Legends are Made, not
Born, Dungeon Crawl Classics #0
Setting: Homeworld, May 1, Year 1
Premise: You are all townsfolk from the wilderness
Dundraville
The
The Merry Riot Inn is one of
Dundraville’s largest buildings and is a welcome sight to tired travelers. The
inn is owned by several prominent townsfolk including the brewer Berk, and
Kerwin Krell the outfitter. The inn boasts a massive common room with full food
service, and eight guest chambers. A trio of attractive sisters, Darly, Dayla
and Dayl usually act as serving maids. However Dayl has been kidnapped by the
ogre, leaving the remaining sisters quite distraught.
Kerwin Krell maintains the busy
outfitting and supply shop, Kerwin’s Outfitters. His shop stocks most
adventuring gear, including alchemical items, as long as they aren’t too
costly. His prices are a bit higher than one might find in a city, however.
Kerwin also maintains a limited supply of simple weapons and armor. Kerwin is a
short, aging man with salt-and-pepper hair and a bad comb-over. He wars simple
clothes and always greets customers with a forced smile.
Two Halfling brothers own and
operate Berkclay Bros. Brewery. Clay is the master brewer, and was capitalized
by Berk, who settled in Dundraville a few years back.. In addition to common
ale, they also brew a dark stout, pale ale, and micro brews of odd flavored
ale, such as pumpkin ale. A popular local brew is fire ale, brewed with spicy
hot peppers and guaranteed to cause heartburn, even in dwarves!
Just west of town, located on a
small rise near a stand of woods, are seven massive stone monoliths arranged in
a druid’s circle. The stone circle is centuries old, but is still tended by an
order of druids that monitors the region.
Outside of town and to the south
is an old hut on the western bank of the river. The hut belongs to an old
one-armed hermit named Tarik. He is a grouchy retired adventurer who has seen
some sixty winters. Years ago he lost his right arm when he foolishly
confronted the ogre, shortly after it settled in the nearby cave. Although the
single club swipe destroyed his arm, Tarik managed to wound the giant enough to
send it retreating to its lair. Tarik amputated his own arm, and bound his
wounds. He settled down to become a woodsman, fisherman, and woodcarver.
The Wizard’s Tower: Located to the northeast of town is a single
stone tower. Nerenethos lives in this tower, along with his apprentice,
Anya’drea. The wizard is away traveling and the tower is locked. Rumors abound
regarding the dark experiments Nerenethos performs in hidden underground
chambers.
Characters:
Anya’drea: You
love to talk, to anyone, about anything. But you prefer to talk about magic,
and just how great a wizard you plan on becoming someday. If nobody will listen
to you, you'll even talk to yourself, just to break the silence. However, you
refuse to answer yourself. That's where you draw the line.
You have
been a wizard's apprentice for nearly two years now. Nerenethos hasn't taught
you much, yet. But any day now you'll be wielding mighty incantations. You
hope. Actually, you spend most of your time cooking meals, sweeping the tower,
and washing laboratory glassware. Perhaps he doesn't recognize your limitless
potential for the arcane arts. Or worse, he just wants a servant he doesn't need
to pay. When he left town, he didn't even trust you to stay at his tower. He
locked all the doors, and protected them with magical wards. Sheesh!
Becarus
Delaurentis Corbin: Your full name is Becarus
Delaurentis Corbin, but everybody calls you Bec. You are a simple farm boy in a
six-foot-six-inch, 250-pound frame! You are not the sharpest tool in the shed,
and you lack basic social skills and etiquette. But what you lack you make up
for in brute strength and endurance. If there is heavy labor or a menial task
to be done, you are the man. Tasks that require finesse and dexterity, on the
other hand, aren't your forte; you often break tools with your gnarled powerful
hands. Such duties are best left to others. Your papa once asked you to shear a
sheep, and the poor creature needed to be put down shortly thereafter! Ever
since, you shy away from such delicate creatures.
Shortly after your 18th birthday, you
joined the local militia. You enjoy taking orders, and have no desire to climb
the ranks of leadership. Although not very skilled at wielding many weapons
besides your spear, you make up for formal training with the strength of a
bull. The militia taught you the basics of wearing and caring for armor, but
you disdain most forms of armor. They are always tight in the chest and arms,
and downright uncomfortable.
You are boisterous, but prefer to use
short sentences and simple words. Other folks often confuse you with fancy
words and such. Often you feign understanding, and do your own thing anyway.
One flex of a powerful arm, and they tend to leave you be. You are naive and
trusting, and quite shy around pretty women.
Bowen: The
son of a herder, you actually reside outside the town of
You are a quiet individual, and speak
in a low monotone voice. You are awkward in town and around other people; you
prefer sleeping under the stars in the company of animals. This gruff attitude
tends to rub people the wrong way, but you mean them no harm or disrespect.
Lord Casimir La Frond: As a respected member of the La Frond
family, you bear the finest equipment, and keep it impeccably clean. One must
not only bring evil to justice, but look dashing in the process. You hope to
get by on your combat prowess, town knowledge, and good looks alone, and hope
to not have to pull any family favors. Still, Mother insisted you bring a
potion capable of healing your wounds. You'll try your best no to let anyone
see you consume it (if it's even needed), so they don't sense any weakness in
their fearless leader.
Mischa: You
are an elven adept called the Witch of the Wood by many ignorant townsfolk.
They clearly fear your divine connection with nature, which suits you fine. You
are introverted, and prefer to be left alone to obtain an inner peace with
nature. That inner peace has been interrupted by the arrival of the ogre years
ago.
You are mysterious and aloof, if not
downright haughty at times. Years of self-imposed exile have given you a dour,
pessimistic view on most situations. You hide in voluminous robes and speak in
Elven, unless you must converse with others. In addition to wielding divine
spells to aid nature's children, you are quite adept at wilderness lore. You
can track a fox through a rainstorm, and can mix herbs to create healing
salves.
Newt: Your
father was a locksmith, and he demanded you follow in his footsteps. But
frankly, locksmithing is quite boring. So you left home to travel and discover
what you wanted to do with your life. During that time, you've had many jobs,
including court jester, manure shoveler, and short order cook (pun intended),
to name but a few. Finally, you discovered a skill you enjoy: alchemy. It's
dangerous (you've singed many an eyebrow), profitable, and yields fascinating
items that make everyday life easier. Besides, you have other useful skills,
such as sneaking (long story), and you still know the innards of most locks.
You prefer to hang back and avoid the close combat. A gnome like you could get
stepped on. Instead, you focus on tossing alchemical goodies into the fray, or
using your crossbow.
You speak very fast, and have a habit
of rubbing your hands together. You are fascinated by magic and those who wield
it, but believe alchemy can achieve similar results. You have many alchemical
ideas you wish to explore, and carry a small notebook in case inspiration hits
you on the road.
Date: Friday, May 1, 1
Location:
The Merry Riot Inn
The Merry Riot's door slowly opens to permit
a splash of midday sun. Following on the heels of the light is a dark and
disheveled youth who grips a worn battleaxe in a white-knuckled hand. As if
just realizing where he is, the young man mumbles to himself and, relaxing his
grip on the weapon, turns to close the inn's door. He scans the common room in
hopes of spotting Mischa, a kindred spirit, before setting himself down at the
largest empty table he can find.
While Bowen is not unknown in
Dundraville, and certainly feels like no outcast there, he has never been quite
comfortable around those that make a stationary living. He prefers his ranging
habits under swaying trees and along lazy creeks. As his mind turns over such
matters, he steals a glance at the axe resting at his side. It, too, makes him
uneasy. Though a powerful weapon in its own right, and a family treasure, it's a
sloppy weapon for both hunting and butchering, and has limited use when setting
snares. It marks, for Bowen, a change he wishes to resist. A step in directions
that, while unknown, must certainly lead him away from his peaceful and modest
life.
The
door to the tavern opens yet again, and a slight figure completely shrouded in
a deep green cloak and a voluminous hood covering much of the face stands there
for a moment.
The tavern goes silent as all
the patrons notice the witch enter. One can tell by the distance the other
patrons are keeping, that she is an unusual sight in this town. Every table of
patrons seems to cast furtive glances at the silent figure moves silently
across the tavern to the table Bowen sits at.
Mischa seems to not notice the
silent stares and whisper.
"Good Day." she says as she nods at Bowen with a nearly imperceptible
motion of her head. "I see the others have not yet gathered."
Mischa sits down at the table
and falls silent and motionless, as if trying to erase the surroundings and
forget that she is surrounded by the people and not her beloved trees.
Bowen nods stiffly in acknowledgment as Mischa sits.
"Not yet," he says quietly. Then, in a whisper, "Let us hope
they find their hearts strong today. I hold lit'le fear over Bec or the stout
one, but a noble's bluster is not the same as courage."
Bowen returns to absently
following an errant ray of sunshine as it slowly travels along the floor. Under
his breath, he curses the ogre for wasting a day's good sunshine.
Bec lifts his head off the table with a start upon hearing
his name. With a groan, he rubs his throbbing head and looks at his passed out
companions. After guard duty, Becarus had stopped in for a drink with his pals.
Then, one after another, people had come up and bought him drinks. A pale ale,
a nice stout, then Master Wergins brought over that keg of fire ale...then it
all becomes a blur. Damn that Clay.
With another groan, Bec find
his feet and sees his future companions sitting at their table. The lumbering
six and half foot guardsman lumbers to them. He clumsily approaches yet pulls
up short, hesitating to actually sit down. He appears to blush slightly as he
makes contact with Bowen and Mischa.
"Um...hello. My name's
Bec. I'm going to be going with you." He extends a meaty hand in greeting.
From within the folds of her robes Mischa extends a
slender gloved hand to Bec, and motions to a chair at the table. "You
should sit, we should discuss our plans and find out what the townspeople know
about the ogre."
Mischa pulls her hand back
into the folds of her robes and resumes quietly meditating.
Bowen, having to look almost directly up to meet Bec's
eyes, wipes his soiled hands on a similarly soiled doe-skin tunic before
extending it in turn. He cannot help but consider how small his hand looks
inside Bec's.
"Indeed, sit. I'm sorry I
hadn't noticed you earlier. Had I realized that snoring lump o'er there was
you...." Bowen drifts off as he takes a renewed look around the room.
"Well, I don't think any of the others are hiding from us in here. Please,
Bec, sit. Before I strain my neck."
Purposely not looking up at
Bec, Bowen continues, "Once a few more arrive, perhaps we can begin goin'
over our plan in some detail. Until then, any thoughts? Perhaps we would be
smart to speak to Tarik? He fought the beast an' lived."
A soft melodious voice speaks from the depths of Mischa's
hood "We should speak with the druids as well; they are in tune with far
more then many can perceive. They may have invaluable insights into the area we
must travel. I do agree though, the hermit must be spoken with. He has faced
the foul creature, and though he may be able to tell us more of the layout of
the cavern, as well as tell us where he injured the beast. It could be a weak
spot that we can exploit."
Bec grabs the chair shown to him and sits. The wooden chair
groans in protest to his weight. He listens, nodding at his companion's ideas.
Bec scratches his head. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with talkin' to
Tarik. Fun old coot, he is. Tells a good story. A great story, if you get a few
drinks in him. Don't know how much he can tell us about fightin' ogres, though.
I'd rather not follow any advice that gets a limb ripped off. Figure, we
surround him and hit him with spears and axes and such until he's dead. The
ogre, I mean. Not Tarik." Bec suddenly turns a little red. "I guess
you figured what I meant. As for druids...I don't know much about..." A
panicked look comes over Bec as he suddenly looks around. "Now where did
I-" Suddenly, Bec gets out of his seat and goes over to the table where he
was sleeping. From under the table he pulls a spear out of a puddle of
(hopefully) beer. The spear looks like a child's toy in his hands. With an
embarrassed and guileless grin he looks back at Bowen and Mischa. "Always
losing this thing." He quickly returns to his seat at the table.
Anya'drea opens the door to the inn proudly displaying a
magic wand at her hip, protruding conspicuously from her dull blue robe. The
fine-boned girl moves deliberately under the load she bears, although not
overly burdened. Several patrons avert their eyes as she pans the room for her
companions, to avoid the long conversations she is well known for.
She spots Bec, Bowen, and
Mischa and walks slowly toward them, “Greetings friends! I hope that all has
not been decided with regard to our plans, as I am a bit late, I do apologize.”
Anya'drea stands, half leaning
on her quarterstaff, feigning that she is barely able to stand.
"Please, miss, sit down. You're looking as if you
can barely stand!" Bowen says, pondering the blue robe and wand. "Its
good to have one such as yourself along with us, but you will be doin' no good
if you are fatigued."
Indicating Bec and Mischa with
his free right hand (the left is absently toying with his axe), Bowen
continues, ""We have planned lit'le thus far, though we have agreed
upon two things, if I am not presuming too much... That is, we have agreed to
speak to both the one-armed Tarik and the Druids. As neither are out of our way,
there is little harm, I think." As he finishes, he makes a symbol of
aversion with his hand, pondering misfortunes either real or imagined.
A little embarrassed that he
has been talking so much, and a little more that others have been listening,
Bowen stares down at the table, wishing he had a mug of something strong to
hide behind.
Anya'drea looks over the group somewhat dejectedly and
sits, "Thank you friend" Her attitude apparently improving upon being
seated, she continues, "Speaking with Tarik is most certainly a prudent
plan, as I was going to suggest this myself. We may obtain some clues as to how
we should battle the ogre, as well as any other obstacles we may encounter on
our way to his abode."
Looking to the elf Mischa she
inquires of the plan to visit the druids. “I would like to discuss talking to
the druids however, as I am not clear on what is to be gained there. Surely
they have some knowledge of the land in general, but being local townsfolk
ourselves, surely we posses an equivalent knowledge of this area, I believe.
However, I am open to discussion on this matter, there is no need to be hasty
about devising our strategy."
Without hesitation she
continues as if not requiring so much as a breath, setting her quarterstaff
awkwardly on the table. "I believe it is wise of us to also discuss, once
our party is all present and accounted for, the equipment we carry as well as
our
Finally addressing Bowen's
comment, she finally completes her rant, "No dear Bowen, I am not overly
fatigued but thank you for your concern. Although my studies with Nerenethos
can be quite arduous indeed, you know he is grooming me to be a great wizard one
day. The experiments we perform there are quite amazing, and I am intimately
involved with all the goings on there, however I am not at liberty to discuss
the private business of the tower" she says, attempting to impress her
companions.
She leans back in her chair
briefly, looking as if impressed at her own ability to speak at length, and
then sits upright again, attentively awaiting the continuing discussion.
The tavern door swings open once more and in walks a
blackened gnome, his clothes singed and trailing a wisp of smoke. Muttering
rapidly under his breath, he ignores the tavern's other patrons and makes his
way to the bar, where he quickly sits down, still muttering.
The bartender grins at the
gnome. "Good day, Newt," he says. "Tried to get into Nerenethos'
tower again, eh?"
Newt glares at the bartender.
"Yes, yes, I certainly did. I swear, there's careful and then there's
paranoid. When I get in there..." He breaks off and turns suddenly to see
Anya'drea glaring at him. He flashes her a cheeky grin. "Just kidding, of
course, Anya. I, uh, had some trouble with an experiment is all. Say, look,
it's Bec and Bowen and Mischa and everyone. How's it going? What're we doing,
planning the trip? Of course we are. I bet that ogre's got some great stuff, I can't
wait." He sits down at the table with the others, still talking rapidly.
"So, what's the plan? Talk to Tarik, eh? Good idea, I would've suggested
it myself. Well, what're we waiting for, let's go!"
He nearly leaps out of his
chair and rushes out the door. The rest of the group stares after him for a
moment, then he walks back in and sits down again. "So..." he says,
"what're we doing?"
Mischa speaks softly again, her voice just barely
reaching everyone at the table.
"We dear gnome are indeed
planning on speaking with Mr. Tarik. I have also stated that the druids should
also be spoke4n with, as they are far more in tune with natural surroundings
then any other townspeople, be they wizard or peasant. They can feel that which
wounds the land, and that ogre is indeed a wound on the land."
Mischa pauses for a moment and
though you can not see her face from under her hood, you can sense her gaze
shift to Anya'drea. "Contrary to your feeling that we are in no rush, time
presses in on us from all sides. Your people have poisoned the ogre's ale, if I
am not mistaken. This means we must move quickly and press the advantage while
it is ours. The poison is weak and will not impair him for long. Also there are
the lives of your townsfolk to consider, should we delay their lives are most
certainly forfeit."
Bowen mumbles at this, somewhat inaudibly, but you can
makes out the words "...power, stinkin' noble, and snare..."
He gives the gnome a curt nod of welcome. "G'day, though I fear it already
grows late."
Straightening, Bowen turns a
his weathered features on Bec with an appraising glance. Apparently satisfied
with his inspection, he continues. "Since our lit'le Lord has not deigned
to appear yet, I believe that places you in charge, Bec. You are the town's official
representative. What shall we do first?
Cutting Bec off before he can
even begin to speak, Bowen turns to Anya'drea and says, if somewhat briskly,
"I am a trap'er by trade, and I harbor the skills that a trap'er finds
most useful. I also rival any man within this town who fancies himself a shot
with a bow."
Newt, you persistent rascal! How are you today? Please,
let us not depart before conversing with our companions, and surely we should
await the arrival of Lord Casimir, no? Anya'drea pipes up cheerfully. She has
been aware of Newt's repeated attempts at 'research' at the tower by virtue of
the very perturbed grumblings of Nerenethos. She believes Newt to be at least
partially responsible for the fact that Nerenethos will not allow her in the tower
in his absence, yet she does not begrudge him for his goals, after all, who
wouldn't want access to such a place of power in Dundraville?
Turning to Mischa she relaxes
her smile a bit, Good witch Mischa, I believe you misunderstood me. I certainly
do not suggest we linger in town too long, and only intend to suggest that we
should ensure we are prepared to work together as informed comrades, that is
all. Surely I cannot afford to stay here too long, for I am without rations or
coin. I certainly hope that Bowen can help with provisions along the way, if
our need arises."
Now addressing the group,
"To Mischa's point on the other hand, I think she is wise to note that if
we linger too long, we may find a very well-recovered ogre awaits us. To my
point earlier, and as I have begun divulging such information already, I am
sure at least one of you has noticed I carry a wand of magic missile. I intend
to save its use exclusively for the ogre. I also have several scrolls that may
prove useful as we continue, but as you can see, I am small of stature and am
loathe to engage in melee combat with any but the most feeble opponents,
preferring to use my sling. If we are all without coin, as I am, there is
little use in visiting Kerik's before we depart. I think at this point, all
should know most of what is not obvious from simple observation, and at any
rate, we should have some chance to talk at greater length during our
travels...now where is that Lord Casimir? Being a noble's son is no excuse for
tardiness!
Sensing
the others tire of her talk, Anya'drea quips "Yes Bec, perhaps Bowen is
correct, let us make with our plans now, I can see the group tires of my
senseless prattle. We can inform Lord Casimir of our plans upon his
arrival"
Mischa: "I am
skilled at tracking, healing and I have some spells at my disposal, and I also
am skilled at archery."
Mischa pauses thoughtfully
"We may want to head off and begin gathering the information we need from
those we wish to speak with. We can leave notice with the tavern keeper so that
Mr. Casmir can catch up with us."
Bec looks at the group. "Hello Newt, good to see
you." He shyly looks at Anya'dra, unable to look her in the eye.
"Um...hi Anya. You look..well." Bec quickly turns back to the rest of
the group and clears his throat. "I also don't think we should leave
without Lord Casimir. I don't want him getting angry at me. As for skills.
Well, I'm not the smartest man, truth be told. I don't know much fancy stuff,
like how to speak Elvish or talk to animals or nothing like that. Not much for
plans, either. My pa says I'm as strong as a bull, though. My ma says I'm not
half as slow and clumsy as I look, neither. And I can use this." He lifts
his spear. "Oh...I'm a good climber. My pa says I'm part squirrel."
Bec stops, looking relieved to be done talking.
Anya'drea looks directly at Bec and addresses him in the
kindest tone, "Dearest Bec, there is no need for you to feel uncomfortable
around me, we are all friends here. I believe you may be correct that Lord
Casimir may not appreciate us leaving without him. However Mischa may also
speak wisely, we may do well to strike out now and gather information, in fact,
we may find the hermit more at ease without a noble present. Alternatively, we
may not have to wait idly nor leave without him....
Looking around the inn,
Anya'drea spots Dayla and calls her to the table, “Dayla, we are wondering if
you, or perhaps your father, know the whereabouts of Lord Casimir. We intend to
have him in our party on our important mission against the ogre. Surely you see
the urgency of our quest, as your sister’s life hangs in the balance while she
is a held captive of the beast. So tell us, do you know where our nobleman
companion may be?"
Dayla shuffles over to the table, clearly distraught, sniffling and with red-rimmed eyes. “Haven’t seem ‘im, m’lady, and me Dad, well he’s been in bed since Dayl was t-t-taken. Oh, gods!” She bursts into tears, but quickly stiles them and puts a hand to her mouth. After a couple of quick catches in her breathing she says, “I’ll keep an eye out fer ‘im.” Her sad eyes take on a hard look. “Not that I trust him,” she whispers. “As bad as the mayor. I don’t trust him, neither. Raisin’ taxes every year. I’d bet the flock the ogre’s in league with the mayor, an’ the gold he now demands is linin’ the town’s coffers.” She stops and looks furtively about, before covering her mouth with hand again, turning and running into the back of the inn.
Avoiding eye contact with any members of the group, and
clearly uncomfortable over the emotional display of Dayla, Bowen stares out the
window. Without further movement he addresses the group. "Though I make my
livelihood among the common creatures of the woods, I have to admit I have not
had to hunt for my own food for well over a year. I'm a good shot with a bow,
but I'm rusty when it comes to followin' and trackin' any man'er of beast.
After all, with my snares, they come to me. Perhaps together, Mischa and I can
deliver our meals, as I too am without coin."
Bowen quickly stands and lifts
his large axe, careful to avoid hitting the others. "Let us go. I grow
weary of this waiting. If that... err, if he... if Lord Cas wishes to
help out, e can catch up. We cannot risk our chance, not to mention," with
a quick glance at Dayla, "the lives..."
Similarly hefting his
well-worn pack, (fastened to which is no ordinary bow), Bowen heads for the
door after giving Dayla a sad smile. With a quick motion the door is open and
closed behind him.
Anya'drea stands up, retrieves her quarterstaff from the
table, and gently taps Bec on the shoulder with her free hand, "Let's go
my friend, it appears our party is leaving, and I would rather be in a party of
six missing one, than in a party missing four, we'd do well to stick together
for now. At any rate, we may hear word of him if we take a moment to inquire on
the street before we make it completely out of town.
Motioning her hand toward the
door, she invites Bec, Mischa, and Newt to join her...After you?
Bec climbs to his feet. "Okay, okay. I'm coming."
He opens the wooden door and starts trotting to catch up with Bowen.
Upon seeing the trapper
walking swiftly, he shouts to him. "Hey, Bowen! Slow down. We're all
coming. We just...I mean, I just don't want to get in trouble with Lord
Casimir. You know, I care about the people too. I just...well, the plan was to
all meet and..." Bec hesitates when he catches up to Bowen. "I'm not
sure who's orders I should be following."
Mischa stands and walks out the tavern door without so
much as a second glance at the others.
Softly from under Mischa's
hood the lilting elvish tongue can be heard "Cyrn vysia osalojaer cestal
val pai maes."
(For those that speak Elvish in
the Tavern , Newt and anyone else "How poorly organized human plans do
seem.")
Satisfied he has roused the group into action, Bowen
takes only a few more steps before stopping and turning to face his companions.
Seeing that all but the stout one has followed him out, he strikes an
overly-pensive pose. He waits a moment in hopes that the gnome is not far
behind.
"As I see it, we have
only four things to do before we leave. We must talk to Tarik. We should
a'so be seeing the druids and even the brewers, who may have insight into the
nature of the poison used to drug the ale. A scowl passes over his face.
"Last, we could wait for Cas to show up. But ever since..."
His words trail off, but his
thoughts resume the sentence. Ever since he started taking on the
responsibilities of his 'rightful' station, he has seemed to become less and
less reliable to Bowen. They were once childhood friends, but had drifted apart
as the both matured. He wonders what could change someone so, or if all nobles
end up that way.
"So... right. Those are
the things we ought to be doin' before we leave. Anyone have anything else we
should do, or an opinion on what to do first?"
I think, Bowen, that we should leave word of our
departure at the inn, as we originally had intended, and I think we should wait
long enough for Newt to drag himself from the table, and I agree, the brewer is
a good idea, as you have said. Excellent idea!
At this Mischa speaks up, "The most logical course
would be to speak with those in town that may have information first, then
Tarik as he is on the outskirts and finally the druids as the circle is in the
direction the ogre heads."
A bit upset that none in the group is heeding her
suggestions, Anya gruffly stomps back in to the inn... I'll just do it myself
then! Hmph. She returns in half a minute.
I have asked Darly and Dayla
to tell Lord Casimir of our plan to visit first the brewer, then the old
hermit, then the druid circle. It certainly makes no difference to me, and
Dundraville is small enough that we would be able to walk the breadth of it,
from Nerenethos' tower to the druid circle in a matter of a few minutes. At
any rate, one plan is no worse than another, so Mischa, I have relayed this
plan to the girls at the inn. I suggest we stick to this, unless we are trying
lose Lord Casimir, surely you don't believe what Dayla accused him of, do you?
All accounted for then? Anya
looks around to see if all have made it outside, and none have left...and
half-expecting some response to the charge that the group is trying to lose
Lord Casimir.
Bec walks over to Anya. "I'm not trying to lose anyone.
I said we should wait. But then Bowen left and I wanted to stick together so...
Bec scratches his head for a second. "So, it's good that you left a
message. No one's ignoring anyone. We're all just nervous and worried about the
people that damn ogre took. So...let's..um...let's go talk to Clay?" Bec
look away nervously from Anya. "If that's okay?"
Anya blushes a bit, "I'm sorry Bec, and everyone
else. I know we don't want to wait too long, I'm just concerned that we are
without Lord Casimir, and that girl at the inn really shook my confidence a
bit. I had not considered that there may be a traitor among us.
Looking around to avoid eye
contact "I guess it's time, let's go visit Clay and put this uncomfortable
moment behind us.
Newt
looked up from his mug to discover that the rest of the party was walking out
the door. "Hey!" he cried, hastily swallowing the rest of his ale.
"Hey, I can't drink so fast, you know. Small stomach and everything."
He rushed out the door and fell into stride beside Anya. "The girl might
have something, you know, yes," he said, wiping his hands on his trousers.
"That mayor is a smarmy character. That's a great word, isn't it, smarmy?
Fun to say. I could definitely see him making a deal with the ogre, yes. Sort
of thing he would do. We shouldn't jump to conclusions, though. That wouldn't
be prudent. So, off to the brewers, then? I'd like to know more about this
poison, myself. Yes I would. Sort of similar to my area of expertise, isn't
it?" He rubbed his hands together, grinning broadly. Suddenly, he began
looking around, as if just missing something. "Say, where's that Casimir?
Lord Casimir, I should say. Noble, you know. Always late nowadays, it seems.
He's got important duties, I guess. All that responsibility sounds like a pain,
doesn't it. I don't envy him. So, let's talk to Clay!" He trailed off,
muttering to himself.
((OOC note, for clarification:
Unless it's obvious that Newt is directing his speech toward one person (i.e.,
he mentions them by name frequently, or he's answering a question) he's
basically just talking aloud to no one in particular.))
Then if we have finished leaving note for Casimir, and we
are agreed on our next course of action."
With that Mischa begins
walking to the south, towards the Brewery. She does not stop or look back to
see if the others are following her, but continues on at her usual pace,
seemingly careful to avoid crushing any flowers or grass beneath as she steps.
As you leave the tavern, who should approach but Lord Casimir himself? Walking with his usual swagger, he seems to be taking extra care not to turn around, in spite of the fact that his mother is whooo-hooing him from their family doorway, waving a hanky and telling him to not get hurt. His face reddens as he reaches you, as it’s painfully obvious that he can hear her. Everyone can hear her. He holds up one hand, crooked at the elbow, and she stops. A small smile creases his youthful face, as he believes he has commanded silence from her. Of course, as his back is to her, he cannot know that his mother has apparently taken his gesture as a wave, and has re-doubled her hanky-waving efforts.
“What ho, all? I hope I’m not too tardy. Family affairs, don’t you know?” he adjusts the straps of his breastplate. “Are we ready to deal with this blaggart of an ogre?”
"Thank you Anya for taking the initiative on the
message for Cas, though it seems it's not needed.” Bowen tries hard not to
crack a smile at the scene unfolding before him. "Welcome... Lord Cas. It
is good that you are ready, though we are not quite done here. If we hurry, we
might still be able to catch up with Mischa," Bowen indicates the cloaked
figure beating a careful path south. “We are heading first to the brew'ry, then
to Tarik, then to the druids. Then we head for the ogre."
With that, he turns to follow
Mischa at a fast walk, his features marred with less-than-pleasant thoughts.
“Yes, yes, quite correct. Exactly as I was about to suggest,” calls Casimir, as he trots after the others, his sword swinging a bit wildly with his quickened pace.
Mischa comes to a stop just outside the brewery and
finding a nice rock under a tree sits down to wait for the others. From her
side she pulls a small set of reed pipes and putting them to her lips, which
are still hidden under her oversized hood, begins to play a soft melody.
As
the others arrive, Mischa slide the pipes back into whatever hidden pocket they
had been pulled, and rises from the rock.
"Ah, Casimir I see you
have decided to join us. I guess our little band in now complete."
Berkclay Bros. Brewery
As you enter Berkclay Bros. Brewery, you are greeted by the master brewer, Clay; an affable Halfling with thoughtful eyes. Peering from behind a cask in the back, you can make out his brother, Berk, the shyer of the siblings. “Hulloo, what can we do for ye brave lot, this morn?” calls Clay in his typically cheery manner.
Knowing little about either alchemy or poisons, Bowen can
think of only the most base of questions and so remains silent. With the
exception of perhaps the simple Bec, anyone else in the group has a better
understanding of the nature of such things.
Upon getting a message from Casimir's mother to keep him
safe, Bec catches up with his party at the brewery. Passing Mischa waiting
outside, he steps in and sees the rest of his party beginning to speak to the
halfling brewer. Losing interest in talk about the nature of the poison almost
instantly, Bec starts sniffing around the casks of Clay's new Spring Ale.
Walking (strutting?) with his usual aplomb to the front
of the group, Lord Casimir inquires, "What is the nature of the poison in
the ale, and what sort of time do we have to act?" He looks about briefly,
but attempts to keep his focus on the brewers and their explanations, as Mother
taught him to do. Specifically, the young rake avoids eye contact with the
comely Anya'drea, as this may distract his noble cause.
Upon being addressed by the noble, Clay removes his cap begins fidgeting with it while standing stiffly at attention. “Yes m’ lord, of course. ‘Twas a mild violet rust poison. The best we could get our hands on, I’m afraid. Assumin’ the ogre has partaken, he should be quite drowsy fer the rest of the day; mebbe even the night.” Clay bows awkwardly after his recitation.
Lord Casimir smiles greatly and places his manicured hand
on the brewer's shoulder. "Thank you so much for your information. Be at
ease. Your aid will be noted when the minstrels sing our praises in the
alehouses and taverns for leagues around!"
Lord Casimir silently reflects that being a lord is no easy task; everyone
always is one edge and can't be themselves. He resolves to be less domineering
and perhaps friendly next time. At the same time, he hears the voice of his
father, "Men answer to fear, not love!"...
With that, Casimir looks at
the group and asks as he steps to the door, "Shall we? I believe I have a
date with an ogre!"
Feeling somewhat ignored, Anya'drea places a hand on the
nobleman's shoulder: "Lord Casimir, let us not be hasty, we still have yet
to visit the druids, and the hermit. Let us not forget our plans and rush in to
battle uninformed of the dangers we face.
Anya looks around the brewery
seeing many casks of ale lying in ferment, but none of this she finds
particularly interesting "...but perhaps my friends, our nobleman is wise,
we should leave at once and proceed to the hermit's home...there is little we
can learn from this brewer he has not already told us.
Flustered, Lord Casimir stammers, "...well, of
course, that's what I said. Precaution before action, after all. The druids,
then to fame and notoreity!" He pushes past the group and heads for the
door.
Bec notices that everyone is leaving the brewery. He grabs a
large earthenware jug and hands it to the brewer. "Fill it up, Clay. For
courage." Grabbing the jug, he takes a deep drink then plugs it with its
cork. "Ah...you've outdone yourself." Refreshed and starting to feel
more himself, Bec walks outside and starts jogging to catch up.
He looks for someone to walk
with. Lord Casimir? No, he's got more important things to do than talk to me.
