Zad/Wizardru's Story Hour (*final update 11/12*)

Zad/Wizardru’s Story Hour

Prologue
Greetings! And welcome to the new story hour!

Some of you are new readers, while others are surely coming here based on your enjoyment (I hope) of the old story hour. Wizardru’s Story Hour (a.k.a. The Savage Sword of Meepo) chronicled a campaign that spanned about six years of real time, in which our characters started from humble (i.e. first level) beginnings and eventually walked among the gods themselves. But all stories must come to an end, and so it was with this one.

And now the same group of people begin a new campaign. This campaign will take place in Greyhawk, in the Shackled City setting. It is the same world/plane as the prior campaign, but about twelve years have passed since the conclusion of the last campaign. Time has marched on, and so we see changes in the world.

Generally, peace has settled over the lands of the Flanaess. There are of course isolated conflicts here and there, but nothing like the large scale wars that the prior few years had seen. Iuz continues to be a plague to the northern Flanaess, but he has been effectively contained. The Shield lands have been repopulated, albeit sparsely. The Horned Society has re-established itself over the Bone Marches and their previous territory but have had a truce with Iuz (they have enough common enemies as it is). The Scarlet Brotherhood has risen in power once again, but has not troubled the north so far.

The Grey Guild (the guild of wizards and other magic users) has regained much of its former strength, but many arcanists avoid membership fearing another culling of the mages. Guild Minister Scorch himself made it a rule that involvement in the Grey Guild automatically precludes membership in any other magical society – a policy shared by similar organizations.

Eight years ago, the magical barrier known only as the Interdiction was apparently eased, for reasons quite unknown to most. Tales of the mysterious Judges and Baliffs are a source of academic curiosity, but only the most powerful wizards or clerics even know of their existence, or the changes that occurred.

Meanwhile the sect of the Church of Pelor that follows Saint Dravot has grown strong and it is not uncommon to find the Living Saint’s disciples among the worshippers of Pelor.

Introductions
The easy ones first: I am Zad, the author of the story (and the prior one.) Wizardru is the DM of this (and the prior) campaign. All the same players are back, and I’ve noted their ENWorld ID next to the character name so you know who’s who. All the players read and post here, so don’t be surprised to hear from them.

In the prior story hour, the story was told through the journal entries of Kayleigh. In this story, there is a slightly different perspective.

Astrid Grace MacKenzie of the Bearkiller Clan: Astrid is name this changeling fighter uses in her preferred persona, a human female with red hair and green eyes. She grew up on the streets of Greyhawk as part of a small enclave of changelings. She joined the town watch before signing on with a mercenary unit, where she met Elizabeth (see below). Astrid is very reluctant to let anyone know her true identity, but will eventually confide in those she trusts. She worships St. Dravot as part of her persona but not her true beliefs. (Fighter, played by Dravot.)

Diamondshard Glyphandar: The prodigal son of the Illumian Cabal
Diamondshard. 6'2" and 210 pounds. Glyf is addicted to morning calisthenics. Normally he keeps his snow white hair in a buzz cut with a short vandyke beard. Like all Illumians Glyf seeks knowledge, but unlike them he seeks something else as well. (Artificer, played by Argent.)

Elizabeth Cartwright: Elizabeth was a farm girl from Keoland who wanted off the farm. She ran off with a group of passing mercenaries as a camp girl, but was instructed by a company mage who sensed she had the potential for more. The mercenary unit dissolved recently and she and her friend Astrid were close enough to Cauldron to head there to look for more work. (Psychic Warrior, played by Zad.)

Krisfallion: A wandering worshipper of Phaulkon (a Suel diety of the air and archery). He wanders the land as a mercenary/priest teaching archery and fletching to soldiers in the armies he serves in. “Free like the clouds” is his philosophy. Originally from the Storm Coast, Krisfallion claims he was a student of the famous hermit Tarnedas, despite that notable’s disappearance decades ago. Krisfallion has wandered randomly throughout the Flanaess, following the clouds, migrating birds, or just flipping a coin when he comes to a split in the road. (Cleric, played by Scorch.)

Maris Elohra Banozard: A bookish young girl of 15, she is the daughter of a nearby merchant family of some means. She’s very bright but also rather naive. She has a rat familiar, Penelope. (Wizard, played by Valanthe.)

Bellsin: Bellsin can tell you very little about Bellsin. He has no memory and no information save a note in his pocket implying that was his name. His appearance and manner mark him as a desert man. (Spellthief, played by Aethramyr.)

Tzaddik: An elven ranger, of the habit of wandering in the forrests near Cauldron. (Ranger, played by Oldschool1e). Tzaddik died during Zenith Trajectory.

Ramir: It occurs to me that someday I should learn something about Ramir so I can write it here. (Elven duskblade, played by Oldschool1e as Tzaddik's replacement)


Originally this was posted about a few of our characters. I include it for posterity:

Maris: Maris is not so much notable for her skills as she is for her attire – she insists on wearing squeaky clown shoes wherever she goes. This makes stealth all but impossible for her but she insists on it, citing the devotion to her diety – Jeff, the God of Biscuits. Maris owns a pet rat, and there is reason to believe the rat is the brains of the outfit. (Wizard, played by Valanthe.)

