The Cast;
Enost Stone, stuttering sculptor, Novice 0xp
Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigour d8
Pace 5", Parry 8 (2), Toughness 8 (2), Power n/a, Bennies 3/3, Wealth d6
Athletics d8, Common Knowledge d6, Fighting d8, Notice d8, Persuasion d4, Stealth d6
Hindrances: Can't Swim, Cautious, Low Light Vision, Reduced Pace, Tongue-Tied
Edges: Sweep, Tough
Gear: Warhammer (Str+d6, spiked AP1), Thick Leather Apron (AV2, torso), Medium Shield (PR+2, Cover -2), Stonemason's Tools
Efron, handsome wizard, Novice 0xp
Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigour d6
Pace 6", Parry 7 (1), Toughness 8 (2), Power 10/10, Bennies 3/3, Wealth d6
Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d4, Fighting d8, Notice d4, Occult d4, Persuasion d8, Spellcasting d6, Stealth d6
Hindrances: Arrogant, Clueless
Edges: Arcane Background (Magic), Attractive, Brawny
Powers: Crystal Beam (Bolt), Smoldering Intensity (Confusion), Bronzeskin (Protection)
Gear: Staff (Str+d4, PR+1, reach +1, two hands), Thick Leather Jacket (AV+2, torso & arms), Spellbook
Marius Rosewater III, degenerate nobleman, Novice 0xp
Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigour d6
Pace 8", Parry 6 (1), Toughness 6 (2), Power n/a, Bennies 2/2, Wealth d6
Academics d4, Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d4, Gambling d4, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d6, Shooting d6, Stealth d6, Taunt d4, Thievery d4
Hindrances: Bad Luck, Enemy (loan sharks sent by temple of Abadar), Small
Edges: Aristocrat, Fleet Footed, Quick
Gear: Rapier (Str+d4, PR+1), Thick Leather Jacket (AV+2), Crossbow (2d6, AP2, range 10/20/40, hand drawn), Extravagant Outfit & Hat
Makaela Ravaren, pierced/mohawk elven cleric of Erastil, Novice 0xp
Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigour d6
Pace 6", Parry 5, Toughness 7 (2), Power 10/10, Bennies 3/3, Wealth d6
Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d4, Faith d6, Fighting d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Shooting d8, Stealth d6, Survival d6
Hindrances: All Thumbs, Big Mouth, Quirk (punk attitude), Vow (serve Erastil)
Edges: Agile, Arcane Background (Miracles), Low Light Vision
Powers: Beast Friend, Hunter's Eye (Boost Trait), Blessing of Erastil (Healing)
Gear: Bow (2d6, 12/24/48), Shortsword (Str+d6), Tough Leather Jacket & Leggings (AV+2, torso, arms & legs), Quiver, Holy Symbol (Erastil), multiple piercings
It is approaching noon as the elders of Breachill gather to oversee the Call for Heroes, where the townsfolk bring their troubles to the attention of passing adventurers. Bandit attacks and wandering monsters are common perils in this part of the world, but a strange aura hangs over the town like a storm cloud and today's meeting promises to be unlike any other in the town's long history.
"Before we hear the first petitioner of the day," the elders intone, "Could any Heroes please step forward and make themselves known to this assembly."
A handsome man leaps to his feet, flashing a dazzling white smile to the crowd. He introduces himself as Efron the Wizard, although his brawny, sun-kissed physique gives him the appearance of a fighting man, rather than a practitioner of the arcane. He is carrying a staff though, with a big purple crystal on the end.
(casting call: Efrom would be played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson).
A stout, grey-skinned dwarf steps forward hesitantly and adjusts the thick goggles strapped about his head.
"G-G-Good morning," he stutters, " My n-n-name is Enost Stone."
Formerly a sculptor of no small renown, Enost abandoned his artistic pursuits when an orc raiding party attacked the monastery where he lived and slew the monks who bought the majority of his pieces. Despite his speech impediment and cautious nature, Enost is nevertheless good in a scrap.
Not even bothering to stand up, Marius Rosewater III gestures lazily to indicate he too has answered the Call. He is a slight, skittish man in expensive, yet travel-stained clothes, with a fine rapier belted at his hip and a crossbow strung across his back. His restless gaze flickers from face to face and more than once he turns to glance over his shoulder at the exit, as though expecting someone to burst in at any moment.
