Palace of the Vampire Queen (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Zeebu runs and bites! - finally said Zeebu, proud of his incredibly advanced skills.

As a grappling focused barbarian, not sure I can be of much use from the back :)

"I can make one of you invisible for about 5 minutes, but i can only do it once today. Tomorrow, two or three times if you like, but I won't be able to tend to the injured as well. I can also give you a means if speaking with us without having to yell from 30 feet away."

Seeing the dwarf glance down at Memphis, Chuffer mentions "Don't worry. He's quite smart, and rarely bites."

"Me gets it... me thinks." She blinks a few times and her eyes look a little blank, so it's hard to guess if she really got it all or not...

"Hal acts like you can't get out of the way... he's gruff but also he's usually right." Miagnik said, eyeing the rest of the group they were going with.

Seeing the dwarf glance down at Memphis, Chuffer mentions "Don't worry. He's quite smart, and rarely bites."

"Guess he's two up on Zeebu." Hal grunted. "Keeping us fighting is more important than keeping us hidden. Don't worry about the invisibility. One is fine."

"Aralk and I fight well together, and I am also trained as a scout, though I've no skill with traps and the like. And I can also heal and such in a pinch. I'm good at tracking and identifying critters, too."

Grunder thought for a moment. "I can use a bow or crossbow fairly well, too, but I haven't got one, because I'm usually back-to-back with Aralk, here."

Hal handed Grunder his heavy crossbow and a quiver of 20 bolts. "I never use the thing. If you think you can make use of it, it's yours."

Grunder accepts the crossbow and looks it over, testing the crank. He attaches the bolt case to his belt, and slings the crossbow. "Thank you. I still prefer to be in the thick of it with my friend, here, but I can definitely use this as needed."

He ran his fingers absentmindedly through Aralk's thick coat, the mastiff-sized badger nuzzling into his leg as he did so.

"Ready as can be."

Zeebu scratches his head, basically just waiting for the others to lead the way so he can follow right behind the front line. For moments he seems excited to have found a small roach, but then he notices it's just some dust flying on the ground.

"Alright, we got some stuff to sort out first." he said. "Hold up, boss." he said to the older dwarf leading them along.

"I gotta know. All of you were hired by folks who work for Sir Guisse? Tell me what you were told. What do you think is going on here?"

"Me told to go with and me help seal door... That all me told."

"As mentioned, I'm a trapper and a tracker. I've got some training and experience in hunting the formerly living, and I was told I'd have a chance to do that here, so here I am."

Chuffer looks down at her feet, then up at Hallister again.

"I am here to find the lost tomb of the great king, Outagal," she responds quietly. "To find it and return the knowledge of its location to the priestess Galinea is my purpose here."

"Alright. Well, we need to straighten some stuff out then. Things are a lot messier, and a lot more important than you've been led to believe. How many of you are familiar with the legends of the Vampire Queen? Or the Ferryman's Bride? Or the goblin God of Tricksters?"

Another magic user? A witch then! he thought eyeing the fox. He had been at a loss as to what to do when Stephanie had suddenly decided to leave but it hadn't been like he would have been able to stop her. But now... I can still achieve my goal.

"Outagal's tomb?" Miagnik asked coming over to Chuffer. "So... that means it's here? In that case, I'll be here to help you find it."

Bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 Miagnik's face was one of happiness and true camaraderie

Vampire goblin, married to a trickster god? In a ferry? - mutters a confused Zeebu, as clueless as they come. It would probably help if he was paying more attention, but such was the quantity of information that Hallister threw that the barbarian just had to look at him with a little more focus.

Zeebu helps. Zeebu seals doors. - he complements, trying to put a scholar tone.

