infernal-bestiary

[infernal-bestiary]

Types of Ships

Parts of the Ship

Wind Directions

Sides of Boats

[infernal-bestiary]

Pack on the Hunt

The following morning the group awoke to a dull, dark morning. Light rain tapped against the stone walkways of the village as the group made their way towards the book keeper's house to find Nespora. They arrived as she was saying goodbye to her husband with a graceful hug. It was at that point she reluctantly turned to face the group and they set out North of the village. They left the confines of the city, venturing north through the open grasslands ahead of the village. Their journey through the expanse was haunted by howls and after stopping and investigating the group realised they were being stalked by a pack of large wolves. They quietened their footsteps and continued through the grassland until the sun began to set. As the sun dropped over the horizon the peak of a large building became visible ahead of them. They decided to take refuge and rest within the large, abandoned monastery. They settled down and began resting for the night, taking shifts to watch. During the night the pack of dire wolves attempted their attack. They ventured into the building through the multiple gaps in the walls cause by collapsed brickwork. A tough fight ensued but eventually the pack was halted I their attack and the few remaining members fled. Once the sun began to rise the group started venturing further north. After walking for a few hours the ground ahead of them cleared and dipped into a large circular drop in the ground. In the centre of this reversed dome was a building. The building itself was larger than the entire village of Rutherglen and stretched high. It was made with black brickwork and almost seemed out of place among its surroundings. The ground around the building was browned and dead and crinkled underfoot as the group walked. Despite their unease, the group walked towards the building in front of them, the gothic exterior adding to the unease they felt.

[infernal-bestiary]

Scrolls and Sell Swords

Vadania eventually made her way into the Tavern and located her friends sat round a table to one side of the tavern, near a fire place. Tankards sat round the table with one sitting at an empty seat awaiting Vadania. She took her seat with the group as they all gave her knowing glances as to what had just happened.

While Vadania had been away from the group they had done some investigation work around the village. Alysha and Alice had spoken to the Tavern owner; Xugor, who had told the group that no one travelled north of the Village unless they had to. People go missing and howls and growls can be heard in the night. They had also noticed a suspicious looking individual, sat towards the corner of the room, wearing a hooded cloak. The individual appears to be glancing towards the door intermittently and has been doing so for an hour or so.

The three travellers continued to watch the individual and after about half an hour, their suspicions were confirmed                . Another hooded individual walked into the tavern and took a seat next to the first individual. They passed a small scroll across the table before rising to their feet and leaving the tavern spending only a small amount of time inside. The group quietly decided to follow the individual still in the tavern as they now had the scroll and this would give them the most information.

After another five minutes the individual they have been watching rises to their feet and leaves the tavern. The group quickly rose to their feet and followed the individual out of the tavern. They quietly followed the individual down a side alley in the village and watched quietly as the individual slowly opened the scroll and began reading. Vadania, taking initiative, ran at the individual and dived towards them. Luckily for her the individual was distracted and her small elvish body collided with the bulky body of the person in front of her. Both went tumbling across the floor and Vadania, using her dexterousness landed atop the individual and the rest of the group came to her aid.

During the tumble, the hood of the cloak came down off the head of the individual revealing a blue scaled female face with a long muzzle. “Who are you and what are you doing here!?” Vadania spouted towards the woman. The dragonborn in front of them revealed herself to be Nespora with a sly, hissing voice, and that she lived here. That she was married to the bookkeeper of the village. Alysha proceeded to pick up the scroll that had been thrown from Nespora’s hand and opened and read the scroll.

Succubus to the North. Head to the clearing.

The group quizzed Nespora on the scroll and she eventually revealed herself to be a sell sword or an assassin and that this was her next mark. The group, putting to and two together figured out that this was probably the person that they were heading to see as well and Vadania used her silver tongue to convince Nespora to travel with them. They told her they would come and find her the following morning and returned to the tavern to sleep the night and prepare for their travels.

