You have found yourself in Kenabres to celebrate Armasse. As you wander the city you approve of all the always armed and ready citizens. Just ahead is the city square where the celebrations will begin.
As Marhok approaches the city square he nods to the guards and soldiers walking about as well as seeing the citizens-at-arms ready for battle at a moment's notice.
Some men acknowledge Marhok as he goes on, recognizing him as one of the new arrivals, but also as one of the promising newcomers. His stature and height makes him stand out as well, if nothing else the large sword and polearm he wears on his back.
They say Armasse is never as celebrated as here in Kenabres. It must be because we're so close to the Worldwound. I wonder who's going to be knighted this year.
He slowly strolls down the city's streets and looks at the other young men, honing their skills or sharpening their blades. He looks around to see if he sees any familiar faces.
____ strolls up and shakes Marhok's hand they turn to the crowd to try to get closer to the center and
Darkness...silence...
Marhok's head aches, he opens his eyes and he is blind...or so he thinks, then he realizes that it is pitch darkness. He hears falling rubble, and some moans of pain.
"Edric? Edric! Are you okay?" He calls out to his friend and companion.
He tries to look around for any immediate danger, grasping his ranseur from his back and searching his pack for one of his sunrods. He'll strike it to make some more light for him and Edric.
The sunrod cracks into light and Marhok finds himself surrounding by rubble at the bottom of a huge cavern...Edrick browns in a heap, and there are dozens of bodies around, though there do appear to be three others living. An elf, a heavy set man in fancy clothes, and a woman in leather armor.
Before anyone speaks MArhok's fuzziness clears and it all comes rushing back
Armasse officially began at noon, with the blessing of the festiva l
by Lord Huirun himself, ruler of Ke n a b res. T h e crowd g a t h e red i n
Clydwe l l Plaza q u ieted a s t h e a g e d i n q u i s i t o r took t h e sta g e, c l a d
i n s h i n i ng, res p l e n d e n t a r m o r. H e clea red h i s t h ro a t, b u t j ust a s
h e was a bo u t to s p e a k, a b r i g h t l i g ht s h o n e f r o m t h e west, a s if
t h e s u n we re r i s i n g fro m t h e w ro n g d i re c t i o n . H u l ru n 's s h a d ow
fe l l h u g e a n d d i storted a c ross t h e cathed ra l 's facade. A m o m e n t
later, t h e s o u n d of a t h u n d erous e x p l o s i o n r i p p e d t h ro u g h t h e a i r
a n d ea rth, a l o n g w i t h a v i o l e n t tre m o r.
To t h e west, t h e fortress known as t h e K i te-the l o c a t i o n of
Ke n a b res's wardstone- h a d va n i s h e d . In its p l a ce, a b ri l l ia n t
p l u m e of red fi re, l i g ht n i ng, a n d s m o ke e r u pted i nto t h e heave n s .
A m o m e n t later, a powe r f u l roa r a cco m p a n i ed a we lcome
s i g h t r i s i n g fro m t h e crowd-Ke n a b res's g reatest g u a rd i a n, t h e
a n c i e n t si lver d ra g o n Tere n d e l ev, w h o h a d u n t i l t h a t m o m e n t
b e e n atte n d i n g t h e o p e n i n g cere m o n y d i s g u ised a s a h u m a n .
Above, a n o t h e r form a p p e a red, a s n i g h t m a r i s h a s t h e d ra g o n
was breathta k i n g . A h u ma n o i d s h a p e t h ree t i m e s t h e s i z e of a ny
m a n, w i t h s k i n coated i n fi re a n d l i g ht n i ng, g r i p p e d a fl a m i n g
swo rd a n d whip. T h e creatu re's ide ntity w a s i m med iately obvio us:
K h o rra m z a d e h, the Storm K i n g of the Wo rldwo u nd, had co m e
to Ke n a b resi
As the g ro u n d conti n u e d to s h a ke a n d d i s g o rg e d e m o n s
i nto t h e streets, t h e d ra g o n a n d t h e b a l o r l o rd c l a s h e d a b ove.
The fi g h t was over in a few ha rrow i n g m o m e nts, a s the b a l o r
c u t d e e p i nto Tere n d e l ev's body, swo o p i n g d o w n to strike t h e
d r a g o n a n d a rrest i n g h e r c h a rg e . A f e w m o re b l ows, a n d t h e
tita n i c d u o s p i ra l ed d ownwa rd towa rd t h e crowd .
The s i g h t of the d ra g o n s m a s h i n g i nto the facade of the
Cathed ra l of St. Clydwe l l is o n e no witness wo u l d eve r fo rget. At
that m o m ent, a tita n i c d e m o n eru pted at the far e n d of the plaza,
red u c i n g seve ra l b u i l d i n g s to r u i n s as it smashed i nto this world.
