By way of roads forgotten
You look back from where you came
The path behind you disappeared
As if the world itself had vanished
Carrying but a single hope
Be it torch or be it rope
You continue to shamble onwards
Towards walls and spires of horror
Area #1: The Bridge Through the Mists
You stand on a stone bridge, mist surrounding you. You can barely see anything beyond twenty paces of your current location. You cannot see the way in front of you, and you cannot see the way back from where you came. Furthermore, you feel rather lightheaded and unsure of just how you got here.
A lone crow wings its way overhead while a cold wind blows across the cobblestone walkway.
The bridge itself seems to be around ten paces wide, but if you approach the edges, you cannot see what lies beneath.
Even through the mists you can partially make out stone spires and buttresses in the distance.
What do you do?
Ritti glances about quickly at the nearly impenetrable wall of mist. Sticking to the center of the bridge she slides cautiously forward, knife in hand, afraid of what she might find or - more to the point - what might find her.
She debates calling out but decides to restrain herself for the moment. You ain't whistling past the graveyard here, Ritti-girl.
Ritti Rallo
You proceed forward through the mists, knife raised and trembling. The cold wind is not helping you overcome these chills.
Everything is silent, you hear no one else... but a sudden rush of air ahead reveals a shadowy figure. It only lasts a second before disappearing into the mists. It doesn't look like it saw you.
Area #2: Vigil of the Gargouilles
Straight ahead from The Bridge Through the Mists you find yourself still on a connected raised platform. Hexagonal in form, each corner of the platform bears a towering stone gargoyle.
Each of the gargoyles looks exactly the same. Each is worked from dark grey stone and resemble leering imps, with gnashing fang filled maws and sharpened claws.
The cobblestone walkway continues forward, with the form of a castle slowly fading into view.
Ritti drops into a crouch for long moments after the shadow creature is gone, waiting for her heart to stop thudding. Seeing what lies ahead and around her is almost worse than stumbling through the mist. She wipes her suddenly damp forehead and gathers her wits before she continues slowly forward along the path. Ritti surveys each gargoyle painstakingly - ready to fight or bolt if one happens to be real. She looks for traces of blood or flesh on their teeth and claws.
Cripes! This is a shell-game. Any one of these gargoyles could be a really real one, not a statue.
Ritti Rallo
Studying each gargoyle meticulously has paid off. You notice that the easternmost gargoyle has a fang that's slightly off color with the rest of the stone. By slowly turning it, you manage to remove it from the gargoyle's mouth. As you do, the jaws come slamming shut... but you manage to pull your hand out just in time.
The fang you've recovered seems to be made of a pale gray stone, and you notice a small chain nestled in a hollow at its base. Pulling it out, you see that it forms a necklace.
Ritti Rallo has uncovered the Fang of Notram. This Relic has been added to the Expedition Journal.
Ritti dons the strange necklace and drops the fang within her shirt before continuing on the strange cobbled path.
Area #3: Dust-Cloaked Cell
Thick layers of cloying dust fill the air. You each slowly come awake... head throbbing and a dawning realization that you do not know where you are. The room is small, no more than 10 paces by 10 paces. Aside from the three of you, a single solitary skeletal companion is chained to the eastern stone wall.
All the walls are stone, except for one made of worked iron bars, a cell door built into it. You'd move to open it... but your feet are chained to the wall.
Coughing through the thickness, what do you do?
===
Area #4: The Ultravires - The Hold
The sudden rocking of wood against sea knocks you both awake. As you open your eyes, you see very little because of the darkness. You sense you are on a ship, most likely in the hold, judging by the amount of boxes and crates strewn about.
The sound of waves lapping at the wood, wind blowing and wood creaking is all you can hear.
A dim streak of light comes from some wooden staircases at the far end of the hold.
From what you can estimate, the hold is a good twenty five paces in length and roughly fifteen in width, give or take.
The smell of salt is absent however.
What do you do?
Ritti dons the strange necklace and drops the fang within her shirt before continuing on the strange cobbled path.
