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It’s me again… We’re actually playing two campaigns in parallel. The first one is the Savage Tide campaign posted under “Belessa’s Journal”. And this past weekend, we also started Rise of the Runelords! Woohoo!
I am DM’ing this one, so I can be more thorough in my log than in the Savage Tide one. :)
Here are the characters:
Navan Attaway (CG Male Varisian Rogue) – Worships Calistria
S 8 D 16 C 12 I 14 W 14 Ch 14
5’10”, Thin, Age 28, Long brown hair, brown eyes, always looks like he needs a shave, wears a poncho and a cool hat.
Ruh (NG Female Gnome Wizard (Conjuror)) – Worships Sarenrae and Nethys
S 8 D 16 C 16 I 16 W 10 Ch 10
3’3”, Age 66, Brown hair, blue eyes, dresses like a gipsy.
Drithnar (NG Male Half-Orc Ranger) – Worships Desna
S 18 D 14 C 14 I 10 W 14 Ch 6
6’3”, 280lbs, Age 22, Short black hair, dark gray skin, yellow eyes, tusks protruding from lower jaw. Dressed in brown studded leather with a leather helm.
Kerista Vigandir (LG Female Human Paladin) – Worships Sarenrae
S 16 D 12 C 14 I 8 W 14 Ch 14
5’10”, 170lbs, Age 18, Long dark hair, brown eyes, attractive but a bit on the heavy side, wears black studded leather armor.
Note: Navan is planning on leveling as a Cleric starting at level 2 (or else we’d have no healer and this would be a very short campaign :) ).
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Fireday, Rova 19th, 4707
The caravan
A small caravan of three wagons was slowly making its way west, toward the town of Sandpoint. They had left a remote outpost of woodsmen, rangers and Desna-worshipping priests about ten days ago. Despite the offerings they’d made to Desna before leaving, the trip had been arduous, mostly due to the heavy rains that had made the paths muddy. Just yesterday, one of the wagons had gotten deeply stuck in mud, and it had been a difficult and dirty task to get it out of there. Now, all of the travelers were quite eager to reach Sandpoint, wash up and spend a night in a warm, comfortable bed.
But Navan Attaway didn’t complain. A Varisian treasure-hunter in his late twenties, he was used to the harsh life of a traveler. He had been in Sandpoint before, about six years ago. He’d left it rather hastily at the time, because he’d gotten involved with a local girl named Solrana Vigandir, and then dumped her, and her two big brothers had wanted to beat him up. But surely that unfortunate incident would be forgotten by now…
Navan’s companion Ruh, a gnome wizardess who was dressed like a tiny Varisian gipsy, was looking forward to visiting Sandpoint. A scholar and an avid explorer of Varisia, she was always eager to find “new” “old ruins” (Navan often chuckled at the oxymoron) of Thassilonian origin. She’d heard that such a ruin called the Old Light lay near Sandpoint, and she’d been bugging Navan for a long time to go and take a look at it. They’d been traveling together for more than two years, for protection, and because they both shared ancient knowledge and that passion for exploration.
Right now, Ruh was driving the last wagon of the convoy. The first one carried four rugged-looking Varisian men who were returning to Sandpoint. Their leader, a colorful character named Jubrayl Vhiski, had apparently purchased a very important item at the ranger outpost. The nature of this item had, of course, remained a secret. The second wagon contained a Varisian couple, and one of their relatives.
While Ruh was driving, Navan was dozing inside the wagon, along with their third companion, a massive half-orc ranger named Drithnar. The two men had been drinking late in the night while they were “standing watch” the previous night.
During the trip, Ruh and Navan had grown quite close to the ranger. Drithnar was an orphan who’d been found on the steps of the Sandpoint church about 22 years ago. He’d been taken in by the kind town priests, and raised in the Turandarok academy. Of course, his childhood had been awkward at times, because he was shunned by some people due to his unsightly appearance, but overall, the people of Sandpoint treated him fairly and kindly. But about six years ago, Drithnar left Sandpoint to follow his wanderlust and explore the wilderness. He’d been trained by a skilled elven ranger named Shalelu Andosana, and he planned on seeking her out after he’d rested for a few days in Sandpoint.
But as the previous day’s evening wore on and he got drunker, Drithnar also revealed to Navan that he had a special reason for returning to Sandpoint: as a teenager, he’d fallen madly in love with an incredibly beautiful woman named Nualia. She was an Aasimar with silver hair and purple eyes, also an orphan like him. Although she was a few years older than him, they’d been raised by the same people and went to the same school, although of course she never seemed to notice Drithnar very much, as she seemed to be burdened by the problems that her own unusual appearance and origin brought upon her. One day, Drithnar had finally found the resolve to reveal his true feelings to Nualia, but at the last moment, he realized that she’d already fallen in love with someone else: Drithnar’s best mate, a clever, charismatic and handsome young Varisian named Delek.
Drithnar was overcome with feelings of jealousy, which only increased in intensity over the following weeks, and culminated to a crisis when he learned a few months later that Nualia had fallen pregnant. That night, Drithnar felt an unusually strong rage seethe inside his mind; but he heroically manage to keep it under control, and to prevent himself from hurting any of the people he cared about, he fled Sandpoint in secret that same night. The thought of being near Delek or anyone who was linked to Nualia was by then unbearable.
But over the past six years, Drithnar had matured and now saw these past events in perspective. Though he was still haunted every night by visions of the beautiful Nualia, he knew that their union could never be. He was just a foul creature by nature, and had no business being with a woman as beautiful and as pure as her. And he was now happy for Nualia and for his old friend Delek; he wished them only the best and was looking forward to seeing them again in Sandpoint, along with their kids.
The ambush
Further down the road, the way was blocked by a massive fallen tree. A deep forest lay to the left, and a wide river flowed to the right. As some of Jubrayl’s men were getting down from the first wagon to go examine the fallen tree, a few men climbed over it, and drew some weapons menacingly. They were dirty and their gear was in a bad shape: they were obviously bandits. Their leader, a short bearded Chelaxian man, looked at the travelers and grinned wickedly.
“Well, well, what have we here? Some of that Varisian scum. You’re obviously experienced travelers, so I’m sure you know the drill. You put all your valuables down here, and we won’t kill you.”
Then it was Jubrayl’s turn to grin. He replied in common, with a heavy Varisian accent.
“That is very good proposal. Unfortunately, I am afraid I need to ask you to… How you say in Common? Ah, yes… Go f*** yourself.”
And with this, the battle started. Ruh shouted for Navan and Drithnar to come out of the wagon. She cast an orb of cold at a running bandit. Drithnar came out of the back of the wagon, shouting a battle-cry, and buried his battle-axe deep inside a bandit’s chest. Navan, hiding behind the curtain at the back of a wagon, aimed his crossbow carefully at a brigand who was trying to attack Drithnar from behind, and shot him in the eye, killing him instantly. He then came out of the wagon and took a look at the situation.
Jubrayl and his men were fighting a group of bandits at the front of the caravan. The merchants in the second wagon were fighting two more bandits, and there were two archers in the trees, who were firing on them. Around that time, Ruh and Navan both got badly wounded by some of those archer’s arrows, but they also managed to take down both of the swordsmen who were attacking the second wagon. Then they took cover under their own wagon, and from this covered position, Navan managed to shoot down one of the archers hiding in a tree. Drithnar spotted the other one, ran up to his tree, climbed it with great agility, and buried his axe deeply into the surprised man’s skull, felling him in one blow.
Then the fight was over. Jubrayl’s men had also been victorious, though one of their numbers was dead, and another was badly wounded. The two merchant women were also badly wounded, as were Ruh and Navan. With no healers in the caravan, it was obvious that they had even more reason to reach Sandpoint soon. Jubrayl, speaking in Varisian (which everyone except Drithnar understood) congratulated everyone for a good fight, and led the way in the age-old Varisian tradition of honoring the dead souls by relieving them from the burden of their material possessions. Mostly coin…Navan smirked, because Drithnar had told him previously that he strongly suspected Jubrayl and his men to be part of the Sczarni, an organization of Varisian thugs operating in Sandpoint.
Starday, Rova 20th, 4707
Arrival in Sandpoint
The next day, around mid-afternoon, the weary travelers finally arrived in sight of the beautiful town of Sandpoint. As they passed the mirror and the welcome sign, they noticed that it read: “Welcome to Sandpoint! Please stop to see yourself as we see you.” They indeed stopped, and Drithnar took a few moments to look at his ugly mug in the mirror. He then asked his reflection in a threatening voice: “You talkin’ to me? Are you talkin’ to me???”
They entered from the North gate, and beheld the magnificent new cathedral. Drithnar was very surprised to see it, as well as all of the new constructions in the north part of town. He wondered why all those buildings had been rebuilt since he left. Ruh was also very excited to see, in the distance, the silhouette of the Old Light, though she felt too tired and hurt at the moment to go examine it just yet.
The three wagons then separated, having different destinations within town. They bid each other farewell for now, knowing they’d run into each other again in town anyway. Drithnar led his companions south through the streets of Sandpoint toward their destination: the Rusty Dragon inn. This is where they had to deliver their cargo. The town was busy, with many villagers walking the streets. There was an atmosphere of elation in the air. The strange trio attracted a few looks, but not that many: people of Sandpoint were used to seeing many different kinds of travelers.
The Late Unpleasantness
Finally, the wagon came to a stop in front of the Rusty Dragon. The innkeeper came out with a few servants to help the characters unload the goods. She was a beautiful, exotic-looking petite woman with a strange twin-pigtailed hairdo. She welcomed the characters and introduced herself as Ameiko Kaijitsu. Navan and Ruh had never seen such a woman, nor heard such a name before, in all their travels. While Drithnar and the servants continued to unload the goods, Ameiko brought Navan and Ruh inside and offered them some drinks.
Noticing their wounds, the charismatic innkeeper asked them about their trip, but as the two were somewhat tired and tight-lipped, she did most of the talking. She told them about the next day’s Swallowtail Festival to inaugurate the newly built cathedral. Seeing that they didn’t know much about Sandpoint, Ameiko told them the tale of the Late Unpleasantness that had plagued the town five years ago, how the serial killer named Chopper had killed 25 of the villagers (including Ameiko’s own mother), and the Church’s burning had led to the building of this new cathedral.
Drithnar was by then at the table with them, and was surprised to hear that such dire events had happened mere weeks after his departure (actually, after he thought about it some more, Chopper’s murders happened mere days after his departure…). Ameiko informed him that Father Tobyn, the local priest, and his adopted daughter Nualia had perished in the Church’s fire, and Drithnar’s eyes widened in shock. His fist clenched around his ale mug. He started to shake. It was as if his whole world was crumbling around him like a house of cards. Ameiko also revealed that Nualia had suffered a miscarriage not long before the fire, and that her lover Delek had left her behind as soon as he’d heard she was pregnant, and hadn’t been since in Sandpoint since then. This was too much for Drithnar. He excused himself in a choked voice, and rushed out of the inn. Ruh, concerned for her friend, ran out after him.
By then, a small crowd of villagers had gathered around Ameiko and Navan’s table, because Ameiko had a lot of flair for story-telling. Navan still felt some goose bumps from her tale of Chopper’s rampage. In a whisper, she also told Navan what she’d been afraid to reveal to the already distraught Drithnar: a rumor that Nualia’s stillborn child had been horribly deformed, despite both of his parent’s healthy good looks.
Navan also learned that Ameiko had lived as an adventurer for about a year, and guessed from her appearance and charisma that she was skilled as a Bard. That career choice had not sat well with Ameiko’s father, a strict, no-nonsense businessman who was the head of one of Sandpoint’s four ruling merchant families, and the owner of the local glassmaking factory.
Missed opportunity
Later in the evening, Ruh and Drithnar ate at the Rusty Dragon. The companions had all rented rooms there for the night. Drithnar had recovered his spirits somewhat, but was still under the shock of realizing that the woman he’d loved for a decade, and whom he’d pictured as happily living with his best friend for the past six years, had actually been dead for most of that time.
Ruh tried to cheer him up during the meal, without much success. However, at some point, Drithnar did get his spirits lifted a little bit: he got distracted by the sight of a gorgeous, scantily-clad woman walking across the inn’s main room. She had long white hair, and her skin was covered in strange blue tattoos. Drithnar was staring at her like an idiot, with his mouth hanging open. The beautiful woman sat down at a table next to them, and started talking with her companions: a ruggedly handsome man drinking from an ornate silver mug; a tall, thin white-haired elven woman dressed in leather; and a tan-skinned woman dressed in outlandish, flowing robes, and carrying a scimitar at her belt. They obviously looked like adventurers.
The four wondered out loud whether they should stay in Sandpoint or look for adventure elsewhere. It seemed to them that Sandpoint was just too quiet to have any possibility of adventure for them. Eventually, the beautiful tattooed woman flipped a coin, and fate told them to seek their fortunes elsewhere. They decided to leave the following morning.
“But what if this town gets attacked? Who will defend it?” asked the tan-skinned woman.
“Do not worry, friend Kyra. I’m sure someone else will step up to the opportunity,” said the tattooed woman with a smile.
:)
Great-grand-aunt Niska
Meanwhile, Navan had gone to visit his 92-year-old great-grand-aunt, Niska Mvashti. He found her in her ancient manor, and she invited him for dinner. She was stooped with age, and walked around with a cane, with some difficulty. But her mind still seemed sharp. She healed Navan’s arrow wound with a spell; from what he knew, she was an old shaman of their people.
She gave him more information about the town. Sandpoint had been built 42 years ago by four ruling families, the Kaijitsus (glassmakers), the Scarnettis (logging), the Valdemars (ship builders), and the Deverins (farmers and brewers). She spat as she spoke of the Scarnetti, who had caused much trouble to the Varisians over the years. Overall, Niska seemed quite set in her ways, and not too fond of anyone who wasn’t a Varisian. And unlike Ameiko, who had told the tale of the Late Unpleasantness with some obvious emotional attachment to those who had perished, Niska talked about it all in a very manner-of-fact tone, as if she didn’t care much about the other citizens of Sandpoint.
After dinner was over, Niska read the Tarot cards for young Navan. Three cards in particular came out with a strong omen:
- Temperance: “You must use temperance to overcome the obstacles that lie ahead of you. Do not blindly follow your foolhardy instincts, but rather, be very careful and deliberate.”
- The Prince of Pentacles: “The greatest enemy that lies before you is a young, somewhat foolish man. He is rich, perhaps of noble blood. He has done, or will do something that will bring you misery, though perhaps he will not do it voluntarily.”
- Justice: “This represents a secret ally that will manifest itself in your future. This person is an agent of justice, someone with a pure heart. A woman, I think. But she is blind; she needs someone to direct her judgment. You can be her eyes. And you can count on her.”
Navan questioned her more about the Late Unpleasantness, and she said she didn’t know what the bird-faced idol found under Chopper’s house represented, but reminded him that there were countless mysteries in the Varisian land, dating back to the old empires. For example, nobody knew for sure the origin of the seven standing stones at the center of the town’s cathedral.
Talking more about Chopper, Navan learned that a local girl had gone insane after seeing her mother being murdered by the serial killer. She had been sent to an asylum by her family, but had recently returned to Sandpoint and, strangely enough, entered the city guard. Niska didn’t remember her name, but said she was easy to recognize: she was the only female guard, and wielded a massive Earthbreaker. Ironically, she’d been very close to Mr. Stoot (the man later known as “Chopper’) before he killed her mother. Perhaps she had some insight on what strange cult he might have been part of.
Navan then bid his grandmother good-night and went to sleep at the inn.
Sunday, Rova 21st 4707
The Swallowtail Festival
The companions slept late the next morning, despite being woken up early by the church’s loud bells. When they went down to have a quick breakfast, they saw that the ground floor of the Rusty Dragon was a flurry of frantic activity. Cooks and servants were preparing food and decorations to be brought to the festival square near the cathedral. Ameiko, dressed in a splendid green and gold gown, was directing them like a general leading an army.
A bit before noon, the three characters went to pick up Madam Mvashti (she’d asked for Navan’s help to walk her there). She reluctantly healed Ruh’s wound, as though she didn’t seem to approve of her nephew’s choice of non-human companions.
It was a warm, sunny day. The festival square was beautifully decorated, and several long tables were set, with the local tavern keepers and innkeepers and their staff setting up the food and plates for lunch. Sweet aromas filled the air, and the sound of laughing children was everywhere, as the little ones were running around, playing.
The sounds of merriment died down as Mayor Kendra Deverin walked up on stage and asked for everyone’s attention. She was a short-haired woman in her mid-thirties, with a shrewd, but kind look. She eloquently welcomed everyone to the feast, especially greeting the newcomers to Sandpoint. She talked about the cathedral and how it was designed as a tribute to Sandpoint’s six patron gods: Desna, Shelyn, Erastil, Abadar, Gozreh and Sarenrae, and how she hoped they would keep on watching over Sandpoint in the coming years. She also made a few inside-jokes that only locals understood.
Next on stage was Sheriff Belor Hemlock, a powerfully built Shoanti man dressed in a shining breastplate, armed with a longsword and a shield. In a deep, somber voice, he asked everyone to behave well and be mindful of the bonfire that would be lit in the evening. He also asked for a minute of silence for the souls of those who had perished during the Late Unpleasantness five years before. From the corner of her eyes, Ruh saw that Drithnar looked particularly grim as he thought of his beloved Nualia.
Then a tall, elegant man in his forties came up on stage. He had long salt-and-pepper hair, and a thin mustache. He introduced himself as Cyrdak Drokkus, owner of the Sandpoint theater. He spoke about the construction of the cathedral, and how it had been funded. His speech was mostly humoristic in nature, and he lifted the mood after the Sheriff’s sad reminders. Before leaving, Cyrdak also mentioned the “Harpy’s Curse” play, which would play most evenings of the following week at the Sandpoint theater, starring the wonderful diva from Magnimar, Allishanda.
Last on stage was the head of the Sandpoint cathedral, father Abstalar Zantus. Though priests of the six religions were present at the foot of the stage, those of Desna were the most numerous, and Zantus himself proudly wore her butterfly symbol attached to his cloak. Zantus was a middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and a short beard, and spoke in a gentle voice. He told the Fable of Desna, and invoked her blessing on the town and on today’s celebrations. Then he gestured to some of his acolytes, who brought forth a covered wagon, from which they freed thousands of beautiful Swallowtail butterflies, which flew up in all directions.
As children were running around, trying to catch the tiny creatures, a murmur came over the crowd when people noticed that four butterflies had landed on some of the onlookers: a good omen, as such people were thought to be blessed by Desna herself. Strangely, three of those people blessed were the companions: Navan, Drithnar and Ruh (who had the butterfly land on the tip of her nose). The fourth blessed person was a tall, shapely young woman with dark hair and a beautiful face. She was dressed in a tight-fitting suit of black studded leather armor, and wielded a heavy-looking earthbreaker over one shoulder. Navan noticed the insignia of the Sandpoint watch pinned to her armor, and immediately understood that she was the “crazy girl” that his great-grand-aunt had told him about. For a brief moment, Navan’s eyes met the young woman’s; she gave him a shy little smile, and looked away.
Father Zantus then announced, much to rumbling-stomach Drithnar’s relief, that the feast was now to start! The companions made their way among the various tables laden with goods from the various establishments. They sampled the White Deer’s peppercorn venison, and the Hagfish tavern’s lobster chowder. But the most popular dish was definitely the Rusty Dragon’s curry-spiced salmon. Drithnar devoured several plates full of the delicious dish by himself. Savoring her victory just as the townspeople were savoring her food, little Ameiko gave a very smug smile to the scowling owner of the White Deer inn, a large Shoanti man who bore a strong resemblance to Sheriff Hemlock.
The afternoon was pleasant. The characters met many townsfolk, talked and laughed. They heard lots of stories, including many rumors, ranging from the Sheriff’s secret love affair with the madam of the local brothel, to the tales of a terrible monster called the Sandpoint Devil, lurking around in the night, killing cattle and sometimes even people. Several times, Navan looked back toward the beautiful female guard. He thought she looked familiar, and later, he understood why: she stood with a group of people who seemed to be her family. He recognized one of the women in that group as his old flame, Solrana. She carried a baby in her arms, and another young child was hugging her legs.
As the sun was starting to set, the female guard came to greet the players. She introduced herself as Kerista Vigandir. She had a kind look in her eyes and seemed a little shy. With a smile, she welcomed Drithnar back to Sandpoint. The half-orc stared at her, surprised. Of all the people they’d met so far, she was the only one who remembered him. Ironically, he didn’t remember her. Kerista said she remembered him from school, but that they hadn’t played with each other because he was always with the older kids. She then turned to Navan and told him not to worry, that her sister didn’t remember him. This also surprised Navan: how could she remember him after all these years? He only very vaguely recalled that Solrana had a much younger sister, but he’d never paid her much attention, as she was barely more than a child back then. He guessed that she must now be around 18 years old. As he looked at her, he remembered what his great-grand-aunt had said about her insanity. While she didn’t sound like a raving lunatic, there was certainly something odd about her demeanor… She seemed to know more than she should, as if she had an unnaturally good memory and insight on people, and spoke in a very blunt and naive manner.
Their discussion was cut short by the ringing of bells marking the setting of the sun. They all turned toward the stage, where father Zantus was preparing another speech. He cleared his throat, but before he could speak, a commotion broke at the back of the crowd. A few screams erupted, and to their horror, the characters saw a stray dog getting its throat sliced by a small dark creature. A strange rhyme sung by high-pitched shrill voices filled the air, as a pack of goblins tore into the panicked crowd.
“Goblins chew and goblins bite.
Goblins cut and goblins fight.
Stab the dog and cut the horse,
Goblins eat and take by force!
Goblins race and goblins jump.
Goblins slash and goblins bump.
Burn the skin and mash the head,
Goblins here and you be dead!
Chase the baby, catch the pup.
Bonk the head to shut it up.
Bones be cracked, flesh be stewed,
We be goblins! You be food!”
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The goblin assault
Pandemonium was raging all around the companions. Most of the townsfolk were running around like headless chicken, trying to get away from the attackers. A few soldiers and some strong (but unarmed) men fought back against the nasty little creatures.
The three companions, and the beautiful guard Kerista who was still standing next to them, sprang into action. There were three goblins nearby, who were stuffing their pockets with some of Ameiko’s curry salmon. Navan threw back his poncho, revealing his crossbow, and shot one of them dead. Kerista, wielding her massive earthbreaker and Drithnar, with his battle-axe, charged the little critters. Ruh dazed the one Kerista was fighting, and soon enough, both goblins lay dying at the adventurer’s feet.
The crowd was now getting more sparse, as people were running away from the festival square, seeking the shelter of their homes. A bright blaze of light caught the characters’ attention, and they saw that a group of goblins had uncovered a cart filled with fuel and wood for the bonfire. They had lit it up, and taken hold of burning brands, with demented pyromaniac glee shining in their eyes: they clearly wanted to burn stuff down.
Before the little creatures could start a brand new fire in the north part of Sandpoint, the heroes attacked them. Navan and Ruh shot crossbow bolts at them, while Kerista and Drithnar charged into melee. Standing up on the cart, a female goblin was still chanting the shrill goblin song, and shooting arrows at the companions.
Drithnar and Kerista easily crushed one goblin each, and Navan wounded the goblin warchanter. She jumped down from the cart and fired on Drithnar from her hiding place, badly wounding him. Kerista and Drithnar each killed one more goblin, and finally, Drithnar charged the hiding warchanter, and chopped off her head with a mighty blow.
By that time, Drithnar was severely wounded, and Kerista had suffered a slight wound as well. The area was now almost empty of townsfolk, though there were a few unmoving human bodies lying on the floor here and there, among goblin corpses. Kerista went to check on the bodies, to try to heal them. Thick smoke was rising from the wood cart, and while the other characters were trying to put it out, father Zantus appeared behind them. His clothes were bloody, but he didn’t seem wounded.
“Thank Desna you’re still alive! I see you really gave them hell,” he said.
“Yes, father, but some of these people are badly wounded,” replied Kerista, looking up from the unconscious body of a woman she was kneeling next to.
“I will make sure they are attended to, my dear,” said the priest. “I hear more fighting to the north. Let me heal your wounds, and please, go help drive off the rest of these creatures.”
So father Zantus healed Drithnar and Kerista’s wounds, and all four rushed north, from where indeed they could hear more goblin voices, as well some barks. They reached the White Deer inn, where they saw a goblin mounted on a strange creature that looked like a dirty dog-rat hybrid, which was fighting a big hunting dog. Behind a cart, four goblins were cheering the rider on, while a scared-looking young nobleman was cowering behind one of the white deer statues.
As the characters approached, the mounted goblin slew the hunting dog with his halberd. The other goblins cheered wildly, and came out of their hiding place, intent on finishing off the nobleman. Drithnar and Kerista charged the rider, while Ruh cast a Color Spray at two of the goblins, stunning one of them. Another goblin turned and managed to strike her with his blade. Meanwhile, Kerista and Drithnar had wounded the goblin rider, but Kerista got badly bitten by the rat-dog-thing, and slashed by a goblin’s weapon. Blood was flowing from her thigh where she’d been bitten. But Navan managed to shoot down the goblin attacking her, Drithnar killed the rider, and Kerista pummeled the rat-dog’s head into the ground with a mighty swing from her heavy weapon. The two warriors then went to help Ruh against her goblin, while Navan got closer to the nobleman and the goblin which was attacking him, and shot a crossbow bolt through the goblin’s throat, killing him instantly.
While Drithnar took out some rope to capture the still-unconscious goblin that Ruh had hit with her Color Spray, the nobleman profusely thanked the heroes for saving him. He introduced himself as Aldern Foxglove, a nobleman from Magnimar. He was especially thankful to the beautiful Kerista, and urged her to get some healing for her wounded thigh. He said he’d be staying at the Rusty Dragon, and asked them to look for him there, as he wanted to reward their bravery. They noticed that he was especially looking at Kerista when he said that.
The aftermath
The companions brought the bound goblin’s body back with them to the cathedral, where many citizens had barricaded themselves. They climbed to the top of the bell tower, to get a better view of the town’s state. Up there, they found mayor Deverin and a few priests. By looking around and talking to the mayor, they learned that the remaining goblins had by then either fled by the north gate, or jumped to their deaths over cliffs to avoid being taken prisoner. Mayor Deverin was pleased that the characters had captured one of the little buggers.
Over the next few hours, the characters helped the town guard secure Sandpoint. They learned that, thankfully, only five of the citizens had perished, though at least 25 more were badly wounded. Every priest had used all of his or her prayers for the day by then, so Kerista and Ruh, who were still wounded, would have to wait until the next morning to get cured. Some priests did bandage their wounds for the night, though. While this was happening, an ugly hunchback came into the cathedral courtyard, looking flustered, and spoke loudly to father Zantus: apparently, someone had dug out the remains of father Tobyn (the previous curate of Sandpoint, who had perished in the fire)!
Zantus, the characters and a few other priests went to check it out. Indeed, the tomb was freshly dug out. Drithnar looked for tracks, and didn’t notice anything special, but one of the priests of Gozreh was more perceptive, and noticed the tracks of an average-sized man, and those of five to ten goblins, leading to the edge of the graveyard, which was overlooking a high cliff. There, a long ladder was set against the side of the cliff. Judging from its length, it would have been very difficult to raise it from below. Therefore, it seems that someone from the graveyard itself had put the ladder down to let the goblins up. There, the priest also noticed another set of footprints – those of a different average-sized man.
Father Zantus seemed shocked that such a sacrilege would have happened in his own church. And he wondered why anyone would bother digging out father Tobyn’s remains. They had been in a bad state already when they’d been salvaged from the fire five years ago. And to his knowledge, his predecessor hadn’t been buried with anything particularly valuable…
While everyone was wondering about that, Ruh noticed that Drithnar wore a grim expression, and that his gaze was fixed on the tomb next to father Tobyn’s.
Nualia Tobyn
4682-4702
May she rest peacefully
In the heaven that she came from
The four characters ate a quick dinner together, and then patrolled the city streets until about midnight, to ensure that no stray goblins were still hiding. As the characters were walking around town, Drithnar and Kerista were describing the places of interest, so Ruh and Navan got to know where the various stores were. At some point, they caught a group of three Sczarni thugs robbing and old lady’s house. After a quick brawl, they arrested them and brought them to the garrison. The other three left Kerista to take care of the paperwork, and they returned to the Rusty Dragon to get some sleep.
Moonday, Rova 22nd 4707
Invitation and gratitude
The three characters woke up at the sound of bells the next morning. While they were having breakfast in the common room of the inn, Aldern came up to them and thanked them again for their help. He also invited them to a boar hunt the next day. The characters accepted somewhat unenthusiastically, and again, noticed that Aldern seemed especially interested in inviting Kerista – he was disappointed to learn that she wasn’t staying at the Rusty Dragon like the rest of them.
Soon after Aldern left, Kerista showed up and asked the others to join her at the garrison – the Sheriff wanted to talk to them. Once they got there, they met Aldern again: he’d gone there to invite Kerista to the boar hunt. He was delighted to finally see her there, and she accepted his invitation with a shy smile. While Aldern was chatting with her, the Sheriff showed up and asked the characters, including Kerista, to come to his office.
There, he thanked them again for their help. He also asked them some information about their abilities and plans for the near future. He wanted to know if he could again count on their combat skills, should the goblins launch another attack. He told them that the captured goblin had been interrogated, but had revealed little information, apart that their leader, a “longshanks” (the goblin’s term to refer to humans), had been on a secret mission at the graveyard. And of course, the goblin didn’t know what the secret mission was – after all, it was a secret!
Ruh and Navan said they were going to stick around for a while, at least until Ruh was done exploring the Old Light. Drithnar said he wanted to stay in Sandpoint for a while too. It felt good to be back. Then, he was planning on looking around for his old mentor, Shalelu the elven ranger. The Sheriff smiled and said that Shalelu was also a good friend of his, a talented scout who spied on the goblins for them. A few months ago, she had reported some increased activity in the goblin tribes, but the Sheriff had never imagined that they would grow so bold as to attack Sandpoint itself!
After that, the characters went to the cathedral, where father Zantus also thanked them for their help, and offered each one of them two healing potions, in case there was a new attack. Ruh and Kerista also got healed.
Speaking with scholars
Kerista then returned to work, and Drithnar went to the Turandarok academy to visit his old teachers. Ruh and Navan went to Veznutt Parooh’s shop, “The Way North”. The old gnome received them well, since Ruh was the apprentice of an old friend of his, a gnome wizard now living in Magnimar. He sold Ruh a map of the Sandpoint Hinterlands, and gave her a description of some of the most interesting sites:
- The Dragon’s Punchbowl, and island where wyverns and a terribly large dragon live.
- Grubber’s Hermitage, an island where a small community of weird fishermen, rumored to perhaps be lepers, live.
- The Devil’s Platter, a limestone plateau where a tribe of wicked devil-worshipping Bugbears are rumored to live in caves.
- The Pit, where the most dangerous creature of the region, a terrible half-horse, half-dragon undead monster called the Sandpoint Devil is rumored to live.
- Foxglove manor, the residence of an eccentric noble family.
- Thistletop: a small island, infested with goblins.
- Habe’s sanatorium: an asylum.
- Wisher’s Well: a tower-like old Thassilonian Ruin, filled with dark water at its bottom, where dangerous aquatic creatures make their lair.
Ruh and Navan then went to examine the Old Light, but saw that it would take a few days to explore it completely, due to its size, and difficulty to navigate the rubble. While they were exploring it, an old man named Brodert Quink came to talk to them. He was a scholar who shared their passion for old ruins, and told them his theory that the Old Light had once been used as a war machine, a tower capable of spewing powerful jets of fire at a distance of over one mile.
Inauguration, take two
The characters later attended a ceremony to inaugurate the cathedral, since the previous day’s one had been so rudely interrupted. It was a somber, indoors ceremony. The five people who’d perished in the attack were also buried after the ceremony. Drithnar was present too, and he laid down a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Nualia’s tomb.
Tales of goblins and craziness
When the evening came, the three friends headed back to the Rusty Dragon, where they had dinner. They saw that Ameiko received some special packages, and seemed to be preparing a special event. They learned that she was in fact making preparations for her father’s 60th birthday, which was coming up in a few weeks.
Spirits were high around town, as now that the shock of the goblin attack was passed, the locals were talking about the raid as if it had simply been an exciting event. They told tales of how stupid some of the goblins had been, lighting themselves on fire, or jumping into half-full barrels of water and drowning. The PC’s were also asked to tell their own tale of combat, and they noticed that the locals gave them a lot of respect for the courage and skill they’d shown the previous day.
During the evening, Ruh had a discussion with a local priestess of Sarenrae who was at the inn, and she warned Ruh about Kerista’s madness. She had been very introverted as a child, and one of the only people she’d shown interest in was the eccentric old man, Mr Stoot, who had later turned out to be Chopper. After her mother’s death, Kerista had become totally insane, and her family had locked her up in an asylum. Everyone had been very surprised when she showed up six months ago, armed with a dangerous-looking weapon, and was hired as a guard by Sheriff Hemlock. The priestess told Ruh that she did NOT feel safe with a heavily-armed nutjob serving as a city guard…
Ruh, however, had a good feeling about young Kerista, and chose to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she’d just been introverted, and interested in Mr Stoot’s beautiful bird carvings.
Toilday, Rova 23rd 4707
The boar hunt
The next morning, all four characters gathered in the Rusty Dragon inn, where they were greeted by an excited Aldern. He rented horses for all of them, and even bought a shortbow for Kerista. Then, along with Aldern’s three depressed-looking servants, they all headed out toward Tickwood to hunt some boars!
Like the previous days, this one was gorgeously sunny. During the half hour it took to reach Tickwood, Aldern regaled them with stories of his high life in Magnimar. A charming, well-read and witty man, Aldern was obviously very popular among the movers and shakers. Kerista seemed mesmerized by him. They also learned that Aldern’s father Traver had been a great hunter, having even once single-handedly defeated a Manticore. When questioned about him, Aldern simply said that his father was dead; Navan got the impression when he said that, that he was troubled by his father’s death. It had probably been particularly unpleasant. Aldern had been raised in Korvosa, but had come back to this area a few years ago. He was refurbishing the old family manor now and then, but was spending most of his time at his townhouse in Magnimar.
When they reached Tickwood, Aldern explained to them how they were going to proceed for the hunt: since his dog had gotten killed, they would need to use his and Drithnar’s acute hunting skills to track down and corner the boar, so it could be slain. He also spent a few minutes showing Kerista how to use the shortbow, since she was more used to javelins. He placed himself behind her and showed her how to hold the string, the shaft, and how to draw and aim the bow. Of course, as he did that, he didn’t hesitate to cop a feel, and Kerista blushed a deep shade of red.
The hunt went well overall, mostly thanks to Drithnar and Aldern. They managed to find and kill a boar, although during the scuffle, one of Aldern’s servants got gored by the beast. Rather than showing concern over the man’s wounds, Aldern flew into a rage and berated his “oaf” of a servant for not following instructions properly.
A generous offer
As the afternoon was drawing to an end, the group rode back to Sandpoint, and Aldern offered the boar as a gift to Ameiko. She smiled and announced to everyone at the inn that they’d be dining on boar meat tonight. A cheer went up for Aldern Foxglove and his team of hunters!
Dinner was delicious and pleasant, and again, Aldern entertained the companions with stories and jokes. Kerista didn’t speak much, but they did learn more about her origin. Her father had been a Chelaxian, and her mother, a Shoanti. Her father, Karstu Vigandir, had been the town’s cobbler, until he passed away, not long after his wife was murdered by Chopper. Kerista had four siblings who were all much older than her (she had been a “surprise baby”): Toloria (16 years older than her), Goldar (now working as a soldier in Magnimar), Mertok and Solrana (10 years older than her, who was now married to a local farmer). After Karstu’s death, Toloria and Mertok had taken over the business. Because of the age difference between the sisters, Toloria’s kids were only a few years younger than Kerista. They shy girl choked up a bit when she came to telling the part about her mother’s death and her following insanity, which Navan gallantly covered up by starting to talk about something else. Later on, though, they learned that (after coming out of the asylum), she’d been trained as a Paladin in Magnimar, before returning to Sandpoint six months ago (up until now, the rest of the group didn’t even know she was a Paladin).
The Hagfish
Later on, Aldern invited them all to go have fun at the Hagfish tavern. Ruh and Drithnar declined, but Navan and Kerista went along. Once there, the old one-legged owner, Jargie Quinn, tried to trick Navan into drinking a glass of “water” for a prize, but the cunning tomb-raider wasn’t born yesterday, and declined, sensing that there was a catch to this proposal.
Navan quietly watched the place, from the gamblers to the drinkers to the dancers, and didn’t take part in much of the merriment. Sure enough, Aldern and Kerista joined the dancing, and before long, they were kissing each other passionately. They had obviously both been waiting for this moment all day. Some time later, they left the tavern together, and a few minutes later, Navan also called it a night.
A few houses from the tavern, though, Navan overheard Aldern and Kerista’s voices coming from an alley. Curious, he stopped to listen, and hid in the shadows.
“I just don’t think it would be right…” was saying Kerista.
“What do you mean? Of course it would be. We can just go to your place if you prefer.”
“Well, it’s just that… I don’t think it would be fair to her.”
“Fair to whom?”
“To the lady in your life.”
A stunned silence. Then, Aldern’s voice in a slightly annoyed tone.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know there’s another woman… She loves you, and you love her. I can feel it…”
“… No, absolutely not. There is no other woman. You’re the only one I want to be with.”
“No, Aldern, I can feel her in your heart. She would be angry… We’ve already gone too far. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry.”
Then came the sound of Aldern’s sarcastic chuckle.
“So that’s how it is, is it? You had me pay for the horses, you let me make a fool of myself all day, bringing you all on the hunt, spending the whole day in the company of your rag-tag band of smelly low-lives, you lure me to dance, kiss me, and then change your mind because of one of your lunatic visions?”
Navan heard the sound of Kerista’s sob.
“I’ve heard the rumors, you know,” Aldern went on in a low voice that cut like steel. “I know about the asylum. Your poor, deranged mind is playing tricks on you. How could you possibly know whether or not there’s a woman in my life? It’s impossible! Just think about it, my dear! I’m here now, and I’m telling you there is no such woman. Don’t you trust me?”
“Oh, Aldern…” Kerista’s voice was choked with tears. “I really like you but… It… It’s just not right. I’m sorry!”
And then Navan saw Kerista’s shadowy shape run away from the alley. A few moments later, Aldern came out, watching her fade away in the night. A gleam of anger shone in his eyes, under the moonlight, and Navan saw that his fists were clenching and unclenching in fury. The nobleman then turned his back and walked toward the Rusty Dragon.
Navan then ran after Kerista and tried to console her. But sadly, she misunderstood his intent, and thought he also wanted to sleep with her, so she just ran into her house and slammed the door shut.
Pondering about all of this, Navan then walked back to the inn and headed to bed.
Very well written. Kept me glued to the page until I had to print it out to take to a meeting with me. Sure filled in the time nicely :)
Keep up the good work!
PS, potentially unhinged paladins who remain good are just awesome.
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A very Role-Playing-heavy session this week... ;)
(no goblins were harmed in the making of this movie)
Wealday, Rova 24th 4707
The Invitation
Navan, Ruh and Drithnar woke up to the sound of the town’s bells the following morning, and met in the main room of the Rusty Dragon to have breakfast and make plans for the day. It was a gorgeous day outside. Despite this, they decided to go visit the mysterious and eerie place known as Chopper’s Island.
On the way there, they met Alma Avertin, the baker, who forced some fresh bread into Ruh and Navan’s hands, thinking them way too underfed. They also ran into the charismatic Cyrdak Drokkus of the Sandpoint Theater, who gave them all tickets for that night’s show of “The Harpy’s Curse”. He also asked Navan if he’d be interested in auditioning to play a part in his next play, but Navan remained very elusive, clearly not interested. Ruh offered to audition, but due to her low charisma, Cyrdak did not seem too enthusiastic about the idea. During their discussion, the characters also learned that there was a great rivalry between Cyrdak and Ameiko.
The Mystery of Chopper’s Island
Finally, the three companions reached the bottom of the cliffs leading up to Chopper’s Island. They’d have felt safer bringing Kerista with them as extra help, but she was on duty that day. The tide was not fully low yet, but low enough to give them access to the cliff’s base. The cliffs were about a hundred feet high, so they had to tie two ropes to Navan’s grappling hook, and it took all of Drithnar’s strength and skill get it solidly attached at the top of the cliff. Once that was done, though, all three managed to climb up easily.
The “Island” at the top was covered in tall grass and old gnarled trees. Only the sea gull’s cries broke the silence. The companions approached the burnt remains of Mr. Stoot’s old house. Drithnar didn’t see any recent tracks around. Navan quickly spotted the trap door leading below the charred rubble, and after spending a few minutes clearing the way to it, they lit up a lantern and entered the darkness of Mr. Stoot’s basement…
Vermin were crawling along the walls and floor, and cobwebs draped the low ceiling. The place smelled moldy. A few old barrels and crates were lined against the walls. Further along, the companions saw the remains of an old, smashed wooden door. They approached it and saw that it led to a square room, with old, moldy furniture stacked against the walls. At its center was a large block of dark stone, sitting before an ancient statue of a thin-limbed man with the head of a long-beaked, evil-looking horned bird. Near the back of the room, they saw and heard what looked like a small child crying. He was dressed in a tattered and dirty white robe, similar to those worn by young acolytes of Abadar.
An eerie feeling came over the characters as they saw the little child, and they heard disturbing voices in the distance, as if they were only hearing them in their minds. They heard a child calling out to his mother. They heard children singing an old rhyme, and playing. They heard men talking about a lost boy, who’d ran away from his home, and who’d seen his mother being wounded or killed. Ruh cast a Detect Magic spell, and discovered that both the child and the statue radiated magic, the statue having a particularly strong Enchantment dweomer.
The child then ran to the back of the room, out of sight. The characters warily moved into the room, but kept a distance from the child. Navan called out to him, offering to help him and bring him back to town. The child refused, apparently scared of other people. Navan then had a long conversation with the seemingly traumatized child; the young one seemed quite disturbed and confused, and did not answer some of the questions, but overall, this is what the characters learned or guessed from the exchange:
- Chopper was not the only bad person, there are others. They are coming. When one dies, another one comes, stronger. Those with anger fall prey to the dream. There is a fire that burns cold in a dark place. This is what calls to them. It’s in a very old place, close to here. The more people with anger die, the stronger the fire gets.
- To find the fire, seek out someone filled with hate. In their dreams, you might find where the fire is. There are two people nearby who hate each other so much that they want to kill each other. One of them will. One of them hates the other just because he was born.
- The child asked the characters to put out the fire.
- The fire is linked to the burning of the old church. Because of someone who had a dream. They had to kill those who had hurt them.
- A lot of angry souls died a few nights ago, but they hadn’t heard the fire, they were too far away.
- Chopper spoke with the birds, he freed them from the wood. He was the only one who could free them. He didn’t have time to free all the birds.
- The child saw Chopper, he saw on him the face of evil.
- The statue is not evil, but it was Chopper’s friend. Chopper was the only one who could talk to it.
- The child lost his mother. He was waiting for her in Chopper’s house, but he didn’t think she’d ever come back for him.
- The child was hurt by other children before he lost his mother. They killed the wounded fox that he had been feeding and taking care of. They cut off its head and poured its blood all over him. The child tried to stop them, but he was too weak and small. The mean children are still around, “they’re all around us”.
- The child said that he had been hiding in Chopper’s house, and that Chopper never noticed him, or talked to him. But he later contradicted this by saying that he’d been a prisoner of the old man, and that Chopper had killed him.
- The child said that the men with the torches had come to set him free, but that they had been too late.
Finally, Navan thought to ask the child his name (realizing that this probably should’ve been his first question). The child answered “Jervas”. Upon hearing this, Drithnar gasped, and warned the others that they should leave the house, “NOW!”. They climbed back up to the light and warmth of the day, Ruh and Navan noticed that the half-orc was pale and sweating. He took off his leather helmet and wiped his brow. With a scared look, he told them that Jervas had been Mr. Stoot’s first name… It seems that for the past hour, they’d been chatting with the ghost of Chopper!
Spoiler alert...
(Not so much a spoiler than something I don't want the PC's to read).
I am surprised that, with the elaborate back story about Chopper’s murders, Chopper’s Island is not described at all in the book. Of all the things the PC’s have heard about so far in the adventure, Chopper’s tale is what excited them the most, and they wanted to check out his old house ASAP. So I had to do some improvisation. ;)
I decided that an Attic Whisperer would be haunting the old place, and would play some spooky mind-games with them and maybe just scare them off. But seeing the character’s concern and genuine desire to help the ghost-child (which at first I’d just played as an illusion from the Attic Whisperer wanting to scare them), I decided that the Attic Whisperer, instead of being the tormented spirit of one of Chopper’s victims, would be the strange restless spirit of Mr. Stoot himself.
The story is that Mr. Stoot had suffered a lot as a child. His father abused him and his mother. Being a very shy and odd child, young Mr. Stoot had always gotten along better with animals. Some tough, mean older kids from his village had tormented him daily, killing the wounded fox that Mr. Stoot had adopted as a pet, stealing or destroying his toys, etc. One day, his mother fled the household to escape her husband’s horrible abuse. Years later, as an adult, Mr. Stoot had definitely remained odd, and carried a heavy burden of emotional trauma, but due to his normally peaceful nature, kept his old feelings of anger and resentment deeply buried. Consciously, he had no desire to hurt anyone. Sadly, though, when the nearby runewell of wrath activated one night, the fragile defenses of the poor old man’s feeble mind unraveled, and the thirst for vengeance he’d borne over the decades since his horrible childhood swelled into an uncontrollable urge to hurt someone… anyone.
After his death, Mr. Stoot’s spirit understandably could not rest in peace. He’s come back to haunt his former home, not as the ghost of the monster he’d transformed into in the final weeks of his life, but rather, as the child he’d remained his whole life at an emotional level, a twisted being shaped with the body of a child, the skull of his fox pet, and one of his beloved toys that had been tortured by the mean kids who had bullied him many years ago.
Also note that during his madness, Mr. Stoot’s personality split in two (much like that of another madman faced in the 2nd adventure): the dominant one was Chopper, but deep down, Jervas, the scared young child he had once been, was also aware of what was happening, but powerless to stop Chopper. This is in regards to what the ghost said about “being in Chopper’s house, but not noticed by him”.
I did reveal a lot of information to the PC’s through him, stuff that normally they should know yet at this stage of the adventure, but I trust it still remained cryptic enough to just tease them and give them a glimpse of what’s to come. I also decided that, since Mr. Stoot had been so strongly influenced by the runewell (more than anyone else except maybe Nualia), that he had seen actual visions of it, and had a vague idea how it worked (fueled by wrathful souls), how it can be destroyed. It wants it destroyed, for only then will it truly be able to rest. This is why he helped the characters, pointing them in the right direction – at least, he tried to do so as coherently as his troubled mind can.
A few of the information I gave to the PCs was a bit contradictory, but I think I can be forgiven because I had to improvise a whole conversation of over one hour! :) I never thought they’d be so interested in talking with him; I thought they’d just assume he was evil and want to destroy him. They pleasantly surprised me. ;)
Concerning the bird-faced statue: I haven’t decided exactly what it did. But it’s something along these lines: it’s the statue of an ancient, primitive god of neutral alignment. It didn’t force Chopper to commit the murders (the runewell did that), but it did bestow special powers unto Chopper from the offerings it received, allowing the small, aged man with no combat training, to murder so many people, some of whom would normally have been much stronger than him.
Madam Mvashti’s Tale
The characters, somewhat shaken, climbed back down the rope and returned to town. Ruh and Drithnar went to have lunch at the Rusty Dragon, but Navan went to see his great-grand-aunt. She offered him a light lunch, and he told her what he’d just witnessed on Chopper’s Island. Niska’s eyes narrowed in thought. She hadn’t known Mr. Stoot much while he was alive; all she knew is that he was among the first Chelaxian workers to participate in the building of Sandpoint. Twenty years ago, he asked to live on the remote “island”, supposedly “to be closer to the birds”.
Navan also asked her about the tarot reading she’d given him previously, and asked her if Aldern could’ve been the Prince of Pentacles. Niska agreed, and told him that the name of Foxglove had an ill reputation. Rumor was that they had suffered a terrible curse a few decades back. Those who had been living in their manor along the Lost Coast had died of a terrible illness. A few decades later, some of their cousins had moved into the manor, and had also died horribly of murder or suicide.
Damsel in Distress
After leaving Niska’s house, Navan made his way toward the garrison. But on the way there, he was hailed by a gorgeous young blonde woman who had a fearful look in her eyes. She introduced herself as Shayliss Vinder, the daughter of the owner of the town’s general store. She said that lately, her father had been very busy, and had asked her and her sister to work in shifts at the store to help him out. She was on duty today and had to fetch some goods from the basement. But while she’d been down there, she’d seen the biggest and scariest rat she’d ever seen. She’d run out of the store, and by chance had run into Navan, and asked him to come take a look.
Navan was suspicious and asked her why she didn’t ask a guard to help, but Shayliss said that some of the guards didn’t like her father and would refuse to help. Navan thought that something about the young woman’s story didn’t quite sound right; but she was so pretty that his brain wasn’t really in charge of the decision-making anymore, so he followed her into the store.
They both went down into the basement, Navan walking ahead with a lantern and his loaded crossbow.
Once down there, he started looking around for the nasty beast; despite his keen senses, he was still taken by surprise when he turned around and saw… the splendid, topless Shayliss, who’d started to undress, and who pressed her body against his, kissing him passionately. Navan tried to resist a little bit at first, knowing this could only lead to trouble, but, having the “Weak-Willed” trait, succumbed to the young woman’s charms. She led him to the corner of the (all in all, very clean) basement where they found not a giant rat, but a comfortable-looking cot.
The next extremely pleasurable minutes of Navan’s life were, unfortunately, rudely interrupted by a roar coming from a large, bald, furious middle-aged man. Navan and Shayliss both gaped at him in completely surprise, both having totally failed to hear him coming due to the noise of their current activity. The two young people scrambled to cover their nakedness and stumbled over each other’s poor attempts at explaining the unjustifiable...
Thirty minutes later, Navan found himself sitting at the garrison, applying a cold wet cloth to his bruised black eye. Sitting in the chair next to him, tightly bound in ropes, was Shayliss’s father, Ven, still red in the face, with a vein throbbing on his temple, raging at Sheriff Hemlock. A few more guards stood around, some of them having also been roughed up by the burly merchant while they arrested him.
All in all, Sheriff Hemlock did a pretty good job of hiding his enjoyment of the humorous situation. He chastised both of the men for their lack of restraint, and asked them to please stay away from each other. He also pointed out to Ven that Shayliss’ behavior shouldn’t be a surprise to him anymore after the number of such incidents that had happened with various other young men from around town. Ven’s rage only grew more intense, and he almost managed to snap his ropes, in his efforts to get up and strangle the Sheriff.
“So, Sheriff, are we done here?” asked Navan.
“Yes, Mr. Attaway, you may go.”
“Thank you. But, errr… Could I have my pants back, please?”
The Face of Evil
Navan actually stayed longer at the garrison, and related to the Sheriff everything he’d witnessed at Chopper’s old house that day. The Sheriff was impressed by his bravery, worried that Chopper’s spirit had been remained behind in that cursed place, and puzzled by this tale of “fire in a dark place”. He also gave Navan some exact dates regarding the Late Unpleasantness, so that Navan was able to establish the following timeline for some of those events:
Arodus (august) 4701: Drithnar fled Sandpoint after heading that Nualia was pregnant.
28 Kuthona (december) 4701: Nualia suffered a miscarriage.
29 Kuthona 4701: Chopper’s first suspected murder (though the body was never found): Ameiko’s mother.
10 Abadius (january) 4702: Chopper murdered Kerista’ mother (his 9th victim).
26 Abadius 4702: Chopper’s death
21 Calistril (february) 4702: The Sandpoint church burned down.
The Sheriff also gave him more information about the murder of Kerista’s mother. The whole neighborhood had been awakened that night by Kerista’s shrieks. When Hemlock and Sheriff Avertin showed up at her house, the whole family was gathered in the kitchen, where the gruesome murder had occurred. Kerista was crying and shaking uncontrollably, holding her mother’s bloody remains in her arms. Examining the scene, and given that she was still wearing her regular day clothes rather than nightclothes, they guessed that she’d still been awake when Chopper had infiltrated the house, and had probably witnessed the whole scene, hiding in a closet in the kitchen. Chopper had likely never noticed her.
Later, the Sheriff and Hemlock had tried to question Kerista, but she was under the shock of the murder, and was completely hysterical. While her grieving father remained at her side, watching her, they had the young woman examined by father Tobyn, who didn’t detect anything wrong with her, but wasn’t able to calm her down, either. They also asked for the help of Wade Deverin, one of the mayor’s cousins, and a local brewer. The wise, gray-haired man had once served as a Paladin, and had a keen insight on people’s behavior. He examined Kerista, and he too was unable to restore her mind. But he felt no evil inside her, and confided to the men around him that what caused her trauma was that “She had looked upon the face of Evil”.
Then, as Mr. Deverin was turning to leave the cell, Kerista had jumped up suddenly and tried to grapple him while screaming unintelligible words. The guards had managed to subdue her, and had only attributed that sudden burst of rage to her madness. But thinking back of the scene, Sheriff Hemlock didn’t think she had been trying to hurt Mr. Deverin. She had been trying to prevent him from leaving. And Mr. Deverin had said he thought the tongue she’d spoken in was Celestial – which none of them spoke, and which Kerista did not, or still does not, speak.
This seems all the more ominous given the fact that the following night… Wade Deverin was murdered by Chopper. Was it possible that when she saw Chopper, Kerista somehow heard or sensed that he was planning on going after Mr. Deverin next?
The Harpy’s Curse
Around dinner time, Navan met his companions at “Risa’s Place”, another local tavern. Kerista was also there, wearing her finest dress, because they were all going to the theater that evening.
Kerista seemed a bit uncomfortable around Navan after what had happened between them the previous night, and because she’d heard of his encounter with Shayliss. Navan admitted to her that he’d overheard her conversation with Aldern, and warned her that Aldern’s family was cursed. Kerista gasped and wondered if he was all right; none of them had seen him that day, perhaps he’d left town already?
The companions also told Kerista about what they’d discovered under the ruins of Mr. Stoot’s house. Kerista was flabbergasted and terrified by the ghost story. The characters questioned her about the events surrounding Chopper, but she said that she didn’t remember much from that period. As if those memories had gotten erased from her mind. She wasn’t sure if her own mind had done it, or if it had been the treatment she received at the Sanatorium. But she guessed that’s what had allowed her to become almost normal again. She did say, however, that she felt horribly guilty at having been too weak to have been able to retain her sanity and identify Chopper to the authorities, which would have saved the lives of fifteen people. She also felt guilty at not saving her mother and causing her father to die of grief.
She did remember that Mr. Stoot had told her that he’d nursed a wounded fox back to health when he was a child, but that other children had later killed it. She also told the characters that, during the period of her madness while she was still in Sandpoint, she’d salvaged some of Mr. Stoot’s bird carvings that their owners had removed, and had kept them in her room. When her older siblings had discovered them, they’d feared she was possessed by Chopper’s ghost and had finally agreed to send her to the asylum.
Again, she burst in tears at those memories, but Ruh and Drithnar comforted her, and Ruh dried both Kerista’s tears, and her own, with a prestidigitation spell. Kerista thanked her with a smile, and then told the others that they’d be late for the play if they didn’t go now.
The rest of the evening was very pleasant in the splendid theater. The Harpy’s Curse was very well-written (by Cyrdak himself) and well-played, especially the part of the heroine, played by the gorgeous half-elven diva Allishanda, who had the role of a priestess of Shelyn, cursed by a Harpy jealous of her beauty, and who commits suicide at the end of the story to save the other priestesses of her temple. By the end, again, both Ruh and Kerista were crying, and even the big Drithnar had “some dust in his eyes” and was sniffing loudly.
After the play, the characters had the chance to chat a bit with the performers, including a beautiful blonde who turned out to be Shayliss’s sister Katerine who had played an extra; the great diva, though, immediately returned to her lodge and did not spend any time chatting with the “peasants”.
Oathday, Rova 25th 4707
Fire in the Dark
It was raining hard the following day. Ruh, Navan and Drithnar visited several people to ask them if they knew anything about a “cold fire in an ancient dark place”. They asked father Zantus, Veznutt Parooh, Brodert Quink and Chask Haladan, the owner of the “Curious Goblin” library. None of them had anything particularly useful to offer, except that some of them guessed that such a magical fire might be found under the Devil’s Platter, in the caves where devil-worshipping bugbears dwell – but that would of course be a very deadly journey.
The characters had lunch with Cyrdak Drokkus at Risa’s Place. They’d initially intended on coming to him for advice, and telling him their whole story, guessing that as a Bard he’d be in the best position to help them figure out what it all meant. They’d also considered asking Ameiko, but finally decided against it, figuring that she was too big of a gossip to be trusted with this sensitive information – which the Sheriff had asked Navan not to spread around – he didn’t want to cause panic with a rumor that Chopper’s ghost was still around.
However, after talking with Cyrdak a bit, the characters got the impression that he was, if anything, an even bigger gossip than Ameiko. So at the last moment, they changed their mind and simply asked him the same question they’d asked the town’s scholars, concerning a magical fire. He told them a tall tale of a hero wandering into The Pit a century before, but nothing terribly useful.
Shalelu’s Return
Not long after Cyrdak left the tavern (under the pouring rain), Drithnar overheard someone mention that Shalelu, the elven ranger, had returned to town. The characters headed to the garrison to see her, and met her there with the Sheriff, Kerista and the mayor. Introductions were made between Ruh, Navan and Shalelu, who was a lithe elven woman with green hair, dressed in leather armor and carrying a bow. She seemed to be a woman of action and of few words. She seemed delighted to see Drithnar again, and they hugged each other warmly.
Shalelu said that she had noticed a recent surge in goblin activity in the region, and had just the previous day saved a family of farmers from an attack of a small group of Mosswood goblins. She noticed that they’d already looked pretty beat up before she attacked them, and, interrogating one of them, she learned about the attack on Sandpoint and that some “Longshanks” had helped stop it. Apparently, the characters were now well-known among the goblins. She also shared her suspicions that someone very powerful was uniting the five goblin tribes to work in concert. Whoever that was clearly did not have pleasant plans in mind for Sandpoint.
The Sheriff then announced that he’d decided to go to Magnimar for a few days to ask for reinforcements against a subsequent goblin raid. He and the mayor then asked the characters to help Kerista maintain a visible force in town. Though he wanted to keep his absence as quiet as possible, the Sheriff knew that troublesome citizens were bound to find out sooner or later, and see it as an opportunity to cause trouble. He wanted to make sure that someone would be in town to deal with that. He also offered a salary of 5 gold pieces per day, per character, for this task.
Drithnar accepted, but Ruh and Navan were harder to convince. Mayor Deverin, though, is a very shrewd negotiator, and, appealing to their desire to do good, finally managed to make them agree to the proposal – though she did raise the pay to 7 gold per day.
Pleased, the Sheriff then brought the characters to meet the rest of the guards, and announced to everyone that he’d been leaving the following morning with two of them, and expected to return from Magnimar between three and ten days later, depending on how much red tape he ran into over there. He left an older soldier, sergeant Barkar, in charge while he was away, but also announced that Kerista and her unit would play an important part of maintaining the peace. A few of the guards grumbled at this, doubting Kerista’s skills as a squad leader due to her age, gender and mental instability, but the Sheriff quickly silenced them with a dark look.
Goblin Tales
The characters then headed to the Rusty Dragon for dinner, along with Kerista and Shalelu. Ameiko welcomed the elven ranger warmly, and the two women hugged each other fondly as though they were old friends.
Shalelu talked a lot about goblins, as the characters were eager to learn all that they could about the creatures who seemed to plentiful in the region. They chuckled at Shalelu’s ten humorous facts about goblins:
- They hate and fear horses
- They hate and fear dogs almost as much as horses
- They can make weapons and armor out of garbage
- They love to sing creepy songs
- They’re sneaky
- They’re crazy
- They eat a lot
- They like to burn other people’s stuff down
- They get stuck easily
- They think that writing steals the words from your mind
She also talked about the five goblin tribes of the region:
- The Birdcruncher tribe, the weakest, living in caves on the western part of the Devil’s Platter.
- The Licktoad tribe, excellent swimmers, living in the Brinestump Marsh. They are plagued by a very strong cannibal goblin called Vorka, who also lives in the swamp.
- The Seven Tooth tribe, the merchants of the five tribes, who get rich by salvaging junk from Sandpoint’s junkyard. They used to have a hero in their tribe, a huge, angry goblin called Koruvus, who wielded a magic sword, but he hasn’t been seen in several months.
- The Mosswood tribe, the biggest of the five tribes, but not the strongest due to many internal squabbles. That tribe’s champion is Big Gugmurt, a huge goblin rumored to be half hobgoblin, half wild boar.
- The Thistletop tribe, living on a remote island that makes, apparently, the best lair, led by a goblin warrior named Ripnugget.
Shalelu also mentioned the presence of a bugbear ranger named Bruthazmus, who hated elves, in the region. Bruthazmus was a thief, who often raided small merchant convoys. She’d fought him on several occasions, but neither one of them had ever managed to have the upper hand on the other.
Drithnar and Shalelu then reminisced about old times. They’d apparently made a pretty good team, with Drithnar’s strength and Shalelu’s stealth and skill with the bow, but once Shalelu’s missions had started requiring more and more finesse, Drithnar had felt like he was holding her back, and had traveled to another outpost of rangers to continue his training there.
Near the end of the evening, while they were still chatting, and Ameiko was sitting with them, Drithnar (with his low charisma) let slip that the Sheriff was going to be out of town for a few days. His eyes bulged as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and the other characters all moaned in frustration. Ameiko immediately asked for more information, and, even though they tried to do damage control and asked Ameiko not to spread the gossip, the characters knew it was too late: by this time tomorrow, the whole town would know about the Sheriff’s absence…
I absolutely love this journal!
...
That's all really.
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Thanks a lot!! :D
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Fireday, Rova 26th 4707
Sandpoint’s new guards
The characters woke up early that day. It was cloudy and raining sporadically outside. After a quick breakfast, they went to the garrison to receive last-minute instructions from Sheriff Hemlock, who left soon after with two soldiers.
The guards then had a meeting to plan the watches. The four PC’s got the night watch, from 10pm to 6am. They decided they’d stay up the whole day, and go to sleep at the end of their watch. Then, they were released to do whatever they wanted until their shift started.
