Kommando Kronikles: The Sword

...kinda.

Characters Present

Sir Istvan the Vulgar Knight (Foul Changeling Fighter)
Sir Uein of the World (Human Fighter)
Abraham, Lord of the Prison (Human Rogue/Ranger)
Father Kozel of the Wood (Fair Changeling Cleric)
Mother Johanna of the Church of St Santa Claus (Human Cleric)
Frederick van Bull (Frogling Fighter)

November 27th, 1396

• Uein had concocted a plan to defeat the last Hochmeister and gain the seals needed to open a door on the Baroness Level. They believed this door concealed either a relic cross or a powerful magic sword.
• Entering through the graveyard entrance, the party soon found that the geomorph they normally enter through had changed orientation, meaning the way in was no longer the way out and led instead into a series of catacombs.
• Heading into those catacombs, Istvan was able to see with his special eyes that there were a number of odd, hunched figures down one of the passages. 
• The party planned to attack them, but the lighting conditions of the dungeon proved difficult to overcome, and in setting up they soon attracted the attention not only of the foes they expected (which turned out to be a group of ghouls) but also a formation of Blind Bruders.
• This led to a combat on two fronts, with the clerics and Istvan heading to face the blind brothers and the two fighters engaging the ghouls. Uein was fairly significantly wounded but both battles went easily in favor of the Kommandos.
• There was then some debate about which way to go, and as it was decided that north was the  proper way, the party was ambushed by a pair of broken dead. These too were fairly easily overcome, but there was a brief moment of panic as the creatures are often a great annoyance to delvers.
• Making the way north they found an altar covered in offal and depicting dead beings dancing around a great sphere, rusted and pitted and covered in eyes. This they remembered from a  previous delve, but were at first convinced that it lay near the lair of Great King Death. Luckily Abraham was eventually able to remember that it actually lay near the Hochmeister they sought.
• Their previous encounter with the Hochmeister had ended with them retreating for at the time they lacked clerics, area of effect spells, and blunt weapons.
• This time, however, the creatures were easily dispatched due to the magic of saint Santa Claus and the potent sling bullets of Abraham.
• The monster's lair was in a great catacomb, which the party spent some time exploring to find some treasure. This they did, though perhaps not as much as would normally befit such a potent adversary.
• However, most importantly they found the fourth and final sword brother seal.
• Uein realized that a simple walk west would lead outside the dungeon and that their best bet was to reenter through the East Tower in order to make their way to the Baroness level. Their current position on level 3 had no established root to that level, though previous outings showed it was possible to get there.
• So they did indeed exit and return by the East Tower, soon finding themselves on the second level.
• They passed through a portal of darkness and into strangely regular square rooms they knew to be associated with the God of Law, and to house the item they sought.
• There was some confusion as to where everyone needed to stand to put in the seals simultaneously, but eventually this was sorted out and the seals placed and the door opened.
• It revealed a two handed sword composed entirely of right angles - with a flat top, cubic hit, rectangular handle and guard, and a razor thin blade. Kozel was able to recognize this as a fabled "shard" of the God of Law, struck off him during the War in Heaven. He also determined the area they stood in was consecrated, though the sword itself seemed neutral in aspect.
• Johanna and Uein then each toyed with it while it was still shoved in the dais. Uein ultimately pulled it out causing a thrum to emit through the room as though he had struck a tuning fork.
• They then decided to make their way back to Nightwick village, to study the sword in greater detail.

Monsters Slain
19 Blind Bruders, 6 Ghouls, 1 Hochmeister, 2 Broken Dead

Treasure Gained
5,000sp, a suit of strangely spotless half plate of  great antiquity, a shard of the God of  Law

XP Per Player
875

Kommando Kronikles: Hunting the Hundprest

 

Yahahahahahaha!

Characters Present

Sir Istvan the Vulgar Knight (Foul Changeling Fighter) (only first session)
Sir Uein of the World (Human Fighter)
Abraham, Lord of the Prison (Human Rogue/Ranger)
Father Kozel of the Wood (Fair Changeling Cleric)
Mother Johanna of the Church of St Santa Claus (Human Cleric) (only second session)

 

