Our platoon joined a caravan of 400 strong Dwarves including 3 Legendary wrights, as well as attendant journeyman & apprentices. the journey South was uneventful save for some kerfuffel with HH and some necromancer who was speedily subdued and turned over to Fae authorities.

Arriving at Echer’naught we found a “city” in disaster. Only 3000 souls were left alive with most of the Northern wall destroyed. That being said the city is beautiful and with proper rebuilding should become a shining star in the South.

Our craftsman set to work with a will while Cptn. Rorauk and his picked crew (myself amongst them) met with the honorable Col. Wolfhaven and planned a renovation of Low town which was hard hit during the war. I recommended 200 dwarves be labled with red bandanas and begin passing out food and toys for the children the better to win over hearts and minds. I recommended an alliance with the most benevolent of the various criminal organizations (crime will ALWAYS be there, the trick is to have it controlled and under supervision with appropriate taxes being paid). I thought I might dabble myself with business but realized that my training days were done and I must be happy with my soldier/wright lifestyle (nothing says I won’t make some coin on the side, this is virgin territory after all!). Elak Lorekeeper will be very instrumental in implementing my recommendations and seeing them through. I expect the rest of our squad to be ecstatic at the chance to bash some heads and enforce the peace.

Should my plan come to fruition I hope to have my battlefield promotion to Lt. confirmed.

For the glory of Stahlheim I am,

Lt. Grum Goldbeard.

Harrodious Highwall (Double H), Corporal Gerard Runestrom, Corporal Elak Lorekeeper, Grum Goldbeard, & Olaf Turningstone were called in front of Rorauk Fyrforg, Ranger Sergeant Major, Stahlheim Army Captain where we found out we were going to be headed out to help escort a load of stone to Escher’Naught.
Along the way I had a dwarf necromancer come up out of the ground and attack me as soon as I laid eyes on him, he swatted me pretty hard, but I shook the stun from my head and bashed him back with my axe knocking him back a half step that he recovered from almost instantly, Corporal Elak Lorekeeper attempted to talk him down with no effect, the guards close by with Elak and I bashed at him as he bashed at me, he wounded me, but through the blessings that I had previously received from Dranak I was healed moments later, finally Elak was able to bash him with the side of his axe and knock the dwarf out, we then tied him securely and carried him in front of Rorauk and he left it up to us what to do with the dwarf, I could not let them kill him outright and it was decided that we would turn him over to the Fae as we were already in the fae wood. With that done we continued uneventfully to Escher’ Naught where we could see the total destruction that took place there and that was the reason we were there is to bring goods and workers to repair the old city to it’s beautiful self once again, so much history there for sure, We met with the Lord Mayor of the city a Wolfhaven, whom Rorauk knew and the lot of several of use that was close to Rorauk and his command group was asked to a fine meal with this Wolfhaven, the man surely could lay out a fine spread, as soon as I was able I left the party to find the local druids so that I could help aid their spirits as well as I could and to offer my assistance while I was in the area to the cause. after being found by another of the army folks I came here with I was briefed more fully on the plans for the city and our possible part in it, I reflected the night on what was going on and the next morn I went to this Wolfhaven without much word I let him have a sack of the whitesilver I had helped mine in the mines and departed to the druid grove where I gave a sack of the whitesilver to the high council of the grove for their use in helping to aid the cities recovery.
After this we were assigned to start patrolling the low town parts of the city, so far we have been helping feed folks that needed food, helped with healing arts to aid those that were injured as best I could, I pray to Lord Dranak that one day I can heal those injures that don’t respond to nature’s touch for those that I can show Dranak’s blessings to.

I am sure we will have some patrol logs soon..

Satisfaction could not be expressed highly enough for the simplific methods lead themselves towards a better grasp with Sorcery. Apparently they would spout akin to vegetation as a separate mission would steal any remaining freetime within Stalheim proper. Various narratives of this Bandit prince that escaped carried many items, one fabled one I suspected granted the principle of teleportation. A perfect tool if engineered correctly. Needless to say we were short a few. Sergeant Goldbeard was absent, including that Highwall marksman and the Recon specialist. My equal Elak and the pious Harrodius were all that remained. This was a dwarfhunt for some criminal and the wherebouts of a Builder scholar.

