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Tales of the Bloody Hell
Book One: Long Live the Tirshata
Session 1 (from 16 Aug 2003)
Cymril, the majestic capital city of the kingdom of the same name and arguably the centre of all the Seven Kingdoms, was fashioned over time with a blend of magic, gossamer, and glass, or so it seemed to visitors. And if visitors could tarry in this wondrous city only two weeks a year, undoubtedly they would choose to arrive during the annual Magickal Fair. For everything about Cymril and the Cymrillians was imbued with magic, and the festivities of the Fair, the wares, the famed windship regatta, and even the much-feared yet highly anticipated wizard duels were the greatest in all Talislanta.
So it was that the Magickal Fair brought together old friends, among them the young Cymrillian windship pilot Vidian, the hardy Arimite mercenary Motar, and the Thrall warrior Gann. Their compatriots and henchmen were a gypsy woman named Delilah, a Zandir swordsmage named Dunmer, a Jaka named Ra Icza, and another Thrall. They were all tossing back a few drinks when they were approached by a shady Farad merchant named Tarriod, accompanied by a comely Batrean wench named Silva, who seemed to be his slave.
Tarriod wished to hire the heroes to find and recover ancient texts from ruins within Werewood. Tarriod led them to a Sarista gypsy named Valu, who told a tale of a lost city within the woods that had been recently uncovered by a band of Aamanian knights. This was the location wherein the texts would be found. A deal was struck: in addition to monetary reward, the merchant would lend his tiny windrigger to speed the effort, and the hired swords would return with their plunder before the end of the fair.
After loading the rigger with supplies, the crew climbed aboard, Vidian took the wheel, and the intrepid heroes departed from beloved Cymril on their way to Werewood, a dark and wild land overgrown with forests. Far above the ground, Vidian steered the flying ship on a northwestern course, passing over the ramshackle mining town of Shattra on the Axis River and navigating through the peaks of Motar's homeland, Arim. In a sparsely populated valley, the heroes paused to pass an uneventful night.
The following day was spent crossing Arim and the woodlands of Zandu to reach Matre, a small farming village north of the Zandir border and the last civilised locale where supplies could be gained and the windrigger housed. Naturally the more iniquitous of the ship's crew were drawn to the town's sole tavern--the Inn of the Dreaming Cloud--for their fill of liquor, lotus powders, and other delights offered by the locals.
The next day, the adventure continued on land to the edge of Werewood. Upon entering the forest, the heroes were attacked by ferocious beasts. Although they fended off the attack, the heroes were bloodied. Soon thereafter the discovered the sought-after ruins, a jumble of stone buildings huddled together as if to ward off the ancient trees. In the centre of the clearing was the largest of the buildings, and the trackers of the group could tell that others had been here recently, either the Aamanians or other folk.
The heroes entered the main building, cautious but eager to discover the secrets hidden within the stones. When they reached what appeared to be a large worship area in the centre of the building, censors of burning oil gave off a foul stench that most of the heroes found difficult to stomach. Yet Vidian braved the malodorous air to reach the rooms beyond. In what once passed for a dining hall, he discovered scrawled words on its defiled walls: “Long Live the Tirshata! He shall pillage and slay.”
After penetrating deep into the ancient ruin, the adventurers were surprised by a company of Za bandits that burst through a door just as Vidian approached it!
Trapped among the bloodthirsty submen, Vidian nearly lost his life in the ensuing battle. Luckily the Za could not overcome the skill of Motar, Gann, and their henchman. This was not Vidian's first encounter with the vicious Za, nor would it be his last, but it was certainly the most threatening. Sheer force of will alone allowed Vidian to cling to life until his battered body could be recovered and an elixer of balmroot was administered.
It took an exhaustive search of the ruins to uncover the secret door that led into the inner depths. In the rubble-strewn and graffiti-defiled dining hall, Vidian discovered and drank a magickal potion that shrank him to the diminutive size of a mere Durnish tunnelmouse. He was then able to slip through a crack in the wall of the kitchen, enlarge to normal size, and open the hidden door to allow the rest of the heroes to enter.
On a lower level of the building they discovered three secret rooms fed with air purified by wondrous machinery. Many rows of dust- covered stone shelves held all of the promised texts, just as the merchant had said. In one corner of the final room, the heroes even discovered a shade from the distant past, a vision of an elder Phaedran whose mind yet functioned. Although the heroes could not understand the speech, the vision confirmed that these ruins-- and indeed the ancient texts sought by the merchant--were Phaedran in origin.
