40th session: The Crystal Lake

10th moon, 12th day, year 4554

After wandering the Faerie in search of the Crystal Lake, but without encountering any dangers, the brothers finally found the Lake which was aptly named, since translucent crystals were floating all around it's surface. They met Gnigan, a friendly-looking gnome. He asked them to enter the 60' diameter circle he had drawn on the ground.

My name is Gnigan and this is the first trial. Please step into the circle.

The brothers, not quite sure what kind of ambush to expect, hesitated for a while, but eventually stepped into the circle.

It is a very simple trial of your strength and stamina, as well as your ability to handle yourself when outnumbered. In a moment, a few local monsters will arrive and take up position outside the circle. On my word, some will start to attack you, as you kill them, more will step into the circle and attack you. In order to pass the trial, you must not leave the circle before all monsters are slain. You must also not attack before I give the go ahead. Do you understand the rules? 

Good, here are the opponents..

Numerous very large werewolves started to come out of the woods, encircling the circle and the T'orghs. Their fangs dripping with saliva and tongues hanging out, they looked at the brothers as if they were the first food they had seen in ages..... And then they attacked. Wave after wave after wave. They kept coming. At first, the T'orghs didn't have any problems keeping up with the living flood. But as all their buff spells started to run out and Jegred and Jeffrey died, the situation became more and more untenable. Eventually even the might of the dark elves was no match for the numbers of the fey werewolves and they were all ripped to pieces....

God grief, that was very impressive said Gnigan as they woke up. I can't recall seeing anyone lasting that long in a while. You killed more than 70 wolves, or would have, had they not been illusions. Very good, you have completed the first trial, the next is in the Caves of Oblivion. You may go now.

39th session: The Creation Symbol

10th moon, 1st day, year 4554
Home and rested from the fight with Imix, the brothers immediately started to research about the fire-dude.

They soon learned the following: Imix is one of four Elemental Princes, he is extremely powerful and lives in the Elemental Chaos. He is a force of nature, a step below the avatars of the gods in terms of power, and very few people can stand up to him for long. Imix has several small cults of mortal worshipers, the most famous one being the Cult of Flame, which is popular especially amongst orcs.

10th moon, 3rd day, year 4554
Thinking that Silverclover had someone tricked or Quested them, the T'orghs swiftly ported to his cabin, which they found as they had left it a couple of weeks earlier, in order to fix what they had caused and that which the Council of Menzo was now debating whether they should hold the brothers accountable for.

They searched everywhere, and even consulted beings from other planes, and learned a few tidbits. The note regarding the Rod of tremendous power had been place by someone called Argonus, a dark elf.

While they were talking with the outer planes, 6 assassins of the drows attacked them, but the T'orghs quickly killed the drows.

10th moon, 4th day, year 4554
Returning to Menzo, Nalfein decided to fast and pray in order to get some more answers, perhaps even from Asmodeus himself. While the Lord Light himself did not deign to answer, he did get some more info. That Argonus was in Menzo, that he was not a dark elf, and a lot of other stuff.

Not quite feeling it, the brothers decided to move on with regards to the scrolls. 

They ported to the temple, and activated the Creation Symbol. 

A horned devil appears in a puf of smoke: "You must enter the Faerie Realm, find Castle
NeverNever and steal the Golden Cup of Nymph Tears. Fill the Cup with blood from 3 different types of faeries and bring it to the altar.

10th moon, 8th day, year 4554

After some research, the brothers headed to Ched Cinlu, where they met with Tiam O'Blogroth, who against two future council votes agreed to send them through the portal to the Faerie Realm he had under his control.

On the other side, they got attacked by a fey ogre and four quicklings that had been placed in stasis to take care of people porting up. 

Afterwards they encountered Omar the Satyr, who explained that to navigate the Faerie, you merely had to think of a place and start walking, then you would be there at nightfall, unless you got lost, then you would have to try the next day. Omar adviced them to head over to the Eternal Oak, he could place them on the right path. 

10th moon, 10th day, year 4554

Once arrived at the Eternal Oak, he told them, that if they wanted access to Castle NeverNever, they would have to prove themselves worthy three times over to the King and Queen of the Fairies. 

First step could be accomplished at the Crystal Lake. 

Oversigt over det næste stykke tid

Der blev spurgt efter en oversigt over den kommende tid. Hvis man allerede nu ved, at man ikke kan en dato, må man da gerne melde ud.

