Grymalkin's journal:
At long last, with some assistance from my brave ruffian companions, I have defeated both the Azure Prince AND the Wizard of Witchfire Mountain! Not only this, but I looked with defiance into the face of Mephistopheles himself! In fact, the archdevil even rewarded us for killing the gelugon for him! The treasures, the lore, and Witchfire Mt. are MINE! I have graciously shared the plunder with my ruffian companions, and no doubt, the Marchioness and other lords and ladies of Sterich will heap further rewards on us for saving their March!
Now, I am the new Wizard of Witchfire Mountain! I shall unlock its secrets, plunder its riches, and be young and beautiful forever! I already have plans for converting the upper levels (where nothing decays and no creature ages!) into luxurious apartments, which I will lease to the super-wealthy! Perhaps I will call these residences "Mountain of Youth Villas", and market them to aging rulers and nobility.
The previous Wizard's academy will be preserved as is, but Grymalkin the Great shall be the new master! (Of course, all of the old Wizard's evil apprentices will no doubt be put to the sword by overzealous ruffians or soldiers, so I shall have to attract new disciples.)
The lower levels are rumored to be rich mines, from which the old Wizard's slaves and goblin hordes mined precious metals and gems! I do hope they haven't been depleted. With these three ventures simultaneously enriching me, I should be a billionaire before my first gray hair! Oh, wait--I'll never get my first gray hair! (I am now laughing hysterically.)
But I am perhaps getting a bit in front of myself--we must still find and destroy the old Wizard's phylactery, before he can reform himself. The search might prove deadly, as I fear we shall yet encounter more horrors in the chambers of Witchfire Mt., but I feel certain that we have overcome the worst this place has to offer.
Killua Zaoldyeck wrote: I agree we are a little weak compared to the wizard but we are stronger then the girth of his forces and we can deal with The Azure Prince's forces to some extent like when we were at that farm house and I killed the Bone and Beard Devils so even though we are weak right now we will rise our strength as we fight in this war and if I were in the Wizard of Whichfire Mountain's place I would take all the allies I could get plus my keep would be a very good strategic strong point for this war Wise council, Baron Zaoldyeck. Your people will be proud to serve so valiant a lord, one who has delivered them from the Azure Prince with the aid of so powerful an ally! Let us finally meet this Wizard of Witchfire Mountain, and take accurate measure of him ourselves!
I am not the least bit concerned about that halfling and his goons. We gave what for to them! And besides, it is Ezra they wish to kill, correct? Of course, after our interferance with their goal, they might seek redress against we others as well . . .
As for the devil cult, I have always maintained that it is hunting the wild goose. I say we leave them alone, and give thanks to our gods that we haven't already been sacrificed to Asmodeus or Baalzebul!
The Wizard has sent one of his favored lieutenants to keep track of us, but not too attack us. Why? It could be that this Garm is taking stock of us before attacking, but this is contrary to what we already know about the behavior of werewolves.
I believe the Wizard is watching us for a reason. Perhaps he wishes to make of us allies against the Azure Prince? I am not eager to enter an alliance with monsters of any kind, but perhaps it would be the lesser of two evils? The Wizard would make a powerful ally againt the devils, both those in league with the Azure Prince, and those in league with the cult here in Istivin. And reclaiming Killua's castle would be child's play to the Wizard! Think on that, Baron Zaoldyeck . . .
@ Ezra: Devil weed is a mildly addictive and widely-banned form of the whinnis plant, specifically the dried buds and leaves of the plant, typically smoked in pipes, hookahs, or rolled-up cigarettes known colloquially as "devil bones".
Perhaps the underworld team should pay another visit to that circus fellow, Dardamel. Samhain sensed evil in the heart of his half-orc lackey, indicating that Dardamel, though not evil himself, might have associations with other evil individuals, possibly including members of this devil cult. Perhaps his lackey is even a member.
As for Trekkert and myself, I propose that we begin our investigation by examining any records that might be kept in the offices of Krelont Keep regarding reports of missing persons. Devil cults are known to abduct victims to sacrifice during their unholy rites, and perhaps we will detect a pattern missed by the mediocre wits of lesser detectives.
Another possible line of investigation might involve a survey of local farms. The devil cult was supposed to provide a great quantity of whinnis seeds for the devils to plant. Where would such an amount of seeds come from? Perhaps one or more other devil-weed farms have already been producing crops, and the devil cult collects the seeds before selling the devil-weed.
