Market day-28th through Godsday the 34th-Mendy is recovering from injuries
-Immersion, Sight-Brightly colored in the shadows, Discussion topic rumor of future action- Reset Chaos factor to 5 (from the 9 it was!)
I wake in Lord Heuric’s guest room, sunlight streaming in though the window. My neck hurts and I can feel linen bandages around it, and also across much of my torso and arms. Alynn is sitting at the nearby desk. Hearing me wake, she smiles and says, “Good morning, Master Mendy! I trust you had a good night’s rest?”
I prop myself up, wincing in pain, and then lay back down. “I’m hungry. What happened?”
“To me or to you?” Alynn asks. “You were nearly strangled to death by a demon. Fortunately, my father’s blade is etched with sacred runes that nothing unholy can abide. He says that the creature swore vengeance against you on its return, and then it’s body and head both faded to across the veil.” I ask her story, and she seems to blush, thought it is hard to tell given how ruddy most of her skin is, “I was helping you fight, and then I found myself running towards the stables, nearly tackling Velin the stableboy and trying to rip off his clothing, when I suddenly came to my senses. It was rather embarassing to say the least!” she chuckles, shaking her head. “I don’t think I can show my face around here.”
“Was he excited by the prospect?” I ask, teasingly.
She hems and haws a bit, and finally shrugging her shoulders says, “Yes, surprisingly enough!”
“Oh, it hurts to laugh,” I say as I try to stifle my reaction. “Well, clearly, not everyone thinks you need a mask. You’re alright.” I immediately apologize when I realize my words have wounded her. She waives me off saying that it’s alright, that she knows I meant no harm. Still, it hurt her.
“What’s that in the corner?” I ask, my eyes drawn to what appears to be a yellow drape in the corner of the room. Alynn pulls it off a wall peg and holds the colorful dress against her body, modeling it for me.
“I found this in my sister’s room. She left if behind when she married, and I thought perhaps with a bit of adjustment so it doesn’t hang too loose, it might look nice on you while you are here.” She suggests. I ask how long her father will tolerate my presence, and she says that she has been able to smooth everything over. That facing real danger once more, his courage has returned, and with it, his appreciation of my courage and his consent that she should remain my student if I will still have her. I tell her “I would like that very much. Good companions are hard to find!”
She nods, the sorrow in her eyes readily apparent. “We bury the men today. If you want, I’ll have the servants carry you to the graveyard to bear witness. We’ve sent for the custodian of Delfyrd to perform the rituals as my brother, Levin, was also badly wounded. Anyway, after you recover, you mentioned you wanted to travel north, to explore some ruins? A traveller came through and said that some cursed stone was discovered in a dwarven settlement called the Moonstone Downs, and that those who came in contact with it were transformed into tentacled beasts!” Unfamiliar with the story, I ask where this was, and Alynn tells me the mine is somewhere in Tor Vanim, fairly close to the source of the Green River. She found the story interesting because of Drouzal. She also tells me that her father wants me to have Ronrico’s books. The man had no next of kin, but did own a couple of books, the Compendium of Kingdoms and the Esoterica of Khori. As she tells me this, she hands the books to my grateful hands.
As I begin to thumb through the books, Alynn offers, “Tomorrow, mother is heading to the capital to recruit some new men. is there anything you need?”
I reply “Fetch my quill and some parchment, I must write to Aleelill about what happened. she’s an apprentice at the royal…”
“I know,” snaps Alynn, curtly. “She is very pretty. Very well liked. Very obedient to her instructors in all things. A treasure.”
I can see the fury, the hurt and anger in her eyes. “I gather the two of you aren’t close. Aleelill was a good friend to me, regardless of what she was to you.”
Alynn sighs, “It’s just… there are some people who don’t belong, and some who everyone adores. And those of us who don’t belong sometimes grow jealous, even if maybe we shouldn’t be. I don’t know. i don’t know her well, I just… resent her I guess. And everyone like her.”
“Is this what it means to be noble born?” I ask, “To be expected to fit into a certain mold, and then to chafe against it? And to resent those who seem not to have any problems blending in? Aleelill has her own worries, but they are different from yours. If you find love, you’ll know it isn’t because of your beauty, or your dowry, or your wealth or potential inheritance. It will be for you. Aleelill is suspicious of every suitor, for she comes with a great prize, and yet in rejecting many, she risks being branded an old maid, or by weighing her options and entertaining multiple offers, her virtue is questioned. It makes me grateful to be lowborn.”
-Persuasion 17-
Alynn laughs quietly, wiping a tear from her eye, “I suppose you are right. Everyone has their own burdens. At least I’ll never be branded a criminal for wielding arcane power like you!”
I roll my eyes, and then begin drafting my letter. I tell her of my encounter with the demon, and how it was angry that I somehow interfered with its plans for her. That she should be wary of temptations and deceit. About my experience in the Wadun, of the Drouzalian Cult’s plans, and my decision to travel north. About Sir Heuric declaring me his retainer so I might travel more freely, and of taking Alynn as my apprentice, or rather, fellow student. Then I close wishing her well, and begging a speedy reply so I know that she is unharmed.
Alynn then seals the letter with her ring, for I do not have one. And asks her mother to carry it on my behalf and to sell the crown we recovered, and gift the proceeds to Derart’s widow. Then the two of us return to our studies.
In addition to writing in my journal, I am able to study Hiron’s spellbook. It seems he was a necromancer, but several of his spells are familiar to me. There is one that seems to preserve human remains against decay and prevent them being raised as undead, but I couldn’t figure out how it worked. Nor could I figure out the spell that seemed to infuse a mortal body with false vitality, though Alynn seemed to readily understand it! But I learned a couple of combat spells, one that could cause a person to freeze in their tracks, and another that could drain a person of their strength. I’m not sure how useful they might be under normal circumstances, but I am always eager to learn! I also learn that the ring I took from Osesos can shield one’s mind from telepathy, similar to the rings Aleelill told me powerful nobles wear!