November 13th - 16th, 1396

•  As discussed in the previous write up, the countryside has been harried for the past several weeks by a creature unleashed by the Kommandos themselves.  
• Now armed with a mace which could banish his spirit back to hell and two clerics capable of casting banishment, the party believed they had what they needed to end his reign of terror.
• Since they did not know his precise location, they decided the best thing would be to make their way to Knightpath and ask there for more specific directions to his new camp.
• En route they were first stopped by an encounter with some of the Hundprest's own hunting hounds - unfortunates who had been transformed by his terrible curse. Abraham used his rod of rulership to cow some of them, while Kozel removed the curse from as many as possible. Some were unfortunately slain before they could be helped.
• Heading further down the long road, the party encountered a large set of bandits (somewhere between 30 and 300) whose ambush Sir Istvan was unable to spot in time. Kozel summoned a thunderhead and used call lightning to destroy a small set of the bandits, causing their leader to flee. Upon seeing their leader flee, the rest of the bandits followed suit. 
• Istvan decided to chase down the leader and engage him in single combat, and seeing how fast the barbarian could move, the leader indeed turned to face his opponent. Istvan was ultimately able to defeat him (with some aid from a well placed bolt shot by Abraham).
• Abraham and Kozel then set about killing who they could of the remaining bandits with bolts both crossbow and lightning.
• Realizing that the commoners and dogs they had in tow were a burden and could be endangered by further such encounters, the party decided to alter their route and head to the Rumpelfort. This is a small fortified manor that once served as the home of a being called the Little Magic Man, but the Wild Daggers (i.e. the gamestore group) had cleared it to be occupied by the Order of the Elk.
• They found the guards of the Rumpelfort quite ornery and suspicious, but they quickly realized that this was because the plague in Lychgate was having a resurgence and many who traveled from that city to the various villages along the Long Road were now infected.
• A cleric was summoned to inspect them for disease, and finding none they were allowed in - and apologized too on account of their fame in the bishopric.
• The next day Kozel and the chaplain of the fort removed the curse from the remaining dogs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• On the third day, the party left the Rumpelfort to head into the Little Heath, an area lying between the Great Swamp and the Mire of Princes. This is where they had been directed by the knights of the Elk and was also familiar to them from an earlier adventure which had led to the destruction of a pagan settlement at the edge of the swamp.
• Abraham, now having been trained in the arts of the woodsmen of Nightwick in return for his earlier acts of "heroism" on their behalf, followed the mixture of dog tracks and hand and feet prints along the southern edge of the heath. 
• The trail became muddled, but finding more tracks led them to a burned out building as well as a pile of burnt bodies. Near the building was a large cauldron and the skeletons of small fairy creatures, unidentifiable to those present. Some speculation on the purpose of the bones and the cauldron was made, but it was agreed by all that the house had been burnt by the Hundprest himself.
• They then made their way to the village they remembered from their earlier escapade. They arrived at dusk to find that it showed some evidence of having been rebuilt only to have been recently destroyed again - likely by the Hundprest. The party decided this would be a fair place to camp as the ruined buildings would provide a place to hide as well as some safety from the pouring rain that had begun only a short time ago.
• During the night, Abraham caught sight of a groan. When previously encountered, the village had worshiped these creatures, and Abraham observed it approach, see no signs of life, and then slink off back into the swamp as though greatly saddened.

Pecz

• The next morning, still in the rain, they decided to cross through the middle of the heath in hope of picking up the trail.
• After only a short trek, Istvan spotted a herd of reindeer ahead, tended to by an old man. Kozel recognized this immediately as a druid dedicated to "St Santa Claus." He had earlier researched reindeer, asking around informants in the Woodsmen's Lodge, and they had told him of such a herd and such a druid.
• From this druid, whose name was Pecz, they learned that the Hundprest was once a chaplain of the Sword Brothers, and descendants of his flock were bound to serve him as hounds due to the sins of their ancestors. 
• They also learned that though the Hundprest was bound in death to hunt the Bogdani,* he was not very picky in his choice of victim. These two facts together answered a question that had long bedeviled the party - how does this racist ghost operate? It turns out that while he could not accurately pinpoint his foeman, he did know his compatriots. Thus was his curse endlessly maintained.
  
• Asking for some aid, Kozel and Abraham were each provided with both a large stag reindeer and a smaller female reindeer (one for fighting and one for light riding) to serve as mounts.
• They headed south over land they had already covered, for Pecz had directed them thus, and soon were able to pick up the trail again and find the monster's camp.
• Currently he was gone, but the camp was attended by a lone figure in Sword Brother robes. Seeing this for one of the Blind Dead, Abraham struck swiftly with a sling bullet and destroyed the creature.
• The party then set about searching the camp, finding a rack of "sausage" that seemed to be just human entrails, and a spot of frozen ground which Abraham identified as the area where the Hundprest would manifest at night.
• They set a plan - create a roaring fire on top of his "spawn," cast banishment when he appeared, and if he stayed then wail on him and make sure the last hit was with the mace.
• The creature appeared as soon as the sun had dipped below the horizon, and at the same time so did a pack of fierce wolfhounds. Abraham subdued these with his rod of rulership - the dogs so charmed fighting with those that made their save. Kozel and Johanna both attempted to banish the creature, but it laughed in the face of their prayers.
• The combat which occurred thereafter was not terribly difficult, though the cackling of the Hundprest even as his own body burned was greatly unnerving, but ultimately when it slipped out of its body to find a new host, Johanna struck it with the mace casting it back into the Pit.
• Then they camped and the next day headed back to Nightwick, making a brief stop to inform Pecz of the success of their mission.