Bellsin: Very little is known about Bellsin. This is not due to a mysterious past but simply because he’s a drunken sot. On the few occasions he is able to articulate actual words, he tends to go on about being a chief of a powerful kobold tribe who was polymorphed into something even less savory. (Spellthief, played by Aethramyr.)

(Editor’s note: The astute reader may notice that some of the descriptions are somewhat less… credible than others. The reason is simple: all players were requested to send a few lines introducing their character. Those that did not instead got that information provided by me. No doubt this information will be edited to something more suitable once the information is provided.)

This post reserved for future use

This post also reserved for future use.

Life's Bazaar - Chapter 1

Life’s Bazaar

Life’s Bazaar – Chapter 1

OOC Notes:
Experience is 450 exp.


This Week’s Adventure:
I was starting to get worried. Now that I stop to think about it, I don’t ever recall being “worried” before. It was a strange sensation and not really one I enjoyed.

Having observed Astrid and Elizabeth for some months now, it was pretty obvious to me that they were worried too. And they weren’t enjoying it either.

From what I understand, Elizabeth had run away from the farm and considering that start did fairly well. She tagged along with a mercenary band, first as a camp servant. But over time she learned to fight and a little more. And she became friends with Astrid. I admit at first I was wary of her, and doubly so when I learned her changeling nature. But they were two peas in a pod, and they became friends.

So when then the mercenary company they were with disbanded, it was natural that they would stick together, broke and jobless as they were. Elizabeth was at a loss for what to do next but Astrid proved to be a good friend to have.

There was a clique of half-orcs in the mercenary band. Generally speaking, they were vile, fickle, and rude. And they certainly didn’t give the girls anything but a hard time and a lot of leering. Of course, after the first time the “girls” cracked a few skulls, the half-orcs learned to keep their paws to themselves and leer from a distance, and not too loudly at that. While the half-orcs were not a problem, there was certainly no spirit of cooperation flowing from them either. Enter Astrid - her… talents allowed her to listen in on the talk of the half-orcs in the mercenary group and they were sure there was work to be found to the south in the city of Cauldron. Armed with that information, and without any better ideas, the girls set out for the city that sprang up in the volcano. And I followed. It’s what I do.

The pay they had received was barely enough to get them there. Once they arrived, they took a room at the Drunken Morkoth Inn. I was starting to wonder what a morkoth was (and what happened when it got drunk), but the girls stopped short as soon as they walked in and immediately started to worry.

What they saw when they walked in was an inn – patrons, an innkeeper, and so on. This wasn’t, I gathered, what worried them. It was what they didn’t see. If you want to recruit mercenaries, you put on your best weapons and go to a low-class inn, and hang around. And as you recruit, the new blood tends to hang out there drinking until it’s time to leave. And word spreads, and more recruits show up. Any other mercenaries looking for new recruits goes where the others are gathered, and soon you have a giant labor pool of drunk fighters and recruiters all in the same place.

And what Astrid and Elizabeth didn’t see were drunks. And they knew right away they had a problem. Personally, I assumed they were just in the wrong bar. But a day later, after following them all over this maze of a town, I started to get worried as well. Nobody was recruiting – there weren’t even any mercenary companies in town. And from what I overheard, the girls were not exactly experiencing a heavy cash surplus – they didn’t expect to be able to eat in another day or two unless they found work. Fortunately, St. Cuthbert saw fit to provide salvation.

Which in this case was a scream.

The scream came from down an alley. What I was at first was sure was a woman crying out for help was in fact a priest of some sort, the symbol of St. Cuthbert hanging from his neck. The fact that his scream was in a high falsetto could be excused since there were three thugs that were beating the tar out of him.

“And stay away from the orphanage! You understand priest?!? Stay away from it!!”

There were none of the town watch around, and Astrid and Elizabeth just looked at each other and shrugged and freed their weapons. They both have good hearts, but I think the idea that this might lead to paying work with someone was higher in their minds to tell the truth. Astrid nodded silently to the right of the alleyway at a man. He was sitting on a barrel, with his feet up on another barrel lounging around and eating some kind of meat on a stick. Astrid thought he was a lookout but he seemed as startled by the scream as anyone. He tossed aside his meatsicle and stood up and stretched and in the same motion strung a bow with an ease that was disturbing. With that he moved towards the alley a step behind the girls.

As the girls stepped into the alley, one of the thugs who was taking a less active role in the beating turned on them.

“Just keep walking. This ain’t none of your business,” he said, his hand hovering near a long knife. The man was of the general common thug variety, but he, like his companions, was wearing black and white makeup on his face in some kind of theatrical style. Not exactly low-profile.

From what I could see from my vantage point, there was some interest from other passers-by at the other end of the alley, and a similar threat was made.

Astrid looked at Elizabeth and shrugged, as if to say “What about the lookout?” Elizabeth shrugged back, implying “Eh. If he doesn’t run, we’ll pummel him too.” And they charged. Astrid stepped up to the goon and cracked him in the head with her halberd and Elizabeth followed that with a quick cut to the leg and the man staggered on his feet. He turned to run but his injured leg cut out as soon as he put weight on it and he collapsed in the dirt. As he fell, an arrow went whizzing between the girls, loosed by the “lookout”. While it was somewhat close to them, it was a far closer shot to the third thug in the middle of the alley, who just barely avoided getting hit.

