The wayfinders of the floating tower

This is a game DM'd by myself with my kids. We are beginning at 10th level and I hope to reach Epic levels. Within the storyline, there is a central plot but also I hope to "wrap up" loose ends from other games including The Creation Schema and The Eldeen Heroes.

Cathy Female elf Swashbuckler (have fun and enjoy it)
Tim Male Dragonscale Dragon Shaman (loves his dragons)
Tim Male Human Magus (loves himself and his magic)
Andy Female Cleric of Travel and Knowledge (loves adventure) [DEAD mauled and drowned in sewage]
Andy Male Human Kensai Warrior (loves... the Cleric?!?) [DEAD mauled by a Balhannoth]
Andy Male Human Kensai Warrior w/ bow
Andy Male Human Mystic Theurge

BOOKS and RESOURCES USED

PHB 3.5
PHB II 3.5
DMG 3.5
MM 3.5
MM II 3.0
MM III 3.5

Eberron Campaign Book
Sharn: City of Towers

Complete Adventurer
Complete Arcane
Complete Warrior
Races of The Dragon

Magic Item Compendium

Spell Comp

Beastary
Ultimate Magic

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“PROLOGUE”
001
10/01/11

BARRAKAS 20, 20 MILES NORTH OF SHARN

Rayadeen d’Tharashk knew his time was limited. He had found the lousy runaway goblin in the back of a wagon. The owners were unaware of the goblin’s presence and thus protested when the ½ orc stopped them with force. It was uncertain whom was more surprised, the wagon owner or the goblin when he pulled him off the back of the wagon and onto the ground.

The first swift kick to the goblin’s guts caused bleeding and was to merely get his attention. The second kick was to prove the ½ orc was serious. The third kick broke a rib (or three) and then the goblin knew he was in trouble. After many serious questions asked of the goblin and his recent travels in Sharn the ½ Orc kicked him until he merely groaned in pain.

Rayadeen walked a short distance to where he had the large owl waiting for him. He quickly scribbled a note onto a paper and placed it into a scroll case. He held the case into the air and said “Sharn”. The giant owl flapped it’s wings and grasped the tube in one of its taloned feet and it flew into the darking night sky towards Sharn.

“Looks like it is going to rain.” Something said from behind the trees. It spoke in abyssal.

The ½ orc spun on its feet with its dragon-mark tattoo beginning to glow according to his emotional state. “You!” he snarls.

And the owl continues to fly as trained to Sharn carrying the message as scribed by the ½ Orc.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“NASTY FURLESS RAT-MEN”
002
10/01/11

BARRAKAS 20, NEAR THE DAVA GATE REGION

A mere week ago these five adventurers met within a tavern and began to travel together within the city.

There is Jackalaine Trueheart and her “bodyguard” William McPherrson. She grew up in Aundair and always wished to travel and explore. Whenever her uncle came home from the war she always demanded stories and tales of his adventures. Though she later learned most of these tales were told to him and thus not his own, she still wanted to explore the world. Her uncle learned of her desire and commanded one of his top pupils from his academy to watch over her. This Kensai warrior does as ordered by his patron but has come to learn he is conflicted between his oath to protect her and his growing affection and love for her. They came to Sharn to see the sights of the City of Towers and possibly adventure to Xen’drik.

She and Lia Xiloscient quickly became friends. This elven swashbuckler came to Sharn following a trail left by another elf that she feels may have killed her parents. These two thrill seekers often keep William on his toes as they enjoy many forms of mischief.

Feeding off of their joyful energy, a red fine scaled Spell scale that has joined them. Blaze Redscale loves a good time almost as much as he loves and cares for his heritage, dragons. He was originally from Argonnessen but now travels as he has a reoccurring fear something bad will happen his land and the primary residents whom live there- the dragons.

Then there is Mageblood. Even for a human, he is arrogant and in general a jerk. Whether they felt for him, or are under an enchantment or whatever, he has joined them and travels with them. William very much distrusts the Magus and self-proclaimed “Magic of Tomorrow”.

The rain has drizzled most of the evening and now at 1st bell has become a steady light rain. The clouds are thick and obscure 3 of the 5 moons that are out. The remaining two full-moons are hazy and largely hidden by these rain filled dark clouds.

