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Aftermath - Campaign after the War
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<blockquote data-quote="Rybaer" data-source="post: 1081" data-attributes="member: 118"><p>Adventure #2 - The Steel Toads</p><p></p><p>Upon the group’s return to New Selmar, they learn that the majority of the town’s capable fighting force is still out dealing with the orc threat. All of their respective masters are gone, so they seek the advice of the master blacksmith and council member. After recounting their tale of the hobgoblin cleric and his undead minions, the blacksmith congratulates them on a job well done and then suggests that they go scout out the ruins of Old Selmar to assess the strength of the hobgoblin force occupying it. They all agree that based on the map they recovered that this cleric was interested in retrieving these “Cards!!” from the hobgoblin captain’s quarters.</p><p></p><p>They set off on foot and approach the ruins from the northwest in the mid-afternoon. While observing the ruins from a respectable distance awaiting nightfall, they spot a scrawny gobbling carrying a small sack and walking toward the ruins. Amblin and Nigel sneak up and frighten the pathetic creature while the others prevent any avenue of escape. He seems sufficiently frightened to answer their questions. They learn that his name is Twiggy and that he is a slave to the hobgoblins. He mostly cooks for them and was out in the woods collecting mushrooms and spring berries (which the contents of his sack verifies). He is extremely timid and volunteers all the information he can if they’ll spare his life.</p><p></p><p>Through further questioning, they learn that the hobgoblin force occupies part, but not all of the ruins. They share it with some unknown, large, gray’ish colored humanoid. The hobgoblins themselves number little more than about thirty, though typically a dozen at a time are out of the ruins on various patrols or assignments. Little more useful information is forthcoming, though, as Twiggy seems to genuinely know little about the hobgoblins’ objectives. The group decides to treat the frail goblin with compassion and tie him up to one of Amblin’s wardogs and promise to let him go when they return. Twiggy doesn’t look happy with the arrangement, but the dogs don’t immediately eat him, so he settles in to wait. With that, the group waits another couple hours for darkness to settle before setting out.</p><p></p><p>Using a ladder from Amblin’s Robe of Useful Items, they climb over the wall near an unoccupied tower. They don’t think there are many hobgoblins about, based on Twiggy’s information, the guard positions indicated on the map, and Hooty’s surveillance. Regardless, they proceed quietly and cautiously – particularly for the humans who cannot see very well without risking a light source. Hooty had also spotted the “mysterious, large gray humanoid” in one corner of the ruins, but was unable to convey any more useful of a description than that, so the group just avoids that area altogether.</p><p></p><p>The ruins of Old Selmar are just that, the ruins of a mostly destroyed city. Orcs had occupied it for a time after the war until the slaves revolted. The slaves decided it would be easier to build an entirely new city rather than reconstruct this one – especially given that it was too big for them to adequately man the walls should they need to repel a sizeable attacking force. Few houses and buildings within the crumbling outer walls are still suitable for habitation.</p><p></p><p>Nigel and Amblin, the two quietest members of the party, scout ahead. Near the captain’s quarters they are only able to spot two guards. One stands next to a door leading into the captain’s two story house while the other is warming himself by a small fire not twenty feet away. This house and the two barracks buildings nearby are among the few buildings they’ve seen that are still standing. After observing for a bit and not seeing any other activity, they bring the others up. They decide to let Nigel try to enter the captain’s quarters (where they hope to find whatever the “Cards!!” are) through a second story window on the backside of the building. Another ladder from Amblin’s Robe will facilitate this. Meanwhile, the others will be nearby and Boaz will hide a ways back and hold the nearest guard in the sights of his bow.</p><p></p><p>Everything is going smoothly in the early execution of their plan. Nigel shimmies up the ladder and opens the window quietly. It opens into a small room with two closed doors and an open stairwell leading down. There is a faint light coming from the first floor. Underneath the window is a table with a few sheets of rough paper and a coal stick for writing. He hears nothing, and indicates to the others that he’s going in.</p><p></p><p>Of course, the plan has to unravel at some point. Might as well be sooner rather than later. Nigel’s player fumbles on his move silent check to enter the room. DM interpretation: the table was actually missing one leg and collapses when Nigel puts his full weight upon it. He hears noise coming from behind one of the two doors leading from the room, so he quickly and quietly opens and slips into the other room.