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Thank you so much for your kind words, Chimpman, it really makes me happy to know there's at least one person out there reading my logs :)
Last weekend, my friend and I played all weekend long, so I have tons of material to write, but alas, I've been very busy at work this week and only had time to write the following. I'll write the rest as soon as I get the chance.
Sunday, Abadius 13th, 4708 (continued)
(Ooc: The player characters are now level 8. Shalelu is now level 6 (Ranger 3/Fighter 3))
A cunning plan
The companions discussed various strategies for several hours. Vale gave Ruh and Kerista, who’d never been to Fort Rannick before, a detailed description of each area drawn on his maps. Ruh complimented him on the level of details of the beautiful artwork, and the big ranger smiled contentedly. Vale also presented the secret network of caves behind the waterfall, which even Navan and Shalelu did not know about.
One key point of some strategies revolved around the so-called “new barracks”, which retained the name despite the fact that they were twenty years old. Built with the intention of housing more rangers, they were in fact never used because they’d been identified as a death trap not long after their construction: enemies using flaming arrows could’ve easily set them on fire. Although the recent torrential rains would make the structure much less likely to burn from such arrows, there was some firewood stored underneath: if the companions could reach that spot and light the wood on fire, they would kill any ogres living in that building. Of course, Shalelu pointed out the need to ensure that no prisoners were held in there first.
Eventually, everyone agreed on a strategy which consisted of infiltrating the fort from the secret tunnel hidden behind the waterfall. From there, the group could easily set fire to the new barracks, and enter the jail area in the basement without being detected. It was possible that the ogres knew about the secret tunnels, but the rangers doubted it: they hadn’t used it when they’d attacked Fort Rannick, and seriously, who could ever guess that a secret entrance would be hidden behind a waterfall? Surely not a bunch of ogres.
The rangers did point out, though, that the biggest challenge with that strategy would be to get past the shocker lizards that infested the caves. They were normally peaceful, but could become vicious if their territory, and especially their eggs, were threatened. Ruh described the little creatures as being able to produce powerful blasts of lightning at a short range, blasts which got more and more powerful depending on the number of lizards working in unison, to create a chain lightning effect.
It was also decided that the attack would take place that very night. Despite the fact that the ogres had Darkvision, Navan pointed out that such a vision didn’t have a long enough range to see intruders from very far past the ramparts. Thus, the group would be able to move close to the fortress without being spotted.
After having rested for part of the afternoon, the companions left Turtleback Ferry shortly after nightfall, and rode north in grim anticipation. A chill wind was blowing, howling eerily in the trees of Kreegwood. Jakardros, Vale and Kaven had been outfitted by the town’s blacksmith, who’d given them some chain shirts and weapons for free, since they were on a mission to save the whole town. Likewise, several villagers donated their horses to the rangers, who promised to returned them if they survived the mission.
Return to Fort Rannick
Kerista rode close to Drithnar and Jakardros. “So, assuming that we all come out of this alive and manage to get rid of those ogres, what will we do with Fort Rannick? Will you take over, Jakardros?”
The one-eyed man considered the question for a few moments before answering. “That all depends on how many of our comrades we manage to rescue. Even if we are victorious tonight, we won’t be able to effectively defend the fort with only eight people.”
“So we’re really hoping that Magnimar sent a strong detachment to help us out, aren’t we?”
“Aye, we are. But we can’t afford to wait for them, not when Turtleback Ferry’s in such immediate danger. We must do what we can to at least stall the ogres and try to free a few prisoners before the reinforcements get here.”
Drithnar snickered. “Bah! They’ll be lucky if they find any ogres still breathing by the time I’m done with them!”
Jakardros gazed at the young ranger for a long time, and in the darkness, Kerista could not read his expression. “I wish I shared your optimism, my friend. I can only hope that Lamatar is still alive. If he is, I’m sure he’ll know what to do. No matter what happens, he’s still our commander!”
Kerista tried to picture in her mind the handsome, wise and powerful ranger-lord, based on the descriptions she’d heard from her companions. She wished she’d had the chance to meet him in person; but strangely, as she thought of him, an eerie shiver went down her spine, and seemed to chill her very soul.
After a few hours of riding in the dark, the companions dismounted and hid their mounts in the forest, a bit off the road, where they left the more mundane animals under the watchful eyes of Kibb, Musinia and Wolfbane. Turning off their lights, the group moved closer to the keep as quietly as possible. Kerista, Ruh and Vale remained out of sight in the woods, while the stealthier members of the team moved ahead, to the edge of the forest.
A bolt of lightning pierced the night sky as they came within sight of Fort Rannick. Even in the darkness, they could see that the walls had suffered heavy damage from the ogres’ attack. The brutes hadn’t done much to repair them yet. Though no sentinels could be seen patrolling the ramparts, the smell of cooking and low grunts from inside the keep indicated that the monsters were still maintaining a strong presence there. As the companions watched the fort, another bolt of lightning illuminated everything in a blinding flash of light, and as a deep rumble of thunder erupted from the sky, a heavy rain started to fall.
Drithnar cursed under his breath. “What’s with all that damn rain?”
“It’s not so bad,” said Shalelu. “At least it will hide our approach.”
Jakardros nodded. “All right, the coast is clear. Let’s get the others and move in position.”
The eight companions moved as close to the waterfall as they could while still being under the cover of the trees. They then decided to send one of their stealthiest members first: Jakardros. The veteran crept forward, discreet as a shadow. Ruh had given him her staff, since she could see through it by magic. She’d cast a Light spell on it, though Jakardros kept it hidden under his cloak as he moved forward.
Ruh concentrated through her staff, and eventually, she saw Jakardros remove the cover from it. He was drenched, and stood in a humid cave whose walls were covered with fungus. Jakardros moved the staff around him: the cave was empty, and had a narrow tunnel leading into the darkness. He quickly checked for tracks on the ground, but could apparently see none. He then turned to the staff and whispered that it looked safe for everyone to join him.
The other stealthy members of the group joined him one after the other. Kaven went first, followed by Drithnar, Shalelu and Navan. Finally, Ruh cast a Dimension Door spell on herself, Vale and Kerista, since they ran a bigger chance of getting spotted or heard by the ogres. They appeared inside the cave, in the middle of their comrades. Ruh cast a few more Light spells on people’s weapons, and the group ventured into the narrow tunnel, walking in single file. They began their attack around midnight.
Moonday, Abadius 14th, 4708
The group quickly reached another cave, which acted as a storage room containing crates with additional weapons for the rangers. It looked untouched by the ogres, which seemed to indicate that indeed, they had not discovered these cleverly hidden tunnels. Two openings in the far walls led to the rest of the cavern complex.
Vale and Kaven approached the weapon crates, but were surprised by two shocker lizards that had nested among them. Kaven narrowly dodged a bolt of electricity, and he and Vale stabbed the small blue lizards with their weapons. Vale was fighting with a battle axe and a handaxe which he wielded with great strength. Kaven also fought with two melee weapons, a rapier and a dagger, and while he lacked Vale’s great strength, he made up for it with agility. Kerista moved in to help them, while Navan and Jakardros tried to aim in between the melee combatants with their ranged weapons. Vale got badly shocked by a second electricity discharge, but finally, he and Kaven killed the two critters.
Navan healed the wounded ranger, and the companions found only mundane weapons of little use in the cache, except for six magical arrows of lightning, which Jakardros gave to Shalelu.
“Use them wisely,” he told her.
Vale pointed to the two tunnels. “The one to the right leads down to the secret door behind the new barracks, the shocker lizard caves and the jails, and the one to the left leads to the old crypts of the fort, and another secret door which leads to the courtyard.”
“Let’s take the left one first,” suggested Navan, “that way, we can ensure that we secure this network of caves in case we need to make it our secret base during the assault.”
The others nodded and resumed their exploration of the dark, humid caves. They soon came into a cave that was split in two by a deep ravine, across which spanned a rickety wooden bridge. The walls of the cave were covered with glittering crystal formations.
“Oooh, that’s so pretty!” said Ruh.
“Yes, but they’re just worthless crystals,” answered Kaven.
“Be careful on that bridge,” warned Vale. “It’s not too solid. Better cross it one at a time.”
“Hmm, let’s send only the lightest among us as scouts, then,” said Navan. “Ruh, Shalelu, why don’t you go take a look first?”
Ancient Hatred
The two women easily crossed the bridge and followed the tunnel, which led them to the crypts of the Black Arrows. This place apparently hadn’t been used in decades, and indeed, the twenty corpses placed in niches along the walls were covered with a thick layer of dust, as was the floor. The skeletons wore ceremonial armors, but strangely, one of them had been moved from its resting place and lay in a tangled heap in the middle of the room.
Ruh and Shalelu approached it warily, and the elf knelt down to examine it.
“It’s ancient all right. I see no tracks here… Nobody’s been here in… Ruh, look out!”
At the last moment, Shalelu had noticed out of the corner of her eyes a ghostly figure appearing behind Ruh. The little gnome turned around in panic and found herself facing the translucent image of a gaunt man dressed in ancient leather armor, wielding a ghostly sword as if ready to strike. A malevolent light gleamed in his deep, sunken eyes.
“Traitors…” came a voice from beyond the grave.
Only thanks to some incredible luck did Ruh avoid the revenant’s touch (ooc: she had to use an action point). “Run!!!” she yelled to Shalelu, and she bolted out of the room as fast as her little legs could carry her. Shalelu nimbly tumbled past the revenant, avoiding another attack, and ran after the little gnome, whom she soon ran past. Thankfully, both women managed to reach the wooden bridge and crossed before the ghost reached them.
“What happened?” asked Drithnar in a worried tone.
“You could’ve warned us that those damned crypts were haunted!!!” replied Shalelu bitterly.
“What??”
The companions looked intently at the darkness on the other side of the bridge, but it seemed that the ghost had abandoned its chase.
Jakardros scratched his beard, lost in thought. “I’m sorry about that, my friends, none of us have been in that crypt for quite some time. What exactly attacked you?”
“I believe it was a spectre,” answered Ruh, “it looked like a gaunt human dressed much like one of you rangers.“
“Was there anything else special about him?”
“He wielded a sword and had a short beard,” said Shalelu. “He looked quite sinister. Oh, and he had a necklace with some long feathers around his neck.”
“Does that sound familiar?” asked Ruh.
“Oh, that sounds like Lorgus Fenker,” replied Jakardros. “Some fellow who died a few years before I joined the Black Arrows. That must’ve been… around thirty years ago.”
“But why is he a ghost now, and why did he attack us?” asked Shalelu.
“Hmmm, well, I never met him, but from what I heard, he was a wicked man who was hated by many of his fellow rangers. There are some rumors that say that his death wasn’t an accident like most people think, but rather that he was killed by some of his comrades while they were on a patrol.”
Drithnar gave a dry chuckle. “Yep, that sounds like the sort of thing that would make someone come back as a spectre later on.”
“Oh, I guess that explains why he called us traitors,” added Ruh.
The companions decided not to tangle with Lorgus Fenker, and to explore the shocker lizard tunnels first. Drithnar cast a spell on Kaven to protect him from lightning, and the young man walked ahead of the group in the narrow tunnels, with Ruh’s staff attached to his back so she could see what happened. Kaven entered the cave warren, and passed near a few lizards, which watched him intently, but did not attack. He turned right and navigated his way through a small maze of dark caves inside which more lizards could be seen. Finally, he came upon a cave where many small eggs were laid, and two lizards there barred his way and hissed at him. Afraid to get shocked, he returned to the group and described what he’d seen.
After a quick discussion, the group decided to force their way through the caves by blasting the lizards with a fireball. Navan and Jakardros warned the others to proceed carefully, because they’d caught glimpses of the spectral form of Lorgus Fenker spying them from afar: quite likely, the devious spirit was waiting for the best occasion to strike.
Navan cast a Silence spell on a piece of wood that Kaven threw into the cave with the hissing lizards, in order to try and block the sound of the Fireball, so the ogres wouldn’t hear the group coming. Once the ranger was back among the group, Ruh cast a Fireball into one of the caves, which exploded and filled a few of the side caves, roasting several lizards. The group then moved forward carefully, and attacked the lizards guarding their eggs. After a quick fight, Kaven, Vale, Ruh, Navan and Jakardros killed them and managed to clear a path to the jails.
Behind them, however, Lorgus Fenker had chosen that moment to strike! Drithnar had been expecting this, and wasn’t surprised. He managed to slice the evil spirit with his magical weapons.
“Traitors, you’ll pay for what you’ve done!” howled the ghost.
“Give me a break, I wasn’t even born when you were killed!” replied Drithnar as he tried to dodge the incorporeal attacks.
“Be gone, unholy spirit!” shouted Kerista as she tried to turn the undead, but the vile creature was wholly unaffected.
Shalelu shot one of her lightning arrows at the spectre, which in turn managed to touch Drithnar with its deathly power. The ranger shivered as he felt his very life being drained out of him. Then he roared and plunged his magical weapons into the ghost, slicing him in two.
“No, not again!” shrieked Lorgus Fenker, as he dissipated into tattered fragments of ectoplasm.
“Honey, are you all right?” asked Kerista.
Drithnar took a few steps back. He was pale and sweating.
“I … don’t feel… so good….” he said.
Kerista, not knowing what to do, looked down at what she had thought was the holy symbol in her hand. “Oh, I know why I couldn’t affect it! I tried to turn it with my amulet of health!”
Everyone regrouped. Unfortunately, nobody could heal Drithnar’s drained energy, so the ranger would have to continue the rest of the assault in his weakened state. Although they had now cleared a path to the jails, the companions decided to ensure the crypts were secure first. They went there, and indeed, everything seemed clear now. Kerista told her friends that she felt no evil in the area.
The group then checked out the two secret doors leading into the courtyard. They sent Kaven to explore the new barracks in stealth. After a few minutes, he returned and informed the others that as they had hoped, a group of ogres was sleeping carelessly in the building. He’d seen no prisoners inside, though he added that visibility had been quite poor.
Hookmaw
It was now time to start the attack. The companions returned to the lizard caves and walked past the burnt and hacked remains of the lizards they’d slain. A few of the creatures could still be heard slithering in the darkness, in other caves, but they were wise enough not to challenge the group. Kerista then moved forward and opened the secret door in the far wall, which led into a dark room with two more doors.
The room was simple and had once been the jailer’s room. As the group entered, a huge ogre stood up from the mattress it had been sleeping on. His bleary eyes widened with surprised rage when he saw the companions burst through the secret door. He yelled an incoherent challenge in a hoarse voice. It sounded strangely metallic, because the brute’s lower jaw had been replaced by a hideous metallic device that was attacked to the sides of his skull. He took hold of his Ogre Hook and met Kerista’s charge, hitting her with a powerful blow as she moved close to him. The young paladin, and the cleric of Desna who’d protected her with a Shield of Faith spell, both yelled in pain from the terrible shock.
Drithnar, Vale and Kaven also moved in to attack the monster with their weapons. Navan and Jakardros fired projectiles at the creature’s upper body, which towered over their companions. Ruh and Shalelu had to remain behind, stuck in the cramped tunnel.
The ogre warrior was a fearsome foe, but it was badly outnumbered. It suffered several wounds from the various adventurers and rangers, but eventually, it was Kerista who delivered the final blow: she channeled all of her holy energy into her weapon, making it glow with an aura of Sarenrae’s blessed sunlight, and hit the enormous brute with a power attack that dislodged its metallic jaw and sent it crashing against one of the walls of the room. The monster gave an agonized squeal, flailed wildly for an instant, and then fell to the floor, dead.
Everyone moved into the room, and Navan healed himself and Kerista.
“The jails are behind this door,” said Jakardros.
The companions positioned themselves around the door, listening for a moment for sounds of an alarm that the combat might’ve triggered. They heard none. They then opened the door leading to the jail area, hoping that they’d find some survivors there…
...it really makes me happy to know there's at least one person out there reading my logs :)
...
Just so you know, I've been checking every couple of days to see if there are updates, ever since I discovered this thread a month or so ago. Even when I know you've just posted and I need to wait a week, I check again anyway. (sheepish grin)
I'm still planning my RotRL campaign since we're waiting for the 4E rules, and your campaign journals have provided lots of inspiration. Thanks for sharing this with us!
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Hi Cintra, thanks for writing (and reading) :). I've got a big update this week, I hope you like it.
Moonday, Abadius 14th, 4708 (continued)
Kaven’s true colors
Unfortunately, only empty jail cells and bitter disappointment awaited the group on the other side. Though the cells had visibly been used recently, there wasn’t a single survivor left in them. The companions’ minds reeled at the implications: could the voracious ogres have already slain and eaten all of the survivors of the attack?
This was a strong blow to the rangers’ morale. Though it had maybe seemed unlikely, they’d all hoped that at least a few of their former comrades had survived the onslaught.
But the grim discovery only increased their thirst for revenge…
With murder on their mind, the companions discussed setting fire to the new barracks at that moment, but upon further consideration, they decided that it would reveal their presence to the fort’s invaders, and that instead, they should try to keep the advantage of surprise for a while longer. Therefore, they decided to send only one member of their group to silently slay the ogres while they slept.
After a quick discussion, the person chosen for that task was Kaven.
Navan cast a Silence spell on a piece of wood that he handed to his brother, and Ruh gave Kaven her magical staff so that she might keep track of his progress in case he needed help. Kaven nodded solemnly to his companions, tapped his brother’s shoulder and grinned at him, and then he vanished in total silence through the secret door behind the new barracks.
Concentrating through her staff, Ruh at first saw only Kaven’s dark outline crawling under the new barracks. He then reached the building’s single door, and glanced around, under the rain. A group of ogres were standing watch near the south gate, and another was located near a tower, further away. Kaven placed the silenced stick on the ground near the building’s door. He then took hold of Ruh’s staff, and looked at it with what Ruh thought was a wicked grin, in the darkness. And then, to the little mage’s complete surprise, Kaven threw her staff at the group of ogres standing near the south gate!
“Holy Mother of Salvation!” gasped Ruh as she saw her staff fly all the way to the group of ogres, where it fell in the mud and was picked up by a hulking, grunting brute.
“What?? What is it??” asked her companions all at once.
“My… My staff… My beautiful staff!!!” stammered the little gnome.
“What is it, Ruh?” asked Navan. “Did something happen to Kaven?”
“Oh, n-no… It’s just that… He threw my staff at the ogres!”
“He did WHAT?!?” roared Drithnar, who got shushed by Vale and Shalelu.
Navan’s mind froze for a few moments at he struggled with the enormity of what had just happened. His brother had thrown Ruh’s staff at the ogres. On purpose. His brother…
Of course. It all made perfect sense.
He’d been the one who’d brought back information that had caused a large force of Black Arrows to leave the keep just before the attack.
He’d fled the raid, with no regards for the safety of his comrades, or even of his own brother.
Navan was bombarded by a multitude of flashes of his brother’s face. When Sangar had confronted him in the mountains. When Drithnar had accused him at the church of Erastil. When he’d laughed about the good times he’d been having in Paradise before Navan came to the keep…
Kaven hadn’t fled the raid on Fort Rannick because he’d been scared. He’d fled it because he had been involved in it!
The flashes of his brother’s face were replaced by those of his companions, that he was looking at in the dimly lit corridor. Ruh showed anguish at losing her staff, her most precious item. Kerista was looking at Navan with deep compassion, as if she knew exactly how he felt. Drithnar and Shalelu had a murderous determination in their eyes, and Jakardros and Vale bowed their heads in shame, as they’d also come to the conclusion that they had been duped all along.
“Navan, what do we do??” asked Kerista.
“… There’s no time to lose,” replied the priest of Desna after a brief pause. Being a very cool-headed man, Navan had recovered quickly from the terrible betrayal. “The alarm is raised now. They know we’re here. We have to get to their leader as quickly as possible.”
“But we don’t know where he is,” replied Kerista.
“No, but we’ll try upstairs. I have a hunch he’s on the top floor. Before we go, though… Ruh, I want you to burn those ogres.”
Ruh shook herself out of the shock of losing her staff.
“Oh, yes, of course, Navan!”
And with that, the little wizardess opened the secret doors and shot two Scorching Rays which set ablaze the firewood stacked under the new barracks.
“That should keep them busy for a while,” she said, as she stepped back into the corridor and Kerista closed the secret door behind her.
Epic Battle
The companions quickly returned to the jail area, and climbed the stairs leading to the ground floor. They passed through a ruined storage room, and carefully opened the door that led into the main tunnel of that floor. Beyond, everything was eerily silent. It seemed that the alarm hadn’t reached the inside of the keep yet. Quickly, but quietly, the companions climbed up the stairs leading to the second floor. It, too, was mostly quiet, though as they carefully moved forward, the companions heard some raised voices coming from the far room, which had previously been Commander Bayden’s quarters. They approached it carefully.
“What exactly do you know about him, anyway?” asked a woman’s voice. “Why are you so intent on protecting him?”
“Us follow him now,” replied a deep, crude, yet feminine voice. Probably a female ogre. “He the new Pappy of Kreeg Clan!”
“That’s fine, but I am simply trying to understand what’s causing such a delay in his operations. We don’t have all the time in the world, you know?” The human woman seemed at the end of her patience.
“Is not my place to say. If you wants to know, you asks him yourself! Me follows his orders, is all!”
A cold, mocking chuckle followed.
“My dear, dear Dorella… I can see that you and Jaagrath are quite afraid of your new master. But believe me, you should be much more afraid of Lord Mokmurian than of Barl, who is, after all, only his apprentice. Don’t forget that! For that matter, you should be much more afraid of me than of that oversized buffoon…”
“You threatening me???”
“No, I am not. I am merely stating that you seem to be forgetting that Barl himself answers to a much stronger lord; a lord whose main quality is definitely not patience. Keep it in mind, my dear…”
Feeling they’d heard enough, and since they were pressed by time, the companions prepared themselves to attack. Kerista burst through the door and charged into the room.
What had once been Lamatar’s bedroom was in a sad state, the large table and bed having been smashed when the brutish ogres had gone through the place. Several weapons, animal heads, and maps hung on the walls. Standing in the middle of the room were indeed two women who matched the voices the companions had heard. The ogre woman was fat and ugly, and wore a dirty, plain brown dress. The other woman looked human and was beautiful: she had long red hair and alabaster skin. She could’ve looked quite aristocratic, but at the time, she was dressed all in black and looked more like an assassin. The women hadn’t heard the party’s approach, and seemed quite surprised.
Kerista rushed the ogress and hit her with her Earthbreaker. Drithnar also moved in to attack, and Navan, Jakardros, Shalelu and Ruh shot her. The ogress then tried to cast a spell, but Kerista managed to break her concentration. Meanwhile, the red-haired woman cast a defensive spell on herself, and roars erupted from the nearby rooms: the chapel of Erastil and the upper dining room.
Ruh cast Arcane Lock on the chapel’s door to buy the group some time, and Vale moved to intercept whoever would come out of the dining room. The others rained blows on the ogress, who all in all fell quickly to their concerted efforts. The companions then turned to face the red-haired woman… and saw that she had transformed! She was now much larger, and though her upper body still looked the same, her legs had been replaced by the massive coils of a giant emerald green snake! She grinned wickedly as she drew a rapier and a dagger.
Meanwhile, the door to the chapel was bashed opened by an extremely strong blow, and Ruh caught sight of a massive fist holding an ogre hook. The other door opened, and an ogre found himself face to face with Vale, who attacked him, along with Shalelu and Jakardros. Meanwhile, Ruh cast a Solid Fog behind them in the corridor, to slow down the other ogre’s advance, as well as to block any possible reinforcements.
In Lamatar’s bedroom, Kerista was getting pounded on by the strange snake-woman. She yelled in pain as the fiend cut her time and again with her sharp weapons; she was blindingly fast, and easily managed to overcome Kerista’s defenses, while at the same time dodging almost all of her attacks, and Drithnar’s. Only one of Kerista’s many attacks connected with the woman, but Kerista had many badly bleeding wounds to show for it, and strangely enough, she seemed deeply shaken by those wounds, as if each one of them was turning her more and more insane.
Drithnar, who was still weakened from Lorgus Fenker’s life drain, was starting to sweat, and he was worried that the devilish foe would cut down his beloved. He could not believe how fast she was moving, he simply could not hit her! What kind of creature was it??
Navan was also worried, and bleeding from the wounds he’d taken through the Shield Other spell he shared with Kerista, but despite all the confusion around him, he managed to notice that the snake-woman was wearing a Sihedron medallion around her neck.
“Lucrecia!” he thought, for the woman’s fiery hair and elegance matched the description he’d gotten of the former owner of Paradise. He tried to dispel her magical protections, but his spell had no visible effect. Drithnar tried to get behind the woman, but she kept her back close to the wall.
“Scream for me, little girl!” gloated Lucrecia as she pierced Kerista again and again with her merciless weapons.
As terrible roars were coming from Ruh’s ice-blue Solid Fog spell, Vale hacked to death the first ogre that had stepped through the dining room’s doors, and Shalelu and Jakardros mortally shot the one that came behind him. Jakardros, Ruh and Vale then entered Lamatar’s room, to help Kerista who seemed to be in trouble against the snake lady.
From the doorway, Shalelu managed to shoot the snake-woman with two of her electricity arrows. Lucrecia flashed her a quick glare of hatred before returning her attention to the badly bleeding Kerista. Navan healed himself, while Ruh was preparing a new spell. Jakardros tried to shoot Lucrecia, but his arrows missed just as Drithnar and Kerista’s blows had so far.
A mighty roar then resounded behind Shalelu, and the silhouette of the biggest ogre she’d ever seen was outlined through the fog. The monster brutally stabbed her in the back; the elven woman shrieked in agony and fell to the floor, bleeding profusely: the wound had almost cut her in two!
“Shalelu!!” yelled Vale and Jakardros in unison.
The ogre was still too deeply hidden in the fog for Jakardros to fire on him, but Vale rushed back into the corridor to guard the fallen elf. He bravely stood before the towering ogre, and sliced him with both of his axes. The monster roared in pain, as Vale shouted: “For the Black Arrows!!!”
Shalelu had managed to drag herself out of harm’s way, and was dizzily getting back on her feet, as the ongoing battle raging in Lamatar’s room rang in her ears. Kerista seemed to be suffering more and more wounds. But suddenly, Shalelu saw a door open at the end of the corridor. It led to the top of the battlements, and through it appeared… Kaven!
Shalelu and Kaven stood motionless for an instant, their eyes locked on each other. Then, Kaven’s attention was diverted by the voice coming from the next room: it was Lucrecia, cackling madly as she drove her blades into Kerista’s flesh. Kaven heard the undeniable evil in her voice, and it was obvious that his former comrades were fighting her. Soundlessly, his lips mouthed the name: “Lucrecia…”
“Kaven!” shouted Shalelu. “Put down your weapons and surrender, or I’ll shoot you down like a dog!”
Kaven was stirred from his reverie, and his eyes focused on Shalelu once more. But then, from behind the elven woman, a terrible scream erupted. For a moment, Shalelu turned around, and to her horror, she saw that the unfortunate Vale had gotten cut in two by the massive ogre that was now almost out of the Solid Fog. A powerful anger gripped her, and she found herself unable to feel mercy for the traitor, Kaven. She turned and rapidly fired three arrows at him: all three lodged themselves with deadly precision into his chest. For a moment, he stood there with a pained grimace straining his face, and blood starting to flow from the corner of his mouth.
“You… b%~&&!” he panted, and he turned away and ran out the door.
Meanwhile, Ruh had been preparing a powerful spell: she cast a True Strike on herself, and then a Greater Orb of Cold which she directed at Lucrecia. The globe of ice was incredibly well aimed, because it managed to critically hit the lightning-fast woman. Ice shards lodged themselves deeply into her chest and throat, and blood started pouring out of deep wounds. For the first time, fear showed in the woman’s eyes. Before she could react, though, Drithnar roared and plunged his longsword into her back. The sharp blade protruded out of her chest, and Drithnar twisted it mercilessly. Lucrecia let out an agonized gurgle as more blood poured out of her mouth unto her chin, and then her eyes became glassy and she fell, lifeless, to the floor.
They had no time to celebrate their victory, though, because at the same time, they heard Vale’s death cry, and hurried to move themselves in a position to fight the ogre lord as he emerged from the fog at long last. The brute towered a full fourteen feet high, and was roaring in rage; despite this, the companions bravely stood their ground.
Shalelu rushed out of the door into the pouring rain, on the keep’s roof. She was determined not to let Kaven get away yet again! As she emerged out of the corridor, she noticed at the last moment that Kaven had not run away as she’d thought, but that he’d been waiting for her in ambush just next to the door, flat against the wall. Only thanks to her incredibly sharp ranger skills did she notice the man and avoid what would surely have been a fatal blow from his rapier.
Instead, Kaven only grazed her shoulder as she tumbled past him. Shalelu nimbly stood up, and fired another volley of arrows at Kaven. Two of them hit him squarely in the chest, again, and this time, the man dropped his weapons and fell with his back to the wall, hoarsely gasping for breath.
The enormous ogre entered Lamatar’s room and tried to pound Kerista into the ground with an earth-shattering blow, but thankfully, she managed to dodge it. After that, the companions all attacked the ogre, and together, they managed to slay him. Again, it was Drithnar who dealt the fatal blow, and he jumped on the ogre’s shoulder and sliced his throat open with his war razor. He’d fought with furious determination, despite his weakened state.
Everything went quiet: it had been a short, but terribly brutal fight. Suddenly, from far away, as though she was calling from outside the keep, came Shalelu’s voice: “Navan, I need your help here! Quick!”
It’s actually Jakardros who reached Shalelu first, eager to make sure she was all right. He saw Kaven lying against the wall, and well as the rapier wound on Shalelu’s shoulder and immediately understood what had happened. He cast a cure spell on Kaven to prevent him from dying, but as soon as he did that, he held a knife to the young man’s throat. “One wrong move and you die, scum,” warned the grim veteran.
Navan stepped out in the pouring rain and saw what had happened, and then helped the others bring Kaven back into Lamatar’s room. They passed Kerista, who was kneeling next to Vale’s horribly butchered corpse. She was weeping bitterly, and Drithnar stood by her side, and he too had tears in his eyes. They’d fail to rescue any of his former comrades so far, and even worse, now his old friend Vale was dead as well… Ruh stood next to them, also looking sad, though she told Navan that her cloud would help protect them for a few more minutes.
Kaven’s World Crumbles Down Like A House Of Cards
They brought Kaven into Lamatar’s room, where they bound him with manacles. The young man, already pale from his brush with death, went ghostly white when his eyes fell on Lucrecia’s monstrous, bloody corpse. After having healed his own wounds, as well as Kerista and Shalelu’s, Navan turned toward his brother.
“So I guess you’re already acquainted with Lady Lucrecia, then?”
Kaven remained silent for a moment, then he said: “I loved her. I was crazy about her. I had no idea she was… a monster.”
“Well, she’s dead, brother,” said Navan. “We killed her. Is she the one that made you betray us?”
Kaven bowed his head in shame. A single tear fell down his cheek.
“Yes. We met at Paradise one night. We fell in love. Or at least, I thought we did. Since my captivity in the ogrekins’ barn, I’ve found that there are whole parts of the past year that I can’t recall at all. Did she charm me with magic? Probably. But part of what I felt was real. I really, truly loved her with all my heart… She really played me for a fool.”
“So she convinced you to betray the Black Arrows?”
Kaven burst out crying, and eventually admitted: “She did…” Drithnar and Jakardros exchanged dark looks.
“She convinced me to reveal key weaknesses about the fortress, and to lure a strong patrol out in the mountains for the night of the attack. I made up a story about some cultists in a far away place to make sure we wouldn’t return in time. She even gave me a magical whistle to help me delay the patrol. I had no idea what it would do… When I saw that it summoned the Doom Shrieker… and killed Sannon… I’m so sorry!!!”
He cried bitterly for a few more moments, and then continued. “I thought those in the patrol at least would escape. But you all insisted on returning to the keep, even though it was clearly doomed! I couldn’t believe it! They didn’t all have to die! If you hadn’t sent Keimos, and Sarianna, and those others inside the keep. If you guys hadn’t done that suicidal charge… All of them would still be alive!”
“That’s a coward’s reasoning, brother,” replied Navan. “YOU doomed them all. And for what? What was Lucrecia’s goal? Why did she want to destroy Fort Rannick?”
“I… I don’t know…”
Drithnar snorted.
“I swear! She told me nothing! It’s only now that’s it’s clear to me. I guess I was nothing but a puppet to her. She… never loved me at all…”
“But why did you betray us today, then? You could’ve remained under cover.”
“Indeed, I must admit that you had us all fooled,” added Jakardros.
Kaven looked up with helpless, tear-filled eyes. “I was afraid you’d kill her. I wanted to get to her first. I needed to talk to her. To get answers! I had to know! Can’t you understand?”
“Well in that case, it sounds like we saved your miserable life, you pathetic piece of dung,” said Shalelu. “I’m pretty sure she would’ve killed you if you’d come back to her now that she had no use for you.”
Navan sighed. “Look around you, brother. We’ve killed their leaders. And that’s only with seven of us. If you hadn’t betrayed us, the Black Arrows could’ve destroyed the Kreeg Ogres, I’m sure of it. We could’ve won. But you tipped the scales. You doomed them all. All of their deaths are on your conscience, brother. Will you ever be able to forgive yourself? I know I won’t.”
Kaven looked at Navan helplessly, and sobbed bitterly once again. He was a broken man.
All of his life, he’d lived bitterly in Navan’s shadow. Despite Kaven’s charm and talent, Navan had always managed to outshine him, to come out on top. He was luckier, everyone liked him better. Kaven had always resented this and had fantasized about one day being the hero, and that people would look up to him and not to Navan. Now, he had forever shattered that dream. Not only had he shown cowardice and treachery, proving that he would never be a hero like Navan, he’d become even worse: Navan’s nemesis; a villain. His vile deeds only made Navan’s victory glow even brighter.
The woman that he had loved with all of his heart was now dead. Worse, he’d betrayed everyone he held dear in her name, and now he’d learned that, not only had she been a horrible monster, but she’d never loved him, and had used him as a mere pawn in her wicked schemes.
He knelt in utter humiliation in his former commander’s bedroom, with arrows still painfully lodged inside his chest. Death surrounded him: the corpses of the monsters he’d helped invade the keep he had been sworn to avenge, and the corpses of his brothers in arms, whom he’d betrayed. The only surviving Black Arrows, Jakardros and Drithnar, looked like they wanted to execute him on the spot.
Kaven was a broken man. He was beyond anyone’s capacity for forgiveness. Even his brother’s, who’d always supported him and loved him no matter what he did. Until today.
“So what do we do with him?” asked Drithnar.
“Well, whatever we do, better make it quick. I don’t think my cloud’s going to be up for much longer!” warned Ruh.
“According to the code of the Black Arrows, he should be hanged about ten times for all that he’s done,” said Jakardros darkly. “But the Black Arrows are clearly no more. I leave it up to you, Navan, to decide the fate of your brother.”
Navan was facing one of the windows, his arms folded, his back to the rest of the group.
“I need some time to think about it. I don’t have time to decide now. Let’s knock him out and leave him here for now.”
“Can I do the honors?” asked Drithnar with a grin.
But before anyone could answer, Kerista moved past her lover and stood in front of the kneeling, bloody Kaven, who looked up at her with fearful eyes.
She’d been standing very quietly to the side, so nobody had noticed until now that her usually quiet and smiling face was now twisted into a grimace of rage. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated. She looked not quite like herself. She gripped Kaven’s chain shirt and hoisted him to his feet.
“This one’s for Vale, you bastard!” she snarled, and she smashed her armor-plated fist against Kaven’s face, sending him sprawling to the floor with a heavily bleeding nose. He was out cold.
Everyone, even Navan, looked at the usually mild paladin in stunned silence, and realized that perhaps Lucrecia’s blows had wounded more than her body: her very soul seemed hurt as well.
Avenging the Black Arrows
At that moment, the party became aware of ogres in the proximity. From the other side of the magical fog, deep voices were calling out anxiously. “Pappy? Pappy, are you ok?”
Jakardros pointed to the corpse of the enormous ogre, and whispered: “I believe that one was Jaagrath Kreeg, son of Grolki, the leader of the Kreeg Clan.”
The companions then moved into position to ambush the ogres. While they were doing that, Navan asked Ruh in a quiet voice what was wrong with Kerista.
“I’m not sure,” whispered back Ruh. “But I’ve heard of creatures called Lamias, which have the upper body of a human woman, and the lower body of a lion, who can turn mortals insane with a touch. Maybe Lucrecia was some strange kind of Lamia?”
Then, as suddenly as it had come, the fog was gone, and the party found itself facing three ogres. The first one was much larger than the other two; the right side of his face was horribly scarred, with bones visible through the patches of mangled flesh. The wound looked recent, maybe he’d suffered it during the raid. The two ogres behind him looked quite silly: perched precariously on the top of their large heads were human-sized helmets, which looked ridiculously tiny on them. They were also wearing a few random pieces of chainmail armor, stretched almost to the point of breaking over their fat bodies.
The ogres’ eyes widened in surprise at seeing the six “punies”, and even more at seeing Jaagrath’s corpse behind them. Before they could react, though, the companions attacked them. After a quick and brutal fight, they managed to kill all three ogres.
Once that was done, the companions quickly examined the rest of the level. Inside the chapel of Erastil, a nightmarish scene of horror awaited them: the holy site had been desecrated and transformed into a shrine to Lamashtu, whose symbol was drawn in blood on the far wall. Throughout the whole room were terrible trophies created by Jaagrath: horrible meat statues stitched together, using many different body parts from humans, horses and giant eagles.
Among the disgusting creations was a horse with Sarianna’s head sewn where its own head had been chopped off, and Sangar’s body pierced by the antlers of a giant deer. A few more naked human corpses were heaped on the altar, among which the companions recognized Keimos and Narinda. For a few long moments, the companions all stared at the room in disgusted horror. Kerista’s eyes were filling with tears again, Drithnar shook with rage, and Jakardros’ face was as white as a sheet, as he muttered prayers to Desna under his breath. After a while, the others had to pull them out of the room.
The rest of the level was empty of ogres, so the companions headed downstairs. They quietly explored from room to room. The ogres had done a lot of damage to most rooms, especially the kitchen and dining room. Another scene of horror awaited the characters in the infirmary, where poor father Damrog’s corpse was also on display as a trophy, placed to look as though he were eating his own entrails from a gaping wound in his belly.
As the group moved down the corridor, they heard raised voices behind the door to the barracks. Several ogres were arguing about a “horsey head”. While they were busy doing that, the companions burst into the room and attacked them. There were four ogres in all. Kerista struck one of them with her Earthbreaker, and Ruh blasted them all with a powerful Lightning Bolt which killed two of them on the spot. The first ogre was finished off by Drithnar, and when the last one tried to flee through the far door, he was shot down by Navan.
However, a fifth ogre was alerted by the noise of the fight: the large warrior burst out of one of the doors behind the characters. With a snarl, he threw the headless human corpse he’d been carrying; the body landed on Jakardros, who fell down from the impact. As Kerista and Drithnar moved to engage the monster, he chanted a stupid rhyme in Giantish:
“Little punies now I kill you,
With stomping feet I make you goo!”
Unfortunately for him, rather than being turned into goo, the adventurers killed him. Shalelu helped Jakardros to his feet. With a disgusted grimace, he examined the corpse that had been thrown on him. “Oh no… That was poor Petter…”
In the ruined barracks where the four ogres had fought, the characters indeed saw the hollowed-out horse head that they’d been fighting about. And in the workshop that the singing ogre had come out of, several graffiti were written in fresh blood in the Giantish language:
“Me Big-a-Big, You Small-a-Small, I Eat Your Head!”
“You Never Think Me Write All Over With Your Bloody Neck, I’m Holding You by Mig-a-Mug and Use You as Paint Brush! Har!”
“That’s just… sick…” said Shalelu.
“Yes,” said Navan. “But by ogrish standards, this one was a minstrel.”
The companions ensured that the rest of the ground floor was secure before turning their attention to the remaining ogres in the courtyard. Ruh concentrated and saw that they’d by then managed to mostly extinguish the flames at the new barracks, but that the building had burned to the ground. Amidst the smoldering ruins, she spotted the blackened carcasses of about a dozen ogres. So their plan had worked! Ruh saw about ten ogres still in the courtyard, trying to put out the last of the flames. Her staff was still being held by a towering brute, which had a dead squirrel stuck in the side of his dirty jaw. The monster was barking orders at its smaller comrades, urging them to work faster, as he himself did nothing except watch them scurry between the burnt building and the pond of water nearby, as he distractedly scratched his rear end with the magical staff.
Ruh’s face turned all red when she saw her precious possession so defiled. “That’s it!! We have to attack them now!!”
The companions were very tired by then, and the spell casters were running out of spells, but the horrors they’d witnessed so far urged them to keep on fighting. They prepared themselves with defensive spells, including an Enlarge Person on Kerista. The group then positioned itself inside the main entrance to the keep, where they’d be able to fight the ogres in a bottleneck. Ruh then went to tease the ogres into charging. Kerista opened the massive door for her, and the little gnome shouted: “Hey, fatsoes! Here’s more fire for you!” And with that, she cast a Fireball on the biggest group of ogres, hitting five of them.
Predictably, and stupidly, the ogres charged toward the keep, as Ruh and Kerista moved back into position. The first enemy to enter the keep was a disgusting ogre with legs that bent in the wrong way, like a goat, and a host of angry red pustules growing on his face and hands. Wielding his greatclub wildly, he roared a challenge to the group, and charged forth.
Though he managed to wound Drithnar, the companions killed that ugly ogre, and then two more after him. Ruh then cast a second Fireball past her companions. That one killed two ogres, and also hit the one that was carrying her staff. That massive ogre was by then badly burned, since it had been targeted by both fireballs. Roaring furiously, he charged Drithnar and Kerista, but the three remaining ogres fled in terror.
While Drithnar, Kerista and Ruh finished off the berserker, Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros fired on those that fled. They managed to kill the two that tried to climb over the keep’s walls, but the last one, a monstrously fat ogre, managed to lift the portcullis of the south gate, pass under it, and flee into the woods. Drithnar and Jakardros climbed the walls and ran after him at top speed.
Securing the Keep
While they were gone, the others healed up and looked around. They could hardly believe it: they had managed to slay all of the fort’s invaders. It was truly an exploit worthy of being sung by bards throughout all of Varisia! Yet at the same time, they mourned the terrible deaths of the Black Arrow rangers. Their hearts were heavy with the realization that they’d fail to rescue any of them. Seeing the mangled corpses of these once proud rangers had been a horrible experience that none of the companions would ever forget.
Navan and Shalelu had seen the desecrated corpses of all of the notable rangers they had met during their stay, with one exception: Lamatar himself. It seemed that the ranger-lord had either been eaten, or his body had been destroyed, or he’d managed to flee, or he had been taken elsewhere, or he’d been a traitor all along. The companions discussed the various alternatives, but at this point, they simply had no idea what had happened to the commander.
Ruh recovered her beloved staff and cleaned it up. A few minutes later, Jakardros and Drithnar returned. “We killed it,” said Jakardros darkly.
By that time, it was the middle of the night. The party remained together, and during the rest of the night, they re-visited every single room in the keep, to make sure that no enemy had remained hidden. Once they were totally sure that the keep was safe, they took the time to rest, although they of course set some watches.
In the evening, after they’d recovered somewhat, the companions brought Kaven down to the holding cells, where they locked him up, also still leaving him manacled. He did not struggle or even argue: there was nothing he could possibly say to redeem himself.
Then, the companions searched the fort more carefully. It was an extremely unpleasant experience, but they were adamant on cleaning up the place and giving the Black Arrows some proper funerals.
In the main courtyard, they saw that the north gate hadn’t been repaired at all, it was merely blocked by a heap of junk. The stables were completely empty, as was the eagle’s aerie: surely the ogres had already eaten all of the animals, or used them for trophies in Erastil’s shrine. The bodies of a few rangers had been slowly roasting in the outdoor cookhouse. The characters removed them from the embers, and they also removed another body from the courtyard’s pond, where he’d been stuck against the sluice gate, and had gotten nastily bloated in the water.
Inside the keep, the group was pleasantly surprised to note that several of the guest and officer bedrooms were in good conditions: the rooms of Karelias and Jakardros were intact, as were the guest quarters where Navan and Shalelu had stayed. Sarianna’s room had changed a lot; the previously humble room was now covered with colorful silk pillows and see-through curtains, and was thick with the smell of incense. This room had most likely been Lucrecia’s. Inside it were clothes and cosmetics that seemed to have belonged to Lucrecia. Unfortunately, the characters found little of value there, and no writings of any kind that might’ve shed some clues on the nature of Lucrecia and her diabolical plan.
Inside Lamatar’s ravaged room, the companions found a medallion containing a lock of golden hair, and some sheets of parchment on which were written beautiful poems. They seemed to address a lady called Myriana. Drithnar and Jakardros were surprised by this, since they had never known that their commander had a lover. When they thought about it some more, though, they remembered that Lamatar had often disappeared on long treks through the wilderness. Perhaps he had visited his paramour at that time?
Of course, the companions also divided the magical loot among themselves. Kerista received Jaagrath’s belt of giant strength, Dorella’s cloak of charisma and Lucrecia’s Sihedron medallion. Navan took Lamatar’s Boots of the Mire, which he of course agreed to give back should their previous owner be found, Ruh took various wands and some bracers of armor, and Drithnar took an amulet of natural armor. Shalelu and Jakardros also received some protective items.
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Yes! This was the post I was waiting for, and I was not disappointed! Of course I am still on pins and needles waiting to see what they will do with Kaven.
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Yes! This was the post I was waiting for, and I was not disappointed! Of course I am still on pins and needles waiting to see what they will do with Kaven.
** spoiler omitted **
I'm glad you liked it!
Let's just say that Kaven is really, really lucky to have a brother like Navan.
I think I'll have them meet Xanesha again, but only in the final adventure, just as an inside joke.
I too, have been reading and loving it.
Excellent writting and Game Mastering.
I too, have been reading and loving it.
Excellent writting and Game Mastering.
Adding my voice as well.
Very wonderful and inspiring to see anothers log of the path.we have been delayed in ours, but are just getting to Thistletop. finally.
thank you for the work.
game on!
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I'm very happy that you enjoy your adventures. :)
Abadius 15th-17th, 4708
Over the next three days, the companions started the grim task of cleaning up Fort Rannick. They brought their mounts inside the keep and kept them in the stables when they weren’t using them to drag the massive ogre bodies outside of the fort.
The bodies of the rangers were burned on the funeral pyre, although those of Vale, Sarianna, Keimos, Sangar and Narinda were given special honors. Kaven was brought outside when the rangers were burned, so that he might witness the ceremony honoring those whose deaths he had caused. While Navan chanted prayers to Desna, Drithnar and Jakardros said their good-byes to all of their comrades, giving eulogies for those they had been particularly close to. Kerista, whose mind had since been restored by Navan’s healing magic, was keeping a strong grip on Kaven.
“May you never forget their faces, Kaven,” she whispered to him.
Further away, the ogres had been heaped together, and had been burned. Lucrecia’s corpse had also been added the bloody mound; but of course, before doing that, Navan had taken the time to speak with several of their foes’ corpses, and had learned some useful pieces of information:
From Lucrecia:
Navan: “Why did you help the ogres attack Fort Rannick?”
Lucrecia: “Because the rangers were endangering the plans of Barl Breakbones.”
Navan: “What information were you after concerning Barl?”
Lucrecia: “The reason for the delay of his operations.”
Navan: “Why did you sink Paradise and get all those people killed?”
Lucrecia: “To collect their greedy souls.”
Navan: “What are Barl’s plans?”
Lucrecia: “He is forging weapons for my Lord’s army.”