Kerista went to clean up and relax at her place. Drithnar went to hang out at the Rusty Dragon. Ruh went to explore the Old Light further. She based herself on the information that Brodert Quink had given her about this construction having been a gigantic war machine. Ruh noticed that the construction was of different stones and different design than the other Thassilonian ruins she’d examined so far. She found a few stone “tubes” along the walls of the old tower, which might have served to conduct some energy from below the tower’s base to its top, to indeed fuel some gigantic energy-blasting weapon. She wondered if the source of this energy might be this “cold fire in a dark place” that Mr. Stoot’s ghost had mentioned. But she thought that digging under the Old Light would require a large crew of workers, and a lot of time. Perhaps going underwater, she might be able to find another entrance?
Navan spent most of the day in the cathedral, talking with Father Zantus and some of the other priests of Desna (we changed his background to make him a follower of Desna rather than Calistria – seems like a better match with his personality and background). Witnessing the town’s Swallowtail Festival and receiving Father Zantus’ blessing had actually been one of the goals of his trip; a kind of pilgrimage. He wanted to go through the last few rites necessary to become an actual priest of Desna. With a kind smile, Father Zantus assured him it would only take a few days (i.e., the time necessary for him to kill a few more goblins and rise to level 2 ;) ).
Goblin in my closet
Finally, as the evening wore on, came the time for the characters’ first shift together as guards. They posted one from their group at the south bridge, and one at the western bridge. The other two patrolled the city. Every two hours, they’d rotate positions.
Not long past midnight, while Drithnar and Navan were patrolling the city, they heard the sounds of a woman calling for help, and of a child crying loudly. They ran to help, and saw a woman around thirty carrying a baby in her arms, and holding her crying son, a boy around seven years old, by the hand. They immediately noticed that the boy’s arm was badly bitten and bloody – though they had no idea by what (due to some abysmally bad Healing checks).
The woman, on the verge of hysteria, said that a monster had attacked her son in his bedroom, and that her husband was still in the house, fighting with the creature. She begged the characters to go and help him. They agreed, and told the woman to seek shelter in the cathedral while they went to investigate. The two men, along with Ruh who’d also come running after having heard the commotion, sprinted toward the house. Once outside, Ruh cast some Dancing Lights above it, in a signal designed to catch Kerista’s attention – she was currently guarding the south bridge, some distance away.
Drithnar, Navan and Ruh entered the dark house carefully. All was deathly quiet around them. A quick search brought them into the boy’s room. A large dark stain marred the bed sheets, and the corpse of a small, gutted dog lay at the foot of the bed. But most disturbing was the unmoving body of a grown man lying on the floor, his upper body stuck in a hole at the bottom of the closet.
The characters approached it carefully, and Drithnar pulled the body back. To their horror, the companions saw that the man’s face and torso had been half-eaten by some ravenous creature. As they were staring at the gory sight, a wild-eyed goblin, its jaw still dripping with fresh blood, jumped out of the hole and attacked them!
Ruh was the quickest to react, casting a bright flash of light into the goblin’s eyes. The creature shrieked in surprise and reeled back dazedly. Navan shot it at point blank range in the chest with his crossbow, felling it, and Drithnar finished it off with a powerful axe blow. The fight had only lasted a moment, and the house went quiet again.
Ruh cast a Reduce spell on Drithnar, and they both explored the space under the closet’s hole. It was cramped and dusty, and nothing else could be found there besides a few vermin, a disgusting pool of blood and the shattered remains of a dogslicer. With a heavy heart, the characters covered the man’s body with a blanket and carried him back to the cathedral.
The woman moaned in despair when she saw her husband’s bloody, limp form being carried into the building. Kerista had joined the rest of the group by then, and tried to console the woman as best as she could. The little boy was also staring at his father’s corpse in silence, a single tear slowly rolling down his cheek. Thankfully, though, his arm was now whole again, having been healed by Father Zantus, who stood nearby in his night clothes.
Through her sobs, the woman, whose name was Amele Barrett, told the characters and the few gathered priests that her son, Aeren, had been especially traumatized during the goblin raid, when he had seen a goblin light a cat on fire, and dance around its agonizing shape. Since then, he’d woken up every night crying in terror, which had also woken up their little dog Petal, which also slept in the boy’s room, and made it bark. After a few nights of being awakened in the middle of the night, Amele’s husband, Alergast, had gotten angry at Aeren and had yelled at him to be quiet, even threatening to make him sleep in the woodshed if he couldn’t learn to “be a man” and sleep through an entire night without crying or telling stories.
Amele then broke out into an even heavier series of sobs. But she managed to continue her story. That night, they’d been woken up again by Aeren’s cries and Petal’s barks; but this time, the barks ended in a yelp and a bloody gurgle, and Aeren’s cries had turned to terrified shrieks of pain. The parents had dashed to his room and found the horrible creature viciously biting their son’s arm. Alergast had roared in rage, and the creature had dived back into its hole, which had until then been covered with a piece of fur. Alergast bent down to reach into the hole, intent on killing the creature, but Amele, panicked, had ran out of the house with her two children.
Kerista hugged the crying woman, and tried to calm her down gently, but she knew that only time could heal the hurt of such a terrible ordeal. In the morning, she made sure that woman’s family, who lived in Magnimar, was notified of the events, so they might perhaps come to Sandpoint to lend a helping hand.
Starday, Rova 27th 4707
The headmaster
The following day, Navan, Ruh and Drithnar visited the Turandarok academy, and Drithnar introduced his friends to his old headmaster. Ilsoari Gandethus was a tall, serious-looking thin man in his sixties, with gray hair and beard. Drithnar told his friends that he’d once been an adventuring wizard, and that the old rumor was that he had all kinds of strange trophies from his adventuring day on display in the school’s basement – as well as perhaps some live creatures!
Navan told Ilsoari about their encounter with the ghost of Mr. Stoot a few days ago. The aged headmaster was surprised by this, though he remained calm. He wondered out loud why Chopper’s ghost had taken the appearance of a child. He also didn’t know what or where the “cold fire in a dark place” might be. But he did remember that, just a few days before the Late Unpleasantness, he had woken up in the middle of night, with his heart beating with rage for a few moments, before being able to go back to sleep. And he’d been surprised to hear, in the morning, that everyone else in the orphanage had also woken up at the same time that night, and with the same kind of feeling – through nobody could remember what they’d been dreaming about.
Ruh and him then discussed her latest discoveries on the Old Light, and the headmaster also identified a potion they’d found on the goblin warchanter as a potion of Cure Light Wounds. Then, they were interrupted by screams of children, and a teacher burst into the headmaster’s office, telling him breathlessly that a group of goblins had infiltrated the school and started threatening children. The characters and the old headmaster sprinted up to the classroom that all children were running away from, and saw there four small beings dressed in goblin attire. They sighed when they saw them, though, because they immediately recognized that they were not goblins, but rather, just a group of stupid little kids who’d dressed up as goblins to play a prank. The headmaster gave them a month’s worth of detention, and Drithnar scared the wits out of them – promising that they’d have to deal with him if they ever pulled a stunt like that again.
Bar fight
When night came, the characters had to start their patrol again. They watched people walk out of the Sandpoint theater after another showing of the Harpy’s Curse. Passing by the jewelry store, they noticed the owner and his wife coming home from the play and heard a snippet of their conversation:
“Oops, it looks like I forgot to lock the door again before I left!” muttered the man, but loud enough that the characters managed to hear it.
“You numbskull, one of these days, we’re going to get robbed if you keep LEAVING ALL THE DOORS AND THE VAULTS OPEN!!!” yelled his wife.
“Could you please yell that a bit louder, dear? I think some deaf people over in Korvosa didn’t hear you.” asked the man with a sarcastic tone.
Later in the evening, Drithnar and Navan noticed a bar fight starting at the Fatman’s Feedbag, a tavern near the docks. They quickly went to fetch the two girls, and headed inside the place. There, they saw that some Varisians, among which they could see Jubrayl Vhiski, were starting to fight with some dirty-looking men, garbage cleaners working for Gorvi, the fat, tattooed half-orc who stood in the middle of the room, drunkenly punching left and right. Ruh created the illusion of a fire coming out of the kitchen, and the rest of the group yelled “fire!”, which caused everyone to forget about the fight and try to get out of the place. Jubrayl was the first to be out the door, clearly fearing for his own life. The characters even witnessed him knocking down an old lady with a cane in his haste to reach the door first.
Once outside, Kerista managed to calm everyone down and finish breaking up the fight. Just as the crowd was starting to disperse, Gorvi chuckled, slapped her bottom and muttered something suggestive to her. Kerista immediately grabbed hold of his shirt and rammed him violently against the side of the building, pinning his throat under elbow. “You will obey and respect the word of the Law!” she told him in a sharp-as-steel voice. Gorvi, his little beady eyes bulging like a strangled pig’s, merely nodded meekly, and he gasped for breath when she released him.
Jubrayl was watching the scene with an amused smirk on his face. He then approached Navan and spoke to him in Varisian. He congratulated him on being part of the Sandpoint guard, and tried to probe the terrain to see if Navan would be willing to “help his fellow Varisians out”. Navan made it very clear that he wouldn’t let himself be corrupted, and that he didn’t approve of Jubrayl’s methods. The older man sneered and walked away with some of his goons, shooting an angry glare back at Navan.
Sunday, Rova 28th 4707
The next day was rainy and cold. It was truly a miserable day to be outside. The characters didn’t do much, and their night shift was mostly quiet, except that Gorvi once again caused a ruckus – this time, at the Pixie’s Kitten brothel. Drithnar and Kerista intervened, and this time, Kerista didn’t let Gorvi go with a mere warning. She dragged his overweight arse all the way to jail.
Meanwhile, Navan was standing watch at one of the bridges, alone in the cold rain, and he cursed Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Deverin for tricking him into accepting this crappy job.
Moonday, Rova 29th 4707
The long-lost brother
Drenched and exhausted from their night shift, Drithnar, Navan and Ruh walked into the Rusty Dragon in the early hours of the morning, eager to go to bed. They did notice, however, that Ameiko and Bethana, the inn’s Halfling servant, weren’t busy preparing things for the day as they usually were at this time. Not thinking much of it, the characters headed up to their rooms and prepared to sleep.
Someone came over to knock at Ruh’s door as she was undressing. She dressed back up again and answered, peering at Bethana, who seemed somewhat anxious. She explained that Ameiko had strangely vanished during the night, and that she’d found a strange crumpled letter on the floor of her room. It was written in a language that neither she nor Ruh could understand. The alphabet wasn’t even one that Ruh recognized. She did, however, cast a Comprehend Languages spell, and was able to read it:
Hello, sis!
I hope this letter finds you well, and with some free time on your hands, because we’ve got something of a problem. It’s to do with father. Seems that he might have had something to do with Sandpoint’s recent troubles with the goblins, and I didn’t want to bring the matter to the authorities because we both know he’d just weed his way out of it. You’ve got some pull here in town, though. If you can meet me at the Glassworks at midnight tonight, maybe we can figure out how to make sure he faces the punishment he deserves. Knock twice and then three times more and then once more at the delivery entrance and I’ll let you in.
In any case, I don’t have to impress upon you the delicate nature of this request… If news got out, you know these local rubes would assume that you and I were in on the whole thing too, don’t you? They’ve got no honor at all around these parts. I still don’t understand how you can stand to stay here.
Anyway, don’t tell anyone about this. There are other complications as well, ones I’d rather talk to you in person about tonight.
Don’t be late.
Tsuto
Puzzled, Ruh went to fetch Navan and Drithnar and read them the letter. Drithnar and Bethana explained that Tsuto was Ameiko’s younger half-brother. Indeed, he clearly hadn’t been sired by Ameiko’s father, since he had the pointed ears and other traits typical of a Half-Elf. Ameiko’s father, Lonjiku Kaijitsu, had been so furious at the dishonor brought to him by that child, that he’d disowned him and had him raised at the Turandarok academy as an orphan, forbidding his wife and daughter from visiting him.
Ameiko had nevertheless visited Tsuto regularly during his childhood, though, bringing him gifts and treats. But still, Tsuto had grown into a bitter young man, who was very resentful of Mr. Kaijitsu. Drithnar had grown up by his side at the Turandarok academy, being roughly the same age. Though he had felt some sympathy for the unfortunate child’s rough life, Drithnar had nonetheless always considered Tsuto to be somewhat of a jerk. He had a really mean streak in him, not just toward Mr. Kaijitsu, but against anyone that crossed him.
When he was a young adult, he’d even slapped Ameiko after a heated argument, and not long after that, she’d left Sandpoint to become an adventurer. Around a year later, though, she’d come back to town for her mother’s funeral. At that occasion, Tsuto very loudly and publicly accused Mr. Kaijitsu of having murdered his mother, Atsuii. Mr. Kaijitsu flew into a rage, and nearly broke Tsuto’s jaw with his cane. Tsuto, with blood flowing down his chin, cursed his “father” and left Sandpoint forever – or so everyone thought.
Clearly, something very fishy was going on, and the characters wanted to make sure Ameiko was all right. Despite their weariness, they gathered their combat gear and went to fetch Kerista at her house, before heading to the Glassworks.
The Glassworks
Actually, now that they thought about it, the characters had noticed that the Glassworks had been active all night, with smoke coming out of the chimneys. They had just assumed that Mr. Kaijitsu’s employees were working overtime on a big contract, just like the workers of the lumber mill had been doing for the past few weeks – much to the frustration of their neighbors who could hardly get any sleep because of the noise.
The morning was damp and foggy, and as the characters approached the building, they noticed that it was quiet, yet that smoke was still coming out of the chimneys. They investigated around it and found all its doors locked. Navan managed to pick the lock of the back door after a few minutes. The companions entered a dark hallway. Drithnar saw no tracks inside, nor had he seen any outside. But as he was examining the floor, everyone heard behind the next set of double doors the sound of glass being smashed, and the unmistakable sound of goblins cackling.
They opened the doors quietly and crept into the large glassworking room. To their horror, they saw that the bodies of six to eight people were being dismembered and adorned with molten glass by a group of six wildly excited goblins – so intensely engrossed in their task that they totally failed to notice the intruders.
The characters attacked at once. Ruh managed to knock out several of the goblins with a Color Spray spell, and Navan shot a few of them down. Drithnar and Kerista moved into melee, but due to bad luck, did not manage to hit the goblins for the first few moments of the fight. Ruh, however, managed to assassinate several of the stunned goblins. Drithnar, who’d gotten badly burned by the tongs of molten glass the goblins had been threatening him with, finally managed to down one of the goblins, and Kerista slew another one. The last goblin finally had an “oh, s**t” moment as he realized that he was the last one standing, and tried to flee, but was transformed into pulp by Drithnar and Kerista before he could get very far.
After the fight, Drithnar drank a potion of healing to recover from his burns. The group also examined the room. The sight of the dismembered people was gruesome; Drithnar thought that they had been the people who used to work here. Most were either naked or wearing their night clothes. But most disgusting was the corpse sitting in the middle of the room, on a chair. It was an older gentleman, with his throat slit, covered in recently solidified glass. Through the substance, the characters could notice that he had the same exotic look as Ameiko: Drithnar and Kerista, with a look of disgusted outrage, identified him as Lonjiku Kaijitsu.
The characters did not dwell on this gruesome discovery: they wanted to find Ameiko as fast as possible. They searched the rest of the ground floor of the Glassworks, but did not find much of interest. The sleeping quarters of the staff were indeed a bloody mess, confirming that the poor people had been slain in their sleep by the goblins, and bloody trails lead from there to the huge glassworking room, indicating that the goblins had dragged all their corpses there for their sadistic enjoyment.
Finally, the companions found a set of stairs leading down. Hoping they weren’t too late to save Ameiko, they stepped down into the darkness…
Really nice reading so far... You give me some ideas for my coming Pathfinder/FR campaign, thanks! Keep up the good work!
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Thank you so much for the kind words, guys. It really makes writing the logs much more worthwhile!!
We played a HUGE game today!!!!!!!! Fasten your seatbelts. :)
Moonday, Rova 29th 4707 (continued)
Join me, sister…
The Glassworks’ basement was dark, cool and quiet. The way was illuminated by a lantern that Navan held above his head.
To their left, the characters saw what remained of a broken-down brick wall which had blocked a tunnel some time in the past. Another tunnel, in front of them, led to a storage space where crates and barrels were kept. The characters headed in that direction, passed another storage room, and finally came to a locked door. It took Navan a few minutes to finally get it open, but it was worth it: inside, between two boxes, they found a small, slender shape lying unconscious on the ground: it was Ameiko!
They rushed to her help. Her face was battered and she seemed to have suffered a nasty concussion, but she was still alive. Navan gave her one of Father Zantus’s potions of healing to drink. Slowly, Ameiko regained consciousness, and her eyes widened when she saw the characters, but they whispered to her to remain quiet. She thanked them profusely for saving her, and Kerista hugged her comfortingly.
Ameiko briefly told them about the letter she’d received from her brother (which the characters admitted having read already), and that once she’d met him here, he’d told her that he had joined a powerful group who were planning a second, much larger goblin raid on Sandpoint, and offered her a place in their ranks. She had, of course, refused, and slapped him for even thinking about such a horrible plot. Tsuto had laughed bitterly then, and a group of goblins had rushed into the room and surrounded her, clobbering her into unconsciousness before she could do much to defend herself.
Ameiko, who had until then acted quite proud of being an “ex-adventurer”, seemed quite ashamed of having being fooled by her brother, and caught so easily. As delicately as they could, the characters informed her of the death of her father and his workers. Ameiko received the news somewhat stoically, though the companions guessed how horrible she must’ve felt inside. “Poor daddy. I had such a beautiful birthday party planned for him… He was going to turn sixty on Oathday…” was all that she said. Kerista hugged her again.
Still wary that more danger could be near, the characters were quick to return to the exploration of the basement, though. They gave Ameiko a dagger and a bow to defend herself. Then, they went back out in the hallway. The next door they came to was also locked, and again, it took a few minutes for Navan to open it. He smiled inwardly, as the fact that he seemed somewhat clumsy with “thief-like” abilities hopefully showed his companions that he wasn’t a seasoned and dangerous burglar. :)
Drithnar was the first to step into the room, and was immediately attacked by a man who tried to hit him with his fist, using an apparently very dangerous martial arts technique. Drithnar, though, manage to block the blow with his shield, and turned to face his opponent. For a moment, the scene seemed frozen in time, as both foes recognized each other. They had grown up together at the Turandarok Academy. They had played together since they were young children. For the first time in six years, Tsuto and Drithnar were face to face, and now, they were bitter enemies.
Tsuto rapidly unleashed another barrage of fists against the burly half-orc. One of them managed to connect, knocking Drithnar back a little. A thin trail of blood was flowing from his bruised lip. Tsuto smiled. Drithnar tried to return the attack, but Tsuto managed to dodge it. Drithnar, though, had managed to step to the side to let some of his allies into the room. Navan managed to line up a perfectly aimed shot with his crossbow. The bolt flew true toward Tsuto’s heart… And Tsuto deflected it at the last moment. He flashed another smug smile. His satisfaction, however, was short-lived, because immediately after that, Kerista burst into the room, and brutally smashed her Earthbreaker against Tsuto’s face. Blood, and a few teeth, flew against the far wall, and Tsuto collapsed in a heap, bleeding profusely.
Kerista looked at her Earthbreaker in surprise: for a moment, it had glowed with a shimmering white light when she’d struck. “It’s never done THAT before…” she muttered.
Ameiko, who hadn’t seen the fight as she was stuck in the corridor behind, gave a small gasp when she heard the noise; Tsuto might have been an evil bastard (in every sense of the word), but he was still her brother. Drithnar, though, was quick to react. He took out some bandages and managed to stop Tsuto’s bleeding. Ameiko fretted at his side, but he calmed her down, muttering about how he’d bandaged much worse wounds than that one “on people who got clobbered by Ogres near Fort Rannick.”
Drithnar’s World Crumbles Down Like A House Of Cards – part two.
While Drithnar and Ameiko were healing, and binding Tsuto with ropes, the others searched the room. It was a small private office, with a bed and a desk. They found several empty or nearly empty bottles of wine. Perhaps Tsuto’s murder of his father and capture of his sister hadn’t been so easy for his conscience to deal with after all, since he’d apparently drunken himself into a stupor after doing it. Ruh cast a Detect Magic spell and found a magical ring and potion on Tsuto; they also found some masterwork Thieves’ Tools, a beautiful flute, a composite shortbow, some silver earrings, 10 platinum pieces and some gold and silver powder that they gave back to Ameiko, since it belonged to the Glassworks… Which most likely, belonged to her now.
But most interesting was Tsuto’s journal, which was lying on the desk. It contained maps and pictures of a beautiful silver-haired woman. Kerista frowned when she saw the pictures.
“That looks like Nualia…” she said.
“What?” said Drithnar, looking over from Tsuto’s unconscious body.
“In his journal. He drew naked pictures of… a woman who looks like Nualia. Well, mostly.”
“WHAT???”
Drithnar immediately stood up and almost tore the journal from Navan’s hands. He feverishly turned page after page of the journal. Many of them indeed were erotic drawings of a stunningly beautiful woman with silver hair.
“That looks Nualia all right,” muttered Ameiko in the same puzzled tone as Kerista.
Drithnar’s hands were shaking as he was going over sketch after sketch of the beautiful Aasimar. He reached the last one, which, strangely enough, showed her with claws, horns, fangs, demonic wings and a forked tail. His eyes widened even more at that one.
“Oh, my…” said Kerista.
Ruh and Navan gave each other a puzzled look.
“Your brother’s a talented artist,” Ruh told Ameiko. “Did you know he had a crush on Nualia too?”
“No...”
“Me neither,” said Kerista. Ameiko gave her a weird look. “But… I guess that’s good news, right, maybe she’s still alive after all?”
“Didn’t they bury her remains next to Father Tobyn?” asked Navan.
“No,” quickly replied Drithnar in a voice choked by emotion. He cleared his throat. “No. They never found her body.”
Kerista smiled and she put a comforting hand on the big half-orc’s shoulder. “Isn’t that great, Drithnar? Then maybe she’s still alive, after all!”
Drithnar didn’t smile.
“Err… Kerista… Didn’t you notice that last drawing? The one with the horns and stuff?” asked Ruh.
“Oh, yeah… Hmm. That might be a problem.”
Once again, Navan was the voice of reason: “Let’s go through these papers carefully and see what they say. Later, we’ll also interrogate Tsuto to learn more.”
“Yeah,” said Drithnar. “We’ll interrogate him…” Ameiko paled at the grim menace that gleamed in his yellow eyes as he turned his gaze toward her unconscious brother. The half-orc cracked his knuckles ominously.
After reading the notes for a little while, the characters found a lot of information. The various maps each depicted different attack plans. The first set showed the attack plans for a group of thirty goblins, which the companions recognized as the attack from the Swallowtail Festival. Tsuto had written the following after the circled map (which was the tactic he’d chosen among several, the others being crossed out):
“The raid went about as planned. Few Thistletop goblins perished, and we were able to secure Tobyn’s casket with ease while the rubes were distracted by the rest. I can’t wait until the real raid. This town deserves a burning, that’s for sure.”
Of more pressing concern were the next several pages, which illustrated an assault on Sandpoint by a force which appeared to be two hundred goblins. None of these were circled, and while many were scratched out as if they’d been rejected, the implications were ominous… Tsuto had written the following after these maps:
“Ripnugget seems to favor the overwhelming land approach, but I don’t think that’s the best plan. We should get the quasit’s aid. Send her freaks up from below via the smuggling tunnel in my father’s Glassworks, and then invade from the river and from the Glassworks in smaller but more focused strikes. The rest except Bruthazmus agree, and I’m pretty sure the bugbear’s just being contrary to annoy me. My love’s too distracted with the lower chambers to make a decision. Says that once Malfeshnekor’s released and under her command, we won’t need to worry about being subtle. I hope she’s right.”
And finally, after the last picture of Nualia, the one where she was depicted with demonic attributes, Tsuto had written:
“My love seems bent on going through with it – nothing I can say convinces her of her beauty. She remains obsessed with removing what she calls her “celestial taint” and replacing it with her Mother’s grace. Burning her father’s remains at the Thistletop shrine seems to have started the transformation, but I can’t say her new hand is pleasing to me. Hopefully when she offers Sandpoint to Lamashtu’s feet, her new body won’t be as hideous. Maybe I’ll luck out. Succubi are demons too, aren’t they?”
“Oh, dear…” muttered Kerista.
Drithnar did not move, or say anything, but he was breathing hard and sweating. His friends weren’t sure what had been more difficult for him – learning of Nualia’s presumed death a few days ago, or learning that she was alive, but seemed to be linked to a group of would-be invaders of Sandpoint, and wanted to transform into a demon by sacrificing the remains of her foster father.
“At least now we know why they stole Father Tobyn’s remains,” said Ruh in what she’d hoped was a helpful tone. Everyone else gave her a “shut up, Ruh” kind of look.
The companions discussed the dire implications revealed by Tsuto’s notes. They recognized Ripnugget and Bruthazmus as goblin heroes Shalelu had told them about. They were puzzled by the mention of a Quasit, which Ameiko explained was a small demon often summoned by evil mages as a familiar. They also guessed that Nualia was in charge of the whole operation. Adding that to the fact that she was a worshipper of Lamashtu, the Mother of Monsters, left little doubt to her now wholly evil nature.
Of course, nobody dared present the naked truth to Drithnar. But the pain showed in his eyes. He’d reached the same inevitable conclusion in his own mind. Once again, his whole world was crumbling down around him… Nualia, the purest, most beautiful being he’d ever seen, had somehow been corrupted by some evil force. Drithnar could only cling to the hope that somehow, Desna would guide him on a path to save the woman he loved and cleanse her of the evil influence.
Yet just as painful as the thought of the corruption of Nualia’s very soul was a triviality; something that, in the grand scheme of things, shouldn’t have mattered at all. But it did.
Tsuto had referred to her as “my love”.
Those two words had stabbed Drithnar through the heart… Just as it had six years ago when he’d learned that Nualia loved his best friend Delek, his heart was swelling with an overwhelming feeling of jealousy.
The Last of the Kaijitsus
Though they guessed that more perils lay further along the smuggler tunnels below the Glassworks, the companions first brought Tsuto’s still unconscious body back to the surface. While Drithnar headed to the cathedral to get healed, the others headed to the garrison. Many of the townsfolk were looking at them with wide eyes. Kerista was carrying Tsuto’s body over her shoulder, and Ameiko followed her, still battered and bloody. The people of Sandpoint would talk about this bloody day for a long time. Ameiko walked with her head held high, putting on a brave face. But she felt small, and alone. She was the last of the Kaijitsus. She felt so very alone…
Another group of stunned people greeted them at the garrison. The characters were bombarded with questions, but only revealed what had happened to the sergeant, in private. The man’s face turned deathly pale when he heard of the terrible fate of Mr. Kaijitsu and his workers, as well as the dire peril outlined in Tsuto’s journal.
Tsuto was brought to a jail cell, where Ameiko stayed to watch over him. A few of the guards, as well as some civilians working at the garrison went to the Glassworks with the characters to start clearing up the bodies. Drithnar was also there, and a few priests, including Father Zantus, had also showed up to help clean up the place. Father Zantus wore a grim face, but he praised the characters’ bravery and called for Desna’s blessing upon them. Then, the four adventurers returned to the dark place under the Glassworks…
The Catacombs
Further in the basement, the companions found the old smugglers’ tunnels that Ameiko had told them about. They followed them and noticed a few side passages, but followed the very long main tunnel until it reached a dead end. After searching for quite some time, they finally found a secret passage leading to a natural cave, which opened unto a beach to the north of Sandpoint. Clearly visible there were the remains of beds and meals of the eight goblins. On the way, Drithnar had also noticed the tracks of these eight goblins, as well as Tsuto’s, heading toward the Glassworks. This was clearly where they’d come from.
The characters headed back in the main tunnel, until they reached a side-tunnel that had previously been bricked out, and then opened up again by force. They proceeded carefully into it. After a few dozens feet, it branched off into a cave to the right. While Drithnar was again examining the ground for tracks, a hideous monster suddenly loomed out of the shadow, hissing fiercely. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, with a pale skin and small glowing red eyes. But most disturbing was its jaw, long and strangely split up in the middle, showing two rows of wicked fangs, ending in what looked disturbingly like two small, clawed hands.
Thankfully, the companions were quick to react, and managed to destroy the being before it could harm them. They examined its body with a sense of revulsion. They’d never seen anything like it. Even Ruh, with all her knowledge, didn’t have the slightest idea what it was.
The companions continued further. They followed a branch in the tunnel and came to an ancient room of carved stone. Inside it was debris of old urns, which likely had contained food a very, very long time ago. It was now dust. To the north stood a stone door. The room was strangely well-maintained, though obviously ancient. Ruh and Navan were very pleased: they’d apparently found their first undiscovered Thassilonian ruin!
Further ahead, they saw that the main tunnel ended in a hole leading down to some kind of cell. To the side, they entered another worked stone room in the center of which was a spectacular statue of red marble depicting an angry-looking woman holding a ranseur and a book covered with seven runes. Ruh told the group that this was a depiction of Lamashtu, but Kerista disagreed, saying that Lamashtu was usually represented by a pregnant woman with the head of a three-eyed jackal. Carefully, the characters managed to extract the ranseur from the rest of the statue. It was of steel inlaid with pearls, and very well-made. Neither it not the statue radiated magic, though.
The characters continued down one of the ancient hallways and reached an old shrine in which a black marble altar stood on a platform. A depression on its surface contained old stagnant water. Kerista said she sensed some evil in this place. The characters chose to continue forward, and passed some massive stone double-doors which led them into a huge room.
Her Majesty
The room sprawled ahead of them. A strange pool stood in the middle of the room, with a ring of skulls on spikes near its center. Further ahead, the back room was raised, with two stairs leading to the top, on which stood a pool of glowing, fire-colored liquid. It bubbled and hissed as though it was lava, but yet the room was cold… The characters, obviously, immediately recognized this room as the one the ghost of Mr. Stoot had referred to.
As they observed the room, a cloud of smoke suddenly rose up from the fire-pool, and a hideous split-jawed creature, similar to the one they’d fought not long ago, emerged. It stood near the pool and watched them with its evil red eyes. As the characters were wondering what to do, a small screeching voice yelled at them in an alien language. After a few moments, Ruh gasped and smiled. She was adept at reading the dead Thassilonian language, and by deduction, managed to guess that this was the same language she was now hearing. How proud her old mentor would be of her when he heard about that!
Of course, providing Ruh lived to tell the tale…
The little creepy voice then switched to Common: “Who are you who dare intrude into my realm? Infidels! Do you not know this is a sacred place??”
Guessing he was talking to a little invisible creature, probably the Quasit mentioned in Tsuto’s journal, Navan pretended that his group was sent by Tsuto to bring a message to Nualia. The little voice cackled and assured them that it had Nualia’s complete confidence, and could receive messages in her stead. The characters didn’t reveal anything yet, though. When Ruh asked the little voice if the red marble statue was one of Lamashtu, the little voice cackled madly, and seemed to fly around the room invisibly, stuck in a fit of crazy laughter. Finally it quieted down and thanked Ruh:
“This was the best joke I’ve heard in a very, very long time. Do you young ones not remember anything of the old days? Are you not even able to recognize one of the mighty Runelords??”
Then, the conversation turned somewhat sourer, when the little voice informed the characters that she was the queen of this place, and that they should bow to her and call her “Your majesty”. The characters, fearing a trap, did not bow, but retreated back into the previous room, Navan managing to placate the strange little invisible creature with an impressive display of diplomacy.
Ooc: Then, Navan’s player said the funniest quote of today’s game: “I’m very proud of what we achieved, even though we haven’t achieved anything yet.” :)
Denizens of the Catacombs
Leaving the eerie cathedral and the invisible thing behind them, the characters reached a large prison, in which they found two more of the hideous split-jawed creatures. The monsters rushed them, and the characters returned to the red statue’s room, to fight them in a more defensible position. The monsters, though, seemed smart enough to hang back and wait for them at the prison entrance. Kerista tried to lure them in, got slightly wounded, but managed to strike one of them, and Navan also managed to shoot one with a crossbow bolt. Then Kerista stepped back, but the monsters didn’t take the bait, and just closed the stone door.
The companions waited for a few moments, wondering what to do, and finally decided to leave those monsters there for now. Instead, they climbed some stairs to the east, which led to a small circular room in the center of which they found another skull-rimmed pool, above which floated a hideous disembodied skeletal head with tentacles writhing under it. Kerista threw a javelin at it, but missed, and Ruh also missed with her crossbow. The creature, which Ruh recognized as a Vargouille, then let out a horrible shriek, which terrified Kerista, who stood helpless and unable to defend herself, but which the other companions managed to resist (ooc: this will likely be the only time in the campaign when Kerista is scared, but the others aren’t :) ). Navan then shot the creature with a well-aimed bolt which pinned it to the ceiling!
Kerista soon came out of her panicked state, and the adventurers quickly searched the room. While they were doing that, though, Kerista yelled and pointed: the two creatures from the prison had followed them, and strangely enough, their wounds were gone! They viciously attacked Drithnar and Navan. Drithnar managed to keep his at bay with powerful shield bashes that pushed it back. Navan stepped back to shoot his, but missed, Ruh shot it with a well-aimed bolt, and then Kerista stepped in front of it and smashed her huge weapon against the side of the creature’s head, crushing it into a gory splatter of blood and gore against the wall. Soon after, Drithnar finished his off with a powerful axe blow.
The characters watched the bodies intently to see if they could regenerate their wounds even from death, but apparently, they couldn’t. They then returned to the old prisons, which they painstakingly searched with much attention, but they didn’t find anything except old skeletons and graffiti’s written in Thassilonian, the most interesting of which was one that claimed that “those who let themselves be controlled by their Wrath are weak.”
By this time, despite the creepiness of their surroundings, Drithnar’s belly was starting to rumble louder and louder. He was starving. And all of the characters were very tired. They’d been up for almost 24 hours straight now, since they guessed it must be around noon now.
Nevertheless, they continued further and found an old torture room, and three cells closed by stone doors, each of which contained a disgusting, malformed skeleton.
The Guardian of the Pits
Further along, they found a long set of stairs going down, which led into a large room from which a sickly putrefied smell and some low moans and scratching noises could be heard. Several flimsy wooden lids were covering some dark pits from which the moans were coming from. As the characters were starting to examine this sinister place, some light caught their attention, and they saw a disgusting creature emerge from the tunnel to their right. It was a man-sized, hideously malformed goblin with extra limbs, a grayish, warty skin covered in strange red runes and a huge maw filled with sharp fangs. Three of its many arms were carrying weapons: one was a beautiful glowing longsword, another one was a handaxe smeared with dried blood, and the last was a silver dagger.
The creature roared viciously and rushed the group. As it drew near, it spurted out a disgusting jet of foul-smelling and acidic blood from its mouth. Kerista shrieked as she was hit by the yucky liquid head-on, and some of it splashed against Navan, too. It burned! The characters then sprang into action. They hit it several times with their weapons, but the creature was very resilient. Eventually, it managed to stab Kerista with its axe and its dagger. The beautiful woman, bleeding from several wounds, lost consciousness, but Navan managed to catch her just before she fell into one of the dark pits. Finally, Ruh managed to shoot a crossbow bolt through the mutant’s throat, and it collapsed at Drithnar’s feet.
Navan quickly rummaged through Kerista’s pouches and found a potion of healing that he made her drink. Slowly, she regained consciousness and gave him a weak little smile. “Did we get him?” she asked feebly. Navan grinned at her and nodded. Kerista sniffed and wrinkled her nose in disgust; her chest was still covered by the creature’s foul-smelling blood. “Heavenly Mother Sarenrae… I need a bath!”
With what little magic energy she had left, Ruh cast a Detect Magic in the room and saw that the mutant’s sword was magic. Nothing else was. They also took its other weapons, since the axe was of masterwork quality, and the dagger’s blade was made of silver. The pits each contained a disgusting, vaguely humanoid shape. They were pitiful sights. Their faces were reduced to mere blobs, as if they had either been drenched in acid, or had spent countless years banging their own heads against the sides of the cramped pits. The companions tried to shoot them down, but the creatures, which seemed to be zombies, were hard to damage with arrows and bolts, and the wounds only caused them to moan with more vigor and anguish. After a while, the characters abandoned this idea. They didn’t have the heart, at least for now, for such a disgusting task.
Bravely, they continued their exploration. The reached a stairway blocked by a cave-in, as well as a strange spherical room with metal walls along which shimmered strange runes of black lightning. In the room floated several items: a book, a scroll, a bottle of wine, a wand and a dead, maggot-eaten raven. The characters didn’t dare investigate this place yet. They finally turned back and headed to the surface.
It’s them!!
Inside the glassworking room of the factory, several guards, civilians and priests were hard at work cleaning up the bodies with grim determination. When the characters entered, they were greeted by expectant looks and whispers of “It’s them! It’s them!!” Father Zantus was there, and they put him up to speed. He reeled somewhat under the revelation that for all these years, such a sinister catacomb had lain below the ground of his beloved town. He praised the characters’ bravery and skill, and healed their wounds. The sergeant of the guard had also been present and received the same debriefing.
Outside, the characters were greeted by a huge crowd of onlookers, which a few harried-looking guards were keeping at bay from the Glassworks. A cacophony of cheers and questions immediately flooded them. They held up their hands and said they weren’t available for questions right now, although they asked Headmaster Gandethus to come inside with them, and Kerista also took a few minutes to reassure her brother, who was present, that she was all right, despite the amount of blood covering her.
Navan gave a quick debriefing of what they’d seen downstairs to the Headmaster, and also asked him to identify a few of their items. He obliged (“it’s the least I can do”) and identified the few magical items they’d found so far. Drithnar inherited the goblin’s magical longsword, and the group gave Tsuto’s ring of protection to Kerista. Drithnar also took the masterwork handaxe, and Ruh took the silver dagger.
Finally, the exhausted characters escaped the crowd and decided to avoid the rest of the bothersome townspeople which were bound to be at the Rusty Dragon; instead, they all headed to Kerista’s house. It was small but cozy. They all quickly washed up and went to sleep: Kerista shared her bed with Ruh, while the two men slept on blankets in the living room.
Everyone fell asleep almost immediately, except Navan. More than any of the others, he’d remained very calm throughout the whole ordeal; it was his nature, he wasn’t a very excitable person. But now that he was in a quiet state, it was all flooding over him. He couldn’t stop his mind from thinking about the implications from Tsuto’s journal, and about the horrors he’d witnessed in the dark catacomb. But finally, sleep took hold of him…
Dreams and Obsession
Kerista woke up around 11pm. Everything was quiet in her house. It took her a moment to realize that the memories of what had happened earlier that day weren’t a bad dream. It had all really happened. So many horrible visions swam into her mind, yet she felt strangely at peace, as if in some way, she knew she was following the path of her destiny. She was following Sarenrae’s will by bravely facing the dangers that threatened those she loved.
Taking care not to wake up the small gnome sleeping next to her, she got up and went to the kitchen. There, she found Drithnar sitting by a lit candle. He was again going through the pictures of Nualia from Tsuto’s journal. Someone else might have found the half-orc’s obsession pathetic, or risible, but Kerista intuitively knew exactly how tragic the recent news about Nualia had been for her friend.
Drithnar gave a guilty start when he noticed Kerista, and moved his hand to close the journal.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” said Kerista in a mild voice.
“Err… Yes. Yes, she was. She is,” replied the half-orc.
Kerista looked into Drithnar’s eyes and found it so strange that he’d been more deeply wounded by Nualia’s beauty that by any of the horrors they’d witnessed earlier.
“It’s a real tragedy that a beautiful girl like that would be corrupted into a demonic being,” she said. “I mean, she’s even got celestial blood running inside her. That must make her harder to corrupt than any of us. I’m sure if anyone’s got a chance to survive whatever curse she’s under, it’s her. There’s always hope, my friend. So say the wise. We have to hope that we will be able to do what’s best for Nualia. I hope we can find a way to cure her.” She paused. “But if we don’t… We will all have to be strong to face the reality of what we need to do.”
Drithnar was watching her silently.
“Will you be strong enough to do what’s right, Drithnar?”
The half-orc kept watching her in silence, frowning. Finally, he spoke in an uneasy voice: “I don’t know.”
Another long pause followed, then: “I need to talk to Tsuto…”
Ruh woke up not long after. Kerista started preparing a meal for them, and when after some time, they saw that Navan was still sleeping soundly, they woke him up. Navan walked dazedly to the table where Kerista was putting down their breakfast. He had a strange look in his eyes, and told his friends that he’d had many extraordinary dreams that night… As if Desna herself had sent him some mysterious visions he didn’t quite understand yet.
Actually, when they talked with each other, they noticed that, despite their aching muscles and terrible memories from their adventure, they all felt stronger, more confident, more attuned to their discipline. While they got ready, Drithnar prepared both the longsword and the handaxe, to fight with one weapon in each hand. More than ever, Kerista felt the strength of Sarenrae’s blessing within her. And Navan now felt strongly in tune with Desna, and his mind was filled with ringing prayers that he knew he could ask his goddess for; though he had not yet received the formal ceremony to make him a priest, he knew that he had pleased Desna with his latest heroic actions, and that she counted him as one of her faithful.
Ooc: the characters are now:
Navan – Level 1 Rogue, level 1 Cleric
Ruh – Level 2 Wizard (Conjuration specced)
Drithnar – Level 2 Ranger
Kerista – Level 2 Paladin
Toilday, Rova 30th 4707
Tsuto’s silence
The characters took the time to wash up a bit more, and then they headed to the garrison in the middle of the night. They found it very active. They’d asked the rest of the guards to start taking double-shifts to cover for them. Nobody had complained, since it was clear that the town was again in a state of crisis. A small crowd of people at the garrison again harassed the characters for information; Kerista remained behind to answer a few basic questions and reassure them, while the rest of the characters followed a large Shoanti guard into the basement.
The big man told them that Ameiko and the sergeant had tried to interrogate Tsuto for more most of the day, but had finally given up, since he wasn’t saying a word. The characters came in front of Tsuto’s cell. He was chained to the wall and the left side of his face was still badly bruised from Kerista’s Earthbreaker. He’d clearly been healed just enough to be conscious, but not enough to be comfortable. Before they entered the cell, Navan gave a “don’t do anything stupid” look to Drithnar. The big ranger looked at him grimly, and nodded reluctantly.
Navan proceeded to question Tsuto about Nualia’s whereabouts, and their scheme, but the half-elf simply looked at him stoically and refused to answer. After several long minutes of this treatment, Drithnar was starting to look more and more agitated at Tsuto’s smug, uncooperative attitude. He finally lost control and gripped his former classmate’s throat, yelling at him to answer. Tsuto, despite turning a deep shade of red under the pressure, still merely glared defiantly at Drithnar and refused to answer. He clearly seemed to be willing to die before revealing anything.
Navan and Ruh tried to pry the half-orc’s muscular hands away from Tsuto’s throat, but to no avail: he was much too strong for them. Navan desperately tried to make him listen to reason, and finally, Kerista came running down the stairs, having heard Drithnar’s shouts from up there. She struggled with Drithnar: she was almost, but not quite, as strong as the huge ranger. Finally, Navan and Kerista’s soothing tones as well as Kerista’s tugging made Drithnar release his grip, and Tsuto gasped for breath loudly: the first sound he’d made since they’d entered the cell.
Drithnar collapsed to the ground, into Kerista’s arms. She whispered soothing words in his ear as she hugged him comfortingly, but at the same time, over his shoulder, she met Tsuto’s smug, victorious smile with a “I would so kill you RIGHT NOW if I weren’t a Paladin” glare.
Finally, Drithnar recovered his wits, and apologized to his friends for his loss of control. Navan asked him and Ruh in a low tone to go ask Headmaster Gandethus to join them here and try to magically charm Tsuto – although that was a long shot, since they didn’t even know if the old man knew that spell.
While the two were away, Kerista watched Tsuto in silence for a long time, and finally spoke to him: “You are weak, Tsuto. And your heart is black. You think you have the right to hurt others because you have been hurt yourself. But you are not the only one who’s been hurt. If everyone were as selfish as you, the cycle of hurt would never end.”
Unmoved, the half-elf looked at her blankly.
“But you have a weak point. We know that. You love Nualia. I know you don’t want her to turn into a demon. Neither do we. Help us help her. Can we do anything to stop the transformation? For all our sakes, and hers!”
But even that plea remained unanswered…
Tsuto’s visions
Some time later, Drithnar and Ruh returned, and with them was not the aged Headmaster, but rather the elegant playwright, Cyrdak Drokkus. They said they’d run into him on the street and that he’d seemed eager to help, so they’d brought him instead. Cyrdak, with his usual theatrical flair, praised the characters’ bravery and thanked them for allowing him to take a minor role in this grandest of adventures: The Dark Catacombs of Sandpoint! He announced that this would be his next play, for which he was already writing a script, and he pleaded once again with Navan and Kerista to consider playing the lead roles for it. His over-the-top performance brought a much-needed comical relief to the harried companions, who could not help but smile at his joie-de-vivre.
Out of earshot from the cell, the adventurers informed Cyrdak of the basics of the situation, and asked him to try to get Tsuto to talk. Then, they returned there, and Cyrdak tried to charm the stoic half-elf, but failed. Tsuto, again, smiled triumphantly at him, but Cyrdak whispered to Navan that he had a backup plan, and asked Navan to ask some key questions to Tsuto, “to open up his mind”. Navan did just that, and noticed that Cyrdak, standing at his side, was intently watching Tsuto. After a few minutes of questioning, Tsuto started to sweat heavily. Apparently, he realized that Cyrdak was reading his mind, but seemed unable to prevent him. After a few more minutes, Cyrdak nodded and told Navan: “that’s it.”
He then joined the characters in an isolated room and told them of the various visions he’d seen in Tsuto’s mind in relation to Navan’s questions.
When Nualia was mentioned, he glimpsed her wearing a dark armor and wielding a large sword, killing people with a cold smile. He also got visions of Nualia and Tsuto making love. Drithnar’s fists clenched threateningly at that, but he otherwise kept his emotions under control. He also got visions of a horrible, demonic red hand attacking Tsuto, and saw that this hand was in fact Nualia’s, though up until then, she’d been perfectly normal, without this hand. Finally, he got a glimpse of a small island with a wooden fort built on top of it, and a wooden bridge leading to it.
Then, he saw visions of Mr. Kaijitsu hitting Tsuto when he was a child, and yelling at him in the strange Minkai language. Later on, he saw a vision of Mr. Kaijitsu facing a grown-up Tsuto in a splendid living room, probably his own, and looking outraged as though he’d just been told something very unpleasant; and eventually, nodding as though forced to agree to an unfair deal.
When his plans were mentioned, Cyrdak got flashes of the maps showing the attacks on Sandpoint, as well as a vision of goblins digging out father Tobyn’s grave, with Tsuto laughing as he watched them, as sounds of a panicked crowd could be heard in the distance. He also saw a flash of Nualia in a kind of feast hall filled with goblins, giving orders to a large armored goblin. He also noticed other humans near her, but couldn’t make them out in detail before the vision faded out.
Finally, regarding the catacombs, he saw a vision of a small, grey-skinned and pink-haired little demon fluttering ahead of Tsuto, with a feeling that a disgusting smell was emanating from her. The vision showed Tsuto giving her a bottle of wine and the little demon dancing happily in mid-air.
The companions thanked Cyrdak for his assistance, and smiled at each other: they’d ended up beating Tsuto and learning some of his secrets. Cyrdak confirmed that, according to his knowledge, the little demon was a Quasit, and that only an enchanted blade could harm them. All eyes turned to Drithnar’s glowing longsword: hopefully, one magic weapon was going to be enough to do the trick.
Tribute to her Majesty
The sun was barely rising as the characters made their way to the Rusty Dragon. Navan had a plan, and it included a bottle of wine. Ameiko and Bethana weren’t up yet. Navan took one of their wine bottles and left them a note. Kerista was hesitant to “borrow” an item like that, but the others reminded her that they had saved Ameiko’s life the previous day, and that a bottle of wine wasn’t really a big deal in the grand scheme of things!
The characters passed the few guards around the Glassworks. Everything had been quiet there during the night. Inside, they found that the cleaning crew had finished removing the bodies and the blood. Even Mr. Kaijitsu’s corpse was gone. The companions returned downstairs and entered the catacombs again. They headed back to the shrine with the pool of cold fire, and opened the stone doors. There, they were immediately attacked by one of the split-jawed creatures, which must have been waiting in ambush behind them!
Drithnar parried all of the creature’s attacks, and hit it with a violent blow from his off-hand axe. Kerista then finished the job with her Earthbreaker, sending the creature to writhe on the ground briefly before dying. Meanwhile, though, a hideous black spider had appeared out of nowhere behind Ruh and had tried to bite her. Navan shot it, and Drithnar rushed to the gnome’s help and managed to obliterate the spider with both of his weapons. Clearly, he was loving this new two-weapon style of combat! Another, smaller spider appeared behind Ruh, and managed to bite her, injecting a painful dose of poison into the little mage’s veins. This time, it was Kerista’s turn to save the little mage, and she splattered the little spider under her Earthbreaker, the blow having been so strong that it even cracked the floor a little bit.
The characters all rushed inside the cold fire pool room, while a shrill voice was yelling at them about entering her domain and slaying her subjects. The little creature called them liars for having pretended to be Tsuto’s men. Navan apologized and told her that the minions had attacked them first. This time, the characters all knelt in respect, and Navan presented to the Quasit the bottle of wine that he’d brought. The characters waited for a few moments in silence, not knowing what to expect, but hoping that Navan’s silver tongue would once again save them from the Queen’s wrath.
Finally, a little shape appeared before them. It was just as Cyrdak had described it, a tiny humanoid with fluttering dragon-like wings, dark skin and long pink hair. It smiled, showing tiny pointed teeth, and grabbed the wine bottle lovingly. But before it could thank its visitors, Navan nodded to Kerista, and the young woman jumped to grab the little demon!
Unfortunately, the Quasit was too fast for her and started to fly out of range. Quicker than the eye, though, Ruh cast a Color Spray on it, and it hovered in mid-air, stunned. It dropped the wine bottle, which shattered on the stone floor. Kerista jumped, managed to grab hold of one of its legs, pulled it down and grappled it. With one gloved hand, the young paladin was holding the Quasit’s mouth shut to prevent her from casting spells.
Drithnar tried to attack the creature with his magical sword, but it wiggled crazily in Kerista’s grasp. Ruh managed to wound it with two orbs of cold, but saw that the little being’s wounds were regenerating. Navan realized that Kerista, despite her strength, would not be able to keep hold of the wildly thrashing demon forever; they had to do something, and fast! He told Drithnar to forget about wounding it, and to instead tie a rope around it. The ranger quickly produced a rope and managed to tie up the struggling Quasit. Then, quickly, with Kerista’s hand still clutching the demon’s jaw, the adventurers hurried all the way up to the ground level, and then to the cathedral, hoping that Father Zantus would know how to kill the creature!
Panic erupted when the characters showed up and revealed the bound, but wildly thrashing demon. Drithnar and Kerista were starting to have a hell of a time keeping it under control. Father Zantus’s eyes widened in shock at the sacrilege, and an aged, gray-bearded priest of Gozreh raised his staff and moved to protect a wild-eyed young priestess of Shelyn. Navan was shouting questions to Father Zantus about how to kill the creature, and the priest was standing there in shocked silence, wracking his brains to try to think of something. Then, a small shape moved forward through the crowd.
“Foolish young ones, I’ll take care of this. Let me through…”
The crowd parted, and to Navan’s astonishment, he saw his bent, old great-grand-aunt, who’d probably come to the temple to pray to Gozreh. The wrinkled old woman approached the thrashing little demon, walking slowly with the help of her cane. For a moment, the Quasit stopped struggling, and the two ancient creatures regarded each other intently. Then, Madam Mvashti’s face contorted in anger, and she reached to touch the little demon with her shriveled hand. A powerful burst of lighting spread out over the tiny creature’s body, and it writhed in agony. Drithnar and Kerista gritted their teeth from the pain: some of the electricity was hurting them, too. Madam Mvashti cast another burst of lightning, then another. The little creature had stopped moving; its carcass was now blackened and smoking. It was quite, quite dead. Drithnar and Kerista let it fall to the ground, their faces contorted in pain from the shock they’d just experienced; a few priests rushed to their side to heal them.
Navan looked at the tiny burnt corpse lying on the ground, and then, just for the hell of it, shouted: “The Queen is dead! The Queen is dead!”
Aww, you're evil. This is making me want to start up my campaign already, but the group won't be back together for another 3 weeks! ;)
About Kerista... tough exterior with a soft heart (how many times does she hug people?). She is actually ruining my stigma against paladins. Evil!
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Kerista is a sweetheart. :)
Toilday, Rova 30th 4707 (continued)
Sacrilege!
For a moment, all was quiet after the little creature finally died. Then, pandemonium erupted. Some of the priests were shouting at the characters, calling them heretics for bringing a demon into their most holy temple. A few of the priests were quietly taking the character’s defense. Navan was shouting back at a priest of Abadar that his group had done the priests a favor by bringing the monster here to make sure it got destroyed once and for all. Father Zantus was still staring at the smoking carcass, in shock. Two kind priestesses, one of Shelyn and one of Sarenrae, came to heal Kerista and Drithnar’s wounds. And Madam Mvashti watched it all with a smug look on her face.
Finally, the characters left the temple (with Navan somewhat slamming the door in a rare display of anger at some of the priests’ ingratitude) and went to Kerista’s place. There, they examined again the corpse of the Quasit and made sure it was really dead. It was. They looted it and wondered if they’d be able to sell its tiny items, especially a tiny magical dagger.
Then, the group decided that they’d go back to Chopper’s island and try to get more information from it now that they’d found the “cold fire in a dark place” it had mentioned before. Kerista looked pale and did not seem to be looking forward to the encounter; but she followed her friends nonetheless. The climb up the steep cliffs was long and arduous, but finally, they all reached the summit.
With your blood, daddy…
Everything seemed to be as it had been the last time they’d been there. Drithnar saw no new tracks on the ground. Together, the companions climbed the stairs leading down, with Ruh’s staff illuminating the way. The vermin and spooky whispers were still present, as well as the dark, looming shape of the sinister bird-headed statue.
The characters waited for a few moments, after which Kerista, in a voice choked by fear, said that she felt an evil presence in the room. By concentrating further, she discovered that it did not come from the statue… But from further back in the room.
“Mister Stoot?” she asked the darkness in a quavering voice.
“Don’t call him that!” whispered Navan. “The gentle side of him seems to be this child-like ghost who only knows of itself as Jervas. You know what; just let me do the talking…”
Navan called out to “Jervas”, and after a while, the child-ghost answered him. For some reason, it kept calling Navan “daddy”… Navan told him that he’d found the cold fire in a dark place, and asked him how he could destroy it.
“With your blood, daddy,” replied the disembodied voice. “You have to sacrifice yourself. After all, you were the first one… It’s only fair that you set me free.”
The ghost also told Kerista: “Kerista, is that you? He’s sorry for what he did; he never meant to hurt you. You know that, don’t you? He never meant for you to see what happened. He could have hurt you if he’d wanted, but he didn’t… You were the only one who was nice to him.”
After a while, the characters weren’t getting any more coherent information from the ghost, so they returned to the warm daylight and made the long climb down back to Sandpoint.
Buyin’ and Sellin’
The characters stopped at the Rusty Dragon for a quick breakfast. They met Bethana who told them that Ameiko was now quite busy with sorting out her father’s affairs and trying to get the Glassworks up and running again. She’d left Bethana in charge of the inn for now. She also specified that the companions could eat and sleep at the inn free of charge, to thank them.
Then, they headed back down to the catacombs, where they found an ancient chest adorned with complex Thassilonian runes, which formed a puzzle that had to be solved in order to open the chest.
They also began their thorough search of the complex, with Ruh checking for secret doors with a spell, but she found none.
They then returned to Kerista’s house, where they were visited by Mayor Deverin, whom they debriefed officially, as until now she’d only heard about what they’d done through Father Zantus and the sergeant. Again, the mayor thanked them for their courage and the help they’d given her town. She gave them a reward of 250 gold pieces each (ooc: I thought it made sense that the characters should be rewarded for what they’ve done, or else the people in charge of Sandpoint really seem like a bunch of cheapskates).
The mayor took in the information unemotionally, despite the threat looming on the horizon for her town. She remained very level-headed, and discussed strategies with the characters. Together, they wondered what might have corrupted Nualia into a demon-worshipping psycho, and surmised that her deformed stillborn child had been already an obvious sign of Lamashtu’s influence even five years ago. She mentioned Hannah the midwife, who might have more information about the subjects. She informed the characters that there was going to be a general town meeting at the town hall the following night, and that they were all invited. Lastly, she also advised the characters to use caution if they chose to use Cyrdak’s skills again in the future; in her eyes, he was not an evil man, but he was unpredictable.
Next, the companions went to visit Headmaster Gandethus, who identified the Quasit’s tiny returning dagger. Ruh and he also decided to exchange a few spells from their spellbooks over the next few days. The characters also told the Headmaster all of what they’d seen in the previous few days.
During the rest of the afternoon, the characters sold some of the treasure they’d found, and bought some masterwork weapons and better armor from the various shops in town. Ruh also bought several magical scrolls from the Feathered Serpent shop.
Then, the characters had dinner at the Rusty Dragon, and then all went to sleep, except Navan who first went to the cathedral to receive Father Zantus’ final blessing and became officially ordained as a priest of Desna.
Wealday, Lamashan 1st, 4707
Ancient treasure
The following morning, the characters woke up to another beautiful, sunny day. Nevertheless, after a quick breakfast, they met Father Zantus at the cathedral, and along with him and a priest of Erastil, they headed back down to the sinister depths below the Glassworks. There, they surprised a group of three “honest Varisian explorers” (i.e., Sczarni tomb-robbers) trying to open the strange rune-covered chest. The characters and the priests managed to convince them that being in the catacombs was hazardous for their health, and that they should leave now and not return.
Then, they examined the rune-covered chest and the pool of cold fire. The chest had a powerful Abjuration aura, and the pool was the most magical and evil thing that Ruh and Kerista had ever seen. The two priests visited the catacombs and took note of the various monsters the characters had killed, and of the auras and symbols in the place. Together with Navan, they destroyed a few of the zombies that remained in the pit chamber.
The two priests then left, and Ruh then spent two hours figuring out how to open the lockbox. With her knowledge, she understood that if she could solve the complex puzzle, the box would open. Navan was also able to help with his “disable device” skill, to bypass some of the locks. Ruh did about half of the job, and then headed back to the surface to start copying some of the scrolls into her spellbook, leaving the rest of the job to Navan. After a few more hours, he managed to get the thing open. The others went to fetch Ruh. Inside, the group found four strange rings made of sparkling green metal, each adorned with a very special rune.
Ruh recognized those runes as some of those that adorned the standing stones at the center of the Sandpoint Cathedral. Each ring also had a powerful magical aura, but the magical school was different for each ring. One was illusion, another abjuration, another enchantment, and the last was evocation. Each of the characters found one of the rings especially attractive. They decided to get them identified by the Headmaster later on.
Another thing, though, is that these rings are each related to one of the seven virtues, or sins, of ancient Thassilonia. I haven’t read modules 4-6 of RotRL yet at the time I’m writing this, so I’m not sure yet how exactly I will handle it, but it’s possible that the characters behavior (very sinful or very saintly) could affect the rings’ behavior later in the campaign.
They then continued their search of the complex. Near the torture room, they found old scraps of parchments and books, which Ruh (who can read Thassilonian) identified as old text describing how wizards of old were able to create a different kind of magic, which had effects similar to divine spells. She also found a magical scroll of Flaming Sphere intact in there.
The companions then went to check the spherical room with the strange lightning. Ruh, using a Mage Hand spell, was able to bring all of the floating items to them. The scroll and wand were magical. The book was written in an unknown language – the characters later lent it to the priest of Erastil for translation. The bottle of wine was mostly full, and Drithnar identified it as a local wine – possibly the one Cyrdak had seen Tsuto give to the Quasit in his vision. Finally, the raven was just a very gross corpse, with tiny bite marks on it.
For the rest of the day, Navan searched the complex further, Ruh continued studying her new spells, and Drithnar and Kerista went up to relax and enjoy the sun.
The town council
In the evening, the characters all went to the city hall to take part in the town council. Due to the recent events, the place was full of people eager to hear the words of the town’s leaders. Sitting at a table on a platform were the Mayor and heads of the merchant families: old Ethram Valdemar, stern-faced Titus Scarnetti and a beautiful young woman with long, straight dark hair and an elegant black dress. The characters did a double-take when they saw her: it was Ameiko! Gone were the pigtails or other wild hairdos, and the revealing, provocative dresses. The new Ameiko now had responsibilities and looked just like the proper businesswoman she was now forced to be.
Also sitting at the table were Father Zantus, Sergeant Barkar and Kerista. In the room, the characters saw several of the townsfolk they’d met already among the crowd: various priests; a scowling Ven Vinder and his daughter Katrine; Cyrdak Drokkus, speaking his opinion loudly to anyone who’d listen; Veznutt the map-maker and Brodert the scholar, chatting excitedly together; Headmaster Gandethus speaking to a number of concerned parents; Gorvi the fat half-orc, munching on a piece of meat, looking bored; Das Korvut the blacksmith, sitting in a corner by himself, scowling, with his arms crossed over his powerful chest; Kerista’s sister, brother and brother-in-law, talking among themselves; and Jubrayl, staring darkly at the crowd, surrounded by several mean-looking Varisians.
The Mayor finally asked for silence, and then proceeded to calmly explain the situation: that Mr. Lonjiku Kaijitsu and the workers of the Glassworks had been murdered a few nights ago, and that his step-son Tsuto, the prime suspect, was in custody and would be sent to Magnimar in a few days for his trial. Ameiko Kaijitsu was now in charge of the all of the Kaijitsu’s family holdings and a member of the Sandpoint Council.
She told the crowd that an old shrine of a heretic religion had also been found under the city, and that some dangerous monsters had been found in it. But she reassured the worried crowd that the danger had been dealt with by an elite strike team lead by Kerista Vigandir of the town guard. She also announced that intelligence had been gathered about a potential second assault of Sandpoint by a force of goblins in the future. Due to this, she asked for everyone’s cooperation in making the town safe, and to limit outside travels to a minimum, especially until Sheriff Hemlock returned from Magnimar.
“Sheriff Hemlock is in Magnimar??” asked Larz Rovanky the tanner, confused. Everyone burst out laughing. As usual, the workaholic artisan was the only one who hadn’t heard the latest rumor.