As the five of them walk around the elevated walkways and bridges connecting the towers together Lia and Redscale hear a faint “hoo” sound. Rescale and Bloodmage then spot a very large owl swooping over and under the walkway bridges through the rain. As it passes about 30ft from them it screams out with several audible “thunk” sounds. The owl weaves and suddenly dips and disappears into the damp darkness. A loud crashing sound can be heard as it seems it has crashed into a tower.

Concerned for the large owl, Lia rushes across a bridge that seems to be the most direct route to the owl (the bridges are like an airborne maze to her). Red scale is close behind her. William blocks Jackie’s route to chase after them and the Magus holds back suspecting he knows what the happened to the owl.

From the darkness, Lia is struck by an arrow even as another arrow skips off the stone rail on the bridge. She and Red Scale both drop to their knees to use the short stone wall as protection. “Archer!” she screams. Jackie circles around The Kensai Warrior in his full plate armor and half runs / half crawls to the Elf. Red Scale pops out his wings and flutters across the dark deep expanse between the bridges they were racing across to another bridge where their attack is. Two more arrows shot out but miss. As he gets closer he spots his assailant- a hairless were rat of a man. He drops to the bridge and ducks to find any cover he can.

The others continue to take cover as Jackie removes the arrow and heals the swashbuckler’s injured shoulder and side. Red Scale attacks the creature with a fire ball spell. The creature easily seems to sidestep it as it is unharmed by the magical burst of fire and even seems to laugh at the attempt. Angered, the draconic humanoid charges the creature as it fires once more doing little damage. The spear it carries glows at hits. Again, the creature seems to be less injured than expected as the magical fire energy within it released. Dropping the bow, the creatures claws at him and bites him. He worries about lycanthrope from the bite then finds its tail has grabbed ahold of the magical spear. The creature is amazingly strong for such a meager looking thing.

Engaged as it is, the others stand up and begin to run to the entrance of the bridge they fight on. Mageblood, the Magus, has a clear head start as he was the closest and never took cover as the others had. The Dragon Shaman pulls his spear free from the ugly rat man and calls up on its magical powers once more. The creature seems to meditate for a moment as a sudden bonfire seems to grow between it and the out held fire spear. A huge fire elemental hisses and crackles in the rain. Obviously it is not happy being summoned on a stone wet bridge. The closest thing it sees to burn and destroy is the rat creature and it does slam him very hard. The elemental holds up the crushed limp body and turns to show it to the Shaman. “Good Ba-Ba.” He says. Then the creature turns into ash and floats away in the damp breeze.

As the others arrive, more arrows are fired at them further down the bridge way. The arrogant Magus quickly begins to attack with magic missiles as the others arrive. William nearly cleaves the thing in two as his oversized huge falchion crashes into it from an over hand strike. The second magical attack from Mageblood finishes it off. Like the first one, this one turns into dust and drifts apart into the wind.

“What was that?!?” exclaims the elf.

“Were rat?” suggests William and he inspects his falchion for gore.

“It seemed unconcerned for your fire attacks and was furless. I think it was a demon. An Uridezu.”

“What does a demon want with an owl?” asks Red Scale.

“The owl!” Cries out the elf as she turns and begins to race back to look for the animal.

DM NOTE: I had my son perplexed. I did a few dozen color photocopies of the dungeon tiles with archer’s slits in the walkways. I used these to represent the short walls used to keep people from falling off the bridges. I glued these onto black poster board to represent the night time conditions. He was certain these were connected rooms underground.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“GIANT OWL”
003
10/01/11

Limited by the low light of the streets and bridges or their own natural sight, they can’t find the owl at first. The two women fear the owl has fallen down the height of the tower and died hundreds of feet below until the Dragon Shaman hears it. The poor creature has not only been struck by two arrows but collided into the tower. A wing has become lodged within the rungs of a service ladder. The bird is obviously in pain as its broken wing is being threatened to be torn off by its own weight.

The Magus leans over and suggests cutting the bird free. The others are quick to disagree. The elf hands a rope to William and asks him to hold this firmly. Even before he can ask why she jumps off the edge while holding the other end of the rope. William grunts both in surprise and frustration as he quickly wraps the rope around his wrists and plants his foot down to prepare himself for the sudden jerk he feels as the line grows taunt. The elf checks out the owl whom glares at her but can do nothing to prevent her from looping the line around its ruffled chest.