Finally, Makela Ravaren (or just Kaela to get friends, which are few and furry), a wandering cleric of Erastil, goddess of the hunt. Her hair is dyed green shorn to the scalp on either side of a savage mohawk. Her ears, lips and nose are pierced with dozens of bone rings, giving her a menacing, almost-tribal appearance. She carries a bow and shortsword.
"Can we get a move on?" she calls out, causing several of the elders to cringe at the volume of her voice, "Some of us have places to be. Come on, let's go already!"
"Er… yes, since we're all here." stammers the lead elder, before calling forth the first petitioner of the morning.
A goblin woman steps into the stage, tottering under the weight of several large books. She is introduced as Warbal Bumblebrasher, representative of the Bumblebrasher goblin tribe living in the ruins of Citadel Altaerin. She has spotted red smoke rising from the fortress and is concerned for the well-being of her kin. She requests the aid of Heroes to explore the ruins and save her tribe.
"Who will answer the - "
There is a clatter of armour as a severe young man leaps to his feet, his face flushed with anger!
"Am I to understand Citadel Altaerin has been infested with goblin filth and you have done nothing but stand idly by and entertain their complaints?" he roars incredulously, interrupting the elder, "I, Alak Stagram, will restore order to the citadel and cast out those wretched squatters, you may be sure of that!"
Having said his piece, the armoured man storms out of the hall, shoving passed a halfling standing near the exit and slamming the doors closed behind him.
"What was that all about?" Efron gasps.
"Citadel Altaerin used to be a Hellknight stronghold," Enost recalls, "And I'm pretty sure the name of the last commander there was also Stagram."
"Oh," Efron said, pretending to understand, "I totally understand."
"Who will answer the Call?" the elders intone, eager to get things back on track.
Suddenly - before anyone can answer - the door of the town hall explodes inward and a raging fire elemental surges into the room, surrounded by a cloud of choking black smoke!
The fire elemental belches forth a great gout of flame, setting the wooden rafters of the town hall ablaze. The fire spreads quickly and dark smoke fills the room.
There is a loud groan from above as a whole section of the burning ceiling collapses atop Marius. The rat-faced nobleman deftly dodges to one side of a burning beam, which crashes to the ground in a shower of angry embers.
Kaela raises her bow and unleashes a volley of elven arrows toward the creature. The wooden shafts are burnt to ash by the elemental's fiery aura, but the mithril heads resist the heat and strike with enough force to drive the creature back.
Efron gestures with his staff, thrusting the ametrine tip toward the elemental. A beam of purple energy landed out and obliterates the creature in a a flash of bright light!
(Highest exploding die of the campaign; 29 rolled on 2d6)
As the other Heroes combat the raging elemental, Enost ushers the frightened elders out through the back door. He does a quick headcount and realises that the goblin speaker is still inside the burning building, overlooked in the chaos.
Marius stumbles for an exit, tripping over something under his feet. It is Warbal Bumblebrasher, sprawled unconscious in the ground! He grabs her ankles and starts dragging her to safety. Suddenly, she wakes up - panics - and bites him on the hand! Marius shrieks and releases her legs. Kaela slings the struggling goblin over her shoulder and carries her out into the fresh air. Marius follows, clutching his bleeding fingers and cursing himself for a bloody fool.
"From which ring of hell didst that fiery fiend spring forth?" Efron cries.
Several witnesses report seeing a suspicious looking halfling fleeing in the direction of Hellknight Hill shortly before the attack.
Meanwhile, another group of townsfolk form a bucket chain and extinguish the burning building with water from the river.
"We will answer the Call!" Efron assures the still-smoldering elders, striking a suitably heroic pose, "And we shalt also bring that felonious firebug to justice!"
Kaela rolls her eyes and stalks away.
"This hand had better not get infected!" Marius grumbles, glowering at Warbal.
Enost shrugs helplessly and offers Efron a desultory thumbs-up.
Atop a rocky hilltop north of Breachill lie the overgrown and crumbling ruins of Citadel Altaerin. A plume of chalky red smoke rises from the battlements of the central keep, a distress call from the Bumblebrasher goblin tribe. The front gate hangs ajar, beneath a tarnished seal depicting the emblem of the Order of the Nail.
