- As the group made their way northward toward the glacier that filled the pass between the two mountain ranges, they came upon a group of pixies curious as to the reason for their presence, and a frozen skeleton that "awoke" and demanded "where is it?".  They attempted to fight off the skeleton, but whatever force was animating it seemed to depart before it could be defeated.  Kugrash decided to smash the remains of the skeleton, just to be sure.  The pixies told them that the fae queen had said they were not allowed to be there, but they seemed hopeful that the "children" might end the "curse".

- The group finally located the ruin of the next tower - finding it was little more than a ring of foundation stones filled with bone.  In the center of it however, was a stone table on which were a number of scrolls and parchments, some large natural crystals, and a shrine to a goddess of magic or fate.  As they investigated, a ghost appeared near the table, seemingly in the midst of some prayer or ritual.  Jaydah attempted communication with him in the ancient langage she'd been studying, but this proved difficult.  She was able to discern that he was looking for some kind of "gift", and there was some urgency to the errand.

- As they were talking, the bones began to stir, and out of them rose a skeletal serpentine form.  It chided the ghost before turning to Jaydah and the others, telling them that they were meddling in affairs that were beyond them...

- The creature - a manticore - had come to ambush them with a trio of Kenku assassins.  The fighting was fierce, but in the end there were no fatalities.  The group managed to drive the monster away, the kenku retreated, an though Mido and Anders had sustained some serious wounds, Carmella was able to bring them back from the brink.

- The following day their companions continued their survey of the ruin site, but the group spent most of their energy debating what to do next.  Should they return to Ereland with Fyndwhyr to get paid and evaluate the next move, or should they continue north to the glacier to see what they could learn now, since they were so close.  They ultimately decided on the latter, trusting Stahzer and the dwarf Millek to get the others back to the city safely.

- As they left the ruin site the following morning heading northward, they were met by a pair of fox-like fae creatures.  They were warned that the forest queen of the fae held the humanoids of the plains in contempt for wrongs of the past - and that the "curse" the land was rooted in the judgement a "vile goddess".  If they were to continue on their path, they must face that past, or be forever lost...

- The group spent some time discussing their next move.  Fyndwhyr and his group were planning to head back after the following day's observations in order to reassess and decide how to act on this new information about the lost city's location being covered by an enormous glacier.  Some of them, however, believed it might be better to continue on from their current location to see what they could see, rather than going all the way back to Erelan - not to mention the urgency expressed by some mysterious parties, and some concerns as to whether the paranoid Lord Velior would allow Fyndwhyr further leave and resources given the recent issues with gnolls, kobolds, and the dragon.

- The group spent the rest of the afternoon making a cursory examination of the ruins, finding only one other building that was much more than foundation stones.  It seemed to be some sort of hall or temple, and contained in its primary chamber a toppled statue.

- As the day waned, the group traveled a little way away from the ruin to make camp.  During Carmella's watch, a shadow crept silently into camp - a monstrous winged cat with a grotesque humanoid face...

- The group spoke briefly with the strange old woman - whom Carmella suspected as a fae hag - but though she offered to reward or assist them in their exploration, her manner didn't inspire trust and she departed when they seemed disinclined to bargain.

- Within the ruin itself, the group found mostly foundational stones and overgrown cobbled streets.  The two largest structures that were more intact were a large hall or temple-like building, and the lower floors of a small watchtower positioned near a ravine containing what looked like supports for a bridge or pier.

- As they neared the watchtower, they were attacked by a floating creature with 4 tentacle-like eyestalks.  After brief engagement, they managed to subdue the creature and trap it within a web spell.

- Inside the tower, they found a great number of bones in piles and a large metal chest.  The chest was locked and trapped, but Jaydah was able to get it open, finding a sizeable treasure of coins and items inside.

- The real discovery however, was what they found upstairs: a wall-mounted etched metal map showing the entire region as it apparently was in a prior age: the entire Plain was apparently and inland sea, and a large waterway flowed through what was now the dark forest they were exploring.  More notably, the map showed a large star along the coast to the north - at a place now covered by a massive glacier...

- Following Mido's cries, they found him tangled in the vines of yet another blight, and being dragged toward the ruin of a stone tower.  They fought off the remaining plant creatures and decided to investigate the tower, which they believed to be the ruin they had been searching for.

- Only the first 15 feet or so of this tower remained, and it was almost entirely occupied by a large, twisted tree.  As they approached, the tree animated and began lashing out at them with snake-like roots and branches.  They engaged the creature long enough to decide they didn't have the resouces to destroy it - but not before Jaydah caught sight of a grotesque statue of a woman tangled in the tree's roots.

