4/22 - Patrol East of the Tradeway into the Forest of Wurms.
After our last patrol along the trade way turned up lots of questions and no answers, we decided to follow up on rumors of orcs in the forest. We had also heard of a meteor that had come down there.
We met at the lodge, where quite a following gathered together for this patrol. A few would leave early, but by the time we arrived at the forest of wurms we had:
Elly
Klait Goldwind'
Loghain Keswick
Manah
Mo'star
Sette
Tad
Terri L
Vendor Xon
Initially we relied on Vendor to guide us through the heavy mists. He guided us to an entrance into the thick woods. Shortly there after we were attacked by a number of dragons, of various species, seemingly working together. This was a puzzle as the metallic and the colored fought side by side. Some sort of deep corruption was happening here, and we did not find answers to it.
We first encountered a grove of Mushrooms, and were attacked by walking mushroom things. The area seemed to be heavy with their scent, and we were careful not to eat any. Manah found an odd book here, one on assassins poisons. Loghain would end up destroying the book with his sword, which also ignited it into flames.
Moving on Manah began to relate stories from a friend of hers, about evil dragons holding meetings in this forest. This discussion would continue for some time, and we found alters or something that clearly looked YaunTi-ish in nature. The dicussion would turn to Tiamat, which apparently if I remember right was an evil five headed dragon. On that subject, we also found large five headed snakes.
and large snakes with single heads to.
Someone, I think maybe Vendor pointed out a dragon was just a snake with wings, legs, and brains. Another pointed out that the coincidence of a five headed snake and dragon worship seemed unlikely.
Moving through the forest, we came across an odd keep embedded in the hill, the door seemed a bit small for dragons, and was securely locked. We were unable to enter, even after trying sometime.
We wandered around in the heavy fog of the forest for what seemed like forever. The number of dragon attacks declined, as it seemed we were walking over and over on the same steps. Our discipline broke down as the danger level seemed to fade, and we began to scatter away from Vendor's lead. Eventually a party would find a portal we were unable to activate.
In time, with the dragon threat temporary suppressed, the entrance to the crater was found. With lots of yelling, some searching, a few sendings, and the fact we all seemed to leave a blazing trail as we tromped through the forest, we were all able to meet a the crater.
Eventually we pushed into the crater, fighting two large elementals. After an epic battle they were brought down back to earth. Inside the crater we noticed the statue of a large dragon staring down at us, unnervingly. The statue gave me the chills, and it looked so life like it made me nervous the entire time I was there.
We searched for a while, found a large number of skeletons, including dragon ones. As if something was visiting here and feasting on the dragons that wander into the crater. There was this large energy globe floating a few feet above the ground. I am not sure what it was, but my guess was some sort of lure.
As our investigations of the tradeway, what we did not find was more puzzling then what we found. There was meteor in the crater, it was gone. We never saw any black orcs. The whole area was alive, unlike the trade way. It was suggested Black Orcs dragged the meteor away, but it is unknown to us how or where.
Once we were frustrated with our search, we asked Vendor to guide us out, which he generously did. As we exited we found a large hole. Terri felt there was black orcs down it, and Loghain was sure it was just ants. Terri mentioned it was one of the last strong holds of the black orc war a few years back. Loghain seemed to have personal experience down there. If we can ever get the climbing gear together, I am eager to find out.
Like our last patrol, this patrol left us with far more questions then answers. All we know for sure, is the forest of wurms is not what caused the devastation on the trade way.
*signed*
Elly