The rift i t created shot across the pl aza, a n d t h i s t i m e t h e re was no
escape-it opened below yo u r feet, a n g l i n g away i n to d a rkness.
Eve n as you fe l l, the d ra g o n noticed yo u r p l i g ht. Though she saw
death sta n d i n g ove r h e r, she seized this fi n a l cha nce to save a few
m o re souls. Afte r s h e uttered a few a rca ne words and stretched
o u t a bleed i n g t a l o n, you fe lt h e r magic t a ke h o l d of you, slowi ng
yo u r p l u m met i nto the d a rkness as i f yo u were feathers fa l l i n g
i n to a p i t . Yet the fa l l re m a i ned as i n exora b l e, a n d a s y o u dri fted
d ownwa rd i nto the de pths, the last t h i n g you saw was the Storm
King sta n d i n g befo re the a ncient si lver d ragon, his swo rd l a s h i n g
o u t a n d c l e a v i n g f u l l t h ro u g h h e r n e c k . As h e r severed head fell,
the rift a bove you slammed s h u t, a n d the light of the world above was gone
Marhok fastens the sunrod to his chain armour and looks around for any indication for a way out.
We must have fallen a long way, probably we're somewhere in acavern complex, but where does it lead?
He looks to Edric, checking if he's alright before he pulls him up to his feet.
"We're in trouble my young friend, though we should be glad that we're alive. You okay? Can you walk?"
Marhok then checks upon the others that appear to be alive, going to them one by one. "I don't want to rush you lot, but it's better if you stand up if you can. We're in unfamiliar territory now."
Marhok helps any one of them up as he can, then looks to see if thereá snything usable on the other victims that fell down.
Marhok finds nothing of use...
I am alright. He replies. Who are you three?
The woman replies, from the ground. I am Anevia Tireblade. And who made you leader?
An older elf man with bandages around his head speaks I am Arvanshnial. Who might you be.
Then the heavy set man speaks. I am Horgus Gwerm, and I am obviously the leader of this. Get me out of here alive and I will reward you with 1,000 gold.
"Well met, all of you I'm Marhok, a soldier of fortune if you will in service to the city. I wasn't saying I'm the leader Anevia, just stating the obvious course of actions."
He says to Anevia as he helps her up.
He looks to the heavy set man. "Easier said than done, mister Gwerm, but I have no idea as to where we are exactly. We shouldn't make hasty decisions, but we'll have to move if we want to find a way out of here."
Anevia waves off his assistance and remains on the ground.
I think that we all need to work together. I have some facility with healing perhaps allow me to check us all before we move on?
Make 3 diplo rolls for edrik
"Aye, that sounds good. As can be seen, we're the lucky ones, others haven't survived the fall."
Wow!
Anevia and arvan are now friendly and hergus indifferent
this leg is broken. edrick says as he splints anevias leg.
alright lead the way. edrick says
There is only one way to go
Marhok moves to support Anevia. "Let me help you, lean on me and I'll help you through. You shouldn't put too much weight on your hurt leg."
"Alright let's go, keep your eyes and ears open we don't want to be caught off guards."
Marhok will lead the front supporting Anevia if she doesn't mind with hopefully Edric and Arvanshnial close behind to take her over when things go hostile.
She shrugs off help. my bow will serve as my cane, I inky have 3 arrows left so I might as well make some use of it.
"That's also fine, another good pair of eyes and hands to help us fight is always welcome."
As the party begins to move slowly, due to the blindness and broken leg, it is only a moment before Marhok sees just out of the bright light of his sun rod what looks like a spider the size of a horse...is that a red symbol on its belly...it looks perfectly still
"Careful, I see a spider up ahead. A very large spider. Avenia please keep your bow ready."
Marhok approaches the spider carefully, his ranseur in hand and approaching step by step, wary for any attack made by it.
If he reaches the spider without trouble, he'll poke it with the ranseur to see if it's still alive.
As Marhok approaches he hears and crunching sound, out of the spider bursts two enormous maggot that have greasy, pale flesh and a dripping, circular mouth filled with tiny, sharp teeth.
They are 10 feet away you have the init. The npcs will not be acting in this fight. You get to act for you and edrick in combat.
heroes win init
Marhok approaches the maggots keeping them at bay with his ranseur and stabbing at one with it from a distance.
"Edric, shoot the other one, they won't get past me that easily."
Edric nods and aims his crossbow at the other maggot.
MArhok plunges his blade into one and it squeals and stops moving, slumping over the blade. Edricks bolt flies wide.
The remaining maggot moves up to attack Marhok, though he gets the first swing , but it takes Marhok a second longer than he hoped to withdraw his blade.
The maggot makes a gurgling sound then spews vomit at Marhok it splatters on his face.
The npcs, move back across the room, keeping out of trouble.
Go heroes
"Bah, slimy goo. Filthy critters."
