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Runs 1-10
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Campaign Diary of Abernathy's Company (runs 1-10) Six citizens of the Kingdom of Charagan , none of whom know each other, receive mysterious letters at their homes. Each is the same: "You will appear at the tower of the Archmagus Abernathy in the city of Tal Hae , at sundown on the first day of April, the year 1828." Some recipients live on other islands, several days travel from Tal Hae, and receive the letter only a day or two in advance. Each of the recipients responds differently to the summons. Kay, for instance, thinks it must be a joke, and makes no plans to go to Tal Hae. Morningstar makes emergency plans to travel by ship, even though there is no chance of arriving on time. Dranko, who lives in Tal Hae, approaches the Tower cautiously. It has no windows or doors, so he watches from outside. He meets another man, named Levec Oldbarrow , who also seems to be reconning the Tower, but who reveals little about himself. All of these people have heard of the Archmagi . They are mysterious, reclusive, with power unguessed by normal folk. Rumor has it that they occasionally demand service of people of Charagan, and no one, not even King Crunard himself, dares refuse. To each of the recipients of Abernathy’s letter, it seems impossible that they have been so chosen. At sundown all of the letter recipients are abruptly teleported into Abernathy’s tower. Kay vanishes from her family dinner table, Tor likewise from an island near his home in Forquelle . Dranko disappears from in front of Levec’s eyes. Saturday, April 1, 1828 (Day of Casting - Brechen) (run 1 begins) Six people – Tor Bladebearer, Mrs. Isabelle Horn, Flicker Proudfoot, Dranko Blackhope, Kay Olafson, and Morningstar of Ell – find themselves in a well-appointed living room, with comfortable chairs and sofas. There is one window, and by looking out, the people realize that they are high in the Tower of the Archmage of Tal Hae. The only door to the room is locked. The people introduce themselves to each other, and speculate on why they were brought to this place. Soon after, a halfling comes in, introduces himself as Browla, and offers them food and drink. Abernathy, he says, will be with them shortly. A short while later, an old man with a scraggly white beard and bright yellow eyes comes into the room. He is Abernathy, Archmage of Tal Hae, and he has summoned the seven of them to…hm…there are only six. Where, he asks, is the halfling Ernest Roundhill? No one knows him, or knows where he is. No matter. Abernathy informs the gathered guests that they are now in his service, permanently, and that he will (reluctantly) compel them if they do not volunteer. He is not sure himself of why he chose the people in the room—often he acts with a blind prescience—but he assures them that their selection will serve a higher purpose, and that it was no accident. He is infuriatingly vague about the actual duties they will perform, but declares that since he is almost always busy with important matters, he requires a field unit. His first task for them is to send them after a particular piece of jewelry - a silver ring with an odd design, that he draws for them. When they have found the ring, they are to take it to a man named Tharnius Helmon in the nearby city of Calnis. All Abernathy knows of the ring’s whereabouts is that it is somewhere beneath the shop of a rug merchant in town named Gohgan . He says nothing more about the ring itself, or why he wants to find it. During this speech, the window suddenly blows wide open, and a strong wind comes rushing into the room. Abernathy looks alarmed, and immediately closes the window again, whispering spells of warding upon it. He fixes Kay with a curious stare for a moment before continuing. Abernathy entertains questions for a while, but he offers no real additional explanations, save that the Archmagi are involved in some endeavor that is very important to the Kingdom of Charagan. He drops vague hints that knowing too much would be dangerous both for them and for himself. He apologizes briefly for tearing them away from their previous lives, but still seems satisfied that he’s doing something necessary. He does seem a good-natured man generally, though both commanding and mysterious. The good news is that he has bought his Company a house, a large former-bakery on the Street of Bakers, known as the Greenhouse . He tells them that they will find some housewarming presents there when they arrive. The Greenhouse, he tells them, is heavily warded with his own magic, and is thus one of the safest places in all of Charagan. He gives each party member a magical key that will open the front door. That evening, Abernathy sends Browla out to look for the 7th party member, Ernie, who he has determined is in Tal Hae somewhere. Browla finds him, and brings Ernie to Abernathy’s tower that same evening, after the rest have gone. Abernathy gives Ernie the same briefing as the others. (All seven of the Company accept service without serious complaint, though Mrs. Horn has her reservations.) Abernathy seems to find it significant that Ernie’s middle name is "Wilburforce," but doesn’t say why. Then Ernie is sent on to the Greenhouse to join the others. The party is met at the Greenhouse by Eddings , the house butler hired by Abernathy. He’s a competent and unflappable old chap, who is clearly expecting them. Inside the house, the party finds that Abernathy has put a magical Icebox in the kitchen, which three times a day produces any meal one requests. (Dranko puts an old sock inside, and closes the door. When he opens the door again, the sock is gone.) Abernathy has also left