The elf uses the ladder to easily climb up and gives the thumbs up for William to haul the bird up.

“You can do it Big Willy” says Jackie smiling and flirting at the warrior.

“You know I HATE that name.” he growls as he begins to haul the bird up.

Jackie turns her back to the guys to face the female elf and makes a motion with her hands suggesting a ten inch distance The girls giggle while William blushes and find the line or something has snagged. The owl hoots in pain as the entangled wing is trapped within the rungs of the ladder. The Magus cares little for the bird’s feelings and goes down and stabs the wing with his scimitar. Now “loosened” the wing flaps in and out of the rung easily as William pulls it up. The ladies are mortified by the injuries (neither relieze the magus has bloodied the owl). The Magus now spots that the owl is holding a scroll case in one talon and has a golden cuff on the other. Intrigued, he follows the gold and scroll case up.

The owl thrashes about as they get it onto the courtyard the bridge way leads to. William tries his best not to further harm the creature as he wraps his strong arms around the wings and chest of the bird. With its beak it tries to bite him through his armor several times. The armor is scratched badly but holds. It now kicks a bit as the Magus pulls the scroll case from the talon. He holds it up to the moonlight hoping to have a better idea of what it is before attempting to open it.

“Odd. A giant owl carrying a scroll case.” Comments Red Scale.

“Not so odd,” suggests Jackie, “if this is a messenger owl for House Sivis.”

“House Sivis….?” Questions the Argonnessen born dragonscale. “What is a Sivis?”

“A dragon marked house that centers on communication. They often use giant owls this way to bring messages medium distances.” Answers Jackie.

The magus opens the scroll case before someone suggests otherwise. Inside is a scroll with a red wax seal on it. The seal looks like a bristled mane lion with twin scimitars forming a skull and bones symbol. He breaks this seal also and a gentle moaning breeze carries over the edge of the courtyard. It is written in common and Bloodmage reads it and considers it, ignoring the others whom are waiting for him to read it out loud. Flustered, Jackalaine finally asks what does it read?

“Your Resources were correct. The scroll and map you seek was taken below ground to the Tarnished Phoenix. Meet at the Broken anvil inn at the 20th bell on the 21st of this month. Rayadeen Tharashk”

“Curious.” Adds Jackie.

“A mystery.” Offers Red Scale

“And maybe this will help also…” offers Lia as he works the latch on the golden bracelet on the other leg. The owl struggles against her but has little strength left. William hopes they hurry up as feathers are getting into his mouth and the smell of the bird isn’t well with him.

After she removes the gold en cuff she notes some engraved writing on the side. In common and gnomish (she thinks) it reads-
“This is the great owl Deatermon. She is the property of House Sivis. The return of her body and any message she carries would be appreciated and rewarded. Solirion Torralyn d’Sivis”

“How much?” asks Mageblood.

“Does it matter? She belongs to the gnomes and needs medical help they can provide.” Says the elf.

Mageblood rolls his eyes and rerolls the scroll and replaces it into the scroll case. He also picks up the golden cuff that the swashbuckler has dropped as the owl has a second wind and struggles once more to be free and defend the objects it carried.

“Sivis Tower is only a few towers away. We should go there then to this Inn.” Suggests William as he spits out a few feathers.

“Where is this Inn anyway?” Asks the Dragon shaman.

“Not far but on a lower level. More the workmen’s area than the businesses where we are now.”

“How do know this?” asks Jackalaine whom is very curious at how William would know this.

“Better not to ask” he says then proceeds to shuffle towards the next bridge with the large bird.

“I’ll be right back.” Says the elf.

“Where are you…” begins the Magus.

“I’m going to get the bird some food.”

DM NOTE: Even playing a swashbuckler, my daughter has a soft spot for animals. She often plays druids in other games. She wants to work with animals (maybe a vet even) when out of school.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“MAGEBLOOD’S PAST AND NEW PROBLEMS”
004
10/01/11

As Lia returns she spots several men looking over the edge where they found the owl. City guard. They motion for her to stop and she does.

“There were reports of a large fire nearby. Have you seen anything like this? It would be bonfire in size and very visible.”

