Character Profile: Yew Knottme'ad

Name: Yew Knottme'ad
Race: Genasi, Air
Profession: Bard, Scribe, and Archivist
"It is Yew Knottme'ad, the ad is silent"
-Yew Knottme'ad

Along the coasts by the seas, Yew was born to a small community of those of the druid faith. After some centuries, some of the members were born as water or air genasi. They were considered gifted and blessed among the community. After sometime, those families eventually became head of a council of a circle of druids. Those that showed promised were trained as bards, ovates, and druids.

Other than the order, Yew has no blood kin. His mother died in childbirth, and his father was banished from the community for studying the arcane arts months before his birth. He was raised by the order of druids. Yew showing promise was trained in the bardic arts, learning stories and the basics of druidic magic. His love of animals made it easy to talk to them and learn their secrets and thoughts, and also is an avid reader.

Eventually this was one of the main reasons he wanted to leave his community, to learn more as there was such much knowledge out there. The order could tell that his father's curiosity ran deep in his blood, and thought it best for him to leave and report back his findings. They trusted Yew as they raised, and new from his objective point of view he would make the best decisions possible. He said his goodbye to the community and journeyed to nearest major town of Morning Glory. Along the way making friends with various animals who would eventually help to relay messages back home. Collect lore and sending back various notes of Teleportation Sigils.

Morning Glory is a port town, full of fisherman, peet and sheep farmers. He offered his services to various taverns and ins as an entertainer. His exotic looks and ability to ceaseless play got him stays at the finest establishments. Sociable he meet many an adventurer and heard of their tales, and he soon became someone to ask advice for since he did know a variety of topics and other legends. That is how he attracted Lord Ellis, a minor nobleman who saw him as a trophy. For the next couple of years he would be the paramour of Lord Ellis, studying with him and adventuring with him....only to end in heartache. As it would be expected, Lord Ellis soon found a new interest and love and discarded him. With a broken heart he wandered from town to town for a few months. Some people recall the sorrow-filled blue flutists, playing mournful tunes of longing and love by the sides of the road. It shook him so bad, that he never wants to talk about it anymore. Yew blames the situation on his open and trusting heart, which he has guarded against now.....as best as possible. Sadly... a genuine interest and a descent guy is easy to get him to do anything.

He eventually was invited by the the elves of Tel'ronthdil, which was a nomadic bardic college of magic. They were moved by his sorrow filled playing. For the next couple of years he studied with them and made many close...close...close..ahem..friends. They taught him the finer arts of swordsmanship, at least giving him and alternative to his ability to talk his way out of things.

Recently, after spending a few months among the town of Gnomenheim an odd party of adventurers attracted his attention. He decided to accompany them as they had the mark of fate on them, it would be rather interesting endeavor and a good story to tell.
     

Gnomenhwim Adventure Path 03

The Road Thus Far....

GM: Myles

Players: "Iaqino", "Geoff", "Gloff", "Crash", and "Khan".
               "Caleph", "Enolo", "Gordok", "Konoto", "Tyra", and "Yew".
Missing or Presumed Dead: "Willow", "Valen", "Caleph", "Glagg", "Timozar".

As the battle for the wall was over, the party was made aware of the movement of squads of duergar that
began to form in the courtyard below. Timozar and Caleph disappeared in a flash of green smoke, but in their place Gloff and Tonoto appeared. The party was concerned as to sudden disappearance and reappearance of the fellow adventurers. As some began to ask what had happened, others prepared on a strategy on what to do next as the dwarven footsteps echoed one stone courtyard below. Yew started to play a soft melody on his flute to begin a ritual that would provide some protection.

Enolo trying to prove him self to the higher powers above, decided to repel down the wall and head toward the sounds of the dwarves and parlay. As he approached within range, they attacked him by throwing javelins at the lone human in the darkness. At the cries of the Enolo, the rest of the party quickly re-acted to new ordeal. Geoff frustrated at being in the dark, brusquely asked for the rope that had daylight enchantment on it. Still powered by Khan's fly spell, he took to the air and dropped the rope amidst the dwarves hindering their sight. He then spotted Crush and flew to him to dispatch two dwarves that were directly below him. Geoff managed to swoop down and pick up one. Crush in the meantime decided to jump down and slice into a guard nearly hurting himself in the process. Yachino tried to make his way to the focal point of his field of darkness, hoping to use it as a means of cover. However he was unable to find it and broke off to save Enolo. The others made their way down to help Enolo as best as they could.