Monsters Slain

40 bandits, 1 bandit captain, 1 blind dead, 25 wolf hounds, the Hundprest

Treasure Gained

2400cp, 1000sp, 30gp, 15 crossbows, 45 bolts, 150gp in women's jewelry

XP Per Player
305 per session

* The natives of the Dark Country.

Kommando Kronikles: The Bowling Alley Job

Characters Present

Sir Istvan the Vulgar Knight (Foul Changeling Fighter)
Sir Uein of the World (Human Fighter)
Abraham, Lord of the Prison (Human Rogue)
Father Kozel of the Wood (Fair Changeling Cleric)
Mother Johanna of the Church of St Santa Claus (Human Cleric)

Shocktober 30th, 1396

• A few weeks ago, the Kommandos had encountered a revenant known to locals as the Hundprest.
• This first encounter with him proved that he could not be slain by the party at the time - they lacked powerful enough magic to do so. 
• Kozel spent some weeks researching the creature, and his efforts will be discussed in a future kronikle. For now, suffice it to say that he felt he knew how the monster could be dismissed but that Mother Johanna would possibly need to advance in level to ensure success.
• With this in mind, the party decided to return to the fetid hole known as Nightwick Abbey!
• Their plan was to enter the third floor and clear out a bowling alley of dregs and gambling den of devil-men that was associated with it. This, they hoped, would yield a fair amount of treasure while requiring little exertion.
• They entered the dungeon by the east tower - for they knew not the relation of the graveyard entrance to the bowling alley but did know that it lay at the base of the stairs down from level 2.
• On their way, they encountered a group of cultists in garbs they had not seen before - all black. Abraham was able to charm some using a rod of rulership the party had wrested from a pagan tomb shortly before the events in Vollage. The rest were quickly slain.
• From those enthralled, they learned they served in the cult of a being they called only The Master. Unfortunately, it is quite common for cults to refer to their idols by this moniker, but Kozel was able to ascertain they venerated a vampire.
• They also discussed how they (and the Master) were at war with a demonic being they called Plutus, and they had come to break open the seals to level 4 to aid in this war.
• Abraham then explained that they should present themselves to the guards at his prison and begin "infiltrating" by submitting themselves as prisoners there.
• They found that Uein's remembering of the Baroness's level was apparently incorrect, and while trying to locate the stairs to level 3 they encountered a caged one. 
• They slew it, but doing so required the clerics to anger the Abbey, causing a shift. Still, the encounter occurred right next to the stairs so while leaving may have been an issue, they could head to their quarry without incident.
• Heading down the stairs they arrived at the bowling alley, and only remembered that even when bowling dregs make no noise.
• There was a short attempt to parley, but Istvan's inopportune question of "so are we killing these guys?" ensured its failure.
• Battle was joined, though many of the dregs retreated to fetch devil-men alleys from the gambling den and even a chamber beyond (that happened to be connected at the time of the battle).
• Both Kozel and Johanna used effects that automatically caused the abbey to shift, but it seemed not to impede their current aim.
• These spells, and their companion's blades, proved sovereign against the assembled devil-men and dregs.
• They did, indeed, find a great deal of treasure, but decided to continue on in order to map out the current geomorph configuration.
  
• They found that the chambers they next investigated now housed a warlock and members of the Cult of the Ever Watchful Eye. The warlock they recognized by reputation to be Nymandus, a man who had previously been responsible for the stoppage of Blackleg's mine (their forces encountered him after the incident with the two ghosts.)
  
• Again, battle was joined. Though warlocks of Armadeus are known to be fearful opponents, quick thinking, spells, and decisive blows all focused on him defeated him in only a few rounds. The cultists were much more easily killed.
• With some of Nymandus's goods as treasure, and with the haul from the bowling alley, the party decided now would be a good time to escape to the surface.
• On the second level, they found they didn't know the way back, but since the party was high enough level that they would all automatically survive being lost on the 2nd level the session ended there.
  

Monsters Killed
13 Cultists, 19 Devil-men, 22 Mites, and Nymandus

Treasure Gained
5300sp, 1300gp, 6 black pearls (100gp each), 2 peridots (250gp each), and two scrolls

XP Per Player
1171

Kommando Kronikles: Song of the Shape

The Bishopric of Lychgate

Or Hallowe'en Defeated!

