Friday, August 11, 2006
Tonight my group started the Savage Tide AP. I can’t tell you how anxious I’ve been to run my group through it since I’ve already read about half of the adventures in the series. To preface this, what follows is a Prequal to the first adventure, so none of the Dungeon staff should get worked up that I’m revealing things too early. Once issue #139 ships, I’ll start in on the first adventure. For the next couple of weeks, readers will learn a bit about Sasserine and perhaps get some ideas for how to launch their own version of this excellent AP. As it is, the group consists of my wife April, Rob Alford, Stanley Cramer, Paul Pharez, and Dan Dekker all of whom have helped play test parts of the 5th adventure in the series “Tides of Dread”. Well, without further ado, enjoy.
11 Goodmonth, 596 CY
After a long and for the most part uneventful voyage, the passenger ship Goldenwave approached the port city of Sasserine. Of its passengers, three in particular are of note and who this account is in large part about: the half-elven druidess Athearis from the distant Lendore Isles, the human dragon shaman Arlae Krix hailing from Gryrax on the shores of the Principality of Ulek, and the human wizard Vastiago (aka “Id”) from Syber on nearby Sybarate Island.
The three seemed to be drawn together during their voyage to Sasserine, none of them quite fitting in with the rest of the passengers. Athearis had journeyed to this region out of a desire to explore the ancient ruins in the vast Amedio Jungle near Sasserine. Arlae Krix came to learn the truth behind the tales he had heard of an ancient and benevolent gold dragon living high atop a mountain peak in the Hellfurnaces. “Id” had corresponded with a fellow wizard in Sasserine that had been somewhat of a mentor to him and who had recently invited him to visit and further his arcane training. These uncommon interests were what brought them inevitably together.
As the sun sank behind the Hellfurnaces the captain of Goldenwave called his passengers’ attention to the legendary mountain range. “Those are the Hellfurnaces, folks,” he said. “Take a good look. Nobody has been able to get an accurate count of how many active volcanoes are there, but the commonly held opinion is somewhere around a score of them.” The mountain tops were shrouded in a smoky haze under lit by a hellish glow from the fiery magma bubbling from the belly of the earth like an angry cist. “Believe it or not, a thriving city not far from Sasserine nestles within those mountains inside the rim of a dead volcano. Maybe you all have heard of Cauldron? There was some trouble up there about 2 years ago, but if any of you happen to be continuing on from Sasserine heading there, things are fine now. Nothing to worry about.”
Soon the port city Sasserine came into view and most of the passengers clambered below decks to start collecting their things. The 3 companions remained standing at the starboard rail, though, looking thoughtfully at the smoldering mountains in the distance. Arlae whispered, “I may have to go up into that stuff if the tales are true.” Id asked, “Oh, because of the red dragon?” Arlae looked at him crossly, “A gold dragon.” Id didn’t seem to care one way or the other. “Yeah, right. Gold… red… whatever,” he said as he rubbed his pet snake’s head and narrowly evaded getting his finger bit.
Id turned to the elven druidess, “So, you’re good with animals, right?” Athearis turned and regarded the snake, “Yes,” she said simply. Id asked, “Do you think you could train my snake?” Athearis looked at the snake and back to Id. “I could do it, but I don’t think she likes you.” Id looked surprised. “It’s a girl snake?” “Yes,” she answered, “and she’s carrying eggs.” Id looked at the snake curiously, “Huh. Who knew?”
Athearis asked Id, “So what do you want me to train her to do? They aren’t terribly intelligent, but I suppose I could train her to come or stay at your command.” Id held up his staff and said, “I just want her to stay wrapped around my stick and maybe hiss at people.” Athearis arched a thin eyebrow, “You can’t be serious.” Id excitedly replied, “Oh, yes! Definitely! That would be really cool. Can you do it?” Athearis tried not to laugh, “I can do it, but it will cost you a gold crown for each week of my time. It will take about 3 weeks.” “Done!” replied Id. Arlae, who had silently listened to this whole exchange, muttered, “What a weird-o.”
Nearing Sasserine, Goldenwave began passing several small islands, really nothing more than barren rocks jutting up out of the ocean. As the captain passed by shouting orders to his crew and navigating his ship through the rock clusters, Arlae stopped him, and asked if there was anything living on the little islands. The captain pointed towards the largest of them several hundred yards off the port side. “None except for Parrot Island over there. We’re approaching from the wrong side to show you, but there’s a beach on the eastern side. Everything else is treacherous cliffs as you can see and nothing worth scaling ‘em for, but from what I hear there used to be a smugglers’ hide out there. That was a long ago time ago. I don’t think there’s anything there now except sea gulls and crabs and perhaps pirate ghosts if you believe in that sort of thing.” The captain turned and continued directing his crew.
A little while later Goldenwave was snugly moored to pier 14. By the time the trio made their way down the gangplank from the ship most of the crew had already gone into the city. The captain waved and turned back to what he was doing. As they walked up the pier towards the waiting city, they couldn’t help notice a tanned man dressed in the garb of a Baklunish sailor in conversation with 2 men in simple lightweight tunics and trousers and cloaks that barely concealed the swords and daggers at their hips. They stood on the deck of a dhow called Scimitar which was moored to the opposite side of the pier. One of the armed men said in a menacing tone, “Look ‘ere, Mista Nahwell. You can cough up the gold now and cooperate with us or we can take it using a different method.” The second armed man drummed his fingers atop the pommel of his sword meaningfully, which was not lost on the sailor. The first man continued, “The Lotus Dragons’ll be runnin’ things ‘ere right quick and you’d be woise t’ be in our good side.”
The sailor, Mr. Narwell, replied, “I won’t be intimidated by you thugs! You don’t scare me!” Suddenly the man that had been doing all of the talking drew a dagger and pushed the sailor up against the mainmast, the blade pressed up against his throat. He rasped, “Oh, really?!”
Arlae shouted, “Hey! Leave that guy alone!” The second man turned and shouted, “Piss off! This ain’t none of your concern!” Not to be so easily dissuaded, Arlae drew his heavy mace and charged up the gangplank to Scimitar’s deck. At the same moment, Id cast a spell and said to the man with the dagger held against the hapless sailor’s throat, “Hey, there’s no reason for violence here. Let’s all be friends. OK?” To that, the thug nodded his head and put his dagger away saying, “Yeah, yer right. But this bloke owes me and my mate some gold.” Athearis simply watched, not sure what to do as everything was happening so fast.
When Arlae reached the top of the gangplank the second thug suddenly charged him. As he did Arlae swung his mace and struck him in the shoulder with bone crunching force. The thug’s momentum carried him into Arlae sending the mace-wielding dragon shaman sprawling down the gangplank to land painfully on the hard wooden pier. The injured thug yelped, “Ah! Rell, I think he busted me shoulder!” The man called Rell suddenly shook his head and shouted, “Oi! Carston, they put a spell on me. One of ‘em is a wizard!” He ran to the railing pulling out a crossbow and loaded it with the intention of using it on Id. Athearis whispered a prayer and held up a hand cupping a magical flame threateningly, but made no other move. Id shouted, “You all had better clear out of here.”
Arlae scrambled to his feet and once again charged up the gangplank. The crossbow-wielding thug turned and tried to shoot him in the leg, but missed by several inches. The bolt thudded into the deck. Carston turned and ran up the deck and sprang over the side of the boat, landed awkwardly on his ankle, and bellowed in pain as he stumbled onto the pier. His mate Rell turned and ran after him, but Arlae headed him off and bashed him in the head with his mace. The thug crumpled to the deck, unconscious and possibly sporting a cracked skull.
Id thought about hitting Carston with a magic missile spell, but decided to avoid using such lethal force. Athearis held onto her burning orb a moment longer, but when Carston limped away, right arm dangling uselessly, and disappeared down a nearby alley, she let it dissipate.
Aboard Scimitar, the trio learned that the threatened sailor was Rendulf Narwell, a trader in Ekbirian steel. The name “Lotus Dragons” was new to him so he couldn’t really tell the group much about the thugs threatening him. Probably some kind of gang. He thanked them for intervening and the 3 friends departed, dragging the unconscious thug with them. Every so often Id would stoop and prod the soft crunchy area of the man’s skull that had turned a nasty purple and comment, “That’s not supposed to do that.”
As the party slowly made their way through the Shadow District, they were stopped by a pair of City Watchmen. They revealed what had happened and were escorted to a nearby watch house and relieved of their burden and even rewarded a couple silver pieces for their troubles. The captain of the watch suggested that they find rooms at a certain inn in Sunrise District and they followed his advice. As it was already past dusk by this time, they hadn’t got to see much of the city sights yet, but they all seemed very excited about what they saw.
Entering the common room of the inn suggested by the captain, they made their way over to the bar to acquire food & lodging for the night. There were nearly a dozen taverngoers having meals and drinks; the room was cozy and buzzed with pleasant conversation and the mouthwatering aromas of food cooking in the kitchen.
At one end of the bar, a young man muttered grumpily over one of many tankards in front of him. A tabard sat in a crumpled ball on the stool next to him by his sword and a wooden shield bearing a symbol of two hands cupping a pouch overflowing with gold coins which Athearis recognized as the holy symbol of Zilchus, the god of merchants and trade some called the Great Guildmaster.
As the 3 friends exchanged coins with the barkeeper for a simple room to accommodate all of them and a meal before retiring for the night, they noticed a scraggly-bearded fellow bump into the man on the stool as he walked by. He shot the clumsy man an angry look and the fellow drunkenly apologized. The glowering barfly called for the barkeep to refill his mug and reached for his coin pouch. Athearis and Arlae both noticed the “supposedly” drunken bumbler tucking a coin pouch under his tunic as he walked towards the front doors.
The Zilchus-worshipping young man suddenly noticed that his pouch was missing and realized he had been pickpocketed. He shouted, “Thief!” as he staggered from of his stool.
Athearis had seen the whole thing and didn’t care to see the young scoundrel get away with his larcenous act. She quickly pulled her club free from her belt and hurled it end-over-end at the thief, clipping him behind the ear. Arlae had also witnessed the theft and ran over to stop the thief from escaping. He clubbed him with his mace on the back of the neck and the pickpocket collapsed, dropping the money pouch scattering coins across the floor. Neither blow had been meant to kill. The thief lay there unconscious.
The victim hurried over and started gathering up his coins. As he did, he drunkenly thanked the two for helping out while the taverngoers looked on, some of them calling out compliments to the way they had quickly taken care of the criminal.
With his coin purse secured inside his tunic to prevent any future thefts, the drunken man introduced himself, “Thanksh a lot. My namesh Joe… jusht Joe.” With Joe tagging along, the group postponed their meal long enough to take the pickpocket to the nearest watch house to turn him over to the authorities. The soldiers on duty looked at the unconscious thief with recognition and disgust. One of them muttered, “Ah, Tadwick. When will you learn?” They thanked the vigilantes and warned them to stay out of trouble. The way it was said implied they didn’t care for visitors doing their job for them.
On their way back to the inn, they learned that Joe was a newly raised paladin of Zilchus and was very upset about being passed over for an adventure on the open seas that would have taken him to the legendary Isle of Dread. Joe was in no shape to be wandering the streets of Sasserine alone so they invited him to stay with them and continued to acquaint themselves over dinner and then tea later that night in the privacy of their room.
Thus ended the first session of our prequel to “There Is No Honor”.
Hi. My name is Joe… just Joe. I am one of seven kids of a family of traders. I am 16 years old. My dad had the great idea of leaving Gradsul to move to Sasserine in hopes of expanding his business. My mom was not too thrilled about the idea since she was due with my sister Amy and the voyage was a long one. She worried about giving birth on a boat – something she didn’t care for at all, but things worked out fine.
It was soon after our arrival that my dad opened his own shoppe – a general store. In the time we were here my dad had heard stories of this place supposedly brimming with untapped treasures of natural resources known as the Isle of Dread. My dad couldn't overlook an opportunity like this so he worked out a plan with several other small time merchants to send an expedition to the Isle. My older brother Michael was already enlisted as a first mate on a merchant ship, while my next oldest brother Cameron was adventuring somewhere in Nyrond.
Deanna, my eldest sister, was invited to go with my dad, she's the special one. Do you have any idea how many times we were all told that Deanna was the special one? Let’s face it she’s daddy's favorite and what was not to love about my sister Deanna, she helped everyone and always was the fill in when mom was too busy with other chores. Deanna was pretty smart too, she seemed to know everything about anything and at night before we went to sleep if it wasn't mom singing us songs it was Deanna on her playing her wooden flute. She would spend time reading from of her collection of books. Well she was more than anxious to go and travel with my dad Joseph. The rest of my brothers and sisters took to helping mom at the shoppe. When we heard nothing about my dad and sister it was a few months when my Uncle David and Aunt Terry with my cousins Ellen and Mark arrived to pick up the slack. Uncle David was a marketer, good with people, my Aunt Terry she is more like a social butterfly always entertaining the nobles. I suppose they were nobles too. As for my Mark he was an acolyte for Zilchus, he was my sister Deanna’s age. It was during the period of my dad’s absence that Mark helped train me for an up and coming voyage to the Isle of Dread. My cousin Ellen, well she was pretty smart and was an apothecary. She was engaged to marry and was expecting her husband to-be to arrive soon. His name is Walter and ya know there is something about that name Walter that immediately made me not like him. When I saw him come off that boat when he arrived I understood why I didn't like him. He was sniveling and sneezing all across the docks. You couldn't shake his hand for fear of getting his snot all over you. Oh, wait a minute, I’m ranting.
Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I’m sitting here getting plastered in a tavern. Well, it’s like this I’ve been waiting for my chance to go on this trip to the Isle of Dread and have been passed over. PASSED OVER!!! Most of my life I’ve been passed over, always getting someone’s hand-me-downs, always fourth in line for everything and anything. For once it would be nice to hear “Great job, Joe! Welcome aboard.” I’ve busted my butt for months for this, finally took the oaths of a paladin of Zilchus, and once again I have been PASSED OVER!!! Don’t they realize my dad and sister may need me?! Grrrrr!
Well, that for the most part is my story. Welcome aboard!
Friday, August 18
We took a break this weekend and will resume next Friday. I thought it might be fun to do a little behind-the-scenes narrative.
**As the foursome wound down late that evening in their room at the inn, a cloaked man arrived at the City Watch house in Sunrise District where hours before, one Carston of the Lotus Dragons had been incarcerated. Nodding to a couple of soldiers outside the stout wooden door, the man entered and walked over to the Captain of the Watch's desk. In a soft voice the man whispered, "I'm here to take custody of one your prisoners."
