# Company of the Random Encounter ('complete' 14 Nov 2004)



## Capellan

*Preamble*

I originally developed *Company of the Random Encounter* as an alternative game to run on the weekends when my "main" campaign had to be cancelled.  This is no longer the case, but because of this origin, things work a little differently than in a "standard" game.

Essentially, the way this campaign works is that, whenever I want to schedule a session of "CotRE", I send an e-mail out to a pool of players (the members of which has changed as the campaign progressed), and as long as 4 people are available, we will play (a maximum of 6 players are accepted for each game).

The campaign's guiding principle is to _have fun_ - hopefully that comes through in the story hour!

A collection of the story hour, containing everything up to the 8th of June, 2004, is now available for download:

Company of the Random Encounter - Volume 1

If you've read the PDF and want to skip straight to the stuff that was written after this date, you can click here.

As of *14 November 2004*, this story hour is 'complete' ... circumstances brought the campaign to and end, and I've written up everything I have notes for.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 1*

The small town of Amberdale is usually a quiet and peaceful kind of place.  But even the sleepiest village livens up every now and then, and in Amberdale's case the usual awakening is the Harvest Festival, a time of celebration at the end of every farming year.  People flock from all over the district to attend the festivities, filling the tavern and the inn with noise and colour and celebration.

Of course, it's a natural law that any time when gold and people congregate in large amounts, there will be a certain number of undesirable elements attracted.  Whether they be cunning charlatans or simple bandits, such folk can be guaranteed to be active during the festival.  After all, this is the time of year when the pickings are at their richest and the town guard are at their busiest.

All of which makes Amberdale at Festival time the perfect chance to begin an adventuring career ...

And thus five prospective adventurers gather at the Birdwhistle Tavern, as so many adventurers have gathered before them.

* Padre Wolfgang Priem, Priest of St Cuthbert, a grim and pragmatic sort, with a 'take charge' attitude.  The Padre travels in search of the men who murdered his parents.

* Ulfgar Torunn, a doughty Dwarf, bearing the mighty war axe of his people in one battle-scarred hand, Ulfgar has all the courage you would expect of one of his race.

* the elf who calls himself Stormstrider, an accomplished hunter from the wild lands, but erratic and prone to sudden swings from bravado to fearfulness.

* the charming but ever so slightly unsettling Mantreus, who is possessed of nimble fingers and an 'acquisitive' nature that takes full advantage of that blessing.

* the quiet but skilful swordswoman, Gabrielle, a steady and sturdy addition to any party of adventurers.

Having arrived at the tavern quite late in the day, the five are obliged to share the last free table together, and soon discover a common thirst for adventure - and, more to the point, treasure!

It seems the Gods must indeed be smiling on them, for no sooner have they agreed to band together, but a local farmer enters the tavern, and begins to move from table to table, questioning those who were seated there.

In time, he comes to the table of the five neophyte adventurers, and explains his errand: "I'm Bill Parmer.  I be needin' guards for m' wagon tomorrow.  Gotta make three, maybe four trips inta town, and the east road's getting' pretty dangerous of late.  Some dangly little monsters are attackin' anyone that tries to come that way."

This story, perhaps inevitably, is met with a chorus of voices asking one simple question:

"What's in it for us?"

The farmer has obviously dealt with adventurers before, because he doesn't blink an eye.

"10 gold for each o' ya, plus another five gold for each of the nasty little runts ya have to kill." 

There are eager nods from all at the table, followed by an agreement to reach the man's farm as early as possible the next morning.

As they had promised, the group sets out at dawn the next morning, despite the steady rain that beats down, turning the dirt road to slippery mud.  The wet conditions stretch the two mile journey over a full two hours, as the new adventurers experience the glamour of wading through puddles and falling face first in the mud.

Eventually, somewhat bedraggled, they reach the home of Farmer Parmer, where they find their employer lashing the last of a load into his wagon.

"Mornin' folks." He greets them cheerfully, "I'm about ready wi' the first load.  Throw your packs in the wagon an' we'll be off."

The first two trips to town progress without incident, though after four hours of Farmer Bill's slow, monotonous tales of country life, most of the would-be heroes are beginning to pray for an attack, if only because it might shut the man up.

After having lunch at the tavern, the group returns to Parmer's farmhouse for one last load of goods, consoling themselves with the thought that at least they'll pick up ten gold apiece.  However, they are only halfway back to town when the horses spook at something ahead and come to a stop.  Everything is quiet: blessedly, even Farmer Bill has fallen silent.

Weapons rasp from their scabbards as the group prepares for trouble.

"Ambush?" someone asks, in a hopeful tone, their mind no doubt on the extra gold that they could earn.

As if in answer, five small, reptilian humanoids with dog-like heads emerged from the woods on either side of the road, gesturing aggressively with their spears.  The leader of these kobold bandits steps forward and speaks in broken Common:

"Give food.  Not kill."

The party, as might be expected, responds with bravado, and battle is joined.  Farmer Bill immediately leaps down into the mud and cowers under his wagon as the shouts of battle and the clash of steel rise into the air.

Raising his heavy crossbow, the Padre looses a bolt at one of the kobolds, but his shot flies wide.  Moments later, Ulfgar and Gabrielle charge; strangely enough, in opposite directions to one another; each striking down one of the kobolds with their first blow.

Mantreus risks a shot into Ulfgar's melee, but his bolt travels wide as the Dwarf gives a yelp of surprise and alarm.  Meanwhile, Stormstrider also joins the battle, his scimitar and sickle cutting down a third of the luckless kobolds, who are yet to even react.

At last the reptilian dogmen spring their all-but-broken trap, with two crossbow bolts whistling out of the trees, fired by hidden ambushers.  One flies wide, but the second strikes deep into the Padre's side, knocking him to his knees.  Moments later, both the remaining spear-wielding kobolds stab at their opponents, but each fails to hit.

With a curse, the sturdy churchman wrenches free the bolt and staggers under the cover of the wagon, his eyes searching the woods for a sign of the sniper.  He quickly spots the creature, but his injury has slowed him enough that he does not have time to begin loading his heavy crossbow.

Ulfgar cuts down another kobold, but neither Gabrielle nor Stormstrider is so lucky, whilst Mantreus fruitlessly scans the woods for targets, unable to spot them despite the Padre's attempts to point them out.

Down to less than half their initial number, the kobolds break and run, disappearing amidst the trees.  The young heroes have won their first battle, and earned their first treasure.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 2*

The Padre invokes his deity to heal the wound he has suffered as Farmer Bill crawls out from under the wagon.

"You folks were just marv'lous!" he exclaims expansively, "You really showed them dangly little critters!  That was so good to see that I'm gonna pay you for the ones you killed right now!"

So saying, he produces a pouch from within his shirt and slowly counts out twenty gold pieces.  From the look of them - the mint's stamp rubbed almost smooth - they have been in circulation for a very long time.

"I tell you what," the farmer adds with a decisive nod, "If you're willin' to find out where the rest of them little buggers went and finish 'em off, I'll even pay you for them as well - five gold for each pair o' ears ya bring me."

Seeing that the group is ready to charge off into the trees immediately, he quickly raises a hand to stay them,

"After ya get me safe 'n' sound to town, o' course."

Flushed with their success, the group have no hesitation in agreeing.  First, however, they loot the bodies of their fallen enemies, then toss the remains into the bushes alongside the road.

The remaining trip to town passes without incident and the group soon returns to the scene of their great (and thus far, only) battle, intending to follow the tracks left by the fleeing kobolds deep into the forest.

Stormstrider has no difficulty in following the creatures' tracks in the soft earth, and leads the group to a huge, ancient tree that stands almost a mile from the road.  Although not a great deal taller than the trees that surround its clearing, this ancient oak has a massively thick trunk, nearly 50' in diameter.  As they approach, the adventurers can see a 10' wide opening near the base of the tree.  The interior is dark, but even at this distance, they can hear the squabbling, sibilant voices of the kobolds within.

Mantreus attempts to sneak up to the tree to spy on the kobolds, but just as he approaches, the noise of the argument suddenly ceases.  Mantreus freezes beside the opening, wondering if he has been detected.

A moment later, this question becomes irrelevant, as Stormstrider impulsively calls on the kobolds to surrender.  Instantly, all hell breaks loose.

As Mantreus turns and dashes around the tree to get out of sight (just a moment too late, as it turns out), a kobold - more foolish or brave than the average - leaps out of the opening and fires a wild crossbow shot over the fleeing rogue's shoulder.  More crossbow bolts fly out of the opening toward the others, whose hiding places in the trees prove less than well-chosen.  Ulfgar in particular is badly exposed and attracts no less than five of the remaining bolts.  Fortunately for the stocky Dwarf, he has his shield raised, and the attacks glances harmlessly off this metal barrier.

Both the Padre and Gabrielle are similarly lucky, but Stormstrider is all but felled by a bolt that tears through the fleshy part of his throat, inflicting critical damage.

As the Padre moves to tend to the injured Stormstrider with a _cure minor wounds_, Mantreus shoots back at the visible kobold.  His shot is just as wide as the creature's.  However, Ulfgar's axe is far more deadly, as the reckless Dwarven fighter charges out of hiding to strike the creature down ... and incidentally leave himself exposed to every kobold sniper in the tree.

Gabrielle fires an arrow into the opening, in the hopes of keeping the kobold's heads down, but it is nowhere near enough to prevent the volley of fire that now sweeps over the exposed Ulfgar.  Three of the eight bolts strike home, staggering the fierce Dwarf backward, but miraculously failing to find any vital point.

Perhaps if the injured Ulfgar had charged into the tree itself, his sheer ferocity would have overwhelmed the kobolds, already disheartened by their failure to kill him where he stood, but instead he chooses the path of discretion, and runs to the side, joining Mantreus about twenty feet to the right of the opening.

His bleeding wound stanched, Stormstrider runs to the left of the tree, followed by Gabrielle.  Cursing folk who run away before he can properly tend them, the Padre rushes to the aid of Ulfgar, sacrificing another spell for a _cure light wounds_.

Deprived of targets, the kobolds seem to be staying put, and none of the group is eager to brave another volley like the one that almost felled Ulfgar.  As the seconds tick by, it seems that they are in a deadlocked position.

"First squad!  Break left!" the Padre roars, attempting to bluff the kobolds into surrender, "Second squad, move into positions!"

There is no apparent response from within the tree, so Mantreus and Stormstrider begin to search for some sign of a second way into to the tree, hoping that the kobolds have all their attention focussed on the main entrance.  Unfortunately, they are searching the trunk of the tree, when in fact the kobolds' "back door" is a tunnel leading to a concealed opening inside the tree line. 

Spooked by the Padre's Bluff attempt, the kobolds have meanwhile fled down the tunnel and are now beginning to emerge into the forest, while the Padre continues to issue orders to his imaginary cohorts.  Finding there to be no sign of any troops, the malicious little dogmen filter back toward the clearing and prepare to unleash an ambush.

The surprise attack doesn't quite come off as well as it could - some of the ill-disciplined kobolds open fire before their comrades are in position.  However, the attack still catches the party while they are badly spread out.  The group's immediate reaction compounds the problem, as Mantreus and Ulfgar both race to support Stormstrider and Gabrielle, who are the party members under fire.

The Ranger and the human Fighter both fire back at the kobolds, as does the Padre, but none have any success.  Unfortunately, the Cleric has been left alone and dangerously exposed by the recent movement of Ulfgar and Mantreus: a position that is about to be shown up as very vulnerable.

A pair of crossbow bolts slam into the tree near the Padre's head as two more kobolds open fire.  He feverishly cranks his crossbow to reload.

Meanwhile, Mantreus races toward the trees about 50' from where the other kobold snipers are firing, and practically runs into another trio that is moving up to flank the party.  All four fire reflexively with their crossbows, but only Mantreus connects, dropping one of the three kobolds.

Ulfgar races to the Rogue's assistance as Gabrielle and Stormstrider fire ineffectually into the trees, with Gabrielle suffering a light wound in return.

The crossbow fire against the Padre is much more effective, however: both of the next two bolts slam into him, and the pain and shock instantly sends him into unconsciousness.

The two kobolds left facing Mantreus change weapons and stab at him with their spears, one of them inflicting a light wound.  However, seconds later Ulfgar charges into melee, killing another of the small humanoids.  Using the distraction as a chance to get out of the melee, Mantreus moves toward the fallen Padre.

Seeing Gabrielle and Stormstrider still trading fire in a losing battle with the kobolds (who inflict another light wound on Gabrielle), Ulfgar exhorts them to charge into melee, slaying another kobold as proof of the success of this tactic.

Mantreus attempts to bandage the Padre while being fired upon by the two kobolds who felled the Cleric, but fails.  Luckily, he escapes harm in the process.

Ulfgar, Stormstrider and Gabrielle all charge the group of kobolds who have been peppering them with crossbow fire, forcing the dogmen into melee combat.  Unfortunately, none of them manage to connect.  However, the kobolds are just as unsuccessful with their own attacks.

Mantreus again attempts to heal the Padre, and again fails.  This time, however, he does not manage to evade the crossbow bolts that come flying his way, and his injuries collapse him into semi-consciousness.  Believing both of their targets to be slain, the two kobold snipers rush to their comrades' aid against the three remaining adventurers.

There follows a period of almost farcical ineptitude on both sides, with only one wound (an insigificant scratch by a kobold on Stormstrider) actually being scored in the next three exchanges of blows.

And then finally, the adventurers superior strength and skill takes effect, and the remaining kobolds are slaughtered in the space of a few seconds, landing only one more weak blow in the process (this time on Gabrielle).

Stormstrider quickly rushes to use his healer's kit on the Padre, and the Cleric's bleeding is finally stopped.

All of the party are sorely wounded, with one of their number unconscious and another able to move only with assistance.  Still, this does not prevent them from looting the bodies of the dead kobolds before they head back to town to get healing for their wounded Cleric.  One must have priorities, after all.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 3*

Having reached the safety of the town, the group goes to the local Chapel of Pelor - known as the Sanctuary - and shells out the gold for a _cure light wounds_ to get the Padre on his feet again.

Next, they review the loot they recovered from the kobolds.  It is mostly just coins, but there is also a copper pendant with strange markings.  The Padre tests it for enchantments, but it does not appear to be magical.  For now, the group resolves to keep the item rather than sell it, as it appears to more mysterious than it is valuable. 

Having split up the treasure they acquired, the group heads back to the Birchwhistle Tavern, where most of the group takes the opportunity to view a two-man play put on by two of the staff.  Only the Padre declines, dragging himself to bed and rest.

After the play, those members of the group who are still awake fine themselves approached by the proprietor of the tavern, Brent Birchwhistle.

"I heard from Bill Parmer that you saved his life from some kobolds, today.  He said you fought very bravely.  We can always use people with courage and weapons skill around town, particularly with winter on the way.  That's when the goblinkin are at their most active.  All of which leads me to why I've asked you to this meeting.  I'd like to offer you membership in an organisation known as the Brewer's Guild, with whom I am associated."

"I like a good ale." Ulfgar admits companionably, "But I don't see why we'd want to join such a group?"

Brent nods in understanding,

"The Brewers' Guild is more than just a collection of ale and mead makers." He explains, "It's also a network for information.  As an innkeep myself, I can tell you that we hear a great deal about the goings on in the countryside.  If you want to be well-informed, there is no better way to do it than join the Brewers' Guild."

"What does it cost?" Mantreus gets to the heart of the matter.

"On that front I can set your mind at rest, my friend." Brent smiles, "the fee for associate membership, which is all each of you would need, is a mere copper piece a month."

The group confers briefly, but has little hesitation in accepting the offer.  They are not sure how useful this 'network' will be, but they are all willing to risk a copper a month to find out.

"Excellent." Brent pauses, "Have you perhaps heard of the Adventurers' Guild?  As associates of the Brewers' Guild, you are entitled to join this organisation.  Membership in it is the surest way to attract the highest paying jobs - jobs of the kind you did for Bill Parmer today." He pauses again.  "Unfortunately, membership of this guild is rather more expensive - you must be able to prove your ability to survive the kind of work it entails, you see."

Someone snorts, "Figures there would be a catch.  What does it cost?"

"One hundred gold, each." Brent raises his hands to forestall any angry comments, "I realise that you would not have such funds as yet, so I will make you an offer: we will help you find you the jobs to earn your membership fees, to prove the efficacy of the organisation."

Slowly - and markedly less cavalierly, given the money involved - the group agrees to accept Brent's second offer.

The next morning, after the Padre has invoked his deity to heal them all as best he can, they fill him in on the previous night's conversation.  It does not take long before he too becomes a member of the Brewer's Guild.  At this point, the group makes plans to rest and recuperate for the day, due to their injured condition.  However, this soon proves unnecessary as the priests from the Sanctuary arrive.

It seems that the group has achieved a measure of celebrity for their actions against the kobolds, and the sanctuary priests not only offer free healing to the "wounded heroes" but even refund the 25 gold they had charged for healing the night before.

Newly fortified, the group sets out for the Guard barracks.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 4*

As the party walks across town to the Guard barracks, they see an elderly gnome putting up a sign. On inspection, this turns out to be a reward notice for the recovery of her missing cat.  Astonished to read that the woman will pay 50 gold to get the animal back in healthy condition, they call out to her.

"Oh, my poor Scratches!" she wails, in response to their enquiry, "I miss him so much!  He's such a clever cat, but now he's been missing for days, and I'm really worried about him!"

The group readily agree to keep their eyes open, though it is clear that their motivation stems more from the shiny gold on offer than any concern over the creature's welfare.

Moving on to the barracks, the group quickly secures a meeting with Captain Jarrek of the Town Guard; a large, bluff man with a direct, no-nonsense manner.

"So yer the folks Bill Parmer's makin' all that fuss about, eh?" his tone is warmer than the doubting words would suggest, "Well, yer look like yer might be able to handle yerselves, at tha'.  I tell yer what, there's a ranger tower near here ... 'bout a half-day's walk.  Apparently it's been overrun with rats and the local ranger don't have time to deal wi' it.  He asked me to send some boys over to clear it out, but I can't spare anyone till after the Festival.  So if yer interested, the pay is fifty gold."

"Each?"

"Are yer daft?  It's fifty in total.  It's only rats yer fightin'."

Although the pay is not as rich as they would have like, the party heads out to the tower in the forest, keeping an eye out for any valuable cats on the way.  They are keenly aware that finding the missing feline will double their reward for the day's work.

It's a warm and pleasant day, and as they walk through the trees, the group's mood is light and jocular.

"So if someone stole Scratches, would they be cat-napping?" Mantreus quips.

"The furball's probably at the tower." Ulfgar mock-growls back, "Stealing our gold by killing the rats for himself."

"Or maybe it was the rats that took him." Even the normally stern Padre seems to have relaxed, "They're striking a blow for rodent freedom."

The group's jocularity fades, however, then the Padre realises that he has already used his full allotment of spells for the day, and that they are about to go into battle without healing of any kind.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 5*

Approaching the tower, the party soon sees evidence of the rodent infestation: three huge rats are tearing at the plant growth near the front door of the tower, apparently unaware; or in any event unconcerned; about the group of adventurers crouched in the underbrush nearby.

Whatever the reason for the rats' disinterest in the party, it serves the group well, as they unleash a volley of missile fire that immediately slays two of the beasts.  Mantreus' bolt is particularly well-aimed, pinning the unfortunate rodent to the stone wall of the tower.

It is left to Ulfgar, who has no truck with cowardly missile weapons, to gleefully charge and slay the third and final rat with a mighty sweep of his war axe.

With the first challenge easily surmounted, the group moves inside and checks out the lowest floor of the tower.  It proves to be an empty space with a bare earth floor, and a winding flight of stairs that rises 40' around the inside wall of the tower, reaching further storeys above.

After an abortive search for the non-existent basement, the group heads in single file up the stairs, cautiously approaching the all but destroyed door to the second floor (the door had been chewed through by the rats).  As they draw close, they are able to observe a number of rats moving around in the room beyond the door.  The rats again seem more or less oblivious to the party's presence, though they are not bunched together in such an inviting target group, this time.

The group withdraws slightly and confers.  A clever plan is constructed: Ulfgar will take the lead while Mantreus stands just behind him to shoot one of the rats: when the other rats charge out and attack, they will have to rush down the stairs to do so.  At this point the rest of the party, who will wait further down the curve of the stairs, will have a clear line of fire.

The plan starts perfectly: Mantreus' shot is superb, skewering a rat straight through the body.

Unfortunately, the rats do not react by charging, but by running for cover.  So the party finds themselves advancing cautiously into the room, with vermin extermination foremost in their minds.  However, the rats are nowhere in sight.  Instead, the group sees only a few beds, a rack of weapons, and further stairs leading up.

Reasoning that the rats are most likely hiding under the beds, Stormstrider, Gabrielle and Ulfgar move over to the closest and prepare to flip it over.

Which, of course, is exactly when the rats swarm out and attack.

However, swarm or not, they are only rats, and the armed and armoured adventurers make short and bloody work of the verminous little beasts.  It is only because they are so numerous that any of the creatures survive to reach melee at all, as the party lays about itself with vigour, crushing and slicing the rats with a variety of weapons.

Within twenty seconds, the fight is over, and the group is free to explore the chamber.  The beds do not reveal anything interesting, but the gleam of silvered weapons catches the covetous eyes of the party.  Sure enough, both a silvered dagger and a silvered shortsword are propped against the weapons rack, and the group makes short work of justifying their "borrowing" of these items, particularly when the Padre remembers from his study of the arcane that he has read of creatures called lycanthropes, which are vulnerable only to silver and magic.  Though none of the group thinks it likely that such a creature would leave these weapons in its lair, they take them "just in case".

Thus, Stormstrider claims the dagger, and Gabrielle the shortsword.  Ulfgar seems content to stay with his war axe, evidently feeling that the silvered weapons were not appropriate arms for a Dwarf.

The Padre's knowledge proves very beneficial, as the creature that lurked at the top of the tower is indeed a repulsive and diseased lycanthrope: a wererat.  The creature wasted no time in leaping out against the party, striking Ulfgar with a solid blow of his rapier, and following up with a vicious bite.

Caught in single file on the stairs, it suddenly occurs to the group that it was a tactical error not to put someone with a silvered weapon at the front of the party.  There follows a short period of internal dissension, as Stormstrider (at the rear) first wants to push to the front (a dangerous proposition on such narrow stairs), and then seems reluctant to move back and let the others retreat to the room below, where they can more readily fight the wererat.

However, the confusion is sorted out in short order, and the party retreats hastily down the stairs, Ulfgar narrowly avoiding another strike from the wererat's rapier.

With the rage of combat fully upon him, and trusting in his resistance to normal weapons, the wererat leaps to the pursuit, striking Gabrielle a severe blow with his rapier.  Both the injured fighter and Stormstrider strike back ineffectually, and the creature attacks again, this time biting Ulfgar, who refuses to retreat from melee, despite his lack of a silvered weapon.

And then suddenly Gabrielle strikes a mighty blow, and the creature falls instantly to the ground, its heart pierced with silver.

With the wererat slain, the party explores the rest of the tower, finding more treasure: a masterwork suit of chainmail, and a masterwork heavy mace.  Ulfgar and the Padre claim these two items, respectively.  There is some discussion on how the tower's owners will react to this, but they decide not to worry about that just now.

Finally, on the roof of the tower, the group discovers a strange and repulsive statuette, surrounded by small gems.  In the best adventuring tradition, they steal the gems and head for the exit.

As they reach the door of the tower, however, they hear voices from the forest ...


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## Hammerhead

I like this Story Hour. It sounds fun. Waiting for the next update...


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## Capellan

Glad to hear you are enjoying it, Hammerhead.  The sessions so far have indeed been a lot of fun for us ... hopefully that's coming through in the Story Hour!

As a house-keeping note, the next post marks the start of a new session, though events follow on directly from those which have gone before.  I generally won't flag this in future, though you should be able to tell by the fact that the line-up of characters will change when a new session starts.

And without further ado, I'll move on to posting part 6 ...


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 6*

Elspeth of the Crescent Range strides along the path leading to the Amberdale Ranger's Tower.  A sturdy and taciturn Ranger of Elven blood, she has heard tales that the tower was overrun with vermin.  Though she can barely give credence to the idea that the local ranger would let this occur, she has resolved to look into it herself.

Nearing the tower, she spots a group of three people standing on the path ahead of her.  All are dressed simply, in sandals and loose-fitting cotton clothes, despite the late season.  From the size of their packs, the rest of their belongings seemed as limited.

"Good day." The eldest of the three inclines his head to her as she approaches. "You look like one who has travelled far.  Is the end of your journey close?"

"Good day to you." She replies, instinctively stopping a short distance away from the three. "As it happens, my journey is nearly done - I am on my way to that tower." She points at the building, which can be seen through the trees.

As she does so, a group of five people exit the tower.  All are armed and armoured, and two seem badly wounded.  Having noticed the Elspeth and the trio she has just met, they are approaching slowly, hands on weapons.

"Good day." The old man calls again, seemingly amused by the suspicious behaviour of those he is meeting, "I am Ai Quan, and these are my students Ai Ling and Ming Li." He gestures at the two younger people accompanying him.

"What were you doing in the tower?" Elspeth interjects.

"I am Padre Priem." The tallest of the newcomers responds.  "And we are an adventuring group - the Company of the Random Encounter.  We were hired to clear out this tower of rats.  We did so, but we also discovered a terrible abomination - a creature half man and half rat.  I believe it was ... a lycanthrope."  (DM's note: Yes, the player really said that.  The ham.  )

"It seems the creature wounded some of your friends quite severely." Ai Quan indicates the two injured members of the company. "Such wounds can be very dangerous - they may spread the disease of lycanthropy."

"I had heard as much." The Padre nods, "But we have no means to heal them.  Do you have anything that could help?"

The old man shakes his head,

"I regret we do not, but I heard in the village we just left that a great Priest of Pelor will attend the Harvest Festival there in a few days.  Perhaps he could assist you."

"We will see what he can do." The Padre pauses, "May I ask your business in these parts?"

"We are monks from the eastern lands.  My student Ai Ling is ready to undergo his testing." Ai Quan indicates his male student, "I am taking him to the Cave of Challenge, which lies near here."

"I am a Ranger -" Elspeth begins.

"You are?" the Padre thrusts out his hand, palm upward, "Well, we cleared the tower out like you wanted.  The agreed price was fifty gold."

"I did not hire you." Elspeth replies icily, "Though I would like to learn more of the one who did.  He should never have allowed the tower to be overrun this way.  Were you hired in this town Ai Quan speaks of?  If so, I would accompany you there."

The company of adventurers have no objection to her joining them, and so, bidding a farewell to the three monks, the six of them set off toward the village of Amberdale.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 7*

The adventurers' first stop is the Sanctuary, a Chapel of Pelor where they enquire about healing for their companions.  The village priests explain that they lack the power to cleanse the disease, but that their superior from the great city of Tarkamul would soon be arriving for the Festival, and would be able to do so - though the price would not be cheap.

Though not sure how they would pay the fee, the Company agree to the terms and leave their injured friends; Ulfgar and Gabrielle; in the care of the Priests.  From there, they head across to the Guard Barracks, in order to advise Captain Jarrek of their success.

"A wererat!" Jarrek exclaims on hearing their story, "That weasel of a ranger!  He never mentioned anything like that.  My boys would have been slaughtered if they'd gone up there." He slams his fist on the table, "Wait till I catch up with him.  Damn halflings are always giving me trouble." He points at one of the cells in the barracks, where a young female halfling is sitting. "I caught this one loitering on the edge of town this morning, clearly up to no good."

"Loitering?" Mantreus asks "Was she actually doing anything illegal?"

"What are yer talking about?" Jarrek snorts, "She's a halfling.  In leather armour, and carryin' thieves tools, t'boot.  Festival time is busy enough for me without having one of these little pickpockets runnin' around robbin' everybody blind."

"But she hadn't actually done anything?"

"Look, if yer so worried about her, and yer promise to keep her on a short leash, yer welcome to take her outta here." Jarrek points to some thieves tools lying on his desk, "But it'll be yer arses on the line if she starts using those around here."

The Company are apparently sensitive about their posteriors, because they subject the young halfling to a barrage of question in order to see if they should risk taking her under their care.  This reduces the poor young lady to tongue-tied confusion for some time, but eventually it becomes clear that she "might" be able to help them with any locks or traps they come across.

"Listen," Jarrek suddenly scrawls something on a sheet of parchment and hands it to the Padre, "My boys woulda been wiped out if they'd tangled with a damned wererat.  Here's a little something to make it up to you.  Take this to the Sanctuary and they'll see you right." He growls under his breath, "But wait 'til I catch up with that damn ranger."

The Padre's eyes widen as he looks at the note he has been given.  It reads, in Jarrek's hurried scrawl;

_Some of these folks have done the town a service.  Give them five of the healing potions.
         - Jarrek, Captain of the Guard_

The group barely remembers to thank the captain before they scurry across to the Sanctuary, all but shoving the note into the face of the first priest they say.  The five potions of _cure light wounds_ are duly produced, and tucked away by those who took part in the fight with the wererat: this included Ulfgar and Gabrielle, who are still confined within the sanctuary by their wounds.

Then, with night fast approaching - and with their new charge in tow - the group retires to the inn for a meal and a good night's sleep.

Maybe in the morning they'll think to ask the halfling's name.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 8*

The next morning, the group enjoys a leisurely breakfast while attempting to decide what they should do nezt.  Captain Jarrek had been unable to offer them any further employment when they saw him the previous day, and they have no other leads at hand.

The Padre is suggesting - with little enthusiasm - that they might look for the missing cat, when Ai Quan and his female student, Ming Li, enter the inn.

"Excellent!  I am very glad to have found you!" Ai Quan approaches their table immediately, "You said yesterday that you were adventurers.  If so, I have need of you.  Ai Ling went into the caves of challenge yesterday, and has not returned.  I fear he is in danger.  I am barred from entering the caves myself, and Ming Li does not yet have the skills to enter alone."

"Sure we can help ..." Mantreus leans forward, "But what's in it for us?"

Ai Quan spreads his hands,

"We are simple monks, and do not carry many possessions, but whatever I can find, I will give to you.  Plus of course, you would be free to keep anything you find in the caves?"

"Does that include your student?" Mantreus quips.  He mimes holding something up by the scruff of the neck, "We found him, we keep him?"

"What, you want _another_ pet?" Elspeth asks, nodding at the halfling.

Ai Quan ignores them both, waiting for an answer to his plea.

"We'll do it." the Padre stands and turns to Elspeth, "We could use your help.  Want to join us?"

The Ranger nods, and with that, Ai Quan, Ming Li, and the reinforced group set off into the woods, first heading back to where they met on the path the day before, and then travelling further into the high ground, till at last they pass two boulders and approach a small cliff face.

"Stop!" Ai Quan calls, pointing at a mass of green vines that cover part of the cliff. "The entrance is just there, but that is fetterweed across it."

Fetterweed, the old monk explains, is a carnivorous plant that attacks by striking prey with its vines, which secret a sedative-laced sap.  Only by finding the trunk of the plant and destroying it, will the vines - which can stretch for hundreds of years - be rendered inert.

The group wastes no time in tracking the vines back to the trunk of the tree: with two Rangers amongst their number it is no challenge to do so.  The trunk is over 10' thick and covered in a tough membrane, surrounded by a thick matt of vines.  Near the trunk itself, the group can see the remains of a body.

The group spends a considerable amount of time discussing strategies for attacking the fetterweed.  They manage to determine that it senses the vibrations of passing creatures, though quite what a spectator would have thought of their experimental method - Stormstrider jumping up and down on the spot - is anyone's guess.

"Maybe we could set fire to it?" the Padre suggested.

"The plant's vines run for hundreds of yards." Ai Quan reminds him.

"Not seeing the problem.  It'll all burn."

"The forest would catch fire."

"Still not seeing the problem."

"You are _in_ the forest."

"OK.  Now seeing the problem."

"Maybe we could use bows to shoot it?" Elspeth suggests.

Ai Quan shakes his head.

"There are too many vines in the way."

This will become a familiar refrain for the old man, as no less than three other party members subsequently make variations on the same suggestion.

Slings?  There are too many vines in the way.

Crossbows?  There are too many vines in the way.

Throwing Axes?  You don't have any, and even if you did, _there are too many vines in the way_!

Eventually, it is Ming Li who suggests that, while they may not want to set the creature alight, they might be able to fend off the tentacles with flaming torches, and thus get close enough to the trunk of the fetterweed to destroy it.

Though an hour in the making, the plan takes less than fifteen seconds to succeed.  The group charges in as a tight bunch, waving torches to fend off the vines, then hacking into the trunk with their weapons.  The skin of the plant is no match for the group's steel and Ming Li's fists, and it is soon destroyed.

With the fetterweed no longer a threat, the group checks the body they spotted earlier, finding it to be that of a female dressed in leather armour and carrying a scimitar.  The body has a handful of gold coins and a wooden druidic token (carved with the emblem of Obad-Hai) in its pouch.  The group pockets these in short order, then heads back to the entrance of the cave.

Arriving there, they find that the vines here have collapsed to the ground with the death of the fetterweed, and they are free to enter.  They decide not to do so immediately, however, spending an hour resting and recuperating from their battle with the fetterweed (which only inflicted some light subdual damage on them).

And then, shouldering their packs, they enter ... the caves of challenge.

They still haven't asked the halfling her name, though.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 9*

There follows an extended debate about who should carry the lantern.  This and other vital social questions occupy several minutes, but eventually the group manages to get organised and get into the cave.

Where they promptly debate whether it might be wiser to leave and ask Ai Quan whether he has any advice; or indeed, whether they even can leave, now that they are inside.  In the end, they decide to press on.

At least until they get to the first room.

Then they stop and linger at the doorway, apparently loath to enter.  The chamber is circular, and about 40' across.  At the centre of the room they can see a status of a muscular male monk, while beyond that are five doors set in the curve of the wall, all of which presumably lead deeper into the caves.  As the seconds tick by without anything leaping out to attack them, the party slowly edge into the room.

Well, all except the Padre, who continues to fool around at the tunnel entrance.  Isn't that just like a Priest?

Eventually, the Padre deigns to join the others in the chamber.  At which point the tunnel promptly seals shut behind him, becoming a solid wall of rock.

"You cannot leave the caves until your task is complete." The voice booms from the statue in the middle of the room.

Mantreus - for reasons known only to himself - wonders aloud if anyone else finds the statue to be "studly".  Much laughter ensues at his expense.

Spreading out, the group starts to search the room, with Mantreus and the halfling-with-no-name checking the two left-most doors for traps.  Finding none, they for some reason neglect to search the remaining three.  Instead they turn their attention to the statue, which proves to have a second face set into the back of its head.

"Two-faced." Ming Li says, as if it bears some deep significance to her.

As if in answer, this second face suddenly speaks,

"Forever, you shall be as noble as your purpose."

"Uh ..." The group looks at one other.  There are several shrugs.

Putting the statue's cryptic remark out of their minds, the party turn their attention to the doors once more.  Having determined that the two left-most doors are trap-free, they try to open the third one - which they hadn't checked.  It turns out to be locked, as does the fourth - which they also failed to check.

Turning their attention back to the leftmost door, they find it unlocked.  The Padre moves so as to cover the door with his crossbow while Elspeth turns the handle.  The door swings open onto a dark and narrow tunnel.  After a moment, the group hears the shuffle of bare feet approaching through the darkness.  From the slow, dragging sounds of the movement, the party quickly guess that there are zombies on the way.  However, the halfling - and thus the group's lantern - is some distance from the door, and thus they cannot see far enough down the tunnel to confirm their guess.

"Hey you!   Halfling!" Elspeth yells from next to the open door. "Bring that lantern over here!"  Then she suddenly pauses, as long-rusted social skills suddenly grind into action, "Uh, I mean, could you please come over here?  And uh ... what should we call you?"

The halfling, it turns out, is named Rose.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 10*

Rose moves up to the doorway, and the light spilling into the tunnel reveals the approaching creatures to be zombies, just as the party has surmised.  There are two of the beasts, shuffling slowly forward on bare and wrinkled feet.

"Yaaaaaaaarrrh!" Elspeth draws her blades and charges straight down the narrow tunnel.  Her scimitar strikes wide, but the shortsword in her left hand bites deeply into the first zombie.  The creature comes to a stop, staggered by the blow, and swipes back in response, but its claws scrape weakly across Elspeth's armour.

"Back foul beasts, in the name of St Cuthbert!" the Padre lowers his crossbow and invokes the holy might of his deity, but proves unable to properly focus his will: neither of the two zombies seems to have been affected.

"Elspeth!" Mantreus calls, crossbow to his shoulder, "Pull back!  I can't get a clear shot!"

And indeed it is clear that the elf's sudden charge has left her alone in battle with the undead.  The dank tunnel is only a few feet wide, with no space for anyone to stand beside her, and she is squarely in the way of any missile fire the group may attempt.

Begrudgingly, Elspeth retreats back into the room, forming a cordon at the tunnel entrance with Stormstrider, Rose and Ming Li.  With the way now open, the Padre raises his crossbow again and looses a bolt that takes the lead zombie right between the eyes.  The creature rocks back, but then presses forward again, the crossbow bolt bobbing up and down with each shuffling step.

It is not much longer for this world, however, as it is cut to pieces within moments of emerging into the room.  The rangers and the monk combine with brutal efficiency to strike it down, and just as quickly dispose of the second beast, which manages only to claw futilely at Stormstrider's armour before Ming Li crushes its skull with her quarterstaff.

With the threat destroyed, the group quickly explore the tunnel from which the beasts emerge, but it proves to be a simple dead end, terminating at a small and featureless chamber.

Stifling his revulsion, Mantreus gingerly picks through the zombie's clothing, and discovers an ornate key in the pocket of the second creature.

"Must be for one of the other doors." He surmises, "Maybe even all of them.  Is that one locked?" he points at the nearest door - one that they have already checked for traps.

Elspeth tries the handle, and nods in response.  So Mantreus moves up and inserts the key into the lock, then turns it.

There is a flash of light as the key vanishes, but there is also the soft click from the lock.

"Don't open it yet." Mantreus warns, as he and the Padre move to cover the door with their crossbows. "There might be more undead in there."

The group fans out, preparing for danger, and only once every is ready does Stormstrider step up and open the door.

The room beyond is small - only a few paces across - and the far wall is covered in a confusing array of levers and buttons.  The group counts them rapidly:

"Twenty in all.  Ten of each." Mantreus clucks his tongue, "Anyone got some dice?"

The Padre fixes the rogue with a stern look,

"That's a dangerous attitude." He disapproves, "We should look for other ways forward before we risk touching any of those contraptions."

Mantreus shrugs, quite evidently unabashed.

"Those two doors are locked," Ming Li indicates the other two doors they have already tried, "but we have not investigated that one there." She points at the door which is furthest to the right.

The group quickly agrees to her suggestion that they try opening it, and once more adopts a position of readiness, prepared in case of monsters bursting from whatever room is revealed.

Ming Li steps forward and tries the door.  It opens easily, and the young monk has just enough time to register the blank stone wall behind it, before the pit trap opens beneath her feet.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 11*

Ming Li falls hard, landing in the bone-strewn bottom of a 20' pit trap.  Battered but still conscious, she clambers to her feet as the concerned faces of her companions appear above her.  Seeing the monk is alive, their thoughts of concern quickly give way to those of greed.

"Check the bodies for treasure." the Padre instructs, gesturing at the remains.  "We'll get you a rope."

As Ming Li turns back to the bones, however, she sees them begin to stir, and then slowly rise upward, forming into the unmistakable shapes of undead skeletons.

Elspeth reacts fastest, pulling a rope from her backpack and throwing one end down to Ming Li.  As the others dig for missile weapons, Mantreus raises his already loaded crossbow and fires a bolt down at the skeletons.  However, his concern to fire wide of Ming Li spoils his arm, and the bolt shatters harmlessly against the stone at the bottom the pit.

"Abominations!  Back to the graves from which you came!" the Padre once more invokes his god, but once more is unable to summon the strength to harm the undead creatures.

Ignoring the efforts of those above them, the three skeletons claw at Ming Li, two of them raking her badly with their bony hands.

Drawing on her last reserves of energy, the young monk unleashes a flurry of blows against the first skeleton.  Her firsts slam against bone, reducing the creature's ribs and spine to powder, and it collapses at her feet.

While Elspeth continues to hold onto the rope she has cast down for Ming Li, the others loose a volley of missile weapons.  Although their accuracy is reduced by the need to avoid the Monk, the party's sling bullets and crossbow bolts splinter one of the two skeletons to pieces.

The last creature attacks Ming Li again, but she has recovered from her surprise and easily evades its blows, retaliating with two swift strikes of her own.  Moments later, shattered shards of bone are the only remnants of the undead threat.

Drawing a deep breath to centre herself, the young monk looks up, intending to thank her companions for their assistance.

"Check the bodies for treasure." the Padre instructs, gesturing at the remains.  "We've got you a rope."


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 12*

Ming Li discovers a long coil of silk rope under the remains of the skeletons, which she loops over her shoulder before clambering out of the pit.  It doesn't seem much in the way of spoils for their troubles, but the group is not inclined to waste any treasure, no matter how scant.

"There's always those levers and buttons." Mantreus suggests, his fingers plainly itching to try one.

"Why don't we try the other doors, first?" the Padre is evidently unenthusiastic with Mantreus' suggestion. "I'm _sure_ you and Rose will be up to the challenge of unlocking them."

With his talents on the line, Mantreus cannot afford to appear reluctant, and quickly kneels before the middle of the five doors.  Rose moves to the other unopened door, and they each set to work.

Mantreus makes short work of his chosen lock, but Rose's choice proves a much more difficult challenge, and even after utilising every ounce of their skill, neither rogue is able to unlock it (Dm's note: in other words, Rose - who has the better skill bonus - tries taking 20).

Still reluctant to try the mysterious levers and buttons, the group readies to open the door that Mantreus succeeded in unlocking.  As always, everyone is braced and ready, weapons to hand.  Had there been any monsters in the tunnel beyond the door, they would surely have been intimidated.

As it is, however, the door opens onto a short corridor, at the end of which a stone face has been carved into the rock.  To the left and right of the face are closed doors.  There is another long discussion about whether it is safe to proceed, before the group heads into this corridor.

As they advance, the face animates - its eyes open, and it speaks:

"One door to lead you out, the other, to nothing.  Answer this riddle and I will show you with way: what is bound, yet helps others to escape?  You may each have one guess."

Someone opens their mouth, but the Padre clamps his hand across their lips and points silently back the way they came.  Everyone dutifully filters back into the room, where the priest explains his action,

"I was concerned that anything we said might be taken as an answer, so I wanted to move out of earshot."

Although it's not clear how far the 'hearing' of an animated stone face would extend, the others agree that this seems like a reasonable precaution, and they settle down to the task of solving the riddle.

"A book." Elspeth says almost immediately. "It's bound, but it helps people to escape into their imaginations."

The others think this is a good answer, but they decide that it is better to come up with some alternative ideas before heading back into corridor.  They do eventually come up with three more options, but none seem as strong as Elspeth's original suggestion, and the Elven ranger seems determined to give her answer a try, so the decision is made to try "a book" and see what happens.

The face smiles and replies,

"You have answered correctly.  The left door is the way out."

Having successfully answered the riddle - and pointedly ignoring the extremely smug look on Elspeth's face - the group considers its options.

"It said that was the way out." The Padre frets, "But we don't want to leave yet.  We still have to find the missing monk."

"Ai Ling." Ming Li reminds him of the young man's name. "Before we entered, my teacher told me that there was only one entrance to these caves.  This seems strange if this door truly is the way out.  It is not the path by which we entered."

Further discussion ensues as to the relative merits of trying the door they have been told is the "way out", but it seems no-one is willing to risk that it might truly be the exit.  They all remember Ai Quan's explanation that the complex can only be entered once by each person.

Finally, with no other obvious path forward, the group returns to the bank of levers and buttons.  Surprisingly, when it finally comes to the moment to try one, it is not the eager Mantreus who steps forward to do so, but the sceptical Padre.

Faced with no discernible clue as to the function of any of the levers or buttons before him, the Padre takes a deep breath and grabs hold of the most conveniently-placed lever.  After a quiet word of prayer to his god, he pulls the lever down ... and promptly vanishes.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 13*

There is a moment of silence as everyone stares at the point where the Padre had been standing just a second before.  There is no sign of the priest of St Cuthbert now, except that one of the ten levers has been moved from 'up' to 'down' position.

"Now what?" Stormstrider wants to know.

"Maybe if one of us moves the lever back, he'll reappear?" Mantreus suggests.  Everyone simply looks back at him, and he sighs, "Fine.  I'll do it."

Nervously, the rogue moves forward, unsure whether whatever force claimed the Padre is still in effect.  Nothing untoward occurs, however, and he is just about to reach out to the lever when the missing priest suddenly reappears, looking tired.

"You're still here?" he exclaims in surprise.

"Still here?  You've been gone less than a minute."

The Padre frowns,

"It felt much longer to me ... an hour at least.  I was trapped in some kind of huge stone maze, empty and cold.  I went looking for a way out, and when I finally found it, I reappeared here."

"Let's not play with that lever again, then." Mantreus decides, looking at the array in front of him, "Perhaps I'll try a button instead.  Why don't you leave this room, just to be safe?"

He is, however, talking to empty air: the Padre scurried out as soon as any suggestion of further tampering was proposed.

"I shall try a button after you." Stormstrider assures Mantreus ... though such promises are easy to make from the safety of a different chamber.

Alone with the strange array, the rogue shrugs, reaches out; pauses for a moment; then randomly grabs a lever and pulls it down.

Magical energy blasts out of a corner of the room, a white bolt of force striking Mantreus unerringly, despite his desperate attempt to dodge out of the way.

Fortunately the wound, though serious, is not life-threatening, and Mantreus is able to exit the chamber, looking a little pale.  The Padre immediately moves to his aid, then hesitates before deciding to sacrifice only an orison.  The resulting cure minor wounds puts a little colour back in Mantreus' cheeks, but goes only a small way to healing the injury he has suffered.

Stormstrider suddenly seems much less eager to try his hand at the array, so the group has to reconsider their plan of action.

"You know," Mantreus remarks thoughtfully, "each time we activate that thing it only affects the person in the room.  Why don't we try activating it from out here?"  He points at the buttons. "If we hit one of those with a crossbow bolt, we should be able to activate it."

The others agree that it is worth a try, and Mantreus - as the originator of the plan - is given the honour of trying it out.  He raises his crossbow to his shoulder, aims carefully ... and completely misses the button with one of the most embarrassing displays of marksmanship any of the group have ever seen.  Red-faced, the rogue swiftly reloads and fires again.

This time the bolt strikes true.  There is a black flash from inside the room as the button slides into place, but - far more importantly to the group - there is a clearly audible click from the lock on the only door they have not yet opened.

There are congratulations all round for Mantreus, and then the group adopts its usual practice when opening doors.  As before however, there is no threat to greet them.  Instead, the door opens onto a narrow flight of stairs, which runs down into the darkness.

The group immediately suspects a trap: no flight of stairs in such a place could be innocent, they decide.  The steps will collapse, or turn into a ramp, or prove to be an illusion.  They therefore decide that not everyone should venture down: apparently their logic is that it is better to have only half your group with you when you get ambushed, because that way fewer people will die.  Or something.

In any event, the injured Mantreus and Ming Li both choose to remain in the current chamber, where it is hoped they will be safe.  Just in case they do face some danger, Elspeth also remains, leaving the Stormstrider, Rose and the Padre to march through the door and into the darkness.

Seconds later, the door slams shut and the screaming begins.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 14*

The group were right: the steps do indeed turn into a ramp.  This occurs just as the three adventurers reach the mid-point of the staircase.  To add insult to injury, when the individual steps drop down, they reveal small openings in the wall.  Out of these openings pours a slick and slippery flood of grease.

The Padre is at the rear.  He falls on his back, but immediately jams both feet out against the narrow walls.  This quick thinking allows him to lodge himself in place, though it does not prevent him from ending up doused in the foul-smelling grease.

Rose is next, and despite her innate dexterity, she is unable to keep her feet.  Unfortunately, being smaller than the Padre, she is unable reach the walls and stop herself from sliding.  She consequently shoots down the ramp, knocking Stormstrider off his feet as she goes.  The two of them hurtle down into the darkness (Rose grimly holding onto the lantern as she goes).  Both are braced for a bone-jarring impact, and are thus surprised to land in something soft and yielding.

This momentary relief turns to mounting horror, however, as they realise that they are both stuck fast in a giant spider web, and that their arrival has not gone unnoticed.  A huge black spider, covered in thick hairs and nearly as large as a man, scuttles out of the darkness and toward the helpless adventurers.

Rose attempts to wriggle free of the sticky strands, but her skills as an escape artist are not up to the task, and the spider is rapidly bearing down upon her.  

With a mighty shout, Stormstrider rips himself free of the confining web, his brute strength succeeding where Rose's skills and guile have failed.  The action proves as much of a boon for the halfling as it does for the ranger, however, as the spider - no doubt attracted by the ferocity of his struggle - moves straight past Rose to attack him.

Stormstrider tries to fend the creature off with his weapons, but the spider rushes on, not in the least intimidated.  It's mandibles, drooling poison, bite deep into the elf's leg.

Still on his back, lying on the stairs, the Padre calls upon his god to place a bane on the spider.  It is a difficult position in which to cast spells, but he is able to focus his mind, and cast successfully.  Seeing Stormstrider visibly wilt from the spider's poisonous bite, he can only hope his spell has affected the beast.

Meanwhile, the three who were let at the top of the stairs rush to the door and try to re-open it.  To their relief, it proves not to have locked when it swung shut, and Ming Li quickly wrenches it open, while Elspeth loads her bow and Mantreus his crossbow.

Rose continues to try and escape, but again fails.  Meanwhile, Stormstrider is the only thing holding the spider's attention away from her.  The ranger swipes twice at the beast, scoring a minor hit with his sickle, but neither of his blows displayed their usual strength - a worrying sign.

The spider, seemingly unaffected by the Padre's magic, bites again, scoring another hit - this time on Stormstrider's trailing arm.  Poison once more washes through the Ranger, and he staggers, his strength failing still further as the foul liquid enters his bloodstream.

Unable to rely on his god, the Padre raises his already loaded crossbow and lets fly at the beast.  The quarrel sinks home, plunging deep into the spider's abdomen.

"Get out of the way!" Mantreus and Elspeth are both yelling at Ming Li, who coolly hurls a sling stone at the spider before stepping aside to give them a clear shot.  Unfortunately, the monk's missile flies wide, but both of her companions prove more accurate: their shots plunge into the creature's thorax, and it collapses to the ground, stone dead.

Moments later, Stormstrider also collapses, the continuing ravages of the poison leaving him trembling and weak (went from 18 STR down to 6).

Gingerly, the Padre moves down the stairs, which have re-set to their original position.  Quickly, he checks on Stormstrider.  The young elf is weak, but does not appear in imminent danger of death.

"Hey!  What about me!" Rose yelps, from where she is still suspended in the web.  Abashed, the Padre quickly cuts her free.  As he does so, he notices two other things in the strands: the first is a man-sized bundle; the second and a small, wriggling ball.

"Spider eggs!" the priest has a torch and his flint and tinder out in an instant.  His gaze is fixed fearfully on the wriggling ball.

"Wait!" Ming Li calls, "The large bundle!  I think that's Ai Ling in there!"

Staying well away from the wriggling ball, Rose investigates the man-sized shape.  Ming Li's hunch proves accurate, and the Padre - now even more abashed - cuts the goal of their quest free from his sticky prison.  It seems they have come within an instant of killing the very man they came to save.  Ai Ling is in a bad way - even weaker than Stormstrider - but between them the Padre and Rose are able to carry him to the base of the stairs.  From there, those at the top throw down a rope, and the group climbs up hand over hand, wary in case the stairs suddenly become a ramp once more.  They then repeat the process with their elven companion.

Once everyone is safely at the top, the Padre again produces his torch and lights it.  This time there are no objections as he hurls the burning brand down into the spider web.

Flames immediately engulf the wriggling ball, which lets out a plaintive - and feline - yowl of pain before being forever silenced.

The group looks at one another in shock as they realise that they are watching the missing Scratches - and their fifty gold piece reward - go up in smoke.


----------



## dpdx

*Awww!*

They killed Scratches! You...

Anyway, excellent story hour. Your narrative's the best part.

Look forward to future Random Encounters.


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## Capellan

Hi dpdx.  Glad to hear that there's more than just Hammerhead reading this  ... even more glad to hear you are enjoying it!

What happened to Scratches was certainly a surprise to me - but I should probably be glad it was "only" the cat that got burned.  The Padre came _this close_ to lighting the web while Ai Ling was still in it.

Anyway - time for a new part to go up, I think.


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## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 15*

"You have completed your intended mission, and may now leave." The booming voice emanates from the statue at the centre of the room.  Moments later, part of the stone wall grinds open, revealing once more the tunnel by which the group entered this area.

Ming Li nods to herself,

"Forever, you shall be as noble as your purpose." She quotes the words spoken earlier by the statue, "We have accomplished our goal, and thus may leave.  It is fitting."

The other group members refrain from expressing their opinions, instead concentrating on assisting Stormstrider and Ai Ling out of the chamber.  This process is not as quick as they might like, given the two men's weakness, but in time everyone is back outside in the fresh air.

As soon as the group emerges from the caves, Ai Quan hurries over,

"Thank you, my friends!" he exclaims, helping Ai Ling to sit on a large rock, "I was concerned I would not see my student alive again." He pats the young man on the shoulder, "It seems he still has more to learn."

Ai Ling can only nod weakly, as his teacher turns to Ming Li,

"Ming Li, you are my younger student, but in successfully returning from the cave, you have proven your readiness to choose your own path.  There are no more lessons I can teach you; you must learn them for yourself."

The young female monk nods her understanding and turns to the others of the company,

"We have travelled as companions today.  I would continue to do so."

There is no need for discussion: the group has seen Ming Li's prowess first hand.  The Padre speaks for them all when he answers,

"You are welcome to travel with us." He turns to regard Elspeth and Rose, "As are each of you."

The three women glance at one another, then nod their assent.  The group, including those left in Amberdale, has now grown to eight.

"And now, as promised, I have found a reward for you." Ai Quan begins to pull items out of a nearby sack, spreading them out on the ground.  "You may each choose one item.  I am sorry that I cannot give you more for saving my student, but I have nothing else to offer."

Despite the old monk's apologies, the items offered prove enough to sate the group's hunger for treasure ... for a short while, at least.  There are three potions; two of _cure light wounds_ and one of _bull's strength_; a purple amethyst, a magnifying glass, and specialised kits for both a healer and a climber.

Elspeth eagerly announces her desire for the amethyst, which is duly handed over.  Rose quietly requests the climber's kit, while the Padre and Stormstrider both take the healing potions.  Mantreus takes the _bull's strength_ potion.  Ming Li, content with the reward of choosing her own path, needs nothing.

With their adventures in the caves seemingly at an end, and with wounded to tend to, the group bids goodbye to Ai Quan and sets out at a gentle pace toward Amberdale.

"I could use that _potion of bull's strength_." Stormstrider suggests, gesturing weakly at Elspeth, who is carrying his pack for him, "It would help me recover from the poison."

The Padre demurs,

"Such magic lasts only a few hours," he explains, "we would be far better served to seek proper healing for you.  The priests of the Sanctuary may be able to help."


----------



## Sniktch

*Re: Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 14*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> Flames immediately engulf the wriggling ball, which lets out a plaintive - and feline - yowl of pain before being forever silenced.
> 
> The group looks at one another in shock as they realise that they are watching the missing Scratches - and their fifty gold piece reward - go up in smoke. [/B]




They weren't the only ones.  I think my jaw dropped when I read this, and then I had to laugh uncontrollably.  The things that happen in game sometimes.

Keep it coming, Capellan, I'm looking forward to more misadventures from the CotRE.


----------



## Capellan

*Re: Re: Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 14*



			
				Sniktch said:
			
		

> Keep it coming, Capellan, I'm looking forward to more misadventures from the CotRE.




I'm not sure my players would appreciate their efforts being characterised as 'misadventures' , but this was a pretty jaw-dropping sequence of events - and probably the most talked about part of the campaign so far!

But whether they be misadventures or not, it's time for another post!


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 16*

"Two hundred gold!" Mantreus is incredulous, "That's robbery!"

The head priest of Pelor looks unimpressed by the adventurer's histrionics.

"It is a very reasonable price." she politely but firmly insists, "Less than we would normally charge, in fact.  Your friend has been grievously poisoned, and it will take several applications of the spell in order to fully restore him."

"Surely we can negotiate?" the Padre wheedles.

"What is there to negotiate?  We are the only source of the healing your friend requires, and we have already provided you with a discount in recognition of your helpful acts to this community."

"Will you accept items in lieu of gold?"

"Certainly.  That is, if the items are useful to us."

Reluctantly, the group reviews its possessions.  They hand over several weapons taken from vanquished foes, as well as the silk rope Ming Li found in the pit trap.  However, they are still far short of the required amount and Stormstrider reluctantly offers up the _potion of cure light wounds_ he only just gained, as well as enough gold to make up the shortfall.

With her price met, the head priest advises that Stormstrider must remain at the Sanctuary overnight, as it will take until the next morning for the priests to fully relieve the poison's effects.  The group acquiesces to this: after all, they have little choice.

Returning the next morning, the group finds Stormstrider fit and hale once more.  They are on the verge of leaving the Sanctuary when something occurs to the Padre,

"Are you able to identify magical items?" he asks a nearby acolyte, "We know what all the ones we have at the moment do, but none of us are able to work out what such things do, should we find any more."

The young priest shakes his head,

"We can detect the presence of magic, and sometimes what general type it is, but not the specific abilities an item may possess."

"Is there anyone else in town who might be able to do so?"

"Normally, I would have to say no, but there are some people from Mirakest who have just arrived in town.  They rode in on a fancy wagon this morning and are moving into one of the houses on the southern edge of town.  I heard tell that one of them was a mage."

"I don't suppose you know which house?"

"No," the acolyte deadpans, "But I imagine it'll be the one with then wagon outside it, and people moving in."

The Padre can't argue with that logic, and the group immediately sets out in search of the newcomers.  As the young acolyte prophesied, there is no difficulty in finding the house in question.  A number of labourers are busily unloading a finely appointed wagon, and are carrying box after box of belongings into the small house.

The Padre strides up to the open door and knocks firmly on the frame.  He can see a short hallway strewn with boxes.  From further inside the house come the sweet and savoury scents of fresh baking.

After a few moments, a slightly plump middle-aged man with flour-covered hands enters the hall through one of the other doorways.

"Good morning!" he greets the adventurers amiably, "Come about the feast?"

"Uh, no." the Padre and his companions exchange perplexed looks.

"Oh, I assumed you must have.  I'm Gendrew - I've been hired to do all the cooking for the feast of the Harvest Festival." The man starts to offer the Padre his hand, realises that it is covered in flour, and withdraws it with an apologetic shrug, "What can I do for you folks?"

"We heard you were a wizard ..."

"Me?  Oh goodness, no.  You must be thinking of my wife, Andolyn.  She's not here at the moment, I'm afraid.  Did you have business with her?"

"We wanted to discuss the possibility of hiring her services in the future.  For the identification of magical items and similar tasks."

"Well, I can't say for sure if she will be interested, but perhaps if you come back after the festival you can talk to her.  We'll both be very busy with preparations until then." Gendrew suggests, "Now, I've left some scones in the oven and I really need to get back to them.  Excuse me!"

And with that, he ducks back through the doorway from which he emerged.

Left alone on the doorstep, the adventurers shrug and head back to their lodgings at the inn.  It seems they are once again at a loose end.

That feeling only lasts for the time it takes to reach the inn, however, for as soon as they arrive at the inn, Brent Birchwhistle hurries over,

"I'm glad you're back!  Come through to the back so we can talk in private.  I have a job for you."


----------



## arwink

I somehow think misadventure is a very apt term until this lot hit higher levels  

Poor Scratches.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 17*

"Grave robbers struck at the town cemetery last night." Brent explains, once the group has gathered in the privacy of his back room. "The groundskeeper saw three men break in and loot some of the graves."

"He didn't try to stop them?" Ming Li asks, dubiously. "Or alert the guards?"

Brent shakes his head,

"There were three of them, and he was afraid to attract their attention.  He did get a pretty good look at them, though.  Said they were rough looking types, and that all three had a tattoo of a snake on their forearm."

"So what is it you would like us to do?" Mantreus already has his eyes on the cash prize.

"We think the thieves might come back again tonight.  With the festival coming up the guards have their hands full looking after the living: they don't have time to protect the dead." Brent pauses, "You are the closest thing to guildsmen in town at the moment.  If you stop these men from repeating their robbery, we'll pay you three hundred gold. What do you say?"

The group says yes, resoundingly.

They immediately set off to the cemetery to see the lay of the land.  The graveyard has a neat picket fence around it, no more than waist high on a man.  The graves themselves are arranged in orderly lines, except for one larger mausoleum, presumably a relic of some wealthy family that once lived in the region.

For some reason it does not occur to the group to seek out the groundskeeper and ask if he has any further information.  Instead they toy with the idea of hiding inside the mausoleum, so as to surprise the robbers.  Mantreus already has his thieves tools out when it suddenly occurs to them that they are clearly visible from the nearby road, and would be likely to be observed in any attempt to break and enter.

Deciding that it would be counter-productive to break into a mausoleum in order to prevent a grave robbery, the group instead takes the time to search out excellent hiding places, and they are soon concealed around the cemetery, ready for any robbers that might appear during the night.

Sure enough, about an hour after midnight, three shadowy figures slip up the path toward the cemetery gates.  Two look like small, lithe men, while the last is larger and slower-moving.  The adventurers hold their breath, hoping their concealment will be sufficient for them to surprise the enemy.

Both Mantreus and Rose have hidden themselves near the entrance of the graveyard, planning to spring on their enemies from behind.  Rose's small frame and camouflage skills make her all but invisible in the darkness, but a particularly sharp-eyed observer might just be able to pick out Mantreus' silhouette.

No-one moves as the robbers move through the gates, passing close enough to the two rogues for them to reach out and touch them.  Only when he clearly sees the last man's back does Mantreus feel confident that he has passed unobserved.

At which point he slips out of hiding and guts the robber from behind.

The man crumples with a choked off scream.  The noise alerts his companions that they are in danger but Mantreus and Rose move faster than either, both dashing forward to slash at the larger of the two remaining men.

Using his superior reach, the man succeeds in fending Rose off with his shield, but Mantreus' sword bites deep again, drawing a thick flow of blood.  The man grunts in pain, but does not fall.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the group unleash a barrage of missile fire at the third robber, who is just far enough away to be a safe target.  The dim light seems to be ruining their aim, however, as only one shot strikes home.

Finally reacting to the threat they face, the target of the missile barrage tries to move around behind Mantreus, but his path is blocked by a gravestone and he has to pass dangerously close to the human rogue.

Mantreus sees the opening and takes it: he half-spins, slashing backhand with his sword, swiftly finishing the job that an arrow had already started (DM's note: the player's dice were hot - don't you hate that?).

With a growl, the remaining robber slashes at the death-dealing rogue, finally treating him to a bit of his own medicine.  Mantreus wisely decides on discretion over valour and steps away from the bigger man, rather than continuing to fight toe-to-toe.

The Padre moves forward, shouting a _command_ for the robber to "Die!".  Although the big man sways as the magical compulsion sweeps over him, he stays up - but only for as long as it takes Stormstrider to charge into the melee.  One glittering sweep of the ranger's scimitar is enough to bring the group's final foe crashing to the ground.


----------



## dpdx

*Lemme guess...*

They've just killed the mayor and two of his guard captains. That's how it always seems to go.


----------



## Capellan

You have a nasty, suspicious mind dpdx.  I like you 

Nah, the PCs 'done good' this time.  No inadvertant mayor murders here.  Just feline flambe!

Next part's ready to go - we're close to the end of the first adventure (second session) now.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 18*

The group moves quickly to check the condition of the robbers, hoping to secure at least one prisoner, rather than three corpses.  Only the last to fall still lives, and the Padre quickly binds the man's injuries, stabilising his condition.

"Hopefully we'll be able to find out what they were up to." He remarks, as he finished, receiving a nod of agreement from Ming Li.

"I am surprised that the town guards could not have dealt with this themselves." The monk remarks, watching as her companions move quickly to loot the bodies of their vanquished opponents.

"Earrings." Mantreus cups the aforementioned articles in his right hand, "One on each of the little guys.  Ought to be worth a few coins."

The Padre gestures and speaks several arcane words.

"More than a few." He reports as the detect magic takes effect.  "They're enchanted.  So is the shield on the big guy.  Looks like one of them is carrying a potion of some sort, as well."

These items - plus a small selection of coin that the robbers are carrying - are soon gathered up.  Then, with Elspeth and Stormstrider carrying the unconscious robber between them, the group heads back into town.

At the guard barracks, Captain Jarrek wastes no time in taking charge of the prisoner.

"Well done." He congratulates the group. "That's another dangerous job yer saved my boys from doin'.  Brent Birchwhistle has yer reward.  Get it from him in the mornin'.  Now, I expect yer checked these robbers pretty good for coin and such?"

The affirmative answers are delivered cautiously, with an air of suspicion that almost brings a smile to the captain's face.

"Don't mind yerselves, I ain't tryin' to take 'em from yer." He pauses. "There's not many in town who can help yer with such things, but if yer found any potions, yer can try Tally'oop, a gnome that lives on the west side of town.  Yer can't miss the place - there's a crooked iron chimney and a weather vane."

The next morning, having claimed the three hundred gold reward from Brent, the group sets off to find this Tallyhoop: a process which proves very easy as his ramshackle house not only sports the ornamentation mentioned by Jarrek, but also appears to have been built by patchwork, with many mismatched components used in the construction.

Suddenly a gout of smoke jets out of one of the lopsided windows, carrying with it the scent of burned food, laced with a hint of sulphur.

"In Glittergold's name!" a bandy-legged gnome staggers out of the building, his face and clothes spattered with some kind of grey goo. Despite his appearance, he is chortling to himself, "That girl!  Whatever will she do next!"

"Are you alright, sir?" Ming Li inquires, regarding the strange little fellow with puzzlement.

"Oh, quite fine, I assure you.  My niece just put thunderstone in the cook pot this morning." Against all expectations, the gnome beams with pride, "There's porridge over simply everything."

"Uh ..." the group look at one another in bemusement.  Finally, it is Stormstrider who speaks up,

"We came to get a potion identified." He produces the vial in question, "That is, if you are Tallyhoop?"

"Yes, that's me." The gnome uncorks the vial and takes a quick sniff, "_Potion of Hiding_." He hands the vial back without ever breaking from his contented chuckles.  "Whoosh!"  he suddenly waves his arms in wide circles, "Porridge everywhere."

Pleased to have their potion identified, but more than a little confused by the gnome's peculiar behaviour, the group withdraws as quickly as they can, leaving Tallyhoop to his chortle over plans for revenge on his niece.


----------



## Mantreus

*Some Clarification*

Ok, just to clarify things here. We aren't as "three stooges" as young Capellan makes us out to be... much 

It is proving to be a most enjoyable campaign. Myself and Stormstrider (my son) can barely wait for the next one!


----------



## arwink

I wouldn't worry Mantreus.  I think it's just a low level character thing. 

I'm sure you'll look less Stooges and more Stalwart Hero as the level count increases.

Besides, Capellans prepping to be thrown into one of the more...well, lets say disfunctional...adventuring parties I've seen.


----------



## Capellan

Mantreus:  The Three Stooges?  Nah, you're more like the Marx Brothers  

Arwink:  you might want to work on that sales pitch ... seems a little rusty!

In celebration of the boards being back, I'll post an update.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 19*

The next day passed uneventfully - a surprising but welcome change of pace for the adventurers, who have been kept busy for almost every waking moment since their arrival in town.  Amberdale is filled to overflowing as the Harvest Festival draws nearer, and the group begins to see why this is such a busy time of year for the guards.  A veritable shanty-town of tents grows up around the outskirts of the village, more than doubling the population, and vastly increasing the proportion of shysters, rogues and mercenaries of all stripes.

The High Priest of Pelor arrives the next morning, and promptly summons the group to discuss the terms for healing Gabrielle and Ulfgar, still confined to the Sanctuary due to their infected wounds from the wererat.

The group blanches when told the price of the healing: 500 gold per person.

"Surely there must be some alternative?" the Padre suggests, knowing full well that they do not have the coin to pay the fee, and doubtful that they could raise it in time, even if they were willing to sell the magical items they had found.

"Mayhap there is." the High Priest nods, "You have proven yourself doughty adventurers, and such skills as you possess can often be useful to my church.  I will waive the fee to heal your companions, provided that in return for each healing, you agree to conduct one mission for the Church of Pelor."

There is a brief discussion, but the group knows that they need the healing, and that they have no other options.  Taking solace from the fact that the Church is renowned as a force for good throughout the Duchy, the company agrees to the terms they have been offered.  By sundown, Ulfgar and Gabrielle have been released from seclusion, and are ready once more to adventure.

While waiting for the return of their friends, the Padre focuses his magic on the enchanted shield and earrings that they captured from the robbers.  After subjecting each item to careful scrutiny, he reports his findings,

"The shield offers enhanced protection, though the magic is only weak.  The earrings have some kind of alteration magic on them.  Again, the magic is fairly weak.  I suspect that the shield is a typical example of a minor magical device, but I am not sure of the earrings function."

As the Padre is the only person to use a shield amongst those who were involved in defeating the robbers, it is resolved that he should receive the item, while the earrings are put aside until they can be more thoroughly identified.  While testing the weight of his new shield on his arm, the Padre reveals that he has a proposal:

"As we have worked together very well in the last few days, I think we should form ourselves into an adventuring group." He explains, "Something by which we can be known - especially when the bards start telling tales of us.  I thought that, since we all met by chance, we could call ourselves the Company of the Random Encounter."

"I like it." Mantreus grins.  Ming Li merely nods silently, while Ulfgar growls an affirmative.  None of the others voice an objection, and so the name is adopted.  Only time will tell if it will be a name that is remembered, or just the sobriquet of another forgotten band.


----------



## arwink

Capellan said:
			
		

> *Arwink:  you might want to work on that sales pitch ... seems a little rusty!
> *




Doesn't everyone want to share a bedroll with a kobold? 

I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with the current line-up.  Are people still shifting in and out of the group every session?


----------



## Capellan

arwink said:
			
		

> *I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with the current line-up.  Are people still shifting in and out of the group every session? *




Yes, they are.

The reason there are a lot of characters running around in the last post is that it's covering some "between session house-keeping": we've just hit the end of the 2nd session played.

It should be obvious who is actually "active" when I start the next adventure's write-up, but if it continues to be a problem let me know and I'll think about ways to clarify it.


----------



## The Padre

*Misadventures!*

Hi there everyone, just Padre Wolfgang Priem here.

Just as a follow up to my mate, Matreus, Cappellan has tacken quite a few liberties with the story. You all know the saying "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story". That said, I must admit the whole incident with the cat was definately rather sad, but in my defence we all agreed at the moment that it may have been an egg sack and we didn't want take any risks. The fact that I actually hate cats has never entered into the equation  

Anyway, I just want to say that so far the game as whole has been marvellous, though rather novel in the amount of players participating! Unfortunately, my tenure of being the only religeous support is about to end (as a new player is about to join). 

The Padre


----------



## Capellan

*Re: Misadventures!*



			
				The Padre said:
			
		

> *Just as a follow up to my mate, Matreus, Cappellan has tacken quite a few liberties with the story. You all know the saying "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story". That said, I must admit the whole incident with the cat was definately rather sad, but in my defence we all agreed at the moment that it may have been an egg sack and we didn't want take any risks. The fact that I actually hate cats has never entered into the equation  *




Geez, he couldn't spell _either_ of our names right, Mantreus.  What are we to do with the boy?

I love the implication that there was a rational conversation about whether to burn the "egg sac" or not.  From my side of the table, it looked more like a mad dash to light the wick 

As a note for all my concerned readers (both of you!), I'll mention that I try to keep the _facts_ of what the party did as accurate as possible, whatever aspersions my players may make to the contrary.  Any factual errors are generally caused by the that I don't take any notes.

I do, however, give myself carte blanche when it comes to _interpreting_ the facts. 

Still, if any player wants to chip in with their version of events, they're welcome to do so.  It'll give people both sides of the story.

Just try not to talk about things I haven't posted yet.  You wouldn't want to ruin the surprises, would you?


----------



## Mantreus

> Geez, he couldn't spell either of our names right, Mantreus. What are we to do with the boy?



He was probably so overcome with the indignity of it all that he couldn't type straight 


> That said, I must admit the whole incident with the cat was definately rather sad, but in my defence we all agreed at the moment that it may have been an egg sack and we didn't want take any risks.



I must say that I agreed with The Padre at that point but as soon as we'd done it I realised what it could have been... of course it was too late by then.

The looks on everyones faces were priceless however 


> Unfortunately, my tenure of being the only religeous support is about to end (as a new player is about to join).



No offense Padre, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Your brand of religon can be a tad scary at times  And what if your otherwise engaged?


> Besides, Capellans prepping to be thrown into one of the more...well, lets say disfunctional...adventuring parties I've seen.



I hope there is a story hour for this Arwink, so I can pick on Capellan


----------



## arwink

Mantreus said:
			
		

> *I hope there is a story hour for this Arwink, so I can pick on Capellan  *




It's in the sig. 

It's probably still a dozen updates away from the point where he'll be joining though.

And since when do egg sacs wiggle? (before they hatch, anyway...)


----------



## dpdx

*Re: Misadventures!*



			
				The Padre said:
			
		

> *The fact that I actually hate cats has never entered into the equation *




Bad Padre! No Miracle! 



> *Anyway, I just want to say that so far the game as whole has been marvellous, though rather novel in the amount of players participating!*




You should consider yourself lucky. Our game's been dormant for the last year because we couldn't get the requisite four together to run the adventure module.

In any case, it's a fun read, and it moves along quickly with still enough backstory to read like it's not happening in a vacuum. Kudos to the players for their 'interesting' decisions, and to the DM/Author for a good Story Hour.


----------



## Capellan

*Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 20*

That night, the Padre retreats into his room to fast and pray.

"I will remain within for 72 hours." He informs Brent Birchwhistle, the owner of the inn.  "I shall require nothing during this time, and am not to be disturbed.  I must re-dedicate myself to my god.  I feel that recent events have expanded my understanding of Saint Cuthbert's teachings.  I must take the time to fully absorb this new knowledge."

Brent, evidently used to the foibles of adventurers, merely nods.

"I'll let the staff know." he promises.

Meanwhile, Stormstrider is preparing to set out into the forests surrounding Amberdale.  The ranger has grown more restless as the number of people in the village has increased, and clearly feels the need to retreat into the wilderness for some solitude.

"The trees call me." He explains to Elspeth, who nods her understanding. "I can feel them.  And I can feel the creatures that move among them - feel them more keenly than I ever could before.  It is like a cool fire, running through my veins.  There is a power welling up in me, and I have to go out there, if I want to release it."

At first, Mantreus scoffs at the normally taciturn ranger's remarks: but then he meets Shadow.

The soot-black cat appears in his room - seemingly out of nowhere, as the door and window are both closed.  At first, the rogue tries to chase this unexpected visitor off.  However, the strange feline appears unimpressed by his arm flapping and "shoo" noises.

His patience wearing thin, Mantreus finally reaches down to grab the animal and forcibly remove it - and sparks of energy leap from his fingers.

Stepping back and staring at his fingers in surprise, Mantreus glances back at the cat.  Their eyes meet, and suddenly the rogue knows the power inside him: sees and understands it for the first time.  He will spend the next few days experimenting with it, until he can conjure the magical energies as and when he wishes, directing them as he desires.

But while the three are engaged in learning their new skills, the call of adventure comes once more for their companions ...


[DM's note: as you've probably guessed, these three characters have gone up a level.  I'll post their updated stats in the Rogue's Gallery at some point, but probably not until after I've done the stat blocks for the newcomers in the next adventure.]


----------



## Sniktch

So I take it Mantreus is a sorcerer now?

Consider this a BUMP! plus the start of a fresh page


----------



## Capellan

Sniktch said:
			
		

> *So I take it Mantreus is a sorcerer now?*




Yup.  Stormstrider also multi-classed: he took a level in Druid.  Only the Padre stayed in his initial class.

However, none of these people appear in the folliowing adventure


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 1*

The tap room of the Birchwhistle Tavern is filled to bursting.  Festival time has come, and the population of Amberdale has swollen to three times normal.  Adventurers, traders and assorted other ne'er-do-wells rub shoulders in the tavern, on the streets and - if they get too unruly - in the equally crowded jail cells of Captain Jarrek.

With three of their members already occupied with their own projects, the Company has lost more of their number in the last twenty-four hours: Gabrielle has accepted a temporary assignment with the town guards, while Elspeth has disappeared in search of the local ranger, intent on giving him a stern dressing down for his poor efforts in looking after the area.  The elven ranger has forcibly dragged poor Rose along on this quest, apparently taking Cpatain Jarrek's injunction to "keep the halfling out of trouble" very seriously.

This leaves just Ming Li and Ulfgar - newly acquainted as they are - to share a table in one corner of the crowded room.  Between the gruff dwarf and the contemplative monk, there is little being said, and the corner is almost startlingly quiet compared to the hubbub from the rest of the room.

As the two enjoy their more or less companionable silence, a man enters the tavern.  He is slightly overweight, and bears the harried expression of someone with a great many things on his mind.  Glancing around the room, he hurries over to a particularly voluble group of adventurers near the door.  He speaks for some time, gesturing in an agitated fashion as he does so.

Suddenly one of the adventurers - a burly, hawk-faced man - bangs his mailed fist on the table,

"I am Kyrnyn, Champion of Heironeous!" he bellows, "Not some grocer, to be bothered with such errands!"

The other man steps back, raising his hands in a placating manner, then hurries away from the table, looking around urgently.

At length, his gaze falls on the silent duo, and - taking in their clothing and weapons - he approaches, half nervous, half eager.  Up close, they can see that he wears an apron, and has a smudge of flour on one cheek - the kind of smudge that always make you worry that there might be something on your own face.

"Excuse me," he begins, "my name is Gendrew.  I'm the cook responsible for the Harvest Feast."

Ming Li nods,

"We have met." She observes, "Your wife is a sorcerer."

"A wizard, yes." Gendrew agrees, "I have a bit of a problem that I was hoping you could help with.  You see, we have a missing shipment of food.  I sent two of the local boys to meet the wagon this morning, but no one has returned.  I'm busy here with preparations, and I need someone to go check on that wagon.  The village needs the food - the Harvest Feast will be a disaster without it."

"We might be able to look into it." Ulfgar allows, "What can -"

"I'd be pleased to assist in your endeavours."

The speaker is an extravagantly dressed halfling, whose dapper appearance is rather spoiled by the pattern of fresh breadcrumbs on his shirt.

"Macwood Fleetfoot, at your service." He doffs a non-existent hat, "Bard and explorer, extraordinaire.  If food is in danger, I'm your man."

Given the state of his clothing, it seems more likely that he would be the culprit than anything else, but Gendrew seems not to care,

"Oh thank you so much." He nods worriedly, "I'm very concerned I must say.  The roads can be dangerous this time of year.  I didn't think of it, when I sent those boys out, because I used the same road myself a few days ago, but now I am very concerned for them."

"Excuse me." A slightly built human lad approaches the group, "I couldn't help but overhear.  My name's Briar.  The lads you sent to meet the wagon were friends of mine.  If they could be in danger, I should go and look for them."

"Your accent is not local." Ming Li observes.

Briar snorts,

"Neither is yours, lady." He smiles disarmingly, "I'm from Tarkamul.  Came into town a day or two ago and got friendly with Jesper and Garal." He turns to Gendrew, "That was who you sent, right?  Tall, red haired kid and a smaller, darker guy with a broken nose?"

"I didn't get their names, but that sounds like them." The cook acknowledges, then turns back to Ulfgar and Ming Li, "Can you help these two gentlemen look for the wagon?  I'm very concerned about it, and the boys that I sent.  I'll pay you each 20 gold if you find them."

"Sounds fair." Ulfgar glances suspiciously at his new companions, "I just hope these two can pull their weights."

"Can either of you heal?" Ming Li has a focussed and specific mind.

At the answering negatives, she turns to Gendrew,

"We lack a healer, and will thus require supplies from the Sanctuary.  Can you pay us in advance?" the question is phrased baldly, the monk seemingly oblivious to the idea that anyone might doubt her sincerity.

"Um ..." Gendrew looks uncomfortable, "I guess I can give you half?"

"That is acceptable." The monk allows, before turning to her companions, "Are you ready to leave now?"

Briar nods as Ulfgar merely slaps a hand on his axe by way of answer.

"Just give me a moment." Macwood dashes for the bar, "I need to grab a snack for the journey."

While the halfling ensures his appetite is well-catered for, the others get details of the wagon's planned route from Gendrew.

