Vingrow 26th, Damesday-40 degrees, leaves and twigs in constant motion, flags extended.
Q: Because I said so? NO Q: to Complete your training? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Because you bring shame to us? YES Q: Does he lash out at me? YES Q: Will he lend help? EXCEPTIONAL YES (d4+1 gives me four men. I quickly generate personalities, 1 veteran, 2 seasoned men at arms, and…) Q: An adventurer? YES
I wake to the sound of Sir Heuric arguing with a young woman, apparently his daughter, demanding to know why she was being sent away. “Because you bring shame to our house with your refusal to marry any of the suitors who might have you, and your refusal to learn at the feet of our liege’s wife, and your refusal to learn under any honored battlemage and serve your family as a daughter should!” the knight thunders.
The girl shouts back, “Then my father is a fool! There are other magics than evocations, and other uses for magic than the battlefield, and what does it matter whether your youngest daughter marries or not? My sisters have secured you allies, and my brothers will bring you heirs. You could let me study new magics and learn to conjure mighty beasts to fight by your side, but no! You send me away with some wandering vagabond. I hope never to darken your doorway with my presence again!”
A door slams, and I walk into the room to see the nobleman, his face flushed with anger, and his fist clenched in rage.
“Ah, milord, I suppose that was the young lady you are commanding I take with me?” I tentatively offer.
He turns on me with eyes like fire, “Get her out of my sight! Teach her, but do not bring her back here until she has learned her place and proper respect for her family.”
“Understood,” I nod, then I ask, “about the Shards of Echtad. They must not fall into the wrong hands. Will you lend your daughter and I some men to help recover them before someone else does?”
“Yes,” he nods thoughtfully, “Sergeant Derart will help you. I’ll tell him to take two other men as well. And the half-orc, Oderald, you should take him as well. He’s probably in the tavern. He’ll require payment, but he might be useful in the ruins.” The noble tosses me a pouch of gold coins to offer Oderald for his help.
A few minutes later, Sergeant Derart, the man who vouched for me last night, is walking me over to the Queen of Swords tavern.
The square in front of the tavern is bustling with activity as travelling men at arms, knights and their retinues are preparing for the day’s journey southward. There is no sign of the man who threatened me last night.
Inside the tavern, there is a tall, lean half orc sipping from a bowl of porridge and talking to the scar faced tavern keep. She looks warily at Derart as we approach the half orc.
The sergeant throws the pouch of coins on the table, and announces, “Oderals, you’ve been mustered. You’ll be joining me on a mission in to the swamp.” The barmaid bristles and starts to challenge the sergeant as the half orc looks up angrily from his bowl, then his eyes fall on me.
“Ah! The witch with questionable judgement, I see,” the half orc smiles. He looks me up and down, shrugs his shoulders, “not much to look at though. Pretty enough face, I guess.” I object that he’s ugly as an orc, but he merely chuckles and shrugs his shoulders, “I suppose this has something to do with the stranger you were talking with last night and the two men you nearly killed?” I nod my head, and tell him that I’ll explain as we get underway, but that for now, he just needs to grab whatever gear he needs to spend a few nights in the swamp investigating the sunken city. He grins at this, “A bit of adventure, eh? Never know what you can find in an old place like that.”
Scene: Q: Does anyone know where she is? YES Q: by the stables? YES Q: Does she know the shards (19+5 so yes!) She eager? YES Does she have any healing potions? Yes (d4=2)
A short time later, I meet Sergreant Derart, Oderals the half orc, and two of the lord’s men, Ronrico and Reineer at the western gate, which leads towards the swamp. They have a mule with them laden with supplies. “Where is his lordship’s daughter?” I ask the sergeant. He tells me that she refused to come. She’s over by the stables. So I ask the sergeant to come with me, but he shakes his head and says, “This is between the two of you. Alynn isn’t going to listen to me if she won’t obey her father. You need to sort this out.” I throw up my hands in despair, I don’t even care if she follows us!
At the stables, I found the well dressed young noblewoman grooming a fine looking horse. She’s about my height, but shapely and with long black hair. But when she turns to face me, I’m taken a back by her broad, splotchy face and flat nose. Her face is still red from tears, but there is fury in her eyes. “Lady Alynn,” I offer, “I am Mendy of White Tower. Your father has commanded me to take you as my apprentice. I need you to come with me.”
Alynn glares at me, “Why must you do as my father says? Have you become one of his servants?”
I show him the badge of his house that I was given, and say, “Apparently, I am, or else I face a tribunal in Coravos. I don’t actually care whether you follow me, or study under me. But I need you to leave town with me so I can leave town. There probably isn’t any magic I can teach that you’d want to learn, but I can use a hand finding the Shards of Elchtad.”
She stops brushing the animal and looks up at me, “You mean, the Fiendish Shards of Echtad, correct? One of the keys to the seven seals that binds the gate between worlds?” My jaw drops as she asks the exact same question I did of the man last night. Then I laugh.