A period of questions then followed, in which various citizens asked questions of the council members. Some were innocent, merely requesting additional information (though the Mayor did not reveal anything specific about the contents of the catacombs or the goblin forces). Some people questioned the use of adventurers to do the town guard’s job (to which the mayor responded that she had full confidence in the hired help and that Kerista was supervising the operation). Some people then questioned Kerista’s competence, to which the Mayor answered that the young woman had both her and the Sheriff’s complete trust. But Kerista’s friends noticed that she seemed deeply hurt by the implied lack of confidence some of the townsfolk had for her.
The conversation then generated into a more chaotic forum where some people called for Tsuto’s immediate public execution, and others accused the Scarnetti family or the Sczarni thugs from being behind the whole operation. Titus Scarnetti, whom the characters noticed to be a very xenophobic, conservative hot-headed man, seemed to be very unpopular with many of the people in Sandpoint, but nevertheless defended himself vehemently against the accusations that his family had burnt down all of the competing mills of the region.
The meeting finally came to an end; the mayor had done a pretty good job of informing the citizens of what they needed to know, and defusing the wild rumors that had been starting to spread throughout the town, some going as far as saying that an army of vampires and werewolves was gathering in tunnels below the Glassworks, and that they were led by the Sandpoint Devil himself and were preparing to destroy Sandpoint at any moment.
Oathday, Lamashan 2nd, 4707
Ancient relics
The next morning, Headmaster Gandethus identified the four strange rings the characters had found the previous day. They were items he’d never seen, or heard of before; he couldn’t tell exactly what they did, but understood that they attuned themselves to their wearer, and were endowed with a special effect that triggered when their wearer was put in grave danger.
Each of the character therefore took the ring that the preferred. Ruh then continued transcribing her spells, and Navan went down to continue his thorough search of the complex.
Exorcising the catacomb
After lunch, the characters decided to bring Tsuto down to the catacombs to test the “fire pool”. Two guards went with them, along with Father Zantus and the priest of Erastil. The two guards kept Tsuto in a firm grip at the edge of the pool, and Navan asked Tsuto if he knew what was going to happen if he shed some blood into the pool. At first Tsuto remained stoic, but when accused of murdering Mr. Kaijitsu, he spoke up for the first time, and said that the characters might not have been so eager to defend the old man if they’d known him really well, and again claimed that Mr. Kaijitsu had murdered his wife five years ago by throwing her down a cliff, masquerading it as one of Chopper’s murders.
The characters then pricked one of Tsuto’s fingers over the pool, and from it emerged another one of these split-jawed horrors. The companions dispatched it easily, and repeated the process several times. Each time, a new creature was spawned, but each time, the glow of the pool lessened, until in the end it vanished entirely, and the liquid disappeared. Tsuto’s blood then caused no reaction in the empty pool. According to Ruh and Father Zantus’ analysis, the evil had been banished from this place!
The group then headed back to the pit room, where the three clerics destroyed most of the remaining zombies, and the few survivors were finished off with missiles and flaming oil.
Later in the day, Ruh continued her studies, and the other three companions resumed their guard duties to help the poor overworked Sandpoint guards. At dinner, they were approached by two wary, battered-looking merchants who told them that they’d been attacked by goblins on the road to the east, near Nettlewood, while they’d been traveling toward Magnimar from the Velashu Uplands. The goblins had killed their guards and stolen their goods, including a magnificent stallion called Shadowmist. They told the characters they’d pay them 250 gold pieces if they somehow could return the horse unharmed.
Fireday, Lamashan 3rd, 4707
The Sheriff is back in town
The next day, while Ruh continued her studies, the other three companions again worked on guard duty that day. Thankfully, in the afternoon, Sheriff Hemlock rode back in town, although his face was grim. Indeed, after several days of fighting tooth and nail with the bureaucracy, the Sheriff’s desperate pleas for help had been met with indifference from the Magnimar administration, and only a handful of inexperienced soldiers had been assigned to him. The new soldiers were young boys who clearly had no combat experience.
Back at the garrison, the characters put the Sheriff up to speed. He was quite surprised by all the events that took place in his absence, and again thanked the characters for the great job they’d done. He paid them their salary as guards, and together, they discussed the next step. The characters agreed to go scout out Thistletop, and try to bring confirmation of whether or not Nualia was behind it all, and located at that base. The Sheriff offered another 250 gold pieces per character for this mission.
Also, talking again about the murder of Tsuto and Ameiko’s mother, the Sheriff admitted that, at the time, Sheriff Avertin had assumed that she had been Chopper’s first, and clumsiest, murder. Mrs. Kaijitsu’s body had been found at the bottom of the cliff behind the Kaijitsu manor, without the horrible maiming that Chopper’s subsequent victims had suffered. The authorities had therefore assumed that Chopper, still new to the “serial killer” business, had botched this first attempt, and Mrs. Kaijitsu had, in her panic, escaped him but fallen down the cliff, unable to see clearly in the dark. Chopper, having heard the servants and Mr. Kaijitsu being woken up by her screams, had then fled the scene before being able to “properly” mutilate her.
But, looking back, it’s true that another valid explanation would have been that someone other than Chopper had killed Mrs. Kaijitsu. But unfortunately, both of the suspects were now dead, and Tsuto was apparently not cooperating very well…
Later in the day, Kerista went to buy a few items for Navan at the general store (so he wouldn’t have to face Ven Vinder’s wrath). Navan and Drithnar then went to pay a visit to Ameiko, who seemed to be doing well, all things considered. And before going to bed, while they were hanging out at the Rusty Dragon, a very excited Kerista met them there, and told them that she’d just passed her audition to play herself in Cyrdak’s next play!
“It went really well, Cyrdak said I was really good at playing myself!” she said with a big smile.
The others all burst out laughing.
Starday, Lamashan 4th, 4707
Work in progress
The next morning, the characters got up early and got ready for their dangerous trip to Thistletop. They prayed to Sarenrae and to Desna for protection, and headed to the docks to try and ask one of the local fishermen to bring them there. Unfortunately, neither Navan nor Kerista proved convincing enough for any of the fishermen to agree to bring them close to the goblin-infested island. The companions then decided to hike their way there.
The trip took about three hours, following the road east out of Sandpoint. On the way, the group was ambushed by a group of six goblins who had quite clearly gone to great pains to prepare a complex trap of falling logs on the side of a hill near the road, designed to crush a group of people as they passed underneath. Sadly, the goblins had seemingly failed to notice a large and sharp rock jutting out of the surface of the slope a bit further down. So the logs started falling, and then were blocked by that rock before they even got near to the characters on the road.
For a moment, the four adventurers and the six goblins just stood there, watching each other in silence, the companions aware that they’d just been spared a very painful experience by the goblins’ stupidity. One of the goblins smiled sheepishly at them, pointed to the trap and said in clumsy Common: “Is work in progress…”
He was answered by Navan’s crossbow. A quick and bloody battle ensued, in which the goblins managed to wound Kerista, Drithnar and Ruh, but were quickly dispatched themselves.
The briars of Nettlewood
The characters finally reached Nettlewood a bit before noon. Drithnar led them through the dense forest. They all followed the hardy ranger as he looked for goblin tracks that might lead the way to Thistletop. At intervals, he’d warn his companions to be wary of briar patches or nasty weeds that could cause them harm. The further north they went, the more the sparse the trees got, but the thicker the briars got. Eventually, they reached a place where briars grew in thick, giant patches up to twenty feet high. In the distance, the companions could hear the sound of the sea: they were now quite close to the coast. Drithnar, examining the ground, saw many goblin tracks, and whispered that he thought they’d finally reached the entrance to Thistletop.
Unfortunately, the journey through the dense forest had taken many long hours, and the sun was now almost completely set. The companions therefore decided to wait until the next day to assault the goblin lair. They moved a few hundred feet away and made their camp there. They decided not to light a fire, and remained as discreet as possible. They took turn standing watch during the night, and, thankfully, were not attacked during the night. But when they woke up, Kerista, who had taken the last watch, warned them that she’d heard the faint, but terrible sound of a creature roaring in the direction of Thistletop…
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Sunday, Lamashan 5th, 4707
Into the goblins’ lair
The characters returned to the entrance into the huge, thick pack of briars. They opened the “door” made of brambles and entered the goblins’ lair, which consisted of 4 foot high tunnels cut inside the thorny mass of thistles. Everyone except Ruh had to bend over, and knew they’d have a hard time fighting and running in these conditions.
Several tunnels opened before them, and the companions took the leftmost one, following Ruh who was leading the way. They reached a big “cave” in the brambles, and from the other side, they could hear goblins laughing and talking. But apparently, the goblins also heard them, because the voices died down soon enough. Through a small opening in the brambles, the characters saw a few goblins looking at them. Drithnar and Navan managed to shoot three of them, as a panic erupted. In the distance, the characters could hear the barks of agitated “goblin dogs”.
The characters stayed in the “cave”, which had a ceiling that was high enough for even Drithnar to stand up straight. After a minute or so, a mass of goblin dogs and goblins appeared from the tunnel leading into it. Some of the swift animals managed to get past Kerista and Drithnar, and attacked Ruh and Navan, who were staying in the back with their crossbows. A vicious battle ensued. One of the dogs managed to viciously bite Navan’s forearm, the searing pain almost making him drop his crossbow. As Navan was trying to cast a spell to heal himself, the beast almost managed to give him more vicious bites, but a swarm of shining butterflies deflected one attack, and moments later, a huge glowing rune circled around Navan’s body, shielding him from the attacks for a moment (ooc: He had to spend 2 action points to survive the attacks of the vicious animal).
Meanwhile, a goblin whose leather armor was adorned with feathers and small animal bones managed to walk unhindered through the wall of brambles, and appeared next to Ruh, burning her with a globe of fire that was blazing in his hand. The two little spellcasters fought each other for a while, and finally, Ruh was able to blind and stun the goblin with a color spray. Drithnar and Kerista had by then managed to kill all of the goblin dogs (including a spectacular crit-cleave-crit combo by Kerista :) ), as well as a firepelt cougar which had joined the fray; even the dog that had almost killed Navan was now dead. Drithnar rushed to attack the stunned goblin shaman, while Ruh turned and managed to stun two of the goblins lined up in the tunnel.
Things were looking very bleak for the goblins now: half of their numbers were dead, as well as all of the animals, and the shaman was stunned and getting beat on by the big half-orc. They retreated, shrieking wildly. Kerista, Drithnar and Ruh tried to kill the shaman, but once he recovered from the stun, he managed to escape them by stepping back through the wall of brambles, which for some reason didn’t seem to stop him. Once he reached the other side, the characters heard him cast healing spells on himself.
Panting and bloody, the characters knew that they couldn’t face a second such assault. Ruh and Navan had spent all of their magical energy in the battle. They left the warren of briars and returned to the spot they’d camped at, about half a mile away.
Blessed
It was still early in the morning, so the characters didn’t feel like sleeping, but they rested so that Ruh and Navan could regain their energy.
Drithnar remained very vigilant at all times, making sure that his friends could rest in peace and that they weren’t discovered by enemies.
Ruh couldn’t help herself, and instead of just resting, was reading over some complex parts of her spellbook, trying to unlock some more complex spells that her master had given her in the past, as she knew that now more than ever, they might need those spells. After a few hours, she finally was able to unlock the complex subtleties of the Web and Invisibility spells, which had, until then, eluded her.
Navan rested, prayed to Desna, and even took an afternoon nap, in which he had pleasant dreams of walking in a forest and being guided by butterflies.
Kerista spent a great deal of time kneeling in prayer to Sarenrae, her hands on the handle of her Earthbreaker, whose head was resting on the ground. When it was finally time to go, the others had to call her out of her holy trance. A ray of the afternoon sun had been shining on her, glimmering on the metal of her banded mail, giving her a saintly appearance. When she stood up and turned to face her companions, they saw in her eyes a resolve that had not been there before. They saw that she seemed more at peace with herself than ever before, as if there was no room for fear in her heart anymore. And they themselves felt braver by being around her, as if through her, they felt the blessing of the gods upon their group.
(ooc: The characters are now level 3. I find it quite unrealistic that they are leveling so fast, and learning new spells and abilities for no apparent reason in the middle of the forest… But it would really break the pace of the adventure if they took a few days off in Sandpoint to train. So I’m going for fun over realism here.)
Thistletop
By late afternoon, the companions returned to the entrance of the goblin lair. Drithnar saw tracks outside of it showing that four goblins had fled through the forest. Why had they left in that direction, rather than go and warn their allies further in the camp? The characters guessed that it might be due to inter-tribe rivalry and fear of reprisal.
The group searched the tunnels in the mass of tangled brambles, and found a room where about ten goblins had lived, a kennel for twelve of their “dogs”, and the room where the shaman and his firepelt cougar pet lived. There was also a deep hole in the ground of one of the “rooms”, from which echoed the sound of the waves. Trails of blood were leading from the scene of the battle to this hole, as if some bodies had been dragged into it.
The characters also saw that several of the tunnels led to vantage points on top of the cliffs. One of them led to a long, rickety rope bridge leading to a small island with high, steep cliffs. On top of that island was a one-storey-high wooden stockade, with a large door facing the bridge, and two thirty-foot-tall towers on either side of it. There were also a few more thick patches of briars, and the companions, watching it all from a hidden place, saw a patrol of goblins and dogs making rounds. They also saw that the churning sea was eighty feet below them – a drop into it would certainly be very unpleasant, especially since the raging water seemed very hard to swim in. At some point, Kerista also said she saw a big dark shape moving in it.
Eventually, the characters decided to cross over, but at the last moment, Navan told them to stop: he’d noticed that one side of the rope bridge was rigged. If too many people stepped on the bridge at once, it would tip over and dump everyone into the sea. He fastened the rope tight on their side of the bridge, and then carefully crossed over and tied up the other side. Then, his companions followed him and joined him in hiding in the closest patch of brambles. It wasn’t very pleasant – Ruh’s robe and Navan’s poncho kept getting stuck in thorns, as did Kerista’s hair before she tied it up in a tight ponytail. But at least they were well hidden.
They could see nobody standing watch in the two towers. However, they could hear excited goblin voices and barks coming from the north. They went to check it out and spied the goblin patrol playing a strange game. One of the goblins was holding a rope that was tied to the foot of a seagull. The other three goblins were taking turns throwing rocks at the sea gull, and the goblin holding the rope was trying to help the sea gull avoid the rocks. Meanwhile, the “dogs” were running around them, yapping and barking happily. Finally, one of the goblins managed to kill the sea gull with a stone, and he cheered wildly. He then ran to the fallen bird and started devouring it, under the jealous eyes of his companions.
The adventurers then decided to ambush the patrol as they made their next round. They waited at the base of a tower and attacked them as they rounded the corner. At the same time, Ruh summoned a celestial badger to attack whoever was on top of the tower, if anyone. Indeed, it seemed to wake up two goblins.
Drithnar and Kerista held off the dogs, while Ruh and Navan shot crossbow bolts from behind. Soon enough, all of the rat-dog-things were dead, and the two remaining goblins were fleeing for their lives around the wall of the stockade. One of them was badly wounded and moving slowly – Navan managed to finish it off with a crossbow bolt. The other one was fast, and the companions had to chase him around the whole perimeter of the stockade. When the goblin reached the main door, he tried to open it, but it was barred from the inside. He beat his little fists on it, screaming shrilly to be let inside. But Navan and Drithnar were soon upon him, and Navan shot him fatally with his crossbow.
The noise seemed to have alerted two more goblins on top of the east tower, though, and they fired arrows at the two men. Both were slightly wounded, and fired back. After a few moments, Drithnar managed to shoot one of the goblins through the head with the mighty composite longbow he’d purchased a few days before, and now, the slower-running Ruh and Kerista had joined the men. Ruh summoned another badger on top of the tower, but from the sounds she heard, the thing was quickly killed by the remaining goblin.
Assaulting the Stockade
The companions knew the alarm had been raised inside, and knew they had to act quickly. Navan healed everyone’s wounds, and they all returned to the base of the west tower; on the way, Navan and Drithnar took the time to sabotage and throw down to the sea a small rowboat that they’d found near the wall of the stockade, to the north. Still, no goblins were coming out of the main gates, even though Ruh tried to bait them out with ghost sounds. The companions were puzzled to see a bunch of pickles on the ground, which seemed to have been thrown down from the top of the tower – but they didn’t waste time investigating them. Drithnar threw a grappling hook to the top of the west tower, and started climbing it – but soon saw that a little goblin was trying to cut the rope! Thankfully, though, Drithnar was fast enough to climb up and punch the goblin before he managed to completely cut the rope. The ranger then quickly finished off the little creature, and then helped the rest of the group climb up the tower.
From this vantage point, they saw that there was an open courtyard a bit further to the north. It contained a shed near which they could see the corpses of two goblins. They also crept down the stairs leading to the bottom of the tower, and saw two double-doors leading further inside the fort. From the eastern one, they could hear a group of goblins and rat-dogs, seemingly waiting in an ambush. They went back up to the top of the west tower, and from there, Ruh and Drithnar climbed back on the outside. While Navan and Kerista remained in the western tower and kept the guard of the eastern tower occupied by shooting arrows at him every now and then, Ruh and Drithnar circled the stockade from the north, and Ruh summoned another badger on top of the eastern tower, while Drithnar threw the grappling hook and started to climb it. Once the half-orc reached the top, though, it saw the badger clawing at the corpse of a dead goblin; another goblin was lying dead on the floor a bit further, with one of Drithnar’s arrows still lodged in its forehead.
Ruh and Drithnar then returned to the west tower, and from there, the characters made their way over the rooftop, to the open courtyard. They saw two goblins standing near the southeastern most door, which was open, and they could hear more goblins and dogs inside. The companions then climbed down to the courtyard, cast a few protective spells, and attacked just as the goblins finally noticed their presence.
Several rat-dogs burst through the door and attacked Kerista and Drithnar, who quickly managed to kill three of them. Meanwhile, Ruh managed to blast three of the goblins into unconsciousness with a color spray. Then, the companions quickly managed to finish off the remaining goblins and dog, and performing coups-de-grace on the slumbering ones.
The companions were now in the entrance hall of the stockade, where several dog and horse trophies adorned the eastern wall, and a great pair of wings, pinned to the wall by six daggers, and splattered with the blood of Drithnar’s last victim, was displayed on the southern wall. As the characters were wondering where to go next, Kerista shrieked in pain as she was blasted from behind by a globe of fire. The companions turned and saw the head of the goblin shaman peering around a corner, past two sets of open double doors leading into a large room. They quickly rushed him there and found that he was in some kind of throne room, where in the far corned was a throne upon which was sitting a large armored goblin with a brown giant lizard at his feet, and a goblin female with a bow in another corner.
Against the War Chief
Ruh immediately cast her new most powerful spell, Web, trapping all those inside the room. Drithnar and Navan then attacked the goblin shaman, who was stuck close to the door. Meanwhile, they could hear the goblin female chanting the “Goblins chew and goblins bite” war song, as she was struggling to free herself from the web. They also heard screeches from the lizard and curses in goblin from the Chief, as well as from three goblin warriors who until then had been hidden behind some pillars covered with nails and chopped-off hands.
The shaman was a strong foe, and managed to burn Drithnar with his fiery orb; he also managed to heal himself, but finally, he was slain. By that time, Kerista had burnt through some of the web, and some of the goblins had managed to break enough of the web to reach the characters. Kerista and Drithnar fought the Chief’s guards, while Navan was shooting from behind them. Ruh also tried to shoot, but it was very hard for her, since her friends were blocking her line of sight. She also summoned another celestial badger to protect them from enemies coming from behind, but this proved to be just a diversion created by the goblin warchanter with a Ghost Sound spell.
Eventually, they managed to kill all three of the guards, and Kerista found herself facing the Chief on his mount. They fought each other in an epic battle, each managing to wound the other. Ruh threw an orb of ice into the Chief’s face, badly wounding him (critical). He glared at her evilly, with blood oozing from the wounds the shards of ice had done. He then jumped off his mount and, hiding behind it, drank a potion to heal himself. Ruh then shot a crossbow bolt at the lizard mount and managed another critical hit, killing the beast with one bolt. Boom, head shot!!!
The chief stared at the dead body of his beloved mount, so easily slain. He then returned his eyes to the party and asked: “… Parlay?” But the companions kept on attacking him. The goblin veteran eventually managed to deal a vicious blow to Kerista with his dogslicer, almost dropping her. The big armored woman was bleeding from many wounds, struggling to remain conscious despite the pain, but she knew she had to keep fighting, because the goblin Chief also was badly wounded. As Navan stepped behind her and cured some of her wounds with a prayer to Desna, Drithnar, who had managed to burn his own way to the Chief through the web, lunged from the shadows and chopped off the big goblin’s head with his magical longsword! It was then a relatively easy matter to kill their lone remaining foe, the little goblin warchanter.
Once she was slain, the characters cheered in victory: they had killed the war chief of the Thistletop tribe!!
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Sunday, Lamashan 5th, 4707 (continued)
After their victory, the characters searched the entire first floor of the stockade. They found two sets of stairs going down, as well as a small room containing a treasure chest. Navan opened it, triggering its trap, but he managed to avoid the rusty old blade at the last moment. Inside, the companions found the goblins’ treasure, loot most likely stolen from dozens of caravans over the years.
They also found several magical items on the goblin chief (whom they guessed was Ripnugget, based on Shalelu’s description), shaman and warchanter. They found a beautiful pearl-handled dagger stuck on the wings of what they thought was a harpy, in the entrance hall. Another room showed a goblin kitchen, where a hideous display of mangled, half-rotten dog, horse and human body parts appeared before them.
The companions also found a small room near the courtyard, where several dozen rabbits were kept in cages. Ruh talked with them for a little bit, and set them free outside the stockade. The characters also set the horse free. He was a magnificent black stallion of great size, but was starving and aggressive due to its long period of captivity, and it attacked the characters, who had to retreat indoors from its fury. Before leaving Thistletop, though, they left it some food and water.
Then, they traveled through Nettlewood, and back toward Sandpoint, which they reached in the middle of the night. They went to bed, exhausted.
Moonday, Lamashan 6th, 4707
The next day, the characters debriefed Sheriff Hemlock and the Mayor about what they’d encountered so far on Thistletop. They also offered them the crown of Chief Ripnugget, which the Mayor took with a smile and put on display in the main room of the Sandpoint Town Hall.
The companions also trained and meditated on their new skills. After the previous day’s adventure, they had gained even more experience than before.
(ooc: the characters are now level 4).
The group went to the cathedral to buy a wand of Cure Light Wounds, and while they were there, they met father Garmos, the old priest of Erastil who had ventured into the catacombs with them a few days before. Since then, he’d read the whole unholy book of Lamashtu that they’d found in the strange spherical room down there. It was written in Abyssal, so he had to translate it by magic. The vile tome described many rituals of the cult of Lamashtu, as well a description of some horrible monsters. The worst of those were the Argorth, gigantic, vicious worms with teeth, and the Mothers of Oblivion, Lamashtu’s most powerful creatures, horrible and enormous dinosaur-headed sea creatures whose many tentacles were said to be able to reach into other worlds.
Toilday, Lamashan 7th, 4707
The next morning, the characters prepared themselves for another foray to Thistletop. Before they left, though, Kerista stopped by the cathedral to give Father Zantus a new cloak – it turned out it was his birthday.
Return to Thistletop
Around noon, the characters reached Thistletop again. They saw that the rope bridge’s trap had been enabled, but Navan managed to disable it again. Everything on the surface of Thistletop was still eerily quiet. On the ground, Drithnar saw some tracks of an armored man and of something bigger, maybe a bugbear.
The main doors were locked, so the characters again entered by climbing atop one of the towers. From there, they saw into the courtyard, and to their dismay, realized that the horse had been slain and partially eaten. Vowing vengeance against the remaining inhabitants of the complex, the companions explored the rest of the stockade and noticed that the bodies of Chief Ripnugget and that of the Shaman were gone. They then climbed down the set of stairs that they found to the north of the courtyard.
The stairs led into a small council room with a table and chairs, as well as a black board on which plans for the raid against Sandpoint were drawn. Before the characters could examine them further, though, they noticed some light moving from underneath a door to the west. They heard the sound of stone scraping against the floor and guessed that someone was using a secret door. After making sure the door wasn’t trapped, they entered the room, which contained many archeological relics which were clearly currently being studied. Ruh and Navan would’ve loved to spend more time examining them, but they knew that now was not the right moment – it seemed they had been spotted already.
After a quick search, they found a secret door in the west wall, which led to another series of stairs leading down. The characters followed them.
They then found themselves in another underground level that seemed built at an angle – the floor seemed to be rising steadily toward the east. The place seemed ancient, but in good repair. It was obviously of much better construction than the level the group had just left. Past a stone door, the characters reached a room lit by two lanterns. Two alcoves on each side each contained a stone statue of a stern-looking bearded man in an elaborate robe, carrying a glaive and rune-adorned book. It seemed to be the same book as they’d seen on a statue in the catacombs below Sandpoint. Each of the statues was tipped to the west side, as if this whole dungeon level had been tilted by an unknown and very powerful force.
A door to the east led into a short corridor with three more statues, one on each side and one in an alcove at the end of the corridor; that one was broken and was missing its top half. Two closed stone doors also stood at the end of the hallway. The patch of floor between the two side statues was strangely clean, as if it had been recently scrubbed. Navan examined it for traps, but found none, and strode forward. Immediately, though, iron bars fell from the ceiling. Thanks to Desna’s luck, Navan managed to jump back just in time, bumping into Kerista, but avoiding the deadly trap: the iron bars formed a cage, inside which the side statues then swung their weapons with great force. After a few moments of that, a trap door on the floor opened up, as if to dump the contents of the cage into unseen depths. The trap door then closed, and the iron bars lifted back up into the ceiling: the trap had reset.
Drithnar’s World Crumbles Down Like A House Of Cards – finale
As the characters were recovering from the surprise of the trap, they saw the hooded head of a dark-haired and dark-skinned woman peering from the left door further down in the hallway. Ruh reacted immediately and cast a Web spell into the back of the hallway, which captured the woman in its sticky strands, and even reached further back into the room. The woman let out a shriek of rage and surprise, and fired a magic missile at Ruh from the wand she was holding.
Navan then used his power of Freedom of Movement, granted by Desna. He rushed through the web unhindered, raced past the dark-skinned woman and into the room behind her. Half of it was filled with Ruh’s web. On ledges on the side, Navan saw a variety of strange items. A fountain was also at the back of the room. But of more immediate interest were the two creatures inside the room, who had been hanging back far enough not to be caught in the web. One was a sleek, black-furred wolf-like creature with yellow, glowing, malevolent, strangely intelligent eyes. The other was a tall woman wearing a dark breastplate and carrying a bastard sword. She was extremely beautiful, with silver hair and purple eyes. She had a perfect figure, if one did not count the horrible scars openly displayed on her belly. Or her big, red, demonic left claw. Navan immediately recognized her from Tsuto’s drawings: it was Nualia.
Before he could act, Nualia struck him with her sword, and the wolf bit him. Navan backed away from them, through the web. He started explaining to Nualia that he and his companions had come to help her, but his dialogue was interrupted by a shriek of pain as he was suddenly enveloped by fire: the black-skinned woman has used a Burning Hands spell to get herself out of the web, and to hurt Navan at the same time.
Navan, who was by then very badly wounded, quickly drank a healing potion before continuing to try and dialogue with Nualia. “We’re here to help you,” he said. “I came with Drithnar.”
The anger on Nualia’s face changed to contempt. “Who the f&&# is Drithnar?” she asked, her lovely, but cold, voice dripping with scorn.
By then, Ruh had also managed to burn her way through her own web with a Burning Hands spell. Drithnar rushed past her, having heard ahead of him, for the first time in years, the voice of the woman he loved. But as he passed between the two statues, he triggered the trap again, and only barely managed to escape it, leaving a trail of little butterflies of Desna in his wake. But Ruh and Kerista were trapped behind! Not long after that, the two women heard noises behind them. They turned and saw a big armored man, and an even bigger armored bugbear, burst into the room. Quick as lightning, Ruh cast another Web spell, imprisoning them. But the companions were now being attacked on two fronts!
“Nualia!” cried Drithnar. “It’s me, Drithnar! Don’t you remember me? We grew up together, in Sandpoint!”
Nualia eyed the big half-orc up and down. There was not the slightest flicker of recognition in her beautiful eyes. Only anger and contempt.
“You think I’d actually remember you from the crowd of selfish idiots who made my life miserable there? No matter, you’ll be given the honor of dying before the rest of the other fools.”
“Nualia! What are you saying? This can’t be true. There must be a curse on you, Nualia. We’ll free you. Don’t worry; we’ll save you from this. We’ll restore your body to what it was. I love you, Nualia. I’ve always loved you. I’ll make sure you return safe and sound to Sandpoint, and that you can live with us again!”
Nualia’s replied with an evil, mocking laugh. “Love me? You love me? What could you possibly know about love, you repulsive brute? You don’t love me, you just lust after me like the rest of them! But not for long, you pathetic, disgusting fool! Soon, my transformation will be complete! I prayed for it for all these years! I shall become one of the Great Mother’s chosen ones, and your hideous carcass shall be the next one I sacrifice in her name!”
With this, Nualia lunged at Drithnar with her sword. The distraught half-orc could not believe things had come to this. He’d been hoping all this time that, along the way, he and his companions would luckily stumble into a way to cure Nualia. But now, he had to fight her for his very life. But he could not bear himself to hurt her, so he concentrated his attacks on the monstrous black wolf at her side. He managed to wound the beast twice with his magical sword, but his mundane axe seemed to have no effect on the fiendish beast.
Nualia manage to slice Drithnar painfully with her bastard sword several times, and was trying to claw him with her hideous demonic hand. The black wolf also managed to bite Drithnar several times. Navan cast several healing prayers upon the big half-orc, but for a long time, Drithnar had to survive the onslaught of Nualia, her hound and the mage. Finally, the trap finished its sequence, and Ruh and Kerista jumped over it and came to Drithnar and Navan’s aid. Kerista approached and climbed on one of the ledges around the room, attacking Nualia, but missing. Further back in the room, the black-skinned mage had made mirror images of herself. She tried to hit Drithnar with a magical ray, which missed, and tried to shatter Kerista’s Earthbreaker, but that also failed (Sarenrae be praised…).
Ruh summoned a celestial badger to pester the mage, and shot at her with a few weak spells and crossbow bolts to try to destroy some of the images. Behind her, she could hear the two big fighters struggling to escape from the web.
Navan was desperately trying to keep his ranger friend alive, but in front of him, Drithnar was taking horrible wounds from the powerful blade of the deranged Aasimar woman. Finally, Nualia pierced Drithnar’s chest with her sword. Blood flowed from the wound and from the half-orc’s mouth. With a wicked smile, the cruel woman grasped Drithnar by the throat with her demonic hand, and ripped it out in a horrible shower of blood! As she let out of an evil, victorious laugh, the half-orc’s bloody corpse fell to the ground heavily.
“Noooooo!!!!!!!!!” shrieked Kerista and Ruh in unison.
Kerista jumped from the ledge and forced Nualia to step back, hacking at her with raging fury, but the more experienced swordswoman managed to parry her blows. They faced each other in a deadly duel, the white-haired worshipper of Lamashtu and the dark-haired paladin of Sarenrae.
Meanwhile, Ruh managed to kill the black wolf with a well-shot Orb of Cold, and her badger was keeping the mage seriously busy. It managed to tear to shreds a scroll she had tried to use; she had to retreat from it to drink a healing potion. Eventually, the woman destroyed the badger with her wand of magic missiles, but Ruh just summoned another one, who kept clawing at her. Finally, covered in bloody claw marks, the black-skinned wizardess surrendered, threw down her wand, and begged Ruh to call back her badger in a sob-choked voice.
“Weakling! Coward!” yelled Nualia at her traitorous acolyte. “We fight to the death!!!” But the wizardess was now curled up in a ball in a corner, whimpering pathetically.
Nualia and Kerista fought each other for what seemed like an eternity. They were of about equal size and strength, but Kerista had the definite advantage of being healed by Navan. After a while, they were both bleeding from several vicious wounds they’d inflicted on one another. Finally, with a loud battle-cry, Kerista brought down her huge weapon against the side of Nualia’s face. An explosion of blood and the sickening sound of bones cracking burst out in the room; and the beautiful Nualia fell to the floor, except she wasn’t pretty anymore…
Kerista immediately let her own weapon drop to the floor, and knelt at Drithnar’s side, her eyes full of tears. She desperately tried to use her Paladin powers to bring him back to life, but alas, he was too far gone for even the miracle of her healing hands: her friend was dead. Ruh, also crying bitterly, tied up the evil wizardess in a corner, while Navan healed them, as they could hear the other two men about to break free of the web, behind them.
Only Mercenaries
Finally, a call came from the other room: “Lyrie, are you ok?”
“I’m ok,” answered the black-skinned woman, “but they killed Nualia and the hound.”
A short silence on the other side. Then: “How many of them are there?”
But at that, the characters clearly indicated that Lyrie would get her throat slit if she answered.
A quick exchange then took place between Navan and the man in the other room. He claimed that he, Lyrie and the bugbear were only mercenaries who’d been hired by Nualia. They had nothing against Sandpoint, and offered not to fight the characters, in exchange for being allowed to leave. Navan stalled them, while he gestured to Kerista to stand up and get ready for combat. The young woman wiped her eyes, and concentrated in the direction of the man and the bugbear. After a while, she whispered in Navan’s ear: “The bugbear and Lyrie are evil, but I don’t sense any evil in the man.” Navan then called out to the man and the bugbear to throw down their weapons and surrender, to face the justice of Sandpoint, but they refused.
Ruh, who’d learned from Lyrie how to turn off the trap in the corridor by lowering a lever in the room, did so. Kerista then led a charge back in the room that they’d come from. She faced the two strong fighters by herself, while her companions were providing covering fire, and heals, from behind. Eventually, the bugbear was wounded severely. He stepped back and drank a potion that healed him almost completely. With a wicked grin, he returned to attacking Kerista. Thankfully, Navan had cast a Shield Other spell on the paladin, so she was taking much less damage than normal from their attacks.
The human was then gravely wounded from all three characters’ combined attacks. He stepped back and threw down his weapon, surrendering. The bugbear yelled at him for being a coward, then attacked Kerista with even more ferocity. After a few moments of just watching the fight, and assessing his chances, the man dove for his sword again, and attacked the bugbear. His balance was off, though, and the bugbear quickly turned and smashed him into unconsciousness with his heavy flail. “See you in Hell, traitor,” growled the bugbear. But soon after that, Kerista killed him with a mighty blow from her weapon, which she’d made magical for the fight.
Panting, the three companions were happy to be alive, but devastated that they’d lost their big half-orc friend. They managed to stabilize the human fighter, tied him up, and brought him back into the room where they’d fought Nualia. They then interrogated both of their prisoners, after having healed the man back into consciousness.
The man was named Orik Vancaskerkin, and said he was a mercenary who’d been hired by Nualia about six months before. He seemed very protective of the wizardess, Lyrie, whom he introduced as an expert archeologist that Nualia had hired for this expedition. Lyrie and Ruh both made the other well aware of their knowledge of ancient ruins. There was a great tension and rivalry between the two mages. Lyrie identified the man in the various statues here as one of the Runelords, ancient mages of great power from the fabled realm of Thassilon. In a scornful tone, Lyrie claimed that she was about to be introduced into the ranks of the renowned Pathfinders Guild, and that her death would surely be avenged. Of course, Navan reminded her that she was in no position to make threats, which Ruh enforced by taking the rival mage’s spellbook from her pack, and forcing her to make her cat familiar go inside a bag.
Nobody had ever looked at Ruh with as much hatred as Lyrie did at that moment.
Orik kept talking, much to Lyrie’s irritation. He informed the characters that the upper level only contained a few goblin females and babies, two more of the magical night hounds guarding the temple of Lamashtu, as well as a strange squid-like monster called a Tentamort, which was lurking in some caves, and had a deadly poisonous sting. He said that Nualia’s two goals had been to destroy Sandpoint using an army combining all five of the local goblin tribes, and freeing a powerful demon named Malfeshnekor, who was supposed to help in that endeavor. Lyrie warned the characters about Malfeshnekor, saying that, even though the characters had been strong enough to defeat Nualia’s band, the demon would “wipe the floor with them”.
Orik also said he didn’t know whether there were deeper levels in this dungeon. But he knew that there were some malevolent beings of shadow further in these halls. He also said that one member of their group, a Shoanti barbarian named Jagen, had died a few weeks back to the nasty trap in the previous corridor. Ruh remembered meeting that man before in Magnimar. He had a dangerous reputation as a thug. Orik also confirmed that Nualia had been a cleric of Lamashtu.
He also said that the Yeth Hounds guarding the shrine of Lamashtu could only be harmed by silver or magic weapons. Orik had only attended one of those ceremonies, but had found it disgusting and had refrained from going back. Lyrie, though, had seen the one when Nualia had burned the remains of her foster father, and had received the gift of Lamashtu: her demonic arm.
Regarding Shadowmist, Orik said that the goblins had captured him a few days before, and brought it back unconscious over the bridge, as a gift to Chief Ripnugget. But the beast, once woken up, had been out of control, and had killed a few goblins and had to be kept inside a shack for safety. The previous day, when he’d gone outside with Nualia, Orik had seen that two of the Yeth Hounds they’d brought along had attacked the horse and devoured it.
Orik seemed genuinely trying to show the characters his best behavior, in hopes that they’d release at least him, and hopefully Lyrie, too. But he was far from being so lucky. The three companions then proceeded to search Nualia and the bugbear’s corpses, as well as Orik and Lyrie’s bodies, “confiscating” anything that wasn’t armor or clothes. They asked some difficult questions from Lyrie when they found a small bag full of discarded items that seemed to come from Tsuto; she replied in a somewhat choked voice that he had “given them to her”. When they asked Orik if Lyrie and Tsuto had been lovers, he merely responded he didn’t know, in a sullen voice.
Before they left, the characters put a few of the most precious archeological findings from the room Lyrie had initially been in on the 2nd level into the room where they’d fought Nualia. They healed Orik and Lyrie enough that they’d be able to walk. Both were manacled, and Lyrie was gagged. Orik helped Kerista carry Drithnar’s body, for which they built a litter from the frames of a few goblin beds. Then, carrying this heavy burden, the characters made their way out of Thistletop and into Nettlewood.
A heavy burden
They had a hell of a hard time finding their way out of the dark, tangled forest of briars. Until then, Drithnar had always been their guide; and Orik and Lyrie had always followed Nualia, Tsuto, Bruthazmus the bugbear, or some goblins, into Thistletop. It took them about four hours, and several of them got nasty cuts from some of the poisonous thistles in the forest, but they finally made their way out of Nettlewood. After a long walk, they returned to Sandpoint, exhausted, especially Kerista and Orik who’d had to carry Drithnar’s 280 lbs body back the whole way, while at the same time wearing heavy armor.
The group stopped by the cathedral, where a few priests were present. They were shocked and saddened at the sight of Drithnar’s corpse. But Father Andrall, the priest of Abadar who’d shouted at Navan a few days before, quickly cast a Gentle Repose spell on it, to make sure it didn’t start to decompose. The characters discussed the possibility of returning their friend from the dead, and while it was, obviously, beyond the skill of any of the priests in Sandpoint, Milenken, a friendly elven druid who was one of the town’s priests of Gozreh, said that the Grand Druid at the temple in Magnimar might be able to reincarnate Drithnar there, although it would cost at least a thousand gold pieces for this service. The companions agreed to spend the thousand gold pieces, which was the reward Sheriff Hemlock had proposed to give them for the mission, to raise their fallen comrade.
The group then brought Orik and Lyrie to the garrison, where they were put in cells near Tsuto’s. Sheriff Hemlock, Mayor Deverin and Father Zantus soon joined the characters at the garrison. They seemed festive at first, as they’d been celebrating Zantus’ birthday together, but they quickly sobered up upon learning of Drithnar’s death. They again congratulated the characters on their victory, and said that the prisoners should be brought to Magnimar to face justice there. The characters decided they’d bring them there the following day. The Sheriff, the Mayor and Father Zantus then headed downstairs to interrogate the prisoners. Meanwhile, the companions headed out for a well-deserved night of rest.
Wealday, Lamashan 8th, 4707
The next morning, the characters got ready to leave for Magnimar. It was a cool, cloudy day. The prisoners were loaded unto a covered wagon, inside which Drithnar’s body was also laid down. The characters would not journey alone: Ameiko was also going as the witness for her brother’s trial; Milenken, the druid of Gozreh was also coming, to help in dealing with the Grand Druid in Magnimar; and three bureaucrats from the Town Hall were also coming to help deal with the paperwork for the trial (Sheriff Hemlock was taking no chances this time!).
Before they left, Sheriff Hemlock promoted Kerista to the rank of Sergeant, and Mayor Deverin gave the characters some papers proving that they were working under her orders.
The group started on the road, using the wagon and horses that the town had lent them for this trip. Kerista was mostly riding by Ameiko’s side, and the beautiful young bard, who was wearing leather armor and carrying a sword and a bow beneath her cloak, did her best to cheer up the mourning paladin with songs and tales of bravery. She tried to remind her that Drithnar had not died in vain, and that, the gods willing, he’d soon be back among them.
Milenken, though, had warned Kerista that Drithnar as she knew him would never be back. Rather, a new body would be formed by the ritual of reincarnation. He might come back as a member of any race: another half-orc, or a human, a dwarf, a halfling… He might even come back as a woman!
But what troubled Kerista most of all was the horribly ironic way in which Drithnar had perished: slain by the twisted, disturbed maniac he’d been in love with for many long years. Where was the fairness in that? Poor Drithnar… How could the gods have let him suffer like that? Were they trying to punish him? Kerista could not understand…
And while Ameiko told her tales, Milenken joined her with his flute, playing hauntingly beautiful elven music to ease the boredom of the journey.
Meanwhile, Ruh and Navan were inside the wagon with the prisoners and one of the bureaucrats, while the other two civilians drove the wagon. The two companions had agreed that they’d try to read the prisoner’s thoughts. Ruh tried her new spell first on Tsuto, and then on Orik, but both managed to resist the effect. Lyrie, though, failed to hide her thoughts from the little gnome she hated so much. And following Navan’s questions, Ruh saw the following visions in the black-skinned woman’s mind:
Lyrie was madly in love with Tsuto. Ruh saw her trying to attract Tsuto’s attention, but he had only eyes for Nualia, whom he called “my love”, which sent daggers of pain into Lyrie’s heart every time she heard that. She also saw Lyrie pathetically kneeling on the floor, collecting fingernail clippings from Tsuto, or creeping inside his room one night and stealing one of his earrings.
She also saw Lamashtu’s shrine at Thistletop, a dark room with many benches, a dark altar, and a large stature of a jackal-faced woman holding two knives, one glowing red and one glowing blue. Ruh also got the impression of moving shadows on the ceiling, from the vision.
She also had a vision of the Tentamort, the squid-like creature living in a cave, eating a terrified goblin who called out to Lyrie for help, while Lyrie merely watched and took notes on a scroll, without doing the slightest move to help the little creature.
Finally, she had a vision of a council which was planning the attack on Sandpoint, with Nualia, Tsuto, Orik, Bruthazmus and Chief Ripnugget. She noticed Nualia writing more information on the board, which Ruh and her companions had not had time to pay close attention to when they’d been there.
In the evening, the companions stayed at an inn on the Lost Coast Road, about halfway between Magnimar and Sandpoint. Again, there, Ameiko lifted the room’s spirits with her songs, and again, she was joined by Milenken’s flute and a few local musicians, but the heroes did not participate in the merriment, because they were keeping a close watch on the prisoners, upstairs.
Oathday, Lamashan 9th, 4707
The next morning was cold and rainy. It was not a pleasant day to be traveling. But late in the afternoon, the characters finally arrived in sight of splendid Magnimar, city of monuments. They’d all been there before, so they knew what to expect, but still, even under the rain, the large city was quite a sight to behold. They made their way to the Marches’ Castlegate and into the lower part of the city. They headed straight to the huge central park called the Seerspring Garden in the Keystone District; this was where the shrine of Gozreh was located. Along the way, they passed in front of a good-looking inn called the Three Horns Inn, and decided to meet there later, because not long after that, they split up: Navan, Ruh and Milenken brought Drithnar’s body to the shrine, while Ameiko, Kerista and the bureaucrats brought the prisoners to the Arvensoar.
Milenken guided his horse, upon which Drithnar was laid, and Navan and Ruh through the magnificent gardens. The vegetation here was luxuriant, and once inside, it was hard to believe that a large city sprawled outside the tree line. A few quiet priests were standing nearby, meditating under the trees, or tending to the vegetation. Finally, as it was getting dark, the companions were brought before the Grand Druid. A tall, aged Half-Elf, he showed little emotion for their plight; unlike Milenken, who had a gentle, empathetic soul, the Grand Druid seemed to follow Gozreh’s teachings to the letter, and showed the lack of concern for the dead only seen in those who truly believe in the cycle of life. Nevertheless, when presented the thousand gold pieces to perform the ceremony, he said that this indeed covered the material components necessary. He added, though, that once reborn, Drithnar would be compelled to obey Gozreh’s will for the following three moons. Having no choice, Navan and Ruh accepted these terms. The Grand Druid said he’d prepare things overnight, and asked them to come back the following morning.
Once at the Three Horns Inn, the characters finally got a chance to dry up, warm up, and eat a hot meal. About an hour later, they were joined by Kerista, Ameiko and the three bureaucrats, who all looked disgruntled. Apparently, they’d had a lot of paperwork to fill out, and had managed to get a trial for their prisoners on Moonday the 13th. Though it meant 4 days of downtime, it was much better than the initial date of the 27th that they’d been imposed; it had taken all of Ameiko’s diplomacy skills to get an earlier date.
On the bright side, though it meant Thistletop’s final exploration would have to wait, it would give the characters some time to do things in Magnimar, like sell treasure, buy new equipment, for Ruh to visit her old master, for Kerista to visit her brother and for Ameiko to sort out some paperwork to sort out her taking over her father’s estate and business.
Fireday, Lamashan 10th, 4707
The following morning proved to be as dreary and cold as the previous one. The companions, Ameiko and Milenken left the Three Horns Inn before dawn, and hurried toward the Seerspring Garden under the rain.
When they reached the glade where the ceremony was to take place, they found a small crowd of druids assembled to witness the miracle. Most were humans, but there were also several gnomes and elves, a tall humanoid with the head of a bird and bright, magnificent feathers adorning its great wings, as well as a large brown bear with strangely intelligent eyes.
The Grand Druid looked quite humble in his ceremonial robes, under the rain. He approached the huge, ancient tree that stood in the middle of the glade. Between two gigantic roots, a large brown cocoon was growing. Milenken explained to the companions that this was one of the sacred trees of life of Gozreh, and that Drithnar’s new body was growing inside the cocoon right now. Drithnar’s clothes, armor and weapons were laid carefully on a nearby large flat stone. When Kerista asked where his old body was, Milenken explained that it had been burnt during the night. Kerista gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She then approached the giant cocoon and hugged it lovingly.
“I hope he comes back into a body he’s doing to like” she murmured gently.
“Step away from the chrysalis!” whispered an old woman sternly. “You might disrupt the Grand Druid’s ritual!” and she dragged Kerista away from the cocoon. But in the young woman’s wake, Navan and Ruh distinctly saw a small cloud of beautiful blue butterflies hovering over the cocoon for just a brief moment. Desna’s blessing…
The Grand Druid chanted in Sylvan for a long time, his body moving rhythmically with the grace of a prowling lynx. Finally, the cocoon started to glow with a faint green light, and slowly, slowly, it opened. Everyone gathered close around it and stared at the naked body that was revealed before them…
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I've been reading this thread for the past few days and I just have to say I'm enjoying it immensly. There are so many great ideas here... I just wish I had a group these days to run through the adventure path.
The characters are great as well, and I really started to develop feelings for eac of them. I can't wait to hear what comes next!
Came back from holiday and I definately had a good read to keep me busy at "work".
However, the question does beg, what did Drith come back as...oh do tell!
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm really happy that you guys are liking it! :)
Fireday, Lamashan 10th, 4707 (continued)
Ameiko let out a low whistle of appreciation. “Come to mamma Drithnar…”
“Wow, I can’t believe that’s really him. He’s so different now!” said Ruh.
“Yup. Well, that turned out all right after all. For a moment, I thought he’d come back as a Halfling or something. No offense, Ruh…”
Kerista was staring at the new Drithnar in silence, but she was definitely blushing.
A muscular, handsome human with dark hair was emerging from the cocoon, looking dazed, and covered in a slimy, transparent substance. Two druids moved to help him out, and cleaned him up with towels. The man looked around with a confused look on his face. “What… Where are we? What happened?” He looked at his pale-skinned hands, and noticed how different they were. He down looked at his body, frowned in confusion, and felt the lines of his face with his fingers, lingered on his lips from which no tusks were protruding anymore.
“What the f$%$ happened to me??” he said, in a deep, rough voice that was almost identical to his old one.
His friends gathered close to him and explained what had happened. His own death, Nualia’s, the trip to Magnimar and the ceremony.
“… I need to sit down…” said the ex-half-orc. He sat down on a large tree stump, still looking dazedly around. “So I’m a human now?” The others nodded. A huge smile slowly crept over his now ruggedly handsome face. “I’m a human now! Wow! That’s… That’s incredible!”
“I’m glad you’re liking it” said Navan.
“Liking it? Hell, yeah! Dying’s the best thing that ever happened to me!” said Drithnar, who apparently had not lost his dark sense of humor.
Later, the characters brought him back to the inn. He was still feeling very weak. Apparently, it would take him a few days to fully recover from the ordeal of being reborn and to get used to his new body. At around 6’1” and a bit over 200 pounds, he was smaller than he used to be, though assuredly he was now much better-looking.
Drithnar’s mood for the rest of the day hovered between two extremes. On one end, there was a sense of excitement at the realization of the possibilities that opened up to him with this new body: being able to “blend in”, not being seen as a monster to be feared or distrusted. Not feeling like he repulsed every single woman he met. Everything seemed to be brighter, taste better, feel softer in this new body. But also, a powerful bitterness was gripping Drithnar when he thought of Nualia, how she’d reacted to him, and how big of a fool he had been to love her all these years, when clearly, not only those feelings were not mutual, but despite her physical beauty, Nualia had not deserved such adulation. He felt like the biggest idiot in the world, despite his friends’ reassurance that none of what had happened had been his fault.
Later in the day, Ruh went to visit her old mentor Nulius Cornaban, an aged, distracted gnome wizard who welcomed her warmly and asked her to help him with one of his ongoing experiments: he was an alchemist. Just like Ruh, he was a chatterbox, and they spent the rest of the day catching up on what each other had been doing in the year they’d been apart.
Meanwhile, Navan and Kerista went to sell the loot they’d found in Thistletop. When they came back to the inn at the end of the afternoon, they saw Drithnar in the main room, chatting with an attractive red-haired woman. Kerista immediately froze and Navan noticed that she seemed very upset by this sight: she stomped off to her room without a word.
Lamashan 11-12th, 4707
For the next two days, the characters relaxed in Magnimar, while they waited for the trial. Ruh spent a lot of time with her master, learning new spells. Ameiko went to buy some new clothes with Drithnar, as his old rags were not only dirty and torn from all his travels, but were also much too large for him now. Drithnar spent the rest of the weekend either resting, or disappearing mysteriously, likely off to enjoy his new appearance in the city.
Navan and Kerista did some more shopping, and each bought a magical weapon (Navan, a crossbow, and Kerista, an Earthbreaker). They had to ask Ruh for a loan to be able to afford the expensive weapons, but knew that they might run into some dangerous creatures that were resistant to mundane weapons, namely the Yeth Hounds guarding Lamashtu’s shrine.
Navan and Kerista also did a fair amount of sight-seeing in Magnimar, the city of monuments. They went to see the Irespan (the huge ruined bridge dating back to the Thassilonian era; inside it were rumored to be strange catacombs filled with deadly spider-like creatures), the Twin’s Gate (two giant golden statues of local heroes), the Triodea (the most renowned concert hall of Magnimar), the Aquaterum (a spherical building of metal and glass where a gnome explorer kept huge aquariums filled with strange sea-creatures) and the Serpent’s Run (a gigantic hippodrome where races, displays of magic, circus performances and mock-gladiatorial battles took place; an arena whose rim was sculpted to look like an enormous snake coiled around it).
On Starday evening, they had dinner with Goldar, Kerista’s oldest brother, who was a paladin of Iomedae who worked for the city guard. He was a tall, strong-looking dark-haired man. He had a penetrating gaze, and seemed much more self-assured than Kerista. A man in his mid-thirties, he seemed very protective of his much younger sister. However, he was impressed with the stories she and Navan told him of what they’d faced in Sandpoint and Thistletop. He congratulated Kerista for what she’d done, and he seemed to appreciate Navan as a good adventuring companion for her (although, a few times during the evening, he did give the smaller man some “keep your hands off my little sister, buddy” kind of looks).
Goldar gave them a lot of information about Magnimar, especially sharing his frustration with the heavy amount of bureaucracy, and high level of corruption found in the Council of Ushers, and of course displayed by Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras. He also mentioned a mysterious order of armored warriors called the Hellknights, whom he suspected might have sinister motives, but who were currently working with the authorities of Magnimar to maintain the law.
Moonday, Lamashan 13th, 4707
Finally came the morning of the trial. Under the cloudy sky, the companions all headed toward the Capital District. There, they went to a large building which stood with impassive gray stone fastness: this was the Pediment Building, where the trials took place. The inside of the building was magnificent but austere, with marble floors and columns, and leering sculptures of gargoyles.
The characters, who were with Ameiko, Milenken and the three bureaucrats from Sandpoint, made their way to their trial room. There, the bureaucrats presented the various official papers necessary for the proceeding to some of their Magnimarian peers, pale, strict-looking men and women dressed in dark colors.
Then, everyone had to rise when the judge entered the room. The tall, stern-looking elven man with long dark hair was introduced as Justice Ironbriar. He took his seat at his heavy, ornate wooden desk which stood on a platform, and motioned for everyone else to do the same.
He studied the various documents placed on his desk in several long minutes of silence, while the prisoners were brought into the room. They were all dressed in drab gray prisoner’s clothes. As usual, Tsuto looked proudly defiant, but Orik and Lyrie looked haggard, as if they had been subjected to long, painful hours of questioning over the past three days.
Finally, Justice Ironbriar lifted his cold gray eyes at the crowd before him and announced that the trial would begin. The bureaucrats from Sandpoint presented the various accusations, referring to the various documents they had provided the court. They described the goblin raid, the murders that had taken place at the Glassworks, Ameiko’s kidnapping, and what the adventurers had found at Thistletop.
Ameiko and the characters were then, each in turn, called to give their testimony as witnesses. Justice Ironbriar interrogated them himself, asking clarifications on various points, but overall, he already seemed to have a clear idea of the situation from the documents he’d read. Tsuto, Orik and Lyrie were then also called to the stand. Tsuto stoically denounced his father’s various vices and crimes, as well as the harsh punishment he’d received from his earliest days, as attenuating circumstances. Orik claimed to just have been an innocent mercenary, and having killed nobody. He was very agitated, and clearly very uncomfortable under the burden of these rules and procedures. He tried to appeal to Justice Ironbriar’s mercy, but found none in the elf’s unyielding gray eyes. Finally, Lyrie was brought to the stand, but she said very little. More than the other prisoners, she seemed broken from the questioning she’d already been subjected to.
After a brief pause for deliberation, Justice Ironbriar gave his sentence. Tsuto was convicted for the murders of Mr. Lonjiku Kaijitsu and eight of his employees; of kidnapping Ameiko Kaijitsu; of conspiring in the destruction the city of Sandpoint; of organizing a rebel military force on lands under Magnimar’s jurisdiction; of grave-robbing; of bodily assault against a member of the Sandpoint guard; and of associating with a priestess of a heretic religion. He was sentenced to life in the Hells, the terrible underground prison that lay under the Pediment Building.
Orik and Lyrie were both convicted for conspiring in the destruction the city of Sandpoint; of organizing a rebel military force on lands under Magnimar’s jurisdiction; of bodily assault against a member of the Sandpoint guard; and of associating with a priestess of a heretic religion. They were each condemned to ten years in the Hells. Part of Lyrie’s sentence also included the euthanasia of her cat familiar.
Lyrie bowed her head in silent grief, but Orik stood up and shouted that this wasn’t fair, trying to appeal to the judge, and to the adventurers. But Justice Ironbriar remained aloof and merely knocked on the desk with his hammer, calling for order. Some guards roughly battered Orik into submission, and then they took the three prisoners back into a dark corridor at the other end of the room.
Before they left the court, Justice Ironbriar came to see the characters. In the same cool demeanor he’d shown through the whole trial, he commended them for their glorious acts of bravery, and for bringing the prisoners to face Magnimar’s justice rather than putting them to the sword in a barbaric fashion. He assured the companions that he’d make sure that at some later time, they’d get properly rewarded for their heroic actions.
Lamashan 14-15th, 4707
The characters, Ameiko, Milenken and the bureaucrats then journeyed back to Sandpoint. The trip was pleasant, as the weather was beautiful, and they felt a sense of closure, knowing that the three dangerous criminals had been dealt with in a lawful way. Even Ameiko felt relieved, although she did point out that life in prison was a harsher sentence to her brother, a long-living half-elf, than to a human.
Kerista was very moody in the first part of the trip. She seemed to be avoiding Drithnar, but at the same time, she seemed to be strangely attracted to his new and much improved appearance. Drithnar and Navan had a chat about her on the first night of the trip. Navan was, by now, used to Kerista’s mood swings and general weirdness, and when Drithnar commented on how attractive and kind-hearted she was, Navan clearly told him that he wouldn’t stand in his way if he wanted to go after her. Drithnar then went to see to Kerista, and they talked late into the night in the inn’s main room.
The next morning, the young paladin seemed much more cheerful, as if a weight had been lifted from her spirit. Once they all returned to Sandpoint, Ameiko headed to her manor, and the characters went with the bureaucrats to the town hall and garrison, where they informed the Sheriff and the Mayor of what had happened. They both seemed satisfied with the turn of events, and were thrilled to see that Drithnar had successfully been reincarnated inside a body he seemed to enjoy.
The companions then headed to the Rusty Dragon for dinner, wishing Kerista good night as she headed home. But not much later, Kerista arrived at the Rusty Dragon, looking flustered. In an anxious tone, she said that during her absence, someone had ransacked her house, stolen some of her belongings, and left behind a disgusting stench!
Surprised, the companions all went with her to check it out. Indeed, Kerista’s small house was in total disarray, clothes and personal effects scattered over the floor, and despite the now open windows, the place reeked as if something rotten had been left there – though a search revealed no such thing. Drithnar noticed a faint, mud-caked, man-sized footprint on the floor. Whoever had committed the crime had been walking barefoot.
When asked if anything of value had been stolen, Kerista shook her head and replied that she didn’t have much of value in the first place. As far as she could tell, they’d taken an old pair of boots, a handkerchief, her comb, and (she blushed slightly) her favorite blue silk panties. Ruh helped Kerista sort things out and look for more missing items, while Drithnar looked for tracks outside (grumbling about needing a light to see in the growing darkness – only now was he realizing just how pitiful humans’ night sight was), and Navan paced the main room, his hand on his chin, trying to figure out who would have committed this act, and why. It seemed like fetishism, but who in Sandpoint would have such an unhealthy crush on Kerista?
The young woman informed him that she suspected that one of her nephew’s sixteen-year-old friends had a crush on her, but she begged her companions not to treat him roughly, describing him as a very sweet boy. Navan also went with Ruh over the various monsters they’d heard about, which smelled so horribly bad – ghasts, troglodytes, otyughs… They’d of course never met any of those beings, so had no idea exactly how bad they smelled.
Another possibility was that some of Nualia’s allies were still in Sandpoint, and had searched the house looking for something the characters might have taken from Nualia…
Try as he might, Navan couldn’t find a definite answer. Instead, the characters headed down to the catacomb to check things out. They found the place as they’d left it – the pool of cold fire was still out. It was late by then, so they all went to bed; Kerista joined them at the Rusty Dragon, since her house didn’t seem safe at the moment, and was still stinking too much.
Oathday, Lamashan 16th, 4707
The next morning, the characters returned to the catacomb, this time with Volioker, the local locksmith, who was one of the only dwarves in Sandpoint. Indeed, they wanted to try and determine whether the pool of fire was below the Old Light or not, and guessed that a Dwarf’s acute sense of underground directions and dimensions would be needed for such an assessment. After spending the entire morning in measurements and calculations, they instead came up to the conclusion that it was somewhere below a house just north of the town hall.
During the afternoon, Ruh studied a new spell, Drithnar headed to the wilderness to try and meet Shalelu, to put her up to speed, and Kerista cleaned up her house, scrubbing hard every square inch of her floors with soapy water. In the evening, she and Navan had a long chat with Fendris, the boy who supposedly had a crush on her. Indeed, it was quite obvious that the skinny young lad was totally infatuated with Kerista, but in a non-creepy, non-panties-stealing kind of way. He asked Kerista to let her join the group, but with a gentle smile, she politely refused, telling him it was much too dangerous.
Fireday, Lamashan 17th, 4707
The following day, which proved to be rainy and miserable, the characters returned to Thistletop. Drithnar saw some tracks of goblins who had been around lately. Up above, they found the stockade gates open, and surprised two goblins raiding the “pickle” storage room. They quickly killed them. Searching the rest of the ground floor, they found that the place had been ransacked, apparently by goblins: most of the trophies and items from the chief’s room were gone, as well as most weapons from the armory, and a lot of the disgusting “food” from the kitchen.
Downstairs, they found more signs of the goblins’ passage in the war room and the relic research room. A few of the relics were gone. On the board, the characters saw notes mentioning the release of the “whispering being”, and marshalling goblin tribes as far as the Fogscar Mountains for the next Sandpoint raid. There was also a mention of the “Sinspawn” invading Sandpoint from below.
The characters then proceeded to explore the first underground level, which they found mostly empty. In the next room they saw goblin drawings, including an elaborate one showing a side view of Thistletop, which depicted a thirty foot tall demonic goblin with two flaming blades, living in a cave deep below the stockade. This might be a drawing of Malfeshnekor, although the characters assumed that this was merely the goblins’ interpretation of the creature’s appearance.
Next, they found a long hallway leading to several doors. In the hallway were dried up bloody marks, and the corpse of a partially eaten goblin. To the west stood double doors, on which were engraved hideous pictures showing a variety of monsters clawing their way out of the bellies of pregnant women from different races. The companions guessed this was the entrance to the temple of Lamashtu. They prepared themselves to fight the two remaining hounds, but inside, they found no living creature. Only the mangled corpses of four more goblins lay on the floor of the sinister chapel with its black altar and towering statue of Lamashtu, a pregnant humanoid female with bird feet and a three-eyed jackal’s head. It was holding a glowing Kukri in each fist.