Yew upset and the overall recklessness of the situation was uncertain. He looked over the battlefield and felt that the odds were against them. They already expended much of their energy on just taking the wall. There were more than twenty armed soldiers and possible incoming, and did not like the odds. He yelled out among Caleph's remaining party members "Our leader is gone, and there is no one to pay us. I suggest a strategic retreat", and with that he began to climb down the web to the outside of the wall. Tyra, torn as what to do, surveyed the area and cast hypnotic pattern in order to stun some of the dwarves that moved forward and then followed Yew.

Geoff though was thrilled at flying, and hurled the dwarf he held aloft at a squad of dwarves. Then flew down and attacked with great ferocity as their feeble attempts to take him down. Iaquino began to move down unto the battlefield and began pelting the dwarves with his crossbow. Crush continued his battle against the dwarf defending himself, but then the odds changes when another duergar joined his fellow companion. Gloff who had followed Enolo was also surrounded by dwarves, but he called upon the elements and caused the earth to crack, tripping every dwarf around him.  Konoto saw an opportunity and cast lightning bolt, further reducing the numbers and jumped down to the battlefield as well to engage in the fight. However, he had injured himself in the process. Khan continued to shoot bolts of fire at the dwarves, while Gordok looked for some mechanism to open the gate. Not seeing any he decided to move down the wall as well. Tyra had followed Yew and when he safely got to the down on the other side of the wall, he took his flute and played a tune to inspire her. Once she got down he gave her a scroll and asked her to read it, focusing on the Sigil for the Adventurer's Guild of Gnomenheim. Yew, had a contingency plan just in case things went sour. One that he had hope not to use, but now seemed like a certain time.

As the battle went on Geoff slaughtered even more of the dwarves, laughing off there feeble attempts to pierce his skin. The other pressed on fighting, Enolo amazing surviving blows from the dwarves surrounding him. While Gloff wildshaped into a Giant Toad. The dwarves who were not effected by Tyra's spell, surrounded Konoto...but as soon as one of them tried to hit him...they were all paralyzed by his strange void magics. Seeing the odds not in his favor, he decided to Misty Step through the wall and follow Yew. Gordok got their just in time to see Konoto vanish. Khan aware of what was going on below with Yew and Tyra, focused on fighting it out through, casting charm on the dwarves that would soon be engaged with Gordok giving him some advantage. As Yew timed it out, he wrote his Sigil in magic on the wall matching it's natural coloration with prestidigitation. He would hope that the Teleportation Circle's magic would cover up the resonance a simple cantrip, going undetected for the next hour. He then nodded to Tyra and stepped through. Tyra seeing how Konoto was injured pushed him through moments before the Teleportation Circle closed. She bravely climbed up the webs to rejoin the fight.

Despite how things looked Geoff took down many people, while the others soon dispatched everyone else and the giant toad who was hopping mad. Two of the dwarves fled into the main keep, and Iaquino attempted to stop them, but they made it just in time. Sadly Crash was gutted down by the duergar who was bravely defending his keep from these invaders. Geoff saw what happened and tore him apart. However, one of the captains who was fighting Enolo was left. He had put up a valiant fight, and it was amazing that Enolo was not dispatched. Enolo could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes, but was still standing. They party quickly surrounded the lone capatin and despite his best efforts, was eventually subdued after a few tries from several people.

Meanwhile Yew had arrived safely back at one of the receiving rooms for individuals who had access to the Adventuring Guild's Teleport Glyph. Before he could explain anything Konoto showed up right behind him. Yew quickly informed her that "He was with the party sent to the Duergar Mines under Caleph and Iaquino from a few days ago, they had rescued Khan from the scouting party, and they had found King Rylosh's fortress". Knowing the guildmaster would want to hear this, she lead them to his office. Yew informed the guildmaster once again of what had occured and this time added that "Yew had left his personal glyph to use as a focus for any teleport spells." The guildmaster intrigued began to head back toward the teleportation room. Yew went on to explain, "If they are in need of reinforcement or were successful, you have the location of the fortress. If you can secure this area, not only does the guild establish a foothold, but you would have access to all its stores, as I am sure their contract only stipulates the fee they will get for their mission, and since you provided back-up and securing the place, the guild gains control of the property and the flow of palladium. If they protest, fees for their 'rescue' could be incurred."         

Gnomenheim Adventure Path 02

The Road Thus Far....

