Rescuing kidnapped Humans from the Goblins
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Tess asks Miss Fodorrl where the Goblins they bought the horses from went. 
She said to the northeast. Tess and Taras look for Goblin tracks from where
the Goblins were killed, but find none (no skill in tracking either).

One day passes to bring the horses back to Sukiskyn. Thora gives Tess info 
on the death of the ferry mistress - drowning. No signs of what caused the 
drowning. Thora tried scrying on Stephan twice, and it failed both times. A
Sending worked (cast by a magic item) - Stephan has been captured by Goblins 
and is underground.

** one day passed: 1029/11/01 **

There are four more people in Sukiskyn. Gregory is their leader, they're 
from the Ilyakana lumber camp. They were attacked by Goblins. The Wolfskull 
and Redblade clans attacked, set fire to the palisade and broke in. This
occurred the night before Sukiskyn was attacked. These guys ran away. 
Kalanos and his crew and Stephan were at the camp. Kalanos hid. Everyone 
else was killed or captured. Tess thinks it strange that the Goblins 
bothered to capture Humans.

The folks at Sukiskyn have a feast to celebrate their survival. They do
their best to entertain Tess. Pyotr pretends to be happy, but is sad about
the news of his brother. Tess does his best to be a good guest and tries to
enjoy the entertainment.

There are two groups of Elves in the region. The Callari Elves are to the 
west - these are the ones that Tess wanted to talk to. The Vyvalian Elves are
on the southeast side of the Dymrak forest - a long way from here.

Tess asks Pyotr and Gregory where there are caves that the Goblins might be
holding the Humans underground: in the east there is a lake with an old ruin
on an island in the middle. In the northeast is a Dwarvish and Gnomish mine.
In the north northeast are tombs, and to the north are more caves. 

Tess memorizes a teleport location in Sukiskyn and leaves his bonsai plant
with them with instructions on how to take care of it. Then Tess and Taras
head to Hokol - it has been destroyed and looted by Goblins. They head on to
Ilyakana.

The Ilyakana lumber camp is still smouldering. There is a sunken river boat
in the river next to it. Kalanos is wandering around in the open with a
woodaxe. He is wild eyed and tells us to keep back. Kalanos looks bedraggled,
unkempt and hungry. Tess tries to placate Kalanos to no avail - he's quite
crazy. Tess casts Invisibility, then creeps up and knocks out Kalanos, taking 
the woodaxe from him. Tess them lifts Kalanos up and teleports him back to 
Sukiskyn, for them to take care of him. Tess then rejoins Taras via another 
teleport. There are scatted Goblin tracks through Ilyakana. The Goblins fully
looted Ilyakana, taking tools and anything else that might be of use. Tess 
guesses that magic may have messed up Kalanos, though there were no signs of 
magic on Kalanos. 

By dusk, Taras and Tessarael arrive at Sield. It also is burnt out, and
appears to have been attacked before Ilyakana. They camp overnight there with
Aldara on watch. They then head on to Cherkass, which also has been destroyed
- around the same time as Ilyakana, maybe a little bit before. Tracks from
Cherkass head east towards Segenyev. Tess and Taras follow those tracks and
then lose them. The tracks were due east directly towards Segenyev. When they
arrive at Segenyev in the mid-afternoon, they find it also has been destroyed 
and looted. Segenyev appears to have been attacked most recently - after 
Sukiskyn. Tess finds it strange that the Goblins traded with Fodorrl rather
than killing her. 

Tess and Taras then head on to the ruins at the lake, to see if Stephan is
being held there. They camp overnight on the way there.

** two days passed: 1029/11/02-1029/11/03 **

Tess and Taras arrive at the lake in the morning. The forest having given
way to hills, amongst which the lake is. In the distance, on the lakeshore, 
are five Elves looking out towards the island. Nearby are the Elves' horses.

Tess sneaks up to listen to the Elves and finds out that they are discussing 
how to get "the statue" back. Taras hides further away. They don't want to 
go on the island.  Something took the statue, but they don't mention what. 
The Elves appear to be traders. They have some masterwork equipment, and a 
silently cast Detect Magic determines that they also have some minor magic 
items.

Tess wanders out and says hello to the Elves. The leader of the Elvish
traders is Goriidel. They are Vyalian Elves. Tess asks if they saw the 
Goblins, and Goriidel replies that the Goblins came through this area. The 
item the Elves are looking for is a very beautiful statue that they had 
traded for with the Gnomes and Dwarves in the north. Some Pixies stole the 
statue and took it to the island. However, as the island is taboo to their
clan, they cannot go there to recover it. 

Tess introduces Taras to the Elves - with whom they talk in bad Traladarian.
Thyatian is also spoken in this region, but the locals (such as Taras from 
Sukiskyn) speak Traladarian.

