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<blockquote data-quote="Netherstorm" data-source="post: 5831925" data-attributes="member: 84943"><p><strong>16. Madness at Gardmore Abbey</strong></p><p></p><p><em>2/20/12: King Thennrynnia is actually a former character from my <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/worldofnyrod/original.htm" target="_blank">original Nyrod campaign</a> from when I was a kid. My friend Stan created him. At the time, Drizz't was new and everybody wanted to play a drow who wielded two swords., so Stan now refers to Thennrynnia as a "Drizz't clone". Thennrynnia was one of the characters who went through the classic White Plume Mountain, and he ended up with Blackrazor. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>I am also back to co-ordinating the D&D events in the store again, so these games will be DCI sanctioned events from here on out. The only drawback is that my table isn't supposed to have more than six players.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Also a correction: Hartaniel is an eladrin, not an elf. Sorry about that.</em></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>We are now beginning the boxed set adventure "Madness at Gardmore Abbey". Obviously, there will be huge <strong>spoilers</strong>...</em></p><p><em></em></p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Saga of Valor </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Book One - NyrodSpace War 3</span></span></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center"><em>Chapter Sixteen: Madness at Gardmore Abbey</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p><strong>Aurora Brightbolt</strong> - Unicorn-Person Ranger</p><p><strong>Ardra</strong> - Eladrin Bladesinger </p><p><strong>The Blue Monk</strong> - Half-Orc Monk </p><p><strong>Hartaniel </strong>- Eladrin Barbarian</p><p><strong>Ryltar</strong> - Drow Avenger </p><p><strong>Scarlet</strong> - Human Fighter </p><p><strong>Varis</strong> - Half-Elf Warlock</p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">Sanctioning #: 12-02-3276880</span></p><p></p><p></p><p>Our heroes, allies of the brooding King Thennrynia, had killed the leader of the Cult of Urgathoa. The battle was harrowing, but they emerged victorious. Lady Andaisin's grey hide shedded off like a snakeskin, revealing her original, darkly beautiful form beneath. Ryltar claimed her huge, sharp scythe as his own.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers left the main chamber and headed back into the room which held the four glass tubes that held growing leukodemons inside of them. The plaguebringer was still tied to one of the tubes. He looked at the heroes, shocked, and said, "I can't believe you're still alive."</p><p></p><p>"I can't believe you haven't been crushed by the weight of your own pathetic existence", Scarlet said.</p><p></p><p>The heroes decided to bring him to King Thenrynnia, so that the King could kill him with his cursed sword, Blackrazor. </p><p></p><p>They left the Cult's lair (which Varis quietly decided would become his new home), bringing the plaguebringer and the prisoners they'd freed earlier with them. Hartaniel and Ryltar hobbled the whole way home, as each of them had lost a foot in the battle with Lady Andaisin.</p><p></p><p>In the throne room of Moonstone Keep, the King asked the heroes to bring the plaguebringer to the jail in Moonstone Keep for the time being.</p><p></p><p>Then the King told them that he would be traveling in the astral sea for a few days. He said he'd keep in magical contact with Lady Tarentia, and would return if any new crises arose. He also said he'd be bringing Derrinnil, the drow prisoner that he was fond of, with him to the astral sea.</p><p></p><p>He asked the heroes to apply the royal seal to two parchments and bring them to him. He did not say what the parchments would be used for.</p><p></p><p>Ryltar made his way to a church of Galasis. They were kind enough to use their magic to re-attach his foot.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel decided to attach one of the adamantine feet the heroes had acquired in the drow city of Rilauven. Ardra had learned the bonding ritual, and used it on her fellow eladrin.</p><p></p><p>While the King was away for a few days, the city took to the tasks of rebuilding. The beleaguered citizens took to fixing the outer wall and sending supplies to their army camped outside of the city of Dunnwynn. During this stretch of time, the heroes took care of a few things...</p><p></p><p>Varis spent time looking at the stars.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel went to visit The Seekers, an organization which was always looking to obtain items and relics for study. He gave them the spider-walker control ring from Rilauven, as well as a potion of aptitude.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet used her magic imposter's armor to disguise herself. She headed out into the city, disguised as a random peasant. Scarlet had dreams of creating a bandit gang with the satyr she met in Moonstone Keep, Benedictus, and the four dwarves the heroes had liberated from Rilauven. Yes, the dwarves were still insisting on being called Lumpy, Chumpy, Grumpy and Humpy.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet knew that there was a thieves' guild operating in the massive city of Olwynn, but she didn't know how the guild felt about other thieves. So Scarlet decided to ask around town in an innocent sort of way.</p><p></p><p>After a few hours, a tailor named Oriabel told Scarlet how her cousin was a thief who had some success. Then one night, her cousin was visited by some mysterious people who told him to leave town. He moved to Korvosa, and has never returned to Olwynn.</p><p></p><p>The satyr Benedictus lived in the Fey Park of the city with other Satyrs, near a waterfall. There were still pools of Lolth's poison blood dotting the park, remnants from the Battle of Olwynn a few weeks prior. The satyrs often "entertained" the ladies of Olwynn, both single ladies and bored housewives.</p><p></p><p>Benedictus knew of a woman named Ramietta, who was married to a jeweler called Galfred. Ramietta despised her husband and thought it would serve the greedy man right to get robbed.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet had her dwarves leave little hydra symbols around the city, a symbol of her gang. After a few days of that, Scarlet and Benedictus visited the jeweler's store. Scarlet was disguised as a noblewoman, again using the magic of her imposter's armor. </p><p></p><p>Galfred was a large, sweaty, unpleasant man. The gems and jewelry were contained in three large, rectangular glass cases. Two had locks, a third had a glowing magic sigil on it. </p><p></p><p>Benedictus made like he was trying to buy her a gift to woo her. Scarlet turned up her nose and said, "Much too common!". Then they marched out, headed back to the caves, and schemed.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet had the dwarves watch the place to see how often the town guard came by at night and looked for patterns. Then, the next night, Scarlet returned and tried to break in. She was able to finagle a window open with her handy tools and crept inside.</p><p></p><p>She picked the locks of the first two glass cases and helped herself to the jewelry. She pondered stuffing the third case with the sigil on it into her bag of holding. After some close examination, she poked it with a ten foot pole. The sigil flared with light and let out a high-pitched squealing. Scarlet climbed out of the window and ran.</p><p></p><p>The next day, Scarlet and The Blue Monk visited a high-ranking member of the Black Samurai mercenary band. They each paid Grandmaster Naomasa, a great warrior, to sharpen their skills (<em>they both wanted to gain a power called Five Stars Arrow Deflection - a reaction power that lets you catch an arrow fired at you and throw it at an enemy</em>). </p><p></p><p>Many of Naomasa's pupils knelt nearby and watched. Vaona, the drow worshiper of Vecna who was the Monk's main squeeze, was there observing as well.</p><p></p><p>After a few hours of general teaching, Naomasa pulled out a bow and arrows. The arrows had little blunt sandbags on the tip. He explained the technique of re-directing the arrows. He told the monk and the fighter, "Do not be fast. Do not be quick. Become the arrow as it strikes your flesh!".