For her part, Alynn studied some of the simpler spells in my book, transcribing a few into her own, but she wrestled in vain with the simplest divination used to detect the mere presence of magic! Everyone’s mind works a bit differently, I guess.
-Q: Does Aleelill reply? Very Likely-Yes, UNE Topic-Relics- Donjon tells me a staff, a wizard named Dyminios-let’s roll some quest locations! (nearest mountain) and something about the wizard (powerful conjurer)-
After a few days, Alynn’s mother returns home with some fierce looking hired soldiers to replace the household’s lost men, but she also has a letter from Aleelill! I am very relieved to see that my friend is doing well, and she expresses great joy at my good health and fascination with my adventure into the swamp. She also relates the legend of the powerful conjurer, Dryannor, who is said to be buried near a giant obelisk that overlooks the Wedale River where it flows south from the Axblight. She wonders if his powerful staff, which was said to bind creatures from across the veil, might be buried with him and useful in battling the demoness when her body reforms and she is able to return to us in vengeance!
I share that part of the letter with Alynn, and she is intrigued by the story. “A powerful conjurer?” Alynn muses, “If we could find even one of his books, I might learn a great deal of the art!” The two of us then head to her mother’s study, looking for a map of the kingdom, but cannot find anything. Talking with Alynn’s parents, we surmise that if we take the road through Garnhold and Brewich and then follow the Wedale River north, we are looking at a good ten day journey with good mounts and no unexpected delays. Unfortunately, Sir Heuric is not familiar with either Baron, so Alynn and I will need to avail ourselves of taverns, inns, and customary noble hospitality. The latter will be difficult to procure as she is my apprentice and I am the master. It would be easier if our roles were reversed.
A destination in mind, I become eager to travel once more!
Vingrow the 35th-Marketday-36 degrees, leaves and small twigs in constant motion, flags fully extended
-Immersion 6th Sense-Feeling of Being Watched-20 days rations
Scene- Allyn and I load up the mule her father provided with a tent, some provisions, and my small, but growing library, and prepare to set off on our journey. Since it is unseasonably cold, as though winter is making one last effort to claw its way back, I am wrapped in my heavy cloak, while Alynn has donned woolen breaches and a military tunic, looking less like a noblewoman and more like one’s herald. She had asked me to braid her hair for the road, on my advice not to rely on the combs she normally would use. This will be a new sort of life for her!
As se set off, I get the strangest feeling that I am being watched. That the demon is just behind me still. i haven’t had that feeling the last week, but suddenly, it has returned.
Q: Is there a caravan heading our way? NO Q: Is Alynn nervous? NO Q: Anything happen in Limsell? NO Q: Is there a tavern? NO
Late in the morning passing through the swamp, we spot a bear off the road, plucking fish out of the water. It is smaller than the one that nearly killed me, with darker fur. It regards us curiously as we walk past, and begins to follow us tentatively, at some distance, like a curious child wondering where a traveller might be going. Alynn looks at the beast, and then at me, and says, “I’ve never travelled outside of town before without soldiers to keep me safe. Strangely, I’m not really afraid.” She looks back at the bear, “Do you wonder what it’s thinking?”
I laugh, “It’s wondering whether we would be easier to catch than those fish!” Alynn laughs, and we continue on our way.
We rest briefly in Limsell, but the locals aren’t terribly friendly. We sit at the village shrine and eat some of the food we brought with us. I ask if anyone has seen a company led by an elf come out of the swamp recently, but nobody has, or at least, nobody willing to talk to me.
We press onward, following the road that runs parallel the Blightwash River and arrive at the village of Ninola around dusk. We head inside the Laughing Stag.
-Scene- Immersion: Alynn speaks with NPC, bargaining- Innkeep is talking to:Q: female patron? NO Q: old friend? NO Q: local? YES Q: older? NO Q: soldier? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does he respond well to Alynn? NO
After handing our mule off to a stablehand and grabbing our baggage off it, Allynn and I step inside the Laughing Stag. It looks like a typical traveller’s inn, two stories tall with a decent mix of local farmers, laborers and the village’s men at arm. There is a very handsome young man, with long dark hair and a lean physique behind the bar who is busy talking to one of the patrons, a tall fellow with numerous tattoos on his arms and even one on his face! His smile and laughter seem infectious! Alynn grins at me and says, “I’m going to secure our lodging!” and eagerly bounds off to introduce herself to the man.
As I take a table, a serving wench maybe a decade older than myself brings a couple of tankards over to my table. “Meat or just the stew?” she asks, slurring her words slightly. He cheeks look kind of flush as though she’s had a bit much to drink herself. “Two plates, please and I assume there is lodging tonight?” She nods and says there is plenty of room.
Alynn returns to the table, a little dispondent, “Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen a smile vanish that fast from a glance at my face. I got us a couple of rooms though.” I push a tankard of beer towards her, and raise mine in honor of our first day on the road!
She smiles wanly, but her mood improves when a plate of roast pork, bread, and carrot stew is set before her. We soon find ourselves in conversation with a couple of local farmers, and the barmaid. They worry about the witch lights seen at night, and people have become frightened to gather wood or cut peat from the edges of the nearby swamp. They also tell us the legend of the lord of Bexle Tower. How a mere century ago, a great knight condemned to die and sealed within, along with a great ruby that glows from within and pulses like a human heart. Within in the gem is bound the demon that granted him eternal life, but at the cost of his lover’s life and his soul! Alynn gives me a skeptical look, and asks why nobody has plundered the tower and taken such a relic. The farmers just look at each other and say, “because it’s haunted! Who can kill and undying knight?”