Arrrg! It is the Mighty Grymalkin who was going to post post #100! Curses!
We must concoct some cover story in case we are questioned in the course of our investigation. What plausible reason, other than hunting for evidence of a devil cult, could we have for asking the sort of questions we shall have to ask? Perhaps we could imply that our inquiries are intended to aid us in making decisions about investment possibilities within the city? The authorities would likely perk up at the prospect of wealthy treasure-hunters tossing some of their wealth into the economy, and probably supply all we need and more.
Dealing with the Underworld sounds dangerous, and dealing with the authorities would be a nice change from tromping about with ruffians and graverobbers. I shall go with the team that will not be dealing with the scab-covered underbelly of Istivin.
Ezra of Pelor wrote: Grymalkin -- if you continue to help us with those impressive Arcane powers of yours we will take on the Wizard of Witchfire Mountain when the time is right. That's a promise. The devils -- both in Istivin and the Gelugon-in-the-Glacier need to come first.
But when the time is right we will get you access to Witchfire Mountain. Either as infiltrators or attackers.
You could leave us, of course, if you get too impatient, but consider: we seem to work well together as a group and we've shown plenty of times that you can trust us. ... So, are your chances of getting to the Wizard without us better than WITH us?...
Consider also, The Wizard of Witchfire Mountain sees The Azure Prince to be his main enemy (most likely). WE are the ones who are going after that Gelugon. Once we reclaim Zaoldyeck Keep to use as a base against the Gelugon we can begin to discuss how we want to attack the Azure Prince -- including possibly contacting The Wizard's followers -- if it seems a smart option.
It seems a very smart option to me. The enemy of our enemy might also be our enemy, but we don't know until we investigate further. Perhaps we and the Wizard are fighting the same fight with different approaches? The Wizard might even reward us for standing with him against the Azure Prince!
Suppose the Wizard seeks to rule Sterich as a benevolent protector? After all, who could be wiser or more suitable to govern a country than a powerful wizard? The Marchioness and her advisors have been unable to stamp out the evils that plague the March. They can barely keep Istivin from becoming an abbatoir for dark elves and demonic entities! Perhaps the Wizard only intends to protect his homeland from greater evils than himself?
Another thing to consider, my companions, is this: devil cults are not like the chaotic, isolated cults of the demon lords. They are organized, insidious, and often wide-spread. How far down the goblin-hole are we going to chase this cult? We might discover evidence that the diabolists in Istivin are part of a larger network. Suppose we stamp out the cult in Istivin, only to learn that they were in league with the Horned Society? Or worse: what if we fail to discover until it is too late that authorities we believe trustworthy are actually members of the cult? What if Verbane, or O'Suggill, or even the Marchioness are secretly members of the cult?
I will continue to travel with you, my companions, but I beseech you to consider these facts before hastily embarking on what might be a neverending quest. If it is the will of the group, let us see what we can do about these devils and their worshippers, but let it be remembered, should we end up chained to bloodstained altars, that I tried to warn you!
[Sigh] Very well, then. Let us just decide on a course of action that might not end in our being sacrificed to an archdevil, if you all please.
[Mopes]
Who can say how deep the roots of this devil cult are? I believe we are about to open the Urn of Tuerny the Merciless with this most foolish pursuit! We could be trying to uncover something best untrifled with. My advice is that we leave these devil worshippers to Captain O'Suggill, and focus our efforts on learning more about the Wizard!
Marvin Norwood wrote: Grymalkyn maybe you have not the powers in the arcane that I do! Also you need not keep your eyes on me for I am not the one who wants the powers of the Wizard of WhichFire Mt. you are. [Points to his eyes then at Marvin.]
Why, O Boccob, do you mock me!? How is it that MY sleep spell is only good for disposing of a few orcs, while this WITCH can put bloody TROLLS to sleep!? I do not like this so-called "Marvin the Witch", and will be keeping him on my eyes!
There has been precious little time to keep up this journal, as the ruffians insist on racing hither and thither after one wild goose or another. We should be focusing our efforts on further assaying the disposition and defenses of the Wizard, but instead, we are playing paladins and vanquishing every evil we hear tell of.