At the other end of the alley, whoever was there was also not backing down. I could make out a large human, and a young girl. The thug there had drawn his blade and cut the large human, and it was clear neither him nor the girl made their living with a sword.

The girls rushed the middle thug. Astrid swung but the goon twisted aside. Sadly for him that put him in position for Elizabeth, who decided to make sure the man couldn’t kill the priest. She put her mental energy into her blade as she hit and cut a massive gash across his chest. He too tried to run before collapsing on the ground and bleeding profusely.

The “lookout” dashed forward and checked on the priest, making him either uninvolved in the mugging or a great actor. The third thug, scuffling now with three people at the alley mouth, decided to run. There was a brief chase, but the large human managed to get ahead of him and club the man as he tried to run by in a panic.

The thug was dragged back to where the priest was recovering his wits. First, he made sure to perform some healing magic on the thugs to be sure they didn’t die. The young girl called the city watch while the others talked to the priest.

“Thank you so much for your help. I had thought these thugs from the Last Laugh intended to rob me but they seemed to have been sent to give me a warning instead. But I’m not sure why.”

It was what he didn’t say that was more interesting. He was clearly shocked by the amount of lethality they used to save him. He may have been grateful, but his sense of justice did not abide killing these goons for beating him up.

There were six people who had stopped to help the acolyte. Besides the girls, there was the large human, who was not human at all. The glowing runes floating about his head marked him as Illumian, at least by reputation. There was the “lookout”, a human in his thirties who handled his bow far too well to have been new to it. There was another human man who had been at the far end of the alley out of sight, and the young girl. She was about old enough to marry and she had the look of an apprentice of some kind.

“My name is Rufus Laroe. I’m an acolyte of St. Cuthbert,” he said, still trying to recover his wits.

“I’m Astrid Grace MacKenzie of the Bearkiller Clan,” Astrid said, though why she always insisted on that whole name was beyond me. “And this is Elizabeth Cartwright.”

The lookout smiled and just said “Krisfallion.”

The Illumian was Diamondshard Glyphandar – Glyf – and the girl he was with was Maris. I noticed that Glyf was leading a pack mule and seemed to be a bit too attached to it. The other human was Bellsin.

Astrid asked “What is this orphanage they mentioned, and why are they wearing makeup?”

“The Last Laugh is the local thieves’ guild. That is what you might call their ‘professional’ costume when they’re doing official business. As for the orphanage, I’m more confused there. I was investigating some kidnappings from the orphanage but I’m not sure why they would care about that at all. Nonetheless I am fearful they might attack again. I thank you deeply for your help but I fear I must ask if you might see fit to escort me back to my temple. I’m sure the acting high-priestess will reward you for your kindness.”

The word “reward” was all the girls needed. They would have done it anyway, though they might not admit it. But they still needed to eat. Krisfallion shrugged with the look of a man with nothing better to do, so he was up for the walk. The others were slower to get on board but ultimately they realized it was too late to attend to whatever other business they had and we set off for the church.

The girls spread out front and back, and the group tried to look inconspicuous, although this late at night such a large group was bound to attract attention. On the way, Rufus, perhaps feeling the need to fill the silence, explained more about the abductions. “There have been a string of disappearances recently, but these were the most recent. Four children, stolen away into thin air! The orphanage was barred and locked you see, but the children were taken all the same. Two boys and two girls, stolen from their locked dormitories.”

“You lock the children up at night?” Maris asked, slightly disturbed by this.

“Well, you must understand it is simply to prevent them getting into mischief,” Rufus replied. “But it didn’t stop whoever took them. There was no sign of entry or exit, and nobody saw anything. The acting high cleric of my church has publicly vowed to resolve the matter, even committing a powerful artifact to the effort.”

There was more chatter on the subject of the children, but all it really served to show was how little Rufus had been able to discover so far. The most telling bit of information was the one he seemed to be trying to forget – that the Last Laugh had felt this was important enough to rough him up over.

We arrived at the church – an impressive building of stone and some wood. Rufus had us wait in a chamber while he spoke to an acolyte who took his cloak. Rufus withdrew and soon enough the acolyte returned with warm spiced wine and bread and cheese. Before too long, Rufus returned with another priest – a woman in her early forties. At her side was a mace that seemed more suitable for ceremony than battle.

“Greetings. My name is Jenya Urikas. I am the acting senior cleric here. Our High Priest is currently away on business. I hope you will all accept my thanks for the aid you rendered. Saint Cuthbert will see Justice done on the perpetrators.”

She asked them to sit, and she repeated many of the details that Rufus had. “There have been disappearances starting almost ninety days ago. They have received little attention from the city guard, and have disturbed me greatly. The people come from all walks of life and we can see no common link between them. But the children bothered me most. I have committed to brining the perpetrators to justice and bringing the resources of Saint Cuthbert to bear on this.”

She drew out the mace. “This is the Star of Justice, enchanted by the Church with the gift of prophecy. Once a week, I may ask a question and receive an answer. I asked where the children could be found. In response, I received a riddle. This is most unusual – the answer is usually very straightforward according to my research.”

The locks are the key to finding them. Look beyond the curtain, below the cauldron. Beware the doors with teeth. Descend into the malachite ‘hold, where precious life is bought with gold. Half a dwarf binds them, but not for long.