- Continuing much further west, they at last arrived at their original destination: the ruin of some sort of settlement.  As they approached, they were met by an old woman with a bag full of bones.  She told them there would be no treasure to be found in this place - only a mad demon and piles of bones...

- The group continue northward toward a tower mark they'd seen on maps of the region.  They avoided an area containing a giggling presense that unsettled them.  Upon arriving at the region, they found the discrepancies between the map versions they had were causing problems.  They discussed the direction they should take as Carmella turned herself into a squirrel to climb a tree and try to get a better look from above the forest canopy.

- The group decided to continue eastward toward their ultimate goal.  As they passed through an area of thick undergrowth, they found themselves attacked by animate vines and twigs.  The resulting skirmish separated the group somewhat, and as the last of the plant creatures fell or fled, they heard a call from Mido who was being dragged away...

- The howling wind and the gathering of ghostly entities around the base of the tower - pounding on the tower's ghostly door - caused Eughenn and some of the others to hesitate, but Kugrash, Mido, and Jaydah pushed their way through the ephemeral forms and into the tower.  Inside they found the ghostly forms of soldiers attempting to barricade the doors against those outside.

- While they watched what was unfolding, their presense seemed to disturb something else present in the tower.  They heard a growling voice from above, and the rattle of bones as a number of humanoid skeletons in the room pulled themselves up and began assaulting them.  Outside, the ghostly humanoids pounding on the door began shuddering and transforming into ghostly, wolf-like creatures, which then began attacking.

- There were a number of ensuing skirmishes with ghostly and skeletal attackers.  On the upper floor, the group again was confronted by the ghost of a commander-like figure, and again they attempted to engage in conversation that, at times, appeared close to violence.  This was avoided successfully again, however - and subsequently, the ghostly forms disappated and the skeletal figures collapsed.

- The group spent some time searching the tower for preserved or magical items that may be of use to them, finding a few.  After a brief conversation about the best way to proceed, they began heading north toward their primary objective - only to be met almost immediately by the ghostly form of the wraith they had seen on the river (or one nearly identical to it).

- The wraith once again began questioning them in its harsh voice with words they could not understand.  The howling wind resumed, and snow and ice began building up and threatening to cover them as Jaydah did her best to understand any of its words.  As its pitch increased, she began hearing other voices - voices asking them why they had come into the cursed lands and if their intention was to defy the will of "the goddess".  Jaydah defiantly told it that they did, in fact, and the wraith vanished - along with the snow an ice.

- After a brief exchange, the ghost disappated and the group approached the ruined tower.  The inside was unnaturally cold, and they found the skeletal remnants of a number of humanoids.  As the investigated, they found themselves attacked by the ghostly forms of soldiers.

- On the upper floor of the tower, they found a table with an old map.  There was an imposing skeleton in rusted heavy armor in large chair at the far end of the table, and from it manifested a ghostly figure that attempted to communicate with them.  While they were unable to understand much of what was said, the "conversation" did not escalate to combat.

- The group compared notes w/ the map and discovered some discrepancies between it and the one they had.  They made a sketch and some notes before leaving.

- After a brief conversation, the group decided to make their way to the East tower before continuing north to their primary target.  They made camp about half-way, and approach the tower the following morning.  As they did so, they came upon a chaotic, ghostly scene...

- The group met up with a man called Lethan Stahzer - someone Kugrash recognized from a posted one of his drinking buddies hand shown him.  He'd been told the man was not to be trusted, and his friends told him they'd give him 500 gold if Stahzer never returned to the city of Erelan - no questions asked.

- Lethan gave them some about what was happening in the forest.  He'd seen kobold patrols and found a sizable encampment.  Usually this tribe keeps to the Kanath Mountains to the west, but something was emboldening them or bringing them down into the forest.  He'd also seen recent gnoll tracks and had a run-in with a nasty giant boar.  Worse, ettercaps and spiders have been moving down from the north.  The territory was known to him, but they seem to be spreading south, which means the expedition may be moving through more of their territory than previously assumed.

- The group made some discussion of what to do, ultimately deciding to head toward the West Gatekeeper tower both to check it out and to avoid the kobold encampment.  As they traveled deeper into the forest, Carmella had the increasing sensation that the forest was full of hatred - hatred for humans specifically.

- As they continued, they began encountering mats of webbing, and some dead things: giant spiders, ettercaps, and a winter wolf.  As they neared, they found themselves attacked by ettercaps and giant spiders, which they successfully fought off after a brief skirmish.

