# Sic Pixie's Carrion Crown Adventure Path



## Sic_Pixie

*Prelude*

I have been lurking on these boards for several years, reading wonderful synopsis of games by PirateCat, Jolly Doc, Sepulchrave and others.  This is mainly being posted so the players can keep a track of what is going on and we don’t require a summery of what happened the last time we played before continuing with the game; but hopefully also entertain whoever reads this.    I have been running games in England since 2nd ed D&D.  I am now living in Sunny New Mexico in a small remote place called Hobbs where players are few and far between.  

*A word on characters:*

Due to the nature of the adventure and its requirement for investigation and also due to the lack of players in the area I have made the somewhat radical decision to enforce multi-class for the player characters. So each player takes 2 classes and has to abide by the restrictions of each while taking the best of each.  For instance you take the better HD of the two classes and the better skill points but you abide by amour restrictions of the most restrictive class. So a Monk/Sorcerer 3rd has 3 HD and the skills of a 3rd level char to split between the 2 classes.  Seems to be working out so far; I’m guessing this might pose difficulties later on but we will see.  I personally dislike using a DMPC or NPC’s for any length of time so this is the best we can make of this situation without each player running 2 characters.  

Additionally I discourage 2 spell caster classes like Wizard/Cleric or Wizard/Sorcerer for obvious balance reasons.  So far it makes characters more versatile and not overly powerful.  Spreading your skills and stats over two classes seems to be the major problem.  Later levels I’m thinking it will cause issues, at this time I think I will force them to choose one class to progress in past 10th while keeping the other class at a set level.  

*Characters:*

*Hursk:* Male Half Orc Barbarian/Cleric - James
*Matthious:* Male Dhampir Fighter/Bard - Another James
*Sayuri:* Female Half Elf Monk/Sorcerer - Zee

Players are running through the Carrion Crown adventure path, just had their fist major fight and came off pretty badly.  That’s bad tactics for you …

*Part 1:

Plot:*

When Harrowstone Prison burned to the ground, prisoners, guards and a host of vicious madmen met a terrifying end.  In the years since, the nearby town of Ravengro has shunned the fire-scarred ruins telling tales of unquiet spirits that wander abandoned cellblocks.  But when a mysterious evil disturbs Harrowstone tenuous spiritual balance, a ghostly prison riot commences that threatens to consume the nearby village in madness and flames.

*Opening: Characters …*

The scene opens; there is a speck on the horizon that slowly materializes as a lone rider; this rider is a burly half orc; while this would make many people start running a perceptive observer would recognize the more that bestial intelligence in the creatures eyes; the way it guides his shaggy horse around rocks which could harm it’s hooves and the soft smile the graces his tusked visage.  There is one large tusk jutting from an otherwise pleasant face; the eyes look sorrowful but the smile seems to be from fond memories not impending violence.  He is dressed in light amour and carries a worn greataxe strapped to his back; the armor is functional but looks to have been re-sized for him and the axe seems relatively old but still sharp and definitely leathal.  His horse carries him onwards over the next raise and he fades from view and memory.

The camera spins to another road leading into a small sleepy town called Rovengro; another trail leading to the same location; along this trail rides another individual.  He is whippet thin with long white hair hanging around his shoulders; his finely tailored jacket sits snugly around his well formed shoulders and waist, the sleeves stopping just short of his wrists so not to interfere with any sword work; Tight leather pants and finely tooled boots all of matching dark blues and black complement each other.  The outfit is finished off with a broad rimmed hat with a fantastic feather stuck in the band.  One could mistake this traveler for someone with money and prestige were it not for the lute strapped to his saddle; a traveling minstrel with illusions of grandeur would be a more accurate thought.  Most traveling minstrels are a carefree bunch but one watching notices the eyes underneath the hat dart everywhere and his hand never strays far from the fine rapier tucked under his saddle.  His complexion is curiously pale with eyes a curious deep black; darkness seem to trail after him as he passes through the shadows.  

Our observer changes perspective and focus on the trail a few miles back where a figure riding swiftly towards the town; she seems to be in a hurry and is not an accomplished rider as her flapping elbows would suggest.  Her hair streams out behind her as she pushes her horse onwards; from what you can see her slight lean frame moves with an uncommon grace; her forearms look to be well defined with hardly an ounce of wasted fat on her.  Her face is decidedly elven but it has some curious human features which seem mostly oriental in origin.  The final result is striking although the mis-matched eyes which flash occasionally with an inner red flame is very off-putting; her legs exhibit the same finely toned muscles as they grip the saddle; she does not appear to have much in the way of weaponry although there are a couple of sickle-like weapons strapped to her saddle alongside a crossbow.  She obviously travels light and is in a hurry.

The half orc (Hursk) & Dhampir (Mathious) arrive at the gates of the graveyard at similar times while a couple of minutes later a lathered horse appears round the bend preceded by the sound of it’s hooves carrying a worried looking half elf (Sayuri) 

The adventure begins in the graveyard while they attend the funeral of a dearly departed friend.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Girls and insects*

*Hook:*

The characters are summoned to an old friend’s funeral in the lovely village of Rovengro in the country of Ustalav; a quaint little village of limited means.  Famous only for the now abandoned prison which burned down some 50 years previously.  The village grew up around the prison and this prison was renowned for holding some of the countries most heinous criminals.

The characters arrive on the day of the funeral and are quickly ushered into line.  They are politely thanked for coming and asked if they wish to assist in carrying the coffin.  Hursk and Matthious both wish to assist while Sayuri hangs back with the small group of mourners.  

The procession winds through the Restlands; the large and well kept graveyard of Rovengro.  While walking along they are apprehended by some irate locals who seem to be adverse to a supposed foul necromancer being interred next to their relatives.  A brief scuffle starts and is quickly brought under control by the hulking Hursk and Mathious’s spells while Sayuri unleashed a flurry of flying fists and kicks knocking one out.  The ring leader one Gibs Hephenus is discouraged from continuing and retreats.  No fatalities occurred and the offending locals are healed up and sent on their way with just a few bruises to show for their stupidity.  The local gravedigger Father Grimburrow a priest of Pharasma has a few choice words for the dumb locals as he tends to their minor wounds.

Each of the characters was invited to perform a eulogy in memory of the deceased; tell stories about their time with the Professor.  The Bard strides to the podium confidently and starts telling a tale; a mediocre performance to tell the truth. The ½ Orc Barbarian shuffles onto the podium and delivers an oratory to shame the Bard and inspire the gods to shine a ray of sunlight through the clouds and illuminate the sorrowful Orc in golden light. Not a dry eye in the house & the bard is decidedly ashamed … Next Sayuri who delivers a short and unmemorable performance.

After the funeral the daughter of Professor Petros Lorrimor a stern looking young lady by the name of Kendra approaches the party.  She introduces herself and asks the party to follow her to her fathers (now her) house for the reading of the Will.  

The Will reading was pretty standard with everything going to Kendra.  The party is tasked with remaining with Kendra for a month to make sure she is ok.  Also they are tasked with the delivery of some books to certain people in another city.  (Plot hook to the next adventure) This is to be performed after the month of sitting around twiddling their thumbs …. Or so they thought …  

They sat around and looked through the books, the professor had left a journal of his last days and some items within there were somewhat interesting.

*Circled Entries in the Professor’s Journal*

*Ten Years Ago*
The Whispering Way is more than just a cabal of necromancers; I see that now.  Undeath is their fountain of Youth.  Uncovering their motivation does not place me at ease as I thought it might.  Their desire to be eternal simply makes them more dangerous.

*Two Months Ago*
It is as I had feared; the Whispering Way is interested in something here in Ravengro.  But what could it be?

*One Month Ago*
Whatever the Way seeks, I am now concerned their goal is connected to Harrowstone.  It retrospect I suppose it all makes sense-the stories they tell about the ruins in town is certainly chilling enough.  It may be time to investigate the ruins, but with everyone in town being so worked up about them, I’d rather not let the others know about my curiosity-there’s plenty of folks hereabouts who already think I am a demonologist or a witch or something.  Ignorant fools.

*Twenty Days Ago*
It is confirmed, the Way seems quite interested in something-no strike that-someone who was held in Harrowstone.  But who, specifically, is the Way after?  I need a list of everyone who died the night of the fire; everyone.  The Temple of Pharasma must have such a list.

*Eighteen Days Ago*
I see now how ill prepared I was when I last set out for Harrowstone.  I am lucky to have returned at all.  The ghosts, if indeed they were ghosts (for I did not find it prudent investigate further) prevented me from transcribing the strange symbols I found etched along the foundation-hopefully on my next visit I will be more prepared.  Thankfully the necessary tools to defend against spirits are already here in Ravengro. I know that the church of Pharasma used to store them in a false crypt in the Restlands at the intersection between Eversleep and the Black Path.  I am not certain if the current clergy even know of what their predecessors have hidden down below.  If my luck holds, I should be able to slip in and out with a few borrowed items.

*Seventeen Days Ago*
Tomorrow evening I return to the prison, it is imperative the Way does not finish.  My caution has already cost me too much time.  I am not sure what will happen if I am too late, but if my theory is right, the entire town could be at risk.  I don’t have time to update my will, so I’ll leave this in the chest where it’ll be sure to be found, should the worst come to pass.

The other books were dark but not particularly interesting.  They retire to bed to be awoken in the morning to the delicious aroma of eggs and bacon 


Most of the day is spent reading through books in the Professor’s library, looking for clues on the Whispering Way and the local prison.  As the day passes in the late afternoon they venture out into the village, visiting the local smithy they find a female dwarf called Jorfa resides there.  Covering their surprise Hursk commission’s a throwing axe with the god of War’s symbol etched onto it.  While they were at the forge Sayuri went to visit the Town hall looking for information on the Prison.  Visiting a local bar owned by Zokar Elkarid called the Laughing Demon they ordered up the local fair of Vampire steaks and Wolf Balls and washed it down with a green glowing glass of liquid ghost.  After expressing their appreciation to the barkeep they walk around the Village a little till they follow the sounds of music to another establishment called the Outward Inn.  This basement based tavern is often filled due to the traveling musicians that frequently play here.  Matthious was instantly drawn to the stage and also to the proprietor of the establishment, an attractive lady called Sarianna Vai who was some what impressed by Matthious’s singing and brought over a free round of drinks for Matthious and the party; Matthious invited her to stay and chat which she did.  At the end of the evening Matthious was invited to remain while Hursk and Sayuri walked back to Kendra’s house and discussed the events of the day with Kendra and do some more research in the area and the cult.  

Matthious and Sarianna stopped up late talking and having generally a good time; however when he left in the early morning Sarianna was not feeling as fulfilled as she would have hoped.  Apparently Matthious could talk the talk but could not walk the walk.  Matthious returned to the house early the next morning to some humorous remarks from the rest of the party.


The next morning when they venture out the town was in uproar, one of the towns few monuments had been defaced with a large bloody ‘V’ it looked like the remainder of the blood had been splattered all over the Monument to the brave souls killed in the Prison fire 50 years ago.  

The party retreated to the house and started looking though all the books.  Apparently the professor was looking into a cult called the Whispering way.  The party had never head of this cult but they soon found references to this in the professor’s extensive library.  The reading of such was not a pleasant subject referring to a cult actively looking to revive an ancient evil wizard of some sort and they have the annoying habit of killing people and destroying their face so they can’t be questioned under speak with dead.  (the professor had been killed by a gargoyle falling on his head in the grounds of the prison (a normal ugly grotesque not the creature))

This causes the party to question the supposed accidental death of their friend and to begin an investigation into the events.  First thing they wish to do is look into the site of the supposed accident.  They head out after a nice lunch to take a look around.

Upon approaching the Prison they are awarded the sight of a desolate ruined building; it’s large and partially collapsed at one corner.  A small lake has developed at one side.  The grounds are over grown and needing some serious attention.  The surrounding wall has fallen in places and is mostly covered in vines and other climbing plants making it easy to scramble over.  Towers peek over the walls at various points and seem to be empty while a small house sits just off the main path looking very sorry for itself.

The party climbs over the wall ignoring the obvious open and ruined gates into the compound; landing in the grounds they feel a shiver down their spine as if someone had just walked over their graves.  They look at each other with questioning glances and like the intrepid adventurers they are they proceed onwards, ignoring the signs which would make lesser mortals quiver in fear and run screaming into the distance.  They approach the house and the world wise master of all things civilized Barbarian notices that the house is quite possibly a death trap waiting to happen.  The more cultured Bard does not seem to notice this (or care) and creeps into the house as dust rains down from above falling gently onto his head and shoulders, turning the poor unfortunate an unhealthy gray colour.  This is no change to the already unhealthy pallor of the half vampire so he continues on non-plussed.  

Sneaking round the house they find nothing of any interest and upon leaving the graceful half vampire accidentally nudges a wall, the sound of creaking and snapping timbers weakened by years of neglect and rot resound through the house and the upper floors start falling into the ground.  The agile Bard however dives out of the house sustaining only a few bruises and another healthy coating of dust.

This exciting event is put behind the party as they approach the Prison proper; this large imposing building sits uncomfortably on the top of the hill like a bloated cyst on the behind of an unconscious troll.  The party decides to investigate the outside first and start checking the building.  Our esteemed ½ Orc Barbarian notices that the vegetation surrounding the walls has been pulled back and recently trampled while the Sorcerer having her attention drawn to this notices the symbols engraved into the base of the prison and painted red.  These symbols all seem to say the same thing and it is the name of the former warden of this fine establishment one Lyvar Hawkran.

Not giving this much more thought the intrepid party decides to venture into the Prison and see what they can see; the first room gives them some pause.  Matthious drawing upon his undead heritage casts Detect Undead.  A mighty and devastating power; this shows trace residual emanations from the 4 doors in this room.  Mentioning this to Hursk he strides into the room and uses his powers to fill the room with positive energy causing Matthious the half vampire to scream in agony as the positive energy burns away some exposed skin.  Hursk whips out his huge 2 handed sword and confronts Matthious as he knows; even with his admittedly dim intellect that only those who draw upon negative energy should take damage from his righteous positive energy surge.  Matthious being the suave fast talker explains the situation and Hursk is somewhat mollified. The doors in the room however no longer radiate as undead and Matthious removes his injuries by the careful application of a naughty cleric in a stick.

Considering the four doors before them they choose the left hand door first and open it to discover a short corridor with several doors lining it. Matthious sneaking along the corridor approaches the first door and pushes it open revealing an empty room; all these rooms were offices and contain various records of the prison when it was running.  They quickly rummage through these and find several interesting pieces of information that they take with them to look at in more depth later.  At the end of the passage is a solid door thankfully unlocked that leads to the Warden’s office.  A quick search/ransack (greyhawked in my old adventure group) turned up some minor information and a well locked safe.  They subtlety force the safe open finding some old documents, a bag of 500gp’s and some potions which they swiftly stow away.

Finding no more rooms to ransack they returned to the main foyer and selected the next door.  This led onto a long corridor with several doors; the end of which opened into an old infirmary.  They stepped into the room and an incorporeal undead manifested before them, there was a scream and a warm feeling running down the leg of Matthious making a rapidly spreading puddle on the floor which Sayuri and Hursk quickly stepped away from.  Matthious turned and ran out of the room leaving Sayuri and Hursk to deal with the poltergeist.  Hursk started swinging wildly while Sayuri tried to pin point the location of the now invisible spirit directing Hursk to where she thinks it is.  Sayuri throws some dust into the location she thought it was and notices the telltale shift in the dust as it falls.  Hursk attacks the spot missing terribly and gets rewarded with more objects in the room bombarding him.  This continues for several rounds and Matthious returns looking sheepish and somewhat damp and starts helping out with his rapier, The Poltergeist is eventually defeated though Hursk is damaged in the process.  Greyhawking the room they turn up some potions which they put aside for later identification and pass into the next room.  

Opening the door they discover a furnace room long disused dominating one corner was a huge stone furnace while in the other the wall has fallen revealing the outside world and the small lake that now resides there.  This lake is now encroaching upon the room, a room where the temperature is starting to rise and the awful stench of burning flesh swiftly fills the room.  The face of the furnace animates and a long tongue of flame flickers out and tries licking Matthious who without even knowing it avoids the pre-emptive strike.  The party decides that the best thing to do is to leave the room.  Hursk and Matthious retreat out of the door they came in by while Sayuri moves to another door and opens it to pass through.  Only then realizing she is not getting followed and runs back to the others.  Ember Maw damages Hursk with a lick of flame before they can get out of the room.  Ember Maw was a constant threat to the prisoners here; they were constantly threatened with being pushed into the furnace while still alive.  This only happened the once but the fear turned this once inanimate and innocent furnace into a Haunt.

Retreating from the evil and thankfully stationary furnace they stumble into the now disused Chapel, They could see through the dust and webs a cabinet which looked promising.  However the three large spiders begged for attention prior to the cabinet; they were easily dealt with however as they came out of the doorway they were promptly given a smack down by the 2 handed sword wielding Hursk; pokes from a slender rapier and some serious stomping action from Sayuri (you know girls and spiders).  Spider goo ended up everywhere.  The cabinet yielded a wand and a bone scroll case; these again they put away for further investigation later.  Several doors later and empty not very interesting rooms yielded a set of manacles that animated and threatened the party; they shut the door on this one figuring it could not open the door; they then found the laundry.  The dreaded laundry gave little indication it would be dangerous.  I mean who expects anything to happen in the laundry; the room was empty bar a pile of moldy laundry on the floor.  This pile twitched like there was something small and weak trapped underneath; maybe a cat or some other innocent animal.  However this turned out to be a possessed straight jacket, this proceeds to flail at the party until they beat it down with various weapons and missiles made from pure force.  This was no real threat to a well oiled machine like the party; they will however fall foul of something much easier later on.

The next door needed some gentle persuasion to open; Hursk kicked in the door revealing a large room which used to be a workroom, tangled mounds of cloth eaten fabric, some wooden tables and workbenches scattered around. The arm of what appears to be a skeleton protrudes ignobly from beneath a stained heap of fabrics.  The three members of the party cautiously enter the room keeping their weapons trained expecting the skeleton to jump up and attack.  However the Blue translucent image of a woman with tears running down her ghostly face who did appear took them all aback.  Hursk initially started to wind up to attack the ghost which would have most likely have been a really bad idea; thankfully Sayuri placed her hand on Hursk’s arm forestalling his charge and attempting to talk to the ghost.  The ghost turned out to be very loquacious as it had not had a conversation in 50 years.  She is under the assumption they are the replacement guards; guards who locked her in the workshop prior to the fire to keep her safe from the riot; she unfortunately died due to smoke inhalation while the others burnt below.  Vesorianna Hawkran knows a great deal about the events leading up to and after the fire; she also witnessed the murder of professor Lorrimor and informs the party of this after they admit that they are not guards and are there to investigate his murder.  Vesorianna tells the history of the revolt at the prison, the riot and the fire in the dungeons below which killed off the prisoners and the guards.  The sacrifice of the guards who cut the lift ropes while they were trapped below to prevent the escape of the criminals, the fire and the screams of the victims and they burnt alive.  All this time she was locked in this room as it filled with smoke and then died.  Her husband Lyvar Hawkran was trapped below and his ghost; his force of personality and drive to complete his job drove him to stay and prevent the malignant spirits trapped within the prison from escaping.  She could feel him below but after the cloaked and hooded people who worked on the foundations and whispered all the time performed a ritual she could no longer sense him close.  Vesorianna felt the weight of her husband’s responsibility settle on her shoulders and since that day she has strived to prevent the 5 major players from escaping the confines of the prison.  She however is not as strong or driven as her husband so the more powerful spirits are finding they are able to manifest powers in the outside world.  Vesorianna is a font of knowledge on the prison as she is intimately tied to the place.

The party decides they are not fully equipped for this and retreat back to the village to consider and re-supply.

Later on they went out to walk around town and re-visited the Outward Inn.  They all ordered pie and it was served promptly, Matthious’s pie was served with a very ripe banana by Sarianna Vai, Hursk and Sayuri looked on and could hardly contain their amusement at this slight upon his … performance.


Following day; the troop have a late breakfast and travel to the local wizards abode called the Unfurling Scroll which is also a school for those lucky enough to have the gift and the intelligence to use it.  They find the local wizard Alendru Ghoroven to be a grumpy old man who does not suffer fools gladly or quietly for that matter.  After they explain why they are here he agrees to sell some of his scrolls and potions for a somewhat inflated price.  They also commission a scroll of See Invisibility; while they bought some scrolls of resist elements.  They are allowed to make use of his library after a substantial “donation” and try researching into the local history.

The party then proceeds to the Apothecary and procure several items to aid in their assault on the prison. Various items were bought ranging from vials of liquid ice to weapon black; the party is a very welcome surge of income for the village.  They head to the Forge and Matthious orders a grappling hook to be made for the following day; the day is filled with remarks about banana’s and other limp objects much to Matthious’s annoyance.  Leaving the Apothecary they wander close to a small group of girls playing a skipping rope game, they notice the almost perfect timing and the song they are singing; however none of them can speak Varisian so the meaning of the song is lost on them.  This plot hook is carefully avoided.

The local temple is next on the list of things to do today; they walk around over the bridge to the temple of Pharasma and are welcomed by an accolade at the door.  Hursk asks to visit their library but is informed that the library is off limits to those outside of the faith.  As Hursk is a follower of Gorum lord of Battle he is welcome to visit the small shrine they have available to passing worshippers of other faiths but the library is off limits.  Matthious however is able to talk his way into using the library but they are still unwilling to allow the hulking Hursk into there in fear of what damage he could do. (Diplomacy not being Hursk’s strongest point) While Matthious is researching within the library and finding out many interesting things Hursk and Sayuri decide as it’s getting darker out they will go and follow up on the hidden cache described in the professor’s journal.

Hursk and Sayuri head to the Restlands and under cover of the gloom scale the wall avoiding the guards and make their way within.  Once within they creep alongside the gravestones looking for the false tomb referenced in the journal. They easily avoid the lantern bearing patrols due to their ability to see in the dark and make their way to the location described.  They find the lock already broken having had some alchemical acid applied to it previously so they open the door and swiftly slink inside.  They find an empty room with two stone doors and a set of dusty footsteps leading in and then out again; inside these doors they both lead to a landing heading down into a crypt.  Fervently hoping they found the correct crypt and are not about to desecrate some poor unfortunates eternal rest they reverently slide open the stone tomb and are very relived to find no horrible corpse within.  They are however surprised to fine a large unlocked chest within; a few seconds later Hursk is surprised again as a giant centipede attempts to remove his foot with its mandibles.  With a scream Hursk leaps back and pulls out his 2 handed sword swinging powerfully at one of the two Centipedes that have snuck up upon them.  Hursk however misses badly and is sword hits the floor a foot or more away from the centipede sending up a shower of sparks.  Sayuri however is much more accurate and promptly stamps on the centipede breaking it’s carapace and causing it’s insides to be outside.  Not to the centipedes continued happiness; the remaining centipede having no moral compass or feelings of fear stays and tries vainly to convince Sayuri to lay down and be a quiet dinner by killing her but fails terribly by snapping on thin air.  Sayuri swiftly convinces the centipede with a very diplomatic strike of her fists.  The centipede not being as diplomatic as the Monk decides to lay down due to feeling somewhat tired and very dead as Sayuri’s fists pummel it into submission.  It seems Centipedes and Spiders do have something in common; if only being stamped on by an irate half elven girl who does not like creepy crawlies.

Grabbing the items from the chest they swiftly exit the tomb and leave the Restlands behind them.  Forgetting in their haste to close the door properly behind them; they return to the Temple and meet up with Matthious.  They all leave and decide to head back to Kendra’s abode and have an early night; they discuss what they have discovered on the walk back.

Next Death of a member ....


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## Sic_Pixie

*Death in the Family*

*Results of Researching Harrowstone*

Harrowstone is a ruined Prison; partially destroyed by fire in 4661; the building has stood vacant ever since.  The locals suspect that it’s haunted and don’t enjoy speaking of the place.

Harrowstone was built in 4594.  Ravengro was founded at the same time as a place where guards and their families could live and that would produce food and other supplies used by the prison.  The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large potion of the prison’s underground eastern wing; but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact.  The prison’s warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred.  A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy-that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.

Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out.  The fire that caused the tragedy was in fact a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prisons dungeons immediately prior to the conflagration.  It was only through the self-sacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping-the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.

At the time Harrowstone burned, five particularly notorious criminals had recently arrived at the prison.  While the commonly held belief is that the tragic fire began accidentally after the riot began, in fact the prisoners had already seized control of the dungeons and had been in control of the level for several hours before the fire.  Warden Hawkran triggered a deadfall to seal the rioting prisoners in the lower level, but in doing so trapped himself and nearly two dozen guards.  The prisoners were in the process of escaping when the panicked guards accidentally started the fire in a desperate attempt to end the riot.

*Research The Whispering Way.*

The Whispering way is a sinister organization of necromancers that has been active in the inner sea region for thousands of years.

Agents of the Whispering way often seek alliances with undead creatures, or are themselves undead.  The Whispering Way’s most notorious member was Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, although the society has existed much longer than even that mighty necromancer.

The Whispering Way is a series of philosophies that can only be transferred via whispers-the philosophies are never written or spoken loudly, making the exact goals and nature of the secretive philosophies difficult for outsiders to learn about.

Exact details on the society are difficult to discern, but chief among the Whispering Ways goals are discovering the formulae for creating liches and engineering the release of the whispering tyrant.  Agents often travel to remote sites or area’s plagued by notorious haunts or undead menaces to perform field research or even to capture unique monsters.  Their symbol is a gagged skull, and those who learn too many of the Way’s secrets are often murdered, and their mouths mutilated to prevent their bodies from divulging secrets via speak with dead.

*Research The Five Prisoners*

Originally Harrowstone housed only local criminals, but as the prisons fame spread, other countries and distant lands began paying to have more dangerous criminals housed within these prisons walls.  At the time of the great Harrowstone fire, the number of particularly violent or dangerous criminals imprisoned within the dungeons below was at an all time high.

The five most notorious prisoners in Harrowstone at the time of the great fire were Father Charlatan, the Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, the Piper of Illmarch and the Splatter Man.

*Father Charlatan (Sefick Corvin) *
Of the five notorious prisoners, only Father Charlatan was not technically a murderer, yet his crimes were so blasphemous that several churches demanded that he be punished to the full extent of Ustalavic law.  Although he claimed to be an ordained priest of any number of faiths, Father Corvin was in fact a traveling con artist who used faith as a mask and a means to bilk the faithful out of money in payment for false miracles or cures.  He became know as Farther Charlatan after his scheme was exposed and his Sczarni accomplices murdered a half dozen city guards in an attempt to make good the groups escape.

*The Lopper (Vance Saetressle)*
When the Lopper stalked prey, he would hide in the most unlikely of places, sometimes for days upon end with only a few supplies to keep him going while he waited for the exact right moment to strike.  Once his target was alone, the Lopper would emerge to savagely behead his victim with a hand axe.

*The Mosswater Marauder (Ispin Onyxcudgel)*
Only 5 years before his hometown of Mosswater was destined to be overrun and ruined by monsters from the nearby river, Ispin Onyxcudgel was a well liked artisan and doting husband.  When he discovered his wife’s infidelity, he flew into a jealous rage and struck her dead with his hammer, shattering her skull and his sanity with one murderous blow.  Wracked with guild and shame, Ispin became convinced that if he could rebuild his wife’s skull she would come back to life-but unfortunately, he could not find the last blade shaped fragment from the murder site.  So instead, Ispin became the Mosswater Marauder.  Over the course of several weeks, the cunning dwarf stalked and murdered nearly 20 people while searching for just the right skull fragment.  He was captured just before murdering the daughter of a visiting nobleman from Varno, and was carted off to Harrowstone the same night.

*The Piper of Illmarsh (name unknown)*
Before he snatched his victims, the Piper taunted his targets with a mournful dirge on his flute.  He preferred to paralyze his victims by dosing their meals with lich dust and then allow his pet stirges to drink the victim’s dry of blood.

*The Splatter Man (Hean Feramin)*
Professor Feramin was a celebrated scholar of Anthroponomastics (the study of personal names and their origins) at the Quatrefaux Archives in Caliphas.  Yet an accidental association with a succubus twisted and warped his study, turning it into an obsession.  Feramin became obsessed with the power of a name and how he could use it to terrify and control.  Soon enough, his reputation was ruined, he’d lost his tenure, and he’d developed an uncontrollable obsession with an imaginary link between a persons name and what happens to that name when the person dies.  Every few days he would secretly arrange his victim to find a letter from her name written in blood, perhaps smeared on a wall or spelled out with carefully arranged entrails.  Once he had spelled his victims name, he would at last come for her, killing her in a gory mess using a complex trap or a series of rigged events meant to look like an accident.


After a lazy morning and a late breakfast or early lunch the group set out for the Restlands to see about talking to the local head priest regarding accessing the Library and seeing if they could get some additional assistance with the undead in the Prison.  Hursk being the only one of the group with any religious knowledge is voted to speak.  They are invited into the Father’s abode to have tea and cakes while Hursk attempts to convince him of the urgency of the situation; however Farther Grimburrow is not impressed with his diplomatic skills which seem to be less than expected since the esteemed Father was a witness to Hursk’s inspiring oratory during the funeral of the Professor; he was expecting a half orc who had thrown off the constrains of his physical appearance and embraced his human side.  Unfortunately this was not the case as Hursk stuttered through a thinly veiled threatening “request” for assistance and the party were tersely asked to leave at once and no don’t mind washing the cups or anything as they are politely ushered out of the door. (Results of a natural 1 on diplomacy)

 Next onto the wizard’s place of business at the Unfurling Scroll, Aalendru is there just as disheveled and grumpy as the previous day; Hursk is asked not to speak and Matthious concludes the transaction. He has the See Invisibility scroll they ordered and this time they don’t annoy one of the higher members of the village hierarchy to the relief of the rest of the party.  After a discussion about the prison and the history of the village they head to the Forge to see if the grappling hook is ready; Jorfa is there putting the finishing touches to a hoe and directs their attention to a side desk whereupon sits a completed grappling hook of fine workmanship.  Or workwomanship I suppose.  (Don’t let the beard fool you)

After this busy morning they decide that a relaxing drink and meal might be in order.  Making their way to the Outward Inn they find it mostly empty and the current performance by a local boy is sadly lacking in quality.  When they are advised there is no pie ready today they leave in disgust and head to the Laughing Demon instead.  While walking across the village square (which is round; go figure) they pass a young boy playing a set of pan pipes.  Sayuri notices that the look in the boys face is unusually vacant as they pass.  However as they approach to investigate they hear a scream from one of the passing locals as a Giant Stirge strikes Matthious; the Stirge manages to grapple Matthious and in a blind panic Mathious thinks quickly and casts a powerful sleep spell upon the Stirge not considering the fact that it’s an area effect spell and that he would be in it’s radius.  Matthious however found the Stirge was more powerful than he thought and he promptly failed his save verses his own spell and fell to the floor snoring softly.  Sayuri and Hursk look on in amazement as Matthious drops to the floor; both realizing the error of judgment performed and not believing Matthious had made such a mistake.  While the other Stirge attacks Sayuri causing some light damage to her leg; Hursk grapples the Stirge on Matthious and pulls it off him and waking him up in the process; then he attempt to bite said Stirge and manages to impales his mouth on the Stirges Proboscis; much to Hursks amazement and the Stirges delight.  Sayuri and Matthious look on in a sort of terrified amusement as Hursk looks like he attempts phillacio upon the confused Stirge then Matthious draws his rapier and runs the Stirge impaling Hursk’s mouth through and it expires in a gush of blood.  Sayuri slashed at the Stirge on her leg with her Kama and killed it outright.  The villagers in the square all applaud but Hursk steps up to the child playing the pipes to snatch them away breaking them apart.  The Child screams and runs away; he is no-where to be found and no-one knows who he was when asked.  They checked for magic on the pipes and found none. 

They retire to the Laughing Demon where they have food and drinks bought for them by happy locals.  The rest of the day is spent relaxing in the Laughing Demon over indulging in the local specialty Liquid Ghost’s which is a green glowing light ale.  They stagger back to Kendra’s in a bad state having over indulged in the ale and having lost some blood from the Stirges.


The Morning comes bright and sunny much to the disgust of the party as the over indulgence from the previous day makes its presence known in the form of hangovers and a low tolerance to light; Matthious is particularly affected as his already low tolerance to light is compounded by the hangover.  A late breakfast is followed by a venture outside to investigate what all the commotion is about.  There is a flow of traffic towards the Harrowstone Monument; upon approaching the monument they notice that a bloody ‘E’ has been painted on the monument and the blood of a piglet has been used and then splattered over the stonework.  The Party resolves to investigate the prison later on in the day after they have collected their gear and are feeling a bit better.  (Nice to be a part time adventurer)

After a good lunch everyone is feeling significantly better and head to the Prison to investigate some more.  They enter into the Prison and quickly move to the hole leading down where the lift to the lower level used to reside; looking down the hole they could see nothing down there that could cause them any problems.  Tying off a rope and letting it down the hole Hursk descended first; holding the rope from the bottom Sayuri descends next, half way down both Hursk and Matthious are distracted by the Sorceress dangling from the rope (as a fine ass and boobs will do that) and 
Sayuri is too busy climbing down so none notice the skeletons approaching around Hursk.  The first anyone see’s is a bone hand reaching out of the darkness and scoring fine lines of blood on Hursk’s back.  Several more figures shuffle out of the darkness and Hursk is in deep trouble, Sayuri is dangling halfway up a rope while Matthious is standing at the top feeling somewhat impotent yet again.  Hursk draws his sword and the damage he has endured triggers his rage and he vigorously waves his sword around to little affect.  Sayuri unwilling to drop in next to the raging barbarian and his large sword hangs from her rope and casts a spell; a small ball of acid drops onto a skeleton and it looks up at her unable to do much about it they all descend upon Hursk and ravage him with their claws.  Matthious in a brave attempt leaps into the hole into a space recently made by Hursk destroying one of the critters and falls prone onto the ground next to 3 skeletons; they look down in surprise at the victim now lying at their feet and descend upon him with their claws.  Hursk smashes another of the skeletons receiving many wounds in return, blood pouring from him in torrents; staggering back almost driven to his knees by the unrelenting damage.  Matthious casting a spell from prone infuses his hand with positive energy and touches one of the them causing it to fall to dust; rolling away from the skeletons to gain some space to act he draws attacks from several but they miss.  Sayuri casts and two bright balls of force flash out and destroy two of them; turning them to just a pile of broken bones; Hursk smashes another and Matthious gets to his feet after healing himself.  This draws another attack from the creature standing over him which mostly removes the damage he just healed.  Drawing his mace he beats down the Skeleton and then goes to assist Hursk.  Sayuri casts another spell and drops another one while Hursk drops to one knee from blood loss and swings low knocking one down.  Matthious steps in and heals Hursk as the last one falls.  They look around them at the carnage and heave a long sigh of relief as they were very close to being overrun.  Sayuri typically took no damage while Hursk and Matthious were teetering close to dropping where they stood, pools of blood having formed around them.

Healing themselves up with potions and wands they regroup and start checking the room out; nothing much is found bar the obvious remains of the skeletons and 4 exits at each point of the compass.  To the north is marked the Oubliette, East is Hells Basement, South is The Nevermore while to the west is Reapers Hold; all are worked tunnels leading off into the darkness bar Hells Basement which has mostly collapsed.  The group decides to investigate Hells Basement first and is rewarded with a large room with a pool.  Hover they don’t find anything willing to jump out and try killing them much to their surprise so they spend several minutes wandering round refusing to go into the water; they head back to the main room and choose another way to investigate.

Heading south to The Nevermore they find the way blocked by an iron portcullis; the adjoining room which hold the portcullis winch is badly burnt making the winch unusable; Hursk tries pulling on the chains to raise the portcullis but he does not seem strong enough.  Searching to room they find nothing of interest.

Back to the main room they decide to head north, while Matthious and Sayuri whisper along Hursk loudly stomps along the corridor alerting the creature in the next room.  Out of the open door ahead steps a headless burning skeleton wielding an axe; (although how it heard them without any ears is anyone’s guess) Matthious draws his mace striking it while Hursk got his bow out and strings one of his undead bane arrows.  Sayuri attempted to strike it with her Kama not wishing to hit it with her bare fists and found her weapon bounces off its tough bones.  The headless burning skeleton which is the remains of the Captain of the Guards Called Gurtis Vortch swings its axe in a murderous arc and if Matthious was where Gurtis thought he was it would have easily cut him in half.  However Matthious was not and his response was to crack his mace across his ribs shattering a couple; Hursk fired and caught Gurtis in the chest; the resulting blow broke several more ribs and extinguished some of his flames briefly.  Gurtis struck out and Sayuri took a blow across her chest; a spurt of blood followed the track of the axe spraying it up the wall.  Sayuri gasped and staggered back her legs feeling weak and almost falling to the ground while Hursk steps in drawing his sword and cracking Gurtis across his thigh.  Matthious moves to flank and misses only just as Gurtis moves to the side erratically.  Sayuri throws a ball of acid which impacts on Hursk’s sword missing Gurtis and startling Hursk, Matthious attacks and strikes Gurtis on the backbone causing significant damage; several bones fracture.  Gurtis swings around lashing out at Matthious and deftly severs his head from his shoulders in one powerful blow; as Matthious’s body drops lifelessly to the floor as his arterial blood arching against the wall in rhythmic spurts.  Hursk cries out and summons his god’s power directing it outwards as a blast of positive energy consuming Gurtis in a fire of holy revenge and anguish.  Hursk runs to Matthious’s side and realizes it’s hopeless as his head rests several feet away in a puddle of his blood with a surprised expression on his handsome features as the last of his bodily fluids drain out making fanciful patterns in the dusty flagged floor.  

They swiftly wrapped Matthious is his cloak and retreat back into the village in a sorrowful procession to the temple of Pharasma; the accolades of the temple take over the body and clean it up.  Hursk assisted while Sayuri went around the village informing those who would like to know that Matthious had been killed; Sarianna Vai took the news well apparently but inwardly she withered as she had treated him not as well as she could have.  Hursk took away Matthious’s personal effects and Sayuri met him back at the Temple; they returned back to Kendra’s and spent the evening in mourning as they considered the loss of one of their number.  Hursk went outside to his tent in the garden where he stayed away from where the “civilized” slept and Prayed extolling his merits to the Lord of War to accept him to his side; Sayuri Talked late with Kendra advising her of the death and discussing the events of the day.


The morning came and a sad procession walked to the temple of Pharasma. Hursk was not too sad as he has died in battle which to him assured his ascension to heaven; Sayuri was feeling the loss keenly as his rapier wit was uplifting.  They brought with them his effects, dressing Matthious in his amour, arming him with his magical silver rapier and placing his traveling hat on his head.  His favorite hat was given to Sairianna Vai to remember him by.  They progressed to the Restlands followed by many of the villagers as their short time has impressed many of the villagers; there were more at this funeral than there were at the professor’s who was a long time resident of the village.  Sarianna Vai left a Banana on the coffin; Zokar Elkarid left a plate of Vampire Steaks and a bottle of Liquid Ghost.  Several of the musicians left coins as Matthious was always free with leaving them coins when they performed.  Hursk stood up and gave an emotional speech tears welled up in eyes all around as they recalled his friendly, easygoing nature.  Sayuri stood up and gave a speech sufficient to stir emotions in solid rock and practically the whole assembly burst into tears; afterwards the funeral party went to the Outward Inn; free food and drinks were put on by them and from the Laughing Demon; most of the village turned up through the day to pay their respects, Hursk drank too much and sang a song in Orcish which no-one else understood.  There was friendly bantering and drums playing in tune; it was a merry time in celebration of his life.  All in all an emotional event and everyone went home at the end of the day feeling merry and sad at the same time.


The following morning Hursk comes to breakfast and there is a letter from the Temple of Pharasma asking if they would like a specialist of the temple to join them to help defeat this undead menace.  Hursk shows the letter to Sayuri when she came down and she is also in approval to this plan.  It will take a couple of days for this assistance to arrive.  They send approval to the temple and then wonder what to do for the couple of days it’s going to take.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Hursk gets beaten up by a 90lb girl ...*

*Written by Hursk:*

The day after the funeral Hursk goes out into the "woods" looking for a few sticks. The first 2 are about the same lengths of Sayuri’s forearms, the 3rd the height of her chin and the 4th his height. Then he goes back to town and politely asks if she'd like to go for a walk.

As they walk he talks about his childhood. His "father" was one of the Orcs that raided a small tribe of horse traders during an unusually cold, wet spring. The tribe lost many warriors and let's just say a few women survived and found themselves with burdens they didn’t want.

The wet spring gave way to a lush summer and life went on for most of them. So, there was plenty of food but too few had to work. This is the main reason he's alive. As he puts it, "My mother was a hard, practical woman."

He grew fast and was fairly smart as most were concerned. About all he'll say about his "childhood" is that he was a good worker, rarely got beat but was almost always cold and hungry. Most he ever had to eat was when someone burned a pot of porridge to the point it was not fit for dogs...

The only kindness his mother ever showed him was the day he turned 9. On that day the same orcs decided to once again to raid the tribe for food. The only problem was, this time they were not cold and starving. During the first part of the fight Hursk did what he could but held back just in case he was "mistaken" for one of the raiders. This changed when one of the young orcs grabbed his mother.

While she wasn't much more than a name to him, she was still Mom. So, he attacked the bigger orc without a second thought. Bad thing is all he got for his efforts was thrown into a burning hut. When he came to the same orc had yet again grabbed his mother. This was when the tribe found out he could go into a battle rage.

He burst through the burning wall of the hut and a few moments later there was a raider lying dead on the ground.

That night as the tribe burned the "garbage" the raiders left behind his mother did a few things. She gave him a new blanket then said "Well boy, tomorrow you go sleep with the other young warriors. It was the kindest thing she'd ever done for him.

Now, as he finishes his tale I imagine they reach the clearing he scouted out earlier.

He picks up the longest length of wood, starts cutting the bark off with his knife and continues-

Yesterday I lost a brother. He fought well and didn't shy away from battle. So I sang a song for him so he'd find his way along the road of the dead.

I am a warrior and Battle Priest of my tribe. I've never run from a fight even thought I know I am not the strongest, not the smartest, of my people. That is my place in life and one day too, I will fall.

But, what kind of Battle Priest or warrior would I be if I didn’t' honour my Sister as well?

You have many spells and I've seen that you are also good with your hands. A spell is good, but just like a handful of sand or a tossed dagger, it does little good when the foe is next to you.

You hold back too much 
(he tosses the knife at a tree as flashy as he can to draw the eye)

He whips out with his staff barking, Now fight.

And for the next few days he drags her out to spar every chance he gets.  Unfortunately for Hursk; Sayuri is well trained with fighting sticks and resoundly beats him down much to his vexation.  They spend the remaining time mostly in the Laughing Demon eating, drinking and passing the time till their new companion arrives.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Enter Jack the Inquisitor*

*Enter replacement character:*
*Jack Deathseeker:* Male Human Inquisitor/Rogue of Pharasma - The other James

Awaking early the next morning Sayuri is feeling very much the worse for wear due to the copious amounts of Liquid Ghosts she consumed.  Over a late breakfast of eggs and sausages they are handed a letter from the Temple requesting their presence as their assistance had arrived earlier this morning.

After a strong coffee Sayuri feels up to venturing outside into the bright sunny day; upon exiting the house they find some commotion as they are soon told by random passer by’s that another bloody letter has been found on the monument; a large bloody ‘S’ apparently.  They made their way to the Temple in barely constrained excitement to meet the new part member; upon entering they were directed to Father Vauran Grimburrow’s office where they find a travel worn human sitting talking to the Father.  Father Grimburrow introduces the traveller as Jack Deathseeker, an inquisitor of the church of Pharasma and a specialist in matters pertaining the fighting of the undead.  He is of average height and carries a multitude of well used weapons and looks like he has some notion on how to use them; Sayuri and Hursk nod politely towards him and sit down facing the Father.   

“The Temple is taking an active interest in the proceeds and this is our investment in your quest; we can’t have an undead uprising on our watch.  It looks bad to those higher up in the first instance and of course the terrible loss of life this would entail should be our main motivation in this endeavor.  We do have a few items we could possibly part with if sufficiently reimbursed?  Now you need to get yourself cleaned up” (directed towards Jack) “we have facilities here and a pallet for you to sleep upon; I suggest you take advantage of these and meet up later to discuss the history of the quest with your fellows here.”

The party agrees as Jack is a tad smelly and very dusty from his rapid travels of the past two days; they agree to meet up in the Laughing Demon in an hour or so to fill in the details of the quest they accidentally found themselves upon.

On the way back to the Laughing Demon Hursk and Sayuri drop by the Monument to look upon the bloody letter there.  It seems someone bled a dog dry to use the blood on the monument; splashing a serious amount of blood afterwards upon and around the statue.  They mill about asking whose dog it was and no-one knows yet tough the watch promise to investigate; they are advised whose pig it was that was stolen to paint the last letter however.

Close to two hours later; which would be about time for a late lunch; Jack finds his way to the Laughing Demon and is presented with a big bowl of Corpse Chowder and a Liquid Ghost to wash it down with by the happy barkeep.  Seated in the corner in as private a table as they can manage are Sayuri and Hursk who have been chatting; drinking and picking at a bowl of spicy wolf balls to pass the time.  Jack joins them and they fill him in on the proceeds to date while he fills his belly; this takes several hours (the tale not filling his belly) as they have a large amount of information to impart; more than they thought they had and this is a good time for them to reflect upon the recent happenings.  Sayuri consumes more Liquid Ghosts than she should and feels decidedly detached from the world around her as it becomes more fuzzy than usual.

As darkness falls Sayuri is oblivious to the world around her; Hursk is too busy grunting out the story to hear while Jack is all ears.  Jack hears what could be a muffled scream from outside in the village.  Jack and Hursk go to investigate while Sayuri remains inside (being too intoxicated to do more than stagger around and get in the way) In the main square (still round btw) they see two figures obviously the worse for wear and probably even drunker than Sayuri judging by their staggering gait.  They approach in the intention of asking them about the scream and when questioned they are horrified when the partially rotted and maggot infested face turns towards them.  (Failed perception checks in the gloom) The pair of Zombies gurgle through partially rotted throats clogged with writhing maggots and strike out at Jack striking him resoundly across his jaw and sending him staggering back; suspecting his jaw has just been fractured in several places if not broken completely Jack responds and slams into it with his mace with a meaty smack and is rewarded by some intestines pouring into the street covering his nice newly clean boots.  Gagging from the putrid stench Hursk turns towards the other zombie and promptly beheads it with one powerful swipe of his 2 handed sword; they quickly demolish the pair of Zombies and then clean off their weapons and boots; looking around for more enemies to lay the smack down upon.

Considering the poor populace and the effects of finding this pair of muddy; freshly exhumed corpses in the main square (circle) they gather up the respective pieces, having to recover the head of the second from several feet away and scoop up the brains of the first; they also beheaded this one to make sure it would stay dead.  They quickly retire to the forge which looks to be the only place to still be open and not full of innocent people who would likely swoon if they found these rotting former members of the village.  Banging on the door elicited some choice curses in a feminine dwarven tone followed by a gruff “who is it” from behind the door.  After some quick explanations they were allowed in and presented their case to the less than impressed Jorfa who allowed them to drop the corpses in the corner after she doused them with a significant amount of perfume from her room.  Hursk requested they be able to leave them here while they went to follow the muddy trail they found leading up the hill towards the Restlands.  Jorfa after suitable recompense for her lost time and work advised them they should take them to the jail and leave them there; this would be the best place to deliver dead people to outside of the Temple.  Walking all that way with two smelly and de-constructed corpses would have caused some raised eyebrows if they were discovered.  Thankfully the jail was just across the village square (sigh) and they trooped across carrying their smelly burden.

The Jail is a large and soundly locked building close to the Laughing Demon; they bang on the solid iron bound oak door and small hatch opens to reveal a face peering out at them.  A darkly complexioned fellow of suspicious character blinks at them trying to peer into the darkness outside of the lit room; “what you want at this hour?” is the irritated demand.  Hursk calmly informs that they have a delivery of two bodies that require looking after while they look into other matters; they are let in by the suspicious watchman and allowed to leave the ex-zombies in one of the cells which Hursk Consecrates; they promptly lock the cell just in case they decide to start wandering around again.  The watchman is suitably disturbed to find he knew the two walking corpses and they were buried about a month previously; after giving them their names and respective professions he ushered them out locking the doors behind them with the click of finality.

They returned to the Laughing Demon and collected Sayuri who was sleeping where they left her drooling upon the tabletop and then proceeded to follow the muddy trail back to the Restlands.  The iron wrought gates were bent and twisted here where they had been forced open from the inside; they cautiously enter following the trails through the spooky graveyard.  Made even more so when they know there have been dead bodies wandering round; they find some of the graveyard guards lying off the track with one face smashed in by what appears to have been the result of being punched in the face repeatedly by something very strong; the other had been struck from behind his spine broken and he expired some time later from internal bleeding.  They arraigned the bodies is a more respectful pose and covered them with their cloaks; and then proceeded to the gravediggers shack to look for records in the hope of identifying the gravesite of the recently exhumed.  The shack is abandoned and they soon find the location of the recently deceased (again) and swiftly move to investigate; they find the graves with the evidence of them being forcibly opened from the inside; additionally they see five of these with another trail of mud and debris leading out of the apparently misnamed Restlands towards the other side of the village.  Hursk does a quick reconnoiter of the gravesite looking for evidence of foul necromancies or an indication that someone has been doing rituals or some such but finds nothing out of the ordinary apart from the obvious absence of bodies.  

They swiftly follow the trail out of the Restlands and towards one of the fancier looking mansions close to the Temple of Pharasma; noticing that the door had been recently burst open from without they follow the trail of destruction to the top floor where the servant’s quarters are located.  Noticing three zombies in the process of breaking down one of the doors they quickly move into action; Hursk opens negotiations by hurling a vial of holy water at the centre Zombie causing substantial caustic rents to appear in it’s rotting flesh; the other two are caught in the splash and gurgle their maggoty displeasure.  Sayuri unleashes some spheres of force, trying very hard to concentrate though the fog of her intoxication and working round her fits of giggles as they wobble home knocking the Zombies back.  Jack looking to prove his worth to the party runs in and confronts them in melee; not the best of choices as two of them turn and start pummeling Jack with their iron hard fists causing him to stagger back a step as he feels his ribs protest under the onslaught; Jack responds valiantly however and scores a hit on the weakened Zombie and sends its body back into rest as it collapses.  Sayuri tries to send some acid streaking towards another but somehow decides that the floor is in more need of a coat of acid; Hursk channels positive energy through his holy symbol causing another of the Zombies to gurgle in maggoty agony as it collapses into a pile of rotten flesh and bone while healing some of Jack’s more serious bruises (much to Jack’s relief as he feels cracked ribs repairing) Another smack down by Jack causes the last Zombie to collapse into another inanimate object of a stinky nature.

Opening the door reveals three very frightened people; two are obviously servants while one other is dressed in much nicer clothes.  She identifies herself as Shanda Faravan a Council member of the village; she is questioned to determine if there was anyone who would wish her ill.  She responds with “No not around here” which elicits several questions as to who not around here would wish her ill.  It appears she used to be a Royal Accuser (some type of Lawyer) in Tamran in the country of Nirmathas and those who might wish her ill were over 500 miles away.  (Not an insurmountable distance to be sure) The party considers this as a possible suspicious location for future investigation and then continues to make sure the admittedly attractive council member is safe along with her servants.  It transpires that the three Zombies used to work for the Council member as members of her household but died a few weeks ago from some unknown illness; the only thing the party can find that links these Zombies with the two in town was the closeness of their supposed final resting places and the fact that they lived in the same village.  The other two Zombies were a carpenter and a farmer and neither had more than a passing friendship with the other.  Hursk decides they should drop in on the Temple of Pharasma to arrange the disposal and re-burying of the corpses on their way back to Kendra’s house.

They speak to an accolade in the temple and they quickly arrange a cart to go and pick up the corpses from the Jail and Mansion before first light to prevent disturbing the locals.  The temple also commission Jorfa to repair the iron gates to the Restlands as two of them have been broken by the restless residents of the Restlands.

Hursk and Sayuri  leaving Jack at the Temple return to the house they have a quick bathe to remove the stink of corpse and then to bed for a fitful nights sleep with dreams of walking corpses, ghosts and laughing a blood splattered scholarly looking man wielding a large war razor.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Novelty of a secret door.*

Sayuri wakes with a hangover … again; “why do I do this to myself?” She has to ask.  Descending the stairs she is greeted by a large breakfast of Fried Eggs, Bacon, Sausages, Tomatoes, Beans and Toast; her stomach growls in apprehension and she passes with some dry toast and coffee.  Hursk is busy cramming his plate with as much as it will hold and proceeds to consume it followed by copious amounts of coffee and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.  The breakfast is finished by the loud proclamation of satisfaction which is Hursk belching to the tune of an Orcish war chant; they leave soon afterwards to pick up Jack.

Jack wakes in his cell at the Temple and proceeds with prayer and meditation; joining in with the temple morning service.  When this is finished he notices the telltale lurking shadows in the entrance to the Temple.  One large and hulking with a protruding tusk and the other small thin graceful and waiflike; he walks over to join his boon companions and they greet each other; wishing each a good morning.  

They decide to take a look at what the temple could provide and visit the quartermaster; after he checks Jack’s credentials he hands over a small package containing several vials of holy water and advises them that they have a small discount as worshipper and inquisitor of Pharasma.  The party buys some healing  and restorative potions; enquiring if there would be more powerful items available the Quartermaster sadly directs them to the head priest as he hold these items under lock and key.  Father Vauran is happy to see them all this morning his pickled old face creasing in smiles as he motion’s them to chairs; they pose the request for more powerful items and the Fathers face seems to crease even more as he thinks.  Leaving the room he returns with a long heavy bundle wrapped in oilskins; this he presents to Jack.  Upon unwrapping Jack finds a Silver Morning Star of exquisite workmanship.  The head is fashioned into the shape of a grinning silver skull with spikes around its brow and over its head; the eyes and mouth glow with a lurid blue flame. Father Vauran advises “Jack; this weapon is on loan and will need to be signed for; if this can’t be returned it will need to be paid for; if later you wish to take it with them you will have to stump up the funds.  But for now it is on loan for the duration of your stay here; It has powers and if you call to Pharasma while wielding it you gain the benefit of a healing enchantment which can be applied to yourself or to whoever you strike with it.  This is limited to only a few times a day but it could be useful; it might have more powers but these I don’t know about and are barely even worth mentioning.  Now unless you have more things you would like to buy I suggest you go and put it to good use.”  With that he ushers them from his room; closing the door behind them with a sigh and a grin as they take the nasty weapon away.

Looking at each other as they leave they consider the uncommon generosity of the Temple as they walk to the Restlands to investigate the gravesite in the light of day.  Upon reaching the desecrated plot they find that all the graves have already been re-dug and are awaiting the interment of the bodies again.  If there were any signs of foul play it most likely would have been removed by the over enthusiastic grave diggers.  They search anyway and find nothing out of the ordinary.

As its only late morning they decide to take a walk around the prison to see what else they can discover; walking the mile or so round the village they notice that the villagers are traveling in groups and looking around nervously.  The party guesses that this is due to the mini Zombie invasion the night before; the villagers are happy to see the party and wave at them as they pass.

They soon find themselves standing before the gates of the Prison; the looming dark mostly abandoned structure standing before them.  As they pass through the gates Jack is struck by the sudden fear of the place and its imposing presence; he soon shakes off this feeling and says out loud “yup it’s haunted” With a smile to Sayuri and Hursk they proceed into the grounds.  Sayuri and Hursk show Jack the markings on the base of the walls and he comes to a similar conclusion that these were used to somehow trap the ghost of the Prison Warden and take it away somewhere.  They pass into the building entering the foyer and scanning around; they first take a look at the large and very solid metal door they were unable to access the last time they were here.  This door defeats Jack’s attempts to open it and causes them to turn away in disappointment; following this terrible defeat they return to the hole in the floor that leads to the dungeons.  

Hursk decides to go first and checks down the hole making sure there is nothing obviously nasty awaiting him down there; deciding it’s safe he expertly ties off his rope; grips it tightly making sure it’s secure and then proceeds to climb down the hole.  However Hursk is not a great knot person and it slips dropping Hursk 20 feet to fall on his ass and injuring his pride; to make matters worse Sayuri drops through the hole after him alighting upon the cold and dusty floor with an innocent expression as a 20 ft drop is nothing to a Monk.  Smirking prettily at Hursk as he gets back to his feet while rubbing his lower back and ass; Jack ties off his own rope and making sure it’s securely tied expertly clambers down the rope to stand for the first time in the lower prison levels.

Having already explored to area to the east and south they make sure Jack is aware of these area’s and proceed to creep stealthily to the north to where the many relatively fresh bloody decorations on the walls are evident from their previous incursion to this level.  They make their way to the location of Matthious’s sad demise and find the remains of the headless charred skeleton that ironically decapitated Matthious; Jack felt a shiver down his spine as he looked upon the sharp blood smeared axe resting in the boney grasp of the remains of Gurtis Vortch and carefully bends to pick up the axe; easing it out of the grasp of now immobile Gurtis.

While Jack is inspecting the remains and the axe; Hursk and Sayuri investigate the room that Gurtis emerged from.  The room is unremarkable containing only burnt remains of a cot, desk and other items which are less identifiable; they quickly proceed into the Northern prison where a dark Oubliette is waiting.  

From where they are they can see all the doors are open and the iron grate covering the oubliette while closed is not locked and a rope is tied to the grating.  Hursk leads the foray into the room and is rewarded by the emergence of a terrifying sight; a dark ghostly apparition rises out of the oubliette with a soul searing scream of pure anguish. The whole party feel the scream reverberate through their own souls; in horror they notice that this ghostly apparition in carrying a large hand axe which is swings at Hursk with a solid blow; Hursk cries out in pain as he feels the negative energy comprising the axe bites deeply into his flesh and stares in shock as a spurt of blood turns into mist and is absorbed by the grinning apparition with the glowing red eyes.  Sayuri steps up and casts a spell, however she steps too close and the wraithlike creature before her strikes out thankfully missing, the spell goes off and two balls of force erupt from her hand and slam into the incorporeal creature tearing off its ectoplasm and casting it to the winds.  The wraithlike creature turns and faces Sayuri its burning red eyes making her soul cringe inwardly while she grins impudently at it.  Jack moves up behind Hursk and heals a small part of the damage inflicted and therefore stopping the bleeding damage the wraith inflicted.  The Lopper (which is one of the 5 major evil spirits haunting the prison) strikes out again with his axe towards Sayuri but she gracefully dances out of the way and the wraith screams in outrage at the blood it’s denied.  Hursk yanking out his large sword swings a vicious blow at the apparition; Hursk feeling the intense cold through the length of his sword turning his fingers blue as they touch upon the grave while his sword whistles through the creature meeting some resistance and causing another small rent in the substance of the creature.  Sayuri retreats into the corner and conjures some protective amour around herself while Jack moves around trying to gain a better position to attack, striking at the creature with his mace which connects and causes some minor damage.  Hursk takes the brunt of the attack again as the Lopper swings his axe catching him on his shoulder, blood spurts and repairs the wraith while Hursk yells more to inspire himself than anything else.  Stepping back Hursk summons a greatsword of force and directs it to attack the Lopper; Jack drops his mace and pulls out his new Silver Morningstar swinging it in a vicious arc and connecting with nothing throwing him off balance which the Lopper takes advantage of forgetting about Sayuri and slashes him across his arm; Jack feels the terrible cold of death as his skin ruptures in several long gashes and blood mists into the air drifting to the spirit repairing some of the damage it had received.  Sayuri casts a spell and opens a rent in the fabric of time and space drawing through a powerful Demon which looks like a half melted candle; the Lemure lashes out at the spirit and tears a few small rents in it’s fabric while Sayuri starts summoning another critter to assist.  Hursk drinks a potion to restore his vitality and to stop the bleeding; Jack also summons curative energies to restore his health and to stop the bleed while the Lopper scores another slashing hit upon Jacks shoulder sending the coldness of the grave into his soul and wrenching out some more of his vital essences.  Sayuri summons a rat faced hound and directs this to attack the Lopper much to its annoyance and then starts summoning another hound.  Hursk Summons his god’s power and directing it outwards in a positive burst healing up Jack and himself; stopping the bleeding damage and making the Lopper scream in pain as much of his form is ripped asunder by the powerful positive energies.  Through summoning, positive bursts and general smack downs the Lopper is finally brought down and dissipates into red mist that falls to the floor in a bloody puddle.  

The party stands around breathing heavily as the long combat closes; they look at each other.  Hursk and Jack are covered in blood; mostly their own.  Sayuri is as clean as she could be in this dusty dungeon without a speck of blood upon her.  They all sit down for a few minutes to recover from the exertion and to heal themselves up.  Exploring the Oubliette they find several items of interest in the bottom including a set of keys.

They set out again back to the main room and setting out west towards Reapers Hold; the portcullis before them is closed but the doors either side are open.  They all try very hard to move silently down the corridor; they all fail horribly however tripping over imaginary cracks in the floor, kicking small boulders down the corridor and cursing loudly when they stub their toe or sneezing uncontrollably.  They eventually examine the door on the right first cautiously listening at the door prior to opening it.  (As if anything inside didn’t hear them and would not be sitting quietly waiting for them)  The door creaks open revealing a room empty of obvious problems; however they do see a winch in one corner which could open the portcullis.  The rest of the room seems to be full of things less interesting than a goblins lunchbox so they pass over to the other door.  Taking this cautiously again they bend to press their ears against the door and discover to their relief that rot grubs had not been placed in the door just for this eventuality.  They hear nothing on the other side of the door nor in the rest of the prison so they cautiously open the door; seeing nothing of great interest inside bar a few skulls on the desk with a large hammer, a table and chairs with a cot in the corner Sayuri steps into the room and approaches the desk to investigate.  As soon as she approaches the desk a few things happen; firstly she feels an intense pain in her head as if her skull is trying to break itself apart; secondly she notices that part of some skull fragments on the desk start vibrating as the pain started.  Additionally there is a very dead Dwarf lying on the floor by the desk not in direct view of the door; Sayuri stumbles from the room grasping her head in agony.  As soon as she left the room the pain faded though the memory of it was still there; Hursk Strides into the room and grunts in pain as his head explodes in pain.  He approaches the desk and the apparition of a dwarf rises up from the floor grasping a huge hammer while the skull of a female Dwarf hovers nearby.  The Dwarven skull is obviously female and is missing a wedged shaped sliver of bone from one side.  This is the Mosswater Marauder; or at least the ghost of the insane Dwarven mass murderer previously known as the Mosswater Marauder.  The Dwarf strikes Hursk resoundly on the head; Hursk staggers back stunned as the ghostly image of a wedge shaped sliver of bone wrenches itself from Hursks head and drifts to the floating skull of the Dwarfs murdered wife; this sliver tries to fit itself into the damaged skull, fails then fading away to nothing.  Hursk staggers around as though drunk as the three skulls on the Desk rise up and streak towards him some of them crashing into him causing some light bruising.  Hursk roars in anger trying to shake off the feeling of lassitude that comes from a nasty head wound and strikes out at one of the floating skulls smashing it into pieces.  The Marauder screams in anguish as one of his pet skulls is shattered appearing as it to stagger back a step as if hurt.  Jack wishing to avoid the pain walking into the room causes fires an arrow from the doorway at one of the skulls and misses horribly; Sayuri runs into the room around the Marauder and performs a spinning kick at one of the skulls catapulting it into the wall and causing a mini explosion of bone shards.  Screaming in fury the Marauder swings at Sayuri missing by a large margin; Hursk brings his sword down upon the last remaining skull also obliterating that into a series of fragments.  To their surprise the apparition is still standing as they assumed that by smashing the skulls he would be defeated.  Jack not wishing to be left out moves up next to Hursk and brings his morning star down upon the skull of the dwarven corpse the apparition is hovering over; this causes the dwarven apparition to do nothing but grin wickedly at him causing his stomach to churn in disquiet.  Hursk casting a curative spell reaches out and touches the apparition; its glowing red eyes turning towards him in surprise as the holy energies rend its tattered form consigning its soul to one of the many hells as it screams in frustration and fades from sight.

Doing a quick search of the room Jack discovers an irregularity in one of the walls; he is certain there is something hidden behind the wall; Sayuri and Hursk however are not convinced.  Hursk especially is very convinced that Jack is making it all up (Hursk rolls 2 perception checks both a natural 1) and is quickly loosing patience with Jack; while Jack lights a torch and is waving it before the supposed entrance; allowing the soot to scorch and hopefully show the opening he discovers a minute hole that could possibly be a keyhole.  He goes through the keys they found in the Oubliette and finds one to match.  With a click and twist the wall turns into a door and Hursk is amazed at novelty of a secret door.  Behind the door they find several sets of amour a number of weapons and a large iron bound oak chest; looking through the amour they make a note of the quality and find its all masterwork; the same seems to be with the weapons.  This is a veritable hoard of valuable equipment and they dance around in happiness considering the estimated value of all these items.  Jack starts examining the chest considering the value of these items he takes special care to look for anything set up for the unwary thief; finding nothing that should cause any concern he uses another one of the keys to unlock the chest and flipping open the lid discovers several bundles which radiate magic.  Sayuri happily grabs these and lays them out on the table expressing that these will all be hers now; Hursk and Jack look at each other carefully and keep quiet for now.  They quickly gather up the items and transport them in several trips to the entrance of the prison while Hursk runs back to the Village for some horses to carry the loot.

Back at Kendra’s house; Kendra offers to identify the items for the party which they readily agree to.  Sayuri is still under the impression that they are hers; this is an impression that is soon to be called to question.

They soon step out to the Laughing Demon for dinner having a round of Corpse Chowder and Liquid Ghosts to wash it down with.  An early night follows to the surprise of everyone who has known them the last few days.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Where Jack annoys a red head*

Next morning Sayuri and Hursk waken; Hursk prays for an hour while Sayuri prances around his tent poking him with a stick to distract him.  Eventually Hursk picks up a pot of water hurling the contents over Sayuri.  Sayuri giggling runs and hugs Hursk getting him wet too; laughing she runs inside to dry off before breakfast.  

Jack awakens in his cell and joins the Morning Prayer; finishing he walks down to Kendra’s house and joins Sayuri and Hursk for breakfast.  After a breakfast of porridge; bacon and coffee they feel up to taking on the days trials. 

They venture outside and load up a borrowed cart with the weapons and amour intending to find a market for these items.  Traveling to the guardhouse they ask to see if they would be interested in buying quality merchandize; they are informed that their equipment is provided by the town council and they would have to talk to them regarding selling of these items.  After some discussion they come to the realization that they recently saved a local councilor from a mini Zombie infestation and she may look upon this transaction favorably.

They walk their cartload of “acquired” goods round to the councilor’s house and arrive just as some workmen are in the middle of replacing the front door that had been bashed in by the Zombies.  Shanda Faravan is standing on the veranda overseeing the operation with interest; notices the party arriving with the cart and waves at them happily.  They lead the cart in through the gates and greet Shanda warmly; asking if the council would be interested in buying their armor and weapons for their guards.  She expresses interest if the price is right and takes a look through the assembled goods with an expert eye; with a quick calculation she informs the party that she will take the matter before the council this evening and provide them with an update in the morning.  They thank Shanda and take their good back to Kendra’s house leaving it there; they then decide to take a trip to the prison to see if they can get any further into the place.

Upon approaching the prison there is nothing changed; it’s still as dreary and morbid as all the previous visits; the overcast day not helping at all.  

The first order of the visit is to introduce Jack to the resident friendly ghost of Vesorianna; they stroll to the workshop and wander in as obviously ghosts don’t have a social life and it’s not worth knocking.  Thankfully the ghost is present and not out partying at some ghostly event.  Jack is introduced and somewhat nervously and politely greets the female ghost; they enquire as to the presence of the ghosts and are informed with a smile that they had defeated two of the five required to cleanse the prison.  Also they did not as yet have the badge of office that would empower her to destroy the remaining ghosts.  Asking Vesorianna where the remaining spirits were she informed them that there are two above and one very powerful one below; also she suggests that they try to find some items that might assist them in this.  They summarize that the large steel locked door might be a good place to try to get into as it seems to be the place they used to store the prisoners personal effects which is confirmed by the hovering ghost.

Walking back to the steel door Jack gets to work on the lock and after several minutes of grunting and cursing they come to the conclusion that the lock is probably very high quality and will require the key.  Hursk gives the door an annoyed kick before leaving and is surprised when it simply pops open. (Nat 20 on Str Check) They all look at each other as the door slowly creaks open revealing a dusty small room with shelves on all the walls filled with various odds and ends.  Cautiously the creep inside and start looking around; Sayuri hopefully casts detect magic but nothing shows up much to her disgust; however when scanning the room she does notice a slight irregularity in the wall and the shelving that makes her investigate further.  Finding a small hidden leaver she pulls it and the wall swings open to reveal a hidden storage area; upon the shelf here are 5 items all dusty and not been touched in the last 50 years or so.  There is a handaxe, book, silver flute, 12 holy symbols in a tangled ball and a smithing hammer; the party assumes that these are all related to the five evil spirits inhabiting the prison.  

Some discussion starts about where to head next; they conclude that heading upstairs to investigate the two weaker spirits would be the better plan and promptly head up the stairs.  Faced with a pair of double doors at the top of the stairs Jack decides to sneakily put his foot against the door to kick them open.  They open as they were not locked and they are awarded by the droning sound of some large insect creatures; Hursk gulps at the sight of them as they have experienced these critters previously in the town.  Three Stirges; thankfully smaller versions of the ones met previously hum about the room and dive to the attack.  They are swiftly dispatched without any strange incidents or biting by a tusky Hursk.  Most of the rest of the upper floor is abandoned and empty; that is until they get to the west wing where Jack and Sayuri hear softly playing music from round the corner.  Hursk at this point had got bored of empty rooms and wandered off to look around the rest of the floor to see if there might be something he could hit with his sword.

Turning the corner Sayuri finds some skeletons emerging from their cells and clattering down the corridor accompanied by the haunting tunes on a flute.  Letting off some orbs of force they smash into two of them cracking some ribs and knocking them back a step.  Jack shouting for Hursk charges in swinging his morning star wildly and aims a blow at the closest skeleton; somehow manages to strike himself on the back of his head knocking himself out.  Sayuri through fits of nervous giggles as her one point of help in the vicinity collapses to the floor with blood from a nasty head wound pooling the floor backs up a step while lashing out at the closest skeleton with her fists and feet.  Hursk not aware of the situation rounds the corner at a sprint and seeing their new companion on the floor in a pool of slowly spreading blood screams “not again” and rages running in and laying around with 4 ft of sharp steel immediately striking down one of the skeletons.

Hursk suddenly hears the haunting tunes and stops to listen to the melody as it overrides his rage and makes him pause for a few seconds; he sees further down the hallway a indistinct figure playing a flute while surrounded by flittering stirges.  Mesmerized by the vision and the tune the skeletons claw at his face while Sayuri looks to her two companions who are both out of action; shaking her head she lays about with her fists and spells taking out another of the skeletons while taking some minor wounds.  Hursk shakes off the effects of the spell while Sayuri is then affected by the music; she stops whirling and diving and stands as if in a trance while the music plays around her ears.  Hursk flails about with his sword taking out another skeleton leaving just the one left; Jack chooses this time to rouse from his self imposed slumber and gets groggily to his feet while shaking his head to clear the bright lights.  Seeing the situation he glances around and sees only the one skeleton; Sayuri is entranced and Hursk shouting about the shadowy flute player down the hallway.  Jack however can’t see the figure and knowing he has better senses than Hursk ignores the outraged Barbarian; Sayuri can now see the figure of the flute player down the corridor and mentions it as she comes out of her trance.  Jack has to re-think his thoughts on the matter and considers that the flutist might be there and Hursk is not in fact insane.  The last skeleton soon succumbs to the combined might of Jack and Sayuri while Hursk tries vainly to affect the figment only Sayuri and himself can now see.  Jack after many attempts still can’t see the figure; while Hursk uses some spirit siphons to damage the haunt of the piper and Sayuri causes its eventual demise with the predictable balls of force.

Exploring the rest of the floor takes a short time; they find nothing of much interest except the body of the Charlatan. The body is blessed and the skull crushed under the mace of Hursk to prevent it from arising.  Finding nothing of any interest here they leave the room; however the insidious ghost of the Charlatan latches onto the last person to leave the room which in this case is Jack.  They double check the rooms upstairs as the Ghost of Vesorianna clearly stated that two of them were upstairs they found only evidence of the one.  Figuring that they can come back later they progress again down to the dungeons to explore these some more.

Passing into Reapers Hold they find it deserted; all the doors hanging open.  They nervously pass through this area and walk into the once torture chambers of the prison.  However the poor Warden spent his last hours in this room being tortured by the various ex residents of the prison; sadly he did not survive the experience and expired having had his hands severed, jaw broken limbs dislocated and many sharp objects inserted into eyes, ears and other parts of the body.  This caused his eventual demise however his hands achieved a foul energy of their own and animated into crawling claws; these claws spring into action as the basket holding them was disturbed scuttling across the floor towards the group.  They are soon smacked down with no injury to the party; The Iron maiden in the room hover has other ideas as it slowly creaks open and Jack sees inside the bound and gagged form of Kendra their sweet hostess.  He swiftly throws off the illusion seeing it for what it is and drawing a dagger slams the door shut and wedges it closed; the iron maiden shakes for a while then goes silent.  

The party searches the room and finds the Wardens Badge which had been used to break his jaw with was still inserted in his broken skull; they then wanders round the dungeon looking for another way into the Nevermore which is currently denied them.  Eventually they start searching for possible hidden doors finally finding one in the torture chamber.  Opening this they find a natural looking passage leading in the general direction they wish to go so they follow it.  Jack in the lead finds the corridor opening to a larger room pauses as he notices water on the floor; they move cautiously into the room finding nothing but a puddle.  They start to move on by but the Grey Ooze pretending to be a puddle has other ideas as it lashes out at the closest which happens to be Hursk; The pseudopod strikes Hursk in the chest knocking him back a step and burns with an acrid stench.  Sayuri in a panic starts casting a spell but is too close as the ooze strikes out slapping her around some practically knocking her to the floor with the force of the blow while Jack jumps in striking the ooze with his morning star which connects and thankfully he wrenches the weapon out of the ooze shaking the residue off as it tries to consume the metal in the weapon.  In retaliation the ooze lashes out at Jack striking him solidly in the chest knocking him to the floor as he apparently dies; Jack drops to the floor covered in ghostly chains in some kind of coma.  

Jack awakes naked on a table with a pretty buxom red headed female leaning over him; she informs him that he died and this is three months later.  His companions left months ago and his body was recovered a short while ago and just recently raised.  Jack was not totally convinced and tries to get off the bier as very real agonizing pains run through his body leaving him gasping on the floor.

Hursk and Sayuri look on is shock unsure what to do to help as the amorphous blob turns towards them as Sayuri’s balls of force strike it drawing it away from enveloping Jack as he lays there helpless wrapped in the chains.  Hursk tries pouring oil over the ooze and lighting it but his nervous fingers seem unable to manipulate the flint and steel; The Ooze strikes out at Sayuri catching her soundly on the side of her head and sending her reeling to the floor. Hursk stops trying to light the ooze and strikes out in terror as it is looking like he will likely loose both of his companions this time.

Jack gets to his feet again and asks some questions of the pretty red head asking where he is and what happened to the party.  The answers are not to his satisfaction and suggests he should be getting going; again pain rips through his body making him weak at the knees an drops him again to the floor.  The pretty red headed girl helps him to his feet again her breast brushing up against his chest as she looks at him coyly with a small smile.

Sayuri slips a potion out of her belt and quickly gulps the contents while Hursk steps back and starts summoning a creature of the nether planes.  The Ooze strikes out at Sayuri again but this time missing; Sayuri scrambles to her feet away from the creature.

Jack is mildly surprised to find himself naked in a room with a very attractive lady who is helping him back to a bier to sit upon; “this is not real” he mutters as he gets back to his feet.  I have been present at a resurrection before and it was not like this.  There was no pain; it was a glorious event full of glowing lights and joy; here there is pain and only you.  Pain rips through his body and he is forced back to his knees.

Hursk finishes the summoning and a Lemure steps from the portal and goes to attack the ooze with its claws causing some superficial damage; the ooze strikes back wrapping itself around the Lemure and trying to burn it with its acid.  The Lemure being resistant to acid is not overly impressed.  Sayuri quickly moves round to Jack and digs in his backpack removing the collection of holy symbols and holding it in her hand.  Jack moans in his coma state and the ghostly chains seem to tighten around his prone form.

Jack on his knees is still muttering “this is not real; this is not real” The red headed woman seems to loose her temper some and pulls apart her robe grabbing his hands and pressing them to her chest and shouts “do these feel real to you?” Still muttering “this is not real” as his hands remains where they are his eyes wide and a huge smile on his face.  She pulls back her arm and punches his right across his face; searing pain rips through his body again.

Sayuri places the ball of symbols in his hand and starts smacking him round his face trying to rouse him to no effect; the Lemure seems to be enjoying itself as the ooze seems unable to harm it while it is able to cause it damage, Hursk casts some healing on Jack and thinks what he can do next.

