Hollow’s Last Hope (pt. 2) Into the DarkMoon Vale

The heroes leave straight away into the dark forest. They know they have a long way ahead and every moment counts to save the people of Falcon’s Hollow. They go as fast as they can through the thick dark forest.

Not even a couple hours in the come upon a set of deep, goat-like tracks. Eja determines that whatever made these depressions walks upright, and she can easily follow them. The tracks only persist for approximately 50 feet before mysteriously disappearing. The heroes are concerned but are pressed for time and continue heading for the river.

Still traveling, a couple of hours later the happen upon several large rocks deep in the forest whose undersides are covered in rare, glowing mold. Bjorn informs everyone if they harvest enough of the mold without destroying it can serve as a light source. Once removed from the rock, the mold continues to glow with the brightness of a torch for about three days. Eilo Buckram, the hobbit, strips and rubs the mold over the parts of his body that can be concealed by clothing so he could illuminate their way by simple opening his shirt.

Almost to the river, the Heroes happen upon a dead tree streaked with multicolored fairy blood. Three sprite-like creatures, known as keld piskies, are pinned here, their exsanguinated bodies turned to gnarled wood. Bjorn recalls dubious stories about fairy blood being used to turn lead into gold.

Finally the heroes reach the edge of the river at twilight. Not far from the edge of the forest-shrouded river, a fox with large ears and bright orange fur lies bleeding, its hindquarters caught fully in the jaws of a crude iron trap. The heroes rush to its aid. Eja uses her natural animal empathy to calm the distraught fox. Surinder mightily pulls apart the trap. Bjorn calls out to Iomedae to heal the small woodland creature. As the Bjorn begins his praying two very large rooks with distinctive, jagged beaks and unkempt, oily black feathers, known as Razorcrows swoop down on the other heroes. Both birds take a slash at Surinder as they fly by. When the others are distracted by the birds, an arrow whizzes past Bjorn’s head from further down the riverbank. Bjorn runs for the cover of the tree line, shouting for the others to take cover. Surinder places himself between the unseen archer and Eja. Eja looks over Surinder’s shoulder and with her sharp hunter’s eyes she spots their assailant, a grayskinned hobgoblin with a prodigious cleft palate, lurks in the nearby tree line. Eja swings her mighty longbow from her shoulder, cocks her truest arrow, pulls back with all her strength, aims carefully, and releases. The others watch as the shape of the hobgoblin falls from his hiding place onto the shore about 80 ft away with Eja’s arrow deeply imbedded in his forehead.

The heroes know that time is of the essence but have traveled so far in such a short amount of time. They know they will become exhausted and the forest is dangerous enough during the day, they reluctantly agree to sleep for the night. Despite their strenuous day, their worry for their sick loved ones keeps them up a few moments longer.

Hollow’s Last Hope (part 1)

The Characters I introduced in my previous blog have finished the adventure and have saved dozens of people from the plague. It was a wild ride and below are the highlights of the game. Enjoy!

Perched at the edge of civilized lands, the small town of Falcon’s Hollow has always had to rely on itself to solve its problems. Meanwhile, the uncaring lumber barons squeeze the common folk for every last copper, deaf to their pleas. Now the hacking coughs of the sick are heard throughout town. The plague has come to Falcon’s Hollow and the town’s leaders can’t be bothered to stop it. Several dozen people in Falcon’s Hollow have contracted a fungal disease called blackscour taint. While the malady is not exceptionally deadly, poor conditions and a general lack of supplies mean that many of the sick—especially the elderly and young—face mortal consequences. Slowly deteriorating, most of the afflicted can hang on for several more days, but already the weakest have succumbed, with their number growing daily. Blackscour taint is an ingested disease with an incubation period of 1 to 3 days. Those who are infected develop a hacking cough that quickly turns bloody if the disease is allowed to progress. But not all the people of Falcon’s Hollow are helpless labors. Among the residents are a handful of locals that are more then what they seem and find themselves compelled to help their friends and neighbors no matter the danger.