Examining the bodies, the companions noticed that they had green skin. According to Drithnar, in general, the green-skinned goblins were members of the Licktoad or Mosswood tribes; those with yellowish skin were of the Birdcruncher tribe; and those with dark gray or black skin were of the Seven Tooth or Thistletop tribe. The corpses seemed to have been slain and partially devoured by vicious animals – maybe the Yeth Hounds?
Further in the complex, the characters found old, empty prisons, the bedrooms of Nualia’s group, the bedroom of what had likely been the chief’s harem, and a room with many cages which Drithnar suspected had contained the children of the tribe. Everything was empty, as though the remaining Thistletop goblins had fled long ago.
Eventually, the companions made their ways into caves, one of which opened out to the side of the island, showing the sky and the sea. They were wary of encountering the Tentamort that they’d heard about and seen in Lyrie’s mind. Indeed, they quickly identified it among the stalactites of the cave, and shot it from a distance. The thing had a very tough skin that resisted most of their arrows, and started slowly crawling toward them on some of its tentacles, while flailing in their direction with its two longest ones. Ruh managed to wound the creature with two Orbs of Cold, but then the Tentamort then grappled Drithnar with a tentacle, and started dragging the struggling ranger toward its vicious stinger. Thankfully, though, a well-aimed shot from Navan managed to kill the creature before it stung Drithnar.
The characters then searched the rest of the caves, but found only junk, the bodies of many animals, and six goblins that had been sucked dry by the Tentamort. Nothing on them seemed to have any value, so the characters left the caves and prepared to explore the second underground level of the complex.
But isn't....
Oh, I see what you did there. Very Nice!
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Fireday, Lamashan 17th, 4707 (continued)
Mysterious disappearance
The second level was still quiet, and dark. In the first room, the group found Bruthazmus’ corpse lying where they’d left it, apparently untouched. It was starting to rot. Vast stains of dried-up blood covered the floor. They hopped over the cage trap, and entered the room where they’d fought Nualia. Much to their dismay, her corpse was gone! The Yeth Hound’s was still present, though, and the rest of the room lay untouched. They deactivated the trap and examined the contents of the room. They decided not to touch or drink the strange blue water, but Kerista and Drithnar each took one of the flaming skulls.
Discussing among themselves, the characters wondered if the Yeth Hounds who’d been protecting the shrine of Lamashtu were the ones who’d taken Nualia’s body away; Drithnar saw no tracks of these beasts on the ground, though. But if they had done this, then, where had they brought it?
The characters left the room and opened the door in front of it. It led to a dark hallway, at the end of which was a stone double-door adorned with skeletons and a large skull; what looked like a stack of huge gold pieces was protruding from the wall to their left. They examined this stack, and found out that it didn’t seem to be gold: the substance was much too solid. On the ground, Drithnar saw tracks of Nualia’s band. They had apparently searched the area, and had gone past the skeleton-engraved doors. The characters decided to head that way.
Hungry shadows
The dark room before them contained six alcoves, inside which sat ancient sarcophagi, as well as a statue of the same man they’d seen in previous rooms, still holding a glaive and a rune-covered book. Based on what Lyrie had told them, the characters were expecting to be attacked by shadows in this room, and indeed, they soon saw three menacing, shadowy shapes appear within their dim circle of light.
The things moved quickly, and managed to drain some life energy from each member of the group. The companions felt their very strength ebbing from their bodies, vanishing from the cold touch of the undead. Navan channeled Desna’s power into a powerful wave of good energy that made two of the creatures retreat. Soon after, the rest of the group managed to kill the third creature, though most of Drithnar and Kerista’s blows passed through it harmlessly – even those of magical weapons.
While the other two creatures were still cowering in dark corners of the room, the companions went to finish them off, but due to their immaterial state, they had a hard time wounding them. Finally, the shadows overcame their fear of Navan’s symbol and attacked anew, but finally, they were destroyed, one by Kerista’s Earthbreaker, and the other by bolt from Navan’s magical crossbow.
Beyond the golden pillar
The characters, all greatly weakened from the fight, decided to search the room. The sarcophagi only contained old, dusty skeletons, and nothing of value. Navan, however, managed to find a secret door in the western wall, which led to two stairs going down. The companions decided to leave them for now, and returned to examining the rest of this level. Ruh examined the magical aura of the place and noticed that the walls and floors emanated a strange transmutation aura, and that the golden pillar gave off a strong illusion aura. Examining it more carefully, Navan noticed small spiky runes on the surfaces of the “giant coins”, as well as two small slits on the walls on either side of the “coin stack”. Slits in which a gold piece might fit…
The companions all backed out further down the corridor, and Ruh summoned a Celestial Monkey, giving it two gold pieces and telling it to insert them in the slots. The little creature did so, inserting them at the same time, using a hand and its tail. The ground began to shake, and the golden pillar noisily lowered itself and disappeared into the floor, revealing a dark opening beyond it.
Carefully, the characters entered the dark room after the monkey disappeared. It contained three stone double-doors. Beyond the north one, Navan faintly heard a man’s voice talking, but he couldn’t understand what was being said. The characters entered and saw a room with a throne on a raised platform, surrounded by two more statues of the glaive-bearing man. And on the throne, they saw the ghostly image of that same man, speaking solemnly in a commanding tone, as if he were someone very important, addressing his servants or troops. They could not understand the language he spoke, though Ruh guessed it was Thassilonian; they did notice, however, that the image seemed to be repeating the same two or three sentences over and over, in a loop.
Ruh cast a Comprehend Languages spell, passed her hand through the image, and finally understood the mysterious man’s message:
“… is upon us, but I command you to remain. Witness my power, how Alaznist’s petty wrath is but a flash compared to my strength. Take my final work to your grave and let its memory be the last thing you…”
She translated it to her friends, and they wondered out loud what it meant. They guessed that Alaznist sounded like a woman’s name, and thought perhaps she was the woman depicted in the red marble statue in the catacomb under Sandpoint.
After some time, they went back into the room past the golden pillar, and took the eastern double doors. Inside was what remained of an ancient laboratory, where apparently, some surgical experiments had taken place. A skeleton remained there of what looked like a two-headed man, with the upper body of a smaller man protruding from his lower back. The disgusting sight reminded the companions of similar deformed skeletons they’d also seen under Sandpoint.
Searching the room, Navan found some surgical instruments that might be worth something, as well as a strange seven-pointed star made of gold and silver, with strange hooks and blades on one side.
Malfeshnekor
The purpose of that strange item soon became obvious, when the group examined the leftmost door and found a similar symbol on its surface, into which the gold and silver star could be fitted both as a key and a handle. Navan opened the door, and beyond it, the group saw a room with a large fire pit burning in its center, and a huge seven-pointed star engraved into the far wall. On each side were wooden racks upon which many candles were lit. The room was very warm and humid, and a strange smell of burning hair came out of it.
The characters carefully entered the room and went to examine the candles on one of the racks. Suddenly, a horrible roar resounded just behind them. They got ready for a fight, but they could see no enemy, though Drithnar suddenly felt that something was in here with them.
Before he could act upon his instinct, though, he was attacked by a large white-furred humanoid that appeared out of the thin air at his side. The thing managed to claw Drithnar, but the ranger managed to quickly evade its other attacks.
The companions immediately reacted to the creature’s appearance with attacks of their own. Ruh hit it with an Orb of Cold, but Navan missed with his crossbow. In a deep voice, the raging creature was uttering words in a terrible language none of them understood, save for one word: “Malfeshnekor”…
Then the creature resumed attacking Drithnar, with an unstoppable savage power. It would surely have slain the ranger there and then, hadn’t Navan, Ruh and Kerista’s runic rings all triggered at the same time, saving their friend from death, merely a few dozen feet from his previous one. Instead, Drithnar was “only” gravely wounded by the creature.
(ooc: collectively, the characters had to use FIVE action points to save Drithnar from dying again… Since he had already used up all of this level’s action points in the fight against Nualia. )
Realizing what they were up against, the companions did the only smart thing they could: they got the hell out of there. Thankfully, Malfeshnekor did not follow them out of the room, and they closed the heavy stone doors behind them, removing the seven-pointed key from them. Panting, they wondered what to do, having only narrowly escaped death. Navan cured the badly wounded Drithnar. They decided it was time to rest; they needed to recover their magical energy, and the strength the shadows had drained.
Starday, Lamashan 18th, 4707
The lost treasure
The characters returned to the level above, and rested in the bed rooms of Nualia and her allies. Drithnar cast an alarm spell further ahead in the corridor, and they took turns standing watch. Thankfully, nothing disturbed their rest, and in the morning, Navan and Kerista were able to restore most of the strength everyone had lost the previous day.
Back down on the second underground level, the characters noticed that the golden pillar had reset. They returned to the stairs going down past the secret door in the shadows room. They reached what must have once been a treasure room. Some of its walls had collapsed, and it now led to a water-filled cavern. On the floor glittered silver and golden coins, as well as small gems, and a huge golden helm lay near the far wall. On the wall were engraved pictures of treasures, as well as of a stern face carved against a mountain side, overlooking a beautiful city. The characters wondered if this was the same man they’d seen in many statues in the complex.
Before they could investigate further, the golden helm turned with a loud scraping sound, and from below it emerged a strange, large, crab-like creature which attacked the group. The companions fought valiantly, though the monster’s shell was hard to pierce. It managed to grab Kerista with both its claws, and started constricting her. The poor woman’s face was twisted in pain, and a small trickle of blood started flowing from her lips. She managed to grab her dagger and stabbed the creature with it, but the thing was very resilient. After a few moments, Kerista lost consciousness from the pain.
Drithnar yelled in rage and redoubled his efforts against the creature, and eventually, he managed to shatter its skull with his handaxe. Kerista fell to the floor, free of the creature’s grasp, and Navan immediately rushed to heal her. She slowly regained consciousness, and wondered for a moment if it had been her turn to die, and if she’d come back in a different body. The others smiled as she looked down at her bloody armor, which was slightly deformed from the powerful claws of the monster.
After the paladin had recovered, thanks to Navan’s heals, the group searched the room and gathered up the treasure, which included a magical amulet. They discovered that the giant helm that had served as a shell to the crab-like creature was only made of bronze plated with gold, so they decided to leave it behind due to its weight. They gathered as many of the relics as they could from the room they’d fought Nualia in, and decided to return to Sandpoint. They felt somewhat bitter at leaving Malfeshnekor behind, but reasoned that, if he’d been imprisoned for thousands of years, he could wait a few more months for them to be ready to fight him; also, they had the key to open his prison, and doubted anyone else could free him without it. They also wondered where Nualia’s body was… But they had no leads to find it.
Back to Sandpoint
The group returned to Sandpoint late in the afternoon, and they stopped first at the cathedral to give Father Zantus the burnt remains they’d found in the shrine of Lamashtu. Together, they went to the cemetery, where Naffer Vosk the hunchback buried it, and Navan and Father Zantus prayed for Father Tobyn to finally know peace. The companions noticed that Nualia’s tombstone was now gone.
The companions, who were by then quite tired, decided that they had earned some rest. Nualia had been defeated; they felt confident that Malfeshnekor remained safely imprisoned. Sandpoint seemed to be safe, at least for now.
This concludes the adventure “Burnt Offerings”. Starting next week… the Skinsaw Murders.
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Lamashan 19th and 20th, 4707
The characters rested for two days in Sandpoint. Navan noticed that Drithnar and Kerista were spending a lot of time together, and guessed that a romance was developing between his two friends. It would therefore be very convenient if Ruh and he were to return to Thistletop for a while to study the relics there, and give their friends some space.
In the evening of Lamashan 20th, the whole group was invited for dinner at the Vigandirs’, Kerista’s family. It took place in the house where Kerista and all her siblings had grown up. The house was next to the family’s cobbling shop, and these days was inhabited by Toloria, the oldest sister, her husband Erinar, and their family, as well as Mertok, Kerista’s second brother, who was unmarried.
Toloria was as tall as Kerista, but much more plump. She was a no-nonsense, bossy woman in her mid-thirties, clearly the new matriarch of the family. Her husband was a slender, quiet man who worked as a cobbler at the store; but it was clearly Toloria who called the shots both at the house and in their business. They had two boys and two girls, aged 8 to 16.
Mertok also worked as a cobbler, but was apparently rather lazy at work. He was a tall, heavy man in his early thirties, with light brown hair and a permanently grumpy look. Throughout the whole evening, he kept complaining about anything and everything; he and Toloria were always arguing.
Also present was Solrana, Kerista’s second sister, who was much shorter and thinner than her siblings. Their father, Karstu, had been a slight man of Chelaxian origin, and Solrana looked more like him, whereas the rest of the family looked more like their mother, Fandrilla, who had been a tall, shapely Shoanti woman. Solrana seemed like a very cheerful person, and had a quick wit. She did seem to recognize Navan, who had courted her several years before, but neither of them mentioned this in front of the others.
Solrana was accompanied by her husband, Gammar, a tall farmer who also loved hunting. Gammar was a very loud man, cheerful but also quite prone to bragging, which got somewhat annoying as the evening wore on. Solrana and Gammar were also there with their young daughters, Mynda and Lyrosie, as well as their young son Nairas, merely six months old.
All in all, everyone had a good time, and Kerista’s friends got a chance to meet her family. There was a bit of awkwardness between Kerista and her siblings, given their sad history, but the whole family seemed very proud of what she’d accomplished, and everyone, especially the youngsters, were eager to hear about the group’s adventures.
Toilday, Lamashan 21st, 4707
The next day, Ruh and Navan went back to Thistletop to examine the relics, and for Ruh to study some new spells. Drithnar and Kerista stayed in Sandpoint, to relax and enjoy each other’s company. Drithnar said he’d send animal messengers to Navan every few days to keep him informed.
Over the next few days, Navan and Ruh’s stay was pretty quiet, despite the knowledge that Malfeshnekor was imprisoned very close by, and that Nualia’s body was still unaccounted for. The two adventurers also sometimes heard some distant roars coming from the direction of the forest, when they were outside. Despite this, though, they didn’t get attacked during their stay.
Ruh managed to learn all of the spells she’d bought from the Feathered Serpent, and received from her mentor in Magnimar. She and Navan examined all of the relics that Lyrie and Nualia had been studying, and learned more about ancient Thassilon.
Every other day, Navan found a sea gull waiting for him at a spot that Drithnar had designated. Next are the various messages that the ranger sent him.
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Wealday, Lamashan 22, 4707
Hi Navan,
I hope your search is going well. I can’t imagine how you can summon up the energy to go back to that old ruin, after all we’ve been through in there. Well, maybe it’s not as bad for you since you didn’t actually DIE there. Hehe.
Things are going great here. I don’t know if you sensed what was going on at the Vigandirs’ the other night… Well… Kerista and I … I don’t know how to say this, but we love each other. I guess I should tell you this in person, but I feel like letting it out of my system.
She’s so wonderful. I’ve been such a damned idiot for all those years, dreaming about that b*@%! Nualia. Kerista is more, so much more than Nualia ever was. She’s beautiful, she’s kind and she’s so pure. It’s like she really understands me. You know, people say she’s weird and crazy, but I think she’s just smart in a way they can’t understand. She really gets people…
She’s one hell of a woman.
I even went to watch her practice for her play yesterday. Cyrdak asked me to audition too, well that was a disaster. Even Kerista was laughing, I was so bad. I don’t think you’ll see me in a Magnimar theater any time soon… Kerista’s pretty good, though.
I’m getting a weird vibe from Cyrdak, too. The way he looks at me… Maybe he knows about me and Kerista… we’re still trying to keep it quiet for now… You can tell Ruh, but ask her not to tell anyone, please. When you guys come back, that is. You know how she gets… Sometimes she talks even more than Ameiko.
Anyway. Good luck down there,
Drithnar
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Fireday, Lamashan 24, 4707
Hi Navan,
It’s so great to be taking it easy finally. I’m getting to know Kerista a lot better. She’s amazing. It’s like she’s really starting to open up to me. I found out loads of stuff about her she never talked about before. Did you know she painted?
I’m also telling her stuff I’ve never told anyone. I’ve had some great friends before, like Shalelu and some of the rangers at Fort Rannick, but I never felt like anyone “got” me like she does.
I thank Desna every day in my prayers for giving me a second chance in life, and allowing me to meet such a wonderful woman. I am blessed.
I’m also praying for you and Ruh. You are great friends, and I owe you my life. I’ll always be there for you if you need me. I pray for your safety. I wish you could send me the bird back so I’d know for sure that you’re safe!
Kerista and I had a lot of fun last night. Ameiko invited us to a big party she was having in her manor. The place is gorgeous to start with, but she’d decorated it in a really fancy way. There were a lot of people, the Mayor, Father Zantus, a lot of rich people from the Valdemar and Scarnetti families. And a lot of other people.
We talked with a lot of people, but you know me, I’m not much of a talker. Kerista’s better than me at that, but I know she doesn’t like crowds either. Well figure this out, Shayliss came on to me last night. Shayliss! Heh. I’d never thought I’d see the day. I turned her down, of course. I can’t believe I actually did that. Shayliss! Man, get ready, she’s going to be all over you when you come back… hehe.
Then, our attention was called by Ameiko. She stood next to Belven Valdemar. He’s some guy that all the girls are crazy about. He’s good-looking and rich… He’s the heir to the Valdemar fortune. Well, they announced that they’re engaged to be married next spring. We congratulated them. I think that’s great. Poor Ameiko, she’s been through some hard times lately, she deserves something good. And I think that Belven guy is good for her. Also, uniting their two families is going to be great for business, too.
Of course, the only people who weren’t cheering were the Scarnettis. I bet they were angry Ameiko didn’t go after one of their lot… Damned bigots. I’m glad she didn’t. They’re not a nice bunch.
Then, this morning, Father Zantus led a ceremony to Desna. A few of us worshippers were gathered with him in the temple. Well, it was going well, until in the middle of the Eastern Star prayer, a huge gust of wind blew right through the windows, and snuffed out all of the candles! Weird. Apparently, that’s a pretty bad omen in our religion. I didn’t think much about it, but Father Zantus and the other priests looked really freaked out by it. I don’t know if you know anything about that… Wish you could write back!!
I have to go now. I’ll go watch Kerista rehearse at the theater. She’s really into that thing now. I’m starting to wonder if she doesn’t want to stop her life of paladin and become a diva. She looks so beautiful in that dress they’ve made for her. Wow. But I’m not the only one who finds her beautiful. That creepy kid, Fendris, is always watching her rehearse; I almost got in a fistfight with Das Korvut the other night at the Hagfish because he came on to her (thankfully, Kerista stopped us before we could make fools of ourselves), and every time we go to near the cathedral, old Naffer the hunchback stares at her fixedly… Kind of freaky. But I don’t want to confront the poor old guy. He’s such a wretch. He’ll never have a woman like Kerista. I feel bad for him… I’ve been in his place. I wish I could help him out. But I don’t think he’d like me to kill him...
Damn, I’m a sick guy to think about things like that… Better stop.
Anyway… Say hi to Ruh for me.
Drith
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Sunday, Lamashan 26, 4707
Hey,
Yesterday, we went to spend most of the day at Solrana’s farm. It was great, it was so beautiful outside. I hope you didn’t spend all day in that dusty old ruin.
On the way there, we had a strange encounter. As we were leaving Sandpoint, we saw a group of Sczarni on horseback, taking the south road toward Magnimar. Jubrayl was with them, but he was covered up in a thick cloak, and he looked all ill… His skin was yellow, and there was a weird gleam in his eyes. The Sczarni looked worried and nervous, too. There was something really weird about that. Like old Jubrayl got poisoned or something. Wouldn’t be a big loss to Sandpoint if that jerk croaked… But I shouldn’t say that, it’s not nice.
Look at me, I’m starting to talk like Kerista now. Hehe.
Anyway. We had a good time at the farm. Solrana’s family is great. They have some really beautiful horses. Two of them especially caught our eyes. Kerista and I are thinking about buying them. They’d make really good mounts. They would be really useful if we have to travel a lot, where our adventures take us.
I’ve got my eye on a big black stallion called Wolfbane (apparently, he survived an attack from a pack of wolves a few years ago – he’s a really tough beast) and Kerista’s got a crush on a grey mare called Musinia. A beautiful young horse, full of life, and you can just tell that it’s a smart animal by looking into her eyes. It’s like she’s one of us. And she really took a liking to Kerista, too.
Solrana said that they didn’t breed Musinia. She just showed up in their field one day… along with the other horses. None of the other farmers claimed her as lost, except most likely old Crade Hambley, but that old miser always tries to save or gain a coin every chance he gets. Nobody really trusts him or even pays him too much attention. There’s no chance he’d have bred an animal like Musinia.
Kerista spent a lot of time with her sister and the kids, and I checked out the hunting trails with Gammar. When we were out of sight, though, the usually funny guy turned all serious. He said there had been strange talk among the farmers lately, of weird things moving around at night. Animals have started showing up dead… Half-devoured by some savage beast. Also, some people have reported scary noises at night.
Gammar hasn’t told the details to his family, doesn’t want them to be scared. I don’t know. Might just be some stray goblins from the remaining tribes. We looked for tracks all afternoon, but didn’t have any luck. But I think in the coming weeks, we should look into this. The goblins might want revenge after what we did to those at Thistletop, and the farmers aren’t as safe from them as Sandpoint townsfolk are.
We had planned on leaving before sunset, but finally decided to stay with Solrana’s family for dinner. We had fun, it was great to see my beautiful Kerista so happy with her family, laughing and playing with the little ones. I wonder if we’ll live to start a family of our own, me and her.
Eventually, we left and started our walk back to Sandpoint. It was dark and kind of creepy outside. Even though the day had been warm, there was now a chill in the air. We were alert, and although Kerista was just wearing regular clothes (can’t blame her – her armor’s so heavy, she can’t wear it all the time), I was wearing my chain shirt and we were both carrying our weapons – you never know.
That was a smart move on our part. As we were walking back in the dark night (man, us humans can’t see s&#% in the dark!), we heard some strange sniffing and growling noises in the tall grass on the side of the road. It might have been scary, but I felt reassured by Kerista’s presence. And she didn’t look scared at all (how does she do it??).
But all of a sudden, this great big dog came out of the grass and jumped at us. It looked mad – maybe it was a trick of the moonlight, but its eyes almost looked like they gleamed with an evil light. It managed to bite one of Kerista’s thighs, but we killed it quickly enough. Then Kerista healed herself and was good as new. Still, I’m surprised that one of the local farm dogs went rabid… I haven’t heard about anything like that in a long time.
After that, we continued on our way back to Sandpoint. I was thinking about what Gammar had told me, about the “strange things moving at night” and the weird noises… A couple times, I thought I saw a strange shape standing further along the road, waiting to attack us, but every time it just turned out to be a scarecrow. I had a really strange feeling… Like something was out there, watching us. But thank Desna, we made our way back to Sandpoint safely.
You guys watch out… never know what could be out there,
Drithnar
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Toilday, Lamashan 28, 4707
Damnit.
Damnit!!!!!!!
OK, something’s definitely wrong in Sandpoint.
We need you and Ruh here, NOW. Be ready. I’m coming to pick you up. I’ll be at Thistletop in early afternoon. Prepare your spells. We might need them.
Some people were murdered at the Sawmill. The guy who did this is a frickin PSYCHO… You’ll see. It’s disgusting.
Kerista’s investigating with the Sheriff, but we could really use you two… You’re the smart ones, damnit!!!
See you soon.
Drith
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Here's the updated character list as we start The Skinsaw Murders:
Navan Attaway (CG Male Varisian Level 1 Rogue/ Level 3 Cleric) – Worships Desna
5’10”, Thin, Age 28, Long brown hair, brown eyes, always looks like he needs a shave, wears a poncho and a cool hat. Fights with a light crossbow.
Ruh (NG Female Gnome Level 4 Wizard (Conjuror)) – Worships Sarenrae and Nethys
3’3”, Age 66, Brown hair, blue eyes, dresses like a gipsy. Fights with a small glowing staff and a light crossbow.
Drithnar (NG Male Human Level 4 Ranger) – Worships Desna
6’1”, 210lbs, Age 22, Long black hair, green eyes, much more handsome than at the start of Burnt Offerings. Wears a chain shirt and wields a longsword and a handaxe, dual-wield style.
Kerista Vigandir (LG Female Human Level 4 Paladin) – Worships Sarenrae
5’10”, 170lbs, Age 18, Long dark hair, brown eyes, attractive but a bit on the heavy side. Wears banded mail and wields an Earthbreaker.
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Toilday, Lamashan 28th, 4707
Return to Sandpoint
When Drithnar reached Thistletop, in the early afternoon, he found Navan and Ruh waiting for him as he’d asked them in his letter. He looked worried, and as they started making their way back toward Sandpoint through Nettlewood, he gave them the details of what had happened.
Early that morning, one of the workers of the Sandpoint lumber mill, a man named Ibor Thorn, had made the gruesome discovery of two dead bodies at the mill. One of the bodies was affixed to a wall by hooks, and horribly mutilated, its face carved away and its lower jaw removed. On his bare chest was carved, as though with a razor, the same seven-pointed star that the adventurers had seen so many times in the catacomb below Sandpoint, and in the dungeon of Thistletop. The same rune that was on the medallion they’d found on Nualia, which Navan was now wearing around his neck!
Ibor Thorn had recognized the body as his coworker Banny Harker, because despite his unrecognizable, mutilated face, a faded tattoo of a raven could still be seen on his lower abdomen. Harker had been the manager of this mill, which belonged to the Scarnetti family.
The other body was a reduced to mangled, bloody body parts which lay strewn over the floor of the saw mill. Drithnar looked particularly grim when he said this. But the head of the victim was still mostly intact: it was that of Katerine Vinder, daughter of Ven Vinder, the general shop’s owner. Shayliss’s older sister.
The rumor around town was that Katerine had been having an affair with Banny for some time now, which of course was driving her father crazy. He kept trying to prevent her from seeing the older man. This morning, when Sheriff Hemlock had gone to the general store to announce the terrible news to Vinder, the man had flown into a rage from the shock, and had to be pacified and brought to a cell at the garrison. Ibor Thorn was also kept there for questioning.
But two things were even more disturbing about the whole event. First, a disgusting smell of putrefaction hung in the air inside the saw mill – the same smell that had been in Kerista’s house previously. And pinned on Harker’s body had been a note, written in blood… A note addressed to Kerista! When questioned by the other two, Drithnar just shook his head and told them she’d show it to them in person.
Murder at the Lumber Mill
Later in the afternoon, the three companions reached the lumber mill, where they found a worried-looking Kerista and a few other guards, who were trying to placate a small crowd of townsfolk demanding to know what had happened. Inside, Ruh and Navan were treated to the same gruesome sight that Drithnar had described: it had not been tampered with, as Sheriff Hemlock thought that perhaps they could use some magic to find out more about what had happened. It was too much for poor little Ruh: she ran to a corner of the room and threw up.
Kerista first showed them the letter that had been found on Harker. Indeed, her name was written on it, in blood. On the other side, also written in blood, was a disturbing message:
You will learn to me,
Desire me in time as did.
yourself to the Pack
and it shall all .
Navan read it and frowned. Then, he decided to start examining the premises. As Drithnar had said, a disgusting scent of decay permeated the whole room, almost as if a small animal had died somewhere in the room and its remains had been allowed to ripen.
The mill was right next to the Turandarok River, and a timber pier led to it. There, Drithnar showed Navan the muddy footprints of a bare-footed man. The tracks seemed to lead from the river to the mill. The suspect had climbed the wall of the mill (which looked difficult, but doable), up to a second-storey window. Following the tracks, the attacker had then gone downstairs, and, judging from the signs of struggle, had fought Harker and Katrine there.
Navan then examined the two disgusting corpses, but found nothing more than what Drithnar had already described. Poor Katrine had apparently fallen into the log splitter (which had been active through the whole night, from what witnesses had said), and had been instantly dismembered. An axe lay stuck on the floor near the log splitter, and its handle bore bloody finger prints – probably Katrine’s, judging from their size. The blade of the axe was smeared with what seemed to be rotten flesh and fragments of bone. The smell was even more horrible near that weapon, and Navan almost threw up from the stench.
Kerista seemed especially sad at the death of Katrine, whom she’d known since her childhood, since they were around the same age. Ruh scanned the whole mill with a detect magic spell, and then with a detect secret doors spell, but found nothing. Kerista’s detect evil power also revealed nothing more.
As the characters were getting ready to head out to the barracks to report to the Sheriff, Titus Scarnetti and a handful of servants entered the mill, pushing past some mildly protesting guards. Titus yelled at them that they’d been here all day, and that they couldn’t keep him away any longer. He and his servants looked around at the horror of the room, and one of the men had the same reaction as Ruh: he threw up. Scarnetti grimaced, and spoke about what a shame this all was; but the characters weren’t sure if the shame he was referring to were the dead people, or the loss of profit that would result from the event.
While Kerista talked to Mr. Scarnetti, Ruh, who was wary of the shady merchant, cast a Detect Thoughts spell on him. She saw that the two foremost things on Mr. Scarnetti’s mind were how long it would take to get the Sawmill up and running again, and Kerista’s chest – but she didn’t see anything more sinister at the time.
The previous murders
The companions then went to the garrison. Along the way, Kerista told them that she and the Sheriff had interrogated Ibor Thorn and Ven Vinder earlier in the day, and they had now been released. Ven hadn’t revealed anything of use, and it seemed very unlikely that he was related to the murder – despite his feelings for Banny Harker. Ibor, though, had revealed to Kerista, after some tactful convincing, that he had suspicions that Harker had been “cooking the books” for quite some time, taking a small share of the profits on various jobs here and there over the years – and had probably ended up with a pretty decent sum of money from that. However, the Scarnettis had a reputation for being ruthless – if they’d somehow learned about this scheme, they might have tried to punish Harker for his treachery. Drithnar and Kerista reminded their friends of the rumors of the Scarnettis burning down the competing mills in the region.
Inside the garrison, the characters were led inside Sheriff Hemlock’s office, where the big, dark-skinned Shoanti man greeted them with a weary nod. He thanked them for their help in this matter, saying once again that his men were likely too inexperienced to deal with such a situation. Indeed, the current threat seemed worse that the goblins of the past few weeks had been. The Sheriff referred to the mysterious letter addressed to Kerista, and the seven-pointed star. As he was already aware of the strange burglary that had been done at Kerista’s place a few weeks before, it indeed seemed that the killer was linked to Kerista. But who could it be?
The signature “his Lordship” was intriguing. The four ruling families of Sandpoint were only merchants, not nobles per say, although the simple country folk often referred to them as “nobles”. When asked if a member of those families might be a ghast, the Sheriff raised his eyebrows, and answered that, to the best of his knowledge, all deceased members of those families had been buried in the sanctity of the graveyard next to the cathedral, including the latest casualty, Lonjiku Kaijitsu.
Before Sandpoint was founded, the leader of the Scarnettis, Vorenus, had been killed in a fight against the local Varisians. He had a reputation as a dangerous man, and the Sheriff had always assumed that he’d been buried in Magnimar, but perhaps that wasn’t the case.
The link to the seven-pointed star was also strange. The Sheriff suggested that the characters check with Brodert Quink, the local scholar, about its meaning.
Then, he told the characters that another such murder had happened two days before. On the morning of the 26th, a group of Sandpoint guards patrolling the Lost Coast Road had been attacked by a raving lunatic near Cougar’s Creek. The man was obviously sick and insane, his flesh fevered, eyes wild, mouth frothing and clothes caked with blood. The patrol had managed to subdue him, and had found the scene of a gruesome murder in a nearby barn. Three men had been killed there, their faces mutilated, and their chests carved with the same seven-pointed star that had been found on Harker. What’s more, a letter had been found in one of the men’s pockets:
Messrs. Mortwell, Hask and Tabe –
A deal has come about that I need capital in. It involves property and gold, and though I am not at liberty to tell you the exact details, it will make us all rich. Come to Bradley’s Barn on Cougar Creek tonight. We can meet there to discuss our futures.
Your Lordship
Thus, although the bodies were far too disfigured to be identified, the Sheriff assumed them to be those of Lenner Hask, Tarch Mortwell and Gedwin Tabe, three notorious con men and swindlers, who were well-known to him as local troublemakers. He’d forbidden them to operate in the region, and had actually not been surprised to find them murdered – it was only a matter of time before they tried to swindle someone worse than them, after all. But in the light of today’s murder, it seemed that something worse was afoot.
The characters went to examine the three mutilated bodies in the morgue. Thankfully, Ruh had nothing left in her stomach to throw up. Indeed, each bore the symbol of the seven-pointed star carved in his chest with what seemed to be a razor. But the companions didn’t notice anything new. Later, the Sheriff told them that the insane man had been identified as Grayst Sevilla, a local Varisian thug. He’d tried to question him, but the man was too far gone into insanity, and a few of the local guards had brought him to the Saintly Haven of Respite, the local Sanatorium. Kerista tensed visibly when she heard this: she had spent two years of her life in that place!
Nocturnal investigation
As it was now dark outside, the characters decided to wait until the next day to go visit the Sanatorium. Instead, they paid Ameiko a visit. She greeted them warmly, and introduced Navan and Ruh to her fiancé Belven Valdemar, a tall, handsome man who was well-groomed and who spoke with a kind, steady voice. Still, Navan didn’t trust him and showed Kerista the usual “do a detect evil on him” sign. Kerista opened her mouth in shock, concentrated on Belven, and shook her head: she hadn’t detected anything. Ruh giggled to herself at Kerista’s reaction, because she knew that, before she’d started getting interested in Drithnar, she’d had a strong crush on the handsome “nobleman”.
The characters spoke to Ameiko and Belven of their worry for them. They spoke of the letter that had been found on the three murdered con men, which mentioned “property and gold”. The upcoming marriage between the two rich young merchants would unite two of the wealthiest families of the region, which hadn’t been done in decades: it had a lot of potential for profit, or loss thereof.
Ameiko and Belven took those accusations seriously. They were aware that the Scarnettis were bitter about their engagement, but they doubted that even they would stoop so low as to commit those horribly murders. The companions asked them if they knew anything else, but unfortunately, nothing came up.
Afterward, the characters went to visit Brodert Quink, but he wasn’t home. They then went to visit the catacombs below the Glassworks. Ameiko had installed a heavy metal door to protect access to the basement of her factory. But everything in the catacombs was as the characters had left it, including the pool of fire, which was still empty and dark.
The companions returned toward the surface, but along the way, Kerista had a strange feeling, as if someone was calling her name from very far away. Her companions questioned her, but the feeling was very vague. They guessed that perhaps she was being scried on. They asked her to cast Protection from Evil on herself, which didn’t seem to help, and they went to the cathedral to pray for a while. Once there, Kerista said she felt better: the feeling had disappeared.
Later, the characters went to sleep at Kerista’s house. However, they decided to take turns at having one of them patrol the streets during the night. They took turns doing this, which was an unnerving experience, in the dark, foggy night, given the recent murders, but the night passed smoothly, and in the morning, it seemed that no further murder had taken place.
Wealday, Lamashan 29th, 4707
The Sihedron Rune
The first thing the characters did was to go visit Brodert Quink. The aged scholar received them warmly in his house, in the shade of the Old Light. He seemed eager to help them with the investigation. He identified the seven-pointed star as the “Sihedron Rune”, one of the most important symbols of ancient Thassilon. He said it had several meanings, and opened up various old, dusty books from which he read some parts out loud.
Apparently, the rune was used to represent the seven schools of magic of Thassilon: Abjuration, Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation (Divination magic was not held in high regards by the ancients). It also represented the seven virtues of rule (generally agreed among scholars to have been wealth, fertility, honest pride, abundance, eager striving, righteous anger, and rest). However, the old man noted with a smirk that he thought the leaders of Thassilon were in fact far from virtuous, and he believed that the classic mortal sins (greed, lust, pride, gluttony, envy, wrath and sloth) rose from the corruption of the Thassilonian virtues of rule. The Sihedron Rune was a symbol of power, representing the Thassilonian Empire itself.
“The fact that the killer carved it into the flesh of his victim might point to the fact that he is some kind of scholar,” mused the old man. Then, he seemed to realize what he’d just said, and his eyes widened in panic. “But of course, I had nothing to do with it!” he assured the characters in a trembling voice. They all smiled to each other – none of them could imagine the mild old man hurting anyone.
After that, the characters climbed up to Chopper’s island. They went down to his dark basement, but this time, they found no trace of the ghost. Kerista sensed no evil presence. But the strange stone statue of the bird-man still stood there, its eyes eerily following the characters as they moved around. The characters searched the disgusting, vermin-infested basement, but found nothing. They returned to Sandpoint, had lunch, and decided to go visit the asylum.
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Along the way, they visited the barn at Cougar’s Creek, where traces of the bloody carnage remained, but found no further clues about the murders. Around mid-afternoon, they reached the three-storey, squat stone building of the Saintly Haven of Respite, which stood isolated, near the foot of the Ashen Rise.
Along the way, Kerista had grown more and more tense at the prospect of returning to that hated place. When her friends questioned her, they learned that she hadn’t been mistreated per say – but that she felt that Dr Habe seemed more interested in studying the patients than in curing them. In the end, it was an old paladin of Sarenrae who had cured her – not the doctor.
The characters knocked at the door and were greeted by a white-clothed warden who asked them what they wanted. His eyes bulged when he recognized Kerista. Clearly, the staff of the asylum had never expected her to return, especially not heavily armed and armored. In a tense voice, she asked to speak to Dr. Habe.
After a few minutes, the aged doctor came down to the door. He was a thin bald man, also dressed in white. He seemed preoccupied and annoyed at the interruption. He greeted Kerista with a patronizing tone, as if he were talking to a dull-witted child. The young woman frowned in frustration, and then asked to question Grayst Sevilla on orders of Sheriff Hemlock. She showed the doctor a warrant the Sheriff had given her. The doctor replied that he was in the middle of examining the patient, who was very unstable and should not be disturbed. However, Navan and Kerista managed to convince him to let them see him; he finally yielded, and, throwing his arms in the air, said “Fine, come and talk to him, but make sure to keep it short!”
The doctor and his two orderlies led the characters up to the top floor of the clean, white-walled building. Here and there, a few old people sat or walked slowly. They all seemed quite senile. Many doors seemed to lead to very small rooms, and from some of them came dull thuds. Kerista seemed very flustered to be back in this place, but Drithnar reassuringly took her hand in his and gently squeezed it. This time, she was not alone.
The doctor then led the characters into a larger room with cushioned walls. In a corner was crouched a tall, broad-shouldered man who was wearing a straitjacket. The man was moaning softly. The characters approached him carefully. Kerista and Ruh wore looks of concern and pity on their faces.
“… razors… too many teeth… too… no…. ahhhh…. The Skinsaw Man is coming…” was mumbling Grayst.
Then, he looked up when he noticed the characters approaching. Ruh gasped: his skin was pale and gangrenous, his long black hair was wild, and his eyes were milky white. His strange gaze seemed to stop on Kerista, and he gasped at the sight of her.
“You! You’re the one he was talking about!”
“What?” asked Kerista in surprise.
“He said. He said you would visit me. His Lordship. The one that unmade me said so. He has a place for you. A precious place. I’m so jealous…” For a fleeting moment, a sinister frown passed over Grayst’s face. Then: “He has a message for you. He made me remember it. I hope I haven’t forgotten it. The master wouldn’t approve if I forgot. Let me see… let… me… see… He said that if you came to his Misgivings, that if you joined his pack, he would end his harvest in your honor.”
“Huh?” asked Kerista, puzzled.
“What misgivings?” asked Drithnar, at the same time as Navan asked “What pack?”
But Grayst had collapsed to the floor again, moaning. Kerista felt a deep sorrow for the poor wretch, and she knelt by his side, wondering if there was anything she could do to help him. But at that moment, Grayst stood up suddenly, and with a great effort, managed to snap the links of his straitjacket. Then he lunged at Kerista, but she managed to block his blow with her armored forearm.
Navan presented the symbol of Desna strongly before him, and channel its power against Grayst, but it seemed to have no effect. Kerista started to grapple with the madman, and managed to pin him down. Drithnar moved in with both weapons drawn, but Kerista shrieked “Don’t kill him!!”, and instead, the ranger knocked Grayst out cold with a blow to the head from the pommel of his sword.
The doctor, who had fled the room with his two orderlies during the fight, came back, looking somewhat sheepish. He apologized profusely for putting the adventurers in danger, saying he’d had no idea Grayst had been so far gone. Indeed, it seemed that the man was suffering from ghoul rot – a terrible disease caused by being severely wounded by a ghoul. It seemed he did not have much longer to live.
Ruh nodded and said that she’d managed to look into Grayst’s mind while he was talking to Kerista. His mind was a clutter of insane thoughts, but she’d caught glimpses of the horrible murders of the three con men, by a shadowy shape with glowing red eyes and a wicked-looking war razor. The thing had been speaking in an evil voice to Grayst, who had been tied up in ropes, and was shrieking at the gruesome sight. Ruh herself was sweating, as the visions and the contact with the deranged mind had been truly horrible. She’d also sensed his intense hatred of Kerista when he’d attacked her. He hated her because his master loved her above all else, and had been hoping to receive this love if he got rid of the offending woman.
The characters then debated their options. The doctor was unable to cure ghoul rot, and from what Navan and Drithnar knew, neither was Father Zantus. Dr Habe grinned, and Navan got the impression that the old man held the worship of Desna in contempt. Grayst’s only hope seemed to be in Magnimar, but it seemed unlikely that the characters would be able to bring him there in time to prevent his transformation into a ghoul. According to the doctor, he had only a few hours left to live.
Navan said he’d try to bring him to Magnimar nonetheless, and the doctor seemed only too happy to be rid of the dangerous patient. After asking Navan to sign a waiver, he let the characters walk out with the still-unconscious man, asking Kerista to come back if she wanted so he could interview her and get an idea of the extent of her recovery. Kerista gave him a forced smile, but it was obvious from her face that she had no intention of ever coming back to this dreadful place.
Ghoul Rot
Grayst Sevilla was a big man, taller and heavier than anyone in the group. Kerista and Drithnar had a hard time dragging him along the road. After a few minutes, once they were out of sight of the Asylum, Kerista said:
“Uhhh, I don’t see how we’re going to be able to bring this heavy man all the way to Magnimar without horses!”
“We’re not going to bring him to Magnimar,” answered Navan.
“Oh no?”
“Nope. This man has been in contact with his Lordship. He calls him ‘his master’. Once he succumbs to the ghoul rot, and he comes back as an undead, he can lead us right to his master, and we’ll finally know who we’re dealing with.”
“What?... You mean, we’re not going to cure him?”
“No, we have no way of doing that.”
“But… you promised the doctor… You lied to him, Navan!” said Kerista, who looked scandalized.
“Listen, Kerista. You heard what the Sheriff said. Sevilla was a scumbag. And we have no leads on who this ‘Lordship’ guy is, except for this guy. I’d rather we not wait until the murderer has killed more people before we move on him. And don’t you want to finally find out who’s this creep who’s been stalking you?”
Kerista seemed at a loss for words for a few moments, and then she said: “But… We can’t just let this man die… That would be evil!”
“It’s a necessary evil… Better him than innocents,” answered Navan.
“He’s got a point, dear. It’s our best way of finding His Lordship… And we can’t cure Sevilla anyway. He’s as good as dead already,” added Drithnar.
Kerista looked from Navan to Drithnar with a frustrated frown on her face, and finally gave up. “Fine!” she spat.
But the way she avoided looking at any of her companions and remained silent until they reached the spot Navan had chosen indicated that things were definitely not fine.
The characters put Grayst Sevilla’s body near the foot of the Ashen Rise, out of sight of any of the local farms. They tied him up well, and Navan attached his whip to Grayst’s waist, as a belt. He intended to use it for a Locate Object spell. Then, the companions walked several hundred feet away from the body and hid, watching it from afar. Kerista, still sulking, sat apart from them, and when Drithnar went and tried to console her, she yelled “Don’t touch me!” at him. He returned sheepishly to stand watch next to Navan and Ruh. He sighed heavily. “This had better work…” he muttered.
The companions waited for a long time. Slowly, the sun was setting to the west. At one point, Drithnar pointed in that direction, toward the Lost Coast Road: shapes could be seen moving along it, heading south.
Finally, it started getting really dark, too dark for the characters to be able to keep an eye on Grayst’s distant form. Seemingly, Drithnar had knocked him out too strongly. They’d been expecting him to wake up after a half hour or so, but it had now been well over two hours and he still lay in the same spot. They approached him carefully. He wasn’t moving. “What the…” said Drithnar, who knelt beside him. He took his pulse, and sighed.
“He’s dead…” he said glumly.
“Holy Mother have mercy!” said Kerista. “All right, so what now?”
“The plan hasn’t changed, we wait for him to wake up and we follow him,” replied Navan.
Drithnar looked doubtful. “I don’t know, Navan. I doubt we can keep up with him in the darkness, and even if we do, he’ll see us for sure.”
Ruh nodded, and Kerista added: “This isn’t working, we’re wasting out time, let’s go back to Sandpoint. I can hear the voice calling me again. I don’t think I should be here!”
This time, it was Navan’s turn to say: “Fine…”
The walk back to Sandpoint was long, morose, and quite extenuating for Kerista and Drithnar, who had to carry the corpse. After having walked for about two hours, the body suddenly twitched violently, then started shaking and struggling against the bonds. Kerista let it go with a yelp: the characters could all see that Grayst now had glowing red eyes: he had become a ghoul!
Thankfully, he failed to break free of his bonds, but still, dragging his struggling body was an even more difficult feat than when he’d been inert. Drithnar managed all right, since his endurance had often been pushed to its limits as part of his ranger training, but poor Kerista, who on top of it all was wearing heavy armor, was on the verge of exhaustion by the time the characters reached Sandpoint, around midnight.
They even ate the dogs!
A watchman at the south bridge yelled for help when he saw a group of dark, struggling shapes making their way toward him in the darkness. He then hailed the characters, illuminating them with a lantern held in a slightly trembling hand. He recognized them, but his eyes widened when he realized what grim burden they were carrying.
“Oh, it’s you! Where the hell have you been?”
“What do you mean?” asked Navan, annoyed.
“The Sheriff’s been looking for you all afternoon,” the guard answered. “The farmlands have been attacked, and… well, you’d better go the garrison and talk to him. But what’s wrong with that fellow you’re carrying?”
“He’s a ghoul” said Drithnar, before any of the more eloquent people could think of a more diplomatic description to give.
The guard gasped, and several townsfolk, who had been alerted by the guard, ran off in a panic, shouting about a ghoul being brought to town.
“Smooth. Real smooth, Drithnar,” said Navan.
“Sorry.”
As soon as they entered the garrison, pandemonium erupted, in part because of the ghoul they were dragging in, and because of the chorus of “Where the hell have you been?” that assailed them from the various worried-looking guards and officials. People moved out of the way, casting the ghoul some terrified looks, and Sheriff Hemlock burst out of his office and yelled, “What the HELL is going on here???”
Navan gave him a quick explanation and asked to lock the thing down in a cell.
As the Sheriff was contemplating the strangeness of the situation, a small, scared voice spoke from behind him.
“Kerista?”
A small girl, around five years old, stood behind the Sheriff. Her long brown hair was wild, and her face was streaked with the marks of tears that had poured over dirt. It was Mynda, one of Solrana’s daughters.
Kerista gasped and immediately went to see her. Sheriff Hemlock took her place, and he and Drithnar dragged Grayst Sevilla to one of the cells, where they secured him as best as they could. They then came back up and joined the others.
Mynda was joined by an old farmer who looked as tired, scared, sad and dirty as her. He was introduced as Mr. Grump, a neighbor of Solrana’s.
In the tired voice of a man who has seen too many horrors, Mr. Grump told the characters the tale he’d already told the guards earlier:
“Last night, my family and I were having supper like usual, except we heard some real strange noises coming from th’south farm, where lil’ Mynda here and her family live. ‘Course, in all our minds were the stories we’d been hearing lately, of strange beings walkin’ around at night, eatin’ animals, and of people goin’ missin’.
“Well, some time later, what don’t we hear but the sound of some thunderin’ hooves gallopin’ t’ward our farm. We grabbed our pitchforks and clubs, hoping t’wasn’t the Sandpoint Devil itself comin’ for us. We looked out the window and what don’t we see but this great big black horse carryin’ lil Mynda on its back. ‘Course, we put th’horse in th’stables, and took little Mynda in. She was cryin’ like you can’t believe. Her folks got attacked at nightfall. Tell’em, lil girl.”
Little Mynda had been softly singing a creepy Varisian nursery rhyme as Kerista hugged her, gently rocking her back and forth to comfort her. She turned, stood up, and faced the rest of companions.
“Lirosie and I were playing inside the house while mommy was making dinner, it was starting to get dark outside. Then we heard some noises outside, Woofy was barking, and the horses were making noises, too. Mommy went to the door, hoping it was daddy who was coming back. He’d been gone the whole day to hunt.
“I followed her, and we saw someone coming, he looked like he was hurt. Mommy ran to help him, but when she got closer to him, she saw that it wasn’t daddy. It was a mister that looked really mean, with long teeth and mean eyes. Then Woofy attacked the mister, but the mister bit him and …” she started crying again “he killed Woofy.”
“Then Mommy was screaming, and I saw more mean people coming from around the stables. I saw some of the horses run out of the stables, running away, but Musinia and Wolfbane were running to us, and they started attacking the mean people who were trying to eat Mommy.
“Mommy yelled at me to get back inside the house, but I heard Lirosie screaming from inside, I looked back and I saw a mean man inside the house, I think he got in through a window. I didn’t want to go inside, either!
“Then Musinia made a strange noise, I think she was talking in Horse. Wolfbane ran to me and took me by my shirt with his teeth and put me on his back, and then he ran away with me on his back and we ran for a long time, until we got close to Mister Grump’s farm, and then I told them what happened.
“Oh, Kerista, can you go and get Mommy and Daddy back?”
“Yes, Mynda, we’ll go get them back,” answered Kerista, but there were tears in her own eyes.
Then, Mr. Grump continued his tale. “We was scared as hell, but we went t’check on Gammar’s farm that night, me an’ m’boys. We didn’t find no one alive. We saw a dead dog and a dead horse near th’ house, but no sign of Gammar or his wife or any of th’others lil Mynda had been talking ‘bout. But inside th’house… Inside th’house…”
Now it was Mr. Grump’s turn to have tears flowing down. Some of the guards around the garrison also seemed in shock, even though they’d heard the story already.
After he’d composed himself, the old farmer continued. “Inside th’house, we found th’remains of the two lil’ones. They’d been half-eaten, like animals. That’s something no one sh’ever have t’see…
“We ran back to our farm. Now we knew that th’rumors had been true. There were some monsters runnin’ around th’farmlands!
“This mornin’ we left lil Mynda with m’wife and m’daughters at th’farm, and went to warn some of our neighbors. Turns out that there were several other farms th’were deserted too, like Gammar’s. We all started getting’ real scared, but we knew we had to try an’ find survivors. We sent one of th’younger boys toward town t’get some help. Then we armed ourselves, took our biggest, meanest dogs and headed for the Hambley Farm. We hadn’t heard from ol’ Crade Hambley in a long time, and we guessed he probably had been hit too.
“On our way there, we noticed that ol’Hambley’s fields hadn’t been harvested yet, th’wheat stood taller than a man, and we’re almost in Neth! Now, ol’Hambley, he’s a real tightpurse. For sure, he’s always th’first one t’have a harvest t’bring into Sandpoint, t’make sure he’s the first one t’make a profit in the whole season. Seein’ his wheat like that, we knew f’sure there was somethin’ wrong with him.
“We got t’his farm, and ‘twas all quiet at first, we called out his name. Then our dogs started barkin’, and these fellers came out o’t’barn. They looked like farmers from afar, but when th’got closer, we saw they looked more like corpses – corpses that moved n’ fed like starving animals!
“We all started t’panic, half of us tried to fight, the other half tried t’run. It didn’t matter, they cut us all down all th’same. There was maybe nine or ten of them. I think we took down two of ‘em, but they killed everyone. They killed m’sons. They killed m’neighbours. THEY EVEN ATE THE GAWD DAMN DAWGS!” shouted the old man.
He stayed silent for a long moment. Then: “I ran. I ran as fast as m’old bones could carry me. I think I’m th’only one what made it out of there. I ran back to m’farm and warned m’wife and m’daughters. They all headed north, to stay at my brother’s place for now, since t’looks like it’s th’southern farms got hit the worst. Then I took lil Mynda with me and we hopped on to ol’Wolfbane and we got here ‘fast as we could.”
He then turned to the characters: “Now, I heard ‘bout you folks as being some kind o’ heroes ‘round these parts, are you going to go after these things?”
Without any trace of hesitation, the companions all answered: “Yes, we will.”
“We’ll go right now,” added Navan.
In the mean time, Father Zantus had entered the garrison and heard that last part of Mr. Grump’s tale. The characters told him briefly about Grayst, and indeed, Father Zantus confirmed that he wasn’t able to cast Cure Disease spells, but did mention he had two scrolls with the spell back in the cathedral, which Father Tobyn had written before his untimely death. Seeing that, despite her desire to avenge her family and the rest of the farmers, Kerista was in a state of exhaustion, he restored her energy with a spell. She thanked him, and the characters all followed Sheriff Hemlock toward the stables, because they’d asked him to borrow some horses to speed up the trip.
“At first, I was hoping you folks would return from the sanatorium around late afternoon,” he told them, “but it soon became apparent that you’d been delayed. I sent a patrol of four men toward the Hambley farm, to try to determine if the creatures there are trying to attack more farms. I hope I haven’t sent those poor men to their deaths.
“Again, thank you for your bravery, my friends. This menace indeed seems to be worse than the goblins. May Desna watch over you.”
He opened the door to the stables, and the characters walked among the stalls, trying to pick the best mounts. Drithnar immediately chose Wolfbane, the big black stallion that stood in one of the closer stalls. As the others were walking around, Kerista gasped.
“Musinia! It’s Musinia! Thank the Holy Mother, she’s alive!!! But what’s she doing here??”
Indeed, the sleek gray mare was standing in one of the stalls, watching Kerista with strangely aware eyes.
Sheriff Hemlock stared. “Beats me… That stall’s been empty for months…”
Navan chose another mount, and took Ruh in front of him. Then, the four companions rode out of Sandpoint along the dark road, hoping that they’d be able to stop the terrible menace.
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I have a dark and sinister secret to reveal.
Hope it doesn't disappoint you, but... We're only 1 GM and 1 player running this campaign. The player is playing Navan and Ruh. Kerista and Drithnar are my own "DM-PCs" i.e. NPCs with _really_ detailed backgrounds. ;)
As a player, I love having very detailed character backgrounds, which ideally get intertwined into the campaign by the GM. Sadly, this rarely happens. So this time, I really went wild. I was so inspired when I read Burnt Offerings (and later, the next adventures) that I decided to place many hooks for my characters.
I couldn't do as much for Navan and Ruh, unfortunately, since they're not from Sandpoint or Fort Rannick (I didn't want to force my player). I'm going to try to have more interaction in Magnimar between Ruh and her Master. But in general, he's not as character-driven as I am, so he doesn't really care.
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Ahh! As a followup I was going to ask if any of your players had already read through some of the adventures (something I was thinking but forgot to ask previously), but now I guess the answer is obvious ;).
I was curious as to whether or not you had provided your players with a limited number of people and places with which to weave their backgrounds. It's an idea I've been toying with myself. Of course the downside is that you need to wait for most of an adventure path to come out before you can do that. ... and you don't want your players to feel railroaded into something. Still it's an interesting idea. I wonder if I could reward players with extra action points for every preselected element that they weave into their character creation. Hmmm... that just might work.
Anyway, I'm not too disappointed ;). The story is still great and I'll still keep reading. It's a good font for ideas. Besides the game is about having fun and I don't think it matters if there are 2 players or 10. Is the game you are playing in (as a player, not the DM) with the same group? Or do you have more people for that one?
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Well, my player had a hard time choosing what characters he wanted to play for RotRL. Initially, he'd chosen a Chelaxian Warlock from Kaer Maga, on the run after having killed his evil parents (both powerful mages). His secondary character was supposed to be a huge, mute Shoanti Cleric.
As you can see, Navan and Ruh are pretty far from those 2 initial characters. :D
In a campaign with several players, I would very strongly encourage the DM to ask at least one of the players to come from Sandpoint, so that they have hooks to interesting characters in Sandpoint, such as Nualia, Tsuto, Ameiko, Father Zantus, Jubrayl Vhiski, etc.
Our Savage Tide campaign is much more conventional. I do play two characters (Belessa and Raguhl), but all the other PC's are each played by a separate player. And our DM is my player in RotRL. :)
Each has its pros and cons. The Savage Tide campaign is more dynamic in the sense that it has more players (and since most of the PCs are selfish jerks, there's a lot of funny interaction around the table), but we play less often as it's harder to schedule for 6 people to meet compared to 2 people. Also, an advantage of playing with only 1 player is that I can play long, detailed role-playing scenes involving only one or two PC's without having 3-4 people around the table falling asleep and constantly asking "boooooring, when do we get to kill stuff???" :)
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We're back, after a 3 week hiatus due to Navan's player going on vacation. ;)
Oathday, Lamashan 30th, 4707
Scarecrows
After about two hours of riding in the darkness, the characters reached the outskirts of Mr. Hambley’s fields. As they had been told, the tall wheat grew higher than even someone on horseback. As they followed the path leading into the field, they were hailed by a shadowy figure that had been hiding in the bushes near the road.
At the light of Ruh’s staff, they saw that it was Corporal Jaren Basvear, the leader of the patrol that Sheriff Hemlock had sent to keep an eye on the farm. The companions remembered the corporal well, as he’d been the one who’d been most vocal in his opposition to Kerista’s promotion to the position of sergeant a few weeks before, complaining loudly about her lack of experience and rumored history of insanity. Now, though, he seemed genuinely relieved to see the young woman and her companions.
He explained to them that the field of wheat was a veritable maze, and that he and his men had been attacked by “living scarecrows” in there. One of the soldiers had been slain, and the others had retreated, and were now only standing watch around the field, looking for any sign of the creatures leaving toward the rest of the farms. The characters told the corporal that they’d go in and look for survivors, and they entered the maze after leaving their mounts in his care.
Inside, they found a first scarecrow that turned out to be just a regular one. But after walking further in, they found another body that looked like a scarecrow from afar, but turned out to be a man dressed in torn farmer’s clothes, tied up to a wooden cross, with a bag hanging over his head. He was struggling against his bonds, seemingly in a frenzy from having heard the characters approaching. The companions moved closer to him, carefully, but Kerista held up her hand and gestured that she sensed evil in him. At that time, the man managed to break free of his bonds, and attacked the group! His eyes were burning with an eerie red light, and his features were distorted in an evil grimace which showed two rows of wicked, pointed teeth. Clearly, he was not human anymore.
The companions managed to put him to rest quickly, and Kerista said a prayer over his corpse. Then, they continued to make their way through the maze, trying to reach the farm itself. Further along, they reached an intersection that seemed to lead to the farm, but they were attacked by three more of the undead creatures, which seemed to have been waiting for them in the tall grass. Another of those horrible scarecrows also stood near, and it was trying to get free of its bonds.
A fierce battle took place. The characters were all bitten at least once by those ghouls. Kerista and Navan became paralyzed by the numbing effect of those wounds, but Drithnar and Ruh managed to slay the remaining creatures. Soon after, their companions woke up; but they were all afraid now, wondering if they’d also contracted ghoul rot. They could picture themselves growing as insane and hideous as Grayst Sevilla…
Survivors
They decided to continue looking for survivors in the fields before heading inside the farm. That proved to be a good decision, for the next “scarecrow” that they found turned out to be Solrana, Kerista’s sister! She was dazed, pale and wounded, but at least, she was still sane. She collapsed into the arms of her sister and sobbed wretchedly. She knew that her two youngest children had been slain. Kerista, who was also crying, tried to comfort her by telling her that Mynda was safe in Sandpoint, and they she would try to free Gammar as well. She said they had to bring her back to safety, and get her cured of the disease.
The companions returned to where the corporal was standing watch. Another soldier was now with him, and they asked him to take Solrana on his horse and bring her back to Sandpoint as quickly as possible, and ask for Father Zantus to cure her. The man seemed wary of carrying the diseased woman with him (what if she turned into a ghoul during the trip?), but he complied and left with all due haste. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Kerista turned and led the way back into the maze, to look for more survivors.
The next two scarecrows had once been two pretty teenage girls, but they had succumbed to the disease, and the companions had to slay them. The next was a middle-aged woman, who still seemed to be human. Her name was Lettie Guffmin, and she thanked the companions profusely for saving her, begging them to try and also save her husband, Horran. They had been captured the previous day, right inside their farm north of the river. Their son had gone to Mr. Hambley’s farm in the morning with Mr. Grump’s group, and they’d been worried sick when he hadn’t returned. The companions brought the woman back to the corporal, and returned inside the field.
Trying to navigate their way inside the maze, they fought another scarecrow (an old woman), and then found a group of four scarecrows, three of which had already transformed into ghouls. Some of them had escaped their bonds, and attacked. To their horror, the companions realized that one of these ghouls was the deformed shape of Gammar. Drithnar had no choice but to kill him.
Once the three ghouls had been slain, they freed the fourth scarecrow, a rotund, limping farmer who turned out to be Horran Guffmin, the husband of the woman they’d just freed. They asked him to make his way to the corporal and his wife while they looked for more survivors. The old man thanked them, nodded, and limped his way toward safety.
I had no choice!
The characters then killed a few more ghouls around the farm, but found no more survivors. However, they heard an anguished scream coming from the north, followed by the sound of shouts. They hurried there and found corporal Basvear, holding his sword in front of him in a protective gesture, his other hand clutched over a bloody wound in his sword arm. In front of him, kneeling by the corpse of his wife, Mr. Guffmin was crying and howling in sorrow.
“I had to kill her! I had no choice!!!” said the corporal to the characters in a panicked voice. “She turned into one of them! She turned into one of them and she bit me! Look!”
Indeed, he’d clearly been bitten by Ms. Guffmin. Kerista and Navan inspected his wound, but thought that it wasn’t deep enough for him to have contracted ghoul rot.
Mr. Guffmin proved reasonable despite the horrible circumstances; he understood that the corporal had merely acted in self-defense. The characters assured him that they’d try to get him to Sandpoint before he turned, too, but that they needed to investigate the farm itself, first.
The corporal, who had by then been joined by the last member of his patrol, bid good luck to the characters, but was clearly very wary of Mr. Guffmin, and seemed to be expecting him to turn into a ghoul at any moment. Hoping that they would have time to bring the man back to Sandpoint in time, the characters headed to the farm.
