Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)

[LordVyreth]

Prologue:

Today's Cast of Characters:

Petrach Garrioth: A cleric of Nerull, the god of death, and a mid-ranking officer of the Malmoris empire. He is known for being bright, ambitious, and greed, and brutal to those who oppose him. He tends to travel with undead servants wherever he goes.

Torell Steelsmith: A typical noble warrior, and a celebrated adventurer. He's a general believer in the classic adventurer attitude, which of course involves quite a bit of killing things and taking their stuff, but he has a good heart and always does it for the right reasons. He's not especially bright.

Gurdal Stael: Gurdal is a half-elven archer, who has mastered the art of firing arrows that trigger arcane energy. He is generally an amoral mercenary, but is currently adventuring to find a way to win the heart of his long-time friend, the half-drow Marian Styx.

Lyle Quickleaf: A wild halfling rogue. He is a master of stealth, and has learned how to hide in shadows so well that he is in the process of mastering their secrets, letting him hide in them even when being directly watched, and create illusions and servants out of them. He is chaotic and tends to perform acts of criminal activity just for the thrill and challenge of it.

Ka’drylog: A half-orc barbarian, who had the unfortunate luck of being captured and enslaved by a great wyrm red dragon. He now adventures at his master, Fierypyre's, behalf. However, he is eager to find a way to turn the tables and be the master himself.

The first adventure where are unlikely band of adventurers have gathered together for the first time. Well, except for Ka’drylog, who hasn't yet arrived. The five of them, as well as many other noted heroes and villains, have traveled to the legendary site of the most powerful of all artifacts, the Quill of Destiny. Legends say that this device of incredible power will be able to literally let its owner rewrite the future as they desire! However, they have also been told that some sort of mystical orbs are needed to actually use the Quill, and none of them have yet to find these orbs. All of them collectively hope that the orbs can be found in the dungeon leading to the Quill itself.

The four early arrivals look each other over, pondering how to best proceed from here. One of them, Petrach, even suggested they form an alliance to get though the dungeon as safely as possible, but it soon becomes clear that many of their desires for the future of the world aren't necessarily in agreement, and no alliance forms. As they looked around the entrance chamber, they saw two paths. One had an illusionary battle axe floating in front of it, and the second had an illusionary image of a head. Interestingly, each character saw the head as being from its own race! There also is a plaque between the paths, which read:

"Welcome, you legends; you creatures blessed of courage and skill. Know that simply standing here means you are judged worthy to strive for the Quill. Now, we shall see if you are worthy to use it. Complete the tests of this sacred place, and you shall be rewarded for your aptitude. Be warned, however. This is a place of honor, and while your actions here will not be resisted or undermined in any way, they will be remembered if you are destined to use the Quill. Your statements can not be changed once written, but their interpretations shall be given the same respect that you have given to this place."

The characters pondered this and the few clues that they managed to piece together up to this point, and realized the left path (which had the battle axe,) was to be a test of power, and the other path judged the speed and cunning of the travelers. Torell chose the path of power, and the other three initially investigated the path of speed. The latter path led to a large cavern, which glowed red from the heat of a pool of magma that covered the center of the room. Dark statues, carved in the likenesses of demons and other monsters, loomed above the three adventurers that chose this path. Interestingly, the room looked like a normal cave chamber as they approached it, and changed into its current form only as the three of them set foot in it. Believing that this change suggested that the entire pool is illusionary, Petrach sent one of his zombies into the lava, only to watch it dissolve in the heat. Realizing this is a real threat, he decided to investigate the second path, and retraced his steps to the path of the power. Lyle and Gurdal, however, had more than sufficient agility to bypass the pool, and simply use their skill at climbing and balance to cross the room on the wall or on a narrow, unstable beam that rested over the pool. Both crossed the room in a matter of about twenty seconds, and reach received a few orbs for their trouble. As they earned their reward, the room returned to normal; a featureless dungeon cave once more. They advanced down the path beyond this cave to the next challenge.

Meanwhile, Torell and later Petrach were pondering the first potential challenge on their side; a tiny side-chamber which transformed into a bright, carnival-like challenge as they entered it. Signs saying things like "Whack a kobold," and "Test your strength!" lined the walls, and as a kobold appeared seemingly out of nowhere in front of them, they realized what they had to do. Petrach tried it first, easily slaying the kobold with his crossbow. However, it was a small wound, barely enough to finish the pitiful being, and Petrach only received one orb for the effort. Realizing how this worked, Torell used all his might, and was rewarded with a bounty of orbs. Their first challenge complete, both moved on to their second challenge.

Both groups soon found that the paths split again. The left side later branched to the path of Endurance and the path of Death, while the right side also converged to the path of Death, but also contained the path of Memory. Though the clues the adventurers found up to this point suggested that path of Death was the most dangerous test in the dungeon, and the most likely to be fatal, it also promised some of the best rewards, and all of them but Gurdal chose to investigate it. The three adventurers converged on the room from both sides at once, seeing that the room was filled with a pyramid of sand. A dark, shrouded figure apparently stood at the top of the pile, and in a raspy voice, it spoke to the party. "Fools!" it began, "Those who draw near me are already doomed, for I am the incarnation of Death!" Unafraid, the trio advanced, only for the pile of sand to explode around them, revealing the true source of their demise: a blue dragon!

