Kirth Gersen's Aviona: "In the King's Guard"


Campaign Journals

1 to 50 of 196 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next > last >>

Setting: Aviona, an elven kingdom owing in equal parts to Alexandre Dumas' France of Louis XIII and the Musketeers; the land of the Pharisees in Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions;" and the Kingdom of Dragaera in Steven Brust's "Vlad Taltos" novels.

Starting characters:

  • Cadogan, male human rogue 1 played by houstonderek, born and raised in the Avionan capital city, Hylore. Cadogan is young (19), brash, streetwise, and disgustingly handsome.
  • Sheraviel, female elf fighter 1, played by Jess Door. Sheraviel is outwardly as haughty as the other elves of Aviona. Internally, she adheres to a set of personal rules so rigid that she herself can't always navigate them.
  • Agun, male mountain dwarf wizard 1, played by Andostre. Agun is the first mountain dwarf in generations to leave the halls beneath the Elder Mountains and venture out to live among the elf-folk and other surface dwellers. He chain-smokes dwarven cigars, lighting them with a cantrip designed specifically for that purpose.
  • Rim, male mountain dwarf cleric 1, played by Silverhair. Rim "the Glaive" is something of an evangelical, following Agun from the dwarven homeland in order to teach the benighted surface-dwelling hill dwarves the glory of his goddess.


  • The camaign begins with Sheraviel, a young high elf from Sovalles, who has recently joined the King's Army as a means of advancing herself and her station. She is sent east to the Estren Frontier, to serve at the infamous Keep on the Borderlands under the command of the coldly amoral Count Fenrift, repelling goblins and routing bandits.

    One day a pair of dwarves appear at the keep. This would be nothing noteworthy; hill dwarves are the indiginous people of the Estren Highlands, and while most practice banditry as a protest against human and elven incursions, a great number of them are more peaceful. What is unusual about this pair is that they are mountain dwarves, which is another thing entirely. Mountain dwarves maintain an independent state beneath the Elder Mountains. They do not trade with other races; their only voluntary contact with other races is to kill goblinoids. They don't even acknowledge hill dwarves as their kin.

    Count Fenrift instantly sees the potential for political mischief. If these dwarves are emissaries from the Mountain King, then they must be escorted to the distant elven capital in great pomp and prestige, and protected with an army. If they are escaped criminals or dissidents, then sheltering them might spark an international incident. So the crafty Fenrift hedges his bets -- he assigns Sheraviel to escort them to the Elven King in Hylore, under protection of her life. If they are emissaries, he can demonstrate that he "forwarded" them to the appropriate authorities. If they are criminals, he can deny harboring them at the Keep on the Borderlands.

    As it turns out, they are neither. Agun Glengrim, frustrated at the slow progress in wizardry allowed him by the dwarven elders, has decided to seek other tutors. He therefore becomes the first of his race in centuries to voluntarily leave the halls under the mountains. Rim "The Glaive" is one of his friends, a devoted lesser priest of an obscure dwarven goddess whose faith is gradually being phased out. Rim wants to reverse this trend, and figures on a bit of heresy to do it -- he'll find hill dwarven converts.


    Agun learns of the University of Hylore and its College of Wizardry, and is anxious to depart -- although he'll miss the taste of Fenrift's private scotch. Rim isn't too sure about going further away from all of the dwarves, but when he learns that a number of hill dwarves work in Aviona as metallurgists, he's willing to go along.

    Sheraviel books transportation down the great Estren River aboard a riverboat captained by a sailor-philospher-bard. Their trip is punctuated by stops at the frontier ports along the river, and by gazing at the stars while traversing the great meteorite impact crater lake that dominates the western edge of the frontier. Unfortunately, their favorite fellow passenger, a nice and slightly senile old lady, turns out to be a doppelganger -- a fact they discover when they stumble upon her mauling the riverboat's captain. Managing to kill the impostor, they bring the ship to the nearest port and wait for a replacement skipper.

    Unfortunately, the replacement is Brahms, a nasty old river pirate with a trio of thugs from Hylore as backup. One of the thugs, a beautiful lad named Cadogan, nearly kills Agun with a beautifully-executed sneak attack. The others aren't so well-coordinated; Sheraviel, fighting defensively in what will eventually become her signature style, kills two of them herself. Cadogan, who had severe misgivings regarding this assignment in the first place (the money being offered him was too good to be true), and finding that his compatriots are a bunch of saps, decides that a change in loyalties is in order. Brahms is killed, and Cadogan leads Agun, Rim, and Sheraviel to a safehouse when they finally arrive at the Port of Hylore.


    Players, feel free to correct any errors of memory I've committed, or any misinterpretation of your characters' motives. We played this part what, like, a year ago?


    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Well, I did jump into the river with Agun's nearly dead body and stop the bleeding when we got ashore. And somehow managed to keep St. Rim from killing me on sight.

    As to my motive, I figured if I could keep Agun alive, only one group would be after my scalp after that. It seemed to me he must have been kind of V.I.P. (possibly with deadly friends) to warrant a hit where the operators were not only expendable, but guaranteed gone.

    ;)


    In the Hylore safe house located by Cadogan (actually not much more than an ordinary hotel with a close-mouthed desk clerk), Agun chafes at being cooped up. He's anxious to see the Elvenking, assuming that an appointment to the University of Hylore is sure to follow, and thinks nothing of the arrogance implicit in this assumption. Sheraviel is not without ambition herself -- in successfully presenting this pair to the King despite the efforts made to stop them, isn't she likely to gain a promotion... maybe even to the illustrious King's Guards?

    Their interest is side-tracked, however, with the arrival of an exceptionally haughy elven woman, who assumes Cadogan is a stable boy and offers him an insultingly small tip to "handle the luggage." Cadogan is incensed -- in Hylore, servant jobs are overwhelmingly filled by halflings, not humans, and treating a human as a halfling borders on a dueling challenge. Moreover, it's a blow to his ego to consider a woman (even an elven one) who doesn't automatically succomb to his looks. Cadogan therefore picks her pocket in a fit of pique, and dumps her luggage in the gutter.

    Sheraviel's interest is quite different. This woman's hair is platinum, and her eyes violet; she is evidently a genetic throwback to the Gray Elves, who were exterminated by the drow millenia ago. She wonders at the thousands of years of selective marriages it would have taken to produce this combination of physical characteristics, and why it was done. Prophecies, of course, abound as to the return of the Gray Elves, and the great era of elven glory that this event is sure to usher in. Sheraviel has little trust in prophecy, but does learn that the woman is Dame Llewella, Baroness of Fairpoint.

    Rim, meanwhile, is holding a parley with Cadogan. From Dame Llewella's neck, Cadogan lifted not a valuable necklace, but a chunk of black obsidian on a gold chain. In the right light, a red flame seems to lurk just out of sight within the glass. Rim recognizes this as an unholy symbol, but fails to recall the specific demon-god to whom it is devoted. Sheraviel is deeply troubled when she is told this. Dame Llewella should be the paragon of the elven people, not a secret worshipper of demons. But any attempt to discolose this fact will be met with disbelief, and possibly violence. The quartet agree to keep this information to themselves, and to keep an eye out on "Milady."

