From
Bad to Worse (6-22-04)
Party
at the start:
Mace Blackstar (Mike D.;
Human Fighter)
Wilbered The Silent (Bob S., Human Cleric)
Castor Bean (npc; Human Bard)
Trygvie (Steve G.; Elven Wizard)
Kane (Al G.; Human Monk)
Geia (NPC; Human Fighter)
and Malus Thunderhammer (Chris L.; Dwarf Ranger)
Last session (5-17-04) ended with the death of the sickly giant in the
caves of the Toad God. Having found a large iron key as well as
some other minor treasures, the party decided the time was ripe for a
little R&R back in the village of Feldspar. Trygvie felt he
had learned enough in his recent adventures that his powers might have
grown and wanted to spend a little time learning his new and growing
list of magical spells (FIREBALL!)
The party headed for the room with the large iron door that they were
told led to the outside. They encountered no creatures in the
tunnels and everything was quiet. They arrived at the exit room
and were astounded to discover that the lock appeared to have been
melted or dissolved away and
the formerly impassible iron door was ajar.
Kane the monk scouted up the short tunnel behind the previously
impassible iron door. He found a short flight of stone steps
leading to the outside. The steps were shielded from view by
thick brambles and bushes but it
could easily be seen that a path had been cut through the bushes and
then the cuttings replaced to hide the path from casual view. A
few footprints of human sized creatures wearing boots or shoes could be
seen in the hard packed earth.
Puzzled by this turn of events, the party decided to head back to
Feldspar. Castor Bean, the Bard, nipped off into the hills,
saying he wanted a
little time to collect his thoughts and compose a few new songs about
their adventures. As Castor wandered the fields, strumming his lute,
the rest of the party left the tunnels of the Toad God and headed back
into town. As they approached Feldspar, shepherds and farmers in
the fields cheered to see
the heroes and a few townspeople ran ahead to spread word that the
Heroes had returned. By the time they reached Feldspar, a large crowd
had gathered in front of the Red Hen Inn. Oliver Sacks, the
wealthiest Hobbit in town, Sister Sarhal of Saint Meinrad and Skaed,
the raving cleric of Saint Cuthbert were at the front of the crowd and
welcomed them as heroes. Oliver Sacks made a brief speach of
thanks, saying that the monster that had plagued the town had
dissapeared. He added that when the townspeople had seen that the
enterance to the Toad God's Tunnels had collapsed, the townspeople
feared that the heroes had died, and they were all thankful that the
heroes had found a means to escape the ruined Temple. Skaed
loudly praised the heroes and said that he had known that they would
return due to a dream he had the night before. The people cheered
to see Gaia, the woman fighter,
returned safe after she had dissapeared with the disreputable
Cirdis. A feast and celebration was planned at the Inn that
night. Sister Sarhal, the Cleric of Saint Meinrad, presented
Wilbered the Silent with a slender ivory wand to help them in their
travels. This was a wand of healing.
Sister Sarhal also identified a few minor magic items for
the party.
Wilbered was interested to learn that Skaed had founded a chapel to
Saint Cuthbert in town. The chapel was in a simple peaseant's
house and had only a crude wood table as an altar and some stools as
furnishings. Wilbered donated several hundred gold to the chapel
in order that a proper altar could be build. Wilbered showed the
emerald statue of the Toad God to Skaed and Skaed shouted, "It's
an artifact of EEEEVIL! Destroy it!" Since they didn't have
the means to do so, Wilbered and Skaed dug a hole in
the floor of the chapel and buried it there, planning to attempt to
destroy it when they had a consecrated altar in the chapel. Mace
showed his sword to Skaed and Skaed suggested that he could learn more
about the sword at the Church of Saint Meinrad. Skaed also noted
that he thought there was "a little too much chaos" in Mace but
wouldn't clarify what he meant.
Since Skaed is obviously a rabid lunatic, Mace did'nt pay much
attention
to that comment.
Sister Sarhal identified the sword as sacred to Muir and
identified the inscriptions upon it as Celestial script but she could
not read the words. She recalled the Tale of Tayleen the Just, a
Paladin of Muir who came to Feldspar over 100 years ago. Tayleen
had come from a place called Valley of the Shrines to prevent
evil worshippers of the Toad God from
worshipping at the nearby Temple of the Toad God. Annoyed that
this
Paladin was preventing worshippers from reaching the temple, the evil
clerics
of the Toad God summoned monsters that killed Tayleen. An evil
creature
called the Malfeaseant was involved in Tayleen's death but the tales
did
not explain what the Malfeaseant was or is, only stating that no one
knew
what it looked like and that it fed upon pain and despair. The
Cleric
of Saint Meinrad confirmed that the area that had been called Valley of
the
Shrines 100 years ago was today known as Asthar Rho.