</p><p></p><p>Below, the guard standing near the door is startled by the noise from around the back of the house. As he moves to look around the side, Boaz decides it is a good time to release that arrow he’d been holding. It misses and plunks into the side of the house right next to the guard. The hobgoblin turns and spots Boaz immediately. Both he and the guard who had been standing next to the fire start moving quickly in Boaz’s direction…right into view of the rest of the party. A quick fight breaks out and the two hobgoblins are quickly killed. Boaz and Rurik drag the bodies around to the back of the house while Amblin races up the ladder to support Nigel. Zalman, meanwhile, sets himself up next to the door that the guard had been leaning against and tries his best impression of a hobgoblin on watch.</p><p></p><p>Amblin finds himself facing the wrong end of a longsword being wielded by a large, ugly, and grumpy looking hobgoblin. With his monk’s reflexes, he avoids getting hit and is able to move fully into the room. The two square off against each other with neither having a real advantage. Amblin, despite having poor human vision, can see well enough to note that Nigel is nowhere to be seen. Nigel, having snuck into the other room on the second floor, is quickly searching through what appears to be an unoccupied and scarcely furnished bedroom for anything that might resemble these “Cards!!” they’re looking for. Unfortunately, he finds nothing.</p><p></p><p>Outside, Rurik and Boaz decide to enter the first floor of the house through the side door that Zalman is posing by. Rurik doesn’t even bother checking to see if it’s locked and bashes it open. The pair fly in and find a closed door directly ahead of them, a table with chairs and a lit candle to the right, the front door to the house also to the right, and a staircase leading up. Hearing the fight upstairs and seeing no other targets, they race upstairs.</p><p></p><p>Zalman closes the door behind his companions and tries to act non-chalantly as a pair of hobgoblins call out from one of the nearby buildings and start walking toward him. One has a large flair, the other a brutish sword. Zalman, not speaking goblin, grunts back at them. The pair doesn’t really seem to be buying it, though. One splits off and makes for the front door while the sword-toting one heads straight for Zalman. (At this point, as a DM, I’m worried…here is a tough hobgoblin with 2 levels in fighter heading straight for the party’s 2nd level wizard who has no support.) Zalman realizes his predicament and starts casting a spell. The hobgoblin recognizes this and charges, an attack that Zalman just barely sidesteps. Then, his spell goes off and a celestial dog appears right behind the hobgoblin in flanking position. The dog takes a sizeable chunk out of the warrior’s leg and Zalman lands a cracking blow with his quarterstaff. One more feeble attack is all the hobgoblin can manage before the wizard and dog pair finish him off, after which the dog promptly poofs in thin air.</p><p></p><p>Upstairs, while the hobgoblin is clearly a tough foe, once outnumbered three-to-one he is quickly overwhelmed. Nigel finishes his cursory search of the first room, he exits, takes note of all the fighting, then promptly goes into the room from which the hobgoblin came and begins inspecting that one while his companions finish the fight. He finds only a nice dagger, some clothing and armor, and little else.</p><p></p><p>The flail-wielding hobgoblin had just begun to open the front door when Boaz, fresh off the fight with the captain upstairs and on his way back down, lands a crushing blow to the poor creature. Amblin and Rurik strip the captain of his ring and sword (the only possessions he had with him during the fight) and race back downstairs with Nigel shortly behind. They break open the only remaining door on the main floor and find a room stuffed with assorted supplies, foodstuffs, arms, armor, chests and barrels. While Zalman and Boaz keep watch outside, the others quickly rummage through the chests and bags. In one, they find a leather pouch about the size of a loaf of bread. Inside is a neat stack of large animal scales, each with a unique picture painted on one side. Rurik quickly discerns a moderately powerful magical aura about it. Deciding this is what they were looking for, they make haste to get out before they are surrounded by hobgoblins. Almost as an afterthought, they leave behind the spider-shaped amulet that they had looted from the cleric’s body in hopes that it might lead the remaining hobgoblins to think that it was he who had brought the attack.</p><p></p><p>Zalman and Boaz spot motion from the barracks and see the door open and a curious hobgoblin’s head poke out looking around. With a couple bodies in sight, it doesn’t take long for quite a commotion to begin stirring. The group slips out the side door and hastily makes it back to the ladder they had left at the wall. As they go back over it, the alarm is raised and a pair of hobgoblin guards armed with heavy crossbows in a nearby tower spot their fleeing forms. They launch a few shots, but none connect.</p><p></p><p>The group returns to find Twiggy still tied up to the dogs. He seems relieved when they untie him and don’t go back on their word. While not killing him, they don’t want him going back to the hobgoblins. So, they bring him along as they hike quickly back to New Selmar. At the gate, they leave Twiggy with a few of the guards with instructions he is to be watched but treated well. With only a few hours of night left, they return to their respective quarters and sleep.