them some healing potions and a low-powered Wand of Light. In the upper floor of the Greenhouse, Eddings reveals a secret room behind a bookcase in the study, that contains a Crystal Ball on a table. This, he says, is a way for the party to communicate directly with Abernathy’s Tower, and vice-versa. They try it, and find themselves talking with Abernathy’s curt apprentice, Thewana , whose face appears in the crystal. She tells them to use the Crystal Ball only in emergencies, and then departs. Sunday, April 2 - The next morning, the Company heads over to Gohgan’s shop and scopes it out. They learn that Gohgan has no knowledge of the ring they seek, though he does try to sell them some other trinkets. Mrs. H casts Charm Person on the rug merchant early in the day, (run 2 begins) and so later he lets them search his shop. They discover, beneath the wooden floorboards of a basement storeroom, an old underground chamber. A hole in the floor of that chamber leads to some mold man tunnels below that. (Mold men are small humanoids that are part vegetable matter.) The Company hacks its way through some many mold men and a strange living-thornbush monster. All the while they hear a distant sound, like squeaking machinery, that gets louder and louder as they progress. Eventually they find the source of this noise; there is a large chamber containing four large wooden pens (presumably built by the mold men for food storage) that are filled with hundreds of squirming rats! There are some harrowing moments, as the party fights more mold men while trying to avoid falling into the rat pens. (Ernie does, slipping on the slimy floor of the chamber, but is rescued before he is eaten.) On the far side of the rat pens, the party discovers that the tunnels
are also haunted, as some skeletons and a zombie shamble out of dark alcoves
and attack. But they are no match for a party with three clerics and
are soon dispatched. Nearby the party discovers some ancient treasure
that includes the ring they are searching for. They also find a copper ring
with the same insignia as the silver, some ancient and unfamiliar squarish
coins, a piece of pottery, some holy water of
Uthol Inga
, and a magical mirror, along with some more conventional treasure.
They return to the surface that evening and retire to the Greenhouse, having
triumphed in their first adventure. Monday, April 3 - In the morning the Company is visited by Turlus Whitecake , a prominent member of the Bakers’ Guild. He makes some friendly inquiries about the Greenhouse and even offers to purchase it. However, he becomes outraged when he learns that the Company isn’t going to open a bakery. He vows to discover what’s going on with the zoning laws (under which the Greenhouse should have to be a bakery), and leaves angrily. The party is also visited by Levec Oldbarrow , the man who talked with Dranko outside Abernathy’s Tower. He offers to join the party, but they politely decline his offer. (run 3 begins) The Company sets out for Calnis, to take the ring they found to the sage Tharnius Helmon. They hire on with a merchant named Artun Ironhead for the journey, and meet a man named Sagiro , whom Artun has hired as a guard. Sagiro is a small, wiry man with a perfectly-groomed curling handlebar mustache. En route to Calnis the merchant's wagons are attacked by a raiding party of kobolds and gnolls, come down from the mountains to the north. Sagiro fights alongside the party, and though an extremely skilled fighter (more so than any of the party), he is injured in the attack. Dranko heals him, but Sagiro did not realize that the Healing prayers of Delioch leave scars behind (unlike most magical healing). Infuriated by the scar, he denounces Delioch as a false god, and his wound reopens. Morningstar and Ernie refuse to heal him after that. That night, Morningstar has a strange dream concerning Gnolls . Tuesday, April 4 - The Company arrives in Calnis. The city is subdued, since kobold and gnoll raids from the mountains to the east have grown increasingly frequent in the past two months. Wednesday, April 5 - The Company finds Tharnius with little effort, and hands over to him both the silver ring and the copper ring. Tharnius is a hairless dark-skinned elf — the only of his kind that any of the party have seen. He reveals little, save that the ring is a "signpost," and that he must study it for Abernathy to see to where it points. He also gives the Company a sack of gold for their troubles; it is their first serious cash infusion, and represents more money than most party members see in many months. Woo hoo! The Company departs Calnis. Thursday, April 6 - The Company hits the road, and heads back to Tal Hae. Friday, April 7 - The Company arrives again in Tal Hae, and finds a letter from Abernathy . In it, he outlines two possible tasks for the party. One is to investigate a "disturbance" (no explanation given) in the village of Verdshane. The other is to purchase or otherwise retrieve a cursed scythe from an farmer named Grewla in the small village of Nutridge. While this is a less important task, Abernathy's gut tells his that this will also be a chance for Mrs. Horn to learn something of her missing husband. The party decides to go to Nutridge. (run 4 begins) That night, Abernathy “calls on the crystal ball,” and asks to speak with Kay alone. When they look in on her later, she’s gone. Levec Oldbarrow again visits the Greenhouse. He tells the Company that after some very thorough investigation, he has discovered for himself that the archamage Abernathy owns the Greenhouse. He then admits that he is paid for watching Abernathy’s Tower, but he does not reveal his employer. He makes a deal with the party, that he’ll be a spy for them for 2 gold