The Lost Mines – Session 5-7

The continuing adventures of the murderhobo group, Droop Troop. Session 4 was here

Spoilers for the starter kit ahead as our Party search for leads to Cragmaw Castle and the Kidnapped Rockseeker Brothers.

We rejoin our party as they leave Tressander Manor after Iarno Albrek AKA Glasstaff escaped their grasp by delaying them with the Nothic. No sooner do the party exit the cellar that they can hear the urgent ringing of bells coming from the Town of Phandalin below. George, Milo, Riswynn and Roland make their way to town unseen and hide behind of of the nearby buildings where they can see 6 Redbrand gang members standing over the prone form of the Innkeeper Toblen Stonehill.

The sound of the bell quickly became apparent as the Townmaster Harbin, who up to this point the party has, somewhat correctly assumed to have been a coward, can be seen ringing a hand bell and standing behind Sildar Hallwinter, Sister Graele and Darren Edermath as they face off Weapons Drawn against the Redbrands.

Roland and Milo quickly closed ground on the Redbrands with Milo getting the jump on one of them. Riswynn and George harassed the redbrands with spells and arrows and slowly the tide of battle shifted in our parties favour. With the fight over, Sister Graele rushes over to Toblen Stonehill’s prone form and stabilizes him before taking him back into the Inn to recover.

Sildar tells the party that he’s requested aid from the Lord Alliance to help secure the town but with the Manor cleared and this remnant removed outside the Inn, he feels that the Redbrands shouldn’t be causing any further trouble. With no leads due to Iarno’s escape, Sildar shares information that he’s gathered from the townsfolk. He tells the party that Harbin is aware of an encampment of Orcs up at Wyvern Tor, and with discussion of the “Black Spider” fears they may be working for him. Sildar also shares a rumour of a shadowy figure scene lurking around Old Owl Well. On top of this information Daran Edermath suggests they also might want to head towards the ruins of village of Thundertree and speak with the Druid Reidoth as “if anyone knows where Cragmaw Castle is it’s him”

Armed with this information the party decide to rest up and head towards the Orc Encampment at Wyvern Tor. With a uneventful journey towards the encampment , they find a lone orc sentry guiding the entrance to a cave. Not wishing to directly assault the single cave entrance, the party formulated a plan to lure the Orcs out. George, Milo and Roland waited hidden by the cave entrance while Riswynn and George hidden further back in the forest. The Cleric Riswynn then used the Cantrip Thaumaturgy to cause the ground to shake within the Cave system causing the Orcs to flee. Unfortunately for the party the orcs not only outnumbered them but also had an Ogre accompanying them.

The party confident in their ambush, proceeded their attack and targeted the orc leader in the hope of taking out any coordination. Their plan proved correct as when the Orc Leader was knocked unconscious , the remaining orcs fled. The ogre however wasn’t smart enough to follow. After a prolonged battle and Milo getting knocked out, the ogre finally succumbed to the parties assault. Unfortunately for our party, the orcs know nothing of the Black Spider and are only here to raid local homesteads and prey on the locals. The orc leader attempted to bargain for his life with information related to the shadowy figure located at Old Owl Well, he informed the party that the area was inhabited by a necromancer. For his actions, the party sentenced the orc to a swift death.

Camp was made just near the orc encampment with plans next day to leave for Old Owl Well and see this necromancer for themselves hoping for a lead on Cragmaw castle. Before leaving at dawn a messenger arrived looking for George bearing ill news, his father was poorly. George made the decision to leave the party and return home to care for his father.

After wishing George good fortune, our adventurers carried onto the ruins of Old Owl Well. The journey however wasn’t straight forward as the party were attacked and caught off guard by a swarm of stirge. These creatures are a cross between a bat and a mosquito and latch onto their prey with sharp claws while using a proboscis to drain their blood from their victim.  The party was struggling with bringing down the swarm due to sheer number and their close proximity when arrows from the woods beside them punctuated the air and started felling the Stirges.

Droop after recuperating at the manor after the fight with the Nothic decided to follow the party and aid them. With Droop’s help the party overcame the Stirges and continued on their way towards Old Owl Well.

