Journal of Alistair Rhodes

[DragonSinged]

This is a record of the journal of Alistair Rhodes, an Artificer in a 3.5 campaign that will focus on the party being sent by a newly appointed Baron to turn a small logging camp into his future Barony.

Alistair is a Human Artificer 3, 38 years old. He has a shock of white hair, only a couple inches long, somewhat unkempt, and bright green eyes. He is 5'8" tall (or just about 178 cm), and 165 lbs (or 74.8 kg).

His stats are:
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 7, Cha 15

His feats: Jack of All Trades, Nymph's Kiss, Legendary Artisan

His magic items (crafted himself): Gloves of Use Magic Device +5 (Ok'd with the GM), Amulet of Tears (MiC pg 70)

And now for the Journal entry of our first session! :smallbiggrin:

The Journal of Alistair Rhodes

June 11, 566

I have been dispatched to the forest called "Oddwood", in the Estersea region, by the Baron, Lord Featherstone. I have been sent to the Badgerholdt Logging Camp, specifically, to serve as Exchequer for the town I have been tasked to assist in developing.

Prior to departing, I was summoned to a modest estate at Lord Featherstone's residence at Springbrook. Also in attendance was Lieutenant Erida Dolandak, a dwarven lass of military background and demeanor; Sigurd Lothbrok - a tall, blonde half-elf wearing an eye-patch over his left eye; Raspin (first name only for convenience) - an extravagantly dressed gnome of boistrous nature; Allan Oldwick, a middle-aged halfling, plainly dressed, wearing glasses.
I, unfortunately, arrived slightly late, as I was putting the finishing touches on my Amulet of Tears.
Erida is to serve as our town's Sheriff, Sigurd - the Seneschal, Raspin - the chief architect and city planner, and Allan is to be the Chieurgeon.

June 12, 566
The day following our meeting with Lord Featherstone, we departed by river aboard The Osprey. The first night, it became quite stormy. Sigurd did not fare well.

June 13, 566
The weather has improved to a light drizzle. Master Oldwick tended to Sigurd, much improving his condition.
We stopped briefly in Waywyn.
Allan informed me that the first mate of our ship, one "Jerome", is suffering from a disease known as "consumption", which, Allan informs me, will eventually rot his lungs. Allan was able to diagnose the disease, but does not possess the power to remove the disease himself. I, however, am able to. I spoke with the captain, a half-elf named "Francis", and made an arrangement for shipments to Kennan (which is as far up the river as his ship is able to travel) in exchange for scribing and using a scroll of Remove Disease on his first mate.

June 14, 566
We arrived in Kennan, where we will be leaving The Osprey. Allan observed as I healed the first mate, which went smoothly.

End of first session here

Well that's it for the first session, which was basically just an intro session, ran for about 4 hours. Only the things that Alistair found noteworthy are recorded here, and it's only what I actually wrote down in a journal during the session, so I haven't recorded any conversations that didn't include him.
What do you think? Is this something I should continue posting here? If so, do you want more detail? Excerpts of conversation?
I'll be writing the journal either way, but if people are interested in reading it, I'm happy to type it up and post it. :smallsmile:

[IslandDog]

Yes! Sounds amazing! Post away!

[mamothpriest]

Indeed! Continue to post this stuff. I read your "I need artifice advice" thread and fell in love with this campaign idea

[DragonSinged]

Awesome, glad to hear people are interested. :smallbiggrin:
We started a lot earlier today, so this entry is a bit longer.

Notable quote from the session, from Raspin, the gnome - "I'm not shifty, I'm just the best dressed!"

June 14, 566, continued

The city we are disembarking in is named "Estwild". Lt. Dolandak and Mr. Raspin have gone to hire a boat to take us the rest of the way to Badgerholdt. We retrieved 2 chests of coins from the Royal Bank, as this is the closest bank to Badgerholdt. I trapped the chests, just in case.
From Estwild we hired a barge to Riversedge. Riversedge is an unpleasant place. It reminds me of a place called Spotch. The streets are full of waste, humanoid and otherwise. From here we must hire yet another craft, some sort of tugboat, to take us the rest of the way to Badgerholdt. On the way to the home of Horatio, the owner of the boat, we were attacked by ruffians, who turned out to be what Riversedge passes for town guards. What a miserable place this is. Luckily, I was warned by Raspin that the fight was imminent, and had time to activate my amulet of tears and make my crossbow baneful to humans. Before long, another pair of guards showed up to break up the fight - it seems that not EVERYONE in Riversedge is crooked. We spent the night in a cell at the guardhouse, although not as prisoners.