a day, with a bonus for specific pieces of information. When asked why he’s willing to double-cross his employer, he replies that, given the choice of being on the same side as an Archmage or not, there’s only one sane choice. For 10 gold, he tells them about an interesting tidbit about their recent hire by the merchant Artun Ironhead. It seems that Artun had no desire to hire them, but that Sagiro convinced him at the last minute to take them. Sagiro evdiently wanted the chance to spend time with the party, and so manipulated things. As Levec seems to be quite the accomplished information gatherer, the party decides to keep him on retainer. Saturday, April 8 - By next morning Kay has returned, but doesn’t say much about what she had been doing. The Company finds a ship which will take them to the tiny town of Nutridge, where they hope to find the scythe Abernathy wants, as well as some clue regarding Mrs. Horn’s missing husband Willam. In Nutridge they meet Grewla Shillside, the owner of the scythe, who tells them that about six months ago she sold it to a small wiry man with an impressive mustache. Damn Sagiro! They find that a man in town who collects valuables from shipwrecks, Mobley, is wearing Willam Horn’s wedding ring. Mobley tells Isabel that he took it off a dead man in a shipwreck, but after some questioning they learn that it was not Willam who was wearing it. Mobley describes a big bald man (later learned to be a pirate called Captain Skand) with a red beard and a sword blade instead of a right arm. With this information, they depart Nutridge and return to Tal Hae. Sunday, April 9 - The Company hires another ship (named the Floating Stone) and leaves for Minok , the nearest port-city to Verdshane. Monday, April 10 - The ship journey continues Tuesday, April 11 - The Floating Stone arrives in Minok. The Company stays in an inn, the Iron Wheel. Dranko finds that the city has a very small Church of Delioch, run by a Woundtender named Francissi. Morningstar also visits her temple, which is of greater size. Tor spends some useful time gambling and collecting rumors about Verdshane. He hears that the place is a small village amid ruins, and that once a great city stood there, but was destroyed in some unremembered accident, and further that at least one attempt to rebuild it was thwarted by freak accidents. Wednesday, April 12 - (Day of St. Kemmi - Pikon) The Company heads out east along the Greatwood Road toward Verdshane. They pass some patrols, one of which is from Calnis. Thursday, April 13 - The Company arrives in Verdshane in the evening, a small village among the ruins of a great but long-dead city in the heart of the Greatwood Forest. Morningstar casts Thought Capture at one of the ruined buildings on the outskirts of the village; she sees a man standing in his doorway brandishing a staff, while in the town around him fires burn and people run screaming. Many of the townspeople of Verdshane are barricaded in the local inn, called the Shadow Chaser. It seems that goblins had been sighted in the "bad" ruins to the north, and soon after that the town was attacked by a swarm of vicious one-eyed bats with barbed tails, which killed four of the townsfolk. The bats attacked, and then (mercifully) flew in a swarm west toward nearby Kinnet Gorge . Some in the inn are hurt; the trio of party clerics does some healing. A man with a sword comes into the inn and reports no recent sightings of the bats. The Company sleeps. Friday, April 14 - The Company wakes, and after some discussion of their obligations, heads out to Kinnet Gorge to investigate. They travel along the high north side of the Gorge rather than down its center. As they approach they see some movement out in the gorge, but high off the ground, and suddenly a giant wooden crate, over fifteen feet long and eight feet high, appears in midair and plummets to the ground, followed by a number of small black objects. The crate smashes open on the floor of the gorge, and two huge one-eyed bats emerge from the wreckage. Also at this time, a tremendous localized wind kicks up and blows around Kay, but then dies down almost immediately. Dranko throws a rope over the edge of the gorge, hands one end to Tor, and slides down, hoping to get to the bats before they wriggle free. He’s too late. He stops about twenty feet off the ground, and finds that a nearly man-sized one-eyed bat with a round, bulbous body, giant claws and a barb-tipped tail (though no legs or mouth) has flapped its way out of the smashed box and is now hovering at his level. It slowly turns to face him. (run 5 begins) In the ensuing battle, the two "eye-bats" fight viciously with their claws and tails, and both Dranko and Ernie are wounded and rendered unconscious. But the Company prevails, and they discover amid the ruins of the smashed box a number of the smaller bats, dead, with their claws torn and bloody. A thick rope is also there, one end still affixed to a plank of the broken crate, and there are strange metal planks lying about as well. It seems as if the smaller bats must have spent all night tearing through the rope that held the crate suspended above the gorge, freeing their larger cousins. But there is no sign of anything the crate might have fallen from, or been tied to. After some brief speculation about extradimensional spaces and the like, and some exploration of the rest of Kinnet Gorge, the party goes back to Verdshane and spends a night recuperating in the Shadow Chaser. Saturday, April 15 - The Company spends the day exploring the "bad" ruins north of Verdshane. (These, according to the townsfolk, contain weird, magical places and things, and aren’t safe or fit for ordinary folk to visit.) Inside a strange, vaguely-pyramid-like