A Guildsman's Tale, Exploring Birch Vale - Part 8

A Guildsman’s Tale,
Exploring Birch Vale

Part 8 – 13 October 2022

The journal of Bori Ironhelm, cleric of Moradin and master of the forge.
Guildsman in the Explorer’s Guild.

Previous - Chapter 7b - Interlude

Return to the Jungle

It was the seventh day of our journey that we were ambushed by Bruin and his men, before being reunited with Omratin and Cydor and promoted to full Guildsmen by Erlathan. After we had travelled with the other members of the Shadow Council to successfully realign the portals, they gave us the rest of the eighth day for rest and relaxation with the dwarfs of New Mine, and we took full advantage of the respite and our hosts hospitality! Omratin did not disappoint - we ate and drank our fill for the day, singing songs and regaling each other with tales of adventure or stories of home. We toasted the memory of those dwarfs who lost their lives as slaves to Felicia and the evil Duergar with the vintage bottles Grimnir had swiped. Then later, once we'd forgotten we had already done it, we toasted them again. 

As I suspected, none of them had any knowledge of the dwarf slaves. They must have been from faraway lands - no less deserving of remembrance or justice of course, but it would take time to find out who they were. 

We returned to Cydor at the Ranger Station soon after dawn, as requested. The bracing morning air did wonders to clear our foggy heads. 

Day nine - (too) early in the morning

We made haste to the portal near Birch Vale so that we could transport ourselves to the fastness of Rim Watch, on the outskirts of the steaming jungle. It was just as we had left it. We stepped over the stricken corpse of the mad old guardian Spectator and on through the halls where we had stayed with the Lizardfolk. All was quiet.

Descending the steps, we arrived at the water that we had seen the Lizardfolk dive into just a few days earlier. Had it only been a few days? So much had happened, it was strange to think it still had been less than a tenday since we ventured forth... I digress. We stood in front of the water, prepared to dive in. Merla had been given the magical ability to cast the spell Water Breathing by Cydor, so she now did so, enabling all three of us to survive under the water for the next day if it took that long to reach the other side of it. I had exchanged my heavy chain mail for a lighter chain shirt of the type Erlathan said the elves favoured - it seemed more appropriate for this scouting mission and would make navigating the water significantly easier. 

Splashing forth, we made our way through flooded tunnels and stairways, twisting round corners until we saw light ahead and the corridors opened onto a larger pool of water. I cautiously surfaced and looked around, my eyes just above the waterline. All seemed quiet so I paddled forwards slightly, when all of a sudden an enormous reptilian claw grasped my head and lifted me up and out of the water! An enormous, bipedal crocodilian had picked me up as easily as lifting a child. I kicked my legs and thrashed my arms to no avail. Looking the beast up and down, I could see that it was ornamented with skulls, many resembling the foul Yuan-Ti, and it held a massive obsidian warhammer that resembled the weapons of the Lizardfolk on a much grander scale. Just before I drew my own warhammer to attack the creature, I remembered the whistle carved from a Yuan-Ti tooth that had been given to us by the Lizardfolk. Of course! We forgot to sound the whistle before entering the water! They told us it was to ensure their safe passage, perhaps it was to alert this beast to their coming? I quickly retrieved it from a pouch and blew a shrill note on it. Immediately, the crocodile beast dropped me back into the water with a splash and began to stomp off through the shallows and towards the treeline. I cursed myself for not remembering the whistle earlier.   

Day nine - into the jungle

Ahead of us, the jungle was thick. The crocodilian had disappeared into undergrowth too dense for us to follow and left no trace of its passing, which was a surprise for a creature of that size. There seemed to be one path forwards, some 30 feet across, where the vegetation was slightly less obstructive. Merla could see various game trails criss-crossing where the vegetation was more sparse. As far as we could tell, this path led from the rim and down into the huge caldera, towards the Black Pyramid. That would be the way to go, then.

We marched into the thick jungle 

We moved as stealthily as we could. Merla took the lead. Although this wasn't the sort of natural environment she was used to, she could move much more gracefully than either of us and her footfalls didn't make a sound. Grimnir and I had to be careful not to let her get too far ahead as even we would lose sight of her in the undergrowth! 

Suddenly, a black shape darted out from, apparently, nowhere. Its form was hard to make out as it appeared to be constantly moving, but it looked like a large, black feline with far too many legs and strange, writing tentacles on its back. I didn't have time to wonder about where it had come from, whether it was some beast from another plane that had found its way to this jungle or whether it was a regular hunting cat that had been warped by the magic emanating from the pyramid. It was on us in an instant, slashing with its claws and whipping its tentacles towards us. Every time we tried to hit the beast, it seemed to be somewhere else. Eventually, Grimnir managed to land a ringing blow on it that briefly stopped it in its tracks and made it possible for Merla and me to land more attacks on it. Once we were finished, this hell cat wasn't going to be dashing around anywhere. We left its corpse for the jungle scavengers.  

Some hellish black cat leapt at us from the shadows

Merla now moved like a ghost, barely disturbing a leaf as she stole through the undergrowth. We approached some boulders and she decided to climb on top of one to get a better vantage point to plan our route forwards. Suddenly, she was attacked by another feline form - though this one was larger and striped, and seemed much more solid than the previous one! It was a sabre-toothed tiger and it pounced on poor Merla, knocking her from the rock and pinning her to the ground. 