Which brings me to the devils. We returned to that infernal farm where lesser devils were spilling gore and filth from wheelbarrows onto the frozen field. The slippery ruffian, Ezra, reconnoitered the farmhouse, and evidently he was not slippery enough for the imps, for he soon came bolting to our hiding spot with the devils in pursuit!
With support from the fighting ruffians, who cut down a hell hound so quickly I almost laughed, I defeated the devils with my magic! We found a few caches of coin and the deed to the farm after a lengthy search, but unfortunately, we also found evidence of a devil cult in Istivin, and the ruffians seem overly keen to waste more time meddling with it.
Even more disturbing, we heard from two imps, which we separated for interrogation, that The Azure Prince is a renegade gelugon! Apparently, the gelugon had been a palace guard in Mephistar, capital of Cania, and had unwittingly betrayed his liege, the archdevil Mephistopheles, to loyal agents posing as spies to entrap traitors. He and an unknown number of lesser devils fled the Nine Hells and came through a permanent gate in the Jotun Mountains, where they have established the beginnings of a monstrous kingdom of sorts.
The ruffians have all but explicitly declared their intent to meddle with these devils as well, and if they insist on this foolish course of action, I must reconsider my associations, and whether or not the potential for gain outweighs the potential for a gruesome death among foolish ruffians.
I shall rest easier when the moons wane, for we have had two encounters with werewolves over the last few nights. First, a pack of them surrounded us, and before we knew what was happening, the brawling ruffian, Harabi, was torn asunder! We could do nothing to save him, and were nearly unable to save ourselves. Finally, by dividing them (Ezra and Killua tried to run away, but were forced to fight the much faster werewolves after drawing a few of them away from the rest of us), we defeated them. Trekkert said a few words of prayer to speed Harabi's soul to its proper destination, and we continued our quest.
The second encounter was with a nobleman who called himself Count Barclay, and rode with a band of mercenaries employed to protect him as he parlayed with none other than The Wizard of Witchfire Mountain! Apparently, the Wizard was attempting to blackmail Barclay into serving him in some fashion with what the nobleman claimed were baseless accusations. We now know that most likely, the accusation was that Count Barclay was secretly a murderous werewolf, and that it was absolutely true!
I regret that the overzealous ruffians, having been convinced by the mad ruffian, Samhain, that Barclay was evil, ruined what might have been a golden opportunity to learn more about The Wizard. Barclay offered to hire us as additional security as he met with The Wizard himself! We could have seen him with our own eyes, listened to his dialog with Barclay, and perhaps armed ourselves with better knowledge of The Wizard's motives, but no! The belligerent ruffians instead surprised Barclay and began to hack him apart like a butchered hog! Before he died, Barclay changed into a hybrid of man and wolf out of instinct to save himself, which quite surprised his hirelings.
Ezra then quickly offered work to the baffled mercenaries, I suppose to distract them from any idea of attacking us, and they agreed to wait for us in Frogwallow unless better opportunities were presented. It seems that one of the ruffians, Killua, is actually the Baron Zaoldyeck, but his ancestral castle is occupied by a pretender, and it appears that the ruffians intend to reinstall Killua as master of the castle by force if necessary. Yet another distraction from our investigations of The Wizard! I know that Boccob doesn't care about my concerns, but I pray he will grant me the skill to survive these foolhardy errands that I am being dragged into by these foolhardy ruffians!
Samhain Aqualung Tull wrote: SAMHAIN
..........AQUALUNG
....................TULL
'Ey mates -- lookin' forward ta workin' wi' everyone stills -- but I gotta shout its from the mountain tops 'hat once Lydia hears abouts a imps and a lemures and 'e hounds of 'e hells down 'ere in Storiches, she's a gonna be tickling me ta go an' kills the li'le bloody bastids, i'nt she, now?
An' you knows she's a gonna be hearin' this, now dunna ya, mate?
Now dunna gets me wrongin -- I'm a thirsty for that Vecna boye, too -- but devilses is devilses is devilses as me mate Pelor always say.
An' Lydia, 'hat purty ol gal an' her purty white locks an' the way she goes a whisperin' in me ear a' night is enough ta make me get me ole sword straight up a' 'he sound a killin' some devilses.
'Hat Lydia, she'll make a Paladin out a ya, 'hat's fer surein!