Continuing on into the mists ahead...
Area #5: The Forlorn Battlement
Towering walls rise up in front of you, barring the way forward. A large iron gate blocks your way forward. The cobblestone walkway you were on has ended and you are now on solid ground. You can see that the ground goes to either side of the battlement gate, a mud path to the right and no trail to the left.
The walls stand a fair fifty feet in height, the rock smooth and damp.
===
Eiron looks around slowly, wondering how he came to be chained here. One moment he was walking towards a mansion and the next darkness. He rubs the back of his head. Where the hell am I? He tries to free his feet but there is obviously no key.
He notices the other two with him aswell as the skeleton, which creeps him out. He had heard stories about the dead coming to life from other soldiers. He looks at it to make sure it isn't moving.
He notices the other men waking and whispers to them, "hey, do you know how we got here? How do we get out?
Eiron looks around slowly, wondering how he came to be chained here. One moment he was walking towards a mansion and the next darkness. He rubs the back of his head. Where the hell am I? He tries to free his feet but there is obviously no key. [dice=Strength check to break] 1d20+3
He notices the other two with him aswell as the skeleton, which creeps him out. He had heard stories about the dead coming to life from other soldiers. He looks at it to make sure it isn't moving.
[dice=Perception to study skeleton if not allowed to take 20] 1d20+2He notices the other men waking and whispers to them, "hey, do you know how we got here? How do we get out?
Your strength is not enough to break your chains. As for the skeleton, it is dead. Quite dead.
Ritti eyes the wall, the path, and the trail-less way.
Each option offers possibilities. First she inspects the muddy path for tracks of any sort - any sign of other people, hopefully.
Despite the mist clinging to the wall, the girl attempts to scale the wall to a height of no more than 10' - to see how daunting a task it would be. Gripping the slick stone, she curses her lack of rope and a grappling hook.
Finally, she looks over the gate carefully, seeing if it is locked, merely closed, or trapped and if there might be some way to bypass the problem.
Ritti Rallo
No tracks of any kind can be seen in the muddy path. No one has gone through here recently it seems.
The wall is definitely too slippery to scale without assistance.
The gate is quite locked and by pushing against it, you can feel resistance, probably a wooden or metal bar, blocking it from being opened.
To add on to before, both trails to the sides vanish into the mists.
The lack of prints is sobering. And Ritti hrumphs at the locked gate as if it were purposefully being difficult in order to impede her progress.
Knocking is out. This place is just too creepy.
The lack of prints is sobering. And Ritti hrumphs at the locked gate as if it were purposefully being difficult in order to impede her progress.
Knocking is out. This place is just too creepy.
[dice=Disable Device (w/ improvised tools)]1d20+6
Ritti Rallo
Surprisingly, you manage to unlock the gate. However, the bar still prevents the door from being opened...
The Collective earns 100 XP for having unlocked the Forlorn Battlement Gate.
Ritti's delight at unlocking the gate... Hot DAMN, I'm good!
...is short-lived as she pushes on the gate and finds a bar still holds it firmly shut. You mother-f^<&%! Not fair!
The young girl takes a step back and pulls at the neck of her slightly oversized, hand-me-down, armor while she weighs the options - the trail-free left or the muddy right-hand path. For no reason she can name, she turns left and starts walking along the wall without a trail, wary of dangers above and around her.
As he awakens, Shuo quickly takes a glance at his surroundings, then checks to make sure he still has all of his equipment.
Upon hearing Eiron, Shuo responds and says "I don't have a clue how we got here, but the way my head feels I suspect excessive quantities of Dwarven Fire Ale were involved. What I'd give for a vial of Alchemist's Kindness right now. As to how we get out, I might be able to do something about these shackles. What's your name"
After saying this, he looks down and sees if he can determine anything about the locking mechanism on the chains. Perception
"I'm Eiron. I was look for my regiment. Somehow they left me behind I think and I got lost and found this place." He watches Shuo, not having the slightest clue about picking locks.
