Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
As Trajan, M’ir and Anne-Marie reach the top of the scree slope at the base of Steeple Mountain, they can see a stream of people moving out from the town towards the woods and the Old Mine.
They make their way through dark and somewhat quieter streets than normal for this hour in the evening until they are almost within sight of the Wyrmcall plaza when disaster strikes. Rounding a corner, M’ir walks almost straight into someone. While they start bluffing their way away from the man there is a sudden flare of blue light from the sack holding the dragonstone crystal which is mirrored by a flare of blue light in the eyes of the man talking to them!
What is worse, the dozen or so people that they can make out in the plaza all turn to face them with eyes blazing sapphire blue too! A voice issues from a dozen throats at once
“YOU you MUST must SERVE serve ME me NOW now!”
“Quick!” says Anne Marie “Run for the tower, I’ll hold them off”
“FOOLISH PLAYTHING plaything” the voices chant “GET BACK IN YOUR CAGE cage!”
Anne Marie charges towards the group of four townspeople who are between them and the tower and is promptly grappled by the group of them working together. The others speed past her to the belltower door – it is locked!
Back at Anne Marie, she wriggles free from the group surrounding her and then spins into a blur of action – fists and feet lash out in all directions and she is surrounded by four unconscious townspeople.
Whirlwind attack at its best!
At the belltower Trajan is having difficulty battering the door down – his feet must keep slipping on the frosty ground because he is not getting anywhere, and all around the square more and more townspeople are lurching quickly towards them, eyes blazing blue. Lysander had managed to take many out of the town square with his urgent message to meet the rescuers of the children, but now women and children are coming out of their houses and men hurry into the square.
Over it all the voice of the dragoncrystal is heard loud and clear from a hundred throats
“KNEEL! KNEEL AND SERVE ME me!”
“MY GLORY SHALL BE COMPLETE complete!!”
“YOUR LIVES ARE MINE!!! mine!! mine!”
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Actually it is a surprising amount... In the grand finale coming up you will see combat reflexes kicking in too as well as the whirlwind attack
Anne-Marie turns out to be (unknowingly) perfectly designed for this part of the adventure - being part Monk meant it was easy for her to make subdual attacks, nice for keeping the townspeople down without killing them, whirlwind attack and combat reflexes made her a superb defensive backstop for the party!
I'll get writing on the final part and What Happened Next.
Cheers
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Yeah, monk fighter rocks for that thing. Good AC, good at grappling, ... btw. Monks can do subdual damage with normal attacks too? I thought they can only choose while grappling without penalties...
Hah! Darklone leaves towards the rules section for a new thread about how to stop hordes of commoners with a lvl6 char!
Originally posted by Darklone btw. Monks can do subdual damage with normal attacks too? I thought they can only choose while grappling without penalties...
Yep! Can't give you the page number of anything, but I remember it says that Monks can make unarmed subdual attacks at no penalty.
Quickly checks SRD
Quote:
Usually, a monk's unarmed strikes deal normal damage rather than subdual damage. However, she can choose to deal her damage as subdual damage when grappling.
OK, Consider this a house rule then. I see it as a reasonable one, since normally all unarmed attacks are considered subdual. Otherwise it is no easier for a monk to subdue someone with his pounding fists than it is for someone wielding a battleaxe
Just a warning... don't go rushing off to that rules forum too quickly!
Thinks... I was *sure* I read somewhere about Monks being able to freely do subdual damage. I'll have to go through my PHB when I get home tonight
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Finally the door is kicked in. Trajan runs upstairs with the crystal, M’ir grabs hold of the bell rope and waits for instructions, Anne Marie unleashes another whirlwind of blows and takes down another half dozen townspeople, then steps into the doorway to prevent others passing.
Trajan places the crystal under the Wyrmcall and shouts out “Now!, Pull the bell now!”. M’ir starts ringing the bell and thunderous tones hammer into Trajan and the crystal pulses scarlet, cracking across its edges.
More zombified townspeople attempt to pile onto Anne Marie, but her reflexes and skill are punishing, and only one manages to get a grip which four others fall to the ground stunned.
“STOP!! stop!” yell the voices. “I WILL GIVE YOU ANYTHING anything!”
One of the possessed townspeople manages to slip past Anne Marie’s guard and lunges at M’ir, attempting to stop his frenzied ringing of the bell, but he swings around and with a swift karate kick lays out the opposition.
Up above, Trajan is starting to succumb from the terrible sound of the bell himself, but seeing the crystal deteriorating further he slides back down the hatch and cries out “keep ringing, keep ringing”
Anne Marie is surrounded by a pile of unconscious bodies and is a whirling blur of fists and kicks, stunning those attempting to grapple her and all those who surround her.