[infernal-bestiary]

A Diamond Deal

Once the group felt well rested enough they began to make their way back through the jungle and towards the village of Rutherglen. One the way back the group spent the night in the same cave they had slept in the previous night to avoid walking through the jungle at night and encountering the nasties that wold follow the darkness.

As the sun rose the following morning the group emerged from the cave and after a couple of hours walking emerged from the dense trees and branches to the sunlight and humble sight of Rutherlgen. It was at this point the group realised that they would need to sell the gems and diamonds they had found in order to afford health potions for the rest of their journey north.

Once the group were inside Rutherglen they headed straight for Nublin’s shop to give her the ingredients they had gathered and to get the prize money they were owed. After that job was taken care of, the group set about finding a store in which they could sell the gems they had gathered. After exploring the village for an hour or so they came across a small general goods shop where they thought they would try their luck. They walked in and were greeted by a human, gentleman with blonde hair longer on top with a slight curl to the length. He had dark blue eyes and a slight crookedness to his nose. He wore satin purple robes with fine silver stitching that were lowcut at the front showing the top of his chest. His robes matched the décor of the shop making the interior mismatch he aesthetic of the village. As the group walked into the shop the man who looked to be late twenties greeted them with a warm and glamorous voice that extended his words beyond that of the normal accent of others. “Greetings wanderers. My name is Rogan Tan and welcome to my emporium. Can I help you with anything today?”. Alysha and Nala proceeded to barter with the man selling him their gems for a fair price however, upon Vadania’s turn to sell her items, what he was willing to pay was not enough. She held the diamond before him and the gentleman replied with “aahh what a beauty, for that, I will say… 500 gold pieces”. This however, was not enough for Vadania and she proposed 800. The man looked at her sternly and replied with “my dear, it is worth 600 at best and I have to make a profit”. Vadania insisted that he was lying and began to grow impatient with the man leaning onto the counter attempting to convince him. Rogan proceeded to pull a small dagger from under the counter and point it towards Vadania. He then said to her “If you are that desperate to make a deal then I offer you this. I will give you 800 gold for that diamond but you owe me a favour”. He said this statement with a cheeky, yet sly smile. Vadania glanced over the man in front of her, understanding the nature of the ‘favour’ he proposed. She agreed to the deal and once the man had pulled the money for her out of a small tin bellow his counter he led her into a back room where Vadania paid him the favour she had agreed to.

Once the favour was paid, Rogan proceeded to tell Vadania that if she wanted to stay she could and proceeded to fall asleep. Vadania slyly lay in the bed next to Rogan and waited until she could hear the faint sounds of his snores. Sneakily she then proceeded to reach around his neck and take the small key that was nestled there that she had previously seen him use to unlock the money tin he kept below the counter. She then sneaked out of the back room and unlocked the small tin under the counter, taking 250 gold before locking the tin and quietly returning the key to Rogan’s neck and leaving the shop without waking the man. She then headed to over to the Tavern in search of her friends.

[infernal-bestiary]

Monsters and Beasts

As they set foot into the jungle before them and their boot began to sink into the mud beneath them they made their way forward into the depths. The trees surrounding them became thicker as they delved deeper within the jungle. Vadania’s sensitive eyes picked up on multiple creatures in the brush as they progressed but most of them disappeared as they ran from the group. The group eventually found a large pong blocking their path with a wide stream falling over the edge of a rock ledge into the pond. A small cave sat next to the pond and as the sun began to set the group decided to take rest within the cave for the night.

