The party also captured a man-at-arms who had been possessed by a spirit from the Barrowmaze. The spirit was apparently in search of a map which was in the possession of one Perri Ticklebottom, the proprietress of The Foul Pheasant, a gambling den in Helix. The adventurers were able to deliver the possessed individual to Mazzahs and Brother Othar, who subsequently exorcised the entity.

It should be noted that neither this venture, nor the investigations of the sealed tombs, resulted in any appreciable collateral damage.

In reply to Labyrinth Lord (msg # 938):

That spirit, Sir, had been released from one of those sapphires that had been in the forehead of the patrolling skellies. Baranbus had tried to liberate it from the barrow, but it exploded before he could do so. We have since been provided with ?octagonal coffers? for their safe transport back to Helix (what were they again?).

@LL Barnabus has an AC of 1.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Mon 23 Jan 2023.

Duly updated.

A dead potions master and a destroyed casino (twice); absolutely not worth noting! :-)

I feel as though I need to interject the following:

Krothos Ironguard’s favorite spot in the entirety of Helix (the village whose welfare he nominally watches after) was The Foul Pheasant. He is known to be a friend to Perri Ticklebottom and it is entirely likely that he has contributed funds toward the gambling den’s reconstruction.

Now, it is entirely reasonable to place a significant portion of the responsibility for the tavern’s initial destruction squarely on Perri, as her poorly considered decision to employ goblins as enforcers was key to what transpired. That said, Krothos is most likely to share Perri’s opinion on whoever she believes to be chiefly at fault for the den’s demolition.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:45, Mon 23 Jan 2023.

Apologies for the double post, but as an adjunct to the information that I previously offered, it’s important to note that the great majority of Helix’s residents do not regard what transpired at The Foul Pheasant as being the adventurers’ responsibility. At this point, word of Perri Ticklebottom’s decision to retain a pack of goblins as guards has reached almost everyone in the vilage, as well as several residents in neighboring communities. Most are of the view that the gambling den’s owner brought disaster upon herself. Certainly, the fire wouldn’t have started without the goblins’ contribution.

Additionally, understand that many residents of Helix did not view The Foul Pheasant itself in a positive light. Many regarded it as a blight on Helix, a center for criminality in an otherwise honest community. That it was Krothos Ironguard’s favorite spot says much about Helix’s appointed leader. On the other hand, The Brazen Strumpet is viewed more like a longstanding neighborhood pub, a welcoming spot where laborers gather at the close of their day.

Is the map of Helix to be properly understood as an abstraction to an extent? That is, would there be any number of residences not pictured in the western area of the map?

How would the windmill do as a stakeout location for the southern gate?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:04, Tue 24 Jan 2023.

That is how I have always regarded it. I think its primary purpose is to help orient participants to the major structures in the village. There would be more residences on all four sides of the settlement than are pictured.


It would serve. There are some upper floor windows that face southward.

The miller, Hendon, and his family reside there. Hendon is a former ranger. His son, Tamson, has served as one of the guides for the party on the Barrowmoor. There is also a spare room in the mill that is currently rented to a long term tenant.

The miller can be found at the mill at almost all hours.

Dax will likely opt to hide outside to keep watch...it's the ranger-thing to do!

I will comment IC after we see what the servers have to say.

forgive my untimely silence, had a temporary job duties change at work (filling in for the chef, instead of my usual maintenance supervisory gig)  It 'only' for a few weeks while he recovers from surgery, but I have my doubts.  I'm out of practice cooking for 60 and it takes a bit more of my attention.

Assume Ishmael does anything reasonable if it holds the game up.

Will do. Thanks for letting us know. Hope work returns to normal soon.

In reply to Ishmael (msg # 947):

That's quite the chuck wagon.

Is that term even used anymore?

That was a smart question to ask, Gumshoe Dryvyk.

Best of luck IRL Ishmael!  We'll look to see you back here when you can make it.

In reply to Ishmael (msg # 947):

I hope things get back to normal for you, soon.

Ishmael's MO is pretty simple, check for traps, open locks, step back, backstab where possible! :-D

Sir, maybe Billworth remembers whom he sold those shoes to ...

If that doesn't produce any leads, just how large is west Helix? Would we be able to search it with the help of a local guide?

Otherwise, I think we sleep and than begin our stake out. Dax might be able to do that outside, but I don't know about the rest of us.

That was what I was angling for Barney!

I've got -24 deg problems to deal with today. Will catch up tonight hopefully.

We're going to have a low of -6 outside of Boston on Saturday, not that we have any herds to mind.

To facilitate things, now that Sir, in his extrajudicial manner, has some good intelligence, we should investigate any of those buyers who live in the western part of Helix before we attempt our stake out.

Yeah, it's warming up a little in Idaho. That cold snap was toooooo cold! I bet Boston gets a little crazy when it's that cold eh?

My apologies everyone. I’m in one of the areas of Texas that got smacked hard by the recent ice storm, so dealing with other necessities has put a pause on me getting things updated. My situation should be back to some semblance of normal this weekend.

Stay warm and look after yourself!

Didn't want you to miss out LL, sent some coldy-cold your way. Sounds like we overdid it just a little though. Best to you, doesn't sound fun, especially in a place that's not normally like that.

So, am I to presume the party is heading back to the Shrine of St. Ygg?

Sure. Presuming that Mazzahs doesn't give us reason not to, we'll go measure the span of Ramgad's shoulder.

He's like to skip town if he returns to the BM and gets wise to all we know.

No telling how dangerous this mook might be. Maybe we'll get him to escort us to Othar again.


Ya all should put the 2022 novel, Five Decembers, on your to read lists. It's neo-noir at its finest. This guy Kestrel knew what he wanted to do with every sentence and didn't waste any time doing it.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Sun 05 Feb 2023.

Having reread the most recent set of posts, I’m going to give a couple of other adventurers the chance to chime in, just to ensure everyone is on board with that course. If the group would prefer to keep watch on the southern gate for their cultist, I can easily set that up instead.

I am fine with revisiting the chapel so long as we only try out Sir Dryvyk's Detect Evil on Gamdar surreptitiously.  Based on those findings I'd suggest we regroup and then decide if watching the gate at night is needed/worthwhile.  I am strongly against laying any bold accusations publicly at this point, given our lack of evidence.

Although not our strong suit so far in the adventure, this calls for caution and subtlety.  :)