He has things to think about. Anya? Of course not. I'll just start acting
strangely and act like a fool and embarass myself. Mischa? She seems nice
enough, but she's...she's an elf. She'll just think I'm a big oaf. Newt? No, he
talks to much and I can never keep up with his conversation anyway. No, I need
a man to talk to about the danger we're going into.
"Hey Bowen. How you feel
about all this? I figure when it comes down to it, it's probably you or me who'll
have to do this. You know...fight that thing" He grabs his spear tightly.
"Don't you be thinking I look forward to it. But
after Lord Cas gets himself bumped on the head, charging in like a
bravo, or worse, leaves us to fight while he seeks a lit'le respite... Bowen's
gaze shifts from Bec to the large jug of ale he still carries. "Don't go
celebratin' before the deed is done, yourself. We, all of us, need to be at our
best if we are to see tomorrow."
Testing the weight of his axe,
Bowen takes a few practice swings, surprised at how easy it moves for its size.
While an such a large weapon may be no good when hunting a rabbit of
fleet-footed doe, I may be a fitting weapon for a foe as large as an ogre. The
weapon was an oddity within the family of herders and woodsmen. It hinted at an
adventurous past, but for the life of him Bowen couldn't recall who it had
first belonged to. It seemed to matter more now than ever before.
Looking back at Bec, Bowen
starts up again in a hushed voice. "It may come down to one of us. If it
does, we are lost. Strength alone can’ot overcome the ogre. He has strength
enough for both of us. No, we need to be faster than him, smarter too. We need
to be trickier," Bowen says, looking ahead to Mischa and Anya'drea.
"We need every trick we have. And that, my large friend, is why we must
speak to Tarik!"
"But, if you want more
general advice, here’s what I know: Stay together, protect the ladies, and the
pointy end of the stick goes in the ogre. In that order. Heroes always end up
dead." With a harsh laugh he continues along, a few of the emotional
constraints, the shackles of 'city-livin,' falling away as the journey is
finally underway.
Mischa walks in silence taking in all the conversations
of those around her. Hoping the old Hermit would not be too bothered on having
his solitude interrupted, after all she didn't exactly care for her solitude
being broken.
Upon crossing the bridge out
of the village, and entering a more natural setting Mischa finally slides her
hood back, revealing her face to everyone, except Bowen, for the first time. A
wave of ebony rolls down her back as her hair escapes the bonds of the hood,
ending only after it has cascaded down to her knees. Her eyes, the color of the
newgrown leaves, seem to see each person with whom she is traveling for the
first time. They look out from a face the color of fresh cream. The eyes, they
look at each person and feel both cold and warm at the same time, having them
look at you feels as though they can see right into you. The eyes are the only
thing that gives a whisper of true age, for one that looks so young they alone
tell a different story.
Mischa studies each person in
silence as they walk. With a gentle shake of her head she softly says "Eir
mai baesia ol". ("Eir mai baesia ol" means "All so very
young".)
The Druid’s Circle
Just west of town, located on a small rise near a stand of woods are seven massive stone monoliths arranged in a druid’s circle. The stone circle is centuries old. As you approach, you hear the sweet sound of music. A lithe figure, barely five feet tall with long auburn hair and large green eyes is busily pruning the vegetation that seems to grow in harmony with the stones. The music is coming from the girl, a half-elf dressed in leather armor with a well-made scimitar on her hip. She seems to be humming to herself, oblivious to all but her work.
"Kyr Tysol, Pandraes os Baresi" Mischa steps
forward and continues on in her soft lilting voice "Vaeri vasyl os
ailerol, sher pai o
Mischa watches the movements
of the girls hands as she tenderly cares for the plants and smiles "Mes
kaeli tasi"
The girl starts, so engrossed with her work, and looks down abashedly, at having allowed you to sneak up on her. She replies to Mischa in the same tongue, and says, in Common, “But perhaps your companions would not appreciate a secret conversation. I am Sheryn-ella. Do you come to the grove to seek solace?”
"As you wish, then this tongue is fine." Mischa
clearly seems to dislike the common tongue, in fact short of speaking briefly
to those currently present, no one has heard her speak anything but her beloved
elven.
"We seek to remove the
blight on this land, the ogre. We had hoped you might have some insight as to
the area the beast dwells, as he is always seen leaving in this direction. He
disrupts the balance, and now has taken captives. Do you know of anything that
might aid us in our battle against this foul creature?"
The half-elf looks at Mischa for a moment and then look s away, going back to her pruning. “Perhaps the ogre is a balancing factor, after all? Think you that your or yours should be superior to all other things in the world? I see a village where a forest once grew. Who’s aid do you suppose was sought then, and who do you think was displaced for your pleasure?”
Mischa remains silent for a moment, but when she speaks
her voice is tight and constricted not the airy light voice she had spoken with
only moments ago. "Naesia thys tia vaeresi, Ai jholi shor si si'm ail si
thysaer, sol o Ai por byr shar eir sor thaedol bolandri myli saer thys si
tyraes aes. Ai shaer eir saer Ai car talaer tia thol shaesi velaer thys si aes.
Ai jholi eil taji tia cysti ail sor shyr, Ai masi tia jhori shor air eir air
masaer air'm shor ti. O eisi mor sher ei ol oli, eir eis Ai bai pyr, sher
shalalol thalys os bai, ci car byrn sajael jholaer os syri ailylael eilia
tostaer eindral cos os si thysaer paerelol. Pai si vae thys si mol os si var,
shaelari shi kai sai saes eir ialasaer shor cyrdaedi sar tae caer sai
Mischa's tone changes slightly
to a more thoughtful tone as she continues "The ogre may have indeed been
an agent of balance at one point, but there is something new and sinister in
his latest actions."
Looking back at the girl, "I do not pretend to know how this will play
out, but you know as well as I that this latest work is not the act of balance,
there is something darker here, if nothing else we must find the root."
The girl stops working, but only while Mischa speaks. As soon as Mischa finishes, the girl resumes her work, speaking in a soft, soothing tone, but not looking at the party. “You ask me to be an agent of change. This is not undertaken lightly.” She stops working but does not turn around. “I can tell you only this much, for ‘tis all I know. A few years back I recall seeing smoke coming out of one of the eye sockets on Skulltop Hillock, as you call it. Perhaps there is a way into the cave through the eye socket.
I do not know what motivates the beast but farmers in the outlying areas have noted many wolf packs are moving out of the hills. Last winter was so frigid, perhaps they seek warmer hunting climes. Mayhap the ogre also suffered through the winter and seeks to make his lair more habitable?”
Sheryn-ella then picks a handful of berries, and reaches into a pouch and pulls out a sprig of mistletoe and holly. She says something in a low voice and gestures over the berries. “Take these. They are goodberries and may aid you on your quest. Eat of them if you are hungry or injured. They are not as strong as a cleric’s magic, but may be of some aid. Take care that they will only work in such a way for the next two days. After that, they will become normal berries once more.” The half-elf holds out her hand in which are eight berries.
"Change should never be taken lightly, but nor
should it be feared. All things in nature change, the trees blossom, then
wither and die so that new life might take root. There is no life without
change, t'is that not true, Daughter of Earth?"
Mischa gently takes the little
berries, "Os sal shi shor o".
Mischa holds the berries out
to the others "I would suggest that we all carry one, for should another
fall, we may yet save them with this tiny berry. The two remaining, I leave to
you to decide."
Bec shrugs and takes the berry. "Makes no difference to
me about the extra. Too many berries sometimes give me a rash, anyways. Plus,
it takes a lot to knock me down. Give it to someone a little more
fragile."
Lord Casimir deftly slips the goodberry into his pouch.
He slowly approaches the giving soul that gave the gift and quietly states,
"Thank you ever so much for your unheralded benevolence. We cannot thank
you enough." He snaps around quickly, both physically and from his
emotional (for him) reverie, and loudly proclaims "To Tarik's!"
Anya'drea holds out both hands, cupped together as if to
catch water Mischa, I will take one for myself, as well as one for another, as
you have suggested. I am glad we had you here with us to speak to the druids,
as you clearly have a way with them that many of us would surely not.
Closing her hands gently
around the two berries, Anya'drea gently slips them away hidden in her robe.
Then perhaps, we shall go...
Anya turns away, and starts
slowly to the southeast.
Tarik’s Hut
You approach the old hut located on the west bank of the river. Outside the hut, Tarik, a fit and active man despite having seen some sixty winters, is chopping wood with is single arm. It looks to be a tedious process. While most might take such things for granted, Tarik must pick up a log and place it, pick up his axe, swing the axe, drop the axe, pick up each split piece one at a time, and stack them.
Mischa hands two of the three remaining berries in her
hand to Newt as they begin walking toward the old hermit's, and then slips the
last berry inside her cloak and into some pocket hidden within the folds of
cloth.
"Anyone could have spoken
with the druids, but it does help to hold the same things precious. When all
else might fail, understanding and common ground can make all things
possible."
Newt takes the offered goodberries and holds them
up, studying them closely. "Amazing! These little berries can sustain a
man for a whole day? Amazing! Druidic enchantments, eh? I thought as much. Very
interesting. A bit outside my knowledge, though. Unfortunate. Oh, well. Thanks,
Mischa!" He sniffs the berries surreptitiously, shrugs, and carefully puts
them into his pack.
Having stashed the berries,
Newt looks about and notices Tarik chopping wood nearby. "Hi, Tarik!"
he calls, waving.
The old man stops chopping and glares at the approaching group. He brandishes his axe. “Go away! I’m armed, ya know! And no jokes!”
"Please Tarik," Bowen calls from the group,
"we want only a moment of your time and a little of your knowledge. We can
be gone again within minutes. Can you help us?"
The old man scowls. “No time. Gotta chop the wood. Too busy fer chit-chat. Now leave me alone!” He turns to continue his labors.
From off to the side a bit away from the others, Mischa
speaks.
"Perhaps if one of us
were to chop the wood, you would be able to spare a moment? Your knowledge
would be invaluable."
“Ohhhh, sure,” sneers Tarik. If old oe-armed Tarik can chop the wood, anybody can. Well, missy long-ears, I don’t need no help choppin’ the wood. It’s all chopped. It just needs stackin’ now.” Under his breath he mutters, “Leave it to frivolous folk to offer to help do something that’s already done.”
Bowen takes a few slow steps forward and places his pack
and axe on the ground. "I'll stack your wood then, and you spare a few
moments for us. This is serious, and we need your help. Where do you
want it, by the wall?"
Tarik stops bending over, and looks at Bowen with clear, if not slightly tear-filled eyes. “You remind me of a young lad I used to know,” he says, his voice shaking slightly. “Ahem, well, of course! Where else would it go?” His gruff manner has returned but he gives Bowen a fatherly wink. “Now, what so important you have to interrupt an old man’s chores?”
Bec steps forward. "I may not be much for Druid talking
or plan making, but chopping and stacking wood is something I do very well.
Hell, I can chop us much wood as you'll need all week. If you would talk to
these people for a few minutes, I can get your whole day's work done. Consider
it an even trade." He puts his hand out to take the axe. With the other
hand he he holds out the new jug of ale. "I'll even give you as much of
this ale as you want. What do you say?"
The old man’s face creases in a smile as he reaches for the jug. “Well if it’s a social call, why didn’t ya say so?” But I still don’t get what’s so dad-burnt important that ya need ta talk ta me about.”
"It's quite simple really", states Lord Casimir
as he slowly walks forward to address the old codger, "you are the only
man within one hundred leagues brave enough to battle an ogre single-handedly.
Moreover, you lived to tell the tale. What cunning did you use to wound the
foul beast?"
The old man’s eyes light up, and he smiles. Truly the first real smile you’ve seen on his face. “The ogre? Aye, I can tell ye the tale. Come, come! Join me inside.” He hurriedly gestures with the hand holding the jug of ale. He leads you into his hovel and makes you as comfortable as possible, which is not very. He hands out mugs and pours the ale for those who will have it. During this he begins to talk. He tells you of his battle with the ogre, complete with colorful embellishments. A single swipe of the ogre’s club destroyed his arm, but Tarik managed to wound the ogre enough to send it back to its lair. After that, the ogre began its demands of monthly tribute. Tarik amputated his own arm, bound his wounds, and settled down to become a woodsman, fisherman and woodcarver. During the tale, he confirms Sheryn-ella’s statement about seeing smoke coming from one of the eye sockets in Skulltop Hillock. He also echoes statements made by Dayla concerning a mistrust of the mayor.
“A few years back I found a cave entrance on the west side of Skulltop Hillock. The caves head directly into the hillside, and perhaps are a back entrance to the ogre’s lair. An ancient warrior of great renown is buried under that hillock. His tomb contains many magical treasures.”
“Oh! That reminds me. I have something for you. Well, for one of you.” He reaches on top of a stack of crates and pulls down a masterwork arrow with a black-feathered shaft. It’s me lucky arrow. Not much use to me now. I don’t shoot quite so much these days.” He holds the arrow out.
The arrow is a +2 reusable arrow. It is not consumed when it hits or misses its target. You need only retrieve it to use it again.
Bowen looks around at the gathered companions. Only
himself, Casimir, and Mischa have bows. Cas and himself are likely to spend as
much time firing arrows as swinging blades, and both of their bows look to be
of a better quality. Mischa would no doubt find more numerous uses for it, and
may truly need it more.
"Please, Tarik, give it
to Mischa."
Bowen
considers then what he knows of the ogre's cave. Of the three entrances, the
"mouth" is the most obvious, and likely most dangerous. The eyes seem
to be connected to the ogre's cave, and may prove to be a good spot to sneakily
gain entrance and ambush the beast. This newest entrance, the possible back
entrance mentioned by Tarik, is the most interesting. It may contain items of
power and great use. But would a long dead warrior want to have his resting
place disturbed? It may also lead into the ogre's cave, but it may not.
Bowen considers the thought of
searching the tomb without coming to any conclusive decision. Another thought
occurs to him. "Sir, where did you wound the creature?"
Bec
ponders the shape of Skulltop Hillock. "Did I mention to you guys that I
can climb pretty good. Maybe I can climb up there and...I don't know..."
Bec pulls at the the straps of his ill-fitting armor. "It'd be a good
excuse to take this off. I'll leave it to Lord Casimir and you guys to figure
out what I should do. If you don't need me, I've got some wood stacking to
do."
Anya'drea
pipes up at this proposal... "If it is required perhaps Bec should climb
to find this entrance Tarik speaks of, but if it is only reachable by climbing,
we will certainly need to use one of the other entrances" (pauses) "
I know this is all quite obvious, but just to make sure we agree, we could head
up with the intent of seeking this new entrance, but quickly...we are nearly
finished gathering information"
She looks to Tarik:
"Tarik, how exactly did you strike the ogre, causing him such great injury
as to retreat?"
Tarik hands the arrow to Mischa. “It’s not where I wounded him, young folk. It’s how. Back in my day, I could strike a mighty powerful blow. I got a lucky hit and hurt the big feller pretty bad. ‘Course that was some years ago. Any effect from that blow has long since healed, I reckon.”
Mischa
takes the arrow gingerly in her hands, and with a slight bow of her head she
softly speaks to Tarik. "Thank you, I will see to it that this arrow flies
straight and true."
Bec ponders
the situation. "I could climb up to one of the eyes and lower a rope if
there is no immediate danger. Then we can all go up real secret-like"
OOC: Bec has no tactical
reason for this idea. He wants to show off his climbing strength and have a
crack at the ogre one-on-one if he's up there. Either way, he gets to be a big
(dumb) hero.
OOC: As
for the immediate situation, I'm not sure that there is much else to cover in
town, with the exception of the ogre-mayor connection, but that could take a
fair bit of time (and we are racing against time, so to speak) and confronting
the ogre first could aid us in that direction. As for me, as a player, I want
to head in the secret back entrance. As for Bowen...
"That seems like a good
plan. If we knot a rope afore hand no one should have a problem climbing up
with you. Likely the ogre at least considers someone will come after the
prisoners, so the front door wouldn't be safe. We don't even know if the ogre
is alone, so he may have guards. The back entrance is a risk that may cost us
everything if the beast recovers before, or if, we find a route into his lair.
I think it's somethin' we should at least visit, however. Deep in thought, Bowen
attempts to recall anything and all he knows (which is little) of this cave
network and tomb. Stirring from his thoughts and looking to Anya, Mischa and
Newt, he continues. "Do any of you have any tricks that might help us
sneak about?"
OOC, again: I'd like to make a
knowledge: local check to see what I may have buried in the back of my mind
regarding this hero. You mentioned he was renowned, so I figure I have a shot.
A name comes to mind: Lord Tulwar, but you don’t recall anything specific about him.
Lord
Casimir shuffles his feet and does a small figure eight with his left toe in
the dirt floor of Tarik's humble abode. He doesn't make eye contact with
anyone, but quietly states, "I do not feel totally comfortable giving
orders and assuming a commanding role at this time. I must allow that no one
can best me with sword or bow, I have seen but fifteen winters, which does not
a strategist make. I would learn from those who have seen more, until such time
as I feel comfortable assuming my rightful place in the lead. That being said,
I would like to go and go soon; that poison won't last forever. I would prefer
the way that gives the most chance of success, which in my mind is going
through the top...."
Bowen: "
Indeed. We aren't mythic heroes. Heroes end up dead. I say we do this with the
least risk pos'ible, and that means we act while the poison still inhibits the
beast."
"Yes,
yes!" says Newt, nearly hopping up and down with excitement. "We
should go, yes we should! We can talk on the way, can't we? Of course we can!
Let's go!" He looks about ready to leap out of his seat and rush out the
door again.
Skulltop Hill is about a ½ hour
walk outside of town to the west, following
Bec sucks
in his breath looking at the 200 foot climb. His courage fails him for a moment
but he is already smiling when he turns to face his allies. "So, the climb
or the walk through the front door? Or should we look for another way in?"
The
woodsman reacts to the site in a similar manner. The team's plans seem to be
slipping away. "I take it back. Even with a rope that's a dangerous a
climb to risk all our lives for. You might make it up with ease, but I'm not so
sure everyone else can, myself included. Do we even have enough rope?"
Bowen's brow darkens as he
considers the situation further, obviously uneasy with the situation, and
unsure of what course to take. "Still, it is the ideal entry for
us....."
Seeing
the massive climb that stands between the party and the top, Anya'drea shudders
suddenly at the thought of plummeting to her death, "Rope or not, climbing
is just something I do not excel in. I would be much better at finding a hidden
entrance, if there is one, in the cave Tarik spoke of; but in the end, I will
go with the decision of the group"
Lord
Casimir cranes his neck to see the top. "Um, no. I will not risk certain
death for possible death. I say we try the front door. Perhaps Bec with a
flanking manuever? All I know is that I am NOT climbing up there...."
Bec
scratches his head. "Flanking what now?"
Mischa
pauses thoughtfully for a moment, thinking back over the years since the beast
took residence in the cavern. "The beast has been exploiting your village
for some time, always without resistance, short of Mr. Tarik. He may be somewhat
overconfident in how fearful your people are of him. Which may give us a small
advantage, and if the poison has done it's job, he should be fairly subdued at
the moment."
Mischa looks to Newt, "Do you think you would be able to sneak ahead and
see how well fortified the entrance is? I know you are not a fighter, but I do
know you sneak about that wizard tower well enough. We would never be far
behind you, but your eyes are far better at seeing that which should not be
then rest of us, which might allow us to bypass any surprises he may have lying
in wait."
Newt
winks at Mischa and grins broadly. "Of course, of course." he
replies. "Sneaking I can do, yessir, er, ma'am." He lays his mace
down in the grass ("Hopefully I wont need it, no") then starts making
his way, staying as quiet and out-of-sight as possible, toward the cave
entrance in the hill.
OOG: private note sent to Newt
Bec waits
anxiously back away from the entrance with his companions, fidgeting with his
spear and pacing around nervously. He turns to Bowen. "You think the
little guy's okay?"
If
nothin' else we should give him another moment. He can't exactly yell out
'all's clear,' and if we charge in there and hes fine, we've ruined our chance.
Lets give him a lit'le longer..." Bowen lets out a long breath, counting
the seconds.
Lord
Casimir strings his longbow, anticipating a bit of action. He double checks
every buckle and fastener on his armor to see that he is adequately protected.
"Mom always said better safe than sorry", he says with a nervous
laugh. Privately, he thinks about all the training he has had, and that he has
never used this training with malice in mind, always a sparring partner or
trainer. He is very nervous.
Anya'drea
shifts from foot to foot nervously "Friends, I don't like the length of
Newt's absence, more so that he did not bring his weapon with him."
"Perhaps we should not
wait too much longer, he may have met with some ambush party, without armament
- he would have been an easy capture. At any rate, I don't think we should just
wait here for long."
"You're right. Lets go in after him, but as quietly as possible.
If he has been caught, let’s not fall victim to the same fate." Bowen
hefts his axe and removes his shield from the strapping of his pack. With a
look to the others to be sure they are also ready, Bowen begins slowly stepping
forward.
The Ogre’s Cave
Cave Entrance
The ground in front of the ogre’s cave is trodden with many hoof prints and barren of all vegetation. A large stone boulder, obviously used to block the cave entrance, has been pushed to the left. Beyond is a dark cave, perhaps 10 feet wide and 12 feet high. In the distance, the constant bleating of sheep can be discerned. Not far from the entrance is Newt, making painfully slow progress.
Anya'drea
sighs softly and whispers, "Ah, there he is, let us hold here and wait for
his report.
Lord
Casimir readies his arrow, in the event a nasty pops out at our creeping
friend. He carefully watches the path that Newt takes so that he can replicate
it if possible to avoid any pitfalls. If/When Newt enters the cave, Lord
Casimir will take that path to the front of the cave to provide cover.
Newt creeps forward into the darkness. Lord Casimir takes up his protective position, but loses sight of Newt, as the sunlight only penetrates about 10 feet into the cave, and allowing another 10 feet of shadowy light.
Upon
Newt's entering the cave, Lord Casimir begins counting silently to himself.
Once he gets to 90 seconds, and if he hears nothing, he will close to the
opening of the cave. That is, of course, unless someone waives him back! Arrow
is knocked; bow needs only to be drawn to fire..
Newt
goes only a little ways into the cave, barely to the edge of the light, before
carefully returning to the rest of the group. He shrugs as he approaches, then
says quietly, "Not much to tell, no there isn't. There's a passage in the
left wall about 20 feet in, and the cave goes back, far back, yes it does.
Can't see more without light though, it's no good wandering around in darkness!
But light's no good for sneaking either, so I'm afraid I can't tell you more.
Maybe we should all go in, but carefully, yes.".
Lord
Casimir sighs quietly to himself, more out of resignation than frustration. He
knows that this encounter may begin to define him as a respected male in not
only his family, but among people that may view him as superior someday.
"Let's get in there, and
wreak some havoc! I will take the front spot, unless anyone has any objections.
We will need a light source. Hopefully, the ogre will still be recovering from
the poison. Do we think the sheep or goats or whatever made those hoofprints
out there could possibly be in the cave and potentially give us away?" The
obviously nervous Casimir has a measured degree of nervousness that comes out
as boyish enthusiasm, but really is downright trepidation.
"Lets
hope they wont be any more noisy than usual. It may be wise to take the
branchin' tun'el first, to get an idea of the layout of this place before
rushin' into it's heart. Either way, I'm ready when you are." With both
hands full, Bowen does indeed hope someone else will carry a torch or lantern.
Lord Casimir realizes in his rush to
"take care of business", that with bow drawn, he really can't carry a
light source either. "Mayhap one with light will lead the way", he
states quietly.
"Someone
light me a torch, if you have one. I can carry it." Bec whispers, staring
with some fear at the dark cave mouth. "If someone's going to g-get hit, I
guess I've got the best chance of walking away from it." Bec shifts his
spear into his right hand and readies himself.
"I'm
afraid I have no light source, there is not much call for one it the forest. If
anyone has one, perhaps one who will not need to use both hands for fighting
would be best for holding the light. Oh, Newt do not forget your mace, you left
it out front, once you get it we should head in and see what we are
facing."
Realizing
he packed a few torches for just this occasion, Bowen produces one from his
pack and lights it with a grumble. He then holds it aloft, inviting anyone who
wishes to take it.
Mischa
Pulls her bow from her back and slides her cloak back over her shoulder
revealing her quiver. "Maybe having the person with the torch toward the
center of the group would be best, it would give us more visibility in all
directions, and it would allow those who would be better fighting the most
effective use of their hands. Also there would be less chance of the torch
being dropped, and us all being left in the dark, if the person holding it is
not in immediate danger."
Lord
Casimir hesitantly takes up a position on the left of Bowen in the front. He
smiles and calmy says, "Let's be careful, but not so much so that we don't
have any fun at all!" He winks at Bec, trying to instill his calm and
confidence, while maintaining it in himself.
Anya'drea
grasps her quarterstaff tightly.. "I hope we don't end up regretting our
entrance choice, although if we do, let us live to do so for many days. This
obvious entrance troubles
"
It is a gamble either way. The eyes are a risk we understand, and one we know
is not worthwhile. The front and back entrances are risks we do not yet
understand. We can assume that the front entrance is dangerous because it's
where the ogre will focus all of his attention and resources. But if he's
poisoned...." Bowen shuffles his feet and silently prays to no one god
that the group is not already too late.
"The back entrance is a
risk because it may take us much longer to navigate our way to the ogre, if it
con'ects at all! I believe time is the most important factor here. We can'ot
fight the ogre if he is fully alert." He takes a final, pleading, look
around as if to ask wont someone please take this torch?
Mischa: "Newt or Anya'drea might make the most logical sense
to carry the torch. Newt you only need one hand to use your mace, and you do
not seem to have a shield, although should you be able to line up a few good
shots your crossbow could be very useful. Anya'drea you said earlier you have
no real desire to ever get into physical combat, perhaps if you had a dagger or
another small weapon in case you needed to defend yourself, and you carried the
torch so you could hang back."
"Newt and I can easily
see well beyond the light source so it makes the most sense for us to be up
front with our bows out, as that will allow us to get off a few clean shots on
whatever we may encounter, before we fall back behind those that excel in the
more hand to hand aspects of fighting."
"Also, should for some
reason the torch be dropped or the flame goes out while we are in the midst of
battle, I have one light spell at my disposal. It will not last long enough for
exploration, but it should allow us to finish the fight, and get another light
source lit."
"Mischa
is wise in her thinking. I will take the second rank with sword drawn and
shield aloft so that when the bowmen (people) fall back, the ogre will get a
calamitous blow from my family sword!", whispers Lord Casimir.
Bec holds
the second rank as well, walking next to Lord Casimir. He holds his spear in
front of him cautiously, awaiting a sudden attack. He sees the wisdom in
letting the bowmen have a clear shot but still feels slightly cowardly for not
leading.
Seemingly
relegated to the third rank along side Anya, Bowen decides to exchange his axe
and shield for his bow, and fits an arrow.
Bowen is still holding the lit torch. I know we've only hit the 24 hour mark for Anya'drea and Newt, but to keep things moving, barring any objections, we'll have Anya'drea take the torch and assume Newt went back for his mace.
Sheep Pen
20 feet in from the entrance there is an opening to the left. A crude wooden gate, perhaps four feet high stands open at the entrance to this 25 foot diameter cave. The cave beyond reeks of animal waste. You would need to enter the cave to see it in its entirety. Some 35 feet past, on the right hand side of the main tunnel, another opening can be seen.
Mischa
nocks an arrow and with a slight nod to the group begins moving slowly and
cautiously in toward the open gate; her bow at the ready and ready to fire with
but a slight movement of her finger.
In a
whisper "It seems to be a holding pen for animals, my guess all the sheep
the ogre has extorted from the village. It appears to be empty."
Anya'drea
slips her quarterstaff between her back and backpack, wrapping the right strap
around it securely. She then loads her sling and carries it in her left
(dominant) hand. "I will gladly bear the torch for the party, but bear in
mind I can't reload my sling like this, if I come under duress, I will need to
depend on others or my wand." she says quietly, then takes the torch in
her right.
"While we're waiting here
near the entrance for Newt to retrieve his weapon, I'm going to take a look
around briefly”
Anya’drea finds nothing of interest while waiting for Newt.
In
response to Mischa, Bowen whispers: "An empty pen means he has, or is
goin' to, move on to other meals. We should continue."
Lord
Casimir motions with his hand to continue forward. "No animals equals no
alarm!", he whispers and moves on with the group.
Still
in the barely audible whisper "Indeed, we should press on and see what
resides in the opening to the right."
Mischa begins pressing forward
and heading slowly to the right opening, her eyes constantly darting back and
forth looking for anything that might be amiss.
Bec
instinctively stays close to Anya, his spear at the ready and his eyes peering
into the dark. He is reluctant to show any initiative, as he doesn't want to do
the wrong thing.
Gurt’s Chamber
About 30 feet further into the cavern, there is a branch to the right. The main tunnel also continues onto, bending to the left. Peering into the right hand side opening, Mischa can see that after about 10 feet of entrance, the passage opens up. Details cannot be seen from outside the opening. Even out here it smells like sweat mixed with an organic earthy stench. There is a soft glow coming from around one of the corners. Against the far wall is what appears to be the corner of a small wooden table.
Lord
Casimir whispers, "Spread Out?", to the group. He nods assertion to
his own question. He looks to the others to get their opinions...
Bowen:
"Smellin' like trouble's in here. Let's deal with it now, rather than have
it deal with us later.Perhaps we'll be lucky and find the ogre."
Bec
understands what spreading out means as a concept but seems a bit confused by
what he should do. After a moment's hesitation, he moves as quietly as he can
to the right wall and starts creeping towards the opening, maybe hoping to get
a quick peek around the corner.
Anya'drea
shrugs, as if to say, "Why not?”
Staying at the center of the
group (more or less) she proceeds quietly with sling at the ready and torch
held high.
Proceeding in, you see a chamber about 30 feet in diameter. The glow comes from a smoldering fire pit in one corner of the room. To the right is a pile of smelly furs, and to the left an alcove filled with loamy soil. Even rows of fungus poke through the soil. A small wooden table rests near the alcove. Further details would require a closer look at either the fire pit, the table, the pile of furs or the alcove.
Lord
Casimir quickly inspects the ceiling using the fire pit for light. "No
sense in surprises from on high!” he thinks to himself. He takes a longer
circular route along the left wall. Hopefully, if the big baddie is under the
furs, we can catch him in a pincher like motion.
Bowen
takes up a watchful position at the entrance to this room. Silently, he wonders
who the "bed" belongs to, as an ogre might find it small!
Seeing that
the room is empty of inhabitants, Bec heads over to the fur bedding carefully
and prods it with the blunt end of his spear, trying to move it around a little
to see if it contains anything interesting.
As Bec prods the pile of furs the smell of wet animal intensifies in the room.
Lord
Casimir continues around the circle until he gets to the bed. If he sees no
creature in the bed, then he will begin looking for an alternate means of
escape from here, like a secret door...
Anya'drea
carefully sifts through the smelly furry bedding for signs of who might have
slept here, or anything else left behind.
Lord Casimir picks up a book from the table and begins looking at the pages. He then puts his face over the pot hanging over the fire and sniffs.
With
everyone now looking around at various things, Bec decides to keep an eye out
for trouble coming from any entrance and an ear out for any heavy footsteps.
Lord
Casimir will prod the skins with his sword, looking for possible treasure or
bounty, as it seems the occupant is away. After that, he will tread lightly
over to the mushroom bed and look for prints, or other signs of ogre activity.
Anya'drea
looks around, then quietly whispers (to no one in particular), "I don't
think there's anything in here. Maybe we should move on.
Bec gulps
and nods. "Yeah. We...we should get out of here." Bec starts looking
around the room for another exit deeper into the cave.
The only way out is the way you came in, and if you turn right out of this cave, you will continue in your original direction.
Still
guarding the doorway, Bowen steps out into the long tunnel and watches (as best
he can) the darker gloom of the deeper cave.
Mischa
has gone over to the soil alcove and bent over to look at the rows of fungus
and labels. She informs the rest of the
group that these appear to be an edible fungus, possibly mushrooms, and each
row is labeled in goblin. While she is
familiar with foraging and harvesting, she is not familiar with the particular
names on each row’s placard. She asks
Casimir to allow her to look at the book he found.
Lord
Casimir gladly passes the book over. "It's in some language I cannot
fathom", he states with a look of slight distaste. "I did notice some
tracks in the soil. Perhaps they lead somewhere or maybe they were made by the
tiller of this garden. After we determine that, perhaps we should press
on." He makes for the exit.
Bec
cautiously creeps out of the room back to the outer chamber. Any second, he
feels like he's going to hear the roar of the monster. Now that he's here, a
great deal of Bec's confidence has disappeared. He approaches closer to Bowen.
With barely a whisper he says, "Where should we go?"