"The shipment was mostly oysters and fish from the coast." The cook explains, "It was coming from a little harbour village named Roskan's Wharf.  Take the road heading south-east out of town.  Roskan's Wharf is only about ten miles away, so it must be somewhere between there and here."

With their destination established and Macwood happily munching on his snack, the four adventurers leave the tavern and head over to the Sanctuary.

None of them notice the small figure which flits from shadow to shadow in their wake.


----------



## Mantreus

I love how Capellan makes out that I tried to shoo my familiar away. All of that bit was complete poetic licence, which makes for a good read.. and makes me look like a wally 

I'm looking forward to hurling some magical energy around...


----------



## Capellan

Mantreus said:
			
		

> *I love how Capellan makes out that I tried to shoo my familiar away. All of that bit was complete poetic licence, which makes for a good read.. and makes me look like a wally *




Well, it made for a much better story than what really happened:

Capellan: Hey, you have over 100 gold.  Want to call your familiar?

Mantreus:  Yeah, OK.

Making you look like a wally was just a lucky bonus  

[I should mention that, as much as I like to make fun of my PCs' occasional foibles, they provide me with a very enjoyable and rewarding game: and they often play very well indeed.  I look forward to each session just as much as they do.]


----------



## arwink

See, that's why you should always read the storyhour when written by the DM.

You never know what me might be saying about you while you're backs turned 

Not that I've not been known to take a bit of poetic liscence with boring bits of the game...


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 2*

An acolyte greets the group as they arrived at the Sanctuary, 

"Pelor's blessings upon you.   How may we help?"

"We need healing potions." Ulfgar grunts.

"I'm afraid our stocks are a little low at the moment ... is someone hurt?  You do not appear injured ..."

"Not yet, but we plan to be." Macwood offers with a smirk, thoroughly confusing the young cleric, much to the group's amusement.  Even Ming Li's lip quiver into a half-smile.

"We gotta go look for a wagon.  It's full o' food for the festival, and it's late." Ulfgar brandishes his waraxe, "The guy that hired us thinks somethin' probably happened to it.  Bandits, maybe."

"Well, if it is for the festival, I will see what we can do." The acolyte hurries off to consult with his superior, returning after a few minutes with two stoppered vials.  "We can let you have these potions ... for the usual donation, of course."

"How much?"

"Fifty gold each."

Grumbling about the price, the group clubs together and - thanks to Ulfgar's comparatively fat belt pouch and the advance from Gendrew - come up with the required funds.  Then, with the potions safely stowed by Ming Li and Briar, they shoulder their packs and set off along the road to the south east.

The travel proves cold and muddy - the autumn winds carry more than a hint of winter - but the four new companions make good time by staying on the grassy verge of the road, away from the churned up mud that marks the passage of previous travellers.

"So what brought you to Amberdale?" Macwood inquires of Briar as the group marches along.  The young man grimaces, then gives a slightly bashful grin,

"There was some ... confusion ... over the ownership of a few items, back in Tarkamul.  I decided it might be best to get some of the fresh, country air for a while." The young man looks around, "I actually like it more than I thought I would.  You?"

"I'm a cartographer and explorer."  Macwood explains, "And I write a mean limerick.  I came out this way with another group of adventurers - you saw them at the inn."

"Won't they wonder where you are?"

"Probably." The halfling flashes a grin, "If that pompous ass Kyrnyn even notices I'm gone, that is."

"I can see why you decided to leave them." Ming Li acknowledges. "The behaviour was impolite."

"Aye.  Me and Kewpie Doll -" Macwood points at the longsword strapped to his back, "- we prefer to travel with folks who have a sense of fun."  The strangely-named weapon bobs up and down with each step the halfling takes, and seems improbably large in contrast to its diminutive owner.

The four travellers are so engrossed in their conversation that it is not until they have crested a small rise in the road that they realise the wagon they are searching for is just a short distance ahead: and that it has met with a foul fate.

Half a dozen bodies lie crumpled in the mud around the wagon, which is pulled over to the side of the road.  Two bestial-looking humanoids stand at the near end of the wagon, watching a third figure try to calm the horse from the wagon.  This third figure is too far away to determine what kind of creature it is, particularly as it is heavily bundled against the cold weather, but Macwood instantly recognises the greyish skin and tusk-like teeth of the closer figures.

"Orcs!" he hisses, waving for everyone to retreat quickly back over the hill.  This is done with some haste, the party scrambling to get out of sight while the creatures are still pre-occupied with watching the impromptu entertainment of the inept horse-handler.

Having successfully got under cover without being noticed, the four adventurers take a few moments to check out the lay of the land and plan their next steps.  They have been lucky enough to escape without consequences from their own lack of attentiveness, but they do not plan to allow the same luxury to the two orcs.

"There are plenty of trees along the sides of the road." Briar indicates with a vague gesture over the hillock, "I could sneak down and get a shot at one of the orcs."

"I'll go with you." Ming Li hefts her own crossbow.  "One each."

Macwood nods his agreement,

"When you get down there, I'll distract them for you."


----------



## Sniktch

Oho!  This looks vaguely familiar  

Can't wait to see how the CotRE makes it through.  Any chance we'll see Macwood's background over in your Rogue's Gallery?  Halfling bards rock!


----------



## (contact)

*Re: Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 20*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *The soot-black cat appears in his room - seemingly out of nowhere, as the door and window are both closed.  *




I thought for sure this was the shade of Scratches come to take her revenge.

But, hey, you guys did the old lady a favor-- you saved her 50 gp!  That's like buying her _two new cats_ and giving her 49.98 gp to boot

Did anyone bring the cat's body back to the old lady for burial?

"We're sorry, ma'am.  We were just too late to save poor old Scratches.  But rest assured, the dragon that did this is dead now."


----------



## dpdx

*Orcs -- and PIES!!*

Run!

Seriously, I still like this story very much. And I think it's an excellent idea:

Undead Scratches (Undead)
Tiny Undead Animal
HP: 15... etc., etc.


----------



## arwink

See Capellan, it wasn't just me 

Scratches needs to be avenged.


----------



## Capellan

> I thought for sure this was the shade of Scratches come to take her revenge.




You're _all_ crazy 

There are no plans to bring back Scratches (though rather worryingly, Dragon #300 has _exactly_ the set of stats I would need if I were to do so).

Though since I know some of my players read this thread, it could be that I'm lying, to throw them off the track 



> Oho! This looks vaguely familiar




Yup - it is indeed the same adventure that kicked things off for your group.  Things go a little differently than they did in that game, however.



> Any chance we'll see Macwood's background over in your Rogue's Gallery? Halfling bards rock!




I've passed on your request to Macwood's player - we'll have to wait and see what he comes up with.  He has a clear idea of the character's personality (which will become _abundantly_ clear soon enough!) and of future plans for him, but he hasn't done any backstory at this point.

If he does give me something, it will go up there.  In the mean time, Briar's stats and bio, will definitely go up on the Rogue's Gallery in the next day or two.

In other news, we'll be playing again this Saturday.  I'll be running an adventure I picked up here on the ENboards.  It's in the third post.  See how I *trust* my players not to run off and read it?


----------



## Mantreus

If you bring back Scratches Capellan, I may have to taunt you for the rest of your life  Anyway, we have a better faster stronger cat that'll tear the undead Scratches into little bits! Go Shadow!

And don't ever post a link like that again


----------



## Capellan

Leaving Ulfgar to stand guard over Macwood as the halfling plots his "distraction", Briar and Ming Li make their way down through the trees toward the orcs, each skilfully employing their training in stealth.  Eventually, they reach a spot no more than 30' from either of the two grey-skinned humanoids, both of which are still absorbed in the spectacle of the struggling horse and handler.  Up close, the adventurers can see that the third figure is a human male.

The two crouch behind some scrubby bushes, carefully loading their crossbows,

"How do you think Macwood will get their attention?" Briar whispers.

"He had a sling with him." Ming Li suggests, equally quietly, "He will probably shoot at them.  Then, when they charge toward him, we will be able to shoot them both."

It's a good theory, but nothing like what actually happens.

Macwood suddenly appears at the top of the rise, waving a garishly coloured shirt above his head and yodelling:

"_Na Orc klaw din ot raab ud yass - Ack!_"[1]

The string of consonants obviously means more to the orcs than it does to the halfling's companions, as they both immediately start to turn toward him.

"Now!" Ming Li hisses, and both she and Briar unleash bolts from their crossbows.

Neither shot is terribly accurate: Ming Li's is too low, digging up clumps of mud as it ploughs into the ground about 5' short of the orcs.  Briar's, meanwhile, strikes a glancing blow on the closest orc's scalemail shirt ...

.. then promptly ricochets upward and into the unfortunate creature's neck, killing it instantly.

As its companion drops with a choked-off shout of alarm, the remaining orc looks around wildly for the source of the ambush.

And then it too suddenly topples backward, a dagger sunk to the hilt in its left eye.

"Where did that - ?" Briar's question trails off as he sees Ming Li already shaking her head.

"It came from somewhere on the other side of the road, but I did not see where."

Apparently undeterred by the presence of an unknown participant in the ambush, the young monk moves out into the road toward the one remaining figure they can see, calling out to the man who has finally given up his struggle with the horse.

"We were sent by the town to look for the missing wagon ... are you injured?"

The man's only response is to make a few gestures in the air with one hand and mutters to himself, moving slowly backward as he does so.

"Are you a fool, girl?" Ulfgar has appeared beside Macwood, as the gleeful halfling capers with excitement, "He could be in league with the beasts."

"I'll not attack a human without cause." Ming Li answers, keeping her crossbow unloaded and down by her side.  Briar decides to play it a bit safer, loading his crossbow, though not actively pointing it at the man.

The subject of their attention draws and loads his own crossbow, possibly in answer to the young rogue's actions.  He mutters and gestures again at the end of this process.

"Please," Ming Li makes another attempt to speak to him, "we're not hear to hurt you."

"Glad to hear it." the man snaps his head up and gives the monk a feral smile.

Then he shoots her.



[1] "An orc walked into a bar and said - Ouch!"


----------



## Sniktch

Never trust a Trember  

I like how this is going so far, although I must admit that I am VERY curious about where that dagger came from.


----------



## jzashaedra

*Re: Amberdale 0 : "An Introduction to Amberdale" by PDabble Games - Part 16*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *"Normally, I would have to say no, but there are some people from Mirakest who have just arrived in town.  They rode in on a fancy wagon this morning and are moving into one of the houses on the southern edge of town.  I heard tell that one of them was a mage."
> 
> "I don't suppose you know which house?"
> 
> "No," the acolyte deadpans, "But I imagine it'll be the one with then wagon outside it, and people moving in." *




Straightmen PC's and smarta$$ DM's combine for such a hoot!!! I love it so far.


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 4*

Despite the sudden nature of the attack, the young monk's reflexes save her from serious injury: she spins to the side, the bolt that was aimed at her throat merely grazing her shoulder.  [DM's note: Point Blank Shot and _True Strike_, and I rolled a "1" for damage.  Sigh.]

"Damn it!" Briar snaps off a shot back at the monk's attacker.  His aim is true, but at the last moment the bolt strikes an invisible barrier and is harmlessly deflected away.  The target of the shot, meanwhile, has turned and bolted away from the group.

Ulfgar raises his waraxe and charges down the road toward the scene of the confrontation, his sturdy legs allowing him to cover almost half the distance to the wagon, despite the muddy conditions.

Another dagger flashes out of the bushes on the opposite side of the road, but does not even come close to striking its fleeing target.

"Who is that?" Briar wonders again.

"Who _cares_?" Ulfgar yells in response, still running toward the fight.  "As long as they're not trying to kill us?"

This sounds like good advice to the young rogue, who puts aside the question of the mystery participant to race after the fleeing human.  Seeing that the man still has his crossbow in his hands, the youngster gambles and puts on a burst of speed, trying to get in front of their adversary.

Seeing Briar out of the corner of his eye, the man swings the crossbow, cudgel-style.  The haft of the weapon strikes the young man on the side of the head, but the glancing blow is not even enough to make him stumble as he moves to block his assailant's attempt to flee.

Ming Li, by now thoroughly convinced that they can attack this man in good conscience, races up behind their opponent, leaving him neatly boxed in.

With a snarled expletive, the man feints left, then dodges to the right around Briar, still trying to get clear.  The young rogue echoes the curse, draws his sword, and gives chase, chopping at the man's back as soon as he gets in range.

The blow is hastily aimed, but the impetus of Briar's charge makes it effective: the blade plunges deep into the man's back.  It's likely that the blow is instantly fatal, but the victim staggers on for a few more steps before the effects of his wound catch up with him, and he collapses into the mud.

"That's for Jesper and Garal." Briar snarls at the corpse, then kicks it for good measure.

"Well done, young 'un." Ulfgar congratulates Briar as he moves up to the scene.  Then he gestures with his axe at the area of bushes where the daggers came from, "Now we can worry about who's sneaking around out there."

"I don't see them." Briar confesses, scanning the vegetation fruitlessly.

"Nor I." Ming Li concurs.

"I do." An out of breath Macwood gasps out as he jogs up. "Over there, behind the blackberry bushes."

"Aye.  I see her, too." Ulfgar nods, "You've got sharp eyes, bard." He raises his voice, "You may as well come out."  

"Oh ... you can see me, huh?" a slip of a gnome girl emerges bashfully from the undergrowth, a dagger held lightly in one hand.  She looks limber and lithe, and has darkly pretty features - though with a decidedly mischievous cast.

"Been able to all along," Ulfgar bluffs, playing a hunch, "You've been following us since town."

"Oh." The girl looks crestfallen, "Gotta work on those hide skills, I guess." [DM's note: or maybe those Sense Motive skills would be a better investment!]

"Why are you following us?" Ming Li is very practical.

The young gnome grins,

"I kinda overheard you talking to that guy about going looking for this wagon, and I figured it sounded more exciting than hanging around town ... so I thought I'd tag along."

"Well, good job with that orc." Ulfgar gestures with his axe, "Nice throw.  You got a name, kid?"

"Tweedlefinkle Dessandri Rhowyn." The girl answers proudly.  Then, seeing the bemused expressions on the others faces, she visibly deflates, "Oh, just call me Twinkle.  Everybody else does."


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 5*

The group wastes no time in looting the bodies of their fallen enemies, and then turns their attention to the matter of returning the wagon to Amberdale: a problem that proves more formidable than originally expected, when it becomes apparent that none of them has the faintest idea how to drive the vehicle or handle the still skittish horse.

"I will return to the village and fetch someone to drive it for us." Ming Li suggests, "I believe I can make the journey quickest of us all.  The rest of you should guard the wagon, in case any more bandits arrive."

Ulfgar agrees,

"Seems like it would be quicker than trying to handle the cart ourselves.  We'll tend to the bodies of the victims while you're gone."

Ming Li frowns,

"It seems strange to me that these creatures would have so much interest in a wagon that only contains foodstuffs.  How could that be worth the deaths of six people?"

"Maybe they were hungry." Briar suggests pragmatically.

"Perhaps, but I still think it would be wise to check the contents ... in case we have been lied to."

The group agrees to the suspicious monk's suggestion, and spends some time examining the contents of the many sacks and barrels aboard the wagon.  By the end of this process, even Ming Li is forced to concede that the contents are exactly as they were told: oysters and fish.

"They're good." Macwood confirms happily, burping lightly.  Ming Li fixes him with a disapproving stare, but the halfling appears utterly unperturbed.

With her concerns allayed, Ming Li sets out for Amberdale.  Travelling light as always, the young monk makes excellent time, and soon arrives at Gendrew's house on the edge of town.

"Oh!" the portly cook exclaims on answering her knock, "You're back!  Did you find the wagon?"

"We did." Ming Li nods, "Unfortunately, it had been attacked by orcs.  They killed the driver and guards, as well as the two boys you sent to meet the wagon."

"Oh dear!" Gendrew wrings his hands in distress, "That is terrible news!"

"The wagon itself is intact." Ming Li continues, "We arrived before the beasts could take it away, and killed them.  We now require someone to drive it for us, as none of us have the training."

Though still distressed by the news, Gendrew is quickly able to arrange for a stable-hand from the inn to accompany Ming Li back to the wagon.  He even manages to prevail upon Captain Jarrek to release two of his guards for security purposes, despite the latter's protests about the need for order in the town.  It seems a successful Festival Feast is more important.

Thus Ming Li is able to return to the wagon within a couple of hours.  Upon arrival, she finds the others have been busy: the bodies of the victims have been cleaned up and placed on the wagon, as well as the armour and weapons taken from the dead bandits.

"Should fetch a good price at the Festival markets." Twinkle comments, "There are usually lots of people wanting to buy that kind of stuff."

"We also found tracks." It seems Ulfgar has the scent of more orcs. "We should follow them back to wherever the scum came from and make sure there aren't any more of 'em."

"There may also be other valuables at their camp." Macwood evidently understands the adventurer psyche very well.

"Will we be able to find it?" Briar asks, "I don't know much about this stuff - I'm usually the one making the tracks, not following them!"

"It won't be a problem." Macwood sounds confident, "There was rain last night and the ground's still soaked.  As long as it doesn't rain again the tracks will be clear."

"We should start now, then." Twinkle advises, "It's already past noon, and it rains most nights, this time of year - we'll have to find their camp before dark."

There is rapid agreement all round, and - having seen the wagon safely on its way once more - the five adventurers set off to follow the bandits' trail.


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 6*

It takes just over an hour for the group to follow the bandits' trail to a low ridge-line, perhaps a mile from the road.  The ridge lies in the midst of a scrubby, rather anaemic patch of woodland, and stretches out of sight to both the left and right.

Directly in front of the group is an area of open ground, a rough semicircle perhaps 50' in radius.  The tracks they have been following lead directly into this area and head straight toward a low, 10' wide opening in the limestone ridge.

"Something's in there." Twinkle's sharp eyes catch a glimpse of movement, despite the darkness within the opening.  The group immediately goes to ground: most doing their best to hide.  Only Ulfgar refuses to do so, remarking gruffly on the futility of such an attempt on his part.  The doughty dwarf does, however, take the precaution of getting under cover.

"Looks like there are more of them."

"We should follow the trees around to the ridge and then work our way across to the entrance." Ming Li suggests. "That way we will be under cover the whole time."

"Yeah," Briar quips, "Or Macwood could just walk up and knock on their non-existent front door."

"OK." The halfling nods and steps blithely out into the open, whistling cheerfully while walking straight for the opening.  His flabbergasted companions have no recourse but to draw their weapons and wait to see what occurs.

Fortunately, it seems that the bandit guards are just as surprised as the group were.  Macwood is halfway across the clearing before two arrows fly out of the opening toward him, and even then the archers prove woefully inaccurate, with both shots going wide.  [DM's note: my dice are fired.]

Unable to see the enemy to target them with his crossbow, Briar leaps to his feet and charges right to the mouth of the cave, drawing his shortsword as he goes.  It's a brave - though possibly foolish - move that is immediately repeated by Ulfgar, who comes clanking up alongside the young rogue.

From their new vantage point, the two adventurers can see into the gloom of the cave.  Within are two grey-skinned humanoids like the ones they ambushed earlier in the day.  The creatures appear to have been in the midst of reloading their bows

"Orcs!" the Dwarf barks with enthusiasm, readying his war axe.

For their part, the Orcs seem just as eager to come to grips with their ancient racial enemy.  They both cast aside their bows and draw mighty greataxes, stepping forward to fight toe to toe at the cavern entrance.

Twinkle scurries over to some bushes near the opening, but seems content to advance no closer, while Ming Li methodically loads and aims her crossbow, waiting for a clear opening in which she can fire.

The group's last fight was over before Ulfgar could even reach it, and the Dwarf obviously doesn't intend to let that happen again.  Unfortunately, he is so eager to get to grips with his opponent that he swings too early, missing his target completely.

Briar enjoys no more luck: he jabs with his shortsword but does not have the reach to get past his opponent's defence.

The orcs strike back hard.  Ulfgar blocks the first mighty blow with his shield, but Briar has no such defence against his own opponent.  The notched blade of the orc's greataxe smashes hard into the young man's side, and the rogue goes down in a heap, blood flowing from the grievous wound.

"Your mother was a goblin!" Macwood yells, using both hands to wave his longsword over his head as he charges into the melee.

Ming Li fires over the advancing halfling's head, but her shot is too high, the bolt shattering on the stone above the orcs' heads.

Twinkle proves her mettle by darting in next to Macwood and dragging Briar to safety, relying on the halfling to keep the nearby orc busy.

For their part, the big humanoids seem to discount the halfling as a threat: over-sized sword or no, their attention is focussed on Ulfgar, and the dwarf has to endure attacks from both of the creatures.  He parries one blow and ducks under the other, but the pressure they keep on him prevents him from making an effective attack of his own.

Macwood, however, proves far more dangerous than the orcs had expected.  With a shrill shout, he buries the point of his longsword into the closest orc's stomach.  The creature stares at the tiny halfling in surprise, and then silently crumples to the ground.

The death of the orc relieves the pressure on Ulfgar.  No longer beset by two adversaries, the dwarf plants his feet firmly and scythes the blade of his axe into the skull of his opponent.  The orc doesn't even have time to scream.

With the immediate threat resolved, the group turns its attention to Briar.  Twinkle has already bandaged and stabilised the young rogue, but he is in a very bad way, sorely injured and pale with lack of blood.

"Here." Ming Li digs into Briar's backpack and retrieves one of the potions they bought from the Sanctuary.  "Give him this."

The _potion of cure light wounds_ restores some colour to Briar's complexion, and causes his wound to visibly heal, but does not restore him to consciousness.

"I am reluctant to use the other potion so early." the monk remarks, "Perhaps we should consider withdrawing."

"There could be more orcs in there." Ulfgar objects, "I have another potion with me, if it comes down to it.  Give the boy the second one we bought."

Ming Li glances at Twinkle and Macwood, both of whom nod their agreement.

"Very well." She accedes, "But we cannot afford to risk such severe injuries again.  We will have to plan our tactics better, in future, or we will all be slain."


----------



## jzashaedra

very nice. still enjoying it, and it sounds like all of you are too.


----------



## Capellan

jzashaedra said:
			
		

> *very nice. still enjoying it, and it sounds like all of you are too. *




Glad you're having fun, jzashaedra.  And yes, the games have been very enjoyable.  Good to hear that's coming through in the story hour!


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 7*

The second potion gets Briar on his feet again, though the young man is far from healthy.  Despite his injuries, however, the rogue proves willing to press on.

Accordingly, the group move into the cavern, pausing only long enough to loot the two fallen Orcs' belt pouches.  They also drag the bodies out of sight, planning to strip them of armour and weapons on their way out.

The cavern proves fairly narrow, but is quite deep.  Twinkle lights a small lantern as the group heads into its gloomy recesses.

"Look." Briar points at the wall and speaks in a low voice, "That's worked stone."

"Aye." Ulfgar agrees, examining the place indicated, "Looks like it's all worked from this point on.  Must be tunnels of some kind ahead."

Moving carefully so as to make as little noise as possible, the adventurers continue.  The walls; once natural stone; are now smoothed slabs, and within a few seconds the lantern's dim light reveals a closed wooden door.

Twinkle motions for the others to keep silent and then creeps forward.  Crouching beside the door, she presses her ear to the wood and listens for well over a minute, before creeping back to rejoin the group.

"I can hear the sounds of people moving around in there." She whispers, "Probably three or four of them.  They weren't talking much, but I heard some grunts and some scraping noises.  It didn't sound like they were alarmed though ... I don't think they heard the fight."

"No hinges on this side, so the door opens into the room." Ulfgar notes in a low rumble, "If the door is unlocked and we go in fast, we might be able to surprise them.  But a battle like that could get nasty."

"Were they talking in orcish?" Macwood asks.  When Twinkle shrugs in response, he amends the question, "What did the words sound like?"

The gnome replies with a series of phlegm-soaked consonants.  Macwood nods, seemingly satisfied.

"How about if I yell for them to come out?" he suggests.  Seeing the looks this receives, the halfling explains his intent. "I'll yell in orcish.  I'll shout that there's a dwarf out here.  Then when they come out, we can get the drop on them."

"Your voice doesn't sound very much like an orc." Ming Li is dubious.

"I'll pitch my voice deeper." The bard waves his hand dismissively, "Through a door like that, they won't be able to tell the difference."

No-one else has a better suggestion, so the group decides to give the halfling's plan a try.  Briar and Twinkle move up to the door and hide in the shadows on either side.  Meanwhile, Ulfgar plants himself about 30' from the door, axe and shield at the ready.  Ming Li and Macwood stand on either side of the dwarf, the monk readies her crossbow while the halfling eagerly brandishes his longsword, Kewpie Doll.

Once everyone is in position, Macwood yells:

"Grat!  Dar na Khuzkul rak!"

Despite his small stature, the halfling proves to have powerful lungs; doubtless the result of his bardic training; and the bellowed words sound impressively orc-like to his companions.

It obviously sounds pretty convincing to the orcs as well, because within seconds there is the noise of pounding feet from beyond the door, which is then wrenched open.  A burly orc, axe in hand, is framed within the doorway.

The creature instantly catches sight of Ulfgar, and charges forward with a bellow, apparently oblivious to the presence of the two rogues on either side of him.

Briar and Twinkle have their weapons ready, but do not strike, hoping to lure forth more of the Orcs.  The tactic works: a second Orc comes through the door only moments later.  This time, Briar strikes, his shortsword severing the beast's spine.  The creature crumples to the ground with an agonised bellow.

Meanwhile, the charging orc brings his greataxe down in a huge overhead swing, aiming to crush his opponent's skull.  But Ulfgar uses his sturdy steel shield deflects the blade aside.  Sparks fly from the impact, and despite his solid stance, the dwarf is rocked by the power of the blow.

Macwood, however, is free of the orc's attention, and he makes his larger foe pay for this reckless attack.  Gripping his longsword two-handed, the halfling - who is a bare inch taller than his weapon - mimics his opponent's swing.  The Orc lacks a shield with which to defend himself, and the blade bites easily through his scale armour, dropping the creature where it stands.

"Just call me _Orcslayer_!" Macwood gloats.

It seems the halfling will have plenty of opportunity to prove his claim, as yet another of the humanoids steps through the doorway; this time immediately turning to face Briar, whose attack - while successful - has revealed his presence.

Of course, what the orc doesn't know is that this leaves his back open for Twinkle's strike.  Unfortunately, the gnome's sneak attack lacks the strength to penetrate the creature's armour, and her sword skitters off its mail.

Ming Li, seeing the injured Briar under threat, calmly pops her crossbow up to her shoulder and fires.  Engaged with two opponents, the Orc is an almost impossible target.  The monk's shot sinks straight into its left eye, dropping it instantly.  {DM's note: needed a 20 and got it.  Gah.]

One last orc stands just beyond the doorway, but after seeing the way his companions have been butchered, he has no interest in taking on the adventurers alone.  Instead, he turns and runs.

The group boils into the room in pursuit.

Briar arrives first, stabbing ineffectually with his shortsword.

Ulfgar swings his axe: a clean miss.

Macwood whirls Kewpie Doll above his head as he strikes, but fails to land a blow.

Twinkle's jabbing attack is no more successful than her last.

Finally Ming Li unleashes a flurry of blows ... but cannot find a weak spot in the creature's armour.

Somehow unscathed, the orc continues to flee, ducking between Ming Li and Briar.  Unfortunately, the very armour that saved it from the last batch of attacks now dooms it: the monk easily overtakes the fleeing creature and drives the heel of her hand into the back of its neck.

There is a wet sounding _crunch_, and the final orc falls dead at her feet.


----------



## dpdx

Still here. Still loving it.

Wish my first first-level game went this smoothly. "Wait a minute! I get an extra 1 for Dodge!"


----------



## jzashaedra

hooray for the heroes!


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 8*

The group loots the bodies - noting in passing that every orc they've killed so far has had exactly 20 silvers in his belt pouch - and then checks out the room, which contains many crates, barrels and sacks.  They quickly realise that this is a store room of some kind, and further note that, although there is plenty of water, as well as mining tools, there is very little food of any kind, which explains why the creatures had turned to banditry, though not why they had been accompanied by a human.

Moving on, the group comes to a crossroads in the tunnel.  The passage to the right quickly proves a dead end, collapsed into rubble, but the one that continues ahead is intact, and comes to a wooden door.

"We should check it out." Ulfgar remarks, "I don't like turning my back on a door."

"It's barred on this side." Briar gestures at a thick wooden beam that seals the door, "Nothing's coming through it."

"Makes me wonder what the orcs were trying to keep out, though." Macwood muses.

"Or keep in." Briar suggests, "It could be a cell of some kind."

"There's one way to find out." Twinkle marches up to the door and bashes on it with her fist.

"What was that supposed to do?" Ulfgar wonders.  The gnome looks offended,

"It was an intimidating knock." She explains, "Now be quiet."  So saying, she presses her ear to the door and listens for any sound of a response to her action.  Seconds tick by.

"Not a sound." Twinkle announces at last, straightening up from her half-crouch, "There's nothing so much as breathing in there."

"Which doesn't rule out undead." Ming Li evidently remembers her experience in the skeleton pit.

"Either way, it doesn't look like there's anything to worry about while that bar's in place." Briar shrugs, "Let's go back to the junction and check the left-hand passage.  We can check here later."

There are no objections to this plan, and so the group returns to the crossroads, and then heads down the only remaining tunnel they have not yet explored.  This passage runs for about 40' before the dim light of Twinkle's lantern reveals a turn to the left a short distance ahead.

"What's that noise?" Briar stops and raises his hand, signalling the others to halt as well.

"Sounds like chains?" Twinkle wonders, "Some kind of machinery, maybe?  It's coming from around the corner, whatever it is."

"Wait here." Macwood scurries to the corner without waiting for a reply, then drops to the floor and inches forward on his stomach.  After peering down the corridor for a few seconds, he jumps to his feet and hurries back.  "There's a room up ahead.  There's only a brazier there for light, but it looked like there was some kind of winches hanging from the ceiling, with chains going down into a pit.  The chains were moving."

"There are lifts like that in some of the great Dwarven Halls." Ulfgar growls, looking around with fresh eyes. "These beasts cannot be left to despoil an ancient home of my people."

With the lift in operation and company on the way, a plan is quickly formulated: Macwood returns to his position by the corner, while the others drop back a short way and cover Twinkle's lantern with Ming Li's emptied sack.  Each of them has a weapon at the ready.

The clanking noise of the lift finally stops, and a few moments later Macwood hurries back to the others, feeling his way along the wall.

"Four orcs." He whispers, "They don't look like they expect trouble."

Expected or not, trouble finds the orcs, with a vengeance.

"Now!" Ulfgar yells a warning as soon as he sees the humanoids appear round the corner.  Simultaneously, he pulls the sack off the lantern.  The party - ready and with their eyes half-closed against the coming light, are able almost instantly to react.  Their enemies enjoy no such luxury.

Ulfgar and Macwood race forward, weapons scything into the surprised orcs.  The front two both go down, bleeding heavily from deep wounds.

The other two orcs are not yet in sight, but Twinkle darts round the corner and stabs blindly upward.  Her sword finds a weak spot in the nearest orc's scale mail, and the blade plunges deep into its chest.  The orc drops with nothing more than a choked off gurgle.

The last orc has only half-drawn its axe by the time Ming Li reaches it.  The young monk spins her quarterstaff, striking the creature in the temple and felling it instantly.

Feeling very satisfied with the results of their ambush, the group quickly rifles the bodies.

"Twenty silvers each, again." Briar notes, "I think these orcs all got paid recently."  [DM's note: the players said this at _exactly_ the point where the module said they would.  Spooky  ]

"That means there must be someone in charge." Ming Li reasons, "but we still don't know who they are or what they're here for."

"Aye." Ulfgar grins and brandishes his waraxe, "How 'bout go we find out?"


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 9*

After a quick discussion, it is decided that the best way to proceed is to disable the lift and check what lies beyond the barred door.

"Best to clear out this whole level before we go any further down." Ulfgar reasons, "After all, there's no tellin' how many tunnels there are below, or how many orcs are in 'em."

The others are in agreement, and - after using the tools they found to spike the lift's chains in place - the five adventures find themselves once more outside the mysterious door.  Twinkle listens briefly at the door once again, still hearing nothing.  Then Ulfgar removes the bar while the others stand ready with missile weapons.

Gripping his axe, Ulfgar motions for Ming Li to swing the door open, ready to engage anything that might come bursting out when she complies.  However, the door swings open without incident, revealing a small chamber, at the far end of which are two stone coffins.

"See, I told you." Ming Li gestures, "Undead."

Nothing comes bursting out to attack, however, and so Ulfgar gradually edges into the room, glancing around for any sign of danger.  Although everything seems quiet, the group all find it hard to believe that the door would have been barred without good reason, and thus all remain alert.

Despite this caution, the ghoul's attack still catches  them flatfooted.

The emaciated undead creature leaps over the left hand coffin as Ulfgar is glancing right, clawing and biting even as the dwarf responds to his companion's cries of alarm.  The fighter manages to deflect two of the ghoul's blows with his shield, but one claw sneaks past his guard, tearing at his skin.  The blow itself is not strong, but Ulfgar feels the supernatural chill of the creature's paralysing attack creep into his flesh.  He is a true Dwarf, however, hardy of body, and he shakes off the effects.

Twinkle is the first of the group to react, dashing forward to stab the creature with her sword.  The blow is a good one, and might have been deadly to a still living creature, but it merely cuts through dead flesh in the case of the ghoul.

Macwood also moves forward, though more cautiously than his gnomish companion, slashing at the creature with his longsword.  The ghoul dodges the tentative blow easily, and claws at Twinkle in revenge for the wound she inflicted upon it.  Like Ulfgar, the gnome is able to dodge two of the three blows, but the last claw slips through her defence, ripping open a wound on her shoulder.

Once more, the paralysing effects of the creature's touch come into effect, and unfortunately Twinkle lacks the strength to resist.  The young gnome finds herself helplessly frozen in place as her muscles suddenly refuse to respond.

Still shaking off the effects of the ghoul's attack, Ulfgar manages to land only a weak blow on the creature's side.  It snarls in response, but does not appear significantly injured.

Ming Li and Briar also move to engage the creature, but there is not much room to manoeuvre in the small room, and they are unable to seriously threaten the undead creature, finding it difficult to close to effective melee range.

The ghoul itself has no such problems.  Aided by the fact that its opponents are crowding and inhibiting one another, it is able to leap at Ming Li, biting deeply into her neck.  As the monk collapses from this wound, however, the ghoul is half-dragged down with her.  Ulfgar chooses that moment to strike, his axe shearing deep into the undead beast, snuffing out its foul existence.

Quickly tending to their injured companions, the group uses their last healing potion to restore Ming Li to consciousness.  Despite their success against the orcs, most of them are by now quite battered from their battles.

"I think we should head back to town." Briar suggests, "The wagon should be there by now and we can get the rest of the money that Gendrew promised us.  We should be able to use it to get healing from the Sanctuary.  If they know we are fighting orcs, they might even be willing to sell us a couple more potions.  It looks like we might need them."

The others (except Macwood, who hasn't been scratched) feel their injuries too keenly to object to this suggestion, and - pausing only to double-check that the lift is securely locked in place - they make their way back to Amberdale.  Once there, they head immediately to Gendrew's house, which Ming Li remembers from an earlier visit after their journey to the caves of challenge.

"Oh!  You're back!  Again!"  Gendrew looks harried from the pressure of arranging the Harvest Feast, "I was just making some cookies for the feast tomorrow night.  Give me a moment and I'll get the rest of your money.  Thank you so much for helping to find that wagon.  I don't know what we would have done without it."

"Just a second." Twinkle steps forward, puffing herself up to her full 3'3. "I helped kill the orcs.  I should get paid, too."

"But ... I didn't hire you." Gendrew's just a cook, but he's no fool ... he knows if he pays the gnome there'll be an exponential explosion in "helpers" who come looking for payment.  With a last apologetic smile at the sputtering Twinkle, he hurries off to get money for the others.

While Gendrew is gone, Twinkle sneaks into the kitchen switches his salt with his sugar.

"I was getting a drink of water." She glibly fibs to Ming Li.  The monk merely nods, seemingly unperturbed.

A few minutes later, with their pouches filled with new gold, the group heads to the Sanctuary to arrange healing.  Several spells serve to restore them all to full health, and cost less than even a single potion.  Expensive or not, however, it is more potions that the adventurers next ask for.

"We're killing orcs." Ulfgar folds his arms in the manner of one who does not intend to be moved, "Doing the town a vital service.  Be a shame if we had to stop with the job half done."

Reluctantly, the priests part with two more Potions of Cure Light Wounds, all but wiping out the groups' cash reserves in the process.

Feeling a little less vulnerable, the group immediately returns to the tunnels, arriving at the cave entrance just as darkness is falling.  They quickly make their way through the first level of the complex again, checking the rooms for signs that anyone else has been there, then head to the lift.

Finding it still in place, they use crowbars to remove their spikes from the chains, and climb into the lift.  Ulfgar moves to operate the winches, while the others - each with a missile weapon at the ready - move to the corners of the platform.  They do not know what they will be descending into, so the plan is to guard all possible approaches.

With a noisy grinding of gears and clanking of chains, the lift begins to lower them into the darkness...


----------



## arwink

Undead = Macwood + caution?

I'm glad there's something that brings those two together


----------



## seasong

Hey Capellan, I just followed your sig (imagine that) and found this little gem!

I actually skipped this originally, because of the title (it sounded random in the manner of 'chaotic' and 'arbitrary'). Looks like I erred .

*_hoping to see undead Scratches in the future_*


----------



## Capellan

Arwink: Macwood's "caution" was more a reflection of his dice-rolling (low initiative, awful attack) than any expression of fear or doubt by the player.  Just thought I'd mention it for the record.

Seasong: see, I told you it works   As for undead Scratches, what is it with you people and the Undead Feline Avenger?   So far the only one to vote against it is Mantreus.  Though of course, I could do it, just to annoy him ...


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 10*

As the lift sinks into its shaft, the group cannot help but feel nervous.  They are heading into an unknown area, and the noise of the device on which they are travelling will surely alert anyone below them of their approach, just as it had alerted them, earlier.

"Think we'll get ambushed?" Twinkle asks the group at large.

"Yup." Macwood doesn't even hesitate.

As they speak, the base of the lift clears the stone shaft, and they catch a glimpse of a dimly lit room below them.

It's about then that the first crossbow bolt speeds into the lift, passing directly between Ulfgar and Twinkle.  Moments later, a second bolt clatters off the iron bars of the cage, just in front of Briar.

Thanking every god that's listening for the cover provided by those bars, the young rogue drops to one knee and tries to get a proper view of the room.  It's a smart move, as the slow-moving lift has now descended far enough for him to see under the level of the roof.

He quickly spots a group of three figures standing a short distance down a corridor.  Two of them are frantically reloading crossbows while the third, middle figure is surround by glowing patterns of light.

"Magic." Ming Li sniffs disdainfully.  It seems the monk has seen their opponents as well.

Despite the poor angle, Briar snaps his own weapon into the firing position and looses a bolt.  It's an awkward, hurried shot, but it flies true: the bolt punches into the central figure's shoulder, staggering it back slightly.

"Damn, I'm good." Briar pauses just long enough to gloat before setting the crossbow aside and drawing his shortsword.  

"Lucky shot." snipes Twinkle, loosing a shot of her own at the ambushers.  Unfortunately, her physical barb is less accurate than her verbal one.

As the lift lowers the last few feet to the floor, the group readies themselves to go on to the offensive.  They have to weather another volley of bolts in the mean time, but neither shot causes any harm.  The first clatters off the iron cage again, while the second speeds through, but strikes only Ulfgar's shield.

At the same moment, the man who was injured by Briar's bolt reaches up and places his hand on the wound.  Within moments, the bolt dissolves and the wound seals over.  Ming Li purses her lips in disapproval.

"Cleric." Ulfgar growls.

"Human, too." Twinkle's sharp eyes have allowed her to get a better look at their foes, "The ones with the crossbows are both orcs."

As soon as the lift _clangs_ into place, Briar lifts the barrier and runs across the room, ducking up against the wall near the entrance to the corridor.  Anyone passing too close to that corner will be in danger of feeling the rogue's sneak attack.

One of the two orcs casts aside his crossbow and, drawing his great axe, charges toward Twinkle.  The grey-skinned humanoid is on the opposite side of the corridor to Briar, well out of the rogue's reach, and it seems nothing can stop the creature from burying its blade in the young gnome.

_Clang_.  The iron cage comes to the party's rescue once again as the orc's mighty blade catches on one of the bars, deflecting the blow safely away.

The second orc also changes weapons and moves forward, but it does so more cautiously, rounding the corner on Briar's side with considerable care.

The cleric casts again, pointing at Ulfgar, who is obviously the biggest physical danger to the orcs.

"Fear the touch of the Dark Lady!" the man intones, and the dwarf feels the icy grip of terror clutch his heart.  Despite his best efforts to fight the impulse, the usually fierce warrior turns and flees into the back corner of the lift cage, cowering and hiding in panic.

Ming Li is undaunted.  Steeping up to the orc that threatens Twinkle, she lashes out with her quarterstaff.  The battle between the slight, slender monk and the hulking humanoid appears completely unbalanced.  And indeed it is: the monk smashes her opponent to her ground with a single deadly strike.

Macwood has his longsword at the ready, but surprises his companions by gesturing and speaking a short fragment of arcane words.  A glowing shape flies from his outstretched hand, making straight for the middle of the three enemy figures.  The man instinctively swipes at the figure with his mace, and the lights blink out.

"Fooled you." Macwood chuckles in satisfaction.

Briar, as physically overmatched by his opponent as Ming Li was by hers, proves to be just as deadly.  The rogue drops beneath the orc's swinging greataxe and stabs the creature in the thigh, opening the femoral artery.  The beast-like humanoid bellows in pain and rage as its leg collapses beneath it.

Buoyed by his kill, Briar moves up to engage the sole remaining enemy, and pays for it when the man strikes him a hefty blow with his mace.  The young rogue falls back a step, biting back a cry of pain.

This is the man's last hostile action, however, as the other group members swarm up to assist Briar: first Macwood and then Ming Li strike solid blows, with Twinkle also slashing at their foe.  Flanked on all sides, the cleric cannot adequately defend himself and Briar steps up to slide his shortsword home, avenging the wound he has just suffered.

With their opponents defeated, the group occupy themselves with checking the bodies for treasure, then turn their attention to coaxing Ulfgar out of his corner.  Eventually, the effects of the dark magic wear off, and the dwarf rather shamefacedly rejoins his companion.

"Definitely a cleric of some kind." Briar confirms, showing the dwarf a holy symbol they found on the body.  It depicts an almost demonic face, with a protruding forked tongue.  None of the group recognises the device, but they wrap it in cloth and stow it in their growing pile of loot, intending to show it to the Padre when they return to town.

"That mace is fine work." Ulfgar points to the cleric's weapon. "Should fetch a good price at the Festival market, if we can find a buyer."

"We also found this." Ming Li displays a roll of parchment, "But it seems like gibberish to me.  Probably magical."

Macwood takes the scroll and examines it, muttering a few arcane phrases as he does so.

"It is indeed." He confirms, "A scroll of healing, it seems.  I'd like to take it for study, if I may."  Seeing there are no objections, the halfling tucks the scroll inside his shirt.

"Right." Ulfgar hefts his axe. "Let's see if there's anyone else down here who needs a taste of my axe." The fighter glares fiercely as he speaks, daring any of his companions to make a comment about the absence of his axe in the last fight.  Wisely, they choose not to.

At least, not to his face ...


----------



## arwink

Capellan said:
			
		

> *Seasong: see, I told you it works   As for undead Scratches, what is it with you people and the Undead Feline Avenger?  *




Some of us want to see justice for the innocent kitty, and some of us...well...you'll see...


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 11*

The group begins to search this lower level, quickly finding that the corridor into the lift room lead straight to another crossroads.  The way ahead is blocked by rubble, but there is a corridor to their right, and a door to their left.  The door stands slightly ajar.

"Let's try the right." Ulfgar suggests, "The ridge is that way, so there can't be too much to explore in that direction."

"We'd be deeper than the ridge, now." Macwood reminds him.  The dwarf looks abashed to have been corrected by a halfling on such a matter, but when no-one raises an objection to his proposed route, the group follows the right hand tunnel, anyway.

They soon emerge into a square chamber, the ceiling of which is braced by four stone pillars.  The area looks to be of sturdy manufacture, and lacks the debris of other parts of the complex.  Another corridor leads out of the room to the left.

"Someone's cleaned this area out recently." Twinkle remarks as she drops to her haunches and examines the floor, "There's a lot of stone dust around, and scratches in the paving slabs."

"Probably wanted to get through there." Briar nods at the corridor.

Figuring that anything the orcs were interested in was something they should check out as well, the group follows the corridor to a T-junction.  To the left, the tunnel quickly gives way to rubble.  To the right ...

"A door." Macwood remarks.

"A large stone door." Ming Li confirms.

"Looks important." Briar agrees.

The group looks at the door for some time.

"It's closed." Ulfgar observes.

The group stares at the door for a while longer.

"Maybe we should leave it for later and check that other door, first." Twinkle offers, "It was smaller, and wooden."

With murmurs of agreement from the others, the group turns their backs on the Ominously Large Stone Door and heads back the way they came.

Arriving at the smaller, wooden door, they push it open and enter the chamber beyond, with Ulfgar in the lead.  The room looks to be almost square, but is more than half-filled with rubble, which gives it a rather squashed feeling.

Rather more disturbingly, the corpses of two orcs are sprawled here.  Each lies on the floor, surrounded by a number of red-brown stains.

"Blood." Macwood notes, rather unnecessarily.

"It looks like they were dragged here." Ming Li indicates scuff marks in the dust on the floor. "Maybe a fight broke out when they realised they were trapped here?"

Briar, kneeling beside the bodies, shakes his head.

"If there was a fight, these two didn't know it was coming.  They were strangled.  Maybe with a garrotte." He pauses, "The two orcs with the cleric had twice as much money as any of the others.  They probably just jumped these two while they were asleep."

"It seems there is nothing useful here." Ming Li moves to the door, "We should return to the other door."

"What about the rubble?" Twinkle is keen to go digging. "There could be something under it?"

Ulfgar shakes his head,

"They cleared out the other rooms, remember.  This is just where they've been dumping everything."

The dwarf's words make sense to the others, and they all troupe out of the room.  Twinkle is the last to leave.  Reaching the door, she stops and turns back for one last look at the rubble.

And then something wraps around the young gnome's neck and yanks her into the air.

Twinkle tries to scream, but she can't draw the breath.  As her vision blurs and darkens, she claws at the rubbery cord that surrounds her neck, thrashing her legs and struggling with all her might to break free.  But it's to no avail: all the accomplishes is to kick the door closed.

The _slam_ of the door as it shuts is the last thing the gnome hears before the darkness overcomes her.


----------



## dpdx

*Re: "Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 11*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *The slam of the door as it shuts is the last thing the gnome hears before the darkness overcomes her. *




I'll scream for her: Yaaaaagh!

Twinkle, we hardly knew ye.


----------



## jzashaedra

absolutely loved the description of the suspense around the Ominous Stone Door! i saw it just like i was sitting with my players instead of reading someone else's story! i think my moom would refer to it as "eating gnats". it was a phrase used while watching the rope turn and you were supposed to already be in there jumping.


----------



## seasong

*Re: "Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 11*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> The group looks at the door for some time.
> 
> "It's closed." Ulfgar observes.



Thank you! This made me laugh out loud. Fortunate indeed, that everyone else was on their lunch break.


----------



## Sniktch

*Woo!*

That was great, Capellan.  I join the list of people who found your 'Great Stone Door' description to be highly amusing.  It's classic moments like this that make the CotRE so enjoyable (and you questioned my use of the word 'misadventure').  

Where does that great stone door lead to, I wonder.  Is there any chance it could be Duernfast??  If you want, I still have all my notes, maps, write-ups, etc... for the abandoned dwarf hold - I'd be happy to e-mail them to you. (EDIT: my e-mail address is jmcbase@nfis.com)


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Capellan said:
			
		

> *As for undead Scratches, what is it with you people and the Undead Feline Avenger?  *




It doesn't _have_  to be undead.

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology.
We have the capability to make the world's first Bionic cat.
Scratches will be that cat. Better than he was before.
Better . . . stronger . . . faster. "

Then use the Brass half-golem template from the Monster Manual II web enhancement and you get Scratches:  The Cyborg Feline Avenger.  Also known as the 6 million Gold Piece Cat.

*Scratches
Tiny Construct*
Hit Dice: 1/2 d8
Initiative: +1 (Dex)
Speed: 30 feet
AC: 24 (+2 Size, +1 Dex, +11 Natural)
Attacks: 2 Claws +4 Melee, Bite -1 Melee
Damage: Claws 1d2+2, Bite 1d3+3
Face/Reach: 2 1/2 ft. by 2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: _Maze_
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 25/+2, Scent, Construct Traits, Magic Immunity, Darkvision 60 feet.
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 13, Con -, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 1
Skills: Balance +9, Climb +5, Hide +16*, Listen +4, Move Silently +9, Spot +4, Wilderness Lore +1**
Feats:Weapon Finesse (Claw, Bite)
* * *
Climate/Terrain: Any land
Orginization: Unique
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral Evil

*Combat*

After being rebuilt by unknown agencies, Scratches lives only to slay the adventurers who so recklessly ended his life.  He'll hunt down any of the group that was present for his death, wait until they are alone, _Maze_ them, and try to slay them.  He knows no affection for any living being except his former owner, a kindly old Gnomish woman.

_Maze_ (sp):  Once per day, Scratches can target a _maze_ effect (caster level 15) against a single quarry.  The half-golem is immune to the effects of it's own _maze_ ability and that of others of its kind (including those of brass golems and vice cersa), and it can freely enter its own maze to track a target.

Magic Immunity (ex):  Scratches is immune to all spells, spell like abilities, and supernatural effects, except as follows: An electricity effect slows it (as the _slow_ spell) for 3 rounds, with no saving throw; and a fire effect breaks any _slow_ effect on the golem and cures 1 point of damage for each 3 points it would otherwise deal.  Scratches does not get a saving throw against fire effects.

Construct Traits:  Scratches is immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, _sleep_, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromantic effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude sace unless it also works on objects.  Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, or death from massive damage.  He cannot heal himself but can be healed through repair.  He cannot be raised or ressurected.  

*Skills*: Scratches recieves a +4 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks and a +8 racial bonus to balance checks.  *In areas of tall grass and heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus rises by +8.  **Scratches is a relentless tracker.  He gains a +5 competence bonus to Wilderness Lore checks when tracking by scent.

Stop giving me that look.


----------



## Sniktch

Yikes, Thomas, that's a scary machine.  You'd think it'd be a joke encounter since the cat has a max hp of 4 (or 5 - wouldn't the template change the HD to 1/2d10?), but with its magic immunities and DR 25/+2, you'd be hard pressed to find a 4th level group capable of handling such an opponent.


----------



## Mantreus

You've got to be kidding me! Lets hope Scratches takes a long time to rebuild, because at the current strength of the party we'd be torn apart.


----------



## Hammerhead

Hopefully the group notices the slammed wooden door. Maybe the ominous stone door would have been a better choice. I vote in favor of the undead Scratches. Perhaps a Vampire cat?

Great story hour, of course.


----------



## Jemal

WOW, man.  I just stumbled in here a little while ago by accident (Misclicked, actually) but thought "Ah what they hell, I'll read it, I got nothing else to do"

I've been here ever since.  I read the whole thing so far,beginning to end without getting up!

Not only do you appear to be a superb DM, but an excellent writer as well.  I applaud you and your group.

I would, however like to come out firmly AGAINST the 'undead scratches out for vengeance' idea.  TO do so would only be to sully the image of the poor, cute kitty!  What would that litle old gnomish lady think if you turned her "Poor, clever little Scratches" Into a viscious engine of destruction?  Think of the heartbreak!

NOW, if Scratches had a couple cat friends that just happened to find out who killed him...
Hehehe.


----------



## Capellan

*wow ...*

You folks have been going crazy with the comments in the last couple of days!  (Note to self: write more cliff-hangers  )

Thanks for all the kind words, all - they are very much appreciated.  I'm not sure your desire to see Scratches return and massacre the party is quite so appreciated - at least not by the players! - but the suggestions certainly make for entertaining reading.

Now, when last we left off, things were looking bad for Twinkle. Will the Company save her, or is Posy's crown as ENworld's Iconic Cute & Spunky Gnome Girl safe once more? ....


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 12*

_Bang_.  The door slams shut behind Briar.  He shakes his head and chuckles,

"C'mon Twinkle, we can look through the rubble later-" he breaks off as he turns to find the gnome is not in sight, and the door to the rubble-filled room is closed.  A prickling sense of unease - and a sick lurch of déjà vu - launches the young rogue toward the door.

_You were supposed to be watching, kid. So how'd it go wrong? _

Briar doesn't stop to open the door: he simply shoulder-charges into it.  The wood, weakened by age and years of damp, gives way in a spray of splinters and broken planks.

The young man skids to a halt, drawing his sword as he spots Twinkle's body, lying face down on the stone floor.

"Briar?" he half-hears the call from the others, and the sound of them coming back toward the room, but he's not paying attention to that.  Instead, he steps forward quickly and bends to grab the gnome's shoulder, starting to drag her toward the door.

As he does so, he notices the livid mark around her neck.

Briar spins, raising his sword reflexively, but it is too late.  The creature lurking above the door lashes out with both arms, the slender, rubbery limbs stretching like tentacles to wrap themselves around the young rogue's throat and arm.

The others, hurrying back toward the door, see Briar lifted bodily into the air, then released.  The young rogue crumples to the floor, blacked out from the pain.  The tentacle-like arms withdraw back up toward the ceiling.

"Time for a taste o' m'axe." Ulfgar rushes into the room, shield raised above him.  He scans the walls and roof, but there is no sign of the creature. "Damn thing's run a-"

The creature suddenly scuttles into sight - running straight _up_ one of the walls.  It is a small, grey skinned humanoid with unnaturally long limbs and an almost shrunken head that is thoroughly over-provided with sharp teeth.

Hooking its toes into all but invisible cracks in the walls, the beast - which they later dub a 'choker' - lashes out at Ulfgar.  The dwarf's raised shield deflects one grasping tentacle, but they other catches him with a fairly heavy blow to the head.  Ulfgar hurriedly fends it off with his axe, before it can get a grasp on his neck.

Macwood rushes forward and starts to pull Twinkle to safety, while Ming Li steps up and jabs her quarterstaff, spear-like - at the scuttling choker.

The creature snarls as the staff raps against it, arms swinging down to try and wrest the weapon out of the monk's hands.  Ming Li is not about to give up her staff without a fight, however, and hangs on grimly, trying in turn to pull the creature down toward them.

Seeing an opportunity, Ulfgar slashes at the creature's tentacles with his axe, scoring a deep wound in the closer limb.  The choker squeals in outrage and releases the staff, swatting Ming Li in the chest as it does so, then scuttles across the ceiling and back into hiding behind the rubble.

"Quick!" Ulfgar gestures to Briar's body. "Get him out of here before it comes back!"

While Ming Li and Macwood drag the young rogue to safety, the dwarf grabs a lark chunk of stone and hurls it over the pile of rubble, hoping to force the choker to stay out of sight.  The gambit doesn't work, however, as the beast races up one of the walls and lashes out toward them.

Ming Li is buffeted again, but Ulfgar's sturdy chainmail protects him, and the beast chitters in anger and frustration.

Both adventurers strike back at the choker while Macwood occupies himself with tending to their unconscious comrades.  Both strike true, and the beast falls from its perch on the wall, mortally wounded.

While Ulfgar ensures that the choker will disturb them no more, Macwood and Ming Li use their two _potions of cure light wounds_ to restore their companions to consciousness.  While the healing effects of the first potion are enough to restore Twinkle to full mobility, if far from full health, Briar's batch was evidently weaker, as the young rogue can barely limp along at half the pace of the others (DM's note: on 0 HP exactly)

"I think we need to return to town." Ming Li suggests, as her own wounds are attended to. "The creature hurt us badly."

"Aye." Ulfgar nods, "Macwood and I could go on, but it's not worth the risk to the rest of you."

"I wasn't even scratched." The halfling tactlessly reminds them.

Despite the comfort of knowing Macwood is unhurt, the others wisely insist on a withdrawal, and the group tiredly limps back to Amberdale, where a night's rest leaves them all feeling refreshed and ready to face the arduous task of purchasing more healing.

Upon their arrival at the Sanctuary, they are greeted by a young priest none of them have met before.  He appears to be of elven blood.

"You're new." Ming Li has a way of stating a fact that sounds like an accusation.

"I am Sirdros." The priest inclines his head in greeting, "I came here as part of the High Priest's retinue.  How may I help?"

"We need healing." Ulfgar explains in an overly patient tone, "We've been clearin' out a nest of orcs near the road to the coast."

"Of course, the adventurers." Sirdros nods, "I have heard of you from the local priests.  In recognition of your efforts to serve the town, we have been asked to heal you today without charge."

"Good deal." Briar whistles through his teeth, then remembers something, "Hey ... do you know what this is?" he digs out the holy symbol they found on the man in the tunnels.

Sirdros examines it, his expression distasteful,

"It is an emblem of one of the death cults." He says at last, "I don't know which one.  If you slew the person who carried this, you did us all a favour."

A few minutes later, the priests' spells have restored the group to full to health and they once more on their way to the tunnels.

The Ominously Large Stone Door awaits ...


----------



## Capellan

*The Plot Thread*

Just to alert everyone, there is a plot thread for this campaign here.  If you want to suggest cruel tricks for me to play on my PCs, feel free to do so there.

My players, of course, being paragons of honesty and integrity, would never dream of going there.  _Right_, guys?


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 13*

The group once more finds themselves facing the stone door in the tunnels.  By now, this is the only area of the complex they have not explored, and - as they are now at full strength - it seems there are no more excuses not to confront whatever lies beyond.

Which proves to be an empty chamber.

Well, not entirely empty.  Some supplies are stacked along one of the walls - more mining equipment and the like, as well as water, though no food - but the room proves to be completely devoid of any kind of threat.

It is quite a large chamber - possibly the main hall of whatever clan of Dwarves once lived here - and the room is supported by six great stone pillars.  Like many other parts of the complex, however, the far wall has collapsed into rubble.  This presumably has left the hall smaller than originally intended, though it is not clear how much it may have been foreshortened.

"There's some kind of design on the floor." Briar notes, and the group moves forward to investigate.

Upon examining the design, it proves to consist of a central, shallow depression, with six grooves running out from it to the edges of the room.  It appears that these grooves continue under the walls, though where they might lead is unknown.

"There are runes here." Twinkle points to a series of carved letters that surround the central depression. "But I can't tell what they say.  Are they Dwarven?"

Ulfgar stumps over.

"Aye, they are." He pauses, his lips moving slightly as he reads the inscription, "The Dwarven spirit is filled with secrets."

"Great.  A riddle." Macwood looks bored.

"There must be something more we can learn." Ming Li suggests, "I think we should investigate this design more closely."

The others agree, and go over the design in great detail, taking their time and studying it closely (DM's note: they took 20).  Eventually, Briar and Twinkle both notice the same thing: the central depression is not as deep as the grooves, and each of the grooves gets deeper as it travels toward the walls.

There is some discussion of what this could mean, but no real progress.  Finally Ulfgar grumps,

"The only Dwarven spirits I know of are the kind ya drink."

Twinkle snaps her fingers.

"Of course!" she exclaims, pointing at the depression, "Pour water into the depression and it'll flow down to the walls.  It must be a trigger of some kind."

"Aye, but do we want to trigger it?" Ulfgar asks.

It is quickly decided that they do, and Ulfgar and Ming Li drag one of the barrels of water over to the centre of the room and begin to pour.  Water quickly begins to run out of the depression and down each of the grooves.  After about half a barrel of water, there is an audible _click_, and a section of the wall suddenly swings open.

"We should keep pouring." Ming Li suggests, "To ensure that there are no other secret doors that can be opened."

No other doors have opened by the time the barrel has run dry, however, so the group turns their attention to the newly opened section of wall.

"It's a tomb."  Ulfgar reports, as he and Ming Li are the first to enter.

It is indeed a tomb.  The chamber itself is of simple - though expert - construction, but the large sarcophagus at the centre is much more elaborately carved, including a deeply engraved set of runes on the lid.

"Bathed in the blood of the foul ones; Brothers tempered by battle are we." Ulfgar reads the inscription without prompting.  It seems the group faces another riddle.

"Anyone have any ideas?" Briar asks, with a perplexed shrug.

"What would the 'foul ones' be?" Macwood asks.

"Probably orcs?" Twinkle suggests, "Maybe you need to cover your hands in orc's blood and then you can open it?"

"I'd rather just open it." Ulfgar is not keen on the idea of smearing orc blood on the tomb - nor on himself, in all probability. "I'll need help, though.  'tis too heavy a job for one."

"I will help." Ming Li offers.  Despite her slight stature, the monk's rigorous lifestyle means that she is the strongest of the companions.

Ulfgar nods, and the two prepare to remove the lid of the sarcophagus, while the rest of the group move as far away as they can without actually leaving the room, ending up standing just inside the doorway.

"Ready?" Ulfgar waits for Ming Li's answering nod. "On three, then.  One.  Two.  Three!"

The two adventurers throw all their strength against the lid.  For a moment, it seems that it will not budge.  And then it moves - just an inch or two.

There is a sound like a clap of thunder, and lightning arcs out of the sarcophagus, hurling both the dwarf and the monk back across the room.

Ulfgar rolls along the floor, slamming hard into the wall before slowly clambering to his feet.  His clothes are charred from the blast, and a wisp of smoke curls from his beard, but - though shaky - he seems to be not too badly hurt.

Ming Li, on the other hand, lies motionless on the floor, and does not rise.


----------



## Sniktch

Ouch.  It's never good when a monk fails a reflex save.


----------



## arwink

Must be the air in capellan's house.  It seems to dislike monks for some reason


----------



## Capellan

*"Unearthing the Past" by Jesse Decker (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 14*

"She's okay." Briar has moved quickly to the monk's side. "Unconscious, but stable.  We'll need to get her back to town to heal her, though."

The group quickly makes Ming Li comfortable - not that she is in a position to know - and turns its attention back to the sarcophagus.  Despite the blast of lightning, the lid has still moved by no more than an inch.

Ulfgar rather gingerly touches the stone.  Nothing happens.  He glances at the others,

"Is it safe?"

Twinkle examines the lid.

"I can't see any other traps." She says at last, "I think you've triggered the only one, already."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

Ulfgar sucks his breath between his teeth, then shrugs.

"Nothing to do but try it." he reasons.

It's hardly the world's most convincing - or even logical - argument, but the group nonetheless goes along with it, forcing open the sarcophagus lid so that they can peer inside.

Within, they find the almost mummified corpse of a dwarven warrior, skin stretched tight and leathery over brittle old bones.  Most of the ancient dwarf's belongings have similarly succumbed to the passage of time, but a few have survived intact: a golden band on the corpse's left arm, and two oilskin-wrapped bundles.  The first of these is quite small, the second larger.

It is the second bundle that Ulfgar tears open first, displaying an eagerness that surprises his companions.  They understand why once they oilskin falls away: an exquisitely crafted dwarven waraze is revealed  The weapon's quality - far superior to Ulfgar's own blade - is clear to all.

"Crossbow bolts." Macwood reports from where he has been unwrapping the other package. "No way to be sure until we get them back to town, but given that even the shafts are intact, I'd say they are almost certainly magical."

Briar silently removes the golden armband from the corpse, doing his best not to touch the lifless remains as he does so.

With their spoils in hand - and full of plans to return for the many suits of armour and weapons they can salvage from the dead orcs - the group makes a rough litter for Ming Li, and prepares to leave.  Before they do, however, Ulfgar stops to say a few words over the dwarf in the tomb.

"Sleep on, brother." He brandishes his new axe, "And sleep well, knowing that your blade will slay more orcs."  Ulfgar pauses, looking for the right words, "I will return to restore your tomb.  Forgive me for disturbing your rest."

His promises made, the dwarf turns back to his colleagues and helps take the burden of Ming Li's unconscious form.

Slowly, the groups makes it way back to town, finding the place in a buzz over the Harvest Feast, to be held that night.  Word has already got around of the group's involvement in retrieving the needed supplies to make the feast a success, and they find themselves being greeted and thanked by many of the people they pass on their way to the Sanctuary.

Upon their arrival, they once again meet the young elven priest Sirdros, and quickly arrange to have Ming Li restored to consciousness.  The Priests - as pleased as everyone else by the prospect of a successful feast - provide the healing for free once more, which is a relief for the group's over-stressed belt pouches.

Visiting Gendrew once more, the adventurers take advantage of his gratitude to cajole him into loaning them his wagon.  They then travel back to the tunnels to retrieve the many suits of scale mail and the numerous greataxes employed by the orcs they slew.

"There are often recruiters for guard companies at the Feast." Twinkle promises, "My uncle can introduce us to them.  They'll be sure to want all this armour."

"Who is your uncle?" asks the newly conscious Ming Li.

"His name's Tallyhoop." Twinkle doesn't notice the look exchanged by the monk and Ulfgar, "He's an alchemist and apothecary.  He sells them healing salves and stuff like that."

"Yes ... we've met him." Ming Li is clearly having visions of exploding porridge. "He seemed an interesting fellow.  I'm not sure how he feels about you, right now, though."

Twinkle airily waves a hand,

"Everybody loves me.  Besides, I played a trick on him a few days ago, and he's always in a good mood when he's plotting revenge."

The gnome seems oblivious to the bizarre logic of her remarks, but as the day continues, it seems that she is correct: Tallyhoop willingly helps the adventurers locate a buyer, and even intercedes in the negotiations to help push the price a little higher.

Feeling much more wealthy, and hailed as heroes of the town, the five adventurers thoroughly enjoy the feast, though Twinkle is disappointed to see people thoroughly enjoying the cookies she tried to sabotage.

Midway through the evening, Tallyhoop stops by the adventurers' table.  The gnomish alchemist has a large wine cup in hand, and has apparently drunk several such draughts already.

"Congratulations!" he waves his ands, causing the contents of his cup to slosh alarmingly, "The feast is a great success thanks to you!"  He toasts them all as he speaks, then somehow trips over his own feet, spilling the entire contents of the cup over Twinkle's shirt.  "Oops.  Sorry."

Watching the older gnome stumble off, Twinkle shakes her head indulgently.

"Poor uncle.  Is that the best he could do?  Wine on my shirt!  He must be slipping."

"He must." Ming Li agrees, poker-faced.  Ulfgar takes a deep swig of ale, not meeting the young gnome's eyes.

It is at least half an hour before Twinkle realises two important facts: that which looks like wine sometimes isn't, and that certain alchemical compounds will turn your shirt transparent.

"Tallyhoooooooooooooooooooooop!"


----------



## seasong

Don't worry Ming Li! Just get more levels under your belt, and you'll show them ALL!


----------



## Capellan

*No updates this weekend*

I'm travelling interstate to a convention this weekend.  Three solid days of 15 hour-a-day gaming 

Of course, this means that there will unfortunately be no updates this weekend, since not only will I be rather busy, but I won't be anywhere near my computer.

In the mean time, to tide you over, here is a picture of our gaming table from the next session I will be recounting ...


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Now that's damn cool!  Where'd all the houses and walls come from?


----------



## Wicht

The houses look suspiciously like cardboard warhammer houses


----------



## Capellan

Wow - I go away for a three day trip and  come back to find myself still on the front page of the forum.  Did everyone else go off on holidays as well? 

To answer the question about the scenery in the game (and to give this post _some_ level of value): the houses are all paper models from the WotC Chainmail site.  A friend printed the model kits onto normal paper, then I pasted them to extra heavy paper stock (210 gsm, for those that care).  Once they were dry, I cut them out and assembled them.  All pretty straightforward, really, and a great way to build up inexpensive scenery.

The palisade, on the other hand, was hand-built by the Padre's player.  He's the arts'n'crafts one of the group.  In later sessions, I'll probably include shots of some of the other scenery he's built for our use.  It's pretty darn cool!


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Capellan said:
			
		

> *To answer the question about the scenery in the game (and to give this post some level of value): the houses are all paper models from the WotC Chainmail site.  *




I thought I recognized them from somewhere...

Kudos to Padre's player- thats a nice piece of work.


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 1*

It takes a while for Amberdale's inhabitants to recover from the festival.  Even on the second morning after it concludes, there are still many sore heads being nursed.  These are not helped by the bang and clatter of a heavily laden dwarf tramping down the stairs.

"Ulfgar." Ming Li inclines her head gracefully.  She is the only customer in the taproom, the remains of a simple breakfast on the table before her. "You are leaving?"

"For a few days." The dwarf answers gruffly, "My people's halls cannot be left in disrepair, filled with the stench of orcs."

The monk nods her understanding,

"The memory of our ancestors must be respected."

"Aye." Ulfgar breaks into a rare smile, "You're alright, for a human."

"I am pleased you think so.  Do you require assistance with your task?"

The dwarf cocks his head to one side.

"Another set of hands would be useful." He admits, "But I'm not much for talking."

"Good." Ming Li smiles slightly, "I am close to understanding a new martial technique. Labour would occupy my body while my mind could reflect."

"Fair enough." Ulfgar nods, "When can you be ready?"

Silently, Ming Li picks up her small sack of possessions, throwing them over one shoulder.  Ulfgar barks a shirt, explosive laugh, wincing slightly afterwards.

"Let's get going, then."

As the mismatched pair two move toward the door, the Padre comes down the stairs.  It is the first time he has voluntarily emerged in several days, and he looks a little bleary-eyed, as if he has not been getting enough sleep.  Ulfgar and Ming Li nod to him as they leave, earning a grunt in reply.

It is only a matter of minutes before another member of the Company appears.  The Padre has only briefly been introduced to the newcomers, and he doesn't even spare a grunt for Twinkle as she slips into the chair opposite.

"I saw Ming Li and Ulfgar outside." The gnome shares cheerfully, while the Padre shovels a stacked plate of eggs and bacon into his mouth, "Ming Li said she wanted to go someplace where she could concentrate without being interrupted all the time." Twinkle frowns slightly, "I'm not sure what she meant by that."

The Padre grunts.

As the priest's plate slowly clears, others of the group begin to filter into the taproom.  Mantreus is the first to emerge, setting Shadow on his lap as he sits down.  The Padre gives the cat an unfriendly star.  It pointedly ignores him.

"Any of the others around?" Mantreus wonders.

"Briar and Macwood probably won't be." Twinkle filches some of the Padre's bacon while he isn't looking, and feeds it to Shadow, "They had a Post-Festival Party last night.  It's just the three of us."

"Or not." Mantreus points at the door, which opens to admit Stormstrider and Elspeth.

"How'd you know they were there?" Twinkle asks, eyes round, "Did you use your magic?"

In answer, Mantreus merely leans back and looks mysterious.  Not to mention smug.

"He saw 'em through the window." The Padre spoils the illusion.

The two rangers take seats at the table, nodding to their companions.  Stormstrider still appears a little uncomfortable in the civilised surroundings, but Elspeth apparently has no such qualms, happily accepting a lavish breakfast from Brent Birchwhistle.

"Where's Rose?" the Padre asks her, his mind probably straying to the group's promise to keep the halfling out of trouble.

"I left her at the ranger's tower." Elspeth jabs her fork in the direction of the distant building, "I think Captain Jarrek's made her nervous about coming back into town."

"Can’t imagine why." Mantreus observes dryly.

As the rangers finish their respective breakfasts, Brent Birchwhistle arrives to take their plates away.

"I trust everything was to your satisfaction?"

"Too much salt." Twinkle complains, ignoring the fact that she never bought anything, and being ignored in turn by Brent.

"I've been asked to give you a message," the innkeeper continues, "Captain Jarrek asked to me to send you to see him this morning.  He has something he wants to talk to you about."


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 2*

Captain Jarrek has obviously been expecting the group, for he wastes no time in getting down to business.

"Yer remember that grave robber yer captured -" he begins.

It quickly becomes apparent that the group, in fact, does not.

"I thought we killed them all." Mantreus opines.

"Then I got a mighty active corpse in m' cells." Jarrek gives the rogue an exasperated glare.

"One survived." The Padre ought to know - he was the one who patched the bandit's wounds.

"Right." Jarrek waits impatiently for the adventurers' attention. "Now that the Festival is over, we've had a chance to question him.  Seems someone hired him and his mates were hired to steal the bodies."

"Necromancer." Mantreus hazards.

"Evil Priest." Stormstrider counters.

"What did the guy look like?" Elspeth tries to keep things on track.

"He said he didn't see the man's face." Jarrek continues, "Always wore a hooded black robe, apparently."

"No problem, then." Mantreus is sarcastic, "Can't help but find him with a detailed description like that."

Jarrek ignores the interruption,

"We found out where they were taking the bodies after they stole 'em.  I've sent some men out there to look into it.  But somethin' else came up while we were questioning the robber.  Turns out he once 'eard this black robed fellow refer to Hooberan."

The group looks blank.  For a change, however, they remain silent.

"Otto Hooberan is head man of a settlement about a day's travel from here." Jarrek explains, "He's a good friend of the mayor here, and he always attends the Harvest Festival.  Except this year, he didn't turn up.  The mayor's concerned that something might have happened to him."

"What'll you pay us for checking?" Mantreus gets down to brass tacks.  Jarrek looks sour.

"Ten gold each." He ignores the dismissive snorts. "If it turns out that something has happened to Hooberan, you'll get an extra two 'undred for sortin' it out."

The Padre opens his mouth.

"Total." Jarrek's worked with adventurers often enough to know what question is coming. "Whenever I'm payin' yer per person, I'll say so."

After a short discussion, the group agrees to Jarrek's terms, then asks him - twice - how to get to Hooberan's settlement.

"It's a day's travel north-east of here." Jarrek words are heavily emphasised as he gives the directions for the second time. "Head out to the ranger's tower.  You should know where that is."

"We do?" Stormstrider's discomfort at being in a settlement is evidently making it hard for him to concentrate.

"We killed the rats there." Mantreus, at least, remembers.

"Go to the tower." Jarrek repeats with the kind of heavy patience that precedes a minor fit of apoplexy. "Keep heading north-east until you hit the cart track.  Follow that.  It'll lead yer straight to Hooberan's Stockade."

"Do we get the ten gold in advance?" Twinkle wants to know.

"Hell, no." Jarrek scowls, "I ain't runnin' a charity.  Speaking o' charities, though, the Priests at the Sanctuary want yer to stop by there before yer leave.  Hooberan supplies their sacramental wine, so they want to know what happened to 'im, too.  One of their acolytes is going to go with yer.  A young elf named Sirdros."

"No problem." the group promise as they take their leave of the militia captain.  They're halfway to the Sanctuary when Twinkle pipes up,

"Sir Dross, eh?  Do you think he's a real knight?"


----------



## (contact)

> "Ten gold each." He ignores the dismissive snorts. "If it turns out that something has happened to Hooberan, you'll get an extra two 'undred for sortin' it out."
> 
> The Padre opens his mouth.
> 
> "Total." Jarrek's worked with adventurers often enough to know what question is coming. "Whenever I'm payin' yer per person, I'll say so."




Hilarious.  The haggling for money is like a running joke for this game.


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 3*

An acolyte greets the group upon their arrival at the Sanctuary.

"We've been sent to pick up Sir Dross." Mantreus announces smoothly.  To his disappointment, the acolyte makes no reaction to the deliberately mangled name.

"I'll get him for you."

After a few minutes, the acolyte returns with a young elf in tow.  The newcomer is busily strapping on scale mail armour as he approaches, and walks with a heaviness that is unusual in one of his race.

"Good day." He nods to the group, "I am Sirdros.  The High Priest has asked me to accompany you to Hooberan's Stockade."

"I'm Tweedlefinkle Dessandri Rhowyn." Twinkle thrusts out her hand to the elf, who gives her a rather startled look, "Tweedlefinkle is the birth name my parents gave me, while Rhowyn is my family name.  I come from a long line of Rhowyns.  Now, Dessandri -"

"Maybe something shorter?" Sirdros interjects with a nervous smile.

The gnome visibly deflates,

"Oh, just call me Twinkle."

Each of the other adventurers introduces themselves quickly, and they are all soon on the road again, heading north east toward the ranger's tower.

As they enter the forest, a wolf pads out of the undergrowth and falls into step beside Stormstrider.  It happens so calmly and smoothly that most of the group don't even break stride.  The elves have been familiar with the druidic faith their whole lives, and their relaxed attitude toward the animal eases any concerns the others might have had.  Only Shadow appears displeased, retreating into Mantreus' familiar pouch with a dismissive twitch of his tail.

Eventually, the tower comes in sight.  The building has obviously been the subject of recent care and attention.  The splintered front door has a crude but serviceable replacement and the brush around the tower has been cleared.

"Did you ever find the ranger who hired us to kill those rats?" the Padre asks Elspeth.

"No." the female ranger scowls at the reminder of the absentee whose work she has been doing. "Haven't seen a sign of him."  Her tone speaks volumes about what will happen if she ever does find a sign.

The group presses on, making good time.  Shortly before dusk, they crest a ridge to find themselves looking over a shallow valley.  Most of the valley is lightly wooded, but about a mile in the distance is a cleared area, in the centre of which is a collection of buildings surrounded by a wooden palisade.

"Is that it?" Stormstrider asks.

"We'd have to be _really_ lost for it not to be." Mantreus quips.

"Do we want to get inside tonight, or wait until morning?" Sirdros glances at the setting sun.

"It's already getting dark." The Padre shields his eyes as he scans the valley. "I suggest we make camp down there." He points to a copse of trees some four hundred feet from the stockade.  "It looks defensible, and our fire will be shielded from the town."

"Does it matter if they see us?" Elspeth raises her eyebrows.

"It does if there's something untoward going on." The Padre responds, face carefully impassive. "Which seems likely, given the reasons we were sent here."

The others see the wisdom in this remark, and decide to follow the priest's suggestion.

"We should wait until dark and then rake a closer look at the stockade." Stormstrider suggests.

"Good idea." Mantreus agrees, "We can check if there are any lights on, inside the town."

Nobody points out that they could see any lights without moving a step: the idea of a midnight reconnaissance has fired their imaginations.

The group makes camp, carefully shielding their fire from the town, then wolf down their evening meal, debating the composition of the scouting party as they do so.  The two priests are obviously not suited to the task, but all four of the others are keen to go.

Eventually - and much to his disgust - it is decided that Stormstrider should remain behind.  More warrior than scout, he has the weakest stealth skills of the four.

"Remember," the Padre cautions the three who are to perform the scouting mission, "Just check it out and then come back.  Don't do anything risky."

He has a sneaking suspicion he may as well be talking to himself.


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 4*

Twinkle, Mantreus and Elspeth make their way toward the stockade, skirting along the edge of the track as they do so.  They move slowly, as Mantreus must take care when moving in the darkness.  It is only a short while before the impatient Twinkle is muttering under her breath about the wisdom of bringing a human along on night time reconnaissance.

"There is something in the road, ahead." Elspeth suddenly announces.  Following the elf's gaze, the other two dimly make out a small, light coloured rectangle that seems at first glance to be hanging in mid air.  Unsure what this could be,  they creep closer, and are able to make out that it is a strip of yellow cloth, tied to an arrow that has been lodged in the surface of the road.

"Fired at us, do you think?" Twinkle glances nervously at the stockade.

Elspeth shakes her head,

"Unlikely.  I would have heard it land.  And tying a ribbon to an arrow like that would ruin the flight path.  It was fired here for some other reason."

"It's a quarantine marker." Mantreus frowns, then points ahead, where they can make out a flag above the stockade entrance. "I bet that's yellow, as well."

Continuing to move carefully forwards, the trio reaches the edge of the cleared area.  Up close, they can see that the area is covered in row after row of orderly-planted bushes.

"Ooh, berries!" Twinkle suddenly scampers ahead, disappearing into the rows.

Elspeth and Mantreus stare after her, then exchange a look that speaks volumes, before beginning to sneak toward the palisade.  Off to their left, they can hear the gnome happily murmuring to herself, her voice muffled by a mouthful of berries.

"There's someone in the tower on the left side of the gate." Elspeth whispers, "I can see their head."

"Really?" Mantreus squints in the direction indicated, but the effort is futile.  His night vision is simply not good enough. "I'll have to take your word for it."

"Wanna berruh?" Twinkle appears beside them, proffering a sticky pile of fruit with one hand while popping them rapid fire into her mouth with the other.  "Huh -" she swallows labouredly, "Hey, there's a guy up there."

"Apparently." Mantreus agrees testily, deliberately not looking at Twinkle's juice-stained shirt and face.

"He just nodded his head." Elspeth frowns, "I think he may have heard us."

"Nuht muh." Twinkle disavows through a fresh mouthful of fruit, "I wuth sneakuh."

"No doubt." Elspeth's tone is dry.  "He just nodded again."

"I think he's asleep." Mantreus has an opinion even about things he can't see. He hefts a rock and points at the tower. "This ought to wake him up.  Is he where I'm pointing?"