Roland’s Drawing of Droop

 

As the party reach the ruins of Old Owl Well, they can smell the somewhat familiar stench of decaying flesh. The only thing they can see however is a crumbling tower and a bright red tent. Being ever entrepreneurial, our party decide to start snooping and head towards the tent. Upon reaching the door of the tent, the hear the moaning and shuffling of around 12 zombies coming towards them. As quickly as they knock them down, they get back up when suddenly a shout breaks through the noise of fight.

“What is the meaning of this?!”  roars a bald headed man with a tattoo upon his forehead. The party recognise the mans attire and tattoo as that of a Red Wizard of Thay meaning they had found their necromancer. The zombies shudder to a stop and the necromancer introduces himself as HamuinCost and wonders why the party were trying to rob his belongings from his tent. After some fast talking, the party convince the necromancer that they were just looking for information of Cragmaw Castle and were investigating a mysterious figure at Old Owl Well. Although the necromancer is not working for the Black Spider, he is aware of the location of Cragmaw Castle and will give that information for confirmation that the orcs that have been harassing his camp are removed. Luckily for our party, it’s the very same orcs they removed not too long ago. The necromancer demands to be left to his studies and warns our adventurers to maybe not loot random seemingly unguarded tents in future.

Looking for confirmation on Hamun’s information, the party decide to seek out the Druid Reidoth in Thundertree. As they approach a sign warns them of “plant monsters and Zombies”. After fighting their way through a few ruined buildings against said Plants and zombies, they come across a home that seems in decent repair, with it’s doors and windows shuttered. It’s here that they meet Reidoth who gives them not only information on Cragmaw Castle but also Wave Echo Cave, The lost Mines of Phandelver! He asks that the party help move the dragon that now inhabits Thundertree along as it’s upsetting the balance of nature within the area.

Locating the ruined tower that the dragon now calls home, they attempt to speak with the dragon with little success. Venomfang informs them that he hasn’t long eaten so will give them this one chance to leave him in peace. Our party, rather smartly accepts the dragons offer as they have no wish to fight it within the confined tower.

Reidoth had also mentioned cloaked figures in Black Masks and cloaks at the eastern end of town, although he also mentions they were keeping to themselves and not causing a disturbance. However he could think of no legitimate reason why they would be here. The group came across a shuttered building and assume this is where the cloaked individuals were. Milo stepped up to the door and brazenly knocked on it asking if anyone was there. After convincing the person behind the door to speak, our party learn that the group are “Dragon worshippers” and come to worship Venomfang.  They manage to convince the Cultist leader Favric that they also wish to worship the dragon.

Favric consults with someone beside the door in “Draconic” believing the party has no knowledge of the language. Roland however understands and figures there are 5 other cultists in the building. Roland manages to hide the fact he can understand them. Favrec believes that 9 of them together will be enough to impress Venomfang and allow them into his service. Despite listening to the Cultists, Roland was unable to make out their hushed whispers as they spoke to each other, it seemed they did not yet trust the party.

As the group reached the base of the tower the cultists stepped forward and Favrec shouted in Draconic “Venomfang, we bring you these 4 as an offering” Roland relayed this to the group as Venomfang descended from the tower. The dragon was unimpressed with the offering, instead attempted to breathe poison over both the cultists and the party. With the betrayal by Favrec, the party had already moved back to get some distance between them and the cultists. The cultists however were not so lucky with all of them falling to the dragon’s breath.

Roland quickly ran towards the dragon attempting to get it’s attention as Milo skirted around it’s legs hoping to catch it from behind. Droop, looking resigned kept firing arrows into the dragon while Riswynn frantically called upon the power of her god to heal the party. Roland and Milo managed to keep the Dragon’s attention and were slowly whiting it down when a vicious combination of a clawstrike and bite felled Roland. As the dragon then turned it’s attention to Milo, Riswynn managed to bring Roland back to his feet and charging into the fray. This distraction would prove disastrous for Venomfang as Milo would take advantage and cause massive damage to the dragons back.

With a roar, the dragon spread it’s wings and vowed vengeance upon the party as it’s sped away into the skies and away from Thundertree…

 

The Lost Mines – Session 4

(You can catch the last entry here)

We re-join the adventure in the Crevasse under Tressander Manor, listening to the Nothic gibbering insanely to itself. After checking the bridges over the crevasse you determine that the northern bridge is safe to cross while the southern one looks rigged to fail.

