| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Seeing the bag of platinum Boruk whistles again, "This is turnin' out to be a profitable trip for us!". Upon seeing the prayer book and reading the inscription a scowl spreads across his face and he spits vehemently onto the ground. "Lies! The filthy Droskar worshippers are the main reason behind the slow fadin' of the dwarves. They'll stab ye in the back as soon as look at ye. The only thing they're good for is burying an axe in!" he angrily rants as they head towards the next room.
As the party enters the ruined chamber, Boruk sees the three unhappy wolf-like creatures, who he potentially woke up with his angry ranting.
Hearing the largest wolf talk, an expression of surprise crosses his face. "Well I'll be. A talkin' wolf. Did I hit me noggin in that last fight or did ye hear it speak too?" he asks his companions loudly.
Boruk moves towards the Northern-most wolf and swings at it with his axe.
"Ye'll need to do more than talk to get yer death penalty to happen!" he says with a crazed grin on his face.
Ethan clutches his holy symbol and intones: ”Stagfather grant your servants the measure of your grace in this hour of need.”
Abelard moves forward to face the worg and the wolf to the south. "Let's hope this new incantation works as I expect!"
With a flourish and a few arcane intonations, Abelard presses his palms outward toward these enemies as a shower of colorful, sparkling lights issue forth from his hands.
2 HD or less: The creature is unconscious, blinded, and stunned for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)
3 or 4 HD: The creature is blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
5 or more HD: The creature is stunned for 1 round.
Sightless creatures are not affected by color spray.
|
"Definitely heard it speak, Boruk!" Parundar responded upon hearing his friend's words of surprise.
He felt a wave of strength wash over him as Ethan's blessing took effect. "Much appreciated, Ethan."
Parundar watched with amazement as the master wizard fired forth a dizzying array of beautiful bright lights.
Parundar stares at the larger wolf, recognizing that it's the leader of the two, and seeks to lower its ability to fight his friends, cackling as he does so.
The great beast gives a menacing growl and shakes its head as Abelard's spell hits it, but is otherwise unaffected. The wolf beside it slumps unconscious, however.
Boruk's axe bites deeply into the other wolf. It gives a howl of pain and anger before biting at the dwarf, but its jaws snap only at the empty air near Boruk's throat.
The slavering worg, enraged at this invasion and the attack against its mates (as well as Parundar's hex), charges at Abelard. Its teeth bite deeply into the wizard as it drags him to the floor.
Merrick fires a shot into the melee, which misses.
Boruk is enraged by the sight of the alpha wolf attacking Abelard.
As he dodges the attack by the smaller wolf, he swings around and attacks the worg from the side.
He shouts "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not me!" in a mocking tone as he attacks.
Ethan draws back his bow and looses an arrow at the worg from a pace or two beyond the creature’s menacing jaws.
As the worg dashes towards Abelard, a look of horror washes over the old man's face. "That did not go according to...Aaaaaaaah!"
Fighting through the pain and fear, Abelard manages to draw upon his arcane prowess to call his old friend from the beyond.
Despite the imminent threat of the worg, Abelard manages to shield himself enough to cast the spell without risking further attacks. Boruk's axe hits the beast, who growls and turns to face the new threat. Its jaws close on the dwarf's arm, drawing blood.
Merrick's shot finishes off the she-wolf in the northern corner - she slumps dead, her eyes glazing over as the life flees her body.
The wolf to the south stirs restlessly as Abelard's spell starts to wear off.
Ethan looses another arrow at the worg, trying to put it down as quickly as possible.
Boruk tears his arm free of the worg's jaws and swings his axe at it again.
However, the damage from the bite makes it difficult for Boruk to aim his blow and it misses the worg. He roars in frustration, working himself into a deeper rage.
Abelard remains prone and assumes a defensive posture, trying to fend off the worg with his quarterstaff. "Thank you for the healing, son!"
The eagle blinks into reality just above the head of the worg and unleashes a volley of attacks.
|
|
"I'm just happy to help!"
Parundar's eyes dart back to the wolf as he seeks to pull forth the weaknesses that exist in the core of its being, laughing manically as he does so.
Effect: The target takes a –2 penalty on one of the following (witch’s choice): AC, ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks. This hex lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the witch’s Intelligence modifier (4). A Will save reduces this to just 1 round.
Parundar's unearthly laughter unsettles the grey beast enough that it is vulnerable - and both Ethan's arrow and Boruk's axe find their mark.
The sinister worg falls, a choked curse dying in the bloody froth that gushes from its muzzle.
The remaining wolf, still unconscious, is easily dealt with.
Wolves don't keep treasure, as such, but you find the greatest prize of all mouldering in the far corner of the room: half a dozen ironbloom mushrooms.
Leaving the wolf lair behind, you return to the hallway. The corridor heads directly south, and you reach a pair of double doors on your right. It leads to what was obviously once a shrine , the heart of the worship that went on in this place. Pews of darkwood lie tipped over and covered in dust on either side of this ancient shrine. At the far end sits a large ceremonial anvil, but its surface is defaced and ruined. This was obviously a place central to the worship of Torag, before the dwarves who lived here turned away from his teachings.
