Palace of the Vampire Queen (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Luca escorts Ingot to her home and tries to explain that she's decided to take on the goblin as her apprentice as soon as she gets back from taking care of the mess that seems to be sweeping the isle.

Sorry, I'm back.

Ingot leads Luca from one level of the town to the next climbing higher and higher up the side of the hill. Finally she leads Luca to a small walled estate. There is a gate, made of iron, in the low stone wall and it stands open. A field, as wide as a field could be on the terraces of the hill, spreads out beyond the gate, and to each side of the path running into the field there are orchards of trees, olive and fig, and here and there a broad leafy plum tree grows. Goblins and Dwarves can be seen on small ladders harvesting the fruit of the trees.

Suddenly a goblin boy looks toward Luca and Ingot. He smiles showing a toothy grin in a round head, and claps his big hands together. Hooting and hollering, the goblin boy trots toward Ingot and soon others are following him.

Luca and Ingot are surrounded by goblins, all chattering in the goblin tongue, and Ingot does as much as she can to answer the questions being thrown at her. She is hugged by one goblin after another. Finally, a goblin woman, no taller than Ingot, but obviously much older, approaches Luca and speaks to her while she holds he hands, palms upward out in front of her.

“Thank you kind one for returning our child to us. My name is Goyan, and I am Ingot’s maternal aunt. Tell me, please, where did you find her and were there others of her kind with her? It is a blessing of Een’Droth to see her alive again. Please come up to the house and I will introduce you to the Landlord. He is one of your kind, and his name is Salli Anaakodos. He is a kind man and most likely will reward you for any information you have about our little Ingot here.”

Meanwhile, Rownig moves through the lower shops of the village and finds fine crafted wooden tools, some modest pottery and a few shops that make and sell shoes and clothing that are durable but not finely crafted. He finds no “adventuring” gear, save for a small jewel smith who has some lengths of fine silver chain that are fashioned with silver wire holding a polished black stone. The silver smith, Her name is Illisandra, will tell you that the stones are magnetic, and can bring luck. She sells them for two hundred silver pieces each. She also has a fine long knife of highly polished fine quality steel that she has inlayed silver and Tiger's Eye gems in the hilt. It is a masterwork knife. She spent a years profit on the blade, it was made by Herzobella, and is technically a short sword, though the blade is narrow and only edged on one side. There are small shops selling fruits and vegetables includding garlic, some brook trout and other small stream fish, a butcher shop that has some fresh pork sausages and loins, a bakery selling sweet smeeling breads and some hard rolls baked with bits of a salty goat cheese in the dough, and a merchant who sells wine and other alcohols. (It is 40 silver pieces total. To find out if there are other items available in the village such as tanglefoot bags and the like, will require a Diplomacycheck with a DC of 16, Atharessa can be used for this check, any success means you find one item you are looking for, but it takes an hour of looking. For every one greater than 17 (18 or higher) the time is reduced by ten minutes, and if the results is 5 greater than 16, a second non-magical piece of unusual adventuring gear is available. Prices will be high; multiply the base prices listed in the Core Rules by 10 and change any reference of GP to SP, SP to CP.

Azram visits the villages head priest and tells her of the plight of the Dwarves and Goblins at the mining camp. She asures him that she will send food, blankets, and what ever can be spared from the temple to them today or tomorrow at the latest, and she rewards him for being helpful in returning some of the villagers to their homes with a scroll that has two first level spells scribed on it (Cure Light Wounds and a second spell of the parties choice, you can make suggestions in the discussion thread).

Mazrim visits with a few villagers going about their daily work, some repair roofs, others engaged in light crafts, woodworking, stone cutting, pottery and the like, and finds that the people are happy and seem to be unaware of a real undead problem, though some have heard of an occasional undead creature being seen at night wandering through the village going toward the southeast.

Less than an hour passes and if everyone is ready you can leave the village.

Luca finds herself following the young goblin's aunt.

"I, um, I ne'er thought o' meself as kind. Got caught by a bunch o' bandits an' foun' em chainin' me ta Ingot one day. Felt sorry fer tha lass, knew she musta been scared outta her wits."

