# Rise of the Dark Knight[Updated 6-22-2003]



## maddman75 (Jun 6, 2003)

Olivia Blackmantle literally bounced into Gavin’s Well, the small cozy inn that served as the social center of the small village of Gavin’s Dale.  She’d heard that there were strangers in town – someone new!  Her green eyes lit up when she saw that there were new people in the sleepy village.

Her eyes first fell on the halfling.  He was slight, even for one of his kind.  His pack was up on his seat, and even with this boost his head was barely above the table.  His face was a bit pale and he was hanging his head over a cup of hot tea.  He sneezed, obviously suffering from some kind of ailment.

The other stranger was much more striking.  He was a tall human, dressed most unusually.  He wore a long dark coat over a shirt made of some kind of netting.  His legs were covered with small buckles, and he had a great number of jewels decorating his ears.  His hands had silver claws on the tips of his finger.  Finally his dark hair was dyed red on the tips, and spiked not unlike the small mechanical hedgehog that sat on his shoulder.  She HAD to know who this was.

“Excuse me, are you a stranger here.”
	He didn’t look up at her.  “Have you seen me before?”
	“Umm, no.”
	“Then I guess I’m new here.”  He looked up to the barkeep.  “I’ll have the stew.”

	Olivia decided to leave the colorful stranger to his own devices and went over to the halfling.  “Hello – I’m Olivia.  Are you feeling okay?”
	“Oh, just a bit of a cold.”  He sniffled and took another drink from his tea.
	“Well I’ll bet Old Man Preston can fix you right up!  He’s got all kinds of herbs and stuff.  Come on!”  She got up and walked out the door, assuming the halfling was following her.

	The burly warrior sitting at the bar looked at the halfling.  Growing up in the village, he knew that the halfling had no choice in the matter.  “You’d better go, or she’ll just come back for you.  Come on, I’ll go with you.”  Just as they were getting to the door, Olivia popped her head back in and said “Come on!”

	The village was small and peaceful.  Other than the inn, the small temple, and the lodge where Olivia’s adoptive father protected the town, only a few dozen houses stood on the edge of the forest.  This was the last outpost of the Kingdom of Enoch.  Though the King in name ruled the entire isle, everything past this point belonged to the goblins and barbarians.  

	They arrived at the small temple to Mighty Auros, and the elderly cleric Preston greeted them warmly.  He invited them in and began working on an infusion for the halfling.  Algernon, the burly warrior, waited outside.


	He breathed in the clear night air and looked about.  He heard an odd chattering on the edge of town, and took a couple steps, wondering what it could be.  Then he saw a fire strike up.  This was most unusual.  Who could be out starting a fire out there?

	His question was answered when he heard the catapult loose, and the flaming ball of pitch flew in a graceful arc, landing a mere fifteen feet away from him.  Then he realized what the chittering voices were.  

	Goblins.


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## maddman75 (Jun 8, 2003)

*A Sudden Assault*

Cries went up throughout the town.  Olivia and the halfling came out of the temple and the dark clad stranger emerged from the inn, still holding his bowl of soup.  They could make out three groups.  Two goblins were running toward the center of the village, while three were reloading the catapult.  Four more were attacking a group of townsfolk.

Olivia’s father came storming out of his lodge, right between the temple and inn.  Though he was into his sixties, he still had his shield and magical blade from his adventuring days.  He may be the only knight defending Gavin’s Dale, but a few scrub goblins were nothing to him.

Except for the potion that enhanced the goblin’s aim.  The snarling beast threw a javelin at Lord Darkmantle and struck him on the chest.  The sword fell from his grip and he collapsed on the ground.

Algernon and Olivia ran toward the fallen knight.  The burly warrior placed himself between the goblins and his Lord, while Olivia desperately kneeled by her adoptive father’s side to make certain he was okay.  He was breathing, but she couldn’t rouse him.  The javelin has some kind of thick black substance all over it.

The halfling grabbed up his crossbow and fired at one of the goblins on the catapult.  His aim was impeccable, striking the tiny beast in the throat.  He wiped at his sniffling nose and loaded another bolt.

The spiky-haired stranger walked toward the catapult, still eating his soup.  He took no action, apparently trying to take in the situation.

Algernon swung his blade, cutting down the closest goblin.  The other beast swung back at him, but the blade went wild.  He followed up with his dagger and opened the creature’s throat.

In a daze, Olivia dashed inside the lodge and grabbed her crossbow off the wall.  Seeing that her father was safe, she launched a bolt at the goblins manning the catapult.  One of them squealed as it took a bolt in the shoulder, but kept working on reloading the catapult.