Whereas most of the others listened closely, Astrid fidgeted while Elizabeth just enjoyed the wine and tried to look interested. They didn’t understand why they were being told all this – they were just hoping for enough of a reward to keep looking for more work or at best a short job. They couldn’t see that they were being set up for something bigger. Luck has a way of working like that.

Elizabeth made a clumsy stab at fishing for a job. “You may find it prudent to have Rufus escorted when he goes out on his investigations. It is likely that the Last Laugh will try again, and with more force.”

Jenya frowned. “Their involvement is most troubling in this matter. I can see no sense in it. However it has clearly shown that we are ill-equipped to investigate this matter. But I have committed us, and we will see it through. To that end… “ (here it comes, I thought) “I believe we will need agents to handle this.”

The girls exchanged a quick look, and they were in. A job was a job was their thinking. I was more concerned however – this sounded dangerously close to “adventuring”, a career path noted for its high rewards and even higher mortality rate.

The old mercenary joke goes: “A son says to his father ‘I want to grow up and become and adventurer!’ and the father says ‘Well you can’t have it both ways son – which is it?’”

Krisfallion was also in. He seemed the type that liked to try the more interesting road. Glyf had other business in the city and was hesitant. He had some business at the Blue Crater Academy – the local mage guild and Maris was already a student there. Jenya carefully explained to them that the doors of Blue Crater open only to keys of gold, and to pursue their studies they would require money – more money than they had. They were convinced.

Bellsin was more difficult to fathom. He seemed lost and not entirely clear on even what city he was in. But he too slowly signed on.

Jenya seemed pleased that Saint Cuthbert had provided. “I can offer you these magical potions of healing to help you. If you can find the four children and bring them back, the church will reward you 2,500 gp. “

No doubt about it now – this was adventuring.

Elizabeth tried to look as if this was merely adequate, but failed miserably. The fact was this was more money than a mercenary was likely to see in a few years worth of campaigning. Whatever their story, the impact was lost on none of them.

The group left with the text of the riddle, a list of the victims, the potions, and the promise of whatever help and influence the church could offer. They returned Maris to the academy then the rest of them went to the Drunken Morkoth. In the morning they met back up and set out for the orphanage.

The bell was answered by a halfling woman. She seemed cranky at first, but softened when she realized the group was there to help, and had been sent by Jenya. Her name was Gretchin Tashek, and she was in charge of the orphanage.

Gretchin was very helpful, but there was little more she could tell. She did mention that the first day after the disappearances, the town guard investigated. The second day, two half-elves were asking questions. They claimed to be from the mayor’s office, and were very smooth-talking. Neither group turned up anything useful so far.

The orphanage was quite secure – locked doors and dormitories, and the windows all with bars. The only key was on a necklace Gretchin wore. The locks were carefully inspected by Bellsin, who seemed educated in such matters, and he noted they were very high quality. Almost too high for the orphanage.

“The locks were made years ago by Kheegan Ghelve – he’s the local locksmith, and quite talented. They cost a pretty penny too, but they’ve always worked well.”

“Until now…” observed Bellsin.

Krisfallion wandered off and started chatting with the staff. He settled on the half-orc janitor named Patch as someone of interest. Krisfallion had a way about him, and the half-orc started to open up. Perhaps it was guilt too – we mentioned the attack on Rufus and Patch seemed to feel bad that things had gone so far.

“Patch like drink. That not wrong,” Patch said. “Patch like drinking with Revus Twindaggers. He ask Patch to keep an eye on Terrem,” mentioning one of the missing children. “Pay patch fifty gold. Patch not know why. Not say to hurt him – tell Patch to look out for him. Patch not think anything wrong with that.” Patch started talking faster as the guilt began forcing words out of his mouth. “Maybe Terrem’s parents – they both dead. Patch not know. Patch only think Revus mentioned parents because Revus was drunk. Patch keep eye on Terrem for a year now. Patch not think it important.”

I had never seen a half-orc cry, but Patch seemed mighty close.

It seemed that Revus would find Patch, rather than them arranging to meet or anything more formal. It also seemed that Revus was part of the Last Laugh.

So they had two leads to look in to – the Last Laugh, and the locks. Finding Revus would likely prove difficult so they first set out to the locksmith. I don’t think they expected much to come of it, but it was something at least to eliminate.

They found the shop without too much trouble – turned out to be around the corner from the Blue Crater Academy. They entered and were greeted by Keygan Ghelve.

It took me at least thirty seconds to believe what I was seeing. Ghelve was a gnome but he walked around on stilts. His pants were cut appropriate, and he looked like nothing so much as a human child in a growth spurt.

The group asked questions, doing their best not to sound like they were accusing the gnome of anything but still watching him closely for any signs of guilt. Astrid plopped herself into a chair and made it clear that she wasn’t leaving until they had their questions answered. Keygan had been in business for many years and had done a great deal of business as the primary locksmith in town. Even if all the victims had disappeared from beneath his locks, they were so prevalent that it couldn’t really be considered odd.

The locks are the key to finding them Look beyond the curtain.

Now I should mention that the prophecy of the Star of Justice mentioned locks, but nobody thought too much on it. Questions were asked about underground lakes and such – that’s the way of prophecies; they can’t be taken too literally. But it wasn’t the locks that intrigued Elizabeth and some of the others.