building, they find several dead goblins, including a shaman clutching a broken red rod. Lying by their bodies are a few dead (smaller) eye-bats. Their search is interrupted by a run-in with live goblins, arriving through the forest from the north; in a brief battle the Company slays all but one of the creatures, and Dranko questions the survivor. The goblin claims he was part of an expedition to discover what happened to the first group of goblins, and to retrieve the rod if possible. The party gives him the smaller piece of the broken rod and lets him go. The party continues exploring, and in a nearby ruined building finds a large blue glowing field of magical energy. A skeleton wearing a backpack is suspended in midair within the field. Strange symbols are carved into the wall and floor which bracket the field. While the party watches the glowing blue space, it flickers once, and the skeleton drops a fraction of an inch. The Company discovers two more areas of note. One is a great bonechamber, filled with neatly stacked bones of Elves. There appear to be two different "strata" of these bones, as if many were stacked once, and then more were stacked much later. There is also a Tower, much like Abernathy’s, protruding from a great mound of "floam ." (Floam is the name the party gives to a strange sort of spongy rock that appears in places all around the ruins.) Two Thought Capture spells reveal great sadness from someone stacking the Elven bones, and horrible terror from the person suspended in the blue light. Sunday, April 16 - The Company spends most of the day tunneling through the floam mound, but when they reach the base of the tower they find it as impenetrable as the rest. Monday, April 17 - The Company departs Verdshane, heading east down the Greatwood Road toward Calnis. Tuesday, April 18 - On the road to Calnis Wednesday, April 19 - Still on the road...the party passes through the small village of Woodfork. Thursday, April 20 - Continuing toward Calnis. Friday, April 21 - (Day of Fortune - Corilayna) Party arrives in Calnis and looks up Tharnius. He clearly knows something about Verdshane but reveals nothing. He says that he has learned something about the Gohgan’s Ring, and that Abernathy will doubtless tell them more when they arrive in Tal Hae. They ask him if he’s seen Sagiro, and learn that the mustachioed man was in his shop just four days ago, asking to buy magic items. Hmmm. Saturday, April 22 - The party leaves Calnis, heading home. Sunday, April 23 - (Lambing Week - Yondalla) The Company arrives back in Tal Hae, early in the evening. Eddings has received a letter for Dranko. The letter is from Praska , and it tells of Harmon’s illness and Califax’s maneuverings. The party reports in to Abernathy, who is very interested in all the party saw at Verdshane. He seems surprised about the pyramid building and the bats, but he is more concerned with the blue field and the suspended skeleton. (As usual, he says nothing specific about any of it.) He then tells them about their next task: they must retrieve a huge hammer that is mounted above the bar in a tavern called the Hammer & Tongs. This Hammer is actually a powerful cursed magic item known as the Matun Essendi (literally Earth Hammer), and Abernathy needs it for his work. Whatever Tharnius learned from the ring has confirmed the exact location of the Earth Hammer. Abernathy imposes the further restriction that they are not to let anyone know that they are taking it, which makes the task much harder. And, he adds, they should avoid hurting or killing anyone during the theft. The party decides that the next day they will first go with Dranko to visit Praska and Harmon, and then makes plans for recovering the Earth Hammer. Monday, April 24 - (run 6 begins) Early in the morning Mrs. Horn leaves a note for the Company and departs the Greenhouse. The note says that she will no longer work for Abernathy without certain assurances. She moves her belongings to an inn called the Glitterfish. The Company shows the note to Abernathy, who appears concerned. The Company then goes to visit Harmon at the church of Delioch. They find that Praska has been put in isolation for punishment, and that Califax is attending to the (failing) health of Harmon. Privately Harmon expresses to Dranko a concern over recent political maneuverings within the church. His health is obviously deteriorating rapidly. Califax makes a passing snide comment to Dranko about “serving a man who thinks he is a God,” but does not go into detail. (This is particularly troubling, since Dranko has not made his service to Abernathy public knowledge...) Dranko makes a suggestion that Praska is being punished for finding some sort of incriminating information about Califax, and this obviously strikes a nerve in the old Scarbearer. In the meantime Abernathy tells something to Mrs. Horn in a private meeting at his tower, and she agrees to return to his service. When she proves reluctant to talk about the meeting, the rest of the Company becomes skeptical, thinking that perhaps Abernathy has charmed Mrs. H into serving him. The Company spends the rest of the day staking out the Hammer and Tongs, and planning their break-in to steal the Matun Essendi. They discover that the place can be viewed safely from the roofs of nearby warehouses. Dranko and Kay spend the entire night... Tuesday, April 25 - ...and all of the following morning atop the warehouse next door. By observing the comings and goings at the Hammer and Tongs, they discover that during the early morning there is a time when only two bouncers are in the place. They make their plans to strike then—having Flicker pick the lock while Dranko bangs at the ceiling trap door, with Ernie and