    An attempt by Cadogan to follow Dame Llewella's carriage when it leaves the hotel fails. He does learn the location of the Temple of Hextor (something of an underground "Fight Club") and attempts to sell the unholy symbol there. He is assaulted by the devotees of Hextor and fights his way free, fastidiously avoiding the "Pool of Sacred War-Blood" they dare him to drink. Later, he manages to sell the unholy symbol to a fence, so the day is not without some profit.


    I didn't get referred to as "St" Rim until after the Elven rebellion.

    P.S. I am NO saint!


    Rim Cairntracker wrote:
    I am NO saint!

    ... as we'll see after a few more posts!


    Cadogan and Agun stop for a drink, while the other two return to the hotel. Upon entering the "safe" house, however, they discover a bit of drama underway: a small collection of goons seem to be breaking into Dame Llewella's room. Sheraviel's immediate reaction is to yell "halt!" Rim is more direct; he steps forward, brandishing his weapon. Mayhem ensues; Sheraviel has the last thug about to surrender when Rim, getting a trifle over-eager, gives the guy his patented "glaive to the face," splitting his head open.

    Sheraviel is annoyed, and her mood isn't improved when she finds Dame Llewella, unharmed and smirking, sitting in her room as if nothing was amiss.


    Learning of the riot at the hotel, Cadogan embarrassedly apologizes for the breach of his "safe" house and recommends that the group relocate. He knows of a small monastery on the outskirts of the city that allows anyone to stay for a time without questions; accordingly, the party heads there to plan. They are met at the gate by a pair of half-elf monks, who call themselves the Disciples of Hanuman, and who pose philosophical questions regarding the form of water and the contemplation of infinity. Cadogan's impatience with this potentially saves his life when the Disciples suddenly attack, trying to kill Agun and Rim in particular.

    During the fight, the master of the monastery, Hanuman, emerges into the courtyard and flourishes his glaive. Hanuman is no longer human: whatever has been done to him has left him an undead remnant of his former self, a near-mindless huecuva. Rim's glaive fails to bite into Hanuman's flesh, and an attempt to channel the dwarf-goddess' healing mercy again sputters and fails. The party realizes they will all die there at the monastery if they attempt to make a stand. With one of the Disciples down, the others flee, the second Disciple in pursuit. The undead Master moans frustratedly at the gate, trying to leave the magic circle formed by the monastery's fence.

    The group manages to subdue the second Disciple, although they are battered and exhausted at this point, and Rim is unconscious. Dragging Rim to a local inn, Agun bursts in and finds a hill dwarf barkeep who, while impolite, is at least willing to send for a medic. Sheraviel watches for trouble while Cadogan attempts to interrogate the Disciple in the alley -- receiving nothing but riddles and koans for his trouble, he disgustedly kills the monk and leaves the body in the trash.


    DM's Note: In addition to welcoming clarifications or recollections from the group, I'm happy to entertain questions or comments from the community as a whole, either with regards to the adventures or the specific rules interpretations. For example, when I say the group was "exhausted" after the fight, I mean literally: in our houserules, anyone with less than 1/2 their full hp is fatigued; anyone with less than 1/4 is exhausted. This means that running away when you're getting beat up is a very good strategy. Perceptive readers will also note that a pair of 2nd level monks and a huecuva monk are NOT a "level-appropriate" encounter for 1st level characters -- part of the purpose of this set piece was to hammer the point home that some threats exist that cannot be overcome by frontal assault.


    Kirth Gersen wrote:
    DM's Note: In addition to welcoming clarifications or recollections from the group, I'm happy to entertain questions or comments from the community as a whole, either with regards to the adventures or the specific rules interpretations. For example, when I say the group was "exhausted" after the fight, I mean literally: in our houserules, anyone with less than 1/2 their full hp is fatigued; anyone with less than 1/4 is exhausted. This means that running away when you're getting beat up is a very good strategy. Perceptive readers will also note that a pair of 2nd level monks and a huecuva monk are NOT a "level-appropriate" encounter for 1st level characters -- part of the purpose of this set piece was to hammer the point home that some threats exist that cannot be overcome by frontal assault.

    Love it! Keep rockin' the updates Kirth!

    Liberty's Edge

    He has a better memory than I for some of this stuff. Heck, I think the group started in August last year?


    After recovering from their wounds a bit, our interpid heroes find themselves without any money, lodging, or friends, in a city full of people trying to kill at least half of them. Accordingly, they do what any adventuring party in that situation would do -- they go for a drink. Visiting an old buddy of Cadogan's, a lesser priest of Olidammara named Caden who plays guitar at a local pub, they lay out the situation to him. Caden agrees that the Temple of Olidammara would be VERY interested in acquiring a monastery as a clearinghouse for stolen relics and agrees to stage a raid on the place, offering Cadogan a finder's fee if it works out. He departs to confer with the temple elders, leaving the others with a large amount of unfinished alcohol, which they procede to demolish.

    At some point in the evening, the couple at the next table get wine spilled on them and object strenuously. When the party refuses to apologize, the two stand up, brandishing the cloaks of the King's Guard, and demand satisfaction outside. A duel is arranged between Cadogan and Agun on one side, and the two guardmen -- Siodra (an elven sorceress) and Jack (an expatriate human from Northwind) on the other. Siodra easily beats Agun to the draw, as it were, and color sprays him unconscious, contemptuously flicking him with the point of her rapier. Cadogan seems to be getting the better of Jack (whose maniacal grin is a trifle unnerving), only to fall victim to a sudden charge and massive power attack that knocks him unconscious.

    With satisfaction recieved, the two guardsmen hold no animosity -- and indeed are happy to buy the next round! Soon the six are wildly drunk together, just in time for the City Watch to appear in response to the disturbance. Unfortunately, Siodra and Jack recognize the six members of the Watch as former soldiers of the Chancellor's Battalion

    Spoiler:
    A sinister paramilitary group, rivals to the King's Guard, that formerly served the Chancellor Palamis. Palamis was an important official, second only to the Elvenking, who was assassinated by members of the King's Guard when it was discovered that he was a high priest of the demon prince Graz'zt. With the death of the Chancellor, the Battalion was disbanded and most of the membership joined the City Watch. Still, the former rivalry runs deep.

    Jack roars and overturns the table as Siodra releases a color spray; Sheraviel leaps over the table and engages the guards who are still conscious with her rapier, while Rim uses his glaive to keep them away from the table so that Siodra can cast more spells as needed. All six members of the Watch are soundly beaten and sent packing -- most of them unconscious -- and Jack and Siodra insist that the party accompany them back to the Palace the next morning, so that they can introduce them to Fenneval, Captain of the King's Guard.


    Captain Fenneval was a former fencing champion; a stong, agile half-elf whose bravery and loyalty to the crown are totally without question. It is well-known, however, that his abilities as a political strategist are second-rate at best; the Chancellor's Battalion used to routinely outmaneuver the King's Guard, pulling all kinds of covert actions under their very noses, as it were. Fenneval is therefore anxious to attract Guardsmen who vary a bit from the "standard model" members like Jack -- people who can accomplish dangerous missions with a bit more discretion.

    Accordingly, he implies that Sheraviel might indeed gain a chance at a commission in the Guard, if she is able to perform a mission for the King: to locate an old oracle, inactive for the past hundred years or more, and see if it can be awakened again. The Elf-King, Elcore I, is a diviner, but even his great powers are unable to pierce the fog of destiny that lies over the near future like an impenetrable veil -- all his sees is strife, from a myriad of contradictory causes that should be impossible, or should have already been eliminated.