The Heroes step out of the sunshine, into the shadowy interior of the citadel. The air within is still and stale, laced with the distinctive musk of goblinoids. Enost ties a rag around his face to cover his nose. Great heaps of garbage have been piled precariously to either side of the foyer, creating a narrow, winding path between mountains of trash. Nobody is particularly keen to go digging through the mounds of battered armour and broken blades.
The Heroes reach an iron portcullis, buckled out of shape by some tremendous force. Through the bars, they can see into an overgrown courtyard. One wall has collapsed, forming an unstable ramp of rubble up to the crumbling battlements, where there appears to be some sort of kerfuffle going on. Occupying the courtyard is a huge, unhappy lizard with armoured plates along its back and a hefty knob of bone on the end of its tail. Kaela identifies the brute as some breed of thunder lizard - enormous, prehistoric reptiles that once dominated the planet - but has no idea how this specimen came to be trapped in the courtyard of Citadel Altaerin. There is just enough space beneath the broken portcullis for a small creature to squeeze through; a normal sized person could try, at the risk of becoming stuck.
Enost grips the bars and attempts to lift the broken portcullis, muscles straining beneath his travel-stained vest. Grunting with exertion, he manages to lift it high enough for the entire party to fit through the gap.
"Wait here," Kaela says, rolling underneath, "I've got a plan.…"
Kaela advances warily, one hand outstretched in a gesture of peace. She casts Beast Friend on the thunder lizard, enabling her to communicate with and guide the actions of the scaly brute - at least for the next ten minutes. She learns that he comes from a tropical jungle and travelled through a glowing gateway to get here, along with the group of cruel lizardmen who captured him. Kaela realises the thunder lizard is not inherently hostile, just lost and confused. She decides to name him Greg (as in Greg the Steg, before realising he's actually an anklyosaurus). The rest of the Heroes join Kaela in the courtyard.
Meanwhile, up on the battlements overlooking the courtyard, a drama unfolds. A villainous halfling has grappled an important looking goblin and holds a dagger poised to cut off his pointy green ears!
"Stay back!" the little fellow shrieks, waving the knife around wildly, "Tell me how to find Alsetta's Ring or your chieftain gets it!"
The frightened goblins gibber back in Goblin.
"Gah!! Don't any of you speak Common?!"
"Hey! It's that halfling from the town hall!" Efron cries, "He must have started that fire! You sir, are under citizen's arrest! Unhand that goblin at once!"
"And who are you?" the halfling sneers, "Oh, wait! The do-gooders from town? You were supposed to burn in the fire! What are you doing here? Come no closer! I'll slice this goblin's ears off if you don't leave at once!"
(Queue combat, the halfling starts on Hold)
Marius attempts to taunt the halfling.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" the nobleman jeers.
"He is my size!" the halfling retorts, unmoved, "We're both small!"
(Nice try, M!)
While the halfling is distracted, Kaela whips out her bow and takes a shot! The halfling has medium cover (-4) from his meat shield. She misses! The halfling curses and saws through the fleshy gristle pinning the hostage's ear to the side of his head! The goblin shrieks in pain, blood spurting everywhere!!
Efron flashes the halfling a dazzling smile. The halfling is unable to tear his eyes away from those sparkling teeth. He is both Distracted and Vulnerable until the end of his next turn.
Enost scrambles up the ramp of loose rubble to reach the battlements. His hammer collides with the halfling's face, breaking his nose! The halfling's eyes roll back into his head and he collapses unconcious. Enost kicks the dagger away and picks up the severed ear.
"I-I-I think this is y-y-yours?" he says, handing the ear back to the goblin chieftain, " M-M-Maybe you can f-f-find some ice around here somewhere.…"
The goblin chieftain introduces himself as Helba and thanks the Heroes for coming to his aid. Enost explains they were sent by Warbal and the chieftain performs a happy little jig, apparently they are cousins, or something.. Helba explains that the Bumblebrasher tribe dwell in the dungeon level beneath Citadel Altaerin, but were recently driven to the surface by a group of nasty lizardmen and their prehistoric pet (that reminds Kaela to expend another Power Point to maintain her control over Greg). The intruders appeared out of nowhere and attacked the goblins without warning! The steps down to the dungeon level were blocked with rubble when Greg smashed one of courtyard walls with his club-like tail - but fortunately Chief Helba knows of another - secret - entrance through the Hellknight catacombs. The goblins avoid that area because the dead rest uneasy in their tombs.