Morningstar ready to Command the two guards to sleep once inside. Then they’ll close the door, tie up the guards, and free the Hammer from its mooring at their leisure while Dranko recons from the roof. Mrs. Horn will wait down the street with a cart, while Morningstar watches out the window. During that day, they purchase a wheeled cart, some hay, and digging tools from various provisioners. Dranko buys brass knuckles for Tor, which have the word "OUCH" embossed backward on the business end. They all go to sleep early, knowing they have an early day ahead of them. Wednesday, April 26 -The Company wakes at half-past three and makes ready. The plan seems to go off without a hitch... they get inside and start working on the Hammer, unseen and unnoticed, except for the two guards who are Commanded and then bound. But as Kay, Tor and Morningstar work at the loosening the huge Hammer from its wall brackets, Dranko (on the roof) notices a team of six thugs coming down the ally behind the tavern, rolling a large barrel. They roll it up to a hay pile at the foot of the wall (which Dranko put there to pad any falls), and stuff a rag into it. At the last minute Dranko figures out what they’re doing...as one thug tries to light the rag, Dranko pulls out his whip, and strikes the man’s arm from the roof. Eventually, the man manages to light the rag, but as the thugs frantically scramble away from the barrel, Dranko leaps down from the roof and plucks out the burning rag, scalding his hand. He then climbs back up to the roof, crossbow bolts whizzing by. On the other side of the wall, the rest of the Company has no idea of their peril. As the thugs try to get a second rag lit, Dranko pees on them. The thugs do get another rag lit, and again, at the last possible second, Dranko jumps down and grabs away the second rag. He burns his hands again. This time, he also kicks over the barrel, and the oil inside soaks the hay pile. He climbs to the roof again. The thugs, weary of the game, light the hay. KABOOM! Fortunately, Dranko had bought enough time for those inside. They had freed the Hammer from the wall, and were dragging it to the door when the barrel of highly-explosive Karthian Oil went off. A fight ensues, as the thugs come in through the blasted wall looking for the Hammer. When the fight is clearly going against them, some of the thugs run off. One seems to surrender, but tries to stab Dranko with a magical blade which springs from a ring on his finger. The blow goes wide, and the Company beats him into unconsciousness. A passerby observes this last part of the proceedings, so Mrs. Horn bribes him to keep quiet. They load the Hammer and their prisoner onto Mrs. H’s waiting cart, and take them back to the Greenhouse. It being pre-dawn, and with all of this action taking very little real time, no city guards have yet shown up. It's all gone quite well. And then, only fifteen minutes later, there is a knock on the Greenhouse door. (run 7 begins) There is a single city guardsman at the door. Eddings delays him until Tor can take the body upstairs and the Hammer can be dragged into the storage room; Ernie feels a tingling through his arms as he drags the Matun Essendi. Once the guard is inside and seated, his uniform shimmers and disappears -- an illusion! The man (whom the Company later learns is named Mulcut) calmly tells the Company that if he does not return to his boss with the Hammer and the prisoner in 15 minutes, the actual guards will come and haul them off to jail. He asserts that there is a great deal of evidence against them. The Company invites him to leave... without the Hammer or prisoner. Flicker follows his coach to the Three Crates Tavern, and watches the man go in. He goes in after, but Mulcut is not in evidence. He spends some more time casing the joint, but the man doesn’t come out. Back at the Greenhouse, some 16 guards show up and demand that the occupants of the house surrender themselves for questioning. They don’t officially announce themselves as the city guard (thinking that the party can see them perfectly well through the large front windows of the Greenhouse), and after the last "guard," the Company doesn’t come out, or even acknowledge that they’re home. Over the next hour and a half, the guard continues to demand that they come out, then (unsuccessfully) tries to pick the lock, then calls for a wizard to magically open the door, and then tries to break one of the windows. All attempts fail...the wizard is actually blown backward when he attempts to gain entrance to the Greenhouse with magic. Abernathy’s wards are passing this test, at least! Eventually the wizard figures out what must be going on, and goes with two guards to check with the Mages Guild to find out for certain about Abernathy’s connection with the Greenhouse. Meanwhile Kay and Tor interrogate the prisoner. Kay plays both good cop and bad cop, and Tor belts him in the chops every so often, until he breaks down and confesses. He claims that he’s in the employ of a man named Emberleaf, who fits the description of Sagiro. He personally was hired through a middleman, and believes that Emberleaf is a collector of some sort. Having heard what he knows (seemingly), the party agrees to let him go after the guards are gone. Meanwhile, one of the guards who left with the mage comes back, and confers briefly with the other guards. Then he announces to the House that they know who the "landlord" is, that they’re not being charged with anything, and that they just want to ask some questions. After much debate and some misgivings, Ernie goes out and offers to talk with them. They politely but firmly take him away to the Magistrates’ Hall, and continue to demand that the others come out as