21. maj - spiller
28. maj - spiller
4. juni - AFLYST (Vibes f-dag og bryllupsdag)
11. juni - spiller
18. juni - spiller
25. juni - spiller
2. juli - spiller
9. juli - AFLYST (er i Paris, Bønne f-dag)

38th session: The Rod of Power

9th moon, 17th day, year 4554
Once again back in Menzo and rested (Nalfein quickly shed all adverse effects from his encounter with the specters), the brothers bask in the glory that killing the Queen of Drows has gotten them. Everywhere they go, their dark elf brethens are clearly impressed with them.

9th moon, 18th day, year 4554
The T'orghs are summoned to the Temple of Asmodeus. Two officers of House Argith and House Hume, along with 40 elite guards, come and escort them to the Temple. Before leaving, they are warned by Father to be vary of what they say.

Up in the Temple, they are presented to High Priest Da'kar Argith and High Priest Q'lor Hume. They are respectively protected by a Pit Fiend and G'lor, weaponsmaster of House Hume and first warrior of Menzo.

The two high priests enquire about the scrolls, about the drows, the balor, and last but not least, about Nalfeins plans to become High Priest of House T'orgh. The brothers leave after a lengthy chat, not really sure why they were summoned, except for a few hints and perhaps threats.

9th moon, 20th day, year 4554
The T'orghs take the portal to Hope, and head north into the mountains, towards the Mountain of Despair, the volcano that holds the Temple of Azarath and the Rod of Hope.

9th moon, 28th day, year 4554
After 8 days of climbing through the mountains, killing a few stupid orcs and ogres on the way, the brothers arrive at the Mountain of Despair. They promptly enter the tunnels, heading towards the Temple, which is in fact a whole city.

9th moon, 29th day, year 4554
The brothers are attacked by a mind flayer, who apparently knows them:

Ah, T’orgh brothers. Finally I find you. I will feast on your brains and then tell my allies how to destroy your House, using your knowledge. Delicious, right?

He says right before attacking them, along with his two hulking abominations. The battle is quick and brutal, with both Nalfein, Jegred, Belos and Ta'gar falling prey to his mind. Luckily for them, Jeffrey has no such thing, and is able to finish off the foes.

9th moon, 30th day, year 4554

The brothers arrive at the Temple of Azarath, a city built around the center of the volcano. They head down for a central structure, avoiding all dwarven ghosts, and investigate the 4 sections. They quickly find the first valve, and battle a fire, earth and air elemental that are summoned as they pass through the room towards the valve.

Vary of traps, they spot that 3 of the statues in the second room are magical. From great distance, Belos imprisons two of the statues behind a wall of iron, and thus the brothers only face one iron golem before they can turn off the second valve.

In the third room, they use magic to locate all the trigger traps and dimension door to avoid them, completely bypassing any eternal guardians there.

In the last valve room, as they enter, a radiant being appears, an angel.

I, Doranor, 23rd angel of Moradin, command you to stop. You must go no further. The last valve must not be closed. The power trapped inside the volcano will only bring death and destruction to the world, and despite what you may think, it can not be controlled. So leave immediately, dark elves of House T’orgh, or I will kill you without mercy.

A few spells are exchanged, and then Ta'gar closes in for melee and chops off the head of the angel. Dead. The last valve is closed, and the T'orghs can hear a rumbling. They head out and head towards where the entrance to the volcano and the Rod of Power must be, when they suddenly find themselves facing a 60' feet tall towering inferno, with the hint of a man-shape behind the flames.

Thank you for liberating Imix, mortals. 3000 years is a long time to be imprisoned, even for an immortal. Tremble before the almighty Imix   Now feel his flames of wrath. Imix will destroy you, then the rest of your world. 

Ta'gar wants to leave, but the others want to stay. Before anything can happen, however, they are hit by a very thick and hot wall of fire that expands, nay explodes out from Imix, and hits them hard. Belos  is down and dying, and Ta'gar decides he was right and ports back to Menzo, leaving Nalfein to face the beast on his own. Nalfein, wise beyond years, decides to follow his two brothers, and just as he fades out, he sees Imix tossing the biggest fireball he has ever soon at him.

Note:

Armors should be done around 11th month, 5th day. 