Characters Present
Sir Istvan the Vulgar Knight (Foul Changeling Fighter)
Sir Uein of the World (Human Fighter)
Abraham, Lord of the Prison (Human Rogue)
Father Kozel of the Wood (Fair Changeling Cleric)
Mother Johanna of the Church of St Santa Claus (Human Cleric)

Shocktober 16th

• With Sir Frederick van Bull away at his trading post in Frogguts, and Stavros Chrysophylax Balsamon taken by some strange and debilitating mood, the leadership of the Howling Kommandos did not wish to again enter the bowels of Nightwick Abbey perchance to face Great King Death.
• Instead, Kozel suggested that they help open the road between Lychgate and Nightwick by destroying a monster that had been rumored for some time to be attacking those passing through the ruins of Vollage - a being known as the Shape.
• Thanks to the "rescue" of his "daughter" in the last session, Halfdan the Black was predisposed to helping them and allowed Kozel to use his library to ascertain the nature of the Shape. Research showed that it was a fiend of some nature and likely would be immune to normal weapons.
• This in mind, the assembled members of the Howling Kommandos set off on foot without companions on the morning of Shocktober 16th.

The Alchemist in Life?

• Early on their journey was halted when Istvan, scouting ahead of the rest of the party, noticed that one of the burned-out peasant houses in the shadow of Nightwick village had recently had some repairs.
• Exploring further, he and Abraham (armed with Abraham's medical paraphernalia and Istvan's inhuman constitution) found that the house had recently belonged to an alchemist. 
• A goopy pile of "rot" was found within the lab, and Abraham's supernumeracy allowed him to quickly ascertain that the "pile" contained roughly the same mass as an adult human. The party decided this must have been the alchemist himself, killed by his own experimentations. 
• They looted what they could from the lab and then set the house aflame, hoping that no miasma would drift towards Nightwick Village.
• A sudden, freezing rain beset the party and this setback meant that they would arrive in the ruins of Vollage well into the night and exhausted. Kozel, the party's guide, decided the best way to avoid this would be to ride instead for the Witchfort (now retaken).
• However, when they left the road where they thought the path to the Witchfort should lay, they saw no such path and soon found themselves inside the Witchwood. Greatly alarmed, Kozel decided to redirect the party west, hoping this would land them around the outskirts of the Witchfort.

The Church of St Toad as it Appears... Today...

• They exited the forest, but much to their surprise it was not at the Witchfort. Instead they found themselves looking on the Hamlet of Vollage - not it's ruins, mind you, but the hamlet as it once was. Alive!*
• Disturbed by this turn of events, and the lights burning in the windows at such a late hour, the party decided to first visit the Church of St Toad, which lay closest to where they entered the hamlet. 
• There they saw a number of priests gathered around a man in armor. This man was blessing his weapon before going forth to fight some evil. As soon as he left the candles in the church blew out.
• Withdrawing their light sources the party could see the temple was now in a great ruined state. A great secret door had swung open revealing a tomb bearing the visage of the man  they saw in armor in the earlier vision.
• Kozel and Johana discussed using augury and speak with dead to assess certain facts about the village and the corpse. Speak with dead revealed that the man had indeed gone to fight a great enemy, but it was the White Lady, not the Shape. 
• This led to some discussion of the ability of Armadeus to create "false pasts" which affect the world as though they happened, though it was admittedy by the scholars within the party that none of them quite understood the concept (or had a postive INT bonus).
• The corpse did know of the Shape, stating that it was an assassin in the service of Armadeus - "one of many but the only one which wears a mask."
• Augury was then used to determine if the mace he had with him in the tomb could be taken to fight the shape, and soon it was in the hand of Sir Istvan.

The Wanton Wench full of... "life?"

• Their next target was the inn of the Wanton Wench. They found this full of patrons, including a whole adventuring party!**
• One of the Howling Kommandos (I don't remember which) noticed that none of the patrons had any glint of life to their eyes. Istvan observed they were "like the dead eyes of a shark."
• From the barkeep, the party learned that the shape murdered those who passed through the village and took them to the ruined tower that once protected the village. The party knew that this tower had been the scene of horrible starvation - where even the priest in the tomb found earlier that night had perished after participating in cannibalism.
• At the end of the story about the shape, the lights went out in the Welcome Wench. Lightsources were taken out anew and revealed that all that was left of each patron was their shadow.
• These struck in rapid succession, but the combined holy might of Kozel and Johanna destroyed nearly all of them. The more martial members of the party took care of the few remaining with their magic weapons, Istvan's new mace proving particularly efficacious.