"I
think deeper is our only option at this point, though it stands to reason that
the deeper we must go the more dangerous this business gets. I wonder where the
ogre's gardener has gone off to. I don't like his absence. He may have spot'ed
us and has run off to rouse the beast. Or he may have partaken in the ogre's
ale and is himself subdued by the potion. Though I can't imagine a monster like
that sharing his his feast with a servant. Or," Bowen adds with a slight
smile to boost Bec's mood, "he may, noticin' the ogre's state, have
finished the ogre off for us. I'd give that little creature a hero’s welcome,
before fitting a shaft or two in his evil lit'le chest."
Before
you leave the cavern, Mischa informs you that the book is also written in
goblin and contains hundreds of recipes for mushrooms, including broiled
mushrooms, fried mushrooms, mushroom gumbo, stuffed mushrooms (there are a
couple of dozen recipes for different kinds of stuffing – there’s even a recipe
for mushrooms stuffed with mushrooms!) and mushroom stew.
Wolf Lair
Proceeding on into the cave, you walk about another 40 feet and see that the cave continues around a bend to the right, but there is also an opening to the left. As soon as you reach this opening, Newt and Mischa are confronted by a stocky gray and tan wolf, apparently slumbering in an alcove. The feral beast sports a massive iron collar and its bloodshot eyes open as its lupine form lunges at you.
Lord
Casimir quickly cries out "Look out...WOLF!” hefts his shield to a more
upright position and readies himself should the beast approach within striking
range.
Anya'drea,
if the wolf is closing on the group and in clear shot, is letting loose the
sling.
If the
wolf is stationary, she does nothing.
Newt, frightened almost as much by Lord Casmir’s warning shout as he is by the wolf, fires a crossbow bolt at the wolf, and hits the animal in the head with the small bolt. Newt then nervously scampers back to the rear of the party.
Mischa fires her arrow at the wolf, missing, and also retreats to the back of the party.
The wolf, howling in rage and yelping in pain, charges at Casimir. Before it snaps at him, Casimir swings his sword at the animal, hitting it firmly in the snout and wounding the creature. The wolf continues it’s charge and bites Lord Casimir in the leg for 6 points of damage, clobbering him. The wolf shakes his head back and forth vigorously, trying to take Casimir down, but the noble’s strength allows him to keep his feet. For the price of the pain, Casimir learns that the chain to which the wolf is secured only allows him to move as far as he is right now. Should one retreat or advance hugging the wall, the wolf would not be able to reach.
Bowen
switches from his bow to his axe and shield, but is only holding his shield at
this point. It is not yet fixed.
Bec sees
the chained wolf and wonders if they should hold back and go around or kill it
from a distance. He's obviously frightened by the snarling beast. When he sees
Casimir get bitten, however, his fear for himself disappears, replaced by anger
for this creature that hurt his companion. Stepping forward, he moves forward
on the right of Casmir and thrusts his spear at the head or neck of the wolf.
Bec does, indeed, spear the wolf in the head, but only by virtue of its reckless charge at Casimir. With a pitiful yelp, the wolf falls to the ground.
Mischa
moves forward to the bleeding wolf and pulls out a few bandages and tends to
the poor creature.
After binding the creatures
wounds so he will not die she gently moves him over to the alcove where he was
sleeping and removes the collar from his neck. In a soft voice "Maer eil
vaer, o eisi tadoli bai jhylaes."
Mischa gently strokes the
wolf's soft fur and rises, and makes her way back to the front of the group,
bow once again at the ready.
You are fairly certain the spear wound to the creature’s head will leave a scar.
Turning
to Bec, Anya'drea whispers under her breath.. I have no idea what she said, but
I hope it translates to "Attack us again, and you will be our next
meal!"
She keeps her sling at the
ready.
Bowen
mumbles something under his breath about the poor quality of the wolf's fur
while he properly adjusts his grip on his shield. "If you don't mind Cas,
I'll take the front for a lit'le bit. Each of us should only take so much hon--
err, punishment, upon ourselves," Bowen says with a slight smile.
He moves only so far as to place himself between Lord Casimir, the party, and
the exit from this chamber. From there he coolly regards the nursing wolf-- a
little jealous?
Newt
skittishly peers from behind the "wolf poker" Bec and using his keen
eyes "searches" all directions. Whatever master this pet belongs too
surely knows we are here now. We probably shouldn't lurk about in the open for
it to find us. Newt will expand the search to more closely "spot"
anything the wolf might have been guarding while offhandedly evaluating the
locks quality that holds (or held) the wolf.
Though the
battle lasted a few mere seconds, Bec's heart is racing and his face is flushed
red. He almost wishes he had another wolf to fight. He looks with confusion at
Mischa, then turns back to Anya. "I put a spear in him for a reason."
Looking at the comforted wolf,
then seeing Casimir trying to walk on his wounded leg is too much. He quickly
runs over to the young noble and tries to offer his shoulder to lean on.
"Don't worry, m'lord. If that wolf even looks over here, I'll make it so
it never bites again, no matter what pretty words a strange woman says."
Mischa
looks back at the mumbling party and shakes her head sadly. "You would
place blame on this poor creature so easily. Would you blame a child for the
way it is raised, or for being angry at being mistreated and held captive? The
wolf will be of no more concern to us, he will need days to recover from these
wounds. He no sooner belongs on this chain then he does in a faire doing
tricks, all he wants is freedom and friendship, that which should not be denied
any creature who so wishes it. But enough talk, Newt is right we should not
delay any longer." Mischa retrieves her bow and takes up her position at
the front of the party once again.
Newt
quickly grabs his bolt from where the wolf was being cared for. You can't be
too conservative with ammo, from what I hear about this ogre I may need all the
bolts I have to help bring this monster down. Newt will then take his place
behind the big "wolf poker" but not so constrictive of a spot that he
can't bolt if the situation gets sticky! One must always have a backup plan
As Newt reaches for his bolt he realizes it is broken (ammo that strikes it's target is expended), but he does notice an arrow that Mischa fired and missed.
Newt
grabs the arrow for his partner and waits for the salve to take effect. Here
you go he smiles nervously and continues to plot exits in his mid and shadowy
spots he may hide if things go awry. We may need this arrow later when things
get rough
Lord
Casimir: "I vote to press on, past the wolf, to see what awaits us",
Lord Casimir quietly asserts. Significantly, he drops back to the second line
and draws his bow.
Resuming you standard formation, the party continues on. After narrowing to a 5-foot-wide choke point just past the wolf’s lair, the passage expands to about 15 feet wide. Mischa and Newt can see that the passage continues for about 30 feet and then splits left and right.
Log Deadfall Trap
Very
quietly Mischa whispers to the others "Stop, there is a tripwire ahead.
Newt do you know anything of disabling this sort of thing?"
Newt:
Aye Mischa I see it too. You guys may want to stay back while I check this out
in case my nimble little fingers mess up. Newt is definitely one to error on
side of caution he will check everything out to see if he can figure out what
the trap is supposed to do then find the best way (if possible) to
disarm/disable the trap.
Newt
examines everything carefully then gets down on his belly, pulls out his
dagger, and flattens himself on the floor. He carefully creeps within arms
reach and attempts to cut the tripwire. We can't have some of our er...
"larger" party members forgetting this is here. Plus I don't like
anything that would impede my escape if things go wrong.
If the attempt succeeds: Newt
will carefully place the two sides of the wire (slackly) along the corner of
each respective side. Maybe we can manually use this later if we get in a pinch.
Newt deftly cuts the tripwire. You may now proceed and then turn left or right.
Mischa
kneels down on the ground and motions Any'drea to bring the light closer.
"Let me see if I can see the beast’s tracks, it may tell us which way to
go."
"I'm
afraid I can make out no legible tracks. I can't advise as to which way the
ogre may be."
Mischa stands back up and
readies her bow.
Lord
Casimir ventures with hand motions that the left passage may be the proper
choice.
Bec nods
and proceeds as directed.
"I'm
glad we've the lit'le one around," Bowen says as he too heads left, shield
and axe before him guardedly.
Newt
smiles at the comment and definitely listens to everything his little ears can
pick up; at the same time trying to hide himself and move as silent as
possible. Crossbow ready, Newt will follow/agree to our fearless leader's
suggestion of taking the left path.
Storeroom
The left hand path leads to a cavern about 35 feet in diameter with a low 7-foot ceiling. Along the far wall are several stacks of crates. Positioned in front of the crates is a small wagon. To the left of the crates, several small casks are tucked into a corner. Each bears the symbol of an ale cask with crossed barley sheaves superimposed on it; the symbol of Berkclay Bros. Brewery.
Mischa: "I am sure your village will be pleased
to see these supplies returned to them. Now we must find your
townspeople."
Anya'drea
quietly inspects the ale casks, she looks behind and to the sides of them -
she's obviously suspicious that everything everywhere is rigged with some sort
of hidden trap.
When she comes to the
conclusion that all is safe (assuming she doesn't see anything that is), she
gently tips the casks to check if they are empty.
Bowen
gives a quick look to the supplies, and then back to the entrance of the room.
Clearly they would have to backtrack, but hopefully the ogre is close at hand.
But taking advantage of the moment, Bowen begins searching through the supplies
as well.
"With all the casks here
we can only hope he has drunk from one of the newer poisoned ones... Anya, keep
an eye out for anythin' suspicious, or anythin' that might confirm the mayor's
involvement with the brute, if any. Perhaps we can kill two birds with one
stone. Then we should indeed look for the townsfolk"
Lord
Casimir stands guard while the others inspect the casks and supplies. No sense
in a nasty, old ogre stopping by to ruin my fun. "Once we are finished
here, we may have to go back to the other passage, as there doesn't seem to be
a way out of this room...", muses Cas as he grips his sword and adjusts
his shield...
After
searching the casks, Anya'drea addresses her companions quietly: "We may
find our ogre is not as subdued as we had hoped. Of the casks here, only a
couple are empty, and some, but not all, of the full casks are marked on the
bottom with a small 'x'. If these marked casks contain the poisoned ale, the
ogre has not yet tapped that stock, it appears."
"I
wish we could be sure the ogre had consumed some of the poisoned brew"
Anya'drea looks like she is
thinking of some plot, but says nothing of it yet.
Bec looks
around at the town's good and then sees the wagon. "Well, at least we
don't need to carry it out. Let's go find everyone else so we can go home. Bec
holds his spear with renewed confidence after the fight with the wolf.
"Well,
there doesn't seem to be anything suspicious mixed in with these goods. Maybe
the mayor isn't involved. Either way, I think it's safe to leave these here for
the moment and head back, as Cas said. If the ogre really hasn't had been
poisoned, we certainly don't want to be caught with our heads in these kegs and
our backs to him"
As we
have no way to know if the creature is subdued we all must take extra care. At
the very least we know now that we may be facing a far more dangerous foe then
we had intended. But there is no use in fretting about that now, we have come
too far to turn back and leave without your kinsmen and the restoration of
balance in these lands. We must press forward."
Mischa then takes guard at the
room’s entrance and begins scanning the darkness for any signs of something
amiss.
Lord
Casimir quietly states "I believe we have divined all we can here. I think
we should make haste in finding the townspeople and the beast while we still
can." He looks agitatedly toward the aperture, while hefting his shield to
a more comfortable position.
Lord Casimir
signals to realign formation and proceed to the fork in the road...
At the
young noble's direction Newt falls into position and awaits his future. He is
his jittery self and at every noise the little gnome's finger reaches for his
crossbow trigger.
Blogg’s Lair
The fork that leads to the right is 10-feet wide, and opens up into a wider area after 20 feet. This immense chamber is at least 40 feet by 60 feet with a 20 foot high ceiling.
The light held by Anya’drea is still back in the entrance to this cavern, so the entire left-hand area is in darkness. Mischa and Newt alone see further details n the shadows
Mischa
whispers to the group "There is a pile of furs to the right and a chest to
the left. I see no sign of the ogre, but stay alert he could be anywhere."
Suddenly you hear a great yawn coming from the darkened area off to the left. There is the sound of greasy lips smacking and a guttural voice booms out of the dark, but in a language none of you recognize.
We are now in initiative. Newt’s up first, currently at the end of the 10-foot-wide entrance to the cavern.
Newt's
hair on his neck raises and it is all he can do to stop from peeing all over himself.
Not in position to see much he sure will not be the one to go in first. He
raises his crossbow and looks for a safe place to hide while giving him a
spot/cover to shoot from. He will fire as the shot presents itself... he
will move and ready. making a path toward the chest and it's perceived safety.
Bowen
will quickly slip past his still-gasping comrades and move after Newt, but a
little closer to the furs.
Mischa
moves in slowly, stopping just past Newt, eyes looking into the darkness ready
to loose her arrow as soon as the ogre makes himself know.
Anya'drea
moves toward Bowen, staying close to the wall on her right - keeping the torch
held out in front of her.
Anya'drea is going to move
just below Bowen. IIRC, she has the sling at the ready. She is going to stow
this in her robe. It's my intention to ready and use the wand next round (and
not move obviously) - so long as I don't have to move. If need be, I'll
improvise with the torch in my off-hand for defense
As Anya’drea enters the room, more details are made clear. To the left is a curtained-off alcove, with a battered wooden table and a smooth stone for a chair nearby.
A lumbering form sits at the table, its face covered with mutton. Near one outstretched hand is a pewter flagon. You believe the creature would stand a full 9 feet tall and it is wearing cracked studded leather armor. It has a wart-encrusted face and clumpy, unkempt hair. Its tanned hide is well-muscled and a massive club rests against the nearby wall. The creature is in shadows for all but Newt and Mischa.
Newt fires his crossbow at the beast, hitting the creature in the right leg for 3 points of damage.
Mischa fires her bow at the ogre, hitting it in the right arm for 6 points of damage.
Anya'drea,
as she rounds the corner, sees the ogre in the light of her torch...her sling
spins quickly and she lets loose the loaded stone (roll was 10, not so hot, I
sent to DM) straight at the beast's head (at least, that's where she's aiming)
The bullet clatters against stone in the darkness.
Casimir
sees no purpose in moving anywhere, yet. He places his sword and shield at his
feet and draws his bow. If he sees ogre, he will fire (next round, presumably)
Bec can
feel his blood rushing in his ear. Okay, this is it. Bec stands his
ground, waiting for any danger, his spear at the ready.
The ogre roars in pain, reaches for his club and stands, pushing the stone chair back with a loud grinding noise. Hefting the club he says, in Common, “You’re not Gurt, after all. I’ll bet you’re here to hurt Suto.”
Bec moves
forward slowly, his spear at the ready but certainly not charging into combat.
"We're not here to hurt Suto. We're not even here to hurt you. We just
want the townspeople back! Why did you take them in the first place? You let
them go, we can leave you in peace. If you try to hurt us, we'll hurt you right
back." Bec can feel his blood rushing in his ears, but he still wants to
find out why the ogre got greedier. Also, if we can talk it out, we can find
out where the people are and maybe not have a bunch of us get squashed.
Bec moves
diagonally three squares, towards the Ogre, but not in an overly threatening.
Bec is ready to fight and usually quick to jump in with both feet, but he wants
to figure out what this ogre is screaming about. Of course, the sling bullets
and flying arrows might make a discussion difficult at this point. If the ogre
moves to attack, Bec will defend himself.
Mischa
begins moving her free hand in an intricate pattern and speaking, her eyes
fixed on the beast.
OOC:Mischa casts her memorized Sleep spell centered on
the very back center line of the ogre.
Newt,
frantically tries to reload his crossbow. He sees Bec out of the corner of his
eye and this makes him only go faster. He takes aim and lets loose (hopefully
hitting some kind of critical spot which will help Bec if it comes to blows) He
is so concentrated on his actions that he doesn't seem to notice any words
being said.
Bowen
will hop in at this point. He will move as quickly as he can to place himself
between the ogre and the archers (on the square with the '1' on it) Like Bec,
he takes up a defensive stance, allowing the ogre to make the first move, but
ready to strike out at the ogre should he approach. The ogre may be able to
swing his club farther than Bowen's axe, but that is a problem for later!
(So thats a move and ready)
Anya'drea
moves to the north quickly, falling in behind Newt. She readies a small sack of
caltrops.
I'm out of turn here, but my
intention is to fall in to line after another move so that there are four of us
in a crescent shape lined up there.
Lord
Casimir says slowly in common, "Who Gurt?" Casimir will 5 foot step one square up and
fire his bow at the horrid beast!
The arrow misses the ogre by a good measure.
The ogre lets out a roar. “Gurt and Suto are friends. Blogg knows this because they don’t shoot arrows at me!” He swings his club at Bec from where he stands. The massive chunk of wood slams into Bec’s left arm. Bec goes sprawling to the ground. The creature then moves 5 feet closer to Bowen.
When
Newt sees Bec go down he immediately drops the crossbow he was trying to reload
and steps up beside his friend. It's ok Bec I am here and I will at least make
sure the monster is distracted for the next round so we can get you to safety.
Newt grabs one of his fire potions and when he is in prime throwing range will
make the room light up with a new "Ogre" torch.
Newt
will throw the firebomb from where he is. Oh, and there is no movement (Newt is
not going to get in attack range of the Ogre unless his own life depends on
it.)
Newt’s throw goes long and the flask breaks on the ground just behind the ogre, splashing him a little.
Mischa
pulls Tarik’s black-feathered arrow from her quiver and fires it at the Ogre,
hitting it in the left arm. Mischa uses
an action point to fire again, hitting the ogre in the torso. Mischa then moves closer to the wounded Bec.
Seeing
the ogre pound poor Bec into the ground, Bowen becomes furious and lurches
forward with an overhead chop at the ogre, hoping to distract the beast and
keep if from squishing the downed spearman, all the while yelling "Bad
Blogg kill friend!"
Bowen’s axe attack misses due to the shadows.
Anya’drea:
If we have good lighting and can all see the ogre, I will ready and 'fire' the
magic missile wand. Screw the caltrops, this girl means business now!
If we don't have good
lighting, I'm going to ready the wand anyway.
Either way, I'm changing my
planned destination and deciding to stay put for now, and preparing to strike
with the wand.
Anya’drea fails to activate the wand.
Casimir
will take 3 squares to the west (left) and fire his bow. No utterances this
time as he is attempting to recall the mantra his archery teacher taught him so
that he might concentrate at maximum effectiveness. (no game implications, just
there for fun...)
Casmir’s arrow flies true into the shadows and hits the ogre in the torso. (a critical hit). The arrow pierces the monster’s gut, causing it to fall to the ground with a thud as the wound bleeds moderately.
Lord
Casimir breathes a sigh of relief, glad that the dangerous foe has been
vanquished. More of a concern, now however, is a fallen friend and a
possibility of more foes. With that in mind, Lord Casimir mumbles his victory
mantra (curiously, "Yahtzee!") and goes to his fallen comrade. He is
there more to stand guard with his bow at the ready, while those skilled at
healing might ply their arts...
Bowen
squeezes his eyes shut and gives himself a shake to relieve some of his
tension. Then with a loud sigh of noticeable relief, he sidesteps the ogre and
crouches over Bec to see if he's still breathing.
"That was quite a hit you
took big guy," he whispers sadly. "Uh, folks, the ogre mentioned some
others. I'm going to light another torch and head back a lit'le bit to keep a
lookout. I'm not sure that I can help Bec, though I'm sure Mischa can. Best I
can do to help is make sure no one sneaks up behind us."
Replacing his shield with a
fresh torch, Bowen lights it and heads only 10 feet down the previous tunnel
and waits.
Anya'drea
looks around numbly for a moment - her face flush with embarrassment, before
taking a closer look at the pile of furs.
Mischa
moves over to the fallen Bec, and pulls some bandages from her pack. After a
moments work she has the wound bound and all bleeding stopped. "He'll be a
bit tender, most certainly, but I think our Bec will pull through. Fate says it
is not yet his time. But I do think I can fix this a mite better." With a
few quiet words and a motion of her hand which glows dimly for a moment, she
touches the wound and the light transfers to it and spreads out over the broken
body of Beck.
Bec begins to stir.
Lord
Casimir slowly moves so that he is in the light, keeping his bow ready and his
wits about him.
Bec sits
up, wincing as he moves one of his arms. Slowly, the big man rises to his feet.
Suddenly, he remembers that his last memory was a monster looming over him with
an enormous club. He spins around, expecting to see the monster eating his
friends. Finding it down on the ground, he grins. "He wasn't so
tough." He tests his limbs and feels his body for broken bones. Satisfied,
he picks up his spear.
Newt
picks up his crossbow gives a funny look to Bec. Newt acts like he is going to
say something then spots the chest against the wall. He is immediately drawn to
and consumed with curiosity for what might be inside. He will examine the lock
if any for traps or other bad things then see if he can't get the thing open
and find out what goods this Ogre has... Which starts him off on a tangent
while he talks to himself. I wish I had something to conserve some ogre bloods
and entrails and eyes....I am sure I can make all sorts of alchemical items. At
the very least I can make a bug spray from the smell of dead ogre. Yes...yes
that will work great maybe I can find a way to preserve some body parts in this
chest. Yes he must have lots of good stuff in here... he trails off looking
from the ogre to the chest.
Anya'drea
gathers her caltrops and sling, hanging both at her side. She continues to
carry her torch in her right hand and wand in left.
"If anyone more at ease
with insects would care to inspect the pile of furs, be my guest! What an
infested mess. Blech!"
Anya'drea shudders at the
thought of being covered in hundreds of small white bugs.
Newt stops talking for a moment, gives a quizzical look at the chest
then heads over toward the Ogre. Hey guys there is a HUGE padlock on that chest
so I will look on the Ogre for a key and unless any of you have any other
suggestions maybe we can work together on getting this chest open. I am
extremely curious to see what is inside. Newt looks towards the pile of furs
hears the mention of bugs and just squints while trying not to let his stomach
get queasy. I am with you Anya'drea, bugs are not worth filching through unless
I see something shiny catch my eye. By the way what happened with your wand? I
saw you raise it while I was looking for my fire flask.
Newt begins rummaging through the ogres armor and pockets, having to literally climb him in order to do so.
Bowen
laughs quietly at the antics of his companions but otherwise does nothing more
than stare into the darkness.
Bec walks
over to Newt, rubbing his head. "Oh, hi. Anyway I can help with
that?" He gestures towards the chest.
Lord
Casimir will stand guard, just outside the shadows, in the event that one of
the ogre's friends or whoever tills that garden is about...
Mischa
stands and places her remaining bandages in her pack. "Bec, you should not
exert yourself too quickly, those wounds were very severe. Give yourself a few
minutes to get you bearings again, if you rush into action you will not
heal."
Mischa walks over to the ogre
and placing one foot on his body carefully slides the black feathered arrow out
of the body and wipes it gently on a small section of the ogres rags. Mischa
then leans over and gives the ogre a once over to see if the beast still
breathes.
"Anya'drea, may I see
your staff please? I can use it to flip through the furs, perhaps there is a
key in there, if that is where he sleeps. As we do not know what might be in
the chest I highly discourage the idea of trying to break it open."
"Like
I said, don't let me stop you!"
Anya' hands Mischa her quarterstaff and has a look on her face like
she's about to smell something foul.
"I do not agree however
that we should treat this beast with anything but the highest disdain. 'Greater
evil behind it' or not, this ogre, his brother or friend or both have or has
long extracted tribute from the townsfolk. Mongers of fear, as well as others,
I refuse to help in any way. I vote we gut the beast.
As for my wand, I'm not sure -
I have great skill with it normally, but this foul place has me shaken. I am
not accustomed to such treacherous and grotesque surroundings."
"Let
us be quick about our business, as we have much to explore and more questions
to answer", Lord Casimir states as stares thoughtfully into the gloom.
Mischa
uses the quarterstaff and begins flipping back layer after layer of fur. With a
slight shrug "Very well, be done with it then and kill the beast quickly.
There is no need for us to drag this out cruelly then, put a sword through his
heart and be quick about it." Mischa continues flipping through the furs,
looking at each layer before moving on to the next.
Mischa
hands Anya'drea back her quarterstaff. "While there are a few salvageable
pelts in there, there is little else of interest. Perhaps we should see what
lies beyond the curtain."
"Oooo!"
Bowen quickly abandons his post at the mention of pelts. He drops his axe
lightly at the foot of the pile of furs and begins rummaging for the good ones.
If he finds any, he stuffs them in him pack and rejoins the others with his
axe.
Bec shrugs,
looking at the lock. Seeing Casimir looking at the curtain, Bec heads in that
direction. He eyes a small puddle of blood near where he fell. Bec then feels
his head, feeling some crusted dried blood in his nose and right ear. "Oh,
wow. He hit me pretty hard, didn't he?" he says to no one in particular.
Standing beside Casimir, he prepares to go through the curtain.
Bowen stops suddenly and backs away from the pile of furs, without taking any.
Newt abandons the ogre and searches the chest and then pulls out a set of lock picks. He sets to work and, in a few seconds you hear a click. With all of his strength he opens the chest. Inside are hundreds and hundreds of silver pieces in a loose mess, sitting on top of a suit of large studded leather armor, a medium greatclub and six rocks.
Look at
all this stuff! Newt pulls some silver out and lets it drop back into the
chest. He looks at his friend who just spoke and smiles saying, “They look like
rocks to me. Anyway I think this will
help me fund part of my lab...Newt catches himself embarrassingly. I mean...
maybe we can return some of this silver or if everyone agrees to split it as a
finder's fee.
Newt
pulls out some of the other items and lays them on the floor by the chest. Can
anyone use this stuff? I would hate to not be better prepared if his friends
come a calling.
"We
should return a hefty portion of it to the town. Was likely theirs to begin
with." Staring at the coins Bowen wonders how much trouble it might be to
carry the chest back to town. It is certainly a sum larger than he has ever
seen before. Many people must have been waylaid for the ogre to accumulate such
a fortune.
"Who keeps rocks behind a
lock? Well, let us leave this here for a moment and continue on. It would not
look well if we returned richer but without finding to towns people."
Lord
Casimir looks back from where he is approaching the curtain, "Let's put
the chest of silver on the cart we saw, and take it back to town. Why are there
rocks in there?” he asks aloud. "Seems preposterous that rocks would be in
a locked chest. Let's make sure we take those with us. They could be of some
import." he looks back toward the curtain with some trepidation and
prepares to move the curtain back with his sword.
As the curtain is drawn back you see a large alcove, approximately 40-square-feet in area, containing a pair of casks and a pair of crates.
Lord
Casimir quickly looks back to see if anyone has joined him. He says, "I
will investigate these crates and such. Would anyone like to join me?"
Anya’drea:
"Certainly, let's have a look"
Lord
Casimir walks over to the crates cautiously with his sword drawn. He is looking
for markings on the crates as to where they came from and any other clues that
might lead to the ogre's advanced demands on the townsfolk...
Bec will
remain behind by the curtain, keeping an eye for any of the other cave's
inhabitants whom may enter the room. He leans comfortably on the spear.
(To Lord Casmir and Anya’drea) The crates are empty. One cask is full, and the other is half-full. You notice a small x on the bottom of the half-full cask. You also both notice a secret door in the wall.
Mischa
keeps her bow at the ready and follows the others in their searching. Always
keeping a wary eye on the caves shifting shadows. "We must press on, if
the ogre has companions here and they have heard any of this, the lives of your
townsfolk are now in more danger. The money means little if lives are
lost."
Mischa stops suddenly in the
alcove. "Wait, there is a door here." Mischa moves over to a section
of the alcove wall and traces the outline of a door with her finger.
"Newt, can you please examine this? I would like to make sure it is safe
before anyone opens this."
Lord
Casimir backs away from the secret door to give Newt room to maneuver. His
sword is drawn, and he is ready to spring to action.
Bec sees
his companions have found a door. He turns his attention in that direction and
raises his spear to attack if necessary.
Bowen
takes up position at the curtain, but continues to watch the main chamber and
its exit.
Newt
advances and carefully searches around the door. “I see nothing. Open it! Secret doors mean secret treasures! Oh, and people, yes, prisoners might be kept
behind secret doors as well. Either way,
open it!”
Mischa
moves forward and carefully places her hand on the door, and slowly slides it
open, trying carefully to keep it from making too much noise.
Newt
peers cautiously as the door is opened. “Who knew Ogres could make secret
doors. I am beginning to worry about who this Ogres' friends are.” Newt strains
to listen down the newly opened area for anything that may give clue to what
lies ahead.
Any who peer into the opening see a narrow, 5-foot-wide unworked stone passage that continues as far as you can see by Anya’drea’s torchlight. No sound gives forth from the passage.
Newt: “Whoa! There is not much room to
maneuver in there. And it looks like it just ends from what I can see. I don't
know that we will be able to find a way out from the other side. Maybe we can
take some silver before we leave. We should be very careful it is a perfect
spot for ambush in there.”
Lord Casimir: "I would think we
might want to investigate this, though I know I smell an ambush. We should
continue with me in the front and a light source behind. Perhaps, a guard at
the far door...."
Anya’drea steps forward, holding the torch. Her wand is in her other hand. “Lead on,” she says matter-of-factly.
Bec looks
at Casimir with concern. "You sure you don't want me to go ahead? I'm
feeling much better...and, as you can see, I can take a beating pretty good. As
Bec speaks, you do see that a lot of color has returned to his face and he
seems to be moving with little to no pain.
As long
as you have a light to see with, I will be at your side," proclaims Lord
Casimir. "Let us see what will be seen!"
Bowen
begins to fiddle nervously, still looking back the way the party came,
obviously unnerved and suspecting some sort of trickery.
Assuming the order is Bec, then Anya’drea, then Casimir, with the others waiting back at the door. The narrow corridor continues on for approximately 60 feet and ends in a shaft. A wooden ladder attached to the shaft leads down into the darkness.
Newt,
being distracted at how to fit such large rocks in his pockets, failed to
notice the few of his companions going forth into the darkness. Pocketing a
couple handfuls of silver and making sure to get his bearings Newt will go into
the tunnel at the first word of it being ok. “If you want me to help look for
any traps I would be glad to lend my eyes for the task.”
Anya'drea
slips to the side of Bec and peers over the edge of the shaft - lighting as
much of it as she can.
Below the Ogre’s Cave
Anya’drea and Bec can see that the ladder descends 30 feet to a stone floor beneath it, and a passage that continues on in the same direction as the one you are currently in.
Bec looks
back to his companions when he sees the ladder. "It goes down about twenty
or thirty feet, maybe. I can't see what's down there. Someone want to go scout
around and make sure it's okay?" His eyes seek out Newt in the dim light.
"I
think we should post a guard at the secret entrance at the least or even here
at the top of the ladder, so that should something approach from behind us, we
won't be caught unawares. I will volunteer to go first down the chute, as long
as there is light!” Lord Casimir bravely volunteers, his bravado returning
after his bow shot felled the vile ogre.
Mischa:
"I'm concerned, if the ogre does indeed have more friends here, leaving
one person alone is no better then a death sentence. Perhaps we should slide
the door closed behind us, we can always open it from inside. I'm not even sure
if the ogre knew this was here. I would say we should stay together, strength
in numbers." Mischa looks around at her companions with an inquisitive
look.
Newt: “I agree that maybe we should cover our
tracks but not all doors can be opened from both sides... trust me I built
locks for a living. Besides we don't want to lose all that money if the ogre’s
friends come back and take it. Which leads me to another point. Why fill up a
chest with SILVER and rocks? It is almost like he was trying to trick someone
into thinking there was more there than there actually was. This is smart
thinking for an ogre. Well anyway I am surely not going stand guard. As she
says there is strength in numbers. Lord Cas, I think it would be best if we had
the humans stay back a bit with the light so it doesn't give us away easily. At
least this way we can check if there are any surprises waiting in the dark
before they get tipped off by our light. Newt scooches his body towards the
front of the group unless someone stops him he will venture a few feet out of
firelight and cautiously be on the lookout for any traps, secrets in the walls,
or stuff that just looks unnatural for a tunnel.
Lord
Casimir will reluctantly take up the rear. There is a little sense in a rear
guard...
Ladder Trap
Newt: “Slow
down a sec Mischa, I see some scratches in the stone that don't look too
promising. I need to take a second and see if there is anything else of note
before I move on.” Newt pauses to examine the scratches more carefully and see
if he can figure out what caused them. He will also rotate on the ladder to see
if the vantage of looking behind him help with the scenario. Provided
everything seems safe for him and his companions Newt will continue on and look
for the next interesting thing that seems out of place moving as slow and safe
as possible while searching everything.
Newt
grabs the ladder quickly and then quickly says up to his friends, Watch the
ladder rungs I have found one already that is rigged to fall with any weight
placed upon it. I think for safety sake I will remove the rug so no one forgets
about it. On the bright side I guess we can rig another torch if we need too.
Lord
Casimir will drag the chest (or carry it if possible) into the secret
passageway before we close the door. "No sense in letting these funds out
for any rapscallion to seize upon, whereby it is rightly ours to distribute as
we see fit", whispers Lord Casimir as he goes about his task.