"More or less." Elspeth allows, having gauged the direction in which the rogue is pointing.  It's hardly a glowing endorsement, but Mantreus stands and throws the stone anyway, then quickly ducks back out of sight.  The blind and hurried throw is woefully inaccurate, however, wobbling over the palisade wall a good ten feet to one side of the tower.

"You thuck!"

"What?" the human rogue turns to glare at Twinkle.

"_S_uck." She enunciates more clearly, then catches sight of his expression. "Um. Nothin'." She ducks her head to gobble up a few more berries, avoiding Mantreus' eye.

"He didn't react at all." Elspeth selects her own stone, staring at the tower as she does so.  Then she stands, much more slowly than Mantreus, and smoothly throws the rock over the palisade.  Even from the where the three adventurers are crouched, the _clatter_ of the stone on the tower floor is clearly audible.  "Still no reaction." Elspeth observes, "I think he may be dead."

"That, or he's very, very calm." Twinkle agrees.

Faced with a still and silent town, marked for quarantine and with only a single - apparently dead - guard in sight, there seems to be only one sane course of action.  Mantreus, however, has other plans.

"I'm going in for a closer look."


----------



## jzashaedra

Sanity??? We don't need no stinkin' sanity!!!


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 5*

Staying low to the ground, Mantreus slips across to the stockade.  His attempt at stealth is spoiled by his squawk of surprise in nearly ending up in the muddy ditch that surrounds the wall.

Muttering under his breath, he leaps nimbly across the ditch, then begins to clamber up the wall, determined to show the smug non-humans that a _real_ rogue doesn't need low-light vision.

Unfortunately, in the darkness, he misjudges the distance to one of his hand-holds, and loses his grip, swiftly tumbling off the wall and down into the six inch layer of mud and slime at the bottom of the ditch.

Twinkle and Elspeth rush forward in the concern, but the bedraggled and fuming Mantreus is already dragging himself out of the ditch, cursing a blue streak as he does so.

"Just.  Don't.  Say.  Anything." The human grits out, wiping a large clump of mud from his hair.

"Maybe it would be easier if we got a rope?" Twinkle suggests, miming throwing something up to the top of the wall. "We could make a lasso, or something."

"I've got a grappling hook." Mantreus concedes.  Elspeth raises an eyebrow.

"You have a grappling hook, but no rope?"

Mantreus looks defensive,

"It was too heavy."

Elspeth's expression doesn't change.

"Stop looking at me like that.  You're reminding me of Ming Li."

The three adventurers quickly attach the grapple to the rope and Elspeth is chosen to throw it up and hook it onto the wall.  This she accomplishes on the first try, giving the rope a savage yank to make sure it is firmly secured.  She then silently gestures for Mantreus to climb up.

This the human rogue quickly does, swarming up the rope without any difficulty at all.  Maybe one day he will look back at this series of events and laugh, but - judging from the stream of invective he mutters as he goes over the palisade wall - that day is still a long way off.

The man in the tower proves to be dead.  He is slumped against the wall, his head leaning back against the stakes, a longbow clutched in one hand.  A quiver of arrows lies on the wooden boards beside him, along with a small pile of yellow rags.

Mantreus wrinkles his nose at the smell given off by the body, while checking for any signs of what might have killed the man.  He looks to have been dead for several days, and any symptoms of the disease that slew him - if that was what it was - are gone.  However, as Mantreus looks down toward the corpse's feet, he is sickened to see signs that something has gnawed through its boots and begun to feed on its flesh.

Sickened, and then alarmed, as the _skitter_ of claws on wood warns him that he is not alone.

The rogue leaps to his feet, turning just in time to see the two large, bristle-haired rats burst out of the shadows and lunge toward him.  Each is well over three feet long from nose to tail.  Staring at the adventurer with filmy black eyes, the two verminous beasts lunge forward, sharp teeth nipping at his flesh.

Mantreus reels back as far as he can in the tight confines of the tower, drawing his sword as he does so, in a vain effort to fend off the creatures.  As one of them bites his calf, opening a long but shallow wound, he considers throwing himself over the palisade.  A snapping bite as he inches toward the wall convinces him otherwise, however, and instead he calls out for help.

"Elspeth!  Twinkle!  Help!"


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 6*

Hearing Mantreus' desperate call, Elspeth hurls herself at the rope, swarming up and over the wall in a scant few seconds.  Her swords gleam in the moonlight as she whips them from their scabbards.

Twinkle is a little slower off the mark, but climbs the wall just as smoothly and easily as her elven companion.  Reaching the top of the palisade, the gnome tumbles over the iron-capped stakes and lands lightly on her feet.  Her hand drops to the hilt of her sword, but she does not get time to draw it before the rats are upon them.

Driven to a frenzy by the smell of fresh blood, the giant rodents lunge forward fearlessly, targeting the two newcomers, who stand between them and the bleeding Mantreus.  Both rats strike true, their incisors tearing flesh.  Elspeth shrugs off the injury with little difficulty, but Twinkle stumbles back from her wound, blood streaming down her arm from a nasty bite.  The injury looks inflamed and puffy, and the gnome has to fight off a wave of dizziness as the gash starts to burn.

Now protected by his two companions, Mantreus calls on his new-found magical powers and flings a bolt of energy at the rat that menaces Twinkle.  His concentration is not at its best, however, as the damage from the bolt seems only to anger the creature still suffer.

Thinking quickly, Mantreus opens the familiar pocket inside his vest, and Shadow leaps free, landing on the lip of the palisade.  With only the briefest glance back at its master, the cat leaps down into the darkness, and streaks off to find the others back at camp.

Despite feeling faint from loss of blood, Twinkle draws her sword and neatly skewers the injured rate.  Unfortunately, the loss of its companion seems to serve only to drive the surviving rodent to even greater ferocity, and it savages Elspeth twice while nimbly avoiding every counter-attack the adventurers can throw at it.  Deprived of Stormstrider's muscle and the Padre's healing magic, the companions seem to be in serious trouble.

With the others still nowhere in sight, and suffering heavily from blood loss, Elspeth sweeps out blindly at the rat.  Finally her blade bites into flesh, and the foul creature dies with a harsh squeal.  It's not a moment too soon, as the elven ranger's vision is beginning to blur, and her wounds are beginning to burn in the same way as Twinkle's.

As the three adventurers pause to gasp for breath, limbs shaking from the effort of the battle, their companions come crashing through the rows of berries, with Shadow a dark blur in front of them.  Stormstrider clambers over the wall without a second thought, but both the Padre and Sirdros are wearing heavy armour, and balk at the climb.

"Open the gate!" the Padre gestures toward the gatehouse.  As he does so, he notices the pale flag fluttering above it.  Immediately, he draws a spare shirt from his pack and ties it across his mouth as a kind of primitive mask.  Sirdros quickly follows suit.  The protective value of these masks is, of course, exactly nil.  But it seems to make the two clerics feel better.

Since he is the only healthy member of the company to have made it inside the walls, Stormstrider climbs down from the tower and walks across to the gate, eyes and ears straining for any sign of danger.  Nothing leaps out at him, however, and he soon finds that the gate is held closed by only a single wooden  bar, which the powerfully-built ranger has no difficulty in lifting aside.

The two clerics enter through the gate.  Seeing that the group still lacks a light source, Sirdros calls upon Pelor to provide _light_, and them climbs up into the tower.  With proper illumination, it quickly becomes clear that the body Mantreus discovered is dressed in finely made studded leather army.  The deceased male also clutches a huge composite longbow in one hand.  Prising the weapon free with a word of benediction for the corpse, the cleric strains to draw the string.  The pull of the bow is enormous, however, and he manages to take it to only about one-quarter extension.  Even Elspeth, on testing it, is unable to fully draw back the string.

"We can leave these here until we are ready to leave." he decides, receiving affirmative responses from those around him.  He then climbs out of the tower, with the others following behind.

"You look ridiculous." Mantreus greets the Padre, as the three injured party members straggle down to the ground.  "We need healing."

The Padre resolutely leaves the shirt tied across his face, and quickly inspects the wounds his companions have suffered.  Mantreus' injury appears clean, but both Twinkle and Elspeth have wounds that are clearly infected.

"I can heal the cuts you have suffered," the cleric informs the trio, "But some of the wounds are tainted with either poison or disease.  Those are beyond my ability to treat.  If you begin to suffer the effects before we can return to Amberdale, there is nothing any of us can do to help you."


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 7*

As best they can, Sirdros and the Padre tend to the injuries suffered by their companions.  The wounds seal under their magical healing, but those on Twinkle and Elspeth remain red and inflamed - it is obvious that they are infected.

"That will have to do for now." The Padre says doubtfully. "But we should try to find out what happened here as quickly as we can, and then get you back to town, where you can get proper treatment."

Still standing near the gate, the group now takes the time to take a good look around them.  To their left, they can see a large, two-storey home: easily the largest building in the settlement, except for an enormous barn at the far end of the palisade.

"How about we start there?" Mantreus points. "Whoever lives there has to be ri - important."

"A good idea." the Padre takes charge, "and from there we can easily move down each of the rows." He sweeps his arm along the grid-like pattern of buildings.

"I smell smoke." Twinkle's nose twitches. "It's coming from over there."

"There's a burned out building." Elspeth confirms, her keen eyes untroubled by the darkness.

"We'll get to it.  Better to do this methodically - we might miss some buildings, otherwise." the Padre likes His Plan.

The others shrug and agree, seemingly not too concerned about the order in which the buildings are investigated.

"Blackfang.  Stay.  Guard." Stormstrider shows the flat of his hand to his wolf companion, then strokes the animal's muzzle affectionately before turning back to the group. "He'll let us know if anyone approaches the gate while we're busy."

"Really?" Twinkle sounds doubtful.  There's a soft growl in response, and the gnome yelps and skips back from the wolf, before realising that the sound came from Stormstrider.  She gives him a nervous grin. "So, how 'bout we check out that house?"

The group heads over to the building, quickly determining that the front door is unlocked.  With Stormstrider and Elspeth leading the way, they quietly enter the front hallway.  Several doors and a flight of stairs lead off this area, which is richly carpeted.  It is obvious that this is the home of one of the settlement's most important people.

"I think we found the Hooberan household." Elspeth remarks, carefully moving forward to peer through the nearest open doorway.

"Hello?  Anyone home?" Twinkle suddenly calls out loudly, causing several of the group to jump.  She moves to the foot of the stairs and climbs a short way up, using the railing to keep her balance on the human-sized steps.  "Ugh." She pulls her hand away from the balustrade, and the others can see that it is covered in patches of a sticky black substance. "Blood."

"There are patches leading toward the back of the house, as well." Stormstrider kneels, pointing to several darker stains in the maroon carpet.

"We should follow them."  It's Sirdros who speaks, but the thought is on everyone's mind.  There is no need for further discussion as the adventurers slowly filter down the hallway and into the dining room beyond.  A double door with glass panels stands open in the left wall, and the trail of blood stains leads the group through and into a kitchen.  Here, the floor is paved stone rather than carpets, and the splashes of blood are easier to see and follow.

From the kitchen, the group moves into what was evidently the pantry.  Shelves line the walls, while baskets, sacks and barrels are stacked beneath them.  One shelf is empty, with shards of pottery scattered on the flagstones below it.

"Signs of a struggle, maybe?" Mantreus asks.

"I don't think so." Elspeth shakes her head, "There's nothing else to suggest it."

"Except that." Stormstrider points at a trapdoor in the corner.  Half-hidden by barrels, the door has been ripped free of its hinges, leaving a dark hole in the floor.

Twinkle moves forward and crouches to peer into the hole.

"Stairs." She reports. "Looks they like lead into some kind of cellar."  The gnome straightens and backs up, keeping her eyes watchfully on the opening.  It is left to the Padre to ask the obvious question:

"So.  Who wants to go down first?"


----------



## (contact)

*Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 7*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *"So.  Who wants to go down first?" *




(Cue the co-ed with the t-shirt.)

C'mon Padre-- real leaders lead by example!  You've got the heavy armor, right?


----------



## The Padre

*Re: Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 7*



			
				(contact) said:
			
		

> *
> 
> (Cue the co-ed with the t-shirt.)
> 
> C'mon Padre-- real leaders lead by example!  You've got the heavy armor, right?   *




Just to answer your're question, I believe in leading from a position were I can control all forces at my disposal, rather than being engaged in a frontal assault.

(ie I don't have Heavy Armour, only studded leather - I have an 18 Dex and plan to use it!)

The Padre

Check out the player Report of my campaign;

In Hextor's Name


----------



## (contact)

*Re: Re: Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 7*



			
				The Padre said:
			
		

> *Just to answer your're question, I believe in leading from a position were I can control all forces at my disposal, rather than being engaged in a frontal assault.*




Oh, you're an _officer_.


----------



## The Padre

*Re: Re: Re: Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 7*



			
				(contact) said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Oh, you're an officer.
> 
> *





Scarrily enough I used to be an Infantry Officer in the Australian Army.


----------



## (contact)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 7*


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 8*

Sirdros volunteers for the job of investigating the cellar, and makes his way cautiously down the stairs.  These creak slightly under his weight, but seem reasonably sturdy, despite the noises.  Reaching the bottom of the steps, the elf glances about, then shakes his head.

"My _light_ spell has ended." He calls back to the others. "I will need someone to bring the lantern."

After a short - but nonetheless heartfelt - discussion amongst the others, Twinkle warily edges halfway down the stairs, holding a lantern aloft.  The light splashes across the room, creating several dark pools of shadow, but also revealing a pile of bodies near the far wall.

"Four dead down here, maybe more." Sirdros relays the message via Twinkle, "No exits that I can see.  Most of it looks like storage space."

The remainder of the group moves down to join the elven cleric, who gestures to the pile.

"We should give them last rites."

"Good idea." The Padre claps him on the shoulder, "Check them for valuables while you're at it, eh?"

Sirdros gives the other cleric a surprised look, then shrugs and moves to comply.  Stormstrider, curious about the identities of the slain, follows.

"There are six of them.  The two on top are dressed in rags - could be servants." The ranger calls back over his shoulder as he gets closer to the bodies, "Four adults, two - "

The uppermost corpses suddenly leap to their feet, biting and clawing at the two elves.  Both adventurers reel back, trying to defend themselves as best they can.  Even so, the creatures' attacks have some success, and both elves begin to bleed from fresh wounds.

"Zombies!" the Padre struggles to draw forth his holy symbol.

"Too fast!" Mantreus disagrees, "These are something else."  He takes two steps to the side, trying to get a better view of the creatures, then gestures and speaks a word of command.  A thin beam of pale energy leaps from his fingers.

Unfortunately, the novice sorcerer's aim is off, and the beam strikes Stormstrider in the back.  The ranger feels a slight warmth from the ray's touch, but is otherwise unaffected by whatever magical energy the spell contained.

Sirdros steps back a few feet and raises the sun god's symbol.

"Back, foul creatures!" he cries, and Pelor's light streams out.  The monsters seem unimpressed, however, and continue to surge forward toward the adventurers.

"St Cuthbert _smite_ thee!" the Padre has more experience than his elven compatriot, and his voice is filled with the roaring power of the god of retribution.  Both of the undead creatures scramble back from the divine energy, cowering fearfully against the wall.

"Now we've got 'em!" Elspeth raises her swords, eagerly.

"Hold back!" the Padre warns, pre-empting the ranger's charge, "You must not get too close or the charm may be undone.  Make use of your bows!"

The others naturally see the wisdom in this strategy, and soon a barrage of arrows, sling stones and crossbow bolts are flying across the cellar.  Several of the shots are embarrassingly inaccurate, but the sheer volume of fire overwhelms the two undead and batters them, lifeless, to the floor.

"Ghouls." The Padre pronounces, once he has had a chance to look at the creatures more closely.  "We were lucky that Sirdros and Stormstrider were the ones attacked.  The ghouls' touch could have paralysed any of the rest of us.  Well, except Elspeth."  He looks surprised, suddenly realising how many elves are with the company.

"What do you think happened here?" Twinkle asks.

Mantreus frowns, looking at the bodies,

"I have a bad feeling the disease killed the Hooberans, and their servants started eating them ... and turned into those _things_." He opines.

"I doubt it." Elspeth has less macabre sensibilities. "There's plenty of food upstairs.  No reason for the servants to eat anyone." She looks daggers at the sorcerer, "And it would be more likely to be the rich eating the servants, anyway.  They're used to living off the blood and toil of others, after all."

"I think the ghouls came from outside the town." Stormstrider - perhaps unwittingly - averts the imminent socio-political debate.  "Their clothes are rags.  They must have been wearing them for weeks."

"Right." The Padre agrees, "Now, I guess the next thing to do is take a look upstairs."


----------



## Sniktch

Well, that's one way to get the job done


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

*Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 8*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *"And it would be more likely to be the rich eating the servants, anyway.  They're used to living off the blood and toil of others, after all."
> 
> "I think the ghouls came from outside the town." Stormstrider - perhaps unwittingly - averts the imminent socio-political debate.  *




Hehe.


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 9*

The adventurers cautiously move upstairs and begin to investigate the bedrooms they find there.  There are four in all, plus a linen closet.  The first room appears to be unused; the wardrobe is empty and the chest at the foot of the bed contains only a slightly dusty chamber pot.  The second and third rooms appear to be those of the children, and contain nothing of interest to the financially-minded company.

The fourth room, however, is obviously the master suite.  It contains a large dresser, an enormous four poster bed, and an ornately carved teak wardrobe.  Also in the room is a sturdy iron safe, and a mannequin dressed in half-plate armour.  The mannequin has a greatsword strapped to its back.

"Anyone use one of these things?" the Padre immediately walks over and draws the sword.  He whistles softly as the steel whispers out of its scabbard, "Nice work."

Sirdros shakes his head,

"I have no need for the blade, but the armour is of a type I have been trained to use."

"Fine by me for you to have it." The Padre shrugs, "I don't like to be that weighed down."

Quite what the others think of that comment, given the enormously bloated pack on the Padre's back, is anyone's guess, but they prove no more interested in the armour than he: Stormstrider scowls at the mere suggestion of trapping himself inside all that lifeless metal, while the others each shake their heads in turn, being more comfortable in the lighter armour they are already wearing.

As Sirdros fumbles to get into the armour, finally appealing for the Padre's assistance, Mantreus and Twinkle examine the safe with a professional eye.

"Doesn't look trapped." Mantreus opines.  Twinkle snickers,

"You were expecting them to have a cloud of poison gas on a safe that’s in their bedroom?" she asks, with evident amusement, "Or maybe a _fireball_?"

"It could have had a poison needle." Mantreus offers defensively, his tone sulky.

"Or maybe a huge axe will swing down the ceiling to decapitate us." Twinkle has warmed to her subject, "Or spears will be launched across the room to skewer us." She snaps her fingers, "Or best of all, the mannequin will come to life, walk over here and beat us to death with its puffy, wool stuffed hands."

Mantreus suddenly moves from looking irritated to smug.

"Well, since you're so _confident_ it's safe." He smirks, "I'll leave you to open it."  Then he walks over to the other side of the room, hands in his pockets and whistling jauntily.

Twinkle stares after him, mouth half agape, then turns to look at the safe.  Finally, she settles down in front of the safe and gets out her tools.

The first thing she does is to check for traps.

Meanwhile, the others have begun to discuss their next course of action.

"A household this rich, they must have had servants." The Padre reasons, "So where did they sleep?"

"Maybe in another building?" Elspeth suggests.

"Servants quarters are often in the attic." Mantreus offers, inspecting the items on the dresser to see if anything is valuable, "The idea is that it'll make it hard for thieves to come in that way." He grins, "Doesn't work very often.  Most servants find that a couple of silvers make them sleep _very_ deeply."

The Padre frowns at the larcenous remarks of the rogue, but does not remark on them, instead keeping his mind on the matter at hand,

"Did anyone see a way to get into the attic?"

"Nope." Mantreus shrugs.

"There was a trapdoor in the ceiling in the hallway." Twinkle offers over her shoulder, as the safe door swings open.  "Ooh.  Goodies."

"Nicely spotted." The Padre snarks at Mantreus.  The human rogue shrugs in reply,

"She has an unfair advantage.  She's a gnome, so she's used to looking up all the time."

Ignoring her companions' remarks, Twinkle has been busily emptying the contents of the safe onto the floor.  They are several leather bags with silver coins spilling out of them, and a similar number of much smaller cloth pouches.

"Those have gold coins." She gestures at the smaller bags, "I'd say we've got about two hundred gold, by weight.  Maybe eight times that, in silver."

The party are well-pleased with their haul - and even better pleased when they clamber up into the servants' attic and find another small pouch of gold.  All of the money is loaded onto Stormstrider, as the powerfully built elf has little trouble handling the weight.  Even after he straps the greatsword to his back, he continues to move without any sign of difficulty.

"Now where?" Sirdros wants to know, as the group leaves the building.  Both he and the Padre have finally removed their makeshift masks, and the elf looks a lot more relaxed now that he has about fifty pounds of steel between himself and anything dangerous.

"Where else?" Twinkle jerks her finger at the next house along and does an appalling impression of the Padre, "We have to do this _methodically_, after all."


----------



## Elder-Basilisk

This is great. First I read how Wicht's group of noble heroes ran through this scenario. Now, I get the larcenous adventurers of the Random Encounter.

I look forward to reading more. . .


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 10*

The group move to the next building.   The settlement is more or less laid out in a grid pattern, so they just stick to the row closest to the western wall.  The new structure proves to be the village smithy.  The house itself is one of the few to be built of stone, while the forge abuts the southern wall of the main building.  A quick glance around shows that the fires of the forge are cold.  Nor do any of the tools appear to have been used; at least not for quite some time: there is a faint layer of dust on some of them.

Once they are convinced that there is nothing of value in the forge, the group carefully push open the front door of the building.  A grisly sight meets their eyes: a partially consumed corpse lies sprawled in the corridor before them, still swarming with bloated, red-jawed rats.

These vermin are only the normal kind, however - not the more aggressive dire variety - and they scatter at the group's approach, running out of the hallway through three different doors.

Approaching the body, the Padre crouches to examine it.

"A young male ... dwarf, I think." He reports, "Must have been dead  while before the rats got to him - there's not much blood."

As the others begin to move up, the Padre stands again, speaking a quiet benediction over the body.

Peering into the first door on the left, Sirdros visibly pales, then reaches in and sharply pulls the door closed before anyone else can join him.

"Nothing you'd want to see." He assures the others, at their surprised looks. "I think it ... they ...were his parents." The ashen-faced priest nods at the body in the hall.

"We should see to their last rites." The Padre's statement all but drowns out Mantreus' "But there could be gold in there!"

"Whatever gods they follow, they are already with them." Sirdros stands firm, and the Padre acknowledges his point with a nod.  The group moves a few steps further up the corridor, reaching the next door, which is set into the opposite wall from the first.

They peer through the doorway at a neatly organised living room, filled with dwarf-sized furniture.  There is a plush, overstuffed sofa with carved mahogany legs, several equally overstuffed armchairs, and a low ("Well it would have to be, for dwarves." Twinkle quips) table.

"Everything seems in order." The Padre remarks doubtfully, "No bodies, no sign of a disturbance."

"There's a chair overturned in the corner." Mantreus' sharp eyes have picked it out, for all that it is three-quarters hidden by the table.

"Best to be ready, then." Stormstrider brandishes his quarterstaff.

The group moves carefully into the room, fanning out slightly as they do so.  The two rangers have the flanks, while the clerics take the middle, holy symbols readied in case of an undead attack. 

It is however rats, rather than ghouls or zombies, that burst out from under the furniture and dash to attack.  There are three of the large, red-eyed dire rats, and they lunge forward in a group, jaws slavering and bristle-black fur matted with dried blood.

"Ahhhh!  Rats!" Twinkle drops the lantern - which fortunately does not shatter on the carpeted floor - and bolts out of the room.  It seems the recent battle in the watch tower has affected the young gnome more than they realised.

"Damnit, get back here!" the Padre roars after her, letting his holy symbol drop as he draws forth his mace and swings it into one of the creatures.  There is a dull _crunch_ as the blow smashes into the rat's flank, but the beast is still on its feet.

Stormstrider speaks a few words of the sylvan tongue, and a green glow surrounds his quarterstaff.  Looking more than a little pleased with himself, the ranger moves to block one of the rats.  As he does so, Mantreus also moves forward and snaps off a shot with his crossbow at the third, so far unengaged, rodent.  The bolt flies true, lifting the rat off its feet and pinning the twitching body to the sofa.

Elspeth cuts in beside Stormstrider and slashes at the rat with her swords.  Both blades bite deep, and the creature is immediately disembowelled.  The male ranger's look of pleased anticipation fades to one of annoyance, as he realises that might not get a chance to try out his new trick.

The look changes to an outright scowl as Sirdros steps up and dashes the brains of the rat that was already wounded by the Padre.  With the third and final rodent slain, the room falls silent, except for the rather bashful return of Twinkle, who mutters an embarrassed apology as she picks up the fallen lantern.  The Padre gives her a glare, and the gnome scuttles behind Elspeth.

They quickly check the rest of the house - an empty bedroom and a kitchen filled with rotting food - but find nothing of interest except for more rats ... of the normal kind, Twinkle is pleased to note.

"Right." Mantreus rubs his hands together briskly, then loads his crossbow again.  "Time for the next house."


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 11*

The next house proves to be empty of anything dangerous.  The group finds several more corpses, and many more rats, but none of the dangerous variety.  The vermin scatter as soon as the adventurers approach.

Their search of the fourth - and final - house of the row is similarly uneventful, and the group moves across the muddy road to a circular wooden building.

"It's locked." Mantreus reports upon trying the door.  There is a note of surprise and excitement in his voice.  His next words confirm the way his mind is working.  "They must have wanted to keep people out of here for some reason - might be something valuable inside."

"Or dangerous." The Padre has a more pessimistic theory.

"Hey, there's some kind of face up there." Twinkle points into the eaves of the building.

The group follow the direction of her pointing finger and spot the face she is referring to.  It looks like that of a satyr or other woodland fey, and is formed of leaves that have been carved into the wood.

"Looks like a religious icon." Elspeth glances at the Padre, "You recognise it?"

"Some kind of nature deity."

"Imagine that.  The leaf-faced guy is a nature god." Mantreus is sarcastic, "I'm so glad we had you along to clear up that little mystery."

Whatever response the Padre might have intended to make, it is interrupted by a low moan, which emanates from inside the building.

Perhaps some adventuring parties would have rushed to open the door, their minds on the possibility of survivors, barricaded into the shrine to protect themselves from the undead and plague rats that roam the village.  The Company are not that kind of party, however.

"Everyone fall back into a semicircle!" the Padre calls. "Get your missile weapons ready.  Twinkle, you open the door, then run back toward us.  If anything dangerous comes out, we'll be ready for it."

"Why me?" Twinkle wants to know.

"You're smaller than Mantreus.  If there is something dangerous in there, it'll be easier to shoot over you than it would be to shoot around him."

Although it is clear that she doesn't find this logic any more appealing than the task she has been asked to perform, Twinkle moves forward and crouches at the door, her tools at the ready.

Reluctant or not, the gnome proves an adept locksmith, and within a minute the door there is a click as the lock springs open.  Twinkle scrambles to her feet, gives the door a quick shove, and then sprints back toward the others, arms wrapped over her head for fear of being shot

For a moment, nothing stirs in the darkness within the building.  Then, with another long, low moan and a series of slow, shuffling steps, a zombie appears in the doorframe.  There are more of the creatures behind it, and soon no less than five of the walking dead have spilled out into open.

Mantreus is the first to attack, loosing a crossbow bolt that strikes one of the zombies in the arm, half-twisting the creature to the side with the impact, though doing little appreciable damage.  The Padre, who had his own crossbow at the ready, sees the limited results of the attack and swings the weapon down, raising his holy symbol instead.

"In St Cuthbert's name, get back to the grave!"

The Padre's voice rises and deepens as he invokes his god, until the last words fall like a clap of thunder.  For a second, there is stillness - and then every last one of the zombies disintegrates in a shower of dust and bones.

The group stares at the space where the zombies were, then turn as one to look at the Padre, who rather smugly lowers his holy symbol back to his chest.  Hefting his crossbow once more, he turns to Mantreus.

"_That_ is why I came along."


----------



## Single Malt

*Re: "Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 11*



> _Originally posted by Capellan _*
> ... The Padre, who had his own crossbow at the ready, sees the limited results of the attack and swings the weapon down, raising his holy symbol instead.
> 
> "In St Cuthbert's name, get back to the grave!"
> 
> The Padre's voice rises and deepens as he invokes his god, until the last words fall like a clap of thunder.  For a second, there is stillness - and then every last one of the zombies disintegrates in a shower of dust and bones.
> ... *




Ooh, now that's what I call a turning! Go Padre!!!!!

Oh and BTW, great story Capellan, it's high on my "must-check-for-updates-during-lunch" list along with P-Cat, Sepulchrave & contact


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 12*

Entering the shrine, the group quickly sees that it has been left rather the worse for wear by the recent zombie inhabitation.  The altar has been overturned, as have the simple wooden benches that used to provide seating for the congregation.  Two bronze candelabras have been knocked over: one with such violence that the shaft has been sharply bent.

"Tough crowd." Twinkle quips, "Maybe we should get Macwood to play here."

The joke falls flat, however, as the others are too busy picking through the refuse to pay attention.

At first, it appears as if nothing of interest has survived the zombie's attention, but then Stormstrider and Elspeth manage to right the heavy wooden altar, revealing a number of items that were concealed beneath it.

The first of these is a large, leather-bound book with thick, brownish pages.  The Padre picks it up and flips through the sepia-inked pages.

"_The Leaves of Life_." He reads the title page aloud.  "It's the holy book for a god called Obad-Hai.  Like I said earlier, he's some kind of nature god."

Stormstrider merely grunts at the information, apparently unimpressed with the human modification of his own druidic faith.

"Forget the book.  There's a lockbox here." Mantreus has his priorities clearly defined.  With a soft grunt of effort, he lifts the foot-long wooden box onto the altar, and inspects the lid.  "Not trapped, as far as I can see. Still, you might want to stand back."

The others have no hesitation in complying, and the human rogue soon has the box unlocked and opened, without any dangerous surprises.

"Money." He reports gleefully, sifting through the coins that fill the box. "Mainly small change, unfortunately, but it should add up to something worthwhile."

Nobody evidences any reluctance to plunder the shrine's donations, so Mantreus hands the box to Stormstrider for safekeeping, and the group moves on to check the next building - the burned house they saw when they first entered the village.

The ruins don't look completely safe; several partially-remaining walls appear on the verge of collapse; and the middle of the night is hardly the most opportune moment to go searching, but the group nonetheless set themselves to just that task.

Having first checked that the ashes are cool, and that there is little risk of banked fires still burning under the rubble, they jam three poles into the ground and hang lanterns from each of them, providing strong illumination on the area.  As the poles are spaces evenly around the ruin, there is light from multiple angles, reducing the problem of the adventurers' own shadows adding to the darkness.

There is nothing they can do about the clouds of ash that rise into the air every time they disturb any part of the ruins, however, and soon their hands and faces are black with the stuff.  The Padre's mask idea makes a temporary comeback, as they all seek to avoid breathing in too much of the fine, sooty powder.

"Hey, I've found something!" Mantreus digs a large hunk of fused metal out of the ashes.  The fist-sized lump appears to be an agglomeration of silver and gold coins, which have melted together from intense heat: presumably due to the fire that destroyed the building.

"There's something else here, too." Twinkle has continued looking through the ashes where Mantreus found the melted coins, and now adds a deformed iron symbol to their find.

"Looks like it is supposed to depict a skull and a scythe." The Padre examines the icon distastefully. "It's obviously a symbol of one of the death cults, though I don't know which one."

"It doesn't really matter which of them it is." Sirdros says grimly, "They're all bad news."

"Still, it helps to tell us what happened here." Elspeth offers, by way of small consolation.  The Padre concurs,

"Yes, I think it seems likely that a priest of the death cults came here, and decided the place was ripe for his attentions.  Maybe he infected the townsfolk with the disease, maybe they were already suffering.  In either case, I think he raised those zombies to act as his muscle.  But the townsfolk found out about him, trapped him in here and killed him."

"Unfortunately, it looks like it was already too late for them by the time they did." Mantreus nods his agreement.

"So do we leave now?" Stormstrider asks. "Seems like we know what happened."

"We should check the rest of the houses." The Padre's Plan won't die. "There may be something of value in them.  Once we're done, we should burn this place.  Make sure whatever this cultist did, dies here, just like them."


----------



## Mantreus

> Ooh, now that's what I call a turning! Go Padre!!!!!
> 
> Oh and BTW, great story Capellan, it's high on my "must-check-for-updates-during-lunch" list along with P-Cat, Sepulchrave & contact




And that's pretty much exactly what happened, and what was said Single Malt  For once Capellan isn't embellishing... It was pretty funny at the time. And the Padre was *very* smug, damn him!


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 13*

The next house - the last in the row - proves to hold nothing of interest, and so the group moves quickly to the third and final row of buildings.

"Not a bad sized place, this one." for a moment, Mantreus seems to have turned into a real estate agent, but then his real import becomes clear, "Easily the biggest since that one where we found all the money.  Keep your eyes open for loot."

And with that heart-warming sentiment, the group enters through the front door.

Inside, it quickly becomes apparent that this was the home of someone with a love for books, as there are shelves laden with them in most of the rooms the group enters.  It also appears that some kind of creature has rampaged through the house, as several of the shelves have been knocked to the floor, scattering their contents about.

"Hey - look at this." Mantreus crouches beside one of the fallen books and flips it open, revealing that the pages have been sealed together and then hollowed out.  Within the hiding place is a black velvet bag, filled with coins.

Twinkle snatches up the bag, then hefts it experimentally, eyes a little unfocussed as she judges the weight.

"Sixty, maybe seventy gold." She says at last, tossing the bag to Stormstrider.  The elf ranger is so surprised he almost fumbles it, but eventually manages to clutch it against his chest.

"How do you know it's gold?" Mantreus grumps at being upstaged.

Twinkle merely taps her nose, looking very pleased with herself as she does so.

She's so pleased, in fact, that she forgets usual timidity and scampers up the stairs ahead of the rest of the company.  Still grinning, she turns on the top step and starts to call for the others to come up.

Which is when the ghoul bursts out of a nearby room and leaps toward her.

Releasing an appropriately girlish squeal of fright, the young gnome tumbles down the steps, landing sprawled - but unhurt - on the lower floor.  The ghoul is only just behind her, however, as it comes rushing down, claws outstretched.

Mantreus shouts words of power, and a ray of pale energy flashes over the creature's shoulder, narrowly missing it.  The sorcerer curses: he obviously needs to do more work on his control of his powers.

Stomrstrider leaps up the stairs to meet the ghoul, his sickle biting deep into its flesh.  The ghoul shoulders past him, however, claws digging into Twinkle's back.  The gnome cries out as she feels numbness spread from the wound.  Fighting it off, she manages to roll aside, stabbing blindly with her sword to fend off the ghoul.

"Back, fell beast!" the Padre invokes his god, but for once St Cuthbert is not with him. 

"In the name of Pelor, begone!" Sirdros strides forward, and his force of drives the quailing ghoul back up the stairs.  It tries to flee into one of the rooms, but neither Stormstrider or Elspeth will stand for that: the two elves, secure in their immunity to paralysis, race upstairs and quickly dispatch it.

With the ghoul out of the way, and Twinkle's wounds attended to, the rest of the group joins the two elves on the top floor, and take a look through the rooms, there.  They find a couple of savaged corpses, but other than giving these unfortunate victims a few words to help speed them to their gods, there is little to make the adventurers pause in their sweep through the house.

And then they reach the locked door at the end of the corridor.


----------



## Mantreus

> "Not a bad sized place, this one." for a moment, Mantreus seems to have turned into a real estate agent, but then his real import becomes clear, "Easily the biggest since that one where we found all the money. Keep your eyes open for loot."
> 
> And with that heart-warming sentiment, the group enters through the front door.



Thank you for making me out to be a complete money grubbing low life, it's completely uncalled for and completely correct


----------



## The Padre

Mantreus said:
			
		

> *
> Thank you for making me out to be a complete money grubbing low life, it's completely uncalled for and completely correct  *




It's not just you buddy. We're all become money hungry to the extreme which is not how I remember it.......exactly!

A note for the readers, whilst we expect to be well rewarded for our exploits, I'm sure that if it came down to a choice between saving someone/doing the 'right' thing and a large pile of treasure we would chose the 'right' thing.

Though all bets are off if we find a magical mighty composite long bow  

Dave
a.k.a. Padre Wolfgang Priem


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 14*

It is obvious that the ghoul has made some attempt to enter the room in the past - there are numerous claw marks in the dark, hard wood - but the sturdy material has weathered these attempts with ease.

"I doubt we'll be able to force it." the Padre glances at the two rogues in the party, "Think you can pick it?"

Mantreus doesn't bat an eyelid.

"Give me a couple of minutes.  If it can be picked, I'll do it."

The rogue proves as good as his word.  Almost exactly two minutes later, the lock clicks open.

Beyond the door is a room filled with yet more shelves of books.  At the centre of the chamber is a large, oak desk.  On the far side of the desk is a heavy, cushioned chair.  Sitting at the chair, half sprawled across the desk, is the body of a man.

The corpse - for it is obvious that the man is dead - is dressed in finely made robes, obviously expensive.  He lies face-down on the desk, one hand outstretched and blotched with ink.

"I think he might have been writing something just before he died." Sirdros points to the man's ink-stained fingers, which are quite at odds with his otherwise elegant appearance. "Can someone help me move him aside?"

Stormstrider gives his fellow elf an amused look and lifts the corpse bodily off the table with one hand, revealing a creased sheet of parchment.  Sirdros quickly snags the sheet, and the ranger then lets the body drop heavily back onto the table.  This earns him a reproving stare from both priests, though he makes no sign of having noticed.

Sirdros places the sheet of parchment on the table, smoothing it as best he can with his hands, and struggling to piece together the erratic, jagged handwriting.  He reads aloud as he works his way through the note.



_Everyone in Hooberan’s is dying.

We burned down the house he was staying in but it was not enough. The fire was very bright and he screamed. The fever is taking us all. I can barely see to write and it grows worse. 

Was it the water? The Festival? 

Hooberan tricked the things and locked them in the shrine to the Farmer’s Wife. It is now an evil place where are the dead. My head burns and I cannot burn the town for I cannot leave my room here. There are things I fear clawing at the door. But they will not kill me. The fire kills me and burns my hand to the touch. 

The town must burn. There is oil in the packing crates. Stay away from Hooberan’s and don’t read this. Burn the town._



"I thought they grew berries here, not nuts ..." Twinkle quips.

"It's obvious he was delirious at the end." The Padre concedes, "But his intention of burning the town was sensible.  We will have to complete the task on his behalf."

Elspeth nods in agreement,

"It also sounds like we were right about what happened, here." She observes, "the Death Cultist intended to kill or control everyone here, but he either revealed himself too soon or was discovered, and they managed to destroy him."

"Unfortunately, it was too late to save themselves." The Padre looks genuinely saddened.

"Tough break." Mantreus agrees, then slaps his hands together, "Next house, anyone?"


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 15*

The next building turns out to be a charnel house.

The family that lived here had no less than five children, and the bodies of all five are strewn about the lower floor of the building.  Each of the bodies has been mauled and partially consumed after death, but it is obvious from the contorted expressions on the faces of the sprawled bodies that they were hunted through the house and murdered.

Twinkle dashes back outside, hand covering her mouth, as the Padre slams his fist against the wall.  He glances at Mantreus, and the usually flippant rogue looks back with a haunted expression, knuckles white as they clench around the hilt of his sword.  Finally, Mantreus speaks,

"Burning was too good for this guy."

As the Padre nods his agreement, the group begins to head up the stairs.  Stormstrider and Elspeth take the lead, with the still greenish Twinkle the last in line.  Moving as quietly as they can, the group makes it onto to the upper floor, and walks slowly along the hallway.  There are several closed doors leading off the area, but also one that stands ajar.  This open door gives a clear view of the master bedroom, and that is their first destination.

Just as Elspeth reaches the room, however, one of the other doors bursts open, and three ghouls come swarming into the hallway.

The undead beasts charge forward,  tearing and clawing at the adventurers, but the Company is not in a mood to be trifled with.  The Padre reacts first, first bodily checking the lead ghoul, then slamming his mace into its skull.  Any living creature would have been felled instantly, but the ghoul is only staggered, and rakes the cleric with one of its claws.  Fuelled by adrenaline, the Padre shrugs off the numbing effect of the creature's paralysing touch.

Beside him, Stormstrider and the second ghoul are trading blows at a furious rate, both bleeding from several light wounds already.  Mantreus also steps into the fray, lancing the ghoul in the side with his blade.

As the third ghoul gashes Sirdros with its claws, apparently recognising the cleric as a major threat, the Padre hammers his opponent once more, driving it to the ground with the force of his blow.  Stormstrider and Mantreus continue to work on their opponent: Stormstrider trying to keep it busy while Mantreus' sword again draws blood.

Even Twinkle has scampered into the fray by now, slashing at the legs of one of the ghouls as she circles to try and pin it between Sirdros and herself.

The ghouls are not done, however.  Angered by the second sting from Mantreus, the first remaining ghoul turns on the rogue, tearing into his flesh with both claws and following with a bite to his shoulder.  Mantreus crumples to the ground even as Stormstrider cuts down the ghoul.

"Sirdros!  Help him!" Elspeth gestures to the fallen rogue, then leaps forward to drive the third ghoul back before it can savage Twinkle in the same way.  Pressed by the elf, the undead staggers too close to the Padre, who swings his mace double-handed into its back, smashing its spine and dropping it twitching to the ground.

Sirdros channels healing energy into Mantreus, and the rogue is soon on his feet again.  The combat has released some of the tension from the adventurers, and they give one another pleased grins at their victory.  They have won some revenge for the children downstairs, and lifted a weight of gloom off their own shoulders.

Kicking the bodies aside, the group continues their exploration of the house.  It proves to be empty of further occupants, though they do discover an exquisitely crafted longbow and an armourer's mannequin garbed in well-fashioned studded leather armour.

"I could use this." Elspeth remarks, examining the armour on the mannequin.

"Why do _you_ get it?" Mantreus asks automatically, without looking up from where he is scrabbling under the bed in search of anything valuable.  Elspeth raises her eyebrows as she stares at the breast cups of the armour, which has obviously been sized for a woman.

"I don't think it would fit you very well." She replies impishly.  Mantreus glances up, sees the elf poke one of the cups with her finger, and shrugs his response,

"That's OK.  It's not my colour, either."


----------



## arwink

The Padre said:
			
		

> *It's not just you buddy. We're all become money hungry to the extreme which is not how I remember it.......exactly!
> *




This from a man who spent four week carting copper coins out of a treacherous mine?

I think you have to admit to a *few* mercenary traits


----------



## Talix

Nice to not have to worry about things like morals for the most part.  

Really loving the story!


----------



## Capellan

Talix said:
			
		

> *Nice to not have to worry about things like morals for the most part.
> 
> Really loving the story!  *




Well, in defence of my players, their characters are actually reasonably moral.  I don't think would ever knowingly take on an 'evil' task.

They are, however, acutely aware of the value of their services, and they intend to make sure that others are, as well 

Glad to hear you are enjoying the story hour!

On a related note, I'm _way_ behind with writing this, at the moment.  I hope to pick up the rate of posts in the next couple of weeks, as I will away interstate on business.  That means that when I finish in the office each day I don't have much else to do but write, so hopefully progress will be made.

As a teaser for what's coming up, I can promise:
- sewer showdowns!
- undead hordes!
- secrets uncovered!
- pranks and pratfalls!
- villains revealed!
- and *one will fall*


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 16*

The group moves on to check two more houses, but finds little of note.  Only one building is now left for them to explore: a large, warehouse-like complex in the back corner of the settlement.  Two sturdy wagons stand before this structure.  The first is typical in construction and appearance, but the second is quite unusual.  It appears to be a huge barrel, mounted on wheels, with a seat placed at the front for driving.  At the top of the barrel is some kind of platform, while the back has doors that can be easily opened to access the contents.

"This must be how they transport the wine." Mantreus slaps the side of the huge barrel. "Do you think there's anything in it?"

"One way to find out." The Padre marches to the back of the barrel and throws open the doors.

The contents of the barrel flood out in a solid wave, knocking the Padre off his feet.  Unfortunately, it is not wine.  Instead, a thick, reeking slurry of manure, waste and other compost items pours forth, completely soaking the unfortunate cleric, who is left lying on his back amidst a spreading pool of the foul slime.

As the Padre slowly gets to his feet, expression stony, the others do their best to avoid meeting his gaze. Well, except Mantreus.  He just stands there with a big grin on his face, as a particularly large lump of manure slides off the Padre's shoulder and _plops_ onto the ground.

"What are you so cheerful about?" the cleric grits out.

"I thought that the only thing people were going to remember from this adventure was me falling in the ditch." The rogue replies cheerfully, "But you've made sure that won't happen."

"I'm glad I could be of assistance." The Padre _squelches_ out of the pool of liquid manure, then sits on a patch of clean grass to remove his boots and tip out their contents.

"No more healing for you." Twinkle tells Mantreus, _sotto voce_.  She does her best to look innocent when the Padre flicks her an exasperated glare.  "Maybe you could clean over at the well?" she offers brightly, while moving to stand upwind.

Eventually the Padre has cleaned himself off to his own satisfaction, and the group enters the warehouse.  It quickly proves to house the entire wine-making process: there are dry rooms for storing the berries; pressing rooms to extract the juice, and a single large chamber filled with barrels.

"Here's the oil that was mentioned in that note." Elspeth announces, gesturing to some packing crates in  a store room at the back of the complex.  "There's heaps of the stuff - we could burn the town three times over with all this."

"Good." The still 'fragrant' Padre responds, "Because I've just been through the dry rooms and every last bunch of berries seems to have been infected with some kind of sickly, yellow mould.  I'd say that's how the disease was spread."

"The _berries_?" Twinkle squeaks, her eyes going wide.  "But I! - In the fields! - And they! - You're sure?"  she runs around in a circle, occasionally spitting out incoherent fragments of sentences.

"Do you have any idea what she's going on about?" the Padre asks, wearily.

"She ate some berries in the fields outside the town." Elspeth replies.  She gestures to the first barrel of oil and the Padre nods.  The two of them begin to roll it toward the door, ignoring the hyperventilating gnome. "Quite a lot of them, actually."

"Oh.  Is that all?" the Padre shrugs, "She should see the day I'm having."

They leave the wails of the diminutive rogue behind as they continue to roll the barrel out onto the grass.

"This shouldn't take long." Sirdros remarks, as he and Stormstrider follow, rolling another barrel together, "We'll need to make sure we douse everything flammable as much as we can, though.  The weather's been damp."

"We should take this wagon before we go." Mantreus slaps the seat beside him.  He's perched in the wagon, watching the others do the work. "We can drag it out of town and use it to carry the stuff we found."

"Could we pull it?" Sirdros looks doubtful.

"No problem." Stormstrider doesn't even look up, merely lifts the barrel they've been rolling casually onto his shoulder, and strides off.

"I'm convinced." Sirdros concedes.

Twinkle sidles out of the barn, looking a little pale.

"Am I going to die?" she asks plaintively.

"Not tonight." The Padre grunts in reply. "Show Stormstrider where to put that barrel.  I'm sure you know more about setting things on fire than the rest of us."

"You bet!" Twinkle scampers after the elf, then jogs beside him, occasionally jumping into the air as she explains finer points of successful pyromania.


----------



## Wicht

I knew the "waste" wagon was a good idea.  

  


As an aside, it is really cool to see someone else running an adventure idea that I wrote and even cooler to see it make it into a storyhour.  Thanks Capellan.


----------



## Capellan

Wicht said:
			
		

> *As an aside, it is really cool to see someone else running an adventure idea that I wrote and even cooler to see it make it into a storyhour.*




It's cooler still when one of ENworld's most successful Iron DM competitors makes his adventures readily available for me to steal 

Anyone not reading Wicht's SH should really start: it's good stuff!


----------



## Capellan

*"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht  - Part 17*

The group moves into action, functioning with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine.  Which, given how many barrels of the stuff they have, is probably not surprising.

The Padre, Elspeth and Sirdros drag the normal wagon to the front gates of the village.  It's hard work, pulling the heavy wooden cart over soft ground, but they manage it eventually.  Having done so, they load the various treasures the group has found into the wagon, then call on Stormstrider to help them drag it well outside the danger area.

Leaving Stormstrider's wolf to guard the wagon, the whole group then sets to dowsing the settlement in oil.  Every building is thoroughly daubed with the stuff, while linen and any other flammable materials they can find are spread out between the structures, providing ways for the fire to move from one building to the next.

Eventually, the group's preparations are complete.  All the buildings have been liberally daubed with oil, particularly at their lower levels, and everything valuable removed to a safe distance.

"The wind's from the west.  We should light the fires over _there_." Elspeth points out the spot she means, "That way, the flames will be pushed across the village, and we can be sure of destroying everything."

"I think we should stay and watch, just in case." The Padre muses, "It's the only way to be safe."

"You just want to watch the big bonfire." Twinkle accuses.

The Padre ignores the insinuation that he might have pyromaniac tendencies.

"We _do_ need to stay." Stormstrider remarks. "The fire from the village could spread to the fields.  We need to be here to stop that."

This seems to be the final word on the subject, and the group puts their plan into action.  While the larger, stronger party members drag the wagon even further away from the village and the expectec conflagration, Twinkle prepares to 'light the fuse'.

Once she is sure the others are well clear, the gnome wraps an oil-soaked rag around the head of a crossbow bolt.  After loading the bolt, she lights the tip, then fires it into a similarly oil-soaked part of the stockade wall.

The old, dead timber catches alight easily, and the breeze soon causes it to spread.  Within half an hour, large sections of the town are ablaze.  Even from their vantage point several hundred yards away, the adventurers are awed by the ferocity of the fire they have unleashed.

"You know, if that fire _does_ spread, there's no way we're going to be able to stop it." Mantreus says at last, "And it's going to take days for it to die out enough for it to be completely safe.  I think we should leave, and soon.  Twinkle and Elspeth both have infected wounds.  We need to get them back to town and healing."

Stormstrider is reluctant to depart, but the other five quickly unite in support of the proposal and gradually wear him down.  Eventually, he acquiesces to the plan and the group departs, trudging back the long miles to Amberdale.  Their progress is very slow, as they are dragging the cart with them.  Everyone but Twinkle is required to pitch in on this effort (much to Mantreus' disgust), with three people hauling the cart at any one time, and the others taking a breather as they walk beside it.

It takes two full days to reach Amberdale once more, and by the end of the second day Twinkle is lying in the back of the cart, tightly wrapped in blankets.  The tiny gnome's skin is pale, and sweat pours off her, despite the fact that she constantly feels cold.

"It's the rat bites." The Padre confides to the others during a period where Twinkle is asleep, "They're badly infected."

"You're sure it's nothing to do with the berries?" Sirdros frets.

The Padre nods, 

"I checked the berries in the fields before we left.  They were fine.  This is just an infection." He glances at Elpseth, "I think you're going to come down with it, too.  Despite our spells, your wounds aren't healing properly.  The only reason that she's suffering more is that she's smaller.  The poison is having its effects more quickly."

"As long as we get back to Amberdale before the High Priest leaves, we will be fine." Sirdros reminds them, "He can cure this easily."

"I'm sure he can." Mantreus grumps, "But will he be there?  And can we afford to pay him?"

"I will ask him to provide the healing without charge." The elf replies softly, "The wounds were suffered in putting an end to an enemy of Pelor."

The adventurers look unconvinced of the Church's generosity, but say nothing.

Late that night, the tired group reaches town, only to discover that the High Priest has already set out some hours before.

The Padre mutters a most irreligious curse, 

"There's nothing for it but to try and catch him up.  Stormstrider, can you and Sirdros take Elspeth and Twinkle to him?  Mantreus and I will stay here and let the others know what happened."

The burly elf nods,

"We will set out immediately.  I intend to find the Priest tonight."

"St Cuthbert be with you." The Padre replies.  Neither man says what they are both thinking: that if Stormstrider does _not_ find the High Priest, it may mean the end for Twinkle.


----------



## arwink

> "I think we should stay and watch, just in case." The Padre muses, "It's the only way to be safe."
> 
> "You just want to watch the big bonfire." Twinkle accuses.
> 
> The Padre ignores the insinuation that he might have pyromaniac tendencies.




Adventurers and burning things.  I don't get it.  It's like a disease or something


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 1*

After Stormstrider and the others depart in their pursuit of the High Priest, the Padre suddenly snaps his fingers and begins walking briskly toward the southern edge of town.

"Where are you off to?" Mantreus calls after him, in a perplexed tone.

"I'm off to see the wizard!"

"You're what?"

"I'm going to see the wizard!" the Padre stops and walks back, lowering his voice as he does so, "The cook's wife.  She might be able to identify those magical earrings we found.  I've been waiting to see her, and I just remembered that he said she should be back in town, by now."

"Oh.  Good idea." Mantreus nods, "Don't need me for that, do you?"

"Doubt it.  Why?"

"Because I plan to go get really, really drunk." The rogue grins tiredly, "And then sleep for a week."

"In that case, I'll go see Captain Jarrek once I'm done with the wizard." The Padre stops just short of sounding accusatory, "Since it sounds like you won't be in any state to tell him what we found."

"Good man." Mantreus claps the cleric on the shoulder and strolls off, whistling tunelessly.

The Padre stares after the other man for a moment, then shakes his head and turns on his heel, walking once more toward the southern edge of the village.

As usual, it is Gendrew who answers the door, and - again as usual - it seems his wife is not present.  The cook, wiping his flour-stained hands, does promise that she will be in that evening, and suggests that the Padre checks back then.

The cleric of St Cuthbert follows this suggestion, and finally meets the elusive wizard, who introduces herself as Andolyn.

"These earrings are magical." The Padre explains his errand, "But I do not know their function.  Are you able to use your magic to learn what it might be?"

"Certainly." The woman gives the jewellery a cursory look.

"How much?" as always, the Padre gets to the heart of the matter.

"Two hundred gold." Andolyn's lips quirk at the Padre's shocked reaction, "But if this is all you need identified ..."

"It is."

"Then you would be better served by having an apprentice examine it.  I am returning to Tarkamul tomorrow.  If you are willing to leave the item with me for a few days, I could have it identified for just over half that price."

The Padre pauses, reluctant to let the earrings out of his possession for such a length of time, but he sees nothing in Andolyn's demeanour to suggest that she intends to cheat him.  Finally, he nods.

"I shall return in four days." He says, handing over the item, "Or send one of my companions if I cannot come myself.  You'll know them -"

"I am aware of your group." Andolyn interrupts. "My husband speaks well of you.  I will know any you send in your place."

The Padre stares at her for a moment, then snaps his mouth shut and nods.

"Very well.  In four days, then."

Having bid farewell to the wizard, the Padre heads back toward the inn, then remembers his promise to see Captain Jarrek.  Muttering under his breath about 'unreliable vagabonds', he turns toward the barracks, instead.

Jarrek listens to the Padre's report in near-silence, only occasionally grunting a question.  At the end, his voice sounding unusually tired and old, he thanks the Company for their efforts.

"Burnin' the place was the best yer could do." he acknowledges, "And yer'll have the full reward for doin' it.  But this bodes ill fer us.  That cultist had plans here in Amberdale, too, or he would not have set those thugs to robbin' the graves here."

The comforting weight of over two hundred gold pieces would normally do much to assuage the Padre's mind, but he shares Jarrek's disquiet as he leaves the barracks.  Something more is at work here than a lone cultist, but he does not yet know what.

A night's rest restores some of his usual grim cheer, however, and the sore heads of Briar and Macwood - who have finally emerged from their own extended celebration of the Harvest Festival - provides him with some amusement the next morn.

It is late that afternoon when Sirdros returns to Amberdale, though he comes alone, despite departing with Stormstrider, Twinkle and Elspeth.

"How are they?" the Padre asks, bluntly.

"They are all fine." The other priest assures him, then sighs, "But we have a bigger problem."


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 2*

Although the Padre wishes to hear Sirdros’ news immediately, the elven Priest insists on gathering the others, first.

"There’s no point in going over this more than once." He says, after repeatedly rebuffing the Padre’s demands for additional information, "Tell any of the others you see that we should meet at the inn for dinner this evening.  I’ll explain everything then.  Oh, and tell them to be ready to travel, as well.  We’ll be leaving in the morning."

The Padre is a bit taken aback by Sirdros’ brusque words and demeanour – probably because he is not used to being on this side of autocracy – but eventually agrees to pass on the elf’s message to any Company members that he sees.

The two priests quickly scour the village, looking for the others.  The Padre finds Briar and Macwood already at the inn: the young rogue is nursing a small cider while the halfling is tucking into what he cheerfully informs the Padre is his eighth meal of the day.

Emerging from the inn, the Padre nearly collides with Ming Li and Sirdros.

"Any sign of the others?" he asks them.

"Ulfgar remains at the dwarven ruins." Ming Li says quietly, "I am not sure if he will return."

"Rose is still at the ranger’s tower." Sirdros adds, "We should go by there when we leave.  She may be able to accompany us."

"Mantreus?"

"Nowhere to be seen."

"I wonder what he’s up to." The Padre frowns.

"Probably best not to." Ming Li delivers the words with such bland inflection that neither of the two men is sure whether they are a jest.

"Sirdros!" the shout comes from their left.  A woman’s voice.  Angry.

The elven priest glances in that direction, frowns, then turns back to the others.

"Please excuse me." He says, his tone polite, but a note of resignation in his voice. "I suggest you go inside and order: I may be a while."

The Padre and Ming Li both follow Sirdros’ glance.  The monk’s head never turns: she merely flicks her eyes in the same direction.  The Padre, on the other hand, stares openly.

The woman who called out is an elf.  She has a lithe, slender build, but is very plain-featured, with a flat, rather lumpen face that is further marred by a disdainful expression.

"Charming." The Padre observes. "Friend of yours?"

"My sister." Sirdros voice has taken on a rather gloomy tone. "As I said: I may be a while.  I suggest you go inside."

The Padre pauses for another long stare at the newcomer, then shrugs, and follows the silent Ming Li through the door of the inn.

Inside, they find Briar and Macwood plastered against the window, avidly watching Sirdros’ conversation with his sibling.  The two elves are speaking quietly enough that their words cannot be overheard, but the body language and expressions of the two make it obvious that the conversation is far from comfortable.

"Ah, young love." Macwood muses, "Perhaps I should send them little birdies to smooth out their tiff." He wriggles his fingers, and a pair of glowing blue lights start flying around the room, startling the other patrons.

"She’s his sister, not his lover." The Padre drags the halfling away from the window.

"You don’t know elves very well, do you?" Macwood waggles his eyebrows.

The Padre sighs.  Briar smirks, then covers his grin by pretending to cough.

"Perhaps we should order." Ming Li has seated herself at one of the few tables in the room that does not look out onto the two elves.  Macwood pouts at this, but follows when it is clear that all the others are heading over to join her.

The group orders drinks as they wait for Sirdros.  Their order is just arriving when the elf enters, his sister stalking in beside him.

"My friends," Sirdros gives a small shrug, "This is my sister Anastria.  My parents have sent her to make sure I do not … put myself in too much danger.  Anastria, these are my companions: Ming Li, Briar Rose, Padre Wolf - "

"Padre?" the elven woman’s lip curls, "Is he another member of that ridiculous cult you follow?"


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 3*

There is a long moment of silence as the Padre visibly considers what to say.  Finally, amusement over Sirdros’ obvious discomfort seems to win out over offence at the elven woman’s words.

"No." he says at last, "I don’t belong to ‘that cult’.  I take it you are not a follower of the same faith as your brother."

Anastria sniffs,

"I follow the elven faith."

"I hope that’s working for you." The Padre turns back to Sirdros, "You said we have a problem?"

Restraining a smile, Sirdros nods and takes a seat at the table.  Uninvited, Anastria takes the seat beside him.

"As I said to you earlier," he begins, "Stormstrider and I managed to catch up with the High Priest, and he has cured both Twinkle and Elspeth –"

"What did that cost?" Macwood interjects, then takes a swig of ale.

Sirdros shakes his head,

"There was no charge.  The injuries were suffered on Church business, after all.  However, the High Priests did raise the matter of the earlier healing he provided to the group.  You still owe the church two services, and he has requested that you provide the first of them, now."

The Padre glances around the table and sees shrugs of acceptance from the others,

"Tell us about it."

"When I told the High Priest of what we discovered in Hooberan's Stockade, he was very interested." Sirdros begins, "Particularly in the manner of the Death Cultist's attack.  It seems that this is not the only mysterious epidemic to recently appear.  Word has come from the town of Duvik's Pass that most of the people there are suffering from a previously unknown disease.  The High Priest believes the two incidents may be linked."

"More Death Cultists?" Briar asks.

"Probably." Sirdros nods.

"What are they up to?" the Padre wonders, "There must be more to it than just killing people, even for them."

"Duvik's Pass is a pretty important town." Macwood offers, wiping foam from his upper lip, "It's a fair size, for one thing - much bigger than Amberdale, let alone Hooberan's.  And it's right on the southern pass through the mountains.  If the town gets quarantined, a lot of trade caravans will have to be diverted.  There'll be all kinds of disruptions."  He catches the stares he is getting from the others and shrugs, "I'm a traveller and explorer, remember.  I pay attention to these things."

"Well, it certainly explains why the cultists would want to cause trouble, there." Briar admits, "Maybe the attack at Hooberan's Stockade was a test run for this?"

"If it is, we will find out." Ming Li raised her hand to silence the others, gesturing subtly at an approaching waitress.

The serving girl, pretty and dimpled, takes the group's order with cheerful efficiency, then heads back into the kitchen to arrange their meals.

No sooner has she left, however, than another young woman approaches the group's table.  This is no serving maid, however, for she is far too richly - if gaudily - dressed, and wears a well-crafted rapier at her side.

"Good evening," she nods her head at the gathered members of the party, "Folks tell me of a brave group of adventurers who make their homes here, and by your look, you must be them."

"We are the Company of the Random Encounter." The Padre responds, a trifle portentously, "Is that who you seek?"

"That is the name I heard, yes." The woman smiles, "I am Marble McCray.  I thought I had best introduce myself to you, as it may be that we can do business together, in the future.  I am a ... dealer ... in goods of a certain nature.  Rare items.  Valuable treasures.  Magic.  That sort of thing.  If you should ever find yourself in need of such things - or in possession of one when you have a need for coin - then please seek me out.  I am sure we could make a mutually profitable trade."

"What sort of magic?" Sirdros asks.  Marble spreads her hands,

"What do you need?  I'll see what I can do."

"There's nothing we need right at the moment." The Padre neglects to mention that there is also little they could afford. "Is there any item in particular you might need us to recover?"  Evidently the priest smells an employment opportunity.

"No." Marble disappoints him. "But anything interesting you find, remember me."

"We will do so." Ming Li assures her blandly.

"Good evening, then." Marble nods and turns away.

As she does so, screams ring out from the kitchen.


----------



## incognito

Ohhhhh....crap...another cliffhanger.

On a Friday, to boot.


----------



## dpdx

> Duvik's Pass...



YESS! They're going to run the only adventure I've ever DMed! I'll wait until it's over to kibbitz, but this rocks!

Is the Company still collectively 1st level? If so, this should be great! And it'll segue right into another adventure (or TWO!) that's fun, as well!

I'll be waiting patiently for the Story Hour goodness to ensue.


----------



## Capellan

dpdx said:
			
		

> *YESS! They're going to run the only adventure I've ever DMed! I'll wait until it's over to kibbitz, but this rocks!
> 
> Is the Company still collectively 1st level? If so, this should be great! And it'll segue right into another adventure (or TWO!) that's fun, as well!
> 
> I'll be waiting patiently for the Story Hour goodness to ensue. *




You'll have to wait for a while, because they're about to get sidetracked ... Duvik's Pass is a whole 'nother session away 

At the time of this adventure, most of the PCs were 2nd level.


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 4*

The cook and a scullery maid burst out into the common room, a wave of cockroaches on their heels.  These are no ordinary vermin, however: none are less than two feet in length, and many are as much as twice that size.  Their pincers make an audible scratching noise as they scuttle across the floor, torchlight shining off their mandibles and shells.

Anastria, despite having her back to the kitchen, is the first to react.  Leaping to her feet, she draws a slender rapier from her belt and moves forward, placing herself between the roaches and the two screaming women they are chasing.

The black tide swarms past her, one roach stopping to nip at the elven woman's leg.  As blood trickles out of her calf, Anastria stabs back, but the point of her sword skitters off the creature's tough shell.

As Briar and Macwood draw their swords and stand ready for the verminous horde, the Padre begins the incantation to _summon_ one of St Cuthbert's hunting hounds.  Only Ming Li leaps forward, snatching up her staff as she moves.  The monk takes three quick steps and slams the head of the staff down, crushing one of the bugs with a single blow.  The creature's shell is shattered, and noxious brown and green fluids spill out of it onto the floor.

Ming Li wrinkles her nose in disgust, no doubt pleased to have used her staff on the creature, rather than her bare hands.

As a glowing bloodhound appears amidst the roaches, and Sirdros moves to his sister's side, the adventurers begin to rally.  There are too many of the vermin for them to stem the tide completely, of course, but only a few of the roaches have progressed far enough to menace the other patrons.  On the far side of the tavern, a burly half-orc stands side by side with a gnome, the two of them fending off the vermin with improvised weapons.  The scullery maid is cowering behind them, but the cook has recovered enough to start battering one of the roaches with a stool.

Over by the bar, Brent Birchwhistle has clambered onto the counter, and is leaping back and forth, kicking away any roach that tries to clamber up to him.  The only person not in sight is Marble McCray: an open window makes clear her route of panicked departure.

Briar leaps onto the table as Macwood runs under it, the two combining to attack a single roach.  The human rogue's blow goes wide, but it distracts the creature long enough for Macwood to slice it in two with his longsword, Kewpie Doll.

Ming Li crushes another, while Sirdros and Anastria deal with two more.  The siblings are proving to be an effective combination in combat, whatever their other differences may be.  Indeed, currently the only member of the group who has yet to really contribute to the fight is the Padre.  He curses in disgust as the Hound of St Cuthbert misses twice, barely even distracting one of the roaches.  He curses even louder when it promptly fades from view, its time in the material plane at an end.

The hound's disappearance seems to galvanise the adventurers, however, as they quickly slaughter three more of the bugs.  This clears the area around them, and Ming Li immediately rushes forward, into the kitchen from which the creatures originally emerged.

"Ancestors!" the monk curses and skids to a halt.  An enormous cockroach, fully six feet in length, has just pulled itself up out of a gaping hole in the floor, while a second, equally enormous roach is already scuttling across the floor toward her.

Ming Li recovers herself quickly, however, and strikes out with her staff.  She has become skilled at finding the weak spots in the roaches' armour, and this blow is as successful as her others.  Despite the creature's great size, a single blow is all she requires to destroy it.

Still smarting from the poor performance of his _summoned_ Hound, the Padre pushes past the others to reach the fore of the battle.

"May St Cuthbert guide my blow!" an aura of divine power crackles around the Padre's mace as he slams it into the other 'super-sized' roach.  The blow drives the creature into the floorboards, its legs splayed helplessly as its shell caves in under the crushing impact.

There are many of the smaller roaches still in the room, and they swarm to the attack, biting both the Padre and Sirdros, who arrives just in time to become a target.  The other adventurers quickly arrive, however, and the tide of battle swiftly turns in their favour.  Every successful blow by one of the Company destroys a roach, while the mandibles of the vermin - though intimidating - pluck all but ineffectually against their flesh.

Suddenly one of the roaches scuttles across the counter of the kitchen, knocking several pots of stew over the nearby adventurers.  Scalding water sprays over Briar and Macwood.  The halfling's small stature saves him from a painful soaking, but Briar is not so lucky, and yells in pain and surprise.

"That thing did that deliberately!" he swears, wild-eyed, then cuts the creature in half in revenge.

"What a waste of fine food." Macwood shakes his head sadly.

The scalding stew - whether planned or not - is the roaches' last hurrah.  Weapons flashing, the adventurers make short work of the few vermin remaining.  Within a minute, they are the only living things left in the kitchen: dead roaches lie everywhere.

"Not bad." Sirdros looks around, "They're all dead, and we just have a few scratches.  Nothing that won't clear up overnight, probably."

The priest's words of self-congratulation are interrupted by a scream from the doorway.

The group turn, to see the inn's cook standing at the entrance to the room, her face white as she stares at the ragged hole in the floor.

"Dalia!" she sobs, "My little girl!  They've taken her into that hole!"


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 5*

The cook rushes up to the adventurers, tears in her eyes,

"Please!  They have my Dalia!  You have to help!"

The group look at each other.  None of them want to refuse the woman, but there is also the matter of their responsibility to the church to consider.  They retreat into a huddle to discuss the woman's request.

"We should help." Anastria says firmly, "Your 'church' can wait.  These people need aid, now."

"Can we afford the delay?" the Padre wonders, "Or the risk?  Some of us could be injured, and not be able to go on the church's mission."

"Anyone who was injured could ride in the cart," Sirdros concedes, "The High Priest told me it would take four days to reach Duvik's Pass from here.  We'll have them back on their feet by then."

The Padre nods his acknowledgement of the point.

"What do the rest of you think?"

Macwood snorts,

"Of course we're going in, you big fool." The halfling points at the hole in outrage, "They ruined the _kitchen_."

"No doubt it will now be hours until we would be able to get dinner." Ming Li nods solemnly.  Macwood shoots her a suspicious look, but the monk's expression is impassive.

Their course of action agreed, the group leaves Ming Li to stand guard over the hole, the rest of them scattering to don their armour and organise the rest of their equipment.  Then, bringing the monk's tiny sack of belongings with them, they return to the inn.

Standing just back from the edge of the hole, they peer into the darkness below.

"Sewers, by the smell of them." Briar wrinkles his nose.  " I thought I'd seen the last of these." Catching sight of the curious glances sent his way, he stammers an explanation, "My father was ... um, in the, uh, Sanitation Guild."

"I'm sure guild membership was involved." The Padre agrees sombrely.  Briar avoids meeting his eyes.

"Time's wasting." Macwood grumbles, lighting a lantern and then tying it to the end of some rope.  Inching to the edge of the hole, he lowers the light into the opening, revealing the sewer tunnel below.

The group moves into action.  First, they put Sirdros in a makeshift rope sling and lower him into the tunnel, then they make a simple ladder with a knotted rope and the rest of them - more agile and far more lightly equipped than the elf - climb down after him.  The sewer proves to be a square tunnel, roughly eight feet across.  There are stone ledges on either side of tunnel, each measuring no more than twelve inches in width.  Between them runs a wide - but shallow, as Ming Li discerns with her staff - channel of sewage.  The tunnels runs straight in both directions from where they stand, with nothing to distinguish the darkness on their left from that on their right.

"Can anyone see any tracks?" the Padre peers vainly at the ledge beneath their feet.

Sirdros shakes his head.

"I see nothing.  The cockroaches may not even have used the ledges.  Without a proper tracker, we will have to guess which way they went."

"Amberdale is not a large settlement." Ming Li reminds them, "These tunnels should not be all that extensive.  Thus, it may be possible that we can simply explore them all, until we find the missing girl."

The Padre nods his agreement,

"We just have to pick a direction to start with."

"When in doubt, go left." Macwood shrugs off the others' raised eyebrows, "It's an old explorers' trick.  Always pick one direction and stick with it.  That way, if you have to double back, you always know which way you went."

Anastria frowns,

"Why left?  Couldn't you always go right, just as easily."

"No." Macwood answers shortly - and nonsensically.  "It has to be left.  Besides, left takes us downstream."

The others shrug, and with the decision made, the group sets off.  Having all six of them on one ledge soon proves impossible to coordinate, particularly given the poor sense of balance some of them are exhibiting, and - with a grimace - the Padre is the first one to step into the ankle-high slurry that flows sluggishly down the middle of the tunnel.

"It's not too bad." He reports, his expression giving lie to his words, "A bit slippery, so put your feet down carefully, but as long as you're wearing boots you should be fine."

Soon all of the adventurers except for Ming Li are walking in the channel, sliding their feet along the floor so as to minimise the chance of falling into the foul-smelling muck.  The monk - dressed in open sandals - sticks to the ledge, padding along it as easily as if it were a dozen feet wide, instead of a dozen inches.

"There's a room ahead." Sirdros reports as they press forward along the tunnel, "Looks like the sewage all empties into it."

"Probably deeper in there, then." Macwood - already knee deep even in the 'shallow' channel - looks less than enthusiastic about progressing any further.

"We have to check it." Briar gives the halfling a resigned smile, "The cockroaches could have come this way.  Besides, it was your idea."

"Thank you for reminding me."

As Macwood grumbles, the group reaches the entrance to the chamber.  Sirdros and the Padre take the lead, edging carefully into the sewage.

"There's a ledge here." The human cleric reports, carefully stepping down into the deeper area.  The brown ooze climbs up to the height of his knees.  Macwood looks even less enthusiastic than he did before - something that hadn't seemed possible until that point.

"Stay there," the Padre calls back to the others, "there's no need for you to come any further in.  Sirdros and I can check it out, without any problems."

This, of course, is the exact moment that the _thing_ bursts out of the slime.


----------



## arwink

Hold on, I'm confused.

Where's the haggling?  Surely they're not rescuing the poor girl for nothing?


----------



## Mantreus

> Where's the haggling? Surely they're not rescuing the poor girl for nothing?



Hang on, sheesh! What sort of adventures do you think we are?

And Cappelan, you forgot to mention the "divine intervention" coming up as well


----------



## Capellan

arwink said:
			
		

> *Hold on, I'm confused.
> 
> Where's the haggling?  Surely they're not rescuing the poor girl for nothing?*





You're missing something.

The roaches broke the _kitchen_.

Some crimes are simply too terrible to go unpunished 




			
				Mantreus said:
			
		

> *And Cappelan, you forgot to mention the "divine intervention" coming up as well  *




Single P.  Double L.  It's really not that hard.   

And I have no idea what you're talking about.  E-mail me direct and we can confer.  I suspect you just have your sessions mixed up


----------



## Mantreus

Ok Callepian, I'll email you.


----------



## incognito

I can't decide who I like better.  the overstuffed halfling bard with "Kewpie Doll" or the staight 'man' Monk.

I love this SH!  Though the name of the group should be more like "Random Company of Many Encounters"


----------



## dpdx

Is Anastria a PC, Capellan, or did you just feel the need to saddle someone with a little sister?


----------



## Capellan

dpdx said:
			
		

> *Is Anastria a PC, Capellan, or did you just feel the need to saddle someone with a little sister? *




Anastria is a PC, played by Sirdros' fiancé.  The brother & sister thing was their idea.

There are quite a few couples and familial relationships amongst the players around the table: this is the first amongst the characters.


----------



## Mantreus

> There are quite a few couples and familial relationships amongst the players around the table: this is the first amongst the characters.



Stormstrider (the beefy elf that doesn't say much) is my son (He's 11). We're completely unrelated in the game though 


> I can't decide who I like better. the overstuffed halfling bard with "Kewpie Doll" or the staight 'man' Monk.



Ming Li has a fan! I'll have to tell her


----------



## incognito

> Ming Li has a fan! I'll have to tell her




Esp. if she's that funny in real life!


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 6*

Again, Anastria is the first to react.  Whatever her other failings, she certainly has a warrior's instincts.

The creature's half-submerged body is huge and bulbous, like an enormous, unlanced boil.  It squats amidst waist-deep filth, only its wide and dripping maw - filled with crooked, discoloured teeth - appearing above the surface.

Quickly discounting the option of wading into the foul brown muck that fills the room, the elf draws her bow and steps sideways along the ledge, looking for a clear shot.  Seeing one, she nocks and arrow and raises the weapon to fire.

Unfortunately, that's just the opportunity the creature has been waiting for.  A long tentacle, previously hidden beneath the sewage, suddenly lashes out, covering the wide gap between the creature and the elf with no trouble at all.  Strange lumps of unidentifiable refuse - and some that are all too identifiable - spatter over the adventurers.

The tentacle - topped with a broad, flat 'paddle' that is studded with sucker-mouths - wraps around Anastria, pinning her arms to her side.  The elf hangs onto her bow as she tries to squirm free, but the slime beast is too strong, and its grip tightens quickly.

Less squeamish than their companion - or perhaps shocked into more desperate action - Ming Li and Sirdros both plunge into the sewage-filled pit, sinking to their thighs as they wade forward.  Both reach the beast and launch blows against its side, but neither can penetrate its leathery, slime-coated hide.

Wary of the beast's reach, the Padre wades across the room, reaching the furthest wall.  Turning, he raises his loaded crossbow and fires.  The shot is hurried, however, and passes high over the creature, the bolt shattering against the stones opposite his position.

Briar moves forward - the stinking slime reaches almost to his waist - and wades in alongside Ming Li and Sirdros, but his blow is even less effective.  The young rogue's sword - the grip slick with spattered sewage - almost slips out of his grasp.

"Stand back for Kewpie Doll!"  Macwood draws his longsword with a flourish and leaps into the slime.  The dense morass bears his weight just long enough for his expression to change to one of concern, and then three-quarters of the halfling vanishes under the surface, only his shoulders, head, and upraised sword still visible.

Perhaps sensing the halfling's vulnerability, the creature lashes out with another tentacle.  The blow wraps around Macwood's arm, but - letting go of his sword with that hand - the bard slips free.

Anastria is not so lucky.  The creature has her firmly pinioned by now, and she simply lacks the strength to break free.  The tentacle constricts, and the elf feels at least one of her ribs crack under the strain.  Pain threatens to overcome her, but she blocks it out, grimly hanging on to consciousness.

The Padre draws his mace and shield and rushes forward, both he and Macwood reaching the creature together.  A tentacle slaps lazily at the pair, but the priest fends it off which his shield.  Unfortunately, neither he, the halfling, nor indeed any of the others, can land a telling blow.  Weapons rise and fall all around the creature, but none pierce its thick, leathery skin.

The creature, undeterred by its ineffectual opponents, tightens its grip still further on the unfortunate Anastria.  She shrieks in pain as three more of her ribs give way, but then the scream cuts off with a wet, choking sound.  Blood trickles from the elf's mouth as her body goes limp.

Disinterested in prey that no longer fights back, the tentacle relaxes, dropping the unconscious elf into the slime.  For a moment, the surface tension holds the body afloat, and then - bloodstained and all but crushed - Anastria's slender form sinks into the slime.


----------



## Talix

Eeeeeew!  Poor Anastria!  

And I'm a monk fan, myself.  8)


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 7*

Ming Li turns and drops to one knee, hauling the stricken elf's head above the level of the putrid morass.  Seeing the monk distracted, the slime beast raises a tentacle overhead, then swings down viciously.  However, the blow slaps harmlessly into the slime.  Without even looking at the creature, Ming Li sidesteps the blow, still keeping Anastria's head above the sewage.

Sirdros steps closer to try and help his sister, but the distraction of the thing's tentacles prove too much for him, and his attempt to cast a healing spell fails.  Meanwhile, the others have no more luck: every blow slides off the creature's tough hide, or is batted aside by one of its tentacles.

The creature itself has no such problem.  Briar narrowly avoids the tentacle that swings at him - stumbling backward in the muck, the young thief almost falls - but Macwood is not so lucky.  Deprived of his usual fast reflexes (though not his equally fast mouth), the halfling cannot dodge the blow, which crashes down heavily on his head and left shoulder.  Knocked unconscious, the bard falls, though his light frame means that he does not immediately sink into the slime.

Sirdros drags Anastris back onto the ledge at the side of the room, and - not wanting to lose another spell - tries to stabilise her by non-magical means.  The slime beast tries to take advantage of the priest's distraction, but the heavy half-plate armour he wears keeps him safe.

"Briar, I need a distraction!" the Padre moves up beside Macwood, raising his shield to cover them both. "Keep this thing off me for a few seconds!"

"Oh sure, I'll ask it out for dinner or something ..." the young thief ducks another swinging tentacle, then shouts an expletive and lunges with his blade, wondering if he will survive giving the priest his moment's distraction.

A blow from a tentacle hammers into Briar's side, and he is knocked to one knee, his vision swimming.  As he stumbles, he feels his blade wrench in his hand.  Fearing he will drop the weapon, he tightens his grip, wrenching it back with all his strength.

It is only when the creature bellows in pain that Briar realises _why_ his weapon jarred in his hand.

The wound is a deep one, and thick, black-red blood pumps out of the creatures' torn flesh, creating a darker stain in the mud brown sludge.

Making the most of the beast's pain and distraction, the Padre leans down and hauls Macwood back toward the far edge of the room.  He deflects one tentacle with his shield as he goes, though a second swings in underneath it to batter against his ribs.

By now, Briar and Ming Li are the only two left in combat with the creature.  Anastria and Macwood are down, and both of the clerics are fully occupied in keeping them alive.  Things look grim for the company: an assessment that is compounded as the beast continues to batter the monk and the rogue, while neither adventurer lands a blow.