“Yes! Those are the ones! And a man tried to recruit me last night to help him search the swamp for them, and two days earlier, and elf tried to recruit me for a mission into the swamp as well, but he wouldn’t tell me what he sought. Will you help me find them?”
She grins a bit, some private thought passing through her mind, and then she replies, “Master Mendy of White Tower, how might your apprentice serve you?” I return her smile, and ask if she has any more suitable travelling clothes she can change into before she meets us at the western gate.
Scene-
Half an hour later, Alynn joins us at the edge of town wearing a quilted shirt beneath a household tabard, and some riding pants. Much better suited for the swamp than her dress was! She’ll certainly be more comfortable than the mailed soldiers but she may soon wish she was wearing a studded leather vest and breaches like the half orc.
“Alright then, you have us all together at last,” Oderal winces at the sight of the young noblewoman, “what’s this all about that interrupts my drinking and card games?” Sergeant Derart shakes his head, visibly annoyed.
“There are two other companies entering the sunken city, trying to find an ancient book called the Fiendish Shards of Elchtad. This is a book of powerful sorcery that can be used to help unlock the gates that separate our world from that of the Whispering Tyrants. We don’t know why they seek that book, but one of the men, when I refused to help, tried to have me killed. So I don’t think we want them to have it! I need your help recovering it first so we can deliver it to Coravos for safekeeping.”
-I make some really good history rolls, and the UNE for these NPC’s gives one who knows about legends, another fascinated by ancient cults, and well, Oderals is an adventurer. I went to https://perchance.org/urban-legend-generator for some inspiration–
“Elchtad, you say?” Oderals scratches his chin thoughtfully, “he was one of the wizard kings of Wadun, right? Don’t the legends say he could conjure primordial creatures of flame and earth to do his bidding?”
Reineer, one of the men, shakes his head, “Yes, sort of. But to be more precise, Elchtad is the faceless queen of Wadun. Legends say she could conjure beings of flame and earth, water and sky, but she gained this power by making a pact with one of the tyrants, trading her soul for that power. Then she regretted the pact and tried to break it, and her master stole her face and condemned her to haunt the halls of her palace for all eternity.”
The other soldier, Ronrico adds, “When I was a kid, there was a small coven driven out of the swamp that called themselves the children of Elchtad. They wore faceless wicker masks. Not sure how they saw out of them. Guess the weave must have been pretty loose. Don’t know much more about them.”
Sergeant Derart shakes his head, “Yeah, I missed that. I was busy killing goblins up north. All sorts of strange cults pop up when during times of war I guess.”
Alynn laughs, “The faceless masks? My father kept one of those as a trophy. My sisters used to try to make me wear it, said the only way anyone would want to marry me was by covering up my face. I hadn’t really heard where he got it from.”
The men kind of look away awkwardly at that revelation. But Sergeant Derart quickly breaks the silence, “Let’s go men. Reineer, lead the mule. Oderals, you lead the way. You’ve been to the ruins before, so take us there. Ronrico, bring up the rear.” As the half orc starts walking out of town, Derart gestures for me to follow and then falls in step right behind me. “Mendy, was it? I hope you know what you are getting into out here,” he says quietly, not really seeming to expect an answer.
Scene: (Keepers explore Potters Place, Black Coven searching, Mendy’s Crew searching) Immersion, Sound-Whining, Encounter-No encounter-tracks of giant crocodile
My small company heads into the swamp, hoping to find the Shards of Elchtad, if they are even still in the sunken ruins. The gnats buzz endlessly around us, and though we try to stay on solid ground as much as possible, we have to walk through waist deep water at several points. Teh mule balks and brays in complaint, and Allynn, who seems to have a way with animals, has to help Reineer coax the beast onward with he gentle words.
As we cross through one such area, we are surprised by a thunderous “splash” some distance away. Oderals suddenly urges us all to “get out of the water, and keep your eyes peeled”. We follow his instructions and I hope from one piece of dry land to another after him till he reaches something he wanted to show me. “See these tracks? There was a giant crocodile sunning itself here just a few minutes ago! It may be watching us even now!” I look around, warily…judging from the size of the claw prints, such a creature could easily bite me in half!
At midday, we stop for a quick meal, and I ask Oderals how much farther. He grins and says, “The City is kind of…everywhere. You find bits and pieces of it jutting out of the swamp. Aside from the old palace, or the great tower, there are few discernable landmarks, but we’ll start finding bits of it soon. It was a big city.”
Afternoon- (Keepers Advance explored Potters Place & Slave Warrens, Black Coven searching , Mendy’s Crew find the Mausoleums) Immersion, Sight, Tiny clearly and vividly Encounter-Magical lights in the ruins
Q: Do more lights flare? NO Q: Did it come from a mausoleum? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Is it elevated from the water? NO Q: Fully submerged? YES Q: Can I discern the shape of the tomb? EXCEPTIONAL YES
After lunch, we press deeper into the swamp and we begin to see the rooftops of elegant stone structures, now covered in moss, and the abandoned nests of birds, vines that have writhed up from the much. But they are too close together, and two small to be the rooftops of houses. There are even statues of elven warriors and maidens standing atop a few of them, but many more where the statues, had there been any, are broken off at the ankles. “A cemetery?” I ask our half orc guide.