</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk stood and the Grandmaster aimed. Three times in a row, The Monk caught the arrows and threw them at a nearby dummy. The students were impressed, and gathered around the half-orc, patting him on the back.</p><p></p><p>Vaona whispered to one of the students, "Y'all heard of Vecna? He's a god of secrets and stuff." The student seemed interested...</p><p></p><p>Naomasa turned to Scarlet and said, "Now it is your turn, broken blade!".</p><p></p><p>He fired an arrow at her. She caught it and redirected it. He fired another, and again she re-directed it. The third one, however, hit her in the chest and knocked her to the ground. Naomasa shook his head and said, "Feel shame, Scarlet. Feel shame."</p><p></p><p>The heroes thanked Naomasa for his help and bid him goodbye. As they walked the streets of Olwynn, Vaona said, "He seems real nice. Vecna told me he's donating a lot of gold to the church of Mari."</p><p></p><p>Scarlet perked up. "That<em> is</em> very nice..."</p><p></p><p>Ardra spent the downtime in her room in Moonstone Keep mastering the rituals from the drow priestess Charinidia's spellbook. She'd also taken some alchemy equipment from the Cult of Urgathoa's lair, and used it to brew a bunch of healing potions for her comrades.</p><p></p><p>Then she went to visit her grandfather, Orem, down by the docks. He wanted to teach her a few maneuvers (<em>specifically, a power called Davros Elden's Defensive Step which is a power that lets you shift two squares and you gain a bonues to AC and Reflex for a bit</em>) and encouraged her not to bother with magic. </p><p></p><p>Years prior, he had dabbled in magic, and in turn was almost killed by a magical explosion almost certainly set by the Cult of Urgathoa. Though he still thought it might be the work of the "void-things".</p><p></p><p>"All right, Ardra, I'm going to tie this heavy chest to your back. I got one too! Now, you know that seven-headed devil immortal who protects this district? Well, I tricked him! We're going to have to run all the way around this district in a loop, and he's gonna try to grab ya!"</p><p></p><p>Ardra laughed... but he was serious. Lord Saligia Foul was a ten foot tall red-skinned devil with seven heads, each representing a different sin (<em>that's envy, greed, pride, sloth, wrath, lust, and gluttony</em>). Sometimes, Orem played the heads' personalities off of each other to get things he wanted. </p><p></p><p>"Now pick up those knees and start running!", he said.</p><p></p><p>They raced through the busy docks as fishermen stared and sailors jumped back. As the pair passed an alley, Lord Saligia Foul lunged out and tried to snatch Ardra in his mighty hand. She swiftly maneuvered out of the way and kept running. Many of the heads sneered as Orem and Ardra bolted down a busy road.</p><p></p><p>Orem called back, "Ha! You'll never catch us, you big idiot!". </p><p></p><p>They ran halfway through the loop, the chests weighing them down more and more. Suddenly, Lord Saligia Foul appeared again! This time, he grabbed Ardra and picked her up in one hand. </p><p></p><p>One head of the immortal, the Proud head, said "Orem, I told you I could have your daughter!"</p><p></p><p>Lord Foul's Glutton head cried out, "Maybe I'll eat her!".</p><p></p><p>Ardra quietly cast prestidigitation to give herself a repulsive scent. </p><p></p><p>As she did this, Orem stammered, sweaty. He caught a whiff of her and said to Lord Foul, "Are you sure you want to eat her? She's pretty stinky!" </p><p></p><p>The Immortal sniffed her, gagged, and dropped her. Orem laughed and yelled, "Tricked you again! Run!". Both of them ran for it as Lord Foul took off, hoping to take a shortcut and cut them off before they got back to Orem's hut.</p><p></p><p>Lord Foul tried to snatch Ardra one last time, but she dodged with ease. He hung his seven heads in shame as they reached the hut.</p><p></p><p>The Sloth head said, "I guess you beat me."</p><p></p><p>Orem smiled and said, "Tricking you is so easy! I'm actually bored of it."</p><p></p><p>Lord Foul stomped away as Orem gave her some pointers on defensive combat - without the use of magic, of course.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel spent some time brooding. He felt that he'd shamed himself during the battle with Lady Andaisin. </p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk sensed this and wanted to help. So he secretly went to a tavern and hired four barbarians to pick a fight with Hartaniel and then "Take a dive". The barbarians were followers of the primal spirit Kava Frosthowl (<em>one of the three heroes who killed Orcus in the <a href="http://revengeofthegiants.webs.com/" target="_blank">revenge of the giants campaign</a></em>). Two of them were dragonborn, and two others were dwarves. The Blue Monk paid them 50 gold. </p><p></p><p>As they waited for the Monk to bring Hartaniel to the bar, the two dwarves started to feel their pride eating away at them. </p><p></p><p>The Monk found Hartaniel in Moonstone Keep, and invited the eladrin to the bar. Hartaniel sensed something was up. The Blue Monk explained that he was getting picked on at the bar by some barbarians and needed backup. Hartaniel gave him a stony glare. </p><p></p><p>Hartaniel said, "I'm still not over the battle with Lady Andaisin..."</p><p></p><p>Blue Monk replied, "I'm sorry I kicked everyone's ass." The half-orc smiled.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel was not amused. He said, "I failed the party. You came along and saved everyone. I think it's because I'm not an orc...". Hartaniel had been a slave of the Draedsmasher orc clan, and obviously it had messed with his mind a bit.</p><p></p><p>Vecna swirled in Hartaniel's lantern, and piped up. "Why don't you just beat up The Blue Monk?"</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel said, "I may have to. Let me get a little drunk first."</p><p></p><p>The Monk and Hartaniel walked through the streets of Olwynn, evading panda-people pulling rikshaws and mostly-naked half-orcs (as is the style of clothing in the city, like a Boris Vallejo painting but without the muscly physiques). </p><p></p><p>They entered the bar. The two dwarves and two dragonborn were waiting. One of the dragonborn walked up to Hartaniel, looked down on him, and said, "We don't like your kind in here."</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk interjected, "Just leave him alone, he's had a rough time. Back off."</p><p></p><p>The dragonborn started in on The Monk. Hartaniel said, "Don't mess with my friends."</p><p></p><p>Sitting on bar stools, one dwarf grunted to the other, "I don't know about this...". He didn't feel right even pretending to get beaten up by an eladrin. </p><p></p><p>The dwarf got up and swore in dwarven. He decided he was going to cut Hartaniel with his axe for real. The other dwarf joined him.</p><p></p><p>The first dwarf charged Hartaniel and swung. Hartaniel dodged, picked up the dwarf and threw him across the bar. He crashed into a wall lined with bottles and plopped to the ground.</p><p></p><p>The bartender looked at Hartaniel and yelled, "Hey! Come on!".</p><p></p><p>The second dwarf was offended by the dwarf tossing he'd just witnessed. He growled at Hartaniel, "We're going to cut you for real!".</p><p></p><p>The two dragonborn tried to dissuade their fellow Frosthowl, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. He raised his axe. In a swift motion, Hartaniel disarmed the dwarf. </p><p></p><p>Hartaniel shouted at the dwarf, "Do not touch me or my friends!". Intimidated, the dwarf slunk away. The dwarf sheepishly helped his friend up and they exited the bar. </p><p></p><p>As you can see, the heroes had no trouble keeping themselves occupied, even while resting after completing a quest. But maybe it was due in part to hide their grief over the passing of a friend. For after a few days, it was time for the funeral of Lucky. </p><p></p><p>Lucky the warlord had been killed by minions of Bwimb, the Paraelemental Princess of Ooze. She was to be buried in the small cemetary inside the walls of Moonstone Keep.