Caislen Campaign Notes

Sucker Lake exists just to the north of Goldvale and contains an island. This area is home to a colony of vampires, some sentient plant life, and an access point to where some Toc Clan dwarves have been hiding for a very long time, guarding an artifact.

Vampires don't need air to breath and the lake's naturally murky water keeps sunlight from impacting them during daylight hours. So during the day the vampires stay underwater and leave the surface world alone. This makes the lake safe to fish in. At night however the vampires are free to surface and interact with the rest of the world. They are however not causing too much chaos, as notably Nystor is constantly found at The Card House inn & tavern in Goldvale socializing. Brumette continues to be a functional member of Zingle's Order Of The Lost Socks, and Vules¹⁾ has become the leader of this colony and he's so far mostly harmless unless someone lets him talk for too long. Note that The Hermit is working toward eradicating the vampires using goldfish The Party and other misc people have helped acquire that originate from the Goldfish Pond or Goldvale's assorted waterways. This seems to be the biggest issue the vampire colony faces, a demon that wants them exterminated so there's less “noise” in the area as far as he's concerned.

• The Party has been both for and against helping The Hermit with moving goldfish here over time. The overall attitude seems to be to try to leave the vampires alone though, in spite of potentially angering the hermit.²⁾

Upon the very dense island of plant life are various types of sentient plant life that are hostile to outsiders. They only get on well with the vampire colony because vampires drink blood and the plants run on chlorophyll instead. Stepping foot onto the island at Sucker Lake is akin to asking for the plants to attack you. Goldvale locals do not try to go there. However it has been rumored for a long time that a powerful artifact is hidden on this island, which could be a draw for adventurers.

Hidden on the island is what passes as a rusty old storm door with the phrase “To the resilience of the Toc Clan.” written upon it in dwarven. The door then leads down steep steps far into the earth below even the lakes depths. There a chamber to a god known as Maxeaul exists as a place of worship, a shrine of sorts. The walls are decorated in runes that mean something to the ancient dwarves, and a statue of a dwarf is there with an axe in one hand, maul in another. Upon an out stretched index finger of the dwarf rest(ed) The Ring Of Ted. An inscription on a plaque at the base of the statue, also written in dwarven, reads, “This sacred shrine to our god Maxeaul crafted from the finest jade found in the Marmyan Wastes to the North. This holy place shall eternally keep our artifact safe from foul hands. Particularly that foul bastard Alden.”

This was the hiding place of The Ring Of Ted prior to Urist exploring it and taking the ring, as it bears striking resemblance to his own jade ring and associated collection, all relating to his own history/backstory. Note that when the ring was plucked from the statue, a magical axe and maul appeared at the threshold to this room and attacked anyone coming or going. None the less, Urist prevailed and got it out. The implication being that The Ring Of Ted was here to hide & protect it, and Urist made a mockery of that.

If one continues deeper down more stairs from this point they enter a community of what should now be called Dark Dwarves. Likely direct descendants of a faction of Toc Clan Dwarves tasked with protecting the artifact.³⁾

Urist, along with Matilda, Vesper, Jules, & Jeorge descended. This resulted in a shoot first, ask no question scenario. First they broke into the quarters of Brumhilda & Druga, two dark dwarf berserkers who were minding their own business. After murdering them, The Party looted their living quarters. Then they quickly spotted Gary & Drogat, two dark dwarf maulwardens⁴⁾ and fought them to the death, nearly getting destroyed themselves in the process. Again they looted the quarters of those dwarves, and then opted to return to the surface before anyone even more fierce could kick their asses completely. Never trying to talk with the dwarves, never asking questions which could relate to the artifact known as The Ring Of Ted or even how Urist could be affiliated. A murderous waste. Whatever dwarves remain hidden deep below here will likely be very hostile to any future interactions from the surface, especially if it involves Urist.