Bec moves
over the hole, grabbing the rope ladder and testing his weight. Satisfied, he
starts moving down the ladder slowly but with relative grace. One rung down, he
realizes her left his spear. He whispers up to anyone in earshot. "Someone
drop my spear down before they come? Thanks." He then proceeds down to the
cave floor.
Careful
to avoid the ladder trap, Lord Casimir will join the rest of the bunch at the
bottom of the ladder.
Mischa:
"Its no good, Anya'drea we need you down here, not enough light is getting
down her for us to see any of the passage beyond. We should all just stick
together."
In the interest of moving things along, and because some folks appear to be unavailable or waiting for something to happen, you all make it safely down the ladder. With light sources down here now, you can see that you are in a 5-foot-wide corridor, very similar to the one at the top of the ladder, that proceeds for 40 feet and seems to open up into a room.
Bowen
watches after Lord Casimir to make sure he has no difficulty in dragging the
chest, if not openly helping him move it. Satisfied, he follows after him and
closes the secret door as best he is able. Then he turns and approaches Anya.
"Go ahead down. My torch will light the way just fine up here, and they
rather need your help below. I'll be bein' along shortly."
After seeing Anya safely begin
her climb down, Bowen returns his axe to his back and takes up Bec's spear with
his newly liberated hand. Thinking it best not too drop the spear, as Bec had
suggested, and making sure he wont be prodding anyone below with the spear's
shaft, Bowen begins to descend in turn.
I believe the last order I had was Newt, Mischa, Casimir, Bowen, Anya’drea and Bec? Just as you begin proceeding carefully down the passage, there’s a sharp twanging sound as something catches Newt’s foot. A greatclub swings down from the ceiling, catching Newt solidly in the side for 8 points of damage, leaving him clobbered and disabled.
Mischa
carefully guides Newt behind her position in the line, and pulls out a small
flask of salve. "It will not do much I am afraid, but it should help you
slightly. That was some clubbing you got, little friend." With a gentle
touch she applies the goop to Newt's slightly indented side. "Well not as
good as I had hoped but it will keep you from collapsing until your body can
begin to heal up. I will take the front for a little bit, I can watch for traps
and let you know if I see anything out of place."
"Would
it make more sense for me to take the lead, with my trusty sword at hand?”
whispers Lord Casimir. "I certainly can handle my own with any denizen we
may face!"
Bec looks
with concern at Lord Casimir. "Begging m'lord's pardon but if you get
hurt, well...I'd rather face a dozen ogres than your lady mother, if you figure
what I mean." Realizing he has clearly spoken out of place, Bec blushes.
"Sorry, m'lord. The ogre must have knocked what sense I had out of my
stupid head." He lets Lord Casimir pass to the lead but watches him
carefully. Looking over his other companions, Bec suddenly has concerns for
their safety. Maybe a strong fellow like myself can shrug off an ogre
clubbing, but the others aren't blessed with a thick skull like me.
So the new order is Casimir, Newt, Mischa, Bowen, Anya’drea and Bec, with Anya’drea and Bowen holding burning torches. Casimir can see 5 feet ahead of him clearly, and then 20 feet further in shadows. I assume Lord Casimir changes from bow to sword and shield, based on his statement?
Suto’s Workshop
The passageway empties into a chamber, 35 feet in diameter with a clean stone floor. Assuming you are entering from the east, along the northwest wall is a stocky L-shaped wooden workbench covered with beakers, flasks and assorted glassware. A smaller wooden table rests to the southwest but is not nearly as cluttered. It holds a few opened books, and orderly rows of upside-down glassware. Along the northeast wall are several pegs holding cloaks and a broom. There are additional passages exiting this room to the north, south and west.
Bowen
moves out from the rest of the group, keeping the wall tight on his left and
following it around to the southwest table, which he inspects. ""This
ain't seemin' like it belongs to the ogre, now does it? Could he read? Or
handle this 'ere glass? Or lay such traps?"
Bowen begins opening some books on the table.
"I'm
doubting very much that this was the ogre's doing. Why would he create a secret
area he would hardly be able to get into? My concern is, if this is not his
area, whose is it? We should be on guard, and we should hurry we are still no
closer to finding your kinsmen."
Mischa looks uneasily about the room and readies her bow. Her eyes dart between
the various entrances.
Bowen: "And
I have my doubts as to the ogre's interest in silver smithing and stone
carving, as these books detail. Whoever this place belongs to, it can be
as'umed that he knows a thing or two 'bout traps, and that he wanted access--
maybe sneaky access?-- to the ogre. Give me a moment to see if I might learn
something from this last book, which I believe is a personal record of sorts."
Bec goes
over to look at the cloaks, looking at their size, quality, and condition. He
also goes through any pockets he encounters.
Lord
Casimir creeps over to the closest aperture. He realizes that stealth is not
his forte, but with weapon in hand, he fears little. His goal: Cover at least
one exit so that there can be fewer surprises!
Bowen
calls out (though not too loudly) to the group: "This seems to be a diary.
It's time consumin' to read it, but it seems we have intruded on the ter'tory
of a mage of some sort. He makes mention of his alliance with somethin' called
"The Voice Below." This can't be good for us... perhaps this
"Voice" is the true leader of these caves?"
Bowen reads a few minutes
further. "The writer of this diary is named Suto Lore. I seem to recall
the ogre mentioning a Suto. They must have been working together then."
Newt
feeling fully rested now thanks to the time given to him for healing and
Mischa's salve. I don't like this place one bit. Too many surprises for my
taste. But he does have some neat things in here. Newt will attempt to appraise
some of the items in the room getting a little interested in the mock lab that
is in front of him.
Bec comes
over with the cloaks he found on the wall. "These probably belong the
the...you know...the ones running this place. One of these is kinda
fancy." Bec comes back over to see what Bowen is looking at.
Mischa:
"If there is another here pulling the strings we can not dally any longer,
your kinsmen’s lives may be in more danger then we realized. We need to find
them and get them out of here, and we need to alert your village to a
potentially larger threat then a mere ogre."
Mischa's grip on her bow
tenses and she seems to shift uncomfortably.
Quietly as if speaking with
herself, "Byrol baresar caesi, shar shaer jholaer ialaes si aes eil maer
air tysedol ailai si shys eirdyli?"
Lord
Casimir clears his throat quietly. "I think we should press on. Which
pathway shall we take, or do we need more time in here?"
Bowen
tucks the diary into his belt, thinking that it might just come in handy,
before moving to join Lord Casimir. "I'm not seein' a reason to keep
ourselves waitin'. Lead on an' I'll follow ya."
Suto’s Living Quarters
Lord Casimir motions to the first entrance to the right as you entered the room. There is a narrow 5-foot-wide passage that extends for but five feet before opening into a roughly 20-foot-square chamber. Peering over Casimir’s shoulder you see that the chamber seems to be crammed with furniture. A thick red carpet covers the floor, and to the right are a large desk and a matching chair. The desk’s surface is covered with parchment and a few books. Along the far wall is a large bookcase with four shelves, all crammed with a myriad of books. Along the left wall is a simple wooden bed and a small chest that serves as a night table. Seeing no combatants, Lord Casimir steps back to allow anyone who wishes to pass.
At the
mention of leaving Newt wakes out of his mental evaluation of the alchemy lab
in front of him. I can turn these flasks of acid into plausible weapons and I
probably should hold on to this rune inscription book. I do want to check this
broom out though as I thought I saw some words written on it. I will be ready
in just a moment. Newt’s hands quickly and carefully work to get the acid
flasks ready for transport. He will then go to the broom and try to read what
is written on it. I will be ready in just a sec but I do agree that we must
hurry on our mission.
Bec heads
over to the desk and checks for any drawers. Ask he checks for drawers and
anything else of note. Looking at the furnishings, Bec glances over at Bowen.
"What's going on here? Who could be running this?"
Bowen
looks to Bec, then goes back to scanning the room. "I don't know Bec. The
idea of tacklin' an ogre was bad enough.... Now it seems he was just a tool of
this mage, and some creature powerful enough to command his loyalty. I think
we're over our heads here. I don't like magicks. And this place reeks of
magicks."
Newt
picks up the broom and continues to see what the words say or what made this
broom catch his eye.
Mischa
enters the small bed chamber and makes a quick search of the books, the chest
and the bed. "Is there any paperwork of note there, Bec? We could really
use some clue as too what we are up against."
Before any details can be gleaned from the new chamber, and as soon as Newt touches the broom, it springs to life.
Newt
will try to keep his grasp on the broom as it springs to life. He will attempt
to jump on it and wrap around securely with his legs.
Newt fails to grab the broom. Bec is up and can hear the sounds of a scuffle from within the new room.
Bec, upon
hearing the sounds of a struggle, heads towards it in an attempt to help an
ally in trouble. If he can reach Newt and the broom, he will probably be
confused by Newt dancing with a broom, but follow his natural impulse to grab
the animated cleaning tool and hold it down.
Bec also fails to grab the broom.
The broom strikes out at Anya’drea, hitting her in the head with its handle for 1 point.
Anya’drea tries to grab the broom with her free hand. The broom tries to slam her again but misses. She grabs the broom but it wriggles free. She says “There are words written on the pesky thing,” while rubbing the bump on her head.
Mischa
returns to the main room to discover the cause of the commotion. Mischa looks
for a place to advance in on the broom, but seeing none she holds back and says
with a slight laugh. "Newt, found another wizard who doesn't want you
borrowing his stuff, I see."
Assuming
Anya still carries a torch (as I don't recall her ever dropping it):
Bowen drops the contents of
his hands onto the floor before him (including the shield, if possible) and
makes a daring lunge for the tricky broom....
....and misses, terribly.
Bowen’s dropped torch goes out as his shield lands on it. He is able to recover from his awkward lunge, however.
Lord Casimir sheathes his sword, wonders “Why would a broom have words on it?” and tries to grab the broom from around the corner of the entrance in which he stands, but his hand scrapes the rock wall.
Newt
tries to get a good view of the words on the broom. He tries to remember what
he saw and the flashes that are coming by as the broom beats his friend. If I
can make them out I will say them or try to understand them...”Hey what do you mean
"another" wizard? Besides I only heard rumors of brooms doing the
work for wizards...who knew those were true. I guess it does explain why so
many of them are lazy.”
Then
Newt gets an idea...He runs up to the young wizard and takes the torch as she
is defending herself. He then attempts to light the broom on fire from the
flammable bristle end.
As Newt reaches up for Anya’drea’s torch, the broom lashes out at him. Newt dodges out of the way of the attack.
Newt then grasps the flaming torch in both hands and thrusts
it at the broom, but miscalculates the weight of the odd weapon and almost
falls over in the process
Keeping in line with Bec’s previous action (as he has not posted), he tries to grab the broom again. He succeeds in grabbing it but fails to hold on.
Once again the broom tries to swat at Anya’drea but misses completely.
With a huff, Anya’drea reaches for the broom again and misses. She backs up five feet, tired of being swatted at.
Mischa moves
up and makes a grab for the broom and misses horribly.
Bowen
will attempt to make another wild grab for the broom.....
The broom darts out of the way of Bowen’s grasp.
Casimir sizes up the situation. “Bec! Try and grab it again. I’ll help.”
(Casimir is aiding Bec in his touch attack)
Unfortunately, Casimir doesn’t even come close.)
Newt
will hold initiative to see if he can team up with the others and get this
annoying broom.
“Ok guys everyone who is close
by needs to work together to bring this toothpick down. I will wait till you
guys are ready. Then we need to lunge for it from all sides.”
Newt
will assist whoever is next then gang-pile when the chance presents itself.
Newt succeeds in assisting Bec in trying to grab the broom. If Bec tries to grab or attack the broom he will receive a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Seeing Newt
cutting off the broom from escape, Bec widens his arms and lunges at the broom,
trying to wrap it up and bring it down.
Thanks to Newt’s assistance, Bec succeeds in grabbing the broom and wrestling it still…almost. It’s squirming and bucking to try and break free.
The broom tries to break free from Bec’s grasp but fails.
Anya’drea reaches out and grabs the broom and tries to help steady it. Her eyes dart over the words and she says, “weesp?” The broom continues to struggle. “There are more words written on it!”
Mischa holds her action.
"Keep
tryin' to see what it says Anya..." Bowen mutters as he reaches for the
book tucked into his belt and begins to leaf through the pages.
Casimir
can't help but smile as he views this strange combat. "Can I help in any
way?", he queries with a hint of playfulness in his voice. "If not, I
believe I saw a mop in the corner with a nasty look to it...."
He will only wrestle the broom
should it break free.
Newt
will attempt to read what is on the broom's handle, manipulating the broom as
needed to get the best angle.
Unfortunately, Newt is cannot get in to grab the broom, nor read it, as Anya’drea and Bec are in the way. Newt may take a different action or hold and Bec may also post.
Newt
will hold his action to see where he is best needed.
Bec, having
trouble holding the broom steady in his hands, attempts to wrap a leg around
the broom and fall down on his back, taking it down with him. He's hoping that
this will allow it to remain steady enough to read.
As Anya’drea is still hanging on to the broom as well, Bec first attempts to pin the broom between his legs. He successfully pins the broom and notices a different word.
The broom tries to wriggle free but fails.
Bec,
holding on with all his might, struggles to speak. "Ackatt! It says ackatt
on handle."
The broom continues to struggle.
Mischa:
“Weesp, and Ackatt, are you sure it doesn't say Sweep Attack? It would make
more sense what with it being a broom."
Anya’drea says, “I see another one. Spot!” The broom stops moving. It now seems complete inanimate. Everyone earns 50 XP and we can drop out of initiative.
Lord
Casimir smiles as he states, "Now that the spring cleaning is done, can we
all move on? By the bye, can we take that broom? Sure would love to play some
tricks at home with the staff at the summer manor...."
Bowen:
"It would seem the broom can perform three different functions then,
sweepin' attackin' and stoppin'. Might be valuable!"
"Newt,
now that the excitement has passed, let's have a look at that small chest. If
somethin' as ordinary as a broom will lash out at us, I'd rather have your eyes
look it over before we open it!"
Guiding Newt lightly by the collar of his shirt, Bowen leads him away (both
physically and mentally) from the enchanted broom.
Newt's
eyes can't help but stare in wonder at the lab and broom as he is being
dragged/led by Bowen. That was amazing...I was thinking of hawking this book of
runes but I think I will keep it now and anything else "forfeited" by
this mysterious sage. Newt's eyes immediately come back to focus from their
dreamy look at the mention of a small chest and possible secrets. Well let’s
make sure there are no surprises waiting for us from this chest. Newt will
thoroughly check everything out about the chest before attempting to open it he
will be more than glad to pull out his trade tools if the chest needs
"convincing" to open up and reveal its secrets.
The chest is made of dark stained wood with iron bands. After carefully searching it, Newt is able to determine that it is not trapped but is locked. Newt withdraws his tools and within a few seconds there is a satisfying *click*. Upon opening the chest all that can be seen is a pile of straw.
Casimir
slowly approaches the room with the bed, sword drawn. He peeks around the
corner to make sure there are no baddies, if there are none he will inspect the
books, not by touching, but examining titles.
The three books on the desk reference conjuration magic, whole those in the bookshelf seem to cover a dizzying array of topics. Some of the titles are more revealing than others, but you see mention of conjuration/ summoning rituals, the Abyss, the planes, diseases (natural and supernatural) and various science disciplines. It is impossible to discern more visually.
Bec, not
much interested in books or lock mechanisms, arbitrarily picks the south exit
to check out. Moving cautiously with his spear before him, he listens for
voices or footsteps.
Newt is
a little more than disappointed at seeing the straw. He will withdraw one of
his bolts and carefully move the straw around digging in and hoping to find
that "needle in a haystack". If he doesn't find anything he will then
check for more traps and remove the drawer altogether hoping to find more
hidden goodies.
“This stranger is getting more
and more interesting. I feel we are waaaaaaaay out of our league here. Maybe we
can call some reinforcements after our little scouting mission.”
"I
think, little one, that this chest is often meant to hold some thing of
delicate value, but it's obviously not here at the moment..."
Without moving from Newt's
side Bowen scans the room. After a moment he begins to scratch his head and,
with a sudden smile, crouches down and inspects the underside of the bed.
Newt’s bolt does encounter some small resistance from something near the bottom of the chest.
Bowen notices a pair of heavy leather gauntlets under the bed.
Bowen
reaches under the bed and retrieves the gauntlets, wondering what use a mage
would have for them.
Newt,
seeing that his bolt didn't get destroyed by some hidden trap will try to
uncover carefully what ever is in the drawer. Once the straw is moved and it
looks safe he will retrieve what is in the straw. Appraising it as always for
future value or worthiness of carrying.
There was something in here after all Newt smiles.
As Newt carefully uncovers the contents of the chest he feels a sharp pain in one of his hands. Pulling it back quickly, he is surprised to find a trickle of blood, and even more surprised by the hissing small snake that crawls out of the chest.
Newt takes 1 point of damage.
We are in initiative with the following order: Lord Casimir, Bec, Newt, Bowen, Mischa, the snake, and Anya’drea.
OOC: I
will assume Lord Casimir would be unaware of any combat, unless he heard a cry
or scream.
If so, he will leave his
bookshelf, sword drawn, looking for something to practice on.
If not, he will look about the
room for other items of interest.
Casimir and Newt are actually in the same room and would be aware of the hissing snake and the sudden reaction one has when bitten. He may attack the snake, but the creature wriggles out of the way of his blade.
Bec is
listening carefully at the south entryway. As he hears a disturbance from the
room, his first inclination is to "shush" whoever is making noise.
Realizing, after a brief moment, that his companions are in trouble, he turns
and runs towards Newt; attacking an enemy if he can.
Bec may make it to the room with a double move. There is no more space for combatants as Newt has the creature cornered between a wall and the bed. Casimir is attacking from over the bed.
Newt
screams out in pain and immediately begins sucking his finger and spitting the
blood/poison? out. “That little bugger bit me... HARD!”
Newt will then try to pin the
snakes head down with his foot so the snake doesn't get away. (not just putting
his foot in his mouth but more trying not to get bit by the hissing thing) “Can
someone get a pillow case or something to help catch this thing?”
Newt stays busy trying to
devote his attention to sucking spitting on his finger and using his feet to
pin the snake. Why is it always me finding the real pests/traps around here?
Newt is not complaining just wondering what kinda game the gods are playing
with him.
As careful as Newt is tying to be, the quick viper darts it’s head out and bites Newt in the ankle for 1 point of damage. Newt pulls his foot back and cannot try and pin it this turn, but can take a move action of he wishes.
Bowen,
seeing the snake slither onto the floor beside him, now understands what the
heavy gauntlets are for. Bowen slips the gauntlets over his hands and eyes the
snake.
Mischa rushes forward to stand behind Newt, and begins treating the snake bites.
The snake slithers under the bed and bits out at Newt’s foot again but misses completely.
Anya’drea gets down on the floor, careful not to burn herself or anything else with her torch, and pulls a wand from her backpack.
Casimir
will go to one side of the bed and lift up the end if possible. This way the
little bugger will have nowhere to go. As he's doing this, he ponders if the
group could somehow get the broom to sweep attack the viper...he smiles
contentedly to himself...
Bec
struggles hopelessly to get past his companions, eager to stab the viper with
his spear. If not possible, Bec will wait for a moment for the commotion to
clear up.
As Casimir lifts the bed, the viper strikes out at him but misses.
Now that the bed has been lifted, Bec moves to the far end and strikes at the viper with is spear, but the snake flattens itself out on the ground, causing the point of the weapon to pierce nothing but air.
Newt
cries out as his ankle and finger throb with pain. Newt will back as far away
from the viper as he can. That little thing packs a punch. I think I will just
sit back and watch the show as I don't feel up to moving too much right now.
Nothing that a little rest won't fix but I can feel that I am definitely not
myself.
Bowen,
wearing the gauntlets, attempts a few swiping grabs but proves to be too slow
for the little snake.
As Bowen bends down and reaches for the snake, some of the bed clothes get caught around his hands. Bowen is disoriented - gets turned around and loses his actions for the rest of this round and the next.
Mischa follows Newt to the far corner and treats his other wound.
The viper strikes out at Bowen, but manages to hit the same bedclothes in which he is tangled. The animal recovers from its critical miss.
Anya’drea speaks a word in a strange language. When nothing happens, she speaks in a language you all understand; “Damn you, Nerenethos!”
Casimir
will maintain his hold on the bed. He will to keep the bed between himself and
the vile serpent. "Maybe we should throw the blankets on the snake, and
then just step on the blankets....!” suggests Casimir.
Frustrated
by the elusive serpent, Bec continues to jab with his spear before it bites
anyone else.
The creature avoids another attack as it squirms out of the way of Bec’s spear.
Newt is
down for this fight... He doesn't want to risk throwing anything into this
little fray and he is too weak to do anything but sooth his wounds in the
safety of the other room’s doorway.
Mischa moves toward the snake and draws her sickle.
The viper bites at Bowen but misses.
Anya’drea mutters a strange word once more and a missile of energy streaks from her wand and hits the viper for 5 points of damage, causing it a life-threatening injury, clobbering and disabling it. She lets out a “Hoody-Hoo!”
After the
snake gets hit by the spell, Bec will prod it gently with his spear. If it
moves, he'll attempt to skewer it.
The snake, as injured as it is, is definitely still alive. Bec’s spear misses it by several inches.
Casimir
maintains his firm grasp on the bed, and given our past battles, looks for
control words notched in the wood. He prepares a full out grapple with the
bed...
Bowen
attempts another grab for the pest, but misses within the barest fraction of an
inch!
Mischa slices down with her sickle, but the snake has enough energy to avoid the blow.
The serpent attempts to slither out from under the bed and around the back of Mischa, provoking an attack from her, but her blow misses due to the snake’s small size.
The viper is now coiled against the far northern wall of the chamber.
Bowen
is beginning to become frustrated, but is happy that, for the moment at least,
the snake has been forced into a corner....
Bowen will draw his axe and
move around Mischa to get within striking distance of the snake.
Bowen is able to draw his axe as he moves and strike at the snake, but once again it avoids another blow.
Casimir
will set down the bed on its side so that the varmint may not slither under it.
He then will draw his sword and advance.
Bec is
beginning to feel silly as each attack misses yet he sees no obvious
alternative. He lifts his spear and brings it down hard, not really aiming but
hoping to catch the elusive snake with a random attack.
Bec’s spear point pierces the viper’s head for 11 points of damage, killing it. Everybody earns 25 XP.
Bowen
looks over at Bec. "Amazing blow! I can see the rage in your eyes. I can
only hope all our enemies elicit such anger from you! If so we should be back
in town before they serve din'er." Then, turning to the gnome, "Newt,
do you feel strange? Its pos'ible he was poisonous... Maybe Mischa should have
a look at those bites."
Mischa
nods. She retrieves a small vial of
ointments and smears a dab over Newt’s snake bite. The snake bite fully heals. “I have seen to the little one’s wounds. I have done all I can, but am almost certain
I have eliminated the danger of the poison having any further effect. I cannot undo what has been done,
however. He is weakened and only rest or
magic stronger than that which I possess will change that. So that his pain should not be without some
reward, was there anything other than a serpent in that chest?”
Bec looks
at Bowen sheepishly; noticing how small and unthreatening the snake looks now
that it is not moving and has its head almost split in half. "Tricky
little bugger, wasn't he?" A sudden look of alarm crosses his face.
"Oh, I forget to tell you. I heard some weird sounds coming from that
doorway." He gestures with his head towards the southern entrance.
Casimir
stands erect. "Define: Weird sounds...", he questions worriedly.
Newt
seems to be calming down a bit and flinches only for a second as Mischa's salve
is applied. Thanks for the help with the snake bites, I will try to be more
careful in the near future. I should be ok after about a weeks rest and some
nice home cooked food. But for now I will make sure to be compensated by this
mystery host of ours.
Newt gently favors his bitten
ankle and will go to the snake corpse to see if any venom or snake parts are
salvageable for later "lab work".
We better move quickly if
there are noises coming upon us from the other entrance.
"Wee
one", calmly states Lord Casimir as he fixes his gaze upon Newt,
"what of the rest of the chest? Surely a trap as deadly as that would not
be placed to look after straw and hay?"
Any interesting bits have been destroyed by the spear that pierced the viper’s head.
"Blast",
proclaims Lord Casimir, "let's be off to the noises from hallway. Perhaps
we can get some answers as to what is going on around here!"
As Bec
walks towards the south, he speaks to Casimir in a hushed tone. "The
sound...well, it sounded like a bell or something. I thought it had a steady
rhythm but I couldn't be sure."
"Let's
form up and investigate the bell tones. Newt, are you well enough to take the
lead and search for traps so that we may get to our destiny unscathed?",
questions Casimir with that giddy excitement that 15 year olds get when they
are about to take a huge risk.
"Indeed,
we should press on after you have looked over the chest. You are not going to
get any better while we are here, and we still have yet to find any sign of
your kinsfolk. The little creature is near split in half, I doubt any good can
come from its tiny body." While Newt is over engrossed in the snake and
chest Mischa approaches the others by the door.
In a very low voice "I
will stay up front and search with him. He is in no condition to be alone. One
hit may kill him. That poison did more
damage then is outwardly visible."
With that Mischa walks back
out into the main room.
"Just
give me a moment, I would like to collect the torch and my shield. I think I
left 'em over by the broom...." Bowen heads back to where the tussle with
the broom occurred and collects his belongs, setting the shield and lighting
the torch, before heading back to meet with his companions.
Newt also asks for a moment and, goes to get the broom. Just before picking it up he hesitates and says, “spot.” He then tentatively grabs it. “Just in case,’ he smirks. Using the handle end he completes emptying out the chest of straw and any other contents. On the floor with the straw is what looks like a spellbook, a pouch, a ring of keys and a smaller book. Dropping the broom, Newt reaches over to grab the pouch, carefully, gently, expectantly. He opens it and after a brief glimpse, spills the contents onto his small hand; four amethysts. His eyes almost seem to take on the hue of the gems as they grow just slightly wider.
Newt's
eyes continue to sparkle as he examines the gems...
”Yes... Yes this will do for my troubles. Hey guys I found some goodies after
all. There is some book that looks interesting, keys, and a few pretty gems. I
could hold onto the small stuff if you guys don't mind.”
Newt then gets ready to lead
the group with Mischa and investigate further. “While I am affected a little by
the poison I am still the same old Newt. I don't need to be treated any more
special than normal... I am just as tough as I always am... Let’s just hope I don't
discover any more surprises for a while.”
Bec
fidgets impatiently, absently spinning his spear in his hand. "Anyone else
hear the bell or whatever it is? That sounds like its being done by someone
human...or smart like a human. Even if they don't have our folk, they can
probably answer some questions. We should get 'em before they get away."
Bec looks helplessly to his more methodical comrades.
"Agreed,"
Lord Casimir says as he prepares to go down the hall, "let's see what the
bell is about. Marching order....", he says temporarily forgetting that he
isn't really in charge.
Newt pockets the gems and key ring. The 5-foot-wide corridor to the south ends after 20 feet at a wooden portcullis. The ringing sound of a hammer on wood echoes from past the barrier. A thick rope attached to the portcullis leads to a rung in the ceiling, and back down to a metal bar set in the left-hand wall, where it is tied off.
Bowen: "Someone
should secure that bar, I don't like the thought of it being used against us.
Perhaps we could strengthen its knot..."
The bar seems firmly set into the wall. The knot holding the rope looks like it could be easily undone, allowing the rope to be pulled and raising the portcullis from this side.
Bec
examines the rope leading to the bar. "Well, I think I can pull this open.
Since this is opened from this side and the bad guys live over here...maybe our
people are on the other side. On the other hand, maybe not and a big,
man-eating beast is on the other side." Bec shrugs. "Either way, I doubt
we can open this and not make a decent amount of noise..." He trails off,
looking to Casimir for some kind of confirmation.
Mischa:
"If we open it and go in, we will need to make sure someone stays with the
rope, so we do not find ourselves trapped on the other side. We may want to
check the other passage first, so we do not find ourselves between the crashing
waves as it were."
"I
concur", agrees Casimir, "we need to have this rope secured. Any
volunteers? Quickly now, I think we can still catch them unawares..."
Anya’drea, who has up to this point been playing with her wand, making zapping motions and mouthing silent incantations” is snapped out of her imaginary wizarding by the authority of Casimir’s voice. “I-I’ll do whatever you need.” She makes a brief mental calculation and stands a little straighter, squaring her shoulders in a forced attitude of preparedness.
Bec walks
over to the rope but looks again at his companions. "I'm confused. Did we
decide to go look at the other passage or are we going to check out this one?
I'd say this one because we know something's going on. I'm not smart like some
of you people, though." Bec speaks without a bit of sarcasm.
Newt
looks at Bec then the others then at the portcullis. He walks up to the fake
wall and examines everything for possible traps and surprises if the wall were
to open.
My vote is to pull this up and see what is being worked on behind this wall. I
will load my crossbow and prepare a few special surprises if we get surprised.
Casimir
Will sheath his sword and shield and pull his bow. "I vote to raise this
'cullis and see what's making that noise".
Anya’drea hands off her torch to Mischa and puts her wand in her belt. She unties the rope and pulls it down with ease until the portcullis is lifted and then ties the rope back off on the metal bar. She then retrieves her torch and pulls her wand again. The ringing sound of hammer on wood echoes louder now, but there is no break in the rhythm.
"Let's
file up and proceed down the hallway!", stammers Casimir, giddy with
excitement.
Bec does
his best to position himself towards the front of the group, his spear out in
front of him. He knows that Newt usually seems to do the scouting, but he's
hurt and Bec would like to save him the pressure of doing it. Moving as slowly
and quietly as he can, Bec moves down the hallway, looking back occasionally to
check on his companions.
The Chamber of Cages
Along the far wall of this cavern are eight wooden cages, each five feet square with a single lockable door. Two of the cages are occupied; one by an unconscious female human adorned in peasant garb, the other by an aging gnome in leather breeches. You recognize the female as Dayl, one of the serving maids from the Merry Riot Inn. You do not recognize the gnome, and he is blabbering unintelligibly while rocking back and forth, his hands pulled under his knees.
The sound is coming from a stocky dwarf wearing a leather apron. He is busy constructing more cages along the near wall, and is so engrossed in his work that he ignores your presence. To the left is a large pile of timber, and several saws, hammers and other tools.
Casimir
motions to the group to fan out and to be quiet about it. He nocks an arrow and
waits for all to be in position. He will try to be directly in the dwarf's line
of vision with the others fanning out to the sides.
There is no reaction from anyone in the room.
Mischa
knocks the magic arrow in her bow and moves slowly toward the cage where Dayl
lies unconcious.
Bec moves
forward cautiously, fanning out to the left as he approaches as quietly as he
can. He seems a little reluctant. Fighting monsters or animals is one thing.
Fighting or killing a person, though... The idea of attacking the dwarf
makes him a bit squeamish. One glance at Dayl in the cage convinces him,
however, that this needs to be done.
Still there is no reaction from the dwarf.
Mischa
cocks her head to an angle and passes a quizzical look to Casimir. Dropping the
arrow back in her quiver, Mischa reaches out to Dayl in the cage to check her
condition.
Bowen
too begins moving, but towards the laboring dwarf, not the prisoners. while his
fingers grip the axe tightly, his eyes watch the motion of the smith's hammer.
Newt,
lowers his crossbow and begins searching the cage for a way to open it. if he
finds a lock he will pull his tools out and begin to "work" his
nimble fingers. Newt does try to time each attempt in rhythm to the dwarf's
blows so as not be discovered.
Newt is able to open the lock on his first try.
While
Newt begins his task he also ponders how the dwarf got in here if the 'cullis
was closed. He will make a mental note and remember to thoroughly check this
room/ chamber for secrets. Newt mouths the word "secrets" and
"no kill" while indicating the dwarf...
Casimir
stops his slow walking forward, quizzically looking at the dwarf. He lowers his
bow and says to his comrades,"Keep looking for a way to free the
prisoner." Mewanwhile he continues to observe the dwarf and the dwarf's
surrounding environment.
As soon as Newt unlocks the cage, the dwarf turns around. “See here! What are you doin’? Leave me work alone. You’re not friends of Suto!”
We are now in initiative. Please keep in mind that you do not necessarily know what silent message Newt was trying to deliver.
The dwarf grabs a piece of wood in a menacing fashion.
“She is
not hurt, she has only fainted. She will be fine once we get her out of here.
We must subdue him and get him out of here. He is a prisoner here as well. He
does not act of his own free will. He's is under a spell."
Mischa drops her bow to the
ground and places herself between Newt and the dwarf. "Your no friend of
Suto's either; they've put you under a spell. Please try to snap out of
it."