Looking up from his ledgers, the captain could only see the tip of an angular nose and a short-cropped beard. The rest of the man's features were hidden in the shadows of his cloak. As the Captain started to tell the visitor to come back in the morning, the cloaked man made a gesture with his hand, revealing a nobleman's signet ring.
The Captain of the Watch, looked around a bit nervously. The two other watchmen in the room watched the visitor curiously, but didn't seem to notice the quick gesture. The Captain cleared his throat and asked, "Right, then. Do you have his release papers, sir? I'll need those, please." The visitor answered smoothly, "Why of course, Captain." Pulling the folds of his cloak aside he produced a rolled up sheet of vellum. As he did, the Captain noticed a bulging sack of coins, quickly concealed again as the man let his cloak fall back in place.
The Captain took the roll of vellum from the man and looked it over. He licked his lips and rolled it back up. "I'll need to document this in my ledger, sir. Won't take but a minute. While I'm doing that, I'll have my men bring the prisoner out."
The Captain ordered, "You two! Look alive! Bring out the prisoner with the nasty lump on his head from cell 4." After the men had left the room with the clattering of keys and cell doors opening and closing and booted feet receding down the adjacent hall, the cloaked man reached in his cloak pocket and pulled out the sack of coins and placed it on the Captain's desk. The Captain hefted it and smiled with a wink. "A pleasure doing business with you, Van-" The stranger suddenly had his hand around the Captain's throat in a crushing grip and whispered menacingly, "No names, idiot!" The Captain grabbed at the man's hand to pry it loose, but he suddenly withdrew his hand leaving him gasping for air.
After regaining his composure the Captain quickly slipped the pouch inside his desk and nodded his thanks to the cloaked man. As the two soldiers returned with a groggy man with a large swollen lump on his head the Captain said in a low voice, "Be sure to give my regards to your lady friend." The cloaked man nodded once and turned and took the prisoner by the arm and escorted him out and into the night.
A moment later after the 2 had left, one of the soldiers asked, "What was that all about, Cap'n?" The Captain said grumpily, "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, lad. City politics is all. Probably some noble's servant that got in a bit of trouble and was lucky enough to get bailed out before we sent 'em out to the plantations to be mosquito food." The young soldier merely grunted in disapointment.
The Captain returned to his ledgers and absently ran his hand across his neck where the young nobleman had throttled him, fantasizing about all the ways he would like to have taught the young noble a lesson. But after a while his thoughts turned to the sack of gold in his desk and all the different ways he could spend it and his wounded pride no longer seemed so bad. As he continued scratching away at his ledger he began whistling a happy tune he had heard one of the local bard's performing in the Merchant's District recently.**
Hello to all, I am Zanrry Swiftflight, and this is the first installment in what I hope to be a very long accounting of my adventuring life. I have worked for most of my life helping my father tend bar in The Rusty Pirate, one of Sasserine's finest taverns. The Pirate is located in the Merchant's District, so I have had the opportunity to meet many different "characters". I have picked up a wide range of skills getting to know these various patrons. I recently started to try my hand, so to speak, at entertaining the patrons of The Pirate, and I was told I was doing quite well. And wouldn't you know it a wondering troupe came to town, and decided to hold a few small competitions, and wouldn't you know it, there was a preformance section. I decided to enter, after all, the prize was a spot with there troupe. Well to make a long story short, I took 4th place, not good enough to be offered a spot, but not to bad either. I continue practice my craft here at The Rusty Pirate, but I will be leaving soon, for I realized what made the winners preformances so much better than mine, simple experience, the other who entered have it, and all I have is what I have seen and heard here in the The Pirate, and so, I will be expanding my horizons soon. My parents go not want me to go, they have heard to many stories about young men setting out and never returning. I have told them that I need to do this, and while they do not want me to go, they know that it is my decision. My friends on the other hand are all excited for me, and while they all express sentiments about wanting to go, I know none of them will be able to over come strong pull of staying safe here at home. That saddens me quite a bit, for I was hoping to start out with some one beside me, for there is safety in numbers, but alas that diswades me not, my future is out there, and I will be claiming it. As for now, I must go and gather my things.
Vastiago Calibre, AKA "Id" (Best if read with with an Eastern European accent)
My name is Vastiago Calibre, but I am better known as Id. I was a mage's apprentice until I was forced to take his life, and his knowledge. Now you would like to know the how and why? Very well, I will tell you the story of Id.
My mother and I are from Sybarate Isle, an island of Syber. My mother was poor, working the fields to provide food, shelter, and an education for me. I did not know my father...but I don't think she did either. I excelled at studies surpassing what they could teach me in a small community setting. Word spread about my budding intellect which caused no end to problems for me from peers.
Some time passed and a very charismatic stranger appeared in our village. He spoke at length with my mother and she agreed to place me in his ward, to become his apprentice. He charmed me with words about how he was going to open my eyes to the world and to help me explore the limits of my power.
I was 9 when I left my mother.
Fast forward 13 years. I hate this man, this....sorcerer, as he calls himself. Throughout the years of my "apprenticeship" I learned the meaning of the world cruelty. I was ridiculed, physically beaten within an inch of my life, starved, humiliated. All for his enjoyment. Other than a test subject for some of his more obscure spells I'm not sure why he bothered. I did come to find out, however, that he used a charm spell on my mother. This I used as fuel to get through the ordeal. I learned to explore the opposite of my ego...my id.
While the sorcerer didn't have a clue as to how real magic worked it seemed to come to me naturally. He had old tomes sitting around gathering dust that I would look through whenever the opporunity presented itself. I would also carefully watch him, not only to learn his secrets but also to find a weakness.
I studied him for years, biding my time. I was patient. He would often charm me to have me perform menial tasks for him, such as preparing a meal, without fear of me doing something he would regret. I learned to shield my mind from such attacks but I would play along so I could get closer to him.
Often the sorcerer would summon a certain succubus to....perform for him. He said he knew her True Name and could do with her what he pleased. It was an extensive ritual that I would help him with while under one of his spells. As I said, I was patient. I studied the summoning ritual looking for a way I could use this to my advantage. I learned the intricacies of the magical patterns; what needed to go where and when.
It was during one such summoning that I decided to make my move. He attempted to charm me and I managed to will myself past it. During the summoning ritual I placed a few minute patterns in to the spell weave that would give the Succubus free reign once summoned. The sorcerer never knew what him him. I knew she could sense the change to the magic, I could see it in her eyes. She flashed me a dangerous smile. She played along with him until he was at his weakest, most unsuspecting moment. I was almost unable to watch what happened next, but I forced myself to, knowing he deserved it. The Succubus kept him within a shred of his life and told him she was going to take him back with her, to be tortured for the rest of eternity. He screamed threats and promises of death at me. I cared not. I assumed I would be next, anyway. He should have never played with someone that has a far superior intellect.
What happened next is as clear to me now as the moment it happened. The Succubus showered me with pleasure, brining me to heights I could not even imagine. That is not something I shall share with you, however.
I awoke the next day on the ground outside of what was left of the sorcerer's keep. It had been reduced to rubble and my life was spared. It's is a shame what happened to all those good books, though. So much knowledge.
I returned to my small village to find my mother had passed away a few years previous. I decided to take up residence for awhile and hone my skills as a wizard. I managed to learn a few rudimentary spells and also made contact with a mage in the town of Sasserine, a few days away by ship. He offered to help me further once I managed the trip.
In the meantime I stumbled upon a spell that I found to be quite useful. It formed a sort of magical bolt, or missile. I tested it out on a few rams I found grazing on some hills. I thought their heads would make fitting trophies. I wear them now to symbolize my new found power.
Now we jump forward a few months to my trip by ship from Syber to the port of Sasserine. During the trip I met two others who booked passage for themselves and nothing more. Both seemed distant from the crew, like myself, not really belonging on a ship. I had decided to speak with them as every unique individual is an opportunity to learn. One of them identified himself as Arlae Krix, a dragon shaman, and the other as Athearis, a druidess.....half-elven at that. The dragon shaman would present me with an interesting opportunity to learn, I thought. Perhaps even the mighty grass protectorate may have something to offer. I will listen. In the meantime the druidess has offered to train my annoying "pet" snake. All I want the damnable beast to do is sit at the end of my staff and hiss. Is that so much to ask? Anyway, training seems to be going well, thus far.
We arrived at the pier just yesterday and I was able to see my "friends" in action. We witnessed some trouble on a boat moored just next to us. I could care less but it seems my new found companions are a bit more compassionate than I. I noticed that they both looked a bit dimwitted so I used one of my old masters favorite tricks...a charm. The encounter was over quickly as the mace wielding Dragon Shaman bashed 2 of them. One of them got away but the other we took in to custody. I was amazed at how spongy his head had become. Also, I do not think bleeding from the ears is normal. But, what do I know? I am no healer.
We ended up coming to an Inn recommended by the captain of the guard....this one we are in now. Earlier in the evening we met up with a drunkard of a paladin who follows a god by the name of Zilchus. I am beginning to think there are as many gods as there are people in this city. Once again my companions demonstrated a level of compassion that would make me sick. The paladin had just had his purse stolen. He deserved it, I say. Although I did feel the urge to blast the would-be thief in the back with a magic missile but that would have called too much attention to me. Once again we turn a criminal over to the guards. The city should be paying us. And now we have one more in our motley crew.
Which brings me here to you. Of course you are dead drunk and most likely cannot comprehend most of what I am telling you. Keep drinking...the next few rounds are on me. I would like to make sure you remember nothing of what I have told you. In fact.......I was never here.
Vastiago Calibre, known as Id. Male human wizard. He carries a smooth wooden staff in scrawny, boney hands, upon which is curled a viper, carefully trained by a druidess. Upon his head he wears a ram's skull, complete with thick, curving horns. Cleaned and bleached, the ghostly white color matches that of its wearer, and in stark contrast to the black robe with deep hood that enshrouds him. Another ram's skull, smaller, completes the belt at his waist. If one were to get a good look at his face they would describe it as sickly. Pale white skin with a drawn, ragged look is framed by jet black hair and have deep sunken eyes of a surprisingly bright blue. The eyes are piercing, teasing, showing a hint of the knowledge that hides just behind them.
Id does not care much for helping those in need unless helping them can somehow advance his knowledge or otherwise provide him something useful. Friends to him are a tool, not a necessity. Although he would not give his life for one of his "friends" he understands how useful a team can be and can work well in that setting.
Id.
My name is Serena. I live in Cudgel District. Some people may call me a rogue or a thief… and they would be wrong. It’s true that I’m trained in areas of thievery and skullduggery, but my job is to catch thieves. Well, at least find the perpetrators and let the Cudgel Watch handle the rest.
The job pays well… really well. Lately, though, it hasn’t brought the same amount of satisfaction and it’s getting a lot more dangerous. I’m thinking it’s time for something different, something I can actually own up to without the wrong person hearing about it and making trouble for me. Maybe the life of an adventurer. Yeah…
Serena: LN Female halfling rogue 1 (Profession: thief catcher)
Greetings, I am called Athearis. Let me tell you a bit about myself.
I grew up on an elven navy fleet, of which my mother was a navigator. She is a an honest and firm woman, but there is a soft side to her, and this is only shown on the rare occasion when my father is around. He is a human that has long been travelling the lands, often staying over in port towns entertaining people. He is a bard, and a good one too. My few childhood memories of him revelove around stories of distant lands, strange cultures, and alien creatures. Spending nearly my entire childhood on the sea, I was enraptured by his tales (as was my mother). He actually joined us on the ship for a month, boosting the morale of the crew through song and oratory.
My schooling was almost entirely given by my mother. As a navigator she had been educated in astronomy, mathematics, science, geography, cultures, and many many other subjects. The rest of what I know is sailing - taught to me by the crew - and what I read in the few books I could lay hands on when we were at port.
I also had a secret friend - a sea elf by the name of Jahn'allath - a powerful druidess under the waves. She would visit me daily, but only in the form of an albatross. We would talk for hours, and she opened my eyes to an incredible world and philosophy. It is this philosphy that I've come to adopt - the ancient way of the druids. Although it's been months since our last meeting I've taken a new companion. Nal has been my travelling partner for the past few months, a beast of an albatross, wholly wild, yet she brings fond memories of my mentor.
So why am I in Sessarin you ask? One of my father's tales has struck a place in my heart. The Ulmann Ruins have enraptured everything that I see as a part of myself - the ties to the stars above that we use as a guid, nestled within a wild jungle of primal ferocity, and entwined in amazing tales of cultures lost and treasures to be found. Ulmann...I'm on my way.
Athearis - level 1 Neutral half-elf druid
Friday, August 25
**There are spoilers to follow. If you’re planning to be a player in the Savage Tide Adventure Path you might not want to read any further.**
12 Goodmonth – 5 Harvester, 596 CY
After their initial meeting and rough start entering Sasserine, Joe, Arlae, Athearis, and Id went their separate ways after Joe took the 3 visitors on a tour of the city by way of Sasserine’s gondola transport system through the plethora of canals crisscrossing its expanse. When Arlae learned of the Cudgel District Hall of Records he parted with the others and went there to see if any records of a gold dragon in the Hellfurnaces existed and that was the last they saw of him. Athearis and Id had business together involving the training of Id’s pet snake, so for the time being the two found lodging at the same in within Merchant District. For Joe, it was back to his paladin training and helping his family’s mercantile business in Fishback Market, hoping for another chance for a sea voyage to distant lands of legend.
All was fairly humdrum until Earthday, 6 Harvester, when Joe, Arlae, and Id each received an invitation from Lavinia Vanderboren to visit her at her manor. The notes were identical and were delivered by a wizened old halfling woman. Each read as follows:
Greetings, and I trust this missive finds you in good health!
My name is Lavinia Vanderboren, and I humbly request your attendance at dinner at my estate on Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane tomorrow evening. I think that I can present you with an opportunity uniquely suited to your skills. Please inform the carrier of this letter of your response to this invitation, and I hope to be speaking to you soon!
Lavinia Vanderboren
All of them accepted the invitation and told the halfling they would be there.