"Little help here, guys?" Briar swears, falls on his rump in the slime, then scrambles aside of another of the creature's blows.  The young man is by now almost as covered in sewage as Anastria or Macwood. "I need a partner who can actually hit this thing."

Ming Li, who has just unleashed a flurry of blows that may as well have been raindrops, for all the effect they had on the creature, does not react to the aspersion.  Instead, she reaches out and hauls the rogue to his feet.  She then steps nimbly aside of a tentacle and slams both fists down on it, causing the creature to snatch it away with a pig-like squeal of pain.

"Show off." Briar grins, "See?  You just needed the right motivation."  The rogue steps away from Ming Li, cutting a shallow wound across the creature's side as he does so.

Both the Padre and Sirdros - now outside the apparent reach of the creature's tentacles - utter the incantations of a _cure light wounds_ spell.  Within moments, Anastria and Macwood are conscious once more, though Macwood in particular looks as if he is only staying upright through sheet willpower.

The elf maiden has no wish to risk the creature's tentacles once again.  Snatching up Sirdros' bow, she sends an arrow flashing through the gap between Ming Li and Briar.  The shot flies too high, however, the arrow shattering against the wall.

Macwood has no such sense of circumspection.  Yelling a complicated and outrageously obscene war cry, the halfling charges straight back into the (for him) chest-high sewage.  Unfortunately, Kewpie Doll scrapes ineffectively off the creature's side, despite the enthusiasm of the halfing's blow.

The bard has, however, distracted the slime beast's attention from Briar, and the young rogue seizes the opportunity.  Lunging under the creature's upraised tentacles, he raises his shortsword above his head and swings it down into the gaping mouth.

The beast convulses, tentacles failing.  Briar is scooped up and hurled against a wall, while Ming Li is also all but knocked from her feet.  These sudden and erratic blows are nothing more than death spasms, however: the creature convulses once more, then suddenly collapses into the slime, sending a wave of the foul substance sweeping across the room.

Macwood - mouth still open in mid war cry - bears the brunt of the wave.  Its one of the very few moments that leave him speechless.  Perhaps because he is too busy retching.


----------



## Bulain

*Heh*

Heh..


----------



## Talix

I must repeat: Eeeeeeew!  

But hooray, victory!


----------



## Mantreus

It may well be "Eeeeeeew!", but it couldn't happen to a yappier halfling  It *had* to be Macwood or Twinkle...


----------



## arwink

Mantreus said:
			
		

> *It may well be "Eeeeeeew!", but it couldn't happen to a yappier halfling  It had to be Macwood or Twinkle... *




Some day, someone's going to have to explain why the party enjoys seeing bad things happen to these two so much.


----------



## Capellan

arwink said:
			
		

> *Some day, someone's going to have to explain why the party enjoys seeing bad things happen to these two so much. *




Some day, you will game with them, and you will *know*.


----------



## arwink

Capellan said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Some day, you will game with them, and you will know.   *




That hardly prepares me for the experience


----------



## dpdx

Yaay! Our intrepid heroes defeat the Teflon Crapmonster!

Now for someone to cast _Summon Handi-Wipe IX_... although, maybe an Aerial Servant or 57 Cleaning cantrips would do the trick...

Wait! Where's the baby?


----------



## Mantreus

arwink said:
			
		

> *
> 
> That hardly prepares me for the experience  *



You'll be fine, your LG Paladin is going to have a field day with these two  Not to mention me, who lucky leads a very er... structured and orderly existence in the pursuit of the greater good. *cough*


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

I think paladins in parties like yours are better than ones without- Twinkle, Macwood, and Matrues all make excellent foils for someone like a Paladin, and prevent him from dominating the party, as might happen if everyone agreed (or at least, didn't strongly disagree) with his worldview.

At the very least it will make entertiaining reading.


----------



## Mantreus

Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> *I think paladins in parties like yours are better than ones without- Twinkle, Macwood, and Matrues all make excellent foils for someone like a Paladin, and prevent him from dominating the party, as might happen if everyone agreed (or at least, didn't strongly disagree) with his worldview.
> 
> At the very least it will make entertiaining reading.  *



I'm looking forward to it actually  He's not going to stomp all over our desire for loot!


----------



## arwink

Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> *I think paladins in parties like yours are better than ones without- Twinkle, Macwood, and Matrues all make excellent foils for someone like a Paladin, and prevent him from dominating the party, as might happen if everyone agreed (or at least, didn't strongly disagree) with his worldview.
> 
> At the very least it will make entertiaining reading.  *




To be honest, Khore won't truly notice if his companions disagree with him or not.  He's bright enough, and relatively likeable, but he just isn't observant enough to notice the people around him doing something untoward unless they pop up on a detect evil or flagrantly shove their transgretions in his face.

Besides which, he spends far to much time on his back and unconscious to dominate anything


----------



## Mantreus

arwink said:
			
		

> *Besides which, he spends far to much time on his back and unconscious to dominate anything  *




Must.. stop.. self... from... making... obvious... jokes.... argh!


----------



## The Padre

Mantreus said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Must.. stop.. self... from... making... obvious... jokes.... argh! *




Go on, you know you want to   

Dave


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 8*

"What the hell was that thing?" Briar wrinkles his nose.

Macwood coughs up a bizarre agglomeration of consonants, then shrugs when everyone looks at him,

"It's what they're called.  They're dung-eaters." He pauses reflectively - an attitude somewhat spoiled by his soiled appearance, "You know, we've probably just killed the town's garbage disposal unit."

"They'll get over it." the Padre gestures back the way they came, "Looks like we try the other way."

The group heads back down the sewer tunnel, and soon passes under the kitchen of the inn, where several wide-eyed customers and staff peer in at the begrimed adventurers,

"What was all the screaming and yelling about?" Brent Birchwhistle calls down, covering his mouth and nose as he speaks.  The adventurers look at one another.

"Rat." Briar pipes up, with a forced grin.

"A rat?  The inn's owner looks sceptical, "But all that shouting -"

"It was a _large_ specimen." Ming Li assures him blandly, and the adventurers move on, leaving the perplexed civilians behind.

About forty feet further down the corridor, the group finds themselves approaching a junction in the tunnel.  The route they are on continues for a short distance, before ending at a rusty iron grille.  Just before this grating, a grimy doorframe is set into the tunnel wall, with the rotted remains of a door hanging from one hinge.  Meanwhile, on the group's left, another tunnel leads off into the darkness.

Macwood creeps forward, then lies on the ledge to peer around the corner.  After staring down the tunnel for a few moments, he scrambles to his feet and walks back.

"Nothing to see." He reports, "Tunnel looks the same as this one ... it goes out of sight."

"Why did you lie down to look around the corner?" the Padre frowns.

"Old scouting trick," Macwood confides, "people never look down that low."

"We're chasing a bunch of cockroaches." Briar reminds him, "They're very short."

The Padre nods,

"If there'd been one there, it could have chewed off your face."

"Please let it start with his mouth."

Macwood glares around the group, trying to work out whose muttered comment that was.  The dim light makes it impossible to tell, so he shrugs and points at the nearby doorway,

"Let's go check that out."

Without waiting to see if anyone is following him, the halfling disappears into the darkened room.


----------



## Talix

Heh heh heh.  For some odd reason, I'm getting Monty Python flashbacks.  Not really sure why, though.


----------



## incognito

> Macwood coughs up a bizarre agglomeration of consonants, then shrugs when everyone looks at him,
> 
> "It's what they're called. They're dung-eaters." He pauses reflectively - an attitude somewhat spoiled by his soiled appearance, "You know, we've probably just killed the town's garbage disposal unit.




My favorite paragrpah.  From one of my two favorite characters.  I will definitely be playing a small bard weilding a ridiculous weapon two handed in my next game.  Huzzah!


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 9*

Briar mutters a curse and hurries after the reckless bard, plunging into the room despite his every instinct telling him to remain outside.  The others - apparently less concerned for Macwood's safety, one way or another - follow more slowly, and do not pass through the door.

The room that Briar and Macwood have entered is small, and paved with large, unadorned stone tiles.  Two skeletons lie on the floor near the middle of the room, dressed in tattered fragments of clothing, while a third is slumped against the far wall, a small chest in its hands.

"Undead." Macwood opines, with the paranoid certainty of an adventurer who is sure that everything is out to get him.

It turns out he's half right: the skeletons are perfectly mundane, but something _is_ out to get him.

Three of the two foot long roaches drop from the ceiling.  One lands on Briar, the second on Macwood.  The last misses both and falls all the way to the floor, where it quickly starts scuttling up the bard's leg.

Macwood twists, slamming his back against the wall in an attempt to crush the bug that landed on him.  It senses the wall in time, however, and scuttles round to his front, giving him a nasty bite as it does so.

The others quickly pour into the room, and set to the outnumbered vermin with alacrity.  The mismatched battle is over in seconds, as the adventurers - finding the roaches easy pickings after the fearsome slime beast - chop and crush them with only a few blows.

"Check the chest for traps, then open it." The Padre tells Briar, gesturing at the only sign of loot in the room.  As he speaks, the cleric is already heading for the exit.

"I suppose you're going to close the door as well." The young rogue remarks caustically, as the rest of the group scuttles out of the room.

"Good idea." The Padre carefully pulls the door shut, leaving Briar alone in the room, where he mutters a few choice words about the spinal fortitude of his companions.

Crouching beside the skeleton with the chest, Briar wrinkles his nose as he notices dozens of tiny abrasions on the suspiciously clean bones.  It seems the roaches have feasted here before.

"Gross." He mutters to himself, "Reminds me of the time that Ivy -" his voice trails off, and he ducks his head, wiping suddenly tear-filled eyes on his shirt.  He sneaks a glance at the door, and is relieved to see it remains closed.

Forcing himself to focus, he checks the chest for traps, taking extra care and attention.

"Is everything okay in there?" the Padre calls through the door, his voice muffled by the wooden barrier.

"Yeah." Briar calls back tersely, "I'm just about to open it.  Don't worry: if it's trapped, I'll make sure to scream real loud."

Ignoring the Padre's stuttered response about 'practicality' and 'minimising losses', Briar sets to the lock with his tools, and quickly has the little chest open.  Inside, he finds only a well-crafted dagger and a folded sheet of parchment.

Dismissing the parchment as 'wizard stuff', the rogue drops both items back into the chest and stands, stretching out the cramped muscles of his back and legs.  That done, he looks silently at the door for a moment, then grins impishly.

Still grinning, he lets out his loudest and most bloodcurdling scream.


----------



## Single Malt

As far as I can tell, the humorous and discreet ways to bump a thread has all been used in various other story hours, so rather than plagiarise, I will stick with the old, reliable, boring, "will be deleted in the first pruning if not before" BUMP!!!

Whazzup Capellan? We need more CotRE!!!


----------



## Capellan

Sorry for the delay between updates - work has been crazy for the past week.  Things will hopefully calm down next week, and I will be home from work early enough to do more than eat and fall into bed ...


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 10*

After Briar has endured the reproofs of his alarmed comrades, he shows them the box, the dagger and parchment still within.  Putting the blade aside for the moment, Macwood quickly unfolds the message, but his look of expectation gives way to disappointment.

"It's just a message," he reports, "Instructing them to procure a book.  Doesn't say which book, or who they should get it from."

"Or how." The Padre observes, rudely peering over the bard's head.

"Respectable merchants don't hide out in the sewers." Briar grins, "So you can put your last copper on them being either smugglers or thieves."

"Well now they're just roach-dung." Anastria reminds them calmly, folding her arms, "As the girl will be if we don't find her soon."

Reminded - however inelegantly - of their quest, the group presses on, following the tunnel branch away from the small room, further into the sewer complex.  With no tracking skills to tell them where the roaches took the girl, they are forced to stop and investigate every side tunnel: a painstaking process that nets them nothing more than a couple of quick, confused melees with more of the unusually large vermin.  The roaches inflict a couple more of their painful bites, but these fights are becoming more and more one-sided.  Well armed and armoured, the adventurers are more than a match for their opponents in any kind of stand-up fight.

Shortly after one of these encounters, the group pauses when their lantern-light gleams off a large metal object ahead.  Approaching cautiously, they find a wide steel door set into one wall of the tunnel.  The door is covered in grime and pitted with rust, but appears very solid.  It has huge hinges, far larger than even a door of this size would need, and they seem to have been reinforced, to make tampering as difficult as possible.  Even this was evidently not enough for whomever installed it, however, for the door has _also_ been welded shut, the seams where door meets frame sealed by intense heat.

"Well, someone really wanted to keep people out of there." Briar's interest has obviously been piqued.  He frowns thoughtfully at the hinges.

Surprisingly, no-one posits the alternative that the door might have been intended to keep something _in_.  As ever with the Company, the focus is not on the danger that lurks in dark places, but on the loot it is guarding.

"Think you could get in?" the Padre asks, gesturing at the door.  Briar shakes his head reluctantly,

"Not with the tools I have here." He admits, "There's no lock, so I'd have to work the hinges, and they're too big for anything I'm carrying at the moment."

"I do not believe the roaches would have been able to remove them, either." Ming Li observes blandly.

Sirdros nods,

"Whatever is behind there can wait.  We need to find the girl."

There is a general mumble of agreement, and the group moves on.  The Padre cannot help but cast back a few yearning looks at the door, however.  It offends his adventuring sensibilities to let a potential treasure go unplundered.

"We're coming back for you." He promises the inanimate hunk of metal, before returning his attention to the task at hand.  The group presses on, heading further into the damp, moss-slicked sewers.  After travelling for a few minutes, they reach a large circular chamber.  Rusted gratings are spaced evenly around the walls, and several of these drip foul-smelling liquid into the foot-deep slurry that covers the floor.  In many places, the accumulated run-off has dried and hardened, creating solid lumps of congealed sewage.

There are approximately a dozen of the huge roaches present, scuttling from lump to lump within the sludge.  Unlike previous examples of the vermin, however, these exhibit no sign of aggression, and scurry off into the darkness as the adventurers approach.

"Charming." The Padre grimaces.

"Look." Macwood points, "I think we're on the right track."

The others follow the halfling's gesture, and see that he has spotted a narrow tunnel opening, gouged out of the dressed stone on the far side of the chamber.  Through the opening, the adventurers can see that a cramped crawlspace has been dug through the black, damp-looking earth.  The tunnel cannot be any more than three feet in diameter, with roots and stones jutting out into the already narrow space.

"Do you think we can fit?" Sirdros, dressed in the heaviest and most cumbersome armour of the group, looks doubtful of his chances.

"Most of us can, though it will be tight." The Padre crouches at the entrance and peers in, "I'm not sure about you, though.  It's going to be damn tight.  And dark ... we can use a _light_ spell, but our bodies will block a lot of it, so probably only the person at the front will be able to see properly."

"I can cast one as well." Sirdros volunteers. "The person at the back could carry that light ... that way everyone should have at least some illumination."

The plan is adopted, and soon the six adventurers are crawling half-blind through the dank and musty tunnel.  Sirdros, in his half-plate armour, lumbers along at the rear, trusting that the passage of the others will have widened the space enough for him to squeeze through.

For several minutes, the darkened journey takes place in near silence, with only the occasional grunt of exertion to be heard.  Then Anastria suddenly shouts, and scrambles onto her back, struggling to draw a dagger as she does so.

Dirt showers down upon the group, and suddenly the others see what Anastria has already spotted.  But by then it is too late.  The roof and walls cave inwards as over a dozen of the roaches burst out of the earth, swarming onto the group and biting with their enlarged jaws.

Well armed and armoured, the adventurers are more than a match for their opponents in any kind of stand-up fight.  But this is no stand-up fight.


----------



## Talix

And now all of the adventurers have the flaw: Claustriphobia.  

That's just... evil.


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 11*

Of all the group, Ming Li is perhaps the least hampered by their current predicament.  Falling easily into the meditative calm of combat, she crushes one of the roaches against the tunnel wall, while slapping aside the lunge of another.

Unfortunately, apart from Macwood - whose small size gives him some room to manoeuvre - the rest of the adventurers find themselves fighting at a significant disadvantage.  This is most pronounced for Briar and Anastria, who normally rely on their speed and agility to protect them in combat.  The elven woman in particular seems utterly unable to contend with the scuttling roaches in these tight confines.  She thrashes wildly, her blows striking only air or dirt, while one of the vermin bites at her exposed face, and another at her flailing feet.

"Someone help Anastria!" Sirdros calls from his position at the rear of the party.  The roaches are little threat to him - they bite harmlessly at his heavy armour - but his voice is strained with concern over his sister, whose cries he can hear, but for whom he can do nothing to help.

"I've got my hands full!" the Padre half-snarls in reply.  His words are literally true: he cracks a roach in half as he speaks, his gauntleted fists tearing it in two.

"Look on the bright side!" Macwood calls cheerily through the melee, while lumps of dislodged earth shower down around the adventurers, "At least if we die here we'll save on burial costs!"

Briar responds with a string of invective about the halfling's parentage, punctuating his remarks with a dagger blow that skewers a roach to the wall.  A second roach lunges in and bites the rogue's hand, drawing a high-pitched yelp from the young man, but he hangs on to the weapon.

By now the stabbed or crushed carcasses of almost a dozen roaches litter the floor of the tunnel, but enough remain that only Ming Li is free of attackers, while Anastria is still plagued by the two that originally attacked her, neither of which has she yet managed to harm.

The monk pauses, glancing at the two people on either side of her.  Seeing Briar still fending off a roach with his bleeding hand, she snaps out her foot, knocking the insect onto its back.  Briar gives a shout of glee and pins the stricken roach with his dagger - then stabs it several more times for good measure.

Quirking an eyebrow at the rogues vigorous dispatch of the roach, Ming Li turns back to her other neighbour, but Macwood has by now killed the insect he was fighting.  Broken bits of chitin and smears of roach innards cling to his sleeve from where he crushed it under his forearm.

"I've heard of moths in your clothes but this is ridiculous." He quips, then wriggles forward to assist Anastria.  With the bard's help, the elf finally manages to kill the two roaches that have been plaguing her, though she bears several bites to her legs and a deep gash on her cheek as mementoes of the fight.

"Anyone badly hurt?" the Padre asks, "Other than Anastria's pride?"

Having determined that no-one is in danger of dying from their wounds, the group presses on, moving even more slowly now, as they constantly scan the walls of the tunnels for signs of another ambush.  After a time - it's difficult to say how long, though their _light_ spells have not yet run out - they notice that the tunnel is beginning to slope slightly upwards.  This gradually becomes more pronounced, though the slope remains quite shallow: they are still able to crawl, rather than climb, along.

"There's some kind of light, ahead." Macwood hisses back to the others.  "Let me check it out."  Without waiting for a response, he crawls forward, leaving the group's _light_ behind.  Within seconds, he has disappeared into the gloom.

"We should go after him." The Padre doesn't like to be left behind. "How can he even tell there was a light ahead, it still looks dark to me."

"There's a light." Anastria responds tersely, "Though your human eyes are too weak to detect it."

"We should still go." The Padre persists, ignoring the elf's comment on his race, "What if he gets into danger?"

"We'll know if he's in danger." Ming Li says quietly, keeping her eyes ahead, watching for signs of the bard's return.

"How?"

"He'll scream."

"Like a girl." Briar concurs.  He shrugs when Anastria shoots him a dirty look, "It's true."

"Not that you can talk." The Padre hasn't forgotten the rogue's high-pitched yelp of pain in the last fight.  Briar blanches at the comment, but the others - their attention focussed forward - don't notice.

After what seems a very long time, Macwood reappears, moving quickly along the tunnel towards them.

"The tunnel comes up into some kind of derelict house!" he reports, breathing heavily from the exertion of his fast-paced crawl.  "And it's absolutely _filled_ with roaches."


----------



## Talix

Eeew!

Of course, the easiest thing to do would be to figure out where the house is and come at it from the outside, but since when does an adventuring party do the easy thing?


----------



## Mantreus

Nudge...

This is me reminding Capellan that he's waaaayyyy behind here.


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## jaded

Hey Capellan, just wanted to drop by and say this story hour really is cool and is on "check daily" list for updates...

Just love the Adventurers Ethic as you tell it 

You get a free bump too 

.. jaded


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## Capellan

jaded said:
			
		

> *Just love the Adventurers Ethic as you tell it
> *




This reminds me ...

We played this weekend, and about an hour or so into things a friend who we haven't seen in a while popped by.  He watched the game for about 10-15 minutes and then he turned to me and "I see why you write the story the way you do."

So there you have it.  Independant verification that the CotRE really do act like this 

There should be an update later this week - possibly even two, now that I've finished & playtested my games for the BIG Weekend.


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## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> *
> We played this weekend, and about an hour or so into things a friend who we haven't seen in a while popped by.  He watched the game for about 10-15 minutes and then he turned to me and "I see why you write the story the way you do."
> *



In our defence, we did have 3 of the er... how can i put it?.. most Disruptive? Funny? Peculiar? players there at the same time for the first time. i.e. Twinkle, Macwood and Myself.

It was my first time playing with Macwood, and it was very entertaining.

Without giving too much away (not that this post will be remembered 18 months from now when Capellan finally posts this particular session ), there were ghost stories, blow up candles, goat riding, pirate impressions, giant bees, lumberjacks (yes we sang the song I'm afraid) and far too many things to mention.

I'll be interested to see how Capellan writes this one up without making us look like complete idiots  But we have an idea in advance on what he's going to write, as he has a little notebook he uses to keep notes on the story as he's DMing... It doesn't look good for us. I think he wrote in that more than he did anywhere else


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## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 12*

The Padre frowns, glancing around at the Company's bloodied condition.

"We'll need a plan if we're going to fight a lot of those things at once -"

Macwood shakes his head, interrupting,

"That's the weird thing ... none of them seem to be moving.  It's like they're all dormant or something.  I saw a couple of antennae twitch, but otherwise they didn't even react to me." He grins, "Which is just as well, since they were right at the hole.  We could have had dozens more of them down here with us."

"That would have been unfortunate." Ming Li acknowledges, while Anastria shudders and Briar goes visibly green.

"Well, nothing for it but to go forward." The Padre sounds like he is trying to convince himself, "There's not doubt that the creatures must have come this way with the girl."

"What gave it away?" Macwood deadpans.

No-one has any better alternatives than the Padre's suggestion, however, and thus, one by one the adventurers move forward and then clamber out of the tunnel.  They emerge into what may once have been the kitchen of a small cottage, but the infesting roaches have wreaked such damage to the furnishings that it is hard to be sure.

Several of the Company stifle expressions of disgust as they pick their way across the room.  As Macwood reported, the place is literally filled with roaches, forming an almost unbroken carpet across the floor.  They are forced to step carefully, struggling to find clear patches on which to place their feet, for fear of crushing one of the smaller insects and somehow galvanising the others into action.

"We should burn this place down." The Padre whispers.

"But not while we're in it." Briar counters.

"Or the girl." Ming Li reminds them, then raises her eyebrows at the Padre, "Is there a reason you always want to burn things?"

"Can you hear anything?" the Padre changes the subject by gesturing Macwood toward the door of the room.  The halfling shakes his head,

"It's quiet out there." The bard slips the door open and pokes his head out into the hall, "and empty, too.  I can see a couple of other doors.  It's pretty dusty.  Makes me want to sneeze."

"Dust?  Are there any tracks?"

"Looks like it.  Gimme a second." Macwood scurries a short way down the corridor, while the others pensively stare at the roaches all around them.  After a few moments, the bard returns. "Yes.  A whole bunch of roaches went through the hall recently.  They turned left at the corner and went into another room."

"Right." The Padre nods, "Here's the plan: first, we find a way out of this place, then we find a girl, grab her, kill anything that tries to stop us, and run for the exit.  _Then_ -" he glowers at Ming Li, "- we burn the place down."

"Works for me." Briar nods.  There are murmurs of agreement from the others.

The adventurers slip quietly out of the room, and into the hall.  Sirdros - the last to exit - closes the door behind him.

"That should stop any of those roaches from coming up behind us." He whispers.

The group are in a short corridor, which they follow to a T-junction.  Macwood points to the door where the tracks lead - it is slightly ajar - then gestures for Briar to check in the other direction.  The rogue pats him on the head with a grin, then slips off, prowling silently along the dusty corridors.  Within a minute, he is back, grimacing.

"There was someone living here when the roaches moved in." he reports, pulling a face, "They made it to the front door.  Key's still in the lock.  Take the first right turn there, and the doors at the end of the corridor."

"Any other exits?" Anastria asks.  Briar shakes his head,

"Nothing off the corridor.  I didn't check the rooms - didn't want to end up like the poor bugger at the door.  There's not enough left of him to bury."

"Right," the Padre looks grim. "Let's get the girl."

There are nods of agreement, and the group move quickly, bursting through the door Macwood pointed out.

It's like walking into a nightmare.

A grotesque creature lies sprawled on the bed.  Her torso and head is that of a human woman, though huge mandibles jut out of her grotesquely oversized jaw.  Her lower half, however, is a bloated egg-sac, terminating in a sphincter-like orifice.  As the adventurers watch, aghast, foot-long white grubs squirm out of the opening, writhing on the dirty, matted sheets of the bed.

Arrayed around the bed are nearly a dozen roaches, mostly of the 'small' foot-long size, but also including several of the larger specimens.  Behind them, wrapped in some kind of strange webbing, is what can only be the cook's daughter.  At first, it seems like the girl is wriggling, trying to get free, but then the group realise that she is unconscious, and the wriggling of the webbing is caused by several large, fat grubs, which appear to be trying to force their way inside to reach her.

For a moment, no-one moves.  And then the creature on the bed turns its head toward the adventurers.  Baleful, multifaceted eyes regard them for a second, before the deformed mouth opens in a hissing scream.

Instantly, there is the sound of scuttling roaches, coming from every corner of the building.

Many, of course, are trapped in the kitchen, kept imprisoned by the door that Sirdros closed.

But there are several other doors leading off the corridor, and every one of those is open.


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## arwink

Mantreus said:
			
		

> *
> I'll be interested to see how Capellan writes this one up without making us look like complete idiots  *




He tries to avoid this?


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## Mantreus

arwink said:
			
		

> *He tries to avoid this? *




I would hope so. If he didn't, we'd already look like the three stooges... Hey! Wait a second!


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## Talix

How... disturbing.

Hope the girl ends up with a better fate than the struggling cat!


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## dpdx

Pity. Now they've done it. Hundreds of roaches, and no one has a fireball.

Great story!


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## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 13*

The Padre reacts first.

Spinning, he slams the door behind them.  The barrier will at least temporarily hold back the flood of roaches, though the group's plan of leaving by the front door is now impossible.

The other adventurers are only a moment slower.  Anastria and Ming Li combine to slay one of the closest roaches: the elf's rapier pins the creature to the floor, while the monk's staff stoves in its side.  Sirdros and Macwood both also slay insects, the halfling unleashing his own war-cry in response to the roach queen's scream.  Only Briar fails to land a blow, his blade glancing off the black shell of one of the creatures.

There is a sound like wet cloth being torn, and the roach queen tears herself free of her egg sac, her black, chitin-covered hind legs emerging from beneath the bloated white shape  Her malformed mouth stretches open, distending unnaturally, and a globule of viscous green and white goo vomits forth, flying straight toward the Padre.

The cleric of St Cuthbert dives aside in the nick of time, the globule bursting on the wall behind him, spraying slime and inch-long maggots in all directions.

"Now that's just gross." Briar complains.

"A gross?  But how do you know there are a hundred and forty four of them?  Ow!" Macwood is too busy quipping to pay attention to the fight: one of the roaches bites into his calf, drawing blood.

It seems that all of the adventurers have been thrown off their rhythm by the roach queen's attack, for not a single one of them succeeds in landing a blow, even as the rest of the roaches in the room charge toward them, swarming in to bite at their legs.  Fortunately, the insects' attacks are just as ineffectual, and the adventurers sustain no injuries of their own.

Sirdros steps away from the roaches that bite ineffectually at his armour, slamming his mace into the side of the queen.  The blow does little damage, however: her skin seems to share some of the resilience of the roaches' shells.  Nonetheless, she hisses in anger and turns toward the elven cleric, belching forth a cloud of green and brown gas.  The entire room is filled with a foetid stench, causing most of the group to gag in disgust, but it is Sirdros who bears the full effects of the gas.  He staggers back, clawing at his throat and choking on the noxious fumes.

Briar and the Padre both move forward, striking at the queen to drive her back from Sirdros.  They manage to give the elf a little room, but neither succeeds in landing a blow, as the queen sinuously dodges aside.  None of their companions fare any better, as the momentum of the combat swings in favour of the verminous horde.  First Macwood is bitten again, then the queen lunges forward and claws at the Padre, gashing his shoulder badly.

The force of the blow staggers the cleric back a step, which proves a fortunate thing, as a barbed tail uncurls from the queen's back, then slashes through the air where he just stood.  Barely able to remain standing, the Padre calls on St Cuthbert to cleanse his wounds, but the menacing proximity of the queen distracts him, and he stumbles over the words of the prayer, losing control of the magic.

The adventurers' blows continue to miss their targets, and the situation grows more dangerous by the second.  Note only is the door now creaking under the weight of roaches trying to gnaw their way into the room, but the grubs crawling over the girl they are here to rescue have almost penetrated the cocoon that surrounds her.

The queen's barbed tail lashes at the Padre again, and this time the hooks bite into his flesh.  The bulbous tip quivers as green fluid pumps out of it, seeping into the wound.  The cleric feels a burning sensation spread through his flesh, but he grits his teeth and mutters an oath to St Cuthbert, fighting off the effects of the vile poison.

The door shudders again, one of the hinges tearing half-loose of the rotted wood.  Only a single nail now holds it closed.

A roach scuttles toward Briar, and one of the group lands a blow against their enemies: the rogue's sword cuts the creature cleanly in two.

"The queen is the key." Ming Li abandons her fight with the roaches, moving to face the creature that spawned them, instead.  One of the insects inflicts a deep bite on her leg as she does so, but the monk blocks out of the pain of the injury, hammering her fists into the queen's side.

The foul creature screams in anger and turns on the monk, but Ming Li stands her ground resolutely.  She ducks beneath the slashing claws, then twists as the spiked tail whips through the air a moment later.  For a moment, the queen feels a shock of impact, and hisses in satisfaction, but the tail's barbs have only hooked into Ming Li's jacket.  The cloth is badly torn, but the flesh beneath is unscathed.

Inspired by the monk's courageous stand, the group redoubles their efforts.  Macwood crushes one of the roaches, and Briar uses the moment of space that provides to duck in behind the queen, slashing at her legs with his sword.  The queen's attention is still on Ming Li, and the blow lands true, cutting deep into the creature's flesh.

"Say hello to Kewpie doll!" Macwood lunges in alongside the rogue, ramming his sword like a spear into the queen's side.

The queen staggers, then falls, a keening cry bursting from her lips.  Within moments, the sound reverberates from every roach in the room: indeed, from every roach in the entire house.  The screech is deafening, almost painful in its intensity.

"Fire!" the Padre yells at Sirdros, struggling to be heard over the racket.  The elf nods and begins preparing a torch as the Padre splashes oil around the room and over the queen's corpse.

Briar and Ming Li, meanwhile, cut the cook's daughter free of the cocoon, being careful to crush every grub they see in the process.

"There's a window here." Anastria points it out to the others, "Boarded up, but I'm sure we could force it."

The Padre swiftly proves the elven woman correct, shattering the boards with his mace.

"Everyone out!" he shouts, a worried eye on the still keening roaches.  No-one feels a need to argue, and they all swiftly clamber through the opening.  Ming Li goes first, carrying the girl, while Sirdros is the last of them to leave, passing his torch to the Padre as he does so.  The cleric of St Cuthbert gives the armour-clad elf a boost to get out, then lights the torch and tosses it onto the oil.  As flames begin to race across the dry wooden room, he slips out of the building and into the cool night air.

"How is she?" he asks Sirdros, who is already crouched beside the girl.

"She appears unharmed." The elf replies, "and there are no signs that any of the grubs reached her.  I think we go there just in time."

Feeling very satisfied with themselves, most of the adventurers promptly collapse on the grass, enjoying the chance to rest.  Only the Padre remains standing, watching the flames consume the building, a blank expression on his face.

The house is located on the edge of the village, and the sight of flames soon causes an alarm to be raised.  Within minutes, Captain Jarrek is on the scene.  Taking one look at the dirty, bloodied adventurers and the burning building, he reacts in the same way as any other militiaman would: he arrests them all.


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## Thomas Hobbes

Woohoo! Two posts in as many days!



> Taking one look at the dirty, bloodied adventurers and the burning building, he reacts in the same way as any other militiaman would: he arrests them all.




That made me, I'm ashamed to say, burst out in to uncontrolable giggles.


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## Capellan

Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> *Woohoo! Two posts in as many days!
> *




Let's make it three for three, shall we? 

This will be the last for a few days, though - I'm spending the entire weekend at the BIG Weekend, so I won't have much time to write until next week.

The next post draws this session to an end.  When I resume: session 6!  And finally: Duvik's Pass ...


----------



## Capellan

*"Good Friends & Fine Spirits" by Mystic Eye Games  - Part 14*

After a few hours in the militia's cells, and several repetitions of their story, the Company members are begrudgingly released by Captain Jarrek.

"Yer story checks out with the innkeep 'n' his cook." He scowls, "Under the circumstances I'll let yer all off with a warnin'.  But don't be makin' a habit of arson in Amberdale, or I'll have yer all back in 'ere as soon as look at you." He glances at Anastria and shudders, "Sooner, most like."

After insincerely thanking the Captain for his vigilance, the adventurers return to the inn for a heroes' welcome from the grateful staff.  Macwood in particular smiles broadly at the innkeep's expansive offer of "free food whenever you stay here".

"Right." The Padre rubs his hands together as the group sits back down to their interrupted meal, "So tomorrow we can all set out for this place Sirdros was telling us about -"

"Actually, I can't go." The elven cleric interjects.  The Padre stares,

"But it's a quest for _your_ church."

Sirdros shrugs apologetically,

"Someone has to stay and look after the girl we rescued." He lowers his voice, "And make sure nothing ... untoward ... occurs with her.  She _seems_ fine, but one of us should stay to keep an eye on her." He raises his voice again, "You and I are the only ones with medical training, so I have to stay - unless you would like to volunteer?"

The Padre shakes his head, which surprises no-one.

Sirdros continues,

"I've managed to persuade Anastria to accompany you in my place."  If the others notice that the elven woman appears less than eager to assist in the Church of Pelor's quest, they do not say so.  Possibly because they are distracted by their own lack of eagerness to share her company.  Eventually, the Padre shrugs,

"Well, that still leaves the five of us.  I suggest we set out tomorrow -"

This time it is Macwood who interjects,

"I can't leave that early."

The Padre's left temple twitches slightly,

"And why is that?" he inquires, his voice suspiciously calm.

"That dagger we found in the sewers is magical."

"The dagger _I_ found." Briar reminds them who took all the risks.  Macwood ignores him,

"I think I've worked out a way to determine the exact enchantment, in much the same way as you've asked the wizard, what's-her-name, to do with the earrings.  But it'll take me most of the day, I think.  So I'll be busy tomorrow."

The Padre is obviously torn.  A quest beckons, but on the other hand, this is treasure Macwood's talking about.  And loot in the hand is worth two caves full of jewels.

"I'm staying too." Briar pipes up, "That's my dagger he'll be playing with."

"I don't have a dagger." One of the reasons Anastria struggled so much in the tunnel was her lack of a backup weapon.

"You can have my old one." Briar obviously doesn't intend to give up the blade.

The Padre sighs,

"That leaves us with only three people.  It's not enough.  We'll have to wait a day for Briar and Macwood, I suppose.  A pity.  The matter seemed urgent and I was hoping to leave tomorrow."

"Where are you going?" the speaker is Mantreus, who stands in the doorway, the door pushed open with one hand.  He stamps the dirt off his boots as Twinkle ducks under his arm.  The gnome carries a small, swaddled bundle of some kind.

"Yeah, where?" she pipes, glancing around at the still half-wrecked common room, "Hey, did I miss something exciting?  That's not fair.  I always miss the exciting stuff."

"Oh, don't worry about it." The Padre smiles.  Or at least manages a fair approximation of one. "The excitement's just starting.  How do the two of you feel about a trip into the mountains?"


----------



## Talix

Heh, nice conclusion!  I liked them getting arrested - that was hilarious!    And kudos to the party for pulling a victory out of the hat at the last minute.  

Thanks!


----------



## dpdx

Duvik's awaits: Rawk!

Hey, Capellan, I managed to drop one PC in each area of this module. I'm anxious to see how you do: OH. Has anyone leveled up yet?


----------



## Capellan

dpdx said:
			
		

> *Hey, Capellan, I managed to drop one PC in each area of this module. I'm anxious to see how you do: OH. Has anyone leveled up yet? *




It's been my experience that dropping PCs in the WotC cliffhangers and free adventures is ridiculously easy.  Whether this is a function of the adventure or the adventurers is something I'm not going to comment on .

I made some changes to Burning Plague (as I do to most modules) and while I won't say whether there were fatalities or not (gotta maintain the tension!) I _can_ say that there were at least two points - actually, make that three - where a TPK was distinctly on the cards.

This with a party of six, four of whom were 2nd level.

As for levelling up ... at the point the story hour just reached, most of the characters were 2nd level.  I need to catch up on posting to the Rogue's Gallery thread, it seems.  Look for that to occur in the next 24 hours


----------



## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> *It's been my experience that dropping PCs in the WotC cliffhangers and free adventures is ridiculously easy.  Whether this is a function of the adventure or the adventurers is something I'm not going to comment on .*



Probably a good idea 


> *As for levelling up ... at the point the story hour just reached, most of the characters were 2nd level.  I need to catch up on posting to the Rogue's Gallery thread, it seems.  Look for that to occur in the next 24 hours  *



You're so amazingly behind that Mantreus is ready to take on these adventures by himself


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 1*

Early the next morning, the five adventurers set off for Duvik's Pass, taking a route that will carry them close to the Ranger's Tower, where Twinkle tells them they should find Elspeth.

"You didn't tell us you were back from your healing." The Padre accuses the gnome as they make their way to the tower.  Twinkle shrugs,

"I had some things to pick up, to make sure my uncle knew I was back." She grins, "And Elspeth wanted to check on the tower: she left Rose to look after it, but you know how she is."

The Padre nods.  The female elf's temper has become quite well known.

"After meeting Anastria, I'm starting to wonder if crankiness is a genetic trait of elven women." Twinkle continues, speaking just loudly enough to earn a sour look from the topic of their conversation, "Must be something to do with how long they live.  I mean, imagine ... all those years and years of monthly -"

"What was in that parcel?" the Padre's interruption is halfway between interrogation and hysterical 'I don't want to hear what's coming next' panic. "I hope you're not up to anything illegal."

"Absolutely not!" Twinkle manages a decent approximation of wounded innocence.  The Padre looks unconvinced, but she waves off his glower, "Relax.  It's just a little surprise for Tallyhoop, and we'll be miles away before he finds it."

As the wagon slowly passes a turn off toward the Caves of Challenge, Ming Li suddenly leaps from the wagon.

"I must leave you." She announces, "I must go to the Caves.  There is a lesson there, that I must come to understand."

"What?" the Padre scrambles to the back of the wagon to stare at the monk.  Behind him, Mantreus makes futile efforts to bring their newly purchased horse to a halt. "We're on a quest!  Can't you be late to class?"

"The time for the lesson is now." Ming Li answers simply. "Good luck in your quest."  She sets off down the path toward the Caves.

"We have to go back and get her!" the Padre returns to the front of the wagon.

"Fine." Mantreus snaps, handing the cleric the reins, "We'll do that, as soon as _you_ turn this stupid beast around."

The Padre stares at the reins, then at the horse, which seems to be oblivious to everything but the winding track before it.  He visibly ponders the ignominy of being unable to control the wagon, and the likelihood of that occurring.  Then he shrugs.

"It better be an important lesion."

The wagon rolls on, reaching the Ranger's Tower after another hour.  Fortunately, there is a bed of tasty looking plants just beside the tower, so halting the horse does not prove difficult.  Unfortunately, it also incurs the Wrath of Elspeth.

"I can't believe you let that animal just start eating!" she rants, after discovering the damage that has been wrought, "I needed that ground cover to prevent erosion!"

"We're going on a quest." Mantreus interrupts calmly, whilst mentally shooing Shadow away from the flowers she was about to destroy, "Want to come?"

"I can't." Elspeth glowers, "I have to much planting to do, thanks to you lot." Then she shrugs, "But you could take Rose and Stormstrider.  I think they'd both be willing to leave."

"I can't imagine why." Anastria mutters.  The phrase 'Pot.  Kettle.  Black.' is thought by so many minds at once that it's nearly audible.

"Stormstrider and Rose?" the Padre speaks quickly, to forestall any elf versus elf showdown. "We'd be pleased to have them along.  They're both staying here, I take it?"

"Rose is upstairs.  I'm not sure where Stormstrider is, but it's almost lunch time, so I'm sure he'll turn up soon." Elspeth rolls her eyes in the universal female sign language for '_men: they only think about two things_'.

"Lunch?" Mantreus promptly proves the point, "Do you have any to spare?"


----------



## arwink

I'm amazed you've managed to post without making any comment about the last session 

And more on topic, a question: Exactly how many elves and half-elves are there in CotRE?


----------



## Capellan

arwink said:
			
		

> *I'm amazed you've managed to post without making any comment about the last session
> 
> And more on topic, a question: Exactly how many elves and half-elves are there in CotRE? *




I said everything that needed to be said on the yahoogroup  

CotRE have 4 Elves, 1 Gnome, 2 Halflings and 5 Humans.  Currently, anyway.  There was an extra Human and a Dwarf, but those players dropped out of sight several months ago.  Their replacements are talking Half-Orc and Human.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 2*

After leaving the tower, the group make good time through the plains and low hills that lay to the north of Amberdale.  It is only on the fourth day of their journey, as their route starts to climb into the mountains, that their passage becomes significantly slowed: and more than a little nerve-wracking.  For, although their sturdy cart horse is far from temperamental, it demonstrates an unnerving tendency to plod in a straight line, regardless of the twists and turns of the mountainside road.  More than once, a long drop over the edge is averted only by frantic yelling and tugging on the horse's bridle.

"Can't you do something with the dumb beast?" Mantreus complains to Stormstrider, "You're supposed to be the nature boy, here."

"I'm a ranger, not a teamster."

It is not long before only the currently designated driver - a position that is reluctantly shared by all - remains in the cart.  The others prefer the safety of their own two feet.  This also proves a more comfortable option for purposes of warmth: it is bitterly cold in the mountains, with occasional flurries of sleet or snow, and the exertion helps keep away the chill.

Eventually, the group comes in sight of their destination.  Duvik's Pass proves to be much larger than Amberdale, with three or four times as many houses.  Despite this, the roads appear almost empty, with very few people in sight.  Given the quality of driving of the cart, of course, this is probably a good thing - anyone on the streets would have had to consider themselves in an unsafe environment, not to mention the impression it would give them of the Company's capabilities!

Seeing a lone guard standing on one of the street corners, the adventurers pull up the cart some twenty yards beyond him (it was supposed to be _next_ to him, but the whole fine control thing still isn't working for them ...).

"Mornin' folks." The guard greets them with a nonplussed look. "I fear you be pickin' a bad time t'come t'Duvik's Pass."

"The damn horse didn't kill us." Mantreus grumbles, "And neither will the plague."

"The Church of Pelor sent us, my good man." The Padre addresses the guard, "We're here to investigate the foul plague that afflicts your fair town."

Behind the priest, the others exchange looks.  It seems the Padre's in one of his portentous moods, again.

"That's great news, that!" the guard beams, "Welcome!  You all be priests of the Church of Pelor, then?  That's a lot more help'n than we be expectin' -"

"Uh - no." the Padre interjects, "Actually, none of us follow that church."

"Oh." The nonplussed look returns, "Then what be you doin' here?"

"We're adventurers." The Padre swells his chest, "Card-carrying members of the guild, every one of us."

"Aye?" the guard seems underwhelmed, "Well if the Church o' Pelor sent you, I'm sure you'll do well enough."

"Perhaps you could help us with some information." Mantreus interjects, "Tell us something of the plague itself, perhaps.  You don't seem ill."

"I'm still well, though most o' the town is sick." The guard agrees, "Fortunately there's not been too many death from it, at least yet.  A few of the elder folk have passed on, though."

"So why are _you_ okay?" Twinkle asks, pointedly.

"Well, Father Samual - he's the Priest hereabouts - Father Samual worked out that the sickness was in the water, y'see.  And he's been usin' the powers o' Pelor to cleanse as much o' the water as he can.  It's nowhere near enough for the whole town, o' course, so most have to make do with the bad stuff, but he keeps as many of us guards healthy as he can.  Plus the healers, those that are helping him tend the sick."

"And himself, of course." Twinkle mutters.

"Well ... aye." The guard looks confused, "If Father Samual got sick, so would t'few of us who aren't, and where would the town be then?"

"Couldn't you just use another source of water?" Anastria folds her arms and glowers at the guard, looking as if she suspects him of personally poisoning the supply.

"All the streams here'bouts come from the same source, accordin' to Father Samual." The guard nods his agreement with the claim, "At least - when he tested 'em, he found they were all infected, so he says they must."

"Do you know the source?" the Padre asks, leaning forward.

"Aye - there's a spring beneath the silver mine, north o' town."

"So has anyone been to the mine to see what's causing the problem?"

"It's near a full day's walk to get there." The guard explains, "Anyone who went would have to take all the good water with them, and that would leave the rest of us t'get sick.  And there'd be no-one to protect the town.  That's why we sent a message to the Church.  Or at least, Father Samual did.  He used some kind o' magic, on account of us being quarantined, by then.  We needed more priests, y'see, to cleanse the water so there would be enough of us who were well to go to the mine and to look after things here.  But they sent you, instead."

"Sounds like we'll need to look at this mine." The Padre murmurs, receiving answering nods from the rest of the group. "Can we get the cart up there?"

"No' the way you drive." The guard smirks at the memory, then sobers up, "If you do go up, though, keep an eye out f'the miners.  There were over twenty men up there when the sickness started, and they've not been heard from.  Father Samual fears they must all be sick, as well."

"Father Samual seems like the man to talk to." Mantreus observes, "Where can we find him?  And is there somewhere we can leave our horse?  The inn, maybe?"

"You'll most likely find him at the church." The guard advises, "It's a small stone buildin', over on the eastern edge o' town.  Look for the bronze sun on the spire."

"And the horse?" Anastria prompts him.

"Well, the inn's closed due to the sickness - the innkeep's ill, and it wasn't like he had much custom, in any case - but y'might try the Doverspeak House.  Mister Doverspeak's got stables that he'll likely let y'use, if he's capable o' takin' visitors."

"Is he sick?" Twinkle asks.

"No, that's not the problem ..." the guard pauses, "The thing is, the sickness is in the water, aye?  Well, Mister Doverspeak don't drink a lot of that, if y'get my meanin'.".


----------



## Talix

I hate to know how long menopause is for elves!


----------



## arwink

*Re: "The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 2*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *"The Church of Pelor sent us, my good man." The Padre addresses the guard*




Is it just me, or should the company stop using this phrase when greeting town guards?  It seems to end in a very, very bad way


----------



## dpdx

And so it begins - EX-cellent.

Good touch with the guard, there. I already like the way you run this better than the way I did, Capellan.

I think we're ready for the next update.


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## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 3*

Father Samual is a round-faced, rather bird-like priest with owlish eyes and a fringe of uncombed silver-white hair on an otherwise bald head.  Dark circles under his eyes make it clear that he has not been getting enough sleep, probably for quite some time.

Despite his drawn look, the middle-aged priest makes an amiable host to the six adventurers, and patiently confirms the accuracy of all the details they have previously heard from the guard:  the disease appears to have entered the town through contaminated water originating at the mine, and - though the water continues to be contaminated - it is the town's only reliable supply, which means people have had no choice but to keep drinking it.

"This mine seems like the best place to begin our investigation." The Padre wins the 'stating the obvious' award of the day, "As soon as we've had a chance to rest and prepare."

"Make sure to prepare spells for the creation or purification of food and water." Father Samual counsels the priest of St Cuthbert. "If any of your companions are capable of similar magic, they should use them as well."

The wisdom of this advice is clear, and the next morning the adventurers create several gallons of water: more than enough to supply them all for the day.  They give the excess to Father Samual, who gives them a scroll in reward for their generosity.  The scroll contains three minor healing spells, sufficient to prevent the death of those who have been sorely wounded, though little more.

Thus supplied, the group begins the journey to the mine, stopping only long enough to leave their horse and wagon at the Doverspeak Estate.  As the guard had predicted, Mister Doverspeak might not be drinking the water, but he certainly hasn't been going thirsty.

"I don't know what's worse." Mantreus mutters as they begin the long walk, "That we just left the horse with a man who was so drunk he could barely stand, or that he still had better control of it than we did."

Despite their early departure from the town, it is mid-afternoon by the time the adventurers some in sight of the entrance of the mine.  It has been a long, tiring walk up roads of slippery, icy mud and uneven stone.  It is a relief to reach an area of relatively flat terrain, though the slight hollowing of the ground here has caused drifts of snow to build up.

"Look there." The Padre points out several seemingly abandoned picks and shovels, which lie littered around the clearing, several of them jutting out of drifts of dirty snow.  Rather macabrely assuming that this must mean there are bodies beneath the snow, the Padre promptly goes digging into the drifts, but it turns out to be only his imagination working overtime.  His distraction with this task proves too great a temptation for Twinkle, however, and the young gnome lets fly with a snowball, catching the Priest in the back of the head.

With snow slowly dripping off his helmet, the Padre straightens and gives Twinkle a reproving stare.  He visibly considers a number of scathing remarks, but ultimately recognises the futility of criticising the gnome's lack of discipline.  Instead, he turns and stalks over to the entrance of the mine, calling for her to follow him.

"I want you to check for signs of what happened here." He gestures into the dark opening in the side of the mountain.  Twinkle gives it a nervous stare, but doesn't move.  The priest sighs, "I'll be right here, Twinkle.  I'll cover you with my crossbow the whole time."

"Is that supposed to make her feel better?" Anastria asks.  It's not clear if she means the comment as a joke, or if it is a sneer at the Padre's marksmanship.  The priest simply ignores her, keeping his attention on Twinkle,

"We don't want to go blundering in, and you're the best scout we have." He reminds her, "You can see better in dim light, and you're a smaller target than anyone else except Rose.  Besides, it's time you made yourself useful."

Although clearly reluctant, and already plotting revenge for that last comment, Twinkle steals forward into the tunnel, pressing close to the wall as she moves.  Her investigation immediately bears results.

"There's damage to the struts here," she reports in a hoarse, dry whisper, "The ones supporting the entrance - they look like might have been caused by weapons."

Despite his admonition about not blundering in, the priest promptly moves up to inspect the marks, and nods his agreement.

"There's also stains on the floor." He notes. "Could be blood."

Stormstrider moves up and crouches to examine the stains more closely,

"Blood." He confirms. "And signs of many tracks.  There was a fight here."

"Weapons out." The Padre needlessly instructs, "It's time to go in.  Anastria and Stormstrider: you've got the front.  Let's find out what's going on here."


----------



## Talix

LOL - I loved the horse handling!    Very nice touch.  I'm assuming no one had any ranks in Handle Animal?  

This looks like a fun adventure, and I look forward to seeing the group go through it.


----------



## Mantreus

Yes, we "found" the wagon at Hooberans, and bought a horse and called him Party Fund. It was then a case of:

"Cool! We have a loot wagon!"
"Does anyone have handle animal?"
...

Of course Capellan picked on us as often as possible about it. He can't now though, because a few of us have it.

Which just goes to show *how far behind he is*


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 4*

Only a short distance into the tunnel, the group finds a roughly hewn opening cut into the stone, where the tunnel branches in two directions.  On the right, it slopes away into the darkness, while on the left, a smoother, more regular tunnel heads toward a pair of doors.  The doors are closed, blocking any sight of what might lie beyond.

In the opening itself, however, lies an upturned mine cart.  Protruding from beneath the cart are a pair of legs.  Moving closer, the adventurers are able to see that these are the booted feet of what is probably a human, as the limbs look too long and thick to be any other race.

"Probably a miner." The Padre makes the obvious conclusion, "Stormstrider, give me a hand to move the cart.  He may be alive -" nobody bothers to point out the absurdity of this possibility, "and if not, I should give him last rites."

The burly elf moves to assist the priest, while Twinkle brings the lantern closer, so that they will be able to see what they are doing.  Anastria stands nearby, watching with a disapproving expression.  Mantreus and Rose at least make themselves useful, moving to watch the two passages in case anything approaches.

"On three." The Padre directs, readying himself to get a grip on the cart.  Stormstrider does not answer, but he also does not wait for the priest.  Instead, he lifts the cart with a casual flex of his arms, twisting it up and off the miner's body.

*BOOM!*

As he does so, something shifts beneath the cart, and there is a brief but deafening blast of noise, so intense it feels almost like a physical blow.  Stormstrider and the Padre stagger slightly, pressing their hands to their ears, but after a moment both have recovered, the sharp pain receding to a dull ache.

Twinkle and Anastria, however, are not so lucky.

The elf woman's face has turned slightly green, and she visibly fights down pain-induced nausea, her hands clamped over her still-ringing ears as she sucks in great shuddering breaths of air.  For the gnome, the experience is even worse: normally her sharp hearing is a blessing, but it has suddenly become a curse.  Pain stabs through her skull like spikes of metal, and she falls to her knees, blood  oozing out of her ears.

"Oh, that can't be good." The Padre's grasp of the glaringly obvious remains strong.

"MUST HAVE BERN AN ALARM OF SOME KIND!" Anastria suddenly bellows. "IS ANYTHING COMING?"

"Well if there wasn't before, there is now that you've started yelling." Mantreus gripes, "Just because the Padre blew you all up -"

"Hey!"

"- it's no reason to start shouting."

"WHAT?" Anastria demands, leaning forward to stare at the sorcerer, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

The light dawns for Mantreus.

"Oh great, she's deaf." He pauses, then starts to smile, "Now if only she were dumb ..."

Anastria frowns, obviously suspicious of the sorcerer's grin, but then Stormstrider steps into her view and pantomimes her condition to her.  As she caustically - and loudly - claims that yes, she got that already, the Padre tends to Twinkle.  It's too early for the cleric to tell if the gnome's injuries are as serious as they first appeared, but she soon proves to be as deaf as Anastria.

The group confers about their next move - a conversation punctuated by loud interjections from Twinkle - before deciding to take the left hand tunnel.

"I don't think it would be wise to venture deeper underground without knowing what's at our backs." the Padre explains his preference.

"So we're going to stay at the same level without knowing what's at our backs?" Mantreus asks, then shrugs. "Fine by me."

"WHAT?" Twinkle asks.

"We're going that way." The Padre points.

"OKAY." she peers down the corridor at the doors, "IT'S DARK DOWN THERE."

The Padre sighs,

"Why'd we bring her?"

Mantreus shrugs,

"Don't ask me. It's you she fancies."

And with a smirk on his face and a sputtering cleric in his wake, the sorcerer strolls down the corridor toward the doors.


----------



## Twinkle

HEY!!
That's not true.... I mean.... I don't..... hey that's just not fair!


----------



## Talix

LOL!  "What, two party members are deaf?  What's your point?"  

Thunderstone stuck underneath the cart, Capellan?  Great way to booby-trap and alarm the front of a cave...


----------



## dpdx

Heh, heh, heh...

So nice. So, very, nice.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 5*

Crouching at the door with his companions in a ring behind him, Mantreus strains his ears for any sign of inhabitants in the area beyond.  Given the amount of noise the group has already made, he is sure that anything in the room would be alert to their presence, but he figures there might be a chance of learning something.

Hearing nothing, he straightens and - with a shrug at the others, who ready their weapons - the sorcerer pushes open the doors.

The group are greeted by two crossbow bolts, fired wildly by a pair of kobolds, which crouch behind an upturned table on the opposite side of the room.  Against the bunched and flat-footed adventurers, these are both embarrassingly bad shots: but given the terrified expressions on the faces of the outnumbered humanoids, it is hardly surprising that their aim was less than steady.

The adventurers scatter for cover.  Most head into the room, ducking behind tables, but Twinkle chooses instead to scream and dive behind the now open doors.  Unfortunately, she happens to be carrying the group's lantern.  With the light source now blocked by the timbers of the door, the room is plunged into darkness.

"Twinkle!" the Padre bellows his frustration - a futile exercise, given the gnome's deafness - and fires blindly at the kobolds.  There's the sound of splintering wood as his shot punches through the kobolds' table, but no squeal of pain from the creatures themselves.  Mantreus and Anastria also fire, but have no more luck.

Trying to peer through the crack of the door jam, Twinkle sees only darkness.  Realising suddenly that the others can see nothing without her lantern, she shouts an half-hearted apology and scuttles out into the room, diving behind a row of chairs as the kobolds once more shoot wildly at the adventurers.  At least the Company members had the excuse of near blindness to explain their lack of marksmanship.

Tiring of the impasse - and apparently suffering a loss of his instinct for self-preservation - Mantreus rushes forward, calling on his magical arts to cast a wave of fire over the cowering kobolds.  A gout of flames sprays from his hands, charring the top of the table as it washes over the two humanoids.

Impressive as this action is, it proves largely ineffectual.  The now blackened table shelters the kobolds from most of the flames, leaving them both only lightly scorched.  To add injury to insult, one of the two actually pops up and shoots the sorcerer at point blank range.  Mantreus falls back, his arm bleeding from the grazing wound.

The sorcerer's move has given his companions an opening, however, and the Padre charges forward, smashing the plucky kobold to the ground with a single swing of his heavy mace.  Immediately, the second creature turns and flees, running toward an opening in the right hand wall.

"Somebody shoot it!" the Padre bellows, but the small humanoid is too fast: Anastria is the only one with a bow ready and she lacks the time to aim before the kobold disappears into the tunnel.

It doesn't get very far, however: a few seconds later its voice can be heard, raised in high-pitched yips of terror as it hammers on something that gives off a hollow sound.

Grabbing the lantern from the still-cowering Twinkle (the gnome has her arms over her head, and is oblivious to the fact that the combat is over), Stormstrider moves so that the light will shine down the tunnel.  This reveals the frantic kobold banging at a closed door, possibly trying to force it open, though if so it is the most futile display the group has ever seen.

Still smarting from the failure of his _burning hands_, Mantreus speaks a string of arcane words and then gestures, a bolt of energy flying from his fingers to explode against the back of the creature's head, dropping it instantly.

With the efficiency of experienced corpse-robbers, the adventurers loot the bodies, netting only a pitiful handful of coins and a couple of serviceable light crossbows.

"Neither of them has the key." Mantreus reports, ignoring the absurdity of the kobold banging on the door if it had the means to unlock it.  The still deafened Anastria and Twinkle stare at him blankly, while the Padre harrumphs, as if the news is a personal affront.

"There's probably more of these things behind that door." He reasons, "Just waiting to fill us with arrows when we get it open.  These two were just the tripwire to let the rest of 'em know we're coming."  He pauses, gauging the width of the corridor, "Give me a hand with one of those tables.  It should just fit in there, and we can use it as a barricade when we open the door."

No-one objects, though Anastria and Twinkle are momentarily perplexed when it appears that Stormstrider and the Padre have decided to enter a career as furniture movers.  Leaving Rose to pantomime their intentions to the deaf members of the group, the priest and the ranger manhandle the table into the narrow corridor.  It's a very tight squeeze, and there are many stops and starts and muffled curses, before the table is finally in place.

"Right." The Padre claps his hands together in satisfaction, "Now we just pick a lock, tie a rope to the door, and pull it open once we're all safely behind the table."

Rose stares at him for a few moments, then stares at the door.

"We didn't bring any rope." She says, quietly.

The Padre blinks,

"Pardon?"

"We didn't -"

"No, I heard you.  I just don't understand." The Padre pauses and stares at the others, "There are six of us.  Adventurers all.  Three of you are rogues, by the gods!  Are you telling me that none of us have a rope?"

"I have a grappling hook." Mantreus offers, brightly.

"But no rope." The Padre shakes his head, "What do you plan to do with _just_ a grappling hook?  Scale really short walls?"

"The rope's in the wagon." Rose clarifies, "Which we left in town."

"It's a whole day there and back." Mantreus shakes his head, "We're going to have to open the door and take our chances."

The Padre is not willing to give up on his plan that easily.

"One of us could go over the table and open the door, then leap back to safety."

"Leaving the rest of us to catch their arrow-filled corpse?" Mantreus snipes, no doubt in revenge for the Padre's earlier comment.

Stormstrider shrugs,

"Let's just get the table out of the way, open the door, and kill everything in the room."

They go with that plan.


----------



## arwink

You know, I have sudden images of Khore hearing this story around the campfire and looking very, very confused.

"But...but...why didn't anyone charge them?


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 6*

Mantreus checks the door for traps, and pronounces it clear, then sets to work picking the lock, taking things slowly and carefully.  The Padre stands over him with crossbow loaded, in case someone beyond the door should suddenly take it into their heads to open it and emerge.

Once done, the sorcerer-rogue steps back and lets the priest move to the fore.  The Padre intones an invocation to his deity, creating a wave of chill air that emanates outwards from his holy symbol.

"It will turn aside the blows of our enemies." He assures the others, seeing several of them rub their arms as goosebumps rise.

Then he thrusts open the door and steps into the room beyond.

The group are once more greeted by a barricade of tables, but this time there are far more than just two kobolds crouching behind them.  However, this is clearly not the main threat: that rests with two huge dire weasels, each fully six feet long and bearing a kobold rider.  The giant, slavering beasts fix their reddened eyes on the adventurers.

Mantreus reacts first, dashing out to sling a magic missile at one of the beasts.  Unfortunately, it strikes with far less impact than the one that felled the kobold, seeming only to irritate the creature.

The weasels charge: one rider plunges his spear deep into the Padre's side, while the other curses in a guttural tongue as Mantreus continues to ride his luck, sliding aside from the kobold's blow at the last moment.  The Padre, though staggered by the force of the kobold's charge, dodges the weasel's slavering jaws to deliver an overhead swing of his mace.  The crumpled form of the kobold slides bonelessly from the creature's back.

Unfortunately, that's about when things start to go wrong.

Twinkle scuttles past the Padre, attempting to tumble past the weasels in order to flank them.  The damage to her ears throws off her sense of balance, however, and her wobbly somersault carries her too close to the jaws of the beasts.  One of the weasels twists it head, jaws snapping in the air, but the second latches onto flesh, and the gnome cries out as blood spurts from a hideous wound in her thigh.

Twinkle's somersault collapses into a graceless tangle of limbs as the pain from the wound knocks her instantly unconscious.  She hits the floor and lies unmoving.

Despite the gnome's failure, Rose decides to risk the same manoeuvre.  Her effort is far from the acrobatic ideal, but it comes too soon after Twinkle's attempt for the weasels to strike at her, as well.  Unfortunately, her move places her in clear view of the kobolds behind the barricade, and they fire at this open target, winging her twice with their crossbow bolts.

Seeing what happened to Twinkle, Mantreus realises that the enormous weasel in front of him is a far greater threat than the rider atop it.  Drawing his shortsword, he slashes at the beast, opening a shallow furrow over one of its shoulders.  The creature snarls, and the sorcerer has only a moment to regret the mistake of entering the room before it's teeth rip into his stomach, opening a grievous wound.  For a moment, his vision swims from the pain, and then blackness overcomes him.

The Padre, realising that the adventurers bunched position is making it difficult for the others to enter the room, steps between the weasels, striking at the one Mantreus has already injured.  His blow crashes home, shattering the beast's skull, and it drops to the ground, its rider vaulting from the saddle as it falls.

Anastria takes advantage of the opening to step in and pin the second weasel between herself and Rose but, even distracted by the halfling rogue, the weasel has no difficulty in dodging her attack.  Stormstrider also moves in, and also has no success in his attack.

The efforts of the two elves do bear some reward, however, as they distract the beast long enough for Rose to cut at the tendons of its back legs.  The blow is not mortal, but it leaves the creature hobbling, and maddened with pain.

The battle seems poised: two adventurers are down, but so are one of the weasels and one of the riders.  All it needs is a single moment to push the balance in favour of one side or the other.

And then Twinkle starts to convulse, as the last scraps of life begin to slip from her battered body.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 7*

The Padre curses as he catches sight of the convulsing gnome.  Realising that she can only be mere seconds from death, he takes a risky gamble, and drops to his knees beside her body, reaching for the healing potion he always keeps at his belt.  Even though he knows it will leave him dangerously vulnerable to the kobold and weasel that both flank him, he unstops the vial and begins to trickle the fluid between Twinkle's slightly-parted lips.

Fortunately for the cleric, only the kobold capitalises on the situation, jabbing its spear into the Padre's leg.  The weasel does also take a bite at him, but his shield covers much of his form, and it cannot quite reach his flesh with its teeth.

Not all of the adventurers are so lucky, however: Rose suffers another volley of fire from the kobolds behind the barricade, and this time the pain and blood-loss combine to send her crumpling to the floor, unconscious and bleeding.

Anastria stabs the weasel in the side, drawing its attention back to her, as the Padre struggles back to his feet.  Twinkle is still unconscious, but the deathly pallor has gone from her skin, and her breathing has returned to normal.

As the weasel lunges at the elven woman, bearing a savage wound in her leg, the cleric of St Cuthbert raises his mace, and cries out, his voice reverberating with strange and unworldly power:

*"Feel the wrath of my Lord's retribution, creature!"*

A blazing white light forms around the Padre's mace as he swings it down, smashing it onto the weasel's bony skull.  Crackling energy flows from the point of impact, sending the dire animal into a convulsive series of spasms, before it collapses to the floor, wisps of smoke curling out of its fur.

As the kobolds gape at the fallen weasel, Stormstrider casually chops down the remaining rider, blood fountaining as the small humanoid is cut almost in two.  The sudden violence seems to galvanise the small humanoids, who fire a volley of crossbow bolts at the ranger.  His leather armour offers him little protection, and he falls back against the wall, barely clinging to consciousness, and no longer able to participate in the fight.

Despite the injuries they both have suffered - Anastria in particular is pale from blood-loss - there is no doubt in the adventurers' minds about their next move.  The kobolds know it as well, throwing aside their crossbows to snatch up spears.

They are too slow: the Padre is at the barricade before they can set their weapons to meet his charge.  The priest's mace rises and falls, crushing kobold bones with every blow.  Moments later, Anastria is beside him, vaulting the rudimentary barrier to lance her rapier again and again into the enemy's flesh.

Within moments, only one of the kobolds remains.  Desperately clutching its spear, it utters a strange, staccato string of sibilant words, glancing back and forth at the two adventurers as it does so.  Unfortunately for the creature, its attempt at negotiation is thwarted by the language barrier: the Padre does not speak Draconic, and although Anastria does, she is still deaf from the kobolds' own thunderstone trap.

It's unlikely that the kobold would appreciate this irony, as it rapidly joins its companions in death.

The adventurers hobble around the room, checking on the condition of their companions.  None have died, though all are sorely wounded.  The Padre uses up every scrap of healing magic in his possession, including the scroll given to him by Father Samual, but even after this, most of the group are barely able to move under their own power.

It takes little time to decide to barricade themselves in the room, as none of them are eager to continue their investigation in their current condition.  The only objection; concern that they might be attacked while they camp; is overcome when they discover the key to the door on the body of one of the kobolds.

"Helping the town may take a little longer than we'd like, this way." The Padre observes, "But we can't help them at all if we're dead."

Looking for ways to kill the time, the adventurers search the room as thoroughly as they possibly can, beginning by looting the bodies of the kobolds, and then moving on to investigate the barrels and crates that are stored against the walls.  While the food inside the crates appears to have mostly rotted, one of the barrels still contains ale, which the Padre promptly samples.

"A bit rough." He opines, "But drinkable."

None of the others choose to test his opinion, however, wisely deciding that it is probably not healthy to drink from ale that has been stored amongst kobolds.  Or perhaps they still remember that the mine is the source of the disease sweeping the town.


----------



## dpdx

Ah, yes. Love this room. Of course, IMC, I made the room too short, resulting in minced kobold crossbowmen before turn 2, but I still managed to sting the Paladin for 7 points CON loss from blood drain.

But nowhere near this level of carnage. Well done, Capellan. I look forward to your next installment...


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

*Re: "The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 7*



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> *Within moments, only one of the kobolds remains.  Desperately clutching its spear, it utters a strange, staccato string of sibilant words, glancing back and forth at the two adventurers as it does so.  Unfortunately for the creature, its attempt at negotiation is thwarted by the language barrier: the Padre does not speak Draconic, and although Anastria does, she is still deaf from the kobolds' own thunderstone trap.
> 
> It's unlikely that the kobold would appreciate this irony, as it rapidly joins its companions in death.*




I love this bit.   Good as always.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 8*

The night of rest passes uneventfully, and the next day, the Padre calls upon his god to provide more healing for his companions, until most of them have reached some semblance of their usual strength.  Despite all the healing, it appears that Twinkle, perhaps as a memento of her brush with death, has still not recovered her hearing, though Anastria's is back in full - as are her acerbic comments.

"Should we send her back to town?" Mantreus suggests.

"WHAT?" Twinkle asks, "Speak up!"

"We might need her help, if there are more kobolds." Rose observes.

"WHAT?"

"Her help?  Won't she just be a liability?" the sorcerer persists.

"No more than usual." The Padre grunts in response: as well he might, for he still bears scars he earned while healing her in the midst of the melee.

"Hey!" Twinkle protests, glaring at the cleric.  The priest returns the glare coolly.

"Hearing improved, has it?" he asks sweetly, prompting a sulky pout from the gnome.

"Everybody spoils my fun."

"Not true at all." The Padre smiles.  It's not an altogether nice smile. "Here's some fun for you: you can take the lead when we head deeper into the mine.  After all, with your faculties back in working order, you're the best equipped of us to spot any danger ahead."

Still pouting, the gnome moves to the front of the group.  Her mercurial nature soon reasserts itself, however, and within a few minutes she is proudly reminding everyone of her position at the head of the group.

As the adventurers proceed down the sloping tunnels that lead deeper into the mine, the dim and flickering light of their lantern makes it hard for them to see any distance.  Their ears still work, however, and Twinkle clearly hears the scampering sound of some kind of creatures in the darkness ahead, just beyond the reach of their light.  Unfortunately, as she strains their eyes in search of any threats that might lurk ahead, she misses one that lies beneath her feet.

The ground gives way beneath the lead row, and both Twinkle and Anastria tumble into a pit, landing heavily at the bottom of a jarring, twenty foot drop.  Still bearing injuries from the great battle in the store room, both women lose consciousness.

"We should have gone back for the rope." The Padre grumbles, moving up to the side of the pit and peering down.  He frowns, gauging the condition of the two women and the climb that will need to be made to reach them.  "They look bad."

"It's a good job our healer isn't one of those clerics in a can, then." Mantreus slaps the priest on the back, nearly toppling him into the pit, "You'll be able to climb down just fine, right?"

"Right." The cleric gives the sorcerer a sour look, and the shrugs off his pack.  Moving to one corner of the pit, he carefully begins the climb, wedging himself tightly between the two walls so that he does not simply fall.  It's far from the most elegant of climbing techniques, and he becomes extremely dirty in the process, but it does the job. 

"The pit is freshly dug." He calls up in a hoarse whisper, "Some of the earth is still damp.  Keep an eye out for trouble."

The others quickly prepare to defend themselves if an attack should come, while the Padre stabilises the two women, and then uses his remaining healing spells to restore them as best he can.  Unfortunately, Anastria was so badly injured that she remains unconscious, even after the cleric's curative spells are exhausted.

"Can you carry her up?" Rose stares down from the lip of the pit.  Her expression makes it clear what she thinks of the priest's chances.  The Padre shakes his head,

"Mantreus will have to do it.  He's the best climber here.  But wait for me to climb up, before sending him down.  Anastria's not in any danger, and we don't want three of us to be caught down here if someone does attack."

Twinkle, who is still in the pit, coughs meaningfully at the count of 'three down here'.  The cleric ignores her, and begins the climb out.  Pouting once more, the gnome quickly scurries up past the slow-moving Padre, showering several clods of loose dirt upon him as she does so.  Quite by accident, no doubt.

As suggested by the priest, Mantreus climbs down into the pit, then uses the group's belts to crudely lash the unconscious Anastria to his back, after which he slowly and laboriously clambers out once more.

Once the group are all gathered together again, those who are still conscious discuss their options.  Eventually, it is decided that Rose and Mantreus will climb past the pit to scout further along the tunnel.  Twinkle actually has better low light vision than them, but she is still quite badly injured after her fall.  Besides, having dimmed their own lights to conserve oil, the group can now see that there is a very faint luminescence in the tunnels ahead.  It is surely not enough for a human to use for navigation at any speed, but the pair are confident that it will be sufficient for the slow, careful movement that they have planned.

Quietly bidding farewell to their companions, the two scouts slip off into the darkness.


----------



## Mantreus

"Rose, hold my hand, I'm scared!"

"Shh!.. er... that's not my hand"

"Oh er.. sorry"

<grin in the dark>


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 9*

The results of the scouting expedition prove discouraging.  

"We advanced as far as the next cavern," Rose reports, speaking softly, "Not more than sixty or seventy feet.  It was large - we couldn't see the far side - and had lots of stalactites and stalagmites in it."

"Rose snuck out behind some of the stalagmites." Mantreus breaks in on the story, "While I kept her covered with my crossbow.  Plus, of course, my magic."

"That was very brave of her." The Padre observes, in a neutral tone of voice.

Rose continues the tale,

"There was an entrance to a smaller cavern, set high on the wall to the right of where we entered -" she uses a finger to draw a rough map in the dirt, "- I saw kobolds in there.  They looked like they were on watch.  I'd say there's a nest of them, further in."

"Can we reach the smaller cave?" Twinkle asks, eyes shining at the thought of fighting her people's traditional enemies.

Rose frowns,

"We probably could ... given time.  But there's quite a lot of empty space near the entrance, and we'd have to climb up a rock-face to reach it.  That would give the kobolds lots of time to get ready, and to attack us with spears and bows while we climbed."

"It'd be very dangerous, given how injured most of us already are." Mantreus emphasises, for those who are a little slow on the uptake. "Especially since we don't know how many kobolds might be in there."

"I agree." The Padre nods, "We need to rest before we face them."

The adventurers make camp and set guards, then try to rest as best they can, waiting until the new day - and new healing spells - arrives.  The hours pass slowly, the group enclosed in near total darkness, with only the smallest flame still burning in their lantern.

And in the darkness, the kobolds stir ...

Pee'rak has always taken great pride in being the tribe's finest scout.  Now, as he edges nervously into the tunnel that leads toward the surface, he dearly wishes the pride was someone else's.  His tongue flickers out to taste the moist air.

"Go scout, Pee'rak." He mutters to himself, in a poor imitation of his chief, "See if surface scum try to stop us leaving.  M'dok commands." A sibilant hiss escapes his lipless mouth, "Pee'rak should have told your eggs to curdle, M'dok."

Inching further forward, the kobold peers around a corner, immediately jerking back when he catches sight of what lies ahead.

Just beyond the pit trap the tribe dug so recently, the small group of surface dwellers have set up camp.  Pee'rak's snout twitches as he scents human, elf ... and stinking gnome.

"No way out without fight." He mutters, as he scuttles back to the nest, "Pee'rak tell M'dok we should go before, but M'dok too frightened for eggs.  Stupid.  Mates can always make more.  Tch.  It M'dok's problem now."

Reaching the great cave, Pee'rak signals the guards, who lower a crude rope ladder for him to climb.  Not waiting for them to pull it up behind him, the scout goes to report to his leader.  As he expects, M'dok is not happy.

"Stupid surface dwellers!" the chief curls his tail in derision, "They must be fever-brained!  They think kobolds not know how to use bows?"

"Maybe they forget we see in dark." Pee'rak toadies, "They have stupid brains, burnt to crisp by standing in sun.  Not like mighty M'dok."

The leader waves aside this sycophancy,

"How many?"

"Six." Pee'rak holds up five fingers and his tail, "Including one gnome female."

M'dok's teeth snap at the air, drool forming on the edges of his mouth,

"We should eat its marrow." He hisses, then pauses and glances at the clutch of eggs in the corner of the chamber, "But it more important to keep eggs safe."

Pee'rak forces his tail to remain straight, and respectful, as M'dok turns back to him,

"Summon warriors." The chief commands, "We go, give surface scum choice.  They let us go, or we use crossbows, kill them all.  They will see they cannot win."


----------



## dpdx

This was gonna be another boring, insipid comparison to how I ran this module, but even I'm getting tired of that. You go, Capellan: this Story Hour rocks, and I'm geeked that I recognize the module.

That is all.


----------



## Talix

Great character development and strategy!

...and the PCs aren't doing too bad, either.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 10*

The Padre is in that dark and comfortable place just below the edge of consciousness.  He can still feel the bone-deep ache of weariness, but it's distant, far removed from him.  Almost as far removed as the voice repeating his name, over and over again, or the small hands that tug urgently on his arm.

He mutters under his breath, shrugging off the distractions that are trying to keep him from his rest.  The voice dims, no longer intruding into his dreams.

And then something cold and slimy snakes into his ear, and he all but leaps to his feet, yelling and clutching at the side of his head, horrid thoughts of flesh grubs or ear seekers uppermost in his mind.

"It's about time you woke up." Twinkle wipes her saliva-wettened finger on her shirt, "I've been shaking you for ages."

"What is it?" the Padre asks, stonily, his tone making it clear that this had better be important.

"Kobolds." Twinkle points into the darkness on the far side of the pit trap. "They say they want to talk.  They say they'll shoot us all if we don't agree to a deal.  I told them I'd have to wake you."

The Padre stares blankly in the direction the gnome is pointing.

"I don't see any kobolds -" he begins, but as he does, a dim light flares briefly in the darkness, and he catches a glimpse of more than a dozen of the small dog-men, each pointing a crossbow at his heart, "- okay, I'm willing to listen to their offer."

"You let us go with no more fighting, we not kill you." A voices rasps softly out of the darkness, "We take all food from store, leave this place.  Nobody die."

"We can't let murderers go." The priest folds his arms, stepping in front of Twinkle as he does so.  Shielded from view, the small gnome slips into the shadows and begins to quietly wake the others.  Each remains still, lying in place as they listen to the Padre's negotiations.

"We not murderers." The kobold responds, "_You_ the murderers.  We peaceful tribe in nice home, you break in and attack us, not us attack you."

"What about the miners who were here?"

"We not kill!" the kobold denies, despite the clear evidence to the contrary, "They dead when we come.  Demon kill them."

"A demon?" the Padre's tone shows his disbelief, "Where is this 'demon' now?"

"Below.  You let us leave, you able to go deeper and kill demon.  Kill murderer.  You know when demon close; caves become hot like volcano."

"We should take the offer." Twinkle hisses quietly to the Padre, moving up beside him, "There are too many of them."

"They killed the miners."

"And we killed a bunch of them, in return.  I like kobolds even less than you, you know.  But there's no way these little brutes are responsible for the disease.  They aren't smart enough."

Reluctantly, the Padre accedes, and the group allows the kobolds to depart.  The decision still nags at the Priest, however, and he takes Stormstrider aside,

"Can you follow them?" he asks, "Keep at a distance, but make sure they don't hurt anyone."

The elf nods, gathers up his things and, after waiting a while to give the kobolds a head-start, slips out of the mine to pick up their trail.

Down one of their most experienced fighters, the group resumes their camp - this time retreating to the safety of the now-empty store room - and waits out the night.  Unfortunately, by the time the Padre is able to regain his spells and begin the process of healing their injuries, the first symptoms of the disease are becoming apparent among them.  Almost the entire group are suffering to some extent, with pounding headaches and feverish temperatures.  Anastria alone seems unaffected, as they learn once the Padre has restored her to consciousness.

Despite the dizziness and nausea that is now afflicting most of them, the group chooses to press on, knowing that their symptoms will only grow more severe.  The longer they delay, the more difficult their job will be.  At least now their injuries are almost entirely healed.

As they continue into the dark tunnels, the air grows slowly hotter and more moist.  For those adventurers who are already feverish, the heat and the close air come to be almost unbearable, but they press on doggedly.  Eventually, this persistence pays off, as they enter a cavern of baking heat and stifling humidity.

Scattered around the cavern are several corpses, consisting of a mix of humans and kobolds.  As the group enters, these corpses slowly draw themselves to their feet and move forward to attack, emitting wordless moans as they come.

Such challenges no longer hold much danger for the Company, however, and the battle is over almost before it begins: the Padre invokes his god, instantly sending most of the creatures fleeing in terror.  Unfortunately for the zombies, of course, they flee very slowly, and the group ambles after them, hacking them down almost at will.

Only one of the zombies is able to flee far enough into the tunnels to - at least temporarily - escape them, and the group wastes no time in pursuing it.