Mischa draws her sickle and flips the blade to swing with the flat, so as to
not do serious damage to the dwarf.
Bowen
puts away his axe, and moves into the dwarf's threatened space with just his
shield, but does no more.
Casimir
will sheath bow and move to surround the dwarf. One false move, though, and it
is going to be grapple central!
The dwarf swings his piece of wood at Casmir, but misses horribly.
Newt
sees the action unfolding and decides it is best to get the unconscious woman
out of her cage. He carefully drags her out and to safety while the dwarf is
distracted. Newt will also get ready to assist his party members if they need
it by preparing his crossbow for action.
Bec springs
forward, faking high with his spear, but dropping it at the last second to
attempt to bear-hug the dwarf.
Bec grabs the dwarf but fails to hold on to him as he wriggles free.
Mischa
grabs hold of Dayl's other arm and begins to help Newt drag her to safety.
"We need to get her to Anya'drea, then we can come back and help the
others."
Anya’drea hurries over and bends down to tend to Dayl, dropping her wand on the ground. The young girl begins coming around.
It
looks like Newt and Mischa will be leaving the room briefly as they drag the
body out of harms way.
Ok Mischa, but we need to
hurry I am not sure what will happen someone makes a wrong move in here. How
did you know the dwarf is under a spell? What kind of magic can do this? I am
starting to get hungry. Do you have any food on you?
Bowen
holds his ground, instead attempting to talk the dwarf out of whatever
enchantment directs him. "We aren't here to do you harm you! Look, I'm not
even armed. Suto is a dark magician, and has ensorcelled you so that you may do
his bidding. Come now, what sort of being would place such harmless peoples in
cages like this?"
"I'll
explain all that later Newt. Right now we must get back in there, and help the
others. Anya'drea, we leave her in your care, please try and keep her calm, so
no more attention is drawn this way."
As she begins to head back
into the room, where all the commotion is, Mischa stops short and looks
quizzically at Newt. "How can you be hungry at a time like this?"
Casimir reaches to grab the dwarf, but not before the fellow swings his piece of wood at him. The blow bounces harmlessly off of Casimir’s breastplate. Casimir succeeds in grabbing the dwarf but fails to keep him in any kind of hold and the dwarf breaks free.
The dwarf again swings his club at Casmir, and again the blow glances of Lord Casmir’s breastplate. He is mumbling rapidly about his friend, Suto, and not letting him down, and sticking to the schedule. He angrily asks, “Why do all of you want to interrupt my schedule? Don’t you see I have very important work to do for my friend, Suto?”
Bec reaches in to grab the dwarf and gets him in a headlock (grapple for 5 points of non-lethal)
Mischa
comes back into the room and seeing the dwarf quite occupied makes her way over
to the cage containing the distressed gnome, and checks his condition.
"Newt, see if you can
open this cage, we need to get him out of here."
"I
don't like all this talk about a schedule... Bec, lets see if we can't hold him
still till on of our more... mystical... friends can give us some idea of what
to do"
Bowen will attempt to aid Bec in his grapple.
Bowen easily slips into the grapple and deals 3 points of non-lethal damage to the dwarf. He is weakening but still struggling.
Newt
pulls out his tools again and begins to work on the second cage while the
others work on restraining the dwarf.
“How are things going over there? The woman appears to be waking up but we left
her back in the other room. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to
help.”
Newt easily opens the cage lock.
Casimir
will aid in the grapple if possible, (jumping off the turnbuckle, if
necessary).
Casmir finds it easy enough to grab hold of the dwarf, but a another matter entirely to hold on, and fails to join the grapple.
The dwarf struggles violently. Still mumbling he breaks free from Bec’s grasp, but not Bowen’s
Bec steps
manuevers around and tries to pin down the dwarves legs as Bowen holds his
upper body.
As Bec wrestles with the dwarf, the stocky fellow takes enough non lethal damage that he is knocked unconscious and goes limp in Bowen and Bec’s arms.
Dayl stands shakily. “I am ever so grateful for my rescue. The last thing I remember is being in the town square when the ogre bellowed in, demanding townsfolk as tribute. I thinks I fainted.”
The gnome barely acknowledges his rescuers, simply rocking back and forth wherever he is placed and mumbling.
Everybody gets 50XP for defeating the dwarf. Newt gets an additional 10 XP for releasing the prisoners. Bec, Bowen and Casimir each get and additional 8 xp for defeating the dwarf with non-lethal damage.
With
the gnome removed from his cage, Mischa attempts to calm him and tend to his
fragile state. She then proceeds to check on the dwarf, who has a bit of a bump
on his head. "We need to get these two to tell us where the other
townsperson is. There is still the one room down here we need to check, but we
certainly can't bring them into any fight with us. We could have them stay in
the bedroom across the way. It is close enough we would be able to hear of any
trouble, and then that are not being put in the middle of any trouble we come
across."
The gnome does not take note of Mischa’s presence, nor that of anyone in the room. Mischa determines that, while he has been roughed up, he is not severely injured. The dwarf is merely unconscious.
"perhaps
we should loosely bind our new friend in the even he wakes up and begins to
attempt to raise an alarm?", suggests Casimir, nodding at the dwarf.
"At the very least, we should take all measures to secure him..."
Bec nods
and starts pushing the dwarf into a sitting position, grabbing his arms. The
large man pulls out his hemp rope and starts wrapping it around the dwarf's
wrists behind his back. "This is a good idea. We need to talk to this guy.
First off, I can't remember what name that dwarf said but it maybe it was the
same that the ogre said? We need to find who's in charge and where the rest of
our people are." As he finishes wrapping the rope, he looks up at Bowen.
"I assume you're better at knots and snares and stuff than I am."
Newt
listens as Bec talks and then feels his tummy grumble. “I can help tie those
knots for you.” Newt will take the opportunity to thoroughly search the dwarf
while tying him up. I am sure Bowen will let me know if he sees a mistake. “I
am getting hungry do any of you have anything to eat? Oh an by the way if the
'culis was closed from the outside was this dwarf a prisoner as well or do you
think there is more than one exit out of here? We need to hurry up and get back
I don't like this place very much.” Plus
everyone seems to be in a hurry which means things are gonna happen soon.
Taking
the rope from Bec, Bowen kneels down and continues the knotwork. " I'm not
sure that I'm all that better. I can set a snare, but otherwise my usefullness
with ropes is lit'le. Still, I shall try. I believe he said his friend was
Suto, who the ogre did indeed say was his friend as well... I wonder if the
ogre was under a spell as well? The more I think of it the more it seems
likely..."
After a few moments working
with the rope, Bowen looks up. "I'm going to need another minute on this,
I think I made a bit of a mess o' this. Hey-what if the ogre was under a spell?
I know he was an ogre and all, but perhaps these latest outbursts of his were
not his own doing? Perhaps we shouldn't have been so quick to kill him... Seems
like things are gettin' deeper and more dangerous here."
((Bowen will take the time to
make a second attempt at the rope))
Bec frowns.
"Maybe you're right. But I don't remember having much of a choice with
that one." As he speaks, he rubs the bruises on much of his body from that
fight. "We should be careful. If he can do that to an ogre and a dwarf, he
could do it to one of us, probably...right? You know...the bewitching?"
Casimir
rummages in his pack for some rations and water. He sits before the dwarf and
tries to revive him with a little water and food. He also partakes himself. He
asks the dwarf, "are you feeling more yourself? We are dreadfully sorry we
had to subdue you like that. How are you feeling?"
The dwarf remains unconscious.
While
Casimir is talking Newt begins to search everything in the room. When Casmir
mentions food his tummy starts to make noise. Newt has always liked to eat and
even a few hours without some kind of snack, the added stress of this mini
adventure, and the snake bites are beginning to show their effect. Newt tries
not to make his minor agony show by keeping busy looking for anything out of
place or odd about this room.
“If I don't find anything
quickly I say we leave the dwarf and the other back in the room and press
forward quickly before there is no more time.” Newt shivers for a second. “I
might add that they may be safer heading back to the village if they feel they
can make it to let the others know what we have found. I would hate finding
this mysterious host and then ending up like this poor dwarf and not have anyone
aware of this very real danger.”
Nothing else of interest is found in this room.
Bec starts
back to the portcullis, making sure no one sneaks up and lowers it on the
party. He will quietly move back towards the rope attached to metal bar and
keep an eye (and ear) out for anything unusual.
Casimir listens carefully to all the suggestions and wonderings. He suddenly straightens and remembers himself. “All sound possibilities; spells and ensorcelments. We shall bring the townsfolk to the chamber across the way. They should be safe enough there. Dayl, would you keep an eye on the gnome and the dwarf? If anything untoward happens, call out. I don’t think a little more noise than we’ve already made will hurt at this point, in an emergency. Let us proceed with all caution further into this lair. It would do no good to have rescued a few folk just to have the real power behind the kidnappings start something else up. Whatever it is may be down an ogre and a dwarf, but would seem to be dangerous yet.”
It takes but a moment to move the rescued individuals and your prisoner into the chamber and to make them comfortable there.
Casimir knocks an arrow and bids you follow down the unexplored corridor. It’s about 10 feet wide. Mischa and Newt take point, Newt scanning ahead for traps and Mischa keeping her elven eyes focused on the extent of her vision. Casimir and Bowen are next, with Bec and Anya’drea behind, both carrying their lit torches.
The tunnel continues fairly straight for about 30 feet. In the shadowy distance (in plain sight for Mischa and Newt) about another 20 feet ahead, can be seen a pair of closed stone doors. More immediately, just to the right, is an alcove, about 7 feet in diameter.
Mischa suddenly holds up a hand and whispers, “Stop.” She turns to the group, still whispering. “In the alcove just ahead there is a large fungus, approximately 4 feet tall, tan in color with faint purple splotches. I am unfamiliar with the species.”
Bec peers
into the darkness, trying desperately to see anything. He leans forward towards
Mischa. "So...what now? We can't stop because of a mushroom, right?"
Bowen
pipes in: "So far nothing in this place has been an accident, right? So
this mushroom must also have a purpose. Maybe we should throw somethin' at it?
You know- to see if it bites or somethin'?"
Shrieker lair
Mischa knocks an arrow and fires at the fungus. The arrow flies true and pierces the mushroom flesh easily. Suddenly the fungus emits a piercing sound, like a shriek. Mischa knocks and fires another arrow, which also hits its mark. The shrieking persists.
Casimir strides forward, drawing his sword, and slashes at the mushroom, cutting the stalk in two. The piercing sound stops as abruptly as it started.
Newt is
truly impressed with his two companions! He will investigate the stalks and the
alcove regions for anything that looks like it will open the door or could be
useful later.
“I am just going to see if
there is a lever or button in this alcove give me one sec then we can
investigate the door that seems to be blocking our path up ahead.”
Newt finds nothing of interest in the alcove.
“Nothing
here, lets move forward and check out the door. maybe it will open when we get
close. If not I may have to persuade it a little bit with my tools. Or maybe it
will open if we knock. Lets see what happens as we get closer.”
Newt takes his position by
Mischa and presses forward toward the door.
Bec moves
forward as well, eying the defeated fungus suspiciously as he follows behind
Newt. "This is getting weirder and weirder," he whispers to whoever
is nearest.
When he gets to the door, he
backs up to give Newt room but stands ready in case the door opens suddenly.
Once at the door, Newt can search it but finds no traps.
Mischa says “Perhaps those with more fighting skills should now take the front line, as we have no idea what may be behind these doors.”
Newt
will gladly fall back in the ranks. He doesn't want to become jelly by some
random shot to his ribs.
“Ready when you are. The door
looks clean to me.”
Casimir suggests, “Bec, you open the door. I will enter first. Those armed with melee weapons follow after, those with ranged weapons come in last. Don’t get too far away from our lights. Stick close together and protect those of us who are less armored or used to physical conflict. Anyone have any other suggestions? If not, let’s go and see what lurks behind these doors.”
Bec nods to
Casimir, shifting his spear into his left hand. With his right, he grabs a hold
of the door handle. He mouths "one...two...three!" to his companions
and pulls the door open as wide as he can. If the door opens, Bec enters the
doorway as fast he can, spear at the ready.
Summoning Room
Bec opens the door and begins to move in. Beyond 10 feet into the room everything is obscured by a misty vapor. Immediately upon the door being opened, a sinister, rough voice can be heard intoning unknown words. The sound seems to be coming from up in the air somewhere in the mist. As Bec enters through the doors, his feet slip on what feels like grease, but he is able to keep his balance.
After
opening the door, Bec's excitement got the better of him as he rushed forward.
Now, alone in the room with the strange voice, he hesitates. Bec glances
backwards to see if Casimir or any of the others has followed him.
(OOC: I figure Bec had a
courageous moment but is now holding.)
Seeing
that the room beyond is shrouded in mist, Mischa shoulders her bow and draws
her sickle.
When
Bowen collects his wits enough to act, he will move into the room, and move 10'
down the west side.
As Bowen tries to moves into the room, he loses his footing on the slippery floor and stumbles back behind Bec, falling to the ground. Bec is able to stand up but is still outside the room.
Casimir carefully advances into the room, moving slowly so as to keep his feet. He makes it to just in front of Bec and peers into the mist. “I can see little into the mist,” he whispers back. “Just about 5 feet in front of me, but I see nothing around me yet.”
Bec moves directly
south in the chamber, walking slowly to maintain his footing and giving himself
to look around. He looks back over his shoulder every third step or so to make
sure he can still see his companions in the mist.
Bec advances at half speed, to ensure better footing; 5 feet to Casimir, then 5 feet past. Now standing in front of Casimir, Bec realizes that while he stands next to the noble, he can see him, mostly; but anything further away than next to him is lost in the swirling mist. The arcane voice is coming from somewhere high up and to the right of Bec. At Bec’s feet is the edge of what looks like a pentagram carved into the floor. The engraved portion is filled with silver. Off to Bec’s right, but at ground level, the mist seems to glow red.
Bec eying
the glow nervously, takes a few steps to the right to get a closer look. He is
careful not to cross the symbol before him. He also keeps an eye on Casimir,
making sure not to lose contact.
(OOC:Bec will move one square to the west and than stop and hold his action
depending on what everyone else does. He also works to make sure he and Casimir
can still see each other.)
The symbol continues in front of the space Bec is now in, and even in the space to the Southwest; it is about 10 feet across. While he can see nothing else, and the glow is no clearer, Bec realizes that one more step would cut him off from his companions.
The voice from above stops for a moment. Suddenly a fierce-looking small spider descends from a web hanging from the door way and tries to bite Casimir, but its small fangs can’t penetrate his breastplate.
Once again the voice begins its strange speech.
Newt
will take the opportunity to take a shot at the spider if the chance presents
itself.
He turns to his more magical
companion. Is there anything you can do disrupt the obvious magics going on in
this room. I am not sure I should enter yet as I haven't heard word yet from
our companions who have entered that it is safe.
Newt
will take the step and fire. Since this is a very important shot for his friend
Newt will use an action point to assist the shot.
So careful is Newt’s aim (you hit AC 16 – you don’t need to use an action point) that the bolt screams between Bowen and Casimir, taking out a couple of the beastie’s legs. The spider immediately vanishes. Newt may re-load.
Anya’drea waves her wand about. “I can’t use this thing unless I can see someone. It’s very frustrating, actually. It seemed much more impressive before I t-, before Nerenethos gave it to me.”
"Alas,
these magics are beyond my skill, there is nothing natural about them. We could
see if we can wait them out but there are lives at stake if we do."
Bowen
will make another attempt at entering the room, this time moving at half speed,
and heading for the west wall.
Bowen discovers that only is first step into the room is slippery. He easily makes it to the west wall and is standing in an area that is not covered in mist, yet is cut off from all but the north wall by mist. From here Bowen can see the doorway, but not Casimir, Bec, nor anyone or thing else in the room.
"Is
there anything we can do about this foul mist? I can't see a darn thing in
here...", exclaims Casimir. He readies his sword and takes a five foot
step into the room...
Casimir is standing next to Bec, at the edge of the silver-inlaid pentagram.
Bec will
move west until he hits the wall, then will proceed south against the wall
unless something unusual happens before that. Also, he will stop if he starts
to lose sight of Casimir and wait for the noble to catch up.
Bec realizes that as soon as he moves he will lose sight of Casimir, so waits until they can move together.
At that moment the voice stops once again. The area of the mist that was reddened gets brighter, and the sound of crackling flames comes to your ears. The light gets brighter near Bowen, and suddenly he can make out a small creature made as if from fire, in the mist in front of him. It strikes out at him, slamming into his torso for 2 points of damage and an additional 2 points of fire damage. Bowen is mildly wounded. Bowen recoils, however, before catching fire.
From above the voice once again begins intoning its mantra.
Anya’drea, frustrated at not being able to help, moves carefully into the room, next to Bec.
Mishca
will move up to the edge of the mist and carefully make her way through the
slippery area and continue to move through the mist until she is in the space
next to Bowen.
Mischa is able to make her way next to Bowen and now she, too can see the small animated flame.
5/20 @7:53am: Newt: last logged in on 5/17@3:42pm, last posted on 5/17@3:42pm.
Newt, crossbow re-loaded, carefully advances into the room, but loses his footing in the doorway and can proceed no farther this round.
5/20 @7:58am: Bowen: last logged in on 5/18@12:45am, last posted on 5/17@6:43pm.
Bowen draws his battleaxe and swings at the creature made of flame before him. The blade of his axe just misses high, above where the creature’s head (?) might be.
5/20 @8:04am: Casimir: last logged in on 5/18@4:58pm, last posted on 5/17@9:11pm.
Casimir, hearing Bowen being attacked, makes his way past Bec, careful to not step on the pentagram, and attacks the fire creature, but his blade misses its target completely.
5/20 @8:10am: Bec: last logged in on 5/20@2:18am, last posted on 5/18@12:56pm.
Bec, in his
effort to stay close to everyone, is surprised to see Casimir charge past him.
Seeing the young noble swinging his sword at something, he realizes that there
is a combat going on, even though the mist seems to be absorbing a lot of the
noise. Bec moves around Casimir, just avoiding stepping on the pentagram and
attacking the fire creature.
(OOC: Bec will move
diagonally, southwest on square, avoiding the pentagram. Then he will attack
the creature)
Bec is mindful of where he plants his feet (-4 to attack for squeezing) but still pierces the “body” of the flame with his spear doing 12 points of damage. The flame immediately vanishes.
As Newt
slips he feels the book that he is carrying about jab his side. He calls out to
his companions. My bolt caused the spider to vanish when I shot it. I don't
think everything we see in this room is real. Maybe if I flip through this book
I can find a picture or secret we may have missed. Maybe we can make that noise
stop by shooting toward the voice.
The voice stops. As it does so, a reddish medium-sized snake appears in front of Newt, it’s scales seeming particularly jagged. It lashes out at the gnome, its fangs sinking into Newt’s left arm for 3 point of damage, clobbering him (only a standard or move action next time Newt is up.) The creature glares at Newt with some hint of intelligence in its serpentine eyes.
From where the voice was intoning arcane words you hear a fit of hacking and wheezing.
Anya’drea points her wand at the snake. “Now THAT I can see.” But when she says the strange word, nothing happens. “Damn this thing!”
Mischa steps toward the serpent and slashes at it with her sickle, but the snake slithers to the side of the blow. As she does so she loudly states, “Show yourself, Suto!”
Bec,
confused by the continuing appearance and disappearance of foes, the general
disorientation from the fog, the fear of this odd pentagram, and the general
crowd of allies around yet another foe, decides to go the opposite direction.
He starts following where he last heard the incanting voice in the mist. With
his spear at the ready, he heads off in that direction.
As Bec moves toward the voice the mist closes about him, cutting off his view of the rest of the group. In front of him is a large metal brazier holding a roaring flame that softly illuminates the immediate area. This appears to be the source of the red glow seen earlier. Somewhere directly above Bec, but concealed by the mist, the hacking cough can be heard.
Newt
breaks the glare. Pulls his crossbow around and hesitates. I know this isn't
real I just know it. I have to prove it for myself. I have seen that magic wand
work effortlessly vs. the ogre. If it is not working now then maybe there is no
target. Plus I shot that spider that just disappeared a moment ago. Newt takes
a deep breath closes his eyes and moves through the snakes last location as if
it doesn't even exist. Attempting to disbelieve anything that happens next.
((not sure how this works in
game terms but Newt is not going to fall for anymore tricks))
As Newt attempts to step through the snake, it lunges at him, but misses. Newt Seems to feel resistance to his passage, but continues to believe it is only his mind playing tricks on him. Newt tries to push past, but believing or not, he cannot move past the snake, and it rears back and pushes Newt prone.
Casimir
is torn between certain glory by fighting the snake and the creeping thought in
the back of his head that having his compatriots splitting up is not a good
thing. He swallows his pride and goes along next to Bec.
As Casimir follows Bec the mist closes about him, cutting off his view of the rest of the group. In front of him is a large metal brazier holding a roaring flame that softly illuminates the immediate area. This appears to be the source of the red glow seen earlier. Somewhere directly above Casimir, but concealed by the mist, the hacking cough can be heard. Bec is by his side.
Bowen
will squeeze in just north of Mischa, and attack the snake.
Bowen’s arm scrapes against the wall as he makes his attack (a critical miss), but he is able to recover.
The serpent, acting as if it’s weighing it’s options, strikes out at the fallen Newt, but its fangs fall short of their target.
The coughing above Bec and Casimir stops. Once again arcane sounds come from above in the mist.
Anya’drea points her wand once again at the snake, and once again stamps her foot in anger when nothing happens. “Don’t tell me I’ve forgotten how to say that silly word!”
Misha
swings her sickle at the serpent.
"Newt back away slowly, if this things poison is anything like the smaller
one, you could very well die."
The serpent once again deftly avoids Mischa’s sickle.
Casimir
will kick over the brazier, careful to do so away from the pentagram.
"Figure that the continual rising smoke is leading to some sort of power.
Get rid of the smoke get rid of the power", he says to no one in
particular.
The brazier topples, at once spreading and diffusing the red glow, but the action has no effect on the mist throughout the room. You hear what sounds like some stones falling down a hole.
Bec will
examine the wall of the chamber, making sure the voice is straight up. If it
can possibly be climbed, he will try to go up the wall, dropping his spear,
drawing his dagger, and clamping it between his teeth.
Bec thinks the climb would be between challenging and tough for him. The voice is directly above where Bec is currently standing. Bec can move next to Casimir and try climbing, but fails to make any progress this round.
Newt
will shoot at the snake (this is definitely worth an action point) and then try
to force his body back to the slippery entrance and see if he can slide on his
back down out the doorway and to safety. Bowen, you OK you don't look well to
me. Check on Bowen he is freezing up.
As Newt brings his crossbow to bear while still on the ground, the snake attacks again, but Newt’s chain shirt saves him from the bite. Newt fires, and thanks to his heroic steady aim, the bolt pierces the serpent’s body for 1 point of damage, a minor wound. Newt crawls five feet out the door, discovering that the floor is no longer slippery in the process.
The serpent lashes out at Anya’drea but misses completely.
From above and just to the east of Casimir, the strange croaking voice again begins intoning arcane words, but is interrupted by a fit of coughing. The words continue and a small orb comes streaking through the mist straight at Newt, but splashes harmlessly on the floor in front of him.
Anya’drea once more points her wand at the snake and speaks a word, but this time a missile of energy streaks from it directly into the body of the serpent for 4 points of damage. The snake is now mildly wounded.
Mishca swings once again at the serpent, trying to severe
it's head with an arching slash.
The blow severely wounds the snake.
Newt will get up and move to the crevice for cover to his
right. He will take the time to reload his crossbow. (he will fire at the snake
if he gets a chance this round)
Newt
reloads and moves to cover in the crevice.
If it seems feasible, Casimir will swing with his sword
to where the coughing is coming from. If it is not feasible. he will place his
sword at his feet and draw his bow...
Casimir drops his sword and looses and drops his shield, then draws his bow. Listening intently, he feels he has pinpointed the location of the disembodied voice.
Bec, calms himself, wipes the sweat from his hands on his
pants, and attempts to climb up the wall again.
Bec climbs up the wall 15 feet. He is still in the mist and can hear the voice now slightly higher and about 5 feet away from the wall. In fact, Bec can make out a shadowy form in the mist.
The serpent lashes out again at Anya’drea but again misses completely.
The shadowy figure hunches over a bit and the words begin again. An orb streaks through the mist at Bec, but hits the wall next to him in a sizzling splash. The voice curses under its breath.
Anya’drea’s wand seems to be on the fritz again as she fails to launch any magic at the serpent.
Mischa swings at the foul serpent from beyond yet again.
"Shia pyl's o ber
poradaes eilaedia?" ("why don't you disappear already")
Mischa’s blow completely misses the snake.
Bec will slowly and carefully climb the last few feet until
he is spotted. Then he will lunge out and try to grab the figure if he can.
Bec climbs up and breaches the mist! There, just 5 feet away from the wall, are the head and shoulders of a stooped, wrinkled old man, apparently floating in mid-air. Bec pushes off the wall and lunges at him. Having an unstable start, and realizing the danger of this enemy, Bec summons up his inner reserves of strength (uses an action point). Bec grabs hold of the old man and locks his arms around him, dealing 6 points of non-lethal damage. Both combatants remain in the air, the old man floating and Bec hanging onto him.
Back on the ground the serpent lunges once more at Anya’drea, misses, and then disappears.
The old man struggles against Bec’s hold, trying to drop him, but Bec holds firm.
Bowen bends all of his will against his paralysis and breaks free.
Taking
stock of the situation, Mischa looks around and finds two of the group missing
"Is everyone all right, Casimir, Bec? Where are you, this mist is rather
irritating. Have you found Suto?"
Mischa waits for a response
and once having heard one will move carefully in the direction of the voices,
unless someone in her immediate area needs assistance.
Newt
will take his crossbow and carefully walk around the corner and through the
door listening for the hacking or responses from his party. If he does hear
hacking he will take the time to fire in that direction hopefully scarring or
hitting the source.
Newt advances slowly into the room, and does hear something, but it sounds like Bec and someone else involved in a very close struggle. So close in fact that you would have a 50% chance of hitting either one.
Assuming
that Casimir hears Bec and the cougher struggling. Casimir shouts out "Get
him, friend. Hold on tight, lest you fall!"
Again assuming that the rest
of the party will hear the latest update, so no one will fire into a chance to
knock Bec from his precarious perch.
When
Bowen is again able to act, he will take a moment to compose himself before
heading along the east wall of the room.
Bec driven
by adrenaline, fear, and surprise acted without thinking to get himself in this
situation. Now flying around, he is given a chance to realize what is going on
and panic is beginning to set in. Closing his eyes for a moment, Bec tries to
calm down. Continuing to hold on for his life, Bec struggles to lock his legs
around the shoulder or torso of his legless opponent. If he can get a good
grip, he'll try to grab the dagger from his mouth and hold it up to the face of
the spellcaster.
"Take us down and I'll
let you live! And get rid of this fog!"
Newt
looks down and notices the pentagram for the first time. Since he can hear
conflict above him but not see anything he will refrain from shooting... for
now. He will make for the wall and try to get a better view of what is going on
above him by climbing up.
OOC: Sorry,
I thought speaking was a free action. I'll continue the grapple but drop the
dagger. Can't I talk to him, not for an Intimidate roll but to inform him that I
need not hurt him if he comes along peacefully. I don't necessarily want to
coerce him, just let him know this need not be a fight to the death.
As Bec is wrestling with the old man, the wizard’s body goes limp. He is unconscious but still floating in the mist. Bec is now floating approximately 20 feet in the air (based on how high he climbed), hanging onto an unconscious wizard, and cannot see, nor be seen by anyone below.
Newt
stops at the wall. Not willing to drop his precious crossbow. He will train it
on the conflict as he hears it and wait for an opening to fire.
Bec holds
onto the old man tightly. Looking out over the mist, he yells:
"Hello? Anyone there?
I've got the old man who was casting the magic but he's unconscious now. He's
also floating and I'm holding onto him. Does anyone have a rope handy. If you
could throw it up to me, I could tie him up and then shimmy down the rope.
Anyone?"
Bec waits for a response,
hoping the magic spell doesn't fail before he can get down.
What is
going on up there?!! Where is everyone? Newt is just now feeling the pain from
the serpent’s bite and is alone now in the mist. Just waiting to find out what
is going on above him.
Bowen
will continue along the east wall, searching for the rear of the chamber or an
end to the mist.
Casimir
pipes in, "Be careful as you approach, there seems to be a hole here, as
well as the remnants of a the brazier that the mage was using to create his
cantrips. Wouldn't want anyone to burn themselves on any coals...".He
adds, "Bec needs a rope, has anybody one handy? Let's make a loop in the
rope and drag them down here as if they were a child's kite...".
Bowen
calls out from the other side of the clouded room: "I hap'ened to bring
along some rope with me. Give me a moment to dig it out..." Bowen crouches
along side the wall and removes his pack in order to get at the rope.
"Hey! are they above the pentagram? Will throwing the rope up to Bec
disturb the symbol in some way? I'm guessin' that if Bec already crossed its
border to secure Suto it might not be a problem at all, but...."
Bowen will create a slipknot
at one end of the rope before skirting around the border of the pentagram to
find Casimir.
Bec laughs
for a moment, despite his fear and confusion, because he forgot he is carrying some
rope. Holding on with his legs and left arm, Bec open up the flap of his
backpack, fishes out his coiled rope, shakes it loose, and starts wrapping the
rope around the arms and torso of the unconscious man.
For the rest of you walking around in the mist playing Marco Polo, you eventually discover that almost all of the engraved pentagram is filled with silver. The southern end of the room has been carved into the likeness of a hideous frog-like demonic head with a wide maw. The lower half of the mouth forms a small altar, on which rests a book, and gemstones serve as eyes. A five-foot –wide hole is situated on the floor in front of the altar. Near where the brazier was standing is a pair of tongs, a stack of silver ingots and a pile of fire wood.
Directly below where you believe Bec to be is a dagger and a well-made quarterstaff.
Newt feels faint.
Mishca
moves over to Newt to see what is wrong.
"Newt, are you alright?
You're not looking very well. We need to hurry he's not doing very well."
Mischa pulls another pot of
sticky goo from her pack and begins applying it to the snake bit on Newt's arm.
Bec, after
wrapping the old man up a few times as best as possible, will throw the slack
down towards the ground and then shimmy down the rope.
"Coming down!" he
shouts into the mist below.
Bec makes it down the first 7 feet or so easily. Then his hands start to slip. He steadies himself and has a couple more false starts, and then falls from a height of 12 ½ feet, taking 1 point of damage.
Casimir
will take the rope and draw the man down. "By far, the strangest kite
flying experience I have ever had", he proclaims.
Upon getting him down Casimir
will take 20 to truss the man up. He will also ready a gag, in the event that
the silly wizard wants to talk that funny talk...
The man comes down but only when a great amount of force is exerted. By pulling hard on the rope, he is eventually brought down, but during the process of further securing and gagging him, the body continually tries to rise. It appears that after a certain amount of weight is applied, the body remains grounded, but when the weight is removed, the body tries to float up again.
Bowen
gives a slight sigh as the giant of a man flies down into the hard floor. After
putting his rope back, he takes a quick rest, folding into a kneeling crouch
and watching as Casimir tries to pull Suto down. Mumbling to himself, Bowen
seems to have decided the short break was enough and rises, walking over to Mischa
and Newt. "I've still got some of those magick'd berries the druid gave
us, if you want some, Newt. Not sure if they are goin' to help with any
poison... but it might help to get somethin' in your gut. And poison or no,
you've been takin' a bruising today." Fishing through his pocket, Bowen
extracts one of the group's small berries and extends his hand. "It's...
uh... a lit'le warm, you know? But it still looks good and isn't squished or
anythin'"
Mischa
looks at Bowen as he approaches. “The poison seems to have done its worst
already, but I fear if he takes even one more hit he will be beyond the skill
of any here to save. We need to wake that man so we can find out where the
other villager is, and get out of here. He's going to need many days of bed
rest to fix what the poison has done to him."
Mischa looks over at the group
binding the old man and back at the little one next to her. "Now, please
let someone else take the front, you are in no shape to be putting on a brave
face. The poisons have weakened you significantly, and there is nothing I, nor
anyone else here can do to repair that damage. You need to take it easy
Newt."
Casimir
proclaims, "Newt, are you up for searching this unconscious lug to find
out why he keeps rising into the air? He probably has some magic on him that
allows him to levitate off the firmament. If you can't, just let me know, and I
will give him the once over. I have had occasion to do that when some of the
family silverware went missing and we had to search the staff..."
(Posted for Newt to move things along) Newt hesitantly and gingerly walks over to where the wizard is being held down. A search of the foe yields a ring, 2 scrolls, 2 vials of some kind of oily substance, and a live toad that was in one of his pockets.