By this time the goblins had disarmed the villagers and began slapping chains on them.  The stranger calmly set his spoon into his bowl and raised a finger.  He spoke arcane words of power, and a glowing red bolt of energy flew across the battlefield, felling one of the beasts.

The halfling fired another bolt at the catapult, but his target managed to duck it.  The creatures let loose and a flaming ball of pitch struck the temple, setting the thatch roof ablaze.  The three that were chaining the villagers made a run at the sorcerer.  Their spiked club drove him to the ground and into unconsciousness.

Old man Preston emerged from the burning temple and made for the Lord.  His simple spell couldn’t revive him, so he started cleaning the wound.  Algernon made a charge at the goblins who remained while Olivia tried to snipe some with her crossbow.

Two of the creatures charged at the halfling while two fought off the tall agile human.  He swung wide, giving the creature an opening.  He quickly followed up the creature’s clumsy attack by driving his dagger into his guts.  A bolt from Olivia finished the other one off.

The halfling fired his crossbow, dropping one as he charged ahead.  The other, seeing that all his allied had been felled, threw his arms up.  Wiping his nose again, the halfling told the creature to get on its knees and aimed his crossbow at his head.  “Don’t move.”

Old man Preston told Olivia and Algernon to get Lord Darkmantle inside and went to see to the stranger that had been felled.


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## maddman75 (Jun 10, 2003)

*Plans and Introductions.*

Olivia sat by the bed of her father, with Algernon standing nearby.  The stranger was recovering from his wounds, and old man Preston finally got the halfling his infusion.

“What’s wrong with him.”

Preston looked as sympathetic as he could.  “It’s the Blue Shakes.  A disease that destroys the nerves.  It will leave him weak and bedridden, and unless I can get some red swamp lilies I’m afraid he won’t last more than a couple weeks.”

Her normally cheerful green eyes were filled with steel.  “I’m going.  Just tell me where to get some, and you’ll have it.”

“Well, there’s some swamps to the south where the herb has been known to grow.  It would only take a couple of days – “

“No.”  Lord Darkmantle’s voice, though weak still held an air of authority.  “The village comes first.  What happens if the goblins send more forces while you are in the swamp?”

“You are the only thing protecting this town.  If we don’t heal you-“

“If the goblins return while I’m sick it will be the same as if I were already gone.  You either need to track the goblins down and ensure they don’t return, or send a runner to Anthorp and petition more knights from Lord Kartark.  You could likely obtain some herbs for my illness as well.”

“Alright father.  I’ll see what I can do.  I won’t let you down.”

He smiled kindly.  “I know you’ll do fine dear.”  He closed his eyes and rested.  The strangers took their leave and returned to the inn to retire for the night.  Algernon spoke up.

“Well, we probably have a couple days before the goblins return.  It would take a week to get to Anthorp.  I don’t know how we are going to do it with just the two of us.”

“There are four of us.  I’ll bet the two at the inn will help!”  She almost seemed like the cheerful Olivia Algernon had known all his life again.

He looked at her like she was daft.  “You mean the sick gnome and the jester?  I’ll grant the halfling was a good shot, but that weird one just ate his soup while our townspeople died!”

“He helped at the end Algernon.  I saw it.  And they are our townspeople not his.”   Lets go find them and see what that goblin can tell us about their plans.


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## maddman75 (Jun 18, 2003)

*Tracking the Goblins*

Apologies for the delay, loyal players (and anyone else who is reading).  To make it up, I'll give you a two-for-tuesday.
-------------------------------------------

After a good nights rest and a brief interrogation of the prisoner, the four companions left for the wilderness.  The heavy catapult had left wide tracks in the forest, making the trail simple to follow.  Algernon rode up front, on the lookout for any danger.  Behind him the halfling Eeredrick rode his pony while Olivia rode double with the sorcerer Id.

A few hours went by peacefully through the pristine wilderness.  Algernon pulled his horse up short and held his hand up to warn the others.  He pointed out a small hole in the road, carefully covered with leaves.  Eeredrick examined the simple trap, revealing a sharp stake hidden in the small hole.  The group carefully walked their horses around it and carried on.

The next trap the didn’t see, a tripwire launching a crossbow bolt down the path.  It hit none of them, but they decided to be more careful.  Eerdrick rode up front with Algernon to watch for traps.  A bit later, he found a huge log hidden in the brush, set to swing into them.  The halfling set it off with his dagger and Algernon cut it from the ropes that suspended it.

Finally the reached the goblin camp.  Eeredrick took a quick look around the camp.  There were no other clear trails, and they looked to be building another catapult.  Id took the small clockwork hedgehog from his shoulder and whispered to it a bit.  It scurried off into the camp, communicating what he’d seen.

“Man, these things smell!”

