: More rain. Travel on.

23 Jul 01: The rain has finally stopped. Arrive at Littleberg. Circh steals a sweet water potion and then buys another.

24 Jul 01: Leave Littleberg. Travel north-west off road towards Highfolk.

25-26 Jul 01: Travel.

27 Jul 01: Sunny day. Travel. Reach Velverdyva River. They find that the river is uncrossable here and decide to continue northward along the river. Six lizardmen are encountered and defeated. Find road.

28-30 Jul 01: Travel.

31 Jul 01: Travel and arrive at Highfolk. Loki buys the elfin chainmail for 750 gp.

01 Aug 01: Leave Highfolk and travel back towards Littleberg.

02-08 Aug 01: Travel.

09 Aug 01: Travel. Encounter three ogres. Loki kills two of them with just three arrows! The ogres are defeated and the party moves on.

10 Aug 01: Travel and arrive at Littleberg.

11-21 Aug 01: Stay in Littleberg. Loki trains with the longsword while Kulgar hangs out with his old buddies. Circh practices her thieving.

22 Aug 01: The party leaves Littleberg. Travel towards Veluna City. [Loki: 4th level; Kulgar: 2nd level; Circh: 3rd level]

23-25 Aug 01: Travel.

26 Aug 01: Travel. Arrive at Veluna City in evening.

27 Aug 01: Leave town on road toward Thornward.

28-29 Aug 01: Travel.

30 Aug 01: Travel and arrive at Thornward. That night on a dark street something cold strikes Kulgar in the back! Kul turns and battles the strange creature [a shadow] with his enchanted [+1] longsword. After losing a good amount of strength he finally defeats it [achieving 3rd level].

31 Aug 01: Kulgar is healed. The party leaves Thornward and travels toward Lopolla.

01 Sep 01: Travel through Bramblewood Forest.

02 Sep 01: Travel through forest. Find an old, seemingly abandoned house. It is actually occupied by five ghouls. The ghouls are killed and a system of tunnels is discovered beneath the house. Loki and Kulgar find a large amount of gold and electrum coins hidden in the tunnels; more than they can carry with them. They remove all of the treasure and decide to bury it nearby so that they can return with a wagon and haul it away. Kulgar digs a hole ten paces to the east and seven paces north from the north-east corner of the house, while Loki and Circh count all of the coins. There are 2,845 gp and 1,770 ep. They dump it all in the hole, bury it and then continue on.

03-05 Sep 01: Continue traveling through Bramblewood Forest.

06 Sep 01: Travel onward leaving the forest. Arrive at Lopolla. A drunk punches Circh in the eye outside of a tavern.

07 Sep 01: Circh has a black eye and it takes some coaxing from Kulgar to get her to agree to leave town. Buy a wagon (with two horses) and six barrels. Travel back into the Bramblewood towards the abandoned house.

08-09 Sep 01: Travel through forest.

10 Sep 01: Travel through forest. Encounter a hill giant on the road. During the fight, the giant strikes the wagon and cracks it badly! The giant is eventually killed and Loki finds some kind of enchanted box [a folding boat] in its sack.

11 Sep 01: Continue on through forest.

12 Sep 01: Travel. Arrive at the old house and dig up the treasure. The treasure is then loaded into the barrels and the party turns around and heads back toward Lopolla.

13 Sep 01: Travel through forest.

14 Sep 01: Travel. Encounter ten gnolls with battle axes, morning stars, and fauchard forks. During the battle, the gnolls take the reins of the wagon. Kulgar leaps onto the wagon to stop them from stealing the treasure. After a long, hard battle Kul has killed seven of the gnolls. Both Circh and Loki are badly injured.

15-16 Sep 01: Travel.

17 Sep 01: Travel. Arrive at Lopolla again. Pay an entry tax of 47 gp. Have Circh healed for 800 gp at the temple of Thor.

18-30 Sep 01: Stay in Lopolla. Kulgar tries to keep in shape while Circh recovers.