To be continued....

OOC Notes: This is the first time I've done one of these Story Hours, so I appreciate any criticism and feedback you can give me.

 

[LordVyreth]

Prologue: The Test of Death

When we last left our heroes, three of them were about to be attacked by a blue dragon of impressive power and stature. What happened next was a clear lesson on what happens to a non-unified party. Torell, being a traditional hero of the martial persuasion, entered into direct combat with his massive adversary as soon as he possibly could. Petrach, despite his evil nature, demonstrated again his tendency to prefer an organized attack by using his magic to aid Torell. Lyle, however, had no such interest, and while his enemy and two competitors were distracted, he spied the dragon’s treasure horde still partially buried in the remains of the sand dune, and dashed in to raid it! A few rounds of attacks later, and Torell was no more, another victim to the endless might a dragon can focus on one target. Lyle and Petrach realized that the dragon would focus on them next, and fled down a side chamber. Since Lyle had only managed to obtain some of the dragon’s many orbs at this point, they decided to make one more attempt at the room. Petrach summoned a hellhound to aid him, and while it and the remaining zombie distracted the dragon, Lyle made one last attempt at the dragon’s treasure. The dragon, of course, made short work of his lesser enemies, and Lyle and Petrach fled again, after having only one more chance to steal from the monster. Petrach launched one last spell, a plague of insects, on the creature as he fled, but neither of them bothered to stick around long enough to see if it had any effect on the dragon. They soon caught up to Gurdal, who had reached the next test, the path of Memory. The three of them pondered this strange test, where the three of them had to look at a map of a maze for a few seconds, and then send strange lizard constructs into a hole and through the maze. Lacking any way to see the maze, they had to use simple guessing and what little they remember from the maps to remotely guide their tiny charges. Each of them had a few tries, and earned some orbs after their last try based on their best performance. As they left the room, the decorum, which was metallic and resembled a typical futuristic chamber, once again changed into a normal cave. They moved on to the path of Accuracy, the next challenge of this path.

Meanwhile, Ka’drylog finally managed to reach the dungeon. Well aware that he was behind all those that he saw enter the cave much earlier, he pondered the initial choice for but a moment before choosing the path of Power. There, his incredible muscles easily dispatched the kobold, earning him a bounty of orbs. He continued up the path, saw the split, and hearing the angry roars of the dragon, elected to try the other route, the path of Endurance. Back with the remaining three members of the original group, they had reached the path of Accuracy, which was another side cavern. When they entered it, the area transformed into an outdoors setting, and was essentially little more than a large box canyon. The test itself was basically a shooting range, which Gurdal not surprisingly easily did the best in, though Lyle ended the challenge with an excellent shot on the last target, which was both the hardest to hit and the most valuable. With the challenge over, they proceeded to the final test.

Ka’drylog, meanwhile, had reached the test of Endurance, but realizing how far behind he was, he skipped it entirely, to try and reach the ending before the others could reach it and write in the Book of Destiny using the Quill. He did, however, participate in the test after that one: the test of Persistence. This challenge was a matter of simple violence, as the challengers had to hack through parts of series of rotating walls, to claim an orb in the middle. Touching an orb also teleports the character back outside the outermost row of walls, forcing him to hack back in to claim another orb. Ka’drylog managed to get three orbs before the challenge ended, and then hurried to catch up to the rest of the party, who was already working on the final test.

OOC Notes: As you probably already guessed, the same player that played Ka'drylog played Torell earlier in the game.

 

[LordVyreth]

The Final Test

The Final Test had begun. Above the party, a set of raised platforms formed a set of bridges, and slowly, a line of zombies began shuffling across them. The three of them soon realized that the zombies were heading towards a number of targets, some of which correspond to the characters. After a few moments of confusion, as they figure out whether they are supposed to get the zombies in their targets or keep them away and force them into the other’s targets, they realize they’re supposed to attract them, and rely on both a set of switches on ground level, which alters the directions the zombies walk in, and more direct methods, like simply fire storming zombies heading to their rivals’ targets. Soon, the battle destroyed the fragile alliance they had established, and Lyle and Gurdal in particular decided that it was time to remove the competition. Lyle moved in for a sneak attack, but was soon disabled by Gurdal’s magic. Gurdal then finished Lyle, using his many magical and elementally enhanced arrows. Meanwhile, Petrach interfered a little with the fight using his magic, but he focused more on earning more zombies.