As they travel still deeper into the mine, the oppressive heat begins to diminish, though the air remains clammy and filled with moisture.  The sound of running water reaches them, and ahead they spy another cavern, dotted with patches of luminescent moss.  Unlike the other caverns they have seen, this one does not appear to have been worked with tools, but instead has been hollowed out naturally by a cascading underwater stream.  The stream runs smoothly between dozens of slick, smooth stones, each coated by a light sheen of spray.

As the group reaches the entrance of this cave, the zombie that had escaped them earlier lurches out of the darkness, clawing ineffectually at the Padre.  Barely breaking stride, the cleric of St Cuthbert strikes the undead creature to the floor.

"I'm not very impressed by this so-called demon, thus far." He remarks.

As he speaks, a hoarse, guttural chant breaks out from the furthest end of the cavern, and a scarred orc, dressed in animal skins and black armour, steps into sight.  The adventurers react immediately: an arrow from Twinkle lodges in the orc’s thigh, while one of Mantreus’ magical missiles slams into its chest.  In response, the orc growls a magical phrase and gestures, and immediately a dense cloud of greenish-yellow gas boils out of his hands, surging rapidly toward the group.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 11*

The adventurers scatter, most of them avoiding the noxious fumes.  Only Mantreus and Twinkle are caught in the cloud, falling to their knees as their eyes begin to burn and their throats fill with bile.  The green fumes carry a stench so foul that it is all they can do to try and stagger free.

Even for those who have avoided the _stinking cloud_ of fumes, the trouble is only just beginning.  They have no option but to splash through a pool of ice-cold water, then try to scramble over the smooth, wet stones that surround the stream.  These prove dangerously slippery, forcing any movement to be painfully slow, unless they are willing to risk a heavy fall.  At one point Padre even throws pride to the wind and resorts to crawling over the rocks, so determined is he to avoid further painful tumbles.

The next few seconds are a maddening time of frustration, as the adventurers lurch and scramble from rock to rock, unable to spare any attention for the orc, which produces two potion vials, quickly swallowing one.  The creature smirks as it immediately fades out of sight, lifting the other vial to its lips as it does so.

With many muttered curses - not least about this profligate use of potions they could have used themselves - the adventurers press forward resolutely, favouring safety over speed.  Though they are unable to target their foe, they know that he is not be likely to risk the slippery rocks over which they climb: his own armour is too heavy and cumbersome for such work.

When the orc blinks back into sight, it is to hurl a green ray of energy at the Padre, who has managed to get closest to the broad rock on which the creature stands.  The beam strikes him squarely, and the cleric staggers as it leeches the strength from his muscles.  The armour he wears suddenly seems five times as heavy as it did before, nearly driving him to his knees.

Weakened so much that he can barely stand, let alone lift a weapon, the Padre summons a crackling black energy to his hand, and tries to lift himself onto the rock to strike the orc.  His strength fails him, however, and he slides back, before gathering himself for another attempt.

Mantreus unleashes another _magic missile_ at the orc, which seems completely recovered from its earlier wounds - evidently the second potion it drank was a curative of some kind.  The white bolt of energy strikes home, but is more than answered when the orc loads and fires a crossbow at the sorcerer.  The bolt flies with deadly aim, striking Mantreus high on the chest and dropping him instantly to the ground.

Faced with a higher priority than attacking the orc, the Padre allows the black energy around his hand to dissipate, and moves to Mantreus’ side.  Despite the difficulty of movement in his wet clothes and armour, he invokes his healing magic, managing to restore the sorcerer to consciousness.  Mantreus celebrates by unleashing another magic missile at the orc, which snarls a defiant curse, pulling a scroll from its belt as it does so.

Their enemy unrolls the scroll and reads the mystical words upon it, chanting for several long, drawn out seconds.  As the sound of the chanting fades, there is at first no visible effect.

"Watch out for the pool!" Twinkle suddenly cries, pointing into the deep, icy water.  Looking where she points, the other spot movement below the surface: a black octopus has suddenly appeared there, its red-banded tentacles writhing around it.

Wanting to give the summoned creature a wide berth, the adventurers move away from the edge of the water, to a distance that they hope lies beyond the reach of the beast's tentacles.

Slowly, more and more of the group are reaching the stones on which their adversary stands.  However, he is proving a fierce opponent, delivering crippling blows to both the Padre and Anastria, as each tries to reach him, without success.  The elf crumples to the floor, knocked cold by the heavy mace the creature bears, while the Padre clings to consciousness only by sheer stubbornness, as he staggers over to try and bind Anastria's wounds.

The Company resorts to ranged attacks; the orc is plagued not only by arrows from Twinkle, but also rays of crackling ice, hurled by Mantreus, who still sways slightly from blood lost to the crossbow injury he recently suffered.

Tiring of this distant harassment, the orc rushes forward, striking a mighty blow against the sorcerer.  Mantreus staggers, slips, and then falls, sliding down over the rocks, his body limp as the injury plunges him once more in unconsciousness.

And then suddenly Rose appears beside the orc, her sword flicking out and through a gap in his armour.  Dark red blood flows from the wound, and the creature’s injuries finally overcame it.  It topples heavily to the ground, leaving five exhausted adventurers: most reduced to the very last of their strength.

Within seconds of the orc’s collapse, the water in the stream – which had been murky and cloudy – becomes clear and sparkling.  Though they still feel the affliction of the disease in their own flesh, the group now know that they have at last destroyed its source.


----------



## Mantreus

Yay us! We rock!

You got the closeness of that fight across nicely Capellan. The relief when Rose downed him was palpable. I think The Padre was down to 0 hit points, Anastria and myself were unconcious, Twinkle was stuck behind the octopus (little legs ) Rose was low on hit points...

Phew!


----------



## Capellan

*"The Burning Plague" by Miguel Duran (WotC Free Adventure) - Part 12*

With the symptoms of the disease now plaguing them all - even Anastria is now complaining of dizziness and fore joints, though no-one seems to much care - the adventurers struggle back to town, where they begin the slow process of healing.  The wounds of the battle with the orc pass quickly, cured by the Padre's restorative magic, but the disease lingers for several days, and the adventurers are still weak and drained even after they finally fight off the effects.

Once their convalescence is complete, however, they take the town's markets by storm.  As a strategic and commercial centre, Duvik's Pass offers far more goods in its markets than a small village like Amberdale, and the group is eager to take the utmost advantage of this, quickly spending almost all of the treasure they discovered in the mines.  Mantreus in particular spends coins like water, treating himself to a small arsenal of top quality thieves' tools.

In addition to all these individual purchases, the group clubs together to buy a partially depleted _wand of cure light wounds_.  Having found themselves short of healing at several times during their trip through the mines, they are resolved to be better prepared for any future adventure.

The night after she recovers enough to get out of bed, Twinkle looks for the Padre in the common room of the town's inn.  The place is quiet - most people are still recovering - and the priest has a secluded corner to himself.  He is slumped back in his chair, nursing an ale and clearly trying not to fall asleep.  Dark circles ring his eyes: like anyone in town with medical training, he has been working throughout the day, tending those who are still sick.  The numbers of the ill are dwindling, it is true, but those left are the weakest and the most sickly, making them the most demanding to treat.

Seeing the gnome, he raises one palm,

"Not tonight, please.  I lack the energy for one of your pranks."

Twinkle shrugs and scoots into the seat on the opposite side of the table,

"Actually, I wanted to thank you." She pauses at the priest's look of evident surprise, "Rose told me what you did in the fight.  She said I would have died -"

"You're a comrade." The Padre cuts her off, "I would have done it for anyone in the group."

"That doesn't make me any less grateful." Twinkle makes a shushing gesture, "What you did ... it's the bravest thing that anyone I know has ever done.  And it saved my life.  I won't forget it." she glances down at her hands.

Despite himself, the Padre is touched by the thank you - and by the young gnome's bashful earnestness.  He takes a swallow of ale, then replies, voice a little gruff.

"You're welcome.  I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

"Yeah." Twinkle wrinkles her nose and grins, "And I've never let you hear the end of it, after I did."

Her sudden change of mood startles a chuckle out of the usually dour cleric.

"If you'd saved my life, I think I could learn to live with the grief I'd get about it." his tone grows more serious, "Now get to bed.  You're still not fully recovered."

To his surprise, the gnome actually nods, and slides out of her chair.

"G'night." She gives him a tired half-wave, then trots off toward the stairs.  As she reaches the halfway point, she suddenly straightens, then rushes off, leaping up the steps, two at a time.  The Padre shakes his head and leans back, eyes half-closing.

"Someone's in for a rude awakening.  Hope it's not me." He yawns, slowly losing the battle with his exhaustion.  His tiredness feels bone deep, making every muscle in his body ache.  As sleep dulls the pain, he finds himself wondering what the others are doing in Amberdale.

_We've been gone over a week, now.  Still, how much trouble could they get themselves in?_

His last conscious thought, as he drifts into a doze, is that he probably doesn't want to know the answer.


----------



## Capellan

Just a note to let you all know that there'll be no more updates until August.  Someone (namely me) went and booked himself a 5 week overseas holiday.  

Try not to let the place get too dusty while I'm gone, OK?


----------



## Talix

Cool ending to the story - close calls are always exciting!  

Have fun on your vacation!


----------



## dpdx

Excellent work on this adventure, and a vacation well-deserved. I hear Portland is particularly nice in the States this time of year.


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 1*

Back in Amberdale, Elspeth and Ming Li sat together at a table in the inn.  Both women were enjoying a peaceful breakfast: something that could be difficult to do while Twinkle was in town.

"Are you going to be in town today?" the ranger asks, looking up for a moment from her half-empty plate, "Or are you heading back to the caves for more meditation?"

The monk sets her knife down neatly before answering,

"My studies at the cave are complete, for now.  I have learned several new techniques, and must now put them into practice, so that I may perfect their use."

"Great.  You'll have to show them to me, sometime." Elspeth's distracted tone belies her apparent interest, "Listen, I need to go over to visit that wizard, this morning -"

"What wizard?" Macwood hurls himself into a chair on the opposite side of the table.  The chair rocks alarmingly under this treatment, but the halfling does not seem to notice: his attention is firmly fixed on the two plates of food a waitress has just placed in front of him.

Elspeth pauses, clearly contemplating the option of ignoring the bard, who seems to have lost interest in the conversation in any case, but Briar chooses that moment to arrive, carrying another two plates.  He puts one in front of his own seat, and one in front of Macwood.

"Morning." He greets the two women, "Anything going on?"

Elspeth nods,

" I have to go over to see that wizard - the one who lives with the cook -"

"Excuse me," another voice breaks into the conversation, causing the ranger to mutter an oath under her breath, "Could I interrupt you for a moment?"

"Why not, everyone else has."

The newcomer is an attractive redhead.  She wears fine clothes and a gaudy cloak, though currently she has that pulled close around her, and is hunched forward somewhat furtively, as if trying - badly - not to be seen.

"Thank you." The woman immediately takes a seat and turns away from the ranger to face Briar and Macwood, "You see, I'm in a little trouble." Her hand drops lightly onto Briar's, "And I was hoping that you big, strong men could help me."

Elspeth nearly chokes on her mug of ale.  Ming Li, perhaps fortunate not to be eating at that moment, merely raises an eyebrow.  If they notice the reaction of their female colleagues, neither Briar nor Macwood gives any sign.

"Well, it's always a pleasure to help a pretty lady -" Briar begins.

"She wuth talkin' to _me_!" Macwood interjects, through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"What kind of 'trouble'?" Ming Li interjects, "And how did you get into it?"

The woman blinks, evidently put off stride by the monk's brusque interruption,

"My name is Marble McCray -" she smiles winsomely.

"We've met." Ming Li answers flatly, "The night the cockroaches attacked the inn."

"We did?" Marble offers a deliberately blank look, "I'm afraid I don't remember you - just these two fine young men."  On the other side of the table, the 'fine young men' make claw shapes with their hands as they emit hissing and spitting noises.  A glance from the monk silences them both.

"What kind of trouble, and how did you get into it?" she repeats.

"Well," Marble visibly collects her thoughts, "as you know, I am a dealer in 'special goods'.  Things that are valuable or hard to find.  Recently, I accepted a commission to sell an item on someone else's behalf.  It was a standard deal; I found them a buyer, they paid me a commission; but afterwards, I found out that the item was stolen property.  And the original owner really wants it back: in a 'hand it over or die screaming' kind of way."

"Then why not purchase it back and return it?" Ming Li asks, reasonably.

"Because I don't know where the buyer went.  And even if I did, I don't have the money." Marble answers, testily. "I only got a commission on the deal.  The seller got the bulk of the gold, and he's dead.  Bounty hunters got him.  They very nearly got me."

"Bounty hunters?" Briar's head snaps up, "Who are they?"

"I don't know." Marble shrugs, "And I don't want to find out.  Look, I don't have much money, but I can give you ten gold each if you'll protect me from the hunters.  Is it a deal?"


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 2*

Now that the all-important subject of money has been broached, the group take a moment to confer.

"Ten gold?" Elspeth gripes, "What does she think this is, killing a few kobolds in a ruin?"

Ming Li folds her arms.

"As far as I am concerned, her dishonesty has brought her this trouble, and it is no concern of ours.  Especially as I believe she continues to be dishonest - this time with us."

"She said she wasn't aware the item was stolen until after the sale." Macwood points out.

The monk snorts,

"I do not believe her.  If you do, you are a bigger fool than you are a glutton."

"Oh, I'm not as big an anything as I am a glutton." The Halfling appears completely untroubled by Ming Li's less-than-veiled insult. "There is a small chance it's the truth, though."

"Very small." The monk concedes, grudgingly.

"I think we should help her." Briar contributes, though he doesn't look convinced of his own words.  A worried frown has replaced his usually cheerful expression, "Some of these bounty hunters are vicious ... it wouldn’t be right to leave anyone unprotected from them.  Even someone who was lying to us."

Ming Li looks unconvinced, but Elspeth shrugs,

"Ten gold is something, at least." She reasons, "Not much, but something.  I say we ask for half up front, and tell her that for the price, we'll only guard her for two days.  If she wants more than that, she'll need to find more money."

The suggestion meets with a reluctant mutter of agreement from the others.  It is clear that they don't really trust what they've been told - and that they resent being asked to risk their skins for so little reward - but ten gold is ten gold, and this _is_ the Company of the Random Encounter.

They four adventurers return to the table, where Marble waits nervously,

"For ten gold, we'll protect you for two days." Elspeth says bluntly, "And we want half up front.  Ming Li insisted."  This false accusation brings a momentary look of irritation to the monk's face, but she smothers it quickly.

"Very well, I guess that's okay." Marble reaches for her belt pouch, then stops as Ming Li raises a hand to forestall her.

"Additionally," she stresses the word, "We require information.  We need to know what the item was that you sold, and what it was worth.  Also, who are these bounty hunters?  Have you seen them?  A description would assist us in guarding you."

"There were three of them." Marble answers only the last question, "A man and a woman; both human - and a half-orc.  I think the woman was in charge.  She had dark hair and wore black leather armour."

"You're sure about the half-orc?" Briar looks pale, "He wasn't just ugly?"

"He had tusks." Marble sticks her thumbs at the corners of her mouth to demonstrate, then opens her belt pouch, "Here's your gold: five each, and five more in two days."

Ming Li opens her mouth - probably to repeat her unanswered questions - but Elspeth, grabbing the coins, speaks first.

"Great.  Consider us hired.  Now, I need to head over to the other side of town to pick up some things.  The others are coming with me.  If you want protection, you'll have to come with us."

The elf's announcement earns her glares from both Marble and Ming Li, but she blithely ignores them all, heading out of the inn without so much as a backward glance.

Briar shrugs,

"We'd better follow.  The other questions can wait."

Neither woman looks happy with that prospect, but Elspeth's departure doesn't leave them much choice.  They trail after the ranger, Marble remaining on the opposite side of the group from Ming Li.

Elspeth's business is with the wizard Andalyn, who had been hired by the Padre to arrange the identification of the magical earrings the Company had acquired in one of their earliest adventures.  The Padre - never known for his trusting nature - had tasked Elspeth to retrieve the earring from the wizard before he left for Duvik's Pass.  Best not to let the wizard keep them too long, he argued, lest she start to get ideas about their ownership.

"Have you met this wizard?" Briar calls after Elspeth, who turns and pauses to wait for them.  She shakes her head in answer,

"No.  All I know is she is the wife of Gendrew."

"The chef?" Macwood's face brightens, "Excellent, I'm feeling a bit peckish.  And look -" he points at smoke emerging from the chimney of Gendrew and Andalyn's home, "- he has something cooking."

Ming Li frowns,

"From the smell, it would be more accurate to say he has something burning."

"_Burning_?!" the Halfling gives a gasp of horror, and rushes frantically toward the building, a wail of despair on his lips.

"You know, it is rather strange that Gendrew would let food burn ..." Briar remarks, "Something may actually be wrong."

Within moments, the three adventurers are hot on the halfling's heels, leaving Marble standing alone in the street.

"Hey!" she calls plaintively, "Remember me?  The person you're supposed to be protecting?"


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 3*

Ignoring the protests of their supposed charge, the adventurers rush through the front door of the cottage.  Except Macwood, who instead rushes around to the back of the building, because that's where the kitchen is.

"Is anyone here?" Ming Li calls as the group moves into the front hall.  There is no answer, and the adventurers fan out into the different rooms of the cottage's lower storey, looking for any signs of Gendrew or his wife.  Everything appears normal in the hall, the sitting room and the dining chamber.

The kitchen, however, is in a shambles.  Pots and pans lie scattered on the floor, and a huge tub of batter seems to have been hurled against one wall, spattering much of the area with the sticky substance.  Macwood, who is in the first to arrive in the room, picks up one of the shattered fragments of bowl and licks a little of the batter off his finger.

"I think this was going to be cornbread." He looks mournfully at the remains.

"Interesting." Ming Li's statement makes Macwood brighten, until he realises that her attention is elsewhere, and she is not replying to him remark.  The monk points, "See that chair, wedged under the doorknob?  It appears that someone has been trapped in there."

The others - except the halfling - approach the door, Briar going so far as to press his ear to the wood and listen for sounds, but even soft calls to whoever - or whatever - is on the other side elicit no response.

"Oh, very interesting." Macwood sniffs, picking up another fragment of pot and beginning to scoop up the sticky remains of the batter. "There's an entire tray of cremated muffins in the oven, and you lot are messing around with a door."

"You're supposed to be protecting _me_, remember?" Marble whines from the back door, where she is lurking half-in, half-out of the room. "Not finding some cook.  I _paid_ you."

"Be quiet." Elspeth doesn't even turn to face the trader, "Or we'll give you back the money and leave you to look after yourself."

Marble quiets, a sulky expression on her face.

"The most logical explanation is that a robber broke in, beat Gendrew unconscious, then locked him in this other room while robbing the place." Ming Li, "And the cook has not responded to our calls because he is still unconscious."

"Yes.  Very logical." Briar nods, then draws his sword and sighs, "So ... shall we see what's _actually_ there?"

There are nods of consensus, and a general drawing of weapons.  Despite her earlier analysis, Ming Li is not less quick to ready her staff than the others are to draw their blades.  Logical or not, she has been an adventurer long enough to know that the action is prudent.

Taking a deep breath, the monk moves forward, and puts her hand on the chair.  After glancing around to make sure the others are prepared - and that Marble is well out of the way - she pushes the chair aside and twists the handle on the door.

Whatever they expected to find in the room, it is unlikely that any of the adventurers envisioned the creature that this action reveals: standing in the middle of a thoroughly wrecked pantry is a humanoid construct made of tin-plate, with kettle-like spouts on it shoulders.  Standing nearly seven feet tall, the bizarre creation has a bulbous, tea-pot like torso and peculiarly elongated arms, each of which ends in a large, almost club-like fist.  Despite its physical resemblance to a number of kitchen utensils, it is clear that the thing would never be able to handle such implements itself: it is built for less subtle purposes than tea and refreshments.

A fact that it immediately proves by lunging toward Ming Li, fists raised in readiness to smash her to the ground.


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 4*

The construct's fist slams into the monk's side, causing her to stumble backwards.  Though undignified, this stumble saves her from further harm, as the creature's over fist swings through empty air.

Ming Li recovers quickly, slamming her staff into the golem's body.  The metal dents noticeably, but the creature surges forward, unimpaired.  The monk retreats from the doorway, allowing the golem to emerge - and more importantly, giving her companions a chance to get in on the fight.

As they move forward to do so, however, an aperture slides open in the golem's bulbous head.  A moment later, it exhales a blast of scalding steam from this opening, aiming the jet squarely at Ming Li.  The monk is not to be caught out again so soon, however: she drops to one knee, allowing the blast to pass harmlessly overhead, before driving the tip of her staff into the construct's knee.

The blow twists the golem slightly, causing it to wobble unsteadily, but it drives its clawed toes into the stone flagstones, improving its purchase, and sweeps both of its arms in wide arcs.  One of the blows clips Elspeth as she moves in to attack, but the ranger grits her teeth and slashes at the construct's shoulder joint.  Her sword skitters off the heavy metal joint, but the force of her blow is merely deflected, continuing on to strike the golem's chest.  The creature's thin metal "skin" tears as the sharp blade cuts through it, and a gout of steam spurts from the gash, scalding Elspeth's hand.

The ranger curses, dropping her sword in surprise and pain.

"Use blunt weapons." Ming Li drives her staff into the creature again, knocking it back a step, "They don't tear the skin."

Briar ignores the advice, striking with his sword.  Another tear opens in the creature's skin, but the rogue's speed and agility lets him slip clear of the worst of the steam.

Macwood, unable to get within arms reach of the creature due to the congestion of the combat, looks around for some way to contribute to the fight.  His eye falls on a ceramic bowl, half-filled with flour, and he speaks a few arcane words, gesturing as he does so.  The bowl lifts into the air and flies toward the golem's head.  It seems as if it is about to strike home, but then at the last moment, the construct shifts its position, and the bowl shatters against the wall, causing clouds of flour to drift over the fighters.

The construct swings an arm, the blow slamming Briar into the wall, but the adventurers strike back even harder, both Elspeth and Ming Li driving in blows on the golem's torso.  By now, the once smooth sphere is a mess of dents and tears, with steam pouring slowly out of the many holes.  The golem's movements are slower and jerkier, as if the loss of pressure is reducing its capability to move and fight: and then suddenly there is a noisy grinding of gears and it freezes completely, its mechanisms ruined by the damage inflicted by the adventurers.

Elspeth wipes a hand across her forehead, inadvertently streaking her face with flour.

"What the heck is that thing?" she asks.

Marble, who has spent the entire fight cowering behind the kitchen table, doesn't seem interested in such details:

"I hired you to protect me from bounty hunters!" she screeches, petulantly, "And you choose to do so by taking me to a melee with a crazed golem!  What do you plan for tonight?  Dinner with a vampire?"

"The offer to return your gold is still open." Ming Li reminds her softly.  Marble closes her mouth with a snap.

"Well, if anyone was around, that little squabble should have brought them running." Briar remarks, poking at the remains of the golem.  He frowns, suddenly, "Hey - there's a small hole in this thing."

"There are lots of holes in it." Elsepth observes with satisfaction, "Most of them quite large."

"Yeah, but this one's down near the leg joint." Briar points, "I don't think any of us hit it near here.  And this is just a pin-prick.  I'm not sure what could have caused it."

"Maybe whoever locked it in there managed to damage it, first." Elspeth shrugs, evidently having little interest in such mysteries. "We've searched everywhere down here, so let's check and see if there's anyone upstairs."

No-one has any objections to this plan (well, Marble might, but she wisely does not voice them), so the group take the stairs to the upper storey, emerging at one end of a small, L-shaped hallway.  They can see only one doorway off this hall, though presumably there will be at least one more around the corner.

Quietly moving up to this opening - for the door itself stands open - Briar peers into the room beyond.  A look of surprise flickers across his face, and then he turns back toward the others,

"We've found Gendrew." He reports.

"Is he okay?" Macwood scuttles forward to see, with Ming Li and Elspeth just behind.  Reaching the doorway, the Halfling makes a sound of concern, for it is readily apparent that the man is most certainly _not_ okay.  Though the shallow rise and fall of his chest suggests he is alive, the cook is bloodied and bound, lying unconscious on his own bed.


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 5*

Macwood quickly hurries to the cook's aid, clearly upset by the indignities suffered by such a master of the culinary arts.  The others, more cautious - or perhaps just less fixated on food - hang back, watching out for signs of whoever might have done this.

Suddenly, a small figure blinks in existence, just above and behind the Halfling bard.  It is grey in colour, with leathery skin and bat-like wings.  Cackling gleefully in a high-pitched voice, it jabs its barbed tail into Macwood's shoulder.

Macwood staggers as his companions shout belated warnings.  The wound he has suffered is only a pin prick, but it burns fiercely, and a wave of dizziness sweeps over him.

"Watch out ... for ... tail!" he croaks, slumping against the wall, "Poison!"

Ming Li steps into the room, jabbing at the still cackling creature with her staff.  The ironbound weapon collects solidly, but the impact does nothing more than knock their winged enemy backwards a few inches.  It cackles again, a slender finger sliding into its oversized nose as it does so, rummaging inside the nostril for ammunition, which it proceeds to flick derisively at the monk.

Briar and Elspeth join what rapidly proves to be an embarrassing battle for the adventurers.  Their enemy, though barely a foot in height, appears completely immune to their blows.  Every futile attempt to harm it meets with more laughter, accompanied now by profanity-laced abuse, and a steady barrage of unsavoury secretions.  Only rarely does the creature bother to attack with its tail, flittering brazenly amongst the adventurers to stab them with the poison-laced barb.  Within a minute, all four of the companions have been wounded, the poison leaving them dizzy and clumsy, fingers and feet trembling uncontrollably.

"I'm an idiot!" Briar suddenly claps a hand to his head.

"You can say that again, fatso." The nasty little beast snickers, and waves its bony rump in his direction.

The young rogue answers with actions, not words, drawing from his belt the dagger he discovered in the sewers.  The blade gleams slightly in the ill-lit room.

"What's that, then?" the creature titters, "Planning to trim my toe-nails with that paring knife, sonny?"

Briar smiles, and stabs.

The blade - the _enchanted_ blade - slides easily through the creature's flesh.  Black blood flows as the vile little beast squeals in pain and fury.  Colourful - and anatomically impossible - abuse spews from its lips, and it suddenly blinks out of sight.  Moments later, a shuttered window in the hallway bangs open, and the torrent of obscenities fades in volume.

"I think it's gone." Briar slips the dagger back into his belt, fingers trembling slightly from the poison in his bloodstream. "Cowardly little runt."

With the immediate danger averted, the group unties Gendrew, and Ming Li examines his condition.  The cook is still unconscious, and his skin shows several small pockmarks - probably wounds inflicted by the flying creature.  The monk shakes her head,

"I do not believe the injuries are life-threatening." She says at last, "But I have no suggestions for how to wake him.  I think we may just need to wait for him to sleep off the poison."

"Will these help?" Briar has been rummaging in the wardrobe, and now pulls forth a small wooden chest.  Flipping it open, he shows six potion vials to the others.  All six are marked with their various enchantments, and the fourth is a healing draught.

"Do we want to use it on him?" Elspeth eyes the magical liquids with a mercenary eye. "Those are very valuable."

"They also belong to him.  Or at the very least, his wife." Ming Li reminds the ranger, "It would be dishonest to take them."

"To the hells with honesty." Briar snorts, "It'd be dangerous, which is more important.  His wife's a wizard, remember.  I don't fancy having a wizard sore at me."

"Or a cook." Macwood adds, "He makes the most fantastic pies."

"We did just save her husband." Elspeth pouts, conceding the argument, "I think we're owed something for that.  She'd better be grateful."


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 6*

Macwood administers the healing potion to Gendrew, dribbling the fluid slowly into the cook's mouth.  Within moments, the man's bruises fade, and his breathing becomes slow and steady.  A short while later, he slowly opens his eyes.

"What ..." he asks, sitting up.  His face goes green for a moment, and he grabs at the bed post, breathing deeply as a wave of nausea subsides, "What happened?"

"We were going to ask the same thing." Elspeth notes sourly.

"We came to speak with your wife." Ming Li intercedes, taking a more tactful approach, "When we saw the state of your home, we became concerned.  There was some sort of metal man in your pantry, and a flying creature in here with you.  We drove it off."

"What happened to the golem?" Gendrew asks, wincing as he rubs one of his injuries.

"We were forced to destroy it." The monk's words cause the cook to wince again.

"A pity ... well, perhaps not." He shrugs to himself, "It was obviously not safe to use."

"This 'golem' belonged to you?" Ming Li's surprise is evident - as is the note of suspicion in her tone.

"Yes.  After those poor boys were killed by the robbers - you remember, when the caravan was bringing the food for the festival? - my wife decided to build a guardian for the road.  That golem was supposed to protect any future trade caravans."

"It seemed more interested in killing people than protecting them." Macwood notes.  Gendrew nods glumly,

"You have the imp to thank for that." Seeing the blank looks of the adventurers, he elaborates, "The flying creature you mentioned.  It was an imp.  Andalyn and I had nearly finished the golem - in fact she'd just left to get the last magical reagents we would need - when that evil little beast turned up and attacked it.  The golem was close to fully operational by then, but not all of the magical controls were in place.  The attack drove it berserk - no doubt as the imp intended - and it attacked me."

"Then who locked the golem in the pantry?" Ming Li wants to know.

"Probably the imp." Gendrew shrugs, "Once the golem knocked me out, it would have wanted to get the construct out of the way, so it could get up to its mischief in peace." He glances around the room, "It looks like you arrived before it could do too much harm."

"Why was it here?" Briar wonders, "Do imps randomly drop by and attack you on a regular basis?"

"Not all wizards share my wife's sense of ethics.  One of her enemies probably dispatched it to cause trouble, and it just happened to arrive at a particularly opportune time for that.  If you folks hadn't come along, there's no telling what it would have done.  Thank you."

"You know what says thank you best of all?" Macwood asks brightly, "Cake!"

"Or gold." Elspeth mutters under her breath.

Gendrew laughs, then winces - apparently the laugh was not a wise idea,

"My wife will return in a few hours, at most." He says, "And I am sure she will be better equipped than I to offer you a reward.  For now, however, I have a fine carrot cake downstairs - assuming it survived the imp's mischief, of course - and I am sure I can find a kettle for tea.  Why don't you join me for a meal?"

The Company of the Random Encounter refuses no reward, no matter how meagre, and the group duly enjoys a pleasant breakfast of tea and cake, while waiting for Andalyn.

On her return, Andalyn repeats her husband's thanks, and also gifts the group with the remaining potions from the wooden chest, as reward for their assistance.  She also returns the earrings she had been asked to have identified,

"Their function is to allow people to communicate." She explains, "If two people each wear one earring, and one of them whispers a message, the other will hear it, even at distances of several hundred feet."

Pocketing the earrings, the adventurers bid their farewells from the wizard and her husband, and discuss their plan of action.  After a short conference, it is decided to hide Marble in Sirdros' room at the chapel of Pelor.  The Sanctuary is the most secure building in town, and also the most private.  This, coupled with the fact that it gets the petulant Marble out of their hair, recommends the chapel most highly as a hiding place in the eyes of the Company.

Adjourning to the inn, the four settle down at a table,

"A good start to the day." Macwood remarks, "Good food, a good fight, and some treasure.  Plus, we've got that girl buttoned up nicely."

There are murmurs of agreement: it seems all four adventurers are more than content with their efforts for the morning.

Less than an hour later, they are far less content.


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 7*

The bounty hunters stride into the inn, looking like they own the place.  But then, given the equipment - some of it clearly magical - dripping off them, they could probably afford to buy it.

They are a grim-looking trio.  Leading them is a woman, dressed in black leather armour.  Her two companions are a sly-looking man with a sharp nose, and a burly half-orc, carrying a large sword.  All three move with the fluidity of trained fighters, and when they settle at one of the tables, they do so in such a way that between them they can see every part of the room without moving.

Briar takes one look at the three hunters and blanches almost white, half-sliding under the table, he hunches so low in his chair.  Fortunately for the young rogue, he is not alone in this reaction: certainly the bounty hunters don't seem to find anything unusual in his behaviour.

Ming Li, on the other hand, is clearly not intimidated.  As soon as the hunters are settled at their table, she stands and walks slowly in their direction, giving them plenty of time to see her coming.

"What's she _doing_?" Briar hisses from the corner of his mouth, his lips barely moving.  Elspeth shrugs, leaning back in her chair, 

"I didn't think to ask her before she got up without a word and walked over there." The ranger mutters, "Stupid inscrutable monks.  Why couldn't she have meditated on it?"

Unaware of her companions' concern, the monk bows her head in greeting to the three hunters,

"Good day, I am Ming Li." She begins, "May I ask your purpose here.  You don't seem like farmers, who are the usual clientele of this establishment."

"We're looking for someone." The woman replies, "Girl named Marble McCray." She goes on to give a brief but surprisingly vivid description of the Company's employer. "Have you seen her?"

"I have not." Ming Li responds, her voice confident but her eyebrow giving an unconscious twitch at the unfamiliar experience of lying.

"Your loss, then - there's fifty gold in it for anyone who can tell us where she is." Either the hunter believes the lie, or her poker face is better than the monk's.  In either case, Ming Li rapidly decides that initiating the conversation was a mistake.  As soon as she is able, she makes her apologies and returns to her original table.

A whispered planning session follows, ensuring that if the bounty hunters were not already suspicious of the monk and her companions, they soon would be.

"One of us had better go warn Marble and act as a guard for her." Macwood suggests.

"Is that a good idea?" Elspeth frowns, "She'll probably panic."

The halfling shrugs, then remembers the unfriendly eyes in the room and turns the movement into a surprisingly convincing cough,

"Better she panics with one of us around than if she sees the hunters when she's alone." Is his opinion, "She's likely to run without one of us to stop her, and there goes the other half of our payment."

"On the other hand, it also means we wouldn't be in any further danger." The ranger muses.  Seeing the looks she's getting, she rolls her eyes, "I'm just saying."

"Maybe if Ming Li hadn't tried to play Spy, you'd be right." Macwood gives the monk a glare, to which she seems oblivious.

"It is likely that they suspect I was lying." She agrees, in a matchless display of understatement. 

"I'll tell Marble." Elspeth volunteers, "And make sure she doesn't go running off."

The others agree this is a good plan, and - after taking one of the whispering earrings - the ranger slips out of the door.  Within moments, the male human bounty hunter also leaves, no doubt to shadow her.  However, thanks to a warning from her companions who are still within the inn, and her superior knowledge of the town, Elspeth gives him the slip.

"These earrings are _great_." She enthuses, in a whisper. "Let me know if you come up with a plan.  I'll stay with Marble."

"We should go as soon as we can." Macwood muses, "And we need some way of taking Marble with us, without the bounty hunters seeing her.  Or at least, without her being recognised." He glances at the others, "Maybe we could disguise her, somehow?"

"Let's cut her hair and disguise her as a male." Briar suggests, "If you strap down the right bits and teach her to walk like a man, she'll never be recognised."

There is a long moment of silence after the rogue's strangely _confident_ announcement.  Then, very slowly, Macwood leans as far forward across the table as he can,

"Is there something you'd like to tell us, young lady?"


----------



## Lazybones

Greetings Capellan and crew:

Just finished page 1 (still in Amberdale, part 20), and I wanted to offer a preliminary comment.

I like the tone of the story, a good mix of action, drama, and humor.  I don't know why it is, but the tales about young would-be heroes who manage to get into all kinds of trouble without thinking seem to make the most entertaining story hours.  You don't want to see things fall into the category of DM-vs-players (not that I get this impression from your story at all), nor do you root for a TPK, but when the players just barely manage to survive _despite_ some bad decisions (like not checking the last door for traps, rushing into battle outnumbered, or setting fire to the cat in the web), it can be marvelously entertaining.  

So thanks for the story (you've saved me from a deathly boring afternoon at work); I look forward to getting caught up in the tales of the CotRE.


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## Capellan

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, Lazybones.  We at the CotRE aim to please, and our rates are very reasonable 

Just to let everyone know (both of you  ), there will be an update tomorrow.  I'm trying to update all three of my story hours twice a week, at the moment, and it's CotRE's turn again.


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## Thomas Hobbes

Pishaw.  I'm sure there's more than 2 of us.  Even if we don't post, Capellan, we're reading avidly.  But whilst I'm here, I'll tell you one of the many things I like about your story hour(s):  you update them _frequently._  Speaking as someone who also reads Sepulchrave's and PirateCat's story hours, this is like a beam of light in the darkness.


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## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 8*

Briar shakes his - or rather, _her_ - head.

"Not with the hunters in the room, I don't." she mutters, "So, are we going to try my idea?"

After a rapidly whispered conversation with Elspeth, via the earring, the others agree that Briar's plan has the best chance of success.  After all, it's worked on them for the past few weeks.

"Marble's not happy about it." the ranger reports, "But I've persuaded her that it's in her best interest."  The sour tone in which this is delivered leaves no doubt as to Elspeth's opinion of their charge.

"How is she?" Ming Li asks, carefully.

"Scared out of what little wits she has."

"Of you or them?"

"Both." The ranger gives a short laugh, "But right now, more me than them."

As they speak, the male bounty-hunter returns, giving his companions a brief shake of his head as he does so.  With a quick, suspicious glance at the adventurers who are still in the inn, he returns to the table with his two companions, and they begin to confer in quietly.

"I think our friends know we're up to something." Macwood remarks, after calmly ordering a drink from the inn's serving girl, "Tell Elspeth to get the girl ready, then leave town.  She should let us know when she does.  We'll wait a couple more hours, then leave and catch up to her."

"How are we going to get away without being noticed?" Ming Li asks.

"We aren't." Briar grins, as she guesses Macwood's plan. "In fact, we make it really obvious that we're leaving."

The halfling gives a half nod,

"They'll watch us, but when it's clear that we didn't leave with the girl, they'll have to decide whether to risk following us, when we could be a diversion to draw them away ..."

"Or stop and ask around town." Briar finishes, "I think they'll do that, myself.  They'll find out about Elspeth and Marble eventually, but we should get a few hours' head-start."

"Very well." Ming Li frowns, "But where do we go?  It is one thing to leave on a journey; another to choose a destination."

"Let's start by heading north." Briar suggests, "That takes us toward Duvik's Pass.  At least if we go that way we may be able to join up with the others for extra protection against the hunters."

With the plan's details agreed, it is put into action.  Within a few hours, Marble's lustrous red hair has been cut brutally short, then dyed dark brown.  Then the adventurers slip out in two separate groups: first Elspeth and Marble, then the others.  The ruse seems to work, giving them the head start they were looking for, but none of them believes it will last for long.  Briar, in particular, is confident of the hunters' skills.

"I recognise them." The rogue explains, after her group catches up with Elspeth and Marble.  It's possible that the hunters would also recognise her, now, for she has doffed her male disguise, and - though her style of dress hasn't much changed - her feminine form is apparent, "I never actually met them, but I heard about them.  They're among the best.  If they're sent after you, you're going to be caught."

"Is there some reason they would be after _you_?" Elspeth asks.  Briar grimaces,

"I was accused of betraying the guild.  I didn't, but the ways things happened, I was going to have a hard time proving that.  And treason to the guild is not a charge you can survive without iron-clad proof that you're innocent."

Ming Li interrupts, pointing a stern finger at Marble as she does so,

"I think it is time you told us _everything_." She says, quietly but firmly, "About this item you sold.  Clearly these hunters could not be cheaply hired.  Explain - in detail - what occurred."

Marble sighs, looks set to argue, then catches the hard looks on the faces of the other adventurers.  Realising that they are not to be put off again, she relates her tale,

"This guy brought me a large jewel, worth a great deal of money, which he wanted me to fence.  He told me it was his, but that he didn't have the contacts necessary to sell it."  Hearing Ming Li snort at this, Marble shrugs, "Yeah, it wasn't a very likely story, but I wanted to believe it.  The commission on the sale would finally let me buy this beauty." She pats the finely-crafted rapier by her side, "So I didn't ask too many questions."

"How much was it worth?"

"I sold it for two thousand -"

"You got two thousand gold and you only offered us ten each?" Elspeth looks indignant.

Marble waves off the complaint,

"I didn't get all of that - just a seller's commission." She rubs at the back of her neck, "Like I said, I sold it for two thousand ... but as for what it was _worth_ ... probably four or five times that."

There is a long, low whistle from Macwood.

"I'd thought maybe we could get the thing back, and see if offering to return it would buy off the hunters.  It's possible they've just been told to get it back, rather than kill everyone involved.  But we're never going to be able to afford to buy back something like that."

"You're dead." Briar shakes her head at Marble, "Unless ... who did you sell it to, anyway?"

"An adventuring wizard.  I don't remember his name." Martble admits miserably, "About all I could tell you is that he travelled with an obnoxious priest of Heironeous.  A loud-mouthed braggart."

"Kyrnyn."

Everyone looks at Macwood, who repeats himself,

"Kyrnyn.  That's the priest she's talking about.  I came to Amberdale with him ... never met a more boorish and conceited individual.  He's the only one she could mean."

Briar runs a hand through her hair,

"Do you know where Kyrnyn and his friends were going after they left Amberdale?" she asks, "Maybe we can find them, ask them to return the jewel."

"They will not return it." Ming Li states the obvious. "Not when it is so valuable."

"Then maybe we don't ask them." Briar pats her pouch of thieving tools.  The monk looks pained.

"I cannot condone theft -"

"It's not really theft." Briar assures her, "After all, we'd only be doing it so that the rightful owner got it back."

"And to save our lives." Elspeth adds, none-too-subtly.

Ming Li sighs, and nods, allowing herself to be won over by the logic.  Seeing this, Briar turns to Macwood and repeats her question,

"Do you know where Kyrnyn and his friends were going after they left Amberdale?"

The halfling nods, and points north, his mouth twisting in amusement.

"We're already on our way there.  They were going to Duvik's Pass."


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 9*

If the four adventurers had hoped for a warm reception in Duvik's Pass, they are disappointed.  The other Company members are fully occupied, whether it be that they are recovering from the disease that recently swept the area, assisting in the treatment of those still sick, or simply honing newly-acquired skills and enjoying the good life.

Only Twinkle, never one to be content with sitting still for a while, evidences any interest in assisting them.  For a time, it seems like the addition of the gnome to their ranks will engender a false sense of bravado in the group.  There is reckless talk of ambushing the bounty hunters, and facing them in combat, but in the end the plan is abandoned as too risky, particularly in light of the lack of healing magic available to them, with the Padre fully occupied tending the sick and Sirdros still back in Amberdale.

Returning to their original plan in coming to the town, Macwood heads out to the various inns and taverns of Duvik's Pass, seeking word of Kyrnyn and his adventuring company.  The arrogant Priest of Heironeous proves easy to track: his boastful and bullying nature makes him widely remembered, though little liked.

"Aye," a grizzled taven-goer hawks and spits, making his opinion clear, "That loud-mouthed fool were here a week before the plague hit us.  Figures that by the time we would have been willing to put up with his boastin', he was long gone."

"Do you know where they were headed?" Macwood signals for another ale.

"Whole damn town knew, he brayed about it so much." The old-timer shakes his head, then unleashes a malt-and-barley-laden belch, "They were on their way t'Newkeep, so he said."

"Newkeep?  Is that anywhere near Oldkeep?" the Halfling quips, feeling very proud of his wit.

"Aye, it is." The joke passes completely unnoticed, "Know it, do ye?"

"Actually, no." Macwood back-tracks, "So where is this Newkeep?"

"It's about a day's travel from here.  Take the road east out of town, and ask the folks you meet on the road.  They'll tell ye when yer getting' close, though you'd have to be as short-sighted as ye are statured to miss the place: it's right by the road."

"Short jokes.  How marvellously funny."

"Thank'ee."

Seeing that his sarcasm was as wasted as his earlier attempt at humour, the bard returns to discuss his findings with the others.  It is quickly agreed that the best option is to follow the other adventurers, though quite what they will do when they find them is still being debated.

"We certainly can't afford to buy the jewel." Elspeth grouses, the contents of her money pouch as always a matter of import.

"And we can't just fight them for it." Macwood shrugs, "As obnoxious as he may be, Kyrnyn's not actually evil.  He can't be, for Heironeous to put up with him."

"We can work it out when we actually find them." Briar suggests, pointedly checking the conditions of her thieving tools as she does so, "There are other options than fighting."

"Yeah, we're really sneaky." Twinkle announces, in an inordinately loud voice.  Several locals look over at the adventurers, and the gnome blushes, "When we want to be."

"We should wait to make the decision." Ming Li says, firmly, "Other options may come to hand, and we are yet to find the adventurers, in any case."

Reaching an agreement to defer their decision until it actually needs to be made, the five adventurers and their increasingly nervous client set off for Newkeep immediately, rather than wait for the morning.  They make the journey at a brisk pace, wanting to retain any lead they might have built over the bounty hunters, and stop for only a few hours overnight.  Fortunately, the village proves as easy to find as Macwood had been told, and by noon of the next day they have reached their destination: a cosy collection of thatched cottages, clustered around a small stone bridge.

"So where's the keep?" Macwood grouses, still sore over the failure of his attempted joke with the village's name. "They should've called it Newkeepless."

Marble screams in horror.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad -" the Halfling breaks off, realising that no-one is listening to him.  This in itself isn't that unusual, but the reason for their distraction most definitely is: a hulking, two-headed giant has emerged from behind one of the cottages, a massive tree-trunk held in one hand as a crude club.


----------



## Lazybones

Interestingly enough, my NWN group just went through a conversion of "Something's Cooking" last week.  I pointed a few of our players to your thread so they could view a different take on the material.

Your campaign takes an interesting approach to the problem of high player turnover from session to session.  For the most part, it's handled smoothly in the story.   

Of course, if everyone showed up _en masse_ one week, you'd have chaos on your hands...


----------



## Capellan

Actually, it is pretty much chaos with 5 or 6 of them 

I limit each game to a maximum of 6 (at least at the moment).  Anyone after that who was available to play gets first crack at the next session.

What monster did the NWN game use for the golem?  I couldn't quite bring myself to use the Calzone Golem in the module-as-written; hence the 'Kettle Golem' encountered here.


----------



## Lazybones

Capellan said:
			
		

> What monster did the NWN game use for the golem?  I couldn't quite bring myself to use the Calzone Golem in the module-as-written; hence the 'Kettle Golem' encountered here.



The "calzone golem" was created using the earth elemental model, IIRC.  

http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/modules/data/1063333567754.shtml
http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/creatures/data/1063336087027.shtml


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 10*

Fortunately for the adventurers, who are in no way prepared to face a giant, the enormous creature turns away from them, stooping to snatch up a fully-grown cow with its free hand.  Without a backward glance, it strides away, its feet and trailing club uprooting fences and knocking over walls as it makes for a forest to the north.

"That's strange." Ming Li frowns.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Macwood assumes an air of boredom, "Giants roaming the streets are quite the every day event, in these parts.  One might even say _passé_."

"Not that." the monk points, "Look at the way the villagers are reacting."

The others do as she says, realising that the monk is correct.  The villagers' reaction to the events is quite unusual, indeed.  Several men and women have gathered around the damaged fences, and appear to be making preparations for repairs, while other locals calmly continue with their day to day lives.  A few people - notably the owner of the cow - look shaken or angry, but the majority seem to treat it as an inconvenience, at most.

"I was joking." Macwood grumbles, under his breath. "What sort of lunatics _actually_ treat giant attacks like this?"

"They should meet the filthy beast with spears, and spiked pits to trap its feet." Elspeth agrees, a savage gleam in her eye.

"Actually, I was thinking more in terms of running in terror, screaming for us to save them."

Ming Li holds up her hand, quieting the others.

"We should speak with them, and find out what is occurring." She suggests, "And learn if they have seen the priest, Kyrnyn."

The others agree with this idea, they drift over to the nearest group of commoners: the ones working to repair the fence.  As they draw near, the eldest villager - a grey-bearded man, but one whose shoulders and arms still bulk with muscle - straightens up, massaging the small of his back.  As he does so, he turns, and his eye falls on the approaching Company members.

"Bah." He hawks and spits, lip curling in disgust, "More adventurers."

"Yeah, he's met Kyrnyn."

Ignoring Macwood's muttered comment, Ming Li addresses the man, introducing herself and her companions,

"We are seeking a priest by the name of Kyrnyn." She explains, "And had been told he came this way."

"He did." The man spits again, "Him and his friends rode in a week or more ago, full of 'emselves and sayin' as how they were going to put an end t'some evil wizard livin' in ruins, out in the woods." He shrugs, "Nobody uses the ruins, so the wizard was welcome to 'em, if you ask me.  But the High 'n' Mighty adventurers didn't agree."

"Told he'd met Kyrn-ow!" Macwood hops on one foot, holding the other and glaring at Briar, who looks back innocently.

"You didn't want the wizard killed?" Ming Li frowns, "If he was evil -"

The man shrugs,

"Evil 'e may've been, but 's didn't come into town every day and knock down our 'omes or steal our cattle." He points at the wake of destruction left by the giant, "That creature's been comin' t'the village every day since those 'adventurers' went off after the wizard." He looks as if he's about to spit again, then changes his mind and settles for a derisive snort, "That priest o' yourn probably woke the beast up wi' all his boastin', got hisself killed, and left us to live wi' what 'e stirred up."

"You could try to fight it." Elspeth suggests, looking eager about the idea, "Enough of you, armed with bows and spears, could bring it down."

"Aye?  And would there be anyone left t'bury what was left of us, if we did?" the man waves his hand dismissively, "You should talk to Malwick.  He's mad to kill the beast to, ever since it killed his da.  O' course, if his da hadn't been fool enough to shoot it, he'd probably not have lost his fool head."

"You're just going to let it keep attacking your homes?" Ming Li is having trouble grasping the man's attitude.

"Look, lass." The man gestures, "It comes, it takes a cow, it leaves.  We repair anythin' it knocks over, and keep on livin'.  The way it acts, I'd say it's as small in the mind as it is large in the body.  Sooner or later, it'll forget where we are, an' stop comin' here."

"_Riiiight_." Macwood's tone makes it clear what he thinks of that idea, "Where's this Malwick live?"

The old man points out the house - a small, stone cottage with wooden eaves - and returns to fixing the fence, while the adventurers move on, hoping to get a more helpful response from this Malwick.


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 11*

The man who answers their knock is a taciturn half-elf, quite burly in stature, with close-cropped hair that reveals a bad scar in his scalp.

Malwick - for this is he - exhibits no pleasure in seeing the adventurers at his door, but there is a gleam of interest in his eyes when they mention the giant.

"Yah.  'tis an Ettin." He spits, "Beast killed m'father.  I been looking to settle wi' it ever since.  You fixin' t'kill it?"

"Really, we're interested in finding out what happened to the adventurers." Ming Li feels a need to be honest about the group's intentions, "We'd prefer not to fight the creature at all -"

"But we will if it gets in the way." Elspeth interrupts, her tone making it clear that she is as eager to fight the giant as Malwick seems to be.

"Beast looks t'be comin' from the ruins o' Oldkeep." Malwick crosses his arms, "Same place as those adventurers went.  I'd say they went in its gullet, like enough." He pauses, and gives his visitors an appraising stare, "Y'think ya got what it takes t'kill the beast?"

"I've never lost a fight to a giant, yet." Macwood boasts.  Which is true, as far as it goes.

Malwick looks unconvinced, but eventually he shrugs.

"I'll take ya t'see the ruins after dark, t'night.  Beast might be asleep then, and we can git the drop on it."

Briar frowns,

"Would a creature with two heads ever need to sleep?" she wonders, but no-one else seems to care.

"If nothing else, it will make it harder for it to see us." Elspeth grips her bow, "All we need to do is get in sight of it, then hide and start shooting.  By the time it finds us in the dark, it'll be dead."

"I don't want to fight a giant." Marble whines.

"You won't have to." Briar rolls her eyes, "Our young, uh, page here isn't up to a fight like this, Malwick.  Can we leave ... him ... in your home while we're gone?"

The half-elf looks doubtful,

"There's nah bed for visitors." He grumbles, "Nor food for 'em, neither."

"We'll make sure he is fed." Twinkle pipes up, digging in her pack.  She produces a rather crushed-looking bundle.  "Scones from the inn at Duvik's Pass." She beams, "A little stale and battered -" at this, a shower of crumbs falls from the bundle, "- but still good."

Macwood nods vigorously,

"And he can sleep in the attic.  He'll be quiet as a mouse and never stir." The Halfling promises, with a sharp look at Marble, "No-one will ever know he's there."

Marble looks sullen, but she gets the message, and nods a glum acquiescence.  Malwick, looking no more cheerful, agrees to the suggestion and admits her to his home.

That night, with Marble bundled up in the attic, under stern instructions not to move for anything - "Just cross your legs." is Macwood's helpful suggestion - the five adventurers set out for the woods, led by the taciturn Malwick.

The half-elf, dressed in leather armour and carrying both a spear and a bow, certainly seems to know his woodcraft.  He silently leads the group across the fields and into the forest, easily tracking the giant's footprints in the bright starlight.  Once under the canopy of trees, he continues with the same surety, his sharp eyes finding sign's of the Ettin's passage, despite the gloom.

Eventually, the group comes in sight of the remains of Oldkeep: a semi-circle of tumbledown ruins, facing a half-collapsed tower.

"No sign of the giant." Macwood observes, eyes straining to catch sight of anything in the darkness.

"Only place big enough to hide him is the tower." Elspeth murmurs, pointing it out. "The ground floor looks like it is still pretty much intact, and the grass in front of the doors is flattened.  All of the other doors are still grown over."

"I could sneak up and take a look through one of the windows." Twinkle suggests, then blinks as five pairs of incredulous eyes are turned upon her. "What?"

"You actually mean it." Macwood sounds surprised.

"Of course." Twinkle pouts, "I'm good at sneaking and hiding, you know." She catches the looks being exchanged by the others and pouts still further, "What, you thought I kept hiding because I was scared all the time?  Well, maybe a little.  But also because I'm good at it."

"Okay." Briar nods, "It's a good idea.  Certainly one of us should go.  We may know he's in the tower, but it's big enough that we don't know where he is inside it, and what else we may find there.  Taking a quiet look would be a good idea."

There are answering nods of agreement, and then Twinkle advances, moving stealthily from hiding place to hiding place.  The gnome is every bit as good at this as she claims to be, and in less than a minute she is with a few feet of the tower.

And that's when things go wrong.


----------



## Black_Kaioshin

Yo, Capellan!! Love the story hour!! Keep it up!


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 12*

Rubble from the ruins is scattered throughout the area, much of it concealed in clumps of the thick, overgrown weeds that have claimed most of the buildings.  Up to this point, Twinkle has done avoided them all.  But now, she steps on a concealed stone, which turns under her foot.  The gnome staggers, nearly losing her balance, and her outflung arm knocks several small pebbles from the top of a nearby wall.

Everyone freezes, holding their breath and hoping that the noise did not wake the giant.

Their hopes are quickly dashed.

"Who's there?" the deep voice rumbles from inside the tower, in an oddly strained tone.  Despite the volume, it almost seems like the giant is trying to whisper.

"_Who's there?_" the words are repeated with more urgency, when no-one answers.  The adventurers glance at one another, unsure of what to do.  Malwick readies his bow.

Macwood isn't sure what strange inspiration motivates him, but he finds himself striding forward and placing his hands on his hips.  Throwing his feet wide apart and puffing out his chest, he calls, in a challenging and arrogant tone:

"I am Kyrnyn, chosen of Heironeous!  Surrender, creature, or be destroyed!"

It's a pretty good bluff.  The halfling sounds like he means it, and his voice has the deep and condescending timbre that so characterised Kyrnyn when the bard knew him.

The giant laughs.

"You lie."

"I do not lie -"

"Yes, you do.  You lie convincingly, but you _are_ lying." The giant talks straight over the top of Macwood's denial. "After all, it would be impossible for you to be Kyrnyn.  _I_ am Kyrnyn."

Macwood's mouth drops open, then closes with an audible snap.

"And you have the nerve to accuse _me_ of lying?" he demands, "You look nothing like Kyrnyn."

"You know, your voice sounds familiar." From the changed timbre of the creature, it has moved closer to the door. "You're that halfling, aren't you?  The one who said he was a bard ... Driftwood?"

"_Mac_wood." The halfling sniffs, "You really are Kyrnyn?"

"I am ... or I was.  Now that I've been cursed, it feels harder every day to remember who I was."

"Cursed?" Twinkle pipes up, "How were you cursed?" The gnome's eyes are wide and shine with excitement. "You mean like in the stories my uncle used to tell me?"

"I don't know about that." Kyrnyn sounds perplexed by the question.

"Tell us your tale, priest." Ming Li moves up beside Macwood and Twinkle. "And we will tell you ours.  Perhaps we can help each other."

"Very well." Kyrnyn sighs, "But I shall have to be brief.  The longer we talk, the more chance that Muk will awaken."

"Muk?" Macwood frowns.

"The other head on this body.  He has his own intelligence ... of a kind ... and his own will, and when he is awake, this body is his.  It is only at night, when he sleeps, that I can control this body's actions."

"Tell your tale, then, and quickly." Elspeth demands gruffly.

"I came here with my adventuring companions about a week ago, to slay an evil wizard who had been magically warping creatures in the dungeons beneath his tower.  The battle was long and hard, and one by one my companions fell, but in the end I slew him." The priest sighs, "However, as he died, he pronounced a curse upon me, using the last of his magic.  I believe, that as he died, he misspoke the spell, for I cannot believe that he meant to turn me into a giant.  A toad or other harmless and lowly creature would have made more sense."

"This is the brief version?" Briar mutters under her breath.

"In any case, I was transformed by the magic into an ettin - a two-headed giant.  And while I retained my memory of who I was, I soon learned that the other head had its own personality - Muk - with its own will and purpose.  Muk delights in terrorising the villagers, hereabouts.  I have mostly managed to keep him from hurting them, but he plunders their stock on a daily basis ... and every day, I grow weaker.  Soon I will no longer be able to restrain him, and then I fear he will kill them all."


----------



## Capellan

*"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 13*

"If you are a priest, why is it you cannot appeal to your god to lift the curse?" Ming Li asks, obviously still unconvinced by the giant's tale.

"I have tried." Comes the rumbling reply, "But Heironeous has not granted my appeals.  Instead, he has sent only a mysterious riddle."

"Riddle?"

"Yes: when I prayed, I saw a cryptic verse in my mind.  I can still remember the words, as clear as if I were reading them from the page:

_Two heads have we, but born with one.
We avenged, healed, and protected.
Our master was Invincible,
But punished we all who objected.
Heeded we the six-armed king,
And so by our god were rejected.
Thus, this is our fate:
One head, twice bisected._

I know not what it means."

"Me neither." Macwood mutters, with a shake of his head. "Typical god nonsense."

"Perhaps it means that we must destroy the other head, and then he will be freed?" Briar seems willing to believe the giant's tale, at the very least.

"There is a chance that is the solution." Kyrnyn - for it seems it is he - acknowledges, "But I would not survive being mistaken, if it is not."

The group discusses the riddle at some length, but are unable to come up with a better solution than Briar's proposal.  They even ask the impatient Malwick his opinion, and the half-elf voices his approval of the young rogue's idea.

"After all, even if she's wrong, we're rid of the giant." Is his less than charitable appraisal.

"What do you think, Kyrnyn?" Ming Li gives Malwick an unfriendly look, "Are you willing to try it."

"I am." The giant sighs heavily, "I think it unlikely that this is the solution, but I have no better alternative.  And, as your companion says, the worst that could happen is that I will be with my lord.  Except ... you should know that if you strike me, Muk will awake.  He will fight you, and some of you may be harmed or killed.  You should prepare yourselves, before we try this task."

"Good idea." Elspeth is in favour of anything that will make killing the giant easier. "We'll let you know when we are ready."

"There's just one thing." Twinkle suddenly interrupts, "Before we try this idea.  Kyrnyn, we came here looking for a jewel that was sold to one of your companions.  It appears the item was stolen, and the rightful owner is very eager to have it back.  Do you know where it is?"

"It is in the tunnels of the wizard's lair, beneath this tower." Kyrnyn replies, "Or at least, I assume it is still there.  Arloys was carrying it when he fell, but I have not been able to enter the tunnels since I was cursed ... this body is too large."

"We can look for it once we've got the curse lifted." Briar says, very determinedly hoping for the best, with their plan.

The adventurers go into a huddle, determining what equipment they have on hand, that canbe used for the upcoming battle.  Potions are quaffed and spells readied, and then they arrange themselves around the door, ready to converge upon their opponent-cum-ally.

"We're ready, Kyrnyn!" Elspeth calls.  The ranger is ready to spring into action in the most literal of sense: having quaffed a potion of jumping, her role in the imminent combat is to leap in the air and try to specifically strike Muk's head.

"Here I come." Kyrnyn swings open the door, lifting aside the heavy wooden crossbar as he does so.  The adventurers leap into action, swiftly surrounding him and striking with their weapons.  Elspeth, as planned, leaps high, her sword cutting at Muk's head.

The sleeping Muk awakens with a  roar, and visibly wrests control of the body.  Moving in a jerky, reluctant manner, the giant's powerful arms swing the crossbeam from the door.  The massive piece of wood catches Malwick square in the chest, crushing more than half of his ribs and sending the half-elf's broken body flying backwards to land in a crumpled heap.

Desprived of their ally, the adventurers redouble their assault, using their superior numbers to swarm around their larger opponent.  Briar and Twinkle work in tandem, taking advantage of the giant's distraction to strike him with telling blows, while Elspeth continues to rain blows down upon his head.  Macwood and Ming Li, lacking the special skills or magical enhancements of their companions, merely concentrate on unleashing the most powerful blows they can.

The barrage is telling.  Though Muk bellows and swings his club again, nearly batting Elpseth out of the air with the force of his blow, the creature's shoulders and legs are covered with blood.  The adventurers attack again, opening more wounds.  Twinkle, in particular, lands a wicked blow on the back of the giant's leg, while Elspeth gives a mighty overhead swing of her longsword.

With a final, blood-choked roar of pain and defiance, the giant crashes to the ground.

For a moment, all is still.  Then the creature's body glows, and shrinks, reforming slowly into that of the human priest Kyrnyn, lying silent and dead on the ground.

"I guess that wasn't the solution, after all." Briar bows her head.

"He met his end bravely." Ming Li kneels and closes the eyes of the corpse, then glances over at the body of Malwick, "Is he - ?"

"Dead." Elspeth confirms, "Probably never even felt it."

While the monk tends to the bodies of the fallen, the others head inside.  Within, the tower is a ramshackle affair, the walls daubed with fragments of the prophetic verse Kyrnyn had recited, and the floor littered with the filthy, stinking remains of devoured cattle.

"His sword and armour are here." Twinkle points out the gleam of metal in the darkness.

"And the tunnels he mentioned are back there." Macwood indicates a dark opening in the floor. "We'd best head in and find the jewel, before those bounty hunters arrive."

And then Ming Li calls from outside, her voice pitched low, but her tone urgent:

"Someone's coming!"


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

"Riddle?  What riddle?  Let's kill it!"


----------



## Mantreus

Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> "Riddle?  What riddle?  Let's kill it!"



 You know us too well


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 1*

Mantreus whistles jauntily as he steps out of the small, rather shabby-looking shop.  There is a very satisfied look on his face as he smoothes the front of his shirt, fingers brushing over the small lump that is the only evidence of his new set of finely crafted thieves' tools.

The whistle dies abruptly as the rogue freezes in place, his face going white, before he dives back inside the safety of the shop's dimly lit interior.  Half-crouched beside the dirty window, he peers out into the street, eyes fixed on a group of three people as they ride by.

Only once he is sure the trio has disappeared from view does he throw an apologetic smile at the shopkeeper and slip out of the store.

"Bounty hunters." He mutters, hurrying in the opposite direction. "I _hate_ bounty hunters."

An hour later, his immediate alarm has subsided, and the rogue-turned-sorcerer has begun making some quiet enquiries.

"An orc, a woman, and a shifty-looking fellow." He mentions them casually as he leans against the stained wood of the third tavern he's visited, "Funny-looking group, I thought.  Did you see them?"

"Believe I did." The barkeep wipes the bar with a soiled cloth, sweeping up the unusually large pile of coins Mantreus has left there, "They was askin' about some woman named Marble McCray.  Said they was lookin' for her for somethin' she stole.  Said she was travellin' with three women and a runt - a halflin' - with a likin' for puns and limericks."

"Really?" Mantreus drains his ale with a shrug, as if the news is of no import to him. "Sounds like as odd a group as the three that are looking for them."

Less than ten minutes later, he is hammering on the door of the Padre's room.

"Bounty hunters!" he gabbles, when the Priest finally appears, "Chasing Macwood and the others!"

The Padre rubs sleep out of his eyes.  Though it is the middle of the day, the Priest is still bone-tired from tending the sick in the recently plague-stricken town.

"I know." He yawns grumpily, "They came through town a couple of days ago."

"And you didn't say anything?" Mantreus stares at him, "I know of these hunters.  If they catch the others, they'll kill them!"

The Padre's already less-than-cheerful expression takes a sharp turn for the worse.

"_I_ was helping the sick." He pointedly replies, "Where were you?  They said they couldn't find you."

The rogue's mouth closes with a snap.  He shrugs away the question,

"I'm here now.  We have to go after them and help the others."

"Agreed." The Padre's expression eases, as he turns his attention to the safety of his companions, "I think the local priests have the sickness under control, now, so there should be no reason we can't leave.  It's fortunate Stormstrider returned this morning.  You go and tell him while I gather my things."

"What about Anastria?"

The Padre can't quite hide a grimace,

"Her too, I suppose.  If she's willing to come."

So it is that, within four hours of Mantreus sighting the bounty hunters, four members of the Company of the Random Encounter head out in pursuit.

"Did the kobolds leave as they said they would?" the Padre asks Stormstrider as the group bounces along the road.  The suspension of their wagon makes the ride less than comfortable, but at least they have learned a little more about handling the horses in the past few days.  Besides, the priest is firmly of the opinion that a third class ride is better than a first class walk, any day.

The elven ranger, riding a newly-purchased warhorse, is the only one not in the wagon.  He shrugs his broad shoulders expressively,

"They did for the two days I followed them."

Mantreus, lying at the back of the wagon with his eyes closed, Shadow curled up on his chest, waves a languid hand,

"Those little beasts are the least of our problems." He declares, "Better to worry about what we're going to do if we catch up to those bounty hunters."

"We're going to go straight past them." The Padre answers readily, "Before the others left Duvik's Pass, they told me they were heading for a town called Newkeep.  We'll try to reach it before the hunters, and join forces.  Together, we should be a match for those three."

"Don't count on it." The rogue mutters darkly, before lapsing once more into silence.

Continually pushing their pace, the group moves on, making use of the elves' excellent night vision to press on into the hours of darkness.  The effort brings reward: they manage to pass the bounty hunters while the latter are still four hours short of the village of Newkeep.

"It's a good job we knew where the others were heading, or we'd never have passed them." Mantreus remarks once they are out of earshot of the hunters, "They'll have to keep stopping to ask for news of Macwood and the others.  Still, we will probably only beat them to Newkeep by an hour; maybe two at the most.  Doesn't leave us much time to find the others and prepare for a fight.  Not against those three, anyway."


----------



## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> "Bounty hunters!" he gabbles, when the Priest finally appears, "Chasing Macwood and the others!"



*Gabbles?!*.. Mantreus does not "gabble". He might "hastily inform", or "urgently announce", but he does not "gabble".


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 2*

It does not take long for the group to make enquiries about their companions, and learn that they have headed out to some ruins in the woods, in search of a giant that has lately been troubling the village.

"They went after a giant?" Anastria grouses, "What are they, stupid?"

Wisely, no-one attempts to answer her query.

After gathering directions from the locals, the four adventurers leave their wagon at the village inn, and set out into the woods.  Roughly an hour later, they reach the ruins, discovering the corpse of a human male outside the largest tower.

"A cleric of Heironeous." The Padre points out the man's holy symbol, "Looks like he was killed recently.  We should be prepared for enemies."  He readies his mace as the others draw their weapons.

"Woah, woah, woah!  Don't kill us, big guy!" Briar appears out of the tower, hands held in a surrender position.  Seeing the surprise on the faces of the four, she grins impishly, "Hi, I'm Briar, and I have bosoms."

"So I see." The Padre sounds disapproving of this innovation, "Have you encountered the giant?"

"He was the giant." Briar points at the body of Kyrnyn. "It was some kind of curse thing.  We thought we'd figured out how to lift it, but we were wrong."

"Do you know you have bounty hunters on your tail?" Macwood reminds them all of the reason the four new arrivals came to the forest in the first place, "Nasty bastards, at that."

Briar nods,

"We gave them the slip in Amberdale, but we thought they might be on our trail again by now.  How far away are they?"

"Not more than two hours." The answer causes Briar to wince, but then she shrugs philosophically,

"Come inside and we'll work out what to do."

Moving into the tower, the adventurers gather.  Macwood and Briar explain the events that brought their group to these ruins, and Mantreus tells his group's story.  This done, the Company review their options.  The discussions are conducted quickly, as everyone is aware that they have little time before the bounty hunters arrive.

"So here's the plan" The Padre says at the end of the their conversation, "Ming Li, Macwood and Twinkle will stay on the surface, along with Stormstrider's wolf.  We'll leave one of the two magical earrings with them, so they can use it to alert us when the bounty hunters get here.  In the mean time, the rest of us will head into the dungeons beneath this tower, and try to locate the missing diamond."

Elspeth nods,

"Marble said that the hunters' main goal is to retrieve the item.  Hopefully, if we offer them the diamond, they might be willing to leave Marble - and us - alone."

No-one discusses what might be done if the hunters prove unwilling.

"I think I should go into the dungeon." Macwood puffs out his chest, "You will need my mighty sword-arm."

"We'll try to muddle through without you." Mantreus just about manages to avoid rolling his eyes as he answers the Halfling, "The four of us are fresh, and Elspeth and Briar haven't been injured.  We're the logical choices to go down there."

"Besides, you have the best chance of keeping the hunters talking, if we need a little extra time." Briar obviously has some experience at talking the bard around, "And the three of you are pretty good at concealing yourselves, so you make the best sentries."

Macwood, somewhat mollified, agrees to remain above.

Despite misgivings about the wisdom of leaving Twinkle and Macwood on guard ("At least Ming Li is there to keep them in order" the Padre mutters under his breath), Briar, Elspeth and the four newcomers head down into the catacombs below the tower.

The stairs descend to a short tunnel, which leads in turn to a roughly circular chamber, with exits to the right and left.  More or less arbitrarily, the group heads left, walking past a couple of fallen doors that lie on the floor as they do so.  Passing through an archway, they emerge into a larger, open chamber with two doors set into the far wall.  Both these doors appear intact; unlike the wall to the south, which has been heavily damaged.  A narrow, twisting tunnel has been dug through that rubble-strewn area, leading into darkness.

"Do you think this place is structurally sound?" Elspeth wonders, glancing at the damaged wall.

Mantreus shrugs,

"It hasn't fallen down yet." Is his philosophical opinion. "Do you see any sign of which way Kyrnyn's group might have gone?"

Elspeth shakes her head,

"Stone floors." She stamps her foot for emphasis, "If it was dusty, there would have been something to follow, but it's clean enough that I doubt we'll get any signs.  We'll just have to check everywhere as we go."

With no better alternative, the others agree to this methodical approach.  The first door they try leads only to a long-disused store room, filled with old and mildewed crates.  Apparently the concept that they are on a time frame has not yet sunk in, as the group promptly wastes several minutes on a fruitless search for loot.  Or maybe they just believe that this is the kind of place that you'd find a diamond.

Beyond the next door is another store room.  Once more, precious time is occupied with a search.  This time they turn up four light crossbows that have been sufficiently protected from the damp to still be in useable condition.

"There are also some crates of bolts in this corner." Elspeth reports, "Must be several hundred of them, at least.  Most of them are warped, but if we go through them carefully, we might find some that are still intact."

"Great." Unlike Mantreus, Anastria has no qualms about rolling her eyes, "There could be a good half-a-gold's worth of treasure, there.  And it shouldn't take more than twenty minutes to do.  You do remember that there are three dangerous bounty hunters coming to kill you, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, the taciturn elf moves across the chamber.  There is another door there, leading into an unexplored area.  With a further muttered comment on the 'petty greed' of certain others in the group, Anastria opens the door, revealing a third store room, which she promptly enters.

Just as promptly, a pair of leathery grey arms flash down from the ceiling, trying to grasp her around the neck.


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

The return of the roper!  I remember being quite worried that one of those bastards had gotten Twinkle, way back when.

Edit: But of course, now I'm really dating myself.


----------



## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> Or maybe they just believe that this is the kind of place that you'd find a diamond.



It's possible! We could have found it there!


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 3*

For a moment, it seems inevitable that Anastria will be struck.  The elf is not as oblivious as she appears, however.  Her eyes are sharp enough to catch a glimpse of movement, and her reflexes are more than up to the task of twisting her away from the blow.

She even manages to draw her blade as she does so, though her strike, made blindly, goes wide.

The rest of the group pour into the room to assist her against her attacker.  The repulsive creature - a small humanoid with baggy, grey skin - uses its clawed feet to cling to the wall above the door, while lashing out with its long, almost tentacle-like arms.

"Choker!" Briar has fought one of these things before, "Watch out for the arms - it's stronger than it looks!"

Mantreus somersaults into the room, almost reaching the far wall before he turns and gestures, speaking an arcane phrase that sends a glowing arrow of energy streaking into the creature's side.  Briar tries a mundane arrow in its place, but lacks the sorcerer's unerring accuracy.

This strategy of standing back to attack from range appeals to the others, who also draw bows and slings, adding to the barrage of missiles flying at the Choker.  They have not reckoned with the creature's ability to move along sheer surfaces, however, and it suddenly scuttles across the ceiling, arms lashing down to strike at Mantreus.

The sorcerer is caught off-guard, and the creature's arm wraps around his throat, squeezing sharply.  There is a sickening crunch of cartilage and bone, and then the arm withdraws.  Mantreus stands for a moment, swaying slightly on his feet, then crumples bonelessly to the ground.

"Give me some cover!" the Padre yells, moving to the sorcerer's side.  The others do as much as they can, fending off the choker's attack with their shields and weapons while the cleric hastily calls upon his god for aid.  

The familiar surge of healing energies flow through the Padre's body, but the experience is not quite as it has been in the past.  The flow now feels like a flood, pouring through him into the tortured flesh of the sorcerer's neck.

The Padre shouts out - a mixture of surprise and exultation - then slumps forward, momentarily drained by the power that has passed through him.

As he does so, the Choker lashes out at Stormstrider.  The blow lands, but the powerful elf grabs the creature's arm, preventing it from getting the same deadly hold that it achieved on Mantreus.  The Choker squeals it surprise and outrage, held still for just a moment, before it rips the arm free.

A moment is all that is needed: with the creature's focus trained upon Stormstrider, Briar and Elspeth land telling blows.  Dark blood flows thickly from the two deep wounds, and the Choker's muscles relax, letting it fall to a heap on the store room floor.

Briar helps the Padre to his feet,

"Impressive." She quips, with a glance at the still unconscious sorcerer, "Maybe there's something in this religion business after all.  Will he be OK?"

"He'll have a nasty bruise, but nothing worse." The priest massages his eyes, rubbing away spots of colour, "I have not channelled so much power before.  It seems I have advanced in my lord's service. "

"Whatever you did, you have my thanks." Mantreus croaks, his eyes opening.  Slowly, he sits up, tentatively touching his neck as he does so.  The flesh is still tender, and he winces.  Gathering his thoughts, he glances around the room.

"So, was there any treasure?"


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 4*

The group searches the room, and again turns up empty.  Complaining bitterly about monsters that don't collect treasure for them to loot, they return to the large chamber with the hole broken in one wall.

"I think we can squeeze our way through." Briar reports, after examining it for a few moments. "It's definitely wide enough for a person, and we all tend to travel pretty light, so armour isn't a problem."

"Looks pretty tight to me." The Padre frowns, with a glance at the heavy wooden shield he carries.

"It's only like that for a few feet.  After that, it widens out."

Anastria nods,

"She speaks the truth.  Even fat, slow humans will be able to get through."

"Please stop helping." Briar rubs her eyes like she has a headache. "Are we going, or not?"

"No choice." Mantreus shrugs and begins to squirm his way through, "Those bounty hunters aren't going to go away without the diamond."

The sorcerer has a good point, and one by one, the group inch their way through the hole.  The Padre is the last to do so, passing his shield through to the others before making the attempt.  Despite his concerns, he has very little difficulty with the task.

"That was easy," he quirks an eyebrow at Anastria, who picked up some tears in her clothing while working her way through, "Looks like you need to lose a few pounds."

Not waiting for an answer from the sputtering elf, the cleric moves on down the corridor.

"It's wide enough for two abreast, up here." He calls back, "We'll go on in three ranks.  Briar, you take the torch and stand in the middle with Mantreus.  The rest of us will protect you, front and back."

The group adopts this marching order and moves on.  They have gone only a short distance, however, when they notice a deep but narrow crevice in one of the walls.  Showing more pluck than good sense, Briar volunteers to investigate it.

"Are you sure?" The Padre crouches and tries thrusting a torch into the crack, but the effort is fruitless, "It looks pretty deep, and you won't have any light."

"I've got a small oil lamp." Briar digs it out of her pack, "I can push it along the ground in front of me.  Don't worry, if anything eats me, I'll be sure to scream."

With a last impish grin, she drops to her belly and slithers into the dark space, arms stretched out in front of her.

This gap is far more tight than the earlier gap they all had to come through, and her progress really is a matter of inches, slowly shuffling forward, pushing the lamp before her.  The tiny flame illuminates only the smallest of areas, but casts enough heat onto the rogue's face that she is soon sweating heavily in the enclosed space.

Suddenly something lunges at her, bursting out of the darkness.  Briar has barely enough time for a squeak of terror before the onrushing creature has spilled the lamp, plunging her into pitch darkness.  In that last moment, she sees only grasping tentacles and a soft-lipped mouth filled with small but vicious little teeth.

Then something cold and slimy wraps around her face, and every muscle in her body goes rigid with paralysis.


----------



## Elder-Basilisk

Briar. . . we barely knew you.


----------



## Hammerhead

Stupid carrion crawlers, hiding like that.


----------



## Mantreus

Hammerhead said:
			
		

> Stupid carrion crawlers, hiding like that.



You should have heard us all squeal like little girls when we realised what it was


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Capellan said:
			
		

> Then something cold and slimy wraps around her face, and every muscle in her body goes rigid with paralysis.




Must...not... make... anime... joke....

I doubt Eric's grandmother would approve.


----------



## Mantreus

> Must...not... make... anime... joke....
> 
> I doubt Eric's grandmother would approve.



I don't thin Briars player would either...

then again.


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 5*

Fortunately, the rogue's exclamation echoes back into the main corridor, and this - coupled with the sudden jerk of her feet - alerts the rest of the group to her trouble.

"Something's happened!  Quick, get her out!" the Padre snaps.  Stormstrider reacts with equal speed but more effect.  Dropping his quarterstaff, her crouches low and thrusts his arms into the hole.  Grasping Briar's ankles, he braces his feet against the wall on either side of the crevice and yanks back sharply.

For a moment, there is a tug of resistance, but the ranger's muscles bunch again and he hauls the rogue out bodily, dragging her assailant along for the ride.

The creature is a centipede-like monstrosity nearly six feet in length.  It has sickly green-white hue and a bulbous head surrounded by eight tentacles, each over a foot in length.

The beast makes a burbling squeal of irritation and releases its grip on Briar.  Red welts mark the rogue's face where it had grappled her, though the lack of other injuries suggest it has not yet had a chance to bite.

Elspeth and Anastria leap forward, each landing blows on the creature, but it hisses and lashes back with its tentacles, paralysing both as efficiently as it did Briar.

"Keep away from it and try to use ranged attacks!" Mantreus follows his own advice by taking several steps back and sending a magical bolt of force into the creature's side.

"Someone has to keep it busy or it may try to drag one of them away." The Padre moves in and delivers a crushing blow with his mace as he speaks, then dodges aside of the creature's probing tentacles.

Stormstrider doesn't bother to explain his actions, he simply charges in, gathering up his quarterstaff as he does so and bringing the iron-shod tip crashing down on the creature's back.  The beast staggers, squealing, and grasps at the elf with its tentacles.  One strikes bare flesh, but Stormstrider seems more resistant to the creature's toxins than were the others, and shrugs off any symptoms of paralysis.

This effort proves the creature's last.  It is already moving more slowly after Stormstrider's blow, the rear half seeming to drag helplessly on the ground, and the Padre capitalises on this weakness, landing a heavy blow just behind the beast's head.  It emits a noise that is something like a choking gurgle, then slumps to the ground, green ichor slowly pooling around it.

"What do we do now?" Mantreus asks, gesturing at their three paralysed companions.

"We move them all into the same place, so that they'll be easier to protect if any other creatures come along, and we wait for them to recover." The Padre shrugs, "We don't really have much option.  We can't take them with us, and we certainly can't leave them behind."

"What if it takes a long time?  We've got a deadline here.  Emphasis on the 'dead'."