The heroes each have a friend, family member or neighbor that has come down with this painfully lethal disease. Eja Clayborne has learned that a little girl and her mom, who shop at the general store Eja works at, have both gotten sick with Blackscour. Br. Bjorn "Ghostsbane" Hammerstein’s mentor and close friend Lady Cirthana, the priestess of Iomedae has also fallen deathly ill. Eilo Buckram’s Father has come down with Blackscour and he has been bedridden. Surinder Murali has always been sweet on one of the waitress at the Sitting Duck tavern, she has contracted the sickness too.

The heroes visit the local herbalist, Laurel to help find a cure. She tells them of a strange medicine she has never made before, but she has tried everything else and nothing is helping. She has most of the ingredients but lack the three major ones that would possible cure the 40 people that are dieing of the Blackscour.

“Some rare roots and concentrations, most of which I have here, but there’s three I don’t. Elderwood moss, which I’ve never heard of, but granny says the stuff only grows on the oldest tree in a forest. A specially pickled root called rat’s tail, again, sounds like hoojoo to me. And seven ironbloom mushrooms, stunty little things that only grow in dark places thick with metal, a favorite among dwarves, or so I hear.”

She gave some suggestions as to where to find the ingredients. “Well, for the elderwood mold, there’s gotta be an oldest tree in the vale. Damned if I know where it is, though. The rat’s tail and mushrooms are even longer shots. Way north, toward the mountains, people say there used to live a bunch of dwarves. They’re not there anymore, but I’d bet their forges are. If you can find ironbloom anywhere around here, that’d be your best bet. “As for the rat’s tail, who knows? Well. Actually. Ulizmila, the witch that lives deep in the woods might. She’s a crafty, mean thing that knows all sorts of strangeness. She might even have one. I don’t know what she might want for it, but I doubt it’d come cheap. My grandmother traded her sight to the old crone for a few pages of what she knew, and that was years and years back, and I don’t know a soul who got any nicer as they got older.”

The heroes seek out Br. Bjorn Hammerstein’s father who works for the lumber consortium in hope that he may know the location of the oldest tree in the forest. He doesn’t but refers them to Milon Rhoddam, the most experienced woodsman in the Lumber Consortium.
The heroes gather their supplies and head out of Falcon’s Hallow. There first stop is at one of the cut yards a few hours out of town near the edge of the great forest, Darkmoon Vale. After intimidating the pompous camp foreman, Jarlben Trookshavits, they meet with Milon Rhoddam. Milon Rhoddam a blunt, quiet man, is one of the most experienced wanderers and woodsmen in the region. His nephew has taken ill with blackscour taint when the heroes explain they’re trying to find reagents to brew a cure, he gladly sketches them a rough map of the forest, marking the location of where he believes Ulizmila’s hut, the oldest tree in the forest, the dwarven ruins stand and advises them of a short cut across the river that could save them days of travel. The heroes examine the map and decide to head to the river and than to Ulizmila’s hut first.







Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!!!

Heroes of Falcon’s Hollow.

I made 5 characters for the Pathfinder adventure modules D0: Hollow’s Last Hope and D1: Crown of the Kobold King. I hope to run the modules in the next couple of weeks and post the results of the adventures. The backgrounds for these characters were meant to weave the heroes into the community of Falcon’s Hollow and/or explain how they came to choosing their class.

Eja Clayborne is close with the Eavewalker Family. Idris was an old friend of her father and became like a father figure to her. Idris taught her the skills of a ranger. They even saved the townsfolk from a menacing owlbear once. Idris knew the lumber barons would see any heroics as a possible threat. He warned Eja to always help the town in a clandestine way.

Idris left two years ago with a group of adventurers and has not been heard from since. Eja has remained a close friend of Idris’ wife Kitani and his daughter Kimi who calls her “Auntie Eja”.

Eja works at Goose’n’Gander, Falcon’s Hollow’s general store. She works for the only civilized gnome in the region, Brickasnurd Hildrinsocks. He is an honest but frugal business man. Asia has worked for him since before her family went back east. The gnome considers her family and worries about her moonlighting as Falcon’s Hollow’s resident defender from the wilds. (Human Ranger 1st level)

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Bjorn was born to proud parents Wolfried and Hildegard Hammerstein. Bjorn worked along side his father in the lumber yards most of his adolescents. The little dwarf family scraped out a living under the oppressive Lumber Consortium.