</p><p></p><p>Most of the town’s fighting force had still not returned from harrying the orc raiders, so the group once again reported in their findings to the blacksmith. He commended them on a bold adventure and another job well done. He suggested they talk with Sangelais, the elven master wizard, to try to discern the nature of the “Cards!!” that they had recovered. </p><p></p><p>Zalman led the group off to his master with all the loot they had collected. Sangelais was intrigued by the items, particularly the deck. After a few hours of study, she concluded this about the items they had found thus far: the ring worn by the hobgoblin captain was a Ring of Protection, his sword and dagger were not magical; the scroll found on the cleric’s table was a Animate Dead priestly scroll; the candle found beside it was a Candle of True Seeing, though much of it had already been consumed; the light mace carried by the cleric was only lightly enchanted; the Cards, as best as she could discern, was a weaker variant of the fabled Deck of Many Things. She explained how the original Deck bestowed upon the drawer of a card a random magical effect – sometimes good, sometimes bad.</p><p></p><p>Not all in the group were too keen on trying to draw from it. Zalman stepped up first and drew a card, pulling “The Mule,” and was bestowed with the ability to effortlessly carry heavy loads. Sangelais, herself a curious elf, boldly drew next. She pulled “The Chameleon,” bestowing her with the ability to turn herself into any mundane animal and back once. Nigel drew next and pulled “The Mongoose,” permanently making him more nimble (+1 Dex). Boaz, a bit suspicious but impressed with the powers granted to his companions, pulled next. He drew “The Gazelle,” granting him amazing speed when running (double normal move, but only when performing an all out sprint). Amblin, ever the fickle one, was indecisive but finally caved into chance. He pulled “The Penguin,” granting him resistance to cold temperatures (equivalent of a Ring of Cold Resistance). Rurik was the last of the group to decide if he would draw or not. Suspicious of strange magic, he was hesitant. However, everyone else had drawn something beneficial, so he decided to tempt fate and drew “The Chimera.” Instantly, his head began transforming into that of a lion. </p><p></p><p>(Note: this magic item is the Totem Deck of Many Things as presented in Dragon #271. I liked using it as it is much less unbalancing than the original while still offering that bit of random chance…the gamble.) </p><p></p><p>This transformation stunned the group, for it was quite a shocking change compared with the innocuous effects of the others’ draws. Rurik himself was a bit too stunned to even know how to react. He found he could still talk and he otherwise still felt like himself. Shaken, though, he asked Sangelais if she could undo his unfortunate transformation. She tried a couple of spells, but found that the magic that had worked the change upon him was too powerful for her modest skills to overcome. Rurik, dejected, returned to his uncle’s makeshift shrine to Moradin to pray for guidance.</p><p></p><p>The others were about to try their luck at a second draw when the deck disappeared without a trace. Sangelais figured it was just part of the oddity of the deck and left it at that. The group speculated on why the cleric had been so intent upon getting the deck for himself. Whether to draw from it himself or to sell it to the highest bidder, they concluded that they would probably never know.</p><p></p><p>While waiting for the rest of their masters to return from the orc raids, each went about his daily activities. Zalman studied up some new spells. Amblin cleaned his master’s hut and worked on repairing the roof. Nigel practiced archery. Boaz ran laps around the town to test out his new powers and then returned to the battle hall were he and the other warriors often practiced. When Boaz’s master returned, he was given a sound beating and told not to act like a fool running around the grounds like a child at play.</p><p></p><p> Rurik, deep in prayer, barely heard the door to his uncle’s house open. There was no mistaking the exclamation of horror when his uncle saw the lion-headed cleric kneeling before the alter to Moradin, however. Rurik jumped up and tried to explain. It was only then that his uncle even realized that it was his nephew and he lowered the warhammer that he had been prepared to use. No explanation was good enough for his strict uncle, also a cleric of Moradin, and he was cursed out for tempting fate with such unknown magic. In a fit of rage, Rurik’s uncle tossed him out of the house and forbade him to return.</p><p></p><p>Devastated, Rurik sought solace and guidance with Zalman. He hoped that the wizard or his master might know of a way to undo this curse. While Sangelais was convinced that canceling the effect was beyond her abilities, she thought that a powerful cleric or wizard might be able to do it. The Lady Shele, who had just left the day before for parts unknown, might have been able to do it. Another possibility, though a bit of a long-shot, was a powerful wizard who had once run a school in the region. Just over a week’s journey on horseback, Sangelais hadn’t been there since before the war and didn’t know whether anyone still lived there. Still, it was an option, and so she told Zalman and Rurik about the curious little gnomish wizard Shadykin…</p><p></p><p></p><p>Next episode: The Mission, bug lunch, and the orc cavalry.