The following is a recap of events at the Therendry gathering of adventurers in June of 604, generously provided by Deputy Sheriff Jack Fidian and modest chef Pell Melrun:
From Jack Fidian:
Well, there were Orcs, bandits, rampaging Air Elementals, some Undead, a vengeful
plant that really hates white-tailed deer, and a proliferation of lecherous
Mystic Wood Elves. Verbal won the raffle, and Reginald laughed all the way to
the bank.
We put down the elemental problem by attacking a big tower they were apparently
emanating from. During the fight, a magic shield was retrieved that ended up
going to someone in the treasure divvy who was distinctly not me. But I wasn't
annoyed or whiny about it. Not at all. I swear. Really.
Anyway, there was also some trouble at an archaeological site where some jerk
dug up the arm of a deceased lord and was trying to graft it to himself to get
power. Kind of an odd way to go about it... Anyhow, he was stopped, and the
arm was retrieved and returned to its rightful owner(?) This mission didn't
involve me. I just heard about it.
One more thing: Count Davy of Lyonesse is now the Warlord of Tyranny and Manicures.
When asked what he thought of his new title, His Excellency exclaimed "Off
the cuticles, bitch!" (sorry if I didn't get that quite right, no mockery
intended)
For a more detailed/coherent explanation of events, ask someone who pays more
attention than I do.
From Pell Melrun:
Also, as Saturday afternoon went on goblin activity in the area seemed to rise
continually, with many goblins chattering about "the Master;" finally
none other than the Goblin King himself appeared. Old, wise, and yet incredibly
deadly with his Dark Elven sword and helpful with his Earth magic he offered
to train inexperienced adventurers and helped protect the Tavern while said
adventurers returned from nearby villages where they had gone to break their
fast (since the Tavern was closed until Saturday evening). My friend Kethra
and I were among those who accompanied the Goblin King on this exercise. We
started with a brisk jog around the area to loosen ourselves up; then the Goblin
King showed us some stretching techniques apparently learned from the Dark Elves,
with slow graceful arching and extension of the arms to the sides. After that
he coached us on effective use of our weaponry, first having us strike at tree
leaves using only the very tip of our swords and then pairing us off for sparring
practice. After that was done he presented us with some money and items to help
us on our path to greatness, cast many protective spells upon us and entertained
questions. My memory has always been poor, but to the best of my recollection
he said that he once led a great Goblin empire but that empire was enslaved
and he along with his subjects were forced to work in the mines where many perished
and nearly all forgot the discipline and culture they had once known. Eventually
he escaped and was pressed into the service of a band of Dark Elves who taught
him many things and presented him with a mighty Katana in return for his assistance.
Now he wanders the countryside attempting to once again rally his fellow goblins
into a cohesive kingdom... but he finds the task difficult because, in his words,
"My people are not all that bright." It seems his attempts to rally
them around a cause and instill discipline in them were what caused the sudden
flurry of goblins appearing in town earlier in the day; as soon as he taught
them something, the goblins became excited and ran off to use their newfound
techniques on anyone they could find. As the Goblin King left us to go seek
others of his kind, he stopped for a few moments to assist in the rescue of
Deputy Sheriff Fidian who had been taken captive by bandits.
As someone who has had a traumatic experience with goblins in the past, I have
always feared the creatures; but now, having met their King who is radiant in
nobility and grace, I see them instead as the seeds of hope that a lost civilization
will return from the ashes within the borders of Evendarr.
Ah yes, another thing I forgot to mention. As a group of young adventurers and
I were returning from the house of a Hobling which we had liberated from a band
of orcs, we happened upon a fearsome-looking skeletal panther. At the sight
of it, Peregrine (who had come along in case we needed healing, and who I might
add was very gracious and helpful and pleasant to be around) immediately swore
in surprise and drew a circle in the gravel. As the panther lumbered toward
us she cast a Circle of Power and we stepped into it. The beast padded around
the circle, sniffing and glowering at us as Peregrine explained that it was
a Pantherghast. Having heard tales of such creatures, I was shocked and very
happy for the circle of energy which separated us from it; Pantherghasts of
course are undead genocide machines, summoned by dark mages to wipe out all
they find of a particular race. Luckily they have no interest in those of other
races, although the other side of this coin is that people of other races cannot
affect it with any kind of attack which means any Pantherghast encounter is
a battle solely between the beast and those of the race it targets. The younger
of the two Wolven with us began to growl menacingly and then frenzied, lashing
out at the circle in an attempt to get at the Pantherghast. It was later explained
to me that the Wolven were created by the elves to hunt and kill Pantherghasts,
so it is natural that they would instinctively want to attack. You see, the
Wolven's one magical ability is to be able to attack a Pantherghast no matter
what race it is targeting, although they appear to have lost this ability in
some areas.
Anyway, the creature sniffed at those of us in the circle and then wandered
off, disinterested. This meant that it was not targeting Biata, Wolven, Gypsies,
Hoblings or Humans. Our immediate assumption was that it was after Elves, and
we ran into the Tavern just in time to alert Anya who jumped up in alarm as
the beast loped in through the door. We thought for certain poor Anya was about
to be minced by the thing, but it stopped, sniffed her, and then went on its
way. Everyone's relief quickly gave way to alarm as we went over the process
of elimination in our heads and realized that the creature must be after Sarr--
excuse me, Gorbe-- and that there were only two or three in town, one of whom
was Lady Pyroxia.
A few minutes later, somebody spied Beryl and Lady Pyroxia coming out of the
woods up toward the tavern and shouted out the window that there was a Pantherghast
after them. The beast must have been nearby and smelled them coming because
there was barely enough time for someone to throw down another Circle of Power
in the middle of the tavern before the creature burst through the doors and
hurled itself at them, snarling in rage. What followed was a blur of activity
as the Wolven bravely fought the creature despite their loss of ability to affect
it and during the distraction the Gorbe came out of the circle and set upon
the Pantherghast from behind. Despite all the fables and legends I'd heard about
Pantherghasts eradicating whole towns, this creature went down fairly quickly
with just Lady Pyroxia and Beryl repeatedly striking it and falling back to
the circle for a few minutes. The mother of the two Wolven explained that there
are differing levels of Pantherghast; obviously whoever created this creature
was a mere dabbler, toying with forces he couldn't use effectively.
To my knowledge we never did discover who had sent the Pantherghast. It reappeared
a few times (or were those different Pantherghasts?) but was handily dispatched
each time as far as I know. Perhaps since the next gather is in Calais again
we will find some more clues at that time?