It was the curtain. The big, heavy, red velvet curtain that hung in a doorway in the shop. Suddenly it was very important to know what’s beyond that curtain. I have to admit I was curious myself.

Maris had an idea for that, in the form of a rat. I had assumed Maris was some kind of spellcaster to be training at the Academy, but the rat made me sure she was a fledgling wizard. And so Penelope the rat was sent around the counter to see what lie beyond.

Penelope saw another room with stairs leading to an upper-level balcony. In the room were three chests, and a strange mechanical gizmo with whirling gears and things. Nothing overly unusual to be sure. Penelope returned.

Elizabeth couldn’t get over that curtain though. It was too much. And despite not actually being all that bright, she can be rather intuitive at times. “So are there master keys to your locks?”

“No. If a key were lost, I’d have to examine the lock to fashion a new one,” he replied, indicating a massive display of keys on the wall of the shop. And then he looked over his shoulders at the curtain, using only his eyes.

I was worried Elizabeth had missed it, but she hadn’t. Not bright, but intuitive. “So you know of no easy way to bypass your locks?”

“None,” he said. And looked again. “I make such a wide variety of door and chest locks.”

Bellsin, knowing there were chests behind the curtain, asked “Chest locks. Interesting. Do you have any examples?”

“Right back here,” Keygan said, doing his level best to stay cool. He thought someone was watching and could not even hint now.

Keygan began discussing the intricacies of the chest locks with Bellsin while the others wandered about the back room. Elizabeth was intrigued by the gizmo near the stairs. Which seemed innocent enough, until a thin blade suddenly pierced her back and came out her chest.

A figure crouched on the stairs, holding the blade. It wore some kind of blue-green fabric all over, or perhaps it was just its hide. It didn’t make even a hint of a sound as it pulled its sword out of Elizabeth who fell back against the wall, staggered.

The small back-room was not a good place for a fight, and everyone was tripping over each other as they tried to move back and forth to attack the creature. A number of failed attacks from the front opened the opportunity for Astrid to strike upward through the railing, piercing the creature in the kidney. Even as it died, it still didn’t make a sound.

Elizabeth was very nearly dead. She couldn’t risk trying to drink the potion while the creature was alive, but as it fell she quickly swallowed the sweet liquid and the wound closed over.

“Oh it’s been a nightmare!” moaned Keygan. “They came into the store and they took Starbrow. I can sense him beneath me somewhere. A mile. He’s frightened and hungry.”

“Your familiar?” Maris asked.

Keygan nodded and sobbed. “My rat. They threatened him. There were two kinds – ones like that one – taller. And then the smaller ones. They don’t wear clothes, and have no hair. I’ve never been able to figure if they were men or women. They change color and are hard to see. Normally there are two or three here together but only one guards me during the day. They go out into the streets on rainy or cloudy nights.” Keygan was blathering now.

“There are skeleton keys. I gave them a set that would open most of my locks. I had to! They were going to kill Starbrow! One of the tall ones carries the keys on a silver ring. They came from Jzadirune.”

The group all looked at him blankly.

“Oh right. You wouldn’t know. It’s a small gnomish enclave beneath the city. It was abandoned 75 years ago due to a magical plague called the Vanishing. It caused people to slowly fade away into nothingness. I’m not sure if it’s still there or not. But the enclave was abandoned. There’s only one way in and you’re standing next to it. It’d been so long ago I had forgotten the passage was there, until they came.”

“Hm,” Kris said. “Well then that’s where we have to go.”

Keygan finally saw some hope. “Oh please, can you rescue Starbrow? I can give you a copy of my father’s map! It’s not marked but better than nothing. Be careful of the doors though – they’re trapped to harm anyone who is not a gnome.”

Bellsin was concerned. “Tell us more about the doors.”

“They’re giant gears you see. They only work for gnomes.”

Beware the doors with teeth.

“Alright. That’s certainly where the trail leads so to find the victims, that’s where we go,” Astrid said calmly.


Loot:
Rapier
Light crossbow
Thunderstone
20 bolts
dark colored cloak

Shackled City Beginnings: Krisfallion

It is the Common Year 605, and the winds of change blow across the world. Never one to set down roots, you had few attachments to let go of when you fled to the Headlands during the Scarlet Brotherhood's invasion of your homeland, lo those many years ago. You were one of the lucky ones. Their cruel dominance of the region was only exceeded by their torching of the many of Onnwal's larger towns as they were driven out. A young refugee you found yourself traveling along north, and then following the shore and letting the wind drive you. You soon found yourself traveling throughout the north of Onnwal, in the small valleys and fishing villages known as the Storm Coast. Here, the wind was the master of your fate; here, Phaulkon was supreme. Wise men learned to heed his signs; certainly every fisher manchecked the skies before starting his days work, whether he sailed up the Gearnat or into Relmor Bay.

But with no family, you found yourself wandering and seeking purpose. Days were spent with lazy fishing, nights spent sheltering in caves. Then one day, a terrible storm raged like you had never seen, catching you on a long stretch of beach with no shelter. That was when you spied the strange old man, crouched on a tall rock in the surf, buffeted by the waves. Surely he was half-mad and likely to fall and drown! You dived into the pounding waves, struggling to rescue him with no thought of your own safety. The storm was too powerful, and soon you feared you would drown yourself...when the old man grabbed you and pulled you to safety with a strength that belied his years. Exhausted, you collapsed.