Although we planned for trouble, I knew we had a white silver tongued dwarf to help for the scenarios. Unforunately they were not quite ready for plans for counteracting the teleportation. Forging a musical device emitting waves to sever connection to essense, we were able to infiltrate this den of thieves. Making this short. We lied to the sodding bastard, I clubbed him to an inch of his life, and afterwards escaped the complex through his item. We made it back to the Captain’s office as this man was placed in jail. We luckily saved the builder and I must say a pound of white silver is handy for fuel. Maybe a stronger source vs the scarce sources to power Arcmancy.

Elak’s Log
Forest Dance the 24th

Though the course of my investigation, I learned that the Dwarf in Black kept quarters in a particularly grim part of town. I went along side Corporal Gerard Runestrom and Harrodious Highwall (Double H) as back up to see if we could find him and rescue Rodebrecht Valrur. We came across a very talkative dwarf on one of the side ways who said “I hear you’re looking for the boss”, I said “Yeah, where might I find him?”, he pointed to a well built door a few doors down. I thanked him and went and tried the door, it was locked. Corporal Gerard Runestrom started to get that look in his eye as when he does something stupid or reckless (and he is not a stupid Dwarf), I asked him to wait until I knocked before he did anything, he agreed. I knocked and after a few moments we heard a voice say “who is it?”, I answered that we had business with his boss. He opened the door after shifting quite a few locks and beckoned us in, we passed a Dwarfish party that looked fun and follow the Dwarf up a few flights of steps until we got to some large double doors. Our guide knocked a passcode and yelled into the boss that there are a few Dwarfs here to make him a business offer. He called us into his office/bedroom where we saw poor Rodebrecht Valrur was tied to a chair and gagged. The boss of the crime family called us over to his desk and asked what business we had with him and who are we? I told him that I was a Lore-Warden tasked with keeping the knowledge of the builders alive in our society and that we were here to trade with him a item of power for the safe release of Rodebrecht Valrur. He asked to see such an item, so I pulled out a device that our resident Techno-Mage Corporal Gerard Runestrom said would nullify any magic within a large radius, I thought it a little risky until he said that as soon as you stopped the field of anti-magic would dissipate and we would be able to use what ever device the Dwarf in Black used to escape. As soon as I started to play this anti-magic music box the menace of Stahlhiem was lulled into a false sense of security, when his started to enjoy the music Corporal Gerard Runestrom took out his hammer and knocked him clean out! I quickly stopped playing the box and made sure Rodebrecht Valrur was able to walk, we gathered up all the magical items we could find and Corporal Gerard Runestrom used a ring to teleport us strait to Rorauk Fyrforg, Ranger Sergeant Major, Stahlheim Army Captain’s office. I quickly saluted and presented our catch and told him quickly where he could find the rest of the bandits. He thanked us for our service to Sthalhiem and took our prisoner to a cell to be interrogated for any information he might have.

Meanwhile Grum Goldbeard, Krugar highwall and Specialist Agar Gravelturner all came down with the case of Drekh a skin disorder that clear’s up in about a week with no long lasting effects. They were under quarantine under the symptoms subsided.

Harrodious Highwall (Double H) and I were given a week to our selves as we were on the clock as it were, investigating into the kidnapping of Rodebrecht Valrur. So we discussed going back to Dranak’s Rest for some M&M (Mining and Merrymaking!) among friends. I worked in the mines for full days gathering an impressive amount of White Silver. My friend decided to preach the teachings of Dranik to the people while also mine while he could. I decided to split anything that I made more than him with him so we left with around 750 pounds of White Silver ore. We made it back to Stahlhiem unmolested and turned our White Silver over to the refiner’s.

