Campaign Date: Sau 9th - Sau 11th; Imperial Year 220

Characters:
Gutboy Barrelhouse, dwarf barbarian-1, CG Christopher Vedder
Arborlore Heartseeker, half-elf ranger-1, NG Christopher Vedder
Dominus the Mage, human wizard-1, LN Adam Vedder
Infernus of the Flame, human cleric-1, CG Adam Vedder

Log:

In the Southern Marches of the Empire of the Seven Swords, strange things are afoot. It has been over two centuries since the crushing weight of the witch-kings was lifted from the area, but now that legacy is coming back to haunt the peaceful peoples of the Southern Marches. Fort Trefrey stands between the serene villages and cities of the Northern plains and the undisturbed corruption and evil of the Sothern swamps. It is located in a province named only "Tale O' Nine" after a folktale composed centuries ago during the rule of the Empire of Dawn. The story describes the adventures of nine travellers who journeyed through the area.

The saga begins with a call going out from the Captain of Fort Trefrey, Tordek the Brave. Apparently, a group of humanoids including goblins, orcs, ogres, and one gigantic stone giant raided the Fort in the first of Sau. They crushed the SouthWest wall, and then moved on the keep looking for the master of the place -- Sir Arthur Trefrey. After dispatching the aged knight, rather than sacking the entire fortress and keep now that the walls had been breached the humanoids instead combed through Trefrey's belongings and left.

Many young and brave adventurers answer the call. They arrive at Fort Trefrey seeking fame, fortune, and adventure. This is their story.

Infernus, Gutboy, Arborlore, and Dominus venture Sothwest into the swamp in the direction Tordek told them the humanoids fled following the raid. In the swamp, they discover two orcs picking on a goblin. The heroes attack from a distance, but it is Dominus' magic that ultimately wins the fight.

Arborlore uses his tracking ability to follow the trail the orcs had left back to their lair. The party begins to encounter many sets of tracks from all sorts of humanoids including orcs, goblins, and ogres. The party moves slowly toward the source of the tracks and discovers four goblins on guard duty outside a crudely dug trench. The trench leads into some caves dug beneath the peat bog of the swamp. The heroes dispatch the foul goblins in short order and enter the caves.

Within the caves, the heroes meet with some stiff resistance. Arborlore pierces an orc with an arrow, and gutboy brings down two goblins with several vicious swings of his mighty axe. Infernus' nearly skewers a goblin like shishkabob on his flaming longsword and Dominus cleans up the rest of the villains with some well-placed magic missiles. At that point, the heroes feared a counter attack and decided to flee back into the swamp to rest and tend to their wounds.