"We'll give it ten minutes.  If they haven't recovered by then, we'll take them back the others and continue on alone."

In the end it takes only five minutes for the three victims to begin recovering some movement in their limbs, and by the time the Padre's ten minutes is up, they are all moving freely.  Despite her earlier experience, Briar once more volunteers to enter crevice.  Some people might question her sanity at this, but not the intrepid Company of the Random Encounter: they prove more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.  Thus, she crawls once more into the crevice, returning after a few seconds to collect a rope.

"There's a body in there, but it's too heavy for me to move." She explains. "I'll tie this 'round it and you can drag it out."

In no time at all ("It's nice to see that someone _finally_ bought some rope.") the group have pulled the body from the crevice and thoroughly looted it.  The corpse - the badly decayed and partially eaten remains of a human male - bears a finely-crafted longsword and a full belt pouch, but is lamentably free of diamonds.

Lacking other options, the group press on, travelling through further tunnels until they reach a chamber that is overgrown with vegetation.  There is a gap in the ceiling of the chamber, and occasional patches of starry sky can be seen through a dense tangle of root-like vines, which cascade down through the hole and then run all around the walls of the room, creating a number of thick clumps and tangles.  Dead and dying vines litter the floor, much of which is buried under a thick layer of decaying vegetation.

"This place is going to take ages to search." Mantreus grumbles. "And by the end of it we're all going to smell like compost."

"Nothing for it but to fan out and each do a separate part of the room." Elspeth shrugs, "That will speed things up a bit."

The group does as the ranger suggests, each adventurer poking through the vegetation in a separate part of the room, some exhibiting markedly less enthusiasm for the search than others.

"Uh, guys?" Briar straightens up suddenly, looking around with a worried expression, "Is it just me, or are some of these vines _moving_?"


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Capellan said:
			
		

> "Uh, guys?" Briar straightens up suddenly, looking around with a worried expression, "Is it just me, or are some of these vines _moving_?"




Anybody ever see the first _Evil Dead_ movie?  There's a scene where Helpless Female Bystander #2 gets attacked by evil tree vines.  In a matter that makes you wonder if Sam Raimi ever watched certain anime movies.

What _is_ it with Briar, anyway? (Or maybe the question should be: What _is_ it with me, anyway?  )


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 6*

Suddenly, the adventurers realise that some of the vines and creepers have curled around their ankles, entangling their legs and making it very difficult to move.  Even as they start to try and pull free, more vines drop from the ceiling, grasping at the adventurers arms and throats.

"There!" Mantreus points to a thick clump of vegetation, "I think tha's the main trunk of this thing!  All the vines seem to lead back that way!"

He raises his crossbow and readies to fire it, but as he does so, two of the vines wrap around his arm and wrench up toward the ceiling.  There's a damp crunch as the joint in his shoulder dislocates.

The sorcerer goes white with shock, but can't even manage a gasp of pain before the vines wrench again, grinding the dislocated bones against each other.  There is another, even more intense wave of agony, before blackness mercifully sweeps over him.

The vines lash out at the others, as well, but none suffer as badly as Mantreus.  One particularly thick vine wraps around Stormstrider's chest, cracking several of his ribs as it squeezes tight, but the elf tears himself free with brute force, then sends his quarterstaff smashing into the trunk of the plant.

"There's a body in here!" he calls, crushing part of the skeletal remains as his next blow to the plant goes astray.

"Let's focus on not joining it!" the Padre calls back, using his dagger to slash at a vine that has wrapped itself dangerously close to his throat.  Managing to sever his target with a well-placed blow, he snakes between several more grasping tendrils, moving up beside the druid.

The vines continue to grasp at the group, but there are simply too many adventurers for the plant to deal with all at once.  Each time one of the Company is grasped, another member comes to their aid, and both Stormstrider and the Padre refuse to be distracted from the task of smashing the thick truck with the heaviest blows they can manage.  Mace and quarterstaff are applied with vigour, and the men's crushing blows tear large rents in their target.

Soon, the attacks of the vines become weaker and less cohesive.  Sap oozes from nearly a dozen wounds in the trunk, and four or five of the tendrils have been severed completely.  Leaving Stormstrider to complete the job of destroying their enemy, the Padre moves over to the unconscious Mantreus.  The sorcerer is still unconscious, and his skin is clammy and pale, but the cleric finds a faint pulse at his throat.

"St Cuthbert grant thee succour." The Padre invokes his god, channelling healing energy into the dying man.  Slowly, Mantreus' colour improves.

"What's that noise?" the sorcerer asks, eyes still closed.

"Stormstrider's putting the finishing touches to your recent admirer." The Padre glances across the room, "There's bits of wood flying everywhere."

"That's alright, then." Mantreus opens his eyes, "I was having visions of some hideous afterlife.  This dungeon is no fun."

"You do seem to be doing a lot of the near-death thing, today." The cleric agrees, nonchalantly. "And for the record: trying to use missile weapons in hand to hand combat is a bad idea."

"How was I supposed to know it could reach that far?" the sorcerer grumbles, sitting up.  "Ow." He presses a hand to his side, "I don't think your healing quite finished the job, Padre."

The cleric nods and looks around at the others, noting the many small injuries they have all suffered.  Removing his backpack, he digs inside, eventually withdrawing a slender wooden box.

"Time to try that wand we bought in Duvik's Pass." He remarks, withdrawing the item in question.

As the Padre moves around the room, applying healing to his companions with the aid of the wand, Elspeth digs through the detritus of the plant, until she able to prise free the skeletal remains of its previous victim.

"He's got some valuables still on him." She reports at last, dangling a pouch full of gold in the air, "But no diamond."

The adventurers continue their search, uncovering a water-damaged set of doors behind a curtain of hanging vegetation.  Beyond the doors lie several more subterranean chambers, including a room which - from the small altar set against one wall - is obviously a chapel.  Based on the perverse designs of some pewter ornaments they find, and a black-handled scythe that hangs on the wall, the Padre declares that whomever used the place must have been a devotee of the death cults.

"Only a foul wretch would have debased himself in such a place." Is his opinion, which he underlines with several hefty blows of his mace, seeking to destroy - or at least damage - the stone altar.  He has little luck in this regard, however, and soon realises that it would take hours of painstaking work to inflict any serious harm.

Muttering under his breath, he satisfies himself with smashing the masterwork scythe, thereby depriving the group of the single most valuable item they've found in the complex.

Wisely, no-one compares this to the incident with the cat.


----------



## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> Wisely, no-one compares this to the incident with the cat.



I thought we did?


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 7*

Moving on through the complex reveals more stone chambers, all seemingly unused for several weeks, at least.  The only excitement comes from discovering a small chest that has been clumsily tucked 'out of sight' in one of the rooms.

Both Briar and Mantreus examine the chest for signs of traps, and both declare it clear.  Mantreus promptly pricks himself on a poisoned needle whilst opening it.  Fortunately for the sorcerer, he proves better at resisting traps than detecting them, and suffers no ill effects except for a sore hand.

"Treasure." Elspeth sighs happily, digging through a leather pouch that bulges with coins. "At least we're getting something out this deal."

"Coins, jewellery and a scroll tube." Anastria reports, waving the last item in the air.

"Is it trapped?" Mantreus asks.

"Would you notice if it was?"

The sorcerer glowers, but - still nursing his injured hand - has little ammunition with which to respond.

"Give it to me." The Padre takes the tube and walks across the room, then cracks open the seal.  When this fails to disintegrate him, he opens it fully and pulls out the contents.  "It's a scroll of silence." He reports, tucking it away in his pack. "I'm the only one who can use that."

"Sirdros could." Anastria points out.

"Sirdros isn’t here."

After gathering up the remaining items from the chest, the group presses on.  Eventually, they reach a large, plain chamber.  In the furthest corner, they can dimly make out a spiral staircase, leading down.

"Don't tell me there's more of this place." Elspeth grumbles, beginning to step into the room.

"Wait." Briar catches the ranger by the arm, and points, "Look there."

The group looks, and - as their eyes adjust to the gloom at the edge of their torchlight - begin to make out a lumpy brown shape.

The Padre squints,

"It's a body." He observes.

It is indeed. The corpse of a human male lies face down, about two-thirds of the way across the room.  The man wears mud-spattered brown robes, and bears an open pack upon his back.

Elspeth scurries forward and immediately begins checking through the man's belongings for any sign of valuables, Mantreus only a step or two behind her.  Stormstrider approaches more slowly,

"Is he dead?" the taciturn ranger asks.

"Huh?" Elspeth glances up, shrugs, and checks for a pulse. "No.  He's stone cold -" she glances around the room, "- appropriately."

"Dead at least a week I'd say." The Padre crouches beside the corpse, "Hard to say any more accurately due to the conditions here, but the body's pretty well preserved for the age.  No sign of infestation by rot grubs -" he ignores Elspeth's squeak of alarm, "- now as for what killed him ... here we go." The cleric lifts the body's shoulder, and points at a dark stain on the man's chest. "Daggers or claws, I'd say."

"No sign of what did it." Mantreus glances around, "Everything seems quiet."

Immediately, a strange and haunting song fills the air.

The sorcerer rolls his eyes.

"Figures." He mutters, then frowns at Briar and Anastria. "What are you two doing?"

Neither woman answers the question.  Instead, they each walk slowly toward the stairs in the far corner of the room.  The Padre tries to catch Briar by the arm, but his hand slips off her shirt.  However, the attempt turns her body slightly - enough that he gets a glimpse at her eyes, which are glassy and unfocussed.

"They've been charmed somehow!" he exclaims.

"It must be the music." Mantreus realises, "I can feel it calling me to go after them."  Seeing the burly cleric shape up to tackle him, the sorcerer quickly raises his hands, "Don't worry, I'm not listening.  But those two definitely are.  We'd better stop them."

Taking his own advice, the sorcerer runs after Anastria and wraps his arms around her waist, trying to hold her back.  The attempt is ineffectual, as the elf slips easily free of his grasp.

Stormstrider and Elspeth suffer similar embarrassments in their own attempts - the former does not even manage to lay a hand on his target - and both of the charmed adventurers continue on their path toward the stairs.

The Padre, meanwhile, has been focussing his efforts on attempting to discern the source of the song.

"It's coming from there!" he shouts, and points past Briar and Anastria, toward the stairs. "Whatever it is, they're headed straight for it!"


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 8*

Again, Elspeth tries to grapple Briar.  This time, she actually manages to maintain her hold, preventing the young rogue from walking toward the sound.

Stormstrider, on the other hand, exhibits neither luck nor skill in his attempt to restrain Anastria.  Charging forward in an attempt to knock her off her feet, the ranger somehow misjudges the elven woman's speed, and rushes straight past her, running headlong into a wall.

Not content with being humiliated twice, Stormstrider makes a third, equally inept, attempt to stop Anastria's advance, but she shrugs him off without effort, and walks down the stairs, out of sight.

Seeing that Elspeth is at least preventing Briar from continuing, though she seems unable to fully pin the rogue, Mantreus and the Padre both race after Anastria, judging that they cannot rely on Stormstrider to protect her.

The pair round the turn in the stairs just in time to see a filthy, half-woman half-bird creature rake its twisted claws across the elf woman's chest.  Despite the creature's hideous appearance, it sings as it attack, and it is immediately obvious that this singing is the enchanting sound the group have been hearing.  Blood splashes across the steps as Anastria sags from the blow, though she makes no other sign of realising her danger.

"It's a Harpy!" the Padre shouts, "We have to stop her singing, before she kills Anastria!"

"Do we really?" Mantreus mock-complains, answering the cleric's stern look with an unashamed grin, "Okay, okay, I'll help."

As the Padre moves in to engage the creature, the sorcerer gauges the space on the stairs.  Taking a deep breath, he throws himself forward, somersaulting past the hideous bird-woman when he judges that she won't be able to reach him.

He has misjudged the Harpy's speed: she lashes out with her claw as he tumbles past, scoring him lightly across the side.  Landing with an oath of pain and surprise, Mantreus whirls.  For a moment, a trick of the torchlight makes his eyes seem to glow orange, and then he lunges forward with a yell, lancing his sword deep into the creature's side.

The Harpy is no kobold, though, to be felled with a single blow.  Despite giving a hideous screech of pain, which finally ends her song, she seems to have lost none of her strength as she turns on the impudent sorcerer, raking him deeply with both claws.

Mantreus is knocked backwards, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs, which end abruptly at a wall of fallen masonry.  It seems, if nothing else, that the group has come to the end of the complex.

Fortunately for the Padre, Stormstrider chooses this moment to appear at his side, thrusting his way past the still glassy-eyed Anastria to bury his scimitar hilt-deep in the Harpy's chest.  The creature coughs blood, sagging slightly, and the cleric seizes the moment to drive his mace down onto the crown of its head, felling it instantly.

As the echoes of the Harpy's song begin to fade, Briar snaps out of her trance.  Unfortunately, her immediate reaction is to try and wrestle free of Elspeth, who assumes the worst and attempts to pin the smaller woman to the floor.

"You know," the rogue at last says, after several seconds of pointless struggle, "As much as the boys are probably enjoying this, perhaps you could let me up?"

As the two woman stand and dust themselves off, the 'boys' are in fact oblivious to them both.  The Padre rushes down the stairs, employing their precious _wand of cure light wounds_ to ensure that Mantreus does not slip into death.

Even after the healing touch of the wand, the sorcerer is still out cold, and the cleric expends another charge - muttering as he does so about the expense - to bring him back to consciousness.

"This has not been a good day." Mantreus wheezes as he sits up, "Why does everything in this place want to kill _me_?  Why can't they try to kill the ugly people?"

"I can't imagine." The Padre responds, sourly.

"Hey!" Stormstrider who has finished binding Anastria's wounds, and has now been searching the Harpy's nest, calls down to them, "There's a loose stone here."

"Wait!"

"Stop!"

It is too late: the elf has already pulled the stone aside.  Both the Padre and Mantreus instinctively flinch, but - fortunately - there is no massive explosion or cloud of poison gas.

"Have you ever heard of traps?" the sorcerer grouses, clambering up the stairs.  Stormstrider shrugs,

"You never seem to find them."

Smothering a smirk, the Padre peers past the wild elf, into the dark niche within the wall.  He whistles softly, long and low, then reaches in and pulls out the contents.

The diamond rests heavily in his palm, perfectly formed and at least three inches across.

"I think we've found what we've been looking for."


----------



## GreyShadow

Damn, but that is one big rock.


----------



## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> As the Padre moves in to engage the creature, the sorcerer gauges the space on the stairs.  Taking a deep breath, he throws himself forward, somersaulting past the hideous bird-woman when he judges that she won't be able to reach him.
> 
> He has misjudged the Harpy's speed: she lashes out with her claw as he tumbles past, scoring him lightly across the side.  Landing with an oath of pain and surprise, Mantreus whirls.  For a moment, a trick of the torchlight makes his eyes seem to glow orange, and then he lunges forward with a yell, lancing his sword deep into the creature's side.



Damn I'm cool!


----------



## spyscribe

Pfew!  I finally caught up.

Good story, Capellan.  Sounds like a fun campaign.


----------



## Capellan

I wish _I_ was caught up - I'm still six sessions behind on the updates   

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it - hopefully it's even as much as I'm enjoying Halmae 

Final update for this session should be posted tomorrow.


----------



## Capellan

*"Bounty Hunters" by Jim Gillispie's Module Workshop - Part 9*

Though they have the diamond, the group still has no guarantee that the bounty hunters will not insist on taking Marble McCray's life - or their own, for that matter - so when they return to the surface, they plan how to defend the ruined tower, if an attack should be launched.

The Padre takes the lead in planning, musing as he paces back and forth across the tower.

"We need someone on watch.  Someone with good eyes, who isn't likely to be seen -"

Mantreus shrugs,

"Twinkle."

"- who is also reliable."

"Not Twinkle."

"Elspeth, you're probably our best choice." The Padre glances at the elf, "Just try not to shoot anyone until we know they're hostile."

"Is it a good idea for one of us to be outside, alone?" Mantreus questions, "These guys aren't amateurs.  When I become the richest man in the Duchy, I'll pay people like them running errands for me -" he pauses, "- or maybe I'll just magic 'em into doing my bidding - but for now they're going to be very dangerous to tangle with.  We'd be best to stick together."

The Padre considers,

"We do know they have to come to us.  We should probably all stay in the tower.  One of the lighter people can climb up and keep watch out of the slit windows.  That way, we can all be ready when they come through the door."

"Sounds good to me." Elspeth is in an aggressive mood, having not had a chance to kill anything in their fight with the Harpy, "They come in, we fill 'em full of arrows, then chop up whatever's left."

"It's not going to be that easy." Briar warns, "I'm with Mantreus on this.  At least the parts about these people being dangerous.  His delusions of grandeur are another matter."

"Hey!" the sorcerer protests, "Just because you've got bosoms now, doesn't mean you can make fun of me.  If anything, it should mean you swoon at my studly good looks."

"How _did_ those happen?" the Padre frowns at Briar's chest.

"It's called puberty."

"You're getting off track." Anastria interjects, with a pronounced roll of her eyes, "Humans.  Always flitting about from subject to subject.  Can never keep their minds on one thing -"

"That's not what the barmaids tell me."

"Shut up, Mantreus." The Padre waves a hand wearily, "We do need to keep on track here, if we don't want to end up dead.  And personally, I'm not _that_ eager to meet Saint Cuthbert."

There's a momentary pause as everyone tries to work out if the priest just attempted a joke.

"I like the 'hiding in the tower and ambushing them when they come in' plan." Briar shrugs.  There is a chorus of agreement, broken only by Stormstrider,

"What if they don't come?"

The Padre snorts,

"We have their diamond.  They'll come."

They don't come.







At length, the Padre stirs.

"What time is it?"

Mantreus squints at a gap in the roof of the tower,

"About an hour before dark."

"They should be here by now."

"They should have been here hours ago.  Apparently they didn't get the invitation."

The priest ignores he attempted witticism and walks over to the door of the tower.  Staring out into the woods, he shakes his head,

"I think they're here." He says at last, "We just can't see them."

"How do we find out?"

"Unfortunately, there's only one way." The Padre turns back to the door, clears his throat, then bellows, "_We have the diamond!_"

After a few moment, a calm voice calls back out of the woods,

"We know."

The priest glances back at the others,

"They're here."

"So I noticed." Elspeth snorts, "So why haven't they attacked?"

"Waiting for darkness, probably." Mantreus offers, "That, or they figure we'll run out of food and have to leave, sooner or later."

Briar nods her agreement,

"Tell them we want to trade.  Maybe they'll agree, if we suggest it.  From everything we've been told, their main goal is to get the gem."

"It's worth a try." The Padre admits, "_How about a trade?_"

The terms prove surprisingly easy to agree.  If the diamond is left out in the open, well away from the tower, the bounty hunters will take it and depart.  Or at least, they say they will.

The Padre is the only one with the courage - if that's the correct term - to be willing to venture outside the tower.  Gripping the diamond in one hand, he gives the others a stern look,

"If I die, at least _try_ to get my body back to the church, will you?"

As last words go, they're not a terribly inspiring choice.






Fortunately, the hunters are true to their word: the Padre inches out, leaves the diamond on a rock about forty feet from the tower, and then hurries back inside, without any attempt being made to harm him.  By the time he has turned to look back the way he came, the diamond is gone.

"Right.  That's that dealt with." Elspeth marches off toward the entrance to the dungeons below, "Now that no-one's waiting to kill us, let's go search that place _properly_.  There's bound to be some stuff we missed."

Some adventuring groups might have balked at the suggestion.  Night is falling, and they've been on their feet - and on edge - all day.  The treasure (if there is any) will still be there in the morning.  But this is the Company of the Random Encounter.  They follow willingly.  After all, there must be some way to make a profit from this deal ...


----------



## spyscribe

Capellan said:
			
		

> I wish _I_ was caught up - I'm still six sessions behind on the updates




Not to hijack your most excellent tale, but you write three story hours and this one is only six sessions behind?

Sheesh.  I _wish_ I was that close to being current.

Good update.  Nice to see sometimes the bad guys dither before opening doors too.


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 1*

With the bounty hunters no longer a threat, the adventurers return to Amberdale, where they immediately make for the inn's taproom.  Saving the day is thirsty work.  As soon as they arrive, however, Brent Birchwhistle hails them,

"Captain Jarrek asked for you to go see him as soon as you returned." He explains, whilst wiping a flagon clean.

"Are you his lackey too, now?" Twinkle asks, apparently not feeling any particular affection for the militia Captain.  Brent seems to find the question amusing,

"If I am, it's not been mentioned." He remarks, "The Captain simply thought this would be one of the first places you visited, and asked that I give you his message.  It seemed a small enough matter to do as he asked."

"That's how it always starts." The gnome mutters, "And then the next thing you know, you're in a dark hole somewhere with something ugly trying to eat you."

Despite Twinkle's grumbles - and not a few from the others - the adventurers head over to the militia barracks to learn what Jarrek wants.

"I've got new information about the iron door in the sewers." He explains, "Yer said yer were interested in it."

"We are." The Padre agrees, "Though perhaps not right now.  I have some matters I need to take care of - reports to my superiors, that sort of thing."

"Is that so?" Jarrek shrugs, "What about the rest of yer?"

"I'm going to be busy for a few days, as well." Mantreus speaks up, "I have some business matters to attend to.  Perhaps after -"

"We're available." Elspeth breaks in. "Some of us, at least.  What is it you learned?"

"Well, what yer told me about the door sounded familiar to me.  Couldn't place where I'd heard of it, at first, but I checked through the old records here at the barracks.  Found some reports about it, from back from the days when Gardan was in charge of the militia." Jarrek taps a thick roll of parchment in front of  him, "Turns out that when they was buildin' the sewers, they accidentally opened this ancient tomb o' some kind.  The workers started to have a poke around - probably lookin' for anything they could steal - but they was attacked by 'walkin' dead'." The Captain pauses, "Doesn't say what kind, but in any case the workers ran, and called in ol' Gardan.  He took one look at the place and sealed it up with that door y'found, then had the priests bless it everyway they knew how, to keep all the evil inside."

"Do any of the priests remember anything about it?" Macwood asks, "We tried to get through the door, before, but it was sealed up tight.  Maybe one of them can tell us how to get it open."

Jarrek shakes his head,

"The priests from those times are all dead: this is back over forty years.  The only one who's still alive - least as far as I know - is Gardan.  He might be able to tell you what you need to know.  O' course, you'll need to find the daft old bugger.  He took off out of town about ten years back, and has been livin' up in the hills since then.  He'd be near seventy, by now, but he was a tough 'un.  Should still be kickin' around there, somewhere."

"So," Twinkle rolls her eyes, "All we need to do is find this guy - though you don't know where he is, or even if he's alive - and ask him about something that happened forty years ago.  Assuming he can remember, and what he tells us is useful, then all we need to do then is open the door, kill all the hideous undead, and save the day ... as usual."

"That about covers it." Jarrek apparently has immunity to sarcasm. "Yer'll get paid fer it, o' course.  I know yer won't do it, otherwise.  Yer can keep anythin' yer find in the tomb, and I'll pay yer another hundred gold - total - on top o' that."

"How generous of you." Ming Li says, expressionlessly, "May I ask why you wish us to do this?  It seems that the tomb is sealed, and the danger contained.  If we open it, we may put the town at risk, when that is not necessary."

The other adventurers, scenting gold, glare at the monk for daring to suggest the task be declined, but Jarrek is already shaking his head.

"I wish I could jus' do what Gardan did." He sighs, "Jus' seal it up and ferget it.  Save the town a few coin, it would.  But with all the death cultists as seem to be runnin' round these parts lately, I can't afford it.  If one of them found the tomb and got it open, we could be in real trouble, and never know about it.  This way, at least we'll know the damn thing's open."

"Very well." Ming Li nods her acceptance of this logic, "I will undertake this mission."

Stormstrider nods silently, Elspeth grunts her acceptance of the terms, and both Twinkle and Macwood seem happy enough with the offer.

"That's five, then." Jarrek nods, "That all of you?"

"We could always check if anyone else is available." Macwood shrugs, "But with me and Kewpie Doll on the team, we won't need them."

"We'll check with the others." Elspeth says, firmly.

"Do you doubt my ability?" the halfling raises his eyebrows.

"I'm confident I know _exactly_ how able you are.  That's why we're asking the others." The ranger heads out of the room, leaving a sputtering Macwood in her wake.


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 2*

In the event, they ask only Rose, who agrees to join the expedition.  This brings their numbers up to six, which they decide will be enough for the task.  The fact that only the surly Anastria and her brother are left to ask has nothing to do with their decision, of course.

With their group decided, the adventurers set out the next morning.  They have only the vaguest directions as to how to find Gardan: Jarrek could tell them little more than to search the hills to the north of town.

"Gardan didn't think t'leave a forwardin' address." He shrugs, "Yer got trackers, don't yer?"

As they head north, they formulate a plan,

"This Gardan would need to find game, and fresh water." Ming Li observes, "Perhaps we could search for signs of him at watering holes, or game trails."

Stormstrider and Elspeth nod. 

"It's a sound idea." The female elf acknowledges, "We'll scout out and look for game trails.  Neither of us knows this area that well, but the local wildlife will know the way to water, and that's the best place to look.  If the old man knows anything about surviving in the wild, he'll have done the same ... and we'd better hope he does know something, or we're chasing a corpse."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Twinkle shrugs, "And it would be kinda appropriate, since we want to ask him about a tomb."

Ignoring the gnome, the two elves range out ahead of the others, searching for signs of local creatures.  Their aim is to find signs of deer or similar beasts - or better yet, the old man himself - but what they actually discover is somewhat more disturbing.

"Kobolds." Elspeth points out the tracks to the others, "At least twenty of them, heading north-west.  Something else came through after them.  A big humanoid ... possibly an ogre or a hill giant.  It had two large dogs with it."

"Perhaps the giant was travelling _with_ the kobolds?" Macwood suggests.  The elves both shake their heads,

"It was at least a few hours behind them." Elspeth gestures to the way the large creature's prints overlay those of the kobolds, "The kobolds passed through while the ground was still damp.  It was dry by the time the giant came through.  If it has still been wet, the prints would be deeper."

Ming Li clears her throat,

"I think we should follow these tracks." She proposes, "These creatures are too close to town to be left to roam free, and they may be a danger to the old man, as well."

The monk's suggestion is met with agreement from the others, and the Company sets out in pursuit of the kobolds, and whatever might be tracking them.  They set a brisk pace, but so did those they are following, and by nightfall, they have still not sighted their quarry.  As they make camp, they discuss their options,

"I say we keep on for a few more hours tomorrow." Macwood says, "If they're still heading away from town after that, I say we turn back.  We aren't being paid to chase kobolds, and the longer they travel this way, the less of a threat to Amberdale they are, anyway."

No-one voices any objection to the halfling's proposal, and the group settles in for the night, warming tea over a small fire and gnawing on trail rations for their dinner.  This done, they set watches and bed down for the night.

Stormstrider has third watch.  As he sits silently, facing out into the darkness, a hoarse but sibilant voice calls softly to him,

"We want speak.  No harm you."

Not trusting the voice's claim of good intentions, the elf immediately begins to wake the others.  By the time they are all on their feet and armed, however, whomever called out to him is long gone.  Both of the elves search for tracks, but the darkness thwarts their efforts.

"We'll check again in the morning." Elspeth decides, "We won't have any trouble tracking them once we have decent light to see by."

But trouble is just what they _do_ have.

"Little sneaks have brushed out their tracks." The female elf fumes, "We might be able to pick them up if we roam out a bit, but that's going to slow us down a lot."

"Given that we know they're out there, I don't think we have any choice." Macwood shrugs, "They could have turned back toward town, and we need to make sure they haven't."

Ming Li nods,

"If they approach us again, we should listen to what they have to say.  From what happened last night, it seems they wish to negotiate."

"What's with that, anyway?" Twinkle grumbles, "Kobolds aren't supposed to negotiate.  They're supposed to fall into all your traps and generally be stupid."

"They must have missed the edict." Macwood offers, drily.

The group moves on, Elspeth and Stormstrider ranging ahead of the others.  After about an hour, a voice calls out to the female elf, the speaker somewhere in the midst of a clump of heavy underbrush,

"Want talk.  You no kill, we bargain."

Elspeth frowns, less than happy that a kobold has got so close without her seeing it.

"What do you want?" she snaps, with her usual lack of diplomacy.

" Tall ones looking for something, yes?  Tall ones tell Dragon-folk what it is.  Dragon-folk tell tall ones where to find it." The kobold falls silent

"We're looking for a human man.  An old one.  He's supposed to live out here." Elspeth frowns in suspicion, "Why are you offering to help?"

A second kobold voice replies, from Elspeth's other side,

"You seek the Grey One.  Dragon-folk know Grey One's lair.  Dragon-folk tell ... if tall ones help Dragon-folk, first."


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 3*

"The kobolds claim that they've been living in these hills for months, without harming anyone." Elspeth's tone makes it clear that she doesn't find that claim very likely, "They also say that recently, a huge monster - which they call 'One-Eye' - has been attacking them.  Apparently, this One-Eye is a giant, who has two huge wolfhounds as pets."

"The other tracks we saw must have been One-Eye's." Stormstrider observes.

"In any case, they say that if we get rid of this creature for them, they'll tell us where to find Gardan." Elspeth continues, "I told them we'd think about it.  If we accept, I'm to climb that hillock over there and wave a torch."

"Can we trust them?" Ming Li asks.

"Probably not." Is Macwood's opinion, "But do we have any choice?"

"We _can_ find Gardan without them." Elspeth doesn't like her tracking skills impugned.

"But this will be a lot quicker."

The matter continues to be debated for several more minutes, but in the end the group decide to take a chance on the kobolds' offer.  They give the signal, and a few minutes later one of the little dog-men appears out of the trees.  He is a particularly ragged example of the race, with one torn ear and a pronounced limp.

"I take you One-Eye's cave." The creature rasps nervously, standing half-hunched over.  It does not give its name, and shies away from any member of the group that gets too close.  The adventurers, already on edge about dealing with the kobolds, views this nervousness with dark suspicion.

"He'll probably lead us into a trap, then run off." Twinkle is usually one of the more trusting members of the group, but this is a kobold, "That's why he's staying clear of us."

"I think he's just scared of us." Rose offers.  Twinkle snorts.

Despite the gnome's concerns, no trap or ambush eventuates.  After leading them across country for the best part of an hour, the kobold pauses, pointing to a ridge line about a quarter of a mile to the east.

"Stay quiet and low.  Den of One-Eye is over hill.  Is cave, near stream.  Two big rocks outside."

"Right.  You wait here.  We'll deal with One-Eye." Elspeth glances around, "He's got dogs, so we'd better come around from the south.  That'll keep us downwind."

Following the elf's lead, the group circles around, creeping over the ridge well away from the cave.  The lay of the land is much as the kobold told them: the cave is set into the side of the hill, and overlooks a small stream, the bed of which is strewn with small, smooth rocks.  Two ancient, weathered stone pillars flank the dark cave entrance.  At the foot of the pillars, two large, bristle-furred hounds are dozing, sprawled on the dirt.

Macwood wrinkles his nose.

"Can you smell that?"

Stormstrider nods.

"Rotting meat."

"We should have come from upwind." The halfling grumbles, "We'd have been spared that stench, and there's no way they would have smelt us, over _that_."

"You'll cope." Ming Li replies calmly, "It cannot be any worse than the sewage."

The group quickly discusses their options for an attack.  Elspeth favours the use of missile weapons to kill the hounds, but the others are not so sure.

"We might not get both immediately, and they'll make a hell of a racket if we don't." Macwood observes, "That will alert One-Eye.  I don't fancy going in there after him, if he's on his guard."

"So what do you suggest?"

"They're dogs, right?  Let's distract them with food, and while they're busy, sneak in and kill him before he knows we're there."

"That's a ridiculous plan." Elspeth huffs.

"It might work."

"You mean it might work on _you_." The ranger rolls her eyes.  Then, confident of the support of the others, she adds: "But just to be fair, we'll put it to the vote."

She should, perhaps, have thought more carefully about this.

"I can't believe you voted for the bard's plan." She grouses at Ming Li, a few minutes later, "I might have expected that Rose and Twinkle would go for it - some kind of midget solidarity thing - but why you?"

"One-Eye is our enemy, not these animals." The monk reminds her, "If we can slay him, without harm to them, so much the better.  I am surprised this displeases you ... are you not a ranger, dedicated to protecting the creatures of nature?"

"I'm more dedicated to protecting myself." Is the elf's rejoinder. "This will never work."

She's right about that, at least.


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 4*

As soon as the dogs see Macwood approaching, they scramble to their feet.  Ignoring the cured meat in his outstretched hand, their hackles rise, and they begin to growl menacingly.

The halfling pauses, giving them time to get used to his presence, hoping this will calm them.

"Enough of this." Elspeth mutters.  Drawing her bow, she looses an arrow at the dog on the left.  The shaft plunges deep into the creature's flesh, knocking it to the ground.  It gives a howl as it goes down, and the other dog immediately adds to the noise, barking aggressively as it lopes toward Macwood.

The adventurers rush out of hiding, Stormstrider and his wolf 'Blackfang' leading the way.  Seeing them come, the dog that is still on its feet gives a rumbling howl, the skin and fur on its face peeling back to reveal the bloody flesh underneath as it does.

Though hideous to behold, this display does little to unnerve the Company: after all, they have three to one odds in their favour.

At first, the progress of the fight seems to confirm their confidence: the wounded dog - if a dog it truly is - is quickly slain, and the second is hard-pressed.

And then "One Eye" bursts out of the cave.

The ogre - for that is what he is - is a particularly large and badly-scarred example of his race, with a massive gnarled club in one hand.  Strings of frothy saliva drip from his lopsided mouth as he roars his rage at these attackers, veins standing out like thick cords in his neck.

The baleful red glare of his single eye falls first on Ming Li.  The ogre bellows, and there is a sickening _crunch_ of broken bones as the club slams into the monk's chest, knocking her ten feet through the air.  Ming Li's training has taught her how to overcome her pain, but even her iron self-control is shattered by the sheer agony of this wound.  The mind resorts to the last defence against pain, and she is unconscious before her body hits the ground.

"Somebody flank it!" Elspeth yells, her sword cutting a shallow gash in the ogre's chest.  "We need to keep it off-balance!  Twinkle!" she calls on the nearest of her companions, "Aid me!"

But Tweedlefinkle, taking one look at the state of the battle, steps back and quaffs a potion, vanishing from sight.

"Gods damn you, gnome!" the ranger rants, "After I'm done with this monster I'm coming after you!"

Whatever else she might have said is driven out of her in an explosive _whoosh_ of air, as the ogre's club slams into her stomach.  Elspeth's body all but folds over the weapon, yet she somehow stays on her feet.  Stormstrider is not so lucky: as he moves to take the position that Twinkle refused, One-Eye sweeps his club in a wide arc.  The elf ducks just a little too slowly, and hits the ground like he's been pole-axed, blood streaming from a gash in his head.

Twinkle, folded in the safety of a cocoon of _invisibility_, winces at the blow.  The dangerous reach of the ogre's weapon has been clear to her since the moment it emerged, and she knows that she would have fallen as easily as Stormstrider, had she tried to do as Elspeth desired.

The gnome also knows that she is not as strong, or as brave, as many of her companions.  Even Rose is moving in to the melee, seizing the moment while the ogre recovers from his swing.  As she does so, Macwood runs to Ming Li's side, where he drops to his knees, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

No, Twinkle is not as strong, or as brave, as many of her companions.

But she _wants_ to be.

The gnome rushes forward, the shield of her _invisibility_ letting her race unseen between the ogre's legs.  As she does so, she shouts in anger, and fear - and in triumph.

Her shortsword - her tiny, insignificant blade - cuts straight across the tendons in the ogre's leg.

One-Eye bellows in pain and rage, even as he crashes to one knee, blood spraying from the wound.  The ogre twists, his club sweeping round to pulp the insolent foe who just harmed him.

But he is swinging at a gnome, not the human or elf he expects: his blow is too high, and Twinkle finds herself miraculously unscathed.

One Eye bellows again, summoning his pet to aid him, but the dog-thing's path is blocked by Blackfang.  The wolf pays a terrible price for its temerity, as the beast savages it brutally, but it stays the creature just long enough for the tide of the battle to turn.

Ming Li staggers to her feet, somehow revived by Macwood's ministrations.  The monk is moving gingerly, but she is back in the fight.  And Elspeth, despite her injury, still stands: she uses the ogre's moment of distraction to drives her blade deep into his side.

The dog-beast savages Blackfang again, dropping the wolf, which falls beside Stormstrider, before loping toward its own master.  But it is too late: Twinkle, clutching her blade in white-knuckled hands, steps in its path.

With an explosive shout, Ming Li rushes into the battle, pointing her staff like a spear.  The thrust smashes through the thinnest part of the ogre's skull, driving deep into its brain.

The ogre falls.  And as the dust settles, it reveals Twinkle standing over the corpse of the dog-thing, her bloodied blade still in her hands.  The gnome turns, her face split in an enormous grin.

"I killed it!" she exults, "First I stabbed him and then I stabbed it and I killed it!"  Limping, she walks around the ogre's body.  "It bit my foot but I killed it!  Dead!"

She points at her boot, which has been torn by the creature's teeth.

"Well done." Ming Li says gravely, "You did well.  And your injury is a proud one.  It still bleeds, I see."

"Bleeds?" Twinkle looks down, her eyes widening as she sees the red fluid seeping from her boot.  Her face goes pale, and she manages a faint "I think I need to sit down." before she passes out completely.


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

...cool.  How's "Twinkle Giantslayer" sound?


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 5*

After using their _wand of cure light wounds_ to heal their injuries from the battle, the adventurers search One Eye's lair, in the hope of making some some extra coins for their troubles.  There's nothing to be found, however - in fact, apart from some mouldering corpses, One Eye literally seems to have _no_ belongings.  This rouses Macwood's suspicions, and he checks the Ogre's body, discovering an apparently nondescript leather bag which emanates magic.  The bard gleefully calls dibs on this _bag of holding_.

"So how do we let the kobolds know that we've killed One Eye?" Rose asks, "Should one of us go and tell them?"

"I think we should stake his head outside the cave, and wait where we are." Macwood's voice echoes out of the depths of the save, where he is carefully going through the contents of his new acquisition, "They'll see it eventually and come to us."

"I'll cut his head off." Stormstrider volunteers.

"It's a good idea." Ming Li admits, "It will give us longer to rest and recover, and is a defensible location, should the creatures try to betray us."

"Would they do that?" Rose wonders.

"They're _kobolds_." Is Twinkle's opinion, "Doing nasty things like that is in their nature."

The kobolds, however, abide by the deal.

"You can reach the Grey One's home by going toward the rise of the sky-flame." a sibilant, reptilian voice calls out of the darkness that night, "Travel until the sky-flame is high and hot, and you will see a place of trees.  Good for shade.  Go there, and you will find his man-burrow."

"So," Ming Li puzzles out the instructions, "travel east at dawn, and keep on that path until noon, then look for a wood.  Sounds easy enough."

"Let's hope it's accurate." Elspeth sniffs, "Or those little freaks will be joining One Eye."

Despite the adventurers' continued misgivings, the wood is where the kobolds' claim it is, and – once they are under the cover of the trees – signs of the old man's habitation of the area are readily apparent.

"I could have found this without the help of those kobolds." Stormstrider opines, pointing out some scuff marks of Gardan's boots upon the track.

"Perhaps," is Macwood's tart rejoinder, "But not all of us are as long-lived as you elves."

Following the trails, the Company soon see that Gardan has chosen a pleasant vale for his retirement.  The trees form a canopy against the sun and the rain, but are not so dense as to make travel difficult, and the wood is filled with the scampering sounds of small animals and birds, and criss-crossed with small streams.

"Truffles have been dug up here." Macwood points to the base of a tree, a faraway look in his eyes, "They used to make a truffle soufflé, at home –"

"I think I see something." Twinkle interrupts, pointing through the trees.  Following the direction of her arm, the others catch a glimpse of the same thing the gnome has seen: a glimmer of something reflective, like water – or glass.

In this case, the gleam is the latter: light reflecting off the dark windows of a small, but neatly-made wooden cottage, which has been weather-coated in a deep brown plaster.

"Not very good glass." Twinkle complains.  The gnome has boosted herself up onto the window-sill and has her hands cupped around here eyes as she tries to peer within, "Can't see through it, properly."

"That's the way I like it." A deep, gravely voice interrupts, causing several of the group to start and Twinkle to slide off the sill with a squeak of surprise.  The speaker is a human male, clearly well into his sixties, with a fringe of hair around his bald skull, and a thick grey beard about his chin. "Made it m'self, along with every other part o' the place.  What's your business here, strangers?"  It occurs to them all at this point that the old man holds a woodsman's axe in his strong, gnarled hands.

"We seek Gardan, once sheriff of Amberdale." Ming Li explains.

"You've found him." The old man rests his axe on the ground, and leads on the haft, "You're from Amberdale, eh?  Don't recognise most of you … but you –" he points at Twinkle, "- you're Tallyhoop's niece, am I right?" 

"You remember me?" Twinkle looks guilty.

"Aye, I remember you.  Young trouble-maker." Gardan gives a mock scowl, then suddenly grins, "Of course, back then you were only as high as my knee.  These days, you're as high as some much more interesting places."  The old man cackles as the gnome flushes bright red at this innuendo, "Come inside, young folk.  There's room for all, if you don't mind getting cosy."

Over a meal of malt beer and dark-grained bread, the adventurers explain their errand.

"Jarrek is Captain now?" the old man shakes his head, "Boy couldn't find his own rear with two hands and a map."

No-one in the Company seems inclined to argue.

"But what about the tomb?" Twinkle persists, "Do you remember that?"

"You're an _eager_ one, aren't you?" Gardan waggles his eyebrows, then laughs as the gnome hurriedly inches her chair away from him, "Aye, I remember the tomb.  'twas one of the few excitements o' my thirty years in the job.  We sealed the door with molten iron, but like as not you could simply chip that away, so we also got the high priest -" He pauses, "- that's old Danslaw, not the new fellow – to place a magical ward on it."

"How do we unseal the ward?" asks Macwood.

"Danslaw said he made it so that only open to the touch of holy energy." Gardan squints, trying to remember the priest's exact words, "Said somethin' about priests channelin' good power, or bad, and that only the good energy would open it."

"Like when the Padre blasted those zombies to dust?" Twinkle suggests.

"Or a healing spell." Macwood offers, "Stormstrider could cast one of those."

"Can't you, as well?" Twinkle challenges him, "Ming Li got up again in that fight because of you."

"Healing spells, me?" Macwood shrugs, "I just told her if she didn't get up again, I'd make sure I was the one who wrote her eulogy."


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Dirty old man with gnome fetish.  That must have been... interesting to roleplay.


----------



## Lefferts

Capellan said:
			
		

> "You remember me?" Twinkle looks guilty.
> 
> "Aye, I remember you.  Young trouble-maker." Gardan gives a mock scowl, then suddenly grins, "Of course, back then you were only as high as my knee.  These days, you're as high as some much more interesting places."  The old man cackles as the gnome flushes bright red at this innuendo, "Come inside, young folk.  There's room for all, if you don't mind getting cosy."




He remembers her. He's been waiting for her to grow up.   

Lefferts


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 6*

After declining the offer of a bed for the night - Twinkle whimpers when Gardan tips her an outrageous wink - the adventurers depart, eager to get back to Amberdale and open the tomb.

The return journey takes two days, by which time most of the adventurers' injuries have been healed, but they elect to wait until the next morning before they enter the tomb itself.

"May as well be at full strength when we start." Macwood sums up the plan for Captain Jarrek, "Because we probably won't stay that way for long."

Entering the sewers the next morning, the Company makes their way to the huge iron door.  Once there, Twinkle uses a knife and a small hammer to chip away the physical seal on the door, and then Stormstrider invokes his druidic powers, channelling a _cure light wounds_ into the metal.

There is a grinding sound as the door swings inward, revealing a rough-hewn stone chamber, the floor of which is littered with bones.

"Think they'll attack us?" Stormstrider asks.

"When we haven't got a cleric?  I'm _sure_ they will." Is Macwood's assessment.

The bard is swiftly proved correct. As the adventurers move into the chamber - bludgeoning weapons at the ready - the bones roll together, gradually building from the feet upwards into five complete skeletons.  Teeth clattering in macabre laughter, the creatures surge forward, their bones hands outstretched like claws.

The first one gets its skull crushed before it even gets within arm's reach: Ming Li lashes out the end of her staff, shattering the brittle old bone with a rapid flick of her wrist.  The other four fair little better: they meet mace and staff and hammer, and rapidly return to the scattered bones they were before the adventurers entered the room.

"You know," Rose remarks at the end of it, "Those things used to a lot scarier."

With the immediate threat at an end, the group takes their time in looking around the chamber.  The rear wall has the only properly worked stone in the room.  Not only is there a large sarcophagus before it, but the wall itself has had a mural engraved upon it.  There are three panels, two depicting the sun either just rising or setting, and the one in the middle showing it high in the sky.

"Is that it?" Twinkle looks at once disappointed and relieved, "One room with skeletons, an old coffin to empty, and we can go home?"

"Not quite." Macwood has scrambled up onto the sarcophagus and is staring at the lid. "There's some kind of runes here.  You might want to stand back: I'm going to wipe the dust away and see what they say -"

The bard abruptly realises he is talking to an empty room.  Turning, he can just make out the others, peering in through the doorway.

"- and it might not be safe." He sighs.

The halfling crouches, draws in a deep breath, and then exhales as hard as he can, blowing a cloud of dust out of the deeply-cut runes on the stone lid.

"I'm not dead!" he calls, "The runes are in an some kind of Old Elvish.  They say: 'When I move to greet the morning sun, my greatest secret shall be revealed."

"Any ideas what it means?" Elspeth asks, as she re-enters the room.  Macwood shrugs,

"Probably that we have to move it to point at one of those two panels." He suggests, indicating the mural. "And then it'll open, or a secret chamber will be revealed.  Something like that."

"It looks pretty heavy." Stormstrider remarks.  Macwood shrugs again,

"You're strong.  You'll get over it."

"It should move pretty easily, actually." Twinkle has been peering at the base of the sarcophagus, and now pops up.  There's a smudge of dust on the tip of her nose, "There are grooves in the floor here, under the dust.  We just need to get the blowhard here -" she indicates Macwood, who preens unashamedly, "- to clear them, and we should be able to swing it in either direction."

"The sun rises in the east, so I say we move it that way." Ming Li points at the panel in question.

This suggestion meets with agreement - and another max exodus from the room.  After a short argument about who has to go back in, Elspeth and Stormstrider return, set their shoulders to the sarcophagus, and push it eastward.

They don't die, either.

Instead, their actions reveal a short flight of steps that lead down to an open doorway, just beneath the middle panel of the mural.  Light spills out of the doorway, and Macwood scampers down the stairs to peer through the gap.

"Secret room." He reports, his face light by the glow from within. "There's a lit torch down here." He squints at it carefully, "Looks like a _continual flame_."

The group moves into the new area.  This chamber also has murals in the walls, this time of elven warriors battling monsters.  A badly rotted couch is set against one wall.  Twinkle promptly sits on this, and the couch collapses into a sodden heap, throwing up a small cloud of dust and mould.  A panicked stampede for the exit follows, ending only when it becomes clear that the gnome's choking and sputtering is simply the result of mundane dust, rather than any of the lethal varieties of fungi.

"Don't do that again." Elspeth tells Twinkle, sternly.

Once they have all returned to the room, the group reviews its options.  There are two exits: on the right, a corridor set with a series of alcoves; on the left, a closed door.

"So, do we flip a coin to see which way to go?" Macwood asks, "Or just throw the gnome down one and see if anything eats her?"


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Poor Twinkle can't get no respect.  First Gardan and now this....


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## Grondmar

Bump!

This story is AWESOME!


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## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 7*

"I think we should leave the door for the moment, and check the alcoves." Ming Li suggests, "We know they're a dead end, so it shouldn't take long."

The monk takes the lead, walking slowly down the short stretch of corridor.  She reaches the first set of alcoves without incident, peering inside and shrugging when they prove empty.

"Hurry up!" Elspeth calls from the safety of the antechamber.  It is at about this moment that Ming Li realises that in the Company of the Random Encounter, 'taking the lead' means 'acting as bait'.  None of her companions have followed her.  With a slight shake of her head, she steps up to the second set of alcoves, then turns to look into the one on her left.

With a low moan, an emaciated corpse staggers out of the dark niche, hands grasping at her throat.  The monk fends off the blows, but as she does so, she steps back toward the alcove on her right, and a second zombie, equally gaunt, lurches out.  Its hooked and jagged fingernails tear a deep gash in her shoulder, even as a third of the creatures, attracted by the noise, steps out into the corridor ahead.

"_Charge!_" Stormstrider leaps toward the fray.

Or rather, he tries to.  To his surprise, he finds that Macwood has grabbed his leg, the boisterous halfling wrapping both arms and legs around the limb to hold him back.

"Don't be a fool!" the bard shouts up at him, "If you go in there you'll get boxed, just like Ming Li." He turns his attention to the monk, "Fall back!  We'll meet them here, at the entrance."

Ming Li knows sound advice when she hears it, and she retreats, whirling her staff to keep the zombies at bay until she has had opened up enough space to safely withdraw.  Reaching the others, she turns and joins the cordon around the tunnel entrance, even though blood still flows freely from the wound on her back.

There are five in the cordon: only Twinkle hangs back from the fray, keeping watch and holding the group's _everburning torch_, so that they can see to do battle.  It's a simple tactic - surround and destroy the enemy as they individually emerge – but against mindless foes such as zombies, it's an effective one.  Each of the three animated corpses emerges from the corridor, only to be cut down by the mob of adventurers that awaits it.

Indeed, it seems that they will emerge from the battle without further injury, until a fourth zombie lurches out the darkness, catching them by surprise.  Drawn by the scent of blood, it pummels Ming Li, knocking her against the wall, before enough blows rain down to fell it, as well.

"I think they like you." Macwood remarks to the heavily injured monk, "You're an undead poster girl."

Despite his flippant remarks, the bard badgers Stormstrider into using his last curative spell on Ming Li, then digs around in his belongings.

"Don't worry, it is a wand in my pants." He assures the monk, "I'm not _that _happy to see you."

"Do you know how to use that thing?" Elspeth asks doubtfully, as the halfling brandishes the group's _wand of cure light wounds_.  As her brain catches up with her mouth, and she spots the evil glint in Macwood's eye, she holds up her hand. "Don't even go there, shorty."

Twinkle and Rose, who have been busily checking the alcoves, come back into the room.

"There's no treasure." The gnome reports mournfully, "Not even a single copper piece.  Stupid zombies."

Eventually, with Ming Li healed and their grievances about the lack of treasure aired, the group turns their attention to the ironbound door.  This is closed and locked, but very soon becomes unlocked and open, thanks to Twinkle's deft fingers.  Beyond the door is a short corridor, leading to a flight of stairs that heads down.  There is a statue in an alcove about halfway along the passage, depicting a male elven warrior.  The statue, which is of white stone, wears a finely crafted breastplate.  The gleam of metal in the torchlight suggests that the breastplate is real, even if the warrior wearing it is not.

"Nice statue." Elspeth remarks, "Fine workmanship."

"We should examine it in more detail." Macwood agrees.

Rose doesn't waste time talking: instead she scampers straight over to the statue, reaching up to unbuckle the breastplate.  Which is why she is the first one to be attacked.

A black shadow, wavery and insubstantial in the light, lunges out of the statue, clawing at the halfling with its ghostly hands.  Rose feels a chill spread through her bones, and a part of her strength drains away.  As she jabs feebly at the creature with her sword, the blade passing harmlessly through its incorporeal form, it rears up for a second strike.


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## Thomas Hobbes

Oops.  Does anyone actually own a magic weapon?


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## Grondmar

bump-a-rama


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## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 8*

"Run!" Twinkle yells, scurrying back into the previous room.  The group, usually not prone to following the gnome's suggestion, finds this one to be quite agreeable.  There is a veritable stampede of fleeing adventurers.

The shadowy creature emerges completely from the statue, and starts gliding slowly toward them.  Its entire form is darkness, without any recognisable features.  As it approaches, Macwood snaps his fingers.

"I was going to tell a joke about a sword," he tells the approaching creature, "But I doubt you'd get the _point_."  As the halfling speaks, a white nimbus appears around his hand.  Leaping forward, he plunges his fingers into the beast's chest.

There is a pulse of energy, and wisps of shadow curl away from the creature, which gives a hissing scream of pain and anger.  For a moment, the shadowy form lightens, but then it darkens again as the creature makes its own lunge for Macwood, forcing the halfling to dodge backwards.

"We can kill it!" he calls, "We just need to -"

Unfortunately, the other adventurers hear only his first statement, and do not wait for his second.  They rush forward to engage their enemy.  Blow after blow is swung without effect, blades and staves alike passing harmlessly through the insubstantial foe.

"- use magic!" the halfling finishes, with a roll of his eyes, "Healing spells or magic weapons will harm it."

By now, the creature is already striking back, it's chilling touch searing flesh and sapping the strength from the adventurers' limbs.  Elspeth and Rose are hardest hurt, and can barely stand under the weight of their equipment.

Stormstrider, finally registering the halfling's words, steps back from the attack and incants a prayer to the spirits of the earth.  Immediately, a green glow surrounds his quarterstaff: an aura of natural energy that will be anathema to the undead beast.

Macwood moves up to the elf's side, the party's _wand of cure light wounds_ clutched in his hand.

"Let's finish this thing, before it finishes us." The taciturn ranger grunts, and the pair leap forward, each striking at the creature.

Both blows strike home, and green and white energy plays over the shadowy form.  It gives its hissing scream once again, but this time both the sound and the creature itself fade away, the foul energies that sustained it burned away by the adventurers' magical assault.

"Should we go on?" Twinkle asks, "Elspeth and Rose look pretty bad."

"I think we should." Ming Li nods, "It will take many days for them to recover their strength, and we cannot leave this tomb empty and unguarded for so long.  We can heal their injuries, and take some of the weight of their gear -"

"And that breastplate!" Elspeth interjects, her voice much fainter than usual, "I'm not going through all this to leave that behind."

"We will take the breastplate, as well." The monk assures her. "Let us hope it gives us no more surprises."

"It shouldn't." is Macwood's opinion, "It doesn't look magical, just well-made."

Their path agreed, the group heads slowly down the narrow stairs, moving in single file out of necessity, and placing their weakest members in the middle, where they can be best protected.  Stormstrider, his staff still giving off a green glow, takes the lead, while Macwood guards the rear.

At the bottom of the stairs is a four-way junction.  To the left and right are short, alcove-lined passages, while directly ahead, the corridor leads to some kind of pool or fountain, and then ends in a large iron door.

"A fountain!" Stormstrider hurries forward, intent on examining this structure.  He has gone only a few paces, however, when there is hollow cracking sound, and the floor gives way.  For a moment, the elf teeters, his arms windmilling as he tries to keep his balance, but then his feet slip on the crumbling rock, and he tumbles into the void that has opened beneath him.  Moments later, he gives a yell of pain as he strikes the bottom of the pit.

"Stormstrider?  Are you okay?"

"No." comes the sour reply, "Someone throw me a rope."

Ming Li moves forward to do as the elf asks.  Unfortunately, all the noise has stirred the inhabitants of the tomb.  Skeletons emerge from the alcoves in both the left and right hand tunnels, and rush forward to attack the monk, who finds herself trapped between undead on either side, an open pit before her, and log-jam of adventurers on the stairs to her rear.

The first two skeletons to arrive each rake Ming Li with their jagged bone claws.  Blood streams from both wounds, though the monk somehow stays on her feet.

Stormstrider, seeing all this, decides that he doesn't need any help after all, and climbs out of the pit on the far side, where there aren't any skeletons trying to kill people.  Now there's gratitude for you.


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## Grondmar

Still luvin' it!

Keep up the good work!!

and bump too.

G


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## Grondmar

Bump again!

G


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## Talix

Stormstrider isn't a dummy.


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## Hammerhead

He's no hero, either. 

Then again, in the Company of the Random Encounter who is?

Maybe Ming Li?


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## Graywolf-ELM

The couple of Story Hours I'm reading point to you DM's from down under spinning a good yarn.  Keep up the good work, spent the better part of a couple of days catching up with what you've written so far.

GW


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## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 9*

Ming Li's fists hammer into the ribcage of the skeleton on her left.  The powerful blows splinter the creature into shards of bone, but another quickly takes its place, tearing at her with its claws even as the one on her right redoubles its attack.

Bone spurs tear flesh, and the monk staggers, bleeding heavily from these fresh wounds.  Struggling to hold onto consciousness, and surrounded by enemies, it is clear she cannot survive in her current position.  But there is no room to fall back, which leaves only one other option.

Crouching low, the monk flexes her knees and flings herself across the gaping pit before her.

It's not an elegant jump, nor a particularly efficient one, but it is powered by desperate strength.  Ming Li's feet do not quite reach the far side of the pit, but she has her whole weight thrown forward, and momentum carries her over the edge, to land with a sprawl on the stone floor beyond.

Seeing the skeletons about to block the tunnel, Rose gulps and steps forward into the gap, keeping the path to the pit open for her comrades.  Lacking the reach of her skeletal foes, and armed only with a shortsword, she concentrates on defending herself, not trying to strike back.

Elspeth waits, watching for an opportunity. She sees it as the two skeletons strike at Rose, then both start to draw back for another blow.  While they are off balance, she rushes forward and throws herself across the pit, slamming into Ming Li as the monk begins to rise.  Both women tumble to the ground, but both are safe.

Twinkle looks at the pit and blanches as she realises that the gap is more than three times her height.  Digging into her pack, she pulls forth a coil of rope and loops it around her waist, tying a rough knot as quickly as she can.

"Catch!" she calls, throwing the other end to Ming Li.  The monk catches the rope and draws it taut, then braces herself as best she can.  She nods to the gnome, who takes a deep breath, then runs forward, leaping into space.  As she does, Ming Li reels in the rope as fast as possible, giving the gnome's jump a little extra impetus.

It's not enough.

Twinkle misjudges her run, and is forced to leap off from her weaker foot.  Even as she's in mid-air, it's clear she isn't going to the far side of the pit, and she lunges forward as best she can, fingers scrabbling for the edge.

Her fingers reach it, but the rest of her doesn't.

Twinkle slams face-first into the stone wall of the pit, then tumbles halfway down the side before Ming Li can haul in enough rope to stop her descent.  The monk rapidly pulls the gnome to safety, and Twinkle flops over the edge of the pit onto the stone floor.  Her hands and face are covered in scratches and scrapes, while her nose is broken and streaming blood.

Rose, abruptly realising that everyone else is quite happy to jump to safety while she fights the skeletons alone, hurls herself across the pit behind the gnome.  Though she is no taller than Twinkle, she judges her leap much better, landing cleanly on the far side.  The gnome, seeing this, bursts into tears of pain and frustration

"It's not _fair_!" she wails.

"Things rarely are." Elspeth observes, shortly.  "Macwood!  You're next!"

The bard, who is now alone on the far side of the pit, rolls his eyes.

"And I thought I'd wait for the skeletons." He mutters, watching as one of the undead moves into the space left by Rose, blocking him from jumping the pit.  He backs up the stairs a little, so that only one of the skeletons can reach him at a time.

Ming Li unties the rope from Twinkle and throws it back to Macwood.  Pressed by the aggressive undead, the halfling has no time to tie it around himself, so instead he simply loops it around his arm, then grips it tightly.

"Pu-" he begins to shout, but Elspeth and Ming Li aren't waiting for an invitation: they begin hauling on the rope immediately, dragging the surprised halfling right through the press of skeletons.  Two of the undead grab at the bard with their claws, and - though they fail to get a firm grip - each wounds him badly.

Barely conscious, Macwood throws himself across the pit, his leap assisted by a wrench on the rope from Elspeth and Ming Li. It's enough - just - to see him safely across, but the effort causes him to black out, and he collapses as he lands, lying bleeding at the feet of his companions.


----------



## Talix

Um... is it just me, or would they have fared much better in just taking the skeletons out?


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 10*

Although Macwood is unconscious, he's not dead, and the _wand of cure light wounds_ gets another workout.  As far as the Company of the Random Encounter is concerned, any fight you can be healed enough to walk away from is a good one.

Fortunately, skeletons are mindless foes, and those that have not yet been destroyed now obligingly mill around on the far side of the pit trap, thwarted in their efforts to attack the adventurers.  Ming Li and Stormstrider take advantage of this to bombard the undead with sling bullets, eventually destroying them all.

This done, the adventurers move down the corridor, finally making it to the fountain Stormstrider was so interested in reaching.

"No money." The elf announces mournfully, "Aren't people supposed to throw coins into fountains for good luck?"

"I don't think that there's too much traffic, down here." Macwood reminds him.  The halfling bard's attention has been drawn to the stout iron door on the far wall.  Leaning forward, he exhales sharply, blowing dust from the engravings on the door. "A shield and a tree.  Elven symbols.  I didn't know your people built tombs like this."

"They don't." is Elspeth's short reply, "We bury our dead in clean earth, we don't enclose them in stone."

"Someone did." Macwood observes, "That, or they copied elven art."

"There's not even any water in here!" Twinkle peers into the dusty bowl of the fountain, oblivious to any other conversation. "Poor thing!"  The gnome pulls out her waterskin and removes the stopper, then pours water into the bowl, watching in satisfaction as the fluid splashes onto the stone.

Suddenly, her eyes widen as she catches sight of a glint of metal.

"Hey!  There's something in there!"

Without waiting for a response, the gnome clambers into the fountain and paws through the dust.

"It's a key.  Made of iron, I think, and it's got a tree and a sword engraved on it.  Maybe there's a door near here it will fit."

"Give me that." Macwood sighs, and plucks the key from the gnome's fingers.

"Hey!  Ooh - door!" Twinkle immediately forgets to be upset.  Snatching the key back from the bard, she scampers over and slips the key into the lock.  A quick twist, and the door swings open.

"I found the key, so the treasure's mine!" the gnome capers for a moment, then suddenly screws up her face as a wash of foetid air spills out of the opening. "Yuck!"

The chamber beyond the doors is much larger than the fountain room.  It is decorated with rotten and faded tapestries, many of which have been torn and vandalised.  At the far end of the room, only just visible in the light from their everburning torch, stands a stone altar, flanked by a pair of squat sarcophagi.

"Nice place you've got here.  Decorate it yourself?" Macwood brushes past the gnome, also pulling a face of disgust as he does so.

"This is a locked room.  Who damaged the tapestries?" Ming Li asks, stepping up beside Twinkle.  She cocks her head to one side, "The smell _is_ unpleasant."

"It's worse down here." Twinkle grumbles, "Maybe whoever damaged everything threw the key in the fountain.  Probably overloaded with all the treasure they stole, leaving none for us."

"Or perhaps the inhabitant of the tomb became a flesh-eating monster, and tore them after decades of frustrating captivity?"

"Ew.  Gross.  Why would you think that?"

Ming Li points.

A foul and scabrous form has leapt onto one of the sarcophagi.  Though dressed in the tattered remains of clothing, it crouches in an almost bestial fashion, resting its weight forwards, on the knuckles of its taloned hands.  It leers at the adventurers, its elongated green tongue flicking over bloodless lips and crooked, yellow teeth.

"Ew.  _Gross_."

The creature charges.


----------



## Talix

> "Or perhaps the inhabitant of the tomb became a flesh-eating monster, and tore them after decades of frustrating captivity?"
> 
> "Ew. Gross. Why would you think that?"
> 
> Ming Li points.




Heh, classic B-horror-movie humor.


----------



## Hammerhead

Just further proof that Ming Li is the coolest PC in the Company.


----------



## Capellan

*"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 11*

Incredibly, the smell gets even worse as the monster rushes in, and most of the adventurers feel their gorge rise in their throats as they experience the full force of the foul stench.  Even Ming Li, who previously seemed unperturbed, has a greenish cast to her features.

The beast slashes its claws at Elspeth, who reels back - more from nausea than from injury - before making a weak swing that the creature easily avoids.  Twinkle and Ming Li also try to strike the enemy, but it shrugs off their efforts, for the attacks lack their usual strength and vigour.

Thing seems bad for the adventurers as the creature tears at Elspeth again, the ranger avoiding the blows more from luck than design.  Then Macwood's voice rises above the melee, the bard seeming to have overcome the smell's effects:

"_There was a ghast, quite unsightly
Who charged us, very spritely
His stench was bad
And made us sad
But I've smelt worse from the Padre's boots, nightly!_"

Although this can hardly be called high art, it definitely raises the spirits of his companions, and helps them fight off some of the effects of the stench.  Stormstrider steps in and hits the ghast twice, driving it back slightly as his staff slams into its ribs.

Hissing its pain and anger, the undead creature strikes back, raking its claws across the druidic elf's arms.  Confident that he is immune to ghoulish paralysis, Stormstrider is shocked to find his limbs locking up, leaving him helpless for the ghast's next attack.

Fortunately for the elf, he is not alone, and his opponent never gets the chance to make that next attack: instead, a combination of blows from Elspeth and Ming Li crash home, the monk sweeping out its legs and knocking it to the ground before the ranger drives her sword into its chest.

"Ew, gross." Twinkle opines again, then suddenly brightens, "Hey, if it was stuck in here, then so was all the treasure!"

"Is it appropriate to despoil the tombs of the dead?" Ming Li questions.

"There, uh, could still be undead in the other sarcophagi." Twinkle extemporises, "It's our civic duty to check!"

The monk looks unconvinced.

"It is one thing to take the spoils of the enemy." She insists, "Another to rob the graves of the innocent.  Was grave-robbing not one of the first things we were asked to stop?"

"Whatever else may be said, this tomb is already despoiled." Macwood gestures at the ghast, "Disturbing the remains here isn't wrong.  They should be taken to consecrated ground, at the least."

Elspeth nods,

"If they are human, this should happen.  If they are elves, Stormstrider and I will take them to the forest, and bury them there, as should have been done in the beginning."

With the ethics of the matter resolved, the group swiftly breaks open the sarcophagi.  The race of the bodes within is no longer identifiable, but the items stored with them seem to suggest they were elves.

"A scimitar, marked with the same symbol as the door." Macwood inspects the weapon carefully, struggling with it a little due to the weapon's size and balance, "It's in perfect condition."  Holding it close to his lips, he whispers to it in, then rests his ear against the blade, as if expecting it to reply.  "It's magical.  Not strongly so, but it's definitely enchanted.  You'll probably find it's a little sharper and better balanced than an ordinary blade."

Elspeth, meanwhile, has been unwrapping a large bundle of oiled rags, revealing a wooden shield within them.  The wood is unusually dark in colour, and the shield feels lighter than would be expected for its size.

"Darkwood." The ranger raps her knuckles on the wood, "Rare stuff, and valuable.  Is it magical, as well?"

Macwood whispers to the shield, and places his ear against it, then shakes his head,

"Not magical, just well-made," is his assessment, "the oiled rags must have protected it from decay."

The second sarcophagus contains several vials, their contents sealed with wax stoppers.  These potions - for it seems likely that is what they are - are set aside for later analysis and identification.

After one more search around the room, Rose and Twinkle are in agreement,

"That's everything." The halfling rogue reports, "No more secret chambers, exits or compartments.  The place is cleared out."

"Right." Elspeth slaps her hands together, "Let's get these elves to a proper burial, then go see about our reward."


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 1*

The first two nights after the Company of the Random Encounter cleanse the tomb in Amberdale's sewers are uneventful.  On the third night, however, some hours after dusk, a light appears in the sky.

At first, the few people who are still out doors think little of it, taking it for a falling star.  But then the light grows larger and brighter, and folk begin to stop and point.  Perhaps the star really is falling.

And then the light grows larger still, swooping down toward Amberdale, and curiosity turns to alarm.  Voices are raised, and more and more folk come to their doors and windows to see the cause of the commotion.

Padre Wolfgang Priem is one of them.  Instinctively taking up his mace as he does so, he walks to the one small window in his room at the inn, and peers out into the night sky.

The light swiftly grows larger, gradually taking on the silhouette of a man, though any features are lost in the shape's white glow.  It swoops down into the village square, coming to a halt no more than twenty feet from the Padre's window.  And then it speaks:

*"Padre Wolfgang Priem, you have done well.  St Cuthbert is pleased by your efforts."* 

Its message seemingly delivered, the shape dissolves before the Padre can do any more than gape open-mouthed at it.

A hubbub of voices rises into the night air, as awed villagers gather in to discuss the event, and to recount it to latecomers.  From time to time - increasing in frequency as more and more people hear the story - an arm is raised to point at the Priest, who still stands at his window, wondering if what he just saw was real, and what it means to his faith.

Eventually, he turns back into his room, closing the shutters of the window behind him.  Kneeling beside his bed, he prays deeply and at length, before clambering into bed.  It is a long time before his racing mind becomes calm enough for him to find sleep.

In the morning, a little bleary-eyed from his restless night, the priest makes his way down to the common room of the inn.  Despite the early hour, the place is bustling, though a sudden hush descends when the Padre appears.  Covering a slight grimace, the priest approaches Brent Birchwhistle.

"Mornin', sir." The innkeeper greets him, "Your visit last night has folks quite astir."

The Padre nods self-consciously,

"I do not yet know what it portends," he admits, "But I must confess I was surprised not to be disturbed in my room last night."

Brent smiles,

"I had to turn a few away from the door, it's true.  Told them they could see you in the morn'.  Seems they all took me at my word.  Do you want to take your breakfast in your room?  You might not be given time to eat it, here."

The Padre shakes his head,

"St Cuthbert teaches us that it is better to face adversity than fear it."

As Brent has guessed, it takes the Padre far longer than normal to complete his breakfast - a huge pile of bacon, eggs and fresh bread - as he is regularly interrupted by locals in search of blessings from the 'Chosen of St Cuthbert'.  The priest does his best to remain gracious throughout this process, though his composure is sorely tested when Goodwife Glimmer asks him to say a prayer for her missing cat, Scratches.

Despite his efforts to be polite, the priest rapidly grows tired of the requests - especially after he has to send the food back to be warmed a second time - and when Sirdros enters the inn, the Padre seizes on the opportunity to end the interruptions.

"Sirdros!  I would speak with you!"

The elven cleric crosses and sits with the Padre, giving him a cursory nod as he does so.

"Another fine morning," he observes, after ordering a breakfast for himself, "Did you sleep well?"

"How could I, after the visitation?"

"Pardon?" the elf looks blank.

"You didn't hear?" the Padre shakes his head, "There was a big glowing light in the sky last night.  It told me St Cuthbert was pleased with me."

"Then it is indeed a fine morning.  Is that why you called me over?  To discuss your experience?"

"Actually, no.  I just hoped it would stop people from bothering me while I was trying to eat."

"It seems you have achieved your goal." Sirdros indicates the lack of supplicants, "But I am glad you called me over, in any case.  I was coming to speak with you."

"What about?"

"Well ... you see, the reason I did not see your visitor last night - and the reason I did not hear of it this morning - was that I spent the entire time in meditation over a mission I have received from my superior.  When I had completed my meditations, I came here directly to speak with you."

The Padre puts down his knife and considers this news.

"I suppose this mission is the second task we have to do for your church, to pay you for curing Ulfgar and Gabrielle?"

"It is indeed." Sirdros nods.

"We should never have agreed to that." the Padre grumbles, trying to hide his evident pleasure at the opportunity to leave town for a while, "We haven't seen either of those two for months."

"I have." Mantreus drops suddenly into a third chair at the table, grinning like the cat who got the cream, "That Gabrielle's a nice girl.  And her room had a great view of that light show last night."

The Padre glares at the sorcerer for a moment, then sighs and turns to Sirdros,

"So.  What's the mission?"


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Capellan said:
			
		

> The priest does his best to remain gracious throughout this process, though his composure is sorely tested when Goodwife Glimmer asks him to say a prayer for her missing cat, Scratches.




_There is a crash of thunder and lightning, and briefly silhouetted in the door is a small, pitiful furry figure.  A low, ghostly moan sends a chill down the spine of all those present...._

Meoowww!


----------



## dpdx

_Quickly, the figure grows into a size Huge, mackerel (grey) tabby ghost. Its mouth opens: "Brrrr? M'Rrrow??" And with a lashing, ethereal tongue that is as lethal as it is rapid, in one motion, it swallows Twinkle, before returning to its original petite stature._


----------



## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> "I have." Mantreus drops suddenly into a third chair at the table, grinning like the cat who got the cream, "That Gabrielle's a nice girl.  And her room had a great view of that light show last night."




 Oh yeah.. I'm a stud!


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 2*

Sirdros leans forward, keeping his voice low.  Because that won't attract attention.

"Word has come from the Risen Star: a monastery of my faith.  There has been an earth tremor there, causing some damage to the building.  We have been asked to travel to the monastery and make sure that all the brethren are safe and well, and to render any assistance that might be needed."

Ordinarily, the Padre and Mantreus might be suspicious of such a vague proposal.  But the priest is distracted by his nocturnal visitation.  Mantreus also has his mind on the events of the previous night, though in his case it was an encounter of a far different kind.

"We've even been given some healing potions to help us out." Sirdros adds.

Free potions seems to seal the deal, and the three men quickly head out, each with a brief to find at least one of the other Company members, and recruit them for the task at hand.

The Padre returns with Briar in tow.  The young female rogue looks a little bleary-eyed: apparently she and Macwood spent the night toasting the Padre's divine recognition.  The priest rather sourly suggests that this was just a useful excuse.

"But a very good one." is Briar's shameless response.  The priest grunts as he pushes open the door of the inn.

"It's the Padre!" Twinkle leaps onto the table where she and Mantreus are awaiting the other's return, "Did you see it?  You must because it came for you!  Wow, wasn't it great?  All swoopy and glowy and -" she strikes a dramatic pose, "- 'Padre Wolfgang Priem, you have done well.'  That was _so_ great.  Does St Cuthbert always do that?"

"No." the Padre says, shortly. "Now, please get off the table.  People have to eat off that."

"You sound just like my uncle." Twinkle rolls her eyes, "He's always saying that at home."

The Padre sighs and starts to gently rub the dull ache at his temples.

As he does so, the door swings open once more, and Anastria steps inside, closely followed by her brother.  She stomps over to the table.

"Right, I'm here.  Let's go help the cultists."

The Padre begins to wish that the pain in his temples had remained just a dull ache.

"I'm going to prepare the wagon." He mutters, "Someone tell the others where we're going, and the rest of you come help me."

Mantreus volunteers to avoid manual labour, leaving the other five to hitch the wagon and make sure all their belongings are aboard.  The process is slowed somewhat by the small crowd that gathers to watch.  Several times, the Padre is stopped from his work, and asked to treat a sick child, or bless a young couple's romance.  The third time this occurs, he catches a smirk on Twinkle's face.

"Do you know anything about what happened last night?" he demands, eyes narrowed.

"Me?" Twinkle is the very picture of innocence, "Why would I know anything?  I only saw the same things everyone else did."

"Right.  Of course." The priest clearly isn't convinced, but he also can't be sure the gnome is lying.  He turns away to resume working, and Twinkle's smirk returns in full.

"Tweedlefinkle Dessandri Rhowyn!"

The smirk fades.

Tallyhoop pushes his way between the legs of the crowd, waving a small bundle of white cloth over his head.

"Did you put on fresh undergarments like I told you?" the older gnome demands, gesticulating wildly with the bundle in his hand, "It's bad enough that you go crawling into all these sewers and caves all the time, without doing it in a second-day loincloth."  The bundle begins to unravel, one of Twinkle's more personal clothing items fluttering out to land on the mud road.

Scarlet-faced and speechless, the young gnome snatches the bundle from her uncle's hand and scrambles into the back of the wagon, burrowing out of sight under a pile of sacks.

The Padre, after checking the horses's harness, walks over to pick up the fallen 'delicate'.

"You missed one." He waves the scrap of white cloth over the side of the wagon.  After a moment, a small hand appears to grab the garment, though no other part of Twinkle emerges.

With the priest whistling cheerfully, the group sets out.


----------



## Capellan

Psst .... if you don't play in *Company of the Random Encounter*, head over here and give me your dastardly ideas


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 3*

The wagon makes it only as far as Andalyn and Gendrew's house, however, before Mantreus calls a halt.

"I'll just be a few minutes," he promises, before knocking on the cottage door.  His knock answered by Gendrew, the sorcerer disappears inside for a few minutes, before returning with a wooden scroll tube, stoppered with wax at both ends.

"I bought some scrolls and a wand for detecting secret doors.  I don't think that's got many charges left, but I figured it was worth it.  You know how these old buildings are full of secret treasure rooms."

"That 'old building' is a holy house of the church." The Padre sounds reproving.

"Yes, but it's not _your_ church."

"True." The Priest of St Cuthbert considers this point, and nods in satisfaction. "Good idea."

Sirdros, who probably ought to object to all this, seems occupied with getting the wagon moving once more, and makes no objection to the nascent plan for monastery-robbing.

In fact, the elven priest says very little at all, over the next day and a half, and it's not until the second night of the group's journey, as they sit around the fire for their evening meal, that the cause of his reticence is revealed.

"You were planning to mention the catacombs of undead _when_, exactly?" the Padre complains.

"They're not full of undead." Sirdros sounds waspish, "This is a sanctified monastery of Pelor."

"But there are tunnels, filled with corpses, right?"

"Yes."

"And those are, in fact, the part of the monastery that's been damaged?"

Sirdros sighs.

"Yes."

"Damage that caused an opening into further, hitherto unexplored caverns?"

"Yes."

"And the fate of the three monks who decided to go poking around in these caverns?"

"They weren't 'poking around' - they were recovering lost treasures that had been lost in the tremor."

"Whatever.  What happened to them?"

"They haven't returned."

The Padre looks smug.

"Sounds like undead to me." Mantreus agrees, "What are we getting paid for this, again?"

"Nothing."

"Well, _that's_ a bad deal."

Despite their resentment over Sirdros' late revelations, the group continues toward the monastery the next day.  Though it is only early winter, there is a bite to the air, and the group bundles up warmly together in the back of the wagon, leaving the Pelorite to handle the horse - and the cold - by himself.

"You know, someone else _could_ take a turn." Twinkle suggests, in a far too casual tone of voice. "It can't be that hard."

"No, they can't." the Padre grumbles back in a half-snore, "And _you_ certainly can't.  So whatever you're planning to do to the horse, you can forget it."

Twinkle, grumbling about nasty, suspicious humans, moves further away from the cleric.  He appears unconcerned, and - after a few minutes of growing steadily more chilly - the gnome shuffles back into the warm clump of bodies.

"Why are we stopping?" Briar asks suddenly.

"Maybe Sirdros has frozen solid?" Mantreus suggests

"Of course I haven't." the elf mutters in response, "There's something odd, up ahead."

The others poke their heads up over the front of the wagon.

"It's a bee." Mantreus shrugs.

"It's a _foot-long_ bee."

"It's the wrong season for bees." Briar offers, "They hibernate at this time of year."

"Are you missing the part about it being a _foot_ long?"

"Do the big ones have different habits, then?"

"Oh, for ..." Sirdros sputters, then sighs, "What are we going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Shouldn't we attack it or something?"

"Why would we do that?"

"It might try to sting us."

"I should think it will, if we try to kill it."

"I meant if we _didn't_ kill it."

"Why would it do that?"

"Isn't that what bees do?"

"Bees also hibernate in winter." Briar points at the foot-long insect as it buses in rather erratic circles over a clump of brown grass. "Which that isn't."

"You're just being difficult for the sake of it, aren't you?"

"Pretty much." The rogue grins.

"Fine, I'll kill it myself." Sirdros climbs down from the wagon and pulls out his morning star.  Taking a deep breath, he begins to stalk over toward the slowly buzzing insect.

And then a new voice calls out:

"No!  No!  Don't hurt it!"


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 4*

A man comes running down the road toward the Company.  He is tall and gangly, with sandalled feet and a somewhat grubby robe streaming out behind him.  Clutched in one hand is an enormous butterfly net, which keeps threatening to trip him as he runs.

"Don't hurt it!" he repeats, "It's not dangerous."

This claim provokes some rather sceptical remarks from the adventures, but they allow the man to herd them away from the oversized bee, then watch as he creeps up toward it through the long grass, his bony posterior waving above the tips.

"Who is this fool?" the Padre asks.

This 'fool', it turns out, is Sionaas: a wizard with a passion for bees.

"Fascinating creatures." He opines, as he leads the group back toward his caravan; a brightly painted affair with a strange white wagon hitched to the back.

"They're not usually so large." Sirdros has size issues.

"Oh, these are a giant breed."

"You don't say."

"Yes, indeed.  They were quite expensive to acquire, I can assure you.  But vital to my research: absolutely vital."

"Research?" Twinkle perks up, "Are you trying to make a bee-based explosive?"

"Not quite, no." Sionaas is oblivious to the hopes he has just crushed - which is probably just as well. "It's actually the wax from their hives that I'm interested in."

"The wax?" Twinkle frowns as she watches Sionaas gently push the bee into the unusual, enclosed wagon behind his caravan. "Not the honey?"