Oderals nods, “Yes! It’s a good place to look for ancient jewels, but much of what’s here has long been corroded beyond worthlessness. Still, the elves had their magic, and sometimes, a treasure hunter will find something of value, but the magic that preserved what’s inside often guards those treasures from more than just the elements!”
Ronrico pipes up, “Best not to meddle with such things. Where is this book supposed to be anyway? We aren’t really going to crack open a bunch of old crypts are we?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.” Then I see a light flash nearby, a red flare of light. “Did you see that?” I ask my companions, and hands quickly drop to blades as the men look around.
“Ronrico to the left, Oderal to the right, let’s check it out,” Derart commands as he follows alongside me towards where the light had flashed. Alynn and Reineer bring up the rear, with the mule nervously following.
We draw close to where I saw the light, and it reappears…a red glow flares suddenlty from beneath the water, from the mouth of a large tomb that has been nearly completely claimed by the swamp. Derart looks at me expectantly. “Alynn? Do you know divination? What can you tell me about the nature of this magic?” I ask the apprentice.
She sloshes forward and strains to see beneath the water, “Elven?” she guesses, “from the fact that this is an ancient elven city?” she grins.
-randomly determined that this is an abjuration spell effect, randomly generate a list of abjuration spells and then determine that “Counterspell” is the effect. Mendy is an abjuration specialist, so with Detect Magic easily determining the school, I figure advantage on the roll (high is 22 Arcane) to determine the exact spell effect remotely-
I shake my head, and draw one of my spellbooks from its waxen sheath. “You need to learn this magic, recite these lines and movements with me.” It takes even longer than normal, but the two of us manage to determine that the the light comes from some sort of warding spell. Focusing more closely, I realize that the ward immediately nullifies any magical effect that passes through it. “It counters any magic that passes through it.” I marvel.
Derart asks, “So what magic has passed through, twice now, that needs to be nullified?”
I peer into the water, looking for signs of movement, but notice nothing. “I’m going to check this out,” I say as I start stripping off my gear and handing it to my apprentice. Derart curses and starts pealing off his pack, belts and armor as well. I look at him in surprise, and he says that he’s not letting me go down there alone. I shrug my shoulder, and recite the warding spell “Carochalie” as I place my hand upon his bare chest. I then conjure a light to guide us, and armed with little but our daggers, the two of us swim down into the ancient tomb.
As we swim closer, I realize, once I get close the wards on Derart and I will be undone! So I hold out the light stone in my hand as we get close to the shattered doorway of the ancient crypt. And I see, in the in the gloom ahead, a shape floating in the water within the tomb, a sphere about three feet in diameter, with four fronds waving in the water above. Then a great eye opens in the center of the sphere, and eyes at the tips of each frond!
I drop the light, and grab Derart’s arm, frantically signalling that we must return to the surface!
“What is it you seek?” I hear in my mind, “Have you come to plunder and steal? Please come inside, I long for a meal.”
There is a sudden beam of light from one of the smaller eyes, then a flare of red as the beam dissipates at the edge of the doorway. Then a second beam and it too dissipates. “Please come inside so we can play! End the dullness of my day!”
Breaking the surface of the water, I look at Derart, and he at me. “What was that?” he asks.
I shake my head, “A beholder, I think, but it’s trapped. Otherwise, we’d be dead. Does it speak inside your mind as well?” Derart nods and says it was taunting him.
Still hearing the creature in my head, I attempt to reply, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Irthusch am I, in guarding I lie, in wait for that is my fate. A fortune untold of glittering gold, to lure you inside is my bait! Masters passed on twenty terms and beyond, they renew my bond each last day, then leave me alone while they sit on their thrones and do not let me go out to play. So please come back here and lend me your ear while I chew off your arm and your leg, don’t leave me alone so far from my home, it saddens me to have to beg.”
“Tell me about the Shards of Elchtad?” I ask, fearfully.
“Ah, the shards that you seek, between worlds you would peek? I am sure that they lie here with me. Why don’t you come down, be sure not to drown, and then from my grasp rip them free.”
I respond, “What you say is not true, the sad lot that you drew, is to guard nothing calling to me, pray tell now to I, and please do not lie, where might the shards truly be?”
“A sending stone lies in these ruins far nigh, far away I know where not now, if you could pass through as Queen Elchtad would do, perhaps you will find what you seek! Now please do not go, I have shared what I know, but the world changes so much I’m sure. Remain and explain all the torment and pain, all the hopes and dreams of elves interred.”
I tell Derart to head back to shore and he rearms himself while I remain floating on my back in the water above the crypt, talking with Irthusch, trying to trade information. I tell him of the goblin wars, what I’ve heard of them anyway, and of the rise of Ardeles in this region. He knows pieces of it from previous visitors, of which he has eaten several, but there is some unfamiliar news. In return, he tells me that the Sending Stone was at the center of the Great Gardens. I ask if there is a any sort of guardian, but he falls silent. Our conversation done, I swim to shore and get dressed as I explain what I’ve learned.
