Whispers at the Fire



  • Lonely swordsman in leather armour can be seen by South Norwick Gate. When asked what he's doing there, he answers that he's waiting for mages to escort them if neccessary. So their spells are not wasted against lesser enemies.



  • A cloaked dwarf at the fire chuckles as the adventurers run by.

    Bah! If I shat meself everytime I saw a furball south o these gates, I'd be sittin on a mountain o dung!

    After a few minutes of sipping his ale and finishing off his pipe-smoking, he heads off to the south, axe in hand.



  • Three adventurers: Silver, Shesarai, and Jimmeh; were seen fleeing breathlessly through the South Gate. Panting, they warned the Norwick guards and any others around that they were attacked by bugbears in the goblin woods south of the lake. "There were at least two of em", one an archer. Might be more."

    Is Norwick in for another series of bugbear-led attacks on the gate? Who knows. Since some time has passed with no attack, perhaps those bugbears were just expanding their territory. Or just maybe, they are guarding something?


    Login: AubreyMaturin



  • Willow could be seen dashing from the farmsteads with a cackling brown rooster clutched to her chest, laughing all the way to the gates.



  • Silver, Shesarai, and Dermin were heard near South Gate marveling at strange sights to the south. They claimed they found a mummy in the Eastern Rawlingwoods. Shesarai insisted it had been summoned, and all three of them claimed it paid no attention to them, but went about killing hobgoblins by the dozens. Are the hobbers suffering undead problems too? Who summoned this mummy and is it a freind or a foe?


    Login: AubreyMaturin



  • The south gates stand, bravely intact despite numerous attacks in recent months. But the benches seem made of flimsier stuff, as all of them have been reduced to ashes now. First the fire of many a goblin grenade took two benches out, then a veritable barrage of lightning appears to have hit the remaining ones. The grass is blackened around the ever-lasting cookpot, the mysterious contents of which is likewise scorched by lightning, the hard crust cracked in places for the stewy, ooey inside to seep out. A curious rumour has it that an animation attempt took place, yet so far, the stew remains seem reassuringly placid. For now…


  • Legion

    Maria's horse has been spotted in the Grapevine. The equine visitor entertaining patrons by drinking copious amounts of ale at the bar.

    (will trash gold for horse's tab)



  • Thurlow Pennypicker, gold hoarder extraordinaire, drinks at the Norwick tavern and tells a baffling tale.

    "Yeah, I'm pretty much a hero. I think she even knighted me. Only paid me eighty gold though!"

    He explains that he found a Kelemvorite paladin out in the howling woods strapped to an explosive device by a mad man.

    "Basically I effortlessly disarmed them no sweat. Then she kissed me on the cheek."

    Thurlow further explains that she had a contract on her head and was abducted by the mad man from the local Norwick haunted graveyard area.

    "Probably could have turned her in for a pretty penny to some sleezeballs. Never did find out who wanted the contract done. So yeah, then she knighted me in honour of the church of Kelemvore. Guess you can all call me Sir Pennypicker from now on."

    It's hard to tell what is and isn't true, but some tell of him and a woman limping into town one afternoon with a corpse over his shoulder.



  • Undead assaulted the South Gate a few nights ago, though it was hard to tell if it really was night or just more unnatural darkness. They came in waves from the direction of the Cemetary. Many were the usual zombies and undead clerics and mages; but others were much stronger: skeletal dervishes, fire bows, and even a big ogre skeleton.

    Corporal Troff from the Legion led the defenders. They included Salin, Jason, Vega, Kessmiah, Hen, Kristovar, and Shesarai. Jason fell in the first assult but was later raised with the help of his daughter Vega and rejoined the fray. Yana came down from Peltarch and joined the later battles. To the delight (and surprise) of the defenders, a couple of Norwick guards actually came down the hill and helped defend the gate (once) before retreating back to their posts.

    The mage Salin detected the presence of a sorcerer or necromancer summoning the undead and traced him to the Family Crypts in the old Norwick Graveyard. The entire party journeyed there to find and eliminate the threat. Fierce undead, including a giant shadow fiend, were encountered and destroyed without loss. But the summoner was never found. Be ware!


    Login: AubreyMaturin

    Characters; Romulus Grey, Bard the bowman
    Trotter, Spooky halfling ranger
    Shesarai Foutopolis, Red-haired cleric of Mystra



  • Though the South Gates a dwarven company of five came… Haggered, tired, bloody and angry. None of this seems unusual however other then the taint of sadness that followed them. After a trip to the hold one Dwarf comes back to norwick and posts up a sign...