    Agun blurts out his request for a position as a student at the University of Hylore, and is basically sold the same bill of goods as Sheraviel. Rim agrees to go along with Agun, and Cadogan feels that, with the safe houses all compromised, it might be wise to get out of town for a little while. Soon, the four are retracing their boat trip back upriver, to the frontier -- and to the tiny hick town of Elliston, which used to sit not far from a large Druidic monastery, sacked by religious dissidents a century ago.


    In Elliston, the four find a single public inn, Traggart's Ale House, where Cadogan is told that he has a "pretty mouth." A fight quickly breaks out at this, and the four travellers manage to subdue a respectable proportion of the town's adult populace, including the local rake.

    Rather than spend the night at Traggart's, the party heads in the direction of the old monastery, and makes camp along the way. They are ambushed in the night by a trio of rogues led by a local tracker -- but the attackers are taken somewhat aback when they realize that the dwarves can see them outside the radius of the campfire, in the dark. Rim uses lightning arcs to attack their attackers, with Sheraviel holding her attacks until the lightning flashes, so that she can find her targets. Cadogan meanwhile pursues the tracker into the pitch-black forest, both of them moving as soundlessly as possible, stumbling upon each other with flurries of attacks and then losing track of each other again until someone steps on a twig -- or throws a rock onto some dead leaves as a decoy. Eventually, both of them decide to simultaneously charge one another; Cadogan is wounded, but, feeling around him, discovers that the tracker is unconscious from a bleeding wound. Meanwhile, Rim's lightning, Agun's crossbow and "telekinetic FIST!!!!!!", and Sheraviel's bow account for the rogues.

    Cadogan interrogates the tracker, who explains that he and the rogues were hired by some strangers who just bought a house in town -- robed strangers, who openly wear the Eye of Possession (symbol of Incabulos, god of evil sendings and nightmares) on their regalia. Like the party, these strangers have some interest in the monastery. Cadogan lets the tracker go, after obtaining assurances that there is no personal animosity, and explaining that they'll kill him if they see him again. Gratefully, he departs, and the party sleeps undistrubed thereafter, after constructing a crude trap out of Agun's crossbow.


    I love this story..the Musketeers have always been a favourite off mine. Adore the Micheal York version closly followed by the Gene Kelly one. Keep this coming


    DM Wellard wrote:
    I love this story..the Musketeers have always been a favourite off mine. Adore the Micheal York version closly followed by the Gene Kelly one. Keep this coming

    The Gene Kelly one totally rocks. I just watched the Douglas Fairbanks one as well -- never mind that it was a silent film, it was AWESOME.


    The party locates the ruined monastery without too much effort, and gets inside by scaling the wall, avoiding some suspicious-looking vines and plantlike zombies lurking in them. Inside, the old orchard is overgrown, with a flock of stirges roosting in the trees; the rectory holds a dead bear and a couple of giant flies, etc. Of great interest is the chapel, inside which is a hollow altar that everyone but Agun keeps forgetting about as soon as they break eye contact with it. Agun casts magic weapon on his heavy pick and breaks open the altar -- unleashing an ageless two-headed serpent guardian that turns to stone when killed. Also inside is a blackened tooth, an ancient relic of the church, which Rim appropriates. Beneath one of the pews is a secret passage leading beneath the monastery.

    The group has been wounded by the amphisbaena, and decides to rest -- NOT in the church building! They make camp in one of the abandoned buildings, setting a crossbow trap and sleeping at night while the stirges are active. In the small hours, there is a knock at the door; cautiously opening it, the find Dame Llewella leaning there, missing some blood from stirge bites, and with a crossbow bolt sticking out of her shoulder. Reluctantly, they agree to let her rest with them and aid in exploring beneath the monastery -- on the condition that she uses her spells to help them recover from the lingering effects of the amphisbaena's bite. A few lesser restoration spells and a day's rest later, they're ready to venture below ground. Talking to Llewella, they are a bit annoyed, but unsurprised, at her goal in finding the old oracle: "Well, an oracle means power, doesn't it? And what else is life all about?"

    Liberty's Edge

    More, please ;)


    With Llewella as an uneasy ally -- a pact cemented by her use of lesser restoration on the party's snake bites -- the group descend into the cellars of the monastery. They ignore storerooms, scuttling with rats and other vermin, and full of barrels of what used to be wine (and is now vinegar) -- although they notice from the dust tracks that at least one cask of liquor has been recently removed.

    Following the tracks, they discover a secret door into the burial catacombs. Many of the niches have recently been broken open, and the coffins pried apart; the skeletons within are missing -- Llewella assumes that someone is building an undead army. Counting the broken coffins (and arriving at a number close to a dozen), the party is ambushed by ghouls, with Rim's detect undead giving them just enough warning to prepare themselves rather than being caught flat-footed.

    Llewella curses her inability to command them to service ("I can almost do it!" -- she'd planned on taking the feat next level) and otherwise hangs back from combat. The party holds their own until a ghast joins in as well; things then get desperate, especially after Cadogan is paralyzed. Ultimately, the undead are defeated. While waiting for Cadogan to regain his movement, Rim -- looking mistrustfully at the ghouls' filthy nails -- carefully inspects all wounds for signs of disease and treats injuries with mold, attempting to stave off ghoul fever.

    Meanwhile, Llewella locates another secret door, scoffing at Cadogan for "allowing" himself to be paralyzed and therefore failing to spot it.


    The party returns to one of the storerooms to rest. Agun spends the time examining a rod he took from the ghast's nest; detect magic reveals it carries a potent abjuration effect, and he surmises it is a one-use tool designed to cancel an ongoing magical effect. The others argue a bit about Llewella's relative inactivity during the fight, and eventually assign watches (with Grim watching Llewella with his glaive ready) and sleep.

    Returning to the secret door, Cadogan slips through and finds a flight of stairs leading up -- at the top, he can hear conversation. Using every bit of stealth he can muster, he gains a view of the proceedings: a group of robed figures are arguing around a table, with a number of skeletons on guard. Returning to the party, he sketches the layout and Sheraviel decides to quickly seize the catacombs from these intruders. Moving quietly halfway up the stairs, Rim channels the divine power of his goddess, destroying the nearest skeletons. Cadogan and Sheraviel immediately charge past the falling sentries, leaping upon the table to engage the cultists, while Agun supports them with spells. After a quick, brutal fight, the cultists are defeated and the party, seeking to cut off a general alarm, quickly descends the stairs at the opposite end of the room.

    There, they find an ancient torture chamber. Inside is a man wearing black armor and wearing bull's horns on his vizored helm, busily slapping a prisoner using his armored gloves. Standing guard are two enormously bloated zombie eunuchs -- each the size of an ogre. Spying the party, the armored torturer seizes a greataxe and charges -- and drops Cadogan instantly to the ground, bleeding out his life. Sheraviel desperately defends herself from one of the zombies; Agun, faced with the other, frantically touches it with his rod. In a flash, the zombie collapses to the floor, intert, and the rod crumbles to dust. Meanwhile, Rim channels positive energy again and again, until he can do so no longer, weakening the zombies and bringing back Cadogan from the very gates of death. The other zombie is defeated, failing to penetrate Sheraviel’s guard and being constantly pummeled with positive energy. Llewella and Agun’s spells meanwhile keep the torturer occupied, until Cadogan is finally brought to consciousness. Groping for his blade, he hamstrings the torturer from the floor, then cuts his throat when he falls.