Summarizing my time off was more related towards being a creature of habit than a command from the Sergeant. Doubtful of the merit of reporting what we did, that was something that unless aligned to the military mattered little. Aplenty white silver was allotted for manufacturing gear of the greatest caliber for further operations. Visiting the Head of the Runestrom clan, my Grandfather Rolf whom was an Archmage with few equals amongst Dwarven sorcerers. Conceivable was the mere thought he simply outlived the competition that were not our Fae neighbors. I digress but time spent with the Archmage was wondrous, though filled with manual labor frankly.

Nearly drooping from my reserves of essence fixated on cleaning cantrops, at least some hearty reading and taking frustrations out on a few targets were just the type of relaxation I needed for remaining idle for a week despite what my figure shows is shameful. Grasping more proficiency in sorcery and a a hefty sum of white silver left, I can hope our next mission will need my expertise more. Strange how I am slowly growing accustomed to this.

Elak’s Log

Forest Dance 15th-22nd

After the events at the bandit fortress our unit was given a week off for R&R. I decided to find a builder and have him teach me more of their culture. I had heard in the later year of my Lore Warden training that there were two builders friendly to and residing in Stahlhiem. I found one Hildebrandt Schleiermacher in a dusty backroom of the royal library, I struck up a conversation with him and asked indepth questions into the builder’s, Norcan Darr, their relationship with the Childer and the technology that set them apart. As I encroached on the technology subject he started shifting in his seat, I apologized and as I was about to leave he asked me for a favor. He had not seen his friend Rodebrecht Valrur in over a day and he tasked me to find out what has become of his friend, I agreed and quickly set about finding out where he might have gone. The investigation took some time but I learned from a merchant (who reported what he saw to the proper authority’s) that a beardless dwarf was walking on a side street ahead of him when a Dwarf in Black stepped out from an alley grabbed him and they both disappeared. I went to Rorauk Fyrforg and reported what I had found out, he told me to investigate and to enlist the help of any magician who could help. I quickly asked the mage’s and priest’s who keep vigil about anything weird happening around that time, they said that they felt the presence of some foreign magic for a moment before it was gone, I asked if they could figure out where it might of gone? They said it would take awhile and started their incantations and formulas, I left them to their work and quickly made my way back to Hildebrandt and told him of what befell his friend and all I knew of the Dwarf in Black. I asked him if he could teach me anything he knew that might help me find and rescue his friend and he agreed

I made my way back to the captain who said the interrogations were on schedule and they were running down each lead as they came but the cave system is just too vast to cover it all in the amount of time we had and our only option was waiting on the incantations to bear fruit. He said to relax if I can and he’ll call my troop when they found something or our leave is up

After arriving back from our successful foray against the bandits our Captain gave the platoon some time off for a much needed rest while the prisoners were being interrogated.

A variety of tasks were undertaken to better ourselves. I myself found a Master Craftswoman to apprentice to, a fine looking matron of 95 years of age (too bad she wasn’t a BIT younger…) as well as obtaining an alchemy kit to which I will add Artificer tools as they become available.

As an afterthought I also obtained a mighty war lizard with a saddle made to specially fit my build.

I asked the others in my platoon to post their experiences.

Well as we were attempting to return to Stahlheim from Dranak’s Rest we met Rorauk Fyrforg, Ranger Sergeant Major, Stahlheim Army Captain and we were then assign to help in the flushing out of a major bandit camp.

Some were assigned to escort the prisoner we had gotten at Dranak’s Rest
back to Stahlheim

We encountered a horde of Men at arms that were there defending the stronghold that we went to, after a couple exchanges of crossbow bolts then some magic Corporal Elak Lorekeeper stepped forward and called for the defenders to surrender, and much to my surprise the defenders started to surrender. there was some few more encounters that had to be fought, but time after time Corporal Elak Lorekeeper continued to convince group after group to lay their arms down. When we found the main treasure room of the Bandit leader Rorauk Fyrforg, Ranger Sergeant Major, Stahlheim Army Captain convinced his men at arms to turn their weapons on the Bandit leader.. at which point he (the bandit leader) disappeared apparently magically.