Grimnir and I were slow to react, being taken entirely by surprise, but we rushed to aid our companion as quickly as we could. The big cat leapt at me, its weight knocking me back but its claws unable to penetrate my shield or chain shirt. I could feel the hot breath on my face and almost taste the rank odour of rotting flesh. It was a relief when Grimnir's axe fell like an executioner's blade and separated the cat's head from its body. He helped to lug the heavy weight of the carcass off me and then pulled me to my feet. I was mightily glad of how sharp that axe was and of the enchantment I had weaved on it this morning. 

Day nine - time unknown

Moving on, we tried to keep our wits about us to avoid further ambush. The trees pushed in overhead, blocking out the sun and making it impossible to tell what time it was. All we knew was that it was hot and cloying under the canopy. Gradually, the mist that had enveloped us was dissipating and we eventually reached a sheer drop. From there, we could see out and across the jungle ahead, towards the barren land where the Black Pyramid rose like some ugly growth. 

We carefully tied a rope to a large boulder and descended the cliff, reaching the bottom with no incident. There were large, fresh footprints here, but nothing moved nearby that we could see. Still, caution was still the name of the game. 

Advancing onwards, we approached a pool of water. We all felt a great sense of peace and calm near the water and decided to have a brief respite. The source of this feeling became apparent when a huge maw and waving tentacles came splashing out of the water and an Otyugh attacked us! It must have been using its abilities to project a calm feeling that we picked up on, how could we have been so daft to fall for that? 

The monster was ferocious and kept entangling Merla with its tentacles. Grimnir and I managed to free her, but she was rendered unconscious from the tight squeeze of the Otyugh. Hack and bashing at it, we eventually drove the beast back towards the water. We could tell it was dead when the unbidden thoughts of safety and tranquillity had left our minds. Then we were able to help Merla to her feet and have a safer rest, feeling better for the fact nothing was influencing our minds. The only way forward was through the Otyugh pool, so we splashed onwards. 

An Otyugh attacks from the water ahead

Day nine - the chase is on!

There was little time to reflect as, just when we reached the other side of the pool, we heard an enormous roar from behind us. Some grey, bipedal shape was advancing towards us, looming over the trees around it. Though it was in the far distance, we could see it was huge. It sniffed the air and bent towards the Otyugh carcass. We could hear the cracking of bones and snarling of the beast even from this distance, and we realised that devouring its meal was not going to take this beast long. After that, we were likely to be dessert. We did the only thing we could in the face of such a monster. We ran.   

The monster saw us running and gave chase. There was no time for subtlety, no time for caution or stealth, we just ran as fast as we could away from this enormous predator. Ahead, we saw a looming cliff face and a crack between the rocks. It looked big enough for us to get through, but not our pursuer. We made for the gap as quickly as we could, climbing in with the beast close behind. Once it reached the cliff, it roared and scratched its long claws at the rock but could not reach us. We were safe, for the moment at least. 

Moving forwards between the rocks, we found that a glade opened out ahead of us. Perhaps we would be able to get through to the pyramid without returning to face whatever that enormous beast was that we could still hear bashing at the cliff behind us. 

All was quiet in the glade. There was a shallow pool at one end and trees all around the perimeter. Most disappointingly, there was no way out other than the way we had entered. It was a dead end. Behind the perimeter of trees was a rock wall stretching up into the sky. Perhaps the rock walls were climbable, but it would take time. With the thrashing sounds of the beast behind us, we knew that we would be in this glade for a while so we started having a look around. Suddenly, one of the large trees became to shiver and move, pulling its roots from the ground and lumbering towards us! It was an enormous treant! We turned, but the mossy ground beneath us started accumulating and growing into a huge shambling mound of vegetation! We were trapped, with a vicious predator outside the glade and these two monstrous plants in here with us! Was this to be the end of our journey?

A monstrous treant and huge shambling mound had
us cornered in the hidden glade

Day nine - friend or foe?

Before we were crushed between the two behemoths, a twinkling voice called out and a dryad stepped from beneath a tree. She resembled the one we had met in the grove beneath New Mine, so I was hopeful she would prove a friend likewise. I was prepared to let Merla talk to her, as I presumed she would also worship Mielikki, but she turned to me with her hand out. She could sense the power of the portal amulet that I carried and wanted to see it. Seeing no issue with this, I drew it from round my neck, but the dryad snatched it from me and disappeared back into the shadows! 

I looked incredulously at Merla, not that she knew what was going on any more than I did. What I did know was that we were still trapped in this grove, there was still a beast outside the only exit, we were surrounded by huge vegetable monsters and now our only method of returning home had been stolen by some jumped up little flower fairy! 

Grimnir hadn't quite worked out the implications of what had just happened, but it wouldn't take him long and, once he did, there would be no stopping him from using his axe to try and fell every tree in this grove, walking or otherwise. Fortunately, before that happened, a clear voice called down to us from up on the rim of the rock face. It was the dryad. 

"So, you want to know about the Black Pyramid do you? Then listen you well to the words of Incana, for I tell it true."