June 15, 566

Raspin and Sigurd went to recruit Horatio Pedar to boat us to Badgerholdt. Horatio seems to employ a fair amount of magic in his business - his boat was pulled up the river by the same horse which drew his wagon - an interesting use of magic. He apparently served as a Crown Mage in the war.
It appears that the Megrail River has a population of Nixies. We will need to avoid polluting the river around Badgerholdt too much if possible.
During our river journey Lt. Dolandak was alarmed by a cold touch on her neck, and Mr. Oldwick heard whispers, although he couldn't identify what was said.
After passing through a rough patch of the river known as the "Dragon's Gullet" (we will need to do something about that), we reached Badgerholdt. Finally.
I was able to see 5 buildings upon arrival - a small trading post, the smithy, and 3 houses. We headed to the smithy, home of the Gray family, who we've been told command some respect around here.
We were greeted by Bryn Gray, husband of the Smith, Eleanora. She and their two children were not at home when we arrived - they were apparently helping with the cherry harvest.
After speaking with Mr. Gray, thigns that need attention:

How to deal with giant blue wasps
Lizard rats - get into chicken coops, climb walls
Spider-faced giants (purpalish?)
Building an Inn
Warg problem
Rowdy woodsmen


After a time, Kieran Claus arrived, and then Eleanor and her two boys.

Also, apparently Allan... perhaps I'll not commit that to paper just yet. He doesn't seem to want people to know about it, including it seems our travelling companions and council members.

[DragonSinged]

June 16, 566

We spent the night in the Gray Family's living room, and as such made the mistake of not posting watches, and overnight it seems something ate a small hole in the bottom of the money chest and ate 37 silver and 10 gold pieces. I suspect small earth elementals. Eleanora has not heard of this phenomenon happening around here, and as the smith, I expect that if anyone would have heard of it, she would.

I took some time to craft a Sheriff's badge for Erida. Meanwhile, Raspin and the others went and scouted potential sawmill locations, and upon his return we gathered up everything we needed and set off to set up a temporary sawmill, while Erida, Allan, and Sigurd headed off to the logging and trapping camp.

I also enchanted the sawblade so that it should be more durable, require less repairs, and saw through logs at about twice the normal rate.
I set 4 Unseen Crafters to preparing lumber for building the sawmill - they'll keep at it for the next 72 hours.

We met with the farmer Milena, a halfling, and I arranged to cast Plant Growth on her land in exchange for 150 meals worth of food for the Inn. She also warned us of some local red butterflies which produce some kind of red honey which has addictive properties and renders users insensible.
After that we visited the town store, kept by one Gianpiero Sampson, a human missing one ear. I borrowed the stores ledgers to go over the numbers.
This evening I scribed the Plant Growth scroll, and began going over the store's ledgers. Initial inspection looks solid.

Also, it seems that Sigurd has a curious streak. Earlier today he questioned me about what Allan and I had spoken about privately the night before, and when I attempted to avoid answering, he was very persistent. I told him that if he wanted to know, he should ask Allan, as it's really none of my business to go around sharing, anyways.

[DragonSinged]

June 17, 566

Just before the sun rose, the money-eating beast returned. Allan says that it is called a "Xorn", which is a beast from the elemental plane of earth. Erida and Sigurd were at the logging camp, so Raspin, Allan, Brynn, and I faced the creature. This didn't go well. Eventually Brynn took the coin chest and fled towards the camp. Apparently, and I can scarce believe this, but Sigured _reasoned_ with the creature, and convinced it to go away.
After that we got cleaned up, and I went and plant growthed Milena's farm, and hauled back a bin of vegetables for Brynn. Tonight, it seems, is the weekly village gathering, where Brynn prepares a meal for the locals. I also made a formal agreement with Brynn for him to run the Inn, once it's constructed, and I made agreements with the loggers to continue their contracts, but reassigned as road builders.