"Oh no.  I've got far more of that than I need."

Within moments, the gnome is happily ensconced in Sionaas' caravan, a massive earthenware jar of honey in her lap.  For once, she takes little part in the conversation, her attention - and her mouth - fully occupied by the jar and its sweet contents.

As the travellers enjoy a companionable meal of honeyed bread and freshly steeped tea, Sionaas explains that he is on his way north-east to the village of Poisson, in an area known as the 'Hidden Coast', where he plans to build a giant hive for his bees.

"I keep the bees, for the wax that they use for their honeycomb." He continues, "I'm convinced that it can be used in magical compounds and candles.  But I need somewhere to keep the hive, before I can produce enough to supply my research.  It will be quite something to see once it is built."

"We have business to the south, for now" the Padre swirls the dregs of his tea, giving the leaves in the cup a disapproving stare, "But we may come see it, once that is done."  His opinion of Sionaas has risen sharply ever since he heard the phrase 'magical compounds'.

"Well, I'm sure it won't be ready for several weeks at the least." Sionaas explains, "But you would be welcome to visit me any time you wish."

"C'n we get more?" Twinkle speaks for the first time in several minutes, gesturing with now-sticky hands at the pot in her lap.  Sionaas laughs,

"Of course.  Take another now, if you like." He gestures at the dozens of similar pots that line the shelves of the caravan, "As I said before, I have far more than I could never use."

Once Twinkle has helped herself to the biggest jar she can find, the adventurers take their leave of the wizard, and continue their journey to the Monastery of the Risen Star.  They arrive there in the later part of the afternoon, having been slowed by the twisting road, which snakes back and forth between many patches of rough and rocky ground.

"I'd say this area has a fair number of earth tremors. " Briar points at one of the many ribbon-like ridges that flank the road. "Lots of subsidence would cause that."

"Where'd you learn something like that?" Anastria glowers suspiciously at a human displaying such knowledge of the wilderness.

"Macwood.  He was showing me some maps he'd drawn, and explaining how the land became shaped the way it was." Briar shrugs, "It was pretty interesting."

"Well if you're right, it's a damn stupid place to build anything." The Padre snorts, "Though I wouldn't expect much better from the Pelorites."

Distracted with driving the wagon, Sirdros does not hear the remark.  Or at least, refuses to acknowledge it.

At last, as the shadows grow long in the twilight, the cart clatters into the monastery courtyard.  Leaving the horse and wagon in the care of one of the junior brothers, the adventurers are led through the stone building by another of the lesser brethren, who finally ushers them into the presence of Abbot Gerrard.

The Abbot is a silver-haired human male, though the colour of his hair and a few lines on his face are the only signs of his age.  He welcomes the Company in a deep baritone, and sends the younger monk to fetch mulled wine -

"- to chase some of the evening chill from your bones." He smiles, then turns grave, "It is late in the day, and I can see you are tired, but I hope that by first light tomorrow you will be sufficiently rested to begin your search.  Three of my brethren are missing - including Brother Durham, my chief assistant - and I am greatly concerned for their safety."

"Has any attempt been made to find them?" the Padre asks, with a slight air of belligerence.

Abbott Gerrard shakes his head,

"There is little we have been able to do.  Lanterns were lowered into the caves, in the hope that their light would lead our brothers to safety, but to no avail.  The bravest and most capable of my brethren went with Brother Durham.  I would have entered the caves myself, but the high priest insisted that the task be left to you."

"Lucky us." The priest of St Cuthbert grunts sourly, then downs his wine with one gulp, "We'll be ready at first light."


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 5*

Thus it is that the Company drag themselves out of their beds in the cold half-light of the dawn, yawn their way through dressing and equipping themselves, and then grumble their way down into the catacombs beneath the monastery.  The monks have been storing their dead here for several decades, and the group walks past dozens of coffin-filled niches to reach the opening into the caves.

"Given the way I feel, this is the right place to be." Mantreus gives the Padre a baleful stare, "Remind me why we needed to be up this early, again?"

The way down into the caves below proves to be a 10' wide fissure in the floor, in the oldest section of the catacombs.  The fissure, which drops some 60' straight down, has rough walls with plenty of hand-holds, but some of the rock looks unstable, so the group decides to use a rope to get down.  A long discussion follows on the subject of who should go first.  Eventually, Sirdros is chosen.  

"With that half plate armour of yours, you're not going to be able to climb down by yourself." The Padre reasons, "And it will probably need all of us to lower you down safely, with all that weight.  Besides, if there is something dangerous down there, you're the best protected of any of us."

However reluctant a volunteer he might be, Sirdros cannot deny that the logic is sound, and he soon finds himself lowered - rather like a sack of potatoes - to the cave below.  Untying himself quickly, he raises the group's _everburning torch_, to provide better light, and waves for the others to come down.

Anastria is the next to begin the descent, clambering down the rope towards her brother.  She has gone only ten feet, however, when a pack of four emaciated, leathery-skinned creatures burst out of the darkness, rushing toward Sirdros.

"Ghouls!" the priest of Pelor shouts, dropping the torch and drawing forth his holy symbol.  The ghouls reach him seconds later, clawing at his armoured form.  Only once manages a hit, drawing a shallow gash along the cleric's arm.

The Padre swears and raises his crossbow to his shoulder, firing a chancy shot down into the melee below.  The bolt shatters harmlessly on the rock floor.

Mantreus swears too, but he has recourse to other methods of attack than his crossbow.  An unerring missile of energy flashes down into the cave, searing the shoulder of one of the ghouls.  Snarling, the creature ducks to one side, out of sight of the narrow view given by the 60' shaft.

Anastria climbs ten feet.

The ghouls swarm over Sirdros.  Their paralysis attack is useless against the elf, but their teeth and claws are more than capable of rending his flesh.  Each of the four manages to pierce the cleric's armour at least once, and blood pours from several injuries as Sirdros tries to invoke his god.

"May Pelor's might drive you hence!" he cries, raising his symbol aloft.  Pelor's holy light flares in the cave, but it seems dimmer somehow, in the cavernous darkness, and fades quickly, without eliciting more than a few hisses of discomfort from the ghouls.

The Padre grabs Briar and pushes her toward the rope,

"Start climbing!" he orders, then turns and yells down toward Anastria, "Climb faster!  You're moving too slowly!"

Anastria climbs ten feet.

Below, the ghouls claw and bite at Sirdros once more.  Gore spatters across the ground as the elven cleric sags, his strength failing as his injuries mount.  Ragged tears mar his armour and his flesh alike, and his feet slip on the wet and sticky patches of his own blood.

Fighting to stay conscious, the elf calls on his god again, his voice sounding hoarse and wet as he chokes out the words of the invocation.  Light gleams forth again, but - much like the man who summons it - it is weaker than before.  As the glow fades, one of the ghouls grabs Sirdros and drags him to the ground.

"Anastria!" the Padre bellows, veins standing out in neck as his face turns red, "Go faster, damn you!  Hells - jump, woman! - Sirdros is down!"

Anastria climbs ten feet.

The Padre yells again for her to jump, joined now in his invective by Mantreus, who demonstrates an extraordinary imagination in his suggestions as to the elf woman's parentage and virtue.

The ghouls, snuffling and croaking in glee, drag Sirdros' body into the darkness of the cave.  The elf makes no resistance, his holy symbol falling from his limp fingers as he disappears from sight.  Moments later, the smell of blood grows even thicker, as there are noises like the sound of wet cloth, tearing.

Anastria climbs ten feet.

Twinkle becomes the third person onto the rope, which creaks alarmingly under the accumulated weight, but continues to hold.

As the sounds of the feasting ghouls continue, Anastria finally reaches the bottom of the rope.  Immediately, the ghouls charge out of the darkness once more, encircling the elven woman.  The creatures mouths are stained with blood, while gore coats their arms, all the way to the elbows.

Briar, still halfway up the rope, sees the undead surround Anastria, clawing and biting at what must to them seem to be another tasty mortal from above.  Realising that if things continue as they have, the whole group could be overwhelmed and eaten individually, the young rogue races through the words of the most sincere prayer of her life, and lets go of the rope.

Landing heavily - her attempt at a somersault to break the falls goes badly awry - Briar staggers to her feet.  Shaking her head to clear it, she raises her sword just in time to bat aside a ghoul's claw, then steps to Anastria's side, stabbing at one of the creatures as she does so.

One after another, the remaining four adventurers do the very thing that Anastria did not: as they reach the halfway point of the rope, they take a deep breath, mutter a quick prayer, and _drop_.  Even the Padre - with all the acrobatic grace of a wooden log - gamely plummets a full 30', landing amidst a clatter of weapons and armour.

Rising to his feet, the priest sees that his companions have the ghouls more or less in hand and immediately beseeches St Cuthbert for _light_, searching for any sign of Sirdros.  He swiftly spots the other cleric, and rushes to the elf's side, but it is immediately apparent that it is too late: Sirdros stares up with dead and sightless eyes, his body torn open by the voracious undead.


----------



## monboesen

Man that was some stupid and selfish playing. Aren't (or rather weren't) the elves siblings? Damn I would be furious at the other player for not even trying so save me.


----------



## Lefferts

monboesen said:
			
		

> Man that was some stupid and selfish playing. Aren't (or rather weren't) the elves siblings? Damn I would be furious at the other player for not even trying so save me.




I've got to agree with the above.  What was the player thinking? Is (was)
there that much bad blood between Sirdros and Anastria?

Lefferts


----------



## Capellan

Keep in mind that I have deliberately written the above passage to paint Anastria's actions in the worst possible light (although, let's face it, there's no _good_ light to paint them in).

Anastria's player is still somewhat of a novice (this was only her 4th CotRE and maybe her 12th game, ever) and _massively_ risk averse: at least vis her own character.  She invariably takes the option that is least dangerous to her, personally: often to the detriment of the group as a whole.

Of course, sooner or later, _she's_ going to be the one who needs help.  I'll be interested to see what happens, then ...

As for Sirdros, of all the people at the table, he was probably the one who was least annoyed wth her; but then, while the _characters_ are siblings, the _players_ are engaged.


----------



## Zaruthustran

Capellan said:
			
		

> As for Sirdros, of all the people at the table, he was probably the one who was least annoyed wth her; but then, while the _characters_ are siblings, the _players_ are engaged.




Yes, but are they _still_ engaged? >

-z


----------



## Hammerhead

I hope Anastria's player remembers her cowardice when she's the one being devoured by ghouls. Still, the Company should know better than to trust an elf


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 6*

Sirdros wakes from a dream of sunlight and warmth to a reality of darkness and cold.

He lies on a stone altar, before a banner of his deity, Pelor.

The remembers the Sun God's realm: golden sunshine and eternal summer.

"Rest easy, my son." A warm hand touches his cold brow, "It will take some time for you to reacclimatise to this mortal realm."

"Abbot ... Gerrard ..." the elf priest struggles to form the words, "Cold."

"I know, my son." The Abbot draws a blanket over his body, "You have left the warmth of our lord Pelor's court to return to us."

"I ... heard you ... calling. "

"I read the invocation." Gerrard touches the fragments of a scroll. "Nothing more."

"The others?"

"They are healed, and await you.  You may join them once you feel strong enough.  For now, you should rest."

Sleep steals over the elf, and he sinks into darkness, filled with dreams of light.

It is not until the next day that he is able to rise and go to the others.  He moves slowly, his vision feeling strangely dim in this dark, drab world.  His welcome is muted, but sincere, whether it be a clap on the shoulder from the Padre, or a teary smile from Twinkle.

"I'm ready to go back." He tells them, taking a deep breath. "Others of my faith are still in there."

"You know they're almost certainly dead." The Padre offers, "It would be safer to seal the tunnels."

Sirdros shakes his head,

"That is not our task."

And thus they return to the caverns, venturing past the corpses of the ghouls, and into a narrow but high tunnel.  This twists and turns, forcing them to move in single file and often plunging one adventurer or another into darkness as those members carrying torches move around a bend.

And then suddenly there is a flurry of activity above them, and what they take at first to be bats drop out of the darkness toward them.  It is only as the creatures come within their light that they see the long mosquito-like noses and hear the high-pitched buzz of the wings: these are no bats.

"Stirges!" the Padre curses, "Don't let them land on you!"

Easier said than done: several of the creatures alight on Anastria and Briar, each attempting to plunge their needle-like proboscis into the flesh of the women.  Some succeed, and Anastria goes white as more than a pint of blood is drained from her body.  Swaying badly, she ignores the foul creatures, scrabbling instead in her pack for her _potion of bear's endurance_, which she drains as eagerly as the stirges drain her blood.

Fortunately for the elf woman, the other adventurers are at hand, not at the other end of a rope.  They move quickly into action, attacking the creatures that have settled upon her and Briar.  Mantreus' magical missiles prove particularly useful in this regard, for he can target them on the beasts without risk to his friends.

Despite this, and despite the potion, Anastria is white and trembling by the time all six of the stirges have been slain.  Anaemic and faint from the loss of blood, she sags against the tunnel wall, barely able to hold onto consciousness.

After checking that Briar is in no imminent danger of death, the Padre gives Anastria a hard stare, before laying his hand on her shoulder and speaking the words of a spell of restoration.  Perhaps St Cuthbert senses his priest's reluctance, for the magic flows weakly, barely strengthening the elf woman at all.

"This is ridiculous." The priest confers with Sirdros and Mantreus, "We've barely gone a hundred yards further than last time, and we've got to head back again.  I'm pretty sure that potion is the only thing keeping her alive."

"Briar is weak, too." Sirdros agrees, "Though not so sorely.  Twinkle and yourself as well."

The Padre waves off the concern.

"I'm fine." He insists. "Let's get back to the monastery."


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 7*

It is two more days before they are ready to return to the caves, and whatever slim hopes were held of the three brothers' survival have faded even further.  Nonetheless, the adventurers once more descend into the darkness, for Sirdros insists that even the faintest of hopes must be pursued.

Passing the bodies of both the ghouls and the stirges without mishap, the group explores several more caverns without incident, travelling deeper and deeper underground as they do so.

After several hours, Twinkle stops to wipe her face with her sleeve,

"Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?"

"The air is warmer here." Sirdros agrees. "It is the first time I have not felt chilled, since I returned from my lord Pelor's domain."

"Well, I'm glad someone's enjoying it." Mantreus mutters.  The self-styled 'dashing rogue' is finding it hard to look cool whilst dripping with sweat.

"I did not say that." The priest of Pelor responds, "This is not the wholesome warmth of the sun; I care for it no more than you."

"Wholesome or not, we press on." The Padre points into the darkness, "We haven't found the missing Pelorites, yet.  Stay alert, though - the last time it was this hot underground, we ran into undead and that death cultist Orc."

"Thanks for the cheery thought." Briar quips, tying back her sweat-stained hair with a scarf.

The air grows ever more hot and humid, until at last the group emerges into a large cavern, which is filled with lush - though rather strange - vegetation.  Fungi, tubers and all kinds of bizarre growths, many of them garishly coloured, dot the area.  There is one particularly large mound of these growths, largely purple in hue, on the far side of the cavern, near a section of the wall that looks like it has recently collapsed.

"Wait." The Padre holds up a hand to forestall the others from heading across the cavern toward the only other exit, a narrow tunnel that can just be seen behind a natural curtain wall. "Every time we go anywhere in these damn tunnels, something jumps out and tries to kill us."

Anastria glances around and wrinkles her nose,

"The place needs a good clean, that's certain, but I don't see anything dangerous."

"What about that?" the priest points at the purple mound.

"It's just a bunch of over-grown mushrooms." The elven woman sniffs.

"They could be man-eating mushrooms." Twinkle offers, "Or maybe they release hallucinogenic spores so that people near them go crazy and try to kill each other."

"Twinkle, stop helping." The Padre draws out his bow, "I say we shoot a few arrows into it, just to be sure it's not a threat."

"Hey, look everyone - it's a sleeping dragon." Anastria mutters, sarcastically, "Let's shoot it in case it's dangerous."

Oddly, no-one seems particularly interested in the elf's opinion.

Except possibly the mound, which objects rather strenuously to being shot at.

As soon as the first arrow sinks into it, the mound immediately starts shrieking: a deafening noise that echoes and re-echoes in the enclosed space.

"Great!" Anastria yells, struggling to be heard above the din, "Now every monster within half a mile will know we're here and be coming to jump out and kill us!"

The others, however, are far too distracted to concern themselves with the elf's complaints.  Instead, their attention is focussed on one especially large, violet-capped fungus, which lurches out of the mound and begins to move toward them.  Dragging itself along on dozens of tiny, finger-like roots, the creature is extremely slow, but proves dangerous nonetheless, as two long vines unwind from its body and lash out toward the group. 

"You three!" the Padre draws his mace and uses it gesture at Mantreus, Twinkle and Briar, "Put a stop to that racket.  The rest of us will deal with the big one."

This proves easier said than done: while the fungi are static targets, or nearly so, that which is easy to hit is not always easy to harm.  Their sponge-like flesh absorbs much of the force of bludgeoning blows, while the small holes caused by Anastria's rapier seem to cause them little injury at all.

The vines of the single mobile fungus lash out as the Padre and Sirdros try to surround it.  The latter is encased in a heavy layer of armour, and the blow harmlessly slides off his breastplate, leaving a smear of purple-green ichor on the metal, but the Padre is not so fortunate.  The vine wraps around his leg, and dozens of hair-like protrusions pierce his skin, injecting the strange venom into his body.

"Damn it!" the priest curses as his leg goes numb, then gives way beneath him.  He falls heavily, landing directly in front of the fungus, which looms up, both vines thrashing wildly in the air, ready to strike again and end the helpless priest's life.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Thanks for the update Capellan, nothing but an innocent little arrow, not trouble really.


----------



## Zaruthustran

_Dun-dun DUN!!!_


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 8*

There is an orange flash as Mantreus fires a magical bolt of energy into the creature's side.  The fungus writhes its tentacles, turning from the Padre to this new foe.  It wreaks a fierce vengeance: both Twinkle and Mantreus are struck by the poisonous barbs, the gnome sagging to the ground as the muscles of her chest slacken, making it hard for her to breathe.

It is a fierce vengeance, but it is also just the opening the Padre needs.  Pushing himself up on one arm, he raises his mace overhead:

*"Saint Cuthbert smite thee!"*

Black energy courses along the mace as it smashes a huge chunk of the creature's pulpy flesh.  Green and purple goo sprays from the wound, and the fungus thrashes its death throes. 

With this threat removed, the shrieking fungi are easily destroyed.  Then Briar and Mantreus help the Padre to his feet, and he gingerly tests his leg.  It nearly buckles, then holds, trembling slightly from the effort.

"You look terrible." Mantreus opines.

"I feel it.  How's everyone else?"

"Sirdros is helping Twinkle; I think she is going to be okay." The sorcerer glances over at the gnome, who is being tended by the elven priest, "But I doubt she can go on.  How about you?"

Pride and caution war in the Padre's eyes, before he grudgingly answers,

"It would be best for me if we turned back, I think.  The numbness is spreading.  You were lucky not to be poisoned, as well."

Mantreus shrugs,

"I'm too pretty to look as bad as you do, right now."

The Padre snorts,

"Let's check this cave, and then head back.  The priests should have more restoratives: at least potions and scrolls.  If we can persuade them to give us some, we can come back down again."

"I've never persuaded a _priest_ to give me some, before."

Whatever response the Padre might have to Mantreus' comment is forgotten as Briar calls out to them,

"There are two bodies here - I think they might be two of the missing brothers."

The bodies lie under a layer of fresh fungal growth.  Though both are partially decomposed, one is sufficiently intact to show signs of a wound to the neck.  Both also lie close to the cave-in, which looks fresh enough to have occurred around the time the men went missing.

"This can't be good." Is the Padre's assessment.

"At least we can take my brethren for a proper burial." Sirdros seems to be the only one who draws some solace from this thought. "Anastria and I can take one of the bodies, while Briar and Mantreus take the second.  Can you and Twinkle make the journey back, unaided?"

"We'll make it." The Padre responds, stoically.

Make it they do; though the return march is long and slow, and accompanied by a constant stream of muttering from Anastria, who seems less than pleased to act as pallbearer for a 'human cultist'.

With the bodies of the two monks returned to the monastery, and fortified by healing and restorative potions they have bullied out of Abbot Gerrard, the group ventures once more into the darkness of the tunnels.  Passing the fungi chamber, they travel on for several minutes, until they reach a cavern which is split by a fissure; not more than ten feet across, but deep enough that they cannot see the bottom.

On the far side of the fissure they can dimly make out the shapes of boulders, and from amidst these dark shapes comes a voice, speaking in broken Common:

"This Broken Tusk Cave.  You leave.  We not kill."

"Orcs." Twinkle identifies the race of the speaker, "Hiding in the boulders." She points, and Sirdros and Anastria nod their agreement.

"I'm glad _you_ can see them." The Padre mutters, then raises his voice, "_You_ leave, and we not kill."

"You know, it's going to be hard to reach them, over there." Twinkle eyes the fissure, "Unless you plan on jumping."

"We have bows." The Padre waves her objection away.

"They have pretty good cover."

"Listen, so far in these caves we've been smacked around by ghouls, stirges, and casserole ingredients that decided to bite back.  After all that, there's no way we're backing down to a bunch of _orcs_." The priest of St Cuthbert glowers at the others, "Am I right?"

Anastria nods,

"No _true_ elf runs from orcs."

And thus the adventurers follow up the Padre's words with a hail of arrows and crossbow bolts.  One of the orcs goes down.  A ragged volley of javelins arcs back at them, but they clatter harmlessly on stone or shield.

"I told you we'd take them." The Padre exults.  And then a javelin slams into him, driving right through his body to emerge, gore soaked, from his chest.  The priest stares at it in shock; not just from the pain of the wound, but from the direction of the attack:

The javelin came from _behind_ them.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Are these guys 2nd level?  This is some bad luck, or something here below the monastary.  That javelin didn't hurt, it's only a flesh wound.

GW


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 9*

Orcish warriors burst out of the cover of boulders and stalactites on the party's rear right flank, charging in with swords and axes readied for battle.  Sirdros and Twinkle are the closest to this charge, but both react quickly enough to fend off the attacks, turning what might have been a deadly ambush into a more even contest.

Grimacing in pain, the Padre slams his fist into the javelin that has pierced his flesh, snapping away the barbed head and allowing him to force the shaft from the wound.  He goes white from the shock and pain, but remains on his feet, grinding out an invocation to St Cuthbert.  That dour god, perhaps looking with favour on such tenacity, heals the terrible injury completely.

"They've got a shaman at the back!" Mantreus shouts a warning but there is nothing anyone can do to prevent the orc from completing its own incantation.  Those orcs in melee with the group seem to swell slightly with battle-rage, delivering their blows with more speed and power.

Mantreus unleashes a bolt of magical energy at the shaman, but the orc remains solidly on his feet, rattling through another incantation that creates three additional images of himself.

"Somebody deal with him!" the Padre snaps up his crossbow and puts a bolt through the eye of one of the ambushing orcs.

'Dealing with him' means first dispatching the orcs that stand between the group and the caster.  However, it rapidly becomes apparent that this is the best tactic for the battle, in any case: the missile fire from the far side of the crevasse was never terribly accurate to begin with.  Once the adventurers become locked in melee, it loses even its nuisance value.

Blood spatters onto the stone floor as orc after orc is slain.  After the challenges they have already faced in these caverns, the Broken Tusk tribe holds little fear for the adventurers.  Only the shaman lasts for any length of time, defending himself with blasts of flame and a gnarled wooden club.  Sheltered by the stalactites on one side and the cave wall on the other, only one person can reach him at a time, even after all the other members of his tribe are slain.  One by one, his protective images wink out, but the orc himself is almost unhurt.

It is Briar who breaks the deadlock, somersaulting past the shaman.  The orc lashes at her with its club as she passes him, but the blow does not connect.  Rising smoothly to her feet, the rogue stabs deep into the shaman's side, wounding him deeply.  Struggling with the pain of the blow and the distraction of the young woman behind him, the orc fails to parry a crushing blow of the Padre's mace, and is slain.

After looting the bodies on the near side of the crevasse, the adventurers consider how to cross the gap.  They can see that the orcs have a pair of makeshift wood and rope bridges rolled up on the far side, but these will be of no use unless one of the group can get across to use them.

"Someone is going to have to jump across, then throw the rope for one of the bridges across to the rest of us." Mantreus observes.  A moment later, he realises that everyone is looking pointedly at him, "Hey!  Why does someone have to be me?"

"It was your idea." Twinkle smirks.

"Whoever makes the jump will need to carry as little as possible." The Padre has a more logical reason, "And you are the one who is most able to defend himself without weapons and armour." He looks pointedly at the shimmering aura of magical protection that surrounds the sorcerer.

"Fine." Mantreus sighs in the manner of one who is being unjustly persecuted.

"Look at it this way." Briar suggests, "Now, when you try to get women into bed with tales of your bravery, you won't have to make them _all_ up."

Still muttering imprecations about the rest of the group, the sorcerer makes the jump, readily clearing the gap.  He quickly throws a rope to the others and they pull it in, drawing the bridge out across the gap.  Then - feeling little trust in orcish workmanship - they cross a single person at a time.

More looting of bodies follows, before the group turn their attention to the only exit from the cavern.  This leads into another, smaller cave.  It is quickly apparent that this was some kind of storage area for the orcs, being filled with various mismatched items that look like they have been looted from the collapsed catacombs.

But what draws the majority of the group's attention is the bound and gagged young man in a monk's robe, who lies against the cave's back wall.


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 10*

Once untied, the man introduces himself as Brother Durham, the last - and most senior - of the brethren who entered the caves.

"Thank you for the rescue, good folk." Brother Durham inclines his head in gratitude, "May I ask thee to aid me in returning to the monastery?  I must tell the Abbott of what occurred."

"What did occur?" the Padre asks, in the tones of one who is less-than-convinced of Durham's sincerity.

"We came down into the caves many days hence ... I do not know how exactly how long." Durham gives a shrugging wave toward the cave walls, "It is difficult to judge the passage of time here." He pauses to cough, then continues, "When we came down to find the missing relics, we discovered that several of them had been removed.  Following the signs of those who took them, we came upon these orcs.  I must confess it was foolish of us to follow at all, but we had not realised the number of the band, and sought to catch them before they could travel too far.  When I saw how numerous the enemy was, I told Brother Nathaniel and Brother Wickham to flee, while I held the orcs as best I could." He shrugs again, "Obviously I did not do so well as to save myself, but at least the others escaped."

Sirdros clears his throat,

"Actually, Brother, they died.  We found their bodies in another cave."

"Really?  I had hoped ..." Durham trails off, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"Why didn’t the orcs kill you?" Twinkle asks, from where she is poking through the creatures' belongings, "They usually do that, you know."

"One of the orcs ... an older, white-haired creature ... made some mention of saving me for 'the master'.  What this meant, beyond the obvious, I do not know."

The Padre grunts, still suspicious of the other man.

"We can hardly refuse to take him back to the monastery," Briar reminds him, under her breath, "That _was_ what they were sent to do, remember."

Reluctantly, the Priest of St Cuthbert nods,

"Let's get him back, get paid, and get out of here." He glances sourly at the cave around them, "Personally, I've had enough of these caves to last me a lifetime."

Whether they have had enough or not, the group finds it in themselves to make a thorough search of every scrap of the orcs' belongings, before heading back through the caves.  When they reach the rope leading back up into the monastery catacombs, the Padre insists that Brother Durham is the last to make the climb.

"Sorry, but we don't know you." Is his explanation, "And while we've never actually been betrayed by the people we're trying to help, so far, there's always a first time.  I don't want you climbing up there and cutting the rope on us."

Brother Durham acquiesces to the decision with a shrug,

"You have all been through a great deal, by the looks of it.  I cannot fault you for caution, now."

One after the other, the adventurers climb the rope.  The Padre is the last to make the climb, before calling down for the other man to join them.

"Thank you, my friends." Durham says as he emerges from the hole, "I would have been stuck below, without your aid."

And then he lashes out with his fist, striking Briar in the throat.


----------



## spyscribe

Just when you think you're being paranoid enough...


----------



## IceBear

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying this story our and your DMing skills


----------



## Capellan

*"The Hallowed Hills" by Miguel Duran (WotC Cliffhanger) - Part 11*

Briar reels back, the flesh around her neck turning grey and scabrous.

"Yikes!" Twinkle's eyes are huge and round, "What is he?"

The Padre has no doubts on the matter.  He brandishes the holy symbol of St Cuthbert and intones,

"_Begone_, Creature of Darkness!"

Durham laughs, batting both the holy symbol and the priest aside, and strikes at Anastria.  The elf all but crumples as the flesh pulls back around her eyes and mouth, like all the moisture has been sucked away.

"He's undead!" Sirdros swings at Durham with his mace.  The blow connects, but seems to have little effect. "A powerful one!"

"Priests!" Twinkle jumps up and down excitedly, "Priests!"

"We're _trying_!" the Padre snaps, as Durham dodges another blow.

"Not _you_." Twinkle scampers across the stone floor of the catacombs, heading for the steps into the monastery itself, "_Priests_.  Real Priests.  Upstairs."

As the gnome vanishes through the door, shouting for help, the battle rages on.  Sirdros and the Padre continue to hammer at Durham with their maces, while Briar looks for an opening to slide her blade into the creature's lungs.  When the opening comes, however, the deep thrust of the blade - which would have dropped a normal man in his tracks - seems to barely prick the flesh of Durham.

Anastria, too, struggles to land a telling blow, her style of speed and finesse ill-suited to harming a foe that seems to lack any vital points.

Stepping back from the others, Mantreus hurls tiny bolts of positive energy into the melee.  Most miss in the chaos of the fight, and others are accidentally blocked by his own compatriots, but a few sneak through, boiling away part of Durham's flesh.

It is unclear whether these pinpricks finally slow the undead monk, or whether the adventurers simply adjust to his speed and strength, but the two priests finally begin to land a few telling blows.  The heavy, spiked heads of their maces, swung with all the force the two men can muster, drive Durham to his knees.

"Die, creature." The Padre spits, slamming his mace into their enemy's skull.  Durham's head caves in on the side with a wet sound of impact -

- and then his whole body dissolves into grey-black smoke, boiling away into the darkness of the catacombs.

The Padre curses, even as Twinkle reappears with Abbot Gerrard and half a dozen rather nervous looking acolytes of the monastery.

"He's vanished!" the Priest of St Cuthbert snaps, "Turned into smoke and flew off!"

"A vampire; or rather, the spawn of one." The Abbot's weathered skin pales, but then he holds himself straight and speaks a benediction to Pelor.  Frowning in concentration, he points, "This way.  We must find him before he has time to recover his strength."

Following the directions of the Abbot, they track Durham - or rather the creature who was once Durham - to a decaying coffin, deep in the recesses of the tunnels.  Splintering open the soft wood, they find the vampire spawn within.  It lies helpless, still too weak to move, but with its black eyes glaring in hatred at the Padre, as he raises a stake to plunge into its heart.

"You fools.  You may have destroyed me, but my master will slay you all.  You cannot stand against the might of the Ebon Court."

And then Durham dies, still spitting defiance.

"Anyone heard of this Ebon Court?" the Padre asks.  There is a shaking of heads all round, and the Priest of St Cuthbert shrugs his shoulders, "Not our problem, then.  Let's go home."

The Padre's words cannot carry into the darkness of the caves beneath the monastery, but - far beyond the sight of the adventurers - Durham's sire senses the death of his spawn.  Ancient and powerful, filled with the darkness of ages, he does not even pause in his feast.  The human boy had been full of information about the new world above, but he was weak, and his use was at an end.

A low chuckle, as cold as the stone around him, echoes through the inky air.  His next children will be strong.  Strong as the trees, that will wither and die.  Strong as the ice, which will cover the land.  Strong as the darkness, which will swallow the sun.

In the night beneath the earth, Draedark the Kinslayer, who has slumbered these thousand years, has awoken again.


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Capellan said:
			
		

> "Anyone heard of this Ebon Court?" the Padre asks.  There is a shaking of heads all round, and the Priest of St Cuthbert shrugs his shoulders, "Not our problem, then.  Let's go home."




Oh dear.  Bad philosophy, that.


----------



## Capellan

Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> Oh dear.  Bad philosophy, that.




No-one's offered to pay them yet, so they don't care 

In other news - everything up to the last post has now been collated in a single download for your enjoyment (there's also a link in the first post of this thread).


----------



## Capellan

*"One Day's Journey Into Night" / "Manifesting" - Part 1*

Following their battle with the vampire spawn who had once been Brother Durham, the adventurers at the monastery send word for the rest of the Company to join them there.  Despite their initial bravado, the creature's final words: "None can stand before the Ebon Court!" are troubling.  It suggests a greater force at work, one of which none of them have previously heard.

The decision is made to travel north, toward Marikest, chief city of the Hidden Coast.  Other than the capital city of Tarkamul, this is the largest settlement in the Duchy, and the nearest place at which they are likely to find any information about the Ebon Court.  The journey will still take a week or more, but there are plenty of villages along the way, including Poisson, where some of the group hope to visit the bee-keeping wizard, Sionaas.  After all, Twinkle has already half-finished the jar of honey he gave her.

In the end, however, the gnome is not one of the first members of the group to set out.  Instead it is decided that five of them will go ahead with the wagon, which can only travel slowly, for it is massively weighed down with suits of scale mail pillaged from the orcs in the caves below the monastery.  The rest of the group will wait at the monastery for a few days, until the catacombs have been properly repaired, and the cave entrance sealed, and then follow behind.

The 'advance party' consists of the Padre - probably to stop his tiresome theological disputes with the Pelorites - Ming Li, Rose, Sirdros and Briar.  Leaving the monastery at dawn, the five travel all day with their wagon and its overworked horse, making camp just before dusk   They spend an uneventful night, but awaken the next morning to see a thick cloud of smoke arising to the north.  This could only come from a large, fierce fire: probably a burning building.

A spirited argument follows about whether and how to investigate.

"It'll all be over by the time we get the wagon there." The Padre shrugs, shading his eyes as he stares at the smoke.

"Then we should leave the wagon." Ming Li folds her arms, "People's lives may be in danger.  We should help."

"Leave the wagon!" the Priest of St Cuthbert sputters, "All our treasure is in there!"

"Four hundred pounds of smelly orc armour is _not_ treasure." The monk sniffs.

"The rest of your could go ahead, and I'll come up behind with the wagon." Sirdros offers. "I'm the only one who can get it moving at more than a crawl, anyway."

"Not _much_ more than a crawl." Briar mutters.

"We don't have time for this." Ming Li persists, "Sirdros can come behind.  The rest of us should go."

It proves that the smoke is indeed from a burning building: about a half mile up the road, the four adventurers reach a tiny hamlet, of no more than a dozen homes.  The largest building - probably the inn and town hall - is aflame, with a bucket brigade doing its best to douse the fire.  Off to one side, two people lie sprawled on the ground, with one of the locals crouched over them.

"You three help the bucket brigade." The Padre takes charge, "I'll see if those two over there need any help."  Striding over, he slaps the crouching peasant on the shoulder, "You there!  Do these folk still live?"

"Aye, they do." The peasant - a human male in his middle years - gives the Priest little notice, his attention on the two people on the ground. "They've breathed ina  lot o' smoke, and passed out, t'pair of 'em.  Ma Wilberry was caught inside t'inn when it lit up, and young 'un here went in to get her."

'Ma Wilberry' is stout, grey-haired woman with startlingly bushy eyebrows.  The 'young un' is a handsome human, wearing a slightly charred tabard, emblazoned with the symbol of Heironeous.

"Stand clear." The Padre orders.  The older man looks up in annoyance, then - catching sight of the holy symbol of St Cuthbert - hurriedly makes room for the priest.  The Padre invokes his god, channelling healing energy into the young man

"Ugh." The young opens his eyes and grimaces, wiping his soot-stained mouth on the cuff of his shirt, "That could have gone better.  Ah!  Is Madam Wilberry alright?"

"She will be once I have tended to her, as well." The Padre replies, doing exactly that.

"Splendid.  I'm Khore Vlentyne by the way." The young man smiles and offers his hand.  He has the most even, white teeth the Padre has ever seen, "I'm a holy knight of Heironeous."

"Padre Wolfgang Priem, of the Company of the Random Encounter."

Khore's smile fades, and his hand drops to his side.

"Oh." He grimaces slightly, "_Adventurers_."


----------



## arwink

Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> Oh dear.  Bad philosophy, that.




Well, they are adventurers.  It's not like they have the morality of more civilised heroes


----------



## caixa

arwink said:
			
		

> Well, they are adventurers.  It's not like they have the morality of more civilised heroes





This is one of the best lines I have ever heard.  This is so getting cut and pasted to my DM Screen....

Can't wait for the next update, keep up the good work!

Peterson


----------



## Capellan

*"One Day's Journey Into Night" / "Manifesting" - Part 2*

As the other adventurers drift over, the flames now under control, the Padre interrogates the locals about the cause of the fire.  It emerges that a group of riders burst into town about an hour before dawn, set fire to the inn, then rode away.

"They made no attempt to steal anything?"

"None." The peasant bobs his head, "I'd a seen it if'n they did, an' they didn't.  Take anything, that is."

"It makes no sense." The Priest frets. "Why ride in, set fire to a building, and ride out?  There's no profit in it."

"Some people are motivated by things other than profit." Khore sniffs.  The Padre ignores him,

"You didn't recognise any of these raiders?  They didn't shout out any demands?  They gave no reasons for the attack?"

"Nowt like right, y'honour." The man shakes his head, "And no-one recognised none of 'em."

The Padre frowns, but then accepts this answer as bad grammar, rather than clever use of the double negative.

"At least no-one was hurt." Khore remarks, cheerfully ignoring his own incapacitation, "Now I shall hunt down these varlets and bring them to justice."

Whatever response the adventurers might have made is interrupted by a man, dressed in slightly faded livery, who comes running down the street, shouting as he comes,

"Help!  Help!  The Lady Melina has been kidnapped!"

"Ah!" the Padre looks smugly satisfied, "Profit.  I knew that had to be behind it."

The man comes to a halt near the group and doubles over, panting for breath.  From his painful wheezing, it seems he is not used to the exertion of a cross-country run,

"Be you adventurers?" he gasps at last.

"Yes."

"_No_."

Khore and the Padre give each other sour looks before the Knight of Heironeous explains further to the confused-looking newcomer.

"_They_ are adventurers.  I am a Champion of the Imperial Church, and whatever aid I can give in your Lady's return, I offer it freely."

"Better hope there's lots of passing out that needs doing." The Padre mutters under his breath, then raises his voice, "We are the Company of the Random Encounter, certified members of the Adventurers' Guild.  To whom should we speak about assisting in the lady's rescue?"

"That would be my Lord Prisius." The man points back in the direction he came from, "He be at the castle, from where she were taken."

"Is there a good road leading up to the castle?" the Padre asks.  When the man nods in answer, the Priest of St Cuthbert gives a smile of satisfaction, "Good.  Then we will go and recover our wagon, and return here to go with you there."

Ming Li's eyebrows rise,

"A woman has been kidnapped and you fret over the wagon?"

"There are bandits around." The Priest defends himself, "Burning inns and stealing women; they could steal all our things, too, if we aren't careful.  It's not like Sirdros could stop them.  And we can't afford to get him raised again if he tries."

Ming Li recognises the pointlessness of further argument.  She turns to the still half out of breath servant, "Is this castle easily found?"

"Aye." The man nods, "Just follow the road north from the town, and the Castle be near the three hills."

"Rose and Briar, could you two go back and help Sirdros guard our precious wagon?" Ming Li gets affirmative answers from the two other women, and turns back to the scowling Padre.  "I see our new friend has already set out -" she points at Khore, who began marching north as soon as directions were given to the castle, "- I suggest we follow."


----------



## Peterson

Just to let you know, I'm stealing the basic idea - the idea of CotRE.

Of course, I'm changing it some to match my styles, which includes a name change to CoRE (Company of Random Encounters).

Just wanted to let you know that thanks to you, I've solved the problem of getting my players together to play - schedules are still a problem, but not like before.

Perhaps we will soon see another Storyhour in the future with the title of CoRE....I'll make sure it doesn't resemble yours _too_ closely.

Thanks again,

Peterson


----------



## Capellan

Hi folks,

Just a note to let you know that there will probably be no updates for the next month or so. I have some personal stuff that's going on. Good stuff, but stuff nonetheless 



			
				Peterson said:
			
		

> Just to let you know, I'm stealing the basic idea - the idea of CotRE.




Woo!  And so my empire grows   Best of luck with your new campaign.


----------



## Capellan

*An Unexpected Ending*

The acolyte put down his quill, and stared in frustration at the last words - ink still drying - on the page before him.

"That can't be it!" he protested, "It just ends in the middle!"

The monastery's ancient lorekeeper looked up his seat near the warmth of the fire,

"Not everything goes as planned, child." His voice is dry and dusty, "The bard Macwood, who wrote these tales, left the Company not long after.  His family called on him, and he went to aid them, in a distant land far from these shores."

"But what of the others?  Could one of them not have taken up the tale?"

"Perhaps, but those were dark days for Galiban." The old man stared into the fire, as if he could see the past in the flames, "They saved the girl, that much I can tell you.  There were other quests, the tales of which were never written down, but the Ebon Court was working all the while.  They wrought a spell of great power, and covered the sun in darkness.  Their armies marched - skeletons and zombies and gnolls, as well as other creatures far more foul - and much of the Duchy fell under their control."

"And what of the Company of the Random Encounter?" the youngster persisted, "Surely they stood against this threat?"

The old man sighed.

"Most of the Company fell at the Battle of Brightstone Keep, in the last weeks before the Ebon Court came into the open."

"They were killed?" the acolyte's voice broke as he asked the question.

"That often happens to adventurers, my son.  The dead were the lucky ones: those who did not die became servants of darkness, under the spell of the vampires who ruled the Court.  A few were later redeemed, and fought in the assault on the Ebon Court's stronghold."

"Do you know what happened to them?  Who survived, and who fell?"

The old man sighed, even deeper this time.  When he answered, his voice was a whisper,

"I do."

The boy had the sensitivity not to ask, but his hunger to know was clear from his expression, and at last the old man spoke again.

"Briar left at the same time as Macwood.  It is said she returned to Marikest, and found the sister she had thought was dead, but most of the rest of her life was spent in the wild woods ... her mate was Redhoof the Satyr, and she became a powerful druidess.

Twinkle survived the fight at Brightstone Keep.  She was redeemed, but her time as the vampire's pawn left her much changed ... the shadows had embraced her.  She fought at the final battle, but has not been seen since."

"Did many die at Brightstone Keep?"

"The only other survivors of that day were Mantreus and the two clerics: Sirdros and the Padre." The lorekeeper answered, "The _existence_ of some of the others did not end that day, but they could never be said to have truly 'lived', again."

The boy swallowed, his eyes wide and shocked,

"And those three?"

"Mantreus' sorcerous powers grew wild and uncontrollable.  He was lost in a storm of chaos-magic, torn from this world and thrown into the infinite planes.  Perhaps he survived: strange things happened around that one.

Sirdros was redeemed from the vampires' dominion, and fought at the final battle.  He was the light of Pelor on that dark field, and the vampires did all they could to destroy him.  They succeeded, but were destroyed themselves.  He rests now with his God."

The old man fell silent, staring once more into the fire.  The young acolyte waited, but the silence went unbroken, and at last he shifted in his seat, and spoke,

"What of the Padre?"

"What?" the Lorekeeper started from his reverie, "Oh ... the Padre." He paused, as if searching for the right words, "He never found the men who killed his father, but he found peace, and a new family, and he was content."

When it became clear the older man would say no more, the acolyte gathered up his quill and ink and walked quietly to the door.  Reaching it, he turned back,

"The Grace of St Cuthbert be with you, Lorekeeper."

"And with you, my son." The old man did not turn from the fire as the boy walked away.  He stared on into the flames, remembering dark times and brave comrades, and the many years that had passed him since.

And he was content.


----------



## spyscribe

Well, add my disappointment to the acolyte's.  I've enjoyed reading this story hour.

Hope your personal stuff all worked out okay.


----------



## Mantreus

> "Mantreus' sorcerous powers grew wild and uncontrollable. He was lost in a storm of chaos-magic, torn from this world and thrown into the infinite planes. Perhaps he survived: strange things happened around that one.



Ahh... most distressing it was


----------



## Capellan

spyscribe said:
			
		

> Hope your personal stuff all worked out okay.




It did   That's actually part of the reason the Story Hour is over -- some of the changes, while very cool, mean that I'm no longer going to be able to run the campaign.  I could have posted for a while longer, but the story still wouldn't have had a proper conclusion, so there seemed little point.

I will, however, dig up and post some photos of the ubercool model of Brightstone Keep that the Padre's player made.

And yes, they really did get totally stomped in that fight


----------



## The Padre

Capellan said:
			
		

> "What of the Padre?"
> 
> "What?" the Lorekeeper started from his reverie, "Oh ... the Padre." He paused, as if searching for the right words, "He never found the men who killed his father, but he found peace, and a new family, and he was content."
> 
> When it became clear the older man would say no more, the acolyte gathered up his quill and ink and walked quietly to the door.  Reaching it, he turned back,
> 
> "The Grace of St Cuthbert be with you, Lorekeeper."
> 
> "And with you, my son." The old man did not turn from the fire as the boy walked away.  He stared on into the flames, remembering dark times and brave comrades, and the many years that had passed him since.
> 
> And he was content.




The Padre was never one much to write, even in his twilight years.

At least Twinkle never heard what he really thought of her......  

Dave


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

I'm sorry to see it go, but understand.  Thank you for sharing the adventure with us here.

GW


----------



## Jon Potter

I'm going to chime in with my own regrets at seeing this Story Hour come to an abrupt end. It's one of a handful that I really enjoyed start-to-finish.

Quite fun while it lasted.

Thanks.


----------



## threshel

I am sorry to see this one go, but it's been a great read.  I hope that you still find the time to play, even if it's not this campaign, and even if you can't write it all down for us.

J


----------



## Peterson

Capellan said:
			
		

> The acolyte put down his quill, and stared in frustration at the last words - ink still drying - on the page before him.
> 
> "That can't be it!" he protested, "It just ends in the middle!"
> 
> The monastery's ancient lorekeeper looked up his seat near the warmth of the fire,
> 
> "Not everything goes as planned, child." His voice is dry and dusty, "The bard Macwood, who wrote these tales, left the Company not long after.  His family called on him, and he went to aid them, in a distant land far from these shores."




Wow.  While I echo the regret that this fun, and well-wrote tail has come to an end, at least you took the time to end it in an equally well-wrote and thought-out manner.  Thank you.



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> "What of the Padre?"
> 
> "What?" the Lorekeeper started from his reverie, "Oh ... the Padre." He paused, as if searching for the right words, "He never found the men who killed his father, but he found peace, and a new family, and he was content."
> 
> When it became clear the older man would say no more, the acolyte gathered up his quill and ink and walked quietly to the door.  Reaching it, he turned back,
> 
> "The Grace of St Cuthbert be with you, Lorekeeper."
> 
> "And with you, my son." The old man did not turn from the fire as the boy walked away.  He stared on into the flames, remembering dark times and brave comrades, and the many years that had passed him since.
> 
> _And he was content_.




As is I, good Padre, as is I.  Farewell.

Peterson


----------



## Mantreus

The Padre said:
			
		

> At least Twinkle never heard what he really thought of her......




Or did she?   Mantreus always had a slightly mischievous streak... and now that he's in between realities, you'll never know what he might get up to 

I'm more than a bit sad to see this one go. It was my first D&D campaign in a very long time, and Capellan is an exceptional DM. The Padre, Twinkle, Macwood and Briar were all characters that had a real substance to them. In fact all the players brought a certain something of themselves to the table, which always made it extremely entertaining. Twinkle buying an eye patch and pretending to be a pirate, and putting on two eye patches and being a blind pirate... Mantreus getting chatted up by an extra-planar hottie... and the never ending search for loot...

Plot hook: "I'll give you 500 gold to do <insert dangerous mission here>."
CotRE (in unison): "Each?"

...became an on going joke.

*sigh*


----------



## Twinkle

Yay! I survived!! Pity no one got to hear about our *evil* exploits, but gosh, did we have fun. And some of us were even really evil! It was a good ending, though. The Padre deserved to be content in the end.   

I am also very sad this campaign ended. Capellan is an awesome GM and a brilliant writer and I enjoyed being Twinkle! Just reading his posts always cheered me up and I'm sure they had the same effect on all the people reading this story hour. The games really were as fun as they sounded and I will be sorry to see the CotRE group go. Yay for Capellan!


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Hm.  Put me in the "enjoyed it while it lasted" catagory.  Very well done.

When, precisely, did the playing end?


----------



## Capellan

I only 'officially' ended the game the same day I posted here, but the last time we played was back in June or July.  We'd only played about 4 or 5 times in the last year, I'd say.

In terms of sessions, there were actually quite a few left, after the ones I've posted.  I've managed to dig up the notes I had for three of those, plus I think I have the actual module notes for a couple.  I may as well post all that for your enjoyment, eh? 

EDIT: looking at the length of my notes, maybe I'll do a session a day - it would be a daunting pile of text to post it all in one lump!


----------



## Capellan

*First, here is what is left of the session I was recounting.*

The Castle is very odd: obviously not designed for defence, it has an irregular, almost random shape, and large, airy windows (Ming Li describes it, almost approvingly, as "a very crooked house").  There is also only a single guard, who stutters his way through half of a challenge before the footman cuts him off and directs the adventurers - and Khore - inside.

The group emerges into a courtyard, at the centre of which is a 10' long statue of a cat, as well as a small table.  A well-dressed man sits at the table, writing on a scroll with an ornate quill.  The Padre immediately asks him about the reward for finding his daughter, which nonplusses the man, who insists he has no children.  Ming Li suggests to the Padre that it might be wise to confirm with whom he is speaking, and it turns out that this is not the Lord, but his cousin, Horonimo.

Horonimo, it emerges, is a Bard.  He's just started a new work - and account of the kidnap of the Lady Melina.

"Maybe you've heard of me?"

No, they haven't.  Khore additionally expresses his opinion that it is in bad taste to begin the play so soon, with the Lady not yet recovered.  Horonimo finds this idea bizarre: obviously he must begin now, or his competitors will get a head start on him.  He's very pleased to meet the adventurers personally, as it will give him a much better insight into their characters when he writes their parts in the play.

They eventually manage to get the self-absorbed Horonimo to stop talking about himself, and he takes them to see the Lord, a grey-haired man with a sombre expression.  He requests their assistance in finding his daughter, explaining that he believes she has been abducted by Jacobius Kranshup, 

Kranshup, according to the Lord, is a disreputable looking fellow who has been an occasional visitor to the township, usually staying at the inn, where he "met with unsavoury types" and "displayed an uncouth interest" in Melina.

The group immediately decides that Melina has run off with this Kranshup - a suggestion that the Lord icily dismisses - and asks to take a look at her room.  The request is granted, and they spend a fruitless half hour searching for hidden love letters.  There are none, though they do notice that the room is all but overflowing with stuffed animals and similar items: the kind of toys one would get for a child.  They also see another room that is filled with dolls of all kinds.  They double-check Melina's age, and confirm that she is nearly twenty.

In the course of their investigation, the group also meets Dame Dora Prisius, the Lord's mother.  This elderly lady is rather strange, rambling about her lost earring, which contained a ruby.  The Dame says that rubies are "red like fire", adding that "fire lights the dark places", and that she was recently stuck in a dark place, but that the ruby didn't help her.

Still thinking that Melina may have left of her own volition, the adventurers check that all the family's horses are present and accounted for: they are.  They also check for magic throughout the building - the lord wears a few small items of magic - and ask where the Dame's "dark place' might be.  In answer, Lord Prisius shows them two secret passages, noting that Melina used to play in them as a child.  He also mentions that he has already checked the passages to be sure she is not in any of them, and makes it fairly clear that he is becoming impatient for the group to set off: the kidnappers already have a head start, and will be getting further and further away.

Demonstrating their usual tact and diplomacy, the Company ignores the Lord's comments, and go to speak to Horonimo again.  The Padre and Khore are both suspicious of the bard, feeling that his eagerness to begin on a play about the event indicates some sort of complicity in the act.  Leaping from this dubious conclusion to the outright fantasy that the Bard would therefore have spilled all the details in the verses he is writing, they attempt to flatter him into showing them a copy.  Horonimo's refusal to do so simply increases their suspicions, and Khore goes so far as to invoke his holy power to discern evil, but cannot detect it on the bard, or anyone else within the castle.

Finally, the group discusses leaving in pursuit of the missing woman.  Realising that none of them can track, they ask about hiring someone to help them.  Lord Prisius icily suggests that it would have been sensible to mention this some hours earlier, when they first agreed to the task, as it will take some time to find someone to help them.  The group are unperturbed: they can use that time to go fetch their wagon, after all.

All these delays eventually add up to the loss of a whole day, and the group spends a comfortable night in the castle, though Lord Prisius is a far from effusive host.  You'd think he was anxious about something.

During the night, the Padre gets a sense of being watched, but no-one in the group can see any sign of anyone spying on them.

The next morning, they are introduced to a tracker from the village, named Ossal.  This taciturn fellow becomes positively sullen when the Padre tries to tell him how to do his job, but his tracking skills are better than his people skills, and he leads them swiftly along the road in pursuit of the robbers.  He does not, however, refrain from grumbling about the delay in setting out, and the fact that he is only able to follow due to the sheer numbers of men on horseback.

After a few miles, Ossal turns off the road, dismissing the tracks that continue along it as 'a diversion' and pointing out a much less obvious set of markings leading into the forest.  Following these, the group reaches a small clearing containing a campsite.  The camp bears signs of having been hurriedly evacuated only a short time before: the embers in the fire-pit are still warm.

As the group explores the camp site, two hideous, bloated zombies crawl out of the underbrush and lurch to the attack.  Both Sirdros and the Padre fail to turn the creatures, and the confrontation becomes a melee.  The zombies are easy to hit, but they seem to shrug off most of the force of the adventurers' blows.  Those injuries they do suffer weep a foul black ooze.  Khore, bearing a large and heavy sword, has the most success in dispatching them.

Finally, the paladin lands a mighty blow on one of the creatures, piercing its black heart.  Foul ichor spurts everywhere, and then suddenly the zombie bloats and bursts, spraying putrid chunks of flesh and gore all over the place.  The force of the explosion knocks several people from their feet, and also causes the other creature to detonate as well, battering the adventurers still further.  Khore, at the ehart of it all, is knocked out.  The Padre heals him, however, and the group begins to look around.

They find several small but valuable items, seemingly forgotten in the bandits' sudden rush to leave the camp, as well as a scrap of parchment marked with the foul sigils of the Devourer, a demonic entity of gluttony and greed.  Once their search is complete, the group gathers in the middle of the clearing to discuss their course of action.  As they do, a voice calls to them, asking if they "be friends o' the green."

The Padre demands that the speaker "come forth and be recognised", which provokes the quite reasonable response that they've never met, so how will he recognise them?  As the cleric starts loading a crossbow, a satyr bounds into the clearing, bowing low and winking at the females in the group.

The Padre demands the satyr's name, is told, then demands it again.  The satyr - one Redhoof - asks if the cleric is deaf or stupid, then suggests he not answer, since they both know he isn't deaf.  Briar nearly wets herself from laughing at this.

Redhoof expresses his admiration for the group's killing the zombies, then faces interrogation from the Padre.

"Been here a while?"

"In this spot?  About a second.  Why?"

Redhoof confirms that he saw the horsemen - "like centaurs, but two people rather than one" - but says that they did not have a girl with them.  He's very clear on this point, remarking that he definitely knows the difference.

"Where did the horsemen go?"

"Away?"

"Which way?"

"Well, that depends.  I could tell ye.  I could.  Because I know.  But how do I know ye are friends?  Ye killed the black, but maybe ye work for the white.  They're working together now, but that won't last.  Me, I work for the green."

"Who are the black and the white?  Good and evil?"

"No, they're both evil, so they are."

"We fight for good."

"Good's all very well, but do ye fight for the green?  There are plenty as are good that don't."

"How do we prove we are friends of the green?"

"It so happens as I have this amulet, this one here, which can tell if ye be friend or foe.  All ye need to do is put it on, and we'll know if ye be friends.  Now, I should warn ye ... I should.  But I may not."

"Warn us of what?"

"Well, if ye be friends, that's all to the good, and ye can wear the amulet and be safe.  But if you're not, well, things could go badly for you, so they could.  At least, that's how it is supposed to work.  It's never failed before, at least.  Though there's always a first time, I suppose."

Briar offers to try the test of the amulet , but also asks that Redhoof teach her about the forest and the wilderness, if she passes.  The satyr agrees, if she's willing to pay the price of tuition.  At first, the young rogue thinks he means money, but his eyebrow-waggling leer soon makes it clear what he really means.  After a few moments thought, she agrees to the conditions, asking:

"Those old legends, are they true?"

"Depends which ones ye be meanin', though I am pretty legendary, if I do say so m'self."

Briar dons the amulet and her hair turns a dark green.  Redhoof, pleased with this proof of her friendship, tells the group to travel north to the Caves of Night, where he overheard the bandits say they were headed.  Pausing only long enough to pat Briar's rump and tell her to hurry back, he bounds away into the forest, and the group continues on their way - though they do so without Ossal, who refuses to go near the ill-omened Caves.

Arriving at the Caves of Night, the adventurers find a scene of carnage: over a dozen horses have been slaughtered and dismembered, their bloody remains spread over the churned up mud and grass outside the cave entrance.  Once of the poor creatures still lives, though it has been hideously mutilated and is currently.  Briar puts a crossbow bolt through its skull, killing it instantly and painlessly.

This action disturbs a clump of rats that were feasting on the remains, and they attack the party in defence of their meal.  The battle is a quick and predictable victory for the adventurers, who move on into the caves themselves.

Heading left from the first cavern, they find themselves approaching a cave filled with more of the verminous rats, which are feasting on further blood and offal.  The cave appears to be a dead end, and after a whispered conversation the group decides not to waste their time and energies on such foes.  Instead they turn back and follow another tunnel deeper into the ground.

Emerging into a large cave which has many holes burrowed into the floor, they advance cautiously, expecting an ambush of some kind.  Their suspicions are confirmed as swarms of beetles burst out of the holes to attack them, but the fight is as one-sided as that against the rats.

Beyond the large cave, the tunnel splits and splits again, winding and twisting and branching off in all directions.  Moving slowly and making a crude map as they go, the group carefully explores this warren, conscious of the risk of getting lost.  They soon become conscious of another risk as well: something is in the tunnels with them!  Briar's keen ears are the first to hear the slight skittering sounds of movement, but as they pause and listen, Rose and Ming Li hear them, too.

The group adopts a defensive position, with Sirdros at the centre to provide healing to whomever gets attacked.  Unfortunately, the attack comes from a direction they had not anticipated: directly above.  A bestial, furred humanoid drops from the ceiling, raking at Sirdros with its claws.  The wounds are grievous, staggering the elf badly.  The creature is like none they have seen before, with huge ears and large membranes of skin hanging from its arms.

Despite its fierce attack, however, the creature proves quite fragile: the Padre smashes his mace into its head, killing it with a single blow.

And then the adventurers hear a voice calling:

"Hello, is there someone there?"

Most of the group suspect a trap, but Khore immediately calls back to the voice.  As the Paladin and the other speaker continue their conversation, the group slowly pick their way toward the voice's source - a slow and laborious process due to the difficulty of pin-pointing where sound is coming from in the twists and turns of these tunnels.  Eventually, however, they find a small cave off one of the tunnels.  The entrance to this cave is blocked with an iron grill, which has been padlocked shut.  Behind the grill are about a dozen men, all with a disreputable appearance to them.

These men explain that they were the ones who attacked the village, under orders from their leader, who had been paid to 'ride in, make a lot of noise, and burn the inn'.  They claim to know nothing of Lady Melina's abduction, and insist she was not with them when they left.  They also claim not to know who hired them.  Their leader conducted all the negotiations, and told them only that the man was 'a toff'.

Naturally, the group want to speak to this leader, but are told that he is dead: it seems that a man came to the bandits camp the night before, along with three companions.  He demanded to know if they had the girl, and when told they did not, he slaughtered two and took the others prisoner.  Khore is scornful of twelve men being bested by four, but the bandits swear these were not normal men:

"Our weapons just seemed to slide off 'em , without doin' any harm."

Since being brought to this place, the bandits have seen four of their number - including their leader - dragged out of the cell, never to return.  They offer a number of bloodcurdling explanations for what might have happened to the missing men, and beg the adventurers to release them, so that they might flee.

The adventurers confer and decide that, while there is obviously a greater evil than the bandits at work, they are still criminals and should be taken back to town once the greater threat is vanquished.  Though there is little argument on this point, Briar does suggest leaving the men with weapons to protect themselves from whatever took them.  The Padre points out that weapons did not help them against these foes before, but would let them fight the Company, and everyone agrees that the men should not be armed.

Moving on, they press ever deeper into the earth, finally emerging from the warren on tunnels into a cavern of substantial size, with a high roof.  Here, they immediately come under attack.

The first hint of a threat is the huge bat that swoops out of the darkness to bite at them, but it is quickly followed by crossbow bolts, which are fired down at them from the ceiling.  Staring up, they can see dark figures hanging from the ceiling.  The figures begin to reload.  As the other adventurers try to engage the bat, which is the only enemy they can reach with melee weapons, the Padre casts obscuring mist in an attempt to provide the band with some cover.

The attempt is an abject failure: neither the giant bat nor the crossbowmen seem inconvenienced by the fog, while it hinders the adventurers from landing their blows.  The others yell at him to dismiss his spell, but the spell cannot be cancelled in that way, and the group fights at a disadvantage for the remainder of the battle.  Thanks, Padre.

The giant bat scores some nasty injuries on the group, but they eventually manage to fell it after it comes in reach of their weapons once too often.  The rain of bolts continues, however, and when they return fire, their arrows harmlessly glance off their foes, doing no harm.  It rapidly becomes obvious that unless they can think of more innovative tactics, they will be defeated in this fight.  It is also obvious that they will need to think of them soon: their injuries are mounting rapidly, and several people are on the verge of collapse.

Briar remembers her magical dagger, and the injury it dealt the imp in Amberdale.  Hoping that it will work against these foes as well, she hurls it at one of their crossbow-wielding foes.  It proves a superbly weighted throw, the dagger plunges into the creature's neck, right to the lift.  With a choking screech, this enemy falls from the roof, landing with a sodden thud.

Knowing that they cannot rely on so lucky a blow a second time, Rose manufactures a rough lasso with a length of rope, then casts it at the other foe.  She manages to snag it and pull the loop tight, but the creature is stronger and heavier than the halfling, and she cannot dislodge it from its roost.

The Padre moves to assist Rose, but as he does so, Khore notices that the creature is quite close to one of the walls.  Running across the floor of the cave, the Paladin leaps up, his fingers and toes finding enough purchase for him to climb further, until he is nearly twenty feet above the ground.  Hissing, the creature fights its arms free and shoots a bolt into the knight's shoulder.  He nearly loses his grip, but manages to hang on from sheer determination.

Then, with a shout, Khore throws himself off the wall.

For a second, the Paladin seems destined to fall short, plunging to the stone floor below, but then his grasping fingers clasp around the creature's arm.  The foe squeals and tries to wrench free, but its reaction is too slow.  Unable to support the two hundred pounds of extra weight, it is torn free of the ceiling, and the two - man and beast - plummet to the ground.

After killing the injured beast-man, and restoring Khore to consciousness (the latter is a task that will rapidly become a familiar one), the group moves on.  The first corridor they investigate proves to be a trap for the unwary, but Rose - who is scouting - dodges back in time from the pit trap that opens beneath her feet.  Undeterred by this, the adventurers try another tunnel, which eventually emerges into the largest cavern they have yet seen, and the first to be significantly obstructed by pillars of rock and changes in the level of the floor.

At the far side of the cavern, on a raised platform of rock, stands a dark-haired man.  He has a rather thin-looking beard, though his forearms are quite thickly haired.  He invites the adventurers to leave, warning them that they will die if they stay, but the Company of the Random Encounter has never had much time for caution: they charge.

Khore and the Padre are the first of the mark, and thus the first to discover that the stone pillars conceal ambushers.  Four grey-skinned creatures with staring, sightless eyes burst out of the darkness.  Though they are blind, the things are far from helpless, zeroing in on the priest and paladin through some means other than sight.

Battle is joined, with the man on the platform changing into one of the bestial bat-things, and firing crossbow bolts at the adventurers, while they do their best to fight their way through to face him.  Things start badly: Khore, Briar and Ming Li are all injured, the monk taking a particularly ugly injury from the man's crossbow.  However, they fight back quickly: the Padre and Ming Li manage to down one of the creatures, while Briar guts another with a single vicious blow.

Sirdros moves up and heals Briar with the wand, just in time to keep the rogue on her feet - the leader of the enemy has chosen her as his next target, hitting her squarely with a bolt.  Though wavering on her feet, she has enough space in the fight to load her own crossbow with a gleaming magical bolt and send it flying toward the man, clipping his arm with her shot.

Recklessly battling two of the grey-skinned creatures at the same time, Khore is laid low by the wounds he has suffered.  Rose and Sirdros move to assist him, suffering wounds of their own for their trouble.  Fortunately, the Padre and Ming Li are on hand as well, and the four of them fell the two remaining creatures.

Now only the beast-man remains, but he is not going down easily.  Ming Li wings him with a magical crossbow bolt of her own, but it nearly drops Briar with another well-aimed shot.  Too far from the clerics for aid, the young rogue quaffs a potion in order to keep herself in the fight.

En masse, the group charges forward again, but it seems that for every blow they inflict, a more telling blow is made against them.  Briar's dagger cuts the bat-creature, but she is felled by the blow that comes in response.  Sirdros too is hurt badly, then Khore is downed.  Rose falls next, just as the Padre stabilises Briar and Sirdros brings Khore back to consciousness.  The Paladin tries to get fancy, twice attempting to trip his foe, but both times is thrown to the ground himself.

"Stop messing about and hit him!" is the Padre's advice, as he uses a potion to restore Rose to consciousness.

The bat-creature tires of the clerics' interference, moving to attack them and negate the party's healing.  Both men fight back - the Padre in particular lands a mighty blow - but the enemy is strong, and has healing potions of his own.  Sirdros is forced back to heal himself, while the Cleric of St Cuthbert is knocked out, falling at his enemy's feet.

Things could have gone badly for the Padre, then, but Ming Li snatches up Briar's magical dagger, which has fallen to the ground, and buries it deep in the creature's side.  As it screeches in rage and pain, Sirdros charges once more into the battle, and the monk and priest between them strike it to the ground.  As it falls, the creature returns to its human form.

Many charges of the wand are expended in restoring the party to some semblance of health.  They then search the cavern, uncovering a chest of treasure, but no sign of the missing Lady Melina.  It seems that at least part of the bandits' claim was true: they did not take her.

After severing the head of the powerful creature they have slain, the Company release the bandits from their prison, then bind their hands and march them back to town for justice.

Back in town, they get confirmation from Lord Prisius that the man-creature they fought was the Jacobius Kranshup of whom he spoke when tasking them with recovering his daughter.  While he stiffly thanks them for slaying the man and capturing the bandits, Prisius makes it clear that they have not yet accomplished their task.  His daughter is still missing, and they must set out to look for her again, not returning until they do.

The Padre has a nasty, suspicious mind, and there is something about the Lord's demeanour that ignites that suspicion.  He politely agrees that they will leave immediately - talking over the top of Khore, who wants to stay until the bandits have been tried - and ushers everyone out.  As soon as the Lord cannot see them, the priest goes to Horonimo, and - with flattering words of the bard's arcane knowledge - encourages him to demonstrate the use a wand of detect secret doors that the group has acquired.  Horonimo is so pleased by the flattery that he willingly complies.  Immediately he does, the Padre starts dragging him from room to room, demanding to know if there are any secret doors.

And thus the group learns that there are three secret passages in the house, not two.  Suspicions of the Lord Prisius mount higher - suspicions that are proven when he enters the room and demands they step away from the door in question.

The Padre insists that the door be checked, but when he does so the Lord gestures, his eyes burning with an amber light as he does so.  For a moment, the cleric feels his brain seize up in pain, but he battles through the sensation, and shouts for the others to attack.

Battle is joined, the adventurers against the Lord.  Horonimo faints at the sight.  The Lord bellows for his guards, but he has made a mistake in coming to the room alone, and by the time his men arrive, he lies in a pool of his own blood.  During the fight, he has demonstrated strange powers, unlike any magic the adventurers have seen, but it was not enough to avail against so many foes.

It seems now, however, that the group must be overcome and slain or imprisoned, but - as the guards gather to face them - Sirdros and the Padre smash open the secret door, revealing that the Lady Melina was indeed trapped within.  She vouches for their actions, revealing that her father imprisoned her when he learnt that she meant to leave the castle and study the healing arts in Marikest.  He had doted on her so long that he could not bear her to leave.

The Lady pardons the adventurers, though she notes sadly that she would have wished her father not to be slain.  She tells the Padre also that his resistance to the Lord's attack is due to the fact that the same powers are latent within him.  She encourages him to remain and learn of the art from her, for she too is a practitioner, and the priest agrees.

Briar too, takes her leave of the group, returning to the forest to seek out Redhoof for the training he promised her.

Freed from the Padre's parsimonious eye, the other adventurers - and Khore, who loudly declares that he is a Knight, not an adventurer - take the opportunity to give away about five hundred pounds of mundane equipment, which the priest had been keeping in the hope of selling it.  Then they continue on their journey north.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Much appreciated.

GW


----------



## Jon Potter

Good stuff.

So what is this strange power that the Padre possesses?

Interesting...


----------



## Capellan

Unaware of their comrades' adventures at the Caves of Night, the remainder of the Company leave the Monastery of the Risen Star only once the repairs to the catacombs are complete.  With these done, and all seemingly in order, they set off north.  Of all those who have previously shared their adventures, only Ulfgar and Gabrielle choose not to make the journey to the Monastery and beyond.  In fact, both appear to have abandoned the adventuring life completely.

As they set out, Anastria as always find many things to complain about.  Even the reminder that they travel north for her brother's sake - he is to perform the Spring Service in the village of Camiram, further up the coast - does nothing to improve her mood.  If anything it sours it further, but at least she subsides into dark mutters about the 'cult' of Pelor, rather than loudly chastising her fellow travellers.

The first two days of journeying pass without major event, and around midday on the third, the group approaches the Drunk Duck Inn.  There they find news of the road to the north.  It seems that they near the village of Poisson, where the old lighthouse stands.  Twinkle brightens at the news: Sionaas, the bee-keeping wizard, had mentioned his plans to make a home near this town, and the gnome is running low on honey.  She enthusiastically suggests that they pay him a visit.

Everyone is agreeable to the idea, and so they ask for directions.  They get some, but they also learn that Sionaas' tower is still being built, and the workers often come to the inn around evening, for the meals and cold ale.  When the workers leave to return to the site, the adventurers would be able to travel with them, and thus take a swifter route than they might find alone.

No-one seems to have any problem with spending an afternoon in a tavern (what a surprise!), so this plan is adopted.

The only flaw with the plan proves to be that it is a long and rather cold walk to Sionaas' tower, once the sun is long-down.  Fortunately, the adventurers are well-fortified with warming alcohol, and do not overly mind.

Arriving at the work site, they seek out Sionaas - who still makes his dwelling in a gypsy-style wagon - and ask about the progress of his work.  He shows them some magical candles he has created: one that burns without ceasing, and another that explodes, momentarily stunning anyone standing too close.  Anastria causes much snickering by asking for one of the 'blow up candles'.

Twinkle also purchases candles - both kinds - and shyly asks for another jar of honey.  Sionaas readily gives this to her, noting that he has far more of the stuff than he knows what to do with.

Borrowing a tent from the wizard's building site supplies, the group pitches it near the other workers, and then sit around with the men, swapping tales around the campfire.  The next morning, rising long after the workers have set out, they take breakfast with Sionaas and then go down to view the site.

Most of the work seems to digging, at this time, and Sionaas explains that he intends to open up enough area for his giant bees to build a full-scale hive, before building a tower of stone for himself.  It is more important to his work that the bees be comfortable and secure than he himself, and he does not find the cosy confines of his wagon to be unpleasant.

As the group turns away from the face of the diggings, there are shouts of alarm and then a sudden rumble as rocks and dirt cave-in from the ceiling.  Several of the workers are completely buried, but of the adventurers only Stormstrider is caught by any of the debris, suffering some minor injuries to his legs.  After pulling the elf free, the Company do what they can to aid in the workmen in digging for their buried friends.

It is not long before they find one, being drawn to him by his screams.  Even as they reach him, he begs to be pulled free, shouting:

"My legs!  There's something there and it's biting my legs!"

Indeed, when they pull him out, they find that his legs, quite apart from the damage done by the cave-in, are covered in dozens of tiny bites, the flesh torn open and bleeding.

The risk of further cave-ins slows the work, and it is many hours before the other buried workers are all found.  Unfortunately, none are alive.  Those that were not killed instantly by the cave-in died from blood-loss, for each has suffered hundreds of wounds like the bites on the first man rescued.

With six of their fellows dead and some kind of threat living in the earth where they are digging, the workers are understandably reluctant to re-enter the cave.  Sionaas thus turns to the Company for help, offering them a small reward if they will seek out the creatures that attacked the men, and drive off or destroy them.

The adventurers agree, and examine the cave for signs of how the creatures may have entered.  Mantreus and Elspeth soon find small holes in the cave walls, not more than three or four inches across, but very deep.  The ranger suggests they were caused by some sort of long, thin, burrowing creature.  Macwood suggests that this was rather obvious.

A discussion follows on how to tackle such small creatures.  Poking swords and staves into the holes does not seem to engender any reaction, so the creatures must be some distance away.  Eventually, Anastria suggests using meat as a lure.  The creatures attacked the bodies of the workers: perhaps they will be attracted to the scent of blood or fresh meat.

This seems like a plan, and Elspeth is sent to purchase some meat from the nearest farm.  Unfortunately, she chooses to return with a live goat, and proposes that they simply hack off its leg to get a suitably bloody piece of flesh.  There's a brief argument in which it rapidly becomes apparent that, while they will happily slay all manner of beasts, no-one in the group is prepared to butcher the goat simply for use as bait.  Twinkle, in particular, is opposed to the idea, adamantly refusing to countenance any plan for murdering 'Errol', as she has dubbed the creature.  Elspeth points out that it's clearly not a male goat, and therefore can't be named Errol, but the gnome insists otherwise.

In time, it is agreed that Errol will not be killed.  In celebration, Twinkle tries to ride the goat, but it doesn't appear grateful for her efforts to save it, and swiftly bucks her off.  Rubbing her bruised backside, the gnome opines that a goat obviously isn't appropriate as a mount, and that she's sure a giant lizard will prove much more suitable.

None of this is leading toward a resolution of the current problem, of course.  Eventually, the decision is made to reinforce the cave area around the holes, and then dig into the earth to see if the creatures' lair is close enough to be reached.

It is not, but after two hours of digging the adventurers suddenly break through into a much larger burrow.  In shape and formation it is similar to those they have seen before, but it is three feet across, rather than three inches.  It is clear that whatever attacked the workers, it has some much larger relatives.

The adventurers are undaunted, however, and make their way into these larger openings.  Twinkle and Macwood are the only ones who can move freely, with the others shuffling along on hands and knees.  They have gone only a short distance when a pair of strange, centipede-like creatures scuttle out of the darkness toward them.  These 'burrowbiters', as the halfling bard names them, have segmented bodies that are narrow, but close to a foot long.  They also have large mandibles, capable of giving flesh a nasty gouge.

The creatures are soon dispatches, having bitten only Mantreus in the process, and the group moves on, searching for the hive.  Eventually, they emerge into an area that has been hollowed out.  Most of them still cannot properly stand, due to the low ceiling, but they are going to need to properly fight: not only are there over a dozen of the burrowbiters here, but there is also a far larger creature, perhaps as much as five feet in length, with jaws that are equally out-sized for its body.

"The mommy-beast is yours." Twinkle advises Stormstrider.

The gnome's words are almost prophetic, for as both she and the ranger begin the fight by killing one of the smaller burrowbiters, the larger specimen scurries forward, clamping its massive jaws on Stormstrider's right leg.  He screams as the powerful mandibles close, tearing flesh and crushing bone.  Blood fountains from the ruined limb, and the elf fall, unconscious from the pain.

As the others focus their efforts on the smaller beasts, Macwood runs forward and heals Stormstrider.  The ranger rises - and the large burrowbiter savages him again, kicking him straight back into oblivion.

As Mantreus' magic missiles blast one of little beasts to smithereens, Macwood draws out the wand of cure light wounds and heals Stormstrider once more.  The elf's gory body mends somewhat, but he remains unconscious.

Twinkle, perhaps feeling guilty over her comment, runs forward and stabs at the large beast, just before it can lunge at Macwood  The creature hisses and turns, trying to snatch the gnome in its jaws, but Twinkle is able to skip backward, her small size an advantage in these close confines.

"That's two for me." Mantreus announces, as another of the creatures is blasted by his magic.  He smirks at Elspeth, "Are you ever going to kill any?"

Seeing Stormstrider rise as Macwood uses the wand again, Twinkle co-ordinates her attack with his, and the two drive their weapons deep into it.  Bleeding a foul green ichor, it snaps feebly at the ranger, but he fends off the blow.

As Elspeth finally kills one of the small creatures - and moments later a second - Anastria joins the battle against the larger beast.  The elf woman manages to score only a light injury on its side, but this is enough to distract it from Stormstrider's heavier blow, which crushes its last spark of life.

With the 'mother beast' gone, the remaining burrowbiters are swiftly destroyed, and - after taking a few minutes to ensure that none still lurk in the remaining tunnels - the adventurers return to the surface ... and their reward.

Then, bidding Sionaas and the remaining workers farewell, the group heads down into the nearby village of Poisson, which lies on the main road leading north.  There, they take lunch at the Old Captain's Inn, which also sells a variety of nautical paraphernalia.  Twinkle is particularly thrilled to find eye-patches, and promptly buys two, since she has two eyes.

The rest of their journey north is uneventful, and some four days later they reach the city of Marikest, the capital and largest settlement of the Hidden Coast.  There, they meet with the others, and begin a spree of buying and selling.  There are several items in the group's possession for which they have no need, and the markets of Marikest are their first opportunity to sell many of these, and there are plenty of things to buy ... even Twinkle's giant lizard, which an enterprising ostler agrees to import from the dwarves who live below the Crescent Range mountains.

As he goes through the items to sell, Mantreus comes across the strangely-marked copper pendant that they discovered in their very first adventure.  For a moment, he almost throws the bauble away, for it is clearly of little value.  But as he examines the marks, a small voice in the back of his mind suggests that there might be some meaning to them, and instead he decides to see if there is anyone in the town who can tell him what that might be(1).

When the group gathers once more, about a week later, the sorcerer begins to tell his companions of what he has learned, but his tale is interrupted by a hubbub of shouting and cries for alarm.  Looking in the direction of the sound, the adventurers spy a thick cloud of black smoke.  Such sights are always of interest to adventurers - "where there's smoke there's profit" - and they immediately head over to investigate.

The source of the fire, they learn, is a well-known local inn, "The Beast".  This was once a feared pirate vessel, but when her captain was taken and executed, the damaged hull was purchased by a local merchant, and turned into one of Marikest's most popular drinking halls.  Today, however, it has been reduced to a smoking ruin, courtesy - as the owner tells them - of a disgruntled employee: a bard by the name of Contel.

"He was a fine player, but the crowds did not take to him, and he worked up quite a debt on fine wine and food." The owner, one Tardak, explains. "I told him yesterday that if he did not pay, I'd have to take his flute - a fine gold one, it is - as payment.  This morn, he was gone, and my inn was afire.  I want him found, and the flute brought back to me.  It might pay for what I lost, today.  I'll give you fifty gold each if you do it."

"Is that each?" Mantreus asks.  It's an automatic reflex, by now.  Tardak gives him a dour glare,

"That's what 'each' usually means."

Stormstrider has other matters on his mind:

"Can we kill the bard?"

"Not unless y'must, to get the flute."

The group agrees to take on the task, and begin to make enquiries about the missing man.  It soon emerges that he fled south on horseback, and they determine to follow him.  Twinkle excitedly runs to get her new mount, which provokes considerable bemusement from her colleagues.

"This is Lord Rejinald Logarto III." The gnome announces when she arrives.  The mournful-looking lizard rolls its yellow eyes toward the other adventurers, who stare, dumbfounded.  The gnome drops her voice to speak in a conspiratorial whisper, "Try not to mention that he only has two names.  He's very sensitive about that."

Finally setting off after the missing bard, the group proves how earnest they are in their pursuit by stopping for the night at the first farm they pass.  The farmer, a gruff man with many hunting dogs, allows them the use of his barn.

