Everyone in the group manages to miss striking the boy who moves past to strike at the image of his father, even moving past Tanariel...and the boy lashes out his dagger at the image...only to see it miss somehow...
and the boy disbelieves the image....
"I curse you! You tricked me! You will all pay for this! I wil kill you all!" and he raises his dagger to strike at Tanariel...
Thrand charges into the fray and swings the stag sword at his evil foe.
Tanariel moves out of the way and allows Thrand the opportunity to move up and strike the deranged boy striking him in the chest but not dropping him...
Before Thrand can charge in, Tzardusk casts hypnotic pattern on the boy This will work on [dice]2d4+3[/ooc] hd of creatures.
Despite the man's aggressive behavior and promises Anchard atill fights like he is unsure or waiting for something. He tries to aid Ollok but Anchard never spent much time studying combat.
Anchard tries to aid the others but fails...
the boy being surrounded falls under the blows of Ollok and Arendyl before Tzardusk can get his spell off...
"...he promised me power...he left me to die..." the boy utters out of his mouth before bleeding out...and then his eyes go white and then jet black as he tries to scream in death but no sound is made...Anchard has read tomes of that happening to mortals who sign their souls away to the denizens of the outer evil planes when their souls are collected upon death.
Looking around the group sees a makeshift evil sacrificial altar and two old chests in the upper alcove of the cave.
Now that the battle is won, Thrand goes to examine the altar.
(Know about altar)
(Examine altar)
The grey elf will cast detect magic.
After comfirming the man is in fact truly dead, Anchard sees to examining the alter with Thrand, although with a bit more distance in between them both.
Tzardusk also examines the altar for a moment, but then has to concede to himself he doesn't know much about any religion other than his own, so it makes no sense to him. He walks over to the fallen boy and kneels by his side. "I'm afraid you've signed your spirit over to dark forces, so death brought you no release. I hope in time your soul finds some kind of rest and peace, poor misguided child."
The more learned members of the group explain to Thrand how they believe the altar and disrupted ritual were to corrupt the power of the ley line running through this area. If that were to occur then the group believes it would create enough energy to tear a whole between planes or dimensions.
The knight says, "It's a good thing we got here in time. That would have been catastrophic." He sheathes his sword and draws his mace, then takes a few swings at the altar trying to smash it.
Overhearing the explanation to Thrand about the altar and the ritual, Tzardusk rises from the fallen boy and says, "Perhaps that was this demon's intent all along, not the mundane affects on the area, but the opening of the rift. I'm glad we stopped it... We did stop it in time, right. Is it over, or can someone else restart it from where he left off Perhaps if that's so, we should destroy the evil altar or defile it at least.?"
Know Arcana to see if she knows how to fix this so no one can use it.
"What about the townspeople? Those orcs are still out there!"
Tanariel ponders the many questions that arose out of the information the group uncovered. As Thrand goes about destroying the altar the elf understands that the family jewel she carries in her possession most likely was needed for whatever ritual was to occur. Since the room they found the piece in was protected to ward against evil the boy nor his minions could enter the room and search for it. If the jewel is left once more unmolested in that same place the energy of the ley line won't be altered at this location.
"What?" asks Thrand when Tzardüsk and Ollok try to speak with him. He could barely hear them above the din of his altar smashing. "There is an old saying among us Pelorites: Many hands make for light work. How about lending me a hand and we will have this altar destroyed in no time? Or look for treasure and search the lord's son for loose change." He will spend another couple of minutes bashing the altar before reevaluating the situation, unless someone interrupts him with a sensible alternative.
Anchard, might you be able to consecrate this ground which appears to have been corrupted? she inquires.
He can, but consecration would only be temporary and would do nothing where demons are involved. The ley line simply needs to hold. Anchard adds as he sets to searching the man and the chests for spoils.
"Seems like the best we can do for the ley line is return that gem to the protected room."
Eventually someone goes up to Thrand and puts their hand on his shoulder to stop him from his task. The makeshift altar is destroyed thrice over.
I agree. However, we must be wary, that extra planar fiend is still about. she says. We need to get to the captives in the room over and rescue them
"the boy said he was left to die. It seems the demon is gone for now. We should return topside to see if there is a town left for us to aid. "
"That was for Pelor and Mayaheine!" says Thrand stepping away from the rubble that used to be an altar. "I feel much better now. What is in those chests we spotted in the northern alcove? Did the lord's son have any artifacts or items of interest?" He walks over to help with the search.
find treasure
Tzardusk smiles at Thrand's pronouncement after the destruction of the altar. "Well done, friend Thrand. I'm sure the gods smiled today at our actions... Shall we finish here and go back to the town now?" He searches as well, detecting magic while he does so.
"We should finish up down here, definitely. Do we want to send a scout across the ley line to see what we can see, or should we hustle straight up and out of the caverns?"
You all find two chests and after a while you manage to open them. One chest contains coins of various materials, more copper than gold, most likely the towns coffers. The other chest contains figurines and jewelry wrapped in cloth. The assorted jewelry and figurines are of a rustic design, befitting the towns nature, and depict many herding and farming motifs.