Showdown with the Shape!***

• Armed with the information about the tower, the party made the laborious climb up the artificial mound of the old motte. At the top they found the ruined tower - partly collapsed and lacking the recent signs of life found elsewhere in the village.
• Inside Abraham was able to see a pale mask move within the shadows of the cracks in the stone, and after directing the party towards it he jumped off the stairs to avoid tangling phyiscally with the fiend itself.
• The Shape was a thing of living shadow, crowned by a great white mask of a face; however, the battle was fairly short, especially due to Istvan's new mace.
• Upon defeating the Shape, seemingly forever, they rested in the tower and waited until the morning to gather their loot.

Monsters Slain

23 Shadows, The Shape

Treasure Gained

2500cp, 2000sp, 3000gp, glass windows (25gp total), 2 peridots (250gp each), 3 sets of gold vestments (25gp each), 1 copper chalice (25gp), 1 silk handkerchief (25gp), 1 silver ewer (25gp), 1 unidentified mace.

XP Per Player

1505

Internet Nightwick Report: Losing an Heir and Slaying a Master

Characters Present
Uein, Fighting man from Nordovulgaria
Stavros, Fanatical fighting man and devotee of St Deodat
Frederick Bull, Fighting frog in the service of the van Toad house
Abraham Nermal, graverobber turned landowner
Johanna d'Ligne, Averois cleric and devotee of St Santa Claus
Janos Balazsfi, Vulgarian changeling dedicated to St. Gax

Unodecember 17th, 1395

• The various members of the leadership of the Howling Kommandos met outside Lord Albrecht's manor house, along with Gawain Sunbringer from the home group (who was an NPC in this interaction) and Father Roderick to see to a disturbing issue.
• Lady Grumpke, Albrecht's wife, had suddenly become very pregnant - seemingly in her third trimester - after her husband had only been back three months. It was clear to all who knew the couple and who interacted with her during Albrecht's absence that infidelity was completely out of the question. She was also pregnant at the time of his absence and had already given birth to a baby girl, which had been a mixed blessing for the couple as it reinstated the precarity of their position by not providing him with a male heir.  That was only a month ago.  This pregnancy was an act of magic.
• Johanna d'Ligne decided to try to act as a kind of midwife for Grumpke while Gawain and Roderick aided her with magic.  The plan centered around the casting of dispel magic (which seemed not to work) and remove curse.
• Janos, also a cleric, sought the divine wisdom of St Gax using the augury spell, find that the result of casting remove curse would be "both weal and woe." 
• Uein advised that the party prepare for the hideous, clearly demonic infant to burst forth as a monster, though Johanna did not seem to give this idea much thought.
• Abraham and Stavros were somewhat surprised by Sir Albrecht's willingness to hand this issue over to them, but he has come to see them as competent problem solvers since they rescued him from the clutches of the White Lady.
• Remove curse terminated the pregnancy.  The stillborn infant had green skin, a full head of platinum blonde hair, solid black eyes, and pig's feet.  Abraham noted it was clearly a changeling and that it was somewhat perverse for Gax to have told Janos that the death of one of his own kind would be "weal."
• Father Roderick, who had seen changelings born before, found this one especially disturbing, noting that it should be burned immediately and not offered any funeral rites less it come back in some more hideous form.
• The party heeded his advice, and Johanna was gripped with a terrible sorrow for not being able to save what  could've been a male heir to a seemingly innocent couple.
• These acts done, the party rested for a day before heading to Nightwick Abbey on Devilsday, 18 Unodecember.
• They debated clearing out some of the garden level, where they had recently evicted a number of "lost souls," but instead chose to head to the third level and seek out one of the warlocks who were attempting to open the seals to level 4.
• Checking unexplored rooms on their way, they found a chamber containing an enthroned undead Hochmeister of the Sword Brothers seated on a throne (that was actually the lid to a tomb), and his 6 blind bruder body guards.
• A battle ensued with the addition of new clerics in the party and semi-recently acquired blunt weapons proving their effectiveness.
• They found about the hochmeister's neck a seal (the stamp kind not the magic kind) that they believe to be part of a puzzle on the "Baroness level."
• Within the tomb was a huge sum of gold, and the party felt it best to escape with this treasure and call it a day rather than push further.

Monsters Defeated

A changeling child, A Blind Meister, 6 Blind Bruders

Treasure Gained

1 suit of smoking halfplate (unidentified), 5000gp, Sword Brother Seal

XP Per Player

991

Glad Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

Characters Present
Uein, Fighting man from Nordovulgaria
Stavros, Fanatical fighting man and devotee of St Deodat
Frederick Bull, Fighting frog in the service of the van Toad house
Abraham Nermal, graverobber turned landowner
Johanna d'Ligne, Averois cleric and devotee of St Santa Claus

December 13th 1395
Five of the members of the leadership of the Howling Kommandos, including Stavros, Abraham, Uein, Joahnna, and Fredrick, marshaled an army of mercenaries and made their way to Knightpath. Their army consisted of the Howling Kommandos themselves, the Company of the Goose, The Corbies, the Company of Devils, and a small troop of knights temporarily donated by Paladin Lord Fitzgerald.  In Knightpath they met with a meister of the Order of the Elk that had been informed of their mission by Fitzgerald. He was also able to convey to them that Blackleg was also currently in the hands of his order, but that Frogguts was mostly abandoned and Road's End may be so ruined as to be impossible to tell there was a village there.