The following morning as the group arose from their slumber they emerged from the cave and attempted to figure out a way to climb the rocky, water covered ledge in front of them. They eventually sent Nala up the rock first, her superior strength managing to pull her through the slippery rocks and gushing, icy water onto the surface above. Nala secured herself using a rope tied to a rock nearby and using her strength and the rope thrown over the side of the water she helped to pull Vadania and Alysha onto the surface to join her. They continued onwards for a little while before they emerged in a small clearing with a large, lion like creature laid down in front of them. As they approached it rose to its feet, unfolded its wings and turned to face them, its human like face and glowing eyes bared into them and it ground its multiple rows of shark like teeth. It spoke to the group, asking them why they had come to see it and as it stepped forwards towards them it moved away from its horde of crystals and gems. It was at that point that Vadania decided to strike letting loose an arrow towards the creature. A tough fight followed as Nala moved towards the creature hacking and slashing with her axe and Alysha followed fighting wave after wave of crushing blows of arcane energy towards to the monster. Eventually the group felled the monster and as its body collapsed on the floor they too fell to the floor catching their breath and taking a breather. After a couple of moments, the group decided to search the horde and take anything they could as well as remove the ingredients they needed to retrieve. Each member of the group managed to take a handful of gems and diamonds each before settling down to nurse their wounds before continuing their journey.

The began to wander further into the forest ahead of them. As they did so the branches and trees around them began to overlap above them creating darker surroundings. It was at that point that Vadania’s sensitivity picked up on the almost silent crack of a branch above them. As she slowly glanced upwards she saw a large cat like creature, black in colour crouched on the branches above them. As the group spotted the creature it pounced down onto the ground in front of them, its form appearing to flicker and shift, it tentacle like protrusions extending from its back and its many clawed feet scraping at the ground. In an attempt to identify its true form Vadania cast faerie fire on the creature. Aylsha began to move her hands in an arcane nature and a white-hot bolt of lightning shot from her hands and impacted into the side of the creature latching hold. The cat let out a shriek of pain and pounced upon the person closest to it; Nala. She continued to hack at the creature with her axe as Vadania continued to jump in and out of danger striking the creature with a dagger in its vulnerable places. Nala began to look tired and the damage from the creature’s claws began to become more visible as blood began to pool at her shoulders and neck. At this sight, Alysha poured one more effort of arcane energy into the bolt of lightning attached to the cat. Its body began to shoulder and shake and tense and then suddenly slumped to the floor atop of Nala. Nala pushed the creature to one side and rose from beneath the body and each member of the party took a moment to rest and restore their energy while removing the ingredients they needed form the body of the beast.

[infernal-bestiary]

Three Potions and a Dwarf

As each member of the group awoke the following morning, each of them suffering in their own way with hangovers that pierce their heads. As Alysha rose from her bed, vowing never to touch another drop of alcohol again. As she glanced around the room she noticed a small piece of parchment on the door leading out of the room. She rose form her bed and read the script written upon the parchment leaning that the local apothecarist was looking for hunters to obtain some ingredients and would be willing to pay money for the return of those ingredients.

The group met downstairs in the tavern and Alysha eagerly told the group about the opportunity to earn a little extra gold. Once the group felt well enough to set out they walked through the town attempting to locate the apothecary.

Eventually the group came across a small thatched building with a hanging sign outside reading Apothecary. The group wandered within and were greeted by a messy looking shop with shelves stacked up the inner walls. A single ladder leaned against one wall of the shop and a small desk sat at the other side. Behind the desk was a single dwarvish woman who spoke with a Scottish accent much like that of an elderly lady. Her ginger hair fell down her back and over her face and she shook it away from her eyes before speaking to the group. “Ooooh, hello” she said as she glanced around the group. She introduced herself as Nublin Foregranite and once the group told her why they were there she proceeded to tell them “well if you’re here for the job you’re going to need these” and proceeded to pass the group 3 health potions before continuing with “I am looking for 2 eyes, 6 claws and 2 teeth from a displacer beast and 4 teeth, 2 claws and 10 tail spikes from a manticore”. She also tells the group that there is a 1000gp payment for each of the beast’s ingredients and a 500gp bonus for the return of everything and that the creatures they are looking for can be found in the forest west of the village.

The group left the shop walked towards the edge of the village. They exited the village and stood before the darkened forest ahead of them as they began their journey into the unknown.