Luca looks around the grounds, feeling very much out of her depth here. Not a small part of her wanted to be in a forge, listening to the banging of hammers.

"Where're her parents? I wanted ta ask 'em aboot lettin' Ingot 'prentice with me."

Not quite ready, but I can flex time it so we can move on if everyone else is ready.

South east? What's south east of here.

Mazrim will finish up his provisioning and meet up with everyone outside where Hale-Hallister is waiting. Once everyone has returned he'll recount the story he overheard.

Rownig will pick up several bundles of garlic and other food items for provisions. He notes the good luck charms and the fine looking blade. "Thank you madame." Stuffing his goods in his ppack.

Since time is essential, he did not want to keep the others outside the village waiting too long. When he gets back to the others he will report,

"Da silv'r smith got some nice luck stones fer sale fer 200 silv'er probl'y git lower fer the lot. Also has a fine long knife polished steel wit a inlayed silver and Tiger's Eye gems in the hilt. It's a touch longer."

Mazrim walks to the edge of the terrace where he is in the village and looks out across the expanse of Witch’s Valley (drawing on his limited knowledge, he tries to recall what could be to the southeast, he can make a Knowledge Nature, or Knowledge History check to try and figure out what it could be.)

“Ingot’s mother died a few years ago and her father remarried, to my sister. Both her father and step-mother are below in the cabage fields harvesting today,” says Goyan in answer to Luca’s questions.

As Goyan is talking, Azram jogs up to the gate to the estate. Looking over Goyan’s head, Luca sees that Azram has bought new cloths, and new boots. His boots are high, almost up to his knees and made of thick brown leather with buckles instead of laces. His clothing is also thicker, and looks more suited to exploring caves than the common traveling clothing he had been wearing before.

Azram calls out to Luca, “Luca, hurry up, Halister is waiting and we have to set out immediately if we want to have a chance to return before dark.”

Goyan turns when she hears Azrams voice, and then turns back to Luca and asks, “Where are you trying to go and why do you have to return before dark? I can give your message to Ingot’s parents, but she will need the Landlords permission to take up a trade. If she has a talent, then you are sure to get the ear of our Landlord. Tellme again, pretty one, what is your name?”

As Rownig is negotiating a lower price for the garlic, he notices that the farmer, an older dwarf with a short white beard, a flat broad nose and a small mouth, wears a satchel of white linen on his wrist. The satchel has yellow oily stains.

This farmer notices Rownings look and smiles as he says, “Keeps the walking dead from coming too close, don’t you know,” the old dwarf pats at the satchel. “Just crush three good sized cloves and gather them together with a few petals of the athara flower, give a prayer to Dennari asking for her protection, and wear it from dawn to dawn for three days.”

Atharessa meets with Mazrim and asks what he is thinking about as he gazes to the southeast.

Moralane follows Galana until the body of Turrand is delivered to Tanner’s mother, and then she thanks Galana for everything she has done and promises to see her again when the group returns from their mission. She then goes off to meet up with Halister.

Hal was rather impatiently sitting under a tree next to the box of cursed items when the rest of the group returned.

"Everythin' go a'right?"

"We're tryin' ta git ta a camp a few hours south o' 'ere. Strange thin's 'ave been 'appenin' at night."

Luca turns her gaze from Azram to Goyan and gives the goblin a smile.

"Thank ye, I 'ope ta be back afore too long. As fer me name, just Luca will do."

With that she waves bye to Ingot and Goyan and begin to make her way quickly to where there were to meet.

---- Later at the meeting place.

"Yeah, I believe it did. Are we ready?"

"Ah been ready since we got 'ere. You lot ready?"

Rowning smiles widely, "Thank ye good man, got me the garlic but where do I get the flower from?"

After securing the garlic, flowers and cloth for everyone in the group, Rownig will meet up with the others.

“A good fella told me to crush three good sized cloves of garlic and gath'r them together with a few petals of the athara flow'r in cloth ti wear, give a prayer to Dennari asking fer her protection, and wear it from dawn to dawn for three days fer protection from the walking dead." Rownig eyeballs Azram, "Yer guud fer the prayers right?"

"If he's not, ye might 'ave a problem, I ain't a foll'r o' Dennari."