From Jaagrath:
Navan: “Who is Barl Breakbones?”
Jaagrath: “The new boss of Kreeg clan.”
Navan: “Where is Barl Breakbones?”
Jaagrath: “In home of Kreeg clan.”
Navan: “How many soldiers in home of Kreeg clan?”
Jaagrath: “A lot.”
Navan: “Who is Lord Mokmurian?”
Jaagrath: “Me not know.”
From Dorella:
Nothing, she resisted the spell.
From the ogre poet:
Navan: “What is Barl Breakbones’s race?”
Ogre: “He is stone giant.”
Navan: “Who is Barl making weapons for?”
Ogre: “For Lord Mokmurian.”
Navan: “Where are the weapons going?”
Ogre: “To Lord Mokmurian’s place.”
Navan: “Who picks up the weapons when they are made?”
Ogre: “Me not know.”
Cleaning the keep was an extremely unpleasant experience, though it was made easier thanks to Ruh’s magic, especially her usage of Prestidigitation and Unseen Servant.
During the day of Abadius 15th, Shalelu rode to Turtleback Ferry, where she told the villagers the news that the fort had been taken back, and that all of the ogres found inside were dead. A great cheer went up from the crowd, although the townsfolk were sad to learn that all of the Black Arrows, except Jakardros and Drithnar, were now dead.
Shalelu later returned to the fort with five brave souls who volunteered to help clean up the place. Among them was Parkalas, the fisherman and former customer of Paradise. Shalelu also informed Jakardros and the others that Father Shreed had offered to name one of them Lord of Fort Rannick. Indeed, as mayor of the community, it was within his jurisdiction to do so. The companions discussed this for some time, but none of them were interested in taking over such responsibility.
Jakardros had witnessed too much death in this place. He couldn’t envision himself staying here much longer; he would be forever tormented by the spirits of his dead comrades. He pledged to remain as a guardian of the keep until the reinforcements from Magnimar arrived, but then, he said that he’d like to go to Sandpoint with Shalelu. He’d heard a lot about the friendly, peaceful community from her and from their other companions, and now that he was past his prime, he was looking forward to retiring in such a place, with Shalelu at his side.
Indeed, now that they’d been through so much together, Shalelu’s resentment toward Jakardros was long gone. There was now a solid bond between the two rangers, and they rarely left each other’s side.
Similarly, Kerista had seen too much death in this place to be able to live here, and besides, her heart was also in Sandpoint, where her whole family lived. If she were to become the owner of a keep, it would be one that she built herself, near the town, to protect it. Drithnar felt the same way: now that all of his friends were dead, once he’d finished avenging their deaths, once that mysterious Barl Breakbones was dead, there would be nothing left to keep him in the region.
As for Navan and Ruh, they were wanderers, free spirits, who had little patience or desire to become the sedentary guardians of a fortress.
So it was that Father Shreed’s offer was politely rejected: indeed, the companions suggested that he offer stewardship of the fort to the leader of the force that Magnimar was sending; a force which was, hopefully, on its way at this very moment.
A strange mood hung over the companions, the bittersweet victory that they’d just attained. Though they were happy to have avenged them, Drithnar and Jakardros mourned the deaths of their companions, and despite their best efforts, Kerista and Shalelu could not lift their moods. Besides, the two women themselves were quite somber these days. Navan also was still brooding from the shock of learning of his brother’s abominable crimes. He spent long hours contemplating what punishment he should exact on Kaven.
Every evening, he visited him in the jails. Kerista, Ruh and Drithnar were always with him. Kerista couldn’t believe that she’d been fooled by Kaven: she was usually so intuitively aware of other people’s bad intentions, whether due to her power of observation, or some more mysterious psychic power, she wasn’t quite sure.
One night, Navan called forth a Zone of Truth around his brother, and asked Ruh to read the prisoner’s thoughts. He asked him many questions, but found that Kaven had already answered him truthfully, to the best of his abilities. He did learn a few new pieces of information: Kaven’s Sihedron tattoo was on his ankle, and that was why he hadn’t seen it when he’d checked his forearm. He knew nothing of Barl and Lucrecia’s plans. Kaven wasn’t sure how much his actions had been caused by real love, and how much they’d been caused by some magical charm. But he wouldn’t have betrayed the Black Arrows if he’d known that Lucrecia was a monster who was just using him for her own ends.
When Navan asked his brother what punishment he thought he should receive, Kaven thought about it for a few moments, and finally answered: “Why don’t you just put an end to my misery now, and tell Mother that I died heroically saving Fort Rannick?”
Navan looked at his brother for a long time, saying nothing. Eventually, without another word, he turned away, and he and his companions left the jails, shutting off the lantern behind them.
Kaven remained alone in the darkness.
Fireday, Abadius 18th, 4708
(ooc: The player characters are now level 9. Shalelu is level 7 (Ranger 4/ Fighter 3))
Return to Magnimar
During the past few days, Ruh had spent a lot of time by herself, intensely researching new spells. She finally unlocked one of the most useful spells a Wizard can ever learn: Teleport!
In order to test this new and exciting magic, Ruh suggested bringing some of her friends to Magnimar that day, as there were a number of things they needed to do there. She, of course, assured them that it was almost completely safe. Almost…
Kerista, Navan and Jakardros gathered around her, somewhat nervously. Ruh cast her incantation, and all of a sudden, the companions found themselves in a small, cluttered library. A bit disorientated, Kerista stumbled against a chair upon which a high stack of books had been heaped. The tomes all fell to the floor noisily. A few moments later, Ruh’s mentor, Nulius Cornaban, burst into the room, holding a red wand into a slightly shaking fist.
“Surrender at one, you damned burglars, or I’ll… Oh, it’s you, Ruh!”
“Yes, master Cornaban, I’ve just arrived from –“
“Didn’t you leave for Fort Rannick just recently? Or was that last year? I get so confused sometimes…”
“No, master, it was around two weeks ago, but I just came back… by teleportation!”
“By… By tele… Really? That’s amazing! How did you do it? I’ve been researching that spell for decades!”
After her three companions had endured many long minutes of obscure arcane babble, Ruh finally introduced Jakardros to her master, and the companions eventually left his house to run some business. Outside, the weather was quite cold, but at least it was sunny, which was a great relief from the constant rain of the past few weeks. It had still been raining over Fort Rannick when they’d left it.
Ruh and Kerista went to the temple of Sarenrae to buy a new wand of Cure Light Wounds, and to get some information on a divine spell called Mark of Justice. Indeed, Navan had finally decided that he did not wish to kill his brother, despite his betrayal, nor did he wish to turn him in to the heartless law of Magnimar – which he’d grown very wary of since the Ironbriar incident. And then it finally hit him: he’d heard of the Mark of Justice spell that could be placed on the soul of a criminal, forcing him to act in a specific way. Navan wasn’t powerful enough to cast it yet, but if he could find someone else who was, he could ask them to place such a mark on Kaven, and to force him to lawfully guard the town of Sandpoint with his life. Thus, his brother would avoid any horrible sentence, would live in peace and with a dignified front, but yet, would be forced to behave in a respectable manner at last.
Alas, the clerics of Sarenrae weren’t powerful enough to cast such a spell either, but after some searching, Ruh and Kerista found out that Father Therannen, Magnimar’s high priest of Abadar, was able to perform it – for a fee of 500 gold pieces. The women told his acolyte that they’d think about it and might return later with the prisoner.
Meanwhile, Navan and Jakardros visited the Arvensoar to give a report on the recent events at Fort Rannick. Thanks to Navan’s reputation and the gravity of the news, they were allowed to meet with Captain Acacia herself. She was shocked to learn of the Black Arrows’ death, and she congratulated Navan and Jakardros on their heroic victory over the ogres. Just to be on the safe side, though, she did make them pass tests under a Zone of Truth and Detect Thoughts spell.
When asked about the reinforcements that had been promised, she answered that a detachment had left recently, but that the two men might not be too happy with who was going: a battalion of Hellknights led by Paralictor Vesko Naruncrast. Navan and Jakardros pondered this for a while, and although they were wary of the Hellknights’ ruthless reputation, they at least agreed that they would form a strong line of defense between Hook Mountain and the communities around Turtleback Ferry.
Navan asked if he and his companions could get some kind of payment for the expenses they’d incurred retaking the fortress, in the form of wands and potions. The Captain agreed that they should definitely get some compensation, but that she would have to bring it up to the Lord-Mayor before being able to give a definite answer. Navan told her that he and his companions would be staying at the Three Horns Inn.
Starday, Abadius 19th, 4708
The following day, late in the morning, an envoy from Captain Acacia met the characters at the inn. They would all, including Jakardros and Shalelu, be given three hundred gold pieces each, as well as a medal of Bravery in a ceremony that was to take place on the morning of the 22nd.
After some discussion, the companions decided that one of them should go and ask Sheriff Hemlock if he was all right with the idea of turning Kaven into a guard of Sandpoint. Kerista, eager to see her family again, volunteered for the task. Jakardros decided to go with her, so he could take a look at Sandpoint and decide if he felt like retiring there after handing Fort Rannick over to the Hellknights. Ruh and Navan teleported back to Fort Rannick.
That evening, Navan found himself wondering how to proceed from then on, and decided to ask his goddess for some advice. He performed a sacred ritual of divination before going to sleep, and that night, in his dreams, a voice whispered in his ear, like the night wind:
“First, save the innocent from the wave of darkness,
Second, find the woman in torment,
Third, overthrow the tyrant,
Finally, allow the lovers to rest in my eternal embrace.”
Sunday, Abadius 20th, 4708
Here comes the flood
The next day started quietly enough at Fort Rannick. The cleaning up of the keep was still ongoing, under a heavy downpour. That winter was the coldest, rainiest that any inhabitant of the region could remember. It certainly did not help to brighten the mood of the brave souls who were toiling at the task of restoring the damaged and carcass-filled keep.
Early in the afternoon, a rider came through the south gate. His horse was exhausted, as if the man had ridden it hard all the way from Turtleback Ferry. Drithnar and the townsfolk recognized him as Bran Fered, a local hunter.
“They are drowning, my lords!” he said to Navan, Drithnar and Shalelu, who had rushed to the courtyard to meet him. “The Skull River surges along its banks. Even the waters of Claybottom Lake invade the shore and spill across the land. Turtleback Ferry will be gone by morning! The people are doing their best to evacuate, but many are trapped in their attics watching the floodwaters rise. Father Shreed is holed up in the cathedral with the sick, and they can’t be moved easily, and what’s worse, that old church could collapse any minute. Please, you must help us!”
The heroes immediately sprang into action. They went to fetch Ruh. After a brief discussion, they came to the conclusion that they couldn’t reach Kerista and Jakardros by teleportation: the two were most likely traveling toward Sandpoint at the moment, but there was no way of telling exactly where they were right now. The party decided to leave Shalelu at the fort, in case some trouble occurred. Ruh took Navan and Drithnar’s hands in hers, and chanted the words of the Teleport spell.
The three companions materialized in the middle of the second floor of the church of Erastil, in Turtleback Ferry. A few nurses screamed in surprised, but were soon relieved to see the heroes. A frantic maelstrom of activity was going on in the infirmary, as Father Shreed and the nurses were trying to get the sick out of their beds, and to save holy scriptures and artifacts of Erastil from the water’s damage. And a few of the nurses were not doing much at all, as they were just kneeling with their eyes closed, fervently praying to Erastil for deliverance.
“My friends, thank Erastil you’ve come!” panted old father Shreed. “This is Turtleback Ferry’s greatest hour of need. Surely this is the wave of darkness that my lord told me about in his divination. Please, I implore you, do what you can to save my people!”
The group watched out the church’s windows and saw that indeed, the town was slowly but surely being flooded. Already, the water was two to three feet deep in most places, and the townsfolk were doing their best to evacuate, but many still needed help. Navan cast Fly spells on himself and his companions, and they set to work. They directed the townsfolk to take refuge on higher ground, to the east of the village.
“Run to the hills!” shouted Drithnar as showed the way. “Run for your lives!”
Soon, though, a peculiar threat revealed itself: a group of school children, led by their teacher, a middle-aged woman with her hair tied back in a bun, were gathered on one of the turtle shell ferries. The boat was stuck against the side of the house, and the companions were alerted by the cries of the children: they saw a huge snake rise out of the water, ready to strike!
The heroes flew as fast as they could toward the helpless children, but before they could intervene, one little girl was swallowed, pigtails, freckles and all, by the beast. Drithnar attacked the serpent with his blades, while Navan and Ruh attacked it at a distance. Soon enough, they killed the predator, though they’d been too late to save the little girl.
They managed to get the rest of the children to safety: the schoolmistress, Tillia Henkenson, blushed deeply as Drithnar carried her out of the flooded area in his muscular arms.
“Glad to be of service, ma’am, please make sure the children all get to their families.“
Navan renewed the Fly spells on himself and Drithnar, and the two men continued guiding people to safety, carrying those who were too weak to escape. Ruh returned to the church, where she helped Father Shreed. It looked like things were starting to get under control…
Or… not!
A loud boom was heard across the whole town, and the church shook violently, as if a heavy object had just collided with it. Navan and Drithnar looked in that direction, and suddenly, the shrill screams of several villagers resounded from the far side of the church. They were soon drowned by a much louder, very deep roar. And then, to their horror, the two men saw an immense, monstrous head rise up on a high serpentine neck, with a struggling villager clenched in its jaw. It was by far the biggest creature they’d ever seen. Its head reached as high as the church’s steeple. The two men flew off to meet Ruh, on whom Navan quickly cast another Fly spell, and then they floated around the church to face the terrible monster.
Mother of Oblivion
As he caught his first glimpse of the creature’s monstrous, black-scaled body, which seemed to be a cross between a jet-black water dragon and a gigantic octopus, several scenes from Navan’s recent past flashed through his mind…
… at the church of Sandpoint, when Father Garmos, the resident cleric of Erastil, had read out loud passages from an unholy book of Lamashtu, which described the Mothers of Oblivion, Lamashtu’s most powerful creatures, horrible and enormous dinosaur-headed sea monsters whose many tentacles were said to be able to reach into other worlds…
… in the children’s playroom of the ogrekin farm in Kreegwood, where one of the most disturbing drawings on the walls had shown a big lake with a black reptilian monster sprouting tentacles from its back…
… in the dining room at Fort Rannick, a few days before its fall, when Vale, Forbino and Keimos had traded stories about the region’s most dangerous monsters, one of which had been Black Magga, an enormous water dragon lurking in the dark waters of Storval Deep; it was said to be older even than the gods, and immune to their power…
… Black Magga…
And now, she stood before them, roaring savagely, grasping terrified villagers in her many twisting tentacles, crushing them to their deaths.
Though they had little hope of defeating such a terrible foe, the heroes knew that they had to protect the villagers from her wrath, even if it cost them their lives. It seemed like a fitting end for heroes…
As Drithnar flew down to attack the beast, his thoughts went to the beautiful Kerista, who was thankfully safe, back in Sandpoint. The ranger slashed the monster with his blades, but they merely bounced off its thick scales. Ruh cast an Orb of Cold which also had no effect, and Navan’s fiery bolts also bounced off harmlessly.
But now, the merciless yellow eyes turned toward those that had the audacity of attacking her… Within these glowing eyes was a glitter of terrifying intelligence, and ancient, consummate evil.
Black Magga took a deep breath, and blew a foul-smelling cloud of dark smoke toward Ruh and Navan. The cleric managed to avoid it at the last moment, but Ruh was caught completely by the blast. When the mist dissipated, Navan saw that his diminutive friend was babbling incoherently, as though her mind was not her own any more.
“Yog-Sothoth…Yog-Sothoth… YOG-SOTHOTH!!!!” she droned madly.
Navan and Drithnar kept trying to harm the creature, but it was far beyond anything they’d ever faced before. They were unable to cause it the slightest wound. A mighty black tentacle took hold of Drithnar and squeezed him tightly. The ranger screamed in pain, as he suffered not only from the powerful grip, but also from the contact with Black Magga’s unholy presence, which drained the very life out of him.
Fearing for his friend’s life, Navan flew down to try and free him from the monster’s grasp. He began to cast a Dimension Door spell, but suddenly, his mind was filled with visions of mind-rending madness, and he lost the concentration required to finish the spell. Instead, a flash of black light erupted around him.
Miraculously, right after that, the monster released its hold on Drithnar, who fell to the ground, panting heavily. In a terrible, rumbling voice, Black Magga spoke to Navan in a dark tongue which none of the companions understood. Whatever ominous curse she spoke remained a mystery, because the beast started to slither away ponderously, and eventually dove down into the swollen waters of Claybottom Lake.
Navan, and Ruh, who’d by then recovered her senses, helped the weakened Drithnar to his feet. The few surviving villagers around them gaped at them: they’d heard of the heroes’ mighty deeds against the ogres of Hook Mountain, but they understood that what they’d just witnessed had been something far more dangerous than any denizen of the mountain. They couldn’t believe they were still alive!
The Aftermath
The companions, fearful that Black Magga would return at any moment to continue her destructive wake, continued to help the villagers flee to safety. Eventually, it seemed that most people who’d escaped Black Magga’s attacks had survived.
Father Shreed, as well as many villagers, profusely thanked the companions for their help, despite the beating they’d taken from Black Magga. The companions then noticed that it had stopped raining, and that the sun had even begun to shine. The waters had stopped rising – it seemed that Turtleback Ferry was safe after all, at least for now!
Nevertheless, there were still some reasons to worry. First, the appearance of Black Magga had shaken everyone. Most people had heard rumors of her existence in the Storval Deep, and while many doubted it, they were very scared to know for a fact that she not only existed, but now lurked in Claybottom Lake.
After discussing with a few other villagers, Father Shreed theorized that the flood had most likely been caused by some kind of overflow at the dam called Skull’s Crossing, up the Skull’s River. That was understandable due to the recent heavy rains, but the old priest feared that the flood might be sign of malfunction at the dam. If it were to break under too strong a pressure from the rising water, then, Turtleback Ferry would certainly be doomed.
He asked the adventurers if they’d be willing to venture up to Skull’s Crossing and ensure that the dam was working correctly. He did warn them, though, that a tribe of Trolls called the Skulltakers had taken residence there over the past few years.
Drithnar nodded. “Yes. The Black Arrows knew that those trolls were at war with the Kreeg Ogres, so we let them be, figuring that they were the lesser of two evils. Do not worry, Father Shreed, we can deal with some trolls. We can’t destroy a Mother of Oblivion, but trolls, yeah, we can deal with those.”
“Ah, thank you so much once again, my mighty friends! I knew I was right to put my faith in you! Here, please, kindly accept this modest gift as a token of my gratitude. It has been within the care of my order for many years, but I lack the power to use it. Brother Navan, perhaps you can make better use of it.”
And with that, the old man gave Navan a small, beautifully chiseled wooden coffer. Inside it was some diamond dust, enough to cast ten spells of Restoration. Navan bowed his head and thanked him.
Knowing that the villagers were afraid of Black Magga’s return, Navan offered to shelter some of them in Fort Rannick. Thirty townspeople agreed, and later on, a small caravan of carts, mules and people on foot set off along the northern road. The companions escorted them on foot, rather than teleporting back.
During a large part of the trip, a young boy hung around the characters.
“Wow, that was so great! Did you guys see that big monster?! That was Black Magga! She was so cool! Was that the biggest monster you ever fought? Was she a dragon? When are you going to go back to kill her? She was so cool! When she took my uncle Mel in her tentacle, poor uncle Mel, he exploded, there was blood everywhere! It was so cool! Hey, is there blood at Fort Rannick? I mean, from the ogres and stuff? What about skulls? Can I get an ogre skull, please? I wanna show it to my friends!!”
Thankfully, the little boy’s mother eventually noticed the murderous gleam that was starting to appear in Drithnar’s eyes, and she took him away to the back of the caravan.
It was around midnight when the companions finally reached the fort. The trip had been very long, because of the wagons moving slowly on the muddy road. Ruh and Navan teleported to Kerista’s house in Sandpoint. They found her and Jakardros there. They quickly explained the day’s ordeal to them, and asked them to get ready. Navan left a note to Sheriff Hemlock to keep him informed, and Kerista did the same for her family. Ruh then brought them all back to the Fort, where they went to bed.
Moonday, Abadius 21st, 4708
The following day, the companions got ready to venture to Skull’s Crossing. Drithnar had regained most of his energy during the night, but he was still in a weakened state from Black Magga’s touch. Navan healed him fully with a Restoration spell.
In the afternoon, the four adventurers then headed out toward Skull’s Crossing. They left Shalelu and Jakardros to watch over the keep. It was now raining and cold once again. Late in the afternoon, the companions reached the end of the valley that led to the huge dam. It was a most impressive sight, with five enormous skulls carved on its surface, as well as many more smaller skulls adorning it as well. Through the rain, Drithnar could barely make out a few hulking silhouettes moving along the top of the dam, to the west of a building that stood at the center of the dam’s surface.
Interestingly, and alarmingly, a large part of the upper section of the east side of the dam had crumbled, and water was pouring out of it into the Skull River. The companions guessed that it was this fissure that had likely released a huge amount of water at once, and which had caused the previous day’s flooding of Turtleback Ferry. As Father Shreed had suggested, if the whole dam were to break, the whole town would indeed be completely swept away, with no hope of survival for its inhabitants.
A long flight of narrow stairs climbed along the surface of the cliff on the western bank of the valley, close to where the characters now stood. Along its length stood many stakes bearing humanoid or animal skulls: a sign of warning to intruders, which had been placed by the Skulltaker tribe, according to Drithnar.
Wary of the long stair which climbed in plain sight of the dam’s guardians, the companions instead decided to go take a closer look at the dam’s breach. They gathered together, and Ruh cast a Dimension Door on all of them, making them appear on top of the dam, just east of the central structure.
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Moonday, Abadius 21st, 4708 (continued)
Against the Skulltakers
So it was that, in this late afternoon, the four companions appeared on top of Skull’s Crossing. The wind howled loudly as it blasted the characters with rain so cold that it was almost frozen. The surface of the dam’s walkway was slippery. As they looked around, the companions saw on the north side of the dam, the swollen waters of the Storval Deep, which reached almost the level of the walkway itself. To the south, the waters of the Skull River churned, several vertiginous hundred feet below them.
It was obvious that the dam was in a sorry state. About two hundred feet away, the characters could see the huge crack through which a steady flow of water was pouring. But closer to them, they could clearly see the marks of pickaxes along the surface of the dam: someone had purposefully tried to weaken the structure!
To the west of the characters stood a massive stone structure decorated with a myriad of skulls. Two massive doors opened on their side, and they also noticed that part of the southern wall had crumbled and was pierced by a large opening, which could be accessible by flying or some risky climbing. Navan examined both sets of doors, and thought they looked untrapped, but both barred from the inside. The northern one seemed to have been badly damaged recently, and crudely repaired.
Ruh turned Drithnar invisible, and the ranger carefully climbed over the side of the railing, and made his way to the opening in the south wall. He carried Ruh’s staff with him. He entered a dark room, which he exited by a door in a side wall. He then found himself in a room with several more doors, the largest of which was a set of stone double-doors which were covered with crude graffiti written in a language neither he nor Ruh (who was watching through her staff) understood.
Three round windows in the south wall of the room looked out over the Skull River valley. The walls, ceiling and floor were completely covered with carvings of skulls. Drithnar returned to his companions, and Ruh shrunk Navan and Kerista. Drithnar then brought them inside the structure one by one, again climbing the wall over the sheer drop.
“Don’t look down,” he warned his companions as he took them one by one over the edge.
Once they were all in the room of many doors, they lit up some of their weapons, and Navan read out loud the graffiti, which was written in Giantish:
“Below dwells wet Papa Grazuul! All hail wet Papa Grazuul!”
After waiting a few minutes for Kerista and Navan to regain their full sizes, the companions explored the rest of the complex. They reached a dark room in which fungus was growing on the walls and vines were hanging from the ceiling. On the far wall, they saw a few windows opening over the Storval Deep, and they also saw some large bodies lying on the floor, further ahead. But before they could investigate, they were attacked by some large, gnarly-limbed horrors with sunken eyes, long noses and leathery green skin: Trolls!
They companions were surprised by the attack, but Kerista and Drithnar, who stood in the front, managed to avoid or absorb most of the attacks. Once they recovered, they easily defeated their four enemies. Ruh cast a Haste spell which greatly increased the two warriors’ prowess, and then she burned the enemies with some Scorching Rays. Navan cast a Bless spell on the group, and followed up with some burning crossbow bolts. Kerista struck with massive Power Attacks, every blow bringing the sickening sound of breaking bones. Drithnar danced around the trolls, his blades masterfully finding their weak spots and causing his favored enemies terrible wounds.
Once all trolls were down, the companions took out some oil they’d brought from Turtleback Ferry, and burned the corpses to prevent them from regenerating. They then explored the room. Water was pouring through the windows overlooking the storm-tossed Storval Deep, accumulating in puddles on the floor. The corpses on the ground were half-eaten ogres, which had obviously been killed by the trolls. The two double-doors leading out of the complex had both been severely damaged, and blocked by stones. Apparently, the ogres had forced their way in and fought the trolls here.
The companions then searched the rest of the rooms in the complex and found some troll nests which indicated that seven trolls in all lived in the area. They looked out some windows and saw the lumbering forms of several ogres moving along the western side of the dam. Finally, they came to the last room of the complex, which was covered with thick vines. They sent a summoned monkey to investigate it first, and once it seemed safe, they searched the room as well, but found nothing of interest.
Wet Papa Grazuul
With some difficulty, Drithnar and Kerista opened the massive graffiti-covered stone doors, which led to some dark stairs which led deeper into Skull’s Crossing. The companions went down carefully. The stairs kept going and going, until the companions guessed they must be close to the height of the enormous skulls carved into the face of the dam, about 150 feet below its surface. They opened another set of double doors at the bottom and saw beyond them a large, dark room at the middle of which was a pool of stagnant water, covered with a sheet of yellowish fungus.
Drithnar started to move forward, but Kerista put a hand on his shoulder. “I sense some evil within the pool,” she warned in a low voice.
Ruh then summoned a “sacrifice” monkey, and sent it to walk around the pool. As it was making its way along the pool’s edge, a large shape burst out of the water’s surface, roaring: “GRAZUUL!!!” He looked like a large, scaly troll wielding a human-sized military fork in one hand. He grabbed the shrieking monkey with one claw, and bit its head off. Then, casting a hateful glare at the companions, who were further away from the pool, he dove back under the surface.
Ruh then enlarged both Kerista and Drithnar, to ensure that they had enough reach to attack the creature, and they moved forward carefully. Sure enough, once they got close enough, the troll burst through the fungus-covered water again and attacked Kerista with a powerful blow from his military fork. She, and Navan who was covering her with a Shield Other spell, winced in pain from the nasty wound, but the companions noticed that the blow had seemed to harm Grazuul himself as well.
Though the hideous monster was very powerful, the companions prevailed and killed it. Heeding Ruh’s warning that it could regenerate while underwater, Drithnar dragged the corpse out of the pool, and then dived to the bottom and fetched the military fork. It was made of the same strange reddish metal as the sword of the bandit Redshiv, which they’d found in the undead bat cavern below Foxglove Manor: adamantine.
Prisoner
While he’d been below the surface, Drithnar had also noticed two side tunnels leading to the east and west. Examining the room, the characters saw doors leading east and west as well, and also a large double-door leading south, but it was partially blocked by a heap of hundreds of skulls.
“I guess the name of Skulltakers was well deserved…” remarked Drithnar.
The companions examined the side rooms. The one to the west contained another large pool of stagnant water, but not much more of interest. They found a smaller pool inside the eastern room, but more importantly, a miniature model of Skull’s Crossing, besides which were many strange controls and runes. Ruh gasped in excitement. The runes were written in ancient Thassilonian!
“That device must be used to control the dam!” she said.
Before she took the time to examine the controls, the group cleared the skulls away from the southern doors, and then opened them carefully. They entered a short hallway that led from west to east. Each end of the hallway, on either side of them, was blocked by an iron portcullis, and beyond each of the two prisons they formed, was a rune-covered circle. The western circle was empty except for a mound of crimson dust, but in the one to the east was the corpse of a mummified devil or demon of great size.
The companions looked at it warily. After a moment, Kerista gasped, as she felt an overpowering aura of evil coming from it: the thing was still alive! Its eyes opened at the sound, and a bright red glow poured forth from them, as it feebly moved a hand toward the characters. In a deep, hoarse voice, it spoke to them in a vile, menacing language that they did not understand. Terrified, they rushed out of the room and hastily closed the door behind them!
“What the HELL was that?!?” asked Drithnar.
“Surely some kind of Devil or Demon,” replied Navan. “Ruh, do you know what it was?”
“Errr… I’m not sure,” she said. “I haven’t studied the Planes as much as I have History or Geography.”
“But… Aren’t you a Conjuror? Wouldn’t that kind of knowledge be of prime importance for someone of your specialization?” asked Navan with a tone of disbelief.
Ruh just blushed deeply and didn’t answer.
“Well, whatever it was, it was horrible, I’ve never felt any evil even remotely so powerful before!” said Kerista. “What are we going to do??”
The companions thought about it for a few moments.
“Hmm,” said Navan, “how about we ask of friend Grazuul for some advice?”
He grinned as the others gave him puzzled looks.
Navan lit some incense around Grazuul’s mostly carbonized corpse, and performed the incantation to contact its dead spirit. Small flames came to life within its burnt skull, and the massive carcass of Grazuul shivered as its spirit briefly inhabited it once again.
“Who wants the dam not to work as designed?” asked Navan in Giantish.
“Wruuu???” replied the Troll.
Navan sighed, then asked: “Who came here last?”
“Those who bring gifts,” answered Grazuul.
“Tell me what you know about the creature behind that door,” he said, pointing south.
“It’s dying.”
“Describe the last person who brought gifts,” asked Navan as his final question.
“Smelly…” came the reply, and then the Troll lay unmoving. The spell had ended.
“What a dumba**…” muttered Navan.
Ruh then spent half an hour trying to operate Skull’s Crossing’s model, but she couldn’t activate it. She said she’d need more time to figure it out.
The Demolition Crew
The party then headed back upstairs and decided to attack the ogres on the dam. Ruh cast another Enlarge spell on Kerista, and the group went through the south western door. Due to the wind and rain, the two closest ogres didn’t even notice the group’s approach until they were quite close to them. They then turned and attacked with their pickaxes, but they seemed exhausted and moved slowly and clumsily. Kerista smashed one over the side of the dam, and it fell into the waters of the Storval Deep. His companion joined him there a few moments later, with one of Navan’s bolts lodged in his throat.
The other three ogres, who were further west on the top of the dam, noticed the fight, and started running toward the group. The fastest of these seemed to be their leader, and was much bigger than the others. Navan and Ruh damaged him with ranged attacks. Drithnar and Kerista rushed forward to meet his charge, and wounded him. Navan shot him again, and Ruh cast an Orb of Cold on him. The ogre hit Drithnar with a powerful blow, but was then slain by the group’s coordinated efforts.
The two remaining ogres, who hadn’t been able to keep up with their leader’s charge due to their exhausted state, turned around when they saw that he’d been so easily slain, and tried to flee, but they were eventually slain by Navan and Ruh’s missile fire.
Under the wind and rain, Navan cast another Speak with Dead spell, this time on the ogre leader.
“Who wants the dam not to work as designed or be destroyed?” he asked.
“Barl Breakbones,” replied the ogre.
“Who did Barl’s job of blocking the outflow of water?”
“Wruuu????”
“Who’s your boss in this area?”
“Barl Breakbones…”
“How long ago did you start your job here?”
The ogre’s eyes rolled up as if he were doing complex arithmetic in his head. After a long while, he finally answered: “Ten days ago.” And then he was silent.
The group continued further and found the entrance of a cave on the western side of the dam. They entered. In the darkness, they found some rough stairs leading down. At the bottom, they found themselves on top of a ledge overlooking a dark cave. A foul stench filled the air, and Navan thought he heard some furtive sounds in the darkness. The cave was too large for the companions to see the far side of it.
Kerista and Drithnar climbed down, and Kerista, who was enlarged again, helped Navan and Ruh get down. They slowly crept forward in the dark cave, and suddenly, a two-headed giant stepped out of the darkness, shouting at them with both heads.
Navan recognized this creature as an Ettin, and understood what it said: “YOU NO BRIBE GORGER AND CHAW! WE SMASH YOU FOR SKULLTAKERS!”
Drithnar tumbled ahead to attack the monster, but at the last moment, he slipped on a loose stone and stumbled, missing his attack. Giant Kerista moved forward and smashed her weapon against the Ettin’s chest, sending it reeling back from the force of the impact. As the Ettin was shaking its heads, trying to recover, Ruh fired some Magic Missiles from a wand, and finally, Navan shot two extremely well-aimed crossbow bolts, each of which pierced one of the creature’s necks. It fell to the floor with disgusting gurgling sounds.
“Nice shot, Navan!” said Kerista.
The companions briefly explored the cave and saw carcasses of animals and humanoids, which were the source of the awful stench. Further ahead, they reached another ledge, which led to a cave that formed the entrance to this small complex. Beyond it, they saw the long, narrow stairs that led from the bottom of the valley. If they hadn’t used a Dimension Door, they would’ve had to climb up this steep, slippery stairway, and then climb up the ledges, possibly while being attacked by the Ettin.
They returned to the structure at the top of the dam, and headed back downstairs. There, Ruh searched for secret doors with a spell. She found one at the bottom of the western pool. She cast a Water Breathing spell on the whole group, and they explored the underwater tunnel that they found beyond the secret trap door. It consisted of a series of hatches, which each contained such a door. Eventually, it led to the bottom of the Storval Deep.
About an hour later, having not found anything interesting there, the companions returned to the lower level of the dam. Navan used some Sending spells to let Jakardros and Father Shreed know that they were all right. He also contacted one of Captain Acacia’s assistants in Magnimar, to let him know that they were on important business, and would be unable to attend the following day’s ceremony.
The companions decided to spend a night in this room, and that during the night, and the following day, Ruh would try to figure out how the controls worked. Ruh worked feverishly at the controls, and when she eventually went to sleep, her rest was troubled, and she mumbled strange Thassilonian words in her dreams. Navan also slept uncomfortably, dreaming of being stuck in a dark prison from which he tried in vain to escape.
Toilday, Abadius 22nd, 4708
The following day, Ruh continued her experimentation with the controls. Kerista stood watch over her, while Navan and Drithnar explored the rest of the complex more carefully than the previous day. They found a treasure cache in one of the Trolls’ bedrooms, as well as some loot from the Ettin’s victims. Ruh identified among this treasure some lacy pink Gloves of Arrow Snaring, which smelled like lilacs. She took them. In the Ettin’s cave, the men had found a beautiful diadem that was a Phylactery of Undead Turning, a powerful religious item. After cleaning it carefully, Kerista placed it on her head.
Eventually, after spending the whole day trying to make the controls work, Ruh gave up. They simply didn’t work, and the only reason she could think of was that they were not powered up. The companions then turned toward the southern door, which led to the two pentagrams and the strange devil: could the key to powering up the dam be behind that door?
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Wealday, Abadius 23rd, 4708
The Secret of Skull’s Crossing
Shortly after midnight that same night, the companions returned to the top of the dam, and Navan performed a Divination spell, asking for Desna’s guidance. The chill wind was blowing cold rain against the characters, and their ears were drowned by the noise of the water pouring through the crack in the dam. But in that nocturnal wind, Navan thought he heard the whisper of his goddess answer his question about how to activate the dam.
“A gift of life must be offered by two beings
For the faces of death to do your bidding.”
Guessing that this meant that a sacrifice must be made in the strange runic circles, the party returned to the lowest level of the dam. They opened the doors leading to the devil’s prison again, and this time, Ruh immediately cast a Wall of Ice between them and the devil, to block any sight and sound. The companions then turned toward the empty circle to the west. In its middle was a mound of crimson ash. Around the circle glowed some very intricate orange runes. According to Ruh, that warding circle was made of very powerful magic.
Ruh worked some of her own magic, and summoned a Hell Hound in the middle of the western circle. When it appeared, it immediately howled in pain, but its cry was drowned by a thundering wail coming from the far side of the wall of ice. Even through the ice, its volume was almost deafening. A blinding burst of red light flashed through the semi-transparent surface, and then it was gone. A powerful rumbling started to shake the complex around the characters.
“I think it worked!” shouted Ruh over the noise. “That must be the dam’s controls activating!”
She and Navan rushed to the control panel, and indeed, they saw that the skulls’ jaws on the miniature dam had now opened; if the real jaws had opened as well, it meant that the water was successfully being drained out of the Storval Deep.
They returned to the room with the circles, where the Hell Hound was snarling ferociously at Drithnar and Kerista. It had dried to burn them with its fiery breath, but in vain: they were too far. When it disappeared, Ruh instead summoned a small earth elemental, and then a fiendish dire rat. Neither of them seemed to be hurt when they appeared, unlike the Hell Hound.
Ruh then stopped summoning, and thought that the dam was all right for now: it had already received the energy it needed to operate. Eventually, the wall of ice melted away, and the companions saw that beyond it, the devil had disappeared. Where it had once sat was now a mound of crimson ashes…
The companions slept in the control room, and in the morning, they saw that the controls still seemed to be working fine. They went upstairs and saw that indeed, water was pouring out in a controlled fashion through the skulls. They had succeeded in reactivating the dam, and the flow of the water would ease the pressure that was being exerted on the great structure, preventing it from collapsing. Ruh then took some time to study the control room for teleportation purposes, and then the group left, fetched their horses from their hiding place, and headed back to Fort Rannick.
A Pixie’s Tale
They were pleased to see that everything seemed fine at Fort Rannick. No major problem had happened while they were gone. They then passed a woman from the village, who was pinching her son’s ear and berating him. The companions recognized the lad as the one who’d been so excited about Black Magga a few days ago.
“I’m so sorry, milords!” said the woman. “I caught him talking to that prisoner you’ve got locked up downstairs. I told him to stay away from him, but I’m afraid my little Morganthor is fascinated by everyone who’s seen the massacre of the ogres. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The companions were then greeted by Shalelu and Jakardros. They told them that they’d been successful at Skull’s Crossing, and described the main events that had happened. The two were pleased to hear of their friends’ latest exploits, and then told them that it seemed there was yet another adventure waiting for them. They led the four heroes to the dining room, where they introduced them to two weary travelers.
The first was a man dressed in leather and furs, who had an unkempt beard and was missing a few teeth. He introduced himself as Narias, a hunter from the village of Bitter Hollow. His companion was more unusual: standing only two feet tall, Yap was a pixie with huge eyes, a pointed nose, long ears, and spiky purple hair. His eyes were puffy as if he’d cried a lot recently. When he saw the companions, though, his expression brightened with hope.
“Are they the ones you’ve told us about?” he asked Shalelu.
“Yes, they are,” replied the elf, and she introduced the characters.
Yap and Narias then told the companions that they’d come to ask them for some help. The once peaceful woodland of Whitewillow had recently turned into a dark and sinister marsh. The queen of the forest, Lady Myriana, had turned into a terrible creature, and her corrupting influence had spread over the entire region in the past two weeks. Woodland creatures, as well as fey-folk like Yap, were forced to flee to avoid death or corruption. More recently, strange and terrifying creatures had started to venture out of the swamp and terrorize the outskirts of Bitter Hollow.
Yap himself had heard the terrible wails of Lady Myriana, his mistress, and knew that something horrible had happened to her. He knew that her mortal lover lived in this fortress of stone, and he’d asked one of the brave humans from Bitter Hollow to bring him here, in hope of finding help.
The name Myriana sounded familiar to the characters, and they remembered that she’d been the one that Lamatar had written poetry about. They learned from Yap that she’d been a nymph princess, and indeed, by examining the lock of blond hair they found in Lamatar’s medallion, they indeed noticed that it looked different than regular human hair: it likely belonged to a creature of the Fey world.
Though they were weary from their trip to Skull’s Crossing, the companions bravely accepted to help Yap and the citizens of Bitter Hollow. After just a quick break to clean up, gather more provisions, and give further instructions to the keep’s guardians, they left on horseback with Narias and Yap. Once again, Shalelu and Jakardros remained behind to protect the commoners.
As they rode, Yap talked at greater length with Ruh. He felt more comfortable in her presence, since the gnomes were more closely tied to the world of the Fey than the humans. He told her more things about Whitewillow, as it had stood before the recent tragic events. Ruh also learned that some of Myriana’s nymph sisters had grown bitter and jealous of her great beauty over the years, and that Yap suspected they might be responsible for what had happened.
After a long ride, they arrived at Bitter Hollow when it was dark. It was a much smaller settlement than Turtleback Ferry, and also looked a lot poorer. Nobody was outside, and the shutters of every house were tightly closed. Narias led them to one of the larger houses. He knocked, and a short, stout, bearded man opened the door warily, brandishing an axe. Narias showed him whom he’d brought back, and the man’s eyes widened in awe and relief.
He introduced himself as constable Baltiar, and helped the companions to stable their horses in a nearby barn before leading them inside his house. He thanked them profusely for coming to help the town, and apologized about not having much to pay them with. The heroes gallantly told him that no reward was necessary, and he bowed in gratitude. He told them of the various events that had happened recently, but the companions learned nothing new compared to what Narias and Yap had already told them. They rested on their bedrolls in the small house’s living room, taking turns to stand watch, but, thankfully, nothing disturbed their sleep or broke the silence of the night.
Oathday, Abadius 24th, 4708
The Corruption of Whitewillow
When the morning came, the companions got ready for their journey, bid good-bye to constable Baltiar, and left Bitter Hollow on foot. A few villagers had noticed them, and wished them good luck, calling upon Gozreh, Desna and Erastil to keep them safe.
Yap went with them as a guide. As they’d been told about, the companions soon saw that the land had turned into a sinister marsh. Twisted black trees rose wretchedly from shallow pools of greenish, muddy water, and a cold mist blotted out the sun. The further they went in, the more their minds started to play tricks on them; they thought they heard eerie murmurs in the wind, or saw movement out of the corner of their eyes, which only turned out to be dead trees. Navan easily walked on the marsh’s surface thanks to his magical boots. His companions had more difficulty trudging the waters, and walked much more slowly. Drithnar carried Yap on his shoulders, and Kerista carried Ruh. Otherwise, the two small beings would’ve had to swim in some places.
Eventually, the companions stopped to rest. Navan, thanks to his boots, and Drithnar, thanks to his incredible ranger’s endurance, could’ve kept going, but the poor Kerista was panting and sweating heavily from trudging in the muddy water in her heavy plate armor. She sat down wearily on a tree trunk and sighed miserably when she saw that her beautiful golden armor was now almost completely covered in mud.
Meanwhile, Navan and Drithnar were talking quietly with Yap near a pool of clear water. They were discussing which way to go from here. Navan approached the water to clean his face, but Drithnar stopped him at the last moment.
“Don’t! I think it’s poisonous!” said the ranger. “See how no algae or larval insects dwell in it? That’s a bad sign…”
Navan nodded, but kept gazing in the pool, lost in thought. Suddenly, though, his attention shifted to the reflection of his companions. Yap was sitting next to Drithnar, but looked dead. Drithnar now had long fangs and glowing eyes, and he seemed to be transformed into a ghoul, like Aldern Foxglove had been. He raised his war razor as if to cut Navan’s throat. With a start, Navan jumped up and looked around.
“What?” asked a normal-looking Drithnar.
It had only been an illusion.
“N… Nothing… This place gives me the creeps.”
Soon enough, the companions kept going. Fat spiders, hanging from trees, watched them pass, and they heard splashing noises from time to time as dark, slug-like shapes with too many eyes slithered out of sight. Every now and then, they passed a dead bird lying on a withered branch.
The whispering wind and the movement of the dying trees got more and more unnerving, and eventually, Drithnar lost his calm and slashed one of the trees with his sword. The thing shrieked in pain like a living being, and the wound bled.
“Holy Desna, guide us safely through this accursed place…” muttered the ranger.
Some time later, the companions heard a strange music coming from further away. They soon noticed some ghostly shapes moving toward them through the dark vegetation: satyrs, small tree-men, pixies, as well as animals such as deers, wolves, rabbits and small bears, were dancing their way in a strange procession. The ghostly figures washed over the characters, caressing them as they danced through them, at the music of the satyrs and pixies’ flutes. The spectral touch was unpleasant and cold, and the humans shivered from it, but Ruh started giggling and dancing along, as if she wanted to continue with them on their merry way. Yap gave a little squeak, and fell to the floor, unmoving.
Navan immediately moved to Yap’s side as Kerista tried to restrain Ruh. The cleric cast a healing spell on the fallen Pixie, and immediately, the glade was illuminated by a glow of sacred moonlight as he touched the little humanoid and restored him back to consciousness.
As they were bathed by the holy light, the ghosts stopped their dance, and all turned their eyes on Navan. The music stopped immediately. And as suddenly as they had come, they fled in all directions.
“Whaaaa… What happened?” asked Ruh groggily, as she shook her head.
“Yes, what was that, Navan?” asked Kerista.
“I think those were the corrupted spirits of Whitewillow, trying to lure us into a dance beyond death. Following them would have led only to perdition. But thankfully, Desna is with us, and her holy aura chased them away. They were once her children, and the holy light has reminded them of that, of how far they’ve fallen into the corruption. It woke them up, I think.”
The Lady In Green
Shortly after, the companions reached a clearing which rested on more solid ground, with a circle of standing stones in its middle. As they approached, a mysterious-looking lady dressed in a flowing green robe stepped out from behind one of the stones. Long green hair hung down from a hood that covered most of her face, but the group saw that she had a soft, white-skinned chin and delicate lips.
“Greetings, travelers, and welcome to Whitewillow,” she said in a melodious voice. “What brings you here?”
“We seek Myriana, Princess of Whitewillow. Are you her?” asked Navan.
“Alas,” replied the woman, “Myriana has left this place, and see how the land has become corrupted in her absence. You will not find her here, mortals.”
“Do you know where we might find her, then? We seek to help her, to cleanse Whitewillow from this evil taint, in the name of Desna.”
“I do not know where she is, and I despair in her absence, for I am one of her sisters. But there is one who might know how to find her. He is wise, and also communes with Desna. We know him only has The Hermit, and he lives in a cave not far from here. If you wish, I can lead you to him, and maybe he will help you.”
Navan then felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He turned and looked at Kerista, who was giving him a warning look: clearly, she felt some evil coming from the mysterious woman in green.
“I don’t think we can trust this woman,” he whispered to Yap.
“Neither do I, but I figure we could pretend to believe her, and ambush her along the way.”
“Wow, that’s… a really nasty plan, coming from a Pixie,” whispered Drithnar. “I like it!”
“Very well,” said Navan out loud, “it seems that our only hope is this Hermit you speak of. Please, my lady, kindly lead us to his cave.”
The lady led the way out of the glade, and while the characters followed her, Ruh turned invisible and tried to read her thoughts, but the spell failed. After a few minutes, the companions stopped and started casting defensive spells on themselves. The lady noticed, turned back, and asked them what they were doing. They couldn’t come up with anything convincing, and she suddenly turned invisible as well. Ruh quickly cast a See Invisible spell on herself, and saw the woman in green a bit to the side, summoning something. Soon enough, four small balls of almost invisible light appeared before her, and she motioned for them to attack the characters. Before they could move closer, Ruh quickly cast a Fireball at the group of foes, to warn her group of what was happening.
The others saw the big Fireball explode, and Ruh reappear. But strangely, Ruh saw that the enemies had apparently not been hurt at all by the flames! “This is going to be a tough fight,” she thought.
Navan cast an Invisibility Purge spell around himself, which made Yap reappear: the little Pixie had gone invisible when he’d seen that a dangerous fight was about to take place. “Oh no!” piped the little creature.