[infernal-bestiary]

Arrival at Rutherglen

The group continued northwards heading along the dirt path ahead of them. As they progressed along the path the branches of the trees in the woodland either side of them encroached upon the path shadowing the group from the evening sun. The further down the woodland path they walked the colder the air around them became until they eventually reached a wooden wall with a small gate with wooden towers either side of the gate. After a small, heated conversation with the guards the group were eventually aloud into the village and told to report to the book keeper once inside.

The group tentatively walked through the gates and were greeted by a humble village of thatched buildings and rough fences. To the left of the entrance was a small thatched building with signs indicating that it was home to the book keeper. The group headed within and were greeted by a warm, homely room with a small counter in front of them. Upon their entrance a dragonborn individual appeared from a back room. His scales were an emerald colour and a set of small glasses were perched onto the end of his nose. He approached the group and spoke to them, his voice gravelly and friendly saying “Hello. It is lovely to see you all in Rutherglen. May I please note down your names to record who visits and stays within the village?”. The group each gave the dragonborn their names and he noted them down within a small notebook in front of him. The dragonborn thanked the group for their compliance and directed them to the nearest tavern for them to stay the night.

The group decided to heed the book keeper’s words and headed in the direction of the local tavern, a place known locally as the Headless Tiger. Upon arrival, the group realised the establishment was not quite as nice as their previous lodgings and heading within confirmed those opinions. The inside of the bar was open planned in the centre due to the large fighting pit set into the ground. The opposite wall to the group nestled a large fireplace with a huge humanoid sat in front of it on a small stool. His grey skin, dark eyes and muscled body juxtaposed the violin he played dexterously with his hands. Behind the bar stood a half orc individual, large, sharp teeth jutting out from his lower jaw. He wore no shirt and instead had what appeared to be stripped furs wrapped around his torso. His back was covered in lined scars that scarred down his back almost matching the stripes on the furs. He approached the group and much to the group surprise welcomed them humbly into the tavern. He introduced himself as Xugor the be-header, the owner of the tavern.

The group approached the bar and Vadania, acting as confident as she could, asked what the strongest drink the tavern owner had was. He looked at the elf, small in stature and walked into a back room before returning with what appeared to be a small dragon skull. He ask the group if they could afford such luxuries and when they confirmed continued to pour shots of grey liquid into small, shot glasses from the skull’s mouth. Each member of the party proceeded to drink the liquid before then attempting stand up. Vadania, surprising the half-orc, just about managed to stand from her bar stool and make her way up to one of the rooms of the tavern but not before Nala attempted to stand from her stool before vomiting all over the wooden floor closely followed by Alysha who also proceeded to fall into her pool of vomit. The half-orc, now looking less amused than before greeted Vadania and told her to take her friends to bed and he would clean up the mess. The group eventually managed to make their way to bed ready to nurse their headaches the following day.

[infernal-bestiary]

The Journey to Rutherglen

The travellers set out on their journey the following day to the village of Rutherglen. They headed north of the Three Shadow Inn and followed the dirt path through the countryside. The group walked for a couple of hours, gradually getting to know one another as they progressed. Eventually Vadania’s eagle like eyes spotted a change in the horizon. The group continued towards this break in the scenery and as they approached they realised it was a fence, stretching as far as they could see in either direction. A small stile fitted to the fence appeared to show the way forward through the tall field of crops in front of the group.

As Nala hopped over the stile first and began making her way through the crops, Vadania followed her with Alysha taking up the rear. As the group began the journey through the crops with their sight shortened to a few feet ahead of them they began to hear a rustling noise in the area around them. It was at this point that Nala felt a sharp blow to the side of her head.