37th session: Queen of Drows

9th moon, 16th day, year 4554
The next day, the T'orghs put their plan in motion and started the ritual. Yakkar led them to a empty warehouse somewhat near the palace compound. There the 13 virgins were killed, and their brains and hearts were cooked over elemental rocks heated by elemental fire, and then the now gooey substance was mixed with crushed unicorn horn and then used in the creation of the pentagram.

Nalfein used the dagger to open the gate, and for a while, all was silent.

Then came the smell of sulphur in the air, chills started to spread along the bodies of the brothers, a shimmer in the air, and Yrok, might balor of Hell was in front of them...

Yrok loves the smell of mortals in the morning....
The great fiend leaned forward to Nalfein, poking him in the chest with a huge lethal-looking claw:

So, YOU are the mortal trying to strike a deal with the almighty Yrok. My, my, you do look tasty.

Nalfein played it cool, and stood his ground.

Are you not afraid? I believe you not. You do not strike Yrok as an idiot. And you should be afraid....

Nalfein kept composed, and finally the conversation turned to the deal, and the fact that they had the elf as agreed. Yrok was pleased, and immediately began torturing the elf. 

The brothers hurried down to the temple-palace, cloaked by a Seeming spell. With the help of some fake papers provided by Yakkar, they easily got access to the sanctum, where the drow queen received her people. 

It was a big temple-like room. There were about 60 visitors and 30 elite guards, a spellcaster of some sorts, and two private bodyguards of some sort. 

The brothers sat down and waited for the mayhem to start. They didn't have to wait long, maybe Yrok had gotten impatient, or the elf had died. Suddenly demons landed outside the castle (summoned by Yrok) and the mage, who was some sort of leader, ordered the guards outside to deal with the demons far away from the queen. Using some charm spells and hanging back while the other visitors were ushered outside, the brothers managed to find themselves alone in the temple-palace-hall with 2 guards, the queen and her two bodyguards.

The brothers played along, and faked they were about to help deal with the demons, then turned the tables on the drows, and attacked. Unfortunately, a wall of force was protecting her, and the dark elven ambush was turned around when the specters of 7 ancient drow warriors emerged from the tombs, along with a beholder.

Within a minute or two, things looked critical. Jeffery was dismantled due to the Anti-magic ray of the beholder, Jeggred was suspended while caught in it, Ta'gar was down and dying and the specters and monk bodyguards kept flailing at the two remaining brothers, while the Queen was tossing death spells left and right.

The brothers were gone. The battle was over, and there was nothing they could do. Except one thing. Belos pulled out a scroll with Limited Wish on, and wished that the beholder's eye would cease to work, for the rest of the encounter. That turned things around, it gave the brothers a fighting chance, but there was still a long way to go. But with Jeggred back in the fight to kill and take some hits, the brothers clawed their way back from the Abyss.

Nalfein got Ta'gar back up, so when Belos was killed, there was still two brothers up for the fight, and together, they managed to kill the queen and everyone else. They planted the drow noble, who had been in Ta'gars portable hole, and then hurried outside where they found a burning city. Yrok had done good on his part of the deal.

Then they ported home.

(note: Nalfein was drained 8 "levels")

36th session: Gone, but not forgotten...

9th moon, 12th day, year 4554
Jegred returns from Hell, with good news. He has found a Balor, named Yrko, who has agreed to do as the brothers want, provided they do one thing for him. They need to find an old elf called Ghera Silverclover, and make sure he is there, when Yrko steps through the portal from Hell.

The T'orghs zap back to Menzo, and spend a couple of days at the library finding information about Silverclover. 

9th moon, 14th day, year 4554
As it turns out, Ghera Silverclover is a former adventurer who led a crusade more than 150 years ago, against the undead and creatures from Hell. When his band of merry crusaders got old and retired, he carried on for a couple of years, but then stopped, after tricking a Balor to return to Hell.

He retired somewhere near Ashenwood.

9th moon, 15th day, year 4554
Before leaving Menzo, the brothers start Ramzok on gathering the items needed for their dragon armors. The T'orghs then zap to the hills outside Hope, and quickly make their way to Ashenwood. There they found a little village and got directions for Silverclover's house.

On the way to the house, which was about 5 miles away, they were jumped by two spirit trolls, rare creatures usually conjured by powerful shamans to protect holy sites or the like.

Once at the house, things quickly turned into a long battle. Silverclover, although old as hell, was still pretty handy with his crossbow. Not only that, but his house was also warded both against demons and devils, but also protected like a king's treasury. And as if that wasn't enough, the entire cabin was cloaked in illusions making it very difficult for the brothers. Eventually the fight ended up outside, with Silverclover caught between the brothers and Jegred. Then he called a purple worm up from the depths, and things got slightly more complicated. Jegred got eaten, and things got very close, although it ended without further deaths.