“Oh that.” The elf smiles innocently. “One of my friends summoned a huge fire elemental to burn a demon.” The leader whom was moving large pale feathers around with his boot stops in mid motion and locks eyes with her.

“Summoned….. a demon…” The guard and his three officers are no longer relaxed.

“Oh no- he didn’t summon a demon. It was a huge- I mean a really huge- fire elemental that burned up a demon. William cut the other one up with his big sword. Anyway- I should be going. I bought fish and bread for the owl.”

“adventurers… I hate adventurers….” The chief mutters under his breath before turning to her. “What is this owl got to do with it?”

“Can I talk about it as we to Sivis Tower?” She briskly walks around the officer that was standing in her way.

They follow her right to the tower. “adventurer…” is muttered once more as the captain sees a heavily armored big man hugging a bleeding giant owl. A woman seems to be flirting with him. Another dark skinned… no red scaled… man stands before the door to House Sivis communications center. Another figure sits on a bench in a dark corner. It is unclear if he is with them or merely also waiting for the Dragonmarked house to open (it is only about 3 bells (3am) into the night).

“And they are now. See? It’s really a big owl don’t you think?”

William exhales sharply. The elf brought the city guard!?! Oh my freakin’ gods what was she thinking?

“See- it’s that oddly shaped spear that summoned the huge fire elemental and he of course was the guy holding the owl while we picked up the scroll and the bracelet.”

“I need to see traveling papers….NOW.”

Still smiling, the elf gives him hers. She then asks if he has ever heard of an elf named Doran Faraun.

“No. Why?” William would have slapped his forehead if not for holding the owl that is starting to awaken again.

“Oh nothing much. I just want to kill him for his past deeds.” She takes her papers out of his hand as his jaw hangs open in stunned disbelief.

“What about you?” the captain asks as he checks out the man in the shadows. “Are you with these people?”

Mageblood remains quiet and tries to avoid eye contact.

“Sure he is. He’s the one that took the scroll case out of the owl’s claw.”

“Is this true? Do you realize this bird and anything it carries is under the protection of House Sivis? It is considered a crime to mess with any messages it carries. Papers. P0lease. Now” He holds out his hand expectedly.

William makes eye contact with the Magus knows instantly they are all in trouble. He pushes the owl away and lunges for him as he raises his hands and with a few words and a pinch of web castes a sticky thick set of webbing onto the captain and one officer too close to him. William grabs his wrist must the Magus is much stronger than he appears and easily frees himself of the big man. Using the webs are a wall, he walks around the captain and looks at the rest of the group. The other law officers surround Jackie, Lia and the Dragon Shaman. He mistakes this action as an attack and castes Magic Missile at the officer. William cries out for him to stop but it is too late as the five magical bursts of energy strike and kills the policeman.

The captain struggles against the webs and frees a wand that is pointed at the Magus. The Magus briefly feels like his limbs are resisting movement but then is okay. He questions if magic was used against him just now. The owl waddles off dragging one broken and bloodied wing behind it.

“The owl!” calls out the elf in concern. “If it tries to fly it will die!”

Magus is certain he heard her say “if it flies there is no reward” and blasts it with a grouping of magic missiles. It dies and falls to the ground much to the horror of the entire group.

Trying to contain the menace, the captain tries the wand of Hold Person once more but the Magus shrugs it off but this time knows it was magic used against him and the Captain has a wand in his hand. William grabs Jackie’s hand and tries to rush them out of the area. The other guard attacks Red Scale. Barely injured, Red Scale goes to the captain to free him of the webs. For his effort, an attempt with a spell is made on him but it also fails.

The Magus decides that better late than never, he turns invisible and tries to follow the fleeing Kensai Warrior and ladies. He stops to aid the red skinned Dragon Shaman then gives chase.

They are lucky and follow William whom leaves no trail but is noisy trying to run in plate armor. Being in this armor also slows him down and eventually the two mages catch up with him.

“What In the twelve moons of Siberys were you thinking back there?!?”

“Give me a moment and I will explain.” Says the Magus.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“ THE MAGUS’ EXCUSE”
005
10/01/11

“This has better be good.” Says the embittered Kensai warrior. “Your actions are endangering everyone here.”

“I am a wanted man. I committed crimes in the past that I am trying to somehow undo now.”