This Incana then proceeded to tell us a long tale of the Black Pyramid and its occupants. Some of her tale tallied with what we had been told by Erlathan - there once was a well-respected man named Dovoulad, who was considered wise and just. He had a companion, a paladin named Yarlin, and the two of them were chosen by the Council of the Wise to protect the contents of the pyramid - Dovoulad was to be interred at the apex of the pyramid, using death magic, while Yarlin and his descendants would be the living guardians for Dovoulads long sleep of undeath. One of Erlathan's tales of Dovoulad related to his use of death magic and its abhorrence to many of the Elven folk. I have to say that I agree with them on this, what Incana was describing sounded unnatural. It included Dovoulad having his heart removed so that his spirit could remain and power the pyramid. Can't day that I understood why a so-called 'Wise' council would do such a thing...

Incana told us that she had been cursed to remain on this island due to her love for Dovoulad, which led to them spending a day and a night of carnal bliss together before his heart was torn from his breast and body plugged into the pyramid as some sort of power source. Yarlin was trusted to protect the heart, but he was betrayed. He followed Dovoulad's instructions to recant his paladin vows so that he could marry and have offspring that would protect the heart through the ages, eventually meeting a woman named Selûne who he fell in love with. On the night of their wedding, Incana was watching from the shadows and saw Selûne reveal herself to be a pureblood Yuan-Ti. The evil creature slew the wedding party and poisoned Yarlin, paralysing him before stealing Dovoulad's heart from him. 

Selûne had assistance from another Yuan-Ti named Suyan, who she ordered to go and meet someone called Uskash. For her part, Selûne was to take the heart to someone called Nehshu. As Incana watched them leave, they said they would return to kill the humans so that Dendar could bathe in blood that night. The plans of the Wise were going severely awry.

Incana followed Selûne, who took the heart into the jungle and gave it to a huge abomination, half-snake and half-man. This monster took the heart deep into the jungle and hid it within a cave. The dryad took note of the location and returned to find Yarlin, slowly dying from the poison. He cried in anguish when she told him what had become of Dovoulad's heart, feeling that he had failed his friend. 

The noise of slaughter outside drew Incana's attention. She tried to rally as many humans as she could to defend themselves against the Yuan-Ti, but it was to no avail. The snakemen were far too numerous. She retreated into the hut where Yarlin lay, only to see the man preparing to fall on his dagger to kill himself. As he did so, he whispered a prayer to the demon prince Orcus, lord of undeath. Watching in horror, Incana saw Yarlin's prayers answered as he died and then was restored to undeath by the power of Orcus. She fled before Yarlin, rising as a dreaded wraith, stalked from the hut and began killing all in his path - humans and Yuan-Ti alike. By dawn, nothing lived nearby and the undead Yarlin entered the Black Pyramid. Since then, all his efforts to find the heart have been in vain, for its location was known only to the huge snakeman (who he slaughtered) and Incana. She returned to the cave cautiously, finding a hideous clawed monstrosity guarding the heart within, and blocked the entrance with rocks and vegetation, charging the treants to protect it from all who would disturb its rest. They say that the heart must be returned to Dovoulad one day so he may walk again and, as far as Incana was concerned, it seemed that she thought that day had come. She seemed to think that the evil spreading from the Pyramid was all due to Yarlin's undead presence and that it could all be stopped if Dovoulad was returned to life. 

Sounded easy enough. Her treants were going to take us to the cave, we would kill whatever horrid monster was in there, and return to her with the heart. What could go wrong? 

Of course, there were more complications. The Yuan-Ti had returned to the jungle, as we knew after our encounter with the Lizardfolk. Incana informed us that the Yuan-Ti had aligned themselves with Yarlin. She also said that he had spies everywhere in the jungle, so we would need to be careful. 

I couldn't quite shake the feeling that we were still not seeing the full weave of the tapestry yet. There were more threads to pull at, but how did this relate to Felicia and what we had already learned about the Pyramid? Unfortunately, we could not return for wise counsel with Erlathan or Cydor as this dryad currently had our only means of returning through the portal. We would have to go along with what she said, for now at least, and retrieve this heart. Perhaps then things would begin to become clearer.   

   

A Journeyman's Tale, Exploring Birch Vale - Part 7b - INTERLUDE

A Journeyman’s Tale,
Exploring Birch Vale

Part 7b – INTERLUDE – October 2022

The journal of Bori Ironhelm, cleric of Moradin and master of the forge.
Journeyman in the Explorer’s Guild.

Previous - Chapter 7

We're Not Done Yet

We had been ambushed. The shame of it. Yes, these men seemed to be somewhat professional, as far as humans could be anyway, but after all we've seen and done, to be ambushed like this when we were so close to completing our mission? Shameful. 

Grimnir sniffed the air. There was a smoky taint, but he remarked it had the smell of a corpse fire about it. Merla concurred that it wasn't a regular wood fire. As more of the hooded and armed men surrounded us, the obvious conclusion that they had been burning some fallen enemy was inescapable. Clearly, they were dangerous. And we were severely outnumbered. My cousin gripped his axe so hard that his knuckles were white, but even he knew that pressing these odds was foolish. 

The leader of the hooded men addressed us.