Q: Do i see anything moving? NO Q: Is Derart coming with me? YES Q: Oderals? NO Q: Does something live there? YES (Looking for a magical swamp dwelling creature that is dumb enough to dispel it’s own effects isn’t very fruitful, but then I remember, Spectators make great guardians!) Q: Can i see it near the front? YES (Arcane 14, not likely to recognize it correctly) Q: Does it attack? YES Q: did it speak to him too? YES Q: Does it know about the shards? EXCEPTIONAL YES
Q: Does it try to convince me it has them? EXCEPTIONAL YES Deception 9 vs Insight 14, not buying it. Persuasion 21 to find out where the shards are, persuasion 21 to find out where the sending stone is Q: is there a guardian? EXCEPTIONAL YES Persuasion 6, he doesn’t tell me about! Q: Does Oderals even listen? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Is Derart concerned? YES Q: Is Alynn excited? YES Progress is made to the thread ‘Find the Fiendish Shards of Elchtad’, involving the Carrying of an Illness Topic: delight regarding skills. Camp events.
Oderals watches me stupidly as I dress, not even hearing a word I am saying. Alynn is fascinated by the phrase “Sending Stone” eager to explore the power of teleportation magic. Derart worries at the beholder’s reluctance to tell us what guards such powerful magic. He looks at his two men, worried that the three of them might not be skilled enough to overcome the unknown threat. I share his concerns, but remind him that there is more at stake than our lives. I then suggest we find a secure place to rest, for whe know our destination, and should easily be able to find it in the morning.
We find some dry land and set up the tents, establishing two guards per watch. Alynn with Derart, Oderal with Ronrico, and I watch alongside Reineer just before dawn. Alynn and I each set up warning spells, to alert us to any danger, and I am pleased to see that she had already learned that magic!
During our watch, Reineer complains about the soreness in his back after having slept on the ground. I ask how he manages on long campaigns then and he explains that he’s never actually been much farther than the capitol. As we talk, I realize that he’s actually not as old as he looks. His beard is deceiving! I ask why Derart chose him, and he shrugs his shoulder, “Well, I’m really good with a blade. Derart says I am a prodigy, whatever that means. I know that I can hold my own against Ronrico, who is old enough to be my father, and that only a hardened veteran like Derart knows enough tricks to easily best me.” I warn him that such confidence could get him killed. He shrugs his shoulder and says that he’s not saying anything that isn’t true. Then he slaps his neck. “Did something just hit you?” he asks. As we look around, he gets hit again, and before long, we realize that there was a squirrel in the tree by which we are camped, dropping shells on his head.
Vingrow 27th, Godsday-40 degrees, leaves and twigs in constant motion, flags extended. Unusual “weather” event-Modest tremor-damage to structures up to 4 miles away! No major building collapses in these ruins though (otherwwise, they’d have fallen sooner) (Keepers NO Progress- explored Potters Place & Slave Warrens, Black Coven setback lose 4 men , Mendy’s Crew found the Mausoleums, will reach the gardens by noon)
-Immersion: PC speaks to Sidekick, normal tone, threat- Have pending progress point-on the quest, but involving the carrying of an illness,
Scene-plus E: Action by Sir Heuric of Radkas: the Imprisonment of Failure (Sir Heuric imprisons the two coven members who had attacked me, but whose bodies were not recovered after the fight, apparently, his men found where they had been hidden to recover!)
As daylight breaks, I am writing in my journal while Reineer prepares breakfast. Suddenly, the very ground around us begins to buck and shake, waking our companions with a start! Alynn cries out and the mule brays in in terror! “Quiet!” I warn my apprentice, “Lest enemies hear us and we feed you to them!”
Birds take flight all around us, disturbed from their roosts, and the water line drops nearly a foot all at once, as though some great rift in the earth has opened up to drain the swamp in its entirety! The men rise from their tents, unnerved and wary, “What was that?” Oderals demands.
“Derart and Ronrico look at each other, “Hope everyone back home is alright, that was pretty strong,” Dearart says to his old friend, who nods at him. Ronrico agrees, reminding each other of when, as children, they say the village watchtower collapse during such a quake. “Before any of you were born,” they say when the rest of their companinos ask about it.
We collect our supplies while I observe the waterline rising back up, every so slightly, ever so slowly. Derarat asks what I’m watching, as I stare at the adjacent reeds. When I tell him, he suggests that we are pretty close from the main course of the Green River right now. I nod, deep in thought, and we carry on in the directions Irthusch had hinted at.
Already teaming with frogs, birds, snakes and insects, the swamp seems even more alive today as creatures disturbed from their rest seek shelter, while predators pursue unsettled game. I hurl a bolt of flame at a heron that has grabbed a frog in its beak. My companions look at me quizically, and I shrug my shoulders, explaining “Bad memories.”
Then we come to a stretch of marsh where every bit of dry land is covered in rats! Thousands of rats, large and small, that hiss and squeel at our approach. Suddenly, they begin swimming towards us, a great black wave of vermin whose white teeth and red eyes draw steadily closer.