Jack recovering from the blow to his face staggering back to his feet; by some force of will his hand is still placed firmly on her chest.  Shouting “THIS IS NOT REAL!!!” and her face contorts into a face of true anger and her fist pulls back again and other blow falls and Jack is thrown to the floor; his face pouring blood and pain crippling him making him curl up into a ball, screaming.

Sayuri gives up on beating up Jack as he seems to be in enough trouble already and tries grasping the ghostly chains but her hands go right through them.  Hursk pulls out two haunt siphons and unplugs them; the siphons fill with green smoke and the chains disappear; Jack wakes up from dreams of a buxom blonde to find a buxom dark haired half elf straddling him.  He Smiles a wicked smile and Sayuri quickly removes herself from straddling Jack and turns to watch the amusing conflict between the Lemure and the ooze which ends predictably with the Lemure the victor.  It returns to Hell with stories of it’s single handed victory ….

They look at each other and scoping out their condition they decide it’s enough for the day and retreat swiftly back to Kendra’s where they spend the night discussing the day and what they plan for tomorrow.

That night they get to bed early; Jack taking the spare room Mathious used to sleep in.  They awake in separate calls; bars on the windows lying in a bed of dirty straw with a solid iron barred door occupying the only exit.  Sayuri checks the door while Hursk and Jack check the window.  They both notice that they seem to be in the prison as they can see the light of the town of Ravengro below them; Sayuri casts balls of force at the wall to little effect while Jack starts screaming.  They all notice their name appearing in large bloody letters on the wall above the bed.  The bloody letter appearing slowly a letter at a time; Hursk tries removing the letters but they reappear as if seeping through the stonework.  Just before the last letter appears they wake up in their own beds, Sayuri’s room has a scorched hole in the wall from her balls of force.  They all heave a sign of relief till they notice their name scrawled in fresh blood on their wall above their bed.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The End is nigh .. well the first part of 6 anyway ...*

Getting up they seek out each other and find that they all had the same vivid dream and the same effects.  They sit while having breakfast and discuss the night and the plans for the morning’s activities.

They head to the prison and descend into the dungeons and pick up where they left off; the small puddle left by the ooze seems to have evaporated some and only a small pool is left.  They follow the natural corridor and it exits into the prison behind the portcullis they could not open; the room is pretty much destroyed with walls fallen down and an oubliette in the middle filled with water.  

Walking round the room Jack notices that a dark patch on the wall is forming into blood red letters, the first one looks to be a “J” this causes him some worry as the dream last night and the history they know of the splatter man.  He gets the uncomfortable and unreasonable feeling that this is stealing his soul if this whole name completes.  Leaping to the wall he tries rubbing the letter off the wall but it just re-emerges as if seeping through the stone; Sayuri and Hursk also notice their names are appearing on the stonework one bloody letter at a time.  They have the same unreasonable fear but manage to quash the feelings and act slightly more reasonably.  Hursk tries channeling positive energy through the room which has little visible effect; Sayuri also tries rubbing out her name but as Jack’s it just re-appears.  Each of them feel their minds being assaulted as the letters appear; their resistances to mental manipulations are being effected as each bloody letter scratches itself into the stone. Jacks whole name manages to write itself on the wall and the whole party holds their collective breaths watching Jack for some indication his soul is being ripped out or wondering if he will suddenly implode.  Nothing happens …. Then a bloody J appears on the walls and it starts writing out his name again.  Hursk pulls out the last of the Haunt Siphons and opens them; they fill up with green smoke and the letters stop appearing.  They all heave a huge sigh of relief as they think they have defeated the Splatter man.

With an ear splitting scream that chills the whole party to the bone a dreadful apparition appears out of the oubliette. Wailing like the winds of hell through a narrow ravine they feel their soul rebelling against the noise and throwing off the lethargy this seems to be trying to impose upon them.  They turn to face the ghostly remnant of the once mass murderer the Splatter Man; he appears to be a scholarly old man covered in a work apron and gore.  His lank hair writhing around his face in a wind they can’t feel; dark fell energies crackling around his arms and focusing at his hands which he raises and casts a spell, ghostly missiles appear from no-where and streak unerringly towards each of the party.  Sayuri recognizes the spell immediately as it’s one of her favorites which is no consolation as the force missiles hammer home causing more damage than she thought possible.  Hursk channels more positive energy which causes the apparition to scream at him in anger and pain; Sayuri returns the favor with the force missiles causing the ghost to scream in agony again as they strike even his wispy form.  Jack pulls out his new silver morning star and closes in swinging hard; unfortunately it goes through the apparition without resistance and the ghost just screams at him and disappears through one of the walls.  They scan the room; searching the adjoining rooms to locate the ghost but it’s not to be seen.  Suddenly it re-appears gliding out of a wall and casting more force missiles at each of them as they feel the pain of the blows the ghost grins as if enjoying the pain it is inflicting; they respond in kind, Sayuri with more force missiles, Hursk summons a floating magical weapon made of pure force while Jack swings his morning star as it connects he screams out Pharasma and unleashes a healing spell into the form of the ghost wracking it’s insubstantial form with positive energy and causing it immeasurable pain.  It turns glaring at Jack and Jack swallows in fear as it seems he has just become major enemy number one; the apparition slides through a wall and reappears several rooms down casting another force missile spell; it’s form is looking ragged and more tattered than it was previously as much of it’s substance has been rent and torn; ripped from it’s body by the positive energy and the force effects.  Its missiles hammer home on each of them while Jack gets the extra missile for his audacity of healing it.  Hursk channels positive energy healing the party and causing the ghost some pain while his force spell slashes at the ghost; Sayuri typically fires off another couple of force missiles that rent the tenacious ghost some more.  Jack heals himself some and readies himself for more abuse which comes in the form of yet more force missiles from the ghost.  These ones look to be normal ones not the empowered or maximized ones it had been using.  They soon deliver the smack down on the ghost who can’t avoid the sustained assault of the party and it’s too crazy to hide for long.  Finally with a wail and a curse the ghosts form sheds apart and fades to smoke that is blown away on an errant breeze.  The whole party heaves a sigh of relief and start doing a search of the room; they discover in the oubliette several items after Jack and Sayuri dive into the very cold water several times.  

They are sure they have defeated all the ghosts in the prison; well the main ones they had to anyway.  They take their loot and squelch their way back up to the ground level to talk to the ghost of Vesorianna she seems very happy to see them exclaiming that she felt the demise of each of the ghosts and that with the badge of authority of her late husband she can purge the rest of the minor haunts from the prison.  They hand her the badge and with a smile she grasps it to her breast and a look of intense concentration crosses over her face. After several seconds a smile appears on her face that seems to bathe the party in a glow; they each feel her hand caress their faces and the feeling of wellbeing enters into their souls and minds are filled with praise and thanks as the ghost of Vesorianna fades from view and the badge clatters to the ground glowing faintly.

They each feel the atmosphere of the prison lift from the haunted depressing weight it previously had to a much more lighter feeling of plain abandonment; they pick up the discarded badge and troop out into the mornings sunlight which feels warm on their faces and uplifts their spirits.  Walking back to town the notice people out of their houses as if waking from a dream they are smiling and laughing; the whole town used to lay under a miasma which emanated from the prison; now that is gone the results are evident to all.  Several people walk up to them in the street and shake their hands; slapping them on their backs and thanking them profusely. They make their way back to Kendra’s through the tumult of praise and enter the house smiling broadly.

Here ends the first book of six in the adventure path.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*A New beginning - Trial of the Beast*

*Trial of the Beast Part 1*

Some changes, James; Jack’s player had to move to Kansas so his character ups and leaves returning to the temple will his ill gotten gains.  

New Player Ron joins with a Male ½ elf Ranger/Rogue called *Grembor*
James decided that a ½ orc Barbarian/Cleric has a short lifespan and creates a Female ½ elf Ranger/Druid called *Kat* while Hursk wanders off into the wilderness.

*Opening scene:*

Two riders appear over the brow of a hill reigning in to view the small speck of a town in the valley below.  They see up on the hillside opposite the ruins of a once solid building seeming to loom over the town like an overly oppressive parent; looking at each other they nudge their horses forward down the final slope to their destination.  An observer would notice the slightly slanted eyes beneath their hoods suggesting some strong Elven ancestry in the pair; the similarities between them would suggest they were related to the uninitiated but this was not the case.  Both ride well with the grace of practiced travelers; their outfits suggest people long accustomed to the outdoors and roughing it as other would call it; these two just called it life.  Both are well armed though lightly armored; one sporting a fine bow and the other a pair of swords; both of obvious Elven manufacture.

As they begin their decent a lithe figure of a wolf crests the ridge behind them; looks around suspiciously and then trots after the pair passing close by and continuing down the slope scouting the trail ahead.  The horses don’t even flinch at this predator as they are long accustomed to its presence.  Our observer would wonder at their being here in this remote part of Ustalav and what purpose would bring them to this remote location; but then our observer would probably be running in the other direction if they had sense.  Thankfully for our observer he was currently 3 fields away and saw nothing of this.

The pair ride into town; passing the uncommonly large cemetery on the outskirts and passing into the town proper; stopping a random passerby who happens to be driving his cart into town they question them.  Apparently receiving answers to their questions they toss the carter a coin and ride through town to the opposite side stopping at a large house and dismounting; waling up to the door they knock loudly eliciting a scurried response from within.  A servant opens the door looking quite flustered and asked what they can do for these fine pair of distinguished visitors.  After a brief conversation they are let into the drawing room where sits the lady of the house. Kendra, a striking woman wearing a fine though functional dress and sitting across from them are two figures both very different from the other.  One being a half Orc with a two handed sword propped up against his char, one protruding tusk trying in vain to grasp the small handle of his teacup and bring the tiny vessel to his lips without breaking or spilling the hot liquid within.  The other a half elf with uncommonly bright twinkling mismatched eyes sitting gracefully by the orc and managing the teacup with aplomb.  They all turn to look at the newcomers with questions evident in their eyes.

Kendra raises and greets the pair requesting the purpose of their visit.  They respond stating that they have been commissioned by a resident of Lepidstadt to recover a book from the now deceased professor Lorrimor. The pair by the fire exchange glances asking who in Lepidstadt commissioned them to pick up this tome? The pair responds with the name Judge Embreth Daramid which by happy coincidence is who they are intending to deliver one of the tomes to anyway once their month of baby sitting is completed in two days time.  Introductions are made with some background to back up their skills and conversation turns naturally to the proceedings of the last month with the prison.  Hursk and Sayuri fill in the newcomers to the exploits they have been up to.  They soon decide to take a short walk to the local tavern to chat over supper and some drinks; the newcomers are introduced to the Laughing Demon Tavern and are servers some Vampire steaks but decline the liquid ghosts opting for normal ale instead.  They are soon brought up to speed.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Setting out*

Two days later Hursk mounts up his horse and heads off into the distance with hardly a word; Sayuri is obviously sad to see him leave but it is going to be a new experience for her to be traveling in a party consisting of all half elves.  She has not seen so many in one place previously.  Sayuri and party set out the same day early in the morning to make their way to Lepidstadt; a journey of around 100 miles which should take them 3-4 days.  The first day passes uneventfully; they pass several others on the road, mainly farmers with carts of various produce, a few passing carriages but nothing to elicit a comment.  They find a decent campsite and bed down for the night setting rotational watches.


Day Two they set out bright and early; halfway through the day the see ahead some kind of hold up as what appears to be some kind of guards are holding up a farmer and his wagon.  Kat rides closer to see whats going on and see’s they seem to have some sort of livery and gestures the rest of the party forward; they approach the guardpost with Kat taking the lead.  The Guards of which there seems to be about 6; four hanging back with crossbows and two standing forward to deal with travelers; they inform Kat that they have to pay a tax to travel down this road.  When asked how much they quickly check the party out and state the extravagant sum of 5gp each.  Without blinking Kat agrees and passes over the required sum and rides on; the guards stand there for several minutes after they pass looking at the 15gp’s in his hand speechless mind racing with idea’s of what he going to do with such an extravagant sum.

The party carry on oblivious to the banditry they have just left behind and travel unmolested into the mountains till it’s getting close to dark; they find a suitable site to camp close to a small river on a established plateau where it seems several people have camped previously.  They set up rotating watches again and drift off to sleep in the cold mountain air with a nice fire to keep them warm and animals at bay.  Sayuri has the first watch and for three hours stares lankly into the fire occasionally looking up and around at the darkness surrounding them. After her watch is up she wakes up Grembor and he takes up the next three hours or so; much more dedicated he patrols the outskirts of the campfire’s light flitting from shadow to shadow keeping a keen eye and ear on the surroundings.  However apparently like the approaching figures into the camp he is hidden well but can’t see for damn in the darkness.  They sneak into the apparently undefended camp and wake up Sayuri by biting into her leg causing a numbing pain that wakes her up instantly with a scream; Grembor spins and notices four gaunt humanoid figures in camp with long claws, pointed teeth and glowing red eyes filled with a bloodlust.  He looses an arrow at the closest and misses horribly as the arrow flies off into the darkness; Kat springs up and draws a sword slashing out at the closest figure scoring a vicious cut on it’s torso; Sayuri scrambles back unleashing some balls of force from her fingertips that knock a couple of the creatures back a step.  They approach into the firelight and their ghoulish countenance can be seen; slavering they claw and bite at Kat causing some serious injuries; Sayuri gets mauled by a couple of very nasty claws as Grembor shoots an arrow straight and true into his own foot amid a curse as he hobbles about in circles looking incredibly sheepish.  Kat dispatches one of them with a savage sword cut, dropping his sword he reaches for his pair of longswords and draws them with a flourish which the ghoul facing him does not seem overly concerned about; Sayuri fires an arrow from her bow missing while Grembor pretty much pinned to the spot by his own arrow fires off two shots missing again completely.  Ghouls savage Kat and Sayuri with minor damage as Kat strikes swiftly and precisely severing its head witch flies into the fire; Sayuri tries another shot which misses while stepping up beside Grembor.  The Ghoul steps forward to molest Grembor but finds himself at the business end of his sword which pierces his heart and lungs causing it to rethink its options as it collapse to the ground.  The party looks around at the devastation of their campsite and set to dropping the bodies onto the fire and making sure it’s burning nicely.  Even though it’s the middle of the night they pack up their things; gather the horses and start walking in the darkness down the mountain trail; dangerous to be sure but it seems luck is with them as they don’t fall off any ridges or horses break a leg.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Feaster in Watery Shadows*

By morning they feel very tired and finally make it out of the mountains riding the last few miles on horseback as the better light allows them to see the road ahead enough to ride.  After some discussion and map reading they decide to carry onto the next town which can’t be more than an hour or so away and spend the day there recovering from the night’s ordeal.  In a little over an hour they arrive at the gate where a bored guard lets them through; they enquire where a decent inn could be found and the guard informs them that the Squeaky Wheel is a good carter’s inn with fair prices and good service.  They swiftly find the inn and book rooms which gains some surprised looks as it’s only just finished breakfast; they order late breakfasts for all and then baths in copper tubs before hitting the beds for the day as they are all fatigued from the lack of sleep and then traveling through most of the night.

Later that day they rouse themselves for an early supper; sit around chatting for a while as they listen in on the talk of the tavern.  They discover that a beast has been captured in the city of Lepidstadt and there is to be a huge trial.  Apparently this is a big thing and many people are heading into the city to watch the very fair trial and then watch the first class execution which is planned as a wicker man type execution; so burnt in a huge wooden effigy.  The atmosphere seems almost carnival like in its excitement; guess entertainment round here is slim pickings they all think.  They all head to bed soon after as they intend to set out again at first light.


Arising early feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead; breaking their fast on hot porridge, bacon, eggs and fruit with a side of hot sweet coffee with cream they set out following the road to Lepidstadt.  They travel through the morning before noticing off the road to the left several colourfully decorated caravans pulled over with several people running around in some sort of distress.  Well to be honest two of them notice it Grembor seems to find something in the stitching of his gloves that is so much more interesting than the real world around him.  The exclamations of the other two soon make him look up and be aware of the situation.

They ride closer to see if they can lend some assistance and are introduced to a colourfull character Kaleb Hesse, the Ringmaster; an albino man with red eyes and long, white hair that hangs below his knees, Kaleb wears a tall red top hat, a long red coat with gold buckles, and striped trousers.  He is currently looking very concerned as his hands wave extravagantly his eyes close to burning red and he animatedly expresses his worries that one of their members is missing.  He is the de facto leader of the troupe of misfits and performers called The Crooked Kin.  An amalgamation of deformed entertainers who performs acts for whatever people can pay; they advise the party that they are on their way to Lepidstadt as the crowds gathering for the trail of the beast should let them make some good money.  However one of their number disappeared in the night; Aleece a young girl who with her two other sisters all have similar deformities went missing in the middle of the night and has not been seen since.  They were considering going looking for her but none of them are skilled in tracking or combat.  Kaleb offers them a magical dagger if they go find Aleece and bring her back regardless of her state; the party agrees and set off in pursuit

They soon find the trail and follow it, Kat’s wolf soon finds the trail as it disappears into swampland; they struggle through the swamp and high reeds finally finding a small marshy island in the swamp; they hear screams coming from the other side of the island which they all believe is faked so don’t split up which is what was the desired effect of the screams.  

When they don’t move to investigate the screams the culprit notices and appears next to Grembor; the aggressor in this instance is a very large spider that styles itself as The Feaster in Watery Shadows; it materialises out of the ether and bites Grembor causing some substantial damage and poisoning the poor half elf.  Grembor turns a shade greyer as the poison takes effect and stumbles some; The Feaster in Watery Shadows de-materialises back into the ethereal plane and watches its handiwork expecting it to die in no short order.  Sayuri and Kat prepare attacks in case the large spider tries this again.  The Feaster in Watery Shadows phases into the material plane and is rewarded by meeting a sword in it’s eye by Kat; Sayuri casts some spheres of force that batter it while Grembor shoots an arrow in it’s general direction; The Feaster in Watery Shadows bites Kat and phases from this plane and sits for a while watching as they heal each other up and restore from the venom.  Our aggressor is getting a little annoyed with this as all the previous victims needed no more than one bite and they fell over very soon afterwards.  The next time The Feaster in Watery Shadows appears Kat throws a flask of oil over her; Sayuri casts more orbs of force while Grembor strikes a spark and lights the oil covering the spider.  With an anguished squeal The Feaster in Watery Shadows Phases back to the Ethereal plane and unable to extinguish the fires burning her body expires screaming in agony.

The party however know none of this and stay in their state of awareness for several more rounds; summoning assistance and wasting spells to help resist its attacks.  After a while they realise it’s not returning and scout out the site for loot which they find along with Aleece’s body.

They gather the loot and body; trudging back to the Crooked Kin’s caravan they are met by Kaleb Hesse the Ringmaster.  He looks at the body wrapped mercifully in a blanket and nods his head; Grembor explains what happened and that there were the remains of several bodies where they found her.  The threat has been killed but they were not in time to save Aleece; her two sisters come forward and take the body away crying all the while.

Kaleb true to his word hands over a sharp serrated edged dagger; he informs the party that it holds a special enchantment against shape changers and they should use it well.  He also invites the party to travel with them for the rest of the way to Lepidstadt which they find agreeable; Grembor and Kat happily scout ahead while Sayuri stays with the Kin talking to the various members about mundane things.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Enter Lepidstadt*

The journey is uneventful as Lepidstadt is only a few more miles and they make it there just as it is getting dark; bidding the kin a prosperous visit they part ways at the gate.  They find an inn close to the University called the scholars rest which looks to be cheap so Sayuri finds a room there while Grembor and Kat take the book onto Judge Embreth Daramid to receive their reward.

Judge Daramid lives in a fine townhouse surrounded by art in the centre of Lepidstadt; Judge Daramid invites the PCs into her home when they arrive. She is in her sixties, with gray hair pulled back tightly into a bun and icy blue eyes. She is a stern, no-nonsense woman who appears to be all business.  She indicates that extra glasses should be brought in and gestures to the chairs opposite her for them to sit in.  Taking the proffered book and unlocks it with a key around her neck and then leaves through the expensive looking tome; heaving a sigh of relief as she removes several folded pieces of paper from the tome and slips them into her pocket; scanning the rest of the book for missing pages and damage she smiles at the pair.  You have both done well as always; were there any problems with this trip?  Grembor details the journey with meeting Hursk and Sayuri and the voyage back with the book; Embreth nods throughout taking all the details in and asking pointed questions.  Finally she reaches into a small box on a table beside her removing two small pouches which she passes to the pair.  “Thank you for your assistance in this matter; there is the books that are required to be delivered to Dr Crowl at the University prior to payment pending to Sayuri.  They have had some trouble there recently and the poor man is missing an artefact; tis a very sad affair.  However I am thinking you two can assist in this matter and Sayuri too if your willing admit her to our circle?”  Both Grembor and Kat nod as they have found her an amicable companion.

Judge Embreth looks piercingly at the pair before continuing; there is a delicate matter that has come about while you were absent.  “The Beast of Lepidstadt has been captured in the performance of a crime; this beast will be tried by law and probably executed for its crimes.”  Judge Daramid explains that she believes there is a cancer in Lepidstadt, a darkness lurking behind the shadow of a scapegoat. “For many years the people of Lepidstadt have laid all their ills at the door of a creature known as the
Beast of Lepidstadt—murders, thefts, and terror have all been attributed to the Beast,” but Judge Daramid knows that many stories are exaggerations or simply untrue. She also knows that some people have different stories to tell about the creature—about its kindness and humanity, of how it has rescued loved ones or helped those in distress. Now that the time has arrived for such kindness to be repaid, however, no one dares to step forward and challenge the Beast’s reputation.

As a judge, Daramid has a keen sense of justice, and she fears the Beast will not receive a fair trial. The people of Lepidstadt have blamed the Beast for too much and for too long, and they want it to pay for its crimes, whether those crimes are real or imagined. In addition, the judge has some concerns about the crime for which the Beast was finally apprehended—the break-in and theft at Lepidstadt University. She is also convinced that the Beast’s capture at the university was not all it appeared to be, for why would a creature that is intelligent knowingly enter the university, where it was certain to be trapped? However, to publicly announce her suspicions could put her at great risk, both professionally and politically. As one of the three justices presiding over the Beast’s trial, she is unable to openly intervene, other than insisting that the Beast be properly defended in court.

What Judge Daramid really needs is a group of people without local bias to uncover the real truth about the Beast and its alleged crimes. The Beast’s legally appointed
Advocate, a barrister named Gustav Kaple, is hopelessly over his head and needs help—ideally someone to gather evidence about the Beast’s alleged crimes and stand up in court to be questioned by the prosecution. Such speakers must have bravery in spades and silver tongues to match, to ensure that if there is more to the Beast’s story, justice will be done. If the Beast is indeed guilty, then Daramid can rest easier at night knowing that she gave it a fair trial. 

Daramid offers 100 platinum pieces each if they investigate the Beast of Lepidstadt on her behalf while expressly keeping her out of the equation, as any hint of collaboration in their investigations would put her legal objectivity into question. She tells the PCs that she will deny any involvement in the matter if pressed, but that if they do get to the bottom of the matter, she will be very grateful indeed.

Both Grembor and Kat agree and wish to speak to Sayuri who they left in the inn as they are sure she would be interested in the offer.  They make their excuses and leave walking the sort distance back towards the university and the Scholars Rest; upon entering they notice Sayuri sitting alone eating some kind of pie while many of the students admire her from a distance.  It seems Sayuri is staying in an inn that caters to the somewhat rowdy student population of the city; several of them are looking on jealously as the two newcomers slide into seats at the table without being scathed by her tongue as they were.  Grembor and Kat put forward the Judges proposition in hushed tones and Sayuri agrees to assist in the investigations.  

They sit for a while listening in on the various conversations around the inn; the students are all very vocal about the most current of events which is the upcoming trial of the Beast of Lepidstadt.  They do find out several opinions while they listen in ranging from “Burn the Beast” to “Yes, I’ve heard stories that the Beast has done some kind things too, but it’s plagued Lepidstadt for far too long. Even if it did do those things, that’s just proof that the creature is mad and deserves to be burned!”  So all in all the public are all for killing the Beast without even the benefit of a Trial.  This does not bode well if the Beast is found innocent. …

They head to bed soon after to be up nice and early the next day as Grembor and Kat both took rooms at the cheap but rowdy Scholars Rest.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Investigation begins.*

The next day dawns faintly overcast but still warm and sunlight breaking through the clouds on a regular basis.  They head out early with a take out breakfast of a bacon roll and some juice, promising to return the glasses later on; they are next to the University so it is only a short walk there.  They arrive and after several questions find their way to the Antiquities department which seems to be in uproar due to a recent burglary.  Dr. Montagnie Crowl is Professor of Antiquities at the university. An eccentric but likeable man, he is prone to waving his arms about enthusiastically.  He meets the party in the department’s combination library and workshop. The workshop is slowly being cleaned up, but it is still a mess. Dr. Crowl is saddened to learn of his old friend and colleague Lorrimor’s death and accepts the bequeathed objects with sad gratitude. If asked about the damage to his department, Crowl relates the tale of the Beast’s break-in and the curious fact that only one item was taken—a strange statuette called the Seasage Effigy. Crowl is frankly baffled by events—he admits that the statuette was very singular, but it was hardly valuable. Although the stolen statue has not been recovered, he is pleased that the Beast was caught, though he understands the poor creature cannot explain its actions and is clearly mad.  

Dr. Crowl is happy to discuss the theft and allows the group to explore the scene of the crime, although he warns them that a good deal of cleaning up has already taken place. The trail of the thief is easy to follow—the thief broke in through the back door, and then passed through the auditorium on his way to the workshop where the Seasage Effigy was kept. The back door to the Antiquities Department was originally locked with a superior lock, but it is clear that the door was recently damaged. The 1-inch-thick iron door is currently locked with a makeshift padlock and only crude repairs have been made.  The simple wooden door leading from the back door foyer into the auditorium has been broken off its hinges, as has the far door leading to the workshop.  Panelled in oak, the auditorium contains a sunken, 5-foot-deep central area lined with books, tribal fetishes, and curiosities.  A small stage and lectern stand in the centre of this area, which is edged with a low oak rail, worn smooth from the touch of years of students gazing into the Master’s lecture room below.  The high–ceiling of the workshop/library is lined with mostly empty shelves, and a trio of great leaded windows looks out over the university lawn. A staggering array of books, scrolls, maps, and curios, including shrunken heads, tribal masks, and bits of pottery, lie scattered all over the floor, apparently pulled from the shelves. The room is otherwise crowded with overturned tables, desks, and cabinets.  

Sayuri investigates the entrance and fines that the back door was clearly forced open from the outside, discovering the remains of fine silver wire and a tiny bell attached to the door, which she identified as the material components of an alarm spell.  While several people have walked through the area since the break-in she finds the tracks of a large, heavy creature in iron-nailed boots.

Grembor Checks out the location the statue was stolen from; despite the mess in the workshop he notices that one area in the room appears to be untouched, in stark contrast to the damage seen elsewhere in the department. Indeed, the pedestal that once held the Seasage Effigy is crowded with small fetishes and delicate mother-of-pearl fish carvings that are undamaged. The workshop’s windows have clearly not been opened for many years, as evidenced by the build-up of grime around them. However, his sharp eyes reveal that the centre window, though now shut, has no such grime and opens easily with a gentle push. This prompts Grembor to take a walk outside and finds several places which an accomplished climber could easily scale the walls and gain the roof as this is an old building.  However there is no evidence this was done due to the absence of any scuffs or marks on the walls which might have been left by such a climb; though not conclusive as the proper soft shoes would reduce this to practically nothing.

Upon returning to the Auditorium Grembor notices the smells of beeswax which he queries with Dr Crowl who informs them that this is from the beeswax polish the cleaners use on all the woodwork.  Some scratches on the woodwork and damage to the floor is evidence of someone heavy vaulting over the banister and landing on the floor  All in all pretty damming evidence that the Beast did the crime.

The guards, when interviewed, remember finding the Beast rampaging through the workshop, but they did not see any accomplices.  The university’s guards managed to overpower the Beast with the help of the city watch, who threw the Beast into jail.

Leaving the University they walk to the courtroom where the Beast is being held; Designed primarily as a fortification, the Lepidstadt Courthouse is built of dark stone, with walls of reinforced masonry. The building is three stories high, with narrow, open windows only a foot wide.  

In the square immediately outside the courthouse stands the Punishing Man, Lepidstadt’s traditional method of executing murderers and other criminals guilty of capital crimes. The Punishing Man is a gigantic, man-shaped conglomeration of cut timber standing over 30 feet tall.  Convicted criminals are placed within the figure’s hollow chest cavity and the entire structure is then set on fire in a public ceremony.  As the days progresses, eager workers pile more timber against the figure’s legs and oil its wooden limbs, while children play games at its side and throw grass, f lowers, and rubbish onto it.  The atmosphere is carnival like in it’s intensity with people laughing and playing around; there is a very positive mood around the whole city.

Approaching the courthouse they are stopped by the guards who suspiciously as what their business is at the courthouse as many have tried to gain entrance to see the Beast.  They state they are here as volunteers for the defense and amid laughter they are admitted and shown to one Gustav Kaple who is the Barrister for the Defence for the Beast.  When wearing his huge court wig, Gustav cuts an impressive figure. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving— Gustav has had several recent failures in the justice system and seen his last six clients hanged. In truth, the down at- the-heels barrister was chosen to represent the Beast precisely because of his inability to defend anyone and for his stutter, which manifests itself when he is stressed. Although Gustav has no doubt that the Beast is guilty, he plans to defend the creature to the best of his ability, but he is struggling to find any kind of evidence in support of the Beast’s innocence. Gustav is happy to tell the party the circumstances leading to the Beast’s capture at the University, and outline the legal process involved in the.  He informs the PCs that the prosecution is using three recent crimes attributed to the Beast to convict the creature of murder; these crimes are: the murder of 10 citizens of the village of Morast a year ago; the slaying of six children in the farming community of Hergstag 7 months ago; and the arson attack 4 months ago at the Sanctuary on Karb Isle, which resulted in the deaths of Doctor Brada and his patients and the blinding of the doctor’s assistant, Karl.

Gustav has interviewed the main witnesses from each of the three cases to be discussed at the trial and has found that their stories are very plausible. He wishes to see justice done, however, and he is certain that without evidence in its favour, the Beast will be convicted. To that end, he is willing to assist the party with their investigations (unless he is at court). His role in court is to present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and clear the Beast of any wrongdoing. Because of his stutter, however, he suggests that if the party find any evidence that can help the Beast, it might be better for one of them to present it.

Gustav then produces some documents and sets them before the party instructing them to read through them and sign them; these are official documents registering them as agents of the court working for the defence; he hands them a pouch of gold for expenses and advises them to keep any receipts if possible as the state will pay for reasonable expenses incurred in their roles as agents of the court.

When this is all done he leads the group down to the basement where the dungeons are located to see the “Beast”.  A towering abomination sits in an iron chair, bound with no less than a dozen sets of manacles. Stitching holds together this grotesque patchwork of flesh and bone, beast and man; though the wires are so taut they look as though they may fly apart at any moment. Its mouth is twisted in a permanent sneer, and a shock of lank, dark hair clings to its scalp. The creature slumps in its chair, a despondent expression upon its monstrous face.  Sayuri takes one look and identifies the poor creature as a Flesh Golem; a creature stitched together from various dead parts and re-animated; they tend to be pretty mindless though this one seems to have a glimmer of intelligence in those mismatched eyes.  It is dirty and miserable, covered in flies, and more prone to roar and strain at its bonds than to speak.  Sayuri tries speaking to the Beast but the Beast doesn’t seem to fully comprehend its predicament, and struggles to understand why the humans have imprisoned and tortured it. If questioned about its alleged crimes, the Beast only repeats, “I didn’t do it,” over and over again.  They finally give up and head back to the upper floors to talk some more about the proposed solution to their current predicament.

They had a discussion about the three cases they will be investigating and possible leads; they decided that they should head to Morast and investigate the case that would be brought before the Judges consideration tomorrow.  As it’s less than an hours ride away and it was no later than lunchtime they head out after collecting their horses.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The First Case*

*Morast*

The first crime the Beast is charged with is the killing of 10 people in Morast, a small hamlet in the Dippelmere Swamp about 8 miles east of Lepidstadt. A narrow trail leads from Lepidstadt to the village. Morast is a miserable collection of 20 or so wattle-and-daub hovels built on stilts above the swamp and connected by soggy wooden boardwalks.  The villagers make their livings fishing and occasionally bringing in a blood caiman (a variety of crocodilian with a red-scaled head that is native to the north) to eat or sell.  

The ride to Morast is short, only a little less than an hour; arriving in the swamp village of Morast.  The swampers of Morast are a curious group. Local rumour claims that somewhere in their somewhat inbred ancestry, they mingled with strange swamp creatures, tainting their blood and marking them with queer countenances. No one knows how or why, but the people of Morast have legendary constitutions—sickness is rare among the swampers, and the villagers live long, healthy lives. While admired for this fact, they are also shunned for their strange appearance.

The villagers had problems with the Beast a year ago; with lone travellers going missing and it terrorizing their homes.  When it got too much they organised a defence for the next time it arrived and they drove it off into the swamp with flaming torches and pitchforks.  The one responsible for organizing this resistance is one Lazne the village elder.

The villagers only realized that the “Beast” had escaped when the village elder, Lazne, was called as a star witness by the prosecution for the Beast’s trial, since he led the mob that drove the Beast away. Lazne is a grizzled, middle-aged man with dirty gray hair and skin the colour of swamp mud. He chews on a foul-smelling swamp weed and punctuates most of his sentences by spitting weed-juice onto the ground. Lazne doesn’t much like “cityfolk and furriners” (by which he means anyone not from Morast, or, to a lesser extent, from Lepidstadt) He greets the party as they arrive squelching along the path to the hamlet; tying up the horses they approach and introduce themselves; Lazne greets them in a decidedly surly manner spitting his swamp weed in their general direction obviously not overly impressed to see them.  They try convincing Lazne of their good intentions but he is not impressed until they produce cold hard currency of the gold type and then he becomes decidedly loquacious. 

Lazne claims that at first the Beast only took lone villagers who were outside at night, but soon became bolder and began to attack houses. These attacks only ended when Lazne organized the villagers and set a trap for the Beast. He recalls that night well. The villagers were lying in wait for the Beast, who attacked just after nightfall. Armed with torches, the locals attacked and wounded the creature—a huge, hulking brute about 7 feet tall. The Beast took to the water, but the swampers gave chase in their boats, pursuing it to the village boneyard, where it was attacked by a blood caiman. Lazne grins as he recalls how the Beast yelled oaths and curses that even the worst whore in Lepidstadt would blush to say as the gator attacked it, and describes the deep bite wound the gator made on the Beast’s shoulder as it dragged the Beast under the water. Although the Beast’s blood tainted the villagers’ burial ground, forcing them to abandon it and build another, the swampers thought it a small price to pay for the thing’s death. Hearing that the Beast actually survived was all that Lazne needed to tell his story to the authorities, and he’s looking forward to seeing it burn.

The abandoned boneyard where the Beast was attacked can only be reached by boat. The swampers use small coracles to navigate the swamp, and will rent the tiny boats to the party for 5 gp per boat per day.  Each boat will only take one boater and one passenger so they leave Kat to sit with the horses while they rent two boats and head to the Boneyard; The Boneyard is where the locals used to bury their dead up to a year ago; after the events they decided it was cursed and no longer fit to bury their dead so they found another swampy wet island on which to interne their dead.  Arriving; a tiny, miserable island rises from the swamp, a tangle of trees covering its dour, reed-choked surface. Hundreds of fetishes hang from the trees—simple, roughly humanoid figures made of sticks and bound with twine. Larger fetishes are planted in the ground on various parts of the island, leaning drunkenly in the soft mud. A large nest built of sodden swamp wood sits high in the boughs of a trio of tangled trees on the northwest side of the isle.  They beach the boats on the northwest side of the island and investigate the sodden heap; some 40 odd graves are here each with a simple wooden fetish to mark its location.  They walk round to the south of the island keeping their eyes open to see what they can find; they soon find an old abandoned campfire which they identify as not having been used for roughly a year.  Around a small firepit are a water skin (still half full of wine), the aged remnants of some trail rations, and a curious glass vial. The bottom of the vial contains the dried remains of a green substance that smells vaguely of carrots.  Neither of them have any idea what this cold be so they pocket it for later investigation.

Walking to the east Sayuri discovers a Coracle hidden in the trees and brush along the southwest shore of the island.  Dried blood can be noticed in the bottom of the boat. The coracle contains an oar, a mouldy leather travel bag with a damp artisan’s outfit (a shirt, breeches, shoes, and a cloth apron) inside, and a vile object—what appears to be a detached human face.  In addition, a length of rope stretches from the boat into the waters below. Grembor grips the rope and hauls with all his strength pulling it up onto the land.  The rope is attached to a heavy sack; the sack is very large and has dried blood soaked into its fabric. The sack holds some rope, a gag, a rusted lantern, a trio of heavy knives, and a rusted shovel.  Scouting round the rest of the area Sayuri notices a suspicious lump in the reeds that when brushed aside reveals a leather-bound case filled with fine tools, made of silver with amethyst handles, lost in the undergrowth nearby. They deduce that this is a surgical tool set used by physicians and chirurgeons and is very expensive and probably quite unique; Sayuri finds also upon inspection that they all have a small symbol on the handle depicting a raven.  Should make tracking down the owner easier ….

Searching the rest of the island they find a large nest like structure spread between three of the trees; Grembor climbs up to investigate and discovers a dead body of a dwarf in there.  Searching the body finds several interesting items but nothing that is tied to the Beast; after searching Grembor scans around and notices a large creature winging towards them with murder in its eyes.  Banking as sharply as a clumsy large flying thing can it flicks it’s tail forward unleashing a hail of iron like barbs at the pair; thankfully they have cover and they strike only the protective trees under which they are cowering.  Grembor shimmies down the tree landing next to Sayuri while she casts some balls of force at the creature which unerringly flit though the branches and batter the poor defenceless Manticore.  The creature sweeps in a low slow circle round the pair; lobbing tail spikes at them both; most of them hit the cover while one slips through striking Grembor in the leg; Grembor responds by shooting an arrow up at the creature missing it by several feet.  Sayuri starts summoning a critter to assist while the Manticore fires another volley; two strike Grembor in the chest and blood bubbles up through his lips from a pierced lung as he drops to his knees.  Sayuri looks on as she completes her summoning and rips a rent to the plane of air and brings forth an air elemental which starts pummelling the creature.  Looking down on Grembor’s predicament she launches into another summoning; Grembor looks down at the spikes piercing his chest and plucks at them feebly.  Digging a potion out of his pouch he swallows the contents and the two spines work their way out dropping to the floor at his feet.  He scrambles weakly to his feet and scoops up his bow from the ground just in time to meet another volley of spikes one of which impales itself deep in his neck amid a spurt of blood.  Sayuri looks on and completes her summoning even though she takes a substantial hit; practically screaming out the last syllables and almost dropping the spell but thankfully another rent in the plane is forms dragging through another air elemental which leaps on the Manticore ripping into its wings.  Sayuri digs out a healing potion and manages to get most of it down the throat of Grembor and the healing energies ripple through his body repairing the worst of the injuries to his neck and forcing the expulsion of the iron hard spine.  Leaping to his feet he heroically scoops up his bow once again stringing an arrow and letting it fly directly towards the low flying creature; it hits at the wing joint causing the creature to loose some altitude before swooping low over the swamp.  The second arrow is nocked and sighting along the arrow letting it fly low across the water; is streaks out with a low whine from the fletching which pulls the arrow to one side only narrowly missing one of the air elementals and completely missing the Manticore.  Landing the creature figures to try mauling these impudent humans with it’s claws and bite but some serious damage from the pair of elementals soon stops thoughts of vengeance and starts the thoughts for survival; the creature turns and with a lumbering run gains the air and ponderously flaps away followed by some hasty arrows from Grembor.  

They dig out some more potions and heal themselves up a bit more before finishing off exploring the island.  The only other thing they find of significant note is that six of the graves look different to the others and they seem to have had the bodies removed as the surface of the plot has sunk.

They return to the coracles and discuss the turn of events with Lazne who exclaims when he sees the dried up face they found in the coracle; little more than a ragged mask, it is tricky to identify, but Lazne identifies it as the face of Nan Klebem, a poacher who used to visit Morast about once a month, but who has not been seen in the village for about a year, since the time of the Beast’s attacks in fact.

It seems there is more to the attacks than realised, it was difficult to tell but they did not recall seeing the scars on the Beast from the bite of a blood caiman.  Though if there was one then it was covered by the ragged strips of clothing and dirt.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Kat gets a tattoo ....*

Returning back to the relative safety of the hamlet the party regroup; mount up and take the short ride back into Lepidstadt.  Arriving in the late afternoon as the clock on the courthouse strikes 6pm they travel quickly to show Gustav who; still sitting in his office is making preparations for the next days trail.  Showing him what they found he seems excited; they request that the Beast is cleaned up for tomorrow trial so they can present the evidence better.  Gustav details two guards to hose down the Beast and get him cleaned up.

Leaving the majority of the evidence at the courthouse they take the surgical kit to see if they can get it identified so they can track down what they believe is the creator of the golem and the true culprit of these crimes.  The current theory of the party is that the creator made two golems and one is responsible for the murders and the other is not.  

They set out Kat still grumbling about a strange looking tattoo that she has on her face; from a distance it looks like a dragon but closer up it looks more like something a young lady should not have on her face in polite society. (Apparently when your controlling player is not present your character has nasty things happen to them.)  They decide that the best place to gain some information upon the surgical set is to ask at the University.  Of all the places this is the only one which is likely to be open as the local shops tend to close up at 6pm not opening again till the following morning at 6am. Grembor confidently strolls into the university and makes a few heightest jokes to the students just leaving.  This however does not go down so well on the young female Halfling at the reception; she tells Grembor in no uncertain terms that if he does not leave the premises immediately she will call security to escort him away.  (Failed Diplomacy roles can be bad)  Kat stepping up as he see’s Grembor walking out looking despondent walks in and charms the Halfling receptionist and gets a series of directions to the medical area where she suspects one of the professors is still working late.  Following the labyrinthine passageways is no problem to seasoned adventurers and they find themselves outside the entrance to the Medical department; walking in they discover a wizened prune of a man with gold spectacles perched on the tip of his nose with tufts of grey hair seem to sprout from his ears.  Looking up myopically as they approach he realises that they are not his usual students; for example his usual students are better armed and they tend to knock.  Also they tend to not ask stupid questions unlike this bunch.  Anyway the one with the phallic symbol on her face seems pleasant enough so he takes a look at their find.

Professor Hiezer takes the box and opening it finds a beautiful set of surgical tools; each with amethyst handles and a raven emblazoned upon them.  Ooohing and Ahhing over the set he asks if they would like to sell them.  Declining they ask if he could point them in the direction of the maker of the implements of torture; the Professor advises a street where he bought his from.  There are several shops there that specialize in the manufacture of this sort of equipment.  Providing the address of the shop where he gained his tools in the area of the city called Surgeons Flats; advising the party that these respectable businesses are only open from 6 till 6 they will have to wait till tomorrow morning.  They head back to the Scholars Rest to spend the night with cheap filling food and even cheaper wine; they head to bed early to get up to investigate the box in the morning.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Looking for tools. ...*

Woken up early in the morning by the innkeeper; they take a bacon sandwich with them as they head out to investigate Surgeons Flats.  Getting there by 6am they find the shop described to them by the professor so they wander inside to ask some questions.  Walking inside they find a bell on the counter but no-one viable; the sound of faint tapping comes from the back room of the shop.  Grembor taps the bell sending a ringing through the building; the tapping pauses for a moment then resumes for several more minutes before stopping.  Walking through from the back wiping his hands on a rag is a portly gentleman wearing a headset with various lenses attached to it; smiling at the party he asks what he can do for them today.  They explain the situation they find themselves in and show him the surgical set; opening it up he whistles slowly and takes out several items to examine.  He tells them that the raven symbol on the tools as a maker’s mark used by Zbraslav Hora and Sons, who have a workshop on the tiny Anatomists’ Alley.  This is just a short distance away just of the Surgeons Flats so they head round and find the establishment without any problems.

Zbraslav Hora is a bookish, taciturn man who wears thick spectacles.  He keeps them waiting a good 20 minutes after entering the shop while he finishes up on the current piece he is working on.  Afterwards he walks through with a smile asking what they are looking for; and expressing interest in the item after they advise him they have one of his pieces.  Showing him the item he goes through it examining each piece meticulously and tutting over any slight damage or blunt instrument he looks at the party quizzically.  “Your not here to sell these or to congratulate me on my craftsmanship I take it?” he asks with one eyebrow raised.  They concede and state the reasons they are there; shaking his head he states that his clients are confidential and it would not be professional of him to release this information to just any vagabond who takes a fancy to it.   Predictably they offer him some money to assist in soothing his conscience which works wonders once they upped the price a little.  Zbraslav noted down the purchaser as Vladka Kostel, a red-haired Varisian woman who wears a green silk scarf depicting a swan. Zbraslav knows she works for an auction house, but he doesn’t remember which one.  The party thank him and leave wondering how they could track down this woman in the very short time they have left to them.  It’s currently roughly 7:30am and they have to be at the trail at 10am.  

Tracking down a single woman in even a small city like this would take a while.  They return to the courthouse somewhat despondently and go over their problems with Gustav.  Gustav advises them that there is an auction house not far from here and suggests that they head there to ask questions.  The party perks up and heads out immediately to investigate the lead.  They find the Auction house easily but it looks to be closed; heading around back they find a cart being unloaded by a surly looking gentleman of large build; asking him about this he looks at the somewhat confused then does what any good employee does when presented a problem above his rather limited pay grade and calls for his manager.  The manager comes out of his office and asks what the party is doing interrupting his employee from unloading the wagon; they explain who they are looking for and are advised that she does not work here.  However for a modest finder’s fee he does know where she used to work a while ago.  Sighing Grembor hands over a sum of money which makes the foreman’s eyes light up; he advises them that he used to work for another Auction house for a little while called Ledov’s Chirurgery Merchants.  The lady they are looking for worked there when he did; she was difficult to miss. ….  Grembor thanks the foreman and they rush off to follow up on this new lead.

Finding Ledov’s is easy enough and like the previous establishment it’s closed.  Checking round back they find a similar situation but this time the work is being overseen by a club wielding supervisor who promptly advises them to piss off.  They flash a couple of gold coins and his mood improved dramatically; they ask about Vladka Kostel and are informed that she will not be in work till later on as they don’t arrive on the scene till closer to the auction time. It’s now 9am and they have only an hour till the trial begins; after producing some more incentive the club wielding foreman lets them know whereabouts in the city she lives and that it’s a red brick building.  They sprint off to investigate and hopefully track down the house prior to the hearing.

Finding the area is easy enough they have walked through it a few times previously; some nice houses and several red brick houses in the area.  They split up and take a couple of houses each; unfortunately they don’t find any indication of her living in any of them.  Either the information they were given was incorrect; the house that did not answer is the one or someone they spoke to lied.  Each is a viable answer; Sayuri in a panic notices that the time is very close to 10am and starts running off to the courtroom; Grembor stays were he is and lurks around the graveyard on a likely route to the auction house hoping to spy the lady on her way to work while Kat walked the streets looking for her.  

A significant crowd gathers around the Punishing Man at dawn, and a carnival atmosphere engulfs the courthouse.  This crown and the general business of the streets make crossing the city a timelier affair than it usually would.  The area outside the court is filled with the usual type that you find at any gathering of people whether it’s a hanging a party or a performance.  They get asked if they would like a rat on a stick …. Kids love them !!! by a greasy aproned individual holding a tray of suspicious looking ‘edibles’.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Synopsis of the 1st day of trial.*

*09:50 a.m*. The three justices arrive in black coaches with several guards in attendance; Sayuri leaps up the stairs several at a time and makes it into the courthouse just in time for the proceedings to start much to Gustav’s relief.
*10:00 a.m*.: The Trial of the Beast begins. A trio of guards leads the Beast into the court and shackles it to the large iron chair in the centre of the courtroom to the jeers of the crowd.
*10:10 a.m*.: Opening of the Trial. Chief Justice Ambrose Khard commences proceedings by laying out the rules of the court in a lengthy speech, interspersed with gong strikes by the Herald. Khard concludes his speech by announcing that the good people of Lepidstadt have suffered many acts of terror and barbarity at the hands of
the Beast of Lepidstadt for many years, and that while the Beast is doubtless responsible for numerous murders, the prosecution will focus on three recent cases to prove the Beast’s guilt during this trial.  Kat manages to find the courthouse and slides into the seat next to Sayuri.
*10:30 a.m*.: Opening Statements. Prosecutor Otto Heiger outlines his case. He alleges that the Beast is responsible for the murder of 10 people in the village of Morast a year ago, in addition to two other horrendous crimes that will be described as the trial continues. Barrister Gustav Kaple then makes his case for the Beast’s innocence, a halfhearted attempt full of stutters and awkward pauses, all the while being jeered and booed by the baying mob in the gallery.
*11:00 a.m*.: Witnesses for the Prosecution. Otto first brings three locals from Morast, two young women and a man, to the stand. The trio describes events as they saw them happen; that over a series of nights, the Beast came to the village and took people away; that a trap was finally laid for the Beast; that the Beast was driven into the swamp, and, they assumed, killed. Otto then calls the village elder, Lazne, who led the mob that drove the Beast off. He confirms the events related by the other three villagers.
*12:30 p.m*.: Witnesses for the Defense. Gustav calls the party to present any evidence they found in Morast.  Sayuri takes the stand and brings up the information they have so far found; Six of the graves in Morast’s boneyard have been robbed; The Beast can see in the dark, so it does not require an extract of darkvision; Although the Beast was clearly seen to be bitten by a blood caiman, it has no scars from such an attack and Displaying the removed face of the poacher Nan Klebem.  The three Judges take each item of evidence with many boo’s heard from the gallery above.  Grembor makes it to the courthouse close to the end of Sayuri’s presentation of the Defense.
*2:00 p.m*.: Court Recess. Chief Justice Khard brings the first day of the trial to a conclusion. As the Beast is led away the baying crowd in the Gallery show their displeasure and hatred on the Beast and the Defence. At present, such abuse is merely vocal. After the trial, Gustav Kaple is available and wishes to meet with the party in the Defence Chamber.  He congratulates the party in their investigations so far and he suggests the Party investigate the scene of the crime in Hergstag before tomorrow’s trial.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The Party splits ... silly party ...*

Grembor during the trial gets bored of watching the road and takes a walk to Ledov’s Chirurgery Merchants auction house.  Finding it open he walks in and almost immediately notices a pretty Red headed Varisian woman; this has to be Vladka Kostel who they have been looking for.  Approaching her he makes an impassioned speech for assistance which pulls at her heart strings and she agrees to help.  Tracking down the Auction master Ollo Klud; a stuffy, pretentious man with a bald head and tufts of hair above his ears.  He looks up at Vladka and Grembor suspiciously at first but Vladka makes her case and he agrees to release the information for a price.  As Grembor does not have a precise time or date for the item the clerks will have to go through the records; Ollo suggests that Grembor as a functionary of the court receives expenses and writes out a bill for the work and tells Grembor to return at 4pm as his clerks will have to look into the archives for the information.  Vladka escorts Grembor out of the office and Grembor requests her presence for dinner which she politely declines.  

Grembor makes his way back to the courthouse entering while the defence is being presented by Sayuri.

After the first day of the trial the party does the one thing any party should never do; they split up.  Grembor is stopping in Lepidstadt and tracking down the owner of the surgical tools while Sayuri and Kat are heading to Hergstag to investigate the six murdered children.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The Hergstag incident*

*The Hergstag incident*

The evening is warm and the sun is out, it’s roughly 3pm and two figures ride down a trail together; they are foreshadowed by the lithe figure of a wolf carefully sniffing the air.  These two pause as they top a rise and view the abandoned hamlet below; it is spread out following the course of a river; parts of it are being reclaimed by the swamp and the ramshackle wooden building are slowly being overgrown by the various flora and fauna around it.  The hamlet lies about 10 miles Northwest of Lepidstadt and was once called Hergstag; a series of murders took place here as six children were foully murdered and the remaining population left in despair.  The hamlet is rumoured to be haunted by the ghosts of the six children; something you scoffed at while sitting in the nice warm inn however it’s more difficult to shake of the thoughts of small evil ghosts hungering for your life force when presented with the grim reality of these abandoned farmsteads.  The pair looks at each other in the afternoon sun and heels their horses forward, closing on the first of the structures they dismount and tie up their horses and continue onwards on foot.

Both of the riders are female, they both move with grace and poise; one is clad in thin leathers which wrap her lithe form like a second skin, the other is clothed in cotton and silk.  Neither are people you could mistake as being a defenceless woman as evidenced by the various weapons they both carry and the 150lb’s of snarling wolf crouched beside one of them.  They are both of definite Elven stock; and they both glide across the ground with practiced ease; the leather clad women finding the undergrowth less of a hindrance than her finely dressed partner.  They ghost across a shaky wooded bridge and enter into the hamlet proper; there is a sharp snap and the foremost leather clad woman screams and drops to the floor grabbing at her ankle; her wolf leaps forward looking to attack the fool audacious enough to attack it’s mistress while the woman behind scrambles sideways to make space for a sweeping high kick should it be needed.  There is a second snap and she also screams and falls to the floor grasping at her leg; the wolf prances around trying to discern this hidden foe growling fiercely.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The Hergstag incident continued*

After several minutes of trying to remove the bear traps which were hidden in the undergrowth and are now firmly attached to their legs they lay back.  Both in obvious pain and suffering from the steel teeth digging into their flesh as it grates upon their leg bones; they scout around looking for something to help leaver open these hellish devices of torture.  Neither have the upper body strength sufficient to pry open without the aid of a lever, neither of them have the know how to disable the mechanism, and neither of them have the skills to escape this trap through any other means.  Searching through their packs again looking for the possibility of some grease they find some oil; while not perfect this could possibly help in their escape.  Kat sends her wolf to look for a stick which produces a stick about as long as her forearm; this will not do so the wolf will be sent out again.  Narrowly missing the other bear traps in the area it returns a few minutes later with a better stick, more solid and much longer.  Sayuri tries vainly to escape on her own and makes it worse; she nearly passes out from the blood loss and digs in here backpack for some healing potions.  These bring her back from the brink of unconsciousness but try healing the flesh around the grasping teeth of the bear trap.  Kat manages after several attempts to prise open her trap and extract her mangled foot; and crawls over to assist Sayuri.  Through the liberal application of a flask of oil and the work of Kat and her leaver they manage to force the trap open sufficiently to drag her mangled leg from the trap.  They have been in these traps for more than an hour; they apply what healing they can and swear not to speak of this to anyone else.  They hobble onwards the light failing as dusk swiftly approaches.  They see in the centre of town what looks to be a small chapel which they head towards carefully probing the ground ahead of them with the stick to discover any more of the heinous traps.

They approach the chapel with care; this small timber whitewashed chapel surrounded by gravestones is empty and devoid of life.  Scouting inside they find it is a sorry state of disrepair.  The village’s chapel was dedicated to Desna, but it already shows the signs of its abandonment. Within, the simple chapel is falling victim to rot, its pews are already overgrown, and some of its windows are smashed. Mice nest in the altar, the holy water in the font is turning green, and the once-beautiful frescoes depicting Desna and the heavens have begun to flake.  Sayuri whispers a brief prayer to Desna and they depart the sorry sight.  Exiting the structure they notice the sun just disappearing below the horizon and a deeper chill enters the air than the abandonment by the sun would suggest.  Kat the last to leave feels the chill of the grave sear down her spine as the claws of a diminutive creature score along her flesh rending it with small wounds but draining so much more.   Spinning around they spy a wraithlike creature; wispy and the size of a small child.  It whimpers softly in a childlike voice and screams at them in a tantrum alternatively as it tries to sink its claw like fingers into their skin and again feel the warmth of life running through it.  Sayuri sheaths her body in armour made of pure force knowing it would make the creature’s attacks easier to avoid.  Kat drawing her sword swings a low cut that connects and slices some of the darkness away prompting more screams of anguish and hate from the childlike wraith.  The child wraith strikes out missing its prey while Sayuri starts summoning a creature from hell; Kat slices again at the figure missing through the creature’s natural wispy nature.  Cursing at the creature as it tries vainly to suck out the life of Kat Sayuri completes her summons and rents a hole in space and drags through a Lemure which promptly starts clawing at the diminutive wraith.  Kat casts a cure spell and tries touching the wraith but it deftly avoids the touch of positive energy.  The Lemure rends the wraith some more as Kat takes advantage of the distraction plunges her hand into the core of the wraith; wreathed in positive energy it discharges into the creature causing it to explode into a fine mist with a final fading scream.

The pair looks at each other and decides sod this we are heading back to town for backup.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Meanwhile Grembor insults another short person ...*

Meanwhile: …..

Grembor in the light of day after leaving the courthouse makes his way back to Ledov’s Chirurgery Merchants as per their agreement that the information should be found by 4pm.  He strides in a little before the courthouse clock chimes the hour and makes his way to Vladka Kostel who is busy with the auction proceedings.  Noticing his arrival she beckons him over and they retire into the back room to conclude their business.  Vladka fishes out a piece of paper from the desk and hands it over saying “I believe this is the information your looking for; quite a nice piece if I recall; the buyer of the tools as wearing an unusual high hat and green-tinted reading glasses.  The buyer owns a chirurgery supply shop in the Surgeons’ Flats, goes by the name Radniche.” She confides.  Grinning Gembor takes the proffered information and bows low over her hand kissing it softly; “I am very thankful, can I perhaps thank you properly over dinner?”  Vladka smiles and agrees on a place at 7pm tomorrow night.  Grembor grins again and practically skips out of the auction house.

Checking the address on the paper he realises he passed that shop a few times already today so he heads out to get there before the place closes for the night.  Finding the shop Grembor loiters outside watching the shop making sure it’s a kosher business; all appears to be above board so he walks into the shop while palming a dagger.  Radniche’s cramped shop is piled with skeletons, pickled things in jars, and alchemical components.  Radniche himself is behind the counter peering over at the new customer through thin gold rimmed spectacles.  Grembor cautiously asks about the surgical kit they found; requesting information on the buyer so it could be returned to them.  Radniche advised Grembor that his customer’s identity is confidential and there is no way he could confide that information.

Grembor suggested he could perhaps make a purchase and the information could come with that; Radniche warms to the subject but his tone suggests that this purchase would have to be substantial.  After some discussion on possible items to buy Grembor aquires several items and Radniche confides that a striking fellow bought the kit, very dapper in black from head to toe, who said he owned a chymic works somewhere nearby.  Checking through his ledgers reveals the name of the man who purchased the surgeon’s tools; a Master Vorkstag, of Vorkstag and Grine’s Chymic Works; this establishment is not that far from here he states just head towards the river and you will smell it.

Grembor thanking Radniche heads towards the Chymic works and indeed when he gets closer the smell of the factory makes his eyes water.  Scouting the site he finds just the one entrance through some large iron re-enforced gates leading to a courtyard where by the sound of it some sort of guard dog resides.  Pulling on the chain to ring the bell an upper loading bay door opens after a few minutes and a short figure looks out.  “Bugger off” is the terse opening response; Grembor asks for an audience and is told they isn’t hiring or needing more business.  Grembor demands to see the diminutive beings master; which elicits the response “Just cos Vorstags name is before mine don’t make him my master, now bugger off” with that the door slams and all goes quiet.  Grembor retreats as the darkness starts plotting the demise of all short people and returns to the Scholars Rest for some food and to wait on the arrival of Sayuri and Kat; hoping their expedition went better then his.  (Grembor just does not have any luck with short people; especially halflings)


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle*

Guest appearance for a couple of weeks: Pringle Human male Enchanter.

When Grembor returns to the Scholars Rest he notices someone he knows from his ad hock working for the Judge.  Joining him at his table they get to talking about what each have been up to since the last time they spoke.  Pringle is currently between jobs so is interested in what his old friend is doing and is wanting to know if he could help in any way.  Grembor trusting in his friend confides in the current job and they kick back and relax while waiting for the girls to arrive back from investigating Hergstag.

An hour or so later the ladies arrive looking somewhat worse for wear; they notice Grembor sitting with someone they don’t know and limp over to join them.  Grembor noticing this asks them what happened which they are reticent to talk about and instead ask how his afternoon went.  They quickly exchange stories; introductions are made between Pringle and the team.  While they eat fish pie, drink beer and plan on the evening’s activities; they decide that Grembor and Pringle would try checking into Vorkstag and Grine’s to see if they could find the source of the problem while Sayuri and Kat investigate the goings on at Hergstag by checking on the witnesses they know about who are still in the area.

Grembor and Pringle head to Vorkstag and Grine’s; doing a circuit of the building seeing if there is a possible entrance they could exploit.  Grembor notices nothing new bar a few trees growing relatively close to the building but not close enough or high enough to be much use.  At Pringles prompting Grembor wraps his hands in heavy cloth and clumsily scales the wall to see over the top.  The wall is 20ft high and topped with broken glass; which would suggest that they don’t want un-invited guests.  Peering over the wall in the darkness Grembor notices the dog attached to the corner of the wall by a long thick chain.  There is something odd about the dog as its patchwork coat seems to be held together with stitching; definitely something odd going on there.  Finding nothing else of particular interest he slides back down the wall and joins up again with Pringle; relaying what he has seen Pringle confirms Grembors suspicions that the dog is most likely a Flesh Golem too.  Considering the lack of other obvious entrances they return to the Scholars Rest.

Sayuri and Kat head out at the same time as Grembor and Pringle; they ask around and find that the three remaining villagers from Hergstag now own a small windmill on the outskirts of Lepidstadt and are witnesses for the prosecution.  They soon track down the location and go see if it’s still open so they could ask some questions; luck is with them as they have orders to fulfil and as they are all supposed to be in court tomorrow they are working late tonight to make their quota.  Walking in they startle the two ladies that are working late; who turn to look fearfully at the newcomers.  Noticing they are two females they relax a little and enquire as to their business here this late; Sayuri enquires as to their story regarding Hergstag and they happily comply.  The three sisters named Garrow, Starle and Flicht; all in their late forties, the three lived their entire lives in Hergstag. Each remembers the deaths. The village’s children vanished one by one, only to return as ghosts. Then one day the culprit was found—the Beast of Lepidstadt. It boldly walked into the village with one of the dead children, a girl named Ellsa. The witnesses all recall seeing the Beast laughing as it carried the child’s broken body. As soon as the locals saw the Beast, they set upon it with pitchforks, but try as they might they couldn’t catch it, and the Beast escaped into the swamp. The poor innocents it killed continued to haunt the village, and before long became too much for the locals, who soon abandoned the cursed village.  Both Sayuri and Kat sense that there is more to the tale than they are telling and they enquire as to the specifics of the story. They convince them to reveal that of the six children who died, one—a girl named Karin—died in her own bed 2 days after the Beast was driven from Hergstag. Her father heard her screaming but by the time he reached her she was dead, without a mark on her and with no signs of entry.  This makes them think again about the possible culprit and would it be worth heading back there to investigate.  They get directions to which house Karin lived in so they could take a look.

Thanking the pair they head back to the Scholars Rest to meet up with Grembor and Pringle; they find them there already relaxing before the fire sipping on a beer each.

They have a quick discussion regarding what they should do next and decide to head back to Vorkstag and Grine’s to see if they could do some covert action and snoop around the factory.  They all collect their things and head out not looking suspicious at all; I am sure if any law abiding citizens were out and about at this time they would stay clear of this dangerous looking party.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle the Dawg ...*

Approaching Vorkstag and Grine’s factory they hang around outside casually swinging a grappling hook and not looking like they are about to commit a burglary at all.  Several passer bys look askance at them as they stand outside in the dark park opposite talking about possible ingress points.  Finally the party realise how suspicious they look and move round to the side of the building looking a little sheepish.  They continue their hushed discussion between themselves until Kat gets bored and casts spider climb on herself and quickly scales the sheer walls of the factory.  Tying off a rope securely each member climbs up afterwards, Sayuri having the most difficulty while Pringle and Grembor practically fly up the 40 odd feet building.  They investigate the tower windows considering them more likely to be accessible and force entry on one of them; they notice some flittering movement within prior to opening but once opened they see nothing of any danger to them.  Grembor reaching in to opening the latch of the window feel the hairs on his arm shift in the breeze; there is a metallic snapping sound like a bear trap snapping shut; a sound that both Kat and Sayuri are very familiar with.  Kat leaps though the open window landing in the centre of the small tower room; scanning they see loads of curios and artifacts from around the world on display.  There is the snap of metallic Jaws closing on Kats forearm which is relatively minor damage but she feels the burn of some toxin trying to overwhelm her. Grembor leaps into the room on his second try after trying running into the wall headlong which any respectable thief knows is not the way to agilely leap through an open window; he swings his sword wildly around himself while looking impressive it hits nothing.  The second attack upon Kat scores a glancing blow the teeth barely scratching the surface but the toxin combines with the previous dose and Kat swoons to the floor in an alchemically enforced slumber.  Grembor leaps out of the window again leaving his faithful companion inside with the two small creatures; such a noble character that one.

Sayuri and Pringle are outside with no real angle of attack as the narrow window prevents them really seeing the action inside from their current position.  Sayuri finishes off a summoning and brings a Lemure from the depths of Hell.  Pringle looks at Sayuri in surprise as the summoning of Hellish creatures is a sure slide to the naughty side of the alignment tree; unfortunately Grembor is in the way of any assault that he could make through the window.  With the added bonus of a Lemure to distract the two snap jaws Grembor feels brave enough to enter into the fray again and manages to clumsily straddle the window and get into the room.  He swings at one of the offending creatures scoring a minor hit; the Lemure makes more of an impression and leaves some nasty claw marks.  Pringle moves up and leans through the window unleashing a bolt of fire from his palm that strikes one of the creatures on the face instantly immolating it as it drops to the floor quite dead.  Sayuri finishes summoning a goblin looking dog and sends it in to try biting the remaining critter which misses by a long way.  Grembor flails around with his sword making the lemure and goblin dog nervous; while the snap jaw tries biting the Lemure.  Finding to its surprise that a Lemure; while looking like a somewhat melted candle with claws; it has a stronger skin than it thought as its teeth bounce of its tough hide.  Through the combination of Lemure, Goblin Dog and Grembor the critter soon collapses into a pile of component parts.  All of the team crawl in through the window while Grembor considers what he could do to embarrass his friend again; shame there is no tattoo parlour close by.  Pringle walks up to Kat’s slumbering body and to everyone’s shock licks her face; startled Kat wakes up to see Pringle leaning over her and her face feeling wet.  She quickly gets to her feet glaring at the party daring any of them to say anything; Pringle starts looking around the room with a smile on his face.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Sayuri takes a wrong turn ...*

Quickly searching the room they find several items worth closer investigation and pocket them.  They have two options one a trapdoor in the floor and the other a trapdoor in the ceiling at the top of a ladder.  They decide that the best thing would be to make sure that they have nothing above them so they don’t get attacked on both sides; Grembor climbs the ladder and pushes open the trapdoor above him carefully.  Quiet as he is the sound of the sonic trap going off just over his head is deafening as it resounds through the whole building.  There is the scramble of claws in the room above but Grembor is in no state to investigate as his eardrums complain at the pounding and he curls up into a ball; however being at the top of a 20 ft ladder while doing this is a bad idea and he drops to the floor stunned from the sound and then the impact on the floor.  They hear the sounds of activity below them so they scoop up Grembor throwing him out the window onto the roof; Sayuri casts a new spell she has discovered causing her rope to lift into the air which they all climb up into an extra dimensional space; swiftly pulling the rope up after them they keep an eye out of the invisible window.  Shortly after they see two figures lean out of the window; one short and the other tall.  They scan the rooftop looking for the culprits and seeing nothing they close off the window and repair the damage.

The party wait for another hour before descending and Grembor again breaks into the window; they all slide through into the room beyond.  Some discussion later Kat creeps up the ladder cracking open the trapdoor above.  The resulting silence and absence of movement convinces her that the room is in fact empty; they sneak around checking it out regardless.  Dropping down again they turn to investigate the trapdoor leading down into the building proper; finding it unlocked they open it up to discover the bedroom of a seriously disturbed individual.  As much an abattoir as a bedchamber, this room contains not only a four-poster bed, but also numerous workbenches and alchemical gear; the walls are lined with shelves and strange looking objects in jars of liquid. Bits of rags litter the floor, and the air is heavy with the stench of spoiled food mixed with acrid chemicals.  They each carefully climb down the ladder and start searching the room; they swiftly find a locked strongbox beneath the bed and several completed potions on the table littered with alchemical gear. This room is part alchemy lab, part slaughterhouse, and part bedroom. The many jars about the room contain alchemically preserved body parts from a variety of creatures. One bell jar full of liquid contains a small gold key at the bottom.  Pringle takes a careful look at the jar assuming that the liquid is more than water and that the key is the one to the heavy box; he advises Grembor that’s its just water and that he should just reach in and take it out.  Grembor looks at Pringle the doubt showing heavily upon his face as he considers the chance of Pringle being wrong to the chance of him loosing his hand in the water like liquid in the jar.  Searching around he finds several other empty jars and carefully pours the not water into these so he can fish out the key without having to touch the liquid.  Finding some leather he wraps this round his fingers then picking up the key inserts in into the lock and swiftly turns it.  Everyone notices the acrid smell and smoke coming from the impromptu leather glove Grembor is touching the key with.  Accusery looks are directed Pringles way who manages to not give a damn with very little effort; they open up the chest finding the working of a trap inside cleverly bypassed by the key.  Grembor slips the contents of one pouch into his palm with only Kat noticing the slight of hand; the rest is laid out on the desk for perusal.  The chest apparently only contains some gold and some finished potions of Antitoxin.  They swiftly ransack the rest of the room and then open the door to peek out into the main room.  The toxic fumes makes the eyes water as they look out over the huge vats of acid and bleach; slipping out of the door they are standing upon a narrow walkway.  This chamber occupies a whole side of the building, from the cellar level below up to the roof high above. Seven iron vats, each ten feet across, occupy the majority of the room. Furnaces fuel the vats at cellar level, while at the ground floor level a series of planks have been laid across the vats to allow passage to a ladder that leads to an iron walkway on the level above. Two ladders also allow access from the planks to the floor below. The air in the chamber is cloying and acidic; each vat sending their contribution to the fumes into the already fume choked air.  They notice several malformed creatures shambling around the factory; each different from the other and each looking like a hideous amalgamation of several different creatures.

The creatures notice the arrival of the party and with hoots; calls, growls and other various calls they start moving towards them in a series of strange hopping, lurching steps.  The group gets ready but Sayuri panics at the sight and runs into a room adjacent to the one they came out of and stops in surprise as a figure rises up from its preparations and looks at her with an evil glint in its eye.  This figure is a humanoid, presumably male with dark pink flesh drawn tightly across its emaciated body; this being resembles a gaunt human stripped of its skin, its pulsing muscles completely exposed.  It looks upon Sayuri and smiles a smile that would make a snake proud; promptly donning a long coat with many pockets and plucking a wide brimmed hat of the table and placing it on his head with a flourish and another evil smile that would chill the bones of a master Vampire.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Alchemists are not happy people ....*

Grembor opens the volley with a pair of arrows which miss completely; you would think he would get the idea by now and just leave the bow alone. You could have your eye out with that thing … Kat slides out of the room as a Mongrelman approaches the ledge and swings his swords at it missing and becoming overcome with the fumes; Grembor soon follows with some serious retching as the toxic fumes from the vats of acid and bleach irritate the lungs and throat.  The Mongrelman seem to be wearing some sort of cloth over their faces to filter out the worst of the toxicity. Pringle from the back considers his options carefully then decides it’s time to bring out the big guns and starts summoning.  Sayuri opens with a volley of force darts; springing from her hand and striking the poor defenceless potential mass murderer.  With a grin he selects several components and combines them then throwing the resulting mixture towards Sayuri; missing it impacts on the wall close to her and bursts into flame; the resulting effects singed Sayuri slightly.  The four Mongrelmen counter with their clubs catching a surprised Kat on her side cracking a couple of ribs; one of them on the vats tries climbing up onto the walkway so they can flank but the climb seems too much for him currently.  Grembor smiles and unleashes a couple more arrows in rapid succession towards the Mongrel trying to climb up and one hits the mark scratching the poor unfortunate factory worker on its arm the other going very wide; Kat strikes out with her pair of swords; they both hit the Mongrel beside her who sinks to his knees while it’s head bounces off the walkway into one of the vats followed shortly by it’s still twitching body; the smell if possible gets worse as the acid eats into the flesh bubbling in a horrifyingly eager fashion as the mongrel’s body starts to melt like warm wax.  Kat decides there and then that it’s not a good idea to hang around these vats. Pringle finishes his summoning and a rent in the air opens and an Air Elemental steps out immediately attacking one of the Mongrels with its claws while bringing a breath of fresh air with it.  Pringle follows the creature out onto the walkway to get a better view of the combat; they are currently unaware of the fight Sayuri is waging just beyond a door.

Sayuri unleashes another torrent of force missiles which impact upon Vorkstag’s chest causing him to grunt in pain and irritation; he takes out a potion swallowing its contents with another evil smirk.  The massed Mongrels surge forward on the narrow walkway only one able to attack at any time and having only their clubs they do their best.  Swinging at Kat the foremost one misses its club impacting upon the doorway; Kat attacks and one hits but only cause’s superficial damage to the mongrel.  Pringles air elemental however has a much better angle not being impeded by gravity it plunges its claws into the creature pulling some rather useful organs out; the Mongrelman stares at its heart for a few seconds before collapsing in a pile that slides off into the vat of acid below adding to the pungent aroma.  Pringle smiling directs a Ray of Frost at the Mongrel trying to scale the walkway causing its face to freeze up somewhat discouraging it from approaching.  Grembor working through his nausea shoots an arrow at the mongrel taking it in its eye then moves through into the recently vacated room while drawing his sword as the air in here is somewhat fresher.  Kat opens the door to the room Sayuri disappeared into and steps into the room seeing Vorkstag for the first time; looking the skinless creature up and down her stomach churns a little in disgust.  

Sayuri unleashes another volley of force missiles but to her shock they impact upon a shield of force and are harmlessly dissipated.  Vorkstag grins evilly at Sayuri as he palms another bomb and hurls it at her direction again missing and causing an explosion of acid which splashes both Sayuri and Kat.  The last of the Mongrels steps up and tries to club Grembor senseless but is thwarted by his deft movements, oh and by the doorframe he is standing in.  Two more move from the space below and start climbing the ladder; there is a shimmering in the air as a short figure materialises while throwing an axe at Pringle; the axe is a glancing blow even from hidden and Pringle takes this is his stride.  He also feels the poison on the blade entering his system but the glancing blow seems to have not delivered enough to cause any problems.  Grine screams in anger as his surprise attack is practically ineffective and reaches for another axe.  Kat charges in swinging at Vorkstag and scoring some good hits with her swords; Sayuri rushes into combat swinging with her fists and feet; doing minimal damage but it all adds up eventually.  Grembor dispatches the Mongrel before him with a vicious twist of his sword in the beasts kidneys with the help of the Air elemental while Pringle throws his only dagger at the small gnome like creature who threw an axe at him; the knife flies wide and disappears into the vat of acid followed by come colourful curses from the wizard.  Two Mongrels climb up the ladder one reaching the top while Vorkstag claws at Sayuri with a very painful result for Sayuri as both claws draw long gashes on her arm and shoulder making her stagger back a step with the force of the blows.  Grine throws another axe at Pringle but this one flies wide also again followed by some uncouth cursing from the diminutive evil bugger who was hoping to cause pain and draw some serious blood.  Kat slashes Vorkstag again only hitting with the one sword this time; Vorkstag turns to look upon Kat as she is now causing him more pain than the meddling spellcaster and winks at her feeling confidant with only the pair taking him on.  Pringle retreats into the room the combat is happening in with Kat and Sayuri while his elemental attacks the Mongrel on the ladder almost causing him to fall the 50 feet to the floor below before dissipating back to the plane it was dragged from.  

The Mongrels climb up the remaining distance and close on the doorway where Grembor is waiting sword in hand and blood in mind; risking an attack as one passes the doorway they are persuaded to stop and deal with the bloody minded ranger; which they both miss.  The main fight with Vorkstag is a bloody affair with Vorkstag pulling out a flask and throwing it at Kat which impacts spraying acid around the immediate area and burning Kat and causing some slight damage to Sayuri.  However this damage is leaving Sayuri very close to collapse as she has taken some serious pain already today and is all out of healing potions.  Luckily Pringle is just out of the area of the blast so does not feel the pain of the others two; Grine pulls out his last throwing axe and coating it with poison throws it at Grembor in the doorway; he ducks instinctively as it buries itself in the door close to his head and laughs as the capering gnome below him jumps up and down in frustration while using some very colourful language that would possibly shock a lady of the night.  Kat backs Vorkstag into a corner and swings at him with her swords causing a minor gash on one arm; Sayuri takes out her crossbow and starts shooting bolts at the weird looking alchemist to little effect since her main ranged offensive capability is rendered ineffective by a simple potion.  Grembor cuts down one of the Mongrels trying to manoeuvre itself into the room to attack Pringle as they know wizards are trouble.  Grine casts a darkness spell making the darkness much deeper and causing problems for the only human in the band Pringle who suddenly is unable to see clearly enough to make out more than shadows in the darkness but he see’s Vorkstag’s shadow draw out a wickedly flanged mace and swing it with cruel efficiency striking Kat a solid blow staggering her backwards a step; almost dropping her to her knees.  