"Come, let us keep this interview short, for I guess your names and purpose. Let me see if I am correct in my guess. Give me your names and that of the man that sent you on your journey so we can be about our business. If I am wrong... well, we shall have to see what tale you tell."

His words, lacking any sort of courtesy, almost caused Grimnir to lose himself in a rage. I placed a calming hand on his shoulder. Looking over at Merla, I could see she was both surprised and embarrassed to have allowed these men to sneak up on us in the wilds - this was, after all, her natural environment. I couldn't blame her though; we were all lacking in caution as we rushed towards New Mine. She was shrinking into the shadows as much as she could to avoid the humiliation. Though I sympathised, my main concern was checking she wasn't going to do or say anything rash - I wasn't sure I could control Grimnir and her should they do anything to further upset this situation.

I drew myself to my full height and responded to the man in a clear, commanding voice, conveying calmness and strength without malice or anger.

“We three travellers left Birch Vale less than a tenday hence, on the orders of Cydor of the Explorer’s Guild. We are certainly friends of that fair town and if you knew the half of what has transpired in the time since we left, you wouldn’t be so hasty to draw your bows on us. My name is Bori Ironhelm, the only proof of that I have is my letter of introduction to the Explorer’s Guild from my Dwarven Clan Hold. These are my associates, Grimnir Craghammer and Merla Goodberry. Perhaps you will give us your name, sir, and lower your weapons for we have no quarrel with you.” 

"Yet," growled Grimnir. He just couldn't help himself, could he?

Reunited

My words seemed to be well received, as the leader of the hooded men apologised for his rude introduction, borne of suspicion, and introduced himself as Bruin Bjornson. He dismissed his warriors and invited us to join him for food and drink in front of a warm fire at the nearby Ranger Station that we had bypassed on our journey out onto the ice sheet. As we walked, he told us that Cydor and Omratin were waiting within to talk with us. He relayed that he and the other rangers had been engaged by Cydor to combat the growing orc and goblin threat in these lands - it seems we had begun to uncover this threat with our investigations in the caverns under New Mine. 

Bruin told us that these blue-painted orcs and goblins had taken control of the Ranger Station, to use it as a staging post to launch a raid on Birch Vale. Fortunately for the folk of the town, the greenskins were waylaid by their preoccupation with the Frozen Keep and a desire to get across the ice to see what treasures might be there. Their dithering had allowed Cydor to rouse the ranger bands together and launch his own attack, which had successfully crushed the evil greenskins. Hence, the burning pyre of corpses. From the telling of it, this sounded like a battle worthy of remembrance in an epic bardsong and it was a shame we missed out on the chance to crush some greenskin skulls. 

Anyway, by the time he had told us of what had happened, we had reached the small plateau where the Ranger Station proudly stood. There we saw our friend Omratin tending to the burning bodies of slain orcs and goblins, as well as their wolf and spider mounts. He returned our cheerful greetings with plenty of friendly back slapping, saying he knew we wouldn't have been felled by a few orc blades. Little did he know of what we had really seen since we left him at New Mine! 

Though it was a joy to see Omratin again, we were keen to follow Bruin into the Ranger Station and reunite with Cydor so that he might help us unravel all that we had learned. We entered the tower and ascended several flights of stairs, passing many armoured men who were at work clearing the detritus of a hard-fought battle. It looked like they were also restocking the Ranger Station - perhaps it was going to be fully manned from now on? That wasn't our concern and we pushed on past the soldiers, up to a large chamber where Bruin left us to go about his business. We opened the door and saw Cydor standing beside three other figures at a large table strewn with maps and parchments. He looked up with a broad smile as we entered. 

Cydor introduced us to his companions. It turned out that they were the Shadow Council - a body of free folk that work in parallel to the council of Island Town to detect and eliminate threats to the realm. They advise the Explorer's Guild and work outside of the normal politics. It would seem that our recent tasks had been guided by these four powerful individuals - hopefully they were satisfied with our efforts! 

The Shadow Council was chaired by Erlathan, who removed his hood with a flourish when Cydor introduced him. We were in awe as his features were revealed, as he was one of the Elven Folk. His perfect visage gave no indication to his great age (over 3,500 years apparently!), though his aura of wisdom was almost palpable. None of us had ever seen an elf in the flesh, few people had, so we felt honoured. 

The remaining members of the council were an auburn-haired woman named Rohan and a black-bearded dwarf named Khardir. Cydor told us that Rohan was a renowned ranger, patrolling and protecting the lands north of Birch Vale. Her nickname is 'Wollen Foot' as she's stealthy as a halfling. Finally, Khardir was introduced as the liaison to the northern dwarf mines and a strong leader of soldiers. His grizzled and scarred face was in stark contrast to Erlathan and attested to his experience in battle. I could see Grimnir nodding his approval when they discussed Khardir's troops wiping out a force of over 500 orcs and half a dozen heavily armoured battle trolls that were seemingly from the same clan as those destroyed at the Ranger Station, so at least he had earned my cousin's respect. 

The Next Quest

After the introductions and a fine meal, we got down to business. Cydor asked us if we had seen any more orc or goblin activity on our travels. I took great pleasure in seeing the look on his face when I told him that we hadn't seen any signs of greenskins at the Frozen Keep or in Eastport. There was stunned silence when they heard where we had been, which only deepened when we said that we had discovered the necromancer's true name as well as his mysterious benefactor, Felicia. It seemed that we had exceeded all expectations! 