By Boccob's Blessed Book, you reek of cheap spirits, man! My suggestion is that we first discover where the Vecnite's trail leads to, and then we can go slay your "devilses".
Nicolaykovic Darko wrote: Grymalkyn Magus wrote: I forsee potential conflict with the (great and awe-inspiring heroes), however, for .... they seem intent on dealing with the Wizard as an enemy. Dude, like, what's wrong with you? He's like, sooo lichdom. What is this!? I see I must ward my journal with deadly spells! [Bluff check: 4] A pox upon any foolish ruffian that snoops into my personal belongings!
OOC: Grymalkyn's accent is sort of Indian, like Abu from Simpsons (even though he grew up in Greyhawk, where I imagine the local dialect sounds somewhat English, or maybe German, since the GH area was originally the land of a landgraff).
I have been in the March of Sterich only two weeks now, and already opportunities to further my quest for arcane power have been presented! I have joined a band of ruffians and graverobbers, whom I rescued (with the help of an oily chap named Darko, who though a ruffian, has demonstrated some magical apptitude) from a horde of humanoid raiders that besieged the Hale Halberdier. Though I usually do not keep so dubious a company, the prowess of these new companions cannot be questioned. In addition, we have managed to amass an impressive sum of treasure, with which I can purchase scrolls, wands, and other necessities.
We have hired our peculiar services out to a merchant named Drudd, whom none of us trusts. He recently purchased a block of abandoned and decaying warehouses in the Abandoned Quarter of the bedeviled city of Istivin, from which we relocated several clans of mongrelfolk to Polvar's Hill (named for perhaps the most fearsome of the ruffians, a half-orc who fell in battle with the Red Mummy). This was a most perilous, yet most rewarding venture, for we met with a local ghost known as the Red Knight, laid him to rest by besting him in a duel of honor, but not before he nearly laid to rest each of our fighting ruffians.
It was Polvar who dealt the ghost the blow which sent him on to the Nine Hells; perhaps it is only fitting that it was Polvar who suffered the brunt of the Red Mummy's wrath, and was sent on to whichever outer plane his brief, brutish life has earned him. Prior to incurring the wrath of the Red Mummy, we encountered many undead skeletons, some the remains of spellcasters that retained their deadly powers (but alas, none entombed with a spellbook), which rose out of sarcophagi we found and robbed in a catacomb under the Red Knight's ruined keep. The ruffians nearly got themselves killed numerous times by cunning traps warding the sarcophagi.
When finally we came to the bier on which rested the Oerthly remains of the Red Knight, we discovered to our profound horror that though we had laid his ghost to rest, his remains rose up as the Red Mummy to vent his wrath on we graverobbers! The more weak-willed ruffians were frozen with fear for what seemed an eternity, during which only Trekkert (a holy man of Fharlaghn), Darko, and myself could muster the courage to assault the mummy (albeit with spells and out of reach of the mummy's fatal strokes). It was in this desperate melee that Polvar was felled by a skull-crushing blow, but at last, we prevailed. Having cleared the ruined keep and catacombs beneath it of all dangers, we relocated the mongrelfolk of Istivin to Polvar's Hill, and received a handsome reward of 800 golden crowns.
We spent much of our treasure in Istivin, the ruffians on better arms and armor, Trekkert, myself, and Darko on scrolls and wands, and listened to rumors regarding the troubled March. Two powerful warlords are amassing goblinoid raiders, to what I can only surmise to be fell purposes, and letting them loose on the countryside to pillage and slaughter the Sterish.
The most fortuitous discovery we have made yet is that one of these warlords is the legendary Wizard of Witchfire Mountain! It was tales of this enigmatic mage's arcane prowess that led me to Sterich, and though he is clearly not a man of high moral standards, perhaps he would still welcome me as his apprentice. I forsee potential conflict with the ruffians, however, for their curiosity has been piqued, and they seem intent on dealing with the Wizard as an enemy -- a course of action almost certain to end in their doom! Perhaps I can manage to mediate in a way that prevents this dire outcome, while allowing me to pursue my quest for power under the Wizard's tutelage.
The other warlord is an equally enigmatic figure known as The Azure Prince, and from what we have gathered so far, he dwells in the Jotens at the headwaters of the Davish, supposedly in a fortress made of ice carven from a glacier. We shall no doubt learn more of this Azure Prince in the course of our adventures, but for now, he is a mystery.