When you woke, you found the old man had moved you to a cave that was vast but dry and warm. Once more he perched on a rock...like a bird, you thought. It was then that you noticed the dozens of seagulls, sparhawks, whiskeyjacks that were perched about him, all staring at you, silently. This was the Parliament of Birds. This was Tarnedas, priest of Phaulkon. Under his tutelage, you found direction in non-direction. He taught you of the bow and the birds, of the winds and the ways of war, that you might help remove the Scarlet plague from your country. Then he sent you on your way. Though you helped the rebellion, the Scarlets had already been beaten back by the time Tarnedas judged you ready.

When you returned to him, he told you thus:

"Live your life like a cloud. Let the winds blow you where they may; do good when you can. Give shade to those who need it, bring rain when it the earth is thirsty and warm winds when it is cold and cold winds when it is warm. Phaulkon will guide your steps to where you need to be."

And so you left him, and started your journey. And when a ship pulled away from the docks, you were the one who jumped across the gap onto its moving deck. When the captain asked where you were bound, you flipped him a coin and said, "let the wind decide." And so it did. When the ship docked as Sasserine, you followed the wind south and west, until you found yourself passing through the town of Redgorge. From there, you made your way to the city of Cauldron, because that was where the wind blew you. It is your first day in Cauldron, and the rains have begun.

Life's Bazaar - Chapter 2

Life’s Bazaar – Chapter 2

OOC Notes:
Experience is 300.

We’re joined by a new character – Tzaddik. I’ll amend the introduction and give some details once his character design stabilizes. During the actual game he was a ranger but that might change or be refined.


This Week’s Adventure:
Just as they were getting ready to descend into the darkness, there was a loud knock at the door. Keegan nearly jumped out of his skin and wouldn’t go out. Astrid went and opened the door and found an elf there.

“Are you Astrid?” he asked. “The church of St. Cuthbert sent me to help. My name is Tzaddik.” As evidence of his claim, he held up one of the marked potion bottles that Jenya had given the others.

Since the church was ordering this mission, there was little argument offered if they wanted to send along extra help. Tzaddik was filled in on the discoveries to date and of the passage below.

Looking him over, I wasn’t impressed. He carried a bow lightly in his hand, but looked as if he’d been in the wilds for some time and just arrived. But then again, this group as a whole wasn’t that impressive to look at so he hardly seemed out of place.

They lit lanterns and sunrods and descended the stone stairs. It was completely dark, and filled with dust and cobwebs, and it seemed I was the only one who wondered why there were so many cobwebs given the traffic these stairs were reputed to have seen lately. The stairs went down three flights and emptied into a large room. The room was far more interesting if you just didn’t look at it.

To listen, it was filled with sounds – chirping birds, rustling leaves, laughing, pleasant whispers, and so on. I was actually a little disappointed to turn the corner and see a fairly plain stone room. Gnomish illusion craft – I suppose I should have expected it, but still…

The room had several masks hanging on the wall, each a smiling happy gnome face. As Bellsin got close to one, it began speaking, it’s round cheeks smiling happily.

“Welcome to Jazadirune!
Behold the wonder
but beware ye who seek to plunder.
Traps abound and guardians peer
beyond each portal and behind each gear.”

The room had two gear-shaped doors to the south, one of which had been wedged open by a couple feet. Surely these were the gears about which so many warnings had been given. It wasn’t even necessary for me to offer a reminder about this – everyone present was already wary of the doors and wanted little to do with them. Glyphandar noted that there was a rune on each – a letter of the gnomish alphabet.

But the wedged-open door was of note. It seemed that someone, fairly recently, had managed to pry open the door and then wedged it open. Glyph’s curiosity won out over his caution at that point and he stepped through the open door. And he was promptly stabbed by two skulking creatures inside.

I can only hope that his caution grows stronger in the future because of it.

The creatures had been stuffing their faces with spiders and apparently Glyph had interrupted their lunch. Their rapiers lashed out and nearly ended Glyph’s life on the spot. Astrid grabbed him by the sleeve and practically threw him back into the room with the rest of us, Elizabeth stepping up to cover the door, with Krisfallion covering her. Through the opening, they could see one of the creatures run off down a tunnel, adding a new urgency. The girls exchanged a nod, and Astrid dove into the room blocking quickly and drawing the creature’s attention, then Elizabeth stepped in behind her and cut him open.

Krisfallion went to Glyph, and uttered a few words. As he did, a breeze blew through the room, and while gentle was enough to draw the blood off of the wounded artificer and his flesh was whole underneath again.

No one knew if the interlopers would run away, or if the group would soon be attacked by waves of the creatures. This room had two tunnels leading out of it – they were crude and clumsy and it suggested that the new arrivals had dug them. Elizabeth quickly scattered caltrops down the tunnel that the first creature had run down, and they braced for an attack.

The attack didn’t come. At least not right away. Now that I think about it, these creatures don’t seem the type for direct confrontation. So the group hustled down the other tunnel with the notion of being somewhere unexpected. They moved down a good deal of tunnel, which made me wonder what had been doing so much digging down here. One passage branched off and lead to a large open chamber that was filled with sunlight. Four large trees and several smaller shrubbery and hedges filled the room looking like a lovely glade and birds chirped quietly above. All an illusion of course, but you had to admire the gnomish spirit in making it.