7 Goodmonth, 596 CY
The following evening found the 3 letter recipients at Vanderboren manor in Merchant District. The seven-foot-high stone wall surrounding the estate was impossible to miss, as was the towering, gothic, three-story house that dominated the grounds within. Leering gargoyles and capering nymphs festooned the eaves of the manor’s roof, and several trees gave the manor grounds a nice buffer from the bustle of the city. The gates stood open as if in expectation of their arrival. They each arrived separately and were allowed inside by the old halfling woman and led in to the atrium to wait on the arrival of Lavinia Vanderboren.
Aside from the young paladin, half-elf druidess, and the human wizard, 2 other guests were invited, each carrying an identical letter from Ms. Vanderboren. One of them was a human man dressed in the finery of an entertainer. His name was Zannry, a bard that had been earning a living performing at the Rusty Pirate up until recently. The second was a young halfling woman named Sarena who turned out to be a relative, the grand niece, of the halfing servant, Kora. The 5 guests chatted amongst themselves for a while, each of them curious about why they had been summoned there. Zannry knew that Lavinia was the recent inheritor of her family’s estate and that her parents had been killed recently in a fire. He was more than happy to tell the others what he knew while they waited.
Soon, Kora the halfling came and led them down the hall to a private dining room. As they were escorted there, a group of mercenaries entered the hall and eyed the guests with amusement. The group included a jaunty half-elf man dressed in leather armor and armed with nearly a half-dozen daggers of different shapes, a dark-skinned dwarven man with a sour expression dressed in green and brown robes and clutching a large curved spear, an attractive but haughty-looking human woman dressed in dark purple robes and bearing a tattoo of a crescent moon on one cheek, and lastly, a tall and quite handsome man dressed in polished breastplate and carrying a bastard sword at his side.
Kora looked uncomfortable as if anticipating trouble as the mercenaries boldly walked up to the guests. Eying Athearis up and down appreciatively, the man in the breastplate then looked at the others and commented, “Hmm. You must be the help Lavinia’s bringing in to do the chores. Best of luck to ya!” The group continued toward the door. As they passed by, the purpled-robed woman looked at Joe and then shook her head and mumbled, “Too young… but not bad looking.” She then called out, “See you in a couple weeks, Kora” and shut the door behind her.
As the guests continued down the hall to the dining room, Sarena whispered to the others, “Those are the Jade Ravens. They work for the Vanderborens. Mercenaries, ya know.”
The private dining hall was comfortable and cozy, softly lit by wall-mounted lanterns. A window overlooked the manor’s central courtyard and the carpet was thick and soft, but there seemed to be paintings missing from some walls. One large portrait depicted a handsome young man with a short beard and a playful sneer on his face. Standing before the portrait was an attractive human woman wearing a long, flowing blue dress. She smiled as the guests entered, introducing herself as Lavinia Vanderboren, and asked them to be seated at the moderately-sized table in the room.
As the 5 visitors sat and sampled the food on the table (a combination of fruit, bread, cheese, and smoked fish), Lavinia took a seat at the head of the table and said, “As you may have heard, I recently inherited my parents’ estate. Along with this fine house, unfortunately, came a fine amount of debt owed the Dawn Council, the harbormaster, and quite a few guildhalls. It seems my parents, for all their success as adventurers, were not as skilled at finance as one might expect. If I’m to get these taxes paid, I’ll need to access my family’s vault under Castle Teraknian.
“And that’s the problem, you see. The vaults are magically locked—keyed to special signet rings. Both of my parents had these rings, at least, until recently. My mother lost hers a few months ago. She arranged for a replacement, but it won’t be done for another month or so, too late for me. Which leaves my father’s ring. He never wore it—he had a thing about men wearing jewelry. He kept it hidden somewhere on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem there is that the harbormaster’s seized the ship until someone pays for the last four months of mooring. I’ve paid the fines to the man the harbormaster’s put in charge of my ship, a brute named Soller Vark. Yet when I went to claim my ship, Vark’s men wouldn’t let me board, claiming that I hadn’t yet paid the fines. I spoke to Vark again and he denied ever receiving my payment. My complaints to the harbormaster have fallen on deaf ears—he’s a doddering old fool who trusts his man and won’t relent.
“Vark and his men are up to something on my ship, I know it. What I need is to find out exactly what they’re up to. Unfortunately, Vark’s not the type to react well to diplomacy or logic. I need someone who speaks his language… which is where you come in. If you can find out what he’s using my ship for, or even better, recover the money I paid him, I’ll pay each of you 200 gold in return once I’ve access to my vault.”
The guests kind of looked at each other and began discussing it amongst themselves and asking a few questions about the ship and other details. Lavinia asked them that if things got rough and violence was necessary, that they be conscientious of not throwing the first punch. Conversation turned to less important matters and soon the meal was finished and the 5 guests agreed to help Lavinia.
After leaving the manor house the group discussed how they would go about their job. The consensus was to go down to the docks immediately. It was already well past dark, but they figured the sooner the better.
Making their way down to Pier 5, the long one between the Merchant’s Guildhall and the Smith’s Guildhall, they walked down to the end of the pier to find that the Blue Nixie was no longer moored there. In fact, it was now moored to a float out in the harbor some 100 feet from the end of the pier. They could see lanterns lit on the deck and hints of one or more people moving about on the deck.
Zannry negotiated the purchase of a skiff and the group made their way out to the ship with Joe handling the oars. As they neared the ship a pair of men called out for them to move away. Zannry attempted to bluff his way onto the ship, but the men on deck began threatening violence. One of them pointed a crossbow and angrily shouted, “Piss off!” The other yelled, “If you ain’t out of our sight real soon ye’r getting’ a bolt in ya!” Id stealthily cast a charm spell on one of the guards, but failed to get the response he was looking for. The man was obviously fully committed to guarding the ship.
Joe guided the skiff away from the ship and then Sarena, Zannry, and Athearis slipped into the water and quietly swam to the other side of the ship avoiding notice from the watchers on the deck. As the 3 climbed the ropes on the starboard side up to the deck Athearis suddenly lost her grip on the wet surface and fell with a splash back down into the water. One of the men on the deck shouted, “Hey! Did you hear that?” and hurried to look down over the starboard rail. There, clinging to the ropes was Zannry and Sarena and Athearis floundering in the water.
The bard and halfling thiefcatcher quickly clambered over the rail. Sarena tried to hide while Zannry did some fast-talking to explain their presence, claiming they were just curious about the ship. A bald, scarred man that seemed to be in charge, wasn’t buying any of it and bullrushed Zannry over the rail back in to the water. Sarena was spotted and was quickly cornered. There was talk of rape and torture to which Sarena quickly did her best to “entertain” the thugs with dancing and bluffs about the horrid sexually transmitted diseases she had. Meanwhile, Zannry climbed back up the ropes after struggling to help Athearis from sinking to the bottom of the harbor (it turns out she wasn’t that great of a swimmer).
Before Zannry could reach the rail again, 2 thugs leaned over the side and shot at him with their crossbows. One hit him in the chest, nearly killing him. Fighting from blacking out, he clung to the ropes to keep from falling into the water where he would surely drown in his present state. Athearis reached up and grabbed his foot as she uttered a prayer and Zannry was quickly healed back to near full health.
Joe and Id could see that there was trouble, so the young paladin hauled at the oars as fast as he could to get there to help.
The thugs had decided to simply grab Sarena and throw her in the brig to deal with later so they could take care of the other troublemakers, but she was so agile that none of them could land a blow or lay hands on her, much to their growing frustration.
As Zannry attempted to climb back on the deck, the 2 crossbowmen watching him shot at him again, but missed. The bard quickly pulled out a whip and lashed it around one of their crossbows. He gave a yank and SPLASH! the thug’s crossbow sank into the harbor. However, he was struck again by another bolt and decided it was time to get out of there before he got killed.
The rest of the thugs had moved over to the port side when they noticed Id and Joe quickly returning. The 3 men fired crossbows at Joe and every single bolt hit. His back full of bolts, Joe miraculously was still alive and even still conscious. However, he slumped over and left the skiff to drift. Id cast a magic missile at one of their attackers and seriously wounded the man. The wounded man dropped his crossbow and shouted something about not wanting to fight magic-users. He then jumped into the harbor and swam away as the leader of the thugs, Soller Vark, shouted curses at him for his cowardice.
Sarena finally tumbled away from her attackers and jumped into the harbor. Her and the other 2 swam as fast as they could back to the piers. They were in over their heads in this fight and they knew it.
The party, wounded and low in morale regrouped and made their way over to Sunrise District to a shrine of Pelor, god of healing, that Joe knew of. There they negotiated healing services for Joe and Zannry, both of which were in bad shape.
They were angry and disheartened at their failure, but decided to return again since some of the thugs were wounded too and probably hadn’t sought healing. This time Sarena and Zannry quietly swam over to the float and climbed the hawser up to the fo’c’sle deck. They hid behind some coils of rope and watched as Athearis’s albatross animal companion began dive bombing the men on the deck and knocking lanterns over. A couple of small fires broke out and the men had to rush to put them out, all the while with the crazed albatross swooping down on them, nipping ears and pummeling their heads.
Before the confusion, Sarena and Zannry overheard the men talking about a midnight rendezvous in which they would unload the contents of the hold. When the albatross began attacking, the thugs got spooked and quickly half of them jumped overboard shouting about demon birds. Soller Vark was left with half his gang and even they were ready to abandon ship.
Something was wrong. The deal had been blown. Soller Vark knew it and decided to get out while he could. He ordered a female thug to set fire to the contents of the cargo hold and he and his remaining henchmen lowered the dingy. As smoke began wafting up from the hold, the frenzied screeches and yowls of animals rang out from below. Suddenly, a woman’s scream carried over the cacophony of sound and a feral gurgling. Vark and his men fearfully jumped into the dingy and paddled away toward the piers fronting Shadowshore District.
Joe, Id, and Athearis took this as their cue to rush on board the ship so they jumped into their skiff and made their way over.
Sarena couldn’t stand the thought of animals burning so she rushed down to the cargo hold with Zannry right behind her. It was dark below. All she could see were glowing eyes. She sparked up a sunrod and tossed it down the stairs. As it lit up the cage filled hold, something that had been devouring a woman lying on the ground next to a large, open cage scuttled away into the shadows. It looked like a big, hairy spider with a horribly oversized head.
Blood was splashed everywhere. Many of the cages were demolished as if a wild beast had broken into them and devoured their occupants. Monkeys, parrots, and other wild animals shrieked and hooted, ramming themselves against their cages, all of them terrified. Smoke smoldered here and there, but the moist conditions had prevented any real fire from actually catching.
As Sarena went over to a nearby bird cage to rescue the animals, the spidery thing suddenly lunged out at her. It missed her and she fled back up the steps behind Zannry. A moment later Zannry whipped a sling bolt at it, but the thing charged up at him and quickly downed him with its massive mandibles. Its horrible head and oversized mandibles made up more than half of its body and it was about to devour the bard. Sarena lunged at it with her short sword and stabbed it savagely.
The spider thing scuttled back down the steps and hid behind the cages in the shadows once again.
Soon, the rest of the party had arrived and helped Sarena stabilize Zannry. Joe went down into the hold drawing his bastard sword and looked around for the wounded arachnid monstrosity. It lunged out and impaled Joe with its mandibles, but Joe slashed it with its sword which finally killed it.
Looking around, Joe and Sarena, both familiar with Sasserine’s laws, knew that these were illegal exotic animals that the thugs must have been smuggling. Searching around the ship, the party found no sign of Ms. Vanderboren’s money she had paid for the mooring charges, but they did find her father’s signet ring with a piece of scrap paper with a funny code or verse written on it: Chimera looks to sunrise; Cyclops looks to sunset; Medusa looks to sunrise; Umber Hulk looks to sunset; Basilisk looks to sunrise.
End of the session.
Lavinia Vanderboren's place, wow what an honor. I never have been here before. Although it was nice but appears to be in some hard times. I like the peaceful atmosphere although some of the compnay was real dark if you know what I mean. Those mercinaries weren't exactly skilled in social edicate, whatever. What is with this guy Id and his snake on the poll? If I hadn't seen him in day time I would think he was some kind of Vampire, and that skull thing on his head, ok so why am I here with these people in which I only met in the passing. Ok more platitudes good meal fine wine, I feal as if I am the sheep to the slaughter with all these nicities, fatten us up before we find us dead.
Ok well the plan seems simple enough I am not exactly one for shullduggery but keeping a level head in the group may help to insure some legal integrity and moral guidance. I suppose this is my first adventure although coming here to this city a few years ago and now has been an adventure of sorts, other than watching over money and mishandled goods this is a bit more intriguing. If Lavinia had choosen them they must be some descent caliber of adventuring prowes. It didn't take long to figure out they weren't. It took three cross bow bolts to the back to realize that. Let me see a druidess who can't swim and the not so sneaky and talented group so much for gathering information.
Ok so the preists of Pelor have healed me now I am in dept to them. My dad was a hard liner in saying "those who live in credit are slaves to the debtors." I hate owing any one anything (rolls eyes back). Now its cleaning up the temple to pay for my healing and for them to apostletise me for days. Who knows may be I will learn more about religion in their company.
My temper is up and I was not only shot three times in the back by cross bow bolts but now I am in debt. This is really putting a clamp on my dreams of adventuring. Its probably the company I keep. Plan in detail is what will work. No small boats. No sail by visit to large ship with men in cross bows. JUST GET THE INFORMATION!!! Alright I am finding my inner peace...Hmmmmmmmmmm. Thats better. It appears the plan is working perhaps better than we expected it. First Zannery then Sebrena into the water followed soon after them Id. Give them time to set up. Then just watch and wait. All that commotion. Check out that bird so the druidess is worth her weight in gold after all. All those people on board are jumping ship. Its time to get up there. I dove into the drink with the druidess right behind me made our way up to the forcastle having to help pull the druidess up. Smoke was billowing out from one of the cargo holds and I can hear the commotion. The druid pass me right by to head to the sounds of battle. Once I got there I made it to the front of the group, but wheres Id? Never mind that. Lets take out this spider once and for all. Oh, theres Id. Big spider dead, finally got to use the Peace Maker.
Now I am a bit puzzled. Zannry was on the ship way ahead of me. Serena was on the ship way ahead of me. Id was by the ship also way ahead of me. The Druidess was with me. I was suppose to be last. Id should have been there before me. So why was Id last to arrive at the battle?
Ah my first great adventure. Oh what fun this shall be, and I am sure that some day this will make a great story, but for now I will just be jotting down a few thoughts, so that when it comes time to compose the great ballad of my life the details will only be slighly fuzzy.