The small room opposite was once a cloakroom, from the look of the rusting hooks on the walls. Now only a few moth-eaten rags hang there.
The next room has a door that is solidly stuck, but it eventually bursts open under some insistent pounding. With a loud crack, the door finally gives way and opens, shattering an ancient wooden chair propped against it on the other side. The room beyond is dark and smells deeply of dust and decay.
In the far corner of the room is the mummified remains of a dwarf. Wearing the garb of a blacksmith, the dwarf has the shattered shards of a glass vial in one hand and a scrap of ancient parchment in the other.
Tucked into the belt of the long-dead dwarf is a silver light hammer with a religious symbol carved into the head.
The hammer is obviously valuable, and to a collector might be worth as much as 200 gp.
Boruk roars in triumph as the worg is slain, quickly heading over to the unconscious wolf and removing its head from its neck with a powerful blow. Enemies now defeated he begins to calm himself, taking deep breaths and exhaling to do so.
When he calms himself, he turns to his companions and laughs, "The talkin' wolf's death sentence didn't exactly work out well fer him!
-------------------
As Boruk enters the shrine and sees the defacement of Torag's holy altar, a disgusted look passes over his face. He remembers the book describing the worship of Droskar and spits on the ground again before saying to the others, "Ye see before yerselves exactly what happens when ye have dwarves switch from the worship of the worthy dwarven gods to the worship of Droskar." He spits again after saying the dark god's name as if removing a bad taste from his mouth.
Boruk, normally jovial and energetic, is clearly affected by finding so much evidence of Droskar-worshippers in the monastery. Reading the scrap, disgust crosses Boruk's face again. He turns to the others saying, "Let's search the rest of this cursed place as soon as we can and get out of here. The villagers will need the cure as soon as possible."
"That hammer bears the mark of Droskar," Ethan says, pointing to the weapon. "Do you wish to destroy it, or perhaps melt it down?" he asks the dwarf.
"If we are going to finish exploring, let us do it quickly. We need to return to Falcon's Hollow as soon as possible."
Leaving the dead dwarf to his eternal rest, you enter another room . This small chamber appears to be some sort of sitting room, complete with a single table and a pair of chairs, both in relatively good condition. The air is dryer here than in the rest of the monastery and so the wooden furniture has survived the ages better than it has elsewhere.
From this room, you enter another small room . This chamber contains the remains of two beds, and an array of ancient, long-rusted tools.
The largest, and final room , is accessible via a pair of double doors; shattered and broken, one of them lies on the floor. The room beyond is in an equal state of disrepair. What was once a library is now a shattered mess with one corner being completely collapsed and dominated by a wide pool of stagnant water.
Thick fungus grows on most of the books that still remain on the shelves lining the walls.
A surge of energy infuses Boruk's body and the wound caused by the Worg reverts back to a healthy looking forearm again. Several scrapes and bruises that Boruk sustained in earlier fights also heal. "Ahhh..." Boruk sighs in relief, "Thank ye fer that Parundar, that feels a lot better," he says with a smile.
---------------------
When Ethan points out the mark on the hammer, Boruk grimaces. He pauses for a few seconds, thinking. "I'm sorely tempted to destroy it Ethan, but it'll likely decrease the value of the item as a result. Above all, we dwarves are practical, it'd be better to just sell it as is. Just so long as I don't have to carry the cursed thing!"
---------------------
As they enter the rest of the rooms Boruk has a quick search to see if any more Ironbloom mushrooms are present or anything else valuable for that matter. However, his search is half-hearted, as he is still in a bad mood after discovering that the monastery was devoted to Droskar.
With regards to the hammer, "I would strongly suggest that we do not destroy this hammer. Regardless of its origin or symbolism, it is a piece of history and should be preserved as such."
Upon entering the destroyed library, Abelard immediately begins searching for any texts that might be salvageable and those that could be restored with a little effort from a skilled artisan.
He also attempts to discern if there are any arcane writings present using a detect magic spell.
"With our mission seemingly complete, we should make haste to return to Falcon's Hollow."
Atop one of the bookshelves, Abelard manages to find a single tome that has managed to avoid the destructive fungus. This book is written in Dwarven and contains hymns to Torag, the god venerated here before Droskar. The book is beautifully illuminated and might fetch as much
as 300 gp if sold to a collector.
...
Your journey back through the forest is uneventful, although still wary - the deep woods are hostile to your presence, and beyond the range of sight you are sure that some creature (or creatures) is following you.
On arriving back at Falcon's Hollow, it is clear that the plague has spread further. You proceed to Laurel's shop, where she is both surprised and pleased to see that you all survived - and that you have actually managed to get the ingredients she needed. Without delay, she gets to brewing up a cure and by that same evening, everyone who is sick has been treated.
Unfortunately in the time that passed while you were away, fifteen people died, but Laurel assures you that many more would have done so without your aid. She offers you a discount on any future potions you might want to purchase from her.
The priestess, Cirthana Gensar, is equally grateful and immediately makes good on her promise, gifting each of you a pouch with 100 gold coins in it.
Falcon's Hollow is saved - for now. But who knows what further danger lurks, in the green wood and beyond...?