As this was going on, Ka’drylog entered the room, but decided to avoid the fight entirely and just dashed up the ramped path at the end of the room, and to the finish. Once he arrived there, alarms were set of, warning all involved that now that the first adventurer reached the finish, the others had a very limited time to get there themselves. Recognizing this fact, Petrach ran up the path as well, followed by Gurdal. Soon, all three reached the end. They prepared to pass though the last doorway, but as they neared it, the walls around them simply vanished, and they were alone on small circle of rock, with nothing beyond it. Surrounding the characters are thousands of stone statues, each of which is carved into the shape of a god. All known gods are present here, and countless unknown ones as well. There is a message carved in the door “You have done well in this game. But the game is now over; the judging begins here. No more games or competition will be tolerated here.” Despite this warning, Petrach prepared to launch one last attack on his rivals, only to see the statue of Nerull staring at him. Realizing his mistake, he ended his plan for aggression. Each one was called from this area, in the order from the one with the most orbs to the one with the least, to write in the Book with the Quill, and each had the chance to use the Quill for ten seconds for every orb they collected.

Gurdal went first. He wished for Marian Styx to be made into the elven form she always dreamed herself to be, and that both live the lives they dreamed. They wanted to live in a far-off, enchanted place away from the stresses and strife on this society, ruling a kingdom of their own that passes to the end of time under their offspring. Petrach was next, and his desires were far less pleasant. He wanted to be a leader of a great undead army, which is completely loyal to him. It would help him conquer this region. He wanted to be divorced from all commitments except the one to his God, and to be most powerful cleric of his god. Finally, Ka’drylog got to go. He had little time, having only a handful of orbs. However, he made his count. Fierypyre, his draconic master, would now serve him. Orcs in all lands shall rise into power, and light of the day shall be quartered. After this, the three of them found themselves out in the open sky again, the dungeon and the very mountain the dungeon was in having vanished. And while nothing appeared to happen at first, as the months and even years went on, things started to change….

OOC Notes: Thus ends the prologue. After this, the official game begins. It was a fun week after this game; I had to write the first adventure, and create the entire campaign setting more or less from scratch! I ended up using an old Heroquest board to help with the final test; I especially found the many zombie miniatures handy.

 

[LordVyreth]

BTW, with any luck, I'll be able to make the next entry tonight.

 

[LordVyreth]

The Beginning

The new cast of characters:

Quercus: The product of a celestial and an elven union, Quercus was sadly abandoned by his family when his mother died during childbirth. To further complicate matters, his mother was married to another man at the time, and the father blamed him for his wife’s death and abandoned him, while the celestial simply left, never to be seen again. He was formally raised in the clergy since that point, and has been re-united with his half-brother Tsine.

Tsine: Tsine is the only legitimate son of a noble elven family. He was always interested in archery and other martial pursuits, but was forced into wizardry by his father when his mother died (see Quercus, above,) in the hopes that one member of the family who will carry on the family tradition. He used to despise his half-brother, due to the rantings of his bitter father, but has since learned forgiveness and seeking a way to end the loneliness of the arcane life, bonded with him. He works both as an archer and as a wizard now.

Tal Moinen: Tal is a half-elven member of another noble house. This one is ancient, and claims to have been descended partially from dragons, specifically the amethyst gem variety, which apparently helped the royal family save their kingdom as it was being established. The dragonic aspect of their bloodline has long since been diluted, but while Tal officially earns his livelihood as a musician and storyteller, his dragonic blood calls to him, giving him both magical power and the desire to become more dragonic.

Flix: Flix is a fairly typical halfling rogue. He is known for his professional attitude in most things, but is a bit of a womanizer when in peaceful situations. His life is otherwise a mystery.

Some time between 1000 and 1500 years later…

Quercus, Tsine, and Tal are resting one night, separately for now. Each, however, has the same dream. They find themselves adrift in space, while a mysterious female figure looms in front of them. However, a bright light shines behind her, making it impossible for any details to be seen on her. She calls herself Lady Memory, and claims that they are all truly her children. However, she then says that those who loved her most have betrayed her, and that she is giving them the task of restoring her name, and destroying the usurpers. The characters then all wake.

Now switching back to past tense…

Each woke up separately. Quercus was staying in a room at a temple, Tsine was waking up in his nobleman father’s home, and Tal was staying at an inn, having just returned to town. However, all of them felt very disoriented, like they were just waking up from a dream that was all too real, and suddenly realized that while they remembered the basic histories of their lives, they couldn’t remember any of the details! They knew, for example, their number of siblings, but not the names of their siblings, or their names, or even the name of the city they were in. As they struggled to figure out what was going on, they all ended up outside, and discovered that the city they were in was inside a hollowed out mountain. The place was still lit like an ordinary day, presumably because of the three giant lenses affixed to the ceiling. About half of the city was on a giant pillar in the center of the mountain, which often widened to as it went farther down into the mountain. Quercus was near the very top of the pillar, in what looked like a very prestigious part of town. A level below that was Tsine’s level, which was apparently the noble district. The next level below that was the largest, and contained what appeared to be an entire forest. Far below that, below the surface level of the mountain, Tal was at his inn, and didn’t even realize the city was inside a mountain until he left the dark depths of the lower parts of the city.