{End of session 4}

Ok, out of character here, but hot dang is this the most pathetic D&D party when it comes to combat. We just couldn't hurt that (minor) Xorn (MM1, p.260). I guess it had DR5/bludgeoning, which we didn't figure out until a few rounds in, so my crossbow (un-baned, I might add, since I had no idea what was eating our coins and couldn't prepare) was basically useless, even if I had hit, which, vs AC 23, I never actually did - would have required a natural 20 to hit at all. Allan, the halfling oracle/town chirurgeon, it turns out, doesn't actually own a weapon, and when he attempted to grapple the beast, it handily brushed him aside. When Brynn led the beast to Sigurd and Erida, Sigurd first attempted to attack it with lightning breath, and then fire breath. Turns out it has resistance to electricity 10, and immunity to fire, and apparently Sigurd has less of an attack bonus than I do, and so again, could only actually hit the thing on a nat20. Erida was really the only one of us who stood a chance in combat at all. :smalleek:
We're a town council, not a group of murderhobos! We're not prepared for this sort of thing! Not until level 4 at least...

[DragonSinged]

It's been a bit since my last post, because it's been a bit between sessions. This session we covered a bit of a time skip, so the journal entry is a little bit more of a list of events.

TIME SKIP

June 18-21 566

The sawmill has been completed.
Spent time with the council discussing bylaws, covering the topics of thievery, prostitution, extortion, and guard brutality.
Reynard and Jack fought. Erida dragged Jack to Allan, who set Jack’s broken nose.
Allan is testing using distillations of Red Honey as an anasthetic.
Horatio has arrived once again. He brings with him chickens, trade goods, and a female half-orc named Ingrid.
I am keeping a ledger of the goods he is bringing in. He also brought letters, and a chest of wages from Thomas’ bookkeeper.
After discussion with Elly and Brynn Gray, and a talk with Oliver, their Eldest son, I have decided to take the boy on as an apprentice, on a trial basis. I assessed the lad, he seems as though he has some aptitude, and his work as a smith’s apprentice will be an asset.
Erida has convinced Ingrid to train as a guard.
Captain Francis sent Allan and I a letter regarding his willingness to ship goods for us.
Also, I have begun setting unseen crafters to building my magic shop and workshops.
I sent letters to Thomas, Kera, and Captain Francis, as well as postings for new residents to be put up in population centers along the river.

{ End of fifth session }

OOC: There are also a few letters that were sent and received from this session that I have access to (not counting ones addressed to or sent by other characters, which I don't), if anyone's reading these still would you want me to post those, also?

EDIT: Also, level up! Alistair is now level 4, and will begin creating homonculii as soon as possible! 16 Int finally! Woo!

[DragonSinged]

TIME SKIP

June 22-25 566

While my Unseen Crafters are constructing my Magic Shop, I have found the time to create three homonculi. On the 22nd, I enlisted Allan's aid in drawing a pint of my blood. I sent Oliver to fetch the required materials from his mother's supply. Allan expressed interest in the process, so I allowed him to observe along with Oliver as I created an Iron Defender. I decided to begin with the metal dog (or "Cog", as Oliver has named him) to provide protection for Oliver as he goes gathering for me in the future. As it turns out, suddenly gaining an additional set of eyes, ears, and legs is somewhat disorienting.

Erida has found a dog, a bloodhound, wandering on its own in the Oddwood, which is somewhat strange. She seems to have bonded with the creature, and has named it "Arthur", which translates to "Blood Hunter" in Dwarven. Arthur, it seems, is rather uneasy around Cog, so I've been sending Cog with small treats to the dog to see whether this distrust is something that can be trained out. So far, mixed results.

On the 23rd I sent Oliver to bring me a lizard rat, a wine stain rabbit, a green and black bird I've named the "Olivewhit", and some clay, which I used to create an Expeditious Messenger. Erida informs me that I referred to it as a link to myself, so "Link" its name shall be.
The 24th I've taken for rest, and to recover from the blood loss required for creating the homonculi. Oliver has built a cart for Cog to haul things with.
On the 25th I constructed my Packmate, which I've named "Trundles".

June 26 566

I am now sleeping in my workshop while Link stays in the Gray house and Cog patrols the town. I have strange dreams.
This morning, Hildegard came to the Gray house with the news that Ingrid was Feverish. Link, Raspin, and Allan followed Hildegard, while Cog went to find Erida.
Allan thinks the disease Ingrid has is airborne, so I sent Trundles with Raspin, to buy materials from Jean-Pierre, the trader.
It seems he is sick as well.
Trundles went in and fetched the linen, and then I cast Share Talents on Raspin and myself to enhance our alchemy skills, and then Fabricate to create 40 Auran Masks to filter the air. Then, after delivering a portion of the masks to Allan, Trundles helped Raspin to fetch Jean-Pierre.
I have told Oliver not to leave the shop.