The fact that there was another pair of portals connecting the Frozen Keep and the manor in Eastport was welcome news to the Shadow Council. Erlathan wanted to redirect the portals such that they could all be accessed directly through the one near Birch Vale - without knowing if we had more enemies to be worried about, this would give us a sound tactical advantage to be able to move quickly between locations. There was a good chance that no one was missing Felicia yet, so the quicker we moved the better. We agreed that Bori would go the manor house with Cydor while Merla and Grimnir would travel back to the temple north of Birch Vale with Erlathan. Using the amulets we had recovered, they were confident in re-aligning the portals.  

Following these preparations, the Council told us that they wanted us to investigate the Black Pyramid in more detail. This was to be a scouting mission, no more, but Erlathan made it clear that they needed to know more about this mysterious structure. Plans could then be made to decide how to deal with it. 

It seemed that the various threads we had been pulling at were all part of one extensive tapestry, but we had only been able to see small parts of it at a time. We knew there was some connection between Felicia and a creature of darkness that possibly resided in the Black Pyramid, or at least had designs on it. Magical portals crossing huge distances across the land had something to do with Dovoulad but had also been corrupted by followers of the death cult. And greenskins were gearing up for war - not that unusual, but they were gathering in larger numbers. Were they part of this, or were they taking advantage of the situation like the opportunistic scavengers they were? I was sure there was more we weren't yet seeing, but for now the path was clear - reorganising the portals and then heading to the steaming jungles to scout out the Black Pyramid. 

Rewards and Loose Ends

Of course, we agreed to help with realigning the portals and scouting the pyramid. We'd been though too much already, we wanted to know how this ended! And it was our duty as Journeymen of the Explorer's Guild!

However, we were Journeymen no longer as Erlathan rewarded our efforts thus far by formally inducting us as Guildsmen. We were awarded golden broaches to signify our status as having passed the Journeyman trials at the highest level. This was a proud moment for all of us. He told us to report to the Guild Master at Island Town once this business was finished with, where we would be given the best opportunities the Guild had to offer. In addition to that, he personally gifted us each with a star metal amulet embossed with a sigil meaning 'Elf-Friend'. The work was exquisite, clearly performed by a master smith and most likely Elvish work if my eyes didn't deceive me. We wore them with great pride and, as soon as I placed it about my neck, I felt the world seem slightly brighter and my feet fall a little lighter. There were some enchantments on these amulets that assisted perception and stealth, both skills that would be useful in our scouting mission. 

With our new orders received and rewards bestowed, we were given leave to complete our journey to New Mine with Omratin so that we could spend some time with the rest of the dwarfs. We would return on the morrow to begin the next stage of our adventures. 

In the meantime, I wrote a letter that I asked Cydor to get delivered to my clansmen at Khazad Dwemer. I dearly wanted to return and investigate the star metal forge at the manor house, but that wasn't going to be possible until our new mission was complete. I thought it was prudent to ask some of my kin to take my place in unlocking the secrets of the forge, and now felt like as good a time as any to get in touch with our family. Grimnir and I had been away for a long time and, now that we had been accepted fully into the Guild, perhaps we could begin to reconnect with our kin and wipe some of the stain of my cousin's transgressions. Moradin knew that we couldn't wipe the slate completely clean, but this seemed like a start.  

Next - Chapter 8

Cleaning up the Fossils

14th November 2022 

The Haul

I had a great haul from my trip down to the Jurassic Coast – one of the most successful fossil hunting trips I’ve had down there. I got a good selection of ammonites, some whole and some fragments, as well as a few nice belemnites and some bivalves. I made sure to pick up some crystal pebbles and rocks with assemblages of shells in as they would be interesting rocks to put in the garden for the girls to look at (and hold down picnic blankets!). There were a few finds that had been damaged so needed repairing, as well as a couple that could do with a bit of cleaning. I’m sure is more that could be done with an air gun or dental pick, but for starters I wanted to keep things simple and just sort out what I had found. More work could be done later if I felt any of the pieces needed it.

The haul

A complete beef rock ammonite, nice
scallop shell and ammonite fragments

A very big partial ammonite, a nice quartz
pebble and some shell assemblages

Small beef rock ammonites and other
ammonite fragments

Belemnites and coprolites - fossil poo

Close up of Seatown scallop

Ammonite from Seatown

Broken bivalve, possibly Gryphaea

Nice large rocks for the garden and some iron pyrite

I’ve collected quite a few fossils over the years, which have been stuffed in various boxes, left in the shed, maybe wrapped in newspaper. I decided that these finds deserved to be stored with a bit more care – I figured that if I properly documented what they were and where they were from then they could become something useful for the girls as they get older. Not that I’m trying to push them into being palaeontologists, but at least an appreciation of the science would be good! With that in mind, I ordered some various size cardboard boxes. The jewellery boxes come with foam already in them and are perfect for smaller fossils, and I’ve got plenty of foam to pack out the larger boxes. If I could get all of these fossils organised into one larger box, all in their individual boxes, then it would make it much easier to show them off in the future. Then I’ll have to dig out my other fossils and do the same, if I can remember where and when I found them! 