The heroes carted the valuable scrolls and books back to the small town, loaded up the windrigger, and returned to Cymril on the final day of the Magickal Fair.
Although he knew little of their contents, Vidian felt unease growing in his heart about the ancient Phaedran texts and the purpose to which Tarriod would put them. The battle with the Za had brought back bittersweet memories of his years in the service of the Seven Kingdoms, patrolling the eastern reaches of the Sapphire Mountains and battling Za. The Cymrilian now wondered how came the bandits to Werewood and what intelligence had sent them thither.
Thus Vidian resolved to present Tarriod with the ancient texts only upon his acceptance of two conditions. The first condition was that the books and scrolls recovered from the ancient temple complex remain forever a part of the Lyceum Arcanum’s Phaedran collection; the second, that Tarriod release from her bonds the Batrean concubine that seemed bound to him as by an invisible chain. Perhaps this latter condition was imposed for no other reason beyond Vidian's natural antipathy toward slavery, yet in some unknown way it seemed of great import, though Vidian could not discern the reason.
On both counts the merchant refused, and though embittered by this betrayal, he could do little, and so made ready to leave the city of glass by windship.
Ever flighty by nature, Dunmer and Delilah made off together without so much as a fare-thee-well. They were soon followed by the Jaka and nameless Thrall. Motar and Gann agreed that it was a good riddance.
Meanwhile, Vidian took his concerns about Tarriod to Boldtooth, an official of the Lyceum Arcanum, Talislanta's foremost repository of learning. Boldtooth expressed great interest in Vidian's tale, and he warmly accepted the Phaedran texts on behalf of the Lyceum. One of the Cymrillian wizard-king's men was contacted, and Vidian was placed on the payroll of the Kingdoms with instructions to follow the merchant. Rumour held that Tarriod was headed for Carantheum and thence northward to an unknown destination in the Sinking Lands.
One perquisite granted to Vidian was a windskiff dubbed the Bloody Hell. Although unarmed and unarmoured, the skiff was light and quick. Furthermore, an unusual crossbow was discovered in the ship's hold. The three bolts that fit this weapon were tipped with small globes of an unknown liquid. Taking on supplies for another long journey, Vidian, Motar, and Gann departed once more into the wastelands.
TO BE CONTINUED
Book One: Long Live the Tirshata
Session 1 (from 16 Aug 2003)
Cymril, the majestic capital city of the kingdom of the same name and arguably the centre of all the Seven Kingdoms, was fashioned over time with a blend of magic, gossamer, and glass, or so it seemed to visitors. And if visitors could tarry in this wondrous city only two weeks a year, undoubtedly they would choose to arrive during the annual Magickal Fair. For everything about Cymril and the Cymrillians was imbued with magic, and the festivities of the Fair, the wares, the famed windship regatta, and even the much-feared yet highly anticipated wizard duels were the greatest in all Talislanta.
So it was that the Magickal Fair brought together old friends, among them the young Cymrillian windship pilot Vidian, the hardy Arimite mercenary Motar, and the Thrall warrior Gann. Their compatriots and henchmen were a gypsy woman named Delilah, a Zandir swordsmage named Dunmer, a Jaka named Ra Icza, and another Thrall. They were all tossing back a few drinks when they were approached by a shady Farad merchant named Tarriod, accompanied by a comely Batrean wench named Silva, who seemed to be his slave.
Tarriod wished to hire the heroes to find and recover ancient texts from ruins within Werewood. Tarriod led them to a Sarista gypsy named Valu, who told a tale of a lost city within the woods that had been recently uncovered by a band of Aamanian knights. This was the location wherein the texts would be found. A deal was struck: in addition to monetary reward, the merchant would lend his tiny windrigger to speed the effort, and the hired swords would return with their plunder before the end of the fair.
After loading the rigger with supplies, the crew climbed aboard, Vidian took the wheel, and the intrepid heroes departed from beloved Cymril on their way to Werewood, a dark and wild land overgrown with forests. Far above the ground, Vidian steered the flying ship on a northwestern course, passing over the ramshackle mining town of Shattra on the Axis River and navigating through the peaks of Motar's homeland, Arim. In a sparsely populated valley, the heroes paused to pass an uneventful night.
The following day was spent crossing Arim and the woodlands of Zandu to reach Matre, a small farming village north of the Zandir border and the last civilised locale where supplies could be gained and the windrigger housed. Naturally the more iniquitous of the ship's crew were drawn to the town's sole tavern--the Inn of the Dreaming Cloud--for their fill of liquor, lotus powders, and other delights offered by the locals.