Both the farm and the nearby barn were quiet and dark. A huge, strange stone seemed to emerge from the side of the barn. Upon examination, it turned out to be a moss-covered stone head, which might have once been part of a Thassilonian statue; it seemed that the barn had been built around it. Drithnar then whispered that he could hear a strange thumping noise coming from inside the house. The characters quietly walked to it, and entered through the front door.
The invitation
A horrible scene greeted them: sprawled over the kitchen table was the corpse of a disfigured old man, with the Sihedron Rune carved into his bare chest. The corpse was maggot-ridden, and the whole room stank of putrefaction, as if the body had been there for at least a week. Still, the stench was not quite as nauseating as the one that had been left at the Sandpoint Sawmill, or at Kerista’s house. As the characters watched the disgusting scene, they all heard the thumping noise getting closer from the next room, and a man appeared at the doorway in front of them.
At least, he had once been a man. He was tall and heavyset, balding but with wild, thick gray hair on the sides of his head, and long sideburns of the same color and appearance. He had a wooden leg, and was dressed in a somewhat refined manner: clearly, he had been wealthier than a farmer. Though his eyes glowed red and his grin showed pointed teeth, he seemed more “human”, less feral than the ghouls the characters had faced before.
“Welcome, welcome,” he said in a deep, somewhat cavernous voice. He looked at each of them. “I was starting to wonder if I would ever get to meet you. You must be the so-called heroes of Sandpoint.” His gaze stopped on Kerista. “And you, my dear… You must be the lovely Kerista.”
“… Mister Craesby? Is that you?...” asked the young woman.
The creature seemed surprised for a moment, just like most people were when Kerista revealed that she knew their identity. “Why, yes, yes. I was once known as Rogors Craesby. But now, I am…” he smirked and gestured at his half-rotten body. “Well, you can see.”
The characters then heard some noise behind them, and saw three ghouls approaching the entrance of the house, blocking their way out.
“He said you’d come. He has charged me to take you to him. Are you ready to meet him, m’lady?”
“Meet who??” asked Kerista.
“Yes, who is this person who’s trying to get Kerista’s attention in this most… unusual way?” added Navan.
Rogors frowned. “Why, I’d have thought you’d have figured it out by now. His Lordship left you clear instructions, m’lady. He said that surely you’d finally come to your senses and seek him out at the Misgivings.”
“Seek him out at the… Oh, how could I have been so stupid! Of course!” Kerista slapped her forehead. “It’s Aldern!”
“WHAT???” asked all three of her companions at the same time.
“The Misgivings. That’s what Grayst tried to tell me. I didn’t understand. The Misgivings is what people call Foxglove Manor, because it’s rumored to be haunted. But that’s where Aldern lives!”
“Wait, are you saying that Aldern is behind these murders? But that’s impossible… Why… How…?” asked Navan.
Rogors cleared his throat. “If you will excuse me, m’lady, but His Lordship is waiting. We should start making our way over there. If you’d just come with me…”
“That’s a great idea, why don’t you take us there, my good man?” asked Navan.
Rogors grinned wickedly. “Oh, but my dear boy, I am afraid the invitation does not extend to you or the rest of your rag-tag band. No… I believe you are to go through a little initiation instead…”
“You mean, join “The Pack”, don’t you?”
“Indeed… That is exactly what we have in mind.”
“Well, in that case…” started Navan, reaching for his holy symbol to try and Turn Rogors, but the undead had been ready for battle, and attacked before he could finish his sentence.
The fight was hectic in the cramped kitchen. Rogors jumped on Navan and managed to bite and claw him. Thanks to the power of Desna, Navan resisted the paralyzing effect for most of the fight. Kerista called upon the power of Sarenrae, and her Earth Breaker glowed with a holy golden light, and she struck a mighty blow upon Rogors. “My lady!” he cried, “But I am merely carrying out the wishes of His Lordship!”
Meanwhile, Drithnar and Ruh were being attacked by the other ghouls. What had probably once been a small old lady was grappling with Drithnar, her strength now much greater than it had been in life. Ruh was trying to cast on the defensive, but her concentration kept being broken by the attacks of her opponent, and by Drithnar and his enemy thrashing wildly around the room.
Kerista also had trouble hitting Rogors, for fear of hitting Navan instead. Navan tried twice to turn his foe, but to no avail. The undead only grinned: “My, what a pretty butterfly you have there, boy!” and he bit him painfully in the shoulder.
But finally, Kerista managed to deal another powerful blow to Rogors, who collapsed to the floor. “No… No… That is not what he wished…” and he disintegrated into a mound of ashes. Meanwhile, Ruh had finally managed to wound her opponent with a Burning hands spell, which has also destroyed the one Drithnar had been fighting. At that moment, though, a third ghoul entered from a nearby room and managed to claw Drithnar, paralyzing him. Navan turned around, and called upon the power of Desna yet again. This time, a holy ray of moonlight shone from his symbol, and caused the two remaining ghouls to flee in terror. Ruh managed to slay one of them with an Orb of Cold, but the other escaped.
Feelings of guilt
After a few moments, Drithnar regained consciousness, and Navan and Kerista healed the group. They discussed what they’d just learned. It seemed the menace then came from Foxglove manor, which was rumored to be haunted. But it boggled the mind to think that young Aldern could have been behind these murders, despite his obvious attraction to Kerista. No, more likely, it seemed that one of his relatives, surely someone much more sinister, deranged, and in league with the dark powers had developed similar feelings for the young Paladin, based on something Aldern must’ve told him.
Indeed, Drithnar reminded his companions of the cowardice Aldern had displayed during the goblin raid. Surely he could not have been behind the murders. He asked Kerista if she’d felt any evil in him when they’d been together. She replied that she hadn’t, but admitted with a blush that she’d been so smitten with him that she might have missed some clues. It’s only at the end of the night, when they’d started kissing, that she’d had a vision of another woman, a beautiful dark-haired woman, who loved Aldern, and to whom Aldern had promised to be faithful. Kerista hadn’t allowed him to cheat on that woman, which has of course caused his anger and his departure from Sandpoint.
With a moan, Kerista wondered if she was responsible for all those deaths. If she hadn’t spurned Aldern, would those people have been spared? Had her morally correct decision started a chain reaction that led to these mass murders? What about Aldern himself, had he gotten in trouble because of her? For the greater good, should she instead have given herself to him? Her companions tried to reassure her, but they could see that the guilt was still weighing upon her conscience. But she took Drithnar’s hand in hers and held it gently, reassuring him that she was much happier being with him than with the shady nobleman.
The characters then searched the house. In the mound of ashes that had been Rogors, they found a fancy iron key with a strange flowery design. On the old corpse which they guessed had been Mr. Hambley’s, they found a bronze key, as well as another message addressed to Kerista:
Take the Fever into you, my Love,
it shall be but the First of my Gifts to you.
Your Lordship
The companions then searched the house, and found in the master bedroom a secret compartment inside which was a wooden coffer, which they opened with Mr. Hambley’s key. Inside it were 34 leather bags, which each contained a hundred silver pieces. It was a small fortune for a farmer, and seemed to confirm Mr. Hambley’s rumored avarice. Based on the state of his farm and the furniture inside it, he and his family had lived in apparent poverty, most probably because he’d been too greedy to spend any of his money to give them a better quality of life.
By then, the sun had started to rise. The characters left the farmhouse and examined the barn, which contained some half-eaten carcasses of various farm animals, and a few of humans. Disgusted, they returned to Corporal Basvear. Thankfully, Mr. Guffmin was still himself. They all rode back toward Sandpoint and rushed to the cathedral, where Father Zantus used his last scroll to cure Mr. Guffmin of the ghoul rot. The kind priest assured Kerista that he’d managed to cure her sister, and that she was now resting at the family house, with her daughter.
Father Zantus, as well as Milenken and a beautiful red-haired priestess of Shelyn examined the characters’ wounds, as well as the corporal’s, and all agreed that, thankfully, none of them had contracted ghoul rot. The companions donated Mr. Hambley’s savings to the church, suggesting that Father Zantus use it to buy new scrolls of Cure Disease in case another outbreak should take place. The priest thanked them for their generosity; they then told him the tale of what they’d seen that night, and asked him and the corporal to inform the Sheriff. They were too exhausted to do that themselves. They decided to go sleep at the Rusty Dragon, not confident for their safety at Kerista’s place. They crashed into bed and slept all day, though it was an uneasy sleep, troubled by nightmares born of the horrors they’d witnessed in the previous hours.
The Misgivings
The companions woke up during the evening. They washed up, and headed downstairs, where they had a meal that was part breakfast, part dinner. The common room was decorated in a strangely sinister fashion, and many of the customers were wearing costumes of sorcerers, undead, or monsters. The characters then realized that tonight was Lamashan 30th: the Feast of the Dead. A small crowd of villagers surrounded them, and though they felt too troubled to appreciate the attention, Kerista and Navan humored the villagers and told them what they’d seen at Mr. Hambley’s farm, omitting only the details concerning Aldern or one of his relatives having an obsession with Kerista. Their scary tale was ironically appropriate for the event.
Like in the “good old days”, Ameiko was present, and she was able to give the companions a lot of useful information about the Misgivings. Dressed in a black silk sorceress’ robe, she wore a black wig and sinister black makeup. The young bard of course took the opportunity to entertain her customers with a scary tale for the occasion.
Foxglove manor was about 80 years old, and had been the seat of the Foxglove family the whole time. However, some sort of tragedy had struck there a few decades ago, before Sandpoint was even founded, and nobody had lived there for a long time. Rumors abounded about the place being haunted.
The name of “the Misgivings” was especially used by Varisian travelers who reported sightings of strange lights glowing from the attic windows at night, as well as muffled sounds of screams coming from inside the walls. Even more worrying were the rumors of a huge bat-winged creature living in some caves below the manor; some thought that this creature was the Sandpoint Devil itself.
Around 20 years ago, some surviving members of the Foxglove family had moved back into the manor and lived there for some time. Sadly, one night, a fire burned down the servant’s building, and the lady of the house, Cyralie Foxglove, Aldern’s mother, was found dead at the bottom of the cliffs below the manor. Her body had been burnt, as well as broken by the fall. The same night, her husband Traver had been found dead in his bedroom; he had apparently committed suicide. Their three children – Aldern and his two older sisters – were sent away to Korvosa to be brought up by distant relatives.
As the crowd was murmuring apprehensively after Ameiko’s tale of sadness and mystery, another voice made itself heard, offering more information about the manor. It was the Mayor herself, who’d come to the inn to personally thank the characters for their bravery and selflessness. She wasn’t wearing a costume, despite the occasion: clearly, she was too preoccupied by the town’s problems to give thought to such trivialities. She added to Ameiko’s tale that Aldern had moved back into the manor two summers ago – in 4706. Due to the manor’s ill reputation, he’d had a hell of a time hiring workers to aid him in the repair of the crumbling building. Until then, the place had been cared for by a man named Rogors Craesby, who came from Sandpoint three days a week to air the place out, check for squatters, and make minor repairs. The characters then told her of their own encounter with Rogors.
This sinister tale seemed to confirm that Foxglove Manor was a likely source of the new menace that threatened Sandpoint. The characters decided to leave later that night, but first, they took a few more hours to get ready. Kerista went to spend some time with her sisters. Ruh retired to her room to do some last-minute studying: she wanted to try to use some brand new spells that she’d learned in Magnimar, since the manor might prove to be more dangerous than anything they’d overcome so far.
Navan and Drithnar went to visit the cathedral. It was already dark outside. Costumed children were walking the streets, going from house to house, asking people for treats, under the wary supervision of their parents, some of whom were armed. Despite the tragic events of recent weeks, the townsfolk were still set on celebrating the traditional holidays.
At the cathedral, they found most priests in the graveyard. Many new bodies had been brought there during the day: they were the corpses of the ghouls the characters had slain the previous night. The priests, helped by some of the townspeople, most of them relatives of the victims, were digging new graves. Clearly, Father Zantus wanted to put the bodies to rest as fast as possible.
The Sheriff was also present, and assured the characters that he’d made sure the Hambley farm was indeed clear of undead: he’d killed the only remaining ghoul that they’d encountered. He then asked them if they still needed Grayst. When they said no, he nodded and said he’d have him killed and added to the burial here. He left for the garrison with father Garmos, the priest of Erastil. There, the characters helped them lay Grayst Sevilla to rest once and for all.
Around midnight, the companions met at the Vigandir household. Kerista gave an emotional farewell to her sisters and their children, and then joined her friends. They then rode out of town, and made their way south along the Lost Coast Road, under the full moon. When they reached the Foxglove River, not far from Mr. Hambley’s farm, they turned to the west and followed a narrow path that led toward the sea-side. Ruh had turned off her staff’s light, not wanting to be noticed by the denizens of the manor.
The way through the darkness was treacherous, and soon they found themselves following a road hugging the tall cliffs overlooking the sea. As they made their way toward the manor, the vegetation seemed to wither more and more, as though an unholy aura was emanating from the dreadful place. Clouds obscured the moon from time to time, making the way even more difficult. Finally, in the middle of the night, they reached their destination: the ancient, decrepit manor loomed before them, teetering on the edge of the cliffs. It was even more sinister than they’d imagined. It was in a bad state of disrepair, and the nearby servant’s building was only a charred ruined, as they’d guessed from Ameiko’s tale. As they approached the manor, they wondered what terrible secrets they would discover within…
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(The characters are now level 5)
Fireday, Neth 1st, 4707
Foxglove Manor
A chill wind howled over the top of the dark cliffs as the companions made their way toward the sinister structure of Foxglove Manor. To their right stood the ruins of a burnt-down building. Perched on it, a few ravens were watching the characters pass by with cold eyes.
The manor was dark: no light shone from any of its windows. If anyone inside had noticed the group’s approach, there was no sign of it. The group moved close to the building and examined its two main entrances, ancient wooden double-doors. Both were locked. The companions opened the northernmost one with the key they’d found on Rogors Craesby. Before them appeared, under the light of Ruh’s staff, a dark room that must once have been beautiful, but whose oak-paneled walls were now scratched and splotched with mold. The floor boards were warped from the humidity. Further in the room, the characters could see a grand piano. Two doors led out of the room. The whole room gave an impression of ancient disuse.
The companions closed the door and walked to the other entrance, which they opened. They jumped in surprise as a hideous manticore immediately came into view, but they then realized that it was only a stuffed animal: its poorly maintained hide had even fallen away in places, letting the saw dust contained inside to sift out.
The rest of the room was a once-magnificent trophy hall, which had also suffered from the years of disuse and humidity. Mold grew on several parts of the floor, walls, and curtains. Further in the room were several hunting trophies of more mundane animals. A set of curving stairs to the right led to the upper floor, and two doors and a corridor led out of the room. The doors were framed with a sinister design showing skeletons and dancing gargoyles.
“I can’t believe that Aldern actually lives in this place…” said Kerista.
Navan shushed her, because for a brief moment, he’d heard what sounded like the distant, sobbing voice of a woman coming from upstairs. Drithnar had also heard it, but the two women hadn’t. Drithnar also thought he smelled something burning for a brief moment, but the feeling soon vanished.
Kerista and Ruh concentrated on their surroundings, and sensed both a faint aura of evil, and of magic, permeating the whole place. Kerista attached an everburning torch to the shaft of her Earthbreaker, to complement the light created by Ruh’s staff. In the hallway leading to the back of the manor, the companions saw a ratty throw rug covering a huge patch of disgusting mold. Kerista removed the rug with the tip of her javelin, and Navan approached it carefully. The pattern formed by the mold was extremely strange, almost hypnotic. After examining it for a moment, Navan thought he could see a strange spiral, like a set of stairs littered with ancient skulls and bones, leading into the depths of the earth. But when he mentioned it to his companions, none of them could see it.
Just as intriguing was the strange ornament hanging on the wall above the patch of mold: a shriveled, mummified monkey head, with a bellpull hanging from its gaping mouth. Ruh felt a mild aura of abjuration radiating from it.
The group then decided to open the door to the north of the trophy hall. They found out that it had swollen due to the humidity and that it was hard to open. Sometimes, it took even the strong Drithnar and Kerista several tries to open the various doors of the manor.
They entered a hallway into which opened several more doors. The one in front of them led back to the piano parlor. They entered it and searched it, but only found that the piano had apparently been used in the recent past. Its keys were warped, clearly also affected by the humidity.
Navan heard a furtive scratching noise coming from the next room, which proved to be a bathroom. Inside the large metal bathtub was a huge, hideous rat, its skin covered in raw tumors and sores. It seemed blind, because the tumors had grown over its eyes, but it sensed the characters, and was frantically trying to climb out of the tub to gnaw at them. Navan aimed his crossbow and managed to kill it with one shot. A loud metallic sound resounded in the silence of the manor as his crossbow bolt impacted violently against the bottom of the tub. The rat twitched madly for a few moments, and then went limp, as a nauseating pool of blood and puss formed around it. Kerista grimaced in disgust, and Drithnar voiced his discomfort at seeing even nature’s creatures being so affected by the evil of this place.
The companions next entered a dusty lounge in which stood a long sofa covered in wispy white fungus. Strangely, though no breeze stirred the air, the dust on the floor was being moved as though an invisible person were pacing the floor between the sofa and the fireplace in the far wall. Warily, Ruh cast a Glitterdust spell on the area, but the shining specks of her spell fell on the floor, revealing nothing, and they too were soon stirred by the strange invisible movement.
The group left the eerie room, and ventured into a dark dining room. A large table was surrounded by high-backed chairs; two more fireplaces were found in the west wall, and a short hallway, in which could be seen two doors, the disgusting mold stain and the mummified monkey head, led back to the hall of trophies. To the east, four stained glass windows glittered with the reflection of Ruh and Kerista’s lights. Each showed the image of a snarling monster emerging from the smoke created by a mysterious, rune-covered seven-sided box. The creatures were a gnarled and tangled tree with an enraged face, a hook-beaked bird with blue and gold feathers, a snarling creature with the face and upper body of a human woman, but the lower body of a winged lion, and a dark squid with evil red eyes. The companions thought they recognized some of these monsters as a Treant, a Lamia and a Kraken.
Iesha’s Murder
The group continued their exploration of the sinister manor and opened the door to the south of the dining hall. It led into an old library, which featured several floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with moldy books, as well as two chairs and a fireplace. One of the chairs was upturned and had a bright red and gold Varisian scarf draped over its side. The other had a large stain of dried blood against its back. A discarded book lay face down between the two chairs.
As Navan moved forward to examine the book, the scarf suddenly started to move, and jumped up to strangle him. The terrified shriek of a woman resounded throughout the room, apparently out of the thin air. The companions saw Navan struggle against the scarf, and Drithnar and Kerista tried to help him to pry it from around his throat, but it seemed stuck there.
Navan felt himself paralyzed with fear as a vision, accompanied by a wave of emotion, came over him. For a few moments, he was not himself, but rather, a young Varisian woman named Iesha. Before her stood the ghostly shape of Aldern, who looked somewhat like Navan remembered him, except that his face was contorted in a grimace of rage, as he gripped the scarf to try and strangle her. Iesha was trying to plead with Aldern, to explain to him that it had all been a misunderstanding, but she couldn’t speak, as the scarf was crushing her windpipe. After a few more moments of struggling, everything went black…
The companions saw Navan’s face turn a dark shade of purple as he was being strangled, and they finally managed to pry the scarf away from him. He fell to the floor, unmoving, not breathing anymore. Kerista knelt down by his side and immediately laid her hands on him and channeled all of her pure energy into him, allowing him to regain consciousness.
Navan gasped for air and coughed for a long time, as he regained his senses. Once he was able to, he cured himself, for he had come very close to death during the harrowing experience. He explained what he’d seen and felt to his companions. Kerista was flabbergasted that Aldern could be capable of such a horrible act. But Drithnar chuckled dryly as he showed the others what he’d found in the fireplace: a stone statuette of an angel of Desna, which had probably once served as a bookend. It was covered in dried blood, and still had bits of flesh and bone stuck on it; one of its butterfly wings had been broken and was missing.
“Looks like Aldern used the scarf to strangle his wife, and that this statuette was also used to kill someone,” he said, pointing to the huge blood stain on the back of one of the chairs.
After they pondered this for some time, the companions searched the room, but found nothing else of interest. The book between the two chairs talked about Varisian history, but it was in bad condition, and hard to read. The rest of the book was in similarly poor condition, most of them covered with mold.
The next room seemed to be a painting room, and the curtains to the left were covered with a thick sheet of mold. The characters avoided them and went through the far door, which led back into the trophy hall. As they entered it, Drithnar, who was in the lead, gave a start and raised his weapons into a combat stance, looking at the unmoving stuffed manticore. Puzzled, his companions could not see what he was reacting to. But the ranger gasped and tumbled to his right, quick as lightning, then he turned and jumped, as though ready to strike. It’s only then that he came to his senses and realized that he wasn’t really being attacked.
He told his friends that he’d seen the manticore erupt in flames and attack him. Its head had turned into that of a red-haired woman. It had tried to strike him with its flaming scorpion tail, and he’d only barely managed to avoid it.
Later, the characters found two more sets of stairs: one leading up and one leading down. They returned to the trophy hall and went up, using the curving stairs there.
The Upper Floor
The creaking stairs led to a dusty hallway into which several doors could be seen. Examining the floor, Drithnar could see the tracks of a man, which were perhaps a few weeks old.
The first door to the left led to a gallery with stairs going back down. The next one was a child’s bedroom. It was dusty, but had no trace of mold. As the characters examined it, some of them heard a child sobbing, and Kerista gasped. She seemed to be having a vision for a few moments, and then regained her senses. She told the rest of the group that she’d felt like she was Aldern when he was a young boy. She had seen his mother, a red-haired woman with a determined, if frightened, look on her face, carrying a torch, pass in front of this bedroom. Then, she’d seen the woman confront a dark-haired man whose skin was covered in dark tumors, who was wielding a knife: Aldern’s father. They’d struggled together, trying to kill each other. Kerista, as Aldern, had then felt a terrible fear that her surviving parent was then going to come to kill her.
The group explored the long tunnel with many doors. They tried the furthest one, which was locked, but which Navan managed to unlock after a few minutes. It led to an old staircase which climbed up to the attic. They decided not to go up yet, and closed the door.
The room next to it was the master bedroom. It must have once been magnificent, but it had been destroyed, seemingly by someone gripped by an intense fury. The furniture was smashed, and the walls were pierced with countless knife marks. The only intact item in the room was a painting on the far wall, which had been turned so its subject faced the wall.
The characters examined and discussed this scene for a few moments, but during this time, Ruh remained silent, because she’d started to feel dizzy. She then felt a strong wave of emotions, as though she weren’t herself, but rather, a man who’d been working for a very long time on something extremely important, which required all his concentration. It was something he couldn’t share with anyone; nobody would understand it all, it was far too complex and important. But lately, his research had constantly been interrupted by his insufferable wife, who was always nagging and criticizing him. Poking her nose where she wasn’t supposed to. He hated her so much. That big, towering, stupid, armor-clad woman who wielded an earthbreaker, and who was talking with Navan and Drithnar with her back insolently turned to him. He wanted to kill her, once and for all!
… With Navan and Drithnar… She… Oh, no, she didn’t want to kill her! What had she been thinking!? She wasn’t a man who was working on some research, she was Ruh! The little mage managed to resist the powerful vision, and prevented herself from harming Kerista. She told her companions about the strange compulsion she’d just felt.
Then, Kerista cautiously turned the portrait on the far wall, so that it faced them. The companions saw that it depicted a beautiful dark-haired woman in a thoughtful pose. Upon seeing her, Kerista felt an overwhelming wave of sadness, and tears started pouring down her cheeks. Navan immediately recognized the woman: it was Iesha, Aldern’s wife. Kerista nodded, and said in a choked voice that she was the woman she’d seen in a vision, on that night in Sandpoint when she’d kissed Aldern. She dried her tears as Drithnar put a comforting arm around her.
Not knowing what to make of it all, the characters continued to explore the upper floor. The found a bathroom with a sagging floor, and a bedroom which was covered in a thick layer of disgusting dark green, blue and black mold. They definitely did not feel like setting foot in that room!
The Stricken Family
They then returned to the center of the corridor and faced one of the two large double-doors there. It was hard to open, but Kerista and Drithnar together managed to do it. Beyond it was a portrait hall. Eight portrait frames hung on the walls, their surfaces covered in dusty cobwebs. On the far side of the room stood another set of double doors.
The companions closed the door behind them, and Navan started cleaning the portraits one by one. Each one depicted a member of the Foxglove family, with their name on a brass plaque underneath.
One after the other, the members of the Foxglove family were revealed:
A tall, middle-aged man with long dark hair, a clean-shaven face and dark blue noble’s clothes. Vorel Foxglove.
A stern-faced, salt-and-pepper short-haired woman who wore an elegant, flowing blue dress. Kasanda Foxglove.
A pale-skinned little girl with long black hair. Lorey Foxglove.
A red-haired, insolent-looking freckled girl around 12 years old. Sendeli Foxglove.
A black-haired little girl with big dark eyes, who seemed very scared. Zeeva Foxglove.
A tall, thin, dark-haired man with an aristocratic mustache. He was dressed like a hunter, lounging against a longbow, and he had a pleasant smile on his face. Traver Foxglove.
A young woman with long red hair and an impish smile. Cyralie Foxglove.
And, last but not least:
An innocent-looking, smiling young boy with brown hair. Aldern Foxglove.
As soon as Aldern’s portrait was uncovered, the characters felt the room start to grow colder. Worried, they tried to leave it, but the door behind them was stuck. Drithnar tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. Looking around them in panic, the others could see that the portraits were changing before their very eyes!
Kasanda and Lorey were slumping into misshapen, tumor-covered corpses. Traver’s smile faded, and his skin grew paler. Then, a gash opened on his throat, and blood started flowing out of it, as his eyes turned up into his skull. Cyralie’s silhouette burst into flames, and then her shape became more and more twisted, as if her bones were being shattered. Sendeli and Zeeva’s portraits froze over, and Aldern grew larger, until he was the size of a grown man, but his hair had fallen off, his skin had darkened with rot, and he had taken the deformed appearance of a ghoulish monster.
But most disturbing of all was the portrait of Vorel Foxglove. It soon became covered with a thick sheet of disgusting, pulsating mold. The putrid fungus was growing, growing, popping and spurting nauseatingly from the picture frame. And all of a sudden, it exploded in a hideous conflagration of putrefaction, and a shower of disgusting mold washed over the whole group. The companions screamed, as they tried to shield themselves from it with their cloaks, but it was too late: they’d been splashed already.
After a few moments, they heard a voice over their own screams of outrage and disgust: it was Kerista trying to calm them down. “It’s not real, guys! It was only a vision!”
Indeed, when they looked around, they saw that, although each of the portraits still had its disgusting appearance, the only thing in the room with mold on it was Vorel’s portrait. Navan and Drithnar sighed with relief, but Ruh did not seem reassured: looking at the skin of her hands, it seemed to her that they were covered with tiny splotches of mold and tender red bumps…
Past the cursed portrait hall, the group found another large bedroom, which seemed in relatively good condition. The only disturbing thing was the dark stain that they could see on the desk. Navan started walking toward it, his mind reeling. He felt a sudden compulsion to kill himself, as though he’d just committed an act of horrible and irremediable shame. But after a moment, he managed to regain control of his senses, and resisted the suicidal impulse.
The last room of the floor was quite large, and contained a large couch, as well as several old, dirty musical instruments. Most striking were the five large stained-glass windows set in the far wall. They showed a ghostly scorpion, a gaunt man with a dozen bats hanging from his outstretched arms, a moth with a strange skull-like pattern in its wings, a tangle of dull green plants with bell-shaped flowers, and a young woman sitting on the side of a well in a forest, unaware of the huge spider descending along a silken strand above and behind her.
The companions observed those strange pictures for a few moments, and Drithnar said he thought the plant shown in one of them was belladonna, which he believed was a cure against lycanthropy. As they were discussing this, the companions’ conversation was interrupted by a sudden, loud and frightening thud coming from the attic, somewhere above and to their left. Was there someone else in this forsaken place after all?
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Fireday, Neth 1st, 4707 (continued)
Iesha’s grim fate
The characters then went up to the attic. There, they found a long, dusty corridor into which opened several doors. They walked past several of these doors, and suddenly heard a frightening shriek; they had heard such a sound before, and recognized it as Iesha’s voice. They hurried to the end of the corridor, where they faced a door to their right: the sound seemed to have come from beyond that door, which was locked. While Navan tried to pick the lock, Kerista concentrated and told her companions that she could feel some evil beyond.
Navan managed to open the door, and the group saw a small room where dusty old boxes were stored. At the far end of the room, the ceiling sloped down, and they saw a large mold-covered pillar of bricks, against which was placed a full-size mirror. They could hear sobs coming from behind some of the crates. Moving forward carefully, they saw the shape of a crouched woman, sobbing bitterly. Her long dark hair was wild and tangled, and she gripped it with long-nailed hands whose skin was of a strange grayish color. There was something eerie and frightening about the woman’s appearance.
Navan and Kerista spoke soothingly to her, though they were expecting her to lunge forward and attack them at any moment. They said they knew what Aldern had done and that they wanted to help her. After some time, Iesha raised her face, and though she had obviously once been a beautiful woman, her skin was now of that strange grayish taint, and dark circles surrounded her feverish eyes. Ruh cast a detect magic, and saw a strong aura of Necromancy around her; she also sensed some magic in the room behind her.
Although she remained silent at first, Iesha eventually muttered in a hoarse voice that Aldern had been keeping her prisoner here. As she started talking about her husband, she quickly became filled with fury, and shouted out his name with hatred, while clawing the boxes and walls around her; the companions could see many claw-marks from previous fits of rage there.
But eventually, her gaze fell upon the mirror, and she moaned pitifully, and curled up on the floor again, hiding her eyes with her hands under her mass of tangled hair. Kerista and Navan looked into the mirror but saw nothing out of the ordinary: their own reflections, as well as Iesha’s, seemed as they should be. Thinking she was somehow afraid of the thing, Navan moved the mirror out of the room, and placed it face against a wall in the hallway.
Once she realized that the mirror was gone, Iesha stood up suddenly, let out a baleful shriek and called out to her husband with a mad, wicked grin on her face: “Aldern! I can smell your fear! I’ll be in your arms soon!” And with this, she moved past the characters and into the hallway. Navan was standing in her way, and, seeing her approach menacingly, gestured to the others to attack her. Drithnar plunged his sword and axe deep in the woman’s back; she shrieked, but before she could retaliate, Navan called upon the power of Desna, and a strong ray of holy moonlight enveloped the shape of Iesha. She shrieked in horror, and fled from the strongly presented symbol, back into the storage room where she’d been found. As she passed, Drithnar, Kerista and Ruh struck her with their weapons. Drithnar and Kerista followed her behind the boxes, and struck her powerfully with their weapons. They were amazed at how resilient she was, despite her humble stature. Her undead form also seemed to regenerate very quickly, and to resist the force of Kerista’s blunt weapon. But eventually, she crumbled to dust under the power of the two warriors’ assaults.
Kerista seemed disturbed at the group’s decision to attack Iesha; she felt that they had done something very wrong. Navan and Drithnar argued that they feared she would try to kill Aldern, for whom there was still, hopefully, a chance of recovery. Iesha had already been an undead, so they’d done her a favor by freeing her spirit. Nevertheless, Kerista had a bad feeling about it.
Plummeting Inferno
The companions then opened another one of the corridor’s many rooms, which led into an observatory. A smashed telescope was lying on the floor near a desk, and there were two more stained-glass windows in the eastern wall. One of them showed a beautiful dark-haired woman in a red and black dress, carrying a jagged metal staff, while the other, whose lower half was broken and covered in canvas, showed a handsome man with an ivory and jade crown.
As the group started to examine the room, Drithnar yelled out as if in pain, and started stumbling madly through the room, as if he were on fire, although he looked fine to his companions. Before they could help him, he ran to the intact stained-glass window, and crashed through it with a scream. The others rushed to the window and saw that the ranger had fallen on the rooftop below, and was hanging on to the edge of the roof by one hand, having barely managed to stop his fall. Thankfully, he seemed to have regained his senses. They threw him a rope, and managed to drag him back to the safety of the room.
There, in a quivering voice, he told them that he’d felt that he had suddenly caught on fire, and that the only way to put out the flames was to jump through a window and hopefully land into the sea. The characters discussed this among themselves, and thought this was the way that Cyralie Foxglove had died. Looking back at the window, Drithnar was happy to have avoided a certain death, because he would have fallen not in the sea, but rather, on some ragged rocks. A strong wind was now blowing into the room from the broken window; through the opening, the characters could see that it was now a dark, cloudy morning outside.
Unfulfilled Glories
The next room that the characters visited was a study filled with books and strange statuettes and fetishes from exotic places. It seemed cleaner than most of the rest of the manor. The characters searched it, and this time, it was Navan who had a vision. He heard the sound of pages rustling, and then dozens of memories of travels to exotic destinations flashed in his mind. As they built momentum, he was filled with a profound sense of regret and bitterness, because those were not actually memories – they were the potential adventures he could’ve lived if he hadn’t been stupid enough to get married to the shrill harpy he called his wife. She’d forced him to abandon his life of excitement, and settle down in this decrepit, mold-infested, stinking manor and start a family of small, crying, screaming monsters. The sense of regret was so strong that it almost affected Navan’s sanity, but he managed to keep his calm and let it pass.
Once the vision had passed, Navan shook himself free of its influence, and told his friends what he’d seen. It then seemed clear that he was haunted by Traver’s spirit, while Drithnar was haunted by Cyralie’s.
In the room, the characters found a beautiful painting of a bullfighter facing a massive auroch; Navan recognized the name of the famous Magnimarian artist, Andosalu, and thought the painting would be worth a lot of money. An examination of the books showed that they talked mostly about geography, and about the history of various Shoanti tribes. The companions also found some navigation charts, some maps of mysterious and possibly imaginary realms, as well as a magical scroll with two spells, one of which Ruh identified as Keen Edge. That scroll had been the magical aura she’d felt earlier with her Detect Magic.
The group then examined the rest of the upper floor, but found only dusty old storage rooms, and a servant’s bedroom.
The hungry decapitant
They then returned to the ground floor, and examined the strange monkey head near the horrible mold stain in the central hallway. Navan tossed the bones that his great-grand aunt had sold to him and performed an Augury. He learned that pulling the rope hanging down from the monkey’s head would bring Weal. He did that, and the mummified head sprang to life, screaming horribly, a sound that surely was heard throughout the whole house.
“And that was good, how, exactly?” asked Drithnar in his usual sarcastic tone.
Navan pulled the rope again, and again, the horrible scream echoed through the ancient halls. The young man shrugged, and instead returned his attention to the disgusting mold stain on the floor. He could still see the pattern resembling a set of circular stairs leading down, but none of the others could. Navan walked on the mold stain as if he were walking down the stairs, but nothing happened except that his boots got dirty: his footsteps squished with a horrible noise as they crunched the moist mold underneath them, releasing tiny clouds of nauseating spores.
Eventually, Navan abandoned this idea, seeing it all seemed in vain. Kerista looked thoroughly disgusted. The group returned to the room where they’d seen the dust being moved as though by someone invisible, and Navan moved forward to take a closer look. When he did this, he heard a woman’s voice whispering the name “Lorey”, and a surge of memories invaded his mind. He felt a woman’s worry about what her husband was doing during those long nights when he locked himself down into the basement. Navan then felt a powerful fear, and the need to flee the house. Looking at Ruh, he thought for a moment that she was his daughter and that he should pick her up and run out of the house; but again, his mind proved strong, and he resisted the supernatural urge.
The swarms
The group then ventured downstairs into the basement. They found themselves in an old, dusty kitchen. Several doors stood into the shadowy walls. A few disgusting pustule-covered rats scurried around on the dirty floor. Like the one they’d seen in the bathroom, they seemed blind due to the sores covering their eyes. But they sniffed the damp air hungrily, and started to move toward the characters with shrill squeaks. Backing away, not wanting to be bitten by the diseased critters, the characters shot them with crossbow bolts.
For a few moments, everything was quiet, but soon the adventurers heard the rapidly growing susurrus of oily diseased rat bodies slithering through tight confines.
A swarm of hundreds, or maybe even thousands of rats erupted from cracks that lined the base of one of the walls of the kitchen. Their squeaks filled the air and drowned the sound of little Ruh casting an incantation, but soon, a huge fireball erupted inside the kitchen, ahead of the characters, and blasted the rats in an explosion of fiery doom. Countless bodies of carbonized rodents were thrown to all corners of the room.
But still, more and more were pouring out of the wall! They were climbing over the mounds of bodies of their comrades, fearless, driven insane by the smell of delicious untainted flesh. The companions retreated up the stairs, but brave little Ruh stayed behind them, and cast some burning hands spells as she tried to climb up the stairs. The huge swarm of rats was following her, as the hideous rodents jumped over each other, climbed the walls, their sharp-toothed maws clapping furiously ahead of them. Once, twice, the fire erupted again from Ruh’s hands and burned countless diseased animals. Eventually, she managed to slay most of them, and those that were left alive finally retreated away from the deadly inferno. Ruh had saved the day!
The rest of the group congratulated the little gnome on her impressive display of magic. The stairs leading down were now covered by a thick layer of burnt diseased rat corpses. The sight and smell were almost unbearably gross. Unable to summon the courage to step into that mass of burnt flesh, the characters decided to examine the exterior of the manor instead. They stepped outside into the breezy morning. The cold wind was blowing strongly, as if a storm was gathering. As the characters started walking around the building, though, they noticed something quite unnerving: a huge swarm of ravens was now covering the burnt ruins of the servants’ building. Where a few birds had been perched when they’d come in a few hours ago, now were thousands.
A few of the birds were perched on a closer tree, and the characters saw that they had a skeletal body and glowing red eyes. Impressed by the eerie sight, they hurried back inside the manor. There, Ruh told them of the Carrionstorms, swarms of undead ravens that scoured the plague-ridden countryside. When ravens ate the bodies of victims of ghoul rot, they themselves became affected by the horrible disease, and after they died of it, rose again as undead birds such as the ones waiting outside.
Thankfully, though, Ruh’s fireball could be sent far enough to be able to hit the ruined building from the safety of the manor. She cast one, and it filled the whole area of the old building. Again, countless vile bodies were thrown in all directions from the powerful explosions, and although some of the carrion birds survived to fly away, most had been slain by the blast.
Now, the characters felt safe exiting the building, and started walking around it, looking for anything unusual. The manor seemed as sinister and in a bad state of disrepair as before. Though they’d witnessed first-hand the horrors that lay inside, though, the characters had at least now an idea what to expect. Or did they? Drithnar gasped as he saw, looking at him from the window of the painting room… Iesha! When the companions turned to look at her, though, she was already gone.
“But we killed her!” said the ranger in an anxious voice. “Didn’t we??”
Further ahead, the group saw an undead raven eating the carcass of an albatross. Navan destroyed it with the power of his holy symbol. The characters then explored the twice-burned ruins of the servants’ quarters, but found only the well still standing. They lowered the flaming skull that Kerista had taken from the Thistletop dungeon into the well, and saw that the surface of the water was fifty feet below. Near that level, Drithnar said he thought he could see a dark opening into the wall of the shaft.
Mister Farren’s hospitality
Wondering whether they should investigate the well’s opening or not, the characters decided instead to take some rest. They’d used up most of their magic by now. Not wanting to travel all the way back to Sandpoint, they decided to ask for the hospitality of one of the local farmers. They traveled north of the Foxglove river, and came upon a farm that was relatively close to the Lost Coast Road. It looked empty, its windows boarded shut, but a family of farmers lived inside. When they saw that the adventurers were not monsters, but on the contrary, the famous heroes of Sandpoint, they helped them put the horses inside the barn, and invited them inside the house.
An old couple lived there, as well as their daughter-in-law and her two young children. The whole family seemed not only scared, but very sad, because the old couple’s youngest son had died in the assault of the Hambley farm. Their older son, the young woman’s husband, was a traveling merchant, who had been away for a few weeks, so they had nobody left to defend them. Indeed, although the farms north of Foxglove River seemingly hadn’t been actually attacked by the undead, many of the adult men from these farms had died in the attack on Mr. Hambley’s farm. Clearly, this did not bode well for the future of Sandpoint’s farming industry.
The characters told the family of their adventure, and a summary of what they’d found in Foxglove Manor. The old farmer, mister Farren, told them what he knew about the creepy old manor, but it was nothing they hadn’t heard before in Sandpoint. After swapping those stories over a simple meal, the characters lay down on the blankets that the farmers had placed for them in the living room, and tried to find sleep despite the multitude of horrible visions that they’d experienced lately.
Eventually, they did fall asleep, and woke up in the early evening. They felt relatively well rested, except for Ruh, who felt terrible. Her skin was itchy, and to their horror, her companions saw that she’d broken out in ugly red pustules all over her face and hands. It looked like the early stage of the same disease that was affecting the rats of Foxglove Manor… And the companions knew that Father Zantus was out of Cure Disease scrolls, at least for now…
The farmers were horrified when they saw Ruh’s appearance, afraid that the characters had brought the plague within their home. Kerista and Navan, however, did a great job calming them down, and convincing them that the disease wasn’t contagious. Or was it?...
The characters ate another bland meal. When they left the farm, they found that the wind was still blowing strong, and as they started to ride in the darkness toward the haunted manor, a storm broke out and a torrential rain poured over them.
Starday, Neth 2nd, 4707
On the stroke of midnight, a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder happened just as the characters opened the manor’s main door and faced the hideous manticore, making some of them jump. Ready for anything, they entered the manor. Drithnar thought he could still smell something burning. The group headed downstairs, and, with disgusted expressions on their faces, stepped in the mass of burnt diseased rats and made their way to the kitchen.
A few living rats were feasting upon the carbonized mass of their diseased comrades, and this time, they paid no attention to the characters. The group examined the rooms around the kitchen and found a servant’s quarters and an old pantry that was now infested with rats, and contained huge mounds of fetid rat droppings within its walls, in which more deep cracks opened, passageways for the rats to travel inside the structure of the house. Another room was the wine cellar, on the floor of which many bottle had apparently recently been broken.
Origins of Lichdom
The last door led to a corridor, at the end of which stood a solid, locked rusty iron door. Navan managed to pick the lock after many attempts – it was really well-made. Beyond, the group found an ancient laboratory. Some musty books lined the far side of a nearby table, and closer to the entrance were three iron cages inside which were the bodies of dead diseased rats. To their right, the characters saw two more of those mysterious windows of stained glass. The one to the north showed a man they recognized from his painting upstairs: Vorel Foxglove. He was depicted drinking a bottle of foul green liquid. To the south was a picture of him in an advanced state of decay, yet still alive, with his arms raised as if in victory, smoke coming out of his body and entering a rune-covered seven-sided box.
While everyone was searching the room, it was Ruh’s time to have a vision. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the image of Vorel sneering at her. Then, she was assaulted by a multitude of impressions, which looked like stained-glass pictures rather than real scenes. She saw herself researching how to become a lich; she studied the texts of previous wizards who’d succeeded in such a transformation, such as Arazni, the Harlot of Geb, and Socorro, the Butcher of Carrion Hill. Then she was gathering the various components for the lich transformation potion: scorpion venom, vampire’s breath, the tongues of deathwing moths, belladonna, and the heart of a maiden slain by poison. Next came scenes showing her gathering the essence of long-lived creatures such as a treant, a roc, a sphinx and a kraken. She saw herself building her intricate phylactery, that mysterious seven-sided box, and finally drinking the potion and doubling over in agony as her body started to rot away.
Then, Ruh saw herself distanced from the person who’d drank the potion, who was indeed Vorel. Instead, Ruh felt the horror that the man she loved had done this to himself, and had hidden from her for all these long years his experiments to perform such a demonic transformation. She knew she had to stop him at all cost, and then flee the place. A profound urge to flee the room gripped Ruh, but again, she managed to control her emotions, and she soon enough regained her own thoughts and her sense of self. She described what she’d just witnessed to the rest of the group, and they all gained some insight on the horrible ritual that Vorel Foxglove had performed.
The search of the room revealed that the rats had likely been in the cages for a few weeks. Each cage was marked with the symbol of a pig with a lock in its mouth, staring through a keyhole, and was marked “Pug’s contraptions – Magnimar”. The books talked about necromancy, and the characters saw places where someone had taken footnotes in them, but they were too worm-ridden and damaged by the humidity to be of much use.
For You
The characters exited the room through another door, which led to a short hallway with some stairs going down. They led to a dark room where an excavation had recently taken place. Piles of stone and dirt, as well as some digging implements lined the edge of the room, and at the center of the room gaped a hole which showed a set of stairs spiraling down into the darkness. These seemed to be of much older construction than the rest of the basement. Here and there, a skull or bones lay on the steps: it looked a lot like the pattern Navan had seen in the mold stain upstairs! A horrible stench of putrefaction rose with the cold breeze that emanated from the mysterious depths.
As the companions watched the scene, they heard Kerista gasp, and she seemed to be having a vision. She seemed to ready her weapon as if against an attack, and pray to Sarenrae for salvation. After a few moments, she took a deep breath. “Oh, Aldern… May the Holy Mother have mercy on your soul,” she whispered.
She told her friends that she’d had a vision of Aldern, sweaty, filthy and wild-eyed, digging frantically in the room. With each stroke of his pickaxe, he grunted the words “For you,” as though he were completely obsessed. Kerista had gotten the feeling that he’d been talking about her. Finally, Aldern had managed to dig enough to reveal the top of the staircase, but a group of hideous ghouls had risen from it, and had dragged him, shrieking, down into the darkness. Some of them had then turned toward Kerista, but her unshakeable faith had protected her from the dangers of the vision.
With grim determination, the characters started to climb down the ancient stairs leading into the bowels of the earth…
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Fireday, Neth 2nd, 4707 (continued)
Lurkers in the Dark
The characters warily climbed down the stairs into the darkness. From below, in addition to the nauseating odor, rose the eerie sound of a deep breathing, as if an enormous creature were asleep at the foot of the stairs. Thankfully, though, they reached an empty cave. In its mold-stained walls opened three dark tunnels. The one to their left seemed more recent than the other two. Drithnar saw tracks of ghouls moving between the two westernmost passages, and to the stairs. Older tracks led to the northernmost passage. He also noticed that some of the tracks looked like those of goblins.
Navan cast a Hide From Undead spell over the group, as well as Shield Other spells on Drithnar and Kerista, and the companions carefully entered the middle tunnel. Navan cast a Detect Undead spell, and moved ahead of the others, as the tunnel split in two. Soon, he felt an undead presence in front of him, but at the same time, a ghoul emerged from the shadows and lunged at him! The thing managed to claw him. He felt the numbing cold of the creature’s claws penetrate his skin, but shook it off, and retreated behind Kerista. The Paladin moved in to defend Navan, but in the cramped tunnel, she had difficulty wielding her enormous Earthbreaker.
From a branching tunnel, another ghoul rushed ahead toward Drithnar, but it seemed not to see him, and slammed into him, then reeled back, not understanding what had hit it. Not giving it the chance to figure it out, the Ranger sliced it with both of his weapons, instantly killing it.
The other ghoul managed to claw Kerista, but the young woman finally managed to maneuver her Earthbreaker and smashed the creature’s head with it. As it fell to the floor, a third ghoul attacked Drithnar, but was soon slain.
The companions entered the cave ahead of them, and faced four more ghouls there, which seemed to have been alerted by the fight. Ruh blasted one of the bigger ones with an Orb of Cold, and Drithnar sliced one dead. Navan shot one of the ghouls with his crossbow, but the creature then ran toward him and managed to claw him. Kerista raised her weapon high above her head and called out Sarenrae’s name: the weapon started to glow with the light of the sun, and destroyed the ghoul that Ruh had wounded; Kerista’s powerful blow cleaved past it and wounded the other ghoul attacking her.
Ruh slew that ghoul with another Orb of Cold, and Drithnar cut down the ghoul attacking Navan. Thankfully, none of the characters had gotten paralyzed or seriously wounded in the fight. While they were recovering, Kerista examined the bodies, and noticed that one of the ghouls that Drithnar had slain had a strange piece of rock jutting out of its head. Further examination showed that it looked like a tiny wing: Kerista understood that it must’ve belonged to the little statuette of Desna that had been broken in the library, upstairs. So whoever this man had been must’ve been the victim of a murder in that room. His features were unrecognizable now that he was twisted into the shape of a hideous ghoul, but was still wearing the tattered remains of clothes that seemed like those of a Varisian commoner.
The companions explored the tunnel to their right, and found a small cave covered with a thick layer of yellowish mold. In the southern corner, a number of pickaxes were left on the floor. One of them looked recent, but the others seemed in a decrepit state. Since they were partially covered with mold, the characters didn’t examine them.
Redshiv’s Remains
The group then returned to the cave with the stairway leading up, and visited the newer tunnel. On its southern wall, several small tunnels led into the darkness. They were so small that even Ruh would’ve had a hard time squeezing into them. The characters moved warily past them, and entered a foul-smelling cave. Several carcasses could be seen in its shadowy recesses, but before they could investigate them, the heroes were attacked by an enormous bat. Its fur was falling off in places, and it soon became obvious that it was an undead of some kind.
Ruh threw an Orb of Cold at it, and Navan fired his crossbow, but both missed due to the monster’s astounding agility. With a piercing shriek, the thing fell on poor little Ruh, and surrounded her with a hurricane of flapping wings, and painful claws and fangs. The gnome, who was already weakened from the horrible disease she’d caught the previous day, fell unconscious from the pain. The bat started to lift her in its maw, as Kerista and Drithnar attacked it. Kerista called again upon the power of Sarenrae to guide her weapon, but alas, she missed; Drithnar, however, managed to wound the creature, and it let Ruh drop as it shrieked angrily.
With wings flapping furiously, it turned its attacks on Drithnar. For a while, the beast and the two warriors fought furiously. Neither Kerista nor Drithnar managed to hurt it, but the thing’s vicious attacks hurt the ranger, and the unfortunate cleric who had shielded him! Navan tried to turn the creature with his holy symbol, but alas, even with a very strong prayer to Desna, he was unable to affect the powerful undead.
While the warriors were still battling with the creature, Navan moved forward and healed Ruh back into consciousness. When he looked up, he saw that his companions had managed to wound the creature, but that Drithnar had fallen victim to its bite – he was now paralyzed! Kerista managed to land a mighty blow on the bat’s back, and Ruh, with vengeance in her heart, cast a powerful Orb of Cold which pierced one of the creature’s wings. With a shrill cry, the beast tried to flee, but it fell to the ground, where Kerista smashed its head into pulp. Soon after, Drithnar regained his senses, and Navan healed everyone: the horrible creature had badly wounded most of the companions!
The group then examined the cave and noticed that a short passage to the north was sloping upwards and led to the well of the burnt ruins, opening just above the level of the water’s surface, as Drithnar had seen.
Most of the corpses in the cave were of small animals, but the remains of three humans and a partially eaten horse were also found. The companions saw that one of the bodies had a fancy feathered hat and a beautiful sword made of reddish metal; Kerista and Drithnar recognized this sword and hat as belonging to the infamous Varisian bandit Shaz “Redshiv” Bilger, who’d had a bounty on his head for the past decade for the assault of two dozen caravans along the Lost Coast Road. Kerista said that proof of his death would surely bring the companions a reward in Magnimar.
Further examination of his belongings showed that the sword (the famous “Red Shiv”) was made of adamantine; and though it wasn’t magical, the fancy hat was. Ruh identified it as a Hat of Disguise, a very useful item which allows the wearer to alter his appearance at will. With a gasp, Kerista exclaimed that this must’ve been how the brigand had managed to elude the enforcers of the law for so long! She knew that Sheriff Hemlock had been trying to catch the miscreant for years, and would get a grim sense of satisfaction at learning that he’d suffered a fate he deserved. Kerista took the sword, and Navan took the hat. The companions also found some gold pieces and a beautiful bracelet on the corpse.
The group then returned to where they’d fought the pack of ghouls. From the passageway leading northwest, the sound of breathing was strongest. It had kept making itself heard, as if whatever was breathing this way had been totally undisturbed by the sound of the fight against the ghouls. Feeling a difficult fight ahead of them, the characters cast a few protective spells, and moved ahead.
The Breathing Cavern
They reached a split in the tunnel. To the left, it seemed to lead into another cave, but to the right, it opened into an enormous cavern, from which the breathing sound was emanating. Entering it, the characters saw before them that the cave’s ceiling was thirty feet higher than the rest of the cavern complex, and that a humid, mold-covered circular pathway was leading to the bottom of the cave, fifty feet below, to a pool of foamy, dirty-looking sea water. Its surface was slowly rising and falling, probably from the sea current. The companions understood that this phenomenon was causing the strange sound that they’d thought was that of breathing all this time. Halfway down the circular path, a massive stone door stood in the surface of the cavern wall.
As the characters looked at the cavern, Navan thought he saw some furtive movement and heard a splashing noise down by the water. When he said this, Kerista concentrated, and said she felt some evil coming from there.
Before going down the slippery-looking path, the characters explored the cavern behind them, but found only the horrible remains of countless people: bones, most of them cracked open and stripped of their marrow, were heaped into a hideous pile in the dark, stinking cavern. This was obviously where the ghouls had been living.
The characters then returned to the huge cave, and started slowly making their way down. Kerista especially had trouble keeping her balance on the slippery slope; Drithnar helped her, and she clutched the wall to her right for balance. Eventually, the group reached the stone door. Around it, the disgusting stench of rotten meat was very strong; the companions easily recognized it as the same nauseating odor that had permeated Kerista’s house and the sawmill. As they were examining it, they noticed a small, ugly head peering up from the dark water; it then retreated below the surface.
Ruh asked Kerista to crouch down, and for Navan and Drithnar to try and camouflage her from below. She then created an illusion of Kerista slowly making her way down the slope, alone, down to the edge of the water. Once there, the illusion was assaulted by four disgusting, slimy little creatures. They looked like goblins who had been twisted into parodies of their former selves: ghoulish goblins! As they clawed at the illusion, Drithnar walked down and attacked them, but they were very agile, and avoided his thrusts.
Ruh killed one of them with an Orb of Cold, and Navan missed with his crossbow. Drithnar sustained a few claw wounds, but chopped off the head of one of the goblins, and send it splashing into the water below. While the ranger was fighting another goblin, the fourth one swam over to the spot below where Navan, Ruh and Kerista were standing, with their backs to the stone door. The little creature started climbing up toward them. Ruh shot it with another Orb, but didn’t manage to kill it, and the goblin kept on climbing.
The companions then heard the door open behind them, and the disgusting stench was stronger than ever; they found themselves almost sick with nausea.
“Kerista, my love! You’ve come to join me at last!”
All three companions turned. Kerista gasped. Before them, dressed in what had once been elegant clothes but were now caked with dried blood, stood an emaciated creature with long claws and deep blue eyes that glimmered with an evil light. It wore a disturbing leather mask that seemed to be made of human skin, which covered part of his face. Though he was barely recognizable as his former self, Aldern’s voice was unmistakable, almost unchanged. The terrible creature that he had become was grinning wickedly at Kerista, in what it probably felt was a welcoming smile.
“You are looking more beautiful than ever, my sweet dove,” he continued. “Please, please, come in.”
He bowed, and walked back into the dark room, as though oblivious to the fight that was going on in the cavern. As Kerista stood transfixed, the goblin climbed over the ledge and attacked Navan. It was quickly dispatched by another blast from Ruh, and Drithnar, who’d finished off the last goblin, climbed back up the slope. Preparing themselves for the inevitable confrontation, the companions ventured past the stone door.
The Skinsaw Man
Despite all the horrible things they’d encountered so far in Foxglove Manor, this was without a doubt the worst. Several small tables lined the walls; they were cluttered with old silver and porcelain plates still containing rotten meat, and crystal glasses half-filled with dark congealed blood. A hideous patch of greenish mold covered the far wall, at its center, a humanoid-shaped formation was bulging out. On the floor, just in front of the patch of mold, was a dirty, broken, discarded seven-sided box, covered with runes. Sitting on a once-elegant chair whose back and arms were now covered with dried blood was Aldern. At his feet, facing his chair, was a portrait that likely once had depicted the beautiful Iesha; but it was now covered with blood and rotten meat in what only a completely disturbed mind could have recognized as a likeness of Kerista.
The abominable smell that filled the room, whether it emanated from Aldern himself, the thick patch of mold, or the rotten meat on the tables, was almost overpowering. All four companions found themselves sickened by it, and felt like vomiting. To the table on their right, as the characters got closer, they noticed several more items: a comb, an old pair of women’s boots, a handkerchief, blue silk panties and a teddy bear. The items that had been stolen from Kerista’s house a few weeks ago…
Ruh and Navan felt a sudden compulsion to walk over to the patch of mold on the far wall, where they thought they could see their imprisoned shadow. If they could eat some of the fungus, they would free their souls from its prison. They started walking forward, but their runic rings fired off their protective auras, and allowed them to regain their senses (ooc: Remember… action points).
The twisted, insane thing that had once been Aldern Foxglove was beaming at Kerista from behind its mask.
He spoke: “My beautiful Kerista, you’ve joined me at last! I’ve missed you so much down here, all alone…“
Kerista, with an expression of pity on her face, asked the obvious question: “Aldern, what happened to you?”
Aldern twitched uncomfortably. “Happened? It’s true that I have… changed somewhat, since we were last joined. My extended stay in this beautiful manor seems to have left its mark upon me. Surely you’ve felt it too… Vorel’s influence? Clawing, digging at your very consciousness… Night after night… It’s been so hard for me, staying here, waiting for you. But this is my place… I reign here, I am Lord Aldern Foxglove. And you, my dear Kerista, will be my wife, and we will reign together. You finally found my letters, you’ve finally agreed to join me!”
Drithnar watched and listened, obviously furious. He was gripping his weapons in white-knuckled fists, but knew that it would be unwise to interrupt the vile fiend.
Kerista looked wary. She tried to hide her disgust and humor Aldern. “I did find your letters. But Aldern, why did you kill all those people?”
Aldern’s eyes widened. “Why did I?... No, no, I didn’t! It wasn’t me! It was the Skinsaw Man! He killed all those innocents!”
Kerista’s eyes narrowed: “Who’s the Skinsaw Man?”
Aldern did not answer immediately. He covered his eyes with one hand, and when he spoke, his voice was choked with sorrow. “He’s so horrible. He’s a monster. He’s done terrible things to those poor people.” He looked up at Kerista, and added with fervor: “But I won’t let him harm you, my love!”
But Kerista was relentless: “What about Iesha? Was it also the Skinsaw Man who killed her?”
Aldern’s face then twitched uncomfortably: “Iesha… Iesha betrayed her vows. She was a sinner… She was a whore. The Skinsaw Man didn’t spare her. She got what she deserved. She is dead now, she won’t stand between us anymore, my love!”
Silence followed for a few moments, as Aldern’s gaze seemed lost in the distance.
“They said they were going to take care of her. To send her on a trip…” He erupted in a quick burst of mad laughter. “She always said she wanted to visit Absalom. I left them the key, and they said they’d take care of it. But I can still hear her in the night…” His voice grew worried. “I hear her sobs, and her screams… But it doesn’t matter now, my love, now that you’re here!”
Navan spoke up at last: “Who’re these people who were supposed to take care of Iesha?”
Aldern flicked an annoyed glance at the priest: “The Brothers of the Seven. They’ve helped me, like they’ve helped my grand-uncle.“
“How did they help?”
Aldern, still looking annoyed, replied: “They’re rich and powerful. They helped Vorel finance the building of this estate, when he was still a merchant in Magnimar. You see, he badly wanted it to be built here… Because these halls were holy to him…” With a flourish, Aldern gestured to the walls around him. “He knew much about the necromantic arts. I think this used to be an ancient shrine, long before our time. Surely, he wanted to find out more about the powers that were once venerated here. The Brothers said they’d help me too, but they never did. I understand that now. They only encouraged me to wallow in my own sins. I drank, and I smoked those vile black roots they gave me, which brought the visions…” Aldern’s voice grew bitter. “Poor friends they’ve been to me… “
“What are their names?”
“Their names are inconsequential… They’re not even in charge anymore. “
Navan, raising an eyebrow, asked: “Who is?”
Alder hesitated for a moment. His face convulsed under another nervous twitch. “… The Skinsaw Man.”
“Aldern… Are you the Skinsaw Man?”
“The Skinsaw Man… The Skinsaw Man…” Aldern’s face contorted into a gloriously wicked grin. “Yes… Yes, I am the Skinsaw Man!!”
He stood up and flicked his war razor open. Drithnar moved protectively in front of Kerista. Aldern’s face twisted into a grimace of jealous rage. “Of course… Of course, how could I have been so blind? Your heart has been swayed by another, hasn’t it, my love? Have you betrayed me to him? Have you betrayed me, like Iesha did?”
For once, Kerista’s tone held no mercy, no compassion. “There was nothing to betray, Aldern. You were never worthy of my love, just like you probably weren’t worthy of Iesha’s. I love Drithnar, and nothing you can say or do will ever drive us apart!”
Aldern watched her in silent fury for a moment, and then he started to change. His body became bulkier, long black hair grew from his skull. His hideous masked face morphed into that of a ruggedly handsome man: Drithnar.
“No! Nooo!!!! I’m the one you must love! I am your Lordship! I’ll show you, I’ll show you all! Starting with this ignoble impostor!!!!”
With this, Aldern lunged toward Drithnar and the fight started!
The creature Aldern had become moved with furious grace and deadly precision. He managed to slice Drithnar’s shoulder, drawing blood, and also tried to claw and bite him. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the whole group, and Drithnar and Kerista managed to hit Aldern with their weapons. Although their blows were weakened from the nausea they felt at the horrible stench surrounding them, they hit hard. Drithnar felt a powerful anger at having heard the monster’s declaration to the woman they both loved. For weeks now, he’d wondered what kind of creep had broken into Kerista’s house and stolen things from her. Now that he faced him, he was going to make him pay. And on top of it, he was one of his favored enemies: undead.
Ruh then summoned a celestial hippogriff, who joined the melee. Navan fired crossbow bolts from behind, and Ruh started casting Orbs of Cold. Aldern wounded Drithnar several more times, but half of the damage was absorbed by Navan, who still had the ranger shielded. However, at some point, Aldern managed to drive his claws deep inside Drithnar’s side, and to bite his neck. The big man groaned and went limp: he had succumbed to the paralyzing effect.
Kerista then struck Aldern with two powerful blows, pushing him back. “Why, my love, why?” he pleaded. But Kerista advanced upon him with her weapon raised, mercilessly attacking him, with the hippogriff at her side. And as Navan cast a Remove Paralysis spell on Drithnar, Ruh cast a final Orb of Cold which hit Aldern. Large shards of ice pierced his torso, and with a final cry of “Keristaaaaa…”, he fell to the floor. Aldern Foxglove was no more.
