Date: Sunday, October 23rd, 2011
Players: Andrew, Craig, Henk, Hertzog, Peet, Rich
Level: 7+

The undead horde lead by the lich-lord Vedroth has reached Comack Island.

Two days ago, a pair of scouts witnessed a rotting, ghoulish form stagger slowly out of the ocean and onto the shore of the Badlands. Moments later, it was followed by another dripping form. And then another… and another… and a dozen more. The scouts fled.

When they returned to Lockenport with this news, chaos erupted in the already frenzied city. Some citizens had already fled to the mainland, but more leave every hour. The ferry to Lodren's Gate is running around the clock, even through the night. Not everyone is without hope though. Many of the more resolute residents have enlisted in the Lockenport Reserves, an impromptu armed force established by the Congress of Guild Leaders to protect Lockenport from the looming threat.

All members of the Irregulars have been asked to make themselves available for any assignments that suit their skills, and Guildmistress Tarn has taken personal charge of prioritizing current missions. A number of the Guild's more experienced members – mostly residents at the guild – have been asked to report to a field office established in the Estenwood, closer to the Badlands. There, Tavius Hume will give them further instructions.

There is no purse associated with this assignment, but Guildmistress Tarn has ordered Quartermistress Uggard to open the Guild's extensive vaults. Irregulars assigned to work in the field should check the Guild's notice board to find out with whom they will be working, and then report to Hezia Uggard to collect equipment befitting their standing within the guild.

Case number: 210/01/034

Irregulars participating: Petru (4671), Clunk (4671), Stoella (1069), Zulak (69), Ubu (3699), Xavorin (5764)

Leader: Petru

Summary: The mission was to approach the centaur encampment near the Twin Pass, and make contact with their leader, Carthen. The guild needs the centaurs' assistance to monitor activity through the pass. After completing this mission, the group managed to transport themselves into the hill near the Field Office. After escaping the “Glistening Hill”, they immediately warned me of the risks to the Irregulars' encampment.

Fatalities: Apparently Petru came close to death. (But do we really need a “Fatalities” entry on every mission report? That seems a little bleak to me. I'll have to talk to Gralik about this. Maybe Delk can offer to design him a new form for his debriefing reports.)

Notes:

• What an ambiguous heading! What does Gralik usually note here? How do I know how much detail is expected? I should really get Delk to start doing these reports.
• The group reported encountering a blood-sucking mist, a deathdog and a pair of reapers on their way to the centaur camp. That's consistent with other reports of isolated, but sometimes powerful undead roaming the Estenwood in small groups.
• Despite some trouble with Zulak, who apparently offended some of the centaurs, the discussion with Carthen went well, and it seems we have their co-operation. The group mentioned something about missing trees, but it didn't sound too important.
• The hill near where we had the Field Office set-up is apparently know as the Glistening Hill by the centaurs. They believe that the hill acts as a beacon for twisted creatures from other dimensions.
• Inside the hill, the group reported fighting otyughs and a roper. They noted that the roper's gland was “still available”. I didn't ask what they meant by that. There were also some other strange creatures who lived in pods.
• There was a magical harp sealed in the hill, Petru played this and his performance sent his audience to sleep. Which is much better than the audience grabbing him with its tentacles and eating him, I guess.
• Given the apparent risk posed by the presence of the Glistening Hill, I, Tavius Hume, ordered an emergency relocation of the Field Office to a location a mile or two further west. (See this morning's Memorandum #1488 to Tarn.)

Declarations: Prior to departing Lockenport, several items taken from the vaults were assigned to the Irregulars for use during the field missions. Quartermistress Uggard has made it quite clear that they have to be returned in good condition once the Irregulars return to Lockenport.

• Branchrunners: Assigned to Stoella
• Lesser Ring of Feather Fall: Assigned to Ubu
• Gauntlets of Blinding Strikes: Assigned to Xavorin [returned]
• Weapon of Disruption: Assigned to Clunk [returned at the end of the mission]
• Warlock's Bracers: Assigned to Zulak
• Amulet of Psychic Interference: Assigned to Petru [presumed lost in later mission]

Commendations: Petru said “Ubu did well for a little one” and was then elbowed in the knee.

Leadership: The group's leadership was described as “patchy”, largely due to Petru putting himself in near constant risk (see Fatalities).

Further investigations:

• Why didn't the records for this site reflect any risk in using it as the location for a Field Office? We really need to check the quality of the information we're getting from the Guild of Records.
• Stoella and Clunk seem to have been infected by one of the otyughs. If they don't pull through, I'll have to ask Delk to arrange a third cart to take back bodies. And that depends if we can find what's left of Undoor's group.

Accounting notes:

• This is a non-commissioned mission. Compensation will be assessed once the Field Office shuts-down, and the files for these missions returned to the Guild.
• See Field Office accounting memo.

/=========================================================\
| XP notes                                                |
|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Deathdog                                      =  500 XP |
| Reapers (2 x 400)                             =  800 XP |
| Vampiric Mist                                 =  400 XP |
| Foulspawn Manglers (3 x 350)                  = 1050 XP |
| Foulspawn Grue                                =  350 XP |
| Otyughs (2 x 300)                             =  600 XP |
| Neo-otyugh                                    = 1200 XP |
| Cave Roper                                    = 1400 XP |
| Foulspawn Seet                                =  600 XP |
| Quest: Enlist the Support of the Centaurs     = 1800 XP |
| Quest: Find and activate the harp Lullaby     = 2100 XP |
| Quest: Escape from the Glistening Hill        =  600 XP |
| Quest: Warn Tavius about the Glistening Hill  =  420 XP |  
|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Total                                        = 11820 XP |
| Per person                               ÷ 6 =  1970 XP |
\=========================================================/