The four Will-O’-Wisps rushed the companions, and they were now buzzing like little orbs of lightning. One of them shocked Kerista, and another blasted Ruh.
Suddenly, Yap called out: “Come out, my friends! We need your help!” and three satyrs, which the group had not noticed before, stepped out from behind a fallen log and started shooting at the Will-O’-Wisps. Kerista stepped back and cast a Resist Energy spell on herself. Drithnar attacked one of the little balls of lightning, but missed.
Then, a jet of green flames engulfed Kerista, who shrieked in pain. The companions saw that the green woman had become visible, but her appearance had greatly changed. She was now wreathed in green flames, and had a translucent aspect. Her skin looked black, and her eyes burned with the same evil green fire. She cackled madly and was flying about twenty feet above the ground. Ruh cast a Haste spell, and Navan cast a Prayer to Desna.
One of the Will-O’-Wisps moved to attack the satyrs, as Yap shot arrows at it (and missed). The little pixie had moved away from Navan and was invisible once more. Kerista and Navan both got shocked by one of the Will-O’-Wisps, although Kerista’s protective spell absorbed most of the damage. Kerista and Drithnar each hit one of the Will-O’-Wisps. The witch cast a bolt of flame at Navan, but he managed to dodge it. Ruh retaliated with an Orb of Cold, but the witch also dodged that. Navan then cast an Entropic Shield on himself.
Drithnar and Kerista then got shocked again by the vicious little Will-O’-Wisps. The satyrs were keeping one of them busy, and it didn’t seem to be able to hurt them. With a quick prayer to Sarenrae, Kerista made her weapon glow with holy golden light, and destroyed one of the Will-O’-Wisps. She then turned and smashed another one of the little orbs. Drithnar also hit with one of his weapons, but he was having more trouble than Kerista against the tiny foes.
The witch then cast another jet of green flames, which painfully engulfed poor little Ruh. Struggling to maintain her concentration, the gnome cast a Solid Fog around the flying witch. Navan took out his wand and healed Ruh.
The Will-O’-Wisp that had been fighting the satyrs finally realized that they were simply an illusion, and it joined one of its comrades in shocking Drithnar. The third remaining one rammed against Kerista, surrounding her armor-clad body in an almost blinding burst of lightning. But the magic of her spell protected her well, and the little globe of energy bounced off of her, doing only minimal damage, and with a snarl, Kerista made her weapon glow again, and destroyed the Will-O’-Wisp. It exploded in a shower of sparks. Kerista then turned around and smashed another one of the little creatures twice with her weapon. She struck with deadly accuracy, for the creatures were incredibly hard to hit.
Finally, Drithnar also managed to strike true, and he cut one of the Will-O’-Wisps in two with his sword. Only one remained!
Still laughing madly, the witch easily escaped Ruh’s cloud. “Your pathetic magic can’t hold me, runt!” she shouted, and she cast another jet of green flames at Ruh. The little mage yelled in pain, and fell to the ground, unmoving. Navan immediately placed his hand on her limp body, and healed her with his strongest prayer.
Kerista also bent down and healed Ruh with a touch. The remaining Will-O’-Wisp attacked her, but again, her spell absorbed the shock. Behind her, Drithnar bared his teeth in a snarl, and destroyed the evil orb!
The witch stopped laughing when she realized that the companions had slain all of the wisps she’d summoned, and with an evil grimace, she blasted Navan with another bolt of green flames. Navan shot back, but his bolts passed right through her. “What the hell??” he wondered out loud.
Meanwhile, Ruh had recovered from the terrible burns thanks to the major healing she’d just received. She stood up, cast a quickened Shield spell (a feat she had just learned to perform!), and blasted the witch with a lightning bolt. For the first time, the evil woman was damaged by the characters!
“I think she’s incorporeal!” shouted the little gnome. “That’s how she escaped the cloud!”
“Kerista, I’ll make you fly so you can attack her!” shouted Navan.
While Navan was preparing the Fly spell, Ruh cast a Blink spell on Kerista, and Drithnar cast a Resist Energy (Fire) spell on Navan, to make sure their healer wasn’t slain by the witch. The witch shot another bolt of flames at Navan, but he dodged it this time.
Kerista then flew up, and smashed the witch with her hammer. Drithnar cast Resist Energy (Fire) on Ruh. Navan healed himself, while the witch engulfed Kerista in a green, fiery embrace. The Paladin winced from the terrible flames, but bravely fought on.
“You are beautiful,” rasped the witch. “Like I once was… But not for long!!!”
Kerista hit her again with her weapon, but by then she was badly burnt. She could barely remain conscious from the searing pain. Ruh tried to dispel the witch’s flames, but failed. Navan then cast Fly on Drithnar, who’d also protected himself against fire. But as the ranger started flying to save his lover, she finally managed to slay the green witch with two powerful hits from her Earthbreaker. She slowly floated back down to the ground, wincing painfully.
“Keri, you were wonderful!” said Drithnar. “Are you all right?”
“… heal… please…” groaned Kerista.
Myriana’s Tragic Fate
After the companions had finished healing themselves, they started hearing an eerie wail carried by the wind. “It’s her!” said Yap in an anxious voice. “It’s Lady Myriana! She’s approaching!” The group got ready for another difficult fight, but they hoped they wouldn’t have to fight Lamatar’s lover.
She eventually came within sight, and she was terrible to behold. Though she had obviously once been beautiful beyond words, she was now a haggard, ghostly terror. Her disembodied arms floated at her sides, exposed bone and sinew stretching toward her torso, but ever too far out of reach. Her lower body faded away to smoke, having possibly been too terribly damaged to remain even as part of the spectral image. But her most terrifying features were her eyes: wells of hellish horror, crying out silently in agony beyond anything a mortal creature could ever know. She was beauty undone, and torment incarnate.
“Foolish mortals! How dare you intrude upon my domain after your failure at protecting Lamatar!” she spat in a shrieking, hate-filled voice. “Because of you, the Kreeg ogres took Fort Rannick and captured my beloved!”
“My lady,” pleaded Kerista, “we did everything we could. The Fort was taken by the treachery of a mortal, who was himself betrayed by an evil woman named Lucrecia.”
Myriana’s terrible eyes turned toward the Paladin. “Lucrecia? Lucrecia! I know her… Wicked filth! She is from an ancient race, slaves cursed by the gods themselves! Oath breakers, all of them! Yes, she is allied with those who have taken my beloved.”
“What manner of creature is she?” asked Ruh timidly.
“She is one of the Lamia Matriarchs… Cunning, crafty monsters. The Lamias have long been enemies of the fey-folk. And now, this vile fiend has allied itself to the hated Kreeg Ogres!”
“We have slain her, milady,” said Kerista. “And we have slain every ogre who was still defiling Fort Rannick. But alas, we have found no trace of your lover. Lamatar is gone.”
“But we did find this, does it belong to you?” said Navan, presenting the medallion containing the golden lock of hair.
Myriana gasped soundlessly as her eyes fell on the hair, and with one of her long, disembodied arms, she took the medallion from Navan’s hand. She held it against one of her cheeks for a long moment and closed her eyes.
“Yes… We had pledged our love for one another. I gave him this medallion, and he gave me his. But alas, it was taken from me when I was slain… Without it, I cannot return to the world of the fey to rest in peace.”
“But milady,” asked Kerista, “what happened to you? Who did this?”
“On that fateful night, Lamatar tried to warn me about the attack through an animal messenger. Terrified at the thought that he would be killed, I rushed to help the mortals defend their keep, but alas, I arrived too late. My beloved was already in chains, and was being dragged up the slopes of Hook Mountain, toward the caves where the Kreeg Ogres make their home. Several ogres were with him, as well as that vile Lucrecia you spoke of, and the new lord of the Ogres, a Stone Giant Necromancer. Also with them were three traitors; three of my own sisters. For the longest time, they have been jealous of my beauty, and of my title as queen of Whitewillow, and they have plotted behind my back. I was aware of it, but I never thought they would stoop so low as to ally themselves with the tyrant who rules over such terrible monsters, and to cause such harm to innocent mortals…
“I attacked them, because I had no choice. I knew I could not live without my beloved Lamatar, and I would rather die trying to save him. I managed to kill several of the ogres, but in the end, their combined forces were able to neutralize me…”
She remained silent for a long moment, as she likely contemplated the torments that the evil monsters had inflicted upon her.
“They took their time in killing me. I will not speak to you of what they did to me, for it is not for mortals to hear. But my poor Lamatar saw everything. They forced him to watch.”
She stopped again, and cried bitterly. The companions watched her in respectful silence, and Kerista also had tears flowing down her cheeks. Yap was prostrated on the ground, shaking in terror and sadness. Finally, Myriana looked up at Navan.
“You,” she said, “I feel Desna’s blessing upon you. Whitewillow was once blessed by her as well, and all of its inhabitants paid her homage. I am sure that she grieves over the recent tragedies that have befallen her children in this region. Please, I beg of you, faithful of Desna: climb up the slopes of Hook Mountain and venture into the Kreeg Clan’s lair. Avenge my death! Find Lamatar! I will not rest until I know with certitude what fate was his. If he lives, I will be able to rest in peace at last. If he is dead, please, return to me his lock of hair, so that we may be symbolically reunited, and leave into Desna’s heavenly domain together.”
For once, Navan had trouble speaking because his throat was constricted by emotions. “It will be done, my lady,” he finally managed to say.
With their hearts filled with grief for the sad fate of Myriana, the heroes walked all the way back to Bitter Hollow. Several of the villagers approached them hopefully, and the companions told them of the terrifying things they’d witnessed deep in the swamp. They spoke of the torment of the nymph princess, and that they would venture to Hook Mountain soon, to try and end her pain. With that, they hoped, the curse of Whitewillow would be lifted.
The group spent another night inside constable Baltiar’s house.
Fireday, Abadius 25th, 4708
The following morning, the companions left Bitter Hollow, promising Yap and the villagers to come back within a few days. They then rode to Turtleback Ferry, to make sure that things were under control over there. Indeed, they were. The water level was quite high, due to the outpour from Skull’s Crossing, but it was stable, and endangered no-one.
A few sightings of Black Magga had been reported by some of the villagers, but Father Shreed wasn’t sure if they were real, or just the result of strange evening shadows and overactive paranoia on the part of his citizens.
The companions then rode all the way back to Fort Rannick, where they arrived late in the afternoon. They informed Shalelu and Jakardros of all that had happened since they had left.
Starday, Abadius 26th, 4708
Although time was of the essence, the companions were exhausted from the previous days of adventuring, and took one day to recover their strength. Ruh took the time to scribe a powerful spell of Telekinesis in her spellbook: it came from a scroll they’d found in the Ettin’s cave near Skull’s Crossing.
Sunday, Abadius 27th, 4708
Into the Ogres’ Den
Early in the morning, the group of adventurers left Fort Rannick, ready for what they hoped was the final assault against the hated Kreeg Ogres. They decided to take Shalelu and Jakardros with them. They figured they would need all the help they could get, and that none of the Kreeg Ogres would attack the keep in their absence.
Drithnar looked up at the snow-covered mountain top as they begun their climb. His eyes narrowed menacingly as he told his companions: “This day, we bring the terror and pain into the ogres’ homes. It’s payback time. This day will be the final chapter of the Hook Mountain Massacre!”
Once again, the weather was terribly cold and miserable. The icy rain soon turned to hail and snow, and the companions had to use protective magic to endure the elements. The three rangers guided the whole group through hunting trails, which were sometimes difficult to locate, and they made the climb of the high peak much less dangerous, although it did take half of the day to reach a large plateau, half a mile from the mountain’s highest peak.
On that plateau, a large cave opened, from which came some thin smoke and the distant sound of hammering, as if it opened into a great forge. Two massive, fur-clad ogres were standing watch near the entrance. When they spotted the characters through the swirling snow, they roared angrily and began to charge. Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros shot arrows and bolts at them, and Ruh shocked them with a Lightning Bolt. They finally got in melee range of Drithnar and Kerista, and wounded them with their Ogre Hooks, but were finally slain by the group’s concerted efforts.
The companions healed up and entered the cave. On either side of the characters were the bones of an enormous monster. Each of these huge ribs measured twenty feet high and was decorated with crude scrimshaw carvings, some of which were there Sihedron symbol.
“Those must be the bones of a Remorhaz,” said Ruh in awe.
“Huh? Remorhaz aren’t THAT big, Ruh,” replied Navan.
“And they don’t even have bones…” added Jakardros.
“Hey! Who’s the expert on magical beasts here?” said Ruh testily.
“You are…” said the rest of the group together, half-heartedly.
“That’s right! And I said those were Remorhaz bones!”
“OK, yeah, whatever,” said Navan. “Let’s go.”
The sounds of hammering were getting louder as the companions progressed further into the network of caves. At the back of the entrance cave stood an immense statue representing a forty-foot-tall giant in ornate armor adorned with gems. It carried a glaive in its massive hands and its full helm was shaped like the head of a grinning devil.
The companions approached it warily and examined it.
“Look!” said Ruh, pointing at the statue’s neck.
It was a huge Sihedron Medallion.
The companions exchanged dark looks.
“Wait a minute…” said Drithnar, getting closer to the statue.
“Be careful!” warned Kerista. “I don’t sense any evil, but still…”
The ranger examined the statue from up close.
“It’s not a statue!” he exclaimed. “It’s … a corpse. A perfectly preserved corpse… of a forty-foot-tall giant!”
The companions looked at the towering figure in awe.
“I’ve never heard of such large giants,” said Jakardros.
“Neither have I,” said Drithnar. “Even Storm Giants aren’t supposed to be that large. And its skin doesn’t look like a Titan’s… What do you guys think it is?”
Nobody knew. But they knew that the Sihedron medallion was able to keep corpses in good condition. Ruh sensed some faint necromantic magic coming from it, just like from those around Navan and Kerista’s necks. So it seemed to be similar to them.
“We can figure it out later,” said Navan. “Let’s keep moving. Then, worse comes to worst, we can remove the medallion and see what happens. We could probably sell that armor for a fairly good price in Magnimar.”
Further ahead, the companions came close to a cave inside which opened a foul-smelling pit. They decided not to investigate it. Instead, since the hammering sounded quite close now, they decided to send Drithnar to scout ahead of them. Ruh cast Darkvision and Invisibility on him, as well as Message on the whole group.
“Good luck!” said Kerista to her invisible lover as he left on his dangerous exploration mission.
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Sunday, Abadius 27th, 4708 (continued)
The Sinister Fate of Lamatar Bayden
Drithnar ventured further down the corridor to explore the Kreeg Clanhold. The sound of hammering allowed him to report back without being overheard by his foes. Ruh heard his whispered report as he moved ahead; in the mean time, she and the rest of the group were waiting in the cave next to the gargantuan gray-skinned giant.
“There’s a room with three ogres in it, and three exits. There are stairs going up and some going down. I’ll take the tunnel that stays at this level…” A pause followed. “Oh… I see them! Two stone giants… One of them is sitting on a huge throne. He’s got a huge earthbreaker near him. They’re in some kind of valley… an open-sky cavern, with carved stone heads on the side… I’ll double-back now… Going down some stairs… Hmm, this seems to be some kind of shrine of Lamashtu. Nobody’s here, though. Can you still hear me all right, Ruh?”
“Yes, Drithnar, go ahead.”
“OK, I’ll go back to the guard room and take the stairs going down. Hold on…”
There was a pause, and then Ruh heard Drithnar whisper a curse, and then nothing more.
A surge of panic swept over the group as she relayed this to them, but soon enough, they all heard Drithnar’s voice near them. The ranger was still invisible.
“He saw me! He saw me and ran after me! Lamatar!!”
“What??” asked his companions all at once.
“Lamatar! He’s some kind of undead now… A frozen, hideous creature, but I recognized him. Ahhhh, what have those bastards done to him?!?”
The companions prepared themselves for an assault. They could hear shouts echoing from further inside the cavern complex, but couldn’t make out the words. Soon after, the sound of hammering stopped.
Jakardros looked particularly grim. He’d been clinging to the hope that of all of the Black Arrows, at least, perhaps, his former commander had been spared. But now, that hope too had disappeared. Now, all those he held dear were dead, except the five brave souls gathered around him. And even they were currently in dire peril!
“Lamatar wasn’t alone, by the way,” whispered Drithnar, who was still invisible. “There were three beautiful girls with him. They were in a cave with some tapestries and cushions and stuff.”
“Those women must be Myriana’s traitorous sisters,” suggested Shalelu.
“You’ve got to go back and see what they’re doing, Drithnar,” said Navan.
“Navan, we can’t send him back alone, it’s too dangerous!” said Kerista with a worried tone.
“It’s ok, Keri, I’ll do it,” said Drithnar. “We can’t wait here blindly. I’ll go take a quick look.”
After some time, Ruh heard Drithnar’s whisper again. “The ogres here are getting ready for a fight. They know we’re here. I don’t see Lamatar, though. Let me take a look upstairs… It’s a huge forge. They’re making tons of weapons. There are about… ten ogres here. They look like slaves. They’re getting ready to fight. We should attack quickly. Let me get back down… Sh*t!!”
“What is it, Drithnar?” shouted Ruh, only to be shushed by the others around her.
“He’s back, he saw me, now I’m trying to …”
And the connection was cut.
“Lamatar saw Drithnar! I don’t know what’s happening!” piped Ruh in a shrill voice.
“All right, no time to lose, let’s cast some defensive spells and move in,” said Navan as Kerista muttered a prayer to Sarenrae to protect her lover.
Brute Force
Navan cast Bless on the group and Shield of Faith on Kerista; Ruh cast Enlarge Person on Kerista, Reduce and Shield on herself, and Kerista cast Protection from Evil on herself. Then, the party moved forward, ready for battle. They entered a cave where four ogres were waiting for them. Three were dressed in furs and armed with greatclubs, but the fourth was dressed in a chain shirt and carried a wicked-looking Ogre Hook.
Two ogres charged Kerista, but she skillfully parried their attacks. Protected as she was by her magical armor and the defensive spells, she was very difficult to harm; she stood twelve feet tall in her golden armor, like some mythical avatar of Sarenrae. For once, the ogres were taking on someone their own size.
Jakardros fired several arrows at one of the ogres who’d attacked Kerista, and killed him. Shalelu shot another ogre with two arrows. A third ogre charged Kerista, and also missed her. Ruh cast two Scorching Rays at the ogre leader, and burned him badly. He roared and also attacked Kerista, who was standing between her friends and the ogres, protecting them from harm. She managed to parry his attack too. Navan shot three fiery crossbow bolts at another ogre, and killed him. Kerista then smashed her Earthbreaker against the ogre leader’s body, breaking a few of his ribs.
Jakardros then fired a lightning arrow at the ogre leader, and killed him. The last remaining ogre tried to bash Kerista with his club, but again, she parried his blow, and the ogre was shot down by Shalelu’s arrows and an Orb of Cold from Ruh.
The companions could hear some roars from the stairs going up to their left, and they climbed them, in case Drithnar was there and in danger. They soon found themselves in a huge cave that was acting as a forge. Fire and thick black smoke were spewing forth from black pits in the bedrock where forge fires glowed. Anvils loomed at various spots in the cavern, and several racks containing recently-forged, large-sized weapons could be seen next to them. The whole cavern was illuminated in a dull red, hellish glow.
Around ten ogres were moving around the room, getting ready for combat. They gave a roar when they saw Kerista appear up the stairs, ahead of the rest of the group. Most of the ogres looked exhausted, and wore only a loincloth; fresh whip marks could be seen on their backs, and they seemed to be slaves. The biggest of the ogres, though, wore a chainmail, and carried a whip and an Ogre Hook. He yelled to the others in their brutish tongue, and motioned for them to attack the golden-armored woman. They obeyed, but seemed too tired to move faster than at a lumbering, foot-dragging pace.
As the ogres were slowly approaching, Ruh cast a Fireball, which hit six of them. It wasn’t a very powerful one, but still, the ogres were badly burned. Kerista raised her enormous Earthbreaker over her head, and hit one of the ogres with all her might, shattering his skull in a thousand bloody pieces. Navan shot three crossbow bolts at an ogre, badly wounding him. Shalelu finished off that ogre with an arrow, and shot two more at another ogre.
Two ogres at the back of the group got scared by the adventurers’ ruthless display of power, and fled toward the back of the cave, where two tunnels could be seen. The ogre taskmaster rushed Kerista and attacked her with his Ogre Hook, but it bounced harmlessly off her powerful armor. Meanwhile, Jakardros shot down one of the other ogres with some deadly lightning arrows.
Ruh finished off one of the fleeing ogres with a volley of Magic Missiles. Kerista smashed her Earthbreaker against the ogre taskmaster, badly wounding him. Navan and Jakardros also wounded him with projectiles. Shalelu shot an arrow through the eye of another ogre as he was slowly trying to reach her; she killed him instantly. Another ogre attacked Kerista and missed her, but this time, the ogre taskmaster managed to stab her with his Ogre Hook. Kerista didn’t even wince, as her Sihedron medallion had absorbed all the damage. Baring her teeth, the paladin put all of her weight into her next blow, and shattered the skull of the ogre taskmaster. Her blow was so powerful that her momentum carried her to the side and she also crushed her other foe’s rib cage.
Except the one ogre who’d managed to flee down the southern tunnel, all of the monsters were now dead! Looking around them, the companions saw that, as they’d learned from Lucrecia, the Kreeg Ogres indeed seemed to be fabricating many weapons for an army of large humanoids. But the companions did not take the time to investigate, as their friend Drithnar was still in danger. Ruh cast an Alarm spell at the top of the stairs leading into the forge, to get some warning if enemies came that way, and the group headed into the western tunnel, hoping that was where Drithnar had gone.
Against the Covey
The long tunnel sloped down gently. It was a natural fissure in the rock that had been enlarged by the ogres, and it seemed to lead down into the heart of Hook Mountain. Soon enough, though, the companions heard the noise of footfalls ahead of them, in the darkness. Suddenly, they heard Drithnar’s voice not far ahead of them: “Guys, look out, they’re right behind me!” Indeed, they saw several humanoid silhouettes running their way in the tunnel. The companions readied their weapons, and an epic battle begun.
Shalelu shot an arrow passed Kerista’s hip, which hit one of the silhouettes. Kerista charged forward, but stumbled in the darkness: she’d bashed into her invisible lover! A dark shape became visible in the light glowing from the companions’ various weapons: he was a gray-haired man with long icicles for claws. An evil grimace of death marred his face, which was framed by a crown also seemingly made of icicles. Navan, Jakardros and Shalelu immediately recognized this frozen shade: he had once been Lamatar Bayden, commander of the Black Arrows!
Drithnar suddenly materialized before him, and slashed him with his blades. Lamatar tried to strike him in return, but Drithnar managed to dodge him. Meanwhile, the three women behind Lamatar had been casting a spell in unison. A purple glow surrounded them for an instant, and then another similar one shone down on Kerista. The still-enlarged paladin tried to rush forward to attack them, but she seemed to be stuck against an invisible wall! Navan cast a Silence spell on the other side of the wall, where the nymphs were gathered, and Ruh started to summon a monster.
Shalelu tried to shoot one of the women, but her arrows bounced back harmlessly: there seemed to be some invisible wall in front of, and behind, Kerista, as if she were trapped inside a bubble of force. Suddenly, a thick gray fog materialized around Ruh, Navan, Jakardros and Shalelu. They could barely distinguish Kerista’s huge form in her crystal prison just next to them, and they couldn’t see at all the poor Drithnar, who was stuck on the other side of the walls of force, alone with all their enemies. The tunnel was only ten feet wide, and there seemed to be no way of going around Kerista’s prison.
Navan tried to dispel the invisible walls, but failed. Ruh then finished her summoning spell; though she couldn’t see it, she knew that a mighty Celestial Bison had just appeared next to the three nymphs. She then took hold of her three companions, and together, they hopped through a Dimension Door that led them further down the tunnel, on the other side of Kerista’s prison, behind the three women.
The four companions were disorientated for a few moments. Shalelu suddenly felt a terrible pain in her back as sharp claws dig painfully into her flesh. She turned around and saw that one of the nymphs had attacked her. Now that she stood right next to her, she noticed that all three of them were extremely tall, perhaps eight feet or so in height. Though they were beautiful and graceful, they had long claws and fangs, and pure hatred was clearly visible in their eyes.
Shalelu hastily withdrew away further back in the tunnel, pushing past her companions. Jakardros, who’d finally come to his senses, drew his short sword and attacked the Nymph, but missed. Out of the corner of their eyes, the companions saw Drithnar fighting the other two nymphs further in the corridor. It was very dark, though, and they were in the zone of silence, so it was extremely difficult to guess how that fight was faring. They vaguely saw, next to the three humanoids, the large corpse of Ruh’s bison, which had apparently gotten slain already. The Nymph that had attacked Shalelu, though, had two deep, bloody wounds in her abdomen, as if she’d gotten gored by the beast. Navan shot two crossbow bolts at her, and Ruh finished her off with a Scorching Ray: the power of the blast sent the woman reeling against the wall of the tunnel. With a shriek, she burned to death. As she fell to the floor, her appearance shifted out of the beautiful illusion of a nymph; instead, she turned into a muscular, thick-limbed hunchback with oversized talons sprouting from her stumpy arms. Her face was that of a hideous hag.
Shalelu and Jakardros could not help Drithnar with missile fire in the darkness; they risked hitting him instead of his foes. Navan cast a Daylight spell on his crossbow, which, to their horror, showed that Drithnar had just been terribly clawed by the two women, and that he’d fallen limply to the ground. The two “nymphs”, their sharp claws dripping with the ranger’s blood, turned around to face the bright light, and hissed in silent fury: they had felt the death of their sister. At the same time, Ruh cast Greater Invisibility on Navan, hoping that he’d be able to get past the two women to heal the fallen Drithnar.
Shalelu shot several arrows, but only one of them hit one woman. The nymphs rushed forward and both attacked Ruh in the cramped tunnel. The little gnome, though, was now of tiny size, and well-protected by defensive spells, so she avoided most of the attacks, though she did get clawed painfully once. Jakardros swung his sword again, but missed. Navan, unable to get past the nymphs in the cramped tunnel, cast a Dimension Door to get to Drithnar. Ruh cast a spell on the defensive: she protected herself further with a Displacement spell, seeing that she was clearly being targeted by both of her foes, who were ignoring the much less dangerous rangers.
Shalelu manage to land another arrow on a nymph, who was screeching: “You killed our sister! Now you’ll die!” to Ruh. Ruh managed to dodge most of the nymph’s attacks, especially thanks to the Displacement effect, but unfortunately, she got clawed again. Jakardros moved back toward Drithnar’s corpse and readied his bow. Ruh stepped back a bit in the other direction, and cast a Wall of Fire, with which she surrounded the two nymphs.
One of the two evil women stepped through the fire, as if totally unaffected by it, and she attacked Ruh. Her sister passed soon after, but she shrieked horribly from the searing pain of the magical fire. Her dress and hair were on fire, and her skin was badly burnt. Meanwhile, Jakardros and Navan moved to heal the fallen Drithnar, but they both remembered at that time that they were in a zone of silence, and couldn’t cast spells there. Navan started to rummage for a healing potion, while Jakardros, who still couldn’t see him due to the Greater Invisibility spell, started dragging Drithnar back toward Kerista’s prison.
Further in the tunnel, past the wall of fire, Ruh and Shalelu were alone against the two remaining nymphs. Things were looking somewhat bleak. Ruh managed to cast another spell on the defensive: Stoneskin! Now, she was truly well protected! Shalelu drew her sword and missed the wounded nymph. The two women again viciously clawed at Ruh, but only one of their attacks connected, and it was mostly absorbed by the stone skin. Ruh cast two Scorching Rays at point blank range, and blasted the burnt nymph against the wall. The woman shrieked in agony just as her sister had done, and she too transformed in death. She grew even taller, thinner, until she looked like a disgusting skeleton wrapped in ugly purple, melting flesh and draped in a burning dress. Her only remaining sister gave a howl of fury at seeing her die like this.
Meanwhile, Jakardros had dragged Drithnar out of the zone of silence. They were standing next to the wall of force, behind which the beautiful, gigantic and utterly helpless Kerista was banging her fists impotently against the invisible wall. Tears were pouring down her cheeks as she watched the mangled body of her lover mere inches before her, yet tantalizingly beyond the reach of her healing touch.
“Stop… Fricking… Moving him!!” snapped Navan in an annoyed tone, as he tried to get close to Drithnar to heal him with a wand.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just trying to get him out of the silence,” said Jakardros. “At least he’s still alive, thank Desna!”
Navan used his wand, and some of Drithnar’s wounds closed. The ranger’s eyelids fluttered open, and he moaned incoherently for a few moments.
“Where… what… What happened?” he asked hoarsely.
“Ruh and Shalelu are in trouble,” replied Jakardros.
“I’m going to try to patch you up, Drith, but we have to hurry and go help them,” added Navan. With that, he cast a Lesser Vigor spell on Drithnar.
The ranger clumsily got to his feet, still hurting from the terrible wounds he’d suffered. His gaze fell upon Kerista, who was smiling at him behind the wall, despite the tears. Their each placed a hand on the wall, and could almost touch each other…
Meanwhile, Jakardros was looking down at the sliced corpse of Lamatar Bayden, which was lying on the floor not far from Kerista’s cage. His former master was now truly, perhaps mercifully, dead. Drithnar had apparently finished him off before engaging the three sisters.
Navan grabbed hold of Drithnar’s shoulder. “Hey, we don’t have time for this mushy crap! Grab your weapons and let’s GO!!”
The three men stepped back into the zone of silence. Drithnar bent down to retrieve his fallen weapons, and they stepped around the massive carcass of the Celestial Bison. There were many deep claw marks on its sides and neck. But they soon realized that it would be quite hard indeed to reach their friends: a wall of fire was blocking their way.
All three men cursed silently: they were still in the zone of silence, so there was no way for Navan to dispel the wall. They considered jumping through it, but that seemed a bit suicidal. Eventually, though, the wall vanished, and beyond it, illuminated by Navan’s daylight, they saw Shalelu, her bow in hand, and a tiny Ruh, standing victorious next to the corpse of the hags they had just defeated. Next to the tall, gaunt, burnt one was the final, strongest sister, whom Ruh had managed to slay with two powerful Orbs of Cold. In death, she had turned into a squat and fat hag with bulbous breasts that hung almost to her knees. Her face had been covered with large oozing pustules, but now, her face, neck and breasts were pierced by two dozen shards of ice, and she was quite dead.
The three men stepped out of the zone of silence, and cheered for Ruh and Shalelu.
“You made it!” said Navan. “I was afraid you’d gotten killed!”
“It was all Ruh,” said Shalelu, “she was amazing!!”
The tiny gnome looked up at her towering friends and smiled. She might’ve blushed if her skin hadn’t currently been turned into stone.
“I’m glad you’re all safe too!” she said in a voice that was even more high-pitched than usual. “Now let’s try to get Kerista out of that prison!”
The Kreeg Clanhold’s Mines
Ruh examined the invisible wall carefully for a few minutes, as Navan healed everyone. Meanwhile, Drithnar, Jakardros and Shalelu discussed Lamatar’s grim fate. They decided to try and bring his corpse back to Whitewillow, to respect Myriana’s wish to be reunited with her lover. Navan added that they should try to find Myriana’s body, too.
Finally, Ruh informed them that Kerista was stuck in an extremely powerful spell called a Forcecage. She’d only read obscure passages about this incantation in one of master Cornaban’s tomes, and had never actually met anyone strong enough to cast it. The Hag Covey must indeed have been very powerful to cast it, especially without the extremely expensive Ruby Dust normally required for such a spell. Since it was impossible to resist, avoid, or even dispel a Forcecage, Ruh saw that the only option for her was to use a Dimension Door to get inside, grab Kerista, and Dimension Door back out.
She did exactly this, and once she was out of the prison, Kerista thanked Ruh profusely, picked her up gently with one hand and kissed her tiny cheek. Ruh giggled, and then informed the group that the Forcecage would remain there for a number of hours, effectively blocking the way out. The companions discussed this and decided to continue exploring further down the tunnel they were in. They briefly searched the three hags, but found only one item of interest: a silver medallion containing a lock of gray hair: Lamatar’s. Perhaps if they gave it back to Myriana, like they had done with the medallion containing her own hair, she would be put to rest? They took the medallion and kept walking down the tunnel.
Eventually, they reached a room with rough walls where four ogres slept. Drithnar crept in quietly and slew them all in their sleep. Beyond the room, they entered what seemed to be a mine. Some wide, high tunnels led deep inside the mountain, and it was obvious that the walls had been stripped of some iron ore. The companions explored the tunnels, and found several groups of ogre miners, which they killed without any special incident. Indeed, they had now become so powerful that even several ogre warriors were of little challenge to them: and to think that only a few short months before, fighting a handful of goblins had been risky business!
Just around when they’d finished exploring the mines, Ruh sensed that the Alarm spell she’d placed at the forge had been disturbed. She and Navan were somewhat low on magical energy, so the group discussed what to do: try to bypass the Forcecage and continue the attack, or teleport back to Fort Rannick, rest for a day to recover their strength, and teleport back in?
“Don’t forget that Barl is supposed to be a Necromancer,” said Jakardros. “If we give him enough time, who knows what manner of undead he’ll be able to raise from the ogres we’ve killed today?”
The others nodded. It wouldn’t be an easy choice.
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Sunday, Abadius 27th, 4708 (continued)
The companions decided to try and attack Barl before he had a chance to react, despite their depleted resources. They returned to the Forcecage, and Ruh used a Dimension Door spell to get herself, Navan, Kerista and Drithnar on the other side. Unfortunately, she had to leave Shalelu and Jakardros behind. The four companions would have to finish the mission by themselves!
They returned to the forge and noticed that two of the corpses were gone. Drithnar saw some obvious tracks, gigantic bloody footprints on the stone floor. It seemed that Barl had already passed by… The tracks seemed to lead down the south tunnel. The companions decided to first explore the rest of the complex. It seemed completely empty. Another ogre corpse was missing from the chokepoint where they’d fought earlier, and the witches’ cave, which had seemed sumptuously decorated the first time Drithnar had viewed it, was now dirty and plain, with a large cauldron bubbling over a fire in its center.
Feeling that the final confrontation was at hand, the four companions returned to the forge and went down the south tunnel. It led into a maze of caverns in which the women and children of the Kreeg Clan were housed. Soon enough, the party came upon a large cave at the center of which a great bonfire was burning. The walls were adorned with various trophies, including some skulls of different sizes, as well as banners and weapons recently looted from Fort Rannick. The companions protected themselves with spells before entering. Kerista was enlarged, and she and Drithnar had a Protection from Evil spell on them. Ruh’s Stoneskin spell was still active, and Navan cast a Bless spell on the group.
Near the bonfire stood two mighty gray-skinned giants. One was lean, yet muscular, and had a grim look on his face. He wore a leather outfit and carried a large wooden club. The other was taller, heavier, with a huge belly that looked like a gigantic boulder of gray flesh. He carried a humongous earthbreaker over one shoulder, and was yelling threateningly at a group of ogre females and children shivering in a corner of the room. Close to the giants were the animated bodies of three ogres the companions had killed not so long before. And on the floor, in front of the fat stone giant who was most likely Barl Breakbones, lay the corpses of two ogre males. They seemed to have been recently slain by Barl and his minions. One had its head partially caved in by a mighty blow. The other looked shriveled and pale, as though his very life had been snuffed out of him.
A few of the ogre females looked defiant despite Barl’s display of power. When the characters approached, they heard the necromancer reply, though only Navan understood the words:
“You will do as I say!” he bellowed in a deep voice that made the floor vibrate. “I am your master! Look what happened to the ones who dared defy me! Do not think that this is over… It belongs to me. Give it to me…”
“No!” shouted back one of the defiant females in a quavering voice. “It belongs to Kreeg Clan! You only lead us to misery! All our men are dead now because of you! Go back to where you came from, and be cursed!” and she spit on the ground.
Barl looked at her for a moment, and then replied in a tone that was filled with the promise of pain. “How dare you?... HOW DARE YOU??? I will…”
And he never got to finish his threat, because at that time, he noticed the characters’ presence. He turned to face them, and so did his bodyguard.
The four companions entered the large cave. Navan looked at the stunned ogres and the furious giants.
“Rise against the tyrant!” he shouted to the ogres. “Death to the Stone Giants!!!”
And the heroes attacked.
Barl also motioned for his bodyguard and the zombies to attack, and yelled for the ogresses to do the same, but it was too late: they and their children had all fled down some hallways that lead deeper yet into the caves. He then cast a spell and started to fly around the room.
His bodyguard threw a heavy rock which impacted solidly on the poor Drithnar, who yelled in pain, but bravely kept advancing on the enemies. He tumbled and attacked one of the ogre zombies that stood in his way. The zombie retaliated, but its heavy club missed the nimble ranger. Another zombie moved up to attack Kerista, but its blow bounced harmlessly off her armor. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group. Navan and Kerista both tried to turn Barl’s minions. Navan’s attempt failed, but Kerista, bolstered by the mighty Phylactery of Undead Turning she’d found recently, destroyed two of the three with a glorious ray of sunlight which emerged from her holy symbol of Sarenrae. She then ran toward the other enemies, but got struck painfully by the zombie that Drithnar was fighting.
With a snarl, Barl cast a spell at Kerista, but it had no visible effect: she seemed to have resisted it. The other giant smacked Kerista with his club. The young paladin winced under the powerful blow. Meanwhile, Drithnar and the last zombie were locked in a brutal fight; the ogre bashed Drithnar, but only a moment later, he was slashed to pieces by the ranger’s deadly blades. Navan ran behind the ranger and cast a Fly spell on him, so he could tackle Barl.
Meanwhile, Ruh cast a Greater Orb of Cold on Barl; the spell hit him, but he didn’t seem to suffer very much from it. He seemed to be quite a powerful foe! Kerista’s earthbreaker then glowed with sunlight, and smashed Barl’s knee. Indeed, the cavern’s ceiling was high, but not high enough to prevent Barl from getting out of reach of the enlarged woman, who now stood almost as tall as him.
Barl then flew closer to the ground and cast a spell on the defensive. A wave of fear washed over Kerista, Ruh and Navan. The paladin, of course, kept fighting bravely. Ruh became shaken by the spell’s terrifying magic, and for a moment, Navan’s mind was filled with an uncontrollable urge to flee the terrible stone giant necromancer. It’s only by Desna’s will that he remained in the fight .
The other giant smashed his club against Kerista’s back. He swung with tremendous strength, and the poor young woman was by then gravely wounded. While Navan cast a Shield Other spell on her, Drithnar flew toward Barl and slashed him painfully. Ruh cast a Wall of Fire around the stone giant bodyguard, to try and protect Kerista. Kerista tried another Smite Evil on Barl, but she missed; however, she then hit him in rapid succession with two more mundane attacks.
Drithnar and Kerista were by then both badly wounded. Barl muttered another incantation, and drained some of Drithnar’s life with a touch, just like the ogrekins’ mammy had done a few weeks before. The other giant walked through the wall of fire with a pained roar, and attacked Ruh with a vengeance. However, he missed her, as gnomes are very apt at dodging the blows of giants. Drithnar stabbed Barl again, fighting for his life.
Navan raised his crossbow and fired a well-aimed bolt at Barl’s throat. It connected, and lodged itself deep into the necromancer’s flesh. Barl’s black eyes widened in surprise and pain. Blood started to flow from his mouth as he tried one last spell, in vain. His glare turned glassy, and he fell to the floor, lifeless. Navan had slain him!!
Alas, the priest’s victory was short-lived. Barl’s bodyguard, enraged even more at his master’s passing, stabbed Navan with a powerful attack in the back. Ruh shot an Orb of Cold at the giant, while Kerista moved around the bonfire to engage this last foe. She used her Lay on Hands ability to heal some of her wounds.
Alas, she might’ve been better off using it on Navan, because the stone giant’s next blow crashed against the unfortunate cleric again, and this time, there was a sound of bones breaking. The pain was so intense that he passed out.
“Navan!!!” shouted his three companions in unison.
Drithnar hurried to his side and dragged him out of the way. Ruh managed to keep her cool, and cast a Grease spell on the giant’s club. Almost comically, the giant fumbled with his weapon, juggled it for a moment, and dropped it to the floor. Before he could retrieve it, Kerista jumped on him and smashed him with a powerful blow from her earthbreaker.
The giant retaliated with a powerful punch to Kerista’s stomach. The blow, which might have reduced a normal human to pulp, bounced harmlessly off of the gigantic paladin’s magical armor. The giant yelled in pain and shook his bruised hand in the air.
“Dwarven armor, my friend,” she told the giant with a wink.
Drithnar gave a potion of healing to Navan, whose eyelids fluttered as he regained consciousness. Ruh shot the giant with a Ray of Enfeeblement from a wand, but it had little effect, because only a moment later, the giant’s skull was smashed to pieces by Kerista’s earthbreaker. The giant fell back on the ground with a ground-shaking thud, his upper torso falling right into the blaze of Ruh’s Wall of Fire.
The heroes were victorious!
They had slain Barl Breakbones and his minions, and had vanquished the dreaded Kreeg clan!
Drithnar raised both of his bloody weapons high above him: “For vengeance!” he shouted. “For the Black Arrows!!!” He then turned to Barl’s corpse, and slashed it violently. “You filth! This is for Lamatar! This is for Sarianna! This is for Vale!...”
While the ranger was punishing the one who had been the instigator of the Hook Mountain Massacre, Navan healed his companions. Once they were done, he spoke up:
“But is the threat really over, as long as the young are still alive? I don’t know…”
Drithnar slashed Barl’s body one last time, and then looked up at Navan, fingering his war razor, which was dripping with Barl’s blood. “The young, you say?” he asked with a menacing grin.
Kerista gasped. “Drithnar!”
Navan turned to the paladin. “They will grow up just to attack Fort Rannick again. They are evil. They were led by this evil mastermind. They are of a race of evil. They worship Lamashtu.”
“Actually, it’s very simple, Kerista,” said Drithnar. “You can just look into their hearts. Can you not… feel the evil when you look at them? Should we go and see them now?”
Kerista merely looked at Drithnar, as if she were at a loss for words.
“They are just beasts,” continued Navan. “Evil beasts. If we let them grow, then they will attack again. And Turtleback Ferry might not be saved a second time.”
“Should we judge them by their race, then?” asked Kerista, her cheeks flushed with outrage. “Just because they come from a race where most people are evil?”
The two men glared at her.
“Drithnar, should we do that?” she continued.
“You’re right,” said Navan. “But as Drithnar said, you can sense evil. Let’s give them the ‘test of the Paladin’. But remember that the Black Arrows aren’t there to protect the people anymore. If we leave a threat unchecked, the repercussions a few years or decades from now could be… catastrophic. Even these ogre females could very well overtake Turtleback Ferry.“
Eventually, everyone agreed to round up the remaining ogres and scan them. The companions faced no more resistance from them. It seemed that all of the adult males were now dead. Only females and young remained; they lived in a series of caves carved around the feast hall. Kerista scanned them one by one. Almost all of them were evil.
But one of the ogres, who was around Drithnar’s size, but only a child by ogre standards, did not radiate evil. He looked at the characters with eyes full of hope, as if daring to believe that perhaps, just perhaps, they would spare his wayward kindred. He spoke to the characters, though only Navan understood him.
His name was Bagurtak, and he told Navan that all of the tribe’s warriors were now dead. He feared that some rival ogre clans would wipe them out, if the adventurers didn’t do it first. Navan explained that he didn’t want to kill him, and that he was welcome to join them in Fort Rannick. He began to talk about friendship and kindness, which were unlike anything the young ogre had ever been taught by his peers. When asked who his mother and siblings were, the youth was hard-pressed to give a clear answer: it seemed that the Kreeg Clan had been very badly inbred, and that the notion of mother, sister, daughter, niece and cousin were very blurry.
Navan spent a few hours explaining the basic principles of Desna’s faith, of freedom and generosity, to the gathered ogres, but few seemed to understand. A number of the young males actually looked like they wanted to eat Navan, but they did not dare attack him, since his allies were still present. The group also visited the rest of the caves and took most of the ogres’ treasure. The females looked at them with hateful eyes, but dared not oppose them.
During his discussion with the female ogres, Navan learned some pieces of the clan’s history. Their ancestors had been very powerful, and had even slain the gigantic blue dragon whose bones still adorned the entrance to the clan’s caves.
“Dragon bones, huh?” asked Drithnar with a grin when Navan told them what he’d heard.
Ruh blushed deeply.
Navan heard about the Battle of the Valley of Broken Trees, but from the ogres’ perspective, as being a catastrophic event where ogres had been beaten by the treachery of the humans, who always used cowardly tactics. But over the decades, the Kreeg Clan had recovered, and had mostly stayed away from the human lands.
A few moons ago, though, three stone giants had approached the clan’s caves. They manage to resist the ogres’ first assault, and they killed many of them. Then, when Grolki, the Pappy of the clan, saw that the biggest giant was wearing the sacred star symbol, the same symbol as the one worn by the Great Ancestor in the entrance cave, he went to see the giants with an offer of peace. The wicked stone giant leader, though, in his cruelty, slew Grolki after he surrendered, but then named Jaagrath, Grolki’s strongest son, as the new Pappy of the clan.
Things went well for some time, as Barl was a powerful and wise leader. Several rival ogre clans were defeated, and their survivors taken in as slaves to work in the mines or forge. Indeed, Barl made the ogres work hard at creating beautiful metal weapons, which would be used for a huge army gathering in the land north of the mountains.
The female ogres said they saw the “human woman with red hair” several times speaking with Barl, and that the three witches of the swamp also served Barl. They used to perform rituals outside of the caves, which kept dark clouds over the region, forcing heavy rain and snow to fall almost continuously. One wise female said that she’d overheard Barl’s plan: he wanted to destroy Skull’s Crossing to flood Turtleback Ferry, so that the souls of the drowned humans could serve his master. Once Fort Rannick had been taken, Jaagrath had wanted to assault the human town with his troops, but Barl had convinced him not to attack, assuring him that the humans were all doomed anyway.
The companions then returned to the Forcecage, where they set up camp for the night, while obviously keeping some watches. Shalelu and Jakardros also rested on the other side of the transparent barrier.
Moonday, Abadius 28th, 4708
During the night, the Forcecage finally vanished. Shalelu and Jakardros were able to rejoin the group. In the morning, Navan attempted to cast Speak with Dead spells on Barl and the other stone giant, but their souls both resisted. The group then cut off Barl’s head and took it with them, along with Lamatar’s body. Ruh teleported back to Fort Rannick with these grisly trophies, as well as Navan and Kerista. The three rangers returned to the fort on foot, taking with them the young ogre, Bagurtak.
Outside, the sun was now shining for the first time in many days. Despite the cold, it lifted the companions’ spirits. When Ruh and her companions appeared at the keep with Barl’s head, young Morganthor became very excited. The severed head was the most awesome thing he had ever seen! He asked to touch it, to poke Barl’s eyes with his fingers, but the characters kept him at bay. And when the others returned with Bagurtak, he asked if he could attack him. Drithnar finally got mad and managed to chase him away; just as Bagurtak was an exceptional ogre who seemed to be pure despite his race’s history and genes, Morganthor seemed irremediably set on a path that could only lead to evil once he grew up.
At the end of the afternoon, the companions burned Lamatar’s body on a funeral pyre, in a solemn ceremony. Navan also used a Sending spell to inform Father Shreed that Barl Breakbones was dead and that the Kreeg Ogres were now utterly defeated.
That night, Kerista, who had been troubled by the dark aura she could see over Morganthor, approached him. She forced herself to ignore the little voice in her head that was screaming that the boy should be slain today, before he had a chance to grow up into someone who would bring great evil into the world.