Although there was a whole lot of other people present like [[:gerard-runestrom | Corporal Gerard Runestrom]], Corporal Elak Lorekeeper, Krugar highwall, Specialist Agar Gravelturner, Grum Goldbeard, Rorauk Fyrforg, Ranger Sergeant Major, Stahlheim Army Captain, his command staff, and several soldiers and members of Dranak’s Hand, I could not keep up with the actions of so many.. I guess I am not a very good recorder of battles.. I presume there are bards that would be able to do a better job of this.

Rest began to transform into myth itself for our duty was not yet concluded by a dwarven crossbolt. Jejuned probably expressed my thoughts on another mission immediately after an undead skirmish . Maybe the stack of white silver ore and a new promotion left me pretentious or baring the most truth was I did not enjoy the prospect of life and death so soon. Alas this esteemed scholar of the arcane and wright arts would be stricken through warfare again. Captain Fyrforg met our path with a contingent of warriors accompanying him. Dragging or eliminating some bandits appear to be the goal. By the entrance to the cavern where these outlaws lurked were druids known as Drannak’s Hand. I felt mercenaries were unnecessary for the amount of men and armaments we carried. Iron hard irony struck truth to my thoughts, witnessing a few of the sellaxes falling in battle but not too fatal from later accounts.

I did not feel obliged to muster too much on documentation the impending victory. Superior numbers and volleys of bolts shred through their masses. The rumbling energies of the aether crashed through earth, forging a new path. It was Elak Lorekeeper’s means for nonviolence that paused a true bloodbath. Forces surrendered to us group by group. Stepping on the carcasses of your gruesome comrades elevated the threat as a few even soiled themselves. Though I did not witness the work of art, I heard our scout found much during his exploration. Most astonishing was Captain Fyrforg charmed the bandits to betray their leader, however he vanished through what I deduce was a principle of teleportation via an item. Fortunately we recovered stolen goods and had another of manual labor. I need rest nnow.

Elak’s log
Forest dance the 13th

When we left Dranak’s rest, we left with the gratitude of the miners and the blessings of Dranak. We piled up the carts with the dead and the white silver, and started back for Stahlheim We were an hour from our destination when we came across a contingent of the Stahlheim army led by our captain Rorauk Fyrforg, we quickly reported our success at the mines but he told us there was an even more pressing matter to attend to. He told us of a large group of well supplied bandits who’ve set up shop not far from where we were and that he was sent by the clan chief to take care of them. Rorauk told our group to fall into line and to back him up. Our priest was told to lead the contingent of Druids, while sarge was given half of the forces to personally command.

I followed the Druids as a group of bandits tried to rush our group, they were quickly dispatched. I saw the loss of life so I decided I must save those who I can. I quickly moved to a point where the bandit group could hear me and yelled “surrender and you will be shown mercy.” thankfully the group showed sound reason a surrendered. They came out with their hands up and laid their weapons at our feet. We quickly shackled them and rushed them safely behind our shield wall. Our commanders decided to block the rest of the bandits in by building a shield wall at the opening to the cave but our Technomage had another idea. He saw the bandits surrounding the cave entrance so he called on the ether to blast through the rock as he did at Dranak’s Rest. His powers impressed me in their sheer destructive power as the tore through rock, metal and flesh. I knew this would end badly for the bandits so I decided to put my life on the line to save theirs. I quickly ran through the fresh hole and shouted “surrender or what happened to your friends will surely happen to you.” They quickly dropped their weapons and proceeded out into the cavern to save their lives. We quickly shackled them and spread out through their fortress. We found a few tonne’s of supplies on the first floor and the sarge was nearly killed by another small pocket of resistance, he quickly settled it peaceably. Our forces regrouped around Rorauk and proceeded up into the second level where the shock troops lived and stayed. Led by a warrior of unknown veracity bedecked in magic gear. Rorauk saw him as the threat so he quickly used his silver tongue to turn the troops against their leader. Knowing himself beaten he rubbed a ring and disappeared. We gathered up our prisoners and headed back to Stahlheim.

For valor in combat I was awarded a battlefield promotion by Rorauk Fyrforg and when we returned the captain put in for a distinguished service metal.