    DM Note: Cadogan survived solely by using his last action point to force a reroll of the damage. Even with that, he was reduced to within 1 hp of death and failed his stabilization check; without Rim’s channeling, the next round he would have been dead. Thereafter, he is haunted by recurrent nightmares in which Rim’s channel comes just a few seconds too late, and he slips away into oblivion, only to wake up screaming…


    Sorry for the long hiatus; the group dissolved and I wasn't sure whether I should bother continuing a story with no end... but I figured I might as well keep at it.

    With the main group of cultists dead, the party decides that it might be good to return to Elliston for a bit of rest and to drop off the poor townsfellow they rescued from the torturer, a guy whose brain has mostly snapped from the torment and who will be a major hindrance to further exploration.

    Unfortunately, they are stopped by another cultist, this one declaring himself to be the Master of the Decad, and who attacks them with potent and bizarre spells, while creating a phantom image of himself to deter attacks. He is no match for a flanking maneuver between Cadogan and Sheraviel, however, and is forced to flee, leaving behind a journal or ledger he'd been carrying.

    Trailing the wounded Master, the party finds a long tunnel sloping up from the cultists' headquarters to town -- over a mile of painstaking excavation, shored up with planks and beams, which Rim and Agun judge to be recent work. The other end of the tunnel leads into the basement of a small house in town -- the one in which live the creepy robed guys who hired the tracker and rogues. The party sleeps in the tunnel, planning to attack the house the next day.

    Dame Llewella, who had hung back from the fiercest fighting and is the only party member uninjured, is told in no uncertain terms that she's to bust into the house. The haughty elven baroness feels personally insulted that these cultists would dare interfere with her exploring, and agrees to the plan. Opening the trapdoor to the basement, she walks upstairs into the main house and immediately channels negative energy -- continuing to do so, while ignoring attacks and spells thrown at her -- until everyone inside is dead. As the rest of the group follows, it occurs to them that she's done this sort of thing before, and probably enjoyed it.

    Taking over the house and sending Cadogan out to Traggart's Ale House for food and supplies, the others start reading the Master's journal...

    Spoiler:

    Master of the Decad wrote:

    I took Briggo and Tekkalah with me from Kaisersburg, and we found the town with no difficulty. The people here are stupid. No one questioned our purchase of the house. After we paralyzed everyone in the bar, no one threatened us, nor yet spoke to us.

    The monastery is where it should have been. We left most of the overgrowth and vermin in place, proceeding directly to the chapel.

    Why does no one else remember the altar? No matter. Whatever secrets it holds are irrelevant compared to that of the Oracle. Having found the passage below, the altar is of little concern.

    Today we found the crypts, an unexpected boon – more than ample raw materials for an army of bodyguards. I repelled the ghouls that sought to eat us, but a separate entrance would seem to be called for. We can always send the skeletons past for supplies – the ghouls don’t bother them.

    Other recruits have arrived. We are ten now: The Unholy Decad. And I am the Master.

    The fountain… today I spoke with its guardian. It is powerful, but not so powerful as I. It understands that I can destroy it if I choose. Still, I wonder if it might not be best to follow its advice, for now.

    No… why did I ever hesitate? I can see everything now! By the Eye of Possession, I can see it clearly, and none can stand against the prescience of destiny. Incabulos shall be let loose. I must write this down before I lose it, in the wash of visions coming. I must… What? The purple grirallon eats red gopher green Tarrasque poop! Hahahahahah…

    The others are initiates as well now. We can all see.

    Torus reported an intruder today: a gray elf??? And she has the Mark of the Bull… thankfully, the visions are coming, so I need not think about that initiation...

    More intruders, also from Aviona, Torus thinks, and they know of the monastery. I’ll have to hire some outsiders to deal with them. Our work here is too important. I believe now that... the orange sunshine on my rotten citrus tongue forces caterpillars to fly! It’s true, I say! It MUST be!

    The Sight is under control now, and my powers stronger. I wonder about my subordinates, whether the strength of my visions has frightened them from our unholy cause. First the village, then the world…


    Cadogan makes a side trip to the inn for supplies, where he is forced to threaten the innkeeper (the erstwhile Traggart) at knifepoint to be served. Thinking "in for a penny, in for a pound," Cadogan takes the next step and expels Traggart entirely, taking over the establishment as his own. In order to give the former innkeeper more pressing matters to worry about, Cadogan also makes it a point to arm Traggart's scullery maid -- a wood elf squaw whose tongue Traggart cut out -- with masterwork weapons and enough money that she no longer need rely on her job at the inn for her livelihood.

    The others move into the inn for a few days, until Rim, channeling his goddess' mercy, is able to heal them. They then return to the house -- in which Llewella has been waiting impatiently -- and all follow the secret tunnel back into the catacombs.

    Dealing with the last few Decad members and their skeletal minions with relative ease, the group passes into a large, valuted chamber holding a huge fountain, carved into the shape of a 30-ft. tall cyclops standing in the basin; the cyclops' eye is an immense stone of carved blue quartz. Orbiting the statue is a strange monstrosity, reminiscent of a beachball with a single large eye; it telepathically greets the party and advises them not to approach the fountain, going so far as to force Cadogan away with a magical suggestion. The group is uncertain as to the significance of these things, but assumes the fountain is the one mentioned by the Master of the Decad in his journal.

    In a small room off the fountain chamber, they find a hologram of a man in a plain brown robe, sitting cross-legged on the floor. The image speaks, introducing itself as the projection of the sorcerer Kelewan. Sheraviel recognizes the name -- Kelewan was noted for his evil, and for his trick of turning excrement into giant constrictor snakes to kill his enemies -- he was imprisoned by rival sorcerers some centuries earlier. Kelewan explains that he was the first to drink from the magical fountain, and that it was the ultimate source of his abilities. He seems aware of the presence of the blackened tooth from the altar in Rim's purse, and advises Rim to replace one of his own teeth with it. He also seems quite contemptuous of Llewalla, and solicitous of Agun; Cadogan and Sheraviel he ignores. Finally, he advises that the pary not trust the Fountain's guardian (what he calls a "spectator," and what the others have taken to calling "The Beachball"), and to kill it if possible.

    Sheraviel is annoyed at this whole exchange, and advises that they find a way to "turn off" the projection: "If you hadn't used that rod of cancellation on a mere zombie," she chides Agun, "we could have used it to shut this guy up!" Cadogan and Rim have meanwhile been conversing, and Cadogan agrees (with some relish) to pull out one of Rim's teeth. While Sheraviel and Agun continue to argue (spurred on by Llewella), this bloody work is quickly accomplished, and Rim puts the blackened relic in place of the missing tooth. Immediately he is able to receive mental conversation from Kelewan's image -- and also, he notices, from other hideous voices, with some concentration. He is also able to command Cadogan, much as the spectator did.

    Sheraviel notes this deed and is aghast.

  • "He put that thing IN HIS HEAD!" she screams, and draws her sword.
  • Llewella, smiling, throws a spell at Sheraviel;
  • Cadogan wastes no time in viciously stabbing Llewella in the back with his rapier;
  • Rim attacks Cadogan with his glaive, and
  • Agun casts grease over the entire melee, hoping to gain time to sort things out... too late.