The Elves say that the Pixies will happily steal you blind. There are about
a dozen Pixies. Tess asks how they want him to negotiate with the Pixies,
and the Elves give Tess 600gp in gems to negotiate with them - Tess can keep
whatever is left over. Taras asks why the island is taboo to the Elves, but
they're not sure. The Elves believe the island is haunted by some terrible 
creature - it's a bad place. For Tess' help in recovering the statue, the
Elves will help Tess try to find the Humans that were kidnapped by the
Goblins.

They work together to make a raft for Tess to cross to the island in the
middle of the lake. Tess memorizes spells in the morning, then paddles over
on the makeshift raft. Tess has a strange sensation as he steps ashore on the
west side of the island, this seems to be a very bad place. There is a
ruined structure in the distance. Tess decides to circle the ruins and
investigate the small island. Tess feels more and more foreboding, that 
something is wrong, and Tess feels different ... After a while the foreboding 
feeling goes away, and Tess feels that the island is actually rather nice -
Tess now feels cruel, unkind, and mercenary.

** one day passed: 1029/11/04 **

As Tess sneaks about the island, he spots six Pixies. They have set an ambush
to kill Tess, and don't realise that he has see them with his Faerie Sight.
Tess moves out of sight of the Pixies, casts Heroism silently on himself, and
then follows up with a Fireball that fries all six Pixies. Tess happily goes
over their fried corpses looking for loot. Each of the Pixies has a platinum 
neckband worth 50gp, Tess continues wandering around the island, but finds
nothing else of significance.

Then Tess sneaks up towards the ruin. In the center of a clearing, the
columns and roof of a white aged stone building stand, with a stone statue 
that appears to have fallen over with age and smashed in the center. In place 
of the stone statue, is the silver bronze statue that was stolen from the 
Elves. There is also an entrance to underground in the structure. Tess casts
another Detect Magic, and detects Enchantment on himself and the island. As 
Tess is still highly cautious and concerned about the power that resides here,
he decides to avoid investigating further for now. 

Tess picks up the statue, then retreats back to the raft, which he takes back 
to the lakeshore.  On the way back on the raft, Tess reverts back to normal,
and shudders somewhat at the experience. The Elves are about a week away from
their homes.

Tess asks if they have any skill in tracking, which they do. The Goblins in
the area are the Viper Tribe, the Wolfskull Tribe, and the Redblade Tribe. 
The Elves indicate where the Goblin tribes are located approximately. The 
Redblade and Viper clans have caves. The Wolfskull clan probably don't have
caves. Tess decides to head southwest to check on the remnants of the Viper 
clan, and then go and check on the Redblades, as if Stephan is being held
underground he is probably at one of those locations.

It takes half a day by horse, with Tess on foot, to get to the Viper clan 
caves. There are no sign of the Goblins at the moment. There is a closed 
wooden door across the mouth of the cave, which is barred from the other side.
Tess manages to flick up the bar from the side. On the other side of the door 
is a gigantic carving of a snake, with a spike in the bottom - it appears the
carving was outside, but was brought inside for some reason.

** one day passed: 1029/11/04 **

Further inside is a barricade of rocks and rubbish, with Goblins on the other
side. One of them throws a dagger at Tess, which Tess nimbly avoids. Tess
asks in Goblin what happened to their clan - they say the tricksy Wolfskulls
attacked them and hung their leader. The Vipers were planning to eat the 
horses they stole. 

The Wolfskulls bullied the Vipers and the Redblades into attacking the 
Humans. This is strange for the Goblins. The Viper Goblins think that this 
was unwise, as the Humans will attack back. The Wolfskulls are powerful - 
they have many, many warriors (hundreds) and wolves as well, and they have 
spellcasters. Tess asks about the vampire bats - the Wolfskulls have special 
(trained?) bats. The Wolfskulls have been behaving strangely for a few weeks, 
having been bossing the Vipers around more than normal. The Wolfskulls live 
in a forest of dead (petrified) trees. The Vipers says that the Wolfskulls 
probably told the Redblades to kidnap the humans. The leader of the 
Wolfskulls is King Kloss. The Redblades number half as many as the Wolfskulls,
and the Vipers are fewer still.

Tess asks for a map to the Wolfskulls area, and the Goblins draw a mishmash
of trees with a river through the middle. The trees have all been dead a very
long time. There are no plants or animals on the ground that are alive, they 
are all dead (petrified stone). Tess asks about the island, the Goblins know 
of it and say the ruins are dangerous. The Vipers say there are traps, rather 
no traps, none at all, in the Redblade's tunnels (it seems clear that they are
lying). 