The Palace of the Vampire Queen, level 2
Day 13, approximate time of day, 6:30 pm (turn, 104)

Rownig Windel, and Atharessa leave Hallister, Moralane, and Miagnik in the company of an old dwarf who introduces them to four workers, Grundar, Zeebu, Chuffer, and Mixz. Then the old dwarf picks up a large lantern, and leads the group out of the dining hall. The old dwarf heads east, then north at the intersection, then turns west. As he leads, Hallister falls back a bit, keeping the old dwarf in sight while he get aquainted with the others. When he knows their names, and a little about them he picks up the pace, catching up to the old dwarf Hallister asks him for some information about the work he is doing here…

Not seeming to be troubled by Hallister’s question the old dwarf marches steadily westward. Without looking back to see who has asked, he just begins talking

Guise hired this woman, Omara, a skilled wizard, to make this place safe. I hear he intends to petition the Dwarven King of Karrita Morianna to let him expand his lands to include this mountain range. This Omara, I’ve never met her myself, works with the Black Watch, they say, and knows how to control the undead. She seems to have figured out how to end the curse of the Vampire Queen. I don’t take a side on that, others before her have tried, and failed. Seems you can destroy these undead and they always come back, always. Anyways, she sent men from Sir Guisse’s household all over hiring anyone willing to take a job in this place, promising safety from the undead, but cautioning us to avoid the Goblins. Now, so far we’ve had little trouble with any goblins, mostly on the first level, but they seem to be more interested in fighting each other than being troubled by our presence here.

As you walk westward the old dwarf stops at a small stone door on the left.

In here we need a couple of barrows, and some bags of mortar mix.

You go into the room and collect two wheel barrows, and four small sacks of motor mix from a large stack of dozens of sacks.

In the next room there is a well, and workers draw water out of it around the clock, filling barrels. We’ll take a barrel, and when you empty it, a couple of you will have to bring it back here to trade it for an full one.

In the next room to the west, on the left, you find three dwarves and four goblins working a rig suspended over a stone ring set in the floor. They lower a large, deep bucket into this hole and pull up clean, cold water from below. The room has several large barrels and a pair of funnels, made from steel, used to fill the barrels, which then have their bung plugged, then tipped onto their sides. Two of you will have to work together to roll a barrel of water.

The old dwarf waits for your group to finish getting the wheel barrow, mortar mix, and water, and then when you are ready he leads you to the west again. He continues to talk as he walks westward, and ahead of him you see a pair of large doors in the distance.

Seems that these undead are here, in this place, because of some kind of goblin temple on the level below us. Omara’s men say that if we seal off the temples the power of the vampire queen will be reduced enough that the Black Watch will be able to come in here and clean out the place once and for all. I don’t take a side on that either. I don’t really care. These trinkets they give us keep the undead from bothering us, the goblins seem to have been driven out from the level above, and we’ve been paid well to work here. I haven’t been out in a few weeks myself, but we’ve had a few disappear. I suppose they got a little spooked by the rumors of some sort of monsters below this next level. I’ve not seen any such monsters, undead goblin spider abominations and other such stories. Hell’s Sails I’ve never even seen any entrance to any levels below the next one. But there are always some of the fellows who get a kick out of making up stories to scare each other.

The old dwarf stops at the large stone doors, puts the lantern on the floor, and asks for help

Give me a hand here

With your help the massive doors are pushed open revealing a wide stair cut into the mountain’s interior going down.

He picks up the lantern and begins going down the stairs. The stairs, twenty feet wide, with long steps, descend for over a hundred feet in length, probably going down over sixty feet below. Your group works as a team managing the wheel barrows and water barrel down the easy decline. At the bottom there is another pair of huge stone doors, but these have been blocked open with large wooden stakes shod with metal tips driven into the stone floor.

Just up ahead here there are two sets of doors, a set on the left and a set on the right. We’ve already sealed off most of the doors to the north, that’s to the right. You are going to get started on the doors that are through the way to the left. Further to the west, straight ahead, you’ll find the quarry, where others are tearing into the mountain to provide you with the stones you’ll need to do your job. Leave your materials here for a moment and follow me.