Than one day a missionary from the Church of Light brought news of Iomadae, the goddess of valor and justice. Bjorn heard the preaching of the human cleric. She spoke of a deity that blessed the courageous, who gave gifts to her faithful to defend the weak, free the oppressed, and champion for justice. The missionary told the people if they gave worship to Iomadae then the town would flourish and its people would be filled with the grace. For the large part, the people of Falcon’s Hollow rejected the missionary and her goddess. The Hammerstein’s, like most in Falcon’s Hollow, wanted nothing to do with organized religion. They were happy to live life however they felt fit and be able to change with the situation instead of being restricted a set morality. However, there were a handful of people that wanted to hear more. And no one wanted to hear more then young Bjorn, who deep in his soul longed for justice.

It was not long after the small group of worshippers pooled their time, talent, and treasures together and built the Temple of Iomadae. Wolfried was furious the day Bjorn quit the lumber yards to join the Order of the Sons of Iomadae and become a cleric. After a few years Bjorn reconciled with his father and even rid the lumber yard of a terrible poltergeist, which had claimed the lives of several workers, by invoking the intercession of Iomadae. Many of the lumber workers turned to worshipping the powerful goddess who had saved them through her servant know to all as Bjorn “Ghostsbane” Hammerstein. (Dwarf Cleric 1st level)

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Sangilak Ek-Chua made his way to Falcon’s Hollow over 20 years ago. Described by many as a quiet man known for his love of books. Few know he is a half-elf and none know of his pursuit of arcane knowledge. He hides his passion for the mystical. Magic-users not in the direct employ of the Lumber Consortium are viewed as highly potential threats and are usually run out of town.

For years he has worked as a records clerk at Hollows Tribunal, the local court house. Sangilak has been a silent confidante of Magistrate Varmos Harg for many years. Sangilak is one of the few people that know the magistrate’s shame, loneliness, and thirst for true justice.

Other then himself, the only resident student of the arcane that he knows of is Sharvaras Vade. Sangilak suspects Vade to be a dark wizard perhaps dabbling in necromancy. To complicate matters Sangilak befriended Savram, Vade’s son, hoping he can gently influence the boy to explore more benevolent magical disciplines.

Sangilak knows that only through live application of his spells will he excel in his craft. He waits patiently for an opportunity to help the community with his mystical powers.


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Eilo Buckram was raised by his widowed father. It was hard working long hours at the paper mill and trying to look after a young motherless Halfling son.

Eilo was never accepted by the other neighborhood children. He was ridiculed for being small and often picked on and bullied. It started as a game when the “bigger kids”, mostly humans, teased him saying he was “too small” to go with them. He would quietly follow them and every time they caught him he just got better the next time.

As adolescence came, the kids began getting into petty crime. Eilo was disgusted by them hurting the elderly, vandalizing property, and stealing from people. He started staking them to foil their plans, making noise to give them away when they were sneaking, steal back whatever they stole and give it to it’s rightful owner, etc. He learned to fight because he wasn’t always sneaky enough but he got tough, fast, and smart.

As they grown into young adults, his once playful rivals aspired to join the Redrock Guild, an organized crim syndicate. Eilo spent so much time sabotaging the plots of the Redrock Guild that his father had become convinced that Eilo was now a member of the gang. He couldn’t make his father believe he was actually fighting the real criminals.

Out of concern for his father’s anxiety, Eilo obtained a job as a bookkeeper. The work was honest enough for his father to believe his son was no longer a criminal. Also his work spared him physically so that at night he could pursue the task of keeping Falcon’s Hollow safe.

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Surinder Murali’s father left when he was young. Why? He could never be sure; the story would change with his mother’s sobriety. The questions concerning his father stopped to matters as much when the Goblin Wars begun. He was of age at the time and was carted off with nothing more then a pitchfork to fight wild goblin warriors. Soon he was assigned to a particular soldier who treated him fairly decent.