Some of the group wanted to investigate the room further, but Elizabeth was agitated and insistent they move on. The prisoners, she reasoned, were in danger since the group’s presence was known. The attackers might be fleeing, or they might be massing for an attack, or they might be killing the prisoners, but whatever they were doing, they weren’t here. She argued they should find the prisoners first and investigate later, and no one could find any fault with that thinking, so they moved on.

Another tunnel opened into another finished room. With some quick sketching and deduction, they realized that the tunnels seemed to interconnect with different areas of Jazadirune and they were seeing where they were on the map that Keegan had given them. Perhaps the tunnels were used by the new arrivals to bypass gear doors or other traps. As Elizabeth entered the room, she disappeared.

To everyone else at least. To her, everything was fine. Astrid started poking her halberd cautiously forward, and Elizabeth grabbed the haft and tugged her to come forward. There was a great deal of talk about falling victim to the Vanishing plague, but after a bit of bumbling and stumbling, the magically educated folks reasoned that there were some areas of invisibility in the room that would make you wink in or out to those watching.

The group moved cautiously forward, but the tension was broken by a loud gnomish voice, yelling something about intruders and producing a great deal of clunking and clanking. The group fanned out, and Tzaddik found a large mechanical thing – the central body was a large cone with a tunnel through it, and it had sharp wings to the sides. And it wasn’t happy to see anyone.

They had to move up carefully or risk stumbling into the thing. The girls got close around it and were swinging madly but their weapons kept being deflected off the metal skin. After hissing and squealing, it let off a high pitched squeal that made me want to explode. Half the group was bleeding from their ears and nose and some of them were reeling from the noise. Maris just collapsed on the floor in a heap.

Spells and weapons were flying around in a flurry but most of them did little good. Bit by bit, the clockwork creature, which may have already been damaged, started to suffer from the beating. Astrid stabbed hard into a dent in the skin and wrenched the head of her halberd around and must have cut something important and the thing flew apart into pieces.

Krisfallion did everything he could for the injured, and managed to get everyone at least walking again. But the fight hurt the group badly. If the sneaking creatures attacked, they’d be in no position to fight them off. Resting in Jazadirune was out of the question for the same reason. So they agreed to return to the surface as quickly as possible.

While Kris tended the wounded, Glyph meticulously examined the construct. He found a small steel rod that had a gnomish rune “A” on the end and notches on the other end – perhaps a key to the gear doors. And he found a gemstone that was previously some vital part of the construct and surely worth something on its own.

The group withdrew quickly the way they’d came. To their relief and my surprise, there was no ambush waiting for them in the entry room. Tzaddik said there were tracks indicating someone had moved into the caltrops but not all the way through them. They went up the stairs but found the door blocked.

Bellsin knocked, and called to Keegan, who in a fit of stark raving terror had barricaded the door. He hesitantly moved this furniture and let the group in, and they promptly barricaded the door behind him. Rather than being angry, they applauded Keegan for his good thinking.

The group was injured, and their spells spent. Krisfallion said that he could heal everyone but it would take all his blessings to do so, and he would not want to go below again without resting again. Instead of waiting two days, they formed a better plan.

Elizabeth stayed at Keegan’s shop (which was no end of comfort to Keegan). The others went into town and requested aid from the church of St. Cuthbert. Since town seemed more interesting I snuck off with them. Jenya was happy to provide aid, and sent a small group of clerics to heal the party so that they could re-enter the enclave the next day once rested. She was concerned to hear of the discoveries so far, and was relieved that the group intended to return and complete their rescue mission. They also wanted to see about selling the recovered gemstone, perhaps to purchase some kind of healing magic.

Much to my surprise, there was no contention or objection. Whether due to a spirit of cooperation or a general fear of injury, there was no quibbling about the use of what would turn out to be a substantial sum of gold in this way. More than anything, this was what made me think this group might have a chance after all.

Keegan suggested that a merchant named Tiggit would be the one to speak to about selling the gem. They found Tiggit’s shop with some asking around and entered. Tiggit, an elderly halfling, was napping in a chair in front of fire with a dog at his feet. When the group entered, the dog looked up.

“Tiggit. You have customers,” it said.

Tiggit woke with a slight start. The group just stared. Glyph muttered “A blink dog?”

Maris wasn’t really interested in what it was. She was a girl and it was a dog, and that was all she needed to start petting him and scratching his ears. The blink dog had no objections to this at all and seemed quite happy with it all.

Tiggit ignored most of this, and took to appraising the offered gemstone. If he was impressed at the size or value of the stone, he gave no signs of it, and nonchalantly offered five hundred gold for it. There was no sense of haggling or negotiation from him – the offer was the offer and that was it, especially where strangers were concerned. The group accepted and Tiggit gave a letter of credit for the promised sum, claiming not to have such sums on hand. (Nor, I think, would he hand it over to strangers if he did.)

The group then discussed where they might be able to find potions or even perhaps a wand of healing. Tiggit overheard this and suggested Sky, a former adventurer that catered to the kinds of needs the group seemed to have.

Sky was a female gnome, and I was starting to think that every merchant in this town was required by law to be under four feet tall. Her shop not only boasted some interesting items, but also a great number of trophies and souvenirs from other adventuring companies. I couldn’t help but wonder if those groups were all deceased. I would have asked but I doubt the answer would have made me feel any better.