Well it all started with a note, deliverd by a wonderful little halfling woman. This note requested me to attend dinner at the house of a noble, who recently had fallen on some hard times, I will not go into detail about her hard times, nor will I discuss what noble I went to see, let us just say that there I met, what could possibly become the people I will leave this fair city with.
The young lady who was our hostess asked of us a favor, well not really a favor, since she would be paying us hansomly. Anyway she said that her fortune, what little there was left was not accessable to her, for the "key" to getting was lost and or hidden away, but if she could just board her father's boat then she could possible find out what was happening to her fortune.
After much disscussion we all decided to do what we could to help. And thus begins the first adventure of Zanrry Swiftflight...
As my time this day is running short I shall have to recount what happened at another time, but fear not the wait shall be worth it.
Friday, September 1, 2006
We have an addition to the group. Jon is joining us and brings in a human male swashbuckler by the name of Mathias Bendecker.
Argh! Me copy of issue #139 be held fer ransom by that scallywag the post man! In other words, my issue still hasn’t arrived like many others’ so tonight I used a little side trek to delay running the remainder of “There Is No Honor” until next week when I have all of the maps and cool handouts that come with it.
13 Goodmonth, 596 CY (early morning)
The adventurers had no encounters with smugglers or other enemies during the night. In the morning they moored Blue Nixie back to Pier 5 where it belonged and returned and made a report to Lavinia Vanderboren over a breakfast of sour sop juice, sausages, eggs and fresh fruit—bananas, oranges, ginnips, guava, and star apples, to name a few of the variety grown locally. Lavinia was quite happy about the success the adventurers had.
Joe returned Lavinia’s family signet ring with the scrap of parchment with the odd cipher. She didn’t understand what the latter meant, but was glad to have her father’s ring safely in her possession. Id surprised everyone by turning over a sack of coins he had found in the Captain’s Quarters unbeknownst to the others. He claimed it looked like the sack of coins she had paid for the mooring fees, but had probably been pilfered a bit by the criminals before he had a chance to reclaim it for her. Nevertheless she was very grateful and rewarded the group as promised and even threw in a bonus for their quick success. She also wanted to hire them for future jobs if they were amenable. They all agreed to work for her. They would start by escorting her to her family vault located under Castle Teraknian in a couple of days.
In the meantime, she encouraged them to go out and visit Sasserine’s plethora of shoppes and get whatever items they wanted and/or needed. She would see them again on Sunday, the 15th.
Later that day…
Standing outside of Little Sunrises in Cudgel District after Sarena had purchased a fine riding dog from The Sacred Hound, a sandy haired, blue eyed swordsman with the look of the docks about him approached them and began introducing himself. His name was Mathias Bendecker and heard about the group through local gossip on the docks early that morning. He liked what he had heard and propositioned them to team up with him to sign up for the Champion’s District Semi-Annual Amateur Arena Team Competitions that was take place the following day over at Sasserine Arena.
Mathias had an easy way about him and an infectious confidence. The group immediately liked him and thought, why not? They went over to the arena and signed their team up. They had decided to name themselves The Rusty Raiders in homage to Zannry’s favorite tavern the Rusty Pirate. They paid the 5 gp entry fee and learned the rules of the games: all non-lethal damage, had to use the house armor and weapons (wooden lathes), and spellcasters were not allowed to prepare or take in with them (scrolls or potions) any lethal or otherwise illegal spells. Once a combatant was incapacitated either through magic, beaten unconscious, or immobilized (grappling, netted, etc), that combatant was eliminated from that and any future matches. There were about 15 teams competing so far.
14 Goodmonth, 596 CY (at the Sasserine Arena)
Their first match pitted The Rusty Raiders against The Hamstringers, aptly named as they were mainly comprised of dirty-fighting rogues. Despite their competitions’ underhanded tactics, the group prevailed. However, Joe and Zannry were eliminated from the rest of the matches.
The team’s next competition, Kord’s Fist, appeared as if it might be a simple victory. The opposition had been whittled down to only 2 members due to eliminated team members from previous matches. They learned that if they won this match, they would advance to the championship bout. Their competitors put up a good fight, but in the end they were outnumbered and outmatched by The Rusty Raiders.
Between matches, all of the teams were healed up and had a good amount of time to rest up and devise new tactics. The stage was set for the Championship Tournament between The Rusty Raiders and Amedio Ambushers. When the signal was given, the competitors entered the arena and sized each other up. The competition appeared to be made up of 2 men armed with nets, a man wielding a lathe bastard sword, and an Olman cleric. Apparently the Amedio Ambushers had won the championship during the last Semi-Annuals and were the crowd favorite as the returning champs.
The Amedio Bashers had only lost 2 members from previous matches so the two groups were evenly matched. As the fight commenced it was obvious that the Bashers were no slouches. They were clever and used sound tactics.
Id managed to put to sleep one of the net-wielding fighters. Next, Id got himself captured in the other warrior’s net and was clubbed into unconsciousness by the net holder and the Olman priest.
On the opposite side of the arena, Sarena and Mathias worked together on the big fighter with the lathe bastard sword while Athiaris helped with supporting spells and sling bullets from her sling. They succeeded in knocking him out, but not before he incapacitated Athiaris with a solid THWACK! to her head.
It was now evenly matched at 2 on 2: Sarena the halfling rogue and Mathias the human swashbuckler vs. the Olman cleric and the human rogue with the net. As they fought a battle of outmaneuvering each other, Mathias found himself flanked and clobbered by their opponents. Now it was only Sarena.
Sarena did her best to sidestep their flanking tactics and take out the Olman priest. It looked like she might pull it off, too, but in the end the two remaining Amedio Ambushers got the best of her, knocking her out.
Well, they had lost, but they still had the bragging rights of taking 2nd place. The team won 200 gold coins to split between them and a potion of their choice from Bee in the Bottle, one of many sponsors of the day’s events.
They left the arena with a few lingering bruises and scrapes, but otherwise in fine spirits. They picked out a potion at Bee in the Bottle and headed to the Rusty Pirate with their new friend Mathias to celebrate.
That was the end of the session.
Hmmmm, I would have neer thought to be a hire on for the Lady. I suppose I will have to inform my Uncle I will be working for the Lady for a short time. I guess he will have to find someone else to fill my shoes in the market.
Trying my sword hand in the arena. Well I managed to help keep the heavys off the weaker ones in our party. Glad to see we as a group were able to make into the finals, second place wasn't bad, other than a few bumps and bruises the prize was a nice head start as well as being in the employ of the Lady.
As for the morrow we are off to the castle. My gut feeling tells me their are other powers behind the scenes of the Lavinia Vanderboren Estate that are interested in her dermise. I suspect that Soller Vark was deep into more organized crime as well and to have to make a trip to Castle Teraknian is just an added temptation for what ever coup that is in the wings to take advantage of Lavinia Vanderboren Estate. The question is who and why are they doing these things. Perhaps in our work with the Lady we will flush out the real perpetrator's and get down to the final business of justice. In this quest I can see worth fighting for, and those things worth fighting for is worth dieing for.
Greetings, my name’s Mathias Bendecker. I was born in a small costal community on Jetsom Isle. At a very young aged I learned the art of sailing and dance. Spying on the drunken sailors in the local tavern was what led me to my passion of dance. It also allowed me to gain favor from locals and the occasional coin from visitors. Dance even lead me down the road to learn a fighting style that does’t depend on brute strength. For reasons I won’t go into, I refused to take up my fathers’ profession, so I said goodbye to my mother and sister left home to prove myself as a diplomat, entertainer, and warrior. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll open a fighting academy or tavern of my own. However, for the time being I go where the wind blows me, or at least where the rum flows.
I’ve been in Sasserine for a little over a year, working on the docks and spending my evenings in the taverns with food, drink, music, and women. Who could ask for more? Recently I heard rumor of a fight aboard the “Blue Nixie.” I tracked down the men and women victorious in the fight and convinced them to join me in the armature group fighting contest in the arena, we even managed to take second place. Second place isn’t that bad, and it definitely called for some celebration. Next thing I know, over a round of drinks, my new friends are offering me a cake job to escort Lavinia Vanderboren to Castle Teraknian. There may not be much glory in it, but they have assured me the price is right for the task. If it will put some extra coin in my pocket, rum in my belly, and keep me in good company, I’m up for anything.
Friday, September 8, 2006
It's gonna be a skimpy entry this week. Writing assignment deadlines are looming, so not much time for purely therapeutic writing :)
15 Goodmonth, 596 CY
Meeting early at Vanderborn Manor, the adventurers introduced Mathias Bendecker to their employer, Lavinia. She was convinced to take him on as an addition to her bodyguarding-troubleshooting-puzzle-solving-corps of young heros. After a short breakfast, Lavinia hired a coach that took them down to the harbor where they were ferried across to Castle Teraknian.
Lavinia identified herself to one of the seneschals and the purpose of her visit. The group was then escorted down a long spiral stair into the bowels of the castle to a huge circular room with over a dozen alcoves branching from it - the Sasserine noble families' vaults.
Lavinia used her signet ring to gain entrance and upon entering the chamber beyond, the group was attacked by an iron cobra protecting the vault. The warriors of the group managed to nick the thing a few times, but nothing seemed to harm it much. Zanrry suggested Lavinia wave her signet ring around in front of it and when she did the construct backed off and went back to its post behind a large pillar.
Sarena located a secret door which was formed of animated bronze serpents that created an archway into a room beyond it when she flipped a switch she located.
The next room was that actual vault but it took some puzzle solving involving the crypting verse found on Blue Nixie and turning a huge cylinder back and forth to point at some bas-relief carvings on the wall.
Seven alcoves then rotated to reveal over a dozen chests and coffers. However, most had been empted already. Lavinia managed to exit with a couple thousand gold coins, some interesting maps, and a log book written in Sylvan by her mother that mentioned the Isle of Dread and a colony her parents had established there.
When they left Lavinia asked the clerk if someone else had been there recently and was answered that her brother Vanthus had visited several times.
Returing to her manorhouse, the group was asked to see if they could track him down. Lavinia needed to know what was going on. She believed that maybe he had fallen in with a bad crowd and could be rescued from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into.
16-19 Goodmonth, 596 CY
The party spent several days asking people in the various districts if they had seen Vanthus around lately. Some had, but only in passing here and there. That was until they met a half-elf scamp named Shefton on the last day of their search.
Shefton offered to take the party to Parrot Island after he was bribed with a few gold coins. He claimed Vanthus was hiding out in the old smugglers' tunnels beneath it and new how to get inside.
They took a skiff over to the east side of the island and made their way up a sandy beach covered in overgrowth. Shefton brushed the sand off a hidden hatch and opened it. The group looked down into a 30 foot deep shaft and Shefton told them Vanthus was down in the tunnel complex. He agreed to keep watch up top while they clambed down a rope already in place.
Once the whole party was down below, Shefton suddenly plummeted down the shaft and landed with a bone-crunching thud. He was dead and had apparently been stabbed in the back prior to the fall.
Looking up, the party saw a brown bearded young man grinning down at them. He told them to give his regards to Penkus's ghost and cut the rope. He then slammed the hatch shut and by the sounds of it, rolled some large rocks on to it.
It was Vanthus Vanderboren. And he had played them the whole time.
Well, the group began exploring the tunnels and kept hearing eery moans echoing off the walls. One large room had a large pool on one side with a body floating face down in it. When Mathias waded in to pull it out, he was attacked by a group of monstrous brown kelp craps lurking in the water. They nearly killed him, but the group managed to kill 2 and drive the third back into the water.
Well thus far all has been up to my expectations. My family is a bit perturbed about my venturing out although it helped for them to know I was in the employ of Lady Lavinia. The trip to the family vault of hers was a bit anti-climatical. Felt pretty bad to see most of the chests/coffers to be empty. When we learned of her brothers dabbling I suspected the worse. Perhaps I can find my self in Lady Lavinias employ to help in the area of trade and re-establish her wealth. That will be for another time. I guess my Paladin gifts are beginning to kick in. I suspect there is more going on and to find ourselves burried inside some smugglers cave on Parrot Island, no thanks to Vanthus. Too bad for Shefton may he rest in peace. I guess he won't need the gold I gave him. Well the least I should do is bury the poor man in Davey Jones Locker. As for our perdicament, I reminise to our original voyage for Sasserine. An old sea dog once a great captain at least as his stories went whose name was John Carter spoke of many a great adventures on the high seas and beyond told me in times when things were tuff he would remeber his daddy's words, "if there is life there is hope". So he never surcombed to depression or impossible situations with a ligering message of death, it was always hope. And as I stand here thinking these words, since I live, there is hope.
Friday, September 16
19 Goodmonth, 596 CY (continued, late evening)
The adventurers had just dealt with 3 of five very big and foul-tempered kelp crabs and turned their attention to opening some of the doors in the large room they were in. However, their bodies started to remind them of how late in the evening it had gotten. About this time, they would usually be relaxing after a late meal at Vanderboren Manor and thinking of heading to their rooms to sleep. They decided to check out what was behind the doors and then find a room suitable to rest in.
As Joe headed for one of the doors, something thudded against it. The group spread out and Joe approached more cautiously, weapon at the ready. Again, the thud came and this time the waterlogged door popped open.
A grey/green skinned pirate with empty eye sockets and a hatchet for a right hand shambled into the room, mouth open hungrily and growling. Another followed right behind him. Joe stepped up and slashed the one nearest him, but it withstood the blow and attacked Joe, mouth snapping shut hungrily at any bit of flesh it could possibly get to.
When the ravenous zombie pirates were felled, moments later 3 more found there way into the large chamber and attacked. These were also destroyed, but after two running battles Joe, Athiaris, and Sarena had been badly wounded and Mathias was dead. Zannry had purchased a half-charged wand of cure light wounds and used it liberally on the wounded party members. The party then tried to get some rest to recover spells and get the sight out of the minds of the zombies hungrily stuffing Mathias’s guts in their mouths before they were destroyed.
That night another pair of zombies broke into the chamber the party was holed up in. They again inflicted wounds that Zannry had to use his ever dwindling wand charges to heal, but after they were destroyed there were no more disturbances.
20 Goodmonth, 596 CY
Returning to the large chamber where all of the fighting had taken place the party discovered another pair of zombies. One of them was different, though. It was dressed in rusted chain armor and wore a gold holy symbol of Olidimarra. And it could cast spells!