The party decided to head to the south west corner of the manor and deal with the bugbears first to head off any reinforcements when you reach Glassstaff/Iarno. You find 3 bugbears and a terrified looking Goblin in what you assumed was the barracks for the bugbears. The goblin collapses on the floor at the sight of you and the bugbears keep shouting at it to get up and fight. As it becomes clear that you are going to win the fight, the goblin looks at you expectedly and attacks the bugbears.

Once the fight is over, the goblin speaks to you in broken “common” and you learn the bugbears kept the Goblin around to bully, the goblin says they called him  “Droop” due to his nature to fall asleep when scared. You offered to let the Goblin come with you and soon included him in your next plans.

Droop informed you that to the north of the bugbear barracks is a common room used by the Redbrands. Droop dislikes the Redbrands almost as much as he disliked the bugbears and agrees to your plan to run into the common room and trick the Redbrands into following him into an ambush.

Not only did the Redbrands fall for your ambush but all 4 of them in the common room were heavily drunk and you cut through them with ease.

As you make you way to the northern end of the cellar you came across what appears to be an alchemy lab and a rat sat on the table. Roland fed the rat and the rat appears to be quite taken with him and sat on his shoulder.

As you approach the door to what you assume is Iarno’s Study, the rat suddenly bites Roland’s neck as you realise the Rat must be Iarno’s familiar. As you burst into the Study, you find that Iarno is nowhere to be found but notice a hidden door slightly ajar that leads back to the crevasse.

In the distance you see Iarno running but your path is blocked by the Nothic, despite agreeing you had a deal, the nothic reminds you the deal was “No dead Glassstaff, no come back” and now that Glassstaff knows the Nothic didn’t stop you, he’s got to eat you to make up for it.

After a close battle, and your new found friend Droop critically injured, you defeat the nothic. With Iarno long gone,you head back to his office where instructions from “The Black Spider” are found.

The Lost Mines – Sessions 1-3

So, we started playing D&D 5e a couple of weeks…I mean months, back and I tend to keep a note of the events to refresh the group since we play every 2 weeks due to time constraints.

Below are the (slightly tidied up) notes I used when doing catch up at the start of each session, so there’s likely so past and present tense shenanigans in the wording… Be warned, that there will be spoilers if you play the “Lost mines of Phandelver” campaign.

Here are the first 3 sessions, I’ll tidy up Session 4’s notes when I finish my prep for Satuday’s session 5!

Session 1:

George, Milo, Riswynn and Roland – You have been hired by Gundren Rockseeker to escort his provisions to Barthen’s provisions in the town of Phandalin while he travelled ahead of you with Sildar Hallwinter to take “care of business”. The journey was uneventful until you came across the ambushed dead horses of what you determined to be that of Gundren and Sildar.

Your investigation of the scene came to an abrupt end as you were ambushed by Goblins which you quickly dispatched. The goblin told you that their group, lead by Klarg the Bugbear, was instructed by King Grol to look out for the “dwarf” travelling towards Phandalin. They tell you that Gundren was taken away to Castle Cragmaw which the goblin could confirm was “somewhere” north of the town of Phandalin”

Sildar was taken by the goblins to do with as they please back to their hideout at Cragmaw Cave.

You followed the Goblins trail(despite a few traps) and eventually ended up at Cragmaw cave, home of Klarg and his Goblins. You successfully calmed the wolves guarding the entrance and silently dealt with the sentry on the bridge, successfully avoiding alerting the group in the next room.

You avoided following the bridge and instead attacked the unaware goblins in the nextroom. During the fight, one of the Goblins escaped and informed Klarg that you were coming

After a prolonged battle, Klarg is unconscious and his wolf and 2 goblins companions are slain.

However, Milo lays stable but unconscious. As you finish stabilising him and before you can search the room and plan your next move, you see a single goblin standing in the doorway with its hands raised as it utters to you in guttural common tongue…

Session 2:

The goblin was offering an exchange from his boss, Yarrbik (goblin) had Sildar HallWinter as a hostage and wished to exchange for Sildar. You discover that Klarg had been in charge and had bullied the goblins into doing his bidding. Yarrbik also told you to leave the goods in Klarg’s quarters in the Cave, you refused but as part of the the exchange you suggested a “Trial by combat” for the goods. You won this Trial and eventually discovered  the goods belonged to the Lionshield Coaster in Phandalin.