One of the big farm hands challenges the tattooed man to an arm wrestling match, and is easily defeated, losing a few of his friends coins from their wagers. After a couple of hourse of mingling with the locals, Alynn and I retire to our rooms, where I set my warding spells, write for a bit in my journal by candlelight, and then slowly drift off to sleep.
Weeding 1st-Sunday-47 degrees, feel wind on skin, leave’s rustle, weathervanes begin to move-20 days rations
-Immersion-Smell-Oil Something happens Elsewhere, involving Procrastination over a Plot (Black Coven delays d4 months)
Scene
The scent of bacon frying in its own fat permeates th building prompting me to wake ealier than I’d hoped! I dress, pack my things, and head downstairs to enjoy an early breakfast. I eat with the other overnight guests, but soon realize that Alynn must have slept in. Perhaps the long day on the road, she finds the bed too comfortable to give up? After my meal, I fill a second plate and take it upstairs to my apprentice. Hearing my knock, she eagerly invites me inside and eats like a ravenous wolf while I sit at the edge of her bed looking through one of my books. As soon as she is done, we finish getting ready for the road and head out!
We travel through the morning. Where the road passes close to the swamp, we note a beaver’s lodge in the nearby marsh, just scarcely visible and only noticed because we saw one of the animals swimming towards it. Alynn starts to ask me something, but when I look at her, she’s got a confused look on her face as though reconsidering how to phrase what she was going to ask. I pull a loaf of sourdough from my pack, break it in half and we chew on that as we continue our journey.
Q: any sign of activity in the tower? NO Q: Is it largely intact? NO Q: heading our way? NO Encounter-Lone Traveler-Mercenary/Sapper Q: Does he report danger ahead? NO
As we approach the village of Hekla, we can see the ruins of Bexle Tower. There do not seem to be any signs of life, and it looks like the northern face of the tower has completely collapsed. “Is there even any room for some ancient dead knight to hide in there?” I ask Alynn. She shakes her head, agreeing with my skepticism.
Passing through Hekla, we soon encounter another lone traveller walking towards us. The slightly built man is dressed in tight leather armor and has a pair of short blades on his belt, and a crossbow slung over his pack He regards us curiously as we approach each other on the road.
“Well met, kind ladies,” he offers drawing close, “How is the road ahead?” he asks. I warn him to stay clear of strange lights in the marsh, but otherwise the road was safe behind us. “Same behind me,” he shrugs his shoulders. “I’m on my way to Brexle Tower. I’ve been asked to look at restoring it. You don’t look like ordinary travellers, you didn’t happen to stop there did you?” He asks, curiously. We shake our heads and tell them we didn’t see any profit in it. The legend of an ancient warrior standing watch made little sense, surely someone would have already dispatched it by now. He laughs, and agrees, “Yes, anything of value there was long ago plundered. But Baron Garnhold says bandits occasionally hide there, so he wants to see if the structure is sound enought that it could be rebuilt and garrisoned once more. Apparently, he is flush with money, and I’m certainly willing to help him spend it.”
“How can bandits possibly hide in a half shattered tower? Their campfires would be plainly visible!” I ask. The man shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, guessing he’ll have to find out when he gets there. We wish him luck and safe travels.
It is well after dark when we reach the village of Eggstrom. Allynn’s long rest cost us a little more daylight than I had hoped! The inn is a rather dilapidated structur, half timber construction with a single, partial stone wall that is likely left over from some earlier building. The place is filled with local farmer and their wives, and though the place is dimly lit with candles, greater light is provided by the roaring hearth opposite the stone wall. There are several people playing a rather boisterous card game at a table in the middle of the hall, with many spectators gathered around to watch and cheer them on. At the end of each hand, there are shouts and jeers as coins change hands.
Q: lodging available? NO Q: Can we buy a room from the pilgrims NO Q: Wager for it? YES Q: Can we sleep in the loft? EXCEPTIONAL NO
As with last night, I sit at a table, but this time have a hard time finding one with two empty seats! And I call for two ales and a meal. The porridge that is brought out looks rather thin but the acorn bread is warm and the soft cheese melts quicky onto it! Alynn asks the innkeep about lodging, but learns that a group of pilgrims arrived just ahead of us and there are no empty rooms remaining.
The pilgrims are fairly easy to spot! They are a solemn looking bunch and speaking with their leader I learn they are heading to the great temple in Coravos to offer up their prayers. I ask if maybe we could buy one of their rooms off of them, but the man declines. I offer a wager on a game of cards for it, ten crowns if he wins, the room if I win. At this, he smiles like a shark and agrees.
We sit down for a game, best two of three we agree, and I am astonished at his luck! He seems to predict every play, and he always draws the exact card he needs. Two games in a row he beats me hands down. I talk him into playing the third game, just for fun, and am able to force a draw, but ultimately, I lose my coins and a shot at a room! So we ask the inkeep if we can stay in the barn loft, but she says it is filled with tradegoods she is holding so we’d best just pitch a tent in the nearby fields.
Ultimately, that’s what we end up doing, under the eyes of a watchtower and guarded by its hounds and our own warding spells. “So much for hospitality,” I complain. Alynn laughs and has soon fallen asleep.
Weeding 2nd-Moonday-46 degrees, leaves and small twigs in constant motion, flags extended-20 days rations
-Immersion-Smell-Sour Milk-
Scene-Sleeping in a tent beneath the watchtower was no fun at all, but with the morning sun comes a new day. Unfortunately, my stomach is a little unsettled. The cheese did not sit well and now I have a taste like sour milk in my mouth. i can tell from the disgust on Alynn’s face that she feels the same thing. “Excuse me!” she says, and runs outside the tent. I hear retching sounds moments later. The sound only increases my discomfort, but I am able to fight it off and after a few droughts from my skin and bites of stale bread, my stomach begins to settle. We pack our gear, retrieve our mule and head down the road. Alynn is in no mood for breakfast and I cannot say that I blame her!