Soon, all three got their basic memories back. They were in a city called Methosilang, the capital of the local empire, and all of them were supposed to meet at the main temple for some sort of ritual. As they traveled through the city, they noticed all the typical humanoid races, but they also noticed that much of the cities elven population was drow, and no one even seemed to notice this fact or find it strange. To the characters, however, something about this fact just felt wrong, like it was against the way things should be.

Eventually, all three reached the temple at the top of the city, which was apparently called the Central Temple of the Sisters. Quercus, of course, was the closest, since his temple, the Cathedral of the Sun, was on the same level, but all three of them got there with time. The temple itself had a circular central room, which contained statues of the eleven Sisters, which were apparently the goddesses of this realm. Quercus realized with a start that Bha-Ael, the creator goddess, was the one that he himself worshipped. All of them were a little suspicious that the goddesses’ statues were arranged like the numbers of a clock, but that the ninth one was suspiciously empty. Tal asked a cleric about it, and learned that there was a mistake structurally when the temple was built, forcing them to stagger the positions of the statues. After mingling for a while, acolytes of the church arranged the people in the Temple (and there were at least hundreds of them,) into small groups of three or four people. Tal, Quercus, and Tsine ended up together, along with Flix, a halfling trained in the arts of stealth. Soon, an elven man and drow woman took places at a stage on the far end of the temple, and the party recognized them instantly as Berin Stael and Malthos Stael, the King and Queen of the kingdom. They explain how pleased they are to be presiding over another Day of Initiation, when those who have trained for all their lives underground are finally ready for their first missions on the surface. The characters heard a nervous tittering among the crowd, and despite their confusion, felt excitement at this prospect as well. As the two continued their speech, they suddenly stopped and looked up as a massive series of bells sounded across the city. Soon, everyone around them was reciting a prayer in thanks to the Eleven, as the lenses went out and were dragged away by a system of pulleys, while the top of the mountain itself opening up, letting true daylight into the city.

OOC Notes: A lot of confusing parts right now, I know, but it will get clarified in the next few updates. Don’t forget that the players were just as confused as you are at this point. And yes, I did let a half-celestial with one level of cleric enter a 3rd level party, giving it only a total ECL of 3. This was years ago, remember, before anyone knew what Savage Species or Level Adjustment was, and ECL was still a vague concept.

 

[LordVyreth]

Exposition HO!

After the daylight flooded the city, the ceremony at the temple continued. The other groups were led out by the temple’s acolytes, and given their missions. When it was time for the party, however, the high priestess, Shanna, shook her head and sighed with resignation, and passed on their assignment until everyone else was done. At this point, she summoned Quercus to her chambers in private. Once there, Shanna explained a few things to Quercus. She began, “Now, Quercus, as you already know, today is an important day for you. To start with, though I know you have given your attention to all eleven of the sisters, today is the day that you must confirm your faith and dedicate yourself entirely to the one that you truly believes is your guardian and ruler of your heart.” Quercus, although he had many questions he wanted answers to, at least had a quick response to this issue. He gladly selected Bha-Ael. Shanna then continued, “Now, there is something I must explain to you. The time has come to reveal a secret to you that has only been revealed to the clergy who have reached a certain level of ability. We openly claim that there are only eleven gods, the Sisters, but there is one more. That god is Nerull, the lord of death, and he is the one responsible for the dark tidings that drove us underground. He is not a true god like the Sisters, and has not been in existence since the beginning of all things, but he rose to power in the dark ages, and remains even now a threat to us, through the power of the armies of the Puppet.”

Quercus was instinctively troubled by this, but his first concern was still the partial amnesia that affected him and some of his comrades. He pondered this for a moment, and decided to bring it up to Shanna. He began, “Shanna, before we discuss this or the mission, there is something I should warn you about. When I woke up this morning, I couldn’t even remember the name of this temple, your name, or even my own family’s name! I forgot all the details of my life, and even though they’re coming back to me slowly, I can remember anything about this city, including why exactly we live underground. I spoke with my companions, and all but one of them are experiencing the same thing.”

Shanna was deeply troubled by this, and while she offered to provide any magical healing she can, if that doesn’t help, she was willing to at least explain some of this kingdom’s history, to prepare him for the mission ahead. “Over a thousand years ago,” she began, after calling the other characters (except Flix,) into the room, “The people worshipped false gods, and forgot the Eleven Sisters, the true creators of all. They became cruel and immoral, and in their foolishness they created an evil god, Nerull, who sent two demonic beings to terrorize the people. They were called the Puppet, who rules a massive army of undead servants, and the Head that Rules the Claw, who commands dragons, and has united the evil humanoids to his banner. The two of them worked together to turn the realm into a wasteland, and were even planning on using moons tainted with dark magic to blot out the sun! However, the goddesses saw their children and took pity on them. They returned, and with their aid, the normally evil dark elves formed an alliance with the surface races, which fled under the ground to avoid the armies ravaging the world above. United, they were able to destroy one moon before it could be launched, buying us a precious three hours of daylight every day, which we have learned to store and then project in magic lenses, lighting some of our cities for even longer. Large cities like Methosilang can maintain normal day and night cycles as a result. Also, the goddesses protect the identities and locations of our cities, so enemies of the kingdom cannot use divinations, magical charms, or other magic means to locate our cities, or teleport into our cities.” Her story finished, the characters pondered this strange reality they live in.