Boxes galore

Can We Fix It?

Yes we can!

I had three fossils that were broken. One large ammonite had been in two pieces on beach – shame we couldn’t find the rest of it, it would have been an enormous beast! Still, two pieces are better than one. The scallop shell from Seatown fractured as I was chiselling it from the rock surface. The shell was so delicate that it was translucent when held up to the light, so I was very careful to wrap it properly to bring home. Fortunately, it made it here without further mishap and looked like it should go back together without too much difficulty. Finally, there was the oyster shell, which I think is a Gryphaea, that lost a couple of bits of the shell just from the chisel hitting against the rock nearby. That one is very delicate, but again looked like it should go back together fairly well (except for the piece that was already missing from the middle when I found it). 

Two parts of a large ammonite

The broken scallop shell

A bivalve jigsaw - luckily only three pieces!

I used araldite 2-part epoxy to fix them all. I use this stuff for a lot of terrain building and it is incredibly strong. I did question whether it would hold the big ammonite, but I splodged a load of it in the join and it did the trick! The scallop went back together with barely a noticeable crack in it, and the bivalve jigsaw worked nicely too. It’s very satisfying seeing these three fossils back together. 

Prepared for repairs

All fixed!

Clean Up

Although I think that more could be done on some of these fossils to full prep and clean them, there were two in particular that were quite filthy and should be quick and easy to sort out. One had a lot of mud on it, the other some loose sandstone. Phil recommended soaking them both in some water overnight and then going at them with an old toothbrush, so I did just that – and even had my little helper giving them a bit of a scrubbing too! 

Soaking the filthy fossils overnight

My excellent assistant loved scrubbing the fossils...

...once I'd explained we wouldn't be using her
toothbrush to do it!

Another bivalve shell from Seatown (this one definitely is a Gryphaea) looks much nicer now some of the sediment has been taken off its shell. This one came out without getting damaged, so I didn’t want to overdo the scrubbing and cause it to get damaged now it is home! But I do think it might be worth coming back to this one later on, maybe with a dental pick as I don’t have an air gun, and carefully removing more of the sandstone to reveal the shell a bit better. For now, I’m happy with it, so it can be packed away in the box until I have a chance to look at it again.

The other one is a bunch of quite nice looking ammonites. Maybe there is scope to get some of them out fully, but I quite like seeing them all jumbled up together. Again, I'm happy with that for now.  

Scrubbing the sandstone off the bivalve

There is potential to remove more sediment
from the shell, but I would want to do that
carefully to avoid damaging it

There are some quite pretty ammonites in this
rock, now that the mud has been removed
so you can see them!

Fossil Hunting on the Jurassic Coast

7th, 8th and 9th November 2022

I studied Palaeobiology and Evolution at the University of Portsmouth with my good friend Phil, who now runs the Visitor’s Centre at Charmouth – the gateway to the Jurassic Coast and a fantastic place to find fossils. Mary Anning famously found the first described Ichthyosaur in the cliffs between Charmouth and Lyme Regis in the early 19^th Century, amongst many other amazing finds. I spent many summers in Lyme Regis with my family when I was young, and I have visited Charmouth plenty of times while Phil has been working at the Visitor’s Centre – it’s always good to have a local guide to help find the treasures on the beach (and have a celebratory pint with after!). Being an accomplished geologist himself and fairly mental about fossils, Robert was keen to get down to Dorset for some fossil hunting so we both went down for a few days of fun on the beach. We planned to go out of the tourist season so it wasn’t as busy, and to take advantage of the changing weather which scours the cliffs and the beach, depositing new rocks and churning up others, giving us the opportunity to find new fossils before they’re washed out to sea.

The beaches on the Jurassic Coast really are fantastic for fossil collecting and if you plan on going it's certainly worth checking out the Heritage Centre at Charmouth – it’s a charitable organisation that aims to promote safe and responsible fossil collecting. They do regular guided fossil walks, which are great for kids and adults. They also have some fantastic specimens in their centre that have been found by local collectors, including the ‘Sea Dragon’ Ichthyosaur made famous by Sir David Attenborough as well as a life size cast of the most complete dinosaur ever found in Britain. Visit their website here.  

Day One – Charmouth West Beach, Black Ven

Phil had helpfully suggested the best days to come, when low tide was in our favour, so we set off bright and early to head straight to Charmouth and catch the low tide for our first day out on the beach. After a nice little coffee and a gawp at some of the recent finds in the Heritage Centre, we donned our waterproofs and went out into the rain. I think you probably have to be a bit odd to want to go out on a beach in those conditions, but there you go, we loved it!  

Prepped for a good day fossil hunting

A man in his element

The beaches along the Jurassic Coast are highly productive in terms of fossils partially thanks to the land slips that occur here. The soft mudstone is easily washed away, causing the cliffs to collapse – in fact, Black Ven is the largest mudslide in Europe. This is good news for finding fossils but does mean that care needs to be taken on the beach. We’ve seen plenty of precarious boulders sitting up on the cliffs, ready to squish some unsuspecting people below, and large slips are common. Best to keep a healthy distance from the cliffs – the Charmouth fossil hunting code prohibits knocking bits out of the cliffs anyway, and there is always plenty to find on the beach.