</p><p></p><p>Attending the funeral were the heroes, various nobles, along with Lady Tarentia and her entourage of witches and pixies. Since there were no remains of Lucky at all, the adventurers placed a bottle of Lucky's favorite cheap liquor in the coffin. The Blue Monk traced the symbol of Mari on it with his blue dust.</p><p></p><p>A priestess of Mari, Mirabelle, conducted the ceremony. Because Mari, the goddess of Luck, had been captured by the primordials, the priestess' magic hadn't been working right. A couple things went wrong while she performed the simple ceremony:</p><p></p><p>- She forgot Lucky's name</p><p>- She spilled some holy wine on her vestments</p><p>- She accidentally raised an undead skeleton in the nearby ceremony, who made its' way into the temple and had to be destroyed by Ryltar.</p><p></p><p>Once the rites were given, Aurora and Solufine the bard sang a tender song in tribute (<em>Which sounds suspiciously like "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas</em>). A satyr accompanied them on a flute. </p><p></p><p>But then, a hideous creature stumbled into the temple. It was a white-skinned, starved undead creature wearing pieces of King Thennrynnia's armor! Could it be that the King had not used Blackrazor for a full week and had returned from the astral sea as a wight?!</p><p></p><p>Lady Tarentia ushered all of the mourners into a small room in the temple while the heroes stood and attacked the wight. As Varis prepared to launch spells, the flame insignia from the card of the deck of many things appeared on the floor near him. Lady Tarentia took notice of it...</p><p></p><p>As the adventurers closed in on the wight, it took control of their minds and made them attack each other! Once they'd hit each other, they shook off its' control.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet used a nearby pew as a weapon, thwacking the wight with it and making the thing stumble back.</p><p></p><p>As he drank a healing potion, The Monk gave it a kick to the mouth, causing lightning to shoot out of its' mouth. Ardra slashed it with her blade, bloodying the wight. Ryltar bathed it in radiance, which caused it to howl in pain. </p><p></p><p>Scarlet stabbed the wight and dragged it down an aisle of pews and threw it on the altar. Then she picked up Lucky's coffin and smashed it on the wight's head over and over, until she crushed its' skull. </p><p></p><p>Aurora, Solufine and the satyr then resumed their song as the mourners emerged from the room and began to panic.</p><p></p><p>They wondered if the King was dead. The nobles raced back to the throne room, where they found Blackrazor laid on the throne. The way things stood, If the King was dead, Lady Tarentia would rule the city of Olwynn!</p><p></p><p>But Lady Tarentia was devastated. She had loved the King and wanted to marry him. She even began to babble about how, a few nights before, she'd spent the night with the king and thought at last her wishes were going to come true.</p><p></p><p>The heroes entered, and discussed what to do. They carefully put Blackrazor into Ryltar's bag of holding. Then they found Derrinnil, who had gone with the King to the astral sea. They asked her what she and the king had done on their trip. She said they had done a number of things:</p><p></p><p>- They'd visited Stone' Rest, a town of dwarves built on a mile-long stone dead dwarf god named Rundorig. When Rundorig was a mortal, he'd been one of Thennrynnia's best friends. Derrinnil said the King had buried something at the base of a statue in the center of town.</p><p>- They'd gone to the githyanki city of Tu'Narath and met with their ruler, Gith.</p><p>- While in Tu'Narath, Derrinnil had learned the gith written language of Tir'su, in which circular runes formed sentences.</p><p>- The King had also gone hunting two-headed winged snakes (<em>which were unleashed on the astral sea due to events that had unfolded in the <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/nyrod/savagetide.htm" target="_blank">Savage Tide campaign</a></em>). He had told Derrinnil that he'd used Blackrazor to kill some of the serpents. This turned out to be a lie.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers decided to have Tarentia use a ritual to send the heroes to Thennrynnia's astral skiff, so they could go to Stone's Rest and dig up whatever had been buried.</p><p></p><p>The trip on the skiff took ten hours. Along the way, they noticed that something was off with Derrinnil. They examined her magically, and discerned that she was pregnant! She admitted she was, and that King Thennrynnia was the father.</p><p></p><p>The heroes worried what Lady Tarentia would do if she found out. They talked about leaving Derrinnil somewhere in the astral sea for her own safety.</p><p></p><p>They arrived at Stone's Rest and were received warmly by the pious dwarf community. They dug up what had been buried - one of the parchments that they'd put a royal seal on! But the parchment was blank. Ardra examined it and realized that the King had written on it using an ancient magic involving moon letters. The parchment could only be read under the light of a moon.</p><p></p><p>Derrinnil agreed to stay in Stone's Rest. They were able to magically return to Moonstone Keep. It was night time there, and so they held up the parchment to read it. The letters appeared. They were looking at the will of the king. There were a number of provisions:</p><p></p><p>- He left Lady Tarentia as the new Queen</p><p>- Blackrazor was left to whomever was bold enough to wield it</p><p>- If an heir was found, the heir was to become King or Queen on its' 18th birthday. Until that time, Aurora, Ardra, The Blue Monk, Scarlet, Varis, Ryltar and Hartaniel were to protect them from harm.</p><p>- If Darsidian, the king's advisor who had been captured by the primordials along with Mari, were to be found alive, then he had the power to over-ride any of these declarations.</p><p></p><p>They showed the will to Lady Tarentia, who was truly devastated by the death of the King. She assumed that the talk of the heir was in case she herself had become pregnant. </p><p></p><p>One of her witches pulled the heroes aside. She explained that Queen Tarentia wanted to see Varis' card from the deck of many things. Varis reluctantly handed it over. The witch touched it and had a vision of Mari, the goddess of luck, as had Varis when he first touched it.</p><p></p><p>She brought it to Tarentia and returned to the heroes. The witch explained that if the heroes could assemble the entire deck, that Lady Tarentia could use her magic on it to trace the location of Mari. </p><p></p><p>Through the use of a simple seek rumor ritual, it was discerned that the cards were spread out in Gardmore abbey, a home to paladins of Io, a day or two south of Olwynn.</p><p></p><p>The Queen had commanded them. The adventurers rested for the night and then set out on the back of their giant bird, Dark Secret, the next morning. By nightfall, they'd arrived at the abbey.</p><p></p><p>The abbey grounds covered most of a hillside in the middle of the downs. The overgrown path that lead from the main road ended in a gate flanked by squat, square towers. To either side of the gate stretched a curtain wall showing signs of age, supported by occasional towers and buttresses. Above the wall, a caved-in temple yet stood proudly on the hilltop.</p><p></p><p>South of the gate, the abbey's outer wall was draped with ivy, and the canopy of a thick forest was visible beyond. A tall watchtower stood at the south end of the hill, marking the end of the curtain wall. The wall extended halfway around the hill, and nature took care of the rest. The hillside was so steep on the west and south sides that a military assault would be impossible, though a smaller force might be able to scale it.</p><p> </p><p>To their dismay, the heroes saw that the abbey had fallen and the paladins of Io were either gone, or dead. Orcs held the village near the main gate, and monsters seemed to roam in the other areas of the abbey.