The fight with these two wore on and on. It couldn’t seem to land a blow and the party’s attacks didn’t seem to do much, if any, damage to it. Eventually, enough damage accumulated and it finally fell.
A short time later, a man wandered into the nearby hallway. No. Not a man. An elf. A ranger or something. He said he had some business on the island and spotted the rocks piled up where there hadn’t been any the last time he was here. He removed them and found the trapdoor under the sand that led down to the smugglers’ tunnels. The group seemed pretty hostile, but took him at his word, though he never did explain what “business” he had. He was pretty adamant about not being a smuggler, though.
The elf’s name was Sakeema. He had left a rope tied at the entrance and the group eagerly climbed up and got a ride with him back to Merchant’s District on his skiff. Sakeema hung around with the group the rest of the day and agreed to go back with them to search the tunnels. He was just as curious as they were.
21 Goodmonth, 596 CY
After relating to Lavinia what had happened on Parrot Island, the group returned with Sakeema to investigate the tunnels. Their day of searching uncovered a dead body with a note incriminating Vanthus as his killer and describing where Vanthus was hiding out: he had joined with a gang of thieves called the Lotus Dragons and was staying with their guild mistress in some kind of complex beneath the taxidermist’s guildhall. They also found a secret room with 3 sea chests hidden there.
As the session ended, the group was about to pilfer the chests of their contents.
"If it is not worth dieing for it is not worth fighting for." So why fight then? But it is all about planing. You have to stick to the plan and if situation begins to change so does the plan change with it, yet going out on your own is simply welcoming instant death. Fighting side by side is far more expedient than trying your muscle or feeding your pride. When Bendecker went to the right as I stood close to the rest I feared his death was very near. I realize we some times need to die in hopes to learn our lesson. But this kind of death I had no mind for. The sad truth was that the Bard, Zannery was right behind Bendeker with a healing wand.
You would think there would be some lesson for us. Lets face it we should learn from others mistakes, DON'T GO OUT ON YOUR OWN!!! I thought for sure Athearis was going to bite it as well she went out on her own. The plan was to converge back into the room in which we rested for the night to hold off the talking undead, she descided to stand out on her own it was fortuante the zombie did not land a killing blow till she desided to go with the plan. STICK WITH THE PLAN!!!
So now to make matters worse we discover a message from the passing pirate that Vanthus is deep inside the cloak and dagger business. I really don't want to have to tell the Lady about this unfortunate piece of information, chances are her brother was very much involved in the exchange of illegal goods on board the Blue Nixie. As if it was not bad enough that the spoiled brat closed us in here. It was fortunate a ranger happen to find the disturbed area above and came down to investigate. Well we have three treasure chests to show although unable to open it. The swim in the sea caves was actually a refreshig change from beating up on dead pirates. Just remember one thing, "STICK TO THE PLAN!!!"
My name is Sakeema, I’m an Elf, but from where I do not know. When I was just an infant my home village was attacked and destroyed by unknown enemies. For some reason I was either missed or left behind by the aggressors. From what I’ve been told by my caretakers, I was left alone for what must have been days, in the ruins of my village. A caravan of Halflings found me and took me with them. It was they that gave me the name Sol Wunder. Eventually they took me to Sasserine and left me at an orphanage. They never did tell the Orphanage the particulars of where they found me. However, before the Halflings left they gave my caretakers a broach, which they found with me in the ruins.
At an early age I knew I was different from the other children. I always longed for a simple life with nature rather than the constant noise of the city. I often got in trouble for bringing sick and wounded animals back to the orphanage and caring for them. I was told that there was not always enough food for my peers and it was folly to waste it on mere animals. Eventually they would take away my dinner if it was discovered that I had animals in the building. I spent many hungry nights thinking about my family and the revenge I wanted to take on their behalf.
As I grew older the other children would gang up on me and beat me up for always breaking the rules, in regards to my “pets.” I was then that I learned that humans are not always to be trusted and that the only way to win a fight is to choose to fight only when I have an advantage, often striking from a distance to put the odds more in my favor. It was after a particularly brutal beating that I decided to run away from the orphanage. In a nearby forest I met a very old, nearly blind elf, named Rossum. He agreed to teach me the way of the Ranger, but only if I retuned to the orphanage.
Every night I would sneak out to the edge of the city and he would train me in the ways of the ranger and my heritage. It was after my last lesson he proclaimed that there was nothing more for him to teach me. However before he departed me that night he told my true name, my elf name, was Sakeema.
Now I am old enough and ready to start the hunt for the aggressors on my village. I know that someone somewhere must know some details about the attack. I can feel inside of me, unlike anything else I have ever felt, that members of my village are still alive and once I find them, we will find who is responsible for the destruction of my life. For the glory of my ancestors and Corellon Larethian and by the hand of St. Cuthbert I will hunt them down until my last breath, and I will make them pay for what they did to my village, my family, and me.
Recently I found what looks like an adventuring party in a series of tunnels beneath Parrot Island. They seemed very eager to meet me. I’m not sure, but something doesn’t seem completely on the up and up with them. I will spend some time with them to see what they motives are. By the looks of things it appears they can use all the help they can get. If they prove trustworthy, perhaps they could be allies in my search.
Friday, September 22
A quick synopsis of our session...
21-23 Goodmonth, 596 CY
The party was able to pick the locks on the old sea chests down in the smugglers' caves and discovered a nice little cache of goodies: several thousand coppers, a few hundred silver pennies, some magical potions, an earth elemental gem, and some bags full of mixed gemstones. They purchased an identify scroll and after Id learned the spell he used his new spell to determine what the potions did. They sold the gems for a good price and advised Lavinia about Vanthus's evil ways. She asked them to find him and capture him so he could pay for his crimes and perhaps repent of his evil ways. However, she had no illusions as to what may have to be done and simply asked the adventurers that if he made that impossible, to make his end quick and merciful.
During these 2 days, Sakeema and Joe got fairly chummy with each other and decided to try to join Zelkarune's Horns. Part of their initiation was a match in the Sasserine Arena. They decided to make a two-on-two match and faced a pair of captured bugbears. Long story short, they beat the goblinoids down and emerged victorious.
23 Goodmonth, 596 CY (evening)
The group decided to watch the Taxidermist's Guildhall over in Sunset District since the info in Penkus's note indicated the Lotus Dragons were hidden somewhere beneath it. Bored with watching, Id went in and talked to the man, but really didn't come away with much.
Reporting back to his fellows hanging out in a nearby alley, Id suddenly recognized the 2 men from weeks ago on the docks, Carston and Rel. He pursued them and they suddenly drew hand crossbows and opened fire. More rogues from the rooftops began attacking with crossbows and the party had a tough fight. However, Carston and Rel were killed along with one of the rooftop snipers. The others fled.
They took one of the bodies into the Taxidermist's building and figured he was in on it. He, however, was incensed and fled to call the Watch. The group decided they had better take their leave since Sunrise District didn't mess around and they really had nothing to incriminate the taxidermist of any wrong-doing. As they left, they saw the 2 rooftop snipers drop down in to a nearby well.
After nightfall, they returned after supplying themselves and descended the well. It entered a cavern full of water with a tunnel exiting it. After everybody dropped down into it, a iron pipe began spewing sea water into the cave and slowly filling it. From the nearby tunnel a large crocodile with a chain around its neck rushed out to attack. As if that weren't enough, snipers hidden behind the walls of the cave-one behind an illusory wall, the other 2 behind arrowslits-opened fire on them.
The group nearly perished, but finally killed the croc and 1 of the snipers. The others fled, leaving the intruders in the rapidly filling cavern.
End of session.
Ok, so we found some treasure good on us as well as made a new friend, an Elf Ranger. The letter about the wayward Vanthus hit as expected. The Lady held her composure as a woman of state would and with the not so welcoming task in hopes to retrieve her nefarious brother. Fortunately we had some down time to try our skills in the arena; it appears Sakeema could do well with out his bow. We will have to try that again in the not so distant future.
As for going down to the taxidermist place; honestly there was no plan. I suppose that is why it went not so good for us, although fate be as it may I discovered the secret entrance to what I believed to be the Lotus Dragon hide out. Id took some shots from the x-bow bolts and it was a good thing Sakeema was near to fill his mouth with healing potions. As for the discourse with the taxidermist well causing him grief wasn’t exactly eloquent for my part it was either that or be hailed by x-bow bolts from above. There was no sign of his involvement and I didn’t want to break any more laws in hopes to press the situation. It was only by chance I discovered the secret passage by coming around the turn to pick up the final dead thief when I happened to glimpse the remaining roof top assassins jumping into a near by well. We departed the two dead thieves at the shop, once removing anything that may help our cause and returned to the manor house till night fall.
So I wore my new set of armor. I wasn’t expecting to find my self in too much water. Although being the last to drop down into the well it was either a blessing or curse, but I drafted down a potion of Bark Skin and found myself face to face with a very angry alligator. Water was on the rise and my friends were being sniper by hidden x-bowmen. I was face to face with this oversized reptile and even as I was wailing away at the creature I was thinking seriously what a great catch this would be to take to the Zelkarune's Horns, which is why perhaps it took me so long to neutralize it. As the water was rising I felt it necessary to take off my heavy armor, I was gratefully assisted by Id when fortune favored us as Sakeema found a secret passage. The others made there way through some illusion while the snipers were either killed in the fight or fled to fight another day. With dead gator at my feet and the number of the dead raising we all have much to be thankful for, we all have survived this day. There is no prosperity in death, unless you are a casket maker.
This is where we ended for the night.
There is no prosperity in death, unless you are a casket maker.
Very nice. I'll have to remember that little gem. Sounds like a bumper sticker in the making ;)
I just watched Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa and one of the great things is that the director uses the town's cooper (who's also responsible for making coffins) as a barometer for the status of the feud in town: if he's happy, it means he has a good flow of business from the feud. If he's unhappy, things are either at a peaceful point or the fighting has escalated so much that no one is even bothering with coffins.
Great campaign journal, guys! Keep 'em coming, and we'll keep reading!
I just watched Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa and one of the great things is that the director uses the town's cooper (who's also responsible for making coffins) as a barometer for the status of the feud in town: if he's happy, it means he has a good flow of business from the feud. If he's unhappy, things are either at a peaceful point or the fighting has escalated so much that no one is even bothering with coffins.
Great campaign journal, guys! Keep 'em coming, and we'll keep reading!
Thanks, James! I think Sasserine's casket makers will be busy after this little foray. That, or there will be a lot of kelp crabs with full bellies. Either way, we'll try to keep things updated here.
Ah yes, I know what you are all thinking a bard who does not regulary write in his journal, how you may ask is he to remeber what happens to make great and ledgendary songs? Well I simply will tell you this, I have a little voice in my head, and I like to call him DM or sometimes even Steve who writes all the fun adventures I go on down for me, and he even posts them for all to read. What I am trying to say is this, I promise will all my little bard heart that eventually, quite soon in fact I will have the time to sit down and tell the story of what has been happening in the lifes of Zanrry and his trusty Rusty Raiders, but now is not the time. But fear not my friends look again in but a few short days and there you shall see the ramblings of your favorite bard.
Joe is a worthy combatant. Together we joined Zelkarune's Horns; it is an excellent organization to continue my combat training and a meeting ground for potential allies for my cause. Together Joe and I were able to vanquish our foes in the arena, and gained admittance. I cannot wait to see his melee skills mix with my ranged skills on a proper field of battle. Id is also a curious fellow. I will have to watch him closely, he constantly tells me how powerful he is, and if this proves true he will make a very powerful ally. Though I fell he may be less powerful than he would lead me to believe.
When the party entered the well and all hell broke loose I thought we may have lost some lives, but so far we have all prevailed. I happened to find a secret door and am very interested at what surprises will be found behind it. As for the rest of the party, they are taking the battle to our foes through an illusionary wall. So far we are victorious but only time will tell if fate still favors us. Unfortunately I think the well is the least of our problems.
September 29
We learned tonight that Rob got into LVMPD and got to congratulate him and even meet his wife of 2 weeks. She was very pretty and we wish him luck in converting her into a gamer.
Jon was unable to make it and we didn't have his PC to run, so Sakeema was ghosted out for this session.
24 Goodmonth. 596 CY (night)
While Athiaris and Zannry climbed the ledge up to a concealed room behind the illusory wall, Sarena, Joe, and Id got the secret door in the croc tunnel open and climbed in. It led some 50 or so feet northeast and ended at a door.
The chamber Athiaris and Zannry found was furnished with 5 chairs set so their occupants could look into the watery cavern. There was a valve in the wall which Athiaris turned until the water sluicing into the cavern from the big iron pipe turned to a trickle and then ceased altogether. Zannry found some handcrossbow bolt cases on one of the chairs and collected them. He and Athiaris then went to the door they spotted at the back of the room.
The door opened into a short hall ending at another door. Beyond the second door was a long crossing corridor going west-by-northwest and east-by-southeast. To their left about 10 feet up the corridor was another door. They went to it and opened it to find a circuluar chamber with a domed ceiling about 20 feet up to which a ladder ascended and stopped at a trapdoor. A door in the south wall suddenly opened and in walked Joe, Sareena, and Id from the tunnel they had entered.
The group began exploring and discovered 3 more of these chambers all arranged in a way that they kind of circled the main water-filled cave they had entered via the well from above. Each had a ladder reaching up to a trapdoor. When Sareena climbed up each one and took a peek, she could see that they entered the abandoned/boarded up houses surrounding Dead Dog Alley.
The last of the domed rooms was different, though. The trapdoor was open already. So, Sareena climbed up for a look and was ambushed by 2 rogues hiding up top. She was hit once and quickly climbed back down. As the group mobilized to counter-attack the ambushers, 2 more attackers charged into the room from the open door they had entered the room through. 3 of the rogues were killed and the fourth was sent fleeing after Id used a cause fear spell on the weak minded attacker.
During this fight, it was evident that Athiaris was far meaner than anyone else in the group. She was merciless in killing the rogues. After Joe had only a short moment to question one of them after being stabilized and brought to consciousness, she staved in his skull with her quarterstaff. More than one eyebrow was raised at such ferocious behaviour out of one so delicate in appearance.
Another door led out of this last chamber and ended at a secret door which in turn opened into the croc tunnel somewhat across from the other secret door.
The group took their leave of the Lotus Dragon hideout and returned to Lavinia's manor to rest and regain spell power.