OOC Notes: While my players were kicking themselves as they realized who the Puppet and Head that Rules the Claw are, and why they only have three hours of sunlight a day. There are times when it’s good to be the DM.

 

[LordVyreth]

Mission: Incredulous

As the players pondered all of this, Shanna continued. “However, we have little time for this right now, as you still have to finish your rite of initiation. Unfortunately, you were selected to undergo the most difficult task we currently have available. Perhaps the Sisters have a special purpose for you, which explains both receiving this mission and your amnesia? The mission concerns Lerissa Turivain, a noblewoman and a longtime friend of the crown. She is also known as an expert on the wilderness of the surface, and obtaining plants and animals with unusual and useful properties. However, she left recently on a routine surveying mission, and has yet to return. You mission is to follow her trail, and try to find out what happened to her. If she is still alive, you have to do all you can to rescue her. If not, you must either retrieve her body for burial at the Necropolis, or have her burned, so she isn’t forced to suffer the curse of undeath. You have until the beginning of Second Light to get ready and meet at one of our exit points out of the city.”

The party left, to gather supplies, explore the city some more, and figure out what the heck Second Light is anyway (Flix later explained it was when the sun passed behind the second moon, prompting the lenses to come out for the second time in the day.) They had little time to fully visit the city, and presumably regain memories on the way, so they just explored the Temple some more, spent time introducing each other, and then made their way to their exit point. It looked like there was nothing there, at first, but a few agents of the crown soon stealthily made their way to them. After confirming their identities, the agents revealed a secret passageway, and explained how to leave the city from there. It took a few minutes of wandering through a labyrinth of tunnels, but eventually, the party made it to the surface. For the first time in their lives, as even the forgetful members of the party realize, they are feeling the sun directly, and not through lenses or the magical filters of the mountain. But they also see the two black moons, hanging ominously over the countryside.

The party began their journey, using the limited directions Shanna provided them with. The first day was largely uneventful, but slow. Since they left at second light, the sun was already passing into the range of the second moon, creating a sunset at the functional equivalent of two in the afternoon. This stopped their journey fairly quickly for the first day. Early on the second day, the party discovered the remains of a camp. It was clear a fight broke out here; there were many dark stains on the ground, a disturbing pile of ashes near the edge of camp, and two strange sharpened stakes with painted lines on them, with a third non-sharpened one next to shoe. They were familiar to the party, but couldn’t figure out what they meant until Flix spoke up. “Well, we know that there were two sentient beings killed here,” he indicated the two sharpened stakes, which had red bands on them, “and six animals. Probably Lerissa’s horses.” He indicated the blunt stake, which had six gray bands on it. Seeing the party’s confusion, he sighed and tried to explain. “We have this system, where those slain are burned, and markers are used to indicate exactly what died. It’s largely an assurance that those killed were taken care of, and not turned into members of the undead horde. We even agree to share this practice with the orc empire. They might be tentative allies to the undead, but even they hate the idea of becoming trapped between life and death, and forced to serve the Puppet as a slave. And the undead, despite that alliance, have been known to casually ‘forget’ it from time to time, when it suits their needs and they need a few quick recruits.”

The path branched here, going both southeast and northwest. The eastern path was the one that the map suggested Lerissa was going to take, but if her camp was actually attacked here, it was possible that her captors took her nest instead. However, the party lacked any way to determine which way she went, and continued eastward. They only traveled a few hours before the northern sky was lit up with fire, suggested a battle in that direction, and one involving great magic. They decide this was worth investigating, and reversed their course to try the second path. However, it was getting late again, so they made camp. However, this night, their rest wasn’t as peaceful. Around midnight, as Quercus was on watch, he noticed three figures sneaking into camp. He barely was able to sound an alarm when the three beings were upon him. As he looked at them in horror, he realized they were not living creatures, but the walking dead, and clearly smarter and fasters ones than mere zombies. Before he could even draw a weapon, they slashed at him with their claws, and he collapsed in a bloody heap.

Fortunately, his friends woke up with a start. Seeing their friend bleeding on the ground, with three abominations in above them, they reacted instantly. Tsine was there first, his blade at the ready and an enraged yell at his mouth, knowing that he might lose his brother so soon after he became close again. The ghouls surrounded him, but his elvish blood protected him from their paralyzing touch. Flix joined the fray, while Tal, afraid that Quercus would not survive long enough for the others to defeat the ghouls and heal him, snuck over to Quercus’s body, retrieving a wand of healing that he had purchased before they left. He touched it to Quercus, provoking attacks as a result, but Quercus managed to open his eyes, and rejoin the fray. It was still a long, hard fight, and the monsters managed to drop Quercus and Tsine before it was done, but the heroes managed to finish their foes. They used the wand to recover from the many injuries they all suffered, burned the corpses of their enemies, and Flix left a sharpened stake with three black marks, indicating to future travelers that three soldiers of the army of the undead have again found peace.