The group glanced in Nala’s direction as hey heard the thud of the blow and were confronted with the sight of a large creature peering through the plants at them. A creature with a sacked face and tied together with ropes and straw. Vadania drew her daggers and was about to attack as another of the creatures appeared to her right and struck her on the shoulder. A short fight commenced but was quickly brought to a close as Vadania began setting the scarecrows around them alight with fire. As their screams echoed through the air around them the creatures eventually burned to the ground and were left in smouldering ashes.

The group finally made their way through field, emerging at the other side to discover a small shack to the left of them. The group began to approach the shack and in glancing through the window noticed small coloured vials on a shelf within against a wall. After trying the door and discovering it to be locked Vadania brought out her set of lockpicks. She inserted the thin pieces of metal into the lock and began manoeuvring them within the hole until she head a small click as the latch on the door ticked over.

Vadania pushed the door open and stepped within. Her first footfall caught upon a small wire in the doorway and blast of electric energy swept through her. The shudder of her body almost made her collapse as she fell to her knees shaking from the blast. As she rose to her feet she turned and walked away from the shack and the group decided it was best to leave the items as they were and not risk anymore traps or magic. The group then continued to travel north upon the dirt path.

[infernal-bestiary]

Souls Gone Awry

Each of the traveller's awoke minutes later to the looks of a confused dwarf peering scared over the counter of the bar. Each of the traveller’s slowly began to rise from the floor noticing individually that something seemed off. They noticed the absence of emotions from their minds and a sense of emptiness from their hearts.

Vadania rose to her feet first and tentatively glanced towards the now open scroll on the floor infront of them. In scrawled writing towards the top of the parchment was a message reading:

My dear humans Should you wish to have your souls returned please venture to find me north of Rutherglen. I would be happy to discuss a deal with mortals. Yours hellishly Hiarach

The rest of the parchment contains a rough map showing the general location of the area they need to head towards. After a small discussion the traveller’s decided to venture together to solve the problem and decided to help one another along the way until the problem was solved.

The scared dwarf, still nestled behind the bar, peeked his head higher then usual to glance at the group. He tentatively offered the group free rooms for the evening if they promised to leave his tavern the following day and to advertise his tavern to those they come across. Each member of the group eventually retired to their rooms to rest and regain their energy before setting off on their arduous journey the following day.

[infernal-bestiary]

The Harpy and the Messenger

The tavern had become almost empty, bar the three wandering travelers now sat around the social area. The flames from the fireplace flickered and warmed the room and created a homely environment. A noise caught the attention of the travelers. The loud ear piercing squawk of a raven emanated from the one window of the tavern. The bird; midnight in colour with glistening eyes perched upon the wood of the window, a small scroll attached to its left leg. The bird proceed to extend its wings and glide into the centre of the room whereupon it landed on a table, glancing around the room curiously. Each of the travelers looked towards the bird unsure of how to act until the dragonborn rose from her seat and walked towards the raven. It squawked once more as she approach but never moved nor appeared to be frightened. The barbarian reached forward to remove the scroll from the bird’s ankle. One touch was all that was needed. The bird began to shimmer, wind began to pick up and the creature infront of the travelers began to grow in size. Where once stood a raven, now stood a humanoid figure. Thin in stature and covered in feathers, the woman like creature infront of them glared at them all with piercing black eyes. It’s nose hooked forwards in a beak like shape and the ends of its wings tipped with sharp clawed hands. The creature proceeded to attack the dragonborn raking it’s claws down the front of her chest. The drow at the bar jumped to her feat, sprinted across the room slamming her dagger into the creature’s back, jumping away from the creature before it could do any damage. The barbarian brought up her weapon, a large war ax, slamming it down upon the creature’s shoulder, it let out a screech of pain before the screech was silenced by an awful thud. The half elf on the other side of the room stood with her hands infront of herself, the arcane energy still flickering in her palms. The creature lay dead upon the floor, chest caved in as if by some magical force. The travelers each looked towards one another, acknowledging each of their contributions before something distracted them. They looked towards the creature as it began yo slowly turn to feathers and dust, leaving behind a scroll in its place, sealed with a strange wax symbol of twisted intracate lines. Nala picked up the scroll and broke the seel. Thick black tendrils of smoke burst from the seel touching each of the travelers. Each of them began to feel the cold, emotionless embrace of death. Each of the travelers dropped to the floor suddenly unconscious.