Garr'ak would take a quick look around, but his head felt strange. So with a hard shake that seemed not to merely move his head, but his entire body, he tried to clear his thoughts before once again surveying his surroundings.
With the walls and roof of the room blocking much from his line of sight, he would take tally of the only other figure that seemed to be around. The man seemed small, frail, and an easy enough combatant, but not one to take chances, Garr'ak would pull his lucerne hammer from his back and take a battle stance.
"Who are you and what have you done here?" he would bark at the man through his mouth of overly large and pointy teeth.
Garr'ak, seeing no threat forthcoming from the silent figure would scoff at his caution and start to search the room for anything of use.
Ritti Rallo
Quietly, discreetly and without a sound you head to the left of the Forlorn Battlement. Walking westward for a fair amount of time, and keeping to the wall as a guide when suddenly the ground gives way. You try and scramble backwards and...
... you instead slip and skid down as the ground disappears beneath your feet. As you were moving you slowly, you were still close to the edge and try to grab it one last time...
... but you manage to only grab at strands of grass before slipping off the side of the cliff.
You fall quite around 40 paces distance but land in freezing cold water.
The brunt of the fall leaves you weakened but still alive.
Area #6: The Battlement Cliffs
What seemed like a normal path gave way to a shuddering cliff drop. The mist slightly thins out and you can see water down below. Judging by how things look, the castle is surrounded by a bast lake or moat, the bridge spanning over it.
Area #7: Lake Lavarion - Cliff-Side
Here, the cold waters of Lake Lavarion meet with a sheer cliff, around 40 paces high. The cliff face is rocky and should be climbable, with numerous handholds appa
rent on its surface. The lake goes on around the cliff face.
If you stay within the Lake you may head in any direction you see fit. North is the cliff face going back up, east/west take you in a circle around, and south leads back to the bridge.
===
Shuo and Eiron
Shuo's keen eye spies that Eiron's shackles are relatively rusty and worn on one side. As well, the shackled skeletal body has a small silver ring on its right hand.
===
Garr'ak
Searching through the hold, you empty crates and boxes and obtain the following items:
- A rolled up hammock (3 lb.)
- A case of thirty fishhooks (- lb.)
- A slightly battered hooded lantern (2 lb.)
- Three dusty and slightly cracked bottles of ale (1 lb. each)
- A map case that is locked with an iron lock (1 lb.)
- A strange stone that faintly glows and hums. This is in fact the Breath of the Sea, a Relic.
Aside from items, you notice deep gouges in the hold as well as numerous signs of combat haven taken place here. A shattered iron cage lies heaped in a corner.
As Garr'ak rifled through the contents of the room, he would use the hammock he comes upon as a makeshift bag to place his plunder in as he takes a moment to inspect each item as he comes across it.
"Fish hooks, lantern..." he would state to himself as he placed each item into the hammock. Upon coming across the map case, he would take a moment to tug at the lock if its possible to get a grip on it.
If unable to open it, he would place it with the other items and continue on.
"...case, ale, treause?"
He would take a moment to taste the ale and give the stone a bite to inspect its durability.
Once done, he would take some time to inspect the shattered iron cage and the gouges in the hold in an attempt to figure out what had happened to the combatants.
"This is all highly unusual. I was not on a ship ...I take it you were not, either, Mr. ...er ...?"
Archibald will also take twenty on perception, just in case. (32)
As the man's words reached his ears, Garr'ak's head would jerk around to place glaring eyes upon the man while his hand shot out for his lucerne hammer.
"Name yourself and your purpose," he would growl through his vicious looking teeth.
Ritti bounce/rolls down the cliff making only the occasional grunt until she slams into the cold water - eliciting a heartfelt swear. She stands up shaken and bedraggled. Wringing the water from her hair, she looks about in the water. As fortune would have it, her blade landed in the water nearby. She picks it up and ensures both the blade and herself are no worse for the fall. She winces as she rolls a shoulder and feels a sizeable bruise along her back. If it hurts, it means you are still alive. Cheer up, Ritti-girl.