“Back up!” Derart commands, as we all struggle through the mud to put some more distance between us and them. Then I stop, stretching out my hand and cry out”Tonitro!”
Q: Does it get them all? EXCEPTIONAL NOQ: Is there dry land nearby? YES
With a crack of thunder, the water sprays out every which way hurling squealing rats through the air, torn and bloodied, but there are more! “Up here!” Alynn cries, and I soon join her and the rest of the company on a nearby island. “Let them come ashore, and everyone get behind me!” she urges. The men look at her warily as Reiner begins to light and distribute torches as Derart orders.
As the rats clamber up onto the island, Alynn and I shoot each other worried glances, but then as soon as the swarm starts to reach our feet, we both cry out “Manigna!” and gouts of flame spring forth from our hands, turning many of the beast to char and ash. The men set upon the survivors with their torches and heavy boots. In a few short seconds, the great swarm is dispersed. Hundreds of dead rats litter the island or float in the water. Along with many dead fish! While other fish, and turtles that had been out of reach of my initial spell now pick at the corpses causing one after another to vanish in a ring of water.
Alynn looks at me, nervously, but pat her on the shoulder, “Well done friend!” she smiles. Derart nods his approval as well and we are back on our way.
Q: Do we hear the screams? YES Q: Does Alynn want to come? NO Q: Do we arrive in time to witness the fight? YES Q: Are my men shocked YES
About half an hour later, we hear someone screaming up ahead of us. Sergeant Derart starts forward to go and help, but I hold him back, “Who else is out here? Our enemies, and one other group. Let’s not be hasty.” I turn to Oderals, “Come with me! Let’s see what’s going on!” Alynn says that she’ll watch the mule for the rest of the men, as she feels drained from the previous battle still. Oderals and I move ahead, sith the rest of the company following a good distance behind.
Soon we come upon a battle between black robed me, a couple of mailed soldiers, and several rotten corpses and ancient skeletons risen from the mud around them. Two of the black robed men and one of the soldiers have already fallen. As we watch, a fourth man, crying out the name “Drouzal the Destroyer” for protection is dragged down into the mud.
The man from the tavern, who sent assassins after me, is fighting off his attackers with the skill of a seasoned warrior, his few remaining men staying close to his side. I consider the situatino carefully, and rip apart the ground and trees around them with a thunderclap causing one of the men to crumple to the ground! The man from the tavern turns, and seeing me, yells a curse of vengeance, but then he turns his attention back towards the undead. The man behind him, however, mutters an incantation and I feel my resolve weaken as my allys come to my side, and Derart commands, “Save them! Kill the undead!”
Bolts and arrows begin to fly as my sense returns and I hurl a firebolt at the enemy wizard. He reels from the impact and falls facedown into the mud. A skeletal warrior steps over him and cuts down the man next to him. The man from the tavern cuts slashes at a foe wearing an ancient crown, and hitting the creature in the neck, staggers backwards in confusion as his blade fails to bite through! And then his face grows white and his sword falls from his fingertips as he stares helpelessly into the creature’s eyes as it begins to rip the flesh from his bones! The last of his men fights valiently, as his killer and the two remaining skeletons close in around him. He kills one of them, but a bolt of fire from my hands lays the man down. The remaining undead then begin coming towards us!
The crowned one falls to Derart’s crossbow, a bolt striking it through the heart, and the last of the corpse warriors is cut down by Derart’s blade as it reaches our line with two bolts sticking into its shield.
“What was that?” Reineer demands to know, looking on me with shock and horror.
“Some sort of undead, obviously. Apparently, they walk here as guardians. I’m not sure about the crowned one. It seemed to possess some sort of magical power,” I reply flatly.
“No! Not that! Why did you kill those men! They might have survived!” he demands. I look to Derart, the question is on his lips as well.
“Because that man,” I point at the one the crowned lord ripped apart, “is seeking the Shards of Echtal as we are. And he sent his men to kill me. Regardless of whether we find the shards or not, we have stopped them from retrieving them!”
(DC 15, Medium Difficulty persuasion, +2 CH, +2 to +0 for relationship 16 vs all but Oderals)
“Are you sure they are an enemy though?” Oderals demands, “Perhaps they are here on the King’s orders and you’ve just killed those sent to retrieve the shards for the safety of the kingdom!” (DC 15, rolling a 16, but with -1 CH, 0 and -2 for relationships, only Alynn and Mendy would even consider his question at this point)
Alynn arriving now with the mule in tow agrees wih the half orc, “Perhaps Oderals is right? We don’t know who these men are.”
“Search the bodies,” I command, and we start looking over them. I walk over to the man from the tavern first, and then examine the spellcaster.”By the way, does the name Drouzal mean anything to any of you? One of the men called out for aid from Drouzal the Destroyer as he was being dragged down.”