Thankfully, these two vie against each other for the March, and skirmishing between their mercenaries has served to distract them from what might otherwise be more frequent raids on the Sterish, and has depleted their numbers to boot. Following a rumor of such a skirmish, we came upon the oak and apple orchard of a dryad, Springblossom, whom we had been warned of by certain folk in Istivin's Crossing, and befriending her, we heard the most fascinating tale!
We learned the Wizard's true name, Malkyron, and that the dryad and he had been lovers many years ago. We learned that he discovered some secret in Witchfire Mt. that would slow or stop his aging, but that he longed to find a way to be with his beloved Springblossom instead of confined to the mountain. We learned that he apprenticed under the even-more-legendary Mage of the Vale (perhaps Malkyron emulates his dark master with his current mysterious title), where he learned necromantic secrets that would give him immortality (I suspect Malkyron became a lich), but at a cost -- he no longer could feel love for Springblossom. He gave her a parting gift, a comb of beauty, but it was taken from her by a trio of monsters -- an ogre, a troll, and a minotaur -- who in turn gave it as a gift to their mistress, a green hag known as One-Eyed Moll.
We found the battlefield where the skirmish had occured, haunted by ghouls that tried to eat us, and beheld a most curious sight -- a black-robed cleric of Vecna had locked himself within a large iron cage on a wagon pulled by animated horse skeletons, presumably to study or perhaps make allies of the ghouls. He cursed us angrily when we began to slaughter the ghouls, and aided them against us with unholy waves of negative energy that opened wounds on our flesh! At this point, another ruffian named Tull appeared to join us in our fight, and he proved most puissant with the greatsword he wielded. Apparently, Tull is a drunkard favored by the gods, for he was sleeping off the ale he had scavenged during the day (while the ghouls were presumably dormant in burrows) from the wineskins of fallen humanoids scattered about the battlefield, and went unnoticed by the ghouls until he was awakened by the sound of battle and joined us against the ghouls. We laid to rest two waves of ghouls before the rest decided we were more trouble to eat than was worth their effort, and the Vecnite priest fled in his wagon, commanding his skeletal horses away to "the Mountain" (perhaps he is a minion of the Wizard).
When the dust cleared, alas, Darko had fallen prey to the ghouls and was beyond saving. We brought his remains back to Istivin, where our ally Myran of Pelor convinced the high priest to use a scroll stored in a vault of the House of Radiance to resurrect our fallen companion. Though we did not have enough treasure left over to pay the debt, the newly-risen Darko, who now calls himself Ezra, has vowed to serve the church of Pelor until the debt has been paid.
Now we are eager to pursue this priest of Vecna, for his wagon and horses left tracks that Trekkert has been able to find and follow, and we have returned to the countryside to discover where the tracks will lead. Last night, as we followed the priest's trail west toward the Crystalmists, we met and defeated One-Eyed Moll's "boys", who had the most ridiculous names -- Sweetums the ogre, Shnookums the minotaur, and Darling the troll! On their disgusting persons we found hag's eyes, trinkets through which the hag can scry, and determined that we must take the fight to her, lest she stalk us and murder us when we are most vulnerable.
A journey south of a few hours brought us to a rotting village on the bank of the Davish, abandoned years ago when Sterich was conquered by giants and evil humanoids from the Crystalmists and Jotuns, called Frogwallow. Here we hunted for the hag, and she ambushed us, crawling out from under a stage on the village green to attack. Fortunately, my invisibilty spell protected Killua as he was carrying one of three barely-alive men from the stage, where they had been chain to pillories. A brief scuffle between One-Eyed Moll and the puissant ruffians ended when Tull's greatsword cleaved the hag's hideous head in twain! Fortunately, the blow missed the dryad's comb of beauty, which was tangled in the hag's scraggly hair. When Tull removed it, I was surprised that the hag became even uglier than before, which none of us had thought was possible! When Tull put the comb in his own locks, the bastard became even handsomer than he already was, another thing we thought not possible!
Now that my journal is caught up, I must sleep as best I can here in the stinking village of Frogwallow, for tomorrow we resume our pursuit of the Vecnite priest. Perhaps his trail will lead to Witchfire Mt., where I can discover for myself whether I shall gain the Wizard's lore as apprentice, or as a thief among ruffians and graverobbers!
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