[infernal-bestiary]

The Start - Nala

A dragonborn of the sea, Nala, a pirate captain spent her life living upon the ocean. Born among the ocean to her parents Nala grew up on ships learning the rules and skills required. One dark day, her parents were murdered and the ship left to wreck. With no way to escape and too young to steer the ship herself Nala remained stranded until another ship passed by. Unable to leave a child to the ocean’s mercy, the crew adopted the small, brass skinned dragonborn into their arms and trained her in their ways. She rose through the ranks and eventually through years of hard work became the ship’s captain.

Years passed before more darkness struck Nala. With days before port an illness spread across the ship. Nala’s draconic bloodline left her immune to the damage of the illness but not as much could be said for the crew. With only herself to steer the ship it crashed into land and Nala grabbed what she could carry before heading in search of hope and rest. She found this in the form of a small tavern nestled on the edge of a dirt path near a woodland. Her scaled skin glistened as she travelled within, ordered a pint from the elderly dwarvern man and took a seat near one of the windows.

Soon after a half elven woman wandered in followed soon by a drow woman. The time now was late and these where the only three individuals left downstairs in main gathering area of the tavern.

[infernal-bestiary]

The Start - Alysha

Lost in a foreign land where the sky colour changed and greens, not blues and reds were the predominant colour, Alysha struggled to find her place. A half elf, banished from her home town in the feywild by her mother, she wandered the material realm looking for a place to fit in. She found a small group of travellers whom she learnt skills from but her main skill set remained hidden. A branded tattoo on her back marked her as promised to the Morrigan. An arch fey of death and the son of the raven queen, he and Alysha were partners, keeping in touch through dreams and mmemories. It was this magic, granted from him that was Alysha’s main skill set.

As the group she had learned to call family began to chase greater and greater hunts and prey Alysha realised this was no longer her place and sshe needed to find her own place among the world. She began wandering the material plane in search of her place.

One cold night she came across a small tavern who’s warm glow illuminated the air around it. Look as welcome a place as any in these lands she ventured within. The Tavern was almost empty bar a few individuals who looked to be heading to bed. She took a seat and made herself comfy, her golden hair glowing in the candle light. Her silver eyes took notice of the dark skinned elf who out of breath appeared to burst through the doors of the tavern and make herself comfy at the bar.

[infernal-bestiary]

The Start - Vadania

A single wandering rogue, struggling for possessions comes across a lonely halfling in the woods. Desperate for anything she could sell, the drow stole a wolf pelt from the halfling and ran into the woods to evade his capture. Exiting the woods she comes across a dirt path and spots light to the other side. The glowing candles and lit fire inside of the tavern in front of her warmed the night air and attracted her towards the tavern.

Vadania once lived within a Drow city. She lived a happy life until the city was overrun by creatures known as mind flayers. Creatures with tentacled faces and a habit for eating the minds of their prey. Her family fled the city and made their home in a small town. Here they made their way until the strange disappearance of her mother who never returned and left no knowledge of where she was. It was soon after her father began working with others of his trade, stealing and pick pocketing before he was caught and hanged for his crimes. Vadania; still being young took refuge with one of his friends, a tielfing man named Errus. It was years later that she was arrested and almost hanged for the same crimes as her father. She escaped and found herself on the run from the authorities and the man she had grown to trust.

The dark skinned drow approached the tavern tired and exhausted. Her white hair now waving in the wind and the light illuminating the purple tinge to her skin she opened the door. Her purple eyes darted from corner ro corner before they settled on the bar of the tavern. An old dwarvern man with greying hair and a friendly smile met her eyes and she ventured into the tavern and settled down for a drink with what money she had in her possession.