OOC Notes: There actually was a way for the party to select the right path, back at the fork. Besides basic track checks (which were irrelevant in this party,) they could have found a secret note buried under one of the stakes, but no one made the check to see that there was something unusual about the stakes.

 

[LordVyreth]

Further Intrigue

The party woke early the next day, eager to catch up to the scene of the battle they witnessed yesterday. It doesn’t take very long. Near the beginning of True light (so about 11 am, as the sun “rose” from the field of the first moon,) the party saw smoke rising off in the horizon, though this looked less like a violent fire, and more like a camp fire. Flix offered to scout ahead of the group, and stealthily faded into the forest. He soon came upon a small camp, where an ogre, two orcs, and a wolf were resting by a fire. The orcs and ogre were loudly complaining to each other, in a fierce, warrior’s language Flix didn’t comprehend. Flix also noticed a small pile of corpses near the fire. There seemed to be mostly orc bodies, but there also was another elf, and even what appeared to be a red dragon the size of a pony! Once he became aware of his enemies, he quickly retreated, and not a moment too soon, for the wolf’s ears perked up, as it caught Flix’s scent.
Once back at the party, they quickly decided on a plan. Quercus would ride in on his horse, while Flix and Tsine snuck back into the camp, and attacked from surprise. Tal would bring up the rear, using his magic to help the party. Again Flix approached the party, and again the wolf suddenly was aware of him. Before he could warn the others, however, the party struck. Flix expertly tumbled into the camp, and delivered a mortal blow to the ogre. It roared out, enraged, and gained strength from his anger, but it wasn’t enough to survive the arrow that flew out at him from the woods, the orbs of energy Tal hurled at him, or Quercus’ deadly blow with his greatsword. The other three enemies scrambled to defend themselves, but the fight was a short one. Quercus cut one of the orcs, who was well armored compared to many of his kin, down, while Tal and Flix surrounded the wolf, and Flix drove his short sword through the wolf’s heart while it was focused on the larger, and presumably more dangerous foe. The last orc was actually a shaman, trained in the art of primitive magic instead of combat, but his most useful spell sent enemies into a forced slumber, and was useless against most of the elven enemies that surrounded him. He tried it anyway, and while Flix and Tal looked drowsy for a moment, both quickly recovered, and helped Quercus cut him down.
The party surveyed the enemies. The ogre and wolf were clearly dead, but while the two orcs were unconscious and bleeding heavily, they still lived for now. Realizing they needed information about the fight that occurred here and what happened to Lerissa, they agreed to stabilize their wounds, disarm and bind them, and interrogate them. At first, Tsine, the only one in the group who could speak orc, pretended to hide this fact, as he let his hatred of the foul race overcome his judgment, but reason soon won out, and he admitted he could translate for them. It became a moot point, for when the soldier orc war recovered, he spoke to the party in perfect Common!
“Oh, wonderful. Like anything else could’ve gone wrong on this trip. I suppose you’re looking for the dark elf?”
Surprised, Tal took the lead in questioning. “That’s right. What have you done with her?”
The orc shrugged as well as his bindings would allow, and glared at the party. “Why should I help you? I know your kind well. You have no honor. Once you get what you want from me, you’ll just kill me.”
Everyone in the group, save Flix, was surprised to hear an orc talk of honor. Tsine was about ready to put both of them to the sword and be done with it, but Tal held up a hand. He was trained to change the minds of others, and he intended to make some use of this talent. “Look, our only concern is the woman and her surviving escorts. I give my word as a noble of Methosilang to release you and your companion alive if you help us. Look at my companion,” he gestured at Quercus. “He is not just a fervent believer in the faith of Bha-Ael the creator goddess, but he is kin to the higher powers of goodness themselves. If he also swears to let you live, you have no reason to fear. However, if you don’t help up,” and he now gestured to Tsine, “I’d be happy to turn you over to someone who will ensure that your death with be both certain and painful.”
The orc sighed, and began his story. “Very well, I see I have no choice. Yes, we took the elf, and her entourage.”
“Why? She was doing nothing to warrant this fate.”
“Why? The same reason as always. With luck, we could have forced her to reveal where one of your cities is. Besides, she took something of great value to us, and we wanted it back.”
This last part bothered Tal, who was told that she just was gathering supplies, but he continued, “And what did you do to her since?”
“We….well, lost her. We were ambushed by these zealots in yellow robes. There were humans and elves, but they weren’t the worst of it. They had three specialists in their force. One was an emaciated humanoid, with a strange scorpion tail. The other was also humanoid, but was covered with thorns and brambles, and had shifty eyes. The last was this man with dark hair, but the hair had these strange yellow spots in it. He looked normal at first, but turned into a strange, furry monster.”
“And the dragon, was it part of the attacking force too?”
The orc looked at Tal like was an idiot, and responded. “No, don’t be stupid. The dragon was our escort. But the man killed him, single-handedly. Fortunately, once it had the elf, her surviving bodyguards, and the treasure she stole from us, they left, leaving the survivors like myself alone.”
“Where did they take Lerissa and the others?”
The orc gestured with head towards a crude path in the woods to the west. It looked fresh. Realizing time was of the essence, the party quickly untied the orcs, and sent them on their way. Before he left, though, the orc turned and looked at the party. “This isn’t over. You made an enemy of the Dry’Log orc clan, the rulers of Fierypyre. We don’t forget our humiliations.” Before the party can reconsider and chase after him, he fled down the path.