Yarblik confirmed that Gundren had been taken to Cragmaw Castle and all he knows is that it’s somewhere north of Phandalin. Klarg either didn’t know or wouldn’t reveal and only mentioned that his instructions came from the “black spider” to capture Gundren and his map. You got the impression that he was terrified on the “Black Spider” and wouldn’t reveal any further information

Your journey to Phanalin was uneventful, and you successfully delivered the provisions to “Barthen provision” as originally hired to do so by Gundren Rockseeker. Sildar also paid you for his safe return to Phandalin and suggested finding his fellow Lords alliance member Iarno Albrek in Phandalin might help in finding Gundren.

On arrival into the town you find that Iarno never arrived,and  after discussions with the inhabitants, you discovered all was not well and a gang had been using the town as a base of operations. The Redbrands had been causing trouble and Milo revealed he had once been part of the group but was framed after objecting to some of the more heinous acts when the Redbrands graduated from petty theft.

You learned from Halia Thornton that the Redbrands were working out of the old Tressander Manor, she wanted you to kill the redbrand leader Glassstaff and bring any documents to her. You sense that Halia Thornton wasn’t giving you all the information and you suspect she has an ulterior motive.  You decided to investigate in the morning. However on your way back to the Inn you were waylaid by a group of Redbrands who told you to leave and leave your belongings with them. A fight ensued and you emerged victorious.

The townmaster Harbin warned you stay away from redbrands, seemingly more out of fear of retribution rather any actual involvement however you decided not to fully trust the townmaster in future.

You hatch your plan to sneak into the manor but find only a cellar intact and some sleeping redbrands. Sildar accompanies you but hangs back. One of them tells you that their leader Glassstaff is in the Northwest corner of the Cellar but is protected by an “eye monster” in a crevice in the middle of the cellar. He also mentions they have prisoners in the cells to the north protected by Skeletons from the Crypt next door.

Session 3: You began in the cellar of Tresendar Manor delving further in, Roland fell foul of a pit trap. After escaping the Pit, you found yourselves in the crypt where as the Redbrand had told you, the skeleton guards will not attack anyone wearing a Red Cloak or aware of the Magic Word “illefarn”

Next to the Crypt was a makeshift jail where you rescued Mirna Dendrar and her 2 children Nars and Nilsa who were taken Prisoner after the Redbrands murdered her husband. Contrary to what you were told by the Redbrand prisoner earlier, the murder was coldblooded rather than in response to any gambling debt. Mirna tells you off a family heirloom in the old town abandoned Town of Thundertree that if you can reach you can gladly have. George mentions he came from the town but heard that it’s now home to a dragon. You gave them your cloaks so they can get to town in case of other Redbrands.

You find a secret passage that leads you a large room with a crevasse and 2 bridges. You encounter a “Nothic”, a slightly insane creature that the Redbrand leader “Glassstaff” keeps here with the help of his boss the as of yet unknown “Black Spider”.

After striking a deal with the Nothic to provide him with fresh meat from your previously slain Redbrands, you learn that “glassstaff” is actually the missing Lord’s Alliance Wizard Iarno that Sildar Hallwinter was looking for. The Nothic agrees to let you past on the proviso that you kill Glassstaff so he can go home. “No dead Glassstaff, no come back”

You confront Sildar above Iarno’s involvement and you were happy that Sildar is only just learning of this involvement. Sildar heads back to town to secure the town in case this is a trap and plans to remove Townmaster “Harbin” from office in case he is also involved.

You returned to the crevasse with the “Nothic” chuckling away to itself down in the recess. You stand at the foot of the northern bridge. If the “Nothic” is to be believed, there are bugbears to the southern end of the cellar with Glass Staff making his home in the NorthWest.

 

Star Wars and I

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you may have noticed that Star Wars is now back in full swing and Episode 8 is now winding down at the cinema. The fuss has died down sufficiently that I feel I can discuss something a bit more personal about it without denting the collective excitement.

I actually wanted to discuss what Star Wars is to me. I am not old enough for the original releases of IV thru to VI, I do remember however them being shown at the cinema on re-release and sharing this experience with my dad. The old man isn’t a fanatical follower of Star Wars but loves the films and has various books and a couple of lightsabers….actually I take it back, that’s fairly into Star Wars! To young me, Star Wars was amazing and something that I enjoyed with my dad, the universe, the stories and the cool glowing swords! Although I didn’t quite appreciate the whole universe aspect until I was a little bit older, Star Wars and it’s storytelling has had an effect on my appreciation of a good story.