Riding on in the rain the next morning, the group reaches the small town of Parvue.  Figuring that a lone traveller such as Contel would have sought a safe place to spend the night, they go to the local inn, in hopes of learning whether the bard stayed there.  The front room of the inn proves deserted, however, and when they call for the barkeep, two burly thugs with clubs rush out from the back.  The pair seem startled to meet such a large and well-armed group, and they get little time to rue their rush into the room: Mantreus deftly puts one to sleep with a spell, while Elspeth and Macwood quickly cut down the other.

Hearing the back door of the inn bang closed, the group moved into the rear room, discovering a woman, lying unconscious on the floor.  She wears a militia uniform, and has been badly beaten.  After checking that she is still alive, they revive her and learn that she is Nilfaria, the only permanent member of the militia in this small settlement, and thus the de facto 'sheriff'.  Further conversation reveals that she saw a well-dressed stranger in town the night before.  The group make the assumption that this is Contel, since they never got a description.  He spent the night at the inn, drinking with the two men who assaulted her.

This raises the question of why Nilfaria was attacked, to which she can only tentatively suggest that it is because she planned to ride up to the lumber mill that day, to check on the workers, there.  Many of the local men work at the mill, and there has been no word of them for over a week - an unusually long period.

With this information at hand, the group revives the magically sleeping thug and interrogates him.  They soon learn that all is indeed not well at the lumber camp: someone named 'Lorlathon' has moved in and taken over, turning the mill to his own profit.  When asked about Contel, the thug laughs cruelly.  Yes, they sent the bard up to the mill, promising him a 'glad welcome'.  Of course, it might be the gladness of robbers with a new prize, but they didn't tell him that ...

The group resolves to head up to the mill and rescue Contel (assuming he is still alive).  They also not too subtly drop hints that the injured Nilfaria might be better off paying them to deal with any problems there, rather than trying to handle them herself.  The sheriff, battered and bruised, agrees to pay them for their efforts ... once they return.

Heading up to the camp, they send Twinkle and Mantreus ahead to scout.  At first things go quite well, and everyone reaches the edge of the camp without incident.  Hiding in the undergrowth, they survey the clearing in which the camp is set.  The place is mostly quiet, the exception being one shed-like building where the sound of loud, half-drunken conversation can be heard.  There are about half a dozen buildings in all, and on the edge of the clearing is a large patch of disturbed earth, shaped into a low mound.  It looks grimly like a mass grave.

Although the sound of the voices is audible, the words themselves are muffled and slurred, making them impossible to distinguish from this distance, so Twinkle, Macwood and Mantreus sneak closer to hear more.  Though 'sneak' might be too generous a term to describe Twinkle's movement, as it implies some measure of stealth.

Thus it is that the door of the building bursts open as they approach.  The three adventurers brace themselves for combat, but the man who staggers out into the sunlight greets them quite convivially:

"Hello there!  You must be the new lads Lorlathon told us about."

Bluffing quickly, Macwood agrees that they are, and asks to be taken to see the 'big man'.  This the friendly drunk agrees to do, calling for his mates to meet the new lads, and to come along for the trip.  Soon a large gang of grubby, hard-faced men and women have congregated, and are leading the adventurers toward a small shack that has a sign reading "Mill Foreman" over the door.

Though everyone appears welcoming, the three Company members are acutely aware that they are surrounded, and hands nervously inch toward weapons as they make their way across the camp.  They can only hope that if it does come to a fight, their friends in the trees will come to their aid, for there would be little chance of fighting free alone.

They reach the hut, still hemmed in by the band of thugs, and one of the unshaven men hammers on the door with his fist, calling for Lorlathon.

The man who opens the door is better dressed than his gang of thieves, but his face shares the same hard lines and mean expression.  He asks Macwood if they are the new lads, and the halfling agrees that they are.  Smirking, Lorlathon replies,

"Really?  Then yer not here for this?"

As he speaks, he throws the severed head of Contel - hidden behind his back - into the halfling's chest.

A vicious dagger blow follows the head, and Macwood staggers backward in a fountain of blood.

Predictably, all hell breaks loose.

Mantreus snaps off another sleep charm, dropping three enemies to the ground, while Stormstrider charges out of the treeline with a mighty yell, felling one of the thugs with his staff.  Things look grim, though ... the adventurers are heavily outnumbered, and Macwood will almost certainly be killed if he is struck again.

Twinkle, standing amidst a gang of foes twice her size, all of whom have produced daggers or clubs from inside their clothes, feels a moment of rising panic.  For a second, she laments the use of her invisibility potion when they fought the ogre, One-Eye.

And then she remembers another potion, and lying on bare stone as someone forced a tickle of life-giving fluid into her mouth.  She remembers it spreading through her, and driving back the numb cold in her limbs.

The gnome reaches to her belt and pulls open one of her many belt pouches.  A nearby thug thrusts a dagger at her, but she ducks as she moves, and the blade just scores a light cut across the back of her neck.  As she fumbles for the vial within the pouch, a second thug attacks, and this time she is not so lucky: his club strikes hard against her ribs.  But ignoring this, she pulls the vial free and pulls free the stopper, then ducks another blow to force the potion into Macwood's hand.

"Drink!" she shouts, and the halfling does, his wounds healing as the elixir of health restores him.

And from that moment of courage the tide of battle seems to turn.  Mantreus hammers the thugs with his magic missiles, and Anastria joins the barrage, employing her own recently-completed magical studies.  Elspeth and the restored Macwood tear through the thugs in tandem.  These men and women are vicious, dirty fighters, but their skills are those of brawlers, no match for trained warriors.

And as for Stormstrider, he and his wolf, Blackfang, face the most vicious thug of all - Lorlathon himself.  The thugs' leader is a better fighter than his men, and his blade cuts deeply in both the elf and the wolf, but then Blackfang's lunging jaws clamp around his ankle, pulling him to the ground, and Stormstrider smashes down with his staff, ensuring the villain will never rise.

With their enemy defeated, the adventurers tend their wounds, then search the camp.  Contel is dead, but his golden flute they find, as well as two captive locals who had not yet been killed.  These men they free, then check their booty for magical treasure.

The discovery that the flute itself is magical provokes a long argument, with Mantreus insisting that they should receive a lot more than 50 gold apiece for recovering such a valuable item.  He initially wins some support from the others, but Macwood insists that the deal was agreed in good faith, and should be kept in that manner.  In the end, it is his argument that prevails.

Thus the group returns to Marikest and receives their reward.

Though not without a few more complaints.



(1) I'll post the results of Mantreus' investigations on Sunday.  The PCs got a separate handout, and now so shall you


----------



## threshel

OK, I was all set to say g'bye, and in fact had.  Then you do this.  My poor heart can't take it.
But my greedy brain keeps lapping it up.  Twinkle = one great gnome,  CotRE's detective skills have me in stitches, and, of course any reward offered will always be met with "each?"
Thanks for the extra effort Capellan.

J


----------



## Capellan

*Excerpted from the Diary of Mantreus ...*


My fellow adventurers of the Random Encounter.

I feel I must put the following to paper in case something untoward may happen to myself during my investigations of the copper pendant we found in the rangers tower.

This is therefore a log or diary of my investigations. If something may happen to me during these investigations, I have left instructions with Garralus the Scribe in Marikest to pass this diary on to “The Company of The Random Encounter based in Amberdale” as well as my last will and testament.

Regards,

Mantreus


_Day One - Morning_
For some time this copper pendant I’ve been carrying has been worrying me. The inscriptions on the pendant look wrong somehow, and I cannot place my finger on it.

I am going to take the opportunity of being in Marikest, a town of decent size, to investigate the origins of this pendant. I’ve made arrangements to pass this diary onto my friends in case something happens to me. Overly cautious perhaps, but I feel it’s well justified.

I have decided not to inform my friends of the investigation as I work better alone in my dealings with people. The Padre is a good man, but can be somewhat abrupt. Twinkle is a sweet little thing, but I somehow don’t think she would be up to the seriousness of this matter. The others all have their virtues, but I feel I am the best person for this particular job. Not only this, but I have a hunch there is much more to this pendant than is obviously apparent, and it could therefore be dangerous. There is no need to endanger my friends unnecessarily. I go now to investigate the taverns of this fine town to see if I can’t find out where I might go to investigate this strange pendant further…


_Day One – Evening._ 
After a few hours of touring Marikest’s drinking establishments, I found an interesting fellow that loved to gossip about everything and everyone. Every town has one, and it took all my efforts to steer his conversation toward what I was interested in.

He gave me three options. The first being the name “Artimas Sendant” who apparently has been locked up in the local mental asylum for the past 4 months. The other suggestions being a place called “The Obelisk of the Winds” or the local Church of St Cuthbert.

All sense would point me towards the Mages tower, but I can’t help but wonder what happened to a highly regarded sage that caused him to go insane? I will go to the asylum tomorrow and see if Artimas knows anything about this pendant. Somehow I doubt it, but my curiosity has the better of me. Perhaps Shadow's behaviour is wearing off on me?


_Day Two – Morning_ 
I have returned from the asylum. I fooled the staff into thinking I’m a long lost cousin of Artimas. It never ceases to amaze me how far a modicum of acting skill can take you when you need to know something. Apparently Artimas is quite the loon and requires restraint. Therefore they have asked that I come to visit tomorrow.

Considering I have some time to kill, I might see if I can’t charm the pants of that well-rounded serving maid at the Golden Goblet.


_Day Three – Morning_ 
Beldaren was quite stunning to behold, unfortunately every time she opened her mouth it sounded like Twinkle trying to sing. Enough of that though, I’m off to talk to the mad Artimas.


_Day Three – Evening_ 
Well, an unsettling meeting to say the least. I was stripped of my weapons before entering, which concerned me a small amount, though I still had my magic available to me if things turned violent. I was then escorted to a small stone room with a burly looking guard watching proceedings. The door was then locked behind me.

I found myself gauging the relative toughness of the guard, checking the room for other exits and examining the door for weaknesses. I have to stop myself from doing that; I’m a respectable adventurer now.

I found poor Artimas tied to a chair and looking at me eagerly.

I will write down everything that was said before I forget. A rough transcript follows:


“Dear cousin Artimas! What has become of you? I had come to visit and ask about a family heirloom, and I find that you've been incarcerated!”, I said, looking quite convincingly distressed if I do say so myself.

"Cousin, eh?  Is that what They told you to say?  But, eh, what's this?  A little body in a deep grave?"  he leant forward as much as his bonds allowed, "Not the gravedigger after all, are you, lad?  Well, well.  What can old Artimas do for you?" he twitched his head, "Not that you'll thank me.  I can hear them.  They whisper about you.  They whisper about so much ..."

"Artimas, it is I, Mantreus. I was hoping you could help me with identifying this old family heirloom..."

He lunged forward at the sight of the pendant - at least as far as the straps would allow him to, anyway.  His eyes wide, he stared at the nondescript little thing with an unsettling intensity.  Finally, he snapped his gaze up to me, and I couldn’t help but take a step back.  The look in his eyes ... I expected to see mania, or confusion ... what I saw instead was utter clarity.  A level of clarity so intense that it could only have been madness.

"Oh yes.  I know it.  Want to know its secret, lad?  Be careful.  The secret may come to know you." he giggled, "Or perhaps it does already.  Perhaps the touch is on you now.  Yes.  Ready to drag you down, into the darkness and the whispers, 'til your ears run blood at the sound ..." his expression grew sly, "It is good to see you again, 'cousin'.  I know the story that that you want to hear, but it is a long one, and I am a tired old man.  Come back tomorrow and I will tell you more."


So I am to return tomorrow. I was going to go to the Golden Goblet again tonight, but I’m not in the mood really. I believe I will have a quiet night with Shadow, and think some more on this.


_Day Four - Morning_ 
I’m off to see Artimas again, hopefully for the last time. I realise the things he says are probably just the babblings of a madman, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable. I slept very badly last night, and Shadow seemed jumpy, like there was something or someone watching us. There was nothing though. It’s still unsettling, Shadow is rarely wrong about these things.


Day Four – Late Morning
On my return, Artimas immediately asked to see the pendant.

"Intriguing, it is.  All hidden things are.  Show it to me again ... my memory of it has faded, and must be fresh to answer your questions."

I showed him the pendant again, he stared at it intently for a long time - perhaps 30 seconds or so - as if memorising every last detail.  He neither spoke nor moved in that time, and ignored any attempts to communicate with him.

Finally, he looked up at me.  When he spoke, his voice was a hoarse whisper.


"It belongs to Them.  To the dark ones.  Who, you ask?  The secret court.  The court that makes the laws for those we do not see.  You have stumbled on more than you know, my young blood.  More than most would know.  But I know.  Yes, I do.  Put it aside, if you value your life.  It will lead Them to you, and their whispers will fill your ears, creeping like shadows into your mind.  Already they have sensed you.  Already you draw their eyes.  They see into places and things that you cannot.  You do not know what you face."

And then suddenly that manic, twisted smile returned, and the relative calm fled from his tone.

"Dance on your grave!  That's what they'll do.  Or make you dance there.  Meat-puppet.  You meddle!  You will pay.  I have paid.  But when They are done with you, you will envy me.  For I am warm and snug, and their whispers comfort me.  For you there will be only cold."

He giggled insanely, drool puddling from one corner of his lip.


It was apparent that I would get nothing more from him. He continued to babble about “Them” and kept calling me a “Meat-puppet”.

I'm leaving the pendant with Garralus, copying the inscriptions from the pendant onto some paper and taking that with me to the Obelisk of the Winds to ask if I can have the inscription investigated, or if they don't want to, for me to make use of their library to investigate it myself (if they have one). I require the opinions of a sound mind, not more of this babbling.


_Day Four – Evening_
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something comes along to prove you wrong. I don’t honestly believe I’m the most powerful or charming sorcerer (I hate that word) in the land, but I’ve not met the likes of those I met at The Obelisk of the Winds. In my earlier days, I doubt I would have been given entry at all.

At first glance, the person who opened the door appeared to be an elf, with the long features, pointed ears, and flowing white hair of that race.  But no elf is 7 feet tall, and no elf had eyes like hers: pale blue like the morning sky, with neither pupil nor iris apparent.

I explained my purpose. I must admit that my voice faltered a little as I noticed her clothes and hair stir in the breeze; because there was no breeze.  The air was still.

When I finished, she shook her head,

"You must seek elsewhere.  The masters' business is the sale of items, not of information."

With that, she started to close the door.
I had to think quickly, so I used all of my persuasive skills and charm, although I fear that it had nothing to with her eventual decision. "Then possibly there is some item I might be able to purchase that might help me with my purpose? If not, I may be interested in some scrolls anyway.", I implored, giving her my most dazzling smile.

She stopped with the door half-shut, then slowly opened it again.

"Enter."

My relief was palpable. Not only was a small part further along in my quest, but I got to admire this strangely beautiful woman further.

She lead me along a stone hallway, and into a small sitting room.  Even indoors, her clothes and hair rippled constantly, as if brushed by the wind.

"Please wait here.  I shall see if one of the masters is free to speak with you."  She gestures, and a sheet of parchment, ink pot and quill float from a desk across to you.  "Please compile a list of the items you require, while you are waiting.  Refreshments are in the cabinet on your left."

Despite her alien beauty, I was unimpressed by her cheap telekinetic trick. What happened next impressed me a great deal however. When she left the room the door closed behind her, it - and the door by which I entered - glowed briefly, then transformed into blank stone.

I quickly wrote some requests for some scrolls and a magical device that might help me find out what the inscription from the pendant meant and attached my drawing of the pendant.

I fixed myself some refreshments, lit my pipe and wandered about the room. I noticed that the temperature of the room was pleasantly cool despite the frigid temperatures outside. There was no evidence of a heating system though.

After about 5 minutes, a handsome human male entered, followed by the tall woman.

"Good day," he said pleasantly, "I am Nerev.  Do you have your list ready?"

I floated the list to him in much the same way that the tall woman gave me the parchment in the first place. Nerev did not appear to notice, although I thought I saw the woman smile slightly. Nerev read over the list and nodded.

"The scrolls are readily available - in total they will cost you 150 gold.  I cannot provide you with anything that will tell you what the inscriptions mean, but I can offer you a Wand of Object Loresight.  That may allow you to learn more about the item.  That will take about a week to procure, and cost a further 750 gold."

750 gold was well out of my means. Thinking quickly, I said, "Unfortunately, the wand is presently out of my means. Would it be possible to hire someone to perform a casting of the enchantment that the wand contains for a lesser fee? If not, I perfectly understand and shall return later once I have procured sufficient funds."

"There may be an apprentice or hedge wizard in town who could cast it for you." Nerev flickered his hand disdainfully, "I myself do not perform such work."

Rather than let this Nerev fellow think me an impoverished “hedge wizard” I said, "I understand Nerev. I would prefer not to consort with such folk. I will purchase the wand." And produced the gold even though it pained me greatly. 

My pride will get me killed one day.

Nerev smiled, "Very well.  Return in two days, and I shall provide you with the wand.  Skye here will bring your scrolls shortly."

Both of them then left the room, the doors sealing as they did before.  After only a minute or so, the tall woman - Skye - returned with the scrolls I requested, then escorted me to the door.

An interesting encounter to say the least. I will write more once I get this expensive wand and examine the pendant with it.


_Day 6 – Evening_
I now have my expensive wand. It’s fairly boring looking. It appears to be made of copper with a rose quartz tip. I certainly hope it proves worth the investment. I’m almost feeling “normal” again. Both Shadow and myself are less jumpy, and Beldaren from the Golden Goblet doesn’t sound so bad after all. I will do some work tonight with this new wand instead of cavorting about town and get this awful pendant stuff out of the way.


_Day 7 – Late Morning_
After all of my investigations, it appears the madman was right. I found out the following about the accursed pendant:

- it is 106 years old
- it was created by someone called Ellowyn
- Ellowyn is an elf ... and a vampire
- the object's purpose is to identify the bearer as a member of the Ebon Court
- the item was created in the elven village of Aniel

I remember that horrid vampire thing we encountered beneath the monastery of Pelor where Sirdros fell.  It mentioned the Ebon Court.  It seems we have crossed their path more than once.

This might not necessarily indicate that Artimas was correct about them tracking me via the pendant except Shadow and I were not imagining it. As I was examining the pendant last night, I noticed a slight blurring in the air near my window, almost like a circular window through space.  Someone has begun scrying me.


----------



## Peterson

Capellan said:
			
		

> *Excerpted from the Diary of Mantreus ...*
> 
> Someone has begun scrying me.





Now, I ain't too sure why that worried me the way it did, but....it did.

Thanks again Cap, for trying to finish this up for the masses.

Good stuff.

Peterson


----------



## Capellan

*Last session's adventures were a modified version of WotC's "The Windswept Wall" and CMG's "The Whispering Woodwind" (what a lot of Ws!).  This session covers what was supposed to be a WotC's "Village of Camiram" cliffhanger, crossed with a heavily modified version of Necromancer Games' "Feast of the Gobbler", replacing that adventure's 'bad joke' adversaries with gnolls.  Only the CotRE never quite got to the adventure part of things ...*


The Padre stands near the door of the prison cell, staring out into the corridor through the narrow viewing grille.

"This is all your fault." He tells Khore.

The accused Paladin glances up from where he is seated on a straw pallet bed,

"The fault lies with those who unjustly tried to bar us from entering this village." Is his calm rejoinder. "I merely tried to show them they were in error."

The Priest of St Cuthbert grunts and throws himself onto the other pallet.

The day had started calmly enough: six of the Company of the Random Encounter were travelling south from Marikest to the village of Camiram, where in just under two months' time Sirdros would be expected to conduct the rites of the Spring Festival.

Six of the Company; but the group numbered eight, not counting mounts.  Stormstrider, as ever, was accompanied by his wolf companion, while the eighth was ... a little more unusual.

"He's a myconid." Briar explains, gently patting the mushroom-like creature that clings to her shoulder, "His name is Herbie."

"He'd go well in a stew." Is the Padre's assessment, which earns him a glare from the young rogue.

"Another druid." Khore shakes his head pityingly, "When will you people learn?  _Rocks and trees are _not_ gods._"

Other than the usual bickering, the group encounters no difficulties on their journey: at least, not until they actually reach their destination.

"Halt!" a group of six men, all carrying bows, blocks the road into Camiram.  Their leader is a burly, unshaven fellow with a pair of woodsman's axes strapped to his belt.  He points at Sirdros, Anastria and Stormstrider.  "Yer can turn around and go home, yer stinkin' elves.  We'll not have your sort skulking in our town no longer."

Seeing Khore continue to walk calmly forward, the man plants himself in the Paladin's way.

"Where do yer think yer goin'?"  he demands.

"I am not an elf."

"We don't want yer stinkin' elf-lovin' carcass in our town, neither."

Things got a little heated, after that.  Hence the Company's current accommodation.

"Locked up!" the Padre folds his arms, "Like a common thief!"

"When we are released I shall require an apology from the man who barred our entry." Khroe seems far more philosophical about their situation, "And if he refuses, I shall challenge him."

As if in answer to the paladin's word, there come the sound of footsteps in the hall outside, and then of the key in the lock.  Slowly, the heavy door swings open, to reveal a man in the livery of the Marikest Guard.

This, it emerges, is Dohan, commander of a militia detachment, responsible for patrolling the roads in this region.  He gruffly interviews the adventurers - or more pedantically, the adventurers and Khore, as the paladin rejects the appellation - over their part in the brawl.

"What is the cause of this hostility toward elves?" Sirdros asks.

Dohan sighs,

"There have been some disappearances, of late.  Folk going missing in the woods or on the road.  Several times, items of elven make have been found nearby.  The locals are blaming a tribe of pointies - elves - that live out west of here.  I've tried to do what I can to find the missing folks, but I don't have the men to cover all the ground."

"Maybe we could help find the cause of these disappearances." The Padre offers, in a meaningful tone.  Dohan grunts,

"You'll have to, if you want your friend to conduct the Spring Rites.  No elf will be allowed into Camiram, until this business stops."

"Maybe there's a _reward_ for helping." The Padre suggests, in an even more meaningful tone.

"You require payment to assist the cause of justice?" Khore gives him a disapproving look, "What kind of Priest of St Cuthbert _are_ you?"

"A practical one."

"I shall help in this matter." The Paladin announces, "But I seek no reward."

"Look, if you folks fix this all up, I'll pay you for the work.  You can decide how to split it yourself." Dohan shrugs, "The reward was posted a week or so back.  Which is probably why Levi's looking to pick a fight with every elf he meets."

"Levi is the man who insulted us?" Khore nods, "I shall have words with him, once I return."

"_If_ you return." Dohan gives the group a rather doubtful look, obviously not sure that he'll ever see them again.

Undeterred by the militia-man's assessment of their chances, the group sets out, planning to begin their investigation by speaking to the very elves that are accused of the crime.  The journey is a little more difficult than they expected, as the land to the west becomes boggy and damp, but they slowly manage to pick their way around the fens, suffering nothing worse than a few leeches and a lot of mud.

Eventually Stormstrider, who has been leading the group, begins to point out small fetishes in the trees and bushes, woven from sticks and bark.

"We have entered the lands of my people." He explains, "These totems tell they they are a clan who stay true to the old ways."

Anastria snits something about 'unwashed savages' under her breath.

Pressing on, the group locates the eleven settlement.  This is simply a collection of hide tents, clustered in a rough circle, overlooking a broad but shallow stream.  Elves, all of whom are dressed in furs, stop what they are doing to watch the approach of the group.  A few rest hands on spears or clubs, but there is none of the overt hostility the adventurers (and Khore) experienced in Camiram.

Still, just in case, they decide to let the elves do the talking.

One of the elves - a tall, broad-shouldered warrior with a necklace of feathers and beads - moves forward and asks them their purpose.  After hearing why they have come, he takes them to see Seskanon, the elder of the tribe.

Anastria begins to explain their errand to Seskanon.  Sirdros attempts to interrupt, but is firmly slapped down by his sister.  They squabble briefly about religion.

Having finally determined why the group has come to see him, Seskanon confirms that while there have been disappearances in the area, his people have not been the culprits.  In fact, on several occasions they have been the victims: four members of the tribe have gone missing in the past month.  Further questioning reveals that items of human manufacture were found at all the sites where all four elves disappeared, but:

"We no longer believe it is they who did these things." Seskanon explains, "We did at first, especially after they drove off those we sent to speak with them.  But a week ago, I had a dream of a great darkness filling our sacred place: a great maw beneath the earth, consuming all.  Into the darkness came six warriors; three of our race, and three humans; who lit the darkness, and drove out the maw.  At first, I despaired, knowing that we could never persuade the people of Camiram to help us.  But now you are here: six of you, three from each race."

Of the group, only Khore seems pleased to be a prophesied hero, though his pleasure is tarnished somewhat by being the prophesied hero of a bunch of 'tree and rock-worshippers'.  Nontheless, they agree to go to this scared place Seskanon speaks of, and drive out whatever evil has made its home there.

"You owe us for this one." The Padre informs Sirdros, "Your church is out of favours."

The sacred place turns out to be a rocky mound, in the middle of the marsh-like fens that the group skirted on their way to see the elves.  Despite the fact that they are going right trhough them, this time, the journey actually proves easier than their last, due to the elven warriors who guide their path.  These locals display an unerring knowledge of the driest and safest paths to follow.

"Sacred place is on top of mound," one of the warriors stops a few hundred yards from the mound and points, "Amidst circle of stones.  You go on alone from here.  Ground is safe."

Approaching the bluff, the group comes under fire from archers, concealed amidst the circle of stones.  Stormstrider responds with an _entangle_, while the rest of the adventurers charge toward the enemy.  Stormstrider's spell initially serves the group well, as it drives the enemy - a group of four gnolls - out from the stones in an effort to escape the grasping vines and roots.  The Company, however, charge too far too fast, and are soon almost as mired as their foes.  Fortunately, the Padre - always a good shot with a crossbow - has recently begun to master the longbow, and he hangs back, unleashing a rain of arrows that tips the balance in the group's favour.

Once the _entangle_ effect ceases, the group explores the top of the mound.  The circle of stones has been defaced by the gnolls, the ancient carvings in the rock being scarred with sword and axe blows.  There is also a path of flattened grass, which appears to be the route the gnolls have been using to climb to the top of the bluff.  Tracking this route back to its source, the Company finds that it runs down to a waist-deep stream that flows out of the side of the bluff.

"The tracks go into the water." Stormstrider reports, "And they don't come out the other side."

"Maybe they follow the stream away, to hide their tracks?" Briar suggests.

"This is gnolls we're talking about."

Eventually, they recall that Seskanon's dream spoke of a darkness in the earth under the bluff   Sirdros casts light on a stone, and Stormstrider clambers into the water with the stone in his teeth, then forces his way upstream, and swims beneath the buff.

Less than a minute later, he reappears, reporting that there are caves within the mound, with dry floors above the level of water, and more than enough room for the group to walk easily.

Assuming, of course, they can all manage to get in there.  For most, this proves relatively easy.  But for Sirdros, laden down with a mass of metal armour (which re takes off, but insists on carrying) the task proves too hard.  He cannot make progress, and then is washed downstream, buffeted by the water and rocks as he goes.

Fortunately, the Padre notices this and rushes back to rescue Sirdros, using one of his new-found psychic powers to float the other priest to the surface of the water.

Eventually, all six of the group force their way into the caves.  The underwater tunnel goes only a few feet before opening into this area, which is just about large enough to hold them all.  A narrow, twisting tunnel leads deeper into the mound.  Making ready their everburning torches, the group is just about to explore this route when Briar stops them.

"Herbie saw something in the water." She reports, pointing into the stream.  Stormstrider investigates, and returns grim-faced.  The 'something' is the body of an elf, recently killed.  The elf had bound hands, and his tan had started to fade.

"They had him here for a while, then they killed him and dumped the body, in their own escape route." The Padre ponders this, "It could be they are planning to move on."

The group decides to waste no time, and presses on down the narrow tunnel.  They pass through a shower of water droplets from the ceiling, and then into a large chamber, fully 60' across.  Much of the chamber's floor is taken up by a subterranean lake, at the centre of which is a small island.  On this island, looking rather strange in its subterranean setting, is a small cottage of stone, with arrow-slits that face the tunnel through which the group has just arrived.

And thus it is for the second time that day that the Company find themselves under fire from concealed archers.

Briar curses as an arrow strikes her, but Khore leaps forward without hesitation, plunging waist deep in icy water to wade toward the island.  Some of the others, more circumspect - or perhaps just more sensible - run along the edge of the lake, then across a short bridge on the far side.

Whomever is in the cottage is now surrounded, but with a sturdy door locked behind them, and arrow slits to fire out from, they seem well-protected from anything the group can do: protection that increases when two wolves burst out of the darkness and attack.  One grabs Briar's ankle and trips her into the lake, while the other savages Sirdros and Stormstrider.

As Stormstrider tries and fails to batter his way through the door, Khore looks for another way into the cottage.  Spotting that the roof is made of wooden tiles, he scrambles up the side of the building.  Balancing precariously on the sloping roof, he then hammers his greatsword through the tiles.  If anything, he is actually too successful in his task: dozens of the tiles shatter or fly loose, and the whole surface gives way beneath him, plunging the paladin down amongst his enemies.

As the sounds of fighting emerge from inside the cottage, Briar pulls herself out of the water and stabs one of the wolves, while Anastria and Sirdros combine to down the other - though not before Sirdros is knocked to the ground in the melee.

As Stormstrider fails again to burst through the door, Khore's shouts and war cries suddenly choke off, and there is the sound of something heavy striking the floor.

Padre and Anastria throw themselves at the walls of the cottage, trying to climb up to the hole in the roof, but it is Briar who gets the group into the house first, putting her lock-picks to work with record-breaking speed.

Stormstrider throws open the door and rushes in, just in time to distract the two gnolls inside from finishing Khore, who lies unconscious on the floor.

With the door open, the result of the fight is never in doubt: numbers quickly overwhelm the two gnolls.  Once their enemies are dispatched, the Padre heals Khore while the others look around.  There are a few more caves, but they all appear to have been deserted in the last few days or hours.  There are signs of recent habitation, and many furnishings are still in place, but anything small and portable has been removed, as have most of the foodstuffs.

It is in fact the Padre and Khore who locate the sole remaining inhabitant of the complex: a human prisoner being held in the cellar of the 'cottage'.  This woman introduces herself as Valkyre,

"I am a follower of Dargrute, Lord of Fire and Forge.  He is a god of my people."

"Never heard of him." The Padre frowns, "Dargrute sounds like a dwarven word."

"It is."

"You're very tall for a dwarf."

"I was raised by dwarves in the cold lands to the north." Valkyre explains, "My parents were colonists who were shipwrecked.  They died, but kept me alive long enough for the dwarves to find me."

"And why are you here, now?"

"I came south to search the land and meet its people.  I am an adult now, however young I may be by the clan's reckoning, and I wished to meet people of my own race.  You have developed many interesting inventions here.  Do you know there is a kind of oil that sticks to people as it burns?  I used one against the gnolls when they captured me.  It worked very well."

"I'm surprised they didn't kill you."

"Their leader - a bony gnoll with white fur - stopped them.  I think he had some pretty specific - and unpleasant - plans for me." Valkyre shrugs, not evidencing much concern, "But then they suddenly packed up and left.  And you turned up.  So it worked out in the end. "

"I guess." The Padre ponders, "So it looks like the gnolls were kidnapping people and trying to stir up trouble between the elves and the humans in the meantime.  The question is, why?"

Khore shrugs,

"They're evil."

The priest snorts, then realises the paladin is serious.

"Maybe, but I can't help but think there's more to it than that."

"Well, we'll never know, now, will we?"


----------



## Peterson

Capellan said:
			
		

> "Maybe, but I can't help but think there's more to it than that."
> 
> "Well, we'll never know, now, will we?"




_"Well, we'll never know, now, will we?"_ echos the faithful reader.

Peterson


----------



## Elder-Basilisk

Padre--you missed your proper retort: "But I can shoot first and Speak with Dead later. I have 3rd level spells." Unless, of course, you don't.


----------



## Capellan

Elder-Basilisk said:
			
		

> Padre--you missed your proper retort: "But I can shoot first and Speak with Dead later. I have 3rd level spells." Unless, of course, you don't.




He didn't - he was only 4th level during this session 

Besides this, the players in CotRE are one of the most enthusiastic group of multiclassers I have ever seen.  The Padre was a Cleric 3 / Psychic Warrior 1 when this session occurred.

During the campaign, the group had:

Padre - Cleric/Psychic Warrior
Khore - Paladin/Fighter
Twinkle - Rogue/Bard
Sirdros - Cleric/Wizard
Anastria - Fighter/Wizard
Mantreus - Rogue/Sorcerer
Briar - Rogue/Druid (but the player moved 600 miles away just after getting the Druid level)
Seraphina - Rogue/Ranger (you haven't met her yet -- are you excited?  )

It was after this session that the campaign went on a long hiatus - I was going to the US for a month, and 3.5 was coming out, and we were kind of hoping PCGen would update editions a bit faster than it has 

In any case, the game went on hold for about six months.  Briar and Macwood's players packed off and went to the other side of the state.  Elspeth and Rose's players dropped out of gaming.  Valkyre and Seraphina's players joined the group.  Eventually, we actually started playing again (mainly thanks to Blackbart's HeroForge spreadsheet, which allowed me to more easily convert the PCs).


----------



## Capellan

*Piratecat updated.  There can be only one response.*


The Company are enjoying a leisurely morning in the late spring.  The skies are blue and cloudless, and - if a little cool - the weather is at least dry and calm, with only a light sea breeze.

Three months have gone by since their last adventure.  After the battle at the house, they explored the remainder of the caverns under Council Hill and found that - although there had clearly been lots more gnolls there recently, the place was now largely abandoned, with only a small rearguard remaining (which they had slain).  They did, however, find a prisoner - a human women named Valkyre, who had been ambushed and kidnapped by the gnolls, and has more or less attached herself to the group.

Since those events, Sirdros has conducted the spring festival, Camiram's relationship with the local tribe of elves has recovered, and Stormstrider has returned from an arduous vision quest with said elves, his body weakened by the ordeal but his faith and insight stronger than ever.

Their relaxed gathering is disturbed by the arrival of a tinker, one Ambrose Tyburn, who storms up to them with an irate look on his face.  A wiry, short-statured man who bears a passing resemblance to his own mule, Ambrose is _not_ happy:

"You don't pay me enough to risk me damn neck!  I'll not be goin' back to those blasted, haunted woods, y'hear?  I was lucky to escape with m'skin intact!"

Most of the group are nonplussed, wondering who this newcomer is, until Mantreus clears things up:

"He's my honey boy."

This announcement requires some hasty clarification.

It seems Mantreus has begun a side business: he's taking the honey made by the giant bees of the wizard Sionaas, shipping it to the city of Marikest, and selling it there.  It's not earning him a lot of money, but he has dreams of it being the first step in an eventual trading empire.

Ambrose, it emerges, is the person who is responsible for carting the honey from Sionaas' tower to the city.  However, he was attacked by undead during his latest trip down to the tower, and now refuses to return to "those accursed woods" until the problem is resolved.

It takes all of Mantreus' considerable charisma to persuade his comrades(or at least Ming Li, Stormstrider, Sirdros and Valkyre) to help him look into the matter.

This group thus sets out for the village of Poisson, which is the closest settlement to Sionaas' tower.  As they enter the forest to the north of the village, they are on their guard for undead.  This proves wise, as a pair of ghouls try to ambush them.  Valkyre invokes her strange northern god, however, and the undead flee.

Knowing that the ghouls will return to stalk them again, the group decides to stay where they are and organise themselves into a strong defensive position around the wagon, with Mantreus stop it to provide magical support.

After about ten minutes, the ghouls return, bringing several zombies with them.  The reinforced undead charge, quickly swarming Stormstrider and dragging him to the ground.  Things look grim for the elf, but then Valkyre lays the clerical smackdown, dusting five of the six zombies with another invocation to Dargrute.

The tide of the battle turns, and the two ghouls are quickly slain, while Stormstrider is restored to consciousness.  The last zombie, however, proves highly resilient.  Dargrute does not seem willing to contribute any further turning power, while Sirdros has apparently forgotten he can do it.  Instead, the group surrounds the creature and batters it with their weapons.

And batters it.

And batters it.

And batters it.

And batters it.

And batters it.

And batters it.

And batters it.

And batters it.

Until it falls over.

Continuing their journey amidst much grumbling about the undead's lack of treasure, the group eventually reaches Poisson.  The villagers all appear worn-out.  When questioned, they explain that they are kept awake at night by undead creatures prowling the streets and pawing at the doors: one man has already been killed in his home, and another has gone missing.  After spending the night in the inn, the adventurers have also experienced these night time prowlers, though they don't bother to do anything as active as getting out of bed and fighting them.

In the morning, the group sets out to follow the tracks left by the nocturnal visitors.  This fails miserably, so they instead break into the dead man's house and have a look around.  Because asking for a key would have been too much hassle.

They find traces of blood in the house, but nothing else of interest, so instead they return to look at the tracks once more.  This time, Stormstrider actually puts some effort into looking for them, and the adventurers are soon trekking through the forest.

After a few hours, it becomes obvious from the winding, circulatory routes of the undead that they are moving randomly, without any real purpose.  Ming Li climbs a tree and uses this as a lookout point, to see if there are any landmarks toward which they might head.  She spots a plume of chimney smoke from deep in the forest.  The group decides to head that way, stopping regularly to let the monk climb another tree and get a new bearing.

Eventually, they reach a small cottage in the woods.  Noticing herbs in the garden, Valkyre starts looking through them, but is interrupted when the owner of the house opens her door and asks the adventurers why they are there.

The group explains they are seeking the undead, and the elderly woman expresses her delight at this news, mentioning that she often hears the creatures at night and has to keep her door tightly locked.  She invites them in for a late lunch, serving bread and cheese with a malachite-handled knife.

The woman - whose name is Silyna - suggests that the source of the undead might be a "hollow black stump, which gave me a most terrible feeling" deep in the heart of the wood.  She offers to take the adventurers there the next day.  They try to persuade her to leave immediately, but she refuses.  It will take a journey of several hours, she explains, and she has no intent of being out in the forest after dark.

Valkyre seems convinced that Silyna is up to no good, but can't produce any proof, even after surreptitiously casting _detect undead_.  The group spends an uneventful night in the cottage, and sets out with Silyna in the morning.  After a journey of about three hours, they reach the black stump of which the old woman spoke.  The stump is set in a depression, the earth around it strewn with dead leaves.

Inspecting the stump reveals it to be hollow, as Silyna had claimed. Valkyre had suggests just burning it, but since she seems a little too fond of fire in general, the others go with a different plan, and affix a rope so they can climb down into the darkness.  At the bottom, they find themselves in a damp, mud-walled cave.

It quickly becomes apparent that the cave is occupied, for Sirdros and Stormstrider discovers a pit trap in the floor.  Their method of discovering it is foolproof: they fall in.

Close to a dozen small lizards appear from holes in the walls of the pit as the cleric founders in the black, stinking water at the bottom of the pit.  They swarm over the two adventurers, biting at their flesh.  Fortunately, they are easily slain, and do little harm.

Pulling the two elves from the pit, the group continues onward.  The next chamber is empty of traps, but contains the body of a Halfling.  The body is dressed in rags and badly rotted, and has been stabbed many times.  Looking at the wounds, Sirdros and Valkyre agree that the Halfling was dead before he was stabbed: probably several weeks before.

Searching the body and finding it without treasure, the adventurers complain their way along the next corridor.  They reach a fork in the tunnel, but one route has been barricaded off.  In the other direction is a blue glow.

"Ooh!  A blue glow!" says Mantreus, in case any of his comrades have gone blind.

Valkyre inspects the barricade and notes that it is braced on this side, indicating it is intended to keep something out.  She wonders if it might be a dam, but sees no sign of any water seeping through.

Stormstrider seems intimidated by the blue glow, and complains about being the first into every room.  Ming Li sighs and replaces him in the front rank, and the group presses on, deciding to leave the barricade for now.

The blue glow emanates from a cavern ahead, which is quite large, and braced with twelve stone pillars.

As the group draws closer, it can be seen that the pillars - each of which is about five feet thick - is scribed with ancient markings of some kinds, though there has obviously been an attempt at vandalism in the more recent past: deep scorings and blood-daubed symbols mar several of the columns.

Though of unworked stone, like the remainder of the complex, the cavern has a sense of 'completeness' to it, as if its naturally occurring walls were exactly what had been intended by the architect.

The blue light, meanwhile, emanates from an indentation in the floor of the cavern, which is lined with silvery runes.  These runes give off the glow.

"The runes on the columns are in Sylvan." Stormstrider announces, then reads them aloud:

"_Twelve stone trees;
Roots of the Earth;
Are ropes to Bind;
The Dark Font._"

"These are in elven." Sirdros crouched beside the depression, "_I am the Font of Light; Fill me, if you would drink._"  He pulls out his waterskin and empties it into the font, but nothing happens.

"Maybe it needs fire." Valkyre suggests.

"You think _everything_ needs fire." Mantreus snorts.

"I mean a torch - if it's the font of _light_, that would make sense."

They try this, and it doesn't work, but it gives them the idea of trying a spell of _light_.  Immediately, several items appear in the depression, which the adventurers greedily scoop up.  Feeling a lot better for having finally got some treasure, they head out of the opposite end of the room, wrinkling their noses at the smell of rotting vegetation, which grows stronger in this direction.

Also in that direction is a huge black boar, with blood red tusks.  The adventurers stare at this for a while, pondering what to do.  Stormstrider wants to kill it, but the others shame him into trying to gain its friendship.

This doesn't work so well, as the boar guts him with its tusks.

A mad-eyed gnome-like creature suddenly appears, spouting poetic doggerel as it and its pet attack the adventurers:

"You think to make a sneak attack?  You'll not murder, Bloody Jack!"

"The witch's bidding you won't do; Bloody Jack will be the death of you!"

"Come taste the steel of my knife; Bloody Jack will end your life!"

The fight is difficult.  The adventurers' weapons don't seem to hurt the strange gnome very much, and when he flanks Mantreus, he proves more than capable of hurting them: the sorcerer joins the druid on the floor.

Fortunately, there are two clerics on hand with wands of cure light wounds, and between them they manage to keep getting people back in the fight.  Sheer weight of numbers eventually ends to the death of the huge black boar.  At this, the gnome screams in rage:

"Razoooooooooor!"

As he screams, his body swells and expands, until he looms over all his foes, standing nearly nine feet high.

The battle continues: Ming Li is knocked out of the fight, and brought back.  Then it is Valkyre's turn.  Charge after charge from the wands is burned in maintaining the battle, until - at last - the self-styled Bloody Jack falls before the Company, whispering his pet's name one last time as he dies.

The adventurers loot Jack's body, and his home.  As they inspect the treasure, Ming Li opines that Jack's poems suggest Valkyre might be right about Silyna.  Mantreus is aghast,

"I don't want her to be evil!  She makes good tea!"

This is the last cavern, and the group now returns to the barricade.  They discuss leaving it undisturbed, but Ming Li insists on investigating what lies beyond.  This proves to be a trap, first of all, which harms everyone except the monk.  People are even less enthusiastic about continuing, at this point, but Ming Li can be forceful when she needs to, and they reluctantly agree to press on.

At the end of the tunnel is a huge, subterranean lake.  Mist rises off the water, and the air feels clammy.  Sirdros shivers from more than the cold, however:

"This place is unhallowed." He grits his teeth, "Great evil lurks here."

'Great evil' turns out to be a bunch of zombies and skeletons, which emerge from the waters of the lake and attack.  The adventurers easily dispatch the skeletons, but Valkyre's attempts to turn the zombies are thwarted by the aura of evil in the cave.  Sirdros moves in to start bashing one of the walking corpses with his morning star, but by now the others are fed up with waiting for him to act like a cleric, and yell at him to make with the turning, already.

The elf invokes Pelor, and the zombies go boom.

Searching the edge of the water, the group finds a silver bowl, and a knife with a malachite blade: identical to the one they saw in Silyna's home.

"It doesn't look so good for the tea lady." Mantreus admits, sadly.

They decide to leave this place and confront Silyna.  Emerging from the stump, they find her waiting for them.  She has brought help: a younger human warrior who bears a family resemblance to the old woman, and a couple of ghouls.  She offers the adventurers a chance to leave peacefully, but they don't take it.

The battle starts well, as the ghouls are sent running by Valkyre's invocation to Dargrute.  Things get a little more difficult after that, however. Not to mention, seriously weird.  Silyna spits out her own tongue, which grows as it flies through the air, wrapping around Sirdros and holding him bound.

"Ha!  The joke's on you!" Valkyre opines, "He's covered in pooh!"

Mantreus _magic missiles_ Silyna, and she returns the favour twice over, the first time with a pair of missiles that glow a strange, unearthly green.

Despite the strange magic the woman wields, however, and the strength of her son, the adventurers emerge victorious from this battle.  They gleefully loot the bodies, burn down Silyna's cottage, and return to Camiram to let Ambrose know he can commence honey shipments again.

Only one thing mars their pleasure as they make their way home: the wounds Mantreus suffered from those green magic missiles remain unhealed, and curative magic does not seem to affect them.


*The basis for this session was Jonathon McAnulty's "Feast or Famine" but I wasn't satisfied with that adventure's conclusion (Silyna invites the PCs to stay for the night and tries to kill them in their sleep).  I added a short dungeon, based on one of the WotC maps of the week, and introduced Bloody Jack: a malevolent fey who had interrupted Silyna's own plans.*


----------



## Capellan

So.  Wednesday morning.  Sitting at work.  The phone rings.

Can I come to Boston for a couple of months to help out on a project?  Sure.  When do they need me to go?

"Friday."

Running around like a mad thing will now commence.

Downside for you guys: no posts for a while, at least until I get halfway around the world and work out how to get online.

Upside for you guys: pretty pictures of the *Battle of Brightstone Keep*, since I won't be taking these with me.


----------



## Capellan

*Brightstone Keep*

Built from scratch, by The Padre, using HirstArts blocks.

First, the fully assmbled Keep.

Second, the Keep separated into all its constituent parts.


----------



## Capellan

Next, the CotRE's point of entry into the keep, in close-up.

Second, a reinactment (put together after the end of the actual session) of "The Charge of the Wolfriders".  Things looked pretty bleak, after these guys crashed home


----------



## Capellan

Lastly, two shots of the battle in progress, and one of its conclusion - Ming Li at bay, surrounded by enemies.


----------



## Capellan

*Note: This is proving to be a long recap, so I will post it in two pieces.  The adventure took place over two days, so one day per update seems a good idea 

Disturbingly (well, disturbing for the premise of CotRE), this adventure was created from scratch.  I wanted to achieve three things:
1.  run a 'city' adventure that wasn't just a dungeon with an urban façade tacked on the front
2.  run a mystery before the PCs reached the level where they could just magic their way to the solution
3.  introduce (or reintroduce) some NPCs who were intended to have important roles in the rest of the campaign.  I'll talk about who these were at the end of the second update, but to clarify up front, Seraphina was a new PC, not an NPC.*


Seraphina Tealeaf is concerned.

The young halfling is a tracker, hired by the city of Marikest to find and dispose of dangerous creatures.  Of late, that's principally meant elementals.  Fire and earth elementals, to be exact.  They've long been known to lurk out at the abandoned Brightstone Mines, but for some reason they've been stirred up of late, and have taken to roaming the countryside.  Which is rather dangerous for those they roam into.

None of this is specifically the reason for Seraphina's concern, however.  What is concerning her is two-fold: first, the tracks of the elemental she has been following for the past day are much larger than those she has dealt with in the past. Second; they just vanished.  The creature has gone underground, making it very hard for her to track its location.

Climbing down from Rufus, her burly riding dog, she examines the elemental's point of entry into the earth.  It's fresh: the creature can't be very far away.  Not that this is much help, when it could have gone in any direction at all.

As she ponders her next move, a group of travellers crests the hill to the south.  There are five of them in all, one afoot and four riding on a rickety-looking wagon.  Despite the wagon's age, however, the travellers themselves are well-equipped.  Seraphina sees the gleam of both weapons and armour amongst them.

Which is just as well for the travellers, really, as the earth beside their cart suddenly bulges, then bursts open.  The missing elemental rears upward, its stony body reaching nearly eight feet in height.

Seraphina shouts a warning, leaping onto Rufus' back as she does so.  The travellers react quickly: evidently they are folk used to sudden action.  A handsome human near the back of the cart is the first to respond, unleashing magical bolts at the creature.

The elemental roars like an avalanche, heavy fists swinging.  The spellcaster crumples from a massive blow, even as one of his companions strikes the creature in the side.

Seraphina races toward the battle, swinging wide to get a clear shot with her sling.  The stone misses its target, passing harmlessly above the melee.  One of the travellers pulls the fallen spellcaster out of the elemental's reach, then begins to chant a prayer over the limp form.  A third member of the group - a female elf - is shooting arrows at the elemental, while the last two strike at in melee.  One of these, the man who was walking beside the wagon, wields a massive greatsword, which he now slams into the creature's side.  Earth and stones spray from the force of the impact.

Closer now, Seraphina draws her shortsword.  The creature is distracted by the adventurers - and adventurers they must be, to be so well-armed and blessed with so many spellcasters.  The young halfling is able to charge in before the elemental becomes fully aware of her.  Her blade bites deep into its back and - already weakened by the man's massive blow - the creature collapses in a shower of dust and dirt.

By the time the elemental is destroyed, the man it felled is already healed and on his feet.  None of the others seem to have been harmed.  Seraphina greets them, and learns their names.  They are members of an adventuring group, and call themselves 'The Company of the Random Encounter' (well, all except the one named Khore, who disdains the term 'adventurer', though he seems to travel in their company).  As she sorts through the creature's remains for its quartz-like heart, Seraphina explains her profession to the adventurers.  It's hard not to notice their ears prick up at the mention of a reward for slaying the creature, and she suggests they travel back to Marikest with her, to share in the spoils.

As they travel northward, the adventurers explain that they are already bound for Marikest.  Mantreus - the handsome human spellcaster - has been injured by some vile magic, which even the prayers of their clerics have been unable to heal.  They hope that one of the temples in Marikest will be able to assist.

This proves a fortunate happenstance, for Seraphina's destination is the Church of Pelor, where she will be rewarded for the elemental's destruction.  It's all so convenient, it's like someone designed it that way.

A few hours later, the group reaches the Church of Pelor.  Seraphina hands over the elemental's heart, and splits the reward with her five new companions.  With this done, the group asks about Mantreus' strange wound.  After examining it, the Steward of Pelor indicates that it can indeed be healed, but the healing must be performed on ground that has been hallowed or consecrated.  He chants a curative prayer, and the ugly wounds disappear.

The adventurers start to count out coin, but the priest waves it away, noting that the wound could only be the work of great evil, and healing a wound suffered in battle with such forces was reward enough.  The adventurers find this very suspicious.

As they are obviously folk of good heart, the Steward continues, he has an offer of employment, provided they promise to be discrete about what they hear.  The offer extends to Seraphina as well, and the six agree to listen to what he has to say.  And to be discrete, a promise which the Steward might not have accepted so easily, had he known them a little better.

The Steward tells them of Margan Talhaus, one of the wealthiest merchants in Marikest, who married into the nobility and is now a member of the city council.  It seems Margan's son, Feroden, is missing: a ransom note for 10,000 gold has been received.  The note states that the boy will be killed if the town guards are told of his kidnapping.  It makes no mention of adventurers, however, and it seems Margan is willing to chance this 'legal loophole' in an effort to get his son back, without the need for a ransom.

The group agrees to meet with Margan Talhaus, and the Steward gives them a letter of introduction.

The Talhaus family lives in a large estate in Marikest Bluffs, the most opulent of the city's neighbourhoods.  Immediately the group shows the letter from the Steward to the Talhaus' butler, they are ushered into a meeting room.  Margan Talhaus joins them a few minutes later.  He repeats the Steward's story and asks for their assistance, noting that he would be very grateful to anyone who brought his son home safely.  He also shows them the ransom note.  It's neatly - even formally - written, and gives Margan a week to gather the money.  The note was delivered two days earlier.

Khore immediately volunteers to assist, and for a wonder none of the others seems inclined to haggle about payment.  Possibly they've got some inkling of what Talhaus' gratitude could mean to them: possibly they just feel that Khore's pulled the rug out from under them.

For the next half hour, the group quizzes Talhaus about his son's activities and friends.  They learn that Feroden had two close companions, both noble-born.  They get the youths' names, as well as the names of Feroden's usual haunts: Marikest Races, an inn named the Blind Harper, and Madame Sable's Rose House.

After they leave, Khore wonders why a wastrel would spend time at a gardening shop.  Mantreus illuminates him,

"I'd say 'Rose House' is a euphemism.  It'll be a bro... a house of ill repute."

"What?  We should smite them!"

At this, the raven-haired adventurer Valkyre - who has a strange accent - questions Khore's sexuality.

The group decides to try the Marikest Races, first.

A few quick conversations at the races points them in the direction of Feroden's favourite betting house, but the proprietor can't help them much:  

"Master Talhaus used to be a regular weekend visitor, but he stopped coming about a month ago.  Last time he came, he settled up what he owed me, and that was the last I saw of him." 

The group moves on to Madam Sable's Rose House, and discover that Mantreus' guess about its true function was a little off the mark.  Rather than a bawdy house, the Rose House is a mixture of gypsy fortune teller and overpriced coffee shop.  Madame Sable isn't able to offer them any information that seems useful.  She hasn't seen Feroden for about a week, and can recall only that the last time he came, he was with one of his friends, and a girl she didn't recognise.

On to the Blind Harper, where Ealdswaith the serving girl definitely remembers Feroden: not surprising, given the 'memento' he's left her carrying.  For a wonder, the group are fairly compassionate about this, and resolve to see what they can do to make sure the woman and her child will be provided for.  Must be Seraphina's influence on them, or something.

Though Ealdswaith gives the group all the information she can, it's not much more help: she too has not seen Feroden in over a week "and I think I ain't likely too, neither".  Prior to that, he used to visit at least once or twice a week, always in the company of the same two friends.

It seems the friends are the best lead the group has, and they call on the first of these immediately: a young man of wealth and good family, named Donal Cruith.  Donal, on hearing Feroden's name, laughs sourly.

"I haven't seen him for more than a week, and I was seeing less and less of him before that.  He and Polas had some 'new place' they were going to, but they never invited me.

'Polas' is Polas Vekkener, a cousin and sycophant of one of the most wealthy families in Marikest.  He is evasive when the group calls on him, snidely making it clear that he does not feel he need explain himself to common adventuring riff-raff.

Or at least, that's what he does until Mantreus changes tack from questions to threats.  The sorcerer's easy charm makes it easy for his companions forget that he grew up in the touch city slums: it's not something the quickly cowed Polas is likely to forget.  He quickly confesses that he and Feroden had been attending an illegal duelling arena for the past two months.

"Feroden met a new girl there, so we went a lot." he stammers, "He was gambling on the matches all the time, too.  He did pretty well to start with, but then he started to lose.  I know he owes a lot of money from when he bet against the new one-eyed guy they've got fighting there."

Remembering the words of his dying father, the Padre is eager to investigate this arena, and in particular to meet this one-eyed fighter.  Polas gives them the address, and tells them to arrive no earlier than three hours after dark.

Satisfied with what they have learned, Mantreus makes one last threat, and tousles the young noble's hair as he leaves.

That night, they arrive at the arena, which is held in an out-of-use warehouse.  The door of the building is sturdy, with a viewing slit for those inside.  They group knocks, and a guard answers.  He grunts when they mention Polas' name, but lets them inside.

"First visit, go see the boss." He points up a flight of wooden steps to a small office.

The boss turns out to be a well dressed human woman, who gives her name as Sarissa.  She's probably in her mid-30s, and would be attractive if it were not for a scar that pulls one corner of her mouth down into a permanent frown.  She questions the group's reasons for coming and is clearly not convinced when they dissemble.  Seeing this, Khore risks telling her the truth.

Sarissa offers them a deal: if they will fight in the arena against a couple of beasts she has purchased, she will let them stay and conduct their investigation.  Reluctantly, they agree.

The 'beasts' turn out to be a pair of dire wolves, which give the group a very nasty time.  Both Khore and Anastria come very close to dying, and almost all of the group is injured by the time the second of the two creatures is slain.

Their credentials proved, the group begins their investigation.  First, they speak with the chief betting agent at the arena.  He isn't as impressed by Mantreus' threats as Polas was, but once they adopt a more conciliatory tone, he confirms that Feroden got into heavy debt - about three thousand gold - but that the last time Feroden came to the arena (about five days before), he had paid the debt in full.

Perplexed - gambling debts had seemed like their best lead - the group continues to ask around.  They meet Gar and Garran Dudley, a half-orc and gnome gladiatorial team, as well as several other members of the staff.

And then a seven foot tall woman with white hair walks in.  Mantreus immediately makes a bee-line for her, but his attempts to strike up a conversation are rebuffed by her distant attitude.  Any further attempts he might have planned are interrupted by the next fight, in which a dwarven berserker takes on a one-eyed human whose face and arms are wreathed in tattoos.

It is a savage battle, with the enraged dwarf throwing himself at the human.  The one-eyed man, for his part, fights with almost clockwork precision.  He concentrates on defending himself, striking only when the dwarf leaves an opening.  Then, as his enemy tires, he takes the offensive, eventually forcing the fatigued dwarf to yield.  By the end of the battle, blood soaks every inch of the arena floor.

Suddenly, the Padre is not quite so eager to face this one-eyed man.

Focussing on their investigation, the group learns that Feroden often spent his time at the arena with a young woman named Ulana.  She is not present that evening, but it is suggested they speak to a 'merchant' (smuggler would be a more accurate term) named Barak, with whom both Ulana and Feroden were known to have dealings.

Barak proves a charming fellow, and more than happy to answer the group's questions.  He confirms that Feroden sometimes bought 'exotic substances' from him, but says he doesn't know anything more.  He offers to try and find out, however, if the group are willing to spend a few coins.  They are, and agree to meet him at the arena again the next night.

The next morning, there's a new ransom note.


----------



## Capellan

The tone of the second ransom note is very different to the first.  Whereas the original note seemed formal, and was written in a tidy hand, the new one has a much more frantic tone, and the writing also looks hurried.  Furthermore, there are splotches where the ink has run or been smudged, as if the writer was anxious or distracted as they wrote.

It also cuts the deadline for payment to only two more days, rather than four.

The group discusses plans.  Mantreus suspects that Feroden and his friends organised this disappearance in order to get money to pay off Feroden's debts.  Although the young man seems to have cleared his debts with everyone they have spoken to, there is no clear explanation of how he got the necessary sum to do so.  They delicately broach the question with Margan Talhaus, who readily confirms that he has never provided his son with anything like the amount of three thousand gold.

"So they got it from somewhere else." Mantreus surmises, "And now they're trying to extort it out of his father, in order to pay it back again."

With this in mind, the sorcerer sets his familiar, Shadow, to observe Polas Vekkener.  The cat has instructions to let Mantreus know if the young man leaves the house.  Meanwhile, Mantreus plans to do some snooping around town and see what he can learn about the one-eyed gladiator.

Seraphina, on the other hand, has learned from the Talhaus servants that the family keeps another estate, some hours' ride from the city.  She volunteers to go and look around the grounds, to see if there is any sign of the boy there.  Khore offers to accompany her, but the halfling demurs.  She has seen enough of the Paladin to know that the words 'Khore' and 'stealth' are anathema.

Khore and the Padre thus find themselves at something of a loose end, as Valkyre and Anastria take it upon themselves to speak with Margan Talhaus about Ealdswaith, and the illegitimate grandchild she is carrying.  Talhaus, though evidently annoyed with his son's indiscretion, readily offers the young woman a position amongst his staff, as well as a tidy sum up-front, to ensure the child is properly cared for.

Seraphina's and Shadow's scouting turns up nothing of interest.  Mantreus also learns little, except that its not wise to walk the streets of Marikest alone.  He is jumped in an alley by half a dozen thugs, who beat him senseless and steal the not inconsiderable sum of gold he was carrying.  As he recuperates, he, Khore and the Padre spend several hours wondering whether the attack was random, or ordered by someone with something to hide.

That night, the group assembles once more and heads down to the arena to meet Barak.  En route, they are attacked by a strange, otherworldly creature.  The beast resembles a large dog, but it has only one, baleful eye in the centre of its forehead, and seems to be able to pass back and forth between shadows.

Despite the creature's shadow-jumping ability, and the magical gaze of its hideous eye, the adventurers defeat the beast fairly quickly.  Seraphina strikes the killing blow, thrusting her sword right through the creature's eye.

At the arena, Mantreus once more catches sight of the tall, white-haired woman.  He does not approach her this time, but the Padre takes it upon himself to play matchmaker.

"My colleague desires you." He announces boldly, pointing back at the mortified sorcerer.  The woman seems confused by this comment, at least until the Padre explains what he means.  The hand gestures help.  The message understood, the woman strides over the Mantreus.  Staring down at him, she asks:

"Why should I mate with you?"

"..." says Mantreus.

"Go on, this is your big chance." Khore gives him a nudge.

"..." says Mantreus.

"He's usually very talkative." The Padre assures the woman, pleasantly.

"..." says Mantreus.

Eventually, the woman tires of the sport,

"Come back when you have proved yourself, small man." She instructs.

"..." says Mantreus.

Ten minutes later, Barak arrives.   Apologetically, he tells them he has not been able to learn anything about Feroden's disappearance, thus far, but that he will continue to do what he can.  He expresses dismay when the group mentions the new ransom note, and assures them he will re-double his efforts.

Seraphina doesn't buy it.

Taking advantage of her small size, she blends into the crowd and trails the smuggler around the room.  Thus, she is close enough to hear when he pulls aside the dwarven berserker from the previous night.

"I need some muscle for a deal that might get nasty, two nights from now." Barak whispers, unaware of the listening halfling, "Come by tonight, at the usual place, and I'll fill you in."

The dwarf nods his agreement.  Seraphina slips back to the others and tells them of Barak's conversation.  The mention of a 'nasty' job, at the same time as the ransom comes due, arouses their suspicions.

"A wealthy smuggler could easily have given Feroden the money to pay his debts." The Padre observes.

Mantreus nods,

"And now he's looking to get it back - with interest."

"Finally, someone to smite!" Khore is content.

The group swiftly puts together a plan: they will make a very public exit, but leave Shadow concealed nearby.  The cat will then trace Barak to the meeting place he mentioned, before fetching the adventurers so that they can discover what the smuggler is up to.

As Company of the Random Encounter plans go, it's not only surprisingly coherent; it enjoys the even more rare distinction that it actually gets followed.

Barak's lair proves to be a set of secret tunnels, under one of the port city's many bridges.  The door into the tunnels is trapped, but Mantreus is able to disarm the mechanism, and the group sneaks inside.  A small rowboat has been pulled up into the tunnel behind the door.

"Not a bad operation." Mantreus admires Barak's larceny, "Keeps the boat out of sight until he needs it."

Moving on, they discover a store room, containing several barrels and chests.  One of the barrels has been freshly tapped, and the dagger that was used to do so lies atop it.

"Talhaus family crest." Khore points at the dagger's hilt. "It's smiting time."

It is smiting time indeed: the sound of voices can clearly be heard from the adjoining room.  There's a quickly whispered conversation, and the decision is made to attack, before the dwarven berserker arrives to help Barak and whatever friends he has with him.

Said friends turn out to be a four ragged smugglers, and a young woman with a purple tattoo around her left eye.  The smugglers don't prove much of a threat: Barak and the young woman are a lot more dangerous.

As soon as the adventurers burst in, Barak leaps onto the table around which his men are clustered.  For a few seconds, he finds himself frozen there: held fast by one of the Padre's prayers.  But then he shakes himself free and plunges into the fray.

As Barak and the smugglers attack with their swords, the young woman concentrates.  There is a sound like a deep bass hum, and suddenly strands of a sticky, translucent substance start to form around Valkyre.  The cleric of Dargrute dodges aside at the last second, and strikes the woman with her mace.

"Spellcaster!" she shouts.

"Psychic!" the Padre corrects, recognising one who shares his gift.

The battle rages on: Valkyre produces jets of flame from her hands, while Mantreus lays on _magic missiles_ galore.  The others hack their way through the smugglers, and grievously injure Barak's woman.

"Ulana!" he calls, hacking down Valkyre to move to his companion's side.  The woman merely frowns at the injury: her tattoo pulses and fades, and the wounds are gone.  The Padre just as readily heals Valkyre, and the odds are back to six on two.

And then the dwarven berserker arrives.

He smashes his axe into Mantreus, knocking the sorcerer sprawling, then cuts down Seraphina with two quick blows.  The halfling gets in a blow of her own before she falls, but the dwarf laughs off the injury, spittle flying from his lips.

Ulana weighs into the fight once more by summoning a rain of white hot sparks, which cascade over Khore and the Padre.

"I've had it with you!" the Padre snarls at the woman.  "St Cuthbert, aid me!"  The cleric unleashes a mighty blow with his mace, which glows with a dull red energy as it strikes.

Ulana's skull shatters.

Khore, not to be outdone, swings his greatsword in a massive two-handed arc.

Barak drops dead beside his lover.

Outnumbered five to one, any normal man might consider retreat, but the idea never seems to occur to the dwarf.  Laughing with the love of slaughter, he hews into Anastria, nearly bringing the elf to her knees.  Then he open's Khore's chest from navel to nape with another swing of his axe.  The Paladin sways on his feet, remaining conscious solely by virtue of his refusal to fall.

The adventurers have been making hits of their own, and now they start to pour the healing on: both the Padre and Valkyre chant prayers for Khore, while Mantreus feeds Seraphina a potion.

The dwarf still drops Khore with his next blow.  When the Padre heals the Paladin once more, the dwarf knocks him down just as fast.

Despite treating Khore as his personal whipping boy, the odds against the dwarf are simply too much, and the berserker's battle rage is beginning to dim.  As he downs Khore for the _third_ time in the fight, Mantreus buries a dagger under his ribs.  Blood dribbles from the dwarf's mouth, and at last he falls, stone dead.

After more healing all around, the adventurers search the rest of the small complex, finding Feroden sobbing to himself in a grimy cell that is six inches deep in river water.

"I can't help but feel that there was more going on." Mantreus frets the next day, as the group recovers from their battles.  Feroden has been returned to his father, and the Company has been assured of the Talhaus family's gratitude.  It should be a day of celebration, but the sorcerer isn't confident they worked the whole tale out.

The Padre takes a more philosophical view,

"Maybe.  But we got the brat back, and now his old man owes us a favour.  We're on the verge of big things, mark my words."

He doesn't know how right he is ... or how badly those 'big things' will go.


*NPC Notes (as promised)*
The three important NPCs in this adventure were Margan Talhaus, Werner Koch, and Skye.

Margan Talhaus was intended to function as the PCs' sponsor for the next few adventures, concluding with a chance for the group to acquire their own Keep.  He actually got a chance to fill this roll, before the campaign ended.  It's a pity he didn't survive it 

Werner Koch (the 'one-eyed man') was the Padre's real father.  The Padre had been left with the people he thought of as his parents while he was still just a babe.  The Padre's true mother had died, and Koch could not care for the boy, himself.  That was what the Padre's 'father' was trying to say as he died.  I'd intended for this to come out toward the end of the campaign, but we never got there.

I originally introduced the white-haired woman (her name is Skye) during Mantreus player's solo investigation into the Copper Pendant.  At the time she was meant to just be a bit of otherworldly colour, and somebody who would be interesting to kill, eventually (I expected the group to fight the Ministry of Winds at some point).  But when Mantreus' player started portraying Mantreus' interest in her, I felt the need to torment him a little by bringing her back 

Skye's ultimate fate was also changed.  Rather than a willing member of the Ministry's evil plans (as I had originally meant her to be) I made her an unwitting one.  That way, the PCs could battle the Ministry without killing her, and she could end up as Mantreus' cohort.   The CotRE's combat effectiveness really would have benefited from adding a high-Dex, high-Str fighter specialised in the spiked chain!


----------



## Capellan

*This session was inspired by Mystic Eye Games' free adventure "Right Under Our Noses".  Which basically means that I stole the hook (a hideous smell from the sewers is making people ill, and the engineers hired to fix it don't seem to be doing anything), some NPC names, and the maps, then re-wrote everything else.* 


The Company of the Random Encounter receive an invitation to Marikest Council Hall.  Many of their number are off on personal errands, but the Padre is able to locate Ming Li, Sirdros, Twinkle (a recruitment he's not sure was wise) and Seraphina, who has been more or less adopted into the group and who now experiences the inevitable Tweedlefinkle introduction.  Despite the halfling rather brusquely interrupting the gnome, the two soon become fast friends.  Darn small-sized, animal-riding cliquey people.

At Council Hall, the Company learns that Marikest has been having considerable trouble with its sewer system, in recent weeks.  A group of dwarven engineers were hired to alleviate the problem.  Although initially the dwarves were successful, "The Stink" (as the councillors call it) is now back and worse than ever.

With people in the area of the Stink actually becoming physically unwell from the stench, and their patience with the dwarves running out, the Council (and specifically Margan Talhaus, who does most of the talking) ask the adventurers to look into it.

A significant amount of gold is mentioned, so the Company takes little time in agreeing to the proposal.

Travelling to the warehouse where the dwarves are based, the Company find it empty.  There is, however, a sewer entrance gate, from which a nauseating smell is emerging.  The fumes are so bad, Twinkle swears she can see them.

Wrapping scented scarves over their faces, the group descends, and begins looking for the dwarves.  The first thing they find, however, is a dead beggar, wrapped in a ragged cloak.  Approaching the body (surely to see if the man is alright, with no thoughts of looting the dead), the Company are startled (not to mention _surprised_) when the cloak suddenly flies into the air and attacks!

Five against one seems like good odds, but with only a narrow walkway to stand on, the adventurers are unable to get their numbers properly into the battle.  The cloaker has a few tricks of its own, as well.  It manages to down Sirdros during the course of the battle, but eventually the adventurers manage to get people on either side of it (thanks to the rogues eventually remembering their tumbling skills), and the creature is destroyed.

After healing Sirdros, the group continues their exploration.  They find the dwarves, and also find them to be less than helpful.  Sheer persistence, however, eventually forces the engineers to fetch their leader, a middle-aged dwarf named Haldan.  Confronted by adventurers, Haldan admits that he and his men have been conducting their sewer repairs with stone they quarried in unauthorised excavations beneath Marikest.  The stone is supposed to come from quarries outside the city, and is being charged to the Council on that basis.

Asked how this relates to the Stink, Haldan explains that, during the course of their excavations, the dwarves broke into a system of caverns, which were filled with vicious, noxious "slime monsters".  The dwarves managed to drive off the creatures, but now the "monsters" keep attacking them, and the dwarves have not been able seal the cave back up.  The cave is the source of the stink, as it is filled with pools of a strange liquid that gives off terrible fumes.

The Padre finds this story a little thin, and says so, but after a whispered conversation the group agrees to see what they can do about the monsters.  By the terms of their agreement with the Council, the quicker the stink is resolved, the more they will be paid.

Entering the caves, it quickly becomes apparent that there is more afoot than the dwarves confessed.  The first cavern is very large, and shows signs of a fierce battle.  The corpses of many lizard-like humanoids are stacked in the cave, and a shattered throne made of bones and rocks is in one corner.  Searching the area around the throne, the Company find a concealed cache containing two pink crystals of a kind they cannot identify.  That's what happens when you don't put any ranks in Appraise.

Progressing onwards, the group are attacked by three spiny, slime-covered lizards.  Each lizard is about six feet long from nose to tail, and - despite Twinkle's hopes that they will be friends for Rejjie - quite hostile to the adventuring intruders.  A sharp battle follows, during which the creatures prove able to spit acid, but eventually all three of the beasts are destroyed.

(DM's note: the lizards were just hell hounds with a different appearance, and the fire-related abilities changed to acid)

Attracted by the sound of the battle, a small winged humanoid, with a body covered in slime, flies into the cavern.  Seeing the adventurers, it immediately turns and flies back into the darkness, chittering in alarm.  The Company follow it carefully, and emerge into foul-smelling cavern with a floor of slimy mud.

Several of the small winged humanoids are on a ledge on the far side of the cavern.  They appear to be arguing as the adventurers enter, but the Company's arrival soon ends the dispute: three of the creatures launch to the attack.

The Company has a _lot_ of trouble with these enemies.  Most blows seem to slide harmlessly off the creatures' slimy skins, and the beasts are not easy to hit in the first place, as they fly out of reach of the adventurers, then dive down to attack.  That is, when they aren't scraping the acidic slime off their chests and throwing it at the intruders, or releasing large clouds of noxious fumes from ... other parts of their bodies.

Eventually, however, the adventurers develop some effective tactics: those with magic weapons find these hurt the creatures just fine, while those without begin to flank their enemies, allowing the rogues amongst them to launch crippling sneak attacks.

When two of the attacking creatures have been killed, a wizened example of the race calls out, speaking in broken common;

"Cease this fighting!  These are not our true enemies!"

The last fighter is in a berserk rage, and does not listen, but the Company shifts to non-lethal attacks to end the battle without killing it.  This done, they speak with the wizened creature, which seems willing negotiate.  It names itself Yolgru, and explains that its people (whom it names as "mephits") were attacked by a monster unleashed by the dwarves, which is why they attacked the adventurers.  Asked how it knows the dwarves released the monsters, it explains:

"It looks like one of their race, except that the flesh of its face is misshapen, the jaw replaced by a four tentacles, and the eyes turned purple and lidless.  When it spies our people, it stuns them with its mind, and then consumes their brains."

(DM's note: at this point, the Padre's player started whimpering)

In exchange for the adventurers killing the beast, Yolgru continues, the mephits will leave.  Currently, they are unable to leave because the creature's lair blocks the only exit, except for going past the dwarves (which is another reasons they have been attacking the engineers).  Once they can leave, Yolgru says it will also give the adventurers what treasure the mephits have.

The Company agrees to go forth to battle the tentacled, brain-eating dwarf.  But first, they return to speak with Haldan and demand to know what's going on.

Eventually, Haldan admits that the cave had actually been home to troglodytes, rather than the mephits.  He defends the dwarves' attack on the reptilian humanoids, saying that they are well known to be vicious cannibals.  When pressed some more, he admits that one of the dwarves went missing after the fight with the troglodytes: the dwarves assumed he had become lost in the tunnels, or been taken as food when the last few troglodytes fled the battle.

The Padre passes on the description of the monster that was given to them by the mephits, and Haldan immediately wants to seal the tunnel   With the adventurers there to stand guard, he asserts, the mephits will not be able to stop them.

"It's safer to leave that thing undisturbed." He argues.

More or less because Haldan doesn't want them to, the group decides to kill the creature, and go forth to find its lair.

As advertised, the first thing the creature does when they do find it, is attack them all with a stunning mental blast.  Only the Padre manages to resist the creature's attack.

"It's Ulfgar!" he exclaims, recognising his old adventuring companion in the ruined face of the dwarf-thing they now face.  Then he shrugs and puts two arrows into it.

(DM's note: Ulfgar's player went AWOL after the third session of the campaign.  I tacked a level in expert onto the 2 of fighter he already had, slapped the half-illithid template on top of that, and waited to see how the PCs would react to having to kill one of their own.  The answer: without compunction.)

It takes a lot more than that to put the creature down, and several times it has its tentacles wrapped around one or another of the adventurers' heads, but each time they manage to free themselves before it can suck out their brains.  Twinkle, in particular, proves a very slippery customer.

(DM's note: damn dice!)

When the creature finally falls, the adventurers loot the body, get their reward from the mephits, and instruct the engineers to seal up the caves.  They then make a full report to the Council, and - when the Stink dissipates within 48 hours - receive a handsome reward.


*Explanatory Notes*
the dwarves did indeed break into the caves while quarrying stone illegally.  The true reason they decided to stay, however, was that they found several of the strange pink crystals.  Haldan (an Aristocrat 2/Expert 2) recognised this as a little known substance called _rosenkryste_, for which he knew that certain subterranean denizens would pay well: specifically the illithid.  (Those of you with the EN World Player's Journal #3 may be thinking "isn't _rosenkryste_ valuable to aboleth?" - the answer is "not when I originally came up with the stuff, but then WotC released the monsters SRD with mind flayers removed, and I had to change it".  Unfortunately, one of the crystals was damaged in the fight with the troglodytes.  It just happened to have a larval illithid within it, and said larva infected Ulfgar, who was one of the engineers.  Haldan had hoped to find more _rosenkryste_, but once the PCs mentioned the half-illithid, he was more concerned with hiding what he'd been up to than making any further profit.  The PCs, for their part, never told Haldan about the two crystals they found.  Nor did they ever find anyone who could tell them what the stuff was.  So they just kept it.  Sooner or later, that was going to get them into trouble  ).


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Sometimes the easiest to create monster is the best. I like that tactic.  No compunction when it comes to XP for sure.

GW


----------



## Capellan

We've come to the end of the sessions I can recount in any detail, I'm afraid.  There were four more sessions, which I'll give potted summaries for, below.


*Babes in the Woods*
Margan Talhaus sends Khore, Ming Li, Valkyre and Anastria to a small village to speak with an elderly sage who might have information about the elementals coming from Brightstone Mines.  They find the village has been massacred, but are able to track down the sage's apprentice (who escaped the killing) and learn that a force of humanoids has occupied the abandoned ruins of Brightstone Keep, and are sending expeditions into the Mines.  They also learn that the humanoids have some way of spying on the Marikest Council, which is why the village was destroyed.


*The Battle of Brightstone Keep*
The _entire_ Company of the Random Encounter (all 11 active members) are offered a secret deal by Margan Talhaus.  If they kill or drive out the humanoids in Brightstone Keep, he will persuade the rest of the Council (who have not been told of what the adventurers discovered in the previous session) to give the Company the deeds to the Keep.  The Company agree to these terms, and stage an attack that proves a spectacular failure.  They are all defeated and captured.

(The PCs' principal advantages in this fight were that they knew the battle was coming, whereas the enemy didn't, and that they had a massive amount of healing available, whereas the enemy had very little.  They eliminated the first advantage by doing _no_ buffing and the second by splitting up into groups of 1 or 2 people each, which were unable to support each other and were individually surrounded and swamped.)

The captured adventurers are held for a week until one of the humanoids true masters arrives: a vampire from the Ebon Court  The vampire _dominates_ each of them in turn, has them tell him what they know, and then decides to wreak a little havoc with them.


*Bad Beehive-iour*
Half the Company are sent to murder Sionaas, the bee-keeping wizard.  Sionaas has no knowledge of the Ebon Court, but he is believed to be quite powerful (if a little 'odd' in his studies).  As they are known to him, the vampire figures the adventurers should have little trouble catching the wizard with his guard down and slaying him.

The vampire should probably have thought more about the events that led to the Company's capture, before making assumptions like that.  The whole thing goes badly wrong, again.  Ming Li and Anastria are both killed while fighting Sionaas.  The others survive only because the wizard casts _arcane sight_during the fight and realises they have been enchanted.

The principal destroyer of the group this time: an archon lantern.  Well, that, and the fact that they split up, again.


*Marikest Asylum*
The other half of the Company are sent to murder Margan Talhaus, and then retrieve Artimas Sendant from Marikest Asylum: the Ebon Court has use for him.  If at all possible, however, they should keep Sendant's escape as quiet as possible for as long as possible.

They decide to achieve both these goals by unleashing a plague on the city.  Nice folks.  Under the cover of the plague, they poison Talhaus, then kill the staff of the asylum - not to mention a deranged kobold inmate - and make off with Sendant.  With the town in a plague-spawned panic, it is several days before Sendant's disappearance is noticed.
In the course of this adventure, Khore (played by arwink) proved far more successful at the whole 'evil' thing than he had been at the whole holy knight deal.  I expect he came to a bad end, because of it 


*That's All, Folks*
It was after Marikest Asylum that I decided to call an end to the campaign.  Developments had brought it to a darker feel than was really appropriate for what was (meant to be) a light-hearted campaign.  Even without that, there was a good chance that I would soon be out of the country for an extended period, which would have made running the game a little difficult!

Since I am now in Boston and the players are in Brisbane, I think the choice was wise


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## Peterson

While I must confess a sorrow at seeing it end, it was a well-worthwhile ride the entire time.

I really enjoyed this storyhour and look forward to more from you.

Oh - and first reply!  Hellayeah!

::calms down::

Ejoy your stay in the states.

Peterson


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## Thomas Hobbes

Nice.  And by nice I mean "deliciously eeeevil."

After the battleof brightstone, did you end the session and have time to think of what to do next, or did you have to wing it?


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## Capellan

I winged it.  I found myself doing that quite often in CotRE


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## Graywolf-ELM

I'm feeling Bumpy today, not to be confused with grumpy, which my middle daughter says that I am after work.  Just another good one I think people should give a read.

GW


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## Capellan

Shameless pimping!


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## Nephis

*bump*  (just rediscovered this)


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## Nephis

*bump*


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## Mantreus

Capellan said:
			
		

> I winged it.  I found myself doing that quite often in CotRE



Why doesn't this surprise me?


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## Capellan

Not that it has anything to do with the story hour, but ... shameless pimping!


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