"Let's take this treasure upstairs," says Thrand. He tries lifting both chests. He will take the heaviest chest that he can carry by himself. If successful, he starts walking with it toward the group who healed him of his blindness.
Anchard follows Thrand leaving the other chest to someone more muscled and able to carry it.
Ollok nods and helps carry one of the chests.
We need to see what the condition of the town is. says the elf.
The elf will hand the necklace to her countryman
Nodding to Taneriel, Aren takes the medallion and hides it away on his person. Anxious to get back to the surface he helps Ollok to bring the second Chest along with the party.
The group takes the chests and round up the three injured humans found in the caves and move back topside into the castle. The humans see the chests and know the party found the wealth of the old Lord and of the town. They say nothing to the group but mutter under their breaths.
When the group gets to the castle they discover there is an abundance of people moving through the castle, more than before. Mostly women and children and the elderly. Some wounded men are in a section of the castle recovering. Sounds of battle still echo in from the outside. The people inside the castle look upon the party with awe and confusion.
Going outside the castle the party sees the magical barrier that was surrounding the castle gone with the remaining villagers holding a line by the castle gates with .... dwarves... and elves...?
A company of dwarven foot soldiers and a company of elven bowmen are assisting the townsfolk in the defense of the castle and of parts of the town next to the castle. Scores of dead litter the field in the town; mostly human and humanoid. The dwarves bear the symbols of Ulek while the elves wear a dark moon emblem-consistent with elves from Celene who went against the words of the Queen.
Two champions, one dwarf the other elf, are seen fighting a lone orog. The fight has been brutal as the orogs personal guard lay dead around the trio and the three combatants are all bloodied. Eventually the dwarf and elf slay the orog to the delight and cheers of the castle defenders and the humanoid attackers begin to break ranks and flee the town...
A wave of relief sweeps over Anchard as he voices a brief prayer at the conclusion of the battle, Bless us, where evil hearts dwell there will always be those that don't let anything so petty as short sighted politics get in the way of what must be done. Thank you Jeromy for showing us and them the way.
"Praise Pelor, Moradin, and Corellon Larethian! Praise all the good gods! The victory is theirs!" exclaims Sir Thrand upon seeing their good fortune. He is sorry that he missed the battle with the orog champion, but he cannot be everywhere at once. "We should put you know what back where we found it, and take the treasure to the throne room. Renko, please identify any pieces that are truly integral to the identity of this castle or to the lordship of this town and place them in the lord's bedchamber for safekeeping. Then work with the town elders to identify any treasure that was pillaged from the town. The townsfolk shall have this back. Divide the remainder into twenty equal portions and set them in front of the throne. Timeo, please set a guard on the lord's bedchamber and on the throne room, then do as Renko bids. Patrice, please see to the townsfolk's needs - fetch them food and water and see to the wounded. Get yourself something to eat and drink while you are at it. And would someone please feed the lord's horses!"
The elf will make sure to return the amulet to the Lord's room for safe keeping before the Chaos finishes.
After that she looks for the leader of her people who came to their aid.
"I think we should return some of this treasure to the town for rebuilding walls and lives, but perhaps a small stipend for ourselves for what we've done here wouldn't be selfish... We did take great risks on their behalfs."
"That was my intention," says Thrand. "I thought to give the dwarves one twentieth of the lord's treasure, to give the elves a like share, and to split the remainder among ourselves. I intend to leave a third of my share in the castle treasury for the next lord. I encourage the rest of you to do the same, but I will not compel you to do so. I am not your lord. If any of you believe that this proposal is unfair and have a better solution, speak now."
"Sounds very fair. Though new lord may have his own treasury and not in need of more." he shrugs.
"He may indeed. That is a good point, Tzardüsk, or the townsfolk may choose to establish an anarcho-syndicalist commune. I will give this some thought, and if the lord had a well-crafted set of full plate, I may forego a portion of my share of the treasure in exchange for the armor."
The elves and dwarves immediately begin tending to their wounded and after a slight stand off with you all coming out of the tower, let you move about after the village elder explained who you were.
"We wont stay long good friends. Hobgoblins march towards the elven lands and I must take my company there. We leave in the morrow. The Flower of Celene does not approve and we work outside of her support, but work must be done. I am Keletheryl Silverbow of the House of Tralleriyan from Celene... sometimes from Celene. If you come across elves fighting under the banner of the Brightflame in these coming wars let them know you made friends with me and no harm will come to you as long as you are on the side of good." he tells you and then adds towards Arendyl "I see you are a bowman as well. You are free to leave with us for the Jewel River if you so desire and work to stop the tide of the hobgoblin march. We could use good elves in a fight."
The dwarf comes up to you all and says "We heard whatcha been fighting and that is good that you prevailed. I am Mordrim Bronzebeard from the Stormfury Clan in Ulek. We fought some orcs near our mountains and followed their trail here. Good thing for we saw the elves enter the battle and then needed a strong shield wall to fling their arrows at the horde so we took about to bash in some heads as well. I could use a good dwarf like you to fill the ranks of the fallen. Choice be yours though. We also move further into the Pomarj to stop some rumors of sacrifice done by orcs. Word is out that this Turrosh Mak, or something like that, is the one in charge of this humanoid rabble army. May Moradin bless you all."