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel recognized some markings scrawled in blood near the main gate. It was the symbol of the Draedsmasher orc clan, the clan of which he was once a happy slave. Hartaniel had attained the rank of chief of slaves, but was framed for murder by a fellow halfling slave named Galan the Sly. </p><p></p><p>The adventurers left Dark Secret on the road a way back, and quietly walked up to the main gate under a night sky. The gate's portcullises were up, and the heroes spotted dead orcs on top of the gate and inside the entrance way. There was even a fresh corpse of an ogre, who'd been cut, scorched and stabbed to death. </p><p></p><p>The heroes came closer, wondering who, or what, had killed these orcs. They'd been dead maybe ten minutes.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel explained that the Draedsmashers had never been at odds with the paladins of Io. They left each other alone. Why the orcs were now in the abbey, he could not say.</p><p></p><p>There were a few more orc corpses near the dead ogre. One had been a friend to Hartaniel - Bigdish Shadowraider. The other had been an enemy, Rolg Ballcutter. </p><p></p><p>Looking at the dead monsters, Scarlet laughed and said, "It is as though adventurers already came through here."</p><p></p><p>Past the gate to their right was a large village. Some of the buildings had been burned. Many orcs wandered the village, and looked like they'd made it their home. </p><p></p><p>Hartaniel pulled out the hooded green cloak that the drow had given him in the city of Rilauven. He put up the hood, hoping if the orcs spotted him, he would not be recognized. The eladrin also put on a plaguebringer mask, to further conceal his identity.</p><p></p><p>The heroes discussed sneaking through the orc village to see what they could learn. They spotted a building to their left, a mighty keep of some sort. They decided to check that out first. To get to it, they needed to walk through an adjoining, ruined building.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers walked through the ruined building and spotted the doors to the keep. They approached cautiously, hands on the hilts of their weapons.</p><p></p><p>An enormous two-headed giant sat with its' back against the doors to the keep. The eyelids of one of its' heads were half-closed, and it picked its' teeth with the grisly bone of a recent kill.</p><p></p><p>"What's the password?", it grumbled with a yawn. </p><p></p><p>Hartaniel knew the ettin. Each head had its' own name: Spike and Bruse. He hoped it wouldn't recognize him through his disguise.</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk greeted it in Giant.</p><p></p><p>The ettin rose to its' feet. "Just give 'em the reminder, Spike," the right head said, "so's we can get back to our nappin'."</p><p></p><p>"Fine, Bruse," Spike grunted, then recited: </p><p></p><p>"<em>A box of white bones, never empty nor full, though it ever leaks the treasure inside.</em></p><p><em>It holds safe all you've got, unless you're a sot, when its locks with wine may be plied. </em></p><p><em>Smash it in like an egg, but what do you know? They'll not find the treasure you hide.</em>"</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel said, "Is it life?".</p><p></p><p>"It's a mouth", Scarlet guessed. </p><p></p><p>The ettin shook both heads. "You're wrong. Go away."</p><p></p><p>Scarlet pondered for a moment. "Is it a skull?"</p><p></p><p>The ettin sighed. "You said the right answer, but you said it late!" The heads looked at each other and asked, "What should we do?". Then they turned back to Scarlet and said, "You can't just keep guessing 'til you say the right word! We cannot let you in."</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk lied and said they'd been drinking. One head perked up. "Drunk..?", Bruse asked. Through facial expressions, it indicated to the heroes that it would let them in if they brought him feywine... without the other head finding out.</p><p></p><p>Through a bit more back and forth, Bruse also indicated that fey wine could be found in the "fey grove" to the south of the orc village. Bruse further advised them that the heads alternated naps, and that he was going to sleep for six hours, and then the other head would have its' turn.... so the heroes would be free to hand over their bribe of feywine to Bruse without Spike knowing.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers left the ettin, and went back to the main gate. Scarlet pulled out a bottle of wine she'd stolen from Dagger Rock. Ardra cast prestidigitation on it to make it taste like feywine. As an eladrin, she was familiar enough with it. The flavor would last for one hour.</p><p></p><p>They returned to the ettin and offered the wine. But Bruse was asleep. Spike was awake. He said, "Why would I want that..?".</p><p></p><p>They asked Spike if there was anything they could get for him, in exchange for passage into the keep. Spike lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. He explained that the leader of the orcs, Bakrosh, lived in the keep. Bakrosh had a pair of magical sending stones. He told the adventurers that if they promised to get him the stones, he'd let them go in. </p><p></p><p>Hartaniel was shocked. When he was their slave, the Draedsmashers were ruled by an orc named Grang Hellbreaker, not Bakrosh. Bakrosh had apparently somehow unseated Grang. Hartaniel knew there was a good chance Grang was dead, as Bakrosh was an incredibly vicious warrior. Bakrosh was also something of a bully, who had treated Hartaniel poorly.</p><p></p><p>The heroes didn't like the idea of promising the magic stones. They told the ettin "We'll see..", and left. </p><p></p><p>They passed through the gate back outside of the abbey and followed the wall north. A building was built into the wall, with doors facing them.</p><p></p><p>The ruined garrison was shrouded in gloom. The air felt somehow heavier.</p><p></p><p>Two massive wooden portals engraved with twin reliefs of rampant dragons and the symbol of Io stood closed. Each dragon bore two swords, one held aloft, and one pointing downward. Above the door, an inscription read: "Ever vigilant the dragon."</p><p></p><p>A vague black silhouette of an armored figure materialized outside the door, accompanied by an otherworldly cold.</p><p></p><p>"Only the bearer of the lonely sword passes this way unharmed," it said. "Vandomar must open the seal."</p><p></p><p>Ryltar wondered if Vandomar was the name of a sword. He held up his bag of holding and said, "Blackrazor's in this..."</p><p></p><p>The shadow entity looked straight ahead and said, "DOOM. We tried, and we failed. May Io forgive us."</p><p></p><p>The heroes didn't know what the creature was talking about.</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk asked, "Who is Vandomar?"</p><p></p><p>The shadowy knight said, "We must protect the brazier of silver fire!". Then it faded away.</p><p></p><p>Ardra and Ryltar examined the doors. They could see a faint, glowing glyph of warding. They decided to try to disarm it. They spread out, so in case there was an explosion, not all of them would be hit.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet tried to disable it, but instead triggered a wave of cold which washed over her and hit Ardra, covering her in frost and injuring her. Scarlet was able to fall to the ground to avoid the blast. At the same time, the doors swung open.</p><p></p><p>In the garrison were four statues, a crumbling stairwell, and a large chest. Also inside were an ape-demon and four shadow-knights! The ape-demon, also known as a barlgura, roared and stomped toward the intruders. </p><p></p><p>The heroes lined up in the entrance, battling the barlgura and the shadowy mad wraiths. One wraith passed its' hand through The Blue Monk, and forced him to run outside and strike Varis.</p><p></p><p>Another wraith swung a shadowy blade at Ardra, but she blocked the attacks with a fire shield spell. Ryltar an Ardra attacked back, infusing their weapons with radiance. The wraiths shrieked in agony, as they were vulnerable to it.</p><p></p><p>Aurora and Varis launched off range attacks, behind the "wall" of their allies engaging in melee. </p><p></p><p>A wraith passed a hand through Scarlet, forcing her to attack Rylar. She plunged her blade deep into the drow (<em>a critical</em>). Scarlet shook it off and apologized.