The last remaining Mongrel strikes Grembor with its club; his shoulder goes numb for a second as he almost drops his sword;  Kat recovering from her recent hit snaps both of her swords towards Vorkstag’s stomach hoping to bring him down; both hit but neither do significant damage.  One grazes his hip as he twists out of the way while the other catches his knee with a glancing blow; Sayuri shoots another bolt at Vorkstag with a glancing blow and some small damage while Pringle shoots off a spell which misses.  Vorkstag swings at Kat and misses by a large margin; Grine moves through the darkness into the room with Vorkstag and most of the group while the Mongrel scores a hit on Grembor but the damage is insignificant.  Kat returns the favour with Vorkstag and misses with some very unlady like cursing; Sayuri disgusted with her failed attempts to harm Vorkstag turns her attention to the newcomer and unleashes her force missiles towards Grine who lacks the protections of Vorkstag.  Her missiles impact upon his chest and stomach with the force of three cricket ball’s sending him staggering to the wall to keep his feet, Grembor strikes out at the last Mongrel hitting with his sword but causing less damage than he hoped; only causing a shallow gash in its forearm.  Vorkstag twirls his heavy mace and swings high catching Kat off guard as it connects with her shoulder and rebounds into her face; she is knocked onto her back her swords flying from her hands and a tooth flies across the room and shatters some very expensive alchemical equipment.  Kat is down and her blood is slowly pooling around her head as it bleeds out of her mouth and nose.  Vorkstag looks up at the two remaining in the room and works his shoulders as if limbering up for another good hit; Grine looks back at him and grins through bloody teeth from the harassment his body has just taken from Sayuri’s spell.  Pringle steps up with no fear and unleashes his most powerful spell almost point blank towards Grine; a blast of scorching flame shooting from his hand impacting with enough force to knock Grine off his feet and against the far wall.  The double impact of Sayuri’s missiles and Pringles scorching blast are enough to persuade Grine to slip his mortal coil and collapse lifeless upon the floor.  

Vorkstag screams in rage as his partner in crime is laid low; eying up the two before him with murderous rage.  Sayuri and Pringle gulp in fear as they seem to have now annoyed the one who felled their best fighter; Kat has nothing to say on the matter being mostly dead.  The Mongrel strikes out at Grembor again missing by a significant margin; Kat remains mostly dead and slips one step closer to plain dead; her blood spreading in a larger puddle.  Grembor slips his sword past the Mongrels defences and scores a significant hit; the Mongrel is still standing but it’s not looking happy and it never looked pretty.  Vorkstag comes to his senses and surveying the situation slips a bottle into his hand; the party all gulp in fear as he raises it over his head then promptly swallows its contents and fades from view.  Cursing Sayuri reaches into her pouch and draws out a handful of flour scattering it in the area Vorkstag was standing in; there is a faint cough from that direction and the flour makes it possible to pick out the faint outline of Vorkstag still standing in the same position.  Pringle tries vainly to see him but is unable to pick out the alchemist due to his invisibility; he unleashes a spell into the area on Sayuri’s word but only hits the wall.  Grembor and the Mongrel trade blows and Grembor comes out on top; well he is still standing looking very much worse for wear while the Mongrelman is in a rapidly spreading pool of his own blood and no longer moving apart from the occasional twitch.  He runs into the room where the other three are and see’s Kat’s prone form lying on the floor in a somewhat dead fashion.

Vorkstag notices Sayuri has discerned his position and tries vainly to creep out of the room but the keen eyed Sorcerer follows his movements with more flour; Vorkstag makes it past Grembor and is a good distance along the walkway.  Pringle is unable to see anything and thinks Sayuri is making it all up however he is kneeling by Kat trying to staunch the flow of blood from her wounds having taken some potions from Grembor and gently trying to force the healing liquid down her throat.  Grembor runs after Sayuri who is trying to follow the still mostly invisible Vorkstag and fires off a shot from her crossbow which seems to stop in mid air with a pain filled grunt; Grembor fires off a couple of arrows which predictably miss the mark.  They eventually track down the Alchemist in another room and fill him full of holes. He drops lifeless to the floor much to Sayuri’s and Grembor’s relief.  Pringle gets Kat to a woken state with the potions but the party is pretty much battered.  Looting the corpses they find some healing potions which they immediately use to help with the pain and then start looting the rooms.  

_DM’s Note:  This was a long combat split along 4 rooms and three levels; most of the party were in single figures apart from Kat who was a long way into negatives.  Sayuri had I think 3hp’s left; Pringle took a couple of hits from Grine’s axes (including one very feeble sneak attack) and maybe a Mongrelman and was not very healthy.  Out of them all I think Grembor was the best off as he only took on the Mongrels.  This is why you don’t split the party.  Having one character taking on a BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) alone is a recipe for death; they were lucky.
_
The party start ransacking the factory and discover a large amount of alchemical items which they take with them; they find a wardrobe full of various skins one of which is the skin of a hulking 7 foot tall Mongrelman which might match the description of the Beast; They discover a Blood Caiman bite on Vorkstag’s shoulder which puts him in the swamp for the attacks.  They also discover a pile of money which Pringle and Sayuri split due to Grembor’s and Kat’s attention being elsewhere.  They open up the loading bay doors and snipe the poor Flesh Golem hound from 20 ft up.  The Golem can’t retaliate nor can it hide so it gets worn down and expires in a very humiliating fashion. Three Mongrel men also are cut down by sniper fire and looted; they ransack the rest of the factory finding a couple of ledgers with names and items delivered and only really pause when they find a room filled with 4ft of water and thirty odd floating dead bodies in there.  Grembor notices one or two of them are moving against the water not with it so they close off the iron door and leave those for the authorities.  

Meanwhile Kat runs off to find some guards and is directed to the courthouse where she makes a surprisingly good recovery from a failed Diplomacy roll and convinces the guard sergeant to assist with 15 watchmen and some envoys from the Church of Pharasma to help with the possible thirty odd zombies in the cellar.  They arrive as the rest of the party have finished up making sure everything is dead and they assist with the collection of the evidence and transporting it to the courthouse.

As it’s close to 4:30 am and they have to be in court the next day to present the case for the murder of 6 children in Hergstag of which they have little to no evidence for they decide to call it a night and sleep till 8am the next day.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Courtroom day 2*

The day dawns overcast, drizzle moistens the air and the wind blows from the mountains making it a cold day.  They approach the courthouse having had a disappointing breakfast of oatmeal (porridge) with dried fruit and honey with a side of hot sweet coffee and cream. (Personally I would love this for breakfast)  The party is very tired with only a few hours sleep; Grembor heads off to see if he can find some replacement healing and something to help with the fatigue while the rest head to the courthouse.

The courthouse is very busy with a large amount of people sitting outside; if it was a carnival atmosphere yesterday the crowds have doubled this morning.  There are food salesmen walking through the crowd selling suspicious looking meat in a bun; or rat on a stick. …. Kids love em!!! They make their way to the courthouse and meet up with Gustav who is ecstatic with the sheer amount of evidence they have recovered.  However very little physical evidence is there for the case being presented today; Gustav is hoping that by presenting the new evidence they will be able to get some leniency from the judges on today’s proceedings.  

Grembor returns feeling much better just before the court starts fully and nods to the rest of the party; today Kat is presenting the evidence. 

*10:00 a.m.:* The Trial of the Beast resumes. Chief Justice Khard asks the prosecution to outline the details of the alleged events in Hergstag.

*10:30 a.m.:* Witnesses for the Prosecution. The prosecution describes the events that transpired in Hergstag 7 months ago, alleging that the Beast slew six children and, when caught, was driven from the village. Otto calls three former residents of Hergstag, the sisters Garrow, Starle, and Flicht, to give their eyewitness testimony of events in the village.

*12:30 p.m.: *Witnesses for the Defense. Gustav calls Kat to present any evidence they found in Hergstag.  Kat stands up nervously and pauses for a few minutes as she collects her thoughts; knowing they have very little to present to the court on this matter.  Eventually after several nervous coughs from the judges and some rather obscene catcalls from the gallery she presents the few items they have.  She explains the evidence they have from the sisters Garrow, Starle, and Flicht and how they have a slightly different story.  How the Beast was found bringing Elsa back into town; noticing the Beasts face creasing in a grimace Kat realises it’s crying not smiling and points this out to the judges.  Additionally the points are raised that while they drove out the Beast; two days later the last child died in her bed on the 2nd floor; the window was closed, doors were locks and there was no signs of forced entry.  There were also no signs of any wounds on the child; the parent was in the room within minutes of the child starting to scream; surely there would be evidence of the Beast in the room if the Beast had done the deed.

While they were investigating the hamlet of Hergstag they were attacked by a wraith child; this might suggest that a wraith was at fault and not the Beast as a wraith could attack and kill a child in her bed and would require no other form of entry.

Kat is reminded that there however is no proof of this so they can’t take this as evidence as it’s merely conjecture on her part.

She then goes on to present the other evidence they found the night before; how they traced the surgical tools they found in Morast to Vorkstag; how Vorstag and Grine were dealing in Cadavers; Vorstag’s body was brought in and the wounds of the blood caiman were shown; also the wardrobe of skins was wheeled into the courtroom and shown to the judges with the shambling man skin which also sports the results of the blood caiman bite and how the face they found in the bag also ties Vorkstag to the location.  Plus the selling of cadavers and the missing bodies in the graveyard.

The judges think hard on this and Gustav stutters out a request in light of these remarkable discoveries to allow evidence to be presented on today’s hearing tomorrow as well as tomorrow’s case.  After a long deliberation the court agrees much to the party’s relief.

*2:00 p.m.: *Court Recess. 

After the trial, Gustav meets up with the party and congratulates them on a job well done; he thanks Kat directly as her excellent delivery of the evidence helped sway the judges.  Gustav also reminds the group that they have to investigate Sanctuary and find evidence on Hergstag for the court by 10am tomorrow morning.  Thankfully Sanctuary is only 3 miles north of the city.

Grembor is raring to go as he has lost his fatigue through the use of spells and does not need to rest to recover any spells.  The other three however are not really feeling the motivation and they bunk down in the courthouse as they have some suspicions that there may be trouble tonight with the angry mob from the snippets they overheard and the prevalent anger in the populace.  They take their suspicions to Gustav who asks them to keep an eye on the courthouse to make sure it’s safe; they don’t like it as they have a busy night ahead of them but finally agree.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor goes it alone ... and has a date *

Grembor sulks for a little while then decides to head to the Sanctuary with Kat’s wolf to scout it out while the other sleep and recover spells; collecting his horse he rides out of the north entrance and is gone.  It does not take long to travel the 3 miles to the site with no random encounters either (my dice no longer like me it seems) he arrives at the burnt down ruins which were the Sanctuary.  There are 12 gravestones to the right of the track and the building is a complete ruin; hardly a stone is left standing.  Tethering his horse close to the gravestones he proceeds on foot creeping up to the ruins themselves; squatting in the overcast sunlight with the drizzle dripping down his long nose he stays for several minutes just watching the ruins and the surrounding area for any signs of life.  The only things he notices are that there is a hole in the foundations that leads down underneath the ruins and a square metal object sitting in the ruins.  The metal object looks like a chest or strongbox of some sort; ever cautious Grembor pulls out his trusty bow and launches an arrow at the box with a metallic clang.  Surveying the area for a minute or so more he concludes that the box is a box and that there is nothing else in the immediate vicinity.  

Scuttling up to the box bow in hand he examines the scorched metal noting that the lock is fused and melted.  The only way this is going to open with be through the liberal application of force; luckily he is carrying his trusty crowbar and applies this to the problem.  However the problem does not appreciate the crowbar much and refuses to deliver it’s secrets without some effort on Grembors part; he digs up the box and carries it’s weight to his horse where he straps it to the saddle.  Leading the horse away for a distance he tethers it again and then returns to the ruins to check out the hole.

The hole is irregular and seems to lead down 15 feet on a steep slope; the slope has many claw marks on it’s side and the tracks of a medium sized humanoid with clawed feet are abound around the hole too.  Not being able to identify the tracks as any natural creature Grembor carefully ties off his rope and goes down the hole head first as quietly as possible.  The sounds of snoring accompany his decent as whatever is in the hole seems to be sleeping soundly; reaching close to the bottom Grembors low light vision scans the area; his eyesight is not sufficient to pierce the darkness down here but it can detect a bit.  He notices a clawed foot there and an outspread arm here with long dirty claws gently flexing as it dreams of things probably best not mentioned.  The hole leads down to what he assumes is the basement of the Sanctuary and will need some further investigation.  However not alone; Grembor twists around on the rope and ascents as quietly as he descended; reaching the surface he pulls up his rope; unties it and coils it back up as he retreats back to his horse.  Heading back into the city he mulls over his finds as nothing he found really indicates anything out of the ordinary.  Maybe something in the strongbox will grant some insight into the problem.

Grembor makes it back to Lepidstadt at roughly 6-6:30pm and quickly cleans up; purchaces some flowers on his way out and meets up with Vladka at the appointed time and place.  They share a pleasant meal and discuss many topics; they both have a very nice time and sadly to Vladka’s disappointment Grembor has to depart as it’s getting dark due to his “work for the city” He escorts Vladka home where they share a brief embrace and promises to meet up again and Grembor leaves in a rush to return to the courthouse and make sure the rest of the party are awake and ready.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Mob Rule*

The courthouse is still standing and has not yet been burnt down which is a bonus.  Grembor walks in and finds the party sitting around chatting amicably about nothing much.  He deposits the strongbox on the table and grins at the rest; they notice the slicked back hair and clean clothes which cause many a raised eyebrow.  They decline to comment however and ask about the box instead.  Grembor tells the tale and they soon set too it with a borrowed crowbar from the barracks toolbox.  It pops open with some encouragement and they are somewhat disappointed to find only badly burnt papers inside.  Sifting through the ruins however they do find several of the pieces have Vorkstag and Grine’s Chymic Works written on them; they also find several other words and phrases that may indicate some hints to the documents but nothing definitive.  Disappointed they file the information for later and then sit around for a while considering what else they know; reading over the case files they find one survivor of the fire; the Doctor’s assistant Karl who was blinded by the events.  He lives close to the river but it’s too late to investigate that now; that’s something for the morning.  They discuss what they expect to find in the basement of the Sanctuary and in the hamlet of Hergstag; at the top of their lists are more wraiths.  

A couple of hours later at about 10:30 they hear a commotion outside; the unmistakable sound of a mob; many angry people with torches and pitchforks; a true ruler’s nightmare.  They slip out of the solid doors leaving the safety of the fortress like courthouse and walk to intercept the mob.  The mob consists of roughly 40 odd people, all looking to be townsfolk and most likely scared and drunk; fearing for their livelihood and families.  Ten of them pick up a portable ram and start approaching the main doors of the courthouse; the party notice also 4 better armed and armoured individuals in the crowd which seem to be some sort of instigators or ringleaders.  These people are carrying heavy crossbows and clubs and arrange themselves around the perimeter and level crossbows at the party.  Kat steps forward and in a commanding tone yells “STOP!!!” the group with the ram falter in their charge and start looking confused; One of the ringleaders tried desperately to force them on but Kat is an imposing presence; she presents the option of continuing and possibly dying or leaving and living another night.  The frightened townsfolk look at each other and several of them drop the ram and retreat.  Sayuri casts a sleep spell on the assembled masses and two more of them drop while the ringleaders open fire with their crossbows causing Sayuri some serious damage.  Grembor shoots off a couple of arrows at the closest ringleader who laughs derisively at Grembors attack even as the two arrows bounce off the wall an inch from his face; his laugh falters as he realises how close he came to a nasty blood gurgling painful death by impalement; the team carrying the Ram retreat and slink away into the side streets.  

A series of arrows and bolts exchange with minor damage on both sides before the next assault materializes; a party hefts a ram and heads to the side door while another group start forward with ladders with the intent of scaling to the balcony.  Grembor runs forward to intercept the group with the ladders and shouts at them attempting to duplicate Kats efforts earlier; this is looking to be working as they pause and start putting down the ladder; then one of the ringleaders shouts at them and they re-heft the ladders and start towards the courthouse again; leaning the ladders against the balcony and starting to scale them.  Kat looks at the ram the other group is holding and with a word and gesture the metal of the ram becomes burning hot which they all quickly drop and seem reluctant to pick up again as they take a look at their rapidly blistering hands.  Sayuri mutters a few words and points at one of the ringleaders after being dissuaded from summoning something to massacre the whole mob; a thin grey beam shoots from her finger hitting one of the ringleaders in the chest; he looks on in surprise as his posture stooping and his burdens become too heavy to lift.  The heavy crossbow in his hands seems to weigh so much more; the armour on his back seems to pull his now pasty lean frame to the floor.  He staggers to one knee and starts’ crawling away as his strength has been sapped by the insidious spell.  Grembor reaches the pair of ladders and bracing his legs and back gives a mighty heave and pushes the first ladder over into the second; the four people trying at that time to climb the ladder all fall to the cobbles below in a tangle of limbs and ladder; there is a sharp wet snapping sound and a scream as one poor townsfolk has his arm broken by the weight of ladder and people on top of him.  They all seem a bit dazed as Grembor draws his sword and looks menacingly at them; they help their injured friend to his feet and make the excuses that they have to get him to a cleric. … They slink off into the side streets closely followed by the several who have blisters appearing on their hands that were carrying the scorching hot portable ram.  Sayuri shoots off another grey ray from her finger at another of the remaining ringleaders who also collapses as his strength is magically sucked from his body.  He is helped away by the remaining mob members … The end result, a broken arm, several bloody noses and burns a few people have minor wounds from some stray arrows and two very weak ringleaders who will not be rising up against the state in a while; all in all a win for the good guys. …


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Sanctuary and a candelabrum of rotting heads *

After sharing round some healing and a brief discussion about repayment for healing services they set out in force to investigate the Sanctuary on the way to Hergstag.

They arrive at the Sanctuary at just after 11:30pm and under the light of the somewhat obscured moon they investigate.  The party soon notices two individuals who seem to be checking through the ruins sniffing the floor and inspecting the location the strongbox was excavated from.  Kat casts a powerful spell and the weeds and grasses of the area bow to her command writhing around the legs of the pair; one is able to wrench itself free while the other is held fast.  Realising these are some type of ghoul Grembor draws back his bow and rapidly fires two powerful Undead Bane arrows at them, one hits while the other goes wide disappearing into the rubble of the building.  The one hit staggers back a step then gurgles around the arrow imbedded in its throat as its insides start glowing from the positive energy of the arrow and its head explodes in a gory fountain of blood.  The other Ghoul sees this and screams running towards the party hindered by the vegetation which tries to prevent it and the rubble it has to work through; as it gets close to Sayuri she is almost overcome by the reek of rot and other foul odours.  Pringle casts light on a passing rock and tosses it into the ruins illuminating the hole down to the basement in shadowy light which makes the ghoul easier to see in the darkness for the light dependant upon them.  They then realise these are not simple ghouls but ghasts; a whole different kettle of fish entirely; elves are immune to the paralysis of a ghoul; but ghasts, not so much … Kat fires off an arrow followed by Pringles Disrupt undead which soon takes care of that one.  However two more emerge from the hole; one being caught in the entangle spell while the other moves to intercept the party; they both are slain very swiftly.  Sayuri soon finds the magical arrow that Grembor shot and hands it back to him none the worse for wear.  This is the only one they have left.

Descending into the basement they discover a lovely candelabrum of rotting heads; several mundane items and an empty bottle of Vorkstag and Grine’s Chymical Bleach.  Another tie in to the dubious duo and making it more likely they have ties to this place.  They decide that the heads can wait and decide to pick them up when they return after visiting Hergstag.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Unleash evil upon the world ...*

Heading to Hergstag in the middle of the night they are un-accosted by anything more dangerous than a few bussing insects and the calls of a fox or two.  They arrive at the dilapidated hamlet at a little before 1am; Grembor taking the lead and Sayuri and Kat looking on expectantly as he makes his way through the undergrowth following the faint tracks and remnants of trails through the small village.  They soon are spotted by a vengeful sprit all rage and hunger which sneaks up on the rear of the party and tries vainly to bury it’s wicked insubstantial claws into the back of Sayuri; however Sayuri cast Mage armour a while ago and it’s still active and this foils the surprise attack of the evil little wraith child.  However this does alert the party and they soon dispatch the child with a combination of sword and missiles from Pringle and Sayuri.  Grembor finds to his dismay that his bow is unable to affect the wraith; and circles round looking for something else he can use to help.

They continue onwards soon discovering the remains of a skeleton which is trapped in a bear trap.  This opportunist thief was thinking to loot the houses of the abandoned village and get away with the perfect crime.  However he did not bank on the villagers leaving bear traps lying around to trap the returning Beast; nor on the wraith children who would taunt and torture his poor soul over the period of several nights before he died all alone from thirst and malnutrition.  Such is life …. So they loot his body finding some nice masterwork thieves tools which Grembor pockets along with some other nick knacks.

They make their way to the church; this is where Kat and Sayuri encountered the wraith child last time.  Checking around the area Sayuri is the only one to spot the child creeping through the graveyard towards the group.  They turn and start moving towards where they were told Karin’s house lay.  The Wraith seems to be following them so Grembor turns and fits the only arrow he has to the bow that he knows can affect this creature and fires it practically point blank into the small wraith child.  It hits and the child dies screaming in a burst of bright positive energy as its already damaged form is rent by the power of the undead bane arrow.  Such a waste of a powerful item that …. They might have need of such an item later.

They approach Karin’s house which is the location of the last murder in the village; the sixth child to be killed in her bed with no signs of the beast ever having been there.  The mood is dark as they approach when out of the corner of his eye Grembor notices a shadow darker then the night descending upon them.  This looks like it may be a wraith but it has a collection of glowing red eyes; it also seems to buzz like an angry hornet’s nest which is decidedly odd for your average wraith.  It descends upon the party and its claws strike out dealing Grembor a bone chilling slash on his arm; he feels the cold of death descend upon him as his arm goes numb and his heart skips a beat as if something vital was drawn from his body.  Kat steps forward casting a healing spell which caused some minor damage; Sayuri casts her force missiles at the wraith which impact causing it to recoil in pain and anger while tossing the badge of the warden to Pringle.  Grembor steps back pulling a scroll from his pouch and casts a minor cure spell holding the charge in his hand; the wraith circles round to attack Sayuri causing an attack from Kat which misses; the wraith tries attacking Sayuri but misses due to her force armour.  Pringle steps up and using the badge casts an ectoplasmic ray of flame which strikes the wraith in the side causing it intense pain and diverting its attention from Sayuri to Pringle.  The several glowing red eyes of the wraith turn and stare balefully at Pringle making him shiver and step back a step in anticipated pain.  Kat steps through up beside Sayuri casting another healing spell and plunging her positively charged hand into the wraiths chest making all of it’s eyes glow brightly in surprise as it feels the positive energy of the healing spell rip through it’s spectral form rendering it asunder and scattering it’s ectoplasmic form to the winds as it screams and collapses in on itself with a whimper and a soft buzzing.  They hear several wailing screams heading off into the distance as the death of the master wraith frees its children and they flee as full wraiths to molest the surrounding countryside for years to come.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Is it a bird?, is it a plane ... Nooo it's a DRAGON .. Well a wyvern really *

The party explores the house Karin died in and found nothing out of the ordinary; they examine her room and the window locks from the inside and is undamaged.  The wall outside is unmarked so nothing tried climbing it; so no evidence to support the Beast ever caused this death.  

Exiting the house they think over what they can do next and decide to follow the trail of the wraith; or at least the direction it came from to see if they can find some kind of lair.  They climb the hill and in the distance through the gloom they spy a dark figure on the brow of the hill wearing a long black flapping cloak holding a wicked looking scythe.  They draw weapons and advance slowly and cautiously; as they are low on spells.  Grembor fires off an arrow at the creature and it seems to go straight through it and this makes them more nervous considering what they have been facing.  Approaching closer they discover it is just a scarecrow which not only scares crows but makes adventurers nervous too.  

They swiftly examine it and then proceed past the effigy; they walk onwards and suddenly there is a squeal with a kind of a squelching ending as Kat falls through an otherwise hidden entrance and ended up landing on something that is more giving than a simple earthen floor.  Luckily it’s dark in here however the smell is horrible as if she fell into a cesspit.  The rest of the party turn in surprise at Kat’s yelp weapons drawn as they notice Kat is no-where to be seen.  Kat pulls out a sunrod and cracking it spreads bright light through the small earthen cavern.  She discovers she has landed on the rotting remains of the four missing children; and the smell is something she never wants to smell again.  advancing upon the hole she disappeared through they find her at the bottom in a pool of light laying upon the rotting remains of the 4 missing children.  

They drop a rope and Kat manages to crawl out; Sayuri cleans her off with a quick spell much to the relief of the rest of the party as they were gagging from the pungent aroma.  Kat however was not really bothered about the stink.  They found nothing else in the hole other than the bodies and came to the obvious conclusion that these are the remains of the four children that had not been found since they died 7 months ago.  

They head down into the hamlet again and take a slow walk around the outskirts of the village; the only thing they notice is a corpse of willow tree’s that look to have been somewhat burnt.  Upon investigation they find a partially burned book on Taldean poetry; why it’s here they don’t know.  

They head back to the horses sure there is nothing more to find.  Grembor is obviously not paying attention as he hears a sharp metallic snapping sound and terrible agony shoots up his leg as a previously hidden bear trap grabs his leg in a vicelike grip.  With a scream he stands there while Sayuri and Kat both cringe in sympathy as they both recall their stint trapped within these hellish devices.  Kat having learnt her lessons had investigated these devices and quickly had Grembors ankle free; binding it up with some bandages so they could continue on their way.

They make it back to their horses and start the hour or so long ride back to Lepidstadt in the early hours of the morning.  It’s roughly 4 or 5 am. And the sunlight is getting close to breaking the horizon so the light is getting better; the party are happily riding along the trail chatting to each other as they spy a large winged creature heading their way.  

As it gets closer they identify it as a type of dragon so in a panic they dismount; grabbing what they need from the horses and slapping them to make them run as they head in the other direction into a stand of tree’s. Sayuri pulls out her rope and with a quick spell tosses it up a few feet and swiftly climbs up into the extra dimensional space to hide from the nasty Dragon; the rest of the party follows suit and they pull up the rope afterwards.  

They identify the rapidly closing creature as a wyvern which is a weak cousin of a Dragon; without the breath weapon but holding a seriously strong poison sting in its tail.  Thankfully they are also not as clever as a Dragon so it lands and sniffs about the area looking for the prey it thought it saw there; it can smell them but the tasty two legged have disappeared into thin air.  After a while it takes off after the horses which it prefers the taste of anyway but they have less chance of interesting treasure.  

They stay within the space for a while before the creature comes back again sniffing around the area as if tracking the group; they notice the wyvern’s snout is covered in fresh red blood; they are supposing from the freshly killed mounts they were riding.  They each feel a moment of sympathy for the dearly departed mounts which supported and carried them from Ravengro.  The Wyvern disappears from view and they wait for a half hour to make sure the creature has gone; they cautiously exit the space expecting the creature to be waiting for them but it looks to have long gone.  They quickly exit and start the long walk back to Lepidstadt.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Final day of the trial*

Roughly 2 hours later just as it turns 8am the party limp into the city past the guards who look at them curiously as they walk past.  They head first to the abode of Karl who is the last remaining witness to the events that took the life of Doctor Brada and Karl’s sight at the Sanctuary fire.  They knock on his door and Grembor opens discussion by insulting him and asking him if he has seen anything interesting recently.  Kat quickly steps in and with a heroic effort of diplomacy talks Karl into letting them in to talk; Karl gestures them in and prepared bread, cheese, fruit and wine to breakfast upon while they talk.  Grembor however is not offered any food or drink while Kat, Sayuri and Pringle eat well while talking to Karl about the day he lost his sight.  Karl describes the last image he saw before the fire took his sight—a shambling beast escaping the burning hospital while he tried to save his beloved master. He believes that creature was none other than the Beast of Lepidstadt. Karl’s description of the Beast is actually that of the Shambling Man, but his description is vague enough to fit the Beast as well.  They ask if the doctor had any dealing with Vorkstag and Grine and he told them they were occasional visitors to the Sanctuary but he had no idea what their business with the doctor was.  They finish off their breakfast and thanking Karl head out to debrief Gustav on the evening’s events.

After the events of the previous night, the atmosphere on this final day is frenzied, with the locals determined to see the Beast burn.  They head into the courthouse and meet up with Gustav who is worried as he has not heard from the party since yesterday.  They sit down and go over the case and they realise that in the unlikely event they win they will need a way to get the beast out of the city without the mob ripping him apart.  Sayuri comes up with the idea of using the Crooked Kin to get the Beast out of the city and with the agreement of the party sets out to find them and get them to assist.  The clerks arrive early, with other members of the court arriving as the time approaches 10:00 a.m.

*10:00 a.m.:* The final day of the Trial of the Beast begins. Chief Justice Khard reminds the crowd of the penalties of violence, and tells them that he will clear the entire court if they do not behave. He also warns them that mobs do not rule Lepidstadt, and that should anyone threaten violence to any of the defence, he will have the person whipped out of town or hanged. He then requests the prosecution to describe the alleged events at Sanctuary and reminds them that the defence may still present evidence for the killings in Hergstag as agreed.

*10:30 a.m.:* Witnesses for the Prosecution. The prosecution details the arson attack on the hospital of Sanctuary on Karb Isle 4 months ago. Otto alleges that the Beast set fire to the building, murdering Doctor Brada and his patients in the process, and states that only Brada’s loyal assistant Karl survived. Otto calls Karl to the stand to give his evidence.

*12:30 p.m.:* Witnesses for the Defense. Gustav calls the party to present any evidence they found at Sanctuary and Hergstag.  Kat steps forward to present the case as they do not trust Grembor to say anything without shooting the whole proceedings in the foot.  Kat opens with the Sanctuary evidence; Establishing that Brada knew Vorkstag and Grine, both through his papers or the bleach vial; getting Karl to admit that Vorkstag and Grine were occasional visitors to Sanctuary; Describing the Shambling Man skin from Vorkstag’s Cabinet of Skins and Faces to Karl who agrees that this is likely the creature he saw on the day he lost his sight.  They then presented the evidence they located in Hergstag.  Pointing out that Karin’s bedroom window was not forced; observing that the wall outside Karin’s bedroom is almost impossible to climb; and that the Beast could not have broken into the room without it being seen or leaving some sort of evidence and recovering the bodies of the four children from Brother Swarm’s lair.  They bring up the book of poetry they found and the beast informs them that it was his and he had lost it.

*2:30 p.m.:* Closing Statements. The prosecution asserts that the Beast is guilty of the murders in Morast, Hergstag, and Sanctuary. Otto claims that the Beast is a danger to society, and is a monster that should be destroyed. He recommends punishment in accordance with traditional law—execution by burning in the Punishing Man.
Gustav asserts that the prosecution’s evidence is not enough to prove the Beast guilty of any of the crimes in Morast, Hergstag, or Sanctuary. He recommends the Beast be freed immediately to screams of outrage from the gallery.

*3:00 p.m.:* Close of the Trial. When both prosecution and defence have made their closing statements, Chief Justice Khard announces that the trial is over, and he and the other justices depart to deliberate.

An hour after the justice’s leave to deliberate, they return looking grim. The Herald calls for order, and the crowd immediately hushes. Chief Justice Khard stands and announces the verdict.  “We have heard the evidence presented before us, and thank Pharasma that we did so; for without this trial there would have been a most terrible miscarriage of justice. There are many cruelties in the world, but to lie and blame another for one’s crimes is the most terrible of sins. We have asked ourselves a question—who is the monster here? Is it this creature before us, with its broken body and terrible form, or is it we, the people of Lepidstadt, with our bigotry and lies? The Beast is innocent!”  The Crown screams its anger at the verdict and a flurry of small projectiles shower the courtroom; some hard and thrown with force; the guards draw truncheons to hold the raging mob back some more enthusiastically than others.  The news spreads outside and those waiting outside join in the screams of anger and frustration that can be heard within the courtroom as a rage filled roar.  Within minutes chanting can be heard from outside the courthouse “Burn the Beast! Burn the Beast!”  The Beast as its being led out looks to the party with what they can only assume is a smile thanking them; calling them “bestest friends in the world.”  He goes on to say (and this is the longest speech they have heard the Beast say) “Father does not usually like visitors but give it a few days and come visit in Caromarc” The Party look at one another and nod to the beast before retiring to Gustav’s chambers to discuss their options.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Run Grembor Run ... Or Grembor has an accident ... *

It’s obvious they are going to need some sort of diversion to extract the Beast without the Mob trying to tear it to shreds.  Grembor is happy to cause some chaos and confusion and asks if he can have a little fun while making a nice big distraction?  The rest of the group cautiously agree knowing Grembor is not the most reliable of people when confronted by a diplomatic opportunity.  If there are any Halflings involved you know it’s going to digress into murder or at least some verbal assault and maybe even assault with strange fruit; but they allow Grembor this chance to make good and let him out to mingle with the mob.  Kat after thinking about it for a few seconds gets a sudden feeling of unease and decides that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Grembor as she has known the Chaotic Half Elf for a while now and knows what sort of mess he can get himself into.  

Grembor mixes into the crown of angry townsfolk surrounding the large wooden punishing man; the townsfolk have been oiling it and throwing more wood and garbage onto the pile for days now.  Considering his options and assessing the mood of the crown Grmbor dismisses the ides of just throwing a couple of vials of alchemist’s fire onto the thing as the mob would likely tear him to pieces.  Instead he has the cunning idea of placing a couple of vials in the fire; retreating a good distance and then shooting those to cause it to explode with fire causing the punishing man to ignite and causing a very large distraction.  This sounds like a solid plan to Grembor who never really thinks anything through to it’s conclusion; for instance shooting such a small target when it’s surrounded by innocent and misinformed townsfolk with his record at missing would be … interesting.  Anyway as already stated thinking ahead is not Grembors way so being a creature of pure instinct he palms a vial of alchemist fire and gently slips it into the pile of wood before retreating to a safe distance.  Well this is what he intended to do anyway; what really happened was he slips the alchemists fire into his palm and it slips through his fingers, in trying to recover it he knocks it into the air; as it falls he makes one final grab at it and knocks it spinning towards the large oil soaked pile of wood.  He lunges after the vial but it strikes the hard oil soaked wood just as his fingers reach it and explodes in a torrent of heat, pain and light.  Grembor never had much use for his eyebrows anyway ….   The oil soaked wood practically explodes outwards searing several people who are massed around the effigy; Grembors arm is alight as he waves it around in panic running through the crowd; the people around Grembor when the incident with the vial was done point accusingly at Grembor shouting “he did it.! He is the one who defended the Beast and lit the punishing man … KILL HIM!!!” The roar of the crown increases as a few hundred pairs of eyes focus upon Grembor.  Grembor gulps in fear as he is trying to put out the fire on his arm; waving it around as he tries to escape; the fire on his arm the only thing keeping the club wielding townsfolk at bay.  Through luck or misfortune the fire splutters and dies and the mass moves in for the kill; each club wielding townie strikes but again the luck seems to have turned and none of them manage to score a hit.  Kat on the steps of the courthouse see’s the plight Grembor is in and casts the only spell she has remaining and a gust of wind flies out distracting the crowd a little and causing the punishing man to flare anew distracting the crowd some.  Grembor manages a heroic acrobatics performance and wriggles through the angry club wielding townies; breaking out of the crowd and heads towards the closest street at top speed hoping to find somewhere to hide.  

Meanwhile; using the very effective distraction they load the beast into the caravan that has moved behind the courthouse; walking out with the Beast and the giant man from the show Sayuri and Pringle look like children from a distance.  They get into the caravan and roll slowly to the gates leading north out of the city.  Kat seeing Grembor escape into the city knows he won’t have any problems evading pursuit and heads back into the courthouse to make sure everyone got away.  Kat finds everything is good so she heads back to the Sailors rest to have a meal and a welcome drink.  Sayuri and Pringle ride with the beast to the walls of the city then they hop off waving as the Kin take the Beast northwards through the gates of the city.  They then head back to the Scholars rest and meet up with Kat who has just had some food delivered; they order some and sit chatting with Kat.

Grembor runs for his life and finally spots a nice fence he can hop over and heads into the maze of the houses back yards.  Ducking down he finds a likely spot and stays there till someone from an upper window shouts at him to “bugger off out my yard” which draws the attention of the mob again as they zero in on the location.  Grembor is off running again; heading mainly east and south; after several close misses and disgruntled mob members spotting him and giving chance with a shout which draws in the rest and the loosing them.  Grembor finds himself in a better part of town; there is a nice looking park with tree’s and bushes to hide in.  Scouting the area he is sure it is safe and promptly sprints in a strange crouchlike pose across the road and dives into the nearest bit of foliage. Using this method he manages to skirt the remaining mobsters and circles the park eventually after several more minutes of slow creeping close to the south side of the park.  The last road to cross looks pretty wide and it has several people looking for him with torches in hand and pitchforks or clubs in the other.  Grembor waits for the right moment; scanning the road each way making sure no-one is looking and then sprints across the road and dives into the closest bush.  There is a squeal from the other side of the bush and an old washer woman pokes at him with her stirring spoon and squeals “Aye what’s you doin in my bush?!!!”  There is a cinematic pause as everyone in the area absorbs this statement then the mob turns and starts running towards the old woman’s bush to investigate.  Grembor groans and sets off running again; leaping fences and pools; the odd random child who gets in the way and doddering old man with his walking stick.  After roughly an hour of this he manages to loose his pursuers and sidles into the Scholars rest where the rest of the party are sitting having a meal and a drink; Kat and Pringle each hand Sayuri 10 gold as she won the wager on the time it would take him to find his way back.  Grembor with hardly a word heads up to his room and has a quick wash; packs all of his effects into his travelling bag and then sits with his sword on hand and bow in his tight grasp in preparation of the mob finding him.  His nerves have been frayed enough for one day.

The party downstairs are laughing as Kat retells the tale of Grembor lighting the punishing man; thankfully it’s quiet enough that only the party hears it and those on the other tables assume it is just from what they saw not a parody of the other member of the party otherwise they could have started off the mob in the tavern.  They head to bed early while Grembor slips into a fitful sleep with dreams of being chased by flaming demons with pitchforks.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Pssst I'm in disguise ...*

The next morning after a well deserved lie in the party meet downstairs for breakfast; that is all except Grembor.  They are consuming the burnt bacon and underdone eggs they have been served with a weak beer when a distinguished looking gentleman with a large dark moustache sits down at their table unannounced and starts digging into their breakfast.  It’s only as hands start creeping to daggers and other implements of painful diplomacy does the newcomer seem to realise his dilemma; “Pssst it is I, Grembor” he hisses through his new fake moustache.  “I’m in disguise” he says then goes on to tell of the mob chasing him through the streets last night but fails to update them on the fitful night’s sleep he had.  They finish off breakfast and stroll out into the late morning’s sunshine.

_DMNote: Really good disguise roll by Grembor makes for a very convincing disguise._

The group head out to Judge Daramid’s house and are let in as the Judge is having some tea in her sitting room.  She smiles at the assembled group and thanks them for bringing the evidence to light; she hands each of them a pouch containing 100pp.  She asks the group to head to Schloss Caromarc in search of the Beast and its creator. She is interested in the Beast’s history, and thinks the Beast might still be dangerous. If the party can find its creator, perhaps they can learn how to control the Beast, or convince its creator to keep a tighter rein on the creature. But Daramid has also heard rumours that the townsfolk are planning to track down the Beast and overturn the court’s verdict on their own. If the group want to protect the creature, they should hurry.  They look at each other and thank the Judge; they then leave as they have many items to sell to see if they can re-coup some funds.  They also have several items they have neglected to identify.

Walking out into the street the wind seems to have picked up and they all look towards Grembor in alarm but the glue used to attach the moustache seems to hold nicely.  They have a quick conversation on a street corner then head to the university to see if the professor of antiquities there would be interested in any of the items they have found.  

Gaining admittance is easy enough and Dr. Montagnie Crowl the professor of Antiquities remembers them well and invites them in after he has finished his current lecture on the building abilities of some ancient tribe of orcs in some far off place.  They show him the pieces they have and he expresses interest in a mask they found at Vorstag and Grine’s they discuss prices and walk away with more gold in their pockets.  The good Doctor also advises them that Professor Scrubbins down the hall sometimes sells wizard spells and most likely will be able to identify their items for a price.

Prof Scrubbins is a dirty dishevelled old man in a stain streaked lab coat; a grey food speckled beard and dirty fingernails; one of which is currently exploring the cavity they assume is his nose behind the bushy beard.  He grins exposing red-brown stained teeth a common side effect of chewing certain roots which are used to calm the mind in certain societies.  A small dribble of drool trickles from his mouth at the sight of two pretty half elven ladies walking into his office.  Removing his finger from his nose he wipes it on his coat and proffers the hand to Sayuri who declines the invitation.  Grembor steps up and the party inwardly cringe but figure he knows they need his service and besides he is not a Halfling.  Grinning Grembor asks if he can sell them any identify scrolls or if he can identify some items for them; the professor looks the party over and makes his offer which they except.  They depart feeling much dirtier but they know what they have and they also have a couple of scrolls for Pringle to copy into his spellbook once he collects the required inks and crushed gemstones.

After the episode with the dirty professor they head into the clean air and find themselves a shop in which to sell their ill got gains.  They soon find a small dusty shop that caters for buying the offerings from adventures for a marked discount where they can haggle successfully for a better deal.  They offload some of the more weighty items and less needed ones too; they then ask the ‘reputable’ shopkeeper where they can find some good horses and they are directed to his ‘cousin’ who is “a fine upstanding gentleman of impeccable demeanour”   They depart doubting the shifty individual has any relations who could be anything higher in morals than your average sewer rat.  Regardless this cousin must be some weird offshoot of the family as he seems to be above board and they gain some good horses; saddles and packing gear for the many alchemical items they found.  They depart happy they have made a good bargain as Grembor and Kat both are knowledgeable about animals.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Schloss Caromarc*

One wolf breaches the hill and starts the gentle trip downwards; four riders and one wolf breach the hill and start the gentle trip downwards; five horses, four riders and a wolf breach the hill and start the gentle trip downwards; this could go on forever.  

We re-join the merry band as it leaves the city of Lepidstadt; one wanted by the townsfolk most likely to be burnt or hanged; this one at the front of the pack who keeps looking back nervously over his shoulder.  He is whippet lean, clad in a mix of leather and light chain with a stiff leather bracer on his left forearm.  A gracefully curved longbow is tucked into his saddle within easy reach along with a quiver of finely fletched arrows.  A rakish mustache graces his top lip and a sword is strapped to his back while riding; the leather strap could be released in one flick of his thumb to slide the sword and sheath to his wait for swift access.  His eyes roam the countryside before them before scanning the road behind; he seems nervous and flinches minutely as a flock of crows burst from a nearby thicket beating their pinions as they lift into the air.  His hand moves back from his bow to the reigns and he expertly heels his horse onwards.

Following on behind him is a slight human male; sitting his horse awkwardly and swaying in the saddle as if drunk.  The human is young and wearing a plain homespun tunic and light leather pants, his shoes are more in line with walking city streets to roaming the wilderness and his outfit is finished off with a broad belt holding many pouches and a heavy cloak.  His Saddlebags look to be filled with mainly large square bookish items and an astute observer would notice his ink stained fingers and slight squint from his affection for reading at night.  He has a long hickory staff tucked into his saddle; a dagger hilt shines occasionally from his hip and a light crossbow is slung behind the saddle.  He is leading another horse which looks to have the enviable task of carrying some heavy boxes.  The horse keeps shooting less than impressed looks at the back of the rider leading it.  Apparently it was more than happy remaining in its stall eating hay than being led around the countryside by some human.

Behind the somewhat annoyed horse which we shall call Dave is another horse; this one looks happier than its predecessor.  This could be because it’s only carrying a small half elven woman; she is wearing leather riding breeches and a flowing top that’s tight in all the right places.  Her long hair is tied up in a topknot and it’s flowing out behind her in the soft breeze like a dark pennant; soft comfortable boots adorn her feet and soft leather gloves cover her hands as they grip the reigns.  She is not wearing any obvious armor and the only weapons she has are a couple of small sickle type things at her waist and a bow on her back.  Her cloak is thrown backward over her shoulder and her arms from what you can see though the thin material are hard and strongly defined, as are the legs which are gripping the horse tightly.  This is obviously not an accomplished rider either but more talented then the human; this horse is carrying only a light load as the woman can’t weigh more then 100lb even with what she is carrying.  Her large pretty mis-matched eyes roam the area around her with a calm easy gaze which seems to take in everything; flickering with every movement; she is undeniably a very beautiful individual although it does have a certain coldness to it which is disturbing.  Shadows seem to flicker around her occasionally when you look upon her and her mis-matched eyes sometimes seem to glow with an inner red light.

The last of the four is riding along in an easy manner; as accomplished a horseman/woman as the leader.  Another half elf and another female; again dressed in functional leathers which seem well worn and practically a second skin; she seems less than bothered about the state of her hair or the slight smudge of dirt on her cheek.  Her cloak is well worn and made of some sort of treated leather which would shed the rain like a ducks back; it’s currently thrown over her shoulder leaving her long light hair flowing in the wind unbound by any restraint.  She is carrying crossed swords on her back with an assortment of other weapons arrayed around her saddle and form.  A handy bow is also slid in behind her leg available for easy access; the arrows close to hand.  Her eyes scan the surroundings calmly; not even jumping as the crows lift off which startles the leader; the sounds of nature leave no surprises for this one.  Her eyes touch upon the farmsteads and plowed fields and a look of scorn shows on her face; as she heels her horse to pull up alongside her friend before her.  The wolf following along behind is a lean affair; its fur glossy and healthy; its eyes sharp and intelligent while its teeth are no doubt sharp.  With a gesture the wolf bounds off ahead to scout out the road, a grey ghost that fades in and out of the dappled shadows alongside the road; keen senses scanning for possible enemies.

After a few miles after reaching the brow of another hill; the leader reigns in his horse and reaching up rips off his fake mustache and pockets it.  His eyes fixated on the trail behind them; finally after several minutes of observation he sighs with thoughts of a red headed woman and turns his horse away from the city and towards the trail northwards.  To a place called Schloss Caromac; apparently the birthplace of a friendly flesh golem they recently rescued from the grips of a city bent on burning the beast to death for crimes it did not commit.  There are questions to be answered and asses to kick if those answers are not forthcoming.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Ustalav ... not a place for a picnic ...*

Traveling through the day; they don’t actually get started until mid morning as Kat just had to pick up that last bit of something she can’t do without.  Following the trail they head mostly north; the river an ever chattering companion to their journey; it’s a nice sunny day; a slight chill in the air and a light wind coming from the west.  Through the day they chat amicably about the hectic last few days and enjoying the lack of urgency in their current travel.  It’s a pleasant change to the pace even though they are still under a time constraint it’s a much more forgiving constraint than they have become accustomed to.  There is laughter and joking as they ride along; even Pringle seems to be sitting his horse better though no-one envies him the discomfort he will be experiencing once they stop.  

Lunch is a basic affair; stopping for an hour or so to stretch legs and work out the kinks in their tortured muscles; more for Pringle than anyone else. They soon mount up again and head along the river; they travel on for another couple of hours before they meet anything that does not run from the party.  Rounding a bend in the river the come practically face to face with a pair of large bear-like creatures with long vicious claws and owl like beaks; Sayuri remembers a fairly interesting book she read a while ago reporting one of the theories on the creation of the owlbear and until now she had never seen one and would be happy if they never again saw one.  This pair look well fed and in the peak of fitness as they notice the party as they are themselves seen; they turn and on all fours move surprisingly quickly towards the mounted party.  One heads for Grembor and Pringle while the other moves towards the back of the party and decides Sayuri looks good enough to eat; Grembor dodges a ferocious swing of a set of claws that could if it connected take his head and a substantial part of the rest of him with it.  Kat whips out her bow and fires off a shot at one of them while Sayuri does likewise with her crossbow.  Neither cause enough damage to do anything more then annoy the large already unimpressed Owlbear; Sayuri jumps off her horse and is met half way down by a set of large wickedly curved claws which leave trails of blood on her shoulder.  Her horse whickers and backs away rearing and lashing out with it’s hooves which narrowly miss Sayuri’s head; Pringle shoots off his crossbow and the bolt goes very wide of the mark.  With a shrug he starts reloading while Grembor strikes out with his sword scoring a minor hit on the creature; who is less than impressed and tries a bone crushing bear hug on him which thankfully misses.

Sayuri however is not so lucky and a powerful claw again scores her back as she twists to try avoiding it while the beak rips a chunk out of her other shoulder.  She is backed up to the river already so she unleashes a deadly flurry of kicks and punches towards the beast with most of them striking true; the beast steps a pace back in surprise as it’s small meal fights back like a panther backed into a corner.  Shaking its head to clear the ringing it is an easy target for Kat who unleashes a pair of arrows from her bow from only a few feet distant.  Both arrows strike true which drop the creature to its knees with blood fountaining from it’s mouth which makes Sayuri already covered in her own blood look like she had been bathing in the stuff.  Sayuri is badly damaged with blood dripping down her arms and back from three very nasty hits as she checks her pouch again in the vain hope of finding a healing potion she somehow missed previously.

Kat sends her wolf circling round the remaining Owlbear to assist Grembor; trying to bite the rough feathery hide of the beast fails to impress the creature but the distraction is enough for Grembor to slide his sword through the creature impaling it’s heart as his sword is buried to it’s hilt in it’s chest.  With a low growling gurgle it expires and slumps to the ground twitching as its brain tries to refute the evidence its body is trying to present about its lack of life.  The body wins and the creature lies still as blood spreads slowly around it.

They patch up their various wounds and carry on more carefully than before; the attack with the Owlbears reminding them that this is not a stroll in the park but a serious walkabout in dangerous territory.  This is still Ustalav and the threat of a painful lingering undeath is never far away.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Trolls + Fire = nasty death. Or Sayuri looses another horse.*

Rounding a corner in the trail they come upon their goal; the fens give way to a deep, rocky gorge at the northern edge of the swamp, where a peculiar building, or rather group of buildings, clings to steep cliff edges above half a dozen plummeting waterfalls. Beyond a fortified gatehouse, a stone bridge arches gracefully over the raging torrents below. Perched precariously beyond this is a fine, fortified manse and a ruined building that appears to have partially collapsed into the river below. A slender rope bridge, replacing the fallen remnants of a stone bridge, links to a strange tower pierced with beautiful stained glass windows depicting bizarre beasts.
A further building teeters to the north of this, but how it is reached is impossible to see from here. Far above, a great tower rises from an isle of stone to the sky, ending in a great steeple topped with a huge lightning conductor.  They have reached Schloss Caromarc.

Sayuri and Kat ride out ahead (The players for Pringle and Grembor are absent) and find two strange looking hounds standing guard before the gatehouse.  The gatehouse has four towers one at each corner; upon two of these towers stand large humanoids one of which is looking out over the pathway while the other seems to be staring at the castle behind the keep.  They move down to get a better look at the hounds and the large figures but the hounds seem to catch their scent on the wind and perk up; with a low whine they scour the pathways around the keep and spot Kat and Sayuri still astride their horses in the shadow of a large boulder.  With a grumbling growl they both start forward to intercept the pair; Sayuri studies the pair of strange looking hounds and recognizes them as a strange breed of hound which has been fed too much troll meat and taken on many of the characteristics of a troll.  These are commonly called Trollhounds and they share their resistances and abilities; However the horses don’t know this they just see and smell something they don’t like and prance about until the hounds close; one snaps Sayuri’s horses leg while the other tears out it’s throat.  

Sayuri slips from the saddle landing on her feet and looking sorrowfully at her poor horse.  One of the large humanoids on the keep’s towers brings up a large crossbow and fires off a bolt in their direction while the other tower is manned by another large figure hefting a nice rock.  Kat dismounts and sends her horse back down the trail to be picked up by Grembor and Pringle; whipping out her swords she closes on the hounds and slices her swords across it’s shoulder and back; the wounds don’t seems to bleed much.  Sayuri steps back and starts summoning an elemental; her knowledge of such things is a bit sketchy but she thinks fire will hurt them as she suspects they are the same as Trolls.  The Trollhounds go to hit Kat but only the one strikes true as it trips Kat to the floor; Kat cursing transforms her form into that of a wildcat and lashes out at the hound from the floor while her Wolf circles them and goes to hit the hound from the rear.  Sayuri finishes off her summoning and a fire elemental appears through a rent in the air; through which you can feel the roaring flames of its native plane; it strikes out at the hound while Sayuri claims some vials of alchemist’s fire from the pack horse.  Kat is getting badly mauled by the hound as she is still prone and not willing to incur extra attacks by getting up; she responds from the ground and her claws and bite score some good hits; however it’s the fire elemental that really makes it sit up and scream as it’s fiery touch sets it’s skin burning causing it to start rolling around on the ground in an attempt to put out the killing fire.  

Sayuri throws one of her vials at the hound but it goes wide striking the ground to the right of the critter and causing a small explosion of flame which ignites the local fauna.  A large crossbow bolt screams past Kats head setting her sensitive feline ears back as it strikes the rocks near her throwing up a shower of sparks; the large humanoid in the tower starts cranking on the winch to reload his crossbow again.  The large humanoid in the other tower is still hefting his rocks but they are out of decent range for him so he waits patiently.  The Trollhound expires in an eye watering stink of burning flesh so Kat resumes her feet and her normal form; Sayuri continues to lob vials of fire but is expertly setting the surrounding environment afire and nowhere near hitting anything else.  The remaining hound attacks Kat but is thwarted by her tough armor as she conjures a curved blade comprised of pure flame to her hand and strikes the poor unfortunate hound which whimpers as it’s hit; the fire elemental also strikes causing another whimper followed by a swift squeal as it catches fire and continues to burn.  Sayuri continues to miss with her flasks of fire while two figures appear in the gate as it opens revealing a pair of giant figures running out to try to drive off the impudent adventures.  Kat finishes off the hound as it squirms on the ground in a vain attempt to extinguish the fire while Sayuri starts summoning another little fiery helper to assist; the pair of trolls manage to make it to the pair of stalwart adventures but have to maneuver round the fire elemental which they nervously avoid and don’t wish to attack plus the several area’s of burning shrubbery caused by Sayuri’s ‘tactically’ missed alchemist’s fire attempts.  

The first troll manages a single attack on Kat before it’s cut down by a combination of Kat’s burning blade; two fire elementals and more thrown fire from Sayuri which didn’t actually hit it’s target but inadvertently hit one of the trolls by missing it’s intended troll and hitting it’s compatriot.  Sayuri considers that a win and howls in victory as it collapses in a burning pile; it’s more intelligent brother strikes Sayuri a couple of times causing her to stagger back while Kat strikes it a few times with his sword of fire; the troll makes a couple of half arsed attempts at hitting Kat and then runs off burning into the countryside living to fight another day and learning a valuable lesson regarding idiots who play with fire.  

Sayuri sends her elementals into the gatehouse to kill anything they find while Sayuri heads back to the pack horse to retrieve more vials of alchemist’s fire.  Kat unlimbers her bow and fires some arrows towards the trolls manning the towers; this elicits the response from the towers of Crossbow bolts from one and thrown rocks from the other.  Thankfully they miss their target and Sayuri sprints inside soon followed by Kat; they discover three small bodies of goblins inside smoldering gently as the fire elementals prance around.  Sayuri directs the elementals up the towers to assault the trolls who have nothing but their claws and really don’t wish to try clawing the living fire as it will burn their tender hands.  One after trying throwing his rocks at his elemental jumps from the gatehouse into the river to extinguish the flames and letting the cooling water carry it downriver.  The other less fortunate leader of the trolls manages to utilize it’s heavy crossbow as a weapon and beat down an elemental only to have another take it’s place; with a growl of frustration it leaps from the battlements down before the gate and is set upon again by yet another fire elemental and Kat who strikes out with her sword of fire.  Kat is knocked back by a mighty blow from the troll but the veritable swarm of elementals drive the troll to the ground and the platters are served as this meat is very well done.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Party gets a smack down ...*

Sayuri helps Kat back to her feet and they make sure the troll is dead as Kat drives her flame blade through the trolls neck; scanning around they search the gatehouse finding an amulet of the whispering way; an old staff being used as a spit and a torn tunic which is mixed in with the barricade against the far door.  They toss the tunic into a corner and tear down the barricade; opening the door they find a narrow arched bridge leading to the fortified manor; however sitting on the apex of this bridge is a creature they have met previously.  A flesh Golem hound; the last one they unceremoniously killed from a ledge while it could not get out; it was like shooting fish in a barrel; this one may be a little more interesting.

Kat steps onto the bridge; to the left, two hundred feet below, a huge waterfall plummets into the depths. The hound couches down and starts growling; Kat steps back and the hound returns to its previous attentive posture.  Again Kat steps forward hands raised in a submissive way and the hound crouches down growling; again Kat steps back.  Considering their options they decide the only way to get past the creature is to deliver it a smack down; Kat takes out her sword and coats it in the adamantine blanch they found in Vorstag and Grine’s; this dulls the shine making her sword appear darker and strangely sharper.  

Stepping forward she awaits the response from the flesh golem and predictably it leaps forward its jaws snapping at Kats chest and face; Kat swings her sword meeting the hound in mid air and opens a long gash in it’s side and shoulder causing the hound to yelp in pain as the adamantine blade severs muscles, tendons and bone.  The hound lands; it’s muzzle bloody from ripping a chunk of flesh from Kat’s shoulder; blood dripping from wound and muzzle to the stone bridge in small rivulets; dropping from the bridge into the fast flowing water; mixing with the water and following it’s suicidal leap from the waterfall to the river below.  Kat staggers back gripping her shoulder as the blood drips down her arm and joining with its droplet friends on the floor.  Sayuri runs past the hound leaping high in an effort to avoid it’s large vice like jaws; however it snaps at Sayuri in passing tearing a few holes in her leg and making her stumble.  Sayuri makes it to the far doors; the arched bridge ends at a small cobbled terrace with a curious looking iron door depicting a scowling sun being devoured by ravenous clouds.  The hound looks at Kat before it and then round at Sayuri behind it; turning it bounds after Sayuri allowing Kat a free hit as its directive of preventing access to the doors overrides the threat from Kat and makes Sayuri a more important target.  Kat’s sword strikes true tearing a long gash in it’s flank but it is not enough to discourage the beast as it barrels into Sayuri nearly knocking her from her feet as it’s jaws close on the meaty part of her thigh.  Its mouth closes with a shrill scream from Sayuri as her leg suddenly turns read from the large gaping wound in her thigh as the hound rips a mouthful of flesh from it.  

Kat runs in swinging her swords and connects causing minor damage; Sayuri retreats away from the doors along the rocky outcrop which the manor stands upon hoping the hound will not follow.  Thankfully it does not but instead turns it’s attentions on Kat; it’s mouth already dripping red from both Sayuri’s and Kat’s blood it lunges in and it’s teeth snap together taking a chunk of flesh from Kat’s side and almost knocking her off the bridge.  Kat staggering back twirls her swords and makes a weak attempt to skewer the offending hound but it twists out of the way and only takes some minor damage on its leg; Sayuri standing off to one side casts her most powerful spell; a crackling intense charge of electricity forms in her hands and she directs it towards the hound.  The blinding blast hammers into the hound and to their shock they see the wounds they have caused the hound quickly mend themselves.  The hound shakes itself off and you can almost imagine it’s grinning in amusement as it looks towards Sayuri with a knowing look at the amazement on her face.  (Who would have thought lightning would harm a flesh golem  ... Ever seen Frankenstein?)  

Turning back towards Kat the hound lunges forward gracefully snapping its jaws on Kats forearm; Kat in a moment of panic manages to twist her arm free before the teeth close fully.  She keeps her arm intact but looses a large amount of skin to its razor sharp teeth; the blood wreathing her arm from her shoulder wound most likely assisting in her retrieval and retention of her arm.  Sayuri starts summoning some assistance; Grembor and Pringle arrive on the scene not summoned by Sayuri.  The hound eyes the new arrivals with caution but is not distracted from Kat as it teeth find flesh and rips her stomach open; Kat staggers back trailing entrails and slumps to the floor unconscious and a rapidly spreading pool of blood starts dripping off the bridge to the waters below making the already slick bridge more then treacherous.  

Pringle looks on in shock as he see’s Kat brought down; Grembor runs in and scoops up Kats sword and narrowly avoiding slipping on the blood and plummeting to his death over the waterfall; he scores a shallow hit on the hound; the hound strikes out at Grembor scoring a nasty hit on his leg which again almost sends him falling to a watery death.  Sayuri finishes her summoning and a fire elemental appears next to the hound; attacking with its fiery fists it misses but provides some distraction; Pringle steps forward recovering from his shock and drawing out a wand fires a ball of force at the creature.  The spell to Pringles surprise seems to bounce off the golem; Pringle learns something about golems and their very annoying magical resistances.  Grembor tries striking the golem but fails to significantly harm the creature as his sword bounces off its tough hide.  The hound frustrated by the randomly appearing flaming things snaps out at Grembor and catches him with a nasty bite to his chest; with a fountain of blood he falls to the floor beside Kat.  Sayuri finishes summoning another fire elemental which appears next to the hound; both fire elementals try striking it but both miss.  The hound strikes out at the elemental and as soon as it appears its light is extinguished by the snapping jaws of the flesh golem.  However the fire seems to have a detrimental effect on the hound as it seems to slow down and become more lethargic; Sayuri runs in succeeding in an amazing leaping dance which avoids the teeth of the hound and manages to pass right by the creature while scooping up Kat making it to the safe side of the bridge.  Pringle drags Grembor from the fray also and they stand at the safe side while the hound finishes off the other fire elemental and then lopes to the centre of the span and sits down watching them intently; its job done.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Healing .. why do we need healing?*

Pringle looks at Sayuri who looks back at Pringle; they have two unconscious friends who both look like they have been the dog’s dinner.  Dragging them back into the gatehouse they make them as comfortable as possible and stoke up the fire; binding the wounds as best they can and wait.  

Eventually Grembor awakens and a bowl of stew bubbling over the fire is brought to him as he sits up and winces; looking around the room he is surprised to see Kat still laying with blood soaked bandages covering her wounds.  

Looking at the two standing over him he realizes that neither of them knows anything but the basics of first aid nor can either of them use the wands of healing they acquired and they are both lucky to be alive.  Pulling out a wand from Kat’s pack he manages to close off some of his more serious wounds; heading to Kat it takes several applications of the wands energies before she starts rousing from the deep near death experience that had claimed her.  They each grab a wand and apply some of the same energies to Sayuri while healing themselves.  

All the casters are seriously low on spells so they set up a rotating watch and sleep for several hours.  The night passes uneventfully and they wake bright and fresh; but still sore.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Hound gets a smackdown ...*

The following morning they rub the grit from their eyes; pack up their gear and do a quick scout of the surroundings.  They are in a small gatehouse with a crenellated tower at each corner; from the two closest towers they can see the flesh golem hound sitting where they left it patiently waiting for them to try making the crossing again.

Kat ever the patient hunter thinks sod it I have been bitten enough already; piles up some furniture before the doors and heads to the tower with the Troll captains crossbow.  With a great effort she winches back the crossbow and fits a bolt; sighting down the large bow she releases and the bolt strikes the hound squarely in the face.  

The hound barely moves for several seconds except to slowly turn its gaze upon the tower and its lone occupant standing very nervously holding a large sized crossbow.  Kat starts frantically winching back the crossbow again as the hound gets to its feet; its eyes still focused on Kat and starts running towards the gates of the gatehouse.  There is a loud ringing bang as the heavy hound strikes the gate; the reverberations rattling the teeth of everyone concerned.  

Sayuri runs up the tower and starts summoning another fire elemental while Pringle and Grembor after checking the barricade is holding ascends the other tower; Grembor shooting arrows which bounce off and Pringle casting small balls of acid at the hound which leave tiny burnt patches.  The Flesh Golem again shoulder barges the reinforced and barricaded doors which again shake and dust falls from the ceiling; the doors hold this time but they give a little.  Sayuri finishes her summoning and a denizen of the plane of fire arrives to help out; the elemental strikes out and scores a hit on the hound which then seems to slow it down again; she starts another summoning; Pringle is at a loss as to what to do this round so he observes the proceedings making sly remarks whenever someone misses; Grembor takes out some vials of alchemist’s fire and starts lobbing them down at the hound to little effect; Kat is still winding up the crossbow.

The Hound leaps for the doorway again and there is the sound of cracking timbers as the doorway partially gives; Kat ready now ties off her rope to a bolt and taking careful aim fires the heavy bolt into the far doors over the bridge; Looping some leather over the rope she slides down the rope and alights gracefully on the bridge before the doors.  Another Fire Elemental steps through a rent in space and starts trying to strike down the hound with its fiery fists; joining the other elemental in its attempt to set the poor hound alight.  Pringle shoots another small blob of acid down at the hound causing minor damage while Grembor picks up the large crossbow and starts reloading it with some effort.  

The Flesh Golem looks round and eyes up Kat close to the focus of it’s protection; turns and eliciting a couple of attacks from the fire elementals as it passes lopes over the bridge towards Kat.  Fortunately for Kat the hound has been slowed by the fire elementals attacks and it only makes it halfway across the bridge; Kat in a panic casts a quick spell and leaps for the wall scaling it like a spider.  She remembers only too well the feel of that creatures jaws on her tender flesh and she does not wish to experience it again anytime soon.  

Sayuri’s elementals follow the hound and try beating it with their fists while she watches from the relative safety of the tower.  Pringle also looks on in amusement to see Kat scale the wall to escape the wrath of the hound; Grembor rests the crossbow on the crenulated wall and places one of the few remaining bolts into the groove.  Sighting down the bolt he hopes to knock the hound from the bridge and let’s loose; the bolt flies straight and true sinking into the side of the hound with a grunt.  The hound looks balefully at Kat halfway up the wall turning and snapping at one of the Fire Elementals causing it to flicker in agitation but not quite causing it enough damage to send it back to the plane of fire.  

The two Elementals strike in unison and with a final almost disappointing slap around the face the Golem Hound drops to the floor and moves no more.  There is much in the way of celebration and joyful noises that the nasty hound has met its end; they regroup on the bridge before the large impressive doors and think on what to do next.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Curiosity kills the Kat ... Almost ... Again ...*

Grembor examines the doors and finds nothing of any interest; they are large, impressive and very solidly locked.  They do notice however that there is a pull rope to the side of the door which after everyone back away from the door to a safe distance Sayuri pulls; they hear a bell ringing inside the mansion and a few minutes later a view port opens for a few seconds before slamming shut again.  The door remains closed; they keep pulling on the rope for several more minutes but there is no more response from within.  

Grembor starts examining the door looking for anything dodgy before applying his lockpicks to the lock; all they find of any interest is the strange clicking sound coming from the other side of the door; after several tries he comes to the conclusion that the lock is beyond his talents.  Kat gets bored of this and walks up the wall to the roof where she looks for alternative entrances; all the windows are too narrow for entry and are barred; the other door leading to a balcony on this side is also locked and barred from the inside.  The other side of the building however the doorway is not locked and Kat opens the door cautiously and enters; finding herself in a 30ft by 5ft closest was not what she expected however.  

Some searching and knocking on walls later locates the expertly hidden though expected secret door which pops open at the push of her hand.  This leads to a large dinning room; fires and lanterns are lit and it is very clean as if someone just left the room after tidying up; sneaking through the apparently recently deserted house she finds her way to the front door where she can hear the voices of the rest of the party through the doorway.  Kat pauses as she spies the door as on this side of it is a large blue circle engraved with glowing runes that you can see just out of the corner of your eye; she is just about to mention this before the strange clicking noise which was barely registering on her senses gets a lot louder as a large clockwork machine extracts itself from it’s storage place beneath the stairs.  

The clockwork horror towers over Kat who is quite tall herself and seems to be comprised of manly clockwork; alchemical and various patches of skin and flesh.  However the parts that really interest Kat are the two large scythe like appendages at the end of its arms; they certainly interest her as they swing in her direction cutting a deep wound into her side.

The rest of the party hear Kat scream in pain and are even more disturbed as they notice a thin trickle of red blood appear underneath the door; Sayuri and Pringle start making their way around the mansion climbing over the treacherous rocks upon which the mansion is constructed to try to locate the entrance Kat used while Grembor tries kicking in the large door unaware of the apparent trap on the other side but is unable to force it open.  Kat draws her weapons and starts a deadly dance with the clockwork soldier from hell.  She scores some good blows but is unable to tell if they actually caused much in the way of damage.  However the attacks from the creature is another matter entirely as it swings it’s scythes towards Kat catching her with a strike to her leg which would have been much worse if she was not twisting away at the time.  

Grembor tries kicking in the door again but to little avail; while Sayuri and Pringle make it to the rear door which Sayuri opens.  Kat swings her swords at the construct with metallic clanging noises which jar her hold on her weapons but she manages to keep them in her grip; her hands are getting sore from the solid blows; however there are dents appearing on the arms and legs where she is hitting it.  The clockwork horror swings its arms in a wide arc trying to behead Kat but it catches her shoulder with a deep wound that bleeds profusely; more blood seeps underneath the door as the combat continues making Grembor more frantic in his attempts to open the reinforced door; again he bounces off the solid door almost falling to the floor in his attempt.  

Sayuri makes it to the door opening to the combat; she can hear the whir and clicking of the construct on the other side however she would like to get a better position so passes through some more doors to circle the combat followed by Pringle.  Kat and the clockwork creature trade blows again and yet again Kat finds herself eating dirt as she hits the floor blood streaming from her nose as a glancing blow to her head almost snaps her neck.

Grembor fails again to open the door resorting back to lockpicks; an observer of which there are thankfully none would see the anger growing on the half elven features as the tips of his ears are getting redder and a vein is starting to throb in his temple.  The sudden increase in blood seeping under the door is not assisting in keeping him clam.  Sayuri opens the door and finds Kat’s prone form before her and the clockwork terror on the other side.  She thinks quickly and unleashes her favorite spell sending three balls of force hammering into the creature; Pringle follows suit and sends more balls of force through the narrow doorway at the looming gaunt metallic figure.  

Kat remains on the floor narrowly avoiding being stepped on as her life’s blood is flowing out of her veins onto the greedy floor; The clockwork horror reaches through the doorway and tries to skewer Sayuri with it’s scythe blades and narrowly misses her; Grembor in a fit of anger unleashes a torrent of hammering on the door; Sayuri notices the large blue symbol on their side of the door but fails to make the connection to it being a trap.  Shrugging at the pretty artistry on the door she unleashes another torrent of missiles followed by Pringle which render the machine in operational as it breaks apart falling in a series of metallic sounds as it drops to the floor.  Grembor kicks at the door finally knocking it open and triggering the trap; he stares on in disbelief as a large rent in space opens and out steps a huge Elemental comprised of air.  It swings at Grembor striking him solidly and knocking him back several feet; thankfully it is facing the walkway so he is not knocked off the bridge.  

Sayuri grabs Kat and drags her through the doorway closing it behind them; while Grembor retreats to the Gatehouse.  The Elemental hangs around for a while looking to hit something that’s no longer there and then fades after the space of a minute back to where it came from.  Grembor hurries across the bridge and pulls out his wand channeling the healing energies into Kat which revives her again.  She crawls back to her feet looking very sheepishly around at her comrades.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Lazy days*

Searching the Mansion they find no other beings; they do however find a fine set of ivory goats; magical items that allow the goats to transform into some interesting and useful mounts.  Finding some nice beds upstairs they decide to crash for the day as it’s been a long morning with Golem Hounds; Metallic constructs and a huge Elemental.  It’s only been a couple of hours or so since they got up but hey we all need a lazy day now and then.  Grembor has the first of the watches and is very disturbed by the activities and noises coming from downstairs;  It seems the composite parts of the construct are being carried back underneath the stairs by some invisible force.  

Waking everyone up apart from Kat who is fast asleep they head downstairs and Grembor is told that it’s a minor spell effect used to clean up and not to bother him again by Pringle; Sayuri giggles then heads back to bed too.  Grembor is left sitting outside on the stairs watching the procession and investigates the growing pile of parts to make sure they are not going to re-construct themselves and be a problem in the morning.  Tis a quiet time regardless of Grembor and they spend roughly 15 hours chilling out; eating the owner’s sausage and raiding his wine before they feel up to continuing.  Its early morning at about 4am when they decide they are ready to face the horrors ahead.  The dawn will soon be here; the horizon is getting lighter as a prelude and it’s time they were finished with what is turning out to be a difficult mission.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Rope Bridges are dangerous ... The party runs away ... again ...*

They rise early having had a good long rest; descending downstairs they see the door has been closed, the remains of the construct have been tided away and the pool of Kat’s blood has been scrubbed clean.  They sit in the dining room and have some breakfast of eggs and sausages with some rather pleasant wine; whoever owns this place surely knows a good drink when he drinks it. …

They leave the mess of breakfast on the table and walk out; they hear the sounds of tidying going on behind them as they cross the somewhat treacherous narrow bridge to the workshop area which looks like it’s seriously in need of some major reconstruction work.  They scout around the room finding only small things of any value; they soon notice a chittering sound coming from the hole in the floor.  They are therefore not surprised when the most fearsome monster an adventurer could possibly meet crawls out of the hole.  An insect with a long tail sporting a propeller and two feathery antenna crawls out followed by two others; they head towards Kat who has the most of the substance they thrive on.  These rust monsters are unfortunately going to be very disappointed as no-one in the party has much in the way of metal on them; Kat is the most heavily armored and she is wearing hide armor.  Grembor is wearing studded leather while both Pringle and Sayuri depend upon their spells.  Kat however has the most weapons; the party soon demolishes the trio of rust monsters and continues onwards where other parties would be sorrowfully poking through piles of rust while standing there mostly naked.  

Kat takes the lead and they are met by a dangerously swinging rope bridge; Kat cautiously starts crossing only checking her balance once or twice; however she nearly falls when her foot steps onto one plank and it flares red with many tightly scribed red runes.  Her mind races and several swear words race through her mind as a narrow thin red line shoots up to a height of 10ft and twists sideways revealing an opening 10ft wide and ringed in an arch of gore dripping writhing bones from an infinite of poor unfortunate souls.  Gracefully stepping through the rent is a beautifully graceful being with dark feathered wings and eyes shining with hatred and cruelty; gripped in her hand is a bow of exquisite workmanship and burning as hot as the fire wreathed plains of hell Kat can see stretching out behind her before the rent snaps shut.  Kat responds quicker then anticipated and starts running back towards the party fear evident in her eyes; the Erinyes leaps gracefully into the air drawing back her bow and letting loose arrows at Kat which all strike true apart from one which slips past her and surprises Sayuri as it sinks into her arm.  Sayuri with a quick calculation realizes what the creature is and hastily grabs her rope moving out of sight of the gracefully deadly devil and throws her rope up casting a spell to create a hiding place; she promptly crawls in and the whole party swiftly follows.  The devil swoops down and is confused when its piercing gaze can’t locate the victims it thought were there just seconds ago; flitting around she passes the invisible doorway and flies onwards.  The party doesn’t see her again; they wait for several minutes before dropping out onto the floor once more.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Rope bridges are very dangerous ....*

Again Kat makes her way across the rope bridge; she stubles a couple of times but makes the distance safely.  Next comes Sayuri; Monk and all round acrobatics expert and graceful dancer who takes one step on the rope bridge and promptly slips; she makes a grab for the rope to prevent her fall and misses.  The last thing they see and hear is a shrill squeal as she drops the 150 ft to the waters below; they look over the edge and all they can see is the ripples from where she hit the water.  

Pringle manages to make out a small speck in the water below through the mists and it looks to be moving; Grembor ties off a rope to himself and proceeds to make his crossing; he manages to cross without incident and Pringle soon follows suit.  

Kat with a sigh makes her way back across the rope bridge and through the buildings and starts following the river downstream until she comes across a sodden Sayuri clinging to the banks of the river in a very bedraggled way.  She is not looking very happy but she manages to get out of the river with Kat’s assistance; Kat and Sayuri make their soggy squelching trek back to the party.  

Kat makes it across the rope bridge again but again Sayuri slips but this time manages to catch herself at the last second; hanging from a rope bridge 150 ft above the churning waters.  She pulls herself up onto the bridge and cautiously makes her way across to join the rest of the party; they all look at her askance as she never usually falls; not even when she goes down even a short flight of steps.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Are you my Mummy? ...*

They open the door to the next building after finding and attempting to disarm an alarm trap on the door; they enter into some weird looking museum.  Each room seems to be themed to a certain area; they make a quick check of the rooms and only pause when they find a room with a pile of chains in the centre and a pair of Sarcophagi’s standing against the walls.  