“If we push ourselves, do you think we can make it to Garnhold today?” I ask my companion. She looks miserably back at me and groans. It’s hard to tell with her mottled complexion, but I’m guessing she’s a bit green about the gills today!
Q: Does she laugh? NO (Morning Encounter-Minor Annoyance-Mice in Saddlebags!)
We walk fairly briskly down the road, passing the occasional traveller or haycart. As usual, we are able to watch people in the fields as we pass by, weeding their fields, sowing barley, or tending to their sheep. We even pass by a meadow of blooming flowers with a large number of beehives set up by the local farmers. “Hey, this will brighten your spirits!” I say, as I gather a couple dozen flowers and weave a crown for my companion while we walk.
She looks at me sternly as I try to put it on her, “You don’t seriously expect me to wear such a thing, do you?” I shrug my shoulders and put it on my own head, replying that while it may not suit her, I find it quite perfect! “Until a bee lands on it,” it Alynn’s reply. Then a concerned look comes across her face “What’s that?” she asks.
I look askance at her, “Let me guess? A bee just landed on my head?”
“No! In the saddlebags!” she replies as we halt the mule. I open up the bags to check my books, but there is nothing to be seen. “I saw something moving! In the one with the supplies!”
I open up one of the bags, where we have bread, hard cheese and dried meat wrapped up, and leap back as a mouse craws out an up onto my hand! I shake the little thing off to the ground and instinctively stomp on it!
“Aagh!” cries Alynn, “You killed it!”
Flustered, I shake my hands and and scratch my arms, “It caught me by surprise!” Then we laugh. “Imagine that! Leeches down our legs and a swarm of a thousands rats! Skeletal Warriors, a Demon and a Giant Crocodile! But no! Those things don’t scare use! But a little mouse running up my hand makes me scream like a child!”
We inspect the rest of the supplies. We find another mouse in that bag and signs that mice had also gotten into the second bag overnight. Between what they’d eaten through and the defecated on, we lose seven days worth of provisions! Not a problem with farms and hamlets all around and a decent village every ten miles or so, but that could have been disastrous in the wilds!
-Q: Does Aletra have a tavern? YES- Chaotic Shiny gives me a Tavern fit for a king. Why? Out here some twenty miles from town? Healing spring and pilgrimage site makes sense! After all, we just met pilgrims who must have passed through. Q: Have I heard of these springs? NO- Q: does alynn know of them? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does Alynn want to try it? YES
At the village of Aletra, it is unnerving to see the large number of sick and injured people encamped or begging outside of the palisades. We are even more shocked at the appearance of the inn! The half timber frame is nothing new, but the structure has a tiled roof and stained glass windows as well. Inside, in addition to the local farmers and men at arms, it seems there are men and women of quality. Many are older, and some appear to bear scars or old injuries. The half elven innkeeper looks at us, focusing his eyes on Alynn, and then shakes his head as he returns to wiping down the bar while watching a game of darts being played nearby. “Good shot!” he comments, after one of the players strikes a bullseye.
We are served a plate of steamed rabbit with carrots and onions, I’d guess, and warm cider. The serving girl looks pitifully at Alynn, and comments, “Those marks are from birth aren’t they? The springs don’t heal what you are, only injuries or illness you’ve incurred.”
Alynn looks at her angry, but confused, “Well then, what good are they? And if they can cure anything, why haven’t I heard of them?”
The wench rolls her eyes, and says, “Because apparently your parents knew it wouldn’t do you any good! Mypione only blesses those worthy of her healing, but those she blesses have been cured of plagues and blights, had shriveled limbs healed, sight restored, and youthful vigor returned! That is why they come here! Why you’ve come here, is it not?”
I interrupt, “No, we are just passing through! As soon as we are done with our meal, we’ll be on our way!” She sighs and shakes her head, and then turns away.
Alynn looks at me, and says, “I want to visit the shrine!”
I look at her quizically, and ask “Why? You heard what she just said!” But Alynn shrugs her shoulders and pleads that it won’t hurt to try, and that perhaps the serving girl is wrong. We finish or meal and then follow some of the other people who are heading towards the shrine, which is just a mile or two away to the north.
-Immersion-Smell-Ammonia-
Q: Is it guarded by the Custodians? NO Q: Some other sect? NO Q: Is she an ancestor? NO Q: age of dragons? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: age of elves NO Q: older EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: very recent? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: years? YES Q: Does the water heal Alynn? NO E: Positive for Black Coven of Drouvas: an Attachment to a Path
We follow the pilgrims north towards the shrine, hoping that Alynn can be healed of her birthmarks. There are a handful of old soldiers by their looks and injuries, most walking on their own, but a few carried on litters or riding a mule escorted by friends. There are some older men and women, well dressed, and even a fine carriage carrying someone of import. There are many more who look like they’ve been begging on the streets for years, hobbling towards the shrine. Probably fifty people in all walking with us and dozens more already at the shrine when we arrive!
There is a great lake that bubbles and steams, the trees alongside it look dead, but they have leaves that seem to be made of silver and gold. In the center of the lake, on a small island, there is a shrine made of red stone There appear to be torches along the roofline, and etherial spirits swirling around. There is some sort of statue in the center of the shrine, but I cannot make out what it is. The place smells foul, as of urine, like a latrine, cesspit or stable. There are people all around, taking off their clothes to wade or be carried into the water, hoping that the magic within will heal their ailments.
One of the soldiers that was with us, a man with no visible injures, steps up beside me while Alynn disrobes. “What do you think of this?” He asks, skeptically.
I look him over, and quickly surmise he is a hardened and deadly man, his twin shortblades have seen years of use, and though fairly young, his stance is similar to Derarts. “I wish I knew something about more about Mypione. Is she one of the ancestors? Or something else? I cannot quite make out that statue!” I worry.