well. Eventually they do, leaving the Hammer in the Secret Room™ with a note for Abernathy stuck to the Crystal Ball, and leaving Eddings with orders to free the prisoner when it’s safe. All are marched to the Hall, where they have a brief "chat" with the magistrate. First they are allowed to present their side. They admit to entering the Hammer and Tongs, but not to the theft of the Hammer. They claim that the prisoner was one of their attackers at the site, and that they took him back to the Greenhouse after the battle to heal him and then release him. They tell the magistrate about the other group and the barrel of explosive Karthian Oil, and also about Sagiro and the guard-impostor. The magistrate asks some questions, but constantly looks with frustration at some papers on his desk; clearly he’d like to take action against the party, but for some unknown reason (almost certainly related to their connection with Abernathy) his hands are tied. After he questions the Company, there is a brief trial in the Magistrate’s chamber. The two workers from the Hammer and Tongs are brought in, along with Temble (owner of a warehouse across from the Hammer & Tongs), Mulcut, the bystander bribed by Mrs. Horn, and a stranger named Keertine Smith. All but Mulcut give an identical and false version of events, one that makes it doubtful the Company did anything at all illegal; clearly, the trial has somehow been rigged in the party’s favor! When it comes time for him to testify, Mulcut realizes that some fix is in, and adds nothing new to the tale. The Company is released. On their way back to the Greenhouse, Keertine Smith drops them a note and disappears inside a house. The note says: "When the Undermen come to collect on their debt, the correct answer is ‘Yes.’ The Undermen, as Dranko and Flicker know well, is the name used by the powerful Thieves’ Guild in Tal Hae. By this time, most party members have earned enough XP to go up to 2nd level, so they spend a week in Tal Hae training. Tor and Ernie shop around to get the best price for the strange metal planks found in Kinnet Gorge near Verdshane. They agree as part of a deal with a smith to get one longsword at ½ price, and 3 shortswords full price, made from the odd metal. Tor goes to the mercenaries’ guild for training. On the way back from a training session, his necklace (a gift from Abernathy that prevents scrying) grows noticeably warm for three minutes. Dranko goes to the Church of Delioch; Praska is still serving her punishment, and Harmon’s health is actually improving under the ministrations of Califax. Ernie goes to visit the church of Yondalla in the Halfling District. Thursday, April 27 - (Spring Tourney - Werthis) (run 8 begins) Tor competes in the Werthis ’ Spring Tourney, a non-lethal combat tournament held each year by the Church of Werthis (God of War), celebrating one of their Holy Days. Tor, entering the sword-and-shield division, ends up paired in the first round with a powerful brute who knocks him out of the ring. Friday, April 28 - Ernie sets up a table outside the Greenhouse, providing free food foor the poor and hungry, but it’s not long before Turlus Whitecake shows up waving some city ordinances. The laws indicate that Ernie’s practice is illegal on the Street of Bakers...so Ernie moves his table to the corner. Turlus leaves grumbling. Saturday, April 29 - During the night Ernie feels a great anger, as if something precious was taken from him that was rightfully his, but the anger is fleeting and is replaced by relief. Sunday, April 30 - The Company is visited at night by a lieutenant of the city guard, who seems authentic enough. His name is Marbury Tillerson. He explains to the party that, after the recent fiasco at the Hammer and Tongs, the city guard has been ordered to give the residents of the Greenhouse a certain latitude in city affairs and laws. Marbury doesn’t know why, and he doesn’t want to know. He makes it clear that he doesn’t expect the party to abuse the privilege. Marbury seems a nice old chap, who really enjoys Ernie’s food. He stays a while, and promises to check in every once in a while. Monday, May 1 - Levec Oldbarrow reports in, but with no new information. He claims to have been making his faux-report to his other boss, who he still will not identify. During the past days Mrs. H has been practicing with the dagger, and also looking for information about the one-armed pirate. She learns that he was a much-feared pirate called Captain Skand, who has (not surprisingly) not been seen recently, and who is presumed dead. Captain Skand was well-known for his belief in the Goddess Corilayna , and his practice of tying up the crews of sacked ships in their own holds, and letting the sea have its way with them. Tuesday, May 2 - On their last night in Tal Hae, the Company is visited in their home by Abernathy. (Actually, he projects an image of himself into the Greenhouse, that can see and hear and speak with them. Abernathy doesn’t leave his tower. Ever.) The Matun Essendi, he reports, was even more useful than he expected (though he doesn’t say what for), and he is actually taking some time off from whatever work he pursues. He doesn’t have much more information for the party; rather, he himself becomes concerned when the Company tells him about Sagiro. Abernathy asks them to keep an eye open, and to let him know if they learn anything. He goes on to admit that recent events have caused himself and the Company to become more high-profile than is prudent, and so advises them to leave town for a few days. There has been news of some excitement from Dingman’s Ferry (Ernie’s home town), and so he sends the Company off to investigate. Wednesday, May 3 - The Company sets out for Dingman’s