    "Seeking assistance for the search and rescue of possible missing kin. Locations is the old elven camp, all of good heart and intention welcome all assistance welcomed."

    -Signed
    Bert.



  • Travelers entering and exiting Norwick's south gate report an unusual darkness filling the sky all during the afternoon. The darkness was not complete, the ground was actually clearer than normal without fog, but the sky remained almost pitch black. The darkness did not extend into the Graveyard Path, the Norwick Ruins, or the Misty Pond area. "What's this all about?" folks asked.


    Login: AubreyMaturin

    Characters: Romulus Grey, Bard the bowman
    Trotter, Spooky halfling ranger
    Shesarai Foutopolis, Red-haired cleric of Mystra



  • _Wanderers, woodcutters and adventurers would notice what seems to be a little garden of goblin statues just west of Norwick's south gates, near a clearing with a campfire that has a ladder leading up to the treehouse that is rumoured to be owned by the Elder Druid Jerrick and a pack of female werecats.

    It's hard to tell why someone would have such a deviated taste as to ornate the entrance to their home with goblin statues. Though on a closer look, either the sculptor is a master of masters, or those statues look very lively, holding very natural poses with very detailed and intricate facial expressions._



  • _Hundreds of goblin bodies litter the field past the south gate, the grass scorched black by fire. Anyone tending to or even passing the bodies will likely note there is something a bit off about them - eyes a little too red, strange horn protrusions or tails, as though their particular breed was mixed with something more than just goblin.

    Rumours speak of a brutal wave of attacks during the night, but also of an unexpected ally - a Frost Giant maiden with a very large sword, fighting on the side of the defenders. No wonder Beorn looked particularily grumpy…_



  • A weary yet victorious procession made its way back to Norwick, including an emotionally exhausted Raryldor and a physically exhausted Sirion, made its way back to Norwick. Sirion, his cheeks normally. Pale and pallored, the two of them, the settled in once inside the gates, and Sirion, in unelven fashion, slipped into unconsciousness with one final "I told you so."



  • Near the Rawlinswood lake, a couple of big heaps of vegetation can be observed, scorched and smouldering from recent fires. A light snowfall seems to have put the remaining flames out, one of the larger stones in the area still coated with white.



    • Jason approaches Salin quietly and smiles to him * We should speak soon lad, I think I may be able to help you if your willing to accept the help.

    (( To be continued online upon my return, hopefully within the next few days!!!))



  • Folks gathered by the fire must have felt surprised when usually upbeat mage Salin Ashald was seen darting off in his horse, his head lowered, toward the temple of Lathander… And falling backwards by the door?


  • Legion

    The Vicious Dog Tribe poking around Norwick's south gate has become skittish lately. On one occasion, when they saw a mustached guard from the wall, one screamed "IS SALISHALD!!! FLEEE!!! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!"

    It seems unlikely they will be prodding Norwick for much longer.



  • _::Some commoners describe a strange scene in which suddenly, a bear was seen sprinting northwards with a skinny woman on top of it rodeo style, stomping past the north gates into the Nars Pass.

    Meanwhile, a large cat was seen parting from the same point, but running southwards instead. A startled hin took a swing at it out of instinct in self defence, but seems like assaulting the hin was far from the cougar's interest, that instead took a leap above the hin's reach and kept running south down the hills to avoid the guards, to then get lost into the forest.

    What manner of animal madness was witnessed in Norwick is anyone's guess::_



  • "Duergar!"

    Willow exclaims, her hands fluttering like wild birds as she dramatizes the fight.

    "There we were, in the Goblin Hold, thinking it was business as usual, but ahead there's these weird piggy grunts.. deep, bass-tone grunts.. from actual hogs of war! They're duergar steeds or something like that, 'cause next thing we know, there are grey dwarves popping out of thin air to wail on us!

    The squealing and the flailing, the slashing, poking and fizzling! It was chaos, almost as bad as when we stumbled into those Cloakers in the underdark.. almost!

    But this time, we won AND snatched all their ale and ore, haha! If this doesn't motivate Beorn to work on my armor, I dunno what will…"

    With that, she hefts a clinking, heavy pack and trudges off towards the crafter's hall with wobbling legs.