Luca adjusts her pack and armor a bit and checked the hammer hanging by her side.

"Well, I'm ready as soon as Mazrim gits 'ere."

"Try it, but don' trust it 'till it's proven itself. Folklore's usually jus' that, an differn't kinds 'a undead 're effected by differn't things. Even if'n it works on one, it might no' work on 'nother."

"I've heard rumors about undead wandering through town heading south east and pondering what it could be they're heading to, or from. That and wondering exactly what we can do when or if we find the source."

knowledge nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

----

When he joins the others he'll fill them in on what he learned.

"Werth a shot but I trust me axes most," he twirls the two hand axes. "Ready'

Mazrim looks out across the valley as he talks to Hallister, but he can't put the pieces together. Then as a cloud drifts lazily across the distand sky, to the southeast, the peak of Betthras Mountain can be seen, with a cap of snow. It is the highest point on the island, rising to over 8,600 feet. Could they be going there?

The party is collected, and you set off following a simple map given to you by Stropos. Within a half hour you see, in the distance about a half mile, the first landmark noted on the map, and you know you are going the right way.

Atharessa walks beside Rowning, and says, cheerfully, "Aw, come on Rowning, you know what that flower is. It's the symbol of the Empire and all that. Grows just about everywhere, we'll keep our eyes out and as soon as we see a bush we'll gather as many petals as we need."

"Yer right, lass." Hal says, finally recognizing the flower. "Didn't know it had any kind'a special properties. Hell, Ah never knew it was special at all."

"Spent most me time tinkering with items, not lookin' fer flow'rs lass."

From Eight Fountan Springs you will be cutting across country (not following any road or path) and looking for a geographical marker called Bellows Rock (a large rock formation shaped like the bellows of a forge) that stands on a precipitous peak. When you see this marker, the map tells you to head toward the narrow gorge below the fat end of the rock formation, then, go north through the gorge and into the valley where the mine is located. You will find an open pit iron mine, three small buildings, and at the very northern most end of the mine works a tunnel that heads down into the mountain at a steep angle (ther are ropes and a mine car that can be lowered to the bottom of this tunnel, four hundred feet down). Once you reach the bottom of the mine tunnel, you can follow the instructions on the map ( I do not need to detail those instructions, but it involves passages, ladders, climbs down and up, and a natural cavern with a free flowing stream of warm water) to find the chest.

The journey across the rouged landscape is slow and arduous. At times it takes more than two of you to cross a gap in the ground, handling the chained box across from one team to another. In the distance you can see the landmark, “Bellows Rock”. It sits upon a peak, just as Stropos described it, and just a few hundred yards before you reach the base of the landmark, you find a tangle of Atara bushes in bloom, there are enough flowers to make all the satchels you will need, and Atharessa cheerfully collects the flower petals in a small pouch, telling the rest of you to go on ahead, she will catch up.

At the base of the landmark, facing the north, the mountain continues to rise, probably reaching a height of 5000 feet, but to the right of the landmark is a cleft in the ground and this cleft expands, growing wider, and deeper as it skirts around the eastern side of the mountain.

From here you cannot see the mining site, as the gorge bends to the east just a few hundred yards to the north, but you are certain you are on the right path.

While you plan your descent, it will not require ropes, as there are easily climbed steps along the west side of the gorge that you can work doward, Atharessa catches up to you. She has a concernerd look on her face.

“I think we are being followed,” Atharessa says.

Moralane looks back down the mountain in the direction you have come.

“I think I saw a scouting party of Goblins riding spiders, like the ones we encountered in Thrindasse Canyon," Atharessa continues, "they are still very far behind us, and they are moving from cover to cover so as to not be seen, or maybe they are just a hunting party, but I’m pretty sure they are tracking us.”

It takes your party half an hour to reach the bottom of the gorge here, and then you set out northward. Another hour passes. The gorge is narrow, only seventy feet wide at the bottom, and strewn with rocks and boulders larger than a Dwarf. When it is just past noon, you turn a tight bend in the gorge and the walls pare away to each side of you as the gorge opens up to a small valley. There are excavations in the walls of the canyon here and there with ladders, now broken and scattered across the canyon floor, all around.