Alas, the wise paladin’s efforts to enlighten the young boy were in vain. He was not interested in Kerista’s preaching. He was just obsessed with battle, blood, and the glorious defeat of enemies. Though he worshipped Drithnar and Navan (not Kerista and Ruh – because girls are icky), it was only because of their prowess in combat.
Kerista sighed heavily. She could tell that her words were lost on the foolish child.
“I look at you, Morganthor,” she said, “and I see a great hand reaching across Golarion, and I hear millions of voices calling our your name.”
“My followers?” asked the boy hopefully.
“Your victims…” replied the paladin darkly.
Toilday, Abadius 29th, 4708
The following morning, the four companions left Fort Rannick in direction of Bitter Hollow: they wanted to return the locket containing Lamatar’s hair to Myriana. During the afternoon, they reached the small village, where the loggers and hunters still lived in fear. The group met Yap again, who was relieved to see them alive, and to learn that they had succeeded in their mission.
The little pixie led them back into the swamp of the Shimmerglens. One again, the journey was unnerving, but this time, the companions met nothing as dangerous as the green witch. Eventually, they entered the twisted glade of Whitewillow, where they once again met the terrible spirit of Myriana. They gave her the locket, and finally, a look of peace came upon her face. She then vanished into a blinding flash of light, and when the light faded, where the tormented spirit had previously hovered, now stood two ghostly silhouettes.
One was Myriana, whole, looking as beautiful as she had in life. The other was a strong, handsome long-haired man: Lamatar. He also looked as he had in life, rather than the corrupted undead things that the companions had faced in the Kreeg caves. In a deep voice, Lamatar thanked the companions for their bravery and kindness. Thanks to them, Desna had been able to save him and his lover from the undead taint, and they were now able to travel into her eternal forest.
He spoke to Navan: “I will am sure that we will meet there again, one day, my friend. But not too soon, though,” he added with a wink.
And then the two spirits disappeared into the twilight. All around the characters, the corruption of nature was fading away, and slowly, the trees were recovering their majestic beauty of yesteryear.
Ruh teleported back to Fort Rannick with Navan and Kerista, leaving Drithnar in charge of bringing back the four horses the following day. The ranger, along with a very excited Yap, spent a long part of the evening walking around Whitewillow, basking in its restored beauty.
Wealday, Abadius 30th, 4708
The following day, around noon, Bran Fered once again rode into Fort Rannick, in a state of panic. He warned the keep about a large troop of black-armored soldiers moving into Turtleback Ferry. The companions smiled and reassured Bran: the Hellknights had been sent by Magnimar as a replacement for the Black Arrows.
Indeed, hours later, as the sun was setting, the host of dark riders came within sight of Fort Rannick. There were around sixty heavily-armored knights and twenty camp aides following them. Drithnar was riding among them. Clearly, he’d run into them along the way.
With some sense of trepidation, the companions allowed the sinister-looking soldiers inside Fort Rannick. Then, they met the two leaders of the expedition. The first was a towering, powerfully-built man in black spiked armor. When he removed his helm, they were surprised to see that his skin and hair were of a silvery color, and that his white eyes had no pupils: he was clearly an Aasimar. The handsome man introduced himself in a deep voice: he was Paralictor Vesko Naruncrast.
Next to him was a strong-looking woman, also in black armor. She must once have been very beautiful, but now, the passage of years had marred her face with small wrinkles and her jet-black hair with streaks of gray. She was Signifier Sirina Ilken, and Navan easily recognized her Varisian accent; he had not expected one of his people to work for such a regimented organization. At her neck hung a heavy iron medallion of Irori, god of knowledge and self-perfection.
The companions also introduced themselves, as well as Jakardros and Shalelu. They received the Hellknights with the honor they were due, and had a modest banquet with their officers in the upstairs dining room. They celebrated their victory over the Kreeg Ogres, and the arrival of the Hellknights to take over command of the Fort. During the night, the companions described to the Hellknights their various exploits of the past few weeks. Though the stern soldiers probably disapproved of some of their more chaotic methods, they still showed a great amount of respect for the adventurers: clearly, they realized that they were in the presence of heroes.
Oathday, Calistril 1st, 4708
Now that the covey of hags was dead, the sunny weather seemed to be holding over the region. The companions returned to the Kreeg caves and desecrated the temple of Lamashtu with weapons and spells of blasting. They also removed the Sihedron medallion from the gargantuan giant’s body in the entrance cave, using a spell of Telekinesis. As soon as they did this, the body crumbled to a huge heap of dust, and his armor fell to the floor with a thunderous crashing noise. Navan thought that they might be able to sell the gigantic, gem-encrusted armor for several thousand gold pieces to a rich eccentric in Magnimar, so Ruh teleported the armor to Fort Rannick for now.
Most of the townsfolk had returned to Turtleback Ferry that day, since the Hellknights needed a lot of space in the keep, and that the town now seemed safe once again. But those who had remained were in awe at the sight of the enormous suit of armor.
Calistril 2nd-5th, 4708
The companions remained in the region for a few more days to ensure that things were all right. Navan, Kerista and Jakardros spent some time with the Hellknights to ensure that the transfer of authority of the keep was done well. Drithnar and Shalelu showed some secret mountain trails and the path of the Kreeg caves to the scouts of the Hellknights. A sizeable patrol of Hellknights was also sent south of Turtleback Ferry to try and locate the bandits that had been sighted in the region a few weeks before, especially since their leader was supposedly wearing one of their own uniforms.
Navan used a Sending to inform Captain Acacia in Magnimar that Barl Breakbones was dead, the Kreeg Ogres were defeated, and that the Hellknights had arrived at Fort Rannick.
To Navan’s discomfort, Sirina, the Hellknights’ cleric, spent some time talking to Kaven and became aware of his treachery. She approached Navan and asked him what kind of punishment he had in mind for his brother. Although Navan was annoyed that she’d spoken with his brother at first – he’d specified that the prisoner was theirs to deal with – he learned that Sirina was able to cast the Mark of Justice spell. They agreed to go to Sandpoint to place the spell on Kaven soon with one of Ruh’s Teleport spells.
The companions then discussed what to do from here. Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros were very intrigued by the weapons that the ogres were forging for Lord Mokmurian’s army. Who was this Lord Mokmurian, where was his army, what was he up to? The group asked the Hellknights to ensure that the weapons were either destroyed or secured safely, so they wouldn’t be used by that army.
Ruh said she wanted to go back to Magnimar, to pursue her studies for a few months. She’d had several revelations during the past few weeks while she’d been blowing up ogres to smithereens, and she needed to spend some time refining those complex theories.
Kerista was growing more and more worried about Sandpoint now that she’d been away from it for a while. Every now and then, she still had dreams or visions of some great tragedy befalling her beloved home town. She wanted to return there soon, and make sure everything was all right.
Drithnar was torn between the call of the road, and being at Kerista’s side. His curiosity pushed him to investigate the mysterious army, but he didn’t want to leave Kerista behind. In the end, he decided he’d stay with Kerista in Sandpoint.
Toilday, Calistril 6th, 4708
On that day, Ruh teleported to Sandpoint, bringing along Navan, Kaven and Sirina Ilken. Navan and Ruh introduced Kaven to Sheriff Hemlock, and in his presence, the Hellknight priestess performed the Mark of Justice ritual on Kaven: she made him pledge to defend the town of Sandpoint, to obey Sheriff Hemlock, to follow and enforce the law, and to protect the well-being of the town’s inhabitants to the fullest of his ability. The young man sullenly received the treatment. Though he felt humiliated, this fate was preferable to death. Actually, this fate was preferable to any other that he could’ve thought of. Once again, his brother had behaved like a hero in finding this compassionate and constructive sentence.
The companions gave Kaven some pocket money so he could rent a room at the Rusty Dragon. They then went with him to visit Madam Mvashti’s old manor. The old woman was pleased to see two of her great-grand nephews visiting her at the same time. Navan explained to her what had happened near Hook Mountain, and under what circumstances he’d brought Kaven to Sandpoint.
Niska Mvashti smiled, “I am glad that in the end, the Fool failed to trick you, and that the Black Knight really did help you.” And she looked at the black-armored Sirina Ilken.
With a gasp, Navan thought back about the card reading that Madam Mvashti had performed for him, so long ago, before he even ventured to Magnimar to finds the culprits of the Skinsaw Murders. He had indeed met all of the people in the cards!
While Kaven brooded, sitting on an old armchair in a dark corner of the living room, Madam Mvashti offered cookies and milk to her guests. She talked at great length with Sirina Ilken: though they were extremely different, the two wise Varisian women seemed to have an unexpected affinity. Finally, though, Navan nodded at Ruh, and announced: “All right, mammy, I think we should get back.”
Ruh took Navan and Sirina’s hands in hers, and, after wishing Madam Mvashti a final good-bye, they vanished into the thin air.
“Kaven, dear, I do hope you’ll be staying for dinner tonight,” said the old crone. “You and I have so much catching up to do…”
The young man glowered at her darkly. “Sure, mammy, I’ve… nowhere else to go, really.”
Wealday, Calistril 7th, 4708
The following day, Ruh teleported Navan, Kerista and Drithnar, along with their mounts, to Magnimar (over several magical trips). They shopped for most of the day, looking for buyers for the loot they’d acquired during their latest adventure. They also went to see Captain Acacia at the Arvensoar and debriefed her fully. Again, she congratulated them for their glorious victory, and informed them that there would be a ceremony (for real, this time) to reward them on Calistril 16th.
During the following few days, the companions appreciated being in the comfort and safety of the large city. Kerista spent some time with her brother, Goldar, who was extremely proud of her. He could not believe his ears: his baby sister was a true heroine now, having faced terrible dangers where he himself, a veteran paladin of Magnimar, would’ve surely perished.
One evening, the companions were invited to Lord-Mayor Grobaras’s splendid mansion for a sumptuous dinner. Once again, they were overwhelmed by the extravagant luxury in which Magnimar’s ruler lived, and they were vividly reminded of why he had been deemed sacrifice-worthy by the Skinsaw Cult: he was obviously an extremely greedy man.
Nevertheless, the four friends were the stars of this banquet, and once again, many rich merchants and politicians of Magnimar took note of them. During the evening, and the following days, each adventurer was approached by several people who probed them to see if they’d be interested in serving them personally for their own designs. But Navan proved too free-spirited, Drithnar too grim, Ruh too introverted and Kerista too adamant about returning to Sandpoint, to be good candidates for the merchants.
During the evening, though, Navan met a rich merchant who was a collector of strange items and interesting stories. He was fascinated by the companions’ tale of heroism in Hook Mountain. Navan described to him the gigantic armor that they’d salvaged from the Kreeg Caves, and the old man accepted to buy it for almost five thousand gold pieces.
Fireday, Calistril 16th, 4708
That sunny morning, the four companions were awarded medals and a monetary reward of a thousand gold pieces each for their heroic acts and the saving of Turtleback Ferry.
Shalelu and Jakardros had not gone to Magnimar with them. They showed little desire to attend the ceremony. Instead, they had left Fort Rannick with Bagurtak, by horse, and were riding toward the town of Ravenmoor, where they were supposed to meet Navan later that month. Their goal was to find out more about the mysterious army of Lord Mokmurian.
- - - - -
Meanwhile, in Turtleback Ferry, a few children were playing merrily by the edge of Claybottom Lake. Morganthor and his mother had returned to their house in the village, and although he was sad that the adventurers had left the region, he was very excited by the Hellknights, who looked even more awesome. Wielding a wooden stick, he stabbed and slashed at some of his playmates, pretending to be a mighty Hellknight himself.
Though he was taller and stronger than most boys his age, Morganthor tried not to hurt them too badly. After all, he didn’t want them to stop playing with him. At some point though, after he’d hit one of his friends several times in a row, Morganthor saw that all of the other children looked at him and ran away screaming. For a moment, he felt a rush of elation: surely, this was how a mighty Hellknight must feel when his foes fled from him in terror.
But eventually, Morganthor heard some splashing sound coming from the lake behind him, and realized that perhaps the children had run away from something behind him.
He slowly turned around, and saw, only a few dozen feet from the shore, a massive black reptilian head breaking the surface of the water, its eyes gleaming with a bright yellow light. The monstrous Black Magga was looking directly at him!
“Wow…” muttered the young boy. “You look AWESOME!”
- - - - -
Here ends the adventure: “The Hook Mountain Massacre”. Stay tuned for tales of the next adventure, “Fortress of the Stone Giants”, coming soon. :)
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The characters are now level 10. Here’s some updated information about them.
We have an old-time friend who’s going to be playing with us during the summer as a guest player. Hopefully, he’ll be able to do all of the Fortress of the Stone Giants adventure with us. He will be playing Drithnar.
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Navan Attaway (CG Male Human Rogue Level 2, Cleric Level 8) – Worships Desna
Str: 8 Dex: 18 Con: 12 Int: 14 Wis: 16 Cha: 14; AC: 19, HP: 79
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, Crossbow Mastery.
Weakness: Weaker Fortitude.
Skills: Appraise 6, Bluff 9, Concentration 13, Diplomacy 13, Disable Device 12, Gather Information 3, Hide 6, Knowledge: Religion 5, Spot 10, Open Lock 12, Search 13, Sense Motive 7, Sleight of Hand 6, Spellcraft 6, Swim 2, Tumble 8.
Main gear: Flaming Light Crossbow +1, Sihedron Medallion, Cloak of Resistance +1, Hat of Disguise, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Boots of the Mire, Ring of Protection +1.
= = = =
Ruh (NG Female Gnome Wizard [Conjuror], Level 10) – Worships Sarenrae and Nethys
Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 16 Int: 20 Wis: 10 Cha: 10; AC: 17, HP: 66
Height: 3’3”. Weight: 32 lbs, Age: 67, 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, Quicken Spell, Maximize Spell.
Skills: Concentration 16, Craft: Alchemy 10, Hide 9, Knowledge: Arcana 18, Knowledge: Religion 12, Knowledge: History 11, Knowledge: Geography 7, Knowledge: Planes 10, Spot 6, Search 8, Sense Motive 1, Spellcraft 17.
Main gear: Cloak of Resistance +1, Ring of Protection +1, Headband of Intellect +2, Ring of Force Shield, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Gloves of Arrow Snaring, Meta-Magic Rod of Maximize.
= = = =
Drithnar (NG Male Human Ranger, Level 10) – Worships Desna
Str: 18 Dex: 20 Con: 14 Int: 12 Wis: 14 Cha: 8; AC: 25, HP: 83
Height: 6’1”. Weight: 210 lbs, Age: 23, 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, Lightning Reflexes.
Favored Enemies: Giants (+6), Undead (+2), Dragons (+2).
Skills: Balance 14, Climb 16, Heal 3, Hide 15, Intimidate 17, Jump 5, Knowledge: Nature 12, Ride 6, Search 7, Spot 15, Survival 15, Swim 4, Tumble 19.
Main gear: Longsword +1 (Koruvus’s), War Razor +1 (Aldern’s), Chain Shirt +2, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Belt of Giant Strength +2, Ring of Minor Cold Resistance (10), Ring of protection +1, Gloves of Dexterity +4.
= = = =
Kerista Vigandir (LG Female Human Paladin, Level 10) – Worships Sarenrae
Str: 22 Dex: 12 Con: 14 Int: 8 Wis: 14 Cha: 16; AC: 23, HP: 104
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, Big Game Hunter.
Skills: Diplomacy 12, Knowledge: Religion 4, Ride 2, Sense Motive 15.
Main gear: Earthbreaker +1, Full Plate Armor +3, Ring of Protection +1, Sihedron Medallion, Cloak of Charisma +2, Belt of Giant Strength +4, Phylactery of Undead Turning.
= = = =
Jakardros is now a level 9 ranger, and Shalelu is a level 4 Ranger/ 3 Fighter. They will still be with the characters for the first part of the adventure.
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THE FORTRESS OF THE STONE GIANTS
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After their victory over the Kreeg Ogres, some of the companions had taken a break from the harsh life of adventuring.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Drithnar and Kerista had returned to Sandpoint, where they had relaxed, helped train the town’s soldiers, and helped keep the surrounding region free of goblins and other pests. Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Deverin felt much safer when the two heroes were staying in town. They even approached the couple with the idea of building a fort near Sandpoint, but at this time, such a project seemed beyond their financial means. Besides, the two weren’t sure they were ready for such a high-profile position. Though they had become local heroes over the past few months, they still felt like regular people at some level, and hard trouble picturing themselves suddenly as a lord and a lady.
The two visited Magnimar on a few occasions. Drithnar watched and took part in a few arena fights, and Kerista loved to watch plays and operas. Back in the Sandpoint area, they also went to see the local theater’s rendition of the latest play from Cyrdak Drokkus: The Catacombs of Sandpoint. It was a tale loosely based on the companions’ first adventure, when they saved Sandpoint from an invasion of goblins led by the beautiful but thoroughly evil Nualia.
The climax of the play was when Drithnar (played by Cyrdak himself, wearing a hideous mask depicting an orc face) was slain by Nualia, and then avenged and resurrected by Kerista (played by a talented young girl, but who was blonde and much smaller). Drithnar miraculously came back looking like a dashing human, and the two heroes kissed.
The real Drithnar looked at the scene with a disgusted grimace. “That’s SO not how it happened!” he growled. But when he turned toward Kerista, he saw that she had been moved to tears by the beautiful scene, so he stopped his critique.
They also helped Kerista’s sister Solrana to move back in her farm, which she’d had to flee in the fall when ghouls had raided it and killed her husband, and two of her children. Though she felt somewhat scared of returning to live there, at least, it seemed that the undead menace was now long gone.
Fendris, Kerista’s teenage admirer, offered to become her squire, but she declined, thinking it would be weird to have a male servant in charge of helping her put on her armor. Drithnar seemed quite wary of the young man; he remembered all too clearly how twisted Kerista’s previous admirer, Aldern Foxglove, had become.
Once in a while, Kerista still had a dream of some impending doom threatening Sandpoint. Though she was unsure of the nature of this threat, she felt strongly that she and her lover should stick around and protect their home town. Drithnar stayed at her side, despite the occasional call of the road that came upon him, as a worshipper of Desna.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, Ruh spent most of her time at the Stone of the Seers, Magnimar’s wizardry school. Since she was now a very powerful wizardess, she was well-respected there and got to exchange knowledge with the academy’s most powerful mages. Among them, she got along especially well with the half-elf Leis Nivlandis, the soft-spoken master of the school and a specialist of Abjuration magic. She also had the chance to meet the mysterious Toth Bhreacher, an old golem maker who was rumored to be one of most powerful mages in all of Varisia.
A few male gnomes courted her, but she was too distracted and busy to even notice them; she spent a great deal of time poring over old books that described the Outer Planes, for as a conjuror, she wanted to increase her knowledge of the other realms of existence. She learned a great deal of lore in her few months of study.
Ruh also met some other adventurers that were part of the Pathfinder society. She was fascinated by them and their tales of exploration, and the feeling was mutual. She joined the society and started writing down the tale of her group’s adventures since the last fall, as well as detailed descriptions of the Thassilonian ruins they’d discovered along the way. She also read several pathfinder journals with great interest, including those of the famous Eando Kline.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Navan, as a true Varisian, was much more restless than his companions. Along with the rangers Shalelu and Jakardros, as well as the young ogre Bagurtak, he traveled Varisia in search of the sinister army of Lord Mokmurian. Shortly after their departure from Fort Rannick, Navan had managed to get some information from the severed head of the necromancer Barl Breakbones with a Speak with Dead spell:
- In detail, who is Lord Mokmurian (race, profession)?
“He is a Stone Giant Wizard”
- Where is Lord Mokmurian’s Lair?
“In the Valley of the Black Tower”
- Who does Lord Mokmurian want to attack with the weapons you were making in Hook Mountain?
“Your entire race, scum…”
- Where, more precisely, is the Valley of the Black Tower?
“It is in the Iron Peaks.”
None of the companions knew exactly where the Valley of the Black Tower was. They traveled to the Iron Peaks, and for several weeks, they searched for the mysterious valley. The harsh weather and the difficult terrain made the exploration very difficult. Eventually, they took a break from their search: they had not found the valley yet.
They returned to Sandpoint at the end of the month of Gozran, to celebrate Ruh’s birthday. They met the little mage there, as well as Drithnar and Kerista. It was a joyful event, where the companions all offered gifts to the little gnome. Drithnar’s gift was a crystal statuette of an ice elemental, and Navan’s was a scroll of Dream.
It felt good to be back in Sandpoint, and the weary travelers rested there for a few days. During their travels, it had become obvious that Bagurtak was slowing the other three down. Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros were all experienced travelers, hardy and used to life on the road. The poor Bagurtak, despite his strength, was still a child, and needed more comfort and rest.
Therefore, it was decided that Bagurtak would stay in Sandpoint with Drithnar and Kerista. At first, some citizens of Sandpoint (most of all, the Scarnetti), were opposed to having the monster living in their midst, but some of the gentler and wiser citizens reminded them that a so-called “monster”, Drithnar the half-orc, had also received shelter and had grown to become one of the town’s most valorous defenders.
Titus Scarnetti’s suggestion to kill Bagurtak and reincarnate him as a regular human boy was met only with dark glares and heavy silence.
So it was that the young Kreeg Ogre continued his learning of the ways of the humans from the couple, and also from Father Zantus, Headmaster Gandethus, and the other priests and teachers of Sandpoint.
Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros then continued their travels. As days passed, it became increasingly obvious that something was wrong in the lowlands of Varisia: small communities, remote farmsteads and unlucky travelers were getting attacked by terrible monsters. In Wolf’s Ear and Ravenmoor, the three companions heard tales of giants, wyverns and giant wolves and bears attacking people. Here and there, they saw traces of this violence: corpses lying by the side of the road, and burnt farms. They also saw some tracks of the monsters that the rumors talked about.
They ran into a group of ogres at some point, which they killed, and another time, they were attacked by a vicious wyvern during the night. It was a difficult fight, but they managed to slay the creature.
Moonday, Desnus 20th, 4708
Eventually, they found themselves near the town of Galduria, where they met a troop of soldiers who were on patrol to try and locate a sizable force of giants that was rumored to be wreaking havoc in the area. Along with the soldiers were a group of ten mages from the renowned Twilight College, Galduria’s school of magic.
Navan and his two companions joined forces with the battalion, and they managed to find their enemies: five stone giants, three ogres and three dire bears, which had just burned down a farm.
An epic battle ensued, and many of the soldiers fell in battle. Navan healed some of them and saved their lives. He also added his own deadly missiles to Shalelu’s and Jakardros’s. Together, they formed a powerful barrage of arrows and crossbow bolts.
Three of the Twilight College mages were especially powerful. Ralazan Stormcloud, a tall man wielding a metal staff whose tip crackled with energy, called down powerful bolts of lightning upon their foes, and summoned some lightning elementals to help in the fight. Though he seemed like an evoker, Navan realized during the combat that his spells were actually only distractions: the man was instead an Illusionist! Ralazan saw that Navan had noticed some of his tricks, and he winked at him.
The other two powerful mages were Sebania Mallis, a beautiful elven enchantress, and Melrod Griggock, a sinister-looking, one-eyed dwarf necromancer. Sebania took control of the mind of one of the giants, and turned him against his brothers, while Melrod drained the life of another with a ghostly hand, and later raised him as a giant zombie.
Eventually, the defenders of Galduria were victorious. They returned to town with the bodies of the fallen and the treasure they’d taken from the giants, some of which would be distributed back to the families of the victims. In the sumptuous hall of Twilight College, Sebania questioned her charmed giant. Navan and the rangers were present, and took part in the questioning.
They learned that this group of giants were scouts for Lord Mokmurian’s army, which was gathering at the fortress of Jorgenfist, in the Valley of the Black Tower. They had been sent to test the defenses of Varisia, and also to bring back a special stone to Mokmurian. The giant didn’t know why the stone was needed, but his group had ventured into the Fogscar mountains and had taken this stone from an ancient ruin.
Further questioning informed the companions that several more groups of giants were roaming the country side, three of which had also been tasked to bring back these mysterious stones. According to the giant, one of those groups was to go fetch a stone in the region around Sandpoint!
They learned that Mokmurian was one of the “Dark Giants of Old”, and that he wielded great magic that would be used to avenge the giants, who had been enslaved by the humans so long ago. Apparently, the army counted more than a thousand giants!
The three companions then returned to the site of battle, and retrieved the stone that one of the giants had carried in a large bag. They brought it back to Galduria in a cart and examined it. But they could not find anything special about it: it just looked like a simple, non-magical rock. They believed that perhaps a powerful Druid would be able to talk to the stone and perhaps learn what Lord Mokmurian sought to discover, but they didn’t know such a powerful Druid.
Toilday, Desnus 21st, 4708
The following morning, Navan contacted Drithnar and Ruh by Sending spells and informed them of the latest developments. Ruh teleported to Galduria, where she met Navan and the two rangers. After discussing the situation, and chatting with the local mages, she turned her attention to the mysterious stone, but she couldn’t find out anything special about it either. They had Melrod’s stone giant zombie smash the stone in two to see if there was something inside, but there wasn’t.
Eventually, Ruh decided to teleport to Sandpoint with both halves of the stone. She appeared close to Kerista’s house, where she met Bagurtak. He directed her to the garrison, where she found Drithnar and Kerista talking with Sheriff Hemlock and the Mayor. If a patrol of giants was indeed in the area, then the townsfolk, and even more, the local farmers, were in great danger.
They decided to send a few messengers to nearby towns to find out news of the giants’ advance. Then, the three adventurers went to see Madam Mvashti to try and get some information from her. There were many old ruins and stones in the region around Sandpoint (the standing stones of the Sandpoint Cathedral, the catacombs below Sandpoint, the Old Light, Wisher’s Well and Thistletop’s dungeon among others), but they weren’t sure which one contained the stone that the giants would want. After discussing with the wise old woman, they thought that the most likely targets were the seven standing stones in the middle Sandpoint’s cathedral. That meant that Sandpoint itself could be a target!
After informing the Sheriff and his men, the companions went down to the catacombs to see if anything odd was going on there. Everything looked abandoned, the strange pool of cold lava was still empty, but Drithnar saw the tracks of three or four humans who’d gone through the complex, having broken down the brick wall leading into the smuggler’s tunnel.
Meanwhile, Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros rode hard toward Sandpoint. It would take them around two days to make it there. They camped under the stars, and Navan cast some Divination spells to gain more information.
He got no clear answer to the question “Which stone in the Sandpoint area are Lord Mokmurian’s giants looking for?”, but his next question was answered:
How can I best protect the Sandpoint area from Stone Giants?
“Where my chosen prevailed in the past, he shall prevail again.”
Wealday, Desnus 22nd, 4708
The following day, Kerista spent her time helping Sheriff Hemlock set up some guards around town. Drithnar explored Nettlewood, the area around Thistletop, but found no traces of giant activity. He spoke with a few birds, but they had not seen the giants either.
Ruh scanned part of the region with overland flight, but the day was rainy and cloudy, and she didn’t see very far. She saw no signs of giants, though she did see tracks that looked like a giant snake’s near Wisher’s Well. She saw runes written in blood and the remains of a large bonfire near the Pit.
Near the end of the day, Solrana and her daughter Mynda came back to town, since Kerista had sent a messenger to warn them of the danger. They went to stay with Kerista’s oldest sister, Toloria. The various messengers who had left the previous day all came back. Only one of them had heard rumors of nearby giant attacks: a farm had been burnt down a day and a half’s ride to the northeast, about two days ago.
While the companions were having dinner at the Rusty Dragon Inn, Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros finally arrived in Sandpoint and joined them there. They were weary from their hard journey, but knew that they might not have time to rest.
That night, Navan did another Divination spell, to ask Desna the size of the stone giant patrol that was roaming the region. Her answer was: “The peril that my Chosen will face will be greater than any he’s faced before.”
Pondering this grimly, the companions all went to sleep.
Oathday, Desnus 23rd, 4708
A thundering crash, followed by shouts and screams, woke Drithnar and Kerista the following morning. They jumped out of bed with a rush of adrenaline: Sandpoint was under attack!
Drithnar hastily donned his chain shirt and grabbed his various weapons. Kerista, though, looked at her heavy full plate armor, which was stacked in a neat, but huge, pile by the side of the bed. “Oh no, I’ll never have time to put this on!” she said.
“You have no choice, Keri, you can’t go fight giants wearing only your undies! Take the time to put it on with Bagurtak’s help, and then come join me!”
And with that, Drithnar rushed out of the house. He cast a Longstrider spell on himself, and ran north, where more sounds of crashing were coming from. It was early in the morning, a beautiful sunny day. Drithnar passed a few panicked townsfolk on the way there. A few guards were also running toward the noises. Suddenly, the bell of the cathedral rang to announce that the town was under attack.
The ranger arrived at the north gate, and noticed that the wall looked damaged already, as if boulders had been thrown against it. Sheriff Hemlock, Sergeant Barkar, and Father Zantus were there, as well as six other soldiers, and two other priests: Father Andrall, the priest of Abadar, and sister Teronia, the priestess of Sarenrae.
Drithnar and the Sheriff climbed up the wall and saw, about two hundred feet away from the walls, three massive stone giants standing on the road, throwing rocks at the wall and shouting insults at the humans in broken common.
Drithnar shot a few arrows at them, but missed due to the distance and the giants’ thick skin.
“We have to make sure that the other entrances into town are also protected!” he warned the Sheriff.
“You’re right, I’ll see to it. Where are the rest of your friends?” asked Sheriff Hemlock with an edge of fear in his voice.
“They should be here soon. They were all staying at the Rusty Dragon. Oh, look, there’s Ruh!”
Indeed, the small mage flew towards them from the south. Soon enough, she was hovering near them. “I cast some fly spells on the others,” she said as she observed the situation. “They should be here soon, but unfortunately, their spells are slower than the one I cast on myself. Oh my, these giants look nasty. I think this is going to be a tough fight!”
To be continued… :)
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Oathday, Desnus 23rd, 4708 (continued)
Drithnar and Ruh – Rounds 1 to 5
One of the stone giants picked up another massive rock to throw it at the wall, but he fumbled and dropped it just a few feet ahead of him.
Drithnar shot some arrows at the giants, but missed again. Around him, along the battlements of the north wall, stood Sheriff Hemlock and four Sandpoint guards. Their arrows also missed the giants. The creatures had very resilient skin! Behind the archers, Father Zantus cast a Bless spell, and Ruh cast a Keen Edge from one of her scrolls on Drithnar’s war razor.
Then, the first giant threw another rock, and this time, his aim was much better: poor Father Zantus was hit by the missile, and he fell to the floor of the battlements with a painful cry, accompanied by the sound of broken bones! Wincing with the pain, he muttered a prayer to Desna and healed himself.
Seeing that they were unable to harm the giants, and only risked getting killed, Sheriff Hemlock yelled at his soldiers to get back down for cover. Meanwhile, Drithnar shot a well-aimed arrow which hit one of the giants, and Ruh cast a Maximized Fireball which hit all three of the brutes in a powerful explosion.
Yelling in pain and rage, the giants scattered away from the explosion, and they all picked up rocks and threw them at the defenders on the wall, but thankfully, they all missed. Drithnar shot more arrows, and Ruh shot some Magic Missiles. They were both aiming at the same giant, trying to bring down one of the foes in unison. Father Zantus finished healing himself, and followed the guards downstairs, looking for cover. He’d wanted to stay and help heal the two heroes, but Drithnar assured him: “We’ll be fine, father! Get to safety and let us handle this!”
Finally, Drithnar’s arrows and Ruh’s Magic Missiles slew one of the giants. The other two looked at the corpse in shock, and then ran away screaming. Laughing in victory, Drithnar shot them in the back. Though his aim was good, he only succeeded in wounding them, not killing them.
Meanwhile, Ruh flew up to get a better look at the situation. “Navan and the others should’ve arrived by now,” she thought, “something must’ve gone wrong!”
As she was rising through the air, she immediately located a source of danger: it was coming her way at great speed from the north.
“D-D-Dragon!!!!!” she screamed with a mixture of fear and excitement.
Father Zantus and Sheriff Hemlock exchanged a worried look. Things were looking very grim indeed…
Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros – Rounds 3 to 5
Navan and the two rangers had flown after Ruh, heading north from the Rusty Dragon, but their Fly spells were slower than her Overland Flight, so they had fallen behind quite a bit. However, as they were passing by Tanner’s Bridge, they became aware of a commotion: two giants and their three dire bear pets were attacking Sandpoint from the east! A crowd of brave militiamen were standing in their way, defiantly trying to protect the rest of the town from the gigantic invaders.
Among the group of defenders, Navan recognized many people that he’d met over the past months:
Das Korvut, the burly blacksmith, who wielded a glaive, and was about to unleash his three large red mastiffs, which were very large dogs, but seemed pitifully small compared to the three enormous dire bears they were facing.
Two young men, Besk and Vodger, were the sons of Risa, the owner of a nearby tavern. They wore hastily donned leather armors and wielded wooden shields and spears. Both looked terrified.
Three members of Kerista’s family were also present: Mertok, one of her brothers; Erinar, the husband of her sister Toloria, and his eldest son, Rallen, who was only fourteen years old. All three held crossbows in slightly shaking hands as they prepared to face the giants.
Further back, Savah Bevaniky, the town’s armorer, had just arrived, carrying her most prized possession, the magical repeating crossbow that Navan remembered having seen on display at her store, some months ago. By her side were two of the town’s priests: the elderly Father Garmos, priest of Erastil, and the gentle Milenken, the elven druid of Gozreh.
Several other townsfolk, women, children and elders, were frantically trying to get out of the way and retreat to the relative safety at the center of Sandpoint. A little girl was standing in the middle of the street was crying for her mommy. The door to the large building to the right opened, and Larz Rovanky, the town’s tanner, came out, looking very tired. While most people were still trying to shake off the sleep they had just been rudely awaken from, the workaholic tanner looked like he’d been up all night, as usual.
“What’s all this ruckus,” he asked loudly, “some of us are trying to work here!”
A look of realization slowly appeared on his features as he saw the group of armed people standing among fleeing citizens. He turned the other way and found himself staring at a rapidly charging dire bear. He only had time to start muttering a prayer to Abadar before he was mauled to death by the gigantic animal.
Navan and his two companions knew that they were the townsfolk’s only hope: they had to help them fight the five attackers. Their flight would protect them from most attacks, but they feared (rightfully) that many of the innocent defenders would die from the brunt of the attacks.
Navan had already activated his Sihedron Medallion, and cast Shield of Faith on himself, and Bless on his companions. The three flying archers moved closer to the scene of battle, and started shooting the bears, which seemed to be the most immediate danger, as they were already charging the villagers. Most of their arrows struck true, although those of the townsfolk mostly missed their mark. One of the giants threw a huge boulder at a group of fleeing villagers, killing them instantly.
Das’s dogs attacked one of the bears and bit it painfully. Das came in behind them, and pierced the bear with a powerful thrust of his glaive. The beast roared in pain, and struck one of the dogs with a massive paw, killing it.
The two giants roared in anger at the three flying archers: clearly, they had not expected such resistance from the humans. Not only were they flying, but they also obviously had some magic to aid them: one shot crossbow bolts engulfed in fire, and another shot arrows that sizzled with lightning! The first giant shot a boulder in Navan’s direction, but missed, while his comrade picked up a heavy barrel from the side of Larz’s workshop, and threw it at Jakardros, who was pushed back and wounded from the impact.
Jakardros grunted and retaliated, shooting arrows at the giant. Navan and Shalelu continued to shoot one of the bears, and finally, Navan killed it with a bolt through the eye! A cheer went up among the militiamen when the great beast fell to the ground. Another bear killed a second one of the red dogs, and Das and his remaining dog were unable to strike it, as it was flailing wildly with his blood-splattered paws and roaring threateningly.
Meanwhile, Erinar shot the third bear with a well-aimed bolt that penetrated deeply in its flank. The beast turned toward him and bared its fangs. Clearly, the cobbler had attracted its attention. Father Garmos hurried to Erinar’s side and cast a protective spell on him. But alas, it was not enough: the massive beast charged Erinar and mauled him, digging deep trails of blood in his chest with its vicious claws. The unfortunate man fell to the ground, dead.
“Nooooo!!!!!” shouted Rallen, his son. The youngster fired a bolt at the beast that had just slain his father, but his aim was off and he missed completely. He drew his shortsword to go avenge his father, but his uncle Mertok, who was much stronger and heavier than him, managed to hold him back.
“Don’t be a fool, Rallen! There’s no need to join your father in death!” and he started pulling his nephew back to safety. The teenager was struggling wildly against his stronger uncle, having lost all sense of self-preservation. He wanted only one thing: to avenge his father.
The melee was a confusing mayhem. The archers tried to shoot the enormous attackers, but most of their arrows bounced off uselessly against their thick hides. By then, most of the non-combatants had fled. Further back, Milenken tried to charm the bear that was fighting Das, but the animal resisted.
Das Korvut and his last dog were desperately trying to survive against their massive opponent, but they knew they were doomed. One of the wicked giants approached them, and slew the poor blacksmith with a powerful blow from his club. Das fell to his knees, blood pouring down his face. His last thoughts were for the people of Sandpoint: he hoped his death was not in vain and that they would all be safe, even the nasty little kids who had always made fun of him.
His last dog soon joined its master in death: the dire bear tore its body in two with a monstrous bite.
The other giant picked up a wooden bench and threw it at Navan, but again, the priest of Desna narrowly avoided the projectile
Meanwhile, the wise old Father Garmos also felt he might soon leave this world: he stood just in front of the other remaining ravenous dire bear. He called upon the protection of Erastil in the form of a Sanctuary spell. He also received help from the mortal world: Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros all shot the enormous beast, but their arrows were not enough to kill it yet. Vodger also hit the bear with a bolt, and Savah hit it as well with a missile from her repeating crossbow. Actually, the bolt penetrated very deeply inside the bear’s flesh, and the great animal turned away from father Garmos at the last moment, and instead charged the crossbow-wielding armorer. With a roar, it slashed her torso with its claws, sending her reeling on the ground, staggered. Her beautiful crossbow had fallen a few feet away from her hand.
The bear shook his head as Milenken tried another charm spell on it, but again, the creature resisted. It towered over the fallen woman, intent on finishing her off as punishment for the pain she’d inflicted.
Savah Bevaniky saw her life flashing before her eyes…
Drithnar and Ruh – Rounds 6 to 9
Ruh had noticed that the incoming enemy was a red dragon, so she cast a Protection From Fire spell on herself. Drithnar shot two last arrows at the fleeing giants, almost felling one of them, and then cast a Resist Fire spell on himself as well. Ruh flew back down to the north wall and cast a Fly spell on Drithnar. Meanwhile, Sister Teronia had climbed up and cast a healing spell on the gnome.
It turned out that in fact, the dragon did not fly directly above the north wall. Instead, it passed several hundred feet to the west, and flew straight toward the garrison, upon which it breathed a powerful jet of flames. Thankfully, the large building was mostly made of stone and only small parts of it caught on fire.
Ruh and Drithnar watched as the large, terrifying lizard flew and roared over Sandpoint. They did not like the idea of attacking it just by themselves, without the support of their companions.
“Well, we have to do something!” said Drithnar.
“Yes, let’s try to meet Navan and the others. I saw more giants to the south, maybe they’re fighting them. Let’s go!” replied Ruh.
And the two friends started flying south, keeping a careful eye on the roaming dragon threatening the helpless citizens.
Navan, Shalelu and Jakardros – Rounds 6 to 13
One of the giants picked up a wheelbarrow and threw it at Jakardros, but missed. Thankfully, the giants seemed to be running out of heavy things to throw. The other one grunted in frustration, and disappeared behind Larz Rovanky’s tannery.
Jakardros shot some of his deadly lightning arrows at the bear that loomed over the prone Savah Bevaniky, and killed it! Navan and Shalelu directed their missiles at the remaining giant, which Navan managed to wound painfully, as he had his back turned to him.
The last remaining bear, the one that had killed Das Korvut’s dogs, charged Milenken. The Druid tried one last time to charm it, but again, the animal resisted, and it clawed him painfully.
The giant roared furiously and charged one of the few remaining defenders on the ground: Vodger Magravi’s body fell to the floor, crushed by his heavy club. The flying heroes retaliated and pelted the giant with arrows. Again, Navan dealt the giant some terrible wounds, as he was able to pinpoint vulnerable spots thanks to his talents as a Rogue.
Father Garmos rushed to Savah’s help; he healed some of her wounds and helped her to her feet. She recovered her crossbow and shot at the bear that threatened Milenken, but alas, she missed. Just a moment later, the enraged beast tore the unfortunate druid to shreds with its claws and fangs. Thus perished the gentle elf, ironically slain by a creature of nature.
The giant, badly wounded but unable to reach any of the deadly archers flying above him, seemed intent on killing as many of the puny humans as he could before dying. But only Savah and Father Garmos remained: Besk had fled when his brother had been slain, and everyone else had already fled. The giant took a few strides in Savah’s direction, and smashed her to the ground. This time, the badly battered woman did not rise again.
Father Garmos, who stood right next to her, saw that the giant was very badly wounded. He had to act quickly, or else he’d face the same fate as Savah: he called upon a rarely-used power, to inflict wounds on the giant by using negative energy. He placed a hand on the giant’s calf and spoke the dark prayer. Black energy surrounded the giant’s leg, and with a groan, he crashed to the ground! Father Garmos had slain a stone giant!
But alas, his victory was short-lived. The remaining dire bear had finished devouring Milenken, and now attacked him. The old priest reeled back from the impact of the beast’s paw. He cast a prayer of healing on himself, as Jakardros and Shalelu were frantically shooting the animal, trying to save the cleric.
Navan, meanwhile, suspected that the second giant must be up to no good, and went to take a look behind the tannery. Indeed, he saw that the giant had broken through a section of the wall, and was grabbing Larz’s screaming children from inside their bedroom and stuffing them into a huge bag. Navan aimed his crossbow at the giant and shot, but the bolt bounced off his thick skin. Glaring at him meanly, the giant grabbed hold of one last victim, Larz’s wife, and put her in his bag. Then, stepping on the bag’s edge to keep it closed, he grabbed a handful of bricks from the chimney he’d just collapsed, and threw them at Navan, hurting him. Navan shot him back with a flaming bolt.
Meanwhile, Jakardros shot another arrow at the bear, but alas, the enormous creature tore through father Garmos, tearing him limb from limb. With a shout of rage, Shalelu shot another arrow at the creature, and slew it. Alas, she had been just a moment too late to save the wise old cleric’s life…
All three bears, and the giant were dead. All the citizens had fled the area. There was nothing left for Jakardros and Shalelu to do. Though they were proud of having slain the powerful enemies, they felt a sense of failure at not having been able to save all of the citizens who had just died before their eyes. Hearing the sound of nearby battle, they flew over the tannery and joined Navan in combat. Each shot an arrow at the giant’s back, but only Jakardros hit. The last giant was now surrounded by flying archers.
He managed to throw some bricks at Jakardros, but the ranger kept on fighting. Eventually, the companions pierced the giant with many arrows, and one of Navan’s bolts killed him for good.
Drithnar and Ruh – Rounds 10 to 13
Though they couldn’t see the fight going on around the tannery due to the cliff on which the cathedral and the graveyard stood, further in the distance, Drithnar and Ruh could see three giants standing on the shore opposite the Scarnetti sawmill. They seemed to be screaming in their deep voices, and were throwing rocks at the buildings ahead of them. The two friends felt a powerful urge to attack those giants and protect the citizens, but their flying spells seemed painfully slow: it would take them around a minute to get there, though it felt like an hour. Though Ruh’s spell allowed her to fly faster than Drithnar, she matched his speed, so they stayed together.
The two were also still keeping an eye on the dragon, and suddenly, they realized that it was heading their way. Indeed, the next target of his pyromaniac assault seemed to be the cathedral. The red dragon got closer and closer, but eventually, it seemed to notice the two peculiar flying humanoids above the cathedral, and decided that surely they might be a menace, so it veered to attack them, rather than the building.
The companions spread out to avoid both being caught in the dragon’s breath. It turned its head toward Ruh and breathed a scorching blast of flame in her direction, but thanks to her protective spell, she took no damage. The dragon laughed evilly as the little gnome was engulfed in the flames, disappearing from sight for a moment, but once the flames were gone, and it saw that she still flew there, unharmed, it roared in frustration.
At that moment, Drithnar flew toward the dragon and stabbed it with his war razor. Ruh also retaliated with a Maximized Lightning Bolt. Although the dragon avoided the brunt of the impact, it still suffered some damage from the powerful shock.
For decades to come, the citizens of Sandpoint would always tell the tale of the epic battle of the two heroes against a red dragon over the roof of the cathedral. As dozens of fascinated, and terrified, citizens watched in awe, Drithnar and the dragon flew around one another, locked in mortal combat. The dragon was a terrible foe, and Drithnar felt like he was at the center of a storm of red claws, fangs, wings and whipping tail. He suffered four nasty wounds from the dragon’s attacks, and was now badly damaged. However, he prevailed and managed to penetrate the dragon’s thick scales with one slice of his war razor, and also stabbed deep into its breast with a critical hit from his longsword.
Suddenly, the dragon shrieked and went rigid for a brief moment, as it was struck by the impact of a Greater Orb of Cold cast by Ruh. Though it was not blinded by the ice, it had been severely wounded by its opposite element: frost. Snarling in frustration, the great winged beast withdrew from the fight, and flew away at great speed toward the northeast. It had been bested by two of those puny soft-fleshed humanoids!
A great cheer came from the streets of Sandpoint, as the citizens applauded the two heroes’ victory. Ruh and Drithnar waved at them, but knew they had no time to lose: they continued to fly toward their friends. On the way, Drithnar drank a healing potion.
Rounds 14 to 19
Navan and the others freed Larz’s family from the giant’s bag. Navan cast a healing spell on Jakardros, and they all few back up. While Navan was casting healing spells, the two rangers noticed that two giants were attacking the area around the Scarnetti sawmill, and that a third giant, which seemed bigger than the others, was making its way through Sandpoint, heading west.
“The Old Light!” exclaimed Navan. “That must be their destination after all!”
The three archers flew after the giant, toward the west. Thankfully, the giant seemed to be ignoring the terrified townsfolk who ran ahead of him. He walked at a quick, steady, purposeful pace, and indeed, seemed to be making his way toward the Old Light.
Along the way, the trio noticed two more flying people following the giant, a few hundred feet to the north: Ruh and Drithnar. Shalelu also pointed south, and they all saw that some smoke was coming from one of the noble families’ manor on the south shore of town: apparently, more giants had also attacked from the south…
Eventually, Navan, Shalelu, Jakardros, Ruh and Drithnar came together as they approached the Old Light. They saw that the giant, a towering brute armed with two picks, now stood just in front of the ruin. A lone human was standing in his way: the old scholar, Brodert Quink.
“Stop!” shouted the old man boldly, using the Giant tongue.
“HHHRRRNNN???” grunted the massive giant as he faced him.
“Why have you come, mighty giant? Have you come to unlock at last the power of the Old Light? What is it?? What is its secret??”
The giant sneered. “I DON’T GIVE A DAMN!” he replied in a powerful, rumbling voice, using the Common tongue. “I WAS GIVEN ORDERS, NOW MOVE, OLD MAN! OR I’LL CRUSH YOU TO PULP!”
The threat seemed to echo all over Sandpoint. The mighty giant’s voice carried very far indeed.
“You’ll have to deal with me first!”
The giant turned and saw that behind him, a young human woman had just gotten off her horse. She wore a hastily donned breastplate, and her long dark hair was in disarray. She wielded an earthbreaker that seemed ridiculously oversized for her puny frame. She was small, alone, and yet she looked at him with fearless eyes, defiant, resolute.
Kerista was furious. She had seen some of the destruction the giants had wrought upon her hometown. Now, it was time to send them back where they came from.