OOC Notes: The fight with the orcs was supposed to be much harder than the one against the ghouls, but I didn’t know the racial makeup of the group before I planned this fight. The party’s attack from surprise also helped a lot. The ogre had a level of barbarian, and the orc was a fighter, albeit a first level one. But I make up for the relative ease of this fight in the next encounter.
By the way, I’m interested in any responses people have so far. This is my first Story Hour, so I appreciate questions, comments, criticism, or whatever you want to contribute. I apologize that the fights aren’t as detailed as they are in, say, JollyDoc’s Shackled City, but keep in mind the events of this adventure occurred almost two years ago, real-time. I remembered things as best I can.

 

[LordVyreth]

Quercus Jones and the Temple of Doom

The party continued on this new path, hoping to catch up to the strange cultists before it is too late. As they traveled, True Light ended, and Second Light began, throwing the region into perpetual near-twilight again. But the party didn’t have the luxury of an early rest tonight, so they pressed onward. Suddenly, a few hours into Second Light, they were surprised when a pair of glowing crossbow bolts emerged from the darkness in front of the path, flooding the area with light. Four yellow-robed figures stepped forward, and wordlessly attacked. The first two, which appeared to be one human and one elf from what the party can tell, raised long swords and charged the party, while the other two held back. Quercus and Flix entered melee, while Tal and Tsine held back to attack with long ranged attacks. Yet something about this fight felt wrong to the party, for while their adversaries were clearly less experienced warriors, the heroes were barely able to land a hand on them. It was as if the shock of this strange new life, coupled with all the things they learned today, has finally caught up with them. And in the rare instance where they could harm their enemy, one of the yellow robed figures would just heal them, while the other used arcane magic to keep them at bay. Again, Quercus fell to the combined attack of the wizard’s magical orbs and the fighter’s blades, and Tal was almost killed when the yellow robed figure, finally out of magic, tried to stop his heart with a mere touch. However, the party finally was able to put their improved training with weaponry and skill at dodging potentially lethal attacks to use, and outlasted their enemies when their spellcasters simply ran out of magic and joined the first two enemies in melee. When all of them were killed, they were stripped of their belongs, which included the typical weapons, armor, and mundane items most neophyte warriors used, along with a strange pair of scimitars as large as a needle for each of the four cultists. The party also took their robes, thinking they might be used as a disguise or a tool for further research on this cult. They followed the footprints of this group farther down the path, and then noticed that it ended at a strange mound of earth. At first, they thought their journey was essentially over here, since they didn’t see any other tracks leading to or from the mound. However, their senses told them that there must be something here, and after taking an extensive amount of time searching the area, they found a secret door inside the mount itself. They couldn’t, however, find a way in, so desperately, they simply tried knocking. Fortunately, they had the foresight to put on the robes first (though Flix’s was clearly too long for him, and he hid behind the rest of the party an attempt to hide this fact,) for the path below was guarded. One of the guards looked at the party. “What happened?”

Thinking quickly, Tal responded, “We, um, ran into some problems. A few people followed our trail, but we took care of them.”

One of the guards nodded, and looked to Flix. “And what happened to him?”

Flix was the one to speak up this time. “Um, I got caught in a reduction spell. It should wear off pretty soon.”

The guards, remarkably, bought it. “Well, come in and hurry. The high priestess is holding services in the audience chamber. But before you go, you will of course have to make the sign of respect.”

The party silently panicked, before Tsine remembered the miniature scimitars and that the cultists all had a few strange scars on their forearms. Desperately, he stabbed his own arms with the blades! The guards looked on nonchalantly, and there were a few tense moments before one guard spoke up. “Okay, but remember, the priestess is pretty strict about how this is supposed to be done. You got to do it the right way or she’ll regard it as insubordination and well, you know what the punishment for that is.” He pantomimed a sweeping motion on his own forearms, and the rest of the party gratefully followed suit, though it was painful and added to their already deep wounds. The party proceeded down the stairs, and into the underground temple. From there, they followed the sounds of noise to one doorway, and cautiously opened.

Inside, there were fifty or sixty cultists. Most were wearing yellow robes, though some had red, black or gray robes. All were looking upwards at a balcony, where a woman in a red-trimmed yellow robe was exhorting towards the crowd. Behind her was a strange man with black, yellow-spotted hair, a shriveled-looking humanoid with a strange tail, a spiny, nervous humanoid, four more yellow-robed figures, and one orc, which was bound and currently lying on an altar. The wounds and soft groans he was emitting indicated he was in great pain, but the party could only look on in horror. The final thing on the ledge was a statue of a woman with dark hair and a deep blue gown. The statue was also wielding two scimitars, and had a cruelly wicked grin. The priest continued whatever sermon she began before the party arrived.