Ahead of you, to the north, is a series of stairs, built more durably than the broken ladders you see around, that rise forty feet, switching back and forth as they climb, to a wide excavation in the northwest canyon wall. On a ledge, some twenty feet across and ten feet wide, you see two small mine carts, one is rigged to a block and tackle and two of its wheel hang out beyond the edge of the ledge, while the other mining cart is parked closer to the opening of the mine.

that was supposed to be rugged, not rouged, whatever the heck rouged is, I don't know. I'm tired.

"'Slong as they don't mistake us fer some deer, they kin sneak 'round all they want."

Despite Luca's words, she keeps a hand on her hammer, just in case.

"I'd rather not get stuck between undead and goblins but were losing day here, hopefully the goblins avoid the mines altogether."

"Aye, I'm pretty quick on me feet and wits, happy to lead da way or stay and pin da foll'rs if need be." He looks to the unsworn leader Hal for his decision.

"Mebbe we c'n talk to 'em?"

I would like to know if it is alright for me to push the party along as I have been doing.

As it stands now, I can only assume you have all stopped below the stairs and are deciding on your next course of action, or should I just assume you press forward, enter the mine and begin searching for the lead lined chest?

I'd rather not leave spider-cavalry behind us. Let's see if we can talk to them first, or fight them off if need be.

Either or is fine with me.

"We kin try I guess. Any o' us any good at sweet-talkin'?"

"Altharessa? Azram? Either o' ye any good at talkin' t' goblins?"

Lets wait and 'talk'

“I don’t know more than a few common phrases in the goblin tongue,” Azram says shrugging his shoulders.

“I can speak goblin,” Moralane says.

“Yes, I can speak goblin too,” Atharessa says. “And I understand that most goblin tribes are led by a head woman, or matriarch, so it would be better if Moralane and I gave it a try.”

The party groups closely together at the base of the stairs, while Atharessa and Moralane move forward. As Moralane passes mazrim, she hands him her bow and quiver.

“Take this, and don’t be afraid to use it if things start to go south.”

At the other end of the gorge a group of spider ridders begins making their way down the walls. They are moving slowly, and show no signs of hostility. When they reach the floor of this canyon, Atharessa lifts her hand to her eyes, shielding the overhead glare of the sun, and peers toward them.

“These are different spiders,” Atharessa announces, and as the ridders come closer you all can see she is correct.

Where the spiders you fought before were colored black and green, with shinny and somewhat oily carapaces, and long spindly legs, these spiders are shorter in height, and are hairy, colored in deep browns with tufts of grey at the joints of their legs.

There are six spider ridders in all, and they are all young goblins.

They wear breeches, and low leather boots with wide cuffs. They wear no shirts and their chests, both male, of which there are four, and female, are exposed and show hena tattoo covering them from neck to navel. Their green skin is clean, and they look well fed, and strong.

For weapons they each carry a long wooden spear, it has a sharpened tip, no metal point, but on their backs each goblin has a long quiver filled with metal tipped throwing pears. The spear heads are broad, but light and leaf shapped.

As they approach the goblins slow their mounts to an easy pace, and two of the goblins signal a halt to the groups advance, and then these two, a male and female, advance. When they are thirty feet away they stop, and the female rides a few feet further. With one hand she holds her spear, pointed toward the sky upward, while with the other she puts her hand, palm outward, toward you while she squeezes with her legs to control her mount.

The goblin woman speaks, her words are loud and clear and she speaks in common.

“Are you the band who rescued the slaves from the mining camp to the east?”

Atharessa answers, “We have come from there yes, and we did find certain slaves taken unlawfully by a mad man. What is your business with us?”

The goblin woman dismounts and asks, “May I approach?”

“Yes,” Atharessa calls.

The goblin woman dismounts, barks a few orders to the male goblin beside her, and then walks toward Atharessa.

“Nitcha, omma thu gotora undir nok nok thagu,” the goblin woman says in her own tongue and bows deeply to Atharessa.

“You are welcome, but we are not lords,” Moralane says quicky before Atharessa can say anything. “We are citizens under the orders of knights of the realm.”