Kat cautiously crosses the room but is not surprised when a creature steps from the closest sarcophagi all wrapped up in bandages; it swings a fist at Kat connecting with her jaw and it feels like her head may come off if that happens again.  Kat backs away drawing out her swords while Grembor steps up bow in hand and unleashes a flurry of arrows at the Mummy; they mostly hit but cause minimum damage; Pringle backs into the corner next to the other Sarcophagi while Sayuri grabs some chain and moves to wrap this one with the chains and is somewhat surprised when a pseudopod strikes out and tries to smack her across her face; she manages to avoid the blow and quickly backs away.  Pringle however is standing next to the Mimic and tries moving away so he can cast effectively; he draws out a wand and sends a missile of force towards the creature.  

The Mummy punches Kat in the side and she feels her ribs cracking under the force of the blow; she swings her swords back and strikes out at the creature; they hit but much of the blow is absorbed.  Grembor pulls out his wand of healing and stepping forward sends the positive energies running through the Mummy causing it to writhe in pain.  Sayuri casts some force missiles at the Mimic while Pringle uses his wand to send a single missile; The Mummy turns and sends a vicious haymaker at Grembor which connects with his cheek nearly snapping his neck; the Mimic strikes out at Pringle as Sayuri is out of range; the blow hits causing some damage but fails to connect as it tries to grapple Pringle.  

Kat drops her sword and conjures a flame blade which she swings at the Mummy striking it with the one thing it hates as much as positive energy and makes it scream in pain as its bandages flare and flame.  Grembor again directs his healing wand towards the creature causing it to writhe again.  Suddenly being a Mummy is not such a good thing as it’s tortured by flame and healing. It is no short time before it finally collapses into a pile of moldy bones and wrappings however Kat is also on the floor again as the last blow from the Mummy knocked her out.  Pringle however is not having the best of times with the Mimic as it finally manages to grapple and wraps it’s pseudopod around him and starts squeezing causing his robes and flesh to start smoking from the acid it secretes. Grembor comes to the rescue and buries his sword in the beast and it stops moving.

Kat and Grembor are in bad shape while Kat seems to have thrown off the after effects of the Mummy; Grembor however is looking very pale.  They search around the room and find a nice ring on the Mummy’s finger which Sayuri appropriates as no-one else is interested in touching the thing; both Kat and Sayuri look askance at Grembor as he coughs up some blood and some of his skin on the side of his face where the Mummy struck him starts going very gray and peeling.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*This adventure is a gas ...*

They hear the noise of something heavy moving around downstairs which seems to be slowly making it’s way up the stairs; there is also the chittering noise of several other creatures which they have difficulty identifying.  They wait for a short while as the creature laboriously makes its way up the spiral staircase; Sayuri takes out a vial of Alchemist’s fire and drops it down the staircase where it blossoms into a vivid ball of fire (why she thought this was a good idea in an alchemist’s lab I don’t know).  This does not seem to impede the creature as it makes its way upwards through the flames. 

Its head appears in view and it looks to have some stitching going on underneath the bandages; this looks to be another flesh golem and they all gulp reflexively as they remember the last flesh golem they fought and the last one was a weaker flesh golem hound.  The party retreat back to a hidden staircase they found earlier and try to hide while Kat tries drawing the Golem to the rope bridge hoping to encourage it to fall; however the faceless golem is being led around by 6 small demon-like creatures which are tethered to the golem and are infinitely more intelligent than the mindless golem and they close the doors leaving Kat outside not wishing to risk the dangerous rope bridge or be exposed to possible archers.

Grembor however having found a supposedly safe place and decides to push the envelope and see if he can find some more trouble while the possibility of being squished by the Golem is not enough.  Searching the small room he finds a ladder heading up to a trap door and a door leading to some kind of storeroom; Grembor climbs the ladder and cracks open the trapdoor to see if there is anything in the room above.  The first thing he sees is that the room is empty; the second and more importantly one would think is the faintly glowing green lines which have been stretched to breaking linking the trapdoor with the floor.  The glowing runes flares at Grembor’s eyeline and explodes in a blast of green cloying, burning fog.  Pringle immediately drops to the floor as the acid fog envelops him burning away the last few hp’s he had and rendering him unconscious; Sayuri squeals and runs down the stairs hair and skin smoking from the burn of the toxic fumes; followed by Kat’s wolf who also finds the acid fog more then a little distressing.  Gembor retreats picking up Pringle on the way; and drags him into the storeroom which is thankfully free from fog.  Taking out a wand he channels minor healing into himself to heal up some of the acid damage; he follows this with the same for Pringle bringing him back from unconsciousness.

Sayuri however finds herself at the bottom of the stairs and hears the sounds of something large moving around and decides that coming down the stairs was a very bad idea.  She turns and heads back into the fog which causes her damage; she curses in a very unladylike fashion before collapsing to the floor with acid induced burns and her light clothing starting to effectively melt away.  Kat’s wolf whines sorrowfully; probably thinking ‘why do I have to keep saving these stupid two legged puppies’ and braves the fog; dragging the slight form of Sayuri back up the stairs to Grembor and his healing wand.  Grembor heals up Sayuri with his wand and again all is good in the world as she opens her eyes to see Grembor looming over her with a wand in one hand and eyes hungrily scanning her prone form which has due to the acid become more visible than normal.  Let’s face it a tanned, toned semi naked half elf sorceress is something worth looking at.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor needs a doctor*

Kat casts a spell and climbs the wall to the roof of the building; taking out a crowbar she leavers open a vent and looks inside.  Lurking inside is a roiling bank of green mist which Kat disperses with a wind spell and drops down into the building.  Initial inspections reveal nothing in the room; but on a second look she spy’s a trapdoor in the floor leading downwards which she uses for it’s intended purpose and with another spell cleans out the remaining fog in the room below.  Dropping down she is re-united with the rest of the party who are happy to see her.

They search the room and find nothing of much interest bar a couple of severed medusa heads which they quickly close the chest on before they animate and kill everyone; which was lucky as this is what they were going to try to do.  They quickly head up the ladder with Kat carrying the wolf and then up onto the roof; from here Grembor uses the Ivory Goat Figurine of Wonderous power they discovered earlier and heads back to Lepidstadt to try to get the disease removed as no-one in the party has the capability or the power to remove it and leaving it will likely kill him.  The rest of the party climb down from the roof and head back into the mansion to avail themselves on the kitchen and wine cellar; Kat especially takes a fancy to some wine and takes a couple of bottles with her to her room and locks the door behind herself.  Pringle and Sayuri sit up and discuss the days leading up to this and their current circumstances; they are under the impression that they are out matched by the creatures they are discovering here.  They will have to fight smarter to overcome the difficulties if they will survive at all.  

Grembor on the other hand makes it to Lepidstadt in a little less than 3 hours on the flying nightmare figurine; being a less than obvious person he lands the flying flaming goat outside the temple of Pharasma and walks in.  This does have the added incentive of causing the priests to take notice and attend to the obviously powerful adventurer as they always have money.  Grembor is soon healed but his attention is drawn to the wanted notice on the wall which looks suspiciously like him.  Apparently arson, bodily harm and being a public nuisance are serious offenses round here; in a little more than an hour he is healed and has picked up some extra healing; mounting his faithful goat he rides back to Schloss Caromarc and arrives roughly 7 hours after leaving.  Walking into the mansion he finds Pringle and Sayuri sleeping in their respective beds and Kat is locked in her room somewhat worse for wear due to the wine she has consumed.

Waking everyone up they sit around and discuss; they have the services of the flying goat for another 4 hours or so.  With which they can avoid the difficult and treacherous climb to the laboratory and be instead knocking on the doors to the lab in no time.  The party agrees; Kat slur’s something which they take for agreement and the goat who does not get an opinion in the matter takes them one at a time to the door leading into the top level building.

_DM Note: The next session’s may make or break the party; unfortunately there is no good front line fighter as all the members of the group seem to be either skirmishers or casters.  Pringle is an unofficial  cohort so a couple of levels lower; good spell selections but limited in power; Grembor has decent hp’s but a poor AC and his penchant for rolling natural 1’s is an unsolvable problem.  Kat can deal out some good damage with her swords but she is ridiculously easy to hit and her good hp’s soon drop into the negatives in a prolonged fight.  Sayuri has acceptable hp’s and a good AC but she does not do much damage; in a toe to toe fight she is often quickly outmatched if they can hit her.  Otherwise it’s shooting fish in a barrel as lower level chattel are quickly overcome; she can stand at the back and fire off spells and summon lots of monsters and this may indeed be the saving grace of the party.  Unfortunately the thoughts of the party have mainly been running in and hitting things which is the main reason Kat and Grembor have been hitting the floor regularly; that and going off on their own and getting into fights with things too powerful for them.  The final combat may indeed surprise me but my professional opinion is that one or more of the party will meet a sticky end in the next session or two. (This in not wishful thinking btw; I am a slave to the dice)_


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## Sic_Pixie

*The better part of valor*

Well to everyone’s surprise they survived the flight up the mountain; they found themselves before a solid and quite sodden iron bound wooden door; rust had befallen this proud portal and there is water seeping through.  Discussions were abound regarding the effects of ice on the door and if this would budge it as Kat could not get the portal open.  They decided that they would head straight for the tower with the interesting lightning rod on the roof.

Grembor flies up and inspects the roof from a safe distance; he notices that there is a large metal roof that has the capacity to be opened plus a smaller trapdoor leading also down into the room below.  The iron construction on the roof reaches 30 feet into the air and is comprised of three triangular platforms at 10 foot intervals; accessible by a narrow looking ladder from the rooftop.  Upon the highest platform are what looks to be a couple of machines and they are connected to the very large and impressive lightning conductor that reaches another 50 feet into the sky.  Grembor lands the flying goat on the roof and spends several minutes inspecting the trapdoor making sure there are no traps; apparently he learnt his lesson with the last trapdoor he inadvertently opened.  Creaking open the trapdoor he looks inside but it’s very dark; he can see a ladder going down and a few close strands of webbing; the size of which makes him somewhat nervous.  Grembor gets back on his trusty steed and does a fly around the tower trying to see a better way in but the only way he can find are the trapdoor on the ceiling and the obvious double doors at the base of the tower.

Deciding this is the safest way in and Pringle upon hearing about the machines on the roof gets very excited and wants to investigate them immediately.  Ferrying them to the roof they ascend the precarious ladder which the winds make dangerous but they all get to the top without issue.  Pringle and Sayuri both start poking at the two machines they found but neither of them can make any sense of them.  Pringle even receives a severe jolt of electricity for one of them and is nearly flung off the platform.  The resulting drop of 350ft would have caused him considerable issues but this was narrowly avoided by an out flung hand grabbing a support beam.  They come to the conclusion that this alchemical / magical machine is beyond them and retire back down the ladder.  Pringle casts a light spell on a pebble and they drop it down the trapdoor; it illuminates the inside of the tower nicely; they can see the ladder leading down 60ft to the floor; the many strands of thick webbing criss crossing the room; the leaver at the bottom of the ladder which they assume may control the metal shutters keeping the roof closed and the huge aberrant golem crouched close to the ceiling.  Lucky for them the creature while made of several different creatures; none of them are all that perspective or bright so the sudden appearance of light in the room in no way alerts the creature to their presence.  They beat a hasty retreat in full knowledge that they would all die a horrible death if they went up against that creature.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Start the machines*

After some heated discussion they travel down to the raised walkway before the tower and investigate this as a possible ingress point.  However after they listen at the door they are dissuaded by the sounds of something large wandering round behind the portal.

They in instead decide to follow the raised bridge which is only 3 ft wide back into the side of the hill and investigate the area they have not yet been through.  They hope that there is something in there which they can use against the huge golem which may prevent their very sudden and messy deaths.  They make their careful way across the bridge without any problems and Kat investigates the corridor.  This opened out into a long corridor with four doors leading off; Kat enters and opens the all four of the doors.  There is nothing inside worth investigating so she closes them off as four large round rooms with 3ft of water in them are not worth their time.  Despite the interesting creatures hiding in each which may or may not have killed them.

Giving this up as a bad deal they have a conversation among themselves again and Grembor gets his way finally and they all agree to take another look at the machines on the tower’s roof.  They are ferried up again by the flying goat without which they would have been in some serious problems; alighting upon the platform they set to investigating the two devices with Kat and Grembor assisting.  

They figure out that one of the devices is a storm caller; a device for summoning and controlling the weather causing lightning to strike the conductor and thus providing energy for the second device.  The other device seems to have four headsets and they seem to think that it’s a control device of some sort; pooling their knowledge and after a discussion with Kat and Sayuri Pringle flips a few switches; turns a few dials and presses the big red button.  With a crackle, hum and a high pitched whine the storm caller rumbles into action; the sky above soon turning darker and a lightning bolt soon hits the lightning rod above them.  Taking some cover from the lightning they apply the same process to the control device; Kat and Sayuri offer up assistance while Pringle does the actual work; however despite their help it seems to work and in no time the control device is up and running adding its deep whine to the noises of the storm caller.  

The purple liquid in the devise soon starts bubbling; Kat puts on one of the headsets and can feel the Beast through it; it’s very close so she calls it to them.  Sayuri also hooks herself up to the machine; she also feels the Beast and grants it her speed so it can arrive sooner.  Sooner would be better than later it seems as the Aberrant Flesh Golem in the room below seems to have woken up due to the noise of the machinery activating and starts trying to break through the iron shutters closing off the room below with deep booming strikes.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Rise and Fall of a Titan*

The group make preparations for a titanic battle; they are aware of the size of this thing and don’t wish to confront it in any manner.  Spells are cast and armor straps tightened; that glove which was not fitting quite right is adjusted for a better grip.   Several heavy strikes later they observe a huge claw burst through the iron shutters; gripping the strong metal it twists and screams as it’s ripped from its fastenings and pulled down into the tower.  Grembor having tied three acid flasks together drops them down the now created hole onto the upturned face of the monstrosity within.  They shatter and burning acid flows across its face; the aberrant seems to not even notice.  The rest of the team seems paralyzed in fear and shock.  Sayuri is using the machine and is willing the Beast to greater speeds to come fight this monstrosity as they are poorly equipped to do so without its assistance.  Pringle mounts the flying burning goat of doom and rides out to a safe distance awaiting his chance to cause the creature some damage with his spells; running through the spells he has at his disposal he mentally notes only a few have a chance of causing it any harm.  Kat is searching around the machine to see if it could be used to control this horrible creation instead of the beast they know could be peaceful.

With a grunt the aberrant golem pulls itself from the hole; it’s fully fifteen feet tall; shoulders are wide reaching possibly 7 feet; its arms end in huge pincers with the mouth of a huge ettercap dripping beads of a sizzling poison onto the nest of writhing tentacles that sprout from its chin and neck.  Pringle flying his mount and awaiting a good clear shot at the emergent creature fires off his most powerful spell and shoots a stream of scorchingly hot flames towards the aberrant which misses and gently warms the iron framework of the tower; he also notices that there is the large figure of the Beast running across the narrow stone walkway into the base of the tower. The Aberrant turning its gaze upon Grembor who suddenly finds himself way too close for comfort it opens its mouth and emits a low moan that Grembor feels reverberating though his very soul; his jaw drops and he is overcome with a very rational terror of this hulking monstrosity.  Only a crazy person would want to stand against it; he turns and starts running away from the aberrant golem towards the only exit available; the trapdoor downwards.  However the aberrant has an idea to send him on his way and strikes out with one huge claw catching Grembor with a glancing blow to his shoulder; Grembor feels the bones within his shoulder grating together as it dislocates and screaming in pain, shock and terror he is nearly forced off the narrow ledge to the gushing waters far below to his death.  However he manages to stay on his feet through some miracle of agility and reaches the trapdoor and wrenches it open with his good arm.

Kat can find no switches or alternate settings which would indicate taking control of the aberrant golem and returns to trying to see if she can assist with the beast; Pringle clutching his staff recalls the last spell back to mind and fires off another scorching stream of fire which catches the aberrant on the shoulder leaving small patches of charred dust in it’s wake.  The spell does not seem to damage the monstrosity however it did seem to have the effect of slowing the aberrant down.  It turns its wrathful gaze upon Pringle who suddenly thinks the distance between the aberrant and himself is much shorter than it should be.  Sayuri letting control of the Beast lax allowing Kat to continue as she is aware that the Beast is within the tower and will arrive very shortly; she turns to gaze down upon the aberrant from her precarious 30 foot height above the tower top upon which the aberrant is standing.  There is a narrow 5ft wide ledge which the huge golem is currently balancing upon and sudden inspiration hits her as she casts one of her least spells.  A thin film of grease appears on the walkway underneath the aberrant and it finds the narrow ledge is not so much to its liking anymore; it’s clawed feet seem to loose traction and it falls to the floor; however it is more towards the outside of the tower then the inside and it falls the 100 feet down to the narrow 3 ft wide walkway which it hits with a crushing impact.  Thankfully the bridge holds; however the aberrant also manages to gain a hold of the bridge and prevent its long fall to the greedy waters below.  It bellows in pain to the skies and the party look on in amazement as a simple spell nearly defeated the hideous aberrant in one fell swoop.  They soon recover however; Grembor scrambles down the ladder still in absolute terror not noticing that the source of this horror is now below him.  Kat allows control to lapse back to Sayuri while Pringle takes out a wand and starts firing off an arrow comprised of pure acid which flashes past the prone creatures face impacting upon the wall before him sizzling into the fine masonry.  The Aberrant struggles back to its feet; the very narrow ledge causing it serious problems as its feet are wider then the ledge is; balancing precariously upon the ledge it looks up at the tower above it and screams in anger; its pincers gripping the stone walk in a tight grasp.  Sayuri takes back control of the Beast and finds it’s in the bottom level of the tower and sets it to attack the Aberrant Golem; the Beast runs into the Aberrant trying to shoulder barge it off the narrow ledge; the Aberrant resists this due to its firm grip on the walk way much to the group’s dismay.  

Pringle again tries firing his arrow of acid into the creature below and strikes true; the arrow strikes the meaty part of the aberrant’s leg and dissolves into a small patch of flesh eating acid.  Grembor recovers from his fit of terror and finds to his dismay that he has soiled himself; he starts looking around the room he is currently in which is filled with thick webs.  Kat looks on the battle below unsure what she can do to assist while Sayuri grants the Beast her Monk abilities.  The aberrant is only getting a single blow in at the Beast due to its precarious position and it is slowed due to the fire damage.  Each blow from the Aberrant however is very powerful and when they connect they knock the Beast backwards a step.  The Beast finds it can suddenly strike many times a round and proceeds to pummel the Aberrant around its head and shoulders with its powerful fists.  Each strike causing bone shattering retorts to reverberate through the tower with the crackle of lightning.  The lightning however removes the slowness from the Aberrant but its position does not improve much. 

Pringle fires off another arrow from his wand and this one also strikes true only inches from the last arrow; Grembor ever the rogue starts searching around the room he found himself in looking for something to … acquire while Kat is directing Sayuri from her relatively safe position looking down upon the battle; Sayuri is still granting the Beast the use of her flurry ability.  The Aberrant strike true again; it’s attacks hampered by its position; it knows in its heart that it can’t continue on like this and that it is unable to properly retort otherwise it would probably tear the upstart Beast apart.  However its blows hit and cause some serious damage even with it unable to apply its full strength to the blows.  The Beast delivers a tremendous smack down on the Aberrant Golem with three very heavy blows causing the Aberrant to sway on its perch and re-secure its tenuous grip.

Pringle aims his trusty wand at the creature and lets another deadly arrow fly; the arrow goes wide however striking the bridge; the Aberrant grins up at the look of dismay on the face of Pringle but the ongoing damage from the previous rounds acid takes it’s toll and the Aberrants eyes glaze over and it slips from its perch and drops the 250 odd feet down to the churning waters of the waterfall.  Some poor fisherman downstream is going to get a shock when he reels that catch in.  Hope they don’t try eating it.

The party looks on in shock as they escaped the fight with only Grembor taking any damage; that was one horrible hit and he will likely be sore for several days but still they survived like they did not expect to.  

_DM Note: The reflex save for Sayrui’s Grease spell was I think 14; the Aberrant’s reflex saves was a very bad 4 so I needed a 10 which it failed; I granted it another reflex save to grab onto the platform supports to prevent it from slipping over the side which it also failed.  I then allowed a 50/50 chance it would fall off the ledge into the tower it had crawled out of or out of the tower to the waters below.  I rolled 56 if I recall; so out of the tower it fell.  The two reflex saves were both 4’s neither of which sufficient to stay on its feet or to grab hold of something to prevent its fall.  Had it managed to grab something it would have gone badly for the party as the only thing it could grab would be the iron structure they were standing on and this would likely collapse if one of the three iron legs holding up the platform was compromised.  Looking at the map it was likely to fall onto the walkway from the tower to the main structure this is a 100ft drop; it hit and I allowed another reflex save to hold onto the bridge.  This one it made so while the Grease spell very nearly killed off the creature in one fell swoop it was a very close thing.  The Beast was to arrive in the next couple of rounds so I figured it was in the tower already so it was in a good position to strike the Aberrant from where it was.  I was a little surprised by the turn of events; I love Grease spells when I’m a player; as a DM … not so much._


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## Sic_Pixie

*How not to put on a disguise*

Dancing around Kat and Sayuri re the only ones to notice the sounds of battle still running downstairs; they look at each other and run back to the device and connect up to it again.  Apparently the Beast is being attacked by something and they have little to no idea what it could be.  (The device sends feelings not images) Pringle in desperation and risking his life to the rapidly diminishing duration on the flying Goat mounts up and heads down to see inside of the tower.  To his surprise there is a four armed flesh golem inside which looks to have gone berserk and is attacking the Beast; the beast is giving as much as it received however he is sorely damaged by his assault upon the Aberrant Golem. It does not help either, that this golem is made from Gorillion parts and as such has four swipes with its clawed hands to the beasts two.  The Beast is being worn down but Kat links in and grants him some healing through the device while Sayuri grants him the use of her flurry ability again.  This is the deciding factor and the Gorillion Golem is soon reduced to a pile of twitching flesh and bone.  

The group again does a mini dance and caper around for a few minutes before exploring the rest of the tower.  The Beast gives everyone back breaking hugs and is very happy to see them all there; Grembor finds a trapdoor made of pure adamantine which he promptly gets his tools out to start removing this expensive object to take with him.  They find the Count locked up in an adamantine Misery Doll in the top room which was where the Aberrant Golem was nesting.  He is de-hydrated and malnourished but some healing and restorations added to some water and some rations he is feeling much better though not really up to walking around just yet.  

The group is now aware of the twisted experiments Caromarc has been carrying out in his laboratory—the tragic existence of the Beast of Lepidstadt is only one among many. With his castle in ruins and his secrets revealed, Caromarc would prefer for his saviours to go on their way quickly and quietly—any gossip could have a devastating effect upon his reputation, and should the residents of Lepidstadt learn that he was responsible for the creation of the Beast, his position in Vieland would become very difficult indeed. Because of this, Caromarc offers the group 3,000gp as a reward to for freeing him and for having the courage to defend the Beast, and asks them to avenge the wrongs against him and the people of Lepidstadt by unmasking and thwarting the Whispering Way’s plot. 

Caromarc is happy to tell the them what little he knows of the Whispering Way’s plot; they used the Bondslave Thrall (the device on the roof) to force the Beast to steal the Seasage Effigy (though he does not know why), and once they had it in hand, they immediately departed. Caromarc’s homunculus Waxwood overheard the cultists talking in hushed tones about the Shudderwood, the dark forest to the south and east, and Caromarc suspects that they may be heading for Ascanor Lodge, since that is the only island of civility in its deadly depths. Caromarc directs the party to the Silent Path, an ancient hunting trail through the Shudderwood, now little more than a memory marked in places by strange bone fetishes. Caromarc often used the trail himself when he was younger and had more energy to seek out rare plants and toxins, accessing the old trail about a mile downstream from Schloss Caromarc. If the whispering Way did go into the Shudderwood, this trail is most likely the path they took. The Beast thanks the group for defending it and being the only friends it has ever known, and sobs bitterly when they leave bestowing more of his energetic hugs upon the party.

Leaving Sayuri walks alongside the horses as her faithful steed was lost to the teeth and claws of the Troll hounds; they cautiously travel their way back to Lepidstadt and surprisingly find nothing blocking their progress.  They enter into the city and the party notice several people giving Grembor suspicious glances; Grembor quickly dives into a small ally and dons his mustache disguise remembering too late that he has wanted posters all over the city.  However a serious miscalculation has him using the guardhouse window’s reflection to don his masterful disguise; the amused guardsmen look on as he preens himself in the window’s reflection.  His eyes refocus on the room beyond his now skillfully disguised exterior and he notices the room full of guardsmen who have taken a poster off the wall and are gathered around comparing the picture on this poster to the idiot donning his disguise right outside their window.  Grembor grins and waves running to his horse and mounting up; kicking its sides in haste the horse leaps away and gallops up the street.  If he had stopped for longer he would have heard the resounding sounds of a whole room of guardsmen breaking out into a chorus of howling laughter as they sit back down and discuss the idiosyncrasies of adventurers.

They make their hurried way to the Judges house where she is currently enjoying her dinner; she gestures them in and sits them at her table; smiling when she recognizes Grembor behind the waxed mustache.  She informs Grembor that the charges against him had been dropped when she heard of them and he was Lepidstadt’s most wanted for all of 2 days before it was quashed.  He should take precautions as many of the people involved did not find the situation quite so amusing.

After the party recount their exploits and gave tidings of what had happened Judge Daramid also personally congratulates them on their exploits, and tells them the fate of the Beast of Lepidstadt is no longer their concern. She informs the party that she will be contacting Caromarc to ensure the Beast never leaves his care again.

She adds that one final loose end about the Beast still exists however; the stolen Seasage Effigy, the very reason all this trouble began. Daramid confides to them that she is a member of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, a secret organization that, among other things, seeks to defend Ustalav from threats both within and without. Now that they know the Whispering Way was involved in the theft, the Order is greatly concerned with what the Whispering Way might be up to, as it is a death cult that reveres undeath as a means of transcendence, and has disturbing connections to the Whispering Tyrant, Tar-Baphon. If they are ready to pursue the Whispering Way on their own, Judge Daramid bluntly offers them a substantial reward to track down and investigate the cult.  The party agrees and leaves to wash up and change before hitting the hay.

_DM Note: Here pretty much ends the 2nd book of the 6 part Carrion Crown path.  The party has a couple of days to buy and sell stuff while the Order sorts out payment for services rendered.  The book details a cash advance for this but I personally find this adventure very low on magical items and as yet no real time in which to manufacture their own as it’s very much against the clock.  They need to be quick obviously as the Whispering way has a head start but the party needs to re-supply and re-order its members.  

The party hit 7th level here, Grembor officially takes Leadership and Pringle becomes his cohort.  (Pringle is played by Ron’s son Chris who can only attend sporadically) Sayuri also takes Leadership and takes on a cohort of a 5th level Elven Fighter called Zordlan.  She needs a meat shield to protect her sensitive skin.  We also have another person joining the group which looks like it may get to 4 real players; an amazing achievement here._


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## Sic_Pixie

*End of the Trail of the Beast .... and a pause to recharge*

The next morning they wake up and have themselves a lie in; tis a glorious luxury for them to do so.  Grembor is looking to have them adamantine weapons forged from the trapdoor they discovered and is also looking for somewhere he can spend several hours fashioning himself a bow which will be made to his specifications.  

Sayuri and Kat stay in bed till late morning enjoying the novelty of the situation while Pringle sits up reading his books trying to master a new spell of exceptional complexity.  He has never manipulated quite so much magical energy before and the spell is having trouble sticking in his mind without it leaking out of his ears.  He endeavors however and the complex gestures and inflections on the words are slowly sinking into his mind burning inflexible geometric patterns and symbols into his psyche.

Grembor visits a fine Dwarven weapon smith first passing over some funds and instructions to make four daggers from the Adamantine; they agree on a price plus the leftover Adamantine which Grembor is happy about as long as the timeline is correct.  Two days to coerce the notoriously inflexible material into a new form will be a challenge; after this bargaining Grembor heads to a well respected bowyer and requests politely to use his tools and equipment to fashion himself a bow.  He has the skills but lacks the tools or experience and the bow snaps in its initial tests due to a hidden flaw or mistake in manufacture and Grembor leaves somewhat depressed.  The bowyer tells him to return the following day as he will sort out the laminating and gluing of the various materials to he can start of the carving and finish off the work.

He returns back to the group somewhat depressed; they sit around chatting about the upcoming mission and what they plan; Traveling through the woods hold little surprise for this group; that is apart from Pringle whose favorite type of tree is his books.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

They all arise the next day feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world; Grembor heads out to check on the dagger production before heading to the bowyer while Kat Pringle and Sayuri sit around the bar most of the day chatting till Grembor returns bearing a newly fashioned bow.

Later in the afternoon they head out sporting their new adamantine daggers on their hips; heading to the judges house they are welcomed in.

Judge Daramid pours them all tea and takes out some items from a box beside her; an amulet, a headband, a quiver and a short sword.  She lays them on the table before her and smiles at the party before producing a small bag and placing them beside each item.  “Some of these are more powerful than the others but I think they will suit you each quite nicely.  Kat I know of your hatred for those undead creatures and considering the course of the path before you I have allowed this item from my family’s past.  This short sword is called Gravebane and you will find it particularly useful against those that have dodged the grave.  Grembor; you are a fine archer and I have spoken to my order and they produced this item for your use; it can hold a large amount of ammunition plus it can cause your missiles to become enflamed once per day.  Pringle and Sayuri I know you less than the others but I hear that your both spellcasters; I present to you each an item that will improve your spellcasting potential and make it easier to overcome your foe’s resistance.  Hopefully this will be sufficient recompense for your time investigating the whispering way.  Each bag holds some gemstones which you should be able to convert into any funds you require.  Good luck with your journey and may the gods look over you.”  With this she smiles at the party and takes a sip of her sweet tea before continuing.  “Now onto other matters; If you have no objection you need some invitations to gain entrance to Ascanor Lodge as entrance is by invitation only.  I have pulled a few strings and these should allow you access.” Handing the party some envelopes; “they allow the barer access to the lodge on official business of the order.  We are a secret organization but we do have some pull at the lodge.”  Smiling at the party; “Now finish your cup of tea and go kill something my dears … We have evil to protect the world from.”  With this startling statement from the mouth of the Judge they drink up and head out and walk back to the Scholars Rest to spend the night before heading out the next day on a perilous mission.

_DM Note: Here ends the second book in the 6 part series; we are taking a break to allow James to run a Spelljammer campaign for a few weeks to allow me to re-charge my Dm batteries and re-read the next part before trying to kill everyone with it.

We will be picking it up again in the next Adventure Broken Moon. … 
_


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## Sic_Pixie

*Broken Moon ... Teaser*

_Thank you Emma157 for your praise, I'm glad you like it._

*Part 1*

The party expands; 
*Pringle* becomes *Grembors* Cohort as the party finally hit 7th level.  (Pringle is played on and off by the RL son of Grembor when he visits)
The party is breifly joined by *Jah*; an angry ½ Orc Barbarian who seems to have issues with nerds and other scholarly types. (Played by AJ)
*Sayuri* is joined by one of her father’s retainers who has been sent to protect her so *Sayuri* gains *Zordlan* as a cohort; he is a Male Elven fighter who wields an exquisite curved 2 handed sword.  The party is getting bigger than I thought it would.

We rejoin our lucky party (and I do mean lucky) as they relax in the Scholars Rest; a tavern where the socially inept tend to hang out and try to not talk to each other.  
The Tavern is busy; all the tables are taken but even in the crowd there is space around one of the tables; Sitting at this table are four figures; each very unique and each with a story to tell.  They stand out from the surrounding customers not only by the array of weapons some are carrying but more in the way they hold themselves; the confidence and potential violence in each of them is almost palpable.  Well that is except for the one reading a book; he is just like everyone else here. 

Sayuri sits demurely with her eyes down while being lectured by her older guardian; the older Elven Male has not seen Sayuri in several months and has known her all her life but he has no idea how far she has progressed; the last time he talked to her she was a newly ordained monk.  She is dressed in nicely tailored but worn attire consisting of silks and leather which allows for good freedom of movement; this is one of the only two in the group who are not decked out in a large assortment of instruments of murder.  There are several rents in her clothes which have been meticulously repaired with regular and neat stitches.  Her Hair is swept back over one ear with her mis matched eyes flickering around the room before returning to the dainty though powerful hands clasped in her lap.

Her companion; a tall elf clad in a fine suit of Elven plate amour with a large elegantly curved two handed sword on his back. Is leaning forward as he lectures Sayuri; this is Zordlan; an employee of Sayrui’s father who has been sent to coddle his daughter on what he thinks is a baby sitting job.  As a professional bodyguard to her family he thinks this is beneath him but he is sworn to her father’s service so here he is.  He carries himself in the unmistakable manner of a skilled warrior; his weapons and amour not the only thing that would advise someone to not mess with him.  His job just got a whole load more interesting than he thought it would.

Sitting across from them are two figures; Grembor slowly working his way through some fruit pie; dressed in dark leathers.  His weapons are arraigned around his person in easy reach with his bow propped up against the table; eyes scanning the room for possible problems.  All entrances and exits and before him and his back is to the wall.  An observant person would be alarmed at the sheer number of instruments of death he is carrying and the almost complete lack of emotion in the dead eyed stare.

Pringle however is absorbed in a book; his eyes are only focused on the one thing and that is mastering the difficult (some would say impossible) feat of transferring the words and symbols scribed in his tome into a magical matrix in his mind to be released at will.  He has recently achieved powers hitherto unknown by him and he is trying to memorize the complex symbols and motions for some new spells.  He is dressed in a plain functional tunic and trousers; he has opted out of wearing plain slippers and instead is sporting a pair of sturdy boots.  A cloak is draped around his shoulders and the only visible weapon is a dagger strapped to his side and a staff in the crook of his elbow.

In a separate bar; in a more seedy side of town; sitting at a table all alone is a hulking figure.  This bar is also very busy and the table our newcomer is sitting at is given a very wide berth.  The hulking figure is clothed in serviceable though dirty garments; standing over seven feet tall with broad shoulders and a shock of dark hair in thick dreadlocks; the arms resting upon the table are corded in muscle which bulge underneath the thick green tinted skin as the hands flex and clench.  His dark eyes scan the room his ears twitching at the sound of breaking glass.  Two humans start a scuffle and the hulking figure leaps to his feet with catlike speed and large hands descend upon the collars of both drunken combatants lifting them both into the air like kittens being carried by their mother.  They are ungraciously tossed outside and our hulking ½ orc returns to his table and picks up his tankard again taking a deep swig.  A slight figure slips into the seat opposite and grins softly up at the ½ orc; “Greetings Jah, I have an alternative job for you if you’re interested?” Waiting for a nod from the hulking figure he continues.  “My contact wishes some muscle to accompany some associates of theirs into dangerous territory; The Shudderwood is a place filled with deadly things thirsting for blood.  I can offer you 50 gold just to talk to them; I suggest you arrange an equal share of the loot.  The mission will be dangerous possibly deadly but the rewards could be so much more; they are sitting in the Scholars Rest and I think you will be unable to miss them.” Placing the bag on the table with a slight jingle he stands and walks out tipping his hat at a waitress as he passes.  Jah sits for a few seconds before reaching out and scooping the bag off the table into his pouch; standing he heads to the bar and reaching behind his hand grasps the haft of a very large axe which he hefts without trouble and turns to the crowded bar; a bar which has become suddenly so much quieter; nervous eyes follow Jah as he walks out of the bar and heads down the street; there is a collective sigh as he leaves with the conversation resuming afterwards each expressing concern over where he was off to or which unfortunate person he is likely to meet.

In the Scholars Rest the party is enjoying a relaxing evening as are the other patrons until the solid door is suddenly slammed open causing squeals from several of the more timid students in attendance.  Framed in the doorway is a large humanoid with dreadlocks; the rain glistening on his skin and the flickering lights within the room reflecting on his bare arms.  Ducking to enter the 7ft plus ½ Orc steps into the room; his eyes scan the tables and every scholar in there sincerely hopes it’s not them he has come to see.  Grembor meets his gaze his hand already clutching the bow beside him while his other hand is curled round the hilt of his sword at his side; Jah seeing the party in the corner table grunts and pushes his way through the rapidly depleting patrons.

Stomping up to the table Jah grunts out a greeting to which those round the table reply to; Sayuri stands and utters a quick hello smiling at the hulking figure enquiring to his purpose here.  Jah grins and requests to join with them in their quest as he has heard they need muscle and it’s very evident that he has plenty of this commodity as his hands clench sending ripples of muscles up his arms and across his chest.  The party looks at each other then back at the large imposing figure before them and readily agrees that yes they do indeed need a meat shield; I mean a damage soaker… errr warrior to assist in their quest.  Jah grunts his approval and accosts one of the patrons taking his beer and swilling it down before smiling an evil grin at its previous owner.  There is the distinct aroma of urine in the air and a glistening trail following the poor lowly student from the tavern as he swiftly departs having disgraced himself.

Jah gestures to the barmaid who brings over a large tankard of foaming beer nervously placing it before him before retreating; Jah sits at the table and tries to make small talk with Sayuri to little effect.

Essentially:

_Jah: Me Jah man
Sayuri: I’m Sayuri; this is Zordlan, Grembor and Pringle (pointing each out)
Jah grunts
Sayuri: what bring you here and why do you think we need your help?
Jah: Little man told me.
Sayuri: Err little man?
Jah: yah (while looking around with apparent boredom)
Sayuri: We have another colleague but they are busy she is our healer.
Jah grunts and nods_

So ends the epic conversation …

They decide to head out early the next morning so they drink till the early hours before heading to bed.  Jah stays in the common room as no-one is brave enough to ask him to leave so he curls up on one of the benches and his snores sound like someone cutting wood or punching a baboon …


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Spiders everywhere*

Come morning the waitresses come back in and find Jah still sleeping; the chef quickly throws together some spiced potatoes; bacon and other pleasantries and a generous bowl of the substance is placed before the slumbering ½ Orc with a large mug of frothy beer to wash it down with.  Jah upon waking to the sounds of work around him is initially annoyed till his nose tells him about the food and with a grin he starts eating.  Over the next hour or so the rest of the party wander downstairs while Jah is consuming his second bowl and 3rd Mug of beer.  The rest of the party all order the same and Jah joins them for breakfast … 

Heading out the party pass through the northern gate and follow the trail northwards till they meet the Shudderwood.  Standing at the edge of the Shudderwood is almost like staring into another world. Ominous, towering pine trees blot out the sunlight, allowing only occasional splinters of light to pierce through. Within this dimness, broken branches and occasional shrubs growing up through fallen trees create shadowy illusions both wondrous and haunting. Apart from pallid lichens, colourful fungi, feathermoss, and wintergreen, little else grows in the forest. The Shudderwood possesses an eerie stillness only occasionally lifted by the sounds of passing birds and small animals scurrying across the dry pine needles littering the forest floor.  

The party were advised by the Count to follow a trail called the Silent Path; an ancient and rarely used winding trail marked by bone and feather fetishes which travels for several hundred miles through the forest from it’s edge to Ascanor Lodge and beyond to the city of Chastel.  

The trail is easy enough to follow as long as you have some knowledge of woodcraft which this group has in spades.  The bright sun barely able to penetrate to the forest floor as they pick their cautious route; the trail has been used and the odd passing wagon wheel ruts in the path attest to its functionality and width.  However when it was last used is difficult to say; rain would have to fall pretty hard to work its way between the thickly laced branches above; the wind and other environmental effects that would erode the trail are muted by the choking trees.

Footsteps and hooves are muted by the thick carpet of needles which choke the efforts of smaller fauna; the most common plant life (if you can call it that) are ferns and fungi; fungi which seems to shed an eerie glow when it get darker and tightly curled ferns which host all manner of ticks and other disagreeable grubs.  The high acid content in the needles makes for a harsh environment for any other plant life.

The first day passes uneventfully as they travel through the dimly shadowed eaves of the forest.  Each of the scouts of the partying alternating between taking point and bringing up the rear; the gloom and oppressiveness of the forest soon works its magic upon the party; the muted sounds of the living forest causing them to talk in piercing whispers.  The party are regularly startled by the clash of colour and sound from various distressed birds with the clap of pinions as they burst from the surrounding trees.  Setting up camp they soon drift off to sleep leaving a guard to monitor the surrounds; the guards change every 2 hours and it’s upon Grembors watch that he hears sounds which were not there before.  There is the sound of tree’s snapping and heavy footfalls; he quickly moves to wake up Jah who with his size and large axe makes for a good thing to hide behind as he shoots his bow.  

Jah is woken from his dreams of large breasted women bearing tankards of foaming beer; as his hand reaches for his axe the worried face of Grembor comes into view and the urgent whispers pierce the clouds of sleep and forestall the initial angry response.  Jah is suddenly awake and alert and he too hears the sound of the approaching creature as it makes no efforts to hide its progress.  Grembor disappears from Jah’s tent and heads to wake Sayuri who with the faintest touch on her arm is awake; she swiftly kicks Zordlan who grunts and instinctively reaches for his sword before sitting up and looking around.

Bursting from the surrounding trees with the sharp retort of snapping trunks and branches is a huge spider; a tarantula fully 15ft across; it’s massive venom dripping jaws lash out at the nearest prey and Sayuri’s horse is practically cut in half by the gargantuan amounts of damage combined with the horrendous amounts of poison pumped into it’s body.  Sayuri screams in anguish ‘Why is it always my horse” before getting to her feet and watching the bright light of life quickly fade from her trusted companions eyes as her horse staggers and collapse to the ground in a pool of blood which is being greedily absorbed by the hungry earth.

Sayuri takes one look at the huge spider and the damage it caused to the horse and beats a hasty retreat; casting her favourite spell for making a swift escape; her rope levitates into the air fixing to a point in another dimension.  Zordlan follows her, his armour laying forgotten and useless on the ground by his sleeping blanket as he scoops up his bow and fires an arrow at the monster which buries itself into an innocent tree.  Grembor hurries onto Pringles tent and shakes him awake; startled Pringle grabs his staff and emerges into the dim light of the fire wearing nothing but his underclothes; the moonlight as poor at breaking through the branches as the sun was.  However it takes no elf to see the huge spider menacing Jah and Pringle points a finger at the monstrosity and fires off his most powerful spell; a spell that previous to a day ago was beyond his talents.  He had been waiting for just the right opportunity to use this spell and with a shouted string of nonsense; some complicated gestures and the producing of some simple bat guano rolled into a ball with some sulphur a tiny red ball streaked from his hand and exploded next to the huge spider.  The spider staggered back a step from the bright flash of fire, however this was a new spell for Pringle and as such he did not appreciate just how big an area it affected.  Jah sizing up his opponent notices a small red pea streak past him and alight upon the floor not 5 paces from him; he just shrugs his shoulders until the pea explodes into a ball of fire engulfing him in it’s flames.  The after images of the blast almost blind him and he feels his anger threatening to overwhelm him.  With a guttural roar which makes Pringle very nervous he leaps at the spider who was waiting for just such an opportunity before it was rudely interrupted by the fire; as he closes he finds some large sharp fangs which score lines on his shoulder but thankfully for Jah the poison missed and only impacted on the surface.  His axe swings in a wide arc and connects with a meaty thunk and a squeal from the spider; it rears back spraying ichor from it’s severed leg all over Jah and it’s remaining eyes peer down at him with a terrible malice which if he was not in the midst of a rage may have caused him to pause.

The Spider does not seem overly impressed with its breakfast fighting back and lunging forward impales Jah on its fangs; pumping in a large dose of poison it sits back and waits for the morsel to fall over dead.  Jah thinks about this for a second before deciding he would rather not as he shakes off the effects of the poison and grins at the spider before him.  Sayuri noticing that not everyone else is beating a retreat like she did and somewhat sheepishly moves forward and unleashes some balls of force at the spider; they impact with the meaty crunch of marshmallow wrapped in caramel causing the spider to scan around for the source of its pain. Zrolden fires off an arrow which misses while Grembor nocks an arrow and fires off a few shafts at the monster and predictably most of them miss also.  (Could not hit the side of a barn comes to mind)  Pringle casts and fires off a pair of flames which impact on the creature causing a couple of its eyes to pop with the heat.  There is the distinctive aroma of scorched spider in the air; faintly mixed with burnt Jah … Jah flinches as the twin bars of flame streak past him possibly in remembered pain and growls at Pringle before unleashing a pair of solid hits on the spider who was surprised as nothing so far has resisted its potent poison; the spider who is not used to its breakfast struggling so much beats a hasty retreat leaving the party slightly singed and a whole lot beaten up and minus a horse.

Grembor with the assistance of Jah butchers the remains of the horse; leaving the obviously poisoned parts alone and drags the remains a short distance away.  The rest of the party are soon asleep again with Zordlan taking the next watch.  He hears some slight sounds in the night but nothing to be concerned about; Last watch is Jah who grumbles about getting up in the middle of the night.  Wandering round camp he hears a few low sounds including a thump of something heavy hitting the floor but can’t make it out.  Listening he hears no more so dismisses it as some random tree falling over.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*I don't need to make no stinking will saves !!!*

The morning is a slightly lighter affair then the night as the sun struggles to break through the canopy above; walking around the camp Grembor is the first to notice that the remains of the horse has gone; examining the ground it looks like a creature with large paws made off with it.  As wolves tend to hunt in packs and there is just the one set of prints it looks most likely to be a large cat of some sort.  Shuddering at what a cat this size could have done to the party as they slept he puts it to the back of his mind and continues packing up his effects.

After a breakfast of oatmeal fruit and cheese washed down with water they set out; Sayuri bemoaning the loss of her horse even though she moves as quickly as it did; loading her possessions onto Zordlan’s horse they hit the trail.  The day passes and a short time after lunch they spot a few figures in the trees ahead of them; from the looks of them they seem to be a cross between a humanoid and a spider; Pringle identifies them as Ettercap’s a nasty race of spider like beings that prey upon anything they can catch.

They approach carefully and the Ettercap retreat knowing a party they can’t beat when they see one; Sayuri grins to see them back off but is momentarily distracted by a haunting tune floating through the trees.  Shaking off the insidious effects of the tune she scans around the rest of the group hoping they did not hear it also; Everyone seems to be fine as none of them have the fine tuned senses that she has; None of them except Grembor who finds the tune so very captivating that he immediately heads off to discover the source of this melodious and haunting tune.  Jah moves to prevent him from walking off into the trees but as he does so his ears pick up the tune as well and in an instant he understands and also moves to find the source of the beautiful music that brings tears to a ½ Orc’s eyes.  The party attempt to manoeuvre themselves to block their passage but they just walk around them; Sayuri even goes as far to throw a ball of force at Jah thinking it may break the enchantment but he just shakes it off.  Pringle casts a spell on Grembor to cause him to pause but this time his mental fortitude shakes off the spell.

The Ettercaps look on in glee as most of the toughest looking members start wandering off and they look hungrily at the remaining party …

Closing the Ettercaps send dense webs at the most obviously dangerous members who are not already entranced by the music; Zordlan gets most of it while Pringle receives another batch (not as he looks dangerous; he was closest) Sayuri misses out for the most part.  The Ettercap are not really a problem though as they are swiftly dealt with even with Jah and Grembor off with the fairies; Sayuri does manage to leap on Grembor bearing him to the ground however before he moves too far into the ruined tower they were both heading towards.  With the threat of being punched in his face Grembor manages to throw off the insidious music’s allure and Sayuri notices focus coming back into his eyes.  They are closer now which causes another problem; Zordlan who previously could not hear the music (mainly due to terrible perception checks) finally tunes into his surroundings and with a glazed look starts stumbling towards the tower.  Sayuri with a scream of frustration leaps from Grembor’s prone and recovering form onto Zordlan’s back bearing him to the floor and sends her fist knuckles first into his temple.  With a loud yelp of pain Zordlan recovers his senses and looks around with a pained expression.  Sayuri without an ounce of remorse stands up and looks down upon the weak willed Zordlan who is now sitting up rubbing his sore head.

They re-group outside of the tower and look inside; to their dismay there is no glitter of treasure or anything to make this tower look at all appealing; it’s only room is covered in thick webbing which looks to have several medium sized packets dangling within.  None of them seem to be moving although one does seem to be quite red with blood; however unless it’s bound exceedingly tightly then it’s too small for the 7ft plus frame of their ½ Orc companion.

Grembor and Zordlan move into the tower noticing that the music stopped as soon as they set foot inside; Scanning the room the see no access to the upper floors and a large hole against the far wall which seems to have a path cleared to it.  Moving carefully up to the hole they are startled when a large female form which seems composed of a bloated white segments of a maggot’s body erupt in a torso of mixed feminine and insectile features. Pale humanoid skin and carapace meld together beneath a face with segmented eyes and mandibles chittering a song of discordant alien clicks and hisses, as overlong carapace claws weave cords of thick webbing between them, bursts up and strikes out at Grembor with her claws; scoring a deep wound on his chest his eyes roll up into his head as he collapses onto the floor; Zordlan would have something to say about leaving him facing this abomination all alone but he soon follows Grembor to the floor also paralysed by the creatures poisoned claws.  Sayuri looks at Pringle who is looking back at her; somewhat nervously as they were expecting to have the benefit of a meat shield they back away a step from the huge creature.  Sayuri knowing that the fate of the party rests on their actions conjures her most powerful offensive spell which she had coalesce in her mind a few days ago.  With a few mutters of arcane words and a small amber rod which she rubs with a little piece of rabbits fur a bright streak of lightning jumps from her hand and slams into the creature looming over her two paralysed friends; Pringle not to be undone fires off twin bars of flame which strike the creature in it’s torso.  The Weaverworm having sparks still running all over its body and large burn marks across its chest is suitably annoyed; drawing itself up it spits a torrent of webs towards Sayuri which strikes a glancing blow on her shoulder.  Rolling with it as the worm tries to haul her in she slips free as she grins up at the 15ft tall creature.  With a gesture and barely a thought she unleashes a torrent of force missiles; four missile streak towards the creature impacting upon its face and chest with astounding force causing the worm to slither back a bit.  This is followed by another pair of fire beams from Pringle who used the power of his staff to recast the spell again.  Both streaks of flame impact on the worms shoulder and stomach blasting a sizable hole in its flesh and sending it slumping to the floor.  Grembor recovering from the poison climbs slowly to his feet; plucking one of the creatures claws from his shoulder; Sayuri tending to Zordlan is not so tender and rips the claw from his flesh.  Grembor tends to them both with his wand getting them back to some sort of healthy.

Sayuri, Pringle and a quiet Zordlan search this chamber which is festooned with webs and web wrapped bundles while Grembor squeezes past the worm to investigate its hole.  The hole very much like the worm itself stinks worse than a Trolls armpit after an hour slogging through a fetid jungle.  However he does find a comatose Jah wrapped in webs awaiting the next meal of the worm; also hidden beneath the webs he finds a small box within which he finds some trinkets so this may not be a totally wasted journey.  After slapping Jah some and extracting some of the worm’s claws from his stomach Jah regains consciousness and gets shakily to his feet assisted by Grembor.  So far the ½ Orc has not shown himself to be much use as the spider left with a few wounds and he walks blindly into the next fight and is knocked unconscious without a blow being struck.

They squeeze past the foul smelling worm; its juices practically covering the pair as they make their way past.  It’s wormlike body feeling like a bag of warm mashed potatoes as they push against it; wriggling up the tight corridor to freedom and fresh air.  They eventually make it out to the tower’s base; Jah getting stuck a couple of times while Grembor slithers through as if part snake.  Sayuri, Pringle and Zordlan all are standing in the fresh air outside of the tower awaiting their return; Sayuri’s nose cringes as they approach the smell of the worm covering them.  With a few well placed cantrips their clothes are cleaned and the smell is banished although the feeling of the things skin and the memories will haunt them for a while.

Sayuri shows them what else they found on the bodies; displaying an invitation to Ascanor Lodge for what looks like someone of noble birth called Echtmoor Dravin.  The date is a week previous so they are assuming he will be missed.  Collecting their things they quickly make off along the trail towards the Lodge.

Later that day as they are riding through the oppressive gloom Grembor who is scouting ahead of the party notices the shine of metal and something pale off to the side of the trail.  Holding up his hand everyone behind him comes to a stop; Pringle who had his nose buried in his book inadvertently runs into the back of Zordlan’s horse causing startled neighs from both parties as Pringle finds himself on the ground looking up at his horse who is looking down at him with some surprise and more than a little annoyance.

Pringle dusting himself off with his hat gets back to his feet and strolls forward to speak with Grembor while avoiding the accusing stare of his horse.  The rest gather round as Grembor points off dramatically into the woods where the pale corpse of a naked man hangs from a large yellow pine, bound to the trunk with rough cords. His mouth is stuffed with large, pale purple flowers, and his wrists and ankles are swollen and dark with bruises marking where his bindings cut into his skin, but the large silver hunting knife embedded deep in his heart seems the most likely cause of death.

Grembor had caught the glint from the hilt of the knife as an errant ray of sunshine pierced the canopy and reflected off the shiny silver.  Dismounting they approach cautiously; Grembor scanning the ground and the trees for signs of a trap; Sayuri following close until she realises that anything Grembor may set off will get her too she backs away allowing Grembor the room to pursue his chosen profession.  A profession which is better suited to people with a talent in that area as Grembor misses the thin wire he catches with his boot and sets off the trap.  Cleverly hidden crossbows surrounding the location sing as they release their pent up energy in the form of a hail of crossbow bolts; Grembor takes a couple while Sayuri grins as they strike the ground inches before her.  Grembor staggers out of the circle of death and pulls the offending bolts from the fleshy part of his thigh before taking out his wand and applying its powers to his leg.

Grembor examining the bolt feels his heart sink as he notices some paste on the bolt tip; handing it to Sayuri neither of them know what the paste is; however Grembor is feeling no effects from the poison so he assumes it’s been left too long and gone stale.  They move forward to examine the corpse finding the large knife in his chest is indeed made of silver and the flowers in his mouth are wolfsbane; apparently someone thought this person was a werewolf and strung him up as a warning to others.

They gather the silver knife after severing the poor unfortunate corpses head and collecting the wolfsbane hoping they don’t need it as it’s supposed to help with preventing the curse.  Gathering their things and Pringle giving his horse a dirty look they set out again hoping to make it to the lodge in good time.

They soon find the light fading and find a campsite for the night.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Nobles, gate guards and halflings ...*

The night passes uneventfully; even with the very nervous Jah taking a turn on watch as he jumps at every slight noise from the deep woods.

With the light of morning making the darkness somewhat lighter they set out again along the trail; travelling through the day it’s getting close to mid afternoon when they round a corner in the trail and suddenly before them is a wooden wall made of many trees driven into the ground.  It’s with no small excitement that they follow this wall to the gates as they are all looking forward to a proper bath; well cooked food and some nice wine.

However upon approaching the gates they find them sealed shut; their shouts for entrance go ignored for a while before a serious looking guard opens a small hatch in the gate and peers out.  “Whatcha want?” is his belligerent question.  Grembor heeling his horse forward requests entrance; they are told firmly that entrance is only through invitation. As they don’t have any they will have to move along.  This causes a stir among the party before they remember that they do indeed have invitations from the Judge Daramid and inform the gate guard of this fact.  The guard looks sceptical but he does tell them to wait while he calls for the Lodges porter.  Several minutes pass before the small hatch opens again and staring out at them is the face of a Halfling; Grembor goes to open his mouth but he is quickly moved aside by Sayuri who hands over the invitations with a smile.  The Porter looks over the invitations with a quizzical expression before looking up again.  “I apologize for any misunderstanding, but as the porter of Ascanor Lodge, I cannot permit your entrance at this time. You do not have reservations in our books, and despite your claims, I have no evidence to justify allowing strangers into the lodge. From the looks of you, unlike the rest of my guests, you haven’t come here to take a peaceful retreat. I want no trouble, so off with you all, and take whatever troubles you bring somewhere else!”  With this the hatchway slams shut with a strange sound of finality and they hear the stomp of little Halfling feet as the fade away.  Everyone turns to look at Grembor who is strangely calm looking; they all are wondering if this is Grembor mellowing eventually or if the Halfling will be regretting turning them away.

While the group sit and discus the problem the gate slides open revealing a small selection of riders.  The guards are watching the party making sure they are not looking to make a reckless ride into the compound but they sit astride their horses while the new group exits.

A rough-and-tumble-looking woodsman exits the gate, followed by a young noble dressed in finely tailored, studded hunting leathers. Despite the commotion, the two men push through the crowd, oblivious to anyone else’s concerns. Several scruffy-looking nerfherder hirelings follow behind them leading a pair of horses and carrying wooden crates marked with heraldic symbols. As they shuffle past, the woodsman calls back to the noble, “For the last time Duristan! I’ll take you there, but I ain’t bringing my dogs!”

Earlier that day, Delgros (the rough and tumble looking woodsman) led a small party of patrons into the woods on a hunt that ended with the horrific, unexplained slaughter of the golden buck he and the guests were pursuing. The sight of the stag’s flayed carcass so terrified the participants that they fled back to the lodge in a panic, spreading rumours of the Devil in Gray flying among the lodge’s guests. Delgros attempted to quell the rumours, but Duristan (Young Noble) immediately caught wind of the gossip and drew his own conclusion; that the stag was slain by a werewolf. Excited beyond belief, Duristan demanded Delgros take him to see the carcass and quickly rallied his six ragtag hirelings to grab his werewolf-hunting equipment and set off on a hunt.  Duristan is badgering Delgros for all sorts of information; whether there were any howls or footprints, whether Delgros tried to track the prints around the carcass, and whether he measured any of the claw or bite marks on the body. Almost in mid-sentence, Duristan catches sight of the party and sizes them up. He calls to them, “You there! Fall in with me; I need more able sword-arms for the hunt!”

The party looks at one another and then Grembor still in a foul mood from the Halfling responds to the brash aristocrat’s pompous request in a low piercing growl telling him where he could stick his sword.  Duristan suddenly realizes that he is in the company of real adventurers and becomes star-struck. He quickly apologizes for his gaffe, claiming to be in the heat of great excitement. He entreats the party to join his hunt, his eyes gleaming as he tells them he’s going to track down a werewolf. In exchange, he offers to treat them to dinner as well as pay for their accommodations at Ascanor upon their return from the hunt later that day. As the diplomats in the group were unable to convince Belik (Halfling Porter) to let them in, Duristan in gratitude promises to host them as his guests at the Lodge.  The group with a resigned sigh agree and follow the young foolish noble and his entourage into the deep wood.  

Duristan regales the party with his exploits and asks the party to tell him theirs; the party soon come to the conclusion that this tiresome noble is an overly enthusiastic idiot with no real appreciation for the dangers he is putting himself and his hirelings into.  They play down their accomplishments only going through a most basic of an outline before Duritsan starts telling them of his ‘other’ accomplishments.

This passes a couple of hours as they ride through the dense forest; Delgros is seen to sigh often and his furtive eyes constantly scan the surrounding trees.  He is obviously used to escorting idiot nobles and can tune out their constant nattering.  The group is unfortunately not so lucky to have built up this resistance.  After a couple of hours Delgros hisses through his teeth and Duristan eventually goes quiet; looking very much like he wants to say something.  Grembor and Sayuri dismount and move up the narrow trail to Delgros who advises them that it’s just in the next clearing.  The party dismounts and advances on foot after tying the horses to the surrounding trees.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*How to scare the party ....*

They follow Delgros as the trail leads to a small clearing, where the trampled ground and snapped brush show signs of a great struggle. The soil is soaked with blood, and more has splashed upon the tree trunks and leaves. Despite the telltale evidence, Delgros’s jaw drops and his eyes dart wildly with shock at the situation. “It’s gone!” he cries… (I don’t know why he would be surprised; forest full of werewolves and wild animals; fresh meat is not going to sit around)

The missing carcass spurs Delgros to organize a frantic search of the immediate area. Grembor and Sayuri quickly scour the area for clues revealing at least two distinct sets of prints in the clearing, besides those of the stag. Frustratingly, most are only partial prints and all are badly trampled. The most striking are large wolf like prints, twice the size of a typical wolf’s prints. Which they realize that the tracks are not consistent with normal lycanthrope hybrid prints; seeming more like dire wolf tracks with strange, elongated claws.  The other set of prints belongs to a great boar, which Grembor identifies along with noting that a swath of crushed scrub and brush which is marked with relatively fresh blood, as if something had been dragged off into the wood, Duristan looks at Grembor and Sayuri with wonder in his eyes as he had no idea they had such experts with them.  Delgros nods at them both in confirmation of their finds. They swiftly follow the trail for another 50 feet or so until they hear loud scuffling and grunting noises and spot the bushes rustling ahead.  

Grembor and Sayuri at the front pause before a huge porcine shape bursts from the bushes where he and his two friends were happily gorging on flayed stag meat before they were disturbed.  Porky sprints to Grembor and tries gouging him with its tusks while the others appear behind it along the trail.  Sayuri with a grin sends a lightning bolt down the path causing two of the three pigs to convulse with the electricity coursing through their body.  Grembor steps back as Jah advances his own tusks no match for the porcine before him but his greataxe is a very effective replacement.  With a huge swing he buries his axe in the closest tree which judders under the impact raining needles and cones down upon the pair.  The other boars advance as Zordlan blocks their approach to the more fragile members of the group.  Pringle opens fire literally with a twin beam of fire which splashes across the pair roasting them nicely as they drop to the forest floor as the aroma of cooked pork drifts along the breeze.  The last remaining pig is hit with a spell causing it to reconsider its life options and it retreats into the forest squealing like only a scared piglet can do.

At the death of the Boars Duristan quickly moves to the stag corpse and starts inspecting it.  Finding himself over his head in such matters he beckons over Grembor and Sayuri to help. Between them they figure out the Boars mauling on the Stag and some other lacerations and wounds which could have been caused by a wolf or some wolves.  Duristan is convinced that werewolves made the kill and is determined to stay behind to make another werewolf kill.  Duristan decides to stay the night and wait for them to return; Delgros tells him that he is crazy and he will be heading back to the Lodge before night falls as he wants no part in this fools errand.  The party decide to remain after Duristan reminds them that he will be paying for their room and board at the Lodge upon their triumphant return.

Darkness is swiftly approaching and Duristan tells his minions to set traps around the perimeter; there is a collective gulp from both Grembor and Sayuri when the bear traps are brought out.  They notice that the teeth on these traps glisten brightly in the rapidly fading sunlight as if made of silver; Duristan is given a chair and some glasses as he pops open a bottle of expensive brandy and sits observing the progress of his followers as they trap the surrounding forest.  Duristan asks the party to expand upon their tales of bravery and high adventure while he sits back and listens.  All the while watching his hirelings set up baited traps while others keep watch.

As the hour grows late and the conversation winds down the night is split by a soul cringing scream then ends in a rough blood chocked gurgle.  The group spring to their feet with weapons at the ready and turn to face the source of the terrible sound; standing before them at the perimeter of the firelight is a towering hybrid of wolf and man.  The creature stands close to 9ft tall with rippling muscles covering it’s frame hidden from view by the waves of matted fur which is currently covered in the blood of the poor unfortunate hireling currently dangling from one claw; his legs twitching as he is hoisted off the floor and into camp.  Landing before the party they are sprayed with his blood which is still pumping weakly from his torn out throat.  He gurgles at them loudly as his eyes roll up into his head and he expires; his face still frozen in a look of pure terror. 

The hybrid wolf speaks; its blood soaked teeth showing through as glints of white marble in a sea of blood; its voice low and growling with thinly veiled menace.  “Stop your pitiful whining over the fate of one runted pup; why have you entered Vollensag territory?”  It raises its paw and mercifully wipes it across its mouth transferring the blood from its chin to its arm.  Its mouth seems to be in a perpetual hungry grin.  The party stutter out a response; “We come seeking the Whispering way” to which the response is “Your false explanations are meaningless. Go tell whoever sent you to stay out of wolf affairs! Let him know that his dealings with Mathus Mordrinacht and the Silverhide pack do not sit well with the other tribes of this wood. There shall be much blood spilled between our kin before a Silverhide packlord sits upon Highthrone. Mathus the betrayer shall never claim the title, and should you and yours continue to support him; the wrath of the wolf packs shall fall upon you! Now leave our territory and return to your cosy wooden den, or share the fate of these poor little sheep!”  With a gesture that takes in the camp they notice another large biped figure in the shadows slowly ripping apart one of the other hirelings by pulling his arms from his shoulders and drinking the resulting blood that pours from within in large thirsty gulps.  

The party shudders and Duristan moans low in his throat at the horror of the scene.  Grembor stands forward and asks by what right do they kill these innocents and drive them from the forest?  The towering figure before him steps fully into the light; the red blood from his kill running rivulets down his chest and his eyes burning with barely held in rage.  Raising one clawed hand to his mouth he fishes out a hard piece of the hireling’s throat; flicking the bloody piece to the floor before the party.  “Scurry away with your tail between your legs like the scared little puppy you are; tell your masters to stay out of wolf affairs or this morsel here will be a fate you will be wishing for” With that his head raised to the sky it unleashes a howl that reverberates through the forest; his twin across the clearing joins the song; the party hears the cry taken up by many other throats as it reverberates through the trees and the whole forest seems to resound with bone chilling howls.  Sayuri feels the material of her shirt sleeve being pulled and Duristan’s face is very pale as if the blood had already been drained from it.  It seems the bravado has gone and cold fear remains.  The group swiftly removes themselves from the forest and make their way back to the Lodge; the journey is very quiet …


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Return to theLodge*

Upon safely returning to the Lodge they are surprised when they are warmly welcomed by Belik holding a tray of hot beverages.  “Please accept my most sincere apologies for my inappropriate behaviour earlier. I was not informed of your coming and acted hastily on behalf of the lodge warden. I can assure you that you will suffer no further ill treatment during your stay at Ascanor Lodge.”  They each take a beverage but none of them partake; “If it’s convenient for you, my master requests your company at this time for a brief introduction and to offer his apologies as well.”  

They all follow the well dressed Halfling into the Lodge and are escorted to the upper floor where they are introduced to a slight man in his sixties, with a long face, myopic eyes, dirty spectacles, and a permanent squint “Esteemed guests, may I present Estovion Lozarov, Lodge Warden of Ascanor.” intones Belik who bows low and finishes with a hand flourish.  Estovion nods to each of them and invites them into the library while curtly dismissing the Halfling porter before speaking to the party in a sombre tone.  “Please do not hold the actions of my porter against him. The error in your improper greeting was entirely mine. I neglected to inform my staff of the open invitations I gave to the Order,” there is a brief pause as Estovion (obviously not used to subterfuge) winks at the party in a knowing way “and they did not recognize the reservations. Rest assured, however, that all of the lodge’s facilities are at your disposal, including our libraries. While the general library is down the hall, this one,” he says, gesturing at the book-filled shelves, “is likely better suited to your research.  Any questions you may have please ask Belik or myself who will be only too happy to assist.”  While the words themselves seem positive and helpful his tone however seems distracted and somewhat dismissive; he soon excuses himself stating that “Belik should be waiting outside to show you to your rooms as you must be very tired.”  With this he ascends the stairs to his office and closes the door behind him.  The group look at each other and move out of the room to find the errant Halfling who is standing outside of the room looking intently at his fingernails.  

Belik escorts them to the two rooms set aside for their use; Sayuri and Zordlan take one of the rooms while Grembor, Pringle and Jah take the other.  The rooms are large and very comfortable; unfortunately there is only the one big fluffy bed per room.

Pringle decides to forgo an early night and heads back to the library to research the werewolves of the region which will take several hours to read through the many books on the subject.

Jah heads outside to explore the complex and see if there is anything unusual he can find.  There is a housekeeper’s cottage with an expertly maintained herb garden, the stables, the huntmaster’s cottage, the porters cottage, a handyman’s hut, a nice looking watchtower, a small but well kept maze and a small shed with large very solid oak doors reinforced with iron which has a very large lock on it; so no nothing too suspicious.  Jah hangs around outside for a while to monitor the going’s on for a while then heads up to the room to sleep.

Grembor heads downstairs after freshening up to see if there is anyone around to talk to and is rewarded by the presence of two noblemen.  One young; lean nobleman called Corvin Tergsvor who’s quick mouth and dark wit seems to annoy Grembor with little to no effort at all; the other older man who he is currently discussing the problems of the world with also has a lean frame although getting close to his 50’s he still carries himself with the poise of a military man.  His piercing gaze informs anyone that this is not a person you want to get on the wrong side of.  Standing nearly 6 feet tall, with a slender build, long features, and a sharp nose; he wears his hair cropped short and has a carefully trimmed goatee and waxed moustache. Also of note is the Lepidstadt fencing scar across his left eyebrow as a sign of his martial prowess. This is Cilas Graydon; the Margrave of Sturnidae. 

Grembor in a stunning display of diplomacy manages to offend Corvin with his first utterance; although it’s unlikely anything the grimy Ranger could have said to make a good first impression on these finely dressed nobles while dressed in his combat leathers.  Thinly veiled insults pass between the pair for the best part of several minutes; finally Cilas raises his hand and asks Grembor about a certain letter he may have on him regarding a dear friend of his one Echtmoor Dravin.  Grembor looks blankly at Cilas for a moment and Cilas thinks he has just asked a question of an obvious moron until finally the clogs start whirring again and dim realisation comes to Grembor.  Echtmoor Dravin was the name on the bloody invitation they found on the body in the lair of the Weaver worm.  Cilas apparently heard about the incident at the gate earlier today from the rumour mill of the Lodge and was worried about his friend who is a week late.  Grembor apologises and says he does not have the letter on him as it’s currently sitting quietly in Sayuri’s pack but he will get it to him as soon as he can.  Cilas questions Grembor about the incident and is saddened to hear of the most likely death of his dear old friend.  Cilas pours himself a large drink and makes his excuses as he has to arrange for the body to be collected and departs to his room.  Grembor and Corvin exchange glances and neither wants to start a fight without someone around to rescue them so they both make their excuses also and depart heading to bed.

Sayuri has a bath while Zordlan stands guard outside her room; she then heads to bed.  

Pringle remains in the library for a few hours researching the werewolves of the Shudderwood.  He finds out an awful lot in this short space of time and he makes copious notes in his book to share with the rest of the party.  (stupid high knowledge rolls)


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Thar be wolves in them woods ...*

*Pringle’s notes on wolves of the Shudderwood:*

While over a dozen distinct werewolf packs live within the Shudderwood, most packs trace their lineages to one of five tribes native to the region. Most of these tribes have two names: that which they call themselves, and a more common epithet by which most outsiders know them.

*Dorzhanevs or Broken Ones:* These lycanthropes settle in remote or isolated territories, building small provincial communities near the wood’s edge. For the most part, they pose as simple farmers or trappers, occasionally travelling to larger communities to sell or trade for goods. They live and hunt in small packs, targeting lone travellers or those who stray from larger groups. Physically smaller than the other tribes, the Broken Ones transform into red wolves. Their pack structure is matriarchal, and their current tribe leader is Cybrisa Dorzhanev.

*Jezeldans or Demon Wolves:* The smallest and most recently formed pack in the Shudderwood, the Demon Wolves are an amalgam of newly afflicted werewolves, whose pitiful existence is typically scorned by most natural lycanthropes, and exiles from other tribes, all worshipers of the demon lord Jezelda, Mistress of the Hungry Moon. Their current tribe leader is named Adimarus Ionacu.  To date, Adimarus’s missionary zeal has been quite successful; the black-furred Jezeldans are one of the fastest-growing tribes in the region, and may soon rise as the new lords of the wood.

*Mordrinacht or Silverhides:* The Mordrinacht, colloquially known as the Silverhides for their gray-white fur, are more aggressive than the Broken Ones, yet possess more composure and subtlety than the other tribes. The Mordrinacht rarely form standard packs, instead living much of their lives as solitary individuals or lone wolves. Only in times of great importance do they unite and form organized packs. More so than all the others, the Mordrinacht have been successful at blending in with normal humans and living secretly within their communities, with a few bold individuals even settling in some of Ustalav’s major cities. Descended from those afflicted with lycanthropy by the ancient high priest of Desna, the Mordrinacht have long gathered at the Stairs of the Moon to pay homage to the spirit of their ancestor. It is no secret that the Silverhides’ current leader, Mathus Mordrinacht, has had designs on the position of packlord over all the packs of the Shudderwood for some time.

*Prince’s Wolves:* Varisian werewolves with ties to the Sczarni crime family, the Prince’s Wolves were created as part of Prince Andriadus Virholt’s efforts to rid his lands of the agents of the Whispering Tyrant centuries ago. The Prince’s Wolves maintain a tight pack structure and spend much of their time travelling in small family groups, performing or pick pocketing to support them before moving on to do it again somewhere else. The Prince’s Wolves transform into wolves with brown or gray fur, and their current tribe leader is a roguish scoundrel named Rhakis Szadro.

*Vollensag or Primals: *The smallest of the Shudderwood’s tribes, the Vollensag are also the most homogenous, as they are all descended from the ancient Kellid tribes who once inhabited these lands before they were driven out by the invading Varisians. At present, less than 30 Vollensag remain, settled deep in the woods and travelling in small migratory hunting packs, living as much as their ancestors did. Despite their declining numbers, the Primals’ ability to transform into large gray dire wolves makes them an influential force among the wolves of the wood. The Vollensag tribe leader, Kvalca Sain, is packlord over all the wolves of the Shudderwood. 

After packing away his pen and ink Pringle staggers to bed at an early 2-3am and knocks loudly on the door as they have locked him out.  Grembor grumbles as he opens the door but he is the one who locked Pringle out.  Everyone sleeps.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*It's a beautiful Day ....*

The sun rises as is it’s want and there are few clouds in the sky; The shadows of the surrounding trees blocks out the sunlight till mid morning but the sun still manages to wake up most of the party.  Sayuri is the only one up even though the soft fluffy bed was calling out for her to remain within it’s snugly confines.

She finds the balcony to her liking and starts meditating and stretching in the brightening sunlight while the rest of the party is rousing themselves.  The passing servants and nobles in the grounds below appreciate the view but keep silent so as not to disturb her.

Finally at around mid morning the party troop downstairs to have a pleasant breakfast; they find only one other person in the breakfast room who seems to be collecting enough food for two; a broad-shouldered and handsome young huntsman named Ostovach.  Grembor introduces himself and the party as does Ostovach; they discuss the breakfast, lodge and its environs while Grembor subtly shifts the conversation to other guests.  Specifically Guests from two weeks ago; Ostovach while tall, handsome and broad shouldered is no match for Grembors insidious mind and he is soon discussing some visitors who went to the watchtower a couple of weeks ago.  He never saw them; they did not stay long but he was looking to employ the services of the tower residents when he was turned away due to these other visitors by Madame Ivanja.  Shaking his head as if to clear his mind he grins at the party; while looking down at the tray he is holding.  “Sorry; very pleased to meet you all but I have to get this to the Markiza otherwise she will be having my hide” With a grin he grabs some drinks and heads out of the dining room.  

Everyone takes a walk around the complex; they pause at the strangely heavily reinforced door and listen carefully.  They can hear sounds of something large moving inside but can’t make out much more; the sounds echo strangely though.  Retreating inside they split up Jah remaining outside while Pringle returns to the Library to continue reading the books there.  Sayuri and Grembor lounge in different area’s of the main building’s public area’s hoping to find other people to question.  Zordlan remains on the porch overlooking the maze with a good view of the watchtower and the current primary suspect Madame Ivanja.  

The morning passes and the only interesting part is when Duristan has a conversation with Sayuri.  They discuss the other patrons here who Duristan scoffs at as none of them are true hunters like himself. (This from a noble with illusions of grandeur wrt hunting) He happily strokes the mangy wolf/dog’s head he has draped over his shoulder.  He does however advise on the other members of the household and the one they are most interested in; Madame Ivanja she is informed is a Varisian Witch who does Harrow readings along with other more interesting services.  She is not a woman to cross lightly.  Thanking Duristan who is more than happy to hang around and talk about her experiences and invites her on his next werewolf hunt (Obviously has a very short or selective memory) Sayuri goes in search of Grembor to discuss the conversation.

Grembor however finds himself talking to Corvin who looks decidedly worse for wear after another Absinthe fuelled bender last night.  His acidic tongue is somewhat dulled by the Dwarven smiths pounding in his head; however he is soon annoyed enough by Grembor’s common peasantry rudeness to seek solace elsewhere.  He departs mumbling something about the quality of the patrons or something along those lines.

Sayuri and Grembor meet up in the small but comfortable sitting room and discus their findings.  Grembor is very interested in the goings on here and wishes to find a way into Madame Ivanja’a rooms so he can question her.  At the point of a sharp blade if needed; Sayuri is a little against this as all they have is the unconfirmed rumours of a pair of the guests.  They decide to play it more subtly and gather more information on the Madame and anything else they can discover.

Grembor in a mood heads outside and takes a walk around the grounds; he is distracted by the stablemaster who is an attractive, short, fit human woman in her early thirties with pale skin, dark eyes, and long auburn hair gone slightly gray at the temples; Grembor notices her lean and muscular form beneath her livery and goes to investigate.  Up close he finds she has very attractive eyes and they start discussing the horses and her work here; she is a wealth of information on the goings on here and the patrons; but her deepest regards are for the animals in her care.  She shows Grembor round the stables and her horses; while Grembor also finds out that she lives above the stables.  She is interested in the simple life but is an accomplished hunter and very capable in the wilds of the forest as she assists the huntmaster from time to time.  Grembor suddenly finds something to entertain himself with and asks her to have a meal with him tonight.  She readily agrees as he is not of the usual type that frequents this establishment and she enjoys the company of people who know and love the wilds.

