The following is a recap of events at the Therendry gathering of adventurers in June of 604, generously provided by Deputy Sheriff Jack Fidian and modest chef Pell Melrun:
From Jack Fidian:
Well, there were Orcs, bandits, rampaging Air Elementals, some Undead, a vengeful plant that really hates white-tailed deer, and a proliferation of lecherous Mystic Wood Elves. Verbal won the raffle, and Reginald laughed all the way to the bank.
We put down the elemental problem by attacking a big tower they were apparently emanating from. During the fight, a magic shield was retrieved that ended up going to someone in the treasure divvy who was distinctly not me. But I wasn't annoyed or whiny about it. Not at all. I swear. Really.
Anyway, there was also some trouble at an archaeological site where some jerk dug up the arm of a deceased lord and was trying to graft it to himself to get power. Kind of an odd way to go about it... Anyhow, he was stopped, and the arm was retrieved and returned to its rightful owner(?) This mission didn't involve me. I just heard about it.
One more thing: Count Davy of Lyonesse is now the Warlord of Tyranny and Manicures. When asked what he thought of his new title, His Excellency exclaimed "Off the cuticles, bitch!" (sorry if I didn't get that quite right, no mockery intended)
For a more detailed/coherent explanation of events, ask someone who pays more attention than I do.
From Pell Melrun:
Also, as Saturday afternoon went on goblin activity in the area seemed to rise continually, with many goblins chattering about "the Master;" finally none other than the Goblin King himself appeared. Old, wise, and yet incredibly deadly with his Dark Elven sword and helpful with his Earth magic he offered to train inexperienced adventurers and helped protect the Tavern while said adventurers returned from nearby villages where they had gone to break their fast (since the Tavern was closed until Saturday evening). My friend Kethra and I were among those who accompanied the Goblin King on this exercise. We started with a brisk jog around the area to loosen ourselves up; then the Goblin King showed us some stretching techniques apparently learned from the Dark Elves, with slow graceful arching and extension of the arms to the sides. After that he coached us on effective use of our weaponry, first having us strike at tree leaves using only the very tip of our swords and then pairing us off for sparring practice. After that was done he presented us with some money and items to help us on our path to greatness, cast many protective spells upon us and entertained questions. My memory has always been poor, but to the best of my recollection he said that he once led a great Goblin empire but that empire was enslaved and he along with his subjects were forced to work in the mines where many perished and nearly all forgot the discipline and culture they had once known. Eventually he escaped and was pressed into the service of a band of Dark Elves who taught him many things and presented him with a mighty Katana in return for his assistance. Now he wanders the countryside attempting to once again rally his fellow goblins into a cohesive kingdom... but he finds the task difficult because, in his words, "My people are not all that bright." It seems his attempts to rally them around a cause and instill discipline in them were what caused the sudden flurry of goblins appearing in town earlier in the day; as soon as he taught them something, the goblins became excited and ran off to use their newfound techniques on anyone they could find. As the Goblin King left us to go seek others of his kind, he stopped for a few moments to assist in the rescue of Deputy Sheriff Fidian who had been taken captive by bandits.
As someone who has had a traumatic experience with goblins in the past, I have always feared the creatures; but now, having met their King who is radiant in nobility and grace, I see them instead as the seeds of hope that a lost civilization will return from the ashes within the borders of Evendarr.
Ah yes, another thing I forgot to mention. As a group of young adventurers and I were returning from the house of a Hobling which we had liberated from a band of orcs, we happened upon a fearsome-looking skeletal panther. At the sight of it, Peregrine (who had come along in case we needed healing, and who I might add was very gracious and helpful and pleasant to be around) immediately swore in surprise and drew a circle in the gravel. As the panther lumbered toward us she cast a Circle of Power and we stepped into it. The beast padded around the circle, sniffing and glowering at us as Peregrine explained that it was a Pantherghast. Having heard tales of such creatures, I was shocked and very happy for the circle of energy which separated us from it; Pantherghasts of course are undead genocide machines, summoned by dark mages to wipe out all they find of a particular race. Luckily they have no interest in those of other races, although the other side of this coin is that people of other races cannot affect it with any kind of attack which means any Pantherghast encounter is a battle solely between the beast and those of the race it targets. The younger of the two Wolven with us began to growl menacingly and then frenzied, lashing out at the circle in an attempt to get at the Pantherghast. It was later explained to me that the Wolven were created by the elves to hunt and kill Pantherghasts, so it is natural that they would instinctively want to attack. You see, the Wolven's one magical ability is to be able to attack a Pantherghast no matter what race it is targeting, although they appear to have lost this ability in some areas.
Anyway, the creature sniffed at those of us in the circle and then wandered off, disinterested. This meant that it was not targeting Biata, Wolven, Gypsies, Hoblings or Humans. Our immediate assumption was that it was after Elves, and we ran into the Tavern just in time to alert Anya who jumped up in alarm as the beast loped in through the door. We thought for certain poor Anya was about to be minced by the thing, but it stopped, sniffed her, and then went on its way. Everyone's relief quickly gave way to alarm as we went over the process of elimination in our heads and realized that the creature must be after Sarr-- excuse me, Gorbe-- and that there were only two or three in town, one of whom was Lady Pyroxia.
A few minutes later, somebody spied Beryl and Lady Pyroxia coming out of the woods up toward the tavern and shouted out the window that there was a Pantherghast after them. The beast must have been nearby and smelled them coming because there was barely enough time for someone to throw down another Circle of Power in the middle of the tavern before the creature burst through the doors and hurled itself at them, snarling in rage. What followed was a blur of activity as the Wolven bravely fought the creature despite their loss of ability to affect it and during the distraction the Gorbe came out of the circle and set upon the Pantherghast from behind. Despite all the fables and legends I'd heard about Pantherghasts eradicating whole towns, this creature went down fairly quickly with just Lady Pyroxia and Beryl repeatedly striking it and falling back to the circle for a few minutes. The mother of the two Wolven explained that there are differing levels of Pantherghast; obviously whoever created this creature was a mere dabbler, toying with forces he couldn't use effectively.
To my knowledge we never did discover who had sent the Pantherghast. It reappeared a few times (or were those different Pantherghasts?) but was handily dispatched each time as far as I know. Perhaps since the next gather is in Calais again we will find some more clues at that time?