    By the time anyone is affected by Agun's spell, Llewella is dead, Sheraviel is paralyzed -- and Rim's wounded body has been transferred to the ethereal plane for safekeeping by Kelewan. When his spell and the one affecting Sheraviel wear off, Agun remarks, "So, guys, what now?"


  • There is no shortage of suggestions. Cadogan recommends abandoning Rim, dumping Llewella's body in the fountain, and looting what they can. Shervaiel insists that the fountain and tooth are distractions, and that they remain true to their mission to find the Oracle. Agun wonders if the fountain actually does provide useful powers, and argues that they might want to drink from it and find out... and, as an added bonus, they can use this course of action as a bargaining chip to try and recover Rim as well: "Look here, Mr. Kelewan, give us Rim back, in his right mind, and we'll kill the beachball for you and drink from the fountain."

    Whether out of interest or caprice, Kelewan agrees to this plan when addressed, and restores Rim to them -- with a protection from evil spell on the blackened tooth (which has grafted itself in place of the missing bicuspid) to keep it inactive. The group re-enters the fountain chamber and immediately attacks with lethal force, banishing it back to its plane of origin before it can effectively retaliate. They then drink from the fountain...

  • Agun drinks first, and suddenly understands that his left leg is a crocodile; it has eaten his real leg up to the thigh, and is gnawing its way higher! Soon it will be at his groin! Screaming, he tries to sever the thing, but his arm, unable to obey him, merely shakes as if palsied! He awakens, feverish, hours later, with his intelligence damaged by the experience.
  • Rim drinks the water and waits. Although he sleeps for 12 hours and vaguely recalls distant nightmares, it seems his inurement to the effects of the tooth is also blocking the effects of the fountain.
  • Time and space lose all meaning for Sheraviel, as her brain is re-worked. Two days later, she emerges from a trance... with perfect memory and the ability to see path of a blow once per day in advance, preventing the possibility of her missing; this ability is inscribed in her memory like an equation. She is now a 1st level diviner, with her brain acting as her spellbook.
  • Cadogan enjoys his psychadelic trip too much to learn much from it, but he does obtain the knack of "cheating" space a bit, "finding" loose arrows in the air.

    Cadogan, of course, is too greedy to pass up the blue quartz "eye" of the fountain. Climbing the cyclops, he pries it loose... and his forced to leap back as the statue and basin crack apart, their magic extinguished. A simple Appraisal check indicates the gem is quite flawed now as well. Easy riches have eluded Cadogan yet again (although his inn may prove a money-maker in the future).


  • Further exploration indicates a stout, barred door still stands between the party and further exploration. Battering it down without concern for the noise caused, as the Decad are all dead or fled, they find a small, modest throne room -- sitting on the high seat is a 10-ft.-tall cyclops, alive, holding a brass-bound staff and nodding wisely. "Good, you're here," he says, as Agun lights a cigar.

    "I am the Oracle of the Monastery," the creature says. "And I have a bargain for you -- one better than any foul debasement that old sorcerer would offer. Simply this: kill my brother and I, end our endless days of madness and misery, and I'll prophecy for you truly."

    Sheaviel, realizing that they can still salvage their mission, eagerly accepts -- although the others are not so anxious. Still, the "brother" might be a bit of an issue: apparently he's chained in a deeper part of the catacombs, and is completely and violently insane. The fountain showed him things that were perhaps better unseen," the Oracle explains, and sends them off.

    Cadogan is able to anticipate the danger of a rotted pully-operated "elevator" leading to the lower level, and the group makes it down to the lower caves safely. There, they slay a small number of dark-loving winged snakes with baleful light-amplifying gazes, and proceed to the cave in which the Brother of the Oracle is imprisoned.

    The "brother" is a hybrid: half-minotaur and half-cyclops; he has been blinded, and upon smelling the party goes berkserk, breaking his chain and charging at them in a murderous fury. Sheraviel stands her ground until she is forced back by the thing's strength; Cadogan meanwhile inflicts fearsome body wounds with his rapier until he is incapacitated by a single blow. The others assist with spells (although Agun's are now weak) and glaive, until the thing finally lets go its hold on life and falls.


    The lower caves in which the failed oracle was chained prove a dangerous place; the party is attacked by a huecuva, the remains of one of the old clerics of the monastery, and Sheraviel and Cadogan both catch some kind of plague from the thing's unclean touch. The experience is not a total loss, however, as Cadogan obtains a ring from the thing with an inscription on the inside -- Agun says it's magical, but for the time being the writing is incomprehensible.

    The group has no desire to face the Oracle in their current state -- Agun brain-damaged; Sheraviel and Cadogan very sick; Rim requiring constant renewal of the protection from evil on his tooth to keep from succombing to the dark voices it transmits into his skull. They take the secret tunnel into town, to find all the doors and windows barred, and no one in the streets. Knocking loudly at the local church, they are admitted by Father Kerin, a rural priest of Cuthbert, who explains that the village is under attack at night by a horrid monster, much like a giant hound with tentacles, which seems immune to the townsfolks' weapons. A local youth was found dead on a nearby druidic altar as well; the Hound first appeared in town the night of his funeral.

    Father Kerin agrees to heal the party if they kill the Hound (they must also of course put up with Kerin's constant evangelizing and attempts to convert them). Unfortunately, Father Kerin is also an elf-hating bigot, who "heals" Sheraviel by whaling on her with a bronzewood cudgel in order to "drive out the sickness demons" possessing her! His methods are less unpleasant for the others, but also less effective; he cures the disease infecting Sheraviel and Cadogan, but can do nothing for Agun and Rim except heal their physical wounds (seemingly curing 2 hp by magic for every point of damage he inflicts with his cudgel).

    As the moon rises, the Hound appears outside, baying, trying frantically to get into the churchyard. The party assails it with weapons and spells, but inflicts little damage; luckily, the thing appears unable to get at them, so the contest is a draw. After a very long and sleepless night, the monster disappears and the party rests before heading back down to see the Oracle once more, promising Father Kerin they'll return -- hopefully with a means to banish the Hound.


    Down the tunnel, and back to the Chamber of the Oracle, and the cyclops smiles at the party when they arrive.

    "Sheraviel," he says, "you'll win great fame with that sword" -- pointing at an antique dueling sword she's holding -- one she has no recollection of finding.
    Sheraviel: "Um, where did I get this?"
    Cadogan: "You must have picked it up somewhere in the caves?"
    Agun: "Wait! Don't you have a perfect memory now?"

    Asking the Oracle to explain this mystery prompts him to say, "Do you want that answer, more than my prophecy?" Sheraviel doesn't hesitate; her mission to the Crown takes precedent. "No! I want the prophecy --but not for myself. I want it for the Kingdom," she declares boldly.

    The Oracle smiles. "Not even I can see clearly at that scale, but know this: a great evil thought destroyed by valor has awakened again. Beware of revolutionaries, for their motivations may not be what they seem. And hungry men can become worse things than ghosts." He then gestures with his staff at the others. "Your devotion may not be enough to survive what comes, but at least you've set these ones upon the right path."