A Madman’s Obsession
For a moment, the companions just stood there, watching the body of the sinister creature. They’d been through so many ordeals to find him, and to finally defeat him. They had managed to stop the murderer!
Then the summoned hippogriff vanished in a puff of white smoke, and Navan started healing himself and Drithnar, who’d both been severely wounded in the fight. They discussed Aldern’s tragic fate, and wondered whether there was any chance his soul would find peace in the afterlife. In case there was, Kerista said a prayer to Sarenrae over his corpse.
The group then examined the room’s grisly contents. As far as Ruh could tell, the seven-sided box was the discarded and destroyed lich phylactery that Vorel had used. As she examined it, she noticed that the humanoid-shaped patch of fungus on the wall seemed to slowly, barely noticeably, writhe as though it were alive.
The little mage cast a Detect Magic spell and saw that the box radiated only a faint aura of necromancy, as though its power was long-gone. The patch of mold on the wall radiated a fairly strong aura of Necromancy, and a mold-covered item at the base of the wall radiated a mild aura of Transmutation. The characters recovered it and saw that it was a wand.
They also found a magical war razor and two magical rings on Aldern. His mask was also magical. Kerista warned them, though, that the mask was evil, as was the patch of mold on the wall and the broken box. They put all of the (very dirty) magical items in a large bag. Of her stolen personal belongings, Kerista only bothered to retrieve her teddy bear, “Oakheart”, which she carefully put in the cleanup bag.
“I didn’t know he’d taken that, too,” said Drithnar gently.
Kerista blushed. “I thought it would sound silly for a grown woman to worry about her lost teddy bear…”
On the tables were also some papers, most of them erotic drawings of Kerista. Some of them were somewhat flattering, others were just downright disturbing. Navan smirked, and Kerista blushed even more deeply than before. Drithnar clutched the papers, his hands slightly trembling in anger.
“Why do I keep running into creeps who have an obsession with the women I love?” he asked rhetorically.
“… and what a coincidence that they’re all such talented artists…” added Ruh.
Among the drawings was a letter written with an elegant handwriting, which read:
Aldern,
You have served us quite well. The delivery you harvested from the caverns far exceeds what I had hoped for. You may consider your debt to the Brothers paid in full. Yet I still have need of you, and when you awaken from your death, you should find your mind clear and able to understand this task more than in the state you lie in as I write this.
You shall remember the workings of the Sihedron ritual, I trust. You seemed quite lucid at the time, but if you find after your rebirth that you have forgotten, return to your townhouse in Magnimar. My agents shall contact you there soon – no need for you to bother the Brothers further. I will provide the list of proper victims for the Sihedron ritual in two days’ time. Commit that list to memory and then destroy it before you begin your work. The ones I have selected must be marked before they die, otherwise they do my master no good and the greed in their souls will go to waste.
If others get in your way, though, you may do with them as you please. Eat them, savage them, or turn them into pawns – it matters not to me.
- Your Mistress, Wanton of Nature’s Pagan Forms
Navan then took out his divination bones, and cast an Augury to see if burning the patch of mold would be beneficial; but unfortunately, the answer was inconclusive.
Desperate Prayers
The characters then made their way back up to leave the manor; but as they reached the room with the manticore, Drithnar was again attacked by the imaginary creature; this time, he got hit by its burning stringer, and caught on fire. After rolling on the ground to put out the flames, he dusted himself off and wondered: “When will these visions ever end??”
Then, the companions left the terrible manor behind them and retrieved their horses. They rode back to Sandpoint in silence. They had all seen too much, and were overwhelmed by emotions, just trying to sort them all out, to put it all behind them. At some point, Drithnar let out low moan, and fell off his horse. The others jumped to his help, and saw that he was pale, sweating, and feverish. His eyes had a haunted look to them. Kerista and Navan exchanged a worried look: their friend had caught the Ghoul Fever…
They managed to revive him, and they eventually reached Sandpoint shortly before sunrise. They went to the garrison, where Drithnar asked to be let into a cell, in case he should transform into a monster. He gave his weapons to Kerista, who accepted them stoically. She hugged her lover, and locked the cell door behind him. Then, she and Navan described the latest events to Sheriff Hemlock, while little Ruh was slumped in a corner. Her skin was still itching, and more and more pustules were growing on her face. Again, the Sheriff marveled at the characters’ bravery, and was flabbergasted to hear that the murderer had been Aldern Foxglove all along.
Navan and Kerista then brought Ruh to the cathedral, where she was tended to by Teronia, the priestess of Sarenrae, but curing her was beyond any of the local priests’ powers. Navan and Kerista then went home to clean themselves up, and later returned to the cathedral, where they both spent the entire day in prayers, begging Desna and Sarenrae, respectively, to grant them the power to cure their sick friends. As the sun (which had finally broken through the clouds in a glorious display of crimson light) set over the horizon, Kerista was granted her wish, and she managed to cleanse Drithnar. As the moon rose and stars started twinkling in the sky, so did Desna empower Navan, and he finally managed to cure Ruh, who regained her healthy appearance. The gathered priests marveled at Navan’s new powers: he had been ordained as a cleric only a few weeks before, and yet, he had already surpassed all of them in power!
Once they were all restored, the companions got together and sorted out their treasure. They cleaned up the items they’d found in Aldern’s room; Drithnar took his war razor; Ruh took his ring of protection and the wand of knock; the ring of jumping was kept to be sold, and the evil Stalker’s Mask was handed out to the local priests, for them to destroy.
The four friends also agreed that they needed to investigate the mysterious Brothers of the Seven in Magnimar. The letter had also mentioned Aldern’s townhouse there… It might contain something interesting.
But for now, some rest was in order. Ruh and Navan both went to sleep in their rooms at the Rusty Dragon. Drithnar and Kerista went to sleep in Kerista’s house, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms, while Oakheart the teddy bear was soaking in a bucket of soapy water.
The characters are now level 6.
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Sunday, Neth 3rd, 4707
The characters woke up the next morning; they had not slept well, despite being very tired. The horrors that they’d witnessed in the previous days were taking a toll on their emotional well-being. Navan in particular remembered dreaming of a long stairway he was climbing up, while his friends were calling him from far below, asking him to come back down.
They all met in the main room of the Rusty Dragon, and decided to take things slow for the next few days. Ruh spent some time with Brodert Quink and Veznutt Parooh. Drithnar and Kerista went with Solrana to her farm, to help her clean up the place and gather her things. She’d decided to spend the winter in Sandpoint, as she was too scared of living at the farm alone with her single remaining daughter now.
The neglected aunt
Navan went to the cathedral to pray, and met there his great-grand-aunt who chastised him for not coming to visit her more often. He followed her home sheepishly, where she served him some tea and cookies. They talked about Navan’s various adventures over the past few weeks, and the old woman seemed pleased at her nephew’s heroics. Navan showed her the letter he’d found in Aldern’s room, but Madam Mvashti said she didn’t recognize the names “Wanton of Nature’s Pagan Forms”, nor the “Brothers of the Seven” – though Navan felt she was keeping something from him.
They also discussed the recent murders, and the Sihedron rune that had been carved into the victims’ chests. Navan showed her his Sihedron medallion. The old woman examined it with a wary expression, casting a minor spell to try and identify it. As she did so, they both heard some noise at the window, and they noticed a raven looking at them. Quick as lightning, Navan blasted it with a Searing Light spell.
“You are being watched,” said his great-grand-aunt mysteriously.
She then read the tarot for him. Navan drew the following cards:
“What is at stake”: the card depicted an old king on a throne. He looked weak and sick. Madam Mvashti described him as a man not fit to rule; he was the outcome of what Navan must do. They both found that card surprising: was it talking about the old king of distant Korvosa?
“Those who oppose you”: Navan drew three cards:
- A stern-looking woman, wearing a blindfold and carrying a set of scales in her right hand; the card came out reversed. “Justice will stand against you; but the card is reversed, so this is a corrupted form of justice, or you will be wrongly accused” said Madam Mvashti.
- A beautiful woman, very sensual and with tiny horns and a serpent’s tail. She looked like a succubus. “The Demon Queen… A very dangerous foe,” continued Madam Mvashti.
- Then came a small grinning man in a jester’s costume. “The Fool… He is not too dangerous, but he is a trickster, and will try to deceive you.”
“Those who can aid you”: Navan picked three more cards:
- A scarred and badly shaven man with an eye patch, leaning against a tree and greedily counting gold coins coming out of a purse. “The Bandit will help you.”
- Then came the picture of a Varisian woman with long dark hair and a scarf on her head, gazing deeply into a crystal ball. “My favorite card,” said Madam Mvashti with a grin, “the fortune teller. You would be wise to seek her counsel, for she can be a valuable ally. Unless of course, that card is referring to the help you’re getting from me right now; but I doubt your fortune would be so recursive.”
- The last card showed a powerfully built man dressed in a heavy black armor; the card came out reversed. “The Black Knight… Another powerful card. The fact that it appeared reversed indicates that he might help you against his will, or will try to help you, but will end up causing you harm despite his good intentions.”
Neth 4-6, 4707
The group rested in Sandpoint for a few days. Drithnar went to visit his friend Shalelu. Apparently, she reported that the goblins of the region were much more quiet since the raid on Thistletop; so much so that she was now bored and considering looking for adventure in another part of Varisia.
The companions also visited Ameiko at the glassworks. She was busy training some new workers with the help of an old man who used to work for her father; he seemed very knowledgeable about the process of glassmaking and instructed the new workers and Ameiko quite well.
Ameiko invited the characters to a dinner at her place that night. They all had a good time, and the charismatic young woman managed to get all the juicy information from their latest adventures, especially from Kerista who had a little bit too much to drink that night. Her fiancé, Belven, mentioned that he wanted to go to Magnimar within the next few days to try and get some help from its leaders to repopulate the farms outside Sandpoint. The characters agreed to escort him on the way there.
Oathday, Neth 7th, 4707
Return to Foxglove Manor
On this beautiful day, the four companions, Belven and two of his servants started their trip south toward Magnimar. As they passed the path leading to Foxglove Manor, the characters decided to go explore the place more thoroughly, and told Belven they’d meet him at the inn that evening.
It was not a pleasant experience to be back at the Misgivings, but the characters wanted to be sure that nothing dangerous (or valuable) had been left behind. After Ruh blasted a few more ravens with a fireball, they entered by the piano room, and noticed that the dust was still moving around in the living room. A second augury about the shrieking monkey head revealed no information, and when Navan went to examine again the scarf in the library, he was attacked by it! Once again, he saw an image of Aldern trying to strangle him, and this time, Navan got a clearer sense of Iesha’s thoughts.
She’d been treated as a prisoner by Aldern, who’d forced her to remain inside the Manor during his frequent trips. He’d grown more jealous and violent as the months passed after their marriage. Iesha had started going through the various books in the library, to fight the solitude that she felt in the creepy manor. She’d found one interesting book which talked about Varisian history; she’d shown it to another Varisian, a worker that Aldern had hired to help renovate the manor. The two had been reading it together, side by side, when Aldern had “caught” them and flown into a rage. He’d gripped a small statuette of Desna and used it to crack the man’s skull with a powerful blow. He had then turned to Iesha and, ignoring her pleas that it was all a misunderstanding, had strangled her mercilessly.
This time, though, Navan’s mind was strong enough to resist the vision, and he managed to take off the scarf without suffering damage. The group then returned downstairs through the disgusting mess of burnt rats. Ruh cast another fireball at the few remaining rats that were scurrying around.
Back in the caves, the characters traveled around with a Detect Secret Doors spell, but found nothing more. Once they entered Aldern’s room, though, Navan and Drithnar felt a powerful urge to reclaim their shadows when they saw the disgusting patch of fungus on the far wall. Before the two women could stop them, they moved forward and tasted the vile substance. They immediately started to choke and then vomited on the floor – it was by far the foulest thing they’d ever even imagined eating. Navan then cast a Cure Disease spell on both of them – it made them feel better, but still, the horrible taste lingered in their mouths.
Back in the vast cave with water at the bottom, Ruh summoned a few times in a row a specific Fiendish Dire Rat which she instructed to search the bottom of the pool. Afterwards, Drithnar talked with the beast, which was by then quite drenched and resentful toward its hated “goody-goody” summoner. It said it hadn’t seen anything interesting down there.
The characters then searched the bone pile of the ghoul lair, finding nothing special, and finally, poked with a makeshift pole at the yellow mold in the small cave where some picks had been abandoned. This triggered some nasty clouds of spores to appear; Kerista and Ruh were caught in the clouds, and started to cough violently. Ruh turned blue, and for a moment, the companions thought she was going to choke to death. Eventually, though, she managed to regain her breath, but the companions had to use many Lesser Restoration spells to cure the two women. They did find a magical Heavy Pick for their trouble, so it was not in vain.
The companions then climbed back up and decided to leave the Manor for now. They thought they might burn it some time later, to prevent innocent folks from being harmed by the horrors that were still happening in there.
Fireday, Neth 8th, 4707
Murders in Magnimar
The companions continued their travel toward Magnimar, along with Belven, for the second day. Late in the afternoon, they separated: Belven headed to the Summit, to stay at his family’s house there. The adventurers went down to the Marches, and headed toward the Three Horns Inn where they’d stayed their last time in the big city.
As they walked through the streets, Navan had the impression that they were being watched. He used his hat of disguise to take the appearance of a nondescript commoner.
After having booked their rooms, stabled their horses and eaten dinner, the characters decided to do some investigation to try and locate Aldern’s townhouse, as well as Pug’s Contraptions. Navan searched several other inns under a variety of disguises, but the other three stayed at the Three Horns.
The main topic of conversation in Magnimar was the recent wave of murders that was plaguing the city. It seemed that every week, at least one murder was committed by some kind of serial killer. The murders seemed to all be linked, because the victims were reported to be horribly mangled, with a seven-pointed star carved into the flesh of their chests. The murders had apparently started around 4 months ago. So it seemed that Sandpoint hadn’t been the only target of a deranged murderer…
One of the latest murders had been that of Forall Igralir, the owner of a brothel called the Velvet Flower, along with two of his prostitutes, 11 days ago in Lowcleft. Another had been the murder of Sontal Vrig, a jeweler in Silver Shore. Ruh remembered passing by his store during the many years when she’d lived in Magnimar, working as a wizard’s apprentice. She’d always dreamed of owning some of the beautiful jewels on display, but they’d always been much too expensive for her to afford. From what she heard, it seemed that the jeweler was likely to have been a greedy person, which seemed to match the profiles of the victims in Sandpoint. The characters didn’t hear about any hideous stench around any of the murder scenes, though: therefore, it seemed to confirm that a different killer besides Aldern was on the loose.
Among the other rumors that the characters heard was the tale of the Angel of the Arvensoar. Another was about the rivalry between the most renowned bard of the Triodea, Kassiel Iylmrain, and Cyrdak Drokkus. The two had apparently been lovers in the past (!), but Cyrdak had done something that had sparked Kassiel’s terrible anger, and had been forced to leave Magnimar.
The companions didn’t learn where Aldern’s townhouse was, nor any information about the “Wanton” or the “Brothers”, although Ruh did find out the general location of Pug’s Contraptions, in the district of Naos in the Summit.
Much later that evening, on his way back to the Three Horns Inn, Navan witnessed a strange scene: two armor-clad Hellknights were roughly bringing a captive halfling down the dark, almost-empty streets. The Halfling was pleading his innocence and crying for help. Navan, disguised as a drunken commoner, tried to find out what was happening, but the Hellknights just replied that the Halfling was a thief who was to be brought to justice.
Navan followed them for a while, and saw that the Hellknights were approached by two more halflings, a female and an elegantly-dressed male with long red hair. A beautiful human woman with long blonde hair was also with them. They trio seemed to charm one of the Hellknights, and attacked the second one in the deserted street. The woman cast a silence spell around them, so Navan was the only witness to the attack. He ducked out in an alley to change his shape, but when he returned to the scene of the crime, the halflings, the woman, and the charmed Hellknight had disappeared: only the corpse of the second Hellknight remained. Navan fled the scene and returned to the inn. There, he told his companions the information he’d gathered, and so did Ruh.
Drithnar had drunk way too much in his attempt to get people to share information by buying them drinks, and had learned nothing. Kerista hadn’t learned much either. She’d spent most of the evening watching a group of people play a mysterious game involving strange dice and complicated rules which she didn’t understand. Most of them had been young men, but a few of them had been middle-aged, and their mentor had been a wise-looking old man with long grey hair and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Kerista had been too shy to approach them and ask to be explained the rules, but she marveled at the imagination that those people displayed: they played imaginary adventures where each of them incarnated the role of one of the heroes, while another player described the ongoing story that they were all taking part in.
At the end of the night, not long before Navan had come back, the old man who seemed to be the creator of this strange, but wonderful game, had left the inn, and Kerista had noticed that a grey hawk had flown down and landed on his shoulder, as the old man vanished into the darkness of the night. A great wave of sadness came upon Kerista, because she felt she’d missed her only opportunity to talk to that wonderful man, a master of imagination.
Starday, Neth 9th, 4707
Investigation
That night, Navan had another bad dream. He was climbing down the stairs leading to the caves below Foxglove Manor. His three companions were climbing down with him. They entered the dark cave with the three hallways at the bottom of the stair. But now, Navan wasn’t with his three companions anymore, but with his parents. They were kneeling next to the mangled corpse of one of his brothers. Navan’s mother was crying.
Navan tried to talk to them, to touch them, but he was like a ghost, and could be neither seen, nor heard, nor felt by his parents. Yet he knew they were in terrible danger, because of the undead that waited for them further in the dark tunnels. The two parents discussed going back for help, but finally decided to move ahead by themselves, to try and avenge the death of their son. With torches and swords in their hands, they entered one of the tunnels. Navan was still impotently trying to catch their attention, to beg them not to go alone in the tunnels, but now he couldn’t escape the dark cave… and he woke up.
Down in the main room of the inn, the companions discussed what to do. Ruh wanted to go see her mentor, Nulius Cornaban, and get a Varisian tattoo. Navan and Drithnar would go and try to sell the loot that they’d found in their recent adventures. Kerista would go claim the reward for Redshiv and try to get in touch with her brother.
The companions split up and went about their business. Ruh headed south toward the Silver Shore district. It felt good to be back among these familiar streets. She knocked at the door of her master’s house, and after a few moments, he opened it, and greeted her with a wide grin.
They talked a bit about Ruh’s recent adventures, and about the streak of murders in town. Nulius related the murder of two adventurers with an evil reputation: Myrmias Ironskull, a cleric of Asmodeus, and his bodyguard Temgrith the Slasher. This had taken place two weeks ago in the Bazaar of Sails.
The two gnomes also discussed Aldern’s letter, and wondered who the Wanton of Nature’s Pagan Forms could be. The “Pagan” part seemed to maybe refer to the cult of Lamashtu, which had in ancient times been “only” a Demon Queen, and had risen to godhood by slaying the old god of the beasts, Curchanus. Nulius looked in one of his ancient tomes for details about that epic battle. It seems that before dying, Curchanus had transferred some of his powers to the young goddess Desna, his protégée, who had since then become one of Lamashtu’s most fervent enemies.
They then went together to a place close to the Stone of the Seers, the local wizard’s guild, to meet an acquaintance of Nulius’ who specialized in the art of Varisian tattooing. At his house, though, they were surprised to see not the aged man answering the door, but rather a stunningly beautiful Varisian woman with long white hair. She was dressed in a revealing red costume that showed off the many tattoos that her body was decorated with.
She invited them into the living room, where she introduced herself as Seoni, and informed the two gnomes that the man they were looking for, her uncle Mandraiv, had recently been murdered. When Ruh asked her for more information, she learned that the murder had taken place three weeks before; the man had also been marked with the Sihedron rune. Seoni seemed to handle her grief stoically, and said that her and her companions were adventurers who were trying to discover who was behind those murders. Though she and Ruh vaguely remembered seeing each other in Sandpoint a few weeks before, Ruh did not tell Seoni that she was part of the group that had saved it from the goblin raid, nor that she was also investigating the murders. Seoni gave her directions to another Varisian tattoo artist that she knew of, and Ruh went to visit that person to get tattooed.
That evening, the four companions gathered at the Three Horns Inn. Ruh showed her brand new tattoos to her friends, and told them what she’d learned from Nulius and Seoni. Drithnar and Navan had managed to sell all of the excess loot, to which Kerista added the 500 gold pieces she’d received as a reward for reporting the death of Redshiv. They distributed the money among themselves.
Kerista told the group that her brother was well-aware of the murders, but was bitter at the Lord-Mayor’s lack of leadership in finding the killer. It was only a week ago, when Virikan Obendar, the owner of the Lord-Mayor’s favorite gambling den was found murdered in such a fashion, that more law enforcement resources were assigned to the investigation. But so far, the killer or killers seemed to be several steps ahead of the law.
The rest of the evening was spent in trying to gather yet more information. Navan went to visit some taverns in the Lowcleft district, changing his appearance every now and then thanks to his magical hat. He met a woman who knew Aldern, and who gave him rough directions to his townhouse, which was in the Grand Arch District, not far from Star Silver Plaza.
Navan also heard the rumors that a Hellknight had been slain the previous night, though none of the reports were very accurate as to how he had died. He also learned some background information about the Hellknights from a conversation between a few of the tavern’s patrons.
Drithnar and Kerista ended up spending most of the evening drinking and kissing, so they didn’t learn anything new. But Ruh met a barbaric-looking man who shared some stories with her. His name was Joadric Heimurl, and he was a member of the Pathfinders, an organization of explorers, whose members share the exciting stories of their travels and the knowledge accumulated from them. Joadric told Ruh that she might want to apply, since she seemed to share similar interests with him.
Sunday, Neth 10th, 4707
Foxglove against Foxglove
That morning, the characters went to the Summit, and located Pug’s contraptions. Navan had taken the guise of a rich merchant, and the others played the role of his bodyguards. He learned that Aldern had ordered six cages small about two months ago. When the dwarf behind the counter looked in his ledger to find that information, Navan took note of Aldern’s address. He also tried to get more information about the various keys they’d found on Aldern, pretending that Aldern had given them to him, but Kerista noticed that the dwarf got very suspicious about this: clearly he didn’t believe Navan’s story of Aldern “giving them” to him.
Once they’d left the store, Navan changed his appearance to that of Aldern, and the companions headed out to his townhouse. Using one of the keys, they entered the house, which was beautiful and well-furnished.
In the entrance hall, Navan called out. A door to his right opened, and the companions saw standing in the doorframe, a stunned Iesha! She gaped at “Aldern”. Kerista gestured to her companions that she sensed some evil in Iesha, so they attacked her. Iesha backed away and closed a door behind her; the companions heard her shout something in a strange language.
The characters broke down the door and found themselves in a trophy hall, facing Iesha and what looked like Aldern. Both had longswords drawn. A fight started. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group, and Navan cast a Silence spell to camouflage the sound of battle. Kerista took a minor wound from Iesha’s blade, but managed to wound her grievously with three mighty strikes from her Earthbreaker. Iesha’s form rippled and she transformed into a hideous, faceless humanoid shape of reddish brown color.
Good Aldern was wounded twice by Bad Aldern’s sword. (ooc: If there had been no Silence spell over the scene, it might have made a good “Army of Darkness” moment. “You’re good Aldern, and I’m bad Aldern. You’re goody-goody-two-shoes, you’re goody-goody-two-shoes!” “Good… Bad… I’m the guy with the crossbow”) Navan managed to slay the “Iesha” creature with his crossbow, and Drithnar wounded the Bad Aldern with several strikes from his sword and war razor (ooc: Drithnar now has five attacks per round when hasted :) ). Finally, though, it’s Kerista who slew him, by bashing his head into the wall with a powerful blow from her Earthbreaker. She drove a bloody hole in the wall with the impact of her weapon, and the headless corpse transformed into a reddish-brown monstrosity similar to the one that had impersonated Iesha.
Outside of the Silence range, Navan healed himself and the dying “Iesha”. Once the creature regained consciousness, the characters questioned it. They pretended they were going to set it free if it cooperated, but that proved to be a lie.
They learned that the creature was of a race of ancient slaves left behind by their masters, who now dwelt deep in the sea. Its people lived in the Mushfens and took the appearance of humans to avoid being persecuted. The thing which had previously taken the shape and voice of Iesha now had a strangely masculine voice; it moved with a fluid grace that was disturbingly hypnotic. It spoke in perfect Common, and seemed to be much more intelligent and sophisticated than its grotesque appearance suggested. Its mistress was called Xanesha, and she was extremely powerful. She dealt with one of the “Brothers”, a rich, arrogant elf working in the south part of Magnimar.
The characters discussed setting the shape-shifter free, or putting it on a ship bound for a distant destination, but both options ran the risk of putting innocent people at risk, and allowing the creature to go warn its mistress. In the end, they decided to kill it. When the creature realized that it had been deceived, it cursed the characters, but was helpless to escape its inevitable death under the adventurers’ merciless weapons. Once again, Kerista felt ashamed that the group had deceived someone, even such a despicable creature. Navan and Drithnar presented the logic of their actions to her (“it’s for the greater good”), and though she agreed that the creature couldn’t have been released, she felt it had been wrong to deceive it.
“I know you guys are right,” said the young woman. “I agree that the way we’ve acted is the smartest and the best for the Greater Good. It just makes me feel like crap when we do that.”
Ruh said she’d try to read thoughts the next time they made a prisoner, so they wouldn’t have to lie to it.
The characters took a few hours to search the house. They found a secret cache in the master bedroom, hidden in the mantelpiece which was adorned with roaring lion heads – which matched one of the keys they’d found in Aldern’s lair. Inside the cache was a bag with 200 platinum pieces, as well as a ledger of Aldern’s expenses over the past year and a half. Most of them were mundane, but near the end, they found 6 entries, on each Oathday between early Arodus and mid-Rova, labeled “Iesha’s trip to Absalom”. Each of them represented a sum of 200 gold pieces paid to B.7, at the Seven’s Sawmill.
They also found among the papers the deed to Foxglove Manor. They learned from it that, 80 years ago, one-third of the funds had been given by the “Brothers of the Seven”, and that the deed included a special clause specifying that after 100 years, ownership of the manor and the lands within a mile “around and below” would revert to the Brothers.
A face in the crowd
Pondering this information, the characters headed back to the Shore, to try to find Goldar, Kerista’s brother. They wanted to ask him whether he knew any powerful elves in the city. They also wanted to go examine Kyver’s Islet, where the city’s various sawmills were located.
They had lunch in a seafood restaurant in the Bazaar of Sails. Then, they started looking for Goldar’s patrol among the crowded streets. After some time, Kerista gasped, and started running among the crowd. Her companions followed her, but she soon stopped, having lost sight of what had made her react. She told her companions that she thought she’d caught a glimpse of Tsuto watching her from afar.
The companions started discussing this and what it implied; unless Kerista had been mistaken, it meant that Tsuto must’ve had some really good connections to be able to be sprung from the Hells. During the discussion, the characters realized that they had previously met a powerful elf in Magnimar: Justice Ironbriar, the judge who’d convicted Tsuto, Orik and Lyrie to a lifetime in the Hells. Could he be the elf that the shape-changer had talked about? The implications were quite unnerving, but Navan remembered one of the cards his great-grand-aunt had dealt him: Justice reversed…
After some more time searching, the companions finally found Goldar’s patrol. They quietly informed him of their findings and suspicions regarding Justice Ironbriar. Goldar paled at the thought of such a powerful member of Magnimar’s hierarchy being corrupted, but he nodded grimly and said he’d look into it. He’d contact the characters the following day at the Three Horns Inn.
The survivor
Navan then suggested that he go to Kyver’s Islet alone, under a disguise, to investigate the various saw mills. Meanwhile, the other characters went to wait for him at the Three Horns Inn. Navan then visited several mills, disguised as a tiefling looking for work. None of the few mills he visited seemed out of the ordinary. But during his exploration, he suddenly saw a familiar face in an alley: Jubrayl Vhiski, one of the Sczarni thugs from Sandpoint, was talking to two rough-looking Varisians. They seemed up to no good.
Navan resumed his true appearance and approached them. Jubrayl grinned at him and spoke in Varisian. The thug asked him sarcastically if he’d come to perform more of his heroic deeds in Magnimar. Navan replied that he was investigating the murders around here, and cheekily warned Jubrayl to be especially careful, because the killer or killers seemed to have a preference for greedy victims.
With a sneer, Jubrayl replied that the killer in Sandpoint had already tried to claim his life about three weeks ago, but that he’d managed to escape him. He had, however, been severely wounded in the fight, and had been afflicted with Ghoul Fever. He’d traveled in haste to Magnimar to get cured, and felt much better now. His description of the killer – a shadowy stinking creature wielding a war razor – seemed to match Aldern.
Jubrayl told Navan he now had revenge on his mind, and had been trying to get back at the killers here in Magnimar. He’d managed to locate their hideout: the sawmill that stood just a few dozen yards away. Navan said he’d investigate it with his friends, and Jubrayl said he’d let him take care of it “in his usually heroic fashion”, and then he added that if that failed, he’d put his favorite kind of flowers on his grave.
Taking again the guise of a tiefling commoner, Navan approached the saw mill. He headed downstairs, where he found three workers tending to some complex machinery. He pretended to be someone looking for work, and one of the men brought him inside and started showing him the machines, supposedly to see if Navan had any skill to work there. Navan had to duck to avoid getting caught by the whirring, spinning, twisting machinery – if he let his guard down, he’d get caught in it.
As he was busy watching the operation of the machines that the worker was showing him, Navan did not notice the two other workers creeping up behind him until it was too late. He suddenly felt a searing pain in his back as a war razor stabbed him deeply. Turning around, he saw that the two other workers had donned disturbing one-eyed leather masks which leered in a hideous, insane face. They both attacked him with war razors. Navan ducked a few attacks, and then tumbled his way toward the great water wheels, and jumped down into the river.
He was tossed and carried by the strong current, and had a hard time keeping his head above the water. Thankfully, after a few minutes, a fisherman on a small boat found him and helped him on board, and then brought him to the shore. Navan was soaked and wounded, but thankfully still alive. Unfortunately, though, he realized that he’d lost his magical hat during his escapade!!
Knowing that he’d found the killers’ hideout, but that he couldn’t assault it on his own, Navan then hurried north to fetch his companions from the Three Horns Inn…
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She’d spent most of the evening watching a group of people play a mysterious game involving strange dice and complicated rules which she didn’t understand. Most of them had been young men, but a few of them had been middle-aged, and their mentor had been a wise-looking old man with long grey hair and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Kerista had been too shy to approach them and ask to be explained the rules, but she marveled at the imagination that those people displayed: they played imaginary adventures where each of them incarnated the role of one of the heroes, while another player described the ongoing story that they were all taking part in.
At the end of the night, not long before Navan had come back, the old man who seemed to be the creator of this strange, but wonderful game, had left the inn, and Kerista had noticed that a grey hawk had flown down and landed on his shoulder, as the old man vanished into the darkness of the night. A great wave of sadness came upon Kerista, because she felt she’d missed her only opportunity to talk to that wonderful man, a master of imagination.
Very nicely done, sir. I'll leave it at that.
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Thanks :)
Sunday, Neth 10th, 4707 (continued)
Assault on the Sawmill
The four companions stood in front of the Seven’s Sawmill. It was early evening. They felt excited that they seemed to have found the lair of the murderers that had plagued the city over the past few months – yet at the same time, they felt they might be entering into a deadly trap.
Navan protected Kerista and Drithnar with Shield Other spells, and the group moved forward quietly. They could see no sign of activity outside the mill. They climbed down the stairs, and Kerista opened the door leading into the waterwheels room. There, half-hidden behind some machinery, she saw one of the workers who turned to watch her enter.
“Surrender or face your doom!” she yelled, but at the same time, a man who’d been hidden in the shadows to her right lunged forward and tried to stab her, though thankfully, the blade bounced against the metal of her banded mail. Kerista saw that the man was wearing the strange leather mask with one insane-looking eye that Navan had described to her.
Drithnar moved in and managed to defeat his lover’s attacker with two swift strikes from his blades. The other worker moved forward to attack Kerista through the whirling machines, but the young paladin dealt him a powerful blow with her Earthbreaker, and the man was knocked back, and got entangled into the machines; his right arm and his head were crushed horribly by the moving machinery.
Navan then entered the room and cast a minor healing spell on the man that Drithnar had attacked: he remained unconscious, but was now stabilized. The characters tied him up, and attached him to a hook on the wall.
Dissension in the Ranks
The group then climbed back up to the ground floor, and moved to the main doors. They were locked, but Ruh opened them with a flick of the Wand of Knock she’d found in Foxglove Manor. The companions entered a large room that seemed to be a loading bay. Two carts were there, as well as some small alcoves leading to the controls of some complex machinery. To their left, the adventurers saw a set of stairs leading up.
On the second floor, they saw a door, and the stairs continuing upwards. By listening to the door, they heard the sound of several men talking in low voices. Only Drithnar was able to understand what they were saying over the noise of the machinery.
Man 1: “This is really not good, what are we going to do now?”
Man 2: “I don’t know. He’s thinking about it upstairs. He’ll think of something.”
Man 1: “Will he? It’s the first time we’ve ever let someone slip way. I’m not confident that he’ll be able to handle this well. He hasn’t been himself lately. Haven’t you noticed? Ever since that vamp from the clock tower got involved… I just don’t feel that he’s hearing what Father Skinsaw wants anymore. He just wants to please her.”
Man 2: “Heh, can you blame him? You’ve seen what she looks like…”
Man 1: “I’m serious, man…”
Man 2: “I know. But he’s the only leader we have left. We have to follow his orders. Besides, he said that she was sent to us by Father Skinsaw himself…”
Man 1: “And you believe that?”
Then a man with an especially devious-sounding voice spoke up.
Man 3: “Maybe it’s time for us to make our move.”
Man 2: “What?”
Man 3: “You know what I mean. Maybe it’s time for us to get rid of him. For one of us to become the new leader. All of the other great ones are gone, now’s the perfect time to make our move. It might be a sign from Father Skinsaw.”
Man 2: “You fool, you really think we can get rid of him? That’s nonsense! He’s been around for longer than all of us together. Hell, he was already around when Vorel was running the show! There’s no way we can go up against him.”
Man 1: “What about making a move against her? We could go up to the tower and get rid of her ourselves?”
Man 2: “I can’t believe I’m hearing this. Even if we had a real reason to doubt her, which we don’t, she’s much too powerful for us. Don’t you remember what she did to Ironskull? No, no way! Now come on, you lazy pigs, back to work! I don’t want to hear another word about this nonsense!”
After Drithnar had quickly summarized the conversation in whispers to his friends, they bashed down the door and attacked. They faced four men working on stacking lumber for shipment. Ruh cast a haste spell, and Drithnar and Kerista quickly killed one of the men each. A third one, seeing that they were clearly outmatched, jumped into one of the lumber chutes that led down to the river. Navan and Drithnar jumped after him, while Kerista finished off the last cultist, reducing him to a mangled heap of bloody flesh.
Navan fell into the water, and saw the last cultist swimming away. Drithnar had apparently hit his head during the fall, and was sinking to the bottom of the river. Navan, still hasted, managed to grab him and swim back to the shore, where he left his friend. He then swam after the cultist. He managed to take him down with a few well-aimed crossbow bolts. He managed to yank the mask from the man’s face as he sank further down into the dark water.
Navan then returned to the shore, where he found Drithnar coughing, and gasping for air. Once the ranger had recovered, both men returned to the mill where they joined Ruh and Kerista. Together, they climbed up. The next floor contained two more doors, behind which no sound could be heard. The group climbed up to the last floor.
Bloodbath!
There, they saw four men wielding war razors. They were dressed in strange ritualistic robes adorned with golden runes, and their faces were covered with those strange leather masks. But even more troubling was the huge thing that waited with them. It was much taller and heavier than a man, and seemed to be some kind of construct made of animal parts, mainly horses and cows, sewn together into a twisted mockery of a human being. The thing’s mouth was sewn shut and from it trickled down a thin rivulet of drool, as the creature moaned angrily. It was dressed in filthy rags, wore a straw hat and carried a large scythe: it looked like a grotesque scarecrow. From its belt hung three bloated, sickly yellowish human heads.
The fight started! Drithnar ran forward and cut down one of the cultists with his blades. A few of the cultists cast defensive spells on themselves or on the humongous scarecrow, and another one ran forward to attack Drithnar, but missed. It turned out that several more cultists had been hiding behind a small side room to the right. At the back of the large room, two more doors could be seen. From the side room then came out a familiar figure. Dressed in dirty rags, his face unshaven and his eyes bloodshot, but filled with rage, came out an old enemy: Tsuto Kaijitsu! He charged Kerista and tried to stun her with a powerful kick, but her armor absorbed the blow.
The companions heard one of their enemies cast a spelling calling out the name of Norgorber, the god of murder and poison, but they didn’t see who it was. Around the same time, Navan cast a Prayer to Desna, affecting everyone in the room. Kerista hit a cultist with her Earthbreaker, and Ruh summoned a Celestial Bison to face the scarecrow and the rest of the cultists who stood at the back of the room. The horrible construct moved forward and managed to wound the glowing celestial animal with his massive scythe.
Drithnar killed another cultist. One of the cultists tried to Command Kerista to flee, but she resisted. Another cultist jumped down to the stairs and attacked Navan with his razor; Navan shot him with his crossbow, but not fatally.
Suddenly, a tall man who was wearing a strange, multi-colored suit, as well as a disturbing mask made of strips of human skin in a spiral pattern over his face, appeared next to Ruh. All the companions’ minds were filled with the strange spiral inside their minds, and felt it attacking their very sanity. They all managed to resist the mental attack, except Kerista whose thoughts became a random jumble of conflicting impulses. Thankfully, she ended up attacking Tsuto, who retaliated with a kick to her stomach. A cultist, who was standing behind Tsuto, healed him. Ruh cast an Orb of Cold at the strange man who’d just appeared next to her, and her Bison killed a cultist. The huge scarecrow managed to hit Kerista with its scythe.
Next, Drithnar moved to attack the tall man near Ruh. He managed to wound him once, but the man evaded most of his attacks: he was incredibly agile. Navan shot another crossbow bolt at the cultist attacking him, but still didn’t manage to kill him.
Again, the man with the spiral mask blasted the minds of the companions with some strange spell, and this time, Navan and Ruh were also affected. Only Drithnar remained in control of his actions!
The fight then got even more chaotic as some of the heroes started to act incoherently. Kerista stopped attacking Tsuto and asked him “Tsuto! Why are you here? How did you get out of prison? How’s your sister? Why are your clothes so dirty? Why am I asking so many questions?”
But the grim half-elf had vengeance on his mind, and his only answer was a violent punch to Kerista’s beautiful face. The young woman wiped some of the blood now running from her nose with her metal gauntlet and stared at it stupidly for a moment. Then, her eyes filled with fury and she attacked Tsuto with renewed vigor!
Drithnar kept attacking the spiral-masked man. He managed to stab him a few more times: the man now seemed badly wounded. He failed his first attempt at concentrating on a healing spell, but his second attempt was successful, and he healed himself almost fully. Discouraged, and seeing that Kerista was in trouble from the vicious attacks of the scarecrow, Drithnar turned to go face that monster.
The massive Celestial Bison roared and stomped the floor with its massive hooves: it managed to kill two more of the cultists. It turned to help Kerista against Tsuto, who was now badly wounded from the paladin’s attacks. The cultist who had been healing him had run out of mana, and had jumped down on the stairs to attack Ruh. Suddenly, Kerista’s confused mind was filled with terror and she fled downstairs as fast as she could.
Tsuto tried to tumble to run after her, but he failed miserably and fell to the floor, allowing the bison to stomp on his head with a massive hoof, killing him.
In this pathetic way died Tsuto Kaijitsu – killed by a summoned monster after having fumbled at a tumble attempt.
Meanwhile, Ruh and Navan alternated between a state of abject terror of the man with the spiral mask, and one of ultimate rage toward him. However, they couldn’t reach him, as they were now stuck in the stairs, and their way was blocked by two cultists. Little Ruh managed to knock out one of the cultists with a furious blow from her wizard’s staff. But the other cultist grappled her. Navan shot him once, but completely missed his second shot. After struggling for some time, Ruh escaped the grapple and fled downstairs, screaming like a little girl (which… she is). Navan was then also gripped by a wave of terror, and tried to run downstairs, but the cultist managed to stab him in the back, and Navan dropped to the floor, unconscious and bleeding: he’d taken too much punishment from his own wounds, as well as Kerista and Drithnar’s, by now.
The cultist raised his war razor, ready to claim the life of the fallen Cleric of Desna, but he never got the chance to strike: a large woman in banded armor crashed into him, sending him reeling against the railing of the staircase. Kerista blinked a few times as she regained control of her own mind: the Confusion spell was finally wearing off. When she saw what was going on, she struck the cultist with her Earthbreaker, shattering his skull. She then knelt beside Navan and laid her hands on him, reviving him with the touch of Sarenrae’s healing magic.
Upstairs, the mighty Celestial Bison managed to wound the scarecrow, but the hideous construct retaliated, and slew the noble beast with vicious strikes from his scythe. Drithnar then found himself facing the monstrosity alone: all of the cultists were dead, and the spiral-masked man had disappeared. Drithnar had heard him cast another spell, so he guessed he might be invisible, nearby.
Drithnar’s blows barely affected the monster: its skin was extremely hard. He’d sustained some nasty wounds from the thing’s scythe, and had now resorted to a purely defensive stance; but even thusly, it was extremely difficult to avoid the creature’s attacks.
Navan and Ruh had also regained control of their actions by then. Navan quickly healed himself and Kerista, and all three returned upstairs. Ruh had cast a See Invisible spell, but didn’t notice the spiral-masked man anywhere. She summoned another bison, which unfortunately was quickly destroyed by the scarecrow.
Kerista and Drithnar hit the golem several times; their blows had a hard time penetrating the thing’s resilient skin, yet slowly but surely, they were destroying it. Ruh cast an Orb of Cold at the creature, which seemed to do a lot of damage, and slowed it. Finally, Kerista dealt it a powerful blow which shattered its chest, and it fell apart in a heap of gross body parts.
They had done it! The characters were victorious!
I’m happy with the way the fight turned out: it was a good challenge, and the characters all came out alive, yet very low on hit point and mana. Everybody gave their 100%.
The MVP was definitely Ruh’s first Celestial Bison, which ended up doing a ton of damage, and being a great meat shield (it died just the round before it would’ve disappeared normally anyway).
What ended up hurting us the most were the 2 Confusion spells from Ironbriar’s mask. We were really unlucky in our saving throws and on the rolls to decide what Confusion made us do – Navan and Ruh were useless for a large part of the fight as they alternated between “run away screaming like a little girl” or “attack the closest person” rolls.
The Fugitive
As proud as they were of their victory, the companions understood that it wasn’t complete yet: the man with the spiral mask had escaped. Navan and Ruh both cast a Locate Object spell, trying to find the man’s mask. Navan detected such an item, around two hundred feet to the north, heading away at a brisk pace. The man had already fled the building!
The companions rushed downstairs and started running after the man in the twilight that had now fallen over the city. Soon, though, it became clear that Kerista and Ruh couldn’t keep up with the two men. Kerista, weighed down by her heavy armor, decided to stay and guard the mill. Drithnar took the short-legged Ruh on his shoulders and cast a Longstrider spell on himself. But still, it looked like they might not be able to catch the fugitive before Navan’s spell ran out.
The companions tried to find a horse they could borrow or buy. They first approached three riders, a rich-looking young man and two bodyguards, but they refused to help or sell their horses. Soon, though, another rider came into view. He looked like a hunter or a ranger. Navan offered to buy his old horse for a hundred gold pieces; the man asked for two hundred. Navan, who didn’t have time to bargain, agreed to the outrageous price, paid the man and started riding on the horse, with Ruh seated in front of him and Drithnar running behind them.
After a few minutes, they finally caught up to the man as he was making his way through a narrow street of Rag’s End. He was wearing a flowing hooded black cloak and seemed not to have noticed their approach. Despite the several beggars and other poor inhabitants of the slums in sight, the companions attacked the black-cloaked man. Ruh hit him with an Orb of Cold, and Navan shot him in the back with his crossbow. Drithnar rushed him, and slashed him with his blades. The man cried out in pain from the various wounds, and turned around. The hood had fallen back, revealing the face of a stern elf with long black hair: Justice Ironbriar!
The villain must have realized that he had run out of options, as the adventurers had managed to catch him despite his daring escape. He threw up his arms in the air and called out that he was surrendering. Navan still had his crossbow aimed at him, and for a moment wondered whether he should finish off the murderer or not; finally, he accepted, and the companions tied up and gagged Ironbriar.
The sudden attack had caused panic, and most of the bystanders had fled the scene. Thankfully, Rag’s End was, apart from the Shadow under the Irespan bridge, the least patrolled area of Magnimar, so it was unlikely that guards would show up in a timely manner. Still, the companions fled the scene and hid in an abandoned house a few blocks away. Navan left Drithnar and Ruh there to watch over Ironbriar, and he rode back to the Sawmill. He met Kerista there, and together, they searched mill carefully. They were both wounded, and had used up all of their magical energy for the day; they hoped they wouldn’t have to fight anyone else.
Greedy Victim
They found a storage room which contained ten more of those strange runic cultist robes, some money, potions, a crystal decanter, three poorly cut diamonds, as well as Navan’s Hat of Disguise! Upstairs, they searched the bodies and found a masterwork razor on each cultist, as well as some money and those strange leather masks, which Kerista sensed as evil. Tsuto didn’t seem to have anything valuable. They took the scarecrow’s scythe, which they thought was magical because it had been able to harm Ruh’s summoned celestial bisons normally.
In a small room next to the one where the epic battle had taken place, they found a fat, middle-aged man wearing only a loincloth; he was gagged and tied up to the wall with a pair of manacles. After they freed him, he thanked them profusely. He had heard the fight outside his prison and was amazed that the characters had been able to defeat so many foes. He introduced himself as Gumarto Bargadin, a moneylender. He’d been captured by the cultists the previous night, and knew that they had been planning on sacrificing him in the coming hours!
The characters asked him to answer truly to an unusual question, for the purpose of their investigation: they asked him if he would be considered greedy. The man seemed shocked by the question, and strongly denied being greedy. Instead, he assured the characters that he was a paragon of generosity, constantly lending some of his own money to the needy. The characters took note of his address and said they’d get in contact with him later, as the authorities might need his testimony. They gave him Ironbriar’s black cloak to cover himself up and asked him to head back to his house. Mr. Bargadin thanked them again and promised a reward of 10 gold pieces for saving his life. Then, he asked the characters if they’d already looted the prisoners. He was disappointed that they had. He took a pair of boots from one of them, which he put on, and took another pair also, saying he might be able to sell it later.
No, not greedy at all.
Next, Navan and Kerista found a room that was disturbingly adorned with the skin of human faces stretched over wooden frames with leather strips or black twine. They all bore various expressions of torment. Clearly the sanctum of a seriously disturbed individual. The room contained a desk, a cot and a footlocker which contained several books, as well as the painting of a city carved from a gigantic waterfall. A ladder in a corner led up to a trap door.
Going up, the two companions found a rookery. There were several open cages there, but no birds. A bucket of grain and some paper and ink showed that this place had recently been used, but from the timing of recent events, the characters guessed that, if Ironbriar had taken the time to write a message before fleeing the building, it must have been a very short one.
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Wow, this is getting really exciting! I love how you put the fight with Ironbriar together and especially how you brought Tsuto back into the fray. The one thing that I think this AP has been lacking in is the reocurring villian. Tsuto makes for a great one (if he survives previous engagements). Yes, names are thrown around from adventure to adventure, but to me this AP feels much less personal than say the Savage Tide does (with Vanthus).
I also note that you introduced Judge Ironbriar in a previous adventure (and also forshadowed him with the use of a Harrow deck) which makes this reveal much more meaningful. Again, unless the PCs already know the judge, this battle just lacks any emotional ties.
I know I've mentioned this before in this thread, but the more I think about it the more I like the idea of presenting players with a list of major people and places to choose from (for background and history) during character creation. The trick would be to include an equal number of villians, heros, and regular folk into the mix. I wouldn't want my players to be betrayed by everyone they ever knew and loved for example, but having a few of those surprises pop up might be fun.
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Cool, I'm glad you're enjoying this! I've been talking with my player about what he'd like his characters to do after they resolve the situation in Magnimar. He told me that Ruh is going to be studying a lot of new spells, so she'll be busy for a long time doing that, but that Navan, restless as he is, is going to do some traveling. Meanwhile, Drithnar and Kerista are going to take a few weeks' break in Sandpoint.
I'm going to run a small adventure with Navan as the only PC. His travels will take him to... you guessed it... Fort Rannick. Shalelu will also travel with him. When they get there, they'll meet the Black Arrow rangers and interact with them. The rangers are starting to realize that the ogres are becoming a much stronger menace than before. Navan will be present at Fort Rannick for the events that are supposed to take place before the PC's get there in the official adventure. Of course, by that time, a message will have been sent to the rest of the PC's and they will join him in Turtleback Ferry, and then the "real" adventure will take place mostly as written. But now, Navan will have a real emotional attachment to Fort Rannick (well, hopefully :) ).
Oh and by the way, Navan's brother is one of the Black Arrow rangers.
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Sunday, Neth 10th, 4707 (continued)
Kerista and Navan headed back to the Three Horns Inn to grab some food, blankets and supplies, and then returned to the abandoned house in Rag’s End. Ruh and Drithnar were still watching over a sullen Justice Ironbriar. Drithnar stood watch for most of the night, and Kerista relieved him for a few hours before sunrise.
Moonday, Neth 11th, 4707
The Interrogation
In the morning, Ruh tried to read Justice Ironbriar’s thoughts with a spell, but he resisted. The companions decided that some non-magical interrogation was in order, but that might prove quite noisy: the sawmill would be a better place to do that. Before leaving the abandoned house, Ruh took a quick look at the books that Navan and Kerista had brought back. One of them was a spellbook, another one was a beautifully illustrated book called “The Syrpents Tane” which showed enormous mythical creatures from the world of the Fey, and a third spoke of a strange kind of magic called the Alchymyc. Ruh was thrilled by all three, and knew she’d spend many fun hours studying them once she had time.
On Justice Ironbriar, the companions had found a magical wand and war razor, as well as a regular mithral shirt, the strange spiral mask, a symbol of Norgorber and a strange ledger written in a code seemingly made up of three alphabets: Draconic, a second one that Ruh thought was Infernal, as well as one Ruh didn’t recognize.
The group returned to the Sawmill with Justice Ironbriar, whom they hid under a cloak. There, they found Jubrayl Vhiski and ten other Sczarni interrogating the cultist they’d left behind. Navan quickly spoke with Jubrayl, who accepted to leave them to take care of the interrogation. The characters wanted to alert the authorities about what had happened here, and Jubrayl had no desire to be present for that.
First, Navan cast a Speak with Dead spell on Tsuto’s corpse. He managed to contact the spirit, and got answers to the following questions:
Navan: “What is your relation to the Brothers of the Seven?”
Tsuto: “I worked for them.”
Navan: “Where is Nualia?”
Tsuto: “You tell me …”
Navan: “What was the relationship between Nualia and the Brothers of the Seven?”
Tsuto: “At first, she hired them to kill the little bastard who‘d gotten her pregnant. Later, they welcomed her into their fold, taught her some sacred rituals, and gave her that special medallion. They put her on the path of her destiny”.
Ruh then tried another spell to read the cultist’s thoughts, but it also failed. So Drithnar had to do some “convincing” to get Ironbriar and the other cultist to talk. He managed to break the minion first, and learned the following pieces of information, summarized here:
“The Brothers of the Seven were the ones mandated by Father Skinsaw to cleanse society of its undesirables. Father Skinsaw was the name commonly used by Cultists of Norgorber to refer to their god. The cult of Norgorber operating at the mill was responsible for the recent wave of murders in Magnimar.
Xanesha came to Magnimar around five years ago, and contacted the Brothers. She said she was sent by Father Skinsaw himself. She wielded powerful magic, and was very strong in combat as well. She was beautiful and looked young, yet seemed to possess knowledge beyond her years. She now seemed to be in charge of the operations: even Justice Ironbriar obeyed her. She lived in a clock tower in the Shadow District. She only showed herself at night.
The Brothers of the Seven had been operating in Magnimar since its founding, but their origin was far older, in distant Cheliax. Ironbriar was the only founder of the Magnimar enclave left.”
The cultist strongly seemed to believe that the cult was doing a good thing by murdering these people: it was improving society, by eliminating its corrupted elements. He thought their cause was noble and seemed to have no regrets.
Ironbriar’s Secrets
After about two hours of rough interrogation (Navan had to heal Justice Ironbriar so he’d be able to withstand the punishment Drithnar inflicted upon him, and Kerista only very reluctantly allowed her lover to resort to this last measure tactic), Ironbriar finally broke. More or less, the characters learned the following information from him:
“The cult committed all the recent murders in the name of Norgorber. The Sihedron Ritual was performed to mark the victims as being eliminated in accordance to the purifying vision of Father Skinsaw.
Aldern was a weak fool, a sinner who got what he deserved. He came to us for help, and we only helped him because he was a descendant of Vorel Foxglove, the greatest among us. It’s of no consequence that Aldern is dead now: he paid for his sins. We’ve since used his name and connections for our own needs.
Nualia had a great destiny ahead of her. She had been a sinner in Sandpoint, and had been claimed by Lamashtu before she came to Magnimar. Otherwise, she might’ve made a perfect candidate for the cult of Father Skinsaw.”
Ironbriar looked very confused when he spoke about Nualia. He couldn’t remember if he’d shown her the Sihedron Ritual or not. By this point, Kerista found his behavior odd. She thought he seemed to be under the effect of a charm. Ruh detected some abjuration and some enchantment magic on him. She and Navan tried to dispel the magic, but they did not manage to remove the enchantment placed upon the elf.
“I don’t know where Nualia is now. You said you killed her during the trial, did you not?
Xanesha is my closest ally now that the other Brothers have all returned to Cheliax or passed away. She is a true chosen of Father Skinsaw, and I am so fortunate to have known her.
I have many enemies in Magnimar, but they are almost all in the Hells right now. I released Tsuto from the Hells because he was a true faithful, and Nualia trusted him. I did not release Orik and Lyrie because they were mere mercenaries, not to be trusted.
We killed the priest of Asmodeus because his name was on the list; the list that Xanesha wrote. So far, we’ve slain twenty of the targets our Lord has designated for us here in Magnimar. Aldern killed some more in Sandpoint, too.
No, I’ve never heard of that group of Halflings and that blonde woman. I’m not linked to the Hellknights either, although I’ve passed judgment on many people they’ve brought forth to justice in recent years.
Xanesha is a gorgeous woman, with long jet black hair that sometimes glitters with green highlights. She is tall and lean, truly wonderful in every way. I lose myself in her magnificent emerald-green eyes, and yearn for the soft touch of her lips.
I used three alphabets for the code of my journal: the language of magic, the holy language of my faith, and the tongue of my ancestors. If you should ever decipher it, you’d have the information you need to convict me in a trial.
I don’t know much about the Alchymyc, I just came upon that small book by accident.”
Defenders of Magnimar
The interrogation took most of the morning. Afterward, Kerista went to contact the city guards about what the group had discovered. She returned around two hours later with her brother Goldar and a group of soldiers. They were led by a grizzled veteran and a priestess of Iomedae. Kerista had already informed them of what had happened, and the others added a few more details.
The guards were relieved to see that the murderers had been slain or captured, though they were obviously flabbergasted to learn that Justice Ironbriar had been behind the crimes all along. They searched the sawmill as well, and discussed with the characters how to proceed further. It was decided that the two prisoners would be brought back to holding cells in the Arvensoar and interrogated further, in an official manner. Ironbriar’s journal would be translated by a city agent.
By this time, the companions believed that Xanesha was a vampire who lived in a clock tower in the Shadow District. They decided to go explore its surroundings while the city guards put together a task force to go and take her out – from what everyone had heard by now, she was extremely powerful, so they wanted to make sure she would be dealt with.
Navan and Drithnar went to explore the Shadow District while Ruh and Kerista accompanied the soldiers back to the Arvensoar. A few soldiers were left behind to guard the sawmill. Navan and Drithnar located the Shadow Clock, a one hundred and eighty feet tall tower in a state of advanced disrepair; it looked like it might crumble at any moment. It was located under the Irespan, which meant that on any given sunny day, it was only subjected to the light of the sun for one hour in the morning, and two hours in the afternoon. It was now mid-afternoon, so they had to hurry if they wanted to catch Xanesha while the sun was shining below the Irespan. Furthermore, by the way the wind was blowing, Drithnar was guessing that the following day would be rainy: they had to act today.
Back in the Arvensoar, the two men related what they’d seen to Ruh, Kerista and the city guards. A small force was gathered in haste to leave immediately for the Shadow District. It was led by Captain Acacia Uriana, a beautiful red-haired woman with a fancy-looking bow. Chaplain Tira Ronnova, the local high priestess of Iomedae, was also coming, along with Goldar and another paladin of Iomedae. A priest of Erastil and two wizards, a human and a halfling, were also brought along, as well as twenty-five city guards.
The squadron arrived at the foot of the clockwork tower around five thirty. The sun would only shine on the area for another hour or so. About half of the group was deployed in a perimeter around the tower. The other half, which included the adventurers, entered. The ground floor was dusty and dirty; the inside of the tower was just as ruined as the outside. A spiraling, rickety wooden staircase led up in a vertiginous climb. Far above their heads, they could see the four huge bronze bells of the tower looming in the darkness.
Captain Uriana decided that going up the stairs would likely be a bad move – several accidental deaths had been reported about people who’d tried to climb them over the years. The characters discussed with her the possibility of collapsing the tower, but that would’ve put the lives of people in the neighboring buildings in danger. Instead, it was decided that the wizards would cast Invisibility, Fly, and Darkvision spells on Navan and he’d go and explore the top of the tower.
Once he was there, Navan noticed that the scaffolding that was attached to the top two floors of the tower led to some openings. Inside the first one, he found a rookery with four ravens. Beyond it, going through a door, Navan found a dark, empty room, inside which was a heap of beautiful, silky cushions that looked strangely out of place in the dismal abandoned structure. A delightful fragrance, like a lady’s perfume, emanated from that “bed”.
Navan then went to the level below and saw three dirty beggars, armed with swords, who were warily watching the guards deployed in the streets below. Navan, flying out of reach and still invisible, asked them what they were doing here. They answered that they lived there, but when Navan managed to trick them into thinking the guards were about to knock down the tower, one of them went up to the top floor, where Navan had found the silk cushions, and knocked politely on the door several times, whispering “are you there?” When there was no answer, the beggar returned to his two companions, and after discussing among themselves in whispers, they climbed down the stairs and into the street.
By that time, Navan had come back down, as his spells had expired. The guards questioned the beggars, and Chaplain Ronnova said she sensed some evil within them; so did Kerista and Goldar. Captain Uriana ordered the three men captured for questioning. Ruh tried to read their thoughts with a spell, but they all resisted it. The adventurers and some of the city guards suspected that the beggars were actually the same kind of shape-shifters that had been found in Aldern’s house.
Finally, Captain Uriana, Chaplain Ronnova, Goldar, the Halfling Wizard and the four adventurers carefully climbed up the rickety stairs. Once there, they searched the place and found in the bed of cushions several scrolls which included a long list of names. Some of the names were crossed out, and represented people who’d been slain by the cult in Magnimar or by Aldern in Sandpoint. Among the names on the list was that of Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras himself! The companions also noted as present on the list the names of Titus Scarnetti, Jubrayl Vhiski, as well as Chod Bevuk and Hayliss Korvaski, two merchants from Sandpoint who likely would have been some of Aldern’s next victims.
Along the list of names were many notes on the habits of potential victims, where they lived, ate, worked, the hours they worked and slept, whom they met regularly. There was an especially detailed section about the Lord-Mayor’s whereabouts.
“Looks like you acted just in time to save Magnimar’s leader, my friends,” said Captain Uriana in a tone of respect to the adventurers.
“It’s a pity you folks didn’t wait a few more days, then” said Goldar, who was notoriously dissatisfied with the Lord-Mayor’s apathy as a ruler.
“Goldar, shush!!!!” said Kerista in a shocked voice, but it was too late: everyone else, even the Captain, was already chuckling. Goldar had said out loud what had been on everyone’s mind.
Drithnar talked with the ravens, and although they didn’t prove very helpful, he did learn that “the woman who fed them” (who was likely Xanesha) had seemed very upset when she’d seen all the ravens come from the Sawmill together, without any message. She’d left soon after. So it seemed that Xanesha had been warned of the character’s approach ahead of time. The companions and the city guards decided to keep watch in Xanesha’s lair during the night, just in case she came back.
She’s so powerful that I’m pretty sure she would have destroyed the party if I’d made her attack them by themselves. And there’s no way she’d have been foolish enough to attack such a large force as the one the PC’s raised to go visit her lair – even though she could’ve caused a lot of damage before going down.
Toilday, Neth 12th, 4707
Bearers of Good News
It turned out that Xanesha did not show herself during the night. The watchmen took turns sleeping, and some new guards came to relieve the tired ones. The characters slept in turn in Xanesha’s lair, along with Captain Uriana, Goldar, the Halfling Wizard and a few other guards. Chaplain Ronnova had retired to the Church of Iomedae to seek divine guidance from her goddess.
In the morning (which was cold and rainy, as Drithnar had predicted), Captain Uriana left a sizeable force behind to keep watch on the tower, but with the rest of the troops, and the adventurers, she went to the Lord-Mayor’s home in the Summit. The group walked down a wide path of white stones, lined with trees, and reached a huge, beautifully decorated mansion. Clearly, the Lord-Mayor lived in incredible luxury.
The Captain demanded to speak to the Lord-Mayor; his servants and guards said he was not to be disturbed, but the red-haired woman’s tone of authority made them obey her. The fully-armed, weary soldiers and adventurers waited patiently in the sumptuous marble hallway for a few minutes, and eventually, Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras appeared to greet them. He was an enormously fat man dressed in a purple silk bathrobe adorned with golden thread. He was squinting like someone who’d just woken up, and he seemed to be in a foul mood.
“Captain Uriana,” he rumbled in a deep voice, “what reason could you possibly have to wake me up at this hour, and have all those soldiers leave muddy tracks on my beautiful marble floors?”
The Captain saluted the Lord-Mayor, and then said: “Your Excellency, there have been recent developments in the investigation of the murders that have plagued the city as of late…”
“Yes, yes, I heard about the bloodbath in that sawmill on Kyver’s Islet. And I heard that Justice Ironbriar was the deranged mastermind behind all of the killings. Shame, that. Have you found anything more?”
“Sir, there’s more. We believe we’ve found the lair of a woman who controlled Justice Ironbriar, and…”
“So Ironbriar was only magically compelled? He’s innocent after all?”