I have
found some interesting items. I think we should remove them all from this
strange flying man. Newt starts pulling at the ring and removing the scrolls
and other items. I am feeling a little weak but we need to make sure that we
find our fellow villagers before leaving. But believe me I will definitely try
to take the cool alchemy lab we passed earlier back to town and just rest for a
solid week if possible. I hurt all over. Newt looks at Bowen and smiles. Keep
your warm berry just In case it is needed before we leave. What I really need
is a slab of meat that has been slowly turned over a spit and some fresh
veggies and some fine wine... Newt drones off about food for a minute or two
then catches himself and blushes slightly.
Bowen
replaces the little berry and takes up his shield and axe once again. While he
waits for the other's to finish their business, he begins walking along the
walls, searching for a doorway or anything of interest.
Bec checks
the rope around the old man, checking to make sure it is tight. Then he takes
the slack rope and ties it around the man's wrists behind his back. Finally, he
takes the last end and puts it in his mouth to gag him. Satisfied, he turns to
his companions.
"You wanna see if we can
wake him up?"
Suddenly the mist in the room dissipates. Some seconds later, those of you holding the old man down feel his unnatural buoyancy leave his body, and he seems to rest naturally, once again obeying the laws of physics, on the stone floor. The entire room can now be seen: the engraved pentagram almost filled with silver. The southern end of the room carved into the likeness of a hideous frog-like demonic head with a wide maw. The lower half of the mouth forms a small altar, on which rests a book, and gemstones serve as eyes. A five-foot –wide hole is situated on the floor in front of the altar. Near where the brazier was standing is a pair of tongs, a stack of silver ingots and a pile of fire wood. A well-made quarterstaff lies on the ground. There do not appear to be any other exits, save for the hole.
Casimir:
"Did we not pass a wagon not long back? Let's load the silver, take our
wards and be gone from this foul place. Perhaps we can learn something from
those we have in our custody..."
Bec hoists
up the old man on his shoulder, preparing to carry him out of the cave.
"Let's go home, then. Has
everyone been accounted for from the village?"
"I
believe that is all of them. I'm concerned about the Dwarf, though. It's clear
he has been enchanted into the service of Suto, but where does he come from? I
also think we will have to return... I have a feeling we are not yet through
with the trouble started here. Still, lets get these people out of here for
now, and bring as much of these ill-got'en gains back to the town. I'm all for
let'in' the lit'le guy rest as well."
The party gathers up the wizard and the fourteen silver ingots. Anya’drea grabs the well-made staff. Upon inspection now that he mist has lifted, the brazier is shaped like a human female from the waist up, shapely and six-armed, and like a huge snake from the waist down. The snake’s coiled tail serves as the base and the six outstretched arms cradle the basin. Anya’drea shudders upon looking at it. You are choosing to leave alone the hole in the ground and the frog carving with altar and book, correct?
Casimir
pipes up, "I think we should take any and all evidence for Suto's trial in
town. Do we think that book on the altar may be valuable evidence? Otherwise it
might be a spellbook, which would not be safe to leave around here..."
Newt
tries to resist the sparkles of the gem eyes. But soon his curiosity gets the
best of him. He starts to get closer appraising the value of the gems as he can
see them. He will check the statue for any traps/hidden stashes/ movable
niches, then he will try to pry out the gems if he finds no traps. Guys we
should check out this hole as well. Newt looks for any light source that is
available and able to be dropped down the hole. Hopefully shedding light on the
hidden areas.
Finding no traps, Newt climbs up on the altar and pries the gemstones out of the frog sculpture.
While thus occupied, Anya’drea takes a look at the scrolls, oils and book you have found. She is able to verify that one of the scrolls is a scroll of summon monster II, and that the book is, in fact, a spell book. She asks to have these written materials.
Newt
carefully puts the gems away with the others, then will offer to hold the torch
that Anya’drea is carrying so she can examine the staff more closely with both
hands. He will also offer her the scrolls for examination (with him) since she
is better at that sort of thing. Once the light is no longer needed for the
scrolls he will drop the torch down the hole and see if there is a bottom and
what is down there.
The torch falls 40 feet before landing on the floor and going out. It looked like there is a cavern down there, out of sight due to the narrow shaft. Newt thinks it would be a climb of average difficulty for himself.
Newt's
eyes gleam with excitement. More treasures he mumbles to himself. Hey everyone
I say we should look down here and see what kind of excitement we can find. I
still have keys that have not done anything yet and I don't like to leave
unlocked things behind. Will someone help hold this rope and perhaps lend me
theirs so i can see what is down this hole.
Bec looks
at the pit, then looks at Newt.
"Im curious about that
pit too, but let's think straight about this. You're badly hurt, we have people
to return to their homes, and bad people to see imprisoned. I think we need to
do that before we finish exploring."
Bec looks around, looking a
bit bashful.
"That's just what I
think..."
"I
agree with Bec. We will return here, but we can't be neglectin' these people. I
don't believe we have finished here, but we need to get back into the open air
and take a break too, right?"
It may
be wise to head back to town with those we have secured thus far. If we head
down the hole and fall, it would leave them here unguarded and unable to
escape. We are only a short ways from your village. We should however hurry
back, as one of your kinsmen is still as of yet still missing.
While I am sure this one knows
his location, the only way we could interrogate him, would mean me using what
little healing I have remaining on him. Perhaps the city guard would be better off
interrogating him, and we can find out from them what he knows later.
I am also sure Dayl is anxious
to see her sister and home again very soon. Why do we not take her home, and
let the dwarf sleep off the spell he is under safely in a cell so he can hurt
no one else and will be free to go once Suto has lost his hold over him. We can
not keep dragging prisoners and those rescued with us to do so would be
folly."
Mischa stands silent after
speaking her mind and awaits the others decision.
Newt
rubs his bites at the mention of getting hurt. He seems to fight internally for
a moment looking longingly at the hole and what may be down there. “Well lets
get a move on I guess I can look at this rune book while I am resting. I bet I
can make some very fascinating breakthroughs in my lab with this info. Plus
some of these traps have given me ideas...yes, yes, many ideas. I will come up
with a way to be immune to poison. I am beginning to hate snakes. They hurt
real bad. Maybe if I slowly poison myself I can make some kind of antigen...
hmmm. Newt will go on and on till someone stops him or the group begins to move
out.”
Lord Casimir clears his throat, "One thing we
haven't thought of, however, is that if the other prisoner is down there,
perhaps they don't have a lot of time. I wouldn't want to have that lying over
my head; that I could have inspected this small area and saved someone, but
instead I chose to leave and doom the person to certain death..."
We have your kinsmen, why don't we bring them back to your
village for looking after. Once they are safe we can always come back and
explore the rest of this place."
"As long as the villagers are safe and the villain
is in custody, I am for heading back. I do REALLY want to explore that hole,
though. It seems like it could be important. We don't even know if this is
Suto, himself...", states Casimir as he steps to leave...
Bec looks over at the old man to make sure his still
unconscious. Doing so, he starts to walk after Casimir. He looks a bit shaken,
as if all the events of the day are catching up with him. Bec appears to be
trembling a bit and his expression seems a bit dazed.
Bowen gives the book at his belt a shake. "Suto's
journal here suggests he was working with someone... or thing, stronger than
he. Either this is Suto, or it is that his companion. Even if it weren't we
can't just leave these people up here while we go down to who knows what. I
doubt we have captured the real villian. All the more reason for us to be
returnin' to town. Newt needs to recover, and we should be reportin' as to what
we've found. And if nothin' else, we need to take the townsfolk back."
"Agreed, as long as we vow to bring the true villian
to justice, should our capture turn out to be a mere hireling. That will
involve coming back here, in all liklihood..."
You gather up the silver ingots and make your way back to the rescued prisoners. It takes some doing but you are able to get the unresponsive gnome, the unconscious wizard, the unconscious dwarf, Dayl and yourselves up the ladder. Finding the wagon, you are able to load the bodies and some supplies into it (along with the wolf near the entrance – Mischa insists on taking the animal) and wheel it out of the caverns and back into town.
Dayl’s sisters are overjoyed at seeing her and, in fact, you are greeted by an impromptu fanfare and group of huzzah!s from the assembled town. They explain they had been watching for your triumphant return, but never expected you back so fast! The Mayor, Lord Duncan Merriweather is on hand, clapping you on your backs and calling each of you a hero. He calls for members of the militia to come and take the wizard, suitably tied and gagged, to the small dungeon, for questioning. The gnome is identified as a merchant named Jonas, and his calmed down by those who know him well and taken off away from the ruckus.
What would you like to do now?
Will the half elf druid help Mischa and look after the
wolf while we delve back into the cave?
Although she is not in the town (for obvious druid-y reason) a quick trip to the grove finds her there and yes, she will be more than happy to look after the animal.
As that
is the case Mischa is more then ready to head out to the cave once again.
Casimir
is steeled with new resolve. "Let's see to Newt, and go back as quickly as
possible. Perhaps our new status as heroes will get us some favorable prices on
antidotes for snake poison.."
Unfortunately, alchemical antitoxins only work before you are bitten. And Kerwin Krell can never get their hands on it at any rate. The only things for sale at Kerwin’s Outfitters are any gear listed in the PHB that costs less than 30gp (including alchemical items) and a limited selection of armor and weapons.
Bowen
will hold back a ways from the fanfair and whatnot, perfectly content to find
the shade of a tree or building to sit in. All that dungeoneering must be
growing on him! He'll take a quick breather until he is called on again, for
whatever reason.
Newt
basks in the throng... Yes we have returned and in good time. Maybe you have
some food for your heroes? Perhaps kisses? Newt lets the people gather around
the returned townsfolk then tries to hide his bites. Well maybe the celebration
can wait till after I speak to the village healer. Newt smiles at his leader
when he mentions bargains. Lets go find out how much we can get for hopefully a
very, very small price.
Mischa
hangs back away from the fanfare as well, anxious to return to a more natural
setting. She finds a shady spot in a nearby cluster of trees with Bowen and sits
in the soft grass and listens to the breeze gently caressing the leaves above.
Her mind wandering to the pup in the druid's care. Without looking up or moving
she speaks "Someone should tell the hermit that the ogre is dead, and
return his arrow to him. It was truly a good luck charm in that battle, no one
was lost."
Mischa returns to a state of
unmoving silence and waits.
A small smile creeps across Tarik’s face at the mention of the ogre being dead. He rubs what’s left of his arm. He bids you keep the arrow. A small token for a brave deed and as he said before, he doesn’t do much bow shooting these days.
Bec takes
his praise with humility...at first. After a a number of complementary beers,
however, Bec finds himself acting out the events of the day. His recreations
seem to underplay getting flattened by the ogre and concentrate on the heroic
wall climb and flying grappling of the evil wizard.
"He'll
be more than glad to hear it, no doubt. We should tell him as a group, though.
I wouldn't want to be denyin' the others a chance at more praise. Hopefully it
won't be the last of the praise, if you get me. If this is the last time some
or all of us are ever seen, they might as well live it up. Hopefuly the
at'ention will do Newt some good, too. Soon enough we will have to let everyone
know we aren't heroes. Sure we rescued that girl, but it was more luck than
anything. And I believe Suto isn't even the worst of what is down in that cave.
There is somethin' worse there. And we have to deal with it."
Mischa
nods solemnly in silent agreement.
While
Casimir is reveling in the heroes welcome, he is itching to get back to the
cave. That ominous sense of doom that would normally consume him has been
replaced with a sense of childlike excitement that is brought on by supreme
confidence. "Surely, we can handle just about anything that comes our
way?", thinks Casimir to himself....
Assuming Newt has gotten his
antidote, "Let us go back early on the morrow, before the town has woken
up. I am getting a flair for dramatic entrances and exits!"
The only thing that will help Newt, short of magic that nobody in this town possesses, is rest. Newt will heal 1 point of CON damage overnight. Do you wish to wait longer?
Newt
tries to find any means available to cure himself. When none presents itself,
Newt dejectedly says "I will stay while the group explores for the next
few days. I have plenty that I can work on and a few ideas to test out in my
lab. Unless you want me to come? I am fine with any decisions we make as a
group. Besides you should be back shortly right?"
OOC: I
guess that depends on how much CON damage newt has taken. If we have to wait
more than 3 days, I would want to go immediately, but in the interests of
gameplay, perhaps we should wait until Newt is healed...
Casimir will use the down time to focus his skills with a sword master and
sharpen his eye on the archery range. He awaits news of the pending departure.
He is still in favor of leaving either in the dead of night or early dawn
(mostly for the effect!)...
((I'd
suggest Newt sit back and rest for a few days, but I'd rather not have Jecoby
miss out on the next visit to the caves.))
Mischa
rises from the grass and turns to face Bowen. "Does your village have a
mid-wife or healer? If someone trained in the ways of healing were to care for
him he would recover faster then on his own. If not please bring Newt to my
home. I will await our return to the cave there, this place is far to busy for
my tastes. I will tend to his wounds if there is no one in town he is better
off with. You remember how to find it I have no doubt. I must check on some
things now, please tell the others. I will await our return trip."
Mishca draws her voluminous
hood back up over her head until only a small glint from the suns reflection on
her eyes can be seen, with a slight wave of her hand to Bowen "Thasi si
shaer" she begins walking off in the direction of the Druid's Grove.
Thinking
on Mischa's words, Bowen tries to remember if the town does indeed have a
midwife. Bowen himself isn't a citizen of the town, but he believes that if the
town does have a midwife, he should have heard about it at some point.
((Knowledge check sent!))
Lost in thought, Bowen begins to head in the opposite direction Mischa took,
back into the town proper.
For Newt to fully recover in the fastest time possible, he would need two full days of bed rest with a healer tending him (I believe Mischa is the most qualified), and then a night’s rest, so heading out on the morning of the third day if you want a fully recovered Newt.
The town has no mid-wife or healer.
Newt
obviously votes for a fully healed Newt
Bowen
also believes that Newt should recover before going against whatever is left to
face.
"Let's wait the next couple of days and see where newt is. If he heals
to the point of continuing, he certainly is a welcome and worthwhile member of
the group..", proclaims Casimir. "Until such time as that happens, I
would suggest that we find a nice rope or rope ladder for the trip down the
hole..."
Bec rejoins
his companions wearing a goofy smile.
"So when do we go back?
I'm glad everyone is safe and all...but we still need to find out who's behind
all this, right?"
Bec scratches his head.
"Maybe we should go talk
to that old wizard guy? Find out what that's all about."
OK, so we’ll wait until Newt recovers. In the meantime you can try and find out what has been learned from your prisoner. I’ll post that info as soon as I can and get you back to the cavern.
Bowen
will also go through Suto's journal a little more carefully during the break.
He's planning on spending as much time as possible outside the town, instead
relaxing in the forest.
Bowen is able to discover the following from the diary. It was written by one, Suto Lore. He is allied with an entity referred to as “The Voice Below”. Suto desires to continue his father’s work by locating something called the Codex Ilyium. Suto plans to summon a demon named Frogroth to assist himn in locating the Codex. Suto has purchased a scroll needed to summon Frogroth with the gold from Dundraville. However, he’s not powerful enough to invoke its magic. The last entry, dated the day before the party entered the cavern, reveals that once Suto finishes inlaying his magic circle with silver (he needs one more day to do this) he will be ready to use the scroll. Suto also purchased a magic oil that can be applied to a weapon for use against The Voice in case he is betrayed.
The notebook Newt took seems to have been written by one, Erasmus Lore, some 29 years ago. It mentions a malevolent book of unknown origins hidden in the catacombs under Dundraville. Erasmus contacted the demon Frogroth to learn dark secrets about his demonic allies. Frogroth agreed, as long as Erasmus promised to help the demon find the book. Erasmus summoned Frogroth to his lair in the catacombs and the pair forged an uneasy alliance. They slowly began to exert control over the town, using Charm Person spells on key leaders, and eliminating other trouble makers, such as a local thieves’ guild. Meanwhile they searched for the book.
Erasmus discovered that the book, the Codex Ilyium, contained abyssal spells and untold knowledge of demon lords. But the book also described the construction of a mighty weapon, a weapon Frogroth desired to destroy his demonic master, thus making Frogroth a demon lord. Erasmus had no intention of honoring his end of the bargain. He planned to use the lore in the Codex to banish Frogorth back to the Abyss, after he gleaned the information on other demonic lords he desired.
The last entry refers to a newborn son named Suto.
You also have some treasure to split! There were 1,525 silver pieces found in the ogre’s chest. You found 4 amethysts in the viper’s chest. You grabbed the silver ingots in the wizard’s chambers. You also took the two yellow topazes from the eyes of the frog carving. The wizard’s ring detects as magic, as does the scroll and the two vials. A day after your return to town, you receive a package of gems from the gnome, with a simple note of gratitude.
All told, other than the ring, the scroll and the two vials, each party member receives 254 silver and 323 gold pieces in an even split, after the gems and silver ingots are sold. Newt currently holds the ring and the vials.
Date: Wednesday, May 6, Year 1. First day of the Full Holly Moon.
Location:
Town of
Newt has fully recovered and you are local heroes and fairly wealthy by local standards, as well. What whould you like to do?
How is
the wolf doing in this time, Mischa would like to check on him regularly. If
the druid feels it would be safe to bring him back to the woods, Mischa would
like to have cared for him there.
The wolf is recovering nicely. Sensing the path Mischa is following, the Druid suggest the wolf stay with her until Mischa can accept him a s a companion.
Before
we set out, lets not forget those vials Newt has, as likely one is the oil to
be used against the "Voice below." Is there any chance Newt might be
able to tell them apart or discover what they are?
Newt does not. Anya’drea has already attempted to identify them and failed. Mischa has a small chance to figure out what they are.
I will
attempt to do so then.
Mischa identifies the first potion as oil of align weapon (good). She is unsure of the second. They do not look alike, but this does not mean they are not the same.
I don't
really have a shopping list per se, nor do I think the town offers much of
anything, but Bowen needs only to locate another 50' of hemp rope, and if at
all possible, a grappling hook and climbers kit.
Kerwin’s outfitters sells Bowen 50’ of hemp rope for 12 gold and 5 silver pieces, and a grappling hook for 1 gold, 2 silver and 5 copper pieces. Kerwin Krell is sorry, but he has no climber’s kits for sale.
Bec isn't
comfortable with any armor more cumbersome than what he's got right now, nor is
he very good at fighting with anything more effective than his spear, so he's
still good to go. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Newt is
feeling much better now thanks to Mischa's help. Thank you so much for the help
you have given me these past couple of days! When it comes time to treasure
divvy Newt will try to keep his share in gems so he can easily carry the money
with him.
I say we get back as soon as possible! I hope the lab is still there and the
cavern still holds this book I have been reading about. Newt pays to restock
his ammo and looks to see if he can restock on alchemist fire and some holy
water from the priests. Newt will also make sure he has over stuffed himself
with gourmet food and expensive wine. Newt will also carry some rations this
time since he seems to get hungry quickly.
Newt has 35 crossbow bolts, does he want to buy more? Newt can purchase an alchemist fire for 25 gold pieces but there is no priest to bless holy water in town. Rations can be had for 6 silver 2 copper each.
Casimir
will store his money in the manor house. "No sense in carrying all that
coin!", he thinks to himself. He will also get some rations for the trip
this time as well as some holy water. "You never know when you might need
that..."
Mischa
will store her coins at her home in the forest, and would like to see about
buying some more healing salves.
There are no healing salves to purchase in the town.
Newt
will buy the fire and 2 rations. ((Didn't know I had 35 bolts)) Newt will find
the other party members and get ready to set out into the cave again...
preferably making a show of it with his Fearless Leader and Bec.
No
healing and no holy water? Hmmm, I sense a lucrative business opportunity for
Casimir should he live through this.
Casimir will buy 4 rations.
Once purchased, his youthful exuberance will spring forth and attempt to round
up the group to leave...
Jumping
on the band wagon, Bowen will also purchase two full days worth of iron
rations. Otherwise, he is completely ready to go!
The party has rested fully and made arrangements to have new friends looked after (Mischa’s rescued wolf). Gathering together in the early morning to once again head into the caverns, they head out. You have not even left town when heavy footsteps and angry grunts announce the arrival of the “dead” ogre, very much alive, if mildly wounded. He’s in a rage and screaming, less intelligibly than before, about stolen treasure and taking it out on the townsfolk.
Initiative order is Mischa, Newt,
Bowen, Anya’drea, Bec, Casimir. I’m
assuming shields fixed, but no weapons out (other than Bowen’s spear).
Mischa stops dead in her tracks for a moment, staring at the
abomination before her eyes. "Shia si kyr, shar thysi os ialaresar aelor
shol sor shaer shas thys si paer? (transl. By the gods, what force of unnatural
evil brings this beast back from the dead? )It was dead, I checked it myself,
this beast should not be walking now. Something truly unnatural dwells beneath
the caves."
Mischa moves within range and
cast a spell at the beast. (sleep)
"This time we must ensure
this creature will never move again."
As Mischa pulls some rose petals from her pouch and sprinkles them on the ground, the great beast stops, staggers, yawns, and falls down with a mighty crash.
Newt
quickly reacts by standing parallel to Mischa (but about 15 feet apart) pulling
out his crossbow and preparing to fire at the abomination. Newt unconsciously
searches for possible hiding places if things turn out wrong.
Bowen
will draw his bow and, if possible, ready a fire action should the ogre
approach any closer.
Bec sees
the familiar face of the ogre and panic seizes him as memories of his
bludgeoning come back. Almost to overcompensate for the instinctual fear, Bec
charges the monster with a wild roar, hoping to drive the spear deep into the
ogre's torso.
As the beast has fallen, does Bec still charge? You are under no compunction to do so.
Bec charges
with enthusiasm ready to kill this creature once and for all. When it falls
over, sleeping, Bec becomes confused. He starts slowing down, then shuffles to
a stop. His savage battlecry trails off into an awkward mumble. He looks back
at his companions, embarrassed by his unnecessary heroics.
"Um...what now?"
"Now
we finish it off all at once, and be done with it for good." Mischa
advances on the sleeping ogre and draws her sickle from within her robes.
"I had hoped this was how
the fight in the cavern would have played out, but he was able to fight off the
effects. He was not so fortunate this time. We must all get in position to
attack him as a precaution, should we not be able end this with a well placed
blow. (coup-de-grace) I would advise one of the stronger among us to attempt
the killing blow, daggers, staves and sickles do not cut very deep."
Casimir steps forward, drawing his sword as he approaches. “Shall I be the one, then?” (posted for Casimir)
Essentially 1 person can perform a coup-de-grace, and others can have readied actions to make standard attacks. The beast will, of course, wake up, but not until the coup-de-grace and other attacks go off, so hopefully he won’t actually be waking up. Who strikes the first blow and who else (if anyone) is going to stand next to the beast to help finish it off?
If
possible I'd say we should all be next to him in melee range, so we can all get
a hit in if needed. As for the one to deliver the coup-de-grace it should be
either Bec, Bowen, or Casimir, as I think they have weapons best suited to the
job.
Bowen
will stand close and readied, but doesn't feel it would be right for him to
deliver the coupe de grace.
Casimir
gladly steps forward to perform this vital service for the greater good of the
town. He looks at every to make sure they have ranged attacks or some other
plan of action in the even the coup-de-grace does not have the desired effect.
"For all things holy and
good", he whispers to himself...
Casimir will provide the
necessary blow.
Casimir’s blade comes down on the ogre triggering a flurry of chopping and hacking that, when the activity finally ceases, leaves one clearly dead ogre.
The townsfolk that have just started to come out to see what the ruckus is, have no problem celebrating your slaying of the ogre, “again.”
This was a DM error. I missed the post and roll where Mischa checked the creature originally. I apologize and, as extra reward, everyone earns an additional 75 XP.
Assuming no further delay (other than that caused by the townsfolk) you may proceed to the hillock. Once again, you are faced with the choices: scale up to the eye socket, go through the front entrance, or search for the back entrance Tarik spoke of.
Bowen
was quite interested with the back entrance the first time, and still is. Part
of him wonders if this "voice below" is really the restless ghost of
the fallen warrior!
"I
would like to try an alternative to the front door, if possible. Surely,
steadfast warriors such as ourselves can handle just about any
situation...", Casimir posits quite bravely. One cannot detect even an ounce
of doubt in his voice...
I would say that’s as close to unanimous as we need to get right now.
Date: Wednesday, May 6, Year 1. First day of the Full Holly Moon. morning
Location: Skulltop Hillock
The Back Door
The Back Door Entrance
You make your way to the west side of the hillock. As you begin to search for a back entrance to the cavern, you hear a bleating noise. Just around group of bushes you come upon a small herd of seven sheep, grazing in the morning sun. Under a nearby tree is a small figure in leather armor, with a shortsword at his side, using a staff as a sort of pillow. He appears to be napping.
Bowen,
upon seeing the man, clears his throat is a rough "Ahem!"
Casimir
inches his sword out of its scabbard, but not into plain view.
"Seems odd that a
shepherd would don armor and uncommon weaponry", he states quietly to his
compatriots.
"Indeed,
it is." Mischa swings her bow to the ready position and knocks an arrow
and takes aim. "We must be ready."
Mischa keeps the arrow aimed
at the sleeping figure and awaits a signal from one of the others.
The shepherd stirs and stands up rapidly, staff in hand. He is a burly humanoid, about 61/2 feet tall, with hairy skin, feral eyes and a flat nose and chin. The shepherd swears in goblin (Anya’drea, Bowen, Mischa and Newt recognize the language) and then in common says, “I’ll not let yous steal my sheeps.”
((OOC:
I don't quite have Candi's command with languages, so bare with me. Though I
imagine goblin is short, gutteral, and ugly. Like goblins....)
Bowen calls out a few
sentences of his own in goblin, trying to find some common ground with the shepherd.
Bec steps
forward, holding his spear with both hands but being careful not to point it
threatening at the tall goblinoid.
"Hey, hey, hey. We're not
looking for trouble or anything. You're outnumbered though, so don't start
threatening people, okay? Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Newt
just smiles not arming but not giving any outward sign of worry either to the
shepherd. Upon hearing Bowen's words Newt repeats them in common, waiting for
the shepherd's response.
The humanoid spits. “Gurt. I Gurt. Shepherd for Blogg. Hehe, he crush you good when he get back. Better run. He very big and breathe fire.”
"Breath
fire? Breath fire? That's perposterous. There are no fire breathers within 500
leagues of here! Who is this Blogg you speak of, Gurt?", Casimir demands
of the humanoid.
“Blogg the giant. Blogg the mighty. Blog the ogre, he owner of Skull Hill.”
Mischa
keeps her bow steadily aimed at Gurt, and looks at Casimir for a moment
"Blogg was the ogre with the rather lack luster speech, who kept referring
to himself in the third person. I'm willing to bet these are the towns sheep he
has been extorting, the ones that were absent from the pen in the cavern."
Mischa looks at the rather pig-faced
humanoid and chuckles slightly. "Well I think, Gurt, that you are in for a
bit of a shock. Your friend Blogg, lies dead in the center of town. And these
sheep which he extorted from that town are to go back there. Oh and your friend
Suto, also in town; the local authorities are having fun with him. I'm sure
they may go easier on you if you bring the sheep back voluntarily."
Mischa scowls as Gurt says the last part "Noone owns
the earth, no one is it's master. Oh and you forgot one, Blogg the dead."
Southwestern
drawl. "So, what'll be Gurt? You can come clean with us and live all the
way to town, or we subdue you now (which is quite painful), and perhaps make it
alive to town.” sneers Casimir with obvious contempt for the lowlife before
him. "We will give you 5 seconds to think on it. Come with us voluntarily,
or we take you by force (which, as I said before is quite painful)!"
The hobgoblin seems to take all your words in. He smiles (or snarls?) and says “Blogg dead? How you prove that? Gurt not want to be crushed by Blogg. If Blogg really dead, you can take sheep. Gurt then free.”
To Casimir Gurt says, “No take Gurt prisoner, please! Gurt forced to work for Blogg. Gurt want to be free now.”
Casimir
looks at the group, "Whaddy'a think? Gurt here claims his innocence,
saying that he was forced into labor for the dead ogre. I think we should take
him to town and let the town elders (or jury, whatever fits) judge him on his
merits. I am in favor of bringing him along with the sheep back to town."
Mischa
lowers her bow and takes a slightly less hostile stance. "Then give us the
sheep and begone. Blogg is truly dead, and if you were forced to work under
him, you are now free. But should you be seen in the area of this town again,
there will be consequences."
Bowen
takes a threatening step or two forwards, still unarmed.
"It
seems to be decided then, Gurt. Today is your lucky day. Begone from here and
speak only kindly of us, for on this day we let you live where others would
have had it another way", Casimir intones menacingly,almost ominously. He
allows his words to sink in, and takes a few steps toward the sheep (and Gurt)
to "encourage" him to take off.
Bec starts
to relax, his spear still ready but his tense body starting to unwind as the
goblin-kin is set free.
"I'm no fan of any kind
of goblin, but I'm glad we didn't have to kill 'em. Seems like a lot of weird
people were forced to work for this Suto. Wonder what else we'll find in the
cave."
Gurt drops his staff and throws his hands up in the air. “Freeeeee!” he croaks, and goes skipping off over the hill. In the distance you can still hear him proclaiming his hatred for sheep.
Everybody earns 50 XP.
Do you deal with the sheep or look for the entrance?
"We
must bring the sheep back, with no shepard they are at the mercy of the wilds.
They will be lost."
Mischa begins herding the
sheep together and begins walking with them in the direction of town. Making
sure to keep a close eye for any stragglers.
"I
agree. These sheep are simply a meal for a passing pack of wolves if we don't
intervene. Besides, these sheep belong to someone in town. Let's take them back
and then try the back entrance...", Lord Casimir begins walking in line
with Mischa.
A quick, loud walk back to town and the heroes meet with almost as much clamor as they did when they killed the ogre those two times. Livestock is a dreadfully valuable commodity to a village such as Dundraville.
And the walk back to the hillock is uneventful, and now quiet. You begin searching the area for some sort of entrance. About 40 feet up the surface of the hillock, hidden by some bushes, Newt discovers a 3-foot-wide crack leading into the earth.
The Back Door Entrance
"Let's
get some light, an order and proceed in!” ventures Casimir as he hefts up his
shield and draws his sword.
"I
sug'est Newt lead us through this beginnin' part, at least, as it may be too
tight for anyone else to effectively defend themselves." For the moment,
Bowen remains unarmed, but lights one of his torches.
Bowen reaches for a torch but realizes he has none left.
"Agreed.
Let's venture forth and find glory for us all!", cackles Casimir, excited
for the next phase of adventure.
Bec, with
much enthusiasm mixed with an obvious amount of fear, proceeds behind the young
lord and the gnome.
Newt,
cautiously proceeds forward using both hands to feel around and make sure that
no surprises are awaiting the party members following him. There is something
about "skull mountain" that just makes my skin crawl. Why do I get
the feeling we are crawling into the belly of the beast.
Bowen,
a little confused and embarrassed sets his shield and draws his battle axe
instead.
surely
Casimir will lend some of his bounty to the good of the group.
"take mine.", he
says after fishing it out of his pack.
While Casimir doesn’t have any torches, he does have a bullseye lantern and oil. He fills that, lights it and hands it to Bowen.
"Onward!",
Casimir nudges the group forward
Mischa
keeps her sickle at the ready and moves into place to follow the others into
the hillside.
Bec falls
into line as well, his spear at the ready.
The
Into the dark you go. The narrow passage finally opens into a grand chamber perhaps 30 feet in diameter. The floor is covered with a dun-colored residue several inches thick. The floor gradually slopes up to the east, and apparently an exit. The ceiling here is at least 20 feet high and crowded with stalactites.
"I'm
guessing based on the floor, that this was a holding pen for the livestock. I
doubt there is anything of substance here. I say let's go on to the passage
ahead...", whispers Casimir.
"We
already found the holding pen for the livestock, and there's no gate to keep
animals in or out. Whatever is in here is here by its choice."
Mischa looks up at the ceiling
and back down at the droppings.
"Keep an eye out from
above, there may be bats in here."
Mischa, in fact notices a large colony of bats roosting on the cavern ceiling.
Newt,
stepping carefully to not get the substance all over his shoes, nods in
acceptance to Casimir. Newt still scans the cavern with his normal scrutiny.
moving forward slowly to not get taken by surprise. “We should move carefully
but quickly so as not to waste any more time.”
As Newt steps forward his foot slips in the greasy substance and he almost falls.
"Ok
I see a very large colony of bats, they look like they are asleep. We need to
move very quietly, or we may wake them up. And whatever you do, do not shine
any light up there. I'll keep an eye on them, and let you know if anything
changes up there. Lets keep moving."
Bec walks
slowly forward, watching the ceiling for movement. He uses the butt of his
spear as a walking stick.