He places the lantern on the floor between the doors that go north and south, and then with your help he opens the doors on the south.
A dark passageway leads to the south. Immediately on the right (the west) there is a ten foot wide pair of five foot stone doors, while ahead, some sixty feet, you see, in the shadowy light at the limit of the lantern’s range, a decorative archway, with a pair of massive stone doors set between thick columns. This archway and doors are carved with strange symbols

The old dwarf picks up his lantern as if he is ready to leave.

Not being a stonemason or a dwarf, Mixz looks a little confused... "Seal and cover how? Me not understand. What do with water?"

"We mix the water with the dust in the sacks and it forms a mud of sorts that gets hard when it dries." Grunder tells Mixz. "Good, honest work."

"Miagnik, Moralane and I were sent as part of an investigative team sanctioned by the Crown to find out what was going on here, assess the threat and stop it. We were deliberately undermined from the get-go by Sir Guisse. We didn't know why at the time. We do now."

"Omara is in league with the Vampire Queen." Hal said flatly. "She cut a deal regarding the temples under us. Summoned actual demons as part of it. We've already faced them, as well as the undead. She doesn't control them. The Queen does. It looks like control because Omara is on their side."

"Sir Guise has either been ensorcelled into cooperating or is in on it too."

"Omara isn't working with the Black Watch. She's working with cultists who have infiltrated the Watch in order to undermine them."

"Old timer, you and your crew have been deceived. You're working for traitors who are trying to bring down everything."

The old dwarf looks Hallister straight in the eye, nods, twice, and then says

I got no side in that either, lad. If we are working for traitors, then that makes us traitors too, huh, is that what you're trying to say. You come here to get in my face? I'm too old to put up a fight. I'll take my money and go, when the time is right.

He takes a step away from Hallister, turns his back on him in fact, and then says over his shoulder.

You can get to work, and get paid, or get to your own business, it makes no difference to me.

"Mix water and dust to make mud? Me can do that!" She seems either oblivious to Hallister's tale or it completely baffles her, hard to tell.

Miagnik's jaw had hung open as he'd realized what Hallister was saying to the older Dwarf and the rest of the group they were with. Tensing, he'd been sure that some sort of fight was about to occur. But then it hadn't happened.

The old Dwarf seemed not to care and at least two of the other group were clearly unable to understand. He had to admit it did feel better to not have to keep everything a secret anymore.

He was interested in what the older Dwarf had said but it occurred to him that he was unlikely to know much.

"If you could not mention anything to the rest of the group you're with, that would be best for now." Miagnik said, dropping all pretenses of being a cowardly goblin.

"I ain't lookin' to fight with you. You didn't know what you were into. Can't be called a traitor if you were doing your job and didn't know what your employers were doing."

"Now you do know. If you keep doin' what you're doin' then yeah. That makes you a traitor. I ain't gonna stop you. That said, when I give my report I'm gonna tell 'em that I told you. I'm also gonna tell 'em whatever you decided to do next."

"I don't want you to lose your job, and I don't want to watch you be hung later when the dust settles from all this. You're in a great position to do a lot of good if you're willing to help. What do you say?"

Zeebu was contemplating the idea of chewing some of the mud, but hearing that it would harden up after a while quickly deterred him from the idea. Instead, he kept his silence, trying to pay attention to the dwarves while, at the same time, analyzing the quantity of water and dust.

Mixz listens and does try to make sense of the dwarves' conversation...

Grunder places a hand on the haft of his flail. "This just got even more interesting. The word "traitor" gets tossed out, folk tend to get peevish. But, if you ask me, which no one did, Hal here has the right of it."

Aralk bristles when Grunder touches his flail. A low warbling sound issues from the badger's mouth, only stopping when Grunder holds a hand out, palm flat towards the floor.

"who is crown? who is omara? who is guisse? who is queen? who is black watch? we not make mud then? make mud be traitors?" Mixz seems a little confused.

Speaking in Goblin, Chuffer does her best to communicate to Zeebu and Mixz as simply as possible what is going on.