The Journey Westward [p5-13]

01 Oct 01: Loki pays a magic-user to identify the enchanted box found on 10 Sep 01. It turns out to be a folding boat. The party agrees to leave and head westward to investigate the Mestornory Bridgeway, and the Tower of the World as shown on their maps [A+B]. They leave Lopolla on the road toward Ulakand (capital of Ull).

02-05 Oct 01: Travel.

06 Oct 01: Encounter four ogres. Kul is hurt badly.

07-08 Oct 01: Travel.

09 Oct 01: Travel and arrive at Ulakand. The party meets a man named Parggin who offers to guide them through Western Oerik (also known as Baklune). Many people here are speaking a strange language (Baklunish). Kulgar purchases a healing potion in the city.

10 Oct 01: Leave Ulakand with Parggin and head west.

11-13 Oct 01: Travel in cold and windy weather.

14 Oct 01: Travel and arrive at a village. Trade horses for mules (for mountain travel). That night, Loki is challenged to a fight by a large bald villager. He accepts and the rules are explained to him. Loki, however, soon forgets the rules and kicks the bald hulk in the jaw! This sends the spectators in an uproar and Loki and Circh are chased from the village. Kul manages to gather up all of his and Circh's equipment from their tent and he rides off west to search for them. He eventually finds Loki and Circh, but Parggin is nowhere to be seen. They wait a while for him, but he never shows up, so they decide to continue on without their guide. Loki and Circh had to leave behind their mules, so Kulgar's mule will have to carry all of the equipment. The party travels for about an hour and then decides to sleep.

15-20 Oct 01: Travel west.

21 Oct 01: Using the map [B] as a guide, the party decides to turn south-west towards the southern end of the Dramidj Ocean. [The 336 mile journey will take about 12 days?]

22 Oct 01: Frosty with overcast skies (sometimes very dark). Travel.

Afternoon: Encounter a frost giant. Kul and Loki are both injured by the giant. Circh backstabs the giant, hurting it terribly. Loki finishes the fight by plugging the creature in the head with an arrow. Kul takes the giant's longsword. It seems to be of very good quality [a +1 flame tongue].

23-24 Oct 01: Travel south-westward.

25 Oct 01: The party comes upon a small house occupied by an old woman. The woman is an oracle and offers to tell Circh's fortune for a price. Kulgar thinks it is a waste of time and refuses to contribute any money to the cause. The woman says that the Tower of the World will be profitable, but the road will be dangerous. Kul, Loki and Circh leave, disappointed that the old woman could not reveal the source of the danger.

26-27 Oct 01: Continue traveling south-west.

28 Oct 01: A giant owl is encountered during the night.

29-30 Oct 01: Travel

31 Oct 01: Continue traveling south-west across plains. Mountains come into sight on the horizon.

01 Nov 01: Continue south-westward. Encounter three wild horses.

02 Nov 01: Travel.

03 Nov 01: Encounter four wemics (lion centaurs). Loki accidentally frightens off the antelope that they were hunting. The wemics surround the three travelers threateningly, but Loki and Circh speak to them in elfish and gain their trust. Their leader is named Goldeneye.  The party joins the wemics on their hunting excursion to gain food. Circh borrows Kul's [+1] longbow. A total of seven antelopes are caught. Head southeast with the wemics towards the wemic camp.

Evening: Four trolls attack the party. Kulgar is grabbed around the neck by a troll. He unsheathes his dagger, but is unable to break free of the troll's powerful hold. Loki soon defeats his opponent and turns to help one of the wemics, Pureblood, who is not doing so well. He soon kills that troll also. Kul finally breaks his attacker's hold, but as he grabs his longsword the troll quickly grabs Circh, injuring her badly! The battle finally ends as Loki steps in and kills the last troll. Kul bandages Circh and gives her a healing potion.
    The party continues on (Kulgar carrying Circh) until they finally reach the wemic camp. There about thirty wemics in all here. They supply Kul, Loki and Circh with food for the night. Pureblood agrees to guide the three adventurers northward into Baklune. Circh drinks another of her healing potions. They sleep that night in Kulgar's tent.