Meanwhile, the other Heroes oversee the interrorgation of the halfling arsonist. His name is Calmont and he works for a half-elf bookseller in Breachill called Voz. Or rather, he worked for her until very recently - apparently she was not a great boss and Calmont left her employ after stealing her research notes. The stolen papers indicate Voz is searching for something called Alsetta's Ring in Citadel Altaerin. Believing the ring to be valuable, Calmont decided he would find it first - that would show her!! The name Alsetta rings a distant bell with Marius. He remembers one of his tutors droning on about Alsetta being an elven demigoddess of doorways and travel and shares this information with the party.
"This Ring could be some kind of powerful relic..." Efron muses, "If that's the case, we can't let it fall into the wrong hands!"
The goblins agree to lead the Heroes to the catacombs, but will go no further.
"W-W-What do we do about him?" Enost asks, gesturing to Calmont.
"We'll take care of him!" Chief Helba offers, baring a mawful of jagged teeth.
"Er.…" Enost hesitates.
"Don't worry!" Efron beams, slapping the dwarf on the back, "Our new goblin friends will take good care of him, I'm sure!"
"T-T-That's what I'm worried about.…" Enost mutters to himself.
Chieftain Helba attaches her severed ear to a piece of string and offers it to Enost as a token of Bumblebrasher gratitude. Enost reluctantly accepts the gristly gift and tucks it away in the pocket of his apron.
The Hellknight catacombs are (pitch) dark, dusty and ominously quiet. Marius lights a torch to light the way.
(Elves and Dwarves can ignore Dim and Dark illumination penalties, but even their keen senses cannot penetrate Pitch Darkness).
The flickering torchlight reveals a long, arched vault. The walls are lined with coffin-sized alcoves occupied by shroud-covered corpses. There is a noise up ahead - the screech of rusty metal scraping across cold stone. A half-dozen armoured figures advance toward the light, fleshless skulls grinning beneath battered iron helms. The former Hellknights of Citadel Altaerin do not suffer the living to disturb their eternal vigil.
Enost steps forward and swings his spiked warhammer into the armoured chest of the foremost skeleton! There is an explosion of rusty metal and moldering bones as the armoured Hellknight is smashed asunder!
(New highest exploding die; 34 on 1d8+2d6+2)
Efron speaks a word of power and projects two magical missiles from the end of his staff. The first obliterates an inanimate skeleton just minding its own business, the second destroys an armoured Hellknight.
Two skeletons Gang Up on Enost, but are unable to strike him with their clumsy blows. Enost sweeps his trusty hammer in a brutal counter-attack. The remaining two skeletons engage Efron and Marius, but are equally ineffectual.
Kaela takes a shot, but her aim is off and the arrow vanishes into the darkness. Her second shot bounces off an armoured shoulder and clatters to the floor.
Marius backs away from the undead creature before him. The skeleton takes another swing with its halberd, which Marius easily evades. Marius thrusts the torch into a wall-mounted sconce, freeing up his two hands to load his crossbow. He takes aim at the advancing skeleton and pulls the trigger. The bolt punches a hole clean through the creature's leering skull, terminating whatever unlife force animated its old bones.
Efron utters an incantation to enhance the damage of his next bolt. It detonates against a skeleton's breastplate with a blinding flash. The creature staggers, Shaken by the impact. Realising he is running low on Power, Efron whips out his staff in an attempt to trip the skeleton. He knocks its legs out from under it and the skeleton falls prone.
Enost destroys another two skeletons in a flurry of reckless attacks!
The skeleton Efron knocked down picks itself up and drives the point of its halberd through the wizard's chest! Efron is Shaken and Wounded (and has no Bennies left to Soak)! Efron retalliates by off-loading his staff into the skeleton's bony face - but the magic fizzles, he is out of Power Points!! The purple crystal on the end of his staff goes dark. The skeleton raises its weapon to strike down the hapless magi...!
Suddenly, Enost stands between them, bringing his warhammer down on the Hellknight's skull with enough force to shatter it like an egg!
The final skeleton crumbles and a deathly stillness descends once more upon the catacombs.
End of session #1, to be continued....