A safe distance in front of the cliff face

In many ways, it’s a numbers game on this beach – the more rocks you smash, the more likely you are to find some treats inside them! Of course, smashing the right rocks is the key, and the guys at the Heritage Centre can help with that (though sometimes there are some good finds in the most unlikely rocks). You can see that there are loads of rocks distributed over the beach, so it can be a little overwhelming at first, but once you’ve got your eye in it gets easier. I collected a small bunch of likely looking rocks, gave them all a whack… and nothing. That’s how it goes sometimes! 

Plenty of rocks on the beach,
but which ones to smash up?

A good selection of likely looking rocks...

...reduced to rubble with no fossils in sight!

We did find a smattering of ammonites and belemnites. Some nice rocks with assemblages of fossils in them – not really suitable for breaking up, but I took a couple to show my girls at home (the larger ones will look nice in the garden!). Phil got Old Painless (his sledgehammer) out to break a couple of the larger rocks, not just to make carrying it all the way down the beach worthwhile, but because some of those larger limestone nodules really were difficult to break open with regular hammers. It’s good to have the right tools for the job, though I wouldn’t expect most visitors to Charmouth to need the sledgehammer!

A small partial ammonite, not the best find but it's a start

Phil swinging the sledgehammer.
Don't worry, he's a professional!

A nice little assemblage of shells
in this nodule

I’ve never found anything from any vertebrates on the Jurassic coast. Both Robert and I were really keen for some bone or teeth or something – anything from an Ichthyosaur or a Plesiosaur really! One of the most frustrating types of rock on the beach is known as beef rock. Calcite crystals within the layers of mud makes this rock which appears sort of fibrous, which is where it gets its name from (it looks quite beefy), but some of the pieces of it look remarkably bony once they’ve been washed and worn by the sea. The number of times I’ve picked up a piece of beef rock, excitedly thinking it was a vertebra… but, sometimes there are quite nice ammonites found in the beef. They look different to the other types of ammonite, but we found a few little ones which are quite nice. There was a large one embedded on top of a huge slab of rock that had recently fallen down, so I used the bolster and hammer to get it out as carefully as possible. It could maybe do with a little cleaning up, but I think it’s a nice one – finally, something good from the beef rock!   

A decent beef rock ammonite

One thing I think is worth bearing in mind if you do go fossil hunting at Charmouth is that it isn’t that easy. Sure, sometimes kids stumble on amazing finds, but many people find very little. Phil’s been working down there for years, walking the beach so many times and breaking open so many rocks that he really has his eye in for spotting likely rocks as well as have the expert touch for splitting them open to give the best chance of finding something good. Go out walking with someone from the Heritage Centre, they’ll really help. And at the end of a long day fossil hunting, a nice pint of Palmers 200 goes down a treat! 

Phil's rock splitting skills at work

A nice pint after a good day on the beach

Day Two – Charmouth West Beach, Black Ven

Our first day at Charmouth had been one of my most successful days fossil collecting on the Jurassic Coast. I didn’t get photos of everything on the day, but I got plenty of nice specimens in my bag to take home! The weather had been OK, but there had been much heavier rain and storms overnight – good news for people looking for the beach to get battered – so we decided to return to Charmouth for a while in the morning, to hopefully pick up the spoils of the storm. The beach certainly had been battered and, in some ways, seemed like a different place – it really highlighted how the same mile or so of beach could be picked over every day as it could be incredibly changeable. But, though we started off with some blue sky, the storm really wasn’t done with us yet… the storm clouds gathered, the wind picked up, and suddenly we were being pelted with hail that was driving almost horizontally down the beach. It was unreal! We just turned our backs and weathered it out for a while, hoping it would settle down. Obviously, we couldn’t shelter by the precarious cliffs or we could have added falling rocks to the bombardment! We eventually decided to make our way back to the Heritage Centre, giving up on that stretch of beach for the time being.  

Some blue sky after the storm last night

The beach had been pretty roughed up

Storm clouds were gathering

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. The hail eased off as we trudged back, so we kept our eyes peeled. Phil spotted a little bit of ammonite shell poking out of a rock and decided to give it a whack. This was literally the last throw of the dice on Charmouth beach for the morning. We were soaking wet, worn out from walking through the storm, our ears ringing from the whistling wind, but none of that mattered when he split this rock and Robert opened it to reveal this beauty! It's a large ammonite (an Asteroceras obtusum, to be precise), and you can see both the internal structure and the shell on the other side. It really was a lovely find and very exciting to be there when it was opened. Phil normally only sees a handful of these a year, so they really are quite special.

A great example of an Asteroceras obtusum

Day Two – Seatown

We hopped in the car after getting off the beach at Charmouth to head down the coast a little bit towards Seatown. Though it was past low tide, we should have had some time to get on the beach there for a quick look around. The weather wasn’t playing ball though, as the high winds were pushing the waves in far quicker than expected! Looking down the beach, there was no way we could safely get out to the fossil hunting ground and back again, so we parked that idea for tomorrow and went to the pub for lunch instead. And what a lunch it was! Local scallops followed by local mussels (with a couple more pints of 200 of course) – it’s hard to beat local seafood right by the sea, it was absolutely delicious.