“What?” Ronrico asks incredously,”Drouzal of the Deep?” he asks, pulling an octopus shaped amulet from one of the men, “The great kraken who seeks the enslavement of landdwellers? I heard rumors that the cult had been reborn in some new form, that there was rumor of a small sect of worshipers having been discovered near Farwatch a year ago, and of a great battle a couple of months ago near Estkap against an army of hobgoblins and trolls that was allegedly tied to The Destroyer. I hear Estkap lost nearly a third of its men in the fighting…well,” he whistles, “it’s a good thing we stopped them!”
-UNE tole me that Ronrico has as a special interest, “Strange cults and religions” so with advantage on the die roll, and a 19 on the roll, I figure he knows of the cult of Drouzal, since it is not just ancient, but also increasingly active, though bery unlikely, I also ask Q: Is he aware of the cult on the frontier? YES
Q: Does Derart want to return to the village? EXCEPTIONAL YES
“Alright then, we need to return to Radkas,” Sergeant Derart says, “His lordship needs to understand the nature of this threat.”
I am only half listening at this point, fascinated by a letter I found on the enemy leader. “Brother Osesos, The Coven is pleased with your recovery of the Codex of Ukral. You have proven your value to us and will be rewarded in our lord’s reign. Now, take your men to Vardun, and seek Echtal’s Sanctuary. It is said to reside between worlds, but the only known entrance is in Vardun. You are to enter the Sanctuary and retrieve the Shards of Echtal. It might be prudent to bring an offering or two as its guardian is said to thirst for the flesh of young men.”
On the wizard, I find none of the usual paraphenalia of sorcery, but there is a letter, “Brother Hirona, We have received word from Brother Osesos that Timoran, his wizard, was arrested in Coravos. It is urgent that you meet him in Radkas to aid in his mission, lest he be forced to hire a stranger. Ride overnight if you must, but get to him before the Keepers arrive.”
Q: Does he know who the keepers are? YES E: Progress on ‘When houses fall with the thinning of the veil, evil unleashed’: the Breaking of Trials (houses may have fallen in two nearby villages, but what is “Breaking of Trials?)
“Ronrico,” I ask, “Who are the Keepers?”
“The Keepers of the Veil? It’s an old order of wizards and holy warriors I think. They were pledged to keep the veil between our world and the abyss intact, to prevent creatures from Drouzal and the other Tyrants from becoming fully manifest. Why, what do you have?” he asks, coming to look at the papers I found.
“Oderals!” Alynn cries out, rushing over to the half orc, who is now slumped over on the ground. Sergeant Derart is at her side. “What’s wrong?” Alynn asks, “he’s not wounded?”
Derart starts pulling off the half orcs armor and clothes, “he’s white as death,” the old soldier says, and then pulls something from the orc’s body, “leaches! Dozens of them.”
“Oh crap!” Reineer shouts, as he starts pulling off his boots and sees several latched onto his own legs.
“Check yourselves, and each other!” the sergeant commands, “Mendy, give me a hand here!” I am soon by his side helping pull the worms off. My fingers sheathed in flame causing the creatures to release their bite as the warmth grows near.
We pull nearly two dozen leaches from the half orc, and by careful inspection, nearly half a dozen from each of the rest of us, and half again as many off our mule. I pour one of my healing droughts down the half-orc’s throat, and his color begins to return as lost blood is replaced. He may be weak for days though!
As we wait for Oderals to start coming around, I ask “What did you men find on the bodies?” They hand over three healing draughts, and I give one back to each of the warriors. They also found a couple of pounds worth of gold coins, which I also let the men keep, a finely engraved golden ring, which was worn by Osesos, and a ancient rusted steel crown set with pearls and green gems. “I bet this was beautiful many centuries ago, the pearls are nice, not sure about the green stones though” I say. I pocket the ring, and then dry out the spellbook I found on Hirona’s body.
“How are you doing that?” Alynn asks, confused about the simplest of cleaning spells. As I explain it, her eyes widen, “The first thing I was taught was lights for distraction, followed by and acid sphere for trolls, and a ward against blades. I am surprised a battle mage like yourself was taught to do by magic what a servant should do!”
I chuckle, “Until I was given you as an apprentice, I had no servants. Perhaps you should be drying this by hand?”
The young noblewoman seems unsure whether I am joking, so I smile and punch her arm to assure her that I jest.
Sergeant Derart comes and kneels down next to us, “Battlemage? The half orc’s no good to us. We need to return home.” Looking up into his eyes, I argue that unless we secure the Shards, another company will take them for unknown purpose. If not today, then tomorrow, next week or next year. He argues that we’ve dealt with the immediate threat, especially if the other team I suspect truly is of “The Keepers”. Neither one of us is really able to persuade the other, so I ask the men what they think. Derart shakes his head, “That’s now how it’s done,” but I ignore him. I’m not a soldier and these aren’t really my men.
“We are heading back to town with the Sergeant,” Ronrico says. Reineer doesn’t even need to chime in. They help Oderals up onto the back of the mule, though he can barely stay upright. I have them leave one of the tents, which my apprentice can carry, and some of the food, then wish them well.