- Making it to the ruin of the tower, they were confronted by the ghost of a soldier speaking an unknown language...

- As the group made their way north toward the Matheye Forest, they became aware of a pack of norther jackals gaining size and approaching them from the west.  In order to avoid them, the group deviated from their route more and more to the east.  As they got closer, some of the company thought they saw at least one humanoid among the jackals.

- The course change, unfortunately, led them into an ankheg hive.  Due to Carmella's Pass Without Trace spell, however, the ankhegs were just as surprised as they were when a few fell through the mounds of loose earth and into their tunnels.

- The resulting skirmish was chaotic and unorganized, but those who had remained above finally managed to pull the others up and out of the holes and evacuate the area before they were completely overrun.  Before emerging, Kugrash noticed the ruins of masonry and possible carvings among the monstrous insects hive complex.

- Arriving at the edge of the forest by early evening, the group was introduced to the eighth and final member of their company: Lethan Stahzer.  Kugrash recognized the name and the likeness as someone his friend Joccan had warned him about back in Erelan...

- The group made ready for trouble and, one by one, made their way outside.  There, they found the town under attack by kobolds while something roared and screeched overhead.

- After finishing off a group of kobolds that had crawled up to their area through the storm drains in order to start fires further into the city, they were met by a detachment of soldiers who urged them on to the gate where the bulk of the fighting was taking place.

- Down near the gate, in the thick of the fighting, something large suddenly fell from the sky, completely obliterating some nearby buildings.  Emerging from the rubble was an enormous white dragon and a giant, eagle-like bird - both injured and fighting one another.  While the group took a couple of pot-shots at the dragon, few of the soldiers had the nerve to approach, and all of the kobolds had fled.  It was only moments before the dragon grabbed the great bird by the neck, and slammed it into the ground.

- The wyrm declared its victory before letting loose and icy blast that froze several streets and leaping into the sky.

- The town spent the next couple of days trying to re-secure the gate (which had been burned through), restore the destroyed and frozen areas of town, and tend to the wounded.

- Fyndwhyr came to visit them a couple of days later, asking if they were still committed to his expedition.  They told him they were, and that they had received information from a mysterious figure that if the expedition was to be a success, time was of the essence.  The party set out the following morning, making their way north...

- As the rest of the group began fighting the jackal in the street, Mido ran up and into the inn.  Inside, he found more jackals and the tavern area a complete wreck.  The  jackal there suddenly transformed into a monstrous humanoid-jackal.  I tried to grab Mido with its claws, but he slipped out of its reach.  Unfortunately, when he met it eyes he passed out and collapsed.  Waking in a dark chamber later, he found himself being addressed by someone else.  This person told him that they must abandon their expedition or they would all die.  There was a flash of light and Mido passed out again - but just before he did, he caught sight of the speaker: a creature with man's torso but the lower body of a great lion.

- Meanwhile, the others entered the inn and killed or drove off the remaining jackals.  They found the entire establishment wrecked, and the ominous words "we are watching you" gouged into the floors of their rooms.  They searched the inn and the surrounding area, but found no trace of their friend.  They helped the innkeeper clean up the place and stayed the night there.  Mido turned up around 4am, having awakened in the tunnel between the Hillside district and the Undercroft.  He woke them up and relayed what he had "learned".

- In the following days, they sent word to Fyndwhyr at the keep about this new possible threat to the expedition, ultimately deciding they would proceed but warily.  Mido, Jaydah, and Carmella all received thier 50% payment advance to prepare for the expedition, and the group decided they would pool and divide the 300gp 4 ways, so as not to leave Kugrash out.

- Kugrash met up with his friend Joccan a couple of times - once to "celebrate" their armwrestling match, and once more.... unplanned.  Kugrash questioned Joccan about the jackal creatures, and the man seemed to know something about them - suggesting they were part of a dangerous organization, and that Kugrash would be better off leaving town.  The second time they met, Joccan had actually come to find him.  The man was wearing a hooded cloak and acting wary.  He showed Kugrash a wanted poster of a man called Lethan Stahzer.  Joccan told him he believed this man was involved with the expedition or with Fyndwhyr, and was not to be trusted.  He offered Kugrash 500gp if he could get Stahzer arrested - or even if he could just "prevent" him from returning to the Plain.  No questions asked.

- It was a couple of nights later when the group was awakened n the middle of the night by the keep's alarm bell.  Looking outside, they could see a couple of flickering fires further down the hillside, as well as movement in the streets.  As well, they could hear the distant din of shouts and commotion - and a tremendous roar from overhead...