Her gigantic foe chuckled darkly at her futile bravado. “HEH. I GUESS I HAVE TIME TO KILL ONE MORE WORTHLESS HUMAN…”
But then he frowned, for he had noticed that five more small humanoids had appeared nearby, flying just above the woman. They all seemed intent on protecting the old ruin.
“SO BE IT,” he rumbled, “YOU WILL ALL DIE!”
And the fight started!
Rounds 20 and 21
Ruh was the first to act, and she cast a Haste spell on the whole group. Shalelu wounded the giant with two arrows, but Jakardros’s all bounced off of his thick skin. Drithnar charged in, tumbled past the giant’s attacks, and slashed him with his weapons. The giant roared in pain, but he was already moving toward Kerista, and he continued on his momentum, hitting the paladin with two powerful blows. Kerista grunted in pain but remained steadfast, and struck the giant with two blows of her own. Navan also pierced the giant’s skin with two fiery bolts. Grunting, the giant realized that perhaps, together, those little creatures were too much for him to handle; but it was too late…
Ruh blasted the giant with a Lesser Orb of Cold. Two more of Shalelu’s arrows also lodged themselves into his torso.
With a roar, the giant hacked at Drithnar, stabbing him violently with his two picks. One of them pierced the ranger’s chest, and might’ve proved to be a fatal wound, but the hero miraculously survived .
Drithnar kept on fighting, and managed to slash the giant two more times, striking powerful blows thanks to his great knowledge of the anatomy of giants, his favored enemies. Jakardros also hit, lodging one arrow deeply in the giant’s shoulder.
Kerista lifted her earthbreaker high above her head, and called for Sarenrae’s blessing. Her weapon shone with a golden light, and she jumped up, smiting the giant’s jaw with it. He reeled in pain and she struck again, and again. The giant gave a great cry of agony as he was crushed to death by her deadly weapon, and his enormous body toppled to the ground.
“YOU’RE – NOT – WELCOME – IN – SANDPOINT!!!!!” shouted Kerista, hacking at the giant’s now limp body.
Navan rushed to heal Drithnar and Kerista’s wounds. Meanwhile, Ruh and Shalelu had flown higher up, to survey the status of the raid. To their relief, they saw that the remaining giants seemed to have heard their leader’s death cry: they were retreating. From what they could see, in addition to the giants attacking the area near the sawmill, and those at the nobles’ manors, two more giants had assaulted the town’s south bridge, and had been fighting near the brewery.
“They’re fleeing! We’ve made it! We’ve won!” shouted the little gnome.
A cheer of victory came from a few citizens who had witnessed the combat against the giant leader: among them were Brodert Quink; Volioker, the dwarven locksmith; Gorvi, the half-orc garbage collector; and corporal Basvear, one of the town’s soldiers, who hadn’t dared confront the enormous giant.
Kerista stood next to next to the giant’s corpse, panting heavily, her weapon dripping with blood and gore.
“There must be so many wounded!” she said. “We have to go and help them, and make sure no enemies are left in town!”
“Hmm, no, we should run after the giants,” said Navan. “Exterminate them before they leave!”
“Yeah, let’s kill those monsters. Let’s make them pay for what they’ve done this day!” added Drithnar.
“But the people… they might need us here…” said Kerista, who once again, found herself at odds with her two male companions.
No quarter
As it turns out, Kerista was out-voted again, and after a few minutes, the six companions left Sandpoint in a hurry, riding their mounts. The three rangers stopped now and again to follow the tracks of the two giants who had fled at the battle of the north wall. Shalelu’s knowledge of the region was unmatched by the other two rangers, and she was the one who led the group to a spot where, about an hour later, they found four of the stone giants in a camp, talking excitedly. All four seemed wounded, and they had with them a large brown bag, which was twitching as though some prisoners were struggling inside.
One of the giants noticed the companions’ approach, and they raised their weapons to make their final stand. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group, and Shalelu shot the most wounded-looking giant (the one that Drithnar had shot as he fled the north wall). She slew him.
Another giant charged Kerista and struck her with a mighty blow. Drithnar snarled and attacked his lover’s foe. He danced around the giant like a deadly whirlwind, stabbing and slashing without mercy, gravely wounding him. That giant also reeled from the shock of one of Jakardros’s arrows.
Navan cast a Bless spell on the group. The two giants in the back picked up some boulders, and they both threw them on Shalelu, who fell back several feet from the powerful impact. A lesser mortal would’ve surely perished from the force. Kerista struck powerful blows on the giant that was in melee range of her, killing him.
Two giants remained. Ruh cast a Maximized Scorching Ray on one of them. While Shalelu shot the other one, Drithnar rushed the giant that Ruh had blasted. He tumbled into melee range and slashed him, finishing him off: the brute collapsed to the floor, dead.
Jakardros and Navan fired their deadly missiles on the last remaining giant, and one of Navan’s bolts penetrated his chest deeply, piercing one of his lungs. Badly wounded but still alive, the bloodied giant grabbed his club and smashed it on Drithnar. With a battle-cry, Kerista charged him, calling on her holy power to enhance her weapon, and striking with a power attack… but the giant avoided her attack at the last moment, and she struck only the ground.
Ruh shot the giant with a Lesser Orb of Cold, and Shalelu with one arrow. He might’ve tried to surrender, but he could read the unmistakable intent in the tiny beings’ eyes: they would make no quarter. Indeed, Drithnar sealed his fate, and killed him with two powerful strokes of his blades.
While Navan healed the wounded, the companions searched the camp. According to the rangers, around twelve stone giants and three dire bears had camped here last night. They saw no tracks of a red dragon, though.
Opening the large bag, they saw that it actually contained only one prisoner: Gaven Deverin, the mayor’s cousin and owner of the brewery. The gray-haired gentleman sang praises to Abadar for guiding the brave heroes to save him. He also offered a lifetime supply of free beer to the companions, at which Drithnar’s eyes lit up.
Kerista smiled at mister Deverin. “I’m happy that we were able to save you, sir. I’m sure Mayor Deverin will be relieved to see that you’re safe!”
The aftermath
Kerista’s last statement had relied on a simple premise: that Mayor Deverin was still in Sandpoint.
Alas, it was not the case…
The companions returned to town, triumphant. Though they were hailed as heroes, and thanked by Sheriff Hemlock, Father Zantus, and several of the higher-ranking officials of the town, as well as by countless humble townsfolk, it was obvious that the raid, though it had only lasted a short time, had been devastating.
Seven people were reported missing, having being kidnapped by the giants. The most notable of these were Mayor Deverin herself, who’d been taken by the three stone giants who’d attacked Scarnetti Manor (the source of the smoke that the companions had seen during the raid). Also missing were Ibor Thorn, the manager of the Scarnetti sawmill, and Fendris, Kerista’s young admirer. Four more citizens, regular townsfolk unrelated to the characters, had also been captured.
The list of casualties was long. Some of them, those who had perished near the tannery, the companions already knew about. Kerista joined her family in mourning when she learned of Erinar’s passing. The three sisters, Toloria, Solrana and Kerista, hugged each other and wept. Each of Kerista’s sisters had now lost their husband to terrible monsters. Though she was a heroine, in each case, Kerista had not been present to save the man’s life. She felt powerless; she felt like she had failed her sisters.
But at least, Mertok and Rallen were still alive. Things could’ve been a lot worse.
The companions later learned that two giants had assaulted Sandpoint from the southeast, crossing the south bridge and meeting some resistance near the brewery. That resistance had been composed of a few guardsmen, a score of militiamen from that area of town, and the three massive Shoanti bouncers of the Pixie’s Kitten. This rag-tag group had been led by none other than… Kaven!
The townsfolk had bravely fought the giants, and had managed to wound them, but they had been outmatched, and several of them had perished. Kaven himself had been badly wounded, but had only been knocked unconscious, and was healed after the fight. The casualties included two of the Sandpoint soldiers (both new recruits that had come from Magnimar the previous fall); two of the Pixie’s Kitten bouncers; Vorvashali Voon, the enigmatic owner of the Feathered Serpent, who had used magic to help fight back the monsters; and the kindly Hannah Velerin, an elven cleric of Gozreh and the town’s midwife, who had braved the furious combat to try and save some lives.
Another casualty from that terrible fight was Sir Jasper Korvaski, the head official of the Sandpoint Merchant’s League, who’d been a paladin in his youth and had raised his sword in defense of the town. The companions saw Cyrdak Drokkus kneeling by his side, weeping bitterly, his elegant clothes caked with dust. He looked like a broken man, and anyone who was not a Scarnetti respectfully remained silent as he cried at the death of the man he’d loved.
On the south shore, the rich merchants of Sandpoint had also been in danger. Three of the giants had raided Scarnetti manor, killing four of its servants, two town guards who’d rushed to help, as well as two of Titus Scarnetti’s children: Sivenno, his oldest son and heir, as well as Arazella, one of his beautiful daughters.
Some of the Scarnetti’s brave and helpful neighbors had come to help them: Ameiko and Belven, as well as Mayor Deverin. But alas, none of them had been of much use against such terrible foes. Belven Valdemar had faced the giants in combat to allow more of the Scarnetti children to flee; tragically, he had paid for this heroic act with his death. Mayor Deverin had tried to reason with the invaders, but the savage giants had paid no heed to her attempts at diplomacy: instead, they had grabbed her roughly and thrown her into one of their big brown bags, taking her along with heaps of riches looted from the Scarnetti manor.
To add insult to injury, another of the noble families’ manor had been sacked, but apparently not by the giants. Valdemar manor had been attacked by a dozen masked men who had profited from the occasion caused by the raid’s chaos. They had fled with many valuable pieces of art from the manor. Though nobody had seen their faces, the Sczarni were strongly suspected. What’s more, nobody could find Jubrayl Vhiski that day. Had he perhaps already left town with his ill-gotten gains?
All in all, around forty of Sandpoint’s citizens had perished that day, and dozens more had been left wounded by collateral damage.
Once the immediate emergencies were dealt with, the companions debriefed Sheriff Hemlock and his officers of what they’d seen, and suspected. He once again thanked them for their heroic acts, stating that countless more lives would’ve been lost today without them. He also thought that the dragon would’ve caused terrible damage to the town if it had been allowed to breathe on more buildings: as it was, the barracks suffered only very little damage, but most of the rest of the town’s buildings were made of wood, and the creature’s fire breath would’ve been devastating.
Also present at the meeting was the man who was to replace the kidnapped Mayor: Titus Scarnetti. The middle-aged man seemed very agitated, understandably, due to the terrible events he’d witnessed earlier that day. The companions found themselves missing Mayor Deverin even more, because dialogue with the brusque, stubborn mister Scarnetti was far from pleasant.
Before the bodies of the gigantic invaders were burned on funeral pyres, Navan used his magic to converse with the spirit of their fallen leader. He asked him several questions, and the giant answered them all in his deep voice.
+ “Where is the lair of the red dragon that attacked the village?”
“In the valley of the black tower.”
+ “What rock were you planning to take?”
“One from the ruin next to which I fell.”
+ “Which one?”
“Anyone.”
+ “Where do you think your giants would meet now?”
“On the plateau east of your town.”
Later, Navan and Kerista both found themselves helping the priests of the cathedral with healing the wounded. A huge crowd was gathered, bringing their wounded and their dead to receive the priests’ ministrations. Father Zantus worked tirelessly, dispensing not only healing and prayers, but also kind words and moral support to the congregation.
The priests of Abadar, Shelyn and Sarenrae worked at the side of Father Zantus and his acolytes of Desna, as well as with Navan and Kerista. But two sections of the temple remained sadly quiet: Gozreh’s and Erastil’s. With the death of Milenken and Hannah, there were no priests of Gozreh left in Sandpoint. And with his death, Father Garmos left behind only a shy, hesitant teenage acolyte with the responsibility of handling the needs of the followers of Erastil in Sandpoint. Would those two faiths survive the death of their wise priests on this dark day?
The two heroes found themselves not only congratulated by the townsfolk for pushing back the giants and the dragon, but also harassed by a constant stream of simple folk who begged them to resurrect their loved ones from the dead. Navan sadly told them that such a miracle was yet beyond his means. Kerista felt tempted to help everyone, but she knew that the ritual of resurrection required extremely valuable components.
Only the town’s richest citizens might be able to afford such an expensive ritual. Nearby, she saw Ameiko and Cyrdak discussing that very notion, as they stood near the shrouded corpses of their loved ones. Whatever ancient hatred had once existed between the two bards was now forgotten. They hugged and cried against each other’s shoulder, united at last by their misery.
Kerista shared Ameiko’s pain, not only out of empathy for her friend, but because before she’d fallen in love with Drithnar, she’d had a crush on the handsome Belven. She felt that a part of herself had died when she’d learned of the charming, selfless, handsome young man’s death.
Ameiko, and perhaps Cyrdak, might be able to afford the cost of the resurrection. Titus Scarnetti would’ve been able to as well, but now that his manor had been ransacked, he might not. Kerista found herself wondering if with his new position as mayor of Sandpoint, the xenophobic merchant would use some of the city’s funds to bring his own children back to life.
Kerista remembered Arazella Scarnetti, a thin, beautiful raven-haired girl only a year younger than her. She remembered playing with her in school. But of course, during their teenage years, they’ve had virtually no contact with each other. Arazella’s family, more than possibly anyone in Sandpoint, had wanted to steer clear of the “crazy Vigandir girl”.
She found herself wishing she’d had the chance to know Arazella better now that they were both grown up. Was it too late?
The fact was that Kerista could afford enough for maybe two resurrections with the treasure she’d gained from her recent adventures. But whom should she use it on? Who were the two most worthy? Who was she to decide?
She felt like spending her money on resurrecting Erinar, who’d always been such a kind man, and had made her sister happy. Her brother in law had worked tirelessly as a cobbler, first as her father’s apprentice, then as the main worker after his death. He’d been talented and diligent. Although her brother also worked with him, and although she loved him, she knew that Mertok was a lazy and careless worker, and that Erinar’s skill if nothing else would be missed by everyone who wore shoes in Sandpoint.
Although she greatly missed the wise priests Milenken and Garmos, she felt that the one most deserving of her money was Hannah Velerin, the midwife of the village. It was she who had brought Kerista into this world. Surely Kerista would be selfish not to do all she could to return the favor, almost twenty years later.
And of course, a selfish, greedy part of Kerista’s mind whispered that the money should be saved for her to buy powerful magical items. After all, the survivors of today’s raid depended on her. With better magical items, a more powerful weapon, perhaps in the future she’d be able to save more lives?
She looked at Navan. He was besieged by a crowd of Varisian women begging him in their language. She knew that soon, probably tomorrow, Navan, the informal leader of their group, would want to strike at the true responsible for today’s disaster: that damned Lord Mokmurian.
Surely this would be their most dangerous mission to date: definitely something for which she’d need some powerful magic.
Kerista looked at the noisy crowd around her, and suddenly felt a strange sense of detachment. She remembered the countless visions and dreams she’d had only a few months ago about a terrible disaster befalling Sandpoint. She remembered her own words, as she’d spoken them to Navan and Shalelu as they made their way to Turtleback Ferry, before fighting the Kreeg Ogres:
“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.”
Some of these things had come to pass, and some had not. What she’d seen was probably what would have happened to Sandpoint if she and her friends hadn’t been there to defend it. What had looked like the Sandpoint Devil in her blurry dream had instead turned out to be a red dragon, and thanks to Ruh and Drithnar’s heroics, it had not set the theater on fire after all.
Sandpoint needed her and her companions more than ever now. Their greatest challenge awaited them.
Kerista knelt in front of Sarenrae’s altar and prayed for guidance. As she closed her eyes and bowed her head, a bright ray of the dying sun shone through the colored glass window, and illuminated the meditating paladin.
|
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Fireday, Desnus 24th, 4708
The following morning, the companions met at the town hall, where a meeting was being held. Also there were Sheriff Hemlock, Father Zantus, and representatives of the four ruling families: Titus Scarnetti, Ethram Valdemar, Ameiko Kaijitsu, and Gaven Deverin.
The assembly went over the reports of the damage caused in the previous day’s raid. The deceased were listed, and the question of resurrections was raised again. A few people had already offered to purchase resurrections for some of the victims: Belven Valdemar by Ameiko, Sir Jasper Korvaski by Cyrdak, Sivenno Scarnetti by his father, and two other townsfolk by their families, who would somehow managed to put together enough money.
It was finally decided that the bodies of the remaining people would be kept intact for the time being, with Gentle Repose spells, under the cathedral. The four adventurers would venture to Jorgenfist and try to defeat Lord Mokmurian. If they were successful, some of the treasure they’d find there would be used to bring some of the dead townsfolk back to life.
The companions made an exception for Milenken, though: they gave Ameiko enough money to get him reincarnated, and asked her to bring his body along with Belven’s on her trip to Magnimar.
It was also decided that an election for the interim mayor would be held within a few days. The other candidates besides Titus Scarnetti would be Gaven Deverin and Ameiko. The characters hoped the citizens of Sandpoint would be wise enough to choose a better mayor than the insufferable Mr. Scarnetti.
Later, the companions paid a visit to Brodert Quink, who was miraculously still alive after bravely, but foolishly, trying to discuss with an angry stone giant the previous day.
“You do realize, of course, that you were standing in front of a giant that could easily have squashed you?” asked Navan.
“And you looked strangely happy to see him,” added Drithnar with a hint of suspicion in his tone.
“I was not happy to see the giant,” replied the old man, “but I thought that surely, at last, I would have a revelation about that ancient ruin’s purpose. Don’t you find it fascinating? Aren’t you the least bit curious??”
“Yes, of course, yes, yes, yes!” said Ruh.
“You were concerned about that, even though there was a Red Dragon flying around, burning everything?” asked Drithnar.
“Well, of course, that was a tragedy,” replied Mr. Quink, “but still, this whole raid only highlights the importance of the Old Light. I fear, alas, that the giant that stood before me was but a mindless brute, who was serving a greater being. Surely a being of great evil, but still… One who possesses the knowledge that I’ve been craving for so long. And now, you’re going to go after this ‘Lord Mokmurian’, aren’t you?”
“Mr. Quink,” said Drithnar, “we don’t know exactly how to reach Lord Mokmurian’s fortress. We know that it lies in the Valley of the Black tower, in the Iron Peaks. Would you know where this valley is, by any chance?”
“Ah, but few people have explored that region, for the Iron Peaks are vast… They are ragged mountains, very difficult to climb. And the land that leads to them, the Storval Plateau, is a barren wasteland, scoured by merciless winds of blistering heat during the day and bitter cold during the night. An inhospitable place, where only snakes and scorpions live at ease. Indeed, Ruh told me that the fortress of Jorgenfist lies within the Iron Peaks, but where, I know not. It is not shown on any of my maps, or any of those of Veznutt Parooh, my good friend.”
“Aye, and I’ve searched these mountains for weeks and have found no trace of this mysterious ‘Valley of the Black Tower’”, added Navan.
“What we would need is to speak with a creature who’s been there,” suggested Mr. Quink.
“Well, Navan spoke with the giants’ leader,” said Drithnar.
“Yes, but such a necromantic spell is limited. One can only ask a few simple questions. You would need a live creature who could describe to you which way to take.”
“And how exactly would we secure this creature’s cooperation?” asked Drithnar dubiously. “It would just refuse to help us ‘puny humans’”.
“Well, if you had some way to coerce…”
“What about if we raised a giant that we killed as an undead,” suggested Navan, “would it have the mind to lead us?”
Brodert Quink blinked at Navan for a few moments. “Perhaps. It would depend as what kind of undead you would bring it back. The simplest forms of undead are mindless, and would be useless for you. And as for greater forms, such as ghouls or ghasts, well… Surely you’re not thinking about creating such abominations, Navan?”
“Nah, they wouldn’t listen to us anyway.”
“That would be against the teachings of Desna, wouldn’t it be?”
“That too…”
Kerista was looking at Navan, shaking her head as though she couldn’t believe that he had even suggested such a possibility.
“No, the best way for you would be to charm one of those monsters,” said Mr. Quink.
“Well, we did. Not us, but someone from that magic school in Galduria.”
“Ah yes, Sebania Mallis, the enchantress? I have heard about her.”
“Would you be able to reach her with a Sending spell, Navan?” asked Kerista.
“Yes, but the messages are limited. Ruh could contact her with a Dream spell instead.”
“Hmm, that might not work,” said Mr. Quink as he fetched a heavy book from a shelf. He searched for a specific page inside it, read for a moment and nodded. “As I thought. Such a spell wouldn’t work on an elf like miss Mallis, as elves do not sleep.”
“She’s an elf?” asked Navan.
“Well, you’re the one who just met her a few days ago. Don’t you remember? And they say I’m senile…”
“All right then, I’ll use a Sending. We’d best be on our way now.”
“Great. Godspeed to you, my friends, as you go forth to face this dreaded Lord Mokmurian. But once you reach him, could you please ask him about the Old Light before you fight him?”
Drithnar snorted. “Yeah. Sure. We’ll do that.”
The characters returned home. The previous day, two masked teenagers had tried to break into Kerista’s house, but Bagurtak had forced them to flee. Now, Navan and Ruh saw that their rooms at the Rusty Dragon had been searched, but nothing of value had been stolen because all of their precious belongings were in a bank in Magnimar, or on their person. But people were getting desperate enough to want to rob even heroes. Clearly, the word on the street was that the companions had enough money to purchase some of those expensive resurrection spells.
Shalelu and Jakardros chose to remain around Sandpoint, to help keep the town safe. Around mid-afternoon, the four companions left Sandpoint, starting their long journey. Drithnar followed the tracks of the stone giants across the land.
After several hours of travel, the companions found an abandoned cart. It contained some of the loot that had been taken from the Scarnetti manor: some barrels of wine, oil and brandy, as well as a beautiful desk. Navan used a Sending spell to inform Shalelu of the cart’s position, so that it could be given back to the Scarnettis. The companions continued for some time, and slept under the stars that night.
Sunday, Desnus 26th, 4708
The companions had been following the giants’ tracks for two days now, under the rain. Drithnar showed his skill as a great tracker, because often the signs of the giants were very difficult to detect over rocky terrain. After some time, it became clear that the giants had traveled north toward the Fogscar Mountains, which meant that the companions had to travel many miles west of Galduria.
Around noon, Ruh receives a Sending from Sebania Mallis, as Navan had still not contacted the enchantress. She told Ruh that she had some useful information for them, if they were to come to Galduria. But for now, the companions decided to continue after the giants, into the mountains. They camped at the foot of the mountains that night.
Toilday, Desnus 28th, 4708
For two days, the companions had traveled through the mountains in search of the giants, hoping that perhaps they had gone to a camp with the prisoners. But eventually, they lost the tracks of the giants in their natural habitat. They decided to go to Galduria after all, and they reached the town via teleport that night.
There, they met Sebania, who showed them all the information that she’d learned from the charmed giant. Apparently, the way to the Valley of the Black Tower was well hidden by stone giant magic, and it was even shielded from the sight of flying creatures. However, the giants knew a secret way to enter, and Sebania gave the characters a scroll with this information: with this, they would be able at last to venture into the forbidden valley.
Wealday, Desnus 29th, 4708
The next day, the group reached the town of Wolf’s Ear, where they spent the night. It was rumored to be a haven for lycanthropes and half-orcs, and indeed, Drithnar and Kerista befriended a few half-orcs that evening, as well as two humans, a brother and a sister, who revealed that they were in fact werewolves.
They learned that there had been many sightings of giants in the region; farms had been sacked and burnt, travelers had been murdered. The menace of giants seemed very real in this part of Varisia.
Navan met a dwarven mercenary named Goldbraid, who had traveled with his family in the past. She was part of a group of mercenaries called the Whispering Blades. They had been very famous and powerful until a few years ago, their leader, a powerful female fighter named Viorian Dekanti, had gone insane one night and had murdered many of her followers in her manor in Riddleport. Goldbraid had come to the manor the following morning and seen the horrible butchery: most of her companions were dead by their mistress’s hand. Since then, the Whispering Blades had been without strong leadership, and their reputation had dwindled along with their number.
Viorian had been a collector of weapons, and kept many exotic and beautiful weapons from the four corners of Golarion in a room of her manor. Goldbraid knew that the most beautiful weapon of that collection, a magical golden scimitar that Viorian had acquired just a few months before the incident, had disappeared during the same night. She believed that Viorian had used it to kill the other mercenaries. She suspected that the weapon might have been under an ancient curse that had driven Viorian mad.
Oathday, Desnus 30th, 4708
The companions continued their journey toward the Storval Plateau. Along the way, they saw signs of combat on the road: some caravans or lonely travelers had obviously been killed by giants. They also found the remains of a camp where about ten giants had stayed. The partially eaten carcass of a roasted fourteen-foot-long aurochs was still lying around the campfire.
Starday, Sarenith 2nd, 4708
Two days later, the companions found a farm that had been ravaged by four large ogres. The whole family seemed to have gotten killed, along with their dogs and some livestock. The attack seemed very recent, so Drithnar followed the ogres’ tracks. Some time after dark, the companions caught up with the ogres as they celebrated in their camp.
They were four huge brutes, similar to the largest of the Kreeg ogres that the group had fought some months ago. Two of the ogres were arguing over the bloody carcass of a dead fat woman, while a third one was watching them with a stupid grin on his face, as he was busy picking some vile, thick greenish slime out of his nose. Meanwhile, the last ogre was messily and noisily devouring a cow.
The companions surprised the ogres, and easily killed them with two of Ruh’s Maximized Fireballs. In the camp, they found a few barrels that had been destroyed by the blast, as well as a partially melted coffer that contained several thousand silver pieces – surely some money that the ogres had looted from the people of the region.
Toilday, Sarenith 5th, 4708
Three days later, after a brief stay in Ravenmoor, the companions approached the region of the Storval Stairs at the end of the day. They decided to go on foot from there. Ruh teleported all the group’s horses, one by one, back to Sandpoint. While she was there, she saw that things were looking all right: no new calamity had befallen the town. She also met Milenken in his new form: he was now a human.
Wealday, Sarenith 6th, 4708
The following morning, the companions approached the Storval Stairs. They were part of a huge construction dating back to the time of Thassilon. The stairs seemed sized for giants, because each step was two feet tall. All around the side of the cliff stood various ancient, beautiful buildings. To either side of the stairs stood two statues of an austere man wearing elegant robes, and carrying a book and a glaive. The companions recognized the man they’d seen speaking to his troops in a hologram below Thistletop.
Navan warned the others that these ruins were often the lair of foul monsters such as Trolls and Harpies. Ruh enlarged her three companions, so that they could navigate the large steps more easily, and Kerista took her on her shoulder.
Once they were about two hundred feet from the top, the heroes saw the silhouette of a stone giant emerging from a hiding place at the stairs’ summit. He threw a large rock at them, which narrowly missed Ruh, and called for reinforcements.
The characters started casting some magic in preparation for the fight: Kerista blessed the group, Ruh hasted them, Drithnar protected himself with a Bear’s Endurance spell, and Navan started to fly. A second rock was thrown by the giant, and this one hit Ruh.
Kerista and Drithnar started climbing up the stairs, making good progress thanks to their large size and the Haste spell. Another giant came to assist the first one, and Ruh cast a Maximized Fireball on them. Navan flew up and saw two more giants coming. Indeed, they soon appeared on top of a building close to the stairs, and threw two rocks, one that hit Navan and one that hit Kerista.
Drithnar reached the top of the stairs before Kerista and attacked one of the giants that had been blasted by Ruh. Meanwhile, Ruh cast another of her deadly conflagrations on the other two giants, who were on top of a building. Navan shot one of those giants with his crossbow, and the giant replied with a boulder, narrowly missing the flying crossbowman. The giant at his side threw a rock which hit Kerista.
The very first giant also tried to crush Kerista with a rock, but she dodged that one. She finally reached the top of the stairs and smashed her Earthbreaker against his shoulder. Drithnar was at their side, fighting the other giant, who he managed to wound again. The giant tried to retaliate, but Drithnar nimbly dodged his attacks. Ruh cast a third Maximized Fireball on the two giants on the rooftop, grievously wounding them. The two giants threw rocks at her, realizing that she was the biggest threat, and one of them struck her. She was by then badly wounded.
The first giant was facing Kerista, and he could not hurt her due to her powerful armor. With a mighty battle-cry, Kerista shattered the giant’s skull with her Earthbreaker, and struck the other giant with a mighty cleave, killing him as well!
Drithnar climbed to the rooftop on which the other two giants were standing. Ruh, who wanted to avoid being targeted by more rocks, cast a Dimension Door to appear behind the giants, hoping to escape notice.
Navan shot several crossbow bolts and killed one of the giants. The other struck Drithnar with his large club, but then the ranger slashed him with his blades, and killed him.
Kerista rushed to Ruh’s side and healed her with her Lay on Hands ability. Navan then healed the rest of the group’s wounds. The companions searched the nearby buildings and found the one where the giants had made their lair. They discovered some treasure, as well as trophies made of the corpses of trolls, harpies and humans. It seemed that the forces of Lord Mokmurian had taken control of this chokepoint recently, and had cleared out its previous occupants.
For the rest of the day, the adventurers traveled east through the Storval Plateau. The heat was extreme, but Navan protected the whole group with Endure Elements spells. Likewise, the companions were not bothered by the place’s dryness, as they could create water by magic. By the end of the day, they reached the foot of the Iron Peaks and decided to camp there for the night.
Some time during the night, while Navan was standing watch, a group of large creatures approached the camp. Navan woke up his companions, and they got ready for a difficult fight, casting protective spells on themselves. Kerista did not have time to put on her armor, but she got protected by a Mage Armor and an Enlarge spell from Ruh, as well as by a potion of Barkskin the gnome gave her and a Shield Other spell from Navan.
Navan cast a Light spell on the ground as the enemies approached, and out of the darkness emerged several impressively large shapes: two dire bears, one stone giant and a frost giant riding on a mammoth’s back. It seemed that this was a hunting party who’d followed their tracks from the Storval Stairs. With a roar, the bears rushed forward, followed by the frost giant and his mount.
The rider threw an axe at Drithnar, but the ranger dodged it and faced one of the bears. He slashed it three times with his blades, avoiding the beast’s claws. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group, while Navan pierced the other dire bear with two crossbow bolts. Kerista rushed forward and hit the mammoth with a powerful blow, but she was also hit by the second bear. The stone giant threw a rock in Navan’s direction, but missed him.
The frost giant smiled as he faced Kerista, who looked truly beautiful to his eyes, as she was enlarged to the size of a giant, and wearing very little clothing.
“Surrender,” he told her in the Common tongue, “and I vil spare your life and make you my vife.”
“Pfff!” replied Kerista. “Dream on!”
The spurned giant frowned and tried to slash Kerista with his axe, but she parried the attack.
Meanwhile, Drithnar was locked in mortal combat with the first dire bear. He slashed it several times with his blades, opening nasty wounds, but the animal kept on fighting ferociously, also wounding Drithnar, and pinning him to the ground with a heavy paw. The ranger struggled as he felt his ribcage being crushed to the ground, and the bear’s jaw was opening up just inches from his face, showing rows of sharp fangs which glistened with saliva.
Just in time to save his friend, Navan shot four crossbow bolts at the bear and killed it. Ruh cast a Fireball which hit the second bear, the frost giant and the mammoth. The mammoth growled in pain, and gored Kerista with its tusks. She struck it with three powerful blows from her weapon, killing it, and she cleaved mightily against the dire bear. Seeing that two of the animals had already gotten killed, the stone giant turned and fled into the darkness, followed by curses from the frost giant, who was getting back to his feet after having been thrown to the ground by the death of his mount.
Kerista was attacked by the furious dire bear, which mauled her painfully and almost brought her down to the ground, but thanks to her phenomenal strength, she resisted it. The frost giant attacked her with his greataxe and caused her two nasty wounds: she was in a very dangerous situation, but thankfully, her wounds were shared with Navan, who promptly healed himself. Ruh also stepped behind Kerista and cast an Improved Invisibility on her.
With a snarl, Kerista struck the bear with a mighty blow, killing it, and she cleaved into the frost giant, whom she pushed back with the power of her attacks. She raised her earthbreaker high above her head and called upon Sarenrae’s blessing. For a moment, the battleground was illuminated by a burst of daylight as her invisible weapon glowed brightly and smote the evil giant.
“You’re going down, scum!” taunted Drithnar from the side. The giant growled at him and struck him with his axe, but the ranger approached closer and sliced him with his blades, killing him!
Navan then healed the group, and they decided that they did not want the stone giant to flee and alert his comrades. Ruh cast Darkvision on Drithnar, who increased his speed with a Longstrider spell. Alone, the ranger then rushed after the fleeing giant. His companions waited for a few minutes, and eventually, he returned, badly wounded, but smiling grimly.
“I killed him…” he said proudly.
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Oathday, Sarenith 7th, 4708
The Valley of the Black Tower
The companions traveled all day in the Iron Peaks, climbing along narrow, treacherous passes between jagged cliffs. Drithnar guided them, following the instructions that they’d received from the charmed giant in Galduria. The sun was mercilessly beating on the landscape and on the four companions, but they were protected from its effects by magic. Ruh floated near the others, making the trek easier for herself with an Overland Flight spell.
Finally, at the end of the day, they reached a place deep within the mountains: the Valley of the Black Tower!
The valley stretched over the edge of a cliff overlooking the Muschkal River. The companions entered it from the west, and not far ahead of them stood a watchtower atop a low hill. At the center of the valley stood the large fortress of Jorgenfist: a fifty-foot high wall circled it, and along this wall stood several towers. One of them was much taller than the others, and made of black stone. It was beautifully decorated, yet had a sinister aspect. Surely this was the black tower that had given the valley its name. Another one of the towers was wider, and inside it opened a gate that led into Jorgenfist. Within the fortress rose a high, narrow spire. Around the outer wall could be seen seven camps of tents and crude stone shelters, most likely temporary residences for the giants of Lord Mokmurian’s army.
The companions observed this for a short while, and noticed that some smoke had started to rise from the watch tower at the entrance of the valley: was this a signal to the fortress, had they been spotted?
To be on the safe side, they decided to retreat further back along the mountain path and wait to see if any enemies would come look for them. They waited for about half an hour, but nobody came. They decided to look for a shelter for the night, because Navan and Kerista were quite weary from the arduous climb. Ruh cast some Darkvision spells on the group, and Drithnar led them to a cave he’d spotted along the way. It was set some distance above the path, so to reach it, Kerista had to receive a Fly spell due to her heavy armor.
Too much weed
Inside the cave, the group found a cougar hissing at them, defending its lair. Drithnar spoke with it by magic.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” said the ranger. “We don’t want to steal your lair.”
“Why did you come to my cave?” hissed the cougar warily.
“We’re looking for some shelter for the night.”
“Hhhh… This is my cave, don’t come here.”
“Tell me, what’s happening down there, in that village?”
“There are big people there.”
“How long have they been there?”
“Ehhh… they’ve been here for a few moons.”
“They took over your territory? Have you suffered from that?”
“No, no. They took the big heavies and brought them into their houses. The big heavies don’t bother me anymore.”
Drithnar then bribed the cougar with food to convince him to let him share his lair. Though he had no falcon meat like the cougar asked for, when the animal tasted the group’s iron rations, he found them surprisingly delicious and agreed to the bargain.
Later, they learned from him that there were nasty creatures living near the river, which he called “night flyers”, which were apparently very quiet, very dangerous large flying beast with stone-hard skin and a blade-tipped tail. They had killed his mate.
The companions then got ready to sleep for the night. Drithnar placed an Alarm spell at the entrance of the cave. Before going to sleep, Navan smoked some holy weed and cast a prayer of Divination. He asked Desna to show him the safest way of reaching the surviving Sandpoint hostages.
Drithnar took the first watch, and Navan went to sleep along with the others. Soon, he was dreaming. He saw an army of giants marching over the landscape of Varisia, attacking villages, with dragons flying high in the sky. He saw Mayor Deverin, Ibor Thorn and a few other humans working as slaves in a forge, while wicked ogres were whipping them. He saw a dark room with pillars, and a huge Sihedron symbol engraved on one of the walls. Before it stood a stone giant dressed in a dark red robe. He was shrouded in shadows, and had his back turned to Navan’s point of view. At his side glowed a brazier filled with hot coals, inside which was a branding iron. Another stone giant approached him, holding a struggling Mayor Deverin.
“I brought the one you asked for, Lord Mokmurian,” said that giant.
“Good,” replied the dark one. He turned to the side and raised the branding iron out of the brazier: its tip was red-hot, and shaped into a Sihedron Rune. The glow illuminated dimly a shadowy face contorted by an evil grin, and he approached the struggling woman.
The Mayor’s screams erupted inside Navan’s head, and he felt himself falling into darkness.
He woke up and found himself in the cave. His companions were gone, but the cougar was watching him intently. He spoke to Navan in the common tongue:
“I’ve shown you the way. I’ve talked about it already to your friend Drithnar.”
“Huh?” asked Navan.
“Navan. Navan, wake up. It’s your turn to stand watch.”
Navan woke up again, this time for real. He found himself in the cave. Drithnar was shaking him gently and whispering for him to wake up. Nearby, Ruh and Kerista were fast asleep, as was the cougar, further back in the cave.
Navan shook off sleep’s effects and described his dream to Drithnar. The ranger looked perplexed.
“Hmmm, the cougar didn’t show me any way to reach the prisoners. I wonder if perhaps Desna’s been smoking some of the same weed you’ve been smoking. Or perhaps you took too strong a dose?” he added with a grin.
An hour or so later, during Navan’s watch, the cougar suddenly woke up, with his ears erect. He seemed to be scared of something outside the cave. Navan woke up his companions, and they carefully looked outside, but they neither saw nor heard anything. Later, they found out that the cougar had sensed the night flyers passing near, but they hadn’t ventured into the cave. The companions went back to sleep and were not bothered for the rest of the night.
Fireday, Sarenith 8th, 4708
A late Sending
The following morning, Drithnar questioned the cougar again, but he had never been inside Jorgenfist. He had no idea how to get to the prisoners.
“Yeah. Right. Go easy on the weed next time, Navan,” he told the priest, who smiled back humorlessly.
The companions then decided that Drithnar would go ahead and scout the fortress during the day, from a vantage point in the mountains. At the end of the day, he would come back and tell the others what he’d seen.
Kerista was worried: “But we won’t be able to help him if he gets in trouble, if we’re stuck in this cave the whole day…”
“No”, said Drithnar, “but don’t worry, I can take care of myself.”
“If Drithnar isn’t back by nightfall, I’ll contact him with a Sending spell to find out what’s wrong,” said Navan.
Kerista brightened. “Ah, yes, the Sending spell. That’s so useful!” Then her face turned more somber, and she said glumly: “I just wish you were able to use it to contact Mayor Deverin, too…”
Everyone froze and looked at her.
“What?” asked the paladin.
Navan was starting to blush. He cleared his throat and said sheepishly: “Well, err… I can use it to contact her.”
“What?!?” asked Kerista, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Why haven’t you done that already, like two weeks ago??”
Navan was now blushing even more. “It… didn’t… occur to me…” he stammered.
Navan soon started to cast the lengthy ritual, and sent a message to Mayor Deverin: “We will rescue you. Reply to me in twenty-five words. What can you tell us of the place you are in? Keep hope.”
After a moment came the mayor’s reply: “Kept prisoner below stone giant fortress. Many giants here. Master is a mage. Dragons and spellcasters helping giants. Don’t throw your lives away.”
Drithnar explores
Drithnar then went out with a Fly spell from Ruh. He approached the fortress from the south, hovering near the mountain peaks, flying in stealth. He found a good hiding place among the peaks, and observed the fortress for the whole day.
In the tower to the west, he saw a very large female giant standing watch. He wasn’t sure what race she belonged to: her appearance and posture were similar to a hill giant’s, but she was much bigger, taller even than a frost giant.
Three of the seven camps around the walls were close enough for him to see. In one lived hill giants, and in another lived ogres, who often argued and fought. At some point, some stone giants had to come out of the fortress and smack some ogres around, to calm them down. The third camp that Drithnar saw contained between ten and twelve stone giants, whose appearance he found a bit strange, but he couldn’t tell why at that distance.
Inside the fortress, he saw and heard dire bears, mammoths and other giants. Some bird-men were coming to and from the black tower and the gate tower. From out of the central spire, Drithnar saw a mighty roc take flight, and later come back. Was that construction the beast’s nest?
He also saw a group of stone giants with dire bear pets, approaching the fortress. They brought with them a wild mammoth that they’d apparently just captured: they forced it to follow them by tugging on heavy chains that were wrapped around its head. Again, the watch tower let out some smoke when the giants came into view.
Entering the fortress
When he saw that the sun was starting to set, Drithnar returned to the cave where the others had waited the whole day. After taking a quick meal during which Drithnar described what he’d seen, the companions got ready to go out and start their assault. Ruh and Navan cast some Fly, Invisibility and Darkvision spells on the whole group.
They silently and invisibly flew from the entrance of the valley to the fortress. When they passed the watchtower, Navan thought he saw a two-headed creature standing watch on the roof. As they approached the fortress, they noticed that a few of the camps were still active, with giants drinking, laughing, singing, dancing and wrestling together. Others were rather dark and quiet. In one of the camp, Drithnar saw the huge giantess he’d spotted earlier in the tower. She towered half again as tall as the stone giants around her. What kind of giant was she, wondered the ranger.
The characters saw that a large pit gaped open at the center of the fortress, which consisted only of the tall spire, and three wide, low buildings. They flew toward the pit, still holding each other’s hands to make sure they stayed together, and went down.
Within, a foul smell assailed them, for at the bottom of the pit, many corpses were lying in various stages of decomposition. The remains were those of several humans, some giants and ogres, as well as four dragons. The adventurers took the time to examine them. To their horror, they recognized two of the prisoners that had been taken from Sandpoint, though neither of them were people they’d grown close to. All of the humans, ogres, and giants, had the Sihedron Rune branded or carved into their flesh. Many also showed signs of mistreatment in the form of whipping and torture.
Ruh identified the dragon corpses as three blue dragons and a red one. They were all of large size, roughly equivalent to the one she and Drithnar had fought over Sandpoint. Each of them also bore the Sihedron mark, scales having been painfully torn from their chests to create the mysterious sign. The little mage couldn’t believe her eyes: why had these creatures all been killed?
The companions took the two corpses of the Sandpoint townsfolk and put them to the side. Navan cast a Gentle Repose spell on each of them.
A ramp was leading from the bottom of the sixty-foot-deep pit up to the ground level of the fortress. Along the walls of the ramp, and at the bottom of the pit, opened several entrances. Some of them seemed to lead only to very shallow caves, but among the deeper ones, one glowed dimly with the reflection of fiery lights from further inside. The adventurers ventured down that tunnel. The ceiling was twenty feet high, and the passage seemed to have been hewn from the rock by the giants.
The group reached a junction. To the left and ahead of them, they could see lights. The left passage opened up into a large cave that seemed to be a feast hall, with giant-sized tables and chairs of wood. From within the cave came the deep voices of giants talking and laughing together. One of them was telling a story about the slaughter of some dwarven warriors, while the others, several men and a woman, laughed and cheered for him.
The Last Elder
Trying to avoid notice, the companions, still invisible, took the central tunnel. They reached a shrine that was decorated with crude pictures of giants taming animals and killing dwarves. Along the far wall stood a stone altar upon which were laid offerings of furs and animal horns. Before this altar, a female stone giant was kneeling and quietly weeping.
The companions observed her, and Navan whispered as quietly as he could: “Let’s kill her.”
At that moment, the giantess stood up and turned around, looking in the companions’ direction. They wondered if she could see them. She was an old, angular stone giantess, dressed with bearskin furs, and she carried a spear at her side.
She muttered something in the giant tongue: “You were right. Here they are, at last!”
She then switched to the common tongue and addressed the group: “Humans. I‘ve expecting you.”
“You can see us?” asked Drithnar.
“I can, through the eyes of the spirits,” replied the giantess. “Young woman,” she said, probably to Kerista, “I sense you do not feel comfortable in this shrine. Yet it is the only safe haven for you in this fortress. I understand that you all must be very wary of me, after what my people have done. I have heard of what happened in your village.”
“In Sandpoint?” asked Drithnar.
“I do not know what it is called, but a great battle was fought there not long ago. You bravely defended your town from a group of raiders from my people? And with them was a red dragon, is this correct? Are you those I have heard about?”
“Yes, we are,” replied Navan.
“How do you know about this raid?” asked Drithnar.
“I have heard the reports of the raiders that have returned. Some of them had survived. They brought back prisoners from your town. I am sad to tell you that some of them have perished. But know that you are not alone to hate Lord Mokmurian for what he has done.”
“Who are you?” asked Navan.
“I am Conna, last of the elders of the Kavarvatti tribe. I am the only elder that still lives in this region.”
With that, Conna closed her eyes and held out her hand to her side, as though she were grasping an imaginary person’s hand. Heavy tears rolled down her stone-like cheeks. When she continued talking, her voice was shaking with grief.
“Lord Mokmurian has brought great evil unto my tribe and into my life.”
“By the way,” asked Drithnar, “how the hell do you see us?”
“I don’t,” replied Conna, “but my husband does.”
“Your husband? Where is he?”
“He is… in this ancient shrine.”
“Is he dead?”
“Yes. But his spirit has remained trapped here. He was killed by Lord Mokmurian. Like all of the other elders of the tribes of this region. I am the only one that he has spared. I believe that he saw me as… some kind of mother to him.
“Mokmurian’s story is long and tragic. I am not sure I have time to tell you all of it, but know that he was once cast out from his tribe by the rest of us, by the elders, because he possessed some traits that were a blasphemy according to our traditions. I pleaded with the other elders to show clemency, to keep Mokmurian within our tribe, for I felt there was a strange power within him, something corrupted, but I felt that if we angered him, we would come to regret it later.
“Sadly, I was right.
“He has killed all of the other elders, he has defeated me in battle, he has wrested control of so many of the giant tribes… The young warriors of my people are foolish, they listen to him out of fear, and out of greed.
“There are ancient legends among my people that tell of the slavery, the slavery that your people brought unto our race. But these are from ages long past, and we elders have tried to preach peace to our people. For a long time now, we have lived here, in the remote mountains. We had no dealings with the people of the low-lands, for the elders knew that there was no reason to hold on to this ancient hatred between our races.”
She pointed at the companions. “You were born only decades ago, why should you be held accountable for what your ancestors did, millennia before? Likewise, I would ask you to please show clemency for the acts that were perpetrated by some members of my race. There are some who have wrought evil only through foolishness, for they were swayed by the true evil of Mokmurian. Many of the young warriors are simply misguided.”
Around that time, the characters reappeared. For the first time, Conna looked at them with her own eyes.
“I’m sorry if I have delayed you, but I believe this is necessary,” she said.
“It’s all right, you can indeed help us,” said Navan. “We are here to save our people and defeat, if we can, Lord Mokmurian. With your help, perhaps we would be able to reach him without having to fight any of his guardians along the way?”
“You will have to fight to reach him, I am afraid.” She looked at each of the companions for a few moments. “Forgive me for staring,” she said, “it’s just that you are so very small. Especially you,” she said to Ruh. “I’ve rarely conversed with beings as small as you, and yet from what I’ve heard of the raiders, you are so mighty… You have driven back even the mighty Longtooth: the red dragon. He still lives in a cave, in the nearby mountains. He came back wounded. Mokmurian was furious at him, I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear. In his anger, he ordered his priestesses not to heal the dragon, and he banished Longtooth back to his cave, high in the mountains.
“I saw a glimmer of hatred in Longtooth’s eyes. Perhaps their tenuous alliance has been strained to its very limits.”
“Why are there dragon corpses in the pit?” asked Drithnar.