Alynn watches nervously, the fear plain in her eyes. “We are really going to stay out here on our own?” she worries.
I look her in the eyes, “We are so close right now!” Then I look towards the swamp, the Sending Stone is surely less than a mile away but who knows what guards it? “Let’s leave” I say, defeated, and the two of us follow the men back towards town.
(Keepers NO Progress- lose two men, explored Potters Place & Slave Warrens, Black Coven expedition destroyed, Mendy’s Crew found the Mausoleums, know the location of the Gardens, returning home)
Immersion-touch, encounter, giant crocodile immediate attack (16 on stealth roll, so nobody spots it Alertness gives Mendy a chance!),
We are walking through the swamp, our boots sinking into the much with each step, gnats getting in our eyes and hears, and I itch horribly. Distractions I could ignore while seeking adventure now irritate me as we retreat from our goal. Suddenly, my breath catches and I shout, “look out!” not a moment before a great crocodile lunges out of the ponding water just in front of Derart, a sphere of acid flies from my hands striking the creature’s mouth as it’s jaws reach open up to grab my friend!
Derart yells as the creatures jaws clench around him, and it turns back towards the water, its tail nearly slamming into Ronrico. Derart stabs the creature furiously with his dagger while his men rush to his aid, Alynn and I hurl acid at it as the creature dives back into the water dragging Derart down with it. It’s massive tail slamming Ronrico to the ground as though he were a rag doll!
I yell for Reineer to help the soldier, and shucking off my pack, dive into the water after the crocodile. Amazingly, I catch up to it as it turns to release Derart’s lifeless body and turn on me! It’s jaws crash through my warding spell and I feel its razor teeth digging to my flesh, crushing the breath from my lungs!
Focusing on the amulet around my neck, I imagine myself in the boughs of a tree I see on a nearby island, and quickly grab hold of one so I don’t fall back into the water below!
The beast snorts like a great bull, and bloodied and burnt from blade and magic, turns back into the depths grabbing Derart’s lifeless body with it.
-Retreating with only 17 hp left! We almost had it!-
I slip down out of the tree, and check my wounds. I am lucky to be alive! I down one of my healing potions, and then swim over to my companions, where Ronrico has been revived, but is in no condition to walk. I sit down next to him, and next to Reineer, watching the water while i catch my breath. “I liked Deraart. He was a good man.” I say.
“I’m engaged to his daughter,” Reineer replies. I look over at the youth as he continues fighting back tears, “he’s kind of been like a father to me growing up. I don’t know how they are going to get by without him.” I put my hand on his shoulder.
After a short time, we all get back up on our feet, and Ronrico climbs on back of the mule with Oderals.
Along the way, we walk in silence. At one point, we startle some racoons who abandon several of the fish they grabbed who must have gotten stranded when the water level dropped, but we are soon back in the village of Radkas.
Scene #12: E: Progress on ‘A diabolical alter ego lurks’: the Attainment of Riches
We arrive in the village of Radkas, still recovering from the earthquake. Villagers are clearing away debris, but it looks like the major structures, the mill, the manorhouse, the watchtowers, all held up pretty well. One of the guards hails us on seeing Reineer, but then his face goes white as he relizes Derart is missing. “Where’s the Sergeant?” the man asks, and Reineer replies that he didn’t make it.
Word spreads quickly through town and by the time we reach the manorhouse, Derart’s widow and children are already there, the grief plain in their eyes.
Q: Will he talk to Alynn? NO Q: me? YES Q: Does he forgive us? NO Q: Does he banish me? YES Q: Does he keep his daughter? YES E: New NPC: an Ambush and Pleasures Q: Does Alynn come with me? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does she (the widow) forgive me? YES
His lordship questions us, ignoring his daughter, but demanding answers from Reineer and I. We explain that we stopped the Cult of Drouzal from retrieving the Shards, and then decided to return and report rather than trying to best whatever guardians remained in our path. That Derart was killed by a giant crocodile and that it swam away with his lifeless body. That there was no way to catch the beast in the deep water to which it retreated. He curses and swears at me, costing him a good man! Then he rips off my badge and tells me to never set foot in his manor again! As Alynn turns to follow me, he grabs her and warns that following me is certain death, commanding her to stay here. She seems relieved, even though he is enraged, she has seen enough adventure for her taste.
“Very well, milord,” I say in frustration, “you deal with this! I am travelin north to learn more of this cult.”
I then head into the barracks to bid farewell to Ronrico, and learn that Oderals has been taken back to his room in the tavern. After thanking Ronrico for his courage, expressing my regrets to Derart’s widow, I head over to the Queen of Swords.
As I am about to knock on the door to Oderal’s room, I hear him moaning my name. Confused, and a bit disgusted, I push open the door to see myself straddling him! The other me glances in my direction, her eyes flash red and I see the fangs in her mouth! The reflection from the trough and the mirror! Then it bends down to kiss him, “Get away!” I yell, clutching the cat’s eye amulet and trying to banish the demon. It merely laughs and places its mouth over his. His body shrivels and flesh turns grey.