04 Nov 01: Eat a large breakfast. Circh's jaw is in very bad condition. She eats and talks very little.

05-06 Nov 01: Rest in wemic camp.

07 Nov 01: Leave wemic village and travel west with Pureblood.

08 Nov 01: Travel west.

09 Nov 01: Travel west.
Night: Overcast and windy. Circh spots about seven torch lights during her watch. Loki sneaks over and finds them to be hobgoblins. About fourteen of them. The party hides in the tall grass and brush until the hobgoblins have passed by.

10 Nov 01: Travel. Encounter a herd of deer in the evening. Loki and Pureblood hunt and catch four of them.

11-15 Nov 01: Travel.

16 Nov 01: Travel. Hunt more deer.

17 Nov 01: Travel. It turns windy as the party nears the coast.

18 Nov 01: Travel.
Afternoon: Arrive at the coast of the southern Dramidj Ocean [off map]. Kulgar likes the fresh sea air, but Loki and Pureblood do not like the ocean much. A rocky cliff follows the coast southward.

19 Nov 01: Travel south along coast at bottom of cliff.

20 Nov 01: Travel.

21 Nov 01: Travel. The sandy beach widens out.

22 Nov 01: Travel. Arrive at a large cove. Suddenly, the sand erupts and four small, vicious creatures [sandmrees] attack. One rips the calf muscle from Circh's left leg and she immediately falls unconscious. Loki takes some bad leg wounds, but he kills one and then kills Circh's opponent. Kulgar and Pureblood finish off the remaining two, though Kul receives a bad knee wound. Loki feeds Circh one of her healing potions, but she remains unconscious. The party decides to rest away from the beach to reduce the risk of further attack. Pureblood is a fantastic jumper and he easily brings everyone, one at a time, to the top of the cliff. He also shows Kulgar some healing techniques as he cares for Circh's wound with seaweed. Loki sets up the tent and he and Circh sleep in it that night.

23-25 Nov 01: Rest.

26 Nov 01: Travel southward along coastline. Circh is conscious, but must ride on Pureblood's back.

27-28 Nov 01: Travel southward through fog. Later, the party turns northward as they round the southern-most end of the Dramidj Ocean.

29 Nov 01: Travel northward.

30 Nov 01: Travel.

01-02 Dec 01: Travel.

03 Dec 01: Travel. Spot a merchant ship off-shore. Loki meets five of the sailors on shore, but Kul recognizes their flag as a buccaneer flag. Tell them that Circh is injured. The pirates claim that they have a cleric on their ship, but to be healed she will have to board the ship. During the conversation, the pirates speak amongst themselves in Baklunish. Pureblood can understand the Baklunish language and knows that they are plotting to kidnap Circh. Circh refuses to go aboard the ship and the pirates go their own way. The party travels on westward away from the coast. They pass a large patch of soft dirt. Could the buccaneers have buried a treasure here? The party continues on for a couple more hours and then sets camp with no fire so as to draw as little attention as possible. They keep a close watch for any approaching buccaneers.

04 Dec 01: Before continuing on, the party decides to return and investigate the patch of soft dirt, but the ship and the supposed treasure are now gone.

05-09 Dec 01: Travel.

10 Dec 01: Travel. Catch a giant gar for meals.

11-14 Dec 01: Travel.

15 Dec 01: Travel. Circh is still unable to walk. Arrive at a village. The folk here are Baklunish. Kul gives a cleric 400 gp in jewels to have a healing spell [Cure Serious Wounds] cast upon Circh.

16 Dec 01: Pureblood learns that there is a town four days to the north. The party leaves the village and heads north, with Circh riding on the mule.

17-18 Dec 01: Travel.