He shakes his head, “Never heard of her either. None of these people really know who, or what she is. But about eight years ago, these springs formed, that shrine appeared, and miracles started happening. Nobody knows how or why. But the people who ask questions either find no answers or simply disappear. And I can’t find a single person who has been out to that shrine. I’ve met a few who planned to visit it, but never seen any of them again. Something isn’t right.”
“What do the Custodians say?” I ask.
He looks at me, grimly and replies, “There isn’t one in Aletra. No Custodian has visited this place and returned to report. I hear they come out, look around, leave…but then some misfortune always takes place before they return home.”
“So why are you here?” I ask.
“Because my father came here two years ago seeking healing. My brother wrote that he swam out towards the shrine, but didnt’ return. I never saw him again, or my brother either for I guess he swam out the next day after sending me the letter”.
Alynn looks up at me from the water, “Well? Any different?”
I look down at her, “Well, I like the hopeful smile, but I’m rather fond of your face, it’s mroe interesting than most. Glad you get to keep it awhile longer.”
She sighs, and looks down into the water, examining the splotches on her arms, then she looks around at the others in the water, “I am going to stay bit longer. Maybe it takes awhile. Maybe it takes some prayer. Maybe some sort of offering for all I know. Maybe I need a mud bath like that fellow oveer there is doing?” She starts smearing the foul smelling mud over her face and arms like some of the others are doing.
“Is anyone healed?” I ask the strangers. Looking around, gathering Alynn’s equipment, but leaving her shoes and undergarments, stowing the rest in the mule’s bags.
“Sometimes,” he says, following me to the animal “but I’m not sure why or how.”
“Here, hold this page open for me,” I say, handing him my spellbook. I begin reciting my divination to see whether the pool is somehow truly enchanted, and if so, in what way.
Q who’s behind it yuan ti? NO Q: black coven NO Q: demon YES Q: with undead? NO- Night Hag seems promising, but CR 7 is certain death. Sea Hag! – Q: Is there a coven? NO Q: Does anything stop my spell? NO (Quick break to determine likely Opfor)
“Well, what do you see?” the man asks.
“Besides the healing draughts in your belt, the springs reek of illusionary magic,” I answer solemmnly, “there is something here we are not supposed to see.” He asks about the temple, and I explain that I would have to be much closer to get any sort of sense from the shrine. Then he asks if I’ll go with him, tonight. After the crowds have left. I look at him and say, “I don’t even know your name.”
“Hain Amenith, or as my friends call me, Lightning Hain,” he replies, “and you?”
“I am Mendy of White Tower, and that is my friend, Alynn of Radkas,” I explain. He asks if the two of us are battle wizards, and I laugh, explaining we are simple students who know little of combat magic. This seems to disappoint him. I tell him to go back to the village and see what he can find out about when people are healed. If there is any sort of pattern, full moons, special offerings, anything. I need to wait with my friend. He agrees, and I encourage him to start with the tavern wench and the innkeeper. They profit from it, so they might know. He suggests they might be keeping such a thing secret deliberately.
I walk away from the lake myself, out of everyone’s sight, taking the mule with me, and begin binding a nearby crow to myself as a familiar. “Corvus the Second! Good to have you!” Then I send the bird flying across the springs towards the shrine, seeing the world through it’s eyes.
I soon discover that it is quickly among friends, for the trees on that small island are full of crows! There are also silver coins and also shiny bits and bobbins scattered around the beach. Offerings to the shrine from the birds themselves it would seem.
-Perception 18-
I guide the crow in toward the statue, and see that it is an image of an old woman. A haggard old chrone leaning on a cane with one hand outstretched and a smile on her face. But the smile is odd…it is not unrealistic for an image of an old woman to be missing teeth, but this one’s teeth seem to be filed down into fangs. And the chrone is always depicted as kindly, this one seems rather…sinister. Perhaps the sculptor was unskilled, but the smile seems very fake, the kind given when a person who hates you tries to conceal the fact.
I bring the bird back, and return to Alynn. I sit on a rock near her while she leans back in the pool, apparently having drifted off to sleep. I ask how she feels, and she replies with a contented sigh. We talk for a bit while I wait for Lightning Hain to return.
As the sun begins to wane, people start leaving the pool. There are no shouts of joy, a few cries of despair over shattered hopes, but nothing I hadn’t come to expect. Alynn cleans the mud from her unchanged face and body, and I bring her equipment to her as she dresses.
Lightning Hain arrives and tells us, “A Custodian from Hayhem was here about a year and a half ago. He took a boat out to the shrine, and on his return told the barmaid he sensed something very dark about this shrine and said they should start warning people away from it. He died in his sleep that night, but the next day a man with one leg saw his limb regrow in it’s entirety, so his dire warning was immediately forgotten. I also heard some kids singing a strange little song, “My Pone is eager to heal, unless there’s woe there is no weal. The hag, the chrone, the witch, the seer, in your dreams her sister’s near” They ran away when I asked about it.
The words of the song send chills down my spine, “I understand now. Is the boat still around here someplace? I wouldn’t think anyone uses a boat around here, the creeks are too shallow, and nothing good can live in water that smells like piss!”
Q: Can we find the boat? YES Q: damaged? YES Q: ambush? YES Q: Any difficulty getting back to the inn? NO Q: Rooms? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Does Alynn want to stay with me? NO
We look around for a bit, and eventually find the boat. But someone has smashed out the bottom of the vessel. As Hain kneels down for a closer look, the grass around the boat comes alive with snakes! Hundreds of the things. I spray jets of fire at them while they swarm over our companion, biting at exposed skin. He draws his blades and begins slashing at the creatures while Alynn and I burn away any of the creatures not actually on him! It seems like an eternity, but eventually, we get them all and he collapses to his knees, bleeding from many tiny bites, his movements sluggish and eyes glazed over. “Let’s go back to the inn, and perhaps consider how best to get to the island tomorrow.