Sky was eager for the group to sign her guest book and after that was done they got down to business. She was able to offer the group a “slightly used” wand of healing, plus some potions in exchange for the letter of credit plus a bit of gold to even out the transaction. As with Tiggit, there was no haggling involved with strangers. Cauldron, it seemed, was a take-it-or-leave-it town.

So the group returned to Keegan’s shop, and asked if he would mind terribly if they spent the night here to guard the passage. Keegan was enthusiastic, to say the least, about that idea and welcomed the group and did everything in his power to make them comfortable.

The night passed without any bumps. As the group was preparing to leave, one of the St. Cuthbert clerics arrived at the shop and he and Bellsin went outside to speak.

Some may call me rude – I prefer to think of it as a healthy sense of curiosity driven by a keen sense of self-preservation. So I followed.

The priest seemed nervous. “This is not allowed you know. But I believe strongly in what you’re doing and I worry for those children.”

“I understand,” said Bellsin. “But you have my word that I will only use the spell as you would have yourself. Think of it as ‘borrowing’ if it helps,” he smiled. “Besides, you would have healed us if it would help, because you believe it to be the right thing to do. But this way you don’t have to go yourself.”

“In this case, what is just is more important than what is allowed,” the priest agreed. “But ah… will this hurt?”

“Not at all, though it will feel… odd,” Bellsin told him.

The priest nodded, and Bellsin reached out and touched him on the wrist. There was a bit of a ripple in the air, and then nothing. The priest shook his head for a moment, then was fine. “Thank you,” Bellsin said.

“Use it well,” the priest replied, then left.

I wasn’t sure what I had just seen. But it didn’t seem like much to worry about so I went back.

The group crept carefully back down the passage and into the foyer, ready for an ambush at any moment. It didn’t come. But as they crept with their backs to the wall, Tzaddik noticed something on the wall, and in due time found a secret door. There were no indications that the intruders had discovered this passage and therefore it offered an option to come at them from an unknown front. That made it attractive, and the group went through.

The passage led to a room that was on the map, containing several gear doors and a set of locked iron double doors that they could find no way to open. However another secret door led out and they used that instead.

As Bellsin crept along ahead, suddenly the floor gave way underneath him, and the floor ahead of him flipped up and over, dropping him into a pit below. Lucky for him, there were short spikes on the walls, but not on the floor. Unlucky for him, the fall hurt him badly.

Bellsin stuck his spear through the opening, trying to keep the lid from closing on him. Tzaddik scrambled to get a rope out, but before they could get it to him, the entire room Bellsin was in spun. The wall was the floor and he went flying towards the spikes.

This just goes to show you that a gnome won’t be happy unless he makes things complicated. Why put spikes on the floor when you can just spin the room and put the victim on the spikes? I’m surprised it even worked after all these years.

Bellsin managed to land on his feet rather than being impaled on spikes. Everyone scrambled to get Bellsin out before the room spun again. While they were working, Bellsin invoked the blessings of St. Cuthbert and healed his wounds.

And now it all made sense. Bellsin had somehow “borrowed” a healing spell from the friendly priest. And a good thing too.

With some hammer and rope, they finally hauled Bellsin out, and spiked the floor shut so it couldn’t drop anyone else in. Past the trap they found the armory, still holding a fair bit of gnomish weaponry and armor which was carefully collected. And in the armory was a chest.

Once the trouble of the lock was out of the way, they found a number of sundry and alchemical supplies. But nobody was convinced.

“Secret compartment?” they all asked at once.

Sure enough, there was a small tube concealed in one of the iron struts. Inside was a wand, which was handed over to Maris, whose excitement was scarcely contained. Nobody was sure what it was, but it didn’t seem to matter much to Maris. It was a magic wand! She started pointing it at armor stands in a menacing matter and Kris had to get her to relax with it before she blew us all to pieces. She pouted a bit but didn’t argue too much once she realized he could be right.

“There’s something bothering me,” Astrid said. “Keegan said his rat was being held about a mile down, right? But we’re only maybe a hundred feet or so below his shop. If we’re going to find his rat and presumably the prisoners, we need to find a way down. Way down.”

“Only one problem with that,” Elizabeth said. “Wouldn’t ‘way down’ be a volcano?”


Loot:
Suit of gnomish half plate
3 small steel shields (small size)
2 light picks (small size)
3 hooked hammers (small size)
1 heavy pick (small size)
1 padlock (hey, we’re first level – it’s valuable.)
16 crossbow bolts (probably not normal)
2 smokesticks
1 thunderstone
1 tanglefoot bag
wand, evocation magic.

Ok... I have to say in my defence that I was getting excited to move on and couldn't wait any more. Glyf is actually very patient. He hasn't strangled Elizabeth or her friend yet.... yet.

Give him time.

Piratecat said:

Give him time.

Click to expand...

Time time time See what's become of me.

Argent Silvermage said:

Ok... I have to say in my defence that I was getting excited to move on and couldn't wait any more. Glyf is actually very patient. He hasn't strangled Elizabeth or her friend yet.... yet.

Click to expand...

Astrid has done nothing at all to you...said nothing rude, done nothing wrong.

Astrid's player on the other hand...