The next day (the 14th) the army made their way into the Fog-bound Forest, with the troop of the Order of the Elk acting as the vanguard, the Corbies, Howling Kommandos, and Company of the goose in the main, and the Company of the Devils in the rearguard. As they went into the forest the weather grew colder until they reached a mysterious, ring-shaped weather pattern of snow. Beyond it the air was so cold that all moisture was in the form of snow and ice on the ground.

Abraham, unused to scouting ahead for such a large force, was unable to ascertain the full strength of the enemy before the army arrived, meaning they drew up into battle formation not aware of each other's total strength.

Uein and Abraham detached themselves while the armies drew up and went to find Randulf, who had incited this rebellion and sought to destroy Lawful civilization in the Dark Country.  The plan was for the two of them to act as a sniper/spotter team, and it worked as Abraham was able to fell Randulf with two bolts covered in driffit poison.  This only served to anger his men - a mix of picked rangers and peasant rebels - but Abraham felt this would still be a blow none-the-less and the two returned to the command area of the Howling Kommandos.

Then the battle began in earnest. Johanna embedded herself among the members of the Order of the Elk and they charged a group of Elfish cavalry - apparently on loan to the rebels from the White Lady. Abraham then took his position among his honor guard - the Devils - and charged into Randulf's rangers.  Frederick croaked an order to the Corbies to attack a group of pig-men that seemed to be coming up from the river to attack the infantry, but the dense forest made their charge ineffective.

The biggest problem facing the mercenaries was that they were outnumbered - primarily by a huge group of untrained peasant rebels.  These attempted to attack the Howling Kommandos and Company of the Goose, and indeed nearly destroyed the Goose while the cavalry attacks were indecisive.  However, the Corbies, after reforming from their failed charge, were able to unite with the Devils and destroy Randulf's Rangers and then move to attacking the peasants, sending them running.

The Howling Kommandos received strange ailments during the battle, and during the fight with the Elf Knights Johanna was able to observe a group of witches performing rituals on the island that housed the Tomb of Father Winter.  She rode away from the swirling melee of Elk and Elf - back to the command area where she had left 5 geese she had purchased, knowing that Goody Gallows was terrified of them.  She then went to the Corbies with the goose and charged with them across the frozen river to the location of the witches.  Not only did the Corbies deal considerable casualties to the women, but those that lived fled before the face of the Goose.

The pagan army disintegrated. The idol they were using for Father Winter was taken by the army to be used in a chapel to St. Santa Claus. Stavros sought out the body of Randulf and found Mervyyn standing over him. Mervyyn expressed sorrow that the man met "a bad end" but provided the party with milk and sweet cakes to bring before the body of Father Winter.

Abraham and Johanna descended into the tomb, found Father Winter's enormous, drawn corpse, and placed the milk and cakes before it.  In but a brief passing of seconds, the body swelled and took on the likeness of a huge china doll of Father winter - complete with rose red cheeks and nose.  He then thanked them for stopping the ritual, froze off Johanna's zombie arm, and replaced it with a porcelain one with the uncanny ability to move like a regular arm.  Father Winter, who Johanna was convinced was the "reborn" Saint Santa Claus, twinkled his nose and went up a ceremonial chimney to spread snow and frost throughout the Dark Country. Abraham opined that "our presents must be at home."

Treasure Gained
110pp, 4000gp in goods (mainly incense), statue of Father Winter made of Ebony Wood (1000gp), Quiver of the Old Gods, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Robe of Useful Items, Potion of Greater Healing

Xp Per Player
1400

News from the Dark Country: A Battle Looms

1395 has been a year of battles. Two already have been fought between the forces of Man and the forces of the White Lady - in fact I was in the middle of describing one of those campaigns - and two more between the forces of Bishop Notker and Arnawald of Waldheim.

Now this evening, a greater battle will be fought - or at least one of more numinous importance: a battle for the soul of Christmastide! Even as I write a coven of hags, led by the infamous Goody Gallows, has aligned itself with Yimsleyite rebels and the forces of the White Lady. Their goal: to awaken a terrifying and vengeful aspect of Father Winter that they believe will freeze all, saving only truehearted pagans.