Conna looked somberly at the ranger for a few moments, in silence. Then, she answered him: “Mokmurian is mad. He sacrifices all who oppose him. Anyone who refuses to join him… is killed.”
Another tear fell down Conna’s cheek as she looked back at the altar.
“Even though I hate giants,” said Drithnar with his usual lack of tact, “our objective now is not to kill all the giants in this fortress. We want to eliminate the direct threat to our people. And what you just told us confirms that this threat seems to be Mokmurian. So you seem to have the same objectives as us. Is there a way for us to act together?”
“I know some things about this place,” replied the giantess, ”I can tell you these things so you’ll know what you’re up against. I am an elder of my people and somewhat skilled in magic, but I dare not face Mokmurian.“
“Are you the only one willing to fight him?”
“Actively, perhaps. But if Mokmurian were to die, most giants would desert this place. Some out of fear, because they are bullies and they rely on Mokmurian to back them up. Without his strong leadership, they would have nothing to hold their troops together. Others would realize the errors of their ways. I could speak to them. If you are strong enough to defeat Mokmurian, surely they will be impressed by your power. Maybe some of them could even be convinced to follow you, and try to right the wrongs that they’ve committed.”
The companions did not seem thrilled at the idea of dealing with the brutish giants, who had caused such destruction so far.
“I understand your reticence,” said Conna.
“Is this the safest place for us to stay in this fortress?” asked Drithnar.
“I’m afraid this is the only safe haven,” replied Conna. “This shrine is haunted by the spirit of Vandarrec, my late husband, and the other inhabitants of these caves avoid it. While you are in my presence, you will be safe from him.”
“I sense some evil in this place,” said Kerista warily. Indeed, the companions had noticed that the paintings on the walls seemed to be moving eerily out of the corner of their eyes while they’d been talking to the giantess.
“Evil?” asked Conna. “My husband was not evil. But the sacrilege that Mokmurian performed was a vile desecration of this ancient shrine, which he had built himself, long ago. No, human, what evil aura you likely feel in this place must be Mokmurian’s own, which binds my husband’s spirit into this place, forbidding it to venture into the spirit world.
“There are many guards in this place,” continued the giantess. “Down here live around ten of Mokmurian’s most trusted guards.”
“What are they?” asked the ranger.
“They are members of my people. Their leader is the general of Mokmurian’s army, Galenmir. I heard his voice earlier, I believe he’s in the feast hall at the moment, with some other soldiers. He is possibly the strongest fighter of Mokmurian’s army. But there are also some foul creatures that live here: there are ogres, as well as two vile creatures, ancient heretics called Lamias, they are priestesses of the goddess Lamashtu.” With a disgusted expression, Conna, made a strange gesture around her, perhaps to ward off evil.
“Is one of them called Xanesha?” asked Navan.
“No. There are also two dragons that are being held captive, charmed by these Lamias to do their bidding, and there are also two vicious trolls, as well as three dire bears that guard the entrance, but I guess you bypassed them: they are poor sentinels who sleep most of the time. There is also Lokansir, a strange giant, of a race I know little about, called Jotunblood. He is a towering brute, much larger than even the biggest of my people. He is vicious and cruel, but very stupid and easily manipulated. He is one of Mokmurian’s most trusted allies. As a simple brute, he is easily convinced by Mokmurian’s demented schemes.”
“And all those foes live in these caverns here, around us?” asked Drithnar.
“Yes”, replied Conna. “And there is also one other creature that is worth noting, also it looks very puny and inoffensive, but then again,” she looked at Ruh, ”appearances can be deceiving. She is a kobold with red scales. I’ve heard that she fights very ferociously.”
“And where is Mokmurian?”
“He lives below. Past the lamias and the trolls, there is a tunnel that leads down into Mokmurian’s inner sanctum. I believe there are even more dangerous guardians down there, as well as vicious traps. I’ve never been down there, and of course, Mokmurian is tight-lipped about this.”
“Does Mokmurian come up from time to time?”
“Yes, he does. To speak with the troops and to perform sacrifices.”
“But not too much?”
“Not too much. He is very busy with something. I am not sure what…”
“Where do they keep the slaves?”
“Yes, the slaves, of course. Most are kept with the ogres, to the south. Some of the prisoners from your village have been killed already, but others still live.”
“What about Mayor Deverin?” asked Kerista, who then described the mayor.
“Ah, yes. I believe this one is still alive.”
The Story of Lord Mokmurian
“What about the spire, above ground?” asked Drithnar. “What’s that for?”
“That building was already here when I arrived,” replied Conna.
“What else can you tell us about Mokmurian?” asked Kerista.
“Where to begin? Hmm… The society of stone giants is simple. We live in scattered tribes, led by the elders, who are the wisest among us. Mokmurian was born in the Kavarvatti tribe, which I used to lead with my husband. Among my people, some show signs of arcane power.” She performed a simple magical trick with one hand to demonstrate. “Those usually gain great honors within the tribe, and can become elders.”
“And did Mokmurian show these traits?” asked Drithnar.
“Often those who are weaker in body are stronger in soul. Mokmurian was born a runt by our standards, he is very small for a stone giant, as you call us. His skin was also hideously covered with unsightly crystalline formations. He was almost a monster among us, and was ridiculed and beaten up by boys his age. But there were some among the tribe who were convinced that he would develop magical powers as he grew older, and indeed, over time, he seemed to gain access to such powers. His reputation greatly increased, and he took one of the most beautiful women of the tribe as his wife.
“He fooled us all for over three decades.
“Unfortunately, after some time, his wife discovered that Mokmurian had a dark secret. Or rather, it was considered a dark secret at the time, but now, looking back, it seems such a trivial thing compared to what happened later. You must understand, my people usually follow traditions very closely; it is our way of life. I guess I am as much to blame as the others. I, too, am very traditional.
“Mokmurian had no inherent powers, as it turned out. Everything he could do by magic, he was taking from paper, books they are called, a book that told him how to do magic. But it was false, the magic did not come from him, it came from the book. Without the book, he could do nothing. He killed his wife when she discovered this, to protect his reputation. But others found out as well. He could not be forgiven. There was a special council held over the matter; some suggested killing him to avenge his wife, others spoke of exiling him. As I said, I sensed that the sentence that would result from this would have a great and sinister repercussion over the welfare of all the tribes. I sensed we should not be too harsh on Mokmurian, even though my own heart cried out for vengeance for the innocent woman’s death.
“I was out-voted. The blasphemous book was burnt, and Mokmurian was cast out of the Kavarvatti tribe. For many years, we did not see him. Some thought him dead.
“Then, eventually, we started hearing strange rumors among other tribes. Tales of a wicked stone giant spellcaster, going from tribe to tribe, trying to control each of them. Then, we heard that this man called himself Lord Mokmurian. Lord!”
“He gave himself that title?” asked Drithnar.
“Yes. Such a title was never used among my people. Lord. It is a reminder of slavery: for one being to lord over another. To control them. It is not our way. Or at least, it was not until those dark days.”
Drithnar nodded and remembered that by nature, most stone giants were not evil, and strongly believed in freedom.
“’Lord’ Mokmurian took control of tribe after tribe. He did it in a very simple but deadly way: he challenged the elders in a duel of magic and killed them. We heard he had taken residence in this taboo valley, that none of my people dared to enter. It was forbidden by our laws.”
“Why?” asked Drithnar.
“We know that an ancient evil lived here before. It still does. An ancient servant of the almost-forgotten civilization of our slave masters. A shriveled, black-hearted creature, of human size. Mokmurian spoke of it briefly at some point, but I know nothing more.”
“What race were those slavers you speak of?” asked Drithnar.
“They were human,” replied the giantess somberly.
“Not elves?”
“No. Human.”
“Why would humans ever do such a horrible thing?”
“I know not. But I understand that not all humans are so wicked.
“Our tribe was the last one that Mokmurian visited, perhaps out of sentimentality, but when he came, his power was unbeatable. He defeated me and my husband. He did not kill us right away; I guess he wanted us to see us in awe of his power. It was greater than anything I’ve ever seen. I had no idea how he got it, although now I can make a guess.
“He brought us here, in this valley, he brought us down to this very shrine, of the old shamanistic faith, and as a gesture of contempt… He killed Vandarrec…”
With this, she started to cry again, and this time, Kerista approached her and laid a comforting hand on hers. A single tear was also flowing down the paladin’s cheek. Drithnar, who was still unsure he could fully trust the giantess, tried to warn his lover to be cautious, but she ignored him, too deeply taken by the giantess’s sadness.
Conna wiped her tears and continued: “Mokmurian’s been building an army. It seems he is intent on invading Varisia and wiping out the humans. It is foolish. It is pointless. It is … suicidal. He is mad. And I am so happy that you’re here to stop him. I am skeptical, because he is so powerful, but I’ve heard of your bravery and might, so you could have a chance.”
A Greater Evil
“But Conna,” said Navan, “if his spellbook was destroyed, what do you think is the new nature of Mokmurian’s magic? Why is he so powerful?”
“I think that Mokmurian is not himself anymore. I fear that he has fallen under the influence of a powerful evil spirit: one of the Ancient Lords.”
Drithnar whispered a curse.
“Indeed, if this is truly the case, it would explain why he is so powerful. Over the past months, Mokmurian has come to underestimate me: he believes me beaten in spirit. I have managed to convince him that I am his servant. But I am not. Carelessly, he has let slip information in my presence. I have heard him whisper a name when he thought he was alone: Karzoug. I heard that name before. It is spoken in hushed whispers among the elders. This cursed name is indeed that of one of our ancient slave masters. So if Mokmurian has become enthralled by the everlasting spirit of this ancient being, the danger threatening our lands, those of my kind and those of the humans, might be greater than anyone suspected.”
“This is very grim,” said Drithnar.
“I hope you’re not thinking of turning back?” asked the giantess.
“No,” replied Navan.
Drithnar then asked Conna if she had any magic that she could cast to help them, but it turned out that she didn’t have anything that Navan and Ruh couldn’t already do.
“Does general Galenmir trust you?” he asked the giantess.
“He sees me as one of Mokmurian’s servants,” she replied. “I guess he trusts me to some extent.”
“I know you’d like us to spare your people as much as we can,” said Navan, “but I assume that those who live here, so close to Mokmurian, are likely to be evil beyond hope of redemption. Do you agree?”
“Yes, I fear they deserve death. The only exception would be Grumelda, the kitchen mistress. She is foolishly infatuated with Galenmir, but her heart is not wicked. Please, spare her if you can.”
“Yeah, well, our concern right now is not so much sparing your people, but trying to survive,” replied Drithnar. “Giants, lamias, trolls, humongous evil downstairs. We have a lot on our plate, lady.”
“I understand. And there is also one more thing. Recently, I think that Mokmurian has managed to build something that he’d been working on for a long time. He seemed very satisfied with it, in a very evil way, and he said that soon dead soldiers in his army could be brought back to keep on fighting. I’ve also heard that he brought some troublesome hill giants down below for some kind of experiment. We’ve not seen them since.”
The companions then asked Conna to draw a map of the caves. They gave her some paper and reduced her to their size. She obliged.
Once she was done, the companions examined the map and discussed strategies for a while. They decided to eliminate Lokansir, the big brute, first, since he seemed to be in a room by himself, away from other enemies.
While they were doing that, Kerista asked a few more questions to Conna, and learned about a few more of the fortress’s inhabitants. The giantess who lived in the watchtower was called Cinderma, and she was a Taiga giant, which was a race of primitive giants from whom all other giant races were thought to have originated. Two rocs nested in the spire, and among the animals living inside the fortress, the strongest was Embers, a powerful dire bear. There were also two frost giant emissaries from far to the north who’d traveled to Jorgenfist to swear fealty on behalf of their tribe. It seemed that soon, Mokmurian’s army would be strengthened by frost giants.
They also learned more about the various camps of giants around the fortress. One of them consisted of the Black Fist hill giants. In another lived two tribes of ogres, the Nightshades and the Red Shields, who were constantly bickering. In the other five camps lived stone giants from different tribes: those of Jormunsir and Valissgander were warriors, while those of Crannoch were hunters, mostly in charge of bringing food and new pets to the army. A group called the Maidens of Minderhal was composed entirely of ruthless female stone giants, lead by a priestess named Halvara.
In the last camp lived some warriors of the Kavarvatti tribe. After the murder of Vandarrec, Mokmurian had put his apprentice, Barl Breakbones, in charge of the tribe. About a year ago, though, Barl had been sent on a distant mission, and his leadership had passed on to Drogart, an evil brute. Conna was relieved to hear that Barl was dead, but she felt that Drogart was just as bad, and that the tribe would be better off without his cruel leadership.
The Sihedron Temple
The companions decided to go and slay Lokansir first. They went down the tunnel that Conna had indicated, while the elder remained behind, in the shrine. They reached a heavy stone door that was decorated with a huge Sihedron rune. They cast a few protective spells on themselves, and Navan cast a Silence spell further back in the corridor, to mask the sounds of battle. Then, Drithnar and Kerista, who had both been enlarged by Ruh, opened the heavy doors.
They entered a large, dark room with a loose soil floor and tree trunks planted like giant stakes in the ground. On the trunks’ surface were drawn more Sihedron runes. Along the walls of the room were rib-like spines. On two of the trunks, a man and a dwarf were attached with manacles. The man was unconscious, and the characters thought he was one of the prisoners from Sandpoint. The dwarf was conscious, and his eyes widened with hope when he saw the companions. Both men were bare-chested, looked bruised, and had a hideous burnt scar in the shape of the Sihedron rune on their chest. Navan immediately recognized this room as the one he’d seen in his dream.
The companions saw all of this with their Darkvision. The far side of the room was still too far for them to see; they saw no trace of Lokansir, but the dwarf seemed to be frantically, yet silently, trying to catch their attention. Ruh cast a Message spell at him.
“Whisper to me what you want to tell us,” she said.
“There’s a big f*****g giant hidin’ in the ground,” whispered the dwarf in heavily accented common.
The companions discussed this briefly, and noticed that the dwarf was still talking, unaware that the spell had ended. Ruh cast another one at him.
“… out of yer minds, how did ye get here, ye blessed bastards?”
Kerista concentrated, searching for evil, but felt none. The companions carefully walked forward, and saw the end of the room. On the far wall was engraved a huge Sihedron rune. And on one of the pillars furthest from the entrance, Mayor Deverin was shackled. She was a sorry sight: she was bare-chested and badly bruised, and her abdomen was covered with the ugly burnt scar of the Sihedron rune. She looked up weakly, having heard the companions but unable to see them in the dark. They had hopefully come in time to save her life, but not to prevent her from suffering the torment of the branding.
Kerista gestured for the others to stop: she’d detected an evil presence ahead of them, underground. As the companions wondered which spell to use to make the creature come out, an enormous roaring giant erupted from the soil. He was enormous, far larger than a stone giant, and his body was incredibly thick with muscles. His limbs were covered with strange runes, and he wielded a spiked club.
“LOKANSIR KILL YOU ALL!!’ he bellowed in giantish.
Drithnar moved in, tumbling to avoid the giant’s club. He struck Lokansir with two powerful blows. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group as Kerista moved in to attack. The paladin was hit by the giant’s club, but she retaliated with a strike of her own. Navan shot many crossbow bolts at the enormous enemy, two of which lodged themselves in his thick skin. The room was briefly illuminated as each fiery crossbow bolt was fired, and much to her amazement, Mayor Deverin recognized her beloved heroes, who’d come to free her.
With a deafening roar, Lokansir tried to pummel Drithnar into the ground. The ranger was struck twice, but wasn’t too badly hurt, because Navan was sharing the damage with him through a Shield Others spell. But still, the giant stuck with incredible strength.
Lokansir was a mighty foe, but he could not survive the onslaught of the four powerful heroes. Drithnar slashed him four times with his blades, Ruh blasted him with three Scorching Rays, and Kerista killed him with four bone-shattering blows of her earthbreaker. The ground shook as the mighty Jotunblood giant fell.
Kerista, crying again at the sight of the tortured mayor, hurried to her help. Ruh cast a Light spell as Navan picked the manacles’ lock. In a hoarse voice, Mayor Deverin thanked the companions. Kerista took out a blanket from her pack and offered it to the mayor so she could cover herself, while Navan healed her.
Then, the companions freed and healed the man and the dwarf.
“Thank you for saving us,” said the man, “have you seen my wife? She’s also a prisoner here!”
“They’ll do what they can to save her, Zanyk,” said Mayor Deverin, “they’re in a hurry right now.”
The Fall of Galenmir
While Navan healed himself and his companions, they briefly discussed what to do next. They finally decided to bring the three rescued prisoners to Conna’s shrine, and then to attack Galenmir and the other giants in the feast hall. Along the way, Navan cast another Silence spell at the entrance of the tunnel that Conna had said led to the dragons’ lair, and Ruh cast another Haste spell, and then the group barged into the feast hall, attacking the six giants who were relaxing there.
One of the giants reacted quickly, grabbed his club and approached the companions, but he got badly wounded by Drithnar, who slashed him several times, and by Kerista, who also struck him once. Navan fired some crossbow bolts at the other giants, but they all bounced off their thick skins. Ruh cast a Maximized Fireball into the room, blasting Galenmir and the three giants who’d been sitting with him.
A giant at the back had avoided the blast, and he took one of the spears that was fixed to the wall and threw it at Ruh, piercing her hip.
“Grumelda, go get the others!” yelled Galenmir. While the female stone giant, who’d been badly burned by the fireball, fled the room through a tunnel, he moved closer to the group and drank a potion. Another giant rushed forward and attacked Drithnar, but missed, and the last giant picked up a chair and threw it at Drithnar, but also missed.
The first giant struck Drithnar with his club, but the ranger focused his attacks on the other giant who was attacking him, slicing painfully into his flesh with his weapons. The giant roared, and finally, Drithnar cut off his head with his sword. Kerista tried attack the other giant, but she stumbled against a chair and missed.
Navan cast a Bless spell on the group, and Ruh, who was flying above the melee and reduced to tiny size, cast another Maximized Fireball, which killed the first giant, and wounded Galenmir and another giant. Galenmir, who was by then badly burnt, struck Kerista with his pick. Another burnt giant moved into melee, and missed Drithnar, and the one at the back kept throwing spears, but missed.
Drithnar slew his attacker with a quick slice of his war razor, and then pierced Galenmir’s arm with his sword. The giant yelled out in pain, and again as Kerista struck him with her earthbreaker, blessed with Smite Evil. Navan pierced the spear-throwing giant with two crossbow bolts, and Ruh cast a mighty Orb of Cold which shattered against Galenmir’s face, killing him!
The companions then all rushed the spear-throwing giant, and finished him off. They were victorious!
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Fireday, Sarenith 8th, 4708 (continued)
A tiny threat
After the group had slain the last giant, Navan started healing the wounds of his companions. But as he did that, he and Drithnar noticed that a small creature had crept close to the entrance of the feast hall, from the tunnel through which the female giant had fled. Drithnar charged the creature and slashed it with his blades, while Navan yelled to warn the two women.
Their foe turned out to be the little kobold that Conna had warned them about. She looked like an unimpressive enemy indeed: short and thin, she had red scales, fought with a simple spear and wore a primitive breastplate shaped like the skull of an animal. Still, Drithnar felt that she was very resilient, and she suffered only minor wounds from his attacks. The creature then snatched a red gem from her necklace and threw it at the rest of the group with a snarl. A fireball exploded around Navan, Kerista and Ruh. Navan managed to avoid it completely by ducking behind an overturned table, and the two women dodged away from the center of the blast as well, suffering only superficial burns.
Drithnar continued fighting the kobold, who then started striking back with her spear. They both wounded each other. The little creature was roaring like a tiny berserker. Kerista ran toward the melee, throwing a javelin ahead of her and grazing the kobold. Meanwhile, Navan healed Ruh with a wand, and the mage cast a Dispel Magic on the kobold, which had no visible effect.
Finally, Kerista reached the melee as the kobold was starting to get very badly wounded: Drithnar had slashed her in more than half a dozen places. With a roar, Kerista swung her earthbreaker at the little barbarian… and the kobold disappeared!
“It’s gone!” said Navan.
“Damnation! What sorcery is this??” said Drithnar.
The two men, as well as Ruh, looked around carefully, trying to determine if the little creature had turned invisible.
“No, wait,” said Kerista, examining her massive earthbreaker more closely. “Here she is! Ewww, gross!”
Indeed, the little kobold had gotten completely crunched by the enormous weapon’s impact, and her broken body was impaled against the massive iron spikes.
“Oh, this is just too disgusting…” said Kerista with a grimace, as she started to peel off the kobold’s bloody remains from her weapon.
A few moments later, Drithnar held up his hand. “I hear something!” he whispered. “More enemies are coming, probably ogres!”
Attack of the tanners
The companions moved further back into the room to prepare for the upcoming battle, but Kerista hid next to the entrance to surprise the ogres. Soon after that, nine of the massive brutes entered the feast hall, shouting and laughing. They seemed strangely happy to be heading to battle, and the two men heard them say: “Finally, we can take a break from this stinking work!”
But the ogres’ mirth was soon cut short. They found themselves facing the towering shape of an enlarged Drithnar, who roared an intimidating challenge at them. Two of those in front of the group started shaking with fear, as they realized that several of the giants, including the mighty Galenmir himself, had already been slain by the enormous human and his allies. Another one of the ogres fled the room altogether, running toward the entrance pit.
Two of the ogres charged Drithnar, but missed him. Two others noticed Kerista behind them, and attacked her, with no more success. The two enlarged humans simply parried their clumsy attacks easily. Navan shot some arrows into the crowd of enemies. Kerista killed one of her foes, while Drithnar, who moved like a huge whirlwind of deadly blades, beheaded both of his enemies. Ruh then unleashed one of her mighty fireballs into the center of the room, killing three more of the ogres!
While Drithnar finished off a seventh ogre, Navan shot the one who was fleeing toward the pit in the back, severely wounding him, and Ruh flew after him, while Kerista chased the last one, who had fled back the way they had come from. Ruh got within range of the ogre as he was climbing the pit’s ramp, shouting a warning in a panting voice, and she silenced him with an Orb of Cold. The ogre fell to the floor, dead. Roars erupted from a nearby cave, and Ruh saw two enormous bears emerge from the cave. She shot one of them with another orb, and fled back toward the feast hall, where Navan was healing Drithnar. Kerista also came back from the southern tunnel.
“That ogre got away, I couldn’t catch him,” she said, panting. “He took the kobold’s body, too!”
“Incoming!” piped Ruh. “Two of those big bears!”
The two massive bears emerged into the cave, which was by now littered with enormous corpses, namely five stone giants and seven ogres, many of which were badly burnt. Ruh shot a bear with another Orb of Cold, and one of the bears rushed Drithnar, clawing him on the leg. Navan moved behind the ranger and healed him with his wand. Drithnar retaliated against the bear, and Kerista joined him, also battering the beast with her weapon. The second bear reached Kerista and mauled her violently, also biting her shoulder with its vice-liked jaws. It tried to wrestle her to the ground, but after an intense struggle, the powerful paladin pushed back the massive beast.
Ruh shot another orb at the first bear, killing it, and the two warriors turned their attacks on the second bear, which ended up getting its skull smashed by Kerista.
The group then took a break from the intense sequence of battles they had just done: five giants, a kobold barbarian, nine ogres and two dire bears, without any pause! Navan healed each person in turn with his wand of Cure Light Wounds.
Then, Drithnar warned his friends: “I hear some giants… near the entrance… Let me go take a look.”
Conna’s treachery
The ranger quietly approached the entrance and discovered that a third bear was standing on the ramp, casually devouring the corpse of the ogre Ruh had slain there. But of more immediate concern were the two stone giants who stood at the entrance to Conna’s shrine.
“Why did you bring those prisoners here, Conna?” asked one of them in the giant tongue.
“I told you, Lord Mokmurian wants me to perform a special ritual…”
“Nonsense!” interrupted the first giant. “We heard noises and saw the bodies in the feast hall. What’s going on here, Conna?”
Drithnar rounded the corner and faced the giants, displaying his bloody weapons threateningly. “Oh, some of us are just having a little giant-killing party,” he said with a wicked grin.
The eyes of the two giant soldiers went wide as they stared at the enlarged human. One of them turned and fled toward the dragon cave. The other seemed like he was about to put up a fight, but when he noticed his companion had deserted him, he fled after him.
Drithnar sprinted after them, shouting for his companions to come to his aid. He soon stopped, though, having reached a large cave whose walls were blackened with soot and whose floor was marked with deep scratches. A sour smell of sulfur hung in the air. The dragon cave… Drithnar remembered quite vividly the dangerous fight where he and Ruh had faced Longtooth over the Sandpoint cathedral…
His companions soon burst into the room. “There were two stone giants threatening Conna,” he growled. “They got away.”
From the tunnel opening in the far side of the room, they heard the echoes of worried voices, some giantish and some sounding strangely human, as well as the roars of two furious dragons.
“Well, they know we’re here now,” said Navan. Indeed, they had passed the zone that he’d cast silence on.
The group got ready for a fight, but their enemies did not attack them. They discussed sending Drithnar to scout ahead, invisible, but Ruh argued against it, reminding her companions that dragons, with their acute sense of smell, would probably be able to detect even an invisible person.
After a few minutes, it became obvious that the lamias and their minions would not attack them. Perhaps they were waiting for the adventurers to make the first move? The characters heard distant noises from above: it seemed that the giants on the surface now knew that the underground level was being attacked, so the characters decided to hurry and try to find the rest of the prisoners.
“If we find them, we can try to all teleport out,” said Navan.
“What about Conna?” asked Kerista. “We have to bring her too, she won’t be safe here anymore.”
“Yes, we’ll bring her too.”
So the companions returned to the feast hall, this time with Conna, Mayor Deverin, Zanyk and the dwarf following them. They went down the southern passageway, which the kobold and the ogres had come from. They passed a cave with a fur curtain serving as a door, which Conna identified as Galenmir’s room. The companions quickly examined it, but found no sign of enemies. They then reached a cave filled with carefully sorted piles of junk, which had been the quarters of Enga, the kobold. The tiny hammock that was hanging between two stalagmites would now remain unused forever…
Another tunnel led further into the caves, to the east, but the companions also spotted a much narrower fissure leading to the southwest. Conna did not know what it was for. Ruh explored it briefly, but found nothing there except icky slugs and spiders. The passage seemed to go on for a long distance.
After having passed another room which had been a tannery operated by the ogres, and now empty, the companions entered the forge. Around four massive anvils were set many human-sized cages, from each of which some bellows could be used: the prisoners could work at the forge while remaining in their dirty cages.
The companions were pleased to see that the cages contained the last three Sandpoint prisoners: Ibor Thorn, Fendris, and Zanyk’s wife Elvondra. Also there were four pitiful dwarves who’d had their beards shaved.
The prisoners all brightened up and cheered quietly at their saviors. They were also relieved to see that the mayor was still alive. Once Navan was done picking all the locks, the four dwarven miners were reunited with their expedition leader (who had miraculously escaped the indignity of getting his beard shaved), and the husband and wife kissed passionately. Fendris thanked Kerista profusely; he had worshipped her since her very first day as an adventurer, but now, truly, she was the wonderful heroine who had saved him from the giant’s torment. Smiling warmly, the kind paladin hugged the skinny young lad to comfort him, despite the dark glare that Drithnar was shooting in their direction.
“Is this a prisoner you made?” asked Ibor Thorn, pointing at Conna.
“Oh, no,” replied Ruh, “this is Conna the Elder, she is wise and very nice. She’s our friend now, and she’s coming to Sandpoint with us!”
“But… but… will one of those creatures really be welcome in Sandpoint?” asked the man with a tone of disbelief.
“Yes, she will be,” replied Mayor Deverin confidently.
“So Navan, you’re sure you can work that Teleport spell too?” asked Drithnar.
“Yes,” replied the cleric. “Desna has opened up this powerful prayer to me recently. I will be able to help Ruh move us all out of here.”
“So you’re positive you’ll be able to get us back to Sandpoint safely?”
“Yes, yes, it’s perfectly safe! Well, as safe as we’d be with Ruh!”
Return to Sandpoint
So the companions divided everyone into small groups. Ruh reduced Conna by magic to be able to transport her more easily. She then formed a circle with Mayor Deverin and the couple, and they disappeared. At the same time, Navan did the same with Ibor, Fendris and Conna.
They all appeared in the main hall of Sandpoint’s cathedral. A few of the villagers who were present gasped in surprise when they saw the eight people appear out of the thin air, and a great cheer went up when they realized that the heroes had returned with Mayor Deverin, and some of the other villagers!
Navan calmed down the few people who’d reacted with fear at the sight of the stone-skinned Conna, explaining that she was an ally against the evil lord of the giants. Milenken and father Andrall rushed to heal the badly battered prisoners. Milenken gasped when he saw the terrible burnt Sihedron rune on the mayor’s abdomen.
“I’m sorry, Mayor Deverin, I… I don’t think I’ll be able to heal that!”
The woman smiled grimly, and there was unflinching determination in her eyes. “It’s all right, my friend. Just patch us up as best as you can. Though I may bear this evil mark for the rest of my life, at least, we’ve been saved by our heroes. Be ready: they are about to bring more of the giants’ prisoners.”
Indeed, Navan and Ruh teleported back to the forge below Jorgenfist. Ruh shrunk Kerista by magic, and teleported her and two dwarves back to Sandpoint, while Navan took the other three dwarves. Only Drithnar courageously remained behind.
Once they appeared in Sandpoint, Navan collapsed to his knees. He was weary from the great expenditure of power; he could use no more of Desna’s divine magic for the day. Ruh was also very tired, but she knew she had to get back to get her friend.
“I’ll be right back,” she assured the people gathered around her. “I just need to make one last visit to Fort Rannick.”
And she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
After a short silence, Navan turned toward Kerista. “Wait. Did she say Fort Rannick?”
A group of Hellknights watched the little gnome with puzzled expressions behind their grim masks when she appeared in the middle of the courtyard.
“Little one,” said one of them in a deep voice, “what brings you to our fortress this day?”
“What… Huh?” said Ruh in a confused voice as she looked around, her big eyes blinking rapidly. “Oh, skunk tail! I meant Jorgenfist, not Fort Rannick!”
And with that, she cast the spell again and vanished before the flabbergasted Hellknights…
… and appeared in an underground forge. But not the right one. The walls of the room were adorned with hideous frescoes of demons eating people, and around her stood many strange-shaped anvils, which were being used by a dozen pale, disheveled, bleary-eyes gnomes dressed in rags and bound in heavy chains. Around them stood several elves dressed in elaborate armor, and who wore cruel expressions of disdain. Strangely enough, through her darkvision, Ruh got the impression that the skin of those strange elves was jet-black. Surely that could not be…
One of the elves saw her and pointed in her direction, speaking in a flowing language that was both musical and utterly foul. Ruh’s heart started to constrict with fear as the evil elves closed in around her. She wanted to save some of her captive kindred, but there was just no time. She hastily muttered the incantation of the Teleport spell again, and vanished just in time!
“Ah, Ruh, you made it. Let’s get out of here!” said Drithnar.
“No Drithnar it was horrible first I went to Fort Rannick by mistake and then I went into a weird forge that was like this one but bigger but with also some gnomes who were prisoners it was horrible they were all thin and bruised and miserable I think they were even whipping them those elves those evil elves with the black skin and they also tried to capture me and I…”
“Wow, wow, slow down!” said the ranger, holding up a placating hand. “Elves with black skin?? Ruh, have you been smoking some of Navan’s weed?”
“No I’m telling you it was awful we have to go back we have to go back and save them come on we have to…”
“No, come on, let’s just return to Sandpoint and take it from there! You hardly have any energy left in you, I can already see some smoke coming out of your ears!”
With a sigh, Ruh realized that her friend was right. Using the last ounce of her energy, she teleported the two of them to the safety of the Sandpoint cathedral.
By then, it was late in the evening. Ruh feebly tried to convince her companions that there were evil black-skinned elves in an underground forge somewhere, who held some gnomes captive, but not only did they not believe her, she had no idea how to get back there: it had been a fluke that she’d teleported herself there in the first place!
Alas, her little kinsmen were doomed to remain prisoners for now…
Many of the townsfolk had been roused even at this late hour, and had gathered in the cathedral to welcome the rescued prisoners and congratulate their heroes once again. There was some sadness when it was announced that two of the townsfolk had died, but at least Mayor Deverin was back, and things had a chance of returning to normal.
The only person who didn’t seem happy to see her was, obviously, Titus Scarnetti. In a petulant voice, he asked the adventurers if they’d found the rest of his money, to which Navan and Drithnar answered with very rude words and gestures. Only the patient and diplomatic Kerista half-heartedly assured the nobleman that they’d try to find his stolen money.
The companions were also applauded by their old friend Ameiko, as well as by her pale, but now freshly resurrected fiancé, Belven.
“I don’t think I’ll try to fight Stone Giants again in the future,” he said with a painful smile. “I’ll leave that kind of heroics to you four.”
Ameiko looked up at him and smiled, and then turned to the four companions. “Thank Shelyn that we can count on you to save us. You look exhausted, please, join us at the manor tonight. We’ll make sure you get cleaned up, and you’ll have a safe and comfortable place to sleep.”
“Thanks, can Conna come too?” asked Kerista.
“Yes, yes of course. She can sleep in the main hall, I’m afraid we don’t have beds quite big enough for her,” said Ameiko, who bowed and introduced herself to the towering giantess.
Starday, Sarenith 9th, 4708
Stone-talker
The following morning, the companions did indeed feel much refreshed. They had breakfast with Ameiko and Belven, and they were later joined by Father Zantus, Sheriff Hemlock, and Brodert Quink, who’d all come to enquire about the latest developments. While Navan and Kerista told the tale of the previous day, Ruh found herself chatting with Mr. Quink and Conna. The old sage was fascinated by the giantess. His previous attempt at finding out more information about the old light from a giant had been cut abruptly short, when the companions had rudely barged in to save his life.
Conna told them that the elders of her people were able to speak with the stones. She guessed that Mokmurian must have wanted to speak with a stone from the ancient ruin here, though she knew not why. The companions decided to go visit the Old Light with her. As they walked there, Mr. Quink was moving excitedly at their side, obviously very happy.
Once there, Conna placed her hands on one of the ruin’s large stones, closed her eyes, and hummed a strange melody.
After some time, she turned back toward the people gathered there and told them: “This ruin was once a great weapon of war built by the humans.”
“I KNEW it!!” exclaimed Mr. Quink.
“It could shoot great beams of fire up to a mile in distance.”
“Yes!! YES!!! THANK YOU!!! I’ve been saying that for years!!! Ah, if only those fools at the academy could hear us now! Oh, would you please come with me to Magnimar and tell them??”
The wise stone giantess smiled patiently at the excited old man. “I am not sure I am quite ready to be submerged so deeply within your hectic culture yet, kind little man. And besides, we have more pressing matters to attend to. Is there anything special you would like me to ask the stone?” she asked the companions.
They made a few suggestions, and after some time, Conna told them that the ruin dated back to the Thassilonian era, as they had guessed. There had once been a great war between two greatly powerful human mages. Buildings such as this one had been built as guardians of their lands. This very building had been in tune with a powerful human named Xaliasa, who had been its caretaker.
But some day, the entire earth shook, and many stones were shattered and died. The land was forever changed. The realms of the petty humans crumbled to dust, and the tower fell into disrepair, and then ruin as the millennia passed. Now, only ancient, long-lost magic could rebuild the tower.
The stone said that there were catacombs below it, which were inhabited. Two passages led to them, one from the south and one from the east. When asked if any humans lived below, the stone answered strangely: “I don’t know.”
But the characters did not have time to investigate further. Though they had freed the prisoners, the threat of Mokmurian’s army was still looming on the horizon. They prepared themselves, gave their farewell to Conna, Ameiko, Mr. Quink and the others, and teleported back into the kobold’s room.
Return to Jorgenfist
Everything was quiet… Ruh enlarged the two warriors, and they quickly searched the chamber, finding nothing of value. They then explored north and entered the feast hall. They immediately noticed that all the corpses had been removed, and that two stone giants and a dire bear were standing guard near the north entrance. The foes shouted in alarm when they spotted the heroes, and a combat began.
Navan blessed his companions while the two giants threw stones, one which missed Kerista, the other which hit Drithnar on the shoulder. Ruh then cast a Maximized Fireball at the enemies. The two giants managed to jump to the side to avoid most of the burns, but the bear was seared painfully. Drithnar and Kerista waited for the bear to approach them. Drithnar cast a Bear’s Endurance spell on himself, and Kerista threw a javelin at the beast, who then charged her and clawed her armor.
Navan shot a volley of crossbow bolts at the bear, staggering it. The giants were staying behind and still throwing boulders at the companions, managing to wound both of the warriors. More giants could be heard coming from the corridor now. Ruh cast another Fireball, which killed the bear and wounded the giants. Drithnar and Kerista charged forward, and Drithnar drove his blades into the body of one of the giants, grievously wounding him.
Two more giants then entered the room. One threw a rock that hit Drithnar, and the other hit Kerista with a powerful blow from his club. The other two giants also attacked with their clubs, one of which badly wounded Kerista. Navan cast a Prayer on the combatants, while Ruh cast Haste on the group. Drithnar slew one of the first two giants, and then turned toward one of the newcomers and sliced him mercilessly with his blades, cutting badly into his abdomen and arms. Kerista also struck some mighty blows on another giant.
Navan approached behind Drithnar and healed him. Kerista got struck by a club, and Drithnar got hit by two strong blows from his adversary, as well as by a rock from the last giant in the hallway. He suffered tremendous wounds and almost perished from the onslaught.
Ruh, who was still using an Overland Flight spell, flew forward and cast a Maximized Lightning Bolt at the three giants who now stood in a straight line. The terrible shock killed one of the giants and badly wounded the others. While Navan healed Drithnar again, desperately trying to keep him alive, the ranger killed another giant, and Ruh finished off the last one with an Orb of Cold.
Panting from the deadly combat, the two badly wounded warriors regained their breath while Navan healed them. Thankfully, no other enemies joined the fray. The group then followed the bloody tracks that led back to the pit and noticed that some of the bodies had been brought to the pit, some had been brought to the dragon cave, and some had been brought to the Sihedron temple. They then double-backed and searched the kitchen, finding large quantities of meat, including some remains of elves, dwarves and humans, as well as a large barrel labeled “Candy” in giant, which contained eyes of members of those three races, floating in foul-smelling brine…
Next, they searched Galenmir’s room and found that he had killed many brave warriors in his life, and had collected trophies from those victories. The beards of a hundred dwarves were being kept neatly folded on a shelf, along with pieces of shattered armors, and thirty-three shields, each showing the emblem of a human, dwarven or elven warrior. One of those was magical, and the group took it. Also as a trophy was the partially preserved head of a mean-looking frost giant.
The companions then returned to the tannery and quickly slew the last lonely ogre who’d been hiding there. They passed through the forge, and through the giant guards’ bedroom, both of which were empty. They then reached an intersection. According to the map Conna had drawn for them, ahead of them were the trolls guarding the way to Lord Mokmurian’s lair, and to the left was the Lamia’s temple. From there, Drithnar could hear some voices, some of giants and some of women.
The Shrine of the Lamias
The heroes prepared for battle by casting some defensive magic such as Resist Fire, Displacement on Drithnar and Shield Other on Kerista. They then charged ahead and entered the temple. It was a large cave, filled with eerie purple smoke that had a strange metallic smell. They found themselves facing three giants, including the cook. They had a look of final resolve in their eyes, as though they expected to die in this battle. Also present were two vicious-looking red dragons, large but not quite as large as Longtooth. In the back of the cave were two creatures with the upper bodies of beautiful human women, and the lower bodies of lions. They looked thoroughly wicked, and several mirror images glimmered around each one.
One of them started to speak to the characters, but was cut short by their brutal attack, and the unmistakable gleam of vengefulness in the heroes’ eyes. There would be no quarter in this fight.
Drithnar struck the first blow of the fight against one of the giants. Navan cast a Prayer around his companions and the giants. The giant missed Drithnar with his club, and was hit again, this time by Kerista. Ruh cast a Haste on the group, and then both dragons moved closer and unleashed their deadly inferno upon the group. Drithnar evaded all the damage, but the three others suffered grievous burns, despite their magical protection.
Behind the line of melee, the two other giants threw boulders at the enlarged warriors, but missed. And the two lamias chanted prayers to dispel the magic around the companions. Alas, many useful effects vanished, such as Drithnar’s Displacement, Kerista’s Shield Other and Haste, Navan’s Haste and Ruh’s Mage Armor.
Drithnar continued to attack the first giant, while Navan stepped back into the tunnel and healed himself: he was seriously wounded. The giant retaliated and smashed Kerista with two strong blows. The brave paladin grimaced from the pain, but continued fighting, and she struck down the giant with her mighty weapon, and cleaved against one of the dragons, which had moved into melee range. Behind her, Ruh cast a Maximized Fireball at the enemies, hitting both lamias and the second male giant in the blast.
But then, the two dragons shrieked in fury and attacked Kerista, slashing her mercilessly with their claws, and driving their teeth into weak spots between the plates of her armor. The deadly creatures’ attacks were too much even for such a powerful paladin as Kerista, and she fell to the floor, bleeding from countless wounds. Only by Sarenrae’s divine intervention did she still cling to life, albeit barely.
Things were not going well for the heroes, and they got only worse. The female giant threw a boulder at Drithnar, which almost dislocated his shoulder. Meanwhile, the two Lamias were still casting spells. One of them tried to do something to Drithnar, but thankfully, he resisted it. But the other created a zone of silence around the companions, disrupting their spellcasting.
Seeing that everything was lost, Drithnar quickly grabbed hold of Kerista’s unconscious body and dragged her away from the melee, just as Navan moved yet further back into the corridor and managed to dispel the magical silence. Ruh knew that she had to provide an escape for her friends. But her arms were too short, they were too far away. She cast a Quickened Enlarge spell on herself, managed to grasp both Drithnar and Navan, and she then uttered the incantation of the Teleport spell, just as the dragon’s jaws were about to close in on Kerista.
Old friends
Once again, pandemonium erupted in the usually peaceful cathedral as the four heroes appeared abruptly, Navan and Ruh badly burnt, Drithnar grievously wounded and Kerista unconscious and bleeding from many wounds. Navan rushed to the paladin’s help and healed her wounds. Kerista gasped as she recovered her senses, and when she realized what happened, she grabbed Drithnar’s hand for comfort. Her lover knelt at her side and caressed her hair.
“My friends, are you all right?” asked Father Zantus.
The four companions looked up at him, and they did not need to answer his rhetorical question. It was obvious that things were indeed not all right.
“No, father,” replied Kerista with a trembling voice. “We were defeated by the vile Lamias and their dragon minions.”
This had only been the group’s second defeat, the first having been their initial fight against Malfeshnekor. If it hadn’t been for Ruh’s quick action, they would likely have perished in the caves below Jorgenfist.
They argued for some time about the powers of the Lamias and their dragons. The dragons’ breath had been more deadly then they’d anticipated, and the Lamias’ magic had sabotaged them. There had been too many enemies. It seemed like a fight they could not possibly have won.
Drithnar and Navan discussed strategies and argued for some time, but eventually came to the conclusion that they might not be able to perform better than they had. Those enemies together were simply too powerful a force.
“There were just too many of them,” said Navan. “Too many for just the four of us. We can’t do this by ourselves anymore. We can’t be the only ones who’ll step up and try to save Varisia.”
“That really sounds like a job opportunity for a thrill-seeking archer,” said a woman’s voice behind him.
The companions turned and recognized two familiar figures who had just entered the church.
“It doesn’t look like Sandpoint’s in any immediate danger after all, so we were thinking that you all could use the help of two old friends,” said Shalelu with a smile.
By her side, Jakardros nodded darkly. “You do not need to fight alone. You can count on the two of us to aid you in this perilous mission.”
“Thank you, friends,” replied Navan. “It looks like we might indeed need some help against Mokmurian’s dreaded minions.”
“And I heard something about some dragons?” asked Jakardros, arching his eyebrow. “You know, I really hate dragons…”
“Yeah, well, I’m starting to really hate them too!’ replied Drithnar with a grin.
“Me… too…” groaned Kerista as she gingerly touched her bloodstained breastplate.
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Starday, Sarenith 9th, 4708 (continued)
Getting help from Magnimar
The companions decided to visit some of the powerful and helpful people they’d encountered during their adventures, hoping to get more help in trying to defeat the vile Lord Mokmurian and his minions.
Navan and Kerista teleported together to Magnimar. They appeared in the hovel where they had hidden one night, right after they’d captured the traitorous Justice Ironbriar. A woman and three children, all very dirty and dressed in rags, seemed very surprised and scared to see the two heroes appear in their “house”. Kerista spoke soothingly, and offered them some money, and then she and Navan made their way to the Arvensoar.
There, they asked to speak to either Captain Uriana or Goldar, Kerista’s brother. After waiting for about an hour, Captain Uriana returned from some urgent business elsewhere in town. She seemed pleased to see the two heroes, and Navan smiled brightly at her. Kerista noticed that her usually stoic friend seemed to truly enjoy the beautiful red-haired captain’s presence.
Captain Uriana invited the two adventurers into her office, where she offered refreshments and chocolates to them. They explained to her their mission, and the resistance they’d encountered in Jorgenfist. They added an important piece of information that Conna had revealed to them: a tribe of frost giants was also on its way from the land of the Linnorm Kings, and once they arrived at Jorgenfist, Mokmurian would launch his assault. They asked her if she had any elite troops she could spare to help them, or if she herself would be willing to join their mission.
The captain considered this very seriously. She informed the companions that many troops from Magnimar had already been deployed to the north, around Ravenmoor, to secure the region and form defenses against a possible giant attack. More troops had been sent to the east, because the rival city-state of Korvosa was also aware of the impending giant attack, and was already mustering troops to try and gain an advantage from the resulting chaos. Captain Uriana informed Kerista that Goldar was with those troops.
After some discussion, the captain agreed to personally join the group for the dangerous mission. As an expert archer and scout, she was among Magnimar’s best fighters. The companions sensed that, though she took her duties to the city very seriously, she also greatly respected the companions and their adventuring lifestyles, and seemed to want to share some of the fun. She asked them to give her the rest of the day to set things in order. She also informed them that, in recent days, she had led a team of city guards in an operation that seized a large quantity of stolen goods from a group of Sczarni thieves. Unfortunately, their leader, one Jubrayl Vhiski, had managed to escape, but among the goods recovered was the fortune that had been stolen from the Valdemar family during the giant raid on Sandpoint. At least, justice would be served and the family would recover their stolen belongings.
During the afternoon, Navan and Kerista sold some of the items they’d obtained so far during the adventure, and they went to the Stone of the Seers to purchase some scrolls that Ruh had asked for. Later, they returned to the Arvensoar. Captain Uriana was ready for them, and they teleported with her back to Sandpoint.
Getting help from Galduria
Meanwhile, Ruh and Drithnar teleported to Galduria and appeared in the grand hall of the Twilight Academy. They were brought to see Sebania Mallis; when they entered the room, she was playing some beautiful music on her harp, while other elves sang and played the flute. Ruh was enchanted by the beautiful music, but Drithnar impatiently strode into the room and interrupted the elves.
Sebania, a beautiful dark-haired elven woman with tiny blue gems set in her hair, smiled patiently at the ranger’s abrupt appearance, and greeted the companions warmly. In a cascade of hastily spoken words, Ruh explained to her the group’s mission so far, and the adversaries they had fought. They needed more people if they could ever hope to get through Mokmurian’s sea of minions and put an end to his reign of terror.