19 Dec 01: Travel. Arrive at town. The party visits another cleric to have Circh's leg healed. Kul, Loki and Pureblood wait while Circh is taken out of the room to be healed. They wait for a long while [a couple of hours], but Circh does not return. Kul and Loki grow suspicious and decide to snoop around a bit. They exit through the double doors and circle around the building. They see people entering a temple hall and join in to investigate. Inside, a priest emerges from a curtained doorway, followed closely by a cloaked woman. They approach the altar and the cloaked woman lies down upon it. As Kul and Loki watch, the priest unsheathes a sword and prepares to perform a ritual sacrifice! Kul is horrified! He thinks that Circh may be beneath the cloak...possibly drugged or hypnotized. He charges up to the altar, sword in hand. He stumbles as he leaps over a railing, but reaches the altar and swiftly pulls the hood off of the woman. It is not Circh after all! Oops! He quickly turns and runs around the altar and, pushing aside the confused cleric, he escapes through the curtained doorway. He runs through several rooms and corridors as folks watch in bewilderment and finally finds a door leading out to the streets. Kul emerges from the temple wildly and returns to the inn. Loki, meanwhile, slips out through the front entrance of the temple unnoticed. He circles around the building, further investigating and searching for Circh, but never does find her.

Later: Circh finally returns to the inn. Her wound is healed, but she will need to walk with a crutch for a while. The spell [Regenerate (Spell-Law)] took a number of hours to complete.

20 Dec 01: Leave the town traveling northward.

21-23 Dec 01: Travel.

24 Dec 01: Travel. Sight a ship off-shore.

25-30 Dec 01: Travel.

31 Dec 01: Very cold (breath is noticeable). Travel north-westward. The coastline turns eastward.

01-03 Jan 01 (CY 577): Travel.

04 Jan 01: Travel. Encounter ten orcs. Circh avoids combat; she no longer needs the crutch, but still walks with a limp. The orcs are defeated; Kulgar receives no injuries.

05-07 Jan 01: Travel. Very cold on the 5th.

08 Jan 01: Travel. Kill five sheep for food. [Loki's birthday]

09 Jan 01: Travel.

10 Jan 01: Travel. [Kulgar's 19th birthday]

11-18 Jan 01: Travel.

19 Jan 01: Travel in heavy snow and high winds [blizzard-like conditions].

20-21 Jan 01: Continue on through more snow and winds [about 18 degrees on the 21st].

22 Jan 01: The blizzard tapers off, though it continues to snow. Travel onward. Kill seven reindeer for food.

23-26 Jan 01: Travel through snow.

27 Jan 01: Travel. The snow lightens up. Very cold.

28-31 Jan 01: Travel. Enter mountains on 31st.

The Mestornory Bridgeway [p13-16]

01 Feb 01: Snowing Heavily. The party finds a north/south path and follows it northward. The path is very slippery. Circh is able to walk normally now. A strange thunderous noise is heard coming from the east. A herd of thirty giant rams suddenly charges past the travelers. Nobody is injured. The party continues climbing up the path until they reach the top of the mountain. It is very, very windy here. They sight the Mestornory Bridgeway stretching across the water. The other end is beyond their view. The bridgeway is about a day away. Pureblood decides to return to his village. He is not used to this harsh weather and has fulfilled his obligation as guide. They all say their farewells and he turns and leaves. Kulgar, Loki and Circh continue on until nightfall. Kul and Circh sleep in the tent, while Loki sleeps outside protected by his ring of warmth. A black bear suddenly comes charging into the tent and runs off with Loki's backpack! Loki grabs his bow and swiftly plugs it with two well aimed arrows, killing it.

02 Feb 01: Kulgar prepares and cooks the bear meat. He and Circh eat. Loki catches a deer and they cook that also and pack it for future meals. The party travels over another mountain that day and reaches the shore that afternoon. They manage to find the bridge by late afternoon. It is about 10' wide with support beams extending out on either side at about a 20 degree angle and is buffeted by high winds. The bridge extends beyond their vision. The party proceeds to cross the bridgeway. Realizing how slippery the bridge is they decide to tie ropes between them, so that if one falls the others can catch him/her.