The discussion turns to the current residents and then onto recent visitors; she remembers some strange visitors about two weeks ago who only stopped for a few short hours.  They claimed to be from Courtaud but they spoke with a thick southern accent; she was told to not unsaddle or unload the poor horses and they visited with Madame Ivanja.  She remembers they had a strange looking small demon with them that perched on the leaders shoulder.  Grembor grinning leaves to advise the group of the latest bit of information; the information is looking grim for Madame Ivanja and Grembor is all for having a very pointed discussion with the ‘lady’.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor gets lucky*

They all meet up again for lunch; sitting in the dining room and comparing notes; Grembor passes over the information he gained from the Stablemaster while Sayuri fills them in with the information gained from Duristan.  Sitting at one of the other tables is the Markiza and her hound Ostovach; Grembor approaches the pair to question the Markiza.  Talking to them Grembor is assured that they know nothing of much help to the party.

After lunch they decide to talk to Madame Ivanja after some argument; Grembor is all for storming into her tower and asking them at the point of a dagger while Sayuri is of a more reserved approach and would like to just talk to Madame Ivanja without threatening her in any way.  Sayuri wins the argument and Zordlan is dispatched to request Madame Ivanja presents herself to Sayuri to provide a reading.  

Pringle heads to the library and speaks to Estovion requesting information on the werewolves of the Shudderwood; smiling he directs him to a set of old journals that have been collected from various sources.  Pringle heads to the section indicated and starts reading.

Gembor in disgust heads to the kitchen and grabs a couple of bottles of their best wine; heading to the stables he proudly displays his bottles and requests the Stablemaster (mistress) takes the rest of the day off and spend some time with him.  She sadly informs him that her duties prevent her taking an afternoon off but she could possibly take as break in about 30 minutes.  Grembor suggests they meet up in the maze where they can have ‘Lunch’ smiling she agrees and Grembor heads off to the kitchen to find some food left over from their lunch and heads into the maze to await the stablemaster.  

Knocking on the door to the watchtower; the door is opened by a guardsman.  Zordlan is advised by the guardsman that Madame Ivanja does not respond to summons and that if someone requires a reading they should come here.  Zordlan returned to the group who were waiting around outside trying to not look at all suspicious; some manage this better than others.  Zordlan advises Sayuri who with a sigh nods her head and follows Zordlan back to the tower so she can have a chat with the Madame.

Knocking on the door again it is answered by a stunningly beautiful woman who is dressed in the Varisian Gypsy style.  Long dark faintly curly hair with large expressive dark eyes; slender with the sultry curves which undulate across the room and make pulses race.  However Sayuri is not affected by this so much as Zordlan is and she is right down to business asking for a Harrow reading.  Madame Ivanja looks the pair up and down, then nods and gestures they should enter.  Following her swaying form up the stairs to her room Sayuri has to elbow Zordlan a couple of times to keep his eyes on the stairs and not elsewhere.

Slinking into her reading room she sits herself gracefully into a chair at a silk draped round table.  Taking out an ornate deck of cards she extracts several and lays them all face down on the table.  Passing her hand over the cards she mutters some arcane sounding phrases and then indicates that Sayuri and Zordlan should take a card each.  Sayuri picks the Carnival while Zordlan chooses the Midwife.  Ivanja looks at the pair closely before uttering the foretelling that “they must face a powerful force yet unseen that is manipulating the current situation, both in the Shudderwood and beyond. This force is steadily growing in both power and malevolence, and has the potential to threaten Ustalav and the indeed the whole world, yet that they are ultimately destined to have a hand in determining its fate.”  Sayuri and Zordlan exchange glances then look back towards Ivanja.

Asking her about other people who have visited they are informed that she will not divulge any information regarding the clients of her or others within her employ.  The two guards standing behind Ivanja both re-enforce her feelings with admirable conviction; both Sayuri and Zordlan leave feeling very much that they have learnt nothing.

Grembor waiting within the maze with a small hamper of exquisite food and a pair of bottle of fine wine is soon rewarded by the sounds of someone moving through the maze towards his location; turning round the corner is the stable master; her long curled red/auburn hair tucked behind one ear where it’s not caught in a leather thong.  Her slight frame corded with muscle from her daily toils in the stables; her legs strong from taming and controlling her charges.  The gait is confidant; her dark eyes glinting with amusement to see Grembor lounging on the stone seat swinging a bottle from one hand.

Nudging the hamper with his foot; Quiene (Stablemaster) catches it up in one hand and peeks inside; grabbing one of the sausages within she takes a hungry bite and chews; swallowing the meat down with a swig from the wine bottle.  Grembor grins rising to his feet and caresses her cheek hooking a stray hair behind her other ear; Quiene grabs his jerkin and pulls him towards her; as their lips meet a crescendo of music seems to rise around them.  Those outside of the maze hear the unmistakeable sounds of enjoyment from within the maze and share wondering glances at the originators of the happy sounds.  

Sayuri meets up with Pringle within the library; Pringle has been looking onto information there contained within traveller’s journals which he has been going through for most of the afternoon.  They are a confusing muddle of badly written pages bound into a jumble of assorted books and left in a disorganised pile within a corner of the library.  However this pile of books does turn up some useful information in the form of one journal; the journal’s author, an unnamed worshiper of Desna, recorded several entries describing his pilgrimage to an ancient, abandoned temple of Desna and observatory in the Shudderwood known as the Stairs of the Moon. The journal includes a description of the temple, but the details of its exact location are frustratingly vague. These pages are bookmarked with a folded piece of paper, scribbled with a faded note reading, “See ‘Halo of Dreams’ on page 322 that’s filed under Religion upstairs.”  If this note is current then it would refer to Estovion’s office which resides above the library.  Knocking on Estovion’s door Pringle requests if he could see the books in there and is advised that he is too busy to bother with such matters before the door is closed in his face; it is at this time that Sayuri walks in.  

Sayuri and Pringle talk over the find and Sayuri heads up to ask Estovion about the book; Estovion answers the door and enquires to her business as he is very busy.  Sayuri requests if he has a book called ‘Halo of Dreams’ but Estovion denies all knowledge of this book.  Sayuri is not convinced however but allows Estovion to go as the door is shut again with finality.  Cocking her head to one side she thought for a moment she heard a scream coming from outside.  The library is looking out over the maze so it’s likely it came from there.  She dismisses it with a thought and returns to talking to Pringle.

Grembor finishes buttoning up his shirt; wincing slightly as it brushes up against the wounds just recently inflicted in the energetic antics Quiene and himself have just been engaged in.  Quiene leaves smiling as she walks with a happy stride back to her stables to look after her horses while Grembor takes a joyful though tired walk into the Lodge to look for the rest of his team; Hamper and mostly empty bottle swinging by his side.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*DM Note*

_DM Note: I had Ron (Grembor’s player) roll to see how well he performed; a natural 20 followed by an 18 makes for an interesting session.  Let’s just say the stable mistress and Grembor both had a very good time._


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Spider squish*

Finding them in the library they exchange information on the current events; they all look at Grembor strangely as he seems unusually joyful.  After hearing the updated information they now have another place to investigate; they are looking to break into the tower tonight to see if they can find anything in his office as he seems not entirely honest; though to be honest there are many reasons he would not want adventures rampaging around his quiet office so his reluctance is understandable.

The group relax for the evening having had a busy day running around the Lodge; they have a pleasant dinner then afterwards they sit around while Ostovach tells a traditional Ustalavic ghost story.  Grembor who is sitting towards the back of the group hears a worrying sound; it’s almost as if the huge spider they fought in the forest is back as he can hear the tip tapping sounds of many large feet on the wooden floorboards.  Peering round the corner into the Grand Ballroom he spy’s the huge figure of a tarantula easing its way through the doorway.  

Screaming the alarm he jumps to his feet and scoops up his ever present bow loosing a pair of arrows towards the beast.  Both arrows seem to bounce off the spider’s hard carapace very much to Grembor’s disgust; Zordlan moves to a better position and draws back his bow and lets an arrow loose which buries itself up to the fletching into one of the spiders eyes.  With a squeal and a spurt of ichor the huge spider advances and from a surprising distance away lunges forward and spears Grembor’s thigh on its mandibles.  He feels himself go weak as the poison runs rampant throughout his system; his knees feel a little wobbly.  Sayuri fires off a torrent of force missile which impact with a soggy squelching sound which makes the spider rear back in pain; Jah advances on the spider and starts circling the creature trying to find a good vantage point to attack from while Pringle dithers for a moment considering the space and damage a fireball would cause and decides on a lesser spell as a bar of flame shoots from his palm and misses the huge spider that is literally the size of the side of a barn.  

Grembor retreats firing his bow which causes the spider to try biting him again but thankfully this time it misses and it looks to have pulled some kind of tendon by over extending itself.  Grembor retreats out of range of its immediate reach thanking his lucky stars that its bite missed and that one of his arrows found its mark; Jah finding his opening screams as his eyes turn blood red and froth starts dripping from his chin.  Greataxe held high he charges into the tangle of legs and begins hewing away at the hairy forest; Sayuri starts summoning something from some plane to help out while Zordlan calmly fits another arrow to his bow and lets an arrow fly; the arrow sinks into the spider’s side causing some damage while Pringle summons forth another bar of flame which is timed exactly right as it strikes the spider in it’s face as its mouth gapes open.  Choking on the flames there is a sudden rent in space and from the bar of flame steps out a fire elemental which immediately starts trying to pummel the spider into submission.  The spider in confusion strikes out at Jah scoring a minor hit that almost rips his arm out of its socket but the poison misses its mark as it seems there is insufficient poison pumped into the wound to cause a problem.

Grembor standing back finds plenty of room on the spider to aim at and unleashes a volley of arrows which many find it’s mark; one flies perilously close to Jah’s face though and the whole party wince but Jah declines to notice in his blood frenzy.  Jah continues to carve his name into the spiders flank as blow after blow falls true; each blow opening a large rent in the spider’s side.  Sayuri finishes summoning and opens up three glowing red portals out of which step three fire elementals; they all appear opposite Jah granting him some distraction on the spider’s part and the fiery creatures try repeatedly to set the flammable spider alight; Sayuri noticing how effective they are and starts summoning some more.  Zordlan fires another arrow which strikes the spider in a knee joint while Pringle starts summoning more fire elementals.  The spider is getting a little worried; well the spider would be getting worried if it had anything like a brain but no; the floor is very slippery due to the ichor of the spider being spread over the immediate area mixed in with blood from Grembor and Jah.  The spider not being the most intelligent of creatures tries eviscerating one of the fire elementals with success but in the process burns its mandibles.    

More arrows are launched from Grembors bow some even hit while others go wide; he winces and massages his shoulder as the last arrow seems to have torn something there.  More Elementals appear which causes some confusion on the spider’s part as it thinks it’s seeing double; repeated smackdowns by elementals, Jah and the occasional arrow soon reduce the spider into a steaming and very smelly pile of discarded spiderparts.  Jah comes out of his rage and is feeling very tired; Sayuri sends all her summons home before they can burn down the place while Zordlan and Grembor grab some water to douse the small flames licking at the dead spider.  The smell of scorched spider is bad enough but burnt spider would be worse.  The other guests start cheering and clapping very happy that they did not have to fight off the monstrously huge spider themselves.

Out of the corner of his eye Grembor notices the footprints of the spider as it came in through the double doors from the patio; noticing that these footprints are red with blood he hastens to the doorway to make sure no-one has been killed by the wandering spider.  Outside he notices what looks to be an artificial trail that has been laid to the patio doors; a trail that has been made from fresh blood.  Following this trail they find it leads to the strange little hut they discovered on the grounds with the large re-enforced doors.  The entranceway beyond the doors looks to be carved from the natural stone as it descends sharply for a ways before opening up into a large cavern which looks to be partially natural.  They follow the trail down and find it leads to a large cage where there is evidence a very large spider used to reside; checking the other cages they find a variety of other creatures there all set to be the basis for a hunt to entertain the patrons of the Lodge.  The current collection boasts a grizzly bear, a juvenile dire boar, a dire wolverine, an elderly and arthritic dire wolf, a lobotomized ettercap with its web glands removed, and four large wolves.  The party leaves this how they find it. 

Heading back to the Lodge they find everyone in the main room examining the dead spider.  It is an impressive specimen fully 15ft across when alive; now closer to 20ft across when dead; 30 if you include the gore splattered walls and the odd leg that was cut off and ended up in the corner of the room.  Estovion is there overseeing the operation and congratulates the party on saving his lodge and guests from the monster.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Sneaking around the Lodge*

Sayuri noticing that everyone is present slips away to see if she can get into Estovion’s office while everyone is pre-occupied. Getting to the trapdoor she finds it locked; coming to the conclusion that without resorting to violence there is no way she can bypass this door without it leaving a permanent and lasting impression she retreats back downstairs and catches Grembor’s attention.  Using hand gestures she indicates she has issues with a lock and that he should follow her which he does.

They find themselves back at the trapdoor; Zordlan is monitoring the stairs while Pringle is staying with the cleanup crew to make sure they are not missed; Jah is at the bottom of the stairs trying to look innocent.  After several attempts Grembor manages to get the lock open and they both slip inside to investigate the office.

Sayuri takes the desk looking for a ledger of visitors which she finds but is unable to find anything relating to strange and secretive visitors in the middle of the night.  However she does find Estovion’s journal which she sits down to go through.

Grembor investigates the rest of the room to see if he can find any hidden compartments or secret doors; these he concludes are either not there or very well hidden so he turns his attention to the bookcase.  After a short time he finds the book they were looking for called ‘The Halo of Dreams’ and leaves through the pages till he finds the part they found reference to in the journal downstairs; it makes for some interesting reading.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The Halo of Dreams*

*Halo of Dreams*

_The origin of the Dusk Moth can be traced back to pre-Thassilonian Varisia, though the role it played in those ancient times has been lost to history. During the Age of Enthronement, Desna’s priests recovered the relic from the ruins of Thassilon, and carried it into the Shudderwood during the founding of Ustalav. There the priests constructed a temple to the goddess of dreams and disassembled the Dusk Moth, incorporating its parts into a great observatory atop the temple, which they dubbed the Stairs of the Moon. High atop the observatory, during the twilight hour, the faithful enacted a sacred ritual of communion to activate the power of the Dusk Moth, placing them in a heightened dream-state in which they could commune directly with the Song of the Spheres._

Grembor reading this is somewhat confused as to what this has to do with the werewolves problem or the Whispering Way but he notes it down word for word then goes to join Sayuri who is also furiously jotting down several entries from Estovion’s journal.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Estovion’s Journal*

*Estovion’s Journal*

_Just Over Two Weeks ago:
It appears that my past has come back to haunt me, in the form of unexpected visitors who arrived last night. Ostensibly nobles from Courtaud, they bore invitations from Adivion Adrissant in Caliphas, and Belik admitted them to see me. Their leader, a disturbing man named Auren Vrood who carried a sinister-looking, twisted  homunculus on his shoulder, confided to me that they were agents of the Whispering Way, come to finally collect the debt I owe them for helping me with the spirit I discovered at the Stairs so long ago. Vrood “requested” that I arrange a meeting between him and one of the werewolves of the wood. Though I would prefer to have nothing more to do with them (for my youthful indiscretions were just that), I saw no choice but to acquiesce to their demands, lest they reveal my secrets to the Palatine Council. As Mathus is my sole ally among the packs, I will speak to him and arrange a meeting, and hopefully I can wash my hands of this whole sordid affair.

Two Weeks ago:
Vrood and his fellows have returned. Though I made my office available to them, they declined and requested a meeting with Madame Ivanja instead. Mathus arrived shortly after and went straight to Ivanja’s tower as well. I was somewhat surprised by their choice of location, but I suppose even necromancers and werewolves have their needs. I spoke briefly with Mathus after the meeting, but he was unusually withdrawn and gave no hint of what was said at the meeting. 

Two Days ago:
A grave threat has befallen the Shudderwood, and I fear its origins lie at Ascanor. Unknown forces, almost certainly agents of Vrood and the Whispering Way, have attacked the Stairs, butchered Kvalca Sain, and stolen her heart for some dark purpose. Although their motives remain a mystery, this single act has thrown the entire hierarchy of the Shudderwood’s packs into disarray and violence.

I know that it is customary when a packlord dies for her successor to consume the fallen packlord’s heart. With Sain’s heart gone, the position of packlord shall fall to whoever can claim the title, either by recovering the lost heart, or more likely through force, by slaying the leaders of the four rival tribes and adopting the surviving wolves into his own pack. 

Mathus has spoken with me before of his desire to become packlord, and I now wonder if his secret meeting with Vrood was the impetus behind these events. Without Sain’s heart, however, I doubt the other tribes will accept Mathus as their leader. He might find allies with the Sczarni or the Broken Ones, but the Vollensag and Jezeldans will never bow to his rule. 

Mathus’s concerns doubtlessly lie with his pack, not with me, however, and I worry my alliance with the Mordrinacht shall soon be forfeit. I fear greatly for the safety of the lodge, for if Mathus moves to take Highthrone without Sain’s heart, or if it becomes known that his ascendance is due to the Whispering Way’s interference, civil war will soon erupt among the packs of the wood, with Ascanor caught in the middle._

Sayuri advises Grembor of what she has found and Sayuri decides it’s time to leave.  Grembor however wants to search the room some more.  Sayuri leaves taking Zordlan with her as she heads to her room to relax before they confront Estovion.  

Grembor finds nothing of much interest however so he leaves and locks the door behind himself.  Well he tries to lock the door however something brushes his elbow as he tries to turn the delicate tumblers and his hand slips on the thin wire.  The lockpick is firmly jammed in the lock which will just not do if they wish to have a clean getaway.  Heading down the stairs he motions Jah to come up leaving Pringle to watch for Estovion returning.

Jah follows Grembor up the stairs and he is shown the offending piece of metal in the lock.  Grembor can’t manage to pull it out so Jah attempts to.  Jah however is a very strong individual so as he pulls the lockpick snaps off leaving a large portion in the lock.  Grembor groans to himself knowing his perverse luck is functioning normally.

Little do Grembor and Jah know but Estovion is at this very moment walking back to his office; Pringle however steps up and approaches him asking him some questions and wishing to take up some of his time.  However Pringle is no diplomat and manages to stutter out a hollow sounding request which Estovion banishes with a frown before heading upstairs.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Enter the bad guy ...*

Grembor is busy with the lock trying to leave find a way to remove the offending article before anyone notices.  His keen ears however pick up the sound of the singing boards of the stairs as the creak under the pressure of someone’s light step.  Looking around there is no-where to hide himself let alone the massive Jah so they lounge on the furniture to await the arrival of Estovion.  He appears at the top of the stairs closely followed by Pringle.

Approaching the library Grembor stands and steps before Estovion; “We need to talk Lodge Warden” he tersely says.  Jah moves to the side ready to erupt into violence if this is needed as Jah’s response to anything seems to be violent.  Estovian with a sign looks up myopically at Grembor and with thinly veiled exasperation in his voice demands; ”What is it now; I’m a very busy man you know!”  Grembors grins and states “we need to know about your dealing with the Whispering Way.”  

Estovion looks startled for a moment before his eyes flicker to the trapdoor which from this distance seems to be un-touched but he assumes they have been up there poking around in his things.  His eyes flicker to where Jah is standing almost close enough to touch; Grembor looks on as Estovion seems to be muttering or talking to himself under his breath he looks sideways at Jah who shrugs and grips his axe as a cloying yellow fog erupts around them; they both manage to hold their breath as the fumes try to seep into their mouth and nose.  Damn thinks Grembor this guy is a spellcaster not just a harmless old man; Jah steps up and tries swinging a hit at the old man; it connects but he feels bands of force resisting his blow otherwise he would eviscerate the thin stick of an old man in one hit.  His second hit somehow misses the suddenly agile old man.

Grembor closes in and strikes out with his sword missing Estovion by a long way; Pringle moves in to cover his escape route while intoning a spell of his own; this is a spell he ahs not used before but considering the opponent it should work well as it strips out a portion of the victims mind rendering them less than they were.  Turning your normal person into an idiot; he lunges forward attempting to place his fingers on Estovion to release the spell but he misses as the spry old man moves out of his way.  Estovion scans those around him and with a brief thought he disappears using the very useful conjurer’s trick of stepping between dimensions to avoid these sort of sticky situations.

There is noise downstairs from several guards running up the stairs; Grembor, Jah and Pringle head to meet them.  They come to a head halfway down the stairs; drawn swords and uncertainty evident.  Grembor soon diffuses the situation somewhat by advising on the actions of the Warden but they have no proof to support these claims; the guards allow them to head downstairs and talk to the rest of the lodge guests.

Grembor again takes the lead and explains the events to the lodge guests; they are somewhat convinced but not convinced enough without some tangible proof.  So they all troop up to Estovion’s office to try to provide this proof; they walk in and the room is pretty much how they left it bar the fire burning in the grate.  A quick scan of the room they notice that the documents they were looking for seem to be missing; sudden realization hits them and all eyes dart to the fireplace.  With an anguished cry Sayuri draws out her rod of flame extinguishing and thrusts it into the fire swiftly drawing the heat from the burning papers.  They draw out the surviving papers and they are shown to the collection of lodge guests who accept the party’s explanation when faced with the evidence.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor looses it ...*

However the party are still interested in Madame Ivanja’s involvement in this clandestine affair so the whole lodge troops downstairs to her tower and Jah is instructed to knock on the door.  Jah takes out his greataxe and proceeds to knock gently on the door making its hinges rattle and a large axe shaped gash appears in the door.  A couple more knocks and there are shouts from inside demanding to know what they think they are doing and if they don’t desist right now they will be forced to respond in kind.

Grembor demands Ivanja’s presence and he is told no-one demands my lady’s presence.  She goes where she pleases and it does not please my lady to be accosted by base classless ruffians who ‘demand’ her presence.  This response infuriates Grembor who directs Jah to continue his gentle knocking which he starts again with splinters of well aged oak starting to fly.

Since the group outside seem to be persistent the guards inside agree to open the door if they stop trying to hack it open and guarantee they will not cause them or the occupants of the tower any harm.  Sayuri steps forward and rests an hand on Jahs shoulder stopping him from swinging at the door any more; “I will cause the members of your residence no harm” she says through the once solid door; Grembor grins to himself as he finds this acceptable while the guards inside do not seem to appreciate the comment.  “What about the others out there will they swear not to harm the occupants of the tower?” The guards seem strangely calm throughout the exchange not panicking or flustered like many amateur guards, these seem to be guards of quality.  Sayuri sadly shakes her head however even though they can’t see her.  “I can only vouch for myself I don’t control these others.  It’s the best you’re going to get I think right now; people are angry and frightened by the recent events”

There is the sound of heavy bars being lifted and bolts being drawn back; the door is opened and the party see 4 well armed guards standing inside.  Each has their swords drawn and seems ready to use it should anyone be foolish enough to rush inside.  Grembor growls at them to go fetch their ‘lady’ which has overtones of extreme menace.  The guards seem somewhat cowed by Grembor’s attitude but hold their ground demanding that they sheath their weapons before their lady’s presence is ‘requested.’ After some more growls the party sheath their weapons and the guards do likewise while one of their number is sent upstairs to ‘request’ their mistress joins them.

Several minutes later Madame Ivanja undulates down the stairs and slides across the floor in an excruciatingly sensual walk.  Grembor can’t prevent his look of appreciation even through his anger and frustration of the day’s events.  “This is the enemy” he keeps saying to himself as Madame Ivanja smiles at the assembly outside her battered door.  “I don’t usually have so many men ... and women trying to gain entrance to my ... chambers all at once” she says with a small smile and a twinkle in her eyes.  “Although most of my … clients are more cultured and accept when a lady says no she means it; your not so much of a gentleman are you?”  Grembor snaps his mind back to the task at hand having had the verbal equivalent of a slap across the face.  “Tell us about the Whispering way woman” he demands; to which Ivanja looks a little confused on the subject for a few seconds then responds; “well they are a supposedly secret cabal or cult interested in using undeath to gain immortality” She pauses for a second as if thinking “Although to be honest I think once your undead your mortality is already extinguished so I think that’s possibly the wrong route to that goal” Looking at Grembor’s face hover she seems to see something there and continues “however I don’t think you’re here to discuss history or local politics; so in answer to the implied question I have not had any dealings with the Whispering Way … to my knowledge.”

Grembor looking on the verge of loosing his admittedly short temper almost screams at her but controls himself before his outburst.  “No; you had a visitor here about two weeks ago as evidenced by the notes in Estovion’s journal” which he shows her “You can’t deny your involvement in this conspiracy”  Taking the journal she reads through the relevant passage before throwing it back at him.  “I don’t discuss my client’s activities as I think I have told the lady to your right before; however I may be able to introduce you to the person they saw for a price; I am a business woman after all.”  Grembor shakes his head and seems to begin loosing it again while Sayuri notices the growing sounds of discontent from the massed nobles behind them; most of them having used Madame Ivanja’s services and are very ‘friendly’ with her and her associates.  

Stepping forward Sayuri again diffuses the situation by laying her hand on Grembors arm and asking “how much would it take to meet up with your associate Madame?” to which she is told the extravagant sum of 250 gold … Blinking back her shock at this price she feels Grembor’s arm tense as if he is ready to leap at the harlot so she swiftly tells Zordlan to pay the woman while gripping Grembor’s arm tightly to prevent him from doing something he may (or may not) regret later.  Zordlan with a surprised expression starts counting out the gold and then tosses the bag to her.  The bag disappears into some hidden crevice in her bodice without any signs of bumps outside of the ordinary impressive figure.  She turns keeping an eye on the door and whispers something to one of her guards who nods and disappears upstairs.

Turning back to the party she smiles grimly and steps back a step “I can only introduce you to the person who did entertain them while they were here; past that it’s nothing to do with me” Sayuri nods tersely and they wait for a few minutes.  Soon a slender partially clothed figure is led down the stairs; she stumbles a step or two in her drug induced daze but she finally stands before the party with her glassy eyes roaming over them all.  “We going to have a party” she slurs out of heavily rouged lips.  Grembor shoots a look of disgust at Ivanja; “you drug your harlots? That’s no way to treat someone” Ivanja smiles at him before stating “she drugs herself; I have no interest in that part of her life.  As long as she can perform and the clients are pleased then I don’t care what they do.  This is Naima one of my girls and the one who the people your interested in were entertained by; ask your questions then get out of my house.”  

Grembor looks the girl up and down she is a pretty Vudrani woman, wearing heavy eyeliner and clad in nothing but a pair of translucent silken scarves; she looks up at Grembor her eyes glazed over from too much smoke.  She smiles at him and sways her hips at an attempt at seduction while running her hands over her scantily clad form.  “What can I do for you” she slurs.  Grembor grabbing her arm looks deep into her eyes before asking about the men she entertained.

She divulges that three nobles from Courtaud hired her that evening, and can confirm that one of them had an evil-looking, implike pet.  They waited in her room for some time, but strangely, they only requested that she dance for them.  Eventually a new guest arrived, a silver-haired woodsman with a full beard who smelled like a beast. At that point, her clients requested that she leave. She returned to her room about an hour later and found that they had disappeared.

Grembor looks on in total disappointment at the lack of information he worked so hard to find.  Looking into her eyes beneath the haze of the drugs he gets the faint inkling that she knows more.  With a growl he mutters into her ear which seems to cut through her drug induced daze as she pales before him and starts shaking uncontrollably.  Sayuri looks on is disgust at the weak willed girl; while Ivanja looks on with newfound respect for someone who can reduce a girl to a wreck with a few choice words.

Naima has had enough; she has been pulled from her nice warm room and is being abused by a nasty man while everyone she knows and thought of as friends watched on and does nothing.  Shaking her arm free of Grembor’s tight and painful grip she staggers back a step; tears running down her face in shame and fear.  “I have had enough experience with clients from all over Ustalav to recognize that although the nobles claimed to be from Courtaud, their accents clearly marked them as southerners, possibly from Caliphas.” There is some more that she knows which she also divulges through the tears.  She also caught a glimpse of a strange amulet worn by one of them, depicting a gagged skull. Niama has no idea of the business her guests discussed, but as she was leaving the room, she did hear them mention “the Stairs of the Moon” and something called “the packlord’s heart.” She does not know the meaning of either phrase, or any other information about the visitors, and frankly does not care.

Thanking Ivanja; Sayuri drags Grembor away and the broken remains of the door are forcibly closed behind them; Sayuri is stopped by Duristan who looks inordinately excited about something.  “Your going to the Stairs of the Moon; can I come?” he blurts out excitedly.  Sayuri nods; “early in the morning we will be leaving so be ready or be left behind.”  Duristan jumps for joy at another hunt with the party; his white faced fear from the last outing apparently forgotten; “don’t worry I know where it is, I can lead you there;” with that he is off calling for his thugs to start getting everything ready.

Delgros and Quiene also express an interest in coming along to help guide them to the Stairs of the moon; they both look meaningfully at the departing noble who is berating one of his thugs for sitting on his hat.  Grembor is more than happy to have the stablemistrss along for the ... ride while Delgros is an accomplished hunter his advise and bow would be most welcome.

The party has a peaceful night with rotating watches; there is some distant howling in the woods which set everyone on edge but there are no incidents.  The Morning breaks with a bright crisp sunny day the peace only broken by the sounds of joyful birdsong.

_DM Note: Here ends the Part 2 of the Broken Moon adventure.  We will be picking up again in Part 3, the Stairs of the Moon …_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Setting out*

*Broken Moon

Part 3

The Stairs of the Moon*

No major changes, Kat’s player is still absent as they are busy with work; Jah’s player didn’t turn up for a couple of session so this character will be leaving us next session.

Setting out

It’s a large group that rides out from the lodge this morning; leading the way is Duristan a slender foolish noble with ideals of being a great hunter.  He is followed by his four surviving thugs who set up his camp and serve his meals; they are paid well for an easy time of it so they are loyal; … for now.

Riding next to Duristan is Delgros; he is a hunter; tracker and the hunstmaster of the Lodge.  Very skilled in woodmanship and the environment of the Shudderwood his knowledge of the area is hard to beat.  He is a rough looking man in his early 30’s; he has a bow over his shoulder and a large hunting knife at his hip.  He sits astride his horse confidently and his steed moves surely beneath him controlled only by his knees.

After this rides a pair of people, Grembor and Quiene ride side by side comparing notes on the surrounding flora and fauna; she is very attentive and surprises Grembor with her knowledge of the area.  Her knee keeps brushing up against Grembor’s as they ride along; it’s the best trip he has had in a long time.  Grembor is dressed in his usual dark leathers with his cloak over one shoulder and weapons close at hand; hands encased in tight leather gloves and his feet in sturdy though still soft boots.  His eyes usually roaming all over the surrounding area keep returning to Quiene for some reason.  For her part Quiene is also dressed in very functional leathers with a cloak, sturdy boots and a longbow on her back.  Attached to her saddle are a pair of finely wrought axes which seem to have well worn leather wrapped grips and her Auburn hair is swept back and tied with a strip of leather with stray curls framing her attractive face.  Her green eyes are also roaming around the surrounding but return frequently to her riding partner.

Behind the happy couple rides Pringle; Pringle is not happy as he has to leave the library and he had only managed to read a small fraction of the books contained there.  Any collection of books he has not read is a waste in his opinion.  However he has been researching a new spell in his spare time and he feels it’s almost ready for it to be scribed into his spell book so he can amaze the party with his awesome magical skills.  Pringle is dressed as a normal outdoor traveler with a sturdy cloak and a plain though well made tunic and trews.  He is wearing a pair of finely made boots and gloves and his hair is drawn back into a que at the nape of his neck; his staff is tucked under his saddle.

Sayuri follows; her mis matched eyes roaming the surroundings making sure they are not being watched; her eyes drift occasionally to the pair in close conversation ahead and she can barely contain her chuckles of amusement.  No wonder Grembor was looking so happy yesterday afternoon; hopefully it will not cause any problems or friction in the group.  She toyed briefly with the idea of seducing Zordlan but brushed the idea aside as the mirth struggled to break free again with this added hilarity.  She was sure that would not be a good idea in such a small group to take advantage of her bodyguard in such a fashion.  She is wearing her usual outfit, (she thinks she should really get some new clothes in the next town) they have been repaired a few more times since and they are starting to show the wear and tear.  Only having a few outfits makes for not the best threadbare look when all you do is travel all day split up by getting doused in blood on a regular basis.  It’s not like Kat or Grembor who wear mostly leathers or Jah who does not care if he looks like he bathed in blood.  Silks and cottons don’t like the constant washing; at least her sandals and gloves are still looking good.  I wonder if there is a spell to create a wardrobe she thinks to herself.  Her hair is swept back in a topknot to keep it from her face and tied off with another strip of silk, the bells at the end of the silk make a happy jingling sound and she rides along that makes her smile.

Zordlan heeling his well trained horse behind Sayuri is however not as impressed with her hair adornment as she is.  He has enough trouble hearing with his helmet on without the constant ringing in his ears; after a while he resigns himself and removes the hot device and hangs it off his saddle; his sweat damp hair plastered to his scalp and neck until he shakes his head and runs a hand through it shaking out the droplets.  Stretching himself back over the rump of his horse he can see Jah following him.  Jah grins and waves in a simpleminded way which makes him smile a little.  Zordlan is dressed in his Elven full plate armor; while not as heavy and restrictive as its human counterpart it is still a weight on his shoulders but a comforting one.  Taking out his sword he examines the edge again making sure it’s as sharp as it could be and free of any damage; it would take something special to damage it but habits are a hard thing to break.  Sliding the sword back into the sheath on his back he removes a glove and takes out a dagger and starts trimming his nails as catching a nail in the middle of combat is another distraction that could have you killed.

Jah following behind is having a good day; he helped kill a huge spider yesterday and the memory of it crunching under his axe still entertains him.  He can still smell the ichor from the spider and this is also making him smile.  The most amount of humor however is being produced by Grembor and the Stablemistress which he can see from his position following up the rear.  Finding a mate in an Orc camp is a simple affair; killing the mate of the one you want makes for a certain simplicity and it also makes sure that only the strong breed which improves the whole tribe.  Jahs thoughts of Large breasted Orcish women is dashed by crashing sounds in the woods which he spins towards; axe in hand and blood pumping through his system; he is disappointed to find a large stag bounding from the woods across the path with some foliage tangled in it’s antlers.  He returns to thinking of breasts and scanning the surroundings as he follows up the rear; only occasionally glancing towards the pair and holding back on his laughter.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Wolves are people too ...*

The forest seems very quiet as if it’s holding it’s breath in anticipation of something.  The large party move unhindered towards the Stairs of the Moon and it’s only until a couple of hours out when the stairs are just becoming visible between the trees ahead that the party runs into any trouble.

Duristan at about a quarter mile from the Stairs of the moon clearing calls a halt.  He and his party are going to circle the clearing to gauge the strength of the occupants if any and approach from the other direction.  They ask that the party waits for an hour before approaching the clearing so they can both arrive at about the same time.  The party agrees and they sit alert for any intrusion into their makeshift camp; Delgros and Quiene are both quite nervous as they are only there to escort the party to the Stairs but refuse to enter into the clearing so they are making sure they have everything they need to return to the Lodge safely.  They have to live here when the party has gone so they don’t want to rock the boat so to speak; they are stopping for the moment but will soon be off.

An hour passes and they continue on their way; with only a short distance to the clearing they walk into their first obstacle.  This obstacle is in the form of a 9ft tall hybrid grey werewolf with a large 2 handed sword which turns to look upon the noisy party as they follow the trail.  The party unlimber bows and fire a few shots it’s way but they seem to bounce off it’s tough hide; Jah is currently taking point and is the first to receive the charge of the hulking hybrid; there is the clash of metal on metal as the two bodies hit; Jah is forced back a few paces but manages to keep his feet under him.  The sword however smashes through his unprepared defenses and impacts with a glancing blow to his shoulder which draws the first blood.

Grembor and Zordlan exchange glances and draw weapons.  Zordlan drawing his trusty Elven curve blade; trusting in the solid hits to get through the creatures defenses while Grembor opts for the silver hunting knife they found in the dead body.  Zordlan hits and is rewarded with a small wound while Jah swings low and gets his axe bloody on the Lycanthropes thigh.  Grembor sidles to the side and tries with his knife but misses.  Sayuri finishes off a summoning and pulls from the plane of fire a pair of fire elementals which start tying to burn the hard to hit Lycan.

The Lycan throws back it’s head and lets loose a deafening howl which the party hears taken up at several other points in the vicinity; they know they need to finish this fight quickly and get out of here before re-enforcements arrive.  Spinning its large two hander as if it weighs nothing the hybrid catches Jah on his hip opening the flesh to the bone in a spurt of bright red blood; Jah stumbles and lets his guard down briefly but it’s what the lycan was waiting for as it lunges forward and rips Jah’s shoulder open in another torrent of blood in a vicious bite.  Thankfully the wound is not as severe as the amount of blood would suggest as another large Lycanthrope rounds a bend in the path and charges Zordlan with its sword held high.  With an ear splitting howl it brings the sword down and across Zordlan’s chest and the clang of it as it strikes his breastplate reverberates around the clearing.  Zordlan is driven back a step but retaliates with a blow of his own which scores a minor hit on its forearm.  

Pringle stepping to the side for a better shot fires off a bar of fire towards the Lycan attacking Jah while Grembor having the distinct advantage of a fire elemental to distract his prey strikes like a snake his silver knife sinking into the lycan’s side with the hiss of a hot knife in butter.  The Lycan howls in pain turning its red eyes upon Grembor who gulps; he pulls back on the knife and a torrent of red pours from its wound.  Jah swings his axe at the creature and lands a solid blow but it seems to shrug off most of the damage and ignores Jah for the more dangerous prey.

The Lycan on Zordlan strikes again with it’s sword creasing a line in his shoulder plate and knocking it loose; taking advantage of this it snaps it’s teeth down upon his shoulder driving it’s teeth through the protective leather and deep into Zordlan’s muscle.  Howling himself he bashes the creatures face with his fist and it releases its bite grinning through blood red soaked teeth at Zordlan.  The Lycan who has a large bloody gash in its side from Grembor’s silver knife swings its sword and catches Grembor’s ribs with a bone breaking blow causing him to double over in agony.  Following through with a bite to his back the werewolf sinks its teeth into Grembors backside and savages his meaty cheeks before letting go in obvious distaste; its bloody mouth shaking from side to side spraying blood over the combatants.

Drawing in a ragged breath Grembor leaps at the werewolf and strikes twice in quick succession driving the knife into its chest and then neck; the sharp silver blade sinking in and hissing as if hungry for its blood; the last blow with a vicious twist in the neck severs it’s carotid artery and when withdrawn a long stream of deep red blood follows it and covers the surrounding foliage and Grembor with it’s iron scent.  The creature drops to its knees its heavy sword falling from claws too weak to lift it now; slumping, it plants its face in the dirt and expires with a small puppy like whimper and a blood frothing gurgle.

Pringle recalls his spell using his staff and fires off another bar of flame at the remaining werewolf missing it completely.  With only the one of them and everyone concentrating upon it this one also soon dies with blood frothing on it’s maw from a punctured lung.

Grembor, Jah and Zordlan all look at one another; each knowing the problems with being bitten by a werewolf and each dreading what may yet come.  The rest of the party all have worried expressions as the three main combatants may now all be infected werewolves; time will tell I guess if any, all or none are indeed infected.

Shrugging they quickly grab their stuff and say a hurried goodbye to Delgros and Quiene as they have done what they said they would as they can see the tower of the Stairs of the Moon just ahead.  Neither of them carry any silver weapons as they both believe that it’s better to be considered not a threat to the local werewolf tribes so they were unable to contribute much to the last fight.  Delgros and Quiene mount up and start the hazardous journey back to the lodge.  Jah decides to explore the surrounding area before joining back up with the party and moves off into the surrounding forest trusting to his wood skills to keep him hidden.

_DM Note: Jah’s player has been absent for a few weeks so he is being dropped.  Hmmm what to do with a possible werewolf 7th level ½ Orc Barbarian … _


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## Sic_Pixie

*Tower assault*

The party can hear howls resounding around the forest and they are drawing closer; they head off trying to catch up or find Duristan’s group before heading to the Stairs of the Moon but they soon spy the fleeting figure flittering between the trees of another werewolf of large size; figuring if they stop to fight this one then more will descend upon them while they are fighting and they will be bogged down they turn their noses to the tower and they start making a run for it.

They make it halfway before they have crossbow bolts whining as they buzz past them and burying themselves with a meaty thunk into the werewolves following them.  Upon getting closer the hidden archers decide they are more of a threat as the werewolves following them retreat and they soon become the target of the speeding bolts.  Several are fired and only Pringle seems to suffer them as they open a long line of blood on his arm; upon getting closer they spy the archers on the raised level of the building and Pringle roasts them all with a fireball.  Don’t make a wizard angry … It’s not healthy.  They all die a very quick but painful death as they burn.

They ascend the steps to the raised platform and take a quick look around.  There are several burnt bodies in different poses of agony; they find more stairs heading upwards while Sayuri also notices a familiar pair of figures strolling out of the woodlands.

_DM Note: Small explanation why Kat has been absent these past few weeks.  Kats player James had to run a few courses which turned into more than a few.  We are happy to have him back with the party … not only as she is the only decent healer in the group_


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## Sic_Pixie

*Kat out and about*

Kat has been busy; she had to run off to perform a task for some druidical circle; it’s always a pain when your head and your heart are pulling you in different directions.  When the Druids say jump you turn into a bunny and hop, hop, hop till they tell you to stop.  Lets face it it’s better to do it willingly then have them do it to you.

Trying to locate and re-sanctify a set of standing stones in a swamp is no mean feat but Kat was able to locate the stones by tuning into the ley lines of the region and follow them to the natural culmination at the stone circle.  The fact that there was several stone circles in the area only made finding the correct one that much more difficult.  

The various inhabitants of these locals were usually not interested in a peaceful negotiation and were less than impressed with Kat and her wolf turning up and trying to figure out if this was the stone circle she was sent to repair.

However when she got to it the evidence was in-surmountable as only a stone circle that has become seriously out of tune has such a powerful nexus of fey energies.  Having fought her way through several other stone circles to get to this point; the ley lines here were practically throbbing with power which was being dispersed by the surrounding stone circles.  This particular stone circle had drawn the attention of a coven of Hags; Kat had to defeat them one after the other to restore the natural order to this location as their rituals were opening a doorway to the fey energies as stone circles are quite often locks on the weak points of the world to other planes.

Having performed this Kat reported back to the Druid circle that this had been done as requested and she was allowed to continue onwards and catch up with her companions.

Kat set out immediately to follow the group; she knows they were heading to Ascanor Lodge in the Shudderwood but she had not actually been there before.  Traveling swiftly through the woods as druids can; she soon arrived at the lodge to discover that the party had left more than an hour previously.  Thanking the officious Halfling porter she shouldered her equipment with a sigh and turned to the Stairs of the Moon which she has heard of through rumors.  Using her considerable woodland skills and the abilities of her wolf companion she manages to evade the various patrols and hides at the forests edge watching the tower.  It is only after she spies the party on the building that she starts heading to them having witnessed the explosion of flame from Pringles fireball.  She is pretty sure Pringle could not do that the last time she saw them …


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## Sic_Pixie

*Defecation*

Closing in she spies Grembor as he starts scaling the wall of the tower like a spider; that’s a spell she likes to use to overcome obstacles.  However Grembor had checked out the stairs and found them to be perilous so downing a potion he hit the wall and scaled it without a problem; reaching close to the top he can hear a few growling voices having a discussion but some stonework crumbles under his boot as he tries to gain purchase and the rattle of it falling down the wall attracts the attention of the guards above.

Seconds later a lupine head peers over the wall and looks down at Grembor as he is looking up.  Had he been a few inches closer it would have reached out and pulled him up to the top.  This werewolf has silver and grey fur covering its face and it snarls at Grembor baring its sharp teeth glistening with drool; however Grembor is out of reach and it’s not carrying any missile weapons so there is little he can do.  Grembor swiftly climbs down the tower having seen enough when the tail of one of the werewolves appears over the top of the tower and Grembor is assaulted with werewolf excrement which thankfully misses as this would not make for a good day.

Grembor makes it back to the bottom of the tower and finds that only Pringle remains; Pringle however is keeping his distance as not long ago a large smelly squishy object impacted the ground near where he was looking up at Grembor as he was climbing down.  This is not something that should hit an upturned face …

Pringle advises Grembor that it looks like Kat has arrived and Sayuri and Zordlan have gone to meet her; they are on the plains on the north side of the raised platform.  Grembor looks over the edge and can see Sayuri and Kat talking animatedly.

Sayuri having seen Kat approaching with her wolf leaps from the platform; the 25ft drop to the ground not bothering the monk; meeting up with Kat they hug and start exchanging recent history.  Zordlan soon joins them as he took the long route down the stairs and around the building not wishing to break an ankle.  

They do notice however that from this side the raised platform has some rooms below which is accessbale via some narrow archways; which look to lead to some sort of shrine or alter dedicated to something they have not seen before.  Sayuri notices a shimmering in the air as if there was some sort of heat wave in the room; it seems to be localized but moving; they head in to investigate as they also spy a corridor leading off into the depths of the tower.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Kat fight*

Sayuri and Zordlan approach the tower and from the raised dais a figure manifests; this figure is the upper body and head of a lycanthrope and the lower body is all misty as if it’s a spirit or ghost.  It’s large claws and tooth filled maw while looking insubstantial they guess is not just for show; spying Zordlan the wolf spirit shimmers for a second it’s eyes burning bright as they focus upon him as Zordlan feels the spirit trying to take over his body; grasping his temples in pain he screams ‘Noooooooooooooo’ as he drives to possessing force out and denies it possession to the surprise of all concerned.  With a loud mournful howl the spirit looks about for another victim.  

Sayuri casts force armor around herself while Kat cautiously enters the shrine; her wolf has more sense and remains outside.  Zordlan draws out his bow and fires an arrow at the spirit which seems to pass right through it.  The wolf spirit see’s Kat and to everyone’s surprise possesses the druid; spectral fur appears all over her body while her jaw elongates popping the bones underneath revealing huge spectral fangs slavering with drool with drips from her jaws and rains as little icicles upon the floor.  Growling she turns and menaces Zordlan with her large spectral claws her eyes are now a burning red colour.  Her neck starts smoking softly as does her hands as the silver torc and rings she is wearing burn her new form; there is a soul shattering howl that sends fear running down everyone’s spine.

Grembor up above hears this mournful wail below his feet and running to the side of the platform uses the last of the potions effects to climb straight down the wall.  Pringle however has to take the longer route and uses the stairs.

Possessed Kat moves to Zordlan and attempts to maul his body; however a serious miscalculation in the reach of her new claws causes some confusion and she inadvertently bites her own arm. (First time I have ever had a player accidentally infect themselves with Lycanthropy; Natural 1 with first attack) Sayuri concentrates and casts a spell; several images of her appear around her bobbing and weaving around making it difficult to discern which would be the true Sayuri.  Zordlan drops his bow and pulls out his sword swinging with an vicious swipe striking the Kat/wolf with a mighty blow that had it not been resistant to anything but silver would have probably severed her arm at the shoulder.  (Zordlan crits on the first blow against possessed Kat and caused about 40 points of dmg.  All hail DR 10/silver) Kat hisses in pain and reaching out drives her spectral claws into Zordlan’s body as the freezing cold of death makes his armor frost over and his lips turn a funny shade of blue before the colour returns to his cheeks; Sayuri stepping away sends some force missiles into Kat/wolf while Grembor fires some arrows which bounce off.

Zordlan swings wildly and connects with Kat/wolf again opening a slash in her shoulder; Kat with an extreme force of will expels the spirit which manifests behind her in a blue haze of teeth and claws; Kat practically falls to her knees in exhaustion as fatigue overwhelms her.  Sayuri unleashes a quartet of force missiles that impact upon the spectral wolf causing it to howl in pain as it turns to face her with murder in its eyes.  Sayuri feels the possessive force of the wolf trying to take over her body but with a grunt of exertion she repels the spirit very much to the spirits disappointment.  Grembor advances and drives his silver dagger into the spirit causing it to howl again and it turns it’s evil red eyes towards him; Grembor gulps as he knows what’s coming as he prepares to repel anyone encroaching upon his mind praying fervently to the gods that he has the mental fortitude to resist.

Swinging Zordlan’s sword passes through the apparition without apparent harm while Kat stays on the floor too tired to do much other then crawl.  Sayuri casts quickly and another quartet of force missiles hammers home into the core of the possessive wolf spirit and rips its tenebrous form to pieces.  With a final soul searing howl the wolf disperses and the ambient temperature of the shrine raises several degrees.  Grembor expresses his praise to the gods as the others look on in amazement.

They quickly gather around Kat helping her to her feet and casting healing energies into her.  She smiles weakly at the party and asks them to not throw such a surprise party for her return ever again.  She does not like surprises … Kat banishes her fatigue with a spell and they continue exploring the room; Pringle finally arrives on the scene hyperventilating from the exertion of running all this way.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pain is symbolic*

Sayuri and Zordlan investigate the apparent passageway into the tower and find a pair of doors opposite each other.  They back out not having touched them and call in the trap expert.  Grembor checks both doors and informs the party that they are both free from traps; Zordlan opens up one and a sudden agonizing pain rips through everyone in the party; Sayrui is the only one able to dismiss the pain to the back of her mind while the rest roll on the floor for a while screaming in pain.  Finally they recover and they all shoot Grembor accusatory looks but he was affected by the magical trap as everyone else they let it slide.  They investigate the room but find little of interest until Grembor notices that one of the walls seems to be made of loosely piled bricks.  Pulling one out he can see little through the gap but from the sounds on the other side it appears to be a room.

Sayuri investigates as her ties to the plane of shadow grant her the ability to see in the dark and she can see a room on the other side; this room seems to have some sort of pit in the centre of it and disappears out of her field of vision.  Her ears perk up as she detects the sound of spellcasting on the other side of the wall.  The whole party retreats out of the tower and have a brief discussion while Kat scatters caltrops in the passageway to impede anyone advancing from the room.  

After several minutes nothing happens so they advance again but this time investigate the other side of the corridor.  They easily avoid the caltrops but should they need to retreat then they will be in for a nasty passage.  The other doorway leads to a mostly empty room; mostly in that there is a corpse lying in one corner clutching a satchel in its wasted hands.  The aroma is cloying with the stink of decay and as they approach they notice movement; hands leaping to swords they find it is only the maggots and other insects feasting upon the body causing the slight shift in the body.  Grabbing the satchel and a ring off one hand (taking most of the finger with it) they retreat again outside to the fresh air to examine their find.

Opening up the bag and discarding the spoiled remnants of its owner’s lunch they fish out some stones in a pouch; examining these they find several onyx gemstones which Pringle identifies somewhat worryingly as possible material components for an animate dead spell.  The other thing of interest in the satchel is a leather wrapped map of Ustalav with several coordinates scrawled on the back; the towns of Ravengro and Lepidstadt, a location near Ascanor Lodge (likely the Stairs of the Moon), and the ghost town of Feldgrau in the Furrows of Ardeal (wonder where to go next?).  They pocket this before looking at the ring which looks to be a gagged skull; another ring with the symbol of the Whispering Way.

After waiting to see if the inhabitant of the room behind the door is willing to come out they decide to head in to investigate again.  Sayuri and Grembor take point and start tearing down the wall while Kat stands back until her impatience gets the better of her and she directs a powerful gust of wind at the wall as Sayuri summons some elementals into the room to harass the poor hermit living within.

However they all wait in the room and then head in to investigate when nothing seems to happen and find no-one in the room to challenge them.  In disgust and some confusion they check out the room finding a few interesting things in a chest which tells the history of this place; some instructions for re-activating a relic on the roof and a remove disease spell (cast at 12th level).  Additionally they find a fine set of solid silver surgical tools.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*History of the Stairs of the Moon:*

Reading through the fragile scrolls they find out:

*History of the Stairs of the Moon:*

_The Stairs of the Moon was an ancient temple of Desna constructed in the Shudderwood during the first half of the Age of Enthronement. For over 800 years, the temple administered to those of Desna’s faithful among the settlers of the Shudderwood, until the Whispering Tyrant came to Ustalav. At that time, the high priest of Desna at the temple had a single son whom he loved dearly. During the wars against the Whispering Tyrant, the priest’s son served as a missionary, but when he returned home some years later he had changed, for at some point he had contracted a particularly virulent strain of lycanthropy.  The priest tried everything he could to save his son. He imprisoned his son in a secret chamber beneath the temple and conducted experiments upon him, desperate to reverse the curse. When his research failed to yield positive results, these experiments turned dark and terrible. The priest developed a serum from his son’s blood that he used to infect his congregation with lycanthropy in order to study the disease’s effects. Over the generations, these afflicted werewolves’ offspring became natural werewolves and their descendents now hunt the Shudderwood as the Mordrinacht tribe. When the temple fell to the armies of the Whispering Tyrant, consumed in mysterious pillars of white fire, death transformed the cleric’s wretched son into an undead wolf spirit. The Stairs of the Moon was soon abandoned, and its memory wiped from the world at large.  
_
They come to the conclusion that the wolf spirit they fought outside was none other than the son of the high priest; ransacking the room they find little else bar a wand of some description.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Spiked Tentacles of forced intrusion ... If only we had this spell *

Leaving they had almost forgotten the hidden spellcaster within the tower but it soon came back into the forefront of their minds when a forest of black tentacles springs up around Pringle and Grembor as they exit the tower.  These tentacles wrapped around the pair and started mercilessly choking the life from them.

Zordlan springing into action charges into the tentacles ignoring the fact that they are likely to try grappling him too and seeks to pull Grembor from their grasp; this he fails to do but thankfully remains free of the tentacles grasp.  Sayuri starts summoning some creatures to help out while Kat attempts to make her way through the tentacles but gets caught in their powerful grasp

Casting his gaze around Zordlan manages to make out a lean figure just outside of the ground floor that seems to be waving his arms around and muttering arcane words of power.  He recognizes the figure as Estovion the late Warden of the Lodge looking decidedly worse for wear as he is sporting some recent bite marks.  Grembor and Pringle try to free themselves but neither manages this as the tentacles are very powerful while Estovion finishes off his spell summoning a large Dire Wolf to assist in taking out these powerful foes.  However there is a slight miscalculation and he summons the wolf slightly closer to the tentacle spell effect than he should and gets it grappled.

Zordlan tries helping Grembor free himself but the tentacles are too strong even with the combined effort and nearly gets trapped himself.  Sayuri finishes off summoning a few Lemures from the plains of Hell which appear close to the party and try helping to free them of their binding tentacles to little effect as they all get grappled as soon as they step from their summoning portals.

Kat’s wolf with direction from Kat sneaks up on Estovion and attempts to bite him in the bum; this fails as its teeth snap together on an errant bit of clothing as he spins around in surprise.

Only finding a wolf he steps back a step and casts a spell on the wolf expecting it to take hold; the spell should make the wolf friendly but for some reason it fails to take.  Estovion however does not know this and turns back towards his main goal and that is killing the bothersome group of adventurers that had disturbed his peaceful Lodge

Sayuri in a flash of inspiration quickly casts grease on the area of Grembor and Zordlan hoping to assist in their escape which makes it much easier for Zoldan to extract himself and then grabs the now unconscious Grembor from the grasp of the tentacles and start making his way to the side of the spells area of effect.  Pringle still stuck within the confines of the spell struggles weakly to break free but fails.

Estovion looking a little perplexed at the group overcoming his nasty spell sends a bar of flame towards Zordlan which misses and impacts on one of the many pillars holding up the ceiling; a little dust falls from the area around the pillar but nothing more serious.

Zordlan finally makes it out of the reach of the tentacles dragging Grembor with him who is out cold from the repeated assault from the rubbery tentacles.  Pringle is still stuck fast with the tentacles wrapping around his throat; with a mighty heave he manages to tear the tentacle free and staggers towards the perimeter of the spell.  He does not make it out however before they again wrap around his waist and start squeezing again.

Sayuri casts grease on herself and Kat and they both start picking their way through the forest of tentacles which is hard going but they manage to make it part way through; the tentacles have a hard time getting to grip with them due to the grease covering their supple forms.  (Who would have thought we would have a pair of greased up girls and grappling large black tentacles; this is not Manga)  Her summoned Lemures are having a difficult time with the tentacles and only one remains which frees itself and attacks the Dire wolf which is still wrapped in tentacles.

Dropping Grembor to the ground outside of the area of the tentacle spell Zordlan whips out his bow and fires a shot at Estovion which misses; Sayuri and Kat make it safely out of the area of the tentacles just in time for Estovian to fill the air with thick strands of webbing in another attempt to impede their approach.

Sayuri ignoring the webbing due to her still greased form which the webs have trouble sticking to casts a quartet of force missiles at Estovian; they streak towards him and before impact hit an invisible shield which absorbs their power.  Cursing wizards she folds her arms before her and considers her next option when her favorite spell is denied her.  Kat moving to a better position casts an entangle spell on the grass and weeds under the evil wizard which wrap around his feet but also trap her wolf and herself.

Zordlan dropping his bow heads into the tentacle forest to help Pringle out as he has suddenly gone limp; Estovian’s tentacle spell expires and they disperse leaving an unconscious Pringle lying on the floor while Estovian with a thought disappears from the confines of the entangle spell and appears on the other side away from the party.  He turns and starts walking away towards the surrounding woodlands.

Kat thinks to follow but looks over the remains of the party and decides otherwise as they need some serious healing.  Heading to Grembor she casts a healing spell which brings him from his slumber; Sayuri heads to help with Pringle as Zordlan carries him to them but he is very pale and cold and his breath is rattling in his throat in its final moments.  Sayuri scans around looking for something she can do and pulls out a wand of minor healing; concentrating she tries to activate the wand which is something she has not managed previously and she feels it spring to life directing its healing energy into Pringle.  With a light cough Pringle is saved from the clutches of death but it takes several more applications of the wand to bring him back to mobility.  He is still very pale looking however.

_DM Note: This is basically a side kick kicking their ass; Estovian is supposed to be holed up in the room with the surgical instruments but what self respecting wizard is going to let themselves get into that situation.  Dimension hopping outside and setting up an ambush is much more effective.  Conjurers need space to work with …I like wizards as BBEG’s; have to be very careful you don’t get close and conjurers are great at this.

At the end of this Pringle is 1 point off dead; if Sayuri had not used the wand he would have passed away while Grembor was into pretty high negatives but had eventually stabilized towards the end.  This was a tough fight but there is worse to come I’m sure.  Couple of mistakes by me with the spells but we can put those down to Estovian not having much need for casting offensive spells so little practice with them.  James (Kat’s Player) advised me I had summoned the Dire Wolf within reach of the tentacles which pretty much wasted the spell as the wolf got grappled.  Oh well you live and learn.  Was a good session and two very close deaths … not had a death in a while …_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Assault on the Stairs of the Moon Part 1*

The group chill out for a few minutes while gaining their feet again; an inventory of items gets underway as they consider the climb to the top of the tower.  Pringle gets the wand of spider climb that they found in the base of the tower and they consider their options (after identifying it).

Having some idea of what they will be facing they plan on attacking from all sides.  Ignoring the stairs they plan to climb the walls while Pringle climbs one side and unleashes a devastating spell; the rest of the party climb the other side and jump in and take them while their backs are turned.  

As far as plans go it’s a bit ropey but then it’s not my place to judge; so they scale the stairs of the moon without using the stairs as they scale the sheer walls like a bunch of spiders.  Everyone but Pringle is on one side while Pringle climbs the opposite side.  Peering over the edge Pringle can’t see anyone in the tower room but he has good authority that something’s there.  Summoning forth his powers he casts a slowly rolling ball of flame into the room; this illuminates the area around it and he notices some movement that’s very close.  Standing behind the upright practically adjacent to Pringle is a hybrid werewolf with silver grey fur who seemed to know Pringle was coming.  (Possibly as he has little to no skills in stealth and was muttering to himself all the way up the tower) turning into the open window he bites down on Pringles head leaving large tooth marks which bleed profusely. 

With a scream Pringle ducks out of reach and climbs down a way as the blood runs into his eyes; Sayuri peering over the edge notices another trying to hide close to their position and quickly intones one of her favorite spells.  The area beneath the werewolf is suddenly coated in a greasy layer which causes the creature to fall over; Grembor looks over the edge; seeing this he bounds up almost slipping on the floor himself; then pulling out his silver knife drives it into the werewolf’s back as it’s laying on the floor.  With a twist of his knife when he pulls back a large spurt of blood follows it adding to the slipperyness of the floor.  The werewolf howls in pain as the silver knife is driven into his suddenly tender hide.

Kat decides to leave the group and investigate further up the tower as there is another level above this one.  (Have I mentioned my dislike with splitting up the party before?) Crawling up the wall making almost no sound at all Kat makes it to the next level where she can see a pair of tough looking werewolves which seem to be preparing themselves for a fight.  Kat tries sneaking back down but she knocks some debris loose which clatter down the wall causing both the figures topside to look in her direction.  Zordlan at this point thinks it’s a good idea to follow Kat up and investigate so he starts clanking up the wall in his plate armor.  Kat descending tells Zordlan to go down but the damage has been done as a Grey streaked wolfs head appears over the top of the wall looking down upon the pair.

The werewolves in the lower level are in more of a bind however; the one on the floor before Grembor struggles to rise but fails slipping back down onto the floor with a crash; the one who bit Pringle moves to engage Sayuri and delivers a nasty bite on her arm; it’s friend lacking any space hangs back looking for an opening.  Grembor delivers a couple of devastating blows to the werewolf on the ground while Pringle peeking into the room from outside moves the ball of fire to the same werewolf which causes it to scream as it expires with the pungent aroma of burnt fur.  

Kat transforming into a fire elemental vaults through the archway landing beside Sayuri who is trying to decide what to do with the wolf attached to her arm while Zordlan follows through landing gracefully the other side of Sayuri and drawing forth his sword with a flourish.  Sayrui tries beating and kicking the werewolf but most of her blows just bounce off its tough hide as it worries at her arm.  She is only able to release her arm when it tries to improve on its hold and she manages to extract her arm from its jaws.

The remaining werewolf charges across the floor towards Grembor as it has just seen Grembor killing its mate by driving a silver dagger into its hide.  Obviously this would infuriate the creature and it would like revenge so it tries with tooth and claw.  Grembor smiling until he spies the swiftly approaching form readies for combat as the werewolf crashes into him knocking him from his feet as the werewolf’s teeth pierce his leg and hot blood showers over the wolfish features and down its throat.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Enter Master Werewolf ...*

Walking confidently down the stairs is a tall lean figure; its face a noble appearing wolf with grey and silver fur.  It absently twirls a bastard sword in one hand while the other grips a very functional looking dagger; getting to the bottom of the stairs it looks around with apparent boredom as if deciding which of these minor annoyances it would swat first.  Grinning its eyes alight upon Grembor lying prone with his leg being used as a chew toy; glancing to his side there is a column of fire where Kat used to be as she is now a fire elemental.  Next to this is a short practically unarmed female which is being menaced by one of his pack while next to her is a warrior in full armor with a big sword.  This would be his first choice but he is unable to get to this warrior without cutting through his own pack mate.  Happy and confidant he waits for a space to clear up before he bothers to motivate himself.

Grembor manages to extract his leg and retrieving the dagger from where he dropped it; striking out from the floor he is able to sink his dagger into the soft underarm of the werewolf beside him.  Pushing he tries to reach it’s heart but the blade is not long enough; Sayuri casting carefully summons a configuration to burst into being around her is scarlet flames; “that should make them think twice about biting me” she thinks as she grins at the werewolf before her.  Zordlan and Kat striking out at the werewolf before Kat both make telling blows rocking the creature on its feet.  It grins at them through bloody teeth its eyes making them aware that it will eat their liver for breakfast; probably with some fava beans and a nice chianti … 

Pringle poking his head up can see the large and impressive figure that came wondering down the stairs; thinking quickly he fishes out one of the goat figurines and tosses it towards the newcomer while uttering the command word.  It springs into life and charges the surprised werewolf which has to dive to the side to avoid its large horns from impaling him.  Scrambling back to his feet he covers his surprise with a savage series of blow on the goat that causes it to stager back and the vicious over head blow rings off it’s horns almost buckling the poor goats legs.

It’s Sayuri who finishes it off however as her lightning bolt rips through both the goat which disappears back into the statue; the large werewolf just down the stairs who looks around with some surprise as the lightning makes it’s fur stand up on end; and the werewolf stood right in front of her who receives the blast to his chest at point blank range.  This poor werewolf drops to the floor it’s whole body wracked with pain as the electricity courses through him; cooking his organs on the inside while he swiftly expires on the floor.

Zordlan and Kat who were waiting for this swiftly advance on the big werewolf and try alternatively beating it down with a big sword and slapping him round the face with fiery fists with various amounts of success.

As these two are effectively blocking off any approach towards the annoying lightning caster at the back the large werewolf needs to take down these gnats first.  Striking out alternatively at each of the two before him he expected them to drop to the floor in blood gushing piles of soon to be expired death but alas they are tougher then he thought they would be and they weather the storm although they both take some serious wounds to their bodies and pride in the process.

Grembor and Pringle both finish off the downed werewolf with a combination of silver dagger and burning ball; the werewolf expires with a whimper.  Zordlan and Kat both try their respective smack downs on the large werewolf and score a few good hits while he is still getting over the many surprises today.  A magically appearing goat with big horns; lightning bolt from no-where and then these two who defy all probability by remaining on their feet after he hit them.  Sayuri does her usual force missiles; which with the death of the final werewolf on this floor makes him reconsider his options and he retreats back up the stairs to the top floor leaving the group below wondering if they should follow him up the stairs.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Taking down the Boss.*

The party can hear a droning chant coming from the floor above which sounds like spell casting so they are feeling cautious.  They quickly apply a few healing spells and potions not wishing to waste any time and then scamper up the outside of the tower.

On top of the tower is a henge; a circle of large 10ft tall standing stones with another large lintel stone laying on top of two upright stones.  Seeing this the whole party clamber up onto the top of one of the lintel’s each as they arrange themselves in a semi circle around the two figures in the centre.  One is the large werewolf they have previously encountered; the other is a smaller leaner affair with red fur her green eyes glowing with a mystical light as her arms are wreathed in crackling lightning which streams down from the heavens and strikes Sayuri on top of her lintel.

Sayuri in response unleashes a lightning bolt from her hand directly at the Auburn furred female who tries valiantly to dive out of the way but still manages to catch some of the blast.  For some reason the large werewolf takes a disliking to Kat who is still in the form of a fire elemental on top of her lintel and with a running jump manages to clamber up and loom over the small elemental that is Kat.  Grinning he runs his tongue down his sword smearing the resulting bloody saliva on the blade as it drips down his chin.

Kat as the werewolf is climbing up tries to poke her fire wreathed fingers into the creatures eyes but a turn of the head as they close only burns some of the hair on his face; Zordlan fires off a pair of arrows at the large werewolf and scores a good hit as one of the arrows remains stuck in his side while Grembor hefts a flask of fire in his direction.  Pringle covers the area around the female in a dense cloud obscuring her from sight while Sayrui covers the area she was standing in grease causing a frustrated squeal followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor from within the fog.  There is another bolt of lightning from the heavens which impacts upon Sayuri again which causes some minor damage.

Our sword wielding werewolf strikes out at the fire elemental that is Kat and scores several hits causing Kat to teeter on the edge of the lintel almost driving her to her knees in its ferocity; the rest of the party seeing the effects of this re-double their efforts to save Kat.  Zordlan fires off another pair of arrows one of which draws blood; Pringle sends some force missiles towards Kat’s opponent which impact with teeth jarring force; Grembor leaping from his perch to Kat’s swiftly scales the monolith and drives his silver blade deep into the creatures knee joint and viciously twists the blade as the large werewolf howls in agony and turns on it’s still strong leg and faces Grembor who is hung suspended below him on the lintel’s upright.  Opening its mouth it howls its hate into Grembors face and is rewarded by a torrent of force missiles from Sayuri with impacts upon his face and shoulders with the sound of cracking bone the large werewolf collapses and drops to the floor inside the circle of standing stones with a defeated whimper.

The wind this high up soon whips Pringles Fog spell away revealing the female werewolf who has managed to get beck to her knees; she notices the still form of the large werewolf lying not 10 paces from her and raises her paws to the sky in surrender.  The party exchanges glances and accept the females capitulation and set about searching the werewolf and asking the female questions. 

They are most interested in the heart they have heard of and they are informed that it is being chased to the south east in an attempt to recover it; asking her name she advises them in a haughty tone that she is Cybrisa Dorzhanev the leader of the Dorzhanev clan of werewolves.  They look at the fallen werewolf and they are advised that this werewolf (now back in the form of a man with a bushy silver streaked beard and lank hair) is non other than Mathus Mordrinacht the now ex claimant to be the Pack leader of the Shudderwood werewolves clans and flunky of the Whispering Way.

They allow Cybrisa to leave once they have her word that she will be taking her werewolves away to the north but she does rip out Mathus’s heart prior to leaving and consumes it whole before the party.  Several of the party looks away in disgust at the barbarism while Cybrisa grins to her self to see their reaction; she seems curiously interested in Grembors reaction.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Activating the Dusk Moth*

Looking around the tower top they recall the information they have found in the lower levels regarding this.  Apparently this is an alter of sorts to the Goddess Desna; going on the principle that it’s better to have a god in your camp they make the decision to do their best to clean up the shrine and see if they can re-consecrate it.  They spend the remainder of the day removing bodies and scrubbing the tower clean with spells and other more mundane ways.

Come night they all sit in a circle on the tower top a faint radiance emanates from the menhirs atop the temple, almost like a refractive fog which emanates from the huge moth scribed in the tower top.  Each of them attempts to activate the Dusk Moth using the communion scroll they found; they are finally rewarded as they all fall into a deep trance.  

The party commune directly with Desna herself; the goddess thanks them for restoring and cleansing her temple and shows them a vision of the future. The party see themselves facing a black-robed necromancer wearing a bone breastplate as he stands before a ruined tower; fighting a terrifying, tentacled monster deep beneath the sea; confronting a beautiful female vampire spell caster in an underground chamber; and battling a decaying lich, blazing with arcane power, atop a high spire beneath dark, churning clouds.

They all wake one hour later as the radiant stones fade back to dull gray, and the last of the Dust Moth’s magic peters out. All of them look at each other in wonderment as they notice that the irises of their eyes have turned a pale silvery color, a visible and permanent sign of their experience.  They then all scream in pain as a burning pain erupts from their hearts as if it is exploding and spreads up over their chest to their left shoulder and down their arm.  Shuddering they regain their feet a few minutes later once the pain subsides and they inspect the site.

Each of them has an intricately scribed tattoo with a star knife centered over their hearts with blue flames rising from this up to their shoulder and running down their arms to their wrist.  Within these flames are tiny butterflies or moths which seem to be dancing around a collection of stars.  The burning pain is just a memory but they are hesitant to touch the tender feeling flesh; however being brave adventurers they do and they are rewarded with the knowledge that they have been granted a boon of minor healing once per day and they can if they all agree cause a once only effect that should help them in a magical conflict.  They each feel the peace of the goddesses presence wash over them and then depart leaving behind a strong yearning for the feeling to persist.

Slowly they all get to their feet and examine each others tattoo’s with interest; they all look identical from what they can see.  However they are all tired from their experience and decide to camp upon the tower tonight and head to the ruined town of Feldgrau early tomorrow morning.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Walking to Paradise ...*

Grembor and Zordlan each take watches while the casters sleep and they awake refreshed and content; after a small breakfast they head down the tower again using the wand of spider climb.  Alighting upon the floor they find with despair that their horses have been butchered by the werewolves while they were otherwise occupied; they will have to walk to the next town which is a good days walk just outside of the forest barring any other mode of transportation.

As they find their way to edge of the clearing they find a scene of blood and carnage; there are body parts strewn around a small clearing; several people have been ripped apart and some of their intestines and other less easy to identifiable items are hanging from the surrounding branches.  They quickly reconnoiter the area and find this is the remains of Duristan’s hunting team; however they do not find Duristan which could bode well for the noble hunter.  They do discover that each of the bodies has had their heart ripped from their chest with a taloned claw and they can find no scraps of heart in the clearing so it looks like they were either taken with them or eaten on the spot.  The sheer amount of blood splattered body parts is difficult to register but they finally figure out that they were hit by surprise by many hybrid werewolves and that it happened several hours ago.

They start arraigning the bodies to prepare them for burial when they hear the sounds of several figures approaching along one of the trails.  Weapons are readied and spells brought to mind as a group of Varasian travelers who look decidedly worse for wear slide into the clearing and fan out.  Hands not far from weapons they are gruffly asked what their business is here.  Bowing his head the leader of the band steps forward and introduces him self as Rhakis Szadro, leader of the Princes Wolves.  At which the band twitch nervously as they have had just about enough of werewolves for a while.  Spreading his hands wide to show his peaceful intentions Rhakis explains that he does not wish for a fight as he has seen and heard what has happened in the clearing and it seems getting in the way of this rag tag appearing band of adventurers is not good for one’s health.  Asking what they are intending to do and why they are here Gembor responds stating that they are hunting down the Whispering Way and they are heading to the ghost town of Feldgrau; with a grin he is told that they are also hunting down the Whispering Way and that a truce of some sort may indeed be viable.  Relaxation on both sides as grips are released on weapons and the matrix for the flesh devouring spell in mind are released … for now.

Sitting down in the gore splattered clearing Rhakis motions for them to do likewise and starts filling a pipe with pungent smelling weed; “you already know where to go and what needs doing, it seems you are a more resourceful team than appearances would suggest.”  With a simple cantrip he lights the pipe and sits back pulling on the pipe till the smoke starts rising in an agreeable manner as his blue eyes scan the party.  “I propose an alliance; simple we help you and you help us.  We want the heart of the previous packlord and you want to stop the whispering way as we do.  Unless you have a much quicker methods of travel other then your own two feet we will be in Feldgrau long before you.”  Looking around the clearing at the cleanup work that’s progressing with the werewolves assistance.  “These bodies have the stink of the Demon Wolves upon them; it seems they are the ones who massacred this group; they are on also on their way to the ghost town to reclaim the heart.  Should their leader Adimarus Ionacu become packlord of the Shudderwood it would not bode well for the non lycanthrope denizens of the forest and its surrounding area.”  Fishing in his bag he pulls out several fetishes which he tosses their way.  These will grant you assistance with my brethren who are tracking the Demon wolves should you meet them; don’t abuse the rare privilege I am granting you.”  

With this he taps out his pipe in the palm of his hand, rubbing the embers together till fully extinguished before standing.  “So you killed Mathus Mordrinacht; congratulation on that; he was getting quite rabid with the Whispering Way’s influence.  Where did you say you left the body?”  With these direction in mind he walks away with a friendly wave with the remaining werewolves following close behind.  The clearing is left with several bodies arraigned in a better pose than they were found.  The party gather their things and after some washing to remove the blood and gore from themselves they head off to the closest town.

It seems the luck of the goddess is with them as they come across nothing of any note on their trip out of the forest; They do however meet several traders coming the other way which they advise to turn around and head back to town as most of them head their advise they have some one other than each other to talk to as they walk.  Pringle has the worst time of it on the forced march as he is the most unused to rigorous activity and his body is complaining in many small ways.  He finally gives in and they request he hitch a ride on one of the caravans they are walking with which is granted.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Sayuri gets the wrong attention ...*

As it’s starting to get dark as they reach the town of Chastel they thank the caravan drivers and head in to find somewhere to sleep the night away.  The first place they come across is called the Saucy Wench and they decide to try this one despite the peeling paint and general run down appearance.  Walking in they are met with a raucous group of river sailors and other less savory characters; it must be a good place as all the tables are taken so they approach the bar and Sayuri requests a room off the fat and dirty barkeep who seems to be pushing some liquid round the bar with a dirty cloth which in no way is cleaning anything.

Looking Sayuri up and down and his eyes definitely focused on the torn fabric barely holding together and keeping her looking modest.  Grinning he grunts she can stay in his room for free; looking up he notices the rest of the party for the first time and gulps to see Kat standing behind Sayuri with her arms crossed and her hands less than an inch from two worn and very serviceable weapons.  Her expression is one of someone less than happy and with a gulp he amends his last statement asking how many rooms they would like while trying to keep his eyes anywhere but Sayuri’s chest.  They agree to three rooms and with food and they all retire upstairs apart from Kat who has not yet moved.  Stepping up to the counter her steel eyed gaze never moving she demands a bottle of wine which the now stuttering barkeep gets for her (after testing her coin is good) and places it on the bar.  Kat takes the bottle to her room much to the relief of the barkeep.

The night passes in blissful slumber after the bar finally quits at roughly 3am.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Shopping trip .. Exciting adventures*

Upon waking the whole party excluding Grembor decides it’s a good day to have a bath so they head to the bathhouse attached to the tavern.  As it’s sitting on the banks of the river water is not a problem as there is a clever heating system which pipes hot water to individual tubs which are screened off from each other.  Everyone lets the trials of the last several days wash away into the now very dirty water; after a rinse with cleaner water they feel ready to face the world and after dressing and grabbing some breakfast they head out to go shopping.  