Now that the mist has cleared a bit and hoping to see more of the moat as well as satisfy her curiosity about whether a bridge this ominous must have trolls beneath it, Ritti heads South with her dagger in her teeth, trying to glide quietly through the water.
"My name is Shuo, I wish we could have met under better circumstances. Whoever it is who locked us up they don't seem to have spent much time maintaining this place. With as battered up as those shackles of yours are on the left side a soldier like you should have no problem busting them open. I have a hammer that might help you with that." Shuo draws his hammer from his backpack and offers it to Eiron to use.
"With as bad a shape as this place is in, I might even be able to pick the lock on my own shackles despite not having the proper tools"
Shuo attempts to pick the lock on his own shackles.
Disable Device (improvised tools):
"Your right about this not being brigands half-elf, whoever put us here didn't even bother taking that silver ring off the dead man. A ring like that should be worth a pretty copper. Most peculiar indeed"
Regardless of how successful his attempt to free himself was, Shuo reaches for the ring on the skeleton's hand and attempt to remove it.
The man stammers and is visibly taken aback. "Er, sir, there'll be no need ...I assure you ...my name, you see ...is Archibald Sawworthy. I, er, I am a scholar."
Straightening, Garr'ak would seem to relax as he takes that the man seems to be unarmed.
"Sch...o...lar," he would say as he sounded out word. "What is this Sch..o..lar?"
Then, as a thought crossed his mind, he would fall into a battle stance and move so that the man was within swinging distance of his hammer.
"Do sch.o.lars cast magic?" he would question with a deadly expression upon his face.
"Well, some do, I suppose. I don't ...I have never shown the gift for the defiance of the rules of the physical universe. Do I envy those that do? Perhaps. It's fascinating, their art. But I ...a scholar studies things. He learns. He examines. He ...he doesn't fight."
Garr'ak would relax once more. "You make me think of shaman without magic. I am Garr'ak and I know not why we are here, but I will make whoever brought me here pay."
With no further explanation, he would move to the stairwells and peer up each in turn for any sign of danger.
Eiron takes the offered hammer and while being careful not to hit himself, aims for the rusted side.
"Er, yes. Of course." Archibald follows, also watching.
Garr'ak would turn to the man and look him over.
"You have no weapons? What do you plan to do in a fight?"
"Who has a fight past the age of ten? I mean, really!"
"You mock my ways," Garr'ak would yell as his eyes went wide with rage.
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Archibald yelps. "No! No, no, no. Merely a rhetorical ...er, I mean a logical ...a scholarly thinking device. Who gets in fights past the age of ten? Fighters, that is who. I am not a fighter. I am not a warrior. I do not fight. No, er, disrespect meant to those who do."
"And that means you should not have a way to protect yourself?"
"I find it simpler to ...avoid situations whereupon that would be needed. It isn't really that hard."
"Your a fool," he would state simply before cautiously making his way up the stairs to see what might lie ahead of them.
Ritti Rallo
Swimming back towards the bridge, the waters suddenly drop off. While you were able to see the depths, now only murky darkness stretches downwards. You stop and tread silently in place.
===
Shuo, Eiron and Duke
Shuo hands over his hammer, which Eiron promptly uses to smash his way through the rusted shackles. At the same time, Duke introduces himself as he tries to break free of his own shackles, but with no discernible weakness you do not succeed.
Shuo, you manage to take apart the shackles with whatever you had on hand, and you reach for the silver ring...
.. and as you take it off its fingers, a strange compulsion to put it on fills your head. You slip the ring on your own finger, and as you do, small black veins spread from beneath it, spreading over your hand. They stop after having reached your wrist, but your entire hand is now crisscrossed with black veins. Moments later, greasy ichor slowly begins to seep from different parts of your skin. There's not a lot of it... but it's definitely there.
Shuo has acquired a point of Corruption and now is inflicted with the Skin Seeps symptom.