“You don’t even have a nose.  Just tell me what you see.”

“Hmm.  Well, there’s five goblins in each tent, sleeping.  Two more out by the fire.  I think they are supposed to be keeping watch, but they’re mostly arguing over some rotten meat.  And in the big tent we have…Oh man!”

“What”

“I’m out of here!  It’s huge!”

“What is it?  A big goblin?”

“Doesn’t look like a goblin.  More like a human, only stupider.  And he’s twice as big as you!  I’m glad he was asleep!”

Id looked to his companions.  Well, sounds like twenty goblins, and an ogre.”

Their faces paled.  “There’s no way we can fight that many goblins.”

Eeredrick loaded his crossbow.  “Maybe we won’t have to.”


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## maddman75 (Jun 18, 2003)

*Sneak Attack*

“What do you mean we won’t have to?”  Olivia asked.  

“Well, we went through the goblins pretty easily back in town.  If I can sneak in there and take out the leader, they’ll probably scatter.  I’ll kill him in his sleep and then you guys charge into camp.  They’ll run for sure.”

Olivia thought about the plan for a minute.  She really wasn’t one for killing things in their sleep.  Then she thought of her father, laying sick in town, fighting off the poison these beasts had used on him.  “I don’t have a problem with that.”

Eeredrick slunk down to the camp, crawling alongside one of the tents.  He came up behind the two goblins by the fire pit and carefully laid out an extra bolt next to him.  He raised his crossbow and launched the bolt at the closest creature.  As the beast bent to grab a hunt of meat, the bolt hit him in the back and plunged him headfirst into the firepit.  His companion spun around with his eyes wide as saucers.  But before the beast could scream, the halfling had placed a bolt right between his eyes.  He waved to his friends and slunk into the large tent on the other side of the fire.

The creature lay on a low wooden bed, snoring loudly.  It dwarfed Eeredrick, who was small even for one of his kind.  He wiped at his nose and crept up, taking a deep breath before aiming his crossbow right at the beast’s head.  He fired the crossbow point blank, sinking the bolt into the creature’s skull.

The ogre’s eyes snapped open.


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## Snoweel (Jun 19, 2003)

w00t!

PC stats! PC stats! PC stats!


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## maddman75 (Jun 20, 2003)

*Fight at the encampment.*

Mighty Galf couldn’t believe what had just happened.  Some worthless little peck – not even as big as a goblin – had snuck into his tent and shot him in the head.  ‘Should know better than to shoot an ogre in the head.  Hehe.’ he thought.  Galf reached for his greatclub and took a swing at this little annoyance.

The creature backed up, loaded his crossbow, and shot Galf in the chest.  Oh, this little peck was going to pay.  He’d roast him on a spit and make his friends watch.  His vision going red with rage, he leaped off the bed and swung down again.  The damn thing wouldn’t stand still!  His club pounded a deep divot in the ground where the halfling had been standing a moment before.

From outside the tent a bolt of magical energy slammed into Galf’s chest.  He roared with rage – he’d roast all of them on the spit, and make the peck go last.  He raised the club again, but the halfling placed a bolt right in his neck.  The creature looked as surprised as Galf.  His vision went black, and the huge monster crashed to the ground.




Eeredrick popped out of the tent and screamed “I killed your master and I’ll kill you too!”  He launched another bolt and, true to his word, dropped one of the goblins that Olivia and Algernon had been fighting off.  Id came up behind another one and tapped it on the shoulder.

The creature spun around and the sorcerer pointed his finger at the goblin’s forehead.  “Bang.”  A bolt of energy blasted straight into the creature’s head.

Olivia had been cut up pretty badly, so Algernon moved to her side and flanked the remaining goblin.  They put him down and took a potion to close their wounds.  It looked like the rest of the goblins were making a run for it.  The group moved inside the tent to see what they could find.  

Eeredrick, still ecstatic from killing an ogre almost by himself, found a locked chest.  His deft fingers undid the lock and found a bag full of gold as well as a note.  After reading it, he passed it to the others.

“I think we’ve got problems.”


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## Snoweel (Jun 20, 2003)

What problems do they got?


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## GeorgeFields (Jun 20, 2003)

*PC STATS!*

At this point, my character, Eeridrick: Halfing Rogue 1
STR 7 ; DEX 20 ; CON 7 ; INT 18 ; WIS 17 ; CHA 10
NOT your physical phenomenon, but decent with the crossbow!


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## maddman75 (Jun 21, 2003)

*Acting on orders*

Hey Geo!  Glad you made it over here.  Hehe - he wants to know what problems you guys have.  