03 Feb 01: The falling snow lets up a bit and the wind dies down a little. Continue on. Circh slips and almost falls off of the bridge. Kul pulls her back on by the rope.

04 Feb 01: The snow stops falling, but the wind picks up [about 30 degrees]. The party reaches the halfway point, Isleway, where the first half of the bridge ends on an island. They decide to stop and sleep under some pine trees here. Loki later awakens and kills a passing deer. Kul and Circh begin cutting dead branches to use in preparation of a fire. Circh is using the longsword [flame tongue] that Kul took from the frost giant back on 22 Oct 01.  They get the fire started and cook the venison. Kulgar notices that when the blade of the frost giant's sword is stuck into the flames, it does not turn black like another sword would.  He compares the weapon to his two other swords (his enchanted [+1] longsword and his dwarven two-handed sword) and determines that it is of much better quality.  It also has some strange writings or glyphs on the hilt. Loki builds a snow castle while Kul and Circh eat. They all sleep again afterwards.

05 Feb 01: Loki awakens at sunrise and goes jogging on the isle [about 32 degrees]. The party continues onward. The bridge bends north-westward slightly as it leaves the isle. At about noontime heavy clouds begin to move in overhead. A storm is approaching. By nightfall it is snowing heavily again.

06 Feb 01: Strong winds [about 19 degrees]. The party continues on.
Midday: Land is spotted ahead. Loki almost falls into the icy waters. Later, Kulgar slips off of the bridge and dangles from the rail. Loki and Circh both pull him back on.

Early Evening: The party reaches land and leaves the bridgeway behind. They make a camp and try to get some sleep.

Night: Loki is surprised in the night by three trolls. Loki and Circh fall, seriously injured, and Kul is left to kill the trolls singlehandedly.  [Kul's opponent kills himself with a critical miss]. After the fight, he takes one of Circh's torches and a vial of oil from Loki and burns the trolls bodies to prevent them from regenerating.  He then moves Loki and Circh away from the burning trolls to a new campsite and puts them in the tent to recover.  [Kul achieves 4th level.]

07 Feb 01: Kulgar kills a sheep for food. He prepares eight days worth.

08-10 Feb 01: Kul rests and waits for Loki and Circh to recover.

11 Feb 01: Rest. A frost giant comes strolling along from the north and spots Kulgar outside of the tent. The giant stops and begins making a giant snowball. Kul quickly straps on his shield and draws his longsword [the flame tongue]. The giant hurls the snowball at the barbarian, but Kul deflects it with his shield and then charges forward to attack. The giant slips and Kul manages to get in a good swing at its neck. As the giant tries to regain its footing, Kul strikes it on the knee, and it falls to the ground again, hitting the barbarian as it goes down. Kul continues to concentrate on the giant's injured knee. He strikes it numerous times, crippling it and then, finally, kills it. After the fight, Kul looks through the giant's sack and finds a lot of gold (100 gp) and an extra-healing potion. He immediately feeds the potion to Loki and Circh. While waiting for them to recover Kul conducts a further search of the giant and finds a bracelet [worth 3,000 gp], and a ring of warmth (which Kul promptly puts on). Kul later gives the bracelet to Circh.

12 Feb 01: Loki and Circh awaken. They eat and then discuss plans to move on. Loki, however, argues that he wants to wait here longer to recover some more. Circh and Kulgar insist on continuing and leave angrily. Loki secretly follows them.

13 Feb 01: Circh finds Loki. They eat a meal and the whole party continues on northward together.

14 Feb 01: Travel.

The Tower of the World [p17-24]

15 Feb 01: The snow lets up. Travel.
Late Afternoon: A tall mountain comes into view (about a day away). It is the Tower of the World.