{ End of sixth session }

[DragonSinged]

After delivering Gian Piero into Allan’s care, Raspin & Trundles went back to the trading post, while Sigurd, Erida, and Cog went to the road workers camp. Samples of Griddlebit’s cooking ingredients were retrieved and delivered to Allan for testing.

Sigurd referred to Link as “Useless”.

Erida and Sigurd went on to the Caleigh residence to check their chickens, which came in with the most recent shipment. It seems the entire Caleigh family is sick.
Trundles fetched some chickens for Allan to examine.
Allan believes that the chickens are, in fact, the cause, so I sent Cog to dispatch and bury the chickens.
Raspin recruited the once loggers, now road workers to help build a shelter for the ill – I created some unseen crafters to help with the task.
Trundles helped care for the ill overnight while Allan slept.

June 27 566

No one in the infirmary has worsened in the morning, but as the day progressed, Gianpiero has gotten worse, and Christin Callay is showing symptoms. I scribed a scroll of Remove Disease and cast it on Gianpiero, since he was really not doing well. He will still need some recovery time.

June 28 566

My Homonculi’s nocturnal activities continue to influence my dreams.
The illness appears to be under control, and Gianpiero has gone home.

{ End of seventh session }

[DragonSinged]

June 28, 555

Horatio arrived today, with 11 passengers, one of which is Raspin's Half-Orc foreman, Jordak Malurk. I assigned Oliver to checking the ledgers, and invited Horatio to my shop to discuss the issues with the chickens. I also sold him 12 cubes of Hearthfire for 10 gold, and arranged to sell him more in the future. That evening, Oliver and I began a new batch of the substance, which will take about a day to complete.
We then used my shop as a meeting place for the town council.
Aside from Jordak, seven of the passengers were the Dolmetsch family, who are almost all carpenters, 2 of which are full guild members. There is also a thin young lad named Edward who is looking for work, and a pair of farmers, the Haywoods, who came to buy some land.

June 30, 566

The Dolmetsch's paid 175g for 1/4 of a square kilometer of land, and the Haywoods paid 350g for 1/2.

July 1st - 7th, 566

Oliver attempted his own batch of Hearthfire, but failed. I presented him with a simpler task of crafting an Ice Crystal, which he succeeded at. I sent another letter to Kera.

{ End of Eighth Session }

The Ice Crystal of Oliver's proving to be very popular around the town, for cooling alcoholic beverages. Who knew? I whipped up a baker's dozen hem, and am selling them for five gold each. Allan bought one, and Arminius and Reynard bought 3 each. I used the profits to make another 10 batches of Hearthfire.
Allan has taken Edward on as an apprentice.

July 8th, 566

It has been raining steadily for a week now. Tempers in the town seem to be rising, so I spoke with Brynn about organizing a feast for the town in 2 weeks time to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the war. I had Trundles post notices around town. Horatio arrived again, bringing an elf, Larien Ar-Feinial, who is an old acquaintance of Erida's, who has come to town to be Erida's deputy. Also arriving was Uther, a beardless dwarven mason, and Tansi, a tall blonde human woman, who is a stonecutter.
I sold the remaining 6 Ice Crystals to Horatio, as well as 5 of the batches of Hearthfire. I also bought the materials to begin creating 3 Yurts, one for Allan and 2 more because I think they will be popular with the woodcutters/roadworkers. They will take about half a week each to finish.

That evening, Cog heard a fight at Mauldwin's house. I sent Link to investigate. Mauldwin had broken his wife's arm. I became quite angry, and went to his house and attempted to goad Mauldwin into a fight, to draw him away from his home. He ended up fleeing, and I cast a curing spell on his wife before returning home. Shortly, Sigurd visited my house and argued with me about how I handled the situation. In the heat of the moment I told Sigurd that my wife had been murdered. Sigurd left.
Later, Erida woke me and I repeated the story, although I left out my personal history. Sigurd kindly did not share what I told him.

{ End of Ninth Session }