</p><p></p><p>Ardra turned and dealt with the barlgura. In short order, blood matted its' tangled fur. Aurora's blink dog raced forth and bit the barlgura's leg. Scarlet made her way back, and plunged her broken blade into the barlgura's neck. She pulled it out and did it again. The barlgura let out a croak and fell to the ground.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers finished off the wraiths. </p><p></p><p>They looked around. There were four statues of paladins. Three held real swords. </p><p></p><p>The Sacred Chest was on the far side of the room. Sturdy wooden poles could be inserted through metal rings affixed to it, allowing four guardians to carry it. The chest was decorated with inlays of dragons breathing silver fire. </p><p></p><p>It bore the inscription: "<em>The just shall lay down their arms and bask in the light of justice</em>."</p><p></p><p>Careful examination revealed four slots about the width and thickness of a sword blade, two in each end of the chest. </p><p></p><p>The heroes took the trio of swords from the statues. They placed three swords in three slots, and then Aurora placed her magical unicorn horn in the fourth slot. It worked! The lid swung open, letting out a radiant burst of silvery light (<em>harmful only to undead and elemental creatures</em>). </p><p></p><p>Inside were jewels, a magic symbol of Io, and a magic brazier. The brazier seemed only to retain its' magic when it was inside the chest. </p><p></p><p>They patched up their wounds for a few minutes and talked about what to do next. They hadn't found any of the cards from the deck yet, though there was still much to explore. </p><p></p><p>They decided to sneak through the orc village to see if they could learn anything, and make their way to a weird tower off in the distance...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Netherstorm, post: 5831925, member: 84943"] [b]16. Madness at Gardmore Abbey[/b] [I]2/20/12: King Thennrynnia is actually a former character from my [URL="http://www.freewebs.com/worldofnyrod/original.htm"]original Nyrod campaign[/URL] from when I was a kid. My friend Stan created him. At the time, Drizz't was new and everybody wanted to play a drow who wielded two swords., so Stan now refers to Thennrynnia as a "Drizz't clone". Thennrynnia was one of the characters who went through the classic White Plume Mountain, and he ended up with Blackrazor. I am also back to co-ordinating the D&D events in the store again, so these games will be DCI sanctioned events from here on out. The only drawback is that my table isn't supposed to have more than six players. Also a correction: Hartaniel is an eladrin, not an elf. Sorry about that.[/I] [I]We are now beginning the boxed set adventure "Madness at Gardmore Abbey". Obviously, there will be huge [B]spoilers[/B]... [/I] [CENTER] [FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Saga of Valor [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Book One - NyrodSpace War 3[/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER] [CENTER][I]Chapter Sixteen: Madness at Gardmore Abbey[/I] [/CENTER] [B]Aurora Brightbolt[/B] - Unicorn-Person Ranger [B]Ardra[/B] - Eladrin Bladesinger [B]The Blue Monk[/B] - Half-Orc Monk [B]Hartaniel [/B]- Eladrin Barbarian [B]Ryltar[/B] - Drow Avenger [B]Scarlet[/B] - Human Fighter [B]Varis[/B] - Half-Elf Warlock [FONT=Courier New] [/FONT][FONT=Courier New]Sanctioning #: 12-02-3276880[/FONT] Our heroes, allies of the brooding King Thennrynia, had killed the leader of the Cult of Urgathoa. The battle was harrowing, but they emerged victorious. Lady Andaisin's grey hide shedded off like a snakeskin, revealing her original, darkly beautiful form beneath. Ryltar claimed her huge, sharp scythe as his own. The adventurers left the main chamber and headed back into the room which held the four glass tubes that held growing leukodemons inside of them. The plaguebringer was still tied to one of the tubes. He looked at the heroes, shocked, and said, "I can't believe you're still alive." "I can't believe you haven't been crushed by the weight of your own pathetic existence", Scarlet said. The heroes decided to bring him to King Thenrynnia, so that the King could kill him with his cursed sword, Blackrazor. They left the Cult's lair (which Varis quietly decided would become his new home), bringing the plaguebringer and the prisoners they'd freed earlier with them. Hartaniel and Ryltar hobbled the whole way home, as each of them had lost a foot in the battle with Lady Andaisin. In the throne room of Moonstone Keep, the King asked the heroes to bring the plaguebringer to the jail in Moonstone Keep for the time being. Then the King told them that he would be traveling in the astral sea for a few days. He said he'd keep in magical contact with Lady Tarentia, and would return if any new crises arose. He also said he'd be bringing Derrinnil, the drow prisoner that he was fond of, with him to the astral sea. He asked the heroes to apply the royal seal to two parchments and bring them to him. He did not say what the parchments would be used for. Ryltar made his way to a church of Galasis. They were kind enough to use their magic to re-attach his foot. Hartaniel decided to attach one of the adamantine feet the heroes had acquired in the drow city of Rilauven. Ardra had learned the bonding ritual, and used it on her fellow eladrin. While the King was away for a few days, the city took to the tasks of rebuilding. The beleaguered citizens took to fixing the outer wall and sending supplies to their army camped outside of the city of Dunnwynn. During this stretch of time, the heroes took care of a few things... Varis spent time looking at the stars. Hartaniel went to visit The Seekers, an organization which was always looking to obtain items and relics for study. He gave them the spider-walker control ring from Rilauven, as well as a potion of aptitude. Scarlet used her magic imposter's armor to disguise herself. She headed out into the city, disguised as a random peasant. Scarlet had dreams of creating a bandit gang with the satyr she met in Moonstone Keep, Benedictus, and the four dwarves the heroes had liberated from Rilauven. Yes, the dwarves were still insisting on being called Lumpy, Chumpy, Grumpy and Humpy. Scarlet knew that there was a thieves' guild operating in the massive city of Olwynn, but she didn't know how the guild felt about other thieves. So Scarlet decided to ask around town in an innocent sort of way. After a few hours, a tailor named Oriabel told Scarlet how her cousin was a thief who had some success. Then one night, her cousin was visited by some mysterious people who told him to leave town. He moved to Korvosa, and has never returned to Olwynn. The satyr Benedictus lived in the Fey Park of the city with other Satyrs, near a waterfall. There were still pools of Lolth's poison blood dotting the park, remnants from the Battle of Olwynn a few weeks prior. The satyrs often "entertained" the ladies of Olwynn, both single ladies and bored housewives. Benedictus knew of a woman named Ramietta, who was married to a jeweler called Galfred. Ramietta despised her husband and thought it would serve the greedy man right to get robbed. Scarlet had her dwarves leave little hydra symbols around the city, a symbol of her gang. After a few days of that, Scarlet and Benedictus visited the jeweler's store. Scarlet was disguised as a noblewoman, again using the magic of her imposter's armor. Galfred was a large, sweaty, unpleasant man. The gems and jewelry were contained in three large, rectangular glass cases. Two had locks, a third had a glowing magic sigil on it. Benedictus made like he was trying to buy her a gift to woo her. Scarlet turned up her nose and said, "Much too common!". Then they marched out, headed back to the caves, and schemed. Scarlet had the dwarves watch the place to see how often the town guard came by at night and looked for patterns. Then, the next night, Scarlet returned and tried to break in. She was able to finagle a window open with her handy tools and crept inside. She picked the locks of the first two glass cases and helped herself to the jewelry. She pondered stuffing the third case with the sigil on it into her bag of holding. After some close examination, she poked it with a ten foot pole. The sigil flared with light and let out a high-pitched squealing. Scarlet climbed