    Turning to Agun, the Oracle declares, "So, you've left the mountains, the first one of your race in centuries. And although you think your motives are your own, I sense the hand of Marclore in lighting your path. Which means that I have failed in my word to you; even I cannot see what he has set in motion, for the Archimage’s power transcends time and space. In exchange, I'll tell you this: to get rid of the Hound, you need to give it back the body that summoned it. Go to the standing stones and close the Gate -- what blood has opened, blood can close. And then look to the ground."

    To Rim: "Your new tooth, though a bane, shall not be your downfall – indeed, I see you hailed as a saint one day. So when your death comes, it shall be from a snake in the grass, not the Trojan Horse in your skull. I see a giant crow, and a bonfire that reaches to the skies… and then it goes dark.”

    To Cadogan: “The aftermath of the deed you have wrought on this trip is far from over, but you will reap dividends from it, if your vanity continues to rule you. You are a hero despite yourself, and I see you continuing to prove that to others, the harder you deny it to yourself.”

    With that, the Oracle intones, “Your down payment was made truly and fair, and so I discharged my end of the bargain. Now the final payment remains to be made.” With that, he lifts his brass-shod staff and attacks… but Cadogan, raised on the streets, knows when to interrupt a monologue -- and has already scored a deep wound in the cyclops’ side before the staff can connect. And Sheraviel, who has had enough of being beaten with clubs, stands firm and inflicts punishing wounds on the Oracle with her new sword. Finally, Rim’s glaive cleaves the Oracle’s eye, and his skull beneath it. Agun sits back, smoking a cigar; his prophecy was not read, after all, so this was no task for him.

    When the Oracle is dead, Sheraviel looks down on him and says, “So how the hell am I supposed to explain this in my report? We killed the Oracle, and Cadogan wrecked the oracle-maker-machine.”


    You know what's strange? I know what happens next, and I'm STILL sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for another post.


    Resurrecting thread, in case the new players want to check it out. More postings soon, I hope.


    2 people marked this as a favorite.
    Kirth Gersen wrote:
    Cadogan interrogates the tracker, who explains that he and the rogues were hired by some strangers who just bought a house in town -- robed strangers, who openly wear the Eye of Possession (symbol of Incabulos, god of evil sendings and nightmares) on their regalia. Like the party, these strangers have some interest in the monastery. Cadogan lets the tracker go, after obtaining assurances that there is no personal animosity, and explaining that they'll kill him if they see him again. Gratefully, he departs, and the party sleeps undistrubed thereafter, after constructing a crude trap out of Agun's crossbow.

    I know that this is pretty old, but I was re-reading this thread and remembering when this happened. The best part to me, wasn't what happened in-game, but what happened at the table.

    Myself, Sheraviel's player, and Rim's player were discussing what to do next, and it must have gotten pretty heated, because we didn't even know that Cadogan's player and Kirth were holding their own conversation. Cadogan's interrogation must have lead to a real heart-to-heart with the guy who just tried to kill us for money, because at one point, we overhear Kirth say that the tracker gets up and leaves, and our conversation is cut short so we can stare confusedly at Kirth. I think I mumbled, "Wait, what?"

    Cadogan gives some honor among thieves bs, shrugs, and then proceeds to tell us what we're doing next. Classic.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Andostre wrote:
    our conversation is cut short so we can stare confusedly at Kirth. I think I mumbled, "Wait, what?" Cadogan gives some honor among thieves bs, shrugs, and then proceeds to tell us what we're doing next. Classic.

    Houstonderek and I are 1e players. We both speak Thieves' Cant. 'Nuff said. ;)

    Liberty's Edge

    Man, that was a fun re-read...must have more!


    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Ugh. As our group always said, "Real life: it happens." In the three years since the last few posts, I've rewritten the entire game, moved to a new state, found new friends, succeeded at a new job, and fathered a daughter. My memory of the most of the rest of these stories is getting pretty foggy, but for Derek's sake I'll try and see what I can do.


    With the oracle down, the group decides to return to town and take up residence in Cadogan's new inn for a few days while they discuss their options. The locals present no problem, and indeed Traggart has been run out of town by an angry former employee with a masterwork weapon...

    Forewarned about the hound, instead of fighting it, they send Cadogan to rob the grave of the dead village youth, and place the corpse on the old druidic altar. This closes the gate through which the hound was passing, putting an end to that menace. Agun chisels off a piece of the altar with some bloody runes on it, surmising that, with some experience, he might turn it into something he can use to summon a hound of his own.

    Still, their path forward is far from clear. Cadogan is apprehensive about word getting out that he assassinated an elven noble, and recommends they continue to lie low for a while. Agun, on the other hand, is anxious to get back and claim his reward, although Sheraviel explains that, technically-speaking, they have failed in their mission. "Nonsense," Agun replies. "We re-awakened the Oracle, which was our task. We even got some prophetic gobbledigook from it besides, as an added bonus. I'd say we exceeded our mandate!" In the end, they decide to return to Aviona, but to carefully avoid giving any mention of Llewella's presense or fate, or of Rim's new tooth.

    Back in Aviona, Sheraviel and Agun request an audience with the Elvenking, and explain the essential gist of the outcome. The king feels that they have evaded the spirit of their mission and dismisses them, but Captain Fenneval of the Guard takes them aside afterward and says, "Officially, His Majesty has spoken. Unofficially, we are still an elven state. We do not lie, or cheat on bargains." He appoints Shervaiel a probationary member of the King's Guard on the spot, and explains that he has a relative with connections in the University of Hylore, and secures admission for Agun, after making sure Agun's damaged intelligence is healed.

    Meanwhile, Cadogan checks in with the church of Olidammara, and provides some worthless bric-a-brac from the old monastery for them to use in their front operation. One of the junior acolytes, Joachim, is assigned to Cadogan as a liaison, as his old friend Caden has been promoted within the organization and now has other responsibilities. Joachim, like Cadogan, is a human of distant Aramnic descent, and soon comes to idolize his new charismatic contact.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Kirth Gersen wrote:
    Ugh. As our group always said, "Real life: it happens." In the three years since the last few posts, I've rewritten the entire game, moved to a new state, found new friends, succeeded at a new job, and fathered a daughter. My memory of the most of the rest of these stories is getting pretty foggy, but for Derek's sake I'll try and see what I can do.

    Hooray!

    If you need help remembering how awesome Agun was, let me know!


    I'm easy to idolize.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Sheraviel has cause to almost immediately regret her recent appointment to the King's Guard. There has recetly been a gruesome murder in the town of Fairpoint, just west of the capital; while this would normally be a local problem, it's connected to a second, similar murder in the recent past.

    For both of them, police forensics and divination spells indicate the work of a depraved murder cult. Insofar as demon lords and their ilk actually exist, this makes the crimes something akin to terrorism in today's world, and the King's Guard is brought in to investigate.

    Sheraviel immediately recruits Rim to assist, as a knowldge of bizarre religious cults will be invaluable. Agun, out of curiosity, comes along as well. Cadogan, having recently killed Dame Llewella of Fairpoint, would normally be inclined to stay as far from there as possible, but in a bizarre quirk of coincidence the town of Fairpoint is well-known as being a relatively safe haven for Hylore criminals who are lying low. So there he is, teaching Joachim the ins and outs of a pickpocketing scam, when Sheraviel and the two mountain dwarves walk into town. Of course, he is interested enough to participate, if only to make sure Sheraviel wasn't actually sent to arrest him...


    Kirth Gersen wrote:
    after making sure Agun's damaged intelligence is healed....