_
Galf,

I need you and those maggot goblins.  Take the toxin – that’s the black stuff – and boil it.  Let the javelins soak for a full day.  Don’t drink it, or let your goblins drink it, unless you want to wake up in the Netherworld.  After it’s soaked coat it in the poison.  Send some of your maggots to Gavin’s Dale.  Kill the old knight, or at least stick him with the javelin.  Should do its job sooner or later.  Burn down a couple of buildings and take some slaves.  When this is done, return home to be rewarded.  If you return and the old knight lives I’ll feed you to the bitch in the swamp.  Don’t worry about knights coming out to assault you – you’ll be long gone by the time that can happen.  The old man is the only knight in the village.  But don’t underestimate him!  He’s still worth more than all your maggots put together.  Act quickly, and if you screw this up I’d suggest you die in the attempt.

The Dark Knight_
Olivia was distraught.  “Who would want to kill my father?  I’ve never heard of this ‘Dark Knight.’”

Eeredrick looked at his companions.  “I don’t know, but I think he should see this.

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

They beat a hasty retreat back to Gavin’s Dale, arriving just before dawn.  They had a brief meeting with Lord Darkmantle.  His condition was quickly worsening.  They decided to travel to Anthorp to get some herbs and reinforcements.

Lord Darkmantle sealed a parchment with his signet ring and handed it to Olivia.  “Give this to Baron Kartark.  He’ll surely offer some knights to defend the village from further attack.

She looked up humbly.  “I’ll do my best father.”

He smiled warmly.  “I know you will, dear.”


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## maddman75 (Jun 21, 2003)

*Re: Rise of the Dark Knight[Updated 6-20-2003]*

Edit - seemed to have screwed up when I went to change the 'last updated' part.


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## Snoweel (Jun 23, 2003)

*Re: A Sudden Assault*



			
				maddman75 said:
			
		

> *Cries went up throughout the town.  Olivia and the halfling came out of the temple and the dark clad stranger emerged from the inn, still holding his bowl of soup.  They could make out three groups.  Two goblins were running toward the center of the village, while three were reloading the catapult.  Four more were attacking a group of townsfolk.
> 
> Olivia’s father came storming out of his lodge, right between the temple and inn.  Though he was into his sixties, he still had his shield and magical blade from his adventuring days.  He may be the only knight defending Gavin’s Dale, but a few scrub goblins were nothing to him.
> 
> ...


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## maddman75 (Jun 23, 2003)

*Anthorp*

They arrived at the city in under a week, riding the horses hard.  They decided to split up, Eeredrick and Id would find some Red Swamp Lilies to cure Lord Darkmantle, while Olivia and Algernon talked to Baron Kartark.

The market was bustling, offering wares from all over the Isle and beyond.  The crowd seemed to ignore the halfling while Id stuck out like a sore thumb.  Soon enough, the found a stall where a halfling was selling herbs.

“Do you have Red Swamp Lilies?”  Id asked directly.

The halfling took a draw from his pipe and looked up from under his hat.  “Maybe I do and maybe I don’t.  Why?”

“Well, I want to buy some.”

The small man set his pipe down and smiled.  “Well in that case I do have some.”  He hefted a small back onto the counter.  “That should be plenty.  Little bit of this stuff goes a long way.”

“How much for the bag?”  Id asked as he pulled out his coin pouch.

“That depends.  How much you willing to pay?”

“Um, I don’t know.  How’s twenty gold?”

The halfling beamed.  “That would do just fine!”

Before they walked off, Eeredrick leaned in close.  “Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

He took another draw from his pipe.  “I suppose you can.  Not promising that I’ll answer, but you can ask.”

“Well, do you know anything about…our kind that uses magic.”

He leaned back a bit.  “Maybe I do and maybe I don’t.  Why, who’s askin?”

“Oh, I’m Eeredrick.  I want to learn.  You know anything about that.”

“Like I said, maybe I do and maybe I don’t.  Wouldn’t be much of a secret club if I just told anyone, now would it.  But you look like a good enough sort.”  He pulled a small book from under the counter and handed it to Eeredrick.  “You practice at that, and if its your sort of thing come back and see ol’ Paundrius.”

“Thank you – I will!”

The two companions headed for the Dire Boar Inn, right across from the Keep at the center of town.  They wondered how Olivia and Algernon were faring with Baron Kartark.


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## megamania (Jun 23, 2003)

Well done. I will be checking this as often as I can.  

Gavin...a little girl whose dad might die...have you ever read Battlechasers?

Keep it up


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## maddman75 (Jun 23, 2003)

Nope, can't say I have.  And Olivia's player has been very understanding about me messing with her backstory .  This is a great group and I can't wait to DM for them every week.


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## megamania (Jun 23, 2003)

excellent


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