By trying to walk very carefully (taking 10), Bec, Mischa and Newt seem to have no problem crossing the cavern. Anya’drea seems unable to make headway, and Bowen and Casimir both fall to the ground, becoming coated with guano in the process. The bats seem to take no notice of the noise.
"Blast.
My armor is soiled. After we pass through here, I will have to help cleaning
off. Uggghhh, Wretched!", proclaims Casimir softly, so as not to disturb
the bats...
Bowen,
no less embarrassed, tries to rise and and continue on.
You begin moving forward again. Everything seems fine until Casimir falls again. This time his breastplate makes a ringing noise against the stone. There is a rush of activity from above and the air is filled with high-pitched screeching. The bat swarm fills the entire cavern with tiny creatures. You feel them buffest against you and get tangled in your hair. After a bout a minute the swarm has left the cavern via the same entrance you used to enter.
You are finally able to make your way across the cavern. There is a fork, meaning you can exit the cavern to the left or the right.
Mischa
reaches down offering Casimir a hand up. "Come on your grace." She
says with a slight chuckle "Oh by the way, welcome to nature. Hope you
enjoy your stay."
A quick
flash of anger is replaced by a sheepish grin. "Sorry about the
noise...and the smell. I simply lost my step. I guess I have a long way to go
in my lessons in adventuring and", he glances sidelong at Mischa,
"ahem...nature!"
Bec tries
unsuccessfully to hide his amusement with the soiled nature of his companions.
"So...right to left.
Personally, I say right. Good luck and all."
Newt
looks from left to right. Well I guess it is always good to start out on the
"right" path. I vote right also.
You take the right-hand path. It narrows to 5 feet wide and continues on for about 30 feet before you round a corner and come to a crude stone door on the right. The corridor continues on past the door, widening into another cavern
Lord Tulwar’s Tomb
The door has a large keyhole. Carved into the door’s surface are two sets of runes. The first set has been defaced with scratch marks from a sharp instrument. The second set is intact, but in a different language.
Is the
keyhole large enough to look through?
It is not.
"I
have heard of magical runes that may deliver bad fortune to those who read
them. Could these be they? And, if so, how may we pass without damage?",
questions Casimir looking at 'drea...
Stumped
by the keyhole, Bowen also looks to the group's expert of magery for guidance.
Newt
will wait for a word of warning from the mage apprentice. Upon hearing none, he
will examine the lock and see if maybe his knowledge of locks and tools may
help him open this closed door.
“I
wonder what the scratches are for, maybe the door is not locked. I am kinda scared
to touch it though without knowing what these runes mean.”
Anya’drea bends down to examine the runes. “These say something about a dwarven liar and a great leader. The scratches appear to have been made to eradicate the original runes.”
It takes Newt 3 tries but he is eventually successful in opening the lock on the door.
The stone door groans in protest as it swings open. You are buffeted by a blast of stale air. Beyond is a chamber, roughly 20 feet wide and 30 feet long. At the far end of the chamber is a flat unadorned stone sarcophagus. Flanking it are two four-foot-high pyres of bone, with a weapon planted in the center of each. To the left is a greatsword, and to the right is a glaive.
Bowen
looks in but coughs through the old air. After a moment's recovery he again
examines the room. "I don't like this. I've heard enough bed-time stories
to know that those bones may come to life if we enter...."
Bec looks
at Bowen fearfully.
"I was thinking the same
thing."
"Steel
yourselves from those infantile tales, boys! Surely you can't be swayed by
tales learned from your wetnurses' teet? 'Tis rubbish! skeletons can't come
alive. what connects the bones so they can move?", Casimir proclaims with
his bravado. He does not believe in stories of the undead.
Newt
smirks while listening to Casimir talk. “All I remember about the stories is
that there was always some kind of treasure awaiting the brave who
"steeled" their courage. All I know is that if this place has been
sealed for a while then that means whatever was placed in here has appreciated
in value. I say we look around. If it makes you feel better Bowen we can take
the weapons away from the bone statues so they don't look so mean.”
"If
there is life yet in those bones, it must be cleansed. Nature does not permit
such abominations, only evil creates such beings. Be they merely piles of bones
or fiends of evil intent, either way we should enter. There is no life here
save ours, so no harm is brought by taking that which the dead have no use
for." Mischa readies her sickle and stands resolute waiting for the others
to make their choice.
"Alright.
Lets have a look around then!" Bowens says, exasperated, and storms up to
one of the piles, kicking it roughly.
Casimir
is visibly nervous about the path this conversation is taking. Still, he does
not want to appear meek, especially to those lower in status than himself. He
poofs out his chest, "The devil take those stories. I was only trying to
paint the proper mood!" Never the less, he stows his sword and brandishes his
mace.
Summoning
his courage, Bec walks up to the bone pile on the right and pulls the glaive
out to examine it.
The pile of bones kicked at by Bowen collapses noisily. The glaive Bec is inspecting appears to be nothing more than an ordinary weapon. You do now see a dwarven skeleton in the corner. It is wearing an ornate breastplate of masterwork quality with a stylized griffin insignia. A normal waraxe is discarded nearby. Save for the sarcophagus, nothing else is in the room.
Moving
deftly, yet reverantly, Casimir screws up the courage to grab the waraxe to
inspect it.
The waraxe, while dwarven, seems of normal construct.
Casimir
looks at his compatriots. "It seems that all about is as it appears. No
creatures of the night, no bogeymen. Let's press on, and let the dead lie where
they might."
Still
unnerved, Bowen throws a nervous glance or two at the bones before following
the others out of the tomb.
Fire Beetle Nest
Leaving the sarcophagus undisturbed, you proceed back out and continue following the passage for another 10 or 15 feet. It opens into an immense chamber, at least 30 feet by 50 feet with a vaulted ceiling. The floor is covered with debris and six massive stalagmites dot the cavern. To the north is a creamy white flowstone formation shaped like a waterfall frozen in time, situated above a small pool of water.
Several two-foot-long beetles with luminescent heads meander about the chamber, throwing dim illumination to the far reaches of the cavern.
There appear to be two exits at the far end of the chamber.
Casimir
quietly slips out his blade.
Bowen
begins heading for the right sided passage way. He doesn't give the beetles a
second thought as he passes them by, having seemingly found some hidden reserve
of courage.
You walk single file for almost 3 minutes through a narrow 5 to 10-foot wide corridor that suddenly ends at a wall.
"Newt?
You want to have a look at this wall to be sure it's not hidin' anythin'?"
Casimir
stands rear-guard with his blade drawn. No sense having those beetles surprise
us...
Bec stands
in the middle of the group, suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic but hiding
it pretty well. He left the glaive by the bones and switched back to his trusty
spear.
(posted for Newt) Newt makes his way to the front of the group and inspects the wall. Newt discovers and untrapped secret door. Activating it and peering through, it looks like you are in the ogre’s storeroom from whence you liberated the cart and supplies on your last trip.
"Perhaps
we should double back a lit'le and check that other passage, yes?"
"I
agree, let's move on!", proclaims Casimir, ready and willing to get out of
these cramped spaces.
You retrace your steps and take the other exit from the beetle cavern.
The Mushroom Field
After following the passage for 25 feet you come to a chamber about 25 feet in diameter but extending another 15 feet to your right. Located in this right-hand spur of the room is a ledge about 10 feet high. The chamber is damp and musty with a thick acrid smell. The floor of the entire chamber is covered with ochre colored toadstools a few inches tall.
Casimir
eyes the druid, "Wouldn't possibly be an edible mushroom farm, I
suppose?"
Mischa
moves forward to examine the fungi.
Mischa identifies the fungi as ochre toadstools, a poisonous strain. You would need to take care moving through here.
"Mischa,
how can these things affect us? If they are poisonous, we certainly won't eat
them, but even walking them could be dangerous? Can we hack a path through?
Burn a path? Place something over the mushrooms to make a path? Swing over
them? How can we get past?!", stamps Casimir, showing all 15 of his years
in a small tantrum.
Mischa
looks at Casimir's little tantrum in dismay and suddenly the many years of her
life become obvious as she quickly takes the role of teacher and tries her best
to guide Casimir back onto his proper path. "Calm yourself young one. The
others here look to you for guidance, this is not how a leader behaves. Would
you let all stumbling blocks in your path be so insurmountable? Look past the
trouble, to the solution. We know the fungi are poisonous and therefore we must
take care. To disturb the fungi could be dangerous, as many types of fungi can
release spores into the air if damaged or otherwise disturbed. We need just
pick our path carefully and take care to not touch them. With that information
what course of action would you come to if you think logically and calmly about
the current predicament?"
Mischa looks at Casimir and the rest of the group momentarily with a look of an
adult watching a group of toddlers cry for a toy out of reach, a look of pity
and concern but mixed with understanding. In a moment the look is gone,
replaced with her normal distant look. "By your lead."
Casimir
looks at Mischa as if he had been slapped. He chokes out a brief apology:
"I apologize for my sudden loss of head. It will not happen again."
Obviously, apologizing is something of lost science on Casimir, as he hasn't
much experience. "Let us tread carefully to the glory of our band and for
Dundraville!", he intones with a little less vigor than one would expect
from the excitable 15 year old. "I beg you, Newt the nimblefoot, lead us
to our fortune! I will be the next to follow. You others, please follow our
lead. Tread carefully!"
Bowen
frowns as the party begins moving again towards the chamber, but follows along
silently.
Bec follows
wordlessly. He tries his best to be careful when stepping by the fungi but
otherwise seems lost in thought.
As you carefully make your way through the fungus field, everyone but Casimir manages to step on one almost right away. You are about a third of the way through the field and each person except Casimir has taken 1 point of acid damage from the caustic spores. Bec, Bowen and Newt have also each taken 1 point of CON damage from inhaling the spores. Do you press on?
Casimir
does not want to risk opening his mouth to breathe in spores. He motions to the
group, trying to ask if they want to press on using his best sign language
motions.
Mischa
pulls up her cloak to cover her mouth and nose, and motions for the others to
do likewise.
Casimir covers his nose and mouth with his cloak.
Regardless of the precautions taken, Casimir is the next to step wrong, and takes 1 point of acid damage. Never the less you make it through the field, after which Anya’drea, Bec, Bowen and Newt each take 1 additional point of damage as the secondary effect of the spores sets in. Each party member earns 25xp.
You now see a 3-foot-wide corridor that leads just past the ledge, which looks like a fairly easy climb.
"I'm
feeling a bit winded by that, but there's no use in stopping. Perhaps we should
have a look up top?" Bowen motions to the nearby ledge, then offers to
give Newt a hand up.
Newt,
is rubbing is over sized nose and blowing hard trying to get the lingering
stench and spores out. Seeing as how he would be distracted trying to climb on
his own, Newt will take the proffered hand and begin the climb looking for
anything that might trip up his companions as they climb. Have I told you guys
how much I hate this place! If not let me say it again...I HATE THIS PLACE!
Newt Looks to Bowen and then smiles. Newt breathes deeply for a moment and
begins to focus back on his task glad no one can see his embarrassment for
having yelled out.
Newt is able to scramble up with relative ease. The 3-foot-wide corridor extends for about 15 feet before it turns to the right, out of sight from here.
Bowen
will pass the torch up to Newt, then stow his axe and shield and start the
climb himself.
After
Bowen is up. Casimir will do the same.
It takes Bowen a couple of tries, but he is able to make it up. Casimir has an easier time of it.
Bec stands
towards the back, confident in his climbing if he needs to move in a hurry. He
keep his spear pointed back across the fungus patch and watches his companions
climb. When sees his companions have made it, he will tuck his spear into his
shirt and through the back of his belt and try the climb himself.
Mischa
will stow her sickle and climb up the ledge.
Bec make sit up effortlessly, Mischa and Anya’drea have to make a couple of attempts, but make it up. You are forced to start filing into the narrow 3-foot-wide corridor as there is not enough space on the ledge for everyone.
The corridor ends in a small dry chamber barely 10 feet in diameter with a three-foot-high ceiling. Slumped against the south wall is a partially decomposed humanoid body wearing leather armor and a blue cloak. The lifeless figure clutches a symbol attached to a silver chain in both hands. The remains of a campfire and several dishes lie nearby.
"I
wager he was a cleric of sorts. Guess his faith was a lit'le short...."
Casimir
wonders aloud, "Is there any way to determine a) who this was and b) how
he met his horrible demise? Perhaps we should look for clues..."
"Well,
I've seen what a bear or a wolf will do to a hunter or stray child. Predators
don't leave a corpse this... clean. If he was wounded or poisoned by those
mushrooms, why would he have climbed up here? He had enough time to set up
camp, and it looks like he may have been prayin' when he died. Aye, I think we
need to take a closer look."
Bowen squeezes ahead to have a
look at the cleric's corpse.
Bowen crouches down and realizes he can’t quite make out what’s on the holy symbol, nor can he discover anything else by sight alone. He reaches for the symbol to turn it ever so slightly and now can make out a stylized bullseye. Just as he does this 6 tiny centipedes swarm out from behind the departed’s head.
Bowen may take a surprise round action.
Having stowed his axe for climbing, Bowen will draw it.
The centipedes scramble toward Bowen, provoking an attack from him. (18 rolled). Bowen slices into one of the creatures, stopping its advance.
Newt, Casimir and then Bowen are up in full round actions.
Bowen will make a standard attack when able.
Bowen’s blade swings down but strikes nothing but rock. It is difficult fighting in these cramped quarters.
Casimir will take out his mace, and squish bugs.
Due to the very small area and the tiny nature of the centipedes, Casimir will have to wait until Bowen backs out before he can engage any of the insects in combat.
If Mischa can get into an area she can attack from she
will draw her sickle and do so, if not she will draw her sickle and be done.
Newt will take the opportunity to back away (unless he is
able to get to a flask of fire and throw it down while the bugs are clumped
together ((only if Newt thinks it won't blow up or catch his friends in the
blaze)) )
Newt is certain any area effect would also hit Bowen.
All five centipedes try to bite Bowen, but only two get past his armor, 1 only because of the short ceiling, each doing 1 point of damage.
Bowen feels himself lose a little bit of his motor functions as the poison from the centipedes causes him to take 1 point of DEX damage.
Anya’drea pulls out her wand, speaks a word and one of the insects gets hit by a magic missile and stops moving.
Bec, Bowen, Newt and Casimir are up.
Bec does his best to manuever closer to the centipedes,
trying to pin one on the end of his spear without letting it get close to him.
A little fearful from the effects of the poison, Bowen
desperately strikes out again!
I’m reversing my previous decision. Casimir does have room to attack, albeit squeezing, but he misses.
Mischa, also, may make an attack, but she also misses.
Bec, however has no room to get in and attack a centipede.
Bowen cuts down on another centipede and it ceases to wriggle. Casimir and Newt are up next.
Casimir strikes with the enthusiasm of a reckless
teenager.
Casimir hits nothing but stone.
Newt, after careful consideration of his firebomb thought
continues to backup a bit to give the fighters more room to squish the bugs. He
will hold/ready his action for anything else that might happen. I hate bugs!
Mischa and Bec are up.
Mischa will attack another centipede.
Unfortunately Mischa misses (5 rolled).
Bec will continue to try to manuever in to attack the bugs.
He is looking if any of his companions withdraw to get in there.
Newt will continue to hold out of the fray watching to
make sure everything is ok and nothing else is coming or can be done by him.
(he just doesn't want to hurt anyone with a stray throw)
Bowen is still more than a little unnerved by the bugs
and takes another swing.
Bowen’s axe bites into the stone.
Casimir is quickly coming to realize that he really
doesn't llike bugs. It's not that he is afraid of them, they are just gross.
They are not nearly as much fun to play with now as they were when he used them
to torment his friend, Otwena Youngblud when they were kids.
In memory of her, he
attacks bugs with a newfound fury.
Casimir’s mace also strikes nothing but stone.
One of the remaining bugs can’t get past Bowen’s armor, but the other does and bites Bowen for 1 point of damage.
Anya’drea once again zaps one of the bugs with a magic missile.
There is only 1 centipede remaining and Mischa, Bec, Bowen, Casimir and then Newt are up.
Mischa swings at the remaining bug.
"I'm all for nature but get off!"
Mischa completely misses (3 rolled)
Casimir strikes with a fury of untold disgust. If he has
anything to strike at, of
course.
Realizing that he cannot penetrate the ring of allies, he
backs off to check for
further
danger from outside the melee. Though frustrated, Bec feels better being part
of a fight where he has too many friends and not enough enemies.
Casimir misses the bug.
Bowen attacks but his axe slips out of his hand and clatters against the wall to his
left (critical miss).
I’m assuming Newt is still holding.
The centipede bites Bowen again for 1 point of damage. The bitten spot tingles and Bowen takes another point of DEX damage.
Anya’drea fails to activate the wand and curses.
Mischa and Bec are up.
Mischa swings yet again at the bug, should she not
connect, she will back up and give someone with a better chance of hitting a
position to hit from.
Mischa’s attack misses (6 rolled).
Bec
still keeping his eye on the fight in progress, will slide forward to take
Mischa's place if he can and attack with his spear.
Bec skewers the last remaining centipede.
Bowen sits against the side of the cavern to catch his
breath for some time.
Mishca walks over to Bowen and checks to see how bad his
injuries are. After a quick once over she pulls a vile of salve from her pack
and begins dabbing it onto the numerous bites.
"There,
that should help a bit. But no scratching at them, you need to let them
heal."
Mischa determines that the centipede’s poison is still active in Bowen’s system, but he is able to stave off any further effects of the poison. Mischa’s salve heals 3 points of Bowen’s damage.
"Bec,
well done. Your skill with the spear is first rate!", exclaims Casimir
with a hint of relief in his voice. "Shall we inspect this poor soul
anymore, or shall we press on?"
"Well,
we went through all that, be a shame to not learn as much as we can. Besides
anything that he has is of no more use to him, and might aid us in our further
explorations of this place."
Mischa stands up as she says
this, brushing her hands off on her pant leg.
"Come on Bowen, you’re in
no danger of dying. All your time in the woods has paid off, built up your
fortitude against those little guys."
Mischa offers a hand to help
Bowen up.
With a
nod of thanks Bowen takes Mischa's hand and stands back up. "You're right,
we should still have a look."
Bowen then moves to inspect
the body once again.
Bowen sees that the body is wearing leather armor and carries a usable shortsword. Hidden up one of the sleeves is a set of masterwork thieve’s tools and a potion bottle labeled in a language Bowen does not understand. The holy symbol is on a silver chain.
"Well, he certainly wasn't your average priest, was
he? An' he certainly won't be needin' these, either." Bowen hands the
tools to Newt, and holds up the potion for the rest to see.
"Can anyone read
that?"
Anya’drea peers over Bowen’s shoulder. “It says Oaken Strength. Looks like ancient Elven.” She returns to looking at completely uninteresting rock formations.
"Well I think there is little else to explore here.
Shall we make our way back through the mushroom patch?"
Mischa says this while walking
back out onto the little ledge, she doesn't even seem to notice if anyone is
following her or not.
Bec cleans off the spearhead, grinning at the praise. His
grin disappears when he hears about heading back through the fungi.
"Yuck. I'll never eat
mushrooms again."
Bowen packs away the potion, but leaves the shortsword
and holy symbol in place. Then he follows the others out.
Casimir sheathes his weapon and makes for the climb down.
At the bottom he will cover his mouth, nose with some fabric...
The
only areas left unexplored were the sarcophagus itself, the area with the
glowing beetles, and the first passage to the left after you entered the bat
cave.
I say we check out the area to the left of the cave
containing the bats.
"To the
Dire
Skunk Lair
You retrace your steps and, after about a minute arrive at your destination; the unexplored corridor off the bat cave. The corridor opens into a low-ceilinged chamber about 35 feet in diameter. A pair of massive stalagmites, including one fused to a stalactite to form a natural column, are positioned in the north and south parts of the chamber. To the west is a large pile of leaves, branches and other debris.
"We
should stay together that pile didn't get here by itself."
Mischa draws her bow and
knocks an arrow, and keeps it aimed at the pile as they move in.
Newt
just looks longingly at the treasure that is being left behind then follows his
companions to the column. When Mischa makes her statement about the stuff not
making it there on its own Newt will ready his crossbow and listen intently for
any sounds that may be hidden from his sight. If none are heard Newt will
move/creep silently forward sticking together as instructed.
Casimir
will unsheathe his sword and stand at the ready.
As you carefully advance into the cavern, there is movement from the pile of debris a very large skunk suddenly stands up, its hair bristling and its tail raised. What do you do?
Bec drops
to a defensive position with his spear at the ready, but he backs away, hoping
to give the animal the opportunity to flee without spraying anyone.
Casimir
quickly weighs his options. The skunk isn't hurting anyone right now, but it
could turn on us, so attacking may not be a bad idea. However, the smell alone
is a grand reason to leave nature to its course...
Casimir stands at the ready...
Maintaining its defensive posture, the dire skunk exits the cavern and loudly scurries away. You each earn 50XP with an additional 10 going to Bec for being the first to propose allowing the animal to escape. Bec has earned enough XP to level. Please let me know what class you’d like to take and where you’d like to spend your skill points.
Mischa
relaxes her bow "Thankfully most of nature's creatures are not out for
blood and just wish to be left alone."
Casimir
wonders aloud, "Have we other places to explore?"
"It's
pos'ible that creature has something of worth secreted away in its
nest...."
"I
guess, though I admit a lack of wilingness to search the premises. Would any
else like to investigate?", Casimir quietly says, obviously somewhat
repulsed by the stench...
"I
will check it, as we must be careful to not do any damage to his nest. This is
his home after all."
Mischa slings her bow over her
shoulder and moves over and begins carefully checking the nest for anything of
use.
"I will watch from where he went. Just to make sure he doesn't come back and surprise you." Casimir draws his sword and peers out to where the beast fled.
Other than the strong animal musk, there is nothing in the nest. The creature does not return. The only other areas here to offer adventure have been those you have opted to pass by; the sarcophagus, the skulltop hillock ( a climb up), the beetle cavern.
"Perhaps
we should check the cavern with the beetles now, the last place we should check
is the hill top as that is a bit of a climb that might be more of climb for
some of us."
"I
concur. Let's make sure we see all there is to see", Casimir nods at
Mischa, approvingly.
Bec
follows, feeling suddently a bit more confident.
"Let's see what those
beetles were all about."
Bowen,
still a little weary over disturbing the tomb, is glad to be focusing on
something with a pulse.
You arrive back at the cavern with the glowing beetles milling about. They seem to pay you no heed as you stand at the entrance.
Newt stares in aw for a moment rubbing his hands together
and licking his lips. He fingers his handy black book almost as if he is
thinking of yet another idea. His hands slide down to his alchemist fire... I
can clear a path for us to walk if everyone stands back. Newt continues to pull
out the potion(s) and looks for confirmation from the others. I for one will
not walk on bugs. They scare me...
I would think you would be more worried about them
walking on you. Those bugs have grown rather large in this spacious
environment."
Mischa takes a few steps back
from the unknown potion Newt holds, having heard of him blowing up on more then
a few occasions.
Always the practical one Misch. I was just trying to make
myself feel bigger and perhaps scare some bugs. ((actually I as a player didn't
remember that they were bigger than me))
Well maybe we can all hide and
I scare a path for us to get by with my fire and boom-stick. How's that sound?
Newt's eyes glisten with excitement of testing his "bug theory"
"I'm all for a little scare tactic, if it means
nothing gets hurt. Especially me!", proclaims Casimir. He readies his
sword, but looks at Mischa with questioning eyes. He doesn't understand why she
is backing up...
"Well, lets all stand at the ready, just in case
things go badly!"
Bowen sets his shield and
tights his grip on his axe.
Bec gulps and prepares in case this tactic backfires.
((I'll use the other skill
point for another point in climb. Also, I'll take Power Attack as a feat.))
Here’s the situation. There are only three beetles in this place. I assume you want to use an alchemist fire to scare the beetles, not attack, correct? If so, I’m also assuming Newt is in the front. How far away from the beetles do you want to be when you throw the alchemist fire? And where is everyone else in relation to Newt? The cavern is fairly expansive so you can be just about anywhere.
Bowen
will position himself to the right of Newt, wherever he may end up.
Casimir
will stand to the left of Newt, maybe 10-15 ft away from him, though certainly
not close enough to end up in any fire...
Bec stands
behind Newt, ready to move past him in case of a frontal assault from the
beetles in case they are not scared away.
"You
realize we could just try to skirt the edges of the cavern and let the beetles
be. They could just want to be left alone much like the skunk."
"Good
thinking, Mischa. This way we can save the destructive fire for when we really
need it...", Casimir voices looking at Newt to see what he thinks...
Newt
will wait for everyone to get ready and then try to hide in shadows and move
silently into position. Once an opportunity presents itself where the beetles are
on one side of the "cavern" I can check this out. ((I think i am just
not understanding the situation very well. If we can skirt and they are not
aggressive then let’s just move by. Otherwise plan b is to scare with fire and
run during the distraction))
Newt has the right of it. You are not trying to bypass the cavern, but to search it. The beetles are not migrating about in such a way that you can search where they are not and rotate, etc. So you search what area you can without drawing their attention and then move towards them. They take notice of you and begin moving towards you. Newt throws his alchemist fire but they don’t seem scared by it; rather they click their mandibles together and move to attack!
Casimir, Anya’drea, Bowen, Newt, Mischa and then Bec may go.
Casimir
already had his weapon drawn. He will hold his action until a bug approaches
him, in which case he will strike with great wrath!
Anya’drea sends a magic missile into one of the beetles, disabling it with the force.
Mischa
will fire an arrow at one of them if they are not right on top of her, if they
are she will draw her sickle and attack, switching her bow to her offhand.
Bowen
also readies an attack, should a bug approach him.
Bec takes a
more aggressive stance, moving forward to intercept a bug heading towards one
of his companions and drive his spear through its carapace.
Mischa’s arrow misses its mark and snaps against the ground.
Bec’s spear glances off the carapace of the injured beetle.
All three beetles now attack Bec, but all three fail to even touch him. The injured beetle falls over on its back after it lunges at Bec, its legs twitching in the air. It appears to be dying.
Casimir
lunges forward with his sword swinging wildly, attempting to kill a beetle that
threatens his comrade, Bec.
Casimir’s swing hits the beetle but glances off it’s carapace (9 rolled)
Newt,
still surprised that his "foolproof" plan didn't work, will try to
find a hiding spot away from the fray to let the fighters do their work. If a
shot becomes available, Newt will take it with his crossbow he is trying to get
ready. If Newt does take a shot, he will kneel down so a stray shot can be
pointed up and hopefully not hit any of his companions.
The only way to get a shot at this point would be to go further into the cavern and try to shoot from the side, into melee.
Bowen
will move to engage one of the giant insects surrounding Bec.
Bowen’s battleaxe glances of the beetle’s shell (9 rolled).
Mischa
will shoulder her bow and draw her sickle and step 5' closer to a beetle.
(auto-posted for Bec) bec strikes at the beetle once more, but again can’t pierce the bug (7 rolled).
Both remaining beetles attack Bec again, one missing completely and the other unable to get through Bec’s studded leather armor.
Casimir, Newt, Anya’drea, Bowen, Mischa and Bec may go.
Casimir
unleashes his fury and attacks (using an action point for the extra d6 on the
roll )....
"Aaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhh....!!!"
Casimir’s blade slices through beetle shell (13 rolled+2 for action point) for 4 points of damage. The beetle is disabled, but still moving.
Bowen
will try to move around the closest beetle to get behind it (if possible) and
attack again.
Bowen’s axe slices the unharmed beetle in half (critical hit, confirmed on a 15 for 23 points of damage. One disabled beetle remains.
Anya’drea decides against using a magic missile on it.
Mischa and Bec are up or Newt can go at any time.
Bec moves
to the disabled insect and attempts to impale it on the end of his spear.
Bec does just that (14 rolled) for 14 points of damage, instantly killing the creature. All the beetles have been killed. Each hero earns 75 XP. Congratulations! This is enough for all the remaining heroes to level up. Please let me know what class and skill choices you’d like to take.
((Congrats
everyone, and thank you Chris.
Hrm. Going by
Bowen's background as a trapper, a ranged Ranger seems like the right choice.
But going by his formative adventuring years (here in the cave), ranger just
doesn't fit. So Bowen is going to take a level of Barbarian, as he has been
relying more on brute force and his powerful axe than on any sort of skill or
finess.
Bowen will put his skill ranks (5) into: Climb (1), Craft: Trapmaking (1),
Handle Animal (1), Survival (2).))
(( Mischa
will of course level in druid, she will put 1 skill point into survival, 1 into
heal, and 4 into Knowledge Nature. Hit points she will add 7 as per dice
server, you should be receiving shortly, once we get back to town I'm sure you
can already guess what her animal companion will be.))
A search of the cavern yields nothing at all. You may re-visit the sarcophagus, re-visit the dire skunk nest, climb the hillock or return to your village. You are certain all other options have been thoroughly explored.
((Did
we ever check out the big hole in the ground in the nutter's area?))
( I was
wondering about that hole, too.)
If we have finished with the
hole, Casimir sees no need to mess with the dead. Climbing the hillock would be
Casimir's vote...
I apologize. As you review your experiences together, you do realize you did nothing but drop a torch down that hole.
"I
think the next logical place to visit would be the hole? Does everybody
agree?", Casimir inquires of the group...
"Agreed"
Casimir
will lead the group to the hole...
It takes about 9 minutes to make your way there, but you arrive at the site of the battle with Suto Lore uneventfully. There is the five-foot-wide hole in front of the frog altar.
((My
memory being a bit poor, how far down did the hole extend?))
Shining the beam from your bullseye lantern into the hole, you can see that it goes down approximately 40 feet. Bowen thinks that if he slung his shield on his back, the climb would be of average difficulty.
"Can
we make a descent easier by sending down a rope and lowering someone down?
Maybe someone lighter?", Casimir looks around for approval--and a
volunteer...
Bec steps
forward to volunteer until Casimir finishes his thought, at which point he
stops
"I would go...if I wasn't
so heavy. Um...I'll go if no one else volunteers."
"Perhaps
we could anchor the rope from the statue? Won't be long enough, but it should
help, yes?"
"Agreed.
Who will go first? I will go, should we lack volunteers...", Casimir
boldly proclaims...
"Does
anyone have another length of rope? If we have an extra length we would be able
to make this climb far easier."
Bowen
has 50' of rope.
"That
would be easiest, but if we don't, we can tie a loop at one end of the rope. I
can put my foot in the loop and you can lower me down the length of the rope.
If the rope is too short, I will unhook my foot, use my hands to shimmy down
the rope, place my hands in the loop and drop from there. I believe time is of
the essence. We must hurry!",Casimir quickly explains his plan. His fear
is that the evil surrounding this whole cave has yet to be vanquished.
Please tell me who’s doing the tying, who’s doing the climbing and what you’re using for a light source down below (if any.)
I'll do
the tying, and I'm taking 20 on it to make sure the knot holds fast, and I'll
cast Light on the rope.
With the knot secure and the rope illuminated, you lower Casimir down. As his shield is light he can actually keep it fixed as he hangs onto the rope. The rope falls 10 feet short of the bottom, but Casimir has planned it so that he shouldn’t be hurt by the remaining jump. In fact, it looks like there is an area just beyond the shaft but the ceiling is only 5 feet high. Just as he’s unhooking his foot, however, a wave of unnatural fear courses through Casimir, but it passes as quickly as it came. (Will save succeeded, 14 rolled). Casimir is currently 10 feet from the bottom of the shaft, his foot still in the rope loop. The only way to see what’s down there is to fo to the bottom (or at least 5 feet from the bottom, which is 5 feet further than the rope extends. What does Casimir do?
"Hmmm...Can
you cast light on my sword? that may make the whole process easier...",
Casimir says as he readies himself for the descent.
Except that you couldn’t hold it and hang onto the rope.
Casimir senses the brief wave of fear. . He senses
something unnatural here, a something that he by nature detests. He shouts up,
"There is something here, hurry down! Newt first!" With that, he
drops from the rope to the ground, heedless of the possible damage.
Bowen puts a hand on Newt's shoulder, and discard's his
shield, tossing it over to one of the walls. "You better let me go down
first." With that, Bowen grabs onto the rope and begins the decent.
Just before Casimir jumps down and before Bec can start climbing down, a fearsome, if tiny creature materializes beneath him. It’s a tiny humanoid with spiky horns and bat wings. It has long slender hands and feet with long claw-tipped digits. Pustules cover its greenish skin. It cackles as it attacks Casimir, it’s sudden appearance catching him off balance on the rope. One claw strikes home for 2 points of damage as the other strikes armor. The creature then bites Casimir for another 2 points of damage. Casimir feels poison race through his veins (FORT save failed, 8 rolled) and takes 1 pt. of DEX damage.
We are initiative order with Casimir still on the rope and everyone else still above. Bec, Mischa, Casimir, Anya’drea, Newt and Bowen may go in that order.