Skin Seeps: Your skin seeps greasy, black ichor. You take a -2 penalty on Climb and Sleight of Hands checks and opponents get a +2 bonus when attempting to disarm you. However, you gain a +2 bonus on Escape Artist checks and on checks made to attempt to free yourself from a grapple or resist being grappled.
===
Garr'ak and Archibald
After your brief discussion, Archibald looks around finding nothing that Garr'ak hadn't already found. Garr'ak heads up the stairs "silently" and "perceptively".
Area #8: The Ultravires - Crewman's Corridor
You find yourself in a long, thin wooden corridor beneath the deck of the ship. Having come out from the staircase at the southern end, the only way forward is north. There are a total of three doors (two on port side, and one on starboard).
The pungent smell of decay suddenly wafts through the air.
You don't become nauseous, but it still smells rotten.
Despite the depths and darkness, Ritti swims on.
Archibald tries to listen at the doors.
Shuo silently stares at his right hand with a bewildered look as it transforms before his eyes. "My...my hand! What just happened to my hand?" After a moment, his skin begins to feel disgustingly greasy. "And my skin feels disgusting!" Using his left sleeve, Shuo wipes his forehead. For a second it feels a little better, although the feeling of griminess quickly returns. When he is finally able to take his eyes off of his mutated hand he realizes that the previously brown sleeve is stained with spots of black.
After a moment Duke's words suddenly register with Shuo. "Why would anyone make a ring that does this to a man!"
Shuo then frantically tries to remove the ring.
Garr'ak, seeing an obstacle in his way, would simply open the next room and take a look to see what is inside.
Finally free Eiron hands the hammer back to Duke. "Try this. It worked for me, though mine was rusted... I have no idea how we came to be here sorry. Im just glad all my equipment is still with me."
Seeing the taint of the ring infuse into Shuo's skin Eiron panicks, drawing his morningstar from his side. What is happening to you!?"[/b]
When things calm down and nothing evil springs from the ring, Eiron slips his other arm into his shield straps and pulls it tight. Feeling ready to get out of this cramped cell he moves over to the door and pushes it open, peeking out of the room.
Ritti Rallo
You swim out under the bridge...
Area #9: Lake Lavarion- Under the Bridge
The waters progressively get deeper as you swim under the bridge. The stone structure rises far out of the water, its upper parts shrouded by the mists. The waves lap roughly against the stone pillars where stone meets water.
===
Shuo, Eiron and Duke
While Shuo tries uselessly to remove the accursed ring, Eiron steps to the cell and pushes the cell door open.
Area #10: Dust-Covered Couloir
As you step out of the cell, you find yourself in a vast hallway. Various tables and racks hold rusted and battered equipment. There are large number of cells throughout the hallway. The longer you remain in the hallway, the longer you get the impression that something's watching you.
===
Archibald and Garr'ak
Archibald listens at the door, hears nothing, and Garr'ak then opens it.
Area #11: The Ultravires - Crew's Quarters
The room is small and consists of hammocks and torn clothing scattered across the floor.
As you open the door, a loud screeching sound shatters the air. What appeared to be a pile of clothes rears up and lunges at you.
With a growl, Garr'ak would bite at the clothing before stepping back, away from both the creature and Archibald, and taking a swing at it with his lucerne hammer.
+1 more if not within 10 feet of an ally.[/dice]
[i]+2 more if not within 10 feet of an ally.
+1 more if not within 10 feet of an ally.
+21 more if not within 10 feet of an ally
After a few moments of struggling Shuo finally accepts that the ring is there to stay.
Almost inaudibly, Shuo whispers "The ring...it won't come off." When he looks up, Shuo sees Eiron open the door and a look of panic crosses his face. Startled into speechlessness by the fact that the cell door is not locked, he clumsily draws a well worn shovel from his pack, grasping its battered ash wood handle tightly with both hands in a vain attempt to combat the slipperiness of the disgusting liquid seeping out of his hands.