William still clutches his falchion. Jackie has a spell on her mind to prevent this from getting any worse should William lose his temper and attack the mage. Lai is upset that he killed the owl in cold blood- and the law man also. Red Scale wants to hear him out.

DM NOTE: and that is why I don’t like players having more than one PC but it’s only three of us.

“I once followed the Blood of Vol. I was even invited into a semi-secret group linked to them- the Emerald Claw.” William takes a step forward. As a native Aundairan, he remembers the war crimes committed by this group.

“I stole for them several times until I realized that it was wrong and I tried to leave them. They didn’t like the idea. Ever since then I have been on the run from both them and the law.”

“That officer was following up a routine disturbance. He wasn’t looking to even arrest you. I bet that one officer you killed had a family. Unlike you- you murdering bastard.” William takes two steps forward and the Magus two back but finds himself in a corner now.

“If they learned who I was they may have linked me and thus you, into those crimes and that I thought was worse.”

“You thought wrong.” Says Jackie.

The elf is strangely quiet. Is her seeking of revenge any better? She will go to most any length to find the person that murdered her parents.

“Why the lethal force?” asks the Dragon Shaman.

“I thought they were attacking Jackalaine. Surely you can’t fault me for that.” He pleads directly at the Kensai Warrior whose current oath is based on her safety.

“The owl….?” Suggests the elf.

“Heat of the moment;. I over reacted. I’m sorry damn it. I didn’t mean for it to go as it did.”

“I am willing to give him a second chance.” Says the Dragon Shaman.

“I guess so.” Says the swashbuckler.

“William…please…”pleads the Cleric.

“We complete the owl’s mission- we return this scroll to the person at the Inn and then we go from there…..”

“Thank you.”

“I will be watching you mage bastard. Don’t think I will not cut you down where you stand.”

The Magus stands alone with his hands at his side. “Always the villain” he thinks to himself.

DM NOTE: This is one of those cases as a DM you ask “What was the player thinking? In the end it added to the story I just wish Tim gave more details about his crimes of the past. Ah well.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“THE BROKEN ANVIL INN”
006
10/02/11

BARRAKAS 21, 998 the 20th BELL

The PCs arrive at the Broken Anvil Inn just before the bell sounds. The rain still continues to lightly drizzle. Everything feels damp. Magus enters first and looks about. The others enter directly after him. The room looks like a wide ‘V’. There are several dwarves drinking and encouraging a female dwarf to dance on the top of a table. A lone female dressed in leather armor with red trim sits holding a mug in her hands. She glares with malice at the group as they pass her by. A possible noble woman and two adventure types are arguing while standing up and looking at a map. The male is stabbing his finger onto the paper. They quiet down and wait for the PCs to bypass them before continuing to argue over the paper and what it has to offer. Near the bar itself, a lone dwarf sits waiting for his drink. He watches them enter and walk around the tavern.

“What are we looking for?” asks Jackie.

“What or even a who.” Replies William.

“That one seems to want our attention.” Says the swashbuckler. She motions to the lone dwarf whom is himself motioning for them to come over and sit.

As they get closer to him they see he is very well-off. His fine leather clothes and satin fabrics are carefully detailed and treated. With gold and silver thread and trim. His beard is threaded and has gold and platinum beads with engravings on them. Each finger has at least one ring on it. Most of the rings look overly flashy and there is little doubt there is magic in at least two of them. His eyes are bright and in general his demeanor cheerful. However Magus does note that his one leg has an unusual metal strapping and harness attached to it. The dwarf seems to be trying to conceal it slightly.

“May I buy you folks a drink?” he asks.

The spell scale is quick to agree and the others do but with more hesitation. “Still raining out?” he asks.

“Yes. What of it?” answers the Magus.

The dwarf smirks and looks at the five travelers. “I wouldn’t want to be an owl I suppose. In this rain something may happen. Know what I mean?”

The five stop and hesitate either holding their drinks to their mouths or slowly lower the drinks back to the table.

“There are rumors of a dead owl that belonged to Solirion Torralyn d’Sivis. Rumors also speak of a high reward to the capture of the killer or killers of said owl.”

Magus scowls at the dwarf.

“Another rumor I heard involved the death of a law officer.”