As people gathered at the Inn that night for the celebration, Wilbered,
Skaed and Skaed's dozen or so ragged followers headed off to Skaed's
chapel for an evening of prayer and "holier-than-thouness." A
delicious dinner was served and many toasts were raised to the heroes.
Suprisingly, the
Baron Vizer Jhad of Feldspar was not present at the celebration.
Here
they were reunited with Malus Thunderhammer, the Dwarven Ranger, a
companion of Mace and Wilbered from former times. Malus was in
the Inn, swilling ale and raising toasts to Mace and Wilbered. He
related that he had been working with Mandrake and Ott Ahht as a
caravan guardhad been escorting some dwarven made goods from Bramwald
in the South to Blackmoor and beyond to a place called Glendower, but
when Malus had heard that his old friends were in the tunnels nearby,
he left the caravan and took a room at the inn. He had been in
town two days and the caravan had proceeded north to the Village of
Nibblott without him.
As the night wore on, the feast ended and the drinking and music
started. Mace, Kane and Trygvie noted a few strangers in the bar
-- a few small time merchants in travelling clothes, etc. They
also noticed two burly looking fellows at the bar with bastard swords
on their belts and a cloaked figure in the corner. A tall,
aristocratic fellow with a pointed beard in a black cloak trimmed in
red sat beside the cloaked figure. Trygvie attempted a
conversation with the two fighter-types at the bar but was rebuffed.
A nondescript looking traveller in a shabby cloak came in and
whispered something to the two stranger sitting in the corner and the
man in the black cloak trimmed in red got up and left the inn with him.
Trygvie the elf
went off to a corner and tried to surreptitiously cast detect magic.
Several of the peseants moved away from him, alarmed at his
cabalistic gestures and words. He caught strong emanations of
magic from pouches worn on the belts of the two fighter types at the
bar but could not see anything of the cloaked man in the corner.
Abruptly, the cloaked figure got up
and slipped out the front door.
Meanwhile, in the chapel, Wilbered and Skaed put on their vestments and
began a celebratory cermony in praise of mighty Cuthbert. As the
shabby peseants raised their voice in song, a loud pounding was heard
at the door. One of the villagers opened the door and three
figures lurched in. They struck at the poor Cuthbertian before
them with their hard fists, cracking his skull and killing him
instantly. Wilbered recognized the attackers as Tom, Dick and
Harry -- the former companions of Cirdis whom they had fought and
killed in the tunnels of the Toad God. The three mercenaries
looked deathly pale and their eyes were lifeless --- they moved with
slow, jerky movements and their bodies and armor were crusted with
dried blood and wounds; clearly Tom, Dick and Harry were now undead.
Simultaneously, groups of goblin zombies began climbing in the
windows and doors and attacking the poor villagers. Wilbered and
Skaed grabbed their weapons (since they were priests of Cuthbert they
always had weapons close at hand) and attempted to defend the
villagers.
Wilbered attempted a Turn Undead and most of the zombies,
including Tom, Dick and Harry, fell lifeless to the floor. The
bearded stanger in a black cloak trimmed in red, the mysterious
stranger all wrapped up and a third person in a shabby travelling cloak
entered the hut, more goblin Zombies
and a few human fighter types coming in behind them. The man in
the
black cloak and man in the shabby cloak began casting spells as the
zombies
shuffled forward. Suddenly Skaed froze on the spot and toppled
over,
alive but unable to move at all. Wilbered felt a strange
sensation --
his robes suddenly seemed to grow larger and his hands could no longer
grip
his mace. He fell of the floor and his ears grew while the rest
of
him sharnk and distorted. Soft brown fur sprouted from all over
his
body. Wilbered kicked his way free from the vestmants that now
hampered
his movements and discovered that he had been transformed into a rabbit!
Suddenly there was a loud explosion in the room and most of the
peseants
who were still alive collapsed as the zombies overwhelmed the rest.
The cloaked stranger threw back his hoad and laughed, congratulating
the man in black for having transformed Wilbered into a "more suitable
form." With shock, Wilbered realized that this was Cirdis --- the
evil man they had left for dead in the tunnels of the Toad God.