Ferry. Thursday, May 4 - As the sun begins to set, the Company reaches the far outskirts of Dingman’s Ferry. They see smoke rising from a farmhouse, and go to investigate. It turns out that the farm of the halflings Willow and Jack Heathertoes has been ransacked by orcs, and their young son Argol has been kidnapped! The Company goes after the orcs, tracking them to some nearby caves. With careful scouting, Dranko gets close enough to hear their talk, and since he knows orcish, overhears discussion that indicates that Argol has escaped. The party launches a surprise attack, and the half-dozen orcs have no chance; Tor in particular deals out gruesome death left and right. They keep one orc alive for questioning. (run 9 begins) Kay finds and explores a narrow tunnel in the back of the orc cave. It empties into an old tomb that holds a number of dead, preserved dwarves, and a scared but plucky Argol. As Kay starts her actual rescue attempt (not being able to squeeze into the tomb herself), three huge orcs arrive, and another fight ensues right outside the cave mouth. During this fight, when Kay grabs one of the orcs, a strange wind kicks up, flinging the orc up against the side of the hill and doing serious damage. After the fight Kay plays down the wind-incident and practically denies that anything happened. They rescue Argol, and loot the cave, finding among other things a magical Bag of Endless Rope and a Necklace of Missiles. They go back to the Heathertoes’ farm with Argol and the captured orc. They interrogate the orc as they march, and learn that most of the orcs have gone north to fight with (not against, strangely) the gnolls and kobolds, but that their group stayed behind and was looting outlying halfling farms. When the orc promises to flee to the north, they let it go. The Company gives a good portion of the coins found in the orcs lair to the halflings, to help rebuild their barn and replace the livestock. They spend that evening at the farm, the honored guests of the grateful halflings. Friday, May 5 - The Company heads into the town of Dingman’s Ferry. They first visit Ernie’s mom, who is very nice and feeds them well. Ernie also visits the local temple of Yondalla, and his former trainer, Old Bowlegs. Then the party investigates an excavation going on in Murgy’s Tavern. It’s the talk of the town; Murgy Thorn was digging himself a new wine cellar under his tavern, and found protruding bits of a large statue buried under his place. The party goes to have a look, and finds that only a large hand and the nose have so far been unearthed. The hand has a gold bracelet around the wrist, which would be large enough for a person’s belt. A Detect Magic spell reveals that the bracelet is magical...and also that something in one corner of the room, a corner with a trace of sandy residue, is magical. Dranko, feeling put-upon and out of place in the Halfling village (where half-orcs aren’t so popular), leaves and goes for a walk while the others help with the excavation, including a further digging-out of the sandy corner. Without warning, a strange amorphous sand creature comes shooting out of the hole. It forms itself into a vaguely humanoid shape, points a sandy arm at Ernie, and hisses the word "Wilburforce." It proceeds to attack Ernie, and in the ensuing combat, the creature attacks only him. Conventional weapons seem to do minimal damage to the creature, but it fears liquids. During the melee Dranko comes back to help fight, and Morningstar casts Protective Sleep on Ernie, which protects him both from the sand-creature’s attacks and from a runaway beer barrel. (Other party members dislodged a large beer barrel from the adjacent room, but it rolled out of control, into the melee, and over Ernie’s recumbent but invulnerable form.) Tor attempts to body-check the thing, to little good effect. Eventually the Company kills it by spraying it with beer from the beer-barrel. (The liquid hardens the sand creature after which it can be easily damaged with conventional weapons.) (run 10 begins) The party learns that two humans (named Embree and Larkin) have been in Dingman's Ferry for the last couple of days, and are planning on buying the statue’s bracelet from Murgy. (This is against the express order of the mayor that the site not be disturbed.) When the Company later tries to interfere physically with the sale, Larkin and Embree turn out to be mages; they cast Sleep on some of the party, and then Invisibility on themselves, and manage to escape the town on horseback with the bracelet. Dranko, Tor, Morningstar and Kay follow on foot for several hours, give up, and head back to town. Saturday, May 6 - The Company decides to dig out around the corners of Murgy’s basement, and help excavate the statue. Much beer and water is kept on hand. They find a hollowed-out asymmetric shape where the sand creature had been waiting. Sunday, May 7 - (Night of the Shield - Ell) More digging in the basement. Monday, May 8 - More digging in the basement. Morningstar has a strange dream that night involving her mother; in the dream, Morningstar’s mom is unable to look straight at her, due to something bright shining above Morningstar’s head. Tuesday, May 9 - The digging is nearly finished. By now,
it’s clear that the statue looks almost exactly like Ernie! Halfling records
show that Wilburforce was once a family name in the area. The Company decides