Marhok mutters before taking a 5-foot step back and stabbing at the second maggot.
Marhok motions to Edric, to stop.
"Save your bolts for later my friend. This critter is done for."
The creature stops moving.
Hergus speaks. Good. Keep killing things and you will be rewarded.
Edrick moves and tries to recover his bolt but it is shattered.
Marhok come look at this. He points to a small silver scale.
well small is relative, it is the size of your hand
Marhok squats down and looks at the small silver scale with interest.
"Interesting, could this give us a clue as to where we are at the moment? Whatever the case it looks valuable, perhaps we can sell it when we get out."
The large barbarian picks up the scale and looks at it, turning it around in his hands to see if there are any stamps or symbols on it.
Immediately Marhok realizes that it is a scale from the great dragon defender of Kenebres. Marhok also knows the power that it grants.
Sacred Weaponry: Three times per day as a standard action,
a scale can be used to cast align weapon, but only to make a
weapon lawful or good. Unlike a normal align weapon spell,
this effect can be cast on an unarmed strike or natural weapon. CL 19
There are two paths out of the tunnels. Both look more or less the same.
Door 1 or door 2?
"You know what this is?" He asks incredulously even himself to the others.
"I think this is one of the scales of Kenabres's staunchest defender: Terendelev. This is a great artifact in its own right."
Marhok listens at the first door, if everything seems safe he'll try to open it and go through.
sorry its not really a door, but in any event Marhok hears nothing and leads the way into the tunnel.
After a good 60 feet the tunnel opens into another room about 30 feet across
T h i s s m a l l e r cave rn a p pea rs to have once se rved as a ca m psite
or te m porary l a i r. A torn bed ro l l l i e s next to t h e c o l d re m a i n s of
a fi re. A pile of b o n es, broken e q u i p m e nt, and r u b b l e lies j u s t
past t h e c a m psite.
As Marhoc moves into the room he makes to check out the equipment in the corner, immediately two dog sized cockroaches leap out of the rubbish heap.
two bites on Marhoc for
hero go
Marhok steps 5-feet back and tries to twist the ranseur into the first cockroach's body.
"Careful Edric, these things can bite ferociously."
Edric nods in agreement.
"I'll be careful sir." Edric fires a crossbow bolt at the other cockroach.
Marhok almost slams a hand to his face. "You know I don't like you calling me that Edric. There's no need for that."
Both attacks miss and the cockroaches continue to attack Marhok
for
high means that bolt is not shattered
Marhok flinches as the cockroaches bite at his feet and legs, he sighs a moment, then flies into a rage as he lets his ranseur fall and draws his greatsword.
"Raahh, filthy insects begone from this world!"
When Marhok begins attacking in a rage, Edric sees the drops of blood from Marhok's legs fall to the ground and rushes to him with some aid.
The cockroach loses several legs from the hit, but continues to attack.
both miss their attacks
Go
Edric heals Marhok some more.
another miss.
go
Edric steps aside and fires on the other cockroach with his crossbow.
Marhoc is dumbfounded after he slices the back half off the creature and it still attacks, then Edricks bolt slams into it and it falls, leaving only one
for
Go
"What the? These insects are some serious tough beasties. RAAHH! Edric! Move in to flank."
Edric nods, drops his crossbow and draws his morningstar as he walks around the cockroach to flank with Marhok, after that Marhok attacks the huge cockroach.
a huge chunk of roach flies
miss
go
After Marhok attacks, Edric also attacks, if the cockroach is still standing.
The creature falls.
Well done the elf says.
Before we move on out of this room, allow me to cast a spell on you, once you are healed of course.
A search of the room turns up the following
A thorough search of the room turns up a
torn bedroll, three candle stubs (each can burn for 30 minutes),
a bent fishhook, 10 feet of badly frayed hemp rope, and a
copper brooch depicting a bat perched on a mushroomboth
of the bat's eyes are tiny amethysts
Marhok sighs a sigh of relief and tries to calm himself.
"I didn't think those cockroaches would give me so much trouble, they were tough."
He looks to the discarded items in the room. "Edric you should take that brooch, I'll take those remains of the candles with me, you never know when you'd need some extra light."
Edric casts another CLW spell on Marhok, before the group continues again.
"I can appreciate any help you have to offer me, Arvanshnial."
You got it
Marhok takes a few moments to catch his breath, then asks the others. "Ready to go on ahead? Let's see how far this system of caves goes."
Marhok leads the way into the next chamber. He sees another path on the far side as well as another tunnel coming from the same direction they all came from.
Seve r a l m o u n d s of rock l i e in h e a p s in t h i s cavern, recently fa l l e n
fro m t h e wa l l s a n d cei l i n g . N ow a n d t h e n , b i t s of d u s t settle fro m
cracks i n t h e sto n e a b ove.