“No, sir, all evidence indicates that he’s been committing murders such as these for the past few decades, but…”
“You captured this woman?”
“… No, sir, but…”
“Then what could you possibly have to tell me that’s so important???”
“Sir… These papers. We found them in that lady’s lair, in the Shadow District. It seems to be a list of the potential victims. Your name is on it, sir. As well as detailed information of your whereabouts. I’m afraid they were planning on murdering you in the near future, sir, and had all the information they needed to plan an efficient attempt.”
The red-haired woman held out the documents to the Lord-Mayor, but the huge man’s eyes had just lost their focus as he stared at her stupidly.
“Murder me? They wanted to murder me?...”
“Yes, sir, all evidence indicates that…”
“Me? They wanted to … they… they wanted…”
And then the ground shook as the ponderous bulk of Lord-Mayor Grobaras hit the marble floor with a thud: he had fainted!
Drithnar chuckled and Navan rolled his eyes as several of the Lord-Mayor’s servants and guards rushed to his aid. They managed to wake him up and painfully help him back to his feet. He wiped the sweat from his brow with an expensive-looking handkerchief. He then invited everyone to join him in a study, where he sat down and looked at the documents Captain Uriana had given him, and listened to a more detailed description of the recent operations.
“And these… adventurers… who captured Ironbriar. What are they up to now?”
“They’re right here, sir,” said Captain Uriana, pointing at the characters. “Sergeant Kerista Vigandir is a town guard from Sandpoint, and her companions are Navan Attaway, a priest of Desna, Ruh, a wizardess, and Drithnar, a ranger. They recently investigated a series of murders in and around Sandpoint, which were similar in nature to those that happened right here, in Magnimar. Their investigation led them here, where they eventually unmasked Ironbriar’s foul cult.”
The Lord-Mayor stared at each character in turn.
“Good. Very good. You people have been most useful to me. Errr.. and to Magnimar itself, of course. Yes. Yes, I believe you’re entitled to a generous reward for your heroic actions. How does the sum of … four hundred gold pieces sound?”
A small bald man at his side, apparently his most trusted advisor, cleared his throat loudly. “Sir, perhaps a rather larger sum would be more appropriate given the circumstances?”
The Lord-Mayor looked at him uneasily.
“Of course, my good Krinst. Of course. Hmm, let’s then say six thousand gold pieces for your group.”
The small man cleared his throat again. The Lord-Mayor shot him an angry glance.
“Fine, six thousand gold pieces each! Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my breakfast. I’m starving!”
Justice Ironbriar’s Last Trial
During the next few days, the characters spent a lot of time with several city officials, preparing for Ironbriar’s trial. An old gnome was assigned to the task of deciphering the murderer’s journal. Eventually, it proved to contain more than enough proof to put Ironbriar in the gallows. Ruh learned from the old gnome that, according to the journal, Ironbriar was one of the Forlorn, those elves who grew up in human society. He was originally from the streets of D’jansibar, a city in the Spice Islands, an archipelago known for its sweltering heat, misery, slavery, and opiate dealers. He’d been introduced to the cult of “Father Skinsaw”, Norgorber, in that harsh environment, and had later traveled to Magnimar, where he’d worked with Vorel Foxglove, a sinister noble of the area, to make the cult flourish in the region.
In more recent parts of the journal, he talked about the “Wanton of Nature’s Pagan Forms”, which he described as a strikingly beautiful woman who had stolen his heart and shown him a new method of murder that brought him even closer to Father Skinsaw. They apparently spent a lot of time together, including many nights in the clock tower, but they’d also been outside in the sun together, which seemed to indicate that Xanesha wasn’t a vampire after all. Also, as Drithnar later pointed out, if she’d been a vampire, wouldn’t she have created other vampires? Wouldn’t Aldern have been a vampire instead of whichever ghoulish undead creature he’d been?
Another interesting piece of information in the ledger was that Ironbriar was in contact with the Red Mantis, an organization of assassins based in Cheliax. He’d recently sold them something called “Vorel’s Legacy”, though the exact nature of that exchange was not detailed.
The characters learned that among the people assigned to interrogate Ironbriar was Father Selvar, the local high priest of Asmodeus. He was apparently quite thorough in the interrogation, since one of the cult’s recent victims, the adventurer Myrmias Ironskull, had been his son.
Chaplain Tira Ronnova also contacted the characters later on and informed them of the result of her divination: it seemed that Xanesha had indeed left town, and when she’d asked her goddess how to find her, the answer had been: “You must follow her to the legendary city of greed.” But what that city was, nobody knew for sure.
The characters claimed their reward of ten gold pieces from the greedy moneylender Gumarto Bargadin – just out of spite. He only very reluctantly paid them the meager amount he’d promised when they’d freed him. However, the family of one of the victims heard about the character’s heroics, and rewarded them for avenging the death of their loved one with a magical Elven Cloak.
When they weren’t busy helping the preparation of the upcoming trial, the characters had the chance to relax, and even to attend a few parties to which they were invited. Many of Magnimar’s movers and shakers were now familiar with the four young heroes, and wanted to get to know them better, to hear their heroic stories first-hand, and of course to be seen with them.
Eventually came the day of the trial. The event took the whole day, as Ironbriar, now kept in chains and gagged except during his testimony, was judged by the twelve other Justices of Magnimar: a panel led by Lord Justice Bayl Argentine. All twelve men and women were filled with righteous anger at the sight of former Justice Ironbriar, who’d lied to them for decades, and had fouled the legitimacy of their mandate by his abominable actions.
Throughout the day, witnesses spoke in front of the assembly, which consisted of Magnimar’s most esteemed and powerful people. Among them were the four companions, as well as Gumarto Bargadin, Chaplain Tira Ronnova, Captain Acacia Uriana, Father Selvar, and the old gnome who’d translated Ironbriar’s journal. The only witness who had not presented himself at the hearing was a certain gentleman of Varisian origin named Jubrayl Vhiski, who had, apparently, been the only victim to escape a murder attempt by his own means.
The trial took the entire day, and eventually, the twelve remaining Justices of Magnimar passed their judgment on their former colleague: he was condemned to death.
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Thanks for the kind words! I hope you continue reading as we start the third adventure of Rise of the Runelords.
Btw, I can't take credit for the goblin song, I took it straight from the module.
:)
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THE HOOK MOUNTAIN MASSACRE
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Wealday, Neth 20th, 4707
That morning, under a heavy rain, the characters were part of a small crowd gathered at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, high on the Summit. They had just witnessed the execution of one of the city’s greatest villains. Ironbriar was now hanging in front of them, dead. Justice had been served.
As the crowd was starting to leave, Jubrayl Vhiski approached Navan and invited him to celebrate the event with other Varisians. Navan went with him, and at the tavern, he met his cousin Migrietti. The man had heard about Navan’s role in stopping the murders, and congratulated him. On a sadder note, he informed him that their uncle Ildarith had died recently. Some other members of their large family were heading to Nybor to pay their respects to Ildarith’s wife.
Navan decided he’d go with them. The previous week, he and his companions had helped the justice system of Magnimar in mounting their case against Ironbriar. They had also ordered some powerful magical items from the city’s best dwarven smiths, but those items needed to be custom-made and wouldn’t be ready for another few weeks. He had time to travel in the mean time.
Fireday, Neth 22nd, 4707
The companions, now famous due to recent events, were invited to a fancy party at the house of a local noble family. Kerista and Ruh were very excited about it, and spent most of the day shopping for clothes. Drithnar and Navan were forced to tag along.
The evening went without major problems; the characters were the main attraction of the night, but they really didn’t fit in the fancy crowd. Drithnar was too rough, Kerista was too shy, Ruh was too weird, and Navan just didn’t give a damn.
Navan left the following morning, but promised to meet the others back in Sandpoint in a few weeks.
Oathday, Neth 28th, 4707
It took a few days for the caravan to reach the small town of Nybor. Most of the travelers in the caravan had been Varisians, but it was a trio of Chelaxians that had especially intrigued Navan. They consisted of a beautiful young woman who was dressed in very expensive clothes which almost, but not totally, hid the fact that she was pregnant; a stout, stern-looking matron; and a burly bodyguard.
One night, Navan approached the pretty girl, whose name was Vorekka Mantiar. She was eager to talk to him, having apparently heard about his exploits in Magnimar. Actually, she even flirted openly with him, and he could easily see how she’d gotten herself in her current situation: she seemed quite “easy”. Indeed, she said that her family were outraged that she’d gotten pregnant before being married, and were sending her to Nybor for a while to avoid tarnishing their reputation. Indeed, Nybor was a town known for its tolerance, with many half-breeds living there and inter-racial marriages a more common occurrence than elsewhere in Varisia. It was not uncommon for noble families of Magnimar to send their young daughters there when they’d become pregnant before being married.
Navan learned that Vorekka was six months pregnant, and that the charming young man who was the father was none other than… Aldern Foxglove. Navan told her that Aldern was now dead, and that he’d been linked to the murderous cultists, but didn’t go into the details of the story. He also, with a certain pleasure I might add, told Vorekka that Aldern had been married, and had killed his wife.
Navan met his parents the night that he arrived in Nybor. His mother told him that he looked thin and hurried to prepare him some food. Both parents were proud when they learned that their son was now a priest of Desna, although Navan didn’t brag about his other recent achievements. He warned his parents about a dream he’d had about them. They’d been in Foxglove Manor, and had been standing near the corpse of Navan’s brother, Kaven. And then, they’d walked forward into the darkness. Navan asked them to be careful from now on, because maybe the dream was a warning.
Navan’s mother gasped when she heard that Kaven had been dead in the dream. She worried a lot for him, because he was now a ranger in Fort Rannick, a frontier outpost that was in constant war with terrible ogres. Kaven had always wanted to prove that he was brave; he’d always looked up to Navan when they were growing up, and had always tried to surpass his older brother. Ms. Attaway hoped that her foolhardy son wouldn’t try anything too dangerous over there.
During the next few days, they paid their respects to uncle Ildarith’s wife. Navan had a chance to talk with a few old travelers who had worked with his uncle. They told him that in recent years, they’d been making a fortune selling weapons to the Sklar-Quah, the Shoanti Clan of the Sun up on the Storval Plateau. But a few weeks ago, their caravan had been attacked by giants and huge bears. Many people had died, including Ildarith; only a few survivors had managed to flee.
Ildarith’s wife gave several people some items that she thought her husband would’ve liked them to have as souvenirs of him. Navan received a flute that his uncle used to play when he was a child. He also saw a small wooden horse that had been one of Kaven’s favorite toys. He took it and assured his aunt that he would personally bring it to his brother. Indeed, his mother’s worry and his wanderlust had made him decide that soon, he would go visit this mysterious Fort Rannick he’d heard so much about, first from Drithnar and now from his mother.
Starday, Kuthona 7th, 4707
Navan arrived back in Sandpoint that day, as he’d promised Kerista that he’d be back for her birthday, which was on the 9th. Though Navan was a wanderer at heart, he felt more at home in Sandpoint that in any other town that he’d visited over the years. He met his friends and learned that they’d also only recently returned. Drithnar and Kerista had trained for some time in the temple of Iomedae, with Goldar and a few fighters and paladins he introduced them to. They’d also enjoyed life in Magnimar for a while, seeing several plays at the Triodea, but now they were back in Sandpoint and intended to stay there for now. They’d each given a thousand gold pieces to Mayor Deverin to help the families of those who’d been killed by the ghouls and goblins during the fall. Kerista had also given another thousand gold pieces to her sister Solrana, so despite the tragedy that she’d suffered a few weeks before, she and her daughter wouldn’t ever again have to worry about money.
Kerista had resumed her post as Sergeant in the town watch, and she and Drithnar planned to start training the guardsmen to improve the defense of Sandpoint. The town had now mostly recovered from the trauma of the goblin raid, of the Glassworks mass-murder, of the discovery of the evil catacomb below the streets, and of the murders perpetrated by Aldern. But the couple wanted to make sure that if another attack came, the town would be ready for it. Navan then realized that, although they were considered by some a group of heroic adventurers, Drithnar and Kerista did not share his thrill for travel and excitement: they were content to just protect their little town. So far, they’d let adventure come to them, they’d hadn’t actively sought it.
Ruh, for her part, had been spending many long hours studying new spells with her mentor, whose skill she could now match: a proud milestone indeed for any student of the arcane arts! She declined Navan’s invitation to travel to Fort Rannick, because she still had many spells she wanted to study, and would be busy with those for at least another month.
Though none of his companions wanted to come along on the trip he was planning to take, Navan’s desire to go visit his brother was made even stronger than night. In a nightmare, he saw Kaven running away from something huge and terrible, in a dark forest. He felt that he was in great danger.
Moonday, Kuthona 9th, 4707
Kerista’s 19th birthday was a pleasant event. In the evening, the companions gathered with her family in Toloria’s house. Also present were Ameiko and Belven, Shalelu, Sheriff Hemlock, Father Zantus, Milenken and several guards.
While the others were playing games, Navan, Drithnar and Shalelu found themselves talking about Navan’s upcoming trip. Drithnar gave him some information about Fort Rannick: it was defending a small town called Turtleback Ferry from the horrors of Hook Mountain. The worst of those was a particularly vicious clan of ogres called the Kreeg. Many brave rangers had perished in skirmishes with those brutes.
Life at Fort Rannick had been very hard, and eventually, Drithnar had gotten weary of it and had left, although ironically, the events that had followed in Sandpoint had proved just as harsh, if not more, than what he’d faced until then in the shadow of Hook Mountain. Drithnar was surprised when he learned that Kaven was Navan’s brother; it had just never come up. Though he now saw the family resemblance, he found the two brothers to be very different: Kaven was funny and fun-loving, and he could also be reckless and there was often a tone of mockery in his jokes. Navan could tell that Drithnar didn’t seem to hold his brother in high regard.
Drithnar also described a few of the rangers. Their commander was Lamatar Bayden, and his officers were Sarianna and Jakardros. Sarianna was a powerful swordswoman who had been Drithnar’s mentor. Jakardros was a grizzled veteran who was excellent with the bow. Both men noticed that Shalelu’s expression grew somber when the man’s name came up. Drithnar said that he was a good man, and that Shalelu should give him a second chance.
Shalelu then lashed out at Drithnar: “Why don’t you drop it, already? Ever since you came back to Sandpoint, you’ve kept pestering me about that jerk. Why don’t you just leave me alone??” With that, she stormed out of the house.
“What was that all about?” asked Navan.
Drithnar sighed. “There’s bad blood between them. You see, Shalelu grew up in a small elven town called Crying Leaf, on the border of the Mierani forest. About thirty years ago, a group of ettercaps led by a green dragon attacked the community and killed many elves, before they were slain by a group of adventurers. The battle had been epic, and all of the adventurers had perished, except one: a human ranger named Jakardros. During the following weeks, he fell in love with an elven woman of Crying Leaf, and they started to live together. She was Shalelu’s mother.
“For some time, they lived like this. Jakardros took the role of Shalelu’s stepfather, even though he was much younger than her. Shalelu’s over 150 years old, did you know that? Anyway. In yet another ironic twist of fate, about three years later, Crying Leaf was again attacked… by the same dragon, which had returned as some kind of undead. Again, an epic battle took place, and many more elves died before the creature was slain; among the victims was Shalelu’s mother.
“Obviously, Shalelu was completely distraught by the terrible loss, but when she looked to Jakardros for comfort, she found that he’d fled town. She’s never forgiven him, and thinks he ran away from the dragon. But I don’t think that’s what happened. He never talked about it with me, but I think he was just too heartbroken from the loss of his lover that he ran away and never looked back. His path eventually took him to Fort Rannick, where he’s been facing death every day. But in a way, it feels like part of him already died back in Crying Leaf.
“I’ve been trying to convince Shalelu to give him a second chance. Jakardros is a good man, I know it. But… you see how she reacts when I bring it up. I owe Shalelu my life, and I respect her a great deal, but she’s too stubborn for her own good sometimes.”
Toilday, Kuthona 10th, 4707
The following day, the companions left for Magnimar. They wanted to go claim the armors and weapons they’d ordered there. The sky was cloudy, but no rain fell down.
That night as they slept in an inn, Navan had another nightmare: this time, he saw Kaven captured by the Skinsaw Cult. A man wearing Ironbriar’s spiral mask cut Navan’s bare chest with a war razor, marking him with the Sihedron Rune. Kaven screamed, and Navan woke up in the middle of the night, sweaty and panting. He realized that he was the one who’d been screaming.
Wealday, Kuthona 11th, 4707
The adventurers went to get their items from the dwarven weapon smiths. Kerista received a magnificent suit of magical full plate armor. It was made of golden metal and was adorned with symbols of Sarenrae and her glittering sun. Kerista put it on and she looked like a heroine of epic proportions in it: she was definitely going to stand out among the Sandpoint guards.
Drithnar, who’d helped Kerista finance her very expensive armor, had purchased something less impressive, but still useful: a magical chain shirt, light armor that could be worn under his traveling clothes.
Ruh had bought a headband of intellect, and Navan had ordered a custom-made magical crossbow that could shoot flaming bolts. The ingenious dwarves had integrated a complex device, partly arcane and partly mechanical, that could generate a small burst of gas at the click of a button. When the trigger of the crossbow was released, a spark was generated, which ignited the bolt into a burst of flame that greatly increased the damage it caused to enemies. Navan tried the weapon on some mannequins that were in the hangar, and he grinned in satisfaction as he saw the effect it had on them. Oh yes, this was going to be a fun weapon to use!
Then, the companions returned to Sandpoint. They’d decided to return to Thistletop and attack Malfeshnekor before Navan left on his trip. They didn’t want to risk Nualia or another villain coming to Thistletop and freeing the demon.
Oathday, Kuthona 12th, 4707
It was a sunny but cool day as the companions traveled the road that led to Nettlewood. It felt strange being here again, because they remembered when they’d traveled it when they were going up against the goblins. It felt so long ago. They’d come a long way since then.
Shalelu came with them. The elven woman seemed bored lately. Most of the goblins had fled the region, so she felt she didn’t really have much use patrolling the wilderness near Sandpoint. She’d kept an eye on Thistletop during the previous weeks and made sure that the few goblins who tried to come back to settle down there were dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Though Drithnar was an experienced ranger, Shalelu’s knowledge of the region was unmatched, and she was able to lead them to Thistletop faster than Drithnar had ever been able to. Drithnar had his chance to shine, though, as he impressed his companions with his new-found ability to walk through the bramble walls at the entrance to the goblin lair.
The group cautiously explored the complex, but found that it was still empty of foes. They reached the massive doors leading to Malfeshnekor’s room. Beyond it, Navan and Drithnar heard a deep voice speaking in a foreign language. Ruh cast a Clairaudience spell and thought she heard him cast a spell to teleport out (but actually, she just completely misunderstood).
The companions prepared themselves with many protective and enhancement spells. Ruh cast a Haste spell on them all, and they opened the doors. The great white furry shape of Malfeshnekor, who’d been invisible until then, suddenly appeared, and he gave the order to defend him. “Yes, master” replied Kerista: she’d been charmed by the fiend!
Drithnar jumped into the room and attacked Malfeshnekor. Ruh cast a powerful Orb of Cold at the creature, which was hit in the face and temporarily blinded. It shrieked in pain and anger, and tried to claw Drithnar, but missed him. Navan tried to paralyze Kerista with a spell, but she resisted and grabbed hold of him, pinning him painfully to the ground.
Shalelu fired some arrows at Malfeshnekor, one of which pierced him very deeply in the chest. Drithnar also wounded the fiend with his sword, but it was Ruh who finished him off with two powerful Scorching Rays. With a furious roar, Malfeshnekor caught on fire, and was destroyed in an unholy blaze!
Kerista blinked for a few moments as the charm spell wore off.
“Navan, what happened? Why are we lying on the floor?”
“You… crushing… can’t breathe!” the man painfully replied.
“Oh, I’m sorry!!”
Kerista relaxed her iron grip on Navan, and then helped him stand up. Navan nodded to her, gasping for breath, and he shot her a murderous glare. Because of her, he hadn’t had a chance to use his cool new weapon against the demon…
The companions searched Malfeshnekor’s abode and found sixty everburning candles, as well as two secret alcoves, one of which contained a small silver chest inside which was a magical Ring of Force Shield. Ruh identified it, and took it.
They returned to Sandpoint, victorious. How easy that fight had seemed now that they were more experienced, and had known what to expect! To think that Drithnar had almost died instantly the last time they’d faced Malfeshnekor, a mere few weeks ago… They celebrated their victory at the Rusty Dragon inn, and there was much rejoicing.
While the others were enjoying themselves, Drithnar and Kerista dancing with some locals, Ruh telling all the details of their fight to Bethana and Ameiko, Shalelu approached Navan who was quietly drinking in a shadowy corner. She told him that she’d been doing a lot of thinking, and had decided that she’d like to go to Fort Rannick as well. Drithnar hadn’t been the only one who’d advised her to forgive Jakardros; Karelias, an elven druid from Crying Leaf who’d previously been Sandpoint’s priest of Gozreh, and Milenken’s mentor, was now living in Fort Rannick and helping the rangers with his talents. He’d also lived through the sadness of the two dragon attacks in Crying Leaf, so he could empathize with Shalelu’s feelings. He’d been sending her messages via bird messengers for years now, trying to convince her to contact Jakardros and to patch things up between them. Now that Sandpoint seemed safe at last, it seemed to be the right time to do that.
Fireday, Kuthona 13th, 4707
Navan and Shalelu bade good-bye to their friends, and traveled to Magnimar. Shalelu had no horse, but since she and Navan were both light, they rode on Navan’s horse together. The trip was dreary: they rode under a cold, windy, rainy weather.
Starday, Kuthona 14th, 4707
The following morning was sunny, but still cool. Navan and Shalelu went to the docks to look for a boat that could take them to Turtleback Ferry. After a few discussions, they found a certain Nilfred Bortikos, a big man with a bushy black beard and a scarf over his head. He offered them passage for free in exchange for help against any dangers they might come across. Apparently, he recognized Navan from the rumors he’d heard around town about some heroes killing a cult of mad serial killers.
Mr. Bortikos was a merchant of cloth, fur and leather who traveled back and forth between Magnimar and Ilsurian. He could take the two companions as far as Ilsurian and from there, they’d have to ride north to Turtleback Ferry. He had room on his barge for Navan’s horse, so that wouldn’t be a problem. Mr. Bortikos employed two sailors for his trips: a tall, blond young man named Lemli, and a thin old man with a gray beard named Salistar.
Sunday, Kuthona 15th, 4707
Navan, Shalelu and the three men left Magnimar on the barge that morning. Mr. Bortikos was a cheerful fellow, who liked to talk, but Navan and Shalelu were much quieter and mostly kept to themselves. They learned, though, that Lemli was a worshipper of Desna, and he asked Navan for some tales of their goddess. Shalelu listened with interest, as it turned out that she, too, followed the goddess of luck and travel.
Moonday, Kuthona 16th, 4707
The barge was making good progress along the Yondabakari River. Mr. Bortikos smiled and said that it was a good thing to have a priest of Desna on board to bring them luck on their trip. Like the previous days, the weather was sunny, although somewhat cold.
During the afternoon, the barge came across two military boats with Magnimar’s emblem. They were rowing back toward Magnimar. Mr. Bortikos briefly spoke with the leading officer on board as they passed the boats. The stern woman introduced herself as Sergeant Tarnia Kynteth, and she said that her squadron had investigated reports of increased Boggard activity in the region. Due to food shortage in winter, the creatures were becoming more aggressive and were threatening travelers in the region.
Navan asked what a Boggard was, and the Sergeant grinned and pulled back a cloth that had been covering a cage in the center of her boat. Inside it was a battered and sullen-looking frog-man. The Sergeant bade them a good day and warned them to be wary of those Boggards, adding also that Marsh Giant tracks had been seen along the shore, ahead…
Later, Shalelu stood watch the entire night, but thankfully, they were not attacked.
Toilday, Kuthona 17th, 4707
After another uneventful day of traveling along the river, the barge arrived in the town of Wartle. The place was a ramshackle trading post full of swampers and fur traders. The evening air was foggy as the boat made its way into the city, among the buildings which were on top of stilts.
Once they had docked, Mr. Bortikos did a bit of trading in town, while Navan and Shalelu headed to the closest inn, noticing along the way that, strangely enough, the town had several brothels. Most likely, the men of the swamp needed some entertainment to get their mind off of the dreariness of their surroundings.
In the inn, Navan spoke with a few locals and shared some Bog Grog with them, an alcoholic beverage filled with grit that the drinker must strain out with his teeth. He heard some local rumors, but nothing particularly interesting for an adventurer.
Wealday, Kuthona 18th, 4707
The following morning, the trip along the Yondabakari River continued. On the north side of the river was Sanos Forest, from which strange bird cries and animal sounds were emerging from time to time. The good weather was still holding, and now it was even warmer than before. Unfortunately, it meant that despite being almost in winter, the crew was plagued with Fang Flies, annoying parasites that had to be removed with open flame.
Mr. Bortikos commented that the region had been hit by heavy rains in the past few weeks. Because of this, the banks of the river had swollen in this area, making it more difficult to navigate along its normal course, and causing a risk of running aground.
Oathday, Kuthona 19th, 4707
The following morning, the barge did in fact get stuck against the trunk of a large fallen tree, which had been submerged barely below the surface of the water. The crew spent some time trying to pry the barge from this entanglement. Unfortunately, Lemli dislodged from the trunk something that at first seemed to be a large bee hive, but turned out to be the nest of several vicious stirges which attacked the whole crew.
With shouts of panic, the passengers tried to get rid of the annoying creatures. Navan and Shalelu shot down one each, and Mr. Bortikos cut another strige in two with his scimitar. Lemli and Salistar both got pierced by the stirges’ darts, and feebly tried to detach the creatures from their veins. Eventually, with Shalelu and Navan’s help, they got rid of the parasites, and the last few remaining striges flew away in panic. Navan healed the two wounded sailors, who thanked him profusely. “Thank Desna that you were with us on this trip, my friend,” said Mr. Bortikos.
Later that night, the barge reached the town of Whistledown, which was known as the largest settlement of gnomes in Varisia. The group passed many small, white-brick houses along the way to the Azure Cup Inn. Slightly eerie sounds were coming from the wind chimes attached to the porch of the various houses. Even stranger was the behavior of the town’s many gnome residents. Though extremely polite, their wide, unblinking eyes and cunning smiles were quite unnerving to the human visitors. Once again, Navan realized that, compared to most gnomes he’d met over the years, Ruh was much more “normal”.
Fireday, Kuthona 20th, 4707
That day, the barge navigated the edge of Lake Syrantula, and reached the town of Ilsurian early in the evening. Navan knew that this town had been founded by dissenters from Korvosa a few decades before, and that they had a wary, warlike attitude. Indeed, the whole town seemed on edge, and the locals regarded Navan and Shalelu with undisguised animosity. Due to this, the two companions didn’t try to mingle, and kept to themselves the whole night.
Mr. Bortikos reminded them that his barge’s journey stopped here, so they were on their own from here on. He thanked them again for their help against the stirges, and wished them good luck.
Starday, Kuthona 21st, 4707
The following morning was another beautiful, sunny one. The two companions rode north on Navan’s horse, along the Skull River’s eastern shore. To their right was the Ashwood. Sharing the same horse might’ve been a romantic experience for the two attractive adventurers, but they both kept their hands and their thoughts to themselves, and rode in silence for most of the day.
Sunday, Kuthona 22nd, 4707
After camping at the edge of the forest, the characters continued their journey north the next day. They passed by the small fishing thorp of Pendaka, on the southern shore of Claybottom Lake, where they sampled the inn’s delicious cranberry turtle egg pies.
Early in the evening, they finally reached Turtleback Ferry. It was a small town of around five hundred inhabitants, located along the northern edge of Claybottom Lake. While they were looking for the inn, the characters noticed a big barge floating a few dozen yards from the shore; it was lit with lamps of various colors, and from it emerged the sound of music and laughter.
The two companions entered the town’s inn, the Turtle’s Parlor. They took two rooms for the night, and ordered a warm meal. Soon, they were approached by two middle-aged fishermen who introduced themselves as Parkalas and Ulerto. They asked who the characters were in a friendly manner, and were pleased when they heard they were going to visit the rangers, hoping that maybe they were going to join the order of the Black Arrows, the rangers of Fort Rannick.
Navan and Shalelu learned some useful information from the two men. Turtleback Ferry had always lived under the threat of the terrible ogres of Hook Mountain, but 45 years ago, Magnimar had come to their defense and had started the construction of Fort Rannick, situated between the town and the dangerous mountains. The keep had been manned by the deadly Black Arrow Rangers, who’d defeated the Ogres in the Battle of Broken Tree Valley, 45 years ago. Since then, over the decades, the ogres had still skirmished with the rangers, but had never mounted a full-scale raid like they used to do.
Still, the mountain was dangerous, and the brave hunters, miners or loggers who lived in the region knew that they might one day fall prey to its vicious denizens. The rangers themselves lost a few of their numbers to the ogres every year.
Moreover, over the years, some humans had been captured by the ogres, and a new kind of horror had started to inhabit the region: half-ogre brutes. Those inbred degenerates lived mostly in Kreegwood, making it a very dangerous place indeed. Nowadays, all but the most foolhardy hunters stayed out of that dangerous forest, and hunted in the Ashwood instead.
Turtleback Ferry had earned its name from three ferries made of the shells of giant snapping turtles that had been slain by the town’s founder, a powerful fighter named Autek Lavendy, a hundred years ago. Also of note was the barge called Paradise, a floating gambling den, where locals could enjoy themselves after a hard day’s work. Paradise had come to Turtleback Ferry about a year and a half before, and had quickly become famous even as far back as Ilsurian and Melfesh. Its owner was an elegant woman named Lucrecia.
The companions also heard of the nearby thorp of Bitter Hollow, whose inhabitants were mostly hunters who traded with the mysterious gnomes of Sanos Forest. A road lined with magical lamps, called the Wicker Walk, led from Bitter Hollow into the gnome homeland, but travelers were warned not to bring trouble into the enchanted forest. On the west side of Claybottom Lake was a marsh called the Shimmerglens, which was inhabited by all kinds of strange fey creatures, especially near the area called Whitewillow.
Fishing was good in Claybottom Lake, as long as one stayed clear of the dangerous western side, which was infested with giant gars, giant snapping turtles, and night belly boas. Coal Lake, to the northwest, was filled with even more dangerous breeds of creatures, as well as black algae, so no fishing took place there.
Rumors around town spoke of a group of bandits that had been plaguing the region as of late. They were apparently led by a powerful fighter in black armor. Apparently, the Black Arrow rangers were trying to locate and exterminate them.
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The characters are now level 7. Here’s some updated information about them. Note that we haven’t switched to the Pathfinder rules yet, but we probably will some time in the future.
Navan Attaway (CG Male Human Rogue Level 2, Cleric Level 5) – Worships Desna
Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 12 Int: 14 Wis: 15 Cha: 14; AC: 17, HP: 56
Height: 5’10”. Weight: 136 lbs, Age: 28, Date of birth: Arodus 20, 4679
Long brown hair, brown eyes, always looks like he needs a shave, wears a scarf and a long cloak over travel-worn clothes, as well as a cool feathered hat. Fights with a crossbow.
Feats: Precise Shot, Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus: Light Crossbow, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot.
Weakness: Weaker Fortitude.
Skills: Appraise 6, Bluff 9, Concentration 10, Diplomacy 10, Disable Device 10, Gather Information 3, Hide 5, Knowledge: Religion 5, Spot 8, Open Lock 10, Search 12, Sense Motive 6, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 4, Swim 2, Tumble 6.
Main gear: Flaming Light Crossbow +1, Sihedron Medallion, Cloak of Resistance +1, Hat of Disguise.
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Ruh (NG Female Gnome Wizard [Conjuror], Level 7) – Worships Sarenrae and Nethys
Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 16 Int: 19 Wis: 10 Cha: 10; AC: 15, HP: 45
Height: 3’3”. Weight: 32 lbs, Age: 66, Date of birth: Gozran 27, 4641
Brown hair, blue eyes, dresses like a gipsy. Has an elaborate Varisian tattoo. Fights with a small glowing staff.
Feats: Scribe Scroll, Wizard’s Staff, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Augment Summoning, Varisian Tattoo: Conjuration.
Skills: Concentration 12, Craft: Alchemy 9, Hide 8, Knowledge: Arcana 10, Knowledge: Religion 7, Knowledge: History 8, Knowledge: Geography 5, Spot 4, Search 5, Sense Motive 1, Spellcraft 12.
Main gear: Cloak of Resistance +1, Ring of Protection +1, Headband of Intellect +2, Ring of Force Shield, various wands.
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Drithnar (NG Male Human Ranger, Level 7) – Worships Desna
Str: 16 Dex: 15 Con: 14 Int: 12 Wis: 14 Cha: 8; AC: 20, HP: 57
Height: 6’1”. Weight: 210 lbs, Age: 22, Date of birth: unknown
Long black hair, green eyes, ruggedly handsome, wears a chain shirt under heavy traveler’s clothes and wields a Longsword and a War Razor.
Feats: Track, Dodge, Two-Weapon Fighting, Endurance, Mobility, Two-Weapon Defense, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Big Game Hunter.
Favored Enemies: Giants (+4), Undead (+2).
Skills: Balance 10, Climb 12, Heal 3, Hide 9, Intimidate 13, Jump 4, Knowledge: Nature 9, Ride 3, Search 6, Spot 12, Survival 12, Swim 3, Tumble 13.
Main gear: Longsword +1 (Koruvus’s), War Razor +1 (Aldern’s), Chain Shirt +2, Amulet of Natural Armor +1.
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Kerista Vigandir (LG Female Human Paladin, Level 7) – Worships Sarenrae
Str: 17 Dex: 12 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 14; AC: 23, HP: 78
Height: 5’10”. Weight: 170lbs, Age: 19, Date of birth: Kuthona 9, 4688
Long dark brown hair, brown eyes, attractive but a bit on the heavy side, wears a beautiful golden plate armor and wields an Earthbreaker.
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Iron Will, Weapon Focus: Earthbreaker.
Skills: Diplomacy 8, Knowledge: Religion 4, Ride 2, Sense Motive 12.
Main gear: Earthbreaker +1, Full Plate Armor +3, Ring of Protection +1.
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Moonday, Kuthona 23rd, 4707
The following morning, Navan and Shalelu mounted up on Navan’s horse and left Turtleback Ferry behind them. They followed a road heading northeast, along the course of the Skull river. The road was built on a rise that followed the river at an altitude of several dozen feet. Below them, to their left, the churning, cold water flowed steadily toward Claybottom Lake.
The two companions rode over High Bridge, a sturdy wooden structure spanning the valley of Skull River, and continued their way northeast. They kept a wary eye on the edge of Kreegwood, to their left, for they had heard that the place was inhabited by particularly vicious creatures. Thankfully, though, they were not disturbed in their voyage, and shortly after noon, they entered a wide, rocky valley that ran along the southern edge of the mountains. This bleak landscape stretched on for miles along the border between Kreegwood and the mountains.
Finally, at the northern end of the valley, they came in sight of Fort Rannick. The grim fortress of dark gray stone was standing sentinel over the valley, huddled desperately at the base of two sheer cliff sides. Sturdy fifteen-foot-high walls ringed the citadel. Like the face of a veteran with decades of winters under his belt, the fort’s craters, cracks and scars were testament to its battle-weary history. A stone keep, a stubborn shadow against the mountainside, rose from behind the worn walls, a single tower jutting up from its ramparts like an ugly broken tooth. Nearby, a rushing curtain of white water cascaded down the mountainside into a large pool of water just outside the fort’s walls.
About a hundred feet outside the ramparts stood a large funeral pyre. As they passed closer to it, Navan and Shalelu noticed that it had been built recently. Clearly, death was a frequent occurrence in this place.
The two companions were hailed at the gate by archers standing watch on the battlements. After introducing themselves, they were allowed inside, where they were greeted by a towering Shoanti man called Vale Temros. Navan mentioned that he was Kaven’s brother, and Shalelu said she knew Jakardros. They also mentioned Drithnar’s name; at this, Vale’s face brightened. He clearly considered Drithnar a close friend. Navan briefly told him about Drithnar’s death, and subsequent reincarnation into a human. Vale nodded, and said that he guessed his friend must be quite happy about the change. He also informed Navan that his brother was currently on patrol, but should return within a few days.
Vale led the two companions inside the keep proper, where he introduced them to other inhabitants of the fort. One of them was a tall, wise-looking elf who was accompanied by a brown-furred dire wolf. He was Karelias, the local druid and former priest of Gozreh in Sandpoint. Shalelu greeted him warmly, and they both talked merrily in the elven tongue for a few minutes, while Vale introduced Navan to a rotund man with a bushy moustache: he was the keep’s priest of Erastil, named Father Damrog.
After a few minutes of conversation, Navan and Shalelu noticed that Vale and Karelias seemed a bit uncomfortable. Their attention shifted to a dark-haired man with a goatee and an eyepatch, who’d been standing in bit further down the hall, watching the two newcomers. He looked like a grim, scarred veteran and carried a beautiful bow made of a silver-colored wood at his back. In a hoarse voice, he was the one who broke the silence:
“Shalelu… You haven’t aged a day. You look as beautiful as ever.”
Shalelu froze as she realized the blunder that she’d made. She hadn’t even recognized him. Although she knew how frighteningly fast those unfortunate humans aged, she hadn’t actually pictured how different Jakardros would’ve looked after all these years. He had been a handsome, vigorous young man the last time she’d seen him. Now, he was a scarred shell of his former self.
Navan introduced himself to Jakardros and said he was a priest of Desna. At this, for some reason, Jakardros grew even grimmer, and after having briefly shaken Navan’s hand, he excused himself and left.
That evening, Navan and Shalelu ate in the dining room with the fort’s commander, Lamatar Bayden. The tall, handsome middle-aged veteran welcomed them warmly to Fort Rannick. He asked for news of Drithnar, and Navan then told the gathered rangers about his group’s latest adventures, including the twisted fate of Drithnar, from the shock of discovering Nualia’s true nature, to dying by her hand, to being reincarnated into a human. Lamatar, Vale, Jakardros, Karelias and the other rangers gathered there listened with attention to the tale: though Drithnar had apparently been merely a low-ranking soldier at the keep, it seemed he had been well-liked.
Lamatar then told Navan and Shalelu that Drithnar had chosen a good moment to leave Fort Rannick. Since then, the main enemies of the rangers, the vicious ogres of the Kreeg Clan, had become more and more active and ferocious. It seemed that something had agitated them, but when the rangers increased patrols in the mountains to try to find out more, it only seemed to anger the brutes even further. Almost thirty rangers had perished since the summer, which represented around a third of the garrison’s forces. Lamatar had sent several pleas to Magnimar for reinforcements in the past few months, but they had so far not been answered.
Lamatar asked the two companions if they intended to stay in the region for a while: he admitted that Fort Rannick could use every able-bodied combatant it could find.
Shalelu spent most of the evening speaking with Karelias. It seemed as though she was purposefully avoiding Jakardros. After having traveled so far to confront him, the elven woman seemed to be unable to lower her defenses and ask him the questions she’d wanted to ask him for so long…
Toilday, Kuthona 24th, 4707
The following day, Navan and Shalelu went on a patrol with a few rangers, to get a better knowledge of the region. Navan met a gorgeous young woman named Narinda. Her parents and two older brothers had all been killed by Kreeg Ogres when she was ten years old. She’d managed to flee the family cabin in the forest, but had been pursued by the monsters, until Lamatar Bayden, who’d been patrolling the woods, had come rushing to her help. He’d slain the ogres and saved her life. Since then, he’d been taking care of her as his adopted daughter.
Narinda was young, around the same age as Kerista, and seemed quite hot-tempered, impatient to finish her ranger’s training so she could be sent on exciting missions, but so far, Lamatar proved much too protective for her liking. She added that her boyfriend, a brave and handsome man named Sangar, was the best swordsman of the Black Arrows, and that she wanted to be able to fight at his side.
During the day, Navan saw that Shalelu and Jakardros spoke together, but after a few minutes, Shalelu stormed off: it looked like she wasn’t ready to forgive Jakardros after all.
During the evening, Navan performed a ceremony to Desna in the keep. Most of the Black Arrows were followers of Erastil or Gozreh, but a few worshiped Desna: Narinda, Jakardros and a good-natured gnome ranger named Forbino were among those. Shalelu was also present, and there was still some tension between her and Jakardros. Later, Navan spoke to her and tried to convince her to try harder to understand Jakardros: according to Navan, the man hadn’t fled Crying Leaf out of cowardice, but rather, because he couldn’t bear the pain of having lost his one true love.
Wealday, Kuthona 25th, 4707
Navan did some more exploration that day with the Black Arrows. When they came back to the fort, he heard someone calling his name loudly. He turned around and saw his brother Kaven, running toward him with a wide grin. The brothers hugged each other and exchanged news. Navan informed Kaven of the death of their uncle, and gave him the wooden horse toy, which brought a big smile to Kaven’s face. He also told him about Drithnar, to which Kaven grimaced. From what he said, Navan understood that Kaven did not hold Drithnar in high regard: he saw him as a coward who’d left Fort Rannick when things got too dangerous, and had gone off to get the status of hero by killing a few goblins near a comfortable little coastal town, rather than staying here and really risking his life against ogres.
Kaven then told Navan about his recent patrol: he’d found tracks of the bandits in the forest. They seemed to be led by a Hellknight, from the reports that he’d heard by some people in Pendaka, and had some halflings or gnomes with them. In a serious voice, Navan then told Kaven about his dreams. Kaven seemed troubled by them, and asked more questions about this mysterious Sihedron rune, which Navan said was a symbol of ancient magic used in the Thassilonian empire, but had been used by goblins and murderous cultists operating near Sandpoint and Magnimar.
Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of two rangers, carrying one of their wounded comrades, through one of the gates. Navan went to their help and healed the wounded ranger. He then spoke with the other two. One of them was Sarianna, a tall, athletic woman with long dark hair streaked with gray, who had a feral firepelt cougar following her around. The other was a muscular, devilishly handsome young man. Before he could introduce himself, Narinda came running out of the keep and shouted “Sangar!” She jumped into his arms and kissed him passionately.
“Get a room…” mumbled Kaven.
Lamatar also came to see the returning patrols, and while the two love birds were kissing, Sarianna told Lamatar, Navan, Kaven and the few other rangers around that her patrol of eight had run into a large band of ogres led by a shaman which mastered some kind of fire magic. They’d managed to slay a few of the enemies, but had been forced to retreat. Only herself, Sangar and the ranger that Navan had healed had come back alive from that encounter. Sarianna, who understood the language of ogres and giants, said that she’d overheard the brutes discussing a plan that would kill everyone in “that stinking human town”.
Later that evening, Navan again sat near Lamatar Bayden, and discussed strategies with him, Sarianna, Jakardros and Karelias. They had by now heard about Navan’s other companions and how they’d saved Sandpoint and Magnimar from grave perils. Lamatar asked Navan if his companions would be willing to join them for an assault on the Kreeg Ogres. Navan said he wasn’t sure, but that he was willing to at least ask them. Karelias asked him to write a note to them, which he’d send to Milenken, his former apprentice in Sandpoint, by an animal messenger. Lamatar would also include a new request for additional troops which Navan’s companions could bring to the authorities in Magnimar.
At some point during the night, Navan’s eyes caught Kaven’s. He was surprised to see the look of hatred that his brother was flashing him for a moment, before resuming his laughing and joking with the rest of the rangers at the foot of the table. Unintentionally, Navan had again outshone his brother, stirring his jealousy: after just a few days at the keep, he was already consulted by the leaders of the place in manners of strategy, a thing that Kaven, even after a few years, still couldn’t claim.
Oathday, Kuthona 26th, 4707
The following day, the combat training taking place in the keep’s courtyard was even more intensive than usual. The rangers all knew that some difficult battles lay ahead of them in the coming weeks, as the ogres grew bolder and their own numbers dwindled more and more.
Navan observed the combatants and noted that Sarianna and Sangar were the two most skilled with the blades, though Kaven was also very good, using his rapier and dagger with great dexterity, and feinting often and efficiently to baffle his foes. Vale was also a powerful fighter due to his impressive size and strength.
Lamatar had apparently gone out on patrol during the night and did not take part in this training, nor did Jakardros, who was apparently one of the best archers of the keep, in part due to his magical bow which shot arrows of lightning. Navan showed off his own impressive skills with the crossbow, and competed with a friend of his brother, a gnarly, bald Varisian named Keimos. The man’s skin was almost completely covered in tattoos and he looked rather sinister. In the end, Keimos’ shots were a bit more precise than Navan’s, but still, the older man congratulated him in Varisian for being “a damn good shot, for a priest”.
Moonday, Kuthona 30th, 4707
For the next four days, torrential rains fell down upon the region. Very few patrols were sent out of the keep, and most of the rangers huddled inside during the day. Navan had the chance to get to know some of them a lot better.
Vale was a lover of strategy and architecture. Nobody at Fort Rannick could beat him in a game of chess. He’d lived in Fort Rannick all his life, along with his two younger brothers. Sadly, their parents had both been killed by ogres from Hook Mountain a number of years ago.
According to the rumors, Sarianna and Keimos had both once been bandits. Sarianna came from Cheliax, and had fled to Varisia to escape the large bounty that had been put on her head. Keimos also had supposedly murdered at least 10 people before joining the Black Arrows, perhaps to atone for his sins.
Karelias had another apprentice in Fort Rannick, a shy, young half-elf girl named Lelliria Wolf-Friend, who as her name implied, had a wolf as an animal companion (though it was much smaller than Selvahir, Karelias’ Dire Wolf pet).
Forbino, the gnome ranger, usually patrolled on the back of one of the giant eagles that lived in the aerie above Fort Rannick. Despite his cheerful appearance, like Vale and Narinda, he’d lost both of his parents to the brutality of the Kreeg Ogres. Because of that, he’d chosen to join the humans in their war against the vile creatures.
There were very few women at Fort Rannick, and most of the rangers were bachelors, but Narinda and Sangar made a beautiful couple, although they were often teased by their comrades. The powerful Sangar hailed from Magnimar, where he’d worked as a city guard, but being very hot-tempered and not very good at taking stupid orders, he’d left the boring post and came to Fort Rannick instead, where his bravery and tempestuous soul would be more satisfied, and where his skill with the blades would be more useful. It was destiny itself, it seemed, that had brought the attractive couple together, the dashing swordsman and the gorgeous orphan girl.
During the four days, finally, Shalelu started acting decently toward Jakardros, and although Navan was not present during their long discussions, he got the impression that she finally realized how deeply Jakardros had loved her mother, Seanthia, who’d also been a priestess of Desna, and how devastated he’d been by her death, so much so that he’d felt an overpowering need to cut all ties to Crying Leaf, Shalelu, or anything else that reminded him of Seanthia.
Often in the evening, the rangers would be entertained by the sweet sound of Lelliria’s singing. She was accompanied by Forbino’s flute and Karelias’s lyre. Sometimes, though, the rangers had to politely endure the poetry of Petter. The unfortunate young man was a simpleton who’d been hit on the head by a horse when he was a child, and since then, his mind hadn’t quite been right. Still, the kind rangers took care of him and treated him as one of their own.
During his stay, Navan also heard some rumors about the powerful creatures of the region. A clan of werebears were said to live in Ashwood, and though they avoided humans, they kept the forest safe from ogres and other such monsters. Black Magga was an enormous water dragon said to live in the dark waters of Storval Deep. It was said that the few who survived seeing her could not speak of it, for if they did, black blood would well from their mouths, choking their words. According to Forbino, a prophecy among the gnomes of Sanos Forest said that Black Magga was older even than the gods, and immune to their power, but that the mortal hero who would one day vanquish her would be immune as well, after bathing in the foul blood of her heart. Finally, Navan heard that a gigantic and horrifying black-feathered Roc named the Doom Shrieker nested high in the nearby mountains and was the most dangerous predator of the region.
Lamatar came back during the evening of Kuthona 30th, just in time to celebrate the new year with his troops. That evening, everyone at the fort had a good time, and for one night, they forgot about the menace of the Hook Mountain ogres. They drank, danced, and laughed together. And it was a good thing, because the survivors of the horrors that would soon follow would always remember that night when they’d enjoyed the company of their loyal friends.
Toilday, Abadius 1st, 4708
The following day, Kaven left in a patrol headed for Hook Mountain. Later in the day, a villager from Turtleback Ferry arrived at Fort Rannick. He was agitated, and his horse looked very tired, as if it had been ridden hard. The man informed the rangers that Paradise, the floating gambling den, had sunken during the night. No survivors had been found.
Navan, Shalelu, Vale, and another ranger named Sannon were sent to investigate the tragedy. They reached Turtleback Ferry late in the afternoon. The town was in turmoil, with many villagers near the shore, gathering the bodies that a few divers had managed to recover. Sannon, a good swimmer, went to help the villagers. Meanwhile, the others helped to move the bodies to the town’s biggest building, the church of Erastil.
There, the companions met Father Maelin Shreed, the mayor of the village and the local priest of Erastil. He was an elderly man with a short white beard and a wise face which was currently stricken with grief. After some time, Navan went to have a meal at the Turtle’s Parlor inn. There, he noticed a man drinking alone in a shadowy corner. He was hunched over his mug of ale, and every now and then, his shoulders shook as if he were weeping. Navan approached him carefully and recognized Parkalas, one of the fishermen who’d approached him on his first night in Turtleback Ferry.
Navan learned that Parkalas’s best friend, Ulerto, had perished in Paradise. He’d gone there that night to enjoy himself for the new year’s eve. Parkalas would’ve gone with him, but he felt sick that night, and didn’t go. After spending some time with him, Navan noticed, when Parkalas raised his ale mug to take a drink, that he had a small tattoo on his right forearm. A tattoo in the shape of the Sihedron Rune… Navan tactfully questioned the now quite drunk fisherman and learned that he’d obtained that tattoo from Lady Lucrecia aboard Paradise. He showed Parkalas his Sihedron Medallion, which bore the same sign. Parkalas smirked and told Navan that now it would be of no more use to him. When asked about it, he informed Navan that the mark had been given as a gift to those Lady Lucrecia deemed her best customers; it allowed them to receive the best treatment in Paradise. But he asked Navan to keep it a secret; Lady Lucrecia had asked him to be discreet about it, and he wanted to honor her request, even in death.
Intrigued, Navan returned to the church and examined the bodies that had been brought there. There had been twenty-five casualties. He found only one of them with the Sihedron Rune on his forearm. Then, with Father Shreed’s permission, he cast a Speak with Dead spell on the corpse. He learned from the man’s spirit that the crew and passengers had not been able to exit the barge, because the doors had all been blocked. Just like Parkalas had said, the man said that the tattoo gave him special treatment in Paradise.
Navan then questioned the corpse of a beautiful, scantily clad young woman. He learned that the special treatment customers with that mark had been entitled to had been “whatever they wanted”. Also, he learned that the price of getting such a mark had been 50 gold pieces and the proof of being a good customer.
Navan then asked which of those bodies was Lady Lucrecia’s. Father Shreed, Vale and Sannon looked at each other uncomfortably.
“We never found her body…” said Sannon.
Pondering all of this, Navan went to bed at the inn. During the night, he had a very vivid nightmare, in which he was swimming at the bottom of a large body of water. Around him were submerged buildings that looked familiar. Were they Turtleback Ferry’s? Or Sandpoint’s? He swam from house to house, looking for something. He couldn’t remember what. Inside each house were dead bodies, and they were all marked with the Sihedron Rune. Many of them were strangers, but some of them were people he knew: Parkalas; Kaven; Shalelu; Drithnar; Father Zantus.
Wealday, Abadius 2nd, 4708
The following morning, Navan continued his investigation a bit. He asked around town if people thought that Parkalas was a greedy man, but the answer was mostly negative. He was not pictured as a particularly greedy person by his peers. Navan went to visit the middle-aged fisherman again and examined his tattoo. It did not radiate magic. Navan asked him a few more questions, and again, Parkalas asked him not to talk too much about his tattoo to other people.
Later in the day, Navan and the rangers returned to Fort Rannick and reported that they’d seen to Lamatar Bayden.
Fireday, Abadius 4th, 4708
During the day, Kaven came back to Fort Rannick. He looked bruised and bloodied, and neither of his two companions had returned. Several rangers came to his aid, and Navan healed his wounds. Kaven told Lamatar and the other rangers that he and his companions had found what looked like a place of worship where some Kreeg ogres, as well as some man-sized beings performed some kind of ceremony. The humanoids had worn black and red robes, and carried staves adorned with a skull at their tip. Neither Navan nor the other priests recognized such colors of symbols as tied to a particular faith. Judging that this seemed like a key part of the Kreegs’ plot, Lamatar decided that the following day, a strong strike team would be sent there to investigate, and kill or capture any cultists they found.
Navan told his brother that Paradise had sunk, and Kaven was shocked. Navan knew that his brother had liked to gamble there from time to time. He looked somewhat relieved to hear that Lucrecia’s body hadn’t been found; he was probably hoping that she’d managed to survive, though Navan hinted that he strongly suspected her of having had something to do with the sinking of the ship.
While he was healing him, Navan sneakily examined his brother’s forearm for a Sihedron Rune, but he found none.
Starday, Abadius 5th, 4708
The following morning, the large patrol left Fort Rannick. It was led by Jakardros and Sarianna, and contained Vale, Kaven, Sangar, Forbino, Sannon, Lelliria, Keimos and four other rangers. Navan and Shalelu also went. Various animal companions also came along: Kibb, Jakardros’s black bear companion, as well as Lelliria’s wolf, Sarianna’s firepelt cougar, and Forbino’s giant eagle mount.
Kaven led the group through treacherous mountain passes during the whole day. The way was difficult, and progress was slow. As the afternoon wore on, the animals started to get more and more nervous. Suddenly, Forbino, who had been flying above as a scout, came down and alerted his companions, pointing back at the sky. There, they could all see a large flying shape that seemed to be heading their way.
“The Doom Shrieker…” muttered Jakardros, his face pale with fear.
“We must find cover, or else we’re all doomed!” said Sarianna.
The rangers scrambled and started looking for a cave where to hide. Looking back over their shoulders from time to time, they saw the Roc getting closer and closer. Its feathers were jet black: it looked like a gigantic raven.
“Up there! I see a cave entrance!” shouted Kaven.
They climbed up as fast as they could toward the cave entrance, but the slope was treacherous. Soon, they heard the sound of huge wings flapping, and a horribly loud shriek rang in their ears. The rangers turned around, and gripped their ranged weapons. The enormous bird was hit by several arrows, and shrieked with even greater anger. It kept flying toward them, and it suddenly swooped down and grabbed one of the rangers in its gigantic talons. The man’s screams were mercifully cut short when the bird squeezed the life out of him, and pecked his head off with its beak.
While the bird was flying away, circling to make another dive attack, the rangers kept climbing up, and they finally reached the cave. Quickly lighting their way with a magical Light spell, Navan led the way in. The cave was, thankfully, uninhabited, and large enough for all of them to huddle out of reach of the Doom Shrieker’s claws, with which it tried to grab more preys from the little hole. The rangers fired more arrows at the enormous beast, which shrieked in pain again, and finally retreated.
A few of the rangers went to the opening of the cave to see if the Roc had left, but it hadn’t and they quickly hurried back inside before they got attacked.
“We’re trapped!” snarled Jakardros.
Sarianna was counting the rangers gathered in the cave, making sure everyone was there. “Who was it that got caught? I couldn’t see.”
“Sannon,” answered Vale in a grim tone. “It was Sannon.”
Kaven patted the stone wall at the back of the cave and chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” asked Vale testily.
“Oh, nothing really,” replied Kaven. “I just realized that we’re stuck between a Roc and a hard place.”
It seemed that the Doom Shrieker was as patient as it was fierce. The rangers waited for a few long hours for the beast to leave, but in vain. Eventually, since night had by then fallen, they decided to camp in the cave for the night. The mood around the camp was dour; this expedition was definitely not going well, so far.
Sunday, Abadius 6th, 4708
The following morning, Navan was woken up by his brother.
“The bird’s gone,” he said. “The way is clear. We can go now.”
The rangers continued to walk carefully along the treacherous path that Kaven showed them. After a few more hours, though, their way was blocked by a massive landslide. Kaven looked around in dismay.
“I… I can’t believe it. It was right here. I’m sure… It… There must’ve been a landslide after I left.”
“Maybe the roc caused the landslide?” said Sangar.
“No,” replied Jakardros. “We would’ve heard it, even back in the cave. But it does look recent… It might’ve happened after you left, Kaven. Now, I wonder if it was an accident, or if the ogres knew you’d managed to escape and blocked the way on purpose. Forbino, go and take a look from up there.”
The little gnome nodded and flew on ahead. After a few minutes, he came back.
“The whole valley’s blocked. If there was anything there, it’s buried under tons of boulders now.”
“This could be an illusion, though,” suggested Navan. “Have you tried touching the stones?”
“Aye, I have. We gnomes know a thing or two about illusions, and this doesn’t seem like one at all.”
“So what now?” asked Vale, looking at Jakardros and Sarianna, the expedition leaders.
The two looked at each other in silence.
“There’s not much we can do,” said Sarianna.
“No,” said Jakardros. “Well, then, no use wasting any more time here. Let’s head back to Fort Rannick.”
With low spirits, the rangers turned around and started making their way back toward the keep. They had another long day of treacherous hiking ahead of them. Navan heard murmurs from several of the rangers: they were clearly blaming Kaven for this waste of time. Kaven seemed to have overheard as well, because he looked very ashamed of having wasted everyone’s time, and was sweating despite the chill mountain wind.
After a few hours, Forbino once again flew down with grim news.
“I’ve spotted a large war band of ogres several miles ahead of us. They… They look like they’re heading toward Fort Rannick.”
A moment of silence followed as everyone was weighing the implications. With fifteen of its best warriors out on patrol, the fort was particularly vulnerable.
“We must make haste, then,” said Jakardros. “There’s no time to lose.”
“Still, it’s a strange coincidence, wouldn’t you say?” said Sangar.
“What is it, Sangar?”
“All of this. An expedition of fifteen rangers to go look at a landslide. A night trapped in a cave by a Roc. The timing couldn’t have been better, could it, Kaven?”
All eyes turned to Kaven, who looked pale. He was staring at the big warrior.
Sangar walked closer to him.
“You’ve really done it this time, boy. You’ve led us all on a wild goose chase, haven’t you?”
“Don’t worry, Sangar,” said Kaven with some of his regular sarcasm returning, “I’m sure you’ll be back in time to show us all what a great hero you are, and to save that little whore of yours.”
The inevitable punch that followed hit Kaven squarely in the jaw and sent him sprawling to the floor.
“You little piece of sh…” said Sangar, who was gripped by Sarianna and Vale before he could do more damage to the Varisian man.
“Enough!!!” yelled Jakardros. “You fools, we’ve got more important things to worry about right now! We have to get back to Fort Rannick NOW! Do you hear me?! We’ll worry about whose fault this was once we’ve secured the keep.”
Navan helped his brother stand up. Kaven avoided his eyes in shame as he wiped the blood from his chin.
And so the group continued forward. They kept a steady pace, which Navan was having more and more difficulty following. The rangers were hardy folk, used to hiking on a daily basis. Their endurance was astounding. Poor Navan was soon panting loudly, his lungs afire, trying to keep up with the agile, lithe form of Shalelu who was hustling ahead of him.
The day seemed to stretch for an eternity. Soon, Navan was almost dazed with fatigue. Every now and then, Forbino would swoop down toward the rangers, and deliver increasingly alarming reports. What he’d at first thought to be a war band turned out to be a veritable horde of ogres. He estimated their numbers at around seventy.
“Seventy ogres? How are we going to kill seventy ogres?” asked an unknown voice from ahead of Navan.
He only understood one word from the mumbled reply: “suicide”.
It was night by the time they reached the outskirts of Fort Rannick. A torrential rain was now pouring down, making visibility very limited. As they watched from the edge of the forest, a terrible scene played out in front of the rangers: the huge force of ogres had managed to breach the northern gate, and had already infiltrated the courtyard. The sounds of the pitched battle came from inside, of the brave rangers dying under the clubs and hooks of the ogres, and of the gigantic brutes being felled by arrows or well-aimed sword strikes. The thundering roar of an enormous bear could also be heard from the courtyard.
“Karelias…” muttered Jakardros.
“He’s giving them hell…” added Sarianna with a grin.
“What the hell are we waiting for?” asked Sangar with a voice that trembled with fury. “Let’s rush them from behind!”
“We can’t blindly rush them, we’ll get slaughtered,” said Vale.
“What the? I can’t believe it, big Vale is pissing his pants now? Your brothers are in there, man!” retorted Sangar.
“Shut the hell up, Sangar,” growled Sarianna. “He’s right. Shut up for a minute while Jak and I come up with an attack formation.”
Forbino had flown on ahead and was firing arrows from the back of his giant eagle, but to their horror, the rangers saw him get hit by two lightning bolts coming from below, and the little archer and his beautiful mount fell down into the courtyard like stones.
“If we move carefully enough not to get seen, I can fly some of us into the keep,” suggested Navan.
Jakardros and Sarianna turned toward him.
“The keep’s our best chance,” said Sarianna. “We can hold them off there.”
“Sarianna, they’re ogres. They can get through the door.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it. Navan, how many of us can you fly up there?”
“Five.”
“All right… Which ones of you pups want to come with me and show these ogres what we’re made of?”
She ended up choosing Sangar, Keimos, and two other rangers whom Navan didn’t know. He cast the spells on them, and they flew up into the night, hugging the side of the cliffs, trying not to be seen.
“May Desna guide them to victory…” muttered Jakardros. Then, once they were out of sight, the veteran ranger prepared for his unit’s charge. He even cast a spell to be able to talk to the various animal companions. “OK, everyone get ready to charge on my mark. I want the melee combatants twenty paces in front of the archers. Vale… Syltor… Kaven…Wait a minute… Where’s Kaven?”
A shock went through Navan.
Kaven!
They all looked around.
Kaven was nowhere to be seen.
Navan couldn’t believe it. His brothers had his faults, of course, but this… Leaving them all behind like this? He would never have thought it. Or had something happened to him without anyone noticing?
“Well, no matter,” said Jakardros. “Our comrades need us. We’ve lost enough time already. Everyone ready? .... Charge!!”
Vale, two rangers that Navan didn’t know, and the bear, wolf and cougar pets charged forward, with Jakardros, Navan, Shalelu and Lelliria coming behind. It was a pitifully small force, but they were out of options.
They managed to take the last few ogres entering the north gate completely by surprise. Two of them went down pretty fast. Once the others realized they were getting attacked from the rear, though, their reaction was not one of fear as might’ve been expected from human foes. It was a disturbing display of glee. “Oh good,” they chuckled stupidly in the Giantish language which Navan understood, “more lil’ ones to bash!”