</p><p></p><p></p><p>-Rybaer</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rybaer, post: 1081, member: 118"] Adventure #2 - The Steel Toads Upon the group’s return to New Selmar, they learn that the majority of the town’s capable fighting force is still out dealing with the orc threat. All of their respective masters are gone, so they seek the advice of the master blacksmith and council member. After recounting their tale of the hobgoblin cleric and his undead minions, the blacksmith congratulates them on a job well done and then suggests that they go scout out the ruins of Old Selmar to assess the strength of the hobgoblin force occupying it. They all agree that based on the map they recovered that this cleric was interested in retrieving these “Cards!!” from the hobgoblin captain’s quarters. They set off on foot and approach the ruins from the northwest in the mid-afternoon. While observing the ruins from a respectable distance awaiting nightfall, they spot a scrawny gobbling carrying a small sack and walking toward the ruins. Amblin and Nigel sneak up and frighten the pathetic creature while the others prevent any avenue of escape. He seems sufficiently frightened to answer their questions. They learn that his name is Twiggy and that he is a slave to the hobgoblins. He mostly cooks for them and was out in the woods collecting mushrooms and spring berries (which the contents of his sack verifies). He is extremely timid and volunteers all the information he can if they’ll spare his life. Through further questioning, they learn that the hobgoblin force occupies part, but not all of the ruins. They share it with some unknown, large, gray’ish colored humanoid. The hobgoblins themselves number little more than about thirty, though typically a dozen at a time are out of the ruins on various patrols or assignments. Little more useful information is forthcoming, though, as Twiggy seems to genuinely know little about the hobgoblins’ objectives. The group decides to treat the frail goblin with compassion and tie him up to one of Amblin’s wardogs and promise to let him go when they return. Twiggy doesn’t look happy with the arrangement, but the dogs don’t immediately eat him, so he settles in to wait. With that, the group waits another couple hours for darkness to settle before setting out. Using a ladder from Amblin’s Robe of Useful Items, they climb over the wall near an unoccupied tower. They don’t think there are many hobgoblins about, based on Twiggy’s information, the guard positions indicated on the map, and Hooty’s surveillance. Regardless, they proceed quietly and cautiously – particularly for the humans who cannot see very well without risking a light source. Hooty had also spotted the “mysterious, large gray humanoid” in one corner of the ruins, but was unable to convey any more useful of a description than that, so the group just avoids that area altogether. The ruins of Old Selmar are just that, the ruins of a mostly destroyed city. Orcs had occupied it for a time after the war until the slaves revolted. The slaves decided it would be easier to build an entirely new city rather than reconstruct this one – especially given that it was too big for them to adequately man the walls should they need to repel a sizeable attacking force. Few houses and buildings within the crumbling outer walls are still suitable for habitation. Nigel and Amblin, the two quietest members of the party, scout ahead. Near the captain’s quarters they are only able to spot two guards. One stands next to a door leading into the captain’s two story house while the other is warming himself by a small fire not twenty feet away. This house and the two barracks buildings nearby are among the few buildings they’ve seen that are still standing. After observing for a bit and not seeing any other activity, they bring the others up. They decide to let Nigel try to enter the captain’s quarters (where they hope to find whatever the “Cards!!” are) through a second story window on the backside of the building. Another ladder from Amblin’s Robe will facilitate this. Meanwhile, the others will be nearby and Boaz will hide a ways back and hold the nearest guard in the sights of his bow. Everything is going smoothly in the early execution of their plan. Nigel shimmies up the ladder and opens the window quietly. It opens into a small room with two closed doors and an open stairwell leading down. There is a faint light coming from the first floor. Underneath the window is a table with a few sheets of rough paper and a coal stick for writing. He hears nothing, and indicates to the others that he’s going in. Of course, the plan has to unravel at some point. Might as well be sooner rather than later. Nigel’s player fumbles on his move silent check to enter the room. DM interpretation: the table was actually missing one leg and collapses when Nigel puts his full weight upon it. He hears noise coming from behind one of the two doors leading from the room, so he quickly and quietly opens and slips into the other room. Below, the guard standing near the door is startled by the noise from around the back of the house. As he moves to look around the side, Boaz decides it is a good time to