In spite of the crowd, the oversized inn has rooms available for each of us. Hain already had a room, but I was expecting to have to share lodging in a village this busy. I am extra careful with my warding spells, and encourage Alynn to take care with hers. Soon, Corvus is perched on the bedpost next to me, nibblling some bread while I record the day’s events and my worries about what is yet to come.
Weeding 3rd-Lordsday-50 degrees, feel wind on skin, leaves rustle, weather vanes begin to move-13 days rations
-Immersion-Speach, NPC to Alynn, Whisper Chitchat- E: Setback to ‘The keepers seek the books of sevel seals’: the Exposing of Allies
Q: Does she enjoy his advances? NO Q: Is Hain already here? NO Q: Does Recks follow? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does Hain come down? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Does he have a raft for gear? EXCEPTIONAL NO
Scene
The next morning, I join my companions in the dining hall for breakfast to consider our next move.I notice Alynn coming down the stairs shortly after i am seated. A well dressed, but rather corpulant nobleman bedecked in fine jewelry has her by the arm and is whispering in her ear. She seems to squirm in discomfort and wince in discomfort at his suggestions. Seeing me, she pulls away and joins me at our table. On recognizing the ice of my gaze, he stops in his tracks and then joins some others of his kind at a table on the far end of the main hall. “He’s old enough to be my father!” Alynn shudders, “and did you see his wedding ring no less? Just because I’m ugly, does he really think I’m that desperate?” I shake my head in sympathy as we eat breakfast, waiting for Hain to join us.
The bladesman soon sits alonside us, “Well? Let’s eat fast and get to the shrine before the crowd does, so nobody can stop us swimming out to it!” Alynn asks what this is all about and I explain things to her as best I can tell, that there is some malevelont force on the island that only heals when someone dies. She shifts uncomfortably in her chair when I suggest that is how the magic works, but agrees we need to find out if this is true, and put an end to it if necessary.
We quickly eat, and are soon back at the water’s edge. We’ve left our mule and possessions at the inn, only carrying our essential gear. “So, the boat’s no good? How do we get out there?” Hain asks.
“Swim? Mendy’s a good swimmer,”Alynn suggests. “And I can carry our gear!” With a wave of her hand and some unfamiliar incantations, a blue shield appears at her side, hovering a few feet from the ground. I laugh and start loading my supplies on to it, stripping off everything that would hinder me or didn’t need to get wet. Hain and Alynn follow suit, and soon we are swimming across the lake, the disk following Alynn like a little puppy.
Unfortunately, neither of my companions have spent much time in the water at all. Alynn is soon floundering, and I have to dive down and bring her head up to the surface. Then coach her through simply drifting on her back, while I basically tow her across the lake. Hain has the same difficulty and I have to rescue him as well!
“So…that’s the hard part, right?” asks Hain, clearly shaken by his near death experience floundering in the water. While we get dressed again, I am unnerved by the sheer number of crows here, and the way they are simply watching us. Normally, birds would have fled at our approach, but they just sit here.
“This! All of this! It’s totall unnatural,” I warn. Alynn nods her head in agreement, then points towards the statue.
I look at it, closer now than before, while Hain looks around.
Q: Any sign of an entrance? NO Q: Does moving the statue’s hand open a doorway? YES
“No way inside,” he says, as I pull down on the statue’s hand, causing the wall behind it to slide open revealing an entrance to the shrine beyond.
Hain starts to light a torch, but I conjure a light as I draw my dagger, “I need you wielding both blades, I think, follow me, quietly.” He shakes his head and starts to step in front, but I stop him, pointing to the top of the doorway, “see that blade?” he breathes a sigh of relief. We wedge a rock up into the blade’s track and then he carefully steps over the tripwire that would have released it.
But as I am following, he is suddenly slammed to the wall, and a horrific looking woman, green skinned with slimy hair like seaweed, jagged teeth and savage claws howls and screams at him. I feel my blood run cold at the sight of this creature, but blast it with arcane might, to little effect! Then a small demon flies into my hair, tugging at my braid, trying to bite my ear, and jabbing at me with a scorpion like tail. My ward flares as it absorbs the first blow. I hear Alynn chanting her acid spell, but the magic has no effect on my foe.
Hain slashes repeatedly at the green skinned hag, and black blood spills from her arm where she tries to deflect the blade from her cruel heart. “Look into my eyes,” she hisses, and his eyes grow wide in terror, and he slumps to the ground!
Then she turns to me as I continue firing one magic missile after another at her, scorching her skin. “Look at me pretty!”, she hisses, and I feel my soul starting to leave my body.
“Die fiend!” I cry out, unleashing another burst of magic, and sending her sprawling backwards across the room, where she lands on top of Hain’s limp body.
The tiny demon grabs hold of me, and it’s tail drives straight towards my eye, but the shield spell deflects it once more, as I hurl the creature aside, and blast it to pieces with the same spell that killed it’s master!
Alynn and I kneel down next to Hain. “He’s dead!” I tell my friend. “It happened so fast!”
“No blood,” she marvels, “did he die of fright?”
I look over at the dead hag. “So, a life for a miracle?” I wonder. “Help me Alynn!”
We pick up Hain’s corpse and drag him over to the water’s edge. It is still too early for the sickly pilgrims to arrive at the water’s edge, so we lower his body into the water, and pray for healing.
Q: Is our prayer answered? NO (I gave this even odds, since how the magic works is just a theory, and killing a hag in battle isn’t exactly the same as sacrificing a mortal soul to a demon on an altar, which is how Mendy suspects the “miracles” are triggered.)