to depart the following morning. Wednesday, May 10 - An uneventful journey to Tal Hae begins Thursday, May 11 - The Company arrives in Tal Hae. Levec Oldbarrow is at the Greenhouse, visiting with Eddings. He reports that Sagiro appears to have skipped town, though he has discovered that the mustached gentleman often frequents an expensive inn near the palace called the Duke’s Footprint. Sagiro, it seems, has few (if any) close friends in Tal Hae. The Company reports to Abernathy what they discovered in Dingman’s Ferry. The news that someone was already there investigating, and that someone made off with a magical item discovered there, seems to upset the Archmagus greatly. He asks for a week during which he will create a magical item to help the Company track down Larkin and Embree. Eddings reports that a tall man named Bavaro had been by the house asking about Tor. Bavaro claimed to be from the Mercenaries’ Guild, but a bit of investigation reveals that the Guild knows nothing of him. The shrewd Eddings revealed no useful information to the man. Friday, May 12 - Friday, May 19 - Dranko, Flicker, Kay and Mrs. Horn (who didn’t go up a level last time) spend the week training. Mrs. H is sent by Abernathy to the Mages’ Guild, where she is accepted without question and schooled for the remainder of the week. Dranko and Flicker are sent to meet Lucia, a one-eyed member of the Undermen. They get a week of on-the-job training in some of the less reputable neighborhoods of Tal Hae. Kay is trained by Saul, a ranger at the mercenaries’ guild...she is given an unusual but useful lesson in city tracking skills. During this time, Morningstar (worried since the dream) goes home to Kynder Hold to see her mother, taking Ernie with her. Her mom claims that everything is fine, though she is clearly holding back about something. Also during this week, Abernathy finishes his location device, a glass ball with a miniature arrow floating in a clear liquid. At first the arrow points toward the coast, so the Company plans to take a ship to Oasis, but by the time the departure date rolls around, the arrow is pointing inland toward the town of Tal Lor. Saturday, May 20 - The Company sets out on horseback, following the arrow generally in the direction of Tal Lor. Sunday, May 21 - Monday, May 22 - Travel, following the arrow toward Tal Lor Tuesday, May 23 - As the Company travels across the grasslands of central Harkran, another group of riders approaches. They are: A tall, rangy, black-haired swordsman who matches Eddings’ description of Bavaro; a big, beefy swordsman with red hair and a red beard (Hundley); an older man with a receding hairline and a crossbow (Laetner); a female half-elf, also with a crossbow, along with a bad attitude (Rytan); a hunched over fellow in a grey cloak, no weapons visible (Toad); and a large man with a mace, garbed as a Stormknight of Werthis (Oakley). This group pulls up about 20 yards away from the Company, at which point Tor unexpectedly turns his horse around and bolts. Hundley calls after him "Master Tor! Come back! They miss you at home!" (run 11 begins) The riders chase Tor, who wheels his horse around to talk to his pursuers. There is a brief exchange between Tor and Hundley, in which the red-haired man demands that Tor give himself up. Tor respectfully declines. Before there is much further discussion, the Stormknight Oakley charges at Tor, shouting "Die, accursed Utholite!" (Stormknights are holy warriors of Werthis, God of War. The Church of Werthis bears great enmity toward followers of Uthol Inga, a mysterious Goddess generally known only as "The Watcher." Uthol Inga, as the legends say, turned traitor when the other Gods were fleeing from the Great Adversary, and became the Adversary’s consort. She was then betrayed herself by the Enemy, and fled to Charagan on the heels of the other Gods. Because of Uthol Inga’s betrayal, Stormknights will often attack Her worshippers on sight.) Oakley is put to sleep in his saddle, courtesy of a Command spell, and Hundley decides a fight is going to be necessary; he tells his group to spare Tor, but to kill the others if they must. A fight ensues, and the good guys win, though not without some close shaves. Hundley and Bavaro both acquit themselves well, the mage Toad fires Magic Missiles at Mrs. Horn, and Laetner drinks a potion and then breathes a tremendous gout of fire at Kay. Nearly everyone in the Company fights well, however -- Kay is on fire (sorry...couldn’t resist) with her bow, and fells two of the attackers (though unfortunately she kills Hundley outright with a lucky shot through the eye). Also, the strange wind kicks up again in Kay's vicinity, a wind which pummels Laetner onto the ground, where he is then caught in an Entangle spell. He is later found to have died of suffocation, though with no apparent cause. Laetner, Bavaro and Hundley die in the fight, but Rytan and Toad are captured alive. Oakley is also captured, having been tied up by Dranko while asleep. A brief interrogation reveals that Hundley had hired the rest of his crew, claiming that Tor was a follower of Uthol Inga, and that his capture would bring a great monetary reward for all of them. Oakley is understandably upset when he discovers he has been duped, and the Company frees him. There is some debate about the morality of letting Toad and Rytan go, since both are mercenaries obviously willing to kill for pay. In the end, those two are released as well. Tor reluctantly admits after the battle that his real name is not "Tor Bladebearer," but Darien Firemount, and that he is the son of the Baron of Forquelle. He was already planning on running away from home, to avoid a boring life of administrative duties, when Abernathy’s summons came. Hundley is a minor noble in his father’s court, and though a twit, not someone he would have suspected of murder. Flicker nearly wets himself thinking of the riches of the House of Forquelle. Once everyone is healed up enough to continue, they continue to follow Abernathy’s Arrow™ in their pursuit of Larkin, Embree, and the magic bracelet. |