The next day, the adventure continued on land to the edge of Werewood. Upon entering the forest, the heroes were attacked by ferocious beasts. Although they fended off the attack, the heroes were bloodied. Soon thereafter the discovered the sought-after ruins, a jumble of stone buildings huddled together as if to ward off the ancient trees. In the centre of the clearing was the largest of the buildings, and the trackers of the group could tell that others had been here recently, either the Aamanians or other folk.
The heroes entered the main building, cautious but eager to discover the secrets hidden within the stones. When they reached what appeared to be a large worship area in the centre of the building, censors of burning oil gave off a foul stench that most of the heroes found difficult to stomach. Yet Vidian braved the malodorous air to reach the rooms beyond. In what once passed for a dining hall, he discovered scrawled words on its defiled walls: “Long Live the Tirshata! He shall pillage and slay.”
After penetrating deep into the ancient ruin, the adventurers were surprised by a company of Za bandits that burst through a door just as Vidian approached it!
Trapped among the bloodthirsty submen, Vidian nearly lost his life in the ensuing battle. Luckily the Za could not overcome the skill of Motar, Gann, and their henchman. This was not Vidian's first encounter with the vicious Za, nor would it be his last, but it was certainly the most threatening. Sheer force of will alone allowed Vidian to cling to life until his battered body could be recovered and an elixer of balmroot was administered.
It took an exhaustive search of the ruins to uncover the secret door that led into the inner depths. In the rubble-strewn and graffiti-defiled dining hall, Vidian discovered and drank a magickal potion that shrank him to the diminutive size of a mere Durnish tunnelmouse. He was then able to slip through a crack in the wall of the kitchen, enlarge to normal size, and open the hidden door to allow the rest of the heroes to enter.
On a lower level of the building they discovered three secret rooms fed with air purified by wondrous machinery. Many rows of dust- covered stone shelves held all of the promised texts, just as the merchant had said. In one corner of the final room, the heroes even discovered a shade from the distant past, a vision of an elder Phaedran whose mind yet functioned. Although the heroes could not understand the speech, the vision confirmed that these ruins-- and indeed the ancient texts sought by the merchant--were Phaedran in origin.
The heroes carted the valuable scrolls and books back to the small town, loaded up the windrigger, and returned to Cymril on the final day of the Magickal Fair.
Although he knew little of their contents, Vidian felt unease growing in his heart about the ancient Phaedran texts and the purpose to which Tarriod would put them. The battle with the Za had brought back bittersweet memories of his years in the service of the Seven Kingdoms, patrolling the eastern reaches of the Sapphire Mountains and battling Za. The Cymrilian now wondered how came the bandits to Werewood and what intelligence had sent them thither.
Thus Vidian resolved to present Tarriod with the ancient texts only upon his acceptance of two conditions. The first condition was that the books and scrolls recovered from the ancient temple complex remain forever a part of the Lyceum Arcanum’s Phaedran collection; the second, that Tarriod release from her bonds the Batrean concubine that seemed bound to him as by an invisible chain. Perhaps this latter condition was imposed for no other reason beyond Vidian's natural antipathy toward slavery, yet in some unknown way it seemed of great import, though Vidian could not discern the reason.
On both counts the merchant refused, and though embittered by this betrayal, he could do little, and so made ready to leave the city of glass by windship.
Ever flighty by nature, Dunmer and Delilah made off together without so much as a fare-thee-well. They were soon followed by the Jaka and nameless Thrall. Motar and Gann agreed that it was a good riddance.
Meanwhile, Vidian took his concerns about Tarriod to Boldtooth, an official of the Lyceum Arcanum, Talislanta's foremost repository of learning. Boldtooth expressed great interest in Vidian's tale, and he warmly accepted the Phaedran texts on behalf of the Lyceum. One of the Cymrillian wizard-king's men was contacted, and Vidian was placed on the payroll of the Kingdoms with instructions to follow the merchant. Rumour held that Tarriod was headed for Carantheum and thence northward to an unknown destination in the Sinking Lands.
One perquisite granted to Vidian was a windskiff dubbed the Bloody Hell. Although unarmed and unarmoured, the skiff was light and quick. Furthermore, an unusual crossbow was discovered in the ship's hold. The three bolts that fit this weapon were tipped with small globes of an unknown liquid. Taking on supplies for another long journey, Vidian, Motar, and Gann departed once more into the wastelands.
TO BE CONTINUED