Tess asks about the ferry mistress - the Goblins say that she fell in the 
water, having run away from the arrows. The bear got away. 

Tess leaves the Goblins in peace, and goes back and talks to the others. The
Wolfskulls are dangerous and aggressive according to the Elves, "We should not
get too close." The group heads off to the Redblade area.

** one day passes to Redblade clan area: 1029/11/05 **

When the group gets to the Redblade area, they are surprised to find that
there are no Goblins around outdoors. There is a large wooden door at the
entrance of their caves, painted with a bloodied sword, and the smell of 
Goblins beyond that. 

At the door, Tess hears what sounds like the rustle of a leather robe. Tess 
enters quietly and the chamber beyond the entranceway has two exits, and a 
dozen Stirges on the ceiling - the source of the rustling sound. Opening one 
of the other doors will most likely disturb the Stirges which will be noisy, 
so Tess decides to Fireball the Stirges anyway. 

Tess finds that the caves of the Redblade clan are deserted, and indeed
trapless after searching for traps carefully on his way through them. It was 
cleared out some time ago. 

Tess does find a solid ironbound oak locked door. It looks like someone tried 
to hack with an axe at the lock, but failed to get through it. Tess checks for
traps and then picks the lock without any problems. Inside are some hungry dire 
weasels. After conferring with the others, Tess lets out the dire weasels,
managing to avoid trouble with them by leading them through to an area of the
caves where he can lock them out of the way and then release them in due
course. Inside the room where the weasels were is a large ornate tapestry 
of a Red Dragon (worth 120gp), five large terracotta jars filled with wine
(worth 10gp in total - not worth the hassle of removing), a 1000gp ruby with
Evocation magic on it (not a trap it appears), and a magically trapped (weak
alteration - 3rd level) chest. Tess moves the ruby and later finds that the 
Evocation magic on it has left - perhaps it sent a message somewhere or 
something like that (?). Tess disables the trap on the chest and unlocks it. 
Inside the chest is 5050gp, a leather pouch with gems worth 350gp, a golden 
amulet worth 300gp, and a magic potion (not identified yet).

From here the group heads to the Wolfskull tribe area, arriving near the
end of the day. The last hour of travel is through a petrified forest, where
everything, both trees and animals (e.g. a deer, a fox), is petrified. The
petrifications appears to have occurred perhaps a century ago. There are 
recent signs of Wolfskull patrols.

** one day passes to Wolfskull clan area: 1029/11/06 **

It's fairly dark. They spot a patrol of 10 Goblins and 3 Dire Wolves. Tess
Fireballs them, but it doesn't do that much damage. All except two of the 
remaining Goblins and all the Dire Wolves are taken down by arrows and another
Fireball. The two Goblins are taken prisoner and interrogated. Some say that 
one of the Goblins, Vlack, has been actng bossy and telling King Kloss what to
do. Vlack has Hobgoblins working for him, and has had them working for him for
a while. However, recent events have been strange - the aim of attacking the
Humans was supposedly to drive them away, yet they actually captured Humans. 
One Human woman is being held in the Wolfskull Clan dwellings; the other 
Humans were taken with Vlack on his bats. Tess carefully interrogates one of
the Goblins, to disguise himself as the goblin in due course. 

The others will wait nearby for Tess, ready to help if necessary. The 
Wolfskull lair is a large clump of petrified trees with a black muddy river 
on one side, and the lair is only accessible by a bridge across the river,
on the lair side of which is a Goblin guardroom with torches. Tess heads across
the bridge with Invisibility, but one of the Goblins spots Tess. Tess runs
away, leading the Goblins away from the guardhouse, then kills the 6 Goblins 
and 2 Dire Wolves that followed. 

Tess them disguises himself with Alter Self as the Goblin that he interrogated,
and approaches the guardhouse, feigning a badly bruised head, and Tess points 
the wrong way for the Goblins to go and attack the Humans that attacked them.
Tess is ordered to go in and get patched up. Inside there are chambers amongst
the petrified trees, with ceilings made of petrified leaves. Tess randomly
chooses the right door out of two exits, and is fortunate to immediately find
where the woman is being held, with 8 Goblins keeping a look out. Tess 
surprises the Goblins and kills them, making some noise. Tess then frees the 
woman, quickly explaining that he is there to get her out in Traladarian, and
teleports her out with him to where Taras and the Elves are waiting. They then
high tail it away from the Wolfskull clan area.