The elegant enchantress seemed somewhat taken aback by the request, but she understood the dire need of the heroes – all of Varisia was indeed in danger, and the lives of countless innocents could be saved by a powerful group of combatants. At that time, Melrod Griggock, the dwarven necromancer, entered her apartments, having heard some of what Ruh had said. Unlike the enchantress, he seemed uncaring about Varisia’s plight. With a wicked grin, he said that the deaths of thousands of people mattered little to a necromancer – they just gave him more toys to play with.
The two companions noticed a strong tension between the two professors of Twilight Academy. Clearly, they did not see eye to eye on many issues. Sebania asked them to give her some time to consider the way forward – and to contact Ralazan Stormcloud, the university’s third master, who was currently away on a mission. For one hour, the companions discussed with some other, less experienced wizards, and finally, they were called back to Sebania’s quarters. She agreed to go with them on the dangerous mission. She was holding her familiar, a gray-furred cat named Dweemer, in one arm. She held out her other delicate silk-gloved hand to Ruh, and the little mage teleported the three of them to Sandpoint.
Interesting guests
That evening, Ameiko was thrilled to host a dinner for so many illustrious guests: the four heroes of Sandpoint, as well as Shalelu and Jakardros, the veteran rangers; Captain Acacia Uriana, head of the Magnimar city guard; mistress Sebania Mallis, the distinguished and refined enchantress of Twilight Academy; and of course, Conna, the mysterious stone giant elder. She heard many fascinating tales from each of them. Belven was also quite relieved to hear that his family’s belongings had been recovered by Captain Uriana’s team, and that they would be returned during the next few days.
Sebania discussed at great length with Conna, and seemed fascinated to learn so much from stone giant culture – her previous encounter with a member of the race had been a charmed brute, much less knowledgeable than the wise elder. Navan also got the chance to learn to know Captain Uriana better. Though she had an assertive personality and was used to being in charge, she behaved well in a team, and quickly asked her new companions to simply call her “Acacia”. She was a smart, charming woman, who easily got along with the rest of the group – with the exception of Shalelu. Indeed, the elven archer seemed to view the newcomer as a rival. Navan was reminded of her reluctance to accept Jakardros’s apologies upon their return to Fort Rannick, six months before. Though she was an elf, she could sometimes behave as stubbornly as a dwarf. She did not make friends easily, and people truly had to prove themselves to her before she was able to trust them.
Kerista looked at the exchange between Shalelu and the others, and she felt pain for her ranger friend. She understood, perhaps better than Shalelu herself, the source of her resistance: the elf felt jealous of the way Navan looked at Acacia. Perhaps Shalelu did not dare to admit that she had feelings for Navan; she was too gruff to act upon them, perhaps she was afraid that they were a sign of weakness. But Kerista knew that the closer Navan and Acacia became, the greater would be Shalelu’s pain.
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Here are the NPC’s who are coming along to help defeat Lord Mokmurian.
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Jakardros Sovark (CG Male Human Ranger Level 9) – Worships Desna
Str: 11 Dex: 15 Con: 14 Int: 11 Wis: 14 Cha: 9; AC: 18, HP: 80
Height: 5’10”. Weight: 160 lbs, Age: 49, Date of birth: Calistril 6, 4659
Feats: Track, Endurance, Manyshot, Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Big Game Hunter.
Skills: Balance 5, Climb 3, Craft: Bowmaking 8, Handle Animal 11, Hide 13, Knowledge: Nature 10, Ride 12, Spot 14, Survival 16, Swim 2.
Main gear: Shocking Composite Longbow +1, Masterwork Chain Shirt, Longsword, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Ring of Protection +1.
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Shalelu Andosana (CG Female Elf Fighter/Ranger, Level 4/4) – Worships Desna
Str: 12 Dex: 17 Con: 14 Int: 10 Wis: 13 Cha: 8; AC: 19, HP: 75
Height: 5’10”. Weight: 120 lbs, Age: 158, Date of birth: Lamashan 12, 4549
Feats: Dodge, Endurance, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Track, Weapon Focus: Composite Longbow, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Specialization: Composite Longbow.
Skills: Balance 8, Climb 8, Hide 11, Knowledge: Nature 9, Spot 11, Survival 12, Swim 7.
Main gear: Studded Leather +1, Composite Longbow +1 (+1 str), Masterwork Shortsword, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Shocking Burst Arrow +2, Ring of Protection +1.
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Captain Acacia Uriana (LG Female Human Rogue/Fighter, Level 5/4) – Worships Abadar
Str: 14 Dex: 20 Con: 12 Int: 12 Wis: 10 Cha: 12; AC: 22, HP: 68
Height: 5’7”. Weight: 130 lbs, Age: 27, Date of birth: Calistril 15, 4681
Attractive woman with long red hair and green eyes, dressed in a white, red and black officer’s uniform adorned with the emblem of Magnimar. She carries a magnificent silver bow.
Feats: Investigator, City Born, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Track, Weapon Focus: Composite Longbow, Weapon Spec: Composite Longbow.
Skills: Appraise 3, Bluff 6, Climb 5, Diplomacy 10, Disable Device 8, Escape Artist 6, Gather Information 18, Hide 12, Intimidate 6, Knowledge: Local 13, Open Lock 12, Search 11, Sense Motive 12, Sleight of Hand 6, Spot 8, Tumble 6, Use Magic Device 4, Use Rope 7.
Main gear: Composite Longbow +3 (+2 str), Masterwork Chain Shirt, Cold Iron Longsword, Silver Dagger, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +1.
= = = =
Sebania Mallis (NG Female Elf Wizard, Level 10) – Worships Shelyn
Specialized in Enchantment. Forbidden schools: Abjuration, Necromancy.
Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 12 Int: 24 Wis: 10 Cha: 18; AC: 14, HP: 46
Height: 5’8”. Weight: 120lbs, Age: 165, Date of birth: Pharasma 15, 4543
Beautiful woman with long black hair adorned with tiny blue gems, dark eyes, dressed in an elegant white and dark blue gown.
Feats: Scribe Scroll, Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Items, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Spell Focus: Enchantment, Quicken Spell.
Skills: Bluff 10, Concentration 14, Diplomacy 19, Gather Information 8, Knowledge: Local 13, Knowledge: History 9, Knowledge: Arcana 15, Knowledge: Royalty 11, Perform: Harp 12, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 22, Spot 6.
Main gear: Headband of Intellect +4, Cloak of Charisma +4, Amulet of Health +2, Boots of Levitation, Hat of Disguise, Ring of Protection +1, Bag of Holding Type 1, Wand of Daylight, Wand of Dimension Door.
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Sunday, Sarenith 10th, 4708
Altered Giants
The following morning, the companions prepared themselves for the assault on Jorgenfist. They cast a few enhancement spells on themselves, including Darkvision on every group member, and then, Ruh and Navan teleported everyone into the dungeon’s tannery.
Though the room was empty and dark, the foul smell of brine still hung heavy in the air. Everything was silent. The group decided to send Drithnar ahead as a scout. Sebania cast a Rary’s Telepathic Bond spell on herself, Drithnar, Navan and Kerista. The ranger, who’d been turned invisible, carefully made his way out of the room. To his left, he saw that two stone giants stood watch in the kobold’s room. They seem to be paying close attention to the small crack in the southwestern wall: perhaps the giants expected the companions to attack from there?
He continued to explore. Galenmir’s bedroom and the feast hall were empty. Once again, the corpses from their previous fight had been removed, and seemed to have been dragged toward the pit, the lamia’s temple, and the Sihedron temple. He followed the trail of dried blood leading to the doors of the Sihedron temple, but they were closed, and he did not try to open them, remembering that they were noisy.
Drithnar carefully entered the dragon’s room, and to his surprise, he saw the massive form of Lokansir standing watch there! For a moment, he tried to understand how it was possible. There was no mistaking him, it was really the same giant, who’d somehow gotten revived. Yet he seemed alive – not some zombie that could’ve gotten animated by a necromancer. Lokansir looked different – perhaps even more muscular than before. Now that Drithnar thought about it, the two stone giants in the kobold’s room had also looked more muscular, yet more desperate in their look. It was difficult to understand what had been done to them.
Through the telepathic link, Drithnar felt the same puzzlement from Navan, Kerista and Sebania. Ruh asked what was going on, only to be shushed by her companions. Drithnar returned toward the tannery, and went to examine the forge and the giants’ bedroom. The forge was empty, but in the giant’s bedroom stood five giants, one of which was Galenmir. Drithnar recognized them all as giants the group had fought before, who’d somehow been revived and possibly altered. With them was an enormous dire bear – a frighteningly large creature, by far the largest bear he’d ever seen. Surely this was the father of all bears. Drithnar dared not venture into the cave, lest the beast catch his scent.
The companions then discussed – mostly by telepathy – what strategy to use against their numerous revived enemies. They argued for a while, and before they could formulate a decisive plan of action, Drithnar, who was still standing watch at the crossroads, saw the bear’s head rise sharply, and heard the creature growl: it had finally caught his scent. The giants became agitated at his reaction, and Galenmir let out a powerful cry that echoed in the caverns: “They’re here, get ready!” he shouted in giantish.
Drithnar in the middle
Drithnar was not in a good position: he was at the intersection between several tunnels, and he now had two groups of giants coming at him from two sides, and his companions rushing ahead from a third tunnel. He readied his weapons and prepared to fight the enormous bear. When the beast approached, he slashed it powerfully, reappearing in the process. He was hit by a stone thrown by one of the giants in the kobold’s room.
Shalelu was the first to join him, and she looked around to see what the opposition was. Further back in the corridor, Ruh, who was flying again, cast a Haste spell on everyone and enlarged Drithnar. The bear mauled and bit Drithnar, who almost perished from the terrible wounds. One of the giants behind the bear threw a rock that hit Shalelu.
The others finally reached Drithnar. Navan and Kerista both healed him, while Jakardros and Acacia fired arrows at the bear. Sebania cast a Fireball at the two giants from the kobold’s room.
Drithnar fought on bravely, inflicting nasty wounds on the bear. He had been revived by his friends’ healing, and Ruh also cast Greater Invisibility on him, to protect him from the vicious beast’s attacks; indeed, it worked well, because all of the bear’s attacks missed their mark after that. Meanwhile, Shalelu, Acacia and Navan were shooting a volley of projectiles at the enormous bear, and it was finally felled by one of Navan’s bolts.
Behind the beast, the giants led by Galenmir had begun to retreat; the tunnels were cramped for the large creatures, and the enormous bear had taken all the space at the entrance of the cave. At the same time, the two giants from the kobold cave had entered a state of frenzy, and were moving very fast. One of them threw two rocks at Kerista, but she mightily batted them away with her earthbreaker. The paladin then rushed one of the giant and struck him. The brute struck back with two powerful blows from his club. Kerista reeled back from the impact, but the giant was slain by lightning-tipped arrows from Jakardros and Magic Missiles from Sebania before he could do more damage.
On the other side, Ruh flew after the fleeing giants. She reached an intersection and realized that they had split up: two of them had run toward the lamias’ temple, while three others, among which was Galenmir, were running to the tunnel that led to Mokmurian’s lair. Ruh fired a Maximized Fireball at those three, and then cast one of her most powerful spells after them: Cloudkill. Letting the cloud of foul yellowish vapors follow the fleeing giants, she returned to the scene of battle. Her companions had vanquished the last remaining giant.
The group had won the first fight, but time was of the essence; they started making their way back to the feast hall, and then toward the dragons’ room, while Navan and Kerista healed everyone’s wounds with their wands. Carefully, they entered the soot-darkened room, expecting to run into Lokansir, but the giant was not to be seen. The companions slowly made their way across the room, while Kerista was concentrating on the presence of evil. They’d feared that the massive giant had been waiting for them in the ground, but that was not the case. The companions then decided that the time had come: they were going to venture into the lamias’ temple for a second time!
The Shrine of the Lamias – part 2
The spell casters took the time to protect the whole group with many magical wards, including Protection/Resistance From Fire, Protection from Evil, Haste, Shield Other on Sebania and Drithnar, Stoneskin on Drithnar and Kerista, and Displacement on Drithnar.
The heroes burst into the temple, which was still filled with purple haze. Before them stood mighty enemies: Lokansir, the two red dragons, the two lamias, as well as two stone giants in the back. An epic battle begun!
Ruh started by casting a Solid Fog which enveloped all of their enemies except Lokansir and one lamia. Navan then cast a Silence on the area around that lamia. Then, through the fog, one of the dragons breathed fire on Navan, Drithnar, Kerista and Acacia, but they all evaded the flames altogether, except for Kerista, who suffered only superficial burns.
Meanwhile, Drithnar was facing the monstrous Lokansir, and he slashed him repeatedly with his powerful weapons, inflicting nasty wounds. Behind him, Sebania unleashed a Fireball on the creatures stuck in the fog, but soon after that, the fog disappeared, dispelled by a lamia. The second dragon then breathed fire on the whole group except Shalelu, who was furthest in the back, but again, everyone either evaded or took only minor damage due to their quick reflexes and magical protection. Shalelu, Jakardros and Acacia moved into position to fire, but only Acacia managed to hit Lokansir with an arrow. Kerista struck the closest dragon with powerful blows, augmented by her holy power of Smite Evil, and she almost killed it.
Lokansir roared thunderously and seemed to go in a frenzied state, much like the giants from the kobold’s cave, and the two giants in the back of the temple right now. Indeed, it seemed that whatever had resurrected the giants had also altered them to make them stronger, and given them this ability to act with great speed. The enormous giant struck powerful blows at Drithnar, which surely have slain him (and probably Navan, who had him shielded), had it not been for the mighty defensive magic protecting the ranger: Stoneskin and Displacement, which turned a deadly series of attacks into merely a dangerous one.
Ruh, flying above the melee, shot a Maximized Orb of Cold at Kerista’s dragon and finished it off. The creature fell to the purple-haze covered ground, roaring in frozen agony. Kerista moved to engage the next dragon, but she was struck by a heavy boulder thrown by one of the giants in the back; thankfully, part of the damage was absorbed by the Stoneskin spell. A few arrows shot by Acacia whistled by her and lodged themselves deeply into the dragon’s neck.
Navan cast another Silence spell, this time on the other lamia. The remaining dragon tried to bite Drithnar, but the ranger avoided the attack, and struck several more nasty blows on Lokansir. Then, the whole group was subjected to a Dispel Magic spell cast by the second lamia, who removed some of their magical enhancements, but nothing crucial disappeared.
Sebania then pointed at the massive shape of Lokansir and told it a simple joke in the tongue of giants. The brute started to howl with uncontrollable laughter, unable to fight or defend itself. Meanwhile, Kerista was battling the second dragon, inflicting terrible wounds upon it with her mighty earthbreaker. Vengeance gleamed in her eyes, as she was facing the creature that had almost killed her the previous day.
The first lamia tried to dispel Lokansir’s laughter, but the spell remained. Shalelu moved ahead and shot one of the giants in the back, but the brute retaliated with two massive boulders that both hit the elf, badly wounding her.
Ruh then cast another Maximized Orb of Cold, which killed the second dragon. Drithnar also finished off Lokansir, but their victory was matched by a terrible occurrence: one of the giants threw a boulder that struck Shalelu and smashed her against the cave wall, shattering her spine. She fell limply to the floor, dead.
“SHALELU!!!!” cried Jakardros.
The grizzled ranger could not believe what had just happened. Why, why? His dear Shalelu was dead… the person that meant most to him in the whole world… Why had it been her who’d been hit?
One of the lamias had retreated toward the far exit of the room, and, seeing that both dragons and Lokansir were dead, and that she was stuck in a third zone of silence that Navan had created, she fled. Sebania cast a Phantasmal Killer on a giant, but he only sustained minor damage from it. Kerista rushed him and struck with her weapon, and the other giant retaliated and struck her as well. Then, most of the group was plunged into silence, cast from the first lamia, who had retreated to the back of the cave, next to a sinister-looking altar.
Ruh flew back into the dragons’ cave and shot magic missiles at one of the giants, slaying it. Acacia and Navan shot arrows at the lamia, destroying some of the mirror images shimmering around her, and wounding her as well. Drithnar rushed the vile priestess, but she parried his attacks with her flail. Sebania moved further into the overlapping zones of silence that were by now covering most of the room, and she fired off a silent Scorching Ray at the remaining giant, who was then slain by Kerista.
Only one lamia remained. She fought Drithnar ferociously with her flail, her sanity-warping touch and the front claws of her lion’s body, but the ranger was so well protected by magic, and so mighty, that she was eventually slain.
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I'm catching up on my reading but had to post once I came to this little gem:
“I look at you, Morganthor,” she said, “and I see a great hand reaching across Golarion, and I hear millions of voices calling our your name.”
“My followers?” asked the boy hopefully.
“Your victims…” replied the paladin darkly.
Lol! I love it.
I could warn you, but you would not listen.
I could kill you, but another would take your place.
So I do the only thing I can do... I leave.
Technomage, eat your heart out ;)
Edit:
“Wow…” muttered the young boy. “You look AWESOME!”
oops... and here I thought you were leaving a string untied... hehe, guess not...
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Chimpman is back!! Awesome!!!!
And you got my Babylon 5 reference... You are the man! :)
I am so happy that you started reading my thread again and that you posted this message. The little wolf was crying because nobody had posted on his thread in almost 2 months. :(
The Morganthor character was an inside joke with my player, a reference to a campaign I DM'ed 2 years ago. The PC's had saved a few dozen people from danger, but suspected there might be a traitor among them. The paladin scanned the crowd for evil. Just for fun, I told him that he sensed evil from a little boy.
The kid was just a really, really nasty little brat who would likely turn out to become a dangerous person later. I thought it presented an interesting moral dilemma to the paladin: what do you do about it?
He decided to just let him go, and of course, I could not resist later giving them a vision of a future where the army of the Evil Overlord Morganthor was razing villages and killing thousands of innocent people. :)
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Oh man... I finally get caught up on this journal today, and this is where you leave me hanging?!? ;) Honestly I'm glad you kept the journal up because it is a wonderful story. Poor, poor Shalelu and Jarkadros.
Chimpman is back!! Awesome!!!!
And you got my Babylon 5 reference... You are the man! :)
Funny story, but it actually flashed in the back of my mind that you were making a Star Trek VI reference further up when Navan and Drithnar were talking about what to do with the ogres. "Don't believe them, don't trust them. They're animals!" I kept thinking was he, or was it my imagination. Then I stumbled upon the technomage quote and the grin was from ear to ear!
B5, by the way, is probably one of the greatest Sci-fi/fantasy stories of all time, and the technomancer scene with Molari is probably one of my favorites from the series.
Now, if you can just sneak in a Firefly quote the circle will be complete ;)
The Morganthor character was an inside joke with my player, a reference to a campaign I DM'ed 2 years ago. The PC's had saved a few dozen people from danger, but suspected there might be a traitor among them. The paladin scanned the crowd for evil. Just for fun, I told him that he sensed evil from a little boy.
The kid was just a really, really nasty little brat who would likely turn out to become a dangerous person later. I thought it presented an interesting moral dilemma to the paladin: what do you do about it?
He decided to just let him go, and of course, I could not resist later giving them a vision of a future where the army of the Evil Overlord Morganthor was razing villages and killing thousands of innocent people. :)
Well as soon as I read Kerista's encounter with the little monster, I thought you might do something exactly like you outlined above :D. But having the little menace meet Black Magga was totally unexpected!
So some questions... You mentioned that a friend was going to be taking over Drithnar. Has this happened already (meaning there are now 3 of you in this campaign)? And is this a long term event or will he just play Drithnar for a couple of gaming sessions?
Also about the NPCs that went with the PCs to fight the giants, are they all DM controlled or are the other players controlling them?
And Navan must be really dense. What is that boy's problem. I was curious to see how his little love triangel would play out, but I guess now it is a moot point :(
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Oh man... I finally get caught up on this journal today, and this is where you leave me hanging?!? ;) Honestly I'm glad you kept the journal up because it is a wonderful story. Poor, poor Shalelu and Jarkadros.
Hehe, don't worry, we're going to play another game this friday, so I should have a new update early next week. :)
B5, by the way, is probably one of the greatest Sci-fi/fantasy stories of all time, and the technomancer scene with Molari is probably one of my favorites from the series.
I agree totally. :)
Now, if you can just sneak in a Firefly quote the circle will be complete ;)
haha, I'll see what I can do. :D By the way, Kaylie from Firefly was a big influence when I created Kerista.
So some questions... You mentioned that a friend was going to be taking over Drithnar. Has this happened already (meaning there are now 3 of you in this campaign)? And is this a long term event or will he just play Drithnar for a couple of gaming sessions?
He's been playing Drithnar since the beginning of Fortress of the Stone Giants. He's doing a great job. Drithnar is just the character for him. He kicks a$$ in combat, and he's a very "in your face", "thrash-talking" kind of character. My friend really makes him come alive very nicely.
He's also rolling for Kerista and deciding what she does in battle (easing the load off of me), although I am still the one role-playing her.
Unfortunately, his presence in the Runelords campaign is only temporary. His wife & son are currently abroad until mid-september, and he's only playing with us due to his temporary "single guy" status. Due to several factors, it's harder for him to spend enough time away from his family to play weekly like my other player (who's also married /w kids) does.
We hope that we can get him to play in our Savage Tide campaign, though, since that one is only once every 2-3 weeks. I really hope it works out, because I love playing with him. He's a very enthusiastic person, who greatly helps in bringing an adventure to life.
Also about the NPCs that went with the PCs to fight the giants, are they all DM controlled or are the other players controlling them?
I'm role-playing all of them (albeit, rather scarcely due to the large number of NPCs to keep track of), but during the last game, Navan's player was controlling Jakardros and Drithnar's player was controlling Sebania. I was playing the other 2 (which alas, did not turn out so well for Shalelu :( ).
And Navan must be really dense. What is that boy's problem. I was curious to see how his little love triangel would play out, but I guess now it is a moot point :(
I'm pretty sure they will cast a Raise Dead on Shalelu when they have time. It might not be before the end of the module, though. We use a house rule for resurrection, you don't lose a level, but you need to rest for a (plot-dependant) long amount of time. So most likely, Shalelu will be out until the end of the adventure. We'll see if anything develops later.
Initially, I tried to have a romance develop between Shalelu and Navan at the beginning of Hook Mountain, but it did not work out. Navan is being played as a very serious, goal-oriented tactician, and also as a lone wolf with a very strong wanderlust. He does not easily get attached to people or places.
Actually, my player's been struggling with the concept of Navan for a while. He's not happy with the way the character's turning out. We are currently discussing a major overhaul of the character. I have some ideas of how to do it in game. It will likely take place between this adventure and the start of Sins of the Saviors. I hope I am able to pull it off successfully and that the character will be more fun for him to role-play.
How that will affect his relationship with both women, though, I am not sure. My player surprised me by telling me out of the blue that he wanted to recruit Captain Uriana, who had made a good impression on Navan during the Skinsaw Murders investigation. I had not seen this coming at all. :) But I liked that character too, so I agreed that she would go with the group, despite her many responsibilities in Magnimar.
I think their relationship could be interesting: Navan, pretty chaotic, a wanderer, and her, very lawful to Magnimar, with a strong sense of duty, order... yet a fiery personality...
We shall see where it goes. :)
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Sunday, Sarenith 10th, 4708 (continued)
A fallen friend
Jakardros knelt by Shalelu’s corpse for a few moments. A tear from his single eye poured down his cheek. It had all been so sudden. One moment, the courageous elf had stood defiant before the giants, firing arrows at them, and the next, she had been crushed by the impact of one of the gigantic boulders. Yet there was still hope for Jakardros: he knew that it was within Navan’s power to bring Shalelu back to life.
The scene took place in the complete silence that now permeated the whole shrine. Jakardros pulled Shalelu’s body back into the dragon’s cave, where the rest of the group joined him in mourning Shalelu.
Navan removed his feathered hat and looked at Jakardros grimly.
“There’s nothing I can do for her now, but I swear I will ask Desna to bring Shalelu back once we’ve finished this mission.”
“Thank you, friend,” replied the ranger.
Navan delicately placed his hands on Shalelu’s shoulder and forehead, and cast a Gentle Repose spell on her body. Kerista wept openly, and Drithnar put a comforting arm around her shoulder, also gripped by a powerful sadness at seeing his former mentor like this.
Then, the companions carried Shalelu’s body through the lamias’ shrine. Purple smoke still hung over the floor, and eerie faces of a three-eyed jackal, bright red, leered at the companions from the spiraling patterns of blue and purple that were painted on the cavern’s walls. The heroes recognized the symbol easily, for they’d seen it many times already: this was a temple of Lamashtu, the mother of monsters.
Jakardros and Drithnar followed the tracks of the lamia, and they saw that she had not gone down to Mokmurian’s lair, but rather, that she had circled the upper level and gone to the pit, and up toward Jorgenfist. Evidently, she’d gone to get reinforcements.
Longtooth, still furious because of Mokmurian’s bad treatment of him after his defeat in Sandpoint, refused to help the wizard defend his lair. He’s surveying the situation from his remote cave, now secretly hoping that these hated adventurers will kill Mokmurian (whom he hates even more).
Mokmurian was, of course, furious at the dragon’s refusal, yet he dared not confront him in battle, not wanting to use much of his energy, or suffer grievous wounds, because the intruders might return at any time. But he promised himself he would deal with the rebellious dragon once these pesky human heroes would be dealt with.)
The hidden trolls
The group hurried back toward the forge, and hid Shalelu’s body there for now. Then, they approached the corridor that led down to the deeper level of this place. The fireball that Ruh had cast earlier had burnt some of the fur curtains that decorated the crude hallway, and where they had once hung, the adventurers could see several deep holes in the walls. Fearing some kind of trap, Sebania summoned a Celestial Bison and sent it walking forward in the tunnel, toward the fur curtains that still remained, a bit further. After only a few moments, the creature was skewered by two large ranseurs that came out of some of the holes, one on each side of the corridor. The beast gave a painful cry, and fell loudly to the ground, dead.
Kerista concentrated, and felt an evil presence on each side, beyond the walls. Guessing that the remaining fur curtains hid the entrance to some caves to the sides, Drithnar and Navan tumbled forward together, avoiding most of the blows of the ranseurs, though one of them connected and painfully slashed Navan across the back.
The two men drew back the fur curtain to the left, and indeed, saw a short passage leading into a side cave. They burst inside and surprised a massive, hideous troll wearing a breastplate, who was aiming a ranseur at the hole.
The creature spat and cursed. “Aahh… Naaahhh… Stupids… You not supposed to come here!” he said in the giant tongue.
Drithnar rushed him, and he let go of the ranseur, facing the ranger with his claws and bared fangs. Drithnar’s blades cut deeply into his side, and Navan burned him with a Flame Strike spell. The troll shrieked in pain, and then bit Drithnar on the shoulder. Wincing from the wound, the ranger nevertheless retaliated with more strikes from his weapons, and Navan helped him finish off the troll with fiery crossbow bolts.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group had remained back in the hallway, expecting the other troll to come rushing out to help his comrade. He did not, but Navan and Drithnar went to pay him a visit, and started fighting him. This one succeeded in painfully rending Drithnar’s flesh with his claws, but the ranger survived, as he was sharing the damage with Navan. While the two men were fighting the troll, Sebania looked through one of the holes, and cast a spell that paralyzed the troll, enabling Drithnar to cut off his head easily.
The companions then burned the corpses of the trolls with several flasks of oil they’d purchased in Sandpoint specifically for that purpose, and searched the caves. They found a few items of interest, one of which was a magical gauntlet. They then returned to the shrine of Lamashtu and searched the corpses of their enemies, and found a few more magical items on the lamia priestess, as well as on the body of the kobold barbarian, which was lying close to the altar, in a corner. A few of their foes’ weapons and armor were magical, but much too large to be of any use to them, so they left them behind for now.
“Wait,” said Drithnar,” why don’t we take that magical bustier the lamia’s wearing? It would fit you when you’re enlarged, Kerista!”
The paladin giggled. “That’s not even armor! What good would it do?”
Drithnar winked. “Well… I was thinking more it could be something you could wear around the house.”
“Get a room, you two…” grunted Navan.
Deep below Jorgenfist
The group then decided to venture down into the tunnel that led toward Mokmurian’s inner sanctum, even though Ruh was almost completely drained of magical energy. The tunnel climbed down, and down, and down, for several hundred feet. Along the way, the rough-hewn stone walls gave way to worked stone that had a definite Thassilonian feel to it. Navan and Ruh smiled at each other.
Eventually, they reached the bottom of the tunnel, and two wide tunnels appeared before them, forming an intersection. Sebania lit the way with her wand of Daylight. Strangely enough, the angles where the walls met the floor and ceiling were all rounded. There wasn’t a single sharp angle anywhere. Ruh and Navan were puzzled by this: it was an architectural style they’d never encountered, nor read about.
The two rangers noticed the tracks of some giants leading in both tunnels, though there were many more tracks leading south than east. Also, they’d spotted in the long tunnel that led them down here, and in this hall as well, some trails of dried blood, which led south. These seemed to indicate that the corpses of some of their enemies had been dragged all the way down here.
The group ventured south, and reached a strange room that was disorienting to look at: the walls seemed to shift in a most peculiar way, making the room’s dimensions impossible to evaluate, though the companions saw a set of double doors in the far wall. Navan entered carefully, checking for traps. As soon as he entered the room, he felt a strange energy washing over him, but wasn’t affected by it. But he immediately noticed two giants standing to his left. They roared and attacked. One of them was Galenmir (still bearing burns from Ruh’s fireball), and the other was a green-skinned creature, not quite as tall as Galenmir but also very muscular. His skin was adorned with blue runes that sparked with energy, and his face was distorted by rage.
“THEY’RE HERE, ATTACK!” shouted Galenmir in giantish.
Both giants howled as if in a blood frenzy, and their movements increased in speed. Drithnar and Kerista entered the room and attacked them. Kerista faced Galenmir, while Drithnar faced the other giant. Drithnar, though, was affected by the room’s strange effect: he shrunk to half his size! He was now only three feet tall, while around him, the two giants as well as Kerista (whom Ruh had enlarged again) stood at four times that size.
“What the hell is happening, why is everyone turning so big?” he asked in a high-pitched version of his usual voice.
The clash between the two giants and the two warriors was intense, and the rest of the group helped them with spells and arrows. Navan managed to Command Galenmir to lie down. The general had already inflicted nasty wounds on Kerista, and he kept on fighting from his prone position, though he was at a disadvantage. He stabbed Kerista’s legs several times with his mighty pick, and Navan approached the paladin, healing her from these terrible wounds.
Meanwhile, Acacia had also become shrunk by the room, and Jakardros, who had been hanging back in the hall, called out: “There are more giants coming from behind!”
Indeed, two more stone giants appeared from the east tunnel, catching the characters in a sandwich. Ruh and Sebania went to help Jakardros against them. Sebania managed to paralyze one of them, and wounded both with a Fireball, while Ruh fired Scorching Rays at them with a wand. Jakardros took a hit from a boulder, and Ruh was wounded when the last giant rushed her brutally, but eventually, both giants were slain.
Within the warped room, the rest of the group had finally managed to kill Galenmir (again) and the other giant as well. Galenmir had proven to be a powerful opponent, even while lying on the ground!
The healers started healing everyone (including the wisdom drain that Drithnar had sustained in the fight against the lamia), while Sebania examined the strange room. She said that a powerful aura of transmutation emanated from it. The companions dragged the bodies of the two giants out of it, and looted them. Only Galenmir had any useful items, and the companions took his two remaining potions.
Navan looked at the enormous bodies and their incredibly muscled frames.
“Whatever Mokmurian used to bring these giants back to life also made them much stronger. Let’s try to prevent him from doing this again: let’s cut off their heads.”
Kerista nodded grimly and proceeded with the dirty work, using the adamantine sword of the bandit Redshiv, which she’d found in the caves below Foxglove manor.
The companions then explored the tunnel that the other two stone giants had come from, and found a small room and a caved-in tunnel. They decided that the small room was a good place to rest and recover their strength. The spell casters were all very low on energy, and Drithnar and Acacia were still shrunk.
Sebania and Drithnar were sent to fetch Shalelu’s corpse. Ruh was standing at the entrance to the small room, concentrating on an illusion she had placed further down the hall. She had made it look like another cave-in. Meanwhile, Navan, Kerista, Acacia and Jakardros were talking quietly in the room behind her.
A Scanderig
The attack came very unexpectedly: a wall of stone appeared, locking the four companions inside the small room. While Ruh tried to understand what was going on, a Wall of Fire appeared next to her. Still protected from most of the damage by a spell she’d received before fighting the red dragons, she used some of the little energy that she had left to turn invisible, and fly through the flames, to reach the far side, which did not radiate heat.
Meanwhile, the four companions in the closed room were trying to understand what had happened, and how to get past the stone wall. Kerista, who was the only person whose telepathic bond with Sebania hadn’t been dispelled by the lamias, sent a mental message to the enchantress about what was happening. Navan tried in vain to dispel the wall, but Sebania instructed Kerista to just break down the wall with her weapon.
With one mighty blow of her earthbreaker, the paladin destroyed a section of the wall. But at the same time, a wall of fire appeared inside the room, singing all inside. The companions heard Jakardros curse and the sound of his bow shooting arrows at something metallic.
“Over there! Look!” shouted the ranger.
The companions turned and saw what looked like a strange armored creature peering out of the wall, as if it were immaterial. Acacia and Navan also shot some arrows at it, but only Jakardros managed to pierce its armor, before the creature retreated inside the wall.
Quickly, the companions exited the room, only to find themselves in the second inferno of the wall of fire that blazed in the hallway. Within the flames were the silhouettes of Sebania and Drithnar, who’d returned to that spot with a Dimension Door spell. Thankfully, most of the companions were still protected magically against fire, and suffered only minimal damage. They followed Ruh’s instructions and jumped through the flames, emerging on the safe side of the wall.
They remained alert, expecting a return of the monster, but after some time, the walls of fire faded, and the creature did not return.
“What the hell was that?” asked Acacia.
Those who’d seen the creature described it to the two mages, who were well-versed in manners of strange creatures.
“Ah, yes, I think I know what this was,” said Ruh. “A Forgefiend!”
“A Forgefiend?” asked Drithnar.
“Yes, a Forgefiend. A Scanderig, as dwarves call them. You see, they are mythical creatures of dwarven folklore that mothers use to scare unruly little dwarven children into behaving. They’re very dangerous creatures who live deep underground, and sometimes threaten dwarven communities. They eat gems and precious metals, so they often come into conflict with dwarves. Because of them, smart dwarves take the habit of not letting excess goods or resources lying around unchecked. They even have a rhyme for it, let’s see, how does it go again?...
“For every scrap of slag you waste,
A scanderig is making haste,
Those who use excessive ore,
Find scanderigs at their door.”
“What manner of creatures are they?” asked Navan.
“Outsiders. They normally live on the Elemental Plane of Earth, but I guess some of them have found their way into Golarion, somehow. Hmm… Nasty creatures, they are.”
“Yeah, we’ve kind of seen that,” said Jakardros.
“Well, it’s too dangerous to camp here,” said Navan. “We’d better try and teleport out of here and rest safely in Sandpoint. I know we’re all very tired, maybe too tired to cast the spell, but we’ll just have to do our best.”
So the companions all returned to the upper level together and fetched Shalelu’s body. They also returned to the pit, still filled with decaying corpses, among which were those of the nine ogres and three dire bears who’d been killed recently. They took hold of the bodies of the two Sandpoint villagers who’d been sacrificed there, and all teleported back to the safety of Sandpoint.
For the rest of the day, the two mages and Navan, who were very tired, rested. Father Zantus, Sheriff Hemlock and many other villagers were greatly saddened to learn that Shalelu, who had defended the village for many years, had perished.
Since it was still only morning, Kerista took the time to go and visit her sister’s farm. Indeed, since the raid, Solrana had returned there with her daughter Mynda. They had also brought Bagurtak, the ogre child, with them. It was a good match, because that way, Bagurtak had someone to take care of him, cook him meals, and continue to teach him the common tongue, and in return, Solrana had a strong worker to help her out at the farm. Kerista was relieved to see that everything was going well over there.
Moonday, Sarenith 11th, 4708
Reduced!?
The next morning, Drithnar and Acacia were still reduced to their small size, so Navan and Ruh had to dispel the effect. The companions once again prepared themselves for another hard day (or few hours) of adventuring, and once their protective magic was cast, they teleported back to the intersection at the start of the lower level.
They noticed that the bodies of the giants had been moved, and a fresher trail of dried blood led toward the south. Following it, they reached the distorted room, which they crossed together. They felt the strange effect of the room trying to warp them. Everyone except Drithnar and Kerista got shrunk to half their size, and Drithnar, Jakardros and Ruh were rendered completely dizzy by the room’s strange magic: their companions had to lead them toward the door, which Kerista opened.
Once on the other side, the dizzy adventurers recovered quickly. At the end of another tunnel, they came upon a large, sinister room. In its center was a cauldron from which smoke was pouring out into the room, which was lit by the red glow of a continual light spell. Next to the cauldron stood a strange giant, hugely muscled but with a flat skull for a head. On the other side of the cauldron, the companions could see a heap of large bodies: it seemed to be those of the giants they had killed the previous day.
The skull-headed giant started to move ponderously toward them, and the ground shook under his heavy feet. The companions prepared themselves for battle…
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Moonday, Sarenith 11th, 4708 (continued)
The golem and the cauldron
As the giant approached, Ruh and Sebania realized that he was in fact not a giant at all, but rather, a massive stone golem. Before she could warn her friends, though, Ruh was assaulted by a strange spell that almost petrified her, but she managed to resist it. From further back in the smoke-filled room, a small ball of flame was thrown and hit Drithnar. A few of the companions then noticed that the scanderig had returned and was hiding within a wall, on the west side of the room.
Kerista (who was enlarged), and Drithnar attacked the golem, but their weapons did little damage to it. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group, while Acacia and Jakardros moved into the room to fire on the golem. Their arrows bounced off harmlessly.
Inside the room, the smoke seemed to get thicker and thicker the closest one got to the cauldron. Jakardros and Kerista, who were the two closest to it, started to cough lightly. The golem struck Drithnar with a stony fist, and tried to slow the two warriors, but they both resisted.
Then, a wall of fire appeared in the middle of the group, burning the adventurers painfully. Sebania cast a Stone to Flesh spell on the golem, making it temporarily vulnerable to attacks. This allowed Kerista, Drithnar, and the archers to slay the creature, who fell to the ground with a loud thud.
The companions decided to jump through the flames, to get on the safe side of the wall, except for Sebania who used a Dimension Door to get to the other side safely, taking Ruh with her. Once that was done, the companions noticed that the scanderig had once again escaped. Jakardros was now coughing uncontrollably from the toxic smoke, and his one eye was burning, effectively blinding him.
The rest of the group brought him further away from the cauldron until he recovered, and then, Navan directed his companions to go across the room by holding their breath, closing their eyes and walking forward while keeping a hand on the south wall, to maintain their bearing. Only Drithnar did not follow these instructions, instead tumbling his way masterfully through the room, though none of his companions witnessed his impressive acrobatics.
The Headless Lord
On the far side of the room, the companions were safely away from the thickest part of the smoke. They made their way through a corridor that led deeper into the dungeon. They reached a room that was so cold that their breath created small clouds of frost. Before them, a large room opened, and it contained a disturbing scene: two dozen enormous armors stood as though ready for battle, facing what seemed to be their leader, a giant wearing a black full plate armor, with two massive battle axes raised high in a commanding gesture. More careful observation showed that some of the armors seemed to contain the preserved corpses of giants, ogres and trolls.
Suspecting a trap, Ruh cast a Maximized Fireball into the group of armors, and indeed, some of them seemed to come to life, and started slowly shambling forward to attack the group. The adventurers placed themselves in the corridor, with the two warriors forming a wall against the attackers, and the archers and spell casters behind them. Four of the enormous armored creatures, whom the companions realized were zombies, attacked them, as well as the mysterious black-armored fiend. Sebania blasted them with another Fireball, and then the melee started between the giant zombies and the two warriors. Navan tried to turn some of the undead, but unfortunately, they seemed very resistant to that power, and kept on fighting.
At that moment, the group was attacked from behind, yet again by the infuriating scanderig. This time, the creature managed to petrify little Ruh. It also shot a small ball of fire at Navan, and laughed cruelly.
Meanwhile, the two warriors, helped by Acacia, Jakardros and Sebania, had slain a few of the zombies. Drithnar faced the black-armored leader, and saw that it seemed to be an enormous ogre, reminiscent of the elite warriors of the Kreeg Ogres, but his open helm showed that he had no head. Still, the Headless Lord fought furiously, and badly wounded Drithnar. His two axes were adorned with glowing blue runes, and their wounds drained away some of the ranger’s strength.
Further back, Navan used his great healer’s powers to un-petrify Ruh with a Break Enchantment spell. The scanderig roared in anger when he saw this, and in his wrath, he left the safety of the wall and rushed the two companions. They finally saw him in his full horror: he looked like an obese iron golem with a gigantic maw gaping from his belly, within which burned the inferno of a blazing forge. From that maw, a jet of searing slag spewed forth toward Ruh and Navan. The agile priest was able to dodge the attack entirely, but poor Ruh was mercilessly burned.
She screamed in pain, and then flew over the mass of burning matter. She turned around, with a vengeance rarely seen in the kind little gnome’s eyes, and she cast the deadliest incantation she had recently learned: Disintegrate. A ray of green energy shot from her hand and hit the bulk of the scanderig. The creature shrieked in pain, as it was unmade by the spell, and it vanished into nothingness...
By that time, Kerista had slain all of the remaining zombies, and Drithnar still faced the Headless Lord. Navan rushed to his aid and healed him, and Sebania destroyed the vile undead with a mighty Scorching Ray.
The companions cheered at their victory, happy that they had finally destroyed the obnoxious scanderig. Ruh felt especially satisfied by this sweet revenge. The companions briefly examined the room, and determined that the cold atmosphere was not dangerous. They detected that the Headless Lord’s armor and axes were magical. While Navan and Kerista were healing the group, Sebania identified both axes and found them to be unusual items which she called Runechill Hatchets, which could be wielded by human-sized warriors, and could drain some life energy in one battle per day.
Drithnar decided to take one of them and to start using it as his main weapon, thereby letting go of the magical longsword that he’d been wielding since one of the group’s very first fights, when they had defeated the mutated goblin hero Koruvus, in the catacombs underneath Sandpoint.
The hall of serenity
The companions continued their exploration. They reached a high-ceilinged empty room that, according to the rangers’ tracking, was a place where the scanderig had spent a lot of time. The companions searched it for some time, but found nothing there.
Further ahead, they reached a long corridor whose walls were filled with Thassilonian runes. Several doors stood along these walls, the most impressive of which was a great bronze double-door at the west end, adorned with a mirror-like Sihedron rune, and which had no visible handles or knob, but only a small Sihedron-shaped keyhole.
Navan, Ruh and Sebania studied the runes for a few minutes, and found that they were soothing prayers welcoming visitors to the Therassic Monastery, and asking them to clear their minds before visiting a place called “The Great Library”. It also spoke about this place being sacred to the Peacock Spirit, which was one of the two greatest religions of the Thassilonian Empire. Of course, this seemed tremendously interesting to several of the adventurers, most of which, Ruh. Nevertheless, the group had a mission to accomplish, so they decided to continue onward. They noticed that the eastern end of the hall was mostly blocked by a cave-in, but that a small opening led into a room to the north. They ventured through it.
From beyond
The group entered a large room, whose edges were even more rounded that any other they’d entered so far. As they started exploring it, Kerista, who’d been concentrating on detecting evil auras, warned her companions that she felt something closing in on them. At that moment, they heard some strange, distorted growling, and a hideous beast appeared ahead of them. It was the size of a large hound, but it was very thin, with a dark leathery skin, enormous fangs and dark bulbous eyes. Some of the companions felt themselves grow slower from the effect of some magic the creature had just cast upon them. The mere sight of the being was painful, and some of the adventurers felt their flesh being damaged, as though it was being torn out of this reality.
Another one of the strange beasts appeared next to Jakardros and wounded him with its fangs and claws. Drithnar and Kerista rushed the first one that had appeared, and together, they killed it. Meanwhile, the three archers shot the one that had attacked Jakardros, while Ruh cast a Haste spell on everyone. Sebania tried to paralyze the creature, but it remained unaffected.
Then, a third being appeared behind Kerista and bit her, but the giant paladin turned around and, with Drithnar’s help, killed the strange monster. Finally, Navan slew the remaining one with a bolt through the eye.
The companions examined the corpses.
“What were those strange beasts?” wondered Kerista.
“I’m not totally sure, but I think they were creatures called Hounds of Tindalos,” explained Ruh. “Very rare outsiders sometimes summoned by daring and foolish conjurers. They aren’t very well known, because those who have knowledge about them usually end up devoured by these beings. And whoever would be insane enough to try and summon such fiends only tends to leave behind very cryptic notes.
“I believe these creatures come from beyond the boundaries of reality as we know it. Further even than most planes summoners usually deal with. As we saw, their mere gaze can rip through layers of reality, affecting our bodies. Also, I read that they are able to travel by using the angles of time and space. Of course! That’s why the corners are so rounded in this place! It must be some kind of prison for these creatures!”
Pondering what Ruh had just said, the companions healed their wounds, and then continued to explore the large room. There was nothing of interest, so they examined the door leading out of the room, and went through it carefully.
Battle against Lord Mokmurian
The group entered a large room that seemed to be a wizard’s workshop. There were stairs and a door at the far end of the room, and six large columns were supporting the one-hundred-foot-high ceiling. The adventurers moved forward cautiously, and suddenly, a cloud of fog appeared around the characters in the front and the middle of the group, leaving only the characters at the back, Ruh, Jakardros and Acacia, out of it.
“It’s Mokmurian!” yelled Drithnar.
The thick cloud was made of Solid Fog. Drithnar and Kerista moved very slowly forward through it, trying to exit the cloud and to attack Mokmurian in melee. Drithnar had caught sight of the giant just a moment too late: he’d been hiding behind one of the pillars.
Sebania cast a Dimension Door spell to exit the cloud, and appeared on the north side of the room. Then, a fireball erupted among the rest of the group, but thankfully, everyone avoided most of the damage thanks to good reflexes and the fact that the two rangers had already cast Resist Fire spells on everyone after their first fight against the scanderig.
Navan used his divine power of freedom to walk through the cloud without restriction, and once he was out of it, he located Mokmurian’s location, and cast a Silence spell on the giant. A moment later, Ruh dispelled the cloud and moved forward to join Navan. Jakardros followed her and shot an arrow at Mokmurian, but it missed its mark.
Mokmurian flew up to escape the zone of silence. Everyone saw him now. Just as Conna had said, he was very small for a stone giant – a runt among his people. His face was contorted in a mask of rage; he wore a deep red robe covered with runes, and carried a club. He cast a Quickened Dispel Magic on the group, which fortunately for the heroes, only removed some Rary’s Telepathic Bond spells, as well as some of the Reduce effects that most of the group was still suffering from, from back in the distorted room. Jakardros, Ruh, and Navan returned to their regular size. The fiend then tried to Disintegrate Navan, but the cleric resisted the deadly spell and only suffered light damage.
Drithnar and Kerista took out their bows and fired on Mokmurian. Drithnar managed to hit with one arrow, but Mokmurian seemed well protected and only suffered a scratch. Navan cast a Dispel Magic on their foe (), while Ruh cast a Maximized Scorching Ray, modified to use cold damage, at the giant.
Sebania, who’d now recovered from the Dimension Door dizziness, cast a Feeblemind spell on Mokmurian, but he resisted it. Mokmurian then cast a Disintegrate spell on Ruh, who barely survived it (); he also cast a Quickened Fireball on the main group of heroes. Navan and Drithnar evaded it with no damage, Kerista was only slightly burned, Jakardros was caught squarely but survived it, and Ruh suffered terrible burns from it ().