    Dredging the old "what time are we meeting this week" thread, and cross-indexing the cobwebby back recesses of my mind, suggests vague memories of them finding a nearby wood elf shaman to heal Agun's mental damage ASAP, before finishing the adventure (much less returning to Hylore). But that sort of interferes with the flow of the story, and, also, I didn't remember it until just now.


    Reporting to Fairpoint Castle as a courtesy to Lord Fairpoint and also to gain intelligence, Sheraviel learns that Lord Fairpoint himself is believed to be in the Estren Territories, arranging to bring back his daughter's body. Rumor has it that her head is missing, which causes Cadogan no small amount of concern -- "What if someone uses it to resurrect that psycho b$!!@?!" he whispers, upset at himself for not making sure the body was hidden and/or rendered unrevivifiable.

    Sheraviel waves off this concern for now, preferring to focus on the mission in front of her. Regarding the murders, she learns that a local Town Watchman was on duty during one of the attacks and attempted to intervene; he is at a local temple, where the priests are attempting to heal him.

    Proceeding to the temple and bringing Rim and Agun for support, Sheraviel prepares to interrogate the watchman. Unfortunately, she finds his skin gray and his mind gone -- he has succombed to whatever affliction he received during the fight, and is now a ghoul. He attacks the party with mindless fury, and is slain by Rim and Sheraviel. Questioning the priests of the temple indicates that no one there is of sufficient power to cure his affliction, much less to raise the dead. He was brought to the temple by the halfling grape-pickers who work out near the old manor house outside of town, formerly used by Lord Fairpoint as a summer home and more recently inhabited full-time by his daughter Llewella. The guardsman described a fight with a pair of cultists, horridly-masked as the "Skinsaw Man" (a local bogeyman story used to frighten children). He was unable to save the victim, a local glassblower, and was left for dead by the cultists.

    This is all the information the priests were able to obtain, after curing his physical wounds but watching in despair as his sickness overcame him despite their best efforts at curing it.


    Sheraviel decides to investigate the crime scene. She is met outside by Cadogan, who has the same idea but for different motives -- he cares little for solving the murders, but wants to make sure he can get in and destroy Llewella's body when it arrives, assuming the service and cremation will be at her residence (as is traditional) instead of at the castle. He has sent Joachim back to Hylore with unrelated messages, but has somehow acquired two new companions: one, a local thief called Shaleh, seems intent on looting the now-empty manor; the other is Shaleh's companion and bodyguard, a former circus man named Auris. How Cadogan met these two and divined their intentions after such a short amount of time in town is a question that Sheraviel is not particularly keen on answering.

    (Auris and Shaleh are PCs played by TriOmegaZero and Cyz, respectively.)


    The group sets off towards the manor, a day's ride or so outside of town. On arrival there, they find the orchards and vineyards poorly-kept and rank with weeds, and the former grape pickers and farmers -- now all ghouls, dressed up like scarecrows -- leap down from perches and attack! Rim's channeled energy weakens them as they close in, while Sheraviel assumes a defensive stance and Cadogan looks for a better spot to attack from.

    Auris steps boldly forward, unwrapping a chain from around his arm as he does so, and snakes it at the lead ghoul as it advances, dragging the monster to the ground. He follows up with a chain-wrapped fist to the head as the thing tries to rise, and the first ghoul is down. With his support and Agun's spells, Sheraviel, Rim, and Cadogan do in the others, leaving the coast clear to the manor itself.

    Inside, Sheraviel and Cadogan immediately experiences some distress as the psychic trauma in the manor is picked up by their fountain-enhanced extrasensory abilities. Fortunately, this gives them some degree of warning as a stuffed manticore in the foyer seems to come alive and breathe fire; Shaleh, caught totally unprepared, is convinced that she has third-degree burns, and begins shrieking. The others narrowly re-assert their version of reality and continue on, realizing things are seriously amiss -- even Rim's relic tooth, warded by protection from evil, begins weakly transmitting horrid visions to him again.


    As they get deeper into the manor, things go from bad to worse. The party finds a room with a tryptich of stained-glass windows presenting a story: Llewella's engagement to a prince of Aramni, in effort to finally secure peace between the two nations; her infidelity to him with a demon, done intentionally for him to see; her killing him by repeatedly channeling negative energy when he threatens to expose her corruption. Sheraviel, horrified, destroys the windows with her sword despite their potential use as evidence later on.

    It is at this point that Cadogan's fountain-induced sensitivity to psychic impressions proves stronger than his willpower. He becomes convinced that he is in fact Dame Llewella's murdered fiance. When the others attempt to talk him out of it, he becomes suicidal, believing he should be dead, although he is confused as to whether it is by negative energy or at the hands of the torturer of the Decad (see above).

    Attempting to deal with other hauntings while maintaining suicide watch on Cadogan and petending to heal Shaleh's "burns" becomes a great burden, but Sheraviel, her iron will and well-integrated personality largely proof against the hauntings, continues to press onward. Agun and Rim prove remarkably resistant as well, although it's not clear whether their dwarven heritage or some other factor is the cause.

    Eventually they find a secret room beneath the kitchen which seems to be shielded against psychic forces. When the door is closed, Cadogan immediately becomes lucid again and Shaleh recovers from her "burns." It is decided that Cadogan, Shaleh, and Auris will remain safely in the room while Sheraviel, Agun, and Rim make a quick exploration of the lower level, then they'll all return to town together.

    DM Note: Despite the players' protestations of "Never split the party!", TOZ, cyz, and Houstonderek were unable to attend the next session, and this explanation was used for the sake of continuity.


    Below the manor is a cave, inhabited by a giant bat with tattered wings; it gives off a charnel stench, and flies at the party with disease-bearing fangs. Sheraviel adopts her defensive stance while Rim fires arcs of lightning at it, with little effect. Meanwhile, the thing scores wounds on the two dwarves, who are thankfully hardy and resistant to disease and paralysis and whatever other awful effects are carried by this unclean monster. Eventually it comes close enough that Rim is able to catch it within the radius of his channeled energy; simultaneously, Agun, thinking fast, throws a flashstone squarely into the bat's face. The blast temporarily ruins the giant bat's echolocation and it begins flying frantically about, crashing into walls and eventually blundering into the reach of Sheraviel's sword, which finishes it.

    There is a small cave off to the side as well, and it is here that Sheraviel and her companions learn that Lord Fairpoint is not, in fact, still in the Estren Territories.


    With the bat disposed of, the group notices that there are a number of undead goblins, likewise ghouls, that had been stealing upon the party to ambush them when Rim's channeled energy went off, destroying them all.

    A chuckle comes from the next cave, and a tall, ghastly-looking elf clad in noble's finery speaks to them. "It's not my fault," he explains, looking at the corpses. "The cultists were supposed to cover it up. I think they made me do it." He chuckles again, and his long tongue looks obscenely like a giant leech. His stench is appalling, and it's all Sheraviel can do to avoided gagging helplessly. She notices the ghast's fine platinum hair and signet, and boldly steps closer and says, "Lord Fairpoint, you're supposed to be in Estren, I believe. As it is, I find you here with a number of undead and a great deal of explaining to do. My lord, I am forced to arrest you. My name is Sheraviel, a coproral of the King's Guard, and I am both authorized and obligated to carry out this commission."