The scrawny old woman is Babushka. Vlack apparently said she would only slow
them down. Babushka was captured in Cherkass, along with a young girl who was
taken away by Vlack. The five prisoners that Vlack captured are all Human. 
They were taken to a place call Xitaqa, which apparently is old ruins. The
Goblins were lead by a "big Goblin" called Vlack - he didn't really look like
a Goblin - perhaps he was a Hobgoblin. Vlack was as big as a Human. Babushka
and the other Humans were asked about "the great map", which the Goblins wanted
to find - they were very upset that the Humans didn't know where it was.

The Elvish merchants head off homewards with their statue. Tess, Taras and 
Babushka arrive back in Sukiskyn at the end of the next day. The two captured
Goblins were released.

** one day passes to Wolfskull clan area: 1029/11/07 **

Tess enquires about the tapestries he saw in Sukiskyn at the feast, and asks 
about any maps they have. One of the tapestries has geometric patterns, and 
the other tapestry is of horses. Neither appears to be a map. The few maps the
Sukiskyn inhabitants have don't appear to be of significance. No one knows
where Xitaqa is. Kuzma suggests that the horseman (centaur?) on the moor might 
know - apparently sometimes he runs around as a black stallion. The horseman 
is not friendly with the Humans, as he doesn't like them trading in horses. 
The horseman can be summoned by whistling at midnight on the high moor for 3 
nights running, while standing on one leg. To summon him, do this anywhere 
just east of Cherkass. Tess asks about Hobgoblins - normally they are not found
around here - they are bigger and stronger than Goblins.

Tess heads to the moors near Cherkass on his own. He stands on one leg, 
whistling at midnight, feeling mildly foolish. On the second night a Centaur
accompanied by 3 Warhorses gallops up to Tess. The Centaur says his name is
Loshad. Loshad will tell Tess where Xitaqa is, if Tess kills two Werewolves
that have been hunting horses. The names of the Werewolves are Bailakask and
Kalkask (Bailakash is the mother of Kalkask). Four nights from now Tess must
bring Loshad the heads of the Werewolves. Tess will do what he can, but he may
take more than four days. Loshad says that's okay, Tess knows how to summon
Loshad. Loshad is not a Centaur, he is a Chevall - a protector of horses. 
Loshad suggests attack the Werewolves when they are out hunting at night, as
they will not be accompanied by all the Wolves of the wolf pack that they dwell
with. The Werewolf lair is in a rocky outcropping by the Volaga River.

** two days pass: 1029/11/08-1029/11/09 **

Tess goes back to Sukiskyn, where they melt down silver coins and the 
blacksmith makes a silver knife for Tess to use against the Werewolves.

** one days at Sukiskyn: 1029/11/10 **

Tess then heads up to the Werewolf lair, which takes a day. The lair is
obvious on the rocky outcropping, and it is easy for Tess to nimbly climb
up the cliffs. Tess follows the 8 wolves as they head out to hunt at night.
The big grey one is distinctive as Loshad described Bailakask. Kalkask had
no distinctive features that Loshad mentioned. Tess watches them hunt, then
return to feed other wolves in the lair.

** one day passes at Werewolf lair: 1029/11/11 **

The next night when they head out to hunt, Tess buffs with silent Blur and
Displacement spells and then casts Fireball, killing the wolves, leaving the 
two Werewolves. Tess heads in to attack as the Werewolves snarl at him. Tess 
takes Kalkask down after a couple of rounds, cleaving into his mother 
Bailakask. Bailakask is frustrated by repeatedly missing due to the 
Displacement, and Tess kills her in turn. Tess beheads them. 

Tess then heads to the Werewolf lair. He uses Flaming Sphere to keep the
wolves away as he searches through it. There are some horse skulls nailed
inside to the wall, which Tess takes down. In a cleaner cave that has seen
little use, Tess finds a jackal headed human statue at one end, but he has
no idea of what significance the statue might have. Tess picks up the chest
that is in one of the caves, and teleports down to Sukiskyn, leaving the
remaining wolves alone. 

** one day passes : 1029/11/12 **

It turns out that the chest was not trapped, and contains 500gp, an ornate 
jeweled necklace worth 2500gp, and gems worth 1500gp.

Tess heads from Sukiskyn by foot to see the Chevall. Two nights later Loshad
appears. Loshad is grateful for Tess having taken down the horse skulls to
return to Loshad, and for the deaths of the two Werewolves. Loshad doesn't 
know the significance of the jackal headed statue. The ruins of Xitaqa are
near the wolf den, which is how Loshad knew where it is. Loshad doesn't know
who originally built the tower at Xitaqa that is now a shattered ruin. Loshad
has no idea what is at Xitaqa - no monsters that he knows of, but maybe some
Hobgoblins. Loshad has heard nothing of the armor that Tess is looking for,
and doesn't know anything about a map. Tess teleports back to Sukiskyn.

** one day passes : 1029/11/12-1029/11/13 **