The things foremost in mind are getting new clothing; buying silver weapons and getting the possibility of the curse of Lycanthropy removed.  Obviously being a girl Sayuri heads clothes shopping first as her current attire is looking seriously worn and bedraggled.  The first clothing shop she enters however does not really carry her line of clothing being more directed at servicing those female dock workers, who put the vice into service.  Leaving here she is directed to an establishment that provides clothing for the intrepid adventurer and she purchases several outfits for herself and Zordlan.  Taking one set to the changing rooms she quickly changes out of her old outfit and leaves the shop wearing her new.  She will be picking up her other outfits later today when they have been adjusted.

Kat on the other hand finds a gnomish smith close to the riverbank and commissions a new silver sword along with a nice matching long knife while Zordlan also acquires a silver scimitar.  Pringle picks up some silver bolts for his crossbow; Kat’s sword will be ready later that day as she is willing to pay for its swift creation. 

Exiting the smithy they notice Sayuri further down the street who has just stepped out of the clothing shop; they hurry to meet her and while Sayuri and Zordlan are discussing matters outside Kat enters and after some money changes hands some itching powder will be introduced to one of Sayuri’s outfits.  Kat while not interested in the clothing lines due to being a dirty leather wearing druid does pick up a few assorted items.

Sayuri none the wiser to Kat’s prank takes a walk down the muddy street looking for the largest temple in the area.  After getting some directions from some of the locals who are more than interested in helping the pretty Monk she gets directed to Temple Street; rounding the corner she finds an impressive looking building and heads there.

However upon entering she finds a bar selling beer and other items; shaking her head at the depravity of a bar owner setting up an establishment in a temple she heads on to the next temple.  This is dedicated to the goddess of Nature so she gives that one a miss as she has had way too much nature recently having washed a large amount of nature from herself that very morning; finding a more traditional temple dedicated to Desna close by she enters to the sound of the Alter ringing like a bell.  Not associating this with anything out of the ordinary she is surprised when a flurry of robed figures approach her and bid her welcome.  The head priest is quickly summoned and Sayuri is soon sitting in a comfortable room with the local high priest.

Broaching the delicate subject of disease removal; this is received favorably until the actual disease is identified as Lycanthropy.  With sadness she is informed that the local clergy in any of the temples in this town is unable to cure such a disease; the cure requires a certain amount of power and no-one he knows of locally has this power.  However do not despair as the city of Ardal is less than a days ride on a fast horse and he can get word sent there to make sure the high priest there is available.  He travels a lot so it’s best to book an appointment but I am sure he will make himself available for one such as you.  Sayuri looks confused at the special treatment but is happy for it nevertheless and thanking the priest she enquires on a good location for buying a fast horse.  She is directed to the market area where such things are sold and told to ask for Orric.  Sayrui sets off with a purposeful stride as the emergence of the beast would have serious repercussions on her chosen profession.

Finding her way to the market is no problem as the buildings of the town are all built around the semi permanent tented trading hub of the town.  She practically stumbles over Pringle who is wandering around looking quite lost.  Walking through the tents she is assailed by the various traders and resellers of foods and other less savory items which she rebuffs.  Soon finding Orric the horse salesman by the smell if nothing else she is rewarded with three fine steeds which they are assured are the fastest horses available.  These they take to the outskirts of the city and start the ride to the metropolis of Ardal.  Pringle not being an accomplished rider is in for another very uncomfortable trip.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Kat follows later ...*

Kat however is having a more relaxed day and wanders around the admittedly impressive town for its size.  It’s basically a huge bazaar surrounded by some buildings where people live; at the junction of a crossroads it is a major trade hub for the region and a large amount of wealth changes hands daily.  There is also a lively river trade and all the benefits and otherwise that having many sailors in town has.

She soon finds herself in a local temple where they are serving “holy water” which seems to be a very finely brewed beer.  This temple is to the god of beer among other things and his celebrations seem to be very rowdy.  Kat has a discussion with a priest about the problems of the world which finally comes round to her party’s problems and the possibility of finding a cure for a certain ailment.  Once they drink enough to think straight they find that beer cannot (contrary to popular belief) cure all ills.  After discussions with the priest who is also serving as barman in this fine upstanding temple Kat is informed that no-one in town could cure that certain affliction and the closest would be Ardal; thanking the priest Kat takes a couple more bottles for the trip and heads to the market.  Kat soon finds herself talking to a somewhat blurry man who is selling her a pair of horses which he assures her are the fastest left remaining in the town; Kat leaves town after swinging by the Gnomish smithy and picking up her new weapons without looking at them and then dropping into the clothes shop to collect Sayuri’s new sets of clothes.

Kat sets off swaying in the saddle towards what she hopes is Ardal; thankfully there are no incidents upon the way other than the swaying of the horses makes her feel somewhat nauseated and the odd trader she meets or passes.  After a while she is feeling better and makes up for the initial delay by swapping horses regularly; she makes it to Ardal close to midnight.

Asking at the gate she is rewarded by a young guard who remembers Sayuri arriving in the city a few hours previously.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Don't call my girl a dog ...*

A few hours previously:  Sayuri followed by Zordlan and Pringle make it to the city of Ardal; they are saddle sore and tired but it’s only late afternoon.  They are met at the gate buy some guards who enquire to their business in this fair city.  Sayuri acting as spokeswoman for the group talks to the guards saying they are on a pilgrimage and would like to know where the temple of Desna is located.  A young guardsman blown over by the Half Elf Sorcereress quickly volunteers to show them the way.  Accepting graciously they are led into the ancient city and are shown the way through the winding streets to the temple district.  Here they are shown to the steps of the Temple of Desna where they thank their young guide who is more than happy to watch Sayuri walk up the stairs to the temple doors.

Walking up the stairs the doors are wide open; upon entering there is a single tone that Sayuri is sure comes from the alter while the other two hardly notice it at all.  There is a scurry of activity as the high priest is advised and a priest meets them to direct them to him.  They are swiftly ushered into the sitting room for the high priest who looks to be a kindly appearing old man who is still spry with a twinkle in his eye.

Coming forward to shake their hand warmly he greets them all as old friends to the amusement of the group; then asking to see their tattoo’s the group finally come to the realization of why they are being treated so well.  Sayuri concludes that the sound when they entered was a signal to those assembled that one touched by the goddess has arrived.  Baring her shoulder she shows the old priest her tattoo who grins in enjoyment as he asks if he can see more of it.  Knowing how far the tattoo goes she shakes her head while the old priest laughs.  “Welcome Welcome please sit down; our colleague in Chastel advised us you were coming and needed some assistance.  I have prepared the spells you require and I can cast them whenever you require.  Rooms have been made available for you as honored guests and the spells will be at cost.”  Nodding he heads back to his desk and sits down; with a gesture to one of the underlings soon hot bread and olives are brought forward with some wine to wash them down with.  “Please, please eat while I make the preparations; it will only take a minute or two.”  

Digging out several items he takes out several strips of parchment and starts writing upon each then wandering around the room casting as he goes and while they are enjoying the wine and food they are each cleansed of all diseases and afflictions.  “Now is there anything else the clergy can do for you?  I do hope you will be able to attend the service tonight; there is supposed to be quite am impressive show of shooting stars tonight.”  With this agreement they all leave to make themselves presentable and they find the rooms while spartan are comfortable.  There is a naturally fed volcanic pool which keeps a constant temperature where they can relax away the evening.

Kat arrives around midnight and as she enters the temple there is the ringing of a bell; she assumes it is some weird Desnan ritual in progress.  She is shown to a room by the attending priests; the room looks to have been naturally formed; there is even a bed which has been grown from the rock.  She unpacks and heads to the baths to remove the grime of the days activities.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor finds himself home alone ...*

Grembor waking in Chastel that morning drags himself from the bed and takes a wander downstairs; apparently everyone forgot he was there and left him in the tavern.  They all had a relaxing morning bathing then running round the town buying things.  Grembor staggers down mid morning to the looks of disgust from the owner; “tis past checking out time you will ave to pay for another night” he shoots at Grembors still sleep sodden form as it slumps at the bar.  Fishing out a couple of gold he tosses it towards the surly barkeep who snatches them from midair with hands faster than his size would suggest possible.

Mumbling he asks about his companions and he is informed that they have already departed earlier that morning.  Thanking the barkeep Grembor snatches something to eat from the kitchen which is preparing lunch and strolls outside into the bright sunlight shading his eyes from the light with a raised hand.

Taking a walk around the town he accosts some passerby’s till he finds the answer to his questions.  With a more purposeful slouch he heads towards the dodgier side of town to see if he can find a tattoo artist and maybe pick up some tattoo equipment.  The streets get closer together and the buildings lean in towards one another shutting out most of the light; his boots squelch as they land in the mud and excrement that paves the walkway.  Eventually he finds the location he was looking for and walks into the disreputable looking establishment without noticing the amount of attention he is drawing.  Attention of the wrong sort. …

The small hovel of a tattoo parlor is run by a vicious and evil looking old crone with a single bulbous eye peering out from greasy grey hair; wearing little more than a set of mis matched clothes which look to have been fished from the river.  However she grunts at Grembor in what he assumes is in greeting and asks if she has some tattoo supplies he could buy from her.  With a furious face she screams at him to get out of her shop and never darken her door again as she can’t afford the competition while brandishing a small but very sharp looking blade in one hand while the other is holding a series of needles.  Grembor backs out of the shop and into the street in surprise at the furious outburst.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor an attempted mugging*

Shrugging to himself he starts wandering back towards the town center and better streets which are paved.  Squelching down the roadway the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as his sixth sense tells him that there is something wrong; people are looking at him in a strange way, furtive and frightened as if they don’t want to associate with him.  In a slightly cleaner window than its neighbors he notices the shadowy flittering figure of someone following behind.  Without thinking he dives for the nearest dark alleyway and proceeds to scamper up the wall of the crumbling tenement.

Gaining the roof he is surprised as the business end of a crossbow is thrust into his face; it’s sharply pointed quarrel glinting merrily in the sunlight.  Hearing the scramble of someone climbing up the wall behind him he relaxes for a moment until the assailant behind him is near the top.  With lightning speed he moves agilely to the side and knocks the crossbow aside and down as it fires its thumb thick steel tipped bolt directly into the upturned face of the assailant climbing the wall.  With a meaty thunk the bolt passes through his head causing it to explode like a ripe melon and the body drops limply to the ground below.  Grembor whips out his dagger and slashes the crossbow holder across his shoulder as he looks on in dismay as he shot his friend in the head.  With a roar and rage in his eyes he throws the crossbow at Grembor and whips out a long wickedly curved dagger and attempts to dissect the half elf with it.  However the knife slips past Grembor who slaps the hand away and follows through with his own blade directly into his eye; the blade jarring to a halt as the tip impacts upon the inside of his skull.  With a spurt of blood and eye juices the dagger is removed as another assailant tops the wall having just been missed by a limp falling body; Grembor leaps upon him as he crests the wall onto the flat roof burying the blade into his shoulder which elicits a cry of pain from the thug.  In turn he pulls out a dirk which is slippery in his hand and turns in his hand as he tries to pierce Grembors leathers.  With a swift kick into where he lives he almost collapses and is helped upon his way as Grambors Dagger sinks into the back of his skull ending his days of thuggery and abuse.  Wiping off his dagger Grembor quickly searches the bodies pocketing a few loose coins and a credit slip he found in the crossbowman’s shoe before sliding down the wall and continuing along his way whistling.  Apparently mindless slaughter of inept muggers is a fine way to start an otherwise crappy day.

Making it back to the center of town in the hustle and bustle of the bazaar he again accosts a passerby requesting information on the local temples; finding directions to Temple Street he soon finds himself outside of the Temple of Desna; upon entering he hears a chime from the area of the alter and is soon attended to by some under priests.  Outlining his problem he is soon brought before the local high priest who advises Grembor that they can’t heal the particular affliction and he will have to head to the closest city of Ardel to get this healed.  He will advise the high priest to look out for him and await his arrival.  Bidding him safe travels he heads out to find a horse and to replace his equipment.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Travel to Ardel*

Walking back to the Bazaar he notices smoke and the sound of hammering coming from a stone building near the river; entering there is a gnome hard at work over a shiney silvery long sword.  Grembor makes his introductions and asks for some silver arrowheads which he has in stock.  Asking after the sword the gnomish smith advises him that it’s a special rush project for this evening.  Grembor knowing his group asks if it’s for Kat and describes her to which the gnome confirms.  For a small price Grembor and the gnome agree to etch a certain phallic looking dragon onto the sword.  Chuckling to himself Grembor leaves the mastersmith to his artistry.

Finding the stables he finds Orric a poor stressed seller of horseflesh (who has had a very good day) and finds that all of his fast horses have already been bought earlier that day.  Apparently there has been a rush on the fastest horses around and all he has left is a big horse.  While not as fast as its smaller brothers and sisters it is faster than walking and will get him there.  Grembor after giving the horse a look over and noticing some small scarring on it’s flanks suggesting it may have been in battle agrees to the outlandishly high price and sets out on the lumbering warhorse to the city.

The journey south is uneventful, several traveling merchants are heading either way and the road is well used.  Making pretty good time Grembor is soon at the gates of the city of Ardel.  The gates are however closed as its past dusk but he is soon admitted when he shows proof that he is not a goblin or orc.  Asking after the local temple of Desna he is directed to the location and he sets off to find it.

Walking up the stairs to the temple doors he strides into the temple to the sound of the alter ringing like a bell.  Attended to with interest by the local under priests he is soon directed to a comfortable room.  On the way to his room he finds Sayuri, Pringle and Zordlan walking back to their own rooms in blue woolen over robes having just emerged from another soaking in the communal baths.  Grembor is welcomed and they quickly get properly dressed as Grembor is shown to the high priest who shakes his hand warmly and prepares the same ritual of cleansing that he performed on the others in the group.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Almost an animal*

Performing the ritual the high priest has a confused look as it does not seem to take hold.  Sitting down at his desk he brings out a large book and starts reading with a worried expression.  After several minutes Grembor is shifting uncomfortably in his seat getting as worried as the elder priest is looking.  Finally a young priest is summoned and given a key from around the Elder’s neck who looks surprised as he runs off out of the room.

Smiling the Elder dismissed Grembors questions with a wave of his hand and sets out some extra paraphernalia; sprinkling silver dust in a wide circle round Grembors seated form and setting large white candles at exact points.  The priest returns bearing a very large and dusty tome and a small bag which he presents to the Elder.  

 Taking the heavy book he places it reverently on his desk and opens it in a cloud of dust; tutting in disgust at the cleanliness of the tome he bows gently over the pages to remove most of the detritus before carefully leafing through the tome.  Finding the page he needed he picks up the small bag and with a careful hand and many trips back to the tome to check he completes a careful and intricate circle of power round Grembor.  If Grembor knew much about magic he may indeed be very worried.

The holding and focusing circle compleate he turns the page to the complex ritual; gathering several other items from his desk and sending an underling to gather some others he starts another ritual; this one as far as Grembor is concerned consists of being splashed with water; some fine silvery dust and some plant which he manages to recognize as wolfsbane.  Towards the end of the ritual the silver seems to burn his skin and he can feel something dark and powerful coiled within his mind. Each splash of water; sprinkle of silver and brush with the plant seems to scour his soul and sends shooting pains through his whole body.

With a feral growl he launches himself at the fragile appearing old man; teeth bared and fingers crooked like claws the old man is sure to meet his doom at the teeth and claw of the feral wolflike being.  That is if the barrier he set up didn’t bring Gremborwolf to a sudden and abrupt halt as his face hits a very solid obstruction; slumping to the ground dazed the old priest continues walking round the circle sprinkling various things upon the prone form.  With a soul tearing howl the priest finishes the ritual and a ghostly red mist arises from the prone Grembor and flails about the circle unable to break free; it’s fierce eyes rest upon the old priest with pure evil and hate before with a clenching grip the old priest rips the spirit apart.

Grembor wakes up several minutes later with no memory of the events and the last thing he remembers was the priest walking round him setting up some candles.  The old priest is sitting in his chair with sweat running down his face trying to stem the tide with the sleeve of his robe.  

“You had a powerful spirit inside of you young man; it was very reluctant to leave.  I would wager you were infected before the others were and it had longer to latch onto you.  I don’t know if I could have removed its presence if left another hour.”  Grembor looks on in fear at the old priests words; “don’t worry you have been cleansed; I would suggest you go and bathe to remove some of the after effects of the ritual.”  With that an underpriest with a concerned look at the Elder priest sitting in his chair looking like a shadow of his former self reaches for a glass of water with a shaking hand as he escorts Grembor out to find the baths.

_DM Note:  Grembor was infected prior to the others; his illicit affair with the stable mistress infected him with Lycanthopy several hours prior to the more obvious bites when fighting the Primals at the Stairs of the Moon.  The Stable mistress is not a werewolf in the books but it was too good a chance to give up and they would have a spy in the camp.  Grembor was turning into a Dorzhanev werewolf as evidenced by the female Cybrisa Dorzhanev looking at him strangely upon the tower top.  Grembor and the party had no idea though …_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Relaxing interlude*

The party attend the ceremony at midnight; the whole roof of the temple slides back to reveal a perfect night sky; the High Priest who has recovered from his ordeal earlier leads the service.  As the service continues; several of the stars above shine and begin to glow with a powerful inner light; each star illuminates a member of the party who feels the grace of Desna running through them.  The lights fade from the sky but each member of the party glows for the remainder of the service.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

They all head to bed soon afterwards and awake early feeling refreshed; after a soak in the temple baths they head out.  

Grembor heads first to the docks looking for some tattoo supplies and manages to locate a nice set for a vastly inflated price which he pays without question.

Pringle heads to the local school of wizardry and is accosted by a Gnome illusionist who is the doorkeeper.  After some mental sparring he is allowed in and purchases a couple of spells which he then heads back to the temple for the peace and quiet to see if he can scribe one of them into his book.

Sayuri and Zordlan wander round town; eat good food and catch a show.  The show was not the best but the bar afterwards makes up for it.  The performers at the bar actually know how to sing.

They all head to bed relatively early planning an early start the next day.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*New beginning, new monsters*

Riding out of the city they look back and see the majestic towers and walls fade from view as they pass over a hill on the rolling plains of Ardel.  The city looks more impressive from a distance as the closer you get the more you can see the disrepair and neglect the city is experiencing.  Regardless it was a good place to stop over and restore flagging energies. 

The party look onwards and ride over the next hill as the trail leads ever onwards.

Traveling through the day the surrounding countryside becomes more and more neglected; they pass many farms where the fields have been left to fallow and houses which have been abandoned.  The further they go from the city the more likely the houses are empty.  Traveling down the well worn but less traveled then it has been road they notice suspicious looking mounds of earth beside the road.  Grembor in the lead holds up his hand signaling a stop just before the two mounds erupt showering him with earth and sods.

An insectile creature emerges its mandibles clicking as it spits a stream of acid his way; the acid strikes a glancing blow causing minor burns.  Across the pathway another creature rises from it’s hole and shoots a stream of acid at Sayuri which misses.

Zordlan pulls out his bow and fires of an arrow at the closest creature while Pringle tries casting a spell from horseback which fails due to the horse moving in terror beneath him.  Sayuri fails to keep control of her mount which turns and tries running away from the hideous creatures.  Grembor pulls out his bow and looses a torrent of arrows at the closest creature which gurgles and chitters in annoyance; advancing the creature which Pringle screams out is called an Ankeg tries biting Grembor who manages to evade its grasp.

Zordlan calmly fires off another couple of arrows which vibrate slightly as they thunk into the Ankeg’s chitin armor as Sayuri gains control of her mount and fires off a series of force missiles towards one who collapses back into its hole.  Grembor knee’s his horse back a step and the calm obedient horse complies as he unloads another trio of arrows into the Ankeg; Pringle follows with a ray of fire that causes it to immolate as it expires with a wheezing chittering sound.

Two more burst from the ground only scant feet away from the party but as the group is prepared they are soon dealt with and the party after poking at the bodies continues upon their way.  Maybe these burrowing creatures are the cause of all this abandoned farmland …

As they continue onwards through the day the clouds overhead become progressively darker and more ominous; at roughly midday after passing many more abandoned farmsteads the happen upon an abandoned manorhouse.  They consider entering but after they do a reconnoiter they discover an extensive magical presence and signs of powerful hauntings and decide to continue onwards towards their main goal.  (Side mission averted.)

The day get darker earlier then usual due to the extensive oppressive dark forbidding clouds as the heavens open and torrents of rain fall.  The party not being prepared for this finds themselves out in the open in an impressive thunderstorm as lightning crashes around them.  Having no tree’s to hide beneath (not a good idea) they erect to poor tent they have and try to sleep pegging the disgusted horses out in the open to face the full brunt of the storm.

Watches are set and no-one really gets any good sleep as they are all wet, cold and miserable.  However Sayuri gets the shock of her life as while patrolling on her watch near the horses a massive bolt of lightning strikes the ground nearby sending sods of earth in all directions and bowling Sayuri onto her back.  The horse’s rear in terror and Grembor’s horse manages to break free of its tether and runs off into the night.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The Horse Whisperer ...*

Morning comes with a slight lightning of the sky; several brave birds poke their heads out and start singing as the storm passed and the clouds are starting to clear.  Grembor awakens and is slightly miffed to discover his horse has ran off in the night.  However being relatively flat terrain he soon spy’s the figure of his horse a few rolling hills away and he sets out to reclaim his expensive horse.

Getting closer he tries his special Ranger trick to calm the clearly agitated beast which only seems to enrage the horse more; trying again with a clump of freshly picked grass it seems like the horse has had enough as it starts running away again.  Grembor very annoyed now after walking all this way; having a sleepless night wet and cold takes out his bow and unleashes an arrow at the retreating horse.  The arrow sinks into the horse’s rump bringing it to an almost immediate halt.

Turning the well trained warhorse charges at Grembor with eyes a furious red colour; Grembor unleashes some arrows in it’s direction and the last arrow sinks to it’s fletchings in the horse’s eye and kills it mid charge.  Earth is thrown all around and the horse comes to a shuddering halt a few inches from Grembor’s surprised form.

Shaking his head he takes out his knife and starts butchering the horse for meat.

_DM Note: Grembor plays himself very well here.  Impatient CN with anger issues; he tries twice to make the horse friendly and rolls a natural 1 on both his rolls causing the horse to drop it’s attitude from neutral to hostile.  It tries to leave but Grembor shooting it makes it angry so it charges.  Typically on the rolls to hit his own horse he rolls a nat 20 taking it in the eye and killing it instantly.  There goes a very expensive horse.  We all had a good giggle at this one._


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Never trust the trees*

Walking back to the camp with horse meat thrown over one shoulder the rest of the party share looks before getting the frying pans out to cook the meat.

Sitting eating hot horse mixed with the usual fruit and oats of breakfast they can see a smudge on the horizon.  Grembor fishing out his looking glass gazes at it intently for a while before concluding that this may indeed be their destination.  The ground from this distance looks to be a brown dusty colour and the buildings of the town look mostly in serious disrepair.  There is the smudge of smoke rising from the ruins which were supposed to have been abandoned … that is till recently when the whispering way closely followed by the werewolves of the Shudderwood descended upon the slowly disintegrating ruins.

They sneak to the borders of the desecrated area and find a dilapidated building with a poor innocent tree; hanging from said tree are four dead werewolves still clad in their fine furry hides.  Now one would assume that this is fishy as werewolves revert to human form on their death and this did indeed go through Sayuri’s mind.  However some powerful enchantment enthralled the others of the party into thinking it was just an innocent tree and nothing was out of the ordinary.

That is until a vine drops from the tree and wraps around Pringle.  Pringle then see’s the tree for what it is while the rest of the party (Sayuri excluded) start wondering why Pringle is suddenly wrestling with a vine.  This is not the usual playful mannerisms of the serious wizard; and quite out of character.  Pringle is obviously in some distress though and requires some assistance so Zordlan wanders to Pringle and assists him by severing the vine with his sword shaking his head at the idiosyncrasies of those of a wizardly pursuit.  Grembor gets the inkling that something is going on but just can’t put his finger on it; while Pringle backs up out of the reach of the carnivorous plant and screams at the rest of the group to get back.

The Tree shoots a vine at Grembor wrapping him up in its coils knocking him over onto his back; tightening the vine around his chest as he struggles feebly to release himself.  Sayuri starts casting a spell and another vine leaps in her direction disrupting the spell and wrapping strong foliage round her arms and mouth.  Sayuri tries struggling free but is unable to extract herself while Zordlan somewhat bemused by the strange turn of events and how did she manage to get herself so entirely stuck in an inanimate object like this.  With Zordlan’s assistance Sayuri is freed.  Grembor manages to throw off the restricting vines and finally manages to see the tree for what it is while Zordlan is still blissfully unaware due to the Tree’s insidious illusions.

Grembor scoots back several steps and activates his magical quiver making the arrows within it flaming.  Pulling one out he fires it at the tree where it impacts with a burst of flame.  Pringle follows suit with a spell but he fails to overcome the tree’s magical resistance and the spell splatters harmlessly upon the bark.  Sayuri not to be outdone shoots off a lightning bolt at the tree which evades it’s resistance to magic and thunders into the trunk causing it to quiver and scream showing for the first time a toothed maw in the trunk.

The tree attacks the only one left within its reach and wraps vines around Zordlan who laughs as he trips over a branch and ends up laying on his back somehow tangled in some loose vines which seem to tighten as he struggles.  It’s amusing how these little accidents happen.  Sayuri fires off some force missiles at the tree while Grembor unloads 3 arrows at it’s trunk with a couple of them impacting and one missing completely and hitting Zorldan in the rump with several angry words muttered.  Pringle tries a scorching ray of fire which also chars the bark of the creature.  

After struggling with the vine for a while Zordlan finally see’s what everyone else does and screams like a little girl as the maw opens wide and he is pulled a little closer.  With a shout of anger he throws off the vines holding him and pulls himself to his feet.  The Tree lurches forward sending vines shooting out to all in range but the combined efforts and blows from the party soon reduce it to firewood.

They poke around the tree and the cottage but find nothing of interest while Sayuri pulls Grembor’s arrow from Zordlan and returns it to him; Grembor takes the arrow with a nod of thanks.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Party meet Duristan ... Duristan kill party ...*

Soon they are approaching the village and Grembor heads out ahead to scout the ruins.  The first house they come to is a farmstead on the outskirts of the village.  The ground underfoot is corrupted and wasted.  Nothing grows here apart from scabrous lichen and sickly looking weeds; the trees around the village are dead with crooked branches reaching to the skies like skeletal hands bursting from graves.

Grembor sidles up to the first house and peeks through a window noting that the insides seem empty; there is some sort of construction in the middle of the room but apart from that it looks like it’s been abandoned for years.  Scooting through the doorway he enters the main room and finds a crude alter to something or other.  It looks disturbing due to the blood and what could possibly be a human heart that rests upon it.  Motioning for the rest of the party to approach they slowly file in and Pringle identifies the alter as some form of worship to the Demon lord of werewolves Jezelda which they leave well alone.

Traipsing out of the building they spy another building close by which looks mostly intact, Grembor and Sayuri can hear a ringing coming from this building as it a hammer is hitting an anvil.  Sayuri casts a message spell upon the Ranger and Grembor being the most experienced at being stealthy creeps up to the building which looks to be a smithy and ghosts through the doorway.  Looking around the room he sees’s a figure tapping away on an anvil; it seems to sense Grembor and turns to face the startled Ranger.  

Grembor is surprised to see Duristan the noble hunter who they presumed died at the assault on the rest of his group by the Demon Wolves.  There seems to be something more intense about his demeanor than noted previously and Grembor is instantly on edge.  

Duristan happily greets Grembor as an old friend and asks about the rest of the group.  Grembor after stating that they are close enquires to how he got here and why the assault on him and his group did not kill him. Duristan relates that his party was ambushed in the woods outside of the Stairs of the Moon by vicious werewolves who tore them apart; he suffered some serious injuries but managed to escape into the woods for shelter thankfully his scar-ward saved him from the horrible curse of lycanthropy. When he recovered, he set off in pursuit of the Demon Wolves, following them to Feldgrau. Duristan states he has hired a small group of mercenaries who are waiting for him in another building in the center of town and in excitement insists that they all join with him on a glorious assault upon the werewolves of Feldrau.  His allies are in the Mill only a short distance away; he was checking out the smithy to see if there was anything we could use for weapons.

Grembor smelling something fishy declines and starts backing out of the building; Duristan follows asking what was wrong and why is he acting so funny. “Don’t you remember me?” as his face erupts into black fur; his mouth elongates into a snout and vicious slavering teeth as his whole body grows and becomes substantially more muscular.  Drawing forth his shining silver sword he strikes out at Grembor opening a nasty cut along his ribs.  With a squeal he whispers “werewolf help” which Sayuri picks up and they make preparations as Grembor pulls out his silver knife and slices Duristan on his arm causing him to withdraw with a hiss of indrawn breath.  Grembor backpedals out of the smithy and back towards the party who are waiting outside.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Duristan, much harder as a werewolf ...*

Bursting out of the double doors of the smithy is a hybrid werewolf; in one hand and exquisite silver sword which glows with blue runes of power; the other hand is wielding a steel shield with a leering wolfhead design.  Grinning it lopes after Grembor and lashes out with the sword cutting a thin red line across his thigh which soon starts seeping blood down his leg.  Pringle finds himself in very close reach of the creature and backs away to a safe distance before considering casting a spell.  Sayuri leaps into action and crosses the distance between them in a flurry of movement even though the ground is strewn with rubble.  Zordlan makes it most of the way hampered by his armor and the terrain.

Duristan seems to have evolved from a stuttering inept noble into a truly terrifying combatant as his double strike upon Grembor almost knocking him over with wounds to his upper arm and another blow to his injured leg.  Grembor curses Duristan through gritted teeth as his jaws lunge forward and close upon his shoulder the teeth digging deep into the muscle.  Sayuri moves up to flank the hybrid and attacks with her pair of silver daggers causing some minor damage while Zordlan manages to make it to the fight, draws his sword and promptly misses his target by a significant margin.  Pringle considers what to do and tries shooting a silver bolt at the wolf but also misses.

The Hybrid which is their friend Duristan feeling confidant spreads his attacks around the group as they are having trouble hitting him.  Two sword thrusts at Zordlan one bouncing off his armour but causing bruising to his side the other managing to find a weak joint and digs into his elbow; the bite is directed at Grembor which again worries his shoulder as the lovely tasty blood gushes into his mouth.  

Grembor taking advantage of the distraction supplied by Sayuri unleashes a series of strikes against the hybrid.  Had any of them hit it would have been bad for Duristan however sadly they all missed and some came close to striking Zordlan who apparently did not learn his lesson from the Hangman tree incident and is standing close to Grembor; however he is not able to hit Zordlan either.  Pringle tries sending a bar of flame towards the hybrid but it misses as Sayuri steps to the side and sends a bright lightning bolt shooting down between Grembor and Zordlan taking Duristan by surprise as it impacts on his back and sends lightning shuddering down his frame.  Turning he eyes up Sayuri hungrily.  Zordlan stepping into Sayuri’s position swings and connects with a solid hit sending Duristan reeling as the silver scimitar slices off a piece of his hide.  

Growling Duristan is distracted from Sayrui and opens up on Zordlan scoring a nasty blow on his shoulder further denting the armor there; the following bite however misses as the teeth snap together an inch from his face.  Gulping Zordlan is relieved he still has a face to call his own.  Grembor tries attacking again but his silver knife seems to have a mind of its own and does not want to hit Duristan.  This is possibly as the knife once belonged to Duristan and it feels it should not harm its owner.  Grembor however does not know this so he just blames himself.  Sayuri casts a series of force missiles towards the beast which impact causing a pained whimper from Duristan as Pringle follows suit with some of his own.  Zordlan opens up a nasty cut on his face as his scimitar connects and peels off his cheek.

Duristan knowing that his immanent death is rapidly approaching steps away and changes into the form of a wolf to make his quick get away.  Grembor is not having any of this and drops the opinionated knife and pulls out his bow; unleashing arrows practically point blank into the Duristan Wolf impales it to the ground as its life’s blood starts to seep into the hungry earth.  The party descend upon the dead body hungrily stripping it of all it’s items most of which Grembor appropriates as they are more suited to him.  The one item of particular note is the exquisite magical silver longsword.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Having tea with the werewolves ...*

After some serious applications of the cleric in a stick they progress into the smithy to search it for anything to help them.  They find nothing of any use and proceed to the next building which they soon discover is a chandlery; this is empty although the three that go inside feel something assailing their senses and each has an urge to place their heads in the pots that was used to heat the wax.  They all resist this urge and then leave.

As they explore the next building Grembor heads out to scout; he finds it locked and the door barred from the inside.  After some attempts to leaver the door open which fails he tries to find another way into the building as a locked door is something he has to find a way around.  Finding another door he tries it and finds it locked also from the inside; trying his luck he is startled by a gruff voice on the other side telling him to piss off.  

Questioning the person on the other side of the door Grembor figures out that it’s the Princes Wolves and brandishes his token from the packleader of the Princes wolves; after some sweat talking from Grembor the door is unbarred and he is let in to see the leader of this group.  He finds that this group is holed up in a dyers shop and that there are several of them there; sitting down to talk they quickly find out they have similar goals and that these wolves have some information they could use.  The other door is opened to allow the rest of the team entrance.

They sit with the wolves for a couple of hours as they go over the layout of the village; identifying each of the buildings and what they know about them.  They pinpoint the location of the Demon Wolves in the old Mill; a collection of skeletons which are being raised in the village square by a pair of crazy female clerics; the supposed location of the packloards heart in the armory and the location of the instigator of the theft which is in the remnants of the tower.  They have a basic map of the village to work with; they are warned that there is something haunting the inn and that there are several roaming patrols of undead and Demon Wolves scouring the village and having sporadic skirmishes.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Sleeping with the enemy and a new player*

*Enter Nashkar Male Dwarven Cleric of Sarenrae (new player Angel)*

They also advise the party that they found someone else when they came to the village who seemed to be trying to lay the restless village to rest.  He was actually based in this dyers shop when they came to take it over.  They didn’t kill him as they thought he would be useful but they think he should join with them to help out.  They are shown to the back of the shop where a Dwarf is sitting stirring a pot of stew; he is dressed in polished full plate armor and a battleaxe is propped up beside him which has sparks constantly running down its blade.  His white hair and beard are neatly combed and the long beard is plaited while his bright dark eyes look upon the newcomers with interest.  The party sit down across from him and he introduces himself as Nashkar a cleric of Sarenrae here to rid this village of it’s horrors to atone for his sins against the faith.  The party readily agrees to him joining them as they have not had a decent healer since Hursk and only Sayuri remembers that.

They sit up for a few hours discussing each other and introducing themselves to the newcomer; sounding out his strengths.  Afterwards they come up with a plan of sending Grembor under the cover of invisibility to scout of the village to gain first hand knowledge of the terrain.  They spend the night surrounded by the slavering jaws of the resident werewolves; not trusting to their seemingly good intentions they set a watch and sleep fitfully.  However they are not disturbed in their rest and awaken to the small of roasting meat; several of the party take part of the breakfast which they are assured is actually pork.

Grembor after receiving the invisibility spell heads out to quickly scout the surroundings.  Skirting the village he makes a roundabout route to the village square noting the signs of previous vicious combat scattered around the village; approaching the village square where he finds a shop being ransacked by some black robed figures; avoiding this he finds a vantage point to the side of the village square where he can see the building where the Demon Wolves are holding out; the skeletons being raised in the square and the buildings the whispering way are residing.  Noting the state of disrepair on the roof of the mill he swiftly retreats luckily missing out on meeting any of the roaming squads in the village.

Finding himself back at the dyers shop just before the spell of invisibility runs out he relays the information he found out.  Coming up with a plan they intend to split up the party into three groups; Grembor and Pringle will spider climb to the roof of the inn which abuts the millers and fire a fireball into the top room which should hopefully cause an explosion within the mill.  Sayuri and Zordlan will head to the only door and use some Grease spells to keep them busy as Kat and Nashkar stay back and keep an eye on things.  (Kat emerged from a bush just that morning having been following the party; player way busy elsewhere.)


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*How not to sneak ...*

_DM Note: What follows is a confusing long battle where the party trigger several encounters at once.  The planning leaves much to be desired …As I write all these by memory this may seem a little disjointed_ 

Grembor and Pringle after being blessed with the power to climb walls like a spider run up to the Inn and scale up to the roof.  Grembor checking out the surrounding building sees a cloaked figure loading a crossbow while looking their way across the small square.  Shrugging they walk over the roof so they can’t see them anymore; (here is the point they should have stopped and re-considered) approaching the roof of the Millers they try sneaking but the roof of the Inn is also in poor repair and several tiles go skittering away causing some heads to pop up through the Millers roof.  All of these heads are lupine with one slight exception; one has some goat horns on his head with burning red eyes.  Pringle sticking with the plan looses a fireball which speeds past the startled eyes of one of the lupines into the attic space behind them which explodes with impressive force in the enclosed space sending roofing tiles flying in all directions.  

Two of the Demon wolves leap from the attic through the damaged Mill roof onto the Inn roof and descend upon the pair; wielding wickedly falchions they charge the pair of adventurers and strike out with their blades.  Pringle takes a nasty blow as one of them opens up a cut across his chest which cracks some ribs and possibly splintered more.  This starts hemorrhaging profusely as Pringle staggers back his hands leaping to his chest hoping against hope that it is still there; his hands just about holding his chest together (nice Crit).  Grembor is more lucky as the blow the werewolf hits him with is less impressive which only slices a deep gouge on his side.  Pringle retreats backwards and scrambles down the wall to the ground below leaving bloody handprints all the way down while Grembor attacks the Demon Wolves with his new sword scoring a minor hit which does not seem to bother it in any way.  Grembor suffers another pair of blows before running away; aware he can’t take on these two alone.  He drops down next to Pringle who had just activated his tattoo to stop the bleeding and repair some of the damage imposed by the werewolves Falchion.

Sayuri and Zordlan under the effects of invisibility while dusting off bits of the roof act in accordance to the plan casts Grease before the only door out of the Mill; two Demon Wolves burst out from the double doors from the Mill and one of which is caught in the Grease and finds itself on the floor, the other skids through it and gains the stable footing on the other side.  However it can’t see anyone as Sayuri and Zordlan are still hidden by the invisibility spells.  Raising its nose to the winds it tries to scent those it can’t see but fails so it moves around sniffing the air.

Kat and Nashkar staying back notice the crossbowman that Grembor noticed; mainly as a crossbow bolt flies past Kat’s shoulder and buries it self in the wall behind her.  Turning she sends her wolf before her to drag the poor unfortunate out as she runs across the small square; the wolf runs up and trips the human in the doorway who is a female wrapped in a dark cloak.  Backing up the wolf is dissuaded by something past the now prone human on the floor.  Walking out of the doorway are a pair of skeletons which appear to be more than just normal skeletons; casting, a bright beam of light springs from Nashkars palm striking one of them turning it to dust while the other falls prey to a ray of fire from Pringle.  

Kat spying something large looming behind the tripped figure in the doorway casts a column of fire which encompasses the fallen robed figure and the lurking monstrosity behind it.  Highlighting it in flame Kat gets a glimpse of the creature but can’t make out what it is.  Backpedaling they retreat and meet up with Grembor and Pringle who are now not too far from the invisible forms of Sayuri and Zoldan.

Sayuri keeps casting multiple Grease spells confounding the werewolves as they keep falling over; behind the werewolves the skeletons seem to mobilize and are walking this way surrounding the pair of female clerics who created them.  One of the werewolves gets the scent of Zoldan and gives him a solid cut across his bicep.  Zoldan not aware of the locations of the Grease spells falls victim to its effects and ends up on the floor next to a struggling werewolf.  Sayuri casts a lightning bolt at the werewolf unaware that the invisible form of Zoldan is in the path and he takes the brunt of the spell saving the werewolf from a lot of the damage.

Grembor unleashes arrow after arrow at the werewolves causing little damage as they seem resistant to normal silver weapons (possibly due to their fiendish heritage) and is getting increasingly irritated as they seem to bounce off.  However the werewolves both succumb to the effects of the Grease spells and are both prone on the ground; Grembor taking advantage unleashes three arrows into one of them sending a pair of arrows deep into it’s throat causing it to gurgle and shudder before expiring and reverting back into a naked man.  Admittedly a naked man sporting several black fletched arrows buried in his throat.

Out of the shop where the prone figure was (now standing) emerges a horror of large size; pulsing pustules of poison and disease cover this horrible ogrelike undead being; loping across the square it leaps on Kat and rips some flesh from her shoulder gulping down the morsel as a few of it’s burns heal in response.  The cleric following it casts a spell and Grembor feels the muscles of his body tighten and freeze locking him in place just yards from the flesh eating monstrosity.  His eyes show fear as his helplessness becomes apparent; there is a gleam in the eye of the controlling cleric as he wonders what delightful undead this group of adventurers will bring.  However out of the shadows of one of the building steps Nashkar who holds his holy symbol up high and shouts out a blessing upon his fellows and a benediction upon his foes.  A blindingly bright light erupts from him blasting the diseased flesh from the undead ogre collapsing it to the ground; the power of Sarenrae healing the party gathered around him.  

Kat calls down lightning upon the wolves and cleric in turn causing them damage but keeping herself out of the fight and possibility of damage.  The female cleric runs up and tosses some gems over the body of the dead ogre and brings it back as a skeleton; this is promptly dismissed and destroyed by Nashkar who turns it to dust while Kat pins her to the ground with another lightning bolt from the sky.  Grembor recovers from his paralysis and fires off some arrows towards the cleric ... some even hit.

Zordlan finally manages to regain his feet; his wounds somewhat alleviated by Nashkar’s channeling.  Stepping up he levels a heavy blow at the last remaining werewolf and manages to sever its head cancelling the invisibility even as the smoke from Sayuri’s lightning bolt raises from his burnt skin; looking Sayuri in the eye she gulps knowing that there would be words said later on regarding the responsible use of magic. 

Approaching from the distant square before the whispering way’s hideout come a pair of female clerics surrounded by a hoard or skeletons; Pringle to everyone surprise including the pair of clerics levels the skeletons with a fireball as they were expecting this from Sayuri not the peasant at the back of the party which they assumed was there just to carry spare gear.  Leaving the pair defenseless they soon fall to blows of lightning bolt, arrows, call lightning and scorching rays.  The party breaths a huge sigh of relief as this was one of the most intense battles they have had; definitely the longest …

_DM Note: Zordlan got to single figures, Grembor would have been in dire problems had he not made his save vs the hold person spell from the cleric who was approaching scythe in hand.  (Coup de Gras from a scythe is nasty.)  Sayuri was unscathed but she and Zordlan (the best blaster and fighter in the party) hid invisible for most of the fight.  Pringle was almost killed by a crit by one of the Demon Wolves in the first hit of the battle.  Only running away and healing saved him and later on channeling by Nashkar saved many of the party.  This battle took the whole night and it will continue next week with the party already down on spells but ok on hits.  Probably missed quite a bit in this battle but I think I got the far ranging and confusing fight down ok. _


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## Sic_Pixie

*Now for something completly Different.*

Well folks thats the story up to date, updates from now on will be on a more weekly note instead of most days.  We play on Thursday evenings and I plan to have the updates by the following Wednesday.

Hope you gain some amusement from these I know my players enjoy them but then it helps to have played through the events.

Sic

_PS woohoo for my 100th post _


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## Sic_Pixie

*Catch a wolf by it's tail ...*

Grembor and Pringle advance on the doors of the Miller’s checking inside to see if there is anything else they may have missed.  Strangely as they are peering into the dim interior three figures come bursting out; two Demon Wolves followed by another Lycan with an impressive set of goat horns on his head and burning red eyes.  The party is somewhat distracted by the sword he is carrying which seems to burn with equally impressive red runes which would advertise to any sensible adventurer that this is in fact an eeeevil sword or at least an evil user of said sword.  The bastard sword is held in one clawed hand while the other motions with a talon across his neck indicating to anyone who is watching that he intends to make these foolish smooth skins suffer at his claws before being brutally killed.  This is Adimarus Ionacu the leader of the Demon Wolves and intending to be the Pack Leader for the whole of the Shudderwood which would cause ruin upon those non lycans living within.

The closest lycan pounces forward and again Pringle is in the forefront as the same lycan than opened his chest not 10 minutes ago is again swinging his wickedly sharp falchion in his direction.  The sword hits but it’s only a glancing blow which makes Pringle breathe a huge sigh of relief even though his upper arm is bleeding somewhat; the other Demon Wolf sets it’s evil gaze upon Nashkar who apparently looks tasty to some creatures (I mean some people juggle geese).  Loping up to the stocky dwarf its falchion whips out and rings out on his armor bruising the poor unfortunate dwarf as he is tossed about within.

Pringle remembering what happened last time backpedals and hides behind Sayuri; he is breathing heavily and clutching his injured arm while glaring at the Demon Wolf that cut him.  Grembor steps back away from the wolf and unleashes a trio of arrows his way; two hit but cause minor damage.  Sayuri with a cowering Pringle behind her steps to the side and unleashes a powerful lightning bolt that rips through one of the Demon Wolves and also catches Adimarus Ionacu a glancing blow.  The Demon Wolf is not impressed as its muscles lock up momentarily sending it to the floor in agony; it climbs back to it’s feet it’s fur smoking gently and the smell of burnt fur drifting on the light breeze.  Adimarus just looks at Sayuri before stepping up to Grembor and unleashes a torrent of heavy blows upon him following up with a bite which catches his forearm.  Grembor staggers under the onslaught having been cut in a couple of places and his arm nipped by his teeth.  Zordlan steps up next to Nashkar and tackles the Damon wolf assaulting him; he swings his silver scimitar and narrowly missed severing Nashkar’s head as he misses his target.  Good thing Nashkar is a dwarf … Nashkar steps back a pace and channels energy healing up Pringle, Grembor and himself some.

The two Demon wolves attack one targeting Zordlan the other stepping up to Grembor; The one attacking Zordlan seems to be having trouble hitting him while the one on Grembor is having no such trouble and gives him a vicious cut along his cheek; narrowly missing his eye; this starts bleeding profusely.  Thankfully the bite misses its target and the teeth snap shut a hair from his face.  Grembor responds in kind and stepping back again fires off some more arrows his way again scoring some minor hits; Pringle casts a spell and fires off several force missiles which also impact upon the Demon Wolf before Grembor causing it to growl menacingly his way as blood trickles down its chin from a stray impacting missile.  

There is the sound of creaking bones and leather as a dozen skeletons round the corner behind the party; these skeletons are all aflame with a forge fire burning in the chest cavity; their weapons are glowing a happy cherry colour which will do nothing for their temper but will dissuade anyone from getting close.  

_DM Note: I had one of the players roll for which random patrol turned up.  They rolled really low _

Sayuri casts again and sends another lightning bolt ripping through the pair of Lycans; the first Demon Wolf on Grembor is hit with a glancing blow which is sufficient to cause it to collapse on the ground its insides bubbling away merrily as the smell of burnt fur causing eyes to water; the bolt continues onwards and strikes Adimarus in the chest locking up his frame for an instant before it passes and he is left with a smoking char patch on his breastplate and an evil look in Sayuri’s direction.  Grembor however receives the brunt of his ire as the bastard sword is swung in a quick arc the sword burning with dark energies as the Antipaladin attempts to smite his opponent.  The blow misses and the dark energies dissipate; the follow up sword blow also misses its mark as does the snapping jaws.  Grembor is exceedingly happy at the fate he just missed however little does Adimarus know that smiting good on this opponent would not have made the slightest bit of difference.

Zordlan again flails about ineffectively at his Demon Wolf opponent his scimitar flashing prettily in the sunlight; grinning the Demon wolf bares its teeth and makes several obscene gestures implying suggestions upon Zordlans manhood or lack thereof.  Nashkar charges the skeletons and boldly presents the lead skeleton with his holy symbol as he calls out to the Sun god who directs a portion of his power through the holy dwarf.  His symbol blazes into light and all but the three trailing skeletons disintegrate in bursts of fire which catches Nashkar unawares singeing his eyebrows and beard.

The single remaining Demon Wolf slashes Zordlan across his chest but the sword only rattles his armor the bite snaps again on thin air.  Grembor knowing his luck is just about ran out considering the misses last time retreats to Pringle leaving Adimarus alone; Pringle looking at Grembor hiding behind him fires off a series of force missiles which dissipate before hitting their target unable to overcome his spell resistance.  Sayuri running to one side targets the werewolf attacking Zordlan and Adimarus fires off a third lightning bolt.  It hammers into the Demon Wolf on Zordlan practically knocking it from its feet and continues onwards and gives Adimarus a glancing blow to his thigh which causes him to stagger; Turning and seeing the path to Sayuri is blocked by his own lupine associate with a mighty roar he charges Zordlan with a massive blow from his sword he launches Zordlan through the air where he lands 40 feet away only a short distance away from Nashkar.  Looking down Nashkar can see a huge welt in the metal of Zordlan’s brestplate where Adimarus’s sword hit.  Zordlan has the air knocked out of him and lies there wheezing for a few seconds his ribs shattered and blood starting to fill his lungs as blood bubbles from his nose and mouth with each breath.

Nashkar casts a short spell and reaching down closes many of Zordlan’s wounds; repairing the damage to his chest so that he will live to fight another few seconds.  Zordlen gets back to his feet and advances towards source of his recent blood bubbling agony.  The last remaining Demon Wolf leaps on Sayuri trying to cut her down thinking she would be easy pray as a sorcereress but to his surprise she is very difficult to hit and his falchion sweeps past her swiftly moving form and he teeth again snap shut on thin air.

Grembor unleashes a trio of arrows towards Adimarus of which a couple sink in causing minor damage and this is followed up with another casting of force missiles from Pringle who easily overcomes his resistance and this final spell is too much for the Demon Wolf Anti-paladin who coughs his last through blood smeared teeth and slowly topples to the ground with his demon patrons name on his lips as a curse upon those which killed him.  The last of the skeletons and the last remaining werewolf is no match for them and these are quickly overcome and put down.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Initial assault upon the Whispering way*

They quickly search the battlefield picking up anything they think is of value and then head into the Millers building; climbing the ladder to the top floor they find a rough map of the village made of scraps of metal and masonry.  From the window they can see the tower across the village square.

They quickly come up with a plan of attack; they have a couple of building they are interested in checking out; one the obvious remains of the tower which after checking it out through a looking glass Grembor see’s several skeletal figures parading around on top with bows in hand and various other weapons available.  The second building is just off to the side of the tower and is a solid building which one would assume would have been the armory.  

They decide to bless each of the party with the ability to climb walls like a spider; Pringle who will remain in the Mill will fire off his last two remaining fireballs; one into the open door of the armory and the other to take out the skeletons on the tower roof.  After this they scale the tower and take out whatever is left then head into the tower through the top and take it room by room.

As plans go it’s a good one; simple, easy to remember and actually effective.  It goes without a hitch; the first fireball streaks from the Mill window and passes through the open door into the Armory detonating with the sound of things breaking; no sound of suffering though which was disappointing to some of the party.  This is closely followed by another fireball incinerating the skeletal archers on the roof of the tower.  They quickly scale the tower and take out the pair of remaining skeletons with no trouble.

Descending down the inside of the tower they soon find it’s empty apart from a single occupant; this is discovered when Sayuri wanders off round the corner all alone and comes face to face with someone unusual within a pavilion that has been erected within the run down building.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Assault upon the Whispering way continued.  Or Pringle the popping stops.*

This someone usual is a hooded and cowled figure leaning upon a wooden staff topped with a grinning skull with a strip of leather binding its jaw closed.  His face is emaciated and drawn; his eyes burn with a strange inner red light and his lips are drawn back over his teeth in an evil grin of hate.  This is Auren Vrood who they have been trailing since Ravengro and is the instigator of all their recent troubles.  

Looking up he seems to recognize the form before him and he raises his taloned hands before him as he points at Sayuri in a threatening manner so Sayuri fires off a lightning bolt point blank into his evil looking face knocking him back as the lightning courses through his body.   Regaining his feet his evil eyes blazing with power and thoughts of revenge; robes smoking from the impact of Sayuri’s spell he mutters several words of power which Sayuri does not understand while molding the air before him with his talons; the effects of which are soon readily apparent.  A noxious green fog envelops her; seeping into her skin and stripping away her vitality; with a cough Sayuri feels her body being poisoned by the foul cloying cloud which extends back into the central room where the rest of the party are gathered alerting them to the presence of something that may be worth investigating.  Grembor and Pringle shoot out the side attempting to approach from another angle as Grembor had already spied the Pavilion from the other side.  Nashkar runs into the mist and suddenly feels the effects of the cloying smoke as it damages his health; Zordlan quickly follows with similar effects.  

Sayuri who will not be outdone in the magical arts fires off a series of force missiles which impact upon an invisible shield which absorbs their power.  Cursing she glares at the Necromancer who seems unaffected by her glower.  He casts a quick spell and a glowing blue hand appears floating in the air before him and with a gesture two large crawling hands emerge from underneath the bed and approach Sayuri; each try grappling her but both miss.  Grembor and Pringle make it most of the way to the side of the pavilion but the way is hampered by fallen rubble making the terrain treacherous.  Nashkar hearing Sayuri’s shout about undead channels positive energy through his holy symbol and again become the focus of his god as light erupts around him.  The two hands take some minor damage which they mostly ignore; Zordlan approaches the hands feeling his way through the mist as it drains away his health and appears on the other side; presented by the two crawling hands he pulls out his curved blade and hacks at one missing it.

Feeling confidant Sayuri starts casting unaware that the hands before her can see her; they strike out and one catches her in her stomach causing her to stumble over some of the precise wording of her spell which she looses control of and it dissipates.  Auren Vrood casts as insidious spell into his spectral hand and it floats forward and touches Sayuri paralyzing her in place as she starts to smell as if she has been dead for a week or more.  Grembor and Pringle make it to the side of the Pavilion and making a small hole in the fabric Grembor is able to see into the tent; Pringle close behind starts summoning some assistance.  Nashkar stepping up attempts to dispel the spell but fails to unwrap the thin threads of the spell effecting her; Zordlan unleashes a surprising amount of damage upon one of the crawling hands severing it’s tenuous ties to life as it collapses and starts rotting at an accelerated pace which does not help with the aroma emanating from the stricken stinky Monk.  

Sayuri stuck in place with fear in her eyes can do little but moan through rigid muscles as the crawling hand seems to be focusing upon her.  Auren Vrood with an evil smile casts his most powerful spell now that everyone is in range; with a gesture and several guttural sounding words death walks among the party placing his mouth against each ear and whispering sweet cloying words of encouragement and promises of a safe and quiet place to lie down and rest.  With the damage from the cloudkill spell draining their fortitude this is a truly evil spell; Sayuri and Zordlan hear the whispered words and while they are sorely tempted to comply they shake off the temptation with a supreme act of mental fortitude.  Nashkar hardly even hears the words so immersed is he in the running litany of his god of life and sunlight; Grembor feels the cold of the grave pass him by as his lips turn a shade of blue before his heart again kicks into motion restoring life to his fragile form.  Pringle however was never all that physically resilient and the tempting words beckon to him drawing him close and death wraps his heavy cloak around him and walks off the field with a new disciple in tow.  Pringle drops to the floor in mid chant is face grey and eyes starting blankly at the ceiling as his soul is ripped from his body; Grembor looks on in shock as his friend is killed outright without even a mark on him.  The rest of the party doesn’t actually know what happened but the scream of outrage from Grembor lets them know something has gone horribly wrong.

Cursing the evil Necromancer Grembor unleashes a trio of arrows from his bow having activated his fire arrows; they all miss their mark and impact upon the opposite wall; Nashkar attempts to dispel the magic on Sayuri again with no effect while Zordlan with a grin showing Auren Vrood what will happen to him cuts apart the last remaining crawling hand with two swift strikes which sever fingers.  The hand collapses to the floor and moves no more.

Auren Vrood knowing he can’t stand toe to toe with the sword wielding maniac takes to the air and flies to the tower screaming “When next we meet, I shall spit your hearts upon the Gallowspire!”  With this interesting promise he disappears round the tower where no-one but Grembor can see him who unleashes even more arrows in his direction all of which again miss their mark.  Nashkar is finally successful in dispelling the insidious enchantment on the stinky Monkey and Sayuri returns to motion as the cloying smell recedes to everyone’s relief.

The evil Necromancer disappears and the party mill about for a little while.  Grembor heads to Pringle to check his life signs hoping he is just unconscious.  Pringle however is very dead; no pulse; body already cold and clammy to the touch and eyes holding no spark whatsoever.  Grembor bows his head over the body briefly and a quiet sob escapes; this is quickly stifled however as a glowing green arrow appears from no-where and strikes him in the back.  With a scream he spins around to find the attacker as the acid burns into his clothing and flesh; there is no obvious signs of movement though so his raised and drawn bow is not released.  The rest of the group finally manages to gather around the location but they also can’t see anything of the mysterious attacker.

A few mysterious spells later which cause various amounts of damage; chill touch upon Sayuri, Ray of exhaustion which hits Nashkar; Ray of enfeeblement which misses Zordlan all cast using his rod of lesser silent spell; they finally manage to pin down some location as Nashkar casts a locate object pin pointing Auren Vrood’s staff and gets a location off in that direction he points with no actual idea how far in that direction.  But as it’s pretty vertical to where he is standing it’s assumed it was close by.  They all look but can see nothing to indicate anyone is there.  Another spell hits Sayuri as the blue glowing hand turns black with flames as it gently caresses her face; she feels her life energy being sucked out of her and a tell tale stream of dark glittering energy floats through the air to a point just above Nashkar where it disappears. Everyone turns and fires in that general direction with several arrows and bolts seeming to bounce off something hanging there.  Kat who suddenly appears wandering through the rubble (player is absent more often than not so his character only pops up when it can really help) she casts an awesomely powerful spell. (This spell is feared far and wide by all creatures everywhere; there are whole tomes dedicated to the avoidance of this very spell as it kills more than any other spell in existence.)  Faerie Fire outlines the otherwise invisible Auren Vrood who screams in frustration as this one spell foils his carefully planned attack.

Nashkar follows with an invisibility purge which cancels out the invisibility spell while Sayuri greases his rod and staff sending them tumbling to the ground beneath him; then follows a few dispels which take out most of his protections including the Fly, Stoneskin and Improved Invisibility spells sending him crashing to the ground where he is pounced upon and cut, bashed, beaten, shot and otherwise turned from a very valid semi living threat to a non-animate object that used to resemble a threat.

Upon his demise they are all forced back as his lower jaw erupts into a shower of acid causing significant damage to his skull, jaw and chest rendering spells like speak with dead ineffective.

_DM Note: This was a nasty fight, with Cloudkill lowering their fortitude saves and then circle of death which caused many hearts to flutter.  Pringle was the only victim having rolled a 3 if I recall.  Both Sayuri and Zordlan both managed to hit the DC exactly with their reduced saving throws while Nashkar made it by a long way (he hardly even noticed it).  Grembor was a couple over but he had not been caught in the Cloudkill; an effective way to take out a party if they don’t all roll crazy high when they really need to.

Auren Vrood was very difficult to hit having had a few rounds to buff himself; the early warning of the fireball detonating above his head was a dead giveaway that an assault was on the cards.  He had several layers of protection active including Mage Armor, Shield, Stoneskin, Protection from Good, Fly and False Life.  Without his spells he was very vulnerable and fell in one short round (AC 13 and wizard hits).  He did manage to get off all of his spells bar a couple so he lasted well.  The party hobbled away with Pringle dead, Sayuri nearly died, Nashkar having lost 4 levels to an enervation, Nashkar, Zordlan and Sayuri all lost several points of Con.  Everyone lost HP’s and everyone was shocked at Pringle’s death.  The end of the combat the party were getting annoyed and Auren was running out of spells and was considering resorting to violence of the baser sort but Sayuri had greased his weapons and they lay on the ground underneath him.  He was thinking of flying away but it was not in his nature to give up._


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## Sic_Pixie

*Heart in a Jar and an energy draining flurry.  All makes for a fun filled evening.*

They all rush to Pringle’s reclining form and swiftly examine him; he is however very dead having had his life force sucked out of his body.  They gather his things and then wrap him in some canvas and then leave his body for later retrieval.  They all go through the Pavilion searching for clues and gather up anything of any note from the corpse.  They find several notes but it’s all in a code they have difficulty understanding now that their cryptographer has passed; they are sure it’s important though so they pack it along with everything else.  The rest of the pavilion seems to be dedicated to the vivisection and painting of various small animals.  Sayuri takes a close look at the extremely detailed paintings being done and feels the vomit surging up from her stomach.  She manages to control herself though before it surfaces and turns away in disgust.

They also find a strange looking poem which is faintly disturbing.  It’s written on soft and supple leather which feels strangely warm to the touch. 

Upon the ashen pathways tread
Softly, as the whispered dead.
As mortal flesh doth rot and fail
To leech and maggot, ebbing frail.
Unhallowed words cannot be spoken,
With whispered oath, death lies broken.
Shed fear, shed life, shed pain, shed time,
Eternity seized shall soon be thine.
First spirit torn from Grave-Lady’s grasp
Be rent and sown as soured ash.
Soft the spiral song reverses,
Judgment lost; damnation surges.
Keeper of the damned’s soul take,
With packlord’s heart the beast shall wake
And flesh be wrought in disarray—
Stillborn cocoon, to blessed decay.
A hundred slain lie innocent,
Grind bone and marrow to cement.
Craft now a skull of splintered graves,
Unmake life, unmake the slave.
Where history churns dream to blister,
Necrophagous secrets whisper
Through chronicles of Raven’s tongue—
A legacy of fear unspun.
Blood spilt atop the Iron Thorn
Invokes that which cannot be born.
Arise the Tyrant now unbound,
Bearer of the Carrion Crown!

So that does not seem too ominous as the party look at each other; they pick up on the packlord’s heart; but apart from that it seems to be nonsense but will require more investigation later.

Healing up their many wounds but unable to heal the wound left by their deceased member they continue onwards.  Unlocking the huge stone doorway to the tower from the inside is relatively easy; they then carefully approach the squat building adjacent to the tower.  This is the armory; a well build and solid squat building that has stood the test of time.  However the insides are mostly barren with only the racks remaining which once held many weapons.  Peering into the darkness inside they are able to see a couple of humanoid figures lurking within but are unable to identify their true purpose or intentions.  Grembor, Zordlan. Kat and Nashkar enter tentatively trying to identify the lurking figures.  Figures which in turn bare teeth sharp suited to the tearing of flesh and claws with long nails fit for rending; their eyes glowing with a dim red glow with the putrid rot of decaying flesh filling the small space.

Getting closer they identify the creatures as Wight’s; a nasty form of undead which quite happily devours the life energy of any living creature.  Four of them descend upon the party and most of these die very quickly.  (Fireball from Pringle previously exploded in here and they all failed their saves bar one who as yet has not appeared)  Zordlan takes one out with a blow from his curved blade; Gembor kills one with an arrow to its chest followed by another arrow piercing its glowing red orb the point of which exits it’s skull as it drops to the floor.  Nashkar chops one apart with his axe as if felling a tree while Kat is the only one who misses her target.  Striking back the Wight scores a nasty blow against Kat slamming its putrid fist into her stomach forcing the wind from her lungs and drawing her life energy from her body.  

A lithe form drops to the ground before Grembor; her form wrapped in a tattered robe and brightly burning red eyes peering out from the desiccated remains of her face.  She slams an open palmed strike to his face hoping to stun him but fails.

Zordlan turning round in surprise unleashes a couple of blows one of which misses; there is no response from the robed Wight as his blade scores a deep cut in her side.  Grembor back pedaling as he felt the deep cold of death as his life was leached from his system; wondering if Pringle felt this very same feeling right before his life force was snuffed out.  He unleashes a trio of arrows at the swiftly moving Wight recognizing that it moves very differently from the others.  Kat attempts to strike down the Wight upon her but misses as Nashkar stumps around the empty weapon racks and unleashes an axe blow upon the newcomer which strikes wracking her body with electricity and a nasty axe wound to her chest.  She turns her gaze upon them and sneers evilly as Nashkar recognizes this is no ordinary Wight but a Dread Wight; a wholly more powerful creature of undeath.  Sayuri notices something in the way this newcomer moves as well but it does not fully coalesce till later so she fires off a brightly coloured ray from her finger which should have caused some damage had it hit.  

The normal Wight tries hitting Kat again and catches a glancing blow on her shoulder again drawing out her energy; The Dread Wight looking around tries hitting Zordlan as he did the most damage to her but his armor foils her many attempts with her flurry of blows.  The whole group gulps as her flying fists and feet bounce off his armor several times as Zordlan heaves his own sigh of relief.  

Zordlan returns the favor however as his sword blows are easily evaded by the lithe Dread Wight Monk.  Grembor fires off some more arrows which miss again; one of them seemingly plucked from the air by the Wight.  Kat finally manages to deliver enough damage to the Wight she is fighting to send it tumbling to the floor a lot more dead than it was previously.  Nashkar summons a healing spell to his hand and attempts to touch the vile creature pretending to life before him but his blue glowing hand fails to make contact and this action makes him the Dread Wight’s new greatest enemy.  Sayuri tries another cantrip sending another glowing ray from her fingertip but this also misses impacting to no effect upon the dwarven armor of Nashkar.  

Our friendly neighborhood Dread Wight Monk unleashes another flurry of fists and feet upon the Dwarf who is feeling a little put upon as a couple of them connect sending his head reeling as his life force is consumed by the undead monstrosity before him as her fists connect with his jaw leaving large purple welts there.  

Frustrated Grembor misses several more times while Zordlan actually hits once opening up a slice along her neck which had she been mortal would have ended the fight there.  Kat turns around and tries to hit the Dread Wight again without success as Nashkar finally manages to place his positively charged hand upon her side; she winces as the positive energy flows into her leaving devastation in its wake.  She again unleashes a flurry of blows upon Nashkar one a powerful jab in his eye causing him immense distress while the other is just a foot to his armpit.  Both pull out his life energy and Nashkar is feeling the pain as his life levels are getting dangerously low.  However he should not be discouraged as Zordlan delivers a pair of solid blows; the second of which removes her head sending it rolling into the corner of the room.

Nashkar collapses onto the ground his heart beating weakly in his chest; life energy almost spent as the rest of the team explore the room and poke through the Dread Wight’s meager possessions.  They do find a nice looking belt made of bronze disks each with a stylized figure upon them in various poses of death; the other interesting discovery is of a jar filled with a foul smelling liquid but within which is floating the preserved remains of a heart.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Promises to Keep*

Following an animated discussion where Grembor was voting for hiding the heart Sayuri wins by having Zordlan dump the entire contents of the jar upon the floor and then picking up the heart and wrapping it in some cloth from the robes of the now plain dead Monk and giving it to Zordlan to carry.  They then collect Pringles body from his storage place and stagger back to the Dyers shop which looks to be empty.

The group collapse for the night; they can hear the howls of wolves and clash of weapons resounding from around the small village through to the early hours of the morning; soon afterwards the door slams open and a troop of werewolves’ parade in.  Thankfully these are the Princes wolves and Grembor who is on watch at this time heads down to discuss the evening with them.

The leader of this pack his nose twitching grins though bloody teeth at Grembor; “You have done well smooth skin; I smell much death upon you.  You have what we came here for do you not?”  Grembor with a nod passes over the packlord’s heart still wrapped in the cast off bit of robe nervous of what the werewolves’ will do now they have what they seek.  Emboldened by the apparent lack of his blood splattered over the walls he lightly admonishes them for not helping out in the fight against the Demon Wolves.  “Ahh but we did help; we never said we would be fighting alongside you; we were in the village fighting other Demon wolves.  You would not want some more to descend upon your position while your fighting their master now would you?”  Grembor has to agree as they outnumber him and the party is feeling decidedly weaker then usual.  Still nervous about the wolves he ascends the rickety ladder to the loft and resumes his watch after assuring the party that all is indeed well.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*The End of Broken moon, the start of Carrion Hill *

Morning breaks and breakfast is a maudlin affair; Nashkar and Kat both seem to be less than they were previously while Sayuri, Grembor and Zordlan are feeling much better.  

After a short discussion and the perusal of the maps they have they decide to head to Carrion Hill.  They have no actual directive on where they need to go next and the name suggests this would be a good place to start.  They also need someone to bring back Pringle if this is possible and to restock on some items.

_DM Note: Here ends the Adventure Broken Moon; the party are feeling a little worse for wear having lost some levels to the draining effect of the Wight and also loosing Pringle.  Both Kat and Nashkar permanently lost a level while Grembor made his save.  The party have no actual idea where to go next as they were unable to decipher the documents in Auren Vrood’s pavilion (their master decipherer is after all dead) and they refused to go into the Inn as it was “haunted” (some adventurer’s) The party decided to head to Carrion Hill on their own and it’s only through happenchance that I have an adventure based there which I have adjusted for their level which also has the same name as the blot of a city called Carrion Hill or “the Wart” as it’s commonly known._


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Interlude to Carrion Hill.*

Several figures set out from the blasted remains of Feldgrau; leading the foray is Grembor who has a litter dragging behind “his” horse. (His horse he killed in a fit of frustration after it got spooked by a lightning bolt.  This horse belonged to Pringle.) The litter contains the non moving corpse of Pringle being solemnly dragged behind.  He is dressed in a dark shirt and leather pants; the observant would notice the occasional glint of metal at his throat from the Mithril shirt he is wearing beneath his cotton shirt.  His forearms are encased in thick leather bracers to keep his shirt away from his bowstring and a dark cloak is wrapped around his shoulders to keep the wind and rain away.  The wind often catches the cloak whipping it away from his leather gloved grasp but it is soon brought back under control.

Following closely behind is Sayuri on her own horse (she is of a more forgiving nature) she is also wrapped up tight against the wind and rain with her cloak held tightly against the foul weather; Her bright eyes are all you tend to see gazing out over the rolling hills their mis matched silvery gaze catching everything that moves.

Zordlan follows; his cloak is not held tightly as it whips around him in the gusts; his eyes never straying far from his ward before him.  His horse guided by his strong legs leaving his hands free to carefully examine the various weapons he has on his person for any damage.  They have been well used of late and he would not want them to break at a critical moment.  His armor looks well used and there is a very evident crease along his breastplate where a very hard sword blow recently caused him problems.  This will require some serious forge work.

The last in line is a dwarf; stumping along without a horse his short powerful legs trying vainly to keep up with the faster moving horses.  He is soon left far behind the clatter of his armor however they catch on the wind occasionally followed by some curses in dwarven.  His hand never strays far from his crackling battleaxe; his plate armor is finely polished but requires some attention as it’s taken a beating recently but it’s looking decidedly better than Zordlan’s.  His shield is strapped to his back and its shining sun emblem would be welcome if it could peer for a moment through the heavy clouds overhead.

Kat is out scouting and is becoming increasingly distant from the group; she may be considering leaving soon.  (we will have to see if the player re-surfaces or not.)

Thankfully for the group and especially Nashkar who following a long way behind there are no encounters on their trip.  They make their way to the banks of the river across which is the small hillock where sits the Wart; its actual name being the city of Carrion Hill but the locals have a sense of humor; either that or a grim resignation to the truth of the matter.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Enter Carrion Hill commonly called "The Wart"*

The City has several names but most commonly the wart or the boil or other such pleasant labels.  It raises from the surrounding swamplands very much like an infected pimple, it’s head usually called the crown has the nicer buildings sometimes made of marble or other agreeable material while the slopes of the hill called the tangle has a mixture of baser materials and a high percentage of Middenstone buildings.  The bottom of the hill practically all the buildings are made of middenstone and it’s probably this which causes the names as much as anything.

Middenstone is a mixture of several ingredients like brick stone, gravel, bone and a ground up local beetle called carrion roaches.  This produces a sickeningly mauve material similar to a mix of adobe and concrete and can be formed into many shapes which harden when it dries.  However when it dries it takes on a vivid violet hue which from a distance would make the hill seem to have an angry violet base with a paler crown.

Carrion Hill is also often called the city of 10,000 temples; while this is blatantly false there is certainly close to 200 temples and shines within the city.  Many just a cupboard in someone’s house but still a shrine and someone’s holy place.  However the grandest temple on the hill is the Ossuary Church which is a church dedicated to Pharasma.

The party is met at the banks of the river by a short balding fellow who seems to be constantly washing his admittedly dirty looking hands.  Grinning a gap toothed smile that never reaches his eyes he enquires if they would like to cross on his barge; he gestures with one hand towards several logs which have been loosely held together and several large looking men lounging nearby before returning his hand to the dry washing.  His eyes quickly scan the group counting horses and people and any obvious signs of wealth.  Liking what he see’s he demands an outrageous price which is quickly accepted by the party and they are safely ferried to the other side of the river.

They travel up the road towards the main gate where they expect to be stopped by the guards; however these guards are not really paying that much attention being too interested in looking at their own feet and staying out of the incessant rain.  However once they pass through into the city they are met with something they certainly did not expect.  The city looks mostly abandoned; there are very few people actually in the streets even on the main thoroughfare which admittedly is only slightly wider than the wagons being pulled along it.  Looking around they do however notice several windows have people staring out at them with frightened eyes.

Soon after passing through the city gates however they get some inkling that not all is right with this speck of a city as a town crier stutters into a cry.  “Carrion Hill needs Heroes! Men of stout heart and bravery are asked to come to Crown Manor with all haste, there to receive a task worthy of their skill and talents and a reward of suitable magnificence.  Make haste to Crown Manor! Make Haste!”  The party looks at each other and wonder; who in their right mind would answer to such a desperate plea.  Hope some gullible adventurers come along quickly to deal with this before it gets out of hand.  They make their way to the top of the hill where the majority of the better temples reside and soon find their way to the local Desnan Temple.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle the return .. apparently you just can't stop once you pop ...*

Kat is left outside looking after the horses (she has nothing better to do apparently) as they all head inside.  They all get the pleasant ring as they enter apart from Nashkar who looks about in wonderment as the temple comes alive with holy men and women come running.  They enquire as to what they can do to help and they are answered by a gruff Grembor demanding they raise his friend Pringle from the dead.  With apologetic smiles they say that they do not have the power here to return people from the grave and that they would have to go to the temple of Pharasma to request this.  They give Grembor direction who turns around and heads straight back out into the rain to find this place and get his friend returned back to life.

The rest of the party (Sayuri, Zordlan and Nashkar all relax in the comfort of the temple each standing by the fire drying off their rain sodden and mud caked cloaks while chatting to the assembled clergy.  They find out that something terrible has been happening in the city and several buildings have collapsed in the past few days.  There has been a request for stout adventurers put out but as yet no-one has come forward in response to this.  They each look at each other probably wondering why trouble always seems to follow them around and what would happen if they decided not to help out everyone who asks for it.

Meanwhile as they are standing in the dry temple being served good wine and food Grembor is making his way to the Ossuary which is hard to miss.  Approaching the doors he finds them closed but sounds of a ceremony going on inside.  Taking Pringles body from the litter he makes his way up the stairs and opens the door with his dirty boot allowing the wind to whip around the room sending the candles dancing.  Noticing the on-going ceremony he finds somewhere to sit while propping Pringle up beside him and waits.  Several minutes pass and finally an priest notices him and walks over to enquire at to his purpose here today.

Grembor advises that his friend is dead and he would like the clergy to do something about it.  They offer to bury Pringle for an agreeable sum; they also can provide some mourners for a very reasonable price; some of them he is assured will cry and wail in a very convincing manner.  Shaking his head he states that no he would like his friend brought back to life as his feet have a long pathway yet to walk upon in this life.  The priest with an Ahhh of understanding enquires politely as to the gentleman’s monetary situation as these things take an obscene amount of money.

Grembor drags a sack in from off his horse and tips out several magical breastplates, bastard swords and falchions picked up from the werewolves and the priests.  The priest somewhat taken aback quickly brings along the temples quartermaster who swiftly goes through the items.  Setting aside many of the items he states that they could try bringing him back for all the breastplates and weapons and that they could have a slot next Tuesday for the ritual to take place.  Grembor growls deep in his throat that sooner would indeed be better then later and he suggests that they see if they have a slot open this afternoon.  Looking to his face and back at the dwindling treasure pile, they appropriate a couple more items and then grin saying that an opening has only just become available if he would like to bring along his friend …

Bearing the body of Pringle back into a room dedicated to the returning of wandering souls they place Pringle upon a bier which is surrounded by a silvery complex symbol upon the floor; there are several tall black candles placed around the body and each is lit; they each emit a different coloured flame sending weird shadows dancing around the room.  A large stone alter replete with a horned skull and even more candles entwined with dark roses and small white flowers holds an impressive looking book with dark black pages and silvery blue writing.

Entering the room is a young many; probably no older than seventeen who walks up to the alter and turns a few pages of the ominous looking tome.  “What’s the deceased’s name” he enquires towards Grembor who responds with “Pringle.”  Nodding he turns back to the tome and with a wand fashioned from a cats vertebrae he starts reading aloud in a dark tongue which makes the skin crawl upon Grembor’s spine as if the wand the young man was holding was being run down his own back.