GM: Myles

Players: "Iaqino", "Geoff", "Crash", and "Khan".
               "Caleph", "Enolo", "Gordok", "Timozar", "Tyra", and "Yew".
Missing or Presumed Dead: "Willow", "Valen", "Gloff", "Glagg", "Konato".

Location: Lair of the Purple Worm 

After the group had dispatched the purple worm and secured a resting place, they went through the worms body for loot. After find useful items from it carcass, they rested up while Geoff took watch.

Meanwhile back in Amberlight, Enolo and Valen had been waiting for another of Caleph's companion to show up that was catching up. Timozar, a human bard, had been given a small locator stone by Konato to allow him to track them and catch up. Timozar managed to brave his way through the mine tunnels, the mushroom forest, to the ruins of Amberlight where he met up with Enolo. Valen had waited long enough and decided to explore the ruins further to find the remaining dopplegangers. Enolo and Timozar head toward Konato. They eventually found the group, but no Konato. Geoff recognizing Enolo, was not concerned but told him to take watch so he could sleep. In a few hours everyone would be up.

Once everyone was up they needed to decide what to do next. Iaqino decided to explore further back, where Crash had entered a side tunnel. The side tunnel slopped downward and led to a cliff face with a drop. He could only hear silence, but the drop was well beyond 60ft, and there was no sign of Crash.

Meanwhile Yew decided to skip some stones in the water, waiting for everyone to decide what to do. Caleph was meditating in order to cast a few rituals that would be helpful. Enolo feeling up for a game of chance, challenged Yew. Yew being sly, used  a cantrip to con Enolo out of 10gp. Geoff seeing that this could be profitable decided to join in and throw a large rock, which only made it to the shore of the pond.
Gordok decided to play with Geoff and they had their on rock tossing contest.

Caleph was ready for the first ritual and cast water breathing on everyone. He then again quickly meditated for the second ritual. Khan decided to explore the whirlpool that was draining the water from the cavern. Yew tied a rope around Khan, with Geoff as an anchor and explored the whirlpool. The whirlpool was simply draining the water from the cavern. The whirlpool was big enough even for Geoff to jump in.
As Khan was examining it, both Enolo and Timozar decided to take the plunge and jumped in to everyone's surprise. Caleph was ready to cast his second ritual, when he noted to of his party was missing....he had doubting thought again on why he hired those two. Those that were up top benefited from water walking, courtesy of Caleph.

Location: Kingdom of the Duergar
Crash had been waiting for sometime for his companions. They seemed not to after follow him, so he went on and explore the walls that the Duergar were guarding. After some time he had managed to get a good idea of the entire perimeter, but he decided to see if there was a secret way in. He used his ability to speak with plants to talk to the local mushrooms. They informed him of the areas they knew about, who far the wall spread and how deep, as well as a few areas in which were not as well guarded. Taking the mushroom's advice he heading for one of these weak area in the wall and managed to bypass the guards there and walk into a hallway. As he explored the hall, he came upon a room with a Duergar Alchemist in the midst of mixing some potions.  

Location: The King's Path
Timozar and Enolo had gone down the whirlpool and into a waterslide like tunnel. Enolo was enjoying his way down the tube, but Timozar had tripped and was be bashed against the sides of the water tunnel. Eventually both were jettisoned out onto a lake. Unfortunately for them it was pitch dark, as neither of them had darkvision or a light source. They could feel the pull of a current and decided to drift along.

Meanwhile Caleph was upset that they had to go and trying to find these two guys. Iaquino came back when they jumped and then raced to the cliff's edge. He was hoping he would hear them or see them, but empty silence greeted him once again. Seeing that the whirlpool didn't connect, they all decided to go in after them jumping through the whirlpool. Each one jumped in and was jettisoned out onto the lake like the two other before. Yew being the first one, quickly breached the surface and walked on it, drying himself off with a cantrip and moving out of the way of on coming people. He was about to light a torch when Geoff plopped in and then grabbed his leg. The current pulling them both down. When Iaquino came down he got up and saw there was a shoreline and headed there. As the others came out he guided them there. In the distance though they could here a cry for help.

As expected the current did lead somewhere, the edge of a cliff where the water was tumbling down. Timozar yelled for help as he would be soon swept over. Caleph, Iaquino, and Yew heard the cries. Geoff decided to get out of the water and started running with Iaquino down the river with Yew behind them with a torch in hand. Caleph meanwhile had turned into a shark and swam downriver. There they found Timozar and Enolo moments away from going over a waterfall. Caleph rescued Enolo, while Geoff got Timozar. Iaquino was along the shoreline and detected movement above the ceiling. Caleph cast daylight upon the rope used to rescue Timozar, scaring the creatures above them. It also gave them a view of the waterfall.