(This battle was triggered by the Solo Adventure Toolkit. I often use Donjon for layouts (told me about the doorway trap), and a random table for encounters, this time I used TSAT for “what’s in the room” and for the first room, rolled Deadly Encounter plus a relic as treasure. Well, I figured the Imp, in crow form, was outside observing, so the hag knew we were arriving. The two together are more than deadly! Hain and Mendy both failed thier fright checks. Then hain, who still hit the foe three times in spite of disadvantage on attacks, failed against the Hag’s deadly gaze, (and rolled 1’s on both of his death saves, poor guy!). Mendy failed her roll the following turn, but I used her Lucky feat to reroll and she passed. Magic missiles for the win, as Fright can’t make those miss. Now let’s find out about that relic! Maybe I can still save Hain.)
When nothing happens for several minutes, we drag Hain back inside the shrine, lest crows begin to feast on his flesh. We already had to shoo a couple away!
Inside the room, an acidic smell hangs in the air, worse even than the stench of urine from the lake. There are two demonic looking masks hanging from the wall We carefully wrap Hain up in his cloak. I hope that if we look around, we still might be able to find a way to revive him.
Q: Are the masks the relic? NO Q: Is it a holy relic? NO Q: Is it a sacrificial dagger? NO Q: A chalice? NO I go here for an idea https://www.thievesguild.cc/tables/trinkets-magic
I notice there is a pouch on the hag’s body, and decide to look through it. I find a small bone puzzlebox, with images of dragons on it. Something rattles around inside it. There is a strange looking horn that looks like it was torn from some fierce creature, and there is a black, jewel encrusted dagger made from an unknown substance. Alynn kneels down next to me as I inspect these objects, hurrying me to open the box. It takes a few seconds, but it wasn’t a tricky puzzle by any stretch of the imagination. Inside, there is a triangular golden pendant on a golden chain. The pendant has an image of a closed eye on it.
I pull out my spellbook and begin reciting my divination spell. The horn is magical, but the amulet, I cannot sense at all…it is neither mundane nor arcane. Eventually, I realize that is the magic of the amulet, to be undetectable! I put it on. The horn allows oen to speak and understand the language of devils, or to summon one! That notion makes Alynn uneasy, and she insists that I hold onto it.
Q: Is something inside the box? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Dragon warrior? NO Q: magic? YES Q: heartstone? NO Q: a ring? NO I look through a list of magic items, and settle on an amulet of non-detection An amulet of health would have certainly been worn by the hag and we might still be fighting! Q: Does Alynn take the horn? EXCEPTIONAL NO
“Why do you think it came here? What’s this all about?” asks Alynn, as we catch our breaths and consider the situation.
I think it over a bit, and speculate that “Perhaps the hag feeds on people’s dispair. Their shattered hopes that something good might come, so she has some means to grant just enough miracles to keep people coming, so the rest return home in despair. Their faith broken. I don’t know.”
“Do you think it really has a sister?” Alynn asks, worriedly.
I shrug my shoulders, “If so, she didn’t exactly show up to help now did she? I hope if she has one, it isn’t home! Now, let’s go take a look around, shall we?”
Q: Does Alynn laugh? NO
I rise to my feet, and then give Alynn a hand up. Looking over towards Hain’s body, I shake my head and tell him, “We’ll do what we can. But please don’t get up and start shambling afer us!” Alynn gives me a worried look and tells me that wasn’t a funny joke.
Immersion: Sound, Scraping
Scene
We head towards the archway at the other side of the room, somewhat nervouse because of the scraping sound we hear up ahead. “Giant snake slithering across flagstone?” I ask. Alynn suggests a bloodthirsty ogre sharpeining its cleaver. Then she points out that the extorior of the shrine was red marble, but the interior is ordinary flagstone. I stop short, think about it, and then agree that it’s a very strange design choice.
Passing beneath the archway, we come to an iron door. It is locked! I use my dagger to try and pick the lock, but have no luck. Alynn asks to try so I step aside, but she has no luck either. “Did the hag have a key on it, perhaps?” Alynn looks at me in disgust saying she really doesn’t want to touch that thing. So I go back to inspect, perhaps around her neck or something.
The key is coated in her slimy black blood, but a few words of magic an it is clean enought to handle. “Here goes nothing!” I say, inserting the key and turning open the lock. As the door opens, a number of giant rats squeek and scurry out of the room.
They were insdie nibbling on the bloated remains of a dead man. The clothes he wears were once bright and colorful, but now are shredded and discolored by the juices of decay…maggots are everywhere, and the stench is horrid. Alynn is clearly disgusted by the sight and smell. “I’d guess he’s been here a little more than a week,” I offer, examining the corpses. “His skull was bashed in!”
“i wonder if there was a miracle last week?” ponders Alynn.
Q: Does she have a key? YES Q: Do they attack? NO Q: do I recognize the skull? EXCEPTIONAL NO
We see that the rats had fled north between the slats of a porticulus made of human bone, woven together with sinew. Beyond it, the rats have vanished though the only visible exit seems to be through another closed door, which we didn’t hear open or close.
There is a great wooden statue of a man in the room, except instead of a carved head, there is the skull of some great beast that I cannot recognize on set upon its shoulders. At its feet, there is a bronze brazier, with burning coals inside, and a great iron spit above it, with a man’s body impaled on it. The very walls of this room seem to be made of human bone! Skulls are arranged around the base of the walls of this room, and there is a flicker of movement. The scraping sound has stopped.
For room ideas: https://perchance.org/fantasy-room-generator
Q: is the spit turning, scraping? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: remains on the spit? YES Q: Do we still hear scraping? NO Q: Is there writing on the statue? NO
Alynn and I each try to lift the porticulus while the other watches, but it does no good. So we try once more, together, and this time, we are able to nudge it upward just enough that one of us can crawl underneath. Then Alynn mutters an incantation and a stone wedge appears beneath it, to hold it in place! “Well done!” I say, and she beams with pride.