“But I have interests in what was not said than what was said within the rumors. A message….” The dwarf leaves his sentence hanging.

“Interest…. Like if someone happened to have the message you could perhaps read it?” offers the Spell scale.

“Perhaps we should move to a more private room to discuss this further.”

The dwarf motions to the bar tender then walks with a stylized limp to a far private room down a hallway. Within this room are a table and eight chairs. William and Magus do not sit but instead stand near the doorway.

“Do you have it on you?” asks the dwarf frankly.

“First- who are you?” demands the elf.

“I have many titles but most refer to me as Lord Darkko ir’Harddok. I run a Wayfinders group out of Aundair. One of my employees sent that message to me. It is important to me. Depending on what is written, it may involve further employment to- you perhaps?” The dwarf takes a sip from his drink while eyeing each of the PCs. “I pay well.”

Magus removes the scroll from his pouch and hands it to the dwarf. The dwarf looks at the broken seal and smirks. Never taking his eyes off of the adventurers, he slowly unrolls the scroll. He reads it quickly. Sighs, and rereads it more carefully. “Would you like to know more about this? I seem to need some new operatives. Are you available?”

The five of them look to each other and give a nod of yes.

“Very well then, what can you tell me of the incident… with the owl?”

As they describe the attack by the two furless humanoid rat fiends, the bar maiden arrives with more drink. She asks if there is anything else and waits a moment before the dwarf dismisses her. Mageblood checks that she has left and finds she is no longer within the hallway. He dismisses the thought of how quick she is even as he thinks it.

“I seek a large ancient tome that I had hired Raydeen to locate. He had followed clues suggesting it was located within Sharn… well under it anyway. This message you brought to me confirms this. Since he has not arrived himself, I suspect the very creatures that killed the owl also got him.” He continues on reviewing the events that led up to this point. He hands them a scroll of his own. “This is a map that leads to the Tarnished Phoenix. The Phoenix is an old bit of art done on a wall underground by possibly goblins. It is a site marker to an ancient goblin series of ruins.”

“What does this tome look like?” asks the Spellscale.

“Old and large. It will have a stylized image of a dragon on it.” This gets the attention of the Dragon Shaman.

“Why do you seek it?” asks Jackie.

“Fame and fortune, fame and fortune.” Says the dwarf looking at the many jeweled rings on his pudgy fingers.

Before leaving, they agree to meet again here the next day. Mageblood notes who is still there and who is not as they leave. He sees no bar maiden and ponders briefly about it but not long enough.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“GOBLIN MERCHANTS”
007
10/08/11

BARRAKAS 22, 998 the 9th BELL

Before going to the Broken Anvil again, the group stops and buys a few things; Food and ever bright torches being first and foremost on their list. The meeting is brief and the group is quickly on their way to Deter Tower. It is late in the morning and still raining.

The walk through the narrow and dark stairs within Deter Tower doesn’t unnerve the team. The further down they travel the more damp the air and walk becomes. Bits of rubbish begin to emerge from the darkening shadows but at last they reach the ground floor. Here they circle the tower until they find a door listed as D-12. The door is locked and has a sign attached to it.

Touching it as if to confirm its existence, the swashbuckling elf reads it aloud to everyone. “By order of the laws of Sharn, none shall enter this doorway due to dangers held within.” She turns to the group- “What do we do now?”

Jackalaine looks at her protector whom merely sighs and steps up to the door. With a mighty single kick the Kensai warrior bursts the door. The lock and chain are still swinging and attached to the door frame as the warrior steps forward. He withdraws his oversized falchion and a magical torch. “Stay close. They put up that sign for a reason.”

The stairs in the darkness are even more dismal as Fecal and urine deposits puddle and pool on the stairs. Graffiti written in goblin and possibly gnoll adorn the walls. Most of it gives warnings and issues of ownership. Some is less honorable than even that are written. Bloodmage looks at the map they were given. “The map suggests there is a goblin …. Market?”

“Keep going… it shouldn’t be far now.” Answers Jackie.

Nearing the bottom of the long stairs there appears a low light glow. The goblin market.