So, overall, not as successful as yesterday, but that big find by Phil at the end of our walk at Charmouth made it worthwhile. We planned to return to Seatown tomorrow. 

Looks great, but it was incredibly windy -
and no way to get up to those cliffs with the
waves and tide coming in

Looking forward to our lunch!

Day Three – Seatown

It was our third and final day of fossil collecting for this little trip. After not being able to get on the Seatown beach yesterday, we came straight here in case the weather got in the way again. Actually, it turned out to be a pretty glorious day! The beach here is quite different to Charmouth. The cliffs are somewhat younger (still Early Jurassic but more like 185 million years old compared to 195 million years at Charmouth) and comprise more sandstone. Down by the sea, the beach is covered more in shingle rather than shale and larger rocks, which presents its own challenges for walking as your feet sink into it, but you have to walk past all that along the shore to where the larger rocks lie. It was an absolutely stunning walk on such a beautiful day. 

A beautiful day at Seatown

It's a bit of a walk to the fossil hunting grounds

The Anchor Inn is just visible - what a great pub!

Great views still as the larger rocks herald the
start of the fossil grounds

Lyme Regis is just visible in the far distance

Although the beach is quite different at Seatown, there are still plenty of reminders that, just as at Charmouth, this cliff is falling rapidly away and caution needs to be taken in case of rockfalls. 

The broken fence is a reminder that, not so
long ago, this wasn't the edge of the cliff

Fresh landslip at Seatown

Fresh landslip at Seatown

Fresh landslip at Seatown

Once you’re at the fossil grounds, the idea is much the same as at Charmouth – find the right type of rocks and break them open to see if there’s anything inside. A lot of the nodules here are bigger as they’ve not had so much wave action to grind them down. Still, that gave me a good excuse to have a go with Old Painless! 

I got the chance to have a go with Old Painless!

I got the chance to have a go with Old Painless!

I did find that there were more fossils on the outside of some of these large sandstone blocks that had fallen out of the cliffs. There was the beef rock ammonite that I got from Charmouth, but it seemed that there was a greater variety of fossils on these blocks at Seatown – if they could be safely pried from the rocks they were attached to. This required quite a lot of patience and perseverance, as well as a certain amount of brute force and ignorance! It actually became quite liberating when I realised that these fossils were going to get battered by the sea in a matter of hours, potentially damaged by tomorrow and certainly destroyed or washed out to sea very soon if nobody collected them. Thinking about it like that, it was better to have a go and potentially damage them in the process rather than just leave them to the elements. Before then, I was quite paranoid about trying to retrieve them with minimal damage. That’s not to say I became totally carefree, but I felt better about trying and less worried about perfection. As Phil also pointed out, they could be repaired later if they did get damaged during extraction.

I found two lovey bivalves that both looked like they could have been living out in the ocean today – they haven’t changed all that much over the millions of years! (I can think of some bivalve specialists who would probably balk at those sort of comments…) I managed to get them both off the rocks they were embedded in using a hammer and chisel. Both got slightly damaged in the process, but I kept all the bits wrapped up in newspaper to take home for repairing. They’re some really nice examples I think. 

Fossil scallop in situ

Fossil scallop, extracted and slightly broken

Fossil oyster, possibly Gryphaea, in situ

Fossil oyster extracted, minor damage

Climbing around on the rocks did get me thinking about the slight irony that we were so focused on these fossil shells, some of which almost look just like the ones we see today, and we were totally ignoring all the things that were alive around us! If any of these limpets or snails or whatever got buried and fossilised, would there be another set of palaeontologists clambering about this area millions of years from now, getting all excited about them and considering how interesting it was that the shells still looked much the same as they had done in the past?

I liked the different colour of this limpet shell

A bunch of living limpets

This snail was making its way around the rocks

We found a few other nice bits and pieces amongst the rocks. Some were impractical to do anything about other than take photos of them, like burrow systems on large slabs of rock. Just as at Charmouth, I found a bunch of likely looking rocks and smashed them open to find nothing, but I was quite satisfied with what I had found. In fact, I was more than satisfied with the entire trip – aside from being a fun three days with a couple of good mates, I had found a lot of good fossils. I have some nice rocks and crystals to take back for my girls to enjoy, and some interesting fossils for them to look at, so it was very successful. I was a little disappointed when I got home to hear from Phil that some kids had gone out on Charmouth beach today and found a load of Ichthyosaur bones… but there’s always next time!

The fossil hunting grounds at Seatown

Fossilised burrows on a large slab
of fallen rock

Aside from having a lovely time seeing my mate, Phil was immensely helpful; we wouldn’t have found half of what we did without his guidance. It’s certainly worth going to the Heritage Centre and booking on one of their fossil walks to get the most out of the experience. Everyone is friendly and keen to share their knowledge, and a little bit goes a long way towards helping you discover something interesting down at Charmouth and the neighbouring beaches. I’m looking forward to taking my girls down there next year in better weather and now I have a big pile of fossils on the kitchen floor at home to go through and sort out!  

Phil using his magic touch to split some more rocks

One more swing of Old Painless before it was time to leave

Packing up our finds and heading off