Then suddenly it is over.
There is a mighty splintering sound from the top of the bell tower, and a howl raises from hundreds of voices before suddenly ceasing – as if a door was suddenly closed on it. The townspeople collapse like puppets with cut strings, and the blue light disappears from their eyes.
The battle is over.
Back on the slither-ramp...
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
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The children caught in the web start crying softly, and calling out for their mummy. A clear change has come over them, and when the web eventually dissipates the strange evil possession of the children has ended. Syl and K’tan help lead the children round and round the ramp and down to the base of the waterfall. Darra uses some prestidigitation to cheer the children up in the process.
The pool at the base of the waterfall is now empty. Darra finds himself pestered by his raven familiar “Awk, tasty treats, can I have the tasty treats”
“What do you mean, Awk?”
“Over here, lovely tasty treats” The raven perches on the wall at the edge of the pool, looking into the water. “Nice eyes, Awk”.
Darra peers over the ledge and sees the waterlogged faces of two partially eaten people, wedged under the water. He recoils in horror, but realises that this must be the remaining two “heroes of the bell” who had preceded them into so much of the mines.
Gritting their teeth, they haul the bodies out, and remove a couple of identifying marks – a signet ring here, a sodden scarf there – so that in time their bodies could be recovered and properly buried. Of the fey creature that was bound here by Copperdeaths power there is no longer any sign.
Comforting the children yet again, the three heroes lead the children back through the mine tunnels and out to the entry shaft. The copper plate at the top has been peeled back letting more pure daylight shine down onto the rotted platform. Dozens of faces are peering over the edge, and Lysanders triumphant voice calls out “The heroes return with your children! Give them the heroes welcome they are due!”
With cheers, Darra, K’tan and Syl, with the children are lifted out of the shaft on ropes. there are tearful reunions with parents up above, and the three are carried shoulder-high back into the town of Bellhold.
Entering the wrymcall plaza with cheers and shouting, they see a small crowd outside the Bell & Clapper, including amongst them Trajan, M’ir and Anne-Marie.
“Hey!” calls out Hob the mayor “While you’ve been drinking here, some of your friends have found the children!” Join us in giving praise to the new heroes of Bellhold!”
Trajan says “Pardon?”, his ears still ringing from the proximity of the giant bell earlier. M’ir gives him a wry look.
They follow the others into the taproom to continue their celebrations.
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
So "Of Sound Mind" is over - if you've enjoyed it, would you like to stick around and see what the gang gets up to next? I'd love to continue to see you!
A lot of experience has been gained during the adventure, and the company feel the need to spend some time training and thinking through the things which they have learnt. Once they see to the completion of the new bell required by the Asuran temple at Knightsbridge, they settle down in Bellhold, enjoying the adoration of the local populace (and being rewarded with medals). They oversee operations to recover bodies from the old mine, recovering the wealth of copper coins and other materials from the dragons eyrie (Syl wants to take it as “spoils”. Trajan insists that it was mined by the townspeople, it belongs to the townspeople)
Three weeks are spent on training. K’tan works out how to freely trigger his concussive blasts and learns how to featherfall (after that mountain climb) and produce a cone of destructive sound. Trajan’s apprenticeship with Lysander is paying off, and he gains another level in Jazumai. Darra was tempted by the power of the fireball he unleashed from a scroll, but instead gains the knowledge to dispel magic and cast invisibility.
The party levels at this point are:
Lysander: Jazumai 7/ Sorcerer 1
K’tan: Mage-Savant 7
M’ir: Mage-Seer 6 / Monk 1
Darra: Sorcerer 7
Syl: Rogue 4 / Sorcerer 2
Anne Marie: Fighter 4 / Monk 2
During the training period, Darra notices that he is being scried upon. It seems that the Blessed may still be after him (or all of them). They decide to return to Knightsbridge and the security of Mithril Manor before drawing up their future plans, so despite the bitterly cold Midwinter weather, they set off for home.
The roads are empty and untravelled, with deep snow everywhere. As cold as this month normally is, this is particularly bad. For the first night out they find a sheltered hollow away from the road and settle down around a large fire.
Awk comes to complain to Darra “Not fair boss. Wanted tasty treats but they are too frozen. awk.”
“But I didn’t give you any treats” says Darra.
“Frozen treats in snowbank, awk” the raven cackles. “Not human, don’t eat human treats boss. Dead horse, awk”.
Intrigued, the party move a little way away from their fire and indeed find a large snowbank with part of the hindquarters of a horse protruding from it. Frozen solid. It doesn’t look as if it ran into the snowbank, nor as if it were dropped. Digging it out partially shows it to have been savaged. There is no sign of a rider. Curious.