Even as they do this the Howling Kommandos make ready for war! They prepare to leave for the Fog-bound Forest to do battle at the very foot of the Tomb of Father Winter itself. Can they stop the long winter? Which of the forces truly represents the will of St Santa Claus?  Will it finally be a Merry Christmas in the Dark Country?

The Witchfort Campaign Part 3

Paladin Lord Fitzgerald, Leader of the Order of the Elk

The party was then invited to meet with the leader of the Order of the Elk, Paladin Lord Fitzgerald. Stavros had been under the impression that he was "fake," a kind of scapegoat meant to tie the Order of the Elk to Yimsleyite Rebels (who sometimes use the initials PLF for the Pagan Liberation Front). During the meeting, Fitzgerald revealed that the Knights of the Elk had captured a spy belonging to Arnawald the Black Eagle of Waldheim and that he was going to encourage his men in the south to rebel against Bishop Notker in tandem with an invasion by Arnawald around September. Fitzgerald's men had sent a false spy in his place in order to convince the men that their rebellion should happen earlier and were even now raising an army to go crush it in order to foil Arnawald's plan.

Arnawald wished to declare the Bishop a heretic for not yet killing the infamous Stavros and Kozel and martial in open war against him. Fitzgerald believes that Arnawald is himself a servant of Armadeus due to his missing eye. The party seemed swayed by this theory.  They agreed to let the Knights of the Elk take over the Witchfort, relieving it from the mercenaries. In return Fitzgerald agreed to provide them with a group of siege engineers, needed for attacking a fort, but lamented that he could not provide more aid as he was preparing to attack the army in the south.

The leadership of the Howling Kommandos then went to rest outside the city walls with their men.  The morning they were meant to leave, they were greeted by a parade of guards, clerics, and froglings.  Among them was none other than Bishop Notker the Unshaven himself, who made it clear to the Howling Kommandos that the fort would revert to his hands if it were recaptured, though he did so in an extremely passive aggressive way.  Once his intent was made clear he blessed the party. The van Toad Trading House also provided a group of Frogling gunners for the campaign.

The party then made their way south, camped once again in the ruins of Vollage, and then prepared to spend the next day in the Witchwood...

The Witchfort Campaign Part 2

Lychgate

Once at the city's outer walls, they found that a number of mercenary companies were encamped, though these all seemed to be about to leave because the Bishop felt he had recruited all the troops he needed with other mercenaries and the Knights of the Elk. Whelp, a former associate of the Howling Kommandos who had helped him against the cultists/bandits organized under Big Jean many years ago, met with them and helped them in negotiating the aid of the Company of the Goose. In private Whelp and Stavros began debating how they might gain some dominion over the goose, hoping that at some point the party's cleric, Johana de Ligne, might eventually be able to control animals. Whelp was also able to inform them that the time he had spent in the Witchwood had made him realize that time passes differently under its eternally autumnal boughs. They would need to make sure they had knowledge of how to get to the Witchfort from some expert scouts who had been in the forest many times.

The party then negotiated contracts with all the remaining companies, with Stavros planning to keep on both the Company of the Goose and the Corbies while Abraham took the Company of Devil's on as his personal man catchers for the jail he has been constructing. The other companies were signed on temporarily, with most agreeing to help take the Witchfort and to hold onto it only for a month. Abraham also gathered together a number of camp followers to serve as cannon fodder.

The party then made its way into the city where they interrogated some of the Bishop's guards. They were able to determine the layout of the fort as well as the fact that it had an escape tunnel they may be able to use for a commando raid. Thus the party formed a plan: the mercenaries would assault the fortress proper while the Party would enter the escape tunnel and seek to gain access to the fortress interior and either make off with the captives or open the gates to allow their forces inside. The Brown Company would follow after them to create chaos and perhaps open the doors while they secured the prisoners.  Stavros had made friends with Fulk, the Brown Company's commander, after besting him in a brawl.

Then they made into the city itself...

The Witchfort Campaign Part 1

The following is the first part of a recap of the last several months of play in the online Nightwick group. One may notice a tendency for the narrative to focus on Stavros and Abraham, which I think is due to the fact that they were the two players who showed up to 100% of the sessions.

The Brambles of the Witchwood

In the spring of this, the 1395th year since the revealing of the Law to the Lady, a terrible battle took place in the ruined Hamlet of Vollage. The forces of Lychgate were soundly defeated by the White Lady and many of the knightly caste of the bishopric were taken hostage. Through some mixture of experience and intuition, Stavros Chrysophylax Balsamon, the fanatical and heretical leader of the Howling Kommandos, guessed Sir Albrecht of Nightwick was among their number and that they were taken to the Witchfort.