I slide under the gate, and into the room, Alynn following quickly behind. We walk carefully around the room, noting the only visible exit seems to be through the east, through a door made of bone. I walk over to the brazier and spit, and then look up at the bone headed statue. Clearly, it must be a lord among the tyrants, but which one, I cannot recall. I mutter under my breath about having left Ronrico’s book back at the inn.
“Well, stand back!” I say, as I move to the far wall near where we came in, and shout “Tonitro!” The brazier and the statue appear undamaged by the spell, but the smoke rising from the fire streaks forward, in three vaguely humanoids shapes, that scorch me with their breath as they draw near, overpowering my protective ward. Alynn hurls a globe of acide at one, causing it to cry out as the magic sears it’s mystic form. “Tonitro!” I shout once more, and the creatures seem to explode in a blast of steam. It burns my skin a little, like being splashed with boiling water. It is unlikely to scar, but it hurts!
Alynn keeps watch while I put some salve on it.
Q: Do the altar and statue shatter? EXCEPTIONAL NO
“Well, that didn’t work!” I complain. “The statue is still standing, just fine.”
“How about we just push it over?” suggests Alynn. I look at her like she’s nuts…we could barely get inside the room! “And besides, don’t we need to figure out how to help Hain?”
“Maybe through that door?” I suggest, as we head over to try it. The door is stuck fast. Neither of us can budge it. “You know, a half ogre would be nice! A big, dumb, friendly half ogre full of muscles who could just kick open any door I find!”
“Well that’s not very nice,” Alynn pouts, “Why does he have to be dumb?”
I look at her, “How smart do you think we are looking for trouble? We need someone at least as dumb as us to be our muscle!”
This time, Alynn actually laughs at one of my jokes!
We drag Hain’s body over and set it before the demonic statue. Then I drag the hag’s body over as well, and cutting out the fiend’s heart, I toss it onto the brazier, still smouldering and holding up her bloody black dagger, say, “Here’s her soul as tribute, now pay us with a miracle and restore Hain to life!”
Q: Does it work? EXCEPTIONAL NO
“Mendy!” Alynn shouts, and I see the hag rising back up, a gaping hole where her heart once was, bloody and savage looking. I feel more disgust than horror. She lunges at me, but her movements are uncoordinated, and I easily step aside. Alynn fills the room with flames, catching the hag along the edges and I fire a spray of magical darts into the walking corpse. Then I focus on staying out of her reach as Alynn strikes the creature with one, then a second globe of acid…and her body slumps to the ground once more.
I look over to the demonic statue. “Soul for soul, fiend!”
Then I move behind the statue, and put all my weight into trying to push it over, Alynn quickly moves to help me.
(A 14, and an 18 on the strength checks? Probably a 15 target, so?) Q: Good enough? YES Q: brazier shatter? YES Q: A release of magical energy? NO Q: anything fall out of the skull? NO Q: is the illusion broken? YES
With a mighty crash, the statue topples over on top of the brazier, causing it to shatter, and snapping the iron rod that was shoved through the unfortunate soul being cooked over it. The skull rolls across the room, and lands against the wall, facing us, seeming to watch us, mockingly.
“Let’s get out of here!” I suggest, and Alynn summons her disc once more. This time, we place Hain’s body across it, and I cut off the hag’s head to show the townsfolk.
Immersion:Sight, reflected, almost hidden from view
Scene: (Positive alteration-Okay, I’m going to take this gimme! Tired of allies dying all the time!)
We step outside the temple to see that the shrine and the island have completely changed. The trees along the banks all look dead, no gold or silver leaves. The water, still smelling of urine, now looks foul as well, no longer clear and inviting. The sickly people gathered along the shores have stepped away in horror. The red marbled shrine we had entered is now constructed entirely of human bones, tied together. And the crows took flight as we first stepped outside.
The statue remains, as it was before, but I notice something glittering on the ground next to it. Among the silver coins the crows had gathered, there is a small brass tub. Part of a set of chimes like one hangs by a shopkeep’s door. Etched upon is something in elvish. Alynn tells me the word is “Void.”
Suddenly, we hear a weak cough from the disk. Looking over, we see the color starting to return to Hain’s face. He looks frightened, as though he ha seen a ghost! “Where am I?” he whispers fearfully, his hands trembling.
“This side of the veil once more!” I answer gently, “Your life has been restored, somehow. I’ll tell you more later. For now, you need some rest.”
We strip down our gear for the swim once more, trusting Hain not to roll over an push anything off the disk, and then Alynn leans back into theh water and I tow her across like a couple of hours earlier.
Q: Are the people upset? NO
As we climb out of the water, I am kind of surprised, that everyone is simply staring at us, bewildered. I hold up the hag’s severed head, and throw it across the shore so everyone can get a good look at it. “The Tyrants lie and deceive,” I say, “There are no miracles here, just blood sacrifice, a demon’s altar, and enough bait to lure the innocent. Go home!”
(Persuasion 6 on my big victory speech, Q: Did that piss them off? EXCEPTIONAL NO) Q: Can we get a ride? NO Q: Does the innkeeper hate us? NO
The people start to nod in agreement, and begin hobbling back to the village. The carriages with elderly nobles, the lame with their walking sticks, and friends carrying litters. We arent able to get a ride, so when Alynn’s spell fades, she is forced to empower it once more.
Even the innkeper isn’t angry. He simply nods at us when we arrive, already having learned the news from the first to return. “Well, it was a pleasant dream while it lasted,” the wench says as she brings us drinks and full plates. “But no dream lasts beyond the morning’s light. Glad you found out what was really going on.” I nod in appreciation.
Then Alynn and I see Hain to his room, and the two of us retire to mine to discuss the day’s events. After awhile, she borrows one of the spellbooks, returning to her room to study, and I lay down for a rest.
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