“Demon!” I yell, hurling arcane bolts at the creature. They rip into its flesh, but my alter ego simply cackles hysterically as she then fades away into another realm. The inkeeper and a few other patrons race upstairs to see what is happening. They join me looking over Oderal’s corpse. “The demon,” I explain, “looked just like me! He thought I was making love to him. That I was killing him.”
“A succubus?” one of the men asks. I nod my head, because I can’t imagine what else it could have been.
-Scene- (negative alteration) Q: Ronrico dead? EXCEPTIONAL YES
I race back to Sir Heuric’s Manor to tell him what’s happened and seek aid from the family’s custodian, but as I reach the door, I hear an agonized cry from the adjacent barracks house. I immediately change course and shout, “I need some help here!”
Q: Anyone hear me? YES Q: guard? YES E: Progress on ‘I want to discover ancient arcane lore’: an Ambush and Legal Matters Q: Is she still there? YES
I burst through the door of the barracks to see Derart’s widow sitting naked on top of Ronrico’s desicated corpse, smiling down at her handiwork. I unleash another salvo of arcane darts, and a guard shoves me aside, having followed me into the room and seeing the half demonic version of the widow hurls himself at her, his blade biting into her flesh! The demon recoils in pain, but smiles maliciously as she fades ghostlike into nothingness once more.
Another guard and two members of the household enter the barracks, and seeing Ronrico’s remains, begin asking questions of us. The guard is confused as to what he saw, but I explain that a succubus has just killed the man, and another in the tavern. I then head over to the house and run into Sir Heuric in the street.
“What are you still doing here?” he demands.
“A succubus just killed Ronrico in his bed, and Oderals in the tavern!” I scowl, “We must find a way to stop it!”
The noble’s face turns ashen, “Levin! Alynn! Geosa!” The lord’s son, in the white robes of a custodian soon appears, Alynn follows alongside, and then the Lord’s wife, along with another young man, who from the look of him, I would guess is Heuric’s elder son and heir. “Tell them, woman! Tell them what you brought back with you!” Lord Heuric demands. All eyes turn to me, as I explain what I saw. Alynn and her brother both agree with my guess as to the identify of the creature, their mother and elder brother seem unsure.
“We need to get everyone in town together! Make sure who all is here, and that everyone is who they seem to be for this creature can change its appearance at will!” I urge. Lord Heuric agrees with this course, and the muster bell is sounded at the manor hall.
Q: Does it attack again? YES Q: The widow? NO Q: Reineer? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Is it still there? YES ‘A diabolical alter ego lurks’ is Resolved as a result of the Taking of Joy
Then we hear a scream! Alynn looks at me, “That is from Derart’s house!” she exclaims and the two of us, along with her brother the acolyte, run towards the sound.
Bursting through the door, I see one of Derart’s daughters, who Reineer had hugged tightly, lying in a bloody heap on the floor with her throat ripped out, and the demoness, now winged and horned, but whose form is a cruel mockery of mine looming over her! The shrivelled remains of a man lie in the bed next to her. From the mail and tabard on the ground nearby, I assume that was Reineer’s body.
I hurl another trio of arcane darts at the thing. Alynn conjures a globe of acid which flies past its head and her brother’s prayer seems not to phase her at all. The hellish whore cackles as she lunges towards me, “Poor friendless Mendy! I will break your heart and rend your soul apart! You meddle in my games so now I’ll repay you with pain!”
With no magic at my disposal that is likely to harm a fiend from hell, Alynn and I use our daggers, and yell for help. Levin’s prayers seem ineffectual at binding the creature, and she delights in slashing at me with her talons, growing more fearsome looking by the second. “We need help!” I yell, but as Alynn starts to reply, the demon tells her to “Go lie with the stableboy you love so much!” and my apprentice runs from the house, leaving her brother and I alone with the fiend.
The creature slashes at me with the fury of a woman enraged, tearing gashes in my sleeve and tunic as I try to keep my distance. I stab her repeatedly, but my dagger seems to have little effect! It is like striking steel every time I hit her, and she laughs in delight as she sees the fear in my heart grow. A flash of holy light distracts her momentarily, causing her to curse at Alynn’s brother, but then she returns her attention to me, her claws wrapping tightly around my neck “Nevaris and Aleelill would have brought my master such delight! She was so pure when I found her, and you interupted my little game with your distraction. Now I have taken your friends from you!” As my vision begins to fade, there is another flash of light, and her hands fall from my neck. A stench like rotting eggs fills the air.
–In my first play of this fight, Mendy was KIA from rolling a 1 and a 9 as her two death saves. Then I remembered her remaining rerolls and she survived, but only if her rescuer would think to immediately give her a healing draught. Which Mythic says he did, so, good to go there. That also reminded me that healing potions are a bonus action in DM Yourself (and my house rules) so she should have never gone unconscious to begin with! Well, I don’t want to start a new character right now, so…I rerolled the battle and Mendy wins so handily that it’s not even interesting, so I decided to blend the two stories–
Posts From a Long Winded Gamer 
Leave a comment