16 Feb 01: Light fog. Continue on towards the mountain.
Late Afternoon: The party arrives at the foot of the mountain and begin climbing up. Loki spots several bucks and kills two of them for food. Kul prepares and cooks them.

17 Feb 01: Partly cloudy [about 25 degrees]. Continue upward. The slope becomes much steeper. Kulgar slips and injures himself and later on Loki does the same thing. The slope becomes steeper again turning into a cliff. The party decides to tie ropes between them for safety. Circh leads the way setting the pace and using her climbing skills to pick the safest route. Finally, they reach the cave as depicted on the map [A]. The view is incredible. The Mestornory Bridgeway can be seen in the distance. After entering, they discover a shaft in the center of the cave descending deep into the mountain. Investigating the inner wall of the shaft, Loki finds a loose stone. He pulls the stone free and discovers two yellow potions [levitation potions] hidden behind it. He hastily drinks one of the potions and discovers that he can levitate. He picks up Circh and levitates down into the shaft. It takes them about ten minutes to reach the bottom! Loki drops off Circh and then returns to the top for Kul. They gather again at the bottom and look about.

There are many hot springs and steam outlets here making the cave very hot and humid. They find several passages branching out from this cave and decide to investigate one. At an intersection of passages they find several skeletons and a broken sword. Some of the skeletons are human, but the others appear to be some kind of winged humanoid [gargoyles]. They decide to turn left towards the sounds of flowing water. Pass through a cooler cave and arrive at an underground stream at the foot of a waterfall. Kul wades into the flowing water and follows it downstream until the passage becomes to small. He returns to the others. The party decides to turn back and investigate another passage. As they backtrack they are attacked by three green, winged humanoids [gargoyles]. Loki fires a couple of arrows, but the missiles just harmlessly bounce off of the creatures hides. He immediately retreats to the waterfall, leaving Kul and Circh to battle the gargoyles. Circh is soon wounded and is also forced to retreat. Outnumbered, Kulgar attempts to back-off, but finds that the gargoyles are too quick. He manages to kill them all and then rejoins Circh. After searching a bit, they eventually find Loki back at the waterfall. The party continues to explore further, but are surprised by four more gargoyles. Again Loki quickly retreats leaving Kul and Circh to battle it out on their own again, eventually defeating the monsters. Kulgar is badly wounded now and they return to the waterfall to rest.

Circh decides to explore the flooded caves on her own a bit and borrows Loki's ring of warmth as protection from the frosty water. She borrows Kul's enchanted [+1] longsword to use as a light source. She soon comes stumbling back, soaking wet, but without the sword! She explains that she slipped into a deep area and dropped the sword. Kulgar follows her back to retrieve his sword while Loki sleeps. Kul & Circh arrive back at the flooded cavern and Kul swims down and finds the sword immediately. He also discovers that the bottom is covered in a layer of gold treasures! As he swims around looking at the various treasures he notices a few skeletons (human?). Suddenly, he feels an odd sensation, as though something invisible had passed by him in the water. He feels it again and quickly surfaces. As he climbs from the water onto a ledge a strange  snake-like creature [a water weird] begins to form from the water directly in front of Circh. Circh quickly strikes it with her dagger, but it hardly even flinches. It swiftly lashes forward and wraps itself around her neck! Then, before Kulgar can even react, it pulls her down into the water. Kul dives in and spots a mace and a vial next to a skeleton. He quickly grabs the mace and drinks the contents of the vial finding it to be a water breathing potion! He sees Circh struggling against an invisible attacker. He attacks, and before long Circh is released. Kul quickly pulls her onto the ledge, but finds that she is no longer breathing! He forces air into her mouth with his own and she begins coughing and breathing, but behind Kulgar the water weird is reforming again.