In the brief melee that followed, one of the unknown rangers was brutally slain, as were Sarianna’s cougar and Lelliria’s wolf. The young half-elf druid shrieked in horror when she saw her beloved wolf torn to shreds by an ogre’s hook. She ran ahead to heal it, but before she could get in range of the ogre’s deadly weapon, the brute was slain by Vale’s mighty axes.
The group entered the courtyard. It was a terrible scene of carnage. The broken, mutilated bodies of two dozen rangers lay sprawled on the floor or on the battlements. Near the center of the courtyard was the bloody carcass of huge brown bear, with the corpse of a dire wolf lying close to it. Thus had perished Karelias, Druid of Gozreh, and his companion Selvahir. Shalelu let out a panicked shriek and tears poured from her eyes at the horrible sight. At the same time, Vale rushed forward and called out the name of one of his brothers. He knelt next to the body of a dark-skinned man and held him in his arms, but alas, it was too late for him as well.
Navan and Jakardros kept a better hold on their emotions than any of the others. Despite the carnage, they studied the situation from a tactical point of view. To their dismay, the ogres had already broken the door leading into the keep. Although there were around a dozen ogre corpses in the courtyard, and they’d killed five more with their own attack, they knew that the Black Arrows were doomed: there were too many ogres already inside the keep for them to survive.
Of even more immediate and personal threat, there were a dozen live ogres in the courtyard, which had now become aware of their presence, and were lumbering toward them with bloodthirsty growls.
Jakardros dragged Vale to his feet. “We have to get out of here! We’re too late! We’ve lost” he turned to the others. “Run! Run into the woods and hope we lose them!”
Navan grabbed hold of Lelliria and urged her out of the keep. Once in the open terrain, they all ran madly toward the edge of Kreegwood, over the muddy ground. They could hear the brutish shouts of the ogres behind them, and the splashing noises their huge feet made in the muddy puddles.
Navan and Shalelu were the two fastest, and once they’d entered the woods, Navan looked back and saw that Vale had fallen back: he’d gotten gravely wounded in the fight at the gate. The unknown ranger was half-carrying him over his shoulder, but he was a much smaller man and was moving slowly. Lelliria stopped to heal Vale, and Jakardros shot a few arrows at the ogres. Navan and Shalelu ran back toward them and helped Jakardros. Two of the ogres fell under the barrage of electrical arrows and fiery crossbow bolts, but then the rangers had to resume fleeing because the rest of the ogres were getting very close.
They ran madly through the woods, trying to lose the ogres. It was very hard to see anything in the dark. Navan dared not summon a magical light, for it would surely be a beacon for the ogres to converge on. Instead, he followed Shalelu as closely as he could, trusting her superior vision to guide them adequately.
At some point, he noticed that the others had fallen back. He and Shalelu doubled back to help them. Two more ogres lunged out of the darkness. One of them gored Lelliria’s shoulder, the other stabbed Vale in the leg. Jakardros, Shalelu and Navan fired some deadly projectiles at the two ogres, and managed to kill one of them. The other was slain by Vale, Kibb, and the other ranger. Lelliria and Navan healed the wounded quickly. The sounds of more ogres were making themselves heard. They were getting closer.
Jakardros drew Navan close to him. At that moment, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky, illuminating the grim ranger through the branches, his dark haired plastered to his skull by the rain, his single eye filled with sorrow and the horrors that he’d seen tonight. His fingers dug painfully into Navan’s arm.
“Make sure Shalelu gets to safety. Her life is more valuable than any of ours.”
Navan nodded, and the group started to run forward again. They ran and they ran and they ran. Once again, Navan’s lungs felt like they were on fire. He ran numbly ahead, he felt blind, and concentrated only on not tripping and on following Shalelu’s shadowy shape as she ran ahead of him. Having walked and run all day, his body was on the verge of exhaustion.
Eventually, he was brought out of his daze by Shalelu. She had stopped.
“Where are the others?” she asked in a worried voice.
The words took a few moments to register in Navan’s mind. Numbly, he turned around.
They weren’t there. They could neither be seen nor heard.
The two waited for a few minutes. Nothing.
With a voice twisted by anguish, Shalelu let out a string of curses in Elvish. “Oh for the love of Desna, how could we have been so stupid? I thought they were following us!!”
The two companions tried to retrace their steps and looked for Jakardros, Vale, Lelliria, Kibb and the other ranger, but they could not find them. They dared not call them, for fear of drawing the attention of the ogres, or of the residents of the woods, to them. After a while, Shalelu admitted that even she, due to the mad dash through the forest, the darkness, and the rain, was lost.
They eventually stumbled out of the Kreegwood. Ahead of them was the road leading to Turtleback Ferry. The others still could not be seen anywhere. Shalelu put her back to a tree, and slowly sank to the ground. She covered her eyes with her muddy hands and wept in abject misery.
Navan was too numb to comfort her. He’d seen too much. He’d run too much. He couldn’t grasp the enormity of what had just happened.
The Black Arrow rangers had defied the ogres for almost fifty years – it seemed impossible that they had failed today.
Navan and his companions were heroes; they’d saved Sandpoint and Magnimar from great peril. They’d vanquished terrible enemies. It seemed impossible that he, a hero, could let such a massacre take place before his very eyes. He had felt so impotent in preventing it.
But even more disturbing was Kaven. Why had he disappeared? What had happened? How could he have just abandoned them, his brothers in arms, and his blood brother? That, more than anything else, seemed impossible.
Navan sat down close to Shalelu and closed his eyes for a moment…
Moonday, Abadius 7th, 4708
“Navan… Wake up… We should really get going…”
Navan woke up with a start. His body felt cramped from the uncomfortable position he’d slept in. Shalelu stood over him, her eyes red and her voice sore from crying. She looked completely soaked and miserable.
After a brief discussion, they decided that they needed to warn Turtleback Ferry’s inhabitants of the ogre attack. The population was likely the next target of the ogres’ rage, and they needed to be warned. Though they both rather felt like going deeper into the woods to look for their companions, they knew that it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And anyway, they guessed that Turtleback Ferry was the destination Jakardros had in mind, too, and would meet him and the others there.
They walked for several long hours toward the village. In the pandemonium of last night’s attack, Navan hadn’t even spared a thought for his poor horse, which was surely dead by now. How he would’ve loved to have the beautiful animal here with him now, to ride it so that he could rest his aching legs.
Shortly before noon, they reached the village. They entered the church and met Father Shreed there. His kind smile disappeared as soon as he realized what sorry state they were in.
“My friends, what happened?” he asked in a concerned voice.
“Father,” replied Navan, “I fear we bear dire news for the community of Turtleback Ferry…”
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Ok, I just wanted to say that this is brilliant stuff!!! :D Poor, poor Naven. I can't wait to see how that family reunion plays out. I really like the idea of getting the PCs to Turtleback and Rannick before the fall of the fortress, so that they can witness events first hand rather than simply being told what happens. Must make things much more personal.
I'm wondering if there is a way to work Paradise into the story on the same level. Perhaps some way to set things up so that PCs can experience the sinking up close and personal... ;)
Please keep up the journal, it is a trove of ideas and inspiration!
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Great, I'm glad you're enjoying it! I wasn't sure if Navan was going to visit Paradise before the accident; it turned out he didn't, which made things simpler for me. :) He's a smart guy, but in that place, being too smart and figuring out what was happening on Paradise might have actually been very dangerous for Navan. :)
Moonday, Abadius 7th, 4708 (continued)
Lost in the Forest
Navan and Shalelu spent the entire day in Turtleback Ferry, eager to see Jakardros and the others join them there. Alas, they waited in vain: the other rangers did not show up. Could something have happened to them?
That evening, the two companions discussed various strategies with Father Shreed and a few local leaders of Turtleback Ferry. Father Shreed announced that in this greatest hour of need, he had used a relic of his church, an ancient scroll of Divination, and that Erastil himself had spoken to him the following words: “A great wave of darkness is poised to engulf Turtleback Ferry. Yet my followers should remain steadfast in the face of adversity. Those who show faith shall be saved by agents of divine will, heroes who walk among mortals.”
Navan and Shalelu pondered those words, and wondered if they dared hope that they were these heroes. A few of the local leaders contested the holy man’s message, and said that it was sheer madness to remain in the unfortified town.
Toilday, Abadius 8th, 4708
The Invaded Keep
The next morning, the town was already abuzz with anxiety. By then, most people had heard about what had happened at Fort Rannick, or as the locals now called it, “The Hook Mountain Massacre”. Several families were loading their belongings into carts, getting ready to flee the town, fearing the upcoming raid of ogres. Others, who were heeding Father Shreed’s preaching, were urging them to stay and help defend the town.
Navan and Shalelu looked grimly at the innocent townsfolk trying to avoid the imminent danger. They couldn’t blame those who thought of fleeing: at this time, there seemed to be little hope that the two of them, the only survivors from Fort Rannick, could do much to help the population. If at least Navan’s other companions were there, they would stand a better chance. But there was no way of knowing how close they were now, or if they’d even considered Navan’s letter seriously. It had been sent two weeks ago already. Thinking back, Navan wished he’d insisted more strongly on the urgency of the situation in his choice of words about the dangers threatening the Black Arrow rangers.
The two companions bought horses from some residents who’d decided to stay in town and show their faith in Erastil. They rode up all morning toward Fort Rannick. The woods were eerily quiet, and they did not meet any ogres on the way. A short distance from the keep, they hid their horses in the forest, hoping that they wouldn’t get attacked, and walked in stealth toward the fortress.
The day was sunny and cool, but the ground was still muddy from the downpour that had occurred two nights before. The two arrived at the edge of the woods, and looked at Fort Rannick from the cover of the trees. A group of ogres were working at the northern gate, trying to block the entrance that they had bashed through on the night of the attack. A few hulking sentinels lumbered on the ramparts. Every now and then, a heart-wrenching human cry of pain came from the courtyard, always accompanied by grunts and dumb laughter from some ogres. Navan and Shalelu felt a surge of anger at hearing the poor souls being tortured, and wished they could exact vengeance on their tormentors, but knew that it was beyond their means.
“It would be suicide for the two of us to attempt an assault just by ourselves,” muttered Navan.
“Absolutely. It would be sheer madness. We would need at least five people to kill all those ogres,” answered Shalelu.
:)
Later, Shalelu looked for tracks in the nearby forest. She managed to retrace their steps to a spot where they’d killed two ogres. The corpses were still there. While Shalelu was standing watch, Navan cast a Speak with Dead spell on one of the bodies. The ogre’s face came to life.
“On whose orders did your horde attack Fort Rannick?” asked Navan in the Giant tongue.
“Jaargath, the new Pappy, and the big one,” replied the dead ogre in a deep voice.
“Did Jaargath and/or the big one get their orders or counsel from a puny?” asked Navan, knowing that ogres often referred to humans as “punies”.
“Us not take orders from punies!”
“Who are the small ones with the red and black robes?”
“Huh??” asked the ogre with a frown.
And the spell ended.
The two companions then retraced their steps back to where they’d left the horses, and rode back to Turtleback Ferry. They informed Father Shreed of what they’d seen. The name “Jaargath” didn’t ring a bell to him.
Wealday, Abadius 9th, 4708
Navan and Shalelu searched Kreegwood all day for signs of Jakardros and the others, but found no sign of them. Besides animals, they found several tracks of Ogrekin, including those of a lone hunter that had several wolves or dogs with him.
With low spirits, the two companions went to bed that night. They wondered what would come first: the arrival of the other adventurers, or an assault from the Kreeg Ogres…
Oathday, Abadius 10th, 4708
Reinforcements
That morning, Navan and Shalelu learned that some of the villagers who’d fled Turtleback Ferry had come back during the night, wounded. They went to see them at the church, where Father Shreed was tending to their wounds. They learned that the men had fled an ambush south of Pendaka. The bandit dressed in black armor and his halfling minions had slain or captured all of the other villagers. Navan asked for a detailed description of the bandits, and it seemed to match that of the Hellknight and the halflings that he’d run into one night in Magnimar. What were they doing so far from there?
Feeling they had a better chance against a handful of bandits than against a horde of ogres, the two friends decided to travel south and look for the villains. They rode all morning, and reached Pendaka around noon. When they approached the inn with the intention of taking a light meal before continuing down the road, they were greeted by a familiar sight: outside the building were tethered a large black warhorse, a sleek gray mare and a sturdy pony. They hurried inside, and sure enough, sitting at a table were Drithnar, Kerista and Ruh, talking with some of the locals.
The companions were happy to be together again, though they all were aware of the grim situation. Drithnar, Ruh and Kerista had heard about the fall of Fort Rannick, and about the bandit attacks. Navan and Shalelu gave them a detailed description of the epic battle, as a group of locals listened in awe and fear. The companions then discussed what to do next: to go after the bandits, or after the ogres? It was a difficult decision to make, but eventually, they decided to try and go assault Fort Rannick.
They went together toward Turtleback Ferry. Drithnar and Shalelu rode ahead; more than anyone, Drithnar had been shocked by the news of the fall of Fort Rannick. He asked more questions to Shalelu, desperately trying to guess if any of his brothers in arms might’ve managed to escape their horrible fate.
Meanwhile, Navan gave more details to Ruh and Kerista about what had happened since he’d arrived. Kerista then told him how things had gone on their end.
Kerista’s Tale
“When you first told us that you wanted to go to Fort Rannick, Drithnar thought about coming along, but I was the one who asked him to stay in Sandpoint. I wanted to make sure the town stayed safe. The poor people there have been through so much in the past few months… I didn’t want them to suffer anymore. I wanted to be around if any other monsters or madmen decided to hurt them. I wanted to prevent any more murders from happening.
“Sometimes, I get visions. I know, most people think I’m crazy when I talk about that. Maybe people are right… Around that time, I kept having visions that Sandpoint would be destroyed. I saw people running in the streets, screaming. I saw a child crying, hugging the corpse of his mother. I saw buildings collapse; I saw the theater on fire. I saw the Sandpoint Devil himself flying in the sky above our town, breathing fire all around us. I saw Ameiko screaming in fear, and I saw Cyrdak kneeling on the ground, crying, clutching the dirt of the street with bloodied hands. And I heard the voice of a little girl screaming my name in fear.
“I kept seeing those visions in dreams. It felt so real. I would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming. Drithnar was getting really worried about me. You understand? Those visions looked so real, so horrible. I couldn’t leave Sandpoint when I kept seeing it destroyed.
“Then, after you’d been gone for a few days, I started to see dead people. I had visions of them. I didn’t know any of those people, but they looked like bandits or mercenaries. They all looked like they’d died from a violent death. Some of them looked like they’d been tortured horribly.”
Kerista stopped for a few moments. She was crying. Ruh brought her pony closer to Musinia and put a comforting hand on Kerista’s. The young woman smiled at her sadly, and wiped her tears. With a voice choked by emotions, she continued.
“I could tell that Drithnar was starting to freak out. It looked like I was starting to go nuts again. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat for days. And the more he tried to comfort me, the worse the visions got. Sheriff Hemlock noticed that I looked like hell, and he gave me a few days off to ‘pull myself back together’.
“Then one morning, Milenken came to my house. He looked worried and showed me your letter, Navan. I read it, and it hit me like a bolt of lightning. I finally understood. Those dead people I kept seeing, they were all people Drithnar knew: the Black Arrows! When I touched him, when I talked to him, when I was near him, I kept seeing the aura of those people that he knew. I guess I had visions of what would happen to them.
“I don’t really understand why or how I see those things. I don’t know how it works. From what you told me, it seems that they weren’t dead yet when I had those visions. But I was worried that you and Shalelu might be dead, or in danger too. When Drithnar came back that evening, I told him about it all. You can imagine his reaction.
“We didn’t know what to do. But we remembered that Ruh had said she had a spell that allowed her to see people from far away. Only, she was in Magnimar at that time. It was Kuthona 29th. We decided to stay one more day in Sandpoint so we’d at least spend new year’s eve with our loved ones. It seems so trivial, but I guess it wouldn’t have made a difference either way: we would’ve gotten here too late no matter what.”
She stayed silent for a few moments as she, Ruh and Navan considered the possibilities. Even if the three adventurers had gotten to Fort Rannick before the ogre raid, would they have made a difference? Would they have survived?
“We traveled to Magnimar on the first day of the year. That night, we visited Ruh and master Cornaban.”
“I immediately noticed that something was amiss in our friends’ behavior,” continued Ruh. “They told me about your letter, Navan, and about Kerista’s ominous visions. I then asked master Cornaban permission to use his scrying mirror, and I cast a spell to see what was happening around you, Navan.
“We gathered around the mirror and saw you in a dark church, looking at many corpses lying on the ground. We saw a few other shadowy shapes moving around near you, one of which seemed to be Shalelu. We saw you examining the various corpses: they looked like freshly drowned people. And we noticed that one of them had the Sihedron rune tattooed on his forearm! We guessed that something was definitely amiss, and agreed that it seemed to validate Kerista’s visions. We decided to look for transportation on the morrow.”
“The following day,” continued Kerista, “while Ruh and Drithnar were looking for a boat that would take us up the Yondabakari River, I brought Commander Bayden’s letter to the Arvensoar. Thanks to the recent notoriety we gained the city by solving the Skinsaw Murders, I was allowed to meet with Captain Uriana after a few hours. After some investigation, she informed me that, apparently, other such requests had been received in the past few months, but had been mostly ignored. Of course, given the current situation, we were both quite upset to realize that. She told me that she’d make sure that a reasonably sized force would be put together to go help the Black Arrows, but she also said that such a unit would take a long time to get organized, and would travel more slowly than a few adventurers. I nodded, and told her that Ruh, Drithnar and I would travel ahead of the troops to Fort Rannick.
“We left the following morning, on a boat that was large enough to hold our three mounts. The voyage was mostly uneventful, except one night in the Mushfens when we were attacked by a Boggard raiding party. But we managed to defeat them.”
“That, of course, was in accordance with Vaarsuvius’s theory of one encounter per trip,” commented Ruh.
“Huh? What?” asked the two others.
“Never mind,” said the little gnome with a coy smile.
“Well anyway, we made our way to Pendaka, which is where we learned from the villagers about the terrible events of recent days. And that’s when you and Shalelu showed up. “
Paradise
The companions arrived in Turtleback Ferry early in the evening. Navan had been wondering about Paradise, and suggested that he and Drithnar, the two best swimmers of the group, go and take a look at the shipwreck. He cast Endure Elements, Water Breathing and Light on them to facilitate the exploration. The two men then removed their armors and heavy clothing, and took a swim in the dark waters of the lake.
“Good luck!” called out Kerista after them.
Eventually, the two men approached the dark shape of the sunken barge. But they soon noticed a large shadow swimming quickly in their direction: one of the giant gars of Claybottom Lake! As the fearsome predator was fast approaching, Navan shot it several times with his crossbow. The giant gar managed to get close enough to bite Navan’s thigh with its powerful jaw, but Drithnar sliced its side with his weapons. The fish then tried to flee, but Navan finished it off with his crossbow.
Navan healed himself, and he and Drithnar dragged the fifteen-foot-long fish back to the shore, where some awestruck locals took it. “We’re going to be eating fish for a while!” said one of them.
The two men then swam back down to the barge. They searched it for around two hours, and found no other bodies. It seemed that Sannon and the villagers had done a thorough job of searching the place. It was a luxurious ship, with a beautifully furnished gambling hall, and several comfortable-looking bedrooms to serve the staff and customers, as well as a kitchen, a few storage rooms for food and drinks, as well as what seemed to be Lady Lucrecia’s office, but contained no documents or anything else of interest. Anything of obvious value seemed to have already been taken out of the shipwreck, whether by the villagers or someone else.
Further examination of the doors showed that they’d had a mechanism installed on them that allowed them to be barred from the outside – a very odd and unsafe feature on a boat. Additionally, the two men noticed that some holes had been drilled in the hull, but had been covered by a protective mechanism, almost as if someone had wanted to be able to sink the boat when needed.
Navan and Drithnar then returned to the surface and dried themselves up. They visited Father Shreed at the Church, where Navan introduced the kind priest to his companions. The arrival of more adventurers reassured the old man: could they be the heroes whose arrival Erastil had prophesied? Navan described what they’d seen on the shipwreck. Father Shreed nodded thoughtfully, and informed the adventurers that before burying the victims of the accident, he’d examined their bodies more closely. He’d then discovered that they ALL bore the Sihedron rune somewhere on their bodies: some had it on their ankle, some had it on their shoulder, some on the small of their back…
Pondering this, the companions went to bed.
Fireday, Abadius 11th, 4708
The Avenger
The following morning, Navan went down to the common room of the Turtle’s Parlor inn and saw that the three girls were already up. They were sitting around a table eating breakfast, and seemed to be engrossed in a serious conversation.
“Is Drithnar still upstairs?” he asked as he sat down next to Shalelu.
“Oh no,” replied Kerista in a weary voice, “He’s hasn’t slept all night, actually.”
“Why not?”
“He’s angry. Angry at himself for leaving Fort Rannick in the summer, before his brothers in arms would’ve most needed him. Angry at me for keeping him in Sandpoint instead of coming back here with you. And of course, angry at the ogres, but at least I think he’ll soon get the chance to let out some of his frustration on them in a physical way.”
“All his friends in the Black Arrows are dead or missing. Poor Drithnar,” added Ruh.
“I know,” said Navan. “But this hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for me either. My own brother’s gone, too.”
“And I lost Jakardros… So soon after being reunited with him…” added Shalelu.
The others nodded in silence.
“It’s just that Drithnar has looked up to his mentors of the Black Arrows for so long. He spent several years in Fort Rannick, and he was just a foot soldier. The officers and veterans of the Black Arrows were so much to him; they were friends, brothers, fathers. They lived harshly there, but they were always there for each other. He feels powerless because Lamatar, Jakardros, Sarianna, those rangers always seemed so powerful, infallible, invulnerable to him. And now they’re dead. He feels hopeless, like we’ve got no chance of winning where they have failed… And of course, it’s ironic, but today should be a happy day for Drithnar, normally. It’s his birthday.”
“His birthday?” asked Navan. “I thought he was an orphan?”
“Yes, that’s true, but he was found on the steps of the Sandpoint Church on Abadius 11th, 23 years ago. He’s a few weeks or months older than that, but that’s the day he’s always celebrated as his birthday. But this year, it’s just terrible timing.”
Drithnar then entered the inn, and looked at his companions. He seemed in a bad mood, and looked like he’d guessed that they had been talking about him. He sat down next to Kerista in silence. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he sullenly ignored her.
The companions ate in an awkward silence. After a few minutes, Drithnar ordered a pint of ale from the innkeeper. After he’d taken a few sips, Navan asked: “Isn’t it a bit early for beer, Drith?”
The ranger glared at him menacingly. He looked pale and tired from his sleepless night. But Navan held his gaze and continued:
“Today is a great day, my friend. Today is the day when the Ogres of the Kreeg Clan will pay for the horrible things they’ve done. Today is the day when we will avenge our fallen brothers and reclaim Fort Rannick. But you understand that to do that, we must be at the top of our game, don’t you? What do you think Lamatar Bayden would say if he saw you wallowing in your sorrow?”
Drithnar glared at Navan for a few more moments in silence. Then, he knocked the beer mug from the table with a clenched fist, spilling its contents on the floor nearby. He stood up, drew out Aldern Foxglove’s war razor and flipped it open menacingly. He looked around: the innkeeper and the few patrons were all staring at him warily.
“The Hook Mountain Massacre is far from being over,” he said in a low voice filled with the promise of pain. He smiled grimly. “Believe me, it’s only begun. And the victims are about to get a lot bigger.” He turned to his companions and gestured toward the door. “Come on, let’s go kill some of that ogre scum.”
And he walked out of the inn without another word.
Kerista stood up and looked after her lover. She then walked up to the bar and told the innkeeper with a worried smile:
“I’m so sorry about the mess on the floor; let me clean it up for you!”
I’s Huntin’ Bear!
The companions rode toward the north, passing over High Bridge. After some time, Navan heard some noise coming from Kreegwood. It sounded like a wounded animal, not too far away. He motioned to his companions to stop. They dismounted and warily entered the woods with their weapons drawn. Drithnar and Shalelu walked ahead together, coordinating their advance like in the good old days, when they’d hunted goblins near Sandpoint.
Kerista looked at the pair with a wistful expression on her face. Although Drithnar was her lover, he shared a complicity with Shalelu due to their previous experiences together; a complicity that she had never felt with him. She felt a painful surge of jealousy well up in her heart as she watched the slender, graceful elven woman nimbly making her way through the forest. She hated herself for having such a mean thought, and at the same time, she felt fat and clumsy as she noisily walked through the woods in her heavy armor.
The five adventurers soon arrived at a clearing where they saw a black bear with one of its paws stuck in a bear trap. It looked up at their arrival and became agitated: it had recognized them, and they recognized it: it was Kibb, Jakardros’s pet! It was still alive!
Navan tried to disable the trap, but it proved too complicated for him. While he was working on it, the companions heard the barks of several hunting dogs getting nearer. Drithnar and Kerista tried to open the trap by force, with Ruh using one of her new spells to Enlarge Kerista, who grew so big that she towered to almost double Drithnar’s height. She looked around at her friends, who now looked like little toys she could pick up and play with. She blushed, because now she really felt fat and clumsy. But her new augmented strength allowed her to easily open the bear trap.
Before they could heal or interact with Kibb, though, the companions saw five mangy hunting hounds enter the clearing, barking madly, with foam trickling down from the side of their mouths. Navan, who’d been hiding behind a tree, shot a fiery crossbow bolt at one of them, killing it instantly. The others charged Drithnar, Kerista and Kibb. While the characters were fighting them, a big brute entered the clearing, panting heavily. He looked like a small ogre whose right hand was completely malformed into one gigantic finger. He wore very little clothing, showing powerful muscles and a bulging belly. He carried a heavy spear in his left hand. Since he was too small to be an ogre, the companions guessed that he was one of the dreaded half-ogres of Kreegwood.
He bared his lips in a snarl that showed two rows of pointed yellow teeth. “I’s huntin’ bear! Is my forest here! You attack my dogs! Now you die!” He rushed Drithnar, and stabbed him painfully with his spear.
Drithnar and Kibb killed a dog each, Shalelu shot one with her arrows, and Ruh slew another one with a Scorching Ray. They then all turned their attention to the half-ogre, and managed to kill him quickly.
Once the fight was over, Navan healed Kibb and Drithnar. The ranger seemed to have recovered some of his spirits when they’d found the bear: it was a sign that some of his comrades from the Black Arrows might still be alive after all! He spoke with the bear in the tongue of animals, and learned what had happened:
"Jakardros, the big man, the small man and Lelliria lost your friend who shoots fire and your friend who smells like the forest in the darkness of the night. Some time later, the two men fell into a hole made by men, and while Jakardros and Lelliria were trying to bring them out, we were attacked by big stinking men like the one here. Jakardros fought them for some time, but he ran out of little pieces of wood to shoot, and then him and Lelliria, and the two men in the hole, were captured by the big stinking men. I fled, hoping to follow them to their lair and free my master.
“I found the stinking houses where the big stinking men live in the forest. I had difficulty approaching close enough to free them: there were too many big stinking men around. Unfortunately, on my latest attempt to explore the area around the stinking houses, the dogs smelled me and started to chase me through the woods. I almost managed to escape them, but then the hard biting trap caught my paw, and I couldn’t run away anymore. I would’ve died if you and the other friends of Jakardros hadn’t saved me. I thank you!”
The companions quickly examined the corpse of the half-ogre and found that he had a dirty blanket in which were sewn five Black Arrow patches… He also had a magical spear and belt. Ruh identified the latter as a Belt of Giant Strength. Kerista and Drithnar both could’ve used it, but Kerista, who had returned to her regular size, gave it to her lover. “Happy birthday, honey,” she said with a smile, and they kissed. Now that he’d found a shred of hope, Drithnar was back to his old self.
Mutant Farm
The companions returned to the road, and found a hiding place for their horses. Then, they followed Kibb through the forest. After some time, they saw cornhusk and leather humanoid-shaped fetishes hanging from the trees.
“We must be getting close,” whispered Drithnar, “the half-ogres put those up to scare off intruders.”
Eventually, they came to the edge of a clearing where two decrepit buildings stood: a farmhouse and a barn. Their windows were boarded over, and they were in a sad state of disrepair, with moss growing on their sides. Close to the barn was a field of tangled corn and diseased weeds. The place was eerily quiet, yet it didn’t seem abandoned.
The characters carefully circled around the clearing through the woods. Suddenly, they heard the barn door open loudly, and saw a large, misshapen figure come out of it, mumbling loudly. He stood over seven feet tall and its muscular body was barely covered by a dirty brown outfit. The right side of his head was covered in a huge puffy mass of tumors and overgrown bone, which made it look like a giant pumpkin. The thing walked to the corn field and started yelling in Giantish at a handful of crows that had been feeding there, sending them flying in fear with great waves of his arms. He then started working in the field, seeming not to have noticed the characters.
Remaining hidden, Navan and Drithnar approached the back of the farmhouse. Once they were next to it, they tried to take a look through the boarded up windows, but the bright sunshine prevented them from seeing what was inside the dark house. The smell of stale sweat, urine, feces and rotten meat that wafted through the cracks was revolting, though. Drithnar stepped back with a grimace, but Navan stayed long enough to hear what sounded like a fat woman giggling and mumbling contentedly, as well as the sound of wood creaking under a massive weight.
The group then circled all around the farm, and approached the half-ogre working in the field from the cover of the woods. The thing was engrossed in its work and did not seem to notice them. Ruh summoned a crow and Navan cast a Silence spell on a twig, which Ruh gave to the bird after giving it instructions to fly close to the half-ogre in the field. The bird obeyed, and the half-ogre waved its arms at it angrily, then a look of confusion appeared on its face as it realized it was utterly silent.
“Let’s make crow food out of this guy,” said Shalelu with a wicked grin.
The characters charged the brute. After a short battle, where Drithnar got wounded by the creature’s ogre hook, the half-ogre died in silence, seemingly without alerting anyone else in the farm.
Navan healed Drithnar, and they hid the ogrekin’s body amid the plants of the field. Drithnar asked Kibb to stay hidden in the woods. The companions then walked toward the barn, still covered by the Silence spell. Ruh was walking further behind, and cast another Enlarge spell on Kerista. The gigantic paladin bashed the door open, and she and Drithnar charged into the barn (in silence). It was very dark inside, and it took their eyes a while to get accustomed after being in the bright sunshine outside. During that time, they were attacked savagely by three more deformed half-ogres. A large brute with a vestigial arm growing from his left elbow, and a no-necked dented head, as well as a five-foot-tall runt with crooked stumpy legs and a constantly twitching skin attacked Drithnar, while a massive pale-skinned and white-haired mutant attacked Kerista, though he was dwarfed by her magically enhanced size. Both Drithnar and Kerista sustained wounds from the half-ogres’ greataxes.
But then, they retaliated, and were joined by Ruh and the archers. Quickly enough, they managed to kill the three half-ogres. They left the silenced twig near the door, and walked further into the big building. Navan healed his friends, as they looked around. The barn contained mounds of molding hay, grain stores, and a large but crude still, from which the half-ogres had been drinking out of metal cups before the characters charged in. The cups and their spilled contents were still lying discarded on the ground. Rickety wooden stairs led to two catwalks, one on either side of the barn, that each led to a door in the far wall, just below the ceiling. Below the catwalks were some empty cages filled with fur and bones. Finally, in the middle of the far wall, at ground level, was a massive barred door. Drithnar and Navan examined it and thought it had been blocked to prevent something from coming out. Shalelu noticed some keys hanging from a bent nail near the door, and she took them after showing them to the others.
The House of Filth
The companions decided not investigate what lied further in the barn for now, and instead headed to the farmhouse. It was a two-storey building, with two doors, one on the side and one on a porch. They climbed the steps up to the porch, noticing several childish carvings of people getting killed and eaten by manticores and wolves. A host of thumb-sized ants were crawling along the floor, and a moth the size of a shovel head was clinging to the ceiling. At the far end of the porch, close to the door, stood a massive rocking chair of lashed wood and bone, which swayed erratically in the breeze. Above it was a set of wind chimes made of humanoid bones.
The group carefully approached the door, trying to be silent, though the wood groaned under Kerista’s massive weight, and she had to duck to fit under the eave. She was about to open the door, when Navan hissed for her to stop at the last moment. He’d just noticed that the thing was trapped! He examined the door more closely, and then disabled the two traps he’d found, with his thieves’ tools.
The characters then entered the dark living room beyond. To their right, a dire bear skin lay on the floor, near a large fireplace, and to their left, close to a door opening in the far wall, was an old sofa covered with a disgusting bric-a-brac of appendages cut off from animals, giant vermin and humans. When Drithnar approached it, a trap door opened under his feet, but thankfully, Kerista was quick to react, and she grabbed him by the collar and clutched him close to her, saving him from the fall. The ranger looked from the pit trap to his savior, and realized that there are certain advantages to having a twelve-foot-tall girlfriend.
The companions examined the pit. A strong odor of garbage emanated from it. Its sides were lined with sharp spears, and it seemed to open into a vast underground chamber, beneath the farm. The sofa clung to the wall above the pit; it was likely bolted there. Before they could investigate further, though, the trap door closed.
Navan examined the door for traps, but found none. Beyond it, a hallway led to more doors and a set of stairs going up. By that time, Kerista had returned to her normal size, which was good because she would’ve had a hard time wielding her already huge weapon in such tight quarters, if she’d still been enlarged. The group headed left, since they wanted to go after that woman they’d heard at the back of the farm. The hallway led to a door, which Kerista opened.
Mammy’s Bedroom
The room beyond was highly offensive to noses and eyes. Buckets of filth lined the walls, with fat flies gorging themselves on the vile substance within. A large, disgustingly dirty bed stood to the left, and on it was crouched a monstrously fat and monstrously ugly half-naked woman with long, greasy black hair; wavering mirror-images of her hideous form surrounded her. On the other side of the room, three open coffins stood against the far wall. In them where the corpses of three more deformed half-ogres, who were clearly some form of undead, because they shambled forth slowly with mindless groans. The first had a pin head and a useless third leg growing from his left hip; three arrow still protruded from his chest. The second was a large hunchback with a second nose growing on his right cheek; his head was cut in two as if by an axe. The last one was in even worse shape that his comrades: he was little more than a shambling fleshy bag of broken bones and smashed features that flopped around.
The disgusting woman and the undead had obviously heard the characters’ approach, and the fight started immediately, as Drithnar charged the fat woman, Kerista prepared to face the undead, and the archers and casters positioned themselves in the foul-smelling room. Drithnar‘s blades and Shalelu’s arrows had difficulty hitting the woman despite her enormous girth: strangely, most of their blows passed right through her and her many images without destroying them. Navan tried to turn the undead and failed, but Kerista managed to make the pinhead and the split-head flee before the shining radiance of Sarenrae’s symbol. She then fought the quivering mass of the third undead.
Ruh tried to destroy images of the fat woman with magic missiles that she targeted to each hit a different image, but most of them also missed their marks. Meanwhile, the ogrekin woman was casting vile necromantic spells at Drithnar, draining him from his life essence with touches of her foul paws.
“Hmm, you life tastes so… delicious… pretty boy,” she rasped.
Drithnar shivered, and not only from the life drain.
Ruh tried to dispel the magic surrounding the woman, but it had no visible effect. She then cast a Flaming Sphere, which burnt the woman who started to scream horribly. The fire also burned the dirty sheets and pillows of the large bed, but since the house was so damp, it didn’t spread further than that. Kerista then managed to kill the shapeless undead, and went to help Drithnar and Shalelu against the fat lady, who had just managed to paralyze Ruh with a spell. Navan moved behind Ruh and freed her from the effect, and then he healed Drithnar, who was almost dead from the terrible spells he’d been subjected to.
By then, the companions had managed to destroy all of the woman’s mirror images, though they still had trouble connecting with her enormous body due to some other kind of magic. Finally, though, Ruh cast an Orb of Cold at the woman, and killed her. She fell to the burning bed with a thunderous thud. The companions then turned to the two remaining undead who were still cowering in a corner, away from Kerista’s symbol, and they destroyed them. The woman’s familiar, a fat toad, had fallen in one of the buckets of filth and was trying to get out. Ruh attacked it mercilessly, and spent several spells to destroy the resilient little creature.
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Fireday, Abadius 11th, 4708 (continued)
Maternal Instincts
The companions recovered from the fight, healing themselves and searching the room for treasure, despite the nauseating smell. Soon, they became aware of a sound coming from further back in the house: a baby crying. “Oh, the poor thing! We have to go help it!” gasped Ruh, and she ran off into the hallway, with the others hurrying after her.
Ruh opened a door that seemed to lead to where the sound was coming from, but she triggered a scythe blade trap by doing that. Luckily, she was able to duck just in time, and she avoided being hit. “Ruh! Don’t run ahead like that! Be careful!” chided Navan.
The group entered the room beyond, and once again, their noses were assaulted with a particularly strong odor of decay. They were in a dark dining room with no windows. Ruh cast a Light spell on her staff, and another one on Drithnar’s sword. Two doors led out of the room. Before them, the characters saw a large oak table, surrounded by eight high-backed chairs, which were each adorned by a polished human skull. On the table were discarded, mostly eaten pieces of rotten meat strewn over a tablecloth apparently made of crinkly human skin.
In the middle of the table was a severed head, with long red hair caked in dried blood. A host of buzzing, bloated flies hovered around it. The companions moved around the table to get a better look, and their fears were confirmed: what had once been Lelliria’s beautiful face was now frozen into a grimace of horror and torment. What horrible tortures the vile inhabitants of the farm had performed on the sweet, shy half-elf woman before they killed her was likely beyond the companions’ ability to imagine. But the results were forever immortalized into what they’d turned into a dining room ornament.
Drithnar’s eyes widened at the sight, and he rushed to a corner of the room, where he vomited noisily. The others all looked at the severed head in horror. They were too late. They hadn’t arrived in time to save poor Lelliria from her terrible fate. Was there any hope that any of her companions were still alive?
They were brought out of their reverie by the now closer sounds of crying. It now seemed to be coming not from a baby, but from a young child who was being tormented by a brute. They spoke in the Giantish tongue, which only Navan and Shalelu understood as the following exchange:
“Give it back! Give it to me!! Please!!! It’s mine!!!” was begging the child in a sobbing voice.
A brutish laughter answered it. “Huh huh huh! No! It’s mine now! You can’t get it up here! You can’t get it! It’s my toy now! Look! I’m dancing the skull-jig with it! Huh huh!”
“No! No, please! It’s mine! Maaaammmyyyyy!!!! Lucky’s taken my tooooyyy!!! Maaaammmmyyyy!!!”
And the child’s pleading was drowned in a fresh new fit of abject crying.
The voices were coming from the northeastern door. The companions approached it. Navan looked at the others and said: “Those are likely the children of these beings. We’ve all seen what they’re capable of. Even if they’re only children, we can show no mercy.”
The others all nodded grimly.
The rogue-turned-priest examined the door for traps, and found another scythe-blade mechanism. He tried to disarm it, but failed, and was badly wounded by it. The two children behind the door must’ve been alerted by the noise, because they stopped their arguing. Without wasting any time, Drithnar opened the door and charged into the room.
Surprisingly enough, he faced not two children, but rather, two fully-grown ogrekin. One was tall and muscular, and displayed no visible deformities, unlike the rest of his family. If it hadn’t been for the look of idiotic brutality on his face, he might’ve almost looked like large, normal human. He was clutching a skull in his fist, and was dressed in filthy clothes that smelled terrible.
The other ogrekin was hideously deformed: he was hairless, pale-skinned and horribly bloated, and his legs were small and deformed, and looked unable to carry his weight. Indeed, he moved forward by dragging his bulk with his arms. An enormous fang-filled mouth gaped in the middle of his face, which was moist with thick rivulets of tears: this monstrous creature was the “baby” that had been crying all along.
When it saw Drithnar, it observed in a whimpering voice: “You’re not Mammy?...” And with that, the two monsters attacked Drithnar. They managed to strike him with their big meaty fists. He fought back with his weapons, and Kerista moved into the room to help him. Navan also shot the taller ogrekin.
After a few blows were exchanged, the tall one was badly wounded by Drithnar’s blades and Navan’s bolts. The other one mocked him wickedly: “Huh huh, you big meanie suffer too now! Is payback for stealing my toy!”
But then, Ruh cast some Magic Missiles at the deformed ogrekin, and he fell to the floor, unmoving. The other one started laughing and pointed at him: “Huh, huh! You hurt bad now! You not laughing anymore!” Then his feeble brain started to comprehend what had happened. “Maulgro? Maulgro, you all right? Maulgro! Stand up!”
But before he could explore the situation further, he was hit on the head by Kerista’s Earthbreaker. Blood started to flow down on his shoulder, and he fell to his knees, clutching his wounded head. A moment later, the merciless weapon struck again, this time shattering his skull for good. The brute fell to the floor and did not rise again.
Navan healed Drithnar, and the companions searched the room, as the blood from the two corpses was forming larger and larger puddles on the floor. The two “children” seemed to have nothing of value on them, and upon further examination, the characters realized that the taller one reeked of feces, like an overgrown baby that hadn’t been changed in days.
The room looked like a nightmarish playpen, where instead of toys, the children had been using partially rotten animal carcasses, and human skulls. On the walls were crude child-like paintings showing dismembered horses, a ridiculous grinning horned devil tossing children off a cliff, and a big lake with a black reptilian monster sprouting tentacles from its back.
Ruh was very impatient to search the rest of the house for the prisoners, and she urged the others to hurry. They returned to the dining room, and Navan examined the third door for traps, though once again, he got his by a scythe trap he failed to disarm. He cursed under his breath, as Kerista opened the door, which led into a disgusting kitchen.
Unbelievably, the smell of rotten meat was even worse here than in the previous rooms. Swarms of flies hovered around the room, and thumb-sized cockroaches skittered along the floor, walls and ceiling. Three leather aprons hung in a corner, near a butcher’s block and three wicked-looking cleavers. Some of these implements seemed freshly used, and a crockery platter on a rickety old table contained a collection of freshly severed fingers and toes, while on the floor near it, a sinew basket contained hacked-off hands and feet, all sporting stubs of congealed blood where their digits once were. Fighting back nausea, the companions entered the room, and noticed that some of the fingers and toes on the platter were small and delicate enough to be Lelliria’s, but that some others were larger like a man’s. None of them were dark-skinned enough to be Vale’s. So the big Shoanti had either escaped that punishment, or had been judged tastiest of all and had already been eaten.
The Basement
One of the doors led back outside, but the other revealed a staircase leading down. The characters followed it to the basement. In the damp darkness, under a cobweb-filled ceiling, they saw three wooden doors. Navan examined them all for traps. Ruh urged him to hurry and try the middle door first. With an angry glare, Navan motioned for her to be quiet: he’d heard some squealing that sounded like rats behind the middle door.
The characters burst into the room, with Kerista in the lead. It looked like a dark bedroom and workshop at the same time, with a lumpy mattress in a corner, and some half-finished bone chairs lying against a wall, and a few crates here and there. In the middle of the room were two enormous rats. Kerista charged them, but she was attacked from behind by a hideous ogrekin that had been hiding behind some crates. His left lower leg was encased in a metal device as though he was handicapped, and his jaw seemed malformed. Grunting loudly, he stabbed Kerista under the arm with his ogre hook. The young paladin shrieked in pain, as a thick trail of blood trickled down the side of her armor. Another, smaller ogrekin seemed to be grunting from behind the crates, but the companions couldn’t see him yet.
Drithnar and Kerista attacked the rats, while Ruh shot the ogrekin with an Orb of Cold, which missed. The two rats attacked Kerista, but they bit uselessly against her heavily armored legs. The brute at her back, though, managed to find another opening in her armor, and dealt her another painful wound. “Don’t let him attack you from behind!” yelled Drithnar to his lover.
Kerista turned toward the Ogrekin and, gritting her teeth against the pain, called upon her holy power to smite him with her weapon. The brute reeled from the shock, and was soon afterwards hit by an Orb of Coldfrom Ruh. He let out a terrible roar and turned all red, and attacked Kerista with a furious rage, but the powerful young woman managed to block his attack by a skillful parry with her Earthbreaker. Navan, who had no room to move in and heal Kerista, cast a Shield Other spell on her. Meanwhile, Drithnar sliced off the head of one of the rats; the other critter was climbing on Kerista’s side, trying to sink its teeth into her, but it simply could not pierce her magical armor.
Finally, Ruh cast a Scorching Ray spell, which squarely hit the raging ogrekin. The monster was forced back against the far wall, where his body erupted in flames. He howled in agony, and finally fell to the floor, dead. But a scream was still coming from his body, and Ruh saw that, on the back of his neck, a vestigial head was growing; the thing was still alive, and it had been that which the companions had thought was a second ogrekin hiding in the room! Disgusted, Ruh finished it off with a Ray of Frost, while Kerista killed the last giant rat.
Now that the enemies were defeated, Navan moved into the room and healed the poor Kerista, who was wincing from the pain of the terrible wounds she’d suffered. Wasting no time searching the room, the companions went back into the corridor, where Shalelu had been waiting, anxious at not being able to help them due to lack of space. They opened the southern door and saw before them a room completely packed with ancient junk, from broken farm equipment to old pieces of furniture, to rusted weapons and old crates. A narrow path led between mountains of junk up to a double-door in the right wall.
Navan carefully examined the path and the door, but found no trap. The whole group moved through the room carefully, and went past the door. A short, dark tunnel led to another such door. It seemed free of traps, so the group next entered a large, very humid room which smelled of damp garbage. Puddles dotted the floor, and moss and lichen grew on the walls and ceiling. A huge pile of garbage and rotting vegetation stood against the far wall, while in the far wall, to the right was a small wooden door. Overhead, the characters could see the spiked-lined opening of the pit trap that Drithnar had almost fallen into, in the living room.
The characters approached the far door carefully, but as they got close to it, as they had been half-expecting, the mountain of rotting plants came to life and attacked them with tentacles, while a huge dark mouth gaped in its middle. Kerista moved in closer to be able to hit it. The creature lashed at her with a tentacle, but the paladin batted the appendage aside easily with her Earthbreaker, and then she hit the huge monster with the weapon. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group, while Shalelu and Navan shot projectiles at the monster. Drithnar moved in and attacked with his blades, but got bitten by the monster, which almost swallowed him whole. While the ranger was struggling to avoid being eaten, his companions managed to destroy the creature. Drithnar, half-covered in thick slime, managed to crawl out of the mouth.
While Navan healed his friend, the three women approached the door, wondering where it led. But while they were doing that, both men noticed that the huge pile of garbage was still moving… its wounds closing, as though it were regenerating.
“Err… Is it supposed to be doing that?” asked Navan.
“I don’t think so…” answered Drithnar. “Oh! I know! It’s a Tendriculos! Those things can only be killed by blunt weapons and acid! Kerista, hit it with your Earthbreaker again! Ruh, can you cast acid spells?”
Indeed, the creature came back to life, and the characters had to kill it a second time, and this time, Kerista kept hitting it until it was clearly beyond the capability to regenerate.
Beyond the wooden door was a small room that only contained a large chest. Strangely enough, it was neither trapped nor locked, and inside, the group found the ogrekin family’s treasure, which included Jakardros’s magnificent bow.
“I hope we get the chance to give it to him,” said Shalelu.
“Yes, but where could he be? We’ve searched almost everywhere!” answered Ruh.
The Search Continues
The companions backtracked and checked the final room in the basement. It was a large damp room with two large tables and cutting implements. It looked like some kind of morgue or sinister clinic. The tables were both covered with dried blood, and a large pile of gore-spattered skin lay on the floor, some of which looked rather recent. On top of the pile was the horrid rubbery skin of a man’s face. It was eyeless, and its toothless mouth gaped open. It was so deformed in this way that it was very hard to recognize. The characters guessed it belonged to the “nameless” ranger who had fled with them on the night Fort Rannick fell, but they weren’t sure.
The group climbed back up the stairs and continued their exploration. They visited a dirty bedroom, which featured some leather and cornhusk fetishes hanging from the ceiling, which looked like miniature versions of those they’d seen in the forest, on their way to the farm. The last room of the first floor was a stinking latrine, which they didn’t examine for obvious reasons. They then climbed up to the second floor, where a short hallway led to two doors. They opened the left one first.
They entered a large bedroom which featured six big, dirty beds. There was a large chest on the far side of the room, near which was a puddle of dried blood. Navan examined the chest, but found no traps. It was hard to open, but Drithnar managed it. Inside, there was a bag of coins, and more dried blood. Navan detected a blade trap there. After some experimentation, the companions managed to bypass the trap by holding the chest upside-down, so the bag could fall. Inside it, they found some coins, as well as some mostly skeletal fingers – quite likely belonging to victims of the devious trap.
The other room on the second floor was an attic cluttered with all kinds of debris, but which clearly did not hold any prisoners. This meant that there was only one place left where the rangers could be kept: in the barn. The group returned there, and went up to the northernmost catwalk, and opened the door.
Biggin’
It led into the far side of the barn, where the catwalks continued to circle the room, just below the ceiling. On the far wall were two platforms where wooden beams formed crude cages. It was too dark to see if they held any prisoners. But of more immediate concern was the huge web that was at the center of the barn, covering the whole area between the catwalks, down to the floor. The companions examined it under the dim light of their weapons. Drithnar said he saw a huge dark shape further back in it, but nobody else saw anything. When he heard that, Navan immediately fired off one of his fiery bolts into the web, which revealed… a gigantic spider which rushed toward the group!
Panic gripped the companions, as the creature looked like something straight out of a nightmare. Navan, who was actually quite calm, shrieked in terror. He and Shalelu shot the spider, and Ruh cast a Greater Orb of Cold at it, which covered its eyes in ice. Strangely, though, the creature continued to fight normally, as if it could pinpoint the location of the humanoids by some other sense. It rushed Navan and bit it with its wicked mandibles. Navan yelled in pain, and only by Desna’s luck did he resist the powerful poison that threatened to enter his veins.
Seeing that Drithnar and Kerista lacked the reach to attack the creature with their melee weapons, Navan cast a Fly spell on Drithnar. While the ranger moved into range, Shalelu and Ruh kept firing on the spider, but again, the vermin bit Navan, and this time, the cleric was affected by the terrible poison, and felt his body go numb. He fell to the floor, barely able to move.
“Navan!!” cried Kerista, who thought he’d been mortally wounded. She rushed to his aid and healed him with her Paladin powers. As she was doing that, though, the creature bit her painfully, but she resisted the poison. Meanwhile, the others were still battling the creature, Ruh casting Orbs of Cold at it, Shalelu firing her arrows and Drithnar slashing with his sword and war razor. With a grunt, Navan painfully reloaded his crossbow and managed to shoot the gigantic spider. Still alive despite all the wounds it had taken, the spider bit Kerista again, and this time, the young woman felt the poison course through her veins and she fell to her knees, barely able to support the weight of her heavy plate armor. With a roar, Drithnar then plunged his sword deeply inside the spider’s head, and twisted it. Gore and black blood spilled out, and the ranger mercilessly twisted his blade inside the wound. The spider shivered horribly, and as it thrashed about in the aftershock of its death, Drithnar flew away to safety. After a few moments, the enormous vermin was finally still.
Drithnar flew down to his companions’ side. Navan and Kerista were both very weak and sweating from the effects of the poison, but Drithnar knew that they hadn’t yet felt its full effect. He could only cast one spell to delay the poison for long enough for them to return to Turtleback Ferry. His first instinct was to cast it on his beloved Kerista, but on second thought, he realized that Navan was already much worse off than her, and that the strong, healthy young paladin had a better chance of surviving the poison that the skinny priest of Desna. Therefore, Drithnar cast the spell on Navan.
“Thanks…” muttered Navan feebly.
“No problem, friend. It feels strange that I’m the one healing you, for once.”
Navan managed to smile.
Rescued!
Drithnar then ventured into the dark recesses of the barn to look for the prisoners. And he did! Shackled to the walls of the southern wooden cage, he found the unconscious forms of Jakardros, Vale, and… Kaven! So Navan’s brother had also been captured by the disgusting ogrekin… Using the keys that Shalelu had found earlier, Drithnar released his brothers-in-arms, and dragged their limp bodies back to the front of the barn. They were all badly bruised, and seemed to have suffered terrible punishment from their sadistic captors, though of course they had been the lucky ones compared to Lelliria and the other ranger.
Drithnar then left the sick and wounded under the care of Shalelu and Ruh. He brought Kibb to the barn, where the bear sadly licked the face of his master. Jakardros looked like hell, and his eyepatch had been removed: the eyeless hole in his face was the most gruesome of his wounds, despite being the oldest. Shalelu gently caressed the bear’s fur. “Don’t worry, friend. We’ll get him back on his feet. He’s safe now.”
Drithnar then went to get their horses, and brought them to the farm. They loaded the unconscious rangers on them, as well as Navan and Kerista. The group then returned to Turtleback Ferry around mid-afternoon. Townspeople there received them with a mixture of joy at seeing them come back alive, with some rescued rangers, and concern at seeing them in such a pitiful state.
Not spending much time chit-chatting with the locals, the adventurers hurried to the church of Erastil. Father Shreed’s face lit up with joy when he saw that they’d all returned alive, with Jakardros and two of his men. “Erastil be praised!” said the kind old man.
The priest and a few middle-aged women who were helping him tend the sick and the elderly of the community helped Drithnar, Ruh and Shalelu bring their unconscious or poisoned companions to the second floor infirmary, where they were laid down on comfortable beds. The nurses washed them and tended to their wounds. Though he was not able to cure the effects of the poison, Father Shreed healed some of their wounds, and said that with some rest and more prayers, they would recover soon.
Ruh and Shalelu waited in grim silence by their friends’ bedside. They had witnessed so much horror, yet again. But at least they had succeeded in saving the lives of three of the rangers. Drithnar returned after some time with some food, for they hadn’t eaten all day. They ate mostly in silence as they watched the nurses work. Drithnar’s Delay Poison spell had now worn off, and Navan had lost consciousness from the effects of the poison. How long would he stay in the coma?
The Student has surpassed the Master
Late in the evening, Drithnar still stood by Kerista’s bed, holding her hand. She had fallen asleep. In the nearby beds, Navan and the rescued rangers also slept.
“She’s beautiful.”
Drithnar looked up and saw Shalelu watching the sleeping woman. He smiled. “Yes. Yes, she is.”
“Despite all the horrible things that have happened, you’ve prevailed, Drithnar. You’ve overcome your obsession with Nualia, and you’ve found a better woman to love. You’ve saved Sandpoint. You’ve rescued Jakardros and the others…”
“You were there too, Shalelu.”
The elf nodded. “Yes. I’ve fought deadly foes today with your group, as we did when we destroyed Malfeshnekor back in Thistletop. There’s something different about you four. Something very special. I don’t know what it is… But I think you’re those heroes that Father Shreed heard about in his divination.”
Drithnar merely looked at her, not knowing what to say. Shalelu continued: “I remember when I rescued you that winter night, in the wilderness. It seems so long ago. You were barely alive. I had to teach you how to fend for yourself, how to hunt, how to fight. And now, look at you. Look at what you’re capable of. The student has surpassed the master.”
Drithnar chuckled uncomfortably. “Shalelu…”
But she interrupted him: “I mean it. I’d lost all hope when Fort Rannick fell. Even when Navan talked about you three coming to help, I didn’t really believe we’d have a chance of driving away the ogres. But now… I do. I think it’s in your destiny.”
Her former apprentice just looked at her wordlessly.
“Now go to bed,” she continued. “You must be exhausted. I’ll watch over them for a while. You know I don’t need to sleep much.”
Drithnar nodded and gently squeezed Kerista’s hand one last time. He stood up and headed toward the stairs.
“Oh, and Drithnar… Happy birthday.”
Drithnar chuckled in the shadows. “Thanks.”
And he was gone.
Starday, Abadius 12th, 4708
The following morning, Drithnar returned to find that Kerista had woken up and was eating breakfast. She used her healing magic to restore some of her lost strength, and did the same to Navan, but he didn’t regain consciousness.
Some time later, Vale woke up. Drithnar went to his side.
“Vale! Vale! You’re safe now, you’re in Turtleback Ferry!”
The big Shoanti nodded wearily.
“It’s me, Vale, it’s Drithnar! I’m a human now!”
“I know, Navan… told… me…” he said weakly. He looked at Drithnar’s new face for a long moment, and then added: “You’re still butt-ugly, though.”
Drithnar chuckled loudly.
Ruh, Drithnar and Shalelu then decided to return to the ogrekin farmstead and ransack it thoroughly for treasure, and to lay Lelliria and the other ranger, who’d finally been identified by Vale as a ranger named Feldarr, to rest.
They returned late in the afternoon, and found that Navan, Kaven and Jakardros had also regained consciousness. Shalelu went to Jakardros’s side, and at first, it seemed he wasn’t fully aware of his surroundings. Looking at her, he called her Seanthia, her mother’s name, and asked her if they were in Desna’s sacred palace. Shalelu smiled and remained by his side until he was himself once again. She tied a band of cloth over his head, to hide his missing eye.
By the evening, everyone was fully awake and aware of their surroundings and what had happened. The rangers warmly thanked the companions for having saved them, though they grieved for Lelliria and Feldarr’s horrible deaths, as well as those of their many comrades at Fort Rannick. Despite the terrible perils that awaited them there in the form of an ogre horde, they all agreed that they’d attempt to retake the Fort and drive back the invaders as soon as they were able to, which, under Father Shreed and Navan’s ministrations, would likely be very soon. Vale became much more animated than usual as he started suggesting strategies to Jakardros, and he asked Ruh to bring him some ink and parchment, so he could make detailed maps of the Keep to plan the attack.
At some point, though, Shalelu turned toward Kaven and said: “This is all very good, but there’s still one thing that’s not clear to me. Why did Captain Bravery here disappear when we tried to retake Fort Rannick the first time?”
Kaven paled as all eyes turned toward him. He cleared his throat. “It was suicide. Sheer madness. You all know it. There’s no way we could’ve taken on such a force. You saw what happened…”
“So you just ran? You left your brothers in arms, hell, your real brother, behind?” asked Drithnar incredulously.
“Yeah. That’s right. I ran away. Just like you did a few months ago, my dear Drithnar.”
“What? I didn’t run away,” said Drithnar, a bit on the defensive.
“Well, whatever you did, it sure turned out all right for you, didn’t it? You’re alive, aren’t you? You’re this big shot hero now, who saved two cities from destruction, you’ve even got a brand new pretty face to show for it, hell, you even have your little hottie over there following you around. No, I’d say you’re about the last person who’s got the right to lecture me about bravery, you arrogant, self-righteous sack of troll sh-“
“SHUT UP!!!”
All eyes turned toward Navan, who had lost his usual calm and was now glaring furiously at his brother. He continued in a lower voice: “Shut up, Kaven. You’ve got no right contesting Drithnar’s bravery, especially after he and the rest of us rescued you from that place.”
“Fine, whatever, but you do realize that you sent those rangers to their deaths, don’t you, brother? When you send them flying into Fort Rannick? They’re probably all dead now.”
“Kaven, I really think you need to be quiet now,” interjected Jakardros. “There is no justification for the cowardly behavior you’ve displayed on that night. If the order of the Black Arrows were still whole, you know what kind of punishment you’d receive for that… But luckily for you, it’s not. You have the chance to redeem yourself: will you go with us when we go to reclaim Fort Rannick?”
Kaven glared at his superior. “Yes, sir.” But he said it in a tone that meant “it’s not like I have a choice, sir.”
And for the rest of the night, Kaven avoided talking with anyone else, even his brother.
Everyone went to bed early. They wanted to recover their strength as fast as possible. The next morning, they’d finalize the strategy of their attack.
The last one to go to bed was Vale, who’d been feverishly working on beautiful, highly detailed plans of Fort Rannick.
Sunday, Abadius 13th, 4708
Navan woke up last that morning. He felt much better now. Kaven was readying himself nearby, and Ruh was studying spells from her large spellbook.
“Oh. You’re awake,” said Kaven sullenly.
Navan nodded.
“You screamed during the night, did you know?” said Kaven. “Were you having a bad dream?”
Navan gazed into the distance. “I did. Since I became a priest of Desna, my dreams have started to feel a lot more vivid… in good and bad ways, depending on the dream.”
“It was the spider, wasn’t it?”
Navan glanced at his brother, who smirked.
“You didn’t think I’d forgotten, did you? About your encounter with that lovely spider in the forest, so long ago? Hey, now that I think about it, that was probably the first sign you had that you were destined to become a priest of Desna, brother…”
“What’s that?” asked Ruh. “What forest? What happened, Navan?”
“Oh, just the story about how for once I almost outshined my heroic older brother… Just almost,” said Kaven.
“I’ll tell you some other time, Ruh,” said Navan, as he glared darkly at Kaven.
Once Navan was ready, they all headed to the Turtle’s Parlor Inn, where they would meet the others. Kaven walked behind, moodily keeping his answers as short as possible when Navan spoke to him.
Once there, they saw Jakardros and Shalelu sitting together at a small table, looking at some maps and speaking in low voices. At a nearby table, Vale and Kerista were sitting in front of each other, arm-wrestling. Drithnar was standing close to them and cheering them on. Clearly, they had all fully recovered as well. Vale and Kerista were both wearing light shirts, and their powerful muscles bulged from the effort. Though Kerista was much smaller than the massive Shoanti, after a few moments, she managed to pin his hand against the table.
“Wow… That’s… incredible,” panted Vale, wide-eyed as he massaged his aching wrist.
“Never been beaten by a woman before, have you, big guy? I told you she was one of a kind,” chuckled Drithnar as he caressed Kerista’s hair. The two lovers then kissed, and Navan thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of jealousy in Vale’s eyes.
Further back in the room, a few locals were watching the heroes with curiosity and awe. Nallgrid the innkeeper, a cheerful man with a thick black mustache, nodded to the companions as they entered. “Good morning, my friends.” He nodded toward the townsfolk, “I’ve asked them to give you a bit of privacy, as I can tell you’ve got some serious business to discuss,” he added with a wink.
Then all eight of them sat down around a large table. Vale unfolded the large piece of parchment on which he’d drawn maps of the various levels of Fort Rannick. It would be a perilous attack, so they needed to plan it well.
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I'll applaud you once again for a suitably grotesque and disturbing description of the heroe's latest escapades. A suggestion for others out there... I wouldn't read the above on say, a lunch break or anything. ;) Not a good idea. I'm still not sure if I can keep my meal down or not.
1) I'm glad those Kreegs are dead. Mammy gave me the creeps
2) I'm really, really glad they did not investigate the latrines
3) I can't wait for the attack to retake Fort Rannick!