Among the trees the soldier that accompanied him was taken down by a single crossbow bolt. The seasoned goblin warrior thought he would “play” with the human youngling before killing it. Unbeknownst to the goblin, or anyone including the young peasant boy, was the rage that had swelled inside him. From the abandonment by his father, the apathy of his mother, and shame of his inescapable poverty, fueled a boy of twelve to erupt and stab his pitchfork deep into the laughing goblin warrior. With his soldier dead, Surinder donned the fallen man’s helmet, picked up his short sword and trek further into the woods.

By dawn the sergeant had thought the soldier and his boy dead or had deserted until he saw the boy emerge from the forest. Surinder dropped the fifteen goblin scalps at the feet of the sergeant and sat by the fire without a word. Four years later the war was over and the boy was returned to Falcon’s Hollow like discarded military equipment. His mother had died while he was gone and years of fighting had left him without a purpose or hope. He began to drink.

His drunken brawls eventually landed him in the town jail. In the morning his throbbing headache was interrupted by Sheriff Deldrin Baleson giving him a sermon about a “purpose filled life”, “the greater good”, and “direction for his anger”. Somewhere between the coffee and the early afternoon Surinder began to listen to the Sheriff. By that night he had given up drinking and after a month of training with Sheriff he was deputized.

Gary Gygax, the father of role playing games is gone.

I had never met him but his invention greatly influenced my life. His game Dungeons & Dragons entered my life in 1990 when a few friends and I started playing fantasy role playing games. Dungeons & Dragons became an even bigger part of my life when I started The Lakeland Role Playing Guild, a club for Lakeland gaming enthusiasts to play fantasy role playing games, in 2001.

Most of my closes friendships were strengthened around the game table. I do not know what kind of man he was life but I do know he gave a wonderful gift to me, my friends, & the world.

Godspeed Mr. Gygax, may your eyries receive you, now at the journey's end.

Below is the CNN article:

"Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons creator, dies

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.

He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax.

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.

"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children."

D&D For Dummies

D&D is for you! Don't believe me? Listen to this nice couple....

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Well Cassandra and I stopped by blockbuster to see if anything was worth renting. I saw the Dragonlance animated movie on the shelf. Now I hadn't heard anything about the movie because I don't hang out in Dragonlance fan places online. When I saw that Kiefer Sutherland & Lucy Lawless starred in it, I thought "Wow! Let's give this a try."

For those of you not familiar with the Dragonlance books, it is a fantasy setting similar to a Lord of the Rings world. You have humans, elves, dwarves, a bunch of mythical creatures like dragons, knights and wizards, etc. The world has a polytheistic mythology, like greek or norse myths where the gods are readily involved in the events of mortals. Now what makes this story different is 300 years ago an evil deity tried to take over the world, the people prayed to the good gods, and the good deities saved the day by defeating the evil god. Well the people thought the gods were so handy they asked for their divine intervention for every little thing and one day their selfish ungratefulness made the good gods stop answering their prayers.

So the people turn away from their religions and fall into centuries of hopeless atheism which leads to wars and extreme xenophobia. Well the evil deity, that was vanquished 300 years ago, comes back to find a world ripe for the picking. There are no alliances between the good people and everyone is convinced that the good gods have abandoned them so they are easily overrun with despair.

The main characters are these heroes that went separate was 5 year ago to go on a quest searching for evidence that the good gods are still around. The heroes are very archetypal. They have great dialogue between one another which help you learn their personalities, their back stories, and shows the friendship and almost a family like bound between them.

They have just finished talking about how they didn't find anything when this girl shows up with a staff that miraculously heals people. She explains it's from the gods and they are back but the only people that even try to listen to her are the heroes. So they all join forces to find out about the staff and hope that they will learn more about of the good gods.

The story turns into this epic struggle between good and evil. But to my surprise the story becomes more about holding on to religious faith even in the face of overwhelming odds and/or certain death. I've never read the books so I don't know how much the books emphasis the faith aspect but it did it very much in the film.

There are some intense violence scenes. The film is registered PG13 and I think that is very appropriate. If you watch it please tell me what you think! Below is the trailer for your pleasure.

Dragonlance Trailer

I'm often asked what playing a role playing game is like. This movie illustrates it the best!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5