release that arrow he’d been holding. It misses and plunks into the side of the house right next to the guard. The hobgoblin turns and spots Boaz immediately. Both he and the guard who had been standing next to the fire start moving quickly in Boaz’s direction…right into view of the rest of the party. A quick fight breaks out and the two hobgoblins are quickly killed. Boaz and Rurik drag the bodies around to the back of the house while Amblin races up the ladder to support Nigel. Zalman, meanwhile, sets himself up next to the door that the guard had been leaning against and tries his best impression of a hobgoblin on watch. Amblin finds himself facing the wrong end of a longsword being wielded by a large, ugly, and grumpy looking hobgoblin. With his monk’s reflexes, he avoids getting hit and is able to move fully into the room. The two square off against each other with neither having a real advantage. Amblin, despite having poor human vision, can see well enough to note that Nigel is nowhere to be seen. Nigel, having snuck into the other room on the second floor, is quickly searching through what appears to be an unoccupied and scarcely furnished bedroom for anything that might resemble these “Cards!!” they’re looking for. Unfortunately, he finds nothing. Outside, Rurik and Boaz decide to enter the first floor of the house through the side door that Zalman is posing by. Rurik doesn’t even bother checking to see if it’s locked and bashes it open. The pair fly in and find a closed door directly ahead of them, a table with chairs and a lit candle to the right, the front door to the house also to the right, and a staircase leading up. Hearing the fight upstairs and seeing no other targets, they race upstairs. Zalman closes the door behind his companions and tries to act non-chalantly as a pair of hobgoblins call out from one of the nearby buildings and start walking toward him. One has a large flair, the other a brutish sword. Zalman, not speaking goblin, grunts back at them. The pair doesn’t really seem to be buying it, though. One splits off and makes for the front door while the sword-toting one heads straight for Zalman. (At this point, as a DM, I’m worried…here is a tough hobgoblin with 2 levels in fighter heading straight for the party’s 2nd level wizard who has no support.) Zalman realizes his predicament and starts casting a spell. The hobgoblin recognizes this and charges, an attack that Zalman just barely sidesteps. Then, his spell goes off and a celestial dog appears right behind the hobgoblin in flanking position. The dog takes a sizeable chunk out of the warrior’s leg and Zalman lands a cracking blow with his quarterstaff. One more feeble attack is all the hobgoblin can manage before the wizard and dog pair finish him off, after which the dog promptly poofs in thin air. Upstairs, while the hobgoblin is clearly a tough foe, once outnumbered three-to-one he is quickly overwhelmed. Nigel finishes his cursory search of the first room, he exits, takes note of all the fighting, then promptly goes into the room from which the hobgoblin came and begins inspecting that one while his companions finish the fight. He finds only a nice dagger, some clothing and armor, and little else. The flail-wielding hobgoblin had just begun to open the front door when Boaz, fresh off the fight with the captain upstairs and on his way back down, lands a crushing blow to the poor creature. Amblin and Rurik strip the captain of his ring and sword (the only possessions he had with him during the fight) and race back downstairs with Nigel shortly behind. They break open the only remaining door on the main floor and find a room stuffed with assorted supplies, foodstuffs, arms, armor, chests and barrels. While Zalman and Boaz keep watch outside, the others quickly rummage through the chests and bags. In one, they find a leather pouch about the size of a loaf of bread. Inside is a neat stack of large animal scales, each with a unique picture painted on one side. Rurik quickly discerns a moderately powerful magical aura about it. Deciding this is what they were looking for, they make haste to get out before they are surrounded by hobgoblins. Almost as an afterthought, they leave behind the spider-shaped amulet that they had looted from the cleric’s body in hopes that it might lead the remaining hobgoblins to think that it was he who had brought the attack. Zalman and Boaz spot motion from the barracks and see the door open and a curious hobgoblin’s head poke out looking around. With a couple bodies in sight, it doesn’t take long for quite a commotion to begin stirring. The group slips out the side door and hastily makes it back to the ladder they had left at the wall. As they go back over it, the alarm is raised and a pair of hobgoblin guards armed with heavy crossbows in a nearby tower spot their fleeing forms. They launch a few shots, but none connect. The group returns to find Twiggy still tied up to the dogs. He seems relieved when they untie him and don’t go back on their word. While not killing him, they don’t want him going back to the hobgoblins. So, they bring him along as they hike quickly back to New Selmar. At the gate, they leave Twiggy with a few of the guards with instructions he is to be watched but treated well. With only a few hours of night left, they return to their respective quarters and sleep. Most of the town’s fighting force had still not