out of the window and ran. The next day, Scarlet and The Blue Monk visited a high-ranking member of the Black Samurai mercenary band. They each paid Grandmaster Naomasa, a great warrior, to sharpen their skills ([I]they both wanted to gain a power called Five Stars Arrow Deflection - a reaction power that lets you catch an arrow fired at you and throw it at an enemy[/I]). Many of Naomasa's pupils knelt nearby and watched. Vaona, the drow worshiper of Vecna who was the Monk's main squeeze, was there observing as well. After a few hours of general teaching, Naomasa pulled out a bow and arrows. The arrows had little blunt sandbags on the tip. He explained the technique of re-directing the arrows. He told the monk and the fighter, "Do not be fast. Do not be quick. Become the arrow as it strikes your flesh!". The Blue Monk stood and the Grandmaster aimed. Three times in a row, The Monk caught the arrows and threw them at a nearby dummy. The students were impressed, and gathered around the half-orc, patting him on the back. Vaona whispered to one of the students, "Y'all heard of Vecna? He's a god of secrets and stuff." The student seemed interested... Naomasa turned to Scarlet and said, "Now it is your turn, broken blade!". He fired an arrow at her. She caught it and redirected it. He fired another, and again she re-directed it. The third one, however, hit her in the chest and knocked her to the ground. Naomasa shook his head and said, "Feel shame, Scarlet. Feel shame." The heroes thanked Naomasa for his help and bid him goodbye. As they walked the streets of Olwynn, Vaona said, "He seems real nice. Vecna told me he's donating a lot of gold to the church of Mari." Scarlet perked up. "That[I] is[/I] very nice..." Ardra spent the downtime in her room in Moonstone Keep mastering the rituals from the drow priestess Charinidia's spellbook. She'd also taken some alchemy equipment from the Cult of Urgathoa's lair, and used it to brew a bunch of healing potions for her comrades. Then she went to visit her grandfather, Orem, down by the docks. He wanted to teach her a few maneuvers ([I]specifically, a power called Davros Elden's Defensive Step which is a power that lets you shift two squares and you gain a bonues to AC and Reflex for a bit[/I]) and encouraged her not to bother with magic. Years prior, he had dabbled in magic, and in turn was almost killed by a magical explosion almost certainly set by the Cult of Urgathoa. Though he still thought it might be the work of the "void-things". "All right, Ardra, I'm going to tie this heavy chest to your back. I got one too! Now, you know that seven-headed devil immortal who protects this district? Well, I tricked him! We're going to have to run all the way around this district in a loop, and he's gonna try to grab ya!" Ardra laughed... but he was serious. Lord Saligia Foul was a ten foot tall red-skinned devil with seven heads, each representing a different sin ([I]that's envy, greed, pride, sloth, wrath, lust, and gluttony[/I]). Sometimes, Orem played the heads' personalities off of each other to get things he wanted. "Now pick up those knees and start running!", he said. They raced through the busy docks as fishermen stared and sailors jumped back. As the pair passed an alley, Lord Saligia Foul lunged out and tried to snatch Ardra in his mighty hand. She swiftly maneuvered out of the way and kept running. Many of the heads sneered as Orem and Ardra bolted down a busy road. Orem called back, "Ha! You'll never catch us, you big idiot!". They ran halfway through the loop, the chests weighing them down more and more. Suddenly, Lord Saligia Foul appeared again! This time, he grabbed Ardra and picked her up in one hand. One head of the immortal, the Proud head, said "Orem, I told you I could have your daughter!" Lord Foul's Glutton head cried out, "Maybe I'll eat her!". Ardra quietly cast prestidigitation to give herself a repulsive scent. As she did this, Orem stammered, sweaty. He caught a whiff of her and said to Lord Foul, "Are you sure you want to eat her? She's pretty stinky!" The Immortal sniffed her, gagged, and dropped her. Orem laughed and yelled, "Tricked you again! Run!". Both of them ran for it as Lord Foul took off, hoping to take a shortcut and cut them off before they got back to Orem's hut. Lord Foul tried to snatch Ardra one last time, but she dodged with ease. He hung his seven heads in shame as they reached the hut. The Sloth head said, "I guess you beat me." Orem smiled and said, "Tricking you is so easy! I'm actually bored of it." Lord Foul stomped away as Orem gave her some pointers on defensive combat - without the use of magic, of course. Hartaniel spent some time brooding. He felt that he'd shamed himself during the battle with Lady Andaisin. The Blue Monk sensed this and wanted to help. So he secretly went to a tavern and hired four barbarians to pick a fight with Hartaniel and then "Take a dive". The barbarians were followers of the primal spirit Kava Frosthowl ([I]one of the three heroes who killed Orcus in the [URL="http://revengeofthegiants.webs.com/"]revenge of the giants campaign[/URL][/I]). Two of them were dragonborn, and two others were dwarves. The Blue Monk paid them 50 gold. As they waited for the Monk to bring Hartaniel to the bar, the two dwarves started to feel their pride eating away at them. The Monk found Hartaniel in Moonstone Keep, and invited the eladrin to the bar. Hartaniel sensed something was up. The Blue Monk explained that he was getting picked on at the bar by some barbarians and needed backup. Hartaniel gave him a stony glare. Hartaniel said, "I'm still not over the battle with Lady Andaisin..." Blue Monk replied, "I'm sorry I kicked everyone's ass." The half-orc smiled. Hartaniel was not amused. He said, "I failed the party. You came along and saved everyone. I think it's because I'm not an orc...". Hartaniel had been a slave of the Draedsmasher orc clan, and obviously it had messed with his mind a bit. Vecna swirled in Hartaniel's lantern, and piped up. "Why don't you just beat up The Blue Monk?" Hartaniel said, "I may have to. Let me get a little drunk first." The Monk and Hartaniel walked through the streets of Olwynn, evading panda-people pulling rikshaws and mostly-naked half-orcs (as is the style of clothing in the city, like a Boris Vallejo painting but without the muscly physiques). They entered the bar. The two dwarves and two dragonborn were waiting. One of the dragonborn walked up to Hartaniel, looked down on him, and said, "We don't like your kind in here." The Blue Monk interjected, "Just leave him alone, he's had a rough time. Back off." The dragonborn started in on The Monk. Hartaniel said, "Don't mess with my friends." Sitting on bar stools, one dwarf grunted to the other, "I don't know about this...". He didn't feel right even pretending to get beaten up by an eladrin. The dwarf got up and swore in dwarven. He decided he was going to cut Hartaniel with his axe for real. The other dwarf joined him. The first dwarf charged Hartaniel and swung. Hartaniel dodged, picked up the dwarf and threw him across the bar. He crashed into a wall lined with bottles and plopped to the ground. The bartender looked at Hartaniel and yelled, "Hey! Come on!". The second dwarf was offended by the dwarf tossing he'd just witnessed. He growled at Hartaniel, "We're going to cut you for real!". The two dragonborn tried to dissuade their fellow Frosthowl, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. He raised his axe. In a swift motion, Hartaniel disarmed the dwarf. Hartaniel shouted at the dwarf, "Do not touch me or my friends!". Intimidated, the dwarf slunk away. The dwarf sheepishly helped his friend up and they exited the bar. As you can see, the heroes had no trouble keeping themselves occupied, even while resting after completing a quest. But maybe it was due in part to hide their grief over the passing of a friend. For after a few days, it was time for the funeral of Lucky. Lucky the warlord had been killed by minions of Bwimb, the Paraelemental Princess of Ooze. She was to be buried in the small cemetary inside the walls of Moonstone Keep. Attending the funeral were the heroes, various nobles, along with Lady Tarentia and her entourage of witches and pixies. Since there were no remains of Lucky