25 Goodmonth, 596 CY
Returning in the morning, the group entered the hideout via one of the abandoned houses in Dead Dog Alley. They were of the opinion that they had missed some secret passage along the way concealing more chambers where the thieves were skulking. Sure enough, they found one in the northwestern of the domed rooms. The secret door in the west wall entered a 15 ft long tunnel ending in a door. From beneath the door they could see a reddish glow and smelt a burning odor.
Opening the door, the party discovered a torture chamber where a man in a bloodstained leather apron was heating up several iron brands and pokers in a brazier full of red hot coals. His subject was a man in rags strapped to a rack. Near the door the group had opened was a hideous looking iron maiden with signs of frequent use.
The man hissed at them and the poor sot on the rack began calling for help. The fight was short lived as the torturer was outnumbered and caught by surprise. Joe helped the man off the rack, but as he questioned him he grew suspicious of his answers. He claimed to be a Silk Merchant and when Joe asked him from where he operated, he answered from there in Sasserine. Joe asked what shop he owned and in what district and the man named one in Merchant District where Joe was positive a general store was located. Using his detect evil ability he sensed the man was evil and was sure he was lying.
When Joe called him on it, the man grew surly and completely changed his demeanor. He put his face close to Joe's and glowered, hissing, "I'll open your face up with my fists boy!" Joe felt a flash of intimidation from the man, but as he tried to move past him, Joe instinctively lashed out with his sword and sliced the man's neck open. The man looked at Joe in astonishment, Joe still had a look of fear in his young eyes and was as surprised as the man. Then the man slumped to the floor and bathed the wall in his gore as he continued to spray blood everywhere from his carotid artery.
Just as vicious and merciless as the earlier encounter, Athiaris saw that the man was still barely alive. She cast a produce flame spell and said, "Here. Let me cauterize that wound." She then slapped her burning hand on the man's neck and fried his skin. He jerked a few times and then lay still.
Zannry found that one of 2 other doors exiting the torture room entered a sleeping chamber. There he found a footlocker with ill gotten goods consisting of a sack of coins, which he liberated from its resting place. Another door led to a long corridor with prison cells and ended at yet another door far to the south.
We ended our session there.
Ya know it is weird how everything works out. I only wanted to know where Vanthus was and it seemed every one who came in my path died. All I was asking for some simple information. As for Athearis what is with that woman? It seemed that every bad guy who gave us lip was simply sent into oblivion. Some one please give that woman some chocolate! There is no honor for a man to combat a woman but this is getting a bit ridiculous. Every time I corner some one and ask for information she is quick to wail upon them. I have never seen a woman in such a constant rage, and she is supposed to be one with nature. I guess there is much to the saying “never fool with mother nature”. Any way, truthfully I am lost for words on this woman.
Then there is Id, “go get em man boy, Go get em man boy? What’s up with that? Ok granted I am a bit young even for a Paladin and honestly when I realized the fellow on the torture rack was not just evil but lying about his predicament I was a bit intimidated by his fury. Honestly when he suddenly moved to get a better position to attacking me, I wasn’t sure if my swing of my sword was out of total terror or simple righteousness. But the face of the man I hit face showed as equal amount of surprise as I did. The entire event was displayed in deliberate motion in my mind. First he yelled at me, where my entire being was filled with complete terror then he moved. Then I instinctively swung my bastard sword. I watched as it cut through bone and flesh in through the left shoulder and into the lower part of his neck. His face was in total shock and then sudden despair when he then fell lifeless to the floor of the torture room. Athearis was screaming something in my ear but all I could see the entire thing in slow motion. He laid their dead. I saw Athearis use some fire thing to stop the bleeding but the moment seems to last for minutes as I stood there in total shock. Zannery’s face was totally perplexed of the passing events and everything in my being simply stopped. I went numb, like a manikin in the store front of our shop.
We were attacked from above we were attacked from below, x-bow bolts, rapiers, men in black cloaks seem to whistle through out the day. Even after the nights rest seemed to lead from one blood bath unto the next. My group is still standing, even as I watched Id take inventory of the torture devices I felt I was in some macabre play all moving in slow motion. Where in G-ds name are we, I have lived such a naive life if there is a hell on the Flanaess then this is it, and still no Vanthus.
Friday, October 6
Full crew tonight + two spanish speaking wives (one of them explaining the game to the other in espanol) + a group of players that really like each other = lots of socializing; not as much gaming. Ah, well. It was a lovefest, but those are nice to have periodically :)
25 Goodmonth, 596 CY (continued)
Walking down the length of the prison cell corridor, Joe and the druidess Athearis listened at the door at the end at the feral growls and barks from the other side. Athearis was pretty sure it was a wolf of some kind and big from the sounds of it. The others were still in the torture chamber looking around.
The door to the wolve's den was locked, but Joe discovered that a key found on the fake torture victim's body would open it. The same for the door at the opposite end of the corridor that led into the torture chamber.
Joe and Athearis with the help of Sareena rigged a rope to the door latch mechanism and to one of the nearby celldoors so that when they opened it the door would only open a few inches so that whatever was on the other side couldn't get out and attack them... yet. When the door was opened up, a snarling wolf snout squeezed through, snapping at the air and spraying droplets of frothy drool into the corridor. The safety line worked, however, and that's as far as the wolf got.
Athearis attempted to soothe the beast with food and kind words, but the beast only snarled louder and more savagely, hungering for the group's warm flesh and blood. The creature was now clearly a worg, which Athearis knew were both evil and intellgent, some even had the ability to speak if they wanted to.
While Joe and Athearis dealt with the worg, the others suddenly found a trio of rogues sneaking into the room through the secret door in the east wall. The rogues attacked quickly without success and darted back out just as quickly, a couple of them sporting wounds for their troubles. The sound of hammering on the secret door tipped the party off that the rogues must have hammered a wedge in to the door seam to trap them inside.
As that was happening, Joe and Athearis returned to the other end of the corridor nearest the torture chamber. Joe offhandedly said to Athearis, "Why don't you keep an eye on that door with the worg." She turned reflexively to glance back and shouted a warning as the worg came charging up to them, maw opened wide and streaming hot saliva. A man stood in the open doorway where he had apparently cut the rope with the sword in his hand. He shouted encouragement to the worg, "Get 'em Cruncher!"
Cruncher bowled Joe over and began biting at his face and hands as the paladin tried to fight back with his big, cumbersome sword that wasn't meant to be used while lying flat on one's back. Athearis gave the beast a whack with her staff and Sakeema joined battle using his bow. When the worg was wounded, it's apparent keeper came running to help and began attacking Joe as well.
Id chose that moment to summon a celestial fire beetle behind the rogue worg handler. The hot vermin crunched on the man's leg eliciting a yelp of pain.
From that point on the battle was clearly in the party's favor. Cruncher attempted to flee, but was brought down by Sakeema's arrows and the rogue was dropped shortly after.
This battle was indicative of the rest of the evening's exploration. The group found a barracks of sorts and had another big fight with a group of rogues that had apparently been attempting to surround them, but it didn't work out that way. Instead, one fled from Id's cause fear spell and another fled from Joe's big sword that somehow had the same result as the spell. The other 3 were killed.
The barracks had nothing of value and moving on the party found a mess hall where some of the rogues may have been eating when they were alerted of intruders since the meals looked only half finished. Some of the party helped themselves to the boiled chicken, rice, and fried plantain left on the plates.
Another door led to what appeared to be a kitchen with a fireplace still going. When Joe opened the door to the room the kettle resting on the coals was suddenly catapulted at his face, scalding him severely.
Further investigation revealed the kitchen was being used to harvest urchin venom into the poison that the rogues had been using against the party. Sakeema had suffered its nauseating effects only minutes earlier.
In an adjoining room the party discovered a kobold hiding under some blankets beneath a hammock. The creature was pitiful with its whining and sniveling for the party to spare its life. Joe asked crossly if she had rigged the trap that scalded face which she vehemently denied. The kobold was a female named Churtle. Somehow her pleading worked and the group spared her. In fact, Zannry and Id decided that she could be a helper of sorts for them. When Id offered to actually PAY for her services in brewing more of the poison she apparently was responsible for concocting as well as being his cook, she quickly became his bestest friend :)
Churtle was afraid of the Lady Lotus Dragon whom she claimed was the boss and didn't know where Vanthus was. He wasn't in the guildhall at that time according to her, but when asked she agreed to show them the way to the "boss lady's" rooms.
Following her directions, the group made their way north-by-northeast through the winding corridors and discovered another pocket of resistance. The 2 women rogues with hand crossbows thought that the overturned table they were using to provide cover would tilt the battle in their favor, but sadly they both ended up with massive lumps on their heads and locked in the nearby closet until the adventurers decided what to do with them.
A door out of the room of the scuffle led northward. The sound of lapping waves filled the chamber beyond. A natural sea cave incorperated a large sloshing tidepool. To the north, a low sandy beach seethed with brightly-colored crabs. To the south, a larger sandy beach sloped up to the glistening wall through which their corridor entered. A short wooden pier protruded from the beach into the pool, and the cavern wound around the corner beyond. To the north, a large wooden door blocked the cave exit, although the water flowed unimpeded through a large space under it.
The group began discussing whether Churtle had double-crossed them by sending them the wrong way. Some of the group believed that there were probably more chambers through the southward winding tunnel that they would probably need a skiff to get to since there was none at the pier and the whole area was filled with water. From their estimation and the sounds coming from beyond the wooden wall, they were either under or near the piers in the vicinity of Dead Dog Alley.
The session ended there.
Yep its evil. So this is a Worg, great, good thing we had the rope tide off. Now for this other problem...OK so the other problem now has to wait, I have a Worg Standing on my chest and a crazed Worg handler beside him. As if it couldn't get any more difficult that I can't even hit the side of a barn.
Thats it I am getting up. Good to see those arrows flying over head. I am really getting to like this ranger guy. Worg dead and hadler dead good and my shield, armor and tabered is covered in blood I have got to get to a water basen and retreave some sence of civility.
Now for that other problem. Yep the secret door is jammed. Good, I didn't feel like going backwards anyway.
OUCH!!! What is the slimmey stuff on the door. I guess I should of waited for Serena, but she is busy talking girl talk with Athearis. This kind of reminds me of my little sister Sharon, it didn't matter what was going on around her but she would find the most unnecessary conversation more important about her self than perhaps something burning in the oven, or a skif floating out to sea. Sheesh!
Well there appears to be more rogues. Wow, maybe I should name my sword Chopper(HURRY RUN TO THE CHOPPER!, bad Arnie imitation). It appears the Ranger has taken ill, but Id is casting magic like a wild man. Come an meet Chopper. Well that was a rush, more dead thieves and two on the run some where. I must admit I am still a bit freaked out from that guy we saved off the torture rack.
Serena is still in the back talking with Athearis. Hmmmm good chicken. OK so I will try out these doors. OUCH!!! Cute a pot of hot boiling goo ( rolls eyes back). Thanks for the heal stick Zannery. Hmmm door is stuck. O well this is an interesting room. Shells? Ok. You go take a look.
KOBOLD?!!! Hmmm I detect a slight stentch of evil. Ok we will give Churtle a chance for redemption. Although she could be a good prize to add to the arena.
Ok to meet with this Lotus Dragon and hopefully discover where Vanthus is.
Hmm a obviously barricaded door. Thunk! Thunk! THUNK!!! O hello ladies! You wouldn't happen to know where Vanthus is? Hmmmm, wrong answer. Nice one Id.
Athearis I am not about to Cou De Grae two sleeping rogues. Gosh she is such a B**ch! This will put them out for a much longer time. THUNK!!!...THUNK!!! Ok they might wake up to a slight head ache in the morning but at least I didn't have to kill them in cold blood. Now as for beyond this door. Click! Hmmmm? This is not what I was expecting but then again what do you expect from a Kobold.
This hideout is much larger than I assumed, luckily the defenders seem somewhat incompetent. However they used sea urchin venom quite effectively, luckily for me I found a stash of it, soon I will implement it on my arrows. It doesn’t kill and will give us even a greater advantage. Joe has the heart of a true warrior, even continuing the battle whilst he was prone on the floor. The combination of our fighting styles is proving exceptionally effective in combat. As for the hideout, it may prove a very effective base of operations, not really my style seeing as it is in the heart of a city, but an excellent defensive and secretive location. First however, we must clear it and find another way out.
I put a nice long post in here and the friggin' boards ate it!!!! I'm so PISSED! Dammit!
That's what I get for not typing it up in Word first. Whatever. I guess I'll try to recreate it later.
Rereading my posts I just realized that I've reverted back to Goodmonth on the calender by mistake. My latest entries should all be in Harvester. Will fix that from this point.
Friday, October 13
Rob was unable to make it tonight so Id was ghosted since we don’t have his character sheet for someone else to run his character.
25 Harvester, 596 CY (Midday)
Scoping out the watery grotto nestled under the docks somewhere above, the party decided to turn back and check out some of the doors they passed up coming this way. The directions Churtle provided weren’t sitting right with the group.
Heading back southward, the party investigated the first door and found a lounge on the other side. Zannry started searching the couch there and was rewarded with a handful of copper under the cushions. He held up his find exultantly for the rest of the party to see and shoved the change into his pouch.
A second door inside the room opened into a bedchamber with 2 bunkbeds with only slightly less mildewy bedding than the other beds previously seen. A search turned up dust bunnies and grit so the group vacated the rooms.
At the next door they found a short hall on the other side which led to another door. Opening that one, the party found a 10-ft.-by-10-ft. room with only a mostly consumed mug of ale in the corner to show someone had been there. A door in the opposite wall opened into a hall that angled to the west (right). When Joe forced it open, a rogue jumped out of another nearby door in the hall and tossed a tanglefoot bag at him which glued him to the floor. 2 others attacked with hand crossbows.
Meanwhile, three other rogues attacked Sakeema who was clear in the back out in the corridor. The end result of the battle was 4 dead rogues. The other two got away, fleeing in opposite directions.
The group of Rusty Raiders had decided to retreat from the Lotus Dragon Guildhall for the day and return in the morning to finish ferreting out the rest of the thieves and locate their boss. Before leaving they returned to the closet they had shut up the unconscious lady thieves and carried them out to turn them over to the Sunrise District Watch.
On their way to the nearest watch station, the group drew a semi-hostile crowd that didn’t care for the looks of what the 5 of them were doing. Namely, carrying around a pair of unconscious women with nasty bruises on them. The crowd was ready to do something about it, but Joe and Zannry managed to convince them that the women were criminals being turned over to the authorities. Once at the watch station the crowd was disbursed and the watch took custody of the rogues after a thorough explanation from Zannry.