“Three of our people were set free from the mining camp and during the early morning hours they returned to our village, just to the northwest of here, we have come to thank you for the kindness you have shown our kind, and to warn you that we will not be forced off of our lands by Sir Guisse’s soldiers. We acknowledge your right to this mine, and the camp, but we have presented our meets and bounds to your king and will defend our lands. Tell your Lord that he cannot butcher our kind any longer without retribution. This is your only warning, and I will go now in peace, but the next time we meet, if you want blood you will have it.”

Atharessa turns to Mazrim, a look of concern on her face, and then she turns back to the goblin woman and says, “I do not know of these matters, nor am I under orders from Sir Guisse to attack any goblin settlements. We, our band,” she gestures to the rest of you, “Are working together, under the authority of three knighgts of the realm, to find reasons for the increase in undead attacks in this area.”

“So say you,” the goblin woman says, “We have not the Gutah, the trust of enemies, that gives me a mind to believe your words. But you are looking for the princess then? We have heard of her kidnapping, and our village has been attacked as well. There are bugbears and ogres among the walking dead, but our kind do not fall to this curse. If you seek information about the undead you can come to our village and speak to the white-haired one, she knows much of the nature of the undead, but come under a blue flag if you intend to come in peace.”

She mounts her spider, and then says to Atharessa, “If you are going into these mines you should know that your kind have dug too deeply near the waters here, and a great Thrak’Jotak now prowls the caves. One of the ones you freed has seen it with her own eyes when she was made to work the mining carts in these deep caves. Be careful if you find yourselves close to the waters.”

She waits for any questions your party has, saying further. “We are travelling to Eight Fountains, to trade skins and herbs and will be there for this night. If you want to travel safetly to our village, look for us at Eight Fountains.”

Rownig would have moved up with the others. He speaks goblin.

"What is a Thrak'Jotak?"

Pulling out tobacco pouch he offers some smoke to the goblins, before stuffing his own pipe. Patiently waiting on the answer.

"Prolly a fish wit' a bad temper."

Luca's expression leaves little doubt about how she feels about having to slog through an undead-infested, abandoned mine that's been flooded

"I don't trust 'em. There's too much they're not saying and no proof what they say is true."
sense motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Still, might be good t' talk t' the white haired one."

Moralane turns to Rownig and says, “It is some kind of crab, I think?”

“No, I think it is a reefclaw,” Atharessa says, “or something bigger. I’ve heard the word Thrak, used before other names, and it means big, or great, and Jotak is a kind of lobster, a kind of cave crawdad, I’m sure. I’ve never seen a reefclaw, but I’ve heard they are something nasty.”

The goblin leader listens to Rowning’s question and looks at Rownig’s offer of tobacco, and she seems unsure of what he means, finally she says, “I do not care for Dwarven weed, but if you want to trade, I can offer you a pouch of goblin cumin-pepper, for your tabaco. Our head woman has a taste for it, and we are going to pick up some in Eight Fountains, but I’ll trade for yours if that is your meaning.”

While she is talking, the goblin leader overhears Moralane and Atharessa discuss the Thrak’Jotak, and she says, her voice sounding a bit unsteady, “No, no, Thrak’Ah’A’Jotak, a great cave crawler, a huge beast that feeds on carrion, but can be dangerous when it’s territory is threatened. Some say they are blind, and sense even the lightest steps, in your tongue I think they are called, Chuul.”

Mazrim watches the other goblins. He has been told that goblin leaders have a hard time keeping underlings in line, and he watches to see if the others betray their leader’s story with any body language or expressions that might hint at her speaking a lie, but the other goblins are firm, and make no signs. He has the impression that the goblin woman speaks the truth

'Let's take-a-look in da cave, den go t'talk." A smoke ring flows out of the dwarf's mouth as he speaks.

Hal nodded. He still wasn't thrilled about the goblin's presence, but they had a job to do.

"Thanks for th' warnin'."

Well, looks like we got beasties ta slay. Shall we git goin'?"

The spider ridders move off to the south.

How do you want to enter the mine, in what order? Remember one Dwarf can carry the box, unencumbered, but will need to use both hands or two can carry it together each with one hand free.