- The following day, the group spent some time cleaning up and getting ready for the banquet at the lord's manor that night - where they were to get some details about the expedition they'd been hired for.  Kugrash meanwhile, went looking for an instrument-maker who could "fix up" his axe-flute and ended up in an arm-wrestling contest with a man called Joccan in the Avenue Tavern.  He lost the contest, but barely - and his opponent's reaction to the victory seemed a little overly-humble for his demeanor.

- At the banquet - after a "fine" meal and more casual conversation with those present - their host, the archivist Eughenn Fyndwhyr, explained their objective.  He had found some old maps which contained some markings of unknown structures deep in the northern wilderness.  Their intention was to travel to these locations and investigate.  His hope seemed to be that one may be the remains of an ancient and unknown city.  They were to depart in a week's time.

- Returning from the banquet later that evening, they found the lights in the street near their inn mysteriously extinquished, casting the street into darkness.  Remembering their encounter from the previous evening, they approached cautiously.  As they did so, they could hear occasional shouts, crashes, and breaking glass coming from the inn - and they saw a  wolf-like creature emerge from the shadows coming toward them - baring its fangs and growling...

- The group left Sims' Camp the following morning and sailed the remainder of the way to Erelan. On arrival, the captain Satwi had the Jovossa pulled out of the water for inspection and found that it had sustained damage she was unsure how to fix.  She and Hemmet would be in town for a few days at least - and were a little hesitant to make the return journey on their own.

- They made their way to the top of Erelan's bluff to the Lord's Keep where they spoke with Regulus Brandt, the keep's quartermaster.  They were given letters of invitation to a banquet to be held soon, and notes for accommodation at a local inn called the Cardinal Arms.

- The group spend a few days in town, exploring the place and looking for such things as smiths, shops, libraries, and so on.  One evening as they were on their way to the inn from the Red Elk Tavern, they came upon a stretch of road darkened by covered lamps.  Here they were attacked by a pair of grey oozes that had come up from the storm drains.  They saw the movement of some small humanoids - possibly children - in a nearby alley, but were unable to get a closer look before they'd disappeared into the maze of side streets.

- The group fought off the kobold attackers while Satwi and Hemmet attempted to navigate the boat through the shallows to the right of the stone outcropping protruding from the center of the river.  The effort required dumping some cargo and quickly emptying some ballast tanks but still resulted in a couple of hard hits on the bottom, resulting in some moderate damage to the underside of the vessel.  The fight against the kobolds and a couple of worgs was tough, but they ultimately fended enough of them off that the rest declined to pursue them further.

- Some time later, as they made their way further up the river, they were suddenly hit by a strong, cold wind from the west, and witnessed the river ahead of them freezing over, they attempted to turn the boat around to escape, but found themselves froze in the river before they could.  Across the ice, they were approached by a ghostly horse and rider, which Jaydah believed to be a wraith of some kind.  It seemed in command of the howling wind and the intense cold, but rather than attacking aggressively, only approached, talking to them in some unknown language.  Jaydah thought it sounded something like an antiquated common dialect, but was only able to pick out a few probable words.  When they were unable to respond to the creature, it disappated and vanished - and the frigid wind subsided.

- The group was delayed significantly by having to cut themselves out of the ice, and Satwi told them they wouldn't quite make it to the capitol that day - instead, suggesting they make for the edge of the forest and a small hunting and logging camp that sat by the river there.  They reached the camp just after sundown, and spent the evening talking with the locals about the gnolls, the frost wraith, and other local events - before heading out again the following morning.

- The group spent the rest of the afternoon around town until the log-roll contest that evening, when they headed to the docks along with most of the rest of the town.  Carmela joined a local fisherwoman called Satwi in challenging captain Walthon for possession of the coveted river ship.  Dockmaster Holluk explained the rules: there was a very large, round log suspended and floating between two of the docks.  All three contestants would step onto it, and the last one to fall would be declared winner.

- The contest began.  While captain Walthon was doing quite well at the start and Satwi almost immediately faltered, the tables soon turned as the challenger recovered.  The crowd gathered around the docks cheered and called throughout the competition.  All three did very well overall, and captain Walthon was the first to fall, followed almost immediately by Carmela, leaving Satwi the victor.  The crowd cheered and then headed to Gallen's pub for their "reward" - drinks bought by the losers.

- While the PC's representative wasn't able to win the contest, they hadn't given up on using the river ship to sail north to Erelan rather than walking through the potentially-dangerous Nembrill Wood.  Mido and Jaydah both spoke with Satwi about making the trip and letting them buy their way along, and she eventually decided it was a reasonable idea.

