Wolves came to me in the night. I was able to scare them off, with a little help, but the encounter still weighs on my mind. I was dreaming again before Aros woke us, the howling was still in my ears as I rose. In their eyes I could feel the dream calling out to me, the universal message un-mistakable in their gaze. If only I knew what it all meant.

I could not let those two starve, so I hunted in the morning. The land here is bountiful and rich. Clearly the reach of civilisation hasn’t yet despoiled this particular forest. I was right, we are on the edge of the Tanglewoods, though much further south than I had intended. As I write this, I am inside a somewhat comfortable room in a military outpost. I came across the path in my morning ranging, and after an encounter with some un-dead and some deception by the talkative Aros, they have allowed us to stay, under supervision. If this outpost is any indication of the state of the city, perhaps I have been mis-guided in my hopes.

There is something amiss among the soldiers stationed here. They are accommodating for humans, but there seems to be a rather shameful lack of order among the troops. From what I have read I expected a military unit to behave on a similar disciplinary level to a monastery. Second Lieutenant Xola appears to have the run and respect of the place, I dearly hope that we make a good impression on her. Things may turn sour very quickly for us if we don’t, and I can’t afford to make too memorable an impression here, especially something that may sully my ability to enter the city.

After a cloudless few nights, I found myself on the edges of an unfamiliar forest. According to what I can recall, I should be about two days out of Triskol, but at this point I’m really not sure. This damn forest is playing tricks on me it seems. It’s strange here, the air itself feels different. I have found an obliging tree to make camp in overnight, and hope that I remain well hidden. I can’t shake the feeling that I am being watched.

-

Goblins. How did those bloody goblins track me?! I have been tracked and trapped once before… but those were trained individuals. I shouldn’t have been found, least of all by goblins. I must be getting sloppy. Come morning I will meditate on my mistakes. I hope I am not becoming too distant from master’s teachings. At least I was able to teach them the gravity of their mistake.

To complicate matters further, I seem to have gained some unwelcome luggage.  A child, perhaps about twelve, who seems to have had an extremely rough upbringing (could have sworn she was a Halfling the way she carries herself), and a half elf that talks far too much. In my rage and frustration at being captured I may have been too hard on him. He seems to have been the victim of some kind of illusion magic or strange experiment, and all I could do was focus on my anger. I must do better. Master would not be proud of that. In any case, they are slowing me down. I have to get to Triskol before I am discovered. I know the monastery can’t have let me escape with no consequence.

We staked out overnight trying to see if anyone entered or exited the cave we were in. Unfortunately, the most exciting thing to happen last night was having to scare off a couple of wolves. I would have preferred to kill them but it seems like Allariah has something against doing that. I thought she just didn't like killing animals but she hunted some rabbits for us this morning. So I guess she just doesn't like killing dangerous predators that are threatening us. Seems reasonable to me!

She found a path towards an old outpost while she was hunting. Seems like a nicer place to rest up than where we're currently camping out. Unfortunately the neighbors aren't so great. Undead. Lots of them. Luckily they're stupid and pretty easily distracted. Also pretty frail given how easily the others were knocking them around. Hell, I even managed to take one down!

I'm concerned about this Xola character. I've never had anyone call me out on the Mathers bit before. We might be overstepping our bounds, but we've got bunks for the night. I'm impressed that the others were able to roll with the lie. They didn't miss a beat. Kae's crying was a nice touch, not sure we would have gotten in without it. They're good allies, with a bit of work they could become quite an impressive team of hustlers.

You know when you have a bad day? Usually it's just like… your hair is a mess and you spill something on your new cloak. I would kill to have a day like that. Just one normal day where I'm not being sent on some weird wild goose chase, and I'm not waking up in the body of a smelly goblin. You'd think that when you're a goblin you wouldn't be able to smell the fact that you're a smelly goblin but let me tell you, you can most definitely smell the fact that you are a smelly goblin.

Also there is something really unsettling about having to murder yourself. If I never have to do that again, it will be too soon. I'm glad it actually worked out and I'm back in my normal body though. I didn't really think it through, seeing whatever was in my body just made me angry. These two women are interesting to say the least. I guess I should be thankful that they didn't murder me while I was a goblin. Both of them could have done it very easily. I saw the taller one angrily punch a rock and I'm pretty sure she liquified it.

The short one seems like my kind of person. Sneaky and conniving. I'm having a harder time getting a read on the taller one. She hasn't said much, and I don't think I've ever actually seen her smile. She's tough as nails though, I'll give her that much. I didn't have much of a plan for the confrontation, but it sounds like these two are headed to Tryskal as well. I could definitely use the extra muscle in case things go wrong.

Not that things ever go wrong for me right?

Ugh. I can still smell the goblin on me.

Wondering how to get started? Here are a few tips:

1. Invite your players

Invite them with either their email address or their Obsidian Portal username.

2. Edit your home page

Make a few changes to the home page and give people an idea of what your campaign is about. That will let people know you’re serious and not just playing with the system.

3. Choose a theme

If you want to set a specific mood for your campaign, we have several backgrounds to choose from. Accentuate it by creating a top banner image.

4. Create some NPCs

Characters form the core of every campaign, so take a few minutes to list out the major NPCs in your campaign.

A quick tip: The “+” icon in the top right of every section is how to add a new item, whether it’s a new character or adventure log post, or anything else.

5. Write your first Adventure Log post

The adventure log is where you list the sessions and adventures your party has been on, but for now, we suggest doing a very light “story so far” post. Just give a brief overview of what the party has done up to this point. After each future session, create a new post detailing that night’s adventures.

One final tip: Don’t stress about making your Obsidian Portal campaign look perfect. Instead, just make it work for you and your group. If everyone is having fun, then you’re using Obsidian Portal exactly as it was designed, even if your adventure log isn’t always up to date or your characters don’t all have portrait pictures.

That’s it! The rest is up to your and your players.