The rest of the day was spent liquidating all of the loot and gear taken from the rogues the party defeated in the guildhall. Zannry invested some of the party’s gold in a second wand of cure light wounds and had a couple of items identified at a nearby magic shop.
When the party settled in at Vanderboren Manor and reported to Lavinia, they were advised that the Jade Ravens had sent word to her that they were on their way back from Cauldron. Unfortunately, this meant the Rusty Raiders would have to be shuffled around and paired up in rooms for her family retainers again. Before turning in for the night, a letter arrived addressed to the Rusty Raiders. The letter was from The Lady Lotus of the Lotus Dragons. She invited them to return at noon the following day in the guild’s mess hall to discuss with her a proposition she had for them. She requested that they only bring light weapons as a show of willingness to discuss the proposition peacefully.
When Lavinia learned of this letter, she immediately warned that is was a trap. The party was quite aware of this, but decided to go anyway. However, they would be packing every killing weapon they had and arrive very early in case she thought she could set up an ambush for them.
26 Harvester, 596 CY (Morning)
The group decided to enter the guildhall via the grotto under the docks near Dead Dog Alley. They knew of the wooden wall there that could be raised to allow entrance, but when they arrived there on a rented skiff, they could see a problem with lifting it from there side. As they checked it out, a warbling liquidy voice from the water nearby seemed to be directed to them. Zannry and Athearis recognized it as Aquan, the language of sea creatures. The voice asked them where there Lotus Dragon tattoos were. Zannry bluffed that they were concealed because it was dangerous to show them right now.
There was no more conversation after that, but first Sareena and then Joe noticed there skiff was taking on water rapidly from holes in the hull. They all decided this was not going to work out well. They had no desire to get in the water with whatever was down there so they climbed the nearby pier and pulled the skiff up, turning it hull up. There were numerous gouges in the hull where something had apparently chewed through the wood causing the leaks.
The group decided to enter via one of the abandoned houses and found themselves in the tunnel one of the rogues had escaped through the previous day. Following it eastward brought them to a watery tunnel with a skiff pulled up on to the sand near them. On the opposite end of the deep water in the cave were 2 tunnels-one leading north via more water, the other leading northeast with a sandy beach just visible from their vantage point.
The group boarded the skiff and crossed the water to the sandy beach. They followed a sandy tunnel around to the south and spied a long cave with a brackish green pool near the opposite end and a dead halfling body near it. Mushrooms grew in clusters here and there throughout the cave filling it with a musty, soil odor.
Joe, Zannry, and Athearis entered to get a closer look at the corpse and were suddenly attacked by massive spiders like the one they had encountered aboard Blue Nixie several weeks ago.
The fight was fast and furious. The 3 rhagodessas dropped first Athearis, then Joe, then it looked like Zannry was going to be next as he struggled against the vice-like mandibles of one of the arachnid horrors. When he managed to wriggle free and use his curing wand to bring Joe back to consciousness, the others dropped Sakeema and Sareena and scurried out into the adjoining tunnel searching for more prey.
Zannry used the wand on Athearis next, bringing them back to 3 to fight the spiders as they returned a moment later to finish their meals. The combination wounds already dealt, Joe’s sword and a summoned dire bat courtesy of Athearis, was finally enough to kill the last 2 of the spiders. The party was healed up with Zannry’s wand and they stripped the halfling corpse of a pair of valuable rings and a brooch. The brooch and one of the rings was magical according to Zannry.
The group collectively shuddered at their brush with death with the rhagodessas and silently hoped to never see one again.
They rowed back to the way they had come and made their way to the rendezvous point. It was now midmorning and they still had a couple hours before the meeting.
(Midmorning)
In the mess hall they found it cleaned up and only a platter with 5 mugs with a pitcher full of ale on the long table. A note near it read, “My dear Rusty Raiders, if you are reading this then you have taken me up on my offer to meet and discuss my proposal. Please help yourself to a mug of my best ale and go down the hall behind you to the east and enter at the door to the south.”
The group looked askance at the mugs and pitcher while Athearis cast a detect poison spell. She informed the rest of the group that she could sense no poison on, in, or around the mugs and pitcher as she helped herself to the ale and drank with gusto. However, no one else seemed thirsty.
The group did as instructed in the note and found a large room with a padded floor and dummies in leather armor stuffed with straw and rags set up around the room. Some of the dummies had numerous pockets and bells on them; others had manacles; while others were pincushioned with holes from sharp weapons. At the western end of the room stood a raised platform upon which sat a heavy stuffed chair positioned like a throne flanked by potted plants. On the chair sat a sinewy, attractive red haired woman. Her sleeveless silk vest revealed slim shoulders covered in tattoos (one of a dragon, the other of a lotus flower). She wore a rapier at her hip and sat with her legs crossed which were covered in thigh high boots. In her lap sat a leash attached to a collar around a green lizard-like creature standing erect on its thickly muscled hind legs. Its forelegs ended in long sharp claws and its mouth bristled with dozens of teeth meant for tearing flesh.
The Lady Lotus watched serenely as the group entered and spaced themselves out around the room, looking this way and that for signs of an ambush.
Our session ended there.
The kobold was not to be trusted. We decided that perhaps we were given false directions and as we doubled back we met up with a larger group of thieves. I stayed at the rear of the group to make sure no one snuck up on us and next thing I know were are being surrounded. I let the party know that something is coming up on our rear and then let the arrows fly. I managed to drop a few thieves before the rest started to flee, Sareena and I did not let them escape.
Once we left the guild I realized that taking the subdued thieves to the watch in the middle of the day was, perhaps, not the greatest idea. We immediately attracted a group of disgruntled citizens who were itching for a fight, though some words from Zannry and Joe calmed them to the point to let us get to the watch.
While resting at Vanderboren Manor we received a letter from The Lady Lotus inviting us to a meeting in the guildhall. Obviously it was a trap, but we decided to proceed anyway…perhaps catch the Guild master in a trap of our own. Unfortunately some in the party were not of the mindset that we should remain at full strength.
Once we entered the Guildhall some members of the group decided to explore a tunnel rather than set an ambush of our own. Once the group crossed the water and landed on the beach. I stayed back to watch our rear when suddenly I hear the sounds of combat. We were being attacked by what looked like three huge spiders. I managed to drop one with the assistance of Sareena, however the rest of the party had been dropped as well. I drank a healing potion to recover some of my health; as soon as I finished it Sareena was on the ground as well. I had the horrible realization that I was the only party member conscious, or so I thought. I was about ready to make a run for it, when I saw Zannry struggle free of a spider and withdraw he wand of healing. I could not let him remain their alone so a continued my attack, attempting to draw the attention of the spiders. I spider lunged at me and all went black.
My next memory was Zannry standing over me, with a wand in his hand. He used it a few more times to fully heal me and the party went to the dining hall as instructed by the letter we received. In the hall was another letter telling us to proceed to another room, as we piled into the room I cant help but to keep my eyes open and prepared to draw an arrow at a moments notice.
I must remember to stay more at the rear of the group, not only for their safety, but for mine as well. I am not a brash as this group and will probably have to bail them out again.
Friday, October 20
This session deserved a title. I call it...
The Heroes Get Their Asses Kicked by a Zombie
A quick recap.
25 Goodmonth (Near Midday)
The party met the Lady Lotus/Lady Dragon, her actual name was Rowyn (no last provided). She praised the adventuring party's resourcefulness, strength of arms, and tactics. She wanted them to come work for her to rebuild the Lotus Dragons and make it even stronger. She promised positions of power, incredible wages, and benefits to extend to thier families. She warned that at that moment they were dealing with the Lotus and not to wake her inner Dragon that was still enraged over the mess they had made of her guild. In the end, the party said, "No deal. Let's see that dragon you were talking about."
Combat ensued and Rowyn and her crested fell drake, Gut Tugger, were killed and incapacitated, respectively, in a matter of moments. Joe and Sakeema were quick to see the value of taking the little dragon alive and taking it to the arena for Zelkarune's Horns to use.
Exploring the rest of the southern extremities of the guildhall, the party found evidence that The Lady Lotus had been frustrated by them for some time evidenced by thier names scrawled on a chalkboard with angry instruction for Vanthus to deal with them.
In another room the party ran into another rhagodessa which nearly killed Joe, but they prevailed.
In the next room, they encountered a bugbear zombie with a wooden shield and a morningstar. As soon as Joe and Sareena forced the door open, the undead guard nailed the little halfling in the head with its morningstar. It got the jump on her before she reacted and nailed her again, dropping her to the ground unconscious and bleeding out.
Long story short, it did the same to Athearis, busted out teeth, broke noses, and split cheeks open in others, and basically gave the party a really, really tough fight. Whereas, Rowynn never landed a blow on any of them, the bugbear zombie beat the crap out of the adventurers, leaving its hamfisted mark on every one of them. But in the end, the party finally landed enough blows to down the undead thing.
After that, it was all pilfering and looting Rowyn's chambers and discovering her hidden treasure vault. Some notes discovered under Rowyn's matress were damning evidence that Vanthus had engineered his and Lavinia's parents' deaths and stolen nearly all of thier parents' wealth from the familiy vault. At present, he was traveling to a place called Kraken's Cover with someone named Brissa to do more murder to lay claim to a vague treasure of great worth.
Sareena bypassed one of the traps on the treasure vault, but her and Zannry later fell victim to the footlancer trap that was set on a delay. It was painful, but nowhere near fatal.
They found the remains of Lavinia's family savings stashed in one of the chests there, which they decided they would return to her intact inspite some protestations otherwise. They also found enough loot in another chest to satisfy their mounting greed at the sight of so much coin.
Gathering up all of the loot they had claimed, they headed out of the Lotus Dragon Guildhall, leaving it spattered in blood and devoid of any signs of life.
The last two gaming sessions included:
“If the log rolls over we will, we will die.” Memories returning back to an old bed time story my father told me. There was much to his lessons in being scared of things that was about the unknown. People seemed to get easily frightened. I suppose it is in our nature to fear what we don’t understand. As I continued to carry the unconscious woman along with my fellow adventurers it was apparent the local citizens were a bit apprehensive to my way of thinking even though I spoke openly what our intentions were with these rogues. All continued to gather together they inevitably as a whole will learn for themselves that our intentions were truly noble giving way to any more future intents of instability. But then again I hope I am not in a place where I have to carry an unconscious woman to the local authority. It was interesting how when people see something evil in a person, even though totally innocent it has become apparent that it is within them is where evil is. So I suppose I am nothing more than a mirror of innocence reflecting the evil with in those who surround me.
Finally returning to the Manor House it was good to get a good days rest with meal. I couldn’t tell if the Lady was pleased or not with our actions but it was apparent she was taking out a lot of frustration upon whatever training bag she was banging on in the adjoining room. Interesting thing is what is a Lotus Dragon? Well inevitably we did get a suspicious letter from the one such person or persons to return to the guild by the next mid day. It was obviously a trap.
With some foresight we took it upon ourselves to leave early, seeing if there was anything else of note to take into consideration pertaining to the remainder of the guild. Try to enter through the secret entrance below the docks turned out to be bust since whatever aquatic creature there was guarding the door took it upon itself to eat holes through our newly acquired rented boat.We went down through the hidden passages inside one of the abandoned houses. Perhaps it was a bit foolish to search out the adjoining sea cave but we had three hours to explore before we have a meeting with the Lotus Dragon. I was a bit surprised to run into three most vicious arachnids of great size and speed. For certain death would soon be upon us all and thank all that is holy for the brave Bard who took it upon himself while in the throngs of combat to heal me with the wand of light curing. The tides eventually turned back in our favor as the group as a whole was slowly restored and the large spidery creatures diminished to the abyss in which they truly belong.
Inevitably we restored our selves from our injuries and continued on to the dining area in which the letter had spoken of only to be greeted by another letter welcoming us there. Besides a few tankards of ale left for our behalf in which all who were in the party abstained we then were addressed to go to a near by room where in side we saw a bald headed woman with some reptilian creature beside her. In conversation with this Lotus Woman I was surprised to see that she actually wanted to hire us on as her henchmen to further her cause. Her cause was with no doubt vain for power and wealth not unlike any other megalomaniac, pschitsophrenic, narcissistic, messiah complex person filed with wild dreams of vile darkness. Inevitably the party as a whole abstained by her request and after pouring out her guts about her dreams of power I was pretty well assured that her boasting in and of itself would give her away. The small dragon at her side was quickly dispatched to kill me as she took it upon her self to make a few stabs at the remainder of the group. Eventually the combination of abilities of our group terminated the life of the Lotus Woman and was able to subdue the little dragon as a prize to the people who manage the arena. Moving through the corridors we stumbled upon a room filled with all forms of documents and information pertaining to the goals of the Lotus Dragon as well as those in my company who were apparently listed to be terminated.
Moving on we stumbled upon a room which was protected by one of those large spider creatures. It took a bit of time to finally dispatch the creature with some help from the remainder of the group. I must confess it was a little bit of a sticked wicked though. As being put between a rock and a hard place. It was a bit troubling when not all of the party was able to assist in the fighting off of this dreaded creature but inevitably we succeeded. (great tactics to the writer and the DM for this scenario).
Moving on we entered through a long corridor only to open the door to a large sized undead. It seemed to take forever to fight this abomination it seemed whatever spirit that had filled me with the ability to strike killing blows against my enemies, had apparently left for a time. Many moments passed by and with all magic’s depleted by the party we were hard pressed to the point we needed to with draw back to get to a more tactical fighting position. Yet even then I was unable to hit the broad side of a barn. The group as a whole also seemed to be lacking the ability to put the hurt on the vile creature. Moments seemed to pass for minutes and my sword arm was getting tired, when finally the monster dropped to the floor never to raise its ungodly paws against any one again.
Pressing on we entered what appeared to be the inner chambers of the Lotus Dragon as well as the sleeping quarters of Vanthus. It appeared the both were very intimate in there relationships in light of some of the wickedness they were doing to increase the size of their unholy empire. Eventually we managed to discover quite condemning information about Vanthus and some of Levinias treasure plus a few perks. We then concluded for the night.