Mazrim will offer to take point with his ranseur.

Rownig will offer point or rear guard, Remember, call fer me t'look at questionable areas, could be a trap."

"If you want to scout a bit ahead feel free."

"I'll be towards tha front. Rather be able ta get ta Rownig if slag gets in the iron."

I'll carry it. Can Moralane take the other side?

Rownig will proceed 20 feet ahead of the others keeping a watchful eye.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12+9 if traps

The party moves cautiously up the stairs to the opening in the cliff wall, twenty feet above the ground. When they reach the landing just outside of the mine entrance, they take a moment to ready their gear.

Moralane shoulders her bow and draws a short sword, while with the other hand she takes one handle of the large box Hallister is carrying. She gives him a knowing and serious look, and then waits for the rest of the party to move out.

Azram unrolls a parchment, reads a few of the notes, and says, “Alright, we go in here and keep to the left. We’ll be looking for a winding tunnel that heads down at a steep angle, and then we should come to a chamber with a set of ropes and weights that we can lower ourselves down to the next level. I’ll check the map again once we are there.”

Rownig enters first followed twenty feet behind by Mazrim and Luca, then Hallister and Moralane, carrying the box, with Azram and Atharessa close behind them.

The mine shaft is not high, only seven to eight feet, dug from the limestone of the mountain and reinforced every six feet with one foot wide wooden timbers and cross supports on the ceiling. The width of the mine here is ten feet. The passage goes almost straight back into the mountain, and at thirty foot intervals opens wider, to as much as twenty feet wide for a length of twenty feet. After going nearly one hundred feet back into the mountain, there is an opening to the left side of the tunnel that has a railing built along the right hand side and goes down at an angle of about ten degrees. As it descends it turns, first to the left and then sharply to the right, then back again to the left and begins spiraling down, down, down. You have travelled at least as far down as the level of the canyon outside, and then deeper, ten, twenty, thirty feet, before it finally stops winding around and opens up into a wide chamber fifty feet on each side with a twenty foot square opening in the floor. There is a platform to the left of the hole in the floor, covering ten feet of the space, and overhead there are pulleys and ropes passing across the ceiling and then passing down deep into the pit below.

As you enter the chamber please make perceptions checks.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 Just making it clear before we get into combat, I'm using the same spells as from last time.

As they get deeper into the mine, Luca clutches her hammer to her chest. Her eyes look over the timbers and cracks, not for weaknesses that lead to collapses, but for ghouls and ghosts coming for the party.

"Somethin' 'boot 'bandoned mines gives me tha willies. I don't like it 'ere."

Rownig sticking the left side of the tunnel periodically touches the rock, letting his darkvision pierce the blackness. His hands clutching the two hand-axes firmly.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

*Plus 9 if a trap

"This Moralane whispers to Hallister as she peers around the great room, “This place has a creepy feel to it.”

Atharessa moves closer to Azram, until her shoulder is touching his and says, “Are you sure we have to take this thing down?”

“That’s what Stropos’ notes say. At the bottom of this shaft, there are two tunnels one is wide with a low ceiling, the other is narrow but has a high ceiling. We’re supposed to take the narrow tunnel, for over four hundred feet, and it is intersected by another tunnel with a stream of water flowing through it. If we wanted to we could follow the stream, downstream that is, and it goes to an underground pond. I’m thinking we want to avoid that, but if we keep going forward, we should find the lead covered chest, at the bottom of a chamber that is five feet below the tunnel, some kind of drop off I guess.”

Waiting for perception checks, and some feed back as to what the party wants to do next.

"Aye, lass. The kind of powers that fuel the Undead are anathema to life itself. Places they gather start feeling like places ye really don' want t' be. It's like a kind of spiritual residue tha' makes yer skin crawl an' yer hair bristle. If yer huntin' 'em, tha' feelin' is one o' th' ways ye c'n tell yer on th' right track."

"Try t' keep yer breathin' steady. If helps calm th' nerves. Tell jokes if'n ye got 'em. There's somethin' 'bout laughin' that weakens it's hold on ye."

sorry, busy weekend
perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

"There's no sense in standing around here. The sooner we go down, the sooner we can all get out of here."