Later that night, Anne Marie is on watch when a bank of fog suddenly rolls out across their hollow and covers the camp. Quickly she and the other guard rouse the others. Then the still night is split by a blood-curdling roar which raises the hairs on their necks and sends the horses wild with terror. A cone of freezing cold rips out through the fog, burning all the horses and most of the party with extreme cold. Trajan grabs his horse, Lightning, and keeps him calm but the others break their tethers and run madly off. As Lysander and M’ir dart towards the source of the icy blast, their hear a flap of wings and a whistling sound as something darts over their heads, following in the direction of the horses.
Darra deduces that the fog bank is magical and manages to dispel it. They can hear the sound of panicking horses in the distance, and Anne Marie sets off on foot; Trajan calms his horse and races off too. Ahead there is the horrible sound of a horse screaming, and then silence. In the darkness it takes them too many minutes to find the location and when they arrive there is the frozen carcass of K’tan’s horse, and plenty of blood – but no attacker. Wary, they track down and calm the remaining horses. In the few hours of night left, they all stay watchful and alert.
Morning dawns crisp and clear, with no further attacks – but in this arctic cold and snow it is difficult to make good speed. M’ir remembers the monolith where they rested safely on the way out, and they try to make the best speed they can for it – pushing the horses as much as they dare and carrying on into the twilight, they eventually make it to the monolith…
__________________ Plane Sailing
(Enworld Admin)
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Author note: it was originally going to be cows, but a friend asured me that psionic cows are silly. Good advice, I think.
Particularly disturbing image, as the way Othic died was a mockery of his relationship with the horses -- that is, what he had done to the horses, they did to him (the bridle).
Seeing as you milk cows, I shudder to think what my dwarven ranger would have discovered when he rolled that corpse over ...
And Ross, if you're reading, I only got as far as the above qote, I'm not cheating!
jonrog1
__________________ *ROLL* You -- heh-heh, heh -- excuse me. You find no traps. Heh.
Particularly disturbing image, as the way Othic died was a mockery of his relationship with the horses -- that is, what he had done to the horses, they did to him (the bridle).
Seeing as you milk cows, I shudder to think what my dwarven ranger would have discovered when he rolled that corpse over ...
Hi Jonrog,
Sorry that you can't read the rest of the story (yet!), but somewhat envious of you being able to play through the adventure!
Hope you'll be able to come back and check it out once you've completed it yourself - see how a different party fared
Cheers
__________________ Plane Sailing
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If you need to email me click here
"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Camping the night at the monolith, those on guard wonder whether there is the sound of a pursuer in the night around them, but the ancient magic of the monolith holds true, and they are not disturbed.
The next morning they press on and down towards Knightsbridge. It has been over a month since they were last here and the shanty town of tents on the nearside of the stone bridge seems to have grown a little. As they get nearer many beggars wrapped in threadbare blankets shuffle out asking for help, for money, for clothes. Lysander is deeply cut to see his countrymen in this state, and resolves to do something about it. He and Trajan wander into the encampment and see people huddling around fires, living in wagons and tents which are inadequate against the cold. Many people are frostbitten or ill.
Seeking out a spokesperson amongst the refugees, Lysander learns disturbing news. Apparently people are leaving Singh in droves because of fear of the priesthood. Fear of the priesthood? Unthinkable! Yet village after village in the Sung district have been purged – populations carried off to who knows where at the orders of the high priest lords. Many well-to-do merchants have been leaving the country for the last six months. Fear and desperation started driving out farmers in the face of winter.
Back in the town, Lysander confronts Alkanar the high priest, and wants to know what is being done about the refugees. Pretty little, as it turns out. The Baron has decreed that while they can camp outside, they cannot come into the town walls. There is tremendous distrust amongst the refugees of priests, so Alkanar and his acolytes cannot work directly. Worse still, the unusually heavy winter is eating into everyones stores – there is little to go around.
The cost to obtain blankets and materials for the refugees is immense – some 4000 marks. Lysander decides to go on a charm offensive, making his way around to the guild leaders and shopkeepers, bringing the full force of his diplomacy and charm to bear. He gets the cost down to 3000 marks and the company start donating their money to purchase the goods (some more willingly than others!).