Despite Abraham the hunchback's warning that Albrecht had been involved in a scheme to see Stavros brought up before an inquisition, Stavros believed that saving him would greatly benefit the Howling Kommandos as he would be in their debt. Stavros and the other members of the command of the Howling Kommandos sought a meeting with Grumpke, Albrecht's wife.  Seeing that she was quite distraught with the loss of her husband, Stavros promised to rescue him but also made sure to integrate members of her guard into the Howling Kommandos and vice versa. He also made sure that his offer included a number of veiled threats to reinforce that it is the Kommandos who control Nightwick.

The leadership then left the Kommandos under the command of their lieutenant, Fingers, but that tale is told elsewhere. They made their way up the Long Road to Lychgate, pausing a while in the ruins of Vollage where they met a nervous but ultimately amiable group of Frogling merchants. From them they learned that Lychgate had reoriented it's trade such that it was receiving aid from the down river city of Nunhead, and that the Order of the Elk had even made a deal with the Bishop to bolster his army, despite the Bishop's previous belief they were in league with the Yimsley rebels.  

After breaking camp they made their way to Lychgate...

Who's Who in the Howling Kommandos

I was planning on doing a few recaps of the past months of play in Nightwick with the online group, but it made me realize without some background on them you would be unlikely to know what's going on. Here are the PCs I refer to as the leadership of the Howling Kommandos:

Abraham Nermal is a grave-robber turned landowner. He is also a hunchback, as is traditional in his original line of work. He owes his immense wealth to Nightwick Abbey, which he hates. He "knows" the Abbey is alive and continues to adventure there due to his hatred for the thing. He has taken a shine to Aythe, Halfdan the Black's daughter, but the necromancer has urged his daughter to rebuff any of Abraham's advances. Abraham bears a striking resemblance to the King of Karse, which is immediately noticeable to any Karslishman. He is an 8th level rogue.

Stavros Chrysophylax Balsamon is the de facto commander of the Howling Kommandos, ever since Sergeant Udo disappeared several years back. He has adventured in Nightwick since 1389, and on his first outing to that terrible dungeon he was dealt a mortal wound. A cleric named Deodat, now deceased, saved him from death. The combination of this miracle, Deodat's own untimely death, and the horrors of the Abbey have driven Stavros mad. He sometimes manifests a second personality - St. Deodat - who is quite fanatical in his heresies. He is a 7th level fighting man.

Frederick Bull is a fighting frog who, in addition to the Howling Kommandos, often serves as a guard for the van Toad Trading House. He is known for his gaudy Sword Brother plate which depicts the various torments of the Pit - custom fit to him by local blacksmith Duncan. He recently returned from a stint in Hoppland where he had some amorous adventures, and is a bit upset that he missed out on much recent action.

Johanna d'Ligne is a cleric of the Law from Averois. She is giant in stature, towering a head above the rest of the Howling Kommandos, and is known for her great strength. Her ability to locate object recently proved very useful during the campaign for the Witchfort (summary posts coming). She lost her left arm due to a conflagration created by a member of the Cult of the Ever Watchful Eye. Since then she has had it replaced with a franken-arm made by Halfdan, only later realizing that he was a vile necromancer. She is a cleric of 5th level.

Uein of "Nordovulgaria" is a folk hero and exile from the land of Vulgaria. Formerly the land was a group of petty princedoms called the Iron Kingdoms, but recently a High King was elected and united the land. Uein refuses to recognize this blackguard's claim to the throne and so has made his way to the Dark Country to avoid persecution. He is known as a leader of men, often advising Frederick and Stavros when to strike rather than attacking himself. He is a Fighter of 6th level.

Janos Balazsfi is a foul changeling who has renounced his fairy lineage - which he has good reason to resent - and instead become a warrior priest of the Law. He is a servant of St. Gax who has come to put an end to the evil within Nightwick Abbey. He is a cleric of 2nd level.

Whelp is a friend to the common man and musician of great skill. He was there at the founding of the Howling Kommandos - when the then unnamed party slew Big Jean in the Great Swamp near Lychgate and captured the initial recruits - however, after a trip to the Witchwood with former member Flint of the East Wood (now deceased) and another potential recruit, he was lost for many years. After recently aiding the party with gathering their forces to retake the Witchfort, he has hit the road again and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Kozel is a cleric of the Law who has dedicated his life to the cult of Saint Santa Claus. He has done quite a bit of mental gymnastics to justify his favors for the Old God Father Winter - who he believes to be the Saint - and his servant Knecht Ruprecht. He has also played a part in foiling various invasions by Arnawald the Black Eagle of Waldheim, first by awakening Father Winter and then again by placing his name back on the Naughty List. His being part of the Eastern Church allows for more leeway with these heretical acts, though puts Bishop Notker the Unshaven in an awkward position since he has yet to try him for this heresy. Kozel's level is unable to be currently determined as his whereabouts are unknown.