The fandom appeals to many people, my generation were introduced to it by our parents and by the prequels (shhh Phantom menace, let it lie), those people who like myself have been influenced by Star Wars are now making more Star Wars for the next generation. I admit I haven’t really seen much of the ‘Cartoons’, although I love the Lego ‘Padawan menace’,  I can see that my nephew is becoming involved in the Star Wars universe as well and so the cycle is likely to continue.  A few years back we went to the National Space centre for a Star Wars Event and was amazed at the many different people that all love this universe, the love was especially noticeable by the effort some cosplayers put into their costumes. For those interested, I wrote about it here previously.

We wanted to go see Episode 8 just before Christmas when it came out but between various illnesses and scheduling issues we never got round to it until the first week of February. It’s somewhat special to me as I’ve watched every Star Wars movie at the cinema with my dad. He took us to see the re-releases of the originals and the prequels.  I think it’s only right that when each new one comes around, including Rogue one, that I drag him to the cinema to continue the tradition. I know it might seem a little bit daft but it’s something that we have together and it’s nice to see that Star Wars is bridging that generational gap quite nicely. It also amuses me that the old man appears to be doing a great Luke Skywalker impersonation….

I’ve seen a bit of dissent online about various aspects on the new film and in my opinion it’s going to be unavoidable with such a passionate and involved fanbase, but I just wanted to add that although it isn’t perfect, for me it is something that I can enjoy being a part of. So Star Wars for me makes me thankful that my Dad could share something with me that he enjoys and for that it will always be special.

Thanks Pops!

 

 

The Last Few Weeks

So the last few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster and I’ve just not had the urge to write anything substantial but writing itself is therapeutic so here goes…

The main concern was sadly the failing health and death of my wife’s granddad. The funeral itself was last Friday after what can only be described as 14 weeks of heartache. I’ve gone to see and sit with Grandad every lunch time for approximately the last 4 years, I’m not ashamed to say that one of my best friends in the world was that 80 year old man.  His quick wit and completely honest responses would make those visits hilarious.

It’s not to say it wasn’t smooth sailing to start with as I’m fairly certain when we met we couldn’t understand each other verbally! I originally come from down the South of the UK and Granddad was very much a Derbyshire man with a very thick accent, a man who would love to confuse me with the local dialect with phrases like “It’s black over bill’s mothers”. For the uninitiated that means that it looks like it’s going to rain, those crazy derbyshire locals! I’m grateful he accepted me into his family and treated me like one of his own.Add it into that mix the fact that I’ve been knocked for six by gallstones and by accompaniment a bout of Billory Colic, where those lovely stones get stuck in an opening causing an immense amount of pain it’s not been a great number of weeks.

But i’m going to pull out the silver lining. Grandad was poorly in those final weeks and seeing someone suffer in that way is never good. It would be selfish of me to wish he was still here so I could go and see him on lunch in the state he was in so in a way, he truly is at peace now. The gallstones have kicked me up the ass and in the last 3 weeks I’ve lost 8 lbs from changing my diet. Once my scan is out of the way I’m restarting running and hopefully that target weight of 11 to 12 stone is within reach.  Granddad wouldn’t want me to waste the time I have.

So thanks Granddad for being there to talk to, it was black over bill’s mothers the day of your funeral both literally and figuratively.

Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker

By now, everyone and their K9 knows that the next Dr Who is Jodie Whittaker.

I’ve left this a little while since we’ve had all of the fuss that “She’s a woman” and I myself was happy enough that it’s just the usual New Doctor Cycle, where we all don’t like the idea of a new Doctor but by the end will fall in love with the new one.

The thing that recently caught my eye was this Tweet from BBC Radio 6, which contains an extract on an Interview with Jodie. I’ll let you have a watch and carry on below…..

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsStill with me? Great. The thing I took away from this was her enthusiasm and slight fear at the daunting task ahead of her. I remember back to Capaldi’s reveal, seeing him nervously playing with one of his rings during the interview and I realised that both Actor’s were incredibly excited and were giving the role the reverence that it deserves.

I don’t see how people can be upset when someone has that passion and enthusiasm for a programme that they enjoy, surely it can’t be in any safer hands than someone who wants it to succeed?

I wonder if she will keep the awesome Yorkshire accent though?