Drithnar, Kerista and Jakardros kept on firing on the giant, but only scored minor wounds. Navan healed Ruh, and looked around, realizing that he hadn’t seen Acacia since the start of the fight. Unfortunately, he caught sight of her far back in the room, near the entrance. She stood frozen as a statue: Mokmurian had petrified her at the very beginning of the fight…
Ruh cast a Quickened True Strike, followed by a Greater Orb of Cold, which hit Mokmurian but did not blind him. Sebania tried another Feeblemind on Mokmurian, which he resisted again, as well as a Quickened Magic Missile. Now, the giant started to display some significant wounds, but he kept on fighting. With a snarl, he cast an incantation at Sebania, and she too turned into a statue. He then turned to Navan and cast a Quickened Dispel Magic on him, but again, did not dispel anything critical.
Thinking that the warriors would be more useful in melee, Navan cast Fly on Kerista, and Ruh did the same on Drithnar, also casting a Quickened Invisibility on Kerista. The two warriors let go of their bows and started flying toward Mokmurian, while Jakardros moved behind and below the giant, trying to fire from a better angle.
Mokmurian then cast Fire Shield around himself, and a Quickened Dispel Magic on Ruh. Her Overland Flight disappeared, and she fell to the floor, but she’d been flying low, so she didn’t suffer damage from the fall. Drithnar attacked their foe, but did not manage to get past his defenses. Kerista, though, attacked from the cover of invisibility, and struck him twice, inflicting serious damage. However, she got some nasty freeze burns from his (cold) Fire Shield.
Navan, worried that Mokmurian would try to escape, now that he was badly wounded, cast a Dimensional Anchor spell at him (). Ruh ran to stand just below Mokmurian and unleashed a Maximized Lightning Bolt on him.
Mokmurian was now being attacked from all sides. He seemed to feel the end coming, for he fought with greater and greater ferocity. With an evil grimace, he unleashed a barrage of Scorching Rays on Kerista. The power of the bolts of fire was incredible, yet, Kerista was a powerful heroine, and she survived the onslaught, healing herself with her Lay on Hands ability, and remaining in range of Mokmurian to keep on fighting him, even if she risked her life.
Navan cast a Silence spell around Mokmurian, and Ruh unleashed another Maximized Lightning Bolt on him. Jakardros managed to hit with an arrow, but it did not penetrate Mokmurian’s magically resilient skin very much.
Finally, the giant tried to fly away from the second zone of silence, but Kerista caught him off guard with her earthbreaker, and smashed his ribcage, killing him.
Mokmurian suddenly went rigid, still hovering in the air. Then, his corpse moved out of the zone of silence, and his head turned to look at the heroes, moving strangely, as though a great puppeteer were controlling him. Then, he spoke with a strangely human voice that was not his own. The companions had heard that oddly accented voice once before… from an illusion in the dungeon below Thistletop.
“So these are the heroes of the age. More like gaping worms to me, soon to be crushed back into the earth when I awaken the armies of Xin-Shalast, when the name Karzoug is again spoken with fear and awe. Know that the deaths of those marked by the Sihedron – the giants you have so conveniently slain for me – hasten my return, just as yours soon will. Fools, all of you. Is this all you could manage in ten thousand years?”
With this, “Mokmurian” erupted in a cruel, mocking laugh, which echoed throughout the hall and eventually faded away, and then, his corpse fell to the floor and did not rise again.
The companions were victorious. Lord Mokmurian was dead at last. But the man – Karzoug – who had spoken to them had placed a seed of doubt within their minds. The Sihedron rune… all those people who had died… The victims of Aldern and the Skinsaw cult… The victims of Paradise, and all the citizens of Turtleback Ferry who’d almost perished in the flooding… And now, all of the giants the heroes themselves had slain… They were all linked to Karzoug somehow…
Not knowing what to make of this, Navan approached the statue of Sebania, and used the last of his magic to restore her to flesh. She gasped and thanked him, relieved to see that her companions had managed to kill Mokmurian after her transformation. She then hurried to Acacia’s side, and also turned her back into flesh. Likewise, the captain felt a mixture of elation at seeing the hated enemy dead, and shame at feeling that she had played but a minor part in his defeat.
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Enjoyable as always :D. What did you (and you players) think of this adventure. I can remember that it was not as enjoyable a read back when I read it for the first time, and wasn't quite sure how it would play out. I think the things that stuck out the most for me was that it read like a bunch of monster filled rooms with little to no connection for one another.
It does look like you pulled it off, but I noticed that the PCs had to "hit refresh" several times and jounrey back to Sandpoint before being able to complete their mission. Was it as fun for your group as the other adventures in the path have been, or did it get too tedious?
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Enjoyable as always :D. What did you (and you players) think of this adventure. I can remember that it was not as enjoyable a read back when I read it for the first time, and wasn't quite sure how it would play out. I think the things that stuck out the most for me was that it read like a bunch of monster filled rooms with little to no connection for one another.
** spoiler omitted **
It does look like you pulled it off, but I noticed that the PCs had to "hit refresh" several times and jounrey back to Sandpoint before being able to complete their mission. Was it as fun for your group as the other adventures in the path have been, or did it get too tedious?
Very good comment and question. Indeed, this adventure was not as enjoyable as the other ones, for several reasons. One is what you mentioned (a somewhat unoriginal dungeon crawl). Also, this adventure was the first time we played above level 9 with the D&D 3.5 rules. I didn't mind very much (I'm pretty good with number crunching, so at least I don't mind the "math" aspect of high level gaming), but Navan's player does not enjoy the high levels, due to the long duration of fights, and the need to optimize actions: you can less afford to perform sub-optimal actions each round, as the foes you face deal so much damage, or have such deadly abilities that you need to bring your A game to every single fight. He found it stressful, and he started playing more as a strategist than as a role-player, which neither of us found fun.
As you said, I also expect the next adventure not to be as enjoyable to him as the first 3. Probably not the last one, either. :(
RotRL has been a very enlightening experience for both of us so far. We learned to better understand what we like and don't like in RPGs in general.
Navan's player likes exploration, adventure, excitement, interesting stories that unfold in an unexpected way. He likes to be surprised.
He does not particularly like combat, being responsible for saving the lives of tons of people (he does it because he's a nice guy, but he doesn't enjoy the responsibility), or the unrealistic way that characters grow from being measly level 1 nobodies to being level 12 (and more) uber-adventurers who save the world, in less than a year.
I like deep, rich role-playing situations, feeling that my characters belong within that world and have interesting relationships with the various NPCs we meet, and feeling that my characters have a purpose. I also prefer playing noble, powerful and heroic characters than unknown nobodies (I am an unknown nobody in real life - I don't need to play one in D&D on top of that). I like to play long-term campaigns where I have the chance to closely experience the entirety of my characters' life path, so for me, an AP is perfect and much preferable to playing a series of unrelated small adventures.
I don't particularly seek excitement and adventure for adventure's sake. To me, a dungeon with traps and annoying monsters is often more frustrating than enjoyable, unless there is a reason for my character to do it: there needs to be a desirable end result (besides ph4t l00t and XP).
Drithnar's player enjoyed the adventure very much, because he likes kicking butt... especially giant butts. ;) He also, like me, likes to play heroic characters, and this adventure was definitely very heroic.
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He found it stressful, and he started playing more as a strategist than as a role-player, which neither of us found fun.
As you said, I also expect the next adventure not to be as enjoyable to him as the first 3. Probably not the last one, either. :(
RotRL has been a very enlightening experience for both of us so far. We learned to better understand what we like and don't like in RPGs in general.
Navan's player likes exploration, adventure, excitement, interesting stories that unfold in an unexpected way. He likes to be surprised.
He does not particularly like combat, being responsible for saving the lives...
Well, seeing where he's coming from I think you're probably right. The adventures only go up in level from here, after all ;). To be honest I have many of the same likes as Navan's player so I completely understand. I wonder if 4E mitigates this problem any, or if we'll just see more of it (having 30 levels instead of 20). I haven't even cracked open a 4E book yet so I have no idea.
I'm glad Drithnar's player enjoyed it. I remember reading on these boards a while back some of the Paizo's comments and they said that the purposefully put in some dungeon crawls to appeal to different styles of play. I guess that's a good thing (since your player did enjoy it). Just out of curiosity did D's player enjoy the previous adventure less than this one?
My own experience (just reading through the adventures, mind you, since I have neither played through or DM'd them) is that I began to loose interest in the path after this module. I'm not sure if that is because the style of adventures changed, or just because they got to the higher levels (and were more tedious to read with all the extended stat blocks, etc...). My gut reaction is that it was because of the style of play since previous paths (the Dungeon Mag based ones) actually went to higher levels and I didn't seem to loose interest in those as much as I did here.
You're actually in a distinct position to test this theory out since you are also playing in the Savage Tide campaign. I'd be interested to know if you see some of the same pitfalls happening in that campaign at higher levels as you do here.
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Just out of curiosity did D's player enjoy the previous adventure less than this one?
He's only been playing with us since the beginning of Fortress of the Stone Giants. But I am sure he would've loved the other adventures, at least as much, probably more.
He would've LOVED Hook Mountain Massacre, since a lot of the role-playing revolved around Drithnar getting revenge for the Black Arrows.
My own experience (just reading through the adventures, mind you, since I have neither played through or DM'd them) is that I began to loose interest in the path after this module.
I find that the last 2 adventures lack a clear motivation that would explain why it's the PC's, and nobody else, who should be doing these missions instead of basically any other group of adventurers in Varisia.
Maybe for some groups it's not a big deal, but in our case, I feel that the PC's are in a "why are we the ones who have to fix everything up" kind of mode right now... :( And I can't really come up with a satisfying answer to that question. :( ("Because that's the adventure" is not a satisfying answer).
Dear Moonbeam,
first of all... THANKS A LOT... your report is marvelous... really MARVELOUS. It's Interesting, Useful, Precise, Amusing, Well-Written Clear, Original and Congruent to the original path at the same time (this is the third I'm reading on RotR campaign because I'm preparing myself to DMing it). And this is the one that added most to my readings to Paizo path rules and adventures... For me it's becoming a rulebook itself... I'm adding to your story (reloaded in Word) all images, maps, needed notes... So that I'll mainly use it as a canvas during our travels in Golarion...
I'm sure my player will have a lot to thanks you for what I'll take of Moonbeam in our travels (I think Moonbeam will surely be a NPC).
So please keep the good work and try to help Paizo doing of last part of this wonderful adventure path an unforgettable story as wonderful as the first modules.
Again thanks a lot...
P.S. the only thing I'm afraid of is that english is not my language in order to have the possibility to compete with you in writing a so wonderful add on for RotR.
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Dear Moonbeam,
first of all... THANKS A LOT... your report is marvelous... really MARVELOUS. It's Interesting, Useful, Precise, Amusing, Well-Written Clear, Original and Congruent to the original path at the same time (this is the third I'm reading on RotR campaign because I'm preparing myself to DMing it). And this is the one that added most to my readings to Paizo path rules and adventures... For me it's becoming a rulebook itself... I'm adding to your story (reloaded in Word) all images, maps, needed notes... So that I'll mainly use it as a canvas during our travels in Golarion...
I'm sure my player will have a lot to thanks you for what I'll take of Moonbeam in our travels (I think Moonbeam will surely be a NPC).
So please keep the good work and try to help Paizo doing of last part of this wonderful adventure path an unforgettable story as wonderful as the first modules.
Again thanks a lot...
P.S. the only thing I'm afraid of is that english is not my language in order to have the possibility to compete with you in writing a so wonderful add on for RotR.
*blush*
Wow. Wow! Thank you so much. You really made my day with this post. :)
You've just validated every hour that I spent writing this log (and sometimes wondering if I was wasting my time ;) ). It makes me very proud if you use it as a reference for your own campaign, that's the nicest compliment I could receive!
When are you going to start playing your own campaign?
And what language are you going to be playing in?
Because actually, english is not my first language either. :)
Our RotRL games are actually played mostly in french, and then I write the logs in english. I really have to thank D&D for helping me become almost completely fluent in english: the many hours I spent reading 1st edition D&D modules as a teenager helped me a lot. :)
PS: Your icon is very... foxy. ;)
Actually, I'm planning to use your Journal as a reference for my campaign, too.
We're finally starting running this campaign next week. I'll be running for 4th edition, converting a bit at a time as I go.
The players have been creating their characters, and last week we sat down and discussed backgrounds. I borrowed some ideas from you for that (one PC's dad was a Black Arrow, although the dad died 10 years ago and the PC's remaining family moved to Magnimar; another PC was befriended by Jervis Stoot).
Hello Moonbeam,
probably we'll start our campaign as soon as I'll return from Cincinnati (where I have to go about twenty days for job). In any case in the month that probably is remaining to me I have still to resolve two important issues (three months of campaign preparation have not been enough to solve these doubts):
1. Which group? (option A - italian language) 5/6 very good friends but only 1/2 among them already knowing what a RPG is (option B - english language) waiting for insider online tool and testing it with unknown players… obviously there are pro and contra (and risks) for both the options.
2. Which System? (option A) D&D 4th (option B) Pathfinder RPG beta.
However at least of one thing I'm sure… I'll use all the job you have done and I assure to you that it'll not be wasted and I'm sure that in the years to come there will be a lot of people who will do the same thanking (openly or not) you for your efforts (For me PAIZO should ask you to review it and print it as a possible RotR story because it's really simpler to read it before entering in the Paizo campaign modules). For what it regards to me I am preparing with your work a sort of illustrated canvas that, if I'll have the possibility, I'll put in pdf and I'll send to you very gladly. Unfortunately I think I'll have no possibility to share it to the community (first of all because it's mainly your work and story and so in the case you should be the one to share it) because there are a lot of images and official material from PAIZO (and of course a lot of material found here and there around the net…).
Then again my compliments for the wonderful job and now I'm going again to work on that.
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Actually, I'm planning to use your Journal as a reference for my campaign, too.
We're finally starting running this campaign next week. I'll be running for 4th edition, converting a bit at a time as I go.
The players have been creating their characters, and last week we sat down and discussed backgrounds. I borrowed some ideas from you for that (one PC's dad was a Black Arrow, although the dad died 10 years ago and the PC's remaining family moved to Magnimar; another PC was befriended by Jervis Stoot).
Great! Let me know how your campaign goes! It sounds like a lot of work to convert it to 4E.
Are/were you also playing a Curse of the Crimson Throne Campaign? I thought I saw you had posted some stuff about Korvosa.
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1. Which group? (option A - italian language) 5/6 very good friends but only 1/2 among them already knowing what a RPG is (option B - english language) waiting for insider online tool and testing it with unknown players… obviously there are pro and contra (and risks) for both the options.
Oh cool, playing in Italian!! :) Nice!!
Thanks again for the compliments. I hope you get a great group to do the campaign with.
Are/were you also playing a Curse of the Crimson Throne Campaign? I thought I saw you had posted some stuff about Korvosa.
I might run that one just for my husband and me (we'd each run a single PC) once I get this other campaign going - but I'd be converting it to 4E too, so we'll have to see how comfortable I am doing that.
Also, I've collected fantasy city publications for years now, so even though I wasn't using Korvosa immediately, I got a little obsessed with it when it came out...
Moonbeam this is great help for me also im starting this game after we finish our current campign its at like 19th level and plans all the way to 22nd so it will be a while
Im going to add alot of things that you put in. You do a great job forshadowing the next adventures
I have a question what ever happened to Nualias body?
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That's cool! Are you playing one of Paizo's earlier campaigns that's bringing you so high level?
I have a question what ever happened to Nualias body?
Nualia got reincarnated as a strange and powerful shape-shifting undead who took Kerista's place within the group, waiting for the right time to strike and get her revenge against the rest of the PC's.
ok, ok, seriously:
No our DM is running Mask of the Red Death at that high level its crazy but i sat out this campign because of my family
Im using TSUTO the same way in my game but im thinking about if anyone else lives send them to fort rannick and have them as a survivor also
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I like what you did with Tsuto as well. I've said it before (possibly in this thread), but one of the things that this AP lacks IMO (and that the one before it had) is a good reoccurring villain. Someone that the PCs can clash with from low levels on up until the very end. I like that idea a lot and I think it really gives the PCs some motivation to see the story through until the end. Vanthus Vanderboren is a perfect example of doing this correctly (in Savage Tide), but still as a DM you have to be careful not to take away the PCs victories by pulling the same bad guy out of the fire over and over again.
Anyway, it's a shame that Nualia didn't last longer in this adventure path (really Tsuto didn't either). If you're going to bring someone back (or have someone escape) either of those two are a good choice.
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Moonday, Sarenith 11th, 4708 (continued)
Spoils of war
The group decided to rest and recover some of their strength: they had used almost all of their powers to destroy Mokmurian. While Sebania summoned a Secure Shelter for them to spend the night in, the others searched Mokmurian’s corpse and his room. They found several magical items on him, as well as a large quantity of gold and platinum pieces in several chests. Also present were other valuables, some of which they identified as belonging to the Scarnetti family. Kerista insisted on returning them, although Navan and Drithnar strongly argued against it.
After about ten minutes, a sturdy cottage appeared inside the room, blocking its exit. The companions entered it and went to rest, after taking a brief meal. They kept some watches during the rest period (which took place during the day, since Mokmurian had been killed in the morning). Sebania also took the time to identify the various magical items they’d found within the room. Some of them were quite potent, and inside Mokmurian’s Bag of Holding, she found his large spellbooks, which contained an impressive quantity of spells. Clearly, she and Ruh would be quite busy in the future scribing many of these spells into their own books. Unfortunately, though, none of those spells were of Sebania’s favored school, Enchantment, nor were there any Illusion spells, indicating that those two schools had likely been neglected by Mokmurian during his studies.
Toilday, Sarenith 12th, 4708
The ancient library
Around midnight, everyone was rested and healed. Sebania and Acacia were still reduced from the bizarre room. Navan and Ruh tried to dispel the effect, but only managed to restore Sebania’s size. Navan also attempted to cast Speak With Dead on Mokmurian’s corpse, but the wicked wizard’s soul resisted. They then resumed their exploration of the dungeon, after Kerista had bashed a hole through the wooden cabin’s wall, to allow them to leave the room.
Back in the cave where they’d fought the hounds, they noticed that the corpses were gone, although, strangely, neither ranger could see tracks around. Back in the hallway of serenity, they went through several doors, but found nothing interesting. They decided not to tamper with the Sihedron door yet, even though they’d found a key on Mokmurian that seemed to allow them to unlock the door. Ruh activated a Detect Secret Doors spell and scanned most of the underground level, but found nothing.
The corpses of the undead, the golem and the dead giants next to the cauldron were untouched. The smoke in the cauldron’s room was now much thinner, as the fire beneath the cauldron had died down and the contents weren’t boiling anymore. The companions examined the cauldron and found it had a strong aura of necromancy around it, as well as a mild aura of evil. Sebania levitated and saw that it contained a disgusting greenish liquid.
The group then returned to the Sihedron door and opened it with Mokmurian’s key. They entered a large room that looked like the library they’d read about. Several tables and chairs surrounded a large pit in the center of the room, the walls of which were lined with high shelves filled with thousands of books, scrolls and tablets.
A strange creature that looked like a golden, wimpy-looking iron golem approached the group with an ungainly lurch – one of its three legs seemed not to be working anymore. Inner mechanisms whirred and clicked as it walked, and smoke came out of two metal tubes in its left shoulder. It spoke in a strange metallic voice, in a language that only Ruh vaguely understood: Thassilonian. She learned that the construct was the librarian, who offered to help her find information.
She asked for a variety of topics, ranging from Runelords to Xin-Shalast, to the Therassic Monastery, to cauldrons. In each case, the construct levitated down into the pit and retrieved a number of books. Clearly, a lot of research could be done here, and there seemed to be a wealth of information from the Thassilonian era at the companions’ disposal: Ruh and Sebania smiled with glee at the prospect of discovering so much ancient lore.
However, Drithnar reminded them that there were more pressing matters at hand: disbanding the force of stone giants under Mokmurian’s rule. To achieve this, the companions returned to Mokmurian’s corpse and chopped off his head, taking the grisly trophy with them as proof of his death. Navan then teleported back to Ameiko’s manor in Sandpoint with Kerista and part of their treasure. They found the place dark and quiet, as it was the middle of the night. They found Conna sleeping outside, woke her up, and brought her back to the feast hall beneath Jorgenfist.
The battle of Jorgenfist
The place was, thankfully, empty, but they could hear the echoes of what seemed like a great battle raging upstairs! After a few minutes of waiting, they were joined by the rest of the group, who had bypassed the reduction room with Dimension Door spells, and climbed back up the rest of the way along the long passage.
Curious to find out what this battle was, Ruh, Sebania and Conna were turned invisible and made able to fly, and ventured up the pit. Rising above Jorgenfist, they saw, thanks to some fires burning throughout the surrounding land, that a great battle was being fought outside Jorgenfist. Two armies of giants seemed to be fighting each other. On one side were many frost giants, who seemed to be aided by two of the stone giant tribes which had formerly been loyal to Mokmurian. On the other side were the remaining three stone giant tribes, helped by the ogres and hill giants.
Leading the defenders was the remaining lamia priestess, while among the attackers was a large red dragon, which Ruh recognized as Longtooth, the dragon she’d fought in Sandpoint. The frost giant force seemed to be led by a towering frost giant warrior who fought with incredible might. Also among them was an old frost giant wizard that helped his army with protective and destructive spells. At some point, the tribe of female stone giants maneuvered around the main force of frost giants, to attack the wizard, but he protected himself with walls of force, and a mighty female warrior of the frost giants stood by his side, defending him against the attackers.
One of the two tribes of stone giant rebels had several war animals with them: mammoths and dire bears. On the defending side, two enormous rocs attacked the frost giants, but they were eventually slain by thrown boulders, javelins and axes. The mighty frost giant jarl also found himself surrounded by a huge mob of stone giants, ogres and hill giants, and was slain by them.
Ruh noticed that Longtooth had dived toward the lamia in the enemy ranks, and attacked her savagely after breathing fire on her. From a distance, and under the cover of an Improved Invisibility spell, she blasted both of them with two Maximized Ice Fireballs, killing them.
She moved to attack the frost giant wizard, but a little voice in her head convinced her to wait a little bit and see how the battle played out. She also noticed that Conna had reappeared and had approached some of the defenders of Jorgenfist.
After some time, the defenders surrendered, probably following Conna’s advice, as they were outmatched by the force of frost giants. Only the tribe of female warriors fought to the death – their leader, a mighty priestess, died in battle against the female frost giant who seemed to be the wizard’s bodyguard.
All along, Sebania had been informing the adventurers who were still underground about what was happening through her Telepathic Bond. Once the battle was over, a force of frost giants was left to keep an eye on the giants who had surrendered, and a group of their leaders, at the head of which was the wizard, entered Jorgenfist after a brief exchange with the three harpies that were guarding the black tower.
The Ice Moon Clan
The wizard was greeted by Conna, and bowed to her. He also seemed to be able to see Ruh and Sebania despite their invisibility. They flew down and reappeared. Around the old wizard were other frost giants, including the female warrior, as well as a few stone giants.
A conversation started in the giant tongue, which Ruh and Sebania were able to take part in by magic.
“I am Conna of the Kavarvatti tribe, last elder of the stone giants in this region. And these two are Ruh and Sebania, powerful mages from the little folk.”
“Yes,” added Ruh. “We killed Lord Mokmurian yesterday, and we’ve got the head to prove it! So don’t try anything funny, mister!”
The old frost giant raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, and then smiled.
“So that explains the reason for Mokmurian’s absence,” he said in a deep voice. “You and your friends must indeed be very mighty to have defeated Mokmurian, for we have heard much about his prowess as a wizard. I am Dwillvir, the Oracle of the Ice Moon clan.” He pointed to the woman next to him: “This is my lovely daughter, Gunnidra,” and he pointed to another massive, but young-looking frost giant: “and this is our new Jarl, Bormandar, son of Rilmund. His father just perished in the battle, so leadership of the tribe is now his.”
“Yes,” grunted Bormandar, “though I will listen to your wise counsel, oh Oracle.”
The old wizard introduced two stone giants who also accompanied him: “and these are Oriandian, head of the Crannoch tribe, and Shoreg, the new leader of the Valissgander tribe. They joined our side in this conflict.”
“Well that’s all very good,” said Ruh, “but you can all go home now. With Mokmurian dead, there’s going to be no attack on Varisia. And if any of you try to cause trouble, you’ll have to answer to us!”
“I see,” said Dwillvir.
“Yes, and by the way, after we killed Mokmurian, we learned that he was actually controlled by a Runelord named Karzoug. He spoke to us. Well, he manipulated Mokmurian like a puppet. Both figuratively and physically. Well, maybe not. I’m not sure yet. But he spoke to us after Mokmurian died. He said that everyone marked with the Sihedron rune who died hastens his return. So by killing more of Mokmurian’s troops, you’ve only made the matter worse!”
Dwillvir nodded gravely. “I see. That is most unfortunate. The name Karzoug is known to me.”
“He was one of the ancient slavers of our ancestors,” said Conna.
“Indeed. Yet you say he spoke to you, little gnome? This vile Karzoug still lives, after so many millennia? Those are dire news indeed.”
Sebania looked at Ruh with a slight scowl. She thought her friend was revealing too much to the frost giants.
“Well anyway, like I said, you can all go home now. Mokmurian’s dead. The deal is off,” said Ruh.
Dwillvir smiled patiently, and replied, “I understand. But know that the plan to attack the humans of Varisia, as you call it, was Mokmurian’s, and Jarl Rilmund agreed to join him for this purpose. Yet that does not mean that all members of his tribe went along willingly.”
“What do you mean, old one?” asked Sebania.
“I am an oracle. I had visions of some of the things that came to pass today. I knew that my tribe had to come here, for one reason or another. You see, a great peril threatens my tribe, as well as many tribes of those you call frost giants, cloud giants and storm giants, in the mountains to the north of here. I saw in my visions that the key to escape this peril was for my tribe to journey to Jorgenfist. I believe I will find something here that will help us to survive. I came along with Rilmund, sensing that somehow, fate would ensure that our tribe would never truly need to join Mokmurian in his futile war.”
“What is this danger that’s threatening your race?” asked Ruh.
“It is complicated. I would prefer to discuss this with you after we’ve rested. You must excuse us, for we are quite weary from the battle we have just fought, and young Bormandar here has yet to grieve properly for his fallen father. With Mokmurian dead, I don’t think anyone’s formally in charge of Jorgenfist at this time, but since you are obviously some powerful people, I would like to ask you humbly if you would offer my tribe the hospitality of Jorgenfist, so we may rest from our arduous journey into this blistering and arid land, and from the deadly combat we have just gone through?”
Ruh and Sebania look at each other uneasily.
“Yeah… I guess…” answered Ruh.
“Let me show you around, Oracle Dwillvir,” offered Conna.
While Conna did this, Ruh and Sebania hurried back below the surface and met with the rest of the adventurers, who had patiently waited for them. They discussed at length the new developments. Two things seemed especially important: showing Mokmurian’s head to make sure that the giants realized that the adventurers were not to be trifled with, and that there was no hope of Mokmurian’s return. And also, to hide Mokmurian’s treasure and the access to the library.
The seven companions all went upstairs and faced the crowd of giants over the battlements. Drithnar held up Mokmurian’s head high and shouted in the giant tongue about their victory. Obviously, the stone giants were very impressed by this, and it seemed obvious that Mokmurian’s influence on them was now completely gone. He was not the all-powerful being they had thought him to be.
Now, the process of healing had to begin, and the heroes could only hope that Conna’s guidance would be able to bring the giants back to their peaceful way of life.
Once Drithnar’s display of strength was finished, Kerista and Jakardros went with Conna to speak with Dwillvir and the other frost giants. Meanwhile, the rest of the group headed back down to secure their treasure. Once they reached the lower level of the complex, they hid the rest of their treasure inside the library, then collapsed part of the hall of serenity with Stone to Flesh and Disintegrate spells to hide the entrance to the library.
But the way it played out, my players were SUPER paranoid about the frost giants – they were convinced they were utterly and irremediably evil, and that they would try to backstab them. The way I see it, while most frost giants are evil, some are not (just as there are some evil gnomes, elves and dwarves). Dwillvir and some members of the tribe are not evil. But that was hard for the PC’s to accept without me spelling it out loud for them. They almost attacked Dwillvir during the big battle… which would have sucked.
If I had to do it over again, I would have a couple of obviously good-aligned giants, like storm giants, among the frost giant tribe, to give more of a reason to the PC’s to hold off their attacks and to trust them. My PC’s often have a “shoot first, ask questions later” attitude, which I tend to underestimate. I need to really take it into account more and really make it super clear which NPC’s they are supposed to attack, and which they’re not (by the way, they almost killed Conna as well earlier in the adventure…).
Wealday, Sarenith 13th, 4708
The oracle’s tale
The following day, though, when they went to meet Dwillvir in one of the large buildings of Jorgenfist, they were surprised when he asked about the library.
“What library?” asked Navan.
“The one Kerista here told me about,” replied the giant, who was speaking in the common tongue with the adventurers.
Kerista’s companions shot her some murderous glares.
“I would very much like to peruse this library. It might hold some information that could prove valuable in helping my people.”
“And what is this danger you spoke about yesterday, Dwillvir?” asked Sebania.
“For the past several years, some frost, cloud and storm giants of the northern mountains have disappeared. At first, those numbers were too low for the rest of us to take much notice or to be alarmed, but eventually, entire tribes went missing. When some of our scouts went to their villages, castles or caves, they found them completely empty. It was dumbfounding. It’s only recently that we’ve started to see some of them once again. They are not themselves anymore. They seem controlled by some mysterious power: it truly seems to indicate that the ancient slavers of our race are back, after eons of absence. What you’ve told me about Karzoug speaking to you through Mokmurian’s mouth… it seems to fit perfectly. Somehow, that ancient Runelord also got a hold of Mokmurian.”
“But how?” asked Sebania.
“I know not. All that I am sure of is that if we do not stop him, he may enslave all of giantkind once again. We swore not to be enthralled again by the smaller races, but it seems alas that the peril has resurfaced, and that we are no stronger to resist it than we were ten thousand years ago.”
The companions reflected on this notion for a while, as the old frost giant watched them thoughtfully. A few other giants, Gunnidra and Bormandar among them, were also watching, though their mastery of the common tongue might not have been good enough for them to follow the entire conversation.
“You have seen what kind of threat Mokmurian represented with only a few tribes at his disposal. Imagine if Karzoug had under his command many more tribes of the most powerful races of giants. Yes… I understand that you may feel uneasy about dealing with my kind. You think us wicked. That may or may not be justified; I believe every individual should be judged according to his or her own merit, not by his race’s. But know that even if you care not what happens to the frost giants, the cloud and storm giants, who have through history shown much kindness toward the smaller races, will suffer the same fate as us.”
“Any why do you tell us this, old one?” asked Drithnar.
“Because within my visions, I have seen that a group of small folk will be instrumental to the salvation of my race. It now seems obvious that the prophecy spoke of your group. I do not know yet how you will save us. But the more I speak to you all, the more convinced I am that the visions were accurate.”
“We will help you if we can, rest assured of that,” pledged Kerista.
“There’s still one thing I don’t understand,” said Navan. “Why did you attack the other stone giant tribes?”
Shoreg’s tale
Surprisingly, it was not Dwillvir who answered that question, but one of the stone giants present. He had been introduced as Shoreg, the new leader of the Valissgander tribe.
“Since the beginning, there had been unrest among the troops around Jorgenfist. As Conna told you, Mokmurian won our loyalty by slaying our elders. He showed us power beyond anything we’d seen before. He seemed unbeatable. All those who dared to oppose him were slain. What choice did we have? We followed him. Some followed him eagerly, like the butcher Galenmir, whom Mokmurian made his general, or Zinderall, the previous leader of my tribe. Others did not.
“It all started a few days ago, when rumors started circulating that Longtooth the red dragon, one of Mokmurian’s most powerful minions, had barely escaped with his life from a raid from which only a third of a war band had come back alive.
“Then, the rumors said that some giants in the area had perished: the guardians of the Storval Stairs, and a group of hunters led by an emissary of the frost giants.
“Then they got even worse: apparently, Galenmir and many of his guards had been slain within the very walls of Jorgenfist! The cook Grumelda, who had been Galenmir’s lover, told us so herself!
“Of course, this was all your doing. It seemed that your group used mysterious and deadly magic, and could come and go into Jorgenfist as you pleased.
“But during that time, my tribe had its own worries: our leader Zinderall was a terrible brute, and killed some of his subordinates, our own brothers in arms, on a whim, trying to emulate Mokmurian’s extreme cruelty. There came a time when we would not have it anymore: we rebelled and slew him, and I took his place. Not long after, the dragon Longtooth visited us. He still bore some wounds he’d suffered from his battle against the little folk.”
“Yeah, it was us who did those to him,” bragged Drithnar.
“I had assumed as much,” replied the giant. “He spoke ill of Mokmurian, and said that the wizard had begged him to come to Jorgenfist to bolster his defense. Yet Longtooth had refused, in retribution for Mokmurian’s rage: the wizard had apparently forbidden his lamia priestesses from healing him. Longtooth urged us to rebel against Mokmurian. It seemed madness at first, but when the frost giants appeared, we saw our chance.”
Dwillvir nodded. “We approached Jorgenfist, and Jarl Rilmund demanded to speak to Mokmurian. When the guards told him that Mokmurian could not be disturbed, the Jarl took it as a personal insult and grew quite angry. Yet he calmed himself down and waited. For more than a day, he
waited, and still Mokmurian would not come to see him.
“It’s then that he and I were approached by Longtooth as well. He told us what had happened recently: human adventurers had infiltrated Jorgenfist and had slain many of Mokmurian’s most powerful minions. He said that at that very moment, Mokmurian was cowering in the lowest level of his fortress, too afraid to come out and face the adventurers in combat.
“Jarl Rilmund smiled, as he thought the opportunity was perfect: he would lay siege to Jorgenfist and take it for his own. He did not seem worried by the threat of small adventurers. Luckily for him, he did not have to face you at all: he died before that.
“As we were getting ready for battle, the Valissgander and Crannoch tribe approached us peacefully. They had also been convinced by the dragon that they did not need to follow Mokmurian anymore. They saw a chance to win their freedom from the tyrant by helping our side in battle. And that is how it came to be, this sad state of affairs, giants fighting giants. But it is over now, Mokmurian is dead, no giant of the Iron Peaks will ever have to live in slavery again. That is, of course, as long as we find a way to oppose this wicked Runelord Karzoug you have told me about.”
After some discussion, the adventurers finally reluctantly concluded that Dwillvir and the Ice Moon clan did not seem hostile or threatening to them or to Varisia. The agreed to give him access to the library.
Shouting match
But still, Drithnar did not appreciate that their hand had been forced by Kerista’s indiscretion. He approached her once they were alone.
“Kerista, why did you tell the giants about the library? We’ve gone through so much trouble to slay Mokmurian and get to where we are today, and you just throw it all away and give access to the first bunch of giants we see!”
“But Drithnar, I know he’s not evil… He’s on our side: he also wants to oppose Karzoug. We need to start trusting each other and all move in the same direction.”
“What are you talking about? They’re frost giants! Don’t you know frost giants are evil?! How can you trust them?”
“I looked into his heart, and he’s not evil. He speaks the truth, I know it.”
“Oh come on! How can you know that? You’ve said it yourself, there are ways for evil people to hide their aura. Damnit, Kerista, why do we always need to have the same discussion?”
“You tell me, Drithnar! You don’t trust anyone! All you want to do is kill people! There’s more to being a hero than killing monsters, you know!”
“Hey, it’s not like that. I know what giants are like. I’ve suffered enough at their hand! You saw what they did to the Black Arrows!!”
“No, they didn’t! Those giants didn’t do anything to the Black Arrows, Drithnar! It was a completely different tribe of ogres that did this. You can’t just kill people because someone of the same race did something to your friends! Come on, I thought you of all people would understand this!”
“Ah, here we go! You’re playing that fricking half-orc card again, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, well, I play it when I need to! Oh, you seem to have forgotten real fast how badly people were treating YOU when you were different! And now you’re just as bad as them!!!”
“Oh no, don’t lecture me! Don’t you fricking lecture me on what it was like being a half-orc! You have no idea what it was like!!!”
Kerista blinked in mock surprise. “Oh really? I don’t? That’s weird, because last time I checked, I wasn’t the one who wanted to kill every single living creature we ran into that didn’t fit a certain racial profile!”
“I’m getting really tired of this crap…” growled the ranger.
“Oh yeah? Well, I’m getting really tired of it too. I feel like I always have to defend myself against you and Navan. When it’s not about trying to talk you guys out of murdering a group of innocent babies, it’s to convince you that we need to bring the Scarnettis their money back.”
“Oh not that again, let it rest, Kerista, they’re jerks and we’re going to give the money to people who deserve it better than they do.”
“And why would we do that? Who are we to judge who is worthy and unworthy OF GETTING THEIR OWN MONEY RETURNED TO THEM?!”
“BECAUSE WE’RE FRICKING HEROES, THAT’S WHY! WE DECIDE! WE CALL THE SHOTS! WE KILLED MOKMURIAN AND IF TITUS FRICKING SCARNETTI HAS A FRICKING PROBLEM WITH IT, WELL HE CAN FRICKING COME AND SEE ME ABOUT IT!!!”
“OK, whatever, Drithnar, whatever! I don’t want to talk about this anymore!”
“Well, that’s fine, neither do I!!!!”
“FINE!”
“FINE!!!!”
And they did not talk to each other for the rest of the day…
Tea
Once evening came, Acacia approached Navan. She had thankfully recovered her regular size by then. She said that now that Mokmurian’s threat had been dealt with, she’d better return to Magnimar. Navan teleported back there with her, bringing her back into the Arvensoar.
“You don’t have to go back right away, you know,” she told him, “I bet it’s been quite some time since you’ve had a chance to rest in a peaceful environment and drink some good Magnimarian tea.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while…” admitted the wandering priest.
Acacia smiled coyly.
“… since I’ve had tea!” quickly added Navan.
They walked through the streets of Magnimar. All around them, the citizens were closing shop and walking home for the evening, going about their business, oblivious to the great events that had just taken place far to the north.
“I’ll make sure the whole city hears about your heroics,” assured Acacia. “Of course, that probably means that the Lord-Mayor will have another medal ceremony for all of you.”
And she laughed at Navan’s pained expression.
Eventually, they reached the captain’s house. Inside, it was clean and simply furnished.
“I’m really glad I finally recovered my usual size,” she commented as they stepped into the kitchen.
“Yeah, that’s good.” asked Navan.
“Hmm-hmm... Otherwise, I would’ve had a hard time doing this.”
And she turned around and kissed him passionately…
Oathday, Sarenith 14th, 4708
Guardians of the black tower
The next morning, Navan’s companions found him in an especially good mood as he appeared back at Jorgenfist, whistling happily.
In stark contrast, a heavy tension hung between Drithnar and Kerista, who were again talking to each other, but just barely so.
The companions got together and went over the recent events. They’d finally agreed to trust Dwillvir and his frost giants. Also, it seemed that their next goal was to investigate Runelord Karzoug and the mysterious disappearance of the giants. Luckily, Jorgenfist’s library contained a tremendous wealth of information, but still, it would likely take Ruh weeks, or maybe even months, to find out enough to point them toward their next adventure.
Sebania would also maintain a presence in Jorgenfist, teleporting back and forth to Galduria. She said she was also going to invite her two colleagues, Melrod Griggock and Ralazan Stormcloud, to share the knowledge.
There only seemed to be one last pocket of hostiles in Jorgenfist: the harpies guarding the mysterious black tower, within which nobody had ventured, even since the fall of Mokmurian. The heroes decided to go take a look at it that day.
Sebania and Jakardros remained at the library, so the four companions, Ruh, Navan, Drithnar and Kerista found themselves forming their usual foursome. They cast some protective magic on themselves and approached the black tower, under the eyes of a few curious giants.
“Stay away!” shrieked one of the three harpies perched on one of the tower’s buttresses. “None may enter the black tower!”
“Why not?” asked Navan.
“Because we said so! Now turn back! You’re not allowed inside!”
“Well, that’s a real shame, because…” began Navan, as a distraction for the fact that Ruh was casting a Maximized Fireball at the harpies to trigger a fight.
A huge explosion resounded throughout the compound, but the harpies seemed to be incredibly agile, and they all completely avoided the detonation. With warlike shrieks, they swooped down to attack the companions.
The adventurers were flying. Ruh and Navan remained close to the ground, while the two warriors flew up to meet the enemies. Ruh cast a Quickened Mirror Image to protect herself from the harpy that dove toward her, as well as a Haste spell. Navan cast a Slay Living on that harpy, but she avoided his touch with great agility.
Kerista was struck by a powerful fist from the harpy she was facing, but she was a tough woman and resisted being stunned. The harpies fought with elegant martial arts movements, and seemed well-trained in unarmed combat. However, even such training could not prevent the harpy from being bludgeoned to death by Kerista’s deadly earthbreaker; the bird-woman fell to the ground in a showed of feathers.
Drithnar, alas, was not faring as well. He slashed his opponent a few times, but she managed to punch him painfully several times. The ranger winced from the pain, and found himself stunned, unable to retaliate as the harpy struck and struck. Thankfully, Kerista came to his help and slew the harpy from behind.
Meanwhile, Ruh had shot two Orbs of Cold at the third harpy, who had now turned to attack Navan, not wanting to be bothered with Ruh’s mirror images. She punched the cleric painfully, also stunning him. But while she pounded on the disabled cleric, Drithnar flew down from above and struck her in the back with his axe, felling her.
Navan then recovered from the painful blow. His hand was still glowing with the powerful aura of the deadly Slay Living spell. He frowned at it, annoyed that he’d wasted such a mighty spell. He then noticed that the last harpy was writhing on the ground, not quite dead yet.
“You’ll… meet… your doom… in the black tower…” she croaked feebly, with blood spilling out the side of her mouth.
Navan placed his hand on her shoulder and discharged the spell into her, and she died with a terrible shriek of agony.
“Good!” said the cleric. “I didn’t waste the spell after all!”
A few of the giants cheered at the adventurers’ victory. Among them was Gunnidra, who approached them. Despite her gigantic size and a few battle-scars, she was a beautiful woman even by human standards.
“You fight well, little woman,” she told Kerista in awkward Common. “You fight with strength of giants. And you,” she turned to Ruh, “you have mastery of ice magic. Very powerful.”
The two women smiled and thanked her.
“Yeah, well, I’m usually really strong too, you know,” interjected Drithnar. “When I’m not getting punched in the groin, that is.”
Inside the Black Tower
After healing their wounds, the companions entered the tower. Inside, it was dark and very cold. Ruh cast some Light spells, and Drithnar protected his companions from the cold by magic. The main room was round and empty, and some damaged stairs led to the upper floors of the tower. The floor seemed slick with ice, but the companions were not bothered by this, as they were all flying.
A quick exploration showed that the tower was empty, except for a secret trap door in the main room of the ground floor, which Ruh found with a spell. The trap door opened easily, and led to a narrow shaft, which the companions went down in one by one. It was fifty feet deep and led into an ancient crypt, which was quite dark. The companions examined around them, brandishing their light sources (Kerista’s weapon and Ruh’s staff), and out of the darkness came a strange shape: a mummy wrapped in black, decaying bandages was floating above the ground. Its eyes were burning with an eerie green light, and its arms were crossed over a heavy, intricate metal scroll case that it was keeping protectively. The companions heard that the mummy was muttering something, but could not understand the words.
Before they could find out more about the creature, it flew toward them and breathed a noxious cloud of ice-cold tomb gas and dust. The companions coughed, but all resisted the terrible damage of this cloud, except poor Ruh who found herself drained of energy. What’s more, the presence of the terrible mummy filled the companions’ hearts with fear, but thanks to Kerista’s comforting presence, they all remained able to fight.
Kerista presented her symbol of Sarenrae before the vile creature, but it seemed unaffected by it. Drithnar rushed it and attacked with his weapons, but only inflicted minimal damage. The mummy was surprisingly agile, and surprisingly resilient. Ruh cast a Haste spell on the group, and Navan cast Death Ward on himself.
The mummy fought back against Drithnar in a most unusual way. Although both its hands were grasping the scroll case, and both its feet were tightly wrapped in bandages, it spun around and struck Drithnar with its feet, and also head-butted him. The sight would’ve been comical if it had not also been deadly. The creature struck powerful blows, and Drithnar winced from the pain, narrowly avoiding being stunned again. Moreover, he saw now that he was up close with it, that on the monk’s body were crawling many disgusting insects, and he guessed that he might contract a terrible disease from the touch. Thankfully, he did not, thanks to his robust ranger’s health.
He continued fighting the mummy, but both of his weapons seemed to inflict only very superficial wounds. Kerista’s earthbreaker had only slightly better effect, and only her Smite Evil ability seemed to truly damage the fiend. Navan shot some crossbow bolts, but the mummy easily dodged them. Drithnar, after suffering a few more blows, picked up some alchemist’s fire from his belt and threw it at the mummy. The vial broke when it made contact with the creature, burning it badly. Ruh picked up the hint and fired a Maximized Scorching Ray at the undead. Only one ray hit it, but it was enough: with a devilish wail, the creature caught on fire and fell to the floor, writhing disgustingly.
It cried out in Thassilonian, and only Ruh understood the words, though she did not know what it truly meant. The creature shouted: “The green light! The green light! The green liiiiiiiight !!!!!!”
And then it was utterly consumed by the flames.
After healing Drithnar, the companions searched the room and found that the only items of value were on the mummy itself: it had carried potent magical items, as well as the scroll case. The thing was made of adamantine, and protected by five extremely complex code locks, but still, it was a simply matter for Ruh of casting three Knock spells from the wand she’d found below Foxglove Manor to get it open.
Within the case, the companions found several ancient scrolls written on wyvern hide. They were well preserved. Some of them described vile sacrificial rituals for the worship of the Peacock Spirit. Others contained powerful divine spells. Another one described the way to reach the library, and from it, the companions understood that the monastery had once been much larger, and that only a few parts had survived the millennia: the black tower and the lower level of Jorgenfist.
The scrolls also mentioned that the four doors leading to the library (of which only one remained now) were guarded by powerful and mysterious creatures called Shining Children. A password was provided to open the doors without the key, and without releasing these guardians: “Viosanxi”.
Drithnar was excited about facing one of those mysterious beings in combat, but during the rest of the day, among Ruh’s research, she found out a few bits of information about those powerful outsiders, and she managed to convince her ranger friend that they were not enemies that would be pleasant to fight.
Can we get a new PC write up now that this Book is Finished?
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Heh, that shouting match has been a long time in coming ;). Think I have to take Kerista's side though. So, was this argument based purely on in-character thought, or did some meta-gaming creep in? It sounds like (based on some of your previous comments) that the latter might be the case.
Im on Drithnar's side, because i ussally play the CG kill monsters now ask questions later characters
But sometimes you do have to ask questions and speak before killing things
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Drithnar's player and I didn't shout at each other (thank god) ;) but there really was a discussion about how to handle the Scarnetti's money. I'm much more like Kerista (very empathetic & emotional & law-abiding) whereas Navan and Drithnar's players are much more cerebral. So we've had discussions like this very often, not only in RotRL but in other campaigns as well.
Actually, because of this, one of the things I find the hardest about being a DM is that I get emotionally attached to most of the NPC's I play (even if they're evil), so when they die, I feel sad. I guess I'm better suited to be a player. :)
Joey: I _think_ (but not 100% sure) that we will start Sins of the Savior this friday, if it's the case, before the first log of the adventure, I will give updated stats of the characters. Actually, I will likely post a text about what happened between adventures 4 and 5, first. Because a few months will have gone by.