Silverclover got tied up, and the brothers zapped back to Nedergard with him and his considerable treasure. Aside from all the magical items and the money, there was also a note of interest.

In the Temple of Azarath
Beneath the Mountain of Despair
All that is standing between you
and the ancient artifact
Is four very special locks
And the eternal guardians

The Temple of Azarath is an legendary dwarven stronghold which fell about 1500 years ago. Little is known about the dwarvens that ruled it, except that they were peerless crafters of weapons and armor, and that their King had an artifact, rumored to the Rod of Power, an even more legendary artifact, said to have been used by the gods when the races were created.

35th session: Coldbreath

8th moon, 29th day, year 4554
The brothers soon decided to attack the dragon, as they didn't want to risk that it could begin to eat the giants. Tagar turned invisible and charged, but the dragon saw him, and ripped half of his guts out. The battle was quick and intense. Jeggred got ripped to pieces in mere seconds, Tagar was out for some of the combat from a nasty tailslap, and if not for his ring, Belos would have joined Asmodeus in Hell. But in the end, the T'orghs killed Coldbreath and claimed the giant hearts (1k lbs in total) and the frost giant treasure.

8th moon, 30th day, year 4554
The next morning, they set out to find Coldbreath's lair

9th moon, 2nd day, year 4554
After a couple of days of tracking in the mountains and casting divination spells, they found the lair of Coldbreath, high up on top of one of the tallest mountains, inaccessible without flight. 

After filling their portal hole, Nalfein decided to use Word of Recall to return to Menzo quickly, while the others walked. But when he arrived, his two brothers were already there, Tagar grinning stupidly.

9th moon, 5th day, year 4554
After taking care of the hearts, the brothers meet up with Father, who presents them with a new opportunity. After their discovery of the House Jhalavar plot, Father fears the drows might attack Menzo at an oportune moment. And that would be a disaster. Therefore, he wants the brothers to travel to Nedergard, the drow capital of the region, and kill the drow queen while framing the murder on one of the most powerful families. Belos is a bit leery about the project, but Nalfein convinces him that it would mean enormous prestige doing so.

9th moon, 7th day, year 4554
After a failed attempt of scribing Tongues, the T'orghs take the portal and arrive near Darkfort.

9th moon, 8th day, year 4554
The brothers run into a small patrol of drows. Although obviously skilled, the drows are no match for the dark elf brothers, and they are quickly run over.

Later the same day, the brothers are attacked by 3 phase spiders. While the spiders are quick to phase in and out, they fail to poison anyone and eventually die.

9th moon, 11th day, year 4554
The brothers arrive at Nedergard, the drow capital. Nalfein disguises his tattoos with some minor illusion and casts Tongues, while his two brothers disguise themselves as members of the Fellowship of the Raven Queen, a drow assassins clan who are mute.

The enter Nedergard fairly easily, and get directions for Devil's Corner, where they are supposed to meet up with Yakkar, a spy of their father's.

On the way to Devil's corner, they are stopped by some guards, but Nalfein, with his newfound charisma, talks them out of the bind.

Arriving at Devil's Corner, a luxurious house of ill repute, Nalfein gains admission, while the two others choose to stay out, near their weapons. Inside, Nalfein forgets himself and is recognized as a dark elf. Luckily for him,  the girl runs to her boss, who happens to be Yakkar. Yakkar kills the girl before she can warn others, and the 3 brothers gain admittance. 

They quickly hatch a plan. They will, using the dagger Nalfein has, summon a Balor and convince it to wreck havoc in Nedergard. When the Balor attacks, they will in her temple/throneroom, posing as important merchants. Hopefully most of the guards will head out to help deal with the balor, leaving her somewhat less protected. In order to deal with the balor and strike a deal, they kill Jeggred sending him back to Hell, so that he can convince the balor beforehand. 

9th moon, 10th day, year 4554
While they wait for Jeggred to return, they plan the ambush of one Tagar V'rex, the oldest son of a very powerful noble drow family, and a wellknown fighter. The ambush goes well, and the Vrex son and his bodyguards are dead. The body gets dumped in the portal hole, for later use.

Now they just have to wait for Jeggred to return and see what he says.