    Of course, she has little hope of him complying, but this small speech fulfills all of the traditional elven niceties that will allow her to engage in violent mayhem without undue consequence. Fairpoint, his mind largely gone, nevertheless recognizes this immediately and attempts to blind and/or stun the group with a color spray, but Sheraviel expects this and is already moving out of the area. Fairpoint reacts instictively to the quick step, like a spider to motion, and jerks his smallsword and scores a light wound on her instantly, as a reflex. Rim channels energy, healing Sheraviel's wound and damaging the ghast; Agun, seeing that Sheraviel is unable to close without drawing further attacks, creates a pool of grease under Fairpoint's feet. He easily keeps his balance, but instinctively steps out of the way to avoid slipping later on; this is all it takes to allow Sheraviel to engage him with her own sword.

    Lord Fairpoint was a superior fencer in life, and he has become stronger and more agile in undeath. Agun casts spells on Sheraviel in order to allow her to match that agility, but she is still overmatched in skill. However, Fairpoint fights almost by muscle memory; clearly his mind is somewhere else, or is simply mostly gone. Not so for Sheraviel, whose intelligence and perception enable her to get a feel for his style and slowly begin to gain the upper hand -- she falls into her defensive posture, drawing him into an overconfident thrust, then pulls out of it with an elaborate bind, disarming him of his sword. As he prepares to grapple her with his teeth and nails, Rim catches him in the face with a blow from the glaive, dropping him. The dwarven priest then quickly sets about healing Sheraviel's wounds, as she is injured despite the excellence of her defense.


    Agun, meanwhile, has found a journal close at hand and remarks, "She was even dumber than he was." He lights a cigar, casuing Sheraviel to wrinkle her nose in disgust, adding, "The smoke will help with the stench." Then he starts reading from the journal.

    Llewella kept a detailed account of her importance as the end product of millenia of selective breeding by her ancestors, attempting to isolate and bring back the characteristics of the extinct Gray Elves: their fine platinum hair, their pupil-less violet eyes that could see even invisible creatures, their magical aptitude. It was widely believed that the return of the Gray Elves would usher in an age of peace and prosperity for Aviona; Llewella found the expectations to be more stress than she could handle, and began acting out at an early age. She eventually fell in with someone named "Ironbriar" and quickly went from merely spiteful to pure evil, becoming a worshipper of the demon prince Graz'zt. When she murdered her fiance, "Ironbriar" arranged for the body to disappear. When Cadogan stole her unholy symbol, "Ironbriar" secured her a new one. Reveling in her newfound power, Llewella resolved to spite all expectations in the most spectacular way possible: she would undergo some dark ritual to become a drow. She was seeking the Oracle in Estren to learn how to accomplish this.

    She was so proud of her obsessions and excesses that she couldn't resist vaingloriously boasting of them, in the form of the stained glass window and the written journal -- prompring Agun's comment on her intelligence. Rim, no stranger to bizarre curses, looks down at Fairpoint's broken head and says, "He couldn't take it. He'd sired the perfect little elf girl and look how she turned out. It destroyed his mind. That's how he became this way. I bet he'd been committing the murders, because he had become this feral thing, and couldn't help himself, and this 'Ironbriar' arranged to cover it up."

    Sheraviel nods. "We need to inform the Mayor of Fairpoint of what happened, and check in with Captain Fenneval. And then I need to find this 'Ironbriar' and arrest him."

    She pauses. "Unfortunately, I have no idea who or where he is. And the only two people who could tell us are dead."


    The three pick up Lord Fairpoint's body and Llewella's journal and detour to the safe room to pick up Cadogan, Shaleh, and Auris. The party quickly departs before any more hauntings can affect them, and set fire to the manor in several places as they leave, burning it to the ground (with great relief). Returning to Fairpoint with the lord's body wrapped in a carpet, they demand an audience with the town's mayor (and receive it immediately, on the strength of Sheraviel's credentials). Upon being shown his lord's body, the Mayor becomes panicked, realizing that forces far beyond him are at play and that the lives of those privy to these events are not safe. He orders the body cremated in a blast furnace, then sends the ashes by ship to be sunk off-shore in the deepest spot of easily-accessible ocean.

    Sheraviel takes her leave of the town of Fairpoint, and she, Cadogan, Agun, and Rim return to Hylore, where she is to report to Captian Fenneval and receive further instructions. However, events interfere...


    Agun analyzes the journal for more clues, and has the suspicion that "Ironbriar" is some kind of code name for a judge (based on his ability to cover things up). As a local Fairpoint judge would have insufficient clout to hide multiple murders, it must be a royal judge in Hylore. There are also hints that this judge, and Llewella, also had ties to Chancellor Palamis -- a corrupt official assassinated for treason by the King's Guard.

    At Cadogan's prompting, the mayor of Fairpoint holds a press conference and claims the murders have been solved (blaming them on the ghoulified town watchman from the temple), and expresses wishes that Lord Fairpoint return safely and quickly from Estren.

    Upon arriving in Hylore, Sheraviel makes her report to Captain Fenneval, who immediately stops her when mention of Lord Fairpoint is made. She is instead prompted to make her report to the King alone, and report back to Fenneval for further instructions. She makes a complete and truthful report of events to the king, including their speculations. He claims he cannot act directly, but offers limited assistance in the form of a wand of alarm; two scrolls of hold person (one arcane, one divine), and a wand of sending to summon extra guardsmen for assistance. In exchange for these items, Sheraviel is to present herself at the courthouse as a "witness" to the murders who has "convincing information" about the identity of a royal judge who was complicit in them. Fenneval is to help set things up. He foolishly takes the plan to mean that Sheraviel wants an attempt on her life to occur at the courthouse itself, and she chides him for the lack of defensibility there and collatoral damage that would occur. Instead, she opts to hole up at Hanuman's monastery, now a front operation for the Church of Olidammara.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    And giving the monastery to my church would have netted me a nice tax deduction, if I paid taxes, that is.


    Cadogan's connection with the Olidammarites allows him use of the monastery, with Joachim on site to assist. The party sleeps in shifts away from windows, making liberal use of alarms, and so on. When a nondescript-looking, black-clad half-elf finally enters the compound, bypassing most of the alarms but finally tripping one, it's almost a relief. Combat breaks out; the half-elf's attempt at assassinating Sheraviel with a heavy crossbow has failed, but he turns out to be plenty tough with a dagger, heavily wounding Rim before fleeing into the street. He competently avoids Agun's grease and a charge from a wand of hold person and builds up something of a lead.

    Sheraviel orders the party to split up and search parallel streets, using her message spell at every second or third intersection to re-establish contact, only to have it broken again as they keep moving. Meanwhile, the wand of sending is used to bring reinforcements towards the party from the direction the assassin fled.

    Eventually, after nearly losing him several times, the party manages to bring the assassin to bay. He fights incredibly well, feinting past Sheraviel's guard to land a serious blow, but is eventually subdued and prevented from taking a suicide pill hidden somewhere in his clothing. The party puts a bag over his head, binds him, divests him of a variety of weapons and tools (although no unholy symbol is found), and drags him to the Guard barracks for identification and interrogation.

    1 to 50 of 196 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next > last >>
    Community / Forums / Gamer Life / Gaming / Campaign Journals / Kirth Gersen's Aviona: "In the King's Guard" All Messageboards

    Want to post a reply? Sign in.