After the light comes the stink. Goblins. They hop about and go behind their various make-shift tables. As the adventurers reach them they begin to try to barter …. In goblin. Only one member can understand and speak goblin…. Lia (uh-oh). The product is very shoddy and most damaged. There are various kinds of equipment. Lia translates what is said between the goblins and her. They move on until they reach the last table. The equipment here is more based on useful things for adventuring in the sewers. The equipment is still shoddy; a lantern that leaks oil is but one example. The goblin smiles as pleasantly as a goblin can and addresses Lia directly.

“For a pretty lady I have many awesome things. Good things. Pretty things for pretty humans.” It tries to be charming. The others are ready to go. “Too good for me? For my stuff? Even better than this this?” The goblin points to a beautiful purple scarf he is using to hold up a sign. The goblin carefully unties it and shows Lia. “Pretty he says.”

“Yes, it is.” She answers.

“Hurmmm…. Then it belongs with you…. Not me.” The goblin offers it to her. “It is a gift to you. A gift for speaking to me and not treating me as a… non-equal.”

William detects a slight perfume on the scarf. He figures it was the smell of the woman that was killed to get the scarf.

They look again at the map supplied them. There are two branches that reconnect later. One is listed as having a damaged bridge and one with a missing bridge. Obviously they decide on the damaged bridge.

After walking through dark hallways they come onto an expanse of 40ft where a slowly moving channel of sewer water can be seen below. The bridge there is falling apart. Lia crosses first as she is the lightest and most agile. The Spellscale flies over. Jackie attempts to cross but falls through. She is not hurt but William goes after her anyway. He carries her through the sewer and lifts her up to the others. The Magus crosses easily and makes it clear how easy it was for him.

They continue on into the dark.

THE WAYFINDERS OF THE FLOATING TOWER
“BUGBEAR ASSAILANTS”
008
10/08/11

BARRAKAS 22, 998 the 15th BELL

The Magus named Bloodmage continues to study the map. “What is the Gator Alley?”

“An alley with alligators?” answers William as he watches the edge of light and darkness.

“Funny funny hah-hah. Seriously- is this map even right?”

“So far it seems so.” Replies Jackie.

“Something is ahead of us.” Warns Lia.

She and the Dragon Shaman move up slowly to a lone large hairy humanoid. This creature holds a large mace and smiles at them. He (she?) stands at an intersection.

In broken common the bugbear speaks to them.

“Toll. Give gold to me and you pass. No gold… no pass.” As it speaks it waves the mace and smiles a sickly smile that invites violence. The adventurers secretly consider it but try to instead talk their way out of it.

“There are five of us to the one of you….” Blaze Redscale begins but is interrupted.

“So five gold. Give now or no pass.”

Blaze looks to the Magus…. “Would it just be easier to pay it?”

“Five gold each. Twenty”

“Oh- he’s a smart one.” Suggests the Magus.

Looking at the fact the spell caster seems to have no fear of him; the bugbear begins to back up. “Gold or no go.” Lia and Mageblood follow him hoping to press his fear of them.

William and Jackie follow up with the Shaman holding back. Fate smiles on him. In goblin the bugbear snarls out “Now!” Lia, understanding goblin and the Magus both go onto the defensive and just in time as a fake wall is collapsed onto them. Suddenly they find themselves being attacked by four rather large bugbears, each swinging two maces and leaping forward.

William kicks free of the stones and steps between the attackers and the cleric. Lia and Magus find that the broken wall they largely escaped still hinders their own attacks while the long armed gobliniods can just reach them. The battle is on.

These bugbears are tough even for bugbears and know how to use multiple weapons. They beat at the heavily armored Kensai Warrior and swing at the others whom step back to use the rubble to their own advantage now. The first bugbear now addresses them pressing the elf and Magus horribly.

The shaman begins to cast spells that are carefully positioned to strike at the creatures but not his teammates. On the second blast of energy the bugbears try to get at him if only to stop his spell casting. William takes advantage of this and takes down two with a vicious swing from his over-sized magical falchion.

Jackie steps back avoiding the battle but preparing healing spells as the blood is spilt on both sides. Magus takes down a bugbear and so does the swashbuckler. The leader finds him in a bad spot and quickly goes down as the three of them attack him and the first creature.

Little is found on them except for the leader. He seemed to have been the one holding the tolls from times before. They split it up equally and then take time to heal.

“Told you he was a smart one.” Says the Magus once more.