Meanwhile, Darra spends time in the Mithril Manor laboratory, developing alchemistical poison antidotes, M’ir gathers information around the town – and discovers rumours of war being threatened by the neighbouring Morannon (who claim that Lythau is sponsoring hobgoblin terrorists in their territory). Trajan travels up into the foothills to see his old mentor, and do some more training with him. He finds it an uncomfortable experience (“*slap* You are too slow! You move like a cow! *slap* Have you forgotten all *slap* that I taught you? And you use a longsword! *slap*. where is your spirit? I don’t care if it is magical *slap*”)
Meanwhile, Syl decides to try to hook up with the local thieves guild, picks up some information in the taverns and decides to make her way down to the Chatterstreet warehouses – and finds an awful lot more trouble than she bargained for.
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Last edited by Plane Sailing; 25th April 2002 at 12:41 PM..
He is Ftr2 and just made Jazumai 5 (7th level character). He is completing his final preparation to enter the "Sword Saint" prestige class - a minor variant on the iaijutsu master class from Oriental Adventures.
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
In the dark evening, Syl finds the appropriate warehouse – and a locked door. She spends many minutes attempting to pick the lock without success, when she is interrupted by a couple of ruffians walking down the street towards her.
“Ello Darlin’, wot you doin out this late?” calls one of them.
“You a Morannan spy?” snickers the other.
“Mind your own business” says Syl as she watches them approach.
“I think you ought to be showin’ us a good time, girly” replies the first.
Syl decides to take some action, but fails completely. The rogues quickly step forward to flank her and both strike with their saps, getting plenty of sneak attack damage. Syl collapses in a heap; they drag her into a nearby alley, strip her of her goods and, er, ‘assault’ her.
Hours later, Syl arrives back at Mithril Manor distraught, dishevelled and with torn clothes. Righteous anger fills her companions, most of whom set out to attempt to track down the ruffians straight away. Lysander takes a different tack, and lets it be known at the temple that he wishes to contact Laidley – the thieves’ guild girl who used to have a crush on Crail.
The next day the others have not had any success, but Laidley contacts Lysander, and recognises the description as a couple of Southspur bullies. By a little later that day she has found out which of the shanty town shacks they live in.
Anne-Marie is all for charging down there and killing the bastards, but K’tan counsels that the rule of law should be followed within the city – they should be apprehended and brought before the Baron’s justice. Trajan and Lysander agree, and it is decided that is what shall happen.
In preparation for their visit to Southspur, Darra uses his new ability to cast invisibility on each of the party except for Lysander, who reads his scroll of Alter Self and makes himself look like a comely wench.
Then they set off for the rotten heart of Knightsbridge, the shanty town of Southspur.
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
I got a little behind, so detail is a little weaker on this section I'm afraid
Justice at last
As Lysander (in female guise) walks past the gate guards into Southspur, the sargeant of the guards, Clovellin, comes over.
“Excuse me miss, but you don’t want to be going into Southspur on your own” he says. “Do you want one of my men to give you an escort?”
“No thank you, kind sir” simpers Lysander. “I’ll only be a short while”
“Well, holler out if you get into any trouble” replies Clovellin.
Lysander and his invisible companions file past the guards, with much invisible jostling and bumping, but nobody is given away. They make their way rapidly to a small building near the outskirts of Southspur. While Darra and others go round to cover the back, Lysander and Anne-Marie come to the front door.
“Open up” calls Lysander, “we want to talk”.
“Snut off, we’re resting” comes a voice from inside.
Lysander kicks the door down and leaps into the small room, closely followed by Anne-Marie. The two ruffians leap up and defend themselves with daggers as a short but brutal fight ensures. Anne-Marie uses her whirlwind disarm ability to strike away the ruffians primary weapons with her swordbiter, and before long both of the villains are wounded and captured. They had managed to manoeuvre to get in a couple of sneak attacks, but were no match for a whole team that was ready for them.
Quick questioning revealed that the goods (and magic gloves) taken from Syl have already been converted into a ludicrously small amount of cash at “Billy the Fence’s place” and by now will be halfway to Tanor. Those goods are lost and no mistake. The prisoners are not though.
They are marched up to the magistrates office in the centre of Knightsbridge, charges are brought and the pair are found guilty.
The next dawn they are hung in the town square. Justice has been done.
Around about this time, Trajan returns from his sojourn with his master with some disturbing news. Up in his home village there have been several reports of a white dragon breaking into barns and killing livestock. It is his old village, this winter being so harsh they can’t afford the loss of livestock and the village can’t do anything about this dragon. It must be the one which attacked them a couple of weeks ago as they were on the way home from Bellhold.
Will the rest of the company come and help him deal with the problem? The few eyewitness accounts put it as a young adult, just on the cusp of becoming mature. If they don’t deal with the problem now it will only, as they say, get bigger...
next: Dragon hunt!
__________________ Plane Sailing
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
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