Meanwhile Khan, Gordok, and Tyra were examining the shore and found a wall on the side of the cavern with a door. The door had some etched runes on it which simple read in dwarvish "The King's Path". Khan, using his knowledge of spells deduced that the runes may be trapped with a alarm of some sorts. If someone other than the intended individual were to open the door it would set the enchantment off. They were trying to figure a way to bypass it.

Caleph and the other's made it to the shoreline and examined the waterfall. It had purposely been worked, and far below they could make out a stone canopy and bridge. They could possibly jump down and take the bridge. They went to go and consult with Khan to see if he would be able to come up with a plan. When everyone met up again, they had discussed what they had found. There was a door that clearly marked the King's Path and probably lead to the destination they wanted, but was trapped. The other option was going down the waterfall and to the bridge. After a brief discussion it was decided it would be safer to go though the door. They would ambush anyone if they came out....but when Caleph opened the door, it simply lead to a hall that had stairs going down. Geoff somewhat disappointed of no impending battle followed Enolo down with Yew and Khan bringing up the rear.

Location: Chamber of the Alchemist
Crash had managed to fine one lone Duergar preoccupied with his work, he snuck in and decided to ambush the guy with a quick crossbolt to the back. However the Alchemist was not so easily dispatched as he dug in his heels and battled Crash one on one. The half-elf used every trick in his arsenal, including throwing bags of balling bearings hoping to break some of the bottles. However, the alchemist managed to get the upper hand and reversed gravity trapping Crash on the ceiling. He then simply bolted out the door and locked it calling for re-enforcement.   

Location: The Kingdom of the Duergar
The group followed the hallways spiral eery downward until it came to a landing with a wooden bridge, the same bridge they saw from the waterfall. To their right was the waterfall, and they continued down the path until crossbow bolts struck in front of Enolo. These were warning shots and Enolo put out the torch. Yew though ran up to Gordok and asked for him to yell in dwarvish "We are here to see King Rylosh on behalf of Gnomenheim, and want to parlay". Unfortunately they were not in the mood for talking as more bolts were fired and missed.

Ahead of them the gates slammed shut, and they could dimly see a wall 60 feet high manned by at least six duergar with crossbolts pointed directly at them. The group quickly went into offensive options as Khan would cast fly on Geoff, with Gordok riding atop to get to the wall. Yew, Enolo, and the other ran up to the wall, while the rest supported cover as best as possible with bolts of fire and arrows. As Gordok and Geoff got on the wall ready to battle, Yew cast Shatter using his flute to blast a duergar from below. The duergar;s eardrums exploded, and although Gordok took some of the brunt he managed to step though and finish the grey dwarf. Geoff was prepared for his assault but was disappointed when Tyra managed to mesmrize all of them with a hypnotic pattern, and then the last two were engulfed in a sphere of darkness. Geoff yelled for them to stop helping him!!! He took out his rage of the first dwarf who was cut apart, and barely was able to yell out as the purple wyrm poison coursed through his vains. Stepping into the clould of darkness Geoof continued his assault and killed another. Caleph had summoned some giant spiders that were now making their way up the wall providing some webbing for the other to climb up and heading to the other dwarves.
The remaining duergar attempted to stop Gordok, but he was able to block their attacks with ease. Again Yew supported him with a cloud of dagger that began to mince the dwarf with cuts as Gordok sliced it in half. The spider made there way up there and cocooned the last remaining dwarves. Geoff in his rage didn't care and chopped his dwarf in half, kicking it outside the wall. While Gordok finished the other dwarf with ease and looked out pass the wall. As Enolo managed to get atop of the wall, he and Gordok saw a small battalion of dwarves get into formation....ready for battle as their wall had been breached.

Closing
Crash had finally managed to free himself and get outisde the alchemist's chamber and climb up onto a roof to avoid the guards. In the distance he could see Geoff clearing the wall of the last dwarf guard.

Quest Goals to Accomplish Still
-Caleph and company are trying to locate Vespa.
-Iaqino, Geoff, and Crash still have to fulfill their mission. They have an obligation to rescue the missing adventurers sent by the guild and clear out the duergar menace.
-Khan, being the only member rescued from the scouting party is trying to find the other members his group. He still must make his report to the Adventure's Guild.
-Gloff and Konato are missing in action

Total XP 120