Pringle is not happy; he spent many years ignoring the obvious truth of the gods existence and instead dedicated his life to the pursuit of arcane knowledge.  He never had any time of gods and silly religions and now he thinks to himself this was perhaps a mistake.  After following the nice gentleman in the dark cloak he found himself in a long line of people; he stood in this line for what seemed like an eternity but he was finally brought before a huge being which seemed to be mainly comprised of light and a stern demeanor.  Even though he could not see its eyes he knew they it gazed upon him and that it saw everything about him he would like to keep hidden.  With a soul shattering word he was dismissed and one of many flunkies grabbed his insubstantial arm and drew him away to join another line.  This line looked to be very long but it moved relatively quickly; he soon found himself at the front where he was helped up some macabre scaffolding to a wall where he was grabbed by a strange looking mason and cemented into the wall with only his face and one hand left poking out.  He could feel the cement writhing around him fashioned from the souls of those less fortunate than himself while the other stones around him shifted and moaned in fear.  Each soul in the wall cried out making the infinite Wailing Wall resound along it’s entire length; a length that Pringle could now sense and the realization that each and every soul within this wall was like him; a non believer.  Each of them could sense him and the wall was ever growing.  The scaffold was now what seemed to be miles away as a steady stream of souls were absorbed into the Wailing Wall.

Eternity seems to have passed and the face could feel himself loosing that which was him into the wall; on the brink of giving up and being absorbed; becoming nothing but a speck in the wall; his face only a suggestion of a face when he heard a call; a name; a name which seemed to be somehow familiar.  In the distance was a bright light; even though he had no real eyes to see it as they had closed and sealed an age ago he could feel its presence; the heat of it warmed his face and the sudden realization that this was his name.  His name was Pringle.  “Pringle” he would have screamed it if his mouth had not sealed itself shut in the centuries he has been here; he could feel himself being prized loose of the cement which had held him for so long.  His mouth was given shape again and something grabbed him by his one available hand and pulls; pulls so very hard he could feel himself tearing apart as he is ripped from the wall; he screamed in pain; pain of release and realization.  He can still feel parts of him still embedded in the wall of lost souls; the Wailing Wall; the wall of the unbelievers as he is cast out into a bright and burning light he feels himself being consumed.  

He feels cold; but he feels which is something he could not have said until now; there is stone beneath him and that is also cold.  There is an unbelievable pain in his chest and he realizes that it is his heart beating again for the first time in a long time forcing the sluggish blood there to turn back into a liquid from its semi solid state.  His head pounds as the blood again starts to circulate in his system; his arms and legs scream in agony as pins and needles flare in the extremities as the blood finds it’s way there; his eyes flutter open lanced by the bright light while a moan of pain and fear escapes his lips.

A young face looms over him and dark eyes sparkle with power.  “You were a difficult one to find Pringle.  Next time I suggest you find a patron to look after you as calling your soul back from the wall is a difficult thing.”  With that the disturbing smiling face disappears and it’s replaced by a different one but a more familiar one as Grembor helps him to his shaky feet.

With a hug they depart the Temple having given their thanks and return through the rain to the Temple of Desna where Pringle is greeted back by the whole party.  He however still feels cold and he can feel a part of him still in the wall and he knows he will never again be the same as he was previous to dying.  Should he die again where now would his soul go?


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Not a night to be out*

They decide after some deliberation to find somewhere to sleep for the night as it’s miserable out and they have all been though a lot recently.  They soon find an inn called The Sloppy Rune Inn and walk inside; each shaking the collected moisture from their cloaks they approach the bar and request rooms.  The fat ugly owner eyes them up and asks how many will be sleeping and upon hearing there would be five of them asks for the vastly inflated price of ten gold pieces.

They are shown to two rooms; there is water dripping from the ceiling into a strategically placed chamber pot; the beds seem to have cloth filled mattresses supported by rope netting.  Suffice to say they have stayed in better but then again it’s possibly better than sleeping outside.  They all eat a watery broth with some surprisingly nice fresh bread while Pringle takes his to his room and sits scribing a spell into his book.  They all retire to bed and spend a restless night suffering the drip, drip, drip of water, the hammering of rain the rumble of thunder along with the crack of lightning throughout the night.  Several times they are rudely awaken as the building seems to shift in the wind or the thunder is so loud they all sit up straight trying to recall where they are.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*A new job ...*

The next morning they all stump downstairs; eyes gritty with lack of sleep and are rewarded with a hot breakfast of freshly baked bread smothered in butter along with a cold pint of frothing beer to wash it down with.  This wakes them up somewhat and they are soon planning what they should do today.

Finally they decide that they would take a walk to Crown Manor and see what the crier was on about; looking outside they see that the storm is still running rampant over the city; crows are flying circles within the storm not wishing to alight upon the sodden rooftops.  With a sigh they wrap their cloaks around themselves and head out into the inclement weather.

They soon find their way to the Manor and the two crows (the local guards are called crows just to confuse us) that look decidedly despondent soon perk up as they see the approaching party.  The flicker of hope seems to kindle in their eyes and the party; now very nervous and cautious at the strange response follow them inside to a meeting with the mayor.
Sitting in a large room in a tall backed chair is the mayor of Carrion Hill; Vanton Heggry is a distracted and worried man.  Upon seeing the party enter he straightens in his chair and a flicker of hope kindles in his eyes.  Gesturing for the party to be seated he stands and starts pacing the room.  “I thank you for attending in our hour of need; Carrion Hill has a long history of battle, yet always before its enemies have attacked from outside our walls.  We are fortified to defend against such attacks, but now we face an entirely different threat. Our enemy is already here, dwelling in the tunnels and catacombs below and surfacing to strike without warning.”

Looking around the room at the assembled people, flunkies and the party; checking out the assorted equipment and armor gracing them.  The party actually looks like a successful adventuring group; Zordlan strikes an impressive front line fighter wearing full plate and a large curved sword while Nashkar is a solid appearing cleric well armored with many weapons.  Grembor is the shifty archer with the abilities they never advertise but every party needs and Pringle is the typical wizard dressed in robes with a distracted look.  Guess the graceful woman with the large breasts is some kind of amusement for the group or some kind of bard; she moves like a dancer regardless.  He is not one to judge their tastes …

Continuing his speech “As you may have heard, the first of these attacked occurred early yesterday morning, when something huge came up from below in a part of the Tangles called Slipper Market.  It partially destroyed a building and killed half dozen locals before retreating back into the ruined structure.  The Crows were swift to reply, led by our very own Commander Garus, but when they arrived they were slaughtered to the last.”  Looking round the group to see if there is any obvious reaction to this; he see’s nothing and so continues.

“Since then the thing has moved on, surfacing no less than three times in different parts of the city, crushing buildings from below and slaying anyone it finds inside.  I’ve got the entire force of the city watch in reserve and with each new event they respond quickly but the damage is always done by the time they arrive.  Already there is talk of war and invasion but I believe that what we face is a single horror.  If we can only figure out what it is we may be able to defeat it.  This my new friends is where your group comes in.  The Horror has moved on from its initial point of entrance but if you can explore the ruins in Slipper Market perhaps you can find some sort of clue to tell us what it is we are facing.  I cannot spare any more of my Crows as they are required to keep order in the streets should the worst happen.  If you can find anything about this monster from below I will be happy to pay the sum of 1,500 gold for some solid information.  Twice this if you assist in defeating the horror.”

Scanning the faces looking at him his heart is lightens by the nods and smiles that greet his now less worried gaze; as surely this competent looking group will have this sorted in no time at all.

Some few questions follow; what does it look like and suchlike.  Unfortunately it seems to be either comprised of shadow or it’s invisible so he is unable to impart any more information on that point so a pair of crows escorts them to the scene of the crime.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Investigating a crime scene.*

*Investigating a crime scene.*

Judging by the complete lack of bystanders it seems this crime scene is either so horrible that no-one wants to see it or so trivial no-one is bothered by it.  Grembor’s money is on the former and he wins as they approach the sodden dripping rope that bars passage further.  This rope is raised to allow the party through by a Crow who nods solemnly at the party as they pass; they see a partially destroyed building before them which Grembor quickly approaches while fending off the cobbler from across the street that seems to want to talk.  Sayuri and Nashkar enter the nearby tent which holds the three recovered bodies of the victims.  They are each in severe states of disrepair one having been twisted around at least twice; that’s while wearing chain armor.  They soon leave and follow Grembor who is examining the ruined house from an alleyway down the side of the building where there is interesting piece of bloody artistry upon the wall opposite.

Calling over Pringle to have a quick look at the most likely magical in nature if not in subject symbol Grembor steps into the partially destroyed building.  The aroma which is a pungent mix of every stomach churning smell that he has ever had the misfortune to come across soon has him vomiting onto the broken bricks and roof tiles strewn upon the floor.  Pringle examining the artistry recognizes it not only as a symbol commonly associated with both magical portals and the Dark Tapestry but also as one of many symbols tied to a specific deity known as Yog-Sothoth and entity associated with gates, portals, time and space.

Retreating they look towards the anxious looking cobbler who is silently wringing his hands while his face goes through several different emotions; they approach and ask him to relate his tale of woe.  He looks them all up and down and seems to come to a decision.  “As every morning, the Slipper Market was awake early.  The merchants set up stalls in the two hours before dawn and prepare their wares, this is when a terrible something came crawling out of Marshan’s house.  There was an awful lot of screams and the entire house shook as if some great invisible hand had taken hold of it and was trying to push it into the ground or crumple it in its fist.  I ran for the watch but by the time we came back it was all queit.  Weren’t more than a few heartbeats after the guards entered Marshan’s home that the shaking and screaming began again.  Some of the guards ran back into the street only to be lifted into the air by something unseen and crushed most horrifically; it left behind only a few bodies, whatever it was.  The house has been quiet ever since but that don’t mean the monster’s gone.”

After listening to this tale they look at each other and wander off to investigate the ruined building some more; Grembor has recovered from the stench but the rest are assailed by it as they check out the various rooms.  The party is ready to leave until Grembor checks out the back room and finds a dark stairway heading down into the depths.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor gets lucky ... no not like that.*

Figuring it for a basement he takes a cautious walk down a longer set of stairs than he expected and it opens out into a mausoleum.  Several sarcophagi are propped up in niches in the walls while one has been disturbed; the skeleton still dressed in tattered rags lies stretched upon the floor a rusty longsword beside it.  He cautiously approaches and pokes it with his sword before taking a scout of the rest of the room.  The rest of the group follow him down and Pringle ever the cautious sort since his small accident that resulted in his death remains upon the stairs well out of the way.

The skeleton remains an inanimate object much to the parties relief and they more to examine a door they have found which reside opposite a dark stairway which they briefly examine and find it goes for a long way beyond their limited vision in this oppressively dark place.  Nashkar elects to use him axe on the doorway as pushing it discovers it’s barred from the other side.  A few minutes later the door is in splinters and a small room is discovered along with the remains of a camp; another door also barricaded from the other side is soon in splinters as well and they enter.  However this room is not empty as they soon discover as three short figures coalesce from the shadows and try to stab them.  Grembor strikes out at one who expires and then explodes in a burst of bright light which blinds the others.  The dark folk blinded by the bright light are no match for the party and they are soon disposed of.  Nothing of any interest is found in either room.

They approach the staircase carefully; Grembor and Sayuri decide to investigate leaving the remaining party members hanging around in the oppressive tomb all alone.  They both sneak down the steep staircase which extends a long way down; fully 1000ft later it opens up to a large room, half of which looks like it opens into a natural cathedral and the other is worked stone and filled with pillars.  The Cathedral is filled with softly glowing fungi while the remainder is only lit by the sunrod Grembor is clutching in his cold tight grasp.  Seeing that it has opened up into a room which they will need to investigate Sayuri runs back up the 1000ft long staircase to gather the rest of the team while Grembor stands terribly exposed to what ever denizens are residing within the large room.  

A couple of minutes later Grembor is hearing strange noises coming from the large natural room; noises of stone upon stone and the creaking of wood upon wood and stone.  Suddenly a ghoulish figure appears from the darkness and attempts to claw Grembors face off.  Surprised Grembor only moves a fraction in response but it’s sufficient for the dirty fingernails to score upon his shoulder instead of his face.  Grembor can feel the lethargic effects of the strike but manages to throw it off with a shrug.  Whipping out his sword he strikes a couple of times but fails to make a good hit while the ghoul unleashes a pair of claw attacks followed by a vicious bite; Grembor again feels the effects of the ghouls touch trying to overwhelm him but his Elven blood saves him.  Grembor strikes again scoring a cut along its brow which fails to bleed; the ghoul knowing he would probably fail to kill the elf strikes once again causing a nasty jagged cut along his forearm before retreating into the comforting darkness.  Grembor however being the vindictive sort pulls out his bow and fires three arrows at the retreating figure; two of which hit as it leaps into the murky waters of a nearby cave pool.  

Grembor spends a worrying amount of time scanning the surroundings waiting for the ghoul to return while also wishing Sayuri and co would hurry up as he does not wish to spend any longer alone in this place.  After a few more minutes he spies the ghoul trying to sneak up on him again and unleashes an arrow in its direction.  The arrow misses but its enough to discourage the ghoul from any further thoughts of sneaking up on the watchful archer and again retreats to his pool.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Summon's gone wrong ... Oh dear that's confusing*

Soon afterwards Sayuri returns and quite a while after this the rest of the party wheeze and clatter into the room; spreading out watchfully yet resting after the exertion of the decent.  Grembor advises the party what happened and Sayuri starts summoning some water elementals to investigate the pool and flush out the ghoul.  However the nature of the place distorts the spell wrenching control of the spell from Sayuri’s grasp as she screams in pain as the power of the spell is ripped from her mind as it takes on a life of it’s own.  Instead of three small portals to the plane of water appearing; three portals which seem to have stars in them slither open, purple energy rimming the portals as lurid lightning crackles between the unstable portals.  Three fleshy lumps undulate throught he portals and drop to the floor of the cave with sodden wet sacks of puss and teeth.  The party looks at each other cautiously as they have not seen Sayuri cast this version of the spell before.

Glancing at Sayuri and seeing the pain and fear on her face the group back up a step as the three lumps of flesh turn themselves inside out showing hundreds of gnashing teeth and weirdly moving eyeballs.  A cacophony of gibbering comes from each one causing everyone to scream in pain as it assails the mind; they all seem to be fine until Grembor unleashes three arrows in rapid succession into Nashkar’s back.  Nashkar is caught understandably by surprise as the first two penetrate deeply spearing his kidney and liver; the last arrow thankfully bounces off his heavy armor having missed the sweet spot.  With a cough of blood matting his beard Nashkar drops to one knee one hand dropping to the floor to support himself.  The rest of the party look on in shock as Grembor stares down at his hands; hands which only seconds ago tried to kill one of his friends.  Looking up he can see the wondering gazes of the group looking his way; shaking his head in denial he backs away from the group.  Two of the creatures undulate forward moving a surprising distance for sacks of gibbering teeth and eyes; one hanging back, gibbers and moans in a very disconcerting manner.

The group retreat from the strange creatures knowing without being told that they are not under Sayuri’s control.  Sayuri fires off some force missiles while Pringle follows with some scorching rays of fire.  Nashkar heals himself up with a powerful spell while Zordlan fires off some arrows all of which causes one of the strange creatures to gibber some more; they all advance with another of the creatures hanging back and gibbering causing the party to clutch at their skulls in anguish as Zordaln drops his bow and draws his sword slicing open Sayuri’s back with his first blow while the second one misses her surprised but still gracefully dodging form.  Grembor shoots Pringle at point blank hitting him a couple of times but thankfully for the nervous Pringle Grembor is unable to find a vulnerable point to press home his advantage.

Sayuri stepping up fires off a lightning bolt through two of the creatures causing the closest one to explode in a devastating circle of teeth and eyeballs; Sayuri is covered in gore as she spits the offending detritus from her mouth onto the floor before her.  Nashkar channels positive energy through the party healing up many of their wounds as he pulls out his axe and advances upon one of the creatures.  Zordlan looks at the sword in his hand and wonders how it got there; noting the presence of fresh blood on the blade he looks around for who is injured but no-one seems to be adversely effected.  Random images of striking Sayuri enter into his mind as he strikes out at them trying to banish the demons but instead strikes Nashkar twice causing yet more damage to the poorly treated dwarf.  Sayuri unleashes another lighting bolt blasting the life from another one of the creatures as it detonates into a gore fest of teeth, blood and eyeballs.  Pringle looking cautiously at Grembor advances and fires off some force missiles at the remaining creature which strikes out with several of it’s mouths latching onto Nashkar and gnashing it’s teeth.  Grembor manages to act on his own and pushing the madness to the back of his mind shoots off a trio of arrows at the creature impaling it to the wall as it slumps to the floor it’s life seeping from it’s body.  

The group look at each other as Nashkar channels more energy through the party healing up their many wounds; Grembor starts apologizing to everyone as does Zordlan as they both feel guilty about the damage they caused; some more guilty than others of course as one of the pair is quite used to shooting party members in the back without the aid of a confusion effect.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Corruption grove.*

After making sure everyone is healthy they explore the cavern and discover the likely reason for the corruption of Sayuri’s summoning spell; three magically grown trees stand guard on an altar to some forgotten god.  The trees are festooned with bones and other fetishes which make this place a focusing point for summoning something alien from the Dark Tapestry.  Upon the altar is a large tome with bloody pages; Pringle can feel the Tome calling out to him; promises of power and destruction are floating through his mind.  His mental fortitude however is sufficient to the task as he resists the urge to run up and start reading right away.  

Walking up behind the book he flips it closed; the intricate locking mechanism starts whirring as hundreds of combinations and small locking devices interlock closing the book until someone of sufficient mental acumen activates it again.  Pringle slips the book into his backpack and it’s just his imagination which makes him think the leather of the book caresses his hand as it slips into the darkness.  

They check out the trees and wanting to spoil the whole Dark Tapestry Ambiance of the area they set Nashkar the task of chopping them down as he is the only one who has an axe.  This takes a few hours to accomplish as the trees bark is close to the hardness of stone.  The others in boredom investigate the corridors leading off from this room.  One leads to a room which looks like a hastily abandoned camp.  They find several pages of writing which is in a code; they pocket these for later investigation but find nothing ore than an interesting collection of book on entities of the Dark Tapestry.  Another corridor has some wet footprints leading from the pool of water into the corridor and they assume the ghoul went this way.  The corridor peters out after a few hundred feet so they waste some time searching for some non existent secret doors.

The third corridor leads to a fairly recent collapse; by recent in the past several days not hours by Grembor’s reckoning.  The last corridor is blocked by large steel bars that have been fixed to the floor and ceiling.  Sayuri squeezes through which makes impressive adjustments to her figure but once on the other side she quickly scouts out the corridor and returns to advise that it stretches off into the distance.  Nashkar takes out his Adamantine war hammer and proceeds to reduce the obstruction in the noisiest way possible.  Once through it’s unsurprising to find they don’t discover anything more.  Exploring they are advised by Nashkar that the ceiling here is unsafe so they retreat back to the main room and double check what they may have missed.


----------



## DayTripper

Is this a home grown adventure now or are you still running pre-written stuff?


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## Sic_Pixie

This is an adaptation of the Carrion Hill adventure written by Richard Pett.  It fits into the adventure path nicely; It's written for 5th level so some changes had to be made.  The next adventure Wake of the Watcher delves into Cthulhu mythos quite deeply.  The corruption of the summoning for instance I added due to the alien focusing of the Sunless Grove.  So to answer your question yes this is off the adventure path and yes it is a pre written adventure but it has been changed a little to fit.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle gets a boost ...*

They come to the conclusion that they need to check into the other sites before they sit down and decipher the documents they found.  They make the long walk back up to the surface and exit out into the rain soaked streets.  Accosting one of the Crows they make their way through the suddenly busy streets which seems to be teeming with people trying to leave the city.  Apparently word has been leaked that the buildings are not safe after all; the stables are very busy.  They check out the two other sites and find that something pulled the buildings down from below; foul smelling slime covers the area but no strange symbols adorn these buildings.  They head back to the sloppy rune inn and sit in the relatively dry taproom before the fire to dry off before Pringle pulls out the notes they picked up leaving the Tome for later.

Reading through the notes takes a few hours to decipher the code but he finally gets the information out of them which he writes down.  The notes refer to the five who toiled here in the “Sunless Grove;” it was a site of the used by an old cult in ancient times to contact entities of the Dark Tapestry.  Studying the notes reveals that this group “The Keepers of the Oldest” hoped that by opening the portal anew using rituals they had found in the Pnakotic Manuscripts they would be able to learn potent secrets of magic and more from those on the far side of the portal.

While this is all very interesting they however don’t have much more useable information than they had previously.  Pringle pulls out the large solid tome which he has identified as the Pnakotic Manuscripts with shaking hands and sets it upon the rough wooden table before him.  Sayuri, Zordlen and Nashkar all back away to the other side of the bar and order some wine while Pringle and Grembor struggle to open the tome.  Pringle considers briefly smashing open the book but logic thankfully prevails and he attempts to manipulate the devilishly complex locking mechanism which comprises the lock.  After an hour he gives up and hands it to Grembor who with his advanced knowledge of locks, traps and devices manages to figure it out; his nimble fingers glide over the slots rearranging the puzzle lock to conform to a rune Pringle identifies as a combination of an ancient rune for the school of Conjuration and an obscure god of knowledge that died out several millennia past.  With a distinct whirring sound over the space of 20 heartbeats the many locks along the books edge disengage and like clockwork retreat into the locking mechanism.  Pringle with a smile takes the book back and with eyes aflame with desire open the book to the first page.

The inside cover of this book has an inscription which may hold the key to the source of the problem.  It reads “May we the Keepers of the Oldest, prevail over the scourge of simplistic thoughts and lesser men.”  Beneath this weird phrase are five signatures; Keeper Baskerwhel, Keeper Crove, Keeper Hyve, Keeper Marshan and Keeper Myre.  Each it seems has a hand in the recent disturbance in this fair city.

 Proceeding with the actual book Pringle turns the first page and finds it’s written in an obscure dialect of Aklo; several hours later after he has deciphered the dialect and stored the strange cipher away he starts reading the marvelous tome.  Pringle discovers several spells some vastly out of his current ability to even consider casting; several of which are closer to his abilities but still beyond him.  With shaking hands he turns each page taking care not to get the delicate pages dirty.  

One part of the book is marked with a silken red ribbon; flipping the pages to this location he finds the beginning of a rather lengthy discussion upon how to use special rituals to open portals in key locations.  This section has been heavily annoted in the same spidery script as on the inside cover.  An hour of study later Pringle leans back and takes a long pull from his wine glass and nibbles at a wedge of cheese which seem to have dried out somewhat.  Drawing the attention of the rest of the group he quickly outlines the predicament they are currently finding themselves in.  Apparently these “Keepers of the Oldest” were hoping to use the ritual described in the book to try to open a portal in the Sunless Grove to contact “spawn of the Dark Tapestry” and further enhance their knowledge of forbidden magic and arcane secrets.

However a section close to the end of this chapter cautions those who would attempt such a thing stating that the action of forcing open such portals causes the life force of the casters to be drawn forth and absorbed by the creature so summoned.  Any entity so contacted can make “hideous use of this essence by consuming it, growing more powerful in the bargain, such that only the end of such essence can challenge the intruders rights upon your world.”  Pringle with growing horror understands that opening a portal in this manner links the souls of all concerned to a creature on the far side, the creature will grow more powerful if it can kill those who conjured it.  Conversely if some other agent kills the conjurers then that spiritual energy will be lost to the conjured creature.  In this way making the creature weaker; which if all the conjurers are killed before the creature does then it’s sent back to the space between the stars.

With many Oooh’s and Ahhhh’s to this the rest of the party goes back to drinking while Pringle remains curled up by the fire with the Pnakotic Manuscripts.  Several hours later when the party is solidly into their cups Pringle sets down the book; he can feel energy surging from the book into his body while also the pain of something is pulled forcibly from his mind and into the book.  His eyes widen as otherwise uncastable spells coalesce into useful and understandable formula within his mind.  New methods of casting and a more efficient style of storing and using magical energy causes his eyes to widen in surprise.  Pringles eyes glow with a lurid purple/silver glow before returning to their somewhat normal silvery colour.  It is at this point that Pringle becomes a follower of the path of the Alienist as his mind is warped with strange and alien thoughts.

_DM Note: Pringles player is back with us for the summer holidays so Pringle is promoted from Cohort to full player status once again.  This book is the medium through which this is being done.  Pringle gains the first two levels of the Alienist prestige class and can now cast 5th level spells as he is now casting as a 9th level wizard.  However these levels are only in effect while the book is on his person so should he loose the book in say 10 weeks he may very well become a cohort once again; we will have to see what happens._

Pringle in a power crazed frenzy joins the party after carefully putting the book away and enters a drinking contest with Nashkar and Zordlen.  Pringle looses and it’s unclear who the winner is come morning as the rooms they share is bathed in a sea of vomit as all three of them emptied sufficient vomit onto the floor to have come from nine normal people’s stomachs.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Mayoral Visit*

Staggering down the stairs come morning Grembor accosts the barman asking for baths and a cleanup crew in his room.  They are charged an extra twenty gold for the privilege and stagger out of the inn at mid morning into what feels to them to be exceedingly bright sunshine.  However the rain and stormy clouds that actually dominate the sky has different idea’s and sends another torrent of raindrops and wicked winds in their direction which is actually quite refreshing to the green members of the troop.  They make their way to the Mayors place of work and stump up to the door having been shown in by the pair of guards standing outside.  Mayor Heggry is very happy to see them and requests they advise on what they have found.  Handing him the list of names he provides a little information on each one of them.

*Keeper Baskerwhel:* Glem Baskerwhel is a hunch backed hermit who lives in the Wrythe about a days travel east of Carrion Hill.  The Swamp Druid is well known in the city as a potent potion maker and he visits often and commonly stays with his friend Arlend Hyve at the Elm Way Church.

*Keeper Crove:* Waldur Crove is well known as the warden of Crove’s Asylum, a building located in the crown that the crows have long used to dispose of lunatics and the insane too dangerous to keep in regular prisons.

*Keeper Hyve:* Arlend Hyve is an authority on regional history and lore, a sage who dwells in an abandoned church of Aroden on Elm way on the southern slope of the Tangles.  There are whispers that he dabbles in the black market poisons and drug trade.

*Keeper Marshan: *Sulm Marshan is a goggle eyed man said to have moved to Carrion Hill recently from the costal town off Illmarsh; he owned and lived in the house in Slipper Market which was destroyed recently.

*Keeper Myre:* Rupman Myre is a middenstone baron.  He owns a large vathouse down in the Filth along the river banks and is rumored to be involved with illegal Necromancy.  To date the Crowns have been unable to find sufficient evidence to arrest him.

Asking for a guide to the Closest they head out for the Church on Elms Way where they are rewarded by an old church dedicated to Aroden.  It’s looking a little worse for wear and it also looks like it’s been several things other than a church since the fall of Aroden.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Nashkar tries to open a door.*

They walk into the building without even attempting to knock and find themselves in an impromptu library; books are on shelves all around the walls; Pringle is all excited once again, not only has his magical reserves grown in might recently but they also have a load of books they may be able to appropriate should they kill the owner of said books.  Pringle does a little happy dance before heading to the bookshelves.  The rest of the party look at each other strangely; they all look a little green around the edges from their bout last night except for Sayuri who only now drinks in moderation.

They quickly scour the rooms and find nothing more of interest apart from one locked door.  Grembor after fiddling with it for a few minutes kicks the door in irritation and instructs Nashkar to cut it down; Nashkar pulls out his trusty axe and setting his feet takes a swing at the obstinate door; his arms swing forward and nothing happens for the briefest of seconds before Pringle screams in pain.  Nashkar staring at his hands finds them curiously empty when moments before they held his prized axe.  An axe that is now curiously sticking in Pringles shoulder; Nashkar with a shake of his head walks over to Pringle and wrenches the axe out of Pringles shoulder and turning back to the door heads back to start hewing the door again.  Grembor stops him indicating that maybe he should heal up Pringle before going back to his axework and then proceeds to spend some more time working on the stubborn lock.  Nashkar heals up Pringles shoulder with a shrug of an apology.

With a click the lock practically falls apart in Grembors hands as he finally manages to master the lock upon the door; no longer requiring the tender application of an axe to open the door Nashkar puts away his trusty axe much to Pringles relief.  Opening the door they find the room beyond is empty except for a wooden trapdoor in the floor which looks like a relatively recent addition.  Opening this up Grembor slips down the ladder dropping to the floor 20 feet below with an audible thump; this in turn alerts the resident of this room who turns in surprise.  Unlimbering his crossbow he loads a poisoned bolt into the groove and fires a wild shot at Grembor which luckily for Grembor misses by quite a large margin.  The second bolt however sinks into this shoulder scoring a deep wound which immediately begins to fester and rot as the poison eats away at his flesh.  Grembor returns fire wincing in pain as his muscles and skin objects to the punishment; only one of his arrows hit the mark the others flying wide.  Sayuri leaps down the hole landing gracefully on the ground 20 feet below glancing around the cavern below she notices the figure in the shadow of the natural pillar reloading his crossbow and fires off several force missiles his way which impact with meaty sounding thumps; Nashkar stumps up to the trapdoor and starts descending but his stubbly little legs don’t move as fast as the others and he only gets down partway; blocking Zordlan’s decent to his annoyance; Pringle hangs back behind Zordlan also blocked from helping out.

Keeper Hyve loads his crossbow and with a parting shot at Grembor hitting him in the stomach he dives into a nearby sluice disappearing from sight.  Grembor growling is disgust pulls the bolt from his stomach and winces as the poison effects his system and throws it to the floor; scouting round the rest of the room he finds no other assailant.  Sayuri casts invisibility upon herself and heads to the hole the keeper dove down and takes a look; it looks to be some kind of sluice with smooth sides and an oddly glistening look.  With a sigh and a smile considering the spare sets of clothing she has she dives down the sluice to try catching the wayward Keeper.  Nashkar finally makes it down the ladder closely followed by Zordlan who seems to again have lost his charge; he frantically searches the area for signs of Sayuri but no-one seems to know anything.  Pringle makes it down the ladder and immediately heads to the Alchemy set the Keeper was working on and inspects the pending poison being produced.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*One down ...*

Sayrui is forcibly ejected from the sluice and with a twist of her body avoids the ledge which could have knocked the wind from her body had she hit.  With a 20 foot drop to the waters below she hits the dirty dark water with a splash and immediately leaps to her feet.  Looking around the large natural cavern she spies several glows from various different forms of fungus from her position but no signs of the wayward Keeper; staying in her position she is fairly sure she can’t be seen not aware that standing in water while invisible is no way to stay hidden.  A pair of crossbow bolts fly from the darkness and impact upon the wall behind her narrowly missing her head which teaches her a valuable lesson.  Checking in the direction they came from she can see nothing to indicate where they originated from but the area is thick with natural pillars.  She quickly casts a spell, one she has not yet had the occasion to use and a mass of writhing tentacles springs from the surface of the water and latches onto the supposedly hidden Keeper bringing him into full view of Sayuri.  Grinning she stands and waits for him to die.  

Zordlan however putting his ear to the sluice thinks he can hear some activity down there so he dives into the sluice also being ejected into the cavern and also amazingly twisting to avoid the outcrop but failing to avoid landing directly on Sayuri.  Sayuri is driven into the water by a full plate wearing elf and the wind is knocked from her lungs.  With some water spitting curses she throws off Zordlan and clambers back to her feet with a very apologetic Zordlan looking shamefaced as he also regains his feet.  Deciding that the death of the Keeper is taking way too long Sayuri shoots off a torrent of force missiles; making the struggling form of the Keeper go very limp.  Cancelling the tentacles spell they do a search of the cavern and the Keepers body and find the remains of some Crows. (The guards not some birds)  One of which has a very nice looking sword which seems to have survived the test of time and the damp environment rather well.  The Keeper also has some interesting loot.

Zordlan advances to investigate but is assailed by a fungus who tries to wind it’s tentacles round the heavily armored elf in vain.  Zordlan backs off unlimbering his bow and sends arrow after arrow into the slow moving creature which soon brings it to a stop.  With the advance knowledge of this violet fungus they soon spot more and they are also soon dealt with as they don’t seem to want to enter the water.  Zordlan and Sayuri both use ranged weapons to reduce them to chunks of inanimate fungus.  Claiming the shiny longsword they look to head back to the sluice as there seems to be no other exit from here; they are nearly hit by Nashkar’s swiftly moving form exiting from the sluice with a loud splash as they approach.

They all try climbing back up the sluice and it takes several minute for them all to make it.  Mostly due to problems with climbing in full plate armor; Nashkar has to heal himself a few times before he finally makes it back up to the main room.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*To the Aslylum*

With a sigh they all make their way back up to the room above and try searching through his library however there is nothing much there except for books on History of the last 2000 years.  They exit the building and walk out into the rain.  Talking to the waiting Crow they decide that the Lunatic asylum is the closer of the two remaining targets and decide to head there next.

Approaching the impressive building they are awed by the oppressive feel of the place; if ever there was a typical depressing, ominous building to have as a lunatic asylum then this was it.  The stone gargoyles leering down from the rooftops, the sharply pitched roof, the narrow brooding windows all combined with the cloudy sky, pouring rain and impressive backlight of the rapidly increasing lightning strikes combine to send shivers running down the spines of all present.  Even the metal gates are from a story book as they creek at the slightest touch of the hand or wind.  The intrepid adventurers place shaking fingers on the gate and push it softly; they all wince at the squeal of the protesting rusted hinges as it opens and jump when it slams into the wall with a loud clang.  They can hear various screams coming from the oppressive building before them.

Approaching the entranceway they notice that the doors look to be fashioned from steel and the walls built from solid stone which is unusual for this part of town.  Most of the surrounding buildings are fabricated from middenstone which while cheap is not overly resistant to the weather let alone lunatics.  The large metal doors are standing ajar as if inviting the party to enter and meet their doom; they push open the door and walk inside to get out of the incessant rain.  They pause as they find three bound and gagged figures on the floor; each of them seems to be wearing a straightjacket, legs tied with rope and a gag over their mouths.  After absorbing this information for a second Grembor approaches one and slices off his gag.  With a bubbling scream from a mouth which seems to constantly stream saliva; eyes wide with an intensity everyone finds disturbing they can hear the scream being taken up throughout the asylum by many throats.  They also hear the sound of something moving towards them; it’s dragging something heavy behind it and it’s approaching the double doors before them.  With a thunderous impact and the splintering of wood the double doors before them burst open revealing four humanoid figures standing there wielding wooden clubs bound in barbed wire one of which was being dragged along the ground; they each have a cage upon their heads to prevent the prisoners from biting their faces.  They advance upon the party and attempt to persuade them to leave using the business end of their clubs.  The party soon impose their own thoughts upon the argument and soon there are four bodies lying before the party with only a couple of minor bruises to show for it.

Exploring this level they don’t find much of any note.  There is a wand in a secret door in one of the nicer offices and in one of the storage rooms there are two lunatics playing imaginary poker over the dead body of a third and using body parts as gambling chits.  Everything they find is killed with no real problem to the party as lunatics just throw themselves at the party and the warden’s are not equipped to deal with an organized response.  They soon find their way down to the basement where this swiftly changes.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Knocking on the door ...*

The first room they find is large and has six lunatics chained there.  Sayuri and Zordlan soon dispose of these while at the other end of the corridor Nashkar knocks on a door and waits before opening it.  Inside he finds an office with nothing much of interest in here bar another door.  Heading to the Door he knocks again and is somewhat startled by a voice on the other side telling him to “piss off.” Looking around at the rest of the party he knocks again and is again told where to go in no uncertain terms.  They hang around for a while discussing what they should do with Nashkar, Grembor and Pringle by the door.  Eventually Nashkar opens the door and is greeted by Keeper Crove; however this gave the Keeper time to prepare and as soon as the door opens they are hit by a column of fire that engulfs them all; Pringle and Nashkar stagger around trying to beat out the fires while Grembor seems untouched by the spell and grins at the Keeper.  Pringle runs from the room screaming very badly burnt; Sayuri and Zordlan alerted by the blast of fire down the corridor advance to assist; Zordlan makes it up next to Nashkar while Sayuri starts casting a minor summoning spell.  Keeper Crove steps up to Nashkar and reaches out with his hand which is suddenly wreathed in crackling black fire and places his finger upon Nashkar’s chest.  Nashkar emits a thin wailing cry with increases in pitch as he collapses to the floor his face turning a foreboding gray colour.  The party look on in horror as their healer is brought low so quickly their gazes raise from the prone form to the one standing over him grinning.  Grembor tries leaping on him to manhandle him to the floor but fails to connect.  Nashkar steps a small step closer to death while Pringle figuring he is a safe distance away uses the power of his tattoo to cure some of his ills and his badly burnt skin is repaired looking more like a bad case of sunburn then the charred remnants of something once human.  His new skin has a strangely glistening quality; he just shrugs and heads back closer to the fight to see if he can contribute.  Zordlan swings his sword and catches him high on his arm but instead of severing the arm as he would have expected the sword mostly seems to bounce off leaving only a shallow cut.  Cursing he strikes again swinging his sword harder and again most of the damage is absorbed.  Sayuri grins and three portals open; she is somewhat nervous as this is the first time she has summoned anything since the Sunless Grove and she hopes that what she summoned was what she asked for.  Thankfully three Lemures step from the portals and obey her bidding by swarming around the Keeper cutting off any escape but being unable to cause him any harm.  The Keeper carefully casts a spell rendering him immune to grappling and heaves a sigh of relief; Grembor leaps onto the nearby table and pulls out his sword; striking the Keeper in a sweet spot but his blade is turned by the apparent toughness of his skin only leaving a thin cut.  Nashkar finally stops bleeding; he is very grey and no longer moving; it’s difficult to see if he is still breathing.  

Pringle takes out a potion and swallows its contents; the healing tonic making his skin slightly less tender.  Zordlan grabs hold of Nashkar and drags him from the room out into the corridor next to Pringle.  Sayuri attempts to use her cleric in a stick to revive him but fails to activate the magic it contains; Keeper Crove again summons some dark crackling energy to his hand but fails to hit Grembor with his evilly charged hand.  The evil power however is still contained within and Grembor eyes it cautiously.  Grembor unleashes a duel attack upon Crove hitting him twice but only leaving minor scratches upon his skin much to his annoyance.  Nashkar remains stable even after being moved to the corridor outside.  

Taking the wand from Sayuri, Pringle attempts to activate its power but it does not seem to respond and they begin to wonder if it has any more charges left.  Zordlen heads back into the fight but is unable to contribute in any significant way as his sword blow misses.  Sayuri takes back the wand and again attempts to channel the healing powers of her wand by poking it into a wound and willing it to work.  Again it fails to activate and Sayuri curses under her breath.  Crove lunges out at Grembor with his hand and manages to miss while discharging the spell into himself; he screams in anger as the fell energies of his own cause serious wounds spell runs through his system opening old wounds; blood pouring down his arms.  Grembor laughs in his face and strikes out again leaving another minor wound on his shoulder while Crove’s eyes flash with hate.  Pringle Grabs the wand and finally the bit of wood lurches into life and the healing power is directed into Nashkar; his eyes flutter open and he is lying on the stone floor gazing up at the ceiling and the concerned faces of Sayuri and Pringle.  Sayrui with a grin runs into the other room and with a quick spell discharges a lightning bolt through Zordlan and into Crove.  Zordlan screams in pain as the lightning shudders though his body and passes onto Crove who joins Zordlan with his screams of pain as the lightning passes through his body.  Zordlan shouts his anger at Sayuri closely followed by Crove’s curses.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Oh that old Spell ...*

Keeper Crove casts defensively and a swarm of thick black tentacles bursts from the ground around him ensnaring the whole party with their grasping limbs; Nashkar screams in pain as the tentacles wrap around his prone form and squeeze the life from him; his plate armored form goes limp and the tentacles wrapped around him release him and search for more pray to squeeze the life from.  Pringle wails as he is wrapped in black tentacles; knowing this spell very well as he has it in his own repertoire and he has been almost killed by it previously when they fought the warden of Ascanor Lodge.  This time is little different as he can find no way of escape the murderous grasp; Grembor curses as he is grappled and dragged to the ground by the ever invasive tentacles; Sayrui and Zordlan are also indisposed by the dark grasping tentacles while Crowe stands happily in the midst of them unaffected due to his own protections.  Casting a spell he fades from view with an evil chuckle; everyone tries to escape the confinement of the tentacles but they are each foiled by the powerful spell.  They can see nothing but they can hear him casting; the effects of the casting however is obvious as the two rooms are filled with a noxious green/yellow smoke.  Sayuri’s heart skips a beat; dreading that it is the poisonous mist that helped decimate them which fighting against Auren Vrood but thankfully it’s a lesser version and this one only makes Grembor, Zordlan and Sayuri start vomiting as the noxious fumes make them sick; Grembor soon recovers but the other two obviously have less resilient constitutions as evidenced by the continued vomiting.

The keeper grins to himself as he opens a secret door beside himself and walks through leaving the party in it’s predicament as he is not interested in fighting them; his spell selection is more suited to fighting off the assault of a singular powerful alien creature not a group of curious adventurers and he needs to preserve his spells for that coming conflict.  He is scared and his carefully planned trap has fallen apart due to this interference.  

Sayuri is the first to break free after casting grease upon herself; she follows the Keeper but is unable to see him due to his invisibility.  The corridor however seems to turn back on itself; Sayuri is vomiting for several seconds after exiting the cloud of noxious fumes.  Zordlan manages to escape next and makes his way to Sayrui’s side also still vomiting.  Pringle notices a wall cracking upon near him but see’s nothing else as the door opens and the Keeper walks out invisibly and passes down the hallway.  Soon afterwards Pringle passes out from the damage of the tentacles as his breath is squeezed from him; Sayuri soon recovers as Grembor escapes the tentacles and staggers from the room; they all go to drag Nashkar and Pringle from the tentacles.  The spells end soon after and the tentacles recede; they bring Pringle and Nashkar back from the brink of death; Pringle is very close while Nashkar seemed to stabilize soon after passing out.

Nashkar channels some energy into the party healing up a lot of their wounds as Grembor tries to see if he can track where the Keeper went; it looks like he has gone through a doorway close by which leads to a long corridor filled with doors.  The small droplets of blood they were following seems to head directly down the corridor and they peter out several steps in as if the wounds had been healed.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Zordlan and Sayrui fail a save ...*

They notice hints of flour on the furthest door of the passage; (Zordlan threw flour over the Keeper when he went inviz) quickly following through finding themselves in a small square room which has a collapsed wall opposite leading into a larger cavern with a water filled sinkhole dominating most of it.  The room apart from this appears empty; spreading out they cautiously start making their way round the sinkhole.  Pringle convinced there is something in the water casts a quick spell and touching the water sends some electricity surging though it hopefully prompting whatever is hiding in there to show itself.  This seems to work as a tentacled horror surges from the pool and sends claw tipped tentacles whipping towards Zordlan.  One hits him on the knee which causes him to stagger slightly; however he does feel some adverse effect trying to assault him but he manages to resist the evil creatures poison.  

However as everyone stops and stares at the curiously tentacled creature it looks around and decides if they don’t wish to do anything it would and strikes out again at Zordlen.  Both tentacles hit scoring wounds on his shoulder and arm and with a whimper Zordlan drops to the floor and starts changing into a blob of bubbling flesh.  The party look on is horror as their friend and the only hard hitter in the group is taken down so quickly.  Sayuri scanning the room notices the Keeper across the sinkhole laughing softly to himself as he finishes off his spell; (he is still invisible but Sayuri cast see inviz at the end of the last combat) Shouting a warning to the party it’s too late as a Babu demon appears in the midst of the party striking out at Sayuri with it’s acid covered claws to good effect scoring a couple of nasty burning wounds on her shoulder and back.

Sayrui casting defensively looses her spell due to the distraction while Grembor unleashes some arrows at the tentacled creature Pringle identifies as a Chaos Beast.  One of the arrows hits the mark the others going wide; Pringle after intoning a spell shoots a pair of bright bars of flame towards the Chaos Beast but they both miss.  Nashkar ever the slow one stumps up behind the Babu demon and gooses it with his axe; which is not something you get to do every day I have to say.  Most of the damage is absorbed by its tough hide but some of the damage still gets through.  Thankfully Nashkar is nimble enough to avoid any damage to his weapon.  

The Chaos Beast advances upon Sayuri and attempts to inflict it’s curse upon her but she avoids the flailing tentacles of spongy form; Keeper Crove moves along the side of the sinkhole and walks up to Pringle a muttered spell on his lips; touching Pringle in his special place he drains out some of his psyche reducing his mental faculties a little but not enough to impede his casting much to his disgust.  The Babu turns and strikes Nashkar for his gall of striking him from behind scoring some good hits through his plate armor.  Grembor shoots off some more arrows at the Chaos Beast scoring some better hits this time as Pringle moves out of the way of the Keeper as Sayuri directs him to; he takes out a wand and sends a single missile of force towards the Chaos Beast which is unaffected by the feeble spell as its resistance to magic absorbs it.  Sayuri waiting for this moment concentrates very hard to remove the distractions of the Chaos Beast and the Babu Demon trying to remove her intestines and casts one of her favorite spells; Lightning brightens up the room leaving an after image of it’s path from her hand to the far wall; no-one but Sayuri can see that it went through Keeper Crove as he is still invisible but the group can hear his curses through clenched teeth.  Nashkar again uses his axe to little effect on the Demon only scoring a minor wound to his dismay.

Sayuri is whipped around the face by the Chaos Beast and she put everything into her last spell she apparently has nothing left to defend herself with.  With a moan and a strange slurping sound she collapses to the floor as pile of softly undulating skin; Crove with a grin at Sayuri’s predicament casts a spell and a hammer of force appears next to Nashkar and attempts to strike him but misses.  The summoned Babu again goes for Nashkar not having much choice between a puddle of skin or a heavily armored Dwarf; lashing out with his claws it leaves a nasty looking acid etched claw marks down Nashkar’s face causing blood to trickle into his eyes. Zordlan however comes to the rescue and manages to pull himself together and regains his normal form.  Admittedly it’s a much more generic normal form than he is used to as the features look to be badly molded clay; however it works as it should and he bends down and picks up his sword from the floor looking around the room to see what to do next.  Grembor whips out his sword and attempts to strike the position he thinks Crove is in.  He must have made a mistake however as none of his strikes hits anything.  Pringle has more luck however as his spell fires off a bar of flame which impacts Crove’s invisible form burning the last vestiges of life from his mortal coil sending him collapsing to the ground with the low exhalation of his last breath rattling in his lungs.  There would be celebration all round if they could in fact see this but events continue and the only one who would know is currently indisposed.  Nashkar again strikes with his axe through the red stinging blur of his own blood but the axe just bounces off the tough skin of the Demon leaving no visible harm.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Now Grembor fails a save ...*

Grembor gets a surprise as the Chaos Beast surges across the sinkhole and strikes out with one of its tentacles catching him low on his thigh; as happened to Zordlan and Sayuri he soon becomes a puddle of skin with an artfully placed sword and bow lying atop of it.  Pringle looks around in fear knowing he is next as his mind quickly catalogues the spell options available to him.  The Summoned Babu Demon attacks Nashkar again trying to take advantage of Nashkar’s partial blindness; its claws again find holes in his armor but its teeth bounce off his shield leaving an indent in the strong metal.  Zordlan makes his way to the demon and strikes it with his sword catching it with a powerful slice which severs one of its fingers sending it spinning into the sinkhole behind him; the sword continues and scores a deep incision across its chest only just stopped by the thick breastbone of the creature.  The Babu Demon turns and grins in his direction with the promise of pain in its eyes which makes Zordlan gulp in apprehension.  Pringle back pedaling uses his staff to recall the spell which brought down Keeper Crowe and fires another pair of beams of flame towards the Chaos Beast; the fire flickers over the skin of the beast as if considering if it’s inherent resistance to magic will allow it to effect it as Pringles heart leaps to his throat.  With a squeal of pain the fire burns through its resistance and its skin scorching the creature to its core as it screams in a writhing mass of whipping tentacles.  Sayuri manages to pull herself together and staggers to her feet making sure her clothing is covering her ample charms before checking out the situation.  Nashkar assisted by Zordlan’s attack strikes the Demon scoring some minor damage while wiping the blood from his eyes.

The Chaos Beast deciding that enough is enough makes its way to the closest and only exit.  However this exit is blocked by a Babu Demon whose knowledge of the Abyss and Hell are very good; however knowledge of other places like the far realm was a little shaky had no idea what this creature was.  He continues his attacks upon Nashkar missing him by a cat’s whisker.  Zordlan again eying the Chaos Beast strikes the Demon bringing its attention back towards him; its hate filled gaze burning into his mind.  Grembor gets himself back into some semblance of a humanoid form and scoops up his bow.  He moves around the sinkhole to gain a better firing position as Pringle fires off a force missile towards the demon who ignores the fly bite.  Sayuri also fires off a barrage of force missiles but these are from her spells not from a wand; they impact with great force battering the poor Demon around its head and shoulders.

The demon is not having a great day; it gets summoned to this location; where only a pit fiend would be stupid enough to want to be; then he gets the smack down by some uppity adventurers.  Now it has some weird tentacled creature waving at him.  Really it’s too much he thinks as the Chaos Beast strikes him soundly round the head a couple of times; rendering his solidity a thing of the past as the demon collapses into a red puddle of boneless demon flesh.  

Zordlan cuts up the Chaos Beast rending it past dead as tentacles flop around on the floor having been severed from its body. The Babu Demon manages to reform its form into something approaching its usual shape to meet a barrage of arrows from Grembor; his last Arrow pierces the Demon’s eye transfixing its brain and causing instant death.  The demon is reduced to smoke as it dissipates and if it remembers any of this on its home plane then it may be more cautious when faced with a Chaos Beast.

The party heaves a huge sigh of relief while looking around.  Three of their members are looking a bit worse for wear; Nashkar channels some energy into the party healing up everyone and finishes up with a few localized healing spells.  Sayuri and Pringle race to the fallen Keeper on a search for treasure; Sayuri gets most of it due to her swift movement.  They are brutally reminded of their current situation as Zordlan is reduced to a pile of skin and flesh again.  

They each do a mental assessment of their spells and no-one has anything they could use to help remedy the situation.  They decide that Pringle as the fastest moving non afflicted person should head to the local temple to find someone to help in this matter and bring them back as quickly as possible.  However as quickly as possible will be in excess of a half hour so Pringle sets off running to the temple of Pharasma which he knows is helpful … for a price.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle is lost for words*

Making it to the temple at record speed Pringle bursts into the main room and is met by an under priest who enquires as to his needs.  Pringle while catching his breath manages to gasp out some nonsense which has the priest confused.  Something along the lines of “I have to find a thing as my friends are hurt; they are all like blah and they need stuff to make them better.” The priest is very confused and asks Pringle to slow down and start from the beginning.  Pringle takes a deep breath and then says “we killed a load of people then we fought an old guy who cast flame at us; following him we were attacked by a tentacled thing which made them blah then we killed the old guy and the demon and now we need help with the thing the thing did to us.”  The priest now looking worried stutters out “wait you killed a load of people?” Pringle looks around the temple suddenly realizing what he just said …. “err yes they were crazy and they attacked us with errr stuff” The priest steps back a step feeling very much like a crazy person has just intruded into his day.  “So where did you say these killings occurred?”  Pringle getting the feeling that this can’t end well states that he just came from the lunatic asylum and that there are tentacled monsters there and his friends are in danger; with a smile the priest steps back a step again thinking “why do I always get the crazy ones.”  He is just turning to one of the temple guards to ask that they restrain him when the high priest wanders through the temple.  Catching sight of Pringle in his disheveled form and looking exceedingly distressed he advances.

Pringle standing in the foyer of the temple notices a familiar looking face approaching from within the temple proper and grins manically at him.  This figure is a young bald heading man with expensive looking robes covering his lithe form.  “Hello Pringle how are you feeling today? Better than when we last met I hope?” Pringle grins again and nods before blurting out that his friends need help and time is of the essence.  “Oh how are your friends; Grembor was it not? Is he still a man of means?”  Pringle nods a little unsure of what he means.  “They need help; they were attacked by a tentacled monster and now they can’t keep their shape.”  Nodding the head priest motions out the door; “well show us the way and we will do our best; for a reasonable price of course.”  They run through the city again making it back to the lunatic asylum and heading quickly down the stairs to the basement.

Meanwhile down in the basement; Sayuri, Grembor and Zordlan each are afflicted by a curse that renders their form like jelly every minute unless they resist its powerful effect.  However each time they fail another part of their psyche is ripped away and they step one small step closer to oblivion.

Zordlan was the first to suffer the ignoble fate of turning into a Chaos Beast closely followed by Grembor; Sayuri and Nashkar who is eyeing up Sayuri, carefully retreat out of the room into the corridor outside where they find Pringle coming along with a new face; a bald headed priest wearing the somewhat lavish robes of a priest of Pharasma.  He looks over the small group questioningly and notices the pair of Chaos Beasts following down the corridor; nodding to himself he looks over the party and pokes them all a couple of times noticing that Sayuri is not feeling as solid as she should he casts a spell returning her to her normal self and dismissing the whole jelly in a bag of flesh problem.  

He asks were Grembor is and they point to one of the Chaos Beasts; nodding he states that he can’t fix that; especially while they are alive.  It would take very powerful magic to restore them to their natural form.  When dead we may have a chance however …

Looking at each other they devise a cunning plan; Nashkar casts and erects a stone wall in the narrow corridor with a small hole only a few inches across in the middle.  Sayrui and Pringle fire Lightning bolts and Fireballs through this hole until both Grembor beast and Zordlan beast are very dead, shocked and burnt.  They hammer down the wall with Nashkars adamantine hammer and then retrieve the bodies for later work. It is a very sad procession leaving the lunatic asylum.

_DM Note: Chaos Beasts are nasty.  Upon failing your fort save you are rendered down to basically jelly or a jelly filled sack of skin.  In order to assume your own form you require a will save and you can reclaim your form for a minute.  Each round your in jelly form you loose a point of wisdom; if your wisdom hits 1 you turn into a Chaos Beast and the cycle begins again as you attack those who were trying to help you.  To prevent this you need a Restoration, Heal or Remove curse; none of which Nashkar was currently carrying.  Even a lesser restoration to bolster the failing wisdom would have been handy.  I was very generous and took it to be 30 minutes to get to the temple Pringle to blurt out his sad tale and get back with help.  Would have been less if Pringle had managed to concisely articulate his problem without making the priest think he was a crazy mass murderer.  So each of the people infected needed to make 30 saving throws.  If they fail more times tan they have points of wisdom then …     

I daresay it would not have got to them as bad as it had if it was on its own.  Two party members dead and killed by the party no less; personally running this session I found it hilarious.  Now to figure out a way to bring them back; if it is actually possible. I have an idea how they could do it but I don’t think some of them will like it.  Plus considering the area they are in there may be some side effects …_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Grembor reborn ... with a thirst for calamari*

They make it back to the Temple without any problem; they then start hauling out all the treasure they have discovered to cover the costs of the spells.  The temple can’t actually perform the miracle but they do have contacts in the area to a druid who could help out.  He explains that the only Clerical spell which could feasibly bring them back is a True Resurrection which is vastly more powerful than anyone round here can cast.  However there is hope if you’re willing to take the risks?  The risk being that you will not be coming back in your body and that you may indeed be a different race, sex or size.  Now there are ways of minimizing the risk with anointing with expensive herbs, oils and unguents but it’s a chaotic spell and there is only so much we can do with it.  We can shave the odds so it makes it more likely to be a certain sex or size but nothing is ever certain with this spell.

The party look at each other; tears rolling down their faces as they come to the fatefull decision that they will indeed go ahead with the ceremony; the young bald priest who we shall call Minax the undying for no real reason leaves the room to arrange things.  They are served some food and drinks while they wait.  Under priests enter to sort out preparing the bodies but are somewhat at a loss as to what to do with the burnt up tentacled things but they do their best with funeral shrouds and some sweet smelling candles.

A couple of hours later Minax the undying re-enters followed by an older woman who still seems sprightly in her advanced years.  She nods at the assembled party and pokes at the recumbent figures of what were once Grembor and Zordlan. Shrugging and with the words “what harm can it do” she nods curtly at Minax and the bodies are gathered up and taken outside into the pouring rain.  Behind the church is an area still left wild where these sorts of ceremonies are performed; setting the corpse of Grembor down onto a rune marked natural stone which is surrounded by long lush looking grass which wraps itself around the recumbent form and seems to swallow it into the rune marked stone.  The Druidess starts a small fire at the head of the stone while chanting; picking out various expensive woods, oils and herbs and throwing them onto the fire; a small stone pot is set aside with several pungent herbs mixed with ground up minerals and ample oils.  This is placed upon the fire and the stone starts sparking and flaring various coloured flames from the top as the contents are stirred together with strange smelling aroma’s drifting through the air.  The rain intensifies if anything but the druidess seems unaffected by the torrent of rainwater.  Crows overhead a calling out in their raucous cries circling the site with increasing numbers joining them as the ceremony continues; the group look at each other in concern as the signs are not looking good.

At the culmination of the ceremony the Druidess gets out some chicken and drops it into the pot stirring it as it cooks while smacking her lips in appreciation … Well that is what I would have liked to say.  But she picks up the stone pot and pours it over the rune marked stone; clucking like a chicken as it runs into each and every rune causing it to burn with a sickly green flame which she seems to not like the look of much.  She pokes at it with a stick a couple of times seeing if it will change colour to the vibrant green she is expecting but it remains stubbornly a sickly green colour.  The crows overhead number in the hundreds as they circle the area their cries almost drowning out the storm and the now shrieking Druidess.  Finally the stone cracks across it’s middle with an ear splitting retort and a linen wrapped bundle raises from the earth below; the stone repairs itself and the motionless form is left lying upon the wet stone as the green flames gutter and die around it lightly scorching the linen wrap even in the rain.  The murder of crows above all cry out at once and they depart flying off to various points of the compass; again acting normally.

The Druidess walks up to the wrapped body and pokes it with her ever present stick; grunting as she kneels down she slams her hand down upon it’s chest with a force which should have caved in its chest; with a pained cough and choke the figure starts moving; feebly trying to push the tightly wound linen away from its face with limbs that don’t seem to respond as they once did.  With help the new Grembor manages to extract the linen from its form and his eyes see the light of day for the first time.  The light is grey and overcast when an ominous steak of lightning which shoots across the sky and hits the temple roof with a resonating blast.  The party look on in surprise as the new Grembor looks at each of them noticing the looks on each of them as they see him for the first time.  “Ok now what am I” he asks as they all look upon him with various amounts of concern and wonderment.  He wipes the rain from his eyes with a tentacle before he even considers it and then looks down at his arms.  His right arm and shoulder is a writhing mass of black tentacles of various lengths and thicknesses; with a thought they raise up before him and wrap around each other forming a close approximation of an arm with five fingers on its hand.  “Interesting” is his only response as he bends his arm in unusual ways which makes Sayuri’s stomach churn in other unusual ways.  Pringle grins in appreciation suspecting the alien influence obviously corrupting the land and local magics.  He has recently come into a more worldly view of all things tentacled and understands how useful a tentacle could be.

Examining the rest of his body it looks like there are some errant writhing tentacles within his body which the skin is keeping in check; there is no telling how deep the taint has gone.  He quickly pulls the linen covering himself to one side then grins at the party in relief as there is no other outward signs of tentacles and it looks like the remaining part of him is still mostly elven.

Sayuri is now seriously reconsidering what she is going to do with Zordlan and how to bring him back if this is an example of what happens here.

_DM Note: Reincarnation is a tricky spell, some people love it and some hate it.  I am allowing for a significant excess to mitigate some of the risk.  For a spell which costs 1k to cast I am allowing each 5k spent in excessive oils and ingredients to mitigate a factor like if your coming back as a male or a female, if your medium sized or small.  Each 5k past this allows you to move the scale up or down a notch; max is two notches.  So when you roll to see what you come back as you can change the result up or down by two results.  Some people just are not happy with coming back as a female Halfling … I just don’t understand it … Think it’s the hairy feet. 

As for the taint of aberration they received; the whole area is besieged by alien energies; if a raise dead is used then it would act normally as its just breathing life into a corpse but something like then where a whole new body is being created; the power being drawn from the surrounding area and the source body is an aberration itself then its just too much of a co-incidence to let this go without something weird happening.  There are benefits to this as there are negatives; but these will have to be discovered later on; being an aberration does have its difficulties in social circles after all._


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*New Zordlan ... very much like the old Zordlan*

Sayuri with reservations allows the proceedings to go ahead to bring Zordlan back in an alternate body.  The ritual proceeds as before but thankfully with less crows circling above.  When Zordlan emerges he seems completely restored in a new body much to Sayuri’s delight.  However upon closer inspection his eyes have changed colour to deep soulless pits of black despair surrounded with silver while sometimes under his skin there is movement as it something dark and strangely alien is wriggling inside of his flesh suit.  This is disconcerting but it’s still Zordlan so she is happy.

They set out to the tavern they stayed in previously called the Sloppy Rune Inn and they stay up late drinking the suspect beverages behind the bar before retiring to bed.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*What big monster .. oh that big monster*

The next morning dawns grey with thunder and lightning disturbing the peace; the amount of rainfall is causing problems with the streets as the volume of water is washing some of them away.  They however soon find themselves approaching the Rupman Vats were the last of the victims reside; however upon approaching they notice the building is crumbling and one of the walls seems to explode as if hit with great force from inside.  As they approach they can see the large building shaking while the surrounding building are stable; Nashkar approaches the door and cracks it open so he can see through.  He can see nothing inside except for the results of something huge ripping things from the inside ceiling and walls of the building.  However the destruction stops and large strange looking footprints seem to be moving their way along with the stench of the creature which almost makes him regurgitate his breakfast. 

Something long, tentacled and invisible wraps itself around his chest with crushing strength; luckily for him his full plate armor prevents the teeth he feels gnawing upon the steel of his breastplate along the length of the tentacle.  The rest of the party look in shock as their healer is again stricken and made mostly harmless by something none of them can see.  Sayuri casts a quick spell to allow her to see those things invisible to the normal eye and almost runs away in terror as she beholds the manifestation of Yog-Sothoth for the first time.  The huge tentacled beast covered in blazing red eyes burning with hate and hunger; mouths in the place of hands and feet its face a parody of the poor unfortunate’s body it possessed to be here and its face is still frozen in the scream it let out when he met his end.  She steps back a step struggling to hold in her own breakfast and sanity as the stench and the view are not helping with either.  She strongly considers clawing out her own eyes before her rational mind re-asserts itself and tells her not to be so melodramatic. 

Pringle knowing something is there but unable to see it casts Ice Storm over the area which while it does not seem to effect the creature it does outline it in snow and ice allowing the rest of the party to at least see its outline.  Grembor and Zordlan fire arrows at the outlined form some striking its tough hide; Zordlan’s arrows seem to bounce off while Grembors seem to penetrate and cause some small wounds.  Nashkar manages to channel energy through the party healing up the massive amounts of damage the creature caused him and refreshing the others who had not fully healed from the day before.  The abomination which only Sayuri can see tightens the tentacle around Nashkar pulling him to the floor before the creature; the teeth along the length of the tentacle gnawing their way through his magical plate armor trying to get to the succulent flesh inside.  Sayuri trusts in her spells and unleashes a torrent of force missiles at the creature as they blast past its defenses and cause several eyes to explode in torrents of foul smelling slime which causes the whole party to gag and vomit; poor Nashkar however has his helmet closed as he vomits inside of his armor and vomit in your beard is never a pleasant thing.  That is going to need some serious scrubbing to get that clean … should he survive the small problem he currently has with the whole tentacle thing.  Pringle fires off some force missiles which impact but seem to be absorbed by the creature’s resistance to magic; while Grembor continues to fire arrow after arrow into the hideous monster he can’t see (some of which even strike true) Zordlan charges into the fight with sword drawn as several tentacles streak his way which amazingly miss his lithe form.  Utilizing his new powers his sword slices through one of the tentacles sending it crashing to the floor; the spurt of foul smelling ichor which splatters over his armor does not help his stomach though.  The tentacle flashes into view as it is separated from the host and appears to be a long tentacle with many toothed maws with clusters of burning red eyes interspacing them.  The sight does not improve his digestion in any way.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle saves the day*

The abomination sends it’s tentacles into the wall separating it from the party and rips the wall down raining rubble upon everyone; several bits of the rubble impact upon Zordlan and poor Nashkar causing minor damage.  This does however allow the party to see more of the creature as dust settles upon it and the surrounding area but it also renders them more susceptible to the creature’s attacks.  Sayuri casting a spell covers Nashkar in grease allowing him greater chance of squirming free of the creature’s tentacles; Pringle utilizing his most powerful summons starts chanting some disturbing sounding arcane words as his eyes start glowing a weird red/purple colour.  Grembor continues to fire arrows past the swiftly dodging Zordlan and the prone Nashkar; each twang of his bowstring causing them both the flinch in remembered pain of arrows in the back.  However he only shoots himself in the foot once and manages to keep his misses suitably away from anyone else.  Zordlan continues hacking away at the creature as Nashkar finally manages to slip out of the tentacles that have been holding him; his armor has been sorely tested and found wanting as the deep gouges and punctures attest to the creatures strength; he is looking very pale and weak as if most of his blood has been sucked from him.  

Tentacles strike out at Zordlan slapping him around the face several times and making his ears ring with the impact although thankfully he manages to avoid being grappled by the insidious tentacled thing.  Sayuri happy that Nashkar is no longer wrapped up in the creature sidles to the side and unleashes a lightning bolt with sends shudders through the creature as it’s tentacles all stand up on end ripping parts of the ceiling down.  Zordlan again flinches as the bright lighting passes before him only too aware how much that can hurt as Sayuri is usually not too bothered about where her spell effects go and who they hurt as long as they effect the enemy as well.  Pringle finishes his spellcasting and a glowing red portal appears behind the monster.  Out steps a Babu demon covered in dripping sizzling blood whose eyes widen at the sight of the huge tentacled creature before it.  It however steps up and its claws rip into the monsters flesh leaving deep foul smelling rents in its hide which the demon savors with a chuckle; Pringle grins and starts summoning another one.  Grembor pulls the arrow from his foot wincing at the pain and fires that at the still invisible creature; Zordlan opens up another rent in its hide and gets covered in more foul smelling slimy blood.  Nashkar retreats from combat hoping to be left alone as he channels energy though the party; healing up their ills.  

The aspect of Yog-Sothoth splits its attacks between the newly arrived Babu Demon and Zordlan; after it’s first hit against the Babu demon it declines to try grappling it as it’s acidic blood covered body burns it’s flesh.  It does however cause some good hits with its tentacles.  The other attacks strike at Zordlan  each hit rocking him back on his feet as his armor tolls like a bell when struck by the tentacles; but it fails to succeed at a grapple.  Sayuri assaults it again with a torrent of force missiles while Pringle drags another Babu Demon through another glowing portal.  The pair of Babu Demons attack; each tearing into the creature with claws and bites; they reduce the once mobile and efficient killer of everything to a bubbling pile of tentacles and eyes in a few short seconds.  The whole party heaves a huge sigh as the aberration dies but not too deep as the stench of the thing is still very apparent; even more so now it’s insides are outside.

_DM Note: Pringles Summons were the best thing he could have done; each Babu Demon gains 3 attacks, they can see inviz and they had flanking so they got sneak attack.  Was very surprised that Yog-Sothoth was not immune to sneaks or criticals like most Aberrations are.  The last attacks by the pair of Babu Demons caused in excess of 70 points of damage.  If I recall 5 out of 6 attacks hit causing 5d6+25 damage +10d6 sneak from flanking with Zordlan.  (+2d6 sneak per attack)  The poor creature didn’t have a chance even after factoring the +2 levels from consuming the last Keeper.  But then if your higher level spells don’t do much it’s just frustrating.

On the Reincarnations I rolled d100 to see how much of a taint they received and how much like their old selves they would be.  Grembor got 76% like his old self so he has about a quarter of his body is covered in tentacles; while Zordlan got lucky with a 96%.  So he just gets the weird soulless eyes and the rippling under the skin.  No idea what I would have done if they got less than 50%. Guess they would have come back more Chaos Beast than they did …_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Exit Stage left, Ending of a side quest.*

They scout out the building; fragile though it is and discovers a dismembered corpse spread around the room; it takes some searching but they do eventually find most of the missing pieces.  They assume this was the Keeper they were looking for and the creature had already killed him.  They now have a problem; how to prove to the mayor that an invisible creature did all the damage and it is now dead; they mull over this problem for a while as the creature swiftly decomposes from the huge tentacled horror it was into a more jelly like substance which is becoming more liquid by the minute.  Sayuri takes out a bottle and decants some of the weird invisible jelly water into here; the smell is almost overpowering in its intensity and she swiftly corks the foul smelling stuff and holds it out at arms reach in disgust.  They decide that this will be sufficient for some reason and proceed to the Mayor to tell their tale of woe, death and destruction.

Upon arriving; they are escorted into the presence of the mayor; the party look decidedly battered and disheveled.  Nashkar’s armor is practically falling off him it has so many rents in it from the creatures tentacles; they stink to high heaven; Grembor is sporting a fancy tentacle that was not there previously and Zordlan’s face seems to occasionally squirm as if something under his flesh wants to get out.  The mayor is somewhat taken a back by the sight (and stink) of them he quickly asks if they are done.  They state they are and present the bottle of stuff as proof to which he swiftly digs out a purse and throws it towards them.  He enquires when they will be leaving and where they will go now but they don’t seem to know; with a wave of his hand they are dismissed and as they exit they can hear the sound of someone vomiting noisily followed by the sound of several people vomiting.  It’s been a good day and it is only mid morning.

_DM Note: Here ends the Carrion Hill mini side adventure; however the after effects of this sojourn will echo through the remainder of the adventure due to the ‘minor’ changes to the party members.  Pringle found a forbidden book and became an Alienist; Grembor and Zordlan became Chaos Beasts were killed by the party and were reincarnated and came back more than they were previously; this will have further repercussions later in the adventure._


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Wake of the Watcher*

The streets are quiet, barely a soul stirs as the first rays of sunlight break through the oppressive gloom that was has been the last several days of stormy weather.  The heroes of Carrion Hill appear walking out of the impressive town hall building; five figures each striding with purpose each confident in their power and the bonds of friendship; they walk in no mans shadow. 

Leading the way is a lean whippet thin half elf, his eyes scanning every street, ally and rooftop for movement. His relaxed stride a cover for the perpetual tension he is in; his ‘hand’ never far from his bow which looks like it has been well used with a quiver to match.  He is wearing a simple cloak currently thrown over one shoulder to allow his right arms full maneuverability however this arm is sheathed in a thick skin tight leather glove strapped to his armor and does not move in the normal manner.  It flexes along its length and it seems to undulate more than swing like a normal arm; his eyes are black pits with a burning halo of silver fire which would make anyone nervous to meet this deep soul searching gaze.  Meeting and keeping this gaze one would see weirdly moving constellations deep within these eyes as if looking at some distant unknown galaxy.  His well tooled leather belt holds a variety of weapons from a simple knife to a very nice looking longsword which he holds in check with his left hand.  The remainder of his outfit looks well repaired and functional consisting of combat leathers and a dark green/grey cotton shirt.  His face is pleasant enough until you notice some strange movement along the cheek bone or the faint ripple of something moving under the skin.

Pringle follows behind Grembor; his feet still shuffle occasionally as his eyes gaze more inwards than taking note of his surrounding.  He is dressed in an easy fitting cotton shirt with woolen pants, sturdy boots cover his feet and a wide leather belt clinches his waist.  Hanging from his belt is a dagger along with several other items which a scribe would find useful.  His hand grips a fancifully carved staff of yew wood which taps in cadence to his footsteps on the cobbled street.  Small wire rimmed spectacles sit precariously upon his nose as if he forgot they were there as he looks over them at his surroundings before returning to his own inner thoughts on the theory of magic and how it should be used.  A thick cloak covers his slender shoulders wrapped around for warmth and upon his back is a heavy looking satchel out of which several square shapes suggest the presence of several books.  Every now and then he gazes with longing and mild jealousy at Grembor’s right arm.  His eyes seem to glow with an inner silvery purple fire and there is madness hiding deep within those silvery orbs as if he knows things which would shatter a normal person’s sanity like a dry twig.

Gliding gracefully behind Pringle flitting from the front of the party to the rear is Sayuri; her enhanced movement sending her leaping to the front to have a quick conversation with Grembor before her mind takes her sweeping back to her previous position.  She is dressed in well made traveling attire consisting of cotton and silk in several colours.  There are few weapons upon her person apart from a dagger which looks very similar to one practically everyone else is wearing; her long legs seems to eat up the distance as she strides elegantly and without effort through along the walkway.  Her eyes brimming with mischief are both tinted with silver but one burns red while the other is a vivid green; her raven dark hair moves in a sudden breeze as her eyes scan the surrounding area missing little.  Shadows dance around her feet and every movement is followed by the faint after image of shadowstuff in her wake.  She is smiling and her cheery demeanor is infectious to the whole party although one may notice a certain coldness in the eyes behind the pleasant exterior.

Moving nimbly along with Sayuri even though he is dressed in a fanciful set of Elven full plate is Zordlan; Sayuri’s protector and guardian.  His job to keep her out of harms way has not been going quite to plan.  His helmet is hanging from his belt and his large curved sword is currently strapped to his back which is interfering with his cloaks regular movement.  His eyes are constantly on Sayuri and the environment surrounding her; they stray to the rooftops and to dark alleys to check for assassins or other persons of ill favor.  His lovely plate armor is seriously dented here and there with a large welt across his breastplate which causes him some concern every now and then.  The sword strapped to his back is well used and anyone observing the party would know instantly that this was someone to be concerned about in a fight.  Apart from the obvious armor and large weapons his eyes also burn with a vivid silver light; the iris however is a deep black soulless holes of despair and looking for too long into them you tend to see stars and planets of unknown constellations.  His skin ripples as if there was something underneath wishing to get out but it is currently trapped within the skin suit; it happens so rapidly that you don’t believe it actually happened and maybe it’s some trick of the light.  As soon as his dead eyed gaze turns your way you know it was no trick and this elf’s soul is barren to the core.  He stinks to high heaven with the most disgusting aroma imaginable; you would think it was the worst smell in the world until you smell that which follows in his footsteps.

Stumping along behind everyone is Nashkar; he is armored in what was once very good Dwarven plate but it is currently looking battered and very torn; there a rents in the metal as if some great toothed maw had tried to bite him in half.  There is the definite stick of something noxious about him and anyone who gets too close is soon sent vomiting into the closest side street as the choking stick of his slime covered armor mixed with vomited dwarven ale and the general stink of a dwarf who has been wearing armor all day.  Even Nashkar is finding the smell overwhelming and he is chocking back on his own vomit from time to time as the wind changes.  His grey eyes stare ahead in a determined fashion; jaw set and teeth clenched behind his beard still showing the lumpy after effects of being vomited into.  His helmet is currently swaying alongside his marvelously fashioned axe while his shield is strapped to his back.  He is not a happy dwarf but then would we even know if he was happy behind all those whiskers and dour exterior.  This is one Dwarf who need a bath and hell will find whoever gets in the way of this most noble of quests.  

The whole party feels dirtied beyond imagining as the aroma of some of the party members seems to have been absorbed into their own clothing.  Sprits are however quite high as they are the saviors of Carrion Hill and they have just been paid for the slaying of a terrible smelly aspect of an ancient god.  The payment in no way covered their expenses though but you can't have everything and they did just do some god killing so that counts for something ... Right?


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle gets arrested ...*

They make it back to the Sloppy Rune Inn with the small amount of locals and passer by’s giving them a very wide berth; upon entering the bar several of the residents get up and leave as the smell of the party precedes them.  They ask for baths and the manager through a dirty cloth covering his nose and mouth suggests some soap may not go amiss; for a price he sends one of the waitresses to a local shop to obtain some sweet smelling products to set around the Inn and some soap infused with sand to help scrub away the stench.  Nashkar approaches a likely looking lass working the tables and asks if they would assist in removing his battered plate armor for some monetary recompense as he is unable to get out of it on his own on a good day let alone when it has been bent and twisted like this.  To everyone’s surprise she agrees and escorts him upstairs to his room; she is paid handsomely even though she vomits on Nashkar on several occasions due to a stink of the creatures slime.  

Sayuri and Zordlan retire to their rooms to get him out of his exceedingly smelly armor and they all head to the bath house to scrub the armor and clothes before scrubbing themselves clean.  Nashkar even manages to persuade his waitress to help with this; again for a substantial monetary contribution; upon investigation he discovers his waitress is called Charles and likes dressing as a woman; Nashkar is not one to judge as Dwarven women tend to the masculine themselves and some even have beards.

They all meet up afterwards to discuss their plans and to decide what to do next.  They don’t have any idea where to go or what to do until one of them remembers that they still have some documents they found with Auren Vrood which they have not as yet deciphered.  Their main linguist was otherwise occupied at the time and they forgot to mention it to him then; by otherwise occupied he was quite dead (but he got better).  They dig through their stuff until they find the satchel containing the various coded documents; it takes them several hours and quite a number of drinks later to work out the difficult code used in the documents and find out that the seasage effigy was dispatched to the little town of Thrushmoor to be exchanged for something of value to the Whispering Way’s plans.  They decide to head out the next day to track down this lead as Thrushmoor is only a few days ride to the south.