Bec, preparing to go down the rope, is by the hole when the
commotion begins. Hearing the sounds of fighting and the jerking of the rope,
Bec sees that Casimir is in trouble.
"Hold on! Don't let
go!"
Bec grabs the rope and runs in
the opposite direction, hoping to pull Casimir up and out.
Bec has to drop his spear to do so and is only able to get Casimir up 5 feet from where he was in 1 round.
Mischa also grabs onto the rope and begins trying to haul
up Casimir.
Mischa grabs hold of the rope and begins to haul up the slack but makes no progress this round.
"Where in the gods' names did that come from?",
Casimir shouts at attempts to scramble up the rope.
Casimir begins climbing up the rope. He makes it 5 feet up (climb check 17 rolled) and then loses his grip and falls the floor of the shaft (climb check 1 rolled). Casimir suffers 4 points of falling damage and is moderately wounded and prone. The creature deftly moved aside as Casimir fell.
Anya’drea moves to the shaft and pulls her wand from her robes, unleashing a magic missile at the beast for 2 points of damage. The creature suffers a minor wound.
(Auto-posted for Newt who is having browser issues). Newt aims his crossbow into the shaft but holds his fire as he realizes a miss could very well hit Casimir.
Bowen is up.
Bowen begins climbing down the rope!
Right! Thanks for reminding me. Bec and Mischa were hauling on the rope when Casimir fell, therefore they, too fall to the ground, rope in hand. Bowen has to loose and drop his shield first, and can then toss what of the rope was pulled up back into the shaft and prepare to descend next round.
Meanwhile, down below, the creature’s wounds from Anya’drea’s Magic Missile seem to heal before Casimir’s eyes as it charges at him with its claws extended. Luckily it hits Casimir’s breastplate.
Bec, Mischa, Casimir, Anya’drea, Newt and Bowen are up.
Bowen already tossed his shield aside, right before
combat started. If he didn't have the time, he'll toss it away now.
Sorry, I missed that. Bowen begins climbing down the rope and makes it down about 7 feet.
Bec will climb to his feet and move toward the hole. Finding
speed to be of the essence, Bec will leave his spear on the ground.
Mischa holds until there is space to climb down the rope.
Casimir will unsheathe his weapon and fight defensively,
attempting to ward off the beast until help arrives.
Casimir remains prone, correct?
Once more Anya’drea unleashes a magic missile at the creature, again for only 2 points of damage.
Newt continues to hold.
Does Bowen continue climbing down at a regular rate?
Bowen will continue down until the bottom.
Bowen makes it about halfway down the rope. He is 22 feet down from the hole in the floor, with 18 feet of rope left.
Aaaarrrghh, I guess I should stand if I am to fight
defensively!
(Sorry. Poorly worded on my part. Your options are draw sword, remain prone and fight defensively OR draw sword and stand, provoking an attack of opportunity from the creature, with no chance to fight defensively this round. I’m going to assume you do not provoke the attack.)
((Hey everyone! For some reason my browser is working
tonight. Microsoft is aware of the problem and will have a patch released by
the end of august. Leave it up to them to need to patch a patch right away. ))
Newt will continue to hold and
cover with his crossbow till he finds it safe to go down. While he is holding
Newt will scan the upper area as well to make sure there is no threat other
than what is making noise below him.
Newt sees no threat from the upper area (welcome back!).
The creature, seeing Bowen coming down the rope, darts away from Casimir. Even as it moves Casimir can see the wounds from Anya’drea’s second Magic Missile healing. As it moves Casimir swings at it with his sword, but misses (9 rolled). I apologize, Casimir would have been afforded an attack earlier when choosing to fight defensively, but also missed (10 rolled). The creature moves to a pile of broken bones about 10 feet away from Casimir and pulls out a scrimshaw scroll tube.
Bec, Mischa, Casimir, Anya’drea, Newt and Bowen are up.
Mischa will start down the rope now that there is a bit
more space.
Twice Mischa attempts to climb down the rope and twice she makes no progress (two 7’s rolled).
Casimir will try to disrupt the imminent spell casting by
moving to the foul beast to attack, if this is possible. Since the ceiling is
only 5 feet high, I don't know how possible this is...
Casimir can indeed attack, with a -2 penalty. He hits the creature (19 rolled, followed by a 2 rolled for crit. Confirm) and does 5 points of damage, or at least he should have. The cut made by his blade heals immediately.
Bowen is able to finish climbing down far enough to release the rope and drop the bottom of the shaft.
The creature and the scroll tube suddenly vanishes in a puff of smoke that smells of sulfur.
Bec, Mischa, Casimir, Anya’drea, Newt and Bowen are up.
Before Bowen can move Mischa climbs 5’ down the rope and the loses her grip (climb check 3 rolled) and falls 35 feet down, suffering 12 points of damage. This leaves her disabled (at 0 hit points).
Bowen just misses being hit by the falling druid.
Bowen will move up to where Casimir is and ready an
attack with his axe should the creature reappear close enough to hit.
The
magic berries have expired by now, yes?
The
only way to tell would be to try them or cast detect magic or ask a druid.
Bec will grab ahold of the rope and climb down as fast as
possible.
Bec rapidly climbs down 30 feet. He’s 10 feet from the bottom.
Assuming Casimir thwarted the beast's attempt at a spell,
he will detect evil in the vicinity of where the beast last was. If he detects
evil, he will pull out the holy water.
Casimir detects the presence of evil somewhere in the general area he is facing. He has to switch his sword to his shield hand to draw the holy water.
(If I may, what classes did everyone take? I know Mischa
took druid, Bec took Fighter, and assume that Casimir took Paladin, but Newt,
and Anya?))
Sorry! Anya leveled in sorcerer and Newt is thinking of rogue, but is also having browser problems so hasn’t officially leveled yet.
Bowen, Casimir and Mischa hear the rustle of tiny wings as the invisible creature flies between them. Bec hears it also, but only as the creature approaches him on the rope and becomes visible as it attacks him. The beast rakes Bec with a single claw for 2 points of damage.
Mischa, Bec, Casimir, Anya’drea, Newt and Bowen may act.
I'm going to assume the berries have lost their magical
usefulness, as the druidess said they would not last long, and that was
yesterday. Bowen will drop his axe (free action, yes?) draw his bow (move
action) and fire a shot at the imp, er, I mean "Unknown evil flying
monster" even though it is engaged in melee with Bec. I will use a new
action point to boost the attack roll.
(If I hit you, I am sorry!)
Bowen’s arrow strikes the creature but glances off it’s scaly hide (13 rolled, 3 rolled for action point).
Anya’drea lets loose another magic missile at the beast for 4 points of damage, mildly wounding it.
(Auto-posted for Jecoby). Newt takes aim and fires his crossbow at the creature, but because he’s trying to not hit Bec, his bolt glances off the creature’s hide as well. Newt re-loads his crossbow.
Mischa, Bec and Casimir can still act.
Mischa pulls a vial of healing salve from her pack, if
possible she'll apply it as well, but I believe she only has a standard action
available.
Casimir was going to have someone grapple the beast while
he poured holy water over it, hoping that the holy water would sting the best
truly. After that little display of disappearing in a mist, it seems unlikely
that a grapple could happen. He takes his sword out again, ready to strike.
(if he can this round, he will
use his new Smite Evil ability and strike the creature, using an action point
to increase his likelihood of striking true. If he can't do it round, he will
next round.)
The creature is 10 feet up in the air, with Bec in the shaft.
Bec will try to grapple the creature from his position on the
rope and drag him to the ground if possible.
Bec lets go of the rope to grab the creature. As he does so, the beast seizes the opportunity and claws at him, but strikes only studded leather. Unfortunately Bec fails to grab hold of the creature (7 rolled) and falls the 10 feet to the ground by himself, suffering 2 points of damage for a mild wound. Mischa rolled out of the way just in time. Bec can get up if he likes.
As soon as Casimir can get a shot in, he will attempt to
strike the beast with his sword. He will use smite evil power as well.
The creature grins horribly, and disappears as it flies up the shaft with incredible speed.
We can drop out of initiative but please tell me what you want to be doing.
Mischa applies the salve to her rather bruised limbs, and
carefully rises to her feet, looking very weary, her eyes showing the 100 plus
years of her life. "What have we unleashed?"
Mischa’s salve heals her for 3 points. While no longer life-threatening, her wounds are still severe.
Bec stands quickly and looks around.
"Slippery little thing.
Sorry Mischa. Didn't mean to almost flatten you like that.
Bec grabs ahold of the rope
and starts to climb.
"Left my spear up there.
Also, I don't like the idea of that thing up there with our rope. Could cut it
and we'd be stuck down here."
Casimir will stay alert for a reappearance of the little
bugger. He will eat his good berry. He will explore the tunnel as he can.
Casimir discovers the berry has no unusual qualities. It is apparently just a berry. The space down here is very small, maybe 10’ x 15’. There are no visible exits. The only area of note is the small pile of broken bones. Casimir finds nothing of interest.
"Whatever it was, it was here before we were. I
think it's less about us unleashing it as it is about us being leashed."
Bowen will search the
surroundings for anything of interest.
Bowen notices a rock that looks out of place and, lifting it, discovers a small niche. Therein are 47 pieces of gold, a gold ring set with onyx, a single silver earring, and a platinum cup set with five small rubies.
Newt tries to see which direction the creature is heading
as it bolts up from the shaft. After taking a mental note Newt calls down to
everyone Hey guys I am coming down is everything ok down there?
The creature disappeared in the shaft as it was flying up. There was nothing to see. (I apologize – my earlier wording was unclear – it literally disappeared as it was flying up the shaft.)
Bec sees Newt as he begins to climb.
"Oh, hey! I was worried
it might have gotten you. I was coming back up. If you're okay, I'll stay down
here. Also could you drop my spear down here. Thanks, pal."
Bec shimmies back down.
You may re-visit the sarcophagus, re-visit the dire skunk nest, climb the hillock or return to your village.
"I propose to have all of us climb back up the rope,
one at a time. That will be the safest way. The way I see it, the dire-skunk
nest is not really a point of interest, as that is simply a natural phenomenon.
The sarcophagus may be a point of interest, but unless we sense evil there, I
would prefer to allow the dead to enjoy their peace. That hillock sounds
intriguing...", says Casimir flatly. That creature seems to have shaken
him a bit...
Bowen stows the valuable goodies in his pack for later
inspection, then follows the others in wherever it is they wish to go.
You make it back up without issue and recover the still glowing rope. Casimir recalls that his ability to detect evil can be thwarted by 1 foot of stone, and that stone crypt did look pretty sturdy. Just let me know where you’d like to go next.
Casimir looks to the group for their thoughts. "Do
we want to look at the crypt again, the hillock, or the skunk's place? We might
find evil in the crypt, as evil treads where there are dead, but that hillock
could be interesting...", he trails off, committed to either path.
Newt’s eyes glisten as he thinks of the tomb again. We
should go see what might lie in the tomb the dead have been known to contain
answers to many questions that the living have. Plus you never know what kind
of treasure may be found. I'm sure the person in the tomb won't mind as their
use for anything in the room has long since passed.
"Agreed, there is little reason to go back and disturb
the skunk, the nest held nothing. We should leave him be in peace."
Bec nods in agreement.
"Yeah, I got sprayed by a
skunk once. Remember that Summer Festival three years ago. I'd like to avoid
that if possible. I say we check out the crypt. If there's something bad there,
we should clear it out. If it's safe, we should see what we can find
there."
"To the crypt, then. I can lead us there, I
believe...", Casimir draws his sword and hefts his shield. He begins a
trek to the crypt.
You arrive back at the crypt after about a 4-minute walk, during which the lights spell on the rope fades, but Bowen’s lantern still shines forth. The tomb seems to be as you left it, ancient weapons lying about and a pile of skills kicked over. You see the flat unadorned stone sarcophagus before you.
Casimir will walk around the sarcophagus and detect evil
on it. If he feels he is getting no reading because of the thickness of the
stone, he will state that to the group.
Casimir detects no evil, but that stone does look at least a foot thick.
(OOC: Are any of the weapons in combat-ready condition?)
The greatsword and glaive, while seemingly of mundane construction, do appear serviceable. A usable dwarven waraxe lies near the dwarf skeleton, which appears to be wearing a masterwork breastplate, with a stylized griffin insignia.
Bec picks up the greatsword and gives it a swing to check its
weight. He looks over at Casimir.
"When we get back,
m'lord, maybe you can give me some tips on fighting with a blade. I'm okay with
the spear but I feel like, with what we've been doing, that I should become a
trained warrior like you.
Not finding an easy way to
stow either spear or greatsword, he carries them both; one in each hand. If
combat comes, he'll drop one weapon and fight with the other.
Newt can take it no more. He starts examining the thick
tomb looking for any inscriptions or traps that will help allude (other than a
dead body) what might be in there. If nothing is found Newt will try to peek in
to see if there is anything of value that may be put to better use. Why do the
dead get such valuable items left with them...it does them no good. Speaking of
which those breast plates look to be in wonderful condition I am sure some of
the town militia or ourselves could use them.
Newt will continue to search the room and tomb for anything that may have been
missed the first time through.
Well we might as well see what
lies in here. Newt strains the last few words out as he tries to peek in the
tomb.
Bowen grips his battleaxe tightly in two hands, staring
cautiously at the sarcophagus.
Newt finds nothing else beyond what was described. The only way to look in the sarcophagus is to remove the heavy stone lid.
"I am hesitant to disturb the dead, but evil must be
stamped out; and we all know that some of the most evil can be found in such
sites as this", Casimir states in a matter of fact tone that is coming far
too naturally of late. He attempts to help Newt open the lid a bit, so that he
might detect evil inside.
Casimir and Newt alone cannot lift the lid, but there is room for two others to assist. The strongest of those involved should be assisted by the others. Bec, assisted by Bowen, Casimir and Mischa is able to start sliding the lid open. As soon as this happens, a grey-skinned limb of decaying fleash lashes out from the dark confines of the sarcophagus, but glances off Bec’s studded leather armor.
We are initiative order and Anya’drea, Mischa and Newt are up.
Anya’drea uses her wand of magic missiles on the mostly unseen target, doing 4 points of damage to it. Rather than giggling with glee, however she utters a cry of despair as her wand turns to dust after discharging.
Mischa readies her sickle and holds it poised to strike
as soon as she can.
You could strike now but the creature would have cover. I assume you’re readying for a clear strike?
((A-yup))
(auto-posted for Newt) Newt, who loaded his crossbow while the larger folk moved the lid, waits for a clear shot as well.
The creature pushes the lid back off the sarcophagus and climbs out. The foul creature appears more or less humanoid but with mottled decaying flesh drawn tightly across clearly visible bones. It is mostly hairless and has a carnivore's sharp teeth. Its eyes burn like hot coals in their sunken sockets. It is wearing masterwork chainmail armor and wielding a masterwork cold-iron longsword. "Why have you disturbed Lord Tulwar?" it rasps.
Mischa strikes at it, but her sickle glances off the chainmail armor (13 rolled).
Newt fires his crossbow (8 rolled) but as he was being careful not to hit Mischa the bolt misses completely.
Casimir, Bowen and Bec may now go.
Assuming
that Casimir can draw his sword, he will strike at the foul beast. He will use
his smite evil power against the foul, stench-ridden creature. "Back to
the earth with you", screams Casimir...
Casimir’s longsword glances off his foe’s chainmail armor (9 rolled).
(auto-posted for Bowen) Bowen draws his axe and swings at the creature, and although he finds a chink in the armor (12 rolled) his blade fails to bite into the leathery flesh underneath.
Bec
scrambles for the greatsword he dropped to move the lid. Finding its hilt, he
hefts the large blade and attempts to split the creature in two with a mighty
power attack.
As Bec bends down the beast tries to bite him, but can’t make it through Bec’s studded leather armor.
Bec fails to penetrate the chainmail (9 rolled).
Anya’drea steps forward and tries to smack the creature with her staff (19 rolled) actually hitting it for 9 points of damage.
Mischa and Newt may go.
Mischa
swings her sickle again at the abomination of all thing natural.
Much like Bowen, Mischa’s blade gets past the armor, but doesn’t penetrate the creature’s hide. (17 rolled)
“Lord
Tulwar,” Newt tries to get the creatures attention for a few moments. “We
disturb you because there was need. We seek the book within these catacombs and
figured you would know how to find it. We are sorry for disturbing you and the
attacks that came from our automatic reaction to you being alive.”
Newt looks around for possible
"hidey holes" should things go bad. “Will you help us?”
The creature’s face cracks into a horrible grin. “Of course I will help you.” Immediately after he speaks he tries to bite Casimir, but misses completely, and then brings his longsword crashing down, but the paladin is saved by his breastplate.
Casimir, Bowen and Bec may go.
Bec is
momentarily horrified hearing this abomination speak. When it viciously attacks
Casimir, however, that horror turns to anger. Bec swings his blade in a massive
horizontal power attack at the undead, the sword becoming more comfortable in
his hands with every swing.
Bec’s blade bounces off chainmail (9 rolled).
Casimir
steps back with the ferocity of the attack. He regains his composure quickly
and strikes out at the abomination. (He will use an action point to gain an
extra d6 in this exchange).
He screams with a primordial
urgency, "To the pits with you!"
Casimir’s attack misses completely (3 rolled – I did not have you use an action point, since the max AC you could have hit would have been 13, and higher hits than that have missed).
(auto-posted for Bowen) Bowen attacks again, but also misses (another 3 rolled).
Anya’drea swings her staff again, but misses (8 rolled).
Mischa and Newt may go.
Mischa
swings at the foul creature. "You are no creature of nature, your presence
befouls the land, away with you!"
Mischa’s blade slides off chainmail once more (12 rolled).
(auto-posted for Newt) Newt takes cover behind one of the piles of skills and loads his crossbow.
The creature again attacks Casimir, it’s bite unable to penetrate the breastplate and Casimir dodging the longsword.
Casimir, Bowen and Bec are up.
Again,
another action point.
Casimir hauls off of the
undead creature with his trusty family sword. The sword has been in the family
for generations, and while in some eyes it is an antique, in Casimir's hands it
is a deadly weapon.
"Die again, undead
scum!!", Casimir screams as he brings his sword down.
No action point needed. Casimir’s blade cuts into the ghoul for 6 points of damage, causing the thing to fall to the ground, unmoving. (20 rolled to hit, 3 rolled to confirm)
Everybody earns 50 XP.
Upon
completion of his deed, Casimir proclaims his satisfaction by giving out his
trademark call when he bests a creature in battle.
"Yahtzee!"
He doesn't even know what it
means, he has been saying it since he was a boy.
Newt
comes out from behind the pile he is hiding behind. I know he was evil and
stuff but I think we could have tried to get information out of him before he
died again. If we find another talking ghoul let pick it clean before
vanquishing it. Newt's eyes go back to the sarcophagus. Well we better check to
see what valuables were buried with him.
The only things of value you note
in the room are the masterwork dwarven breastplate on the skeleton, the
masterwork chainmail armor worn by the ghoul and the masterwork cold-iron
longsword it wielded, which has a ruby set on its pommel.
"Let's
be gone from this foul place. The dead who don't rest fill my nostrils with
their permeating reek. Take those belongings if you will, perhaps we can find
the family to whom they might belong."
Just let me know who wants to grab what, else it gets left behind. You make your way back out of the caverns into the morning light and fresh air. Nothing outside seems changed at all. Bowen extinguishes his lantern and you make your way to the last place you have not explored (the hillock); you may return to town, or you may conclude that you have explored Skulltop Hillock sufficiently and removed the threat you were sent to deal with (and then some!) and look for adventure elsewhere (after resting, of course).
Bec will
pull the mail off the corpse, eyeing its quality. He looks squeamishly at the
body.
"Should we make sure
it's...it's really dead? Burn, maybe?"
Bec is now medium encumbered.
Mischa reminds the others that the eye sockets were once noted to have smoke coming out of them. Perhaps there is something there to take a look at.
((Didn't
seem like anyone took the sword--someone should--usefull and valuable.))
"Duly
noted, Mischa. In his repugnance, I had forgotten that wisps of smoke trailed
from where his orbs formally were.", Casimir goes to the body to make sure
he isn't missing anything.
"Also, isn't it common
practice to have the truly valuable stashed away so that common robbers don't
simply loot the place later? Should we check that sarcophogus for any hidden
compartments? I would hate to leave a clue behind...", ponders casimir as
he goes over to check the body.
Bec starts
removing his leather armor and trying to fit into the mail.
"Never had much use for
armor, really? Pretty uncomfortable, it is. Yet, since I'm becoming a real
warrior instead of a militia man, I figured I should get used to it. Someone
give me a hand with this?"
While someone helps Bec out of his studded leather and into the chainmail, the rest of you can search the sarcophagus and room. Nothing else is found. The cold-iron longsword, glaive, dwarven waraxe and dwarven breastplate remain unclaimed.
Casimir eyes the longsword and
tests its heft, balance and length. He ripostes, lunges and defends in sixte,
secondo and in quarte to test the blade.
"Not a bad weapon, this.
If it is well with the group, I should like to try it out."
Casimir sheathes his family
heirloom. Though an excellent make, it IS a bit old, he reasons to himself.
Until such time as he will have to decide, he will carry two swords...
We
should leave anything that we are not going to use immediately and/or is not
easily carried. I agree that we should check the hillock. Ready when you are.
Newt will wait till the party is ready then its go time.
You reach the hillock. The climb to the “sockets” looks very easy (for someone unencumbered, unhurried and unskilled) and approximately 200 feet up, although not vertical.
If all armor is left on and gear brought up, the following people find they cannot make headway (by taking 10): Lord Casimir, Bowen, Anya’drea, Newt and Mischa. Bec seems to have no problem making progress. Casimir would have to remove his breastplate if he wanted to ensure progress, Bowen his chainmail. Mischa and Newt are not strong enough to guarantee success, even should they drop some of their gear. Any results for them would have to be rolled as climb checks. One thing to note is that the sockets are rather small and not everyone could crowd around them in any event.
Bowen
has no qualms over removing his chainmail to climb up. If the group still
wishes to climb, he will do so.
Casimir
will choose to remain as rear guard. Not one to shy away from action normally,
he sees no point in going up if other, able-bodied members can do so without
risk.
It takes Bec and Bowen a little over a minute to make the climb, but they do so without difficulty. The right “socket” appears to be a nest containing 4 eggs. A tiny, byt furious, carrion vulture screeches and flaps out of the socket and begins attacking Bec and Bowen.
Anya’drea hastily drops her quarterstaff, pulls her sling from her belt and loads it.
The vulture attacks Bowen, its talons scratching him for 1 point of damage.
Mischa, Newt, Casimir, Bowen and Bec may take actions.
Bec will
attack the bird with a vicious power attack swing if he can use his sword
effectively. If not, he will carve up the vulture with his dagger.
The bird evades Bec’s sword-stroke (7 rolled.)
If
there is enough room to stand or crouch in the sockets, Bowen will move up into
one. If not, he will try to hit the bird with a one handed swing from his axe.
There is not enough space to get in one and effectively fight or defend yourself. Bowen’s axe misses completely (2 rolled).
"Come
down from there, if that's it's nest, it is only doing as we all would do.
Defending it's home. Leave it in peace and it should not follow."
Anya’drea lowers her sling and looks at Mischa for any change in orders.
The bird whells around and comes in for another attack. This action provokes and attack of opportunity from both Bec and Bowen. Do you take it?
Bec sees an
opening and slices at the bird with his sword.
"I know it's just
protecting it's eggs, but I doubt we can reason with it!"
Bec slices deeply into the bird as it flies away to wheel in for another attack (18 rolled) and it falls to the side of the hill and rolls down a ways.
"You’re
too close to the nest, come back down here and it will leave you alone."
Bowen
will hold back from making the attack of opportunity at this time, but doesn't
start heading back down either.
"Mischa's
right. Come away from there. That vulture has nothing we need!!", Casimir
yells up to the intrepid adventurers.
Each of you earns 25 XP. Casimir earns 10 bonus XP for retrieving the cold-iron longsword.
The nest contains a clutch of four eggs. Strewn about the tangled mass of twigs and other debris is a gold button, a silver boot buckle, 6 copper pieces, 9 silver pieces, 3 gold pieces and a small ruby.
Nothing else is found and you feel you have now investigated everyplace you can on Skulltop Hillock.
If there’s anything in particular you’d like to do, buy or sell, please let me know. I’ll let you know how much your loot is worth.
So ends Legends are Made not Born. Are you ready for your next adventure? You may continue playing the characters you have or make new 1st-level characters. Keep in mind, the characters you have are slightly more powerful than 1st-level characters and have better equipment, for the most part.
If anyone is interested in joining the party, now would be the time to speak up.
No owners were found for the loot you retrieved.
Gold button sold for 3 gp
Silver boot buckle sold for 5 gp
Small ruby sold for 75 gp
Gold ring set with onyx sold for 145 gp
Silver earring sold for 65 gp
Platinum cup set with rubies sold for 450 gp
The scroll being held by Anya’drea is Bear’s Endurance (she is able to read it the next day.
The wizard’s spellbook contains all standard 0-level spells except evocation and necromancy; 1st-level = charm person, detect undead, grease, mount, obscuring mist, mage armor, shield, summon monster I, unseen servant; 2nd-level=darkvision, fog cloud, glitterdust, levitate, locate object, pyrotechnincs, rope trick, summon monster II; 3rd-level=gaseous form, hold person, magic circle against evil, magic circle against good, summon monster III
To be divided:
6 cp
9 sp
746 gp
Yields 1cp, 1 sp, 124gp each, with 3sp and 2gp left over.
Since traders will be coming back now that the ogre is gone, you will be able to purchase anything in Dundraville as long as it doesn’t cost more than 200 gp.
Bowen still has the potion labeled “Oaken Strength”
Newt still has the ring which Anya’drea detects as being magical, but cannot further identify. Newt also has the oil of align weapon and the unidentified potion.
In two days’ time you will have healed back to your full states.
Mischa
goes to check on the bird, and seeing that it is quite dead, shakes her head
sadly and looks up at the two still on the hillock.
"Bec and Bowen, would you
please carefully bring the eggs down here. They will die without someone to
care for them. I'll bring them to my glade and care for them there, where they
will be safe from predators and from the elements. We should head back to town,
I must collect Scar before I head back to the glade anyway."
((ooc: Mischa would like some
downtime before the next module starts, if possible as she needs to train her
wolf and care for the eggs.))
OOC: I
would like to keep going with Casimir, if all things are equal. This paladin
thing is such a stretch for me, I would like to keep trying!
I'm going
to continue with Bec as well.
Wouldn't
be right to abandon Bowen now, would it?
During the downtime, Bowen will sell his chainmail and buy a chain shirt,
replace the torches he has used since the beginning of the adventure, and spend
a few days placing and checking his traps. Assuming time and Mischa are both
permitting, Bowen would also like to spend some time learning and practicing
Elven with her, in preparation of acquiring the language down the road.
I will
continue to play Newt. ((seems I am having enough trouble coming up with a
class change for him)) Plus the little guy seems to grow on you.
During the down time Newt will
fund his lab; carefully salvaging what he can from skull mountain. He will take
the extra time to hire help from the towns folk and make sure that all the care
possible is taken transporting the glass beakers etc.
He will also play with the
ring and see if he can't figure out how to use it's special properties. He will
inspect, try on, and otherwise use his intuition to see if he can make him
float like the poor wizard he took the ring from.
Nothing happens when Newt puts on the ring. Try as he might, he does not float.
Mischa
is willing to teach Bowen some Elven in the downtime and also puts him to work
helping to care for the eggs and then for the chicks once they hatch.
Once the eggs hatch Mischa
would like to use Detect Plants and Animals to possibly find another family of
Carrion Vultures, in the nearby area. Then she will use Speak with Animals to
see if they will continue to raise the chicks as their own, as Mischa is a poor
substitue for a bird, and can not teach them to fly or hunt properly.
Also Mischa would like to
train Scar The Bonus Druid trick I would like to be Attack
Then she will need Handle
Animal Checks to train the following:
Attack-2 (DC20), Heel (DC 15), Down (DC15), Come(DC15), and Defend (DC20)
So it should take 5 weeks to
train, if everyone is alright with that amount of letting their characters
sleep in and enjoy the finer things.
Ok in 5 Weeks she was able to
train, Attack-2, Heel, Down.
If everyone is ok with more
downtime just let me know and I'll make the other rolls needed for training.
Bec will
start training in swordplay; maybe meeting with Casimir to go over some of the
finer points. He'll also start getting used to wearing his armor, though he
still finds it a bit confining.
Casimir
will gladly teach what little he knows of swordplay. Also in the interim,
casimir will explore Dundraville for examples of piety and goodness. He wants
to expand his horizons as to the different types of "good", from the
pious monk to the goodly cleric, to the kind bar maid. He wants to model
aspects of good, without holding to a set diety, much like Mischa's nuetral
entity of nature.
In the 5 weeks Mischa spends training her animal, everyone spends 2gp, 5sp on upkeep.
Two days after you return from the cave, on the last night of the full moon, Bowen comes down with a disease and takes 1 point of DEX damage and 3 points of CON damage. Mischa, as the town’s most practiced healer, is summoned and identifies the disease as Filth Fever. She tends to Bowen overnight. With bed rest, the next morning he regains 1 point of DEX and 2 points of CON. Mischa imbues Bowen with magical energy to protect him from harm (cast resistance) and with a touch of divine guidance (cast guidance.) Bowen makes it through the first day of recovery (19 rolled for FORT save.) Another day of bed rest finds Bowen feeling normal (regain last point of CON), but Mischa repeats the process. Only after a while does Mischa feel Bowen is fully recovered (another 19 rolled for FORT save.) As it turns out, Bowen’s natural toughness and luck would have carried him through he disease without any assistance.
Six days after you clear Skulltop Hillock wish Lord Casimir a Happy 16th Birthday!
On the night of the new moon, Mischa finally trains Scar how to attack unusual creatures.
On the last day of the last month of Spring, Mischa trains Scar to heel.
On the fourth day of the first month of summer, wish Newt a Happy 41st birthday!
On the last night of the full moon in the first month of summer, Mischa trains Scar “down”.
On the second week of the first month of summer, Mischa fails to train Scar to come. Wish Bowen a Happy 16th Birthday! This brings us to our current point in time.
On the night of the full moon, at the end of the third week in the first month of summer, Mischa trains Scar to come.
On the last day of the first month of summer, Mischa trains Scar to defend.
On the last day of the first week of the second month of summer, Mischa trains Scar to hunt.
Everyone spends another 1 gold, 5 silver in upkeep.
For
downtime, things have been fairly eventful.
Is there enough time left for Bowen in supplement his funds via trapping? If so
he will spend what time he can afford.
Bowen earns a total of 51 gold pieces during the 7 weeks after he recovers for Filth Fever.
I take
it the eggs hatched and were found a suitable home?
And with all the training done
of Scar and his much needed grooming, Mischa feels he is now presentable enough
to(not cause a riot) join her on a small purchasing trip in town.
Purchases coming soon.....
Casimir
will buy 3 torches, 2 cure light potions (if possible) and rations for 5 days
when it looks travel will be imminent.
It is about this time that a traveler comes to Dundraville, saying stories of villagers that vanquished an ogre had made it to the Urkallan Hills. The traveler is from Hadler’s Gap, a small frontier hamlet, and they have fallen prey to a marauding ogre. The poor folk can’t really offer anything but their hospitality. Perhaps heroes such as you could see your way to helping out people in need?
Ogres
happen to be our specialty!
Since the trader has arrived,
and we have amassed a small fortune, I would like to take this opportunity to
purchase an adventurer's outfit, a mallet, six wooden stakes, an addition two
days of rations and (if possible) a cure light wounds potion.
Mischa
would like to purchase the following if available:
1 Everburning Bauble
2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds
1 Adventurers Outfit
1 Spell Component Pouch
1 Waterskin
3 Trail Rations
She would like to find a nice
branch from her home to use as a quarterstaff, and she will leave the peasent
outfit at home.
And she will cast Goodberry on
the day the group sets out and along the way so that they can try to conserve
their rations as much as possible. Also Scar will hunt, as he can move at a
much faster pace then us it shouldn't be a problem.
"We
gladly will take on the challenge to thwart evil where it will run amok. Let us
gather our things, say goodbye to our loved ones and venture out at dawn on the
morrow", proclaims Casimir, standing a little taller than when he was
cowering in fear at the last ogre he saw. Strangely, that seems like years ago...
Bec nods
vigorously.
"We thwarted one ogre
already. I'm hoping another shouldn't be much problem. We're already twice as
seasoned as we were when we left set out. Real adventurers, even."
The large young man draws his
large new blade for emphasis.
As we are starting a new adventure I will be closing this thread and starting a new one. The contents of this thread can be viewed on our website.