From the journal of Vastiago Calibre, known as "Id" Wizard 2/Shadowcaster 1 (Best if read with an Eastern European accent)
I believe our original intent in descending in to the Lotus Dragon’s guild was to locate Vanthus. We never found him but we did find quite a few cutpurses, which we easily dispatched. We also found the leader of the Lotus Dragons, Rowyn Kellani, and her pet, Gut Tugger. She offered us employment under her leadership. I may be considered unscrupulous by some but I hold true to my word….most of the time. Besides, I have a motto, “Never employ someone, or become employed by someone, that is capable of more evil than yourself.” I’m sure my companions at least partially expected me to be the one to accept her invitation. They still do not trust me….it is a mutual feeling.
As I was saying, we did not locate Vanthus but the expedition was not without its profits. Aside from recovering a large sum of Lavinia’s money we have also located some to take for ourselves as well as a few treasures that appear to be magical. This will be most helpful as I build my library and alchemical laboratory. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that we found some notes that may prove useful in our search for Vanthus. *sigh* I grow tired of this search for Vanthus. Still, working for Lavinia has its….advantages.
Shortly after meeting with Lavinia to return her belongings and provide updates on Vanthus I excused myself and left to meet with an acquaintance. I decided to bring a gift this time, a very large scorpion mounted in a most impressive pose I had purchased from the taxidermist’s guildhall just before heading down in to the Lotus Dragon’s guildhall.
I guess the gift worked. Either that or he was tired of turning me away and instead decided to see what it was I wanted. We spoke at length about a great many things. I let him know that my visits were purely scholarly; I simply wanted to learn about him, his family’s history, the history of Sasserine, and his views on life, religion, magic, anything.
The meeting turned out to be worth so much more than I had originally planned. Sometime during our conversation he became interested in my arcane studies. I spoke in depth about where my studies were and where they were going. After this he mentioned he had a book I may be interested in. We went to his study where he pulled a very large, black leather bound book from a chest in the closet. He said he was never able to decipher the contents of the book as it looked more like spilled ink to him although he could sense there was something more to it.
When he pulled the book out from the chest I could sense the power emanating from it, a power I could not place nor understand. My hands were shaking as I opened the tome. I saw, as he described, what looked like spilled ink. But I saw something more. It looked like the words were alive, moving, casting what appeared to be shadow on the pages themselves! Wonderful! What secret does this book hold, waiting for me to unlock? I had to know.
Seeing the anticipation written clearly on my face he offered me the book as a token of friendship. He reasoned that he could gain nothing from it….and it may keep me away for awhile (this said with a smile, of course).
A few days have gone by and my studying of the book had been fruitless…..until last night. I was in deep study of the book, attempting to discern it’s contents. I had finally given up for the evening when, in anger, I blew the candles out. I was about to move to my bed when I saw something. In the deepest of shadows that is night, when no light touched the pages, the ink began to glow. It swirled and eddied, finally coalescing in to runes. I licked my lips in anticipation. Though I could not yet comprehend the language I was already attempting to decipher the script.
After many hours, using a combination of ciphers and my Read Magic spells I was able to get a rudimentary understanding of the words. As I began to read the book I saw shadows moving just outside of my vision. Though it was dark as pitch in the room I saw the shadows moving. Slowly, comprehension of the writing was coming to me. I began to read about Shadow, how it is a part of everything, and, most importantly, how to draw power from it to fuel magic. As I continued studying the text over the next few days I gained a basic understanding of how shadow magic works and have gained a few new powers. I shall continue to study this new arcane mystery.
This is an exciting time for me. Such power has not been seen in these lands for a long time….and I will be its master! In the mean time I will continue my employment with Lavinia. We should be setting off in search of Vanthus very soon. And this book shall come with me.....as will the Shadow.
Cool post, Savaun. And to Steve--thanks for indirectly giving me a tip on how to introduce a new and unusual arcane spellcasting class into the campaign world.
Cool post, Savaun. And to Steve--thanks for indirectly giving me a tip on how to introduce a new and unusual arcane spellcasting class into the campaign world.
The idea was Rob's (aka Savaun's), so I can only take credit for making it work within the context of the campaign. Thanks for the nice comment.
Cool post, Savaun. And to Steve--thanks for indirectly giving me a tip on how to introduce a new and unusual arcane spellcasting class into the campaign world.
Thanks! I have to give thanks to Steve for a great campaign in which Im able to play such a fun and colorful character. I have a lot of fun writing about Id.
Damn! I just noticed my last journal entry was dated Goodmonth again. What the crap, man? It's like Groundhog Day or something. It should have read 25 Harvester. Sheesh! ::Slaps forehead::
Friday, October 27
Dan and Paul were unable to make it this week and did not send us thier characters to run, so they were ghosted out this week.
25 Harvester - 2 Ready'Reat, 596 CY
The party made thier report to Lavinia Vanderboren and enjoyed a few days of respite while Lavinia procured a small sailing vessel for the party to make the trip down the coast to Blood Bay and thence to Kraken's Cove.
During that time, the group was treated to a heroe's feast and ball held in Castle Teraknian once the full import of the service they had provided Sasserine was made known. Each of the party members was awarded the Spire of Sasserine, a heroe's medal of honor, for the deeds they had done. Id seemed to be quite friendly with Lord Lidu as if they knew each other before this event, but none of his comrades questioned him about his association with the Council member.
The group spent the rest of thier time purchasing and selling things while they could before they had to leave the city.
3 Ready'Reat, 596 CY
The weather was starting to cool a bit when the party was ready to go after Vanthus again. Joe and Athearis stayed in Sasserine after hearing a rumor of a woman matching Rowyn Kellani's description washing up on the shore near the Kellani estate. They decided to keep an eye on the noble family to see if they were connected to thier daughter's criminal activity. They had also heard that since Rowyn's death and her activites being revealed to the council, the Kellanis were none to pleased with the party.
So, as the sun rose, the rest of the party with the addition of a half-orc monk that had convinced the group to let him come a long to settle his own affairs with Vanthus, set off on a small sailing vessel owned by a young merchant marine that was friends with Lavinia.
The sun was going down to the west as they neared Blood Bay. Another couple hours and they began navigating Kraken's Cove. All around them, the jungle was alive with screaches, yowls, and the sounds of animals fighting. A few dead carcasses could be seen near the shore where the surrounding cliffs descended to steep, rocky beaches.
Suddenly, a group of twisted, sore-covered monkeys with mutated appendages and other abnormalities flopped down on to the deck from some overhanging trees. It was dark, so the first warning they had of the feral little creatures was when the deck lanterns revealed their presence.
The creatures attacked the party savagely. The boat's captain and Sareena both suffered bite wounds, but Sareena's wound quickly festered and spread in dark rashes and ugly spurs jutting out of her skin. The monkeys were dealt with, but Sareena had obviously contracted whatever they had. Also, the 2 that Gradick, the half-orc, didn't simply grab and throw from the boat, that were killed on the deck, turned into puddles of acidic goo when they were killed that then dried to powder.
There was talk of throwing her overboard to keep it from spreading, which Sareena became incensed over. She seemed to be feverish and not thinking as quickly or clearly as she was, but was otherwise in control of her faculties and quite irate at the lack of loyalty her companions showed.
The group sailed on into the narrowing inlet and by late evening began to see a bright flickering light up ahead. As the rounded a high cliff, Kraken's Cover finally came into view.
The flickering light came from several large and small ships burning down to the water line at the far end of the cave where a beach and a couple of caves were. Another ship was moored near the beach and had survived the flames consuming the other vessels.
The group helped the captain navigate their boat near the cliffs on the northern side of the cove where a wooden walkway descended from the heights down to the beach. They weighed anchor as close to the cliff as possible with the mast close to the wooden walkway. They then climbed the mast and used the walkway to get to the beach, thereby avoiding the flames that posed a danger to thier boat.
On the beach, nearly a score of sailors lay scattered about, mangled and ripped apart in some horrific battle. Bits of cargo from the burning ships apparently had been rifled through or destroyed as well.
As the party started to make their way to the nearest cave, a couple of horribly mutated sailors rose up from feasting on the dead from behind some crates. Spotting the party, they shouted, "Fresh meat! Gimme!" They charged at the group and began attacking.
During the fight the marine, a saucy darkskinned half-elf/half-Olman woman, was wounded and began suffering the effects of the same disease Sareena was afflicted with. The savage pirates were killed, but when they suddenly exploded in a spray of acid, they burned most of the party that had surrounded them.
Onward into the caves, the party turned to the left when they came to a branching tunnel. Inside a large cave they came upon a horrific scene. Two mutated pirates waited as another mutant pirate in a cook's outfit cut portions of a dead sailor with a cleaver and served the bloody, dripping cutlets to them on dirty metal plates.
When the cook spotted the group entering the cave at the far southern end, he pointed and shouted, "Look boys! Fresh meat!" The 3 of them ran over to feast on the adventurers' flesh. However, the three of them were never able to bring all of thier force to bear against the party in the choke point, Gradick the half-orc positioned himself in. With Zannry behind him keeping him healed with his curing wand and the others making ranged attacks, the 3 mutant pirates were dropped with the same acidic end as the others.
URGH!!! So I get bitten by this oversized,deformed, two headed monkey and all of a sudden I have sores popping up everywhere! Normal day conversations seem like math equations. And then Id keeps talking about throwing me overboard. I may just throw him overboard if I hear that mentioned again. Will someone PLEASE, STOP THE ITCHING!!! I hate deformed monkies. I'm not fond of ID either!
Friday, November 3
I guess it's official that we have another player. Andrea, Rob's wife, has taken up our hobby and is running Colombia, an elven marine that has provided transportation to Kraken's Cove on her sailboat as a favor for Lavinia Vanderboren.
This entry is going to be very short. No, really. It actually is.
3 Ready'Reat, 596 CY
The party investigated the charnel room the savage pirates and the mutant cook had occupied prior to their arrival. They found nothing of value or of help to them. As they were about to exit back the way they came, a sore-covered little creature the size of a halfling that looked like a racoon/monkey hybrid launched itself from the shadows high up in an adjoining tunnel and attacked Colombia, the marine that had joined them.
The creature kept gibbering about stuffing its mouth with their sweet flesh, but only managed to land a couple quick blows with its kukri. The party killed it and it blew up into a puddle of acid. Nobody was too hurt from the encounter.
They returned to their sailboat and rested up for the remainder of the night.
3 Ready'Reat, 596 CY (pre-dawn)
During Gradik's watch, a rowboat came paddling into the cove. It turned out to be Athearis and Joe who had been unable to procure any other transport on short notice other than a four-man skiff.
When the party re-united, Joe and Athearis told them that they had reason to believe Rowyn Kallani had been raised from the dead by her rich family. They caught wind of a rumor that she was looking for revenge on the Rusty Raiders for what they had done and believed that the others were in danger.
The rest of the party had not seen her. They brought the other two party members up to date on what had transpired since leaving Sasserine. They all rested up until sunup.
Later in the morning the group boarded the ship that had survived the conflagration that had consumed the others. There, they found evidence of battle (blood, chipped wood, spent crossbow bolts, etc.). They also found a group of four savage sailors in the hold that attacked them. The party had some difficulty negotiating a combat within such cramped quarters, but ended up slaying the creatures without much harm taken.
This entry is going to be very short. No, really. It actually is.
3 Ready'Reat, 596 CY
The party investigated the charnel room the savage pirates and the mutant cook had occupied prior to their arrival. They found nothing of value or of help to them. As they were about to exit back the way they came, a sore-covered little creature the size of a halfling that looked like a racoon/monkey hybrid launched itself from the shadows high up in an adjoining tunnel and attacked Colombia, the marine that had joined them.
Sheew! I'm tired this fighting is hard work!
Wow. Thank you guys for the wonderful stories. I like Id, though he doesn't write much. Joe annoyed me at first, but he has grown to my fave character. The others need to write more about them :).
Dracons, it would sure be nice if the rest of the group would post, too. I'm in total agreement. Real life seems to be getting in the way right now for some of them. For the rest... just plain laziness.
Well I was hoping that putting the Lotus Dragon lady in the water would leave a message for all those thinking about doing bad things against the Rusty Raiders seemed to have back fired. Now it turns out she comes from a prominant noble family and to make matters worse is that she has been resurrected. What was worse is when I asked my mom how do I go about seeking a womans favor, I thought she was going to have a heart attack. She just stood there in total disbelief. I tryed to explain to her that it was a simple friendship thing with the Lady Lavinia. It seemed the more I spoke of it she began to get a bit flushed and eventually left the room. I'm so embarased well I left some fo my findings to help her with whatever needs she may have for my brothers and sisters and of course to help in my sister and dad missing.
In spite of this Vanthus thing I really have been missing my dad and sister. Looks like Me and Athearus are going to have to catch up with the rest of the Rusty Raiders and post pone any attempts to further my freindship with the good Lady Lavinia. May be I should ask Athearius about how a guy trys to further his friendship with another woman. Hmmmm, nah she will probably just thunk me over the head with that club she carries. I have never met a woman so bent on vengence, sheesh. She reminds me of my mom before giving birth to Amy the youngest of my family. Mom had this constant need for the weirdest of foods. LOL I remeber when she took my dad by his lower lip and pulled it till it bleed and screamed I need some Ice Scream! Dad was all over Sasserine searching for Ice cream. Good thing cause it was that day my sister was born. Gosh I miss my dad.
Gosh I'm such a dolt. Although it took enough hits from those nasty pirates to realize I need to tell my Uncle about the misfortunes of ticking off one of the local nobles. (Rolls eyes back. I can just hear my Uncle now; "You should take better care on the people you deal with, you may never know what long term effect it will have on the business." I just love when he calls it "The Business". He speaks like he has a wad of paper inside both sides of his cheaks. Then wipping his farhead with his engraved hankerchef. Ya know life seemed alot easier before I became a paladin of Zilchus. Oh well my cousin warned me of such things. I better check up on Marcus as well he's pretty smart and all being a Cleric of Zilchus. Well back to the fight. How many more of those acid bleeding pirates are there?
It is I, everyone's favorite bard. I have not been feeling myself as of late though. I feel that this adventuring thing is not for me. I thought it was, but the more I leave home, and the futher I get from it, the more I want to go back. These friends I have made are great, for the most part, and so leaving them is going to be hard. Maybe I should just take off and not let them know I am going. That will probably be the best, I will just, borrow the little row boat that brought my two friends and that will be the last they see of dear Zanrry... unless of course they happen to find me in Sasserine, but I do not believe they will be looking very hard. I wonder if I can get my old gig back, if not I will have to find something else, maybe work with a certain noble... hmmmm....