Wilbered attempted to make a run for it out the door, but one of
the ruffians grabbed him as he attempted to race past, and carrying the
rabbit by the legs, presented him to Cirdis. Cirdis drew a dagger
from his belt, and, laughing, cut an ear from the rabbit Wilbered as a
souvenir. They then thrust poor
Wilbered, in his rabbit form, into a covered wicker basket.
Although he couldn't escape, Wilbered could peer through the weave of
the wicker basket. He saw Cirdis conferring with the tall man in
the black and red cloak while the rest of the humans killed the
remaining villagers. With a laugh, Cirdis slit the throat of the
helpless Skaed. The ruffians with them set to plundering the
chapel, even climbing up into the loft where Wilbered had stored his
weapons and armor and gear. One of
the ruffians evidentally had magic detection abilities; he removed the
majority
of Wilbered's magic scrolls, his wand of healing and potions. The
rest
of the ruffians gathered up whatever treasure they could find,
including all
of Wilbered's gems and most of his coins. They left his
non-magical armor and his knapsack, food, supplies and clothing.
The black coaked man with the beard and Cirdis, meanwhile, seemed to be
casting various divination spells. They turned over the wooden
table that the Cuthbertians had been using as a temporary altar and
commanded the zombies to dig. Soon they unearthed the toad statue
carved from emerald that Wilbered had buried there. Cirdis took
the statue and they left.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was swilling ale down at the inn.
It was later at night and only the devoted drinkers remained ---
Mace, Kane, Trygvie, Malus and Geia as well as about a dozen villagers,
a few traders and the two surly stangers with swords at their
belts. A breathless villager burst into the inn and
shouted, "Someone is killing the Cuthbertians in their chapel!"
While Mace puzzled over what a Cuthbertian was and whether or not
he should care if anyone killed one, Trygvie decided to act on his
suspicions. He saw the two fighters at the bar scrabbling at the
drawstrings of their pouches and withdrawing vials so he whipped out
his
web wand and webbed the fighters right to the bar.
Unfortunately, he got the bartender, Mace and Gaia in the web
as well.
Mace and Gaia clawed their way out of the web as the two fighters,
within the web, downed the potions they had. Suddenly they grew
in size and proportion, transforming into ogres. They easily
burst through the web
as Mace, Gaia, Kane and Malus attacked and the startled villagers
attempted to flee. Trygvie attempted a sleep spell but managed
only to put the webbed bartender to sleep. He followed
that up with a barrage of magic missiles. This so enraged one of
the ogre-men that he charged across the room and slashed Trygvie
severely with his blade.
The ogre fighters wounded Mace and cut down Trygvie before Mace,
Mallus, Kane and Gaia managed to kill them. Once dead, the Ogres
reverted to human form. Mallus poured a healing potion down the
unconscious Trygvie's throat and managed to revive him, but Trygvie's
wounds were so grievous that it was obvious that he shouldn't be moved.
Confused by this turn of events, the players elected to run off
to Skaed's Chapel of Saint Cuthbert and left Trygvie at the inn under
Gaia's care.
The town outside seemed deserted. Arriving at the chapel, he
adventurers saw a scene of carnage. The bodies of villagers and
partially decomposed goblins and humans were scattered about. The
rough wooden table that served as an altar had been overturned and a
hole dug in the floor. A bloody stained wicker basket sat
beside the hole and Wilbered's robes and mace were on the floor beside
the dead body of Skaed, the raving cleric of Cuthbert. They
investigated the loft and found Wilbered's possessions scattered around
but no sign of the cleric.
Kane opened the wicker basket and found a rabbit inside. Someone
had cut one ear off of the rabbit and there was blood all over the
basket. The rabbit was alive but wounded.
"What sick bastard would cut an ear off of a rabbit?" mused Mace.
Kane took the basket to the window and tossed out the rabbit,
basket and all.
Almost immeadiately, the rabbit ran back into the hut and up to
Kane
with an inquisitive, pleading look in his eye. Suddenly it dawned
on
them that perhaps the rabbit WAS Wilbered. They scooped him up in
their
arms, along with all of his gear and clothes, and took him back to the
inn.
There they found the poor bartender, wailing for someone to please
release
him from the web. Kane helped the bartender out of the webs.
They sought out Sister Sarhal of Saint Meinrad's and found her tending
the
wounded. They presented her with the rabbit and she snapped back
at
them, "You expect me to care for your pet when we have dead and wounded
all
over town?" They explained that they believed that
the
rabbit was actually Wilbered who had been transformed by magic.