“We, the Devoted of the Great Bas The Despot, wish to offer you a sacrifice!” At her words, the orc was strapped to a wall. The priestess continued, “We offer this one to you today, and, forty-eight hours from now, we shall offer an even greater present. One of your own betrayers has been given to us, and we shall offer her to you!” At this point, the other priests started chanting prayers to Bas, though it looked like the red and black-robed cultists were less enthused than the others, and the gray-robed ones looked genuinely uncomfortable. The priestess then spoke one more time, “All power to Bas, the least appreciated and greatest of the Twelve!” With that, she and the four other robed figures drew scimitars, and simultaneously stabbed the orc, killing him!

OOC Notes: Thus ended the first real adventure of the new party. The next one turned out to be far shorter than the last, but it had some good moments, and introduced a new player.

 

[LordVyreth]

Rescuing people from an evil cult made easy

The party was horrified to watch a creature, even an orc, get slaughtered in front of their eyes, but since they’re outnumbered at least fifteen to one, they could do nothing for now. Instead, they blended into the crowd, and hastily left the meeting room. They also first noticed that Flix was no longer with them. However, they had little time to worry about this, because as they first started exploring the temple, they were stopped by the Spotted-Haired Man! At first, they thought that they where caught, but the man doesn’t seem to recognize them as imposters. Instead, he ordered them to help him, and not wanting to cause a scene, Tal, Quercus and Tsine agreed. He took them back to his room, and then made them carry his equipment out of the temple for him. Once outside, he met with the spined creature, put his supplies on a griffon that was waiting for him outside, and prepared to leave. The three heroes briefly considered launching a surprise attack on him, but noticed that they were still being watched by the guards at the door and thought better of it. With a brief “thank you” and a suspiciously knowing not, he set off, and the heroes sighed with relief, hoping that these were at least two powerful foes they won’t have to deal with right now.
Meanwhile, two more prisoners were waking up; the survivors of Lerissa’s bodyguards. One of them, Rudyard, is trained with wilderness encounters and an expert on the weak points and fighting techniques of orcs, and the other, who goes by many names but is affectionately called Raz, is an expert warrior but focuses on the bow. Raz has had a few other unusual properties, including a strange dream about a mysterious woman who called herself Lady Memory…
As they ponder how to get out, they are suddenly discovered by an extremely short “cultist.” When the coast was clear in the hallway, he broke in, and rescued the pair. After a bit of wandering, he led the two to Quercus, Tal, and Tsine, who were themselves busy figuring out the layout of the temple and gathering information. They learned where the armory is and where they hid Lerissa, and because of the raid earlier that day, the guards are currently understaffed until those wounded in the raid can recover. They take advantage of this fact to find Lerissa’s prison, and then have Flix pick the lock and sneak in when the opportunity presented itself. Lerissa took one look at her rescuer and uttered the inevitable line, “Aren’t you a little short to be a cultist?”
In a matter of minutes, Lerissa was released from her chains, but she insisted they couldn’t leave until they retrieved the supplies she stole from the orcs that she believed could be used to totally shift the balance of the war. They managed to reach the armory, where they not only gained Raz, Rudyard, and Lerissa’s equipment, but also various other impressive and magical items the cult was hording, and a strange barrel full of mysterious black powder. Finally, they were ready to go. However, when they reached the exit, the guards weren’t exactly eager to let them go, and after trying to bluff their way out (and failing,) the party finally put an end to the non-violent approach and attacked! The first cultist dropped quickly, but the second was able to retreat into a small side-room and ring a warning gong. Realizing that reinforcements would soon arrive, which possibly included the high priestess herself and that tailed monster, the party finished the other cultist off quickly and prepared to run, but not before Lerissa pour a small amount of the black powder into an empty sack, and then lit the barrel itself on fire. The party ran out of their as quickly as possible, at Lerissa’s urging, and escaped the corridor mere moments before the barrel exploded, causing that entire corridor to collapse!
But the mission wasn’t over just yet. Lerissa began to lead the group to the nearest entrance to the underground tunnels that would eventually take them back to Methosilang, but before they could reach it, the scorpion-tailed monster appeared. It looked wounded, possibly as a result of being too close to the blast, but it was still able to fight! No sooner did it arrive than half the group ran in fear, and the non-magical weapons most of the party was carrying did almost nothing to it. However, Rudyard used a sword he found in the armory that radiated magic, and with the help of Lerissa and Tal’s magic, the creature was destroyed, and the party could begin the journey home.
OOC Notes: This was the worst case of DM overkill I ever had. I planned for this mission to last for two days, with the party members hiding out in the temple, working guard shifts while pretending to be the people they killed, and so on. And they finished the whole thing in a matter of hours, game time and real time. Eh well, c’est la vie, or however that’s spelled.