Varisia Campaign

The heroes shackled the goblin bard, who agreed to give them any information she knows, including the fact that both Nualia and Tsuto were in the dungeons below. The heroes then continued their exploration. Barracks. Six poorly constructed bunk beds, little more than hammocks slung from rickety frames, stood along the walls of this room. Each was heaped with a vermin-infested blanket and a lump of straw that served as a frustrating pillow. Each of these bunk beds slept three goblins - the Thistletop tribe numbered 18 in all (not counting Warchief Ripnugget, his wives, or Gogmurt), although none of them were here. Eastern Guard Tower. An open flight of wooden stairs wound up to a trap door in the ceiling, thirty feet above. This open air tower gave a great view of the surrounding area. Two goblin corpses that the heroes killed during their initial assault on Thistletop were on these towers. Food Storage. The door to this room was locked; the key was carried by Chief Ripnugg...

Giant gecko lizards are animals. An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually a vertebrate with no magical abilities and no innate capacity for language or culture. Animals have low-light vision. Animals breathe, eat, and sleep. These lizards are mostly docile and shy away from attacking creatures larger than a cat or dog. Despite their shyness, they are ultimately curious creatures, and often approach bigger creatures simply to investigate. Of course, a giant gecko is more than capable of defending itself, biting creatures that react violently to the lizard when fleeing is not an option. Some humanoids train giant geckos as bestial guardians. Smaller humanoids (in particular, goblins) can even use the creatures as mounts, taking advantage of their superior climbing skills to attack from seemingly impossible positions and angles. A giant gecko measures 8 feet from nose to tail and weighs 120 pounds. Coloration among giant geckos can vary widely, though most ...

The heroes continued their exploration of Thistletop. Trophy Hall. The floor of this room was hard-packed soil, as if the builders ran out of lumber after building the walls and roof, or as if they simply never thought about building a floor. A number of poorly prepared horse and dog heads were mounted along the eastern wall, while along the southern wall hung a pair of large black-feathered wings tacked to the wall with daggers. The feathered wings once belonged to a harpy. One of the daggers used to display the harpy's wings had a pearl handle, and was worth 50 gp according to Tsela. The other six daggers were mundane. The alarm had been raised, so six goblins were found here, ready to defend the room from any intruders. The heroes killed them all. Throne Room. The alarm had been raised, so the door into this room was closed tightly and locked. Urtrigor picked the door. This large throne room was decorated with hanging furs along its walls, mostly black-and-r...

The heroes killed the remaining goblin dogs and Urtrigor tied off the trapped bridge so that it could support the heroes' weight in case of a retreat. Then they started their exploration of the stockade. Thistletop.  The stockade was made of thick wood. Closer inspection revealed that most of the wood seemed to have been scavenged from ships - a few nameplates remained affixed to some of the beams, while other timbers looked like they might have once been masts. The front door leading into the stockade was barred from the inside. The heroes scaled the walls of the stockade itself and entered the complex from the exercise yard. While the stockade was made of wood, the damp sea air and thick layers of soggy moss and linen that grew here and there made it difficult to burn without significant work. Exercise Yard.  This large courtyard was open to the sky. Tenacious clumps of partially trampled grass grew fitfully here and there in the hard-packed earth, in places sta...

The heroes accepted Shalelu's help and discussed tactics on their return to Sandpoint. There, they purchased discounted supplies from Savah's Armory, got free healing from Father Zantus at the Cathedral, and spent the rest of the evening at the Rusty Dragon. Ameiko informed Shalelu of the events that transpired during her absence, and she in turn informed her and the heroes that she ended up in Thistletop after following Tsuto and a couple of goblins as they were making their way there. Ameiko seemed very relieved to have Shalelu around, and expressed her grief at recent events by consuming copious amounts of alcohol. Shalelu on her part seemed very eager to face Bruthazmus when they returned to Thistletop. The heroes noticed that her fingers bore deep scars, and when asked if Bruthazmus gave her these scars, she responded that it was another bugbear, and avoided further conversation by hauling a very drunk Ameiko to her room. The next day they returned to Thistletop and conti...

The heroes didn't learn much from interrogating the goblin raiders, but they let onw go with false information on when they would attack Thistletop. They then reached the Thistle River crossing relatively quickly - it was only a 6-mile journey from Sandpoint (2 hours on horseback), and they didn't run into any more trouble along the way. Thistletop was located on the Varisian coast - approaching by land was difficult since the tangles of Nettlewood were in the way. North of Mosswood lay Nettlewood, a frustratingly tangled forest. Whereas the trees of Mosswood grew tall and stately, those north of the Lost Coast Road in Nettlewood were lower and shared their forest floor with snarls of nettles and thorny underbrush. Urtrigor found a route through the woods. It took 4 hours of wandering in the woods, and the heroes stumbled into patches of poisonous plants twice, either stinging nettles or a goblinberry patch. Hidden Entrance. The briars and thistles that grew so rampant...

Tsela tried to gather information in town about Thistletop. Sandpoint's citizens were not very knowledgeable about the goblin lair, and he found it more difficult to gather information that in the past. It seems Ven Vinder's displeasure with the heroes has spread to other citizens, since he is a well-liked man in town. The heroes purchased a map that showed the location of Thistletop from the Way North. As with several other buildings in the vicinity, this one-story structure was recently rebuilt after the Sandpoint Fire. Originally a stable, the building has been converted by its owner, an aged but spry gnome named Veznutt Parooh, into a cramped and cluttered library to house his tremendous collection of maps and sea charts. Maps of local regions, from the immediate vicinity up to the whole of Varisia and the Storval Plateau, can be purchased from him for prices ranging from 5 gp to 100 gp, depending on the size and level of detail. When not here crafting copies of old ma...