CS:GO – When the fun stops

This post is a little bit of a confession. Dear world I’ve been a bit of a naughty boy, I’ve struck back in anger and although I enjoyed it at the time I thoroughly deserve my incoming ban.

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Stellaris: Hahn-Mur Foundation Report Year 2419

Stellaris is a 4x Grand Strategy game where you control your own empire, all the way from the type of species, through to their ethics and policies. The year is 2419 and the Pacifist Hahn-Mur Monarchy find their rather comfortable galaxy about to be come very noisy.

Greetings your Highness. I’ve prepared this report for you to bring you up to speed on the latest galactic situation. As you are aware your Highness the Hahn-Mur people have lived in peace and prosperity under the line of High King Garma I for just over two centuries, our peace-keeping force has been a deterrent to any would be aggressor and we have found like-minded friends in the Uri Council, United Kallagian Confederation and the Democratic Havarigga Party. The Stellar league that we have formed has kept even the most Xenophobic Species in line and protected those species who have come to join us on the galactic stage.

Sadly your highness not everyone has shared our view. In the corner of the galaxy sat the Tezekians, what we would refer to as a fallen empire, they have been on the galactic stage longer than we know but view the younger races such as ourselves with disdain and contempt. When we first encountered them in 2232 although not hostile they wished to be left alone and the space around them to remain Un-colonised. We and the other younger species saw fit to respect this elder species and granted them their wish, for 150 years they have sat quietly in the corner of the galaxy.

It seems a shift had occurred in the Tezekian Empire in late 2410 your highness as by 2411 we received a galaxy wide communique to either accept “Thralldom” or be crushed from existence, the sleeping giant in the corner was sleeping no more. The Tezekian fleet first entered the space of the United Kallagian Confederation, a massive fleet consisting of 145k ships, the combined fleet of the Stellar League was around 138k and the two fleets stared at each other across from the Dellatra System. During this initial clash many lives were lost but the battle was inconclusive, the Tezekians Retreated back to their own space and our fleet wasn’t strong enough to take the fight to them.

Unfortunately this was just the start of our troubles your Highness, in 2413 our instruments detected a massive galaxy wide power surge. At the time we were unaware what this meant, only the dark foreboding that it meant additional problems. Shortly after the surge a strange portal appeared in the Jared System within Centralised Cygan Space. The Cygan people although not allies are considered cordial towards the Hahn-Mur, their own federation although smaller has similar goals of peace. From this portal came massive fleets of what can only be described as “energy ships” who began to purge the life from Cygan planets, the true horror of this act however only recently came to light as these creatures that call themselves “The Unbidden” actually devour the lifeforce of any living creature on the planet.

By 2414, The eastern quadrant of the Cygan empire was being devoured, with the Tezekians hiding behind their borders likely in response to the unbidden’s arrival, the decision was made to move our main fleet to help bolster the Cygan empire. Our old rival the Otaga Kingdom made overtures to ending our own rivalry and sent their fleet to assist in the battle as well.
Our interference was not taken lightly by the Unbidden, more fleets appeared from the portal and this time headed west towards the Havariggan’s in an attempt to stop the Stellar League’s interference.For the next 3 years there are numerous skirmishes with the unbidden but our first Major victory came in 2417. The battle of Tirramore saw the Hahn-Mur fleet isolated against a larger unbidden fleet, the fleet was freshly re-fitted because The Unbidden’s technology relies heavily on the usage of shields so we had retrofitted our fleet with Kinetic weaponry that ignores the majority of their shielding. This has allowed us to destroy any Unbidden fleet of a similar size to our own with minimal losses. The new kinetic fleet destroyed 3 50k Unbidden fleets while losing 20k ships.

It seems that during the battle of Tirramore the Tezekian Reclaimers saw their opportunity while the Hahn-Mur fleet was engaged to push through again into Kallagian Territory. This time they came with a larger fleet against a damaged and fragmented Stellar league.

Your Highness, it is now 2419. The Tezekian’s have taken the Dellatra system and we cannot hold them there, while the unbidden continue to send fleets through the portal, with the help of the other empires we have managed to push them back and hold them into the Jared system where the portal resides. The Unbidden protect the portal with numerous fleets and any attack on it would be almost suicidal. Your people have basked in your lines glory and protection for centuries and we turn to you again your Highness to lead us in this dark time.