at all, the adventurers placed a bottle of Lucky's favorite cheap liquor in the coffin. The Blue Monk traced the symbol of Mari on it with his blue dust. A priestess of Mari, Mirabelle, conducted the ceremony. Because Mari, the goddess of Luck, had been captured by the primordials, the priestess' magic hadn't been working right. A couple things went wrong while she performed the simple ceremony: - She forgot Lucky's name - She spilled some holy wine on her vestments - She accidentally raised an undead skeleton in the nearby ceremony, who made its' way into the temple and had to be destroyed by Ryltar. Once the rites were given, Aurora and Solufine the bard sang a tender song in tribute ([I]Which sounds suspiciously like "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas[/I]). A satyr accompanied them on a flute. But then, a hideous creature stumbled into the temple. It was a white-skinned, starved undead creature wearing pieces of King Thennrynnia's armor! Could it be that the King had not used Blackrazor for a full week and had returned from the astral sea as a wight?! Lady Tarentia ushered all of the mourners into a small room in the temple while the heroes stood and attacked the wight. As Varis prepared to launch spells, the flame insignia from the card of the deck of many things appeared on the floor near him. Lady Tarentia took notice of it... As the adventurers closed in on the wight, it took control of their minds and made them attack each other! Once they'd hit each other, they shook off its' control. Scarlet used a nearby pew as a weapon, thwacking the wight with it and making the thing stumble back. As he drank a healing potion, The Monk gave it a kick to the mouth, causing lightning to shoot out of its' mouth. Ardra slashed it with her blade, bloodying the wight. Ryltar bathed it in radiance, which caused it to howl in pain. Scarlet stabbed the wight and dragged it down an aisle of pews and threw it on the altar. Then she picked up Lucky's coffin and smashed it on the wight's head over and over, until she crushed its' skull. Aurora, Solufine and the satyr then resumed their song as the mourners emerged from the room and began to panic. They wondered if the King was dead. The nobles raced back to the throne room, where they found Blackrazor laid on the throne. The way things stood, If the King was dead, Lady Tarentia would rule the city of Olwynn! But Lady Tarentia was devastated. She had loved the King and wanted to marry him. She even began to babble about how, a few nights before, she'd spent the night with the king and thought at last her wishes were going to come true. The heroes entered, and discussed what to do. They carefully put Blackrazor into Ryltar's bag of holding. Then they found Derrinnil, who had gone with the King to the astral sea. They asked her what she and the king had done on their trip. She said they had done a number of things: - They'd visited Stone' Rest, a town of dwarves built on a mile-long stone dead dwarf god named Rundorig. When Rundorig was a mortal, he'd been one of Thennrynnia's best friends. Derrinnil said the King had buried something at the base of a statue in the center of town. - They'd gone to the githyanki city of Tu'Narath and met with their ruler, Gith. - While in Tu'Narath, Derrinnil had learned the gith written language of Tir'su, in which circular runes formed sentences. - The King had also gone hunting two-headed winged snakes ([I]which were unleashed on the astral sea due to events that had unfolded in the [URL="http://www.freewebs.com/nyrod/savagetide.htm"]Savage Tide campaign[/URL][/I]). He had told Derrinnil that he'd used Blackrazor to kill some of the serpents. This turned out to be a lie. The adventurers decided to have Tarentia use a ritual to send the heroes to Thennrynnia's astral skiff, so they could go to Stone's Rest and dig up whatever had been buried. The trip on the skiff took ten hours. Along the way, they noticed that something was off with Derrinnil. They examined her magically, and discerned that she was pregnant! She admitted she was, and that King Thennrynnia was the father. The heroes worried what Lady Tarentia would do if she found out. They talked about leaving Derrinnil somewhere in the astral sea for her own safety. They arrived at Stone's Rest and were received warmly by the pious dwarf community. They dug up what had been buried - one of the parchments that they'd put a royal seal on! But the parchment was blank. Ardra examined it and realized that the King had written on it using an ancient magic involving moon letters. The parchment could only be read under the light of a moon. Derrinnil agreed to stay in Stone's Rest. They were able to magically return to Moonstone Keep. It was night time there, and so they held up the parchment to read it. The letters appeared. They were looking at the will of the king. There were a number of provisions: - He left Lady Tarentia as the new Queen - Blackrazor was left to whomever was bold enough to wield it - If an heir was found, the heir was to become King or Queen on its' 18th birthday. Until that time, Aurora, Ardra, The Blue Monk, Scarlet, Varis, Ryltar and Hartaniel were to protect them from harm. - If Darsidian, the king's advisor who had been captured by the primordials along with Mari, were to be found alive, then he had the power to over-ride any of these declarations. They showed the will to Lady Tarentia, who was truly devastated by the death of the King. She assumed that the talk of the heir was in case she herself had become pregnant. One of her witches pulled the heroes aside. She explained that Queen Tarentia wanted to see Varis' card from the deck of many things. Varis reluctantly handed it over. The witch touched it and had a vision of Mari, the goddess of luck, as had Varis when he first touched it. She brought it to Tarentia and returned to the heroes. The witch explained that if the heroes could assemble the entire deck, that Lady Tarentia could use her magic on it to trace the location of Mari. Through the use of a simple seek rumor ritual, it was discerned that the cards were spread out in Gardmore abbey, a home to paladins of Io, a day or two south of Olwynn. The Queen had commanded them. The adventurers rested for the night and then set out on the back of their giant bird, Dark Secret, the next morning. By nightfall, they'd arrived at the abbey. The abbey grounds covered most of a hillside in the middle of the downs. The overgrown path that lead from the main road ended in a gate flanked by squat, square towers. To either side of the gate stretched a curtain wall showing signs of age, supported by occasional towers and buttresses. Above the wall, a caved-in temple yet stood proudly on the hilltop. South of the gate, the abbey's outer wall was draped with ivy, and the canopy of a thick forest was visible beyond. A tall watchtower stood at the south end of the hill, marking the end of the curtain wall. The wall extended halfway around the hill, and nature took care of the rest. The hillside was so steep on the west and south sides that a military assault would be impossible, though a smaller force might be able to scale it. To their dismay, the heroes saw that the abbey had fallen and the paladins of Io were either gone, or dead. Orcs held the village near the main gate, and monsters seemed to roam in the other areas of the abbey. Hartaniel recognized some markings scrawled in blood near the main gate. It was the symbol of the Draedsmasher orc clan, the clan of which he was once a happy slave. Hartaniel had attained the rank of chief of slaves, but was framed for murder by a fellow halfling slave named Galan the Sly. The adventurers left Dark Secret on the road a way back, and quietly walked up to the main gate under a night sky. The gate's portcullises were up, and the heroes spotted dead orcs on top of the gate and inside the entrance way. There was even a fresh corpse of an ogre, who'd been cut, scorched and stabbed to death. The heroes came closer, wondering who, or what, had killed these orcs. They'd been dead maybe ten minutes. Hartaniel explained that the Draedsmashers had never been at odds with the paladins of Io. They left each other alone. Why the orcs were now in the abbey, he could not say. There were a few more orc corpses