Kul charges at the strange creature and swings the mace. The water weird quickly grabs him and pulls him into the water. Still under the influence of the water breathing potion, Kul battles the creature in its own domain. It finally releases him and he thinks it is finally dead. He swims down to bottom of the pool again and looking through the treasures and skeletons he finds a statuette. He returns to the surface with the statuette and climbs back onto the ledge again. Circh has recovered, but so has the water weird! It has reformed again and Kulgar wastes no time in attacking! He swings, but is caught and dragged into the water again. Circh finds that there is still some liquid left in the vial and drinks it up. She jumps into the water to help Kulgar and together they drive the creature off again. Kul grabs his sword from the ledge and they quickly depart and return to the waterfall. As they leave the water weird is reforming again! Back at the waterfall, Kul realizes that he forgot the statuette on the ledge. He decides to leave it there and they all sleep [for 7 1/2 hours].

Loki takes a shower beneath the waterfall, while Kul eats. Suddenly, Loki is attacked by five lacedons (water-ghouls)! Kul grabs his sword and charges in to attack. Both Loki and Circh scramble for their weapons. Circh is paralyzed by a lacedon and Loki receives some serious wounds and falls unconscious. Kul manages to kill two of the ghouls before he too is paralyzed.

Loki awakens later and finds Circh barely alive [-9 HP]. Kulgar is missing. He gathers all of their belongings and leaves the stream to look around. He enters one cave and his infravision reveals living stalactites [piercers]. He then returns to the waterfall. A figure suddenly emerges from the water and Loki quickly plays dead. He hears Circh being dragged into the water. Loki rises and begins following the stream. He turns down an unexplored tunnel. It becomes wider and then forks in two directions. The water flows very slowly here. He pauses and listens intently, but only hears the nearby waterfall. He turns right and the tunnel opens into a room with an above water ledge. He continues through, climbs out of the water and finds a large boulder (about 10' tall). The water is flowing faster here and there is a disgusting fishy odor.

Loki begins pushing the boulder and it finally moves revealing a huge slug's head behind it. Loki runs down the tunnel away from the giant slug. He sees a waterfall ahead and is forced to turn around. He re-enters the giant slug's cave and deftly avoids a few of the slug's spitting attacks. He returns to the forked passage and turns down the unexplored direction. The caverns down here are very large. He sees a skeleton on a ledge. A piercer suddenly falls, just missing him. He quickly jumps onto the ledge and begins to check over the skeleton. He finds 600 gp and a small coffer. Inside the coffer is an orange potion [extra-healing]. He takes a taste and finds it to be soothing and sugary. He pockets the treasures and quickly continues onward. The tunnel opens up into a huge cavern. He wades in, but accidentally falls into a deep area dropping Kul's [+1] longsword into the deep water. He hastily drinks the extra-healing potion, removes his armor and then dives into the water to retrieve the enchanted sword. Success. He then decides to return to the waterfall and investigate it closer.

He soon finds a secret door behind the falls and upon entering, he finds himself in the ghoul's lair! Loki successfully kills all of the lacedons and soon finds both Kulgar and Circh lying unconscious here [both at -9 HP]. Loki follows the tunnels to the water weird's cavern where he throws his armor to the next ledge and finds the statuette. He swims across to the opposite passage and sneaks through. After entering a cave, he spots two creatures with his infravision. The creatures attack, revealing themselves to be ice toads. Loki has no armor on, so after swiftly striking one he immediately retreats, swimming back across the water weird's cavern. As he crosses the cavern, the water weird begins to form! He quickly takes refuge on one of the ledges. After waiting a while, he swims swiftly to the next ledge (once again avoiding the water weird) and retrieves his equipment. He then returns to the lacedon's lair and brings Kul, Circh and all of their equipment back to the bottom of the well. He drinks the remaining levitation potion and brings everything up to the top. He then levitates down the mountainside, leaving the Tower of the World behind.

THE MAP THE TEMPLE OF DEATH BETRAYAL IN CHENDL

THE JOURNEY WESTWARD THE MESTORNORY BRIDGEWAY THE TOWER OF THE WORLD