Most of the rest of the evening is spent drinking and relaxing while Pringle lets his hair down and is quite insulting to the innkeeper before vomiting on the barroom floor grabbing some food and wine and retreating to his room where he spends the rest of the night.  The rest of the party stays in the barroom and celebrates the defeat of the creature with tentacle wrapped mugs held high and buying drinks all round and putting it on Pringles bill.

The next morning Pringle refuses to come out of his room till the late morning; Sayuri and Zordlan head out looking for supplies for the trip to Thrushmoor while Nashkar heads down the street after asking directions from the innkeeper. He acquires a nice looking battle trained pony for a relatively reasonable price.  Grembor finds his way to a local bowyer to purchase some replacement arrows while Pringle finally decides to rouse himself at about mid morning and heads down to settle his bill.  The others have already paid theirs but Pringle seems a little put out by the size of his bill as it is handed to him by a smirking innkeeper and currently sits at 100Gp.  He tells him that he needs to get some more money from his room and heads back upstairs.

Packing all his stuff he manages to escape out of the window but had forgotten that they are on the 3rd floor of the inn; scouting around he spies a tree growing close to the inn and leaps for one of the closer braches.  Not being an experienced tree climber by any measure he misses and plummets to the ground 40ft below where he arrives with a bone jarring impact.  It appears luck is not with Pringle this day as he regains his feet with an audible groan he notices two Crows observing him from across the street; they contain their laughter and stride over towards him.  Pringle in an amateur attempt to bribe the approaching officers places some gold on the ground and says loud enough for them to hear “whoops I seem to have dropped some gold” before smiling at the guards.  They look at him and then at the glittering pile of gold before grinning and asking him if he will come along quietly; one (they assume) for attempting to run away from the inn without paying for his tab and the other for his pitiful attempt to bribe the city watch.  Pringle had not fully thought his plan through as his horse was also stabled at the inn along with his saddle and other items.

The Crows take Pringle to the city jail where he is charged with theft and the much more serious crime of attempting to bribe a city official.  He is stripped of all his worldly goods and locked in a small cell manacled hand and foot and left to his own devices.  The cell is solid stone without windows with an barred gate leading to a corridor.  The corridor only has the one very solid wooden door with iron straps and a single small barred window allows the only light into the cells.  He tries testing the bonds and they hold firm against his meager strength; looking around the cell he find nothing to assist in getting him out of his current predicament.

Sayuri and Zordlan head back to the Inn to meet up with the rest of the party and are informed by the Innkeeper that Pringle had been arrested following his attempted run from paying his bill.  Shaking her head she directs Zordlan to pay off the amount he owed to the innkeeper and requests directions to the jail so they can enquire to the condition of Pringle.  They head out chuckling softly to themselves as yet again they have to save the wizard and arrive at the jailhouse shortly afterwards.  The jailhouse is a solid stone structure with an imposing iron door which is currently open; there are small barred windows on all four walls.  They walk inside and are greeted by a smiling fat Crow who is seated behind a solid desk; asking as to their business Sayuri asks after Pringle and they are advised that they have a judge’s appointment in the morning to discuss his case and pass judgment upon the issue.  Sayuri asks what they can do as they need to leave quickly so checking through his books he advises that for a suitable fee the charges could be dropped.  For the princely sum of 300 gold plus the innkeepers bill then they will release Pringle to her care as long as they leave the city.  He explains that this is the most likely sum the judge will levy on them less the court costs so justice will be served and hopefully Pringle will have learnt a valuable lesson.  Sayrui with a nod towards Zordlan to pay the man grins while asking in her most innocent sounding voice who his personal items will be turned over too; grinning the Crow advises, after the payment is made that Pringles items are turned over to Sayuri.  She receives his items and removes 400 gold from his pouch and nods towards the Crow sergeant.  He picks up some keys and unlocks a solid looking door and descends down some steep stairs (handy for prisoners to fall down) to the basement where he unlocks another very solid looking door leading to the cells.  They lead Pringle up the stairs and once in the main room remove his restraints with a rune marked key; his restraints flash with a small magical discharge when they are unlocked which make Pringle start as he had no idea they would be enchanted.  

They are escorted back to the Inn by a few crows where Pringle has to go into the inn and apologize to the innkeeper for trying to run without paying.  After a stern lecture from the innkeeper on moral values and his responsibility to lead by example he is allowed to leave.  When leaving he tells the innkeeper that he would be back to kill him thankfully for Pringle in a tongue the innkeeper does not understand.  Seems Pringle did not in fact learn anything from this.  They meet up with Grembor and Nashkar outside and head to the gates.  Upon arriving at the gates Pringle asks the pair of Crows who arrested him their names and thanks them for putting him on the right path; He again tells them that he will rip out their still beating hearts in an obscure language before riding away with the rest of the party.

The rest of the day is spent traveling; the speed of travel is limited by the speed of the pony Nashkar is riding and as such they make it most of the way through the Stonegroves approaching the Watching Wood.  They camp for the night in a dell and have a quiet night of it.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle finds a new friend .. oh and beware the scythes of march ...*

The next morning they set out early; about mid morning they hit the forest and start making their way though; there only seems to be game trails though the forest with the occasional remnants of a true road showing every now and then.  Mid afternoon finds them roughly halfway through and in the deepest part of the wood; the surrounding foliage has been getting increasingly large as they progress and Grembor has been getting increasingly more worried as the day progresses as the fey influence of the region is of the more foreboding type; he has tried leading the party away to go around the taint but each time they try heading towards a nicer part of the forest they seem to head into the deeper wood.  Resigning themselves to whatever may come they move along the trail warily expecting the worst; however what they meet is so much worse than what they were expecting.

They are riding cautiously through the forest when Sayrui and Zordlan see a flash of red along with the glint of steel in the trees; the rest of the party is however surprised when four small creatures leap from the surrounding foliage and attack.  They are small in size with garishly red caps; they also wield normal sized razor sharp scythes with a disturbing competence as Pringle is soon made aware of as the first blow of the combat pierces his chest and erupts from his back in a vivid spurt of blood; the scythe is dragged sideways out of his body severing the spine and ripping through his heart and lungs.  The rest of the party look on in shock as Pringle slumps from his horse and collapses upon the ground; his killer takes off it’s hat and submerges it in Pringles blood refreshing the blood red of his attire before placing it again upon his head.  

A pair of redcaps flank Sayuri each of them swinging their scythes as she nimbly dodges the incoming attacks; one of them connects scoring a deep cut on her thigh the other blade whisking past her face slicing off several strands of hair.  The Redcap grins as the black strands drift to the ground as its companion slices its scythe into Grembor’s back; the blade thankfully not catching as it skips over his rips leaving a trail of blood in its wake.  Sayuri concentrates; as she is apt to loose spells when confronted by foes and sends some force missiles into the faces of the pair attacking her before stepping back from between the pair.  Zordlan swinging his horse around moves up to one on Sayuri and swings his sword low trying to catch the small fey; his sword hits but most of the force is absorbed by it’s tough skin.  Pringle does very little other then make a bloody mess upon the ground while Grembor fires some arrows at the closest Redcap while withdrawing from combat.  Nashkar guides his pony to Pringles body and slips off to the ground; casting a quick spell he breathes life back into Pringles body restoring some colour to his ashen skin.  He sits up and coughs up a large amount of blood which inexplicably seems to have gathered in his lungs and throat.

The Redcap which with a single blow took out Pringle grins to see him alive again; relishing the chance to kill him another time he swings his scythe which is bathed in Pringles blood in a low arc hoping to duplicate his first blow but he inexplicably misses his mark as Pringle slumps back to the floor under the savage strike.  The Redcap steps up to Sayuri and swings his scythe hoping to hook Sayuri but all he got was some of her shirt as the point catches and rips the fine cloth.  Two of them turn on Zordlan; they both strike true and he sports some new wounds on his new body.  Sayuri stepping back again summons the power of a newly acquired spell; the matrix for the transmutation forms in her minds eye as she forms the image of a kitten and tries to impose this image upon the Redcap before her.  Its features momentarily take on a feline aspect but it is soon shaken off as the spell fails very much to Sayuri’s disappointment.  Zordlan with an impressive flourish of his sword manages to slice the skin open above his own eyes blinding him from the flow of blood; he staggers around for a while trying to wipe the stinging liquid from his eyes.  Pringle scampers to his feet narrowly missing the Redcaps assault; and backs away; he summons his energies and fires off several force missiles which impact upon the Redcap’s chest, face and shoulders causing some bruising; the fey creature grins up at Pringle through bloody teeth wincing at the pain from his bruises.  Nashkar channels healing energy into the party closing up wounds and stemming the flow of blood from Zordlan’s forehead and making Pringle feel a whole lot better as his remaining wounds close.  Setting his shield on his forearm and extracting his axe he looks around for a suitable opponent to molest with lightning.

The assembled fey creatures assaulting them are a little taken aback; they had expected an easy victory; run in slam them a few times with their scythes and then gorge on the remains and take their loot.  However after the first one killed Pringle (he got better) it all went a bit wrong.  They rally and try to take out the serious threat of the warrior in their midst as without their armored wall casters tend to fall like wheat to a scythe … They are however somewhat nervous as someone just channeled energy throughout the group so there may be a dreaded cleric around and this is something they would not be happy about.  The two on Zordlan both strike relentlessly their razor sharp blades hammering into his plate armor and finding the gaps as they slice into his newly healed flesh.  One assaults Sayuri but his wild swings miss by a significant margin while the remaining one assaults Nashkar figuring another warrior in full plate armor needs taking down a notch; he is however unable to penetrate the solidly repaired dwarven plate armor as his blade bounces off.  

Sayuri again retreats a way and concentrates very hard on kittens.  Trying to impose her will upon the stubborn form before her; unfortunately for the Redcap he has no resistance against this kind of magic and soon finds himself looking up at a large human from a cute little kitten face; his mind however is still his own as he hisses in an exceedingly cute kitten fashion at Sayuri.  The whole party grins at the evil fey’s predicament as the remaining fey look around in fear as one of their number is reduced to the status of a cute kitten.  Zordlan a little embarrassed about his last attack tries another tactic and attempts to skewer the Redcap upon the point of his sword.  However as he attempts this his helm takes a solid blow from the shaft of the scythe and slips over his eyes rendering him blind to his surroundings; he flails about still managing to cause his opponent some harm with his wildly swung blade.  Pringle casts more force missiles at the Redcap which attacked him which impact upon its back and neck but he is currently more concerned with trying to kill Nashkar than the annoying mage who he has already killed once already.  Grembor closes with one attacking Zordlan and strikes it with his sword hitting it in a sweet spot but causing little to no damage due to the fey’s resistance to damage while Nashkar hits the other Redcap (trying in vain to decapitate Zordlan) in the back with his axe causing it to spin around as the lightning from his axe courses through his small frail body.

The evil Fay; one of which is now an evil kitten of spitting, clawing death seem to think they can still beat this party down.  They have the advantage of their natural resistance to any physical damage the party can give out plus they all hit harder than most of the party.  The only one who can hit harder than them is Zordlan and he is staggering around as if drunk with his helmet over his eyes; a helmet which seems resistant to being moved presently.  They decide to stay and kill these interlopers to their woods.  The two seeing Zordlan staggering around direct their attacks at him; they both hit but the damage is relatively minor as most of the impact is absorbed by his armor.  The Redcap who killed Pringle is still a little miffed that he got better attacks Nashkar; the blow hits but again his solid armor absorbs much of the force of the blow resulting in only a shallow wound to his arm.  Sayrui again concentrates on one of them attacking poor Zordlan and pictures him as a little cute monkey; he feels Sayuri’s will trying to impose a new form upon him but shakes off the effects with a grunt.  Zordlan staggers around trying to remove the obstacle from his view but is unable to; he strikes out at where he thinks one of the evil little buggers is and feels his sword connect not once but twice.  Pringle casts a mind altering spell and advances upon the Redcap which killed him a few seconds ago and lightly touches it; he feels the spell take hold as the evil fey’s eyes dim a little as his metal faculties are drained.  Grembor strikes at one on Zordlan and gets a much better hit as he sinks his sword into one of its lung causing a fountain of blood to erupt from its mouth which is closely followed by another spurt when the sword is removed with a strange sucking sound; the fey collapses to the floor with his fairy blood running from his mouth and lungs into the hungry earth.  Nashkar chops at the other Redcap on Zordlan sinking his axe into his side; alas the axe does not go as deep as he hoped and the evil little bugger kicks him in his shins for his trouble.  

Evil kitten gives up trying to impress Sayuri with its needlelike claws and looks around for someone else to impose its evil intellect upon; it gets a sudden urge to chase some random bit of brightly coloured cloth which had been cut from Sayuri’s clothes earlier and is now fluttering attractively.  The remaining two Fey are nervous, one is very low on hits and the other see’s a glint in Pringle’s eye that he does not like at all.  Sayuri casts again on the one which killed Pringle and has his mental faculties hampered; it finds itself growing smaller still until it looks up at the big people and has a sudden urge to eat banana’s ... whatever they are.  It is now a small monkey with a monkeys mind due to Pringles insidious spell crippling it’s mental fortitude.  Zordlan finally manages to right his helm and sees only one remaining Redcap and a monkey.  Knowing Sayuri he strikes at the remaining redcap and misses by a significant margin; Pringle kneels and offers the monkey some trial rations which it takes, consumes and starts chittering up at him, Pringle picks it up casting a quick spell to mollify him.  Grembor attacks the kitten causing it to jump up into the air with its tail all fluffy as it spits at him while Nashkar heals up the party with some needed channeled energy.

The last remaining Redcap looks around at his friends; one is a kitten which is currently running into the surrounding woods fluffy tail high; the other is a monkey whose mind has also reverted to that of a primate.  One other lies dead bleeding his last into the ground; he takes his chances and leaps into the woods and disappears for view.  The Party look around and relax as the more foreboding aspect of the surrounding woods seems to have been lifted somewhat.  They then look at Pringle who seems deliriously happy with his new pet as he feeds it some nuts and fruit from his rations.

_DM Note: Pringle is intending to take on the monkey as a familiar.  I don’t have an issue with this as it’s just a monkey; will be amusing if the polymorph gets dispelled however.  There used to be a feat called Obtain Familiar which allowed a character to gain a familiar as a wizard does so I am considering that.

Pringle died again which seems to be a re-occurring theme; random encounters can be nasty and a critical hit with a scythe at 2d4+10 damage is very destructive with a x4 crit.  Had more characters die in the last few sessions than we have had for most of the adventure; guess it’s getting more dangerous the higher they go.

Zordlan had a terrible day of it; he rolled three natural 1’s in three consecutive rounds.  Not so much fun for him but he survived and was the comedy relief for the night.  That and the look of shock on Pringle’s players face as he went from practically full hits to big negatives in one hit.  Now that was funny …_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Slithering in the night*

The party gather their stuff together after the surprise assault by the evil little fey; they mount their horses and one pony and continue upon their way.  The rest of the day is relatively uneventful as the experienced woodman Grembor leads them unerringly towards their goal.  It is starting to get late and they find the ground getting slightly damper while the evening is approaching; they cross a small stream which has recently burst its banks flooding the surrounding region.  They make their way through the waterlogged trees until they find some dry land and decide it is time to stop for the night.  Their expert woodsman finds them a good campsite which looks like it has been used previously by the fire pit and generally flattened area between the trees.  They set up camp and sit around discussing the recent events and how they think they are doing.  They don’t know for sure what they are looking for in Thrushmoor all they know is that a pair of riders carrying the Seasage Effigy went this way so the best place to start looking would be the stables.  Pringle feeds his monkey on a mixture of fresh berries and the dried fruit and nuts from his trail rations.

Hunkering down they set watches and sleep; however this wood is not quite finished with them yet.  On Zordlan’s watch while he is patrolling the camp a stray branch which he never noticed previously slips underfoot sending him sprawling head first into a tree knocking him unconscious.  The night progresses and it is only Sayuri’s fitful sleep which saves the party; she hears off in the distance even in her sleep the retort of a branch cracking as something heavy passes over it.  Crawling from her tent that she shares with Zordlan she scurries over to him and shakes him awake noticing for the first time the welt upon his brow from the trees recent assault.  He does not seem to wish to wake up so she scurries to Pringle’s tent and shakes him to consciousness before heading onto Nashkar’s tent and rousing him.  Heading back to Zordlan she throws some water in his face to wake him up.  Pringle ignores Sayuri and rolls back over and goes back to sleep without rousing Grembor; Nashkar crawls out of his tent in nothing but his smallclothes which is not a pleasant sight for anyone.  Zordlan is awake and staggers to his feet fingers exploring the welt on his head as a huge slithering beast emerges from the trees.  A massive slug undulates into the clearing and spits a volume of liquid at Sayuri; the liquid misses by a small margin and strikes a nearby boulder which starts sizzling away nicely.  Sayuri screams that the slug spits acid which wakes up Pringle from a terrible dream in which he is being attacked by giant slugs and pokes Grembor who is instantly awake with dagger in hand.  Pringle advises him that he thinks they are under attack and Grembor crawls out to investigate.  Zordlan shoots some arrows at the slowly approaching slug; one of which hits its target and sinks into its soft hide.  The slug rears back its scream sounding low as it reverberates through their bones as Sayuri casts a torrent of force missiles its way.  

The slug still some feet distant coughs up some more acid and spits it unerringly towards Zordlan hitting him in the face and chest; the screams shake the trees as the powerful acid eats into his skin and starts melting his armor.  Sayuri in shock very thankful that the acid it shot at her missed fires off some more force missiles which impact against it’s soft hide causing darker welts to appear in their wake.  Grembor grabs his bow and circles around the tents keeping as much between himself and the slug as possible while Pringle grabs his monkey and goes to investigate the sounds and is horrified that his dream has become a reality.  He wanders across the tents and shoots off a scorching hot ray of flame which impacts upon a nearby tree sending sparks flying in all directions.  Nashkar exits and channels energy through the team removing some of the effects of the acid upon Zordlan and turning his melted skin into freshly healed scar tissue which will need some attention later to gain his lovely smooth complexion.

The slug spits acid over Sayuri who now screams as the acidic liquid sears her skin; she is wearing more revealing clothing than Zordlan so the acid hits more of her skin.  Sayuri runs away to gain some distance from the nasty slug after sending a lightning bolt through the poor creature.  Zordlan moves around the tent shooting an arrow at the slug while Grembor unleashes a trio of arrows which strike true; Pringle runs off forgetting his monkey leaving it on the ground near the tent while circling to join Grembor.  Nashkar casts obscuring mist covering the campsite in sight foiling fog which he hopes will prevent the slug from hitting them little knowing that the slug can still see them as it is an experienced night hunter and a terror in the deep caves of the world.

Zordlan is unlucky as the slug lashes him with its acid dripping tongue; the lash connects with his chest driving him backwards as he doubles over from the pain.  The slug slides into the fog to provide some relief from the annoying arrows that keep hitting it. Sayuri can’t see the slug anymore due to the fog but she can hear Pringle having remembered his monkey and the fact that he left it shouts at Sayuri to save it.  Sayuri with a sigh moves to where she thinks the monkey is located at which the slug slaps her viciously with its tongue as she lets down her guard; the tongue catches her high on her shoulder and she rolls with the blow finding herself some distance from the creature and not too far from the monkey by the frightened whimpers; finding it in the fog she scoops it up and she carries it from the mist as she circles around the battle to a safe place some distance behind the slug.  Zordlan moves away from the sounds of combat as he is seriously injured and is unable to take any more tongue lashing abuse from the giant slug.  Pringle is still shouting for someone to save his new pet as he is unable to see into the fog and Sayuri is well out of his limited vision while Grembor in frustration fires into the mist and hears the solid sounds of his arrows hitting home as it appears fog is not that much of a deterrent from arrows.  Pringle considers sending a fireball into the camp but is unsure where his pet monkey is plus his spellbooks are still in the tent so he decides to move up next to Grembor and wait.  Nashkar moves close to Pringle and cancels his spell revealing the slug currently resting upon his tent no longer moving; Nashkar groans as his armor and everything else bar his axe currently resides underneath the acid spitting monstrosity of a slug leaving him standing in his underwear as the cold wind blows through the camp and some raindrops begin to fall.

The party gather round the corpse and poke at it with sticks for a while discussing the best way to recover his equipment as Pringle takes back his monkey feeding it some items from his supplies.  Pringle and Grembor’s tent is the only survivor as the slug went right over both Sayuri’s and Nashkar’s tent.

With a sigh Nashkar starts trying to lever the slug over but the weight is too much; he in the end resorts to his axe which chops through the creature in no time at all now it is no longer trying to eat him.  However the acid has to come from somewhere and its stomach juices pour down over his tent; Nashkar only just manages to leap out of the way of the torrent avoiding getting himself covered in the viciously acidic liquid.  His armor and shield plus the majority of his items are not so lucky however as the sizzling acid attacks his possessions.  He finally recovers his shield and full plate armor and resigns himself to some spells come morning to repair them.

The rest of the night passes without incident as the remaining watches are ran.  Zordlan is admonished for falling asleep on his watch by Sayuri with a severe case of shaking finger.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Slow day traveling*

Morning arrives to find Nashkar sitting with his shield and armor in his lap; he is softly praying while running his hands over them.  Where his hand passes the metal reverts from the pitted and dented to the shiny like new.  After several minutes of this Zordlan helps him don his armor; then Nashkar fixes Zordlan’s armor as it also received some acid damage but no-where as badly as his own.  They feed their horses and pony and set up leaving the remains Nashkar’s tent hanging in a tree as they have a long way to travel today; they have their lunch in the saddle only stopping to walk the horses.  

Soon they find themselves on a more functional road as they exit the forest and enter into some rolling hills; they make good time and there seems to be nothing in particular to assault them this day.  The road joins with another and they find more travelers which they strike up occasional conversations with.  

The party makes the settlement by nightfall and avail themselves of the local Inn; there is fish stew and beer available but Pringle for some reason regardless of what he orders can only receive milk to drink.  He is not overly bothered as he tries ordering banana’s for his monkey but the innkeeper looks at him as if he was crazy; while Pringle is indeed a genius his common sense leaves a lot to be desired.  Pringle makes sure they get a room with beams the monkey can use and they have a restful night with good food and comfortable beds and a screeching monkey.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Shock: Sayuri covered in horse poop*

Following morning they mount up with a full belly and a packed lunch from the inn’s kitchen and start heading south; Thushmoor is only a short day’s ride so they take it easy.  Grembor and Sayuri stike up conversations with passing travelers; mainly merchants and farmers heading to town to either buy or sell produce.  About mid morning they see a troop of guards traveling the road keeping the peace and supposedly to keep any curious creatures at bay; Pringle is very offensive to the troop in one of the obscure languages he is fluent in; they wave and carry onwards.  For some unknown reason Pringle seems to have become less inclined to obey the local institution and more inclined to breaking the rules.  Possibly arresting him and throwing him in jail was not the best thing the guards of Carrion Crown could have done.

Anyway Pringle’s abuse of the innocent guards who are just doing their hazardous job for very little pay aside; by mid afternoon they walk their horses and one pony along the cobbled streets of Thrushmoor.  As they enter they ask around for a stable and are directed to one close to the road in from the north.  Heeling their horses forward they thank the local and find the stable with little trouble; Grembor feeling loquacious tells the party to stay outside as he dismounts and walks inside.  The stable master is currently trying in vain to lift up a wagon and slip on a new wheel; as Grembor enters he smiles up at him and asks his business.  Grembor asks if he has seen any strange riders in the past few days; they might have been in a hurry and come from the north.  Shaking his head he responds in the negative and asks if Grembor could help him with his wagon as its way too heavy for just one old man.  Grembor ever the amicable soul agrees and bends to help with the wagon.

Thankfully the knife sliding into his back misses his vital organs as he noticed the sudden movement from the apparently slow old man an instant prior to the thrust and moved slightly to one side.  The poison runs rampant through his system draining some of his vitality while the assassin twists the knife searching for the heart it missed by the smallest of margins.  Grembor feels the bone blade scoring along his heart but he moved just in time to prevent it from impaling it.  With a gurgling scream he slumps to one side and rolls to his feet whipping out his sword and striking at the old man who now appears to be not that old after all.  He is a tall lean man who was hunched up underneath his cloak; he is now wearing a bone half mask and is wielding a vicious looking bone dagger which is dripping venom onto the floor.  His sword scores a thin line along the assassin’s arm and he receives an evil crooked smile for his efforts.  A pair of ghoul’s spring from the hay upon the cart and tumble past him blocking off his escape route and they each slash claws across his arms and shoulders.  He feels the lethargy of their poison trying vainly to overcome him but he shakes it off mainly due to his Elven resistance to such things.  

Our erstwhile assassin pulls another dagger from a hidden sheath and leaps for Grembor driving his knives before him like small deadly lances; Grembor feels the pain as the blades strike opening wounds along his ribs and another one close to his neck; he screams for help and Sayuri comes to his rescue.  She reacts first of all the ones hanging around outside and she moves quickly to the entrance of the stables.  Seeing the pair of Ghoul’s she casts a minor spell which should cause them damage but the spell misses.  Pringle slips from his horse monkey in hand and makes his way to the opening.  Standing behind Sayuri he casts a scorching bar of flame towards one of the undead which again misses and sets the cart of hay alight which starts billowing smoke.  The ghouls strike out with tooth and claw and rip holes in Grembor’s clothing, armor and skin but the effects of the poison are not affecting him although the damage is taking its toll.  Zordlan approaches and stands before Sayuri his movement limited by the heavy armor he is wearing while Nashkar ever a slow mover regardless of what he is wearing moves to stand beside Pringle and channels positive energy as he can tell the stink of undead from several hundred feet away.  The power heals up Grembor slightly and damages the undead a little as the weak positive energy flows around him.  He is unsure why his channeling is weaker here but the effects don’t seem as dramatic as usual.

Our assassin tries vainly to impale Grembor’s kidneys but misses while Grembor backs away pulling out his bow; he fires a trio of arrows into our assassin’s chest; most are absorbed by the armor he is wearing and don’t do serious damage.  Sayuri in a rare show of martial ability runs past the ghouls with a display of agility; avoiding the claws of the greedy beasts and finishes up next to our assassin and punches him in the jaw; he shakes his head to disperse the ringing and looks the newcomer up and down with a smile.  One of the ghouls steps up behind Sayuri and with a vicious claw drives it into her back; its teeth manage to secure a hold on her shoulder and it shakes its head as it rips some skin free and gulps it down blood running down his face; the ghoul licks it’s lips and then starts sucking on one of his fingers coated in her blood.  Sayuri staggers as the assault was not expected to be quite so vicious.  The other Ghoul attacks Grembor causing some minor wounds.  Zordlan seeing his ward is in danger runs into combat swinging his large sword; he connects to the ghoul who is still happily sucking Sayuri’s blood off his fingers and leaves a long gash along its back.  The ghoul spins and bares its teeth at Zordlan hissing in anger as his moment of pleasure is interrupted by a sword swinging fool.  Pringle fires off some force missiles which impact upon the ghoul attacking Sayuri; the missiles leave some bruises in their wake but he is still standing.  Nashkar again channels some positive energy through the party and the ghouls; again this is not as powerful as it usually is and some of Sayuri’s wounds close and stop bleeding as do Grembor’s.  The two ghouls take some damage but not enough to hinder them as they hiss at the pain of the energy’s aftermath.

Grinning the assassin sinks both of his daggers into Sayuri’s chest where they remain for a short while; Sayuri does not seem to be able to draw breath as blood wells up in her throat and bursts from her moth in a fountain of gore which renders the pale mask a more disturbing look as it’s now streaked with her blood.  The pair of daggers are removed with a soft sucking sound as her lungs try to draw in air from the now open wounds in her chest as Sayuri slumps to the ground gasping her last breath.  The ghouls now turn on Zordlan and Grembor; their claws and fangs trying vainly to rip through Zordlan’s full plate and having an easier time of it separating Grembor from his vitality as his light armor is no match for their steel hard claws.  Zordlan unleashes a flurry of hits against the ghoul attacking him and leaves a pair of large slices in its diseased skin.  Pringle sends another torrent of force missiles at the ghoul on Zordlan and it sinks to the floor happy as it remembers the last meal it had and it was good and bloody.  Nashkar channels energy through the party again sending the ghoul squealing to the floor as its skin smokes and burns from Sarenrae’s power; this also has the added benefit of closing many of Sayuri’s wounds and she draws in a shuddering breath spitting out blood and bits of lung onto the floor.  She feels very weak from the experience and lying on the floor in all the horse excrement is a novelty to her.

The Assassin leaps for Zordlan hoping to duplicate his attack from previously but his blows bounce off his solid armor; Sayuri remains on the floor spitting up blood while Grembor looses a trio of arrows into his side which is quickly followed by a pair of hits from Zordlan which cause him to stagger back collapsing to the floor as his life blood gushes out and joins the flow of horse piss into the street.

Zordlan in an uncharacteristic lack of regard for Sayuri pounces on the body and quickly strips it of anything remotely interesting to the amazement of Grembor and Pringle.  He then approaches Sayuri and helps her to her feet while throwing a small portion of the loot to Grembor and Nashkar.  They head off in search of an Inn to spend the night in.  Luckily for them there is one across the street which seems to be acceptable; they stagger inside and order rooms, bath and food but not in that order.  Sayrui quickly heads to the bath house while Grembor and Pringle remain outside in shock at the current turn of events as Nashkar picking up the pouch of money follows them inside to make himself comfortable.

Grembor does another search of the body while Pringle looks to the three bottles Sayuri left them; Grembor finds nothing more of interest.  Apparently being a genius does not also deliver a dose of common sense as Pringle sips one of the bottles and has to fight off the powerful poison it contains and he vomits the contents of his stomach into the hay.  Grembor grabs a bucket and douses the smoldering hay in the cart before it startles the horses any more.  He then does a search of the stables finding a desk in the back with a ledger open lying upon it.  Searching through the ledger he notices that the back page has been ripped out and that recently a pair of pale horses was exchanged for a pair of piebald mares each with the stables symbol upon them.  Tucking away this information they walk to the Inn and question the barkeep regarding strangers hereabouts.  After spending a vast amount of money on a poor bottle of wine they soon hear that a couple of dark riders came to the stables recently; one rode off down the bay to Illmarsh while the other rode off to an unknown destination.  Sayuri returning from her bath buys everyone food and a nice bottle of wine and they sit down to eat an early dinner while they sort through the items they recoverd.

The night passes uneventfully and they have a good evening of sleep.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Enter Illmarsh, a wretched hive of skum and villainy *

Early morning and everyone is up and ready to go; they head out on the relatively short ride to Illsmarsh.  They are not bothered upon the way even though the road is ill kept and descends in to swampland in parts as it follows the coast.  However as they come within a few miles of Illmarsh they spy off the blustery coast a trawler which seems to be in some distress; it looks to have to canvas covered items on the deck and one very overworked sailor trying to guide the troubled ship to the one lonely wave battered quay.  They decide to do a good deed and Pringle teleports himself, Grembor and Sayuri to the deck of the ship; which is a mean feat considering how much it is moving.  They all split up with Sayuri and Pringle getting the sails in order while Grembor tries to guide the ship on a safer course.  Over time they tie down the sails as the blustery wind was threatening to rip them from the mast; they then help Grembor fight the tiller which needs a monumental feat of strength to guide the argumentative ship to the lonely wind and wave battered quay.  The Ship glides to the quay with barely a scrape along the bow; the crazy looking old sailor grins at the party before running to check his equipment.

After he has checked his equipment he returns to the party who are looking at the crazy old man as if he has lost a significant amount of marbles.  His windswept spiky white hair and exotic goggles on his forehead do not help them dissuade from this initial image.  He cocks his head to one side as if examining a curious insect and thanks them all for helping guide in the ship.  His crew, he tells them abandoned ship and swam for shore when the squall threatened leaving him to sail the ship alone.  He looks over the group with a manic eye before asking them their business in Illmarsh.  When he is told they are following a dark rider that passed this was a day or so previously they are informed that he was seen but not much notice was shown apart to note its passing.  As if suddenly remembering he introduces himself as Horace Croon an inventor of many items of interest.  When Pringle states he does not like inventors he is given the cold shoulder and all his remaining questions directed at Horace are not answered.  Pringle really needs to develop those diplomacy skills.

Grembor asks about his inventions and what is under the tarp and Horace is almost beside himself with joy to talk on the subject.  He waxes on about his invention for a good few minutes before they actually get to find out what it is.  He describes it as “a subaquerous exploration and research vessel” which leaves the party with a bank of glazed looks which it seems Horace is used to as he explains that it allows several people to go beneath the sea to see the various wonders down there.  Asking if it works he grins and taps his nose with one dirty finger leaving a dark smudge before answering; “it needs a few minor tweaks here and there but yes in essence it works;” after which he does a little dance.  The group hangs around for a little while longer poking around on the ship but they soon thank Horace and depart for the town of Illmarsh.  Horace looks up as they talk to him as if he is only meeting them for the first time before his eyes spark with reconition; “yes, yes go get yourselves killed and have fun;” is his utterance as they depart.

The small town by the name of Illmarsh is a sorry looking excuse for a town; primarily consisting of antiquated, clinked, split-log buildings with a few more modern half timbered structures scattered around.  The town is dominated by the wharves from which the town gains its living.  Surrounding the town on three sides are the Soddentimers; a morass of waterlogged trees festooned with fungus and other nefarious looking growths.  It is this surrounding forest that invades everything in the town with it’s musty odor; any one of the surrounding villages and towns can always tell someone from Illmarsh due to the musty odor that hangs around them.  For this reason they are often referred to as “musties” an aroma which the locals don’t even notice and the party soon grows accustomed to.  The surrounding forest has upon occasion caused virulent sickness and plague which turned the once known settlement of Baytown to its ultimate moniker of Illmarsh.  Pringle surprisingly rambles on about this backwater worn for several more minutes before the actual realization of the facts before him cause his tongue to falter.

They soon enter the town and find Pringles description depressingly accurate as they ride through the aroma rich town; it looks like a town has been washed up on the shore and then people moved in not caring about the looks.  Some of the buildings like the town hall, temple and inn look more planned and added later but the initial impression is of willful neglect.  

They soon find their way to the inn and walk inside; the musty smell is still prevalent but it has serious competition from the smell of fish from the inn kitchens.  Approaching the bar they ask for a room for the night and if anyone else is staying there.  They are told that anyone else in none of their business and they can have a room as the fat innkeeper looks the group up and down.  Grumbling about foreigners coming and disturbing his day he slops out several bowls of fish stew before pouring out a beer for each of them depositing them on their table sending much of the fish smelling substance over the tabletop.  They sit around and spoon up the fish stew finding it actually fairly decent while the beer takes some getting used to as it too seems to smell of fish.

Sayuri approaches the innkeeper and requests he answer a few questions while placing some gold on the bar.  Looking at the gold with a raised eyebrow he smiles at Sayuri until she adds some more to the pile.  With a curt nod he scoops the money into his pocket and looks at her questioningly; asking about strangers in town he says “you is the only strangers here mayhap your friend went to see neighbors down bay.”  Asking where down bay is the response is frustratingly “down bay” they come to the conclusion that the residents of this town are retarded.

They all head out checking round the small town; Sayuri heads to the wharves to see the fishing trawlers which should be returning soon while Grembor and Pringle head to the temple to take a look.  Sayuri sitting on the wharf throwing pebbles into the water is momentarily distracted by a large shape rising from the water some distance off shore.  For some reason this sea monster disturbs her and she drops her store of throwing pebbles and runs back to the Inn. Grembor and Pringle discover a strange looking but perfectly normal (for round here) statue to Grozah in the entranceway to the temple; they head on back to the inn but decide on their way to accost a random passerby.   Pringle starts the conversation wrong by commenting on the smell which is never a good thing to do when you meet a lady for the first time (or any time for that matter) She turns on her heel and starts walking purposefully towards the town hall; Grembor makes to follow her trying to make like a shadow but the whole assassin cloak over the face thing really ruined it as everyone watches him trying to sneak.  The lady looks over her shoulder and sees Grembor acting suspiciously while following her and she quickens her step and disappears into the building.

_DM Note: Pringle rolls a terrible Diplomacy which annoys the lady in question while Grembor trying to follow her without looking like he is following her rolls a nat 1.  I could not make this stuff up; if there is one thing I can always count on it’s this party making life more difficult for themselves._


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Party gets arrested.  Well a job interview*

Grembor circles the building looking for another entrance returns to the front of the building to see an important looking guardsman standing flanked by two others looking at him.  He points at Grembor (who thought he was hidden very well so this guard must be using some kind of magic to see him … that’s cheating he thinks) and cocks his finger indicating that he should present himself.  Grembor sheepishly approaches and says hello; the guard introduces himself as Sheriff Rill Anders and that he should assemble the rest of his motley crew of foreigners and come back here; Grembor nods and sets off towards the Inn followed by the pair of deputies.

Returning to the Inn he finds everyone there and collects them all together for a trip to the town hall; they all troop out and head back to the waiting Sheriff who escorts them not to the cells as they had been worrying about (Pringle was especially worried) but upstairs for a private meeting with the mayor of this delightful seaside town.  They are shown in and the Sheriff leaves them alone with the nervous looking mayor.

The Mayor is a scrawny man with oily skin and red-splotched cheeks, dressed in a formal, though somewhat shabby, coat and top hat. He appears slightly out of breath and has a gasping manner of speaking. He introduces himself and formally welcomes the party to town. Mayor Greedle is friendly and effusive, but they have a hunch that the mayor is deeply worried about something.  He offers to answer any of their questions about his quaint little town.  Sayuri quickly steps forwards and asks about the rider they were following; “No ma’am, no one like that has come to town lately. In fact, you’re the first foreigners we’ve had through here in some time.”  Sayuri suspects something is not quite right with the response so she asks him about the large serpent she saw in the lake.  The other members of her party look slantways at her as this is the first they have heard on this matter.  The Mayor grins apologetically before answering.  “That’s an old superstition that’s been around for years.  Probably every port has one; some sea monster that lives out in the deeps and only gets seen by folks out alone at night or when they’re drunk, never when there are witnesses around. I suppose with the downturn lately, people figure the Watcher must have something to do with it.”  After asking them if there is any other questions he can answer they all shake their heads.

“Well” he says as he leans back in his chair fingers steepled before him.  “We’ve had several people go missing recently; over a dozen so far. The sheriff and his deputies haven’t found hide nor hair of any of them; not a single clue as to what might have happened to them. It’s like they just up and vanished. People say its part and parcel of the bad luck we’ve had recently, but I’ve got my own suspicions.” Greedle looks very nervous, as if he’s weighing whether or not to share more information and finally, he takes a deep breath and appeals to the group for help.  “All right, I’m going to come clean with you.  Something’s going on in this town, and I can’t sit by any longer and watch it slowly die.  You’ve probably heard of the Recondite Order of the Indomitable Sea; it’s our local temple, and most of the townsfolk are loyal churchgoers. It’s no secret that the Order pretty much runs this town; oh sure, I’m the duly appointed mayor, but it’s the vizier who pulls the strings and I think he or someone else in the Order may be behind these disappearances. I don’t have any proof, only suspicions, but I can tell you that temple is not all that it seems to be. Like I said, practically everyone in town is a loyal follower of Father Voltiaro, including the Sheriff, so there’s no one else I can trust.  I need your help; normally you would be suspects as strangers in town, but I’ve had you watched since you arrived.”  Holding up one hand to forstall and of their pending comments; “don’t look at me like that! You can never be too careful with strange folk hereabouts!  Anyway, I’m pretty sure you’re not involved, and in these troubled times that’s my only certainty. You look like professional sorts who know your way around the business end of a blade spell or other instrument of torture and I need someone from outside to look into this for me.  Therefore, against my better judgment, I’m willing to deputize you to solve these disappearances and bring whoever’s responsible to justice.”  He pauses here to look around at the group; making sure they are all listening before continuing.  “I’m beseeching you on behalf of the ‘good’ people of Illmarsh to go to the Order’s hall and take a look around.  I’m sure you’ll find the priests are hiding something. If they’re behind this you’ll be removing a blight from this town, and earning the gratitude of its humble citizens.  I assure you that you will be well rewarded from the town’s treasury.  Fish isn’t the only bounty we take from the sea as there’ve been enough shipwrecks and whatnot over the years that we’ve got some gold amassed; surely enough to gain your services for a short while.  Plus I know you’ve been poking about looking for someone; a rider from the north. Well, I may know a little more about him than I let on earlier.  If you help me, I’ll tell you everything.”

With this rather startling speech out of the way he slumps back in his chair as if exhausted by the ordeal; as the party mull over this new information.  They respond in no short order as their only choice is to agree without raping his mind with spells or torture.  So being a nice little group they accept this and head to the Temple to investigate.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle blows himself up (fireball to the face)*

They all head back to the temple while Nashkar is reluctant to step foot in another faith’s temple he hangs back outside and takes a walk around the exterior.  Grembor walks with him making sure there are not oddities in the stonework and any other exits.  Sayuri and Pringle head inside leaving Zordlan covering the entrance.  The first room the find it is a foyer which has 11 pairs of shoes against the walls; they both remove their shoes and put them in Sayuri’s bag before continuing onwards.  They can see from the foyer that four cloaked figures and praying before another statue to Gozreh; as they approach they all turn to look.  Rising to their feet they approach and request that they leave the temple as it is a holy place and they are defiling it’s holiness with their evil ways and mindset of violence before diplomacy.  Sayuri and Pringle look at each other as they have no idea how these yokels would know anything about them.  Sayuri states that she would like to know more about their faith and requests if she could join while Pringle backs up a few paces in readiness to blow them up should they become violent.  When Sayuri refuses to leave when asked they try asking her to leave not so politely as they aggressively try to intimidate her.  She laughs in their faces but soon backpedals as they reach for weapons as she unleashes five orbs of force towards on of them; giving space for Pringle to unleash his fireball.  However the four priests have different idea’s as they close in on the not so distant Pringle and make several bloody holes in his body with their choice of weapons.  Pringle will never be able to look a sickle in the eye again; Pringle feeling weak from lack of blood and the fact that each of the supposed priests stuck their sharp pointy objects into really sensitive areas steps back and unleashes some more orbs of force into their faces causing one of them to collapse to the floor with a sigh.

Sayuri with a grin positions a spell behind them and they are taken by surprise as a forest of tentacles take them all roughly from behind and make out to be exceedingly friendly and want loads of hugs causing another one to expire in a fountain of blood erupts from his mouth as his ribcage is crushed.  Zordlan manages to notice their plight runs to the rescue as he strikes out from the perimeter of the spell quickly helping to remove the other two.  Sayuri cancels the spell and calls back Pringle who had left the building as they examine the bodies and the statue they were praying before.  Sayuri just looks at it as a weird depiction of the sea and nature god Gozreh while Pringle who is more knowledgeable about such things recognizes it for what it is.  He informs the party that it is a depiction of the Demon Lord Dagon with the squidlike tentacles for hair and other weirdness going on.  Seems this Temple has a lot more to it than just an innocent temple to Gozreh.  Pringle heals himself up using his tattoo as the sickle waving fanatics almost killed him.

They quickly explore the adjacent rooms and behind one door they can hear the sonorous sound of chanting as if prayers are being said or spells being cast. Pringle in a spark of inspiration takes a step back from the door and prepares to launch one of his world famous fireballs into the room when Grembor opens the door.  In hindsight not the most intelligent of idea’s; Grembor opens to door and finds another of those annoying sickle wielding priests in the way of the door closely followed by someone who looks to be rather higher in the religious food chain.  The Vicor behind him whose eyes open wide at the sight of a ball of flame speeding towards him as the priest before him moves nimbly out of the way somehow avoiding the implosion of flame entirely.  The fireball detonates in the Vicar’s face scorching his fine robes and knocking him back a step.  However all is not finished here as Grembor standing beside the door managed to avoid the blast also by stepping to the wall while poor Pringle is blown onto his back by his own spell which detonated significantly closer than he expected.  “For someone who is a certified genius that was pretty damn stupid” he thinks to himself as he blanks out from the damage. Zordlan runs to Pringle and drags him from the room while Sayuri uses a charge from her wand of healing to bring him back from the brink of death; some of the burnt flesh becomes pink and the rattle of his last breath becomes a slightly more stable breath of recovery.  Sayuri heaves a sigh of relief while Zordlan unlimbers his sword.

The Vicar intones a swift spell stepping back from the doorway and blasts the room with unholy power causing Grembor to chuckle as that spell only really effects those of a good outlook and that does not suit him at all.  The Priest returns to the doorway and pulls out his sickle managing to stick Grembor with the pointy end.  Grembor stepping back causes his arrows to flame and unleashes a trio of arrows into the Priest causing him to cough up a fountain of blood before collapsing to the floor.  The Vicar upset that his previous spell failed to have the desired effect intones another spell in a dark chilling tongue and steps up to Grembor to touch him.  Grembor just laughs in his face as the spell washes over him with no effect.  Zordlan leaves Pringle to Sayuri’s tender mercies and joins in the fight slashing at the evil Vicar with his sword.  Sayuri uses the wand to bring Pringle back to consciousness as he groans in pain as his burns and scars knit over with some new skin.  

The Vicar tries another spell upon Grembor which again has no effect very much to his frustration and he backs away hoping to run for re-enforcements; Grembor again unleashes some arrows in his general direction scoring a few hits while Zordlan flails around with his sword.  It’s all over when Sayuri arrives and unleashes a bolt of bright blue electricity through the Vicar.  The team takes him out with no more serious injuries while Pringle rests in the entranceway.

_DM Note: Pringle very nearly killed himself here with the fireball.  He had not fully healed from the incident with the sickle’s and the amount of damage from his own spell put him on negative his con.  I figured if they managed to heal him this round then he would be ok.  Think I am going to have to leave some scars on his face to remind him of this lesson.  Nashkar’s player was absent due to sickness so he hung outside refusing to enter another faith’s temple.  Of course this becomes moot when it’s a load of Demon Worshippers.

Up next Pringle goes evil …_


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## Dantardis

Hi,

Am enjoying your write up of Carrion Crown.  

As a DM who is running Carrion Crown at the moment I just wondered how you were finding it to run? 

I myself have tried to be a bit freeform with it as the Adventure Path seems to me to be a bit railroady so I have added in other D and D adventures that have a similar horror theme - the idea being that the actions of the Whispering Way have awoken other dark forces within the land.


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## Sic_Pixie

Dantardis said:


> Hi,
> 
> Am enjoying your write up of Carrion Crown.
> 
> As a DM who is running Carrion Crown at the moment I just wondered how you were finding it to run?
> 
> I myself have tried to be a bit freeform with it as the Adventure Path seems to me to be a bit railroady so I have added in other D and D adventures that have a similar horror theme - the idea being that the actions of the Whispering Way have awoken other dark forces within the land.




Thank you; Glad you are enjoying it.  I enjoy writing this up but it does indeed take up a large portion of my time.  It is pretty easy to run and my players are all pretty green so they are currently happy with the linear aspect of the adventure.  

I allow a lot of freedom for my players but so far they seem to have stuck with the story; requiring a little hint now and then to remember what they are supposed to be doing.  I included the Carrion Crown adventure as suggested in the module as it did indeed fit in with the story quite nicely and would have granted them some cool items to help if they had not sold practically everything they had to bring back party members they got killed.

With a little adjustment here and there the party are doing quite well and I am enjoying running it.  I foresee a very bloody death in their future however if they continue in their current manner.  Either from creatures or from each other as they seem to be heading on a downward spiral ... 

Regards

Sic


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## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle; the downward spiral continues.*

Nashkar upon hearing the commotion heads on into the temple and finds Pringle only just getting back to his feet; Checking him over he heals him up with some of his divine granted powers while Sayuri and Grembor search through the loot on the Vicar.  Grembor also notices a concealed door in the far wall and makes a mental note to investigate that later as they still have some normal doors which they have not checked yet.

Sayuri and Zordlan stump up to one of these doors; well Sayuri glides while Zordlan in full plate rattles and squeaks.  Listening at the door she can hear furtive movement on the other side as if they have been heard and they are preparing to receive unwelcome visitors.  Sayuri moves back to the group which has gathered again in the foyer and discuss tactics.  They finally decide that Pringles plan while flawed has merit and that Zordlan while greased up would open the door while Sayuri throws in her tentacles spell hoping to reduce whoever is in there to a pile of crushed and mutilated bodies without any pain on their part.  The initial part of the plan goes very nicely with Zordlan all greased up throws open the door and Sayuri launches her spell into the small room.  Sayuri only just missed out on catching herself in the spell effects as she stood back significantly further away than Pringle did on his attempt.  However the one major flaw in this plan is that the people on the other side of the door decided that this tiny little room was not a favorable battle ground for their tactics and so they moved into another room so the spell is wasted.

Sayuri curses in a most un-monk like fashion and stamps about petulantly for a while deploring how other people can have tactics and not conform to her whimsical wishes as the rest of the party look on in surprise.  Grembor and Pringle shaking their heads move onto another door further into the temple and perform a similar tactic although Pringle holds back on unleashing a spell as soon as the door is opened.  Grembor checks out the room which looks to be a relatively lavish bed chamber; some of the shadows at the corner of his eye seem to shift in a funny ways but apart from this it’s normal.  However after stepping into the room four figures emerge from the various shows and behind drapes and attempt to sink their sickles into his vulnerable parts.  Grembor being very experienced at such a tactic is however not caught with his pants down and easily evades such an amateur move.  Nashkar in the doorway stays in the doorway blocking them moving to hit the more squishy Pringle while Zordlan opens another door to the room and Sayuri repeats her tactic of earlier with much better results.  All the Priests are caught in the grasping tentacles; as are Grembor, Nashkar and Pringle along with Pringle’s monkey.  Some greasing up from Sayuri soon aids in their release and the wayward Priests are soon brought to account and sent to meet their Demonic patron personally.  After Sayuri cancels her tentacle spell they all search the room finding several items to do with water activities and a few expensive looking gold statues depicting disturbing images.  Again Grembor finds another concealed door but declines to mention it while Sayuri Zordlan and Pringle go and search the Vicar’s room as they were somewhat indisposed when this room was looked over.  Sayuri finds the secret door that Grembor found earlier and moves to open it.

Opening the door they discover a young couple sitting and looking very scared; they hold each other in an attempt to comfort themselves. Sayuri tries talking to them but they politely request they are left alone; Sayuri accepts their request and backs from the room.  Pringle suspecting something is afoot pulls out his crossbow and shoots the female in the head; he is somewhat surprised and disappointed as her head explodes due to the force of the bolt leaving her still twitching body pinned to the wall behind her with an impressive blood splatter covering the wall.  The male in shock leaps to his feet with a scream of fear and charges across the room in righteous anger attempting to punch Pringle but missing by a rather large margin.  Pringle calmly reloads his crossbow and shoots again point blank hitting the poor man in his chest; the bolt goes right though his broken heart but he no longer needs it as he is thrown backwards with his blood pouring our and mingling with his wife’s as it trickles to one of the many pools of water in the room which begins to glow gently  

Sayuri and Zordlan look on in shock as Pringle calmly puts away his crossbow; he turns towards them and seeing their faces looks surprised.  Shrugging he starts to walk away before he hears a whispering in his mind with a voice like a million throats spluttering their last breath as they drown.  “Not performed in the usual manner but sacrifice accepted puny mortal.”  Pringle spins around and his magical sight allows him to see the trickle of blood from the corpse’s pulsating with a sickly green light as it seeps into a nearby pool which also then glows with an eldritch light.  The two corpses wither and dry as it the life is sucked from their no longer required bodies as sounds of crackling laughter come from a doorway leading further into the temple.

Grembor opens the door and finds himself looking at an evil alter to Dagon where the blood from the two sacrificed victims looks to have seeped to.  The altar is currently swimming with vividly pulsating blood as it seems to beat in tune to Pringles swiftly beating heart.  He feels as if someone had grasped hold of his heart and squeezed finding it difficult to catch his breath for a moment before he recovers and draws in a huge breath.  The altar of blood explodes in a torrent of bloody water covering most of the party who all flinch away reflectively.  When they turn to look back a large tentacled creature is squatting before the altar with bloody water running over its glowing rune marked carapace.  Pringle takes one look and several thoughts pass through his troubled mind prompted by the insidious whispering before he screams clutching at his head and runs from the temple screaming about the voices in his head.  Everyone watches him leave with various thoughts on their mind; mostly that the mass of arcane energy his mind holds seems to have finally broken it.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*Pringle, upon the summoning of Demons.*

The Feindish Chull however has no such thoughts; its divine mandate is to remove interlopers from the temple and protect it from the curios.  This it attempts to do by grasping Grembor in both of its claws which rip holes in his skin and armor.  Zordlan takes out some holy water and pours it down his blade hoping it will help fight off this monstrous creature as Sayuri and Nashkar both argue about its origins and weaknesses.  Sayuri predictably fires off some force missiles which impact upon its shell each with a sharp retort while Nashkar attempts to send it back to where it came from with a powerful spell but strangely it does not work.  Grembor is squeezed by the claws as they twist his poor body relentlessly; he screams in pain as he feels ribs cracking and joints popping.  Zordlan runs in with his holy watered sword and hits the creature which annoys it and cracks some of its carapace.  Sayuri takes out some holy water and pours it over her hands intending to beat the overgrown lobster into the pot with her bare fists while Nashkar channels positive energy hoping to damage the creature as it is a denizen of Hell.  The positive energy washing over it makes it giggle in an odd jiggly fashion as the runes carved into the shell glow brightly in response.  

Grembor is passed to its writhing tentacles surrounding its mouth and he goes limp as the Chull chews down upon him blood pouring from his paralyzed body as his mind looks on in horror.  The Chull if it had them would be smacking his lips in appreciation of the aberrant tainted elf that is Grembor.  Zordlan continues to hammer upon its shell with his sword causing it some annoyance while Sayrui circles around the creature to find a suitable place to attack the creature; she advances and unleashes a fist of fury which misses.  There is a torrent of unladylike mutterings from Sayuri’s mouth which causes Zordlan to look at her sharply.  Pringle still hears the whisperings in his mind and considers briefly bashing in his head with a rock to stop it but the logical part of his mind overrides that thought quickly before it takes hold.  He is standing outside of the Temple and the locals who can see him look very scared as he talks to himself.  With a mental shake he turns and re-enters the Temple as he can hear the faint sounds of battle within.  Nashkar Channels again healing up Grembor as his tortured body had taken a substantial beating from the creature’s claws.

The Chull lashes out at Zordlan lifting him into the air in its claw; his armor squeals in protect as does Zordlan as the claw squeezes him tightly; there are popping sounds as the buckles fastening his steel breastplate pop.  The Chull does not have anywhere else to put him but holding him tightly hopefully prevents the annoying little thing from hitting it.  Zordlan struggles to break free of the creature’s hold but fails while Sayuri stepping back fires off some more force missiles which again strike upon the Chull’s shell causing minute cracks to spread from the area’s of impact.  Pringle can see the combat and rushes to help; seeing the situation of the party with the two main combat figures helpless he starts summoning some help in the form of another Demon.  Disturbing sounding vocals and the aroma of death and decay arise from the area surrounding Pringle but he does not seem to notice; around his feet a shadowy forest of clutching hands and tentacles spring into being vainly trying to grasp hold of Pringle’s robes and drag him down to Hell to be with them but they are unable to hold anything in their insubstantial fingers.  Nashkar seeing the problems the party faces mutters a powerful transmutation and grows to the size of a giant; with this added power he advances upon the creature and attempts to pull Zordlan from its grasp.

Fiendish lobster grabs for Zordlan attempting to tear him apart to consume in gobbets of still warm flesh; Zordlan is pulled and torn but thankfully remains whole.  Grembor finds he has life returning to him limbs and manages to slither from the tentacles grasp sliding to the floor beside the beast; Zordlan tries to extract himself but is held fast but is assisted by Sayuri who casts a quick spell covering him in grease which makes it much easier for Nashkar to pull him from the Chull’s claws.  Pringle finishes his summons and a portal opens behind the Chull; the portal dips blood onto the floor and as it opens in an eye wrenching twist of reality; out steps a blood dripping Babu Demon.  The Demon looks towards its supposed master Pringle, cocking his head as to receive his orders.  Then he seems to commune with a higher power before nodding to Pringle and attacking the Chull from the rear ripping into shell and delving into the soft flesh beneath with it’s wicked bloody claws.

The Chull stands no chance now and soon expires in a fountain of gore from the animalistic Babu Demon ripping it to shreds, Grembor sinking his sword and dagger into whichever vulnerable spot he can find; Zordlan’s sword and Nashkar’s now large sparking axe.  It is a very messy evening in the temple to Dagon the Demon Prince and who is to say the Demon didn’t enjoy his evening’s entertainment. 

Pringle dismisses the Babu Demon with a flick of his hand; the Demon looks at him with a knowing grin and a friendly nod before stepping back into the re-appeared portal and slinking away.  Pringle hears muttering and the occasional whisper resounding inside of his skull and clutching his head in his hands starts making his way towards the door.  The rest of the party with concerned looks his way investigate the one remain door.  Inside they discover some headless bodies; closer inspection reveals that the heads were not severed but the best idea they could come up with is that the heads were torn off by some powerful force; possibly the Chull had something to do with it.  Grembor notices that one of the bodies looks like it is not local and does a quick search finding a scrap of paper that he is sure matches the ledger in the stable they were assaulted in Thrushmoor.  The note reads “Rider on the way with effigy. Meet at Old House outside town for exchange.”  While the content of the note means little to them they are sure it is important and the effigy could mean the Seasage Effigy they are tracking.  They pocket it for now and continue searching; Sayuri heads to the two locals killed by a paranoid Pringle and a quick search reveals the couples possession’s included several items used in nurse a young baby including bottle and changes of diapers and such.  Sayuri does a quick scan to make sure they have not missed the baby but can find nothing else to indicate where this is.

Pringle decides to head back in and passes close to the weird statue of Dagon; the voices in his mind continue to whisper and taunt him; promising secrets and powers beyond imagination.  Pringle tries to ignore them but fails to see the danger as a sluglike being launches itself at him and impacts upon his leg.  He screams and drops to the floor clutching at his leg in agony as the slippery slug burrows into his flesh and disappears into his leg with a final taunting wave of its tail.  Pringle screams for help shouting ‘It is in my leg, the slug is in my leg” and the party come running.  An examination by Nashkar and Sayuri shows no evidence at all that anything attacked Pringle however; there is no broken skin and the only slight suggestion anything is out of the ordinary is a small red mark left by the slug’s apparent passage.  Pringle can’t believe it and feels a twinge in his hip and hysterically tells them that the slug is inside him and trying to reach his heart.  Another hurried search finds nothing out of the ordinary and Nashkar’s professional opinion is that Pringle has lost his somewhat tenuous grasp on reality and he is seeing things.  They are all still shocked over his apparent cold blooded murder of two innocent locals and can only assume he has lost him marbles.

They pick up Pringle who shakily gets to his feet and staggers over to sit down on an available seat while the rest of the party clean up the Temple checking for clues and loot when there is another scream from Pringle as he feels something pinch at the base of his skull and he is certain that whatever killed all those headless people was going to kill him too.  It take much longer to calm him down this time and many in the party are considering powerful sedatives as a crazy delusional mass murderer who can teleport and throw balls of fire from his hands is a serious liability.  

_DM Note: Yes in a temple dedicated to the Demon Lord Dagon Pringle thinks it is a great idea to summon another Demon … This is after killing (sacrificing) a pair of innocent locals close enough to the Demon Lords Altar to draw his attention and the attention of the temples fiendishly divine protector.

_


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*A restless night*

The party head back out into the night; the sun went down a while ago and most of the village is indoors.  They try talking to the Mayor but the town hall is locked up tightly.  They head back to the Inn and have some dinner before heading to bed; several of the group decides they need a bath after being covered in bloody gore and order hot water is brought to their rooms.  It has been a long and frightening day for all concerned and they feel the need to wash the day off them.

Everyone has a good nights sleep; that is except Pringle who as soon as his eyes close he can hear the scratching sound in his mind; scratching like a cat at the door wanting to gain entrance.  He gets up and checks the door several times to see if there is an actual animal outside but there never is.  The whispers constantly bring him back from the verge of sleep once he gives into the exhaustion; his night is a restless night of constant interruption and lying awake listening to the whispers that only he can hear.  He wonders if he is going insane.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Wake of the Watcher Part 2*

The following morning everyone is feeling refreshed apart from Pringle who is sporting a pair of sleep deprived eyes and the slumped shoulders of fatigue.  They sit and have a quiet breakfast while worried eyes watch the sleep deprived mage as he talks absently to himself while looking through his books.

After breakfast they head to see the mayor who seems happy to see them; motioning them into nearby seats he leans forward and looks at them expectantly.  “What have you discovered my friends, what can you tell me.”  They tell what they found with the probable missing people, the fact that the temple does not actually worship Gozreh but is actually dedicated to Dagon; Mayor Greedle does an astounding job of looking surprised and alarmed at the same time; so good in fact that the party belief he is in fact surprised and alarmed.  When they mention the abandoned house outside of town he grins; “I do believe you can kill two birds with one stone in this matter.  I think I saw the high priest Albor Voltiaro heading that way a day or so ago, if he was not at the temple I assume he is still there.  Plus your dark rider headed that way; sorry I did not wish for you to run off there without looking into our other problem first.”  He finishes his statement with a sly grin; they all look at one another, thank the mayor for the information and request directions to the abandoned house.  Directions are given and they leave to head straight there.

They pack up their gear and head out up the carriage trail to this old house; Grembor scanning the ground find evidence of several beings passing this way recently; one with very large feet.  Additionally there are the tracks of a horse which are older but not quite yet faded away.  He is unable to decipher how many people but it’s more than a couple.

They approach the house and find Undiomede House is a 200-year-old, two-story stone manse built on the shore of a small, swampy lake near the edge of the Soddentimbers roughly 2 miles east of Illmarsh.  The house is constructed of mortared stone for both interior and exterior walls.  As a result it has weathered the years fairly well despite the 7 decades of abandonment. The ground floor has flagstones, while the floors of the second story are wood and sag alarmingly.  The wooden roof sags and is riddled with holes allowing the elements to ravage whatever furnishings once stood in the house.  All of its windows are now little more than gaping openings in the walls with only a few fragments of glass in their remaining wooden frames. The house consists of two wings around a central dome with a cupola and widow’s walk. Unlike the wooden roof covering the rest of the house, the stone dome is still intact.  A small family cemetery lies 50 yards east of the house on a low rise which is just barely visible through the screening trees.  The party approaches with little regard for stealth; they peer in windows with little thought to whom or what may be watching them.  They finally decide to split up as Nashkar and Pringle head to the carriage house while Sayuri and Zordlan head for the main door.

Nashkar and Pringle discover a badly treated horse in the stable, a piebald mare with a symbol upon its rump which they seem to think they have seen before but just can’t place.  Nashkar creates some food and water for the poor beast and continue searching.  Sayuri and Zordlan discover a few seemingly empty rooms; they decline to enter these rooms just opening the doors and peering in.  The last door they open finds Nashkar looking at them down the length of his crossbow; he relaxes as he realizes who it is.  They continue exploring the derelict mansion opening doors and peering into rooms as they go without fully exploring them.

They get to one door however and they can hear the sound of something large moving on the other side.  Sayuri and Zordlan on one door while Grembor, Pringle and Nashkar man the other.  On the count of three they both open their doors together which causes some surprise for the creature within.  
However this also causes some surprise for the party as well as they were not expecting a large Marsh Giant to be standing in the middle of this large room waiting for them.  They had made little to no attempt to be quiet in their approach.

The Marsh Giant opens with a double strike upon Sayuri which almost takes her to her knees as its huge club causes tremendous amounts of damage to the stunned Monk.  Sayuri staggers back out of the room as Zordlan charges in catching it with his sword.  Grembor unleashes a flurry of fire arrows at the unfortunate creature and Pringle sends in some rays of flame from his finger; one of which misses while the other scores a scorch upon the giants shoulder.  Nashkar quickly heals up the shaken Sayuri who is not used to this sort of abuse.  The giant is actually brought down very quickly; its obscuring mist aside they close and hammer, slash and pierce it’s tough hide sending it crashing to the floor bleeding it’s last upon the strange looking alter in the room.  Only then do they look around the strange looking round room.  

The main room on the mansion seems to have been build around the much older remains of an ancient stone circle; the uprights are looking to have been used as the supports for the walls and floors above.  In the centre of the circular room seems to be an alter stone of some sort; its current use or the use to which it was intended in the house is only to be imagined.  They decide to head up the stairs instead of fully exploring the lower level so the sneaky members of the party start up.  (Like they have not made enough noise already) Grembor and Sayuri both make it to the single door on the upper floor and they can hear the sound of someone chanting on the other side.  They motion the rest of the group up and the clatter and bang of full plate echoes around the house.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

Normal Service will resume shortly.  RL impacted and not been playing for a few weeks.  Have a little to write up and post but other things keep getting in the way.


----------



## Sic_Pixie

*I Love Gold!!! Greed is a great motivator.*

Through the doorway is a human wearing more gold than the party has seen in their lifetime.  Wielding a trident which looks to have been fashioned from gold and an impressive headdress again gold and formed in the likeness of a giant fish its mouth gaping open.  The party all think they want the headdress as Sayuri, Pringle and Nashkar drool over the artistic piece of priceless ornamentation.  However the current owner of this item is less than willing to give it all up and initiates discussions on ownership with some offensive magic.  He has already had time to prepare as the group was like an approaching avalanche as they ascended the stairs.  

Grembor opens noting that this important looking evil unholy person is preparing to cast slides into the room positioning himself in one corner and hits him with an arrow which glances off his shoulder armor leaving a bruise.  The high priest turns towards Grembor grinning insanely as he drops a wall of spinning and slashing blades separating himself from Grembor as it extends through the doorway causing Sayuri to leap into the room to avoid its deadly effects.  This however has the added side effect of leaving Sayuri and the high priest in the same room only a foot or two apart.  Her eyes wander over his body absorbing the mass of potential loot and a greedy grin appears upon her attractive face.  Sayuri casts carefully considering the closeness of her foe and unleashes a bolt of lightning point blank into the high priests face; he takes the full force of the spell and grits his teeth as it rips through him.  Zordlan looks at the wall of blades before him and pulls out his bow and fires off a pair of arrows one is chewed up by the wall of blades but the other strikes the priest high in his leg bouncing off his armor. Pringle summons some energy and surrounds himself in some armor.  Nashkar stumps up to the top of the stairs behind Zordlan and looks around and decides that he is not walking through that.  

Grembor fires several arrows through the wall; some of which are chewed up by the spinning and twirling blades while the others make it through to hit the priest.  In response he casts a quick spell and covers his hand in a black swirling energy; reaching out to touch Sayuri he runs his fingers down her cheek.  Sayuri shudders in response as the fell energies course through her but she resists the majority of the effects and glares at him in response.  She again summons her lightning and fires it into him point blank which again he fails to avoid as he takes the brunt of the damage in his chest.  Zordlan looks at the wall of blades before him and sighs in resignation before steeling himself; dropping his bow and charging through it; he emerges on the other side battered torn and cut but still alive.  He draws his sword and gets ready to attack the upstart priest.  Pringle looks at the spell effect before him and shakes his head as the crazy elf runs through the wall; he takes out some expensive diamond dust and sprinkles it over himself making his flesh harden and glitter like stone.  Nashkar Channels some energy to heal everyone up a little.

More arrows burst through the wall from Grembor’s bow impacting upon the gold adorned figure of the high priest; in response he calls down a hail of ice covering the area with a slick slippery surface which hamper any movement and bludgeoning the party with the solid ice.  He is looking more desperate now as the full plate wearing elf is getting too close; he had hoped the ice spell would reduce him to his knees after passing through his wall of blades.  Alas for him our Zordlan is made of sterner stuff than that.  Sayuri fires off a torrent of force missiles each of them impacting upon his head and shoulders with jaw breaking force while Zordlan slashes him across his chest with his blade causing some bloody rents in his armor.  Pringle decides against running into battle through the wall of blades and sits back to observe the proceedings.  Nashkar again channels energy through the party of which Zordlan is heavily in need of as it takes him from the point of collapse to a point where he only wants to collapse.

The high priest sees the end in near in the form of three burning arrows speeding towards his chest from Grembor who is shooting him from the other side of the barrier; each arrow strikes true knocking him back against the wall as he sinks to his knees his eyes glazing over.  Sayuri before the body could even hit the ground grasps hold of his golden helm in both hands in glee wondering how much it would be worth and how it would look on her head.  However as soon as the helm clears the priests head the head explodes sending brain and skull matter splattering over Sayuri and Zordlan.  They both stagger back as a writhing mass of tentacles erupt from the now headless corpse and whip at them.  Sayrui is immediately caught in their grasp and they tightly squeeze her chest as she feels a rib or two snap under the unbelievable pressure but she still keeps hold of the gold helm; Zordlan however is almost as surprised as one of the high priests hand smacks his across the jaw with tremendous force as he sees stars before his eyes before he shakes his head to clear the fogginess of impending unconsciousness.  Grembor feels his sanity draining away as he looks upon the horrific visage before him however everyone else seems to be immune to the mind shattering implications.  

Pringle with his protections in place runs through the spinning blades of the spell and into the room, thankfully his spell takes much of the damage; he is awarded with the sight of Sayuri being lifted off her feet by a mass of writhing tentacles that have somehow erupted from the body of the high priest.  Pringle feels a twinge at the base of his skull as if something there moved in sympathy to the abomination.  He staggers out of the spell his mind analyzing the creature before him without actually registering the horror of it; Pringle is becoming more and more mentally in line with the creature than with his companions.  Nashkar standing on the other side of the wall of spinning blades tries firing a spell through the blades but the beam of light is deflected by the barrier and does not affect the aberration.  However the creature is just one opponent, a tough one with many resistances but just a creature and it is soon brought down low by arrows, swords and spells from the party and it ruptures into four sluglike creatures which makes Pringle scream as they swiftly slither from the room.  Sayuri requires some serious healing to remain alive and Zordlan had several shades of bruising all over his body from the assault of the creature’s fists but these are soon alleviated by Nashkar’s healing.

Sayuri is still holding tightly to the golden circlet and gifts it to Nashkar for healing her; Pringle goes off in a sulk as he wanted the fine piece of fish gold to wear on his head.  Grembor searches the rooms and discovers a little treasure but nothing of any true worth apart from a gold trident, the gold headpiece and a strange looking golden magical talisman which radiates almost negligible conjuration magic.  The rest is just gold and not magical in nature.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Dangerous things Libraries*

Pringle sulking wanders into another room which looks like it could have been a library at one point.  However as he pokes through the remains of old ruined books a sudden chill descends upon him.  Looking up from the floor an apparition glides out of one of the walls and descends upon him; driving its spectral hand into his chest he feels something tear inside of him as the Spectre pulls part of his life force out of his spasming chest and absorbs the energy into itself becoming more solid.  “Could this get any worse” Pringle thinks to himself as he screams out loud in a wailing fear filled scream which makes the rest of the party jump.  Then it does get worse as another Spectre slides into the room and forcibly removes another fragment of his soul into itself.  Pringle in a panic retreats from them running through the doorway and into the corridor outside.  They however effortlessly glide through the wall and they both attack Pringle again stripping his life from his body and leaving him with only the abilities of a fledgling adventurer and the lowest of spells left to him.  Nashkar channels energy into them healing up the minor scrapes and bruises left the party and dealing some damage to the pair who recoil in pain at the onslaught.  Sayuri fires off some force missiles which easily strike one of the pair ripping some of its insubstantial form asunder but it manages to hold itself together.  Grembor fires off several arrows of which most pass through them; as Zordlan goes to shoot one but his arrows pass through them harmlessly.

Pringle retreats again to hide behind the party while the Spectres advance upon the source of their pain and strip Nashkar of some of his life force reducing him to his knees with the shock as they both heal up some of the damage to their forms; they both grow more solid.  Nashkar channels again with less effect than previously due to the result of the life draining touch of the undead but they both writhe in agony as the positive energy rips through them.  Grembor again fires arrows each trailing fire towards them which seem to have more effect as the bust upon impact ripping the tenacious link to unlife of one of them close to final death.  This one rounds upon Grembor intending to suck the life from him as the other still gazes down upon the kneeling dwarf.  Zordlan draws his sword and steps before Sayuri to protect her.

Pringle fires off a weak force missile from a wand as the Spectre’s move into action again.  One which is still trailing smoke approaches Grembor and with a fond caress of his face sucks some of his life force out while the other manages to miss the almost prone dwarf with its life draining touch.  Another channel and several arrows and force missiles later both Spectres and dismissed back to the netherworld with a scream of pain and anguish and the party are feeling decidedly weak and under prepared for this place.  Unfortunately the Spectre’s had stripped the spells from Nashkar’s mind that would have helped restore their flagging powers and as there was only a few remaining rooms they had not explored yet they made the decision to continue onwards.


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## Sic_Pixie

*It's just a pair of dogs ....*

Grembor leading the way as per usual as his skills were tailored to this task opens a door and finds a disused study; upon checking out the desk however he left it well alone as he notices the tell tale evidence of Yellow Mold on the drawers and advises the party to stay away from it.  They cautiously circle the desk and advance to the next door.

Upon opening this door they are rewarded with a bedchamber.  It would have been a nice room but for the state of the room and its furnishings.  Oh and the large stain in the mattress which showed evidence of a slender hole in the mattress in the center of the blood.  It looked like someone met a grisly end here having been stabbed to death in their sleep.  Soooo nothing here to be cautious about considering the Spectre’s in the library; Grembor enters the room cautiously and notices from the corner of his eye a weird rippling of time and space as two dog like creature’s stand there in the corner of the room.  They look like an artists impression of a dog crossed with a bug eyed fish and Grembor again feels some of his minds supports weakening as his mind fragments some more.  When you looked directly at the dogs they seems normal enough in their own weird way.  However when you looked away their shapes seem to twist and distort in very disturbing ways making your eyes snap back towards them in fear.  One of the hounds opens its mouth and howls towards him which seems to rend his form with some strange energy and strip away some of the essence which made him solid.  Various slices and gashes appeared all over his body as the other hound circles the bed an approaches and tries to bite his face off.  Grembor backpedals and clears some distance between him and them as they disturb his sense of what’s right in more ways than one.  Sayuri unleashes her ever present force missiles and they hammer into one of the hounds while Zordlan firs some arrows from his bow which catches the same on in the ribs.  The blood which seeps out was not what they would consider blood as it is purple in colour and of a thicker consistency.  The party looks at each other concerned that in their weakened state fighting these strange hounds may not be a good idea.

Nashkar heals up Grembor with a weak channeling while Pringle uses the wand again to send a single force missile wobbling their way.  Zordlan again draws his sword and goes to strike the one of the hounds while Grembor shoots from the back; One of the hounds fades from view; if this is going invisible or teleporting away they don’t know but it was the one which had taken the brunt of the damage.  The other bays and the party feels the effect of its sonic attack as they feel the blades of sound rip through their bodies.  However it is no mach even for the weakened party and it soon fades into whatever place it came from having left the party feeling very much shaken.

The group searches the room and find a curios book hidden in a closet which is passed to Pringle but he is unfamiliar with the language it is written in.  They ascend to the roof above and find another of the priests dead up there as if he had been dropped from a great height.  They quickly leave this alone as for some reason they find this disturbing.

Descending to the main central room they follow the trail of one of the slug creature’s the observed the birth of and it seem to lead to one of the stone monoliths in the stone circle; they all do a close inspection of the circle and Grembor finds a hidden compartment in the central alter which contains a weird seed pod which none of them can identify.  Pringle takes this and puts it in his pack while they check out the strange stone the slug went into.  Pringle with his magical sight notices that it is faintly magical as if some latent conjuration magic is present and makes the link to the pendant they found on the high priest which was also radiating the same power.  Placing the talisman in what looks to be a depression of its size and shape the monolith twists with an eye jarring shudder and transforms into a gateway to another place.  They swiftly make the decision to not go in there yet and retrieve the talisman and after a more serious search of the rooms they find a box filled with straw that could have held something the rough size and shape of the Seasage Effigy they were looking for.

They leave the manor house and return to the village to heal up and recover.  They all wander round the various shops looking for something to help with the Spectre’s life draining touch but nothing in town seems up to the task.  They have a quiet night sleeping and recovering from the ordeal.  Nashkar thankfully recovers enough to heal up the damage caused by the Spectre’s so none of the party loose any of their hard fought for powers.


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## Sic_Pixie

That is us up to date.  Don't know when we will by playing again as my g/f (Sayuri & Zordlan) is currently recovering from a serious operation and the psychedelic pain meds she is on are not conductive of concentrating upon a game.  Should be good in a week or so.


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## Sic_Pixie

*Apologies*

Apologies,
It seems that I will not be finishing this thread in a timely manner as hoped.  Ron who plays a couple of the characters (Grembor & Pringle) has a new job in Michigan and has moved back there.  We may be playing sporadically when he comes down to visit or over skype but this is going to to be few and far between.

These will be written up and posted as normal but the time between posts will be long.

 Sorry for any disappointment on your part for those few who were following this thread.

Regards

Sic


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