near the dead ogre. One had been a friend to Hartaniel - Bigdish Shadowraider. The other had been an enemy, Rolg Ballcutter. Looking at the dead monsters, Scarlet laughed and said, "It is as though adventurers already came through here." Past the gate to their right was a large village. Some of the buildings had been burned. Many orcs wandered the village, and looked like they'd made it their home. Hartaniel pulled out the hooded green cloak that the drow had given him in the city of Rilauven. He put up the hood, hoping if the orcs spotted him, he would not be recognized. The eladrin also put on a plaguebringer mask, to further conceal his identity. The heroes discussed sneaking through the orc village to see what they could learn. They spotted a building to their left, a mighty keep of some sort. They decided to check that out first. To get to it, they needed to walk through an adjoining, ruined building. The adventurers walked through the ruined building and spotted the doors to the keep. They approached cautiously, hands on the hilts of their weapons. An enormous two-headed giant sat with its' back against the doors to the keep. The eyelids of one of its' heads were half-closed, and it picked its' teeth with the grisly bone of a recent kill. "What's the password?", it grumbled with a yawn. Hartaniel knew the ettin. Each head had its' own name: Spike and Bruse. He hoped it wouldn't recognize him through his disguise. The Blue Monk greeted it in Giant. The ettin rose to its' feet. "Just give 'em the reminder, Spike," the right head said, "so's we can get back to our nappin'." "Fine, Bruse," Spike grunted, then recited: "[I]A box of white bones, never empty nor full, though it ever leaks the treasure inside. It holds safe all you've got, unless you're a sot, when its locks with wine may be plied. Smash it in like an egg, but what do you know? They'll not find the treasure you hide.[/I]" Hartaniel said, "Is it life?". "It's a mouth", Scarlet guessed. The ettin shook both heads. "You're wrong. Go away." Scarlet pondered for a moment. "Is it a skull?" The ettin sighed. "You said the right answer, but you said it late!" The heads looked at each other and asked, "What should we do?". Then they turned back to Scarlet and said, "You can't just keep guessing 'til you say the right word! We cannot let you in." The Blue Monk lied and said they'd been drinking. One head perked up. "Drunk..?", Bruse asked. Through facial expressions, it indicated to the heroes that it would let them in if they brought him feywine... without the other head finding out. Through a bit more back and forth, Bruse also indicated that fey wine could be found in the "fey grove" to the south of the orc village. Bruse further advised them that the heads alternated naps, and that he was going to sleep for six hours, and then the other head would have its' turn.... so the heroes would be free to hand over their bribe of feywine to Bruse without Spike knowing. The adventurers left the ettin, and went back to the main gate. Scarlet pulled out a bottle of wine she'd stolen from Dagger Rock. Ardra cast prestidigitation on it to make it taste like feywine. As an eladrin, she was familiar enough with it. The flavor would last for one hour. They returned to the ettin and offered the wine. But Bruse was asleep. Spike was awake. He said, "Why would I want that..?". They asked Spike if there was anything they could get for him, in exchange for passage into the keep. Spike lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. He explained that the leader of the orcs, Bakrosh, lived in the keep. Bakrosh had a pair of magical sending stones. He told the adventurers that if they promised to get him the stones, he'd let them go in. Hartaniel was shocked. When he was their slave, the Draedsmashers were ruled by an orc named Grang Hellbreaker, not Bakrosh. Bakrosh had apparently somehow unseated Grang. Hartaniel knew there was a good chance Grang was dead, as Bakrosh was an incredibly vicious warrior. Bakrosh was also something of a bully, who had treated Hartaniel poorly. The heroes didn't like the idea of promising the magic stones. They told the ettin "We'll see..", and left. They passed through the gate back outside of the abbey and followed the wall north. A building was built into the wall, with doors facing them. The ruined garrison was shrouded in gloom. The air felt somehow heavier. Two massive wooden portals engraved with twin reliefs of rampant dragons and the symbol of Io stood closed. Each dragon bore two swords, one held aloft, and one pointing downward. Above the door, an inscription read: "Ever vigilant the dragon." A vague black silhouette of an armored figure materialized outside the door, accompanied by an otherworldly cold. "Only the bearer of the lonely sword passes this way unharmed," it said. "Vandomar must open the seal." Ryltar wondered if Vandomar was the name of a sword. He held up his bag of holding and said, "Blackrazor's in this..." The shadow entity looked straight ahead and said, "DOOM. We tried, and we failed. May Io forgive us." The heroes didn't know what the creature was talking about. The Blue Monk asked, "Who is Vandomar?" The shadowy knight said, "We must protect the brazier of silver fire!". Then it faded away. Ardra and Ryltar examined the doors. They could see a faint, glowing glyph of warding. They decided to try to disarm it. They spread out, so in case there was an explosion, not all of them would be hit. Scarlet tried to disable it, but instead triggered a wave of cold which washed over her and hit Ardra, covering her in frost and injuring her. Scarlet was able to fall to the ground to avoid the blast. At the same time, the doors swung open. In the garrison were four statues, a crumbling stairwell, and a large chest. Also inside were an ape-demon and four shadow-knights! The ape-demon, also known as a barlgura, roared and stomped toward the intruders. The heroes lined up in the entrance, battling the barlgura and the shadowy mad wraiths. One wraith passed its' hand through The Blue Monk, and forced him to run outside and strike Varis. Another wraith swung a shadowy blade at Ardra, but she blocked the attacks with a fire shield spell. Ryltar an Ardra attacked back, infusing their weapons with radiance. The wraiths shrieked in agony, as they were vulnerable to it. Aurora and Varis launched off range attacks, behind the "wall" of their allies engaging in melee. A wraith passed a hand through Scarlet, forcing her to attack Rylar. She plunged her blade deep into the drow ([I]a critical[/I]). Scarlet shook it off and apologized. Ardra turned and dealt with the barlgura. In short order, blood matted its' tangled fur. Aurora's blink dog raced forth and bit the barlgura's leg. Scarlet made her way back, and plunged her broken blade into the barlgura's neck. She pulled it out and did it again. The barlgura let out a croak and fell to the ground. The adventurers finished off the wraiths. They looked around. There were four statues of paladins. Three held real swords. The Sacred Chest was on the far side of the room. Sturdy wooden poles could be inserted through metal rings affixed to it, allowing four guardians to carry it. The chest was decorated with inlays of dragons breathing silver fire. It bore the inscription: "[I]The just shall lay down their arms and bask in the light of justice[/I]." Careful examination revealed four slots about the width and thickness of a sword blade, two in each end of the chest. The heroes took the trio of swords from the statues. They placed three swords in three slots, and then Aurora placed her magical unicorn horn in the fourth slot. It worked! The lid swung open, letting out a radiant burst of silvery light ([I]harmful only to undead and elemental creatures[/I]). Inside were jewels, a magic symbol of Io, and a magic brazier. The brazier seemed only to retain its' magic when it was inside the chest. They patched up their wounds for a few minutes and talked about what to do next. They hadn't found any of the cards from the deck yet, though there was still much to explore. They decided to sneak through the orc village to see if they could learn anything, and make their way to a weird tower off in the distance... [/QUOTE]
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