Sarhal
relented and had one of he assistants fetch a scroll of Dispel Magic. She read the
incantation,
and, poof, suddenly an
embarassed
Wilbered with only one ear was standing naked in the middle of the
group.
After he got dressed, Wilbered quickly related his story to the
others.
They were astounded and angry that Cirdis had come back to bother them
and
even more annoyed when it was related how he had plundered Wilbered's
magic
items. They ran up to check their rooms and discovered that
several
items, including treasure, potions and Mace's magic Crossbow, were all
missing.
Wilbered helped Sahral heal up the wounded and the group debated
staying
in the inn for the night or giving chase.
Suddenly a very distraught Oliver Sacks showed up. Oliver stated
he
had more bad news. It turns out that a warrant for the arrest of
Mace,
Wilbered, Kane, and Trygvie had been issued. Apparently they were
accused
of killing a bunch of people in an inn up in a town named
Marshville
and of attacking and slaying several of the Baron of Marshville's
guards
and servants as well as plundering his treasures. Oliver related
that
he did not believe a word of these charges, but a friend of his,
who
worked as a servant for ther Baron of Feldspar, had told Oliver that
the
Baron Vizan Jhad of Feldspar hoped to kill or capture the group and
collect
the reward. Oliver whispered that the Baron of Feldspar was not
the bravest man and had sent to Nibblott for reinforcements, asking his
cousin
the Baron Kragy of Nibblott for the loan of some of his soldiers and
the
services of his magic user, the famed Mage Ogar Thinwhistle.
Since
the messenger had left earlier, it could logically be expected that the
reinforcements
would show up the next day. The party elected to leave Feldspar
and
pursue their enemy, returning later to clear their name.
Unfortunately, when they entered the stable, they found that Cirdis and
his
allies had stolen most of the horses and killed others. Mace's
fine
heavy warhorse had been killed and some disrespectful person had
urinated
on his saddle as well. The fighter swore revenge.
Since the party needed to get out of Feldspar in a hurry, Oliver
offered
to help them. Rather than rewarding them with cash for delivering
the
town from the curse of the Toad God, Oliver offered to give them horses
and
put them up at a farm he owned outside of town. There they could
rest
for a while unbeknownst to the Baron of Feldspar and then get on the
trail
to run down their enemy, Cirdis. They also wanted to travel
south,
to Asthar Rho and Nudlo.
They travelled to Oliver Sack's farm and rested for a few hours.
One
of Oliver's servants delivered some horses and a pony for the
dwarf.
Unfortunately, these were older plow and cart horses pressed into
service
as mounts and the players estimated that even if they rode hard, their
enemies
would make better time since their mounts were better.
They mounted up and rode all day. From hoofprints on the trail,
they
could see that six or more horses had travelled south. The tracks
of
their enemies led right up to The Lonely Inn, a small roadhouse that
stood
at the crossroads. Since they were wanted, the players did not go
to
the inn. Instead, they rode around it and off the trail, picking
up
the tracks of their enemies beyond the inn.
They decided to press on, into the night and travelled until there
wasn't
enough light to see by. They were making their way cross country,
towards
the Root River and Nudlo. The area was barren hills, covered only
by
tall grass, scattered outcroppings of rocks and a few scrubby bushes
and
trees here and there, although they could see the mountains to the
east.
Finally they stopped and made camp.
Gaia and Trygvie were on watch when suddenly several spears flew out of
the
darkness, striking Trygvie. They could see four shadowy figures
approaching
stealthily from the east and the west. Trgvie shouted to awaken
his
comrades and cast his first FIREBALL, wiping out several
Bugbears.
The rest of the party awoke and grabbed weapons and soon had turned the
tide
against the bugbears. The remaining Bubears fled.
Kane
caught up with one and subdued him with a few quick blows. Malus'
dwarven
blood was up and he ran off into the night, chasing three of the
creatures.
The adventure ended here for the night.
Experience:
Castor Bean (Steve B.)
remained
at 9,917 (+0)
Trygvie (Steve G.) went from
10,831
to 11,631 (+800)
Mace (Mike D.) went from 13,532
to 14,332 (+800)
Wilbered (Bob S.) went from 12,532
to 14,183 (+1650)
Kane (Al G.) went from
12,532
to 13,332 (+800)
Gaia (NPC; Human Fighter) went from 2,717 to 3,117(+400) up to
level
3.
Malus the Dwarf (Chris) went from 6,000 to 6,800 (+800).