returned from harrying the orc raiders, so the group once again reported in their findings to the blacksmith. He commended them on a bold adventure and another job well done. He suggested they talk with Sangelais, the elven master wizard, to try to discern the nature of the “Cards!!” that they had recovered. Zalman led the group off to his master with all the loot they had collected. Sangelais was intrigued by the items, particularly the deck. After a few hours of study, she concluded this about the items they had found thus far: the ring worn by the hobgoblin captain was a Ring of Protection, his sword and dagger were not magical; the scroll found on the cleric’s table was a Animate Dead priestly scroll; the candle found beside it was a Candle of True Seeing, though much of it had already been consumed; the light mace carried by the cleric was only lightly enchanted; the Cards, as best as she could discern, was a weaker variant of the fabled Deck of Many Things. She explained how the original Deck bestowed upon the drawer of a card a random magical effect – sometimes good, sometimes bad. Not all in the group were too keen on trying to draw from it. Zalman stepped up first and drew a card, pulling “The Mule,” and was bestowed with the ability to effortlessly carry heavy loads. Sangelais, herself a curious elf, boldly drew next. She pulled “The Chameleon,” bestowing her with the ability to turn herself into any mundane animal and back once. Nigel drew next and pulled “The Mongoose,” permanently making him more nimble (+1 Dex). Boaz, a bit suspicious but impressed with the powers granted to his companions, pulled next. He drew “The Gazelle,” granting him amazing speed when running (double normal move, but only when performing an all out sprint). Amblin, ever the fickle one, was indecisive but finally caved into chance. He pulled “The Penguin,” granting him resistance to cold temperatures (equivalent of a Ring of Cold Resistance). Rurik was the last of the group to decide if he would draw or not. Suspicious of strange magic, he was hesitant. However, everyone else had drawn something beneficial, so he decided to tempt fate and drew “The Chimera.” Instantly, his head began transforming into that of a lion. (Note: this magic item is the Totem Deck of Many Things as presented in Dragon #271. I liked using it as it is much less unbalancing than the original while still offering that bit of random chance…the gamble.) This transformation stunned the group, for it was quite a shocking change compared with the innocuous effects of the others’ draws. Rurik himself was a bit too stunned to even know how to react. He found he could still talk and he otherwise still felt like himself. Shaken, though, he asked Sangelais if she could undo his unfortunate transformation. She tried a couple of spells, but found that the magic that had worked the change upon him was too powerful for her modest skills to overcome. Rurik, dejected, returned to his uncle’s makeshift shrine to Moradin to pray for guidance. The others were about to try their luck at a second draw when the deck disappeared without a trace. Sangelais figured it was just part of the oddity of the deck and left it at that. The group speculated on why the cleric had been so intent upon getting the deck for himself. Whether to draw from it himself or to sell it to the highest bidder, they concluded that they would probably never know. While waiting for the rest of their masters to return from the orc raids, each went about his daily activities. Zalman studied up some new spells. Amblin cleaned his master’s hut and worked on repairing the roof. Nigel practiced archery. Boaz ran laps around the town to test out his new powers and then returned to the battle hall were he and the other warriors often practiced. When Boaz’s master returned, he was given a sound beating and told not to act like a fool running around the grounds like a child at play. Rurik, deep in prayer, barely heard the door to his uncle’s house open. There was no mistaking the exclamation of horror when his uncle saw the lion-headed cleric kneeling before the alter to Moradin, however. Rurik jumped up and tried to explain. It was only then that his uncle even realized that it was his nephew and he lowered the warhammer that he had been prepared to use. No explanation was good enough for his strict uncle, also a cleric of Moradin, and he was cursed out for tempting fate with such unknown magic. In a fit of rage, Rurik’s uncle tossed him out of the house and forbade him to return. Devastated, Rurik sought solace and guidance with Zalman. He hoped that the wizard or his master might know of a way to undo this curse. While Sangelais was convinced that canceling the effect was beyond her abilities, she thought that a powerful cleric or wizard might be able to do it. The Lady Shele, who had just left the day before for parts unknown, might have been able to do it. Another possibility, though a bit of a long-shot, was a powerful wizard who had once run a school in the region. Just over a week’s journey on horseback, Sangelais hadn’t been there since before the war and didn’t know whether anyone still lived there. Still, it was an option, and so she told Zalman and Rurik about the curious little gnomish wizard Shadykin… Next episode: The Mission, bug lunch, and the orc cavalry. -Rybaer [/QUOTE]
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