- The group set sail a couple days later up-river.  They hadn't made it an hour north of Onara when they began seeing disturbances along the far shore, eventually catching sight of a kobold astride a worg.  Shortly after the river entered the forest, it began to narrow and ahead they could see a large rock protruding from the center of the channel, and rough water on either side - indicating shallows.  It was at this point that arrows began flying at them from the kobolds along the shore...

GM's note: The 'log roll' and possession of the ship was meant to be an interesting bit of setting detail for the tiny Onara riverside village - an event that they could maybe watch and talk to the locals about and would give some life and color to the place.  I had in no way intended or expected them to try to join the contest.  Because of this, I was just going to narrate the outcome with whatever seemed most interesting at the time.  Once they said they wanted to be part of it however, I knew I'd have to make up some rules mechanics to make it fair - and I wanted it to be more than just a single roll-off, because they all seemed excited about this.  I came up with a set of rules that broke the contest into combat-like rounds where the primary actions related to maintaining their own stability or trying to weaken others'.  I think it worked well, and it was quite the nail-biting competition.  They came close but didn't end up winning - though through some other rp and actions, still managed to get themselves on the ship sailing north.

- The group headed toward the river village of Onara along the road now muddy with water from melted snow.  As they made their way into a flooded lowland marsh, they could hear some commotion some distance ahead.  As they approached, they found themselves attacked by a swarm of stirges.

- The group fought off the flying pests as best they could, becoming aware of a small group of kenku fighting them as well.  When the last of the stirges were killed, they spoke with the kenku, who invited them back to their camp.

- The group spent the rest of the evening with at the camp, talking to some of the kenku about their nomadic tribe and the party's plans to go to Onara and then north to Erelan.  The kenku cautioned them on some dangers of travelling through the Nembrill wood.

- The next day, the group finished their journey into Onara.  The small village sat on the edge of a bay-like protrusion of the Dobec river along a slow-moving section.  They made arrangements for accomodation at the simply-named Riverrest Inn, and proceeded to the one tavern in the tiny village for an afternoon meal - which they found to be so crowded as to be overflowing with locals.

- The group caught word of a "log roll" contest of sorts to be held that night at the docks and went to inquire further.  Speaking to the dockmaster, they learned that this was a something of a local ritual that would determine the captain of "The Jovossa" - a large fishing boat owned by the town and that most regarded as something special.  Noting the comment that it was the only vessel in town capable of making reasonable headway up-river to Erelan, the group asked if they might participate in the contest - and if they won, could they use it for a trip up-river.  The dockmaster, who seemed to regard the whole thing as tiresome, was amused by this plan and told them that that seemed reasonable - but cautioned them that a losing challenger had to buy a round at the pub for every fisherman in town...

- The group met up at the Cup & Hearth in the village of Bhurk and enjoyed a bit of a reunion over a meal.  As they discussed their common purpose, Mido informed his friends that there was an issue with the way north toward their destination of Erelan: namely, that the gnoll tribes had become particularly aggressive and were explicitly watching the roadways for targets to waylay.

- Due to the situation, no other traffic was heading north, and while the local Borderguard had sent word for support to address the situation, it was likely a couple of weeks from resolution.  As they wished to reach their destination as soon as possible, they decided to take another's advice to head west to the river village of Onara, and then follow the river north through the Nembrill Wood toward the regional capital of Erelan.

Since our Cyrran Reaches game is having some difficulty meeting these days, we decided to start a new 5e game with a slightly different player group that might be easier to keep going at the moment.  We met for a session 0 some weeks ago.

Characters:

- Jaydah Orez [Sheri] :: human rogue

- Carmela Nailo [Edie] :: elven druid

- Mido Bagu [Tony] :: human wizard

- Kugrash Damaris [Tim] :: half-orc fighter

Highlights:

- The characters had been childhood friends, but had gone their separate ways and hadn't seen each other in many years.  Each had seen an adventurous job posting and decided to check it out,  This took them to the Salthon Plain, a northern region of their kingdom of Aanashalor known for its harsh climate. 

- As they made their way independently to the village of Bhurk, an early-spring blizzard descended suddenly on the region.  Kugrash and Carmela were caught in the storm along with a wagon crew Kugrash had been accompanying.  Just outside the gates of Bhurk, the group was attacked by snow-white wolves - including one enormous specimen.  Soldiers from the settlement came to help them, along with Jaydah and Mido. 

- The ensuing fight was rough, but the group survived and made their way into the village...