The old dwarf slumps his shoulders, turns and with his head lowered, eyes looking down he says, in a deflated voice,

You’re taxing me son, taxing me hard. Look, I don’t know you from Grundegar.* Where’s your proof? Why should I believe you? Because you say it is so? I’m not calling you a liar. What you say, well, it sounds like it could be so, but I’ve got a wife and a farm, just west of here. My children are all grown, moved away from these lands a generation ago. I’m too old to resettle, and I’m not seeing the helmsmen on the horizon, so let it go, okay, just, let it go. If you aim to cause trouble, do it somewhere out of my sight. Let me be. I’ll reach my destination on my own terms and if that is at the end of a rope, by your hands, or anyone else’s, so be it. Just, let, me, be.

Chuffer speaks to the old dwarf, her words laced with magic. "Aged one, perhaps it would be best if you forgot that we were here. The next patrol to come by will only assume we disappeared or were taken by the horrors of this tomb. Forget we were here, and enjoy what remains of your life."

Casting Suggestion, Will save of 16.

Zeebu understands a little better what's going on once Chuffer explains in Goblin. Or, at least, he shakes his head pretending he now is clear about everything...

Mixz nods sagely, as if understanding it all now, but whether or not it's clear to her or not is a bit unfathomable.

The old dwarf listen to what Chuffer says

He looks past Chuffer, and his face seems to soften a bit, then he turns and begins to walk away again.

"Handy trick, that." Hal said to Chuffer. "Glad you're on our side."

"Indeed. That was well done."

Miagnik glanced at Chuffer and at the older Dwarf before a grin slowly slid into place. He nodded.

Hal looked at the newcomer goblins. "Either of you two know much about the goblin gods?"

Zeebu simply shook his head negatively. He knew a little bit about Nature itself, but nothing about religion at all. In fact, he worshipped no deities at all, preferring to pray to the nature elements themselves.

"Gods waste of time... make own fate, yes?" Mixz says, explaining her own brand of atheism or at least agnosticism.

"Guess it doesn't matter then. Well, there's really bad things happening here. If the people Miagnik, Moralane and I have been working against are successful, there's a good chance they'll kill everyone on the island. If that sounds bad to you, I would appreciate the help in stopping this."

Grunder doesn't even pause. "We're in.", he growls, stroking Aralk's fur.

"Killing not always bad, it happens, sometimes necessary... but killing everyone very bad.. Me help."

"If it leads to the gobling king's tomb, then I will join you."

Zeebu helps! - the goblin finally said, not fully knowing where he was putting himself - Zeebu helps deal with bad things that happen. Zeebu saves people from the island.

"Good enough fer me." Hal grunted. "Lets get to work."

"Mixz, you're on point with me behind you. The rest of you fall back unless we're turning corners. Let's move."

GM, I think we're ready to push on.

Mixz moves out in front, careful not to outdistance the dwarf... moving cautiously, and making sure there are no impediments like traps to slow down progress.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

"Hold." Hal said quietly as they approached the large double doors. He motioned for the others to catch up.

"This has to be the door we're supposed to seal. I don't trust Omara, but I think her workers are right wanted to shut this thing."

He pointed to the elaborate bas relief carved into the door, the archway and the supporting pillars.

"The symbols on the doors are the sign of the Een’Droth. She used t' be the matriarch of the goblin pantheon of gods. Now, she's mostly forgotten. Those others are Rath’Zeen the goddess of discord, and Tiraen’Drapath, the goddess of truth."

"Those ones on the arch and the columns are symbols of lesser Goblin Gods. That one's Nas’Golgag, who rules over evil undead in goblin cosmology. That one there's Nesk’Atheen, the goddess of the afterlife where worthy goblins go, and next t' it is the sign of her shepherdess, Haav’Threen."

"There's an awful lot of death iconography on that door."

Mixz lofts a hairless brow at the mention of all the goblin gods, but says nothing to contradict Hal. She seems curious, not objecting. Goblin gods? Me not know much about those. Dwarf know more than goblin? Mebbe should learn more?